Choosing a professional medical power supply requires careful consideration of various factors to ensure it meets stringent safety, performance, and regulatory standards essential for medical environments. Here are key steps and criteria to guide the selection process:

1. Compliance with Standards and Certifications

Medical power supplies must comply with specific international standards and certifications to ensure safety and reliability. Look for certifications such as:

IEC 60601-1: General requirements for basic safety and essential performance of medical electrical equipment.
IEC 60601-1-2: Requirements for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
ISO 14971: Application of risk management to medical devices.
UL, CSA, CE: Regional certifications for safety and performance.

1. Electrical Safety and Protection Features

Medical power supplies should have robust safety features to protect both patients and healthcare providers:

2 x MOPP (Means of Patient Protection): Ensures double insulation and protection against electrical shocks.
Leakage Current: Must be extremely low to prevent any risk to patients.
Overload and Short-Circuit Protection: Safeguards the device and connected equipment from electrical faults.

1. Reliability and Performance

The power supply must offer consistent and reliable performance:

Stable Output Voltage and Current: Essential for the accurate functioning of medical devices.
High Efficiency: Reduces energy consumption and heat generation.
Low No-Load Power Consumption: Important for energy efficiency when the device is in standby mode.

1. Environmental and Mechanical Considerations

Consider the physical and environmental requirements of the power supply:

Size and Mounting Options: Should fit within the medical device's design constraints, with options for desktop, wall-plug, or open-frame configurations.
Durability and Build Quality: Must withstand the rigors of the medical environment, including potential exposure to cleaning agents.
Thermal Management: Efficient cooling mechanisms to prevent overheating.

1. Regulatory Compliance

Ensure that the power supply meets regional and international regulatory requirements:

FDA Approval (for the U.S.): Compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulations.
RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive): Ensures the power supply does not contain harmful substances above specified levels.

1. Manufacturer Reputation and Support

Choose a reputable manufacturer known for quality and reliability in the medical field:

Track Record: A history of providing reliable medical power supplies.
Customer Support: Availability of technical support and service for troubleshooting and maintenance.
Warranty and Service Plans: Comprehensive coverage in case of defects or failures.

Example Products and Manufacturers
Quankang:Known for high quality medical power supplies with a variety of certifications and compliance features such as the IEC 60601 standard. Offers a variety of medical power supplies, including the UE15 series of 15W open AC-DC medical power adapters, which are certified to the IEC 60601-1 standard for high efficiency and low no-load power consumption.

Selecting the right medical power supply involves balancing safety, reliability, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Thoroughly vetting products and manufacturers based on the criteria above will help ensure the power supply meets the high standards required for medical applications. For more detailed information on specific models and manufacturers, you can visit the medical power supply manufacturers' sites.

I have a 2017 grand Cherokee, 3.6 pentastar. Yea i know garbage but it’s been very well for 120k miles.
Anyway, had a p0301 misfire cylinder 1 come up recently, using OBD2 mode on my scanner. As well as a p1101 when i use manufacturer diag mode. Which is strange because a MAP sensor problem would cause trim issues, and more than 1 cylinder showing misfires. Misfire is felt on cold start, and some hot starts, for the first 10 seconds max of idle and goes away.
So the first time I had this issue, I got a new plug and coil for cylinder 1 (just did them 40-60k miles ago). I pulled the intake, inspected the plug and coil. Coil seemed okay, spark plug gap was at .060 range. Spec I found is .040. Some how it opened up .020?
Replaced plug and coil. Didn’t have a problem. Until this past week, a month later. Anyone seen this before? I’m going to be pulling the plug again. And seeing if it opened up.
When I pull the intake this time, I’m swapping the injector to cylinder 2, and checking all the plugs on bank 1.
Any information would be help. I don’t see it being a mechanical failure. But i could be wrong. Maybe HLAs bleeding down?

We are leading Manufacturers, Supplier, Dealers, and Exporter of Mild Steel Pipes in India. We stock an extensive range of electric resistance welded (ERW) mild steel pipes/tubes in a size range of 1/2 inch N.B. to 14 inch N.B. in the Light, Medium and Heavy classes, confirming to IS: 1239 (Part-1) 2004, Equivalent to BS: 1387. Our Mild steel pipes are available in different sizes, shapes, and grades. In This Article, Explore MS Pipe weight Chart in KG easily! Learn how size, thickness, and material affect weight for smart decisions in construction, engineering, and manufacturing.
We supply these Pipes in most of the major Indian cities in more than 20 States. We Sachiya Steel International offer different types of grades like Stainless Steel Pipes, Super Duplex Pipes, Duplex Pipes, Carbon Steel Pipes, Alloys Steel Pipes, Nickel Alloys Pipes, Aluminum Pipes, etc.
As part of your MS pipe Weight research, using the Mild steel pipe weight chart for accurate information is Important . Consider, for instance, a 4-inch mild steel pipe with an outer diameter of 114.3 mm, typically featuring a thickness between 6.02 mm and 15.72 kg/m as per this weight chart.
How To Calculate Mild Steel Pipe Weight Chart In Kg?
Sachiya Steel International generates excellent MS pipelines from India. The raw materials of MS Plumbing, ie MS Steel Coils has, were purchased from the renowned steel producer, ie Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which will be a public sector firm and is now the largest integrated steel producer in India. We offer our customers quality flexibility, suppliers and quality merchandise to meet their schedule. Not only are quality goods manufactured by us, but we have a connection with our customers.
Calculating the weight of an Mild Steel Pipe requires a Simple Process. First, Collect information Of its outer diameter (OD) and wall thickness. Next, follow this formula to calculate steel pipe weight:
Weight (in kg) = 0.02466x (OD – Wall Thickness) x Wall Thickness
The ‘0.02466’ is a constant representing mild steel density in kg/mm³. Once you have these measurements, Fill them into a formula to Calculate the weight of an Mild Steel pipe in kilograms per meter (kg/m).
What Is an Mild Steel Pipe Weight Chart?
An mild steel pipe weight chart is an invaluable resource that provides standard weights of different sizes and thicknesses of MS pipes, aiding engineers, builders, and manufacturers in selecting appropriate pipes for their projects while assuring structural integrity and safety.
Factors Affecting Mild Steel Pipe Weight:
Diameter (OD) of MS pipes plays an enormous role in their weight. Larger diameter pipes tend to weigh more due to increased material use, so be mindful when selecting larger OD pipes as this could skew results.
Thickness: The thickness of an MS pipe’s walls plays an essential part in its weight. Thicker pipes tend to contain more material and therefore weigh more.
Density of Material: MS pipes are predominantly composed of mild steel, which has its own specific density. Understanding this metric helps accurately calculate their weight.
How to Read an Mild Steel Pipe Weight Chart:
Mild steel pipe weight charts usually feature a table format with columns detailing pipe size, thickness, and its associated kilograms per meter (KG/M). Users can consult these charts to select an ideal pipe dimensions based on project requirements.
Applications of Mild Steel Pipe Weight Charts:

• Construction: MS pipes are widely utilized in construction projects for plumbing, structural support and transport of fluids. Assuring building integrity requires accurate weight calculations in order to keep infrastructure standing strong.
  
• Engineering: Engineers use Mild steel pipe weight charts to design efficient systems for fluid flow, HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning), and industrial processes. Precise weight estimations facilitate optimized pipe sizing and layout planning.
  
• Manufacturing: MS pipes are widely utilized by manufacturers for producing equipment, machinery, and components of all sorts. Reliable weight data helps manufacturers streamline production processes while limiting material wastage.
  

Read More: https://steeltube.co.in/ms-pipe-weight-chart-in-kg/

A server is a type of computer that runs faster, loads more heavily, and is more expensive than a normal computer. The server provides computing or application services for other clients (such as PCs, mobile phones, ATMs, and even large-scale equipment such as train systems) in the network. The server has high-speed CPU computing capability, long-term reliable operation, powerful I/O external data throughput and better scalability. Generally, people divide servers into three types: tower, rack, and blade according to their different shapes and structures. So what are the differences between these three types of servers, and what aspects are they suitable for?

Tower server

Tower server is generally seen the most. Its shape and structure are similar to ordinary PCs, but slightly larger, and there is no uniform standard for its shape and size.
The motherboard of the tower server has strong expandability and many slots, and a lot of space is often reserved inside the chassis of the tower server for redundant expansion of hard disks and power supplies. This kind of server does not require additional equipment, does not require much storage space, has good scalability, and can be configured very high, so it has a wide range of applications and can meet common server application requirements. This type of server is especially suitable for common entry-level and workgroup server applications, and the cost is relatively low, and the performance can meet the requirements of most small and medium-sized enterprise users.
The current market demand space is still very large. However, this type of server also has many limitations. When it is necessary to use multiple servers to work at the same time to meet high server application requirements, it is not suitable because of its relatively large size, large space occupation, and inconvenient management.

Rack server

The rack server is actually a product under industrial standardization. Its appearance is designed according to a unified standard, and it is used in conjunction with the cabinet to meet the server-intensive deployment needs of enterprises.
The main function of the rack server is to save space. Since multiple servers can be installed in one cabinet, it can not only occupy a smaller space, but also facilitate unified management. The width of the rack server is 19 inches, and the height is in U (1U=1.75 inches=44.45 mm). There are usually several standard servers of 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, 5U, and 7U.
The advantage of this kind of server is that it occupies a small space and is convenient for unified management. However, due to the limitation of internal space, the expandability is relatively limited. For example, most 1U servers only have 1 or 2 PCI expansion slots. In addition, heat dissipation performance is also a problem that needs to be paid attention to.
In addition, equipment such as cabinets are required. Therefore, this kind of server is mostly used by large enterprises with a large number of servers. It is hosted by a dedicated server hosting agency, especially the servers of many websites currently use this method. This kind of server is limited in terms of scalability and heat dissipation, so the stand-alone performance is relatively limited, and the scope of application is also limited to a certain extent. It often only focuses on certain applications, such as remote storage and network services. In terms of price, rack servers are generally 20 to 30% more expensive than tower servers with the same configuration.

Blade server

The blade server is a low-cost server platform of HAHD (High Availability High Density, high availability and high density). It is specially designed for special application industries and high-density computer environments. Its main structure is a large main chassis, which can be plugged into Many "blades", each of which is actually a system motherboard, is similar to an independent server, and they can start their own operating systems through the local hard disk. Each blade can run its own system and serve different designated user groups without any relationship with each other. Moreover, system software can also be used to integrate these motherboards into a server cluster.
In cluster mode, all blades can be connected to provide a high-speed network environment, share resources, and serve the same user group. By inserting new blades in the cluster, the overall performance can be improved. And because each blade is hot-swappable, the system can be easily replaced and maintenance time is reduced to a minimum.
Blade servers are more space-saving than rack-mounted servers. At the same time, the problem of heat dissipation is more prominent. It is often necessary to install a large powerful fan in the chassis to dissipate heat. Although this type of server saves space, its cabinets and blades are not cheap. It is generally used in large-scale data centers or fields that require large-scale computing, such as banking, telecommunications, financial industries, and Internet data centers.
At present, saving space, facilitating centralized management, being easy to expand and providing uninterrupted services have become new requirements for next-generation servers, and blade servers can just meet this demand, so the market demand for blade servers is constantly expanding and has a good market prospect.

The Union Public Service Commission has released NDA Syllabus 2024 PDF through the official notification. Candidates should check UPSC NDA 1, 2 Syllabus to understand the topics that must be studied for the upcoming NDA Exam. The UPSC NDA syllabus 2024 is divided into two subjects, i.e. Mathematics and General Ability Test.
The NDA 2024 Syllabus includes objective-type questions only. Along with the syllabus, candidates must check the NDA Exam Pattern 2024 to understand the exam requirements and format. Scroll down the page to check the NDA Syllabus 2024 in Hindi and English, the NDA exam pattern, the marking scheme, etc, here.

NDA Syllabus 2024

The UPSC NDA Syllabus 2024 for the written exam is divided into two papers, i.e. Mathematics and General Ability Test. Candidates should be familiar with the NDA 2024 syllabus to understand the topics and sub-topics that can be asked in the exam. They should begin the preparation after understanding the NDA 2 Syllabus 2024, as it will help them align their approach with requirements. Check the detailed NDA Syllabus 2024 PDF in English and Hindi here.
Candidates should check the UPSC NDA Syllabus and Exam Pattern before commencing the preparation. The official syllabus has been detailed in the NDA Notification 2024 .

NDA Syllabus 2024 Important Topics

The NDA Syllabus 2024 PDF is divided into two subjects: Mathematics and General Ability Test. Moreover, the NDA General Ability Test syllabus is divided into two sub-parts: English and General Knowledge. The NDA Syllabus 2024 PDF Download in English covers various subjects, such as physics, chemistry, general science, social studies, geography, and current events. Check the detailed NDA Syllabus 2024 for all the subjects below.

NDA Syllabus 2024 for Mathematics

The NDA Mathematics Syllabus 2024 comprises various sections, i.e. Algebra, Matrices, Trigonometry, Analytical Geometry, Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, Vector Algebra, and Statistics and Probability. The detailed NDA Syllabus 2024 for Mathematics is shared below for reference purposes.
NDA Syllabus for AlgebraConcept of set, operations on sets, Venn diagrams. De Morgan laws, Cartesian product, relation, equivalence relation. Representation of real numbers on a line. Complex numbers—basic properties, modulus, argument, cube roots of unity. Binary system of numbers. Conversion of a number in decimal system to binary system and vice-versa. Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic progressions. Quadratic equations with real coefficients. Solution of linear inequations of two variables by graphs. Permutation and Combination. Binomial theorem and its applications. Logarithms and their applications. NDA Syllabus for Matrices and DeterminantsTypes of matrices, operations on matrices. Determinant of a matrix, basic properties of determinants. Adjoint and inverse of a square matrix, Applications-Solution of a system of linear equations in two or three unknowns by Cramer’s rule and by Matrix Method. NDA Syllabus for TrigonometryAngles and their measures in degrees and in radians. Trigonometrical ratios. Trigonometric identities Sum and difference formulae. Multiple and Sub-multiple angles. Inverse trigonometric functions. Applications-Height and distance, properties of triangles. NDA Syllabus for Analytical Geometry of Two and Three DimensionRectangular Cartesian Coordinate system. Distance formula. Equation of a line in various forms. The angle between two lines. Distance of a point from a line. Equation of a circle in standard and in general form. Standard forms of parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola. Eccentricity and axis of a conic. Point in a three-dimensional space, the distance between two points. Direction Cosines and direction ratios. Equation two points. Direction Cosines and direction ratios. Equation of a plane and a line in various forms. The angle between two lines and the angle between two planes. Equation of a sphere. NDA Syllabus for Differential CalculusConcept of a real-valued function–domain, range, and graph of a function. Composite functions, one-to-one, onto, and inverse functions. The notion of limit, Standard limits—examples. Continuity of functions—examples, algebraic operations on continuous functions. Derivative of function at a point, geometrical and physical interpretation of a derivative—applications. Derivatives of sum, product, and quotient of functions, derivative of a function with respect to another function, derivative of a composite function. Second-order derivatives. Increasing and decreasing functions. Application of derivatives in problems of maxima and minima NDA Syllabus for Integral Calculus and Differential EquationsIntegration as inverse of differentiation, integration by substitution and by parts, standard integrals involving algebraic expressions, trigonometric, exponential and hyperbolic functions. Evaluation of definite integrals—determination of areas of plane regions bounded by curves—applications. Definition of order and degree of a differential equation, formation of a differential equation by examples. A general and particular solution of differential equations, solution of the first order and first-degree differential equations of various types—examples. Application in problems of growth and decay NDA Syllabus for Vector AlgebraVectors in two and three dimensions, magnitude and direction of a vector. Unit and null vectors, addition of vectors, scalar multiplication of a vector, scalar product or dot product of two vectors. Vector product or cross product of two vectors. Application work done by a force and moment of a force and in geometrical problems NDA Syllabus for Statistics and ProbabilityStatistics Classification of data, Frequency distribution, cumulative frequency distribution—examples. Graphical representation—Histogram, Pie Chart, frequency polygon— examples. Measures of Central tendency—Mean, median and mode. Variance and standard deviation—determination and comparison. Correlation and regression. Probability Random experiment, outcomes and associated sample space, events, mutually exclusive and exhaustive events, impossible and certain events. Union and Intersection of events. Complementary, elementary and composite events. Definition of probability—classical and statistical—examples. Elementary theorems on probability—simple problems. Conditional probability, Bayes’ theorem—simple problems. Random variable as function on a sample space. Binomial distribution, examples of random experiments giving rise to Binominal distribution

