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Generous hours donated to the editing foundation by WaveOfWire
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Lukewarm water gave way to sand underfoot, frequent rocks and dried sea flora giving the orange shore a coarse design. Following an animate piece of metal to harvest underwater stone was not something the gray-skinned fisherwoman thought she would ever be doing. She hauled the ‘potassium’ up and into the wheelbarrow alongside her sister, the once-submerged resources’ rugged texture reflecting the bright sun’s rays in peculiar ways. Unfortunately, the days were getting colder much faster than she would have liked, despite the plentiful light. It was dismissible, but it ever so slightly urged her toward the warmth of the fires… and her new living quarters—the luxurious abode provided by the star-sent himself.
She could not understand how the brick home was capable of keeping such heat without flames, but she would not question it. Instead, she elected to enjoy the first nights of truly comfortable sleep in a long while… and it had been quite some time since the fisherwoman twins enjoyed the luxury of proper civilization. The village was quiet and peaceful compared to the bustling capitol, but it simply lacked the amenities that a large population provided. Their escape to the island provided poor bedding, no entertainment, little variation in food, and a nauseating deficiency of rum. Oh, how the sisters missed the sweet burning liquid. Their… past… may have heightened such affection for the alcohol, but it also didn’t help that they were suddenly branded as sky-worshipers and forced to flee to a humble islet—one that didn’t have any drinks besides boiled water…
Now look at the fisherwoman; there was no escaping her banishment. All that time spent making good with the locals, just for the inquisitors to show up once more and throw her onto the deck of a boat before it departed for an unknown land. She was not scared of the prospect, no. So what if she was to live on the mainland? It was no less rural than the last island—one they were just getting used to. No, she was vengeful for what they had stripped from her and her sister. They had crawled their way from nothing to something within the capitol only a winter or two prior. They could have lived like regular citizens. She supposed it was the grace of the Mountain God that they were led to an actual deity-sent. The siblings’ living situation had improved, too, even over their previous urban living situation. The two would not have to resort to… alternate forms of making a living ever again. She was even starting to appreciate the honor of completing a hard day’s work.
The wheelbarrow creaked and whined underneath the strain it was put under. The hefty rocks were intent on digging the two wheels deep into the dirt. Her sister’s equipment was fairing much the same, but they persevered, dragging the precious haul to the workshop where the Creator needed them. She shoved the portable storage up and over the small hump of the ‘cargo bay’ entrance, hauling it down the rows of animate creations.
Dozens of ‘hums,’ ‘whirrs,’ ‘tonks,’ ‘slams,’ and ear-mauling scrapes assaulted her senses. The ‘machines’ were clumped up with one another under the bright white lights. They spat materials, clear liquids, and yellow gasses amongst their others in a jumble of… something. Some things boiled, others hissed. There was much going on, with one foreign male at the center of it all.
The Creator stood by a towering device, pushing it with the help of the juvenile and the ceramist. The group slid the apparatus into place, leaving the star-sent to deftly manage the many colors on the glowing, rune-filled panel, while the assistants were dismissed, having received a few genuine words of appreciation from the male.
The gray-skinned fisherwoman clicked her tongue, garnering his attention, his weary eyes meeting her own.
“Hey,” he addressed them casually, eyeing their cargo with a raised brow. “You two are back soon. You can put the stuff in the same place as last, then just close the panel. Appreciate the hard work. Feel free to take a break between the next three loads; these machines won’t work fast enough to keep up with y’all.”
“You have my appreciation,” the twins said in unison.
The two of them did as asked, traversing the maze of tubes and metal, pouring the crumbling rocks into the belly of the machine, making sure to close the door as requested. Her sister sighed and stretched her back, extending all four arms up and backward, revealing the short cuts she had on their undersides. The fisherwoman cringed underneath the sudden aura of shame at the sight… It was the only real differentiator between the two, and it was her fault.
“I believe I shall take up the Creator on his blessing and take a short break by the fire. Will you join me?” her twin asked.
“I will be there shortly. Allow me a moment,” she returned.
Her counterpart squinted playfully. “Planning on something with the males, eh?”
“Nothing of the sort,” the fisherwoman chided, flicking her sister's snout with a singular talon.
The twin scowled and turned away, exiting the castle swiftly.
The fisherwoman shook her head and made her way to the star-sent, heedfulness and hesitation quieting her footsteps. It was an unusual feeling. She was never the best when it came to respecting those higher on the mountain than herself; they were always flippant, derisively ordering and pecking at those ‘who make not an honest day’s work.’ She despised giving her labor for such self-assured fools, forced to put on a face for them while suffering through their ‘hierarchy.’
That was why the small island villagers were so welcoming. They were much less strict in their positions or status, allowing for a community focused on the goals of the whole rather than the aspirations of a singular high-ranking Malkrin. Maybe that was why it was so easy for the gray-skinned twins to return to sincere labor there.
The star-sent was much the same, though… different in one aspect. Where the village had a sort of collectivism while still keeping some status of the elders or those higher up the mountain, the Creator did not seem to place himself within any sort of hierarchy. He was solely focused on seeing the settlement progress, addressing and communicating with whomever as if they were of the same status. It made tasks a lot easier and was most certainly why she felt it so easy to approach him with such an unnecessary question.
He was not by the previous set of machines, leaving the fisherwoman to look around. She scanned the entire floor, looking over much of the equipment, spotting him by one of the desks. She stepped up behind him, curiously eying the items on his table. He was… disassembling his staff? His blunt digits twisted small metallic pieces and pulled off larger ones, sliding the large cylindrical end out. He continued until all the components were resting on their respective cuts of cloth, each cleaned and rubbed down with a few liquids.
The fisherwoman did not realize she was leaning over him and staring until he stopped and stretched upward, inadvertently tapping her snout. His chair jolted out of the way, turning around to face her. The Creator’s body was stiff as his wide eyes bored into her, palm resting atop his shoulder-bound blade. He stared up at her for a long few seconds, his burning glare stunning her in place all the while. A loud huff finally escaped him, his strained posture loosening.
“…Jesus, you fuckin’ scared me,” the high male groaned, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. His hand still had not left his knife. “Did you need something?”
“Forgive me star-sent,” she bowed her head, embarrassment and a hint of shame running through her frills. She quickly excused her actions nervously. “I did not mean to startle you… Nor did wish not to bother you, b-but I have a query. You had mentioned that I was free to ask any.”
“Mm, yeah.” The Creator finally released his blade and took a piece of cloth, returning to his task of rubbing down another metallic piece of his staff. “I’d rather you guys ask questions than sit in confusion. So, what’s up? Is there anything you need to harvest the deposits? We’ve got some metal to spare.”
Sparing metal for her simplistic job? Lord above… “N-No. Please excuse my prodding, but I wish to know what these machines are doing.”
“What they’re doing? Like, each one specifically or as a whole?”
“As a whole, Creator.” She did not dream of wrapping her head around the blessed equipment.
He grabbed a gray tube from his staff’s belt. “Gunpowder… for these. Or, more accurately, modified black powder. It’s just as powerful, but it’ll also put on more of a smoke show… and dirty the hell out of barrels and bolts alike…” He frowned at the components next to him before noticing her confused expression. He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a powder that ignites and propels—” he dug into the cylinder with his digits and slid out a piece of metal. “—slugs and bullets. It’s essentially the whole reason guns work. I’m sure you’ve seen the FAL Akula’s touting around, right?”
She slowly nodded, understanding what he was alluding to. The dark-green-skinned fisherwoman was quite proud of receiving her own staff, keeping it in hand at all times.
“Yeah, so without this, her weapon would be as good as a piece of wood. That’s why I plan on making so much of it.”
“I… see.” She looked back at the whirring snake of moving parts within the center of the castle, a greater sense of awe settling on her as she took in its final purpose. “So it takes metals from a cave, rocks from the sea floor, and the burnt husks of logs to produce such?”
“There are a few more ingredients, like the spider-crab biofuel and trace air elements, but yeah.” The high male continued to clean the components of his weapon as if the process of gunpowder creation was only a menial accomplishment. “It takes a good bit of specific inputs to make the stuff.”
The others claimed the star-sent to be a wizard, and that would be an easy assessment with his staff and mystic equipment, but that would not be accurate. The Creator was clearly a great alchemist, turning useless materials into the very power of his grand weapons. Not to mention forming fine metals from coarse rocks. How did the settlers not see such? The villagers were more blessed than they realized.
A thousand other questions burned into her mind of what else he was capable of creating. What could he do with tree bark? What about dirt and fish? Were they ingredients of powerful remedies or sturdy materials? The dam almost burst, but she held it in. The star-sent’s invitation to casual conversation should not be squandered by her pestering any further. Perhaps he would enlighten her another time. For now, she was required to complete her tasks—this time with much more purpose than she had prior.
She thanked the high male and left for the shore with a swaying tail. Perhaps her efforts would be rewarded handsomely were she to keep it up.
\= = = = =
Harrison sat back on a stool by the outdoor range. The sun had already been down for some time, keeping much of his work underneath the few Malkrin-sized floodlights placed around the settlement. Their bright white light illuminated the decimated wooden targets twenty meters out, dim moonlit covering the rest of the meadows further beyond. It wasn’t a great idea to stay out in the night, given Tracy’s reconnaissance drones weren’t equipped with any night vision or thermals yet, but there was still work to be done, so he instead relied on two armed females to serve as early warnings and defense while he finished up his testing.
The modified black powder was finally narrowed down to a suitable side-grade for traditional double and triple-base gunpowder. The first batch wasn’t nearly powerful enough, and it dirtied the hell out of the FAL he used. The second attempt was much the same, but actually managed to reach an acceptable muzzle velocity. Now, after a whole day of experimenting with the ingredients, it was a damn powerful propellant. The most important ingredient was the added biofuel-adjacent compounds that were made from, of course, biofuel, and much of the air-extracted elements like oxygen and nitrogen.
It was an increasingly convoluted process that required many of the machines to be switched around. Most of their programmed inputs and outputs had been changed several times by the end of the day. Hell, almost the entirety of the workshop’s stock of chemical and mechanical fabrication units had been used up by the operation—if they hadn’t already been taken by the other ongoing lines of industry.
The powder dirtied the hell out of the rifles, it kicked like a horse, and it was a pain in the ass to synthesize, but it was done. He wouldn’t need to worry about letting loose any bullets into those spider-crabs anymore. He even had a suitable source of metal, solving all of his iron and steel needs too. It was small scale, but it was something, and that little bit of income was all he needed to start scaling up the process and deal with all the alloy-hungry projects he needed to start on.
The first of which was probably going to be simple automated mules for the heavy ore. He spent a good portion of the morning assisting with the mining operations until he was confident that the lumberjack got a hang of the hand-held lasers. The most prevailing thing the engineer learned from his efforts was how much of a pain in the ass it was to drag the sphalerite back on sleds.
They didn’t have any on-hand blueprints for any transportation droids until he traveled to the vehicle bay and got them himself. Thankfully, there just happened to be a woman who specialized in creating automated drones, and she was more than happy to take the task on herself. Some part of him felt a little bit of remorse for dumping the work on the technician, but she genuinely seemed to actually kind of enjoy it, almost like it was just a hobby for her. The woman even had her own corner of the workshop dedicated to her tinkering. It had two fabricators, warm yellow lighting, and plenty of cluttered parts and pieces around her laptop. All of it surrounded a central chair that she used to bounce between the different sections of the building process. One corner was for the printers and requesting components, another was for welding, a third for circuitry, and so on.
However, the whole thing did urge him to visit the vehicle bay before the blood-moon. There were a hell of a lot more applications for drone automation than he realized, and he wasn’t intent on putting all of that on Tracy.
The engineer sighed and rubbed his forehead, grabbing for another blue-leaf on the nearby bullet casing-covered table. The finger-width frond was something he’d been enjoying since the foraging Malkrin started to bring them back. They tasted like the fragrance of jasmine. Simply chewing it and letting the small particles of plant matter mix with saliva created a sort of tea in his mouth. He saw Cera using it alongside the whole ‘females using a stick to sharpen their teeth’ thing, so he asked and was generously given a bunch.
The blue-leaf jutted from his mouth like those depictions of Old-Earth farmers chewing the stems of wheat, slowly being gnawed until its tip as the night went on. He eyed Sharky and the ceramist standing at their post nearby, the two of them staying as alert as possible despite it being later than they would usually go to sleep… Maybe it wasn’t best to test gunpowder late at night with unsuppressed fire while the others were sleeping. A tinge of embarrassment and regret nipped at the back of his head.
It was worth it, though. Their ranged capabilities would benefit immensely from the gunpowder, most likely ensuring their survival to come… if it weren’t some small issues. It was a shame the Malkrin had such difficulties with the weapons. Not enough to make them unusable, but enough to cause annoyance with general handling. The guns were practically compact submachine guns to the giant females. Cera and Akula had a hard time reloading with their big ‘ol talons, especially for the mag-release paddles by the trigger. Not to mention the process of actually packing ammo back in the empty magazines… Furthermore, there was irritation with trying to keep the firearm in a suitable place while they worked. Slings swung around too much, and pack attachments poked their lower arms and back. Of course, none of them voiced their opinions on it. He simply noticed all the ways they squirmed when the gun swung out and poked them in the side, or how they fumbled with them while reloading.
Honestly, at this point he might just consider designing a whole new weapon system if the most basic aspects of kinetics were a bother. Something more ergonomic for them to use and store… probably with a bigger bullet that’s easier for them to handle. He’d figure it out later, after he managed to finish helping Tracy build the automated mule.
“Shar! Cera! C’mere!” he called out, his voice somewhat muffled by the frond stuck between his teeth.
The two females perked up, quickly making their way back to his ramshackle firing point. The paladin clipped her M2 onto her back as she trotted up to his side.
“Are we fin—hed for the even—g?” the maroon-colored Malkrin questioned, looking rather tired.
He packed the can of ammunition up, slapping its cover closed. “Just about. I’ve still gotta test the fifty-cal ammo for your browning, but that’s for us to deal with tomorrow.”
“Of course. Will y–u be requiring this firearm for the durat—n?”
“Luckily for you, I won’t.” He pointed a thumb in the direction of the workshop. “I’ve got another being printed right now.”
The paladin squinted. “Anot—r? For whom?”
Cera flipped through the notebook she used for communication, scribbling on it for a mere second before turning it around for the other two to see. It showed a crude outline of the turret they used during the last blood moon… How’d she know?
“I’m guessing Tracy filled you in, huh?” The technician and the ceramist were pretty close, especially whenever Tracy went to help her with drawing. He slid a few FAL magazines into a small pseudomycelium bag, glancing up at Shar. “We’re planning on putting two or three active turrets up around the modules and possibly around the beach and sphalerite cave—depending on resources, of course.”
A grin spread across Shar’s muzzle, her tail swaying. “So we sh—l be furthering our fortificat—ns? It is wise we act early before the bl—d-moon.”
The engineer continued to pack the range items away with the ceramist's assistance. “Yeah, only about ten days or so until then. We have to make the best of it. But that’s not the only reason; I’m planning on setting out sometime ‘fore the blood-moon to retrieve some data from a module further out. This time, it’ll be a longer expedition; ‘Smore than a day’s walk. We’ll be needing more than just the two of us to keep watch overnight. So yeah, we’ll need to keep home base safe while we’re out.”
She leaned forward, an inspired glint in her eye. “I underst—d. Will there be anyth—g I can do to assist the p—paration process?”
“Nothin’ specific.” He smirked, patting her on her oversized forearm for a moment. “‘Cept training and lifting stuff like you do anyway. Definitely gonna need yer strength for hauling turret materials around. Even more for the bullshit we’ll probably have to go through on the journey.”
Her restrained smile turning into something different than the grin she wore before. “I-I am at your c—mand, Harrison. I give my labor to y–u freely.”
Harrison caught Cera idly watching their conversation, a curious look gathering on her face as she observed him. He soon noticed his palm was resting atop shar’s wrist, his hand in a much different place than he last remembered leaving it. He awkwardly coughed and removed it, returning his attention to the mass of equipment he packed up. “Right, uh… Again, that’s all for the day. Cera, you’re free to check out if you want.”
The addressed female raised a brow, still eying up him and the paladin before wiping the look off her face and smiling. She bowed and gave a short wave, leaving him and Sharky to stand underneath the outdoor floodlights while Cera slunk back to the barracks. He looked back up at the tall female beside him, giving her a knowing look.
“You can head off too if you want. I know you’ll be sleeping anyway if we head back into the workshop.”
She stood up straight, an adorable mix of furrowed brows and a pout resembling offense forming on her visage. “I w—ld not fall asl…” The flushed paladin paused, clearly realizing her inaccuracy, causing Harrison’s smile to grow all the wider. She huffed and quietly continued with her excuses. “I can not leave you to the night by y—rself. What if sculking b—sts enter the castle? I should not dare to l—ve your side.”
He stared at her with lighthearted contempt. “C’mon, Shar. Wouldn’t you rather fall asleep in a comfortable bed than a metal desk? I’m gonna be helping Trace with her drones for a long while too.”
“I would prefer noth—g more than to be within arm’s r—ch of you,” she insisted. Her orange irises burned as her tail found its way around him. “Even still, the other star-s—t has left for the other castle alr—dy.”
He raised a brow, the cool skin of her limb rubbing against his palm. “Wait, Tracy left already? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“F—give me, I was busy patrolling the settlem—t. She offered a short wave to me as she left.”
If the technician was gone already and wasn’t in the workshop in the first place to need his help… why did he even need to be in there? She noticed his realization, leaning in closer. Her eyes glanced away nervously for a short moment as she appeared lost in thought before being wrangled back to match his gaze.
“Then, if there is noth—g else for you to complete with the machines, might I sugg—t a compromise to the is—e at hand?”
He raised a brow curiously.
Short clacks of the talons tapping together filled the air. “W-Well, If y–u were to join my slumber, It would satisfy your wish as w—l as my own. I will not fall asl—p atop the desk and you shall be within my p—tection. I-It would be best for your sl—p if I were there, no?
He gave her an incredulous look, the corners of his cheeks breached by a small smile. It wasn’t a great ‘compromise’ for him, but it wasn’t like he had any place to argue against it, really. He wasn’t that tired, yet there was fuck all to do in the workshop until tomorrow… so… “If it’ll get you to sleep, then fine.”
Her eyes lit up in surprise. She clearly wasn’t expecting him to go without debate. “Y-You… Yes, of c—rse. The offer was intended for both our be—fits…” The paladin gestured toward the other module with a wide arm, her thin confidence barely hiding her vibrating frills. “Sh—l… we…?”
He nodded, letting her tail rest on his shoulder like a scarf as he turned around, nudging her to follow. They strolled through the soft grass and night breeze, eased by the thought of a comfortable bed and sound sleep.
\= = = = =
A consistent click came from Kegara’s talon tapping rhythmically against her shield, the piercing sound mirroring the force of her scalding breaths. The tent was bathed in the flickering hue of flame from a centralized fire, yet the warmth bled from everywhere she looked, which was primarily the current target of her displeasure. When their excursion team returned, the Grand Paladin thought them to come back with results or news, yet they brought only an infuriating pitiful recount of a spineless worm.
Every exhale was riddled with the white-skinned female’s ire as she paced around the trembling, pink-skinned female that stood inside the Grand Paladin’s tent. The fisherwoman’s shaking breaths could barely be heard beneath the sizzling of Kegara’s unfinished meal. She had lost her appetite, and the contents she had been looking forward to were now tainted by the taste of ineptitude. A burnt smell permeated throughout the room. A waste, but no more of a waste than the pathetic trash currently fouling her tent.
The failure’s back was straight, her head was kept level, and her tail was as still as the mountain towering above the camp outside, yet nothing but inadequacy was visible.
The Grand Paladin stopped her pacing in front of the messenger, covering her burning vexation with cold, quiet intent and an edged stare. The fisherwoman swallowed heavily. “Were you at least capable of finding their sea vessel, incompetent one?”
“W-We did, Grand Paladin,” the pitiful excuse for a Malkrin quickly returned, fear and guilt bleeding through her voice. A sense of hope entered those dull eyes as they tried to salvage what was already lost. “There were footsteps we followed along the beach, b-but they were cut off abruptly by the tracks of abhorrent!”
Kegara took another step forward, brows furrowing as she bore her gaze ever deeper into the scum that stood before her, the head-height difference in stature between them further emblazening the glare. Her words grew more heated with every question, each syllable teeming with threats. “Then they perished? Was there blood? Signs of a battle?”
The pink-skinned female struggled to keep herself straight, trembling down to the talons. “T-There was no sign of s-such.”
“And you did not pursue them?” A simple question, and one spoke through a frigid, flat tone. Dignified and controlled, yet making no effort to hide the malice underneath. Her digits twitched, barely restrained.
“N-No, we f-feared the abhor—”
The fisherwoman’s speech was cut short with a choke and a flicker of movement from the white-skinned paladin. A singular hand wrung the failure’s throat and lifted the veritable waste, her grip tight enough to cull the fouled intent before it could spit more worthless drivel. Kegara’s frills shook with her burning projection. “You failed because you were *scared? Fourteen females were **frightened of footprints? You insolent failure! Your heathenous brothers and sisters are left to the whims of the mainland because of your fear! Left to be mauled and eaten alive by the abhorrent!”*
“W-We could not have—”
“SILENCE,” she commanded sharply, her voice a blade that tore through the fisherwoman’s denial. She snarled, feeling the very heartbeat within the fragile neck as her grip tightened. Shameful vocalizations and strained breaths failed to bring air to the pathetic one’s lungs. It would be quicker to silence the fool permanently, and Kegara’s pride demanded it be done. Every move within the paladin’s talons threatened to rend the very flesh beneath them, yet her claws must be stayed, for allowing blood to spill would be an equally foolish mistake. The fisherwoman was lucky; menial labor was a strained resource. Such a failure of a banished fool would be culled on the spot otherwise.
The pink-skinned female was thrown to the ground, dirt being tossed into the air as she skid to a stop. She hacked and coughed on her back, her ragged gasps irritatingly scraping the high one’s ears. Kegara’s slow exhalations poured through clenched teeth as she controlled herself. Perfection required persistence. If she wished to send the group back out for their incompetence, then she would need them to live long enough to do so. To ensure the new banished were found and brought back. To prove themselves worth her kindness.
But were there banished left to collect? The latest group was most likely reduced to bones for the repulsive creatures to gnaw on by now, and it would be but a waste of Malkrin to frivolously send more out. It was a situation wrought from mistakes and inadequacy, searing her flesh with its reflection onto her, painting her image with its wretched color. The vexation burned her from the inside as she resisted the urge to stain her tent with the failure’s red. This was much greater a failure than the fisherwoman could understand, but at least a large catch of meat had been procured. This was still a salvageable outcome.
“Bring half the food to the cooks,” the grand paladin relented with a simmering hiss, glaring down at the coughing lump of shame. “Leave the rest by the cave as always. Do not fail me with such a simple task, or you will prove my benevolence to be a mistake.”
“Of… c-course.” The fisherwoman shakily nodded before shuffling away, all but fleeing the tent to complete her duties. The failure was gone, but her stench persisted.
Kegara spat on the ground, no longer wishing to return to her meal, as disgusting as it had become. The searing exasperation that gnawed at her chest slowly fell away, leaving only the frigid caress of mortification on her frills. The lack of success would carry with it great consequences, and those would carry more in an ever-growing rockslide of punishment.
Would it impact her mission? What would happen if her settlement was incapable of providing logistics for the excavation? Would they no longer return with the relics? How would the Grand Script-keeper react? What of the high priestesses? The Grand Paladin was no fool; she knew where their disdain would lie, should she prove to be as pathetic as that fisherwoman. The blame could not be siphoned off into the tainted peasantry beneath her command. It would be put on her and her alone. She would face judgment without reprieve.
The white-skinned Makrin let out a shaky breath, steeling herself away from the agonizing worries. The solution was as clear as her faith, and just as certain. She would not allow such a mistake to occur again. More capable laborers would be sent next time, paladins without such weaknesses as fear, and success would be enforced.
According to the report, the next island that the inquisitors were approaching was one with a larger population, numbering in the thousands. It was assured that they would find many more of the blighted Malkrin to be exiled, and the traitorous filth would find their labor funneling directly to the mainland. She could perform her duties properly once she had the subordinates to do so.
Those higher on the mountain would see her accomplishments then. Surely.
- - - - -
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Space Marines Malkrin

import libraries

import time
from Room import Color
from Room import Grabbable
from Room import Floor
from Room import Room
import sys
from GameFunctions import Go,Look,Take,Open,LastConvo,Player,Other,Mystery,Divine,Color,Clue,Death,Consequences
from tkinter import *
from functools import partial

constants

don't delete this!

VERBS = [ "go", "look", "take", "open" ] # the supported vocabulary verbs
QUIT_COMMANDS = [ "exit", "quit", "bye" ] # the supported quit commands

creates the rooms

creates the floors

def CreateFloors():

floors = []

main_Floor = Floor("Main Floor")

floors.append(main_Floor)

underground = Floor("Underground")

floors.append(underground)

currentFloor = main_Floor

return floors, currentFloor

creates and prints titlescreen

def TitleScreen():

i = open("title.txt", "r")

image = []

lines = []

line1 = ""

for line in i:

image.append(line.rstrip())

x = 0

#colors the title screen

for line in image:

lined = ""

for char in line:

#red arc

if char == " ":

colored = Color.REDB+" "+Color.END

lined = lined + colored

#black background

elif char == "'":

colored = Color.BLACKGROUND+char+Color.END

lined = lined +colored

#white background for text

elif char == '▄' or '▄' or '█' or '▀'or'█':

colored = Color.WHITE+Color.BLACKGROUND+char+Color.END

lined = lined + colored

lines.append(lined)

print(lines[x])

x += 1

return image

MAIN

START THE GAME!!!

class Game(Frame):
def __init__(self, master):
Frame.__init__(self,master)

self.button1.pack(side = RIGHT)

self.button2.pack(side=RIGHT)

self.L1.pack(side=LEFT)

self.I1.pack(side=RIGHT)

self.I1.grid(row = 0, rowspan=3, column=0)

def CreateFloors(self):
floors = []
main_Floor = Floor("Main Floor")
floors.append(main_Floor)
underground = Floor("Underground")
floors.append(underground)
currentFloor = main_Floor
return floors, currentFloor
def createRooms(self,floors):

a list of rooms will store all of the rooms

living_room through bedroom are the four rooms in the "mansion"

currentRoom is the room the player is currently in (which can be one of living_room through bedroom)

Game.rooms = []
main_Floor = floors[0]
underground = floors[1]

first, create the room instances so that they can be referenced below

living_room = Room("Living Room")
kitchen = Room("Kitchen")
pantry = Room("pantry")
bedroom = Room("Bedroom")
library = Room("Library")
hallway = Room("Hallway")
cellA = Room("Cell A")
cellB = Room("Cell B")

grabbables

bedroom_key = Grabbable("bedroom_key",living_room)
ceremonial_knife = Grabbable("ceremonial_knife",bedroom)
mapp = Grabbable("map",library)
badge = Grabbable("badge",living_room)

colored grabbables

ckey = bedroom_key.addColor()
cknife = ceremonial_knife.addColor()
cmap = mapp.addColor()
cbadge = badge.addColor()

Living Room

living_room.description = ("A cozy room, warmer than anywhere else in the house.")
living_room.floor = Floor(main_Floor)
living_room.addExit("east", kitchen)
living_room.addExit("south", bedroom)
living_room.addExit("west", library)
living_room.addGrabbable(badge.name)
living_room.addItem("chair", ("It is made of wicker. No one is sitting on it."))
living_room.addItem("fireplace", "'Crackling and smoking, must be why it's so much warmer in here'")
living_room.addItem("table", ("It is made of oak. Your badge rests on it."))
Game.rooms.append(living_room)

Kitchen

kitchen.description = ("Oddly clean, but a slightly off smell puts you in unease.")
kitchen.floor = Floor(main_Floor)
kitchen.addExit("west", living_room)
kitchen.addExit("north", pantry)
kitchen.addGrabbable(bedroom_key.name)
kitchen.addItem("countertop", "'Huh, granite and on top of it there's a key'")
kitchen.addItem("fridge", "'Gotta be a better time for snacks.'")
kitchen.addItem("pot", "'whoever is still doing the dishes needs a raise'")
Game.rooms.append(kitchen)

bedroom reactions

bmw1 = "'this much blood makes me nauseous, I gotta get out of here and call for backup'"
bmw2 = ("A message scrawled across the wall in blood: Too late.")
bmw3 = "'I couldn't just leave'"

Bedroom

bedroom.description = ("The walls and furniture layered with blood, someone was killed brutally in this room. Despite that it looks faintly familiar")
bedroom.floor = Floor(main_Floor)
bedroom.addExit("north", living_room)
bedroom.addGrabbable(ceremonial_knife.name)
bedroom.addItem("bed",("Covered in circles of blood with a "+cknife+" in the center."))
bedroom.addItem("walls",bmw1+"\n"+bmw2+"\n"+bmw3+"\n")
Game.rooms.append(bedroom)

Library

playerReactL = "'Never expected to see a library at all in a place like this, much less one this big.'"
library.description = ("A large library filled to the brim with books and a large office area sectioned off\n")+playerReactL
library.floor = Floor(main_Floor)
library.addExit("east", living_room)
library.addGrabbable(mapp.name)
library.addItem("chair", "'Real comfy, I'd take this after the investigation if it wasn't so creepy in here.'")
library.addItem("desk", "'looks official, and theres a map, whoever works here must have built the place.'")
library.addItem("bookshelf", "'Massive collection, but somethings off about this.'")
Game.rooms.append(library)

hallway

hallway.floor = Floor(underground)
hallway.description = ("A cold and empty stone hallway, covered in mold and stains. A faint sobbing echoes through")
hallway.addExit("north", cellB)
hallway.addExit("south", cellA)
hallway.addExit("up", library)
Game.rooms.append(hallway)

CellA

cellA.floor = Floor(underground)
playerreactC = ("A... are these cells?")
cellA.description = playerreactC+("\nA small filthy room with rusting bars")
cellA.addExit("north", hallway)
cellA.addItem("chains", "they look old, but they steel is still strong")
Game.rooms.append(cellA)

CellB

cellB.floor = Floor(underground)
Game.rooms.append(cellB)

changes Floors

Floor(main_Floor).addExit("down", hallway)
Floor(underground).addExit("up", library)

adds rooms to Floors

Floor(main_Floor).addRoom(living_room)
Floor(main_Floor).addRoom(kitchen)
Floor(main_Floor).addRoom(bedroom)
Floor(main_Floor).addRoom(pantry)
Floor(main_Floor).addRoom(library)
Floor(underground).addRoom(hallway)
Floor(underground).addRoom(cellA)
Floor(underground).addRoom(cellB)

adds maps to rooms

living_room.maps = ("Map1.txt")
kitchen.maps = ("Map2.txt")
pantry.maps = ("Map3.txt")
bedroom.maps = ("Map4.txt")
library.maps = ("Map5.txt")
hallway.maps = ("Bmap1.txt")
cellA.maps = ("Bmap3.txt")
cellB.maps = ("Bmap2.txt")
living_room.image = ("Pictures/Living_Room.gif")
kitchen.image = ("Pictures/Kitchen.gif")
pantry.image = ("Map3.txt")
bedroom.image = ("Pictures/Bedroom.gif")
library.image = ("Pictures/Library.gif")
hallway.image = ("Pictures/Hallway.gif")
cellA.image = ("Pictures/CellA.gif")
cellB.image = ("Pictures/CellB.gif")

set room 1 as the current room at the beginning of the game

Game.currentRoom = living_room

currentRoom = bedroom

Game.inventory = []
return Game.rooms, Game.currentRoom
def setupGUI(self):

organize the GUI

self.pack(fill=BOTH, expand=1)

setup the player input at the bottom of the GUI

the widget is a Tkinter Entry

set its background to white

bind the return key to the function process() in the class

bind the tab key to the function complete() in the class

push it to the bottom of the GUI and let it fill horizontally

give it focus so the player doesn't have to click on it

Game.player_input = Entry(self, bg="white")
Game.player_input.bind("", self.process)

Game.player_input.bind("", self.complete)

Game.player_input.pack(side=BOTTOM, fill=X)
Game.player_input.focus()

setup the image to the left of the GUI

the widget is a Tkinter Label

don't let the image control the widget's size

img = None
Game.image = Label(self, width=WIDTH // 2, image=img)
Game.image.image = img
Game.image.pack(side=LEFT, fill=Y)
Game.image.pack_propagate(False)

setup the text to the right of the GUI

first, the frame in which the text will be placed

text_frame = Frame(self, width=WIDTH // 2, height=HEIGHT // 2)

the widget is a Tkinter Text

disable it by default

don't let the widget control the frame's size

Game.text = Text(text_frame, bg="lightgray", state=DISABLED)
Game.text.pack(fill=Y, expand=1)
text_frame.pack(side=TOP, fill=Y)
text_frame.pack_propagate(False)

Creating a canvas for the bottom half to easily navigate between rooms

Add north and south arrows as well in the code.

