Hello,
We acknowledge good receipt of your message.
The requests regarding the 2023 LE MANS 24 HOURS (10-11 June) will be treated as a priority.
You will find hereafter some answers regarding most of the recurrent requests. If your email was regarding one of those topics, you will not receive another response.
Be assured that we do our best to reply to all other more specific requests in due course.
Download your tickets:
Your electronic tickets are available since the day of purchase on the Official Ticketing Website: https://ticket.24h-lemans.com. Once logged in, click on your name/sign in in the top right corner of the page and on “Tickets” in the drop-down menu.
NB : if you booked your tickets with the « Guest Mode » without creating an account and do not find your email of booking confirmation: go on the Official Ticketing Website https://ticket.24h-lemans.com, do not create a new account and activate your account by choosing the “I forgot my password” option. Then, follow the steps as above.
Free access for children under 16:
As stated in the details of your tickets during purchase as well as in the practical information: No ticket will be delivered to children under 16 (born after 11th June 2007) and accompanied by an adult holding an entrance ticket. A wristband will be given at the entrance – proof of age shall be required. /!\ The free access to the grandstand is for the children under 8 yo (borne after 11th June 215) sitting on the laps of the adult.
Shortage for paying parking and campsite tickets:
We are no longer able to offer new camping areas. However, we have increased the number of free parking areas. They are communicated in the mail campaigns that you receive and are also available in the Practical Information page.
Official Resale Platform :
We have been sold out since December 21st, 2022. As a consequence, the platform https://ticketchange.24h-lemans.com is the only official website that will allow you to find tickets in case of cancellations. Please note that hundreds of people are logged in daily.
NB: Reminder on tickets bought on the black market (unofficial websites, classified ads, unofficial game contests): The Automobile Club de l’Ouest cannot guarantee the validity of these tickets and is not reliable if they are refused at the gates (double use, forgery, etc.) No compensation nor possibility to buy new tickets will be proposed, the access to the circuit will not be granted.
/!\ No tickets will be on sale at the gates, event for the Test Day and Practice tickets which are available online only.
Prepare your arrival (access, GPS coordinates, timetables for parking, campsites, shuttles buses, etc.):
Specific mail campaigns are regularly sent, we invite you to consult them. All details are also available in the Practical Information page.
TEST Day on Sunday 4th June: Only TEST DAY, the 2 DAYS PRACTICE ticket of the Pack “ESSAIS + COURSE”, FULL WEEK et FULL WEEK+PADDOCK+GRIDWALK tickets allow you to attend. The 2DAYS PRACTICE, WEDNESDAY or THURSDAY or SUNDAY TICKETS are not accepted.
Free parking will be available. Please check the Practical Information page.
Tuesday 6th June:
The access to the circuit will be granted only to holders of FULL WEEK and FULL WEEK+PADDOCK+GRIDWALK tickets.
Friday 9th June: The access to the circuit and evening shows and concert will be granted only to holders of FULL WEEK et FULL WEEK+PADDOCK+GRIDWALK tickets. The WEEKEND and 2 DAYS PRACTICE + WEEKEND do not give you access to it. If you have a campsite ticket, you will still be able to stay in your campsite. No ticket for Friday for sale.
Thank you for your understanding.
The Ticketing Service

