$FCF token launched in August 2021 with a mission to build a project like no other, one that generates revenue from real world economic activity, working in harmony with the community for maximum reach and market penetration.
Q4 2021 saw $FCF Revenue Sharing Token rocket from $20k market cap at launch to over $75m. This was before any products had been launched.
FCF Pay - the project’s Blockchain Payment System - went live in February 2022 following significant investment from the project’s founder John Nasr to fund the intensive development necessary to create the system completely from scratch.
Shortly after, more team members were also publicly doxxed, including Joe Parkin (COO) and Adrian Dragan (CTO), both of whom attended the Dubai Crypto Expo in March 2022, where FCF was awarded “Most Innovative Project 2022”.
The rest of 2022 was incredibly busy for the team, launching e-commerce plugins, closing deals with customers, announcing partnerships, extending the functionalities of FCF Pay and so on.
In Q4 things got REALLY exciting, with 1 HUGE feature roll-out in the form of the system’s white label capability (which allows partners to use the system under their own brand), and the launch of the FCF Pay debit card programs; virtual and physical debit cards, also available as a white label product.
Since then, the volume of payments through the system has increased dramatically and the good news just keeps on coming!
Co-branded collaborations have already been revealed with Floki and Sharbi. Sharbi token are offering FCF Pay prepaid Visa/Mastercard gift cards directly in their rewards app. The exact details of the Floki collaboration are yet to be revealed, but are expected in the near future.
Meanwhile, the FCF team have confirmed that they have already signed 5 contracts to provide physical and virtual prepaid crypto cards to exchanges and crypto projects. Thousands of cards have already been shipped and one of their customers is preparing to order as many as 200k cards for their customers following an initial trial period.
White label deals are also underway for traditional fiat payments companies to use FCF Pay white label in order to allow customers to pay for all sorts of goods and services directly with cryptocurrencies.
Part of every transaction through FCF systems is used to reward $FCF Revenue Sharing Token holders for the invaluable part that they play promoting the ecosystem. Buyback and burns, as well as reward distribution in $BNB are now happening on a daily basis and are substantial enough to be noticeable on the chart. This is on top of rewards from tokenomics on token trading volume. Community morale is very high and the team can work efficiently thanks to the amazing level of support and positivity.
This revolutionary business model, symbiotically collaborating with the community for the collective benefit of the business and the holders, as well as the technical and business expertise of the team, make this project one that should definitely keep an eye on.
CA (BSC): 0x4673f018cc6d401aad0402bdbf2abcbf43dd69f3
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/fcf_bsc
Payment system: https://fcfpay.com/
Project website: https://frenchconnection.finance/

Here are some possible questions you may have, and my answers:
Why do you want this?
Because right now, the way to represent an ancient European is to use the modern flag with some kind of accessory that makes it ancient (IE: Germany holding a spear for the ancient Germanic peoples). It feels a bit odd that Europeans break the pattern of ancient peoples getting their own billiard ball.
Why not use the 2-ball when the wiki says it's used for ancient Europeans?
The 2-ball has been proposed many times in the past, every time it has been shot down by the moderators. The reason for not using the blue 2-ball is because nobody has blue skin, and while the other billiard balls aren't exact in their colors they're conidered close enough to the skin colors of the groups they repesent.
What about the Cue-ball?
The cue-ball, which is a plain white ball, is already used for the Umayyad Caliphate. While that official reasoning is somewhat sound, I still personally dislike the cue-ball idea on its own. It doesn't match the other pool balls so it still has the problem of "breaking the pattern".
Doesn't the 5-ball have the same problem as the 2-ball?
I would disagree with this. While Europeans don't have neon orange skin they're known for a skin which is often described as "peach colored". The color peach, while sort of pinkish, is very much a light shade of orange. I would argue that using orange for peach is about as good of an aproximation for European skin as black is for the African skin. I will concede that this reasoning is subjective though, so I would understand if you disagree.
Don't the wiki users use the 5-Ball for Australian Aboriginals?
Yes, but Aboriginals do specifically have their own flag. The flag covers all Aboriginal peoples as well, there is no such flag that represents all the European peoples, except maybe the flag of The EU. Though, using the flag of The EU for ancient Europeans just feels wrong.
Why did you bother making this post, when I, a moderator of Polandball , will just shoot it down anyways?
Because I feel there is a chance that this idea will at least be heard, thought about, and maybe even gain some traction. Though, I am aware of how unlikely that is. Oh well, it was still fun writing this comment, if only to sort of compile the discussion around the propositions for the way ancient Europeans could be represented.

22M 155lbs 6'1 white, asthma
9 months ago I sprayed a diatomaceous earth (non food grade) and water solution along all of my baseboards and doorframes of my bedroom and office to deal with my silverfish problem. It worked extremely well, zero bugs anymore, but I have come to realize through research the potential dangers of inhaling this stuff. I study and work from home so I spend the vast majority of my time in these rooms.
While thoroughly cleaning it all up today my lungs have become quite irritated, and this is the only time I recall having any noticeable irritation from this apart from when I first applied it. I noticed quite a bit of dust near my bed and on my bed frame, which means I may have been breathing this for a while.
Should I be concerned about silicosis or anything related? 1 do have mild asthma. Should I be concerned about trace amounts of it remaining in my hvac and carpet? Thank you.

(You can also find this story Here.)
​
A periscope skims the grey water above. The metal snake leaves a white trail behind as it lurks for its prey.
The prey is oblivious. It is moving in a straight line, all alone.
Meanwhile, the hunter’s cells moved around its steel body.
“Los, Los!”
“Get that torpedo ready.”
The men load the first and second torpedo tubes. The weapons officer looked up at the conning tower hatch.
“Torpedo Tubes eins and zwei flooded and ready, Herr Kaleun.”
“Jawohl.”
The captain was in the conning tower, manning the attack periscope. He smiles. It is a perfect solution.
“Fire tubes, eins und zwei!”
“Eins, Zwei, Los!”
The two torpedoes come out of the tubes, roaring to life and swimming on their deadly mission.
The captain holds his stopwatch. “15,16,17,18.”
A younger man walked into the control room and looked at the captain.
“What is he doing?”
“He’s counting down the seconds until impact.”
“What was the estimated time?”
“40 seconds.”
“What are we at now?”
“35, 36,37,38,39.”
At the 40-second mark, the crew heard two loud explosions.
The captain smiled.
“Another one falls under the light of the lighthouse!”
The crew cheered. However, this cheering is short-lived.
The captain turns his periscope and sees something that all submarines fear.
A destroyer was barreling toward them at full speed.
The captain’s eyes went wide as he lowered the periscope.
“ALARM!”
The planesmen turn the dive planes into full dive. The Helmsman placed an “Ahead Flank'' order into the engine telegram, which was quickly acknowledged.
The U-boat dove like a lead brick.
“40 Meters, 50 Meters.”
Suddenly, the U-boat crew hears a sound they all fear. The telltale sound of sonar. The hydrophone operator looked up in silent rage.
“Scheisse!”
“Silent Running, new depth, 120 Meters.”
The helmsman nodded and repeated the captain's orders.
Suddenly, the U-boat rocked from side to side by depth charges. Pipes burst and gushed cold seawater. Lightbulbs flickered and broke.
“We have flooding in the torpedo room!”
“Flooding in the engine room!”
“Quiet men! I need damage reports!”
The men got to work, stopping the flooding. The first watch officer was busy with the chief engineer, helping with the flooding from the pipes.
“Klaus, damage report?”
Klaus looked up at the captain. “Herr Kaleun. We have stopped the flooding in both the engine room and torpedo room.”
The captain nodded. “Good job Klaus.” He turned around and whispered to his helmsman.
“Deploy decoy,”
The helmsman nodded and deployed the decoy. The decoy came out of the submarine. It made bubbles to fool the siren’s sonar.
The captain nodded.
“New depth, 140 Meters.”
The planesmen nodded and took the U-boat down to that depth.
After some time, the destroyer left. The captain gave everyone in the control room a small smile.
“They must have run out of depth charges.”
The U-boat creaked and groaned due to water pressure.
The first watch officer looked around the U-boat with a worried look on his face.
“Relax, it’s just the water pressure.”
The first watch officer nodded.
“Fritz, you look tired. Come, we’ll have dinner. I’ll even put on Lili Marlene.”
Fritz nodded. He joined the captain in the officer’s quarters in the bow. Soon, the officers were sitting at the small table.
“Günther, how is our torpedo situation?”
“We have fired the last of our torpedoes. We have got 30,546 tons for this patrol.”
The captain nodded. “Very good.”
“Fritz, once we surface in a few hours, you’ll be on the conning tower with me.”
Fritz nodded. “Yes, Herr Gräfer.”
The captain raised his eyebrows. He composed himself.
“Oberfähnrich zur See Decke, you do not have to call me Herr Gräfer. Just Kaleun or Manni will do.”
Fritz blushed. “Sorry, Manni. I’m still getting used to being on a U-boat.”
Manni gave Fritz a reassuring look. Lili Marlene was playing on the record player in the radio room.
The cook came with sausage soup and some black bread.
“Here you go. I made sure the bread was fresh today.”
Manni nodded.
“Thank you, Gert.”
Gert gave the men some coffee substitute and poured it into their mugs. The black liquid was hot, leaving steam in the air.
The men ate their food. Manni noticed Fritz was wearing his formal uniform.
“Fritz. You know we don’t need to wear our official uniforms when we are on patrol.”
Fritz blushed. “Sorry, Manni. I did not mean to offend you.”
Manni sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ll make a U-boatman out of you yet, you hear me?”
Fritz nodded. “Oh, happy birthday Kaleun. I nearly forgot.”
Manni smiled. “You are a couple of months late, but thank you. I know it is difficult to keep track of what day it is on the U-boat.”
Soon, the men finished eating. The officers left, but Manni stopped Fritz before he could.
“Fritz. I have something for you.”
Fritz's eyes lit up as Manni gestured for him to follow him to his quarters.
On Manni’s bed was a small cardboard box.
“It’s for you. I got it for my birthday, but it’s too small for me. I figured I would give it to you as a reward for a successful first war patrol.”
Fritz smiled, but then stopped. “Herr Kaleun, isn’t it bad luck to celebrate a victory early?”
Manni grinned. “Don’t worry Fritz. I just want to get you out of that formal uniform. You want to be an Uboatman, right?”
Fritz nodded.
“Then you have to dress like one. Consider it a late Christmas gift.”
Fritz sighed as he opened the box. Inside was a pair of grey pants with brown leather suspenders. There was also a blue and white flannel with a zip-up black jacket.
Fritz blushed. “Kaleun, are you going to watch me change?”
“Fritz, there are 54 others on this U-boat that have not showered in over a month, and many have not even seen the sun in that time. I doubt anyone on this boat cares.”
Fritz nodded and put on the clothes. They were a perfect fit. They were snug but not too tight as to prevent breathing.
“See, fits you like a glove. We’ll be surfacing in a few hours. Find an empty bunk and take a nap. You’ve earned it after finding that merchant for us.”
Fritz nodded. He walked to the petty officer’s quarters and found an empty bunk. He soon fell asleep.
Manni suddenly awoke him.
“Alright, time for dreaming is done. You’re needed on the conning tower.”
Fritz sighed and got up out of the small bunk. He noticed that the lights in the U-boat were red. He knew the red light meant it was night outside.
Fritz walked to the control room. Manni was right behind him.
“Here, you're going to need this.”
Fritz grabbed the grey overcoat from him.
“Why?”
“It’s raining like hell out there. That’s why we are on the surface.”
Fritz put on the raincoat and climbed up the ladder to the conning tower.
True to his word, it was raining like hell.
“Great, I feel like Noah during the flood.” Fritz thought to himself.
Fritz noticed Manni was right next to him.
“So, Fritz. How did you enjoy your first patrol on U-103?”
Fritz smiled. “I mean, I am learning from the best to become a U-boat captain.”
Manni smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll be a Leutnant zur See in no time.”
“Why are you on the conning tower as well? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Because we are nearly at Lorient. We’ll be there in 12-16 hours.”
Manni climbed down the ladder back to the command room.
Fritz looked around the horizon with his binoculars.
After a while, Manni came back with a fresh watch crew.
“Alright, Fritz. You can take a rest.”
Fritz nodded and climbed down the ladder. On the last step, he slipped.
“WOAH!”
Fritz fell on his back and hit his head on the metal floor. He held his head in pain. He groaned.
Klaus took his arms off the table to check on Fritz. He examined his head and shined a flashlight in Fritz’s eyes.
“You’re alright. I will make sure the medic checks on you.”
Fritz nodded. He got up after some effort and walked to the officer’s quarters to rest.
He took off the raincoat and hung it up on the knob of a cabinet.
Soon, Fritz was asleep.
The medic awoke Fritz.
“Don’t worry. You do not have any signs of a concussion. I figured you can be on the conning tower as we arrive at port.”
Fritz nodded and left his bunk. He climbed up the ladder and saw Manni was already on the conning tower.
Manni was saluting the crowd as the U-boat sailed into port. The leaves on the trees nearby were changing colors, complementing the city on a cool day.
The band was playing music. The harbormaster was talking over the speaker.
“We welcome U-103 back to Lorient from her war patrol.”
Manni continued to smile as the U-boat slowly entered the U-boat pen.
Soon, the men left the U-boat. Fritz and Manni were on the conning tower.
“Well. What do you plan on doing, Fritz?”
Fritz shrugged.
“As far as I know, I’m going to the nightclub and then going to Wilhelmshaven as a stopover. Then I’ll be home in Berlin.”
Manni nodded.
“Just be sure to talk to Franz before you leave. He has something for you.”
Fritz nodded and shook Manni’s hand.
“Thank you, Manni.”
Fritz left the conning tower to get his bag from his bunk. Inside the bag was his formal uniform. Bag in hand, Fritz got out of the conning tower. Manni was gone.
Fritz nodded. “Must be busy,” he thought to himself.
He made his way to Franz, who was handing out a bunch of small objects to the men who were leaving. Franz smiled at Fritz.
“Here you go, Fritz. I suppose you are going to need it.”
Fritz nearly blushed once he saw what Franz had handed him. It was a small rubber object inside a metal tin.
“Franz, why did you give me a condom?”
Franz laughed.
“The U-boat arm of the Ironblood does not want its sailors getting any diseases while they are on shore leave. That’s why they give out condoms.”
Fritz nodded and placed the tin in his pocket. He was not quite in the mood for that at the moment, but it would be a good idea to keep it.
Soon, Fritz ended up at the local nightclub. The U-boat crews were busily mingling with both themselves and the local women.
Fritz was busy drinking his beer. He knew that his career as a U-boatman had only just started. Manni sat next to him.
“Hey, bartender. A glass of wine, please.”
The bartender nodded and served Manni a glass of wine. Fritz smirked.
“I did not know the Vichya Dominion and Iris Libre already rubbed off on you, Manni. Drinking wine instead of beer.”
Manni smiled as he drank his wine. “Well. I like the taste of wine better. Once you eat moldy bread every day, you start to not like the taste of beer.”
Manni raised his hand.
“Hey, bartender, a shot of schnapps for me and my friend here.”
The Bartender gave the two men a shot glass and filled it with schnapps.
Manni held the glass in the air. “Hey. To our careers.”
Fritz smiled. “To our careers.”
The men clinked the glasses and drank their shot. Soon, they left to go to the barracks.
“Well, good night Fritz.”
Fritz nodded. “Good night Manni.”
Fritz walked into the barrack to his room. He soon stripped down to his underwear and got a shower. He soon fell asleep.
He knew that he would have a busy day ahead of him. But for now, the thought of a good night’s sleep in a bed that did not reek of body odor and diesel fuel was not a bad one in Fritz’s mind.

I am a UR Phoenix player who has unfortunately had a streak of either implosions or top 8 near misses at every RCQ I have attended lately. In FNM level events I do extremely well and top very consistently. I feel like I outplay most of my opponents and could confidently bet on myself to win most matchups based on my hours of testing with the deck. I even do very well in RB matchups and have a fighting chance vs humans if I win the die roll which is what I expect most RCQs to look like.
The problem is that what I expect to see and what I keep getting paired versus are completely different. I skew my side against mono white and lotus field, and as these should be my worst matchups (my RB matchup is 50/50 in my experience and depends on player skill) on paper but for the last 3 or 4 RCQs I have gotten paired up almost exclusively against control and weird jank that I line up horribly against. I switched to UW spirits for an RCQ yesterday on a whim and faced the polar opposite, a sea of rakdos, and I went 2-4.
At what point do you stop looking at objectively what you "should" see and start planning for what the universe probably has in store for you?
​
For context my UR phoenix list is:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/JG_oOt3NikG1WtIVuMpe6A
(Currently 58 cards because I'm testing out various ideas in the 2nd trespass and iteration slots. Open to suggestions from fellow phoenix players!)

Do you love DayZ the vanilla way? So do we. We all fell in love with DayZ playing official servers, many of us moved on to modded, but a lot us still play the game how it is supposed to be played! Our server is focused on keeping things how they are, providing people with an official like experience minus the negativity.
So why play our server? Why not just play on official?
Being that there are no admins on official, cheaters that can bypass BattlEye are able to unleash havoc on official servers ruining the experience for everyone else. The only difference between community vanilla and official servers is that they can be easily monitored. The staff at Bohemia work very hard to keep their game safe and fair, but its near impossible to admin all those servers all day everyday.
Our server is monitored nearly 24hrs a day, to give you a fair experience and to stop those cheaters ruining things for you, so if you love official, the vanilla play style, and Livonia, come and check us out for a nice, fair, and fun experience.
People throw the word "community" around like no tomorrow lately, but what we have on our discord is different to that. People here are willing to help, no, correction, they want to help, so whether you're new, returning, or just want to ask how to do a certain thing, reach out to us, and we'll be there for you. So come and be a part of what we are creating and create your own path to survival on Adventurer's Vanilla today.
Applications - Open
IP&Port: 69.36.183.182:2302
US-NY
Discord: https://discord.gg/XEwnpeQwwk