Feel free to use your own directional images.

North and South arrows are also provided to you as well.

Adding an arrow pointing to the east.

canvas = Frame(self, width=WIDTH // 2, height=HEIGHT // 2)
Game.eastimage = PhotoImage(file="Pictures/east.png")
Game.east = Button(canvas, image=Game.eastimage, command=partial(self.runCommand, "go east"))
Game.east.pack(side=RIGHT)

Adding an arrow pointing to the west.

Game.westimage = PhotoImage(file="pictures/west.png")
Game.west = Button(canvas, image=Game.westimage, command=partial(self.runCommand, "go west"))
Game.west.pack(side=LEFT)
canvas.pack(side=TOP, fill=Y)
canvas.pack_propagate(False)
def setRoomImage(self):
if (Game.currentRoom == None):

if dead, set the skull image

Game.img = PhotoImage(file="Pictures/Cabin.gif")
else:

otherwise grab the image for the current room

print(Game.currentRoom.image)
Game.img = PhotoImage(file=Game.currentRoom.image)

display the image on the left of the GUI

Game.image.config(image=Game.img)
Game.image.image = Game.img
def setStatus(self, status):

enable the text widget, clear it, set it, and disable it

Game.text.config(state=NORMAL)
Game.text.delete("1.0", END)
if (Game.currentRoom == None):

if dead, let the player know

Game.text.insert(END, "You are dead. The only thing you can do now\nis quit.\n")
else:

otherwise, display the appropriate status

Game.text.insert(END, "{}\n\n{}\n{}\nYou are carrying: {}\n\n".format(status, Game.currentRoom.name,Game.currentRoom.description, Game.inventory))
Game.text.config(state=DISABLED)

support for tab completion

add the words to support

if (Game.currentRoom != None):
Game.words = VERBS + QUIT_COMMANDS + Game.inventory + Game.currentRoom.exits + Game.currentRoom.items + Game.currentRoom.grabbables
def process(self, event, action=""):
self.runCommand()
Game.player_input.delete(0, END)
def gameStart(self,canvas,action=""):
time.sleep(.5)
Game.canvas.destroy()
g.play()
def runCommand(self,action=""):

# an introduction

clue = False
currentRoom = Game.currentRoom
inventory = Game.inventory

# Game.images = []

# Game.lines = []

time.sleep(3)

print("=" * 80)

print(Color.BOLD+"you wake up on a strange couch"+Color.END)

clue = False

lib = Game.rooms[3]

# play forever (well, at least until the player dies or asks to quit)

while (True):

print(rooms(library.name))

set the status so the player has situational awareness

the status has room and inventory information

status = "{}\nYou are carrying: {}\n".format(currentRoom, inventory)

if the current room is None, then the player is dead

this only happens if the player goes south when in room 4

exit the game

if (Game.currentRoom == None):

death() # you'll add this later

return

display the status

print("=" * 80)
print(status)

prompt for player input

the game supports a simple language of

valid verbs are go, look, and take

valid nouns depend on the verb

set the user's input to lowercase to make it easier to compare the verb and noun to known values

action = action.lower().strip()

exit the game if the player wants to leave

if (action == "quit"):
print(Color.BOLD+"\nThank you for playing"+Color.END)
sys.exit(0)

set a default response

response = "I don't understand. Try verb noun. Valid verbs are {}.".format(", ".join(VERBS))

split the user input into words (words are separated by spaces) and store the words in a list

words = action.split()

the game only understands two word inputs

if (len(words) == 2):

isolate the verb and noun

verb = words[0].strip()
noun = words[1].strip()

we need a valid verb

if (verb in VERBS):
if (verb == "go"):
response, currentRoom = Go(noun,currentRoom,inventory)
Game.currentRoom = currentRoom
elif (verb == "look"):
response = Look(noun,currentRoom,inventory,lib,rooms)
elif (verb == "take"):
response, inventory, clue = Take(noun,currentRoom,inventory,clue)
elif (verb == "open"):
response = Open(noun,inventory,currentRoom)

if knife is picked up, changes bookshelf description, and reads clue

if clue is True:
i = lib.items.index("bookshelf")
lib.itemDescriptions[i] = ("the shelf begins shifting")
response = response + ("\nOn the back of the knife a hint gleams\n")+ Other("'I cannot be avoided, I cannot be classified, Be Not Afraid'")
clue = False
if currentRoom.name == "Cell B":
LastConvo(inventory)
print("hi")
self.setStatus(response)
print("hi")
self.setRoomImage()
print("hi")
def startimg(self):
self.pack(fill=BOTH, expand=True)
Game.canvas = Frame(self, width=WIDTH , height=HEIGHT)
Game.titlepic = PhotoImage(file='Pictures/Cabin.gif')
Game.titlebutton = Button(Game.canvas, image=Game.titlepic, command=partial(self.gameStart, "start"))
Game.titlebutton.pack(fill=BOTH)
Game.canvas.pack(side=TOP, fill=BOTH)
Game.canvas.pack_propagate(False)

self.I1 = Label(master, image=self.img)

self.I1.grid(row = 0, rowspan=3, column=0)

image = canvas.create_image(50, 50, anchor=NE, image=Game.title)

def play(self):
Game.start = False

create the room instances

floors = self.CreateFloors()
self.createRooms(floors)

configure the GUI

self.setupGUI()

set the current room

self.setRoomImage()

set the initial status

self.setStatus("")
def process(self, event, action=""):
self.runCommand()
Game.player_input.delete(0, END)

class fullScreenImg(Frame):

def __init__(self, master):

Frame.__init__(self,master)

self.img = PhotoImage(file='Pictures/Cabin.gif')

self.I1 = Label(master, image=self.img)

#self.button1.pack(side = RIGHT)

#self.button2.pack(side=RIGHT)

#self.L1.pack(side=LEFT)

#self.I1.pack(side=RIGHT)

self.I1.grid(row = 0, rowspan=3, column=0)

WIDTH = 1000
HEIGHT = 700
window = Tk()
window.title ="Room Adventure"

while title == True:

fsi = fullScreenImg(window)

time.sleep(3)

title = False

g = Game(window)

play the game

g.startimg()
window.mainloop()

wait for the window to close

To clear up a common misconception that this is something that only happens extremely rarely, here's a list of every time more than 4 words have fit one of the categories and what number puzzle it occurred in. The first 4 words are the answers and every word after that in parenthesis are words that fit that category but were part of another group. Also, category names might not be exactly the same as the ones used.

#4 Cleaning Verbs

Possible answers: DUST, MOP, SWEEP, VACUUM, (IRON)

#5 Condiments

Possible answers: KETCHUP, MAYO, RELISH, TARTAR, (MUSTARD)

#5 Clue Characters

Possible answers: GREEN, MUSTARD, PLUM, SCARLET, (PEACOCK)

#6 Shades of Blue

Possible answers: BABY, MIDNIGHT, POWDER, ROYAL, (SEA)

#6 Rappers

Possible answers: COMMON, FUTURE, ICE CUBE, Q-TIP, (CHANCE)

#9 Shirts

Possible answers: CAMI, HALTER, TANK, TEE, (POLO)

#9 Vegetables

Possible answers: BEET, CARROT, CORN, ONION, (SQUASH)

#9 Insects

Possible answers: ANT, BEETLE, MANTIS, TERMITE, (CRICKET)

#10 Countries

Possible answers: CHAD, GEORGIA, JORDAN, TOGO, (TURKEY)

#10 Birds

Possible answers: CRANE, JAY, TURKEY, SWALLOW, (KIWI)

#11 Spices

Possible answers: CARDAMOM, CLOVE, CORIANDER, CUMIN, (GINGER)

#11 Terms of Endearment

Possible answers: BOO, HONEY, SUGAR, SWEETIE, (BABY)

#12 Animal Group Names

Possible answers: FLOCK, PACK, POD, SCHOOL, (PRIDE)

#12 Deadly Sins

Possible answers: ENVY, GREED, LUST, PRIDE, (SLOTH)

#13 Airlines

Possible answers: FRONTIER, SPIRIT, UNITED, VIRGIN, (DELTA)

#13 Greek Letters

Possible answers: BETA, CHI, DELTA, IOTA, (NU)

#13 Silent G's

Possible answers: GNAT, GNAW, GNOCCHI, GNOME, (GNU)

#14 Famous Brothers

Possible answers: JONAS, MARX, WARNER, WRIGHT, (MARIO)

#14 Honda Vehicles

Possible answers: ACCORD, CIVIC, PASSPORT, PILOT, (CANOPY)

#15 Colors

Possible answers: BROWN, PINK, TURQUOISE, VIOLET, (SILVER)

#15 Fishing Equipment

Possible answers: LURE, REEL, ROD, TACKLE, (HOOK)

#16 Nuts

Possible answers: ALMOND, CASHEW, PECAN, WALNUT (PEANUT)

#17 Neck Accessories

Possible answers: ASCOT, BOLO, TIE, SCARF, (BOW)

#19 Disagreement

Possible answers: QUARREL, ROW, SPAT, TIFF, QUARREL, (BEEF)

#20 Grains

Possible answers: BARLEY, OAT, RYE, SPELT, (RICE)

#20 Royal Titles

Possible answers: BARON, EARL, KING, PRINCE, (DUKE)

#23 60's Band Member

Possible answers: BEACH BOY, BEATLE, BYRD, MONKEE, (ROLLING STONE)

#23 Dance Fads

Possible answers: DOUGIE, MACARENA, MASHED POTATO, TWIST, (VOGUE)

#25 Desserts

Possible answers: CHEESECAKE, FLAN, MOUSSE, TIRAMISU, (FUDGE)

#25 Animals with Tusks

Possible answers: ELEPHANT, HIPPO, NARWHAL, WARTHOG, (WALRUS)

#26 Countries (Holland is technically a region but it's often used as an informal name for the Netherlands)

Possible answers: DENMARK, GREECE, POLAND, PORTUGAL, (HOLLAND)

#26 Spelled with Roman Numerals

Possible answers: DILL, LIVID, MILD, MIX, (MIMIC)

#27 Body Parts

Possible answers: HEART, LIVER, LUNG, KIDNEY, (SPINE)

#28 File Extensions

Possible answers: GIF, PDF, TIFF, ZIP, (DOC)

#28 Fruits

Possible answers: BANANA, COCONUT, MANGO, PINEAPPLE, (KIWI)

#30 Joints

Possible answers: HIP, KNEE, SHOULDER, WRIST, (ELBOW)

#33 Boats

Possible answers: FERRY, JUNK, TUG, YACHT, (SUB)

#33 Cuts of Beef

Possible answers: FLANK, LOIN, ROUND, SHANK, (CHUCK)

#34 Smell

Possible answers: AROMA, BOUQUET, FRAGRANCE, SCENT, (FUNK)

#34 Music Genres

Possible answers: BLUES, COUNTRY, FUNK, SOUL, (ROCK)

#35 Metals

Possible answers: IRON, LEAD, TIN, ZINC, (NICKEL)

#36 Animals

Possible answers: KANGAROO, KOALA, WALLABY, WOMBAT, (MOLE RAT)

#38 Trees

Possible answers: ASH, CEDAR, MAPLE, PINE, (ELM)

#38 Land Formation

Possible answers: HILL, MOUNTAIN, PLATEAU, VALLEY, (PLAIN)

#38 Bagel Flavors

Possible answers: EVERYTHING, ONION, PLAIN, POPPY, (SESAME)

#41 Islands

Possible answers: CUBA, JAPAN, MALTA, PALAU, (FIJI), (JAVA)

#42 Punctuation Marks

Possible answers: COLON, COMMA, HYPHEN, PERIOD, (DASH)

#43 Birds

Possible answers: BOOBY, GULL, PELICAN, PUFFIN, (CANARY)

#45 Modes of Transportation

Possible answers: BOAT, CAR, PLANE, TRAIN, (SUBWAY)

#46 Cities

Possible answers: CHICAGO, MUNICH, PHILADELPHIA, RIO, (MANHATTAN)

#46 Fashion Magazines

Possible answers: ALLURE, ELLE, GLAMOUR, W, (COSMOPOLITAN)

#46 Storms

Possible answers: BLIZZARD, CYCLONE, SQUALL, TORNADO, (HURRICANE)

#48 Apparitions

Possible answers: GHOST, PHANTOM, SPECTER, SPIRIT, (GENIE)

#49 Relatives

Possible answers: AUNT, COUSIN, MOTHER, NEPHEW, (GRANDFATHER)

#49 Offbeat

Possible answers: DAFFY, KOOKY, QUIRKY, WACKY, (CUCKOO)

#49 Fictional Ducks

Possible answers: DAISY, DEWEY, DONALD, SCROOGE, (DAFFY)

#50 Imperial Measurements

Possible answers: FOOT, INCH, MILE, YARD, (QUART)

#52 Rodents

Possible answers: GERBIL, HAMSTER, RAT, VOLE, (MOUSE)

#52 Musical Instruments

Possible answers: HARP, HORN, ORGAN, TRIANGLE, (KEYBOARD)

#52 Complain

Possible answers: CARP, GRIPE, GROUSE, MOAN, (HARP)

#53 Animal Group Names

Possible answers: COLONY, HERD, PRIDE, SWARM, (FAMILY)

#53 AP Classes

Possible answers: BIO, CHEM, GOV, STATS, (LIT)

#54 Places for Worship

Possible answers: ALTAR, RELIQUARY, SHRINE, TEMPLE, (ABBEY)

#54 Presidents

Possible answers: CALVIN, CHESTER, GROVER, HARRY, (GARFIELD)

#56 Dances

Possible answers: HUSTLE, SALSA, SWING, TANGO, (TAP)

#57 Patterns

Possible answers: HOUNDSTOOTH, PAISLEY, PLAID, STRIPES, (DOT)

#58 Arachnids

Possible answers: MITE, SCORPION, SPIDER, TICK, (BLACK WIDOW)

#58 Fish

Possible answers: CHAR, EEL, PERCH, SHARK, (CATFISH)

#58 Superheroes

Possible answers: BLACK WIDOW, BLADE, FLASH, STORM, (TICK)

#59 Quantity

Possible answers: FEW, HANDFUL, SEVERAL, SOME, (PAIR)

#59 Celestial Objects

Possible answers: ASTEROID, COMET, MOON, PLANET, (SUN)

#60 Sports Venues

Possible answers: COURT, DIAMOND, FIELD, RINK, (RING)

#60 Jewelry

Possible answers: ANKLET, BANGLE, BROOCH, PENDANT, (RING), (CHARM)

#62 State Abbreviations

Possible answers: CO, MA, ME, PA, (LA)

#62 Period Table Symbols

Possible answers: FE, HE, NA, NI, (CO), (PA), (LA), (TI)

#63 Slang for Zero

Possible answers: JACK, NADA, NOTHING, SQUAT, (ZIP)

#63 Exercises

Possible answers: CURL, LUNGE, PLANK, PRESS, (SQUAT), (CRUNCH)

#63 Captains

Possible answers: CRUNCH, KANGAROO, OBVIOUS, PLANET, (JACK)

#64 Dog Names

Possible answers: FIDO, LUCKY, ROVER, SPOT, (REX)

#64 Perceive

Possible answers: CATCH, NOTICE, OBSERVE, SEE, (SPOT)

#64 Fishing Terms

Possible answers: BAIT, CHUM, FLY, SINKER, (CATCH)

#65 Energy

Possible answers: JUICE, SPIRIT, STEAM, VIGOR, (GAS), (FIRE)

#66 Time Periods

Possible answers: CENTURY, DECADE, MILLENNIUM, YEAR, (MONTH)

#66 Breakfast Foods

Possible answers: CEREAL, OMELET, PANCAKE, WAFFLE, (BACON), (EGG)

#67 Desserts

Possible answers: CAKE, COBBLER, PIE, TART, (FUDGE)

#67 Occupations

Possible answers: FISHER, MASON, MILLER, SMITH, (DOCTOR)

#68 Extremely

Possible answers: AWFUL, QUITE, SUPER, VERY, (REAL)

#68 Currencies

Possible answers: RAND, REAL, STERLING, WON, (POUND)

#68 _____Cake

Possible answers: CARROT, COFFEE, POUND, SPONGE, (CUP)

#69 Shoes

Possible answers: CLOG, PUMP, SLIDE, WEDGE, (MARY JANE)

#69 Slang for Marijuana

Possible answers: GRASS, HERB, MARY JANE, WEED, (BUD), (POT)

#70 Camping Supplies

Possible answers: COOLER, LANTERN, SLEEPING BAG, TENT, (CAMPER)

#70 Insult

Possible answers: BARB, DIG, DISS, JAB, (SLIGHT)

#71 States

Possible answers: ARIZONA, COLORADO, NEVADA, UTAH, (KANSAS), (MONTANA)

#72 Santa's Reindeer

Possible answers: COMET, CUPID, DASHER, VIXEN, (DANCER)

#72 Seen on Valentine's Day

Possible answers: CARD, HEART, CHOCOLATE, ROSE, (CUPID)

#73 Facial Hair

Possible answers: BEARD, GOATEE, MUSTACHE, STUBBLE, (HANDLEBAR)

#73 Pursue

Possible answers: DOG, FOLLOW, TAIL, TRACK, (SHADOW)

#74 Failures

Possible answers: BUSTS, FLOPS, MISSES, TURKEYS, (DUDS)

#75 Social Gathering

Possible answers: BASH, BLOWOUT, PARTY, SHINDIG, (MIXER)

#75 Found in a Kitchen

Possible answers: COUNTER, MIXER, RANGE, SINK, (ISLAND)

#79 Depart Quickly

Possible answers: BOOK, BOUNCE, RUN, SPLIT, (JET)

#79 Shades of Black

Possible answers: EBONY, JET, ONYX, RAVEN, (BLACK)

#80 Influence

Possible answers: CLOUT, PULL, WEIGHT, SWAY, (IMPACT)

#81 Appetizer Unit

Possible answers: FRY, NACHO, POPPER, WING, (CHIP), (CRACKER)

#81 Response to a Correct Answer

Possible answers: BINGO, CORRECT, RIGHT, YES, (DING)

#82 Drink Vessels

Possible answers: GOBLET, SNIFTER, TUMBLER, STEIN, (FLUTE)

#82 Woodwinds

Possible answers: CLARINET, FLUTE, OBOE, SAXOPHONE, (BASSOON)

#82 American Poets

Possible answers: BISHOP, FROST, OLDS, POUND, (STEIN)

#83 Unclothed

Possible answers: BARE, NAKED, NUDE, UNCLAD, (BUFF)

#83 Football Actions

Possible answers: FUMBLE, PUNT, SACK, SNAP, (TURNOVER)

#83 Finger Actions

Possible answers: BUFF, CLIP, FILE, POLISH, (SNAP)

#84 Female Animals

Possible answers: COW, DOE, HEN, MARE, (EWE)

#84 Pronouns

Possible answers: I, IT, THEY, WE, (YOU)

#84 Roman Numerals

Possible answers: D, L, M, V, (I)

#86 Information Displays

Possible answers: CHART, DIAGRAM, GRAPH, MAP, (PIE)

#86 Additional Benefit

Possible answers: BONUS, EXTRA, ICING, PERK, (GRAVY)

#86 Creatures in Folklore

Possible answers: GNOME, GOBLIN, OGRE, TROLL, (DRAGON)

#89 Alcohol

Possible answers: CIDER, PORT, SAKE, STOUT, (SPIRIT), (SCOTCH)

#89 Pixar Movies

Possible answers: BRAVE, CARS, COCO, UP, (SOUL)

#90 Baseball Calls

Possible answers: BALL, OUT, SAFE, STRIKE, (WALK)

#90 Fish

Possible answers: CARP, CATFISH, FLOUNDER, SMELT, (SALMON)

#91 Jungle Animals

Possible answers: ANACONDA, CAPYBARA, JAGUAR, TOUCAN, (LION)

#91 Lowest Point

Possible answers: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION, (LEGS)

#92 Halloween Decorations

Possible answers: BAT, COBWEB, PUMPKIN, TOMBSTONE, (BONES)

#93 Animal Sounds

Possible answers: BUZZ, CLUCK, MEOW, OINK, (BARK)

#93 Inside Info

Possible answers: DIRT, DISH, SCOOP, SKINNY, (TEA)

#95 Songs that are Names

Possible answers: ALEJANDRO, LOLA, MICHELLE, STAN, (IRIS)

#96 Animals

Possible answers: BUFFALO, COW, GOAT, SHEEP, (HORSE)

#96 Gymnastics Apparatus

Possible answers: FLOOR, HORSE, RINGS, VAULT, (BEAM)

#97 Fairy Tale Figures

Possible answers: GIANT, PRINCESS, WITCH, WOLF, (QUEEN)

#97 "Peanuts" Characters

Possible answers: CHARLIE, PEPPERMINT PATTY, PIGPEN, WOODSTOCK, (LUCY)

#98 Fruits

Possible answers: APRICOT, FIG, GRAPE, LIME, (BERRY)

#98 Luxurious

Possible answers: DELUXE, GRAND, LAVISH, OPULENT, (SWANK)

#99 Intelligent

Possible answers: BRIGHT, CLEVER, QUICK, SHARP, (SMART)

#100 Web Browser-Related

Possible answers: BOOKMARK, HISTORY, TAB, WINDOW, (LINK), (POCKET)

#100 Dirty_____

Possible answers: DOZEN, JOKE, LAUNDRY, MARTINI, (WINDOW)

#101 Bowling Terms

Possible answers: ALLEY, BALL, LANE, PIN, (SPARE)

#101 Common Merch Items

Possible answers: MUG, PEN, TEE, TOTE, (PIN)

#102 Vehicles

Possible answers: BUS, CAR, MOTORCYCLE, TRUCK, (SCOOTER)

#102 Muppets

Possible answers: ANIMAL, BEAKER, GONZO, SCOOTER, (CHEF), (PIGGY)

#103 Soda Fountain Orders (Concrete can mean a type of milkshake or frozen custard)

Possible answers: FLOAT, MALT, SHAKE, SUNDAE, (CONCRETE), (SPLIT)

#104 Robust

Possible answers: FIT, HEALTHY, SOUND, STRONG, (WELL)

#104 Water Sources

Possible answers: FOUNTAIN, SPRING, TAP, WELL, (SINK)

#105 Kitchen Utensils

Possible answers: GRATER, LADLE, PEELER, WHISK, (CLEAVER)

#106 Wedding Items

Possible answers: BOUQUET, RING, TRAIN, VEIL, (CAKE)

#106 Encase

Possible answers: CAKE, COAT, COVER, CRUST, (VEIL)

#107 Snakes

Possible answers: BOA, MAMBA, PYTHON, VIPER, (GARTER)

#108 Produced by Trees

Possible answers: ACORN, CONE, POLLEN, SAP, (GUM), (NEEDLE)

#108 Candy

Possible answers: CHOCOLATE, GUM, LICORICE, LOLLIPOP, (SUCKER)

#108 Target of a Scheme

Possible answers: CHUMP, FOOL, MARK, SUCKER, (SAP)

#109 Rap Subgenres

Possible answers: BOUNCE, CRUNK, DRILL, GRIME, (TRAP)

#110 Golf Clubs

Possible answers: IRON, PUTTER, WEDGE, WOOD, (CLUB)

#112 Coffee Counter Items

Possible answers: CUP, LID, STIRRER, STRAW, (STICK)

#114 Talk

Possible answers: BLATHER, CHAT, GAB, JABBER, (YAK)

#115 Christmas-Related

Possible answers: MISTLETOE, REINDEER, SNOWMAN, STOCKING, (PRESENT), (CANDY CANE)

#116 MLB Teams

Possible answers: ANGEL, CUB, MET, RED, (NAT)

#119 Celebratory Occasion

Possible answers: ANNIVERSARY, BIRTHDAY, SHOWER, WEDDING, (RECEPTION), (SERVICE)

#120 Crops

Possible answers: CORN, CUCUMBER, PEPPER, TOMATO, (MELON)

#121 Bible Books

Possible answers: ACTS, JOB, KINGS, MARK, (GENESIS)

#121 NHL Teams

Possible answers: FLAMES, KRAKEN, STARS, WILD, (KINGS), (RANGER)

#123 Conceal

Possible answers: BLOCK, COVER, HIDE, MASK, (SHIELD)

#124 "L" Cities

Possible answers: LAGOS, LIMERICK, LINCOLN, LUXOR, (LIMA)

#124 Poetry Terms

Possible answers: LINE, METER, RHYME, VERSE, (LIMERICK)

#125 Butt

Possible answers: BOTTOM, BUNS, SEAT, TAIL, (BOOTY)

#126 Tools

Possible answers: HAMMER, FILE, LEVEL, SAW, (WRENCH)

#126 Keyboard Shortcuts

Possible answers: COPY, FIND, PRINT, SAVE, (FILE)

#127 Days of the Week

Possible answers: FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, THURSDAY, (WEDNESDAY), (TUESDAY)

#127 Go Bad

Possible answers: ROT, SOUR, SPOIL, TURN, (FESTER)

#129 Bit of Air

Possible answers: BREEZE, DRAFT, GUST, PUFF, (PANT)

#130 Falsify

Possible answers: FABRICATE, FAKE, FIX, FORGE, (FUDGE)

#130 TV Shows

Possible answers: FARGO, FIREFLY, FLEABAG, FLIPPER, (FRIENDS)

#131 Animal Homes

Possible answers: DEN, LAIR, HIVE, NEST, (WEB), (WARREN)

#131 Equitable

Possible answers: EQUAL, EVEN, FAIR, JUST, (GOOD)

#132 Tableware

Possible answers: BOWL, DISH, PLATE, SAUCER, (CROCK), (CUP)

#133 British Food

Possible answers: MASH, ROAST, SCONE, TRIFLE, (BANGER)

#133 Predicament

Possible answers: BIND, PICKLE, SCRAPE, SPOT, (JAM)

#134 Impel

Possible answers: DRIVE, INSPIRE, MOTIVATE, SPUR, (SPARK)

#135 Compound Words

Possible answers: BACKPACK, BIGWIG, DOWNTOWN, RAGTAG, (TEXTBOOK)

#136 Grammar Tenses

Possible answers: FUTURE, PAST, PERFECT, PRESENT, (SIMPLE)

#136 The 12 Days of Christmas

Possible answers: DRUMMER, LADY, RING, SWAN, (LORD)

#137 Excellent

Possible answers: ACES, KEEN, NEATO, NIFTY, (SWELL)

#137 Bubbles

Possible answers: FOAM, FROTH, HEAD, LATHER, (BUBBLE)

#138 Metals

Possible answers: COPPER, GOLD, NICKEL, SILVER, (BRASS), (MERCURY)

#139 Aesthetics

Possible answers: DRESS, LOOK, MANNER, STYLE, (TASTE)

#140 Mishmash

Possible answers: HASH, JUMBLE, MEDLEY, STEW, (LITTER)

#143 Filler Words

Possible answers: ERM, UH, UM, WELL, (LIKE), (ER)

#146 Clue Weapons

Possible answers: CANDLESTICK, KNIFE, ROPE, WRENCH, (PIPE)

#147 Unchanging

Possible answers: EVEN, LEVEL, STABLE, STEADY, (UNIFORM)

#147 Long, Sharp Objects

Possible answers: LANCE, PIN, SKEWER, SPIT, (PITCHFORK)

#148 Musical Format

Possible answers: LP, PLATTER, VINYL, WAX, (CD)

#148 Cube-Shaped

Possible answers: BOUILLON, DIE, ICE, SUGAR, (STOCK)

#150 Equivocate

Possible answers: HEDGE, SEE-SAW, WAVER, YO-YO, (FLIP-FLOP), (WAFFLE)

#151 Podcasts

Possible answers: RADIOLAB, SERIAL, UP FIRST, WTF, (FRESH AIR), (REPLY ALL)

#152 Intelligent

Possible answers: BRIGHT, QUICK, SHARP, SMART, (SAGE)

#152 Medieval Weapons

Possible answers: CLUB, MACE, SPEAR, SWORD, (AXE)

#153 Filmmaking Equipment

Possible answers: BOOM, DOLLY, LENS, TRIPOD, (GRIP)

#154 Sports Professionals

Possible answers: COACH, GM, PLAYER, SCOUT, (SUB)

#154 Car Companies

Possible answers: BMW, HONDA, JAGUAR, SUBARU, (FORD), (GM)

#156 Vocal Fanfare

Possible answers: BEHOLD, PRESTO, TADA, VOILA, (SURPRISE)

#157 Magazines

Possible answers: O, OK, US, W, (EW), (SI)

#157 Yes

Possible answers: HAI, JA, SI, DA, (OK), (OUI)

#158 Animals

Possible answers: BUFFALO, DEER, FISH, MOOSE, (BULL), (STEER), (SEAL)

#160 Quick Observation

Possible answers: GANDER, GLANCE, GLIMPSE, LOOK, (PEEK)

#160 Parts of a Mountain

Possible answers: CLIFF, CRAG, LEDGE, RIDGE, (BLUFF), (PEAK)

#161 _____Day

Possible answers: EARTH, GROUNDHOG, LABOR, MAY, (BIRTH)

#162 Primates

Possible answers: BABOON, BONOBO, GIBBON, GORILLA, (APE)

#162 Fashionable

Possible answers: CHIC, HIP, HOT, IN, (VOGUE)

#164 Area Between Mountains

Possible answers: CANYON, GULCH, PASS, RAVINE, (GORGE)

#165 Food

Possible answers: PASTY, PIE, TART, TURNOVER, (PARFAIT), (RAGOUT), (CURRY)

#165 Countries

Possible answers: JAPAN, POLAND, TUNISIA, TURKEY, (JORDAN)

#166 Reality Shows

Possible answers: ALONE, CATFISH, CHOPPED, SURVIVOR, (BACHELOR)

#168 Municipalities

Possible answers: CITY, TOWN, COUNTY, VILLAGE, (CAPITAL)

#171 Parts of the Foot

Possible answers: ARCH, BALL, SOLE, TOE, (HEEL)

#171 Dog Commands

Possible answers: COME, DOWN, SIT, STAY, (HEEL)

#173 Ways to Remove Hair

Possible answers: SHAVE, THREAD, TWEEZE, WAX, (CUT)

#174 Hold Back

Possible answers: CAP, CHECK, CURB, LIMIT, (HAMPER)

#175 Excite, with "Up"

Possible answers: AMP, FIRE, HYPE, PUMP, (GAS)

#177 TV Shows

Possible answers: CHEERS, EUPHORIA, FELICITY, GLEE, (FRASIER)

#178 Found on Sheet Music

Possible answers: CLEF, NOTE, REST, STAFF, (SCALES)

#178 Zodiac Symbols

Possible answers: BULL, CRAB, SCALES, TWINS, (VIRGIN)

#180 Absolute

Possible answers: PURE, SHEER, TOTAL, UTTER, (STARK)

#180 Express

Possible answers: AIR, SPEAK, STATE, VOICE, (UTTER)

