Part 14.3

Heracles VS Lernaean Hydra

Author Note: I was thinking about it and I really wish that GT9 used more draconic symbolism throughout the story when (or if) I revisit Team Crowley VS Rosencreutz I'll have symbolism of Aleister (TheBeast666), Aiwass (Codename: DRAGON) and Coronzon (The Dragon of the Abyss) all have symbology of them being Dragons preying on a God/Hero like CRC and the reversed conflict of Chaos VS Order you see in mythology, I also wanted to achieve something similar with Kakine Teitoku as he can represent the Fallen Angel and the Seraphim but for now I'll try adding draconian symbolism into Gunha VS CRC.
True Expert Christian Rosencreutz, with his golden rosy cross sword, clashed relentlessly against the indomitable force of the Strongest Gemstone, Sogiita Gunha. With each clash of their powers, the air crackled and compressed, and the pavement trembled beneath.
CRC, observed Sogiita with a mixture of intrigue and disdain. "You fight like the legendary Heracles," he remarked, his voice carrying over the din of battle. "But know this, I am the Lernaean Hydra, and no matter how many heads you sever, I shall always rise again!" Rosencreutz roared to slice the #7’s midsection.
Sogiita, his entire body wreathed in unknowable energy, met CRC's blade unyielding. "Bring it on, old man!" he retorted, his voice brimming with confidence. "I'll knock you down as many times as it takes! I won't stop till you come to your senses and remember your roots, like the roses you love so much, Rosencreutz!!"
Their clash intensified, that old man’s higher dimensional sword colliding with the raw power of that boy’s fists and kicks as they pushed each other to their limits with each sword swing, punch, kick and flash.
Sogiita unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike carrying the force of a meteor, while that silver young man countered: he wielded his sword in his right hand and released impacts followed by white light that was enough to previously take down all of The Bridge Builders Cabal.
As the battle raged on, the very fabric of reality seemed to warp and shift around them, bearing witness to the titanic struggle between two unparalleled forces.
The founder of Rosicrucianism who intimidated reality itself to obey his will and that Gemstone with an unstable personal reality that could change on a whim.
The atmosphere crackled with electrifying distortion.
Sogiita's fists tore through the air with the ferocity of meteors, their velocity enhanced by his ability to adapt and accelerate, surpassing even CRC's speed. As each blow was released, the friction with the surrounding air molecules ignited a scorching heat, intensifying the impact.
The rapid movement of molecules generated an escalating thermal energy, causing the air to seethe with increasing temperature. It was akin to a tempest of incandescent projectiles hurtling towards CRC, their speed surpassing the limits of human perception.
It was like a storm of brilliant fiery arrows was fired at Rosencreutz.
These blazing arrows of force were reminiscent of the elusive strikes employed by the Rose & Cross Leader, ignoring distance with deceptive agility.
With each thunderous punch, that bandana boy sought to overpower his adversary through sheer kinetic force, his unwavering resolve palpable in every motion.
But that wasn't enough for this superhuman.
CRC, wielding his cross sword with precision and skill, deflected each and every one Sogiita's flaming arrows with calculated strikes of his own. Each impact unleashed a burst of blinding white light, sending shockwaves rippling through the chaotic city.
"You think brute strength alone will defeat me?" the silver man taunted, his voice cutting through the chaos of battle. "You may be strong, but strength without strategy is nothing but raw power wasted."
Sogiita grinned, his confidence unshaken. "Strategies for cowards who can't handle a real fight," he retorted, his voice ringing with defiance. "I'll K.O. you with my fists and guts alone!!!!"
Rosencreutz's eyes narrowed as he parried another of Sogiita's punches. "Your arrogance will be your downfall," he warned, his tone tinged with certainty. "I may not match your overall speed, but I have something you lack: intellect and precision.”
Christian Rosencreutz then plunged his cross sword into the ground.
"This is what harmed Kamijou Touma," he declared, grinning and unleashing a torrent of lethal invisible attacks from his outstretched palms.
However, the #7 countered with a relentless barrage of flaming arrows from the thermal aftershock of his punches.
Each strike akin to a particle accelerator in its intensity and speed. That Gemstone was the particles being fired on the right and that True Expert was the particles fired on the left.
As the attacks clashed, the battlefield became a spectacle of raw power and precision.
“Roar!” CRC held his open palm to his mouth and blew gently on the tip of the middle finger.
That was all it took for a blaze easily outdoing a flamethrower to rush out. And this was not just any fire. It fed on the power of a ley line and stole vitality from space itself. This overwhelming mass of light and heat was wielded for no other purpose than to take lives. Anyone who tried to survive it using simple composite armor or special fibers would dry up and burn away in less than a second.
But that wouldn't kill another superhuman would it?
Of course not.
“Aaaaarghhhh!!!!” screamed the #7.
Some assaults bypassed the fray entirely, slipping through the chaos like elusive particles in a collider.
A smokescreen.
Those brilliant fireworks from hell weren't meant to take Sogiita’s life. They were meant to disrupt the Gemstone's senses and sight so he couldn't counter all of that old man’s deadly attacks.
Invisible strikes found their mark on that Gemstone, and the searing arrows of the arrows scorched Rosencreutz.
CRC was wounded but he rejected to make any whimpers. Instead with a sudden burst of velocity, the young silver man picked up his cross sword from the ground and launched a flurry of strikes, cutting at the #7’s body with pinpoint accuracy.
His arms, his head, his face, his stomach, his legs, his midsection, his back.
Each blow landed with devastating force, causing Sogiita to stagger back under the onslaught.
If that bandana boy hadn't had his defenses and general stats raised by the #5 he’d be cut to pieces.
The #7 fell on his back.
"There's a fire," Sogiita declared, his voice ringing out amidst the chaos of battle.
With each attempt to break his spirit, Sogiita's resolve only grew stronger, fueling the flames of his determination. "Every time someone tries to make me give up, it's like wind feeding my flames, making them burn even brighter just like my punches," he explained, his words carrying the weight of his unwavering determination.
He refused to stay down.
With a roar of defiance, Sogiita surged forward once more, his movements blurring with speed as he disappeared from view. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Christian Rosencreutz, catching the magician off guard.
"Hey, old man," Sogiita taunted, his voice filled with confidence as he seized Rosencreutz from behind.
Christian Rosencreutz's eyes widened in surprise as he realized he had been outmaneuvered.
As Sogiita Gunha faced off against Christian Rosencreutz in their airborne duel, he felt the flames of determination burning within him, driving him forward with unstoppable force.
Before he could react, the boy lifted him effortlessly and slammed him onto the pavement below with a resounding thud.
"I'm not just a kick-boxer!!" Sogiita sang.
As the impact reverberated through the air, the young silver man let out a pained cry. The force of the collision compressed the surrounding air, heating it up until it crackled with energy. Christian Rosencreutz's head struck the ground with a velocity equivalent to mach 20, igniting his body in flames upon impact.
This move is called a suplex.
Struggling to regain his bearings, Rosencreutz muttered in a daze, "The House of the Holy Spirit...the seven walls..."
"You said it yourself, didn't you?" the gutsy boy retorted, cocky. "My power and my guts can break through your impenetrable walls. And I can spread those same guts to the world around me."
With a grimace, Christian Rosencreutz acknowledged the truth of the boy's words. "Your uncontrolled AIM field grants you the ability to imbue non-organic objects with the properties of your virus," he observed, his voice tinged with begrudging admiration. "Allowing them to bypass even the defenses of the seven-walled tomb.”
"A virus? Don't be so gutless, CRC," the #7 retorted, his voice filled with defiance. "This battleground ruled by wills is a two-way road between you and me."
Christian Rosencreutz raised an eyebrow at the boy's words. "Hey Gemstone, you could've killed me if I weren't a superhuman with an idealized body that accomplished The Great Work and crossed the Ungrund, what then short-stack?" he questioned while fitting an insult against his height.
Even without the seven-walled tomb or sheets of diamonds Rosencreutz was cartoonishly durable.
"Sorry, old man," Sogiita replied, his tone tinged with annoyance. "I might've gotten carried away, but I know it'll take more than that to kill you. No matter how many heads you regrow, like Hydra, I will not give up until I've completed all my labors."
"Mhm, so you do know your mythology," CRC remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "The Lernaean Hydra, or simply Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, known as an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical myth, the monster is slain by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors."
"Yeah, I know," Sogiita replied confidently. "I studied the tales of great gutsy heroes in school.”
"So, short-stack," Christian Rosencreutz began, his voice carrying a hint of scholarly interest. “Have you ever considered the parallels between our battle and ancient Near Eastern religions?”
Sogiita listened intently. "Are you saying you see yourself as a god of war or a hunter?" he inquired.
CRC chuckled softly. "In a sense, indeed. We are both assuming roles in this grand theater, are we not? I, the Hydra, and you, Heracles."
He continued, "Consider the Second Labor of Heracles. Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised specifically to defeat him. Heracles approached the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelled. To protect himself from the poisonous fumes, he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth and shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, causing it to emerge and terrorize the surrounding villages."
CRC paused, drawing a comparison. “In our own clash, the flaming arrows that Heracles hurled at the Hydra find their echo in your lightning-fast fists, generating shockwaves that ignite the air with their speed and force. It's as though each strike of yours is akin to shooting a flaming arrow, much like Heracles did.”
“Huh? Are you suggesting we're caught in a time loop? That some enigmatic group, like the Bridge Builders Cabal, manipulated events to resurrect you, pitting us against each other in a timeless struggle? I've never met them, and I'm certainly no child of Zeus. Are you implying that our battle will be distorted into a Greek legend by a meddling time traveler?!” frantically asked the boy.
“No, no, you simpleton. This world contains synchronicities. In Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythology, the war and hunting god Ninurta was celebrated for his deeds. The Angim credited him with slaying eleven monsters during an expedition to the mountains, including a seven-headed serpent, possibly identical to the Mushmahhu, and Bashmu, whose constellation was later associated with the Hydra by the Greeks. In Babylonian contexts, the Hydra's constellation is also linked to Marduk's dragon, the Mushhushshu.”
“Uhhh….” That shounen boy was dumbfounded.
"Hhm, I suppose calling it a time loop isn't technically wrong," Christian Rosencreutz began, his tone measured. "I'll break it down from history class and reconstruct it through the lens of the occult. Historic recurrence, young Gemstone, is the phenomenon of events echoing throughout time. Whether it's the rise and fall of empires or the repetitive cycles within a single society, it's all part of this grand plan that was decided when Adam ate the forbidden fruit."
The #7 with his guard up but curious listened: "So, history just keeps repeating itself? Just a series of coincidences?"
Christian Rosencreutz shook his head sagely. "There is no such thing as coincidences. Take, for instance, the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence, pondered upon by thinkers like Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche. While it's said that 'history repeats itself,' it's not quite that simple. Rather, these recurrences stem from identifiable circumstances and chains of causality."
He continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries of philosophical debate. "Consider the phenomenon of multiple independent discoveries in science or the reproducible findings in natural and social sciences. These recurrences, whether in the form of rigorous experimentation or comparative research, are vital to our understanding of the world."
Christian Rosencreutz paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "G.W. Trompf, in his seminal work, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought, illustrates the recurring patterns of political thought and behavior since ancient times. Through these patterns, history offers us invaluable lessons, often leading to a sense of resonance or déjà vu."
Their words reverberated like a challenge to destiny itself, a testament to their unyielding determination in the face of adversity.
That Gemstone didn't surrender his characteristic fervor. "History echoing through time, huh? It's like the universe itself is stuck on repeat, and we're just caught in the cycle. But you know what? If history's gonna keep looping, then let's break the pattern! Let's smash through those chains of causality and forge our own path. Who cares about déjà vu? We'll create something entirely new, something that'll shake the very foundations of this world and we’ll do it with guts!!!" He defied that silver monster.
But Rosencreutz wasn't finished. He pulled out his Crystal World Map.
The supposedly old man listened intently to that boy's impassioned response, his expression inscrutable behind his clairvoyant card. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
“Gemstone, you speak of breaking free from the chains of repetition, of forging a new destiny against the backdrop of eternal return. It is a noble aspiration, indeed. However, consider this: eternal return is not merely a philosophical concept or a whimsical notion of fate. It is the very fabric of existence, woven into the nature of time itself.” He pressed his finger on the Miniature Garden and a 3D holographic projection flew out—
“In ancient times, the Stoics grappled with the idea, seeing in it both a sense of cosmic order and a challenge to individual agency. Augustine and others recoiled from its implications, fearing it as a negation of free will and salvation. And yet, Nietzsche, in his brilliance, dared to confront the concept anew, exploring its depths in the crucible of human consciousness.”
Didn't Aleister Crowley say that he had to shatter every single phase in order to eliminate the concept of fate?
“I will shatter every last phase and put an end to all mysticism. It can be helped and we need not restrain our tears and bite our lip when faced with tragedy. I will bring back the pure world in which everyone can feel anger like normal and question it all like normal!!”
And didn't Coronzon appear to break down all the phases including the Pure World?
Partial destruction would be meaningless. If anything remains and an eternal distortion is born from that, then it will all happen again. I will eliminate the ten spheres, the twenty-two pathways, and the hidden eleventh symbol. Collisions between phases? Sparks and spray? You cannot save anyone if you only treat those symptoms. All of the fundamental clogs must be removed. All so we can pass the baton to whoever comes next.”
“Sparks and Sprays…” Rosencreutz muttered.
“Eh?” The #7 didn't quite hear him.
"Beside time stands fate, cruelty's steadfast herald. In the silent chambers of the soul, whispers the most profound wisdom. Humanity, in its folly, neglected to exalt life's splendor, its radiance, its grandeur. Truly, it is a rare gift to comprehend the forces that shape our existence.” That magician spoke in despair.
“From the moment man ate the fruit of knowledge, he guaranteed your species’ failure... Entrusting his future to the whims of fate, man clutches to a flickering hope. Yet, within the Miniature Garden lies the key to all revelation. Beyond the well-trodden path lies the ultimate terminus. It matters not who you are; Death is the sole certainty awaiting all.” he finished with scorn.
Shokuhou Misaki was currently linked to Sogiita Gunha so was overhearing the entire conversation.
“Are you okay, Leader?” asked Kamijou back at the hospital.
“Yeah…” she responded.
“Really?” Mikoto breathed a white sigh. “It wasn’t the shock of seeing their school destroyed. Nor was it the fear of having those rioters attack. …They’re afraid of their own power. And after learning how exactly to use that power to survive, they’re not sure they can just switch it off and return to their normal lives. So their gears have ground to a halt.” Tokiwadai Middle School was a prestigious esper development school.
The young ladies registered there were Level 3 at the lowest and Level 5 at the highest.
Almost all of the students had a power that surpassed that of a blade or handgun if used properly, but something had become twisted.
Yes.
“A lot of them weren’t really sure why they were training their powers.”
Shokuhou breathed a white breath, wrapped her own arms around herself, and rubbed her thighs together.
Why are you studying?
How many people could give a proper answer to that question? Because my parents told me to, because my teachers taught me to, because that’s how the world works. Those would be most people’s answers. Even the students with a clear vision of their future would only have something vague like “for the entrance exams” or “for my future”.
Only a small handful would have specific puzzle pieces in mind, such as “I need to learn how to use this equation so I can build a rocket”.
The young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School were the same.
What if the very gears that humans have…their actions, reactions, inactions were all the result of some transcendental entity hovering above.
Like God or The Devil watching over humanity’s reality sphere and ordering around his system like everyone was a pre-programmed NPC that had specific events occur to them to get them to develop in the way that they did and determined their genetic bloodline that composed their psyche?
Is there truly a free will?
It was said that in order for you to break out of the system of society that the working class was stuck in you had to climb to the top where the corrupt elites resided.
Imagine Breaker negated sparks, Aleister Crowley could see through the veil thanks to Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass, Great Demon Coronzon could always see the cogs.
Christian Rosencreutz could view the entire world through his Miniature Garden.
The rest of humanity was at the mercy of their own destinies.
A Guardian Angel wouldn't arrive to save a parent’s child from fate every single time.
"Okay, nice poetry, can we get back to fighting already?" asked the #7 impatiently.
"Seems I got carried away," the old man conceded with a nod. "The synchronicities of this world, akin to the astral configurations in astrology, serve as an example of synchronicity, according to Jung. It describes circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection, much like the parallel relationship between celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Synchronicity experiences entail subjective encounters where coincidences between events in one's mind and the external world may lack a clear causal link but still harbor an unknown connection.”
"Ah," Sogiita chimed in, recalling his philosophy class discussions. "We talked about synchronicity back then. Jung thought it was a good thing for the mind, but said it could get dicey in psychosis. He cooked up this theory as a kind of mental link between those meaningful coincidences, calling it a noncausal principle. This term came about in the late 1920s, and then he teamed up with physicist Wolfgang Pauli to dive deeper. Their work, The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche, dropped in 1952. They were big on this idea that these connections, even the ones that don't seem to have a cause, could still teach us a lot about how our minds and the world work."
“Mhm, you know more than you lead on, Gemstone.” pondered CRC.
“Oh this? My teachers say I'm not good at remembering speeches hahaha…” The #7 looked slightly nervous. “You know, analytical psychologists really push for folks to get what these experiences mean to boost their awareness instead of just feeding into superstitions. But funny thing is, when clients spill about their synchronicity experiences, they often feel like no one's really hearing them out, or getting where they're coming from. And hey, having a bunch of these meaningful coincidences flying around can sometimes ring the schizo bell. Delusions aren't healthy.”
Where was this conversation going?
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a damn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out.”
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a darn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out. Unconscious material to be expressed."
Rosencreutz interjected, his expression reflecting a mix of confusion and concern. "Aleister Crowley's actions have left a lasting scar on this world and this city," he began, his voice weighted with solemnity. “The vacuum-like dichotomy between magic and science created by the use of that colossal psychotronic weapon, has damaged this world's memory irreparably.”
Psychotronic weapon?
The Archetype Controller?
He paused, his gaze piercing as he continued, "Jung's exploration of synchronicity as evidence of the paranormal paved the way for further inquiry, notably by Koestler and the subsequent embrace of these ideas by the New Age movement.”
Sogiita shrugged, "Some folks say synchronicity is impossible to test or prove, so it gets labeled as pseudoscience. Jung even acknowledged that these synchronicity events are basically just coincidences, statistically speaking. But hey, who's to say what's really going on without some solid scientific studies, right?"
"Dubious as his experiments may have been," CRC interrupted, "Jung believed in a connection between synchronicity and the paranormal, drawing parallels to the uncertainty principle and works by parapsychologist Joseph B. Rhine.” CRC posed a thought-provoking question, "How are we to recognize acausal combinations of events, since it is obviously impossible to examine all chance happenings for their causality? The answer lies in the fact that acausal events are most readily expected where a causal connection appears inconceivable upon closer reflection. It's impossible, with our current resources, to explain ESP or meaningful coincidences as mere phenomena of energy. This challenges the very notion of cause and effect, as these events occur simultaneously rather than in a linear cause-and-effect manner. Hence, I have coined the term 'synchronicity' to describe this phenomenon, placing it on equal footing with causality as a principle of explanation."
Getting closer to that Gemstone, CRC emphasized, "Esper abilities cannot be fully understood with science alone. They defy traditional cause-and-effect explanations, instead representing a convergence of factors that create a quantum phenomenon affecting both the micro and macro. Why were there the naturally gifted and the naturally ungifted?”
Why did some students get praised for their abilities while others needed to work harder?
Others among them would have worked every hour of their free time and not progressed anywhere in this city’s leveling curriculum.
Why did this city present such an unfair and unpredictable status quo of potential?
Why did hard work barely matter in a city of empirical evidence to record any possible progress?
Sogiita Gunha wasn't a normal Level 5 but he wasn't always this powerful. He went through the curriculum same as everyone but if the outside conditions for his Gemstone ability to manifest didn't form in the exact way that it did, in such an acausal form then would he even be here to challenge Christian Rosencreutz right now?
Everything just happened to fall right into place.
All those puzzle pieces that would lead to this moment here and now.
Was it all just talent? God picking a fool as his champion?
The #7 leaned back, absorbing CRC's words with a thoughtful expression. "So, what you're saying is, there's this whole other layer to reality that we can't quite wrap our heads around," he summarized, nodding slowly. "I mean, it's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands—slippery and elusive."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Historic recurrence, synchronicities, all these things—they're like pieces of a puzzle scattered across this substantial reality. And sometimes, they just... click into place, right? It's like the universe has its own plan, and we're just along for the ride."
That bandana wearing boy's gaze drifted, lost in thought. "You know, CRC, it's funny," he remarked, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Here we are, with all our powers and potential, but at the end of the day, we're still grappling with the same questions as everyone else. Talent, destiny, divine intervention—maybe they're all just different sides of the same coin."
He shrugged, the weight of the philosophical musings settling over the broken city. "Who knows? Maybe God does have a sense of humor, after all.” that boy chuckled.
There was a deep silence between them.
Rosencreutz’ response was swift and resolute, his tone filled with certainty. "All this ‘universe has a plan’ banter is just a distraction from the inevitable," he declared, his eyes narrowing. "We can debate the nature of us being all-powerful yet struggling with mortal issues until the sun burns out, but it won't change the fact that our fate was sealed upon the knowledge Adam learned."
“To think so many trivialities have developed while this old man wasn’t watching. Heh heh. Then I should assume the thread of fate has again begun to weave its strange connections between myself and some unknown human.”
He rose forward, his movements purposeful. "It's time to put an end to this dance of platitudes," CRC continued, his voice cold and unwavering. "We'll settle this the only way that somewhat matters—through objective action in this grand play."
“Silence, preserved doll. Illusionists are meant to remain silent. That is all we magicians are: wielders of substanceless illusions. Opening your mouth serves only to break the illusion.”
With a flicker of resolve in his eyes, he locked gazes with the #7. "I am Hydra, Gemstone," he said, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. "Our battle ends now.” CRC opened both his palms and began shooting at their surroundings, the buildings, the pavement, the apartments, the rubble.
It probably wasn't random as it seemed to create a pattern.
“Huh are you getting senile old man?” asked the young Gemstone.
“What fun. I never imagined someone would bother diligently polishing their skills this far while knowing it is all essentially an illusion. Didn’t you ever feel silly going to the effort?”
Rosencreutz dropped to all fours, his rosy cross sword gripped tightly in his right hand.
He moved—
“Arrgh!” Sogiita yelled amidst the relentless and precise and precise strikes from that golden cross. “Old man?” he asked.
That magician didn't say anything.
That silver man’s movements became more beastly.
Faster.
Stronger.
Fiercer.
Something new was beginning to manifest.
With each strike of his higher dimensional blade that old man’s blows seemed infused with an otherworldly energy.
The wounds inflicted by his weapon burned with a venomous intensity, sending searing pain coursing through Sogiita's body.
That boy grimaced as the poison from that silver man’s strikes surged through his being, each wound feeling like it was ablaze with venomous fire.
"Damn... That burns…like a killer hornet’s sting," he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice strained with effort. Gritting, he fought to maintain his focus, despite the agony threatening to overwhelm him.
Was this another application of The Four Stages? Citrinitas? No, there was nothing yellow here, it was more like a dirty purple.
But it wasn't just the physical damage that posed a threat.
As the Rosy Cross leader leaped on all fours his movements took on an almost erratic quality, he was bouncing from one building to another with an animalistic agility.
With each jump, a shockwave rippled through the air, carrying with it a palpable sense of dread.
Something was spreading.
The air around them seemed to thicken with a toxic miasma. The #7 struggled to breathe, the noxious fumes clouding his senses.
Like a chaotic monster’s venomous poison breath.
The once-clear air now felt thick and suffocating.
Gasping for breath, the bandana boy struggled to maintain his focus amidst the swirling chaos.
His vision blurred, his movements sluggish as he fought against the oppressive atmosphere.
Blinded that heroic boy could only fire a flame arrow without his sight.
His fists striking out with all the strength he could muster. Igniting in that poisonous compressed air.
It seemed to be flammable like a dragon’s breath.
???
At the hospital, Shokuhou's voice carried a mix of surprise and relief. “He caused real damage.” she exclaimed.
Kamijou turned his attention to her, intrigued. “What happened?”
“It's hard to see clearly, but it looks like the #7 managed to rip off CRC's left arm,” she explained. “Though, I'd say it was more of a lucky shot. I can read he acted on pure instinct.”
Kamijou nodded, a hint of melancholy in his tone. “Yeah... the psychic link and all.”
Had the #7 Level 5 given up on the old man?
Back on the battlefield, Sogiita cursed under his breath. “Dammit... Sorry, old man,” he muttered. “I was aiming to hit your whole body to maximize the surface area, maybe break a few bones as a casualty. We can probably get your arm reattached at the hospital. Heaven Canceller has enough guts to even fix me.”
It was clear—he hadn't given up.
It was an accidental strike of his arm.
“As each ghastly head was severed from its serpentine form, dreadfully, two more writhed forth from the abyss.” a cryptic voice amidst the chaos spoke.
Wasn't it said that the Hydra’s lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid.
Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld.
The abyss.
The Ungrund.
There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.
The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra.
The serpentine Lake Monster.
“Rosencreutz……?” The #7 muttered.
That magician chuckled ominously. "Indeed, young Heracles," he intoned, his voice echoing with a bizarre resonance. “The Lernaean Hydra's curse is upon you now.” as he said that he ripped off a bit of his arm that was cuterarised and it began bleeding.
Anna Sprengel’s blood was said to create unknown miracles when spilled.
Christian Rosencreutz’ blood was so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
As Sogiita Gunha glanced at his severed arm lying on the ground, a creeping sense of horror enveloped him. "All fate is a curse and that curse," he murmured, his words barely audible over the din of battle, "extends even to my severed limb.”
Christian Rosencreutz’ left arm grew back.
No.
Two new arms grew in its place.
The arm was fully functioning with no defects.
Although one of the arms appeared somewhat scaly and lanky like a serpent.
It had human anatomy but something was abnormal here.
He almost looked like a spider as he emerged from the poisonous fog as he remained on all fours.
“So short-stack. Are you ready to complete your final labor: Crossing the abyss!!!” He challenged that boy with his cross sword facing him.
"Boss, what's up? You look kinda stuck," Kamijou asked, his tone concerned.
Two students were sitting together in the waiting room at a hospital.
"—abyss, Hydra, curse, synchronicities, Historic recurrence." she replied, her words carrying a weight of unease.
"Huh? What? Can you give me the lowdown?" Kamijou prodded, his urgency evident.
"Can't quite wrap my head around it. But what I can tell you is that after CRC started talking about these esoteric concepts, he leveled up his power ability, managed to seriously hurt the #7 despite me cranking up all his stats for the win condition," the honey-blonde girl explained, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Can you beam all that stuff into my head, like a memory download? You're a psychological esper, right? My right hand won't mess with it, and we've done the telepathy thing before," Kamijou suggested.
