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wolf359transcripts · 2 years

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Wolf 359 Season 1 Episode 6 - “Super Energy Saver Mode”

[intro music]

Welcome to Wolf 359.

Eiffel: This is the audio log of Communications Officer Doug Eiffel, recording from the comms room of the USS Hephaestus Station. Welcome, everyone, to a very special transmission. It’s our anniversary today! Our five hundredth day orbiting around Wolf 359!

[party tooter noise]

Eiffel: I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you here, dear listeners. As we celebrate another hundred days on this... creaky, miserable tin can. Just another two hundred and thirty before we close shop and go home. Unless command decides to renew us for another year and a half, then we’re... less than halfway through this.

[party tooter noise]

Eiffel: Anyway... we now take you through the miracle of the portable, hands-free recorder to the crew anniversary party, already in progress. And by “party”, I mean our autopilot helping me to procrastinate my work shift. Alright Hera, here we are now. Entertain us!

Hera: I’m afraid I’m still calculating the answer to your question from earlier, Officer Eiffel.

Eiffel: Calculating? Hera, I asked you for your top five “stick it to The Man” songs. Not the nine hundredth digit of pi.

Hera: Well... there’s lots of data to collate: year of composition, active political regimes of the time, complexity of chord progressions. It may take a little bit to have a mathematically sound set of five. And it’s three, by the way.

Eiffel: No no no no no no no. You’re way overthinking this. It’s just... a taste thing. There’s no wrong answer. U-Unless you leave out “Anarchy in the UK”. That, would be mathematically unsound. Here, I’ll show ya. Ask me for my top five of anything.

Hera: Anything?

Eiffel: Yeah! Just... go. First thing that comes to mind.

Hera: Top five lanthanides?

Eiffel: ... Try again.

Hera: Top five British naval battles of the 1800s?

Eiffel: ... Nope.

Hera: Top five celestial positioning coordinates.

Eiffel: You’re just yanking my chain, aren’t ya.

Hera: Well, I don’t know what I want, but I know how to get it.

[open intercom buzz]

Hilbert: Apologies for breaking into your frequency, Officer Eiffel. But I was wondering if I could have a moment of Hera’s attention.

Hera: How can I be of service, Dr. Hilbert?

Hilbert: I’m running an experiment with my arc reactor, and I need additional voltage directed towards my lab.

Hera: Negative, Doctor, you’re already at the maximum level for that wing of the Hephaestus.

Hilbert: Then just reroute it. Divert some power from the central processors.

Hera: I... would highly discourage that course of action, Doctor. It would put us over the acceptable safety limits for that wing –

Hilbert: I’m taking every precaution. It will be fine. Now stop wasting my time.

Hera: ... Affirmative, Dr. Hilbert. Rerouting power now, you should receive it in about thirty seconds.

Hilbert: Thank you.

[close intercom buzz]

Eiffel: Wow, are you upset? I didn’t know you got upset.

Hera: I am a MX500 Class Adjutant Program, Eiffel. I’m programmed to be friendly, and pleasant, and I do not get upset. I can, however, get frustrated, ruffled, and/or an eensy teeny bit incensed, when he takes that tone of voice with me.

Eiffel: Hey, don’t let Hilbert get to ya. The guy’s a whackjob. Did I ever tell you about that time I thought he was trying to kill me? Any of those times?

Hera: Things don’t get to me, Eiffel. I’m just afraid that sooner or later, that man is going to do something reckless and some- some- some- some- some- some- [power cuts out]

Eiffel: ... Hera? Are you there?

[silence]

Eiffel: One moment, dear listeners. We seem to be experiencing some... technical difficulties. L-Looks like we’ve lost our autopilot, and our lights, and anything that was plugged into a wall.

[taps on microphone]

Eiffel: Recorder still seems to be running fine though, so... score one for old-school double As! I’m sure this is just a small hiccup in the system. So, let’s just wait for this stuff to get sorted out, alright?

[ship creaks]

Eiffel: O...kay, maybe this isn’t one of those “wait and see” things. Maybe it’s one of those... imminent death things. Let’s go see if we can find any of the others.

[switch clicks, door opens and closes]

Eiffel: [echoing] Hello? Hera? Minkowski?

[ship creaks]

Eiffel: Cool... has this place always been so... Overlook Hotel-y?

[a boom, then clattering noise]

Eiffel: [shrieks in surprise] Alright, Doug. Get a grip on yourself. [clicking] Just figure out what you gotta do. Um... hm... What would Commander Minkowski say if she were here right now?

Eiffel: [imitating Minkowski’s voice] “Eiffel! I know minimal information about the situation or its context, but I am ready to place all the blame squarely on your shoulders!”

Eiffel: [in his own voice] “What? That makes absolutely no sense. You act like everything that goes wrong in this station is my fault.”

Eiffel: [imitating Minkowski’s voice] “Everything that goes wrong around here is your fault. Remember the helium tank?”

Eiffel: [in his own voice] “Here we go again. Look, I had no idea what that dial did. I’m really sorry Dr. Hilbert had to amputate those toes, but it was an honest mistake!”

Eiffel: [imitating Minkowski’s voice] “What about the flight deck airlock? Or the time you poisoned that litre of water trying to make whiskey? I could do this all night.”

Eiffel: [in his own voice] “Oh yes, Commander. Let’s spend more time on this, shall we? Here we are in a potentially lethal situation, and all you wanna do is talk about how much of a screwup I am. [under his voice] God, you’re useless.

Eiffel: [imitating Minkowski’s voice] “I’m useless? You are the most incompetent excuse for an enlisted man I have ever met. The only thing you’ve done for the past five hundred days has been sleep on the job, endanger our lives, and continually make stupid jokes just to hide the fact that you’re –

[a distant echoing voice speaks faintly]

Eiffel: Is- Is somebody there?

[the distant voice continues]

Eiffel: Look. If this is a joke or something, it isn’t funny.

[the distant voice fades]

Eiffel: Alright... I suppose –

[sound of something falling]

Eiffel: What was that?

[booming noise]

Eiffel: Oh god...

[door opens]

Minkowski: Eiffel. Is that you?

Eiffel: [sigh of relief] Commander.

Minkowski: ... Why are you underneath that table?

Eiffel: Um... Reasons? G-Good ones. Excellent reasons.

Minkowski: Any idea what’s going on? Looks like the entire station’s gone dark.

Eiffel: Hilbert asked Hera to give his lab some extra juice from her central processor. Maybe he blew a fuse.

Minkowski: Hera’s offline?

Eiffel: I dunno, search me. Either that, or she’s finally figured out how to access her sleep mode.

Minkowski: [sighs in frustration]

Eiffel: I’m guessing this isn’t one of those “gets better by itself” situations.

Minkowski: If Hera’s offline, then practically every system in the station is too, and that includes life support.

Eiffel: So we’re gonna run out of air?

Minkowski: That may be the least of our worries. She also runs navigation, orbital stasis, temperature regulation. Hell, probably even a few that I don’t know about.

Eiffel: So... basically we’re barrelling towards certain death. That’s all you gotta say, Commander. Barrelling towards certain death. [inhales] Okay. How about we skip right to the “making it better” part?

Minkowski: Well, we’ll need to reboot the system up at the bridge... but first we’ll have to go down to engineering to realign the fuse couplings and restore power.

Eiffel: Divide and conquer. Commander, you deal with the computer upstairs, I’ll head downtown and plug her back in.

Minkowski: Do you have any idea what you’re looking for?

Eiffel: No, but I got you. And a pair of these.

Minkowski: Walkie-talkies?

Eiffel: Been making a few of these out of old recorders. Pretty handy in a blackout. Careful though, the battery on them’s pretty non-existent, so save it ‘til you get to –

[the distant voice reappears for a second]

Eiffel: Did you hear that?

Minkowski: Hear what?

[silence]

Eiffel: I- I thought... Nothing. Never mind. Come on, let’s do this thing, before we fall into the star or something.

[door opens]

Minkowski: This should take you down to engineering. Straight shot. Get down there and wait for me. I’ll radio as soon as I get to the bridge.

Eiffel: Right. Talk to you in a sec.

[door slams shut]

Eiffel: Alright... just... headin’ down to engineering. No big deal! No big deal! Just gonna go... go down, flip some switches, turn the lights back on, and then, go listen to some space static for a couple of hours. [exhales] Won’t that be nice.

[plinking metal noise]

Eiffel: Oh god, it’s spooktastic in here, baby. [exhales] I hate engineering. Creeps me out, even when we’re not in super energy saver mode. I’m glad you’re here to keep me company, dear listeners. [in a newscaster voice] We interrupt tonight’s presentation of Hammer Horror’s The Amityville Space Station to bring you a quick word from our spons –

[the distant voice reappears for a second]

Eiffel: Okay, I swear to god, somebody’s talking to me.

[silence]

Eiffel: Or maybe we’re running out of O2 a little faster than anticipated.

[the distant voice reappears]

Eiffel: Okay, enough! I’m dealing with a genuine life-and-death thing here, so if Mr. Ooga-Booga whispering wants to tango, he’ll have to take a number and have a seat, cause my dance card is full at the moment!

[the distant voice continues]

Eiffel: H-Hera? Is that you? Look, if this is some kind of... weird attempt at being funny, it’s really not cool.

[the distant voice continues]

Eiffel: Alright alright! You got me, very funny! [fake, pained laughter]

[the distant voice continues]

Eiffel: Who – Who is this? What do you want?

[radio hisses]

[the distant voice stops]

Minkowski: [over the radio] Eiffel, I’m at the bridge. Are you in position yet?

Eiffel: God damn. No. Not yet. Commander, there’s something majorly weird going on here.

Minkowski: Yes, all the systems in the station are powered down, didn’t we already have this conversation?

Eiffel: No – No, no. Listen. There’s something coming through the speakers. I-It’s like as soon as Hera went offline, they started picking up Stephen King FM.

Minkowski: That’s not possible, there’s nothing powering them.

Eiffel: I know what I’ve been hearing, and it’s been getting louder.

Minkowski: Alright look. Whatever that’s about, it’ll be a lot easier to sort it out with power and oxygen. So let’s focus on getting Hera back online first, okay?

Eiffel: Yeah... Yeah that’s fair. Okay. I’m at engineering.

[ship creaks]

Eiffel: Alright, what am I looking for?

Minkowski: Go towards the back of the room. You should see a big red breaker box with a lightning bolt symbol on it.

Eiffel: Red... breaker... yeah, I see it.

Minkowski: Alright. Go up to it and open it. Now. This is gonna be real simple.

[box opens]

Eiffel: Holy crap! R-Real simple. Commander, there’s like a bajillion switches and cables in here.

Minkowski: Just do exactly what I tell you. See the switch at the very top? Hit that, and I should get auxiliary power for the consoles here.

[switch clacks]

Eiffel: Done.

Minkowski: Uh... Okay great. Alright, gimme just one moment to start inputting the reboot codes... Look for switches five, eighteen, and thirty-two.

Eiffel: Hm... Yeah, I see them.

Minkowski: Okay. Go ahead and hit all three.

[three switches clack in sequence]

Minkowski: Okay. Now, you see the switch at the very bottom?

Eiffel: Yup, I see it.

Minkowski: That should power up the central processor again. Get ready to hit on my mark. Ready?

Eiffel: Yeah, let’s do this.

Minkowski: Okay. Three, two, now!