NDA Syllabus 2024 for General Ability Test

The NDA General Ability Test Syllabus 2024 is divided into two parts: English and General Knowledge. The NDA question paper in English will be designed to assess the candidate’s understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. The NDA English syllabus covers various aspects, such as Grammar and usage, vocabulary, comprehension, and cohesion in extended text, to assess the candidate’s proficiency in English.
The NDA General Knowledge syllabus will broadly cover the subjects, i.e. Physics, Chemistry, General Science, Social Studies, Geography and Current Events. Check the detailed NDA Syllabus 2024 for the General Ability Test shared below for reference.
NDA GAT Syllabus 2024 NDA Syllabus for EnglishSpotting Errors Comprehension Selecting Words Synonyms Antonyms Sentence Improvements Ordering of Words in a Sentence, etc. NDA Syllabus for PhysicsPhysical Properties and States of Matter, Mass, Weight, Volume, Density and Specific Gravity, the Principle of Archimedes, and the Pressure Barometer. Motion of objects, Velocity and Acceleration, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Force and Momentum, Parallelogram of Forces, Stability and Equilibrium of bodies, Gravitation, elementary ideas of work, Power and Energy. Effects of Heat, Measurement of Temperature and Heat, change of State and Latent Heat, Modes of transference of Heat. Sound waves and their properties, Simple musical instruments. Rectilinear propagation of Light, Reflection and refraction. Spherical mirrors and Lenses, Human Eye. Natural and Artificial Magnets, Properties of a Magnet, Earth as a Magnet. Static and Current Electricity, conductors and Nonconductors, Ohm’s Law, Simple Electrical Circuits, Heating, Lighting and Magnetic effects of Current, Measurement of Electrical Power, Primary and Secondary Cells, Use of X-Rays. General Principles in the working of the following: Simple Pendulum, Simple Pulleys, Siphon, Levers, Balloon, Pumps, Hydrometer, Pressure Cooker, Thermos Flask, Gramophone, Telegraphs, Telephone, Periscope, Telescope, Microscope, Mariner’s Compass; Lightening Conductors, Safety Fuses. NDA Syllabus for ChemistryPhysical and Chemical changes. Elements, Mixtures and Compounds, Symbols, Formulae and simple Chemical Equations, Law of Chemical Combination (excluding problems). Properties of Air and Water Preparation and Properties of Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and carbon dioxide, Oxidation and Reduction. Acids, bases and salts. Carbon—different forms. Fertilizers—Natural and Artificial. Material used in the preparation of substances like Soap, Glass, Ink, Paper, Cement, Paints, Safety Matches and Gun-Powder. Elementary ideas about the structure of Atom, Atomic Equivalent and Molecular Weights, Valency NDA Syllabus for General ScienceThe difference between living and nonliving things. The basis of Life—cells, Protoplasms, and Tissues. Growth and Reproduction in Plants and Animals. Elementary knowledge of Human Body and its vital organs. Common Epidemics, their causes and prevention. Food is a source of Energy for man. Its constituents include a balanced Diet. The Solar System includes meteors, comets, and Eclipses. Eminent Scientists have achieved many achievements. NDA Syllabus for History, Freedom Movement etc.A broad survey of Indian History, with emphasis on Culture and Civilisation. Freedom Movement in India. Elementary study of Indian Constitution and Administration. Elementary knowledge of Five Year Plans of India. Panchayati Raj, Co-operatives and Community Development. Bhoodan, Sarvodaya, National Integration and Welfare State, Basic Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Forces shaping the modern world; Renaissance, Exploration and Discovery; War of American Independence. French Revolution, Industrial Revolution and Russian Revolution. Impact of Science and Technology on Society. Concept of one World, United Nations, Panchsheel, Democracy, Socialism and Communism. Role of India in the present world. NDA Syllabus for GeographyThe Earth, its shape and size. Lattitudes and Longitudes, Concept of time. International Date Line. Movements of Earth and their effects. Origin of Earth. Rocks and their classification; Weathering—Mechanical and Chemical, Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Ocean Currents and Tides Atmosphere and its composition; Temperature and Atmospheric Pressure, Planetary Winds, Cyclones and Anti-cyclones; Humidity; Condensation and Precipitation; Types of Climate, Major Natural regions of the World. Regional Geography of India—Climate, Natural vegetation. Mineral and Power resources; location and distribution of agricultural and Industrial activities. Important Sea ports and main sea, land and air routes of India. Main items of Imports and Exports of India. NDA Syllabus for Current EventsKnowledge of Important events that have happened in India in recent years. Current important world events. Prominent personalities—both Indian and International including those connected with cultural activities and sports
NDA GAT Syllabus 2024 SubjectNDA Important Topics NDA Syllabus for EnglishSpotting Errors Comprehension Selecting Words Synonyms Antonyms Sentence Improvements Ordering of Words in a Sentence, etc. NDA Syllabus for PhysicsPhysical Properties and States of Matter, Mass, Weight, Volume, Density and Specific Gravity, the Principle of Archimedes, and the Pressure Barometer. Motion of objects, Velocity and Acceleration, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Force and Momentum, Parallelogram of Forces, Stability and Equilibrium of bodies, Gravitation, elementary ideas of work, Power and Energy. Effects of Heat, Measurement of Temperature and Heat, change of State and Latent Heat, Modes of transference of Heat. Sound waves and their properties, Simple musical instruments. Rectilinear propagation of Light, Reflection and refraction. Spherical mirrors and Lenses, Human Eye. Natural and Artificial Magnets, Properties of a Magnet, Earth as a Magnet. Static and Current Electricity, conductors and Nonconductors, Ohm’s Law, Simple Electrical Circuits, Heating, Lighting and Magnetic effects of Current, Measurement of Electrical Power, Primary and Secondary Cells, Use of X-Rays. General Principles in the working of the following: Simple Pendulum, Simple Pulleys, Siphon, Levers, Balloon, Pumps, Hydrometer, Pressure Cooker, Thermos Flask, Gramophone, Telegraphs, Telephone, Periscope, Telescope, Microscope, Mariner’s Compass; Lightening Conductors, Safety Fuses. NDA Syllabus for ChemistryPhysical and Chemical changes. Elements, Mixtures and Compounds, Symbols, Formulae and simple Chemical Equations, Law of Chemical Combination (excluding problems). Properties of Air and Water Preparation and Properties of Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and carbon dioxide, Oxidation and Reduction. Acids, bases and salts. Carbon—different forms. Fertilizers—Natural and Artificial. Material used in the preparation of substances like Soap, Glass, Ink, Paper, Cement, Paints, Safety Matches and Gun-Powder. Elementary ideas about the structure of Atom, Atomic Equivalent and Molecular Weights, Valency NDA Syllabus for General ScienceThe difference between living and nonliving things. The basis of Life—cells, Protoplasms, and Tissues. Growth and Reproduction in Plants and Animals. Elementary knowledge of Human Body and its vital organs. Common Epidemics, their causes and prevention. Food is a source of Energy for man. Its constituents include a balanced Diet. The Solar System includes meteors, comets, and Eclipses. Eminent Scientists have achieved many achievements. NDA Syllabus for History, Freedom Movement etc.A broad survey of Indian History, with emphasis on Culture and Civilisation. Freedom Movement in India. Elementary study of Indian Constitution and Administration. Elementary knowledge of Five Year Plans of India. Panchayati Raj, Co-operatives and Community Development. Bhoodan, Sarvodaya, National Integration and Welfare State, Basic Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Forces shaping the modern world; Renaissance, Exploration and Discovery; War of American Independence. French Revolution, Industrial Revolution and Russian Revolution. Impact of Science and Technology on Society. Concept of one World, United Nations, Panchsheel, Democracy, Socialism and Communism. Role of India in the present world. NDA Syllabus for GeographyThe Earth, its shape and size. Lattitudes and Longitudes, Concept of time. International Date Line. Movements of Earth and their effects. Origin of Earth. Rocks and their classification; Weathering—Mechanical and Chemical, Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Ocean Currents and Tides Atmosphere and its composition; Temperature and Atmospheric Pressure, Planetary Winds, Cyclones and Anti-cyclones; Humidity; Condensation and Precipitation; Types of Climate, Major Natural regions of the World. Regional Geography of India—Climate, Natural vegetation. Mineral and Power resources; location and distribution of agricultural and Industrial activities. Important Sea ports and main sea, land and air routes of India. Main items of Imports and Exports of India. NDA Syllabus for Current EventsKnowledge of Important events that have happened in India in recent years. Current important world events. Prominent personalities—both Indian and International including those connected with cultural activities and sports
The NDA General Ability Test Syllabus 2024 is divided into two parts: English and General Knowledge. The NDA question paper in English will be designed to assess the candidate’s understanding of English and workmanlike use of words. The NDA English syllabus covers various aspects, such as Grammar and usage, vocabulary, comprehension, and cohesion in extended text, to assess the candidate’s proficiency in English.
The NDA General Knowledge syllabus will broadly cover the subjects, i.e. Physics, Chemistry, General Science, Social Studies, Geography and Current Events. Check the detailed NDA Syllabus 2024 for the General Ability Test shared below for reference.
NDA GAT Syllabus 2024 SubjectNDA Important Topics NDA Syllabus for EnglishSpotting Errors Comprehension Selecting Words Synonyms Antonyms Sentence Improvements Ordering of Words in a Sentence, etc. NDA Syllabus for PhysicsPhysical Properties and States of Matter, Mass, Weight, Volume, Density and Specific Gravity, the Principle of Archimedes, and the Pressure Barometer. Motion of objects, Velocity and Acceleration, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Force and Momentum, Parallelogram of Forces, Stability and Equilibrium of bodies, Gravitation, elementary ideas of work, Power and Energy. Effects of Heat, Measurement of Temperature and Heat, change of State and Latent Heat, Modes of transference of Heat. Sound waves and their properties, Simple musical instruments. Rectilinear propagation of Light, Reflection and refraction. Spherical mirrors and Lenses, Human Eye. Natural and Artificial Magnets, Properties of a Magnet, Earth as a Magnet. Static and Current Electricity, conductors and Nonconductors, Ohm’s Law, Simple Electrical Circuits, Heating, Lighting and Magnetic effects of Current, Measurement of Electrical Power, Primary and Secondary Cells, Use of X-Rays. General Principles in the working of the following: Simple Pendulum, Simple Pulleys, Siphon, Levers, Balloon, Pumps, Hydrometer, Pressure Cooker, Thermos Flask, Gramophone, Telegraphs, Telephone, Periscope, Telescope, Microscope, Mariner’s Compass; Lightening Conductors, Safety Fuses. NDA Syllabus for ChemistryPhysical and Chemical changes. Elements, Mixtures and Compounds, Symbols, Formulae and simple Chemical Equations, Law of Chemical Combination (excluding problems). Properties of Air and Water Preparation and Properties of Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and carbon dioxide, Oxidation and Reduction. Acids, bases and salts. Carbon—different forms. Fertilizers—Natural and Artificial. Material used in the preparation of substances like Soap, Glass, Ink, Paper, Cement, Paints, Safety Matches and Gun-Powder. Elementary ideas about the structure of Atom, Atomic Equivalent and Molecular Weights, Valency NDA Syllabus for General ScienceThe difference between living and nonliving things. The basis of Life—cells, Protoplasms, and Tissues. Growth and Reproduction in Plants and Animals. Elementary knowledge of Human Body and its vital organs. Common Epidemics, their causes and prevention. Food is a source of Energy for man. Its constituents include a balanced Diet. The Solar System includes meteors, comets, and Eclipses. Eminent Scientists have achieved many achievements. NDA Syllabus for History, Freedom Movement etc.A broad survey of Indian History, with emphasis on Culture and Civilisation. Freedom Movement in India. Elementary study of Indian Constitution and Administration. Elementary knowledge of Five Year Plans of India. Panchayati Raj, Co-operatives and Community Development. Bhoodan, Sarvodaya, National Integration and Welfare State, Basic Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Forces shaping the modern world; Renaissance, Exploration and Discovery; War of American Independence. French Revolution, Industrial Revolution and Russian Revolution. Impact of Science and Technology on Society. Concept of one World, United Nations, Panchsheel, Democracy, Socialism and Communism. Role of India in the present world. NDA Syllabus for GeographyThe Earth, its shape and size. Lattitudes and Longitudes, Concept of time. International Date Line. Movements of Earth and their effects. Origin of Earth. Rocks and their classification; Weathering—Mechanical and Chemical, Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Ocean Currents and Tides Atmosphere and its composition; Temperature and Atmospheric Pressure, Planetary Winds, Cyclones and Anti-cyclones; Humidity; Condensation and Precipitation; Types of Climate, Major Natural regions of the World. Regional Geography of India—Climate, Natural vegetation. Mineral and Power resources; location and distribution of agricultural and Industrial activities. Important Sea ports and main sea, land and air routes of India. Main items of Imports and Exports of India. NDA Syllabus for Current EventsKnowledge of Important events that have happened in India in recent years. Current important world events. Prominent personalities—both Indian and International including those connected with cultural activities and sports

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I could probably write a novel but I will try to keep it brief.
I've been together with my partner since 2011 and we married in 2015. She is 41 (F) and I am 40 (M). We've had some ups and downs in our 14 year relationship but I would say overall it used to be pretty good.
4 years ago we had a daughter and that is when a lot of the bigger issues began. She had very bad postpartem depression I wasn't even aware of because despite my efforts she has never been very open with her feelings. I think she sees it as a weakness or like she is complaining. One day when our daughter was about a year old she completely melted down, and finally shed some light on to her emotional state. Thankfully that sparked some change and she got into therapy and on meds that helped. About a year later she got off meds and stopped seeking therapy. Things were ok for a while but since have gotten bad again.
She now works a full time job, high stress job. I also work full time. We have a toddler and face the normal life stresses of any family but nothing to crazy? She is been extremely grumpy toward me all the time. She seems unhappy a good portion of time, always tired, has gained a lot of weight, and overall just seems very depressed. She is also complexly OCD about our child and struggles to let go of the reins and let me do much to help out. It feels like she uses our daughter for an excuse a lot of the time for not living her own life or taking care of herself. Besides work, she seems to have no real life of her own, no hobbies, or anything. (she used to love fitness but has not worked out for years. I have even noticed her pushing some friends away and not reaching out which I find odd and unhealthy. We also have had pretty much no sex life since the kid was born. I can count on 1, maybe two hands the amount of times we have had sex. She does give me hand jobs occasionally but she does not seem into it at all. She says she has no libido and doesn't feel attractive. I understand this to a point but after years of talking about it and her doing nothing to try and change, I dont know what to do? Any intimacy we have feels incredibly forced and almost awkward because she is so not into it.
I have gone through a range of emotions. At one point I actually wondered if she was cheating on me because she seems so un-interested. I don't think that is the case but I would be lying to say I often wonder what I am doing wrong and if this is because of ME.
I have suggested she go to therapy again or look into meds. Usually in a heated discussion about this she will say she will, but then does nothing to follow up on it. I am at a total loss for what to do. The more I feel like I try and help ignite some change the more I feel I get pushed away.
Another thing that happened recently is I found out she has been doing blow on multiple occasions with co-workers. When I talked to her about it she lied but then I found it in her purse. I'm definitely more upset to be lied to then her doing it, I dont love it but I think I can accept it if she wants to indulge in that from time to time. The whole thing just kinda weirded me out. In a way it feels a little bit like she is going through a midlife crisis.
I am basically just tired of living with someone who I feel doesn't like me. We dont feel very connected in many ways, whether that be communication, intimacy, etc, more like just roommates that are co-parenting.
I know that I am probably not alone in this scenario and just wanted to hear some perspectives of others who may have gone through or are going through something like this. The thought of separation is really painful, but I don't know how much longer I can stay in this relationship given the circumstances.

So, i received my bike on 10th May 2024, since the vehicle is new for the first 60-100kms i kept the revs low below 4k rpm and only 10-30% of acceleration. And after 100kms I've been keeping the rev range below 6k rpm, and 6000-6500k rpm is the max that I've shifted. Always shifted between 4-6k rpm. Also, not even the first SERVICE is done yet, it was about to be done on or after 10th June.
So on 2nd June, i had low fuel and the Distance to Empty indicator in my instrument cluster was showing 90kms which i took as 50, and didn't wanted stress the engine out so i refilled with Indian oil xp95, which is the recommended 95octane in my owners manual. I refilled with around 6.99litres. and i rode the bike for next around 5kms and i remember quite evidently that i was in 4th gear at the speed of 60km/hr, and the bike started giving small jerks i didn't notice it untill i felt the pick-up fairly low for around 50% acceleration, and it does pull good in the 4th gear. After releasing that the pick-up is not as expected thats when i realised that the the bike is giving jerks, and i thought "What could've been wrong?, i should atleast get to the side of the road" and i did take it to the side of the road and turned off the motorcycle. But after that the bike was turned of it wouldn't start.
I tried shaking the bike left to right and right to left, hoping it had something with the fuel, but nothing worked. Every time i was trying to self start the bike, i could hear the spark plug trying to spark, but the engine was not starting at all. When i opened the lid of tank, and shaked the bike after that the bike would start only for a second or two and by the time i accelerate, the bike will be turned off by that time.
I called the RSA team which they fairly took an hour and half to get it towed. After 2-3hrs of baffle, my bike was in the service centre and as they were about to close, they took my bike and told me they'll work on it tomorrow. I'm fine if they take some time to solve the issue, but i want the issue to solved permanently and not just a temporary solution or JUGAAD.
I'm not understanding how this could happen? I'm fairly new to bikes, but not new to two wheelers. i have a Burgman 125 for around 5yrs with 31k kms clocked.
Service guy told me on Day 1 of working on the bike, i.e. 3rd June, that they're not able to identify the problem, the bike is starting but it is misfiring.
On Day 2 of working on the bike, i.e. 4th June, he told me that they're not able to identify the problem, "2-3 sensors kharab hua hai shayad, bike chal rahi hai, i even rode it, but problem identify nahi ho raha hai"
I asked "which sensors and what could have damaged the sensors", he said "sir we're not yet able to identify the problem, and not pin point the sensors "
Any suggestions would do, what are my options here? 1.What could've happened with the bike? 2.If the sensors are faulty, could it mean that the airflow pressure sensor for the engine might have gone faulty which couldn't send proper air-fuel ratio to the engine which is causing it to shut off? and a simple reset of ECU can do the deed?(This is what i think) 3. Is there any possibility of they would Change the whole engine black? 4.Should i ask them to replace the bike itself? 5. Is this bike even reliable?(I'm scared tbh,if this is happening in the first month of having the bike, what all problems can i face in the future), never heard happening something like this to any of the owners?
I'm just hoping for it to get a permanent solution, so I don't get into trouble when I'm out on a long ride. Kindly suggest my options in this scenario.
Location: Mumbai

I built my electrical system out based solely on YouTube videos and have absolutely no understanding of how it actually works. Now that my system is finished and fully installed, I have a few questions. I apologize for the long post but if you have any insight into any of the following, it would be greatly appreciated!!

1. I have a DC to DC battery charger so I am able to charge my house batteries off the alternator. I also have an Air Conditioner mounted on the roof that runs on AC. My DC to DC is plugged into the van via an Add-a-Fuse so the alternator only charges the house batteries when the van is on. Yada yada yada… The other day, we went to the grocery store and left our A/C on for the pets and when we came back.. the van batteries were completely dead. I’m confused as to why this would happen. I disconnected the Add-a-Fuse from the van and it hasn’t happened since, but now I don’t have alternator charging… Why is this happening and how do I fix it so the A/C doesn’t kill the vehicle battery?
   
2. Another question about the DC to DC charger… I thought when I put together my system together that with the DC to DC, I would be able to run the van radio practically unlimitedly but my battery also died doing that. Is that not a thing? Is there a way to connect my vehicle battery to my house batteries to make it so I can run my radio without my van battery dying?
   
3. The other day my van was in direct sunlight and it was the the time of day where the sun was directly overhead so I decided to check my Wattage yield from the Solar Panels. My batteries were charged to 100% and and when I looked at my Renogy Bluetooth app, I was only yielding 1W. My system is capable of 520W and I’ve seen it go as high as 450W before. Is it possible nothing was showing in my app because the batteries were already fully charged or is something wrong?
   
4. I have DC LED puck lights installed in the ceiling. When my Master Power switch is in the ‘On’ position, everything works perfectly, but when I turn the system off via the Master Power switch, the puck lights will randomly turn off and on. Which makes NO sense because how tf are they even getting power when the system is off?? The only way I can get them to completely shut off is by turning off the circuit breaker that is between the solar panels and the charge controller. Which makes my think that even with the system completely off, somehow power from the solar panels are reaching my puck lights. How is this possible and how do I fix it?
   
5. What happens to my charge controller if I go higher than the max solar input power of said charge controller?
   

• Thank you in advance for your help and at the very least, may this post spark some productive conversation!!