#181 Cooking Oils

Possible answers: CORN, OLIVE, PALM, PEANUT, (RICE)

#183 Luxurious Fabrics

Possible answers: CHIFFON, SILK, SATIN, VELVET, (LACE)

#185 -ough

Possible answers: BOUGH, COUGH, DOUGH, TOUGH, (ROUGH), (ENOUGH)

#189 Used to Build a Snowman

Possible answers: CARROT, COAL, SNOW, STICKS, (STONES)

#190 NYC Avenues

Possible answers: BROADWAY, FIFTH, MADISON, PARK, (SECOND), (FIRST), (ELEVENTH)

#191 Accessories

Possible answers: BELT, BRACELET, TIE, WATCH, (CHARM)

#199 Name Prefixes

Possible answers: GEN, MS, PROF, REV, (DR)

#200 Parts of a Car

Possible answers: BUMPER, HOOD, TIRE, TRUNK, (DASH)

#201 Single Letter Homophones

Possible answers: BEE, EX, GEE, JAY, (TEE)

#203 New Years-Related

Possible answers: BALL, COUNTDOWN, FIREWORKS, KISS, (PARTY), (RESOLUTION), (CHAMPAGNE)

#207 Gift-Giving Accessories

Possible answers: BOW, BOX, CARD, WRAPPING, (MESSAGE)

#210 Kinds of Exams

Possible answers: BAR, FINAL, ORAL, PHYSICAL, (EYE)

#211 Long, Skinny Objects

Possible answers: POLE, ROD, STAFF, STICK, (CLUB)

#212 Cooking Elements

Possible answers: ACID, FAT, HEAT, SALT, (PEPPER), (SMOKE)

#213 Seen at a Casino

Possible answers: CARDS, CHIPS, DICE, SLOTS, (POKER)

#213 Ways to Prepare Cheese

Possible answers: CRUMBLE, MELT, SHRED, SLICE, (GRATE)

#217 Thieve

Possible answers: PINCH, ROB, STEAL, SWIPE, (JACK)

#218 Medicine Formats

Possible answers: CAPSULE, CREAM, SYRUP, TABLET, (POD)

#221 Colors

Possible answers: BLUE, GREEN, WHITE, YELLOW, (SCARLET)

#222 Minced Oaths

Possible answers: CURSES, DARN, RATS, SHOOT, (FUDGE), (NUTS)

#224 Contains Wax

Possible answers: CANDLE, CRAYON, HONEYCOMB, SEAL, (EAR)

#229 Baseball-Related

Possible answers: BALL, BASE, BAT, GLOVE, (STRIKE)

#233 Mario Power-ups

Possible answers: FEATHER, STAR, MUSHROOM, FLOWER, (HAMMER)

#234 _____Pit

Possible answers: BARBECUE, ORCHESTRA, SNAKE, TAR, (FIRE)

#235 Make Shorter

Possible answers: CLIP, CUT, PARE, TRIM, (PRUNE)

#235 Muscular

Possible answers: BUILT, JACKED, RIPPED, SWOLE, (TRIM), (BUFF)

#237 Farm Fixtures

Possible answers: COOP, PEN, STABLE, STY, (RANGE)

#238 Unexciting

Possible answers: BORING, DULL, MUNDANE, VANILLA, (ROUTINE), (DRY)

#239 Ecclesiastical Titles

Possible answers: BISHOP, CARDINAL, PASTOR, PRIOR, (BROTHER), (LORD)

#251 Media Attention

Possible answers: COVERAGE, EXPOSURE, PRESS, PUBLICITY, (MEDIA)

#254 Little Bit of Liquid

Possible answers: BEAD, GLOB, DROP, TEAR, (DRIP)

#257 Shades of Green

Possible answers: OLIVE, FOREST, LIME, MINT, (CACTUS)

#260 Ilk

Possible answers: KIND, SORT, TYPE, VARIETY, (MANNER)

#263 Propel into the Air

Possible answers: HOP, JUMP, LEAP, SPRING, (VAULT)

#266 Large Amount

Possible answers: MASS, SEA, SLEW, TON, (WAVE)

#266 Fall under Pressure

Possible answers: BUCKLE, CAVE, COLLAPSE, GIVE, (FLOP)

#268 Pop Stars

Possible answers: GRANDE, MARS, STYLES, SWIFT, (LEGEND)

#269 Found at an Airport

Possible answers: HANGAR, RUNWAY, TARMAC, TERMINAL, (WINDSOCK)

#269 Ends in an Article of Clothing (A Mac is a raincoat)

Possible answers: FOXGLOVE, GUMSHOE, TURNCOAT, WINDSOCK, (TARMAC), (LAWSUIT)

#271 Food Preservation Techniques

Possible answers: CAN, CURE, DRY, FREEZE, (SPICE)

#272 Space_____

Possible answers: BAR, CADET, HEATER, STATION, (BLANKET)

#273 Keyboard Keys

Possible answers: COMMAND, CONTROL, OPTION, SHIFT, (SPACE)

#283 Seen at a Sports Stadium

Possible answers: ASTROTURF, JUMBOTRON, SCOREBOARD, SKYBOX, (KISSCAM), (JOURNEYMAN)

#284 Animals

Possible answers: COW, DOE, HEN, EWE, (YAK)

#284 Palindromes

Possible answers: BIB, EYE, GAG, POP, (EWE)

#285 Olympic Sports

Possible answers: BREAKING, HOCKEY, TRAMPOLINE, SKELETON, (CRICKET), (SQUASH), (VOLLEYBALL)

#289 Plant Growths

Possible answers: BLOOM, BUD, SHOOT, SPROUT, (CORONA)

#290 Quarrel

Possible answers: FIGHT, ROW, SCRAP, TIFF, (WAR)

#290 Games of Chance (Poker is technically a game of skill but it's still highly associated with chance)

Possible answers: BINGO, LOTTERY, ROULETTE, WAR, (POKER)

#291 Whale Species

Possible answers: BLUE, FIN, GRAY, RIGHT, (PILOT)

#293 Food Preservation Techniques

Possible answers: CANS, CURES, SALTS, SMOKES, (JAMS), (PICKLES)

#296 Thrust

Possible answers: JAB, POKE, PROD, STICK, (ELBOW)

#301 _____Horse

Possible answers: CHARLEY, CRAZY, DARK, GIFT, (PRIZE)

#302 Brief Moment

Possible answers: FLASH, HEARTBEAT, JIFF, WINK, (ZIP)

#302 Dispute

Possible answers: CLASH, TANGLE, SCRAP, TIFF, (SPAT)

#303 Hair Care Items

Possible answers: BRUSH, COMB, DRYER, IRON, (OIL)

#307 Seen at the Circus

Possible answers: CLOWN, RING, TENT, TRAPEZE, (LION)

#310 Parts of a Theatre

Possible answers: BALCONY, BOX, ORCHESTRA, STAGE, (FLOOR)

#312 Golden_____

Possible answers: FLEECE, GIRLS, PARACHUTE, RULE, (MEAN)

#315 Starting with the Same Sound

Possible answers: CYMBAL, SCIMITAR, SIMMER, SYMPHONY, (SYMBOL)

#318 Mexican Food-Related

Possible answers: CILANTRO, LIME, ONION, SALSA, (PICO), (WRAP), (MOLE)

#328 _____Sale

Possible answers: BAKE, CLEARANCE, GARAGE, SAMPLE, (YARD)

#329 Enjoy

Possible answers: FANCY, LOVE, RELISH, SAVOR, (LIKE)

#330 Quantity

Possible answers: FEW, MANY, SEVERAL, SOME, (COUPLE), (HANDFUL)

#333 Restrict

Possible answers: CHECK, CONTAIN, CURB, LIMIT, (CAP)

#339 Forthright

Possible answers: DIRECT, FRANK, OPEN, STRAIGHT, (PLAIN)

#342 Games

Possible answers: CATEGORIES, CHARADES, FISHBOWL, WEREWOLF, (MOUSETRAP)

#345 Billiards-Related

Possible answers: BALL, CHALK, CUE, RACK, (POCKET)

#348 Things You can Crack

Possible answers: EGG, KNUCKLES, SMILE, WINDOW, (CORN)

#351 _____Iron

Possible answers: PUMP, STEAM, TIRE, WAFFLE, (FLAT)

#355 Things People Shake

Possible answers: HANDS, MARACA, POLAROID, SNOWGLOBE, (BODY)

[First] [Previous] [Next]
The transition between the incorporeal nature of the Second Layer and back into my uncomfortable self was something that I utterly detested, and I have just done it twice with this return to Wohl! I can see now why Mustafá wasn’t all that happy to access and work with teleports now! But that makes me wonder a little bit about what goes on in her head, does she have the same hang ups as me? Maybe she finds her own body uncomfortable or something?

Or maybe she has her own arcane reasons. Honestly, she is unpredictable to me.

Both Mustafá and I appear in the middle of my living room after our return home. She is holding that still warm bag of bread… and honestly it makes me a little nervous looking at it.

“Is that still safe to eat?” I wonder out loud, squinting a little bit.

“Yes. I told you inanimate objects are fine.” Mustafá walks over into the kitchen as she talks.

“It’s bread! It’s organic in origin! Does that still count?!” I mean, it clearly did, Mustafá didn’t turn into a human-bread hybrid.

“It’s not based on chemical composition, but on human perception. People usually regard bread and food as objects, not living beings.” Mustafá yells from the kitchen as she checks on the electric kettle. It had just started to boil. “Stop overthinking.”

I want to say more but, I decide to just sigh and let go of it for now, closing my eyes and taking a seat at the table. The mage peeks from the kitchen.

“Eggs?”

“No, I’ll just have butter on my bread…” I wave a hand, dismissively.

“You Wohlians are strange. How can you survive with such small breakfasts.” The mage returns to the kitchen, apparently she bought eggs. I can hear oil sizzling on one of my pans as the woman just shamelessly takes over my kitchen. Nothing I can do to stop her, really.

Well, it’s not like it bothers me in excess. It gives me more time to actually think about what's about to happen. This ‘Talk’ she wants to have, what could she possibly mean? Maybe she has a secret to remain so emotionless and distant? A secret to distance yourself from your emotions and become the master of your brain somehow! I mean, she is a mage, right? And that must require some insane mental discipline! She seems to have it all figured out, too!

“What if she is about to tell you to stop being a bitch and get over these ridiculous feelings and delusions of yours?”

I… would rather not believe that. I see her as completely capable of saying that but, I don’t think she will. I hope she doesn’t.

“She is not that different from you.”

Is she? I couldn’t imagine someone more different!

“She lives alone, in a small and functional apartment. She probably isolates herself too, remember the forum? No one knew much of her there either!”

She’s probably just busy or something, and a lot of people live alone in tiny apartments these days. I can’t just go around relating to people based on that.

“You have a lot of tea.” A voice suddenly wakes me up from my thinking.

Turning around, I see Mustafá standing in the kitchen’s door, holding my collection of tea boxes. She seems interested, in her own inexpressive way… and honestly, that makes me smile a little bit.

“Yeah.” I say. “Venus and I were very into tea and, taking the chance that we are in the city, we decided to try the many blends they sell here.”

“I am more of a coffee person.” She states, sitting down and settling the boxes on the table.

“Oh…” I look down.

There’s an awkward silence. Mustafá frowns.

“Aren’t you going to tell me about the tea?”

“Uh? But you said that you’re into coffee…?” My eyes return to her with some hope.

“Yes. That doesn’t mean I do not want to hear about tea.” The woman walks back into the kitchen.

“A-Ah! Well!” I gulp slightly, rubbing the back of my neck. I don’t want to start rambling about tea stories. “We got some spicy and sweet chai, some Dobradian blends, even some smoked from Zhongguo!”

“Smoked tea… brings back some memories.” Mustafá soon returns with the electric kettle, two of our cups float right behind her.

“Did you know why people started smoking tea?” I take one of the cups and set it on the table.

“Yes.” She says, setting the kettle on the table and returning to the kitchen.

“A-Ah…” Again I fall silent.

“If you want to tell me anyways, I will listen.” Mustafá soon returns with the sugar.

That’s. Surprisingly nice of her.

Does she pity me? Is this because she pities me?

“Remember what Humiko said. This woman almost never feels guilt, much less pity.”

I guess not… Maybe I should just ask.

“... Mustafá, do you pity me?”

The woman looks me straight in the eye with such intensity that I almost felt a slap waking me up. I fix my posture out of pure instinct, gulping as she slowly reaches for the tea boxes.

“You have to stop assuming that all forms of kindness are a ploy against you." Mustafá kept her eyes on me as she juggled a few boxes with her hand. "What tea?”

“U-Uh, spicy chai.” I mumble.

“People don’t care about you with such intensity that their every action towards you is a thinly veiled plan or part of a chain of actions leading to your downfall. Sugar?” Mustafá puts a bag of chai on my cup and a bag of smoked on hers.

“T-Three teaspoons. Wait, no, two.” I mumble.

She claps her hands and mumbles a command. My sugar cup flies from the kitchen along with a teaspoon, floating as they serve both me and her some sugar. Then, she begins to pour water.

“I don’t waste time with unnecessary kindness. I am not trying to get on your good side or trying to coax results out of you. If I want something, I will take it. That includes the book.” She says all this without even blinking. Yeah, she definitely barely blinks. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t be interested in your words from time to time. I am perplexed by you, and when I am perplexed, I try to understand.”

I am not sure if I should feel happy or aggravated by this.

“My words are always legitimate. Do not second guess me.” She finally says, setting the water aside and then calling for the pan with scrambled eggs. It floats in front of her as she picks a piece of bread to eat eggs with.

“Sorry…” I say, rubbing the back of my neck and picking a piece of bread as well, slowly buttering it with a knife.

“Apology accepted.” She nods, taking a bit off her bread. “Now.”

I flinch.

“T-Time to address the elephant in the room, eh?” I say with a nervous smile.

“There is no elephant in this room.” She states… is she messing with me? “Tav.”

“Yes?” I open my eyes widely. Here it comes, an answer to all my problems, finally! I lean on.

“Do you feel uncomfortable in your own skin?” She continues, taking another bite of bread.

“Y-Yes!” I nod firmly, excitedly. Come on, damn it, lay it on me! I lean on even more!

“You.” Mustafá closes her eyes.

“Yes!?” I think like I will fall at any point now but I don’t even care!

“Should go to the doctor.” The mage finally says with a sigh.

“...Oh.” I… Don’t know what I expected. But it wasn’t that.

My eyes sink for a moment. Is she implying something here? Calling me sick in the brain? Maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself with all my hopes, I–

“Let me finish.” She quickly states, forcing me to look her in the eye again. “Are you uncomfortable with how masculine your body presents?”

“H-Hey, what are you trying to imply here?” I frown.

“Do you think you may be transgender?” She finally drops the bomb.

I freeze.

“Argh no! Not that word! Anything but that word!”

“I. Uh. What? What are you—?” I gesticulate.

“You can use any pronouns without being transgender. I know this.” She interrupts my rambling. “But your disdain for your own body, your preference for femininity, the deep depression… I can be wrong, so correct me if that’s the case. But this feels like a rather typical case.”

Colours rush to my face, everything is shaking, I am stammering so much that I can’t even speak. Why? Why would she ask me such a thing? And why would she do it in the most deadpan, straightforward way possible!? Doesn’t she know tact in the slightest or something like that!?

“Tav.”

Why does she have to look so deep into it? I am not trans! I am just, you know, a weirdo. A freak. A person with some screws loose! Transgender people have completely different things than me! They go through dysphoria, they feel the rejection of society, I–

“Tav!”

What!?

“Is it that you feel you don’t deserve to say yes?”

I freeze again.

W-Well, maybe!?

Do you know how much those people suffer? How much they have to endure from the world? I haven’t been rejected like them, I can’t grab their name and flag and just, apply it to myself all willy nilly! How do you think that would make them feel!? I–

“The feelings you’ve been having, the revulsion for your body.”

It’s just low self esteem!

“Is it?”

I think!?

“Well, maybe you are in the right here. You don’t deserve to take other people’s problems and make them your own just because it suits you. What sort of asshole do you think you are!?”

See?! Urgh, this is stupid, I should tell Mustafá to just knock it off and—

“Tav.”

What!?!

“Be brave. This is a chance like none other… look at her. She’s waiting patiently, she’s listening. She will not mince words or just ‘be nice’ for the sake of it…”

…

Mustafá has been calmly waiting while I go through this meltdown. She doesn’t seem concerned, just… expecting. I take a deep breath, sipping from my drink and closing my eyes as I force everything in my mind to a sudden, violent halt. It requires such an effort that I am sure I popped a vein or something!

“...If I were to say yes… what would you say?” I close my eyes.

“I’d say: ‘Transition is not necessary for you to be transgender. But changing your appearance, and your body, may help with your intense feelings of self-rejection.’” She took a sip of her tea. “Have you spoken to your therapist about this? Do you even have a therapist?”

“I-I do, yes, but… I never even thought of this as a possibility.” I look down, taking slow breaths. This talk feels oddly liberating, but that feeling comes with a question. “Why do you care?”

“Because all this mental distress will cripple your ability to create, to explore and to experience magic.” The mage simply shrugs off my concerns.

“I guess that makes sense…” A part of me wanted, or maybe hoped that she would say something a bit less distant. But again, this is Mustafá. I should be getting used to this.

“I can’t give you treatment. I am a Doctor in Medicine, but I am not an endocrinologist. So you will have to work within the crappy, crappy Sleeper system.” She shakes her head slowly.

“Is it… really that bad?” I gulp.

“Depends on the place you’re living but, generally? Yes.” Mustafá’s face looks shadier for a moment, her eyes twinkling with a sinister light. “But do not fear, we can prescind from the pesky government if needed.”

“I-I would rather stick to the legal, please and thank you!” I immediately say, feeling some drops of cold sweat falling down my face.

“Coward.” Mustafá shrugs again. “But fine. I will make sure you receive the treatment you need. If you decide to try and go for it.”

I… can’t help but smile a little there. There’s this warm feeling, this intuition that tells me that this bastard of an old mage may actually care, at least a little, about me. Maybe she is trying to convince me that it is all for the sake of magical studies but, maybe, just maybe, she’s just a good woman after all.

“Or maybe you’re delusional.”

Maybe…

“Anyways. We have talked about this long enough.” The mage puts her finished cup of tea on the counter and points at me with a finger. “If what you want is to continue to ‘stealth’, there are other things I can recommend, like laser.”

“L-Laser..?” I tilt my head to the side.

“Laser hair removal.” The way she looks at me makes me feel even worse for being ignorant.

“Is that available to men…?” Honestly, having to do something without ‘committing’ too much to being trans could maybe be good for a start.

“If you want to avoid weird looks, I can take you to a doctor I trust.” Mustafá nods softly.

Honestly this… this is all so much…

Before I know, I am sobbing again. Ugly crying, snot and tears fall down my face as I try to cover myself for a little more. Mustafá frowns, staring at me.

“No crying.” She frowned. “I will print that and put it on a wall.”

“I-I am sorry…” I sniff.

“No apologizing either.” She crosses her arms.

“Im so— Urgh.” Saints damn it all. “Okay… I don’t even know why I am crying.”

“Distress, probably.” Mustafá slowly gets up from her chair, stretching. “I will prepare things for today’s lesson. You go clean your face.”

“Y-Yes!” With a nod, I stand up and run to the bathroom.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I wonder…

Would I really be happier if the reflection changed?

