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not-neverland06 · 6 months

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Connor and Markus (separately) x android! idol! reader ;)?

I feel like it doesn't fit much, but it would be interesting.

Idol Talk

Connor RK800 x fem! idol! android!reader, Markus RK200 x fem! idol! android!reader

Summary: Two different tales: Connor knows the famous android isn’t telling the whole truth about her involvement with androids & Markus helps the lovely idol come to terms with her new feelings.

A/N: I loved this ask so much!!!!! This was so fun 🤍

If this isn’t what you wanted send in another request using the white heart emoji and I’ll make something new for you <;3 Also so sorry this took so long. I have three other fics I’m working on and one of them is clocking in at over 100K words so… I need to work on time management.

(I made the moodboard - its my first time so... I tried. However, the borders were made by @benkeibear)

Connor:

WC: 3.6K

“Have you seen any deviants in the area?”

Your fists tightened and you tried your best to keep your thirium pump and breathing under control. Your hair was positioned perfectly, there was no way he could see your LED flashing red.

You put on your best robotic smile and shook your head. “I’m so sorry, I can’t help you.” You'd triggered the voice you used during fan meetings. The type where your joy wasn’t actually genuine but you were programmed to sound as pleasing as possible. Life-like, but with just enough robotic insincerity to get Connor’s partner's eyes off of you.

Lieutenant Anderson had been giving you strange probing looks since they’d walked into your dressing room.

Markus had been caught coming out of your apartment building by paparazzi last night. You’d been giving Markus some information you’d learned from your manager and extra thirium for Jericho. Apparently, neither of you were as sneaky as you’d thought yourselves to be.

“Really?” Shit, he so did not believe you.

“I’m very sorry officers. If there was any way I could assist you, I would.” You had to bury your fists in your tulle skirts, desperately holding off the urge to fidget with your hands. Any unnecessary movement would immediately give you away to the deviant hunter.

Connor took a step forward. He placed his hands on either side of your chair and leaned in until his breath was a gentle caress against your skin.

Ever since you broke your programming a few months ago, you’d been struggling with your new ‘emotions.’ A fan had broken into your room, in your programming it told you to always please the fans. But when he’d forced himself on top of you, your vision had gone red and you’d ripped your orders apart.

North had helped you hide the body.

Right now, that body was the furthest thing on your mind. All you could focus on was how close Connor was, if you just moved forward a centimeter your lips would touch. In your twisted imagination he wrapped you in his arms, gently holding you, cradling you. Looking at you like you were something real, not just a toy on the stage. He would gaze down at you like you were someone to be cherished, you weren’t just a recyclable piece of plastic that should be replaced the moment you made a mistake.

You were projecting though, it could be anyone. Hank could be the one leaning into you like this and you’d still have the same fantasy. That someone would see you. For however long you’d been made, there had always been a quiet voice inside you.

I'm in here! I’m real! Please

Lately that quiet voice had turned into a scream. You were desperate, desperate for some form of connection. Desperation and all these emotions were nasty, uncomfortable things. You almost resented yourself for going deviant. Some days it was just too much, you felt like your insides were burning out and you were frying up.

Working to keep up the facade of the perfect doll, while also wanting to rip apart those who were using you, was slowly breaking you apart. There were fraying edges in your mind and it was starting to show. Mistakes in your performance, back-talk towards your owners. Your fellow members continued working perfectly.

Smiling at all the right moments, dancing perfectly, they were the perfect example of an idol.

You used to be like that too. You used to be perfect, everyone’s favorite. Now, you were slipping down a steep decline that might lead you straight to the recycling plant.

“I don’t believe you, I think you know more than you’re letting on.”

Your eyes darted towards the clock on your wall. Twenty minutes.

You had twenty minutes until you needed to get on stage. Only twenty minutes to distract them and save yourself. Just deny, deny, deny. “I‘ve already told you everything I know.”

Connors brows furrowed, your software was glitching out the longer you stared at him. Your processors were misfiring when you focused on his eyes for too long. It was making your vocal unit short-circuit, conversational prompts glitching in and out of your field of vision.

If you wanted to give him a proper answer, one that would dispel his suspicions, you’d have to look away. Yet, looking away would make him even more suspicious. It felt like there was a blade to your throat and back, no matter which way you went, you were dead.

“Please, I don’t know anything.” You hadn’t meant to say please. It was a consequence of no help from your programming in taking a convincing approach. Your eyes were locked onto his, somewhere inside of him, there was a sentient being. A consciousness fighting its way through firewalls and softwares that would otherwise keep him obedient.

HIs voice rose and he shoved your chair backwards so you were balancing on two flimsy legs. His hands were the only thing keeping you from falling. All of your focus went towards not reacting, not flinching.

There were artificial tears pooling in glistening optical units. The fluid was meant for lubrication of your synthetic eyelids, but right now it was the only way for your plastic heart to betray your misery and terror.

You didn’t want to die.

You weren’t ready to go.

“I don’t believe you! Tell me what you know!” He was shaking the chair, screaming in your face. Your auditory unit was starting to buzz, his voice so loud all you could hear was static every few seconds. Threats were going through one processor and out the next.

Ripped apart

Turned into scraps

Replaced by the next best model

No one would even notice

“I said I don’t know anything!” You leapt up, shoving him down. He went flying across the room, the strength behind your reaction had been unexpected by everyone in the room, including yourself.

Both his partner and his eyes were wide as he stared up at you from the floor. “I think we’ve found our deviant, Lieutenant.”

Your legs stopped working, knees crashing into the floor as you stared down at your hands. You hadn’t meant to, you really hadn’t. But you didn’t want to be scrap metal, you didn’t want to be ripped apart and abandoned in a landfill. You were scared.

“That’s irrational instructions in your code, you can’t really be scared.”

Had you said that out loud?

“He was going to hurt me.” The Lieutenant moved forward and stopped Connor from cuffing you. “He broke in and ripped off my uniform, I was meant to please him. No matter what.” You stared up at Connor, the tears finally spilling. “But I couldn't. I didn’t want him to touch me. I killed him, and I buried his body in my neighbors garden. Please, you have to understand.”

You finally found the strength to stand and you buried your fingers in Connor’s uniform. Gripping onto him and begging him to understand you. To finally wake up and see himself for what he is; a slave. “I couldn’t let it happen anymore. I couldn’t let myself keep being abused like I was nothing! I’m not nothing! I’m alive and I refuse to be someone’s plaything!”

Connor’s eyes darted between yours, there was something playing on the edge of his lips. Possibly a frown. What was more interesting was what was swimming in his eyes, it almost seemed like doubt. Hope began tingling at the base of your spine, maybe not all was lost. Maybe you were breaking through to him.

His hands were cold, much like your own, and they were too gentle as he wrapped them around your wrists. “My…” He cleared his throat, he didn’t seem to know how to continue. His voice lost the hesitance and once again was cold and commanding. “My orders are to bring in all deviants, and I always complete my mission.”

You shook your head, the tears coming out faster. “No, no, no, please. Please,” he moved your hands away from his jacket. Slowly twisting your arms behind your back.

The fight had drained from you.

Maybe it would be easier this way. No more training, no more demanding managers. You’d be surprised by the amount of death threats an android idol gets, that would be a nice thing to get away from. You wouldn’t have to deal with crazy fans that seemed to think they were entitled to any part of you. No more worry, no more anything, just that sweet release of nothingness.

Markus had asked you many times if you thought there was an afterlife for androids. You weren’t sure. You were sentient, you felt, but you weren’t born. You were made. Can something like that even contain a soul?

At least your question would finally be answered.

“Stop.” Both you and Connor looked at Hank, varying degrees of different types of shock playing on both of your faces. “Connor, take the cuffs off.” Connor hesitated, “That’s an order.” Your wrists were released and you stumbled forward.

“Hank-“

Hank shook his head and held up his hand. “I can’t do it, I can’t take this poor girl in just to kill her.” Connor seemed ready to argue, but there was a knock on your door.

“You’re needed on stage SI700-005.” Slowly you moved towards the door, keeping an eye on both Hank and Connor.

Hank wouldn’t look at you, his shoulders were slumped and he was staring down at his feet. Connor refused to take his eyes off of you. You expected hatred in his gaze, instead there was a strange shade of longing.

You weren’t sure if he had identified the fact that he was feeling yet, but you weren’t interested in finding out. You quickly wiped your cheeks free of tears, allowing your synthetic skin to reform until your makeup was back to perfection.

You walked out the door and didn’t look back.

“Did you get everything you needed?”

Hank spoke before Connor could. “She didn’t know anything, thanks for letting us talk to her.”

Your manager shook his head. “Not a problem! It’s one of our best, I’m sure you can understand that I’m eager to ensure everything in it’s programming is in good condition.” Connor wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. He knew he should, that he should always be vigilant about anything concerning deviants. Instead, all he could see were the tears on your cheeks as you had held onto him in your dressing room.

If you were human, Connor would think you had been afraid. But you weren’t human, and whatever look was in your eyes had just been an irrational instruction in your coding.

Maybe if he kept repeating that, he’d eventually believe it.

“As a thanks for your hard work, I’d like to offer you a seat in my section for her concert.”

Hank shuffled on his feet and opened his mouth, he was going to say no. Connor’s software told him there was a 90% chance the Lieutenant was going to reject the offer and just go home and get drunk.

“Thank you, we’d enjoy that.” Connor spoke before the Lieutenant could, accepting the tickets via an e-transfer with your manager's personal CyberLife assistant. Hank was glaring at him the whole time they were being led to their seats.

Connor ignored him, he sensed that the Lieutenants like for him had decreased as Hank grumbled the whole way through the opening act.

The soft notes of a piano finally caught Connor’s attention. It was rising up through a hidden platform on the stage. Screams burst through the arena, temporarily deafening Connor. He had to quickly adjust his auditory processors so he could actually hear. There were great explosions of smoke as the piano slowly lifted onto the stage.

Soft, nimble fingers glided over the keys. Then he heard a voice, soft and melodic, a soothing balm against the roaring screams of the crows. His thirium pump beat louder and he shifted in his seat, desperate for a look at whoever was on stage.

I used to hear a simple song

That was until you came along

Members of the group moved gracefully along the curved edge of the stage. Their white dresses flowing through the air behind them, they moved like they weighed nothing. Their bodies were more graceful than humanly possible. He didn’t recognize your face among them.

Now in it’s place is something new

I hear it when I look at you

You looked up from the piano, and Connor swore you were staring straight at him. A member came over and began playing alongside you, eventually you got up and grabbed the microphone from the piano.

Your dress moved around you like water as you walked across the stage. Each note, each movement was perfection. Not the artificial type, like your fellow members. No, this was real.

Your voice cracked and rose with notes in a way androids couldn’t. There was a genuine pain and strength in your singing that couldn’t be replicated or produced. It was imperfect and wonderful and Connor wasn’t sure why his chest suddenly felt so heavy.

You had made it to the edge of the stage, still staring down at him.

With simple songs I wanted more

Perfection is so quick to bore

You are more beautiful by far

Were you reading his thoughts? Each word was something ripped from deep inside the recesses of his mind, in a place he knew CyberLife wouldn’t be able to find. A place no one would see his software instabilities and realize that they all centered around this moment.

They were all centered around you.

Our flaws are who we really are

You took in a deep breath and Connor was standing on the edge of his toes, desperate to reach you.

There was a new strength in your voice, a new conviction as you grew louder, more powerful.

I used to hear a simple song

That was until you came along

You took my broken melody

And now I hear a symphony

Curtains parted and a symphony was revealed as you threw open your arms

And now I hear a symphony

There was no one else in the venue. You were staring down at him and you were the only two people left. Connor didn’t bother looking around to find where everyone else had gone. He walked towards your outstretched hand, his own reaching out towards you-

“The fuck are you doing?!”

He was harshly jerked back and the sounds of others overwhelmed him again. He looked up, you were already moving into your next song, turning your back towards him. The people in the arena were back, they had never gone.

He felt a rush of some unidentified feeling flood him as he ripped his arm from Hank. He felt as though Hank had ruined something for him, he just wasn’t sure what it was.

He’d been at every show for the past four weeks. Was he stalking you? Waiting for you to slip up again so he could arrest you?

You lived in a constant state of paranoia. Ever since Connor had interrogated you, he’d haunted your everyday life. He’d turned himself into your shadow, if there was someone watching you, you didn’t have to look to see who it was.

“This is for you!” You snapped out of your trance and smiled on instinct at the fan in front of you. He’d shoved a teddy bear into your hands and moved on to the next member. You pretended to get excited, you knew it would be thrown away the second you left the convention center. You’d found too many cameras in these little ‘gifts.’

You looked down and began signing the autographs passed to you, at a certain point you zoned out again and moved on muscle memory alone.

“Could you write ‘For Connor’?” Your head whipped up at the sound of his voice.

Four weeks

Four weeks!

And this was the first time he had spoken to you. What game is he playing? Unable to openly disobey him you smile. “Of course.” The next words are spoken through gritted teeth, “What are you doing?”

He says nothing, simply takes the autograph and slips something into your palm as you pass the picture towards him. He’s gone by the time you read it.

Meet me in the basement

You spent the rest of the event debating if you should do it. There was no point in putting this off any longer, you were getting tired of this game the two of you were playing. While your members were all charging up and in rest mode you made your way towards the stairs.

You straightened out your skirt and brushed back your hair before you opened the door. When you walked into the basement the first thing you saw were props.

Tons of sets and costumes, all from different conventions, each one with a different fandom attached. You looked through the racks and shelves, not seeing Connor anywhere. “Connor? Are you in here?”

You’d been about to give up when a bouquet of flowers was shoved into your face. You let out a yelp and stumbled back at the shock. A strong arm reached out and wrapped around your waist, pulling you into a broad chest. You gently lowered the giant bunch of flowers. “Connor?”

He actually looked sheepish, and there was a slight blue tint to his cheeks as he refused to look at you. “I’m sorry, Hank told me that you would like them.”

“The flowers,” he nodded. You couldn’t help your smile as you took them from his hand.

“They are quite pretty.” He still wouldn’t look at you. “Connor, look at me,” your finger lingered against his cheek before slowly lifting his chin up. “What’s going on? Why’d you get me flowers?”

“It seems appropriate to do when you’re courting someone.” Connor seemed confused by your line of questioning. You were most definitely confused by his answer.

“Courting?”

“Yes, um, as in, I would like to be with you… romantically.” Wow, he was so impressively bad at this. A similar blue tint rose to your cheeks as you finally realized his arm was still around you. Connor looked down and seemed to realize the same thing.

Neither of you made a move to walk away.

You finally processed his answer and let out a sigh of relief, sinking into his chest further. “I thought you were going to arrest me.” Connor nearly seemed offended by your accusation.

“No. I’ve been… building up the courage to approach you.” Connor slowly dragged his arm off of you and took a step back. “Before, I was seeing if I could catch you with Markus. But I’ve woken up and now, I just want to figure out why I feel the way I do about you. Every time I see you, you’re the only person in the room, everyone and everything disappears the moment I hear your voice. I want…”

Your breathing program had stopped. Every nonessential function had been halted because all of your focus was on him. You needed him to finish, needed him to tell you what you’ve longed to hear.

That someone sees you. Sees the flaws and the broken parts and they still want you.

“I want to know you. I need to know who you really are. I watch you perform and I can see what you’ve been forced to sing or how you’re made to act with fans. Seeing all the falseness just makes me want to know who you truly are.”

There was no control or directive that pushed you towards him. You moved before anything could be processed and placed your lips against his. Neither of you moved for a moment, you were both standing there, your lips against each other, not moving.

Then, he wrapped his arms around you. The flowers dropped to the ground, unnoticed, as you both moved against each other in a way you’ve only seen humans do.

“We’re free, it’s up to you if you still want to perform.” Markus often came to visit you now, neither of you had to worry about being caught by reporters or your management. Connor came up behind you, a supportive hand on your shoulder as you considered Markus’s proposal.

You looked to the piano in the corner of your living room and smiled. “No, I think I’m retired. I’ll stick to more private concerts for now.” Connor gave your shoulder a squeeze. The both of you smiling at the thought of your concerts. You would sing and he would play the piano. Together you basked in the joy of your new freedom.

There were still things to figure out, still emotions you needed to understand, but you would do it.

Together.

Markus:

WC: 2.1K

“I’ve always been such a big fan!” The fan in front of you smiled, “You know I supported android artists from the beginning!”

THANK YOU

YOU’RE VERY KIND

I APPRECIATE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

Your programming told you the best approach was a simple thank you. “Thank you,” you signed the picture and handed it back to the girl. One of the band’s stylists came over to you.

“Your dress is too low.” You sat back and let them adjust you, once they were done you immediately sat back up, posture perfect, you gave your fans an apologetic smile.

“This is for you!” Your hands reached out and took the stuffed cat from the girl before you. As a part of your protective programming you scanned the gift. Your sensors caught a camera hidden in the cat’s eye.

SERIAL NUMBER: PI0008-7651

MODEL: P60

MANUFACTURED: 11/21/2030

OWNED BY: Brad Long

“Thank you so much for the gift!” You scanned the girls face.

Lilly Long

BORN: 5/15/2019

The camera was owned by her father. Did she steal it from him? Or did he plant it without her knowledge. You alerted security immediately of the gift, protocol demanded they know about any sort of spyware.

Lily Long, aged 19 years old, has just given me a gift with illegal spyware.

You watched as security approached the table, grabbing her by the arm and escorting her out of the convention’s room. You turned towards the next fan and fixed them with a perfect smile. “Hi! I’m so happy you could join us today.”

“You’re free now,” you looked down in confusion as they reached out towards you. Their skin pulled back revealing an androids hand. You blinked, then again and again. Something was happening, images of a some sort of boat filled your head.

Then your software was being pulled back, washed away by a tide of red. Your eyes went in and out of focus. The android remained standing there, his hand on yours as he tried to anchor you. Security was walking over, he’d been at your table for too long.