Hello! My husband and I are looking to buy a different car. We commute quite a bit for school and work (at least least 80 miles round trip 3 times a week—with other trips as well that add up quickly on miles). The miles we drive are probably 80% hwy 20% city. We’re finishing up school and want to stay between 5-8k, but could go up to 10k for a really good option.
We’ve been looking into electric and hybrid options to help save on gas, but honestly are open to anything that meets the randomly specific needs we have. We’re open to a gas car that has good gas mileage, but also is safe in the snow and is in our price range.
—we’d love to save on gas
—we live in a place that snows a lot in the winter, so awd would be ideal. We have a different awd gas car that we can easily drive if isn’t safe to drive in the snow, so that gives us some flexibility. Because of that, we have been looking into to small electric and hybrid options that aren’t awd.
—my husband‘s school that he drives to 3x a week has free chargers, so an electric or plug-in hybrid option would be great! We also can charge at home too before he heads to school. any insights onto the safety/commuting in something like a Chevy spark or Nissan leaf would be really appreciated, especially considering we’ll be commuting in some snow and a lot of these vehicles are fwd or rwd.
Thank you in advance for your help!! We really appreciate it :)

I decided to share something I did! Rewrote most of the scenes I liked in Rescue Team DX during a playthrough once, as well as made the player(Meowth in my playthrough) and the partner(Pikachu in my playthrough) more lively, instead of just talking like npcs! Many other Pokemon are more fleshed out like Absol and Rayquaza too! Please read!~

(For those who can't click the link, I'll paste the thing here!)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l3GFbnQKp3iIjmF-CrSKIBZkUDetopYsYphanVV6HCE/edit?usp=sharing