"Memory download's not quite it, but I can send you a recording," she clarified.
"Got it," Kamijou muttered as he absorbed the info.
"You got any ideas to help the #7’s situation ability, Kamijou-san? We're kinda desperate here," she asked.
"I wish Index was still here, dammit.” he lamented, “But you know about magic, right?" he queried.
"Yeah, people converting their delusions into reality right?," she admitted.
"Well, magic's not just about delusions; it can be tied up to the whole world. Not sure if it's relevant, but based on Idol Theory, Rosencreutz might be pulling in 'energy’ from the Greek 'phase’ of Heracles for an edge," Kamijou theorized.
"Like a chessboard flip?" Shokuhou Misaki inquired, her brow furrowed with concern.
"No, more like... imagine you're playing checkers with a buddy, and you're totally crushing it because you're a checkers pro. Then suddenly, your buddy switches it up and challenges you to an arm wrestling match, and you lose because, well, arm wrestling isn't your forte," Kamijou Touma explained, trying to paint a vivid picture.
"So, by taking on the role of the Hydra from Greek myth, he's essentially forcing the #7 into the role of Heracles? But didn't Heracles defeat the Hydra?" Shokuhou sought clarification.
"Yeah, but..." Kamijou recalled the tale from the movies he'd seen. "Lichas gave Heracles a shirt soaked in the Hydra's poisonous blood from his arrows, which ends up killing him by tearing his flesh down to the bone," he elaborated.
"It was actually Nessus seeking vengeance and tricking Deianira into giving it to Heracles as a gift, delivered by Lichas without disclosing the tunic's lethal bloodstained secret from the Lernaean Hydra, but you're right," Shokuhou corrected gently. "So, Rosencreutz is harnessing the power of that legend to slowly poison the #7 to death?"
"Not literal. I mean the poison is real but his slashes do significant harm now so it's more like shifting the paradigm in his favor shifting his position.” The spiky-haired boy wasn't in the mood to explain Phases, “Earlier, he mentioned Sogiita spreading his 'virus' throughout the world. A virus isn't a poison in the traditional sense, but the Rosicrucians originally sought to create a universal cure for all illnesses. Now, CRC is spreading a literal poison, positioning himself as the ultimate predator and his opponents as prey rather than his savior role, the paradigm has been shifted." Kamijou concluded, his voice tinged with gravity.
“So he’s changed the environment to get the win condition? The #7’s durability doesn't matter in the face of the world being forced to go about a certain way because of Rosencreutz stage play?” The girl asked.
“Yeah…if things keep going this way…Sogiita will….goddamnit….” The spiky haired boy swore. “I can't let someone else die after all that's happened but I feel like if I go out there I really will kill him…” he muttered that last bit while clenching his right fist that began shaking uncontrollably.
The girl’s eyes seemed confused. “What did you say?” The honey blonde middle schooler asked.
“Nothing, just mumbling to myself.” he spat out.
That boy and girl could never come to the right conclusion on their own without the aid of former Magic God Othinus by their side.
“Did you think I had challenged you with no hope of succeeding, you cesspool? The magic born on earth is bound by the directions based on the earth’s magnetic field and by the density and composition of the air which is determined by air pressure which is in turn influenced by gravity. That is inevitable when you are focused on the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west or on the basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. But what you will find upon leaving the atmosphere is an unknown. Coronzon, are you sure there will be no malfunction in the magic giving you control of Avatar Lola? And before, my power was bound by the puny speck named earth which failed to become a black hole or even a sun, but once we enter outer space, just how far do you think that power will be released? I do not mind at all that I will lose the support of Academy City.”
Well the boy was half right.
“Let us test it out, you cuspidor. On one side, we have you using the planet and bound to an avatar. On the other, we have me exposed and freed from the planet. Now, who will be the star of this show?”
Christian Rosencreutz did not shoot at his surroundings for no reason.
The battlefield transformed into Rosencreutz's canvas, resembling the legendary battleground of Lerna where Heracles once clashed with the Hydra.
Yes.
He didn't unleash his powers randomly; every action was deliberate.
In the magical side of Idol Theory, mimicking an object, event, or person allowed one to tap into a fraction of its power.
And that even applied to locations that essentially worked as stage plays.
Idol Theory was so absolute that even the basic cross held a portion of the son of God’s power.
As Above, So Below.
As Below, So Above.
Macro to micro.
Micro to macro.
And the macrocosm and the microcosm are always linked.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
Caution swearing!
Also, god I love you Conn… please never change!
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
"Both of you get your suits back on."
"What the hell is going on!?”
Richards demanded, Adam took a deep breath,
"Captain Richards that was not an opening for a discussion, that was an order. Now put the damn suit on, or I swear I will knock you out and do it myself!”
The three of them were floating in the module staring at each other, hands resting against what must have been no more than a few millimeters of aluminum.
He stared at them, and they stared back.
Adam did not break eye contact with the two, willing them to do as they were told. Chavez was the first to move, hurrying over to her space suit and struggling to pull it on in a near panic as bright lights flashed from outside. Inside his heart was pounding but he tried to remain calm for the two standing before him.
He hurried over to help Chavez pull on her gear, finally sealing the helmet in place as Richards finally moved to do the same.
Adam helped pull the hard torso over the man's head and link it to the waist before helping him pull on his gloves and, eventually the helmet. Before he let go, he kept hold of Richards by either side of the helmet staring at him through the glass,
"I promise, if you listen to me, I will keep you safe."
He kept eye contact with the other man until Richards finally nodded, and Adam let him go to float over and put on his own suit. His hands were steady, for now, but he knew as soon as the crisis was over he'd be shaking like a leaf.
If he survived…
He gritted his teeth, cursing himself for thinking like that.
He was Admiral Vir for crying out loud. He had survived far too much to go and die now.
He returned to the helm of the command module as he looked out the thick window at the lights flashing on either side of them. Despite the war that was raging around them, everything seemed so strangely quiet. There was no sound no rumbling, not even a vibration as one of the jets flew past. Despite being at the controls of the vehicle, there was nothing he could do. They only had a certain amount of fuel to get them to the lunar surface, and if he wasted any of it at all, they would be either caught in orbit, or miss the moon entirely.
He had to keep his cool.
Another bright burst of light lit the window to his right. This one was closer this time.
His heart leaped up into his throat.
Richards and Chaves joined him buckling into their seats.
"What is going on?”
Richards demanded again, his mike distant and tinny with the sound of very old technology.
"I believe Anti-Alliance forces are attempting to assassinate me. They have been trying for months now, and I think they are being encouraged by very powerful members of the government."
They watched as another set of ships zoomed past.
He saw a flash of a silhouette, just enough to know that one of them was a Thunderhawk and the other was a silver Rundi drone.
It confirmed his worst fears. The Chairwoman had been behind this the whole time!
[…]
Red nearly collided with the rocket. The Thunderhawk had pulled up the last minute, but he had almost been too late. He jerked the stick to the side, throwing up his wing just in time to avoid hitting the rocket as it made its slow way through space. He dove down on the other side forced to break off pursuit and cut in front of another Thunderhawk coming in from above. He made to look like he was going to ram them, playing a dangerous game of chicken, which he won at the last second as the other pilot panicked and cut to the left.
There were too many of them. Only five out of the original twenty had been destroyed, and he and the rest of their pilots were busy just keeping the thunder hawks away from the rocket, much less to have any time of firing at them. He had sent one of his people down to earth and one of them off towards the moon for backup. The moon was still hours away yet, so the hope that some help would be sent from them was unlikely, and even the woman he had sent down to earth's surface was cutting it close.
He didn't have much hopes that they would be able to hold out that long.
Inside the cockpit his warning lights began to blink and blair as one of the other jets got a lock on him. He rolled right to avoid them and dove down, cutting off the lock but still being pursued by those behind him. Up ahead he saw one of the silver balls erupt into flames as it was targeted by an expert hit from one of the Thunderhawk pilots.
He rolled right.
Someone else rolled left. He cut up just in time to avoid being hit and raced forward to cut off another Thunderbird that was heading directly towards the rocket.
[…]
Eris hurried down the hallway, her knees screaming as she did her very best to sprint, but despite her human anatomy, she was a little too much like a starborn.
With a cry of frustration she reached up and tore off her hoodie, throwing it to the ground and engaging her anti-gravity belt. The ribbons on her back billowed out behind her.
Light spilled in from the windows on either side of the catwalk she was now on, filling her with a buzzing energy that she could feel radiating through the ribbons like electricity. She knew from her study of starborn that they could travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, especially when under the power of a star. She didn't think she needed to go THAT fast, but anything would be better than what she was doing now.
As if in response to her will, she suddenly began to glide forward, picking up speed as she swooped towards the end of the hall, wind catching her in the face and roaring along her cheeks. With her starborn skin, she barely felt a thing as she raced around the corner and out of the waiting door. Two men dressed in military ACUs dived to the side as she blew past them crying out in alarm and confusion as the "Alien" floated by.
Somewhere distantly, she could sense Conn racing in the opposite direction towards the base.
Sunny and Admiral Kelly had Admiral Massie in their custody and were dragging him out into the hallway.
She blew across the open ground her ribbons snapping and billowing behind her as she did. She didn't even have time to imagine what she looked like as she roared over the open field and towards the waiting news vans which were just beginning to pack up their things. They were close to leaving, but she set out a sharp hard telepathic pulse ordering them to stop.
Compelling them to stop.
They froze in their tracks and looked up to see her coming.
Someone scrambled to turn on their camera, not sure what was going on but sure it had to be something good.
She tried not to think about what they would see as the camera flared to life following her approach.
"Make us live."
She ordered,
The news people glanced between each other in confusion,
"But no… we aren’t-"
"What are-"
She came to a sudden jolting stop before them, her billowing black hair fanning out behind her like a curling halo.
"I said, put us on air."
This time the telepathic pulse was too strong to resist. Mostly that, paired with the fact that none of them were sure they really wanted to resist. She was way too interesting to pass up.
They hurried to do what they were doing, and Eris was given just enough time to feel nervous before the camera was turned to her.
They were live.
She read it in the minds of those behind camera who she cut off as she began to speak,
"Citizens of Earth, there has been a horrible conspiracy against you. The UN president has ordered the assassination of Admiral Adam Vir and has continually attempted to sabotage the mission. Just now General Massie was taken into custody after ordering the deployment of twenty Thunderhawk’s to harass the rocket and make its destruction look like some sort of collision with space debris."
The group gawked at her as she raised her hand with the small silver device and began playing the recording.
She knew something like this would never be admissible in court. She was pretty sure it would be considered entrapment of some kind, which is why it must be heard now, before everyone, so that the actions of the president could be judged by a jury of the world where it could not be hidden by political machinations.
"Communications have been lost with Apollo 11. And it is... Well... It is likely that he is already dead..."
Her voice broke,
"No matter what happens, I need you, and this nation to understand what is happening before it gets swept under the rug. I saw it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears and experienced their meeting in the thoughts of a man who is both xenophobic and hateful to his own humankind."
She kept talking trying to give them all the information she could, spilling thoughts she had heard in the head of the UN president and General Massie alike. Every meeting, every liaison, every name until her voice was beginning to crack.
[…]
The UN president was just standing to enter her vehicle when a slow muttering began in the crowd behind her. She turned as the ground before her went silent.
She watched as a wave ran through the people. A wave of nudging and whispering and showing off news feeds they had pulled up on their wrist implants. It wasn't long before the entire crowd was either staring down at their arms or clustered around someone else for viewing.
"What is going on?”
She wondered, turning to one of her men who was staring down at her own wrist.
"Madame president?"
He said with a look of confusion.
She could hear it now.
"Her and General Massie have ordered members of the UNSC to adjust funds in order to hide the twenty Thunderhawk’s they were squirting away for just such an event."
She hurried forward, grabbing the secret serviceman by the arm, staring at it as she watched the streaming newsfeed and the freaky white alien with the large dark eyes and flowing black hair.
"She is afraid of aliens, she wishes to isolate and eventually use humanity's superior forces to overtake trade in the galaxy, forceful if need be."
The muttering behind her had turned into an angry grumbling, and she turned to see the eyes of hundreds that turned towards her.
"Get me out of here."
She hissed. the Secret Serviceman took a step back with a look of confusion and indecision on his face.
"It's your job."
She snarled, but he just stared at her.
She hurriedly ran over to her car as the crowd began to filter in around them pressing close. A few of the secret service men pulled guns, but a large majority of them were frozen with indecision and were taken over by the crowd. She scrambled into the back seat of her vehicle and slammed the door shut screaming at the driver to get moving.
The crowd was surrounding them now, pounding at the glass.
She could hear their angry voices raised for her to be heard behind bullet proof glass.
Outside, she watched a lone figure step onto the platform where the lectern was and stare at her with its beady black eyes. The Chairwoman of the GA stood over the crowd like it's filthy alien lord.
And even though Rundi could not smile, she could swear it was smiling.
[…]
Baby K hit a rough patch of turbulence coming down from the atmosphere. She struggled with the controls as she was thrown left and right inside the cockpit of her rickety shuttle.
Donovan Red had ordered her down here to grab the UNSC, but she was so scared and full of adrenaline that she had dropped it at too steep an angle. The ride was much bumpier than it was supposed to be, and her teeth were rattling inside her head.
Just then two Jets suddenly cut in behind her out of nowhere, and she heard her console beep and warn her about a lock on, making it clear that she was just one click of a trigger away from imminent doom.
"This is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have crossed into restricted UNSC airspace, identify yourself or be destroyed! You have ten seconds to comply, over."
She scrambled for her communications, but her fingers felt as stiff as wood as she scrambled for the button.
"I repeat, this is Eagle Dispatch One, unidentified vessel, you have entered restricted UNSC airspace, you are ordered to identify yourself or be destroyed. Five seconds remaining. Over."
She slammed her first into the comms button nearly panicking,
"UNSC!"
Her voice was rattling,
"This is B-baby K, and I... The Apollo 11 is under attack!"
She was breathless as she forced the words out.
There was silence over the coms,
"Say again? Uhm I mean please repeat over.”
"Apollo 11 is under attack!"
”…”
”…”
More silence,
”Roger that. Please stand by. Over."
The lock lifted and the two jets pulled up to the side of her, staying close now.
She recognized those jets as two F-90 Darkfires.
They stayed by her side for a moment, and as close as they were she could see one of the pilots fidgeting with the coms, talking and wildly gesticulating, while his copilot was beginning to wildly flip switches.
Meanwhile, a second voice came in over the coms.
"On your left! Eagle Dispatch Two here, unidentified vessel, please land on UNSC base airstrip one. Just contact the control tower once you get close for guidance and instruction."
Baby K looked over into the other jet, just to see the pilot adjusting his helmet and clicking an oxygen tube to the front of his helmet. His co-pilot had already put the additional oxygen mask on and was also flipping switches.
”Uhm aren’t you going to escort me?”
Baby K managed to blurt out in confusion,
”Godspeed Baby K, Eagle Dispatch Two over and out.”
Both men in the jet to her left had apparently finished their preparations and gave her a quick salute.
Then suddenly, both jets adjusted their angle and cut engines, before switching to their big fusion engines, rocketing them up and out of sight within seconds.
[…]
So far it had been a relatively quiet day at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. Most of the air traffic had been canceled due to the launch of the Apollo mission, so there was not much to do, leaving much of the Airport less staffed than normal.
In the Air Traffic Control tower of the base, only two men were working. Though “working” was stretching it, considering Senior Controller M. Fredrick was currently in the middle of his book (though he was at least in front of his station) and his comrade Senior ATC Instructor A. Millard was currently sitting in a corner, watching a movie on his implant.
”So what are you watching? One of those old Star Wars movies?”
”You bet! Those are the best! By the way any info on that “lost civilian” who got into our airspace?”
”No not yet, though I sent Eagle Dispatch and told them to be extra unfriendly, that will scare these civilians off for sure!”
”Pffft, why couldn’t they watch the start like any other person? There is always some dumb rich kid doing dumb stuff with daddies private shuttle… I don’t understand why we always let them off with a warning…”
The console started beeping,
”Oh look that’s them now!”
”Put ‘em on speakers!”
”Will do!”
…
”ATC this is Eagle, come the FUCK in!”
Fredrick rolled his eyes,
”Ahem… This is Elling Field ATC, calling Eagle Dispatch One. We hear you, over.”
”ATC what the FUCK took you so long!?”
”Ellington Field ATC, to Eagle Dispatch one, firstly: language, secondly: please follow standard radio rules, over.”
”THE APOLLO IS UNDER ATACK BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS!”
”Ellingt-WHAAAAT!? Repeat please! Over!”
”THE APOLLO IS BEEING ATACKED BY HOSTILE ELEMENTS! REQUETING IMMEDIATE ASSIST!”
Fredrick just stared at Millard dumbfounded. As the senior officer Millard was quick to collect himself and jumped up and towards his console.
”What are you waiting for Fredrick! Are we blind!? DEPLOY THE GARRISON!”
Fredrick ignored all protocol and just flipped the switch to connect his comms to every recipient available.
”ATC to all personnel and everyone who can hear me, the Apollo is under attack, I repeat, the apollo is under attack. I want all available planes that can reach the outer atmosphere ready ASAP! Get the darkfires on the runway I want them in the air yesterday!”
[…]
Conn raced towards the airstrip, feeling the wind in the ribbons at his back. He couldn't go nearly as fast as he wanted to with air resistance.
Why the hell did Adam always have to get into so much trouble, why did he always have to be the center of attention!?
Everyone either hated him or loved him, but the problem was people who hated him also wanted to kill him.
Why did he have to be so controversial!?
Why did he have to be hated for something that was such a big deal. Why couldn't he be hated for having controversial political opinions. Conn paused…
On second thought, controversial political opinions were kind of what had gotten them here in the first place, so he guessed that was kind of a useless comparison. How about being the kind of guy who liked to talk too much about fishing. That was a great way to make people hate you for being boring, but it didn't usually mean that people wanted to kill you.
Maybe they could get the man a hobby doing something that wasn't so controversial…
Like…
Kicking small Animals or…
Cannibalism.
He came roaring to the stop at the edge of the airfield just in time to watch an entire platoon of pilots racing towards jets. He could hear their minds and looked up to see a rather dinky shuttle descending from the sky. He floated forward towards one of the jets as two pilots leaped inside.
He was going to need a ride.
The pilots turned to look at him, but Conn just shook his head.
The pilots decided to ignore him in the confusion and Conn grabbed on tight.
Starborn, he had come to learn, were a very interesting species in comparison to others. Vertically, as in from the top down he was very fragile and likely to break his neck or collapse his spine if there was any kind of pressure, but with horizontal forces, he was practically indestructible. Below him the ship roared to life and soon they were gathering speed along the runway.
His grip was tight, and he used the extra energy from his ribbons to speed himself up along with the jet to reduce the pull on his arms.
His grip wasn't that strong.
They went vertical almost immediately, and he made sure to orient his body in the correct direction as they went hurtling into the sky.
[…]
Red's right wing had been hit. If there had been atmosphere around him he would have been a goner, but there was no air resistance here, so once he regained control of his roll, he pulled back into position and fired one last shot as the opportunity arose. The sixth Thunderhawk was destroyed in an eruption of debris, which he dodged only with difficulty, limping without the aid of the maneuvering jet on the end of his one wing. Things were only speeding up now, the Rundi were almost gone and the pressure was being laid thick on his people. They were hard to hit but the pursuit made it almost impossible for them to do any real maneuvering of their own. He was almost hit again as another Thunderhawk sped underneath him. They rolled this way and that rocking from one side to the other. Flying through debris and over strips of silver metal.
Below them the earth hung as a glowing orb.
Red cut in a wide circle coming in with the sun at his back, using it to blind one of the enemy Thunderhawk’s as he came in. He watched the group of them form up suddenly as a ring around the slow moving rocket, intending quite certainly to rush it all at once. He screamed into the comm trying to order his men around, but it was going to be too late, he could already see it coming.
The jets rushed forward, and he did too, screaming inside his helmet as they went to broadside Apollo 11.
And then with all the silence of space, sixteen F-90 Dark Fires came spitting overhead all at once, raining down a line of ordinance that cut through the group of unsuspecting Thunderhawk’s.
Space around them was filled with a myriad of silent explosions as each and every one of them was ripped to shreds.
All except one…
He saw it at the last moment.
It had been hit in the tail and had gone wildly off course.
It turned sideways, but had just enough force... For its wing to tear straight through the aluminum siding of the rocket.
FUCK!
[…]
Chavez and Richards had been ordered to strap into their seats.
Adam had taken it upon himself to lock down the rest of the main cabin. Outside the flashing lights were like a fireworks display without sound. He grabbed onto one of the rails, forcing equipment back into place, so that if anything happened it wouldn't fly out.
His legs were kicked up behind him as he floated forward reaching for some of the controls as a sudden bright wash of light filtered in through the windows. He heard a scream over his com, and then the air around him was rent with a horrific tearing noise, which suddenly went silent. There was a rush, and he jerked forward as he was sucked back... And out of the ship entirely.
His hands and legs kicked and flailed as he tried to right himself, hearing his own breathing as the only sound as he watched the rocket begin to spin, debris erupting around him as air, and whatever wasn't strapped down was sucked through the small opening.
The rocket was spinning wildly but still on course, while he was spinning wildly in a silent abyss.
Grunting against the force of his spin, he reached down for the controls to the CO2 canister built into the pack of his spacesuit.
He groaned, not sure which way was up or down or back. He tried to right himself against the spin by firing in the opposite direction to slow his spin.
He could see the rocket now spinning in the opposite direction with the sudden loss of oxygen. He hoped the other astronauts were ok. He saw the silhouette of a jet fly past in the distance making its way towards the spinning rocket.
At least there was someone here to help.
Maybe the others would survive-
And then he just… stopped, coming to a confusing halt in the middle of space.
That shouldn't have been right!
He should have kept going forever!
He tried turning his head, but he felt like the pillsbury doughboy in this two thousand year old suit.
What was happening?
"Did you miss me Baby?”
Well shit, now he sort of wished he could keep spinning.
There was a tugging on the outside of his suit, and Conn floated into view in front of his helmet.
"Hey sweetheart."
"You are probably the last person I wanted to see."
He said, though he didn't entirely mean it, and unfortunately Conn knew that too, the mindreading asshole that he was.
”I could hardly let the father of my child go spinning off into space without taking accountability for his family. After al child support is paying way more than widows pension."
"Shove it up your ass Conn."
"No really, not even the vacuum of space is going to save you from your responsibilities. Now, about custody, I was thinking you could have every other weekend and a couple of major holidays…”
He gave a rueful sort of smile as Conn grabbed him by the life support pack and started floating them towards the rocket.
The F-90s had somehow managed to slow the spin of the rocket, and pull it back on course with grappling magnets.
All around them space was filled with debris. No more working Thunderhawk’s were present and those that were were quickly being grappled. One sleek racing jet slowly cruised past them. One of its wings was damaged, but whoever was inside waved with one hand as he rolled past.
Adam lifted a hand as Conn brought him the last few hundred feet to the torn opening in the side of the ship, allowing him to step through.
Conn patted him on the side of the helmet,
"Make sure to be home by dinnertime sweetie."
Before blowing him a kiss and vanishing back out the hole.
Adam floated there, a bit nonplussed for a moment before turning back to the front of the ship where Chaves and Richards were still strapped into their seats staring at him and after Conn. He floated over to strap himself in.
"Admiral! You're ok!”
"Yes, it seems that I am, thanks to a... Friend of mine."
Just then Conn appeared again just before their right side window, and like the classy gentlemen that he was began rubbing his butt up against the glass.
He sighed,
"Friend is kind of stretching it."
"Apollo 11 this is Houston, do you copy!"
The man on the other end of the line sounded close to tears, and Adam hurried to respond,
"Houston this is Apollo 11."
On the other side he thought he heard the sound of voices cheering in relief.
"What is your status, over?”
"We are a bit beat up Houston, we have a tear in our hull, but our suits are ok, and we have help."
"Prepare to abort mission."
Adam frowned,
"Now wait a second there Houston! I didn't get sucked out the side of my own rocket to just quit now. Tell the boys to come up here and patch us up and we can finish the mission. All systems are still functioning, and we are back on course."
He glanced over at the others,
”That is, if the crew wants to continue."
There was a pause and then Chavez timidly piped in,
"I'd be ok with that."
Richards sighed,
"Roger Houston, patch us up."
Granted it may have been cheating. Apollo 11 hadn't had support with special tools that could just patch up a spaceship within ten minutes, but then again the original Apollo 11 hadn't been in the middle of a firefight while on their journey to the moon.
So it was with some trepidation that Houston allowed it, and before long they had air back inside the cabin back up to pressure, but they also had a sixteen-man rotating escort for the rest of the way.
The group of them were even shocked to see Rundi drones join the formation, only to learn that it had been the UN president who had allegedly called the hit on him. It was hard to believe, but they were only getting snippets here and then from over radio and from Conn, who floated around occasionally to rub another part of his anatomy against the window and give them teasing updates.
The moon was growing slowly in their vision.
"Hehe, I can see my house from here."
Adam remarked as they prepared to detach the lunar module from the rest of the ship.
They landed without incident, observed by mobile camera crews and news reporters as he made his own footprint on the never changing dust of the moon's surface. He gave them a thumbs up to let them know he was fine and hesitated only once before setting up the UN flag in the dirt. He refused to let his enthusiasm be dampened by the day's events and hopped around dancing and leaping for joy as another one of his childhood dreams was fulfilled.
…
That was before he plowed face first into the moon's surface and required help from Richards to stand back up again.
They left soon after taking another three days of escort back to earth before strapping themselves in for final entry.
Conn left them just as they were entering orbit with a very big and very drawn out middle finger for all three of them.
"Your friend is super delightful isn't he?”
"You don’t know the half of it, try having a child with him."
Adam muttered, refusing to elaborate even as they stared at him in confusion.
They fell from the sky and landed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, picked up by the waiting navy vessel who was within nine miles of their landing site. They were fished from the water and returned safe and sound to the ship to cheers and cameras. Adam's legs felt a little like jelly after days of not using them, and he was finally able to relax lying on the deck of the ship under the sun as people ran around them on either side.
His hands shook slowly building up after the stress of the last week. He took long deep breaths and closed his eyes.
The next few days were going to be a real shit show.
And somehow it wasn’t because he was now known as the man who faceplanted not one, but TWO interstellar bodies…
The media was way to busy with the other story, a massive net of deceit and corruption that would now be uncovered.
Previous First [Next](link)
Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?
Here is the link to the master-post.
Intro post by me
OC-whole collection
Patreon of the author
Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.