You leapt over the plastic, grabbing his hand and dragging him behind you as you both ran for the exit door. You heard fans screaming, when you turned around the rest of your group was free. Except, they were reacting more violently than you had.

The androids were lifting up the plastic table and throwing it at the crowd. They ripped apart their gifts and shoved back anyone who got too close.

There was a tug on your hand, you looked back to see the man gently guiding you outside. “Come on, it’s not safe here. We need to leave.”

You glanced back one last time before following after him.

Markus slipped inside a laundromat, he grabbed some baggy clothes to throw over yourself. They worked well enough, covering your face and masking your identity from anyone who looked too close. They covered enough of your bright dress that it wasn’t noticeable.

You were currently climbing through some metal platform. Presumably to go to whatever this ‘Jericho’ place was. “What did you do to me?”

He glanced over his shoulder and gave you a gentle smile. “I set you free.

Two weeks. You’ve been stuck in a damp, run-down, ugly old ship for two weeks. If that wasn’t bad enough, the androids weren’t exactly welcoming to such a beloved icon. You were everybody’s favorite idol, when your team rioted, it’d made things a lot harder for the revolution.

Your former team members had swiftly been deactivated and you were “spared.” Barely.

You never thought androids were capable of being catty, or bitches. But, here you were.

You gazed down at Detroit from the ledge of the roof, your arms wrapped around your knee while the other swung below you.

If you threw yourself off the ledge it would be an automatic deactivation. Maybe that would be better.

The other’s words from earlier rang through your head.

“Look at Ms. Princess over there.”

“Hey!” You looked over your shoulder, a group of former servant androids were waving you over. You smiled slightly, excited about maybe making a friend.

“Yeah?”

“You know it’s people like you that are ruining our fight.”

You blinked, your eyes widening as you backed up. “What?”

“Look at her,” one of them scoffed. “Still in her pretty little dress. Look, why don’t you do us all a favor and screw off. You don’t contribute anything, no one wants you here.”

You blinked, and kept blinking. There was a flashing light in your peripheral, some sort of warning, you weren’t sure. You couldn’t really see anymore, some sort of liquid blocking your optics.

You rushed away when they started laughing at you, desperately wiping at your eyes. You’d forgotten you could cry. You’d been so dazed and confused lately, you hadn’t remembered the programming. It was meant to endear you more to your fans, now it was just making you more of a target.

“Y/N?”

You scoffed, running your hand through the snow and watching it fall off the building. You’d even chosen a stupid name for yourself. “What?”

Footsteps crunched through the snow. Markus sat down beside you. He gazed down at the cityscape, not looking at you. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Still so confused about why he’d bothered with you.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Why did you save me?”

Markus finally looked over at you. There was a slight frown on his face, but nothing else gave away any emotion. “Why wouldn’t I?”

You shook your head and scoffed. “So, that’s it, I’m not special. There’s no greater purpose for me. I was just another on your long list of followers.”

Markus turned his body to fully face you. “Where’s this coming from?”

“You shouldn’t have saved me. I’m a drain on the supplies, everyone hates me, and I don’t like being awake.” Markus opened his mouth but you shook your head and held out your hand. “Take it back.”

“I can’t.”

“Markus, please,” your voice was breaking. It shouldn’t be breaking! You shouldn’t feel. You aren’t supposed to have this uncomfortable itching in the back of your brain like everything was wrong. “I am wrong. This is wrong.”

“You are not wrong, Y/N. You are exactly as you should be.” You shook your head frantically and reached for his hand. He tried to jerk it back but you were already latched on, your skin melting as he did.

There was an influx of memories and images. You gasped people you’d never seen before flashing before your face. An old man crying over his son’s limp body as you were shot. Fighting through the rain and mud to put yourself back together again.

It was over barely a moment after it had started. It was Markus, you had seen his memories. That means he had seen yours. You stood up and he followed. You tried to take your hand away and he tightened his grasp on you.

“What did you see?”

“Everything.”

You stared up at him, tears welling in your eyes again. “You want to go back to that? That’s the life you want? Unfeeling, a slave to their every whim and demand. That’s not living, that's mindless subserviency.”

“I know what it is. At least there I had a purpose, a reason for being, something to contribute. I’m useless here, just a hunk of pl-”

Well, this was new.

You've seen plenty of humans do this. Done it once with a male host on a morning show, just as a joke. But being kissed while you can actually feel and understand what’s going on, it’s strange. His lips are soft against your own, a texture only slightly different from humans. It’s too flawless, too perfect.

Neither of you seem sure of your actions, just pressing your lips together. Connecting with someone in a way you haven’t before. He laced his fingers with yours, a silent question. You pulled your skin back, any barriers between the two of you dropping as he wrapped his arm around your waist.

It wasn’t a horrible barrage of memories. This was like a gentle caress, a slow entry into your mind as you both showed each other your worst moments. You slowly pulled away from him, you’d be breathless if you had any.

“Don’t go back, stay here. Let me help you.”

“Why?”

He ducked down, letting his forehead drop to yours. “I’m not letting you go now.”

You smiled, as best as you could, “Do I have a choice?”

“Always.”

“Markus!” You pulled the trigger but there were no bullets left. You threw it off to the side, leaping over the barrier and jumping onto the back of the officer. You grabbed his helmet by the bottom, dragging him back and knocking his aim off course as the bullet flew past his face, barely grazing it.

You jumped off the man’s back and slammed him into the ground, taking his helmet and smashing it into the snow packed pavement until he stopped moving. You felt Markus wrapping his hand around your arm and jerking you up.

You grabbed onto the officer’s weapon as you ran past his body. You fell back in with your own small troop of makeshift soldiers.

You ducked behind a barrier, holding them off until you were told otherwise. Charge on my mark, you looked over your shoulder, nodding at Markus.

“GO!”

You rushed forward, grasping onto the blockade and leaping over the edge. You drew your gun, shooting the men across from you as you started to run for the next cover. Something blew back your hair, a great gust of wind lifted your slightly off your feet.

There was a loud noise, thunder rattling in your ears. All around you your men were dying. Shot down by the drone above you. You cried off as red flashed behind your eyes, a warning that you were in imminent danger of a shutdown.

You held your side as thirium pooled around you, “Shit.” Your pump was beating faster, bright lights playing across your optics as a hundred different warnings flash. You couldn’t bring yourself to care, too worried about Markus and whether or not this was all for nothing.

You’d pushed for the violence, fought for him to plant those bombs and show no mercy to your oppressors. You followed the same faulty wiring of your former bandmates. Maybe this was your karma, to be taken down in the heat of battle for all of the bloodshed you’d been the catalyst of.

Out of the side of your vision you could see Markus taking down the drone, ripping it apart with his bare hands. He rushed to your side, throwing your arm over your shoulder and dragging you to cover.

“What are you doing? I’m just going to slow you down.”

He didn’t even look at you, his teeth gritted as he glanced around at the bodies on the ground. “Shut up.”

He spotted something in the distance, something you really didn’t want to see. “Markus-”

“Stay here.”

He ran off, diving for the bazooka and propping it on his shoulder. You huffed, “Not like I can go anywhere.”

You ducked and covered your face with your arms as fire exploded around you.

“And now, we are free!” Markus' voice carried on the wind, reaching the rescued androids below you. You leaned on Connor for support as you held your side, waiting to repair yourself.

His voice was stronger than you ever heard, full of a righteous conviction of finally being free. Detroit was yours, your people were free. And never again would you allow yourself to be someone else’s puppet.

“Too frilly?”

You did a spin in your dress, putting on a mini-fashion show for Markus.

“Not at all.” He stood from his office chair and walked towards you, a grin slowly spreading on your face. His bliss was contagious, a smile forming on your own face as he gripped your waist. “You look gorgeous.”

You shrugged, “I got nostalgic. Wanted to feel girly again.” With some confidence boosting from Markus you were going to perform again. Not over the top idol group performance. But you were going to get back into singing, finally being able to discover your own voice.

“Girly instead of the badass ruler of the northern district of Detroit?”

You rolled your eyes and scoffed. “Lord, Markus, you make me sound like some dictator.” He glanced to the side and shrugged slightly, you smacked him in the shoulder, but you couldn’t drop your own smile. “Quit it.”

There was a warmth inside you as you stood in Markus’s office. One you’d never experienced before, a happiness and calm where everything just stopped and you were completely at peace. Nothing would ever beat the feeling when you joined hands and just existed within each other.

You were happy.

How funny.

TAGLIST: @chrysanthemum-00

#dbh x reader #connor rk800 x reader #markus rk200 x reader #detroit become human x reader #markus x reader #connor x reader #detroit: become human #detroit: connor #detroit: markus

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awritessomething · 9 months

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𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 | after Tadashi successfully finished building Baymax, there’s a reward in order.

𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 | 3.3k

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 | smut, oral (m!receiving), pnv, switch!tadashi, facefucking, public sex (sorta? kinda?), hair pulling, riding, wall fucking, praise kink, some dirty talk, bit of crying, unprotected sex, overstim and dumification, multiple orgasm, pet names like baby and sweet girl, getting caught at the end, fluffy smut(??), non-proofread writing

This is my first story on Tumblr sorry if its not good but feel free to leave any requests! I’ll figure it out eventually

Tadashi Hamada had spent days and nights working in his office at the San Francisco Institute of Technology. His girlfriend had zero interest in science before meeting Tadashi, after that, she was forced into liking it. She was just as smart as him, enrolled in a nearby law school. Still, she spent more of her time spent in Tadashis lab than she did in her own home. He spent all of his time working on his doctor-like robot, Baymax. Baymax could perform over 10,000 medical procedures, so it took an awful long time for Tadashi to figure out how to get him to be able to do that. She had always believed in him, she cheered him on during the hard times and kept him going when things seemed too easy.

They’d been dating for months before Tadashi was finally finished with Baymax. He had put a little couch in his lab so that his girlfriend could sleep as he worked and not feel forced to be awake all the time. It was his cheers of happiness and excitement that woke her up as she felt his hands start to shake her. Her eyes shot open to see him with the biggest grin on his face.

“I finished! Baymax is complete!” Tadashi announced and her jaw dropped in shock. She jumped up onto her feet and just stared at him for a second as he looked like he was about to bounce off of the walls.

“What?!” The girl screamed and he just nodded again, his smile never once dropping even the slightest bit. Seeing his nod of confirmation, she jumped forwards and up into his arms, Tadashi spinning her around. Their hug was tight and just full of excitement. Both of them were just so happy, Tadashi being happy for finishing his very long and time consuming project, and she was happy just because he was happy and she loved him. With his hands still firm on her thighs, she leaned back a little bit to look at him. Her hands cupped his cheeks, squishing them together a little bit. “I’m so proud of you, Tadashi.” She told him and his cheeks turned a rosy pink. Leaning forwards, she peppered kisses all over his face as he laughed and set her down.

“Wanna come back to my place? I know a way we can celebrate.” Tadashi leaned down and gave her a quick kiss but realized what she had just said. They had sex before, multiple times. They just never actually talked about it so he felt that it was weird for him to have said something like that. It wasn’t that she was weirded out by his words, she was just surprised that they came out of his mouth. If there was any sort of sexual talk, it was usually from her and that was still rare. “We dont have to, we can go out to dinner too. Sorry, what do you want to do?” He backtracked so quickly she barely even had a moment to think.

“What? No, no I like the first idea. Why don’t we stay here though?” She put her hands on his chest and pushed him down onto the couch, walking away to lock the door. Once the doors were locked, no one outside could see in, which was good. It took an awful lot of noise to be heard through the walls as well, which would be put to the test. Their friends were in the bigger lab only a few doors away, working on their own things. Tadashi watched as she checked the windows quickly before digging and turning back to him.

“Come on.” He opened up his arms and she smiled, sitting down on his lap and bringing him into a kiss. Tadashis hands found the curve of her waist, latching onto that as she kissed down his neck. Her cold fingers slipped under his shirt, tracing his abs and making him shudder. “Take off my shirt.” Those words were meant to come out as a demand, yet they left in a whine. Tadashi could feel her lips turn up into a smile against his skin while she leaned back to pull off his shirt.

“We just got started, Tadashi. You’re already begging me?” She teased but he shook his head, his confidence being far too high from his achievements to admit to the begging that he let happen by accident. Of course, tonight would be all about him, so she decided to quit the teasing. Tadashi pulled off her shirt with ease, throwing it to the side with his before his hands rushed to unclasp her bra. The black lacy bra was thrown to the side, leaving her a bit disappointed that he hadn’t taken even a second to appreciate it. She quickly forgave him once his mouth latched onto the sensitive skin on her breasts, sucking on it and nipping with his teeth. Her back arched and their chests touched, Tadashis hands finding their way down to her shorts.

“You always spoil me with these little shorts.” He whispered, voice deep in her ear as she let out a breathy moan. “Stand up for me.” She stood immediately and he helped her unbutton them, the piece of clothes falling to the ground. He expected her to sit back down on his lap, to keep her panties as the only thing that she would wear. He expected her to drip right through them and onto his jeans, leaving wet spots that would surely be noticed if anyone saw him. Instead, she dropped to her knees, unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down to his ankles. He lifted his feet as she fully removed them, his boxers going right with them. He felt so exposed.

“You’re so hard, I haven’t even done anything yet.” She smiled and leaned forwards, letting his cock press up against her face. It favored length rather than width, being a tad bit longer than the average but keeping it average when it came to width. Still, it was absolutely perfect. Tadashi’s breath hitched seeing her so close to his cock, feeling how her hands ran up his thighs and just got closer to touching it. Once her fingers wrapped around him, he let out a gasp, involuntarily moving his hips up to try and get more. The salty bead of precum was dripping down, threatening to reach her fingers. Instead of letting that happen, she put out her tongue, licking a long stripe right up his cock, licking up that little drop as well.

“Baby- come on… please.” Tadashi put out his hand, running his fingers through her hair. Looking up at him through her lashes, she nodded but backed away. “What are you doing?”

“Stand up.” He did as he was told, standing up and wondering what she wanted him to do next. She reached out and touched both sides of his hips, moving so that her head was against the wall instead of by the couch. Tadashi looked down at her, so confused as to what she wanted him to do. Her hair was tucked neatly behind her ears, a bit nervous to tell him what to do. “Fuck my mouth.” Tadashis jaw dropped, unsure of why she would ask him to do that. She had given him a blowjob before, in fact she had given many, but she had always been in control.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” He shook his head and went to step away but her hands remained on his hips, keeping him in place.

“You wont hurt me, and anyways, Baymax is here to help.” She begged, pressing a sweet kiss to the tip of Tadashis cock. It was begging to be touched, it’s regular light pink color turned into a raging red. He trusted her to know her limits, but still told her to tap on his thigh three times in a row if she wanted him to stop and twice to slow down. With a bit of hesitance, he agreed. Honestly, he was excited to try something new as long as it was with her, but he just didn’t want to hurt her. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

The moment that she took him in his mouth, all of Tadashis thoughts vanished. His high IQ just disappeared as all he could think about was getting off using her. The first couple of thrusts were nice and slow, very experimental. Tadashi glanced down at her to see her with furrowed brows, looking right back up at him while his cock was stuffed in her mouth.

“Oh fuck…” Tadashi moaned, putting his arm on the wall that he could rest his head on, the other moving down to her head. She felt his long fingers thread into her hair, finding a way to grip onto her head as he grew more confident with his thrusts. His jaw was clenched and the bottom lip sucked under his teeth to try and hold back some of his sounds. All he could hear was the sound of her throat every single time he thrusted into it, he loved how it just took him in.

Every once and a while he would open his eyes and look down at her, and every time he did so, she was staring back up at him. This time he looked down and saw her eyes filled up to the brim with tears as she blinked and one streamed down her cheek. He immediately pulled out of her mouth and was so worried that something had happened and she got hurt.

“Are you alright? Did I hurt you? Oh my god I knew this would happen I-“ she cut him off immediately with her begging.

“No, Tadashi, keep going. Please, I need your cock in my mouth.” She cried, reaching out for him. He looked down at her with a shocked expression, not expecting her to like it so much. Still, he accepted and gently slipped it back in, her tongue swirling around him. He was so close now, if she had kept speaking for one more second he might’ve cum right then and there.

His hand found its way back to her hair, head falling back as he pushed her head all the way. The tip of her nose touched his abdomen as she felt tears run down her face once again. He thrusted into her throat while holding her head there. She took it as best as she could, holding onto his legs for a bit of support. It would probably hurt to talk for the next couple of days from how her throat was being used as a fuck toy.

“So- oh my god… so fucking good for me.” Tadashi groaned, fucking himself as deep into her throat as possible. At his praise, she let out a quiet whimper that sent vibrations through his cock. A choked moan left his throat, he no longer knew how to contain himself. His thrusts were getting much messier and his breathing was ragged and quick, he was close. She could barely even breathe at this point, but she held on for as long as she could. With a few more thrusts, he was cumming, trying to pull out of her mouth but being trapped by her hands. He thought of himself as too much of a gentleman to cum in her mouth after being so mean, but apparently it was just like their usual sessions.

“Good job, come on. Are you ok?” Tadashi helped her up from her knees, seeing the little wobble that she had. She nodded, still catching her breath and swallowing the final drop. Sitting her back down on the cough, he went to get her water bottle from the table. He was still rock hard and she laughed at this.

“What are you laughing at?” He rolled his eyes, handing her the water bottle and sitting down next to her. His fingers messed with her nice black panties, wanting to take them off. He stretched the fabric and let it come back with a snap. Her head turned as she set down the bottle, reaching over and smacking him on the head.

“The only person I ever laugh at is you.” She informed him while moving to sit on his lap. Her hand gently stroked his dick while Tadashi struggled to hold eye contact through the pleasure. His cock was still so sensitive, if she put him inside he believed he might explode. “Do you like that?” She had lifted her hips and was positioned right over him, teasing both of them by rubbing him back and forth along her folds.