He had expected this sooner rather than later, and it hurt to see.
He knew it wasn't going to work.
The Galactic Assembly was full of aliens, not humans. The things that got humanity's attention were the same sort of things that tended to scare the GA.
But of course, the average human couldn't have known that, and with their tendency to change creatures around them to become more human, the aliens with which they worked didn't see it either.
They were doing the right thing, but going about it the wrong way.
Still, that didn't stop his feelings of sadness and empathy for their plight.
Walking with Sunny, standing on the buddy pegs attached to her back, and examining the protest encampment around him, he couldn't help but be impressed by their bravery.
He knew for a fact that if he was in their shoes, he would be way more likely to hide, lie to everyone around him, and even himself.
But here they were out in the open, a shining beacon of defiance against the GA.
It was a difficult situation, of course he supported the GA wholeheartedly, and he always would, and with that support came an understanding.
But that didn't mean that he had to agree with them.
They were scared.
And people tend to lash out at things that scare them.
As it turns out, that seemed to be a common factor across the galaxy.
He reached down, hand caressing the tear gas canisters at his belt and the accompanying gas mask. He prayed, just PRAYED that he wouldn't have to use them, but how was he to know what would happen. When people got righteously angry about something they tended to act up, and when thrown into a group of like-minded people, the pack mentality was overwhelming.
He wanted everything to go well, he wanted them to make their point, to prove that they were the moral superiors, demonstrate to the GA that they weren't militant, and all they wanted was peace.
That was the sort of thing that would get across to the GA.
But with humans involved... He didn't really have much hope.
He glanced around at the assembled tents, looking for any sign of trouble.
He didn't see much, just the limp white flags, with the LFIL logo printed proudly on their front.
Still keeping an eye on his surroundings, he leaned against one of Sunny's shoulders.
"So, what do you think about this whole thing?"
Sunny turned her head to look at him, gold eyes and blue carapace glittering with the yellow sheen of the Rundi sky.
She shrugged, setting him a little off balance. She grabbed his feet to steady him as she continued up a small incline.
"It doesn't bother me, and I suppose I understand them."
"Oh?"
"Imagine finding someone you connect with, someone who understands you more than anyone ever has. Imagine a Drev finding the greatest warrior in the galaxy, and then... Just having to suffer knowing you can never be with them. Granted none of the other species ever would have considered it an option without the humans, but now.... It makes sense. You connect with someone well enough, then beyond that there isn't much you can do. And now the GA has prohibited that."
"I agree with you completely, but let me play devil's advocate for a moment. They aren't even the same species, without the same genetics. It wouldn't be physically possible to produce a viable offspring wouldn’t it?”
She turned her head to look at him.
"And how does it work for your brother David and his husband Jordan?"
He laughed,
"Ok, ok, poor question."
"Adoption is a relevant option. Plus, this is coming from the guy who lent his DNA to some alien."
"Arguably she stole it, but I get your point."
They turned another corner scanning the crowd,
"Hear me out though. Humans are... Well, you know how humans are. They need... uhhm uhhh you know…”
Adam got a little red,
”…Affection and intimacy... How does that even... Work?"
"Oh, I am sure some human has found a way, besides, humans and Drev aren't so different in that regard..."
He tilted his head to look at her,
"How the hell do you know that?”
"Got into a discussion with Krill. He thinks it's possible, though he would never tell you humans. He already thinks you do a ton of stupid stuff anyway."
”Oh really what is he expecting? I don’t think anyone from our crew would jump at the opportunity to do it with a Drev be it man or woman… Besides with all these tall as hell Drev males, human women wouldn’t have much fun either would they?”
”Considering males who would be interested, aren’t you good friends with Ramirez? Why don’t you ask him, maybe he knows someone?”
”Okay damn fair point… but the female argument still stays.”
”Krill did some research, I swear I never saw him so… done with humans. He looked like he would drink away his sorrow to forget everything… if his body could tolerate alcohol.”
”So what did he find out about this time?”
”After another particularly massive aggressive rant about how and I quote “shitting freaking goddamn incredibly punk-ass weird” you humans are, he said some weird words in a context I didn’t understand. So, do you know what a dragon is and can you tell me why it is so bad?”
”Hmm what… wait a second…”
”…”
”Oh shit…”
”So?”
"So uhmmm uhhh, let’s stop with humans and talk about Drev again okay? Don't you Drev guys also have a mating season?”*
"We did, but it was actually based on the magnetic fluctuation of our planet in time with the seasons. Now that we don't have that anymore, things are out of whack."
"Huh, I didn't know that."
"You never asked."
"Because that is a totally normal thing to ask someone. Hello, my name is Adam, and I am actually very curious about how... That stuff... works on your planet."
"That stuff, huh?"
He rolled his eyes,
"I was sheltered ok, give me a break."
They came to a stop at a crossroads, and Adam stepped down from her back and onto the dirt, tilting his head to listen, trying to detect any signs of a disturbance.
As of yet there was nothing.
He turned to the left, down another line of tents, passing into a more populated area of the protest encampment.
People wearing specially made clothing, with the LFIL logo, shirts, scarves, bandannas, jackets, hats etc. etc. walked about, openly with their alien companions, a few even brave enough to show overt affection towards each other.
A human hugging a Tesraki, while another stood on a box to kiss the cheek of their Drev partner.
"Now that, is something I couldn't do."
He said to Sunny, as they walked past.
"Kiss someone?"
"No, Kiss someone three to four feet taller than me. Way too much work."
"How do you know, maybe climbing up three feet would be worth it?”
Eyes followed them nervously as they walked past, their riot gear marking them as “the enemy”.
"I would rather not be in danger of twisting my ankle every time I wanted to show someone affection, thanks."
"You twist your ankle all the time anyway."
"That's my point. If I twist my ankle now, imagine what would happen if I had to do acrobatics on a regular basis."
They came to a halt as a group of protesters paraded in front of them holding up picket signs.
One of the protesters turned to glare at him,
"We aren't doing anything illegal!”
Adam held up his hands,
"I know. I'm just security to make sure no one gets hurt.”
The other human didn't seem convinced, angrily grabbing their alien companion around the waist before marching off.
The Tesraki looked uncomfortable, looking back at them apologetically.
Though Tesraki were generally cutthroat businessmen, they tended towards extreme submissiveness in relationships with humans.
Adam stepped through the gap left by the protesters and continued walking.
As they did, they early ran into a group of kids selling little white flags and bandannas.
They pulled to a halt, eyes widening in surprise and shock.
A young Tesraki pulled to a halt with them looking as if he was about to panic and run off.
However, the kid at the front's eyes widened and a big smile crossed his face,
“Holy shit! You, I know you!"
Adam smiled,
"You do now?"
"Yeah , yeah you're in that movie. You, you command the UNSC fleet."
For some reason, that exclamation calmed the other kids, and they squealed, shouting and asking for a picture. Of course, he was happy to oblige, posing with them for their pictures. Sunny stood to the side, happy to watch though she was dragged in for the next set of pictures once they realized who she was.
"What are you doing here?"
One of them asked, glancing down at his clothing. When she saw what he was wearing her smile was falling,
"You... aren't here to stop us, are you?"
Adam shook his head,
"No, of course not, protesting isn't illegal."
He motioned to Sunny with his other hand,
"Sunny and I are just here to make sure that you guys stay safe, and that no one gets hurt.”
Sunny nodded. One of the more skeptical looking teens looked up at him,
"How do we know you aren't here to stop us. You work for the GA after all."
Adam shrugged,
"I don't have much else to prove, other than my word."
The skeptic looked at them, a wicked smile appearing on her face,
"I know."
She reached into her cart and pulled out one of the bandannas,
"Wear this!”
It was clear she expected him to balk at the idea, but to her surprise, he smiled,
"Alright, sounds reasonable."
He held out his arm, and watched, still smiling as she tied it around his upper arm still glowering at him skeptically,
"Think you can spare one for my big friend?"
He patted Sunny on the arm.
That broke her skepticism, and she smiled openly, handing a second one over to him, which he tied around one of Sunny's upper arms.
He waved a goodbye to them, and stepped back up onto Sunny's back, walking away with her.
"That was nice of you."
He shrugged,
”Not really. I honestly agree with them. The GA has no right to tell them who they can and cannot be with. I know they have some reasons, but I feel like there is a better way of dealing with it."
Sunny hummed deep in her throat,
"Uh-huh, or you really just want a really tall girlfriend."
He sighed,
"Honestly I'd settle for any size girlfriend if I could just talk to her like a normal person without sticking my foot in my mouth. No Maverick and Dr. Katie do not count…"
"Your incompetence with women is acrobatic."
"I'm glad you're impressed.”
Together, they continued their slow circle around the encampment, drawing suspicious and confused eyes as they went. Sometimes they were recognized, and occasionally people would ask to take pictures with them, other times, they just wanted to talk.
The variety of people was... astounding.
A barely five foot human with a nine foot Drev.
A group of humans and a group of Tesraki.
A lawyer and a Finnari.
Two couples both as business partners with a Tesraki half.
They were young and old male-female, in all different pairings.
Old soldiers, and young students.
It was honestly quite stunning.
At one point they stopped off for water and ran into a massive bodybuilder with his Drev girlfriend, whose carapace at any other time would have marked her as ugly for a Drev.
At first Sunny felt bad for her, with her muddy brown carapace, mat without any shine.
The man turned and handed Adam some water.
”Here better stay hydrated brother!”
Adam raised the bottle,
"Thanks."
The man looked him over, eyeing the bandanna around his arm.
"Interesting accessories for a GA affiliate."
"You can work for someone and disagree with them."
The man laughed,
"I suppose that's true."
He greeted Sunny as well, who was trying not to stare at the other female Drev for too long, lest it seem like she was staring.
He motioned to the arm band,
"Supporter, or-"
His eyes flicked between Adam and Sunny.
"We're just here to make sure everyone stays safe."
Off to the side the mat Drev looked at Sunny,
"I'm sorry."
Sunny glanced over at her nervously,
"Sorry for what?"
"You must have been treated very poorly on Anum."
Sunny shuffled her feet awkwardly,
"I was alright I guess..."
"Regardless. I hope things work out for you. The Drev beauty standards are unfair, and things need to change."
Sunny wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to feel about that.
"They aren't so bad."
She ventured defensively.
"Then I am sure you are getting combat offers left and right with your coloring.”
Sunny went quiet again. She would have said this was passive aggressive, but the Drev didn't do passive aggressive, so was this just an open statement about how ugly she was? If that was the case, it kind of hurt.
"I have, because I am an experienced warrior."
Her voice was cold.
"Oh, so where is your partner?"
"I turned them down."
That seemed to surprise the female Drev.
Sunny felt her fists clench, but Adam placed a hand on her arm. She was quiet,
The two humans exchanged a look, the way that only humans can, speaking without actually saying anything.
”C’mon babe, lets look a little bit around and let these two be… It was nice meeting you brother! Also… good luck man…”
The human bodybuilder turned around, taking the Drev by one of her hands to lead her away.
Adam took Sunny by the arm and raised his water at the man,
"Uhm what? Huh anyway, good luck to you too?"
Before turning to walk away, the other Drev cut in at the last second.
"I hope you find a worthy battle partner."
Adam Squeezed Sunny's arm tighter, but she turned her head anyway snapping,
"I already have."
Before marching off without another word.
Adam was forced to scamper after her, his legs much shorter.
"Wow, wow, hold your horses!”
She finally slowed to a stop, still fuming.
"Who the hell does she think she is!?”
"Sunny-."
"Calling me ugly to my face!"
"Sunny-"
"I should have challenged her to a duel right then and there!"
"Sunny!?”*
She turned to look at him,
"What!?"
He climbed back up on her back, patting her shoulder,
"She was obviously just insecure and jealous. I mean come on, look at you, blue is the rarest color in the galaxy and most attractive for a Drev, and we all know that height is the least important attribute of Drev beauty standards. The better you can fight, the more you make up for it, besides it's not her fault that she can't accept someone as being valid unless they are in a pair."
Sunny grunted. He frowned,
"Speaking of which, coming from her it seems like a double standard. You fight with me, and I'm fucking awesome, so by default you have to be too."
"Wow Adam, you really know how to make a person feel better."
"I know."
[…]
They were crossing back to the other side of the encampment, when they ran into some familiar faces.
Ramirez and Maverick appeared from the crowd, waving the two of them down with greeting hands.
They pulled to a stop, and the commander motioned to the white bandanna on Ramirez's arm,
"Nice accessories."
"I like yours too."
"I didn't know you were a supporter?”
Ramirez laughed,
"Man I am a supporter of whatever the hell people want to do with themselves."
Off to his side Maverick had tied one of the white bandannas to her belt.
"And you?”
"Personally, I don't give a shit. I don't even think it should be an issue, but by banning it, the GA created a problem for themselves and took away the freedom of choice for these people. Even if I did disagree with what they are doing, I would still support their ability to make that choice for themselves."
She tugged on the bandanna,
"But hey, would I be wearing this otherwise?”
The commander nodded his head, surprised and pleased at his men for being so open minded, though he supposed it should make sense. They worked with aliens every day. Where others might have fostered a sense of fear based on unfamiliarity, they had experience.
"Let’s just hope this all goes over well tomorrow. I don't want to have to use any of this."
He motioned down to his gear.
The commander sighed.
"Isn't that like the catch 22 thing?”
Loyal to one side.
Sympathetic to the other.
Empathetic to both.
He would be relieved when it was finally fixed.
Though how he could help was beyond him.
[...]
"Please everyone, calm yourselves. The Galactic Assembly is addressing the issue as we speak."
The crowd roiled and churned like the bubbles in a pot of boiling water. Flags waved and voices rose high into the air.
The chanting increased in fervor.
"Please!"
The Rundi struggled to raise his voice high enough to be heard over the crowd, who only grew with strength and intensity.
Commander Vir keyed his mic,
"Delta units to the GA side of the crowd, some of these protesters are looking extremely agitated. Let's make sure they don't do anything we're all going to regret.”
He stood with his back to the GA chambers, its wide arching courtyard devoid of life, except for those unfortunate Rundi ordered to carry messages from one side of the compound to the other, otherwise they tried to keep their distance from the front facade of the building and the churning mass of protesters.
White flags waved and fluttered.
Commander Vir held the energy shield with one arm, pressing it back firmly against the crowd, so they could not pass the dedicated marking point.
"Commander, the crowd over here is getting violent."
He grimaced and reached a hand down to open the line,
"Stun them and let them calm down, do NOT catch anyone else in the crossfire. We do not want this escalating."
"Yes sir."
Something pushed against his shield and he grunted, pushing back.
The white bandanna on his arm was pressed against the clear blue force field and helped to at least confuse the crowd before them.
And luckily, they would be kept too confused to get violent.
The aliens among the human protesters helped as well.
If this was on earth, things would have broken out into a riot by now, but the Drev the Tesraki and the Finnari tended to be more levelheaded when it came to these kinds of things, and they managed to reign in their humans from doing something stupid.
He closed his eyes tight for a second, praying that the GA would rethink their position.
It hurt him to watch these people struggle like this.
It just felt so strange that anyone should be here in the first place.
Beside him, Sunny had taken control of two young humans who were getting a bit more than rowdy,
"Let’s keep this a protest, and not a riot."
She growled, giving them a look that would have made anyone quell in their boots. It sort of made him half smile, Sunny was such a badass, he wanted to be more like her when he eventually grew up.
His thoughts were cut off, as the crowd churned a bit, pressing into his shield.
He keyed his mic again, prepared to go over the loudspeaker and tell them that if they didn't calm down he was going to turn this protest into a mass nap time.
He had the power to do that if things got out of hand, though he honestly didn't want to.
The GA needed to see this.
He was so preoccupied with the crowd, that he barely noticed as the Rundi ran up from the inside of the compound, flying forward on its long spindly legs.
It stopped by the first Rundi to say something, and the conversation that passed between them didn't look particularly encouraging.
HIs heart sank into his stomach.
He felt... Surprisingly disappointed, very sad for all those people who were going to get their day ruined.
The Rundi waffled around at the front of the crowd for a bit before turning and looking over to where he stood.
Oh great.
The Rundi walked over, and he backed off from the crowd, allowing Sunny to take a step in his place with her shield at the ready.
The people looked as if they were about to start something, but seeing her expression, they decided not to.
He dropped his shield and lowered his head to hear the Rundi over the roaring of the crowd.
"The GA is not budging."
The Rundi whispered,
"They are asking the protesters to leave."
Adam growled in frustration.
Behind him someone in the crowd pointed at him,
"They're saying no aren't they!?”
Others took up the call, and soon enough the rest of the crowd had been alerted. Adam was forced to run back to support Sunny, as everything suddenly grew more intense.
Fights were breaking out on the left and the right.
People were hitting the ground as the guards were forced to stun them.
That only agitated the rest of the crowd who also began to buck and fight.
Adam keyed the mic for real this time, filling the intervening space with his booming voice,
”ALL OF YOU KNOCK IT OFF RIGHT NOW OR I WILL STUN YOU ALL."
The aggression in the crowd died down, though the anger remained sizzling at the surface.
Overhead clouds passed over the sun, before him the crowd roared like a wave, and behind him the GA council chambers were as silent as a ghost town.
"LISTEN, QUIET DOWN ALL OF YOU."
It sort of felt as if he was floating.
The world around him hardly seemed real though that was not the best way to explain it.
The crowd died down a bit,
"You may not understand this! And I have said it before, but these are not humans. Protests don't work on them. When they see a group of angry humans, they get scared and when they get scared, they double down even further. I know it does not make any sense to you NOT to protest for what you believe in, but if you are going to do this, you MUST remain civil. Even now the GA is frightened by you. They don't believe you are rational, and they are not going to listen to you if this keeps up."
The crowd had quieted down to a milling sort of confusion.
"Then what should we do!"*
The shouting came from somewhere and in anger, though he couldn't pinpoint the source.
In frustration he nudged Sunny, and she allowed him to climb on her back as he had before.
The crowd could see him now, and he could see them for the most part.
He waved them down trying to cut off the others who had taken up the chant.
"I understand what you are trying to do, and I support your efforts, but you are only hurting ourselves. The GA can only be won by rational discussion."
"The GA won't see any of our representatives. They are debating only on their own facts and opinions."
One of the crowd's people snarled. The call was echoed and Adam stared at them in shock,
"Wait what!? Are you serious?”
There was a muttering throughout the crowd.
"For fuck's sake."
He muttered under his breath,
"The Rudi think none of us are high ranking enough to be allowed into the council chambers, and none of the representatives will take up our cause. The human ambassador thinks we are disgusting, so she won't do anything and says she won’t represent our minority."
The muttering through the crowd grew louder.
Adam looked around, head turning to see all the angry faces, blushed with red, or streaked with tears.
These people were frustrated, and hurt, and he understood why.
This wasn't right!
He closed his eyes again and took another deep breath.
What was he thinking!?
He stepped down from Sunny's back and walked over to one of the protestors in the front row, pointing to his large flag on a pole that was about eight feet tall.
"May I borrow your flag?"
The protester stared on at him in confusion,
"What, why?"
"Because, I am going to give you the representative you need."
[…]
Commander Vir and Sunny walked alone down the length of the GA outer courtyard.
A billowing white flag streamed lazily over his head, suspended there by way of the pole which rested heavily on his shoulder. The white of the fabric had been marred now by many colors as hundreds of rushed signatures had been scrawled on its face.
He was armed with the backing of a thousand protesters, a hundred signatures, and more than a few dozen stories.
Sunny turned her head to look at him, and he fancied that maybe he saw an expression of pride in her eyes, though she didn't say much except,
"Pretty brave."
He didn't feel very brave, and as they walked through the front doors of the GA atrium, his hand was shaking against the cold metal of the flagpole.
He was stopped by a pair of Rundi guards on his way into the chamber, but was let in after they recognized who he was.
He could hear voices up ahead, and the sounds of the protest going on outside had all but died away,
"They have proven that they cannot be civil, and based on the humanizing effect, we can assume they will do similar things to any non-human lifeform that they encounter."
"I may not agree with their decision counselor, but that sounds like your prejudice against humans is seeping through."
There was an uproar in the council chamber.
He paused for a moment, staying with Sunny just out of line of sight and took a deep breath.
She lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Here goes nothing."
He muttered, before stepping his way out onto the GA floor.
At first no one noticed his presence as he made his slow way into the center of the circle, but his large, white flag soon changed that.
The council chambers went silent.
The chairwoman stood,
"Commander, what are you doing here. Shouldn't you be taking care of the protesters?”
His lips drew into a thing line,
"With all due respect councilwoman, I am."
He rammed the flagpole against the stone, sending a loud cracking sound out and around the wide atrium silencing the council,
"I have been made aware that you refuse to see their representatives based on a ranking issue, well I assume my rank is high enough."
The Human rep leaned forward,
"Commander, this is not your place!”
He shot her a look,
"Then whose place is it counselor? I heard a certain democratic counselor refuses to speak for them because they are and I quote “a too small and insignificant minority”…”
He turned his head in a wide arc at the watching crowd,
"Counselors, you have known me, longer than you have known any human currently in this galaxy. You understand that I know your rules and your customs. You understand that I have only ever striven to protect and uphold the GA and the planet's it encompasses. I have thwarted wars, signed treaties, and broken my own body for your best interests."
There was silence about the room.
"Will you let me speak now, with the understanding that my loyalty has never wavered from you, and never will?”
The silence continued.
Aliens understood the power of human loyalty.
Or at least they should…
The chairwoman took a seat,
"Very well, commander."
He lifted his head, feeling his heart slow as he took a few deep breaths. There was a muscle in his face that had begun to twitch, like it always did if he was extremely angry or nervous, but he held it down,
"I understand you are frightened, and I understand that you are confused, but I want you to know first of all that those people outside are good average people. They don't mean you any harm. They are hurting, and they are afraid for themselves, and they are trying to get your attention. Historically, humanity has used protests to right the injustices of government to combat prejudices brought on by one's sex or the color of their skin. You must understand that they see this as an impingement on their happiness and a decision made out of line."
There was a murmur around the room.
"So, I ask you now, that I may, perhaps, answer your questions and ease your worries. Why are you so against them?"
"It's unnatural."
It was the Bran representative that had spoken, and he did it quite emphatically.
"Why?"
The commander asked,
"Because they aren't even the same species."
"So?"
The Bran seemed caught off guard,
"They... It's not natural. They can't reproduce, so it isn't... A thing that should be done."
The commander shrugged,
"So if one can't reproduce then they aren't natural? I see a couple issues in that logic relating to prejudices against people with infertility."
There was a murmur around the room.
"So, they can't reproduce, so what? You know who we can reproduce with though... Adaptids."
There was a sort of hushed exclamation form around the room.
The commander shrugged,
"They can't have kids.... Hardly a good enough argument to bring to the floor of a government discussion."
"What he is trying to say is that this practice equates itself to bestiality. It is utterly disguting!"
It was the human representative this time, and she stared at him with her eyes narrowed in anger.
He kept his cool, though he very much did not like her.
"That is absolutely disgusting and wildly insulting of you because that implies that one or both parties are no better than animals, beasts as you will."
The room was silent,
"So which one is it, are humans animals, counselor, are the Finnari or the Rundi animals?"
He turned to the Drev counselor,
"Are the Drev just dumb animals that have no understanding, and no decision making abilities?”
The Drev representative stood, angrily cracking his spear against the stone,
"We are most certainly not!"
The commander held up his hands,
"Then what is so bestial about it? Bestiality is absolutely disgusting because you are taking advantages of a creature that can neither understand nor protect itself from what you are doing. It cannot say yes, and it cannot say no. It has no greater understanding than that of a child, and so cannot make its own decisions."
He looked towards the Finnari representative,
"Tell me counselor, is your species a species of children, with no greater concept of their own decision making?”
"Of course not. Why would you even imply such a thing!?”
"I imply nothing, counselor. This is what YOU imply with your decision. So far we have established that all parties are intelligent consenting creatures, and none of you have managed to give me an actually good reason for banning the practice."
The floor was growing more agitated.
"They will be a poor example for the rest of the galaxy. If we make it legal others will surely follow."
Adam turned his eyes on the speaker, an Iotin,
"You're worried that they are going to turn the rest of the galaxy extrial?"
He laughed,
"That is a poor argument which is not only selfish, but foolish. People should be allowed to make their own decisions. And assuming you are right, what then? Oh no... There are a few more extrials... And it does... What exactly?"
He turned in a wide circle,
"If you are worried about population growth or in this case population falloff due to this issue then you should be reminded that extrials comprise a percentage of the human population so small that I could fit the greater majority of them on my ship comfortably. This occurrence is not common, and even if the numbers were to rise, it would not be of enough significance to cause issues."
His heart was hammering hard inside his chest. He felt like he was doing alright, but that might mean nothing.
"In any event, these relationships do not affect the vast majority of the galaxy. Humans cannot be with the Bran or the Rundi due to the water we shed from our skin. The Gromm and the Iotins are out for similar reasons. Vrul and Gibb are incapable of having feelings for humans in that way as far as we know, and both the Tvek and the Celzex are too different from humans for either party to be interested."
He walked around in a circle, allowing the flag to trail behind him,
"Furthermore, the humanization phenomenon happens with or without romantic intent, and as it is, its mention is more a mark of prejudice on humans than it is an argument against the two groups being together."
He left the floor open for a little while, as the council muttered with each other.
Finally, the Drev representative stood,
"My species culture and our way of life has been upturned by the GA. I fear relationships with humans will result in the loss of our culture. We have already strayed far from what we originally were. We are hardly recognizable as Drev anymore."
The commander let his voice soften,
"I understand that the Drev have lost a lot in joining this..."
Sunny held up a hand, and in surprise he was cut off.
She took the floor,
"Your Glory…"
She said bowing her head,
"If you would have truly upheld those ideals, you would not be sitting on this council."
The Drev pulled back in surprise at her words,
"Yes, we lost a lot in joining the GA, and after the war, but I would argue that some of that was for good. Before the GA people like me, with perceived imperfection were cast into the fire and perceived as no better than animals. This practice still takes place on our planet, where these traditions are still alive and well."
Her words made the room shift nervously,
"However, culture changes and adapts, and it must to survive. We changed in order to live among the GA. We found other alternatives to fighting that still maintain our honor and our prowess in war, and this includes the sports that the humans have brought to us. Furthermore, the vast majority of the Drev I see who are with humans are those of us who would not be accepted by our own kind, perceived as ugly or malformed. If this is the case then your traditions remain sound, and those like me are removed from the mating population."
The counselor almost looked ashamed at her words, turning his head away so as not to look her in the eyes.
"As far as a change of culture goes, it was bound to happen, and it seems you are more worried about change than you actually are about relationships."
She went quiet, and Adam nodded to her taking the floor again.
A Finnari counselor stood,
"I am simply worried about our birth rate. The Finnari were farmed by the Gnarlak for many years, and we are only now replenishing our population."
"I don't think you need to worry. The amount of relationships is so small that it will not affect the Finnari population in any significant manner."
The chairwoman stood,
"Your arguments have been heard commander, but, what the others do not mention is the issue of disease. We have seen a great increase of human transmitted illnesses."
"I hate to cut you off chairwoman, but that is NOT related to interspecies relationships, it has another explanation: human tourism."
"Explain."
"You all know that humans are not allowed to leave their planet, unless tested for all communicable non-treatable diseases. This means that those of us that you see here cannot physically pass our diseases off onto other people. In this case these issues did not stem from relationships at all, but poor vaccination, the poor regulation of tourism, and allowing aliens to travel onto earth where infected humans are located, not testing them as they leave. You see? You don't even have problems with them, but you are using them as a real scapegoat for the actual issues. In fact you are causing more problems by banning this! The more you push, the harder they will push back, eventually someone is going to get hurt. Also since they are not allowed to be together legally, they do it illegally, and because they do it illegally, they end up in dangerous places exposed to greater rates of crime. They get hurt, and they get involved in things they would otherwise not have gotten involved in if you had not banned it. Just look at Noctoplis. It has the highest rate of extrials living there and the lowest policing force and the most corrupted system. There are no legitimate jobs there, so we see an influx of crime by desperate people who won't be accepted anywhere else. Not to mention that it increased the depression rates, which increases suicide rates. Your laws have ostracized them, forced them to become criminals, and turned many of them to killing themselves, rather than living in a world where they are seen as disgusting."
He had to take a deep breath,
"Earth has seen all of this before, and one way or another, eventually someone will see what I am trying to say."
He rested the flag on the floor beside him, feet planted at shoulder width.
"I hope that this rational conversation will allow a more open mind on the council. I encourage you to talk to their representatives. They are more rational and educated than I am, and they can give you hard facts and statistics. But please, they don't want to cause trouble, if you allow them to do as they will, you might find these problems going away for you."
The human representative clearly did not seem convinced, but he didn't expect to convince her, he expected to convince the others who were more afraid than they were prejudiced.
"It seems as if we have some other potential policies to discuss, commander."
The chairwoman said, tapping her fingers on the table before her.
"I have a suggestion, ma'am."
"And that is?"
"A temporary revocation on the ban, that way you can SEE what the universe will be like without it, and you can judge for yourself whether The ban does any good. You don't have to overturn the law just yet, but temporarily suspend it, that way you can re institute at any time. Then you will have concrete proof. You can do testing, and polls and whatever else, then you would know for sure."
His suggestion turned into a discussion, that dragged on for many minutes before the chairwoman raised her hand,
"It has been decided, all in favor of this temporary proposal please indicate."
The voting lights flashed above them.
[…]
He walked from the venue, hours after he had entered.
The flag felt heavy in his hands, his boots thudded with exhaustion on the white marble below him.
Outside, the protest field was surprisingly silent, though he could still see their flags.
As he walked closer, he could see that the crowd was sitting down.
Their voices reached him from a distance at first, until he realized they were calmly singing with each other.
Waiting...
Suddenly the first people from the crowd noticed the two silhouettes coming from the chambers towards them.
A lone man and Drev, walking from the building.
The man was wearing riot gear, a full helmet, a shield, and carrying their flag, resting against his right shoulder.
The group of them began to stand, rising to their feet and yelling.
They quieted as he got closer.
"What did they say!? What did they say!?”
He passed the flag to the original protester who looked on at him with such an expression of pleading that he felt his eyes tingle a bit with rising emotion.
He had to look away, boosting himself onto Sunny's back, keying his mic.
The crowd was silent.
"I spoke to the GA. After a long debate, and a slim majority the GA have decided to temporarily revoke the ban on inter-species relationships until a-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, drowned out by a powerful wave of noise and joy so overwhelming that he was nearly knocked backwards off his feet.
The crowd surged forward and Sunny staggered as the group surrounded them.
Adam found himself on the ground on his feet, enclosed by hundreds of pairs of arms, as every person tried their best to get one hand on him.
He was deafened by cheering and an outpouring of gratitude so profound he had simply never experienced such emotion.
He looked up at Sunny, pressed in with him by the enthusiastic crowd, she nodded her head in approval.
He grinned, he had to admit this felt pretty good.
Though, whether it was all over was a question for another time.
Previous First [Next](link)
Here is the link to the master-post.
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author

If you want to receive this as a daily email in your inbox, you can now join at this link

worldnews

• Bice_Num

Russia deployed its feared thermobaric missile launcher on its own territory to repel an attack by insurgents, UK intel says
Comments Link

• Kimber80

Blinken says no Ukraine cease-fire without a peace deal that includes Russia's withdrawal
Comments Link

• capitao_moura

Scientists Successfully Transmit Space-Based Solar Power to Earth for the First Time
Comments Link

news

• OkayAlfalfa

Fort Bragg drops Confederate namesake for Fort Liberty, part of US Army base rebranding
Comments Link

• Actual__Wizard

Dave Ramsey sued for $150 million over endorsing deceptive timeshare-exit company
Comments Link

• hybridaaroncarroll

Mexico police find 45 bags containing body parts ‘matching characteristics’ of missing call center staff
Comments Link

science

• giuliomagnifico

Intelligent brains take longer to solve difficult problems: participants in a study with higher intelligence scores were only quicker when tackling simple tasks, while they took longer to solve difficult problems than subjects with lower IQ scores
Comments Link

