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tallymonster · 2 months

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Memories of Us Chapter 17

Masterlist || AO3

Hey another Election Day Tuesday and that means I have a lot of time to kill! So a new update is the result lmao!

As always, thanks to @cheesy-cryptid for blessing me with permission to use her art as inspiration.

Thanks also goes to @micropoe10 and @tragedybunny for being my besties and betas and everything else for me. I love you both. Extra special thanks to @leomonae for encouraging me to try first person pov lol I DID IT MONA. BE PROUD OF ME.

Warnings for this chapter are as follows: mentions of death, violence, and grief.

This part of the city was peaceful at night, it was one of the things Astarion loved most. The walk back from Octavia’s house wasn't too bad, she lives about a 30 minute stroll from the main city. Pretty convenient, all things considered.

He walks down a hidden path that leads straight from her little cottage to the main road. He could've taken one of the other connecting streets to her house, but there was a somewhat romantic feeling to the solitude of being surrounded by the trees and wind.

Astarion steps towards the gates of the museum, no one should be here by now. Pushing the gate open, he makes his way down the paved walkway. The warmth of the sun still radiates from the ground. He turns and makes a detour down to the gardens.

The stretch of gravel to the lush greens is long, a tall figure peeks out from behind the rows of flowering shrubs Astarion surrounded her in. Tav’s arms stretched out to greet those who visited.

My treasured flower.

Astarion walks towards her, plucking a few buds from the walls of vines that wrap around each other. He looks up at her and sits at the bench at the base of her statue. Her gaze permanently locked in the adoring way she used to give him when he would fall at his knees and worship the ground she walked on.

I regret each choice that took me from you. My fears always let me make the worst decisions.

He stares up at her beautifully carved stone face, knowing it can't react to the words he says to her. “Hello, beautiful.” Astarion places the small bundle of flowers at her feet, a small token of everlasting devotion.

Staying at Octavia’s house felt strange. It's been a long time since he’s tried to do anything like that. After he left Tav, it felt wrong. No one was like her. The few he tried were pretty to look at, sure. With the right words, he could get close to anyone, but not the same way.

Astarion feels a small flutter of anxiety in his gut, something that he keeps trying to push away. This feeling of longing growing for someone else. The same feelings of excitement he felt when Octavia let him bite down and drink from her veins.

“I can't stop myself from thinking I've betrayed you by letting myself partake from another. I keep seeing you when I look at her. The same eyes, so soft, adoring, and curious. I hear you in her laugh, her words of comfort, and her cries of ecstasy. Her touch is sensual and familiar, so intimate in ways I've longed for. I even saw you when I finally gave myself away to the urge after I fed on her sweet blood.”

Astarion lays with his back flat on the stone bench. The stars shining as bright as that night he led Tav to the graveyard and lived his first night truly free. He closes his eyes and sinks into the warmth of the stone. If he tried hard enough, he could almost replace the breeze with Tav’s fingers running through his hair. He sighs and begins to speak.

“If you only knew how much I wanted to turn back and take you with me. I couldn't forgive myself for leaving you, but with all those feral spawn, I couldn't take the chance that you would be in danger. The thought of you being safe somewhere else with anyone else was better to me than having you by my side.”

He pauses, opens his eyes, and plays with his sleeve. “I couldn't take the chance for you to have a family away from you knowing that I couldn't give you the children you wanted. There were too many things that I knew you wanted and deserved.”

Astarion lets his mind wander. He stares at Tav’s face. “I guess now is a good time to explain myself. There's things I need to apologize for, and some things I need to tell you.” His voice quivers slightly as he trails off. The memories of the last century and a half without her flash periodically through his mind. He usually pushes them away, but tonight he lets them wash over him.

—-------------

The journey to the Underdark was lonesome and tiring, always having to lurk in the shadows. How many people would recognize me without her? How many would take their chances at killing me? I had to stay shrouded once more, sometimes I would get lucky and cross paths with someone needing a favor or two.

I’m not sure how many times I had to kill a shady merchant, an abusive husband, or slaver just to have a place to stay during the light of day. It seemed like one of the Gods finally came to watch over me during this long trek. It was always about killing the right people.

It took three months for me to finally make my way down to the Underdark. Considering, people weren't too open with any information on what had happened to the 7006 vampire spawn that we had freed. I had heard rumors of a mass casualty event, but without more information, it would be difficult to fully understand what they meant.

Eventually, I found a familiar face in the Myconid colony. I ran into my sister Dalyria as she was buying some potion ingredients from a traveling merchant.

I still remember the wide eyed stare Dal had on her face, her gasp of surprise as she dropped the potion bottle in her hands. Her sobs of happiness when she held me tightly in a grateful embrace.

The words that followed after she pulled away would haunt me forever.

“I thought you died with the rest of them.”

I was taken back, the rumors were indeed true. “How many?” I asked, anxiously awaiting Dal’s answer. She hesitates in answering, “We lost more than half our people that day. Mostly the Gur children, the starved, the weak, the ones who most likely wanted to die.”

We talked more once she finished. She led us down to the outpost she and Leon had settled in. I listened as Dal spoke quietly.

“We got caught in a solar eclipse. It was a total disaster. Youssen promised that he calculated everything correctly, but he didn't. I knew it would've been dangerous. I warned them, but he and Petras kept fighting with Leon and I. They were so desperate to get here and live freely that they turned the rest of the family against us.”

Dal sniffled and continued, “Everything happened so fast. They promised they had it down to the minute, but it seems that even with precise instructions, you can't account for arrogance.”

“Arrogance?” I asked, looking at our surroundings. Cave systems that twisted and snaked together to form a hidden stronghold. After a couple of miles or so, we were finally there.The broken and dilapidated temple where they had settled.

It looked strangely reminiscent of one that our group had visited once. I pushed the thought away as Dal led me through it. I noticed the number of spawn that resided there, a stark difference between the amount I helped free back in the bowels of Cazador’s manor.

Dal scoffed, “One can never account for those who are desperate to prove their point. No matter the cost to those around them. Like I said before, Petras and Youssen turned everyone against us. Violet and Aurelia followed soon after they explained their reasoning. It was hard to argue two against four after that.

They wanted to get here as soon as we could. So when they heard of the eclipse they figured it would save us around half a day. Leon and I couldn't argue with that kind of time, so the most skilled of us went first.”

“Where is Leon?” I interjected.

Dal’s eyes locked behind my shoulder, I turned and saw a staircase leading up to the next floor. “He goes up there alone frequently. After we were released,we explored the manor for a while. Gathering clothes and some other things for the journey. He saw Victoria. He..” she exhales, hesitating some.

“He hasn't been the same since. She was all he had left from his previous life.” Dal finishes with a quiver in her voice.

“Children are dangerous company for vampires.” I replied empathetically.

“Quite. Come on, let's get you a bed and some blood.” Dal placed her hand on my shoulder, she smiled, and walked off after a few seconds.

I followed her up to a small room with a solitary bed. She held the door open as I walked past her, dropping the brown leather bag I held over my shoulder.

“Apologies if it's not as luxurious as you're used to” she says with a small sarcastic tilt, "It's one of the few private rooms we have. Figured you would appreciate that over aesthetics.”

As Dal prepared to leave, I turned to her. She's paused by the door, halfway between the frame and the hallway. “Thank you.” My voice was quiet and soft. Dal looked at me and smiled, “Of course, brother. What is family for after all?”

—--------------------------—-----

Twenty years would pass with little problems. The vampires that lived in the outpost were used to having to ration. Hunting in small packs, majority of the time Leon and I would supervise them and teach them to hunt. We tried to be careful about making sure the younglings never went too far by themselves.

As the main hunters, the two of us would seek and kill animals on the surface at night, bringing the meat to merchants around Faerun once we broke down the carcasses and bleed them dry.

With the money we gathered, we would buy more blood from other butchers up top. We’d also get blood from other less than reputable sources, but as long as the blood was good, we wouldn't ask too many questions.

Leon and I were on our way back to the outpost after a few days out hunting and trading when Leon stopped mid step. “Brother, something feels off.” He held out his arm, took a few steps forward toward the opening of a cave, and stayed quiet for a moment. I walked up to him and concentrated on the noises around us.

I heard people yelling, sounds of feet shuffling, a loud rumble, and then sharp screams. “DAL!” Leon gasps, and rises to his feet, sprinting out to the maze of cave openings.

Once we got closer, Leon pointed out the smoke billowing out from the outpost, the thick clouds growing darker in color as we neared our destination.

“Astarion, we must find Dal!” Leon stood ready, with his hand on his crossbow. I looked around and noticed the two converging tunnels in front of us.

“We have to split up, Leon. We can cover more ground that way. Find her, I’ll see about the others.” I commanded, grabbing onto the daggers hung on my hip. I turned to run when Leon grabbed my arm, “Be careful, I’ll do my best to find you as soon as I find Dal.”

I nodded, sprinting down the tunnel. As I neared the opening of the path, the smoke became a thick curtain, making it more difficult to see. I pulled at the leather bag that hung from my back, searching for anything to help. “Come on, there's got to be something here.”

My hands moved frantically inside the bag, until I felt the texture of a scroll. “Fucking finally!” I unfurled it and began to speak the words inscribed. I raised my right hand and braced myself, a giant gust of wind came out in a burst of energy, clearing the way forward.

My legs pistoned me forward as I continued to look for Dal. I hurriedly made my way to the back of the outpost. When I got closer I noticed some rocks leading towards another tunnel. I ran following the path of debris until I reached the end.

One of the exits had been collapsed.

I knelt in front of the pile of rocks and began to dig into it, using my body weight to pull big pieces of stone away from the opening. I dug into the avalanche, my hands becoming raw and bloody as jagged pieces of rubble cut into my skin.

I keep digging, a sharp kind of sulfuric scent hits my nose and goes down my throat. I can taste the acidic notes, it’s acrid with a hint of ash. I immediately recognize it. Runepowder. However many people were in that tunnel, they were certainly dead. Someone did this on purpose.

I must find Dal.

The adrenaline pumping through my body kept me going until I heard yelling coming from inside the outpost. “Dal!” I ran into an open door in front of me, up some stairs. I crept up to a broken wall, the opening leading to the dining hall’s ceiling lined with wooden beams connecting the adjacent wall.

I stayed hidden in the shadows concentrating on the sounds around me. A short time passed before I heard some movement coming from underneath. I stepped forward and saw Dal and Leon. I gasped softly, gently stepping out to one of the beams obscured by the darkness.

Soon after, a group of at least 10 Gur flood into the room and block the only exit. A man steps forward as Dal and Leon realize they are outnumbered with no way out.

The man begins to speak, “Where is the third? We were told there were three of you running this bastardized commune.”

I continued to creep along the wooden supports, Leon noticed me and quickly turned back to the man in front of him. “I came back alone. My brother was…killed by a bulette when we were on our way back. It caught us by surprise. I was barely able to get away from it. I tried to save him but we couldn't overtake it. It killed him before I killed it.”

The man looks at him suspiciously, he nods and the hunters behind him point their crossbows at Dal. “I will not ask again, vampire scum. Where is the third?”

“I swear to you he's dead! There's no one else other than us now. You killed the others, did you not? I saw the bodies, the rubble, the fires. You said you collapsed a tunnel when you came in, is that not enough? We cannot turn anyone into vampires, we're mere spawn. We’ve been living in peace for a decade and a half. Why do you come hunt us now?”

Leon held his hands up as he plead his case, Dal trembled as she hid her face in her hands.

“One of yours killed an innocent woman. Found her drained near the sewers in the Gate. We caught him sneaking around underneath the Elfsong Tavern’s wine cellar. He told us about this place with at least 1500 of you waiting to be killed. Planned this little raid for a few weeks. Had some people watching your little outpost. Even paid some merchants to tell us your movements.” The leader explained.

Dal uncovered her face and looked up, noticing me watching them. Her eyes were full of fear. She shook her head slowly, mouthing “Run.”

I swallowed, my mouth feeling dry, I retreated to the shadows before the leader turned and looked up where I was just perched.

The man turned back to Leon and Dal while I watched them. “Kill them. If the third is gone, that means there shouldn't be any more of these abominations. Ulma should have destroyed you all when she had the chance, now that she's no longer our leader, her deals with you all are void. Consider this a mercy.”

He walked a few yards then he stops and speaks with a serious tone, “May the Moonmaiden have mercy on your souls.” He looks over at a woman to his right and nods at her. She steps forward and yells out “Take your positions. Fire on three.” I could've shot at her, but I would've be easily outnumbered.

I had to sit here and watch as the last two people I ever felt close to were slaughtered like lowly carrion. The Gur took no hesitation in killing Dal and Leon. They shot at them with what looked like silver tipped crossbow bolts.

I suffered hearing Dal and Leon’s screams of pain, the sounds of them dying were unbearable. I waited in the darkness for what seemed like hours until the Gur left, a wake of devastation behind them. The second their footsteps waned, I sprinted over to Dal and Leon’s crumpled bodies.

“No no no nononono.” I choked back, Dal and Leon’s faces were battered and abused, their clothes slathered in blood. I felt the rage and devastation crash down on me.

The guilt for letting the young ones hunt when I knew better than to trust them to go off alone. Leaving Dal alone while Leon and I left. Splitting up and letting Leon go off to find his death.

I couldn't help the sobs that came out when I was holding them, I realized I was finally truly alone. The sadness and anger just came flooding out. My eyes stung as the tears came out, lungs burning when the air expanded them sharply. I gripped on Dal and Leon, their bodies growing even colder by the hour.

A week would pass, I gathered what I could, buried my siblings, and left. I made my way back to Baldur’s Gate hoping to sneak into Cazador’s manor.

I knew the people of the city were too afraid to go near it. Leon and I had spread rumors of it being haunted, so that kept them out. We used to sneak inside using the underground tunnels that led to the kennels, ransacking the place and selling off what we could.

Leon came up with the idea of stashing small piles of gold away in loose floorboards around the manor. His foresight was a blessing.

I began to gather the piles and count my reluctant inheritance. After finishing, I realized I was set for the foreseeable future, but I still had a manor to legally obtain. I talked my way into becoming a historical conservator given the relics I had at my disposal.