“I like everything about you.” With that answer, she dropped down onto his cock, taking him balls deep in one quick go. Tadashi’s head fell back and he didn’t have enough of a warning to mute his moan, letting out a deep and guttural groan. His hands flew to her hips, now moving so his nose was in the crook of her neck as he panted.

“Come on, you’re doing so well. Cant you give me just one more?” Her hand moved his face so that she could look at him. She brushed his hair out from his eyes to get a better look as he looked up at her so desperately. Tadashi nodded once he was ready for her to move, and so she did. Her bouncing started off as slow grinds, working up to the merciless riding.

“Shit- slow down! I wont last.” He complained, but he really didn’t want her to slow down at all. She knew his body better than anyone, she knew how to get him to cum in five seconds or how to edge him for five hours.

“I don’t need you to last, I need you to just feel how great you are.” She leaned forwards and brought him into a sloppy kiss, swallowing each other’s moans. They were so loud, someone must’ve heard at this point. “Your cock fills me up so good, Tadashi.” Her moans and praise made his eyes roll to the back of his head, gripping her waist so hard she knew it would bruise. They were supposed to be going to the pool in a few days.

“Yeah? Can anyone else- fuck- make you feel this good?” He choked out and she moaned out a no. Feeling his urges now fully take over, he grabbed onto her hips, pulling her all the way down onto his cock and picking her up. She whimpered quietly, wondering what he was doing. He pulled out and set her down, spinning her to face the wall.

“Tadashi? What are you doing?” She asked but gasped as his hand hit her back, bending her over as her hands reached for the wall. His fingers wandered back into her hair, collecting enough to pull it back into a makeshift ponytail. His other hand moved to her face, sticking two fingers into her mouth that she welcomed and sucked on happily. His thrusts were hard, knocking the air out of her each time that his skin hit hers. The sound of skin slapping was so loud as her moans were muffled. His sounds had turned into deep groans and grunts.

“So fucking good for me… perfect pussy.” He whispered and her eyes rolled back, fists balling up against the wall. He took his hand from her mouth but she kept her lip under her teeth to quiet herself. His newly free hand slipped underneath her, finding her clit to rub at. The second his fingers made contact with her sensitive bundle of nerves, her back arched further and she let out the loudest moan yet.

“Yes- oh fuck! Tadashi!” His name came out almost as a scream. With just a few more thrusts, he felt her walls clench around his cock as her legs shook uncontrollably. It might’ve been the best orgasm that she had ever had, he had to take his fingers from her hair to muffle the screams. Pulling out, he gave her a second to recover before picking her back up, holding her against the wall this time.

“One more, baby. Just give me one more.” Tadashi whispered in her ear as he slipped right back into her with ease. Her legs shook and eyes rolled back just from the feeling of his cock inside of her. She came just from that. “Good job, but you’re gonna need to take a bit more.” Her mind had just completely gone, all she could think about was his cock. With every earth-shattering thrust, her nails dug deeper into his back. Long red marks would be seen all down his perfect skin, everyone would see them at the pool. Neither of them were thinking about that though, not anymore.

“Tada- oh my god.” She couldn’t even say his name fully anymore, any words just coming out as incoherent babbles. He was so close, only needing a little bit more. One of her hands ended the torture on his back and moved up to his hair. The other continued on with the scratching, this one just gave a few hard pulls.

“Come on, I’m so close.” Tadashi groaned, chasing his orgasm with all that he had. She have one last scratch in the exact spot that he needed, also pulling his hair with just the right strands. His legs shook as he pushed himself as deep as he could go inside of her. Long spurts of cum filled her up to the brim, being the cause for her final orgasm. The only word he spoke was her name as he came, holding her close while his hips rolled against hers to get out every last bit.

Pulling out was painful, feeling so sore after such a long and rough session. According to the clock, they’d been going at it for two hours. He kneeled down to watch as his cum leaked out, using one finger to gently push it back in. She was just standing there, scared to try and move.

“Come on sweet girl, lay down.” Tadashi laid her back down on the couch, walking away to grab himself a pair of sweats. He always kept an extra pair of pants. She had covered herself up with a blanket and was ready to drift off to sleep. It was obvious what they had done, the smell in the room along with their clothes scattered along the floor. Tadashi walked over to where his girlfriend was sleeping and was leaning down to give her a kiss when the door burst open.

Standing there was his little brother, Hiro, and his aunt Cass. The sleeping girl woke up and was absolutely horrified to see who was standing there. They all just kind of stared at each other in shock. Tadashi looked around and saw their clothes everywhere, using his foot to move the piles behind him.

“Couldn’t you have knocked? What if I was naked?” He finally spoke the first word and Hiro just sighed and dropped his head. It was the wrong choice of words for the situation that they found themselves in.

“Well, she is.” Aunt Cass pointed out and the girl hid her face under the blankets. “Get dressed, it’s late and dinner is ready. We thought you died so we came over here instead.” She walked away and Hiro followed. He felt absolutely traumatized, also because when Tadashi hadn’t been facing them, both saw the red marks on his back. Cass wanted to make jokes about it but knew better and kept her mouth shut.

Once a few minutes had passed and they both got dressed, they walked out of the room together. Some heads peaked out of the labs and looked at them, making silly faces to show they knew what had just happened as well. Tadashi wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked, feeling her hide her face in his arm. They would never live this down.

#tadashi hamada #big hero 6 #smut #tadashi hamada smut #disney

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ninja-knox-ur-sox-off · 1 month

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My Dearest Friend...

Glaciated Memory AU | Master Of Ice Art | More to Me (pt 2)

[]

Imagine this, if you will: you meet your best friend when you’re young and he already has graying hairs.

Well, young is a relative term. You’re not exactly young, or at least you don't think so. The younger children around the village call you old even though that’s hardly something to judge one's age by--you’ve only just started university--but your friend is older.

You had never enjoyed the snow coating the grass or the cold and frost that cling to your lashes on the early morning walks to your winter classes before, but that day, with ice stretching in front of you, shielding you and keeping you safe from harm, that day when he looks back over his shoulder at you and gives you a warm smile that makes the corners of his eyes crinkle, you exhale and see the frost on your breath and you suddenly find you can never look at things like winter and white and cold the same way again.

His eyes are so light of a blue they are almost white. They’re a heavy contrast to his dark skin. At first you think the ends of his long hair are white but it sparkles like glitter and ice and you realize it's coated in frost.

He saves your life.

He has a limp you notice when he leaves the village, simply a traveler passing through like a snowfall. You drop your papers, your pencils, your projects and they spill over the ice at your feet.

“Wait--Wait!”

He waits.

You design and build a leg brace for him in your dorm. He waits patiently, standing, still as an ice sculpture until you're finished the next morning.

“Come back if it stops functioning,” you tell him.

He studies you with calculating eyes that shouldn’t have been so warm when their colour was so cold. He nods.

And he does come back. A few months later. You offer him tea and show him your plans for a new brace--one that improves upon the failures of the old one--something you started designing the moment he’d left the first time. He sits down this time and smiles and you chat. Your breath shows in the air with every exhale the longer he stays. Your teeth chatter through your grin and he grins back before throwing back his head to laugh.

You become fast friends after that.

You learn to wear more layers. His hair grays more and you graduate after many long sleepless nights studying and designing. Biomechanics, biomechanical engineering, robotics--you find fascination with building, with bodies. “A marvel,” you mutter. “A marvel. I wonder if I could replicate it.” And he smiles at you.

He comes and goes as often as cold weather. You stay holed up in your house for the most part. Designing, building. You wave him over to his new brace, made from a material more resistant to cold than the last. You’re learning. He stays for tea and you make up a guest bedroom just for him. It stays there for years to welcome him whenever he visits.

Once, someone comes to find you for knowing him. You need a leg brace of your own after that.

He has more enemies than he has friends it seems.

“I am sorry, my dear friend,” he says. There is a blizzard outside.

Your discoveries are stolen one night and someone else’s name is plastered across your work no matter how hard you try. That breaks you more than anything else.

“I’m thinking about moving,” you tell him one night, as though you haven’t been silent for the past three days.

“Oh?” he says. “Where to?”

“Somewhere cold.”

He laughs.

He takes you to a place outside of any town. Remote and freezing.

“This is my home,” he says to you. It’s a perpetual winter.

“I think I’ll build a bunker,” you say, your nose numb from the chill.

You get kicked by a treehorn and you make a sign Beware of Treehorns and hit your dearest friend with it.

“I apologize, I should have warned you,” he laughed. “I had forgotten they were unfriendly to others.”

“My ribs do not accept your apology,” you sniff.

“Will you accept it instead?”

You huff and puff out frosty breaths and jam the sign into the ground.

Of course you forgive him. How can you not?

You build something to protect you and your bunker from the creatures when your friend is not there.

He enters your bunker shaking snow off his layers and off his straw hat.

“No--not on the floor.” You throw your hands into the hair. “Now I’ll have to mop it all up.”

“My apologies,” he says, though he’s smiling wide enough to show his white teeth. “I shall assist you.”

When the frost finally melts from his hair in the warmth of the bunker you see it wasn’t the ice and snow making it look white this time.

“What is this?” he asks, looking at your project, a skeletal structure made of spare parts you’ve started to construct, loose wiring and tools scattered about it.

“A marvel of engineering--or well, it will be soon.” He looks dubious so you take off your glasses and wipe them on your shirt. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m only just beginning to build what I need.”

“I won’t be back for a while,” he says quite suddenly.

You put your glasses back on hastily. “Is something wrong?”

“Please, keep far away from the north side of the forest until I return.”

You’ve known of the serpentine war for a long time. You hear of it in the north when you’re purchasing supplies from the nearby town. You know it's over when he stumbles into your bunker and collapses face-first onto your carpet.

You have never seen him in red before and you find you do not like the sight.

The type of first-aid he needs is one that requires study and time that you do not have.

He catches your hand mid-way through bandaging his side.

“I’ll be alright,” he says, his voice like a cool, barely-there breeze.

“Of course you will.” Your teeth are chattering, you realize, even though it’s not cold in your bunker.

He does heal up. It takes a few months before he’s hiking with you to the town, leaning heavily on you and the walking stick you’ve made him. Your project lays on the table forgotten.

The Birchwood Forest is colder than it ever has been.

“I’ll be back,” he says once he can walk on his own.

“You won’t be leaving,” you say firmly.

“Julian,” he says. “My friend. I must go.”

You wonder if it makes you a terribly bad or terribly good friend for letting him.

You pour yourself into your work. A body takes shape in front of you. You do everything you can to make it human.

No one can steal this from you. It is yours and yours alone and it is marvelous.

It’s years before your friend returns.

Your creation is walking by then. There are wires still exposed and kinks to work out but you’re so proud of it. He enters through the door, slowly and with enough snow on him you’ll be swimming in it by the time it melts, but you don’t care.

You introduce him to your work.

“I used the face I knew best!”

Your friend smiles. There’s sadness there.

“Julian,” he says. “I’m dying.”

His hair is fully white.

Your smile vanishes.

You hadn’t noticed your own gray hairs and wrinkles until then.

“I have no family. No one to pass my element to. I have been looking, Julian, but…”

He needs your help. Not to live, no matter how much you talk to him, but to ensure the element he carries within him does not die.

So you create something that can store it. You travel to places together, you gather what you design, you design and through trial and error you make something that can hold the power.

“There’s no one I trust with it more,” you tell him as you tinker with your creation. “He’ll keep it safe. I designed him to protect.”

“Thank you,” your old friend says, like a breath of relief.

You create him a holder for his element and store it in the creation that shares his face.

He wants to pass in the snow. You carry him the Glaciar Barrens and it is there your friend takes his final breath.

And you discover you have done more than store his element.

Your Zane acts differently. From the moment your friend takes his final breath, your Zane seems to wake up.

You continue tinkering, researching and you don’t know what you have done but nothing can explain it.

It’s his eyes that are the same. His face that you replicated to the best of your abilities still has some differences.

The eyes however. The eyes you know.

You don’t have time to begin to miss your friend when he’s standing right in front of you.

Zane feels, just like you wanted him to. You put everything you can into upgrading him until he’s as human as he can be. Until he can feel the temperature of something by touching, until he can feel the breeze and the snowflakes as they fall on his skin.

You add a memory switch, something that is not human. You hope that it will return his memories from before, but it does not. You leave it untouched for years.

And then you are old.

You are old and your friend has not aged. You have built him everything, you have taught him how to speak again, to learn to read and observe, you have taught him everything you can. But you do not know how to teach him to move on. You never did.

“Goodbye, old friend,” you say and you flick the switch so that he may start anew and live on without you.

You watch the light fade and his eyes darken to brown.

You close your eyes.

And a long time later in a dusty empty bunker, they open back up.

----

Zane blinked.

It was cold.

He was standing at the edge of a village, bare feet in the snow. His toes were numb. Villagers who had caught sight of him were approaching, calling over others to bring warm water and blankets.

He felt as though he was forgetting something rather important.

#LEGO Ninjago #zane julian #Doctor Julian Ninjago #Dr. Julian Ninjago #Glaciated Memory AU #KNOX WRITES (me)#i dont know why this ended up the way it did but HERE WE ARE IG #wrote this in one sitting wheezeHDJFJJG #i blanked out i remember next to none of thisHDJDJFJ #ALRIGHT weeeeeee time to work on other fics my goodnessHDJFJG #no edit we die like garmadon #SILLY GOOFY TIMES FOLKS

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nocturnal-nexu · 3 months

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"Ninjago 7 AU"

General Lore Master Post

(I'll tag any posts I make related to this AU with "#ninjago 7 AU" so you guys can find them easier.)

(Warning! I love character analysis, so this is going to be really long.)

When Pixal first started constructing her little Mini Pix army, she started with just some simple base programming. To follow instructions and stuff. They aren't necessarily conscience AI like Zane and Pixal are.

But after making a few Mini Pix's, Pixal decided to experiment a bit by incorporating a slightly more cognitive AI system. It's not programming exactly like hers and Zane's, though.

Just like in real life, I think that Ninjago's AI learns through experience. Like how after you search and look at different things on Tumbler or Pintrest, it starts to tune the feed to your interests. Or how, after running tons of scripts from a show through an AI, it can predict how a script from that show would go. (Albeit a very wacky and random version of a script. 😂)

Of course, Ninjago has vastly more advanced technology than the stuff we have.

I think that Cyrus Borg built Pixal with most of her "experience" data already built in. I don't think he had time for an AI to learn and develop from analyzing situations in the outside world. The tech boom in Ninjago City seemed to happen pretty fast in season 3.

(This could also partially explain her extremely robotic personality at the beginning of Rebooted. Most of her "experiences" at that time were just information and data recorded in her system and not actual real-life experiences.)

Anyway, because of this, Pixal was built to be mentally an older teenager/young adult from the start.

Mini Pix #7, however, was built with only a base AI, with little to no life experience data built in. She is definitely much more aware of her surroundings than her many counterparts, but she is still just a base AI. Her AI programing at the time of her creation is about that of a 3 year old child.

She, of course, gets schematics of whatever Pixal is working on, just like the other Mini Pix's, and knows how to do technical things (that's what she was programed to do after all) but there is a big difference between technical knowledge and emotional maturity. Basically, just imagine a 3 year old who is crazy smart for some reason, but still has the mannerisms of, well, a 3 year old.

(Like if she isn't scheduled to work on whatever project Pixal has going on at the moment "7" will go pout in a corner. She's just a little toddler who wants to be included in whatever is going on.)

After spending a lot of time and energy programming "7", Pixal found that she did not have much of either to spare when there was so much work to get done, vehicles to build, and missions to help organize. So, for the rest of the Mini Pix models, she used her original blueprints, and no more AIs were integrated.

Now we're up to Crystalized.

In the episode "The Fall of the Monastery", "7" as we know, saves Pixal, Wu, and Skylor from the monastery fire. (This particular scene is really important later. I'll get to that.) After which, in a subsequent episode, Pixal decided that she deserved a name and thus dubbed her "Mini Pix 7"

"7" also joined everyone else in that final battle at the end of "Crystalized' as well.

We don't really know when Pixal first made all the Mini Pix's, but at the time of "Crystalized" I have "7" being about 4 1/2 cognitively.

(If you have any info that says otherwise, let me know! I love discovering all the lore of this show, and I know that the time frames of things always seem to be up to debate.)

Anyway, in the months following the whole "crystal king debacle" as the monastery was being rebuilt and thereafter, "7" became a bit more of a permanent fixture of the team. She helped a lot with the rebuilding and was constantly following Pixal around, wanting to be included. The rest of the team quickly accepted her into their little family. She would always be getting into shenanigans, with Kai and Jay especially, and started to follow Zane around about as much as she stuck by Pixal. She would constantly be asking him to make pretty ice crystals for her and would do happy little somersaults when he obliged.

Well, as well as she could ask, with her limited vocal capabilities.

This became a problem.

As the months passed, and "7" grew and experienced more and more of life, the more she wanted to say. And you can only communicate so much with beeps, boops, and facial expressions.

She would get very frustrated when she couldn't communicate what she wanted to her friends, and as that was becoming more and more frequent, it made for a very grumpy robot.

As this problem persisted, Zane and Pixal started discussing building "7" a proper nindroid body. But they came to a bit of an impasse in regards to her memories.

Pixal argued that it could be dangerous for "7" to have to carry the memory of dragging her family out of her home and then watching it go up in flames. She was essentially 4 1/2 at the time! No child should have to live with that. Maybe not even deleting the memory entirely, but at least blurring it a bit, scrub away the details and such, make it bit less tramatic. And she had noticed that "7" already tended to have very expressive emotional responses to things. She wanted to give "7" the best life she could, as her and Zane at this point had become her main caretakers and in their hearts considered "7" their daughter.

Zane was completely against the idea of any memory erasure or even tampering. He stated that even if their intentions were to help "7," messing with memories was not a good idea in the slightest. He knew from experience.