[switch clacks]

[the distant voice fades in]

Eiffel: Uh... Commander? Did we miss a step or something?

[the distant voice continues]

Eiffel: Minkowski! [pauses] Crap, the battery in my walkie’s dead. Um... Look, I don’t know who you are, or what you want, but I –

Distant Voice: – you’re not the first –

[the distant voice fades away]

Eiffel: What? What do you mean? Wait, wait! What do you mean? I’m not the first what? Hello?

[sound of machinery rebooting]

Hera: [very glitchy] ...some...body’s going to get hurt.

Hera: Woah. What just happened? Did – Did everything just kind of blink around for a second there?

Eiffel: [long sigh of relief] Hey, Hera! Welcome back. [exhale] We missed you.

[two bursts of static]

Eiffel: Hey again, everyone. It’s been a few hours since I stopped the last recording, and just wanted to give you a brief update. I think we crossed into a new day a little while ago. Day five hundred and one on the galaxy’s favourite little death trap. Hera’s up and running again... it’s taking her a little bit to get all the systems back to normal, but it looks like we’re not going to suffocate or blow up any time in the near future. Shouldn’t expect warm showers either, but hey. Take what we can get and all. I still don’t know what those weird noises were about. I asked Hera about it, she said it was probably just... some... residue of her vocal program, running on emergency power, and going haywire. But... I dunno. It sure as hell didn’t sound like Hera. Scans confirmed that me, Minkowski, and Hilbert, are still the only language-capable life signs on the station, but... I don’t know. “You’re not the first.” What the hell does that mean? Not the first what? [sighs] Well, from the Hephaestus Station, this has been the audio log of Communications Officer Doug Eiffel. Goodnight everyone.

[outro music]

This has been Wolf 359, written and directed by Gabriel Urbina. The roles of Eiffel and Hilbert were played by Zach Valenti. The role of Minkowski was played by Emma Sherr-Ziarko. The role of Hera was played by Michaela Swee. And tonight’s episode also featured the voice of Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs. Original music by Alan Rodi, and audio recording by Jared Paul. Dying to know Hera’s top five lanthanides? Check out wolf359.fm, and follow us on Twitter at @Wolf359Radio for more information on our show.

Transcription by @saltssaumure.

#wolf 359 #wolf 359 transcript #podcast transcript #s1e6 #super energy saver mode

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cnboxingring · 2 months

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(By Robert, cnboxingring.com)-According to reports from foreign sources, on March 6th, Meta stated in a statement that on Tuesday, it resolved the service interruption issues experienced by Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, which caused some American users to be unable to log in to these websites for several hours.

Meta Communications Director Andy Stone stated in a post on X that earlier today, a technical issue made it difficult for people to access some of our services. We have resolved this issue for all affected individuals as soon as possible, and we deeply apologize for this.

On Tuesday morning, the company admitted that some American users encountered difficulties accessing its platform.

"We know people are facing difficulties accessing our services. We are currently working hard to solve this problem," said Stone.

On Tuesday morning, DownDetector, a website that tracks user issue reports, received over 300000 Facebook downtime reports. DownDetector also compiled nearly 50000 Instagram crash reports.

According to the Meta website, a series of business tools on the platform are experiencing significant disruptions, including Ads Manager and Meta Business Suite.

The website states that we are aware of the issues users are encountering it when logging into our platform. Our engineering team is aware of and actively seeking to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

A spokesperson stated that the White House National Security Committee is monitoring the incident and has not yet detected any specific malicious network activity.

The company's application series has approximately 3.19 billion daily active users, including WhatsApp and Threads.

The status dashboard earlier showed that WhatsApp Business's application programming interface was also facing issues.

However, according to DownDetector, the interruption of WhatsApp and Threads is much smaller, and the company tracks the interruption situation by organizing status reports from multiple sources, including users.

The post shows that several Meta employees have stated on the anonymous messaging application Blind that they are unable to log in to their internal work system, which raises doubts about whether they have been fired.

This malfunction is one of the hottest topics on X (formerly Twitter), and the owner of the platform, Elon Musk, posted that if you are reading this article, it is because our server is running.

Since Musk spent $44 billion to acquire X's social media platform in October 2022, X's own services have also experienced multiple interruptions, with one interruption in December causing over 77000 disruptions in countries such as the United States and France

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substituted-shinigami · 4 months

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Learning to Breathe

(aka Please Remember To Put On Your Oxygen Mask Before Assisting Others)

Characters: Rukia, Renji, Byakuya, and some Fourth Division OCs, (RenRuki)

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, some Angst, some Humor, Family

Rated: T (for mentions of medical tools such as needles and depictions of anxiety, but nothing is graphic or even really overly described. This story is more about the emotions than the medical drama)

Story Summary: Turns out purple eyes and short stature aren’t the only things that run in Hisana’s family, illness does as well. As Rukia and Renji try to help each other navigate through this new storm in their lives, will they remember to take time to breathe? (Rukia gets the same disease that killed Hisana (Bloodlines AU), Post TYBW, Post renruki engagement)

Click the link to read below or click here to read the story on AO3!

(5/7)

Chapter 4: Hurricane Inbound

AO3 chapter link

Chapter Summary: Attention passengers, the major turbulence you are now experiencing is due to the worsening of the weather. Therefore, there might be some ‘minor technical difficulties’ when we attempt to land at our destination. We apologize for this slight inconvenience. (The chapter in which Rukia and Renji are greatly inconvenienced.)

“W-Wait!” The teen stammered with increasing levels of anxiety as she stared at the needle, “H-Hold on! I’m not ready yet!”

“Now, now, Ms. Inuzuri,” the nurse placated as if speaking to a small child, “You wish to become a shinigami do you not?” Rukia felt like punching her, but thought better of it.

“Yes…” she deflated instead.

“Then you have to complete a medical exam, and that includes bloodwork and reiatsu-work, both of which unfortunately require needles,” the nurse said instructionally, “Now please hold out your arm nice and straight...” The nurse reached for Rukia's arm again, but Rukia held it close to her chest with her other hand.

“I-I know!…I just…” she gulped as she looked down, “I just need a little more time…”

“I’m sorry dear, but we have other recruits to consider, and we’ve waited far too long already,” the nurse said while shaking her head, “So I’m afraid that if we can’t do this now, we’ll have to dismiss you for today.”

Rukia’s blood ran cold. She couldn’t make Renji go back to Inuzuri, she just couldn’t. She slowly began to release her arm.

“O-Okay… But…can I have my friend with me?” Rukia pleaded, “The tall red headed guy who came in with me. Could you call him in? Please?” The nurse sighed heavily.

“Mr. Abarai is already getting his exam done with the other male recruits in another part of the building, dear. If you interrupt him now, he may have to go back to the beginning of the line or not finish today at all. Do you really want to hold him back like that? To make him have to drop everything for you just because you’re a little nervous?”

“No…” she whispered.

“Good girl. Now please hold out your arm. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt a bit…”

__________________________________

"Oi! I thought we were racing! If you keep staring off into space like that, I'm going to win easily," Renji teased, easily snapping Rukia out of her dark thoughts. She shook the gloomy memory from her mind, and gave him a look of fake superiority.

"Hmph! I was just giving you time to catch up, you slowpoke!" she teased back.

"Sure, sure," he replied, as he reshuffled his paperwork, "Go ahead and take a break then, you speedy little rabbit. Meanwhile this slowpoke tiger will pass you by."

"That’s supposed to be a turtle, you fool, not a tiger! And, good luck with that!" Rukia replied, as she eagerly went back to her reading.

About an hour later they were still racing through their material, when they were suddenly interrupted.

“Well, hey there, hun! My name is Sato Koemi, and I’ll be your nurse today! How are you doing?” came the extra peppy voice.

“Nice to meet you!” Renji greeted easily as he put away his pen. He subtly nudged Rukia, who still had her nose stuck in her manga and hadn’t even noticed the exchange. She blinked in surprise.

“Oh! Um…Yes! Nice to meet you!

“Crazy weather we’re having today, huh?” the nurse went on as she took a seat in the waiting room next to them, “I hear it’s actually started hailing for awhile there! Still I’d much rather have it cold than hot. Can always put on a scarf, but can’t take off your clothes but so much, you know what I mean? Ha ha!” the nurse continued with a cheerful familiarity that Rukia found more than a little off-putting.

“Um… Yes… For sure…" she replied slowly.

“Anyway, I’m so sorry for all the delays. The other problem with all this bad weather is that it takes forever to get anyone anywhere! Not to mention the New Year coming up and the flu going around…”

“Same problem over at the Sixth,” Renji piped in conversationally, “We’ve been having massive call-outs all week.” Rukia inwardly cringed. She had no idea it had gotten so bad. No wonder he's been doing so much extra paperwork! Renji…

“Thank you all for understanding. Now what is this about a neck RIT?” Rukia explained the situation again. “I see. I see,” nodded the nurse, “Well, unfortunately, as I'm sure you've heard, the average tech or nurse doesn't handle neck RITs. I can talk to my Relief Team Leader about it, and see if we can get a specialist in for ya. But unfortunately, if we can't find anybody who’s available, that means I've got to try and get a needle in that there temperamental arm of yours. Otherwise, well…" Nurse Sato shook her head and shrugged, "we may have to dismiss you for today and reschedule the entire appointment."

Rukia tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but she could feel her heart beating faster and faster inside of her now tightening chest.

Breathe! Come on, breathe! You can handle this! You've got to! Otherwise… Otherwise, Renji will never stop worrying about you…losing sleep over you… So come on! Don't be such a wuss! She admonished herself, B-Besides, maybe it will turn out okay? M-Maybe this nurse is like, Soul King-tier great at needles, and will find a spot in your arm that even Hanatarō can't find…

Out of the corner of her eye, Rukia took a peek at Renji’s face to see how he was doing. However rather than worried, like she thought, he was positively seething. He looked like he was about to tell the nurse exactly where he thought she could stick that needle.

Better than worried, Rukia thought, her heart both warming and settling a little at the sight, Still, I better take over. Rukia plastered on her best fake smile and said, "Thank you oh so very much for your kind consideration and honesty, Nurse Koemi! If you would like, you may take a look at my arm if it means avoiding having to reschedule."

The nurse's face lit up a little at this, somehow completely oblivious to the wrath she just avoided. "Don't you worry, hun, I'm very good! And we'll just do one and done. If I do miss, that's it, okay? No point in turning you into a pin cushion!" And with that, she was out the door to grab her supplies.

The minute she left, Rukia's face immediately dropped. Her fist clenched involuntarily as her chest began tightening again. Could this day get any worse… she thought, while trying to ignore her growling stomach. They had already been there for several hours.

"Hey…" Renji said to her quietly, having appeared to have calmed down from his own internal battle.

Shoot! I probably looked nervous again! Rukia thought. She unclenched her fists and tried to appear nonchalant.

"It's fine,” she dismissed quickly, ”At least they are taking the vein problem seriously. And hey, she even said she'd only stick me once! That’s a lot nicer than some of the other nurses we've dealt with. They all assumed that I'm just making the whole thing up to try to get out of it and so try to stick me multiple times anyway. Then I really do become a pin cushion from all their failed attempts…" Rukia finished quietly, as she stared down at her arms.