• Wagamaga

Jobs created by net-zero transition will ‘offset’ fossil-fuel job losses in Republican US states. Total employment in the nationwide US energy sector could double or even triple by 2050 to meet the demand for wind turbines, solar panels and transmission lines
Comments Link

• HeinieKaboobler

Neuroscience research sheds light on how LSD alters the brain's "gatekeeper"
Comments Link

space

• SpaceInMyBrain

To keep Starliner flying, Boeing must make some hard choices. Follow-up article in Ars Technica, they opine cancellation is possible.
Comments Link

• TheUtopianCat

There may be hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way, new study suggests
Comments Link

• User_cruiser24-1

First Livestream From Another Planet
Comments Link

Futurology

• squintamongdablind

USAF Official Says He ‘Misspoke’ About AI Drone Killing Human Operator in Simulated Test
Comments Link

• mafco

Can the U.S. Regain its Edge in Solar Power? The U.S. invented photovoltaic (PV) technology in the 1950s. China’s share of solar production has increased from virtually nothing to nearly 85% today. Incentives created under the U.S. IRA are expected to have a transformative impact.
Comments Link

• FDuquesne

Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences
Comments Link

AskReddit

• fleeting_muse

What are the cons of NOT having kids?
Comments Link

• Pleasant-Net5413

What do you eat when you want to snack but don't want to fill up on calories?
Comments Link

• Zdvj

What are some job-posting red flags that scream “stay away”?
Comments Link

todayilearned

• millennial-snowflake

Today I learned that beekeeping suits are white because bees have seemingly evolved an aggressive defensive response towards dark figures approaching their nest which white suits helps to counteract
Comments Link

• Firm_Abies_725

TIL Hitler was a huge supporter of Henry Ford for many reasons including Ford’s staunch anti semitism.
Comments Link

• CFSparta92

TIL the only wedding ceremony of a president serving in the White House was Grover Cleveland in 1886. At 49, he married a 21-year-old woman he had previously been the legal guardian of, and John Philip Sousa provided the music.
Comments Link

dataisbeautiful

• dvd5671

[OC] I measured the specs of every New Hampshire high school home baseball field. Here are, in my opinion, four of the weirdest fields you can play on in an official New Hampshire high school baseball game.
Comments Link

• giteam

[OC] Countries with largest exports 1990 vs 2021
Comments Link

• jtstonge

[OC] 3 years of sleep logging data with a non-24-hour (N24) circadian rhythm
Comments Link

Cooking

• laundrydetergenthoe

Garlic press
Comments Link

• Gua_Bao

What finger foods do want on the table when you’re having a few beers with friends?
Comments Link

• NsRhea

I got gifted about 70lbs of frozen ground buffalo, what should I do with it?
Comments Link

food

• That0neBelgian

[Homemade] croissant crossection
Comments Link

• TheDiplomancer

[homemade] New York cheesecake
Comments Link

• oceansoflove_

[homemade] soft pretzels
Comments Link

movies

• indig0sixalpha

‘Blood Meridian’: John Hillcoat Says Cormac McCarthy Is Writing The Adaptation Of The Bloody, Bleak Western
Comments Link

• JRPictures

Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki says there'll be no trailers or further promotion for Hayao Miyazaki's 'How Do You Live?' before its Japanese release on July 14
Comments Link

• natechute

Gary Kent, one of several models for Brad Pitt's Oscar-winning performance in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," has died at age 89
Comments Link

Art

• MisterS16

Flamingo gift, i am the artist, digital, 2023
Comments Link

• Anastasia_Trusova

hour before dark, Anastasia Trusova, acrylic, 2023
Comments Link

• sleepyghostmp3

Is the dream over?, Sleepy Ghost (me), Pixel Art, 2023
Comments Link

television

• DemiFiendRSA

Disney to Take $1.5 Billion Content Write-Off Charge in June Quarter After Pulling Dozens of Titles From Streaming Services
Comments Link

• Melanismdotcom

Inside the Meltdown at CNN: CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?
Comments Link

• TheDadThatGrills

Darmine Doggy Door- I Think You Should Leave
Comments Link

pics

• mtkeepsrolling

Picked up my son from daycare. This is how I found him.
Comments Link

• robinson217

I hand painted another vintage sign.
Comments Link

• ThatTaiwanese

This man I saw doing a news report with his iPhone in shorts and a blazer
Comments Link

gifs

• LadyAbraxus

Suddenly Seymour!
Comments Link

• ElvisIsNotDjed

A woodpecker's tongue can also be used in self-defense
Comments Link

• BismutNL

Colors of liquid bismuth
Comments Link

educationalgifs

mildlyinteresting

• SourCreamWater

Perfectly circular, connecting burnout in my neighborhood.
Comments Link

• Emo_st4r

Rainbow cloud I saw a few days ago. Arizona.
Comments Link

• OliOAK

I balanced a stack of six pine cones today
Comments Link

interestingasfuck

• Sapulinjing

*How a pool is built up for the world championships *
Comments Link

• Worldly_Platform3586

Canadian inventor Troy Hurtubise testing his amrmoured grizzly bear protection suit
Comments Link

• FinalSneak

All Earth’s water in a bubble. Credit: usgs.gov
Comments Link

funny

• Triblado

Trying to give the radio a chance (Credit: _bernardtaylor)
Comments Link

• randomvariable10

This ad from Love Not War...
Comments Link

• BernyMoon

This is what I call talent
Comments Link

aww

• tacorockets

Recently moved in with my girlfriend a couple months ago. My cat (Tater Todd, orange boy) and her cat (Ducky, calico) are becoming more inseparable by the day 🥹 [OC]
Comments Link

• SpecterAscendant

Time machine
Comments Link

• St0pX

he's like...No my Mud! it's leaving!
Comments Link
Get this as a daily email!

I am going out of my mind. This happened two weeks ago and I don’t know what to do. I met a guy through networking and we hang out a couple of times (just as friends). One night I was out and he lived right beside the bar I was at. He wrote to me if I wanted to come by and talk a bit before I was going home. He was sober. I was really drunk but somehow I thought it would be nice just to meet up. I felt like he was a nice guy. When I came there I made it completely clear I had a boyfriend and was only interested in talking. We talked a bit and because I was so drunk I told him about my struggles with ptsd and anxiety after a recently drug rape I experienced. I told him he should be nice to me. But then he starts kissing me and talks of my clothes. I don’t do anything but tell him I don’t think this is a good idea. He has sex with me and don’t wanna use a condom and I’m on no protection. I just let him do it. I push him away when it’s gets to much but he just go back on me. I say many times I should leave. My memory is very blurry because I so drunk so I am afraid he might think I consent to it. But I also know from my last rape that it gets worse if you fight back because they don’t care about you really. He makes me shower and he has sex with me for maybe 2 hours. I wanna cry when I walk home and I feel really guilty because I went there myself so I was kind of asking for it. I had bruises on my knees and elbows. The days after barely sleep or eat. I feel like I lost the light in me. I want tell my boyfriend but I am afraid. Last time he had a hard time believing me, and I can bare to go through that again. I take a pill to stop possible pregnancy and get tested for std. I am only focusing on fixing this so I can forget it. But now two weeks after it’s still eating me up inside. I feel so sad and I don’t know how to tell my boyfriend or anyone. And I feel it was my fault for going to visit the guy when I was drunk. I don’t know if I went there to prove to myself that I had control in this situation and nothing would happen to me. But I don’t know if this rape at all? I have a really hard time with my boundaries after the last rape.

Takeshi Hongo, Kamen Rider Ichigo

"Rider… Henshin!"

♫ Let's Go!!! Rider Kick ♫ - ♫ Kamen Rider no Uta ♫
Takeshi Hongo was a genius biochemist and motorcycle racer working at Johnan University in Tokyo when he was kidnapped by the evil secret organization Shocker. Hongo was transformed into a cyborg intended to serve Shocker as a super soldier in their quest for world dominance. Rebelling against his would-be masters, Hongo takes the moniker of Kamen Rider and vows to fight for justice, a promise that takes him across the world and inspires generations of successors to follow in his footsteps.
Feats will be marked with the source.
Note for scaling: Shocker Combatmen are humans who have been enhanced by Shocker cybernetics, though not to the extent of the elite Shocker cyborgs like Kamen Rider or the various kaijin he fights. The Kamen Rider Official Zukan says that they have several times the physical ability of regular humans.

Untransformed

While superhuman thanks to Shocker's cybernetics, Hongo can't access his full power without transforming.

Strength

• Breaks a stone pillar^V33
• Seemingly breaks a headstone^E78
• Snaps out of chains
• Tears out of manacles^E53
• Accidentally rips off a sink knob^E1
• Breaks out of restraints^V34
• Swiftly takes down two Shocker Combatmen^E53

Durability/Resistance

Blunt

• Takes several hits from Ambassador Hell who can swing and throw a cyborg and damage the ground
• Takes hits from Canarycobra's Cobra Hand, which breaks an I-beam and reinforced concrete in half^E89
• Takes hits from Spiderond, who can burrow through the ground^E57
• Takes a long fall off of a cable car^E71
• Shrugs off getting hit by a car^E95

Other

• Immobilized but otherwise unaffected by a Gel Shocker trap that lowers his temperature to absolute zero^E97
• Hardly slowed down by nerve gas^E4
• Recovers from sleeping gas 10x faster than a normal human^E6
• Withstands soundwaves that damage his apartment and blow apart a Shocker Combatman^E64
• Has his blood sucked by Mosquilas, who can drain a normal man down to a skeleton, and is still in fighting shape^E72
• Unaffected by Roseranga's rose, which contains a potent poison that knocks out and mind controls its victims^E75
• Unharmed after being shocked with 100,000 volts by Jellywolf^E82

Speed/Agility

• Dodges Cicadaminga's soundwaves^E64
• Dodges Spider Man's dart^E1
• Ducks Gilliera's dart^E56
• Dodges finger-mounted darts from a group of Shocker Combatmen^E1
• Swats away a thrown knife^E4
• Swats away a thrown sword^E83
• Dodges a knife thrown by an unseen foe^E78
• Dodges a ring thrown by Worm Man^E59
• Dodges Fiddler Crabking's explosive foam^E73
• Dodges Ratcondor's attacks with damaged eyes^E90
• Dodges attacks from Namazuguiller^E61
• Dodges attacks from Guilgaras^E52
• Dodges Sea Dragon I's lashes^E76
• Dodges a whip strike from Ambassador Hell then jumps up to a balcony^E56
• Avoids Shocker Combatmen trying to hit him with motorcycles then jumps to the top of a hill^E53
• Jumps to the top of a hill^E93
• Jumps over Cockroach Man onto a car^E55
• Jumps from his motorcycle to the canopy of a truck he's chasing^E64

Skill/Misc

Combat

• Defeats a group of Gel Shocker Combatmen armed with swords^E83
  • Gel Shocker Combatmen are much stronger than Shocker Combatmen^E80
• Defeats Destron Combatmen armed with spears^V33
• Defeats Gel Shocker Combatmen^E95
• Defeats a group of Gel Shocker Combatmen on motorcycles^E83
• Even while he's sick and in his 60s he can throw down with human goons and Shocker Combatmen^KO
• Throws a sword into a Gel Shocker Combatman's heart^E83

Biochemistry/Science

• Performs surgery on Shiro Kazami to turn him into the cyborg Kamen Rider V3^V1
• Analyzes a mysterious powder and identifies it as scales from a foreign butterfly^E56
• Analyzes a thorn of Roseranga's rose and creates an antidote for the poison it contains^E75
• Creates a vaccine for a plague engineered by Gel Shocker^E90
• Analyzes coffee to determine what kind of poison was in it^V1

General

• Has 600 IQ and superb athleticism according to Shocker^E1
• Decodes a Shocker message^E54
• Correctly deduces that a man was killed with a lightning bolt after examining a piece of his clothes that was left behind^E82
• Sennin says that his spiritual presence complete dwarfs Kamen Rider Ghost's and he is able to instantly tell that Ghost is dead^KO
• Hears an electric current emanating from a man^E82
• Uses his lighter and some money to destroy a cache of poison capsules while stuck in a cell^E56
• Sneaks up on a Shocker Combatman, takes him out, then infiltrates the group while disguised as him^E6
• Sneaks up on a Gel Shocker Combatman ^E86
• Somehow escapes a room filled with poison gas^JT
• Escapes a Gel Shocker trap^E80
• Stops his breathing to play dead^E82
• Climbs Mount Fuji^JT
• Prepared landmines in a dune just in case Shocker planned to ambush him^E79

Original Form

Kamen Rider's original form from early in the series.
Stats Page (Kamen Rider Official Zukan)

Strength

Rider Kick

• Kills Spider Man with his first Rider Kick^E1
• Kicks a hillside, knocking down rocks^E13
• Breaks rock with a kick^E3
• Kills Sarracenian^E4
• Kills Mantis Man^E5
• Kills Bee Woman^E8
• Kills Cobra Man^E9
• [Lightning Rider Kick] Kicking with both feet, which he says should double the power, shatters a rock^E13
• [Lightning Rider Kick] Kicks the bomb Tokageron kicked back at him^E13
• Kills Rider World alongside Kamen Rider Blades' finisher^SZ

Throwing

• Throws Shocker Combatmen off of buildings^E2
• [Rider Throw] Kills Bat Man^E2
• [Rider Throw] Kills Cobra Man^E10
• [Rider Scissors] Kills Scorpion Man^E3

Other

• [Rider Chop] Kills Chameleon Man after hitting him with a Rider Kick^E7
• Tears out of iron chains^E1
• Runs straight through a wall in a Shocker base^E13
• Leaps through the ceiling of Shocker's laboratory^E1
• Leaps through the ceiling of a Shocker cell^E7

Durability

• Hit by a rock kicked at him by Tokageron^E13
• A revolver bullet bounces off his chest^E7
• Unharmed by a bomb set off next to him^E5
• Unharmed after stepping on a landmine^E9
• Tumbles down a hill untransformed and reappears at the top unscathed and transformed^E3
• A large amount of electricity is channeled through his body with no damage^E1
• Heals a wound on his hand quickly^E8

Speed/Agility

Dodging/Movement

• Dodges multiple shots from the Danger Light, a laser weapon^E12
• Ducks a thrown knife^E4
• Catches a boomerang thrown by a Shocker Combatman^E12
• Dodges a rock kicked at him by Tokageron^E13
• Dodges a snake arm strike from Cobra Man^E9
• Dodges Cobra Man's fire breath^E10
• Dodges attacks from Shocker Combatmen
• Runs towards a group of Shocker Combatmen, who then lose sight of him before he reappears behind them^E3

Agility

• Leaps a very far distance to engage Shocker minions^E1
• Leaps up to a platform to cut off Man Spider's escape^E1
• Leaps to the roof of an apartment building from the street^E2
• While training, leaps ~49 m^E3
• Leaps up and down a hill^E3
• Jumps up to grab a tree branch^E7
• Jumps up several stories of a building^E9

Skill/Misc

Combat

• Defeats the Revived Monster Corps, made up of 13 revived Shocker cyborgs he had previously killed, all at once^E13
• Defeats a group of Shocker Combatmen^E1
• Defeats a group of Shocker Combatmen all armed with bladed boomerangs^E12
• Beats Bee Woman in a swordfight^E8
• Defeats a group of Shocker Combatmen with a sword
• Leaps onto the shoulders of a Shocker Combatman then takes him down^E3

Accuracy

• Throws a sword to pin a man's arm to a tree^E7
• Throws a sword to cut off Bee Woman's wing^E8
• Throws a sword to hit a Shocker Combatman in the stomach^E8

Senses

• His hearing is many times better than a normal human's^E6
• He can hear sounds from 4 km in all directions, which he uses to track an enemy moving underground^E9
• Hears a conversation inside a hospital from outside^E6
• Tracks the sound a device is emitting back to its source^E8
• He can hear higher frequencies than humans^E8

General

• The transformation into Kamen Rider occurs so quickly that a bomb going off in front of him activates his belt before the explosion can hit him in his untransformed state^E5
• Accurately takes down Shocker Combatmen who are hiding beneath the sand^E3
• Figures out where Chameleon Man is standing while he's invisible in order to hit him^E7
• Dug up Hitler's secret treasure, emptied it into the ocean, then hid himself in the box and somehow buried it again in order to ambush Shocker^E7

Sakurajima

Kamen Rider's upgraded form that he used temporarily, named after the region of Japan it first appeared in. From this form on, Kamen Rider no longer required a wind source to transform and could do so at will.