It was just before recess when Zach asked me to hold his egg. We were doing a school project where the goal was to keep an egg safe for an entire week, as if it were your own baby. If you dropped your egg and broke it, you got an F.
Mr. Marco had signed all of the eggs with a Sharpie, so there was no chance of cheating. Everyone in class had devised a plan to keep their prized egg safe for the week, and Zach was no exception. He was using a white and red thermos lined with tissue paper inside. It looked secure, and I wasn’t worried about breaking it. In fact, it looked safer than mine, and I was starting to consider changing my design.
Maybe because I was distracted thinking about my own egg container device, I didn’t have a firm enough grip on Zach’s thermos. When I got bumped from behind by another kid I fumbled it.
The whole contraption went flying and landed right in front of the teacher’s desk. Mr. Marco saw the egg jump from the thermos and a second later it went SPLAT, right on the floor in front of his desk.
“Jason! Was that your egg?” he demanded, leaping up from his chair.
Mr. Marco had always hated me. I had him in the sixth grade, after he replaced the best teacher in school at the last minute. Then in the eighth grade, he surprised me again by replacing the second best teacher in school and taking over for his class which I was entering. The first day I couldn’t believe it, seeing Mr. Marco sitting behind the desk where Mr. L was supposed to be sitting. Mr. L was my older brother’s favorite teacher ever. Three years prior I’d heard all the stories of how he’d taken his students on field trips every month and entertained them with his comedic lectures, using characters and voices and props that captivated even the most “unteachable” students.
Mr. Marco, by contrast, was a Phys Ed major who thought gym class was superior to everything and barely understood math or science. He was highly favored among the jocks and bullies and despised by the geeks and nerds, like myself.
That first day of eighth grade, Mr. Marco was sitting up front, and he must have seen the disappointed look on my face, because he scowled at me and yelled at me to take my seat. It was as if he had read my mind, and knew I hated him, and that I was disappointed he was my teacher again.
For almost two full years I’d suffered under Mr. Marco. He was mean, rude, and somehow managed to become friends with all of the bullies in school who regularly beat me up during recess. One of those bullies was Zach, whose egg I had just broken.
“No, Mr. Marco,” I said, showing him my egg, safe and sound. “That was Zach’s.”
I turned around and looked at Zach, then wished I hadn’t.
“Sorry,” I mumbled under my breath.
The teacher’s face went a shade redder. Zach was his favorite student. Zach was the quarterback on the football team which Mr. Marco coached. And Zach, despite being the worst student in class, was adored by Mr. Marco.
The teacher’s eyes shifted and I saw he was looking at Zach sympathetically. Zach, who was standing behind me, vibrating with rage. The freckles on his cheeks became harder to see, as his entire face went crimson.
Despite the fact that I knew he wanted to fail me, a precedent had already been set and everyone knew what had to happen next.
“Unless that was a decoy, you get an F, Zach,” Mr. Marco said, sitting back down and marking something in his notebook with a red pen. “Next time pick a smarter person to hold your baby.”
Somehow that stung worse than anything yet.
*
It didn’t take long for Zach to find me during recess.
His tall, lanky, hyena-voiced friend Chris accompanied him as they held me up against a wall and began to lay a beating on me. It didn’t help that Zach now had both hands free, while I had to hold onto my precious egg for dear life.
Zach punched my arm again and again, giving me a Charlie Horse that would last for weeks.
At first I didn’t protest. I felt like I deserved it. But then it started to hurt worse and worse and I needed to get away more than anything. It felt like something in my arm was about to rupture or break or worse. But no matter how hard I struggled, the two larger, stronger boys held me in place.
Finally, after what felt like hours, I could take no more, and crumpled to the ground, curling into a ball, still trying to protect my egg.
Zach said some parting words which I barely heard, no longer caring what he thought of me. Once upon a time we’d been friends. I’d gone to his house and gone to his birthday parties. But that felt like a different lifetime. A century ago, in another universe.
*
I walked home from school feeling crushed and weak, wincing every time someone ran past me on the sidewalk, thinking it might be Zach coming to lay another beating on me. Looking over my shoulder again and again, I had a feeling he would be coming for me. What he’d done to me at recess wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
When I glanced back I saw him running down the sidewalk trying to catch up with me. I pretended not to notice, then when I went around the next corner I began to run.
A few seconds later I looked back to see he had several of his friends from the hockey team with him. They were running full-tilt, laughing and screaming at me as I ran away. Their threats made me certain that if they caught me they would hurt me worse than I’d ever been hurt before. And I really wanted to avoid that.
I turned onto a path, leaving the road, racing towards the forest. Immediately I regretted the decision, knowing that I was headed towards an even more secluded area, far away from the relative safety of city streets and plenty of witnesses.
But it was too late to turn back now. The bullies were right behind me, gaining on me fast. I threw my backpack to the ground, trying to gain any advantage I could, and heard one of them tumble to the ground when they tripped over it.
“I’ll kill you for that,” I heard him yelling after me, but I didn’t look back.
By the time I got to the forest I realized they weren’t right behind me anymore. They were still trailing me, but at a jogging pace now. And they were pulling binders and school books out of my backpack and scattering them everywhere as they walked.
“Man, you really shouldn’t litter,” Zach was saying, joined by jeers and laughter from the others. “All this stuff has your name on it, you should really come back and pick it up! Look, there goes your math textbook, that’s gotta be worth like fifty bucks, right?”
I winced, hearing him tear pages from it as they followed me into the forest. It probably cost more than a hundred dollars, I thought, which I’d have to pay back after the school year ended. Either way, I wasn’t turning around for the backpack. I would take my life over my school books any day.
The path was too obvious, I realized. Knowing I had temporarily lost them in the trees, I decided to veer off from it. I had to get creative if I wanted to lose them.
So I went off the path and ran through some bushes, heading away from the trail.
It didn’t take long for them to notice, and I heard them crunching through leaves as they followed after me a few seconds later.
“I SEE YOU!” Zach shouted, and I looked back and saw he was pointing right at me. “And I’m gonna fucking KILL YOU!”
It was an accident, I wanted to scream. But it wouldn’t make a difference. None of it mattered to him. He just wanted blood.
Running as fast as I could through the fallen leaves, I tripped over a branch. It was hidden by the rusted brown and yellow foliage and so I hadn’t seen it.
When I looked up, I realized there was a hiding place just beside me that I would not have noticed if not for tripping.
A large, hollowed-out log was to my right, and I crawled inside of it.
It was large enough for me to fit inside, but just barely. I held my breath, hearing the sounds of footsteps coming closer. The other boys were right outside, looking for me.
“He was here a second ago,” one of them said. “I saw him.”
Patiently I waited for them to leave, hoping they wouldn’t linger too long. The log was wet beneath my ass and I felt the rotten moisture leaking through my pants. I noticed movement to my right and looked to see a fat spider crawling on the ceiling of my hiding spot, and just beyond there were millipedes, potato bugs, and little red worms which squirmed and wriggled as they poked their heads from the decaying wood. There were probably more of them beneath me, and I realized I felt movement under me. The entire rotten log was alive with insects and creepy-crawlies.
Horrified and sick to my stomach, I nearly burst out of there, screaming. But I stayed where I was and hoped they would leave. Instead, they lingered nearby, far too close for comfort.
“Is he in there?” I heard one of them ask.
With fear overwhelming my revulsion, I set down my precious egg and clambered further into the decaying log. I crawled through thick spider webs as things skittered down my back and into my pants, biting back a scream and forcing myself to continue onward. All the way to the end, or at least, what I thought was the end of the hollow log.
Instead of bumping up against a rock or roots or cold hard ground, I kept crawling. Into the darkest place I’d ever been.
Something about it was calling to me, even more than my sense of curiosity at this strange world which seemed to be opening up all around me.
I sensed by the noise of my movements that I was now in a wide open space, damp and cold like a cave, and I felt around, realizing I could stand up now. I sensed there was something just ahead of me, and I reached out to feel a smooth wooden surface.
My hand probed the flat surface for any marker or indication of what it might be, and suddenly I felt something round and polished jutting out from it.
For a few seconds I couldn’t figure it out, because the context clues were all wrong. Whatever this was didn’t belong here. It belonged in a house, not a cave beneath the forest.
It was a door knob.
Which meant this was a door.
But where could it possibly lead to?
I decided to take my chances with whatever was on the other side, rather than risking another confrontation with Zach and his friends.
My heart was pounding fast as I turned the handle, deciding to take a chance and explore further in this strange place. Maybe it was a hobbit’s hole, my young mind thought. Or the home of a leprechaun.
As I stepped through, into another world, I forgot all about Zach and the other boys who were looking to beat me up.
As the door swung open I was hit by a blast of cold air, much more chilly than the damp basement feeling of the cave I had just been in. This new place was in the middle of winter, and it was full of blowing snow, whereas the place I’d just come from was relatively warm. I was wearing jeans and a hoodie, and I was immediately freezing cold and shivering.
“Whoa,” I exclaimed, unable to stop myself from wandering forward.
Scared of going too far from the door, I hesitantly began to explore this new place.
I pushed my way out through thick fir trees, and eventually found myself in a clearing, surrounded by forest. It was dim outside, but it was daylight. The sky overhead was obscured by thick, swirling gray clouds which dumped snow down constantly. My feet were instantly soaked and freezing cold, since my running shoes were not made for this sort of weather.
Clutching myself and rubbing my arms to regain some warmth, I decided this was too much to bear. I was about to turn back, but then I heard the sound of tiny bells jingling, and a voice speaking to me from nearby. It was a woman’s voice, soft and sweet, like music to my ears.
“Oh, dear boy,” she said, emerging from behind a tree. Her hair was dark and she was dressed in gray robes, the same color as the clouds, covered in little silver bells. “How did you find yourself stranded in the forests of Hollow’s End?”
Part of me wanted to turn and run, but her smile was warm and friendly, and the tinkling bells reminded me of Christmas, so I found myself staying.
“Oh, hello. Nice to meet you. Actually, I’m not stranded. There’s a door back there. I found this place by accident and… Brrrrr, it’s beautiful… but cold! I think I’ll have to be heading back now.”
She came a little closer and I saw she was very pretty. Her face looked like it belonged to a supermodel or a famous actress whose name I couldn’t place, and I found myself staring at her intently, despite my desire to go back to where I’d come from where it was warmer.
Then, before I knew it, she was standing right in front of me.
“If you’re cold, I can get you a coat. And some hot cocoa. Would you like that?”
I felt myself nodding, and she took my hand in her own freezing cold one, and when she touched me my entire body became covered with goosebumps, and I found myself going with her. She led me away from the door I’d come in through, and deeper into the cold and wintery world of Hollow’s End.
*
A little while later we were sitting inside someplace warm, although I didn’t remember walking there. I had a fur coat around my shoulders and I was sipping cocoa, staring at the beautiful woman across from me. She was old enough to be my teacher, and it should have felt rude, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. And she didn’t say anything, only looked at me with that same warm smile.
But then her happy expression dropped and she looked away, as a tear dripped down her cheek, spilling to the floor, where it immediately froze solid. Her lower lip quivered as she said a silent apology to me.
“What’s wrong,” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “How’s your hot chocolate?”
“Delicious!”
And it was. The best I’d ever tasted.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, wiping away the tears which had turned to snowflakes on her face.
“Yes, I’m very hungry,” I replied. I couldn’t help it, I was starving. My stomach was rumbling and I felt like dinner should have been hours ago, and yet time was funny here. I wasn’t entirely sure how long I’d been in this world, on the other side of the door. But the groans from my belly were saying it had been a long time.
“What is your favorite thing in the world to eat?”
I thought about this for a second, and it didn’t take long to come up with an answer.
“My mom’s beef stew,” I said. “It’s the best!”
Her face lit up in a warm grin again and she got up and went to the stove. I noticed for the first time there was a black pot simmering there.
“Well, what do you know? That’s exactly what I’m making for dinner tonight. Beef stew!”
My mouth started watering at the smell. It was exactly like what I remembered from home. Which reminded me I should be going back there. My mom would be worried about me.
Something about this was creeping me out too, the more I thought about home and about the strange situation I was in. Images of Hansel and Gretel crossed my mind, although I hadn’t yet labeled this woman with the dreaded “W” word. I didn’t think she’d like it if I called her that, even if it was true.
As I was about to open my mouth to say I had to leave, she presented me with a steaming bowl filled with beef stew, and I forgot what I had been thinking about. The dish looked just like my mom’s, and the smell was overwhelming. Next she set down a board with a freshly-baked loaf of bread sitting atop it, steaming and warm with butter ready for spreading.
I couldn’t possibly leave right after she’d done all this for me, I thought to myself, and began to dig in.
The meat was tender, the broth perfectly thick and seasoned, and the carrots, potatoes, and onions had just the right amount of bite. It was the best beef stew I’d ever eaten - peppery and hot - and I quickly downed two bowls, devouring four slices of warm, crunchy fresh bread slathered in salted butter, which I used to mop up the puddles at the bottom of the bowl.
Wiping my face with a napkin, I belched loudly and excused myself, my face turning red with embarrassment.
“No need to apologize. A healthy burp is a sign of a properly cooked meal, in my books,” she said from across the table.
I realized then that she hadn’t eaten anything, and felt bad for not noticing earlier.
“I’m just not very hungry these days,” she said, as if reading my thoughts. “But I’m glad I could make you happy with a meal. The greatest joy in life is in feeding people, I always say.”
“That’s what my mom always says too!”
It wasn’t quite what she said, but close enough.
The woman’s face broke again and frozen tears began to pour from both eyes, as she let out a gut-wrenching sob.
It was startling, after our pleasant conversation so far, but obviously there was something deeply troubling this woman.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “I’m not sure if I can help, but I’d be happy to try.”
“That’s sweet of you to offer,” she said. “But you’re just a boy. I need someone… Well, someone who can be very, very sneaky. No, I’m sorry. It’s too dangerous.”
“What’s too dangerous?” I asked, curious now.
She walked over to the fireplace and looked into the flames. Then, after some time, she began to speak.
“It’s been years since I’ve been trapped in this place. An outcast sent to live at the edge of the forest.”
Her voice was sad, and almost brought me to tears as she continued her tragic tale.
“My family once ruled this land. We were fair and just. Everyone in Hollow’s End had enough to eat. It was warm and the sun was shining every day. Crops grew tall in the soil of our lands, towering to the heights of trees. There was always more than enough to go around.
“But then a great beast emerged from the forest. It was a jungle cat, large and white, and with it came the snow. The great tiger was intelligent, and could speak and enthrall the hearts of men. He convinced them to take my crown from me, and with it, I lost my power to hold back his never-ending winter. The trees went bare overnight. The crops began to wither and fail. And soon there was little to eat, and never enough to go around.”
She showed me the bottom of the pot of stew, and the few scraps that remained, then set it down to rest on the stove.
“You gave me all of it?” I asked, stunned and heartbroken. “But you don’t even know me.”
“My mother always taught me to be kind. To help strangers lost in the cold.”
I thought about this for a few moments before making an impulse decision I would come to greatly regret.
“Well, my mom taught me stuff too! And I want to help you. Just tell me what you need me to do. If you need someone to be sneaky, well, I’ll be the sneakiest sneak you’ve ever seen. I’ll get your crown back for you from that tiger!”
She smiled at me, and this time it didn’t feel so warm. In fact, I felt a chill run up my spine as she began to laugh and nod, telling me, “Good boy. Very good boy.”
*
I found myself outside, dressed in a thick black fur coat and boats, trudging through the snow. There was a sword in a scabbard attached to my belt, and I had a vague memory of being taught how to use it.
How much time has passed? How long did you spend learning how to use that sword? Your mother must be missing you…
Panicked thoughts ran through my mind but they were suppressed now. They were at the back. Hidden. Far away where I couldn’t get to them. The only thing that was important now was the mission. Getting the crown. And I could see the glow of it in the distance, shining silver with the magic beacon cast by the (witch, she’s a witch!) woman who was so kind and so good to me. Heading further and further away from the door which had brought me to this strange place - but that thought didn’t really trouble me anymore. Now I was focused on my mission. Getting back the crown was all that mattered. The crown. The crown. The crown.
At some point I realized I was standing right in front of a gate. Not only that, but someone was speaking to me.
“Your NAME, sir?”
“Revere Frostborne the eighth,” I answered, the strange words coming out with no conscious effort. My voice sounded deeper, I noticed, and looked down to see my hands were lined and cracked, calluses formed at the tips of my fingers from many years of hard labor - or swordplay.
“Ah, we’ve been expecting you for some time,” the man said.
I looked him up and down and saw he was a guard dressed in a suit of armor, and there were dozens of others like him all around me. I was in a castle, like something out of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. There were tapestries on the wall and flickering torches hung beside them as I was marched down a long corridor, deeper and deeper into the heart of a grand and ancient keep.
After going through numerous lines of guards, each larger and more ornately armored than the last, we finally arrived at a massive entryway. There, the guard who had been my escort left me.
I looked up at the eight new guards who stood at the doorway, far more formidable-looking than my previous escort, each dressed in gold armor fringed with red, brandishing the sharpest and most ornate-looking spears I’d ever seen. They blocked my entrance and said nothing.
For a moment I couldn’t think what they could be expecting of me, but then the words came from my lips before I could consider their meaning.
“The armies of the Frostborne Giants have a proposal,” I said. “I must speak to him.”
The guards parted for me and I walked through their midst, entering the largest and most lavishly-decorated throne room I’d ever seen.
Sounds of clanking, rattling armor could be heard behind me and I realized the guards were escorting me the rest of the way, towards what appeared to be a huge throne in the distance.
As I got closer I realized it wasn’t a person sitting on the purple throne. It was a white tiger. Much larger than any jungle cat I’d ever seen on Earth, this beast was easily three times the size of a White Bengal Tiger. And sitting atop its head was a golden crown.
THE CROWN. GET THE CROWN. YOU MUST GET THE CROWN.
The words ran through my head feverishly, running over every other consideration like a steamroller.
Once I was close enough to smell the fish on the great cat’s breath, it spoke.
“Why did you come here?” it asked in a deep baritone voice which rattled my eardrums. “Do you seek to steal my crown for the Silver Witch of the forest?”
GET THE CR…
The command running through my mind was interrupted somehow, and for the first time in a long while, I could think for myself. But I wasn’t sure how long it would last.
“How did you know I came for your crown?”
The guards’ spears were suddenly at my throat from eight different angles, less than an inch away. My heart was pounding fast.
“I could smell her on you. Cats have much better noses than people, you know. Lower your weapons, he did not realize what he was doing. He still doesn’t. The Silver Witch is cunning, you all know that.”
The guards lowered their spears reluctantly.
“Blikjin, Frija, go. Ready the men for an attack. This is likely a diversion,” the tiger said, and two of the guards ran off. The other six formed a defensive formation all around us.
"Frederick! Come quickly! I need your expertise."
A white haired wizard carrying a staff shuffled over and immediately began pawing at my head, as if inspecting for lice.
"Ah yes, just as I would have suspected."
He pulled something out from the back of my skull which continued to emerge for a long, long time as he yanked at it. It felt as if he were pulling a snake from my brain.
As he gathered it and looped it into a coil, the great tiger began to whisper in my ear.
“She can’t hear us anymore. Now, listen closely, boy. This is what you must do…”
*
I was walking again. The cold wind was blowing in my face and the snow was stinging my skin, but I had my wits again. I could think for myself.
The King of Hollow’s End devised a plan to rid the land of the witch once and for all, but it would be up to me to implement it. If I failed, she would have everything she needed to take over again. And to plunge this other world into permanent darkness.
“She’s far too powerful even for me to defeat,” the king told me. “But you will have the advantage. You will be able to catch her by surprise in a way none of us could.”
The crown was in my hand, the snow crunching beneath my boots. There was a long road ahead of me, although I didn’t remember traveling it the first time, I would be present for every moment of this leg back.
Fortunately for me, the king’s throne room was imbued with a powerful magic, put in place by the wizard, Frederick. The witch wasn’t aware of his power, or his presence, otherwise she wouldn’t have risked sending me alone. But now I was in a place of advantage. All I had to do was get her to put on the crown and it would drain all of her magic, making her powerless, due to a hex placed upon it by the wizard. Without her magic, the witch would freeze like ice and shatter into a million pieces
I continued to walk, pondering my plan and every possible thing that could go wrong. For years, I marched through the cold and the snow, attacked by bandits some days while on others I had nothing to eat. There were good friends made along the way, enemies vanquished and companions lost to sickness and arrows. Yet somehow I managed to survive.
By the time I made it back to that frozen forest I was a changed man. No longer a boy - those days were long since forgotten. I hardly remembered how I had come to be in this place, and part of me suspected I’d lived here all along - that those previous memories were simply another hex placed upon me by the witch.
The sound of tinkling bells broke me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see her standing there, right in front of me. Only inches away.
“You’re back,” she said with that same smile like an eel about to eat supper. “Do you have it?”
No questions of how I was or whether I’d run into trouble. No thank you for my years - no - decades of journeying to fetch it for her.
My hands shaking with barely concealed rage, I fetched it from beneath the folds of my tattered cloak and handed it to her.
“You’re shaking,” she said, taking it from me. Her voice was nervous, and slightly suspicious. “Are you alright?”
“The years have done a number on me, m’lady. I am not the boy I once was. I’ve grown old in my quest to find this for you. And to slay the great tiger who stole your throne.”
“But you have done it? He is dead?”
I nodded.
“Yes. He is dead.”
Smiling wider, she began to put the crown on top of her head. Lowering it to the point where it almost rested there, it hovered for several long moments… But then she pulled it away.
“No…” she muttered. “Too easy…”
Her face was getting red with rage, and I realized she had caught me.
“You shouldn’t be able to tell your own age. That was part of the spell. It was supposed to keep you blind to how much time you spent here - a variation on the hex which enchants my forest.”
She raised her hand and a bolt of energy deformed the air in front of me, causing it to shimmer, and then it moved over me, enveloping me. It was pure heat. Like the air just above a fire, where you would toast your marshmallows.
I screamed as the boiling air began to melt my skin, setting my fur cloak ablaze.
“You will learn not to disobey me again,” said the witch, inspecting the crown in her hands with disinterest. “But for now. Pain.”
The scorching air got even hotter somehow, and my hair caught on fire a second later. Now I couldn’t even scream. My voice was caught, my face frozen in a grimace of sheer agony.
Time stretched out forever, although it only lasted a few instants.
Then thankfully the burning haze was extinguished by a snowy gust of wind.
“Enough, witch! You have destroyed this poor boy’s life. Now you will pay!”
It was the wizard, I realized with relief. He had come to save me. And not only that, but he was riding on the back of the great white tiger king.
Frederick leapt from his back and began to advance on the witch at the tiger flanked her from the other side. He held his staff out in front of him and cast bolts of white lightning at the witch - who in turn sent them ricocheting in every direction, deflecting them with a swirling gray cloud which she manipulated expertly.
One bolt of lightning deflected back exactly at Frederick, hitting him centermass, and sending him flying backwards. After hurtling through the air several yards, he landed against a rock, where he lay motionless.
“FREDERICK!” the tiger-king shouted, abandoning his attack and racing across the snow to his fallen friend.
The gray witch was moving towards the king, slowly closing the distance from behind, and I realized she would kill him if I didn’t do something.
And then I saw the crown lying in the snow.
I would only have one chance. And I would need to be very sneaky.
“You thought you could kill me?” the witch was saying, sending a shimmering orb of heat towards the tiger-king. “You really thought you could kill ME?”
The tiger lunged at her ankle, ducking beneath the orb of magic at the last second and grabbing hold of her leg in his jaw.
“NOW!” he yelled around the bloody flesh in his mouth. “DO IT NOW!”
I didn’t hesitate.
As the witch was distracted, screaming in pain, I jammed the crown on top of her head, twisting it further onto her forehead until it covered her eyes, and was impossible to remove.
It began to turn red, then white-hot, as she howled in pain and tried to pry it off. But it wouldn’t budge.
The witch burst into flame, and I held my hands up to the bonfire of her body to warm myself up as I watched her turn to cinders.
*
Sadly, a few minutes after the witch died, so did Frederick, the wizard. He managed to hang on for a little while, just long enough for his magic to send the witch back to hell where she belonged, but then his injuries overcame him. He had used the most powerful magic available to him in his effort to stop the witch - and she had turned it around on him, deflecting it right back at his heart.
A tear ran down the tiger-king’s cheek, and I held out my hand to stroke his soft, warm fur. His eyes were brimming with tears as he spoke.
“You should go home. Your family must be missing you.”
“That was just a lie from the witch. This is my home. It always has been. The rest was just a dream.”
“Come,” said the tiger-king. “Let me show you something.”
He led me towards a thicket of trees. Pushing a few branches aside with his great paw, he went into them, the sticky sap leaving brown smears on his white coat.
“In there,” he said, pointing to a strange door, isolated in the middle of the forest. “That is where your true life lies. Looking back, one day you will think that THIS was just a dream.”
Memories flooded back of my mother and father, my friends and family, and of course, the bullies who had tormented me.
“It’s been so long. There’s nothing left for me there.”
“Time works differently in some worlds - at least that’s what Frederick told me. He, himself, was from another world. And he said one day he would return there and only a few hours would have passed. Perhaps it will be the same for youu. There is only one way to find out."
I looked at him and found that now I was crying. I gave the giant tiger a hug and he lifted his paw to hug me back, retracting his enormous claws to do so.
"You are always welcome in my kingdom if you wish to return one day."
And with that, I left him behind, pushing open the door and going back into the cave on the other side.
I found myself back on Earth, and once again in the form of a boy. Unsure how much time precisely had passed, I scrambled out of the log and looked around for any sign of the bullies who had tormented me so many years ago.
Something crunched beneath my foot as I made my way out of the log, and I looked down to see it was my egg. The sacred egg which I'd been tasked with keeping safe.
It seemed so silly now.
I had a good average in all of my classes. Failing the egg project didn't mean anything, really. Except maybe for Zach, who was barely passing. Maybe he would have to be held back because of my blunder.
Suddenly I felt bad for dropping his egg, even if he had beaten me up for it. I hoped he would pass and get to graduate.
I found my backpack at the entrance to the forest, with all of my papers tossed on the grass. My math textbook was fine, though. Despite what he'd said, Zach hadn't ripped it up - he'd only torn out blank pages from a notebook. Maybe he felt bad.
After I'd gathered up my belongings, I began walking home again.
Halfway there, I looked up and saw Zach. He was on the front porch of his house, looking like he didn't really want to go inside. A man and a woman were yelling at each other loud enough to be heard from the street.
"Hey, Zach!" I called over to him.
He looked up and seemed angry for a second, but then seemed to do a double-take. He walked over to me and looked me up and down.
"What's up with you? You look different," he said.
"I've just had some time to think," I replied. "It doesn't give you an excuse to be a dick to me, but I'm sorry I smashed your egg. It was a mistake. Somebody pushed me from behind and it went flying."
"Yeah, okay," he said. "No big deal. I'm still gonna graduate. Just barely, though."
"That's good."
I thought for a second to myself.
"Hey, do you want to come hang out at my place for a bit? I've got the new Street Fighter game. And I've got some eggs and a Sharpie. After two years in his class, I've gotten pretty good at forging Mr. Marco's signature."
He smiled and nodded, and the two of us left the sounds of muffled arguments on the other side of the door and walked away down the street together.
*
This all happened many years ago. I'm in my late thirties now, and the memories of my other life in that other world have faded. But I still remember how to use a sword. And I still remember the terror I felt as the Silver Witch of Hollow's End set me on fire with her magic. That time while it consumed me felt like it was drawn out forever - and I realized over the years why that was.
In the case of the witch's magic, time does not heal all wounds. It makes little difference.
I think about that sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep at night, tossing and turning from the unquenchable pain. In the darkness of my bedroom. Every time I see a shadow that looks vaguely like a person I'm still convinced it's her. And that she's laughing in the darkness, tormenting me with her magic.
It doesn't matter that she's dead.
Now I know that there are an infinite number of different worlds out there.
And an infinite variety of horrific things waiting just in the shadows out of sight.
How many doors leading to other worlds are out there?
And what do we do if someone like the Silver Witch steps through, into our world?
What if they're already here?
Or someone else much worse?
YT
[TCC]https://www.reddit.com/TheCrypticCompendium?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)