(Cong Rats u/Xerxes250! You've been FICNAPPED, EKEKEKEK! Thanks to u/Espazilious, u/CaptainMatthew1, and u/T00Dense for supporting me in Group 3 of the Ficnapping!
That's right, I've Ficnapped Hazardous Recovery, a very well-written fic. I'd recommend it to those looking for a more... tech-inspired fic.
So, enjoy the dumb stuff.)
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Memory Transcription Subject: Kimmich, currently dying inside
Date [standardized human time]: October 25, 2136
If I had been made aware that one of the first days we were on Earth was going to be spent sitting in a predator's house, looking at sheets of paper, and listening to said predator prattle on about silly plastic shapes with numbers on them I'd have refused the trip as a whole. The whole concept seemed like a massive waste of time, not only for us but for him too. Unfortunately, I was trapped here by the whims of Vemnka and Sevkan, and they never let up a chance to see new human past times.
Andre, for his part, had been slow with us, letting us ease into the new living situation with relative laxity on where we were allowed to go. We'd already watched a few movies, played a few "video games", and even listened to some of his music. It was... enjoyable. Even with the obvious attempts to cover up a whole heap of predatory behaviors, Andre had managed to get us feeling somewhat welcome.
Until he had us sit at his kitchen table and write out the Venlilian numerical system, to which he responded with a chuckle, "Looks like Skaven Scratch." He did not elaborate. At first, I thought the exercise was going to be a simple lesson on how to read human numbers. But no, it was far worse. Instead, Andre went to his workshop, scanned all the numbers, and began printing a bunch of geometric prisms with the numbers on them. Vemnka was the first to ask about their purpose as she picked up a dodecahedron, each side holding a numeral.
"Well, I figured we'd play a game, and these," he held up a worn version of the same shape Vemnka was holding, this one with human numbers on it, "are how we play."
Not even a minute later we were watching as he 'rolled' the 'dice' across a little pad on the table. "So, basically, these dice, the 'd6's will help us make our characters. I use the '4d6 minus the lowest rolled' method for stats, but there are other ways to do it."
Sevkan picked up a triangular prism and poked his paw pad with it. "And what about the rest of them," he asked as he tossed the plastic shape onto the pad.
"The one you just rolled is a 'd4', it's a damage dice. Same with the d6, 'd8', 'd10', and 'd12'. This," he held up a dice with ten sides, but with two separate numbers on each face, "is a percentile dice. Helps when I need to see what outcome happens when a random encounter starts, though we'll not be using it because we're doing a oneshot." He flicked it up with a click and caught it. Next, he picked up the same dodecahedron as before and rolled it. "Ouph, nat 1, less than ideal when starting a game."
"What does that mean," I asked, looking down at the twenty-sided dice; the side displaying '1' was facing up.
"A nat 1 is the worst roll on a 'd20'. It's a critical failure, which means if you roll a nat 1, something bad happens." He rolled it again as he talked, "The d20 is the most used dice because it's the 'check dice', you use it to figure out how well you did on an action. For instance," he reached across the table for a sheet of paper. Looking it over, I could see it was a 'character sheet', as Andre called them. "This is the strength stat," He pointed at a block on the left side of the paper, "It shows how strong your character is. If I were to roll this d20 and get a 13, but your strength stat is a 14, plus whatever save modifier you have, then I'd fail the check and either nothing would happen, or you'd get a reaction to my failure." He shifted his weight as he reached for the ground. With a plap, Andre brought up a hardbacked book. My translator had a bit of difficulty translating the text due to the font, but in the end, it spat out 'D&D Player's Handbook'. A small script of subtext under the cover art, which I ignored due to its content, read 'Everything a player needs to create heroic characters for the world's greatest roleplaying game.'
"A roleplaying game," Vamnka asked before Sevkan or I could formulate the words.
"Yep! A TTRPG, Dungeons and Dragons, D&D. I played this once or twice before my accident with the reactor room, but I think I still remember enough to DM for it."
This time Sevkan asked the question, "TTRPG and DM?"
"Tabletop roleplaying game, and Dungeon Master. I run the game, so I'm the dungeon master." He laid out three sets of three pieces of paper at each seat. It had the same words and markings as the one before him. "So, as I said, we're doing a one-shot because I can't be bothered with doing a whole ass campaign. Plus you won't be here forever and we have work to do at some point."
"I'll be making your characters with input from each of you. We're doing basic fifth edition rules because the newer editions, sixth up to ninth, all suck." He grabbed four of the d6 and held them aloft, looking at Sevkan, then Vemnka, and finally landing his gaze on me. I felt my fur rise but paid it no mind as he looked down at the dice before him. "Vemnka, you're going first." He picked up and tossed the dice to Vemnka who scrambled to grab all four before they had a chance to fall off the table.
"So, I just... toss them?" The quizzical flap of her left ear was met by a curt nod from Andre. "Alright," she said as her paw flicked the dice across the table. One landed on 1, another on 2, another on 3, and the final one on 6. "Twelve in total," she announced.
"Good, now remove the lowest number rolled and mark it down somewhere on the back of your sheet."
After five more rolls, Vemnka's stats totaled 11 in strength, 15 in intelligence, another 15 in constitution, 16 in wisdom, 16 in charisma, and 13 in dexterity.
Next was my turn. I rolled a 13, which I put into dexterity, a 14 in constitution, a 15 in charisma, a 16 in strength, another 16 in wisdom, and a 12 in intelligence.
Finally, Sevkan rolled a 12, which was placed in dexterity, a 13 in charisma, a 16 in constitution, a 10 in both wisdom and intelligence and, as Andre put it, the ever elusive 18 was put in strength.
With all that tedious, boring, unimportant, and downright torturous work out of the way, now was the time to get into character creation. Andre gave us the book to look over and told us to ask any questions we wanted if we needed to. I pulled up my pad's visual translator and began skimming the text.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Vemnka, having the time of her life!
The book wasn't big, not by a long shot. I'd read books three to four times as long in [a day] or two. What the book contained, however, was an entirely different story. It wasn't just a rulebook, or handbook, as the cover suggested, it was a way to shape the wild imagination, to tame the itch to create.
And by the stars am I creating!
Andre told us we'd start by choosing class, race, and background. Of course, we had no idea what that meant, so he took us through it one at a time at a leisurely pace. He flipped through the book's pages before landing near the beginning, showcasing a stout-looking human with the undertext 'Dwarf' printed to the left.
After running through all of the vaguely human-like races to pick and a few classes that would shape our table-side adventure, I'd chosen to be a gnome cleric, which was a humorous choice. Andre said I'd primarily be healing, helping my team by keeping them in battle. I didn't mind the idea of being a sideliner, as long as I could help.
Dad had chosen to be a human 'paladin'. Andre explained that the term equated pretty easily to a form of holy guardian, in the form of a mortal, who the god of their faith gifted to defend those around them. Dad thought is was a pretty cool idea, especially the idea of "burning heretics away with holy fire," as Andre put it. It took him a bit longer to choose his race because he kept returning to the page with the almost-Arxur-looking Dragonborn. Still, after some coaxing, he finally let up on whatever was going on in his head and chose the easiest option, and the one Andre had recommended.
Finally, Sevkan had looked a bit farther into the game itself, finding a non-classified databook called "Player's Companion". Andre described it as a supplemental read, adding a bit more variety to the already large amount of options presented in the Player's Handbook. Sevkan took one look at it and immediately chose the Aarakocra, causing Andre to flinch. He said it'd be fine because the Aarakocra looked nothing like Krakotl, but Sevkan still apologized as best he could. He chose the fighter class, which was about as self-explanatory as possible.
Next was backgrounds, I chose to be an acolyte. It made sense in my head that a religious healer would have a background in religion. Dad leaned toward Folk Hero as his background, an option that both he and Andrew agreed would suit his character. Sev chose to be a hermit, which caught me and dad off guard after Andre gave us a rough rundown of what it was. An isolationist fighter, the sort of stuff that got you locked away.
"Alright," Andre said, leaning forward, looking between each of us again. I noticed Dad's fur rise a bit less than last time. Progress is progress. "We've got a Gnome Cleric, a Human Paladin, and an Aarakocra Fighter. Pretty good party dynamics for your first time even hearing about DnD. Now, for the most part, we've done everything we need to do together. From here you would have normally gone through stats and equipment, but I don't want to, and this is a oneshot so those aren't that important. Vem, on that last sheet, please mark down 'Spare the Dying', 'Sacred Flame', and 'Guidance'. Kimmich, on your last sheet, mark down 'Lay on Hands', 'Divine Smite', and 'Divine Sense'. Sev... you can just throw that sheet away. You won't be moving past where you are now."
Sevkan looked down at the sheet with a hint of sadness. To be fair to him, 'Spare the Dying' and 'Divine Smite' sounded cool, but before I could ask what they meant, Dad beat me to it. "What are these for? What do you mean?"
Andre rolled a D20 absent-mindedly, "Spare the Dying is a Cleric Cantrip that stabilizes a person who's taken fatal damage and is rolling death saves. Divine Smite is that whole 'BURN IN HOLY FIRE' thing I was talking about. Depending on how you flavor it, it's you wrapping your weapon in divine fire and burning away at your enemy's soul."
Despite his previous misgivings, ones which were practically plastered over his fur, Dad seemed honestly interested in the concept behind the Divine Smite. "And I just get to use it? Any time I want?"
"Well, not really." Andre pointed a finger toward me. "She has three cantrips which can be used at any time, you only have two. Divine Smite is an actual spell, as in its magic that requires you to utilize a spell slot. Lay on Hands is a contrip that can heal and Divine Sense allows you to detect certain types of creatures based on their alignment. Good and Evil in particular."
Sev spoke up, displaying confusion with his ears. "So why don't I get any spells or cantrips?" There was a degree of disappointment in his voice.
Andre leaned back with a chuckle, flexing his dexterous prosthetics as he clutched the d20 he'd been rolling. "Because, as a fighter, you probably have the most useful ability of them all. It's called 'Second Wind' and its essentially Lay on Hands but only you gain from it. It's an ability you can only use once per short rest, which we won't be needing to get into, which heals you for 1d10 plus your level, which all of you will be set at level 2.
"Again, we won't need much of the stuff in the books because this is A. Your first time and I want it to be fun, and B. A oneshot where nothing matters and we're here to have a good time. So, real quick," Andre grabbed a d8s and a d10 and began rolling them. "Vem," the d8 clacked across the table, landing on a 4, "you've got 15 health total. Because you're a light class, always expect to be on the lower side of health. Kimmich, you've got," he rolled the d10, it landed on an 8, "20 health, not a bad roll. And finally Sevkan," the d10 rolled across the table once more, the 5 side facing up. "18 health. Not too bad either, given your ability to heal yourself."
"How did you get those numbers," I asked, looking across the table at each of our sheets.
"While you all were reading, I put your modifiers where they belong, and changed what needed to be changed with your stats." Andre leaned over and pointed at Dad's sheet, "I increased each of your scores by one because you're human." He moved to mine, "I increased your intelligence by two." Then he moved to Sevkan's "And I increased your dexterity by 2 and wisdom by one. I made a slight mistake when asking you guys to roll, as usually, you'd choose race and class before putting your stat rolls anywhere, but you all seem to have put them in pretty good spots."
The three of us gave Andre amused looks, to which he raised an eyebrow. "Humans get an additional point in everything?" Sev asked with a small whistling laugh.
"Oh, uh. Yeah, now that there are actual other intelligent races in the galaxy that doesn't look too good does it?"
"It's fine," I said. It was plenty understandable, thinking you're the best at everything you do when there's no one to compare to. "So are we going to start?"
"Yep! Just one more thing. Weapons and armor are important to this, even if you don't have to use them all the time." Andre flipped to a page with a list of item names which I couldn't make ears or tails of. I recognized 'sword', 'bow', and 'spear' as ancient primitive weapons, but other than that everything else escaped me.
"I'm noting a lot of confusion. Anything you need to know?" Andre looked at us expectantly.
"What's a 'maul'," came Sevkan's response.
"Oh, that's a term for a large, two-handed warhammer. Usually, it's depicted as spiked on both ends. Imagine a very large, very crude sledgehammer with spikey bits."
"And a 'glaive'?" Dad asked next.
"I assume you know what a sword is?" We flicked our ears in affirmation. "Well, it's essentially a curved sword attached to a pole. It's made to look a specific way, if it wasn't then it'd probably just be called a Dao. Or maybe the Dao would be called a glaive. Maybe Glaive is just a type of polearm. I have no idea. Anyway, to speed this up, I'll be choosing the weapons and armor you can have for you, and don't worry, I'll use your attitudes as a reference for what you get. For you, Vemnka, I think the mace and shield combo will do nicely with the scale mail. Kimmich, you'd work well with two long swords to accompany your chainmail armor. And finally, Sevkan, a halberd with your chainmail will work fine. Sound good to everyone?"
I was a little disappointed at the stolen opportunity to continue building my character, I'd yet to come up with a name or backstory, as I was sure was the norm, but with the idea of starting taking center stage, I couldn't help but wag my tail.
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Memory Transcription Subject: Sevkan, going down the rabbit hole
Andre put a thin plastic sheet over most of the table, took out a bundle of markers, and began drawing, much to our collective surprise.
The sheet was was smooth and cool to the touch, though not through any internal system, probably just from the back of the garage where Andre had found it. It had a grid printed over it, which Andre seemed to be using as a guide as he drew a boxy shape, marking certain areas with certain colors. There must have been a system he was following, one that none of us Venlil in the room had managed to pick up on, and we didn't want to interrupt Andre as we worked in case we caused him to mess up.
I looked over my character sheet, made mostly by Andre with small additions I felt like I needed to add. I still felt a little bad for not realizing how raw the image of a Krakotl must have been to Andre as I chose the Aarakocra, but he'd brushed it off swiftly and curtly, clearly not wanting to continue the line of thought. Still, I should've chosen a different race. The goliath looked cool and probably would have been a better fighter than a bird with hollow bones, but I also didn't want to drag the others much longer, so I kept silent.
At long last Andre stood at his full height and analyzed his work. "There we go. The battle map is set up, now for the tokens." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out three little white objects. I immediately recognized them as chess pieces. A rook, a knight, and a bishop were placed on the table, along with a dozen white pawns, some of which came from a different chess set, and four black pawns as well as a black king. The black pawns were marked with the colors, yellow, beige, green, and white. We quietly agreed which pieces we would be. Dad would be the knight, I would be the rook, and Vemnka would be the bishop.
Andre sat down and we began. "Alright, I've decided to pull the classic 'wake up in a tavern' DnD start because it's funny and I also didn't exactly plan this. So here we go. Please leave your questions for after I'm done talking."
"You wake up, each of you, around a wooden table in a comfortable tavern with candles above you and empty tankards before you. You look at each other and recognize if only barely, the friends you made last night through a bout of drinking and dancing. You feel the roaring of a hangover in your head as you each groan and attempt to lift your heads."
Andre pointed at the chess pieces, which must have represented our characters. "Please roll constitution to see if the hangover affects you in any major way. It's a d20 plus the number below the stat itself."
We looked at each other with slight confusion. Not at the command to roll, nor for its circumstance, but for the setting. Is this a human board game? I mean, I guess I expected something more akin to chess. but this is nothing like it. It's so... alien.
Dad rolled his d20 first; it landed on a 16, "An 18?"
"Yep, Kimmich, your character brushes off the hangover with ease. You still feel a buzzing in your head, but other than that, you're fit as a fiddle." Oh, I get it now. How interesting. I could see Dad and Vemnka twitch their ears in understanding as I rolled my d20.
It landed on 8. "Plus two, so an 11."
"Sevkan, your head hurts like hell but you're still able to function to a normal degree. If it weren't for your fellow drunkards you're sure you'd have to stumble around by your lonesome for a while."
Vemnka let out a laugh as she rolled her dice. While she had been aiming for the center of the table, the dice had other plans and shot off to the right, flying off the table and rolling under a stool in the kitchen. "Oops! I'll get it," she said, jumping out of her seat and lifting the stool. "It landed on 19," she beeped excitedly.
"Nope," Andre said, much to our surprise. "Rule two of dice: if it goes off the table, its results are null. I didn't make that rule, but I still follow it. Roll again."
Vemnka's ears drooped a bit, but she set herself and climbed back into her seat to roll again. This time the dice did as it was meant to and rolled across the table without falling off. It landed on... "A nat 20!"
"No shit?" Andre lept out of his chair to peer across the table toward the dice. "Well, I'll be damned, a 19 and a 20 in succession. Well, I guess you're just better than those other two. Your character's hangover is completely gone, you felt it for all but a second as you raise your head to see your Aarakocra companion still struggling with his."
"Is there anything I can do to help him?" She asked. Andre's lip curled upward slightly.
"Now you're getting it. It's a role-playing game. You have your roles, the ones you set up for yourself, and now you get to play them. And yes, there is something you can do to help. Roll me a medicine check. I'll add your modifier myself." The sound of a die rattling across the table ended with... "Another Nat 20?!"
We jumped at Andre's incredulous shout as he glared at the die before him. He seemed more angry at the dice than at Vemnka so I assumed we were probably not in trouble. How can we be? We didn't do anything that would make him angry. Why's he yelling?
"Sorry, but the chance of rolling two nat 20s in a row, while not astronomical, is pretty fucking low. Something like a one in four hundred chance, maybe more," Andre said, sitting back down and sighing deeply. "It's fine, just funny is all. Usually, RNJesus is on the DM's side, not the party's. Kinda nice to see a change of pace."
"RNJesus," we asked collectively.
"Don't worry about it, let's continue. Vemnka, you put your hand on Sevkan's shoulder and do some voodoo magic bullshit and pray to your god to heal his aching body. Miraculously, it works and Sevkan sits upright feeling light as a feather. The Aarakocra's headache is now on par with Kimmich's."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that, now let's get on with it. As Sevkan gets up and shakes off the remaining ebbing in his head, you all notice five less-than-reputable figures sitting in a booth at the far end of the tavern. Each wears a hood or cowl accompanied by a cloak, which hides their race and weapons from you, however, you can tell that one of them is considerably larger than the others. If you had to, you'd place it at about 226 cm (7'5") while those around it are around the average human height of 180 cm (6'0"). Roll me perception too."
We looked at each other at the description but shrugged it off as we rolled. I rolled a 7, Dad rolled a 19, and Vemnka rolled a 17.
"Both of you," he said, pointing at Vemnka and Dad with one hand, "See that they are pointing in your direction while the big one holds a piece of paper in his hand. It shows artistic renditions of the three of you, along with a long string of words you can't make out from your current distance. Kimmich, you hear them talking about a bounty and that you are the specified targets. Now it's time for you to react, how do you want to move forward?"
"Well," Vemnka said nervously. I could see her tail flick in my direction, looking for guidance, but I had none. "I suppose I'll confront them? I'm not sure what a bounty is exactly..."
"Really?"
We looked at Andre and the obviousness of the situation. If we didn't know what a word was, we knew it must have been predatory. "Right, sorry. Bounties are orders given to hired people to hunt people. For one reason or another, if someone wants someone dead then they'll place a bounty on their head. I'm not sure if it was ever actually a thing, but bounty hunters were popular during the Wild West days of the US. They usually brought criminals in for trial though, and usually didn't kill them."
"Okay, but why do they want us dead," Dad asked, his ears falling back slightly.
"That's the neat part, you have no idea," Andre said as he leaned forward and moved the green-tipped black pawn a space on the map. "Vemnka, as you get up, you notice that one of the figures is moving towards the door with slight urgency. Before you can make a move, however, the large figure stands up and doffs his cloak, revealing the tattooed grey skin of a Goliath wielding a greatsword in the executioner's style. He shouts over the tavern for everyone other than your group to leave immediately as things are about to get bloody. His three other goons, the one moving toward the door exempt, move in unison towards you. Roll initiative. It's a d20, same as all the others."
I looked toward my sister to see her tail freaking out, her bishop is the closest to the enemy party, meaning she was more likely to be targeted first. I had to protect her, not only because of our sibling relationship but also because she could heal us if we got hurt. The three of us rolled as one, I got a 10, Dad a 14, and Vemnka got a 4. Andre himself rolled a few dice before moving the chess pieces into place and writing down something on a sheet of paper. "Alright, perfect. Initiative rolled, time to start combat. First up, yellow pawn."
He moved the pawn toward Vemnka's bishop, immediately putting her in danger. "One of the vagabonds rushes you, Vemnka, and you see the flash of Tabaxi claws as they raise their hand to strike at you." Andre's dice rolled, clattering to a halt inside the pad on his end, obscuring the results. "Does a 14 hit?"
"How do I check that," she asked, her tail going even crazier. Though, I couldn't tell if it was excitement or panic.
"AC," Andre responded flatly, "Armor Class."
"Right, yep." She looked down at her paper and flicked he ears 'no' then shook her head.
"The Tabaxi's claws swipe right above your head and miss by a hair. You can even feel the air move past you as you flinch backward. Next, the Goliath moves toward you, hefting his greatsword. Kimmich, if looks could kill, you'd be halfway to Valhalla by now. He glares at you with a mighty fire in his eyes. It's hard to tell, but you think he might have it out for you. He takes a swing with his sword and..." Andre rolled and looked back up at the table, his eyes focusing rather intensely on the black king representing the Goliath. "Meh, Nat 1. He swings and you dodge, causing his swing to miss wildly and land on the Tabaxi nearby. She takes," he rolls, "A sizable chunk of damage as blood flows from her lower abdomen."
"Wouldn't she be writhing in pain right now," Dad asked, pointing to the yellow-topped pawn.
"In real life? Yes. Here? I control the game, and while she is certainly hurt, she still has enough will to fight. Money is a powerful incentive for some people, especially bandits and vagabonds. Next, Sevkan, you notice the flash of steel as a dehooded human rushes you with a shortsword in hand. He has a keen eye and sharp nose, but your reflexes are faster as you dodge his swipe. He stumbles a bit, but recovers before you have a chance to harm him." Andre looks at Dad, who doesn't even seem to register the human's gaze as he looks over his sheet. "Kimmich, it's your turn. You can attack, retreat, use a spell-"
"Divine smite the Goliath, I'll use Divine Smite on the Goliath."
Andre lets out a chuckling laugh, "Now we're talkin'. Let's do this. Roll for attack."
Dad rolled, and I watched as the dice skipped across the table and finally landed on 11. "Plus five, so 16."
"Very good, that is a successful hit. Please roll both damage and the Divine Smite's 2d8."
Dad rolled his d8 three separate times, coalescing in a massive 18 damage, a 7, an 8, and a 3. "18 damage total against the Goliath."
Andre did a weird whistle as he marked down the information on what I could only assume was the stat sheet for the enemies. "18 against big guy. Sevkan, your turn. D-"
"Actually," Dad interrupted, "it says here that I have an extra action and a bonus action."
"Oh."
"So I'm going to attack him again."
"Okay."
Dad rolled another d8 which landed 6 side up. "Another six damage and I end my turn."
"Thank you, finally. Sevkan, go, please. Attack or... Well, all you can do is attack." Andre leaned back in his chair, stare planted squarely on me. I looked down at my sheet for any actions I had. I had a normal and bonus action, and that was it. I looked at the section marked features and traits and noticed that I could do three actions with action surge. "Alright, I'll attack three times. Twice with my halberd using action surge and once with that dagger, you forgot to give everyone that we all had the option to take." I glared right back at him.
"Yes, I didn't give you all the tools you could have had because it would have just wasted more time. But fine, if you want to use it, fine. It's a d6 slashing damage."
I rolled the 2d10 for damage. One landed on 8 while the other landed on 9. My d6 lands true on a 4. "21 damage to the beige-tipped pawn. That's the human, right?"
"Yep," Andre nodded as he wrote down the damage. "You take two swipes at the human with your halberd, both connect with both his arms and torso, slowing him considerably. It's only when he remains standing that you pull your dagger from its sheath and plunge it into his chest. You miss his heart by millimeters, but it does the job as he collapses in a pool of blood. Congrats, first knockout of the game."
I shudder at Andre's description of my character, who might as well be interchangeable with a Krakotl, killing a man. A human, for that matter. I look over to see Dad glaring daggers at Andre and Vemnka staring at me worriedly. I wave her off with my tail and focus back on Andre.
"Retribution is in store for you, though, as an Elf leaps over a table with two daggers drawn, ready to avenge her slain comrade. She..." Andre rolls and whoops as he punches a fist into the air. "She comes down with blinding speed and rakes her metal blades across your chest," He rolls again and lets out a slightly disappointed 'oh' before continuing. "You take a total of 8 damage from the Elf's daggers."
Andre, once again, leans forward, this time to remove the beige-tipped pawn from the table and replace it with a red cross, as well as move the green tipped toward where all the white pawns were. I assumed the gap in the markings must have been a door, as Andre had moved all the white pawns out of it when combat started. The green pawn must be escaping or blocking ours. Either way, we have to deal with the three remaining in front of us before we can handle that one.
"I see gears turning, always a good sign, but let's continue. Vemnka your combat turn. Make it count. You can use your bonus action to heal or attack with your mace, it doesn't matter as long as you do a different action when using it."
Vemnka looks over at me, then to the board with a contemplative look. "I'd like to use my first action to bless the two of them, then I'd like to use my bonus action to bonk the -what did you call it?"
"A Tabaxi."
"Yeah, that, I want to bonk that." Her tail swayed with contentment as she rolled her damage dice. It rolled into the batch of white pawns before landing on 6.
"Ouph, 'fraid that's not gonna be enough to hit anyone, but, Kimmich, Sevkan, both of you can now roll a d4 to accompany your attack roll." He flicked his d4 into the air but somehow missed it as it fell. It clattered onto the table and got flung into the living room as Andre tried to grab it. "Fuck, alright, hold on. Damned carpet's gonna be the death of me."
He went looking for the die, leaving us Venlil staring at the table before us.
"So what do you think," I asked abruptly.
"I don't know," Dad responded, his tone careful but gruff. "It's very clearly predatory. I mean, we wake up in a tavern after a night of drinking so hard our heads feel like they're about to explode and once the hangover clears we've got a band of roughnecks out for blood from the get-go." He squinted at the chess pieces representing our characters, they were all next to each other. "And I can't even really argue that we should stop because I'm fine with what's being depicted. Even if his description of you... knocking out that human was a bit over the top, I think that's the point."
"I agree," Vemnka spoke up, "The whole game is very fantastical, not meant to be compared to real life. I mean, sure, the concept of bounty hunters is a real thing, but I don't think there are humans as tall as that Goliath walking around. Or whatever a Tabaxi is."
"Fantastical and weird. If those don't describe humanity, I don't know what does," I said with a bemused flick of my tail.
"How about tired of hearing you talk about me behind my back," Andre's voice shouted from behind the couch, where he was scrounging for the lost die. Finally, he seemed to have found it, poking his head out from the backrest and looking over at us. "I'm joking of course, I don't mind at all. Unless you're insulting my taste in music, then we'll have a problem."
"I-I mean it's just-"
"Not for everyone, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway," Andre stood up, holding the d4 in his hand. "Lets continue. Tabaxi time." He took his seat and leaned forward to adjust the white pawns before rolling the hit dice. "Bruh. Another Nat 1. And here I was imagining the Goliath and Tabaxi to be the leaders of the group. Whatever. The Tabaxi attempts another swipe at you, or so it appears because she ends up cat-scratching the arm of the Goliath next to her. That's five damage, and it moves to the Goliath who is slightly pissed at everyone except for the Elf, who's, y'know, actually put in some work. The Goliath makes a wide swing, hoping to cut you all down in one fell swoop." He rolls the d20 three more times, once with a 'whoop' of success, another with a 'aww' of failure, and a final with a 'oh come the fuck on.' I could only assume it was a horrible failure. Andre's sigh fills the room. "Alright, Kimmich, you take 18 damage, he crit succeeded. Sevkan, you take no damage, and instead duck low as the swipe passes over you. Vemnka, you feel the blade move over you, but it does not connect due to your short stature. No, instead, he once again hits the fucking Tabaxi with his swing because he crit failed. Again. And because the human is no longer available to fight, it's now your turn Kimmich."
"I would like to smite again."
"Oh fuck, right you get two 1st level spell slots." Andre almost sounded annoyed when it was brought up, but relented nonetheless. "Take the hit dice."
Dad rolled, and it landed on 14. He rolled the d4 for the blessing Vemnka gave us. It landed on a 3. "Plus the five-"
"Yeah, yeah, it hits. Roll me damage."
"I'm sensing some hostilities from you," Dad said smugly.
"I'm starting to understand why my DMs hated being DMs, that's all. Please, fuck up that Goliath." And so he did, rolling a 15 in total. "You swing one of your longswords upward and cleave the Goliath's jaw in two, but he does not die. A mere flesh wound such as that would do little to dampen the giant-kin's will. No, what killed him was the bright light that engulfed his head after the strike landed. His face was the first to go as he tried to breathe through the holy flames surrounding him. His screams ended abruptly as his larynx melted away, leaving only writhing agony. He died a pitiable death in all fairness, as any sinner does. The second knockout of the game goes to Kimmich. Yay."
Again, the feeling of discomfort appeared as Andre described in unnecessary detail the visual of... someone burning alive. Oh stars, he planned that out, didn't he?
"Let's move on. Sev, your turn. First, lemme see you all roll perception again."
I rolled a 10 while both Dad and Vemnka rolled 16s. Adding modifiers made their 16s into 19s. "Alright. Again, Vemnka and Kimmich only, you see the figure who'd been moving toward the door at the beginning of the fight, now make a break for it as the Goliath collapses into a burnt-out husk. His hood is removed by the movement revealing it to be a green-scaled Dragonborn." Andre moves the Dragonborn's piece next to the door and through it, stopping it just within our sightlines. "He has a chance to escape, will you let him?" He looked at us expectantly.
I turned to Dad to see him eyeing the piece like a fresh firefruit. "Dad, no. If he leaves then that leaves the Elf and the Tub- Taba- Tabasi, whatever it's called. We can end this soon." Vemnka put her tail on his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention. He flinches at the touch and lowers his raised fur.
"Yes, yeah. Let him go," he says hoarsely.
"Alright, letting the Dragonborn go. Now it's Sev's turn. Go ahead and do something about his pesky elf." Andre moves the Elf's pawn a bit to put it back on the right square.
I shrug, attempting to fight off the conflicting feelings. On one paw, it's a game and no one is going to get hurt by me doing these things. But on the other, if I do this willingly does that make me any better than someone who would kill in real life?
Andre's voice snapped me out of my stupor. "Don't overthink it. It's a game, and this situation is self-defence. Kimmich is the only person here who's killed someone so far. The human will probably live in prison and the Dragonborn might find new meaning in life. It's not like any of this properly reflects the real world anyway. Just focus on the game, nothing more, nothing less."
I shook my body to rid myself of those thoughts and rolled my d20 and d4 from the blessing. "18 to hit."
"And hit it does. Halberd is a go!"
With another roll, it lands on a zero. "Got a 0?"
"Oh, yeah, the model I imposed the numbers on only uses one character for each side, but that's a 10. Good roll. Elf takes 10 damage and doesn't like you right now. I'm super tired of talking, so I'll just roll the hit dice. She attacks you for 19. Your AC is 19. Meets it beats it, that's a hit. Rolling damage, she lands a solid blow of 9 damage for her twin daggers. Now both you and Kimmich should have 3 health. Vem, your turn."
"Hit the tab?"
"Hit the tab."
"Hitting tab." Vemnka rolled her d20 and it landed on a 19. "19 plus whatever, I already know it hits."
"That it does," Andre responded. With a flick of his wrist, he knocks over the Tabaxi's pawn and places a cross where it was, he does the same with the Goliath's king. "Wait, why did you do that? I hadn't rolled damage."
"The Tabaxi had one health, there's no feasible way you do zero damage when rolling a dice with no zero on it. Anyway, let's wrap this up, it feels like we've been at this forever. Kimmich, your turn."
Dad sighed a deep whistling sigh. "I'll just roll to attack the Elf." He rolled his two dice, one landed on a 12 and the other landed on a 7, plus the 5 to his hits. "17 and 12. Rolling damage for that 17."
"Roll for both, the Elf's AC isn't that high."
"Really," I asked, bewildered.
"Really. The Goliath had the most AC at 16, but meets it beats it and Kimmich met it in the first round." The clack of dice interrupted him as Dad rolled his two damage die. Andre leaned forward to announce the numbers. "A total of 13. Congratulations, the three of you have just won a skewed encounter of DnD."
"Skewed encounter?"
"The Goliath had 40 health while everyone other than the Tabaxi had 20. The Tabaxi had 17. The Goliath had an AC of 16 while the rest had between 12 and 14. At least one of you should have died. I was betting on Kimmich because I had the Goliath go after him, but the nat 1s kinda stopped that from happening." Andre shook his prosthetic hands and brought them up to his chin. "Anyway, I'm dead tired. Never want to do that again, ever."
"I can't say I'm in the same cruiser as you, I found it quite fun, even with the gruesome descriptions," I said, probably unconvincingly. I did have fun, but it was a lot to take in all at once.
"I had fun too. Just, if we do do this again, try to tone back the predatory stuff. The fighting was fine, but the description was a bit... spot on I think." Vemnka's tail curled a bit as she probably imagined the images Andre described in her head.
Dad only gave a small 'hmph' as he scooted off his chair and went toward our rooms.
"Well," Andre started, "that's about what I expected from a bunch of scared space sheep."
I let out a whistle as Vemnka gently lowered herself to the ground, marched up to Andre, and bopped him on the thigh with all her might.
===================END=TRANSCRIPTION===================

A homeless teenager reaches out to the Shil’vati on first day of the invasion of Earth.
Credit to: who has beta read just about every chapter, and the only reason it's readable half the time
for writing the original SSB story.
Pizzaulostin who has been beta reading since the beginning.
Credit to for getting me started with this!
This story is based in the SSB universe.
Previous
First
Chapter 33:

Reqellia:

It was the darkest part of the night, and yet I could hear the energetic commotion of Ruhal blearily heating up food for a famished human along with the clinks of dishes and silverware.
“One more day.” I felt glued to the bench as I stared back into the silver mask I hadn’t worn for almost [twenty-five years] prior, and had hoped never to put on again. I cursed my old girlish wishes when I first joined up, wanting to be a war hero, and then a mother afterwards. To grow old and see my own child in uniform. I had even wanted a son since I was already demanding the impossible.
I never believed in the gods, but now I’m sure that I’ve tempted Niosa to grant my wishes, but only after I made my peace with them that they would never come true.
Klein bounced around the suite’s kitchen, eating enough for two Shil women and already wearing his armor’s underlayment. The chair creaked a bit as he sat, his own horror-show mask on the dining table next to him staring back at him unblinking.
And It was a horror show.
He’d wake up cheerful and happy, and I’d watch over the day as every bit of his energy was drained out of him. The daily exercise routine of a morning run and gym day in a month being performed in a few short hours. Every time Klein finished a trail faster, or performed a more grueling task, the trainers would make him do even more as his contract offers rose another level.
I didn’t blame the instructors, it was their job to challenge each applicant, but Klein blew through all their expectations, so they just kept piling more onto him. Many of those same instructors had asked me if they were pushing him too far, but all I could do was shrug. Even I didn't even know where his potential ended.
I blinked and looked up. He was in his full armor now, with only the mask off.
“Ready to go?”
I nodded and stood up, quickly heading over to Ruhal, who in turn looked at me with sleep deprived eyes. Worn out as I was, he was worse, playing subject matter expert on all things human around a bunch of high ranking officers desperate for information not tainted by censorship.
“Stay safe out there,” he politely ordered as he kissed me.
I kissed him back and held his hand. “You too.”
Sighing,I left to let him rest, popped my back, and donned my own mask.
As Klein paced the door, I begged for safety. “One more day, please let everything be okay after today.”
I shouldn’t have tempted Niosa again.

Itaro:

I quietly padded out of the children’s den to a chorus of snoring from my siblings. The well carpeted securely fastened to wooden floors muffled my footsteps. I opened the large storm shutters and then pulled open the sliding glass door to the patio. I couldn’t sleep anymore, excitedly bouncing from one foot to another.
Klein and Au'tes were coming home tonight! Au'tes had sent me her contract offers that came from a dozen different Imperial departments and bureaus. Dad already agreed years ago she could move in with us, a pack sister was always welcome. Now she wouldn’t feel like a burden if she had to.
And Klein… Well, I wouldn’t be bothered by a few love-marks.
“I see that smile. Excited?” I heard my father’s deep voice like distant thunder. I turned around to his massive form only a few steps away. We both had learned to walk silently when my siblings were just pups and the discovery that they were light sleepers had been made.
I felt my ears droop just a little to see his melancholic face. He had gone out of his way the last few weeks to spend more time with just me now that I had a pack of my own. There was always a soft smile on his face, but the way his tail hung low to the floor was a dead giveaway on his mood.
I tried to cheer him up. “I am. It’s been weeks since I got to speak to Au’tes, and Klein…” I trailed off, the insinuation clear. He smirked. He had met Klein in passing, but I wasn’t bringing him home yet. Hario on the other hand had made one or two bawdy jokes at the dinner table after a second glass of her favorite liquor.
First time Klein spends the night, you might want to check up on Itaro, make sure she didn’t keel over from exhaustion.
“At this rate I’m going to have to teach you sword fighting to beat back other male suitors from poaching you for their own packs!” My father joked. Stepping off the patio landing, he hit the ground noiselessly, bending his legs to absorb the shock.

After letting out a quiet grunt indicative of an age he tried to keep hidden, he turned around and looked back up at me. “Want to come with me for a walk?”
I jumped down and followed him into our little patch of forest my mother’s terraforming job paid for. The early morning was already warm without a cooling vest, but not intolerable. The chirping of birds and the soft whistle of wind tinged with just a hint of salt made everything feel fresh.
It was like when I came home from school and my father would stop construction for the day. We’d explore the forest, play on the beach, go into town for groceries.
Except now my father didn’t run and have me chase him. He carefully inspected the trees for pests, and our conversation was far more practical than whimsical. “Your mother’s coming home next month. Can you write her a message before she meets Klein, just so she has a better idea of your pack?”
I nodded. “Of course. How long is she going to be home this time?”.
Her terraforming jobs always lasted months, if not years. I never faulted her for the huntress life, but it made connecting with her difficult. She was more a guest of honor than a mother to the household, always bringing a fatted Sou’ta carcass home as a present, but rarely cleaned dishes, or the house.
Or really any chore…
He shrugged before crouching next to a felled tree, trimming away small branches for kindling with a tiny hatchet he hand pulled from his tool pouch. “Might be a good long while this time. The last message I got said her department only had small projects and a few hazard jobs on the periphery. Besides, we might need an extra set of hands more than the money now.”
I scoffed. “Her, a house mother!? No offense, but mom is a terrible cook, and a worse caretaker. Remember the time she nearly burned down our kitchen boiling water?”
He laughed with me as he pocketed the hatchet. Standing up with two sticks, and then threw me one. I caught it as he swung his own stick in my general area. “Defend yourself! I did say I needed to teach you sword fighting. How else are you going to fight off possessive men when they realize what a catch you are?”
He didn’t teach anything but how to rough house on a lazy Shel morning.
We played and swung the flimsy branches until I accidentally hit him square in the chest. The branch, already crumbly and dry, disintegrated on impact. It didn’t stop him from dramatically acting out a death scene. Falling to his knees in an overly theatrical fashion. “Oh, woe is me! Cut down by my own daughter in cold blood!”
I let him pretend to be on stage for a few moments longer before standing over him to offer a hand. He took it, and then yanked me down to the grassy patch, holding me for a long, quiet minute. “I’m going to miss you.”
For the first time I noticed the stray white hairs around his muzzle, I knew what he meant, but I tried to play it off. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He just held me for a silent heartbeat longer, then let go and stood up.
He proclaimed cheerfully to mask his wet eyes. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up. You can’t look like a pup out of a mud bath for your victorious pack! I even scheduled a visit at Tulo’s for a haircut. Ruhal’s treat.”
My mind played with potential futures as we headed home. Between the three of us, we could write our own life together. Maybe I could even stay close to home.
I looked up to the rising light.
“One more day!”

Klein :

The mountains of gear and equipment around us were illuminated by harsh flood lights. We stood in formation with each person, regardless of species, showing physical signs of exhaustion. Drooping shoulders and bent knees, unfocused and slow eye movement.
Instructor Li’kele was wearing full battle rattle today, complete with a compact lasrifle holstered to her leg.
“Good morning applicants! It’s the last day of selection! Your assignment will be to support your sisters in the combat section in the wargames! You see all this critical equipment? Our first assignment will be to load all of it on auto-turoxes and hover-wagons. Unfortunately we don’t have enough capacity , some of you will need to carry gear on your person as we make the [ten mile] trek into the forest. Applicants 849, 734, 236 and 953 step up after we finish loading! You are our extra carriers.”
I knew I was going to be picked. It was easy to not let it bother me though. Reqellia had explained that the instructors were just trying to push us to our limits, and every extra duty and handicap meant a better contract with a brighter future.
Still, after hefting thousands of [pounds/kilos] of stuff onto the squat legged drone’s cargo cages and the little platforms that would float once powered, dread formed in the pit of my stomach as an entire counter-battery system was cinched onto my person. I trudged as we formed up for our road march.
The combat selection team rolled in as we took positions, already covered in mud from what I could guess was their own morning fun, their las-rifles at the low ready. Their own instructor, a severe looking Hyena-like Kortika woman with fur that trimmed short and smooth. She yelled out orders to the gaggle of applicants under her command. “Form on either side of the supply train and defend them at all costs! If they get shot because you weren’t doing your job, then it’s your ass that will be carrying the extra gear!”
We marched out of the base, clinking and clunking as we traveled uphill. The weight wasn’t too bad now that it was evenly distributed on my body, but it would be hell taking it off and putting it back on anytime we stopped.
“Isn’t that the new shock trooper ? What’s he doing with the non-combat selection?” I heard one of the combat applicants say idly. It was easy to pick up conversation in the nearly silent dawn as we marched on a dirt path extending across an expanse of grassland in the reddening sky. It was really pretty, watching the light play on the green forested hills in the distance.
Their Instructor sidled up to the commenting girl silently, ears swiveled back in anger. She grabbed her shoulder, growling low. “Cut the chatter, girl. ”
Silence followed for the next hour in the pre-dawn light.
We got the first taste of the wargames when red beams bolted over our heads and dropped one of our auto-turoxes. “Everyone get down!” yelled one of our instructors, and I threw myself on the path.
With all the weight on me, the impact on the ground hurt . I looked up and saw red beams blink in and out over me. Their flashes brought back memories.
The red glow through convenience store windows . An alien invasion.
I blinked furiously and turned my head to see what was going on with the combat teams on the sides of the road. They had already taken out two of the ‘raiders’ who stood up, hands in the air as they walked away. Another minute clicked by before a squad decided to double check the tall grass and found a third raider hiding. All had the insignia of the instruction cadre commandos.
“Everyone, up !” Instructor Lik’ele belted out in a two-word shout, and I had to push up off the ground, creaking under the weight. My arms burned as I got to my knees, then raised a hand and called out, “assistance!” One of the unnumbered girls gave me a hand to steady myself, and I rocked a bit trying to stand.
“Thank you,” I said, but between the voice distorter and my mask, the girl backed away as soon as I was up, fear registered in her eyes.
[At the bus stop, a classmate backed away from me. scared of me for some reason mumbling ‘you're bleeding’. Warmth on my upper lip, a coppery taste.]