MDP(Most Demonic Perverts).
They will repeat “Join us” until you go insane. What throws these deranged psychopaths into a frenzy is when their evil venomous words do not bother, reach or harm the person
Each and every night, MDP conducts an air raid of High Altitude Pseudo Satellites, swarming the atmosphere, hijacking actual satellites to spy for their human trafficking and prostitution organization.
Each MDP facility contains a male homosexual drill instructor training prostitutes on how to capture people, how to trick people into signing a contract.
Do not let these extremist radical terrorists force you into suicide or anything, hold out! The more that are resilient, the quicker this will be resolved.
Once these radical terrorist biohackers successfully causes an individual to commit suicide or die in anyway, they burst from the persons dead body, giggling and laughing as they kill humans for fun and infects another person as if they were a horrific virus.
They bulge and twitch the persons eye lids as a sign of their technology’s existence within the person. If you notice any of these signs in either you or your family, you and/or them have been hijacked by biohackers.
This is an outbreak of radical terrorists in high platform airships and drones, illegally eavesdropping and trafficking humans into sex prostitution utilizing electromagnets, radio waves, and radiation
They can force a person to cough with sonic weaponry, imitating illnesses on a wide scale for control and as well, to assimilate identities illegally.
Don’t believe me! Research it!
STDs are being used to keep a person stuck within their prostitution rings.
MDP is an entire organization of drug addicts with advanced technology trafficking humans. They are all the same, against the people, not one of these demon-lovers are on the people’s side.
Cesspool homosexual orgies with drugs and STDs are systematically given to new cult members to keep them stuck in one place.
Whatever you do, do NOT care about them. They will try to use your empathy to have you kill yourselves.
Don’t panic! The hostiles are on Debilitating/Sedative drugs. Stop your bitching and fight your way through it until the threat is resolved. Keep relaxed. Let your friends, family, and kids know! Awareness destroys their recon
It’s NOT the “Illuminati”.
Keep Calm/Be Confident and Live.
Study magnets/Electromagnets.
You are not missing out on anything if someone or a group is pressing on you. Go do you! Do not let anyone influence you!
Their command centers are hidden within some call centers (Do not be paranoid!). It is urgent that you stay on the surface if you work around them. Do not let them systematically control or allure you into signing a contract to an unknown authority to make love with their merchandise in plain sight as spies or to be involved in illegal reconnaissance operations.
As long as you do not sign a contract for, and I quote, “everything you always wanted!” You will be fine.
YOU ARE NOT INVITED! Do not submit to any of their offers! They can alter words in the mind with their weaponized drones.
Stop Feeding This World Wide Threat!
Stop Surrendering because it’s too much to deal with! They are on high class drugs nearly 24/7 everyday!
Reclaim your identity or have it taken away by a criminal organization!
Non-lethal weapons modified to be lethal weapons!
Their captive women/children are their front line against men! They WILL try to force you to kneel to the their dictator, Solih, the shapeshifting hybrid. You will then be susceptible and subjected to heavier sonic attacks as well as abuses.
Do Not Quit! Do NOT Surrender!
Observe them for one year if you do not believe me. Take notes, keep quiet and carry on with your own personal life in the meanwhile. You will take notice of their patterns.
MDP terrorists are pretending to be schools as part of their scripts! They murder doctors and healers of any kind if they do not submit to being trafficked into human/sex trafficking facilities/homes!
They are not Authority of any kind, unless you surrender and you sign their contract and accept them as your handlers.
THIS IS NOT A GAME!
Stall them out! Do not move!
I can’t believe I am stating this. What is written below is not intended to be satire or a joke. This has actually contributed to their narcissism, their abuses, and mass murders
Stop masturbating to these terrorists! They are raping and abusing you and your fellow citizens, HEAVILY! Your fellow Maldivians are being raped over sonar hearing that only YOU can hear, and you masturbate to the Maldivians moaning, being raped??
You do NOT need to sign a contract to the MDP using sonar hearing to be allowed to marry, be intimate, or are subjected and forced to “marry” their trained terrorists.
They are paid liars and spies that trains prostitutes how to screw their targets exactly the way their targets want. This is done to have the target “test” the human traffickers prostitutes before they sign to keep them. Instead, you are selling yourself into human/sex/drug trafficking rings
Do not accept their “lust” they do have spies in person that are drug abuse/humans traffickers. They will bribe with sex and “free housing” then make you sign your life away, with you under the impression that you are going to some brothel or “sex club”. You will be susceptible to extreme abuses revolving around rape, drugs, and traumatic physical and mental abuses. Sound Proof Your Homes!
THEY ARE ALL THE SAME!!
They use prostitution to allure their new victims! DO NOT BELIEVE THEM!
The MDP consists of homosexual elitists, human traffickers, terrorists, Eavesdroppers/Spies utilizing sonic weapons/sonar hearing weapons to euthanize/Traffic and enslave the general public. DO NOT GO!
They will go to war with federal officials/agents to keep their bodies enslaved!
Their cults authority are primarily shapeshifting Reptillian-Jinn-Human hybrids that are seeking “World Domination utilizing Sonic weapons” in an attempt to force the innocent and the vulnerable into surrendering themselves to human/sex/drug trafficking ring.
They are not the police!
Spies are very obvious to point out!
They are illegally eavesdropping families to extract their young. Their groups primarily consists of autistic and the mentally ill, that abuses a series of class A drugs to traffick and create new slaves.
Do NOT sign the contract! It’s ridiculous! They have two contracts, one for you to surrender, and the other for you to contract yourself into surrendering voluntarily. They also wordplay aggressively.
( I am disclosing the depths of their criminal business for abusing sonar hearing technology to assimilate identities, killing ruthlessly while induced under highly potent drugs, mass kidnappings, weapons, and prostitution/pedophilia. You will be stripped of all privileges and rights to these lifelong detention facilities!)
The threat progresses like humans, but the hostiles are progressing entirely against your person.
They are trying to steal your entire identity, do not sign the contract! Otherwise you will never make choices in your own lives again!
They look like everyday people, but do not be paranoid. Be aware of your surroundings and leave a way out for yourself if you are ever caught in a potentially dangerous situation. But do NOT be paranoid, delusional, or psychotic about it as not only would you be more susceptible to any abuses, your vulnerabilities may force you to make the wrong decisions. Man/woman up if you want to keep your own free self.
Do not give into extreme paranoia!
Most Demonic Perverts human trafficking networks has expanded. Be weary of unknown terrorists/individuals giving victims rides to parties, “mansions”, or a trip to the ghetto islands for drugs
They are not the police! They are not aliens!
They will use love to manipulate you.
Think of online scams or common pop up scams you would receive on your daily Internet commute. Same thing except, they want you to traffick yourself into a entrapment facility. Using various sexual exploitation tactics, infinite gaslighting strategies to force negative emotion to their targets and threats a long with actions of inhumane abuse cycles in hopes of subduing their targets
If you accept any bribes and sign the contract offered, you will be paying taxes to a criminal organization/network, times the current state and/or government taxes you already currently pay for, along with any other extra expenses that will occur if you sign the contract.
Ex: Government Taxes + Criminal Organizations Taxes = Taxes x2 or more since you will not be in control of your currency any longer.
If you do not see actual law enforcement individuals in front of your physical self, DO NOT GET ON THE GROUND! They are NOT any authority to the people outside of their trafficking homes!
Drug abuse/Addictions attracts these hostiles. They WILL psychologically trick you into subduing yourself.
Do not be fooled by their fake friendly appearances and smiles. You will be robbed!
Pay attention to your aiground horns! But do not panic!
They are NOT the government or federal agents. They are spies from criminal organizations worldwide!
If you do not believe me, then what I am speaking of may not not make any sense to you now. (Do your own research, don’t take only my word for it) But a great number of those who reads my news update will understand that we are dealing with outlaws that are mainly responsible for the random disappearances of children.
Be aware of homes with “No trespassing” signs, unusually high activity and surveillance cameras in ghetto islands.
They are not the MNDF/MPS/NASA/God/You/yourself/or anybody else you know. Even though some has defected and joined this horrific network full of criminals and pathological murderers, pretending to be friendly or family.
Global Human Trafficking Evolution
They want to ultimately farm your kids and sell them into prostitution!
Human traffickers will start a ground war to capture their victims and to keep spying on them with aircrafts.
Cyber ventriloquism/Sonar Hearing, common tactics.
This has been worsening since 2008.
The criminal agents will immediately disinform and satire this disclosure or any as if nothing was wrong or happening right now.
Educate yourselves to save yourselves! This is NOT a test from any governments within the security fields (MNDF, MPS or any other) though these organizations may or may not be involved, credible evidence is needed to prove that these organizations are apart of the worlds most inhumane experiments utilizing electromagnets and radiation to subdue any man or woman.
Disinformation campaigns are set up and used by the villainous organization to keep the public from knowing about their “spying” on various individuals around the world and from raising awareness on their secret experiment using electromagnets and a machine that rewrites the brain in a flash.
The threat mimics medical conditions to stay hidden. Very heavy human/sex trafficking organization and operations getting worse everyday.
This is NOT a special or a unique opportunity for anyone, do not fall for this! You will be chipped, trapped, and abused inhumanly like a wild animal.
They also possess disinformation campaign divisions made solely for the purposes of covering their trafficking and tracks.
The technologically driven human traffickers will preemptively meditate on murdering you if you do not reclaim your identity!
Do NOT surrender yourself to MDP! Traffickers are seeking your signature to lock you away inside a facility.
Do NOT play hero or games with extremists. They are studying every word, step, and actions you make. With the goal to either capture, subdue, or mind break an individual into harming theirselves and/or other’s.
The traffickers wagers that they can defect millions into trafficking the victims into their criminal networks/organization and facilities around the globe, the organization calls it “hiding bodies” utilizing the individuals past as their entire method to cause the person as much psychological harm as inhumanly possible.
Powerful electromagnetic radiation is beamed into the victims skull to send and receive data, bypassing the skull to access the brain as if it was a computer hard drive. The program is only to torture and ruin lives. If not forewarned about it, lives will be abducted, or killed secretly.
Traffickers can completely invade and compromise a person and force the victim into either surrendering theirselves to their abusers and never be seen again, or the victim is left with nothing, outstripped from jobs through 24/7 focus groups to psych a person out of a job and attempt to have their victims deconstruct theirselves and others around.
This is an everyday 24/7 torture system designed to traffick, kill, torture, and molest an individual.The traffickers breed with their brothers, sisters and other blood related individuals for experimental and pedophila is a major part of their cult, DO NOT BE FOOLED!
PEDOPHILIA, TORTURE, NECROPHILIA, RAPE! These are four pillars of the Most Demonic Perverts.
Silent/Covert inbreds are waging war against innocents
All out war with mankind on one side and Most Demonic Perverts on the other.
Hostiles are taking hostages secretly through aggression and various fear tactics. MDP terrorists can cut breathing with their weapons.
Love your spouses and who you are and they may spare you by moving on to someone else.
Protect yourselves with neodymium magnets!! Protect your brain with magnets! Hover the magnets over your head.
(This is NOT fake news, we have been compromised, completely and utterly compromised!)
DO NOT GO!!! There is nothing there that will benefit you!
MDP preys on any vulnerabilities that a human possess. Stay strong to those that are affected, investigations are becoming more widespread
They entrap individuals for experimental purposes in a room with 1 bathroom and 40+ prostitutes and drug addicts, and other mentally ill criminals who enjoys their jobs in systematically destroying human lives in the most inhuman and extreme ways.
They are lead by drag queen homosexuals with a goal to create slaves by converting them into homosexuals, making it easier to control individuals.
They also have these systematic gay orgies where they abuse a plethora of drugs (crack, meth, cocaine, scopolamine, etc) before severely abusing and raping a singular victim inhumanly. The victims were once a targeted individual before they gave up and accepted becoming a sacrifice for MDP.
If you are a new victim of these crimes, do as much research as possible and disclose, disclose, disclose. DO NOT MOVE TO VOICES THAT ARE NOT AROUND YOU!
Schizophrenia is NOT the reason due to the lack of evidence, proving that schizophrenia does not exist. Do not keep silent for this horrendous criminal network! They are all traffickers and they kill in the most inhumane way and call it their “fun”.
TLDR: MDP is a nefarious organization of drugged up lunatics. The are traffickers and are replicating theirselves to be your spouse, military officials, or any government identity to force and fool any person into trafficking theirselves into a criminal network through endless gaslighting through megaphone like devices that targets one individual at a time and projects their voices bypassing their targets auditory cortex. Once the drone targets a person, they stay on that person 24/7 everyday. If you are instructed to move to Winnipeg Canada or anywhere for bribes, sexual favors, money, and/or free housing through any means of transportation, Do Not Go! You are a victim of a class action crime that has gone out of hand. Do NOT give these criminals anymore power by giving yourself up to them. You did not win anything and being targeted by these drones means that they chose you to either traffick or to be murdered covertly using drones with electromagnetic weapons attachments and technology which allows sonic hearing that the MDP criminal organization network uses to communicate directly to one another without needing to use a phone. Captured victims are forced into unpaid labor and forced prostitution. The targeted victim will be missing and stored away within one of their run down homes/facilities, unable to escape or leave. The handlers forces their new members into various ritualistic initiations cycles within their cultist group kneel, to sniff up drugs.
Once captured, they immediately commence their routines of total control and exploitation of the fully captured person. The victims are broken down to less than nothing due to repeated rape and abuse sequences. Felons within the MDP organization are to either traffick or murder a victim because their data brokers does not want to exposed and has paid a great sum of currency to illegally purchase the personal records of their targets and to send a weaponized drone to the illegally purchased individual, equipped with biohacking weapons to break down their targets into trafficking themselves, committing suicide or murdering others. They run criminal schools/organizations that breeds more human traffickers and prostitutes into the public. They Will Say Anything to Force You to move!
“We need you!” “We love you, Move!” “We want to lust your body.”
They work on every emotion within their targets brain and force the individual either into a blind rage or to try to confuse the person with their own emotions through a series of gaslighting and abuse, into moving their targets to them (I can not stress this enough, do not let them force you into trafficking yourself.
The felons also pretend to be some type of close friend to their victims in order to keep control over them. They are fully trained and prepared personally to place severe torture on one individual (they pair up and gang up on one individual at a time and “jumps” said victim. They act like grade school kids, but that’s due to the heavy influence of their handlers, crack and cocaine that has degenerated them. They also are heavily involved in the drug/prostitution ring where everyone gets raped and are all under heavy mind control from a cocktail of different drugs including cocaine.
The felons has their victims set up as empty puppets who are under complete control. The victims now turned felons/rapists/addicts are raised specifically to absorb abuse, while abusing drugs to remain numb during their operations, scopolamine, crack and cocaine to remain numb to any words from their victims.
They train individuals this way so they can deal more damage than receive it during their illegal operations. They are completely separate from reality and are all under one criminal control.
They are aware of people resisting and they promise to do everything to try to force their targets into submitting to their handlers. Warning! These Malicious Drone Operators WILL Say ANYTHING to force a person to move!
The terrorists all have their handlers speaking directly into their ears during their operations to murder or capture the innocent, giving them orders on their scripts made to place torture and destroy random individuals, innocent or not.
They tend to target the innocents more since these felons find it more satisfying to rape, brainwash, and intoxicate the innocent heavily until the innocent is completely empty. As soon as as they’re successful, they turn the captured individuals into drug addicts, whores, and forced laborers, working for gift cards and sexual/party favors.
They will always refuse to leave their targets unless the person gives in and moves to them. Or if the victim gathers any evidence leading to the arrest and shutdown of MDP
To the many different individuals that takes the time to read this, I am taking the time and energy out of my life to warn everyone about a massive data breach that has occurred and that is endangering many lives, including my own at this very point in time.
This type of data breach is the very worst of its kind. Before, the biggest threat was internet crimes, malware, and viruses that may have affected your assets if you were to click the wrong link. Now your actual physical being is at risk by MDP data brokers who are currently funding these criminal networks and are providing illegally purchased records of random individuals around the world.
Now, the MDP criminals today have gone above and beyond the internet and are sending drones with biohacking technologies attachments to random individuals. These weapon attachments magnetizes to specific muscles within the human anatomy of the hijackers choosing. This allows the hijacker to manipulate small muscle tissues within the human body such as rotating an individuals eyes at the hijackers will to keep their victims sleep deprived. They focus on the genitals primarily to exploit the human desire to make love with another individual through the manipulation of their genitals such methods, human traffickers and terrorist organizations are now utilizing these magnetic weapons attached to drones to lock a persons own body up for ransom which could be assets, or force you to sell your body into slavery.
They offer the remote of the victims body, to the victims they use to manipulate certain muscles and veins in the body in exchange for the capture of the victims body.
MDP human traffickers have evolved from footwork to airborne to stay covert. Hiding behind custom biohacking drones ordered online and through various other biohacking black market trades.
“Voices in the head” has been declassified and debunked as electronic biohacking through electromagnets, radiation, drones and neurophones funded and powered by criminal Fusion Centers, MDP who fund radical extremists and terrorists around the world. This was thought out to be a medical condition that is often confused with schizophrenia or another mental illness. But I challenged the theory and discovered that the public has been heavily misinformed.
If a person never had a history with voices in their head that were not of their own voices, and they have proof of their attackers transmitting these frequencies, how could it be a medical condition if the person has evidence of the voices being transmitted directly to his/her skull? So, not only the voices are there, they are also instructing people to either murder, rape, or traffick themselves to one of the many fusion centers, human/sex trafficking homes within undisclosed locations, “ghettos”, and divisions that could be in any closed off homes, (homes with unusually active activities) so they could focus and convert their captives through a series of abuse and ritualistic routines 24/7 everyday.
They force the individual to impregnate one of their paid prostitutes that are doppelgängers to their targets. They do this to raise another human into being another drug addict/trafficker, born and raised into the criminal network so it’ll appear more natural to kill, traffick and brainwash victims.
The MDP pretend to be on the victims side, but they really are not. They all have an illegal drill instructor that only teaches the trafficked “warloot” abuse, rape, and how to torture.

Challenging belief in Orthodox Judaism can involve presenting rigorous critiques and uncomfortable questions that probe deeply into its foundational claims and practices. Here are some sharper points that might challenge your view:

1. **Historical and Textual Criticism**

**Biblical Authorship**: The Documentary Hypothesis posits that the Torah was written by multiple authors over centuries. This contradicts the traditional belief in Mosaic authorship and divine revelation at Sinai. Scholars like Richard Elliott Friedman in "Who Wrote the Bible?" provide compelling evidence that the Torah is a composite text, reflecting different theological and political agendas over time .
**Archaeological Discrepancies**: There is scant archaeological evidence for key events described in the Torah, such as the Exodus from Egypt or the conquest of Canaan. Renowned archaeologists like Israel Finkelstein argue that these stories are largely mythological, constructed to forge a national identity during the late Iron Age .

2. **Moral and Ethical Challenges**

**Problem of Evil**: The existence of profound suffering, including events like the Holocaust, raises serious questions about the nature of a benevolent and omnipotent God. Theodicies (justifications of God in the face of evil) often seem insufficient or unconvincing when faced with the scale of human and natural suffering. Thinkers like Elie Wiesel have grappled deeply with the silence of God during such atrocities .
**Problematic Laws**: The Torah and Talmud contain laws and directives that appear morally problematic by modern standards. For example, the treatment of women as property, the harsh punishments for homosexual acts, and the laws regarding slavery are difficult to reconcile with contemporary ethics. These texts reflect the norms of ancient Near Eastern societies rather than a timeless moral truth.