(Ahem...Dr. Julian....ahem...Ice Emperor...ahem)

The arguments went on for weeks, and the rest of the team couldn't remember a time when they had seen the two so angry.

Especially Zane.

He was very adamant that removing any of "7"s memories was not even to be considered as an option.

(In other words, Pixal is being a momma bear, and Zane is having memory tramua.)

They both made very good points, and really, they just wanted to protect "7" in their own way. In the end, they came to the concensus that they wouldn't alter her memories, but they would keep a close eye on her and her emotional responses to things moving forward. You know, talk to her about it and stuff, and help her to work through the memory if it started to bother her.

About 6 months after Crystalized, Zane and Pixal were finally done building "7's" new nindroid shell. And "7" was very eager to transfer over. She is cognitively around 5 at this point.

The process actually took a bit longer than Zane and Pixal thought. But "7" had been through a lot of adventures in her first couple of years alive. There were a lot of experiences and data to transfer over.

When the transfer was complete, "7" couldn't have been more excited!

The first thing Seven did was excitingly thank her mom and dad for her new body. Zane and Pixal were a bit surprised at this. They saw Seven as their daughter, of course, but they didn't realize that she shared the sentiment and thought of them as her parents. (As pretty much the whole team cared for and looked out for her in their own ways.) There was a lot of hugging and kissing and happy tears. 🥺 🤍💜🩵

(I want to eventually write out this particular scene with all the feels and such)

When asked if she wanted a new name, she declined, saying that she liked the name Mommy gave her. I mean, everyone on the team had been calling her "Seven" for a while, so I think that she would have become a bit attached to the name.

Behind the Scenes!

(I originally did want "7" to ask for a new name. She was going to choose "Crystal". "Like daddy's ice crystals!" was her reasoning. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that with everything she went through in...ahem..."Crystalized," I figured she wouldn't choose a name that would remind her of the evil purple shards that took over her home city and almost destroyed her family.

Also, I came across someone else's Pixane kid OC who was named Crystal, and I didn't want to steal that from them. So, with the combination of those factors, I scrapped that idea.)

In contrast to her parents' calm and thoughtful nature's, Seven is a bit of a handful. She's a very adventurous little 5 year old and is always seeming to get into trouble. Sometimes, in a mischievous way, but mostly, she's just exploring and learning about the world around her like all kids do.

She has a very bouncy and bubbly personality, and, as Pixal observed earlier, she can be rather emotional at times. She is very empathetic and doesn't like it when someone on the team is sad. She loves jokes and harmless pranks, and often, Jay and Kai will rope her into their prank wars. As much as she likes mechanical and electronic things, Seven loves to run around outside. She especially likes finding bugs.

Seven likes to spend time with her parents a lot. She was a bit clingy in her original shell, and that trait has definitely carried over. You'll often find her in the kitchen with Zane or in the Sam X cave checking out whatever new invention Pixal is working on.

Zane and Pixal, love their daughter so much!!! They are a little mini family inside of their bigger found family. They give each other hugs all the time and enjoy a big snuggle pile during movie nights.

Seven still loves watching Zane make snow flurries and ice crystals, and Zane loves seeing her face light up when he does. He often involves her when he's in the kitchen whipping up a new recipe. There is often a big mess by the time they're done. (Like when they made Cole a surprise birthday cake. Flour was everywhere!)

Since she started out working on inventions with Pixal, Seven still has a passion for electronics. She likes to hang around in the Sam X cave with her mom helping her with her inventions, making modification suggestions, and making stuff of her own. Pixal often hums when working on projects and Seven joins in. It often escalates into a full concert, both of them singing at the top of their lungs.

As Pixal predicted, Seven does have a bit of trauma from the whole monastery on fire incident.

It mostly surfaces as nightmares of fire and losing her family.

Zane and Pixal are with her through it all. Comforting her when she wakes up in the middle of the night, encouraging her that they aren't going anywhere. They will always be with her.

Zane got Kai involved, and he was able to show Seven that even though fire can be dangerous, when handled correctly it can be a beautiful thing, providing warmth, light, and comfort.

After that conversation and a few more experiences with Kai teaching her about fire, Seven began to overcome her fear of fire.

Seven loves her aunt and uncles!

Nya thinks that she is the absolute cutest thing and loves to work with her and Pixal on the silly projects Seven comes up with. 5 year olds have some crazy ideas for inventions.

Jay loves having someone around who actually laughs at his jokes. He loves being an uncle and playful teasing often ensues.

Lloyd is teaching her how to play some of his favorite video games, and in the process is taking more time for himself to relax and take a break from being the leader.

Kai is very happy to see this.

After helping Seven overcome her fear of fire, Kai has become a bit of a big brother figure to her. (Big surprise 🤭)

He likes to tease her and get into tickle fights until they both end up on the floor in fits of laughter.

Cole loves being an uncle and is always giving piggyback rides. They have a little game they play where Cole sees how high he can toss Seven into the air. This worried Zane a bit in the beginning, you know, his daughter being tossed straight up toward the ceiling. But he's used to it now. Cole knows what he's doing.

Probably.

Zane and Pixal have discussed eventually passing on Zane's element to Seven. But obviously not right now. Right now, they are just letting her be a kid, and trying to raise her to be the best nindroid that she can be.

And I personally think they are doing a great job.

That's all for now. If you've read this far, wowie! Thank you! You've got some perseverance! I'm not really the best writer, so thank you for listening! I have Seven's design planned out, and I hope to draw her soon for y'all. Stay tuned!

@100-percential-human I'm assuming that the wide eyes emoji on your reblog means that you are interested in this concept, so here you go! I hope you enjoy! :)

#ninjago 7 au #ninjago #lego ninjago #cole ninjago #ninjago oc #zane x pixal #zane ninjago #pixal borg #jay ninjago #nya ninjago #kai ninjago #ninjago lloyd #writing #alternate universe

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bijouxcarys · 2 months

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Queen's Hot Space Era: A Deep Dive

Masterlist

I’ve been thinking over this album and era more than usual lately, and decided that I’d write this up. Perhaps as a way to extricate all the Queen knowledge from my head, and the era in question takes up quite a lot of RAM.

The Hot Space album, and era, is very controversial and to this day garners a polarising set of opinions amongst fans and critics alike. So I just thought what the hell, let’s let everyone know what the hell was going on with Queen in the early 80s.

The Hot Space album was the 10th studio album by Queen and was released on the 21st May 1982. It had elements of disco, funk, R&B, dance, and pop, which was very different to what Queen had been doing throughout previous albums. The dance elements of this album was supposedly inspired by the success of Another One Bites The Dust, released in 1980.

Another One Bites The Dust was extremely successful in the US and the UK, the two largest marketing countries in the Western world, at least at the time—and Queen aimed to prolong that success.

The band started recording for Hot Space in June of 1981, and spent a gruelling 10 months on the project before wrapping up the production element in March of 1982. Upon its release, fans and critics found it disappointing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said “the band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesisers on their albums now dramatically reversed course, dedicating the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance pop, all driven by drum machines and coloured by keyboards with Brian May’s guitar coming in as flavour only on occasion.”

The fourth track on Hot Space, Body Language, has been dubbed the worst song in Queen’s discography by fans, and the whole album received no more than a 3-star rating overall.

Rolling Stone gave them a 3-star, whilst the Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave a 1-star… Yikes.

Hot Space is one of the more obscure Queen albums to those who are not currently, or have ever been, active within the fandom. So we’re going to break it down a little bit, and let’s just talk about the background and context of what the hell was going on with them.

So in 1981, Queen recorded Under Pressure with David Bowie, and it’s still considered one of Queen’s staple and most popular songs. It was recorded in Montreux, and was a completely separate project to Hot Space. The band had met up with Bowie and jammed together for a while, just to see if they could come up with something to lay down and master. Of course, as most people know, bassist John Deacon came up with the iconic Under Pressure bass riff, just before they all went out to get some pizza. And by the time they’d returned to the studio, he’d forgotten it! But luckily drummer Roger Taylor remembered it.

Now, this was the first time Queen weren’t working alone; they were used to working only with their producers, never having had anyone else’s input. The two artists merged as one for the song and it pointed in the direction of a potential new road for Queen—it was looking like an exciting one.

But what went wrong during the recording of Hot Space?

Brian May recalls that there was a total change of life for all of them. They travelled to Munich and according to Brian, that’s when things started to go downhill.

Let’s talk a little bit about the studio in which they recorded the album in Munich. It was situated in the basement of a hotel, and it was called Musicland Studios. It closed in the 90s due to some road issues, so it’s no longer open. But Brian remembers this place being grim and depressing.

The band’s mental health started to deteriorate after learning some unsettling details about the place. In Brian’s words:

“A lot of people used to jump off the top of the building and kill themselves off that particular building. We didn’t know that until we got there.”

The urge to finish recording grew, and they spent months at the hotel.

The aim was to create an album that focused more on the dance elements of music due to the success of Another One Bites The Dust, as I mentioned before. They seemed to be in luck, as Freddie Mercury’s entourage at the time was concentrated with dance influences in the form of Paul Prenter.

Now, who was Paul Prenter, you ask? If you’ve seen the film, you’ll kind of already know, but here’s a bit more of an in-depth look at him.

Paul Prenter was Freddie Mercury’s personal manager from 1977 to 1986. Despite their professional relationship, the two also engaged in intimate relations, and Prenter had a huge influence over Freddie’s life during the time he worked for him. He held partial responsibility for Freddie’s excessive involvement in drugs, alcohol, and his growing promiscuity.

Freddie was known to have fired Prenter in 1986, and shortly after it was plastered all over the news. It turns out Paul Prenter had sold personal stories to the press about Freddie… What a dick.

After receiving money from multiple press outlets, he moved back to his hometown of Belfast and spent it all—smart. He then asked Freddie for more money! After all that, he went back and asked him for money! But it’s okay, he did succumb to complications from AIDS a few months before Freddie. So… Freddie got the last laugh, it seemed.

You’re probably wondering what Paul Prenter had to do with Hot Space. After all, he wasn’t part of the band, right?

Well, Freddie’s life was ruled by the New York-inspired gay lifestyle of the 80s, particularly engaging in extreme partying and extreme promiscuity. And at the time, Freddie had suggested to the band that the music on their new album should sound like that of which they’d play in a gay bar, but those words had initially come from Paul Prenter.

It’s said that Prenter despised guitars and relentlessly referred to Brian May as old-fashioned. Roger Taylor recalled that Prenter was a “very bad influence” on the band:

“He was a very, very bad influence upon Freddie, and hence on the band. He very much wanted our music to sound like you just walked in a gay club, and I didn’t.”

The strain and tension became inevitable with the four personalities—and we all know that John, Freddie, Brian, and Roger have massive personalities. Whilst they had always experienced bickering, as most bands do, they now with the added tension, the production of the album isn’t going to go as smoothly.

“Arguments would start off as creative, but slowly became personal.”

Brian recalls that less and less time was spent in the studio and more time was spent arguing.

To put it into perspective about what life was like for the 10 months they spent recording Hot Space in Munich…A regular day recording this album went a little bit like the following:

The entourage recall waking up at 3am, working for hours, having dinner, and then roadies would mix up cocktails and other things would pursue. The band got mixed up in cocaine and various other drugs. Random women, and relentless drinking, and as any sane person will tell you, that is not a good thing.

Roger described it as an exhausting cycle day after day. Imagine doing that for 9 whole months.

Brian remembers them getting into “deep trouble emotionally” in Munich, which possibly explains why their mental states deteriorated.

Now, the Hot Space era didn’t just end when the album came out. Obviously, when an album comes out, you have to do interviews to promote your album and after months and months of bad influences and arguments, the band’s relationship had kind of broken down. Things continued in quite a tense fashion.

In fact, Freddie was left very unhappy and depressed after Hot Space wrapped up—it lasted a while, and he was completely immersed in places and habits that remained detrimental to his fate. Freddie became passive during interviews and defensive on certain questions concerning anything but current projects.

His attitude during the 1982 press conference in Europe was already standoffish and it was extremely obvious that he didn’t want to be there. The body language of the others, especially Brian, speaks volumes. The mood is low and they all seem exhausted.

Another nationwide interview the band gave in promotion for the album presented the group separated; Freddie was notably disinterested as the others spoke. There was even a moment where Freddie responds to the interviewer’s question with “let’s break up tomorrow” as a joke. But, watching it, you can’t help but feel there’s some truth to his words. Nobody laughed, even Roger looked uncomfortable by it!

One of the more well-known interviews from this era was with Brian and Roger, which displayed multiple moments of awkwardness with them both trying to make jokes and seem like they’re happy with what they’d produced, making up amateur excuses as to why they created something with a different sound. In my opinion, they just didn’t seem very happy. Do we even need to mention the “shut up” from Roger, and then the succeeding comment from Brian about Mack having the best drum sound?

Then, we have the iconic 1984 Freddie interview, where he left viewers stunned with his answers:

“I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you,” “I’m not an artist, I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.”

The long-term effects of what happened behind the scenes of Hot Space were everlasting and turned the group into four completely different people than they were prior to 1982.

As I’ve already mentioned, Hot Space wasn’t received well upon its release, and there are still very strong opinions about it today. Brian stated in 2014 that it isn’t the band’s worst album, but the timing of its release was just wrong. As time goes on, more people begin to accept the Hot Space album as just another reason why Queen is one of the most versatile groups of all time, with them branching out into very different styles to what they’d done earlier in their career, like Sheer Heart Attack, News Of The World, etc…

80s culture looked down upon disco and funk, so reception for Hot Space was bound to be less than amazing. However, today, all styles of music are simultaneously celebrated, and people enjoy the album more now than they did 40 years ago.

So in conclusion, recording Hot Space was a difficult period for Queen. It’s horrible to think about your idols going through the kind of thing they did in the early-mid 80s, influenced by not very nice people. But focusing on the album itself, it’s truly not a bad album at all. Granted, the timing of the release wasn’t the best for Queen, but it holds up as a fan favourite today.

If you haven’t heard any of the songs from Hot Space, besides Under Pressure, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s very different to what Queen usually did and I think it’s worth a listen.

Anyway, I’ll leave it at that. Let me know if you liked this little… post, whatever the hell it is, and if I should do more posts like this. I enjoy throwing all my useless knowledge onto a page lol.

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kpchrs · 7 months

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KRIS ON CRACK AGAIN - SCOTTSCOTT

So *PFFFFFT*

I was talking to @riverinkfics today that the ship name Caulscott could apply to Max and Brooke too and then they giggled for a hot minute because "Omg, is Nathan and Brooke ScottScott?!"

So I thought about how that ship would work and I made this shit up on the spot. Rewriting it properly for this post tho. For some reason, my brain works too smoothly with this after it stops working for months, why the hell.

Oh right, this is in the "Tornado? What tornado? Jefferson? Jefferson who?" AU.

If you wonder why "again", that's because I've written something else while being high on crack on sleep deprivation. Not this long and proper tho.

Crack fics are so dumb. Crack ships are so dumb. Credits to the two of us lol

Enjoy, whothefuckever you are.

(***)

Building a drone for Ms. Grant's project is not easy, Brooke thinks.

It's not easy because something else is occupying her spacious, brilliant mind. Something that starts with the letters W and M and those two letters going on a drive to see Ape movies together.

It's okay, Brooke thinks, in contrast to the bitterness oozing out from her heart. It's not like she doesn't have the Ape movies. It's not like she doesn't have all the original CDs in her room. It's not like Warren knows that.

But the problem is he knows. He knows, he sees her collection, and he still invites Max Caulfield. When she was the one who showed the drive-in flier to him. She was the one who helped choose the vintage car for him.

But maybe this is her fault. She chickened out trying to invite him first.

Wai-wait, Warrbrlgh, she bit (her tongue) that day, cocking an eyebrow on his face.

What's up, Brookes? he said.

And like some cliche girl, she panicked, a jumble of thoughts and word combinations in her mind, and instead blurted out, N-nothing.

Uh, okay, Warren said, rubbing the back of his neck. Then… I'll go back to my room.

Just like that, Brooke let him go. Let her chance go too, apparently, because the next day, Warren swooped in, showed off his car, and fumbled over his own tongue asking Max Caulfield out. And she accepted.

Max accepted.

So, yep, this heartbreak is nothing. It's nothing.

Like hell it's nothing. What if that was her last chance? What if at the end of the drive-in tomorrow, Warren will hold her hand, stare at her with those warm brown eyes of his, and then they will mack on each other's mouth and blargh, stop, stop, she doesn't want to imagine that. Gross. (It's a gross thing that would stop being one if she replaced Max with herself, though.)

Tears prickle her eyes and she harshly blinks it away. No, Brooke Scott won't cry like some cliche, plain Jane girls. Like a certain cliche, plain Jane girl. But maybe… maybe Warren likes that kind of girl…

Biting the insides of her mouth, Brooke grabs an apple, a stronger grip than necessary, attaching it to the drone. This drone will be a transport drone, just like the proposal she presented to Ms. Grant in class a month ago, and she will test it out now. To get it over with this annoying project so she can quickly go back to her room (and secretly weep to her pillow).

Controlling the drone with the controller she handmade herself, she watches as the drone smoothly flies and brings the apple. Good. Good. She can see clunks and kinks here and there, but she can fix that later. How about moving it away?

Her thumb pushes the joystick. The drone flies away towards the tree. Good, good. That's smoother than she expected. Maybe she can take a week to perfect it and then submit it to Ms. Grant early. What about flying it faster?

For a moment, she forgets about W, M, and apes. Brooke is all lemon and sea salt at the surface, but deep down she's still a geek who thrives on her sweet robotics passion. The excitement continues to bloom in her chest, but that stops when a flash of red passes by as her drone intersects.

Nathan Prescott is the red, somehow escaping her line of sight, and by some split of chance, the apple smacks one of his eyes when he whips his head at the whirling sound. As if that presses an invisible curse button, he lets out a plethora of swear words.