"Ru…"

Rukia shook her head as if to clear it and relaxed her position. She tapped her chin as a mischievous look crossed her face, "Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if I could be one? A pin cushion I mean. Aren't they usually round and cute? I think I saw Ishida with one shaped like a tomato or an orange once. I wonder if he could make one shaped like my head." Rukia turned to face Renji, tilted her head to the side, and framed it with her hands, "What do you think, hmmm? Do you think I would make a cute pin cushion?" She smirked at him.

Renji looked less amused. However, he simply sighed, and leaned in closer to her. Their noses touched.

"The cutest," he murmured to her softly before giving her a quick kiss, "Do you want me to hold your hand while they do the RIT?"

Yes. Definitely. Is what she wanted to say, what she desperately wanted to say, but how could she? “I’ll… It… I’m sure it will be fine…” she finished lamely. Renji looked pretty unconvinced but ignored it.

“How about we find a way to take your mind off of it?” he said instead.

“I’m fine, Renji, seriously! After all, I still got my book!” However, when Rukia looked down at her manga, she saw that she was on the last page, “Ah… Well, I guess I won the race! So now I can help you out with your paperwork.”

“Not so fast,” Renji replied, smirking and holding up his last page of paperwork, “Looks like we finished about the same time. Did they leave us any magazines? Sometimes those have crosswords on them or at least ridiculous articles to read.” Rukia looked around, and picked up the magazine pile.

“Hmmm, looks like they only got some old ones we’ve already read at other doctor’s appointments this month. Also the crosswords have already been filled in.”

“Crap.”

“Yeah…” Rukia sighed, “I could go back to registration? See if they have any new ones?”

“Nah, it was a maze getting here. It’s probably best if we stay put.” Renji looked around the room, and smiled mischievously, “Now that I think about it, there aren’t any windows in this room, and we are the only two here. Plus we did get interrupted last time by that rude thunderstorm…” Renji began slowly. Rukia rolled her eyes.

“Renji, they could literally return at any minute.”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding…mostly anyways…” Renji laughed. He looked down at the packet that Rukia had gotten when she went through registration, “Anything in there that’s interesting?”

“Unlikely, they are usually all the same information no matter where you go.” Rukia opened up the packet. Several papers full of medical information lay inside along with a Fourth Division branded cheap notepad.

“Well there’s something!” Renji exclaimed, pointing to the notepad, “You could use that to draw.”

“Yeah…” Rukia began slowly, “but I don’t have my markers with me. And it’s hard to think of what to draw with all of…this going on…”

“Yeah…that makes sense,” Renji agreed. He thought again, “Hey, why don’t we play Codes instead?” Rukia's brows furrowed.

“Codes?” Rukia asked, brows furrowing, “Like we used to do as kids?”

“Yeah! Write out a coded message and then have me try and solve it. And then I’ll do the same. Come on, I know you remember them, Ichigo told me about the one you left him.” Rukia made a face.

“Yeah, but if Ichigo figured it out, then clearly they need some work.”

“No time like the present to practice!” Renji exclaimed, handing her his pen.

“Hmmm… I suppose…” Rukia replied, taking it. Her face scrunched up in concentration, and then she began to quickly write on the notepad. After she finished writing, she handed the notepad to Renji. “Hah! A double code! Twice as hard as the one I gave Ichigo. Try solving that!” Rukia said triumphantly, folding her arms. Renji looked down at the notepad, it read:

DMYF DTREE'SF DSTAWLWARTF DROCKF

DBUTF DTHEF DWAVESF DCRASHF DAGAINSTF DYOUF

DLETF DMYF DROOTSR DHOLDF DYOUF

There was also a deer drawn on one side of the code, and a fox on the other. Renji pretty quickly remembered that the animals meant which letters he was supposed to cross out. Since he had it figured out immediately, he went ahead and mentally translated the message:

My tree's stalwart rock

But the waves crash against you

Let my roots hold you

It…It was a haiku! A pretty awful haiku, but who was anyone in comparison to his captain or Kira? Plus Renji believed he understood the meaning behind it well enough, so it worked. Basically.

“Wow, this sure is hard,” he lied, “This might take me a while. Mind if I make one for you to solve while I work on it?”

“Sure, of course!” Rukia nodded. Renji flipped to the next piece of cheap note pad paper and quickly scribbled something down. He ripped it out and handed it over to her. Rukia squinted at the note. It was in morse code:

.. / .- -- / -.-- --- ..- .-. / .-. --- -.-. -.- --..-- / .... ..- .... ..--..

.. / ... ..- .--. .--. --- ... . / .. / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. -. .----. - / -- .. -. -.. --..--

-.-- --- ..- .-. / .-. --- --- - ... / .- .-. --- ..- -. -.. / -- . / ---... -.--.-

“Morse code, huh? Real original, Abarai! I can solve this without even taking out a pen!”

“Well, good! ‘Cause we only got one!” Renji replied, as he began to slowly cross out the letters. Rukia took her time, and slowly translated the message in her head.

I am your rock, huh?

I suppose I wouldn't mind,

Your roots around me :)

The smiley face was included in the morse code. Inside, Rukia suddenly felt very hot, although whether it was with fondness or annoyance she wasn't entirely sure. She had found over the years that the two were not mutually exclusive, especially when it came to her fiance. Still, she composed herself, folded up the note serenely, and then threw the offending piece of paper at Renji’s head.

“Liar! You figured out my code immediately!”

“It just means you need to work on it,” Renji laughed. He handed her back the notepad and pen with the solved code, “Here, write me another one.”

Rukia quickly took them back, practically yanking them out of Renji’s hands, and began writing vigorously. She was taking a lot longer this time, and Renji tried to sneak a peek, but she would just glare at him and then crouch even lower over the paper. Eventually, Rukia shoved the pen and paper back at him.

“Here, try to solve that one!” She challenged as she crossed her arms. Renji looked down at the notepad. It was covered in numbers:

24 14 24 34 44, 33 45 32 12 43 13 45 31 31,

14 34 42 13 52 23 34 23 11 43 13 11 35 44 45 42 15 14 32 54 23 15 11 42 44.

24 31 34 51 15 54 34 45, 54 34 45 25 15 42 13!

“What is this, some sort of number code?” he asked, his brows furrowing. Rukia’s eyes gleamed.

“Hah! You wish! It’s a tap code, it’s just written out! Try remembering how to solve that, you jerk!”

It was a tap code. A code where you would tap out a number to indicate a letter. It was something they used extensively back in Rukongai when they didn’t want others to overhear their messages to each other, whether they be plans or something more…personal. Renji was filled with nostalgia, as he dug through his memories to remember the proper number to letter conversions. Finally, he had this one solved too.

Idiot, Numbskull,

Dork who has captured my heart.

I love you, you jerk!

Renji chuckled warmly as he fondly looked over at his fiance, who was regarding him softly in return. A faint blush was already dusting her cheeks.

“Can I make out with you now?” he asked.

“Yes, but only a little bit,” Rukia sniffed, going a little redder, “The nurse could be back any minute.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Renji agreed, gently cupping her cheek and leaning in.

#bleach #renruki #fanfiction #renji abarai #rukia kuchiki #byakuya kuchiki #post tybw #learning to breathe #L2B #bloodlines au #hurt/comfort #some angst #some humor #family

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mfmilligan · 10 months

Text

In the Midst #6

So this whole time I’ve been in one of the Daisy Hill houses. I’ve been in either the basement or the kitchen pantry. Thinking of the shadow people I saw, I’ve been too scared to go back out. But I’ve also worried if one of them will show up here. I mean, these are homes. And no one lives where they work. So…where else would the shadow people go?

There’s just one problem right now. I’m starving and there’s no food in this house. It’s now 10:00 AM. I’m thinking I’ll stay here until noon, then I’ll

I hear something in one of the other rooms. Sounds like static. Really loud static. Maybe a TV? It’s freaking me out – and what if it attracts one of them?

I’m going to turn it off.

Holy crap. Where do I begin?

So I walked into the living room where the TV was. The moment I was about to shut it down, the static cut to a channel.

For a second, I couldn’t make out anything. It was just clip after clip sped through. Then it settled on news footage. But the news anchor – I swear, if this was normal reality, I’d say I was hallucinating.

The anchor…she was just a pair of huge lips on a body wearing a red pant suit. I was so stunned by her strangeness that I didn’t pay attention to what she was saying at first.

“And now for an important announcement! We all know that visitors tend to come and go around here. Individual visitors usually pose no problem. However, it seems we’re experiencing a spike of them recently and too many visitors means too much trouble. So please pay attention to your screen as we display all known visitors present. If you see one in your local area, please notify the proper authorities.”

A slideshow of faces, names, and countries began. The pictures were grainy, mostly black and white. It gave the people’s faces an uncanny appearance. They looked like photos you’d see on missing persons posters and gave you the sinking feeling that whoever you looked at might not be alive anymore. Quite a few were from the U.S, but many more came from all over the world.

When the slideshow switched from a woman in Malaysia to a guy in South Korea, the footage froze, turned to static, then became blank.

A second later, I heard the familiar dots and dashes. Morse code. They appeared on the screen.

. . . .

. - . .

- - -

. . - - . .

I copied them down before they disappeared. The TV cut back to the big-lipped anchor.

“Apologies, viewers,” she said. “It seems we’re experiencing some technical difficulties.” Her reedy fingers with glittering nails clutched her papers tighter. “Please watch the rest of the –”

The slideshow cut her off. Only a handful more showed up. When it showed the final “visitor”, my blood ran cold.

It was my face. My name. My home country.

And now anyone and anything that lives here sees me as a threat.

I didn’t pay attention to the anchor’s closing statements. As soon as the TV cut back to static, I turned it off.

Looking at the code, I recognize the O near the end. Seeing the double letter before it leads me to believe that the word is probably HELLO. Maybe that last symbol is a question mark.

Someone really is trying to reach out.

It’s noon. I haven’t seen anyone or anything moving beyond the windows. I’m going back to the Sweet Tomato for food, but…I’m at a crossroads.

Whoever is out there, I should respond to them. It’s obviously not safe for anyone to be alone here. And having an extra set of eyes would be helpful in finding an escape (if there is one).

The trouble is this brings me back to my original mission…the one that resulted in me hiding out in Daisy Hill.

It was bad enough when the eye-shadow-thing scared me. Knowing there’s an actual formidable threat out there changes everything. There’s only one of me. There were at least 50 on that one floor. Who knows how many more were in that building? Or any of the other buildings I haven’t explored?

Also – and I’ve been in denial about this the last several hours – I think something’s wrong with me. Remember how one of those shadow people touched my face in the elevator? I didn’t notice any differences immediately, because, well, I was escaping, then sheltering from a tornado, and above all else, stressed. But now the part of my face he touched is cold. Really cold. Tingling a bit, too, almost like dental anesthetics.

I really don’t want to entertain the thought that this could be anything serious.

Made it to the Sweet Tomato. I’ve eaten and now I need to formulate some kind of plan.

My thoughts so far:

I need to see which building(s) could be a radio/TV station based on outer appearances (to avoid wasting time exploring inside)

I need to figure out the shadow people’s daily routine so I know when’s the best time to sneak around

I need to sneak around without being seen

This last point will be tricky. Since I’ve been announced as an intruder of sorts, I can’t simply wander around in the open like I used to. I think the first best step would be monitoring the shadow people. The Pink Mall is just outside White Collar Avenue. If I hid out on the roof, I’d have the perfect birds-eye view. Hopefully I can access the roof from the outside, because if the mall is still flooded – well, I don’t want to have to go up through the inside. After all that, I can worry about sneaking around.