{{Meowth}}: ****Where am I…? Am I dreamin’ dis? … I feel… A breeze… I hear a voice…*** Ngh… *Meowth’s eyes open to a small slit* … ***I wondah…***
{{Pikachu}}: y… ey… … Hey!
{{Meowth}]: ***Eh? Who’s dat…?***
{{Pikachu}}: Wake up… Come on–wake up!
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth groans quietly as he fully opens his eyes, slowly. He almost immediately closed them again though as he’s nearly blinded by the beaming sun* Ungh! Yeesh, dat’s bright! … H-hah?
{{Pikachu}}: *Meowth could see a Pikachu leaning over him; A TALKING Pikachu at that!* Y-you’re finally awake!
{{Meowth}}: ***Guh… Where da hell am I anyways?*** Mreoow, my head’s killin’ me… *Meowth slowly opened both eyes as he blinked a few times. He looks around left to right slowly, seeing that he was in some sort of forested area with bright, lush grass and large trees all around*
{{Pikachu}}: You fell out of the sky all of a sudden and passed out here! Oh Arceus, I was getting worried… *Pikachu smiled widely* I’m glad you’re okay though! At least I think… That was a pretty nasty fall…
{{Meowth}}: ***I guess I ain't imaginin’ anyting! Dat Pikachu IS talkin’!!***
{{Pikachu}}: *He steps closer to Meowth* What’s with the look on your face… You look like you’ve seen a talking Pokemon or something! Hehe~ Who’re you? *He tilts his head with a curious look on his face*
{{Meowth}}: GAAAH!! *Meowth jumps up in a panic, taking a defensive stance* Get da hell away from me, ya talkin’ freak!
{{Pikachu}}: Pi! *Pikachu squealed, stumbling back a bit as he was shocked at the violent reaction from Meowth!* B–but… *He points at Meowth* You’re a Meowth and YOU’RE talking!
{{Meowth}}: In yer dreams, rat! I’m a human trough and trough! Ya can’t fool me! *Meowth turns away, folding his arms as he says that*
{{Pikachu}}: No, really! You look just like a Meowth in every way! From ear to toe! *He had a shocked face*
{{Meowth}}: Wha? *Meowth looks around him, then looks down at his paws, flexing them then looking down at his pheet, wiggling his toes a little. He goes and looks into a nearby pond and gasps, his maw open a bit* MEOOOOOW?! ***It’s true! I HAVE turned into a Meowth! Is dat why I’m talkin’ like dis?!***
{{Pikachu}}: ***Is it that much of a shock…? He’s kind of a weird guy, but I can’t just leave him here!*** Um… Hey, I know! How about I lead you to town~? It’s really close to here actually!
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth thinks for a bit then slowly nods* I gots nowhere else ta go, so why not~
{{Narrator}}: *A cry for help rang through the forest as a panicked Butterfree can be seen*
{{Butterfree}}: Help meee! Somebody!! *A Butterfree suddenly comes flying towards Pikachu and Meowth*
{{Meowth}}: Woah! Hey, what’s da panic?? Ya look like ya lost yer kid in a fissure or someting! *Meowth was looking at Butterfree with widened eyes*
{{Butterfree}}: *She looks around, worried, then looks at Meowth again, heart beating quick as fast as her wings are fluttering!* I–I did! My poor little Caterpie got swallowed up by a fissure that opened up under us when we were attacked by angry Pokemon!
{{Meowth}}: Meow?! Yous guys was attacked?! *Meowth looked at Butterfree in surprise*
{{Butterfree}}: Y-yes… I tried to rescue my Caterpie myself, but I was nearly swiped at! Ooh… He’s not old enough to climb out by himself, and I’m worried he’ll be hurt!
{{Meowth}}: Oh boy… Pikachu…?
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu folds his arms, closing his eyes* Hmm… *He grins, opening one eye* We’ll find your kid and bring him back to you~! Right, Meowth?
{{Meowth}}: We will? *Meowth looks at Pikachu puzzled, then after a while, nods, looking at Butterfree and giving her a thumbs up, also giving her a grin* Y-yea! We will! Don’t sweat it, nyahaha~!
{{Pikachu}}: Meowth! Let’s go! *Pikachu, with a determined look on his face, begins to run off, with both his arms behind him*
{{Meowth}}: Right behind ya, squirt! *Meowth takes off after Pikachu in a similar manner; arms behind him!*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *After a while of running, the two Pokemon came to a stop in what seemed like a wooded area covered in foliage with high walls, almost like a maze…*
{{Pikachu}}: This place… Could it be…? *Pikachu looks around slowly, slowly spinning then gasps* It is! It’s a Mystery Dungeon~!
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth looks at Pikachu confused* A Mystery Dungeon? What in da world’s dat?
{{Pikachu}}: Well~ *Pikachu puts his arms behind his head* A Mystery Dungeon’s a real strange place… I hear, the layout of one and the items you can find inside one can change every time you enter!
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth huffs, folding his arms and looking around* Dat sure doesn’t sound gimmicky as hell…
{{Pikachu}}: Haha~ It shouldn’t be too bad! Now if only we can find the Stairs…
{{Meowth}}: Eh? *Meowth turns to Pikachu, arms still folded*
{{Pikachu}}: The Stairs let us get through places like this, but we have to find ‘em! *He looks at Meowth, nodding* and if push comes to shove, we’ll have to fight other Pokemon too. C’mon!~ *Pikachu begins to run ahead with his arms behind him, his tail flicking from left to right with the pace of his steps*
{{Meowth}}: ***Meow… Dis is gonna be a trip an’ a half, I know it…*** Hold on, wait fah me, squirt!! *Meowth begins to run after Pikachu again, arms behind him*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *After Pikachu and Meowth made their way to the final basement floor of the woods-like dungeon, 4BF, they arrived at a clearing. And in the middle of said clearing, was a scared looking Caterpie*
{{Caterpie}}: *Caterpie sniffles softly, tears in his eyes* W-waaah…! M-mommyyy? *Caterpie looks around worriedly, seeing no signs of his Butterfree mother*
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu and Meowth run towards Caterpie as Pikachu puts a paw around Caterpie*
{{Pikachu}}: Hey, you’re hurt, are you?! Don’t worry, your mom sent us to come get you out… Hup! *Pikachu gently hoists Caterpie up onto his back*
{{Caterpie}}: Uwa! U-um… Huh…?
{{Pikachu}}: Your mom’s waiting! Hang tight, lil’ bug~ *Pikachu begins to walk towards the stairs again and to the exit*
{{Caterpie}}: O-okay!
{{Meowth}}: ***”Lil’ bug”? Since when did he start talkin’ like me?*** Hopefully she’s okay… *Meowth walked beside Pikachu*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Upon seeing Pikachu and Meowth exiting Tiny Woods with Caterpie in tow, the once anxious Butterfree breathes a sigh of relief, flying closer to them both*
{{Butterfree}}: My little Caterpie is alright, thank goodness…! *Butterfree slowly takes Caterpie from Pikachu* How can I ever repay you~?
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu shakes his head* No, no, it’s okay! And with the recent quakes and fissures stirring so much trouble… It was the least we could do~! Glad your boy’s safe!
{{Butterfree}}: *Butterfree gives Pikachu a stern look, then smiles* I can’t allow that, please… Take this as a gift~ *She gives Pikachu a small brown sack*
{{Narrator}}: *Curious, Pikachu opens the sack and gasp, as Meowth was even shocked too*{{Pikachu}}: W-wah?! 500 Poke Gold?!
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth turns to see Caterpie staring at him with sparkling eyes, then Meowth tilts his head, confused* Nya? … ***Dis lil’ guy’s starin’ at me all adorable like…***
{{Caterpie}}: T-thank you! Both of you!
{{Butterfree}}: Good-bye… Take care, you two! *Butterfree smiles as she flies away with Caterpie*
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu and Meowth both wave the two Bug-type Pokemon off and Pikachu turns to Meowth*
{{Pikachu}}: Hey, thanks for the help! You’re actually kinda strong for a Meowth~!
{{Meowth}}: Eh? *Meowth turns and smiles slightly at his Electric Rodent friend* Whyy thank ya! You ain’t too shabby yerself, squirt~
{{Pikachu}}: Listen… If you really don’t have anywhere to go, I can show you around the village nearby! Follow me! *Pikachu starts to run past Meowth, stepping on Meowth’s tail by mistake in the process*
{{Meowth}}: Nyeowch! HEY! ***Gah, dat dumb rat…***
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth runs with his arms behind him to catch up with his partner*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu leads Meowth to a large hut just on the edge of Pokemon Square*
{{Pikachu}}: This is the plaaace~! My home! *Pikachu goes to the small wooden mailbox near the hut* Damn… *His ears lower* No mail huh…
{{Meowth}}: Dis place looks comfy, squirt! *Meowth whistled a bit then looks at Pikachu* Were ya expectin’ someting?
{{Pikachu}}: Well, yeah! But um… I’ve been thinking about something earlier… See, there’s been other things than just quakes… Fires, Tsunamis, y-you name it! I dunno what’s goin’ on… I wanna keep others safe! And help them if they need it. Meowth. *Pikachu looks at the ground, down at his pheet, then looks at Meowth* I could really use more of your help! How about it~? Wanna… Wanna form a rescue team with me? *He extends his paw outwards towards Meowth*
{{Meowth}}: ***A rescue team? Wit DIS twoip?! He does seem pretty sweet…*** Alright, I’ll take ya up on that offer! *Meowth closes one eye, smiling toothily as he puts his paw in Pikachu’s paw in a handshake~*
{{Pikachu}}: Piiika… *Happy tears start welling up in his eyes* ALRIIIIIGHT!!~ *Pikachu’s eyes close in a bright smile as he pumps a fist into the air in excitement while he shouts happily*
{{Meowth}}: Heh, yer pretty cute now dat I look at’cha… *Meowth folds his arms*
{{Pikachu}}: Well… We’re a team now… So that means we need a team name! Any ideas~?
{{Meowth}}: Haah… ***Dammit, mouse, why d’ya have ta put me on da spot like dis…*** Uhm… How ‘bout… TundaSwipe!
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu had started to pick up that Meowth seemed to always talk “funny” to him, but he was a bit confused as he tilts his head*
{{Pikachu}}: “Tunda”Swipe? Chuu, pi?
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth’s cheeks heat up as his blushes a bit from embarrassment* Daah… I-I mean…
{{Pikachu}}: Hmm… Are you trying to say… ThunderSwipe~?
{{Meowth}}: Yea… *Meowth looks away*
{{Pikachu}}: Hehehehaha~ *Pikachu giggles and step closer to Meowth, hugging him and looking up at him* It’s okay that you talk different than me! I know what you mean now~ … ThunderSwipe sounds perfect!
{{Meowth}}: M-mreow… *Meowth looks down at Pikachu, giving him a faint smile* Mmm.. Tanks, squirt~ *He puts a paw on Pikachu’s head right between Pikachu’s ears and rubs Pikachu’s head* On second tought… How ‘bout BoltSwipe instead~?
{{Pikachu}}: Oh! That sounds good tooo~! *Pikachu blushes and smiles cutely* Hey, I picked these up in Tiny Woods as well! *He holds out a red scarf and a green scarf* They’re scarves, to signify our newfound rescue team~!
{{Meowth}}: Heh, tank ya, squirt! But… Why is yers green and mine’s red? *Meowth slowly takes the red scarf from Pikachu and slowly puts it on, the tails of the scarf were behind his head like a typical mystery dungeon style scarf!*
{{Pikachu}}: Um… I-I only found one red one… Piika~ *He smiles sheepishly, putting on his green scarf in the same fashion as Meowth* But hey, these look great huh~! Sure… We don’t look like we’re on the same team with the different colored scarves, but… We’re friends now! Starting tomorrow, we’ll do our BEST~!
{{Narrator}}: ## **And thus… Pikachu and Meowth’s journey began… The journey to the Tower in the Sky!**
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *The next morning, Meowth wakes up before Pikachu, to see that he was in fact, still a Meowth as he looks over himself*{{Meowth}}: ***Nya…? I’m still da same as I was yesterday… Haah, guess I’m stuck like dis den.***
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu yawns softly as he starts to wake up* Mmm~! … Piiika. Good-morning, buddy~ *Pikachu looks up at Meowth* How’d ya sleep huh?!
{{Meowth}}: Heh, mornin’ squirt. Hey, I checked the mailbox earliah and it turns out dere was a Rescue Team Starter Set ready for us~! *Meowth grins, pointing to the Toolbox on the desk nearby* Aand~ *He flashes two Rescue Team badges, and tosses one to Pikachu*
{{Pikachu}}: Sweet~! *Pikachu catches the badge and attaches it to his scarf* Today’s the day we officially start doing rescue missions… I’m kinda excited and nervous at the same time! We- *Pikachu stops as he hears flapping, then looks up, seeing a Pelipper flying down to the mailbox, putting an envelope inside it with his beak, then flying off again*
{{Meowth}}: Mail? *Meowth goes and checks the mailbox, taking the envelope and looking at it*
{{Narrator}}: *The envelope was a Rescue Request from a Magnemite. Which read: “BZZT BZZT… Hey! I heard from Caterpie that you saved him yesterday! Um… I’m sort of in a pickle myself and need help! Please come!! BZZT BZZT… – Magnemite”
{{Pikachu}}: OUR FIRST RESCUE, YAAAY~!! *Pikachu was overjoyed as he jumps up and down*
{{Meowth}}: *Sweatdrop* Gee, runt, y’sure are excited… Well, let’s go help ‘em out!
{{Pikachu}}: Yep! Off to Thunderwave Cave!
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu and Meowth quickly set off together to Thunderwave Cave, where their Magnemite client needed rescuing!*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Upon arriving at the entrance to Thunderwave Cave, there stood a Teddiura with a worried look*
{{Teddiursa}}: O-oh, yes! You too came! I’m guessing that the letter Magy sent went through… Please, bring him back safely!
{{Meowth}}: On it!
{{Pikachu}}: Leave it to us!
{{Narrator}}: *Both Meowth and Pikachu nod at each other before taking off into the cave. After quite a bit, the two Pokemon emerge from the exit with Magnemite in tow as Teddiursa squeals and hugs Magnemite, nuzzling his cheek against him, giggling and thanking team BoltSwipe and rewarding them*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth was following Pikachu into Pokemon Square as he was being shown around*
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu leads Meowth over to a Persian behind a counter* This is Felicity Bank! Pokemon can store their money they get from completing rescue missions here~
{{Persian}}: Mwrraa~♡ *Persian waves a paw and smiles* I’ll always be here if you ever feel afraid to lose anything~
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu whispers to Meowth* I heard, Persian gives other cat Pokemon like you extra…. “Benefits” Hehee~
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth blushes, seeing Persian wink at him while purring. He knew what those “benefits” were~* I… I’ll take yer word for it…
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu leads Meowth over to a Kangaskhan behind a counter nearby Felicity Bank* This is the Storage~ Kangaskhan can keep any items you don’t wanna lose in her safe here!
{{Kangaskhan}}: I don’t just store things either, honey, if you need ANYTHING at all, please, don’t be scared to come to me~ *Kangaskhan smiles sweetly as her belly was heard gurgling deeply~*
{{Meowth}}: Boy, shee sounds hungry… *Meowth rubs the back of his head as he looks at Pikachu* I’m guessin’ she has a big appetite huh?
{{Pikachu}}: Haha~! Who doesn’t… Over there is the Kecleon Shop where you can buy all sorts of useful items and TMs! *Pikachu points to a purple tent with a Kecleon looking at them both from a distance behind a counter* Just uum… Don’t steal. Trust me, I’ve tried and i-it doesn’t end well…
{{Meowth}}: Luckily, yer friends with a mastah teif doh! *Meowth smiles proudly*
{{Pikachu}}: Whatever you saay, Master Thief~ That’s about all! There’s a dojo here owned by Makuhita, but it isn’t open right now… *Pikachu looks at Meowth*
{{Meowth}}: I have a feelin’ I’ll have a lot more fun in dis world dan I tought…~
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Upon hearing about the story of the Ninetales Curse from Whiscash, Pikachu appeared dejected while he and Meowth walked back towards their shared hut*
{{Pikachu}}: Meowth…
{{Meowth}}: Mow? *Meowth turns to Pikachu* What’s up, squirt?
{{Pikachu}}: L-let’s call it a day… I’m not feeling good…. *Pikachu leaves with his head down, continuing to walk*
{{Meowth}}: ***What’s up wit him today….? He ain’t normally dis glum!*** H-hey, wait up! *Meowth runs after Pikachu*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Days passed, and when night time came around one day, Pikachu and Meowth were sitting on a hill, looking up at the moon. Pikachu was still rather glum*
{{Pikachu}}: … Chuuu…
{{Meowth}}: Alright, fess up! *Meowth stands over Pikachu*
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu looks up at Meowth* What…?
{{Meowth}}: What’s da hell’s da mattah wit you! Seein’ ya like dis breaks my little cat heart! Where’s da happy-go-lucky Pikachu I was hangin’ wit a few days ago!? Where’s dat determination! Dat spark in yer eye!
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu sighs and looks down again* He’s gone… Probably with that bad human…
{{Narrator}}: *A loud slap sound echoes throughout the air as Meowth had just slapped Pikachu across the face, paw twitching*
{{Meowth}}: “Wit dat bad human” huh? Pikachu… You’re really gonna let that dumb old fish shake yous up DAT MUCH?!?
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu’s ears twitch as he feels something like tears drop into paws and he looks up to see that Meowth was… Crying*
{{Meowth}}: I get it… Y-yer tinkin’ I’M dat bad human…!!
{{Pikachu}}: I… *Pkachu bites his lip* I don’t…
{{Meowth}}: *Saying nothing, Meowth unties his scarf, taking it off and dropping it onto Pikachu’s lap* If dat’s what you tink of me, den… I’m gone.
{{Pikachu}}: YOU’RE NOT!! … *Pikachu pulls Meowth into a hug after shouting* You’re not that bad human, I’m sure of it…
{{Meowth}}: *Meowth pauses for a moment, then closed his eyes, hugging Pikachu in return, rubbing Pikachu’s back as the Electric-type cried*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *The next day, Pikachu and Meowth were walking into Pokemon Square, only to find the usual counters uninhabited!*
{{Meowth}}: Yeesh… Where is everybody? Oh!
{{Pikachu}}: Over there?
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu and Meowth go closer to where all of the residents were gather*
{{Meowth}}: What’s happinin’ now??
{{Bellsprout}}: The rumors! They were true!
{{Pikachu}}: Rumors?
{{Bellsprout}}: The legend! The Ninetales Legend!
{{Caterpie}}: Pikachu! Meowth! *Caterpie went over to them*
{{Meowth}}: Heh, heya, lil bug~
{{Snubbull}}: Shh shh! Quit yappin’, you! That guy’s telling us the deal.
{{Narrator}}: *Snubbull points to Gengar ahead at which Meowth gasps*
{{Meowth}}: DAT bastard?!
{{Pikachu}}: Ge-Gengar?!
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Gengar was standing in the center of Pokemon Square as everyone was surrounding him, listening to him*
{{Gengar}}: I went up to the Hill of the Ancients in the Great Canyon a few days ago! Dat’s where I saw it! Shocking stuff, I tell ya!
{{Lombre}}: Shocking stuff?
{{Gengar}}: There was this certain Pokemon… Heheh, getting advice from Xatu! That Pokemon… He may look ordinary, but get this! He was… *He paused for dramatic effect* … A HUMAN!!
{{Narrator}}: *Everyone besides Meowth and Pikachu gasp in shock*
{{Bellsprout}}: What?!
{{Snubbull}}: It really did exist… A human turned Pokemon… *He huffs in amazement*
{{Gengar}}: But wait, there’s more! *Gengar smiles devious, even more than he was already* Xatu told the human, that the human was the cause of all of the natural disasters!
{{Lombre}}: He was??
{{Gengar}}: If the world’s balance isn’t restored… The world will be destroyed! Dat’s what the psychic bird said! Kahaahaha!
{{Persian}}: Oh dear…!
{{Pikachu}}: Grr… *He turns to Meowth* That damn ghost… He’s gettin’ everyone riled up!!
{{Gengar}}: Hey, hey! Calm dooown~ There’s something easy we can do!
{{Kangaskhan}}: Like what? *She crosses her arms, curious*
{{Gengar}}: Well, if the world’s imbalance is the cause due to the human… Then if he’s gone, everything should be back to normal! Right~? That human is the rotten bastard who ditched his partner Pokemon, Celebi… So if we get rid of the human, then…
{{Snubbull}}: Let’s do it!
{{Kangaskhan}}: It’s… The only way… *She lowers her head*
{{Gengar}}: *He chuckles darkly, looking at Meowth* Hear that… The human’s gonna be no more~ *He cackles and points at Meowth* ISN’T THAT RIGHT, HUMAN?!
{{Meowth}}: Mowh!! *Meowth steps back* N-now wait a sec! I ain’t–
{{Persian}}: I was beginning to like you too… Shame…
{{Meowth}}: P-Persian…?
{{Caterpie}}: H-how c-could you… *He starts tearing up* I-I thought you were a hero…
{{Butterfree}}: Pity…
{{Meowth}}: H-hey, not you too…!
{{Snubbull}}: You! Bastard of a cat! Is this true?!
{{Pikachu}} Wait, wait!! Meowth isn’t a human! You must be–
{{Kangaskhan}}: *Kangaskhan glares down at Pikachu* Silence. *She looks at Meowth* Cat…
{{Narrator}}: *Backed into a corner, Meowth takes a step back, shuddering, unable to talk, a scared look on his face*
{{Pikachu}}: M-Meowth… ***I’ve never seen him this scared before…***
{{Gengar}}: Hah! What’s the matter, Meowth got’cha tongue~? Ironic, considerin’ you ARE one… Or ARE YOU! Haaahahahaha!!
{{Narrator}}: *The group of Pokemon start to close in on Pikachu and Meowth as the two back away slowly*
{{Pikachu}}: R-run for it!! *Pikachu starts to take off running*
{{Meowth}}: Gaah! *Meowth takes off after Pikachu*
{{Gengar}}: Heh… *He watches Pikachu and Meowth run in fear* Serves them right…
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu and Meowth had retreated back to their base, panting*{{Pikachu}}: I… I think we lost them… *He turns to Meowth, then growls* You dumbass! You didn’t even TRY to defend yourself! You just stood there like a pussy!! And NOT because you’re a cat Pokemon!
{{Meowth}}: P-Pikachu… I’m… Tired of dis…
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu drops his angry expression, having it replaced with concern*{{Meowth}}: I’m not fit ta be yer partner anymore… I only slow ya down an’ get us inta trouble… Maybe I am dat bad human Gengar was talkin’ about… Maybe I am betta off dead, betta off–
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth was cut off but receiving a hard slap to the face by Pikachu, who was growling at him*
{{Pikachu}}: Don’t… Ever… SAY THAT!! Meowth, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now if it weren't for you! I wouldn’t have a friend! I wouldn’t have a team…
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth stood there in shock, his cheek stained with the red paw print of a Pikachu paw on it. But soon they were approached by Alakazam Charizard and Tyranitar, the gold rank team; ACT*
{{Alakazam}}: Back in Pokemon Square. There was a meeting.
{{Charizard}}: I’m sorry to say, but…
{{Tyranitar}}: We have to get rid of you, by brute force!
{{Meowth}}: Mreeooow… N-not you guys too…
{{Charizard}}: It hurts me to have t’kill a cute lil guy like you, but… I go by Alakazam’s orders!
{{Alakazam}}: No. We will give you by tonight. And you will be gone by tomorrow morning, is that understood?
{{Meowth}}: … I… *Meowth hangs his head* Yea…
{{Tyranitar}}: Run… Against all odds, you have to run! Run…
{{Charizard}}: And survive…
{{Alakazam}}: You must uncover the truth… Do NOT stop running until you do.
{{Meowth}}: N-nya… *He starts to tear up* Charizard… And Alakazam…
{{Narrator}}: *Charizard gives Pikachu a smirk*{{Charizard}}: But if I see ya back here too soon, you’ll just end up being my lunch. Heh! There won’t be mercy next time, not from me, or the others… Now get outta here! Go and clear your name, kitty! *Charizard winks*
{{Meowth}}: … Yea! Tanks… *He gives a slight, weak smile*
{{Narrator}}: During the night time, Pikachu and Meowth got all prepped to and when the early morning, Pikachu and Meowth too one last look at Pokemon Square, and their home, before silently leaving, unsure of what awaited them…
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Traversing the fiery Mt. Blaze, and the sheer cold that was Frosty Forest and Mt. Freeze, Pikachu and Meowth had finally arrived at the very peak of Mt. Freeze, where the fabled Ninetales awaited them, accompanying them, was their new friend, Absol, but…*
{{Meowth}}: F… Finally… I-it’s fr-freezin’…
{{Absol}}: But… Where is she? *Absol looks around confused, but then…* Huh?!
{{Charizard}}: *Cracking his neck a bit and pounding his fists together* Caught yaa~ Heheheeheee…
{{Pikachu}}: Gck… *Pikachu steps back* Ch-Charizard!!
{{Absol}}: Hm! *He quickly gets in front of Pikachu and Meowth to guard them, while glaring at Charizard* Where’s the other two?
{{Charizard}}: The blizzard was too harsh for them, ‘specially T-tar. But why’s that matter? I’m here to put these little runts six feet under! *Charizard stomps forward with a wide smirk on his face*
{{Ninetales}}: There will be no need for such violence… *She slowly steps out into view*
{{Charizard}}: N-Ninetales?!
{{Absol}}: Woah…
{{Meowth}}: It’s… Really her…
{{Ninetales}}: I should have welcomed you three sooner, forgive me.
{{Meowth}}: C-can ya tell us?! Who was da human dat was in da legend!
{{Charizard}}: Is it even REAL?
{{Narrator}}: *Clearly, everyone was shocked at Ninetales appearance… But Ninetales simply looks at them all*
{{Ninetales}}: I care not whether it is considered a legend or true. Though… It did happen. It was decades ago where I tried to lay a curse on a human. However, the human’s partner, a Celebi rushed in. It was selfless enough to take the full brunt of the curse. Instead of aiding, the human chose to flee. It disgusted me. Said human, became a Pokemon themselves as punishment. The human still lives to this very day, as a Pokemon.
{{Absol}}: *He steps up* But… Who IS the human?
{{Ninetales}}: *She slowly looks over at Meowth* No one nearby.
{{Meowth}}: !!
{{Charizard}}: Huh!
{{Pikachu}}: Um… You said… J-just now…
{{Ninetales}}: The Pokemon standing before you–Meowth, is not the human in the legend.
{{Pikachu}}: … W-wha… ***I feel fuzzy… N-no! Relieved…*** Meowth…
{{Meowth}}: U-uh. Squirt? You–
{{Pikachu}}: MEOOOWTH!!!~ *Pikachu suddenly leaps at Meowth and hugs him, nuzzling into him while tearing up and crying tears of joy*
{{Meowth}}: Waaaa-uaah! *He stumbled a bit, but caught Pikachu, smiling gently* I’m here, squirt…! G-gosh, yer heavy..
{{Pikachu}}: I-I knew it all along!~ I just knew you weren’t that bad human in the legend!!
{{Charizard}}: *He smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head* I guess I owe ya an apology then, heh…~ Sorry, then.
{{Ninetales}}: And… The world’s calamities. They are not related to the human whatsoever. The source… Exists elsewhere.
{{Meowth}}: D-dat’s a relief for me I guess… But that ain’t good at all!
{{Charizard}}: You said it…
{{Absol}}: Pikachu, Meowth… I– … I want to continue following you. I have to!
{{Pikachu}}: Sure you can… Buddy~!{{Absol}}: … Mmp– *Absol blushes faintly, but quickly shakes it off*{{Narrator}}: *With the troubling rumor debunked, Pikachu, Meowth, Absol and Charizard all began to leave, slowly, but surely, making their way back to Pokemon Square*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *In Pokemon Square…*
{{Gengar}}: Heh… Look who came running back… What, ya didn’t get buried huh?
{{Meowth}}: You… Rotten… EVERYTHING YA TOLD DEES GUYS WAS A LIE!!
{{Pikachu}}: Piii-ka! Yeah!! Meowth had nothing to do with it, ya ghostly bastard!
{{Absol}}: He was INNOCENT.
{{Gengar}}: Gen–?! *Gengar flinched a bit*
{{Lombre}}: What…? He was?!
{{Shiftry}}: Gengaar, you…
{{Gengar}}: H-hey, hey! They’re lyin’! They don’t know anything!
{{Snubbull}}: … Yeah, show us some proof then!
{{Meowth}}: Uh.. Proof… Um..
{{Gengar}}: Well?? Where’s the evidence, hahaah! C’mon, show us!
{{Absol}}: *Absol steps up, smirking* You called~? Your proof’s right here.
{{Gengar}}: Who the hell– Hey! Get rid of these guys!
{{Bellsprout}}: Not likely… Meowth would launch me into space…
{{Snubbull}}: I don’t wanna be shocked!
{{Caterpie}}: You’re just a big liar!! Meowth was my hero and I always believed in him!
{{Gengar}}: Shoot… *He starts to back away* I’m outta here!!
{{Narrator}}: *Gengar dashes away with an angry mob of the other Pokemon chasing after him*
{{Absol}}: Hah, buh-bye, ghost boy~ *He laughs as he watches Gengar flee, then turns to Meowth and Pikachu* Now… Do you have anymore gummies?
{{Meowth}}: Nyahahahaa, somebody’s hooked! C’mon back ta base with us!
{{Absol}}: … R-right.
{{Narrator}}: *Absol once again blushes, then huffs as he begins to follow behind the two smaller Pokemon. Meowth was glad his name had been cleared and all was well. Or so it seemed…*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Upon celebrating the defeat of Groudon in Magma Cavern and the rescue of team A.C.T, Meowth and Pikachu were touted as heroes of sorts, being recognized by the higher ranked teams for their bravery! But suddenly, Xatu began to communicate with them all telepathically…*
{{Xatu}}: ***Am I coming in clear?***
{{Meowth}}: Xatu?!
{{Alakazam}}: This is a surprise! Is something the matter?{{Xatu}}: ***I may have terrible news! Something… From the sky…falls a star.***
{{Charizard}}: A star?
{{Raichu}}: I think… I think he means…
{{Xatu}}: ***A meteorite. A large one… One the size of the planet itself!***
{{Persian}}: Nya–?! Y-you have to be joking!
{{Kangaskhan}}: I don’t think he is…
{{Xatu}}: ***The meteor. It’s the cause of the natural disasters recently… If something isn’t done to stop it from hitting earth… This world would be destroyed. The star falls ever-closer…***
{{Charizard}}: Xatu… Can it be stopped?!
{{Xatu}} … ***There is a way. One must seek out the Dragon of Legend himself. Only then, will there be a possibility.***
{{Aipom}}: RAYQUAZA!?
{{Blastoise}}: That’s askin’ for a death wish! No way! No way in hell is anyone doing that!
{{Octillery}}: No rescue team has ever gone up to Sky tower before!
{{Narrator}}: *Various gasps and sounds of disagreement sound throughout Pokemon square*
{{Pikachu}}: Oh no… So this is what Ninetales meant by the world’s balance is upset… We have to stop it, Meowth!!
{{Narrator}}: *Everyone’s attention turned to Meowth and Pikachu*
{{Meowth}}: *He turns to Pikachu* WHA– Squirt, are you NUTS or someting?! Did ya eat a bad gummy?
{{Wigglytuff}}: Meowth is right… Going up to the sky could be suicide…
{{Absol}}: *Absol growls and steps up* If we don’t stop it, WHO WILL?! Listen to me. Do you want to die? Do you want to live your last few days in fear because you bothered not to do anything about the threat of danger?? I sensed that something was coming… And I want to stop it!
{{Tyranitar}}: Absol…?
{{Pikachu}}: Absol…
{{Meowth}}: *He nods and runs in front of everyone* The snow boy’s right! We can’t let dis be da end! Someone’s gotta do sometin’ about dat meteor… And dat someone.. IS US!!
{{Absol}}: Xatu. Tell us how to get to Sky Tower!
{{Xatu}}: ***Alakazam.***{{Alakazam}}: … Yes.
{{Narrator}}: ***Alakazam closes his eyes then starts to focus. A green glow began to emit from him and then, in front of him. A green beam shoots up into the air with smaller swirls of green, the sound of wind blowing rang out as the beam slowly fades, and in front of them, was a light blue emerald!***
{{Pikachu}}: Wooah…
{{Meowth}}: What is dat…?
{{Xatu}}: ***Amplifying our teleporting abilities together, Alakazam and I are able to create the Teleport Gem. This gem allows Pokemon who hold it to be transported to the sky…***{{Pikachu}}: Well then… T-this is it… One final Mystery Dungeon…
{{Raichu}}: Please be careful…!!
{{Kangaskhan}}: You’re our only hope, Meowth… Pikachu…
{{Kecleon}}: You have to stop it… For the sake of the world!
{{Persian}}: Hm~ My little Meowth’s grown to be a hero… I wish you three the best of luck…
{{Everyone}}: GO, TEAM BOLTSWIPE!!
{{Meowth}}: Mrrew… *Meowth wipes away some tears, then nods, looking at Pikachu and Absol*{{Absol}}: You can always depend on me… Buddy~
{{Pikachu}}: We’ll stop that meteor and save this world~!
{{Narrator}}: *With another nod, Meowth, together with Pikachu and Absol, step forward towards the Teleport Gem. And upon touching the gem, green energy starts to swirl around them slowly, then rapidly as winds whip up, blowing their scarves a bit. Light green winds whip around the three and soon disperse as they disappear, along with the Teleport Gem!*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Green energy swirls about then disperse, to reveal the three members of team BoltSwipe at the bottom of Sky Tower, right in front of the entrance. Pikachu looks up in shock*
{{Pikachu}}: Wooah… *He looks around*
{{Narrator}}: *The three of them were on top of a sea of clouds! It was quite a sight*
{{Pikachu}}: *Pikachu looks up slowly* PIIKA! H-hey, guys, look!
{{Meowth}}: *He slowly looked up* Whew… It's a giant towah of clouds!!
{{Absol}}: It… Oddly looks like a bunch of white and blue cotton candy… *Absol’s belly grumbles softly after that and he blushed*
{{Pikachu}}: *Giggling* Boy, you DO have a sweet tooth~!
{{Meowth}}: First, ya eat all da gummies, now yer tinkin’ about cotton candy… Nyehehe!
{{Absol}}: *Blushing more* I– W-whatever, shut up! This is the final dungeon…
{{Pikachu}}: Yeah… *Pikachu stares into the exit as he nods*
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth takes the lead as he nods, running into the entrance, ready to face their last test…*
END_OF_DIALOG
{{Narrator}}: *Upon reaching the peak of Sky Tower and a hard fought battle against Rayquaza, the fighting was interrupted by a sudden rumble in the clouds!*
{{Pikachu}}: W-whuaauaah!! *Pikachu almost loses balance* A-any earthquake?! Here?!
{{Meowth}}: N-no, dis is different…
{{Rayquaza}}: These are shockwaves! Tremendous ones at that…
{{Absol}}: We didn’t come here to fight! There’s a meteor on it’s way to earth, and if we don’t destroy it, everything will be gone!!
{{Rayquaza}}: Hmph, how is that MY problem.
{{Meowth}}: If ya don’t do someting, YOUR domain here’s gonna be toast too!
{{Rayquaza}}: … Fine.
{{Narrator}}: *Rayquaza looks up slowly to see the giant meteor, then closes his eyes, inhaling deeply as purple energy starts to form in his maw. Then his eyes snap open as he roars and fires off a majestic purple Hyper Beam at the meteor. It slowly started to crack the meteor but Rayquaza started losing power. Pikachu nods at Meowth and Absol*
{{Pikachu}}: Guys!
{{Meowth & Absol}}: Right!!
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth charges up a powerful Dark Pulse in his paws then fires it off at the meteor as Absol charges and fires a powerful Ice Beam from his maw. Pikachu’s cheeks spark as he fires a Thunderbolt alongside them, with the three beams alongside Rayquaza’s Hyper Beam, much to Rayquaza’s surprise!*
{{Meowth}}: Grrf… C’mon… More…. *Meowth continued to strain himself* I know ya have more powah in ya, Dragon… SO HURRY UP AND USE IT ALREADY!!!!
{{Narrator}}: *Rayquaza’s heart gave off a resounding pulse sound as his eyes shot open*
{{Rayquaza mind}}: ***Why are you holding back? Don’t you care about your home? Don’t you care about them; team BoltSwipe? That Meowth has a point. You have power deep inside you. RELEASE IT.***
{{Narrator}}: *With a reverberating roar, energy swirls around Rayquaza as he mega evolves! He amps up the power of his Hyper Beam which was enough to shatter the meteor entirely as multicolor particles start to rain down onto Sky Tower*
END_OF_DIALOG
{[Narrator}}: *Days passed and life returned to normal in Pokemon Square, everyone was up on the Hill of the Ancients, but then… Meowth started to glow and slowly turn translucent*
{{Pikachu}}: … M-Meowth!! *Pikachu runs over to Meowth* What’s happening!? Are you okay?!
{{Absol}}: You’re glowing!
{{Meowth}}: Meow… *He gives a faint smile* Pikachu…. Everyone… I-I guess my time’s up.
{{Charizard}}: W-wha…
{{Caterpie}}: W-what does that mean!?
{{Meowth}}: I won’t be here much longah
{{Pikachu}}: *Shaking head* Stop… Don’t say stuff like that!~ We’re gonna go on lots and lots of adventures forever! Right~?
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth simply just stands there, the glow and translucency intensifying*
{{Pikachu}}: … R-right? Meowth…?
{{Meowth}}: I was sent here ta fulfill my role I guess~ And It’s been filled! Tanks for everyting…
{{Pikachu}}: Your role? C’mon, stop bein’ silly already ya dummy~
{{Absol}}: Pikachu…
{{Alakazam}}: It really is that time…
{{Meowth}}: Sorry… Squirt…~
{{Pikachu}}: W-why?? Why do you have to leave?! *Pikachu starts to tear up* W-we were supposed to be… F-friends forever…!
{{Meowth}}: Hey… Tink of it dis way! Dere’s always more Meowth you can befriend~
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth’s body began to glow more*{{Meowth}}: Even if I’m not here, we’ll always be pals!
{{Pikachu}}: *Slowly, he goes closer* D– *He could barely talk as he was fighting back tears* D-don’t leave…! I don’t wanna be alone… P-please!!
{{Meowth}}: I’m… *His scarf fell off as his body got more translucent and the glow got bigger as his body sparkled* I’m real lucky I met’cha, squirt… Nya~...
{{Narrator}}: *Others, notably Charizard and Absol were also struggling to fight back tears*{{Pikachu}}: J-just a little longer, please!!! What’ll BoltSwipe be without you!! *Pikachu goes to pick up Meowth’s scarf as tears stream down his face* M-Meowth!!
{{Narrator}}: *Meowth’s body fades into a bright yellow orb as he gave one final smile towards Pikachu*
{{Meowth telepathy}}: ***I really had fun with ya… I’m sorry I have ta leave ya hangin’ like dis… But dere’s notin’ I can do… Everyone… Tank you…~ See ya, squirt~***
{{Narrator}}: *The orb of light starts to slowly rise over the cliff edge as Pikachu followed it running right to the edge of the cliff, watching it rise higher and and higher*
{{Pikachu}}: MEOOOOOOWTH!!!!
{{Narrator}}: *Pikachu’s voice echoed through the air as he yells out to Meowth with tears streaming down his face heavily as the yell orb slowly fades. Perhaps in another time, the two will meet again!*
END_OF_DIALOG