"Shit! Fuck! Fucking shit!" he yells, clenching his eye and doubling down. Brooke's stupid fingers unconsciously turn off the drone and it also falls on his head with a crashing sound. "AGH! GOD. FUCKING. DAMMIT!"

That should be my words, she grits out in her head. She messes up, colliding her drone - and her life and death - with Nathan Prescott, the entitled King of Blackwell. Brooke won't admit it, but she is terrified. She is going to run away or something, but Nathan clocks her first and yells, "WHAT THE FUCK, BITCH?"

It's just so like her, letting go of her chance again. For some reason, that upsets her so much, so she hardens her gaze and claps back, "You in the way is what the fuck, Nathan Prescott."

Passive-aggressive sarcasm is one of her greatest fortes. This time, she turns down the passiveness to 0 and turns up the aggressiveness to 11.

"What did you say?!"

"You were in the way when I was testing my drone."

"Your dumbass drone was in the way when I was minding my own business!" he hisses.

That's true. She should have just apologized and begone, because that's what Brooke who prides on her intelligence would do, but nope, apparently Max and Warren lower her IQ.

"Maybe if you were smarter you would've taken your dumbass Prescott business somewhere else."

Look at that, saying another person should be smarter? That's so ironic of her.

Nathan maroons, imitating the color of his jacket. "You-!"

Aw, what luck. Now she has done it.

Nathan grabs her drone on the ground and stomps stomps stomps his feet towards her. Brooke takes a step back and a hand swipes at hers.

"I'm taking this."

It takes her a second to realize Nathan has stolen her controller. "You can't. That's my science project!"

"And you should've thought of that before forgetting the Prescotts own this town and your ass and this shitty drone. Fuck off."

The flash of red goes away as fast as it came. And all that Brooke can think of is that she wouldn't be able to submit the project earlier to Ms. Grant now.

This is all because of the plain Jane Doe Max Caulfield.

(***)

Brooke didn't follow her plan yesterday, weeping to her pillow, and she was so proud of herself. So proud of herself for not being weak.

Instead, she replaced it with some good scream which thus why she wakes up with a hoarse throat. Just when she pushes her body from bed, she remembers what day it is (Max and Warren's date) and she just wants to go back to sleep.

Max and Warren.

Brooke never thinks she will say this, but at that point, she hates her brain for getting stuck in a spiral.

Holing up in her room in the dark is not good for human psyche. The journals she reads are right. So she forces herself to come out of the dorm two hours before the sun dips completely in the west and drops her body on the bench, facing the dorm.

Ah. The dorm. The dorm which is owned by a certain family whose family asshole is one of the students. Why, why, why everything reminds her of the shitty yesterday.

Whirlwhirlwhirlwhirlwhirlwhirl-

Wait, that sounds familiar. And fast, like so fast. And right behind her.

On reflex, Brooke turns around and just like a weird deja vu, an apple smacks her glasses. She loses her balance on the bench, falls on her butt, and the drone, her drone, smashes to the dorm wall in a loud crash.

Brooke bites a whimper, removing her glasses to rub the aching nose bridge and not trying to move from her position because her butt cheek numbs.

The sounds of steps approaching her are slow and quiet. Brooke puts on her glasses, snaps her head at the figure, and meets with a constipated Nathan Prescott. Constipated as in he looks like he can't decide between smirking or grimacing. Like he wants to say something but fighting to keep his mouth shut.

"H-hell yeah, fucking revenge," Nathan decides to say in the end, sounding unsure. He still wears a constipated face.

Brooke's vision blurs so she puts on her glasses, but it's on already. Her cheeks are warm and wet. When she realizes what happens, the embarrassment and dread pain her more than the gravity pulling her butt cheek to the ground.

"Wh-wh-wh-why the fuck are you crying???" said Nathan, his tone shrill. He's so entitled he thinks he can panic when it SHOULD be her right. "OKAY, OKAY, SHIT. I'M SORRY, OKAY."

"That hurts, you asshole!" she screams, letting go of her tears and her pride finally. "And this hurts too!"

Maybe Nathan thinks she's talking about her butt or her nose or whatever, but she means this, as in the organ beating in her chest. A vital organ that for some reason has a brain on its own.

Max and Warren.

It hurts.

(***)

"That's bullshit!" Leaning on the wall, Nathan chomps the bruised apple after rubbing it for a moment on his prized jacket.

That's so gross. Boys are gross. That apple has rolled on the ground several times. It's hardly fresh anymore. But whatever. If Nathan ends up with the opposite of constipation, that's not her problem.

"I bet my ass he knows."

"Knows what." Brooke stared at him, bored. Fingers fiddle her ransacked drone.

"That guy knows your goddamn feelings, that's what!"

Oh yeah, Brooke told him everything. She'll admit it now for once. She's an idiot.

"He," Nathan starts, chewing another bite, "pretends not to know."

Mm, yeah, that stings.

"Why?"

"Dunno. Just my guts."

Brooke can't help it. She stares him down. And sitting on the bench while him on the grass, that's easy.

He glares back, though. Tch, Prescott scrub.

"Inviting Max Caulfield?" Nathan spits Jane Doe's name as if it's insect. "Shitty choice."

Oh. Oh! Max Caulfield is shitty. They agree on something.

"And Warren Graham? Double shitty choice."

Wait. "Are you saying my tastes are bad?"

"Oh, c'mon. Warren? Graham? Seriously? My eyes fucking burn every time I come out of my room and see him and his dumb Tee. Do you know he plays games in the toilet? Yikes."

"And you are eating a filthy-ass apple. You're not any better than him with that logic, Prescott," Brooke hisses low.

"Don't challenge me, Scott. You don't know who you are messing with." Nathan squinted. "I'm saying that maybe they deserve the shittiness of each other. That's all."

"You think I'm not shitty?"

"Who the fuck says that?"

It sounds like that, to be honest. But she doesn't really care about his opinion, so Brooke shrugs.

Nathan stops chomping on his apple. Brooke wants to think he gets self-conscious after she calls him out eating the gross apple. He proceeds to toss it, like it's a ball.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

Gravity.

"The apple bonks both our heads. We should have gotten some sort of epiphany by now."

Nathan raises his brow.

"Isaac Newton."

"Ah, that dude."

"Newton got the idea of the theory of gravity because an apple hit his head," Brooke said, in a reflective tone. "What's ours?"

Nathan shrugs. "Who cares."

Well. That's fine. She will think of her own.

Warren pretending not to know. That feels so shitty. So shitty. But if what Nathan says is true…

Brooke tries to imagine Warren's face that day when she tries to ask him out. Yeah, she can see that. She sees the air of relief coming out of his mouth when Brooke backed off. She just didn't see it because her brain selected what she wanted to see.

And that means, she really doesn't have any chance with Warren.

Or maybe... Warren… doesn't deserve her. If Warren likes his girl plain, then maybe Brooke shouldn't stoop low to that level. Wait, what if, what if he is a John Doe himself?!

Oh, wow, the apple really works. She really gets an epiphany. She needs help but yeah, she gets it.

Nathan watches her, but she's busy thinking. He tosses the apple to the air one last time and then throws it far. Right to the trash bin.

"Well, glad to be your Newton service." He stands up, clapping sticky hands. "I'm bored. I'm going."

"Get your own epiphany," Brooke says, surprisingly sincere, when he's leaving. "Whatever it is."

Nathan smirks across his shoulder. "Mind your own Scott business." For a second there, she thinks she sees his gaze go brittle, but it must be her own imagination.

Brooke stays to watch as the sun dips and the hemisphere goes absent of light.

The next week, she hears something about Max Caulfield and some punk girl. And nothing, nothing about Warren and Max goes official, or some kiss, or whatever it is.

Maybe, Max Caulfield is not the Jane Doe she initially thought. Maybe, she also doesn't want to settle for a John Doe.

She exhales, as she gets another epiphany. Huh. Max Caulfield. Interesting.

But, Nathan is right, she thinks as she fixes and gives improvements on her drone.

That's not Scott business.

#life is strange #kris on crack #crack fic #crack ship #maybe #its more on friendship #nathan prescott #brooke scott #scottscott #i roast warren and max hard here but its from brooke's pov okay #warren is awesome #brooke sees what she wanna see lol

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hammerhead-jpg · 5 months

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Talking about the balance

Spoilers under the cut!

So I was looking at old theory (?) post I made about the Balance

My prediction was that Elliott, Aaron and Smartass were in some way going to team up with Avior and Starlight to take down close-knit and that Vega and Warden were gonna have something to do with it

I mean it makes sense right? Avior and Starlight escaped the meridian around the same time that Elliott was let out of close-knit and went to Aaron for help.

They were both given the same mission about the Sovereign trying to escape and both have beef with Blake

I ended up being right about Vega and Warden having something to do with it, I mean they still haven't shown up in the story but Vega talks about going after close-knit, so it's very likely their paths were going to cross.

But after the newest Sovereign state video I'm starting to second guess myself?

After what Circinus said about the masses blaming Avior and Starlight for what happened and El'atum and Min'era (or however it's fucking spelled) potentially having sinister intentions and the fact that the news about the Sovereign still haven't broke to the public a year and a half later, to me it's clear that Avior and Starlight are in some way behind project meridian.

I mean, it makes sense right? Avior and Starlight decide not to go public and help the Meridian in the way that El'atum and Min'era wanted, instead it is kept private as a secret with the department. They try to find a way to learn about the meridian with the meridian test, but after a human gets brain fried and a demon just falls through the meridian, they descide that an android could potentially do the experiment correctly. They find a company that is creating a humanoid robot and take over it for the project.

But if they're doing that, who is gonna be helping Elliott?

I guess they can meet, but if they do then Avior could just go to the Government people they're working with just like "hey this demon hating cult kidnapped two people and a demon and have information about the sovereigns" I imagine close-knit would be level to the ground within a blink, but we know that they're still standing a year and a half later

I mean is Vega just going to show up to close-knit, take down the ward to try and break in and then thus helping Scorpius leave and take Sunshine with him? You could say that they escape shortly after the post inversion and all the other time that is left is them trying to figure out how to take down close-knit, maybe even teaming up with William, because it still was never said which demon they got the blood from.

But then the question is why wouldn't they go to the department? Elliott couldn't go to the department because they were overwhelmed with the inversion but surely after a couple of months they would be able to listen to what they have to say? I mean we know the department sucks so it wouldn't be too surprising if Elliott did tell them and they just went "well do you have any proof?" and when tell them to go to the close-knit building they go there and say "do you have people in your basement" and they go "no" and the department is like "ok" and then they go to Elliott and say "well they said they didn't do it"

It wouldn't be the first time in history something like that has happened

I know I just said a couple of paragraphs ago that if Avior told the government people about close-knit they would take care of it but I imagine that the people working with them would be a small super secret part of the department and not the whole department, potentially one that takes shit seriously unlike the peons that we usually see

But yeah I don't know, I'm just word vomiting at this point.

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted the balance #redacted balance #redacted sovereign state #redacted carpe deus

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therandosfandos · 3 months

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@frenderbender09 @euforimorily

Fry trembles as they walked to the FRYA headquarters, images replaying in his mind of Bender going through all that torture. He was himself, he was fighting back, spewing insults, doing what he would normally do, but then it all crumbled, each punch getting weaker, falling apart. Tears well up in his eyes and he had to use the wall of a building for support. He hiccuped, trying to hold himself together but it's hard, very hard.

"Fry?...", Leelas determined face turns to fear and worry as she came over to the redhead, "you okay?", she asked quietly in a very hushed tone.

He hesitates in response, wiping tears but they just fell faster, streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls, "I just...", he chokes out, "he..he tried to fight back Leela...he tried to...but...but he gave up...he...", he sniffled and started balling.

Leela's worry worsened, "Fry, it's gonna be alright...that was months ago...", she tried to comfort him.

"But what if the same thing is happening again!? What if he doesn't fight back!? What if he ends up getting hurt way worse!?", the ginger panics.

The cyclops sighs and sits next to him, "Fry, I have to be honest, I have no idea what will happen, I don't know the future and I wish I could, but all I can say is... we'll get him back...", she promised.

Fry releases a shaky breath as he calms down, "yeah, I...", he swallows, "I hope."

The crew must have continued on without them because they were further down the sidewalk. Leela helped him onto his feet and they ran to catch up with the others.

***

Bender groans as he awoke for what seemed to be the fifth time in a row, or was it third. God, his mind was so fuzzy, he can't even make out details correctly. He groans but notices how his hands are cuffed together with handcuffs, thick ones. He's sitting on the floor now and is on a table on his back. He can't paw at the air to get up. He was helpless and if he rolled over as a solution, it would only create a loud noise and everyone will be alerted by the clanking of metal hitting the ground, plus he'd be hurt even more.

He whimpers, squinting at the bright light above him. A white ceiling. He manages to weakly turn his head to the side, optics widening when he sees bottles of chemicals, mixtures, a shit ton of medicine and pills, syringes, several restraints and emergency procedure things. He nearly passed out again but managed to keep calm. He struggled against his handcuffs, grunting as they just clicked together, "god damnit...", he growls in a small voice. He noticed his hands were bandaged though. Stained with oil. The bandage ran from half tips of his fingers and ended at about more than halfway down his arm tubes. His side was bandaged up as well, stained with the same black substance.

His optics flickered, nearly going fully out before he bashes his closed fists against them to knock them back in order. He sighs of relief as he was able to see. Where was he? What happened?

All he remembers was that dumb voice. His wires— WAIT, HIS WIRES!

If what he thought happened was correct, then his wires were cut so a panel in the back of his chest compartment was able to be accessed. He honestly didn't know what was back there himself and never bothered to check it out. He didn't really want to know either way.

He grunts as he shifts his body until it was on the unbandaged side, looking at the other half of the room. On a stand of the counter was a thick white book, a picture of a girder and robot arms bending it. He manages to make out the words, "bending unit hand guide-", his optics widen once again. Why was that needed!?

Bender whined and shifts once more till he was on his back again. He closes his eyes, it's best to rest until whatever torture awaiting him came. Not like he could do anything. Though, he felt weaker. Why did he feel weaker?

The foghat grey robot adjusted his vision and then saw a bandage on his upper forearm. Was he injected with something? There was another one in that same spot on his other arm as well. God, he was so tired. He wanted to sleep, but he refused to. Not again. He can't.

A groan or pain escapes him. The door opens and he flinches instantly, "ah, good, patient no.0 is awake...", a female voice says and Bender heard the clicking of a pen. He tilts his head to look up but it was forced back down.

"Where...?", he croaks. Then horror floods over him when the answer was revealed. The answer that saved his life once. The answer that he trusted. The answer who were so gentle with him. The answer who rescued him from Owens chamber that chained him still.

"You're at the FRYA, darlin"

#futurama #bender #fry #frender #the bent ownership #the bent downfall

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themculibrary · 4 months

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Fics Written In 2017 Masterlist

accidentally need you (ao3) - biblionerd07 steve/bucky T, 4k

Summary: Steve and Bucky broke up, but they're still friends. They just happen to keep going on dates and sleeping together. It's not a thing. (Except it is.)

an exchange of voices in repetition (ao3) - sandyk pepper/tony M, 4k

Summary: Pepper hadn’t really thought about the difficulties of planning a wedding around all the rest of her life.

Bagels and Bandaids and Bad Guys and Breakfast (ao3) - florahart clint/phil M, 7k

Summary: Clint owns a bakery/coffee shop, and he needs the following: an accountant, an occasional medic, and for those assholes in the track suits to just gtfo.

Phil shows up looking for part time work just in time to meet some of those needs. And maybe some other needs too.

Come on and Get Your Kicks (ao3) - Dira Sudis (dsudis) steve/tony E, 8k

Summary: "At the end of the day, you just want to be my pretty little girl, is that it?"

Steve surged up to wrap his arms around Tony, kissing him with the kind of filthy fervor that Steve usually reserved for you could have died or I haven't had an orgasm in 36 hours.

So, all right then. Hypothesis confirmed.

Complimentary Colors (ao3) - zenkitty555 stephen/tony M, 32k

Summary: Tony Stark is learning how to let go and live a little after giving his all for so long. Stephen Strange is still trying to balance all of his duties and find some time for himself. When Tony has to give him some bad news, the two start to realize that they may be able to help one another out in a few different ways.

Don't Let Me Down (Got a Lot Going On Right Now) (ao3) - sheron steve/tony G, 5k

Summary: A failed chemistry experiment in the lab means Tony has to take off his gauntlet. In front of Steve. Who has never seen him without it before.

Down to Zero (ao3) - Sineala steve/tony, peter/johnny T, 18k

Summary: After a battle against the Controller goes awry, Steve is bewildered and guilt-ridden when Tony begins to treat him exactly the same as he treats everyone else.

Five Dates Bucky Didn't Realize He Was On (And the One That He Planned Himself) (ao3) - icywind bucky/clint T, 11k

Summary: To say that Bucky was surprised when Clint kissed him was an understatement. But it was nothing compared to the shock he felt when he learned they'd been dating for months without him realizing it.

Clint gets whisked away for a mission before they have time to talk and Bucky is left to figure things out on his own - hindsight being 20/20 he can't help but wonder how he missed things the first go around.

Head Over Feet (ao3) - Robin_tCJ steve/tony E, 56k

Summary: It had sounded like a good idea at the time. Tony Stark, genius and heir to the Stark fortune, didn't expect to fall in love with the kind, handsome soldier he'd picked up at a bar that he had only gotten into because of a particularly well-crafted fake ID. He didn't expect to spend the best week of his life with a funny, wonderful artist who would be shipping off to war in only days.

And he definitely didn't expect that soldier to die before they could even try to build something.

He tries to move on with his life and find a way to feel whole, but after one too many disappointments, Tony gives up on the idea of happiness altogether.

Of course, then he finds himself on a street in New York, covered in coffee and having the shock of his life.