My vast inside knowledge could be chalked up to being a lover of history and a studied mind. No one would be the wiser. I decided then that I would go to the City Council and plead my case to purchase the manor to turn into a museum honoring those whom I loved.

I took great care to disguise myself, thankfully Wyll wasn't in the City. He and Karlach were in Avernus. Gale had gone back to Waterdeep. Lae’zel and Shadowheart were living in a cottage somewhere near the mountains…And you…I don't remember where you ended up.

More time would pass, the museum was open after a year and a half of me selling, restoring, commissioning, and appointing a board. I opened with a team of people to oversee the major projects while I maintained the procurement of items for the galleries.

A century or so passed when I met a familiar looking young man. He came to apply for the lead assistant position straight out of Blackgate. Usually, their graduates would go out and teach themselves, but he wanted to research and preserve these items instead of being in front of a classroom full of people.

I questioned him for a few minutes, noticing the unusually similar flair he had to his speech patterns. The air of assuredness behind his statements.

When he told me his name was Gale Dekarios. I could hardly hide the shock on my face, luckily he didn't notice. “Dekarios? Any relation to the wizard of old legends?” I asked tentatively awaiting his response.

I watched as he wrung the corner of his blazer and cleared his throat. “Y- yes sir. He was my grandfather.”

Was? I thought wizards lived hundreds of not thousands of years? I hesitate before questioning him further. “Was? Don't wizards usually live many lifetimes over? Did he get killed in a grand battle?”

The young man bites his lip. A worried look flashed over his face. “Well it's still pretty recent, sir. I'm sure you know all about the Netherese Orb that used to occupy his chest?”

I swallowed fearing the worst, my throat clenched as if I had swallowed fire. I nod urging him to continue.

“A few years ago, my grandad started to have these bouts of chest pains that would last hours, days, sometimes even up to a whole tenday. My grandmum was a druid healer, so she would make him different teas, tinctures, balms, pretty much anything to help him. Nothing would ease his suffering. One day she helped him to bed, like she usually did, and she had me assist her in making tea for him.

My grandmum told me he was dying and I was the only male in our family that wasn't adopted or married into it. So I guess he wanted to keep his story alive and told me everything. His past, his mistakes and triumphs, friends he made and lost. He and I were close, he was my best friend.”

Gale cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. “So yes, I am related to *the* Gale Dekarios. I hope I can live up to the expectations my grandfather set forth.”

I hired him on the spot.

Now, to make a long explanation somewhat shorter, this is where things get complicated, my love. Here, I feel I may have fucked up.

You see, there was this woman Gale hired. It was about 6 years after hiring Gale. I was off in the Underdark around the anniversary of Dal and Leon’s deaths. I came up with some story about looking for artifacts to cover my tracks since Gale liked to ask a million questions. Guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree?

Once I got back to the museum, Gale had informed me of our new hire, Octavia. I imagined if she made an impression on Gale, then she would be useful at least at the administrative level.

I couldn't imagine what came over me when I got to know her more .

—--------------

Astarion sighs with a long exhale. He stares at Tav’s face, hesitating as if he's actually saying this all to her. “She's indescribable. Absolutely beautiful, smart, she challenges me the way you used to.” Sitting up, he presses his back against the stone platform.

“That night I saw her outside of the restaurant, I swore I saw you. You in front of me like the day we met.” He plays with his sleeve, not knowing how to proceed with this long overdue apology. Even if Tav wasn't really here physically, he was truly able to say the things he held behind.

All the regret from his idiotic spontaneous decisions, grief from losing those he loved and held closest, and most of all the devastating pain from losing everything he took for granted.

At the same time, something had dropped this precious jewel on his lap. Was it possible for him to be able to open up to someone the way he did with Tav? Octavia showed that she trusted him when he confessed about his true self. She even let him bite down and drink her blood.

Everything about Octavia was feeling the same, could she be some sort of reincarnation of his lost love? No. That would be impossible. Humans can't do that. Can they? He shakes the idiotic notion away, softly laughing to himself.

Besides, he saw the picture of Octavia’s family.

Astarion sits with his gaze pointed up at the night sky. It seemed like so long ago when he was doing the same type of internal argument about Tav. He's enthralled by Octavia and agonizing about it. Gods, somehow he was always stuck in a cycle of perpetual pining.

He wants to open up to Octavia more. Sprinkle in some truths to the little lies he tells.

Opening up to people has always been a struggle for Astarion, but Octavia has a way of prying his emotions out of him. It's so easy for him to let her reach into the emptiness and allow her to pull his past out.

Her hands pull at the chains around his heart, slightly loosening them with each gaze, each fleeting touch, all of the little ways she reminded him of Tav. Was this a sign of approval from beyond the grave? Maybe this was Tav’s way of pushing him to live again just as she did once before.

Astarion is in deep contemplation, he doesn't begin to notice as the night sky begins to turn light. The bird songs become more animated, he is knocked out of his head and begins to make his way inside. Thank the Gods that his suite is close to the gardens. The manor had secret entrances and rooms for him and his siblings to come in and out, convenient for a thoughtful vampire losing track of time.

As he goes into the museum, he sees the first rays of light break through the tops of the trees. It feels like that morning after the tiefling party, the cool air of morning breaking against the feeling of the warmth from the sun.

Astarion feels the same hopeful warmth from within. The same tug of curiosity that wants to allow Octavia in. He lingers at the doorway, watching the same sun begin to rise above the trees. So many similarities to weed through. He would take his time though, he can't rush this opportunity he's been given.

He has to trust whatever force is guiding him at this point. It brought Octavia to him, so it must be good. Turning to walk up the steps to his suite, he looks out the window and stares absentmindedly at Tav’s statue. Suddenly, a tiny green and blue hummingbird flits by and stops at the row of gardenias that lined the windowsill.

Astarion watches as the little bird takes a sip from the buds. It's fragile wings glint off the reflection from the glass. After zipping through a couple of flowers, it hovers facing him as if watching him. It's little head tilts to the left, then to the right, before flying away.

It's been so long since he's been around early enough to see them feed. It brings a small tug to his heart. Tav’s words about her people and how they grieve flooded back into his mind.

“There's a legend in my culture about hummingbirds being messengers for the dead. They say if you see one, it's a sign that your loved one is watching over you. I always thought it would be the way I would communicate with you if I ever died.” she’d say.

I just laughed it off and said “Oh darling, you don't have to worry about that. I would follow you into the dark if that day ever came. I’ll be close behind.” Another lie I told her.

Gods...

I think it's time I stopped lying to myself.

Tags: @justporo @satanicspinosaurus @sleepy-timaeus @tragedybunny @davenswitcher @wayward-hel @hereliesblackdragon @misscrissfemmefatale

#bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #astarion ancunin #bg3 astarion #astarion bg3 #fic: memories of us #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios

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kikomarts · 2 years

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i also love how tgf explored the evident greed of humanity seeping into its love for and relationship with art— stealing it, bombings, using it as collateral, hiding it away, going through extremes to get your grubby hands on it— simply because it means So Much.

that chapter where we enter hurst’s apartment (if im not mistaken), showing his “collection” was one of my favorites since that’s where humanity’s relationship with art — or with anything — boils down into: the blurry line between appreciation and selfishness.

this can also be so clearly evident with theo and his connection to the painting. the goldfinch meant so much to theo. he loved the painting—memorizing each brush stroke and opening it up under vegas moonlight, only to wrap it up under twenty or so sheets of newspaper and cloth to hide it away for himself. of course, he didnt plan nor wanted to end up like he did with the painting; he would’ve returned the painting if he could. yeah, it would’ve been weird to drop a missing painting of controversy out on the MET on a random tuesday, but, as it was, what really made him keep it was his sole affinity to it. theo had his reasons: he was thirteen, scared, and traumatized. and for most of his life, it was the thing that kept him whatever is closest to the feeling of being grounded despite it all.

i think thats one of the main things, if not the main thing, i love about the the goldfinch, really. its grand scheme of what love, life, relationships, paintings, and history are to different people— experiencing various forms of these throughout the book and showing it through the lenses of a cynical man— was great.

#the goldfinch #the goldfinch book #tgf #donna tartt #theodore decker #theo decker #boris pavlikovsky #boreo #ohhh i love this book so much #i wrote this at 2am dont point out the messiness and inconsistencies of my writing #brainrot #the goldfinch analysis

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bvlladonnas · 2 months

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Is that LILY GLADSTONE ? Oh, no, that’s FREYA COBELL, a FORTY-ONE year old PREVIOUS LAWYER; CURRENT UNEMPLOYED FRIEND ON A TUESDAY who uses THEY/THEM pronouns. They currently live in CASABLANCA, and the character they identify with most is VAN PALMER FROM YELLOWJACKETS. Hopefully they find their own little paradise here in el país de los poetas!

BASICS:

full name: freya sequoia cobell nickname(s): frey age: forty-one gender: non-binary pronouns: they/them sexuality: lesbian date & place of birth: january 24th in blackfeet nation in browning, montana occupation: previous lawyer. currently between jobs (they are so unemployed) faceclaim: lily gladstone piercings: pierced ears traits: adaptable, laidback, flippant, particular, unyielding similar to: van palmer (yellowjackets), dean winchester (supernatural), janis ian (mean girls), ferris bueller (ferris bueller's day off) aesthetics: clay caked under your nails, flannel jackets, baseball played with your childhood friends at dusk, big dogs that look like they have more bite than bark, and the bitter discomfort that comes with the inevitable passing of time.

* mun is not indigenous & while i'm researching, please let me know if anything is wrong or off and i will correct it !

BULLET POINTS:

– born to a loving family on the blackfeet indian reservation in browning, montana. was never particularly wealthy but what their family did have was a lot of love and devotion, and they were always raised to know that they had the full support of their parents – this meant that they're decently well-adjusted. never really one to stress, freya's got a true 'type b' personality. – they discovered their love for art young, and had been sculpting pretty much since their fine motor skills kicked in. art of any kind attracted them, but sculpting especially – eventually decided they wanted to see the world and got a one way ticket to london for college. with their family's support (and sadness), they left the reservation for art school – met their spouse (rania <3) in college after a few flings and fell in love immediately – what was initially a fling turned into a whirlwind romance and of course freya was down Bad – as soon as they started taking the relationship seriously they knew they had to get their shit into gear because sculpting wasn't going to pay the bills – put their big thirl panties on and got into law; was wicked good at what they did, but their heart was never in it. still, they knew they didn't want to go back to the states (as much as they missed their family), so they got a job in chile instead, still wanting to see the world – unforchie law burned them out despite the fact that they were good at it and they quit, hoping to pursue their craft full time – currently is going through a bit of a rough patch with rania since quitting their job </3 they had a lot in savings and rania supported them after seeing how miserable they were, but it's ... rough. they're trying – kind of having a midlife crisis ? in a way ? – still loves their children and their wife don't get it twisted. their family is their lifeline n main priority always

HEADCANONS:

— really chill. used to be kind of a stoner, now takes edible gummies to sleep ( i love you old people <3 ). still really go with the flow – gives fucking awesome advice – neurodivergent as hell ... chill unless their very specific ways of living are disrupted and they're like woah? – played softball as a kid – very much the yin to rania's yang – still calls with their family daily, facetimes often – has a pretty good amount of tattoos, including two for their kids – likes to birdwatch and play chess in the park – will add more here as i think :D

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

— children they are adopting ( or ones that realize they give good advice and are like hi :p )

– does anyone want to birdwatch with them

– someone get them a job omfg please

– fellow artists!

– erm check back soon

#valpohqintro #babythirl incoming

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 7 months

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Hypervelocity impact experiments probe the origin of organics on the dwarf planet Ceres

One of the most exciting findings from NASA's Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harbored the main ingredients associated with life as we know it.

How the aliphatic organics originated on Ceres has been the subject of intensive research since their discovery in 2017. Some studies have concluded that a comet or other organic-rich impactor delivered them to Ceres; others indicate the molecules formed on the dwarf planet after its primordial materials were altered by briny water. But regardless of their origin, the organics on Ceres have been affected by the pervasive impacts that have pockmarked its surface.

Now new research to be presented Tuesday at the Geological Society of America's GSA Connects 2023 meeting is extending scientists' understanding of how impacts have affected Ceres' aliphatic molecules—and what the implications are for determining their origin and assessing the dwarf planet's habitability.

"The organics were initially detected in the vicinity of a large impact crater, which is what motivated us to look at how impacts affect these organics," says Terik Daly, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory who led this study. "We are finding that organics may be more widespread than first reported and that they seem to be resilient to impacts with Ceres-like conditions."

Capitalizing on multiple datasets

From the Dawn data, Daly knew that Ceres is covered with impact craters of varying sizes formed when other asteroids slammed into Ceres. But what he did not yet understand was how these impacts affect aliphatic compounds—information that was needed to help constrain where the organics originated and how their signatures might have changed after being exposed to multiple impacts over billions of years.

"Although researchers have performed impact and shock experiments on various types of organics in the past," says Daly, "what was missing was a study dedicated to the type of organics detected on Ceres using the same type of analytical method used by the Dawn spacecraft to detect them." This, he says, would enable direct comparisons between the experimental and spacecraft data.

Daly worked with a team that included Jessica Sunshine, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, and Juan Rizos, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who is now an astrophysicist at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Spain, to conduct a series of experiments at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiments mimicked the impact conditions typical of Ceres, with impact speeds ranging between 2–6 km/s (4,400–13,000 mph) and impact angles varying between 15 and 90 degrees relative to horizontal.

Rizos and Sunshine also conducted a new analysis that combined data from two different instruments—the camera and the imaging spectrometer that flew on the Dawn spacecraft—and then used an algorithm to extrapolate the compositional information from the spectrometer down to the camera's higher spatial resolution. The results allowed them to investigate the organics at finer detail than has previously been possible.

"People had looked at the Dawn camera data and the Dawn spectrometer data separately, but no one else had taken the approach our team used to extrapolate the data from one instrument to another, which provided new leverage in our search to map and understand the origin of organics on Ceres," says Sunshine.

Evidence for an internal origin

Collectively, the team's analyses point to some potentially exciting results.

"By capitalizing on the strengths of two different datasets collected over Ceres, we've been able to map potential organic-rich areas on Ceres at higher resolution," says Rizos. "We can see a very good correlation of organics with units from older impacts and with other minerals like carbonates that also indicate the presence of water. While the origin of the organics remains poorly understood, we now have good evidence that they formed in Ceres and likely in the presence of water."