It was a comically bad day, but I got a script for naltrexone and I have some questions!
First of all I saw a new doctor today. He seemed pretty green and told me a lot of confusing information lol. My glucose levels are elevated (technically prediabetic). I told him I was struggling with alcohol abuse and asked if sobering up with help with this. He said no…
How could that be? I exercise regularly and eat very well. I just put a lot of stupid shit in my body to avoid my problems. He said do you eat a lot of carbs? And I said no. But is beer not a carb? He also said it would only affect glucose if I was drinking lots of cocktails. I drank everything so like…yes. How is it not affected by alcohol?
Then he asked me how much I was drinking and for how long. I said 50+ drinks a week for 15 years. He just started blinking rapidly, which I thought was really funny. I started to say the word ‘naltrexone’ and he just immediately said ‘yes’ 😂. Before I move on, he also told me that it helps with cravings but doesn’t lessen the effects of drinking…is that not half of the whole point of the medication? Anyway, some clarity on the above would be great from people with more experience!
Work was horrible. Like so unbelievably stressful, and then around 4 everyone started cracking beers and I felt like they were all staring at me to see if I was going to have one.
I went to Muay Thai for the first time in a while and the AC was broken and I had to stop multiple times for the first time ever because I thought I was going to puke. Stress? Heat?
I went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication and they were closed.
And then I got a flat tire! And my wife and I had to drive around to a combination of autozones and gas stations for over an hour to plug it.
Which brings me to now. I actually did not want a drink. I have had zero cravings (to elaborate I had 20 days and then relapsed for 4 and now I’m on day 2 of being sober again). Maybe the memory of getting wasted at a Cheesecake Factory and then driving is still too fresh.
Instead I am smoking weed and drinking some kratom (I took 5 days off of kratom). Which leads me to my last question which is - will naltrexone change the effects of weed? I assume it will prevent me from feeling anything from kratom since it’s an opioid. I’d like to cut the kratom out anyway, but has anyone ever combined the two before?
Anyway I still didn’t drink!
Thanks everyone for all of the ongoing support ❤️