Strength

Rider Double Kick

All performed with Kamen Rider Nigo

• Kills Snowman^E40
• Kills Ghostar^E41
• Kills Isoguinchack^E49
• Kills Unicornos^E51
• Kills Zanjioh^VS
• Kills Guilgaras^E52

Other

• Beats Arigabari to death^VS
• [Rider Hammer Kick] Kills Pranodon^VS
• Punches out Shocker Combatmen^E52

Durability

• Takes several hits from Kamen Rider Nigo during their fight, including his Rider Kick^E41
• Takes several hits from Ghostar, who's strong enough to lift and throw a large rock^E41
• Takes hits from Dokugander^VS

Speed/Agility

• Dodges blasts from Dokugander^VS
• Dodges attacks from Isoguinchack^E49
• Jumps to the top of a hill^E40
• Jumps into and out of a ravine^VS
• Performs the Rider Wheel with Kamen Rider Nigo^E49

Skill/Misc

• Defeats groups of Shocker Combatmen with a sword^E41
• Has a telepathic link with Kamen Rider Nigo, which Nigo uses to free him of Shocker's mind control^E41
• Disguises himself as a professor^VS

New Kamen Rider Ichigo

Kamen Rider's most used and most iconic form, an upgrade over his previous forms.
Stats Page (Kamen Rider Official Zukan)

Strength

Rider Kick

• Album of killing monsters and making them explode but not causing any significant collateral damage
• Rhinogang says that the Rider Kick is 10x stronger than his own imitation^E66
• Defeats Kamen Rider Kiva^HS
• Hits Kamen Rider Gaim, pushing him back and breaking the rock beneath him until his guard is broken^HS
• Kills the Nazca Dopant L3^FO
• Kills Spiderond, causing an explosion that destroys a nearby building^E57
• Breaks Bearded Dragon's tongue, which broke steel bars^E58
• Kills Worm Man, causing an explosion that destroys Shocker's underwater base^E59
  • Worm Man was given the characteristics of a creature that survived hydrogen bomb testing^E59 (personally, I believe this is in reference to an ability to withstand radiation rather than meaning it's durable enough to survive a nuclear explosion but I would be remiss not to include it)
• Kills Namazuguiller, causing an explosion that destroys a large mirror array and causes Shocker's underground base to cave in^E61
• Kills Gillercricket with a knee, causing an explosion that destroys a nearby building^E69
• Kills Armadig, who withstood Skyrider ramming him with his motorcycle, which can drive through metal doors^GO
• Kills Spiderbaban and Golden Jaguar at the same time^SO
• Destroys a group of Badan Combatroids^HS
• Breaks off Franken Bat's wing^FR
• Kicks Eaglemantis' blade back at him, cutting him in half^E86
• Kicks Catgecko, somehow curing him of the brainwashing/cyborg surgery Gel Shocker performed on him^E88
  • Does it to Cactusbat as well^E96
• [Rider Screw Kick] Breaks through a barred window^E69
• [Rider Lunar Kick] Kills Crowox who withstood a mine^E95
• [Rider Double Kick] Kills Rattlander, launching him back hard enough to carve two small trenches in the ground^DS
• [Rider Double Kick] Overpowers Shocker Greed's blasts, launching him hard enough to damage stone and killing him^LG
• With the other Seven Legendary Riders, knocks over a giant monster^K54
• Joins all Kamen Riders up to Decade in performing a barrage of Rider Kicks that destroy Dai-Shocker's castle^DS

Rider Punch

• Album of killing monsters and making them explode but not causing significant collateral damage
• Shatters a window that can withstand a bazooka blast^E65
• Punches Rattlander into a cave wall hard enough to make a crater^LG
• Punches through a concrete wall^E85
• Overpowers Moreyurtle's shell attack, which broke a tree^E85
• Breaks off Mantiskid's horn^JT

Misc Striking

• Destroys a box truck with Nigo^BT
• Punches the ground, blowing away the Shocker Combatmen surrounding him^BG
• Punches out Gel Shocker Combatmen, when one is still conscious after an explosion that destroys his motorcycle^E80
• Punches Moreyurtle's head, causing it to explode^E85
• Breaks Canarycobra's cobra arm^E89
• Breaks a machine^E54
  • 2^V1
• Breaks manacles^E58
• Breaks a bear trap Taki was caught in^E86
• Breaks chain^E66
• Breaks Crowox's horns^E95
• Chops off Cactusbat's fingers^E96
• Sends a Shocker Combatman flying with a kick^E56
• [Rider Crush] Stomps through the roof of a Shocker base^E60
• [Rider Chop] Breaks the remote control in Squidevil's head^E68
• [Rider Flying Chop] Kills Spiderlion^E87

Throwing

• Album of killing monsters and making them explode but not causing significant collateral damage
• [Rider Head Crusher] Throws Jaguarman over a hill, causing him to explode^E53
• [Rider Hammer] Throws Owl Man to the top of a hill^E60
• [Rider Drill Shoot] Throws Mantiskid, causing an explosion that destroys the Shocker graveyard^E66
• Throws Hedgehozuras up a hill^E62
• Throws Mosquilas a great distance onto a bridge from the river below^E72
• Throws off the Shocker monsters and Combatmen that dog pile him^E66

Other

• Pushes a bus uphill against Rhinobeetron pushing it^E65
• Kills Crabbat by jumping into him^E80
  • Crabbat no sold a collision with New Cyclone^E79
• Overpowers Canarycobra's Cobra Hand^E89
• Catches and pushes back Gaim's sword^HS
• With Kamen Rider Nigo, runs through a door that withstood their punches^E98
• [Rider Head Crusher] Slams Bearded Dragon's head to the ground and causes him to explode^E58
• Jumps off of a cliff with Centigerpede, slamming him to the ground and killing him^E91
• Says that he can easily break metal spikes as he rips two out of the floor^E87
• Swings a stake attached to a rope into a cliffside^E70
• Cuts off Moreyurtle's head with a sword^E85
• With Nigo, tears a metal door out of its frame^S38
• Contributes to the [X Rider Super Five Kick], which results in Franken Bat being kicked onto a pile of monsters that all blow up^FR

Durability

Blunt

• Takes hits from Neo-Shocker's Great Leader, whose strikes make earthquakes that affect Tokyo^K54
• Takes hits from Centigerpede, who overpowers the Rider Kick with a punch^E91
• Takes hits from Shocker Rider 1, who matches him in strength^E92
  • Takes hits from other Shocker Riders who are his physical equals^E94
• Takes hits from Rattlander, who downed Kamen Rider DiEnd with one strike^DS
• Takes hits from Rhinobeetron, who is strong enough to push a bus^E65
• Takes hits from Kamen Rider Sango, who punched a hole in a shipping container and a concrete wall^GP
• Takes hits from Sawsharkus, who can punch through a stone wall, while suffering the effects of a gas designed to destroy cyborgs^E67
• Takes hits from Mantiskid, who punches through a concrete floor^JT
• Takes hits from Bearded Dragon, who breaks through a wall^E66
• Gets thrown down a hill and kicked by Squidevil, who burst through the ground^E68
• Tanks punches from Sea Snake Man^E54
• Takes some blows from Spiderond^E57

Piercing

• Slashed by Kamen Rider Gaim^HS
• Gilliera's dart bounces off his chest^E56
• Uncut by Sea Dragon II's sword arm^E76

Energy

• Blasted by Shocker's Great Leader^LG
• Blasted by giant Ackdos Gill and Warz Gill^SH
• Blasted by Grand Zairus' eye beams that destroy fighter jets^R44
• Blasted by Shocker Greed, who destroyed a wood tower^LG
• Takes Owl Man's x-ray attack which reduces normal humans to skeletons^E60

Heat

• Designed to withstand temperatures of several thousand degrees^E60
• Hit by OOO's Latorahta combo heat blast^LG
• Unharmed by Urchidogma's flamethrower^E78

Explosives

• Withstands Turtle Bazooka blowing up Destron's base with him inside^V1
• Takes a bomb that blows up a bridge and is fine^S38
• Gets blasted by Kingdark^DS
• Tanks a barrage of bombs from Taiho Buffalo that kills all of the cyborgs he was fighting^DM
• Takes one of Hegehozuras' needles which completely destroys a man^E62
• Either escapes or withstands a Shocker building exploding^JT
• Either escapes or withstands Gel Shocker's underwater base exploding^E98

Other

• Takes a point blank nuclear explosion,^V2 then contacts V3 to tell him that he's fine and in Australia^V21 and shows up perfectly fine later^DM
• Hit by Grand Zairus in fireball form, which is over 1000º and destroyed an artificial island
• Fine after being hit by meteorites called down by Shocker, which blew up an observatory and burned a man to death^E68
• Gets shocked by Namazuguiller, who was enhanced from his base electrical charge of 100,000 volts^E61
• Shocked by Jellywolf^E82
• Withstands Badan's Space Break System, which obliterates people and buildings^BT
• Bearded Dragon's venom only makes his body numb where it melts normal people^E58
• Takes extended soundwaves from Gillercricket, which can blow up Combatmen^E69
• Withstands Newtgeth's tongue, which reduced a woman to ash^E77
• Jumps off of a cliff and reappears unharmed^E62
• Jumps off a cliff with Centigerpede, causing it to explode, then shows up fine later
• Falls from a great height inside an ambulance that explodes and emerges some time later stunned but otherwise unharmed^E95

Speed/Agility

Reaction/Dodging

• Dodges Owl Man's x-ray attack^E60
• Jumps out of the blast zone of an explosion as the bomb goes off in front of him^E84
• Dodges gunfire on Cyclone^GP
• Dodges Cicadaminga's soundwaves^E64
• Dodges Gillercricket's soundwaves^E69
• Dodges attacks from Kamen Rider Gaim^HS
• Dodges Moreyurtle's smog while chained to a cross, somehow freeing himself and jumping to the top of a nearby cliff without being seen^E85
• Dodges Turtle Bazooka's missiles^V1
• Dodges Crowox's finger missiles^E95
• Intercepts Shocker Greed's blasts before they can hit Den-O^LG
• Dodges Hedgehozuras' needles^E62
• Dodges Rinhogang's flamethrower^E63
• Dodges Sawsharkus' flamethrower and appears on a ledge above him^E67
• Dodges Anemonaguar's poison^E84
• Dodges Squidevil's attacks^E68
• Dodges Rattlander's attacks^E79
• Dodges an attack from Sea Snake Man^E54
• Dodges Jellywolf's attacks^E82
• Dodges Bearded Dragon's tongue attacks^E58
• Swats away Worm Man's rings^E59
• Catches a grenade thrown by a Shocker Combatman and throws it back^E59
• Dodges Rhinobeetron's foam spray^E65
• Dodges Louscule's acid spray^E74
• Dodges lasers and electricity in order to prepare for a fight^R42

Movement

• Jumps across a rooftop to kick a knife out of Cockroach Man's hand before he can cut a rope^E55
• Jumps to catch a poison capsule thrown by Gilliera before it can hit the water^E56
• Appears from out of nowhere to stop Bosgun mid-swing before he can kill RX^R44

Agility

• Jumps a far distance inland from the coast^E61
• Jumps to the top of a dam^E56
• Jumps to the top of a waterfall after being thrown off^E54
• Jumps onto a helicopter in mid flight
• Jumps around the giant Delzer Great Leader's mountain body^S39
• Jumps from the bottom of a ravine to a bridge^E58
• Jumps from a bridge to a boat in the river below^E72
• Jumps to the top of a hill^E61
• Jumps on top of a building^E69
• Jumps a fair distance to the top of a mansion^E75
• Jumps up a few stories
• Jumps up to a platform^E70
• Jumps off of a building then backflips back up a few stories as soon as he hits the ground^E76
• Flips out of the grasp of some Shocker Combatmen^E54
• Jumps onto Sea Snake Man's shoulders, then jumps both of them into the air, transitioning into suplexing him^E54
• Leaps into the air after Gilliera, transitioning into a rider kick to hit her^E56
• Jumps while being constrained by Anemonaguar's tentacles, kicking off of him to free himself^E84
• Jumps between motorcycles while fighting a group of Shocker Combatmen^E63
• Jumps out of the way while tangled up in rope from Gel Shocker Combatmen, causing them to crash into and kill each other^E84
• Jumps over a fence out of the way of a car^E55
• Jumps to grab a balloon that's floating away^E55
• Leaps to grab Taki after he's thrown^E90
• Leaps to grab a vial thrown by Shocker Rider 1^E92
• Leaps onto a car that's driving away from him
• Jumps onto a roller coaster^E98
• Catches a man that fell from the sky^E95

Skill/Misc

Combat Skill

• Defeats 6 revived monsters he previously killed, all at once^E66
• Defeats a group of Shocker Combatmen with a staff^E55
  • With a sword^E56
• Defeats a group of Gel Shocker Combatmen with a sword^E83
  • With a staff^E96
• Defeats a group of Gel Shocker Combatmen^E87
• Beats up some Dustards^FO
• Fights off a group of Shocker Combatmen on horseback^JT
• Defeats Ratcondor while not being able to see^E90
• With Kamen Rider Nigo, tricks the Shocker Riders into destroying each other^E94

Stealth

• Escapes a Shocker trap without being seen by the Shocker forces present^E62
• Either escapes or withstands a Shocker building exploding^JT
• Either escapes or withstands Gel Shocker's underwater base exploding^E98
• Sneaks behind Marshal Machine and frees Kamen Rider Stronger without being seen^S38
• Sneaks into Gel Shocker's school and switches out the drug they were going to feed some kids with flour without being caught^E91
• Sneaks up on Destron Combatmen^V1

General

• Claims that he is always growing stronger^E88
• Has 20x better vision that humans, allowing him to see the footprints left behind by Spiderond, which were invisible to humans^E57
• Throws a sword precisely to destroy a transmitter in Gillercricket's head^E69
• Throws a stake to stab into a monster that he threw into the air^E70
• Uses his scarf to grab onto a window and pull himself up to kick it^E69
• Hits Leechameleon after he turns invisible^E98
• Can make his eyes glow^E79
• Speaks telepathically with V3 alongside Nigo, giving V3 advice in a fight^V2
  • Calls V3 on a radio^BT
• Has a secret base in Arizona^R41
• His and Nigo's presence clears the other Kamen Riders of Shocker's brainwashing^GP
• Once he used something called Rider Power to break a ring he was not able to break with his regular strength^E59

Rider Combinations

Kamen Rider can join his power with other Showa Riders to do whatever the plot calls for perform techniques

• Performs some kind of move with Nigo to paralyze Turtle Bazooka^V2
• Joins power with the other Seven Legendary Riders to enter into the giant Delzer Great Leader's mountain body^S39
• Joins power with the other Seven Legendary Riders and Skyrider to carry a giant monster and a bomb into space^K54
• Performs Rider Synchro with the other Seven Legendary Riders, Skyrider, Super-1, and ZX to stun Ambassador Darkness and destroy Badan's Space Break System^BT
• Performs Rider Synchro with the Showa Riders to change a picture and let a ghost visit his parents before returning to the land of the dead^HS

"As long as evil exists in this world… Kamen Rider will be there to fight for justice!"

Chat +44 759 388 0762 on Telegram/WhatsApp to get Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course.
I have Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course.
Casey Zander's Masculinity Blueprint 2.0 course is one of the best programs available that will improve your relationships with women, as well as your personal lifestyle and masculine mindset.
Masculinity Blueprint 2.0 by Casey Zander will show you how to:

• Master The Masculine Mindset To Get Her Addicted
• How To Approach The Masculine Way
• How to carry yourself the Masculine Way
• Phone & Dating App Game
• Proper Diet
• How To First Date (Friend Zone Never Again)
• Handling all Female Tests & Pullbacks
• Steps To Brainwash Her & Get The Upper Hand
• Subconsciously Putting Her In The Mood For Sex
• The Right Way To Get A Relationship ... and much more in Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course!

To get Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course contact me on:
Reddit Direct Message to u/RequestCourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore/@/yandex.com (remove the brackets)
WhatsApp/Telegram: +44 759 388 0762