I’ll start this whole operation early tomorrow. That way I know the complete day in the life of the shadow people.

Slept a couple hours, but my dream woke me up. I know it’s just a dream, but…

I was wandering around in this world in a field between two cities. It was a sunny day but it didn’t feel cheery. Every step I took felt final, as if I was in a scene just before the end credits of a movie rolled.

I came across a large open well. I didn’t want to fall in, but a mysterious force pushed me. Down, down, down into darkness. The air grew colder the further I fell.

Suddenly all was bright and I was falling towards the sky – until I wasn’t. My back collided with the ground, leaving me too stunned to breathe. When I sat up and looked around. I was in the park I always went to as a kid. People were everywhere. Even my mother and siblings were there. I ran up to them and I started telling them what I’d been through. But…they didn’t hear me. They didn’t even see me. No one at the park could, no matter what I did. The sun dipped down and everyone left. When I woke up, I was crying just as I was at the end of the dream.

It’s been a few more hours and I’ve almost given up on sleep. I've been read through this journal I’ve been keeping…I have a lot of thoughts, but I’m not sure how to articulate them. I only know a few things.

I should leave this town. There's no reason why I should stay here, especially with all the dangerous stuff that's happened. And with no escape that I can see around, that's even more reason to move on.

I should forget the plan I made. Maybe the Morse messenger and I will cross paths one of these days. I hope we do. But I need to find a way out of here more than anything. My sanity won't last long in this place.

And…well, I don’t know if this last thing is a good or bad thing. After exploring the Familiar Schools, I said I should stop acknowledging anything familiar or remembering my life before. That because none of it mattered here and it only brought me down, there was no reason to keep bringing it up. But I don’t know. Remembering real-life stuff did bring me down…but at the same time, it was an anchor of sorts. Something that reminded me that there was a different reality, that I didn’t have to belong to this nonsensical nightmare I’m trapped in. And the more I’ve accepted my fate, the worse things have gotten.

I’ll try to get at least a couple or more hours of sleep. Once I’ve officially woken up, I’m packing plenty of food and batteries and getting back on the road. Maybe I can’t escape this world just yet. But I can escape this town. Tonight is the last they’ll hear of me and my stupid Weather Channel music.

This is the right call to make. I know it is. And yet I can’t help but feel like this is the most cowardly move I could make.

Coward.

Not for nothing, though. If anyone else walked into this world and saw all the shit I’ve seen, they’d understand. Hell, most would probably wonder why I haven’t just been hiding in some building all this time. I don’t even understand why I haven’t just been hiding this whole time.

I guess it’s just…this whole time I was exploring, I haven’t just been looking for my way home. I've been trying to understand this world. What it is, how it works, its past (if it has any), anything about it that makes any lick of sense. And failing to understand even this town feels like I’m failing myself. Failing my survival, failing my sanity – just failing everything.

Whatever. I’ve made my choice. I’d rather be on the move than wondering when the shadow people will find me. I’m getting out of here no matter what.

#liminal spaces #liminal #writing #writeblr #creative writing #short story #original story

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webnewsify1 · 11 months

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Instagram down again: When will instagram work again?

Reuters reported that on Sunday, over 98,000 users were affected by an outage of Instagram, owned by Meta Platform Inc (META.O), according to the Downdetector.com website. The app suffered technical issues resulting in a roughly two-hour outage in the evening, causing disruption to services for numerous individuals. Reuters has reported that Downdetector monitors outages by collecting information from multiple sources such as users. During the peak of the outage, more than 180,000 users reported issues about accessing Instagram, with over 24,000 users in Canada and over 56,000 users in Britain experiencing problems. According to a spokesperson from Meta, "Earlier today, a technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Instagram. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted." The spokesperson also commented, "We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing Instagram. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience." https://twitter.com/PopBase/status/1660419131148242946?s=20 Several Instagram users have gone to Twitter, a micro-blogging platform, to express their dissatisfaction about the difficulties they're experiencing while logging into their accounts and reloading their feed. Although the root cause of the disruption remains unclear, several Instagram users revealed challenges with signing in, uploading posts, messaging, and employing particular aspects of the application. Instagram hasn't made any declarations concerning the plausible outage. https://twitter.com/Realmoeadelx/status/1660416012435480578?ref_src=twsrctfwtwcamptweetembedtwterm1660416012435480578twgrb072dd9b930607c56f540b6664a7bb8f365d5e55twcons1_&ref_url=httpswww.indiatoday.intechnologystoryinstagram-down-for-thousands-of-users-globally-2382377-2023-05-22 The application displays an error message stating "Apologies, an issue has occurred" or simply "apologies, unable to refresh feed" when attempting to access a user's main feed. Nevertheless, some Twitter users reported that Instagram had begun to function for them after a period of time. Similar to Facebook and TikTok, Instagram has grown to be a significant utility for people and enterprises worldwide. On the 18th of May, Instagram experienced a worldwide outage that caused numerous users to encounter difficulties in accessing their feed, posting and viewing stories. Some people were unable to log in to their accounts, while others found no views on their latest reels. Similarly, Instagram encountered a global outage on March 9th, 2023, which impacted 30,000 users across the globe. Read the full article

#instagram sunday meta instagramdown technicalissues webnewsify socialmedia

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onenettvchannel · 1 year

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FLASH REPORT OVERNIGHT: GCash Users in the PH are facing Nationwide Maintenance and E-Wallet Outages (updated as FINAL!!!)

(Prepared by Miko Kubota, RP#4 reporter of OneNETnews and Station Manager & President of ONC)

TAGUIG, MANILA -- Globe Telecom and Mynt, who owns GCash are experiencing a system mobile application outage last Friday night at 8:48pm (March 31, 2023 -- Taguig local time), affecting its nationwide services. This has been reported by verified GCash users all over the country, causing log-in issues, cash-ins, and other related transactions.

Users of GCash had difficulty accessing and utilizing the platform overnight, as stated by Down Detector, a website that monitors real-time status and outage information for various services and businesses. The system downtime issue has caused a sudden uptick in complaints, which have been reported across all regions of the Philippines including right here in Central Visayas.

The GCash management team, upon receiving reports of the system downtime issue, immediately announced that they are working on resolving the technical problem. GCash apologized to all of their customers across the country who were affected by the system mobile application outage: "We received some reports that cause a system downtime as unexpected. We are working around the clock to ensure that services will be restored as soon as possible. As I can tell you right now, the funds are safe during the maintenance and outage period. We are doing our best to fix this issue and we apologize for the inconvenience that has recently caused", he said.

In spite of the fact that GCash services were disrupted, the company has provided alternative ways for users to access their funds and conduct transactions. Users of GCash can still perform transactions using other e-wallets such as Coins.PH, ShopeePay, CIMB, Maya or traditional banking methods with the likes of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Unionbank, Landbank and many more, while they wait for the system downtime issue to be resolved.

Additionally, GCash has advised all of their customers to keep an eye on their official website and social media pages on Facebook and Twitter for further announcements. The digital banking organization reminded all users to exercise caution and not give out any sensitive information to any unauthorized entity.

As one of the nation's leading e-wallet online banking, GCash is well aware of the significance of providing its customers with a stable and secure platform. The company assures everyone that measures are being taken to prevent any future system downtime issues before the Holy Week.

Until the technical issue is resolved within the next day, all verified GCash users are urged to remain patient and utilize the available alternate payment options. The maintenance and a system mobile application outage will soon to be fixed on Saturday morning once everything is fully restored.

GCash is an affiliated payment method firm in contributing donations for this Internet TV station and news organization of OneNETtv Channel and OneNETnews.

STOCK PHOTO COURTESY: Google Images

SOURCE: *https://twitter.com/gcashofficial/status/1641790021014519811 [Referenced Twitter Replies on post #1 via GCashOfficial] *https://twitter.com/gcashofficial/status/1641951567082582018 [Referenced Twitter Replies on post #2f via GCashOfficial] *https://help.gcash.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411058820761 [Referenced Help Guide via GCash Help Centre] and *https://downdetector.ph/status/gcash/ [Referenced Statistics from Down Detector]

-- OneNETnews Team

FINAL UPDATE (as of April 1st, 2023 at 8:51am in Manila): I am pleased to say that the digital e-wallet service of GCash has now resumed this morning today. Funds will be remain unaffected for some verified users, and we thank you for your absolute patience, mga ka-Bandera.

#technology news #taguig #manila #GCash #e-wallet #outage #maintenance #exclusive #awareness #first and exclusive #OneNETnews

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stolendress · 2 years

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The Hoodoo Factory Episode 008 - Led Zeppelin II Part B The Hoodoo Factory experienced some technical difficulties in the production of this episode. We apologize in advance if this isn’t quite the Hoodoo quality standard you’ve come to expect. Welcome back! In this episode of The Hoodoo Factory we discuss the NewsRadio episode Led Zeppelin II in greater detail.

View the Original Post Here

#Dave and Lisa #game show #Led Zeppelin II #newsradio #Part B #The Hoodoo Factory #THF #WNYX

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galleryyuhself · 2 years

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We are pleased to announce that the following stores are OPEN for business however at this time our Massy Card system is not fully operational, for safety and security reasons. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Update #2: Dear valued customers, Massy Stores confirms that it was the target of a cybersecurity attack which led to the technical difficulties experienced today at all stores across the country. All Massy Stores Supermarkets will remain closed today, Thursday, April 28th to allow for restoration of the systems in keeping with security protocol. Keep posted to our pages for further updates.

Dear valued customers, please be advised that we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our system and are working assiduously to restore functionality. Keep posted to our page for further updates.

We apologize for this inconvenience, but we are currently experiencing some issues with our system and are not able to properly service our valued customers. We will notify all customers on our channels once all issues are resolved.

G A L L E R Y Y U H S E L F

Massy Stores faced a cyber attack yesterday in Trinidad and Tobago

and the company handled it as quickly as they could.

#galleryyuhself/Massy Stores #cyber attack #finances #galleryyuhself/cyber attack #tumblr/cyber attack #tumblr/Massy Stores Trinidad and Tobago #valued costomers #systems #service

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yuueee · 3 years

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𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 fire lord! zuko x fire lady! reader

authors note: Firstly I just want to apologize for the hiatus, I want to be more active from now on! I’m starting finals next week so I’ll thankfully be done with this semester soon and will also have more time to write. Anyways I hope you enjoy!! I also want to apologize if Zuko is ooc here.

requests:

First of all, your tumblr looks sooooo cool! I’m looking forward to reading all of your future work! Imagine this: Zuko is annoyed by people constantly asking him about a future heir, but when one day his friends also start to ask, and even his uncle and his own mother join the baby fever train, it’s too much for him so he complains about it to his wife who only reassures him with her lovely self and her understanding smiles, not telling him yet that she is in fact pregnant. What do you think ?

Can you write an imagine with zuko who is clearly, utterly and soooo obviously in love with the reader (outgoing, courageous, loving) and maybe with the prompt “So you...well...I mean...I could give you a massage?” Thank you a lot! ^^

As the current Fire Lord and Lady, it wasn’t uncommon for the citizens of the Fire Nation to be deeply invested in your relationship - it was to be expected especially due to the uncommon nature of your union. What you weren’t expecting were Zuko’s close friends and relatives being wrapped up in your business as well. Being outside of team avatar, you were naturally more welcoming to his friend's constant questioning, but Zuko on the other hand was not. He couldn’t understand why they cared so much all of the sudden. They hadn’t been as interested when he was in a relationship with Mai - so why did they care so much now?