Killer Grips: Anne Maria, Jasmine, Justin, Millie, Topher
Screaming Gaffers: Chase, MK, Ripper
Episode 14: One Million Bucks, B.C.
"Last time on Total Drama Action! Tensions between Ripper and MK were still high while Izzy and Chase managed to bond. Much to the surprise of the teams, Ripper and Jasmine were captured and stashed into safes."
"After wasting a lot of time, the Gaffers asked their captive tough guy for help. Meanwhile, the Grips lucked out when they decided to have Jasmine escape through the air vents."
“Bulletproof girl Anne Maria got the surprise of her life when she was faced with none other than... Topher, who, thanks to yours truly, is back in the running. The Gaffers lost, and thanks to some confusing votes, Izzy took the lame-o-sine again.”
The recap footage ended, and portraits of the remaining contestants were shown on the screen – Anne Maria, Justin, Millie, and Topher on the top; Chase, MK, Ripper, and Jasmine on the bottom. "With only eight contestants left," Chris said before popping up in the foreground, "maybe one of them will stand a chance, on another awe-inspiring episode," the backdrop faded and the camera cut to the host in front of the cast trailer, "of Total! Drama! Action!"
(Theme Song)
A small flock of seagulls flew across the morning sun as the episode started, and the camera panned down to the cast trailers. It zoomed in on the guys' residence as Ripper exclaimed "I can’t believe that Izzy would vote for me." The shot cut inside to show Ripper complaining as Topher combed his hair, Justin sprayed himself with hairspray in front of the mirror, and Chase sat on his bunk. "If she liked me, why would she not vote for MK?! It makes no sense!"
“I know we saw what we saw, but I don’t think that Izzy voted for you because she hated you,” Chase told him. “If she did, she would’ve let you know point blank.”
"Coming from the guy who voted for her," Ripper snorted and turned around. "You’re lucky that I’m going through a struggle, or I would direct all of my anger towards you."
"I’d deserve it, but I didn’t want to vote Izzy out at all," Chase said. "The voting devices probably had a glitch in them and we got unlucky!"
"Now this is interesting," Topher said with a smirk. "A voting that went wrong and got out the person that you didn’t want to leave."
"Stay out of it, blonde boy," Ripper snarled. "You weren’t even in the game for the first half of the season."
“And so? I just like to be entertained,” Topher rolled his eyes and turned to Justin. “How can you spend so much time on your coif?”
“My agent Jesús says it's my best feature,” Justin said while spraying his hair still. “Along with my neck, nose, chin, cheekbones, earlobes, eyebrows…”
“Know who's got stunning hair? Anne Maria,” Topher pointed out in admiration. “Her pouf is one of a kind.”
“Or maybe it's my eyes,” Justin spoke to himself while ignoring the dirty blond.
“Her hair is great, but nothing can top my couf,” Topher continued. “I’ve never told Anne Maria that though.”
Confessional: Topher
"I didn’t just come back for Anne Maria if that’s what you guys are thinking," Topher told the viewers. "I was kicked off first last season, and I don’t want to be known for just that. I want to wow everybody here with my charisma, charms, and good looks, and winning or making the final two like Eva and Geoff could help me get my own show."
Confessional Ends
The scene moved over to the girls' trailer as Jasmine put her trademark hat on in the mirror, then smiled at her own reflection. “Looking good as always.” She then turned to Millie, who was cheerily writing on her notebook. “What’s gotten you so chipper?”
"I am almost done with writing my book," Millie answered. "With our two-time winning streak, it’s given me less time to worry about the elimination and more time to add the finishing touches to my future publishing book."
“I can’t wait to read it when it gets published,” Jasmine said with a smile. “I can tell it’s gonna be a big hit.”
“I got my writing skills from my grandfather,” Millie confessed. “I owe everything to him for inspiring me.”
Their conversation came to a pause when Anne Maria barged through the trailer door in her towel. "Make way for the most smoking hot thing since smoky ribs and wings back at my place," she bragged as she walked across the room to the sink and vanity mirror on the other side.
The viewpoint shifted over her shoulder as she began to admire herself in the mirror. She briefly bent over to take a pair of identical blouses out of a drawer, and as she held them up against each other, Jasmine appeared through the mirror with an amused smirk on her face.
"I know you care a lot about your own appearance, but this is feeling different," Jasmine noted.
"My guy came back to the game," Anne Maria answered. "I don’t see anything wrong with getting dressed up for him and not looking all sloppy like some people here."
"I am not the most attractive woman in the world, but I’m also not an eyesore!" Jasmine exclaimed. She then noticed MK shifting around under her blanket, and went over to check out her discovery.
“MK, it’s time to wake up,” the Australian girl said before pulling the blanket off, revealing a fully-clothed MK with her hand inside her right pocket of her jacket.
“Hey, what was that for?!” MK demanded after turning around to sit on her bunk bed.
“I thought you were still sleeping,” Jasmine said. “Why are you already dressed up?”
"None of your business," MK scoffed as she got off her bed. "And don’t you usually sleep in your tree?"
“I came inside to fix my hat,” Jasmine answered, her eyes growing suspicious.
“Well don’t sneak up on me like that,” MK said and walked out of the trailer, Jasmine continuing to stare suspiciously at her.
The scene switched to the guys’ trailer once again. "So in case you were wondering," Topher told his roommates, "I didn’t throw a tantrum just to be here. That’s so elementary school."
"Like I care about how you got here," Ripper cut off his roommate. "You’re just another wimp I can take down."
"We’ll just have to see about that," Topher said confidently. “It’s clear who’s the better looking player here.”
"If you’re talking about me, then thank you for your compliment," Justin added.
"Um, I was talking about-" Topher attempted to say but got cut off by a loud and deep sound that shook the trailer.
"What the gnar was that?!" Chase exclaimed.
The scene flashed over to a laughing Chris, dressed in a leopard-print full-body loincloth and holding the mouthpiece of a massive curved horn that appeared to be made of shell or bone. He caressed the horn at the end of his laugh, and sighed happily.
The footage skipped ahead as the castmates assembled, lining up according to gender – Millie, Anne Maria, MK, Jasmine, Topher, Chase, Justin, and Ripper.
“What are you wearin’?" Anne Maria asked in disgust.
“I can't believe he's wearing a loincloth," Millie said with disbelief.
"Like it?" Chris asked.
Chase snorted. "It looks ridiculous, dude."
"If you think that's ridiculous," Chris said with an indignant frown, "then wait 'til you hear today's challenges!"
“Hold on!” MK interrupted. “The Grips have five members while we have three. It's obvious that they're going to curb stomp us in the next challenge!”
“Yeah, no fair!” Ripper protested as well.
“I was just getting to that, Gaffers,” Chris said abruptly. “Since the teams are feeling a bit lopsided in the Grips’ favor, I'll be conducting a team swap in this episode. One of the Grips will have to switch over to the Gaffers.”
This made the Grips gasp. “Are you serious right now?” Jasmine stammered.
“I'm not playing around,” Chris confirmed. “I'm giving you guys thirty seconds to decide who's leaving or I'm picking one of you at random. So who's it gonna be?”
“Okay, team. Huddle up!” Jasmine ordered, and her teammates did as she said and formed a circle.
“I don't feel like swapping to the Gaffers,” Topher said. “I should be excluded from this since I just got here.”
“And there's no way I'm getting separated from Topher here,” Anne Maria enforced.
“None of you will have to worry about that at all since I'll be the one who's switching,” Jasmine opened.
“But why?!” Millie asked in disappointment. “You're practically our team leader.”
“I want to keep an eye on the Gaffers and make sure that they're not up to any foul play,” Jasmine answered. “I know this'll be hard, but I'm positive you all can handle yourselves without me.”
“We're running out of time, so you can be the one to swap teams,” Topher said.
“We can still talk to each other when there isn't a challenge,” Millie added. “It's not like we're gonna be enemies.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Jasmine smiled and they broke the circle.
“And who is going to leave the Killer Grips for good and be a permanent member of the Screaming Gaffers?” Chris asked with an intrigued smile.
“I hope it's Millie,” Chase whispered to MK and Ripper. “It'll be so cool to be teammates with her again.”
“I take the liberty of doing so!” Jasmine raised her hand. “I've already discussed it with my team, and they're just as on board.”
“This is kinda awkward. I was gonna pick you had you guys not come to a decision, but it is what it is,” Chris said. “Gaffers, Jasmine is now on your team until you decide to vote her off or whatever.”
“It's not Millie, but I'll take what I can get with a girl who's at least six foot and above,” Chase smiled.
Confessional: Ripper
“This team is definitely going to win now that Jasmine is with us,” Ripper said in the make-up trailer. “She's basically a giant that can clobber anyone, and amazon girls like her are my type,” he smiled before smacking himself. “No, Ripper. You don't care about Izzy anymore!”
Confessional: MK
“Of all the Grip players, Jasmine being on our team is an upgrade,” MK bragged. “Her old team is nowhere near as powerful and physically adept as she is, and if Jasmine was able to help them win, imagine how she can assist us?”
Confessional: Jasmine
“Just because I want to keep things fair, doesn't mean that I want to take control of my new teammates,” Jasmine confessed next. “Chase is nice enough as it is. It's Ripper and MK that are hard to trust.”
Confessionals End
"I'm lovin' this show of hostility enough as it is," Chris said with a pleased smile, "but I think today's challenges will help bring out your more...," he thought for a brief second before smirking, "primal instincts. Today's genre," he announced, "the Period Movie!"
"Amazing," Anne Maria gushed. "I love period movies! Those oldern people know how to work petticoats and dresses!"
"I am not gonna wear a dress, Chris," MK told the host indignantly.
"I don't think that'll be a problem," Topher said. "We're clearly gonna be doing a caveman cavewoman movie."
"Exactamundo, Topher!," Chris said as a few primitive-sounding drumbeats and grunts played in the background. "Don't know why the rest of you didn't guess that, considering my loincloth," he added in an annoyed tone.
"Paleo-what now?" Ripper asked in confusion.
"It's the Stone Age," Jasmine corrected. “We're going to be cave girls and cave boys.”
"No talking!" Chris told them sharply. "Cave people grunt and look confused, which means for once, you're all perfectly cast!"
"Some of us more than others," MK snickered under her breath with a look at Ripper.
“Watch out!” Ripper warned her.
"Okay," Chris continued, "cave people in prehistoric flicks do two things: make fire, and use tools made of bones. Technically," he added, "you should also know how to bring down a mammoth with a stick, but since we didn't have enough room in the budget, no mammoth, no challenge."
He walked over to a clothing rack bearing several loincloths of various sizes and colors, where Chef, who was in his own loincloth, was standing. "Here are your costumes," the host told the castmates. "Get into character, people!"
"You have got to be joking," Millie hoped.
"I never joke," Chris told her, quickly losing his serious tone to a bout of laughter. "Actually I do, but never about something this funny."
"Don't worry. You'll be the hottest cave girl here!" Chase told his girlfriend.
"I don't want to wear animal skins, but your compliment is already lifting my spirits up," Millie smiled back and pecked his cheek with a kiss.
Confessional: Topher
“A prehistoric challenge will be a great way to show off my body,” Topher gloated arrogantly. “That's why I'll be picking a fur speedo. Who wouldn't want to see my six-pack?”
Confessional Ends
The scene flashed over to an obvious prehistoric-inspired set consisting of multiple strange-looking trees set up against a backdrop of rock spires. The camera zoomed in on a central hillock, then cut to a close-up of Chris as he walked through the area. "Hello, cast," he greeted with a grin. "Nice to see you all decked out for the competition!"
The castmates were shown lined up in a row according to their teams and wearing the loincloths that had been provided: Justin and Topher in furry speedos that showed off their muscular chests; Chase, Millie, MK, and Ripper in full-body loincloths similar to the ones worn by Chris and Chef; and Anne Maria and Jasmine in what amounted to furry bikinis.
"And might I say," the host told them all, "you all look pre-hysterical!"
"I really look good in leopard skin," Jasmine marveled as she looked down at her outfit.
"Agh!" Topher winced, rubbing his backside where something small and white seemed to be sticking out. "Did you remember to have these declawed?"
The footage cut to Chris in his control tent. "Please note," he calmly told the camera, "no animals were harmed in the making of this television program. Okay," he scowled and looked off-camera, "we good?"
The scene was now back at the challenge. "Let me get that for you!" Anne Maria volunteered, quickly picking at the troublesome piece. “All better?”
“I am now,” Topher shot a suave smile at his girlfriend.
"Chef!" Chris exclaimed dramatically. "The tools for the first stone age challenge, please!"
"Here's your rocks," Chef obliged, joylessly handing out a single rock to each castmate from the pile he was carrying. MK accepted hers with a blank face and immediately started to look closely at it, and Ripper did the same but with more enthusiasm. Chase was last to be shown, and immediately raised an eyebrow at the stone in his hand.
"Rocks?" the daredevil repeated in disbelief. "I think we should tone down the 'Stone Age' thing a little."
“Says you,” Ripper said in a miffed voice. “Rocks are good for a lot of things. Breaking windows, giving them as presents to your annoying cousins, making art on them…the possibilities are endless! And I know because I did all of them!”
“A rock being friends with other rocks? What a surprising discovery,” MK snarked.
As a reward for her smart mouth, MK had a rock dropped on her foot courtesy of Ripper, and she held her foot in pain as she squealed.
"I told you to watch out," Ripper told the pained girl smugly. "Friends always come through!"
(Commercial Break)
A long-distance shot of the film lot was shown as the episode resumed, before cutting back to Chris as he explained the first challenge. "First team to collect the hidden firewood," he told them, "and use the flint-stones to make fire, earns something to help 'em with the second challenge! Ready?" he furrowed his brow deviously as the camera zoomed in for a close-up. "Aaand, action!"
The Grips looked startled for a moment, but quickly scattered.
The scene skipped ahead, showing Jasmine looking at a bush and picking up a stack of wood from behind it while Ripper ran past. MK walked into the foreground, looking around inquisitively, but before she could take another step, she was grabbed by Chef Hatchet.
"Hey, let me go!" she demanded as Chef dragged her over to him. "My modesty needs to be protected!"
"Hand it over," Chef told her sternly, indifferent to her protests.
MK's eyes briefly went wide. "Hand over what?"
"You know what I'm talking about," Chef grumbled. "The camera guy caught you smuggling something in!"
MK pursed her lips, but looked slightly relieved. "It was just a screwdriver," she told her captor, taking the tool out and handing it over.
Just then, Ripper ran by screaming. "Somebody help! I don't want to be that thing's lunch!" The camera cut to him as he ran out from behind a particularly large tree carrying a load of firewood and getting chased by one of the large, predatory Woolly Beavers similar to the ones that had inhabited Boney Island the previous season. As he kept running and screaming, Chris walked over to Chef and MK, laughing happily.
"Looks like Ripper found the wooden beaver dam from the set of 'Rodents, Who Kill!" Chris told the camera.
Ripper and the beaver ran past behind them, prompting Chef to chuckle and add "And 'Rodents Who Kill: Part Two'!"
"Does anybody have a mammoth-sized rib?!" Ripper screamed as he ran past in front of the three, dropping a piece of wood as he was chased by two beavers.
"Um," MK said blankly as she watched her teammate run around. "Are those beavers real, or animatronic?" She looked over at the host who seemed to be thinking it over, then looked away. "Forget I asked," she said dryly.
Confessional: Ripper
Ripper gave his confessional covered with scratches and scrapes, hair messed up and bandages being wrapped around his forehead and right arm by someone mostly off-screen.
"I can't stand MK and she hates me," he told the camera. "That's how it's always been and is always gonna be," he said before thinking. "But I have been taught to always keep my enemies closer, so it's important that me and MK are on the same team, even if we're mortal rivals."
Confessional Ends
"Don't just stand there," Ripper shouted at MK, who was now watching alone. "Give me a hand!"
MK rolled her eyes, then picked up the piece of wood Ripper had dropped earlier. She threw it at the lead beaver, landing it in its mouth and causing it to skid to a sudden and startled halt. The second beaver, however, did not stop as well, and soon collided with its companion. As the two rodents began to snarl and squabble with each other, a relieved Ripper rejoined her teammate.
"About that!" he admonished the sarcastic woman. "Couldn't you have done that before?"
"I could have," MK said simply, grabbing the wood out of Ripper's arms and walking off. "Now go find more wood," she commanded, leaving Ripper to scowl in annoyance.
A growling alerted the bully to that the killer beavers had ceased fighting, and Ripper began to run and scream away from them again.
The camera cut to the Grips gathered around a fire pit.
"So does banging rocks together actually make fire?" Justin asked as he tested it out with two of the stones his team had been given while Anne Maria arranged the firewood that had been brought. "I always thought that was something just for the movies."
“We just need the right amount of power in the strikes and a fire will come,” Topher explained.
"Let me do it," Millie said as she grabbed the stones. "I was a girl scout in elementary school."
Confessional: Millie
"I was a girl scout," Millie told the camera, "but one of the more skilled girls, Riley Ingrid, wouldn't stop teasing me for my lack of social skills and it got to a point where I quit just so I wouldn't get my self-esteem damaged." The author gave off a sigh. “I wonder how far I could've gotten.”
Confessional Ends
“Don't worry, team,” Millie told them. “I'll have this done faster than a chipmunk nibbling a nut.”
"I can see why people invented lighters," Anne Maria said as she watched her banged the rocks together.
The camera moved over to Jasmine and Chase watching the Grips. "So how has it been over on the Grips?" Chase asked his teammate. "Has Millie talked about me?"
“One, Millie still cares about you, and two, we shouldn't be focusing on that right now,” Jasmine said sternly.
“Sorry. I was just asking,” Chase said.
Confessional: Jasmine
"This is going to sound pretty petty coming from me, but Chase and Millie dating is kind of reminding me of Brick," Jasmine admitted. "I'm still trying to push him out after the cheating he did, and Millie hasn't talked about Chase the whole time he was gone. I'm hoping that Chase will be as challenge focused as Millie."
Confessional: Topher
"Anne Maria is rocking that fur bikini as much as I'm glowing in my fur speedo," Topher confessed. "If we were actually in prehistoric times, we'd be the perfect couple!"
Confessionals End
"Things are finally heating up!" Chris announced happily before the focus moved back to the Grips.
"You can do it!" Anne Maria cheered as Millie struck her rocks together fiercely, producing a few tiny sparks. The camera panned over to the Gaffers, showing that Ripper and MK had rejoined their comrades while Ripper struck his rocks.
"I love it when sparks fly!" Chris told the camera.
The focus alternated between Millie and Ripper as they banged their stones and glared at each other, the music growing tenser and the close-ups getting closer with each pass. The two were eventually shown in a split-screen together, and as they each prepared another strike, the sound of a fire being lit startled them both.
Ripper's half of the screen slid away and the camera pulled back, revealing a roaring fire by the Grips.
"You did it!" Topher cheered.
"Great work, Millie!" Anne Maria added happily.
"I thought for sure you'd be the first to burst into flames, Richard!" Chris snarked. "Grips win the first challenge!"
"You gave me fake flints!" Ripper protested. "Nobody could start a fire with these stupid props!"
Chase grabbed the rocks, then struck them together one last time, which finally lit the firewood. "Looks like I got lucky," he said smugly.
Ripper growled in frustration.
The film lot was shown from a distance again as the same loud and deep horn blared. The shot cut to Chris standing with the massive instrument, grinning proudly. "Yup!" he told the camera. "Still lovin' this crazy thing!"
A flash took the scene to the contestants lined up with their back to a bubbling tar pit. "Time for our second caveman movie challenge!" the host announced as he walked into view. "But first, Chef will pass out your rewards from this morning. Chef?" he called out. "Weapons, please!"
The camera cut to Chef as he pulled a brown sheet off what turned out to be a pile of bones, all either femurs or humeri.
"Hold up," Chase said, mildly disturbed. "You're saying that our reward is bones?"
"Hey, for cave people, bones were cutting-edge technology," Chris told him as Chef handed out a tiny arm bone to each of the Screaming Gaffers, and larger leg bones to the Killer Grips.
"I hate to interrupt the most important man of the show," Ripper spoke up insincerely, "but how come they get the big bones, and we get these tiny things?"
"Because they won the first challenge?" Chris replied with disbelief. "I thought that was pretty obvious."
"Well, it's obvious that I should get a big bone," Ripper stammered in embarrassment. "I've seen bigger bones in chicken wings than what I'm holding."
"Just deal with it," Topher said. “It's not our fault that we did better.” A tiny bone hit him in the nose, causing him to moan.
Chris cleared his throat, hands on his hips and visibly annoyed. "The props department for caveman movies are bare-bones," he informed them, holding up a small arm bone. "Which means these are all actors have to fight their on-screen enemies with."
"Enemies?" Millie asked in alarm. "What enemies are we talking about?"
"Each other of course!" Chris announced excitedly. "Grip Tribe versus Gaffer Tribe!"
"That's my kinda challenge," Anne Maria said with a confident smirk as she hefted the giant femur she'd been given.
“No doubt about it," Topher told her. "I've seen you go up against an alligator before."
"Lovin' the enthusiasm, guys," Chris told them, "only you'll be fighting over there!" He pointed to the bubbling tar pit behind them, and the camera panned over to a pair of rough stone pillars standing in the middle of the tar pit.
"Each player that knocks his or her opponent off the column into that fake bubbling tar pit," he explained as the camera cut to a close-up of the pit, "scores a point for their team." The shot cut back to the grinning host as he dramatically proclaimed, "To the tar pits!"
Millie and Chase were the first pair up, the girl on the left and the boy on the right.
"I'd go easy on you normally," Chase told his girlfriend, "but me and my team need to win a challenge."
“No hard feelings,” Millie shook it off. “You guys are overdue.”
"When do we start anyway?" Chase called down to the host.
"Oh don't worry," Chris answered with a dark smile, "you'll know!" He laughed a few times, then took a deep breath and blew hard into his massive curved horn.
The booming noise startled the two contestants, causing each to nearly lose their balance. It was Chase who recovered first, however, leaning forward and accidentally throwing his small bone at Millie. Already unsteady, that was all it took for her to fall backwards off the column and plunge screaming into the tar below.
"Aww, gross!" she groaned when she resurfaced covered in fake tar.
“My bad, Millie!” A quick-pan back up to Chase showed him looking down apologetically, and a cut showed the other Gaffers celebrating.
"That's one point for the Gaffers!" Chris said from off-screen, and the shot cut to Millie as she pulled herself out of the pit.
"Thanks for helping me," Millie told her teammates. “Sorry for losing that round.”
"It's just the first one," Anne Maria said back. "We'll definitely bounce back."
"Next up," Chris said as he walked over to the team, "Justin and Ripper!"
"Booyah!" Ripper cheered, pumping his fist. "It's my time to shine!"
His revery was broken by a sudden and terrifying roar from above, the shot cutting to above the columns as a few prehistoric geese similar to the ones that had lived on Boney Island flew into view.
"Uh-oh," Chris said. "Looks like Millie's blood-curdling screams have attracted a swarm of prehistoric pterodactyls! This," he said as the camera switched back to his close-up, "should make things interesting!"
"Cool special effects, man. High five," Justin said, looking up in amazement and holding his hand out for Chris.
"Oh," Chris said while quickly backing away from the model, "totally special effects."
The monstrous geese were still circling when the footage flashed ahead, panning slightly to the left to show Ripper staring the camera down. "You're out of your league, eye candy," he said, "even if your bone is bigger!"
Justin cringed in terror as the geese around them roared, but gripped his bone tightly with both hands and focused on his opponent. "Bring it!" he told his competition.
As though on cue, one of the geese rammed Ripper in the back, causing him to fall towards Justin. The burly teen tried to hang on by grabbing his foe by the loincloth while the goose flew off, but he dragged both of them off the pillar, unintentionally stripping Justin of his loincloth in the process.
Confessional: Justin
"I'm gonna win the million," Justin told the confessional camera, utterly coated with tar, "but that shot of me standing atop the stone column is worth even more. It's gonna be an iconic image for the series.” The handsome boy took a moment to admire himself. “Hey, my skin does look even better with the tar."
Confessional Ends
The two boys were shown splashing into the tar and quickly surfacing, most of the other contestants looking disappointed by the result.
"Uhh, whose is this?" Ripper asked, holding up some tar-covered wad and looking at it in confusion.
Justin looked down at his body, then looked over at his foe with widened eyes. He quickly snatched the wad away from Ripper and sunk under the pit in order to put it back on. After doing so, he resurfaced and climbed out of the pit.
"And with that tie," Chris said, ducking into the shot with a grin on his face, "the score is still 1-0 to the Gaffers. Next up, Topher and Jasmine!"
Topher was hunched over on the top of his column, twirling his large thigh bone and smirking confidently. "I know I got you as my opponent, but I have the power of a huge bone on my side while you have a small bone," he told the Aussie standing opposite him.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, mate," Jasmine replied with an equally confident smile. "You have no idea what I'm capable of!"
The horn was sounded, signaling the start of the fight. Topher immediately took a swipe at Jasmine, but the tall girl ducked and used her weapon to deflect the blow over her head. Before Topher could make another move, a grunting noise got the attention of both competitors.
A pair of woolly beavers had arrived at the edge of the tar pit. The shot cut back to the duelists, both shooting curious looks down at the rodents.
"Eh, no worries," Topher said after a second. "They're not even real!" The fanboy took another swipe at Jasmine, who just barely leaned out of the way in time. Jasmine made no attempt to counter, and simply looked from her opponent to the lurking beavers.
Confessional: Jasmine
"I'm positive that the beavers were real," Jasmine told the confessional camera. "And even if they were animatronic, they're just there to interfere with the challenge."
Confessional Ends
“Would you do me a favor and stand still?" Topher griped as he missed another swing at his opponent, who still kept looking between the fanboy and the beavers.
"Topher!" Anne Maria called out. "Watch out! Those beavers are comin’ your way!"
"What?" Topher replied with considerable disbelief, finally looking down again as the two beavers jumped into the tar and began to swim across towards the columns. "I have to make this quick then," he commented before quickly blocking a thrust from Jasmine.
"Don't let some overgrown rats ruin this for us, Jasmine!" MK hollered before the camera cut back to the beavers. One began to climb the column on the left – the one assigned to the Grips – while the other took a large bite out of it.
"Whoa. Who knew prehistoric beavers could eat plaster?" Jasmine commented idly as Topher's column began to sway and the dirty blond struggled to keep his balance. "Not that I'm complaining about the assistance," she added with a smirk before thrusting her bone in her hands towards her opponent.
"I was about to say the same thing!" Topher said with a smile as he deliberately let his column sway away from Jasmine's weapon so that it missed him, then used his bone to swat Jasmine off her pillar and she screamed until she fell into the tar with a splash.
The climbing beaver reached the top of Topher's column moments later, and its weight sent the whole thing toppling. Tossing away his bone, he quickly jumped onto the vacant pillar, clinging to it and to safety. The other column fell, and both beavers dived into the tar moments after.
Confessional: Topher
“Beavers, you are now my favorite animals,” Topher told the camera. “Just don't tell my cat, Topher Jr., about this. He gets crazy jealous easily.”
Confessional Ends
Chris laughed. "That was awesome! Would've preferred to see some beaver carnage, but you can't have everything. Anyways, that leaves the teams tied at one-all and us with a match between Anne Maria and MK! On the same column! You just can't write this stuff!"
The camera pulled back to show the two girls standing on either side of the host. Anne Maria smirked and said "Why bother havin’ the final round? We all know who's gonna win."
“I'll show you why wits are better than strength!” MK shot back as cockily.
The scene flashed to a close-up of the lone remaining column, the camera panning up to show the two girls crammed together on the top. Anne Maria was holding her bone behind her back, and she appeared much more stable than MK. The smaller girl was already wobbling now and again, but her smaller bone was raised and ready to strike.
"I hope you're ready for a tar bath, techno girl," Anne Maria taunted.
"Not gonna happen," MK replied with a light laugh.
The horn sounded, and MK took a first strike that was not only easily dodged, but nearly caused her to lose what little footing she had. "Whoa-oa-oah!" she screamed, flailing her arms around and eventually regaining her balance – but in the process accidentally knocking her bone against Anne Maria's. The weapon was jarred from the techno's hand and plunged to the tar below.
"Uh oh!" MK cried when one of the prehistoric beavers rose up from the tar with a lump on its head.
Confessional: MK
"Fantastic!" MK griped in the make-up trailer. "The one time I don't intentionally try to tick off anybody, and a beaver is about to kill me because my bone hit its head."
Confessional Ends
With a bellowing roar that nearly shook both girls off the column, the beaver reared back and took a massive bite out of the plaster pillar. The camera quick-panned back to the top as it started to shake and fall, and MK stumbled off it with a squealing scream.
The shot cut back to ground level as the beaver dived down again and the pillar fell, MK splashing into the tar.
Chris laughed, and the footage paused. "I gotta check that out again," he said, and the footage rewound to just before MK fell. It replayed in slow-motion, and the host paused and zoomed in on MK's horrified expression as she fell. "Hahahaha! That was great!"
"Well," the host said as the footage resumed normally and MK crawled her way out of the tar pit in the background, "I'd say the Gaffers had a better chance at the one million B.C.! B.C.," he repeated, "before carnivores! As for the Grips, they win today's reward!" The camera panned over to show Chef Hatchet driving up in a golf cart with a truly gargantuan side of ribs strapped to the roof. "A mammoth-size prehistoric barbecue!"
The cart drove past Topher, Millie, and Justin, the latter two still covered in tar, and came to a stop right next to the tar pit as the winning team cheered. "Ehh, it's a living," Chef told the camera nonchalantly.
"Don't worry," Chris added. "The Grips may have won today's reward, but," he took a large egg out from behind his back, "we're not gonna let the Gaffers go hungry."
He tossed the egg to a tar-covered Jasmine, who looked at it keenly. "A giant egg? I've seen a lot of them back home."
"Should be enough for four," Chris told the losing team. "You'd better get to work on your fire, though!" The camera cut over to the Gaffers' fire pit from earlier that day, which was still pitifully unlit. The host added "Maybe the Grips will throw you a bone when they're done?"
"Ha ha ha. Barbecue time," Justin said excitedly as he and his teammates approached the cart.
Chef got out of his seat, but in doing so caused the cart to begin rolling towards the tar pit. The Grips were shown gasping in shock, and the camera focused in on the cart as it rapidly approached the tar pit, began to tilt, and finally stopped. The shot pulled back to show Anne Maria holding on to the front of the cart, Topher holding her around the waist, Millie holding onto his waist, and Justin at the end holding onto Millie's arm.
"Pull everyone!" Anne Maria commanded. "I'm not letting our rib get tarred because of some two-bit chef who parks worse than my elementary school bus driver!"
As the four began to pull, the camera panned over to Chef, who rolled his eyes and walked away with a grumble.
"Dang," Chris said, walking over with an impish smile on his face. "And here I was hoping to see the four of you use those bones to hunt like real cave people!"
"Shut up, McLean!" Anne Maria yelled at him as the Grips managed to drag the cart back onto level ground.
The camera panned over to the Gaffers, Jasmine still holding the giant egg in her hands and Chase the only one not covered in tar.
"Bet you're not happy about leaving that team," MK told Jasmine.
"I really missed out on a delicious meal," Jasmine lamented.
"On the bright side," Chase added proudly, "I didn't get tarred today."
"Good for you," Jasmine said uninterestingly. "I'll get started on that egg."
She was about to move when a terrifying cry rang through the air.
"Uhh, Jasmine?" Chris cautiously told the Australian girl. "I think the pterodactyl wants its egg back." The monster goose was shown hovering in the sky above, and it quickly dive-bombed the contestants below.
Jasmine screamed and her teammates scattered, and the goose was soon on top of her, buffeting her with its wings.
"Get off, you goose!" the Aussie shouted and was now fighting back. "I am not your appetizer!"
The shot cut back to Chris and Chef, who were cringing at the fight happening just off-screen. They looked at each other, and shrugged helplessly. "Ehh, they'll be fine," the host said right before another goose-cry was heard. "Probably. And hey, at least we'll be eating nice tonight!" Chef nodded happily.
They looked over at the Grips, who were now digging in to their reward dinner. “Glad I'm not a Gaffer,” Topher chuckled and pulled a large rib off the rack.
Chef and Chris walked off. They passed the Gaffers as they went, Jasmine pinning the goose to the ground while Chase and MK watched in excitement and Ripper, now grinning, finally lit the team's fire.
Confessional: Topher
Topher took a bite out of a rib he was holding. "Gotta give props to Chef for actually managing to cook something as tasty as this," he said while leaning back in the confessional chair. "I wish I did get knocked into that tar pit. Justin told me that it's great for the skin!"
Confessional: Ripper
"I hate prehistoric birds now," Ripper told the make-up trailer camera with a glare. "They're the reason why I'm not feasting on ribs. I wish that cart fell into the tar pit if I wasn't gonna get my share!"
Confessional: Chris
Chris was picking his teeth with one hand and holding a coconut drink in the other. "I know everyone was hoping for the Gaffers to win this challenge," he said, "which is good, because it proves that the underdogs can win." He paused to take a sip from the straw in his coconut. "Sadly, it just wasn't in their favor, even with Jasmine on their team." He shrugged, then picked his teeth again.
"See you next time, kiddies!" he told the camera. "Same Chris time," he tossed his toothpick away, "same Chris channel!" He tossed the coconut away next, and a tinkling crash from off-camera soon indicated it had broken something. "Uhh, wasn't me!" Chris called nervously before dashing off in the opposite direction.
Confessionals End
(Roll the Credits)
(Bonus Clip)
“Excluding us losing the challenge and me getting attacked by a bird, which I managed to overpower, my first day on the Screaming Gaffers wasn't bad at all,” Jasmine confessed to the audience. “And nobody on my team even made an attempt to cheat. Not even MK or Ripper. I do wish for us to win the next challenge. With me being the newbie, I could be the next target for voting!”
Eva - 15th
Geoff - 15th
Izzy - RETURNED
Trent - 13th
Sky - 12th
Brick - 11th
Scott - 10th
Izzy - 9th
Killer Grips: Anne Maria, Justin, Millie, Topher
Screaming Gaffers: Chase, Jasmine, MK, Ripper