This seems to be a bit of a thing now and I got bored, so screw it, here's mine. This isn't gonna be like Marvel where there's distinct phases with films in those phases leading up to a massive crossover event like Endgame, it's more gonna be about making good stories that are in the same universe without having to link it to whatever huge threat. I'm also not really gonna go into the villains that much, more focusing on the major main character events that will happen. This will cover 10 years with 3 to 4 films a year which I think seems reasonable.
Justice League 1 (2025): Barry Allen's Flash, Aquaman, Black Canary, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter team up to stop Starro, creating the Justice League.
Batman 1 (2025): Bruce becomes Batman and builds a trust with Gordon. The League of Assassins test him by sending Lady Shiva after him.
Flash 1 (2025): Wally West becomes Kid Flash.
Superman 1 (2026): Clark meets Perry White, Jimmy Olsen, and Lois Lane and publically debuts as Superman, making the suit with the help of Ma and Pa Kent and getting the name from Lois. Clark and Superman meet Lex for the first time
Green Arrow 1 (2026): Oliver takes in Roy Harper, training him to become his sidekick, Speedy.
Wonder Woman 1 (2026): Diana wins Hippolyta's tournament, winning the right leave Themyscira and act as champion to stop the impending war between Circe and Ares, taking her mother's WW2 mantle as Wonder Woman. She stays in Man's World, going to university to learn more about it where she meets Etta Candy.
Green Lantern 1 (2027): Hal fights OMAC, stopping and incarcerating his handlers, the Global Police Agency. He can't find or deactivated the Brother Eye Satellite but does manage to arrest Buddy Blank, handing him into the DEO.
Aquaman 1 (2027): Aquaman takes in Garth, an escapee from Idylis, an Atlantean penal city housed within Xebel. Together they free the denizens of the penal city from Black Manta, saving Manta's son, Kaldur'ahm, in the process. They prepare to move against Atlantis with Garth become Aqualad.
Teen Titans 1 (2027): Dick Grayson's Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash come together as the Teen Titans.
Superman 2 (2028): Clark saves a dog from Metropolis' Suicide Slums and takes him to the Fortress of Solitude to heal. Krypto begins exhibiting Kryptonian powers revealing that he had been altered by the Fortress' AI known as the Eradicator. The Eradicator plans to restructure Earth into Krypton but is stopped by Clark.
Batman 2 (2028): Bruce is confronted by Ra's al Ghul who has been watching him since his debut and wants him to take over the League of Assassins. Bruce has a night of passion with Talia. Jason Blood is called in by Bruce to explain the history of the League of Assassins and the mystical properties of the Lazarus Pit.
Aquaman 2 (2028): Mera falls in love with Arthur and joins his fight for Throne of Atlantis which he does get.
Green Lantern 2 (2029): Hal is on Earth for reasons that will be shown in a future film, so Guy Gardner and John Stewart are brought in as replacements. Guy breaks his leg resulting in him getting benched until he's fully healed
Justice Society 1 (2029): In 1951, the Justice Society includes Alan Scott's Green Lantern, Jay Garrick's Flash, Al Pratt's Atom, Hourman, Wildcat, Wesley Dodds' Sandman, Gavyn's Starman, Johnny Thunder, Shiera Hall's Hawkwoman, Hawkman, and Janos Prohaska's Blackhawk. The team becomes trapped in Ragnarok where they are in a never ending battle where they don't age. Most members die leaving only Flash, Hawkwoman, and Hawkman. Alan Scott escaped a long time ago and has been trying to find a way to get his friends out. He meets Ray Palmer in present day seeing he has the power to get his friends out resulting in the remaining Society members getting freed.
Wonder Woman 2 (2029): Diana leads Etta Candy, Barry Allen's Flash, and Hal Jordan's Green Lantern to Themyscira to stop Felix Faust from siphoning the magic from the island. The quartet are able to stop Faust and free the Amazons but Diana is banished for bringing men on the island. Donna Troy tags along with Diana in her banishment becoming Wonder Girl.
Green Lantern & Green Arrow (2030): Hal starts traveling across the country with Oliverwhere they encounter social issues as well as the villain Major Disaster who the two defeat.
The Flash 2 (2030): Professor Zoom threatens Iris' life and Barry nearly kills him. Zoom attempts to kill Iris but Barry saves her by sending her into the future before he sacrifice himself to stop Zoom, the Speedforce absorbing the two.
Justice League 2 (2030): The Justice League now consists of Aquaman, Black Canary, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Atom, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Red Tornado, and Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein). The satellite is destroyed by Despero and Red Tornado sacrifices himself to save to save the rest of the League, his consciousness being uploaded into the League Database. During the battle, Firestorm's connection is ruptured, forcing Ronnie and Stein to limit their time as Firestorm.
Green Arrow & Green Arrow (2031): Oliver and Hal are still traveling, meanwhile Dinah discovers that Roy has a heroin addiction and helps him work through it, he retires as Speedy.
Teen Titans 2 (2031): The Teen Titans has expanded and now includes Nightwing, Wally West's Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Terra, and Jericho. Terra betrays the team and helps Deathstroke defeat them but Jericho attempts to stop his father resulting in his death at his father's hand. Terra is killed and the Titans disband.
Green Lantern 3 (2031): Hal, Kilowog, and Ch'p travel to the forbidden sector to investigate a murdered Lantern where they meet Bro'Dee and battle Atrocitus and the Red Lantern Corp. Ganthet gives Bro'Dee a Blue Battery to become Saint Walker, the Blue Lantern of Hope.
Green Arrow 2 (2032): Oliver's relationship with Dinah becomes more serious after her mother's death. He begins working with Huntress, teaching her how to use a crossbow.
Aquaman 3 (2032): Black Manta kidnaps Arthur and Mera's sin, Arthur the 3rd and kills Mera. Arthur quests to save his son with the help of Dolphin. He loses his hand and has it replaced with an Atlantean war-hook.
Captain Marvel 1 (2032): Billy Batson is guided to the Wizard Shazam by his father's ghost, he becomes the Wizard's champion Captain Marvel, battling Black Adam.
Teen Titans 3 (2033): Betty Kane, inspired by the Titans, creates her own Titans team called Titans West as Flamebird, recruiting Argent, Kid Devil, Bumblebee, Herald, Mirage, Phantasm, Hawk, and Dove. The team bite off more than they can choose while trying to stop Cheshire from blowing up Quarac. They fail in their mission and most of the team is decimated leaving only Flamebird, Argent, and Bumblebee who are saved by Roy Harper (now a government agent named Arsenal), Beast Boy, and the Doom Patrol.
Justice League 3 (2033): A new Justice League had been formed featuring Booster Gold, Ted Kord's Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner's Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Bloodwynd, and Maxima. The team battles Doomsday in Metropolis and doesn't stand a chance with Blue Beetle getting beat into a coma. Booster Gold tries to fight Doomsday but only Superman can really stop him, resulting in the death of Superman and Doomsday leaving Booster feeling responsible. Bloodwynd, Fire, and Ice leave the Justice League.
Superman 3 (2033): Superman had been killed by Doomsday but his body can't be found. It was taken by Eradicator to the Fortress of Solitude where it can be bombarded with solar radiation in to restart his life-signs. Pa Kent learns to his son's death and dies of a heart attack. Clark finds himself in purgatory with dark forces that wish to claim the soul of the Champion of Earth including the Demon Etrigan. Jonathan is able to save Clark with the help of the Spectre who spares Clark's soul, allowing him to return to the land of the living while Pa stays dead and ascends to heaven. During that, John Henry Irons builds his armor and becomes Steel to honor the fallen Superman and Superboy, a teenage Superman clone, breaks out of Cadmus Labs. Steel and Superboy teamup to stop Mongul and Cyborg Superman from turning Earth into Warworld, assisted when Superman returns.
Green Lantern 4 (2034): Hal Jordan, effected by the destruction of Coast City by Mongul and Cyborg Superman, goes crazy and becomes Parallax, destroying the Oan Power Battery leaving John, Guy, and the other Green Lanterns without their powers.
Wonder Woman 3 (2034): With Diana exiled from Themyscira, they decide a new warrior to become Wonder Woman, Artemis. Artemis is taken by Ares and Diana comes fo save her, sacrificing her life for Artemis. Hippolyta, hearing of her daughter's sacrifice, sacrifice's her life to free Diana from the Underworld. Diana briefly gets Godlike powers to fight Ares and banish him from the mortal plane. Diana is called the Themyscira to serve as queen but she turns it down, allowing Hippolyta's sister, Antiope, to become queen instead.
Suicide Squad 1 (2034): The team includes Bronze Tiger, Nuklon, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Enchantress, Catman, and Plastique. Barbara Gordon begins operating as Oracle for the Suicide Squad and Bronze Tiger is the leader.
Batman 3 (2034): Bruce takes in Tim Drake as the new Robin and Barbara begins helping the BatFamily as Oracle. Jean-Paul Valley is rescued from the control of the Order of St. Dumas.

My only paranormal experience was wild
Okay so to start this I want to say I'm now an adult 28 year old male. This story happened when I was around 15 years old and to date still blows my mind. Okay so for context when I was 15 I was a little pot head I loved smoking weed so whenever i got chance which was basically every day I would get high with my friends. We'll come back to that later. I grew up in a town in the uk that was huge for a town we had nearly 100k residents so yeah pretty big. Where i used to live was in like an estate full of houses. I had a best friend at the time who lived about a 20/25 minute walk from my house but in order to get there you had to walk through a wooded area that led to a big lake that you would walk around to get to near his house. So one day randomly I was out with my friend who I just mentioned plus many others when we noticed a lot of police presence in the area near the woods plus there was a police helicopter up in the air. Being curious we followed the police to the woodlands that separated our houses we went through the woods to the lake where the police and ambulance workers where amongst many bystanders at this point. We got there and starting asking people we knew about what happened. We where told that a young boy around the age of 7 had drown in the lake near the path where everyone was gathering. Over the next couple of days police where trawling the lake looking for the child who they knew was there because his friend ran for help when he fell in and couldn't get out. 2 or 3 days after he slipped in the authorities found the young boys body's which was big news in my town. No later than 24hrs after the boy was found the local council installed a black metal bench on the footpath near where he died with a little plaque commemorating his life. Okay so that very next day I was out with my friend over near where I lived we where getting high with a bunch of other friends we knew. By the time we where done getting high we decided to go back to his house to sleep because my mum would have gone crazy over the fact that we where high. We started to walk back to his house at around 11pm it was really dark out. We passed my house and eventually got to the woods. We walked through the woods and got to the start of the lake, we started walking down the side of the lake down the path towards where the kid drowned and the bench was. We where just talking nonsense as high teens did when I noticed that when the bench got into sight that there was a man sat on the bench. Now I was a bit freaked out by this but didn't say anything yet, it was 11pm near the woods in the dark it was creepy but when I got a little closer I noticed I could see what the man was wearing and he was dresses as a priest. You know black jacket white collar. Upon seeing this priest I sighed some relief because I just pressumed he was praying or something of the sort for the kid that drown in that spot about 4 days earlier. So after noticing this priest I just watched him sit there as I got closer and closer I didn't say anything to my friend who was right next to me but we collectivity stopped talking once we noticed the man. As we got closer it was more obvious he was a priest and then once we got within about 5 metres .he was gone. Like gone gone. I felt like I blinked and he just disappeared. When we was walking past the actual bench where I seen him sat there was nobody there but if he was to have gotten up and walked away I'd have seen him its a one track walk way. After I got to the bench I turned to my friend who was just as confused and spooked as I was. I asked him if he'd just seen that "man" sat on the bench. I didn't want to say what type of man because the way he was dressed was very obvious as to what type of man he was. But as I asked him "did you just see that man sat on the bench" he said "yeah the guy dressed like a priest" when I tell you my heart sunk I can't explain that feeling or that situation to this day. What gets me is I purposely asked my friend if he seen the "man" and he corrected me by saying the man was a priest. If it was a person they'd have had to get up and walk away from us in a straight line down the path which we'd have seen or they'd have had to walk past us but no when we got close POOF gone. Still to this day its my only paranormal experience but blows my mind every time I think about it.

My only paranormal experience was wild
Okay so to start this I want to say I'm now an adult 28 year old male. This story happened when I was around 15 years old and to date still blows my mind. Okay so for context when I was 15 I was a little pot head I loved smoking weed so whenever i got chance which was basically every day I would get high with my friends. We'll come back to that later. I grew up in a town in the uk that was huge for a town we had nearly 100k residents so yeah pretty big. Where i used to live was in like an estate full of houses. I had a best friend at the time who lived about a 20/25 minute walk from my house but in order to get there you had to walk through a wooded area that led to a big lake that you would walk around to get to near his house. So one day randomly I was out with my friend who I just mentioned plus many others when we noticed a lot of police presence in the area near the woods plus there was a police helicopter up in the air. Being curious we followed the police to the woodlands that separated our houses we went through the woods to the lake where the police and ambulance workers where amongst many bystanders at this point. We got there and starting asking people we knew about what happened. We where told that a young boy around the age of 7 had drown in the lake near the path where everyone was gathering. Over the next couple of days police where trawling the lake looking for the child who they knew was there because his friend ran for help when he fell in and couldn't get out. 2 or 3 days after he slipped in the authorities found the young boys body's which was big news in my town. No later than 24hrs after the boy was found the local council installed a black metal bench on the footpath near where he died with a little plaque commemorating his life. Okay so that very next day I was out with my friend over near where I lived we where getting high with a bunch of other friends we knew. By the time we where done getting high we decided to go back to his house to sleep because my mum would have gone crazy over the fact that we where high. We started to walk back to his house at around 11pm it was really dark out. We passed my house and eventually got to the woods. We walked through the woods and got to the start of the lake, we started walking down the side of the lake down the path towards where the kid drowned and the bench was. We where just talking nonsense as high teens did when I noticed that when the bench got into sight that there was a man sat on the bench. Now I was a bit freaked out by this but didn't say anything yet, it was 11pm near the woods in the dark it was creepy but when I got a little closer I noticed I could see what the man was wearing and he was dresses as a priest. You know black jacket white collar. Upon seeing this priest I sighed some relief because I just pressumed he was praying or something of the sort for the kid that drown in that spot about 4 days earlier. So after noticing this priest I just watched him sit there as I got closer and closer I didn't say anything to my friend who was right next to me but we collectivity stopped talking once we noticed the man. As we got closer it was more obvious he was a priest and then once we got within about 5 metres .he was gone. Like gone gone. I felt like I blinked and he just disappeared. When we was walking past the actual bench where I seen him sat there was nobody there but if he was to have gotten up and walked away I'd have seen him its a one track walk way. After I got to the bench I turned to my friend who was just as confused and spooked as I was. I asked him if he'd just seen that "man" sat on the bench. I didn't want to say what type of man because the way he was dressed was very obvious as to what type of man he was. But as I asked him "did you just see that man sat on the bench" he said "yeah the guy dressed like a priest" when I tell you my heart sunk I can't explain that feeling or that situation to this day. What gets me is I purposely asked my friend if he seen the "man" and he corrected me by saying the man was a priest. If it was a person they'd have had to get up and walk away from us in a straight line down the path which we'd have seen or they'd have had to walk past us but no when we got close POOF gone. Still to this day its my only paranormal experience but blows my mind every time I think about it.

My only paranormal experience was wild
Okay so to start this I want to say I'm now an adult 28 year old male. This story happened when I was around 15 years old and to date still blows my mind. Okay so for context when I was 15 I was a little pot head I loved smoking weed so whenever i got chance which was basically every day I would get high with my friends. We'll come back to that later. I grew up in a town in the uk that was huge for a town we had nearly 100k residents so yeah pretty big. Where i used to live was in like an estate full of houses. I had a best friend at the time who lived about a 20/25 minute walk from my house but in order to get there you had to walk through a wooded area that led to a big lake that you would walk around to get to near his house. So one day randomly I was out with my friend who I just mentioned plus many others when we noticed a lot of police presence in the area near the woods plus there was a police helicopter up in the air. Being curious we followed the police to the woodlands that separated our houses we went through the woods to the lake where the police and ambulance workers where amongst many bystanders at this point. We got there and starting asking people we knew about what happened. We where told that a young boy around the age of 7 had drown in the lake near the path where everyone was gathering. Over the next couple of days police where trawling the lake looking for the child who they knew was there because his friend ran for help when he fell in and couldn't get out. 2 or 3 days after he slipped in the authorities found the young boys body's which was big news in my town. No later than 24hrs after the boy was found the local council installed a black metal bench on the footpath near where he died with a little plaque commemorating his life. Okay so that very next day I was out with my friend over near where I lived we where getting high with a bunch of other friends we knew. By the time we where done getting high we decided to go back to his house to sleep because my mum would have gone crazy over the fact that we where high. We started to walk back to his house at around 11pm it was really dark out. We passed my house and eventually got to the woods. We walked through the woods and got to the start of the lake, we started walking down the side of the lake down the path towards where the kid drowned and the bench was. We where just talking nonsense as high teens did when I noticed that when the bench got into sight that there was a man sat on the bench. Now I was a bit freaked out by this but didn't say anything yet, it was 11pm near the woods in the dark it was creepy but when I got a little closer I noticed I could see what the man was wearing and he was dresses as a priest. You know black jacket white collar. Upon seeing this priest I sighed some relief because I just pressumed he was praying or something of the sort for the kid that drown in that spot about 4 days earlier. So after noticing this priest I just watched him sit there as I got closer and closer I didn't say anything to my friend who was right next to me but we collectivity stopped talking once we noticed the man. As we got closer it was more obvious he was a priest and then once we got within about 5 metres .he was gone. Like gone gone. I felt like I blinked and he just disappeared. When we was walking past the actual bench where I seen him sat there was nobody there but if he was to have gotten up and walked away I'd have seen him its a one track walk way. After I got to the bench I turned to my friend who was just as confused and spooked as I was. I asked him if he'd just seen that "man" sat on the bench. I didn't want to say what type of man because the way he was dressed was very obvious as to what type of man he was. But as I asked him "did you just see that man sat on the bench" he said "yeah the guy dressed like a priest" when I tell you my heart sunk I can't explain that feeling or that situation to this day. What gets me is I purposely asked my friend if he seen the "man" and he corrected me by saying the man was a priest. If it was a person they'd have had to get up and walk away from us in a straight line down the path which we'd have seen or they'd have had to walk past us but no when we got close POOF gone. Still to this day its my only paranormal experience but blows my mind every time I think about it.

The first rays of sunlight splashed on my face waking me up for the day. But I didn’t want to get out of bed. The alarm finally sounded and I quickly turned it off. “Just five more minutes,” I muttered.
“Mark, wake up, it's time for breakfast. Mark? Mark get your butt down here before I come up myself.”
I got up so fast I almost fell flat on my face. “Mom, I’ll be there in 20 minutes,” I yelled, panicking. “I need to brush my teeth and take a shower.”
“Hurry up then,” she responded.
Thank god. She can be really scary when she’s angry.
I turned to face the dashboard in front of me.
“Assistant, turn on the lights and tell me the weather,” I ordered. Unfortunately, I had no response. Oh right, that broke yesterday. Now I have to pay to fix it. I should hurry up and shower. So I headed for my own bathroom. After brushing my teeth I stripped and threw my clothes in the laundry bin. I have to buy more detergent for the washing machine. Why do I have to pay for so many things today?
Cold water caught me off guard in the shower. Unfortunately, I forgot we haven’t paid for this month’s hot water. So I was in a rush to wash up because I hate bathing in cold water. I toweled off and opened my drawer. I grabbed a fresh pair of boxers, a t-shirt and I wore my school uniform on top. It was a black blazer with blue highlights and black plants with black shoes. It had the initials FT for Future Tech, the school I’m enrolled at. However, there was a gold pin that only I had the right to wear with a V imprinted on it for Victor. It was proof that I was number one in my school. It was also like a homing signal for bullies.
After turning on the lights I could see my room clearly now. My hoverboard was strapped to the corner of the wall. My bed was in a mess with sheets and pillows spread all over. My virtual reality set along with my computer was arranged together at my left. With my hoverboard and backpack I walked out the door.
Delicious aromas from my mother’s cooking attacked me when I walked into the kitchen. I smelled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. A big pitcher of orange juice was also on the table along with several clean plates for eating.
“Hello, Mom,” I said. “What’s the occasion? This is a nice spread.”
My mother turned around and sort of smiled. She wore a green shirt with blue sweatpants that had food stains all over. My mom was beautiful. She was caucasian with brighter skin than mine with blue eyes and blond hair. My dad was African American so my skin was a bit darker. However, I inherited her eyes that were brighter than any diamond and her beautiful blond hair. She was 45 but looked 30 and I was lucky to have her.
“So, now you want to get out of bed. I just got paid so I wanted to whip up something special. Eat up because I predict it’ll be a while before you can eat like this again. I’m almost done here, go and eat with your father.”
I gave her a hug and walked to our dining table and sat right next to my father. He’s six feet tall, with strong arms and had a big beard he was super proud of. He was almost 47 but still looked 30 just like my mother. He had a suit and tie on for work and had a plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I did the same and my plate was filled with a heap of delectable delicacies.
“Hey, son, how are you doing?” my dad asked in his deep voice.
“ I’m doing fine,” I said in a garbled voice because I was stuffing my mouth with pancakes.
“So, how’s work,” I asked.
“It’s been fine. I'm receiving a pay raise this week,” he said.
“Really?” I almost jumped out of my seat. “That’s great. Recently, some things haven’t been working. I ran out of detergent, my Assistant isn’t working and the hot water stopped running. But don’t worry I’ll pay for all of that stuff by myself. And if there’s anything you need help with-”
“Mark!” my mom cried out.
Oh crap.
“You’re only 16 and you’ve been taking those illegal jobs. What if the government finds you and arrests you. They could imprison you and us or worse. And what about your friend Thomas. Does his mom know about it? Should I contact her?”
“Mom! We need the money and so does Thomas. It's risky but we’re smart enough to not get caught. “
“Mark,” my father said.
“We know that it's difficult for folks like us to make sufficient money to live in District 3. But we moved here despite the difficulties to offer you a better education and better environment.”
“I know!” I yelled.
“But I bet 250 years ago it wasn’t this hard to just live as a normal citizen!”
“They say that the descendants of the Enhanced still live,” my father countered. “They still live in our society planning the destruction of the rest of the world. The people are scared. The government is paranoid. If they discover someone with powers they’ll be hunted down. If they discover if you are associated with one without reporting you could be executed. And if you’re caught in unauthorized territory they’ll execute you.”
“Is that what you want?” my mom demanded.”For both our family and Thomas’ to die! I can’t lose anybody else.”
It kills me to see my mother cry. It also killed me to have to lie to my family. They do so much so I can go to one of the best schools in the country so I can get a good education and a high class job. And live a cushy and luxurious life but I know just how much debt they have even if they don’t know I do. And Thomas’ family is doing even worse than us.
“I’ll stop then and I’ll go to school. Today is our mandatory physical check-up. I’ll meet up with Thomas but don’t worry we won’t do anything illegal.”
My parents both looked at me with total distrust in my eyes.
My mom finally caved in. “Fine, make sure you’re prepared and take the train to school. Make sure you’re careful and follow all instructions!”
“Don’t worry mom,” I grumbled. “It's not like any of us have superpowers anyway.”
I finished my food, grabbed everything I needed and rushed out the door.
Living here is expensive but it sure is amazing if you can succeed.
Even if the world was almost destroyed 250 years ago we sure were able to come a long way in that time. It was great enough that me and Thomas’ parents would try so hard to be able to live here.
At first glance it was beautiful like a dream. Sector 3 was one of the best Districts except 1 and 2.
It buzzed with life with people on their way to work and wherever they needed to go. Cars hovered over the ground at speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour.They made a sort of buzzing noise that was music to my ears. The smells of food cooking in fancy restaurants attacked my nostrils hoping to draw my attention and buy their food. Good thing I had a hearty breakfast because I don’t think I could afford any of them right now. Teenagers like me hung out with their hoverboards doing all types of tricks that could easily backfire in a nearby park. They had neon colored hair, mohawks along with other choices in fashion that my school and I just don’t agree with. Other businesses such as hospitals, hair salons, movie theaters also seemed to attract crowds like a magnet. I even passed by the hospital my mom worked at. It was a huge dark skyscraper with a spacious parking lot with its name Healing Haven Hospital in bright colored letters at the top.
Sector 3 was a great place to live if you could afford it. Although If you looked hard enough you noticed the people that failed to make ends meet. In the slums people slept in man made houses of trash and boxes. Others smoked and did drugs which was kind of illegal. Either they weren’t caught or the soldiers didn’t care enough to check. Children wearing dirty rags who were so skinny you could count their ribs rummaged through trash and fought over any spoils. It wasn’t fair that this greedy government would place laws and taxes that would force them to suffer this horrible fate. I need money whether or not it's legal as long as it can keep my family fed and happy.
15 minutes after I left the house I finally reached the train station. I got off my hoverboard and got in line and thankfully it wasn’t that long. When I reached the doors, I almost had a heart attack. Guarding the door where two sentinels armed to the teeth carrying large guns and dressed in their signature white bulletproof armor.
“Pay up please,” the one on the right said as he stretched out his hand. He held a device that would collect the money you need to take to ride the train.
“Okay,” I agreed with a nervous voice.
I took out my own phone and paid. I was able to get a seat on the train I was keeping all to myself with no troubles.
After we started moving I finally was able to let myself relax. I thought I was this close to being arrested before I could do anything illegal today.
Sentinels are usually stationed in places such as banks and homes of important people like governors. But this is the first time I’ve seen them deployed at a train station. I remember when I wanted to be one when I was a kid and go to District 2 to make lots of money but my parents made me give up that dream. District 2 specializes in military and security. That was where soldiers trained and lived. Higher Ups also had access to a luxurious life in a fancy mansion and more money than what they actually needed. This is where the hovercrafts that soared the sky providing surveillance were built and maintained. Where Epizon’s forces that would protect our country from its threats could prepare for any possibility. Prepare for what I always ask. Most of the world has been destroyed. Africa has never shown any hostility to us. No, they’re just here to enforce this tyrannical government and eliminate any that may possess abilities.
I grabbed my headphones from my backpack and played my favorite songs. At least I can enjoy the view.
It was like I was flying as the train soared through the sky on a railway that snaked throughout the city. Never actually touching since the train was connected through powerful electromagnets saving both energy and money. The city looked even more impressive when you had a bird’s eye view.
Couples and families enjoyed picnics on tables at the Liberty State Park. People walked in and out of the Interpretive Center where history from about 300 years was taught. It still had memorials dedicated to remembering events like what happened centuries ago at 9/11. Now there’s a huge memorial dedicated to those who fought to save us from the Enhanced. It's still so hard to believe that people with super powers exist. I’ve learned about them in history class but they seem so unreal. I’ve never seen somebody shoot fire or fly so either the military is really good at their job or this is all made up.
District 3 of the great utopia Epizon. Named after the Greek word for survivor. When the continents Australia, Europe, South America, and Asia were destroyed in World War Three. By the Enhanced who gained powers that almost destroyed the world. Thankfully, the remnants of North America were able to stand up and defeat all the Enhanced people and create the amazing paradise we live in.
It sounds so unreal it has to be propaganda to control the Sectors.
We flew over the Hudson River Walkway. It was my favorite view on the train ride because I loved the way sunlight would reflect off the pristine turquoise waters. It's a shame we don’t really get to swim or fish though. That’s probably for the best.
The rest of the train ride went fast and before I knew it I was at my stop. I grabbed my hoverboard and raced to school because the Victor can’t be late.
While this District has its downsides it could really get a lot worse from here. However, District 1 was the real paradise. It was where the most important people with the most standing lived. The President, his wife, and other high ranking government officials lived there. In enormous mansions separated by acres where all the other people who enforced laws and taxes that made it difficult for my parents to live and provide for us.
But District 3 was the best place where people who are more fortunate like me could live. As long as you were skilled enough and worked hard enough. My mom was a somewhat prominent doctor at one of the biggest hospitals in this District. District 3 specializes in a lot of fields but the one it specializes in is medical science. Medicine, prosthetics, you can get the best of them from here. And my dad was vice president at a company that released some of the best virtual reality games. Entertainment is just as important as health in Epizon. Which meant I sometimes received popular games before everyone else. I remember so many times my parents and I would play together exploring outer space, fighting monsters. My parents are so cool, right?
You’d think that our life would be a little more luxurious and it was. Unfortunately, the selfish government increased taxes and fees from school started to pile up. As the victor in sophomore year I was exempt from those rules as long as I remained Victor. But my parents have yet to completely finish paying all those debts.
It's dangerous to get lost in your thoughts when you’re traveling 3 feet off the ground at 15 miles per hour on a hoverboard because you might end up running into a moving car. Thankfully, I managed to stop just in time.
“So, the Victor almost crashes to a fatal stop. It would be sad, you know. I’d hate for my best friend to die like that.”
I knew that voice.
I turned around and noticed that mischievous grin with sharp teeth I was so familiar with. With his strong red eyes and messy black hair he could’ve been a criminal. Well he technically should be but we’re too smart to get caught.
“Thomas, how’re you?” I asked as I got off my hoverboard.
“Oh, nothing, just waiting for you,” he replied. “I knew you’d show up here to catch the levitrain.”
He gave me a hug and somehow managed to pick me up and spin me around like something a kid would ask their parents to do.
“How’re you doing my best friend? Did you actually get a huge extravagant meal because I just did. My mom just got paid and she didn’t save a single epi.”
“Yeah, I actually did and so I can actually keep my breakfast and not throw up let me down.”
“Sure!”
“How’re you so strong anyway? I know you work out but are you seriously that strong. Don’t tell me you actually have super strength.”
“I hope I don’t. Life sucks as is but it would get even worse if I suddenly awakened superpowers.”
I feel the same. It’s rough but we can make it better.
“Fistbump!”
We always managed to read each other’s minds.
“Are you ready for these physicals?” I asked.
“I’m so sick of those things,” he replied. “Oh, it’s time for us to cross.”
We both got on our hoverboards and raced towards school.
“Don’t worry about it, you're strong and you’re pretty muscular,” I assured him. “But, I hope you’re not strong enough to throw a car or something.”
“Don’t worry about it, I've already tried. Nah, I’m kidding.”
“So, are we doing that job today,” Thomas asked with a mischievous grin.
“You know it,” I said.
CHAPTER 2
Now you have to admit our school was pretty impressive.
First of all, it was gigantic. It sort of resembled a castle but really high tech in blue, red, and white colors. In the middle FutureTech was printed in red and blue and was highlighted in white. The dorms were on the left side. And the rest of the other facilities and equipment was in the other half. This was FutureTech, a place which was probably the best school a student could ask for. Less than 20% of those who apply here make the cut. And the majority of them were rich kids who could afford to pay the tuition. Me and Thomas barely made it and it was really tough. But we both worked hard and eventually I became the Victor. One of the perks of being a Victor that must’ve been in place for people like us was that the Victor could choose anyone who didn’t have as much money as the others to be their second in command. They would be exempt from the tuition and other crazy rules. Did you know you have to pay a security fee after a year?
Crazy.
But those only applied if the other guy had good grades and a clean track record. But only as long as I’m the Victor and if either of us do anything that breaks the rules we’ll both be kicked out. Talk about pressure.
But this was the best place to learn anything really. Law, business, art, engineering and other sciences. And it could all be done here.
The school had defenses in place to protect the lives of students and staff. An electromagnetic barrier surrounded the entire establishment. Stretching out a few acres across outside the building. If you wanted to get in you had to get through the one gate in the front. At the gate there were security cameras, x-rays, and 10 armed Sentinels just for extra security. The security was just as intense inside making it nearly impossible to do anything that violated the rules. They didn’t waste a single epi.
“Man, the security of this place is unnerving as always,” Thomas complained.
“It never fails to show me just how out of place we are.”
“Of course the security is advanced. The children of really important people receive education here. This helps them make sure they aren’t kidnapped. I do agree it's unnerving but at least it’s secure. Besides you and I both deserve to be here”
We walked through the sliding doors and saw just how beautiful the school was inside.
The place was illuminated by golden lights. Robots made clunky noises while drones wizzed over my head. I could barely hear myself think over the voices of other students. Girls argued over petty things like their hairstyles and whose boyfriend was better. While boys competed to see who’s stronger or more handsome. Rainbow colors flashed from the lab to the right. Future doctors practiced their skills on mannequins in the lab at the left.
“Hey, look, it's the Victor!”
Soon, the whole school had their eyes on me.
Girls and boys waved and applauded. Even the ones on the second floor whooped and jumped around. Not everyone felt the same though. Some students snickered and sneered while others glared with hatred and jealousy. Even when you work hard to be at the top not everyone will appreciate it.
“You’re popular,” Thomas remarked.
“Too bad not everyone is a fan. You still got the ladies cheering for you. You think you could give them a good word about me?” Thomas joked.
“You know that’s not how it is. We’re on different levels in society. I lose my title as Victor and I fade into the background.”
“Besides, you're smart and strong. Try hard enough and you could get a girlfriend. Just don’t let anyone catch on to our extracurricular activities.”
“Look at that smug smile on his face,” a voice rang out.
“It must be nice to be the Victor's lap dog. I could use that so explain why it is getting wasted on that idiot.”
“ He thinks he’s so strong and mighty just because of that stupid pin. Wait till I get my hands on it, fool.”
“He should watch out. It’d be unfortunate if an accident were to happen. No one would miss some commoners who couldn’t support themselves without that Victor title.”
“Who is that?” Thomas demanded.
“If I find out who they are they won’t have to worry about creating any accident.”
“Chill out Thomas. None of them have the guts or smarts to try anything. Besides, together there’s nothing they can do to either of us.”
“You’re right. We have brains and muscles,” he said as he flexed his arms.
I don’t blame some of them though. Kids who weren’t super wealthy but still made it could use the privileges I got from this title. There were also the selfish rich kids who had more money than they really needed. But I couldn't bear to see someone work hard to achieve something they couldn’t. It makes me so sick sometimes. Our parents do our best just to put a roof over our heads and pay taxes. But I became Victor and that’s a problem. I apologize but I’m not giving it up anytime soon.
“ So what’s first on Victor's schedule?”
“First, we have History class. Then, I have to give a report on quantum physics. Then we have lunch right before the physicals.”
“Well, while you’re doing your fancy report on quantum psychics I’m doing one on the state of this Sector. There’s so many children and families without homes. If I simply beg them nothing will happen. I’ll convince them why they should lend money and support to those who really deserve it. They can train adults to help reinforce the Walls. Add them to the military. Children can also be useful for things. Think about all the new medications they could try by using sick children. They could also put extremely smart children to work in engineering. Even the government can’t ignore the potential of children if given the right environment.”
Good old Thomas is always thinking of ways to help those in need. He takes every advantage and tool he can if it means he can improve the lives of his mother’s and others. More reason for me to fight to stay the Victor.
“Thomas, I have a question.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“Let’s say if you can do what you plan. What if some of those who you’re helping have powers?”
Thomas' face darkened as he stopped his stride.
I hate to do this to him but what if some of those he’s trying to help are Enhanced. People who have done nothing wrong superpowers or not don’t deserve to be hurt out of fear and hatred. Especially if it was because my best friend was only trying to genuinely help.
“I’m not sure. I can already imagine what the government would do if they got their hands on Enhanced people. But if I can only help people with no powers who actually need it. Am I wrong to try even if it could hurt others?”