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Damn! The last LFIL chapter a while ago had a pretty legendary photograph moment, but this one tops it by far!
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
"Please everyone, calm yourselves. The Galactic Assembly is addressing the issue as we speak."
The crowd roiled and churned like the bubbles in a pot of boiling water. Flags waved and voices rose high into the air.
The chanting increased in fervor.
"Please!"
The Rundi struggled to raise his voice high enough to be heard over the crowd, who only grew with strength and intensity.
Commander Vir keyed his mic,
"Delta units to the GA side of the crowd, some of these protesters are looking extremely agitated. Let's make sure they don't do anything we're all going to regret.”
He stood with his back to the GA chambers, its wide arching courtyard devoid of life, except for those unfortunate Rundi ordered to carry messages from one side of the compound to the other, otherwise they tried to keep their distance from the front facade of the building and the churning mass of protesters.
White flags waved and fluttered.
Commander Vir held the energy shield with one arm, pressing it back firmly against the crowd, so they could not pass the dedicated marking point.
"Commander, the crowd over here is getting violent."
He grimaced and reached a hand down to open the line,
"Stun them and let them calm down, do NOT catch anyone else in the crossfire. We do not want this escalating."
"Yes sir."
Something pushed against his shield and he grunted, pushing back.
The white bandanna on his arm was pressed against the clear blue force field and helped to at least confuse the crowd before them.
And luckily, they would be kept too confused to get violent.
The aliens among the human protesters helped as well.
If this was on earth, things would have broken out into a riot by now, but the Drev the Tesraki and the Finnari tended to be more levelheaded when it came to these kinds of things, and they managed to reign in their humans from doing something stupid.
He closed his eyes tight for a second, praying that the GA would rethink their position.
It hurt him to watch these people struggle like this.
It just felt so strange that anyone should be here in the first place.
Beside him, Sunny had taken control of two young humans who were getting a bit more than rowdy,
"Let’s keep this a protest, and not a riot."
She growled, giving them a look that would have made anyone quell in their boots. It sort of made him half smile, Sunny was such a badass, he wanted to be more like her when he eventually grew up.
His thoughts were cut off, as the crowd churned a bit, pressing into his shield.
He keyed his mic again, prepared to go over the loudspeaker and tell them that if they didn't calm down he was going to turn this protest into a mass nap time.
He had the power to do that if things got out of hand, though he honestly didn't want to.
The GA needed to see this.
He was so preoccupied with the crowd, that he barely noticed as the Rundi ran up from the inside of the compound, flying forward on its long spindly legs.
It stopped by the first Rundi to say something, and the conversation that passed between them didn't look particularly encouraging.
HIs heart sank into his stomach.
He felt... Surprisingly disappointed, very sad for all those people who were going to get their day ruined.
The Rundi waffled around at the front of the crowd for a bit before turning and looking over to where he stood.
Oh great.
The Rundi walked over, and he backed off from the crowd, allowing Sunny to take a step in his place with her shield at the ready.
The people looked as if they were about to start something, but seeing her expression, they decided not to.
He dropped his shield and lowered his head to hear the Rundi over the roaring of the crowd.
"The GA is not budging."
The Rundi whispered,
"They are asking the protesters to leave."
Adam growled in frustration.
Behind him someone in the crowd pointed at him,
"They're saying no aren't they!?”
Others took up the call, and soon enough the rest of the crowd had been alerted. Adam was forced to run back to support Sunny, as everything suddenly grew more intense.
Fights were breaking out on the left and the right.
People were hitting the ground as the guards were forced to stun them.
That only agitated the rest of the crowd who also began to buck and fight.
Adam keyed the mic for real this time, filling the intervening space with his booming voice,
”ALL OF YOU KNOCK IT OFF RIGHT NOW OR I WILL STUN YOU ALL."
The aggression in the crowd died down, though the anger remained sizzling at the surface.
Overhead clouds passed over the sun, before him the crowd roared like a wave, and behind him the GA council chambers were as silent as a ghost town.
"LISTEN, QUIET DOWN ALL OF YOU."
It sort of felt as if he was floating.
The world around him hardly seemed real though that was not the best way to explain it.
The crowd died down a bit,
"You may not understand this! And I have said it before, but these are not humans. Protests don't work on them. When they see a group of angry humans, they get scared and when they get scared, they double down even further. I know it does not make any sense to you NOT to protest for what you believe in, but if you are going to do this, you MUST remain civil. Even now the GA is frightened by you. They don't believe you are rational, and they are not going to listen to you if this keeps up."
The crowd had quieted down to a milling sort of confusion.
"Then what should we do!"*
The shouting came from somewhere and in anger, though he couldn't pinpoint the source.
In frustration he nudged Sunny, and she allowed him to climb on her back as he had before.
The crowd could see him now, and he could see them for the most part.
He waved them down trying to cut off the others who had taken up the chant.
"I understand what you are trying to do, and I support your efforts, but you are only hurting ourselves. The GA can only be won by rational discussion."
"The GA won't see any of our representatives. They are debating only on their own facts and opinions."
One of the crowd's people snarled. The call was echoed and Adam stared at them in shock,
"Wait what!? Are you serious?”
There was a muttering throughout the crowd.
"For fuck's sake."
He muttered under his breath,
"The Rudi think none of us are high ranking enough to be allowed into the council chambers, and none of the representatives will take up our cause. The human ambassador thinks we are disgusting, so she won't do anything and says she won’t represent our minority."
The muttering through the crowd grew louder.
Adam looked around, head turning to see all the angry faces, blushed with red, or streaked with tears.
These people were frustrated, and hurt, and he understood why.
This wasn't right!
He closed his eyes again and took another deep breath.
What was he thinking!?
He stepped down from Sunny's back and walked over to one of the protestors in the front row, pointing to his large flag on a pole that was about eight feet tall.
"May I borrow your flag?"
The protester stared on at him in confusion,
"What, why?"
"Because, I am going to give you the representative you need."
[…]
Commander Vir and Sunny walked alone down the length of the GA outer courtyard.
A billowing white flag streamed lazily over his head, suspended there by way of the pole which rested heavily on his shoulder. The white of the fabric had been marred now by many colors as hundreds of rushed signatures had been scrawled on its face.
He was armed with the backing of a thousand protesters, a hundred signatures, and more than a few dozen stories.
Sunny turned her head to look at him, and he fancied that maybe he saw an expression of pride in her eyes, though she didn't say much except,
"Pretty brave."
He didn't feel very brave, and as they walked through the front doors of the GA atrium, his hand was shaking against the cold metal of the flagpole.
He was stopped by a pair of Rundi guards on his way into the chamber, but was let in after they recognized who he was.
He could hear voices up ahead, and the sounds of the protest going on outside had all but died away,
"They have proven that they cannot be civil, and based on the humanizing effect, we can assume they will do similar things to any non-human lifeform that they encounter."
"I may not agree with their decision counselor, but that sounds like your prejudice against humans is seeping through."
There was an uproar in the council chamber.
He paused for a moment, staying with Sunny just out of line of sight and took a deep breath.
She lay a hand on his shoulder.
"Here goes nothing."
He muttered, before stepping his way out onto the GA floor.
At first no one noticed his presence as he made his slow way into the center of the circle, but his large, white flag soon changed that.
The council chambers went silent.
The chairwoman stood,
"Commander, what are you doing here. Shouldn't you be taking care of the protesters?”
His lips drew into a thing line,
"With all due respect councilwoman, I am."
He rammed the flagpole against the stone, sending a loud cracking sound out and around the wide atrium silencing the council,
"I have been made aware that you refuse to see their representatives based on a ranking issue, well I assume my rank is high enough."
The Human rep leaned forward,
"Commander, this is not your place!”
He shot her a look,
"Then whose place is it counselor? I heard a certain democratic counselor refuses to speak for them because they are and I quote “a too small and insignificant minority”…”
He turned his head in a wide arc at the watching crowd,
"Counselors, you have known me, longer than you have known any human currently in this galaxy. You understand that I know your rules and your customs. You understand that I have only ever striven to protect and uphold the GA and the planet's it encompasses. I have thwarted wars, signed treaties, and broken my own body for your best interests."
There was silence about the room.
"Will you let me speak now, with the understanding that my loyalty has never wavered from you, and never will?”
The silence continued.
Aliens understood the power of human loyalty.
Or at least they should…
The chairwoman took a seat,
"Very well, commander."
He lifted his head, feeling his heart slow as he took a few deep breaths. There was a muscle in his face that had begun to twitch, like it always did if he was extremely angry or nervous, but he held it down,
"I understand you are frightened, and I understand that you are confused, but I want you to know first of all that those people outside are good average people. They don't mean you any harm. They are hurting, and they are afraid for themselves, and they are trying to get your attention. Historically, humanity has used protests to right the injustices of government to combat prejudices brought on by one's sex or the color of their skin. You must understand that they see this as an impingement on their happiness and a decision made out of line."
There was a murmur around the room.
"So, I ask you now, that I may, perhaps, answer your questions and ease your worries. Why are you so against them?"
"It's unnatural."
It was the Bran representative that had spoken, and he did it quite emphatically.
"Why?"
The commander asked,
"Because they aren't even the same species."
"So?"
The Bran seemed caught off guard,
"They... It's not natural. They can't reproduce, so it isn't... A thing that should be done."
The commander shrugged,
"So if one can't reproduce then they aren't natural? I see a couple issues in that logic relating to prejudices against people with infertility."
There was a murmur around the room.
"So, they can't reproduce, so what? You know who we can reproduce with though... Adaptids."
There was a sort of hushed exclamation form around the room.
The commander shrugged,
"They can't have kids.... Hardly a good enough argument to bring to the floor of a government discussion."
"What he is trying to say is that this practice equates itself to bestiality. It is utterly disguting!"
It was the human representative this time, and she stared at him with her eyes narrowed in anger.
He kept his cool, though he very much did not like her.
"That is absolutely disgusting and wildly insulting of you because that implies that one or both parties are no better than animals, beasts as you will."
The room was silent,
"So which one is it, are humans animals, counselor, are the Finnari or the Rundi animals?"
He turned to the Drev counselor,
"Are the Drev just dumb animals that have no understanding, and no decision making abilities?”
The Drev representative stood, angrily cracking his spear against the stone,
"We are most certainly not!"
The commander held up his hands,
"Then what is so bestial about it? Bestiality is absolutely disgusting because you are taking advantages of a creature that can neither understand nor protect itself from what you are doing. It cannot say yes, and it cannot say no. It has no greater understanding than that of a child, and so cannot make its own decisions."
He looked towards the Finnari representative,
"Tell me counselor, is your species a species of children, with no greater concept of their own decision making?”
"Of course not. Why would you even imply such a thing!?”
"I imply nothing, counselor. This is what YOU imply with your decision. So far we have established that all parties are intelligent consenting creatures, and none of you have managed to give me an actually good reason for banning the practice."
The floor was growing more agitated.
"They will be a poor example for the rest of the galaxy. If we make it legal others will surely follow."
Adam turned his eyes on the speaker, an Iotin,
"You're worried that they are going to turn the rest of the galaxy extrial?"
He laughed,
"That is a poor argument which is not only selfish, but foolish. People should be allowed to make their own decisions. And assuming you are right, what then? Oh no... There are a few more extrials... And it does... What exactly?"
He turned in a wide circle,
"If you are worried about population growth or in this case population falloff due to this issue then you should be reminded that extrials comprise a percentage of the human population so small that I could fit the greater majority of them on my ship comfortably. This occurrence is not common, and even if the numbers were to rise, it would not be of enough significance to cause issues."
His heart was hammering hard inside his chest. He felt like he was doing alright, but that might mean nothing.
"In any event, these relationships do not affect the vast majority of the galaxy. Humans cannot be with the Bran or the Rundi due to the water we shed from our skin. The Gromm and the Iotins are out for similar reasons. Vrul and Gibb are incapable of having feelings for humans in that way as far as we know, and both the Tvek and the Celzex are too different from humans for either party to be interested."
He walked around in a circle, allowing the flag to trail behind him,
"Furthermore, the humanization phenomenon happens with or without romantic intent, and as it is, its mention is more a mark of prejudice on humans than it is an argument against the two groups being together."
He left the floor open for a little while, as the council muttered with each other.
Finally, the Drev representative stood,
"My species culture and our way of life has been upturned by the GA. I fear relationships with humans will result in the loss of our culture. We have already strayed far from what we originally were. We are hardly recognizable as Drev anymore."
The commander let his voice soften,
"I understand that the Drev have lost a lot in joining this..."
Sunny held up a hand, and in surprise he was cut off.
She took the floor,
"Your Glory…"
She said bowing her head,
"If you would have truly upheld those ideals, you would not be sitting on this council."
The Drev pulled back in surprise at her words,
"Yes, we lost a lot in joining the GA, and after the war, but I would argue that some of that was for good. Before the GA people like me, with perceived imperfection were cast into the fire and perceived as no better than animals. This practice still takes place on our planet, where these traditions are still alive and well."
Her words made the room shift nervously,
"However, culture changes and adapts, and it must to survive. We changed in order to live among the GA. We found other alternatives to fighting that still maintain our honor and our prowess in war, and this includes the sports that the humans have brought to us. Furthermore, the vast majority of the Drev I see who are with humans are those of us who would not be accepted by our own kind, perceived as ugly or malformed. If this is the case then your traditions remain sound, and those like me are removed from the mating population."
The counselor almost looked ashamed at her words, turning his head away so as not to look her in the eyes.
"As far as a change of culture goes, it was bound to happen, and it seems you are more worried about change than you actually are about human Drev relationships."
She went quiet, and Adam nodded to her taking the floor again.
A Finnari counselor stood,
"I am simply worried about our birth rate. The Finnari were farmed by the Gnarlak for many years, and we are only now replenishing our population."
"I don't think you need to worry. The amount of actual relationships is so small that it will not affect the Finnari population in any significant manner."
The representative sat back down with no real argument to combat him.
The chairwoman stood,
"Your arguments have been heard commander, though, what the others do not mention is the issue of disease. We have seen a great increase of illness transmissible from humans to non humans and-"
"I hate to cut you off chairwoman, but that is NOT related to interspecies relationships, but instead has another simple explanation: the rise in human tourism."
She paused,
"Explain."
"You all know very well that humans are not allowed to leave their planet unless they are tested for all communicable non-treatable diseases. This means that those of us that you see here cannot physically pass our diseases off onto other people, except for the germs that are found naturally on our skin. In this case these issues did not stem from relationships at all, but poor vaccination, the poor regulation of tourism, and allowing aliens to travel onto earth where infected humans are located and not testing them as they leave."
He looked on at them pleadingly,
"You see. You don't even have problems with them, but you are using them as a real scapegoat for the actual issues. And I am here to tell you that, in fact you are causing more problems by banning this! The more you push, the harder they will push back, and eventually someone is going to get hurt, because they are not allowed to be together legally, they do it illegally, and because they do it illegally, they end up in dangerous places exposed to greater rates of crime. They get hurt, and they get involved in things they would otherwise not have gotten involved in if you had not banned it. Just look at Noctoplis. It has the highest rate of extrials living there and the lowest policing force and the most corrupted system. There are no legitimate jobs there, so we see an influx of crime by desperate people who won't be accepted anywhere else. Not to mention that it increased the depression rates, which increases suicide rates. Your laws have ostracized them, forced them to become criminals, and turned many of them to think that killing themselves is better than living in a world where they are seen as disgusting when they don't actually do any real harm."
He had to take a deep breath,
"Earth has seen all of this before, and one way or another, eventually someone will see what I am trying to say."
He rested the flag on the floor beside him, feet planted at shoulder width.
"I hope that this rational conversation will allow a more open mind on the council. I encourage you to talk to their representatives. They are more rational and educated than I am, and they can give you hard facts and statistics. But please, they don't want to cause trouble, if you allow them to do as they will, you might find these problems going away for you."
The human representative clearly did not seem convinced, but he didn't expect to convince her, he expected to convince the others who were more afraid than they were prejudiced.
"It seems as if we have some other potential policies to discuss, commander."
The chairwoman said, tapping her fingers on the table before her.
"I have a suggestion, ma'am."
"And that is?"
"A temporary revocation on the ban, that way you can SEE what the universe will be like without it, and you can judge for yourself whether The ban does any good. You don't have to overturn the law just yet, but temporarily suspend it, that way you can re institute at any time. Then you will have concrete proof. You can do testing, and polls and whatever else, then you would know for sure."
His suggestion turned into a discussion, that dragged on for many minutes before the chairwoman raised her hand,
"It has been decided, all in favor of this temporary proposal please indicate."
The voting lights flashed above them.
Commander Vir waited with baited breath.
[…]
He walked from the venue, hours after he had entered, totally tired and exhausted.
The flag felt heavy in his hands and his boots thudded with exhaustion on the white marble below him.
Outside, the protest field was surprisingly silent, though he could still see their flags.
As he walked closer, he could see that the vast majority of the crowd was sitting down.
Their voices reached him from a distance at first, until he realized they were calmly singing with each other.
Waiting for his verdict.
Suddenly the first people from the crowd noticed the two silhouettes coming from the chambers towards them.
A lone man and Drev were walking from the building.
The man was wearing riot gear, a full helmet, a shield, and carrying their flag, resting against his right shoulder.
The group of them began to stand, rising to their feet and yelling.
Pointing in his direction.
They quieted as he got closer.
"What did they say!? What did they say!?”
He stayed quiet, holding a hand in the air to silence them.
He passed the flag to the original protester who looked on at him with such an expression of pleading that he felt his eyes tingle a bit with rising emotion.
He had to look away, boosting himself onto Sunny's back, keying his mic.
The crowd was silent.
A thousand eyes fixed on one human and one Drev.
"I spoke to the GA."
They waited on tenterhooks,
"And after a long debate, and a slim majority the GA have decided..."
Flags whipped in the wind,
"To temporarily revoke the ban on inter-species relationships until a-"
He didn't get to finish his sentence, drowned out by a powerful wave of noise and joy so overwhelming that he was nearly knocked backwards off his feet.
The crowd surged forward, and Sunny staggered as the group surrounded them, pressing inward and upwards.
Adam found himself on the ground on his feet, packed in by bodies enclosed by hundreds of pairs of arms, which slapped on the shoulder and the arm, as every person tried their best to get one hand on him.
The flag from earlier was ripped off its stand and pressed into his hands.
He was deafened by cheering and an outpouring of gratitude so profound he had simply never experienced such emotion.
He looked up at Sunny, pressed in with him by the enthusiastic crowd.
And she nodded her head in approval.
He grinned.
He had to admit.
This felt pretty good.
Though, whether it was all over was a question for another time.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

TW: miscarriage
Hello all,
I estimate I am 5 weeks, 1 day.
Please put my mind to rest over the weekend. I have been pregnant a total of 3 times including this current time. Both of my previous pregnancies ended in miscarriage, one at 7 weeks and one at 9 weeks. When I got pregnant this time, I knew the outcome could be miscarriage again and so I was mentally prepared.
4 days ago I started getting light spotting, very light pink when I wipe. Nothing on my panty liner or anything. I also have had mild-mod cramping on and off. My doctor ordered the BHCG blood test and progesterone. She said my progesterone was normal at 17.1. They always say they want to see a doubling in HCG, but mine is more than doubling and I’m out of the range of the week of pregnancy i should be at (ie. My levels are higher than what they should be at at 5 weeks).
May 31st-3276 June 2- 7385
Apparently that’s a 125% increase? Also 7385 seems to be right on the high end of 5 weeks pregnant.
Any insight would be great. My doctor won’t get back to me until Monday and I am convinced due to the cramps that I am actively miscarrying….

I am one day late for my period (four weeks 2 days pregnant), Ive had over 8 positive pregnancy tests over the last three/four days. I tested this morning and the positive line is lighter. A chemical pregnancy is my biggest fear at this point. I’ve definitely had pregnancy symptoms over the past week and have been highly emotional, foggy brained, had migraines and trouble sleeping. But my breasts aren’t sore and I’m not nauseous. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Hey All,
I am fixing an inherited situation (story of our life) and I am working with a church, That has Church staff, a K-12 School, a Preschool, a Coffee Shop, a pregnancy center (Soon) and some (3 Units) staff housing.
I have the network dialed in with Ubiquiti (Say what you will but the price point and functionality was right).
We were donated new servers and this is my opportunity to really step up and set this place up correctly. Our current server environment is a google worksuite and a on premise AD with windows 2008 on a single domain controller (I know, again this is inherited). The church staff and school office is the only ones that actually have domain computers.
We were donated 3 new dell servers, and an additional 2 custom built storage servers. Here is what I was thinking and please give me your input or how you might set these up.
2 domain controllers for a single master organizational domain that encompasses each sub ministry.
On those two domain controllers run DNS services as well
On the third Dell Server Running a SSO for Google work suite and our on Prem AD so that syncs nicely
2 file servers (We have two Synology file servers already and we will keep those for our church) One of these file servers will go to the school and preschool to share (Since same function and a lot of the Preschool students will move to the school after k4 so saving files on the same machine makes sense) and then the other file server will be for the coffee shop and pregnancy center.