I shook my head, trying to banish the weird memory surfacing, I hadn’t had a nosebleed since I left Earth. I looked back up, but the girl had already gotten back in formation and we started moving again.
It wasn’t quite noon when we stopped for lunch. I got help removing my kit, and stretched to work out the kinks. Reqellia stood next to me as I sat down on the hard packed surface. I took off my gloves, and jammed them under my chest holster.
I was technically ‘armed’ right now. We had gotten the thirty-minute las-pistol training yesterday on how to safely handle them, and then ran through a quick range. They were nothing more than glorified laser pointers though. They could lock up a suit set to respond to the laser signal, but they wouldn’t so much as redden skin otherwise.
Reqellia had let me in on their real purpose, to see if we could be trusted with a dangerous object and not play with it.
Eating was a pain, I had to lift my mask halfway up and eat blind. The meal pack was cold, but eh, it was food. Goddess, I was hungry.
“How are you holding up?” Reqellia asked, the silver mask obscuring any expression, and the voice distorter deadening any intonation, but by the angle of the head tilt, I could guess the question was more concern than curiosity.
“It’s not too heavy, but it’s awkward trying to move around,” I admitted as I put my mask back in place and pulled out my omni-pad. I tried not to boggle at the contract offers I was getting. It was a straight up bidding war, including furnished houses, years of leave after an initial stint, even minor titles.
Ruhal had helped me, even filled out the forms himself with less than a day for submission. He had also messaged me about the fine print of many of these absurd offers. The watch word was ‘Relocation’.
“They will send you back to Earth. Right now, you are the only human any department can recruit who might know an obscure piece of human signage or culture that got skipped during their culture crash courses, has the physical ability to keep up during an operation, and they can implicitly trust it is loyal to the Imperium.”
I scrolled past the too-good-to-be true proposals and to the ones without relocation, not ridiculously overpaying, but still plenty. Maybe I would follow Ka’tel into ICAD, or…
“We need to get moving!” Li’kele barked and I signaled for help again. This time Au’tes was ordered to help me with my gear. Now seeing her up close, she was definitely worse for wear. She smiled, but it was the kind of tired smile that had almost no energy in it. Her usual well controlled movements were slurred by exhaustion, and she leaned on me after buckling the packs on my shoulders, her own extra gear was a large backpack of energy cells.
“Damn, girl runs away in fear from combat selection after spending years in the militia and now plays valet. Bet whatever is underneath that suit is more would eat her alive if unmuzzled,” I overheard one of the combat applicants snicker. Au’tes winced, just a bit, at the barb from her former youth militia group.
“Lift your visor.” I said. It was dumb, it was really dumb, but I wanted to give her at least a reminder of what she had that they didn’t. Au’tes had a flicker of confusion, but flipped up the visor on her suit’s helmet.
I lifted my mask just enough to kiss her. It was honestly a gross kiss and wished I could have brushed my teeth beforehand. But when I dropped my mask down there was the manic Au’tes again, full of energy and gusto. I looked past her to the shocked combat applicants. I put my finger to roughly where my mouth was and whispered in my distorted voice, “No one will believe you.”
Au’tes brought her visor down and squeezed my hand for a second longer before leaning in close “Thank you for letting me know you still exist under there.

Reqellia:

The dirt trail up the hill was easy enough for my legs. I stayed in the same general area as Klein, but with my augments I already had his pinpoint location and medical data, I could even access his helmet camera. I didn’t want to get in his way while the instructors gave him snap secondary tasks to complete on our journey up to the outpost location.
I kept myself entertained by listening in on the comms chatter that I could pick up on the wargames going on about us at large. I had enjoyed playing the no-holds-barred opposing force when I was a commando on rotation here.
Right now there was a particularly fun little drama going on up north of our location. A mechanized assault unit tasked with taking out an anti-orbital battery got one of their exos stuck in mud because of a poor assessment of the ground composition. The armored crane they had first ordered to pull it out was now also stuck.
The Lieutenant was trying to get an exception to the wargame rules to bring a drop ship in to pull them both out, but the higher-ups told her to figure it out. The whole point of these wargames was to discover how things could go wrong. The Lieutenant tried to pull title to overrule them, only to get a nasty conversation from her commander.
A small beep from my monitoring systems told me Klein’s heart rate had slowed and I looked up to see the front of the supply train had been ordered to halt. Up ahead was the “fort,” a clearing on top of the hill with nothing but some half buried holes.
The Kortika woman got to the front of the formation and gave her orders. “Listen up! Combat selection is going to set up a perimeter while the Auxiliary builds us a structure safe enough to hold during an assault. All weapons are going ‘live’, but for those in the non-combat teams I will again warn you to only use them in self-defense. If you wanted to shoot people for a living you should have signed up for it.”
I tried not to flinch as I watched Klein and his compatriots start to offload all the gear they had packed this morning and attempt their best effort at setting it up with basic instructions from Li’kele and the manuals that came with the equipment. Just another test to see how the applicants would handle the technical situation.
At this point they were at their limit, physically and mentally exhausted as they tried to bolt frames together, wrestle antennas, install expandable barriers, and put together the foundations of a forward operating base.
Klein had all but given up on the counter battery system he schlepped here and handed that responsibility off to a Senthe Boy while speaking a rough northern dialect of Satenthia. The boy was more than happy to talk to someone who knew even a few words of his native tongue.
I opened a small window on my HUD and watched with amusement as the early contract offers rose and fell. Klein’s offer from naval engineering, already paltry compared to other, more suitable jobs, dropped to barely above standard. Intelligence and Law branches, however, rocketed upwards again.
I could almost hear the recruiter’s comments as the numbers and terms changed. Does not have familiarity with Shil military equipment. Comfortable with speaking multiple languages. Works well with multiple species.
I watched them work. Klein, in usual Klein fashion, pushed himself. After getting the counter battery laser hooked up, he volunteered for other physically demanding tasks. Pile driving in the foundations that hold the columns of the structure. The rhythmic thump gave me ghost aches when I had done the same thing out in the periphery while getting pot shotted by roaches.
I shook my head. It was going to be another rough night for him by the way he was bunching up his shoulders as he braced the handheld pile driver. Thankfully, tomorrow he’d be home and with an appointment with Cee who might force him on bed rest for the next month.
I started to chuckle at the thought of how protective Itaro was going to get after taking one look at Klein. I came back from deployment once missing three fingers from a plasma grenade and Bahtet waited on me and foot, wouldn’t so much as let me handle a kitchen knife until they were replaced later that month.
A few stray red beams were thrown our way, even a flash bang or two from the commandos tasked with harassing us came and went. As the ramparts of the temporary base were finished, I took up station on the second level to oversee the whole complex. Klien was working with a combat team, helping them put a second defense line in. They had driven stakes into the ground to support parallel knee-high thermocast plates with an arms-length gap between them, which Klein was filling in with dirt to act as a wall and platform for the heavy, crew served lasgun.
I was thankful there would be a shuttle to pick us up soon. I played the opposing force for Selection a few times, and I still remembered the script. Right now we were in a lull that would last until dusk, then at least three full commando teams would assault the base. The battle would be made as realistic and demanding as possible with creeping dark to add to the complexity.
The Selection team would always be wiped out, but it was how they performed against overwhelming odds that would shift the contract offers that last bit before everything was locked in place.
I heard the whirr of a counter battery system swiveling around, and then the crackle of it firing. I turned to see what it was aiming for but all I saw was a cloud of smoke . Then a fast moving object came through the cloud before I heard the crackle again and another exploded .
Blanketing everything in a tar-black fog .
My stomach dropped. This wasn’t the cadre commando team, and they were attacking too soon. I got on the comms with Li’kele “HALT, HALT, HALT! We need to stop the exercise!”
I got a crackle on the comms. Then Li’kele’s voice came in that terrifyingly calm voice used to keep control of a combat operation. “I can’t get a signal out, I need a report on the situation.”
Instead of trying to explain I sent her my video feed as I jumped down from the ramparts and started to sprint for Klein. I needed to get him out of here , but I hadn’t had time to prime my augments. I started the cold power cycle as I cursed myself for letting my guard down.
I was already too late . I watched as our own counter-battery laser weapons were used against us, acting as the triggers for each smoke grenade engulfing Klein’s team right in front of me, their signal dropping right out. I got a response from Li’kele that alleviated at least some of my terror. “Dammit! It’s the 171 st Raiders from the wargames, they mus-”
And then I was enveloped in darkness and static. The smoke was so thick I could only see a few paces away in all spectrums. I tried my internal radio and….
Nothing. I was alone and with nothing to guide me, and then I saw to the right of me a few weak beams of red, and then a ball of light of a simulated explosion. I let my gnawing panic subside and walked their way with a observers flag in my hand. I was practically on top of them before I saw the combat selection team that had been ‘killed’, their frowning faces and hands up as they sat there grumbling.
The Raiders appeared soon after. A four woman squad. Two Helkam, a Rakiri, and a Shil’vati hefting a large antiquated grenade launcher. I called out “Do you have a way to call a emergency stop to the battle?”
The squad leader responded. “Did someone get seriously injured? I can fire off a flare and our medic teams will be here to extract them.”
“No! This is Selection, we aren’t supposed to be part of the Wargames.” I argued, but she waved me off.
“We got orders to assault the base up here. Trust me, our commander is mighty pissed at getting tasked with a frontal assault on the youngest and toughest the Imperium has to offer, with adding insult to injury if we lose to kids. That’s why we broke out the smoke screen.”
“One of the Selection members is the first of their species. Higher ups want them monitored at all times,” I partly lied.
The gears whirred and the team lead brought her weapon up again, eyes a little wider. “ Blue Eyes is here? Shit, girls ready up and head on a swivel!”
The team reformed in a circle facing outwards, a tactic specifically meant for ambushes and roach suicide drones. I stood there, confused. “Blue eyes?”
The team lead started to move into the smoke again, but explained, her eyes darting around. “Yeah, the freaky creature in the mask, toyed with an unmanned Exo before annihilating it with a shipcutter! A close quarters combat specialist with heavy armor and a real mean streak . You’re telling me they’re loose in a forest with enough concealment to sneak up on us and tear us to shreds? Ma’am the only ones in immediate danger are us. ”

Blaze 3: Demonic Arc 5: Immortal Sins⁷
Last time. FATHER made plans with the Anti-Sapiens. He wanted to gather the Anti-Sapiens in one spot. FATHER would force jim to create an invention for Jillian which would make her fight her the others. Team Blaze were trying to get the others together. Sidney's group fought Takei and questioned was he an Anti-Sapien. The Anti-Sapiens have finally made it to Togyu Manji. FATHER was shown with a new Anti-Sapien. What will happen now? FATHER" I'm glad that you are here." Rampage" Pleasure doing business with you." FATHER" We are nearly there." Rampage" I sense some good spirit energy. Let me make a quick stop." FATHER" Make it quick." Rampage challenges some people.
Rampage" Who is next?" Geo appears and says" I guess I am now." Rampage thinks" That spirit energy. He's one of the strong ones. I can see it in his eyes." Geo struggles to keep up with his strikes. Geo" He's strong. Too strong. He surpassed my hand to hand. He's not ordinary(thoughts)."fight over. They finally make it to the others. Rampage" So these are the other Anti-Sapiens." FATHER begins to laugh. FATHER" It's about damn time. We are finally one. We will make the world suffer. Feel our wrath." Everyone laughs as well. Team Blaze are shown. Corroshi" Eyashi. What brings you guys here?"
Eyashi" We have actually discovered something. We've got word that the Anti-Sapiens are joining up. I believe it is going to be here." Corroshi" Why do you think that?" Fasha" Togyu Manji is a very large area. They probably want to takeover here. And besides, there's a lot of incidents that occur here anyways." Corroshi" Nice response." Zushi" We needed to round up everyone and warn them. We need everyone here. We need your help." Corroshi" You can count on me." Sez" Hey Corroshi?" Corroshi turns around and says" Do I know you?" Sez" It's me Sez. From the tournament." Corroshi" Oh yeah. I remember you not. You are the one who tried to cheat." Sez" That's me." Corroshi" So why did you come back?"
Sez" I heard you moved and wanted to know if you let you join your team?" Corroshi" Well of course you can. Welcome aboard!" Sez" Aw thanks." Geo and the others aren't there yet. Now everyone is together. Rischardo" Since we're up against Anti-Sapiens, I want everybody to know this. If any of you see Anti-Sapiens named Ira and Danly Indies, there my kids and I'll deal with them. Ira has red hair and Danly has orange hair." Everyone is training with each other. Julmbo" Hey Fasha." Fasha" Yes." Julmbo" Let me see your blade." She does. Julmbo" I see. There is something I need to teach you. Reincarnation." Fasha" Reincarnation?" Julmbo" It's the ability to fix broken Extension Blades."
He breaks his blade. Julmbo" Reincarnation!" The blade has fixed itself. Fasha" Wow that's going to take some time." Julmbo" Nonsense. With your skills you'll master it in no time." He continues to train Fasha. MaXx, Haden, and Sid are lifting weights. MaXx and Haden get into an altercation. MaXx's eyes turn black. MaXx" I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" MaXx' Dark Seal interrupts. He raises his blade towards Haden. Eyashi uses his speed and gets in between(has his hands out separating them)them and says" Brothers shouldn't fight! MaXx don't let darkness consume you." He snaps out of it. MaXx" You're right." Thank you." His eyes return. Keira Saja goes towards Sid and says" I want to be just like you, Fasha, Phil, and the others."
Sid" What do you mean Keira?" Keira" I wish I had powers so I could protect you guys and fight alongside you. If CJ could have power behind I could. I wanted to know if you would train me?" Sid" Ah yeah. Sure. First I need you to hit my fists." She does. Sid" Good but harder. " Phil and Fasha laughs(good laughs). Keira continues to work on her strikes. Cumi name change. Was supposed to sound like cute. New name. Cuimi(kwee-me). Cuemi(q-me). Cuimi(c-oo-me). New name is Cuemi. Cuemi has a vision. Cuemi" Wait! There are these people and there are shredded. We have to save them." Corroshi" Where are they?" They are headed out.
People are on the ground, all cut up. Domay" Who could have done this." Ishani" I think I am going to be sick." She almost throws up. They hear a knife sound cutting together. They go check it out. There's a man standing on dead bodies with his back turn. He turns around and has knives in his hands. Geo" It's him!" He charges and attacks. Eyon" You know this guy?" Geo" This guy was challenging people and he beat me. Hand to hand combat. He is not ordinary. I knew it was slomething about the guy." Rampage" Right you are." He shows off his Anti-Sapien symbol on the left shoulder. Eyashi" He's an Anti-Sapien?" Rampage" Terrified yet? You will be." He strains(screams)his body and shoots off quills(porcupine) towards the others.
People are screaming watch out. Wiggy puts her hair on(wig). The wig has a mind of its own. The wig attaches itself to the scalp. Long hair. The wig can walk Haira(Wiggy) around. Resembles Dr. Octopus. His tentacles are like her hair. The wig is Saiivo. Wig" It's about time you are using me. You must be in a bad situation." Wiggy" I don't need you to be talking. Just shut it." Wig" Whatever you say." Phil hears something. He sees something gooey. He begins to smirk. Phil" Genesis. I guess you're back. Well come on out." Wiggy appears and says" Expecting someone." As Phil gets closer, her hair grabs him from below. Phil" She did that with hair. She's pretty crafty." Her hair becomes gooey and she attacks Phil. Phil" She is an Anti-Sapien." Wiggy" right you are.
As Phil attacks Wiggy, his body goes through her. Phil" What are you? Your hair has to be made with....." Wiggy" That's right. Saiivo." Phil" I knew it." Genesis appears from the ground. Genesis" I was getting a little bored fighting you and all so it's time for a switch. I'll fight you guys." He goes after Sid, Fasha, and Eyashi. He multiplies himself and says" This ought to do it." Bugs are in the area. Strider" It's him!" The other Anti-Sapiens have arrived. Draum sees Wiggy's uniform. Draum" Hey hair lady?" Eyashi" Really? Hair lady." Draum" Shut up will ya. That uniform. You're with the Hydro Corps. What ties do you have with them? I used to be a member." Wiggy" As if I'd tell you." Draum" Figures." Bugs come from his hands(cut off off hand). Rischardo turns around Tijiri and punches him.
Rischardo" Hey there. We never finished our fight." Tijiri" Right you are." They fight. Tijiri" By the way I'm Black Hawk or Tijiri Akaru." Rischardo" (big grin)And I'm Rischardo Inies. The Demonic King. Does that intimidate you?" Tijiri" Not in the least. This will be great." Rischardo" Do you know any Anti-Sapiens named, Ira and Danly Inies? They are my kids." Tijiri" Never heard of them before." Jillian" There are all of these evil duers. Hahaha. Enough for me. Prepare. You'll be parrish." Sid" This feels weird for us to fight." Fasha" Yes it does." Location: Outside Eyashi's house. Genesis clones himself. Genesis" Now there's plenty of me to go around." Julmbo" Hey Takei! Over here!" Massk" You better not disappoint me this time." Julmbo" I won't." Julmbo and Tinn vs Massk. This Time he has help.
Strider and Spike vs Buzz. Spike uses earth boulders and traps him however, he escapes. He appears him and attacks. Strider does some combo attacks but his body keeps becomes bugs. Buzz's hand(cut off) becomes made of bugs. He claps his hands together and and his bugs get bigger. Spike hits it but it hurts his hand. Spike" What's that thing made of! It nearly broke my hand." Buzz chuckles. Strider launches a fireball but it is not phase it. Strider" What kind of a bug is that?" It spits out something. The attack hard just like it's body. Buzz" I know you can do better than that. With the 2 of you, you can do it." Spike" Strider!" Strider" What do you want?" Spike" When we fought him last time, we were able to get the upper hand because we were together and had him frozen."
Strider" I know what you mean. Hey julmbo and Tinn! We need you guys help!" Julmbo" We're in the middle of a fight." Tinn" Well it does seem like it's important." Julmbo" Fine we on the way." Ending. Julmbo manages to freeze Buzz" Massk tries to stop it but Tinn hold him off. Strider delivers a fiery uppercut and he breaks. Strider" It's over." The others are happy. Suddenly, a sworn of bugs appears and Buzz has returned. Body made of bugs. Mouth has a burnt spot. Buzz" It's going to take a lot longer than that to put me down." Julmbo tries to freeze him again but he goes through it. Julmbo turns his attention to Massk. This time he seems impossible to take out. Ending. Buzz chokes both of them. Strider" There doesn't seem like a way out of this one." Massk takes a look around him. He begins to snap.
Massk" No. Not this place." Strider and Spike look at each other. He is not fighting. Spike" His body is visible again(no bugs). This is our chance." Strider" Right!" Spike uses earth materials and holds his arms. Strider" Goodbye Jakob!" He charges and punches him with a fiery fist. He hits him in his guts. He is dead officially. Wiggy" My brother is dead. Should have saw it coming. He always had issues." Phil" That guy is your brother?" Wiggy" Yes." Wig" You don't stand a chance kid." Phil" Who's that? " Wiggy" It's just my wig." Phil" Wig!" The wig forms a hand and waves. Wig" Hey there." Phil" Wow that's impressive." Wiggy shoots a dark attack on Phil. He eats it away. Wiggy" Impossible! He ate the attack!" Phil" I forgot to mention that I have a Saiivo as well." Wiggy" Preposterous! Another Saiivo user." Phil" That's right."
Wiggy's story with her brothers and her wig is shown. Many years ago. Haira(hair-ah) and Jakob always wanted a pet when they were little but didn't have enough money. Eventually they would get lucky to have enough money. The 1st pet was a dog. The dog would bite Jakob and he snapped the dogs neck. Jakob was always rough with toys. Jakob didn't know how to get along with others. Prefered to play by himself. When their brother was born, Jakob would hold him incorrectly. Wodu Akali. Their mother would correct him. One day he ended up strangling Wodu. Haira had to put an end to it. Their mother and father saw that Jakob was a threat. He needs to go. His parents are shown crawling away and begging for help. He tries to kill them and does. Jakob is then locked up in a special prison.
Jakob is a psychopath and manages to kill the guards(years lateadult). Bugs would appear from their corps. FATHER'S voice would be heard , telling him to touch the bugs. He does. Bugs begins to course through his veins. He'd then escapes. His powers then grew at a phenomenal rate. He would meet Heather who was the love of his life. What Jakob did not bring up, was that Heather had mental issues and was unstabled. Just like him. Regardless of her issues, he ignored it and treated her like a regular person. Perfect for each other. People had there eyes on her and wanted her dead. She was causing trouble. Heather was set up and killed. Burned at her home. Jakob goes in to save her but his mouth gut burned but. He didn't save her. Afterwards, he'd see another person who looked exactly like his Heather. Harper. While Jakob was locked up, Haira would get different pets. However they ran away.
FATHER's voice is heard. She is an Anti-Sapiens. She wanted to know if she is truly immortal. FATHER told her about what the Spirit World did. She jumped off a steep cliff. When she opened her eyes, she woke up in bed(when an immortal jumps off a cliff, they can't die/even the Royal Family or just the God and Goddess). She had survived. FATHER tells her about a pet that will be very useful to her. She sees hair but it begins to move. It took her awhile to catch it but finally does. It talks and is Saiivo. The wig explains the hair to her. The Wig crawls on her head and attaches itself to her scalp. From that day on, she can use the Wig to do what she wants. Just like a pet. Story over.
Phil" Wo. What a story." Wiggy's hair stretches and grab Phil with multiple hands(hair). Phil is being held up by the hair while Wiggy attacks. Wiggy uses hand signs. Multiple hair strands appears. Phil uses a fireball but the Wig eats it. Wig" Um. Tasty!" Phil" She ate it!?" Phil uses earth style but the same thing happens. Phil" Eat this!" He uses Tinsibugadai. Wig detaches itself from Wiggy and jumps up. Wiggy was almost cut up. Wiggy" That was close!" A rose appears on the ground during the fight. CJ" Stand down Jackmun. She's mine." Phil" Right, right. How do you think you can beat her? I could barely fight her alone. What do you think you'll do?" CJ" I just wanted to fight an Anti-Sapien. That's all." Phil Ok. Alright."
Ending. Wiggy has her Tangled Hair Strangle(finisher) applied to CJ, while CJ has her Blossom Crush(different flowers) applied. Both moves are applied at the same time. Which move will connect first. Both are about to be crushed. Wiggy" Give it up already. You are about to crack. I can see it on your face." CJ" (choking voice) Not before you." Phil puts an end to it and uses the Wind Burner. Wiggy" Why you!" Wiggy' hair grabs him from behind. Fasha" It's the hair. We have to separate it from her." Eyashi" You're right. We need a plan she's distracted." Fasha launches an attack. She turns her attention towards her. Eyashi explains the plan to Phil. Phil gets Wig off her head and destroys it. The hair shrinks up. Wiggy" How did you manage to get the wig."
Eyashi" You took your eye off the ball." Wiggy" (sarcastic tone)Oh I did." Wiggy's body becomes covered with hair and she seems to be transforming. Wiggy" I win!" While distracted, CJ uses her Blossom Crush. She is dead. CJ" No, we win." Lady Lightning/Jillian Madame vs Haden Iucan. Lady Lightning begins to talk to Haden. Lady Lightning. Lady Lightning" Howdy evil duer. Prepare to die." Haden" What does that even mean?" Lady Lightning" That means that you're a bad person. Evil." Haden" I am not." Lady Lightning" To spark or not to spark is the question." Haden" What in the hell are you talking about?" Lady Lightning continues to rable on. Haden begins to nod off. She actually put him to sleep. He wakes up. Haden " She is still rambling but how? Enough of your babbling!! Are you going to fight or what?"
Lady Lightning" Prepare yourself evil duer. You have been warned. Whatever happens to you isn't my responsibility." Haden" Yeah yeah. Whatever." Haden launches a couple of lightning bolts.
Arc Notes- Spirit Cuffs. Wind Slice Attack. Sid spit lightning attack works with fire (combine together) FATHER. Light Power heal chair. Rade plant lady. Geo likes to eat but Yolmmo eats more. Rade uses Genesis to get information without having to leave his spot. He tells to Eyashi Arc 6. Rade apple. Draum takes Hydro Corps with Justice Drivers. Keina Kiyoshi 7. Last time on opening Arc 6. Arc 7 lots of demons. Sez Unemori gadget style. Sakura Hurata Arc 5. Korin Kore. 11th grade. Soothsayer short witch attire. Go to school together. Gru boxing style. Sid, Phil and Fasha back to back. Nara Haseku. Frogg Kikio 4. How to do Fire Morph. Archer. Wind Swallow. Shadow Spea Sabitist Lemaru pike. Blaze rich. Call me Darkness. Tijiri Akaru. Ball shape. Anti-Sapien Hydro Corps. Reincarnation. Massk story. Talk about mask. Body weapon/ absorb/keep power. Absorb blades. Sid and Phil extend fists before the fight. Sidney lots of Anti-Sapiens appearing frequently. Jim dies but will be blame on Team Blaze. Lady Lightning puts Haden to sleep. To spark or not to spark. Jakob Akali. Draum stronger than the demons. Danly I am a demon. Ignoramus. Genesis. Anti-Sapiens need to be stopped. Sydney Fire Morph. Color of mist. Keira Umo 12th grade. Arrows shoot Tijiri. Mountain. Kill guards. Blade Eater. Draum he used a kikio. Geronimo. Sakura Justice Drivers. Anti-Sapien animal powers. Named after series. Genesis clone. Purple lightning.
Sidney's group. Tiger(female)=Donta. Bear=Yoshatora(fat). Gorilla=Jasin(stuck in form/good archer).
Mind Controller- Dwells into the person's mind and uses their memories against them. Making the mind attack it's owner.
Team Earth: Corroshi Setse(all styles/fire fav)(master), Geo Kazy(Dragon style/Jeet Kune Do), Eyon Yoshi(Lightning/fire), Yolmmo Usay(wateice) Domay Usay(wind), Korr Yoshi, Kunesuke Atara(glasses/reads/black/lady's man), Su Lin(Eyon's girlfriend/Chinese/not black), Ishani Sharma(Indian skin/not black/turban/Yolmmo's)
Hydro Corps: Sodum Hydro(leader), Coracoona/Charzie Anderson(not black), Dornymious(door-nee-me-us)Ryeno or Rhyno(Rhino/not black/charges), Shune Tuche(to-shay/special suit and mask/great hunter)
Areas- Tohoku Japan(setting/West Japan), Togyu Manji(Sid's home), Conithio Town, Kurai (dark) Haitsu(heights), Renyu Haito, Shiawasena Michi(happy road), Hausada, Heteritoke Town, Kibakoru(near a bakery), Ryusoka (ree-u-so-kah)Tofa,(small town), Zuloko Ikiki(large area), Uketa(oo-kee-tah) Sada(near a graveyard area), Sushun(Soul Snatcher's headquarters), Osaka Japan(western Japan)(Team Earth's original home), Kanta Japan(eastern Japan), Burakkubēsu(means black base)/(Black Widow's hideout),
Greater Demons-Balaam and Dracula
Notes-Mirror asylum. Plache appears arc 6. Rade is a scientist. Wants Kikia to give up her organization. He uses a dark gass it turns people into demons. Erika, Keira Umo, Eyashi, Zushi, and others become demons put into a facility. Must find antidote. Rade has all the demons power Who died. Haden arm becomes demon like but hasn't turned yet. Kikia will stick him with a syringe. Demon form wears off. Arc 6. Haden and MaXx can't win. demon souls. Airball- can be small or large/chargeable. Eyashi- Wind of the Dragon Punch. Charge fist thpen strike the enemy/enemies. Late effect. Final blow will feel like a combination of all the punches in one. Maybe Phil. Dead Beat- idea demon/creature. Strider punches mountain/Gru move mountain. Camme punches Sid untie hair. Huff and puff(wind style).
Lightning Beam (Death Beam). Eyashi got 3 main bosses to like him. Absorb moves/spirt energy. Thunder Strike/plow. Rischardo Underworld fighting scene. Dragon Breath. Heat Vision. Hot as Hell move. Double jump. Liba Tezu. Kiko glasses. We're twins..cousins Fasha. That arm. You're a Soul Killer. You have the red flpower. It's you. Punch/ uppercut Thunder Rider. MaXx grabs it and throws it back. Saundra asks for Sid's name. She tells Ryu. He appears and sees Sid.
Charging fist Sid and Phil. Regular male student too many female characters. Genesis. Rade uses rings to cuff bodyl/Freak Ring Circus/Spirit Ring Cuff. Dragon Flare origin during Bosch's story. Burning Impalememet Sid. Surfing Ice Blade works with other elements. Sid used first with Reaper Sajettus then Fasha with Rudiaslaudia and Sakura used. 1st Lt Alex Mohoto. The Hydro Corps. Eyon vs Tairon was controlled. Fēng's blade Dragon Heart. Dark Matter. Haden purple lightning. When Danly dies, Rischardo will be shown/ Flashbacks shown/will say his son's name. Velencya bird. Corri Howbori. Sid lightning style against Blaze. Lightning Slash. Spirit energy. Rischardo trains Sid. Underwater. Keira says I want to be like you sid train her. Destruction/Destructional Saucer(disk) Domay. Hall of the Gods. Gods on left and Goddesses on right. Gods of Time. Rischardo warns his Greater Demons. Rischardo runs into them later Arc last straw. Camme can't fly. Lightning and wind Morph speed. Mandi glasses Blaze IV likes Spike in Blaze 3.
Ra-Ibo and Kungaru power greater than God of Spirit world and demonic king