Chapter 12: Oracle, Leader, Anesthesiologist
First/Previous/Next
“I’ve studied the murlocs, and there’s one thing I know for sure. They’re smarter than the other races of Azeroth think - smart enough to not let anyone know.”

• Brann Bronzebeard, Explorers’ League

~ Mrgglr
I gave one of my pouches a pat, making sure it was still secured to my belt. The Sea Crawler eggs had hatches yesterday during our journey. It had caused a slight delay while I made sure the larva were hatching properly and had enough food to curtail most of the cannibalism common when a clutch hatches.
Now the couple dozen tiny larva were scuttling around their pouch, trying to poke their way through the fiber. I open the top and dropped in a handful of ripped-up shrimp I had acquired at our previous stop. With the pouch settled on my hip, I could feel the feeding frenzy taking place within.
As the village came into view in the distance, Glrrm broke the silence that had dominated the last leg of our journey.
“It looks like the village is still standing, so that’s good.”
That got a small chuckle out of me. “I had complete trust in Brrglrm to not burn it to the ground. It looks like that trust was not misplaced.”
Glrrm responded, a smile stretching across his face. “Yes, complete trust. That’s why you refused to bet on it with me.”
I smiled in return, speaking in an even tone. “I simply felt doing something as frivolous as gambling on my apprentice’s abilities was unfitting. If Brgllrm found out she would lose respect for me.”
“Right…” Glrrm said as he sped up, turning around to face Mrgglr with a large smile. “Or maybe you just didn’t want to risk giving up your stash of mealworms.”
That… I didn’t expect him to ask about that. “How do you know about that?” I said in a confused tone.
“I saw you pocket a handful of them before we left from that mound near the forest. I had always wondered why you collected all those food scrapes after meals. Thought you did some magic thingies with them, but no, you just wanted some snacks.”
“It kind of is a magic thing. I’ve been trying to connect more with earth since we settled on the shore. I can’t rely on my training in water to help much, so I have been trying new techniques. Working with dirt helps me understand it better.”
Glrrm’s face scrunched up in thought and he said, “What, so you dig a hole and can throw around boulders now?”
That elicited a series of small chuckles from me. If only it were that easy. “Oh no, not even close. I haven’t even contacted any earth elementals, so I can’t move so much as a pebble right now. But the more I understand what the earth wants, the closer I am to forming a pact.”
Glrrm went quiet after that, considering my statement. We once again slipped into silence as we reached the shallow waters leading to the beach. The beach was strangely absent, with no one present to welcome the oracle and chieftain. Surely someone had seen them approaching, especially with the heightened vigilance the gnoll attacks created.
As Mrgglr placed his bags on the sand and stretched, Glrrm pointed inland. “I think something’s happening in the village.” He said.
Looking at where he was pointing, there was a large gathering of people in the village. There were much more than usual for this time of day. It looked like most of the village was standing about, clustered around… my hut?
While we made our way into the village proper I ran scenarios through my head. Most of the people there should have been out hunting or gathering at this time of day. The only reason so many people would abandon their tasks was for an emergency, and the most likely emergency I could think of was an injury.
If someone did get hurt, Brgllrm should be able to deal with it. She had been learning about healing and watching me work for the past few months, absorbing my lessons like a whale swallowing swarms of krill. It was amazing to watch her take in a concept and then utilize it immediately after. I had made so many mistakes when I started working with my father and that was raising Sea Crawlers. Brgllrm was learning how to save lives and was already better than many of the healers I had met on my travels.
A cluster of the crowd broke off and started running toward us when we stepped off the beach. Before I could ask any questions, a dozen shouting voices cut me off. I had trouble making sense of what anyone was saying with how they were speaking over one another.
After a few seconds without any sign of the crowd settling down, Glrrm raised his hand and let loose a loud, sharp yell of “Quiet!”
I then took the opportunity to ask my question while they were still silent. “What is happening at my hut?” Then when I saw at least three people start to answer my question, I quickly added “One person only, please.”
A few seconds passed in awkward silence as the group looked around at each other. Eventually, a young man stepped in front of the crowd and reached out to clasp my arm. “We’re glad you’re back Oracle Mrgglr, me, and everyone else in the village.”
Returning the gesture, I squeezed the man’s forearm. “I am sure you all did well without my supervision. But what is the current commotion?”
“Oh, yes that. Lrsh got attacked by a bear while she was out gathering those berries the tadpoles love. Glrmgrlr managed to chase the bear off and drag her back to the village on a stretcher, but she was losing a lot of blood.”
A bear? That was… not too weird. The beasts usually stayed within their territories in the more inland forests but were known to occasionally make their way to bodies of water inhabited by murlocs. It was especially bad during springtime with all the extra fish spawning. I had once heard a story of a river that was visited by not one but two bears in one day. Luckily they just swiped some fish from the river and left, but the tadpoles were still left rattled by the experience.
“Did Lrsh survive?” I said with a worried tone. Lrsh was a sweet woman and only 17 this year. It would be a shame to see such a promising young lady sink to the deeps before her tide had receded. Having to oversee her funeral just 5 years after her coming-of-age ceremony would be devastating.
“We don’t know. That’s why everyone’s hanging around your hut. Brgllrm is trying to save her, but I don’t see what she can do. Has she received the blessing of the spirits yet?”
“I do not believe so, at least not in the same form as my gift.” I turned to Glrrm and gave him a nod. “I have complete faith in my apprentice’s abilities, but it is my responsibility as both her master and Oracle to lend a helping hand, especially in such dire circumstances. Let us move with haste.”
I led Glrrm and the group to my hut, the crowd parting to let me through. As I started to climb up the ladder Brgllrm stuck her head out the front door. Before I could call out to her, she yelled “Hey! If you’re all going to just stand around I need someone to help me up here! Find someone who knows how to… oh. Hello Mrgglr. You’re back?”
“And you are busy. Help me up and I’ll see what I can do to assist.”
“Right, yes of course.” She reached down and steadied the ladder, stopping it from wobbling while I climbed it. “I still need someone who can stitch!” she called out to the gawkers on the sand.
I straightened myself on the solid planks of wood and gave my apprentice a cursory examination. She was covered in sporadic splatters of blood, its crimson-red hue and flowing state spoke to the recent nature of its acquisition. Aside from her morbid decoration, Brgllrm looked much like how she did when I left for the council. She still possessed a truly ridiculous number of pouches on her belt and was currently rooting through them one by one, pulling out all manner of things both useful and impractical.
The retrieval of a stalk of silverleaf from a side pouch accompanied a turn as Brgllrm walked back through the doorway. “We’re lucky you got back in time. I tried my best but Lrsh was absolutely shredded. I’m pretty sure her leg is a lost cause, and she has bled like 3 handfuls of blood since she got here.”
Moving into the interior, I immediately noticed the heavy metallic scent of blood. The source was obvious as Lrsh was laying on one of the patient beds against the wall. A trail of dried blood led from the entrance to the bed, and the cloth Lrsh was wrapped in was stained a reddish-brown.
While I took in the gruesome sight, Brgllrm had made her way over to my tool rack and retrieved a grinding stone. She placed the silverleaf in the concave stone and started crushing the herb.
“Have you given her any other medicine besides the silverleaf?”
“No, I’ve been too busy trying to stem the bleeding. But she’s starting to wake up, so I thought she could use something to calm down.”
Brgllrm handed me the grinding stone and I set it down next to Lrsh’s face, making sure the fumes were finding their way to her. Then I started on a thorough examination, taking care not to disturb the wrappings around her right leg.
I had thought that Brgllrm was just exaggerating Lrsh’s injury due to her inexperience. No matter how gifted she is, the horror of a dying patient couldn’t be understood through stories alone. Everyone I had worked with had a story of their first time seeing torn flesh, and they usually didn’t say “and so I acted calmly.” Panic was the typical reaction. I even freaked out during my apprenticeship during my first real patient, although in my defense their legs had been slightly crushed by a collapsing cave.
But even with the wrapping still on I could tell this was no light injury. Her leg was a mess, and the only thing I could think of was how lucky she was to survive this long, especially without any magical assistance. Brgllrm had done a stellar job at dressing her wounds and keeping her relaxed. But she would have most likely died from blood loss or infection. Her injuries were just too severe. Even with my magic, it would be rough, and her body might not have enough energy to keep up with the healing.
Once the silverleaf had done its job and Lrsh’s face relaxed into a neutral expression, I started drawing upon the power of the waves. The totem hanging around my neck started to rattle, glowing a faint blue and rising into the air in front of my face. Placing a hand on Lrsh’s head, a wave of blue light spread across her prone form, her breathing becoming steady as the numbing effect reached her legs.
When her whole body had been enveloped, I turned away from the bed and spoke to Brgllrm. “Would you retrieve a clamshell’s worth of seawater from the spawning pools and any food you can find? Only things that are simple to eat.”
With a nod, she left the hut and I could hear her yelling at the crowd outside. Shaking my head I returned my attention to Lrsh. One of the positives I could find was that she appeared relatively healthy aside from the massive bear wounds. There was none of the sunken cheeks and spindly limbs I had seen in a few of the villages that were hardest hit by the Gnolls. It is hard to find enough to eat when a majority of your hunters and gatherers were killed or taken away.
I walked over to my collection of clamshells and picked up one with a small leaf carved on the top. Opening it up I collected a few sprigs of peacebloom and added them to the silverleaf paste. They were a bit scuffed up but usable, and I couldn’t blame the gatherers for not knowing how to properly harvest medicinal herbs. That was supposed to be my job, but with everything going on I hadn’t found any time to do it.
I placed the shell back in its place and sat down next to Lrsh. As I mashed the bright white flowers into the paste, I realized something. This is quite possibly the worst time to announce the muster.
~Brgllrm
In the few hours since Mrgglr had returned from the council, he had been acting a bit weird. He wouldn’t answer any of my questions about what had happened, with every question being deflected or garnering the response of “It was interesting”.
Then there was his demeanor. For all the time I had known Mrgglr, he held himself in a certain way. He was old no doubt, often hunching over and leaning on his staff. But there was a sense of power and confidence most other murlocs lacked.
Now he seemed worried. He spent time staring into space and muttering things to himself instead of paying full attention to the patient. I had never seen him like that. He had always imposed upon me the importance of being focused on the task at hand. Sure Lrsh wasn’t dying outright, but that didn’t mean he could just space out.
I would have stuck around to get some more insight into whatever is bothering him, but he told me to leave. Well, technically he suggested I take a break and find some food for Lrsh. But I could understand the subtext. He wanted some alone time to think. He was using a smart method, having to take care of a patient would give him an excuse to not leave the hut and refuse requests an oracle would normally be obliged to help with.
I was also just exhausted. Lrsh had been found fairly early in the morning. Noon hadn’t passed yet when she was dragged into the village and placed on a stretcher. Now the sun was waning and would set in an hour or two. It wasn’t the longest or most arduous day I ever had, but those experiences came from back on Earth. Shockingly, there is a large gap in endurance between an adult woman’s body and what is basically a teenager murloc’s one.
The beach was my go-to place when I felt overwhelmed. The rhythmic lapping of the waves against the shore was nice. It helped me recharge after a long day of listening to Mrgglr and occasionally doing menial tasks. Ah apprenticeships, I’ve missed you.
While relaxing, my walk on the beach didn’t result in the discovery of anything noteworthy. I hadn’t expected to find treasures just laying in the sand, but there weren’t even any nice shells to pick up. But I wasn’t disappointed. I had no real need for wealth right now. It’s not like I’m looking to get romantically involved anytime soon, so gifts are something I exclusively receive. Luckily I haven’t received any special gifts yet. Mrgglr said it is frowned upon to court someone as young as me, but not unknown, especially with talented youth. So it turns out that’s something I have to be on the lookout for.
Although it is also apparently socially acceptable to feed them to hungry marine life. Something about being strong enough to command the beasts of the waves and the respect of the Deep Mother. Silver linings and all that.
Making my way back to Mrgglr’s hut, I could see faint flashes of green and blue-tinged light coming from the entrance. Stepping in, Mrgglr spoke immediately. “Are you feeling better, Brgllrm?”
“Yes.” I responded succinctly. The importance of clear and simple speech was one of the first things Mrgglr had taught me when working on high-risk patients. Time spent on ass-kissing was time wasted.
“Could you come over here, please?” He said without any hint of inflection in his voice. As I crossed the relatively small room, I noticed his eyes were closed.
When I got within a few steps he motioned for me to sit on the floor across from him. Lrsh’s breathing had gotten much better, a far cry from the erratic and haggard breaths she took when I first got her into the bed. Also, Her wrappings were actually clean, lacking any of the bloodstains my attempts inevitably acquired from her wounds. Whatever Mrgglr did worked quickly.
After I had sat down, Mrgglr started talking in an even tone. “I learned some important information at the council. A plan has been created that will affect everyone in the village. But it is frightening, even to me.”
I started to nod, more for myself than Mrgllr as he still had his eyes closed. “And you don’t know how to tell everyone without causing a panic.”
Mrgllr responded after a short exhale. “Not exactly. I possess some experience with calming crowds in these exact scenarios.”
“Then why are you talking to me now?”
“Because you are my apprentice. It would be unbecoming of me to blindside you with this knowledge. You also have a part to play in alleviating the worst fears conjured up in people’s minds.”
“I don’t remember social engineering being part of the deal when I started this apprenticeship thing.”
There was a pause as Mrgglr parsed my sentence. “How do you come up with these words? Social engineering? Social is understandable, but you have never built a hut before. How do you know about engineering?”
I shrugged, unwilling to give a concrete answer. He wasn’t seriously asking the question. Its use was rhetorical, a way to express some of the surprise my vocabulary could elicit. People don’t expect someone as young as me to know half of what I do. To be fair, most of my knowledge wasn’t learned in this world. It was still annoying to be talked down to.
“It is quite simple. When you became my apprentice you gained certain responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is to assist me in the completion of my duties. I need to keep people calm, therefore you must as well.”
“I know, I know. What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. Or more precisely, I need you to change nothing. Act like everything is normal.”
“Reassure people with my presence. A bit basic, but good nonetheless. I’ll make sure to talk you up a bit, really hammer home how capable you are.”
“I can never keep up with how the youth are speaking.” He muttered under his breath before responding to me. “That would be ideal. Organizing some village-wide activities would help as well. Sitting around and waiting will give people time to foster negative emotions. Idle fins are the naga’s playthings after all.”
I leaned back in a large stretch. “You make it sound like everyone is going to go crazy when you tell them what happened. It can’t be that bad, right?”
Mrgllr looked down at his staff when he responded. “It can be that bad. War has come, and there are no oceans left to run to.”
First/Previous/Next