"There is a possibility that a large interior reservoir of organics may be found inside Ceres," adds Rizos. "So, from my perspective, that result increases the astrobiological potential of Ceres."

The researchers hope the results from another NASA mission called Lucy will soon shed more light on organics in the solar system. Sunshine is also a part of that mission's team and has been thinking about how to apply the results of the current study to the asteroids that Lucy will be studying in the vicinity of Jupiter.

"We will likely find differences, as the Trojan asteroids have experienced very different impact histories from Ceres, and because there are two compositionally different types of Trojan asteroids. Comparisons to Ceres will help up us understand the distribution of organics in the outer solar system," she says.

For all the team members, these results have heightened the expectations for another mission to Ceres. In the latest Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey, "The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has endorsed a sample return from Ceres in the short list of high-priority mission targets," says Rizos. "If that happens, it will be several decades in the future. Novel analyses of existing data are a great way of making new discoveries in the meantime."

TOP IMAGE....Side view of the ejecta curtain created during a hypervelocity impact experiment at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects of impacts on Ceres’ organics. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

LOWER IMAGE....An impact crater created by a hypervelocity impact experiment at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range. The experiment was designed to investigate the effects on impacts on Ceres’ organics. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #astrophysics #esa

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mariacallous · 10 months

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With its abundant natural gas supply, Russia has long wielded its resource riches to bludgeon Ukraine, Europe, and other dependent customers. By continuously threatening the future of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the landmark wartime agreement designed to open up Ukraine’s key farm output for export to world markets, Moscow has also found a way to strangle Kyiv’s agricultural sector—and weaponize resources that aren’t even its own.

Those tactics were on full display this week as negotiators raced to broker a full extension to the grain deal before its scheduled expiration on Monday, the latest scramble to save a key deal that helped ease pressures on vulnerable markets in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since the deal took force in July 2022, Moscow has repeatedly attempted to upend the agreement to extract key concessions, intensifying concerns about the future of Ukraine’s hard-hit agricultural industry and the global food insecurity.

“This continues to be very much an issue not just for Ukraine producers but also globally,” said Joseph Glauber, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute and former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Ukraine has been a very important supplier, and if they have to continue with diminished production over another year, that means that the world will have to find wheat and corn from others to replace that.”

It’s still not clear if Russia is ready to blink again and continue allowing exports or if this time it will try to scupper the deal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Russia had agreed to extend the deal—before the Kremlin said it had decided no such thing.

With just days until the deal would expire, Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to press for concessions and extract leverage. For months, the main sticking point in negotiations has been Russia’s own food and fertilizer exports: While excluded from Western sanctions, Moscow says its exports have been hampered by sanctions targeting insurance and payment companies over its invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, Putin warned that “not one” of its demands had been met. The grain deal is a “one-sided game,” he said in a television interview. “We can suspend our participation in this deal. And if everyone reiterates that all promises given to us will be fulfilled, let them fulfill these promises. And we will immediately join this deal. Again.”

Western officials and agricultural analysts have pushed back, accusing him of deliberately stymieing the outflow of agricultural exports and driving up prices. Barbara Woodward, the U.K. envoy to the United Nations, said Russia was engaging in “cynical brinkmanship.”

“In Istanbul, they slow-roll the inspections of the grain ships, bringing down the amount of grain that goes out. Then, by signaling that they are considering refusing to renew the deal, they are also affecting global grain prices,” she said.

In this game of brinkmanship, diplomats have been scrambling to carve out other concessions to secure the extension of the deal. On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres wrote Putin a letter offering to connect a Russian agricultural bank subsidiary to the SWIFT international payments system, in exchange for the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative; the European Commission also indicated that it was willing to “explore all solutions.”

“The objective is to remove hurdles affecting financial transactions through the Russian Agricultural Bank, a major concern expressed by the Russian Federation, and simultaneously allow for the continued flow of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea,” U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.

Russia has yet to respond to the letter, although Erdogan, a strong proponent of the grain deal, expressed optimism on Friday that Guterres’s effort would help secure the grain deal’s extension. Both Putin and Erdogan are “of the same mind” in extending the agreement, the Turkish leader added.

Known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine once supplied 10 percent of the world’s wheat exports, 20 percent of corn exports, and 40 percent of the global sunflower oil supply. After Russia’s invasion in February 2022 throttled harvests and disrupted those exports—thereby skyrocketing global prices—diplomats rushed to ink an agreement to avert an international food crisis. Since its inception roughly a year ago, the U.N.- and Turkey-brokered initiative has unlocked more than 30 million metric tons of goods, nearly one-quarter of which have gone to China. Almost half have reached developing markets that had been under immense strain.

Failing to renew the deal would jeopardize those exports—which would be bad for Russia’s ongoing efforts to woo the global south and especially its need to stay in good graces with Beijing. China has been one of the major beneficiaries of the grain deal, even naming the initiative in its 12-point peace plan, and has a vested interest in the agreement’s success. The timing of the latest extension fight also matters: The overwhelming bulk of Ukraine’s wheat crop is harvested in July and August, making this extension even more critical than previous standoffs.

But even without suspending its involvement in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Moscow has done what it can to pressure Kyiv, including by shortening the lengths of extensions and exacerbating shipping challenges. As long as Russia works to squeeze Ukraine’s agricultural sector, Glauber said, already hard-hit producers will be the ones who are hurt the most.

“The real problem with all these increased costs and reduced exports out of the Black Sea [is that] the direct cost of that is being felt by Ukraine producers,” he said. “And that’s sort of the bottom line.”

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writersblockedx · 2 years

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Protector of the Party: Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Breaking and Entering

PAIRING - Steve Harrington x Reader BASED OFF - (A little) 1x04, 1x05 WARNINGS - Violence, Mentions of kidnap, drug use and death WORDS - 3.5K

Read on AO3 / Wattpad

Series Masterlist Masterlist

Y/n hadn't left her room since she returned home. She really should have gone to find Hopper, make sure she was still in the clear and tell him the real reason behind Steve Harrington's list of lies he had woven together. But as she wondered around her room, the sky now painted dark, she put that as a errand for tomorrow.

A knock came from the front door. In the small house the Henderson's lived in, Y/n could hear it from her room. As could Dustin. She waited to hear the smaller boy ponder out of his room to collect whatever parcel was being delivered, or whatever item was yearning to be sold. But that never came. Y/n knew it was late, but Dustin never abided by the bedtime Claudia enforced. The knock came again. "Dustin!" The girl yelled at the top of her lungs. Nothing. No reply, no sound of movement. Only another knock.

Huffing, Y/n pulled herself from her bedsheets and, in a mood, made her way to the front door to attend whoever stood behind it. She certainly hadn't expected Hopper to be standing at the other side when she swung the door open. "Hopper?" Then she realised: the party - that she had never even been a part of. "Look I don't know what Harrington has told you, but I was never at that stupid party on Tuesday-"

The man's brows furrowed and he looked back at Y/n as if she were speaking gibberish. "Party? What party?" He questioned.

"The one your officers were asking me about today." Hopper still wasn't following. "At Steve Harrington's house?" He was completely blank. "You really need better communication with them officers. What are you doing here then?"

Hopper dropped his confusion as he came back to his purpose. "You still have them pliers?"

Y/n nodded, "Yeah."

"And you still want to find out what's going on with your mum and Will?"

Again, she nodded, "Yeah."

"Then let's go."

Y/n probably should have thought about it before agreeing. It was a school night and she was sure following after some conspiracy theory and breaking into a lab wasn't the best way to spend her time. Alas, she was her. In a flash, she slipped into her bedroom, uncovered the pliers from beneath her bed and jumped into the police truck with Hopper.

They glanced to one another; neither of them completely sure of this. "Seatbelt." Hopper stated before starting the engine.

Y/n obliged and pulled it across her body as he started pulling out from their driveway. "You really haven't heard about this party they're investigating?" Y/n then started as they entered the main road.

"I've had some bigger things to deal with right now, Kid." He answered as if that were obvious.

"Really? Because they're saying that this party was the last place Barb was seen at before she went missing. Which, by the way, is nowhere near the lab." She explained.

He glanced over at the girl, "And you were at this party?"

"No!" She snapped as she had felt like doing all day. "Harrington just said that because he can't help but save himself." She took a much needed exhale as she felt her hands start to fidget with the other. "As always."

"Just sounds like teen drama to me." Of course it did.

Y/n took a moment to calm from the memory of the words that had come from Steve earlier in the day. "What if it's not?" She suggested. "What if, that night, Barb left early because they were all irritating her. Maybe she passed the Lab on her way home and saw the same thing Will did." She paused. "Maybe they're all connected."

Hopper turned down a road that was going the opposite direction to the lab. "Hopefully we're about to find out."

She looked over at the man in the driver's seat, "This isn't the way to the lab." She observed.

"I know." He replied as the car turned into the morgue car park. "I just need to check something first."

Hopper slid into a parking spot, turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. Y/n wondered what had happened throughout the day to bring him back here. What he had discovered while she had been getting caught between 'teen drama' as he had called it. "Stay here." Jim instructed as he jumped out from the car.

Y/n watched for a moment as the man entered the morgue. Once he slipped inside, her eyes landed onto the glove compartment. She thought for a minute but she gave into her urge. She clipped it open and watched as the pistol stared back at her. She glanced between the shut door of the morgue and the weapon. Fuck it, her brain told her. Her hand grasped the gun as she shifted in her seat to shove it into the back of her jeans, pressing against the waistband.

The girl then left against Hopper's orders. She wondered into the morgue, the reception empty other then the lady who sat behind the desk. She sat up as Y/n entered, confused as to why a young girl was here at this hour. "I'm with the chief." Y/n rushed out before the women could object to anything, already walking through the closed doors to find the chief.

Y/n's feet slid down one the hallways, finally stopping as she caught Hopper and a state cop by the entrance to where the bodies were held. She was about to speak when Hopper threw a punch. The girl froze. He threw another punch and the cop fell. Y/n chuckled as her legs drew closer to the scene. "Out in two, I'm impressed."

Hopper's expression fell the moment he met Y/n's pupils. "I told you stay in the car." He stated like a father might have done.

She shrugged, "Since when did I do anything you told me too?"

The man supposed she made a good point there. Y/n reached over the unconscious body of the cop, flicking the keys out from his belt and into her hold. "What are we doing here then?" She questioned as she tested each key on the lock.

"The only people to have any contact with Will's body were people from state." Hopper informed as Y/n finally unlocked the door, letting it swing open.

She waited until moving, "So people from the Lab?"

That was something Hopper couldn't be entirely sure about. "Or people hired, paid, by the lab, yeah."

Y/n stared back at the empty room in front of them. "You think they might have done something to the body?" She asked, not letting her gaze break from the freezer where she knew Will's body must lay.

"I'm not even sure it really is a body." Well that was definitely something - the same something Dustin had too mentioned.

The girl swallowed the lump that had since grown in her throat and took the first step into the room. She could have sworn it got ten degrees cooler. Still, she stood in the centre of the freezer, several doors staring back at her. "Which one is Will's?"

Hopper didn't reply. Instead, he reached out to one of the handles on the right hand side. He pulled it open and dragged out the table. A cloth covered the body. Y/n couldn't stop starring down at it. "You don't have to watch this." Hopper told her.

Y/n reached down to her boot, pulling at the small pocket knife she hid behind her sock. She glanced to Hopper as he glared down at the blade held in her grip. "We're gonna need to check if it's real or not, right?" She pointed out. Hopper nodded before they both let their sights fall back down the sheet that shielded their eyes from the lifeless corpse.

Hopper was the one to throw back the sheet. Y/n felt like her breath had gotten caught in her throat. Will was blue. It was as if her muscles were stuck and the knife in her hand seemed like it might never move. But, slowly, she brought it to hover over Will's chest. She couldn't pull her eyes away from Will's closed ones. Hopper pressed his hands over Y/n's, bringing her back to what she was meant to be doing. "On three." The man said.

"One."

Her hands started to shake.

"Two."

She felt like looking away.

"Thr-"

Y/n pushed the blade down, hating the feeling of it slicing through the skin. From there, they dragged it down towards the belly button. It didn't take either of them long to realise something was off. No blood or muscle tissue was in sight. Once they had it open enough, Hopper reached in. All he pulled out was stuffing.

They looked up at one another. "Now what?" Asked Y/n.

"Now we find where Will really is."

So to the lab it was.

The lab wasn't too far from the morgue - ironically. And by this time, Y/n doubted the lab to be very busy. Hopper didn't get too far to the building. He pulled into a side road that lined the steal fence. He slowly stopped the car, switching the engine off until silence erupted through the truck. The pair glanced at one another. Their expressions asking if they were really going to go through with this.

Y/n grabbed the pliers that had lurked by her feet from the moment she entered the truck. That gave Hopper the go ahead as he exited the car, her only a moment behind him. They wondered up towards a certain part of the fence that seemed quiet. Y/n waited a second or two (just in case) before letting the long blades clip around the metal, breaking it free with a snap. She kept going until a large enough hole was created for the both of them to climb through.

Hopper turned to her before even of them dared to step through, "You can wait here, if you want."

Y/n could have laughed. "If I didn't want to go in, I never would have left my house." In fact, she never would have taken such an interest in the ancient newspaper the chief had been reading a couple of days ago now. "Ladies first." She gestured her hand back to the hole.

Hopper huffed at the comment but crawled through anyway, searching the area as Y/n followed. "Anything?" She asked as she watched his gaze.

The man pointed over towards an entrance to the building. "Our way in." He said. The two tip toed towards the glass doors. Hopper had tried to open them: locked. Something they hadn't anticipated. I mean if you were hiding dead kids (who weren't really dead) inside, then yeah, locks were a good idea.

Hopper slid to the wall next to the double doors, encouraging Y/n to do the same. And they waited. As they heard the door swing open, they stiffened and Y/n fought the urge to reach for the gun she had stolen from Hopper's glove compartment. The urge left her the moment she watched the two scientist continue on with their duties, completely unfazed. Hopper moved swiftly as he grasped the door before it shut, he and Y/n slipping inside.