Blaze 3: Demonic Arc 5: Immortal Sins⁶
Last time Buzz was shown destroying. He sees his past life right before him and snaps. He sees a familiar face. A woman who resembles Heather. Buzz wanted to marry her. What is her response? Yes or no? Find out right now. Harper" I...I do." Buzz" Excellent. My dear. We'll get married tomorrow. As soon as possible. For now it's time to get your dress." People arrive in the location and so do the Justice Drivers. Buzz quickly covers his mouth. Buzz" Hey we're getting married tomorrow." Everyone wishes them luck. Harper throws a fake smile on. Tinn" Congratulations you two(remembers him from earlier)." The Justice Drivers all wishes them luck.
While leaving, Draum looks back and sees the look on Harper's face. Harper begins to signal a look with her eyes. Draum" Something is not right here." Strider" What are you talking about?" Draum" That woman seemed like she didn't want to be there or with him. She gave me this look. A distress call." Julmbo" Maybe you're overthinking it." Draum" I know what I saw. That woman needs help." Julmbo" Alright. We'll follow the guy." Tinn" This is the guy I bumped into earlier." Strider'' He could be the the guy I fought." Spike" Could be. We won't know until we find out." The Justice Drivers are hiding and spying. Buzz is in the area. Draum uses his body for distraction. The Justice Drives get a hold of Harper. Buzz" Heather? They've taken her. HEATHER!!!"
Harper" Thank you guys. I don't know what I would have done without you." Julmbo" We're the Justice Drivers. Just doing our jobs." Tinn" What's your name?" Harper" It's Harper Sukinuu. That guy was a psycho." Harper talks about Buzz and gets to know the Justice Drivers. Spike" I see what you mean." Draum" Wait a minute?! You said that he'd do anything for Heather. I have an idea. We'll just have to use that for us then." Julmbo" That is really risky but we have to try it." Strider'' If this guy is an Anti-Sapien then that mask man should be too." Spike" Then that means they are most definitely together." A boy is shown(Conithio Town) taking without paying. Has a hood on. Boy" Yummy. That was good. Must find more." A Crow was flying around in the back.
Togyu Manji shown. Tijiri" Hey. Those are the guys from earlier. Let's show them." Takei" Your right." Jillian" I don't see any evil duers(she looks around)." Eyashi" We got company." Zushi" It's the mask guy with them." CJ" It's her. Lady Lightning." Jillian" Don't wear my name out." Sid" That's her?" Takei" What are you waiting for? Take em out milady." Jillian" I only fight evil duers(arms crossed)." Tijiri" I don't know what is up with this girl. Are you going to fight or what?" Jillian" No." Eyashi" I don't believe it. She is actually fighting it." Zushi" So it is true then." FATHER" Please(talking in a nice tone). We need you fight with us. Pretty please!" Jillian sticks her tongue out. FATHER" She stuck her tongue out at me(goofy tone). Why you!" Tijiri" Don't mind her FATHER. We don't need her."
Takei tries to attack CJ but Jillian stops him. Takei'' Why you!" Jillian" I won't let you hurt my friend." Tijiri" Friend?! She's lost it." Takei'' Keep talking like that!" Jillian" It's tme to fight the evil duers." Tijiri" You got to be kidding me. Anti-Sapien vs Anti-sapien." Takei battles Lady Lightning but not that long. They both leave. CJ" Thank you." Jillian" That's what superheros are for." Eyashi" How many more Anti-Sapiens are there?" Jillian" Just those two." Phil" I thought it be more?" Jillian" I did hear FATHER say there's another Anti-Sapien at Conithio Town." Fasha" Back at Conithio Town." Eyashi is calling the Justice Drivers again. Julmbo" You got an Anti-Sapien on your Side. No way. You're joking." He puts Jillian on the phone.
Jillian" There's an Anti-Sapien in your location. Be very careful." Julmbo" Wow you're real. We already ran into another Anti-Sapien. He used bugs. Do you recall a Anti-Sapien with bug power?" Jillian" No. I only know Takei and Tijiri." Julmbo" Who might they be?" Jillian" Takei is the masked one and Tijiri is the mohawk man." Julmbo" So you don't know each other. Can you put Eyashi back on the phone?" She does. Julmbo" This guy was a psychopath and needs to be put down. Well at least we only have to worry about three Anti-Sapien for now. But Jakob, the bug guy tried to force this woman to marry him. He kept calling her Heather. His past life kept interfering." Eyashi" Sounds like a complete weirdo." Julmbo" Like some people(says it funny/talking about Eyashi). That was lucky that Draum had a feeling. Now Harper can be safe. We need to take them out one by one."
Fasha talks about wanting Julmbo to teach her how to utilize the Extension Blade. Julmbo" Anytime when I'm not busy." Takei and Tijiri are together. Takei" Can you Believe the nerves on that girl." Tijiri" She is out of control. That's what she is." FATHER" We need her more than ever." Tijiri" She's made up her mind." FATHER" Mind You say? We need a creator. I know where to go." He goes to Jim's house. Takei and Tijiri aren't seen by Jim. Hiding. FATHER" Jim!" Jim" Who's there?" FATHER" It is I. FATHER. The creator of the Anti-Sapiens." Jim" What do you want with me? Trying to make me an Anti-Sapien?" FATHER" You are not needed for that but your daughter is already one." Jim" My Jillian?" FATHER" You see your daughter was acting up. She was trying to fight my children. And I don't like my children to fight each other. I'm trying to forgive her. She turned her back on us and is with the outsiders. I need her back. I need something from you."
Jim" What is it?" FATHER" I need you to finish that suit. How long are we talking about?" Jim" Several months." FATHER" We don't have that long! Can you make something that allows you to take an item from the finished timeline, and put it in the unfinished one?" Jim" I believe so! Yes." FATHER" Excellent! I used to be a creator myself. Back in my days.". Jim" I'll get to it then." FATHER" There's just one more thing I need. I need a brainwashing device. So in case she acts up. You can never be too." Jim" I can't. She is my little girl(adult). Screw you and you are just a conscience. You can't hurt me anyway!" FATHER" You're right. I cannot." Takei and Tijiri reveals themselves. FATHER" But they can. I'd get cracking if I were you. Time is the essence."
Conithio Town. Harper is all alone. Harper" Jakob. Where are you? I need your help. I've escaped from those bastards. I want to be with you now. I want to finish our marriage." Jakob appears and says" So here you are? And you've accepted your destination I see." Demons show up. Harper" I don't like the demons. Kill them Jakob." Jakob" Sure thing." He killed them all. Harper" How far are you willing to go for me?" Jakob" To the end of the Earth and back. Just for you Heather." Harper"' Would you cut your hand off?" Jakob does and says" I told you I'd do." He waves his ripped off hand. Jakob" All we have to do is get married and we'll be together forever." Harper" This is the man I need." Julmbo" All we have do is wait until wedding then we strike." Strider'' It's sad that we have to leave Harper with that freak show."
Next day/wedding. Jakob" You look stunning in that dress Heather." Wedding occurs. There are no people. Private wedding. The officiant" Do you, Heather, promise to be Jakob's friend? To comfort him and listen to him? To celebrate his successes and to support his struggles? To love him, respect him and tenderly care for him, through all the days of your life?" Harper" I do." The officiant" Jakob, do you take this woman to be your wife, to live together in (holy) matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?" Jakob "I do." The officiant" I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." They kiss. Harper unwantedly. Jakob" Now we're together forever."
The Justice Drivers arrive late but not intended. They go for a sneak attack. Jakob" What did they come from?" Strider" Time to take you out, asshole!" Julmbo" You will pay for everything you've done!" The Justice Drivers battles him 5 on 1(+ Draum). Jakob" (he laughs)Don't think for one second I'm intimidated. I'm a god-damned Anti-Sapien for Pete's sake." Towards the end of the fight, Julmbo manages freeze Jakob. Strider is going to burn him up. However, an interruption occurs. Lights go out. When they return, he's being carried out by a weird crawly thing(large). Draum" What is that thing? One of his bugs?!" The crawly thing says" (female voice)Not by my watch." Spike" Damnit! We were so close!!" Tinn" All that work. For nothing."
Crawly thing is a woman. FATHER" That was a close one. We have to be more careful. Thanks for the save, Wiggy. Wiggy" Don't mention it." Jakob wakes up. Jakob" what are you doing here? Sister(older)." Wiggy" Saving your ass." FATHER" We're nearly there. It's time for a visit." Jakob" Where might that be?" FATHER" Togyu Manji. There are 3 more Anti-Sapiens there. We'll need to unite with them. Then the Anti-Sapiens will be invincible." Wiggy" Now that's a plan." Jakob has a nonchalant look on his face. Doesn't like to get help from his sister. Togyu Manji. Takei and Tijiri pay Jim a visit. FATHER" So how are we coming along?" Jim" I have finished the first device and went to the future to get the the super suit. Just a few touches on the last device." A few touches later. Jim" I'm complete." FATHER" Let me see" Jim starts to walk away.
FATHER" Wait! There's one more thing I need you to do specifically." Jim" And what is that?" FATHER" I need you to give it to her personally. Put the brainwashing device inside the super suit." Jim" I can't do that!! Are you mad?" FATHER" That is the point." Takei and Tijiri both stare at him evilly. Jim" Fine I'll do it(sad voice)." Tijiri" That's the spirit." FATHER" 2 more Anti-Sapiens are on their way. All we have to do is sit back and wait." Takei" I'm bored. Going to harass some people." Tijiri" Have fun." FATHER" Call your daughter over and tell her the suit is finished." He does. Jillian arrives with CJ. Jim" It seems you have company?" Jillian" This is CJ. We met a few days ago." CJ" Please to meet you." Jillian" She wanted to see the super suit in person." The super suit is easy to put on. It starts off small then expands. Laughter is heard. Tijiri appears.
Jillian" Back for more?" Tijiri" This time it's different. I feel bad for you. Attack!" Jillian strikes CJ. CJ" What was that for?" She tries to snap out of it but can't. CJ" Snap out of it!! It's me. CJ." Jillian" I don't know any CJ. You are an evil duer." CJ" She is not listening. Guess it's time to fight back." Tijiri" This is intriguing." CJ finally gets to fight Jillian. Jillian is going to finish off CJ(ending). A voice streams" LEAVE HER ALONE!! Sez Unemori arrives on the scene. He has a gadget blade. Sez" Get out of here!" CJ" I don't run from fights, kid." Sez" Fine then." Tijiri"' I guess that's my cue." He fights CJ while Sez battles Jillian. Tijiri rolls his body up and attack. Sez uses his gadget blade to scan his abilities. Sez" It seems you can absorb whatever you touch then distribute it to any body part." Tijiri" Right you are. It is sad that you came just to die." Jillian" Your opponent is me." Sez gets distracted. Jillian" Never take your eyes off the ball, evil duer."
Sez" I have you know, I am not a villain(talking like a hero). I am but a noble hero. A man of the faithful people. You are but a person who is for herself and not anyone else(still talking the same)." Jillian" Take That back(deep voice). Do my ears deceive me? Did I really just hear that? I want you to know that I can never be this fowl creature of a person, you call villain." They both continue to talk like heros. CJ and Tijiri both get distracted of it what they are saying. Tijiri" Will you 2 can it already!! All of your stupid super hero talk is giving me a damn headache!!" Sez" You just don't appreciate our work." He's about to keep talking but Tijiri punched him. Tijiri" Oh no you don't." Jillian is doing the same thing. Tijiri" No not you to! I'm kinda regretting her being on our side." FATHER" Oh you can bare her." Tijiri" I don't think so. Wait a minute, we're supposed to be fighting. You've got me distracted! Let's finish this up shall we!"
Ending. CJ and Sez are about to be finished. Fasha appears. Tijiri" I remember you. Your appearance doesn't matter." Eyashi and Team Blaze appears. Eyashi" Back for more. Wasn't expecting you to show up." Tijiri" I'm not ready to fight, so I'm going to skedaddle." They both leave. Zushi" Good thing we came in time. Didn't you say that he left last time(looking at Eyashi)?" Eyashi" What are they planning? They are clearly up to something. This happened again with the Justice Drivers. They are waiting for something but what?" Fasha" Why was Lady Lightning with Tijiri?" CJ" She just started to attack me." Phil" Whose this guy?" Sez is going to talk like a hero when CJ cuts him off. CJ" Oh no you don't!" Sez l" I wasn't going to do the talk! I'm Sez Unemori. I saw this girl in trouble so I helped her. I was here for someone. I heard they moved here. Do you know group called Team Earth."
Sid" Of course we do." Sez" Oh that's great." Eyashi" Welcome to Team Blaze. You'll be a great ally. I'll show you where they are." Sez" That's great." CJ" We still don't know what happened to Lady Lightning. Even on the other side, she still seemed in character." Jim is shown hiding and says" It was me. I did it(comes out of hiding). I didn't want to though(crying). I'm Jim Madame. That was my daughter. I was forced to do it." Eyashi" Who? Please tell us." Jim is shaking/looking nervous. Jim" I trust you. I'll tell you. It was FATHER." Everyone says FATHER. He was communicating with his mind. He had the the Anti-Sapiens with him. Forced me to make the super suit to lure her in. And the Brainwashing device was if she'd be rebellious. He mentioned wanting to get the Anti-Sapiens together." Eyashi" It all makes sense now. Now we have think about where are they going and we already know. Togyu Manji. We have to round up everyone. We'll go get Team Earth first."
FATHER calls his children their Anti-Sapien name, rather than their real name. Takei is shown terrorizing. Takei" Now this is fun. Scream all you want. It won't help you(laughs)." A woman appears. Takei" What are you doing to me(sarcastic tone)? She" I can't let you hurt any bystanders." Takei" Oh we'll see about that." She turns into a demon Beast. Tiger Demon. Takei" Wow. Did not expect to see that trick." Time passes. A male appears this time. Takei" Where'd he come from?" He becomes a demon as well. Demon Bear. Takei" Demon power? They must be from the same place?" Another one appears. He is an Animal Humanoid Gorilla. He is stuck in his form. Demon Gorilla.
Tijiri" The 3 of you still can't beat me." Sidney arrives. Takei" You still need more people to fight me." Sidney" It sure took you guys awhile to get to the area. You're going down." Takei" You know, I think I have a few more minutes. Let's do it." Sidney summons his weapon. The others join in. Takei" That's the spirit. Join in. The more the merrier." He launches his blades like an arrow but to a citizen. Gorilla says" Oh no , he's gonna kill em." Tiger catches it with her teeth but barely. Takei" My, that was close(sarcastic tone)." FATHER" It's tme Massk." He laughs. Takei" It's been fun but I have nothing to prove. I'll see you another time. Sayonara!" He's gone.
Bear(fat)" I'm glad that mask guy is gone. We would not have defeated him anyway." Tiger" Of course you'd say that. You have to stop acting like that. You need to grow some balls." Bear" I know you didn't!" Gorilla" Stop acting like children. Nevermind." Sidney" Wait. That's the mask guy Eyashi was talking about. The Justice Drivers ran into him. Is he an Anti-Sapien? If so, what is he doing here?" Tiger" Anti-Sapien? You don't think? Sidney" Let's go see then." Bear" Here we go. Let's go." Sidney's group. Tiger=Donta. Bear=Yoshatora. Gorilla=Jasin(Jason). Jasin is a good archer. Jakob and Wiggy have arrived in Togyu Manji. FATHER is with another Anti-Sapien. Black. Team Blaze is shown. What will happen with the Anti-Sapiens . Can they be stopped? Find out what will happen next time on Part ⁷. "To Be Continued"
Last time. FATHER made plans with the Anti-Sapiens. He wanted to gather the Anti-Sapiens in one spot. FATHER would force jim to create an invention for Jillian which would make her fight her the others. Team Blaze were trying to get the others together. Sidney's group fought Takei and questioned was he an Anti-Sapien. The Anti-Sapiens have finally made it to Togyu Manji. FATHER was shown with a new Anti-Sapien. What will happen now? FATHER" I'm glad that you are here." Rmpage" Pleasure doing business with you." FATHER" We are nearly there." Rampage" I sense some good spirit energy. Let me make a quick stop." FATHER" Make it quick." Rampage challenges some people.
Rampage" Who is next?" Geo appears and says" I guess I am now." Rampage thinks" That spirit energy. He's one of the strong ones. I can see it in his eyes." Geo struggles to keep up with his strikes. Geo" He's strong. Too strong. He surpassed my hand to hand. He's not ordinary(thoughts)."fight over. They finally make it to the others. Rampage" So these are the other Anti-Sapiens." FATHER begins to laugh. FATHER" It's about damn time. We are finally one. We will make the world suffer. Feel our wrath." Everyone laughs as well. Team Blaze are shown. Corroshi" Eyashi. What brings you guys here?"
Eyashi" We have actually discovered something. We've got word that the Anti-Sapiens are joining up. I believe it is going to be here." Corroshi" Why do you think that?" Fasha" Togyu Manji is a very large area. They probably want to takeover here. And besides, there's a lot of incidents that occur here anyways." Corroshi" Nice response." Zushi" We needed to round up everyone and warn them. We need everyone here. We need your help." Corroshi" You can count on me." Sez" Hey Corroshi?" Corroshi turns around says" Do I know you?" Sez" It's me Sez. From the tournament." Corroshi" Oh yeah. I remember you not. You are the one who tried to cheat." Sez" That's me." Corroshi" So why did you come back?"
Sez" I heard you moved wanted to know if you let you join your team?" Corroshi" Well of course you can. Welcome aboard!" Sez" Aw thanks." Geo and the others aren't there yet. Now everyone is together. Rischardo" Since we're up against Anti-Sapiens, I want everybody to know this. If any of you see Anti-Sapiens named Ira and Danly Indies, there my kids and I'll deal with them. Ira has red hair and Danly has orange hair." Everyone is training with each other. Julmbo" Hey Fasha." Fasha" Yes." Julmbo" Let me see your blade." She does. Julmbo" I see. There is something I need to teach you. Reincarnation." Fasha" Reincarnation?" Julmbo" It's the ability to fix broken Extension Blades."
He breaks his blade. Julmbo" Reincarnation!" The blade has fixed itself. Fasha" Wow that's going to take some time." Julmbo" Nonsense. With your skills you'll master it in no time." He continues to train Fasha. MaXx, Haden, and Sid are lifting weights. MaXx and Haden get into an altercation. MaXx's eyes turn black. MaXx" I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" MaXx' Dark Seal interrupts. He raises his blade towards Haden. Eyashi uses his speed and gets in between(has his hands out separating them)them and says" Brothers shouldn't fight! MaXx don't let them darkness consume you." He snaps out of it. MaXx" You're right." Thank you." His eyes return. Keira Saja goes towards Sid and says" I want to be just like you, Fasha, Phil, and the others."
Sid" What do you mean Keira?" Keira" I wish I had powers so I could protect you guys and fight alongside you. If CJ could have power behind I could. I wanted to know if you would train me?" Sid" Ah yeah. Sure. First I need you to hit my fists." She does. Sid" Good but harder. " Phil and Fasha laughs(good laughs). Keira continues to work on her strikes. Cumi name change. Was supposed to sound like cute. New name. Cuimi(kwee-me). Cuemi(q-me). Cuimi(c-oo-me). New name is Cuemi. Cuemi has a vision. Cuemi" Wait! There are these people and there are shredded. We have to save them." Corroshi" Where are they?" They are headed out.
People are on the ground, all cut up. Domay" Who could have done this." Ishani" I think I am going to be sick." She almost throws up. They hear a knife sound cutting together. They go check it out. There's a man standing on dead bodies with his back turn. He turns around and has knives in his hands. Geo" It's him!" He charges and attacks. Eyon" You know this guy?" Geo" This guy was challenging people and he beat me. Hand to hand combat. He is not ordinary. I knew it was slomething about the guy." Rampage" Right you are." He shows off his Anti-Sapien symbol on the left shoulder.
Arc Notes- Spirit Cuffs. Wind Slice Attack. Sid spit lightning attack works with fire (combine together) FATHER. Light Power heal chair. Rade plant lady. Geo likes to eat but Yolmmo eats more. Rade uses Genesis to get information without having to leave his spot. He tells to Eyashi Arc 6. Rade apple. Draum takes Hydro Corps with Justice Drivers. Keina Kiyoshi 7. Last time on opening Arc 6. Arc 7 lot demons. Sez Unemori gadget style. Sakura Hurata Arc 5. Korin Kore. 11th grade. Soothsayer short witch attire. Go to school together. Gru boxing style. Sid, Phil and Fasha back to back. Nara Haseku. Frogg Kikio 4. How to do Fire Morph. Archer. Wind Swallow. Shadow Spea Sabitist Lemaru pike. Blaze rich. Call me Darkness. Tijiri Akaru. Ball shape. Anti-Sapien Hydro Corps. Reincarnation. Massk story. Talk about mask. Body weapon/ absorb/keep power. Absorb blades. Sid and Phil extend fists before the fight. Sidney lots of Anti-Sapiens appearing frequently. Jim dies but will be blame on Team Blaze. Lady Lightning puts Haden to sleep. To spark or not to spark. Burnt mouth. HarpeHeather. Jakob Akali one hand. Buzz bugs covering body. Draum stronger than the demons. Danly I am a demon. Wiggy wig talk to her. Ignoramus. Genesis. Anti-Sapiens Cliff.
Sidney's group. Tiger=Donta. Bear=Yoshatora. Gorilla=Jasin
Mind Controller- Dwells into the person's mind and uses their memories against them. Making the mind attack it's owner.
Team Earth: Corroshi Setse(all styles/fire fav)(master), Geo Kazy(Dragon style/Jeet Kune Do), Eyon Yoshi(Lightning/fire), Yolmmo Usay(wateice) Domay Usay(wind), Korr Yoshi, Kunesuke Atara(glasses/reads/black/lady's man), Su Lin(Eyon's girlfriend/Chinese/not black), Ishani Sharma(Indian skin/not black/turban/Yolmmo's)
Hydro Corps: Sodum Hydro(leader), Coracoona/Charzie Anderson(not black), Dornymious(door-nee-me-us)Ryeno or Rhyno(Rhino/not black/charges), Shune Tuche(to-shay/special suit and mask/great hunter)
Areas- Tohoku Japan(setting/West Japan), Togyu Manji(Sid's home), Conithio Town, Kurai (dark) Haitsu(heights), Renyu Haito, Shiawasena Michi(happy road), Hausada, Heteritoke Town, Kibakoru(near a bakery), Ryusoka (ree-u-so-kah)Tofa,(small town), Zuloko Ikiki(large area), Uketa(oo-kee-tah) Sada(near a graveyard area), Sushun(Soul Snatcher's headquarters), Osaka Japan(western Japan)(Team Earth's original home), Kanta Japan(eastern Japan), Burakkubēsu(means black base)/(Black Widow's hideout),
Greater Demons-Balaam and Dracula
Notes-Mirror asylum. Plache appears arc 6. Rade is a scientist. Wants Kikia to give up her organization. He uses a dark gass it turns people into demons. Erika, Keira Umo, Eyashi, Zushi, and others become demons put into a facility. Must find antidote. Rade has all the demons power Who died. Haden arm becomes demon like but hasn't turned yet. Kikia will stick him with a syringe. Demon form wears off. Arc 6. Haden and MaXx can't win. demon souls. Airball- can be small or large/chargeable. Eyashi- Wind of the Dragon Punch. Charge fist then strike the enemy/enemies. Late effect. Final blow will feel like a combination of all the punches in one. Maybe Phil. Dead Beat- idea demon/creature. Strider punches mountain/Gru move mountain. Camme punches Sid.
Lightning Beam (Death Beam). Eyashi got 3 main bosses to like him. Absorb moves/spirt energy. Thunder Strike/plow. Rischardo Underworld fighting scene. Dragon Breath. Heat Vision. Hot as Hell move. Double jump. Liba Tezu. Kiko glasses. Anti-Sapiens jump off cliff and wake up. We're twins..cousins Fasha. That arm. You're a Soul Killer. You have the red flpower. It's you. Punch/ uppercut Thunder Rider. MaXx grabs it and throws it back. Saundra asks for Sid's name. She tells Ryu. He appears and sees Sid.
Charging fist Sid and Phil. Regular male student too many female characters. Genesis. Rade uses rings to cuff bodyl/Freak Ring Circus/Spirit Ring Cuff. Dragon Flare origin during Bosch's story. Burning Impalememet Sid. Surfing Ice Blade works with other elements. Sid used first with Reaper Sajettus then Fasha with Rudiaslaudia and Sakura used. 1st Lt Alex Mohoto. The Hydro Corps. Eyon vs Tairon was controlled. Fēng's blade Dragon Heart. Dark Matter. Haden purple lightning. When Danly dies, Rischardo will be shown/ Flashbacks shown/will say his son's name. Velencya bird. Corri Howbori. Sid lightning style against Blaze. Lightning Slash. Spirit energy. Rischardo trains Sid. Underwater. Keira says I want to be like you sid train her. Destruction/Destructional Saucer(disk) Domay. Hall of the Gods. Gods on left and Goddesses on right. Gods of Time. Rischardo warns his Greater Demons. Rischardo runs into them later Arc last straw. Camme can't fly. Lightning and wind Morph speed.
Ra-Ibo and Kungaru power greater than God of Spirit world and demonic king

I have autism and i want to be adequately prepared. Some of these questions are weighing on me so please answer if you have an answer.

1. Is scratch paper provided in person?
   
2. If taken online, are you allowed scratch paper?
   
3. If taken online, is the calculator on the computer or must i bring it on my own?
   
4. If online, will the actual test be on the computer screen, or will i need to print it out ?
   
5. How was it like for you online? Would you recommend online?
   
6. If you took it in person, were there multiple people in a room with you?
   
7. Is there breaks or will you be sat in a chair the entire test?
   

Thank you.

I've seen posts about long waits and other terrible experiences with the passport office, so I figure I'd buck the trend a little and describe my experience and how well it went.
I noticed my passport was going to expire on May 15, when I had pulled it out on May 2nd to take a picture of it for a an application. In all honesty, I probably would have missed the expiry date had I not needed to scan it... perhaps that's the downside of a 10 year passport? Easy to forget.
I wasn't planning any travel abroad, so I grabbed the required passport renewal form online and filled it out on my computer. Took me about 10 minutes, printed it off at the library and signed it. One more stop at McBain Camera in Southgate Mall for an updated picture (trying to not look creepy in the photo... no luck...), along with my expiring passport, and my application was ready a day or two later.
I ended up getting busy, though, I didn't actually get around to getting to head to the passport office until May 14th, so it really was down to the wire when I got to Canada Place.
I took the LRT to avoid parking; low an behold, no-one tried to stab me or offer me drugs. It was a pleasant ride and experience (though I will acknowledge my privilege as a tall white guy, and that other's mileage may vary).
When I got to the passport office around 10:00am on the south end of Canada Place, there was what appeared to be a couple of lines marked out outside the office, one that was for appointments, and one that said no appointments. The appointment line was empty, while the other had 12ish people waiting, looking kind of board most sitting next to a fountain next to the line. After waiting for 15 minutes without the line moving much, I figured I should check online if I could still make an appointment. Unfortunately the next appointment was more than a week away... so I had to wait. No worries. I'd planned for the worst—to stay all day if I needed. Every once in a while some folks would arrive in the appointment line and they were invited straight in (damn... should done that!)
After another 5 minutes, a young lady walked out of the front door and began asking people in the no-appointment line what we were here for. She gave them a number and people would go sit down by the fountain... ohh i was in the line to get a ticket to be in line. Damn. Anyways, I said I had a renewal, my form was ready and signed, and pictures taken. She asked if I was in a "rush" and needed the passport before the first week of June? I didn't. She asked one more time to be sure, then said I could go down to the north end of the building to the Services office, which had only a couple people in line, to process there if I liked. Sure.
So I walked down to the north end, where there was, in fact, no line and a handful of people sitting on chairs. I gathered at this office you could get SIN numbers, welfare payment setup, anything really, passport renewals included. A helpful and friendly man reviewed my renewal application, noting one thing I needed to correct, and confirming, again, that I didn't the passport, this time before June 21. I noted the extension but I still didn't, so he asked me to have a seat cause someone would call me.
I had barely sat down, when another man appeared, calling my name. He pointed to a cubicle to sit down where he processed the application making very little small talk. He asked if I wanted my old passport, I shook my head. He confirmed my address and said it would arrive around June 23rd (again later, lol) by registered mail.
Cool. Total time at Canada place.. maybe an hour?
I get home and figure I won't hear anything until the end of June, given the trend of promises.
Flash-forward to two days ago, May 29th(!), my fancy new passport has arrived! Wow is she fancy, too. It's basically a plastic card with a book around it now.
Talk about under promising and over delivering.
TL:DR. Passport was set to expire on May 15, I went to Passport office expecting the worst, got a no-rush passport renewal processed at the Service office on the north end of Canada Place and was promised June 23rd. It arrived on May 29th.
edit: spellering

He could still feel the manacles on his wrists all these years later. The memory of being dragged from his prison cell to kneel before the king was as fresh in his mind now as it was when it occurred. Back then, he was a captive, a spoil of war, a reward from the opposition after it was so thoroughly crushed by the king's forces. He couldn't make sense of the mercy that was his imprisonment at the time, but in the present moment, he was grateful for the opportunity at redemption.
This thought came to him in the middle of bisecting yet another assassin in the middle of the night, just outside the hall leading to Princess Amelia's bedchamber. The chaplain cowered behind him, overshadowed by the mute knight's hulking frame as a crescent of blood flew through the air. The assassin, bearing the mark of the Silent Hand, had little chance to vocalize his agony as a gauntleted hand slammed into their face, the sheer force sending the top half of their body crashing into the ground.
As calm settled in the stairwell once more, the knight sheathed his longsword and knelt down to gather the assassin's remains, spilling entrails across the ground and provoking a quiet heave from the chaplain's doubled-over body. Turning to the adjacent door, the knight placed his foot near the handle and gave it a generous kick.
-----
The door exploded open as Princess Amelia skipped across the ramparts of the castle wall, the sunshine of midday bathing the exterior in golden light. She carried her favorite stuffed animal, Mr. Wiggles the Bear, by the arm, using her free hand to wave to the archers on the outer wall of the property. Close behind, the mute knight followed, seemingly floating across the path with little movement, something that the archers weren't keen on seeing. His dingy armor reflected very little sunlight, covered in dirt and grime from countless wars, some far before his current period of servitude.
He carried with himself a reputation of disdain. Because he didn't speak, others couldn't assume to know what he was thinking. As a result, he was constantly considered a threat, especially given his past as a prisoner of war - an enemy, former or otherwise.
Princess Amelia hummed as she arrived at the other end of the wall, fidgeting with the handle of the heavy iron door before her. She was no more than five years old at the time, and her childlike strength couldn't handle what the knight guarding her could, proven as much when a single index finger extended and hooked around the handle, pulling the door open with ease.
On instinct, Amelia belted out a "thank you" as she sped through the doorway, curving west and running down the deep red royal carpet to the massive doors that separated the throne room from the rest of the castle. The mute knight followed behind at a slower pace, meeting her at the threshold. With a single push, the giant door swung open, and Princess Amelia giggled as she slipped through the crack.
"Daddy!" she called out, her arms in the air as she ran to give her father, King Vengrand, a big hug.
The knight stood at the door, hearing noise but no words. There was a happiness there, distant from him, but existent. As he watched father and daughter interact in the otherwise heavy silence of the throne room, he thought back to three years ago, when the mood was much different.
-----
"What is your name, prisoner?"
Vengrand was met with labored breathing hidden behind sheets of dirtied hair, the shadows obscuring the prisoner's hanging head; within that darkness, silence. Guards stood at either side, keeping the prisoner aloft by supporting his otherwise limp arms. The king was unnerved by the quietude in the chamber. Where he was comfortable with the rabble of the citizenry, most of which was concerned with complaints and bemoanings regarding unsuitable living conditions, the eerie pall that filled the space was tense and unusual. It reminded Vengrand of the war.
"I'll ask again, prisoner," the king questioned, leaning forward in his dark oak throne. "What is your name?"
He was met with silence yet again. The king gripped the throne's armrests in anticipation and impatience. When that anticipation was unrewarded, he scoffed and settled back in his chair.
"Take him away," he commanded with a wave of his hand. "Interrogate him however you must. If he continues to resist--"
As the guards about-faced and began to drag the body back to its cell, the prisoner suddenly animated, swinging his lower body forward through the air. His legs came up above his head and locked around that of the guard on his left, who immediately let go of the prisoner's arm in a frantic attempt to free himself. The guard on the prisoner's right reached for their sword, missing the sight of the other guard flipping over themselves and smashing into the ground.
The blur was the prisoner twisted his arm in such a way that allowed him to grip the forearm of the standing guard, who yelped as they nervously drew their shortsword. As the guard lifted their blade high into the air, the wrist of their armed hand was met with a grip tighter than the noose around the neck of a swaying body. The prisoner lifted his bent leg and drove a knee into the standing guard's back, pulling back on their arms and forcing their body into an awkward scorpion position. The pain shooting through their spine compelled the guard to drop their shortsword, which the prisoner immediately caught and used to strike them in the face, knocking them out almost instantaneously.
Vengrand, watching this all unfold before him, attempted to hurriedly find the alarm whistle buried in his robes. Once he finally found the slender metal instrument with his fingers, he unearthed it from his clothing, failing to notice the shortsword hurtling towards him blade first until it was too late.
-----
The mute knight sat at a small table in Princess Amelia's bedchamber, staring through the slits of his helmet as he watched the frail girl pour a nonexistent tea into a pink cup. She hummed as she slid the cup, saucer and all, over to Mr. Wiggles the Bear, who sat unresponsive in a chair next to her.
"I'm glad Daddy let you watch over me," Amelia said with a smile, focusing on not spilling the tea as she poured another cup, this one for the knight himself. "Mr. Wiggles was getting lonely, and I'm glad he has a new friend."
An hour earlier, the knight watched King Vengrand hug his daughter and send her on her way as he returned to business in the castle. The line of citizens that perfectly divided the royal carpet in half lay waiting, and as the king surveyed Princess Amelia making her way back to the doors of the throne room, the knight could feel the king's stare. He was familiar with that kind of look. It was a look of contempt, born of fear, simmering in tension brought about by possibilities of the unknown. It was a look that said "I'm afraid you'll kill me."
"You can't drink the tea with your hat on, silly," Amelia giggled as the knight lifted the tea cup to his helmet. "The tea's going to spill. You have to take the hat off."
The knight didn't respond, lowering the cup back down to the saucer. Mr. Wiggles the Bear had shifted a little in its seat, its head leaning further over. Still, it smiled. Princess Amelia stared at the knight, as if waiting for the knight to act.
Slowly, the knight's hands lifted up to the sides of his helmet and pressed against the thick metal that kept most weapons from breaching the protection the armor provided, though he didn't need it. When he was found all those years ago and taken captive, he was dressed in simple clothes. Gripping the helmet, the knight raised his hands upward, sliding the helmet off and away from his head, then resting it against his side as he felt the cool air dance against his skin. As Amelia stared at the knight's face, her own smile faded.
"Mister... why do you look... sad?"
-----
Vengrand's hands clutched his mouth as the shortsword struck the alarm whistle, slicing it in half. The tip of the blade met the throne with such force that it split the wood, driving the sword halfway in. The prisoner began walking towards the terrified king, his shadowed face betraying no inkling of any emotion. His calloused feet started to ascend the steps, an action that caused Vengrand to assume the fetal position in his chair as he frantically attempted to pry the shortsword from the throne. As the prisoner summited the stairs to the throne, Vengrand immediately surrendered the thought of survival and flung his arms up to protect his face, blinding himself to his attacker.
If Vengrand expected pain, it didn't come.
The king's body started to relax and unfurl, his arms lowering to reveal that the prisoner wasn't towering over him. Vengrand looked down and found the prisoner kneeling before his feet, the captive's muscled back heaving and falling beneath the thin cloth of his shirt with each breath. Vengrand felt himself caught in a whirlwind of emotions, unable to respond in any way except to stare in a mixture of wonder, confusion, and terror.
-----
The assassin's jaw hung slack as the upper half of their body shook on the forest floor, chunks of flesh being ripped away by wild wolves in the pale moonlight. A streak of blood glistened on the surface of the outer wall in stark contrast to the bland palette of stone brown. The knight watched as the wolves had their fill of the hunt, pushing the lower half of the assassin's body over the ramparts and sending it down to the earth below. The body landed with a thud, joining its upper half in the forest, and the knight took notice of an absence on the outer wall.
"Sir?"
The knight turned to find the chaplain, pale and shaking, standing in the shadow of his massive frame. The chaplain had his arms drawn towards his chest, and in his clutches was Mr. Wiggles the Bear.
"I checked Her Highness' bedchamber," the chaplain stammered. "She's not in her room. Perhaps she's made it to the safety of her father?"
The knight knew differently, having watched Vengrand getting stabbed to death by the first assassin minutes before. If the princess were to go anywhere of her own free will, there would be no way she'd leave the bear behind.
In a swift response, the knight ripped the bear from the chaplain's grip. With one last look toward the holy man, the knight stepped up onto the edge of the castle's outer wall and threw himself over the side, sailing towards the ground. Before he spend what remained of his life eating dirt, he drew his longsword and pierced it into the wall, snapping the blade as he swung on the handle. He landed without grace, rolling across the ground and stopping himself with a gauntleted fist.
He was met with the growls of the wild wolves, who seemingly remained hungry, and with fresh meat on the horizon, they made the close in on what they assumed would be an easy kill. Their resolve, however, faltered under the shadowed gaze of the knight, who seemed to stare into their very souls. The pack of wolves splintered and escaped into the forest, leaving a stray behind to cower beneath the knight's towering form, but rather than be subjected to a brutal, merciless death, it was given something else - a scent.
The wolf's nose brushed against the soft fur of the plush bear, allowing a signature scent of peach and jasmine to flood its nostrils. It was a familiar scent to the wolf somehow, as it caught several hints of the same smell prowling the woods for food. The knight waited for the wolf to recognize the scent, watching as the animal's body turned to point north. Grabbing the remains of his shattered longsword, the knight watched the wolf begin its trot through the trees, following the scent into the darkness.
And with one heavy footstep after another, the knight's journey began in earnest.
-----
Original prompt by u/Tired_Autistic. You can (probably) find this and more on StoriesInTheStatic.
​