First - Previous - (Soon to be Released)
​
Memory transcription subject: Rivis, Venlil Logistics Technician
Date [standardized human time]: September 2, 2136.
‘Today was the day’, as humans would say.
I informed Kilet of Zoey’s arrival last paw, thinking it would be better for her to meet two venlil rather than just me. Her reaction to our dispositions might prove interesting. My left eye glanced towards Kilet as we walked side by side. Traveling in our own form of a mini-herd. I became acutely aware of something he was saying as I zoned back into the conversation at paw.
“-ou excited, Rivis!? Your partner is coming any claw now!... What’s up with that expression? You don’t look excited.. Did you and Zoey get into an argument or something?”
Kilet, I wonder how excited you’d be at the idea of meeting a human had I not forced you to join? Most likely still terrified to go out at the prospect of seeing a human.
I began to wag my tail a bit, displaying happiness as my ears swiveled to face Kilet. Cocking my head a bit to the side I tightened my vocal chords to give me a bit more of a ‘happier’ tone. “Of course I am, Kilet! I’m just thinking, I had a long paw, didn’t get much sleep, y’know?”
Kilet’s tail signed ‘understood’ as the giddy venlil practically bounced on his feet. “Well that’s good! It wasn’t so long ago you were yelling at me to get more sleep. Looks like you need the same advice! Though, I’m sure that’ll have to wait for a few paws. When Miles gets here I doubt I’ll do anything besides talk his ears off!”
That’s good, Kilet, learn about the nuances of people different than you. Many other venlil should. No, many other species should.
I gave a light hearted chuckle that sounded more like a series of squeaks. “Well, I suppose you’re right. Zoey won’t get finished up at the government building for at least a few more claws. What would you like to do in the meantime?”
Kilet stopped, thinking for a moment before his tail began to sway with a hint of excitement. “Well, seeing as we’re both meeting our humans for the first time, why don’t we try some of their food! I heard there’s a new human sweet stand near the center of the Capital! It’s got a lot of great reviews!”
I let the idea mull itself over in my head for sometime. It couldn’t hurt to try some of their food, perhaps it would let Kilet relate a bit more to Miles when they meet. As for myself, the topic of a human 'churro' could be used to 'break the ice'.
“That sounds alright, why not lead the way? Do you know what sort of things this food stand sells?”
Kilet’s ears swiveled absentmindedly, a trait he had whenever he was trying to think about something. “Just some standard human candy, but there is one dessert there that everyone says is a blessing from the stars! It’s called a ‘churro’. It's like a fried doughy stick, covered in a spice called ‘cinnamon’ and regular sugar! I’ve kinda been wanting to try one for a while..”
It sounds so basic, why would this be considered a ‘blessing from the stars’?
“Hm, well, I suppose we’ll see for ourselves.”
Kilet and I walked side by side, though he was slightly ahead as he took the lead. We opted to walk there instead of taking a transport tube since we had too much time on our paws anyway. We didn’t talk too much as we walked, each of us content to reside in our own heads for a bit.
Rounding a corner, we came upon the central area of the Capital, a large park standing before us with several other venlil sitting, relaxing, or busking, a few pups running about and playing. I would guess this is what a ‘perfect day’ might look like to humans. Tranquil and peaceful. Kilet led us to the ‘famous’ stand, though the line was moderately long. I spent the time in line people watching. Observing the ecstatic venlil milling about. Talking, laughing. A nice cooling breeze flowing through my coat. My right eye glanced at Kilet. His subconscious movements, facial expressions and tail movements displaying signs of serenity.
Everyone around me seemed to be happy, so I should be too.
Getting dragged out of my thoughts, the stand-owner hailed the two of us over. My ears swiveled to face the male running the sweet-stand.
“Excuse me, we’d like one churro each, please!”
Kilet’s soft voice barely rose above the bustling noise around us, but it didn’t seem to matter, the venlil stand-owner opened a display case, and slid out two lightly brown star-shaped sticks. The sheer amount of spice on it perplexed me.
How in the speh are you supposed to even taste the dough with all that spice on it!?
Kilet moved to snag the churros in paw, and as I did, I pulled out my pad. Allowing the cashier to take it and place the charge to my account, Kilet shot me a quick glance of surprise. I stood a bit straighter as my tail swished to and fro in a display of happiness and pride.
“My treat, Kilet.”
The white coated venlil playfully punched my shoulder, my ears swiveling to face him as I took my pad back from the cashier, stepping out of the way for others.
“Aww, I always knew you were a nice guy, Rivis! Here, let's eat them at the same time!”
Together, we raised the churros to our maws as Kilet began a slightly juvenile countdown.
“One.. Two.. Three!”
Together we bit down on the churro, its crunchy texture didn’t surprise me, but the overwhelming sweetness of the pastry quickly made itself apparent, but as I chewed.. It felt almost fluffy. A crunchy, yet fluffy deep fried pastry. This ‘cinnamon’ spice as humans called it melted beautifully with the sugar. Swallowing my bite.
This IS divine..
Stealing a glance at Kilet, I observed him as he ravenously finished the rest of his stick. Barely taking the time to savor it. A genuine chuckle radiated from my throat as I casually took another bite of my own stick, meanwhile Kilet licked the remaining spices off his paws.
“I could go for another one of those.. Or twenty..” Kilet glanced over to me, clearly taking note how slow I was eating mine. “How can you eat it so slowly?! The churro demands that you eat it immediately, then regret it and buy another one to savor that one!”
His playful tone prompted a sarcastically slow bite from me. As if taunting him with equal measure of cheekiness.
Kilet let out a huff of disappointment, or feigned anger. “Alright! Fine, Fine! Eat your churro the wrong way, I don’t care! Though, you have to admit, it was the best thing you’ve ever eaten, right!?”
Suppressing a chuckle, I nonchalantly waved my paw to dismiss the overeager venlil. “Sure, sure, Kilet, it was pretty good.” Pulling out my pad and reading the time. I did a bit of quick math in my head trying to figure out how much time we had left to spend. “I imagine if we take the scenic route through the city, by the time we get to the government building Zoey should be almost done.”
“Sure, sounds like a plan, Rivis!”
Kilet began to walk along a popular trail that takes one though the sights of the city. I followed behind. The walk was pleasant. Neither of us spoke much, a silent agreement hanging in the air to simply enjoy the serene, cloudless paw. My thoughts drifted to a myriad of things.
What did I plan to ask Zoey?
Would she understand if I did tell her?
The whole point of this was to figure out if she could or couldn’t.
What’s the best way to word it?
Was there a ‘best way’ to explain something like this?
Humanity had so far been pioneers of acceptance and empathy, but how much of that was mere posturing? How much did they truly practice what it was they preached? I steeled my nerves as a plan formed itself in my head.
Just as I finished my plan, a long sigh from Kilet drew my ears and left eye to him as we neared the steps to the government building.
“Rivis.. You’re not gonna believe this!” His tone seemed thick with disappointment, and anger, but mostly frustration.
“What’s the problem, Kilet?”
“It’s Miles! He just sent me a message.. His ‘Commander’ took away their shore leave! APPARENTLY it’s because of some big upcoming mission! That’s a load of speh! How can they tell him one thing, then a second later just do the other thing!”
“Well, you mentioned he is in the military, when one signs up for the military the priorities are always mission first, people second. Not much new there. I’m sure once his mission is over he’ll be able to visit. What’s got him so occupied that they canceled their time off?”
With a shrug Kilet let out a second sigh, looking more defeated than angry. “He can’t tell me, Operational Security and all that… Speh”
While I didn’t feel particularly bad for Kilet, it was unfortunate he wouldn’t be exposed to his partner sooner. I did want to see how he grows with human presence.
“That’s a shame, Kilet, I’m sorry to hear that, I hope it’s nothing dangerous, but he’ll likely be fine. Would you still like to wait here for Zoey?”
The disappointed Venlil only gave a shrug as a response, his posture changing to a more somber one the longer he let the information sink in. “I think I might just be a downer for you two right now, besides.. I don’t know how long Miles’ mission will last. I think I’d like to go home and spend the rest of the paw talking with him. Who knows when I’ll get the next chance, y’know?”
My tail signed ‘ok’. Reaching out I attempted to comfort him, placing my paw upon his shoulder, much like how I did when I recommended he sleep more. “It’ll all work out, and don’t worry. I understand completely.” I let my tone take on a softer note. I hoped he’d at least appreciate the alleged sentiment.
Kilet took another long breath in, thinking for a few moments before raising his head, his ears swiveling to face me. “Thanks, Rivis. I’m gonna head home and talk to Miles while I still can. I’ll meet up with you and Zoey at some point.” His voice rose a bit in spirit as he turned to walk towards the transport tubes.
I pulled my paw from his shoulder, turning to face the entrance to the government building. “Sounds like a plan, Kilet.” Mirroring his words from earlier. I heard no response from Kilet besides the soft sounds of him moving to the tubes. Now alone, my eyes fixated on the doors in front of me. It’d only be another half-claw before Zoey was done.
_____________________
Memory transcription subject: Zoey Amara, Human Psychologist
Date [standardized human time]: September 2, 2136.
Placing the final box down in my office I took a step back, appreciating all my hard work. My eyes scanned the modest space, a little disorganized, but everything was still packed up. I had a nice desk, a very nice swivel chair, a couch for anyone to sit on, and the best part.. A window facing out towards the sun! Thankfully I installed the blinds just in case eternal sunlight got bothersome.
I’d have time to really make my office ‘homey’ after a few ‘paws’ as my fuzzy friends would say. Speaking of friends. I bet Rivis has been waiting an eternity for me! Better get-a-move on.
Exiting my office I placed the full face mask on that had been given to me just prior to leaving Earth. It was pretty uncomfortable but nothing I couldn’t manage. Plus I didn’t have to wear it in the building. Only when meeting patients or going out! I practically hopped down the stairs. My body brimming with excitement as I finally got some ‘me time’ to explore Venlil Prime!
Practically throwing the doors open to the city, my eyes scanned the surrounding area, It was pretty late in their paw. Hardly any venlil were out and about. My head turning on a swivel as I gazed at anyone that may look like Rivis. It took a few minutes, but finally near the bottom of the steps I spotted a dark furred venlil. He seemed to be sitting on a bench and reading their pad. Casually making my way down the steps, I purposely moved so I’d be in his peripheral vision so I don’t spook him.
“Heeeey, Rivis?” I asked, unsure if this was the venlil I'm looking for.
The venlil raised their head. His left eye focusing on my covered face in earnest as I noticed his ears turn to face me almost immediately.
SO damn cute!
The venlil put his pad into a satchel slung from his shoulder. “Yes, and you’re Zoey?” He extended a paw out in greeting.
It took me a second to realize he wanted to shake hands! Slowly I extended my right hand, gently gripping his paw. “That’s me! Jeez.. I gotta say.. Your paws are so soft! I mean I knew you guys looked adorable from the photos and the escorts today, but actually touching one! Ugh, it’s a dream come true!”
He pulled away after a moment of contact. “Likewise, Zoey, I’ve been dreaming of something like this for a long time as well.” He stood slowly and gestured to the city around us. “So, what do you think of the Capital?”
My mind raced with all the possible words I could use, but nothing stuck, it was amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, serene, peaceful.. I always imagined if a city on Earth had to be paradise.. It’d look like this. “I.. Don’t even know where to start.. It’s amazing, I love it already! The peace, the fresh air! It’s perfect, Rivis, absolutely perfect! Heh. Well..minus me being a terrifying monster part, but time will fix that!”
Rivis’ tail made a few quick movements, not just swaying back and forth, they looked deliberate.. My head turned slightly to observe his tail. I only managed to sneak a peek at it for a second before he called me out.
“My apologies, Zoey, I forget you don’t know our tail language.. I was simply saying that it’s good you like it here so much, there is nearly an endless amount of things to keep you occupied here in the city, and likely even more outside it.”
I tried to imagine what I could do here on Venlil Prime, but I had absolutely no idea! This was an alien species’ homeworld with a different culture, different beliefs, different.. Everything! I let out a sigh of relief at having Rivis as such a capable tour guide. “Oh, I’m sure! SO! What should we do first? Food? Theater? What sort of things do you like doing, Rivis!?”
Rivis fell silent for a moment, thinking about what he should show me first. I nearly started bouncing up and down from anticipation alone!
“Well, I believe a good place to start would be our media, it’s late out now, and most places will be closing in the next quarter claw. Next paw will provide quite a few more chances for exploration. If you are not working tomorrow, why not stay the ‘night’ with me?”
I could feel a smirk start to grow on my masked face. Obviously Rivis didn’t know what asking a girl to their house meant, but still, it was endearing all the same. It also displayed an unusual sense of trust. At least unusual for right now.. Almost every other report shows that venlil have a commonly negative reaction when first meeting humans, yet, Rivis seems entirely at ease..
“Already trying to charm me, eh? Inviting a girl you just met over, what could that possibly say, hm?”
Rivis was silent for a moment, almost as if he had to take himself out of reality to think of a reply. “That’s not what I meant, Zoey, I am simply offering for you to observe our most popular shows and browse my pad.”
“Hmmmm, not bad, not bad. I think we could do that. I have to ask though.. You haven’t reacted at all like most venlil i’ve read about from the earlier days of the exchange program. You seem pretty calm, not that I’m complaining!”
I watched as the dark-coated venlil’s eyes moved about the area, his tail lapping against the bench in silent thought. He remained quiet for several seconds. I knew Rivis spoke differently, had different beliefs, is different, but whether or not he chooses to tell me, that’s his choice.
“I don’t think this is the right place to discuss this, Zoey. Please, come to my home.”
Again, he spoke in that flat expression. Flat tone. Wordlessly, I nodded my head. Rivis stood, leading me to the transport tubes. I had to duck in order to enter the cramped space, but found a seat next to Rivis. Thankfully there were few venlil riding. Though, the few that were in the same tube as me almost immediately had looks of fright written all over them. I spied several venlil communicating with their tails. I tried to look down to the floor, making myself seem small.
Sorry guys.. I’m not a threat! I promise.. Just lemme visit with a friend and I’ll be out of your wool..
The remainder of the ride Rivis was silent, as was I. Not wanting to spook any other venlil with my sudden voice. All things considered, it was a short ride. As we stood, Rivis led me out of the tube. From the corner of my eye I saw several of the venlil still inside immediately relax, some even sighing from relief. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting a little bit, but I knew the risks of coming here.
Just a little time, Zoey! That’s all, don’t get too beat up about it! They’ll come around..
Rivis led me to a rather nice looking apartment complex. I had to crane my neck up to see the full height of the building.. An odd hexagonal shape, much like the other large buildings I’ve seen around the city. I watched as my dark furred friend opened the door. Stepping in, I followed him. Immediately my eyes were met with an immaculate apartment. Clean.. Nice smelling, not a lot of decoration. Yet everything that was here was perfectly folded, perfectly maintained.
“Damn, Rivis.. This place is amazing! You take great care of it! I almost don’t want to sit down and mess up your couch.”
“Thank you, I try to maintain my area, it helps me think.” He responded with a similarly flat tone.
I moseyed my way over to the couch, sitting down. Turning my head to the left I watched as Rivis seemed to be preparing something in the kitchen area.
“Sooo. Is this a better place?” I asked, narrowing my eyes behind the mask, awaiting his response. Curiosity leaked into my head. Something was different about him.
Rivis sighed, and glanced up, looking at me straight on, like a human would. “Can you remove your mask?”
My hands moved to the clips holding my two-piece mask on, yet they hovered there for a second “You sure you want to see, Rivis? A lot of venlil freak out when they see us.”
“I’m sure, Zoey, I won’t be startled.” His neutral expression remaining unchanged.
Nodding once I unclipped my mask, pulling my hair out from my hoodie. I let my long brown hair flow down my shoulders as I trained my hazel eyes directly on Rivis. His facial expression didn’t change. Nothing changed, he just.. Looked at me.
“Well? What do you think?” Part of me was curious to know if the velil thought any part of a human was attractive or pleasant to look at.. We certainly thought that of them.
“I think.. Something tells me I should be afraid, Zoey, but I’m not. Something is telling me your eyes are looking directly at me, it’s marked me as your prey, but I don’t believe that. Nothing about you has told me you’ve come here to hurt me. Though, this isn’t atypical for me. I know why I’m not afraid, Zoey.”
I raised one of my eyebrows, continuing to cast my gaze over Rivis’ still form. “What do you mean? I need you to explain a little so I can understand.”
“I have Predator Disease, Zoey. I do not think like the other venlil. I don’t have their emotions. I don’t feel their fear.” He flatly stated.
Predator Disease.. That blanket term for a thousand different mental conditions…
My own mind began to work itself into a rhythm. I knew this, I’ve treated this. I can handle this. The venlil might be a different species, but our sapience is similar. Perhaps our mental illnesses are too. Taking a deep breath I folded my hands together, and crossed my leg. Nodding along with Rivis’ words.
“What sort of thing describes how you think, Rivis?” I made sure to keep my tone level, and try to match his energy. The last thing I wanted was to appear hostile or too inquisitive.
He was quiet for a long time.. Clearly thinking about how he could word this. I kept quiet, and waited for him to be ready, to describe it in his way.
“I find it difficult to care about others, or the herd. I focus on what improves my life, and try to ignore what doesn’t. I will try to go to any length to achieve this.” He set the salad knife down, fully training his focus to me.
“What kinds of things have you done to do this?” I cocked my head to the side. Making sure to put on a curious, yet understanding expression.
“Recently, I’ve been maintaining contact with a work colleague, feigning sympathy in order to maintain the appearance that I am not antisocial, merely overworked.” He bluntly stated, not a hint of remorse in his words.
“Why would it matter if you’re antisocial?” I asked, keeping mental notes of everything we cover.
“The venlil are paranoid about predators. Due in part to the war with the arxur, and natural biological instincts they have not evolved out of. If a venlil displays characteristics of something they’d say is ‘predator-like’, then I would either be executed or ‘re-educated.’ I read the Tarlim case. I have no desire to undergo the tortures at those facilities, Zoey.”
“I see, so you keep up appearances to avoid suspicion, how have you gone unnoticed this long? I assume you’ve been like this for as long as you can remember.”
“I observed those around me, at first I was merely copying the actions I saw. I didn’t understand that my thoughts weren’t the same as theirs. I suppose I was lucky, my mother and father worked often. There was little time to truly observe me. When I was nearly half-finished with schooling. I realized I was different and had to hide how I was. That has been life since.” He stated matter-of-factly, as if nothing were wrong about being forced to hide yourself for fear of death.
“Why tell me? Why not tell Kilet?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but wanted to allow him to say it.
“Because, you, and the rest of humanity proved that predators were not evil, not something to destroy on sight. If I told Kilet, he would likely report me, thinking he was doing the right thing.”
“Mmmhm.. But he’s joined the exchange program as well, surely he’s changed a few of his opinions on predators.” I lightly tapped my fingers on the couch, creating a rhythm to keep my mind on track.
“Kilet did not join of his own free will. I took him to get inebriated and purposely signed him up. I wanted to see someone who possessed such an acute fear of predators change their views. I wanted to see them go from hatred, to acceptance.” Again, he stated this as if there was nothing wrong with the things he's done.
So.. He manipulates his friend, doesn’t seem to care much about others, is very self driven, and is able to justify his reasoning so long as it suits him.. I think I’ve seen this before..
“Why? You understand manipulating friends, people who trust you, is wrong, right?”
The venlil in the kitchen fell silent for a long time.. I watched him close his eyes to think about his answer.. His tail swished lightly against the floor and ears flicked in random directions. I couldn’t understand their sign language, but anyone could see he’s wracking his brain for an answer.
“Yes, I understand that other venlil would find such actions deplorable. I understand that society would deem it predatory. I did it, because I want to know if enough time passes, if the venlil become accustomed to humanity. Will there be a chance for venlil like me to live? Am I to be put to flame simply because of how I think? How I feel?”
“You manipulating friends to get your way though, that just proves their point, Rivis. Even if it is the wrong point.”
“There is no other way I can know! How can I know that real change is possible unless I see it!?” He slammed his fist against the counter. Making a loud thud
I nearly jumped from my seat, hearing the venlil shout. Realizing this just got a lot more delicate, I did my best to remain calm, neutral, and not startle or anger him any further than he already is.
“Rivis, I understand it’s frustrating. I don’t want to diagnose you with a human term, but everything you’re describing to me sounds like you have psychopathic tendencies. That can make thinking and acting clearly very difficult. I don’t blame you, I think you’ve done very well to manage this far. Humans who have this disorder can be.. Dangerous, but also sometimes not. A lot of company executives or important figures have this disorder. Would you like me to explain it?”
Rivis took a long breath in, and a long exhale out.. His mind likely churning the new term around.
“Tell me, Zoey.” I thought I heard a hint of hope in his words, something he can hold on to.
“Essentially.. Its popular definition is a distinct lack of emotions, some used to say you couldn’t feel them at all. Leading to the person to be incredibly self-centered. At worst they are described as having no remorse for murder. So long as it suits their goals. That’s the common fear.. Though many studies conducted somewhat disprove those. Sometimes psychopaths can have a far stronger reaction to emotions than others. Where the deviation from ‘normal’ and psychopaths is their ability to gauge what outcomes will give regret. They cannot properly understand that an action will lead to negative impacts. Some studies also say that psychopaths can create emotional connections to those closest to them in their life.”
Rivis leaned against the counter. His ears flattened to the back of his head… It was the most emotive I’ve seen him all day. His eyes darted aimlessly. His tail stopped all motion.. He stood there in silence. Simply processing, trying to understand, trying to relate.
“And.. These humans, are they accepted? Are they feared? What happens to them? How would I form these attachments? How am I supposed to think, Zoey?” His voice was quiet, and somber. His eyes glued to the ground.
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to manipulate me by feigning sadness, or if this was a legitimate experience. One of the rare ones he's probably had. I took a breath, collecting my thoughts as to how I could best explain this.
“You can’t magically will your brain to make different connections, Rivis. There won’t be a cure for it, but what you can do is mental exercises to try and force yourself to think more how you want to act. A lot of the problems with humans is we’re taught to believe whatever we want is right.. However we want to act, think, so long as it’s not against the law is okay.. The problem with that upbringing and psychopaths is they have no desire to conform their thinking process. However, you, Rivis, were given the option to conform, or.. Well you know the alternatives. I’m not saying you shouldn’t want to conform, because forming these emotional connections is part of what life is about. Going on without experiencing them is a shame.”
Rivis moved from the kitchen, and stepped closer to me. Sitting in a chair opposite the couch, I could see the muscles on his jaw clench and relax over and over. The steady rise and fall of his chest.
“So.. How should I train this?” He asked flatly, but with a small hint of desperation.
“Well.. You’re motivated by your own goals, and self-preservation. It won’t be easy to unlearn how you think, but with enough patience, and by using your current thought process to your advantage. You can do it. You have to take the concept of making friends, treating them honestly, treating them well, and being what is considered by society a ‘good person’ and make that important to you. Convince yourself that it will improve your life. Strive for it, and work towards it, over time, you should notice that gradually, you won’t need to fake emotions. You’ll know how a situation should make you feel. Rather than faking it, you create it yourself. That’s what I would do, Rivis. Please.. Don’t think this is a cure either. As far as I’m aware there is no cure for this, It’s just who you are, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. Also, it could be different for Venlil! I mean you’re an entirely different species.”
“Of course.. It could be different, it might not even be what you describe at all, but so far it is strikingly similar. I don’t know if conforming is the correct answer. I simply want to be accepted. I am a functioning member of society. I work, I pay taxes, I contribute. Am I evil, Zoey? Does this difference between me and others make me a monster? The same kind of monster they thought you were. I am not irrational. Are they afraid I’ll one day find it in my best interest to murder a score of people? They think just because I won’t feel regret that I also don't understand it’s wrong to do that! They don’t understand that I am not willing to throw my life away. How would execution benefit me, Zoey? Why can’t they see it?”
All I could do was nod my head. I didn’t grow up here, but with how psychopaths on Earth turn out. Maybe it was for the best that Rivis was forced to hide himself. Learn the value of restraint, and get a keen sense of what would expose him.. As shitty as that sounds it probably saved his life… At least now he understands how to act in society. Even if it’s just a front.. For now.
“How you think doesn’t make you evil, Rivis. Actions you choose to take can make you good, or evil. You won’t be consumed by a spirit and one day wake up covered in blood. Every action you take is your choice. How you rationalize it, is your choice. You know what’s right, and what’s wrong, and I know Humanity will accept you, just as if you were anyone else.”
I stood up from the chair, walking slowly to the venlil seated across from me. Lowering myself to a knee. I closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his cuddly wool. Pulling him into my embrace. He was rigid, completely still.. As if unsure how to act, how to respond. Slowly, I felt him wrap his own arms around me. Lightly pulling me deeper into his warm coat. The steady beat of his heart pounding against my own.. Whether or not this was real, fake, or an attempt. I didn’t care. At the very least I could do for him what I do for all my patients, support them.
“Zoey… you’re not scared of me, Right?”
“Of course not, Fluffball.”
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First - Previous - (Soon to be Released)
Thank you everyone for reading Chapter 7. This one was a bit of a struggle to write up. I hope you guys are getting just as much enjoyment out of reading this as I am writing it for you! This story couldn’t happen without yall. I’d like to give my usual thanks to Space Paladin for their original universe! As well as a shout out to the fics that inspired me to start this! As always link at the bottom. The final thanks, naturally is reserved for my lovely proofreader(s)!
End of the Line
Foundations of Humanity
Nature of a Giant
Lost and Found
​
Proofreader(s)
NovaLux
"A silly little man"