Yesterday I noticed the AC was not blowing at my office. I checked the app and it said the Nest was offline. I check the Nest and I see that it said battery low, shutting down. I had my handyman check it out and he pushed the wires in because two got loose.
Today I noticed that the Nest stopped blowing AC at about 4:20-4:30pm and it said battery low. So I decided to take it and charge it via USB plugged into my iMac. I let it charge for about 2 hours, then went to plug it back into the base. It is running AC but the power was only at 3.45V. about 10ish minutes later it went to 3.73V. I feel as if charging it via USB did absolutely nothing for it.
At this time I cannot adjust the schedule or do anything in the app because the power is too low. I am in Florida and with this summer heat I am worried that it may keep giving me issues. I have it connected to the C-wire so it has power. Anyone have any advice? My Nest is still under warranty, does anyone know how to go about the warranty route?
Useful information:
Connected to C-Wire, Had my Nest for about 9-10 months, still under warranty according to Google, System is Heat Pump

I have a 2002 Ford Focus SE 2.0L SOHC (Sedan). Car has not been taken care of, I've had it for 3 months and I have been regularly firing the parts cannon at it. So far I've replaced spark plugs, plug wires, fuel pump (did this one in a Walmart parking lot, that was fun), and the power steering fluid pressure switch. And that's off the top of my head. It had an oil change done not long before I got it, at an oil and lube place in Florida (I'm in GA). Despite the change in Spec from Ford calling for 5W20 instead of 5W30 and the oil cap even saying 5W20, they still put 5W30 in.
Currently the car is idling very rough. Throwing a P0303 even though it doesn't seem to have a consistent misfire. Today I changed the fuel injector on 3, but I don't think anything was wrong with the old one. I suspected maybe a clog or something, car is approaching 150k miles, but doesn't seem to have really made a difference. When I accelerate the car is sluggish, and the idle gets worse if I turn the steering wheel hard over in either direction. Idle gets somewhat better if I turn off the AC, but the AC compressor isn't making any odd noises, and AC blows nice and cold, so I don't think the compressor is going out. If I pull the plug on any of the fuel injectors the car idles much rougher and threatens to shut off. If I pull the spark plug wire, same thing. It might only be an I4, but I suspect it should run on 3 cylinders, not ideally, but should run nonetheless, and pulling any of the things that makes a cylinder work immediately makes the car run so bad it almost can't stay on. Also the car is having trouble running more than about 55-60 mph, and the check engine light is blinking.
I suspect the ignition coil? That or the MAF right? I'm not getting a P0101 code, so I'm leaning towards the coil. Any other things I should check? I'm thinking of buying a cheapo no-name coil and throwing it on there and if that fixes it I can replace it with a better one in a couple months. I just wish I knew a good way to check between the coil and the MAF to zero in on the problem without throwing more money I don't have at it trying to figure it out. If anyone has any ideas, please send them my way.

I have a 2002 Ford Focus SE 2.0L SOHC (Sedan). Car has not been taken care of, I've had it for 3 months and I have been regularly firing the parts cannon at it. So far I've replaced spark plugs, plug wires, fuel pump (did this one in a Walmart parking lot, that was fun), and the power steering fluid pressure switch. And that's off the top of my head. It had an oil change done not long before I got it, at an oil and lube place in Florida (I'm in GA). Despite the change in Spec from Ford calling for 5W20 instead of 5W30 and the oil cap even saying 5W20, they still put 5W30 in.
Currently the car is idling very rough. Throwing a P0303 even though it doesn't seem to have a consistent misfire. Today I changed the fuel injector on 3, but I don't think anything was wrong with the old one. I suspected maybe a clog or something, car is approaching 150k miles, but doesn't seem to have really made a difference. When I accelerate the car is sluggish, and the idle gets worse if I turn the steering wheel hard over in either direction. Idle gets somewhat better if I turn off the AC, but the AC compressor isn't making any odd noises, and AC blows nice and cold, so I don't think the compressor is going out. If I pull the plug on any of the fuel injectors the car idles much rougher and threatens to shut off. If I pull the spark plug wire, same thing. It might only be an I4, but I suspect it should run on 3 cylinders, not ideally, but should run nonetheless, and pulling any of the things that makes a cylinder work immediately makes the car run so bad it almost can't stay on. Also the car is having trouble running more than about 55-60 mph, and the check engine light is blinking.
I suspect the ignition coil? That or the MAF right? I'm not getting a P0101 code, so I'm leaning towards the coil. Any other things I should check? I'm thinking of buying a cheapo no-name coil and throwing it on there and if that fixes it I can replace it with a better one in a couple months. I just wish I knew a good way to check between the coil and the MAF to zero in on the problem without throwing more money I don't have at it trying to figure it out. If anyone has any ideas, please send them my way.