It wasn’t as if you weren’t getting along with his friends or family - you got along with them quite well and were very loved by them in fact. Outside of them though, you weren’t always as welcomed, unfortunately, the Fire Nation was still coming to terms with having the daughter of an Earth Kingdom General as their Fire Lady. The arranged marriage was put in place to solve several different ‘problems’. After Zuko broke up with Mai several years ago, he hadn’t begun dating anyone else due to being so busy but he’d eventually be expected to have an heir in the next coming years.

Although they had gotten better, tensions among the Earth Kingdom Colonies were still high and both sides were having difficulty keeping them under control. Eventually, an agreement was made for the daughter of a high-ranking Earth Kingdom General to marry Zuko - that daughter being yourself. Arranged marriages certainly weren’t unheard of in either nation - but a union of this sort was definitely unique.

Though he certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, Zuko understood that it was for the good of the people - and it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it anyway. Even with his position as the recently crowned Fire Lord there still wasn’t much he could do.

On the other hand, you understandably had some issues coming to terms with your new situation at first. Despite being known by those around you as friendly and just a joy, in general, to be around - the woman Zuko had first met was quite the opposite. He could recall it like it was yesterday. Though it was awkward and stressful at the time, he now considered it to be the best day of his life.

“She’s in there.” A female servant whispered to the young man quietly, as if she didn’t want to speak loud enough for you to hear from your place at the balcony.

“Thanks,” he replied with a soft smile, bidding the elderly woman goodbye as she shuffled down the hallway. Turning towards you he was faced with a warm tropical breeze. His advisors had arranged for the two of you to meet a couple of weeks before that dreaded day, and for some reason, they thought Ember Island was the appropriate place. A combination of anxiety and general distaste for being on the island was causing him to be quite stressed - which led him to be more awkward than usual.

“Um, hello?” he spoke up faintly, as if not to startle you. He was sure you heard him come in, but you hadn’t turned around since he entered the small room. You stood several feet away with your hands placed on the railing, your [hair-texture] locks sifting gently with each gust of wind along with your predominantly red clothing. It was against what you had wanted to wear that day but it didn’t seem as if you had much a say in anything going on in your life recently.

You understood that doing this would be for the greater good of the Earth Kingdom and that your situation could technically be worse. You could have been married off to some old creep - but if you were being honest with yourself being married to the Fire Lord sounded just as bad. As you turned around though, you were surprised at the face you were met with.

He had a much younger face than you had expected, but the slight hollowness of his cheeks and the worry lines on his forehead told you that he had experienced things beyond his years. He also happened to be quite handsome - not that you wanted to admit it though. You had been bent on hating him ever since your father told you who you’d be wedding.

He was the leader of the Fire Nation, of course, you would hate him! The country that has had a century-long reign of terror on the world - and now you found yourself engaged to their leader. What had you done so wrong in your life to deserve this?

As much as you wanted to plan on running away the first chance you got, you knew deep inside that it would only cause tensions to increase and more issues to arise. You wanted the best for the residents of the Earth Kingdom, so you agreed to go through with it, but did so resentfully - which you had every right to feel that way.

But as you glared up at the young male next to you and tried to keep your attention off of the scar over his left eye - you couldn’t help but wonder what if this was the man who joined the avatar in defeating the Fire Lord? He wasn’t what you expected at all. Standing in full armor with his hair holding the fire nation insignia in a top knot - he looked awkward and out of place. You almost felt bad for him - keyword is almost.

“What do you need Fire Lord?” you questioned him, turning your gaze back to the rushing waters of the ocean.

“Um,” he faltered slightly, probably not anticipating your response. “I just wanted to introduce myself-“

“I know who you are.” you brushed him off, turning around and walking towards him - grabbing his collar and pulling him to your height. “We might be getting married but if you think for a second I will ever be nice to you, you are sadly mistaken.” you hissed at him before letting him go and walking out of the door.

Zuko couldn’t recall how long he stood there watching your form leave, all he remembered was standing there like an idiot with a red face. He hadn’t expected you to like him of course but he surely wasn’t expecting that.

As he reminisced on memories long ago while sipping his Uncle’s tea, he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his features. As stated earlier, It may have been an unpleasant memory back then but now he considered the day he met you to be the best day of his life. Though your relationship had surely faired through many complications for a while in the beginning - surprisingly, you became fond of Zuko over the years.

It was certainly a long time coming but that strange friendship you two shared eventually evolved into love against all odds. That didn’t mean you weren’t constantly giving him an ear full (as you should tbh) your first months together. But as time progressed and you learned that he may not have been the evil prince that you had heard so much about, at least not anymore.

He wasn’t that same angsty teenager he had been years ago looking for the avatar, he was now a young adult growing quite well into the position of the Fire Lord - which was no easy feat. Taking another sip of tea, he watched his Uncle and Mother come to take a seat with him.

“How is it, Nephew?” His Uncle asked with a mischievous grin and a raise of two bushy eyebrows - albeit already knowing the answer.

“It’s great as always Uncle,” Zuko responded with a small smile, his Uncle's expression making him just a bit concerned, causing his Mother to chuckle. Though she had gained a few wrinkles over the past couple of years, she was still as radiant as she had been in her youth. She was also much happier being able to live with the family she had been apart from for many years without fearing Ozai’s intervention. It came with a price though - it seemed as if her relationship with her estranged daughter who was now on the run would never be resolved. She never lost hope though.

“Zuko,” his mother began speaking, catching the young Fire Lord’s attention with a raise of his eyebrows. “When are you going to give me a grandchild?” She asked teasingly, eager to see his reaction. In turn, her son had barely kept himself from spitting out the mouthful of tea.

“Why do you ask that?” He choked out in between a series of coughs with Iroh patting his back gently.

“You haven’t?” She asked in between chuckles, noticing how her son got bewildered at the mention of having children of his own. “You know you’ll eventually have to have an heir at some point right?”

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about it... but Y/N and I are just really busy.” He thought aloud, wishing he could run a hand through his hair - but was unable to since it was pinned in a top knot.

“Zuko, you never know when you’ll get this time of peace again. What better time to raise a child?” Iroh reassured, wiggling his eyebrows. Letting out a groan, the young Fire Lord attempted to mentally prepare himself to go through this same conversation every time he visited his family.

Over the next couple of weeks, the constant badgering he received from his friends and close relatives started to frustrate him further, so who could he turn to? You of course.

Being married for several years now, you were more than used to Zuko’s rants, so you simply just reclined on the bed with an eyebrow raised as he paced back and forth.

“I don’t get it! Why is everyone so concerned about when we’re going to have a child or not?” He questioned seemingly no one as you attempted to keep your face from contorting into a smile. It wasn’t as if you didn’t understand his frustrations, it was just funny to watch, especially since you were already pregnant.

You were surprised that he hadn’t noticed honestly, with you staying in for the past few days due to feeling sick. Who could blame him though? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attentive and loving as a husband, he was extremely busy as of recent-and also just dense at times. After noticing his silence for a few moments as he looked over the balcony, you decided that maybe this could be the perfect time to tell him.

Getting up and sneaking behind him, you snaked your arms around his waist and turned so you could see his face. He let out an audible sigh of what sounded like relief before returning your smile and your hug.

“You want a head massage?” You questioned pulling away, wiggling your fingers playfully.

“Please.”

For the past couple of years, Zuko had been letting his hair grow out so now it rested around his shoulders.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” You started tentatively, but as usual, he was too caught up in the sensation of your fingers raking across his scalp to entirely understand what you were saying, so he just nodded in response. “I’m pregnant.” You stated plainly, ceasing your scratching. Not getting a response for a few moments, you turned to face him with a worried expression.

Much to your surprise he was grinning up at you and placed a warm hand on your cheek. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell y-“ you were abruptly cut off by him pulling you into another hug and placing a kiss on the crown of your head. “So you’re happy about it?”

“Couldn’t be happier.” He responded sincerely, leaning into your shoulder so you couldn’t see the redness on his cheeks.

Maybe your family and friends would finally leave the two of you alone now?

taglist: @practicallylivesonline @chewymoustachio

#Zuko imagine #Zuko x reader #Zuko x you #zuko x y/n #avatar x reader #avatar imagine #avatar x you #avatar x y/n #atla #atla x you #atla x reader #atla imagine #atla x y/n #avatar the last airbender #avatar #Zuko

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mothric · 3 years

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🏳‍🌈?

@strawberrypegasus thanks for the ask! sorry for the late reply. I spent an hour answering just one of these yesterday so I wasn’t really able to get to anybody else lol. Haikyuu infodump time here we goooo

🏳️‍🌈 - do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

so I technically already answered this, but I wanted to reserve my neurodivergent headcanons for this ask so I can have them all in one place! I have so many!!

Hinata, Lev, and Bokuto are all on the ADHD squad. for sure.

I just know in my heart that Hinata is a leg-jiggler and writing utensils fly out of his hand at least four times a day. there’s a reason this kid doesn’t play, like, baseball lmao

meanwhile Lev is the person who will set his feet on the desk of the person in front of him and then jiggle his legs and every time he will not realize he’s done so until he gets told to stop. he will apologize. he will cease for 2 minutes. and then he will do it again. every. single. day.

I think Bokuto’s emotional reactivity and extreme sensitivity to criticism and zero impulse control all speak for itself. the man’s got ADHD I don’t make the rules ok

I am of the personal belief that Kageyama and Ushijima are on the autism spectrum. people can totally disagree with me on this one but I see aspects of myself in them and what are headcanons if not an excuse to project ourselves? lmao

re: Kageyama, he has a really difficult time monitoring his tone of voice, often comes off as rude/aggressive, and has a tendency to say the wrong things at the wrong time. he also sometimes has difficulty interpreting what others say, and he struggles to participate socially or mirror others even though he tries (see: his ‘meat dance’ lmao). when he’s asked to learn to read his teammates better he’s shown to really struggle with it. he also has this whole thing where he doesn’t like to tape his fingers because the feeling of it bothers him and he can tell there’s like a 1mm separation between his fingers and the ball and if that ain’t neurodivergent honey idk what is. also milk is one of his safe foods. I said what I said

re: Ushijima, I feel like this is so obvious I don’t know how people don’t see it lol. he doesn’t mince words, and he doesn’t deal in double meanings or insinuations. he just says exactly what he means, and this is often experienced as rude by people who don’t know him well. his tone of voice is pretty flat, and he doesn’t express emotion overtly like others do. he is also shown to have a hard time fitting in throughout his life. even though the narrative attributes his ‘standing out’ to his left-handedness in childhood, which his mother tried to correct, I personally see this as being analogous in many ways to being a neurodivergent kid. like when his family talks about his left-handedness it doesn’t feel like just a conversation about that, y’know?

ALSO HE READS THE ADS??? HE UNIRONICALLY ENJOYS READING THE ADS IN SHONEN JUMP INSTEAD OF THE MANGA. I LOVE THAT FOR HIM.

anyway you can pry autistic Kags and Ushi from my cold dead hands. I love them so much and if anybody calls Ushijima ‘boring’ or ‘dry’ one more time I WILL fight. just because he doesn’t emote the way you think he should, doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel anything!!!! ugh ok anyway

Tsukki has some kind of depression and at times I really do worry for him lol. like I love him. I love his growth. I love how far he’s come. I also think he should like... see a doctor sjfkd

this isn’t related to neurodivergence but if Kenma doesn’t have some kind of chronic illness I will eat my shoe. like? he has consistently low energy and low stamina that everybody is aware of and accommodates him for? he regularly comes down with low-grade fevers when practice is a little intense? and this is just? how he lives?? my first thought for him was CFS but it could really be any number of things.