It was a completely different part of the Lab then where Y/n was usually taken when visiting her mother. The anxiety bubbled in her stomach as she stuck close to Hopper, eyes wide for any threat that may reach her. A pair of scientists came in sight as they wondered down an adjacent corridor. Both her and Hopper jolted, jumping into an open room, pressing their backs against the walls that were situated next to the door way. Y/n held her breath.

She listened as their discussion gained closer. And closer. And then so close Y/n could hear the breath they took between sentences. Then it got lower. And soon enough, the voices passed into the distance where they couldn't harm the girl. She finally let out the air her lungs had been holding onto.

She looked to Hopper and they both nodded in sync. They exited the small office room and continued. Everything seemed normal, conventional. Certainly didn't look like they were holding kidnapped children here.

Then her and Hopper turned a cornor.

They were faced with a plastic hazard curtain.

Hopper huffed as both his and Y/n's feet came to a stop. "If he's going to be anywhere..." There was no need for her to finish her words; Hopper knew the point she was making. And he agreed with it.

He tilted his head in thought before taking a step forwards and breaking through the seal.

The moment Y/n stepped through, it was as if the normality of office buildings had been stripped away. It was replaced with blinding white tile that covered the wall and the floor. Now it seemed like they were standing in a lab. They rushed down the hallway until finally meeting tall, double doors. Hopper went straight for the handles: locked. And the only way to unlock it was through a key card that they didn't have. But if Will was here, this would probably be the best place to look.

"What do we-" She started. But her hold body stopped as she felt the barrel of a gun jabbed against the back of her head.

"Hands in the air." Demanded a voice Y/n didn't recognise.

Hopper spun around and obliged, surrendering with his palms up. He met the petrified expression that was written all over Y/n, a stab of guilt paining at his gut; he should have never brought her here. "Woah, woah, woah." Hopper sung as the girl took a slow step towards him, turning to face her threat.

"Forgot all the cameras, bud?" The man in the suit had questioned with some sadistic glint in his eye as he held his gun.

Y/n wasn't sure who the man was, but he knew Jim. "Look, Doctor Brenner asked for us, specially, okay?" He defended as his hand gently pointed between himself and Y/n. As the conversation went on, the girl felt safe enough to let her arms fall. Slowly enough in that no one would suspect anything. "How else do you think I got in here?"

The man in the suit was still uncertain and grabbed his walkie. "Names?" He demanded.

"It's Chief Jim Hopper." He said with a shrugged and a smile as if everything was completely fine.

Y/n's hands kept moving as they lurked at her waist. "And you?"

A long pause followed. Hopper was about to answer for her, but she broke the pause herself, smacking the walkie to the floor with one hand, and using the other to slip out the gun from the back of her jeans. She let it hover against his forehead. Everything felt still for a second.

Hopper then moved, throwing a fist into the cheek of the man. He fell to the ground with a thud as Y/n took a few steps backwards. Hopper took his own gun against the guard that had been (badly) protecting the man in the suit. At that point, Y/n had turned back, facing the lock that still troubled them. But, as she had done back at the morgue, she stepped over the unconscious man and took his key card.

Hopper joined her side by the doors, still pointing his gun at the guard who quivered against the tile wall. Y/n slipped the key car through the lock. It clicked. It opened. She rushed through and Hopper followed.

As the double doors closed behind them, Y/n's gaze found the lock on the other side. She held the pistol up again and her finger found the trigger. She pressed it and the force felt as if it had jolted through her whole body. But the lock broke and fuzzed, meaning they were secure in here for now.

They finally turned and faced the dark hallway. "I told you that you couldn't have that gun." Hopper scolded as if this were the time for that.

"Yeah, well I thought it might come in handy when breaking into a possible kidnaper lair." She responded as they took their first steps through this new setting of the Lab.

He shuffled around in his coat pocket, pulling out a flashlight and offering it the girl. "First lesson: You can't shoot, if you can't see." Y/n's eyes flicked between the metallic flashlight and Hopper's expression before she took the equipment for herself.

Then they faced the long corridor that had been starring back at them. It's trapped between shadows and lights that flickered. Hopper moved first. He went to one of the room's, inspecting it and calling out, "Will!" There comes no reply, so he continued on.

Y/n followed suit. Going from room to room as she yelled out for the younger boy. "Will!" Nothing in that room. "Will!" Nothing. "Will!" Nothing. "Will!" Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

She finally made it to one of the rooms towards the end of the hallway. Her light roams around the room. She was about to move on, give in, then her flashlight lands on something. The room is the complete same as the others but for one thing. A photograph. It's hung on the wall by a thread. It's obviously been folded for a long time due to the creases that scar the ink. There's something that seems familiar about it and draws the girl closer.

She stepped into the room and wondered towards the photo. A sting of guilt hit her. An old family photo stared back at her. She recognised Claudia first, holding new born Dustin in her arms. And then she spotted herself - maybe only five years old. The younger version of her clings to her mother whose only just breaking a smile. She could stare at in for ages. The family picture mocked what she knows her family to be now. Here, it seemed normal, capturing two sisters and their children. It pained Y/n to know how things had changed.

"Hey, Kid!" She heard Hopper call as his footsteps followed, slowing in the doorway.

It's only then she realised the tears that were pricking at her waterlines. She sniffled, turning to face the chief who felt like the Earth had shifted, seeing Y/n on the verge of genuine tears. "This-" Her words get caught in her throat. "This is my mums room." Though, it still lacked her in it.

Hopper tensed at the idea. He wasn't the best with being genuine. Y/n strode over to him and passed over the photo. "What if-" She could barely even let the thought process, never mind saying it aloud. "What if they did something to her?"

What if they had killed her?

"Hey," Hopper spoke, pulling her back to reality rather than the dark hole of her thoughts. "We'll find her, just like we'll find Will." He said as if he could promise her that.

Still, Y/n nodded. "Okay."

They then heard it. The several sound of heavy footsteps gaining closer. "Come on." Hopper urged as he led the way out of the room.

Y/n shoved the picture into her pocket before rushing out with him. They had nowhere else to go other than the elevator that awaited them at the end of the corridor. Hopper slammed the open door button, forcing them both to wait as the guards got closer. Y/n felt her breaths quicken as the footsteps came round the corner. There must have been at least five of them.

"Y/n!" Hopper yelled before tugging her into the elevator she had been too distracted to realise had opened. And he slammed the button again as it shut, the figures of the guards soon disappearing.

She didn't let her eyes fall from the door, "We don't have anywhere to go, you know that right?" As if he needed reminding.

"I know." He huffed with his words.

"Then what's your plan?"

"We run."

Y/n was about to point about the many, many, flaws in his plan, but the doors pinged open once again. This time, welcoming them to a floor that felt like it was in another dimension. The lights flashed more than ever and some kind of dust filled the air which made Y/n worried to breathe it in. Still, she followed Hopper as he took the first step into this abnormal floor.

Her hand reached around her nose and mouth, covering best she could from the specs that clouded the atmosphere. "Oh god," She muttered as the only thing to guide them being the flashlights. But, with nowhere else to go, no way to turn back, they went forwards. And things only got worse from there.

They ended up in a room, overgrown with some sort of vines that Y/n could of sworn she saw move. It wrapped around the walls, leading to the giant source in the centre of the back wall. It flashed a little and shimmered due to the slimly texture it was covered in. "What the hell?" Y/n heard Hopper speak aloud from next to her.

They could have kept staring, attempting to work out what they were looking at. But then the heavy footsteps returned.

The two sprung around.

A man in a white hazmat suit faced them.

Y/n attempted to put up a fight.

Then another white hazmat came into view.

And another.

Then a sharp pain stung at her neck. --

Chapter Five (The Mother) to be published Thursday 9pm (BST) Taglist - @fanficfanatic204 @neverylee @myheartonthemove (let me know if you would like to be added or removed)

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things vol 2 #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things x reader #steve harrington rewrite #stranger things imagine #stranger things rewrite #stranger things fanfic #rewrite #x reader #fanfiction

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bylerficrecweek · 1 year

Text

3 Day Pre-S4

Come Hell, High Water by naiesu https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165851/chapters/30112065

“It’s been months, Mike,” Lucas says, staring at Mike, hard. Mike can’t remember a time he didn’t look at him that way. “Will is a cold case. You need to accept that.”

Mike is cold, and for one terrifying moment he feels the numbness wash over him. Everybody in the group is either looking at Mike, or at something that isn’t the two of them. Is that it then? Will Mike’s silenced protests be the last voice turning away from the boy that was Will Byers?

Maybe he should.

yet the world still spins by AnxiouslyIntroverted https://archiveofourown.org/works/25883410/chapters/62895670

What if Joyce and Hopper weren't able to find Will? What if he escaped the Demogorgan, but was left stranded in the Upside Down?

This is the story of a boy returning to a world that continued on without him.

The Evening Speaks by nbfutureboy https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992295/chapters/68563014

Will Byers enjoys working on his assignments deep into the night… Usually to the sound of his favorite college radio show, Wheeler on the Mic. One phone call in the early hours draws him into a ridiculous bet with the host.

The Losers Party by WhelmedBirdie_319 https://archiveofourown.org/works/28536717/chapters/69930090

Derry, Maine is not a safe place. It all started in November of 1987 when Will Byers went missing. Since then it’s like bad things only ever happen in Derry. Hawkins Lab is partly to blame. But the real thing to blame is the creature calling itself Pennywise that lives in the sewers of Derry. It wakes up every 27 and feeds on the people of Derry!

A self indulgent crossover of Stranger Things and IT. It takes place during season 3 and during the movie. Hopefully I don’t mess this up, it’s my first time writing something like this.

Spring Break by leywritesZ https://archiveofourown.org/works/20479592/chapters/48595682

Seven months after the Byers-Hopper family move to Michigan and start fresh. Mike visits for Spring Break.

The Art of Living Your (Second) Life by midnighteverlark https://archiveofourown.org/works/26370676/chapters/64230160

On a frigid night in late November, college student Will Byers is thrown from his car during a car crash and lies dying by the side of the road, undiscovered by rescuers. As he lies there, he hallucinates a dark haired boy named Mike who appears out of nowhere and tries to save his life. The strange thing is, saving Will's life apparently includes drinking his blood - but Will is too bleary to question it. The next morning, Will wakes up by the side of the road with not a scratch on his body... wearing a jacket that isn't his.

The next time he sees Mike, he can't believe his eyes. And he has questions.

Lots of questions.

Primarily: what the hell did Mike turn him into?

i’m gonna wade out past the shadows by bluebears https://archiveofourown.org/works/36759685/chapters/91700260

There were vines growing underneath his bed and no one else could see them. It sounded crazy, he’d been to enough therapy to know that. But there was no other explanation. Just last Tuesday, Dustin had climbed under there to reach his pen and when he popped back out he was completely oblivious to it. Almost as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Series: American Heroes by catchip2 https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117145

i will give up this fight (cause i can't make you love me if you don't) by writingismyescapefromreality https://archiveofourown.org/works/13241733/chapters/30289386

Will can see the red string that connects him and Mike. His heart breaks as he watches his soulmate fall more and more for someone else.

I'll Never Let You Go (five words i'll never say) by AabH https://archiveofourown.org/works/25928686/chapters/63020302

This fic takes place over the course of a few years. It focuses on Mike, his struggles with his feelings, and his sexuality.

Both were quiet for a long time and Mike began to wonder if Will had dozed off, fallen asleep in the warm summer sun. Mike didn’t want to wake him so he just watched the trees sway overhead, trying to quiet his thoughts. He blinked when he felt Will roll over and brush against him as the smaller teen adjusted himself. He was warm, so much warmer than The Mindflayer had been in Mike’s dream. Warm and safe and well, nothing lurking beneath the surface. The Flayer was dead and Will was fine.

Mike wanted to touch him, to gain further confirmation, but he didn’t. Boys didn’t do that, touch each other for comfort or affection unless it was a quick hug or a slap on the back, even if they cared about each other.

series: losing will, and other fatalities by ciders https://archiveofourown.org/series/1274996

#bylerficrecweek2023 #bylerficrecweek #byler #📮#submission

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spicyicetea · 5 months

Text

So I once again got pre-occupied with my school work. I had a decently big test recently and I have two more on Tuesday and Wednesday so I’ve mainly been trying to revise. However in my down time I have done more work for the Pokemon stuff @witch-without-gender and I started [How you doing dude, hope you’re feeling ok]. I decided to make a separate post to cull the big chunky post a little.

✨So here’s the update✨

The region still remains unnamed but, from previous discussions in the longer reblogs, the region is connected to Unova and vaguely based on Canada. I haven’t put too much thought into the region itself, like it’s history as I wish to leave that to a group decision as it’s rather important information for me to decide it alone.

The Gym leaders for the region are chosen to be parallels for the Unova gym leaders, their typing being super effective against the BW2 Unova leaders. [Same as the elite four]. The types I chose are,

Fighting

Psychic

Fire

Ground

Water

Rock

Ice

Electric

And the elite four are,

Dark

Fairy

Bug

Flying

Ive only designed half on them so far,

One of the champions [This region has two] is the mother of one of the rivals I’ve designed. She plays many roles in the current main story that would be played if it were an actual game. In the beginning she gives you your starter as the regions professor is on a trip in Unova. The professor ends up being someone who works under her in an organisation she runs to keep an eye on the other champion who is rather scummy. Her organisation is framed as the bad guys by said scummy guy to keep her in line so he can keep control over the region. You would fight her as the champion but before you fight the other one to claim the title he would send you to take down her “evil team”. There you would face a second much stronger team of hers, only balanced by having a very large weakness to fairy, ice and dragon.

The rival and MCs have been a tad bit reworked since I last drew them but there’s no new context or information regarding them.

The biggest addition so far is this regions version of the battle tower, or I suppose the battle subway given I’m using Unova as inspiration for the entire region. [I do actually already have some ideas of characters who would get along/work with eachother across this region and Unova. My sister has been playing a lot of splatoon and I tend to listen to the soundtrack while drawing so I present to you, battle fest!