Part 1
Part 2
Content Warning: Child Abuse
***
Darkness gave way to dimness as I opened my eyes and saw slivers of gray light printed on the ceiling like lines on the page of a ruled notebook. In the distance, I heard the sound of pans clanking against the kitchen stove, and I became ever-aware of the scent of cinnamon and bacon sneaking in from under my closed bedroom door. For a moment, I was back in sixth grade. My dad was downstairs cooking up his famous from-scratch buttermilk pancakes and cheesy scrambled eggs. It was probably 7:00, maybe 7:05, and I had fifteen minutes to get up, shower, dress, eat, then it was off to Middle School with dad: for me to learn, him to work.
It was the day we were set to be assigned our Ancient Civilizations project. Unless something went terribly wrong, I would be choosing Ancient Rome. I didn't know much about it, other than it was some great empire, but even then I didn't really understand what an empire was. I was just happy that I would get to build something with my dad. I turned on my side and looked at the closed blinds, the source of the gray lines, then the cabinet with all my trophies, and finally the wobbly, firetruck-red chair pushed under my desk. I was home at last. The past fifteen years were nothing but a dream. There was no blinking. No malevolent demon chasing me. No inexplicable chaos…
It was a sweet fantasy. But one that became bitter the longer I tried to chew on it.
I swept my legs out from under the covers and sat, face-down, on the corner of my twin mattress. My feet were adult's feet. My room was my former room. And that was Trent downstairs cooking breakfast. Unless, of course, it was my dad, in which case I'd have bigger problems than merely waking up from a good dream.
After changing into a fresh shirt and pants, I went downstairs and saw that it was, in fact, Trent cooking breakfast. He was wearing a plain t-shirt through which I could see the ripples of his large back muscles as he whisked what I presumed was pancake batter. He must not have heard me, because he didn't turn around when I made it to the end of the hall. I leaned against the wall, arms folded, and watched him for a minute as he finished whisking the batter, then poured it onto a hot griddle (spilling a few dribbles on the counter in the process), watched it bubble, flipped it, then transferred the golden medallion onto a plate stacked five high. Next to the pancakes was a plate filled with bacon, and a small aluminum pan of scrambled eggs.
"Smells good," I said at last. "Find everything okay?"
I thought I might startle him with my abrupt appearance; instead, Trent looked over his shoulder, chewing on a piece of bacon. He swallowed and said, "Oh, it's you. Yeah, I hope you don't mind me using your kitchen. I thought I'd make us some breakfast."
It occurred to me then that Trent likely wasn't a guest in other people's homes very often. Lucky for him, I didn't mind him using a kitchen that hadn't been mine in many years. I was going to tell him as much when I saw an opened box of Bisquick sitting on the counter. I pointed to it and asked, "you found that in the pantry? My dad usually makes his pancakes from scratch."
He turned to look at the box, then back at me. "No, I went out and got that. And the bacon and eggs. I didn't want to dig into your supply without asking, and you were asleep, so..."
I felt my eyebrows furrow as I checked the time on the stove-clock. "It's 8:17 in the morning. Are you telling me you went out to the store, bought all these ingredients, then came back and cooked them? Just how early did you get up?"
"Around five," he answered as casually as if I had asked his dog's name. "I don't usually get much sleep. Around four, five hours is all I need. It's actually unusual for Antennas to need more than that amount. But I suppose you are unusual."
I opened my mouth in disbelief. Not only had he commandeered my kitchen, he was calling me unusual? At 8-fricken-17 in the morning?
"Sorry," Trent said, reading my expression, "I'm… well, let's just say I've not had many personal relationships. I'm used to being blunt. It's just easier that way." He took out a plate and transferred two pancakes, some eggs, and a few slices of bacon onto it. Then he held it up to me as a peace offering.
I sighed. "This better be good," I said with a wry smile and took the plate.
"Trent-certified, but no guarantees. Refunds not allowed." He replied, which made me giggle.
We sat across from one another at the dining room table. The meal was pretty good, but it was no dad's special: the pancakes were clearly box pancakes, the scrambled eggs lacked cheese and had a little too much pepper, and the bacon was… well it was bacon, no complaints there. Still, it was nice to settle down and have a somewhat normal morning.
After we ate, Trent unfurled the long arc of his life, which began as the second youngest brother of eight siblings in rural Oklahoma. Trent's 'pops' was in the logging business, first as a lumberjack, then as an owner of his own logging company. His dad acquired the business while Trent was still young, so school was never a high priority for him—at least not the way contributing to the household was. The rest of his childhood he summed up in two lessons: "Being 'close' has nothing to do with distance," and "don't touch strange plants in the woods."
I asked him if he kept in touch with any of his siblings, to which he responded, saying, "The only reason they haven't had a funeral for me is because it would be too much work." When I asked him to elaborate, he said he'd not had contact with anyone in his immediate family for over a decade. He kept tabs on them. For example, he knew his mother had dementia, and his dad was forced into retirement by his oldest brother (who had gone on to take over the logging company). His sisters were all married and moved to other parts of the country. He considered reaching out several times, but his situation required a degree of security that wasn't conducive of close family ties, not that there were particularly strong ties even before he broke contact. Trent admitted to being a bit of a black sheep.
"It all circles back to one of my jobs as a Home Inspector," he explained. "After I moved out, I tried college and quickly realized it wasn't for me. So I entered the workforce and did a bunch of odd jobs. Construction, carpentry, plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for a while. But I ended up in Home Inspection. There was one job in particular which made me aware of…" Trent paused and gestured toward the space between us, "our situation. The blinks. You remember what I told you about origin points being like a station where other realms intersect with our world? Well, this house was like Union Station or JFK airport if you prefer a plane analogy. There was a pile of junk up to my knees in the basement of that house; all of it had been blinked in. I spent a couple days on the property, running tests, trying to identify the strange phenomenon, but on day three I rolled up to an army of what I thought at the time were Feds, parading around the property like ants on an anthill and sectioning it off with crime-scene tape." I saw disgust funnel into Trent's expression. "They're not Feds at all though. At least not anymore. I call them "the Organization," a group of people who lead in the formalized understanding of what you know as 'blinking'. And they're the reason I have to take precautions."
I considered this for a moment. Trent's story was certainly plausible, but I was missing a key piece of the puzzle. "Okay, so, what does this 'Organization' want? You make it seem like they're not good people. Have they tried attacking you?"
This caused Trent to laugh for a solid ten seconds. "Sorry, it's just… I mean if you knew what I knew, you might think it's funny, too."
"Then tell me"
Trent took a deep breath, then released. "It's a long story. The gist of it is this. The Organization has a certain device which I call 'the Receiver'. Think of it like a giant antenna—no, not us kind of Antennas, an actual antenna. It's like the machine equivalent of us, but with a billion times the bandwidth. Their goal is to use the Receiver to map our world in relation to other dimensions, then use that map to establish dominion over everyone and everything. In order to do this, they need muscle: both human muscle, and Antenna muscle. They're in the process of harvesting as many of us they can find. They're like a giant diamond company who is taking to the mines. When they find a stone, they take it back to their factory for cutting and refinement. In real terms, they run tests on us and attempt to augment our powers. The ultimate goal is to create a 'Strong Antenna', or an Antenna capable of causing phase shifts—blinks." Trent saw from my expression that he was starting to lose me, so he stood up and began rolling up his shirt.
"What are you doing?" I asked, turning away. Then I saw what he wanted to show me. There was a long scar beginning high up on his ribs and slashing all the way down to his left hip. There was also what appeared to be a patch of burn marks on his stomach.
"It was early on when I got these." Trent explained. "I was naive. I actually thought I'd be able to reason with these people. The only reason I escaped was because of dumb luck and a box of hand grenades. But that's a tale for another time. I learned two important lessons that day. First, the Organization isn't fucking around. And two, they aren't immortal. Most of them are regular, every-day humans, except for their obsession with power." Trent let his shirt fall, covering up the marks. "I ran into them again recently at their Headquarters. My team and I are working on a plan to…" he paused, seemingly weighing his words, then changed gears. "Well, I guess we can go over that another time."
I couldn't help but feel that Trent was holding something back. As much as I tried to resist thinking about yesterday, the old demon-man's words kept ringing in my head. You think he can help you? He's only here to help himself. Then I thought about what Trent said at the deli: "that's the thing that got me really interested in you. Somehow you seem to be able to control it without gear, just by praying." Did Trent think I was a Strong Antenna? Is that the only reason he's helping me? Because he wants to recruit me? And if that is the case, what if I said 'no'?
"Listen, Trent," I started, but I saw Trent was already nodding. Still, I pressed on. "I need you to tell me what I'm actually doing here. Why did you agree to help me? And what does helping me really mean? I want to know the truth."
"The truth is…" Trent started, then stopped and looked out the glass door that led onto the deck. I looked too and saw a sparrow had alighted on our old bird feeder. It tried pecking at some of its non-existent grains, then sang what I assumed was a song of displeasure before taking back off to the skies.
"The truth is: I do want to recruit you. I think you have the potential to be the strongest tool in my arsenal, but I won't require it. To date, I've helped 53 of our kind, but only seven have stayed on. Most decide to go on and live normal lives." Trent scooted his plate to the side. "In our case, this can essentially go one of two ways. In either instance, we pass through Chicago for two stops. First, I need to meet up with an associate who has something to drop off to me. Then I need to stop at a storage locker and trade out some gear that will allow me to open a phase portal. When we arrive at your origin point, I'll open the portal and you'll look inside. Based on everything you've told me, I'm guessing that childhood accident was when the demon appended itself to your life. By seeing how it entered your life, you should be able to figure out how to dispel it. At least that's the working theory. Returning to the origin point has always worked for the other Antennas, although I must admit your situation is different, but I can't imagine it's so different that this method won't work at all. After you return demon-free, you're free. You can walk out and never see me again and hopefully you'll live a happy and peaceful life. Or you can decide to throw your lot in with mine, and I can show you how deep the rabbit hole goes, so to speak." Trent looked into my eyes, and when I didn't respond for a few seconds, he said, "that's it. That's all I got."
I smiled and responded with one sentence.
"When do we leave?"
***
Memories have a strange architecture. In some ways, they are the great safety net of our experiences: collecting them like a bucket under a leaky roof. In other ways, they are an eternal reminder that nothing ever truly lasts. Perhaps a better way of thinking about memories is as the ghosts of our past lingering in the present. As I took one last stroll through my childhood house, feeling that it might be my last time for a long while, I felt the imprints of childhood memories press into my awareness: I could hear my father's voice reading to me at my bedside; I could see him holding one of my stuffed animals above my head as I wrestled him for it; I could recall the times when I'd sneak down the stairs late at night and quietly open the freezer, grab the ice cream carton, then head back upstairs to eat it.
I felt a yearning to return to those memories: to walk into the fictitious pictures my mind was painting on the canvas of my present. I knew I couldn't return, but I still wanted something to hold onto. I went back to my room and grabbed the cotton-stuffed tomato from off my closet cabinet. Then I walked through my dad's study and removed a volume I recalled him frequently reading, a hard-cover book with a green binding called, "A Collection of Great Works". I placed these items by my feet in the passenger seat of Trent's van, and just as we were about to leave, I remembered something else.
"My plant!" I blurted.
"Your what?"
"My plant—and my car. I left them it the deli. Do you think we could swing by and get it?"
Trent checked the time, then said, "Yeah, I guess we can. I just hope it isn't towed."
Luckily, it wasn't. I half-expected to find a ticket on the windshield, but there wasn't one of those, either. I unlocked the door to my Jetta and got into what felt like an active oven. "Hot!" I said and rolled down all the windows, then cranked up the AC. I saw my plant resting in the cupholder that I'd left it in the previous day. I picked it up and touched its soil. It was dry and beginning to crack. Hang on little guy, I thought. Then I led the way back to my house.
When I arrived, I parked at the head of the driveway. I turned off the car, then ran inside with the young tomato plant, bringing it to the upstairs bathrooms sink and dousing it in water. I wasn't sure how much I was supposed to add, but I figured after the sauna experience it had yesterday, I could afford to go a little overboard. Once it was fed, I opened the small purple drapes and placed it on the windowsill which faced East, meaning it would hopefully get plenty of morning sunlight.
"Good, now?" Trent asked after I hopped back in the passenger seat of the van.
"Yeah," I said. "Good now."
"Then lets get a move on."
***
Road tripping with Trent was a much different experience than when we were driving for our lives. For one, Trent wasn't nearly as tense. He drove with the windows down and one hand on the steering wheel like out of a Mustang commercial, talking intermittently about his adventures: people he'd met, jobs he'd done, close calls. He was like a living radio. And when his personal station wasn't on, he was playing one of his CD's—classic rock, mainly. When he was in an 'off' period, I found myself looking out the window at the rolling wheat fields and cloudy blue sky. Journey was playing, and the lyrics to one of the songs crept into my head and reverberated there:
The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow…
I've been trying to make it home,
Got to make it before too long…
Ooh I can't take it, very much longer…
In a strange way, I felt like I was leaving home. But in another way, I was going back. And then it occurred to me that perhaps I didn't have a home at all. Did I ever have one? These past couple days had called everything about my life into question, to the point where the past seemed as mysterious as the future, and both intersected at that one place in the woods. The place where it all began. The place we were headed.
We only stopped once at a gas station to refuel, get snacks, and use the bathroom. Otherwise it was smooth sailing, other than one heated discussion with Trent that began when he addressed his vehicle as "Car" for the fifth time.
"Okay, you need to come up with a better name than that."
"What do you mean?" Trent asked, seeming genuinely confused.
"You have a super-car and you named it 'Car'. That's actually embarrassing."
"But, it is a car."
I facepalmed. "First of all, it's a van."
"A van is a type of car."
"Second of all, would you name your kid, 'kid'?"
Trent thought it over for what I thought was much too long. At last he concluded, "No, I'd probably name him 'boy', or if it's a girl, 'girl'."
After five more minutes of his childish banter, we settled on the name "Ava"—my choice, after rejecting his runner-up name "Scar".
At around the seven hour mark, I dozed off, then woke up a couple hours later to the sensation of the van dipping, then bumping up into an elevated climb. The evening sunlight that was pressuring my eyelids to open, dissipated, and everything was suddenly dark. I opened my eyes and saw we had entered a parking garage. Trent pulled into an open spot on the second level.
"We're here," he said and gathered up his gun which he stashed in a driver's side underboard compartment that I'm guessing he had installed himself.
"I see that"
"You want to wait here, or—"
I opened the car door, which was answer enough for Trent. We both got out and started down Maple Avenue. I had been to several cities before, Chicago among them, but the size of the buildings always struck me with awe. As we walked alongside dozens of other pedestrians, I looked up and traced the closest tower to its peak, guessing how many stories it was in my head. Then I'd be pulled out of my game by the honking of some nearby vehicle.
We continued for two blocks until Trent made a path directly toward the nearest Starbucks. I didn't know what I was picturing for a meeting with his associate, but it definitely wasn't a meetup at a coffee shop. Still, I followed him in. Then when I saw that Trent was leading me to a corner table where a casually dressed Chinese girl who appeared even younger than me was sitting, I blurted in a hushed tone, "her? She's your associate?"
"Took you long enough," said the Chinese girl, looking up from what appeared to be some kind of homework assignment.
"And she's in school?" I asked, incredulous.
The associate looked to me, then to Trent (who nodded), then back to me. "It's just a cover. I'm glad to see it still works, though." She reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Allison. It's nice to meet you."
Trent gave me a smirk, then said, "looks can be deceiving."
I grunted an affirmation and shook Allison's hand. "I'm Lauren. It's nice to meet you, too."
"You have it?" Trent asked, skipping right to business.
"Of course," Allison replied and removed a mailing package from her backpack, setting it on the table. "You want to go make sure it works?" She asked, gesturing up at the ceiling with her eyes.
Trent seemed to think it over for a second, then looked at me. But before he could say anything, Allison cut back in—
"—I'll stay with her. It's been a while since I've had any female company. Why don't you let us girls talk while you take care of that?" She said in a seductive yet authoritative tone which garnered her years that her appearance did not reflect.
Trent hesitated, but only for a moment. "Okay, I'll be right back," he said. Then he hurried out the door in the direction we had come from.
"Come, sit with me." Allison invited. "Tell me about yourself."
I took a seat on the small wooden seat opposite Allison, then crossed my legs. "What do you want to know?" I asked, feeling discomfort rise in my stomach. Nothing about this situation, from the mysterious package, to Trent leaving me alone with this girl, to the girl herself, whose voice was as velvety smooth as the latte she was stirring with a black coffee straw, sat right with me.
"I'm curious about what you think of Trent."
"Trent?" I repeated. I realized this was the first time I was putting any of my thoughts about Trent or our relationship into words. "I guess... he's a pretty straightforward guy. He seems to know what he's doing."
Allison flashed me a small smile, then took a sip of her latte. I saw the sticker on her drink read "Chai". Then she set the cup down and sighed. "Yes, he's very straightforward. Definitely doesn't mince words." She looked up into my eyes. Hers were a rich black, like onyx pebbles, but there was something about the way the light refracted off them which simulated a kind of inward motion, as if they were tiny whirlpools. Her smile spread across her lips. "I'm curious. What did he tell you?"
"Tell me about what?"
"About what you're doing. About where you're off to. What's the plan?"
"Don't you know?" I asked, but it immediately occurred to me that maybe she didn't know. I never saw Trent with a cellphone. Just how did he communicate with his 'associates'? And what if he didn't want her to know what we were doing for a good reason? Should I tell her?
"No, Trent keeps his cards close to his chest. He always has."
"Don't you work together, though?"
Allison waved her left hand in the air. "Of course, but it's because of the nature of our work that most of our communication is done in person, so Trent doesn't tell me much outside of the current job. I was just curious, is all."
"That makes sense. I mean, I'm actually pretty curious about what you do, too."
"Oh?" Allison's voice went high, as if she suddenly sensed an opening. "Then, why don't we trade stories. You tell about your trip, and I'll tell you about mine."
I thought it over for a second. I really did want to hear what Allison had to say, and she was Trent's co-worker, it's not like I was spilling crucial secrets to an enemy. "We're currently on our way to Southern Illinois. Specifically, we're going back to my origin point so I can confront a demon that Trent thinks blinked into my life there."
Allison stopped stirring, but her eyes didn't break from mine. "A demon, huh?" She raised the cup and took a long sip, then placed it back on the table and continued stirring. "I met a demon once," she started, looking up at the walls as if her life was playing on a screen there. "It was back in China, where I was born." She dropped her attention back to me. "Do you mind if I reminisce a little? Maybe you can get something out of it."
I shook my head, but something in my gut started to stir again. Allison continued.
"I was born during the Era of the Once Child Policy. As a result, my mother decided to leave me in a shoebox on the side of the road. I was a girl, so that's just how it was... Like many other babies in my... 'condition', I ended up in foster care. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't adopted. Years passed, and when I turned six, the government decided I'd be of better use building our impoverished town's GDP in a factory that assembled electronic devices for Western countries. Mostly they had me cleaning, but when I turned eight, one of the employees asked for my help with one of the soldering machines. That turned out to be the beginning of the end for me. I sliced open the ring finger of my right hand. I remember specifically seeing the bone underneath the split flesh and thinking it looked so small and white. The employee claimed to have nothing to do with my accident, and the management declared my injury "minimally invasive" and bandaged it up. Two weeks later and who would have guessed that the wound would become infected, and, well..."
Allison dropped the straw into her cup and raised her right hand, spreading the fingers out for me to see. There were only four. Her ring finger was missing, and a small v-shaped scar had taken its place.
"I'm lucky that the surgeon was experienced enough to take out the whole digit, that way it healed in a way which makes it somewhat difficult to notice. You didn't notice, after all. But, then again, is that really luck?" She made a fist and brought it to her lips, stifling a laugh. "No... Now I remember. My luck was still yet to come." She continued stirring. "Because, you see, after that incident, they moved me to a clothing factory with a boss who had a penchant for getting drunk and roughing up his workers, and, well, one night I was walking back to foster care when I heard the outside door to the manager's office slam shut, and there he went, stumbling, slurring insults, curses, and here I was, perfectly in his path. We met eyes, and in them I saw absolutely nothing. A hollow shell of a man, and I can still remember what it looked like to see that shell fill with a demon."
Allison's eyes went wide with some strong emotion that I couldn't place. "He grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out into the field, far away from civilization. I tried to fight at first, but every time I tried to lunge away, I was only ripping a hole in my own scalp. It felt like flames were spewing from my head, and my only respite was when the blood eventually cooled over the wound. By the time he had thrown me against the rock, I'd already all but given up. Then, when my head met the stone, I heard a pop and my grip on the world loosened. The man continued touching me, but it was as if I was disconnected now, floating somewhere above my own head, and gravity was beginning to reverse, causing me to float higher and higher, away from the horrible nightmare below."
Allison paused for a moment, and I suddenly realized I was holding my breath.
"Then I saw the most bright light I'd ever seen. At the time I thought it was either the Sun or Heaven or something like that. It was just too bright for this world. But then after looking for a little longer, I noticed it was in the shape of a person. It reached out toward me, and I had never been so quick to respond. When I touched it, I felt all my pain immediately dissipate. And I felt warm and... peaceful. And I was no longer in the sky. I was back in the field. But when I looked around, the man was gone. Vanished, right out of existence. I didn't understand it at the time, but that was my first experience with the Shifts. All I knew then was that I was free, and I damn well wasn't going to waste that. I ran as far as I could, away from the factories, the foster home, the corrupt governments and corporations. I kept running until I arrived at a City that didn't know me. That didn't want to know me. And I liked it that way, because it's easier to live as a ghost than as a victim."
Allison perked up, and when I turned around to see what for, I saw Trent entering back through the door.
"But you know what's interesting?" Allison blurted out, her voice becoming quieter. "Trent never took me back to confront my demon." Her voice became a whisper. "In fact, I can't recall him ever taking any of us back."
For a moment the whole world became a still frame. Allison's clear, olive skin, and dark eyes, made darker with eyeliner; her narrow nose; her small lips now coiling into a smile. My entire body was a hair trigger hat only needed the slightest force to set it off. And when Trent placed his hand on my shoulder, I whirled around and narrowly missed a haymaker that swept just shy of Trent's face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said and stepped back with his palms up. "It's just me. Is everything okay?"
I turned back to Allison, but she seemed different now. Her expression was benign; confused, even. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I—you"
"We were just talking about where you were off to next." Allison said without a hint of pretense.
"Okay, well, chat time is over. It's time to go." Trent said and started guiding me toward the door. I turned back and saw Allison mouth some words which I swear I heard, as if they had been directly transmitted into my brain.
"See you soon" she purred.
She was smiling.
***
The next leg of the trip passed mostly in silence. It was a little over an hour to the storage facility which was located just South of Chicago. My heart was beating wildly in my chest as I pictured Allison's smile. I wanted to ask Trent if demons could possess Antennas, if somehow one of us could become compromised, but then I remembered Allison's words and stopped myself. Because I didn't know if I could really trust Trent. I tried to tell myself I could trust him—that it was Allison who was the liar. Her whole persona seemed fake at best, and possessed at worst. But, then... what if she was telling the truth? What if Trent was the enemy?
He sensed my quietness and tried striking up a couple conversations, but I only gave one-word answers. Somehow, our trust was so brittle that a single, well-placed sentence was enough to snap it. When he asked if everything was okay, I lied and said that I just had a headache and needed more rest. So I leaned my head against the stuffed tomato and tried to sleep, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to.
We arrived at the facility just as the sun was setting for the night. Trent pulled up to the self-service gate and scanned a card which caused the automatic doors to swing open. We looped down a couple rows of the outdoor units until we came to #48.
"We're here," Trent prompted, but this time I didn't budge. I felt his eyes on me after he turned off the ignition. "Hey," he called. "Are you awake?"
I was silent.
I heard Trent quietly click open his door, then close it the same way. I waited a few seconds then turned my head and watched him from the driver's side mirror. He opened the storage locker, then walked inside and turned on a light. It occurred to me then how dimly lit this outdoor storage facility was. There was a weak overhead lantern peeking over every fourth garage like an anglerfish's lure, leaving a large portion of the road not hit by the light bubbles completely dark.
I tried to plan my next move. I could leave Trent and run. But where would I go? Or I could stay and see Trent's plan through. There was a chance this was all an elaborate trap. Maybe Trent was working with the demon, or maybe he was the demon. But then why did he save me? Twice. Maybe he was actually a double agent for the Organization. But he could easily have captured me by now. Unless he needs me to go back to the origin point for a different reason... I considered everything I had learned up until this point: we live at the cross-section of different realms; these other realms interact with our world; Antennas, who are a very small minority of people, can see these interactions; the Organization wants to harness our power and create a 'Strong Antenna' to achieve some kind of universal hegemony; I'm the closest thing to a Strong Antenna to date; Trent knows this; He's taking me back to my origin point, despite not taking the others back to theirs; Trent claims to want to fight the Organization; the best way to fight the Organization would be with a Strong Antenna. What if Trent was trying to make me into a Strong Antenna?
I considered this chain of reasoning. It seemed very plausible, especially after Allison's cryptic messages. Was she trying to warn me of this? But that smile, and the "see you soon"... If she wasn't being possessed, why would she be seeing me soon?
Suddenly my thoughts gave way like a broken dam as I heard a ping come from Ava's radar. I jumped, thinking that all of the electronics turned off with the ignition, but when I looked at the circular sonar map, I saw a red dot had just emerged in the top-right corner. I looked out the window in the direction of the ping, but I couldn't see anything heading down the road.
Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.
Four more dots appeared behind the first, and they were approaching.
I jumped out the van and ran over to where Trent was hauling in a large cardboard crate into the back of the van. "Trent, there's pings on the radar. A bunch of them."
He dropped the box next to three others, and I realized I had never seen inside the back of the van. It was filled with what looked like pneumatic tubes wired into circuits, and in the center was a tri-pod which was holding a large halo-shaped ring.
"Pings?" Trent said, then his face widened with shock as he realized what I meant. "Shit, how many?"
"Five, maybe more now. And they're getting closer."
"Five?" He jumped out the back and ran into the storage locker. I thought he was going to close the door, but when I saw him hauling boxes back toward the van, I yelled at him. "What are you doing!?"
"I need to load this up for tomorrow. Here," He tossed me his keys. "Get it started."
"Fuck, seriously?"
Trent didn't respond, only kept shuffling boxes into the van.
I turned and ran to the door and hopped in the driver's seat. As I was turning on the ignition, I saw the row of bushes that was just outside of the facility begin to rattle. The next sweep revealed a whole sea of pings. I rolled down the window and shouted Trent's name.
"One more, that's all. Get in the passenger seat, I'll be there in a sec."
I scooted over the center console and waited, clutching at the bottom of my pants legs. Just as Trent slammed the rear door of the van shut, I saw the first figure emerge onto the road ahead of us. It looked like some kind of large coyote, though it was hard to tell because it was still fifty meters out.
"Now detecting 53 controlled agents." Ava said right as Trent jumped in and shut the driver's side door. "Net anomalies: 53."
"Ava, increase radius to five miles." Trent instructed as he backed up all the way to the end of the lane and spun us around toward the gate. Just as we left, I saw the pack of coyotes stalking toward us, slow at first, then in a dead sprint.
"Increasing radius." Ava responded. "Increased. Recalculating… Recalculating… Re—complete. Now detecting 451 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 451."
"What does 'controlled agent' mean?" I asked.
"Hold on," Trent said and accelerated into the gate, bursting through it. The whole van shook, and I heard my phone fall in the crack between the seat and door. Trent steadied the van, then said, "It means the things chasing us are being controlled by something that isn't detectable."
"The demon?"
"That'd be my guess."
"But why can't Ava detect it?"
Trent switched to the right lane, then merged onto the Interstate-South ramp. "Probably because it isn't trying to kill us."
"Then, what—" I looked back at the map and basically had my question answered. All 451 pings were coalesced in a semicircle on one side of the map. The side of the map that we had just come from. "Is it trying to force us toward the crash site?"
"It seems that way." Trent answered.
"Trent, pull over."
"Huh?"
"Pull over!" I yelled.
He looked at me, eyes wide. Then he did as I had instructed and pulled off in the middle of the ramp. The red dots slowly closed in on our position.
"Now detecting—"
"Shut up, Ava." I said. I could feel my blood boiling. "I'm not going one step further until you tell me the truth. Why are we going to my origin point? What is your real motive?"
"What do you mean? I already told you."
I unlocked the passenger side door.
"Wait," Trent said and reached out toward me. "Just, wait."
There was silence, except for the pings indicating that the beasts behind us had re-encroached on our position to about fifty meters.
"Okay, I didn't tell you everything. But we don't have time now—"
I opened the door.
"Okay, okay. I didn't tell you everything, it's true. I've never done this with anyone else, but the reason is because I never needed to. And if I told you what might happen, you would have refused it."
"Refused what?"
"This—me, my help. Lauren, I am trying to help you. But you have to understand—it's likely that neither of us are going to live past tomorrow. You're basically confronting a dark entity in a place where I can't protect you, and if you somehow do manage to kill it, you'll be coming back to the fight of your life. Because I don't have the power to hide you from the Organization. They're going to show up and try to take you. I really don't know how you've lasted as long as you have. Whatever protection you had growing up, it's gone now. And now I'm all you have. And in some twist of fate, you're all I have."
Ava reactivated. "Now detecting 1,117 controlled agents. Proximity till contact: 20 meters. Net anomalies: 1,117."
I closed my door. "But what if I still don't want to go through with it?"
Trent pointed at the screen. "Then we die right here, right now, together. Because I am one-hundred percent certain that if we don't go to that crash site, we're dead anyway. All of us."
Another ping rolled through. I checked the side-view mirror and saw the swarming pack of dogs reach the van and bound around the rear wheels. I suddenly recalled the conversation I had with Father Martin and the conclusions I had drawn. Father, I've been… wrestling with something, and I think God wants me to confront it. I think I've been running away and hiding from it for so long that I'd convinced myself it disappeared...
"Go," I said just as I felt the collision of the coyotes slamming their bodies against the side doors.
Trent didn't waste any time stepping on the gas. I watched as the coyotes diminished in the distance and the pings receded into the back of the map, never disappearing fully, but covering the flank of our retreat—a reminder lingering on the edge of our awareness that there was no turning back now. That, one way or another, this was ending tomorrow.
And I'd either be dead, or something else entirely.

Part 1
Part 2
***
Darkness gave way to dimness as I opened my eyes and saw slivers of gray light printed on the ceiling like lines on the page of a ruled notebook. In the distance, I heard the sound of pans clanking against the kitchen stove, and I became ever-aware of the scent of cinnamon and bacon sneaking in from under my closed bedroom door. For a moment, I was back in sixth grade. My dad was downstairs cooking up his famous from-scratch buttermilk pancakes and cheesy scrambled eggs. It was probably 7:00, maybe 7:05, and I had fifteen minutes to get up, shower, dress, eat, then it was off to Middle School with dad: for me to learn, him to work.
It was the day we were set to be assigned our Ancient Civilizations project. Unless something went terribly wrong, I would be choosing Ancient Rome. I didn't know much about it, other than it was some great empire, but even then I didn't really understand what an empire was. I was just happy that I would get to build something with my dad. I turned on my side and looked at the closed blinds, the source of the gray lines, then the cabinet with all my trophies, and finally the wobbly, firetruck-red chair pushed under my desk. I was home at last. The past fifteen years were nothing but a dream. There was no blinking. No malevolent demon chasing me. No inexplicable chaos…
It was a sweet fantasy. But one that became bitter the longer I tried to chew on it.
I swept my legs out from under the covers and sat, face-down, on the corner of my twin mattress. My feet were adult's feet. My room was my former room. And that was Trent downstairs cooking breakfast. Unless, of course, it was my dad, in which case I'd have bigger problems than merely waking up from a good dream.
After changing into a fresh shirt and pants, I went downstairs and saw that it was, in fact, Trent cooking breakfast. He was wearing a plain t-shirt through which I could see the ripples of his large back muscles as he whisked what I presumed was pancake batter. He must not have heard me, because he didn't turn around when I made it to the end of the hall. I leaned against the wall, arms folded, and watched him for a minute as he finished whisking the batter, then poured it onto a hot griddle (spilling a few dribbles on the counter in the process), watched it bubble, flipped it, then transferred the golden medallion onto a plate stacked five high. Next to the pancakes was a plate filled with bacon, and a small aluminum pan of scrambled eggs.
"Smells good," I said at last. "Find everything okay?"
I thought I might startle him with my abrupt appearance; instead, Trent looked over his shoulder, chewing on a piece of bacon. He swallowed and said, "Oh, it's you. Yeah, I hope you don't mind me using your kitchen. I thought I'd make us some breakfast."
It occurred to me then that Trent likely wasn't a guest in other people's homes very often. Lucky for him, I didn't mind him using a kitchen that hadn't been mine in many years. I was going to tell him as much when I saw an opened box of Bisquick sitting on the counter. I pointed to it and asked, "you found that in the pantry? My dad usually makes his pancakes from scratch."
He turned to look at the box, then back at me. "No, I went out and got that. And the bacon and eggs. I didn't want to dig into your supply without asking, and you were asleep, so..."
I felt my eyebrows furrow as I checked the time on the stove-clock. "It's 8:17 in the morning. Are you telling me you went out to the store, bought all these ingredients, then came back and cooked them? Just how early did you get up?"
"Around five," he answered as casually as if I had asked his dog's name. "I don't usually get much sleep. Around four, five hours is all I need. It's actually unusual for Antennas to need more than that amount. But I suppose you are unusual."
I opened my mouth in disbelief. Not only had he commandeered my kitchen, he was calling me unusual? At 8-fricken-17 in the morning?
"Sorry," Trent said, reading my expression, "I'm… well, let's just say I've not had many personal relationships. I'm used to being blunt. It's just easier that way." He took out a plate and transferred two pancakes, some eggs, and a few slices of bacon onto it. Then he held it up to me as a peace offering.
I sighed. "This better be good," I said with a wry smile and took the plate.
"Trent-certified, but no guarantees. Refunds not allowed." He replied, which made me giggle.
We sat across from one another at the dining room table. The meal was pretty good, but it was no dad's special: the pancakes were clearly box pancakes, the scrambled eggs lacked cheese and had a little too much pepper, and the bacon was… well it was bacon, no complaints there. Still, it was nice to settle down and have a somewhat normal morning.
After we ate, Trent unfurled the long arc of his life, which began as the second youngest brother of eight siblings in rural Oklahoma. Trent's 'pops' was in the logging business, first as a lumberjack, then as an owner of his own logging company. His dad acquired the business while Trent was still young, so school was never a high priority for him—at least not the way contributing to the household was. The rest of his childhood he summed up in two lessons: "Being 'close' has nothing to do with distance," and "don't touch strange plants in the woods."
I asked him if he kept in touch with any of his siblings, to which he responded, saying, "The only reason they haven't had a funeral for me is because it would be too much work." When I asked him to elaborate, he said he'd not had contact with anyone in his immediate family for over a decade. He kept tabs on them. For example, he knew his mother had dementia, and his dad was forced into retirement by his oldest brother (who had gone on to take over the logging company). His sisters were all married and moved to other parts of the country. He considered reaching out several times, but his situation required a degree of security that wasn't conducive of close family ties, not that there were particularly strong ties even before he broke contact. Trent admitted to being a bit of a black sheep.
"It all circles back to one of my jobs as a Home Inspector," he explained. "After I moved out, I tried college and quickly realized it wasn't for me. So I entered the workforce and did a bunch of odd jobs. Construction, carpentry, plumbing. I even drove a garbage truck for a while. But I ended up in Home Inspection. There was one job in particular which made me aware of…" Trent paused and gestured toward the space between us, "our situation. The blinks. You remember what I told you about origin points being like a station where other realms intersect with our world? Well, this house was like Union Station or JFK airport if you prefer a plane analogy. There was a pile of junk up to my knees in the basement of that house; all of it had been blinked in. I spent a couple days on the property, running tests, trying to identify the strange phenomenon, but on day three I rolled up to an army of what I thought at the time were Feds, parading around the property like ants on an anthill and sectioning it off with crime-scene tape." I saw disgust funnel into Trent's expression. "They're not Feds at all though. At least not anymore. I call them "the Organization," a group of people who lead in the formalized understanding of what you know as 'blinking'. And they're the reason I have to take precautions."
I considered this for a moment. Trent's story was certainly plausible, but I was missing a key piece of the puzzle. "Okay, so, what does this 'Organization' want? You make it seem like they're not good people. Have they tried attacking you?"
This caused Trent to laugh for a solid ten seconds. "Sorry, it's just… I mean if you knew what I knew, you might think it's funny, too."
"Then tell me"
Trent took a deep breath, then released. "It's a long story. The gist of it is this. The Organization has a certain device which I call 'the Receiver'. Think of it like a giant antenna—no, not us kind of Antennas, an actual antenna. It's like the machine equivalent of us, but with a billion times the bandwidth. Their goal is to use the Receiver to map our world in relation to other dimensions, then use that map to establish dominion over everyone and everything. In order to do this, they need muscle: both human muscle, and Antenna muscle. They're in the process of harvesting as many of us they can find. They're like a giant diamond company who is taking to the mines. When they find a stone, they take it back to their factory for cutting and refinement. In real terms, they run tests on us and attempt to augment our powers. The ultimate goal is to create a 'Strong Antenna', or an Antenna capable of causing phase shifts—blinks." Trent saw from my expression that he was starting to lose me, so he stood up and began rolling up his shirt.
"What are you doing?" I asked, turning away. Then I saw what he wanted to show me. There was a long scar beginning high up on his ribs and slashing all the way down to his left hip. There was also what appeared to be a patch of burn marks on his stomach.
"It was early on when I got these." Trent explained. "I was naive. I actually thought I'd be able to reason with these people. The only reason I escaped was because of dumb luck and a box of hand grenades. But that's a tale for another time. I learned two important lessons that day. First, the Organization isn't fucking around. And two, they aren't immortal. Most of them are regular, every-day humans, except for their obsession with power." Trent let his shirt fall, covering up the marks. "I ran into them again recently at their Headquarters. My team and I are working on a plan to…" he paused, seemingly weighing his words, then changed gears. "Well, I guess we can go over that another time."
I couldn't help but feel that Trent was holding something back. As much as I tried to resist thinking about yesterday, the old demon-man's words kept ringing in my head. You think he can help you? He's only here to help himself. Then I thought about what Trent said at the deli: "that's the thing that got me really interested in you. Somehow you seem to be able to control it without gear, just by praying." Did Trent think I was a Strong Antenna? Is that the only reason he's helping me? Because he wants to recruit me? And if that is the case, what if I said 'no'?
"Listen, Trent," I started, but I saw Trent was already nodding. Still, I pressed on. "I need you to tell me what I'm actually doing here. Why did you agree to help me? And what does helping me really mean? I want to know the truth."
"The truth is…" Trent started, then stopped and looked out the glass door that led onto the deck. I looked too and saw a sparrow had alighted on our old bird feeder. It tried pecking at some of its non-existent grains, then sang what I assumed was a song of displeasure before taking back off to the skies.
"The truth is: I do want to recruit you. I think you have the potential to be the strongest tool in my arsenal, but I won't require it. To date, I've helped 53 of our kind, but only seven have stayed on. Most decide to go on and live normal lives." Trent scooted his plate to the side. "In our case, this can essentially go one of two ways. In either instance, we pass through Chicago for two stops. First, I need to meet up with an associate who has something to drop off to me. Then I need to stop at a storage locker and trade out some gear that will allow me to open a phase portal. When we arrive at your origin point, I'll open the portal and you'll look inside. Based on everything you've told me, I'm guessing that childhood accident was when the demon appended itself to your life. By seeing how it entered your life, you should be able to figure out how to dispel it. At least that's the working theory. Returning to the origin point has always worked for the other Antennas, although I must admit your situation is different, but I can't imagine it's so different that this method won't work at all. After you return demon-free, you're free. You can walk out and never see me again and hopefully you'll live a happy and peaceful life. Or you can decide to throw your lot in with mine, and I can show you how deep the rabbit hole goes, so to speak." Trent looked into my eyes, and when I didn't respond for a few seconds, he said, "that's it. That's all I got."
I smiled and responded with one sentence.
"When do we leave?"
***
Memories have a strange architecture. In some ways, they are the great safety net of our experiences: collecting them like a bucket under a leaky roof. In other ways, they are an eternal reminder that nothing ever truly lasts. Perhaps a better way of thinking about memories is as the ghosts of our past lingering in the present. As I took one last stroll through my childhood house, feeling that it might be my last time for a long while, I felt the imprints of childhood memories press into my awareness: I could hear my father's voice reading to me at my bedside; I could see him holding one of my stuffed animals above my head as I wrestled him for it; I could recall the times when I'd sneak down the stairs late at night and quietly open the freezer, grab the ice cream carton, then head back upstairs to eat it.
I felt a yearning to return to those memories: to walk into the fictitious pictures my mind was painting on the canvas of my present. I knew I couldn't return, but I still wanted something to hold onto. I went back to my room and grabbed the cotton-stuffed tomato from off my closet cabinet. Then I walked through my dad's study and removed a volume I recalled him frequently reading, a hard-cover book with a green binding called, "A Collection of Great Works". I placed these items by my feet in the passenger seat of Trent's van, and just as we were about to leave, I remembered something else.
"My plant!" I blurted.
"Your what?"
"My plant—and my car. I left them it the deli. Do you think we could swing by and get it?"
Trent checked the time, then said, "Yeah, I guess we can. I just hope it isn't towed."
Luckily, it wasn't. I half-expected to find a ticket on the windshield, but there wasn't one of those, either. I unlocked the door to my Jetta and got into what felt like an active oven. "Hot!" I said and rolled down all the windows, then cranked up the AC. I saw my plant resting in the cupholder that I'd left it in the previous day. I picked it up and touched its soil. It was dry and beginning to crack. Hang on little guy, I thought. Then I led the way back to my house.
When I arrived, I parked at the head of the driveway. I turned off the car, then ran inside with the young tomato plant, bringing it to the upstairs bathrooms sink and dousing it in water. I wasn't sure how much I was supposed to add, but I figured after the sauna experience it had yesterday, I could afford to go a little overboard. Once it was fed, I opened the small purple drapes and placed it on the windowsill which faced East, meaning it would hopefully get plenty of morning sunlight.
"Good, now?" Trent asked after I hopped back in the passenger seat of the van.
"Yeah," I said. "Good now."
"Then lets get a move on."
***
Road tripping with Trent was a much different experience than when we were driving for our lives. For one, Trent wasn't nearly as tense. He drove with the windows down and one hand on the steering wheel like out of a Mustang commercial, talking intermittently about his adventures: people he'd met, jobs he'd done, close calls. He was like a living radio. And when his personal station wasn't on, he was playing one of his CD's—classic rock, mainly. When he was in an 'off' period, I found myself looking out the window at the rolling wheat fields and cloudy blue sky. Journey was playing, and the lyrics to one of the songs crept into my head and reverberated there:
The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow…
I've been trying to make it home,
Got to make it before too long…
Ooh I can't take it, very much longer…
In a strange way, I felt like I was leaving home. But in another way, I was going back. And then it occurred to me that perhaps I didn't have a home at all. Did I ever have one? These past couple days had called everything about my life into question, to the point where the past seemed as mysterious as the future, and both intersected at that one place in the woods. The place where it all began. The place we were headed.
We only stopped once at a gas station to refuel, get snacks, and use the bathroom. Otherwise it was smooth sailing, other than one heated discussion with Trent that began when he addressed his vehicle as "Car" for the fifth time.
"Okay, you need to come up with a better name than that."
"What do you mean?" Trent asked, seeming genuinely confused.
"You have a super-car and you named it 'Car'. That's actually embarrassing."
"But, it is a car."
I facepalmed. "First of all, it's a van."
"A van is a type of car."
"Second of all, would you name your kid, 'kid'?"
Trent thought it over for what I thought was much too long. At last he concluded, "No, I'd probably name him 'boy', or if it's a girl, 'girl'."
After five more minutes of his childish banter, we settled on the name "Ava"—my choice, after rejecting his runner-up name "Scar".
At around the seven hour mark, I dozed off, then woke up a couple hours later to the sensation of the van dipping, then bumping up into an elevated climb. The evening sunlight that was pressuring my eyelids to open, dissipated, and everything was suddenly dark. I opened my eyes and saw we had entered a parking garage. Trent pulled into an open spot on the second level.
"We're here," he said and gathered up his gun which he stashed in a driver's side underboard compartment that I'm guessing he had installed himself.
"I see that"
"You want to wait here, or—"
I opened the car door, which was answer enough for Trent. We both got out and started down Maple Avenue. I had been to several cities before, Chicago among them, but the size of the buildings always struck me with awe. As we walked alongside dozens of other pedestrians, I looked up and traced the closest tower to its peak, guessing how many stories it was in my head. Then I'd be pulled out of my game by the honking of some nearby vehicle.
We continued for two blocks until Trent made a path directly toward the nearest Starbucks. I didn't know what I was picturing for a meeting with his associate, but it definitely wasn't a meetup at a coffee shop. Still, I followed him in. Then when I saw that Trent was leading me to a corner table where a casually dressed Chinese girl who appeared even younger than me was sitting, I blurted in a hushed tone, "her? She's your associate?"
"Took you long enough," said the Chinese girl, looking up from what appeared to be some kind of homework assignment.
"And she's in school?" I asked, incredulous.
The associate looked to me, then to Trent (who nodded), then back to me. "It's just a cover. I'm glad to see it still works, though." She reached out to shake my hand. "I'm Allison. It's nice to meet you."
Trent gave me a smirk, then said, "looks can be deceiving."
I grunted an affirmation and shook Allison's hand. "I'm Lauren. It's nice to meet you, too."
"You have it?" Trent asked, skipping right to business.
"Of course," Allison replied and removed a mailing package from her backpack, setting it on the table. "You want to go make sure it works?" She asked, gesturing up at the ceiling with her eyes.
Trent seemed to think it over for a second, then looked at me. But before he could say anything, Allison cut back in—
"—I'll stay with her. It's been a while since I've had any female company. Why don't you let us girls talk while you take care of that?" She said in a seductive yet authoritative tone which garnered her years that her appearance did not reflect.
Trent hesitated, but only for a moment. "Okay, I'll be right back," he said. Then he hurried out the door in the direction we had come from.
"Come, sit with me." Allison invited. "Tell me about yourself."
I took a seat on the small wooden seat opposite Allison, then crossed my legs. "What do you want to know?" I asked, feeling discomfort rise in my stomach. Nothing about this situation, from the mysterious package, to Trent leaving me alone with this girl, to the girl herself, whose voice was as velvety smooth as the latte she was stirring with a black coffee straw, sat right with me.
"I'm curious about what you think of Trent."
"Trent?" I repeated. I realized this was the first time I was putting any of my thoughts about Trent or our relationship into words. "I guess... he's a pretty straightforward guy. He seems to know what he's doing."
Allison flashed me a small smile, then took a sip of her latte. I saw the sticker on her drink read "Chai". Then she set the cup down and sighed. "Yes, he's very straightforward. Definitely doesn't mince words." She looked up into my eyes. Hers were a rich black, like onyx pebbles, but there was something about the way the light refracted off them which simulated a kind of inward motion, as if they were tiny whirlpools. Her smile spread across her lips. "I'm curious. What did he tell you?"
"Tell me about what?"
"About what you're doing. About where you're off to. What's the plan?"
"Don't you know?" I asked, but it immediately occurred to me that maybe she didn't know. I never saw Trent with a cellphone. Just how did he communicate with his 'associates'? And what if he didn't want her to know what we were doing for a good reason? Should I tell her?
"No, Trent keeps his cards close to his chest. He always has."
"Don't you work together, though?"
Allison waved her left hand in the air. "Of course, but it's because of the nature of our work that most of our communication is done in person, so Trent doesn't tell me much outside of the current job. I was just curious, is all."
"That makes sense. I mean, I'm actually pretty curious about what you do, too."
"Oh?" Allison's voice went high, as if she suddenly sensed an opening. "Then, why don't we trade stories. You tell about your trip, and I'll tell you about mine."
I thought it over for a second. I really did want to hear what Allison had to say, and she was Trent's co-worker, it's not like I was spilling crucial secrets to an enemy. "We're currently on our way to Southern Illinois. Specifically, we're going back to my origin point so I can confront a demon that Trent thinks blinked into my life there."
Allison stopped stirring, but her eyes didn't break from mine. "A demon, huh?" She raised the cup and took a long sip, then placed it back on the table and continued stirring. "I met a demon once," she started, looking up at the walls as if her life was playing on a screen there. "It was back in China, where I was born." She dropped her attention back to me. "Do you mind if I reminisce a little? Maybe you can get something out of it."
I shook my head, but something in my gut started to stir again. Allison continued.
"I was born during the Era of the Once Child Policy. As a result, my mother decided to leave me in a shoebox on the side of the road. I was a girl, so that's just how it was... Like many other babies in my... 'condition', I ended up in foster care. However, for whatever reason, I wasn't adopted. Years passed, and when I turned six, the government decided I'd be of better use building our impoverished town's GDP in a factory that assembled electronic devices for Western countries. Mostly they had me cleaning, but when I turned eight, one of the employees asked for my help with one of the soldering machines. That turned out to be the beginning of the end for me. I sliced open the ring finger of my right hand. I remember specifically seeing the bone underneath the split flesh and thinking it looked so small and white. The employee claimed to have nothing to do with my accident, and the management declared my injury "minimally invasive" and bandaged it up. Two weeks later and who would have guessed that the wound would become infected, and, well..."
Allison dropped the straw into her cup and raised her right hand, spreading the fingers out for me to see. There were only four. Her ring finger was missing, and a small v-shaped scar had taken its place.
"I'm lucky that the surgeon was experienced enough to take out the whole digit, that way it healed in a way which makes it somewhat difficult to notice. You didn't notice, after all. But, then again, is that really luck?" She made a fist and brought it to her lips, stifling a laugh. "No... Now I remember. My luck was still yet to come." She continued stirring. "Because, you see, after that incident, they moved me to a clothing factory with a boss who had a penchant for getting drunk and roughing up his workers, and, well, one night I was walking back to foster care when I heard the outside door to the manager's office slam shut, and there he went, stumbling, slurring insults, curses, and here I was, perfectly in his path. We met eyes, and in them I saw absolutely nothing. A hollow shell of a man, and I can still remember what it looked like to see that shell fill with a demon."
Allison's eyes went wide with some strong emotion that I couldn't place. "He grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out into the field, far away from civilization. I tried to fight at first, but every time I tried to lunge away, I was only ripping a hole in my own scalp. It felt like flames were spewing from my head, and my only respite was when the blood eventually cooled over the wound. By the time he had thrown me against the rock, I'd already all but given up. Then, when my head met the stone, I heard a pop and my grip on the world loosened. The man continued touching me, but it was as if I was disconnected now, floating somewhere above my own head, and gravity was beginning to reverse, causing me to float higher and higher, away from the horrible nightmare below."
Allison paused for a moment, and I suddenly realized I was holding my breath.
"Then I saw the most bright light I'd ever seen. At the time I thought it was either the Sun or Heaven or something like that. It was just too bright for this world. But then after looking for a little longer, I noticed it was in the shape of a person. It reached out toward me, and I had never been so quick to respond. When I touched it, I felt all my pain immediately dissipate. And I felt warm and... peaceful. And I was no longer in the sky. I was back in the field. But when I looked around, the man was gone. Vanished, right out of existence. I didn't understand it at the time, but that was my first experience with the Shifts. All I knew then was that I was free, and I damn well wasn't going to waste that. I ran as far as I could, away from the factories, the foster home, the corrupt governments and corporations. I kept running until I arrived at a City that didn't know me. That didn't want to know me. And I liked it that way, because it's easier to live as a ghost than as a victim."
Allison perked up, and when I turned around to see what for, I saw Trent entering back through the door.
"But you know what's interesting?" Allison blurted out, her voice becoming quieter. "Trent never took me back to confront my demon." Her voice became a whisper. "In fact, I can't recall him ever taking any of us back."
For a moment the whole world became a still frame. Allison's clear, olive skin, and dark eyes, made darker with eyeliner; her narrow nose; her small lips now coiling into a smile. My entire body was a hair trigger hat only needed the slightest force to set it off. And when Trent placed his hand on my shoulder, I whirled around and narrowly missed a haymaker that swept just shy of Trent's face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" he said and stepped back with his palms up. "It's just me. Is everything okay?"
I turned back to Allison, but she seemed different now. Her expression was benign; confused, even. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I—you"
"We were just talking about where you were off to next." Allison said without a hint of pretense.
"Okay, well, chat time is over. It's time to go." Trent said and started guiding me toward the door. I turned back and saw Allison mouth some words which I swear I heard, as if they had been directly transmitted into my brain.
"See you soon" she purred.
She was smiling.
***
The next leg of the trip passed mostly in silence. It was a little over an hour to the storage facility which was located just South of Chicago. My heart was beating wildly in my chest as I pictured Allison's smile. I wanted to ask Trent if demons could possess Antennas, if somehow one of us could become compromised, but then I remembered Allison's words and stopped myself. Because I didn't know if I could really trust Trent. I tried to tell myself I could trust him—that it was Allison who was the liar. Her whole persona seemed fake at best, and possessed at worst. But, then... what if she was telling the truth? What if Trent was the enemy?
He sensed my quietness and tried striking up a couple conversations, but I only gave one-word answers. Somehow, our trust was so brittle that a single, well-placed sentence was enough to snap it. When he asked if everything was okay, I lied and said that I just had a headache and needed more rest. So I leaned my head against the stuffed tomato and tried to sleep, even though I knew I wouldn't be able to.
We arrived at the facility just as the sun was setting for the night. Trent pulled up to the self-service gate and scanned a card which caused the automatic doors to swing open. We looped down a couple rows of the outdoor units until we came to #48.
"We're here," Trent prompted, but this time I didn't budge. I felt his eyes on me after he turned off the ignition. "Hey," he called. "Are you awake?"
I was silent.
I heard Trent quietly click open his door, then close it the same way. I waited a few seconds then turned my head and watched him from the driver's side mirror. He opened the storage locker, then walked inside and turned on a light. It occurred to me then how dimly lit this outdoor storage facility was. There was a weak overhead lantern peeking over every fourth garage like an anglerfish's lure, leaving a large portion of the road not hit by the light bubbles completely dark.
I tried to plan my next move. I could leave Trent and run. But where would I go? Or I could stay and see Trent's plan through. There was a chance this was all an elaborate trap. Maybe Trent was working with the demon, or maybe he was the demon. But then why did he save me? Twice. Maybe he was actually a double agent for the Organization. But he could easily have captured me by now. Unless he needs me to go back to the origin point for a different reason... I considered everything I had learned up until this point: we live at the cross-section of different realms; these other realms interact with our world; Antennas, who are a very small minority of people, can see these interactions; the Organization wants to harness our power and create a 'Strong Antenna' to achieve some kind of universal hegemony; I'm the closest thing to a Strong Antenna to date; Trent knows this; He's taking me back to my origin point, despite not taking the others back to theirs; Trent claims to want to fight the Organization; the best way to fight the Organization would be with a Strong Antenna. What if Trent was trying to make me into a Strong Antenna?
I considered this chain of reasoning. It seemed very plausible, especially after Allison's cryptic messages. Was she trying to warn me of this? But that smile, and the "see you soon"... If she wasn't being possessed, why would she be seeing me soon?
Suddenly my thoughts gave way like a broken dam as I heard a ping come from Ava's radar. I jumped, thinking that all of the electronics turned off with the ignition, but when I looked at the circular sonar map, I saw a red dot had just emerged in the top-right corner. I looked out the window in the direction of the ping, but I couldn't see anything heading down the road.
Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.
Four more dots appeared behind the first, and they were approaching.
I jumped out the van and ran over to where Trent was hauling in a large cardboard crate into the back of the van. "Trent, there's pings on the radar. A bunch of them."
He dropped the box next to three others, and I realized I had never seen inside the back of the van. It was filled with what looked like pneumatic tubes wired into circuits, and in the center was a tri-pod which was holding a large halo-shaped ring.
"Pings?" Trent said, then his face widened with shock as he realized what I meant. "Shit, how many?"
"Five, maybe more now. And they're getting closer."
"Five?" He jumped out the back and ran into the storage locker. I thought he was going to close the door, but when I saw him hauling boxes back toward the van, I yelled at him. "What are you doing!?"
"I need to load this up for tomorrow. Here," He tossed me his keys. "Get it started."
"Fuck, seriously?"
Trent didn't respond, only kept shuffling boxes into the van.
I turned and ran to the door and hopped in the driver's seat. As I was turning on the ignition, I saw the row of bushes that was just outside of the facility begin to rattle. The next sweep revealed a whole sea of pings. I rolled down the window and shouted Trent's name.
"One more, that's all. Get in the passenger seat, I'll be there in a sec."
I scooted over the center console and waited, clutching at the bottom of my pants legs. Just as Trent slammed the rear door of the van shut, I saw the first figure emerge onto the road ahead of us. It looked like some kind of large coyote, though it was hard to tell because it was still fifty meters out.
"Now detecting 53 controlled agents." Ava said right as Trent jumped in and shut the driver's side door. "Net anomalies: 53."
"Ava, increase radius to five miles." Trent instructed as he backed up all the way to the end of the lane and spun us around toward the gate. Just as we left, I saw the pack of coyotes stalking toward us, slow at first, then in a dead sprint.
"Increasing radius." Ava responded. "Increased. Recalculating… Recalculating… Re—complete. Now detecting 451 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 451."
"What does 'controlled agent' mean?" I asked.
"Hold on," Trent said and accelerated into the gate, bursting through it. The whole van shook, and I heard my phone fall in the crack between the seat and door. Trent steadied the van, then said, "It means the things chasing us are being controlled by something that isn't detectable."
"The demon?"
"That'd be my guess."
"But why can't Ava detect it?"
Trent switched to the right lane, then merged onto the Interstate-South ramp. "Probably because it isn't trying to kill us."
"Then, what—" I looked back at the map and basically had my question answered. All 451 pings were coalesced in a semicircle on one side of the map. The side of the map that we had just come from. "Is it trying to force us toward the crash site?"
"It seems that way." Trent answered.
"Trent, pull over."
"Huh?"
"Pull over!" I yelled.
He looked at me, eyes wide. Then he did as I had instructed and pulled off in the middle of the ramp. The red dots slowly closed in on our position.
"Now detecting—"
"Shut up, Ava." I said. I could feel my blood boiling. "I'm not going one step further until you tell me the truth. Why are we going to my origin point? What is your real motive?"
"What do you mean? I already told you."
I unlocked the passenger side door.
"Wait," Trent said and reached out toward me. "Just, wait."
There was silence, except for the pings indicating that the beasts behind us had re-encroached on our position to about fifty meters.
"Okay, I didn't tell you everything. But we don't have time now—"
I opened the door.
"Okay, okay. I didn't tell you everything, it's true. I've never done this with anyone else, but the reason is because I never needed to. And if I told you what might happen, you would have refused it."
"Refused what?"
"This—me, my help. Lauren, I am trying to help you. But you have to understand—it's likely that neither of us are going to live past tomorrow. You're basically confronting a dark entity in a place where I can't protect you, and if you somehow do manage to kill it, you'll be coming back to the fight of your life. Because I don't have the power to hide you from the Organization. They're going to show up and try to take you. I really don't know how you've lasted as long as you have. Whatever protection you had growing up, it's gone now. And now I'm all you have. And in some twist of fate, you're all I have."
Ava reactivated. "Now detecting 1,117 controlled agents. Proximity till contact: 20 meters. Net anomalies: 1,117."
I closed my door. "But what if I still don't want to go through with it?"
Trent pointed at the screen. "Then we die right here, right now, together. Because I am one-hundred percent certain that if we don't go to that crash site, we're dead anyway. All of us."
Another ping rolled through. I checked the side-view mirror and saw the swarming pack of dogs reach the van and bound around the rear wheels. I suddenly recalled the conversation I had with Father Martin and the conclusions I had drawn. Father, I've been… wrestling with something, and I think God wants me to confront it. I think I've been running away and hiding from it for so long that I'd convinced myself it disappeared...
"Go," I said just as I felt the collision of the coyotes slamming their bodies against the side doors.
Trent didn't waste any time stepping on the gas. I watched as the coyotes diminished in the distance and the pings receded into the back of the map, never disappearing fully, but covering the flank of our retreat—a reminder lingering on the edge of our awareness that there was no turning back now. That, one way or another, this was ending tomorrow.
And I'd either be dead, or something else entirely.

Originally got into Blender for modifying files for 3d printing. Only have a couple weeks under my belt.
Just finished my first animation. While the table and chairs were downloaded; everything else in the scene was created by me from scratch. Learned a TON during the process. UV Wraps, textures, knife cuts, etc. All that will help me with more 3d model editing.
Thought I would share the video for inputs. I know there is a lot that could be done to make it better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYY-HKAyIxw