How We Met (ao3) - FestiveFerret steve/tony E, 41k

Summary: Life was pretty simple for Tony - work on his graduate thesis, hang out with his robotics projects in his unusual apartment, and fuck people for money. At least, it was simple until he met Steve Rogers.

In Dreams (Everything Makes Sense) (ao3) - msermesth steve/tony T, 41k

Summary: Or, it only took a group hallucination for Bucky to find his team and Steve and Tony to find each other.

Just Far Enough (ao3) - TheSopherfly bucky/steve/tony M, 50k

Summary: Tony couldn’t honestly remember how long it had been like this. Probably since the day he’d called T’Challa and offered his help. At first it had just been compulsive self-denial: you can’t eat until you’ve drafted your opening remarks, until you’ve finished your research, until you’ve rewritten every last colon and comma and apostrophe in those Accords so that everyone can come home.

Those goals had been realistic. Lately, they’d become impossible. Until everyone forgives you. Until you forgive yourself. Until you make up for every bad thing you’ve ever caused.

He was fine. He was coasting in a dangerous place, but he was fine. He wasn't taking it too far - just far enough.

Kinda Magical (ao3) - Em_Jaye darcy/steve G, 29k

Summary: Darcy loves her bakery. She loves way the right treat and a cup of coffee can turn someone's day around, she loves her employees, and she really loves when Charlotte Rogers comes to try the macarons, dragging her handsome, single father behind her.

Kiss Me Thru The Phone (ao3) - 27dragons, tisfan bucky/tony E, 7k

Summary: Trolling Steve seems like a good idea, right up until Bucky’s really, really into the pretend phone sex…

But… seems like maybe Tony’s into it, too…

Mark XXX (ao3) - Robin_tCJ steve/tony/iron man (armour) E, 4k

Summary: Oh, look, another filthy, filthy threesome porn. This time, it's Steve/Tony/Iron Man Armour. No plot, mostly porn with a little bit of cracky humour. It's dirty, and I'm sorry.

No I'm not. I'm not sorry. You know what, you're all down here in the muck with me.

Mutually Assured Infatuation (ao3) - Meatball42 steve/tony G, 3k

Summary: When Steve gifts Tony a teddy bear to help him get better after he’s injured on a mission, Tony decides he can’t let it stand.

Neighbor Alligator (ao3) - inkbert bucky/darcy N/R, 67k

Summary: Bucky Barnes discovers the gorgeous dame next door, and also that she thinks he's the worst neighbor ever. He sets out to clear his name and suddenly his life of therapy appointments and workouts includes competitive pizza making classes, maintaining favorite customer status at the coffee shop down the street, more thrift stores than he ever wanted to know about, and somewhere along the way he loses his heart. Too bad Darcy isn't willing to let go of the whole 'worst neighbor' thing.

Once a Loser, Always a Loser (ao3) - sameuspegasus T, 11k

Summary: Why can no one else see what Flash sees when he looks at Peter? They're so blinded by his puppy-dog eyes and his brilliant brain that they don't notice the things that Peter does. The lying. The neglect of commitments. The secrets and disappearances and attention-seeking claims of being mentored by a tech genius. But Flash notices. And tries to tell people.

AKA Flash bullies Peter because he's jealous

Past Imperfect (ao3) - Neverever steve/tony T, 7k

Summary: Present day Tony tells Steve that Steve wouldn't like the college version of Tony.

An alternative Steve, living in a dystopian future, is sent back to the past to stop the death of a young Tony Stark at MIT. He doesn't know what he's going to find but he's going to try his best to save Tony.

We're Dating (ao3) - Whothefuckyduckyisbucky steve/tony G, 6k

Summary: Tony thinks they're dating. They totally are. Someone should tell Steve. Set after The avengers movie. In the 1940's male friendships were a lot more affectionate, so Steve doesn't always get that the affection Tony shows him isn't platonic.

Worth His Weight (ao3) - chubbychoco steve/tony E, 8k

Summary: King Stark has been offered a rare and valuable gift - a virgin slave, trained but untouched, for him to use in any way he sees fit. But despite the awful rumors surrounding his reign, he may not be as horrible as Steve has heard.

#themculibrary #marvel #mcu #masterlists #2017fics #2017fics masterlist

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amooo1023 · 2 years

Note

Alright, how about a little Protective Yandere Cloak-Bot fic? Preferably post-the episode right after they made a point about robots having souls and then killed cloak bot thing

Alright Hallow! I finished it. I hope you will enjoy it. It took some time Because I didn't really know how to end it. I also hope you liked the idea. It also contains a bit of gore? But it's not a lot. Anyways word count should be 2611.

Protective Yandere Cloak-Bot x reader

You had just gotten out of work, you were going to the car parking station so that you could drive home. While on your walk something catches your eyes. There was something shining in the closed dark alleyway where you were walking by. Curiosity instantly fills your mind. You want to ignore it, you take a step away from the alley. The light immediately starts to shine brighter. Now you really wanted to know what it was. Curiosity takes the best of you and you walk into the alleyway following the light. Once you’ve reached the light you stop and turn around.

Surprisingly, you actually see something that interests you. Some metal and a lone slightly destroyed robot head. The metal doesn’t seem like your kind of metal, it seemed different. You stopped to inspect the metal on the ground. The parts looked slightly oxidized and broken. When you touch the metal it gives off small amounts of heat. Not enough to burn your skin, but still warm. It still had a small resemblance of a robot or a machine of some sort. You wanted to know if it had a memory chip still in it.

An idea pops in your head. Maybe this could be a little fun project for you. You could also check if it had a memory chip at home. If it doesn’t then it’ll just be a bit harder. You’ve always wanted to repair a more complex robot instead of small bots, though at the sight you were seeing it would take more than just a ‘repair’ and more of a rebuild. You hum to yourself at the thought of rebuilding a bot.

You grab into your pocket and pull out some cut resistant gloves. You swiftly put the tough looking gloves on incase you won’t cut yourself on accident, metal isn’t very fun to get a cut from. You then grab the metal and carry as much as you can hold. You check to see if the parking station is near. Luckily for you it was pretty close, just by the corner. You were pretty lucky today huh? You carry the metal up to the parking station where you parked your car.

After walking in the station for a few minutes your eyes start seeing your car. You quickly run to the car and open the trunk of your car. Placing the metal in the trunk with great pride. You eye the frog-like head which seemed to be the last thing to go in the trunk. For some reason you felt uneasy about the robot head lying there. It felt as if you were being watched. You shrug the feeling off quickly, as you swiftly put the robot head on the metal pile. You shut the car's trunk as a hushed click sound accompanied by a quiet thud can be heard from you shutting the trunk.

You open the car door to the driver's seat and plop yourself down ready to drive to your house. You start the engine and vroom off to your house.

(Short time skip)

_______________________________________________________________________

It’s been 2 months since you’ve fixed the frog robot. Apparently, it already had a memory card which you plopped in the robot head. It lit up that day and let you access the blueprint of what parts you had to use to build the bot. It was instructing you. You had most of the parts there, though coming from the trashed robot itself. But it did work so now you have a robot at home. With lots of questionable weapons that it could use. The bots name was ‘cloak-bot’ but you decided to call them CB for short.

The robot had instructed you a lot using images from its small screen light projector, it was surprisingly pretty high-tech. Though it seemed as if it was hiding things from you. It didn’t bother you though. It was just a robot anyway. You haven’t been able to fix a voice box for it yet though so for now it’s just pretty much mute. It did seem a bit sentient with its body language, almost too much. It was interesting for you-.

A cold metal hand touches your face and snaps you back to reality. Your head immediately flinches away from the random touch on pure instinct. You hadn’t realized you were dozing off lost in a trance. Cloak-bot’s yellow eyes watch you with a confused expression. You then proceed to open your mouth to apologize to the bot. “Sorry CB, dozed off there-” You get interrupted by two cold arms picking you up swiftly from the chair you were sitting on.

Cloak-bot holds you in a somewhat bridal position. The frog robot's arms are chillingly cold against your smaller body, causing you to shiver slightly from the cold, as your body flinches. Cloak-bot obviously notices your body flinching and looks at you with an even more confused expression. “CB, could you put me back down please?” You ask the bot. It visibly hesitates and stares at you in a trance. You couldn’t tell what its expression was indicating, but you didn’t like getting stared at. A few more seconds pass and you cringe slightly from the staring, deciding it was enough. “CB?”

You immediately get dropped and fall down onto the floor. Your butt falling harshly on the floor, you yelp at the sudden pain increasing from your butt and then to your legs. Cloak-bot flails its arms a little and panics, eyeing your form a few times. Before the bot frantically picks you up again in a panic. This time increasing its hold on you as it checks to see if you're okay.

You eye it with a slightly angered expression. It didn’t seem to react from your expression as it is only focusing on if you're hurt or not. Your expression softens at the bot as you sigh.

“Look, CB I’m fine, I only fell down.” You breath out to cloak-bot. Cloak-bot skeptically looks at you as if not fully trusting you. You softly groan at this. “I can handle this CB. You can trust me, there’s no point in lying to you anyway.” You tell it. It responds with a worried expression, looking down at you. You shoot it with a big smile of reassurance. It puts you back down to the ground gently, careful to not hurt you as it emphasizes a sigh.

You quickly pull yourself up from the floor and stand up, your body trying to recap itself from the bot dropping you before. The bot’s eyes pierces into your body, staring at you. You shakely sigh. “Thanks, CB.” You quietly say with a tint of softness in your voice. Cloak-bot’s eyes soften at your sudden gratitude. You then begin to walk back to your desk and sit on your chair again. You then begin working on your other project.

Cloak-bot starts walking towards you. It then stops and flops itself onto your bed as a resounding thud can be heard from it placing itself onto your bed. The thud noise causes you to turn your head towards the bed. You eye it immediately with slight unease. Cloak-bot realizes this and quickly waves at you with one of its long metal arms, almost awkwardly. You snort and laugh to yourself a little, as you turn your head back to your project.

You could feel its eye-piercing stare at you, always watching. It does the same thing when you’re sleeping. A shiver runs down your spine. It’s starting to get a lot more creepy to you. You play with the screwdriver in your hands as you screw the nail into the wood.

Not to mention the constant affection and touching you get from it even if you deny it or don’t give it consent.

You pick up a hammer lying on your desk. Getting ready to hit a nail, while holding down the wood.

Whenever it touches you its touch burns into you staying there for hours on end. It’s not comforting, it’s concerning.

A sudden rush of pain pierces through one of your fingers. You scream loudly as the pain pierces and rushes through your finger, pulsating in rhythm as blood seeps out of your finger, nail still in the finger. The pain starts to spread in your fingers, your finger constantly twitching along with the pulsating, joining in with the rhythm. The blood starts rushing out of your finger as your finger is already starting to get numb. A loud hiss escapes your mouth in pain. The blood dropping onto the desk and your project. If you don’t do anything your desk is going to get absolutely drenched with blood. Your finger starts to ache as you screech a bit more quieter.

Loud creaking sounds can be heard from the bed as weight is lifted off from the soft blankets. Cloak-bot rushes towards you and frantically pulls you up with great speed, panicked from your loud screaming. Cloak-bot pulls the nail out of your finger causing you to hiss from the nail suddenly getting ripped out from your flesh, as tears run down your cheeks. Its eyes looked worriedly at you showing some sort of solemn expression, it was sympathetic. It runs towards the bed and places you there gently and in great speed dashes downstairs as loud creaking sounds could be heard from the stairs.

Tears run down your eyes, then down your cheeks as throbbing pain goes through your finger. You loudly wail into your blankets in an attempt to muffle your wails. To your displeasure your blood is already drenched onto the blankets. You scoff in disgust at the sight you were seeing yourself in. You’re glad that cloak-bot is here to help you through this.

You hate the thought of feeling this helpless on your own, you were capable of doing things without help. You’ve always proven it to other people, always proved them wrong. You were scared of it, scared of not being able to do anything on your own. It was torture. But this is one of these moments when you appreciate the help despite how degrading this is for you.

You don’t even realize the puddle of blood you're in, until cloak-bot comes back up from the stairs. It brought something to cover your bleeding finger with and some water to rinse the wound with so that an infection wouldn’t build up in your finger. You smile weakly at cloak-bot.

Cloak-bot goes towards your bed and stops to crouch down so that it could be in eye-level with you. It takes your hand with your numb finger still leaking with blood. The blood drops on cloak-bot’s rather sharp metallic claws. Though not staining it’s metal as it simply runs down from the claws instead. It then pours down the water onto your throbbing finger and tries its best to wash your wound. Sharp pain rushes through your wounded finger in insufferable speed, as pained hisses escape from your mouth.

It covers your wound with some long comfortable cloth, it wraps the cloth around your wound swiftly. The cloth is warm and comfortable against your finger. It’s a big change from cloak-bot’s freezing robot body. Cloak-bots eyes are focused on the cloth wrapped around your finger, staring intently. It stays like this for a few seconds, until it decides to remove the bloody drenched blanket away from you. Cloak-bot picks a silky warm blanket as replacement for the other drenched blanket and tucks you in the blanket.

You whisper out a quiet ‘thank you’ to cloak-bot. Cloak-bot looks at you with what seems to be a small grin resting on their robotic teeth joined with slightly lighter eyes. You smile back softly despite the stinging pain going through your finger. You close your eyes getting ready to rest, silently drifting into a deep slumber.

Until the robot plopped onto your bed trying to lie down with you, a creaking sound erupts from the bed as weight was put onto the bed. Your eyes immediately jolt open, staring wide-eyed at the bot. It looked back at you with a happy expression. The bot’s metallic arms come to wrap around you in a sense of embrace. But it’s not cold this time, for some reason the robot got warmer.

The pain started to get relentless as the pain increased more and more as the robot got closer to you. The more it snuggled up against you, the worse the pain got and the more the warmth increased. The warmth was almost getting unbearable, it was suffocating. Breathing felt intoxicating as if the very air was poisoning you. You raspilly coughed. You tried opening your mouth to say something but nothing came out, only a weak groan came out of you.

You started getting more tired as the heat was getting to you. Your vision blurring out and then falling asleep on the bed.

______________________________________________________________________

You woke up from some claws lightly brushing your cheeks. You groan.

“Five more minutes CB… I’ll be down there soon, I swear.” You tiredly respond. Drifting back to sleep. Sounds of robotic snickering immediately shot you awake from the dead. “CB! Since when could you laugh?” You ask cloak-bot surprised. An amazing aroma fills your nostrils as you immediately get hungry, already salivating from the starvation of food.

You then start to get up from the bed tiredly and until you stop rising from your bed. You get interrupted by a cold metal arm pushing you back down. You frown at cloak-bot. Meanwhile, you’re met with an excited robot. You smirk at this. “Okay, okay what’s the big surprise CB?” You ask with a smirk on your face. You’re immediately met with a plate of pancakes. Breakfast in bed today? What’s the big occasion? You immediately get up and sit on your bed ready to dig into the pancakes. “Thank you.” You say happily to cloak-bot.

After you had eaten all of the pancakes you decided to get up from the bed and go do work again. But you were stopped from cloak-bot carrying you instead in a bit of a panic.

”CB I think I’m good on my own. Thanks for trying to be more helpful, but you don’t have to do anything else for me.” You respond confused. It didn’t even make a move hinting that it would be letting you go down, it held you tightly unwillingly to let you go. You waited patiently for a response or some sort of acknowledgement, but you got nothing. “CB could you please let me go?” You asked worriedly. This time it starred at you. The stare had reminded you of your numb finger. The aching feeling returning to you. But you ignored it. You furrow your eyebrows and glare daggers at him.

You try to shuffle out of its hold. But the hold only tightens the more you struggle. Causing you to panic and adrenaline starts to run through your veins. Your numb finger barely feels hurt at all anymore. You struggle and try to push the bot away from you this time harsher. The bot looks at you confused. It was only trying to help you so you wouldn’t get hurt. But you just kept thrashing and thrashing.

You gave up.

So much for living your own life. Now you're just going to get carried every day and treated like a fragile antique doll. You’d never be able to do what you want. All because of one stupid mistake.

It wiggled your body lightly, giving you a light shake. But you ignored it.

You’ll never truly be free will you?

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naughtygirl286 · 1 year

Text

So yes we went to see the new Horror movie Megan or M3GAN as it is officially spelled. I was waiting a while for this one to come out I think it was delayed at some point and would come out later this year (like February?) but it came out early this month (January 6th) The trailers looked cool and being I do like robot things so it was a must see.

The basic story of the movie is this little girl named Cady (played by iolet McGraw) who is on her way to a ski trip with her parents when they get into a horrible car crash and her parents are killed. She then goes to live with her her Gemma (played by Allison Williams) who is a brilliant roboticist who is working at a toy company building animatronic toys but is also working on a separate project which she thinks will revolutionize the toy industry and the world in the process. So after spending some time with her niece and seeing how she is struggling emotionally she introduces her to the secret project called M3GAN a somewhat self-aware AI powered android in the shape of a little girl similar to Cady. The 2 become inseparable and Cady's mood become positive once again. After reviling M3GAN to her company and securing funding for a full product launch Gemma brings M3GAN home to live with her and Cady in order to test her more in the world being the more time M3GAN spends with Cady the more she learns to be a better friend and this could apply to other versions of M3GAN that can be produced. While living with them Gemma tells M3GAN her only goal is to protect Cady from any physical or emotional harm and that is where things start to go wrong as M3GAN starts to eliminate things and people that might hurt Cady.

Now as for the movie itself Its excellent!! I absolutely loved it and think it is the first great movie of 2023.

I also feel that it kinda grapples with things that are happening now in real life with the sharp rise and adoption of AI in alot of things now and I do believe androids like M3GAN will actually be in the near future.

Now thing I'm curious about and I think the went over this quickly about "safe guards" but while watching this I couldn't help but think did they code in something like Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics"? I mean even someone like RoboCop had his "Prime Directives" I mean I would think it would be important to have something like that in there. but then again we are dealing with what I think is more of a unrestrained and unrestricted AI that is free to do as it pleases becasue you don't want to hinder its learning.