Kolshian Homeworld ‘Aafa’, 8th September 2136
Rushing through the corridors of the governance hall, Cilany desperately attempted to keep hold of her data slate. This would be the story of a lifetime! She had originally come to Aafa to report on the planned attack on Earth, once news broke that the humans had survived. That the conquering beasts had superior weaponry, and had clearly amassed a significant fleet, was enough to upset the Federations’ pre-existing plans. Cilany had bluffed her way onto a diplomatic courier in the hopes of getting a front row seat to the summit of Federation leadership.
The news had come mid-flight that the humans had struck Gojid space, along with claims of several races fighting alongside the predators. There was even mention of some ‘Inter-Species Union’. Last Cilany had heard, the Cradle itself was under attack, this latest update coming just as her ship arrived in the Aafa system. She had immediately found an itinerary for the upcoming meetings, and waited for the discussions to begin.
All of her plans, and those of everyone on Aafa, had been turned upside down by the arrival of a human vessel in the system. Appearing two light-hours from Aafa, it had approached in a manner designed to let the Kolshians know it was there. When challenged by the defence fleet, a transmission had come from the gigantic tree-like vessel, broadcast across all channels. It showed a prey creature with dark grey-blue flesh and a short, crushing beak. Nodules and spines of bone protruded from its skin, and it seemed to be comprised of nothing but muscle. Flanking it were a pink-furred creature with a long snout, and a Mazic-like creature with two trunks. Standing a little to the left of the spined creature was Governor Tarva of the Venlil. This had shocked Cilany, as she had assumed that the leader of a conquered species would have either been executed (likely being eaten alive) or enslaved. Most shocking of all, the three unknown species were taller than the woolly leader. The blue-grey beast had spoken, their voice deep and rumbling with occasional hoots.
“Greetings, people of the Federation. I am Clan Lord Ulcalna Zhor-Latt, ambassador of the Covenant of Zhulrin. We are here as diplomatic representatives of the Inter-Species Union, on a mission of peace. We know that there is a summit taking place on this world, in which you plan to make war upon one of our member states, the Federation of Human Systems. It is our intention to find a peaceful alternative. We have brought with us an ambassador of the humans, who will explain to you exactly how this conflict can be avoided. You may attempt to prevent the discharge of our duties, but we will be heard. This is your one and only chance at peace.”
And that was that. The implicit threat conveyed by the mighty warship had prevented the Kolshian forces from engaging, while the apparent prey creature with long pink fur had continued the declaration. This ‘Ambassador Voronsk of the Rishtaln’ had explained that the assembled representatives of the ‘ISU’ would meet with the Federation Council. One would give a speech explaining who they were, the human ambassador would give an account of what was happening in Gojid space, and then they would return to their ship within half an hour. Cilany had heard that the assembled leaders had argued over whether to allow the human to speak, with many siding with Jerulim of the Krakotl and demanding that they blow the human ship out of the sky.
Then the Zurulian representative had pointed out the unpleasant truth: if the humans and their ‘allies’ were denied access, they would likely just bomb Aafa. If their representatives were killed, they would bomb Aafa. If the ‘diplomats’ were allowed to land and they attacked Federation citizens, it would destroy any attempt by the predators to deceive them. And besides, if they let the human talk, there was the possibility of gaining vital information about their plans.
So now, Cilany was rushing to the council chamber to get first-hand footage and live notes of the first act of predatory diplomacy in Federation history. From what she had picked up on the way, the diplomatic entourage had caused quite the stir when they exited their shuttle, though why was not clear. Panting, Cilany arrived at the door to the chamber. The area around the speakers’ podium was filled with Kolshian soldiers, nervously brandishing their weapons. Seating herself in the public gallery, along with maybe six other journalists brave enough to be in the same room as a predator. Surprisingly enough, there were many more ambassadors in the chamber than she would have thought. Cilany had just turned her pad on when the doors to the main podium opened. Into the room strode a veritable menagerie of new species. And at least four were predators.
The first into the room were two large reptilian bipeds, towering over the assembled guards much as the Arxur would. Their bodies were lined with blades, and their taloned digits clutched at their waists, as if reaching for weapons that were not there. They moved to the sides, taking up positions to the left and right of the speakers’ podium. From the position of their eyes, Cilany could see they were prey. The way they had placed themselves suggested they were guards, but why would the humans use prey as security?
Following behind came the rest of the ‘ISU’ representatives. On the left were the three creatures from the original message, and this time Cilany could see the entirety of their bodies. The Rishtaln moved with a sort of loping grace, and Cilany could almost imagine this pink prey creature sinking those wide spatulate nails into the flesh of an attacking predator. There was just something… menacing about how they moved. The grey creature who had identified themselves as ‘Clan Lord Ulcalna’ was larger in person than she had previously thought, their head easily level with that of an Arxur. The bony spines running along their back rose upon entering the chamber, some sort of threat display? Cilany could not think why a prey creature would feel the need to threaten fellow prey. And those arms… they looked capable of breaking a Mazic in half.
Perhaps the most horrifying was the quadruped with the twin trunks. They were surrounded by three bipedal creatures the size of a Venlil, with rust-red feathers and hooked beaks, their forward eyes betraying their predatory nature. Strangely, the beasts seemed to be holding data slates in their clawed hands. The four-legged prey showed no signs of fear or hesitation, seeming almost to swagger as the ambassadors entered the chamber. And the feathered beasts were not the only shocking sight. To the right of the party, a tall predator with purple-grey fur spotted with black and a short muzzle walked in front of a bright yellow creature that reminded Cilany of a Kolshian, save for its pot-belly and four large tentacles where the Kolshians had only two. Bringing up the rear was a tan biped whose long tail ended in a mass of long spines. If the position of its eyes did not make its diet clear, the two long fangs protruding from its lips did.
These seven species surrounded four central figures. Tarva was immediately recognisable, walking right next to the dark-skinned human. How could she be that close to a predator and not be whimpering in terror? The human ‘ambassador’ was tall, with some sort of form-fitting garment obscuring most of its near-black skin. A cloak with what looked like a stylised star-chart printed on it flowed from its back as its binocular eyes swept over the assembled dignitaries. On its left, a blue-furred quadruped with a long, bladed tail followed, their twin stalk eyes mimicking the humans’ predatory gaze. On their right was the tallest biped Cilany had ever seen, standing at least eight feet tall at the shoulder, with its long, branching antlers reaching even higher. Four yellow eyes, two side-mounted, two front-facing, took in the entire chamber as the green-furred creature marched forward. Four long arms extended from its torso, holding claws more terrible than even those of the Arxur. Cilany could only stare in shock at the advancing party. How could the humans have allies, and how were the prey creatures not terrified?
The ‘diplomatic party’ arranged themselves around the podium, as Clan Lord Ulcalna climbed the steps up to where the microphone stood. The spiked blue-grey biped looked out at the crowd of fearful and confused prey, cleared their throat, and then spoke.
“Greetings, representatives of the Galactic Federation. I am Clan Lord Ulcalna Zhor-Latt, representative of Clan Suraln, and ambassador of the Covenant of Zhulrin to the Inter-Species Union. With me are Ambassador Ansur-Telen-Noran of the Andalite Electorate, Visser 19 of the Yeerk Republican Committee, Emissary Elone of the Nimthyl Command, Ambassador Voronsk of the Rishtalishk Congress, Designate Harri Walln of the Manper Imperium, Speaker Zon-Das-Rop of the United Kelvar Sapients and his aides, councillor Roshanat of the Leeran Shoal, and Captain Williams of the FHS. First contact between our two interstellar coalitions has led to bloodshed, and it is our hope that by explaining who we are and where we come from, we may prevent further death”.
Cilany began taking notes as the Federation ambassadors looked on in trepidation. One new predator species they could understand, but one with the support of several other species was unimaginable. Even if the new prey species were slaves or thralls, it still gave the humans greater resources and numbers than previously thought. And it certainly does not explain the other predators…
“The Inter-Species Union is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of nineteen full members and seven associate members. There are also twenty-three species with whom we have close diplomatic ties, and thirteen species within our combined territory whom we have no formal contact.”
As the ‘Clan Lord’ inserted a data-storage of some kind into the view screen, Cilany considered what the Federation had just learned. There was another multi-species body in the galaxy, smaller but still highly advanced, if the reports from Gojid space were anything to go by. Most worrying of all, it included several predatory species. While the flesh eaters likely dominated their prey members, the sharing of power between them had… concerning implications.
An image appeared on the screen and Cilany’s heart stopped. There were at least twenty different species in the image, which appeared to be some sort of social gathering or reception. At least six were obvious predators, and there were some, such as a long insectoid with four stalk-eyes, which gave Cilany a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“The Union was formed approximately one-hundred and thirty years ago, with five founding members: the Andalites, humans, Yeerks, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxons. My own species joined fifteen years later, the ninth to do so. It was envisioned as a peace-keeping force, as well as a platform for inter-species cooperation. Through the trade of resources and technology, members enjoy security and comfort, with the assistance of other species in the improvement of their infrastructure and completion of large projects. To say nothing of cultural enrichment and the exchange of luxury goods.”
Now that got Cilanys’ attention. The humans were not only members of a multi-species alliance, but were founding members? How had that happened, given the anti-social tendencies of predators? And why had prey creatures allied with them in the first place? Clearly, they were tainted by their proximity to the flesh eaters, especially given the ‘cultural exchange’. The image changed, showing a map of the galaxy. Cilany stared at the two coloured masses filling the majority of the image. One she recognised as Federation space. The other, about one third the size, touched what she could only assume was Venlil space. This group of predators and their thralls control a significant territory. Striking Earth won’t be enough, the Federation will need to actually go to war with a force equal to a third of itself. And if we need to contend with the Arxur as well…
“Through the efforts of Expeditionary Corps, the ISU have explored and colonised a significant volume of the galaxy, especially given the relatively short time it has existed. But there are dangers in this galaxy, and so each and every member is pledged to support and aid their fellows in a time of war or other crisis. This has allowed for a period of peace that has been more or less interrupted for over a century. In addition to keeping the peace, the Union has dedicated itself to spread life through out its territory. It is thus that we come to the pride of the ISU: its Terraforming Initiative.”
The screen changed once again, displaying two images side by side. One was of a rocky, inhospitable planet, the sort that every system had. The other was of a green and brown world spotted with blue, clearly life-supporting. Cilany looked closer. The stars in the background were the same, and the landmasses of the habitable planet matched formations and high points on the barren one. Did this mean…? Blessed divines!
“The exchange of technologies between member states includes technologies for environmental modification and atmospheric synthesis. The same energies that power our ships and weaponry can be turned towards generating magnetospheres, and other requirements for a world to support life. Through the introduction of specific plant and animal species, we can create ecosystems that maintain what technology began. Thus, every system held by the Union contains at least one inhabited planet with a population of ten million or more.”
Gasps filled the chamber. Cilany herself could think well enough to continue her notes. The ISU modified planets to make them habitable. Such a thing was beyond the Federations’ capabilities. They could maintain their worlds, but it required significant investment, used only for homeworlds and major colonies. And if every one of the Union’s systems was habitable… then their population and industry must be much higher than anyone had thought.
“And with that introduction, I bring us all back to the reason we are here: the recent conflict between the Gojid Union and ourselves. I leave it to the human ambassador to give an account of how this happened, and to lead the efforts in finding a peaceful solution.”
With that, Ulcalna turned and strode from the podium as the human walked up to it, along with Governor Tarva. The predator reached down to adjust the microphone, looked up at the shocked Federation ambassadors, and then spoke.
“I am Noah Williams, designated ambassador of the Federation of Humans Systems. And I come in the hopes of preventing an escalation in the hostilities that have arisen in recent weeks.”
The human paused, as if to consider its words, then continued.
“For eons, humanity looked up at the stars with wonder and hope, creating a thousand thousand different stories and mythologies to explain the majesty of the night sky. As we advanced and learned of the nature of the cosmos, we wondered what the worlds orbiting those distant points of light were like. Was there life out there, were there people on those worlds, were there others like us? Much as we had gazed at the horizon in earlier times, and wondered what peoples and new lands were out there, what adventures awaited us. And then we actually met intelligent life”. The human slowly spread their arms wide, encompassing the nine bizarre species that had accompanied them. Cilany typed frantically, taking down every impression and thought that popped into her head. Here it came, the humans’ boasting of how prey were inferior and needed their guiding hand.
“And despite any physical differences, such as diet and appearance, not to mention cultural values, we found friends. Some species were more aggressive than others, some terrifying, heck, the Yeerks tried to enslave us before we even had interstellar travel.” The human gestured at the massive antlered biped. Cilany took note of that, as everyone else stared in shock. So, the four-eyed creature was a predator after all. But if they had tried to enslave humanity pre-spaceflight, how had the humans won? Suddenly, it hit her. Friends. The human had referred to these other species, including the prey, as friends. Not allies, for that was a relationship of convenience, but friends. Including a species that had tried to enslave them. What in the name of sanity is going on?
“Even through all of that, we helped to form a community of star-faring races, all working together to nurture life in this galaxy and work for the mutual benefit of all. Through the exchange of technology and knowledge, all species thrived. The galactic peace was upheld, the common defence assured, and worlds that had been nothing but barren rock were turned into lush gardens. Imagine our shock, when we came to this region of space, and found a full-blown war in progress.” The human looked straight at Chief Nikonus. It occurred to Cilany that Governor Tarva had likely told the humans who the influential members of the council were. But why look at the unofficial leader of the Federation with… distain?
“A war in which a species of carnivorous reptilians was committing genocide against every other species in the area, even going so far as to keep those species as livestock, like something out of a bad novel. And what is more, the local species were unlikely to accept our aid, simply because of our diet.” That stopped Cilany cold. Had the human really just suggested they would have… helped the Federation? Why? What was more, the human seemed to think of their predatory nature as irrelevant to how species interacted. She immediately began typing. Could it be that the humans thought of the Arxur as a bigger threat than the Federation…?
“But, we thought, no matter. We had established calm, cordial relations with the Venlil, and begun introducing technologies and ways of thinking that would enable them to better assimilate into the wider galactic community. We even began repairing the damage they had done to their ecosystems.” Now that was shocking. Had the humans really shared their powerful technology with the Venlil? The way the human had spoken, it was almost as if they expected that Tarva would discard her peoples’ long history with the Federation to join a group of predators and their ‘allies’. And what was that bit about damaged ecosystems?
“Then suddenly, we discovered that there was a species of warlike brutes, known as the Gojid, right on our doorstep. That the local coalition of species had, apparently, taken one look at our pre-Space Age world and decided to commit genocide, in violation of all civilised standards of behaviour. And the way we found this out is particularly telling.” Cilany saw many of the representatives bristle at the blatant hypocrisy of the predator. For her own part, she was confused. The human had decried warfare and genocide as evil. Yet almost two hundred years ago, they had committed such acts. And given how the human referred to the Gojid as ‘warlike brutes’, and doesn’t seem to empathise with our fear, is it possible that they intend to exterminate them?
“During an Arxur attack on one of the Venlil border stations, a human soldier on secondment to the Venlil garrison, along with his Venlil partner, were separated from the rest of the defending force. They were taken aboard a Gojid ship, and subjected to treatment that violates every code of military ethics held sacred in civilised space. And before you start claiming that I have no proof, Andalite mind-transcription tech really is a marvel.”
The human inserted its own device into the screen and a video appeared. It showed a cage of some sort, and there, standing in the foreground, was Sovlin. A four fingered hand was visible to the right-side and Cilany realised something. This was the view through the eyes of a human.
“Please, I keep telling you, my people came to Venlil Prime in peace! We’re helping them, giving them technology to repair their world, improving their defences. Our allies…”
Sovlin lashed out with a clawed paw and there was a cry of pain. The view abruptly moved.
“Predator lies! You monstrous flesh eaters have enslaved the Venlil! They are now your cattle, and if you think that I will permit your species to blight my people, you truly are insane!”
The image shifted again, suggesting the passage of time. The human seemed to be looking at the floor of its cage.
“Please. I need to eat. Surely there’s something, anything, you can feed me…”
A shock baton appeared momentarily on the screen and there was a horrifying scream.
“Disgusting predator. As if I would feed your degenerate appetite. What kind of beast do you take me for?”
The image cut out. The human ambassador stared up at the horrified Federation members.
“We have more than seven days of similar memories. Beatings. Torture. Starvation. An attempt to rape the Venlil Slaneks’ mind with the Gojids’ hateful ideology. That this Captain Sovlin refused to even feed his prisoner demonstrates the utter depravity of the Gojid military. That Prime Minister Piri did not turn him over to us immediately, or even send a message deploring his actions, but instead began mustering her fleet shows that this taint extends to the entire Gojid culture. It also says something about those species they associate with. Can you truly blame us for punishing the kind of behaviour that would have earned Sovlin the death penalty anywhere in ISU space?”
She saw shock sweep the chamber. The human had just hinted that their species followed some sort of ethical code, defying every piece of evidence on their psychology. Where was this code when they were gassing children? And how could Sovlin have fed his prisoner? There was no flesh aboard their ships, other than the crew. Did the humans expect Sovlin to butcher members of his own crew? Her heart stopped. No one had heard from Sovlin since the war began, if the humans captured him…. Be safe, old friend.
Cilany could see the Ambassador Jerulim was on the verge of exploding in rage at the predators’ words. Chief Nikonus clearly saw it to, as he immediately interjected. “Surely, ambassador, you understand our reluctance to tolerate a predator species on our border, especially given the inherently violent nature of such sapients.” The human ambassador fixed Nikonus with their piercing gaze, causing the Kolshian leader to stop.
“We appreciate that the Arxur have been terrorising you for over a century, but that does not excuse attempting to exterminate every species of carnivorous sapients you find, Chief Nikonus. Not to mention the ecocidal campaign the Gojid Union has been waging since before the Arxur were even an issue”. That last part caught Cilany, and everyone else, off guard. Are they talking about exterminators? But that’s a key aspect of any civilisation. Jerulim finally could not contain himself.
“You dare act as if you are sapient? You are predators, festering tumours of death and pain! No predator is capable of higher intelligence, and the idea that they have any place in the universe is obscene!” Clan Lord Ulcalna snorted in a way that reminded Cilany of a roar, silencing the Krakotl. The human, no longer being heckled, turned to the avian, a fearsome look upon their savage features.
“Ambassador, the disproportionate number of herbivorous sapients in this area of space does not change the fact that the Federation has no right to decide who is and is not considered sapient. And I find it disheartening that the Gojids’ perverse anti-predator ideology has tainted more species.” Disproportionate number…? The implications of that statement occurred to Cilany at roughly the same moment as they did the Farsul Ambassador. High Elder Darq stood, and mustering her courage, asked the same question as Cilany. “W-w-what do you mean, disproportionate?”
The look on the humans’ face was almost…amused. “Ambassador, to the best of my knowledge, approximately three-quarters of all know sapient species consume meat in some form. Of those, about one third eat nothing but meat”. The entire chamber went silent with shock. Surely that was not possible, predators could not make the majority of sapient races. Darq could only splutter at that, and Cilany did not blame her. The Farsul responded. “Then why is the universe not filled with rampaging predators, endlessly hunting for prey? Why are there not a hundred warring races fighting over our worlds, as we cower in fear?”
The human looked at Darq with what Cilany could only call derision. “Because, Ambassador, contrary to your interpretation of the facts, predators are not innately warlike. Despite what the amateurs you call ‘scientists’ may think, violence on the scale you witnessed during your ‘observation’ of Earth is not humanity’s natural state. To put it bluntly, that six-year conflict, which we call World War Two, was the single largest war in our history, and the worst thing we have ever done to ourselves.”
The human swept their predatory gaze across the chamber. “By the standards of human scholarship, the volume of data collected and the degree of actual analysis is inadequate. In a conflict that lasted six years, you have data from maybe a month, if that. There was no attempt to consider an alternative viewpoint, no attempt to even discover what the war was about. You criticise us for killing millions of our own kind, and then treat murdering billions of innocent people as some sort of moral right”.
From her vantage point, Cilany could see Nikonus rallying after the humans’ dismissal of Federation culture. “You speak of civilisation and morality, yet your government refers to itself as collection of smaller entities. It is clear that you are not unified as a species, and as recent events show, you have not yet put aside your warmongering ways.” Cilany agreed with the Kolshians’ words. Still, there was something in the humans’ statement about ‘insufficient analysis’. The way they had spoken of this ‘World War Two’, definitely suggested a more complex narrative than Federation scholars had thought.
Below, the human was issuing a rebuttal of Nikonus’ accusations. “My species is united, Chief Nikonus. However, our history has taught us that the more people a government attempts to control, the greater the strain on that government, causing instability. One must also consider the imperialistic sentiments such large states tend to provoke. Thus, every human colony is in effect a separate polity in itself, being effectively autonomous save for three areas of government: the military, major laws, and colonisation efforts. Each colony elects its’ own ruling body, and that group provides a representative to the Conclave, the ruling body of the FHS Government.”
The human pressed a few buttons on the podium and another video appeared. It seemed to show a view of inter-planetary space with several orbital stations. There were cylindrical structures with some form of outer framework of girders, about five of them, dominating the foreground. For some reason, the inner cylinder seemed to be revolving inside the frame. The backdrop was taken up by what looked to be a large ring of some sort, canted at an angle, the inner edge a blurry mix of blue, green and white. Cilany thought that it may have been spinning, but why… A ship appeared, flying away from the camera towards one of the cylinders. Cilany held her breath. If the ship was about the size of a cruiser, as it likely was given the lack of visible viewports, then those cylinders were more than twenty times the size of any Federation station, save for asteroid bases. And that ring… it was much larger that the cylinders…
“Even with our terraforming technology, ambassadors, there is only so much habitable space a solar system can have. Not to mention the fact that our colonists need somewhere to live while the process is carried out. Thus, for every citizen living on a planet, there are at least three who call one of our space-habitats home. What this means ambassadors, is that even our smallest colonies have populations of nine billion or more. The Sol system, for example, has enough space habitats to house eleven times the population of Earth. Given the administrative strain such populations present, you can understand why we… decentralise our government.”
The sheer scale of the industry needed to create such things, Cilany could not believe it. If this was real, then the humans not only had a higher population than even the most pessimistic projections, but they could turn that construction industry to building warships. Which meant… they’d be able to replace losses faster than the Federation every could.
President Cupo of the Mazic signalled that he wished to speak. Quickly taking a photo of the tan quadruped, Cilany considered the positive optics of someone other than the three founding species speaking. Whatever Cupo said, it helped to signal Federation unity. “So, human, your people are still divided into factions. Are your…allies similarly disunified?” Now that, Cilany thought, was a good question. Surely, if a species was not united within itself, its’ bonds with other species would be fragile. This could allow the Federation to fracture the ISU, if they applied the right pressure.
The human shook their head, possibly signalling negation. “Every species is different, ambassador, and thus each member of the ISU maintains a different form of government. The Andalites, for example, appoint a Prince or Governor to oversee each of their colonies, reporting directly to the Electorate.” They gestured to the blue creature with the bladed tail. “The Andalites were spacefaring more than a thousand years ago. It was they who held the Yeerks at bay, and in many ways were our first alien allies. Also, on a ship-to-ship basis, their military is arguably the most powerful in the Union. It’s their environmental tech and hyperstrong meta-materials, above all else, that allow Union orbital habitats to be as large as they are.”
Many were taken aback by this, Cilany included. Elder Darq spoke out, clearly intrigued by this social dynamic. The alliance between humans and Andalites flew in the face of all accepted scientific understanding of how predators and prey interacted. “But why ally with them in the first place? I would think that your urge to control and dominate would lead you to integrate them into your structure, in a subservient role”. Cilany found herself disagreeing with that sentiment. The human had spoken of a community of species, and had suggested that the conquering practices of their past were considered immoral by the current leadership. Could it be, she thought, that the humans have put their baser urges behind them?
The human seemed almost offended by Darqs’ words. “Because, Ambassador Darq, we are not conquerors. And attempting to rule them would be pointless, because they are not the same species of us. Their psychology and biological imperatives are very different. What is necessary for one species could even be harmful for another. We have found that interfering in the development and culture of other species, trying to shape them into something they are not, always leads to instability and bloodshed. Every species has the right to self-determination. Those thirteen species with whom we have no contact are not advanced enough to interact with without causing massive societal disruption. Ultimately, every species must develop its’ own way of doing things. We can supply guidance and technology, but direct intervention in the affairs of another species is wrong.”
It was then that Jerulim let loose yet another of his outbursts. “You decry direct intervention as immoral, but what are you doing to the Gojid?! Are you not occupying their worlds, are you not even now butchering them, and using other prey species to do it?” The Krakotl spread his wings, as if daring the human to contradict him. “All of this is beside the point! All this discussion of human politics and history is meaningless! What matters is that these predators have attacked a member of the Federation, without provocation, and are even now slaughtering the Gojid as they do their own people!”
The human sighed, looking around at the Federation ambassadors, while their fellow diplomats gave the Krakotl what could only be looks of disapproval. Cilany had just finished taking note of Jerulims’ hysterical speech, when the human gave their reply. “We have only acted in defence of ourselves and the preservation of galactic order, and even then, we have used the minimum degree of force necessary. The Gojid plotted to attack us, we simply struck first”. Jerulim was not done. Cilany started wondering exactly how he had become an ambassador in the first place. “If that was the case, you would have simply struck the military bases. But no, you invaded their colonies and their homeworld. You have not risen above the conquering ways of your past”.
Cilany could see that the human was growing more and more agitated. Is it going to attack? “If that is the case, then why have we not eradicated the Gojid? It really would not have been all that difficult, given the forces we can bring to bear”. Jerulim sneered. “I would think that was obvious. You want to take cattle, to feed your aberrant appetites, to gain new tastes of flesh. The other prey species you have met are too strong for you to conquer, so you thought you could take the Gojid as livestock!”
There was a long pause. Then the human looked straight at Jerulim. Now that is a sign of predatory dominance if I ever saw one, Cilany thought. “I see. You are assuming that we are like the Arxur. Well, let me explain something to you, primitive. The eating of fellow sapients is one of the greatest taboos in human culture, going back to before our first cities. Even the token data you collected during the darkest time in our history should show you that. And on that subject, I find the Federations’ condemning humanity over a single pre-space conflict to be hypocritical. All species go through such times before developing interstellar travel. Only those uplifted before such a stage in their development continue such behaviour, as they have not had the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.”
Again, the human had returned to the subject of this World War. Clearly, it had been a complicated situation, with nuances which the humans believed had not been appreciated by the Federation. Still, what could possibly lead them to think all species committed such horrors, or that uplifts are more likely to do so?
“As for ‘new tastes’, Earth is one of the most biologically diverse planets in known space. We have enough variety from her alone, not to mention the foods available through interstellar trade. Those members of the ISU who are herbivores, ‘prey’ as you so crudely put it, do not share your unreasoning fear of predators, and so have no problem with us feeding off animals they do not utilise. So, if we did decide to utterly destroy the Gojid, there would be no need to take prisoners or round up the civilians. We would not even need to deploy troops to the surface. We could simply atomise their cities from orbit, unleash bioweapons, or just, well, blow up the planet”.
Cilany heard the gasps of every ambassador in the chamber. Blow up a planet? The power required for such a thing, an entire glassing fleet didn’t have that much firepower. Nikonus broke the stunned silence. “That joke is not funny, ambassador. To suggest annihilating an entire habitable planet…” The humans’ gaze shifted. “On the contrary, Chief Nikonus, I am not joking. Or lying. The primary weapons of the most powerful warships we have, fired at full power, could crack the crust of the Cradle like glass, and that is if the atmosphere didn’t simply ignite.”
There was a stunned silence at that. Cilany quickly began taking down her thoughts at these unpleasant revelations. The humans have either overcome their base hungers or otherwise have discarded us as cattle for practical reasons. This means they have no need to take captives, save out of some form of rudimentary compassion… Their prey allies lack any instinctual fear of predators, suggesting high aggression: possible similarities in culture allowing humans to overlook their diet… Human weapons not being used at full power, implying that they do indeed exhibit restraint: why do so if the Gojid wanted to exterminate them…? The human looked around the chamber. They seemed exasperated, as if there was something the Federation did not understand.
“What I do not understand, ambassadors, is why you expect the Gojid to receive special treatment. Regardless of what ecological role their pre-sapient ancestors had, all space-faring species must be held to the same standards. And quite frankly, their behaviour illustrates why uplifting species, as the Gojid likely were, is wrong. Giving a culture that is still going through its savage phase advanced technology, before it has had the opportunity to work through its aggression as we did, can only lead to destruction. From our perspective, the situation is fairly simple: The Gojid attempted to exterminate a sentient species. Thus, they must be disciplined. The fact that we were the species they attempted to murder doesn’t really affect matters, other than shortening the debate over what to do about it.”
Cilany saw Nikonus stand once more, the Kolshian clearly agitated. That was understandable, the human had been hurling criticism at the guiding tenants of civilised life for the entire meeting. “What do you mean, it shortened the debate, ambassador? Surely the mere presence of an… aggressive species would demand prompt action.”
Once again, the human appeared exasperated. “What I mean, Chief Nikonus, is that usually there would be an extended period of discussion within the Conclave, and of course the leaders of the wider ISU. Arguments would be put forward for and against military intervention, the chances of establishing peaceful diplomatic relations with the government in question, whether there is a danger of falling into the trap of imperialism. No one wants a war if it can be avoided. But the Gojid’s savagery made everything much simpler. They made their murderous intentions clear, and Captain Sovlin’s actions demonstrated that any diplomats sent to seek a peaceful solution would be tortured to death. Which really only left one option: render the uncivilised brutes incapable of harming anyone. Our allies offered us military aid, thus allowing us to maintain our pre-existing commitments in other sectors of space, and here we are”.
Cilany paused to consider that. The humans would not have attacked the Gojid if they had not felt threatened. For a species as aggressive as them, there was only really one response to the apparent threat: eliminate that threat. Really, it was a sign of their restraint that they had not glassed the Cradle out of hand. That was when she heard it.
“Bullshit!”