This would work as weekly in game battle tournament where you fight various trainers and then fight one of the leaders who has a full team and teams of rather strong Pokemon. It’s run by 5 separate trainers who all specialise in specific stats (hp, attack, defence, speed), although the actual leader has no specific stat and just builds their team around pokemon they like. Oh and they're all just different shades of autistic [I am autistic so I project onto them a lot, mainly the one I've drawn the most of so far]

If you can't tell, I adore these five. Levana is the one I projected onto the most (Oopsy) and shes designed to appear rather sweet and approachable but is feral, most definety tries to bite everything. Given these guys are new characters I'll give some extra information on them, or at least Levana as I haven't had too much time to dive into the others as I want to post this asap as I’m trying not to be inactive. Anyway, onto the information!

Levana was orphaned after the train line in their region was derailed by a wild Pokemon. Due to the Pokemon being protected and the area having no safe way to guarantee it wouldn’t happen again so it was never repaired. Being a small, at the time semi-non-verbal (not fully but after losing the only people she was comfortable around she struggled to talk to people). She was taken under the wing of the regional professor. She grew up around pokemon and were always comfortable talking to them, to a point where she seems to understand them and vice versa. Over time she gained a talent for battling as she would make mock battle situations with Pokemon she befriended around the lab and as she grew older she gained more confidence in herself and began speaking to people again at around the age of 15. By 18 she officially has her own Pokemon (A Noibat,King, and Honedge, Excalibur) and decides she has to do something with her life so buys a ticket to sinnoh to create the strongest team she can and attempt the gym challenge in her home region. In sinnoh she catches two sneasles, one being a strange discoloured version she wanted to bring back to the lab for the professor to research but she became attached to it. (Pringle and Bingo join her team) later she found a togepi while camping and she found it eating her toothpaste. She ended up feeding it and it followed her for a day before she offered it a pokeball and it joined her team (Colgate acquired) On the way back she has to go on a longer boat trip past other regions as she doesn’t like planes. She made friends with one of the other passengers who gifted her a charcadet called Wisp as a parting gift when she had to get off at her region. When she got back however, the professor was missing and she had no home to return to, after having a really harsh encounter she meets Briar, the water type gym leader who offers her a place to stay and they hit it off (they both autistic so they automatically click, if you know you know). Elesa comes to meet Briar regarding a modelling gig and meets Levana, who offers to let Briar bring her along to the studio so she wouldn’t be left alone (let’s be real Elesa is that one neurotypical friend we autistic people get somehow. She has experience with how the neurodivergent minds can work from Ingo and Emmet). While in Nimbasa, Briar bought her a cookie while they and Elesa did the shoot but a Joltik stole half the cookie while she was waving bye. She chased the Joltik into the subway station where she encountered the battle subway for the first time. The Joltik casually clambered onto her shoulder and she assumed, this was fate, and decided to try it to pass the time. She did decently well before encountering Emmet and getting her ass kicked. This however just inspires her to get stronger and she dubs him, and eventually Ingo when she meets him, her idols and she vows to beat them one day before heading home with Briar.[She was gifted the Joltik by the brothers and she dubbed him Crumble] With support from Briar she calls the friends she made on her travels and starts the BattleFest to get stronger and show her home region the joys of battling for fun and not just competition.

Thats all I have and this will prob be the longest info block about the battlefest people as she is important to the current story I have planned for the actual region. But uhh here have some fun facts about her:

She used to have a phobia of trains but after crumble basically ratatouilles her into the battle subway and she befriends Emmet it completely flips and now she’s obsessed with them. She has a model train in her apartment.

She sews small clothes and accessories for her Pokemon, Crumble have mini replicas of the Submas brothers’ jackets and hats.

She has to fight Colgate out of her bathroom because it likes trying to steal her toothpaste.

Pringle and Bingo are besties and often preform heists to steal Levana’s food.

Levana makes Pokemon friendly fur dyes/paints so she can make her Pokemon feel special and match her when she dyes her hair.

[This is all I have as of now but I will update by Wednesday and that’s a promise!]

#Pokemon #pokemon oc #fake pokemon region #pkmn irl #pkmn oc #pkmnart #pkmn fanart #pkmn bw #pkmn bw2 #pokemon bw #pokemon bw2

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docholligay · 2 years

Note

Doc what was the tragedy that befell your phone?

So back when I got what is now the broken phone, I had it like two days and was waiting for a case to come when something dropped out of the cabinet on it, shattering the corner. The front camera was fucked, but it otherwise worked and so I was going to repair or replace it in a few months. But things happen, I went to the uk, my glasses lenses cost 400 fucking dollars, YOU KNOW. And it worked! It was just... annoying. But we went on.

So today, I sit down on the floor to play with my daughter, and the crack goes all the way through. Busted. Tiny, tiny strip visible at the top, not even enough to see the time or notifications or anything. Basically enough to tell that the phone is on. This is, as you might imagine, both bad, and not good. I am, in a word, displeased.

I go to order a new old phone, same old phone as what has just essentially shattered under my ass, and then I realize it is a holiday weekend and I won’t have a phone until Tuesday at earliest. Hmm, I think, this is not good, and also bad. I could survive, of course, but I have an 18 month old child who is bounced from family member to family member frequently, and I am always the main point of contact and cruise director.

Fine, whatever, I go through and try to find my old phone, and the only old phone I can find is my old S4, which was, truly, the last phone I ever loved with my whole heart, but also has a serious battery issue. Whatever. I can carry around an external battery for the next five or six days. That it struggles to run internet is fine, I’ve already told people my internet connection is limited.

BUT NO I AM BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR. So i bring in my pile of old phones, s10, s4, etc, and the guy is like...if you give me those old phones, we can see what the trade in value is.

Now to make this situation all the more hilarious my wife had fallen down the concrete stairs and broken HER phone naught but a few days before I did, but I had ordered her a new (old) phone express, so she is holding an old s10.

Her first inclination is to say no, because my wife is a creature of “that thing we had decided to do” and not what I would call a capricious or expansive traveller in these realms. I, on the other hand, allow luck to find me, and so I’m like, ‘Sure, what’s the worst you can say, a price I don’t want to pay?”

READER, IT HAD BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE DID A STORE UPGRADE, THAT WITH OUR TRADEIN PHONES IT WAS 100% FUCKING FREE. To get an S22. My phone was broken beyond everything, Jill’s was not, but, we got two new phones for the price of an old and some broken shit.

I AM A VERY LUCKY PERSON AND THINGS LIKE THIS ARE WHY I SAY I AM

So anyway, yeah, it was hot horseshit for sure, but I kept saying I would upgrade my phone and not doing it, so fate stepped in an assisted me in having a brand fucking new phone, not just to me, but actually new, which, I did the math, I have not had in more than 10 years, closer to 15.

SO FAIL TO WIN! We love it!

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rescuefield-a · 11 months

Text

following the last post, though we have seen many times that claire basically keeps terrasave running, her position in the organisation has changed throughout the years:

she technically first heard of them a few months after being founded in 1999, though she actually joined in 2000 as a volunteer. they funded her studies in exchange for her story being used in interviews and fundraisings events

her first mission was in early 2004 in valdelobos, though it was a waste of time since they had arrived too late and never figured out what was happening with the civilians or the kids that disappeared. their collaboration with the local law enforcement was a mess too

in 2005 claire was already sort of testing waters about that spokesperson position though the airport outbreak definitely made it difficult to deal with the press about the protests happening in harvardville. inmy humble opinion even though the narrative being pushed is that claire chose a peaceful path, the way she dealt with the survivors shows that she's the only one of the mains who can be both fighter and rescuer if she wants

in 2006 she was coordinating the relief in penamstan, which is definitely a higher position but still falls in the volunteer zone. she's entrusted with talking to senators about collaborations between terrasave and the government, so i think in a way she was already getting ready to step up in position

2009 is the earliest we know of neil's involvement as leader of terrasave even though it's implied he joined sometime in 2005 after FBC was shut down, and climbed up in attempt to secretly continue lansdale's legacy. i find ot interesting that he was voted leader because of his sharp insight about bioterrorism but like, sure on paper he seems to align to the other "leaders" / founders ( chris and leon specifically ) views, but then that's it. neil gets votes but then in 2010 claire is the one organising the meeting between terrasave, bsaa and dso to which as far as we know she was also present, and in 2011 he had to pull her aside during the party to ask if she knew anything from DC. he's the leader on paper but he sure isn't leading shit if the people he's in alliance with don't even bother to talk to him specifically. i won't dwell on claire lying through her teeth about not being aware that there's a whole conspiracy since 2006 simply because that belongs to another meta but i do think at some point she was officially appointed spokesperson because 1) her connections are useful... and people prefer to talk to her better apparently, 2) neil doesn't have the personality to speak to people. it's noted he's a calm man but also detached by bioterrorism as a whole, things are just another tuesday for him ( negative ) so claire's more sensible approach is way useful when talking to the press

she's kept the spokesperson / second in command position up until sejm and her consequent resignation or break, whatever you want to call it. while i have my doubts that claire would come back knowing that even the organisation she's been in for most of her life is corrupt in some degree, i believe claire's plan was to teach moira the way so that at the next election they would have become the leader / second in command duo

death island will probably show claire as a volunteer once again because capflop hates having cool women in position of power, but in the off chance they don't tell us more about what happened post sejm, this is how things will go: from 2011 to 2013 claire was unaffiliated from terrasave, and mostly spent her time tracing back all the steps of neil and alex's plans in order to clear terrasave's name ( not that they asked, but since she really wants that leader position some leverage is needed ). benford's presidential speech at tall oaks was supposed to start a new era though as we know it was the opposite. claire helped terrasave volunteers in the aftermath of the outbreak even though there wasn't much left by the end of it. she's elected leader in 2014, with the assignment to sonido de tortuga being her first since working with the ngo again. it's worth to note that with claire being the leader, collaborations with the bsaa are more frequent; claire also reports to chris in these cases as if she was another agent, because technically she is. since it seems that the events of death island will be game changer to the point it needs the whole squad, in 2015 she will be in san francisco / alcatraz to conduct a joint investigation with the bsaa

#ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ meta.#does this make sense? who knows #my favourite thing to remind everyone is that claire was basically calling all the shots even when neil was leader #and it's genuinely hilarious to me bc even on sejm everyone was like yeah neil will get us out of here he's such a good leader #but in the end he couldn't even get himself out on his own he tried to get claire on his side until the very end #WE CAN RULE TOGETHER etc etc but claire was already mentally checked out from their relationship 💀 she just needed an excuse lmao

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captureburgundy · 1 year

Text

bring back memories.

it's a tuesday morning and i'm still here working from home because i've been issued an mc for this whole week. i'm down with hfmd. sucks. but i'm getting better though and i'm looking forward to coming back to the office.

i've been on tumblr since my teenage years thinking it was cool. i still think it is though but back then i never understood the whole concept of blogging and i just reblogged the stuff that i liked. the things that i saw on tumblr taught me how to dress up mainly and i ended up becoming a "tumblr boy". things died down eventually after awhile and many of us here stopped using tumblr.

i'm back here today though. literally just started a whole new account. i wonder if anyone i know or anyone in my area is still using tumblr though. that's okay, if i get to make some great connections here, why not! i guess my main intent of coming back to tumblr is to have another outlet for me to journal out my thoughts and feelings and if anyone actually read my long winded posts, i'd like to say that you're my friend whether we know each other or not. thank you for that.

writing in my diary used to be my safe space but it gets tiring. there are indeed many options for me to choose from when it comes to blogging but i chose tumblr because i wanna reminisce that part of me that's worry-free and happy and just here reblogging. i pretty much know young zaff is still there in me but i've been keeping him in the dark these years. i want him to be alive again just that time time, my present self is here to watch over him.

difference between my own tumblr during my teenage years vs now is that now, things are more real and raw. i'm here writing my thoughts and feelings to share with you guys. i can write about anything but just know that it's all real and if any of you feel like we're in the same boat, i hope you won't feel alone.

that's pretty long for a first entry. guess y'all know how talkative i can be.

i'm zaff and here's what i want to say... :)

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hexdsl · 1 year

Text

Tale from the Denouemeverse: Tuesday - Lea

Please see here for context to this post.

Tuesday: Lea

I had no idea what time it was. I had asked Libby to wake me after a couple of hours. She let me sleep all day. It was about one in the morning now; I had slept a day away.

“Ugh, Tuesday!” I grumbled to myself. I told Ba’an I would be back on Central by Monday at the latest. I really hoped he wouldn’t be mad at. He wouldn’t; he was never mad at me.

After leaving my room, I went into the living area. I was only in some shorts and a vest top; I had no idea how horrendous my hair was; I assumed it was pretty bad.

The lights would have activated dimly at these times of night, to stop me falling out a day/night cycle.

I looked around the room. The three-dimensional wall projectors had defaulted to log cabin because there was no one in the room to ask for anything. I looked at the old brown leather couch and the antique wooden coffee table in front of it. This was the one wall decoration that matched the furniture. There was a little countertop to divide the kitchen area and the main room. Next to that was an old table and four chairs.

“Libby?” I called.

A quick slap on the wall woke the food-hatch from standby.

I scrolled around the menu and selected a cherry cider and a bowl of granola. I had been eating a lot of traditional food from home, ever since it got attacked. I wanted to feel connected to it again, but I had been gone too long. The food was still good though. My people were the best in the galaxy at granola. It was borderline a planetary treasure to us. I smiled; then I remembered how home had been destroyed while I watched out of a window. I took a gulp of the cider and suppressed a shudder.

I sat on the couch. “Libby!” I called again.

Unbelievable! She let me sleep all day, then doesn’t even stick around to hang out when I did wake up. Princess could be a dick sometimes.

Well, when alone, do alone things! I went back to the hatch and got a bottle of whiskey. May as well improve the cider with my old friend, brown-tingly yummy.

“Thirteen, turn on the screen!” I yelled. Thirteen’s computer chimed, the screen came on. “Resume previous video.” It chimed again. The show carried on from where it left off. This was a human show about a man who lived in a tiny apartment and had all his friends visit. I wasn’t sure what it was actually about. Jon and Ba’an said that asking that very question was the point. It was funny.

I drank the whiskey.

***

“Really? How did this even happen?” Libby chastised as she sat next to me. The pain in my head was second only to the pain in my back. I had slept on the couch, but somehow half of me was on the floor. I think I had slid off, or at least began the process.

“Shh!” I complained, realising the room was spinning. “How did what even happen?” I asked, holding my head and wondering what time it was.

“It’s seven. In the morning. You said you were going to sleep yesterday morning and according to the hatch log, you drank yourself silly in your room until noon, then woke up this morning at one and carried on!”

“Was there a question in there somewhere?” I asked, covering my eyes, hoping the universe would calm down a little. I tried to figure out why she was shouting.

“Sober up, take a shower, and grab some Cure-all. I told Ba’an and Jon that we would be home before nine today.”

She wasn’t shouting. It was the hangover. Ah, that made more sense.

“How about you bring me the Cure-all and then carry me into the shower, you beautiful over achiever?”

She gave me the Libby glare. You know the one… The one where she pretended to be gathering her thoughts, but she was just wasting a few cycles while she invented gravity or something. She didn’t need to perform this with me. I had known her too long for it to work.

“Here,” she said. Handing me the Cure-all that had been in her hand the entire time. “I refuse to carry you though.”

I chugged the contents of the little green vial and tossed it into the pile of cans and bottles from last night… or this morning; it was a blurry line at this point. Was it still Tuesday?

I lay back while the Cure-all did its thing. It didn’t cure hangovers, but it certainly took the edges off of them. A little coffee, okay, a lot of coffee and I would be just fine.

After a few seconds, I felt it kick in and the blinding headache was turned down to a serious throb. A throb, I could handle. Libby had gone. Where did she go?

She appeared behind the sofa with a bottle of water. “Here, drink this. Get your shit together Brick!” she acted all mean, but really, she was a kitten, a hot kitten who would kick my arse if I didn’t get moving soon.

I took the water and headed to my room. My room was a fucking mess. Libby was untidy but I was on another level. I was shocked that Ba’an hadn’t ever commented on it. I really should get some maid robots, or hologram emitters like I had in my apartment at Libby’s building.

I sat on my bed and lay back. I really wanted to sleep off this hangover.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Some part of me wanted to sleep and maybe drink a little more. Then he popped into my head. The thought of Ba’an, he knew full-well that I had got wasted alone on my ship again, while he was waiting to love me. Why did he even bother with me?

I knew why most men wanted me: because I was hot. I was, am, have always been, everyone’s type. But Ba’an was a Vampire, and a man of almost saintly morality. He loved me, he wouldn’t leave me.

Ba’an loved me like no one else. Actually, that’s not true. Jon, and Libby loved me exactly as much, but not in the same way. I don’t think they wanted to sleep with me… oh my gosh! I caught myself a moment before I fell asleep!

I slapped my face and sat up. “Shower!” I yelled at the ship. My room was flooded with white light and there was a comforting rumble. I felt instantly fresher. I wanted to lie down again but resisted the urge.

The targeted Hygiene-field would clean the clothes I was wearing, but I needed to look like I was actively attempting to be a functional person, or Libby wouldn’t let me fly the ship home.

I dug through the pile of clothes, I pulled out an Elven ranger jacket and some shorts. I couldn’t find a vest. I shrugged and just zipped up the jacked. Ewe, when did I wear this last? “Shower!” I said again, wanting the jacket to be as fresh as the rest of me. I found some grey knee-high boots that matched the jacket closely enough that I could make it work. Circlet… I hunted under my duvet and found it. I slapped it on my wrist and put my hair into space-buns. Because I was in space, and it was cute.

I put a little lip gloss on and checked the mirror. Yep. I looked like a hot mess. Fashion icon!

***

I strutted onto the bridge with a coffee in hand and looked functional as fuck! There was only a tiny bit of brown-tingly in the coffee too. Today was a good day. Thank Aygah, for letting me be born a Brick! I could drink and party for a year before I looked as shit as a Human did a day later.

“Okay Libby, I’m awake, and looking fab. Let’s get this motherfucker in the air!”

Libby was sitting with her feet on the weapons console and looked like she was reading the air. She did this when she accessed the network directly with her avatar. It was creepy.

“Hey Princess, watch porn on your own time!” I yelled as I sat in the flight chair and pressed the system start-up button.

Libby shook her head a little, as if to clear her thoughts. This was all part of her “I must be as organic looking as possible” thing that she run as a subroutine. I wished she would knock it off around me. She was one of my best friends and the fact that she wasn’t organic meant literally nothing to me. All that time she spent around humans seemed to have left her with some issues. Earth was shit.

“Lea, are you even fit to fly?” she asked.

“Yes. Don’t scan me. I do not consent!” I said back sternly.

“Fine!” she said, folding her arms, that’d teach me!

I saw the green light come on that told me that the ship had successfully negotiated launch authorisation from Mercia’s dock crew. It was nice having a ship that could talk to a dock crew for me. Saved me a boring job.

I pulled the left lever to lift the ship away from the dock, then the handle next to it to put on a little manual forward motion. I used one of the flight sticks to tilt us up towards the iris. Accelerated at just the right speed.

The ship obeyed me like it was a fighter; it was actually a fully functional star ship. A small one. One of the smallest. And it was mine. All mine. I loved Thirteen.

The moment I was passed the iris I slammed the throttle into high and shot out of the docking tube like a firework. I added a little spin too, would make us look extra cool to all the passenger liners that were docking. Gave the kids something cool to point at out of the window.

“Thirteen, please keep your speed down. I should not have to remind you; you are in a planetary system,” the communication link said. Ugh, fuck off, humans! Central government didn’t give a shit how fast I was going. Stop projecting Earthlings!

A light on the dash activated and the ship's computer spoke down the communication link: “Mercia control, this is Thirteen. This ship requires speed burst to prime its systems for landing, with the planet being so close, this is the only way our design allows for us to do that.”

Shit! That was an excellent lie. Why I had never thought of that. I was stunned.

“Thirteen, your ship design is not on file, but you do have a high clearance. I’ll make a note on your ID code. You won’t be asked about it again. Have a pleasant trip.”

“What the absolute fuck! Thirteen? Is that you?” I asked to the ceiling, as I dropped my speed and entered the atmosphere.

“Yes, captain. I have instruction to cover all your administration needs. Was this an acceptable action?”

“Yeah, it was great! Good job Thirteen!” I said, leaning around the flight chair to look at Libby.

“You fixed it then,” I observed.

She grinned at me like a smug cat. “The core you were fitting was trash. I got a real nice one from my warehouse and fitted it under that console.” She pointed at the access door I was working on yesterday. It had driven me mad. She had fixed it, upgraded it, and programmed it in probably about thirty seconds.

“Thank you, Libby!” I said sweetly.

When she had said ‘from her warehouse,’ that told me a lot. It told me it was one of the cores that she had designed herself. Which meant it was probably a decade ahead of anything else in the galaxy. Thirteens shitty AI core was its weakest system. Now it was the strongest.

“Wait, Where’s the TLC display?” I asked.

The TLC chip was the thing that all cores had to have by law, the thing that indicated if a core had developed a mind of its own or not. No one wanted to use a living person as a slave. It was important to me that I didn’t mistreat anyone.

If this core suddenly emerged life, I would want to do the right thing. It was very important to me that I knew if it emerged with life. I would make a great AI mom!

“I knew you would ask. So, I made a very minor alteration to your flight screen.”

“You did what?” I asked, suddenly wondering where my gun was. I had a very complex flight setup that I did not want anyone fucking with.

“Relax! Fire it up. You won’t be mad. I promise.”

I slowed the ship in a high atmosphere and waved for the flight screen to appear. I didn’t actually need this turned on, not just get us home; I hadn’t thought to fire it up.

A white light flickered on the dash as the projector lit and the display popped into existence in front of me. “It’s orange!” I said as I saw what she had done. There had always been frames around the floating sections of the display system. Anything that was AI controlled had been blue. Now it was orange, or amber, I suppose. I instantly realised what Libby had done. The TLC chip would control the colour of the interface. If it was orange, then it meant that the core was still an AI nothing more. If it went green, then that would mean it had gained sentience, and was, at least becoming alive. It also meant it would turn red when I activated weapons, which would look cool.

“I’m not mad,” I said as I pulled up the map to select autopilot for home.

“Good, also you have a proper AI now. You don’t need to fuck with the manual stuff,” Libby replied.

I stopped pressing buttons. “Thirteen?” I asked.

“Yes captain?” came the purposefully synthetic voice of my ship.

“I want to go home. Can you land us in the usual dock and start a full, system-wide diagnostic, please?”

The ship chimed and the robotic voice said, “Yes, captain.”

“Okay, I’m not mad,” I told her.

Libby just smiled and took her feet off the console as the ship gently landed in a docking bay.

“Come on, you need a walk before Ba’an sees the state you’re in!”

***

The apartment wasn’t much of a walk from the dock. There was a brief discussion about one day setting up a Fold and just leaving Thirteen in geo-stationary orbit, but Libby couldn’t get clearance for that and the power requirements for that kind of distance was quite mad.

We walked through the morning sun as the rain drizzled lightly. We stayed under building canopies wherever possible and just quietly basked in Central’s glow.

“What's in the bag?” I asked.

“Gifts!” Libby replied.

“Why? You’ve not even been anywhere. You have had an avatar at the apartment the whole time we have been away!”

She screwed up her face and said, “Gifts!” again, as if I had misunderstood her.

We entered the apartment building. I had only been gone just over a week and the lobby now looked like a Follower recruitment office!

Doors waved as we entered but looked distracted. I think he was humming. A robed Follower came scurrying over. “Doctor Michaels, have you brought a guest? Is this a new initiate?”

“No, Robert, this is Lea Ra-Kay. She lives here,” Libby explained. I made for the Fold. Libby handed off her bag to me as I did. I assume she was going to talk to the Followers.

The silver door opened, and the white light of the Fold blinked on. “I’m sorry for not recognising you, miss Ra-kay,” the little guy said as I stepped away. I liked the Followers. They were good people working hard to make a difference, but they were annoying sometimes.

I stepped out of the Fold into Jon and Libby’s apartment. Libby’s other avatar took the heavy bag from me.

Ba’an appeared next to me, like he had been waiting there. He hugged me. He always hugged me when I got back, right before he kissed me.

He kissed me. There was something about kissing Ba’an, a sincerity to it that I had never felt before. He didn’t just want me, he loved me. We had fallen for each other fast, but it didn’t appear to be wearing off. People usually stopped loving me way before now.

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do in a relationship like this. The only people I knew who had something like it were Jon and Libby. I didn’t even know other people could have it.

“Welcome home Lea. I missed you,” he said, cradling my shoulders and looking into my eyes with a gaze that made sure that I knew he was serious. Men had looked at me before, lots of men looked at me, but usually with lust. Being looked at with love was something I wasn’t comfortable with, not yet.

I felt my cheeks flush and let go of a smile that I couldn’t keep inside. I hugged back.

We sat on the oversized red sofa under the vast window and the hugging resumed. There was a kiss or two to accompany it too.

Libby sat next to us. This was a different avatar, this one dressed casually in yoga pants and an over sized shirt. It didn’t matter, it was all her. She started emptying little boxes out of her bag.

“Good trip?” Ba’an asked me.

“Oh, don’t pretend you didn’t ask Libby how I was, every day!”

He smiled. “I’m not a stalker!” he said with a pointy grin.

Libby looked up at us, then back at the boxes she had in front of her.

“Libby told me every time you asked. The exact moment!” I said with a schoolgirl grin.

“You told on me!” Ba’an exclaimed to Libby with pretend surprise.

She looked up. “Yes, but I got you a gift to say sorry!” she said. Handing him one of her little boxes.

She tossed one to me, too. “You got me a gift?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I missed you!” she replied with a pout and a wink.

“Missed me, you didn’t leave me alone for the entire week!” I said with just a touch of actual annoyance. She had been eyeballing my drinking like it was an issue. She just worried too much.

“Open them!” she said. She tapped the coffee table to open its interface. “Jon, Lea’s back!” she said as we struggled with the boxes.

Jon appeared through the Fold just as I was getting the box open.

He walked over to Libby and kissed her forehead. "Welcome back, my love!” he said. They were so cute. Libby had an avatar with him all week. She had literally not been anywhere, and Jon still missed her!

“Lea! Missed you too, buddy!” he said, leaning over the table to hug me. Jon was great.

“I got you a gift!” Libby said, putting a box on the table next to her. Jon had already gone to the kitchen. He emerged a moment later with two bottles of beer and an Elix. He handed Ba’an and I the beers and supped on his Elix.

“A gift!” he exclaimed, using it as a reason to kiss Libby again.

He opened his box with ease, instantly turning it the right way up and using just the right pressure to pull the lid off. Always smooth Jon!

All three of us looked into our boxes with confusion. We looked at each other and pulled out the little devices. We each had a small purple cube with a long white button on the top. It looked like a single piano key.

“It’s just what I always wanted! I love it!” Jon exclaimed, with no idea at all what it was.

We put the little toys on the table.

“I know, you have no idea what it is. You can’t! Doors and I invented it yesterday. It took all day. I had to pop out last night to get them fabricated. Used Mercia’s military grade machine shop to do it. It’s a very complicated design!” she explained.

We looked at them with interest.

“Jon, go first! Then you’ll all see!” she added.

Jon shrugged and pressed the key.

The room fell away as it was replaced with a cacophony of ideas and images, complete with sounds and motion; there was even a smell. My heart sang.

The colours started as a wave, as if they were being projected from the device. It had looked like holographic smoke at first, then it exploded into a rainbow as the smell of Canto’s trees filled my nose. Lines of colour, all rippling and moving together in a way that defied vision, danced in front of me.

The music that came from the lines of light sounded like an electric guitar that was playing a hundred different songs all at the same time. It wasn’t an assault on my senses though; it was a wave of emotion that filled my soul and warmed my heart. All the songs somehow harmonised, even though I knew they couldn’t.

I stared at the hologram, if that’s what it was; it grew to encompass the entire room around me. In the middle of it all, an image of Libby appeared with her purple eyes smoking and she stood proud and tall.

I had seen it before; this was the moment she had discovered the AI-web on Basilica and was given a glimpse into her own past life.

I felt a wave of emotion. Something deep within me wanted to cry with love for my friend but also wanted by cry with pain from my world being attacked. I wanted to cry with joy for the things I was seeing and for the horror of the memories it stirred.

The image grew as the camera zoomed in. Her eyes were sparkling with the entire universe. Then, as quickly as it started, it popped out of existence and the smoke was sucked back into the side of the little box.