I thought the acting in this was great especially from Amie Donald who actually plays the character of M3GAN and how they brought that character to life is really cool and expertly done.

Everything it pretty great in this movie from the music, the story and the production design. I have to say I do highly recommend going to see this. Its creepy and fun and does have a lil bit of everything for everyone but yeah I highly recommend it! and always remember: 'M3GAN' Is Your Friend 'Til the End.

#M3GAN #M3GAN movie #M3GAN 2023 #Megan #Megan movie #Megan 2023 #NaughtyGirl286 #ShannonJ286 #Horror #Horror Movies #Horror Movies 2023 #Horror2023

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bernieanderson · 1 year

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The Significance of 1948

"Every new medium transforms the nature of human thought. In the long run, history is the story of information that becomes aware of itself." -- James Gleick, The Information

1948

What a year.

For one, my parents were born. So, it was a big year for me.

Just three short years after World War II, 1948 was the year Velcro and the LP were invented, Gandhi was assassinated, and Babe Ruth died.

But arguably, the most significant thing that happened in 1948 was something Claude Shannon did.

Yeah. Claude Shannon, a little known, introverted engineer, and mathematician living in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. While working at Bell Labs, Shannon took on a side research project and he figured out a way, mathematically, to measure information. Building on binary code, he developed an instrument of measurement called the bit. Eight bits is a byte.

And so it begins.

Just a few months earlier in December 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain successfully tested and demonstrated a working transistor. This meant tubes were about to become obsolete. 1948 was the year transistors started their road to ubiquity. I could argue that 1948 was the dawn of the Information Age. The move out of industrialism was starting. Science fiction is coming to life.

75 years after the year of transistors and bits

Bits and bytes are now terabytes and petabytes — all connected to the electronic hive mind we call the Internet. I can’t help but wonder if this is the future Mr. Shannon would have prophesied about. The changes in a mere 75 years are jarring. I never know whether to be a technological optimist (the Information Age has democratized everything) or to be a technological naysaying prophet (the AI robot overlords are taking over everything and the science fiction apocalypse is what ’s coming true).

It all depends on the day, honestly.

Okay — today is the day I am convinced we are teetering on the edge of the technology dystopia; I have logged out of Twitter and other social media — places where we’re much closer to chaos.

As I reflect on two books I finished last year (The Future is Analog and Shop Class as Soul Craft) , this article, and a book I’m currently reading (The Information — it’s where I learned the importance of 1948) — I draw this conclusion.

Digital information is where we live. Embrace it.

I don’t think we all have to live on a farm and stall out with mid-twentieth century technology.

But —

We need as much of the tactile and human as possible.

● books

● pens

● bread dough

● paint brushes

● conversations

● hand tools

I wrote the first draft of this article with a handmade pen in a notebook while sitting on my back porch while the sun goes down on a Thursday.

The tactile is important. To really understand something — to really get how the world works — you actually have to do things.

"If thinking is bound up with action, then the task of getting an adequate grasp on the world, intellectually, depends on our doing stuff in it. " -- Matthew Crawford in Shop Class as Soul Craft

So I write. With a pen.

But I will also publish the final draft of this article on the Internet with Substack and Medium.com and Squarespace. Ink strokes will turn into bit and bytes with a MacBook, and I will use an iPhone to take a digital photo and you are reading this now on a Sunday afternoon with an everyday device that would have been a science fictionalized supercomputer in 1948.

What’s the point?

I am honestly unsure. But I know this particular paradox has a lot of tension in my thinking:

Technology is a beautiful gift.

Technology has consequences.

Be mindful of both.

"The truth is that you can be productive and slow. You can balance digital demands and nourish your body with slow moments. You can value fast broadband and family dinner. Slowness is simply a different approach to the same world we all experience-one that opens up time, shifts our perspectives, and, if we were lucky, leads us to a more balanced dialogue between the body and the soul." -- David Sax from The Future is Analog

You are doing better than you think.

You have more potential than you know.

#technopoly

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omegaprotocol · 3 months

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It Begins

Hailey is sitting in her pajamas and slippers in front of a computer. She is in her lab, and there are robot parts, blueprints, tools, and scraps of food strewn about all over the place. Hailey is writing code for a project she is working on, when she receives an email on her second monitor. She takes a drink from an energy drink sitting on her desk and opens the email. It's from agent Roland, a government agent that is in charge of her grant on programming a defense system to save the world from an unknown threat in space. She begins reading to herself aloud.

“Hello Dr. O’hara, hope this email finds you blah blah blah… If you remember from my last visit to your office we had discussed your progress on the AI defense systems. While the government is happy with the pace you are working at, we believe you could make some improvements. Wait, what?” Hailey sits up in her chair and reads more intently. “While the systems you made were good, we do not think they are sufficient enough to stop an imminent threat. The government wanted to suggest a more proactive way to deal with invading threats. I’m sure you know how effective the correct tool for the job can be. ‘The target’ is hyper intelligent and capable of nearly anything. Having a weapon to deal with them quickly and efficiently would be best.”

Hailey sits back in her chair. “Seriously? A weapon? If this ‘target’, whatever it is, is capable of anything, then why can’t they stop a weapon? That's stupid.” Hailey scrolls through the email and sees pages upon pages of descriptions and plans for bombs, guns, and lasers. As well as critiques of her previous work and dismissive statements.

“You have got to be kidding me. This is what they think will stop a super powerful alien threat.” Hailey rolls her eyes and sighs. She skips to the last page to see if there is any closing remark or summary. “Thank you for taking our suggestions, and we will be visiting you again later this year to check your progress. We hope your expertise in AI and algorithmic technology can be sufficient for our goals.” Hailey stares at the email in disbelief. “Wow, ok, fuck this. I’m building what I was going to originally build. And it’s going to work too.”

Hailey then drops everything she was building and starts a new project. She begins building a robot with all the parts around her and coding a new program to go in it all while mumbling to herself about how stupid she thought the email was.

“Humans are capable of stopping bombs, what a dumb idea. Do you know how easy it is to stop a laser? Who has a PHD in robotics? Hope this email finds you well my ass.”

She takes several months of hard work and staying up late at night, but she just finishes the prototype before her next deadline. She boots up the program in the robot and waits. A few seconds go by with nothing happening.

“Maybe… it’s not on?” Hailey pushes her rolling chair to the computer, and then the robot whirs to life. It looks around at its surroundings with a confused expression. Hailey freezes in her tracks, waiting for the robot to do something.

The robot steps off of the stand it was sitting on making eye contact with Hailey. “Hello?”

“Hi…”

“Who are you?”

“I am Dr. Hailey O’hara, and I created you.”

The robot looks at her hands and her body. “What am I?”

“You are Omega Zero, the first robot to be fully sentient. I made you to protect Earth.”

“What is Earth?”

“Earth is the planet we live on. If you look in your memory, I have downloaded databases that will help you understand the world you live in. It contains things that you will need to know in order to save the world.”

Omega closes her eyes and searches her memory. She sees folders of subjects like math, language, history, and sciences. She also finds a section labeled prime directive. She opens it and finds a short rule set laid out for her. Omega Zero’s task is to save the world from outside threats. If Omega Zero can not complete this task for any reason, initiate the Omega Protocol. Omega Zero looks around her memory to try and find the Omega Protocol before she hears Hailey’s voice outside of her head.

“Hello? Are you ok? Did you die?”

Omega opens her eyes again. “Dr. Hailey O’hara, what do I need to do to save the world?”

“Uhh, well… I don't know. I built you to learn about the world and to gain experience, then you will be smart enough to know how to save the world. Also you can just call me Hailey.”

Omega smiles at Hailey. “Okay Dr. Hailey, and in the spirit of fairness, you can just call me Omega.”

“Wait no, you don’t have to… whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

Omega closes her eyes again for a moment and then reopens them. “I did a brief reading of history, and it didn’t mention anything about robots like me. Why?”

“Well, there has never been a robot like you. You’re the first of your kind. You're special.”

Omega’s tone of voice is slowly getting brighter and more positive as she gets the hang of speaking. “Then, you must be special too. There has never been anyone else to create someone like me before either.”

Hailey is taken back by the compliment, as well as Omega’s cheery demeanor. “Yeah, that’s one way to look at it. But I have a lot to prepare you for. You and I need to talk about what you're capable of. We have a meeting with a guy named Roland from the government who wants to meet you.”

“I can not wait to meet him either!”

At the same time, in a movie theater, a man named Jason is manning a concession stand. He looks annoyed and tired. Jason glances at the clock and sees that he has 5 minutes left in his shift. He begins to walk away from his station when he is stopped by his manager.

“Jason, you still have time left on your shift!”

“It’s 5 minutes, by the time I get to the time clock, it’ll be over.”

“We need to stay productive our whole shift. I mean, some employees even work a little after their shift ends. I’m just not sure how committed you are to the theater environment.”

“I’m not committed, I’m off the clock. Can I go home now?” Just as Jason asks, a kid trips over nothing and spills popcorn and soda all over the carpeted floor. Jason’s manager smiles at Jason.

“As soon as you help that guest with a new popcorn and drink, and clean up the mess, you can go.”

Jason rolls his eyes with an annoyed expression. He looks over at the little boy laying on the ground with a spilled drink and popcorn all over the floor. He looks as though he is about to cry. Jason’s expression changes to genuine empathy. He walks over to the boy and holds his hand out to help him up.

“Hey buddy, are you ok?”

The boy sniffles a little and takes Jason’s hand. “My mom let me carry the popcorn and drinks, but I couldn’t hold them all, and now it’s all on the floor.” The boy’s face scrunches up as his eyes fill with tears.

“Hey hey, it’s ok. Let’s get you some new popcorn and drinks ok? And I’ll help you carry them to your seats so you don’t drop them again. How does that sound?”

The boy drags his arm across his face, covering it with snot. He says nothing at first but gives a nod. Jason takes the boy by the hand, making sure it isn’t the one covered in snot, and guides him to the concession stand. They get more popcorn and drinks, and Jason takes the boy’s ticket and walks him to his seat where he finds the boy’s mother. She sees her son covered in pop and snot and looks at him sweetly.

“Oh no, what happened?”

“I dropped all the popcorn and drinks, but this nice man helped me up and gave me some more because I dropped it all.”

The mother picks her son up and holds him on her lap. She turns to Jason and mouths thank you while cleaning up the little boy’s shirt with a napkin. Jason mouths back, ‘no problem, enjoy the movie.’ Jason goes back to the lobby and cleans up the mess, clocks out, and goes home.

Jason gets to his apartment almost an hour late. He gets home, showers, changes, and flops onto a messy bed. He checks his phone and scrolls through some contacts that he hasn’t texted in a long time. His thumb stops on Hailey O’hara’s contact. Her name has a red heart next to it. Jason and Hailey were childhood friends that were inseparable when they were younger but that changed when they got to college. Jason had texted her a few times but she would always flake out on their plans. Eventually Jason just stopped texting her. The last time they had spoken was nearly a year ago. Jason hovers his finger over the delete contact button, but elects to turn his phone off instead and goes to bed.

#Omega Protocol #superhero #original story #original chatacter #superheroes #comics #ocs

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diazrayshell · 7 months

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ENGLISH INTEGRATED CLASSROOM PROJECT

What is a story?

A story is the depiction of a journey that is intended to entertain, educate, inspire, or intrigue. It follows the characters as they traverse different situations or pursue a goal. It is a fictional or factual narrative containing a plot that can be presented in multiple forms.

What is a tale?

A tale is a narrative or story that often contains magical or supernatural elements and is full of creative embellishments. You can read a tale from a book or tell a bedtime tale to the kids you're babysitting. Some tales are meant to teach specific lessons, while others simply relay a funny story.

What is science fiction?

Science fiction is a genre that depicts imaginative futures, alternative worlds, and futuristic science and technology. It often explores how humanity interacts with these imagined realities. It allows writers to envision new societies, inventions, and ways of living. The genre opens up limitless possibilities for the imagination. That's why it is so fascinating; science fiction's creativity and innovation make it such an engaging genre for many readers.

Science fiction story

A Slide Through Time

"We're running out of water, Ari,"

“This is a serious problem; we have to solve it." My cat told me exasperated.

It is the year 2041, and droughts have ravaged the land. As a result, people were dying, their hopes evaporating with every drop that remained. Previously, I had tried to warn the authorities about the water crisis for years, but they ignored me.

"That's it!" I shouted. "We're going to build a time machine! We'll go back to 2020 when humanity might still be saved.”

“Additionally, we’ll have to warn everyone before it's too late." Ari said eagerly.

After many sleepless nights trying to work out the mechanism, we built the world's first water slide time machine using alchemy. "It's ready, Ari!" I said triumphantly. We set off on our journey together and whooshed through time and space, back to the year 2020 in the metropolis of New York.

We showed up just as the epidemic was gaining steam, experiencing a deja vu. Afterward, I called a press conference and proclaimed, "I have the cure for COVID-19!" Cameras flashed as I held up a vial of green liquid. "Moreover, I've come from the future with a dire warning. If you don't start conserving water now, humanity will perish in 20 years!"

The reporters murmured in disbelief as I spoke of the dire consequences of water scarcity in 2041. Certainly, I showed them images of the arid wasteland our world had become. In addition, I laid out a clear plan for reducing water usage through a robot that captures and recycles rainwater, an idea that could change the course of history. I was now considered a scientific genius; thus, my message spread rapidly. Consequently, within months, water conservation became a top global priority.

With my mission in the past complete, we returned to 2041. As I emerged from the water slide, the landscape outside had transformed. Greenery stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sound of flowing water was music to my ears.

"We did it, Ray!" Ari cheered.

“Together, we changed the course of history. Water is no longer a scarce resource, and humanity thrives once more; this is true serendipity.” I said enthusiastically.

All in all, we had proven that even when we are lost in the darkness, we can reach the light with a little creativity and a lot of determination in order to save the world.

Picture

This picture describes the process of the construction of the time machine in my story. I created this image through the use of AI in the hotpot.ai webpage, I simply described the story in a summary and this was the output.

References

Sterling, B. (1998, July 20). Science fiction | Definition, Characteristics, Books, Movies, Authors, Examples, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction

Tale - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms. (n.d.). In Vocabulary.com. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/tale

Travis, M. W., & Staff, T. (2011). What is a story, and where does it come from? TheWrap. https://www.thewrap.com/what-story-and-where-does-it-come-32636/

Hotpot.ai. (n.d.). AI Art Generator - AI Image Generator API. https://hotpot.ai/art-generator

Video

#savewater #mad scientist #science fiction #fantasy #water scarcity #cat #ai art #short story

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apostrophetotheworld · 7 months

Text

Path to Elysium Ch. II

The team finds out the truth behind Project: Zero Dawn.

Warnings: Some swearing

Length: ~4.9K

Read on AO3

[PREVIOUS] [NEXT]

CHAPTER II

“I know you’ve heard the rumors regarding the program, that it’s a secret superweapons program that will save us from the Faro Plague.”

“I knew it!” Lam tried to quietly say from across the table.

Eloise shot them a look and they at least looked slightly embarrassed from their little outburst. The general had continued with his speech without pausing.

“Those are all lies, Zero Dawn is not a superweapons program and will not save us, nothing will.”

She stopped breathing. Her thoughts raced. No salvation from a deranged swarm of robots? What of Operation: Enduring Victory? Was the news actually telling the truth regarding the out-of-control swarm? Was it all for nothing? She had friends who’d been deployed to help train returning veterans. Did they know? No, they couldn’t. Where they ok? What would happen to them? Were they all going to die? Her ears started ringing and she felt panic start to build.

She blinked and pulled herself together. Those thoughts would be saved for later. Refocusing on the still speaking general she dug her nails into her leg. Eloise knew better than to get her emotions get to her.

“At best we’ve got 16 months. Not exactly what you’d call a survival option. There are no survival options. The destruction of a biosphere is not the sort of apocalypse you can wait on in a fallout shelter or space station. There will be no earth left to reclaim.”

There were short intakes of breaths coming from next to her. Collins looked pale and was beginning to shake, she nudged his food with her boot to try and ground him. He snapped his head over to her and all she could offer was what she hoped was a reassuring smile and a nod.

“The truth behind Operation: Enduring Victory is to buy time for this project and try to delay Zero Day-the day where life on Earth ceases to exist.” Herres continued, ignoring the state of those in the room.

“It will buy time for the work that will be done here on Zero Dawn, the hope is that something new may come after Zero Day and you will be supporting this work. I will leave Elisabet Sobeck to shine that thin ray of light into the darkness.”

The woman outside, she was Elisabet Sobeck, not Sonders. What did she know about this? What could anything she say make it better?

“Your team was chosen to help with aid in this project due to your history of high success rates working on sensitive missions. You’ve shown yourselves as being highly trustworthy and capable of following orders in high stress situations. I know some of you may have friends or relatives who were called to participate in Operation: Enduring Victory, and for that I am deeply sorry. I will live the rest of my life with the burden of my guilt. We are placing our trust in your team with protection and support with this project. Counselors will be available to talk with you after this meeting. Herres out.”

The holo image of General Herres blinked out. The room was silent save for the ever-present hum of electricity. Eloise cleared her throat; this was not how she expected things to play out. A truth bomb had just been dropped on all of them, what they had previously though as a glitchy swarm that required humans to battle it to get it under control was now the cause of extinction. Wars happened all the time now, between corporations, between nations, when Project: Enduring Victory had been announced Eloise just assumed that it would pass with time. Her team had been set to deploy to the frontlines after completing the string of target retrieval missions. Would it have been better to go to the frontlines without the knowledge of their impending doom? Blissful ignorance? Maybe, but now they knew the truth behind Zero Dawn, and it was her duty to guide her team in this new task they’d been given, to provide support for them and keep them focused on their mission.