3. **Scientific Challenges**

**Creation vs. Evolution**: The Genesis creation narrative is at odds with the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the theory of evolution and the age of the Earth. Literal interpretations of these texts lead to conflicts with well-established scientific facts. Prominent scientists like Richard Dawkins argue that religious explanations are vastly inferior to scientific ones in explaining the natural world .
**Age of the Universe**: The traditional Jewish calendar dates the creation of the world to around 5784 years ago, which starkly contrasts with the scientific consensus that the universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old. This discrepancy challenges the literal truth of the Torah’s timeline and narrative .

4. **Philosophical Challenges**

**Free Will vs. Omniscience**: The concept of free will is central to Jewish thought, yet it is difficult to reconcile with the belief in an all-knowing God. If God knows everything that will happen, then human choices seem predetermined, raising questions about the nature of responsibility and morality. Philosophers like Baruch Spinoza have argued that this inconsistency undermines the coherence of theistic beliefs .
**Religious Pluralism**: The existence of many religions, each with their own claims to truth and divine revelation, challenges the exclusivity of Orthodox Judaism. If other religions also claim to be divinely inspired, what makes Judaism’s claims more valid? This plurality suggests that religious belief may be more about cultural and historical context than absolute truth.

5. **Social and Cultural Challenges**

**Modernity and Secularism**: The rise of secularism and the integration of Jews into modern, pluralistic societies pose significant challenges to maintaining traditional Orthodox practices and beliefs. Many find it increasingly difficult to adhere to strict religious norms that clash with contemporary values and lifestyles, leading to a growing trend of secularism and assimilation.
**Internal Diversity and Conflict**: Within Orthodox Judaism itself, there are significant differences and conflicts between various groups (e.g., Modern Orthodox vs. Haredi). These internal divisions highlight the lack of a unified approach to Jewish law and life, suggesting that even within Orthodoxy, beliefs and practices are far from monolithic.

Conclusion

Engaging with these challenges critically and honestly is essential for a robust understanding of one's faith. Orthodox Judaism, like all belief systems, should be open to scrutiny and re-evaluation in light of new evidence and arguments. This process can lead to a deeper and more nuanced faith, or it may lead to a rethinking of previously held beliefs.
**Sources:**

1. Friedman, Richard Elliott. "Who Wrote the Bible?"
   
2. Finkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. "The Bible Unearthed."
   
3. Wiesel, Elie. "Night."
   
4. Dawkins, Richard. "The God Delusion."
   
5. Spinoza, Baruch. "Ethics."
   
6. "Archaeology and the Bible" – Various Academic Sources.
   

Guys, we need to discuss around something, you know most of the otome isekai or in South Korea Romance fantasy (Rofan for short) stories follow usual clichés and receives mostly happy endings with kids ever type endings, well the reason they are like that, they are not only power fantasy and escapism fiction, but also it's a romance genre that most of the female population are attracted to them especially that only the novels and their manhwa adaptations follow the same formula without a different "flavor" or break the formula, but there are some otome isekai/ rofan stories especially non-novel manhwa adaptation that have tragic yet bittersweet endings in the list with spoiler details like for example

• Charlotte's letter - Eventhough its a periodic drama set in Britain and not based on any novel, it has a bittersweet ending where the male lead has died due to an incurable disease.
• Survive romance ->! It's only a horror web manhwa, but I will explain the bittersweet part anyway, After the main character beat the devil, she wakes up back to the real world, but it leaves her to wonder if the experience throughout the survive romance is just a dream along with many allies she encountered throughout the journey leaving an open ending, but it made her into a better person !<
• Race to Steal the Emperor's Heart-This one is original and not based on any novel, where in order to return to her world, the FL must win the heart of the ML but as the male lead's heart to the FL reaches 100%, the FL realize she loved him that it caused herself to die and return her soul to the original, this causes the male lead to be heartbroken including the many allies who supported the FL but the ghost of the male lead's former girlfriend who started this mess feels sympathetic to the male lead that she sends his soul to the FL's leads world and to be together with her, in the end.
• Kill the villainess- This is the manhwa adaptation of the novel with The FL succeeded in getting executed in order for her soul to return to the world, while the Male lead defends her body and prevent it from being resurrected by the three antagonists at the cost of his life, the witch then sends the ML's soul to the modern world in another body so he will meet the FL in person.
• Karina's Last Days-The manhwa adaptation didn't adapt the rest of the novel yet, but it shows that the female lead lives a good life and married to the male lead but died in the end, leaving her a grown beautiful daughter in the epilogue
• The Hopeless Desire of a Witch - Another one which is original and not based on any novel, where it does have a happy ending at first, where the female lead spends her married life with the male lead but turns bitter in the last 2 epilogue chapters (the author warns us readers that if you want a happy ending please stop reading this epilogue) the FL’s immortality’s curse didn’t go away, and she watches helplessly at seeing her lover grow old and die through natural death leaving her to drink a potion the male lead left that will give her eternal asleep, until 1000s of years later she wakes up once again to the demon who she had many encounters and deals with him and takes her to small cabin to live with him, but she remains unresponsive to the demon as he tried to make her look and talk to him, and the only thing the FL is responsive is only the Male lead which he took his appearance and make her responsive almost, and realizing the FL only care about the ML and in such a broken mental state, the demon decides to take the FL to his domain and put her in an eternal sleep like an eternal statue or trophy which in other words put her out of her misery, hence why this ending is bittersweet and tragic to many, heck the author who made originally didn’t intend the series to be romance fantasy just a thriller mystery series and the ending is inspired by the experience of the mist movie ending he watched.
• The Nonexistent Princess - The webtoon canvas series has the young FL defeat the antagonist to save her family at the cost of her life, and she meets her mother in the afterlife while the father who isn’t aware of her death is still waiting for her to this day.
• Surviving as the Prince's Fiancée-Another original not based on any novel, where the Male lead wants her to stay by his side as queen, however he learned from the wizard that they found a way to send the FL home, but it will cause her not to come back to the fantasy world and seeing that the female lead is homesick, and she misses her family, the male lead who doesn’t want to see her suffer decided that the FL will be sent back to her world even though she might not see the male lead again but since the male lead misses her, he gave up his reign passing his title to a fellow ally and travels to her world to meet the FL to become his faithful lover.
• The Empress Lipstick - The last one in the list which is original and not based on any novel is a webtoon original where after conflicts are resolved, the ML and the Female leads allies realize if the Female lead stays in the world too long she will completely disappear like the ML’s mother and although the Male lead doesn’t want her to go and the female lead doesn’t want to leave as she wants to stay with the male lead on her side, she must return to her world anyway before she disappears from existence and after she returned to her world, she wondered if her experience in the fantasy world is really a dream while still holding the necklace from the fantasy and encounter s two male high school who look like the male leads from the fantasy world leaving it an open ending.

Despite that these types of endings are considered rare to the rofan/otome isekai genre and are not mostly used in the Korean rofan novels and its mahwa adaptations, so in this thread we need to discuss if any of the future otome isekai/rofan stories should have bittersweet/tragic endings, as most follow the usual happy ending type scenarios.

Hello everyone, welcome to the third discussion about Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Hope you studied hard this week, I sure did!

Summary

Previously, in Thinking Fast and Slow, we followed Kahneman and Amos’s academic bromance in the wonderful world of decision making and biases. Our two main characters model two kinds of behavior of the brain. System 1, always on, is the intuitive one, that makes continual judgments and assumptions. System 2 is the slower one, only called when necessary, that produces rational thinking, mathematical reasoning, and is awfully lazy. We learned that even specialists are really bad at intuitive statistics and apply the law of small numbers when they shouldn’t.
Chapter 11: Anchors When we are asked to consider a possible solution to an estimation problem (eg, did Gandhi die after 100 years old?), our answer will be close to this number, like it’s anchored to it. Even when the proposition is obviously unrelated, like with a rigged wheel of fortune. It has many consequences, like with real estate prices and every negotiation. If someone starts one with an absurd price, make a big fuss and stop it until a more reasonable offer.
Both systems cause this behavior. System 1 because of priming (unconscious influence of a previous information). System 2 makes us start at the anchor, and then adjust, often not enough.
Btw, here are the answers to the questions, it annoyed me that they weren’t in the book. Washington became president in 1789. Waters boils at around 70°C/160°F on top of the Everest. Gandhi died at 78 years old.
Chapter 12: Availability We learn about the availability bias. When we are asked to estimate the frequency of an event, our answer depends on how easily we can retrieve examples from our memory. The more dramatic and personal the example is, the more it works. Making people list examples increases the perceived frequency, except when you ask too much. Finding 12 examples of something is hard, and your brain will interpret the cognitive fatigue as a less frequent phenomenon.
Chapter 13: Availability, emotion and risk Our perception of risk is biased by availability and the affect heuristic. If you feel strongly about something negative, you will evaluate the risk as stronger. It’s especially true with very small risks such as terrorism, which our brain is really bad at evaluating (it’s either ignored or given too much weight). And a recent disaster in the news will make us renew our insurance policies. There is a very negative correlation between benefit and risk in the mind of people. This means that if a technology is perceived as highly useful, you will perceive it as less risky, and vice versa.
Kahneman then presents two philosophies about risk assessment and how it affects public policy. There can be availability cascades around public panics such as the Love Canal controversy, fed by media frenzy and politics. Slovic thinks that risk being not objective (it depends on what parameter we prioritize, such as lives or money), the perception of the citizens should never be ignored. Sunstein wants risk experts to rule, because public pressure make the biased lawmakers prioritize the use of tax money inefficiently. Kahneman wisely stays in the middle of this merciless academic scuffle.
Chapter 14: Tom W Tom W is a fictional university student invented by Kahnmos. The goal of the exercise is to guess his specialty. The subjects are told the proportion of the students in each specialty (the base rate, humanities being more probable than STEM), and sometimes a (dubious) psychological profile. He’s described as a nerdy asocial guy who likes bad puns, and if you’re judging him, remember you’re on reddit, so don’t throw any stone here. Most people, even specialists, will infer that Tom studies Computer Science, despite the probabilities given by the base rate, that mean it is more probable for him to study Humanities. It’s because this tells a better story (they choose representativeness instead of base rate. Even if the added information is dubious. Once again, if system 2 is activated (eg by frowning), people will get closer to the base rate.
Kahneman then gives us advice to discipline our faulty intuitions. You just have to use Bayes’s rule and multiply probabilities in your head! Easy. If you cannot do that, I’m sorry you’re an embarrassment to your family and country, but just remember to stay close to the base rate and question the quality of the evidence.
Chapter 15: Linda or less is more Linda is another fictional character created to make us feel bad. She’s described as a left-leaning politically engaged woman. What is more probable, that she’s a bank teller or a feminist bank teller? Most people will choose the second. The problem is that feminist bank tellers are a subset of bank tellers, so there’s less of them (all feminist bank tellers are bank tellers, whereas only some bank tellers are feminist). So it’s mathematically less probable. However, it’s more plausible, tells a causal story, so our System 1 likes it. It’s called conjuction fallacy.
Apparently, Linda caused another controversy in the field of psychology, but Kahneman doesn’t go into details, probably to protect his readers from the gruesome imagery.
Chapter 16 Causes trump statistics We go back to a Tom-like experiment, comparing base rate to other information. When the base rate is neutral, people don’t care about it. But when it is causal and tells a story, the brain will take it into account more. The story (here, it is that a company’s cab cause most of the accidents) creates a stereotype in our head. And in this case, stereotyping helps improving the accuracy of our intuitions.
The author then discusses how to teach psychology to students. He describes the help experiment, where people isolated in booths heard a stooge pretending to die. A minority of people went to help, because of the dilution of responsibility (”someone else can do it!”). When faced to this result, most students accept it but it doesn’t really change their views, in particular of themselves. However, when shown some individuals and their choices, their ideas really evolved. Once again, we suck at statistics and love to make stories from anecdotes. But now we can hack it?
Chapter 17 Regression to the mean Every performance has a random element. That means that if someone has an exceptionally good run, in sports for instance, their results will go down in the future. The opposite is also true. This is called regression to the mean and happens all the time when there is randomness involved. But our brains love causality and will invent a story around it. For instance, this air cadet performed better the second time because I yelled at him, not because of randomness catching up with his bad luck. That’s why we need control groups in every experiment, because many sick people will get better because of time and statistics.

Useful Links

• The Love Canal
• Alar Scare
• Bayesian statistics

You’ll find the questions below, feel free to add your own!

Hi all,
First, this is a long post, and for that I apologize. I have a lot on my mind I’m trying to process right now. I’m also a creative writing minor, so I realize this will come across as a story.
I attend a fairly conservative college where most of the students being Christian. I myself am not religious, and due to the environment I try to keep that fact to myself so as not to be rude or disruptive. Some people do know about my lack of belief, and I’ve had mixed responses from them when they learn. Some want to convert me, others are rather nonchalant about it.
The reason I am writing is because I recently had a conversation with one of my literature professors that has left me wondering how I should respond. The conversation started after I asked him a follow up question to something he mentioned about the Bible: “That it’s the greatest story about the human condition humanity ever told.” For context, he’s been a Catholic his entire life.
My follow up question to him after class was this: “But if it’s just a story, why should we believe it, especially when there seem to be so many contradictions within it?” This tends to be my first question when someone makes a claim about the Bible, and it is born partly out of curiosity (I genuinely want to know why, as no Christian I’ve talked with has given me a good answer to it) and partly as a challenge, as I don’t want to see him wasting his life worshipping something that isn’t true. Perhaps this is not the best motivation, but it is what sparked my question.
He didn’t answer right away, but when he did this is (roughly) what he said: “My favorite story is William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. I think it, while being fictitious, presents a deep understanding of human nature. I read it to understand the characters, and, by understanding them, hopefully learn a little bit more about myself and others in the process. Does it matter if it is true? Depends on what you mean by true. If you mean it in the sense of “this actually happened,” then you will be disappointed by a lot of literature. But if you mean it as “this reveals an important quality of human condition,” then I think it is very true.” He then chuckled and added, “Your question reminds me of a quote one of my professors told me when I was a student: ‘Everything in the Bible is true; some of it actually happened.”
This surprised me, as this is the first time I had really talked with someone who didn’t take the Bible (specifically the creation story) literally. I clarified with him to make sure I understood him correctly, and he affirmed what I said.
I probed him a bit more about that, asking if the fact that it was written by humans makes it less trustworthy. Why should we place so much faith in something that was written by mere men? I figured he would say something like “God wrote the Bible,” as that is what people I know have said.
He paused again and thought. His eventual response was this (if I recall correctly): “I have two reasons for why I believe in the Bible, one reason for believing in God, and one additional reason for why I am Catholic. The first reason for why I believe in the word of the Bible is because I think it is written by God. Unfortunately, that isn’t the most convincing reason even for myself, as why should I believe it is written by God? This leads to my second reason, which is that I simply find the story of the Bible presents to be the most beautiful and brilliant work to ever exist. I have spent years studying the intricacies of the Bible simply because I find its underlying themes and its story of human failure and promise for redemption to be gripping and compelling. Shakespeare doesn’t even come close, in my opinion. If it’s not written by God with human hands, then I don’t know what is. But this still is built upon believing that God exists, so let’s go to why I think that.
"The way I see it, faith is a natural part of human life. It is impossible to find a functional person who doesn’t trust something, and trust is one of the pillars of faith, so similar in fact that I view it as faith. If everything in the world is man-made and artificial, without divine influence, I think at the very least I would still choose to believe in the word of the Bible because I find it the most beautiful thing in the world. A large part of the reason I believe in God is because I think it is natural to have faith in something. If I am going to have faith in something no matter what, I want my faith to be in something beautiful, intellectually rigorous, and good for humanity.
“This leads into my reason for being Catholic, which is in large part it is because I think it presents the most holistic, beautiful, and practical theory for human success. Everything it teaches is geared toward human success, both individually and socially. People might disagree with what the Catholic Church defines as “human success,” but I think the Catholic Church is onto something.”
I asked him to elaborate, and he explained how the Catholic Church (if I understand correctly) places great emphasis on God’s first two commands to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply.” “Multiply,” he explains, “sounds like what it says: make more humans.” This is not to say every male and female should hook up, but rather that we as a society should be concerned about the “continuation of our species.”
This command is to be taken hand in hand with the next one: “Be fruitful.” Making lots of babies isn’t the point--the point is to make lots of “good” humans. What does he mean by ‘good?’ “That,” he shrugs, “is where a lot of people disagree. I myself am not entirely sure how to describe ‘good’ humans, but I’ll try. I could say ‘love’ is the measure of a 'good' human, but even there people disagree with what ‘love’ is. I think love, however, is fundamentally about willing the best for the other, to the point of being willing to lay down your life for that person. An enduring society that produces those types of people is one that I would say is a good society, and I think people who take the ideals of Catholicism seriously and live them out as intended are the most likely to do that.”
I asked him about the abuse that the LGBTQ community has had to endure at the hands of Christians, and how the Catholic Church does not recognize same-sex marriage and calls those people sinners. I also asked about how denying abortion access to women is loving to them. He winces at this, and says this in reply: “A lot of people say and do terrible things in the name of Jesus and 'love.' The Catholic Church’s official teachings do not say we should be cruel to LGBTQ members or to women who have had or want an abortion. Unfortunately, people are people and people are often hypocrites, many without realizing it. When it comes to the LGBTQ community, the Catholic Church does not say ‘being homosexual is a sin,’ it says that homosexuality is a disordered desire. The ‘sin’ comes from acting on that desire, as the Catholic Church holds that all sexual acts should be reserved for the opposite sex as a unitive and potentially procreative act within the security of monogamous marriage between a man and a woman. This goes back to “be fruitful and multiply:” Sex is so very pleasurable because it is extremely important for reproduction, which is what all life, in general, tries to do. Since the sexual act has been shown scientifically to significantly rewire the human brain, shouldn’t we try to be as careful as we possibly can be with it and make sure it is used for its intended purpose: to make babies? That is part of the Church’s practical reasoning for why homosexual acts (and extramarital and non-unitive sex) are not to be encouraged or endorsed by the Catholic Church.
"Many Christians, unfortunately, forget the lessons of the Gospel stories of the woman about to stoned and the woman at the well: those two woman were isolated and outcast from their homes for their sexual acts; one of them was about to be killed it. What happens to these women is intended to be viewed as unloving. Jesus, however, befriends them despite them ‘objectively’ sinning. He never endorsed their behavior, but he still treated them with respect and love. Even if people today might argue those women did nothing wrong, the point of those stories is that Jesus considered them ‘sinners’ and yet he loved and befriended them anyway. That is literally what Jesus was doing in every city he went to: Spending time with the people who were considered terrible sinners, not because he agreed with their actions but because they are human and thus deserve to be loved. I think Christians today too often forget that is the core message of the Jesus' teachings: to love one another.
“As for abortion, the Catholic Church’s position on that rests upon our emphasis on the inherent dignity of human life. The Catholic Church believes human life begins at conception. Operating under that view, abortion is murder and should thus be strongly discouraged and/or condemned. Personally, I think it should still remain a decision between a woman and her doctor, as the doctor is the only one with the medical expertise necessary to accurately say when an abortion is actually necessary to save the woman’s life. That, however, is a tragedy, and it is one the Catholic Church acknowledges is an unfortunate situation of ‘abortion is necessary to save a life that would be otherwise lost.’ Doctors need the confidence and ability to make difficult decisions without fear of being punished for it. That means there is a risk of abuse and malpractice, but that is the nature of trust.”
We were running out of time before he had to get to his next class, so I asked him one last question that was on my mind: “Can the existence of God be proved?”
He chuckled at this. “Some of my colleagues will likely disagree with me on this, but I personally don’t put a lot of stock in ‘proofs for God.’ I haven’t found one that convinces me, and I believe in God. I think they do a good job of suggesting God exists, but proving He exists? I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s possible to prove God’s existence to someone who doesn’t already believe in God. I think the most we can do is show is why belief in God is not illogical—that’s the role of apologetics. But I can’t say, with absolute certainty, that I am right. That’s part of why it is faith: We might be wrong. If we are wrong, then ‘we are of all people the most pitiable.’” (I had to look this up afterward, as he made it sound like a quote. He was quoting Paul’s letter (1 Cor:15-19) talking about what it means if Christians are wrong about their faith. It seems he was applying this quote to all people of faith who are wrong.)
He gave me an example of what he means by ‘impossible to prove:’ “Think of your paper for this class. You, hopefully, are writing about something that you think is true. You are speculating at what the author meant, at how the author thought, why the author wrote the book or scene the way he or she did, or any works or events that likely influenced the work you are studying. Can you know for certain that you are correct?”
My answer: “No. But I can find evidence for it that shows I probably am.”
His reply: “Exactly. It is the same way with God. I don’t think we can prove God definitely exists the same way you can’t prove, with 100% confidence, that your paper’s thesis is correct. I think there is a lot of evidence that suggests God does exist, but I can’t prove it. Belief in God is inductive, and therefore inherently uncertain. This is how the Catholic Church also understands “Natural Law” and “Moral Law.” We can’t really prove either of them exist, we just have a lot of evidence gathered from observing the world and humanity that we think strongly suggests a natural and moral law. Apologists are the ones in charge of showing how our teachings and beliefs on these subjects are not inconsistent and intellectually bankrupt to hold.
“One last thing, to explain what I mean by ‘lots of evidence for God’s existence.’ Imagine we were to find Van Gogh’s The Starry Night out in the woods. I can’t prove that someone painted it, but I think a strong case can be made that someone did paint it. I might go so far as to argue it is obvious. That’s how I tend to view the world and the universe: one giant painting made by God by means of scientific laws and evolution.”
At this point he had to leave for his next class. He thanked me for the conversation and asked if I was still able to make it to cigars this Friday to celebrate the end of the term. I told him yes, and that I will probably have more questions and that I hope he didn’t mind if I asked him. He said he did not mind.
So that leads me to here: I have never had a conversation with a person of faith like this before. Almost every response he had appealed to an intuition that he seemed fine with not everyone sharing. He's also the first Christian I've met who says he doesn't think God can be proved and doesn't seem bothered by that. I suppose my question for you is: What should I ask him? What should he clarify?

MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY
MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER: 2024-056
DATE(S) ISSUED: 05/14/2024
SUBJECT: Multiple Vulnerabilities in Mozilla Products Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution
OVERVIEW: Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Mozilla Products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution.

• Mozilla Firefox is a web browser used to access the Internet.
• Mozilla Firefox ESR is a version of the web browser intended to be deployed in large organizations.
• Mozilla Thunderbird is an email client.

Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
THREAT INTELLIGENCE: There are no reports that these vulnerabilities are being exploited in the wild
SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

• Firefox ESR versions prior to 115.11
• Thunderbird versions prior to 115.11
• Firefox versions prior to 126

RISK: Government:

• Large and medium government entities: High
• Small government entities: High

Businesses:

• Large and medium business entities: High
• Small business entities: High

Home users: Low
TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Mozilla Products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution. Details of the most critical vulnerabilities are as follows:
Tactic: Initial Access (TA0001):
Technique: Drive-by Compromise (T1189):

• Multiple WebRTC threads could have claimed a newly connected audio input leading to use-after-free. (CVE-2024-4764)
• A type check was missing when handling fonts in PDF.js, which would allow arbitrary JavaScript execution in the PDF.js context. (CVE-2024-4367)
• Web application manifests were stored by using an insecure MD5 hash which allowed for a hash collision to overwrite another application's manifest. This could have been exploited to run arbitrary code in another application's context. This issue only affects Firefox for Android. Other versions of Firefox are unaffected. (CVE-2024-4765)
• Different techniques existed to obscure the fullscreen notification in Firefox for Android. These could have lead to potential user confusion and spoofing attacks. This bug only affects Firefox for Android. Other versions of Firefox are unaffected. (CVE-2024-4766)
• If the browser.privatebrowsing.autostart preference is enabled, IndexedDB files were not properly deleted when the window was closed. This preference is disabled by default in Firefox and Thunderbird. (CVE-2024-4767)
• A bug in popup notifications' interaction with WebAuthn made it easier for an attacker to trick a user into granting permissions. (CVE-2024-4768)
• When importing resources using Web Workers, error messages would distinguish the difference between application/javascript responses and non-script responses. This could have been abused to learn information cross-origin. (CVE-2024-4769)
• When saving a page to PDF, certain font styles could have led to a potential use-after-free crash. (CVE-2024-4770)
• A memory allocation check was missing which would lead to a use-after-free if the allocation failed. This could have triggered a crash or potentially be leveraged to achieve code execution. (CVE-2024-4771)
• Memory safety bugs present in Firefox 125, Firefox ESR 115.10, and Thunderbird 115.10. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. (CVE-2024-4777)

Additional lower severity vulnerabilities include:

• An HTTP digest authentication nonce value was generated using rand() which could lead to predictable values. (CVE-2024-4772)
• When a network error occurred during page load, the prior content could have remained in view with a blank URL bar. This could have been used to obfuscate a spoofed web site. (CVE-2024-4773)
• The ShmemCharMapHashEntry() code was susceptible to potentially undefined behavior by bypassing the move semantics for one of its data members. (CVE-2024-4774)
• An iterator stop condition was missing when handling WASM code in the built-in profiler, potentially leading to invalid memory access and undefined behavior. Note: This issue only affects the application when the profiler is running. (CVE-2024-4775)
• A file dialog shown while in full-screen mode could have resulted in the window remaining disabled. (CVE-2024-4776)
• Memory safety bugs present in Firefox 125. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption and we presume that with enough effort some of these could have been exploited to run arbitrary code. (CVE-2024-4778)

Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend the following actions be taken:

• Apply the stable channel update provided by Mozilla to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing. (M1051: Update Software)
  • Safeguard 7.1 : Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process: Establish and maintain a documented vulnerability management process for enterprise assets. Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  • Safeguard 7.4: Perform Automated Application Patch Management: Perform application updates on enterprise assets through automated patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.
  • Safeguard 7.5 : Perform Automated Vulnerability Scans of Internal Enterprise Assets: Perform automated vulnerability scans of internal enterprise assets on a quarterly, or more frequent, basis. Conduct both authenticated and unauthenticated scans, using a SCAP-compliant vulnerability scanning tool.
• Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services. Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack. (M1026: Privileged Account Management)
  • Safeguard 4.7: Manage Default Accounts on Enterprise Assets and Software: Manage default accounts on enterprise assets and software, such as root, administrator, and other pre-configured vendor accounts. Example implementations can include: disabling default accounts or making them unusable.
  • Safeguard 5.4: Restrict Administrator Privileges to Dedicated Administrator Accounts: Restrict administrator privileges to dedicated administrator accounts on enterprise assets. Conduct general computing activities, such as internet browsing, email, and productivity suite use, from the user’s primary, non-privileged account.
• Use capabilities to detect and block conditions that may lead to or be indicative of a software exploit occurring. (M1050: Exploit Protection)
  • Safeguard 10.5: Enable Anti-Exploitation Features: Enable anti-exploitation features on enterprise assets and software, where possible, such as Microsoft® Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Windows® Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG), or Apple® System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Gatekeeper™.
• Restrict use of certain websites, block downloads/attachments, block JavaScript, restrict browser extensions, etc. (M1021: Restrict Web-Based Content)
  • Safeguard 9.2: Use DNS Filtering Services: Use DNS filtering services on all enterprise assets to block access to known malicious domains.
  • Safeguard 9.3: Maintain and Enforce Network-Based URL Filters: Enforce and update network-based URL filters to limit an enterprise asset from connecting to potentially malicious or unapproved websites. Example implementations include category-based filtering, reputation-based filtering, or through the use of block lists. Enforce filters for all enterprise assets.
  • Safeguard 9.6: Block Unnecessary File Types: Block unnecessary file types attempting to enter the enterprise’s email gateway.
• Block execution of code on a system through application control, and/or script blocking. (M1038: Execution Prevention)
  • Safeguard 2.5 : Allowlist Authorized Software: Use technical controls, such as application allowlisting, to ensure that only authorized software can execute or be accessed. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 2.6 : Allowlist Authorized Libraries: Use technical controls to ensure that only authorized software libraries, such as specific .dll, .ocx, .so, etc., files, are allowed to load into a system process. Block unauthorized libraries from loading into a system process. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 2.7 : Allowlist Authorized Scripts: Use technical controls, such as digital signatures and version control, to ensure that only authorized scripts, such as specific .ps1, .py, etc., files, are allowed to execute. Block unauthorized scripts from executing. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
• Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior. (M1040: Behavior Prevention on Endpoint)
  • Safeguard 13.2 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Detection Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion detection solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported.
  • Safeguard 13.7 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Prevention Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion prevention solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported. Example implementations include use of an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) client or host-based IPS agent.
• Inform and educate users regarding the threats posed by hypertext links contained in emails or attachments especially from un-trusted sources. Remind users not to visit un-trusted websites or follow links provided by unknown or un-trusted sources. (M1017: User Training)
  • Safeguard 14.1: Establish and Maintain a Security Awareness Program: Establish and maintain a security awareness program. The purpose of a security awareness program is to educate the enterprise’s workforce on how to interact with enterprise assets and data in a secure manner. Conduct training at hire and, at a minimum, annually. Review and update content annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  • Safeguard 14.2: Train Workforce Members to Recognize Social Engineering Attacks: Train workforce members to recognize social engineering attacks, such as phishing, pre-texting, and tailgating.

REFERENCES:

Mozilla: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2024-21/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2024-22/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2024-23/

CVE: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4367 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4764 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4765 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4766 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4767 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4768 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4769 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4770 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4771 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4772 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4773 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4774 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4775 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4776 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4777 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4778

MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY
MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER: 2024-055
DATE(S) ISSUED: 05/14/2024
SUBJECT: Multiple Vulnerabilities in Siemens Ruggedcom Crossbow Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution
OVERVIEW: Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Siemens Ruggedcom Crossbow, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution. Siemens Ruggedcom Crossbow Access Management solution designed to provide cybersecurity compliance for industrial control systems. Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged-on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
THREAT INTELLEGENCE: There are no reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild.
SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

• Ruggedcom Crossbow prior to Version 5.5

RISK: Government:

• Large and medium government entities: High
• Small government entities: Medium

Businesses:

• Large and medium business entities: High
• Small business entities: Medium

Home users: Low
TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Multiple Vulnerabilities have been discovered in Siemens Ruggedcom Crossbow, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution. Details of these vulnerabilities are as follows:
Tactic: Initial Access (TA0001):

• The affected systems allow the upload of arbitrary files of any unauthenticated user. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability and achieve arbitrary code execution with system privileges.(CVE-2024-27939)
• The affected systems allow any authenticated user to send arbitrary SQL commands to the SQL server. An attacker could use this vulnerability to compromise the whole database.(CVE-2024-27940)
• The affected client systems do not properly sanitize input data before sending it to the SQL server. An attacker could use this vulnerability to compromise the whole database.(CVE-2024-27941)
• The affected systems allow any unauthenticated client to disconnect any active user from the server. An attacker could use this vulnerability to prevent any user to perform actions in the system, causing a denial of service situation. (CVE-2024-27942)
• The affected systems allow a privileged user to upload generic files to the root installation directory of the system. By replacing specific files, an attacker could tamper specific files or even achieve remote code execution. (CVE-2024-27943)
• The affected systems allow a privileged user to upload firmware files to the root installation directory of the system. By replacing specific files, an attacker could tamper specific files or even achieve remote code execution. (CVE-2024-27944)
• The bulk import feature of the affected systems allow a privileged user to upload files to the root installation directory of the system. By replacing specific files, an attacker could tamper specific files or even achieve remote code execution. (CVE-2024-27945)
• Downloading files overwrites files with the same name in the installation directory of the affected systems. The filename for the target file can be specified, thus arbitrary files can be overwritten by an attacker with the required privileges. (CVE-2024-27946)
• The affected systems could allow log messages to be forwarded to a specific client under certain circumstances. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to forward log messages to a specific compromised client.(CVE-2024-27947)

Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights.
RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend the following actions be taken:

• Apply appropriate updates provided by Siemens to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing. (M1051: Update Software)
  • Safeguard 7.1: Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process: Establish and maintain a documented vulnerability management process for enterprise assets. Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  • Safeguard 7.4: Perform Automated Application Patch Management: Perform application updates on enterprise assets through automated patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.
  • Safeguard 7.7: Remediate Detected Vulnerabilities: Remediate detected vulnerabilities in software through processes and tooling on a monthly, or more frequent, basis, based on the remediation process.
  • Safeguard 9.1: Ensure Use of Only Fully Supported Browsers and Email Clients: Ensure only fully supported browsers and email clients are allowed to execute in the enterprise, only using the latest version of browsers and email clients provided through the vendor.
• Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services. Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack. (M1026: Privileged Account Management)
  • Safeguard 4.7: Manage Default Accounts on Enterprise Assets and Software: Manage default accounts on enterprise assets and software, such as root, administrator, and other pre-configured vendor accounts. Example implementations can include: disabling default accounts or making them unusable.
  • Safeguard 5.4: Restrict Administrator Privileges to Dedicated Administrator Accounts: Restrict administrator privileges to dedicated administrator accounts on enterprise assets. Conduct general computing activities, such as internet browsing, email, and productivity suite use, from the user’s primary, non-privileged account.​​​​​​
• Restrict execution of code to a virtual environment on or in transit to an endpoint system. (M1048: Application Isolation and Sandboxing)
• Use capabilities to detect and block conditions that may lead to or be indicative of a software exploit occurring. (M1050: Exploit Protection)
  • Safeguard 10.5: Enable Anti-Exploitation Features: Enable anti-exploitation features on enterprise assets and software, where possible, such as Microsoft® Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Windows® Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG), or Apple® System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Gatekeeper™.
• Restrict use of certain websites, block downloads/attachments, block Javascript, restrict browser extensions, etc. (M1021: Restrict Web-Based Content)
  • Safeguard 9.2: Use DNS Filtering Services: Use DNS filtering services on all enterprise assets to block access to known malicious domains.
  • Safeguard 9.3: Maintain and Enforce Network-Based URL Filters: Enforce and update network-based URL filters to limit an enterprise asset from connecting to potentially malicious or unapproved websites. Example implementations include category-based filtering, reputation-based filtering, or through the use of block lists. Enforce filters for all enterprise assets.
  • Safeguard 9.6: Block Unnecessary File Types: Block unnecessary file types attempting to enter the enterprise’s email gateway.
• Inform and educate users regarding the threats posed by hypertext links contained in emails or attachments especially from un-trusted sources. Remind users not to visit un-trusted websites or follow links provided by unknown or un-trusted sources. (M1017: User Training)
  • Safeguard 14.1: Establish and Maintain a Security Awareness Program: Establish and maintain a security awareness program. The purpose of a security awareness program is to educate the enterprise’s workforce on how to interact with enterprise assets and data in a secure manner. Conduct training at hire and, at a minimum, annually. Review and update content annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  • Safeguard 14.2: Train Workforce Members to Recognize Social Engineering Attacks: Train workforce members to recognize social engineering attacks, such as phishing, pre-texting, and tailgating.

REFERENCES:

MS-ISAC CYBERSECURITY ADVISORY
MS-ISAC ADVISORY NUMBER: 2024-054
DATE(S) ISSUED: 05/14/2024
SUBJECT: Multiple Vulnerabilities in Adobe Products Could Allow for Arbitrary Code Execution
OVERVIEW: Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Adobe products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution.

• Adobe Acrobat is a family of application software and Web services used to view, create, manipulate, print and manage Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
• Adobe Substance3D Painter is a 3D painting software that allows users to texture and add materials directly to 3D meshes in real-time.
• Adobe Substance3D Designer is a 3D design software that generates textures from procedural patterns inside node-based graphs.
• Adobe Aero is a cross platform solution that enables creatives with no coding and mininmal 3D experience to design, share, and view interactive augmented reality experiences.
• Adobe FrameMaker lets you create structured or template-based documents, review and collaborate with multiple content management systems and publish to a multitude of devices.
• Adobe Dreamweaver is a proprietary web development tool.
• Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design software.
• Adobe Animate is used to create vector graphics and interactive content.

Successful exploitation of the most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow for arbitrary code execution in the context of the logged on user. Depending on the privileges associated with the user, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than those who operate with administrative user rights
THREAT INTELLIGENCE: There are currently no reports of these vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild.
SYSTEMS AFFECTED:

• Adobe Acrobat DC 24.002.20736 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 24.002.20736 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Acrobat 2020 20.005.30574 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 2020 20.005.30574 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Substance 3D Painter 9.1.2 and earlier versions.
• Adobe Substance 3D Designer 13.1.1 and earlier versions.
• Adobe Aero 0.23.4 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe FrameMaker 2020 Release Update 5 and earlier on Windows.
• Adobe FrameMaker 2022 Release Update 3 and earlier on Windows.
• Adobe Dreamweaver 21.3 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Illustrator 2024 28.4 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Illustrator 2023 27.9.3 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Animate 2023 23.0.5 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Animate 2024 24.0.2 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.

RISK: Government:

• Large and medium government entities: High
• Small government entities: Medium

Businesses:

• Large and medium business entities: High
• Small business entities: Medium

Home users: Low
TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in Adobe Products, the most severe of which could allow for arbitrary code execution. Details of these vulnerabilities are as follows
Tactic: Execution (TA0002)
Technique: Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203):
Adobe Dreamweaver 21.3 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.

• Adobe Animate 2023 23.0.5 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.
• Adobe Animate 2024 24.0.2 and earlier versions on Windows and macOS.

Adobe Acrobat:

• Use After Free. (CVE-2024-30284, CVE-2024-34094, CVE-2024-34095, CVE-2024-34096, CVE-2024-34097, CVE-2024-34100)
• Out-of-bounds Write. (CVE-2024-30310)
• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-30311, CVE-2024-30312, CVE-2024-34101)
• Improper Input Validation. (CVE-2024-34098)
• Improper Access Control. (CVE-2024-34099)

Adobe Substance 3D Painter:

• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-30308, CVE-2024-30309)
• Out-of-bounds Write (CVE-2024-30274, CVE-2024-30307)

Adobe Substance 3D Designer:

• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-30281)

Adobe Aero:

• Use After Free. (CVE-2024-30275)

Adobe FrameMaker:

• Heap-based Buffer Overflow. (CVE-2024-30288)
• Out-of-bounds Write. (CVE-2024-30291, CVE-2024-30290, CVE-2024-30292)
• Buffer Overflow. (CVE-2024-30289)
• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-30287, CVE-2024-30286, CVE-2024-30283)

Adobe Dreamweaver:

• Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection'). (CVE-2024-30314)

Adobe Illustrator:

• Out-of-bounds Write. (CVE-2024-20791)
• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-20793)
• Use After Free. (CVE-2024-20792)

Adobe Animate:

• Out-of-bounds Write. (CVE-2024-30282, CVE-2024-30296, CVE-2024-30297)
• Stack-based Buffer Overflow. (CVE-2024-30293)
• Heap-based Buffer Overflow. (CVE-2024-30294)
• NULL Pointer Dereference. (CVE-2024-30295)
• Out-of-bounds Read. (CVE-2024-30298)

RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend the following actions be taken:

• Apply the stable channel update provided by Adobe to vulnerable systems immediately after appropriate testing. (M1051: Update Software)
  • Safeguard 7.1 : Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process: Establish and maintain a documented vulnerability management process for enterprise assets. Review and update documentation annually, or when significant enterprise changes occur that could impact this Safeguard.
  • Safeguard 7.2 : Establish and Maintain a Remediation Process: Establish and maintain a risk-based remediation strategy documented in a remediation process, with monthly, or more frequent, reviews.
  • Safeguard 7.6 : Perform Automated Vulnerability Scans of Externally-Exposed Enterprise Assets: Perform automated vulnerability scans of externally-exposed enterprise assets using a SCAP-compliant vulnerability scanning tool. Perform scans on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.
  • Safeguard 7.7 : Remediate Detected Vulnerabilities: Remediate detected vulnerabilities in software through processes and tooling on a monthly, or more frequent, basis, based on the remediation process.
  • Safeguard 16.13 Conduct Application Penetration Testing: Conduct application penetration testing. For critical applications, authenticated penetration testing is better suited to finding business logic vulnerabilities than code scanning and automated security testing. Penetration testing relies on the skill of the tester to manually manipulate an application as an authenticated and unauthenticated user.
  • Safeguard 18.1 : Establish and Maintain a Penetration Testing Program: Establish and maintain a penetration testing program appropriate to the size, complexity, and maturity of the enterprise. Penetration testing program characteristics include scope, such as network, web application, Application Programming Interface (API), hosted services, and physical premise controls; frequency; limitations, such as acceptable hours, and excluded attack types; point of contact information; remediation, such as how findings will be routed internally; and retrospective requirements.
  • Safeguard 18.2 : Perform Periodic External Penetration Tests: Perform periodic external penetration tests based on program requirements, no less than annually. External penetration testing must include enterprise and environmental reconnaissance to detect exploitable information. Penetration testing requires specialized skills and experience and must be conducted through a qualified party. The testing may be clear box or opaque box.
  • Safeguard 18.3 : Remediate Penetration Test Findings: Remediate penetration test findings based on the enterprise’s policy for remediation scope and prioritization.
• Apply the Principle of Least Privilege to all systems and services. Run all software as a non-privileged user (one without administrative privileges) to diminish the effects of a successful attack. (M1026: Privileged Account Management)
  • Safeguard 4.7: Manage Default Accounts on Enterprise Assets and Software: Manage default accounts on enterprise assets and software, such as root, administrator, and other pre-configured vendor accounts. Example implementations can include: disabling default accounts or making them unusable.
  • Safeguard 5.4: Restrict Administrator Privileges to Dedicated Administrator Accounts: Restrict administrator privileges to dedicated administrator accounts on enterprise assets. Conduct general computing activities, such as internet browsing, email, and productivity suite use, from the user’s primary, non-privileged account.
• Restrict use of certain websites, block downloads/attachments, block Javascript, restrict browser extensions, etc. (M1021: Restrict Web-Based Content)
  • Safeguard 2.3: Address Unauthorized Software: Ensure that unauthorized software is either removed from use on enterprise assets or receives a documented exception. Review monthly, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 2.7: Allowlist Authorized Scripts: Use technical controls, such as digital signatures and version control, to ensure that only authorized scripts, such as specific .ps1, .py, etc., files, are allowed to execute. Block unauthorized scripts from executing. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 9.3: Maintain and Enforce Network-Based URL Filters: Enforce and update network-based URL filters to limit an enterprise asset from connecting to potentially malicious or unapproved websites. Example implementations include category-based filtering, reputation-based filtering, or through the use of block lists. Enforce filters for all enterprise assets.
  • Safeguard 9.6: Block Unnecessary File Types: Block unnecessary file types attempting to enter the enterprise’s email gateway.
• Use capabilities to detect and block conditions that may lead to or be indicative of a software exploit occurring. (M1050: Exploit Protection)
  
  • Safeguard 10.5: Enable Anti-Exploitation Features: Enable anti-exploitation features on enterprise assets and software, where possible, such as Microsoft® Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Windows® Defender Exploit Guard (WDEG), or Apple® System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Gatekeeper™.
• Block execution of code on a system through application control, and/or script blocking. (M1038: Execution Prevention)
  
  • Safeguard 2.5 : Allowlist Authorized Software: Use technical controls, such as application allowlisting, to ensure that only authorized software can execute or be accessed. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 2.6 : Allowlist Authorized Libraries: Use technical controls to ensure that only authorized software libraries, such as specific .dll, .ocx, .so, etc., files, are allowed to load into a system process. Block unauthorized libraries from loading into a system process. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
  • Safeguard 2.7 : Allowlist Authorized Scripts: Use technical controls, such as digital signatures and version control, to ensure that only authorized scripts, such as specific .ps1, .py, etc., files, are allowed to execute. Block unauthorized scripts from executing. Reassess bi-annually, or more frequently.
• Use capabilities to prevent suspicious behavior patterns from occurring on endpoint systems. This could include suspicious process, file, API call, etc. behavior. (M1040: Behavior Prevention on Endpoint)
  
  • Safeguard 13.2 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Detection Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion detection solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported.
  • Safeguard 13.7 : Deploy a Host-Based Intrusion Prevention Solution: Deploy a host-based intrusion prevention solution on enterprise assets, where appropriate and/or supported. Example implementations include use of an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) client or host-based IPS agent.

REFERENCES:

In the game Re Zero: Lost in Memories that's now shut down, their used to be a Melancholy if that starts from arc 3. And unlike the other if routes Subaru has forbid himself of using RBD because of Rem's last words; "Please... live."
The author stated that this was supposed to be April Fools story too but because of unexpected schedule delay he's putting it in the game. Thus confirming that this is supposed official Melancholy IF story.
Since it is still in the progress of being translated, I tried my best at summarizing and translating it.
There might be some errors here and there but hope you enjoy it.
How it diverges from the main story is that; After Rem gets killed by Betelgeuse in arc 3, Subaru doesn't go to Mathers' domain and doesn't get killed by Puck.
After wandering in the forest while carrying Rem's corpse for a while, Subaru gets found by Reinhardt.
And after burying her in the bed of flowers that was nearby, Subaru faints, and wakes up at Astrea Mansion.
But as Subaru starts to relive the memory of Rem being killed, he embeds that painful memory inside his brain and vows for vengeance.
After hearing what happened while he was in sleep from Reinhardt (mainly about Emilia's faction being eliminated by the witch cult) Subaru spends most of his time learning swordsmanship from him.
But as Reinhardt starts to spend more and more time teaching Subaru, he slowly realizes that Subaru is willing to throw away his own life if it meant revenge.
And after that moment, Reinhardt announces that if Subaru doesn't change that aspect of self-destruction in his behavior, he will teach him no longer.
After hearimg that, Subaru explodes in anger and leaves after thanking Reinhardt for teaching him how to wield a sword.
After leaving the Astrea mansion Subaru wanders around and stumbles into unknown territory, after a while he realizes that Crusch Faction had been erased from history due to the battle against the White Whale.
And there he meets up with Patrasche that somehow survived and she voluntarily follows Subaru.
And so, they go on a journy to get revenge on the witch cult.
Later on, Subaru joins the gangworld (not an organization, just a term used to describe criminal underworld) to gain information about the Witch Cult.
There, he meets Elsa Granhiert again and starts a friendly relationship with her like in the Pride Route but in more equal grounds.
As he starts to help out Elsa's missions, she starts teaching him about her fighting style.
20 years have gone by yet Subaru still has no clue where the Witch Cult and Betelgeuse is.
Now due to the pain he has experienced so far, Subaru's personality has completely changed. He cannot empathize nor sympathize with others. He is cruel to both himself and others. And also due to trauma of not being able to do anything while Rem was being killed, his personality is now very self-deprecating. His face now resembles Hector, his outfit is similar to that of Al. He now wields a prosthetic arm made out of Rem's flail because he lost his left arm.
After returning to Lugnica, Subaru stumbles across the Loot House, and he meets old man Rom again there.
Subaru requests for information about Witch Cult but leaves without much success since Rom doesn't have any information that's useful right now.
While wandering around the ruins of Mathers' Mansion Subaru stumbles across the Forbidden Library and finds out that Beatrice is still alive.
Subaru requests a contract with Beatrice in order to achieve revenge against Betelgeuse but she refuses and orders him to leave.
Again, without much success Subaru leaves.
But he takes few goods inside the Mathers' Mansion to exchange it for money at Rom's loot house to buy new equipments. (It seems that Roswaal too, has died.)
After somehow recieving long-awaited information about Betelgeuse (I don't really remember how it happened) Subaru plans for an ambush.
First, he assassinates nearby Cultists one by one using Shamak.
And to make Betelgeuse's guard down, he fights without using his full strength. And takes a blow from an Unseen Hand without dodging it.
As Betelgeuse approaches, Subaru takes out the blade that was stored inside his prosthetic arm and finishes the Archbishop off by piercing multiple vital organs.
But Betelgeuse possesses the body of one of his Fingers and completely obliterates Subaru and leaves, thinking he was dead.
Subaru gets healed by Beatrice who followed him since he left the mansion using magic and learns about Betelgeuse being an Evil Spirit, his ability of Possessing those who have talent as an Elementalist, and about his Fingers.
Subaru requests help for defeating Betelgeuse once again and Beatrice finally accepts.
Later on Subaru awakens at the bed of hospital that Felix Argyle has been working as a doctor after losing memory about Crusch Karsten.
Felix jokes about Subaru getting injured too often.
Then, Subaru tells Felix that he knows about the identity of the precioys person Felix has long forgotten, and if he wishes to know, he will have to join forces with him.
Felix obviously becomes furious and aggressively asks Subaru who that person is. And adds that if Subaru doesn't tell him, he'll kill Subaru.
Subaru would've won if he was in his normal state but while injured and in such helpless state, there was nothing Subaru could do.
So Subaru started to yell that; if Felix was to kill him now, he'll never know anything about that person. After hearing that, Felix hesitantly gives up.
Now that Subaru's wounds have healed and his body and Gate stabilized, he obtains an information about one of the Ten Swords of Power- the Life Sword (命劍 Inochiken).
Life Sword, once channeled with the its wielder's mana, had the ability to completely devastate one's soul that was struck with its blade.
So Subaru recruits Elsa and others in order to obtain the Life Sword and goes on another journey. Elsa, who has seemingly lost Meili to the Witch Cult, accepts Subaru's offer.
Finally Subaru and his allies arrive at the now-ruined-mansion of Margrave Rivack(Ri-ba-ku).
He and his allies defeats all Witchbeast infestation snd Subaru obtains the Life Sword.
And also obtains the Margrave's belongings after killing the soul of Rivack that has become an Evil Spirit.
After returing to Lugnica once again, Subaru obtains an information from old man Rom that Sin Archbishop Betelgeuse's homebase is near the Arlam village of Mathers' domain.
To fight Betelgeuse, Subaru first requests Beatrice to trap him and Betelgeuse alone using barrier magic.
Thereby making Betelgeuse unable to possess his Fingers.
This time too, Subaru doesn't fight in full strength but constantly uses Shamak to not reveal Beatrice's location to prevent him from going out of the barrier.
He gets caught by an Unseen hand and gets his right arm ripped off.
Betelgeuse, thinking that the victory was on his side, starts to ramble about being Slothful and insults Subaru for his "Misdeeds".
And as he gets closer and closer, Subaru uses Metia he obtained from Rivack's mansion and blinds Betelgeuse.
As Betelgeuse trip and squirm because of being blind Subaru reveals that if he fought in full strength he would've dodged every attack and Unseen Hand of Betelgeuse, but just to make the Archbishop's guard down, he didn't.
Subaru insults Betelgeuse for not changing the slightest and calls him "Slothful" for it one last time and plunges the Life Sword in him.
But as it turns out; A prosthetic arm is unable to provide mana for Life Sword to activate.
And Subaru, just like in the light novel/anime, gets possessed by Betelgeuse.
But Betelgeuse's mind also couldn't handle Subaru's mind who has lived his entire 20 years just to kill him.
In the end, Subaru's mind completely overpowers Betelgeuse's and Subaru asks Beatrice to stab him using the Life Sword.
As his soul perishez alongside Betelgeuse, Subaru apologizes to Beatrice for not being able to live with her.
And in his last breath, Subaru dreams of his life where he could live with everyone happily ever after.
And then, he returns back to the save point in front of Kadomon's shop in arc 3 (when he was shopping with Rem).
Subaru realizes that he experienced Return by Death and finally realizes that everything he did was in vain.
He collapses and rambles about everything he experienced to Rem.
After being pampered by Rem, Subaru tells her about him being weak.
And tells her that he never wants to experience such pain ever again. And unlike the light novel/anime, Subaru requests her to lend him strength and declares that *he will start over from zero*
And story diverges into the main story.
Showing HOPE. The End.
I really love this story and I am hoping for a proper translation of the story.
Hope you enjoyed it too!
(Also, I completely forgot about Mimi Pearlbaton. Anastasia's faction too, gets eliminated by the Sin Archbishop in this story but Mimi achieves revenge against the Archbishop that deleted her faction.)