Jon looked at Libby. “What was that?” he asked in gleeful shock.

“It was beautiful!” I said, in stunned awe.

“It was amazing!” Ba’an added, in just as much shock as the rest of us.

Libby smiled. “Doors insisted on calling it a Pianyes.”

“A what?” Jon asked, still a little buzzed by it.

She laughed. “We started off by trying to create the ultimate piano, you know? Like an abstract ideal of what a piano was. At some point we went too far, and he decided it was a pian-yes, not a pian-no… get it?” There was no way such a terrible name was Doors’ idea. This was firmly a Libby joke. She wasn’t funny.

“How, how did it do that? What did it do?” I asked.

“Well,” Libby began. “It takes the entire contents of the brain at the moment the button is pressed and uses a smart gas to create smells and add nonvisual motion. The light effect is a tiny holographic emitter. The music is generated by the brain waves with a single purpose AI to harmonise it. It basically summarises you, as a person and then pulls out one thing that means more to you than anything at the time you press it.” She kissed Jon on the cheek. It must have been nice for her to see a vision of herself. Even without him knowing what it did, Jon was thinking of her above all else.

“There was an emotional thing it did too! How did you do that?” I asked.

Libby looked confused. “I didn’t use any intrusive technologies. It’s just a combination of movement, sound and lights.”

“Oh, my gosh Lea, did you have a feeling? That’s not like you!” Jon joked with a grin.

“It is very impressive, Libby. I have seen nothing like it before!” Ba’an said, moving the conversation away from my feelings, thankfully.

“Well, it works for Bio-statics, so I assume humans too, but does it work on Vampires?” she asked.

Ba’an gave us an excited look of resolve and pressed the button on his little Pianyes. I hated that name.

The smoke left the side of the machine and an electric guitar started to play in the distance. It seemed like nothing else was happening. Then, as if it was waiting just long enough to have the maximum effect, the hologram lit like an explosion.

We were shown a highway that was being created with the same moving lines of colour that we had seen in Jon’s experience. The road was in a desert. The view showed the motion of travelling down a road that bisected the land as far as the eye could see. Faster and faster the road went by, like we were in a ship heading for TD speeds.

The guitar was being played in a way I hadn’t heard before. It was being played with emotion and drive and passion. It sounded harsh and metallic, but also epic and meaningful.

The smell, this time, was of oil and engine. Oh! It smelled like the engine room on Basilica. As the crescendo of music and vision reached its peak, the road ended. We were in space. There was a single planet in the centre of our field of view. It was Earth, but it was on fire. My feelings welled up, and I started to cry for the love Ba’an had for the Humans he had shepherded for so long as their leader. This was his fear, his loss and, on some level, his grief, all in a single image. Even with all that, it was love.

The hologram dropped away around us until all that was left was the planet. Then it left in a wisp of smoke.

Ba’an was just sitting there, with his hand on the single while key. He was far too stoic to show the depth of what he felt. He simply lifted his hand away from it and said, “Thank you, Libby. Thank you for that.”

I knew how much it had hit a nerve for him and I hugged him tightly. My own tears were enough for both of us.

Libby looked shocked at us. “This was supposed to be a fun little toy. I didn’t intend for it to be so personal. I’m sorry. We must have got something wrong!” she said apologetically.

“No!” Ba’an said sternly. “Libby, this thing you have created is beautiful. You have created something real, something honest and deep. I’m not sure what it is, but I needed it! Thank you.”

She smiled, though, a little melancholy.

“Your turn, Lea,” Jon said, getting up to find more drinks.

“No. I don’t want to know what it has for me. And I certainly don’t want anyone else knowing what it has for me.”

Ba’an’s embrace got a little tighter; he understood.

***

I dropped Basilica out of QD speed with a frankly remarkable precision, coming to a complete and instant stop only ten meters from the new orbital station.

The proximity alarms were screaming. I probably scared the shit out of them. I was usually good at this, but with a ship that responded like this one. I was amazing.

“Stop showboating!” Ba’an shouted from his spot in the middle of the room. There was a large rail that was supposed to be behind a captain’s chair, given that this was now a Follower ship, and the crew took orders from Ba’an or David, with equal enthusiasm, they had agreed a captain’s chair sent the wrong message. They had got the rail padded for leaning against with slightly more comfort though.

I handed off final control to Libby. Who was acting as this ship’s computer. She would handle the last few meters to get us docked. I was quite capable of moving something this big with the precisions required, but station rules wanted it done by an AI. Most pilots who tried it scratched the shit out of the docking clamps.

I stood up and stretched. It hadn’t been a long flight, but I hadn’t been home an hour before I found myself back in a flight seat. I had totally forgotten we were taking Basilica to Forge. That’s why Libby had wanted us back to Central on Monday. It was my own fault; I didn’t complain.

I looked down at the planet. It was looking better and better every time I came back. The crashed cities were being cleared now; the rebuilding was under way. The government had decided to leave Steel where it fell. It was the largest of the cities and the damage that had been done when it fell was something I couldn’t think about. The government made it safe and cleared out the dead. But they left the massive thing where is lay. A reminder for future generations about what was lost that day.

I flashed back to the sky-fall. I was in Thirteen; the world ended around me. We were sent into the dark ages while I watched and did nothing. I don’t think I would ever be the same after what I saw that day. No Brick would.

Jon told me a few weeks ago that he saw it in a vision from Aygah. That he saw a tiny sliver of what I must have seen. He cried when he told me. I wished I had only seen it in a dream; the memory of dreams faded. I had to live with what I saw, forever.

***

I walked up Thirteens ramp, past all the cargo on Basilicas cargo bay. The lights were already on. This meant that someone was aboard. Basilica was a ship filled with Followers and friends; I still checked my sidearm was charged as I walked towards the stairwell. Someone was on my ship, without me knowing and that could be a problem.

Libby was in the Flight chair, Jon at sensors, his cute little bodyguard, Ria, was next to him.

“Hey guys. Has my ship just become a place to hang out now?” I asked. “It’s not a damned bar!”

“No, but we know it's your first time down to the surface, since… you know. So, we’re coming with you,” Jon informed me.

“I suppose Ba’an put you up to this?” I asked.

“Yes. Obviously, I did. None of your friends are emotionally stable. They never would have even thought about it without me,” Ba’an said, appearing behind me in the doorway, slipping his arms around my waist.

The ship's engine started, and we glided out of Basilica’s cargo bay. I was never happy when someone else flew my ship, but I had a feeling on this trip, Libby may have been better suited.

I had been back into orbit a few times since the station had been delivered. It was good of Sol to gift such a massive station to my people. It had been dragged into orbit by one of the new Kingdom-class ships and it was armed to the teeth. It had really made the difference, giving us somewhere to coordinate the repair efforts from, and a functioning space dock helped more than anyone realised it would.

The Vampires had sent over a hundred of their best construction teams, with all the equipment they could spare. They were the reason we were making such fast progress towards getting our planet functional again.

Elves were the last to send aid to us, but we all understood why when it arrived. They took their time to prepare it, but when we saw an orbital farm come through the Warp people cried in the streets. The damned thing made our orbital cities look small and had ready-to-harvest crops under its gigantic Glass energy dome. It would go a long way in keeping us fed. They even provided some people to farm it, until we were ready to do it ourselves.

Most of the Younger races in our territory had sent gifts too. Blankets, food, usual humanitarian stuff, but sadly, they lacked the technology to really move the needle for us. Still, it was nice that they wanted to help. They had always been our responsibility to protect, for now they were on their own. I worried about them; we all did.

I was deep in thought; I think I was trying to distract myself from the trip. We were supposed to drop the first delivery off to one of the freshly rebuilt surface docks. Basilica had plenty of storage but not any big shuttles. It couldn’t land either, so Thirteen was the ideal mule to drop off supplies. Our cargo bay was packed with shit load of Cure-all. Sol alliance was going to be sending some, but was still sorting out the bureaucracy. Libby just ordered it herself; we had it in four days. Sol gov was still trying to decide which contractor to use. It was nonsense. Still, they meant well.

Libby put Thirteen down gently in a spot next to a loading team who were waiting for us. There were some people in suits waiting too, politicians. Ba’an would deal with them.

***

We let the loading team start getting the pallets off the ship. We headed down the ramp to greet people waiting for us.

Ba’an took point, this was his skill set. “Good evening gentlemen, or is it morning, local time? I’m honestly not sure.”

One of the men shook his hand. A short man with lightly tanned skin and rippling muscles, that you could see even under his tailored suit. Obviously one of my people because he was too easy on the eyes to be anything else. He had long grey hair that he left free and was so clean shaven I wondered if he had ever even had stubble. He, as all adults of my race did, would look mid-twenties to a human. I could tell from the way he conducted himself and the confidence he had in himself that he was at least as old and me, and probably then some.

“President Ba’an Ty, it’s an honour to meet you,” the man said. The others around him were just as eager to shake his hand as the first man.

“Pleasure to meet you all. It’s just plain old Ba’an now though,” he said, tuning on the warmth in his voice up a little and altering his body language to seem stoic, but sincere. He was so fucking good at this, and it had only been a ‘hello.’

“Yes, yes, but still… Ba’an Ty. I never thought I would end up in the same room as you! And now here I am, shaking your hand!”

Ba’an grinned at the man. “Well, President Ro-Bon, you are a far more famous man than I, and you have a far harder job than I ever did, I assure you!” Ba’an said. Of course, he recognised him!

President, Ro-Bon. This was the man who had been put in charge of my world. Most of the government had been killed when the sky-cities fell. This man was the mayor of one of our moon colonies. He was well on his way to becoming the President one day, though, now he had skipped a few steps. I hadn’t realised our little humanitarian run would get the attention of the President.

“And this must be Miss Lea Ra-kay?” he said, putting a hand out to me.

“Ugh!” I stammered. “Yes. Mister president sir,” You would think dating the former president of Sol would make me better at talking to politicians. It didn’t.

“Miss Ra-kay. It’s an honour to meet you… all of you, actually.”

Jon shrugged; Libby smiled. Ria thinned her eyes at the suited men. I wasn’t sure what she thought was going to happen here. The president of the Brick cooperative would not be a threat to Jon. She took her job as guardian far too seriously.

“I made a point of coming here when I heard which ship was making the drop off,” the President said. “Because I wanted to personally thank all of you. I had hoped Doctor Atkinson would be with you as well.”

“We’re just doing what we can, President,” Ba’an said. While it was a politician's answer, it was also, in this case, the truth.

“No. If you’ll excuse me, that’s horse shit!” he said. What! I was more than a little stunned at this language. He shrugged at our shock and continued.

“It was miss Ra-Kay who got her ship back online and was the first new star in the sky after the fall. She gave hope to everyone who saw it, hope that civilization was still out there. Then, she risked her own life and chased down the thing that was killing our world. I hear that without this ship and her skills as pilot, the Follower ship would not have been able to destroy the Thinker attackers. You literally saved us all.”

I was touched by what he said, but I had agreed with myself that I wouldn’t cry today. I wouldn’t cry when I saw the horror of the remaining deviation. I wouldn’t cry when I saw the beauty of everyone rebuilding and I wouldn’t cry when everyone told me they knew that I just watched when the sky fell.

“I…” I had nothing.

“Any of that untrue?” he asked us all.

I had expected Ba’an to take the question for me, but he just looked at me. All the people in suits did too.

“I… I didn’t do a lot. It was Libby and Jon who did…” I felt a lump in my throat.

“I read all the reports, Miss Ra-Kay. All of them. I know exactly what happened. I even saw some of the video footage of the space battle. The recordings from the communications, and the medical reports that were made after.”

He looked at me for an answer.

“I… I couldn’t do anything. When it all happened. I just watched. Everyone else was dying, I was safe. I couldn’t open the door to let them in. I wanted to. I’m so sorry.” They knew I just watched. He knew. The president knew I just watched when everyone else died. Then, as soon as I got a chance, we flew away. The rest was Libby and Jon.

“Miss Ra-Kay. I am here specifically because I understand your actions and motivation.”

He was going to arrest me. He was being nice, but I needed to face trial. I should have opened the door. Should have got people inside. I could have saved lives. I didn’t. I was beaten and scared, and I was too interested in getting the ship to work than to opening the door. He was still talking.

“Miss., we don’t have the time or the resources right now to give you what you deserve…”

Oh, my gosh, was he going to shoot me? Was this treason?

“I hope you understand…” his voice faded into the background. I flashed back to being on Thirteen and watching the death rain down.

He put his hand in his jacket pocket. I knew it was coming. This is what I deserved. I hoped Libby and Ria didn’t stand in the way. They would react before the others; they were fast enough to save me. I hoped they knew that I wanted to take the punishment for what I had done.

“… So here is,” he said, opening a small box.

I had missed a lot of what he was saying. Everyone was smiling. Shit! What had I missed?

I leaned forward and looked into the tiny box. It was a rank badge. “What?” I asked. Realising I had checked out.

Ba’an held my hand. “Lea. The president just told you he’s made you a Free-General.”

“What!” I explained. I had missed more than I realised.

I was stunned. I looked at the president. I think I was in shock.

A Free-General was a rank that they gave. The ‘free’ part meant free, as in, not assigned to a task. ‘General’ as in General… as in a very high-ranking military officer. I would have rank’s power and a security clearance with none of the responsibility.

“I…” yep. Had nothing again.

“I know your history in the Sol military, and how you dodged promotion for a decade so you could fly ships. I also know the company you keep, and I know we need to cut through red tape right now. Miss Ra-Kay. On behalf of all the Brick people of Forge, the outer colonies, and the Younger races which we serve… Thank you for your service.” He handed me the box and saluted.

I was stunned. I had expected to be arrested. To be punished of behalf of all the people who I failed to help. I did not deserve the Brick equivalent of the ‘Defender of the Earth’ commendation.

“Sir,” I pulled myself together. “I don’t deserve this. I just did what I had to, and there was a lot more I should have done. I could have saved a lot of people if I had have made better decisions. Sir, mister president… sir.” I stood straight as he waved a hand.

“Miss Ra-Kay. That’s bollocks!” he began. Ria gasped. He smiled at her and continued. “I know how the war ended, I know all the actions that were taken, and I read all about Aygah,” he said, as he glanced at Jon. “You all did more for this world than even I ever could. Take the damned pin and use the rank to make sure nothing stands in the way of helping people!” he said with a sincerity that matched Ba’an’s.