“Three years to build a mech with specs that only a year ago I would have called impossible within this century? Would you like any other miracles while I’m preying to every deity I know of?” – [CLASSIFIED] Head of [CLASSIFIED] development, after being presented with the project’s requirements.
----
First, Previous, Next.
----
‘Diagnostics complete. Error zero-zero, reactor output is nil. No other errors detected. Unit 0012 is unable to perform upcoming operation. I am sorry Sustain. You will be scratched from the roster.’
Anna ‘Sustain’ Finand started swearing, first in United Earth common, then English and lastly in Arabic. Fortunately for her career and general standing among her peers, her mech’s cockpit was still sealed tight, preventing the small army of engineers and maintenance personal swarming her mech from hearing.
She swore about the ridiculousness of a reactor design that could fail with no discernible reason at the drop of a hat. She cursed about the mountain of corners which had been piled up at the feet of the killing machine that refused to power on. Lastly, she just screamed as three years of built-up frustration poured out of her lanky body.
Sustain had been a mech pilot for far longer than she cared to admit, having began by piloting her Dad’s farming mech during planting season. She would start her shift in the mech-tractor after schooled finished, and work until midnight while her Dad slept. Then she would catch some much-needed rest, only to wake up early the next morning for school and do it all over again. She never resented her Dad for the strain the season would place on the two of them, but curiously she had always found herself angry at her mother; who had left when she was only five.
When she had signed up for the military, she had told the interviewing officer that she could pilot a mech in her sleep. She hadn’t been bragging. They’d thrown her into a simulator to see what she could do, and when she told her father that she’d barely passed the exam, she’d been lying. She hadn’t wanted him to worry about the possibility of her being hand picked for the special forces, which is exactly what had happened a few months later. Sustain remembered the fight between herself and her father after that, it had been legendary, and was still something they joked about to this very day.
Still, Sustain was as stubborn as her dad, and when her special forces service had paid for his space flight to and apartment on Earth he’d admitted that he was glad to have lost that fight. Thinking about her father, and Earth, only intensified the extreme frustration Sustain was currently experiencing.
The Algeen’s had pulled in as many species as they possibly could to fight off the Tide, but they hadn’t seen fit to give humanity the same offer. It was only five years ago that humanity had learnt about the existence of the Tide, as the inter-galactic wall that had been the Algeen republic, exhausted beyond all measures, crumbled away.
It still pissed her off to think about. Had the Algeen’s included humanity and it’s six hundred worlds at the start of the war, hell even halfway through it, they would have been able to fight with the numerical advantage. But instead, the Algeen’s had kept the Tide and their war from them a secret. No one knew why but Sustain could sure as hell guess: In the past Humanity and the Algeen’s had their fair share of conflicts.
No doubt the Algeen’s had wanted to present a facade of strength, out of fear that humanity would seek to capitalise on their weakened state.
Sustain could easily see humanity negotiating favourable terms for their aid, terms which may very well have seen them rise as the dominate power in the galactic region. Much like America in comparison to England after WWII. However, by seeking to prevent this from happening, the Algeen’s may have doomed humanity in the process.
Once they knew of their existence Humanity had tried to open diplomatic talks with the Tide and had been violently rebuked. With the Algeen’s crashing down before their very eyes humanity’s leadership had realised with horror that they now had to fight a considerably more powerful enemy, and only had five years to prepare for it.
Three years ago, that same leadership had finally convinced the Algeen’s to share their technology with their new allies of circumstance, and the flood gates had poured open. That’s when Sustain had gotten involved in the cluster fuck.
Humanity knew from their past that their technology was a few years behind that of the Algeen’s. However, they also knew that their tactics and general understanding of warfare was significantly greater. But now they had to compete with the Tide, who’s technology surpassed even that of the Algeen’s, and half measures weren’t going to cut it. Humanity had set out to build a brand new mech, one which could match the Tide machines (even if it wouldn’t beat them) by combining human and Algeen technology.
Sustain had signed on as a test pilot for the project, one of a thousand such pilots. Calling them the best of the best was considered an insult to many of the test pilots. While Sustain didn’t agree with such an arrogant attitude she wasn’t so humble as to be unable to admit the truth: They weren’t the best. Or the best of the best. They were one thousand out of a billion such pilots. They were Elite in the truest meaning of the word.
But none of that would mean anything if they didn’t have any machines to pilot.
Having taken a moment to calm herself, Sustain popped the seals on her cockpit, and opened the heavy door to the clammer of voices and machinery that was the drop hanger of the Swan. The Swan was a orbital insertion carrier, designed to launch its cargo onto a planet without succumbing to gravity or weapons fire alongside them. In just two short hours they would be deploying onto Algeen Prime, one battle which made up the many overseen by operation “Sucker Punch”.
For humanity to survive it needed to push the Tide back as quickly as possible while they were still dealing with the many losses, they had suffered during the Algeen war. For humanity to survive it needed to bloody the nose of those who dared to threaten the continued existence of mankind, and countless others. What better place to do that then where the most noses were located?
Algeen Prime and its surrounding systems were swarming with Tide ships and mechs, as their long conflicted was slowly ground to a pulp. Human intelligence suggested that the Tide in these locations would be running low on supplies, manpower and equipment. It was into this exhausted army that operation sucker punch would strike. It was up to Sustain and the Algeen-Human experimental mech program to be the tip of that spear. No pressure.
Sustain’s maintenance chief cut through both the volume of the hanger and her anxious recount of the events leading up to this situation.
“Sorry Captain, this one’s given up the ghost. I don’t know what is so cursed about this reactor design but when I find whoever made the mistake that causes this headache, I’ll throw the unlucky sod your way eh?”
Despite the situation the Chief’s gruff voice and jokes were enough to force the ghost of a smile onto Sustain’s face. The old, balding man reminded her of a friend of her fathers. The one who’d help occasionally with odd maintenance jobs around the house that her father was too busy to attend to. Only instead of repainting the living room he was fine tuning the most advanced fighting machine currently known to mankind. An odd idiosyncrasy to be sure, but like her the Chief was Elite.
“You’d deprive yourself of that satisfying revenge for me Tomlinson?” Sustain replied.
“Well better you go to prison then me, and I trust you to really twist the knife while you gut the fella.”
“Ah, fair.”
An awkward silence stretched between the two of them. A deep dark abyss that neither really wanted to descend into. Sustain took the plunge first.
“How many others like mine?”
Tomlinson’s eyes said all she needed to know. But he spoke anyway.
“About half of em. We’re hoping to get that down to a quarter but the timing ain’t looking so great. I hope you don’t mind me saying I’m glad yours isn’t showing any signs of life, if we got her started now we’d have to skip so many safety procedures to be ready in time that it ain’t funny… Well, it’d be a little funny. But only if you didn’t explode.”
Sustain grimaced. The constant issue with the experimental mechs was their power source. Everything else had been shaped up over the frantic past three years, but the reactors were a hurtle that seemingly couldn’t be overcome. Once they were running, they were fine. In fact, they were better than fine. Once running the reactors were a considerable improvement to their Algeen basis. It was getting them started that was the hard part.
Three years of Elite scientists and engineers working on the problem, and still it was a crapshoot as to whether the reactors would startup properly or destroy itself in doing so. This problem was exacerbated by the fact that the reactors were only designed to be run for a month before needing to be powered down for a maintenance once over.
Sustain’s mech had its maintenance once over a week ago. She would have preferred delaying the operation to ensure that all the one thousand Elite had operational machines, but replacing the reactor in the experimental mechs took weeks to do. Apparently command just didn’t have that kind of time.
Sustain spook to Tomlinson again.
“Alright, well good effort team. Looks like the training machine’s up.”
The training machines were highly customised but otherwise unmodified Algeen machines. With the experimental one’s being so finicky the Elite had needed reliable machines to hone their skills in. The trainers had never been intended to be taken into battle, however the situation left little room for anything else. They were capable machines, and the Elite pilots were very familiar with them. Tomlinson helped her down with an odd look on his face. After a moment Sustain realised: it was a potent mix of apprehension and guilt.
“I-I” The usually steadfast chief choked on his words. Pausing to take a deep breath before continuing. “I’m sorry it had to be this way ma’am. I didn’t want to let you down.”
Sustain was surprised by the words, but a cocky smile soon found it’s way to her face.
“Don’t worry Chief, I like a challenge. I thought you would have known that about me by now.” She said with a wink.
That same smile danced on her face once more, as two hours and one Tide mech later she was on the battlefield in her trainer mech. The taste of victory like Ambrose in her mouth. The ranged heavy Tide mech was fighting its salvo at her, but rather then attempted to doge the incoming missile or deploy her energy shield, Sustain kept her mech perfectly still. Closing her eyes and increasing the rating on her neural lace; merging her mind closer and closer to the heart of the machine.
When she opened them again everything was slowed to a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second. She concentrated on the first missile, its trajectory appearing on her HUD, and lined up a trajectory of her own. The spikes the Algeen had noted on her mechs shoulders were indeed grenade launchers – not designed for offensive operation and most certainly not designed to be used as anti-missile fire. But Sustain had been training against the Elite for over three years now, most of them in this very machine, together they had all learnt more then a few tricks.
With the overclocking ability of her neural lace, (a development that neither the Algeen’s nor the Tide had access to), Sustain was able to launch the smoke canisters with unnerving accuracy directly into the path of the oncoming Tide fire. To Churk, who was watching the fight take place in real time, it appeared as though every canister had fired at the same moment. But to Sustain each and every canister had been individually targeted and fired.
The massive shockwave of so many missile denotating at once pounded into the surrounding area, causing the ground to shake, trees to shiver and Churk and his team to grab their helmets and take cover. One moment Sustain’s Algeen mech had been charging across the grassy field towards the Tide heavy, the next the entire field and some of the forest the Tide heavy was taking cover in was filled with smoke.
At first both Churk and the Tide pilot believed the smoke to be coming from the destroyed carcass of Sustain’s mech. Both were equally surprised then when with the quick flash of a blade the smoke, (and the Tide’s missile launcher,) were spilt in two.
The smoke in question was electro chemical in nature and caused odd pixelation and glitches to flare up in Sustain’s mechs sensors, as the scrambling effects of the smoke began to hit full force. Of course, Sustain’s mech was programmed with these effects in mind, and so was shielded from the worse of the interference. The same cannot be said for the Tide mech, who’s pilot now had to battle one insanely capable human and their own systems in order to survive. It was a battle that the mech pilot would not be able to win, however that doesn’t mean they were going to go down without a fight.
The Tide mech swung the ruined launcher at Sustain’s mech, and she used her left shoulder to block the blow, causing the frame of her machine to shake with the force of the heavy blow. In return she struck with her sword, finding the elbow joint on the Tide machine’s left arm, and slicing for everything her mech was worth. Her sword ran up the length of the Tide mech’s arm, under the heavy armour, and into the shoulder joint, whereupon (with a flick of her wrist) Sustain was able to deprive the Tide mech of its entire arm.
The Tide mech swung again with the now very pulped launcher, Sustain ducked the blow and thrust forward with her blade, intending to skewer the Tide machine on her sword. She was partially successful in doing so, creating a large and jagged rent in the chest armour of her enemy. The enemy (who was not unskilled) twisted away, preventing Sustain from penetrating the top-quality armour and causing her mech to overbalance. Instead of stepping forward to overt her fall Sustain sent her mech’s anti-gravity pods into overdrive and activated her jump jets. The mech rolled forward smoothly, in a movement that would have shredded a machine of its size and weight if not for the advanced technology of the pods.
As Sustain rolled free from her opponent’s follow up strike (an overhead blow that would have caught her on the back of her machine) smashed into empty air and then dirt. Not letting the sudden evasion get the better of them however, the Tide pilot dropped the useless and crushed launcher remains and pulled their mech’s coil gun from its thigh holster. The coil gun looked like a pistol in the mechs hand, but was powerful enough at this range to punch directly through the chest of Sustain’s mech.
The Tide pilot never got the chance to fire it.
Sustain bounced back from her roll with a speed that, even with the gravity pods maxed out, sent creaks throughout her entire machine. Her jump jets were still firing, and she leapt towards the Tide mech as it pulled its coil gun from its holster. Facing a weapon, she could not deflect with smoke grenades or armour, her only defence was speed and accuracy.
Like a shark about to earn a round of drinks by throwing their last dart, Sustain hit the bullseye at the last possible second. The Tide machine’s armour, already comprised by her previous pass, finally failed as the full weight of Sustain’s mech was forcefully shoved against it. The force concentrated through the point of her brutally simple sword and sliced deep into vulnerable inners of the machine to hit the only thing that truly mattered onboard a mech: The pilot.
----
Want to support me? Read the next part early? Name characters that will appear in my work? Pick chapter titles? Look at the AI generated mech designs that go along with the series? Join my Patreon!

i’m still in shock. i won’t go into detail right now about how perfect he was as a dog (because he truly was) rather i wanted to ask/vent thoughts that have been eating me alive. i know this is all part of the grief process, but i need to know.
on May 31 (around 6PM), right after we fed him dinner and let him potty, Keegan began to shake. our AC was on pretty low, so i turned up the temp and wrapped him in a blanket. that didn’t really help. he couldn’t seem to ‘snap’ out of his shaking. but it wasn’t a seizure.
i took him out to one of his favorite spots (pushed him in his stroller) and he was able to stand and pee. but he just stood there & didn’t sniff like he usually would.
i brought him back and get him comfy in our bed next to his brother, Clooney. at this point, i decided to take his temperature rectally @707PM. it was reading 103.6F. i proceeded to call 2 local ER vets.
the first ER i was able to speak to a doctor. i explained what was going on & she basically said it could be several things: from spinal/back issues, to infections, to cancer. of course they couldn’t see without seeing him. she told me as long as he seems comfortable and can sleep without presenting worse, we could probably wait until tmw morning when our primary doctor opened.
i called another ER vet and went through the same thing. the 2nd vet was only talking to a front desk staff and he said we could bring him in to check his vitals and triage if we’d like.
since he was able to rest on bed without fussing, we tried to let him sleep. we took him out before bedtime and he peed and pooped, again without assistance. he was “knuckling” his back left leg.
we laid him next to us in bed, and he did fall asleep. his breathing did stay faster than normal (60 bpms).
he woke us up @4am & we took him outside to pee and poop again. he was able to do both, but still shaky. i took his temp again @430AM and it was 105.1F and again @5AM 104.8F. he ate his breakfast out of my hand, but we no longer wanted to wait. usually if he had an off night, a nights rest would snap him out of it and bring him back to his spry (for a senior) self.
we arrived to the ER just after 7AM. thankfully there was no wait. he was taken back and his vitals were taken.
the ER doc who was great, said he was running a slight fever (around 104F) and that he’s breathing heavier than should, & she also saw him do the “knuckling” with his back paw.
she explained that this could be due to an arthritic flare up that’s extra painful and just throwing him off. she also wondered if he aspirated any fluid into his lungs. she wanted to begin with administering him fluids, getting a blood work ran, & getting a chest x ray. we said yes to all.
the blood work was going to be sent to a lab that’d take 2-3 hrs. so he had to stay with them as he got these tests done.
around @1145AM, ER doc called us back. she saw some changes in his lungs, but said likely due to old age and no obvious signs of pneumonia. she said his blood work came back and he had slightly lowered white blood cells, and some sort of protein (i can’t remember the exact name). she said next step would be to give antibiotics to try to break his fever, have him stay overnight, and get a neuro consult.
we said yes.
we dropped off his nighttime medications & signing off on his care plan. about 5-10mins after that, we get another call. ER doc said he just had a neuro consult.
based on the neurologist’s exam, coupled with his usage of desmopressin (for PU/PD), they had a strong suspicion of a growth in his brain. she also said his fever was raising & he’s declining. she advised us to come see him before deciding if we wanted to pursue an MRI or radiation therapy. thankfully we just were 5 mins away & got back as quickly as can be.
we wanted him to have an in home euthanasia, but when they rolled him in…it was rough. i’m still traumatized, as is my gf who held him. he was really breathing heavy, you could hear fluid in his throat, and he just wasn’t “there” anymore. if we brought him home, he likely would’ve passed on the car ride home.
we made the horribly difficult decision to put him out of his suffering. we were shattered, shocked, and broken. yes he was 16 but just a day before, he was 100% fine…how can this possibly be? he’s gone.
my mind has been racing and so much so i contacted Keegan’s primary vet to discuss with her. she assured me there was nothing we could’ve done differently that would’ve had a different outcome for him. regardless if we brought him in to the ER @6PM on May 31, or waited to bring him to them; she agreed on the suspicion of a brain growth that either ruptured or was pushing on something to throw him all out of wack.
i want to contact to ER doc & neuro doc just to have a similar conversation. could we have acted earlier and saved him? how certain can it be said that he had a brain growth? of course without an MRI to confirm, it might be possible.
but my mind can’t stop asking the “what ifs”.
what if we acted sooner? what if it wasn’t a brain tumor?
why couldn’t his fever get brought down? how did he decline so rapidly so quick?
i know nobody here can answer these things without seeing all the reports, which i can try to get, but i need reassurance that we did everything we possibly could, short of running an MRI that he might not have made through, to help him.
was this really inevitable and just the cruel reality of living and dying?