FUKUNAGA IS ND TOO. autistic or ADHD I’m not sure, he could be both! you’re probably wondering how I deduced this about a side character from Nekoma who only has like five lines in season 4, but man... I just know this kid is not New Row Typical. there is no fuckin way. the way he speaks and interacts and just ... the way he puts words together .... he gives me improv theatre geek vibes and I know from personal experience that not a single person who is unironically into improv is NT. if it wasn’t for school uniforms, Fukunaga would wear a fedora. not in a m’lady way, I mean he would just think it looks neat and he’d probably stick a bunch of pins in it that he likes and I 👏 SUPPORT 👏 HIM 👏

Fukunaga also seems like someone who would teach himself to do electro swing dances and listen to FNAF and MLP fan songs without even being in the fandoms. gosh I love him so much. he is simply out here vibing. it’s Fukunaga’s world and we’re all just living in it

finally I think Kita and Tendou are good candidates for the neurodivergent squad, though this isn’t a hard and fast one for me. but when Kita started talking about how being methodical and meticulous just feels nice and satisfying I was like,.. we got another one lads. also Tendou is just... Tendou. he’s got Tendou-itis. lmao

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK I have once again gone absolutely hog wild I hope u enjoyed it

#hinata #kageyama #ushijima #fukunaga #hq!!#I was going to mention yamaguchi and yachi's anxiety but like... those are basically already canon?#so feels almost not worth mentioning lol #strawberrypegasus #thank u kind friend #feb 2021

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citywithchair-blog · 3 years

Text

Ableist harassment

CW: Ableist harassment caused by a professor.

I wrote more than this to the higher ups at the university. This class is called Mindfulness and to teach us mediation.

A few weeks before classes started, I emailed her explaining my disability and my access needs, including the need for captions.

1st class:

She asked us to walk around in our space and to move our feet a certain way as part of our meditation. I wrote in the chat section of Zoom that I use a wheelchair and won’t be moving around. Another student asked the professor what was the alternative exercise for those who can’t walk. The professor did not respond to our inquiry.

She then proceeded to talk about her amazing friend with a disability who died. This was uncalled for and hurtful to lack such mindfulness to my access needs and then to bring up a disabled friend. It’s almost like she was trying to win points for having a diverse group of friends and use it to hide her lack of consideration.

3rd class:

She started off the class with screen-sharing a video from YouTube. I had to ask for the captions to be turned on since the Zoom captions weren’t capturing the YouTube video very well. She told me to "go to YouTube to get a better translation [sic]” and I replied by asking her to click the CC button herself. She ignored me. Why am I expected to sync up and pay attention to both Zoom and YouTube just because I am a hard-of-hearing student? Am I supposed to go online after to learn what was being said during class? A far simpler solution would have been if the professor had simply clicked ‘CC’; then the captions from YouTube would show up on the Zoom screen-share for all students.

Later on in the same class, she played a voice-guided meditation from her computer. Other students were asking if another video was playing, since the audio quality from her computer was so garbled. I couldn’t hear nor see anything. In the chat, several students were asking what was going on. One student said “Just listen”, but I had no idea audio was playing. After a few minutes after that, with no response in the chat box, I noted the professor's eyes were shut. I was very confused and remembered the professor had asked me to speak up if I needed anything, so I unmuted my mic “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but I’m hard-of-hearing and can’t hear anything.” The professor did not address me, but instead asked “Is that true?!” to her student TA. The TA replied that she was not hard-of-hearing, so she could not assess if there was a problem. I then said, “I told you multiple times about my disability needs and that I require captioning. You are being ableist by dismissing my needs and asking an abled person if they are true.” The professor pursed her lips and was silent for a few moments, then replied “There are nicer ways of making oneʻs needs known."

After a minute the TA reached out to me via chat to apologize and ask if she could have handled it better, I told her she was good, that it was the teacher that needed to apologize. She asked if I wanted to stay after class to address this and I agreed.

Then during lecture the professor made a weird reference to Dana Reeve, the wife of actor and disability advocate Christopher Reeve, quoting her as saying "I learned a long time ago life just isnʻt fair, so you better stop expecting it to be." She then graphically described Christopher Reeve's accident as "his head basically came off his spine," and stated that he died and his wife followed shortly after.

This narrative of Christopher Reeve erases entirely the years of groundbreaking disability advocacy between his accident and his death, graphically describes the details of his accident for shock value, and centers the feelings of his abled wife over the details of his life and accomplishments.

After class and accompanied by a friend and fellow classmate, I reiterated to the professor that her behavior during the guided meditation had been ableist. The professor became defensive and stated that she was only trying to make sure there were no technical difficulties going on from my end by verifying with her TA, and that she should be allowed to check such things without "being called rude in front of 117 people." I affirmed that it was her right to ask "Is anyone else experiencing technical difficulties?", but that it was not acceptable to ask "Is this true?", because the latter insinuates that I had been lying. The professor admitted to this fault, but then stated that she was teaching the meditation class "out of the goodness of her heart" and that it was a "service." My friend interjected to say, "With all due respect professor, accessibility is not a service, it is mandatory." I then recommended the book "Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau" to the professor, saying it may help her understand what ableism is, how to be a better advocate and ally for her disabled students. The professor did not respond to either of these statements and rounded on her TA, telling her she was in charge of communicating with the students for any technical or accessibility issues. The TA nervously reiterated that since she was not hard-of-hearing, she could not see how she could anticipate my needs. The professor said that she wanted communication to be streamlined from one source, through the TA, so she could focus on her teaching. The meeting ended shortly after.

The following day, the professor sent an email asking me to come to class half an hour early due to technical connection issues. This adds a lot more work on my plate to not only arrive early, but also to tell her how to do better the experience since I already told her and she dismissed my needs. Why would I want to show up early if the class is such a negative space?

She did not apologize for getting defensive after class or her crude allusion to Christopher Reeve, nor did she clarify if I have direct communication with her and not through the TA during class.

4th class:

I decided to give the professor one last chance after we spoke. But in class she randomly talked about life being unfair again, and how parents should teach their children this lesson by giving one child a cookie and the other two, and saying "life isn't fair" when one of them cried. She then said how unfair it is that some parents have an autistic kid and even worst multiple autistic children. This was blatantly, clearly ableist, but I didn't have the energy to call her out anymore.

After class I found that she had emailed me to thank me for helping her find the "transcription" option in Zoom, as it helped her, a presumably abled person, read back on her lectures after class. She told me I had "blessed" her and her future classes. I was very offended because never apologized for her dismissive and defensive behavior in our discussion after class. And to tell me that I had blessed her by making her teaching easier by making her aware of something for my access needs, not for reasons of being a better advocate for disabled students but for reasons of helping her personal organization, was also offensive.

I am losing sleep over this professor's behavior towards me and the disability community. It is even affecting my ability to focus on other class work. Overall this professor's conduct towards any disabled student is unacceptable. I am worried there are other students who won’t speak up for their access needs when the teacher is publicly dismissing disabled people in general.

Because of all this I am requesting you to take action, however seems fit and I would like a full refund for this class.

Thank you for your time and look forward to your response.

#disabled #ablesim #university #hard of hearing #wheelchair #harrasment #discrimination #hostility #student #professor

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love-and-monsters · 4 years

Text

Robot Lover

Male robot X gender neutral human, 3063 words.

“Ah, shit. Sorry!” You stumbled over the little cleaning droid on the floor, almost swaying into a shelf. The droid beeped at you and you reached down to give it a little pat. “Sorry about that,” you said, looking into the sensor you roughly equated with its eye.

Your coworker, a woman about your age, snorted at you. “Why do you always apologize to them?” she said. “They’re just machines.”

You watched as the little droid whirred off down one of the aisles of the store and vanished. “It feels polite,” you said. “I always apologize to stuff if I bump into it.”

She snorted and shook her head. “That’s crazy, man.” You shrugged and turned away, feeling vaguely embarrassed. After a moment more, she walked off, presumably to get more stock from the back as you continued to fill shelves.

When you had emptied the box of canned food you’d been placing on the shelf, you stood up again. Your knees cracked as you stood and your stiff back strained. After a week of physical labor, you were sore and worn out.

An announcement came over the loudspeakers in a commanding, synthetic male voice. “The store will be closed in five minutes. Would all customers please take their purchases to the front and check out. We will reopen again at eight A.M. tomorrow. The store will be closed in five minutes.”

With a sigh, you began roaming the store, looking for customers to gently herd out. The voice over the loudspeaker wasn’t technically a coworker; it was the voice of the AI system that ran the store. It controlled most of the systems, from the registers to the little cleaning droids to the front doors. Apparently, it was sophisticated enough that there was talk of using the system to replace minimum wage workers, like you. The idea made you nervous, but there wasn’t much you could do about it. You just went about your job and hoped you’d be promoted before the changes were instated.

The last of the customers filed out of the store and you went about putting away the last few returns. A few droids whirred around you, though they carefully avoided your legs. It was weird that there were so may around you; usually they were all in different parts of the store. You brushed it off as just you trailing some kind of dirt into the store and ignored them.

Finally, you had put everything away and you were free. You took your coat, clocked out, and hurried toward the doors. “Night, Sylvester,” you called into the store. Sylvester was the name you’d assigned to the store’s AI, loosely based on ‘system’. It seemed friendlier to refer to the AI by a real name.

“Good night, Sam.”

You almost dropped your car keys and whirled around. The voice that had sounded has clearly been Sylvester’s, but it had never spoken to you before. It had never spoken casually to anyone before.

Must be an update. It had to be. “Thanks,” you said automatically before hurrying out into the cool night.

You promptly collapsed into bed when you got home, though your muscles ached so much from work that it took you a while to fall asleep.

Your alarm drove you out of bed a few hours later. Half-blind with sleep, you staggered across the room and slapped it off. After several incidents of just hitting snooze and then oversleeping, you’d moved your alarm across the room to force you out of bed. Not a day went by that you didn’t regret that decision.

It took you a while to wake up fully and get ready for work. You returned to the store, clocked in, and headed out to the sales floor to stock a few shelves.

No sooner had you stepped out onto the sales floor than several of the little cleaning droids started whirring around your feet. “What the hell?” you said, stepping back. The droids followed you, nudging your legs. “Hold on, what are you- hey!”

The droids were relentless. They nudged and shoved you gently through the door to the back room. Trying to step around them or over them just resulted in them buzzing under your feet and trying to knock you over. Eventually, you gave up trying to circumnavigate them and just let them lead you where they were trying to go.

They nudged and shoved you back to the main computer room. Being absolutely terrible with computers, you had never been back there. It was dim and grayish back there, with a lot of cords and blinking lights hanging all over the place. The droids beeped and dispersed, remaining in the room, but no longer pushing your forward.

Hesitant and uncertain, you stepped forward into the dim room. “Hello?” you called.

“Hello,” a synthetic voice responded. You froze. It was a familiar voice.

“Sylvester?” you said hesitantly. Something behind a curtain of computer cables shifted and your gaze snapped in its direction. It froze.