He looked me right in the eye and put a hand on my arm. “Miss Ra-kay. Every one of us feels like we should have done more. We all feel the guilt. I can tell you for certain, the whole of the government read the reports about you and your friends. You did nothing wrong. You’re a fucking hero and we recognise you as such.”

I suppose I would cry today.

***

We had been back on Basilica for a few hours. We had done the last delivery to the surface, got a list of things that Forge was short on and promised to be back next week with at least some of the things on the list. This would be an expensive trip for Libby. Most of the AI cores on the surface were fried after the attack. They had requested a hundred, just to get basic infrastructure working again. Even Libby with all hear wealth would be hard pressed get a hundred high end AI cores delivered in a few days.

The list also requested portable Fold platforms, generators, and Circlet repeaters.

My people didn’t expect her to provide the whole lot. It had been posted on the network as a wish list of sorts, the things that Forge needed to return life to normal. Libby had taken it as a shopping list and was working down it with every trip.

I was just starting the pre-flight checks when the communication chime sounded. There was no one at the communication station. David left the command rail and answered it himself.

“You have reached Basilica; how many we be of service?” he said with a smile.

“Oh!” he said a moment later. He threw the communication onto the main screen at the front of the bridge.

The president's face appeared on the screen.

“Doctor Michaels, Elizabeth, is she available?” he asked, skipping the greeting. He looked emotional and his eyes were puffy.

Libby’s ship-avatar formed in the centre of the bridge, walking towards the screen. She started as a purple outline and then filling in, looking almost solid in a matter of moments, “Yes, mister President. How may I help you?” she asked, coming to a stop next to my flight chair.

“You distributed some music boxes, toys, to the local children while you were on the surface. I think you called them yes-pino’s?”

“Pianyes. I had a crate of them given to the children, yes. Is everything alright?”

“Alight! Doctor, I have just used one of these music boxes, a few minutes ago. My god, I have never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. I cannot express how grateful I am to have seen what it showed me. Thank you, thank you so much!”

He actually looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m glad you liked it. I’ll bring another shipment of them next week. I’ll make sure to get you your own, mister president.”

“Yes, please. And really… thank you so much, I’m not sure you realise how much you have helped us. These things, they are just magical!”

He smiled, fighting back tears, he closed the Screen.

I looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

She grinned at me, “And there was me, worried they wouldn’t even work for Bricks.”

***

It was quarter to midnight, Central time. I had been up almost the whole day and was glad to get back to my room on Thirteen with a bottle of old brown-tingly in my hand. Ba’an was already asleep.

I looked at the stupid Pianyes on the table by the window. I took a swig from my bottle and pressed the damned button. Let’s see what it would show me…

#denouement #hexdsl #writing #science fiction

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wisdomssdaughterr · 2 years

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Ngl kinda forgot to answer some stuff and forgot where I was on the responding thing so hopefully this follows timelines okay. Lol you’re probs not the only one to not see neverending story. I even forgot how I watched it like it just might’ve been on tv and I ended up watching it. Also I completely forgot about what happened in the book. Like legit it feels a blur to me lol. And yeah it sounds really familiar to the whole upside down thing and I highly doubt the duffer brothers (who are kings of stating their influences of other media into the show) are just going to use this one reference for nothing. Like it’s a whole damn song!! It’s even released as part of the stranger things album or whatever you call it. It’s on Spotify lol so like there has to mean something with that reference.

Omg I’ve heard of six of crows and I feel like I might have the first book for that series. Honestly I have so many books that I have to read. I’ve kinda just been in my I want to read fanfic about Steve and stranger things phase though soo. Ahh!!! I love your story so much!! Also I loved the mystery surrounding that last chapter!! It just added so much to the next season because of all the mystery and craziness surrounding it that we’ve got in interviews and stuff like that. Which I am so happy that they’re doing interviews and stuff like that. I’m excited when they can actually talk about what happens in season 4!

This one is also shorter lol!! Also in the next few days I should hopefully have out the forever winter fic. Like I just have to finish it and edit it so hopefully by Tuesday the latest but hoping for Monday. Also I’m actually really excited for this! And nervous lol. I just really hope I get their dialogue sounding like them!

yes! the amount of references and callbacks to 80s media in ST and how they relate in bigger ways to the main story is always so fascinating to me, and I can't wait to see the kind of references we get in the next season. I mean, from the new trailer alone, Dustin's "Never tell me the odds" had me yelling!

Six of Crows definitely got me out of my reading slump next summer, but with all the hype around the next season ST I totally get just being in the mood to read fics! the last chapter of Project Sunshine was one of my favorites to write! especially bringing in Calum's dad and his connection to the lab has been something I've been planning since the start, so getting to delve more into that mystery is going to be so fun next season.

it's so fun to actually be in like the active part of a season dropping! I started this blog last summer so I wasn't on here for the release of season 3, but it's so fun to get everyone's new reactions to the latest interviews and know what everyone's thinking/feeling! and it's so fun to see the cast again doing press.

I'm so excited to read it! forever winter is such a good song and fits them so well! and don't be nervous! writing fics is supposed to be fun and something that makes you feel good, it doesn't matter if it's perfect or anything like that. it's for you to indulge! have fun with it!

#answered ask

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newstfionline · 16 days

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Sunday, April 21, 2024

The House passes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle. Next is the Senate (AP) The House swiftly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies in a rare Saturday session as Democrats and Republicans banded together after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion. With an overwhelming vote, the $61 billion in aid for Ukraine passed in a matter of minutes. Aid to Israel and the other allies also won approval by healthy margins, as did a measure to clamp down on the popular platform TikTok, with unique coalitions forming to push the separate bills forward. The whole package will go to the Senate, which could pass it as soon as Tuesday. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.

California is rolling out free preschool. That hasn’t solved challenges around child care (AP) A year before I-Ting Quinn’s son was old enough for kindergarten, she and her husband had the option to enroll him in “transitional kindergarten,” a program offered for free by California elementary schools for some 4-year-olds. Instead, they kept their son, Ethan, in a private day care center in Concord, California, at a cost of $400 a week. Transitional kindergarten’s academic emphasis was appealing, but Ethan would have been in a half-day program, and options for afterschool child care were limited. Investments that California and other states have made in public preschool have helped many parents through a child care crisis, in which quality options for early learners are often scarce and unaffordable. But many parents say the programs don’t work for their families. Even when Pre-K lasts the whole school day, working parents struggle to find child care before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m.

Haiti’s former capital seeks to revive its heyday as gang violence consumes Port-au-Prince (AP) They call it Okap, home to Haiti’s kings, emancipated slaves and revolutionaries. Sitting on the shimmering north coast, the city of Cap-Haïtien was abandoned as a capital during the waning years of the French colonial era and again when the Kingdom of Haiti fell after its king died by suicide and his teenage son was slain. It was once known as the Paris of the Antilles, and now it is on the brink of becoming what some say is Haiti’s de facto capital as Port-au-Prince crumbles under the onslaught of powerful gangs. Business owners, anxious parents and even historic state ceremonies have been relocating here, and that began even before gangs started attacking key government infrastructure in Port-au-Prince in late February. Gunmen have burned police stations, stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons to release more than 4,000 inmates and fired on the country’s main international airport, which hasn’t reopened since closing in early March. Right now, “Cap-Haïtien is the only city that connects Haiti to the world,” its mayor said.

Ecuador president declares state of emergency over energy crisis (Reuters) Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa declared a second state of emergency on Friday over an energy crisis that has already led to rationing in the South American country. His first emergency declaration, in January, sought to tame surging crime by allowing more coordination between the military and police. In Saturday’s 60-day state of emergency, Noboa deployed the military and police to guard energy infrastructure. A drought caused in part by the climate phenomenon known as El Nino has hit levels at hydroelectric dams, which produce most of Ecuador’s power.

Argentina asks to join NATO as President Milei seeks a more prominent role for his nation (AP) Argentina formally requested on Thursday to join NATO as a global partner, a status that would clear the way for greater political and security cooperation at a time when the right-wing government of President Javier Milei aims to boost ties with Western powers and attract investment. The request came as NATO’s Deputy General Secretary Mircea Geoana held talks in Brussels on regional security challenges with visiting Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri. Geoana said he welcomed Argentina’s bid to become an accredited partner in the alliance—a valued role short of “ally” for nations that are not in NATO’s geographical area and not required to take part in collective military actions. NATO membership is currently limited to countries of Europe, Turkey, Canada and the United States. The designation could allow Argentina access to advanced technology, security systems and training not previously available to it, the Argentine presidency said.

As Russia edges toward a possible offensive on Kharkiv, some residents flee. Others refuse to leave (AP) A 79-year-old woman makes the sign of the cross and, gripping her cane, leaves her home in a quaint village in northeast Ukraine. Torn screens, shattered glass and scorched trees litter the yard of Olha Faichuk’s apartment building in Lukiantsi, north of the city of Kharkiv. Abandoned on a nearby bench is a shrapnel-pierced cellphone that belonged to one of two people killed when a Russian bomb struck, leaving a blackened crater in its wake. “God, forgive me for leaving my home, bless me on my way,” Faichuk said, taking one last look around before slowly shuffling to an evacuation vehicle. Russia seemingly exploited air defense shortages in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, to pummel the region’s energy infrastructure and terrorize its 1.3 million residents. Nearly 200,000 city dwellers remain without power, while 50% of the region’s population still suffers from outages, officials say. Some residents, like Olha, are leaving. Others still hang on amidst the blackouts.

Turkey Earthquake Trial Opens Amid Anger and Tears (NYT) The families addressed the court one by one, sobbing as they spoke the names of relatives who had been killed when their upscale apartment complex in southern Turkey toppled over during a powerful earthquake last year. One woman, whose son had died in the collapse alongside his wife and their 3-year-old son, lashed out at the defendants—the men who had built the complex and the inspectors charged with ensuring that it was safe. “Shame on you,” said the woman, Remziye Bozdemir. “Your children are alive, mine are dead.” The hearing on Thursday was the first aimed at seeking accountability for the collapse of Renaissance Residence, one of the most catastrophic building failures during the earthquakes of Feb. 6, 2023, which damaged hundreds of thousands of structures and killed more than 53,000 people across southern Turkey. More than 300 people died inside Renaissance, and many more were wounded. An investigation and forensic analysis by The New York Times found that a tragic combination of poor design and minimal oversight had left the building vulnerable, ultimately causing its 13 stories to smash into the earth.

Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops (Reuters) Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern frontier with Thailand on Saturday, witnesses, media and Thailand’s government said, forcing about 200 civilians to flee as rebels pressed to flush out junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing. Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on April 11, dealing a big blow to a well-equipped military that is struggling to govern and is now facing a critical test of its battlefield credibility. Thai broadcaster NBT in a post on social media platform X said resistance forces used 40-milimetre machine guns and dropped 20 bombs from drones to target an estimated 200 junta soldiers who had retreated from a coordinated rebel assault on Myawaddy and army posts since April 5.

Israel’s Strike on Iran Highlights Its Ability to Evade Tehran’s Air Defenses (NYT) An Israeli airstrike on Iran on Friday damaged an air defense system, according to Western and Iranian officials, in an attack calculated to deliver a message that Israel could bypass Iran’s defensive systems undetected and paralyze them. The strike damaged a defensive battery near Natanz, a city in central Iran that is critical to the country’s nuclear weapons program, according to two Western officials and two Iranian officials. The attack—and the revelation on Saturday of its target—was in retaliation for Iran’s strike in Israel last week after Israel bombed its embassy compound in Damascus. But it used a fraction of the firepower Tehran deployed in launching hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. The Friday attack appeared calibrated to send a warning about Israel’s military capabilities—but without further raising tensions as Israel continues to fight Hamas in Gaza. The two Iranian officials who discussed the Israeli attack said that Israel had struck an S-300 antiaircraft system at a military base in the province of Isfahan. Two Western officials said that a missile was fired from a warplane far from Israeli or Iranian airspace, and that the weapon included technology that enabled it to evade Iran’s radar defenses.

How would we know if World War Three had started? (The Week) The notion of a “first” world war only came into being retrospectively, upon the outbreak of the second. For nearly 20 years, the 1914-18 conflict that claimed millions of lives was known as the “Great War”. But when war broke out again in 1939, commentators began to refer to the Great War as the First World War, to differentiate it from the next. Now, we are again moving “from a post-war to pre-war world”, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said in January. In a February survey, YouGov found that more than half of Britons believed another world war was “likely” in the next five to ten years. After Iran launched its first direct attack on Israel last week, world leaders are warning that any escalation could send the Middle East spiralling into bloody conflagration—drawing in allies from around the world or sparking nuclear warfare. Combined with the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, it’s clear “the potential for a spark that ignites World War Three already exists”, said Sky News’s security and defence editor Deborah Haynes. Parallels being drawn with the lead-up to the First World War are overblown, said The Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. Nevertheless, this moment “eerily evokes the dynamics of summer 1914, when a war that every power sought to avoid suddenly appeared inevitable, with consequences that no one could predict.”

U.S. agrees to withdraw American troops from Niger (Washington Post) The United States informed the government of Niger on Friday that it agreed to its request to withdraw U.S. troops from the West African country, said three U.S. officials, a move the Biden administration had resisted and one that will transform Washington’s counterterrorism posture in the region. The agreement will spell the end of a U.S. troop presence that totaled more than 1,000 and throw into question the status of a $110 million U.S. air base that is only six years old. It is the culmination of a military coup last year that ousted the country’s democratically elected government and installed a junta that declared America’s military presence there “illegal.” The United States had paused its security cooperation with Niger, limiting U.S. activities—including unarmed drone flights. But U.S. service members have remained in the country, unable to fulfill their responsibilities and feeling left in the dark by leadership at the U.S. Embassy as negotiations continued, according to a recent whistleblower complaint.

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this weekend, but it may be hard to see it (AP) The Lyrid meteor shower is underway. But with a nearly full moon in the sky during the peak, it might be tough to see clearly. The Lyrids occur every year in mid-to-late April. This year’s peak activity happens Sunday into Monday, with 10 to 20 meteors expected per hour. Viewing lasts through April 29.

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