Okay, here’s my attempt at a NOP fanfic.
The Nature of Predators is made by u/SpacePaladin15
Just a few tidbits before we get started. I’m not sticking close to the cannon, so don’t be surprised when groups operate differently from their real NOP counterparts. I’m going for a “dark time line” kind of situation. There are going to be war crimes and lots of devil’s advocate nonsense, so this fanfic may rustle your jimmies. The start of this story takes place on Sillis and is only told from a single Arxur supply officer’s POV.
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Memory transcription subject: Varce, Cattleship Δ1242, Sillis
Date [standardized human time]: December 4, 2136
Finally… After mindlessly double checking and triple checking weapons and herbivore feed inventory it was time to get some fresh air. The raid itinerary had originally slated us to landfall 36 hours ago, but then a small human fleet lurched into our FTL disruptor grid. The grid was deployed with the intent to prevent prey ships from escaping, but hey, happy accidents.
I looked around the squad that I would be overseeing during prey extraction. Their faces ranged from agitated to giddy, all hungry. Starvation prior to deployment was standard practice for lower enlisted. It made them extra violent which was perfect for propaganda. Having a full relaxed Arxur on shift wouldn’t be near as terrifying for the pseudo-sapient snack bags.
Of course not all were starved, officers like myself needed to keep a cool head while procuring desperately needed food for the people of Wriss. It is my job, as one of the Dominion’s loyal servants, to ease the suffering of sapient lives throughout the known universe. I should clarify, that while I am somewhat defective, I’m not some delusional prey loving nut-job. I just care about sapients more that the average Arxur, that’s all.
The cargo doors of the craft hissed open as eye burning natural light entered the space. After I recovered from my temporary blindness, I barked out orders to my subordinates and began driving the refrigeration cart out of the ship. Its anti-gravity motors hummed as Arxur marched alongside it. Except for Tarth, lazy ass was perched on the cart’s lid with a ranged rifle shouldered. He says he does it to “be a lookout”, but we both know that’s bullshit. I let him get away with it though, what’s the point of having authority if you don’t use it to let your friend do stupid crap?
We had been dropped off at ground zero of a conventional bombing zone. Ruble from buildings with twisted bit of chitin sticking out covered the ground. Troops passed any worthwhile pieces to the cart for preservation. Eating of scraps was forbidden. It would spoil the squad's appetite prior to any engagements with the tilfish survivors. Thinking about the impending carnage reminded me to activate the 360’ camera fixed atop the cart’s driver compartment. Maybe some of my footage would go into one of the hunting compilations that gets forcibly broadcast onto the media channels the prey’s young watch. I let out a throaty chuckle thinking about the fearful cries one of those forsaken abominations would make.
Tarth looked over to me. “What’s so funny blubber tail? All that prime officer food finally melt your brain.”
“No just thinking about the prospect of one of our hunts being used for entertainment, now get back to work “look-out”.”
“Eh… I’m not too sure any footage is going to be used from this raid. None of the Gojid Cradle footage got used since the brass didn’t want Arxur to be associated with killing sapients.”
“...True. Well I’ll film this anyway, maybe it could be used as b-roll footage for future human engagement training.”
“I’d prefer we didn’t run into any humans boss-man”
I grimaced at the thought, the chatty Arxur had a point. I’ve never killed a sapient before. I had pushed the idea out of my head before, but it all came back to me. The whole reason Chief Hunter Shaza deployed 8000 of her ships to Sillis was to fight the humans, the tilfish were an afterthought in truth. I don’t really get why the humans were so keen on picking a fight with the Dominion. Chief Hunter Isif saved their entire species and in turn they started rattling a saber at Chief Hunter Shaza’s initial raiding group. Do they want to be at war with both the Federation AND the Dominion. Surely they understand that that would be a death sentence for such a small race with no backup colonies. It’s just so frustrating, we finally meet another sapient race and all they want to do is fight. We should be working together to wipe out the genocidal maniacs in the Federation.
“Hey Varce. Varce. Looks like that building over there is ripe for hunting. Just say the word.”
I perked up after being pulled from my dark thoughts. We were no longer surrounded by rubble and were at our first scheduled stop. A eugenics clinic that was likely filled with eggs that would top off the cart I brought along. I glanced at the life detection hardware built into the driver’s panel.
“Listen up. We’re here for the eggs in that building. It has 33 adult tilfish life signs inside. Don’t bother taking any of them alive, just put a hole in their heads and dump them in the cart. Eggs are our priority. EGGS. Don’t get too bite-y. There’s a bomb shelter down the road for that kind of behavior. Now get to it and make the Prophet proud!”
I stood by with Tarth and several auto-turret technicians as the rest of the squad swarmed all sides of the clinic. Per standard procedure, I had the techs set up an auto-turret for any surprise runaways. After a couple of minutes a tilfish on the second floor desperately crawled part way out of a window trying to escape. It fell to the ground after Tarth took out one of its weight bearing feet. The impact ruptured it chitin and it died shortly after. As Tarth began strolling over to retrieve the soon to be refrigerated carcass, several more tilfish landed on top of the now flattened meat pulp. Tarth threw himself to the ground as the auto-turrets made there tell-tell beeping noise. Now Tarth had to carry back three piles of meat pulp.
Tarth sat the meat piles down in front of the cart while laughing. “Prophet help me. My life just flashed before my eyes. That would’ve been such an underwhelming way to go. Thank the prophet I’m a master at dodging.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call collapsing to the ground in terror “masterful”, but yeah sure. At least your not dead. Now lets get this slop cleaned up and preserved.”
“Your just jealous of how awesome I looked. Also, that ankle shot I did was glorious. Admit it.”
Tarth went on stroking his ego for the next half hour as the cart was filled with delicious nutritious eggs and gooey bug parts. The cart’s driver panel indicated that we had gathered about 10,000LBS of food in total. A good haul so far, that would be enough to feed roughly a 140 Arxur for a week. I sent the cart back to the ship with an escort while everyone else headed to the nearby bomb shelter.
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Once we arrived at our next scheduled location, courtesy of garbage prey internet security, I had the auto-turret techs set up a perimeter around the shelter entrance. It’s not likely that someone would pull a fast one on us, but I’ve never been into gambling. While we waited for fresh empty carts to arrive, I went ahead and had the squad look around for any material to block up the bomb shelter’s ventilation ports.
After even more waiting, four refrigeration carts and some shelter cracking materials arrived. The plan for shelter cracking was tried and true. First, we would have a drill bore out a hole through the blast door. That would then rapidly be followed up with a flash bang to scare off anyone smart enough to shoot through the hole. This is then followed by several tear gas canisters and a smoke machine. The smoke would exit any ventilation ports and they would be subsequently sealed. After all that we then pump the place full of nitrous oxide, wait about 20 minutes, and breach the doors.
Often times there will be one or two prey smart enough to wear self-contained breathing apparatuses. For this reason, once the door is opened we send in something similar to what a human would refer to as a “Claymore Roomba”. About 20 seconds after activating the device I heard a loud BANG and sent in the initial breaching party. After the all clear, the carts and myself entered.
Oh no.
Near the entrance to shelter was what was left of four humans. SAPIENTS. I killed sapients. I gave the order. They are my responsibility. I’m effectively a murderer now. I know that it’s “war”, but still. That doesn't un-kill them.
I choked down my horror remembering what would happen if other Arxur saw me like this. I turned to Tarth. “Inspect these four for any useful equipment or identifying information. After that, bring it all to me”
I turned away and kept walking. I couldn’t look at their mutilated faces anymore, shards of clear poly-carbonate lodged in their skulls from the breathing mask they were wearing. Blackened blood peppering their bodies and surroundings. Those were someones kids, friends, lovers, and I took them away. I just destroyed families in one foul swoop.
I cleared my head as i walked into the auditorium filled with drowsy and unconscious tilfish. I ensured the cameras on all of the carts were on and gave the order. What came next was quite the sight.
The little abominations screeched and squealed as my squad tore into them. Ripping the young away from the dazed brood-mothers, tearing the monsters apart like they deserved. Loyal and dedicated soldiers finally filling their stomachs after days of hunger. This is what it’s all about. Bringing smiles to the faces of sapients. At this moment I could finally forget about the atrocity that happened to those four in the previous room. I started to salivate myself a little, I shouldn’t indulge though. This is a reward to the Arxur people, not me.
I cheerily hummed as the weak tilfish were tossed into the refrigeration carts. The cold would slow them down to nothing, but it wouldn’t kill them. Perfectly convenient for filling the cages back on the cattle ships. Watching over the cart’s weight readouts I guesstimated that this would be enough to feed about 680 Arxur for a week. It makes me so proud thinking about all the young wonderful Arxur that will get to enjoy these meals. How they’ll go to sleep with full bellies and grow strong. No deformations from malnutrition. Perfectly formed jaws with clean straight teeth. Unlike mine, jagged, crisscrossed, and malformed. I’ll make sure that they have better lives then me. It’s the least I could do.
These thoughts were short-lived unfortunately. Tarth approached me with a bag crafted from the same materials as the pelts the humans wear. I took it silently and he went off to go get his fill.
I dug through the “backpack” as I would later identify it. The pack contained weapons, ammo, and holopads. Turns out the holopads required biometerics, but Tarth was kind enough to attach the associated severed thumbs to each. I went through and altered the security preferences to myself on all of them and glossed through one’s photo album.
I knew what I was going to see, but I punished myself anyway. The dead human had a mate. Whether or not it was a temporary relationship, I don’t know. They had pictures of themselves standing in front of various earth locations. Monuments, beautiful scenes of nature you’d never see on a federation planet, relaxed on furniture with a furry quadrupedal predator. Things I’ve never seen in person and likely never will. I robbed the human of all of this.
I put away the holopad and steeled myself. If I was going to have a breakdown, it would be in my quarters.
I quietly waited for the final stages of the shelter raid to wrap up and began planning the next step of today’s festivities. The entire squad would escort the refrigeration carts back to the cattle ship and we would then exchange them for one refrigeration cart and two cargo carts. After that we would search a nearby tilfish military base for heavy munitions and any high value ship related equipment and materials.
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There was a bit of a delay at Cattleship Δ1242. The other squads were as successful as mine, so we had to wait for a refrigeration cart to be freed up. I took the opportunity to drop off the human pack in my room and check the current raid situation. Thankfully there weren’t any notable hiccups in the raid from a global perspective. The human FTL clusterfuck only shorted us a few ships and part of the fleet was in process with salvaging them for FTL drives, fuel, FTL disruptors, inertial dampeners, shield generators, and databases containing flight logs and encryption keys.
After the update, I reconvened with my squad and gave them a run down on the status of the raid. Tarth already hopped up onto the refrigeration cart before I even got to it. Lazy ass.
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We were still about a half mile out from our destination when Tarth perked up and swung his rifle around toward a concrete building. I trailed his the direction his rifle was pointing to see a rather peculiar sight. A white human pelt that was tied to a stick by the arms was being waved around. However, who was holding it was hiding behind part of the building.
Before I could say anything Tarth already sent a round through the pelt.
“OH SHIT. Uhh… Hey in human culture white flags are a universal symbol of “I give up. Please don’t shoot me” okay?”
My thoughts shot back to the four mutilated corpses I left back in the bomb shelter. Icy guilt crept down my back and left my tail with pins and needles. I sighed for a moment and waved Tarth to lower his gun.
“Alright human, come out slowly, we won’t shoot you.”
A fleshy claw-less hand poked out from the wall and waited.
I grumbled as the weak predator peaked out. “When I said slowly, I meant some time today. I have a schedule to keep.”
“Sorry. Was just taking it slow. Figured if someone with a hair trigger got any ideas, it’d be better to lose a hand than a life.”
The human was one of the paler variants. It had a smashed in muzzle like the rest of its kind. Not exactly what I’d call an apex predator, but I’d tolerate it. (It… He I think?) He carried two large green storage cylinders on his back and was wearing the standard blue helmet uniform. At his hip was a belt carrying various bobbles and oh that’s a gun.
“If your surrendering, why do you have a gun?”
“It’s for the crazy murder bugs with the flamethrowers. As long as you bunch are on the ball with killing them, you can have it.”
I grunted at Tarth and nodded him over to the human. He drew the sidearm from the humans holster and inspected it. Tarth being Tarth, then proceeded to start jabbing the human with the weapon gleefully. The human looked over to me pleadingly. He clearly wasn’t thrilled with having a gun poking into his gut.
I spoke up. “Tarth do you intend on wasting our time as well? Get over here. Human, you will stay within ten feet of him or me at all times. Don’t try to run off, I don’t need to explain what will happen if you try.”
“Understood”
Well, at least the human seems to be disciplined enough to not have an attitude.
Our procession continued as I introduced our first official human captive to Tarth and myself. The weaker “social predator” was just as chatty as my slightly defective friend to my disappointment. However, once the topic of our destination came up, my mercy started to pay off.
“You guys are going to the base? Yeah. Fuck that. Don’t go there. That place is an absolute shitstorm. Some empathetic dumb-asses started to let tilfish in so we could protect them from the scary Arxur. I naturally raided supply of their MREs and got the fuck out of there. Lo and behold, before I was even out the gate the tilfish started shooting and burning dudes. Never trust a fuckin’ bug.”
Tarth and I both chuckled at the idea of some empathetic prey lovers getting their comeuppance.
“Despite that, we are still going human. I was assigned to raid the base for goods and you already know where everything is. So try not to get shot or burned until after our objective is completed.”
The human looked dejected. “Well fuck… I should’ve stayed behind that wall. Are you absolutely sure you want to go there. All the functional ships evacuated early yesterday during your surprise attack on the planetary defenses.”
Tarth spoke up. ”Wasn’t much of a surprise really. Not even an hour into the assault and a human fleet of a thousand some odd ships popped in behind us.”
“The UN had an entire fleet show up within an hour of you guys arriving?
“Yes. Although it was pretty short lived. They disabled a few of our shields with some kind of bombs, but it really didn’t matter. We outnumbered them 8 to 1 and just threw a wall of plasma at them. Not a whole lot of defensive positions to be had out in space. Most of them tried to run, but we catapulted FTL disruptor buoys at them and burnt them all. I have no idea what their strategy was there.”
“...Cool. Good to know.”
“You should have seen it. Ships full of foolish humans turning into molten slag. Their corpses ejecting into space and bloating up from the vacuum. Some of them holding onto their pet prey. Maybe we’ll gather up the tasty prey carcasses later, the cold of space preserves meat nicely I hear. I swear I could hear the screams even in space. That’s what it’s like when weak predators try to pick fights with the Arxur. They weren’t smart like you, human.”
The human shut up after that. I suspect the thought of so many of his kin dying likely saddened him. To be fair, I would be too if those were my people. I mean, it sucks that so many sapients died, but I didn’t have a hand in it.
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The entrance to the base was finally in sight. Tarth and the human lounged on the top of the refrigeration cart despite the irritated side glances from the others in the squad. I could smell the stench of burnt flesh wafting towards us from somewhere deeper in the base. It served as a good confirmation that the human wasn’t feeding us bad intel.
I was looking over to the human pleased when gray blood splattered out from the back of his helmet. It took me a second to realize we were being shot at. It took another for me to order my squad to take cover behind the sturdy carts. I ordered the auto-turret techs to deploy their toys to protect our flanks and rear.
Tarth, the human’s corpse, and I all crouched together behind the refrigeration cart. I’d never seen a dead body convulse in such a weird way before, desperately pulling off its helmet and cursing… Wait. What? The air suddenly reeked of burnt hair and small wisp of smoke coming from the doffed helmet. Tarth gave the living corpse a weird look and shrugged. Questions later, not dying takes precedence.
Tarth and I ensured the aim assist in our rifles was toggled on and proceeded to dispense suppressive fire from behind the cart. Ideally, we could just point our weapons in our adversaries general direction and the rifle’s computer would do the hard part.
The human started panicking when a metal ball dropped next to us. He kicked the sphere away and started cursing in pain while holding his foot. No surprise there you moronic primate, those black leather foot coverings aren’t going to protect you when you punt a metal ball down the street. Wait... Did that ball just explode? Oh. Yeah. We got briefed on those things come to think of it. Good call monkey-man, your foot didn’t go bruised in vain.
As Tarth and I lowered ourselves back down to reload, we suddenly felt the smaller predator forcibly sandwich himself between us. He tightened himself into a tiny ball while wide eyed. I looked around our perimeter. There weren’t any hostile humans so what was his deal. Tarth’s breathing seized up as well, what the hell was going on?
Beep Beep.
It occurred to me at that moment the auto-turrets haven’t been updated to recognize any humans as friendly. I froze up and slowly looked at our flanks. Both turrets were pointing at us. I’ve never pissed myself before… But I got damn close.
The three of us just stayed there perfectly still for what felt like hours. It gave me enough time to think about many things in my life. All the things I haven’t done yet. I’ve never had the opportunity to sire my own clutch, the closest thing I have to a friend is a psycho that gravitates toward me because I’m the only one that tolerates his non-stop yapping, and how nice is it to finally feel the warmth of another pressed up against me. Holy crap what is wrong with me? Prophet, I’m sorry for being so defective. If you bail me out of this, I’ll do whatever you want, just give me a sign.
And the Prophet answered my prayer indeed. Some foolhardy humans finally went for our flanks and drew the ire of the auto-turrets away from us. As the BRRT of the turrets sounded off Tarth, being the absolute bastard that he is, dived away from us.
This left me and the human exposed to the turrets. My initial thought was to push the human over and dive away, so I pushed him over. As I readied myself to dive, I thought about those four in the shelter. How I robbed them of their lives and families. I just couldn't do that again. I can’t just pretend that it’s not my problem. The human’s eyes showed such sadness from that impending betrayal. So I dived, hoping that I’d be able to hide him from the sensors on the auto-turrets.
Luckily, he was still balled up so it wasn’t terribly difficult to cover him with my body. I never felt so exposed in my life, doing this. I just laid there thinking, waiting, and wondering if my empathy was about to come back to bite me in the ass. This was all so off putting, being this close to another person. I wanted nothing more than to get up and walk away. I could hear his breath and the light tensing of his body. This wasn’t something that really happens with Arxur.
Eventually, the sound of gunfire died down. I heard people milling about, the hiss of medical foam being applied, and the louder hiss of angry Arxur having gunshot wounds treated.
“Uh. Sir?” I heard the confused words of one of the auto-turret techs.
“No no no. Leave him be. Can’t you see our dear leader is in love. Although, that is the UGLIEST woman I’ve ever seen.”
I’ve never wanted to smack that annoying lazy ass more than at this moment.
I cleared my throat. “Solider, would you kindly deactivate the auto-turrets so our guide to the base doesn't get shredded by an angry machine.”
“Oh..? Yes. Right away sir.”
So I laid there, feeling a smug ass staring a hole into the back of my head. I recapped the events of the skirmish and lamented how I did so little. I only burned through one magazine with some sprayN’pray and that was it. Hell, the human saved a lot of our asses with that grenade save.
Speaking of the human. “Hey human? Why aren’t you dead? You just took a bullet to the head.”
“Uh. The helmets we wear are really good. They have this non-Newtonian fluid laced with perovskite crystals. Basically, the helmet is a fluid sack that hardens in response to physical trauma. It then converts kinetic energy into heat and electricity. These helmets can eat a .308 point blank. Only downsides are that they are one and done armors and that they’ll burn the shit out of you if they stay in contact too long.”
I’d never heard of such a thing before, but clearly it worked. I’ve seen prey attempt to use helmets with varying degrees of failure. Problem is, usually the brain gets shook around and they die anyway. I decided that this fluid would be beneficial to the Dominion.
I spoke up to get Tarth’s attention. “Tarth. Order anyone that isn’t busy to strip the human’s of their armor pelts and headgear. Place everything in the cargo cart next to the human’s green storage bags.”
Shortly after I gave out the order, the auto turret tech returned. “Varce sir. The auto-turrets have been deactivated.”
I Immediately popped up to separate myself from the smaller predator. Looking around it seems we had fared well enough against the ambush. Heh. Arxur being ambushed. Crazy times. We only lost 3 soldiers and have a handful of injuries. It could have been a lot worse. Even Tarth has some med foam sticking out of his arm. The Arxur bodies were being loaded into the refrigeration cart. We’d look into harvesting their organs for transplants later.
The human looked over the bodies of his fallen kin. I decided it would be appropriate to talk to him about their deaths. The bodies had been stripped as ordered, although it appears someone got overzealous and stripped one of them of all there pelts. Wow. That is super gross looking. It’s just like, dangling around on the outside. What happens if it gets caught on something? Does it just tear off and regenerate? That’s just downright terrible design.
Getting myself back on topic. I turned to the human and spoke up. “So… Did you know any of these humans?”
“Uh… Yeah. To be honest. They were fucking elitist assholes. Doesn’t mean I wanted them dead though. It’s just well... This is all a fucking mess. They did shoot me in the back of the head though. So it’s kind of hard to not feel schadenfreude about the whole thing… Can I get a new helmet? Mine’s kind of busted right now.”
“Go for it. There should be some next to your stuff in the cargo cart.”
“Thanks. I mean… As in thanks for everything. You saved my ass in a big way. Not a whole lot of people would of done that for me… So thank you... Yeah.”
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The inside of the base had seen better days. Some buildings had been destroyed either by the original raid or the human’s occupation. It also appeared that the exterminator’s fires got out of hand and had spread to the tent city the UN made for their troops. There were quite a few chard human bodies mixed in with the debris. I could certainly understand why the human had no desire to come back.
I got out of the refrigeration cart and announced to my squad. “Apply fire retardant measures. There may be exterminators in this base.”
My fellow Arxur and I pulled out small aerosol canisters and began dousing ourselves in the gelatinous contents. This substance would greatly reduce the flammability of the fuel the exterminators typically use, though the films covering us would oxidize and become useless after about 20 minutes. We needed to make a clean sweep of our travel path and secure the nearby maintenance hangar before then. I placed the spent canister back in my tail pouch and began driving again.
“So you’ve got one of those spray bottles for me, right?” The human looked over to me pleadingly. “Just sayin’. I’d like to not burn to death if at all possible.”
“Are you willing to strip naked and shave yourself?”
“What?”
“This stuff only works if it forms a solid layer on you. It won’t work on fur and pelts.”
“Shit… Can I have my gun back then?”
“No.”
We continued moving for about ten minutes per the human’s instructions. The intersection that would take us to our loot was finally in view. There were large industrial style buildings surrounding us from all sides. This was where minor ship parts like valves would be stored or milled out for ships. Lots of little doors and tight alleyways for the diminutive insectoids to scurry through. As such this was the perfect environment for exterminators to hide. I kept my eyes peeled for even the slightest movement.
My suspicions paid off immediately when I noticed some dumpsters that were conveniently lined up between two buildings. I know a barricade when I see one. I brought our caravan to a stop just out of weapons range of the prey’s fortifications. I checked the driver’s panel for life signs and smiled knowing my caution was justified.
I stood out of the drivers seat, silently motioning towards the dumpsters. Half of the squad formed up around the carts. The other half broke into groups and approached the dumpsters from multiple angles. My group consisted of Tarth, the human, and three other Arxur.
My group and I shouldered our rifles and began unloading into the dumpsters. The foolish prey actually thought they were going to get one over on us. In moments tilfish started scrambling, desperately spraying the flammable contents of their weapons in the air towards us. Most of it fell short with only a few stray droplets touching us. We stood back at a comfortable range as the last few bugs dropped to the ground bleeding out in a pool of their own accelerant. One of the little abominations used the last of its pathetic strength to immolate the remains of it group.
A burst of flame pushed towards us, showering us with embers and half burnt debris. Our groups backed away from the intense heat and rapidly pawed off any unwelcome remains of the explosion. Well, except for the human, his left forearm was very on fire. With a surprising level of calmness, my human pulled a water bottle from his belt and doused the flame away.
He looked over to me and grumbled. “I probably should of stayed at the carts.”
“Probably. How did you even get that much fuel on your arm?”
“I didn’t. These uniforms are made out of acrylic and cotton. Very flammable. The UN thought it would be a good idea to have us peace keep against guys who almost exclusively use fire. I have many words about the UN. None of them are nice.”
“At least you handled being on fire pretty well.”
“I’ve seen about twenty people get caught on fire in the past week. I know the drill. Also, I’m gonna need some medical attention for this by the end of the day.”
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Fantastic, we’ve arrive at the maintenance hangar the human recommended and what do we find? More barricades and a bunch of life signs. Maybe I shouldn’t complain. I might be able to top off all my carts in one go.
I ordered my squad to surround the structure just as I had with the eugenics clinic. Though I had to stop the auto-turret techs before they accidentally lit up my human. I quietly pondered how I was going access the hangar with minimal gunfire. I didn't want to run the risk of accidentally damaging a spare FTL drive or something. I ultimately landed on the idea of just ramming through the door with the cargo cart to draw attention and then have the squad flank the inhabitants.
As one of my troops lined up their cart with the doors a shaky human voice called out. “Wait! We have missile warheads rigged to blow if you try anything!”
My human looked over to me and motioned he was going to the door. I allowed him to do so.
“Hey Lee, is that you?” My human questioned. “How are you holding up?”
“Hall? What the hell are you doing with the space nazi crocs?” (Who the hell is Hall? Oh, okay, that’s my human’s name. I should probably remember that.)
“You know. Trying to not die. Things are all kinds of FUBAR right now.”
“Things get rough and you just bail? All we had to do is hold down the fort and wait for rescue. And what do you do? You immediately defect to them. They literally eat babies. You abandoned humanity.”
“Lee. A UN fleet jumped into system one hour after the Arxur arrived.”
“So they tried to save us and you decide to run off?”
“No no. How long would it take for a fleet going FTL to get here assuming a distress signal was sent out the second the Arxur arrived?”
“… Are you saying that they knew the Arxur were coming and didn’t give us a heads up? But…”
“Look man. You’ve got to make your own decisions, but from where I’m standing you really only have two choices. Either commit suicide by Arxur or walk away from what your doing and survive. The Arxur are going to eventually try to trade us to the UN. I intend on living.”
“But what about the tilfish? Are you seriously fine with them being cattle?”
“If you want to die for some bugs that burnt Clark alive two days ago, then that's your call. See you later… Or not.”
“Wait. Wait!”
My human didn’t respond. He just walked back over to me. After that brief exchange, he looked completely used up. It did help me to better understand his willingness to work with me though. All these humans planet side had effectively been left to die before we even arrived at Sillis. Most of them didn’t even know they were fighting for a government that withheld knowledge that could’ve saved them. They could have evacuated and saved so many sapient lives. So much for 5 humans for every 500 million xenos.
I waited long enough. It was time to crack this egg. As I gave the order to breach, I heard four consecutive gunshots come from the hangar. The cargo cart broke open the door and the side entrances were forced as well. I walked in behind the cargo cart and took stock of the situation. A somewhat tanned human was standing over three tilfish carcasses while brandishing its rifle towards a crowd of prey.
The human was seizing up saying. “Don’t move. I… I… I don’t want to die, okay! I… I’m sorry. It’s just that…”
The human trailed off murmuring nonsense. My human got his attention and led him out of the building. Given the degraded mental state of the disheveled human, that was probably best given what was going to happen next. I gave a quick look around, there was no “rigged warhead”, the “Lee” human had given us an empty threat.
The weak prey didn’t stand a chance as my fellow Arxur snatched them up, forcing them into the refrigeration cart. Shrill cries escaped the grotesque creature’s mouths as they were pressed against the Arxur bodies that were already in the cart. Perhaps more refrigeration carts should’ve been brought. The cart reached what was the “comfortable capacity” and there was still a third of the tilfish to go. So naturally, we just started pushing them in harder. Pops and cracks could be heard as chitin bent and broke from strain. Ear piercing noises echoed throughout the room as the little mindless bugs wailed. With one final push, we managed to load all of the bugs into the cart. The readout said we had collected about 18,200lbs of food. While the cart’s recommended weight limit had been exceeded, the thought of 250 Arxur getting to stave off starvation brought me so much joy.
I walked about the hangar inspecting all of the available loot. While I was disappointed by the lack of any FTL related equipment, there was however, an abundance of components for inertial dampeners and shields. My squad got to work loading up the two cargo carts as I went to check up on the two humans. I found them a short walk away from the hangar sitting together under a shade. The humans looked over to me when I approached them. Lee must have gotten more ill. His face was inflamed and red with looked to be signs of leaked fluid on his pelts. Wonderful. I’m going to have to take both of them to medical since this one is developing some kind of infection.
My human looked between Lee and me for a moment before speaking. “Lee. This is Varce. He is a supply officer on his ship and is currently in charge of retrieving ship parts from this base. Varce. This is Lee. He was in training to become an air force mechanic prior to being transferred to the UN to be cannon fodder.”
Seeing that Lee was hesitant to talk, I took the initiative. “Hello Lee, I’m Varce. We’ll be heading back to our ship here in a minute. I’ll run you guys by our doc and get you some acceptable sleeping quarters. As for food, we have two bags of human meals ready to eat available for you since you guys have certain dietary restrictions. Also, I’m going to need you to forfeit your firearms for now. Armed humans can be somewhat distressing for Arxur. I hope you understand.”
Lee glanced up to me. “Are we going to be traded back to the UN?”
“Yes. While the exact terms haven’t been decided yet. I’d hazard a guess that Chief Hunter Shaza will likely be trading you for artificial meat. We don’t eat people.”
The human scrunched up his face at that and handed over his weapons. The three of us then headed back to the carts so that we could depart. I did have to shoo Tarth off the overburdened refrigeration cart. He then started to try to pester the mentally unwell human. Luckily, my human lured him away before any harm could be inflicted.
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Once we had returned to Cattleship Δ1242, the humans and I fished out the MREs and armor from the cargo cart. We went to my room to deposit the goods and then headed towards doc. I may have made a miscalculation on my path unfortunately. We passed by the caging area that was established for any captured enemy humans. It already housed several residents. Lee began to panic thinking that I was going to be placing him in there.
I stopped him and explained. “No Lee, listen. That’s for humans that try to kill us. I’m going to be re-purposing a supply closet for you two. Okay? ...That sounds worse than it actually is. It’s a nice supply closet. I’ll get you some nesting materials.”
My human started snorting and chuckling uncontrollably. I wasn’t certain if it was me or Lee that caused this.
We paid doc a visit and got my human patched up. The other one’s swelling had reduced back down during the trip back to the ship.
We would be departing soon. The ship had collected everything that it could for the time being, so our next destination would be a cattle farm on an old thafki colony planet. I hoped that things could go smoothly with the temporary integration of two humans. I’m going to need them for the ungodly big pile of ship components I’m about to have to enter into Dominion inventory.
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That’s it for the time being. I’m not certain if I’ll do a follow up on this. This whole fanfic idea ended up happening thanks to Marcel’s magic helmet. I make no claim of being a decent write or proofreader. If you read this, it’s your own fault.

This article contains a lot of film stills. For a fully illustrated version please click here - https://filmofileshideout.com/archives/timothy-careys-the-worldsgreatest-sinner-is-prophetic/
Let me be the first to admit I had never heard of Timothy Carey. I watched The World’s Greatest Sinner because the title was titillating, not because some guy named Timothy Carey wrote, directed, produced, and starred in it. Little did I know he had acted in Billy Wilder's 1951 Ace in the Hole, Elia Kazan’s 1955 East of Eden, László Benedek’s 1953 The Wild One, John Cassavetes’ 1976 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and he’s even on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, although George’s head obscures him and Bettie Davis. They are only visible in an alternate shot.
The World’s Greatest Sinner follows a corrupt demagogue who uses folksy wisdom and a guitar to enthrall the masses. It’s not the first film to follow the rise and fall of such a character. Before The World’s Greatest Sinner came out in 1962 (actually it never had an official release), there was Richard Brooks’ Elmer Gantry from 1960, starring a bombastic Burt Lancaster, and Elia Kazan’s A Face In The Crowd starring Andy Griffith, which came out in 1957. They all cover similar ground, however, The World’s Greatest Sinner is a bit more wild and wooly.
The sound is a particularly strange and slapdash affair. Some of the dialogue is recorded on what I assume is a boom-mic, but other parts are dubbed in. It wouldn’t be so strange, but the sound sometimes switches back and forth in the same scene while characters are exchanging dialogue. At one point, something completely inexplicable happens. One of the actresses turns to the camera and lip-syncs a line that is meant for the man in the scene to deliver, so we hear a male voice coming out of a female character’s mouth. There is no build-up, no context or explanation, it just happens like a bizarre blooper.
The plot of The World’s Greatest Sinner is simple. Clarence Hilliard is an insurance salesman who is bored with his job, so he decides to go into politics to spice things up. Meanwhile, a very large boa-constrictor, who no one seems to notice, slithers through Hilliard’s pristine suburban backyard. An echoey voice pipes up, and as you search for the speaker, you realize it's the snake’s internal dialogue. It turns out the snake is the Devil, and his voice is dubbed by someone doing an impression of Orson Welles a la Mork and Mindy or Pinky And The Brain.
With what appears to be some supernatural influence on the snake's behalf, Clarence takes to the street corner and starts screaming about how he is God and that he will bring an end to death. Instead of being carted away by men in white suits, an interested crowd starts to gather and listen. This is the first instance where Trump’s rise to power is prophesized. You listen to the arrogant insanity coming out of Clarence’s deranged, narcissistic mouth and you think that no one would ever listen to such crap, but then you remember 2016.
Timothy Carey’s approach to acting is based on a simple principle: the louder you yell, the better the acting. This, as you might imagine, results in a very loud movie. You could never impugn his stage presence, he’s like an angry Tim Curry.
With his meager, new-found band of followers, Clarence founds the Eternal Man Party. He funds it by sleeping with rich ladies who then donate to his campaign. Some are pretty old, but one is just 14. I’m not sure why he sleeps with her, I guess she could fork over her allowance. The first woman he sleeps with is very old, and just before he kisses her, he holds her face in his hand and lovingly whispers, “You’re just like my mother. If I had more like you, then my plan would triumph.” Then he kisses her with a really deep and uncomfortably thorough kiss.
Then we get a series of montages featuring larger and larger crowds listening to Clarence’s speeches. In another foreshadowing of Trump, his followers storm a building and riot in the streets. We even have shots of people pressed up against glass doors.
The campaign poster for Clarence’s party looks like a cross between Che Guevara and Robert Downey Jr. I guess people like images of men yelling with big open mouths. Later, Clarence is interviewed and says something that could have easily come out of Trump’s childishly hyperbolic mouth, “I expect to get more votes than any other candidate in history.”
What really drives the plot and keeps the film interesting is the addition of rock 'n’ roll to the mix. To gather a crowd, Clarence learns to play the guitar and sing. His concerts consist of him trying to imitate Elvis, but he comes off more like Lux Interior. If you are not familiar with Lux, you are really missing out. He was the fabulously demented lead singer of a punk group called The Cramps, a personal favorite of mine.
The World’s Greatest Sinner has yet another moment of prescience, but this time it involves John Lennon*.* In 1966, four years after the film came out, the infamous interview with John Lennon was published in which he said that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” This of course triggered the ever-predictable followers of the crucified one to commence burning Beatles albums. Had those same Christians seen The World’s Greatest Sinner four years earlier, they would have witnessed Carey screaming, “The biggest lie of mankind is Christ!” Their poor little Christian heads would have popped. Maybe that’s why Carey is on the cover of Sgt. Peppers.
Clarence's relationship to God and religion is hard to parse out. His Eternal Man Party is founded on the idea that there is no god other than yourself. One of his assistants writes the supporting tenets on a board: “We are superhuman beings. We must be positive. The only heaven is on Earth." Then he adds, “And to sum it up, there will be no death!” Carey is either trying to present some muddled version of atheism, or he is just trying to construct a philosophy that is as sacrilegious as possible for the sake of drama. It is a little reminiscent of Coffin Joe and his Nietzschean trilogy of films: At Midnight, I'll Take Your Soul (1963), This Night, I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967), and Awakening of the Beast (1970). In the end, The World’s Greatest Sinner is a standard descent into madness plot with a self-destructive protagonist hurtling toward disaster. I’ll leave out the ending, but descent into madness narratives almost always result in one of two endings, the protagonist is redeemed or annihilated. A movie from 1962 could not end with Clarence's success.
The strange and eclectic soundtrack was written by… you’ll never guess… Frank Zappa! This was Zappa before The Mothers of Invention. In 1962, his band was called Baby Ray & The Ferns. Zappa later referred to The World’s Greatest Sinner as “the world’s worst movie.” People are way too cavalier with throwing around this very special status. Zappa obviously had never seen Alien Beasts or Bat Pussy.
The World’s Greatest Sinner is essentially about demagoguery, cult-like devotion, and avarice. It is also about the vulnerability of the masses, delusion, and democracy. There is some stock footage of a few political conventions thrown in near the end of the film.
Chomsky once explained that a dictator need not be concerned with what the population thinks. He can crush dissent with brute force. In a democracy, a would-be leader is obliged to control what the populace thinks to get himself elected. The problem with living in a democracy becomes an ever-present anxiety about the vulnerability of the masses. We worry that the average citizen will not be able to see through the smoke and mirrors. It was Trump who once said, “Ah the uneducated, I love the poorly uneducated.”

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Let me be the first to admit I had never heard of Timothy Carey. I watched The World’s Greatest Sinner because the title was titillating, not because some guy named Timothy Carey wrote, directed, produced, and starred in it. Little did I know he had acted in Billy Wilder's 1951 Ace in the Hole, Elia Kazan’s 1955 East of Eden, László Benedek’s 1953 The Wild One, John Cassavetes’ 1976 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and he’s even on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, although George’s head obscures him and Bettie Davis. They are only visible in an alternate shot.
The World’s Greatest Sinner follows a corrupt demagogue who uses folksy wisdom and a guitar to enthrall the masses. It’s not the first film to follow the rise and fall of such a character. Before The World’s Greatest Sinner came out in 1962 (actually it never had an official release), there was Richard Brooks’ Elmer Gantry from 1960, starring a bombastic Burt Lancaster, and Elia Kazan’s A Face In The Crowd starring Andy Griffith, which came out in 1957. They all cover similar ground, however, The World’s Greatest Sinner is a bit more wild and wooly.
The sound is a particularly strange and slapdash affair. Some of the dialogue is recorded on what I assume is a boom-mic, but other parts are dubbed in. It wouldn’t be so strange, but the sound sometimes switches back and forth in the same scene while characters are exchanging dialogue. At one point, something completely inexplicable happens. One of the actresses turns to the camera and lip-syncs a line that is meant for the man in the scene to deliver, so we hear a male voice coming out of a female character’s mouth. There is no build-up, no context or explanation, it just happens like a bizarre blooper.
The plot of The World’s Greatest Sinner is simple. Clarence Hilliard is an insurance salesman who is bored with his job, so he decides to go into politics to spice things up. Meanwhile, a very large boa-constrictor, who no one seems to notice, slithers through Hilliard’s pristine suburban backyard. An echoey voice pipes up, and as you search for the speaker, you realize it's the snake’s internal dialogue. It turns out the snake is the Devil, and his voice is dubbed by someone doing an impression of Orson Welles a la Mork and Mindy or Pinky And The Brain.
With what appears to be some supernatural influence on the snake's behalf, Clarence takes to the street corner and starts screaming about how he is God and that he will bring an end to death. Instead of being carted away by men in white suits, an interested crowd starts to gather and listen. This is the first instance where Trump’s rise to power is prophesized. You listen to the arrogant insanity coming out of Clarence’s deranged, narcissistic mouth and you think that no one would ever listen to such crap, but then you remember 2016.
Timothy Carey’s approach to acting is based on a simple principle: the louder you yell, the better the acting. This, as you might imagine, results in a very loud movie. You could never impugn his stage presence, he’s like an angry Tim Curry.
With his meager, new-found band of followers, Clarence founds the Eternal Man Party. He funds it by sleeping with rich ladies who then donate to his campaign. Some are pretty old, but one is just 14. I’m not sure why he sleeps with her, I guess she could fork over her allowance. The first woman he sleeps with is very old, and just before he kisses her, he holds her face in his hand and lovingly whispers, “You’re just like my mother. If I had more like you, then my plan would triumph.” Then he kisses her with a really deep and uncomfortably thorough kiss.
Then we get a series of montages featuring larger and larger crowds listening to Clarence’s speeches. In another foreshadowing of Trump, his followers storm a building and riot in the streets. We even have shots of people pressed up against glass doors.
The campaign poster for Clarence’s party looks like a cross between Che Guevara and Robert Downey Jr. I guess people like images of men yelling with big open mouths. Later, Clarence is interviewed and says something that could have easily come out of Trump’s childishly hyperbolic mouth, “I expect to get more votes than any other candidate in history.”
What really drives the plot and keeps the film interesting is the addition of rock 'n’ roll to the mix. To gather a crowd, Clarence learns to play the guitar and sing. His concerts consist of him trying to imitate Elvis, but he comes off more like Lux Interior. If you are not familiar with Lux, you are really missing out. He was the fabulously demented lead singer of a punk group called The Cramps, a personal favorite of mine.
The World’s Greatest Sinner has yet another moment of prescience, but this time it involves John Lennon. In 1966, four years after the film came out, the infamous interview with John Lennon was published in which he said that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” This of course triggered the ever-predictable followers of the crucified one to commence burning Beatles albums. Had those same Christians seen The World’s Greatest Sinner four years earlier, they would have witnessed Carey screaming, “The biggest lie of mankind is Christ!” Their poor little Christian heads would have popped. Maybe that’s why Carey is on the cover of Sgt. Peppers.
Clarence's relationship to God and religion is hard to parse out. His Eternal Man Party is founded on the idea that there is no god other than yourself. One of his assistants writes the supporting tenets on a board: “We are superhuman beings. We must be positive. The only heaven is on Earth." Then he adds, “And to sum it up, there will be no death!” Carey is either trying to present some muddled version of atheism, or he is just trying to construct a philosophy that is as sacrilegious as possible for the sake of drama. It is a little reminiscent of Coffin Joe and his Nietzschean trilogy of films: At Midnight, I'll Take Your Soul (1963), This Night, I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967), and Awakening of the Beast (1970). In the end, The World’s Greatest Sinner is a standard descent into madness plot with a self-destructive protagonist hurtling toward disaster. I’ll leave out the ending, but descent into madness narratives almost always result in one of two endings, the protagonist is redeemed or annihilated. A movie from 1962 could not end with Clarence's success.
The strange and eclectic soundtrack was written by… you’ll never guess… Frank Zappa! This was Zappa before The Mothers of Invention. In 1962, his band was called Baby Ray & The Ferns. Zappa later referred to The World’s Greatest Sinner as “the world’s worst movie.” People are way too cavalier with throwing around this very special status. Zappa obviously had never seen Alien Beasts or Bat Pussy.
The World’s Greatest Sinner is essentially about demagoguery, cult-like devotion, and avarice. It is also about the vulnerability of the masses, delusion, and democracy. There is some stock footage of a few political conventions thrown in near the end of the film.
Chomsky once explained that a dictator need not be concerned with what the population thinks. He can crush dissent with brute force. In a democracy, a would-be leader is obliged to control what the populace thinks to get himself elected. The problem with living in a democracy becomes an ever-present anxiety about the vulnerability of the masses. We worry that the average citizen will not be able to see through the smoke and mirrors. It was Trump who once said, “Ah the uneducated, I love the poorly uneducated.”

Original prompt

We’d been alerted when NASA had spotted the comet two days out from Earth.
How it had gotten that far into the solar system without being seen remained a mystery, one that NASA had told us not to worry about; there were more important things for the crew aboard the International Space Station to do while governments on Earth plotted ways to prevent the looming disaster.
We worked through the station’s night, hoping to come up with something we could throw at it. The Russians decided–without any discussion–that they would launch their module at the icy body, in hopes that a hurried impact would knock the comet off its course. The comet seemed to be headed toward eastern Europe, putting a possible bullseye on western Russia, which might have been what prompted the decision.
I had wished them well, knowing full well it was a fool’s errand. I and a couple of my crewmates went to the observation bubble to witness Sergei and Viktor’s attempt. Perhaps they saw it as a heroic sacrifice, but the rest of us knew it probably because they reached the conclusion that their loved ones would be dead soon and they didn’t want to live without them. It was reckless suicide.
The ice and debris flying out ahead of the comet parted in a cone shape as the Russian capsule plunged into it. A moment later, there was a small eruption from the front of the comet. It remained on its previous trajectory and would sail past us in less than half an hour.
The crew was summoned together once word had reached the station commander of Sergei and Viktor’s fate.
“I’m sorry to everyone left here aboard the station for the loss of Sergei Rostov and Viktor Prozhenko. They were valued members of this crew, and I grief for their families at their loss on such a stupid waste of lives,” Kevin Stern said stiffly. “I’ve just gotten word from Houston that they’re going to launch every nuclear weapon Washington has at its disposal. We expect the Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, even the Pakistanis to follow suit. Still, they don’t believe it will be enough to put the smallest dent into that monster out there. To put it succinctly, we expect all life on Earth to be destroyed in a matter of an hour. There’s nothing we can do from here, except wait. And hope. Hope that maybe everyone with their fingers on the buttons will coordinate and target the same place. Otherwise, not only will that comet wipe out Earth, but we’ll be in range to get hit by either pieces of the comet or the nukes themselves. I recommend everyone prepare for the worst, and pray to whatever gods you believe in.”
We were stunned; nobody seemed able to speak for a long moment. Commander Stern looked around the gathered crewmembers, as if expecting someone to ask a question. The looks of shock and horror were all that met his eyes.
“Are you saying we might die soon, sir?” British astronaut Dr. Allison Turlough asked, breaking the near total silence.
Stern twisted over as he floated in the middle of the crew. “That is, unfortunately, what I’m saying, Allison. Maybe, just maybe, God or someone will listen to our prayers and spare us from that end. I’m not sure I believe in God or anything at this point, but anything that might save us is worth trying.”
My mind finally registered how dire the situation was. I wanted to speak, say something, anything, but my vocal cords seemed frozen.
Seeing no further questions were being posed, Stern grabbed a handle bar, preparing to push himself forward into the corridor that led up front.
“If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the operations room.”
After a moment, there were a few gasps, tears floating in the air as crewmembers cried silently. A couple of people had anchored themselves and bowed their heads, saying muffled prayers.
Turlough floated toward me.
“Going to the observation bubble?” I asked quietly.
She turned her head to look me in the eye. “Yes.”
“Mind some company?”
Her forehead wrinkled a bit as she contemplated my request. “Sure.”
I followed her up the corridor to the room that was made mostly of reinforced glass windows, giving us a near 360-degree view of space. Right now, most of it was filled with the intense white sunlight reflecting off the comet that would wipe out everything on Earth.
Despite not having known each other for very long–I’d only joined the crew a month ago–we clasped hands upon seeing the awesome sight of the world killer. We didn’t speak a word, simply gripped each other’s hands as the massive ice ball got bigger and bigger.
As the half hour ETA passed, large fragments of ice pelted the windows, one of which cracked when a boulder glanced off it. Allison and I stared in horror, glancing at each other, wondering if we were going to be the first to die at this monster’s hands.
Mercifully, the glass held. Only the outside layer of the fused glass had cracked; the inner three layers remained intact, so the threat of being blown out into space ebbed.
A moment later, more chunks of ice and rock battered the observation dome from a different direction. The comet had passed below us, so we couldn’t see it. A shock wave followed.
Alarms rose, prompting Turlough and I to hurriedly push ourselves down the corridor and toward the operations center.
Gradually, the klaxons went silent, one by one.
“Your attention please,” Kevin Stern’s voice echoed through speakers throughout the station. “That shock you felt was Earth’s attempt to deflect the comet. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and came too late. We’re evaluating the damage the station suffered as a result of their attempt to blow that thing up, but so far, it seems most of the station is intact.” He paused. “We anticipate the comet making Earth-fall in less than 25 minutes.”
With that, I knew that all hope was gone. The planet below us would be blasted by the large interstellar object. I decided then and there, that I wouldn’t watch all life on Earth be extinguished. Allison grabbed my hand again, getting my attention.
“This is it, isn’t it?”
I didn’t know what to say. I could only look at her in sympathy. All our families, our loved ones, our friends, the communities we’d grown up in, served in, they all would be gone forever.
I saw the tears well up in her eyes, leaking out first onto her cheeks, then into the air around us. Instinctively, I reached out and pulled her close to me.
“We’re still here,” I murmured as soothingly as I could. “We’re going to be all right.”
Allison sniffled loudly and her body shook in my arms, as we floated free from the curved walls of the corridor.
“But, my mum,” she spluttered awkwardly. “My dad. Sammy. Dear, sweet Sammy.”
She sniffled again.
“I’ll never see them again,” she added sorrowfully.
“I’m sorry,” I replied helplessly, knowing that my family, my fiancée, my friends were all about to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.
We held on to each other for a long, long time. It was only the shaking and rattling of the station that alerted us to the end of the Earth below us. We reached out to grasp the bars to anchor ourselves to the station, despite the violent shaking caused by the comet’s impact on Earth.
Things finally settled down once the shock waves passed.
One by one, sometimes in couples, the crew emerged from wherever they’d hunkered down. We floated toward the operations center, where a grim Stern sat strapped into a chair. Either having heard us or otherwise sensed our approach, the commander turned the chair to face the crew.
“It’s over,” he said flatly, almost emotionlessly, then he lost his composure. “Fucking hell! Everyone down there’s dead! They’re all dead!” He repeated the phrase a couple more times, his voice softening to a murmur by the end.
He clearly was having difficulty wrapping his mind around the concept. We were the last humans alive. Earth would be devastated, probably for beyond our lifetimes. If humanity were to survive, it would be through us, here on this station. That would take a long time to fully accept. But, that was the situation as it stood now.
The end of days had arrived so suddenly, now there were less than 20 humans left to ensure the species survived. If it would.