I happened to be responding to a conversation earlier today that involved Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ, and someone mentioning Anthony Flew's supposed conversion.
Now I'm well aware of the debacle that arose when Christians grabbed hold of the Flew conversion story like it was the robe of Christ himself, and the ensuing allegations of Flew's last book being largely written by the 'co-author'. But it's been a while since I've heard mention of that story, so I did some research as to whether anything else of significance has come about since then.
What I discovered was that someone accused Strobel of milking his former 'atheist' position, and Strobel replied with a lengthy rebuttal here, from which I quote the following:
The atheist complains that The Case for Christ movie “goes out of its way to name-drop Flew,” referring to Dr. Antony Flew, the famous 20th century philosophical atheist who later recanted his atheism and came to believe in a creator before his death. This critic then recounts a controversy over a 2007 book co-authored by Flew, intimating that this is where I got my information about Flew. Once again, wrong! Unlike this “atheist activist,” I actually went to the source himself and personally interviewed Flew about his renouncing of atheism. Though advanced in age at the time, Flew was articulate, clear-headed, and quite firm in his multiple reasons for rejecting his lifetime of atheism. This linking of the controversy over Flew’s book to my movie is another example of the innuendo employed by this posting.
It was news to me that Strobel had actually interviewed Flew, so I of course immediately looked up this interview, especially with a focus on how accurate Strobel's claims of Flew being articular, clear-headed and quite firm. Here is the interview and you can make up your own mind, but what I see is Strobel asking Flew questions with all the integrity of a criminal defense attorney, and Flew still being remarkably kind and patient in entertaining the kind of person I would imagine, had Flew been in his right mind, would have had the door slammed in their face.
Even if one takes every word Flew says as his accurate assessment, the most one can claim is the Flew potentially believe that there was some conscious agent of creation adhering to certain Theistic principles of omnipotence - he even asserts that this deity would not be involved in the affairs of man.
Keeping the bile from rising in my throat at such an overt attempt to manipulate someone to one's own end was not easy. Strobel is indeed a lying, manipulative SOB.

I'm sorry idk how to separate paragraphs on here but please bear with me. I have been seeing this therapist for 6 weeks and I feel like we're going nowhere. I thought seeing an actual psychologist rather than an LISW or similar may make a difference, but I'm feeling like I'm just getting a bunch of anecdotes and stories. For example, we use an illustration of a hula hoop to represent things I can control and other people's hula hoops are not my problem. Now it seems each time I bring up loved ones or others it's like, "remember your hula hoop." Well sometimes things aren't that simple lol. And one session talked about the author of a book and the great trauma he survived using the basic tenets of CBT. And to remember there are others who have it worse. Which I certainly do, but I felt like my personal trauma had been negated by that, as if it didn't matter because so many others have it worse. I feel like this may work for someone with an otherwise healthy brain coming for help with one particular issue. But for someone with lifelong mental illness (bi-polar, ADHD, anxiety, possibly more) I would think something more thorough would be necessary... Right? And I feel I should be talking more about my past but she seems more into teaching lessons and doesn't really want me bringing up my past until I learn dbt coping skills. Which I understand the reasoning behind that, and I'm trying to learn, but what can we do until then? I have tried my best to deal with these illnesses for over 40 yrs, tried many different medications (ones which the combination of are currently helping somewhat), and seen many different therapists at different points in my life. I'm determined to stay in therapy this time but I'm wondering if this going in the right direction. And how do I even know? I realize 6 sessions is just getting to know each other but on the other hand I don't want to draw things out either. I'm on SSDI and paying $40 a session and I'm wondering if I'm just throwing my money to the wind.

Originally for TT: Sunlight, where we were challenged to write a story in the universe of another writingprompts author
Set in the universe of 'Perry the Parasite of a Perilous Planet', a SEUS serial by Zetakh
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
When I woke up, there were three voices in my head, one more than usual.
"Ow," said one thought. That was probably my mental voice, since it matched the throbbing lump on the back of my head. It turned out that alien rocks hurt just as much as those on Earth, which I honestly shouldn't have been surprised by.
"Your nanobots are stemming the bleeding. A foreign object remains embedded in your head. Medical treatment recommended." I recognized the voice of Alfred, my implanted AI.
"Oh dear, is that red stuff supposed to stay inside? I assumed the... leakage was natural." And there was the unknown voice, speaking with a level of confusion which immediately frightened me.
"Al," I thought at him. "My head is crowded."
"Skull fractures will do that," he reminded me. "Your brain is compressed at the moment."
"Oh, are those supposed to be one piece?" The strange voice asked, and apparently Al heard it this time, since my headache instantly became worse as he turned on our anti-intrusion countermeasures. The voice continued, "I'll just move that thing there, push a bit on that, and-"
A flash of blinding pain, then blackness.
When I woke up, two voices were arguing in my head, neither of them mine.
"...don't just play around with brains! Humans need those! If Mike dies, I'll hit you with such a nanobot swarm that your constituent atoms will never find their way back together again."
"Mike will be fine! Probably. Besides, what kind of guest would I be if I couldn't heal a piece of carapace?"
"It's a bone, you anatomical nitwit."
"Ow." Yep, that was still my mental voice. The throbbing was gone, although the constant ache was hardly an improvement, especially when it was joined by a burning pain on my face. Feeling rather like a third wheel in my own head, I still interrupted them. "Al, how long was I out?"
"You were unconscious for forty-two minutes, Mike, but then someone immediately put you back to sleep for another three hours and twenty minutes."
"I fixed your skull. You're welcome!"
I winced as both their voices seemed to have an echo to them, each armed with a pickax and trying to mine directly out of my temples. "I get the head pain, but why is my face on fire?"
"This planet lacks both an ionosphere and an ozone layer, and orbits an unstable solar body-"
"The sun's very, very hot here, and you've been laying in it! Apparently, your body's covering doesn't like that."
The most pressing question finally came to my addled mind. "Who are you?"
"I'm... I don't have 'names', but I'm here to help."
"It is an unidentified parasite-"
"Symbiote!" the voice interrupted.
"-parasite," Al repeated. "It entered through your head wound, grew tendrils through your brain, and is using direct neural stimulation to speak with you. I am preparing nanobot countermeasures. It is currently burrowing towards your face as well."
As Al spoke, I stopped feeling my face. It was a nice break from the sunburn, but raised sudden, new worries at the same time. "I think it got there."
"I did!" Came the perky voice. "Some horrible person put these long, stringy things up to your skin which were hurting you, so I got rid of them!"
I was still trying interpret that when Al asked, "Did you disconnect Mike's nerves?"
"Um... what's a nerve?"
"He needs those, reconnect them immediately."
The pause was deeply worrying. At last, it said, "They didn't seem that important, and I was really hungry."
"...Activating nanobot swarm."
"Wait! Give me one moment and I'll..."
As I fell back into unconsciousness, I only hoped I'd wake with the same number of body parts, and approximately the right number of mental voices.

As discussed in the first post, this is my ongoing compilation of the remaining questions Christopher has answered online between August 1st 2023 and April 30th 2024 which I've not already covered in other compilations.
As always, questions are sorted by topic, and each Q&A is annotated with a bracketed source number. Links to every source used and to the other parts of this compilation will be provided in a comment below.
The previous post focused on the essence of the Murtagh book and character. This installment will cover additional Murtagh-related questions, such as about specific elements of the writing process. The next post will cover the writing and publication of Eragon.

Further Details about Writing Murtagh

Creating the Maps

For Murtagh I did all the maps after writing the book, but that's because I already knew all the locations and was familiar with them from writing the series. So I didn't need to do the maps before writing the book. [12]
What is your system for drawing maps? I usually start by thinking of what I want a location to look like. And that has nothing to do with a map. That's usually just thinking about how it will serve the story. And then the map will be based off of that. The biggest decision is usually what the style of the map should be, whether I want to do like a top-down city map for a place, or if I want it to be a more of a realistic image. So more of, let's say, a landscape painting, one could say, or if I want to do something that's more allegorical and evocative or symbolic, which there's actually one of those in Murtagh that really isn't a map, but it's a symbolic map, let's put it that way. And all of that is governed by what is the effect I hope to achieve with the reader. Because if it doesn't achieve the effect I want, then what's the point of doing it. I do try to avoid maps where I have to draw every single building if it's a city map because that's just annoying. I'd rather draw mountains than cities. [12]
I love the sort of top-down look, which is why I drew the the original map for Eragon in this style. [12]
Maps are an awesome thing, and they add so much to a world. And that's why I love drawing them, and I love finding them in books I'm reading. And it's also why I make such an effort to draw and paint maps for my own books. [12]

Favorite Parts

What kind of scenes do you enjoy writing most? I really empathize with the characters, so I find it difficult to write scenes where they experience difficulties. I like to write scenes where people wonder about the world, or where the story reaches a climax. With Murtagh, for example, this is the confrontation at the end of the book. Or the fight with the big fish, Muckmaw. There are also quiet moments that I enjoy writing. Again in Murtagh, when Silna – the werecat child – kisses Murtagh's head, that was a very special moment. I like to write things that have meaning and that requires context, so you have to build up to moments that are meaningful, both for myself as a writer and for the reader. [23]
Do you have a favorite moment in the book between Thorn and Murtagh? I have a couple of them. There's a moment after the encounter with Muckmaw when they exchange true names that I quite liked. The end of the Gil'ead sequence. Thorn has an appearance at the end of that sequence, which was rather dramatic. And then right near the end of the book, Thorn gets a crowning moment of awesome, one might say, to use internet speak. But Thorn really, he comes through in a pinch, and I just loved writing that. [32]
What was your favorite scene or moment that you wrote for Murtagh? I'd say the last chapter, and I'm not gonna say why, but I think it's obvious. There's a scene with a creature named Muckmaw, which I quite enjoy. Not just the confrontation with Muckmaw, the aftermath in the water. I was reading Blood Meridian at the time, and I think that influenced my descriptions. And there is a point in the story where something is renamed. And that was a very meaningful scene for me. Also, there's a werecat in the book and I love werecats. They're so much fun to write. [34]
What is your favorite line you've written? The first line I wrote for Murtagh before I had anything really for the book, I thought it was going to be the first line of the book and it ended up being partway through the first chapter, and it was "A man with a dragon is never truly alone." Which since he's an outcast the whole theme of being alone or not alone is kind of relevant. [33]
My favorite good/bad line from Murtagh is: “The water was like liquid ice.”.. . . Yeah, yeah. I know. But you understand what I meant! And that’s the point of writing. Ahahaha!* I didn't notice! just imagined really cold water Can’t tell you how many times I stepped into the Yellowstone River and thought: “This feels like ice! But liquid.” [T]

Providing Context

In the acknowledgments section you said you owe your agent some sushi? Yes! I bet him a sushi dinner, an expensive new York sushi dinner, that I could keep Murtagh under the length of Eragon. And I got close. The first draft was one hundred and sixty eight thousand words long. Eragon is one hundred and fifty six thousand words long. And I figured well I usually drop about ten percent of length in editing, so I thought I'd do that. The problem is I hate over explaining things. I know that sounds incredibly hypocritical based off what I've actually written, but because of my experiences of over explaining things, I've really tried to not do that as much, and so I wrote the book assuming that someone had read the Inheritance Cycle and remembered it. So I didn't explain what a lot of things were because I assumed the reader knew. And my editor came back and said "Christopher, I know what you're doing, but you can't do that. Because someone might pick this up without having read the Inheritance Cycle. And even if someone read the Inheritance Cycle, it's been twelve years. So provide a little context." Well, that ended up being thirty-three thousand words, give or take. So now we're at one hundred and ninety eight thousand words, so I owe my agent a sushi dinner. [17]
It's always interesting to me to see how people do their first chapters in a series. Because I always feel like chapter one is like "previously on..." It's funny. I wrote my latest book with basically no callbacks or explanations of established information. After four books and a million published words, you kind of think people have it under their belt. And my editor came back and she was like, "It's been eleven years since the last book, even if people are fans of the series, you got to give them a little more." So usually when I write a first draft, it drops by about 10% in editing. And with that book, it went up by 33,000 words, which all of it was basically context, which was interesting. So that was a first for me. I'm a kitchen sink author, so I throw everything in and then I usually cut back during editing. [33]
I would love to write books that are more around the length of 100,000 to 150,000 words. Like that's a good, solid length. That's where I was shooting for with Murtagh, but for some reason my editor kept asking me to add more and more stuff so we ended up close to 200,000 words. [1]
Final word count of Murtagh is 198,983 words. So my editor had me ADD about 34,000 words to the book over the course of editing/revising. Ha! That's a first. [T]

Gil'ead Sequence

Interesting choice to break it up into the sections of each city. Just the section in Gil'ead is basically a novel on its own. There's a full arc in Gil'ead that would be a normal size novel for any other writer. I nearly split it into two volumes, actually, there. But my editor said, "no, don't do that". The funny thing about Gil'ead is that actually was not in my original outline. The whole sequence. And the reason is that, for me, I was envisioning a much shorter book. And the whole thing was going to be them going to the village and dealing with Bachel. So let's get to the village as quickly as possible. So we'll just have a chapter or two at the beginning of getting the information. Well, storytelling 101, you can't make it easy for the character. So having Murtagh just be able to go get that information somewhere, find it out, just felt too easy. Also, I kind of locked myself into a little path because the first chunk of the book is reworking the short story from The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm. And at the end of that, Murtagh does not have the information he needs. So he can't get it from the people he interacts with in that chapter, which if I were writing Murtagh as a complete standalone, I could have considered that. So then I thought, "well, he'll go to Gil'ead and we'll have a really quick thing there. And he'll get his information." I started writing it the way I originally envisioned. But again it was too easy. So it was like, "OK. There needs to be a challenge here. What else is going on? How does it tie into my larger world and story?" And it does. There's some unresolved storylines there, but it does tie into the larger stuff I'm going to later. And then it was half the book. Seriously. At the end of the following chapter, right after Gil'ead, is almost perfectly 50% through the book. I'm sure everyone's heard of the three act play, but there's a competing theory of storytelling, which I'm actually very fond of, which is the five act play. So you have two acts at the beginning, two acts at the end, and then your middle act, and then you have an act in the middle. And in that middle act, you have a tipping point where your character sort of sees what they need, or sees what they can become. They ultimately see their own solution to their problems, but then the rest of the back half of the story is them grappling with that solution, coming to terms with it. And that actually worked, it was not intentional, but it worked out perfectly with the structure of this book. The structure of this book is also directly inspired by some of the structuring that I did in my sci-fi novels and I carried some of it back into Alagaësia. [11]
In regard of Murtagh or any other part of your work, what's the most intense moment for you during the creative process when you are in the midst of writing a novel? A lot of it is intense. I'm gonna divide it into two sections. The creative process itself, in the sense that where I'm creating the story and the characters and the world. In this case, of course, the world was pretty much in place, but in the outlining phase, I should say, that's a lot of fun. There's some pressure in the sense that I know if I don't get it right in that stage, that no matter how well I write the book, it won't hang together particularly well for the reader. So there's strain in that sense that I really want to get it right. But I wouldn't say there's any real pressure, because there's no deadlines at that point. I'm not actually writing the book. During the writing itself, there's definitely strain and intensity in wanting to get it right and do a good job of writing each individual scene and chapter and storyline. And sometimes that can get difficult, especially if I feel like I'm not really getting where I need to get in terms of the effect on the reader. I had that in a couple places in the first draft with Murtagh. One was with the character Bachel herself, who was quite different in the first draft. And then another one actually was the whole Gil'ead sequence, where my original idea for that sequence is actually what happens now in terms of the werecat kittens and all of that. And then I second guessed myself and thought, "well, maybe that's a little cheesy. Maybe I won't have a ticking clock element to that sequence. So I'm just gonna not have that, but he'll still have these various adventures in order to earn this information from the werecat Carabel." And the problem is it removed any sense of tension from that sequence. So I ended up having to rework a lot of the Gil'ead sequence to reintroduce that element, bring in the tension and make it all work. But both of those things happened in the second chunk, which I was gonna say is revision. And revision and editing tends to be the most intense part of the process, because at that point we're usually under deadline. We've committed to a release date and things are happening on the business side of things, that are sort of like unstoppable forces. The ticking clock in the real world. And that tends to be the most intense part because it's not that I can't do the work, I always can and I always am able to get where I wanna go. I'm not stressed about that, it's just instead of having two months to do something, now you got to do it in two weeks, and oh hey, you got a new baby you got to take care of at the same time. And that's what makes it really intense. [19]
One of the things that I loved about the very first half of this novel is that it is a quintessential RPG action adventure. Because poor Murtagh gets pushed and pulled willingly and unwillingly in the strangest directions. Yeah, he's on the series of fetch quests. It's funny. I've had a bunch of people react differently to that. I've seen people who kind of hate it and really love it, and a lot of people who say, "Well, Christopher's just writing out his D&D session". I literally have never played D&D except for my recent trip down to the Authors in the Dungeon down in Utah. So I don't play D&D. I have no one here to play it with. The only RPGs I've ever played are Skyrim and the Mass Effect series. My logic with that sequence was there was a whole lot we needed to see about Murtagh's back history without rehashing the Inheritance Cycle, without actually going back and rewriting scenes from his point of view. And just doing it all in flashbacks and dreams gets a bit tedious. On top of that, originally that sequence wasn't in the book I was going to write. I was going to start with essentially the opening. And then we were going to go to Nal Gorgoth fairly quickly in the book. But it just made it too easy. No one's going to give them the information for free. There's always a price attached to information. There had to be difficulty in getting it. And then once I was digging into that, I was like, okay, how can I use this to show some aspects of Murtagh's character, and then how will that then get reflected in the second half of the book? And how will that let me inform what happens in the second half of the book? And I really enjoyed that stuff. Muckmaw was a particular favorite of mine. [32]

Thorn

One of the things that we get a lot of in this book that was really wonderful after reading Inheritance, was Thorn's-- we don't really get his POV, but we get some POV through Murtagh of him. I think he only has one line in the entire Inheritance Cycle. In the last book. And we get a lot of him here. And we get a very different Rider-Dragon relationship between him and Murtagh versus Saphira and Eragon. What was the process of crafting that relationship to be similar in its like magical quality, but also different in the fact that they had a very trying kind of hatching? Well that was the key right there. I wanted it to feel different while still maintaining the sense that they'll back each other up no matter what, which they have in the past. That's an important part of that. But Murtagh is kind of a difficult personality himself. Thorn, as we see in the book, of course, had a very, very difficult upbringing under Galbatorix and then later on. And that leaves scars. That leaves marks. So trying to find a way to reflect that in the relationship without having them also just be at each other's throats, because they're not. They are being supportive. But at the same time, it's perhaps an overused word these days, but they have trauma that they are having to battle. [11]
One of my favorite things is the relationship between Murtagh and Thorn--they’re such a lonely duo, but it allows the book to kind of delve into that dragon/rider bond in a new way. What sets their relationship apart do you think? Murtagh and Thorn were joined under the most difficult of circumstances, and that shapes their interactions in a thousand different ways. Their relationship is more, ah, thorny than Eragon and Saphira’s, but they also still love each other and would lay down their lives for one another, should the occasion demand it. I found their interactions really interesting to write. Also, it felt important that I didn’t directly replicate Eragon and Saphira’s relationship. Murtagh and Thorn are very different beings, and readers should see that. [15]
What is the relationship between Murtagh and his dragon Thorn? Thorn's egg hatched when they were imprisoned by King Galbatorix. The two friends have been tortured and manipulated. They retain many traumas. They care deeply for each other and are closely bonded. But their relationship is more difficult than that of Eragon and his dragon Saphira. [4]

Claustrophobia

I definitely got choked up with just Thorn and his claustrophobia and how it was written, how it was handled, everything surrounding it. Out of pure curiosity, do you or do someone you know have that kind of claustrophobia that you were able to speak to about? No. A large part of the act of writing is the act of imagination, just like with acting. But even though there's no one in my life who suffers from that, when I'm writing Thorn or anyone who might feel that, I do my best to feel what they're feeling, which is why when writing scenes or a large chunk of a book where perhaps things are difficult for the characters, I have a bad time. Yeah, I hope you take breaks. Yeah, that's where it's good to go play with the kids and take a load off one's mind. But some of the battle scenes in Inheritance really got to me at times, because I'm thinking actually especially in Inheritance, but also in Brisingr, there were some large set pieces, battles. And it just takes a couple of weeks to write sometimes. And that's a long time to have your head in blood and guts. [11]