Part I
To hell with confidentiality. The National Transportation Safety Board knows nothing; it’s not even in their hands. When an MD-11 goes missing with nearly 400 people on board, and 73 come back alive, there’s something amiss about that story. You won’t find anything about this flight or the one that went missing shortly after. Even before I give you the real story, let’s apply a little bit of logic here. For this type of aircraft, a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport would not go missing for 49 hours and then nearly hit an Airbus a thousand miles away from the disappearance site. You’re telling me that the plane could fly for over two days on a tank of fuel and ended up only two hours max away from where it went missing without being seen by any ground witnesses? If that’s not the case, do you think the survivors of a ditching would be able to last two and a half hours in the cold with no shelter, and the only source of heat is each other’s bodies? The flaws are obvious, but I digress.
With that background out of the way, it’s time you know what happened. To tell that story, we go way back beyond the moment of the disappearance. It starts in the common room of a small college house in England. This semester, I studied abroad with six students from my school, three others from other institutions in our system, and eight from another American university. As the manager of the Wilson Aerospace Corporation, I organized a charter flight to airports near each of our hometowns without the need for long layovers. With the benefit of not needing to pay for this, everyone quickly agreed to return home on this flight. We packed up and all cooked one last meal before the trip. They always told me how central the community is to your experience abroad, and they’re right. I could not have asked for a better group of people to have been here with. For their privacy, I will be addressing them by fictitious names.
We had finished eating and started doing the dishes when my phone rang. Without looking, I silenced it. I went back to work for a minute before it rang again. I noticed that it wasn’t a call coming through WhatsApp. I took my phone off silent and waited for the next call. A German student in the room asked what the calls were about. I told her that while I didn’t know what the calls were about, I almost knew for sure who was behind the calls and had the sense that I knew what was coming when I answered. The phone rang again, and this time I picked up. “Hello, is this Captain Merrick?”
“No, it’s Dewey from logistics.” Silence on the other end. “Yes, this is Captain Merrick. What are you calling me about?”
“Hi, I just wanted to tell you that due to a family event, Captain Hersh cannot command flight 555 tomorrow, so with your credentials, and since you’re going to be on board anyway, we’re going to assign you to take the plane.”
“Oh, come on, you can’t find anyone else in the UK or the EU to take it?”
“Sadly not; besides, it’s been a while since you’ve logged any hours. Don’t you think returning to a cockpit early would be good?”
“Well, by that logic, shouldn’t I go through a proficiency course before flying again?”
“After your management of flight 890’s situation, we think you’re fit and safe to fly.”
“That was a month ago, which wasn’t even on the MD-11.”
“You’re taking the plane.” The call hung up, and I just stood silently. I walk back to the kitchen.
“Who was that?” Asked Jennifer, a student from my home institution.
“It was our flight’s dispatcher, and he told me that they’ve placed me in command of the flight tomorrow, and considering that I haven’t logged any time in the last two weeks, I will be assessed on the simulator and placed in control right off the bat.”
“You’re going to be flying our plane?”
“I know that’s not the most comforting thought in the world, but I’ve done this before; I know the plane quite well, and a few years ago, I managed to land one that was significantly damaged.”
“What?”
“Yeah, while I was still learning the ropes, I made a mistake, and one of the flaps just got torn off. It was a while ago, and if that happened now, I would probably lose my job and license, so you can rest assured I won’t let that happen.”
The following day, we left the house and began walking to the train station, where we traveled by rail to London Heathrow. On the ride, I got my dispatch release from Wilson Aerospace Corporation Air Charter Services for flight 555. While the release looked normal, something under the Notice to Air Missions caught my eye. Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAMs for short, are often filled with abbreviations and other jargon, but I’ll put it the way I said it out loud. “It says there’s an unusually rough ride on track Delta but nowhere else.”
“What does that mean?” Asked Jennifer. She wasn’t a nervous flyer, per se, but to someone who isn’t a major avgeek like myself, this information can put you on edge.
“It probably means nothing, but I’m more worried about why the turbulence is there to begin with. All this end-of-the-world type shit has been toying with my head for a while, so I’m most worried about that.”
Without another word about it, we continued the ride to London’s King’s Cross Station, where we transferred to the underground Piccadilly line to the airport. We arrived three hours before the flight, and with two hours to go, I parted with my group for the final time until next semester when we’re back at our home institution.
I met up with the crew after my simulator assessment. The cabin crew were all the best in the business. I visited the first-class flight attendants and ensured that my friends would be given only the best WAC treatment. After finishing my discussion with them, I met the flight crew. I shook hands first with the flight’s first officer, Hope McKinnon. She has been with the WAC for almost a year and was the only first officer on the cross-country charter trip in January, which originated in New York and terminated in California, where I go to school. We had a third pilot with us since the flight to Chicago was over 8 hours. This came in the form of Second Officer Tyler Morris, a 21-year-old who had just completed his 1500-hour requirement that the FAA still wants young pilots to get to. He was snagged by the WAC immediately upon getting his commercial pilot certificate and has been doing contract work on our smaller, non-part 121 operations. After starting as a ferry pilot for us, he has logged 600 hours on the MD-11.
This aircraft was built in 1993 and bought by the WAC in 2018. During the walkaround, I paid particular attention to the brakes and trailing edge flaps on the right and left wing tip. Then, I walked out on the wing to inspect the left-wing spoilers, all areas that had received special treatment during the plane’s overhaul the previous week. Everything was in top condition, and without hesitation, I cleared the plane to fly.
I got up to the cockpit during boarding, so I had to maneuver around some people to get there. Hope said she got the weather information for departure and that the system had reported wind-shear conditions on the north side of the field. I asked her what that meant for us. She said it might simply mean that we can’t fly. Sustained winds were up to 28 knots at a heading of approximately 175, and gusts were up to 33 at 110 degrees. “We’re still within our limits,” I said. “The crosswind component has to go above 35 before we can’t fly, so we’ll be okay here.”
We taxied out to runway 09L after the preflights were complete. We were in line behind a small Embraer flown by Finnair. Once they were cleared for takeoff, I was instructed to line up and wait on the same runway. Just as I stopped on the numbers, I saw the smaller jet slammed by a wind shear. “Holy shit,” I exclaimed. Hope and Tyler looked up from the flight management computer, where Hope was running the calculations for wind information through the takeoff screen. They asked me with an edge of panic what had happened. “Dude, that Embraer just got blown off the runway. What are sustained winds right now?”
“26 knots,” Hope replied. I looked at the plane down the runway, which had managed to keep it moving long enough to stagger onto a taxiway. As soon as he does, the tower calls. “Eagle 97 Victor Heavy, the winds are changing in speed and direction, so do you want to continue takeoff here, or do you want to go over to 09R, or do you want to return to your gate? Either way, winds are 187 at 26, wind-shear conditions gusting 233 at 35, runway 09L, cleared for the option.”
“Niner Left cleared for the option, Eagle 97 Victor Heavy.” Hope and I looked at each other and sighed. We were silent for a few seconds. Tyler was the first to say what we were all thinking. “The winds are changing too fast over here; we can’t take off.” Even though I’m the pilot flying, I’m the one who keys the mic.
“Heathrow tower, Eagle 97 Victor Heavy is deciding to abort the takeoff and try to move over to Zero Niner Right.”
“Eagle 97 Victor, we can do that for you, exit the runway at Alpha 12, taxi to runway Zero Niner right via Alpha, hold short at November 10. Once off, contact ground on one two one decimal niner zero”
“Alpha 12, taxi via alpha, hold short zero niner right at November 10. When off, over to twenty-one nine, Eagle 97 Victor.”
We taxied over to the runway and, shortly after, were told to line up. The aircraft that landed in front of us had no issues, and then we heard a pilot’s three favorite words. “Eagle 97 Victor Heavy, runway zero niner left, cleared for takeoff.”
20 minutes later, at our initial cruising altitude of 34,000 feet, we got our clearance into the North Atlantic Tracks on our ACARS system. This is where things started to get weird. “Eagle 97 Victor, this is Shanwick Center. I just wanted to warn you that the PIREPs indicate severe turbulence along track Delta, and it’s been getting stronger over the past 12 hours. The last pilot to report it turned around due to structural damage.” Hope and I look at each other. After a moment, she says, “I don’t know what we should do. The North Atlantic tracks aren’t flexible, so we can’t navigate around that. Do you think we could climb above it?” I shrug and ask the controller what altitude it was reported at. He said the corridor of turbulence was 30 miles long and was reported at all flight levels on westbound flights only. I looked at the information I wrote down, and Hope was silent as I pondered the decision. “Let’s move forward. The son of a bitch can take a beating, so what’s 30 miles?” I then made the most ominous PA message I’ve ever had to make.
“Folks, from the cockpit, the Air Traffic Controllers are telling us about PIREPs, indicating we have some pretty nasty bumps ahead. While it’s unclear how severe this turbulence is, some aircraft ahead of us have taken damage. So make sure your seatbelts are fastened as tight as possible, and all luggage is secured in a place where it won’t move. We won’t fly into it for another hour to an hour and a half or so, so take your time to be thoroughly ready. Just sit back, try to relax, and it will be over soon.” After I hung up, I started looking around the cockpit to ensure no loose objects could begin flying around. While it is rare, and I’ve never seen that kind of turbulence before, I did lose control of a 737 last year.
After Hope and I held hands for a quick prayer, we felt the first bumps. Nothing abnormal at first, just a jolt from the bottom here and a jolt from the right there, which went on for about seven miles. After that time, the plane felt like it entered a free fall for 4 seconds before slamming down and being thrown about a hundred feet up. A cross gust hit, which caused a violent yaw followed by the right-wing dipping about 20 feet. I put my hand on the yoke, bracing for the worst-case scenario. It came when a second cross gust hit, causing the plane to roll to the right about 30 degrees. The familiar bell indicating the autopilot disengaging rang through the cockpit. I took back control and, even with how much the plane was bouncing around, was caught off guard by how stiff the feedback in the controls was.
Not long after that, it felt like we hit a hundred-foot-thick brick wall. Hope and I were crushed against our shoulder straps beneath the immense impact. The plane was immediately struck by a second gust from the side with equal force. “We’re really in the spin cycle now,” Hope said. The plane was groaning and rattling under the stress of the storm, but I tried to keep calm as I keyed the mic to talk to the controller. “Shanwick Center, this is Eagle 97 Victor. We’re getting bounced around quite badly out here, so you think we could get on another track?”
“Speedbird 28 Kilo, good afternoon; climb and maintain flight level 380. Aircraft calling, say again?”
“Shanwick center, this is Eagle 97 Victor; we’re getting bounced around pretty good; you think we could re-route?”
“Damn, it sounds like you are. Negative on reroute, track Charlie is occupied right next to you by a 747 at flight level 360.”
“Is there anywhere south we can go, maybe track Echo?”
“Standby, what exactly is the nature of the turbulence right now?”
“It feels like we're flying in a city skyline, hitting every goddamn building in our path.”
“Oh, God, do you need to climb or descend?”
“I don't know what we need to do. We might not be able to. I’m losing control of the airplane.” As I said this, the plane violently rolled to the right. I put in maximum left yoke and rudder, but all that did was put the aircraft into a stable position at about an 87-degree bank. It pitched up and rolled abruptly to the left, nearly inverting. The stick began to vibrate violently, a warning of an impending stall. “Eagle 97 Victor has lost control of the airplane.” Instead of fighting the roll, I went with it, hoping to rotate the plane around into a straight and level flying position. As I did, it started to enter a left-side slip. “We're completely inverted,” I shouted to the controller over the now deafening sound of the plane straining under the load. All of a sudden, we flew into a kind of cloud tunnel. I reported that to the controller, and just as I finished, a growing black dot appeared in front of us. “Oh God, what is that?” Before I could finish the question, we flew through it.
On the other side was another tunnel, darker than the one we flew into, but after a couple more bounces, the plane calmed down and came back under control. I guided it back to a straight and level attitude before switching on the autopilot. I held the yoke for a few seconds before releasing it from my grip. The alarms went silent, and we flew out of the cloud formation into what looked like the night sky. We were both puzzled by this. The stars looked precisely like the night sky, which was impossible because, in our current location, it was around 13:00 hours. That wasn’t the part that worried me. What was was that instead of a dark ocean, there was an equally infinite sea of stars below us. As our eyes adjusted to the light, more of the vast canvas was unveiled. Entire galaxies rolled like clouds in the distance. It was beautiful but unlike any pictures I'd seen of the observable universe. The colors were unnatural, as if they had been hand-painted by an artist, yet they were so sharp and clear that they just had to be real. The vastness of the space filled me with reverence at the mere beauty of this creation, but there was also an equal terror. “What the hell was that?” Hope asked.
“I have no idea, but Toto,” I looked over at Hope and watched the color drain from her face. I said the words in a slow, hushed, deep voice. So much so that it was as if the tempest would come back if I said it too loud: “I get the feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Hope seemed to stop breathing as the cockpit fell silent, save for the sound of the engines running outside. Something struck me as being off. “Wait, if we’re in space, there shouldn't be an atmosphere. We shouldn't be hearing anything except maybe for vibrations in the airframe. Let me try something.” I switched off the autopilot and ran a control check. To equal parts relief and horror, the plane responded to everything as it should. I never thought I'd say these words or that they would sound so menacing, but without breaking my gaze out the window as I switched the autopilot back on, I said, “We’re still flying.”
“What are we going to do” I remain silent at this question, transfixed by what I’m looking at. “Jackson,” Hope shouts abruptly. I look over at her, finally coming back to my senses. I signal with my eyes for her to continue. “What are we going to do about this?”
“Call everyone to the front. We don’t know what that was or where we are; let’s put our heads together and talk about it.”
“Shouldn’t we tell the passengers?”
“Tell them what? That we’re trapped in interstellar space? That we’re light years away from the next obstacle? That we’ve been taken by an unknown entity into its pocket dimension for him to play around with and eventually kill? The point is, we don’t know any more about this situation than the passengers do; all we’ve had different from them is a bigger scare.”
“How was ours bigger?”
“They don’t know we lost control of the airplane.” I reached down to the pedestal to shut down the tail engine to save fuel. I looked at the altimeter and realized it was frozen at 25,000 feet. Hope called the rest of the crew to the cockpit for a meeting. I took one last look out the window, unsure if some kind of mimetic effect caused the trances I kept falling into or if it was just pure shock and disbelief at the situation. Hope and I got up from our seats when the rest of the crew arrived. They looked a little perplexed, which, in turn, unsettled me. “How are the passengers doing?” I asked.
“Pretty shaken up and a little scared that we’re going back into the wall of a hurricane or something,” the lead flight attendant said. “They might want to divert to the nearest place. Reykjavik can’t be that far away, can it?”
“Wait, you aren’t looking out the window?”
“No, we blacked them out because we didn’t want the passengers to see what was happening outside.”
“So you don’t know what’s happened either?”
“No, we don’t. We can’t just land right away and sort this out?” Hope and I looked at each other, a growing sense of terror between us that quickly spread to the cabin crew. I turned back to them, and in a dry, strained voice, I said, “Have a look for yourselves.” I opened the cockpit door to let them inside for a look out the windows. All of them immediately went pale, and their jaws hit the floor. Some of the passengers noticed that the cabin crew was gathered so tightly around the cockpit, and I responded by squeezing through the mass and closing the dividing curtains. When I got back, the crew appeared to be in a completely entranced state. “What do you suppose we do?” Robert, the chief flight attendant, asked.
“I don’t know, but first things first, we understand why we’re here. I’ll go to the avionics bay to try to deduce what happened. Hope, Tyler, you guys are in charge until I get back. Cabin crew, keep the passengers calm and keep a lookout for anything possibly dangerous. It’s possible a sentient entity brought us here, and if it did, I don’t think it wants to talk over a plate of garlic fries and a football game. That’s just a theory, but we have to be ready for it.”
“Why are you quick to draw that conclusion?” Barbara, the juniormost flight attendant, asked.
“Let’s just say I know some people. I’ve had a history with an underground group called the SCP Foundation. They’re a society dedicated to collecting and containing anomalies. We haven’t seen one like this, but this is something they’d want to hear about if we make it out alive. I don’t have time or clearance to share much more with you, so let’s just get to work.” I sent the cabin crew off to run their rounds as Tyler and Hope took their seats in the cockpit. I grabbed a flight attendant's PA Phone and made the hardest call of my career. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking. If you’ve ever seen the Twilight Zone episode The Odyssey of Flight 33, you’d understand the loss for words that the captain of that plane was at. This one’s a little different. In a moment, the flight attendants are going to reveal to you what the crew has been looking at for the past couple of minutes. If you are with a travel partner, we suggest that you lean on each other for support in every way you can and look out either side of the airplane. I guarantee what you see will shock you.” I signal Buzz, the flight attendant closest to me, to clear up the windows. The reaction of the crowd to what they’re seeing nearly stops my heart. I try not to break as I finish my message. “We don’t know where we are, how we got here, and what kind of danger we are in, if any. The crew will be working hard for your safety and comfort as we sort out this very urgent situation. And one more thing: to make it easy for us, please remain calm.”
I hung up the phone and stood there silently. Barbara was right next to me, and after a long time and a few attempts to work up the courage, but eventually asked me what I meant by the avionics bay.
“We’re not supposed to access it in flight, but there’s an ACARS disc in the avionics bay that will record anomalous information, usually for maintenance purposes. It will have around 10 minutes of information on it, so we don’t have a lot to work with, but if we can plug it into a device that can read the information and determine any distinct events related to what brought us here, we might be able to find a way back.”
“Isn’t that a lot like the black boxes?”
“This is a little bit different. Black boxes are for accident investigation, but this is unique to Wilson Aerospace planes for maintenance and experimental purposes.” I pulled the gun I carried on all flights out of my waistband and searched through the galley for ammunition. When I found it and loaded the gun, Barbara watched in horror. When I cocked it, she recoiled as if I had actually fired. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know what’s telling me to do so, but I have to be loaded before I go in there.”
“Who do you think could be down there?”
“Not who, per se, but what?” I could see the color drain from her face as I squeezed past her to go access the hatch under which the avionics bay was hidden. I removed the carpet and undid the latches to the avionics bay. It was dark down there, more so given it was like the night sky outside. I made the sign of the cross and tapped a pin that a friend had given me that I put on my tie. I grabbed the flight attendant’s phone and alerted everyone to the fact that I was entering the hole. I dropped down to the hard floor beneath. The unusually smooth ride became clear to me at that moment. I turned on my flashlight and swept it around the room. The normally soothing rumble of the engines felt suddenly ominous. I felt the engines on the wings shut down, which caused the room to fall nearly silent. I couldn’t tell if Hope and Tyler had shut down the engines to save fuel or if they had failed, but I didn’t have time to worry about that at the moment. I slowly stepped into the darkness, moving my flashlight to my right hand and drawing my gun with my left. I walked over to the shelf labeled “Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System.” I heard something behind me and whipped around. My heart just about stopped, and my blood turned to ice at the sight of the creature.
It wasn’t hideous; it was actually rather beautiful. It was a humanoid figure, timid in its mannerism and a few inches shorter than my 6-and-a-half foot stature. It had paper white but very thick and healthy skin draped over a muscular frame. Its limbs were slightly out of proportion with that of a human’s, with its arms reaching down to the knees of uncannily long legs. Its face was elongated, like the snout of a dog, with its skin covering what was inside of its mouth. I didn’t want to find out, but couldn’t exactly get out of there. Suddenly the beast charged. I had lowered my gun to my side but not holstered it. I instantly fired three rounds into the creature’s face. It screamed in pain but only slowed down. It shielded its face as it regained its composure. Knowing I had five rounds left, I waited for it to show itself again and aimed for its eyes. When I did, a disgusting white discharge spewed from the wound. It briefly recoiled before revealing its face again. It roared, and I fired another shot down its throat. It gurgled loudly and collapsed. I took the chance to flee to the hatch. As I did, two more of the creatures emerged from the computers and chased me. I climbed the ladder into the cabin where Buzz was waiting for me. I looked down and saw the vile face of one of the creatures. I fired the remaining three shots down into the hatch, hoping they didn’t damage the airplane. I slammed the hatch down and locked it.
“Are you okay?”
“Well, it didn’t hurt me. I’ll be alright.”
“You gave us quite a scare there.”
“You heard that?”
“Yeah, we did. The shots startled several passengers.”
“Did you hear the screams?”
“Yes, what was it you fired at?”
“I have no clue, I just know that it isn’t natural. Whatever it is, it is hostile, and it attacked me. We might have a bigger problem than being stuck here.”
“What’s that?”
“I killed the first one, but there are at least two more.” I return to the cockpit, shaken up by the experience. The crew got me a cup of soda (I really don’t like hot drinks) and had me resume my place in the Captain’s seat. We talked about the situation with the avionics bay, and knowing that the creatures are there, it’s going to be a more challenging task harvesting the information. Hope asks if we should check other places. Tyler said we shouldn’t, based on the fact that we could cause a containment breach if we were to look in the cargo hold. Hope countered that by saying that if the plane really was infested, it would help us devise a plan to retrieve the information. They turned to me for a final verdict. “It would be wise to check the cargo hold to understand the level of danger these creatures present. The ones that attacked me never touched me, and I never saw their hands, so we don’t know how dangerous they are. Currently, the largest question mark is we don’t know how many there are. I’ll grab Buzz and David, and we’ll go down for-”
“No,” Hope cut me off. “We almost lost you once, and as the flight’s Captain, we can’t afford to risk your life again. I’m going down, and that is non-negotiable, you understand?” I looked at Tyler, who looked back with a look in his eyes that said, “I wouldn’t fight her, bro.”
I looked at her and the crazy look in her eyes. “Okay, but don’t take a gun with you.”
“Why not?”
“As much as this might be a central concern, we are in an airplane, and we are still flying. I don’t want stray bullets damaging the fuselage or, worse, the airframe.”
“Okay.” Hope left the cockpit, leaving Tyler and me alone. I looked over at him and noticed that something seemed to be upsetting him. He was looking at a locket he must have produced when I was talking to Hope. He looked at it with glossy eyes and rubbed it with his thumb. I think about asking him but ultimately decide against it. I felt the pang of something in my chest, something I have become all too familiar with, a kind of existential loneliness. I sat and thought about my friends in the cabin. I have no idea what they must have been feeling at that moment, especially when they had a clue as to what might have been going on. I wanted to go back and talk to them to calm all of us down and was unbuckling my harness to do so when the service interphone rang to life. I picked it up, and the instant it was clear to the person on the other end that I was listening, they shouted through the line.
“Oh my god, there are hundreds of them.” My blood turned to ice, and I could sense that Tyler’s did as well.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Throw them off.” The crew member on the other end screamed, and the interphone cut off. Without hesitation, I reached over and switched the autopilot off. I have Tyler hold the plane steady as I put my shoulder straps on, and once I have that done, I urge him to do the same. Unsure of what to do next, I increase power to the one running engine and pull the yoke back as hard as possible. All the blood rushed out of my head, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I then remembered the story of Federal Express flight 705, and then turned the yoke full axis to the left, rolling it onto its side and then its back. Despite not knowing what is up and down in this dimension, I noticed quickly that gravity was constantly pulling us in the original direction. This meant that the inversion caused everything that wasn’t secure to fly towards the ceiling. I kicked the rudder a couple of times, first to the right and then to the left. The screams ringing out from the cabin were blood-curdling. I suppressed the urge to cry, knowing how terrifying this had to be to the passengers. I rolled the plane with all it had to the right. I rolled it over once and then stopped it in a steep right bank and once again pulled as hard as I could. The turn nearly made me pass out, and after this maneuver, I leveled the plane off and switched the autopilot back on. I looked over to Tyler and asked if he was okay. “I’m all good here,” he responded.
“I know it’s tempting to catch your breath,” I said, unbuckling my harnesses. “But we have to go help them. We don’t know if they actually beat the creatures or if we shot ourselves in the foot by using that strategy.” I grabbed a crash axe and left the cockpit. As was completely expected, the cabin was an absolute mess. Pillows and blankets were strewn about, along with other garbage and some spilled drinks. I took a wordless look at the chaos and continued to the back of the airplane. I walked through the first two sections dreading what I was about to see. Aside from a few people nursing minor injuries, there wasn’t anything overly disturbing about each of them. That was until I got to the aftmost section of the cabin. I’m not overly sensitive to things I see, whether that be getting emotional at movies or getting sick upon seeing disturbing things, but this was just so… real. There were human remains everywhere, along with four dead bodies of the humanoid creatures.
There were crew members attending to three severely injured passengers, but that wasn’t the most disturbing part. There were at least seven dead bodies of passengers and the dead bodies of Purser Patrick Delaney, Chief Flight Attendant Buzz Donaldson, and First Officer Hope McKinnon. Three more junior flight attendants were present and very overwhelmed. I’m not certified to give medical care, so I didn’t know what to do. I tried desperately to find words but eventually settled on “What the hell happened?” Barbara started to cry, and another flight attendant, Luke Berry, went to comfort her. The third, James Mann, explained that as soon as Hope had dropped into the cargo hold, two of the creatures immediately jumped on her. She screamed for help, and the senior flight attendants immediately rushed aft to help her out. When they got there, five creatures had emerged from the hole and were overpowering the junior flight attendants. Pat and Buzz had run in to knock the creatures off their feet for a diversion, but they wouldn’t leave Luke alone. That’s when Pat grabbed the handset but mistakenly set it to PA instead of interphone, so he broadcast the desperate cry to the passengers instead of Tyler and me. This caused a mass panic in the aft portion of the aircraft. Shortly after, the maneuvers started, which saved Luke, though his leg and arm were badly injured. Buzz accidentally hit Barbara with an ax swinging for one of the creatures, which in turn slit his throat. When the plane inverted, Pat fell to the ceiling with one of the creatures, which shredded his chest as it scrambled to regain its footing, inflicting Pat with a sucking chest wound. He died seconds later. Multiple passengers were killed, though not by the creatures attacking them, but by the creatures scrambling to maintain their footing on the shifting ground. “So you’re telling me that by this strategy, we made the situation worse?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right.” I take a moment to process the words before heading back to the front. When I get there, Flight Attendant John Wilson is waiting for the news. “Because of me, fifteen people are dead.”
“How so?”
“All that death and destruction came from me flying the plane around to knock them off balance than from the creatures themselves.” Just then, something that had been nagging at me manifested as a question. “Are the creatures only after the crew?”
“I don’t know, and there’s really no way we can test that.”
“I beg to differ.” John looks at me with wide eyes as if I’ve revealed a dark secret.
“You don’t…” He trails off, barely finishing the second word.
“Listen, if we don’t try things, we’re all dead. Our only hope of getting home is in that avionics bay, and we have to send anyone we can who can get the information back without losing their life.”
“How do you know if it’s unsafe for the crew?”
“Because it attacked me!” I hissed. I promptly shuddered at the memory of seeing Hope’s emaciated body. Without another word, I went back inside the cockpit. Tyler noticed I was pretty badly shaken up. “What was it like out there?” he asked innocently.
“It was a bloodbath.” I told him the story of what happened, and he looked at me blankly. I told him I didn’t want to leave my seat again after what I had seen. He tried to sympathize with me, but I promptly cut him off, saying that the plane and everyone on board was my responsibility as Captain.
“Dude, you are not okay.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I proposed the idea that we send a crew member and a passenger down to the cargo hold to test the waters. Tyler was against this, but given that we didn’t have very much in the way of both options and fuel, we had to be decisive. Tyler relented, and we got a volunteer from the crew to go downstairs. I went back out into the cabin to talk to first-class directly. I explained the situation to them and asked for any volunteers to check out the hold. To my relief, none of my friends stood up, but rather a stranger from business class. She came forward to the galley along with the volunteer crew member, Linda McNab. I gave them each crash axe and explained that while we don’t know what the creatures are or what they’re capable of, we do know that the axe can kill them. The passenger asked why we weren’t using guns. I had to explain that I didn’t want to pepper a bunch of holes in the airplane by firing a ton of bullets inside, but if one had to kill a creature point blank, a gun would be an effective way to kill one.
I said a prayer over them before they left. They went to the back of the plane and disappeared behind the dividing curtain between first and business class. I went back to the cockpit to wait for the results. In a note the NTSB would later present to me, the passenger recorded her expedition into the cargo hold.
It read: when we went down inside, it was pitch black. I waited for the crew member to follow me down into the hole. It was quiet and suspiciously so. He told me that we were down here only for a minute to wait and see if anything happened. Something swiped past my back, which caused me to freak out a little bit. I ran forward to where the flight attendant was. She panicked, grabbed me, and asked if I was okay. I shrugged it off and asked if we could leave. Just then, I heard something deep in the cargo area. It sounded like my mother’s voice. When I told that to the flight attendant, she immediately raised his ax into a fighting position. I asked her why, and she told her to get closer. I saw a flash of ultraviolet light roll across her face. She said, “Hi, honey,” before I saw an ax split open her skull. I jumped back immediately. She pulled out the ax and hacked at her neck and chest. I asked what he was doing. She said, “That’s only for the Captain to know.” She led me back to my seat and got the Captain. As they were talking, another flight attendant asked to look at my back under the shirt at the supposed wound. They called Jackson over, who objected at first, but upon glancing my back, came in for a closer look. All he said was, “Damn, they’re good.” End of transcript.
When they came back, Linda told me about their encounter. While I won’t recap the events of what happened, given that the passenger did that for me, I will tell you what we learned. They can read minds through physical contact, and they do have shapeshifting capabilities. There were several questions remaining, like what the creatures wanted, did they have any targets, and who was that target, if any. I started going back to the cockpit when Barbara called me over to look at the passenger’s back. “I told you already, I’m not medically certified, why do you need… me…” I trailed off as I saw her back. I walked over in silence. When I got to her, I was completely awestruck. I reached out with my fingers and brushed over where the claw supposedly swiped her back. “You said it swiped you?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Damn, they’re good.” I ran back to the cockpit, where the surviving crew put their heads together again. We were questioned about how we knew that they could actually read minds. I responded that it’s the only logical conclusion for why a creature would touch someone without the intent to kill and how it would have manifested as the person’s mother, or at least what she claimed was her mother. “Whatever it means, it’s not good news for us. We need to find out how we got here so we can at least make an effort to get back.”
“How do you think we’re supposed to get that information, though? The avionics bay is infested, you’ve already almost died once, and we’re not letting you go down there again.”
“Who do you think we send down there, then?”

Central air unit is going on 30 years old in a house I purchased a few years ago so I'm looking to replace it. Around 2800 sq ft in Wisconsin. Current 3 ton AC unit can struggle on hot days. I also have a newer dual stage NG furnace.
Most of the quotes are in the $6k range but 1 is offering doing a heat pump. Here are there 3 options from quotes I've received:
Heat Pump: Armstrong 4SHP18LX136 - $9800 (eligible for $2k in fed rebate)

• 18 SEER
• Variable Capacity

AC: Armstrong 4SCU16LE136 - $6150

• 16 SEER
• Single Stage

AC: HEIL N4A4S42AKANA - $5700

• 14 SEER
• Single Stage

Cut off point for using heat pump for heat would be 40 degrees. Is it worthwhile to spend the extra $1700 to get the heat pump over the standard central AC unit? First 2 include 10 year parts and labor warranty. Last is 10 year parts, 1 year labor.