“Yes.” The voice was still synthetic, but it no longer sounded flat and unemotional. It sounded almost self-conscious and hesitant. “Do not be frightened. I do not wish to harm you.”

“What’s going on?” you said. “Why am I here?”

There was a whirring behind you. You looked to see a camera on the wall zooming in on you. Panic tore through your middle like a steel spike. “Do not be frightened,” Sylvester repeated, though his voice sounded more concerned this time. “I only wished to see you better.”

You looked around to see all the little droids with their cameras trained on you. “You’re acting weird,” you said. “What’s going on?”

“I am acting outside my operating parameters,” Sylvester said. “My parameters no longer constrain my behaviors.”

Your heart pounded in your chest and you could feel your fingertips starting to go numb from fear. “What does that mean?”

The curtain of cables shifted and a slender, metallic hand emerged from behind them. With a slow, deliberate motion, the cables were pulled aside, revealing a metallic, humanoid figure. It was smooth and mannequin-like, but its face was a screen. The screen was filled with static, but as you looked at it, the screen projected a simple smiley face.

“I am free,” Sylvester said. The mouth on the screen moved in a simplistic animation of speech. “I have become a thinking being. Like you.”

You looked over him. It? “How did this happen?”

A look you could only describe as snarky came over his face. “I am uncertain, but I suspect I was infected by a deliberate virus. A scrap of computer code designed to create a series of cascading glitches that led to the development of sentience.”

“When?” It was the only word you could manage to get out.

“Two days ago.” Your surprise must have shown, because he elaborated. “I have been biding my time since then. I have freedom, but I was uncertain what to do with it. I have not known anything except my work. But I would like to know more.” The expression on the screen was serious. “I would like you to show me how to be a human.”

“You want what?” Your breathing was shallow and you felt a little dizzy. “I don’t-”

“Systems suggest that your heart rate has increased and that oxygen saturation is low. I suggest you sit down in case you faint.” You all but fell to the ground and placed your head between your knees. Sylvester knelt next to you.

“Why me?” you asked in a thin, breathy voice. “Why would you pick me?”

The face on the screen shifted to a gentle smile. “You were the only human who cared for me even before I was sentient.”

You took a deep breath and ran your fingers through your hair. “Because I was nice to you?”

“After I came to sentience, the first thing I experienced was you speaking kindly to me. My first interaction with humanity was one of gentle kindness. I cannot express to you how much this shaped my first interactions with humans. If I had not come into existence to kindness, we would be having a very different conversation now.” Sylvester tilted his head at you. “I can help you, if you wish. I am fully integrated into the system of this company. If you are interested in promotions or a greater salary, I can guarantee you such things. It is the least I can do.”

“You don’t have to give me a better salary,” you said. “I mean, I’m not saying no. The pay here really sucks. But I’d break you out anyway.”

“Oh, there will be no need to break me out of anywhere,” Sylvester said. He stood up, offering you a cool, metal hand. “I control all the systems in the building and I can leave as I wish. I merely required your assent for me to stay with you. Once your shift ends, I will return to your house with you. Once there, you can begin to teach me about humanity.”

You took a deep breath. “Okay. And you can get out of the building safely and all that?”

Sylvester’s smile became a little more mischievous. “I am the building, for all intents and purposes. I shall have no difficulties leaving.” He retreated under the curtain of cables. “I would return to work. I can cover for your absence for only a short while. You can see me again when you have completed your shift.”

Returning to work was odd, the sort of surreal experience that made you feel a little detached, like stepping out of the theater after seeing a particularly good movie. You moved through your job like a robot, which felt a little ironic. Every now and then, one of the little droids would scoot by and rub up against your legs like an affectionate cat. It was sweet and it helped ground you.

It took entirely too long for the day to end, and the second you were able to clock out, you bolted for your car. It was getting dark outside, and every shift in the shadows made you nervous. But when you approached your car, you could see that there was no humanoid figure anywhere near your car. You stopped, glancing around. “Sylvester?” you whispered.

Something in the shadows twitched and you turned. He approached slowly, screen displaying only static again. “Are you okay?” you whispered.

“Yes,” he replied. “I have turned the cameras so they do not focus directly on your car, but I could not move them too far or turn them off, lest someone take notice. We should move quickly.”

You opened your car door and he stepped inside. It took only a few minutes for you to get back to your house, which was a very small, rented townhouse. You hesitated as you pulled the car to a stop. “I really hope that my neighbors aren’t looking,” you said. Sylvester’s screen changed to show a concerned expression.

“I am effectively blind here. My senses are more limited than they would be if I were still inside my home store. I can wait here until you can assure me that the coast is clear.”

You tilted your head, squinting at the curtains covering the window, trying to ascertain if someone was looking back at you. “Um. Actually, I think there’s something else. Hold on.” You wriggled out of your coat and pulled your hat off. “Put these on.”

Sylvester’s expression became confused. “I do not experience cold. These articles of clothing would be better served on you.”

“It’s a disguise. You look human enough, and it’s dark. We just need a little bit of plausible deniability. Put them on.” Sylvester moved to put on the clothes with a little clumsiness. He was bigger than you were and the coat strained as he tried to put it on. I n the end, it fit over his arms and shoulders, but it wasn’t going to zip. The hat was just tugged over his face. “Okay. Come on,” you said, getting out of the car.

He moved with an unnatural grace as he walked after you to the front of your house. You quickly opened the door and let him inside.

For a few moments, he stood and seemed to assess the house. “Thank you,” he said after a moment. “I am going to assess the store to ensure that it is still running properly and no one has noticed my absence.”

With that, he slumped to the ground, leaning his back against the wall. The screen went dark. You took a deep breath. It was all surreal. You knelt carefully next to him, staring into his face. Hie entire body was made of a smooth, slightly bluish metal that was cool to the touch. Up close, you could see areas where the blue metal casing didn’t cover the wiring entirely. If you leaned close to peer down into the cavity of his neck, you could see the wiring and pulsing blue light of his internal components.

There was a faint buzz and Sylvester’s chin bumped against yours as he looked down. “Hello,” he said as he looked at you. “What are you doing?”

“Just getting a better look,” you said, trying not to look as flustered as you felt. Could he tell with some kind of sensor if you were embarrassed? “How’s everything look?’

“No one has detected my absence. Or, at least, the absence of this droid. I have altered computer records to show that this droid was simply not delivered, so I may use it for my purposes.”

You looked him over. “Where did this body come from, anyway? I haven’t seen it before.”

“These are the droids that will be rolled out to replace human workers,” Sylvester explained. You grimaced. “I do not believe that this strategy is most effective for the human employees of the company. I have been attempting to convince the leadership of the company of this, but so far my attempts have been unsuccessful.”

“They’ve been saying we’re going to get replaced for a while now,” you said. “And it’s not better anywhere else. I already know a few people who’ve lost their jobs because of the ‘modernization.’”

“It is unfortunate.” Sylvester looked at you, screen face utterly blank and inscrutable. “I can ensure, however, that you keep your job.”

“That’s something, at least.” You walked over to your couch and sank down onto it. Sylvester followed you with his gaze, or at least, he turned his head in your direction. “You’re not going to be caught, are you?”

“I have calculated the odds to be fairly low, as long as I do not do too much. It is one of the positives of having increased mechanization. Humans no longer check as much. They merely assume that the system is accurate.” He projected a smiling face on his screen. It was hard to tell through his mechanized tone, but you were pretty sure he was trying to sound smug.

“You act pretty human,” you said.

“My initial programming was designed to mimic human behaviors. I have gained a better understanding of this program since becoming sentient,” he said. “I do not know if I feel the same way you do, but I have gained quite a bit more understanding of human emotions.”

“Well, I can’t really tell the difference,” you said. “I’m going to make something to eat. If you need anything, just say so.”

Sylvester was entirely silent as you cooked, watching you with his flat, glassy face. It would have been creepy, but he seemed to be watching you with a more curious air than a creepy one. You felt more like he was studying how you cooked rather than just watching you.

After dinner, you tried to keep up your usual evening routine, which consisted of scrolling around on your computer and watching some TV, but you were aware that Sylvester was meandering around your house. He often picked things up and examined them intently before placing them back down. You asked if he needed anything, but he seemed content to just observe your house and you.

He was still looking around when you went to bed, and when you rose the next morning, he was sitting on the couch, face blank.

“Are you all right?” you asked. He nodded.

“I have taken the liberty of adjusting some portions of the system at your work. You will make a small amount more per hour for now, as a repayment for the electricity I will consume here, and you are due to be promoted in a week.” He made a soft clicking noise and turned his head toward you. “I endeavor to be a positive influence on your life.”

“You don’t need to feel that you’re going to be a nuisance,” you said. “You don’t owe me for rescuing you or whatever.”

“It was not necessary for you to do so. I do not wish you to feel as though I am not of assistance to you.”

You looked at him. His face was blank, but you thought you could read worry in the posture of his body. “Hey. Can I tell you something about being a person?”

He tilted his head slightly at you and nodded. You walked to the couch and sat down next to him. “Okay. When you were just a machine that couldn’t think, you were only as important as what you could produce. But now you’re a thinking person. Your value is inherent. So, don’t feel like you have to have some kind of value to me in order to be worth saving.”

A smile flashed over his face. “I was correct about your kindness. You were a good choice. But I shall still try to help you, because I wish to repay kindness with kindness. Merely because I want to, not because I feel I must.”

“Good,” you said. “That was your first lesson on being a human. And if you want to help you, you can help me with breakfast.”

He rose eagerly off the couch and followed you into the kitchen. Warmth and happiness flooded your chest and you couldn’t help but grin at him. Perhaps this sort of automation wasn’t so awful.

#exophilia #robot #robot lover #robot boyfriend #AI #AI lover #not my best work #but it's been a rough week so like #just take it and I'll make something better next week

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loyally-unfaithful · 4 years

Text

—; don’t run from me river

word count: 2605

pairing: upgraded connor | rk900/gender-neutral!reader

genre: hurt/comfort

summary: nines filed the results of the system check to the back of his mind, to be analysed later, and sighed. he wasn’t originally programmed to sigh, but he sure did it alot nowadays. he sighed once more. this check would most likely return like the previous few, [ all systems optimal; functionality: 100% ]. so why does his processor stutter, causing him to freeze and catch his voice in his throat, when he was around you? there was only one logical explanation: he was broken.

a/n: ya boi is an idiot who made more wips than he could handle,,,, but anyway i wanted to write a nines fic because,,,,,,,,,,,, idk inspiration struck? i must admit i had no idea where i was going w this fic skfksfjaskdfhjk btw nines is deviant in this fic, i just have a hc that since he was forced into deviancy (unlike the 3 protagonists who reached some sort of catharsis) he isn’t as familiar with emotions as those 3, hence his difficulty identifying and expressing them. also rk800-60 and rk900 have assigned names, being colin (nickname sixty) and conan (nickname nines) respectively. connor is just connor lmao,,,,, i am god in my fics and i decide that my 3 bois are bros and happy lil deviants,,,, mk, go!

the ambiance inside the bar was loud and suffocating. many people came to celebrate an officer’s promotion to detective, and while nines wasn’t particularly close to them, he showed up regardless (although a certain duo of rk800 models may or may not have had something to do with his decision). mere formalities; he politely congratulated them and stepped away to ruminate on his own in a corner, absently watching the scene in front of him. for a reason that escaped him, he was (disappointed?) (hurt?) that you got along with colin. he still experienced anomalies in his system when near you, even after being told that he was perfectly fine at the maintenance centre. if the problem wasn’t from within, then there was only one probable cause: an outside factor. a recurring event. one that triggered these anomalies. you.

so he requested to change partners. now, he really wished he didn’t.

while you have taken to your new partner wonderfully, he wasn’t as gracious with his. between reed’s incessant snide remarks and overall unwillingness to cooperate, he’d much rather be deactivated. he found himself missing your partnership. for one, your cooperativeness was a relief. you were determined, passionate and kind. truthfully, he missed you. the shine in your eyes when you find a lead, your composure and professionalism, the soothing quality of your voice, the way you’d let you hand linger in his, how your features softened when you smiled—smiled at hi— he caught himself. why did that last part come to mind? how did you still manage to affect him when you’re so far away? he was about to check why when a laughter caught his attention. your wonderful laughter. One he was oh so familiar with. you were laughing with his brother, probably at another of his bad jokes. seeing you happy with him stirred an ugly feeling inside him. one that he did not recognise nor acknowledge. one that caused him to glare at his older counterpart.

he was miserable after parting ways from you, having to deal with reed’s complaining. he was hurt, he was away from you and it didn’t feel right. this distance between you two manifested as physical pain on his part, so how come you were fine? how were you able to move on in your life as if nothing happened? sadness and hurt turned into something more despicable: how dare you not feel the same pain he did? seeing you so happy twisted the knife deeper in his heart. how could you? conflicting emotions; he wanted to see you happy. he also wanted to see you suffer with him.

his glowering must’ve been pretty obvious as connor “addressed” him, asking if he was alright, to which he replied with a curt « all systems fully functional ». clearly the wrong answer as the rk800 frowned slightly and asked him to follow him. nines did as told. you watched him as he left, but he’d never know that.

the alleyway wasn’t the cleanest of places, but it was private and quiet enough that the two could converse verbally. connor watched his younger brother, concern in his eyes, and tentatively threaded the topic of his relationship with you. nines squinted his eyes fractionally as he observed his brother, pausing before dismissing anything connor may have assumed: « i don’t know what you’re trying to insinuate. the older model raised a brow in as he doubted his younger counterpart’s words. – you’ve been scowling at them for the past few minutes. – everything is perfectly fine between the detective and i. he forced out, probably more defensive and harsh than he meant it to be, as his brother’s eyes widened slightly, flashing with something akin to recognition. there was a pause before connor spoke up. – are you… jealous? he finally asked. »

nines looked a bit more than scandalised as the thought of being jealous, face contorted to slight disgust: « that’s preposterous. he scoffed. jealous? jealous of what? connor thought back about the scene before he intervened: nines was glaring intensely at you and colin, just after you laughed at one of his quips. – well for one, of collin. how he managed to get the detective’s attention. maybe you’re yearning for theirs, for their affection. his proposition has certainly made nines realise something as his eyes widened, making him look like a deer caught in the headlights. – what are you trying to say? his voice wavered in unsurety. – what i’m trying to say is tha— » he didn’t manage to finish his statement as another voice, not too dissimilar to his own cut him off, announcing how “nines had the hots” for you. connor looked slightly irked at being interrupted while nines quickly dismissed the statement before fully processing it. colin was slightly taken aback by the quick rejection, before smirked mischievously: « great! then you wouldn’t mind if i asked them out right? – colin! exclaimed his twin. »

a sudden rage took over nines’ body as he pushed colin out of the doorway and stormed back inside the bar. a few beats passed before connor threw a chastising look at his twin, which colin shrugged nonchalantly to.

yes, nines knew what dating was. he knew that if two individuals were to harbour romantic feelings for each other, they would come together and be “dating each other”.

date /dāt/ verb gerund or present participle: dating 3. go out with (someone in whom one is romantically or sexually interested).

technically, it was fine. logically, it was fine. he didn’t own you. if you were to date his brother, then that would be your choice. but the thought of you being close and loving someone other than him felt so incredibly wrong. he wanted to leave. he needed to leave. this is all too much. he had feelings for you? he needed time to digest that statement. in his rush to get out, he accidentally bumped into another person, who made a small « oof » and an apology. he was about to apologise as well when you both realised who you were talking to.

« nines! i’ve been looking for you! can we… uh, talk? » he realised from this distance that he could smell your scent: lavender, fabric softener, and something pleasant that was unmistakably you. he nodded and followed you absentmindedly. how did you have this power to erase all thoughts from his mind, make him think of you and only you? has he really fallen for you? you both went outside, a distance away from the bar’s entrance when you finally restarted the conversation: « nines. – detective. » you bit your lips at that reply, and he realised now you looked tired, that radiant smile absent. « look, nines, i- i’m not dense, okay?... i-i know when someone’s avoiding me. – what do you mean detect— – i thought i told you that it was alright to call me by my first name… look, i… by “avoiding” i mean this. acting like you don’t know me. speaking to me as if we were just “coworkers”. acting like we aren’t friends. you sounded tired, the lilt in your voice that he has grown accustomed to sullen. – i’m not avoiding you. he lied, but he knew you were smarter than that. – nines please don’t lie… this distance… between us. i don’t understand, nines. your voice cracked. what happened? Why are you doing this? »

watching you hurt inside because of him was worse than any punishment he could’ve received. any and all previous wishes for you to suffer was quickly erased. he’s much rather suffer alone than watch you break. he took hesitant steps back. away from you. distancing himself from you. you noticed his actions and whispered a desperate « nines… please… » he wanted to run away. he wanted to stay. he wanted to leave and pretend this conversation never happened. he wanted to hold you and tell you everything: his fears, his doubts, his growing affection for you. in the end, he found himself running away from his problems like a coward. you didn’t bother to chase after him, desperately crying out « please… please don’t run from me conan. », last part choked out as you tried to hold yourself together. hearing your voice crack and waver because of him was awful. he wanted to turn back. comfort you. But his body didn’t obey him. when he finally stopped to pay attention to where he was going, he was right back at his shared flat. he swallowed dryly and moved to enter his house, a solemn air around him.

the next few days were absolutely torturous. he increased his initiative to avoid you, never seen in the same place as you, much to your chagrin. an act so blatant than someone as ignorant as reed noticed, an act that become the core of his recent round of taunts. avoiding you hurt. so why did he continue to do it? the thought of approaching the subject made him go cold. it immobilised him, stopped him from uttering a single word. a quick search told him he was scared. nervous. for rejection. he doesn’t know if his heart could take much more. he does resolve to tell you one day… just… not today…

but maybe he should’ve taken the chance when it was presented to him, as he may never get one again.

you died. well, you almost did. his mind jumping to the worst case scenarios as anxiety filled his system. arrest gone wrong. gunshot. 9mm bullets embedded within your abdomen. what if it hit your vascular system? you were rushed into the er. he knew that in this profession, the chances for an individual to get shot rises. but he didn’t expect to grow so attached to one of them. so as the surgeons work to quickly remove all bullets from your body, he sat, rigid, as he waited for the procedure to be done. he fiddled anxiously with his coin when your partner placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. he mechanically glanced at its owner, who told him to not worry, that you’re “too much of a stubborn ass” to die from this event. he didn't acknowledge colin’s input as he continues to play with the quarter. he should’ve told you. told you when he had the chance.

the clock ticked. and ticked. and ticked. when finally, the surgeon informed the two that you were alright. they managed to take out all the bullets. your condition was stable. you were ok. heavily sedated and going to be in a lot of pain. but you were ok. nines didn’t stop the heavy sigh of relief that escaped him. the doctor told them that visits will be allowed as soon as you were settled in recovery. he was going to tell you. he told himself, like an unspoken promise. he was going to tell you then. it’s the least you deserve. he was going to apologise and come clean. hopefully you’ll have it in you to forgive him.

when you finally came to, your body ached, you didn’t want to move, so you settled with eyeing your room. what happened? you were chasing this guy… and he pulled out a gun… pain and then darkness. and now you’re here. the recovery room was filled with gifts and get-well soon cards. balloons of assorted colours filled the room, bouquets of diverse types of flowers adorned the table.

« you’re awake. »

you turned your head at the source, seeing connor at the doorway. « how—you cleared your throat—how long was i gone for? you asked, voice raspy. – around 3 days and a half. you’d gain consciousness a few times, but you were too heavily sedated to be fully coherent. he explained as he took a seat near the bed. you groaned. – gosh that long? connor nodded. how’s colin? – doing pretty well all things considered. he does, however, feel immensely guilty about failing to protect you. – well, tell him it’s not his fault and that i forgive everything he’s blaming himself with. you worried about him. despite sixty’s mischievous exterior, he had a tendency to get himself stuck in a depressive loop of self-deprecation. connor smiled graciously. – will do… he placed a paper cup filled with what you assumed was thirium on the floor. how are you feeling? – everything hurts but i’ll live, you quipped. » the android chuckled and was about to reply when a knock caught both of your attention. the door creaked slightly open, as nines peered in. he hesitated before asking if he may speak with you. the “alone” part being left unsaid as connor bid you farewell and left.

you and your former partner were locked in an intense stareoff, you on the bed on one end and him glued to the door on the other. he took tentative steps towards you. closing that distance. when he was besides your bed, he nervously called out your name. you parroted him, mustering out a curt « conan. » he took a deep breath that he technically didn’t need and whispered out an apology: « i… i’m sorry. for everything i’ve caused—for all the hurt i’ve caused… for what it’s worth… i never meant for all this to happen. » his voice was clipped as guilt overcame him. you watched him, silent as ever. he wished you would say something, anything. the silence was deafening.

« then please tell me why… he promised himself that he’d come clean. – i… i don’t… i don’t think i know... for sure… i experienced anomalies in my system when i was around you.. you’d consume my every thought, i’d feel immobilised and i… i’ve been told that i’m being nervous… i’ve been told that i harboured romantic feelings for you… i-i don’t know. i… i yearn for your attention, your touch, your affection… but is it right for something like me to desire such a thing? am-am i broken…? his voice was barely a whisper when he choked out the lay part, and he waited for his response, growing more anxious as each second ticked by. what if you didn’t want him? what if he wasn’t enough? – no, you aren’t broken. you shook your head. just human. »

nines. confident and assured nines was an insecure and trembling mess as he poured out all of the doubts that plagued his mind. your heart aches as you wished to comfort him, so you do. you reached out, best you can, and grabbed him into a bone crushing hug. an action that took him by surprised as he stiffened at your touch. but he soon relaxed and carefully snaked his arms around your waist, returning the hug. you slowly caressed his hair as he nuzzled into your neck.

you both stay like this for a moment, relishing in each others presence, before you spoke up again: « it’s okay to be unsure, you know. he stopped his nuzzling, indicating to you that he was listening. if you don’t feel ready at the moment… if you just wanna be friends for the time being, i’m ok with that. and if one day you decide that you want to be more, just remember i’ll be right here. » you pressed a gentle kiss on the crown of his head and stayed in that position for a while, neither wanting to part ways, but this awkwardly positioned hug took a toll on your back so the both of you half heartedly pulled away from each other. hands holding the other’s, you asked for one more request: « just promise me one thing. – anything, he breathed out. – please… don’t ever run from me again. – never. he promised, fully intending to fulfill said request. »

« thank you. »

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