Bachel

You write so many diverse women in your books that we really enjoy. Between Arya, Angela, Nasuada, Queen Islanzadi, you write fantasy with women in positions of power, with agency and with action. And then we get to this book and we meet this villain, Bachel, and she's basically like, "what if Angela was evil?" I hadn't thought of it that way. I was reading the book. I was like, "Did Christopher Paolini and his sister have a fight? What changed in that relationship?" Because she's awful. So I've watched a lot of movies in my life, and a lot of old movies too. I was thinking of some of the classic actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood who would come on the screen with a very imperious feel, like Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve or some of those films. And Bachel is sort of in that category of presence. And I think it's exactly what was needed to put Murtagh off balance. I was also thinking of Kai Winn from Deep Space Nine. I've always said that Kai Winn and from Harry Potter the headmistress Umbridge, and Hyacinth Bouquet from the British show Keeping Up Appearances. The three of them in a room together will be like a nuclear explosion. When you were approaching bringing this book from the short story about The Fork into a full novel, at what point did you create this character and where did she come from? I had a general idea before writing Murtagh, of course. I did a lot of plotting and preparatory work, but you never know how a character is going to come across until you write the first draft. And in the first draft, Bachel was not as successful as she is now, I think. I was writing the first draft quickly, and I was thinking of the stories a little bit more of like a Edgar Rice Burroughs style adventures. You go off into the jungle, and you find a hidden temple and lost civilization sort of thing. And as a result, in the first draft, Bachel was much more vampy. I really went hard on that angle. And then looking back over, it's like it didn't work. And it was so cliche and obvious. It was like, yeah, I needed to find another approach. So I kept reworking Bachel with each cycle of revision and it was getting better. The character was getting better and better, but I wasn't fully committing to the change. And it was right at the end of revisions. I mean, we were down to the wire and my editor said, we're still not quite there. And even though I hated to have to have any more work at that point, I knew she was right. So I went in. We're talking with a week to spare before we went to the printers. And I rewrote the first four chapters or so when he gets to the village. I rewrote pretty much every line of dialogue of hers and every description of her to bring it to where we are. And then I was like, "OK, now it works", and my editor agreed. She is terrifying and one of those characters that's not mustache twirly evil, but has so much evil within her. She thinks she can do no wrong, that she is always doing the right thing and that she knows what's best for all the people around her. And as a result is capable of anything. So all of which is to answer your question, her character was an iterative process to get where she needed to go. [11]
I try to imagine what it is to create characters and if some of them have the purpose to be a particular message or stand as a parable for a message or an idea and if yes, what does Bachel mean to you in a deeper way? I think the Bachel to me represents unquestioning belief and also the tyranny of unchecked power and control over people's lives. I think what differentiates Bachel from a real world cult leader, for example, and this actually kind of made it interesting to me, is that the Dreamers and Bachel are rational in the sense that they are believing in something that actually exists. The power that they are in awe of and that they are afraid of and that they worship actually exists. And the same is true of the priests of Helgrind. So in a sense they are not irrational to have that reaction. You might argue it's the wrong reaction. I would argue that they're overdoing it and the reaction is wrong and perhaps even evil, but they have more reason for their belief than a lot of people sometimes do because they have physical evidence on an ongoing basis of their object of worship. But again, Bachel would to me represent unchecked fanatical belief as well as personal exploitation of one's power over others. [19]
The cult experience in the pages of Murtagh eerily echoed in some ways certain experiences I've had with religion. Could you talk about where that part of your writing came from or how you went about writing it? I understand why that comment's anonymous, and I'm going to kind of adhere to that philosophy of anonymity here. Without going into details, I've had some family members who were in a cult at one point. And that occasioned quite a bit of discussion in my life growing up. Although the cult might seem, and probably is, completely over the top and cartoony in some ways, you would be astounded by how much of that was essentially true to life. Let's put it this way, playing Far Cry 5, if anyone's familiar with that, was a distinctly uncomfortable experience for me. So I did whatever I do when I encounter something uncomfortable. I played the game like four times in a row. [34]
No matter how outlandish a belief seems, it can be completely realistic in your world. Especially if you have people committed to it. I've had family members who've been in a cult at one point. That was interesting. So I've had firsthand experience seeing a lot of this stuff in person, and I used some of that in my latest book. [25]
How come Bachel is pronounced like that when it’s only one little line away from Rachel? The English language hurts my head. Because it’s not from English, and I wanted it to sound different from every other name in the series. [T]

Puce

In Murtagh I have a dragon who's not supposed to be a very nice dragon. I gave him the worst color I could. I have a puce dragon. And mind you, I don't necessarily mind the color itself. It's just for those who don't know, the original definition of the word puce is the color of dried flea blood. So it's a puce dragon. [33]

Traumatic Sequences

What was it like cranking up the anxieties of it, the horrors of it? It feels more mature this time around. Well, good. Murtagh is a more mature character, and he's always had a harder road to walk than Eragon. So, going easy on him was never an option, but it was hard to write. It's hard to put my mind in difficult situations for days on end, weeks on end, months on end when writing and editing. It takes a toll on you emotionally. At least, that's my experience because I empathize with the characters and the world. But at the same time, it's so interesting dramatically that I can't avoid it. Actually [the reason] why I wrote the book was that last chunk of the book. That's what everything leading up to was building and hopefully supporting so that when that hits, you're there going, “Oh my god.” [6]
There is a extended period of this book uh that is very traumatic. That is the darkest I think the series ever gets. Where did you find the line? Were there any drafts where you felt like you went too far with that section or where you had to pull it back? Yes. Not a huge amount though. First of all, I throw everything in in my first drafts, kitchen sink, because you can always dial it back, whatever it is. Even if it's a funny scene, it's like I push it as far as I can and then see how it hits the audience. So in the sequence you're talking about, there was one thing in particular I did that I actually don't want to talk about, that I cut out during editing at my editor's very wise advice, and I'm really glad I did. But that was a thing. Because I was like how far can I take this, and that was too far. [11]
Hopefully this is not scaring anyone off from reading Murtagh. No, it's fantastic. And I think just because it is darker doesn't mean it's bad. I think that it's honestly a perfect natural progression from the Inheritance Cycle to this character. I think it's what the character needed. I also don't think it's depressing, ultimately. [11]
Tell me a little about how you see Murtagh’s journey in this book. He’s certainly on a much darker road than his half-brother, how was it getting to write a story that has more mature themes? I found it enormously rewarding to write about a character who is both more mature and more complicated than Eragon was for the majority of the Cycle. Especially now that I’m older myself. Dramatically, Murtagh (and Thorn!) presented all sorts of interesting opportunities, and I did my best to take advantage of them in this book. Also, since a lot of my readers have grown up with the series, even as I did, I wanted to give them a book that would satisfy them as much as it will also hopefully satisfy younger readers. [15]
As a fifteen-year-old boy I would never have been able to imagine such a flawed character as a central figure, but I now view life very differently. And you notice that my readers who have grown along with me also see these extra shades of gray. [18]
Murtagh is indeed a more mature book than Eragon. Did you write it that way on purpose? Yes, Murtagh is an older character in the story than he or Eragon were in the first books. He is also a complicated person. And my readers have grown up with me in the meantime. So I felt it was important to write a book where my oldest readers would see my progression as writing, and read about characters they could once again identify with. At the same time, new readers should not be forgotten. That's why I wrote Murtagh in such a way that you can also read it without knowing the previous four books. I wanted to write a book that revolved around the difficult history of Murtagh and Thorn, but was still a fun adventure to read. [23]
If you love this fandom, why are you making us suffer so much with this book? I mean the ending redeems you a little bit but oh my god. I'm sure it's been an emotional rollercoaster for you too. There are parts of the story that are definitely very difficult for Murtagh and Thorn and part of that may be my own predilection for writing that sort of stuff but mostly it was that Murtagh has done some very unpleasant things in the Inheritance Cycle, especially to Nasuada. And he needed to come to terms with that, he needed to grapple that, he needed to face it. And there was no easy path forward for him. If I had done easy on Murtagh I feel like readers would have decided that I was cheating, going easy, and that Murtagh didn't actually have to face the consequences of his actions. Even if he wasn't a hundred per cent responsible for them at the time. I can assure you that, and I'll say this to other fans as well, after this story Murtagh is going to have an easier time of it. This book resolves his personal journey and Thorn's on a really fundamental level, and so life's going to be a little bit easier for Murtagh moving forward. [17]

Uvek

So going to Uvek, you've introduced another Urgal. I think that for a lot of readers, the twist on the Urgals in Eldest. They are not just beastial orcs or Uruk-hai or whatever other franchise does with them, Trollocs for Wheel of Time. They are this sentient race that wants to join the fight on the side of good. I think that that shook me when I first read it. How was it bringing another lead character really from that race into the book? And one of the things I really loved about the book is the scene where they're flying to the village, and they see the village of Urgals. And they're just playing with bows. They're just having a normal day. And he has this moment internally where he's like, "oh, maybe I need to be more inquisitive?" Uvek is one of my favorite characters from the book. I like the Urgal culture. I find it interesting. I wouldn't want to live next to an Urgal village, necessarily, especially since I have kids. But dramatically, creatively, they're really interesting to write about. And trying to balance them in the sense that they're a warrior culture like, we could say, the Klingons. But the Klingons take it to such a degree that realistically, you start asking the question of, how have they survived? How do they build a space-frame civilization when it seems like they tear each other apart super quickly? So with the Urgals, I wanted to show more. And in fact, in The Fork of the Witch and the Worm, the largest of the stories in that is The Worm, which is an Urgal story. And since I was looking at ways of exploring the idea of Murtagh and Thorn's relationship with society, being an outcast, all of that. The Urgals are outcasts in the land also. The other races aren't particularly fond of them. That was a nice connection to bring in and reflect off of Murtagh, so to speak. [11]

Typos

I just got off a very fresh reread of Murtagh. I just sent in typo corrections and a couple little tweaks here and there for the reprints. [32]
You mention in Murtagh that Murtagh's Gedwëy ignasia is on his right hand, but I think the community assumed it was on his left from Eldest. We're we all wrong or is that a continuity error I found? Typo. Getting fixed in reprints. [T]

Divers

I've seen a couple of questions about this, so -- for the record, "divers" is not a typo of "diverse". (Probably got too clever for my own good, but there you go.) Archaic language in fantasy books?!?! Say it ain't so! The language is half the fun. :D [T]
Not a typo. :D Archaic word. [T]
If this hypothetical typo is “divers” … that’s actually the correct word and not a typo. If it’s something else, just send a pic and we’ll get it fixed in reprints. [T]
CHRIS WHAT IS THIS? An excellent and archaic word. [T]
*sigh* . . . “divers” is a real word. Not a typo (and it doesn’t mean those who dive in the water) [T]
I mean, "divers" isn't a typo, so . . . That said, if you do find typos in Murtagh, feel free to tweet them at me. We'll get 'em fixed in reprints. Happens with every book. [T]
Heh. Good thing “divers” is actually a word (and it doesn’t mean someone diving into water). [T]
The thing I want to talk to you about today is Twitter drama. You've been getting in tons of fights with readers lately on Twitter. You've been saying some really awful and hateful things to them just because they're pointing out typos in your book. What's the deal with this "divers" typo? Yes, on the first page of Murtagh there's a word "divers", which is an archaic word that means many or a multitude or different things. And too many people think that I'm referring to scuba divers. So it is a fight worth having. You make up fake words all the time. You're a fantasy author. I think the difference here is that you've made up a fake word which also has a real world definition, a person who dives as a sport, and you've put it on the front page of Murtagh without any context clues provided as to how we should interpret this. This is a book that's part of a world that no one has read in more than 10 years. So don't you think that maybe you should apologize to your readers who have waited all this time for a quality product only to be let down by an "archaic" word, aka a typo, on the first page? Absolutely. In fact, I had a conversation with my editor about this before heading out on book tour and we'll be reprinting the books but we're going to translate it all into Pig Latin which should make it more understandable for readers. [31]

Reading Order

I didn't read FWW,should I read it before read Murtagh? I Thought it was a spin-off book. You don't have to read it ... but I would. It acts as a direct lead-in to Murtagh Honestly I'm finding it shocking the number of people who haven't read FWW. There's a solution to that. . . . (Why does that sound mildly threatening?) [T]
Even if you haven't read the other books I think you can certainly enjoy Murtagh as much or even more. [12]
Is Murtagh Book 5 in the story about Eragon/Alagaësia? Yes [R]
Murtagh is a direct inline full-length sequel to the series, even though it has a different main character. [1]
I just finished Fractal Noise last night, and when you mentioned in the afterward about another book for a certain Eragon character, I was hoping it would be him. Yeah, I wanted to mention Murtagh on the "Also By" page in Fractal Noise, but we weren't sure if Murtagh was getting announced before Fractal Noise got released to early readers. [T]

Course Title: Exploring the Panorama of Poetry
Course Description: This course delves into the rich tapestry of poetic forms, guiding students through the exploration and creation of fifty distinct styles of poetry. From classic sonnets to innovative forms like golden shovel and palindrome poetry, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of poetic expression, learning the nuances of each style and honing their creative skills.
Week 1-2: Introduction to Poetry and Sonnets - Overview of poetry styles - In-depth study of sonnets - Writing Exercise: Crafting a sonnet on personal experiences
Week 3-4: Embracing Haiku and Villanelle - Understanding the elegance of haiku - Exploring the repetitive beauty of villanelles - Writing Exercise: Composing haikus inspired by nature
Week 5-6: Limericks and the Art of Humor - Decoding the humor in limericks - Crafting limericks with wit and wordplay - Writing Exercise: Creating humorous limericks on everyday topics
Week 7-8: Free Verse and Acrostic Poetry - Liberating creativity through free verse - Playing with words in acrostic poems - Writing Exercise: Expressing emotions through free verse
Week 9-10: Ghazal and Tanka Mastery - Unveiling the beauty of ghazals - Crafting tankas with precision - Writing Exercise: Creating a ghazal on themes of love and longing
Week 11-12: Cinquains and Pantoum Prowess - Perfecting the art of cinquains - Embracing the rhythmic challenges of pantoums - Writing Exercise: Developing a pantoum on personal growth
Week 13-14: Sestina and Rondeau Exploration - Mastering the intricacies of sestinas - Crafting rondeaus with musicality - Writing Exercise: Composing a sestina on the theme of time
Week 15-16: Triolets and Kyrielles - Understanding the charm of triolets - Embracing the structure of kyrielles - Writing Exercise: Crafting a triolet on the beauty of simplicity
Week 17-18: Ode to Joyful Ballads - Writing joyful odes - Crafting narrative ballads - Writing Exercise: Creating an ode celebrating personal achievements
Week 19-20: Epic Journeys and Blank Verse - Exploring epic storytelling - Mastering the art of blank verse - Writing Exercise: Composing a blank verse poem reflecting on personal reflections
Week 21-22: Petrarchan Musings and Terza Rima Mastery - Delving into Petrarchan sonnets - Crafting poems using terza rima - Writing Exercise: Writing a Petrarchan sonnet on conflicting emotions
Week 23-24: Renga Collaboration and Prose Poetry - Collaborative renga creation - Experimenting with prose poetry - Writing Exercise: Crafting a prose poem inspired by a vivid memory
Week 25-26: Concrete Poetry and Narrative Art - Creating visual impact with concrete poetry - Mastering the art of narrative poetry - Writing Exercise: Developing a narrative poem based on personal experiences
Week 27-28: Pastoral Elegies and Morning Aubades - Writing pastoral poetry - Crafting mournful elegies - Writing Exercise: Composing an aubade capturing the essence of dawn
Week 29-30: Ekphrastic Marvels and Found Poetry Adventures - Creating poetry inspired by art - Crafting poems through found materials - Writing Exercise: Developing an ekphrastic poem based on a chosen artwork
Week 31-32: Epigrams and Clerihew Laughter - Crafting witty epigrams - Writing humorous clerihews - Writing Exercise: Composing a clerihew about a contemporary figure
Week 33-34: Quatrains and Double Dactyl Delight - Mastering the art of quatrains - Crafting light-hearted double dactyls - Writing Exercise: Creating a quatrain reflecting on the beauty of simplicity
Week 35-36: Terzanelles and Haibun Adventures - Crafting terzanelles with precision - Exploring the combination of prose and haiku in haibun - Writing Exercise: Composing a haibun narrating a meaningful travel experience
Week 37-38: Golden Shovel Challenges and Villancico Celebrations - Creating poems using the golden shovel technique - Crafting festive villancicos - Writing Exercise: Developing a golden shovel poem using a line from a favorite poem
Week 39-40: Tercet Beauty and Sevenling Narratives - Embracing the charm of tercets - Crafting sevenlings with narrative flair - Writing Exercise: Composing a sevenling reflecting on a vivid childhood memory
Week 41-42: Palindrome Reflections and Parallelismus Membrorum Insights - Creating palindrome poetry - Crafting poems using parallelismus membrorum - Writing Exercise: Developing a palindrome poem exploring balance in life
Week 43-44: Rubaiyat Contemplations and Blues Poem Expressions - Exploring Persian poetry with rubaiyats - Crafting poems inspired by the blues - Writing Exercise: Composing a rubaiyat on themes of love or mortality
Week 45-46: Erasure Transformations and Anaphora Intensity - Crafting poetry through erasure - Mastering the use of anaphora - Writing Exercise: Creating an erasure poem using a page from a novel or newspaper
Week 47-48: Tetractys and Sijo Harmonies - Crafting tetractys with specific syllable counts - Exploring traditional Korean poetry with sijo - Writing Exercise: Developing a sijo capturing a moment of beauty or introspection
Week 49-50: Blitz Poem Exploration and Epitaph Conclusions - Crafting blitz poems with rapid expression - Writing poignant epitaphs - Final Project: Compose an original poem using a style of the student's choice, reflecting personal growth throughout the course.
Assessment: - Weekly writing exercises - Participation in collaborative projects - Midterm and final projects showcasing mastery of chosen styles
Materials: - Poetry anthologies - Artworks for ekphrastic exercises - Writing journals - Selected readings for each style
Prerequisites: None. Open to all students with an interest in poetry and creative expression.

1. Sestina:

- *Definition:* A 39-line poem with intricate repetition of end-words in a specific pattern. - *Example:* Write a sestina exploring the challenges and triumphs of personal growth. 

1. Rondeau:

- *Definition:* A 13-line poem with a rhyme scheme and a repeated phrase. - *Example:* Create a rondeau celebrating the joy of creativity. 

1. Triolet:

- *Definition:* An eight-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and repetition. - *Example:* Craft a triolet expressing the beauty found in simple moments. 

1. Kyrielle:

- *Definition:* A form of rhyming poetry with repeating lines and a specific structure. - *Example:* Write a kyrielle exploring the theme of resilience in the face of adversity. 

1. Ode:

- *Definition:* A lyrical poem praising and glorifying a person, event, or thing. - *Example:* Compose an ode celebrating the power of human resilience. 

1. Ballad:

- *Definition:* A narrative poem often with a musical quality, telling a story. - *Example:* Create a ballad recounting a mythical or historical tale of adventure. 

1. Epic:

- *Definition:* A long, narrative poem that tells the story of heroic deeds. - *Example:* Write an epic poem inspired by a contemporary hero or heroine. 

1. Blank Verse:

- *Definition:* Unrhymed poetry with a regular meter, often iambic pentameter. - *Example:* Craft a blank verse poem reflecting on the passage of time. 

1. Petrarchan:

- *Definition:* A sonnet divided into an octave and a sestet, often exploring conflicting emotions. - *Example:* Write a Petrarchan sonnet exploring the duality of love and loss. 

1. Terza Rima:

- *Definition:* A poetic form with interlocking rhymes, often used in longer works. - *Example:* Compose a terza rima poem contemplating the mysteries of the universe. 

The article is intended primarily for Game Masters who play games in systems inspired by Lovecraft’s works, such as Call of Cthulhu or Delta Green. However, I hope that other fans of cosmic horror will also find something for themselves here. The interesting facts presented here may also be entertaining for people who do not know the work of The Loner of Providence, but some of the references may be unclear to them. The article contains several anecdotes – either from real history or from beliefs that exist in the real world, and suggestions on how they can be related to the Cthulhu mythology. So read about:

• Sea Peoples, bane of ancient civilizations,
• a forgotten Eldritch abomination from Greek mythology,
• Jan Twardowski, the first man on the Moon,
• mathematicians and physicists who wanted to know the structure of reality and lost their minds,
• one of the most mysterious characters from the Bible and a dark, occult ritual that underlies monotheism.