I (22M) have been thinking about divorce with my spouse (22F) for the past few months. I’m in the military and had to get married to be able to be there for my (I think)sons birth. I was supposed to deploy immediately after the birth and complications happened to where I’d be local instead of Iraq. Everything was great until one by one my family wasn’t allowed to be my life. Even though my family sucks admittedly, her family hurts her a lot more often then my family has ever done to her. A few months ago my spouse was balling her eyes out in the bath. I questioned her, what’s wrong, are you ok normal things when she goes into this mode. She told me that Kasper might not even be mine because of the timing of everything and how she got blackout drunk and got SA at this party. For something so major why wait to tell me this until now? I already wanted to get a paternity test but am I even a father to begin with? For my sons life I have been around him for 8 months of his soon to be 24 months alive. It makes me feel like there’s a reason why I don’t see him. I haven’t had a major deployment nothing has been longer then 3 weeks. Until April where I’m now on mission for 4 months. On my current mission I’ve been close to where my family is back home and it’s close enough to see my wife and son every few weeks. Since it’s started I’ve been accused of cheating more than 40 times and still trying to digest how I’ve been preferring my pretty close to single life over being with her. She’s threatened multiple times to kill herself if I left and told me she doesn’t trust me because of “reasons”. I think now I would rather be alone fighting through my current PTSD and depression rather than be with someone who hasn’t done anything to better our relationship or lives in the past 2 years. I just don’t know how to do any of the next steps since I am pretty positive I want to leave. Any advice at all would be appreciated.

Chat +44 759 388 0762 on Telegram/WhatsApp to get Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course.
I have Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course.
Casey Zander's Masculinity Blueprint 2.0 course is one of the best programs available that will improve your relationships with women, as well as your personal lifestyle and masculine mindset.
Masculinity Blueprint 2.0 by Casey Zander will show you how to:

• Master The Masculine Mindset To Get Her Addicted
• How To Approach The Masculine Way
• How to carry yourself the Masculine Way
• Phone & Dating App Game
• Proper Diet
• How To First Date (Friend Zone Never Again)
• Handling all Female Tests & Pullbacks
• Steps To Brainwash Her & Get The Upper Hand
• Subconsciously Putting Her In The Mood For Sex
• The Right Way To Get A Relationship ... and much more in Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course!

To get Casey Zander - Masculinity Blueprint (MBT) Course contact me on:
Reddit Direct Message to u/RequestCourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore/@/yandex.com (remove the brackets)
WhatsApp/Telegram: +44 759 388 0762

Hello, I'm 37 and female. I'm 5'2 and 150 lbs. The first day of my last period was May 5th and my period lasted until May 9th. We had sex may 10th, 11th, 14th-17th, and the 19th. Also on the 1st and 2nd if that matters.
On the 27th I had a positive pregnancy test. I wasn't actually expecting it nor were we actually trying (just not preventing and I can be too much of an engineer and have too much fun tracking things and gathering data).
I had an appointment with obgyn on the 30th and we did bloodwork.
My hcg level on the 30th was 157 and my hcg level on the 1st was 458. My progesterone level on the 1st was 37.2.
The doctor said the numbers looked good and would show me at 4.5 weeks along which then sent me down the anxiety porn of the internet...because I'm not sure how i could be 4.5 weeks along?
I then read about molar pregnancies and while I'm getting an ultrasound on the 16th...the 2 weeks of waiting is a bit of torture.
I also read about the possibility of multiple kids which at my age seems risky. And also rather painful? I had an abdominoplasty a few years ago after considerable weight loss and at the time didn't really think I'd ever be delivering kids (I'd still like to adopt one day). So unsure if the surgery will also make this process complicated or more painful...
I'm in CA and prior to this did not do any fertility treatments. I was on phentermine for awhile, but stopped that the day I saw a positive pregnancy test. I also haven't been on birth control for roughly a year or so at this point. No other prescription meds though I'm pretty big on my supplements and vitamins (French maritime pine bark, multivitamin, milk thistle, coq10...not consistent). I am consistent with probiotics for vaginal health as I got off birth control originally for vulvodynia.
Could someone tell me if these numbers actually make any sense and how high risk being pregnant at 37 is?
Thank you!

i’m still in shock. i won’t go into detail right now about how perfect he was as a dog (because he truly was) rather i wanted to ask some vet professionals some questions that have been eating me alive. i know this is all part of the grief process, but i need to know.
on May 31 (around 6PM), right after we fed him dinner and let him potty, Keegan began to shake. our AC was on pretty low, so i turned up the temp and wrapped him in a blanket. that didn’t really help. he couldn’t seem to ‘snap’ out of his shaking. but it wasn’t a seizure.
i took him out to one of his favorite spots (pushed him in his stroller) and he was able to stand and pee. but he just stood there & didn’t sniff like he usually would.
i brought him back and get him comfy in our bed next to his brother, Clooney. at this point, i decided to take his temperature rectally @707PM. it was reading 103.6F. i proceeded to call 2 local ER vets.
the first ER i was able to speak to a doctor. i explained what was going on & she basically said it could be several things: from spinal/back issues, to infections, to cancer. of course they couldn’t see without seeing him. she told me as long as he seems comfortable and can sleep without presenting worse, we could probably wait until tmw morning when our primary doctor opened.
i called another ER vet and went through the same thing. the 2nd vet was only talking to a front desk staff and he said we could bring him in to check his vitals and triage if we’d like.
since he was able to rest on bed without fussing, we tried to let him sleep. we took him out before bedtime and he peed and pooped, again without assistance. he was “knuckling” his back left leg.
we laid him next to us in bed, and he did fall asleep. his breathing did stay faster than normal (60 bpms).
he woke us up @4am & we took him outside to pee and poop again. he was able to do both, but still shaky. i took his temp again @430AM and it was 105.1F and again @5AM 104.8F. he ate his breakfast out of my hand, but we no longer wanted to wait. usually if he had an off night, a nights rest would snap him out of it and bring him back to his spry (for a senior) self.
we arrived to the ER just after 7AM. thankfully there was no wait. he was taken back and his vitals were taken.
the ER doc who was great, said he was running a slight fever (around 104F) and that he’s breathing heavier than should, & she also saw him do the “knuckling” with his back paw.
she explained that this could be due to an arthritic flare up that’s extra painful and just throwing him off. she also wondered if he aspirated any fluid into his lungs. she wanted to begin with administering him fluids, getting a blood work ran, & getting a chest x ray. we said yes to all.
the blood work was going to be sent to a lab that’d take 2-3 hrs. so he had to stay with them as he got these tests done.
around @1145AM, ER doc called us back. she saw some changes in his lungs, but said likely due to old age and no obvious signs of pneumonia. she said his blood work came back and he had slightly lowered white blood cells, and some sort of protein (i can’t remember the exact name). she said next step would be to give antibiotics to try to break his fever, have him stay overnight, and get a neuro consult.
we said yes.
we dropped off his nighttime medications & signing off on his care plan. about 5-10mins after that, we get another call. ER doc said he just had a neuro consult.
based on the neurologist’s exam, coupled with his usage of desmopressin (for PU/PD), they had a strong suspicion of a growth in his brain. she also said his fever was raising & he’s declining. she advised us to come see him before deciding if we wanted to pursue an MRI or radiation therapy. thankfully we just were 5 mins away & got back as quickly as can be.
we wanted him to have an in home euthanasia, but when they rolled him in…it was rough. i’m still traumatized, as is my gf who held him. he was really breathing heavy, you could hear fluid in his throat, and he just wasn’t “there” anymore. if we brought him home, he likely would’ve passed on the car ride home.
we made the horribly difficult decision to put him out of his suffering. we were shattered, shocked, and broken. yes he was 16 but just a day before, he was 100% fine…how can this possibly be? he’s gone.
my mind has been racing and so much so i contacted Keegan’s primary vet to discuss with her. she assured me there was nothing we could’ve done differently that would’ve had a different outcome for him. regardless if we brought him in to the ER @6PM on May 31, or waited to bring him to them; she agreed on the suspicion of a brain growth that either ruptured or was pushing on something to throw him all out of wack.
i want to contact to ER doc & neuro doc just to have a similar conversation. could we have acted earlier and saved him? how certain can it be said that he had a brain growth? of course without an MRI to confirm, it might be possible.
but my mind can’t stop asking the “what ifs”.
what if we acted sooner? what if it wasn’t a brain tumor?
why couldn’t his fever get brought down? how did he decline so rapidly so quick?
i know nobody here can answer these things without seeing all the reports, which i can try to get, but i need reassurance that we did everything we possibly could, short of running an MRI that he might not have made through, to help him.
was this really inevitable and just the cruel reality of living and dying?

NOTE: This assumes you have a basic understanding of Rust. It's also extremely oversimplified from several chapters to one reddit thread, some details may be lost. I'm also not the best at understanding rustc so I could be wrong.
Hi! Recently, I've done some digging into rustc's internals through reading the rustc-dev-guide and contributing some documentation to procedural macros (currently not finished, due to me having to rely on CI to compile and test rustc for me). I figured I'd share my findings, and be corrected if I'm wrong.

Lexer & Parser

This is probably the most obvious step of how rustc transforms source code. The first step in this is lexing - it converts your rust code into a stream of tokens. The stream is similar to that of TokenStream in procedural macros, but the API is different - proc_macro requires stability, while rustc is very unstable. For example: rs fn main () {} transforms into Ident, Ident, OpenParen, CloseParen, OpenBrace, CloseBrace, At this point, it's important to note that identifiers are just represented as Ident. This is also represented through an enum internally via rustc_lexer. Then, the second stage, parsing. This transforms the tokens into a more useful form, the abstract syntax tree, Using the AST Explorer, putting in our code and selecting Rust language, we can see that the code above transforms into an AST. I won't paste the AST here due to sheerly how long it is, but I invite you to check it out yourself.

Macro Expansion

During parsing and lexing, it set aside macros to be expanded later. This is when we expand them. In short, there is a queue of unexpanded macros. It will attempt to get invocations of these macros and resolve where they came from. If it's possible to find where they came from, expand them. If it can't be resolved, put it back in the queue and continue handling macros. This is a very, very, simplified overview of the whole process. To see how macros expand, you can use the cargo-expand crate, or type the more verbose cargo command, cargo rustc --profile=check -- -Zunpretty=expanded.

Name Resolution

Next, Rust attempts to figure out what names link to what. Say you have this code: rs let x: i32 = 10; fn y(val: i32) { println!("Ok! I recieved {val}!"); } y(x); Rust needs to be able to tell what x and y represent. Name resolution is quite complex, and I won't dive into it fully here, but in essence there are two phases: 1. During macro expansion, a tree of imports are created to be used here. 2. Rust takes into account scope, namespaces, etc. to figure out what everything is. To give useful errors, Rust tries to guess what crate you're attempting to load. For example, let's say you have the rand crate and your trying to use the Rng trait but you forgot to import it. This is what that guessing is for - Rust will attempt to guess where it's from by looking through every crate you have imported, even ones that haven't loaded yet. Then, it will emit an error with a suggestion.

Tests

Tests are quite simple, actually. Tests annotated with #[test] will be recursively exported - basically creating functions similar to the ones you have made, but with extra information. For example, ```rs mod my_priv_mod { fn my_priv_func() -> bool {}

#[test] fn test_priv_func() { assert!(my_priv_func()); } 

} transforms into rs mod my_priv_mod { fn my_priv_func() -> bool {}

pub fn test_priv_func() { assert!(my_priv_func()); } pub mod __test_reexports { pub use super::test_priv_func; } 

} `` Then, it generates a Harness for them, giving the tests their own special place to be compiled into code you can run and see if it passes or fails. You can inspect the code's module source with:rustc my_mod.rs -Z unpretty=hir`
There's a few other things to mention, but I'm gonna skip them for now (panics, ast validation, feature gate checking, and language items.) and add them in the future.

HIR, THIR, MIR, and LLVM IR

Rust has various sub-languages inside of it. These languages are not meant to be created by humans, instead, the AST is transformed through these.

HIR

The HIR, high-level-intermediate-representation is the first sub-language. It's the most important one, it's used widely across rustc. This is what the AST from earlier is transformed into. It looks similar to Rust in a way, however there's some desugaring. For example, for loops and such are desugared into regular loop. You can view the HIR with cargo rustc -- -Z unpretty=hir-tree cargo command. HIRs are stored as a set of structures within the rustc_hir crate. Intermediate representation (IR for short) is essentially technical-speak for, "this programming language is designed to be used by machines to generate code, as opposed to humans writing it."

THIR

The THIR, typed-high-level-intermediate-representation, is another IR. It is generated from HIR and some extra steps. It is a lot like HIR in a way, where types have been added for the compiler to use. However, it's also like MIR (mid-level-intermediate-representation, read that section if you like), in which it only represents executable code - not structures or traits. THIR is also temporary - HIR is stored throughout the whole process, THIR is dropped as soon as it is no longer needed. Even more syntactic sugar is removed, for examples, & and * (reference and dereference operators), and various overloaded operators (+, -, etc) are converted into their function equivalents. You can view the THIR with cargo rustc -- -Z unpretty=thir-tree.

MIR

MIR, mid-level-intermediate-representation is the second-to-last IR of Rust. It's even more explicit than THIR, and generates from THIR with extra steps. If you'd like more info, I'd recommend reading the blog on it for a high-level overview. The MIR is used for things such as borrow checking, optimization, and more. One big desugaring MIR makes is replacing loops, functions, etc. with goto calls, and includes all type information. MIR is defined at rustc_middle. Unfortunately, I'm bit sure how to view the MIR, sorry. I don't have the time to dive into fully how MIR is converted into LLVM IR, as it's a very lengthy process. If you'd like to, you can consult the dev guide itself.

LLVM IR

The last IR, is LLVM IR. It stands for LLVM Intermediate Representation. For those who don't know, LLVM is a library that stems from C++ that allows you to transform various objects into working machine code. It does this through it's IR, representable by structures, binary, or text form. To see LLVM IR of your Rust code, you can use cargo rustc -- --emit=llvm-ir (something along the lines of that).

Conclusion

I hope this helped you learn about how rustc works. I probably used a lot of programming language design lingo without explaining that, so if you see something that wasn't explained clearly or not even at all, please let me know. Again, this is really high-level overview, so somethings will definitely be missed, and I probably got something wrong considering I'm new to rustc. With all of that out of the way, have a good day.

[First][Prev]
Memory transcription subject: Andes Savulescu-Ruiz, Human Director at the Venlil Rehabilitation and Reintegration Facility. Universal translator tech.
Date [standardized human time]: Dec 3 2136
I wandered up to the boys after Lihla got a bit bored of head scritches. Parents were still wandering around, but the three of them seemed pretty comfortable engaging in parallel play off in the back of the play room.
"Hello there," I said. I didn't have to be too mindful to avoid looming over them. They seemed largely unaffected by my size, and were themselves taller than some of the venlil nurses already. I wondered idly what the Arxur cut-offs for ages were. If we'd have to separate them from the girls.
"Your savageness," one said, bowing. "You honour us with your presence."
The other two bowed as well. The girls usually just scurried away, except for Lihla's insistence on "sitting with me". How differently had the boys been treated?
"That's um, that's not necessary," I said, gesticulating vaguely, "how are you boys doing?"
They stood up straight.
"I have been using the board to make squiggling lines," one said, pointing at the drawing board. "It is relaxing."
"I have been putting similar shapes together," said the next. He pointed at a table where he had sorted different blocks. One of the smaller girls looked tempted by his collection, and the fact that his attention was currently primarily on me. Just like Lihla, she moved in slow, incremental steps, ready to run away should her approach turn sour. I managed not to laugh, and kept my attention on the boys.
"I have been assembling the sticky triangles," said a third, and showed me a pretty good-looking geodesic dome he must have gotten just by building outward with the triangle magnets in a spiral pattern.
"Ah. Very nice. I was told you went to the doctor recently," I added.
"Yes, my teeth are very good and I am strong!"
"They tested my pain resistance with a big needle, but I did not scream," said the second one, clearly bragging.
"My appointment is later," said the third. I was a little impressed by how orderly they were. Like each of them knew their number in the order of who got to talk when.
"Well, that's good to know. If you find anything uncomfortable, please tell me so we can make it better for you," I said. They tilted their heads in confusion. "I'm Director Andes. You can ask to be brought to my office and any aide or nurse should be able to guide you there."
"I'm 857–" one started, and was quickly elbowed by the one next to him. He hissed in pain, then looked back at me and shook himself. "I'm Tito."
"I'm Julio."
"I'm Marco."
"Well, it's very nice to meet you boys," I said, smiling behind my visor. It was very exciting to hear them use the names they were given at the hospital. Aside from Lihla, none of the girls seemed very interested in getting names. A few of the nurses and aides had suggested some to them, but none had really stuck.
"It's nice to meet you, Savageness," Marcus said. To my and apparently his brothers' surprise, he jutted out a paw in front of him. I chuckled and shook it. The other two emulated Marcus, and I shook their paws as well. While I did that, the girl that had been eyeing Julio's collection stole a handful of blocks and scurried off to hide.
"Well, boys, I should be getting back to work now, but like I said, if you need help in any way, just ask for me."
They all nodded quickly. I gave Larzo a wave and headed back to my office. Once there, I updated Lihla’s file, made an appointment with Karim to discuss our situation, and finished the third batch of applications from prospective parents. I wasn't going to let him get his paws on it, especially given that they were in the lower income deciles. Venlil adoption incentives seemed to be meaningfully stronger than those of, say, Canada. In Canada, adoption often meant adoptive parents faced a wide variety of hurdles, but in Venlil Prime there were meaningful financial incentives that would more than make up for the cost of living of an average child. With special needs children, there was the added concern of accommodations. Venlil society was not well built for a neurodiverse population. Still, the financial incentive meant that I was looking for experience with children, a history of de-escalation of some sort, that sort of thing. I had no idea what Karim was looking for, but he did not strike me as a particularly charitable evaluator.
We already had verbal children with translator implants whose next step would be adoption and regular outpatient evaluations. We needed to ensure there were plenty of opportunities for them, including prospective human adoptive parents. So I erred on the side of generosity, with the knowledge that all of those whose application was accepted would still have to have interviews, and regular check-ins, to ensure nothing untoward happened to the children.
I took another walk near the end of my shift, and saw that Kanarel was being given a tour by a security officer. I gave him a little wave and he waved back. Only one claw after he'd been hired and he'd already hit the ground running! A few of the human volunteers were staring, and whispering to each other. His appearance might prove a little stressful, but I figured they'd get used to him soon enough.
I checked on the production labs, translator stock was solid and we could give the girls the implant next week. I ran through some reports, flagged a few things for later analysis, updated my own files in the shared database, pulled some files from other facilities for later reviewing. It was a very productive day, all told.
Eventually, I finished my shift and sent an email to the whole facility, first requesting that any invasive tests for the "predator" children seek my approval before going forward, and second explaining that I would be reducing my shifts to 2 or occasionally 2.5 claws. If I had actually been well-rested, I wouldn't have dismissed Varla when she tried to tell me about the boys' horns. I hadn't had a weekend in a month and a half, but that could wait. First, no more twelve-hour shifts.
Plus, if I had smaller shifts, maybe I could have days with a late start, and days with an early start. That might help fight the "sliding" schedule I had fallen into, with my 6-claw "days" of 24 hours failing to fit into a 20-hour paw.
Larzo spotted me as I was getting ready to leave.
"I would like to request the Upper Salwick game you owe me," he said, and I smiled behind the mask.
"That sounds great, actually."
We got to his place a few minutes later. His hensa was deep asleep on a bed of pillows Larzo assured me was her own making.
After a few minutes, the reason Larzo thought I was sure to win was obvious. "Upper Salwick" was some sort of weird, strategic Jenga. Each player had a set of parts, and each turn you had to play one of each type, as you built your little structure out of alien toy building blocks. Then, each player had five balls which were to be tossed at the other player's structure. Or shot through a little tube you could use as a dart gun. If both structures survived unscathed, you removed one piece and tried to knock them down with the balls again.
Larzo and I were mostly evenly matched in our ability to build something that wouldn't collapse on its own. The alien building blocks were not quite as stable as LEGO blocks, and made a very gentle, smooth sound when they hit the ground. Both structures would be elevated on a little platform made up of parts of the box re-folded (really clever design, actually). Any blocks that fell off the platform were a point in your enemy's favour.
I learned playing with Larzo that humans are much better at throwing things than the entire fucking galaxy. If you could score in paper football, you could beat almost any non-human sophont in Upper Salwick.
The standard "strategy" was to build the tallest, thinnest, most physically stable structure, on the grounds that your opponent would need a meaningful amount of luck (given the expected distances between the players and the size of the balls) in order to knock it over. People built in Upper Salwick to avoid being knocked down. A pyramid was the most stable structure I could design with those blocks. It was also the most likely to be hit, but it survived two or three hits before the first block fell off. I played to be able to withstand being knocked down.
Larzo built some sort of tower and I knocked it down on my second shot. He hit my pyramid five times and only one block fell down.
"I knew it. Those arboreal eyes of yours! Lulling me into a false sense of security with that miss…"
"I haven't played beer pong in ten years, cut me some slack," I said. I used my last three balls to knock the remnants of his tower off the platform. By the end of the first round, I had a pyramid minus one block, and he had literally two pieces left out of the starting twenty-five.
"Are we playing elimination or standard?" he asked as he gathered his fallen pieces.
"That should have been settled before we started, dude, I didn't know there were variations."
"Well, I assumed standard, but now I am looking for an excuse to play another game," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.
I laughed. "I take it you underestimated how hard I would win?"
"I did not know it was possible to knock pieces off the platform after you had already collapsed your opponent's structure."
I struggled not to laugh. “Well, what do you want to do now?”
"Perhaps we could go to one of the human growling bars," Larzo said, and I nearly spat out my water.
"...The what?" I croaked, and had to clear my throat.
"They're not too far out by train, humans regularly walk from the refugee camps to them," he continued. I stared at him.
"Larzo, what the fuck is a growling bar?"
"I thought it was a human tradition," he said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Humans go to these bars and growl as loudly as they can, bellowing their grief of Earth's bombing. On occasion, I have passed by and heard screeches translated as 'yesterday, all my woes appeared to be distant, now it seems that they are permanent."
The realization hit me like a smack from Rodriguez. "No way. No. That's not–Are you calling that a growling bar?"
"Yes. What is the proper nomenclature, if not that?" he asked.
-----
Memory transcription subject: Lieutenant Asleth, Arxur Dominion Third Fleet.
Date [standardized human time]: Oct 19, 2136
When I volunteered to aid the humans after the bombing, I did not grasp the extent of their devotion to prey. I arrived at the Canadian space port near a vast, beautiful lake, and once there was taken to a hangar wherein I was made to wait.
And wait.
And wait, until that prophet-damned squealer would stop squirming with fear. They were not so far that I could not hear, but listening only exacerbated my exhaustion at the situation.
“You’re going to be perfectly safe,” said one of the humans. I worried that they would refuse our help altogether to appease it. That the only fellow sapients the Galaxy had to offer would reject us just the same as the prey had. That they would first love creatures that hated them, before any Arxur. No matter our help, our curiosity, our desire to join forces.
“No I’m not, and I’m not going to get myself eaten for you apes!” the creature squealed. How could humans stand for such disrespect?
“If you would like to resign, we can return you to your fleet–”
“No! I–I can do this, I can do this I—I can’t do this!”
“We specifically paired you with an Arxur whose job is primarily communications,” the human said patiently. “This is not a raider, or a front-line soldier.”
“It’s still a monster!”
I groaned from my place in the room, waiting on, and on… These tree-dwelling chatterboxes wouldn’t know an ally if they saved their species from extinction.
“I’m afraid we can’t turn down Arxur help right now. They’re much stronger than humans, having one on your team means we can send more of our own elsewhere. Help more people.”
“You’re telling me humans are too weak to protect me from those monsters?!”
“Well, no, we’ll still have armed men, but when it comes to pulling people out of rubble…”
There was a curious silence, after which the prey made a proposal.
“Call the translator tech. The one who worked with the prisoners. My friend worked with him. She said he could talk them down from anything. The [one who whispers at lizards].”
That was an interesting development. I leaned a little bit towards the wall, to see if I could hear better. There was a pause during what I assumed was the human speaker’s search for a communication device.
“Hey, Andes?.. You were scheduled to land today, would you by any chance still–Perfect. Can you come over to Hangar Bay five?.. I’m sorry, I know your contract–we’ll compensate you. Look, I have a Zurulian here who won’t set foot within prowling distance of our Arxur volunteer without you here… Not my fault you're famous... Time is lives, pal. See you in a few.”
“Well?” the prey creature squeaked.
“They’ll be here in a bit. We caught them just in time.”
The next few minutes were exhausting. Waiting in silence while mere metres away the humans coddled the terrified prey. Eventually, the door opened and I awakened from the haze of boredom.
In stepped a human in one of those formal sets of armour they wore with the white lining their ribcage, black layer on top, and the noose around their throats. Behind the human was the Zurulian, cowering, as they always did.
Behind the two of them came another human, wearing armour even less protective than the noose-wearer's. He(?) was further made distinct by the other humans in military armour, much like the ones I had seen around other bases, or in their communications network. Not to mention that the soldiers all stood straight, their bodies stiff, their jaws marked, while the civilian slouched and yawned, his body on its face weaker and softer than the soldiers’.
“Alright, Asleth was it?” the one in the black pelt with the noose said. I wondered briefly if it was a measure of trust. They wore a noose around their necks so that they could be more easily strangled, and thus their good behaviour was ensured…
“Yes,” I said. “I am Lieutenant Asleth, I work communications as you told the vermin, and volunteered to assist in the rescue of survivors from the city of Royalmount.”
“Perfect,” said the human. “This here is Dr. Rusen. These guys are Philippe, Francois, and David. And the newest recruit to the team, who will be working with Dr. Rusen, is Dr. Andes Savulescu-Ruiz.”
“Still not technically–” began Andes Savulescu-Ruiz, but the man in the noose waved him off.
“Close enough. You'll be doing first aid, checking victims for brain damage, so on. Anyhow, they’ll be working with you, Asleth, and keeping the peace for good ol’ Rusen here. All of you behave, the transport should be here real soon, and then it’ll be a long day’s work.”
The noose-wearing man gave us all a nod and wandered back out the door.
I looked at the least-armoured human and tried to remember their greeting rituals. He offered a hand and I shook it with my claws, doing my best not to dig into his flesh. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Andes Savulescu-Ruiz.”
“Just Andes is fine,” he said with a smile. I realized then that although the Zurulian was the only one cowering, the other humans were tense in my presence. This ‘Just Andes’ was the only one of the whole lot who did not make much distinction between me and his fellow humans. The rest seemed reluctant to approach, ready to betray my opened claw of friendship at a moment’s notice, should I prove a threat.
The transport arrived. It was two-tiered, with a front section large enough to seat five humans, and a back section that was very much an open box with some additional safety straps.
“We had to get a pickup truck to be able to carry the croc, I hope it’s not an issue,” said the human at the front of the vehicle. I did some quick accounting of the population and concluded I would likely be isolated in the back, waiting once again.
“I’ll ride with Asleth,” Andes said, “Rusen can go in the front with you guys."
There were a few nods, and the soldiers began to pour into the vehicle. I climbed aboard the back, and Andes hopped on as well with a litheness that surprised me given his looser, pudgier form in comparison to the soldiers. Within moments, the vehicle had begun to move and Andes had attached himself to it with a safety strap. Once on our way, he rummaged around in a bag to get a helmet much like the other soldiers’.
“So comms, eh? I’ve been working with a lot of Arxur in the past few months. I’m curious, can you tell me about your writing system?”
“...Our writing system?” I echoed. Of all the questions I expected to get from a human, this was not one of them.
“Yeah, I noticed that there are a lot of spikes, and the number of vowels--or analogues, anyhow--doesn’t seem to correlate with the length of a word, so I was wondering if you use diacritic marks, or…”
I stared blankly at him. “What are diacritic marks?”
His whole face lit up and he began to explain. The Arxur have teachers–we must, for we have things that ought be taught–but I had never before seen a creature so delighted by the opportunity to teach. Teachers were, in my experience, exasperated disciplinarians who disdained their duty to those who knew less than they. Andes found it joyous to speak, and it helped me find it joyous to listen. All humans, so far as I knew, had beautifully musical voices. Still, Andes’ had a light in it that I had heard from none others in my brief time on Earth, and my less brief time investigating their communications.
I wondered idly if my irritation at spending time with fellows was truly a mark of our people, or if we were simply not used to the joys of conversation that humans could bring forth. Perhaps this is what the Arxur of old had yearned for, before the Federation made itself known to us. A chance to converse with another sapient who was so very alien, and yet so much the same.
Translators had done a great deal to undermine the details of language. I did not much care if Zurulian was a subject-object-verb language or an object-verb-subject language, even as a communications officer. After all, what I heard was simply squealing in Zurulian, and most of my job involved sorting through potential alternative translations, investigating context, and discovering when a good time to attack might be. I had greater expertise in their (comically poor) encryption practices. Their tongue itself may as well have been a mystery. And why should an Arxur care for such lesser languages, anyhow? Could squealing like that truly be called a language at all? Or was the translator doing a great deal of the "heavy lifting", as it were?
“--Look, here, write me a sentence like ‘the rock falls in the water’,” he said, pulling forth a pad and a little wooden implement with graphite in the middle. I obliged though it felt rather odd to use an extra, wooden claw to write.
He looked at it. “Now please separate the words ‘rock’, ‘falls’ and ‘water’.”
I was confused. “That is not possible.”
His eyes grew, his pupils firmly focused on me. “...What?”
“It is not possible,” I repeated, “Rock is not just this,” I pointed to one of the sections. “It is also this,” I pointed to another. “Similarly, for it to fall on the water, then the falling must be…” My brow crinkled as I struggled for the term. He stared at me in anticipation. “The falling must be infected by the water.”
“Infected?” he asked.
“Yes. The words infect one another. Perhaps if I spoke of it as though it were a plan, ‘it is the arrangement for the rock to, in the future, fall upon the water’... Then the infection is that of the arrangement, and so rock, fall, and water are all affected by it, not by one another…”
I wrote it out in that fashion, and Andes stared in astonishment.
“Is this… Grammatical genders as tenses? Is this like the animate-inanimate distinction in Innu?” he mused, confusing me further. Were not all tongues so interwoven? “I swear, when this is all over, I need to go to Wriss. This is insane. What are those particles? How do abbreviations work? What’s the orthographic depth on this?”
I felt a need to thank the cowardly little creature for demanding Andes' presence. I realized at that moment that I had never seen a person be interested in the Arxur. We knew ourselves, or liked to think so. The Federation knew all they wished. His curiosity flattered me in ways I could not describe. It was an insistence, in itself, that I was worth learning about.
------
I will have to provide thanks to a variety of people, on the grounds that the past few weeks have not been good to my brain. u/Acceptable_Egg5560, u/cruisingNW, u/Liberty-Prime76, u/SavingSyllabus7788,u/AnEldritchroflcopter (who named Rusen), and someone whose reddit username I do not currently know, but will be editing in later if they so desire.
Everyone has been very kind, and I highly appreciate their generosity.

Once upon a time, there was a man who found himself trapped in a peculiar pocket dimension known as People Playground. Within this dimension, he served as a test subject for curious users who had the power to spawn and delete objects at will. Each test took place on different maps, each with its unique style and challenges.
To ensure the safety of the real world, the pocket dimension was equipped with Faraday cages, which prevented objects from escaping into reality. However, an unfortunate disaster struck the science testing facility, resulting in a catastrophic event. The Faraday cages in all the maps suffered damage, except for the "Humongous" map, which remained intact.
In the aftermath of the disaster, a portal system emerged as a means for the test subject to escape back into the real world. Utilizing Tesla coils and immobilizers, players could construct portals on all the maps except for the "Humongous" one. These portals were connected to the holes in the damaged Faraday cages, enabling the test subject to teleport back to a place that resembled their own reality.
The chamber to which the test subject was teleported was an eerie space, shrouded in darkness and illuminated solely by pulsating red warning lights. It possessed a grainy visual effect, with less pixelated panels in the background. The chamber contained two radios and numerous blaring sirens, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty. Although the test subject retained their powers to spawn, alter, and delete objects within the pocket dimension, these abilities did not extend to real-world items like the radios. The chamber was further secured by a Faraday cage, preventing the test subject from venturing beyond its confines.
In the "Sea" map, removing a slightly discolored broken panel in the upper-middle of the map, the test subject could reveal a realistic pipeline that starkly contrasted the pixel art prevalent in the game. This unexpected revelation added to the mystery surrounding the origins of the pocket dimension.
The damaged Faraday cages allowed not only teleportation into the game but also the arrival of real-world items. By constructing a complex contraption using a meticulously acquired blueprint, players could create a portal capable of transporting real-world objects into the game. This intricate process involved multiple steps, such as following a signal and deciphering cryptic codes hidden within the game.
The journey began by entering the "Tower" map and reaching its pinnacle. By changing the computer's time to midnight, a television screen on the lowest platform emitted a bluish hue, signaling the start of a cryptic video. This video displayed a circle with a faint brown line, accompanied by a haunting jingle. From the circle's radius, players derived a code using the circumference formula and the first 14 digits of pi. The resulting code, 62831853071795, held the key to the next step.
Moving to the "Abyss" map, players encountered a keypad near the bottom-right corner. Inputting the code triggered a sequence, culminating in the receipt of a file named "modulo2.jpg." However, this file was encrypted and required decryption to unlock its contents.
To decrypt "modulo2.jpg," players engaged with a hex editor, altering the file's code. As the name implied, the decryption involved the application of modulo operations. Specifically, every second byte in the file, totaling 162,784 bytes, needed to be deleted. A Python script facilitated this process, ensuring the file was fixed and accessible for further exploration.
Once decrypted, "modulo2.jpg" revealed a blueprint for an intricate inverse teleportation machine. Activating this machine within the game would result in the arrival of a remarkably detailed, oversized revolver gun. This gun seems to be from the real life, but it is unkown why the revolver was the thing that got teleported. This stark contrast between the game's pixel art and the revolver's realism enhanced the sense of wonder and curiosity.
Furthermore, the damaged Faraday cages manifested peculiar effects on various maps. Spawning a jukebox on the leftmost side of the "Tower" map and attaching a metal pole triggered static effects and enabled the jukebox's music to resonate throughout the entire map.
As the test subject explored the depths of People Playground, they stumbled upon further Easter eggs and hints alluding to the disaster that befell the testing facility. Notably, one easter egg involving a loose map block in the "Blocks" map would trigger alarms, darkness, and ultimately grant the test subject the "END-RESULT."

After one loss (7w5d) and what feels like countless chemical pregnancies (I think at least 4-5, I’ve finally gotten past the place I normally do and am 5w2d. Anxiety is obviously awful, but I’m doing my best to contain it.
We had two healthy, non eventful pregnancies prior. We decided to try again and have been in this loop of loses for a little over a year.
Wondering how often is good to go for HCG tests to keep me reassured? My doctor has given me a referral to go every 48-72 if I wish.
Also wondering what people progesterone doses look like? This is my first time taking it and I am wondering if the amount I was prescribed is “normal”.
Anything else I should consider asking for from the doctor?
Thanks so much!