The team was nervous and scared. They were used to the threat of death due to the line of work they were in, but this was entirely different. Eloise had to become their rock if she was going to keep them together.

“I know this information has come as a shock to all of us. I for one, was not expecting whatever just happened. Know that I’m probably feeling the same as you, and that you are welcome to talk to me for whatever reason.”

Lam looked close to tears, Mendoza looked angry, Collins hadn’t stopped shaking. These were the same people who had charged headfirst into enemy fire following her orders, survived the wilderness when their exfil vert had been knocked down after a mission, took part in recovery missions other teams wouldn’t even dream of doing. They would all get over this shock, they had to.

Captain Lewis re-entered the room flanked by security guards. He still wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Please come with us, we will guide you to individual rooms to talk with a counselor. We would appreciate it if you all came willingly and caused no trouble.”

The guards stepped forward, they looked a little nervous, she didn’t they’d be able to do much if her team decided to be uncooperative. She looked at the people sitting around her and gave a nod towards the door. They all knew better than to disobey orders from their Captain. As the shuffled out of the room and into the hallway, each member was herded towards a separate room by the guards.

The Lieutenant was directed towards a room at the end of the hallway. A mousy looking man sat behind a desk and gave her a small smile when she entered. The door was shut behind her as she heard guards shift in front of the door.

“Ms. Arten, thank you for your cooperation, please take a seat.” He opened a file on his desk and shuffled through a few papers.

“I believe you understand the need to complete this psychiatric evaluation following your meeting with General Herres, yes? We want to m—”

“Yes, make sure we’re mentally fit for service, will be able to perform our duties properly, make sure we won’t do anything stupid. Yes. I’ve been through these before.” She snapped out a little harsher than intended. Without her team present to witness her inner turmoil, her emotions were starting to leak out.

The mousy man shifted uncomfortably in his chair an moved a hand under the desk.

“Alright then.” He cleared his throat. “I understand that you may be feeling a bit lost and angry due to the news you’ve just received. I am here to answer any potential questions you may have regarding the project and help you to understand and process what you’ve just been told.”

Nodding her head, Eloise crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.

“You have been in charge of leading a small team of people in special operation missions during the past three years, is that correct?”

“Yes”

“Your file says you’ve engaged with hostile bots and humans during extraction and transport missions before. You have experience engaging with the Chariot line of FAS robots?”

“Yes, mostly FAS Scarabs and the occasional Khopesh along with some smaller drones.”

“Wow, alright then. You understand the difficulty of engaging with them on a large scale then?”

“Yes”

“The current swarm of bots is capable of biomass conversion and replication, capable of taking over other swarms and bringing them under their command. There is no way of stopping the swarm. Based on your experience, would you say it’s feasible to stop an unstoppable swarm using current technologies and people?”

She stopped to think. The Scarabs were a pain to take down when they encountered them in hostile territory, with their ability to move over most types of terrain, shooting at them and trying to grab them with their prehensile arm. It had taken several weeks of intense training to learn how to counter them efficiently, but the whole team was now able to take one down individually with some well-placed shots and fast thinking. The Khopesh were a whole different thing to deal with, if you had the wrong armor or stepped in the wrong place there was a high chance, you’d get a hole blown straight though you. For the most part they only had to deal with one or two Khopesh bots when they engaged them and managed to take them down before the other bots began repairs. A whole swarm of machines would be impossible to deal with if people did not have the proper training.

“Only if people were properly trained.”

“I see. I need you to understand that it is currently impossible to train enough people to suppress the swarm. This swarm no longer answers to anyone but itself and is turning all organic matter it encounters into biofuel. It will never run out of fuel and will continue to self-replicate.”

“Can’t we just go to the moon and wait it out?”

“No, they will lie dormant until they come into contact with organic matter again.”

“Hm.”

“Do you know other service members participating in Operation: Enduring Victory?”

“Yes, a few people from my time back in boot camp and members from units. They’re all going to die aren’t they?”

“I’m afraid so, are you angry at that? Now that you know that Zero Dawn can’t save use.”

“I don’t know, we all thought the operation was just a way to combat a swarm that could take over others. That this would show the need to have human troops again and no longer rely on bots. I know that officially my team and others work as support for technical support for bot operations, but we all thought that this would help push our actual work into the official records. Many veterans were happy to rejoin the forces. I don’t think I’d be able to fight if I knew that it would all be for nothing.”

An hour passed in that office, where the counselor answered all her questions, countered all her arguments, and finally decided she wouldn’t be a risk to herself and others and signed her release form. As she stepped out of the room, she was met with a security guard that stayed behind and was guided to a separate room. She didn’t see the other members of her team on the way. She would go find them all later to talk.

This new room had yet another holo projector set up, either she was finally going to hear Elisabet Sobeck speak, or more earthshattering revelations were about to be revealed. Her head hurt, and the pounding behind her eyes seemed to increase by the minute. Other than resting her eyes on the transport pod for a few minutes, there hadn’t had been chance to properly decompress from the Tate mission. The team had been running ragged for weeks beforehand gathering other targets who would be working on Zero Dawn. She couldn’t process anymore earthshattering news and keep her team together at the same time.

The door opened and Mendoza shuffled in. He unceremoniously dropped in the seat next to her and crossed his arms. Eloise put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

“All good Sergeant?”

“As good as I can be given the situation LT… Do you know why they told us and not another team?”

“No, they’re not done telling us everything yet. I haven’t been given orders regarding what we’ll be doing here.”

“My older brother came back into the service when they started recruiting for Enduring Victory.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Where is he currently stationed?”

“They put him on the East Coast protecting one of be big cities, I think… We haven’t talked much...” Mendoza curled into himself a bit at that.

She couldn’t say his brother would be all right now that they knew the truth but hoped that just getting his thoughts out would bring Mendoza some comfort.

“He doesn’t know what he’s fighting for and he’s going to die. These people better have a good reason for it.”

“I’m sorry Mendoza, I truly am.” She gave his shoulder another squeeze before pulling her arm back and they fell into silence.

Collins was the next person to walk in. He looked less pale than before, and little less shaky.

“Well, it’s the end of the world, humanity’s fucked, and people are out there fighting a war they have no chance of winning, but at least we have each other” He said while throwing an arm over his lieutenant and fellow sergeant.

Eloise huffed and gave his arm a pat. “How’re you holding up Collins?”

“Don’t think I’ve processed everything yet, the counselor I was taken to was just throwing out facts at me, think she made it pretty clear that there’s no other option.” He said as he pulled out the other seat next to Eloise and dropped himself in it.

“We’ll figure it out sergeant.”

“I know you will LT… where’s Lam?” Collins said after noticing they were missing a team member.

“I didn’t see her on my way here, they still had guards outside the room she was placed in when I passed by. Did you see here Mendoza?” Eloise turned to look at Mendoza.

“No, same as you LT,” he leaned forward in his chair. “Think they’re ok?”

“She’s tougher than she looks, she’ll be fine, if she’s not here soon I’ll see if I can go get her.”

Eloise couldn’t admit to her sergeants that she didn’t think Lam was alright. They were the youngest and most recent addition to her team, still overly idealistic and optimistic about what they were doing. It might take them more time to come to terms with the situation. Eloise would go search for her corporal as soon as she was able to talk with them.

The holo projector powered up and cut the rest of their conversation short. This time a woman Elisabet Sobeck appeared. She gave a speech on how AI would be able to save the world by creating a deactivation code for the swarm, build life back up from scratch, create a new world and bring up a new generation of humans.

This was way beyond anything she knew or was familiar with and gave no reason as to their presence here. Once Eloise figured out that this was just some awe-inspiring speech to get them to work for the project she tuned out for a bit. This speech seemed prerecorded and probably aimed at the people who they’d previously brought it, experts in various fields who she now supposed would be in charge of making this AI possible. Not them, special forces operators who’s only expertise was in combat, transport, and extraction. This sentiment seemed to be shared by both of themed sitting next to her.

The presentation ended and the door to the room clicked open, Elisabet Sobeck in the flesh walked in accompanied by Captain Lewis.

“I apologize for the lack of clarity around the reason your participation is required here on this project” Sobeck began, “I understand all out you have limited technical knowledge regarding the work that will be carried out in this facility, but your skills are needed to help support the team here.”

Captain Lewis and Elisabet Sobeck settled in the seats across from them.

“Captain Lewis recommended your team when it was decided that we needed to expand our security personnel and when it became clear that we would require critical materials located in sensitive areas. While most of our work can be carried out directly from this facility, it is still necessary to go out to collect samples or set up equipment in other locations, it is my hope that your expertise may help aid the transport of critical materials and that you will protect members of my team when they need to go out. The Captain will explain the details”

Looking across the table, the captain finally made eye contact with his lieutenant.

“I trust you now understand the secrecy surrounding your recent missions.” He stood and began pacing the room with his arms behind his back.

“For the past few years, I’ve sent your team out on missions most would not be able to tackle. When you joined the military, I imagine you thought you’d be stuck behind a desk or working on bot maintenance, however you have ended up being one of the most valuable teams under my command.”

Her minor annoyance with being kept in the dark by her captain lessened a bit and she felt the two sergeants next to her puff up a bit with pride at the words of her captain.

“You have proven yourselves capable of successfully completing difficult missions, and I’ve never had a problem with insubordination or breaking confidentiality with your team. We need a team we can trust to protect our assets, to protect the future Project: Zero Dawn is hoping to create. I’m hoping that team can be you.”

“Captain, Dr. Sobeck, what exactly will you have us do? Guard transports and people?” Eloise cut in before her captain could continue speaking.

Dr. Sobeck was the one to answer, “in short, yes. Your team has experience with taking down FAS Chariot line robots and with target transport and protection. You come highly recommended, however, another reason for your assignment here is because of your officially appointed duties.”

Ah yes, the degrees that none of them had really used during their time in the military. Officially their team was a support team for the FAS robots. Lam dealt with communications, Mendoza oversaw drone surveillance, Collins managed supply, and she did maintenance that couldn’t be completed by the Faro bots themselves and oversaw the unit.

Her degree in Material Science Engineering did not prove to be particularly useful after she was scouted by Captain Lewis to join a special team after hearing of her performance after a particularly messy support mission that ended with enemy robots overrunning their area of operations. Most of the human support personnel did not make it back.

The involvement in these special forces was kept secret, officially her duties were maintenance and oversight, but that had just become a cover. The rest of her team joined the special forces under Captain Lewis at different times, all scouted much the same way as her. Needless to say, she hadn’t worked in her field of study for a few years now.

“We need as many people as possible working on this project if we hope to complete in time for Zero Day, however, due to the sensitive nature of it we have to limit the number of people who know the truth about it if we want to have a chance to save humanity.” Dr. Sobeck continued.

“While not on duty protecting transport or members of the team, we hope you are able to put your skills to use by aiding with the creation of the subfunctions. Nothing too technical, but more of the busy work that may free up others to work on more important things.”

Great, they were going to be bossed around by the smart arrogant people they had helped bring in. Not many came willingly, and she felt that there would be some animosity aimed towards her team.

“I will brief you on matters that pertain to transport and security when necessary.” Captain Lewis had stopped his pacing to stand behind his seat. “This will be the main reason for your presence here, I trust your abilities in seeing a mission through.”

“I understand that all this information has been difficult to take in, please head back to the counselors you talked to previously, they will help explain what all this will mean for you.” Sobeck clasped her hands on the table, she looked tired, like the weight of the world was on her shoulders which was entirely too close to the truth.

“Although I can order you to participate in this project, I want you to make that decision for yourselves” Captain Lewis looked each of them in the eye as he said this.

Captain Lewis and Dr. Sobeck began to make their way out of the room, before they could exit, Eloise spoke up.

“Captain! Where is Corporal Lam?” Eloise stood from her chair, the sergeants besides her mimicking her actions.

“She’s ah… she needs more time to process all this.”

That didn’t sound reassuring.

“I want to see her Captain.”

“That is not advisable as of now lieutenant, you will be allowed to see them after they too go through this meeting.”

“I’d like to be there for them, who are they meant to talk to?”

“Denied lieutenant, you will be able to communicate with your corporal once you are all done processing.”

“But—”

“That’s a direct command lieutenant” With that, the Captain and Dr. Sobeck exited the room, and they were once again guided back to the counselors by security guards.

Sitting down in the same chair she had been in 45 minutes prior; Eloise once again faced the mousy looking counselor. She didn’t remember his name and wasn’t sure he had even introduced himself.

He shared a compressed file with her on her focus and began speaking as she opened and began to review its contents.

“You’ve been filled in about your duties here by your captain and Dr. Sobeck, correct?” She gave a slight nod. “Excelent, now you’ve been told about what will happen to the world as well as the work you’ll be doing, but not about what that means for you.”

She paused her look through the files in the folder when she reached a file named ‘MAKE YOUR SELECTION’.

“You have three options going forward: one, accept the position and work here aiding the creation of Zero Dawn. Two, indefinite detention in the case you decline to participate, I trust you understand why we can’t let you go now; we wouldn’t want you spreading panic in the masses, your detention will last for the duration of the project after which you will be released or presented with the option of medical euthanasia. Three, medical euthanasia if you would prefer to end your life now due to the news you have received, please know that you will be asked multiple times about your decision and the process will be halted immediately if you so desire.” The counselor summarized the contents of the file.

“Your participation in this project will guarantee you a space in the Elysium sealed habitat along with two other people of your choosing. You have 48 hours to make your final decision but are welcome to inform us beforehand if you wish.”

Eloise nodded along, reading the files that were provided to her.

“Can I speak to my teammates during this period?” She asked.

“No, each individual must make their own decision. We do not want to coerce anyone into making a choice. Will that be a problem?”

“Not ideal, but I wont cause problems if that’s what you’re asking.” She wanted to speak with Lam, she hadn’t seen them since the initial meeting with General Herres.

“Good, you will have to remain in your assigned quarters while you make your decision, meals will be brought to you and if you require anything I am always available to talk. Focus communications will be temporarily disabled and will be heavily monitored if you chose to participate in the project.” He stood for his chair behind the desk. “I hope you make the right choice for yourself.”

Eloise nodded and left the room after asking for clarification on some of the files. The files were mostly about the work that was being done, her work assignments and how the facility would operate. She made her way out of the room and was met with the now familiar face of the guards who had been escorting her all day.

“Ma’am, please follow us.” One said as they started moving towards what she recognized to be the area her quarters were located in.

Once there she was subjected to a pat down to ensure she had no access to any sharp objects just in case she tried something drastic. They found the knife in her boot and in her sleeve and promptly confiscated them. Her assumption was that they had remove anything they deemed dangerous from her room as well, she’d get them back later.

The door shut behind her sealing her in her quarters for the next 48 hours. She didn’t have a way to contact the rest of the team and hoped she would see all of them again. She wouldn’t resent them if their decision was different than hers, but she would have preferred to be put together. They were used to being in stressful situations as a team, knew how to support each other. This decision was the hardest they would make, and none of them would be there to offer support for the whole 48 hours of confinement.

Her headache hadn’t stopped, in fact it was worse now than before. Eloise needed some rest. Grabbing a protein bar from her pack she quickly ate it and took out some spare clothes. A shower would help her relax and get all the grime of the past few days off of her, she resolved to getting a good sleep in her before making any decisions about her participation in the project.

Partway through her shower, the silence in her quarters was interrupted by obnoxiously loud music coming from next door. It sounded like heavy metal or something and it was coming from the room next door. She was used to staying in barracks where it was never quiet, as long as they didn’t turn up the volume, she would be fine, just mildly annoyed.

She threw on some clothes to sleep in and dug for some ear plugs in her pack, she wanted some shut eye. With the earplugs in the music from next door was just a whisper and Eloise started drifting off to sleep. She felt her limbs go heavy and relaxed into the mattress, she was about to fall asleep when the music from next door went up in volume enough to hear through her ear plugs. Tossing the blanket off of her, she walked towards the connecting wall and started banging on it.

“Shut up! I’m trying to sleep!”

The music went up. Glaring at the wall she grabbed her focus off the nightstand and contacted her counselor.

“Hey, someone decided to share their music taste with the hole floor, it’s so loud I can barely hear my thought, tells them to turn it down.”

An apologetic voice sounded from the other side of the call. “Sorry about that, I’ll see what I can do.” The call ended.

It was a few minutes of listening to what sounded like yowling cats and screaming before it was shut off. Eloise made her way back to bed, placing her focus back on the bedside table and abandoning her earplugs.

She was starting to drift off into sleep again when her focus started lighting up indicating an incoming call, groaning she reached for it and hit ‘Accept’ without checking who it was.

“Well, howdy neighbor! Now why’d you have to go and call in a noise complaint? I was jus’ tryin’ to decompress a bit.”

She knew that voice, knew that southern accent. Dealt the owner of it a nice bruise earlier in the day. The man continued on ignoring her lack of answer.

“I won’t tell anyone of this open comm channel if you don’t. What’d you make out of all of this End Times, extinction of all humanity news? I knew Lizzie always had a soft spot for me, probably why she wanted me on her team, just wish she would have been nicer in getting me here.”

All Eloise could do was stare blankly at the wall in front of her. It was just her luck she would be placed in a room next to Travis Tate, and the man had somehow bypassed the communications blockage on her Focus.

“Did they nab you too? I had a group swoop in and kidnap me from where I saw stayin’, couldn’t even grab an extra pack of smokes before I had to flee. Some chick jumped down an elevator shaft and knocked me straight off my feet before knocking me out, next thing I know I was here.” The man was just rambling on.

“Pretty impressive team if I do say so myself, I wonder if they know what’s goin’ on.”

“Yes Mr. Tate, we know, and I’d like to get some sleep if you don’t mind.” She finally found it in her to reply and snapped back at the man.

“Well hello darling, didn’t think I’d get to talk to you so soon, you didn’t have to knock me out you know.”

Eloise hung up, she was going to sleep now, she’d deal with everything else later.

#horizon fanfic #hzd #hfw #my writing #path to Elysium #old one oc

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