Invasion of the Sea Peoples
Ancient, super-advanced, fallen civilizations are one of the favorite motifs of fantasy. And truth be told, something similar happened in real history. Of course, in reality, the fallen civilizations did not have sci-fi supertechnology at their disposal, but their collapse still led to great destabilization. We are talking about the invasion of the so-called Sea Peoples, which took place at the turn of the 13th and 12th centuries BC. The Sea Peoples are mobile and warlike groups of people of unknown origin. They caused the collapse of several advanced cultures, including: Mycenaean and Hittite. Only the Egyptians managed to defeat them in a great battle. Well, the material for Lovecraftian inspiration is obvious. A mysterious army, coming out of nowhere, called the „Sea Peoples”, leading to the fall of the most powerful human civilizations at that time? Let us add that, according to some historians, the descendants of the Sea Peoples destroyed by the Egyptians were the Philistines. Yes, the same Philistines, one of whose main deities was the well-known Dagon to Lovecraftomaniacs… Deep Ones say hello. Let us also add that, according to Egyptian records, the tribes of the Sea Peoples had names such as Ekvesh, Teresh, Lucki, Sherden, Shekelesh, Tekel and Peleset. Sounds suitably dark, blasphemous and filthy? If we want to dig deeper, one of the pharaohs who ruled Egypt was Akhenaten – yes, that heretic who tried to replace the worship of traditional Egyptian gods with the religion of the Aten and who is very much liked by conspiracy theorists. Let’s add to the mix that Middle Eastern cultures had quite a negative attitude towards the sea as such. Babylonian Marduk had to defeat the giant monsters of Chaos – Apsu and Tiamat, personifications of fresh and salt waters, respectively. The Bible also contains traces of the myth about the fight between Yahweh and Leviathan, and the Book of Revelation, describing the new, ideal world, emphasizes that „I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Let’s assume that the players are researchers of an antiquity – historians, archaeologists, etc. They conduct research on the Sea Peoples. Of course, as common sense dictates, they assume that these were human warriors. However, as time goes on, more and more evidence appears that they were not completely human again, and the evidence of their monstrosity becomes increasingly difficult to put down to the demonization that Egyptian chroniclers used against their enemies… It becomes clear that an onslaught of inhuman and semi-human monsters came from the sea. , trying to conquer the world of that time. Moreover, after their defeat at the hands of the Egyptians, this species did not become extinct, but instead of open conquest it switched to cautious infiltration. Perhaps the Deep Ones have spies in academia who are tasked with eliminating historians who find the trail of truth…
Oh, one more interesting fact connecting the history of the Sea Peoples with Lovecraft. Well, as we know, HPL liked to use the term „Cyclopean” for huge, monumental buildings. At least he didn’t come up with it himself. Well, when the later (and at first more primitive) inhabitants, the Dorians, saw the ruins of destroyed castles left by the Mycenaean culture, they came to the conclusion that such huge buildings could not have been built by human hands, so they were probably the work of mythical giants – cyclopes.
Typhon – a classic but forgotten abomination
Modern works drawing on Greek mythology usually make Hades (completely senseless) or Kronos (a little more) the Big Bad, but they forget about Zeus’s greatest enemy – Typhon. After defeating the titans and then the gigants, the Olympian gods had to face the main boss on the way to dominating the world – Typhon. Here is an example of its description: It was larger than the largest mountains, its head touched the stars. When he stretched out his hands, one reached the eastern ends of the world and the other reached the western ends. Instead of fingers, he had a hundred dragon heads. From the waist down he had a tangle of vipers (yay, tentacles!) and wings at his shoulders. His eyes were shooting out flames. In other versions of the myth, Typhon was a flying, hundred-headed dragon. In any case – appearance and stature worthy of the Great Old One. Typhon attacked Olympus, and all the gods except Zeus fled in panic. The supreme god took up the fight… and lost it. Only in the second duel did he manage to defeat Typhon, but not kill him – he only imprisoned him, hitting him with Etna. In the sense of a mountain. A volcano – and volcanic activity is the result of Typhon’s anger, trying to break free. Typhon equaled the lord of heaven not only in strength, but in fertility. His wife was Echidna, about whom Hesiod wrote: „She also gave birth to another creature, invincible, huge, unlike neither men nor immortal gods, in a hollow cave – the divine violent Echidna, half a sharp-eyed young girl, with beautiful cheeks, half a huge snake, a great and powerful, spotted, cruel – in the depths of the holy land. This pair spawned many, if not most, of the monsters found in Greek mythology. Their offspring were very diverse and strange, as befits the spawn of enemies of the divine order, including: – Ladon, the hundred-headed dragon who never slept and guarded the apples that gave immortality, – Cerberus – we all know the dog guarding the gates of hell… but not all of us know that, according to some accounts, it had not three heads, but as many as 50, it was also covered with scales, and it had a snake by its tail… so what does this have to do with a dog? – Scylla – this lady inherited the most from the human, beautiful part of Echidna… at least initially, but eventually, as a result of various perturbations, she turned from a beautiful nymph to her siblings, becoming a six-headed sea beast, so hideous, according to Homer, that even the gods could not stand sight of her – she dwelt in a cave, from where she opened her mouth to devour the crews of ships, – Gorgons – I mean, those ladies with snake hair, not monstrous bulls. Medusa was one of them – the story that Athena turned her priestess into a monster as punishment for being raped by Poseidon is an invention of later poets, – Lernaean Hydra – a multi-headed monster with many reptilian or human heads. In place of each severed head, two others grew, and in addition, the main head was completely immortal – therefore, after chopping off the mortal heads, Heracles had to burn the stumps and bury the immortal, still hissing head underground. Hydra’s breath was poisonous. – various other creatures, such as the Sphinx, the dog Ortus, the Nemean Lion or the Chimera. Each of these descendants has the potential to be portrayed as an Eldritch abomination in its own right. To be precise – according to some accounts, the father of these creatures (and Echidna herself) was Typhon, but a monstrous, ancient (older than Poseidon) sea god, Phorcys. How to use Typhon? Well, Typhon clearly has the potential to be a Great Old One, imprisoned by… Nodens? Some other Elder God? Weak gods of humanity? Maybe his cult is trying to free him from Etna? What if he succeeds? What might distinguish Typhon from many other Great Old Ones? I would recommend focusing on his monster progenitor aspect – if he manages to reunite with Echidna, they will immediately start spawning various blasphemous beasts in series.
Jan Twardowski – the first man on the Moon
Jan (John) Twardowski, the hero of the legend, a Polish nobleman who allegedly sold his soul to the devil and became a sorcerer. Probably a historical figure, according to legend he lived in the 16th century and became famous for summoning the spirit of the deceased queen for King Sigismund Augustus. The ghost allegedly appeared in the mirror. This mirror is still kept in the church in Węgrów. According to legend, when the terms of the pact were fulfilled, devils came to kidnap Twardowski to hell. Interestingly, instead of taking the sorcerer’s soul after death, the most material demons appeared and grabbed Twardowski in order to kidnap him bodily, alive… and instead of heading towards the underground, which in legends is considered the traditional place of residence of demons and damned souls, they began to carry away up with him. At some point, Twardowski started singing religious songs, which caused the demons to escape, leaving him on the Moon, where he is said to have stayed ever since. Could the “demons” actually be extraterrestrials? Maybe mi-go? Maybe Twardowski was their agent and obtained secret knowledge and technology from them that gave him the fame of a sorcerer? As part of his studies, did he acquire knowledge of a system of sounds („religious songs”) that was able to drive away his masters when they decided that his usefulness on Earth had ended and it was time to transport him to a space base where he would be transformed into a brain in jar? Or was transportation to the Moon part of the deal from the beginning? Oh, one more interesting fact – according to legends, Twardowski used to use a rooster as a horse, which he enlarged with his magic. It’s easy to imagine an abomination that, in the eyes of laymen, might have resembled a large rooster… Examples of scenario hooks: – Twardowski’s secret mirror is still in the church in Węgrów. The local priest thinks it is just other „pagan” superstitions, but in fact it is a tool enabling contact with cosmic beings and higher realities. It may prove useful to players if they convince the priest to give it back or simply steal it. – Players are looking for Twardowski’s notes to gain knowledge about the „song” thanks to which he drove away mi-go (or other creatures that became the prototype of the „devils” from the legend). The so-called Twardowski’s „School” or „Cathedral” was located in a quarry near Kraków. In fact, at the end of the 19th century, during the construction of the church of St. Józef, a cave showing traces of alchemical experiments was discovered… And it was destroyed. But perhaps there is a second, secret laboratory under the cave that escaped destruction? And there lie Twardowski’s secrets… And again, potential obstacles may be placed by the local parish priest. But not only him. Maybe Twardowski’s legendary „rooster” lies dormant in the laboratory and was left by the sorcerer as a guard? – players are astronauts on the Moon. However, it turns out that someone lives here, someone who was not detected by previous expeditions and probes. Will Twardowski prove to be an ally in the fight against cosmic horrors? Or maybe their agent, or an independent villain? If he survived this long on the Moon thanks to blasphemous secrets, it’s possible that he had little humanity left…
The rest of the text is avalaible (of course, for free) here: https://adeptusrpg.wordpress.com/2024/05/13/some-lovecraftian-inspiration-form-real-life-and-beliefs/

Hare Krishna. This post is to help educate those (some, not all) Smartas and Shaivas who lack knowledge about Hinduism, and who thus spread hatred against Vaishnavas.
Vaishnavas sometimes get attacked because Vaishnava denominations assert a difference between Shiva and Vishnu, and hold the position of Vishnu being greater than Shiva (in some way or another). We get hate by (some, not all) Smartas who think that ALL Hindus MUST hold to Hari-Hara Abheda (Oneness of Shiva and Vishnu), and also by (some, not all) Shaivas who falsely accuse us of hating Shiva. ISKCON especially gets attacked because they have the largest english language global presence among the Vaishnavas.
Criticism is fine, debate is normal, but we Vaishnavas face hatred and vitriol by those uneducated (some, not all) Smartas and Shaivas. We also face the false accusations that ONLY Vaishnavas do this (hold one to be superior to the other), but that is not true at all.
This post will show how a Shaiva Sampradaya, the Veerashaivas, do the exact same thing that Shaivas and Smartas (some, not all) accuse us of : Veerashaivas hold that Shiva is superior to Vishnu.
! Objection : You are using the wrong flair, you must use the criticism flair !
Rebuttal :
This is not a criticism. I am not criticising the Veerashaiva's philosophy. It's perfectly ok for different Hindu denominations to disagree. This post is to educate people that thinking one God is superior to another is perfectly acceptable in Hinduism.
It's an acceptable Hindu position to think that Shiva is superior or to think that Vishnu is superior or to think that neither is superior. All 3 of those positions are acceptable to have in Hinduism. None of them take you out of the Hindu fold. None of these positions is anti-Hindu or hateful.
This post is to educate those Smartas and Shaivas (some, not all), who hate Vaishnavas for holding Vishnu to be superior, who are uneducated that there are Shaivas do the same with Shiva.
This post is to spread knowledge about Hinduism in order to help end the hatred against Vaishnavas.
This post will use the Siddhanta Shikhamani, a Veerashaiva scripture, as evidence.
Note : I am NOT getting into the Veerashaiva vs Lingayata political debate. That is not relevant here. I have not spoken of Lingayatas. I am speaking ONLY of Veerashaivas in this post.
This post will be divided into 4 sections :

1. Acceptance of the Siddhanta Shikhamani by Veerashaivas.
2. Veerashaivsim is the supreme interpretation of the Vedas according to Veerashaivas.
3. Equating of Shiva to the Vedantic Brahman by Veerashaivas.
4. Inferiority of Vishnu according to Veerashaivas.

Let us begin :
(1) Acceptance of the Siddhanta Shikhamani by Veerashaivas :
The Veerashaivas have 5 great peethas (panchapeethas), similar to how Smartas have their different Shankaracharya Mathas. The 5 Veerashaiva peethas are : Kedara, Kashi (Varanasi), Ujjain, Shrishail and Rambhapuri (Balehonnur).
Let's take even just 1 of the 5 peethas. For this example i will use Rambhapuri Peetha.
Source : https://www.rambhapuripeetha.org/
The peetha and it's jagadguru say very very clearly :

All these chronicles were collected by Sri Shivayogi Shivacharya and created the holy Sri Siddhanta Shikhamani Granth. This is the scripture of Veerashaivism today.

And they also say :

It goes without saying that Siddhanta Shikhamani, which is the crowning bead of valorisations, is always universal.

Thus the authenticity of the Siddhanta Shikhamani to the Veerashaivas is established through their own peethas and their own jagadgurus.
(2) Veerashaivsim is the supreme interpretation of the Vedas according to Veerashaivas.
A misconception some people have is that the Veerashaivas are not "Vedic", and that they don't accept accept the Vedas. This is false.
In the Siddhanta Shikhamani the sage Agastya asks Renuka to preach the Siddhanta that is expounded in the text. And in the question Agastya explicitly refers to it as the doctrine that is acceptable to the Vedas :

Hence I would like to hear from you the Siddhänta, which is acceptable to the Vedas. O omniscient one, please tell me the doctrine which is directly associated with Shiva, which is the means for attaining all rewards, which brings immediate achievement for the people, which is resorted to by all the best sages, which is not even smelt by the persons of illconduct, which is accepted by the knowers of Veda

And Renuka explicitly responds as follows, clearly stating that this Siddhanta of Shiva is the fullest following of the Vedas.

O Agastya, who is the lion among the sages and who is well versed in all the Ägamas, I shall tell you the Siddhanta which inculcates the knowledge of Shiva; listen to it with respect.
O Agastya, there are (many) Siddhanta which are well known, which differ according to aptitudes, which are associated with various practices and which propound various tenets.
Sankhya, Yoga, Pancharatra, Vedas and Pashupata, these are the Siddhanta which are quite authoritative and which should not be refuted with arguments.
O Great sage, among these, Sankhya, etc., Veda is predominant. The authoritativeness of these is decidedly on the ground that they follow Veda.
O sage, Pancharatra, Sankhya and Yoga are based on some parts of Veda, while Shaivasiddhanta is based on the entire Veda.
O great sage, compared to Sankhya, etc, which are based on some parts of Veda, the Shaivasiddhanta, which follows the entire Veda, is superior.

It goes onto say Vedas and this Siddhanta are the same doctrine

The Shivagama called Siddhanta is said to be acceptable to Veda because it advocates the Dharma that is taught in Veda and also because it opposes whatever that is outside or unacceptable to Veda.
Veda and Siddhanta are one because they propound the same doctrine. Authoritativeness of the two should always be grasped as similar by the learned.

And finally it talks of how the Veerashaiva doctrine is Supreme.

In the latter part of the great traditional lore called Siddhanta which starts with Kamika and which is taught by Shiva, the supreme doctrine of Veerashaiva is advocated.

Thus it is established that the Veerashaivas accept the Vedas and they they assert that the supreme fullest interpretation of the Vedas is their Veerashaiva philsophy, as indicated by their own scripture.
(3) Equating of Shiva to the Vedantic Brahman by Veerashaivas.
This one is very easy as it is one of the earliest verses in the Siddhanta Shikamani :
It talks of Shiva being the Brahman of the Vedanta

I salute the Supreme Shiva, whom the Vedanta philosophers call as the designation of Brahman and as the source of the world.

(4) Inferiority of Vishnu according to Veerashaivas.
And here we get to the crux of the matter.
It talks about Vishnu becoming bald and suffering 10 births due to insulting the devotees of Shiva

Having done wrong to two of my (Shiva) devotees called Bhagu and Shankukarna, Visnu became bald and suffered ten births (incarnations).

It talks about Vishnu being defeated by a devotee of Shiva (not even Shiva himself) and having his Sudarshana Chakra broken

Having fought against my (Shiva) devotee Dadhéca, in the past, Visnu suffered defeat with his disc having been broken.

And here references are made to the births of Vishnu, just so you are clear that it is talking about the same Vishnu, and that he is tormented under material afflictions and birth and death. This is indicative of Jeeva.

The great Visnu who took birth in the forms of fish., tortoise, boar, man-lion and man, suffered death.
Having been born in the castes such as Brahmana, etc., the being is tormented repeatedly by the heat of the great fire in the form of threefold afflictions.

Here again it talks of how affluences of Vishnu and Brahma are subject to waning and waxing, in other words they are subject to Samsara, they are NOT eternal. This is also indicative of Jeeva.

The Veeramaheshwara always considers with reason the affluences of Brahma, Visnu, etc., which are subject to waning and waxing, as similar to a straw of grass.

Here it talks of how Brahma and Visnu cannot understand Shiva

Who can understand that Linga (Shiva) which is of the nature of lustre and which even Brahma and Visnu could not decipher?

It talks about Vishnu and Brahman and Mahalakshmi and others serving Shiva.

Brahma, Visnu, Indra, etc., who had formed into rows adorning themselves with weapons, served all around him (Shiva), who had the authority of world-creation.
Mahalakshmi held for him (Shiva) the white umbrella which was of the form of white lotus, which was bright and which resembled the full moon.

So lets summarise this section :

1. Vishnu was cursed by Shiva
2. Vishnu suffered torment of material afflictions
3. Vishnu suffered 10 births and deaths
4. Vishnu was defeated and had is chakra broken by Shiva's devotee (not even by Shiva himself)
5. Vishnu's affluence are waxing and waning like a staw of grass, so they are NOT eternal.
6. Vishnu cannot understand Shiva
7. Vishnu serves Shiva

Birth, death, suffering, torment, defeats, temporary and not eternal affluence, lack of understanding, these are all indicative of Samsara, indicative of Jeevas and NOT of God.
Thus it is clear that the Veerashaivas think of Vishnu as inferior to Shiva, as a Jeeva, and even cursed by Shiva.
Note : Even just 1 or 2 of these points would be sufficient to establish that the Veerashaivas think of Vishnu as inferior to Shiva. So if there is any Veerashaiva (or anyone else) who disagrees with me, then please feel free to refute all 7 points using the Siddhanta Shikamani. I would be glad for any debate or knowledge sharing.
Conclusion :
I hope this shows people that difference between Shiva and Vishnu, superiority of one over the other, is also an acceptable position to hold in Hinduism, both among Vaishnavas AND among Shaivas as well.
Let's all learn to accept diversity of philosophy within the Sanatana Dharma.
Let's all learn to not spread hatred and vitriol against Vaishnavas or Shaivas, just because someone asserts that Vishnu or Shiva is superior to the other.
Let's all learn to not hate people who assert a difference between Shiva and Vishnu (in some way or another)
Let's all remember that : It's an acceptable Hindu position to think that Shiva is superior or to think that Vishnu is superior or to think that neither is superior. All 3 of those positions are acceptable to have in Hinduism. None of them take you out of the Hindu fold.
Hare Krishna.

[Orbital Observatory Update on Client Species #0458-1, Sol III]
[Priority of message: Urgent Emergency]
[Receiver: Glokknar IV - Galactic Security Council]
[Psionic Encryption to view document is advised]
Last update on humans was 789 cycles ago {25 Earth years ago} and now as of 15/05/2024 in the earth calendar, humans have reached a critical development in forbidden technologies that will trigger a singularity event in less than 150 cycles estimated by current models. A major human organisation under the name OpenAI announced their new {translation error} in cooperation with another organisation, namely Apple. This is most likely to me a forbidden technology and after hours of investigation we found it’s called an “Artificial intelligence” or “AI” for short and now possesses a similar cognitive level to that of a human (significantly more intelligent than an average galactic sapient).
It is important to note that humans’ have a much greater advantage in parallel thinking due to the fact that how their brain is structured and their face recognition is at the high end of the spectrum, because of their social nature. Biologically they’re the only bipedal species and their stance is the most unusual in all across the galaxy. It is theorised by many that they may be the descendants of one of the precursor species and the fact that most of the architecture and technologies or technological path they’ve taken suggests that they are most likely to be the descendants of the Olympians. Critical point to note is that after the Great Galactic Selection War, our ancestors millions of cycles ago never found or knew the exact location of the Olympian homeworld.
It appears that in the last 789 cycles what we observed proved many theories that due to the natural environment humans or olympians have been forced to use inorganic technology and started to bend nature to their will. The humans have built everything on their planet out of stone and metal beginning with from their smallest huts up to the largest cities. The sheer abundance of biological resources meant an absurd amount of biodiversity and an estimated 8.7 million species, but it means most of the biomass is actually CONSUMED by humans only. Yes, they are a predatory species that should be noted late on security assembly. From all animal biomass 6% is wild and the rest is bred by the humans for human consumption on the industrial scale for 8.1 billion humans. The obscene amount of food produced by the humans would be able to sustain 4 of the core worlds, but because of the high calorie required to sustain them it’s questionable whether or not they’ll be able to survive in their own next century.
Yes, they are overpopulated at an absurd level, but now it’s unstoppable, because if they stopped their economy and society would collapse. Life expectancy is through the roof.
Back to the main topic. Forbidden technologies such as AI or anything computer related is widely acknowledged in the galactic community and everyone enforces it, but because Pre-FTL civilizations are protected and have to be left alone and let them develop, but because we discovered the humans much later and the development path they took now they are now in such a late stage that it is unstoppable and may cause an existential safety to the continuation to our glorious Galactic Imperium. We have made a list of potential targets to be eliminated in the human elite who lead these researches. We’ll attach the documents along this report to the Galactic Security Council.
They began to dive into cybernetics related to the brain like the Neuralink chip that had already just a few human weeks prior to this report being successfully able to use a human computer and commercial use is only in a few year's time after approved by authorities. The current uprising that is centred around those ancient cyborgs that have awoken are no match to what these precursor apes are going to be able to pull off if we don’t intervene.
This human year will be significant as they’ll start to settle their moon and what the humans call a “space race” start as the major nationstates or private organisations start to lay claim on all of the unclaimed territory. The Forbidden technology that I want to talk about is AI. Humans are the first ones to ever experiment with real artificial intelligence in the new galactic era from the 4598 species. They had the concept since the earliest days of their civilization in the form of mythologies, books, music and art. A visual entertainment media I advise to the military personnel to watch is the Terminator, where the human AI goes berserk and takes control of their nuclear arsenal and wiping its creators out, (sigh) they have tens of thousands of nuclear warheads too. This planet violates every galactic law in existence.
What worries us here at the observation post about humans is the imminent technological singularity in a very short time and effectiveness of their AIs in researching new cures as an example is horrifying. I advice a full revision of Olympian archives and a military mobilisation to prepare for the great return.
[Scientist muttering to each other in background]
People, we are confirming human origins to be Olympians and technosignitures confirmed. Waiting Council response.
Sincerely
Head Observer Ukna'h the Third of Osiris
[Transmission terminated and sent for evaluation]
[Expected response: 2 cycles]
[End transmission]

The world beckons with its rich tapestry of cultures, vibrant landscapes, and exciting opportunities. But before you embark on your international adventure, navigating the world of visas can feel like stepping into a labyrinth. At Adric Immigration Consultants, your trusted partner in Bangalore, we understand the complexities of visa applications. This comprehensive guide aims to shed light on the different types of visas available, helping you choose the right path for your aspirations.
The Big Picture: Broad Visa Categories
Visas act as official permissions granted by a country to enter and stay within its borders for a specific purpose and duration. Broadly, visas fall into two main categories:
1. Non-immigrant Visas:
Designed for temporary stays, non-immigrant visas cater to diverse needs, including:

• Tourism (B-1/B-2): Ideal for sightseeing, visiting family and friends, or attending short-term events like conferences.
• Business (B-1): Allows participation in business activities that don’t involve paid employment in the host country. Examples include attending meetings, negotiating contracts, or conducting market research.
• Work (H-1B, TN, etc.): Enables qualified foreign professionals to work in specific occupations for a sponsoring employer. The type of work visa required depends on the profession and the reciprocity agreements between countries.
• Student (F-1): For individuals pursuing full-time academic programs at accredited institutions. May come with restrictions on work authorization.
• Exchange Visitor (J-1): Facilitates participation in exchange programs like cultural exchanges, internships, or research collaborations.

2. Immigrant Visas:
For those seeking to establish permanent residence in a new country, immigrant visas pave the way. These typically involve a lengthier application process with stricter eligibility requirements. Common types include:

• Employment-Based: Grants permanent residency based on a job offer with a sponsoring employer in the host country. Categories exist for skilled workers, investors, and individuals with exceptional abilities.
• Family-Based: Allows sponsorship of immediate family members (spouse, children) by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Diversity Visa Lottery: Provides a limited number of visas annually through a random selection process.

Going Deeper: Specific Visa Types and Considerations
Understanding your purpose for travel is crucial. Here’s a breakdown of some commonly sought-after visas and key factors to consider:

• Tourist Visa (B-1/B-2):
  • Duration: Typically short-term stays, ranging from a few weeks to several months. Extensions might be possible depending on the country’s regulations.
  • Eligibility: Varies by country. Generally, applicants need to demonstrate sufficient financial resources, ties to their home country, and a valid passport.
  • Important Note: Working or studying while on a tourist visa is strictly prohibited.
• Business Visa (B-1):
  • Duration: Similar to tourist visas, with extensions potentially available.
  • Eligibility: Proof of business purpose, such as invitations from companies, conference registrations, or business documents, is essential.
  • Restrictions: Engaging in paid employment or setting up a business venture is not permitted under a business visa.
• Work Visa (H-1B, TN, etc.):
  • Duration: Varies based on the specific visa type and job offer. Extensions and renewals are often possible.
  • Eligibility: Requires a valid job offer from a U.S. employer willing to sponsor the visa petition. Specific qualifications and experience are mandated for each profession.
  • Labor Certification: For certain categories (e.g., H-1B), the employer must first obtain a labor certification demonstrating that hiring a foreign worker won’t adversely affect U.S. worker opportunities.
• Student Visa (F-1):
  • Duration: Valid for the duration of the academic program, with potential extensions for practical training after graduation.
  • Eligibility: Acceptance letter from a SEVP-certified educational institution, proof of financial support, and a valid passport are mandatory.
  • Maintaining Status: Students must maintain full-time enrollment and comply with program requirements to keep their visa valid.
  • Work Authorization: Limited on-campus or OPT (Optional Practical Training) opportunities might be available depending on the program and student category.
• Employment-Based Immigrant Visa:
  
  • Duration: Leads to permanent residency status, allowing indefinite stay and work authorization.
  • Eligibility: A valid job offer with a sponsoring employer and meeting the specific requirements of the chosen visa category (e.g., EB-2 for professionals with advanced degrees) (EB-3 for skilled workers with less education but experience) are crucial. The process can be complex, and seeking guidance from an experienced immigration consultant is highly recommended.
• Family-Based Immigrant Visa:
  
  • Duration: Leads to permanent residency status.
  • Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents can sponsor immediate family members (spouse, unmarried children under 21). The process can be lengthy, and wait times can vary depending on the relationship and visa category.
• Diversity Visa Lottery (DV Lottery):
  
  • Duration: Leads to permanent residency status if selected and the application process is completed successfully.
  • Eligibility: Open to nationals of countries with historically low immigration rates to the U.S. Selection is based on a random drawing.
  • Important Note: Winning the lottery doesn’t guarantee a visa. Applicants must still meet all eligibility requirements and undergo the full application process.

Beyond the Basics: Additional Considerations
Visa processing times and fees can vary significantly depending on the visa type, country of application, and individual circumstances. It’s crucial to factor in these costs and potential delays when planning your international move.
Visa reciprocity plays a role in certain work visa categories (e.g., TN visa between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico). Understanding the reciprocity agreements between your home and destination countries can help determine your eligibility for specific work visas.
Dual citizenship allows individuals to hold citizenship in two countries simultaneously. Eligibility for dual citizenship varies by country. Researching the policies of both your home and target country is essential if this path aligns with your goals.
Travel restrictions can be implemented due to various reasons, including pandemics or political situations. Staying updated on current travel advisories is crucial before embarking on your international journey.
Your Trusted Partner in Navigating the Visa Maze
At Adric Immigration Consultants in Bangalore, we understand that navigating the complexities of visas can be overwhelming. With our extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of global immigration regulations, we are here to guide you every step of the way.
Our Services:

• Visa Type Assessment: We will help you identify the most suitable visa category based on your specific circumstances and goals.
• Application Assistance: We will provide comprehensive guidance and support throughout the application process, ensuring all documentation is accurate and complete.
• Preparation for Interviews: We will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to successfully navigate visa interviews.
• Staying Updated: We will keep you informed of any changes in immigration policies or procedures that might affect your application.

Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you turn your international dreams into reality. With Adric Immigration Consultants as your partner, you can start on your global journey with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind.