Need a new water meter to replace old one for which water is stopped. the corrupt officials are charging 10k just to give the new meter which they get for free. Even the lower officials in Bbmp bwssb RTO office these guys are millionaires for a reason. If we don't give the money in the form of cash, they ask us to wait for 3 months after when it rains they will give it for 3k lower amount.
India will never improve. Its broken beyond repair.

I’m trapped. I can hear that thing lumbering through the hallway. My God, what the hell is it? I’m trying my best to keep quiet but I can’t help but whimper. The soft scratching of my pencil on this notepad sounds deafening in the quiet of this tiny closet. I’m almost certainly gonna die in this place. I just hope someone can find this, maybe it will do some good. Or maybe it already doesn’t matter. I’m not sure how long I have until that wheezing thing finds me. Oh God, or that grey stuff might ooze under the door and dissolve me. Oh my God! What it did to Benny, Bill, Jonesy and Donald! To all of them! Even if I don’t survive, the world needs to be warned!
Long story short, I was a cop but I got shot in the head. The doctors said I was lucky, that it went straight through without hitting anything vital. However, I still needed three steel plates to hold my fragmented skull together. Also ended up with permanent tremors in my right hand from brain damage. So it’s no surprise that my cop career didn’t thrive. Just a year later I was a “retired” 45-year-old cop, living on scraps. After a few months, I started to get desperate for work. One evening at my pub, my friend, Graham, mentioned an acquaintance who was looking for employees for some private research institute in the Mojave Desert. “What, are they still blowing A-bombs out there?” I scoffed, eyebrows arched with bemused incredulity. Graham stared down at his beer, “Not sure what the hell they do. But they pay super well, so who cares,” he took a long sip of beer, foam clinging to his lips, “I think it would be a good fit for you”.
Turns out this facility, and it really is known as the “Facility”, was located in the middle of nowhere. When I looked it up online I couldn’t find any information. Later that week I called the number that Graham had scrawled down for me on a beer stained napkin. My right hand was useless to me if I wanted it to do anything that required fine motor function, so when I dialed the number on my phone I had to use my left hand. The phone rang twice before a metallic feminine voice answered and said to hold for an operator. After a few seconds of muted elevator music, I spoke to a soft voiced man who told me my skill set was perfect for their current vacancy: a security management position. He said if I filled out some forms they would pay for me to fly on out for an interview in person.
One month and several NDAs later, I was employed again! By the time I started my new job I realized I had no idea what research went on down here. During the interviews my duties as a security manager had been discussed but any mention of their actual research interests had been carefully avoided, redacted or omitted. The security staff were also told to avoid fraternizing with anyone not from their own department, including security personnel from other sections of the Facility. On my first day I asked others about the nature of the Facility’s research, but no one had any interest. “Just stick to your contract. No point in rocking the boat,” my new boss, Bill, said to me curtly. So since then I’ve not discussed it with anyone else.
If only I had, maybe I would have seen this coming. The section of the Facility which I managed was section B.15. This area, like most of the core Facility, was located several hundred feet below the sun scorched surface of the Mojave Desert and comprised many green painted corridors peppered with tall, wide doors made from dark, stainless steel. The rooms inside were large and sterile. Artefacts were cleaned and studied in these rooms after they were brought from the excavation sites (sites E.1 through E.27). Of course, whether we wanted to know the nature of the research or not, eventually, after patrolling some of the research labs for weeks, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that the scientists were mostly archeologists or paleontologists. I would often find objects of different sizes and shapes lying around in various states of cleanliness. Some looked like ancient amphoras, or large stone bird baths. Others were less identifiable: a chipped statue, a melted lump of some unidentifiable metal or large chunks of a glass-like material. I found this all extremely curious because, as far as I knew, the Mojave Desert didn’t have much in the way of ancient architecture. At least of any ancient civilization that I know.
As the months went by I started to get friendly with the other guards, most of them ex-cops too, and we started playing cards and drinking Irish coffee in the evenings. My two main colleagues consisted of a jovial, short man with orange hair named Jonesy and a much older much grumpier and much balder man, Donald. They were good men and we had a lot of laughs together. My stomach twists when I think about where they are now. Though I grew fonder of my fellow guards, I found myself developing a severe dislike for the white coated researchers. Most of them were pernicious and arrogant. The only scientist my security buddies and me could stand was a scrawny man named Benny. Our favorite thing about Benny was that he never talked about his work.
It was earlier today, at around 1400h, when all the scientists were running from their rooms. They must have received some message a few minutes before and we watched them from the surveillance monitors as they got all excited and leapt up. Their lab coats flapped and flowed around as they jumped to their feet and made for the main exit. Soon after this the large red landline phone near my video surveillance desk began to ring. Expecting the call, I picked up the receiver before the first ring finished, “Hey boss, what’s all the excitement about?” Bill’s voice was uncharacteristically hesitant “The diggers have found a friggin’ huge object out here! The biggest thing they’ve ever dug up, it’s really irregular. They want to bring it to B.15 and I need you to organize the logistics and security”. My brow furrowed, “I guess it’s too big for the main entrance? Maybe we could bring it in via the big doors of the auxiliary hangar?” Bill grunted with agreement, “Yea, we’ll have to improvise a bit but should be manageable. I have no idea what it is… well you’ll see for yourself. I’ll get some of the boys from B.14 to help you out. And just, well…” He paused for a moment, “just be careful.” I grunted, my eyebrow arched from surprise; why was he so afraid? “Um thanks, appreciate it, see you guys soon”.
Donald, Jonesy and I had coffee in the office and called the guards at the hangar doors to arrange clearance. About an hour later we were at the platform near the doors waiting for the cargo to arrive. The massive metal hangar doors had been opened, which was rare. What was more irregular was that nearly every staff member from sections B.11 to B.18 were all gathered together in a silent knot of people. Despite the silence the air sizzled with anticipation, as well as the searing heat. I stood transfixed from curiosity at the massive doorway, waiting in the shade of the hangar as the relentless sun beat down outside. In the distance I saw a black speck grow larger against the bright blue sky. Slowly it took the form of a helicopter which was carrying a large rectangular shaped mass below it.
Within less than a minute the helicopter made its cacophonous approach toward the hangar and gently lowered the object onto an enormous wooden scaffold. I barked orders and signed forms as the guards rushed about, making sure the other personnel stayed a safe distance away. The air was blaring with the sound of the helicopter blades and sand rocketed into my face, forcing me to splutter. “Alright, let’s get this thing processed!” I yelled over the sound of the helicopter as its engines powered down, my colleagues and I wiped dirt from our faces. Bill emerged swiftly from the chopper and shook my hand. We quickly reviewed the paper work he gave me and then he made his way back downstairs to his office in section B.1. He was keen to get away for some reason.
“Alright, it’s officially in my care now. Show’s over. Get the non-essential personnel out of here immediately and secure the object. I want to get Benny up here to analyze it ASAP.” As my colleagues cleared away most of the staff and the excitement died down I was finally able to take a moment to inspect the object. It had been lowered onto the wooden scaffold fitted with wheels just outside the hangar and had been pushed slowly into the center. The few aircraft in this hangar were all currently under repairs and were non-operational, therefore there was plenty of space. As soon as I saw the sheer size of the object, I knew it would be difficult to transport, but not impossible. The object was a wall. Or a large fragment of a wall.
It was about twenty feet long, eight feet thick and ten feet high. At first the wall appeared made from some sort of boring grey stone. However, when I looked closer the wall was… alive. The wall’s surface bubbled slightly. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I stepped closer. When I was only a few inches away from it I felt cold. A bead of sweat ran down my cheek and I thought I heard something. It sounded like someone far away calling my name.
I felt a strange pressure around my head. A sudden invasive thought wormed to life: throw yourself into the wall. I shuddered and held myself back despite the sudden strong desire. I heard the faint voice of Benny and crashed back to reality. My eyes snapped open and I found my nose an inch away from the wall. It radiated cold like an open freezer and it smelled like rotting clay. The surface of the wall simmered ever so slightly. It reminded me of the fizz of some grey effervescent medicine. I paled as I took a large step backward, “I.. uh, what is this?” I turned to face Benny who stood with another scientist. He glanced at her briefly before he approached the wall to apply more straps. He was careful to avoid touching the wall with his bare skin. “Honestly, we have no idea”.
I got Donald and Jonesy to help Benny transport the wall down to room 278B via the service elevator. Donald grumbled about how badly the wall smelled and Jonesy had eyes as large as saucers when he saw it up close, “It looks so unreal!” Once downstairs I returned to my office to get some more coffee and file away the paperwork. I tried to put the strangeness of the wall out of my mind, but it had truly unnerved me. I felt so tired, my forehead drenched with cold sweat. I had been working extra shifts lately, but I had never been hit by such exhaustion so rapidly. As I sat at my desk facing the surveillance monitors I was unable to fight the sleep forcing my eyes shut.
I’ve had many hangovers in my life, most of them unpleasant, but when I woke up at my desk I’d never felt quite so singularly awful. My clothes were soaked with sweat and my whole body felt exhausted. My arms felt like molasses as I attempted to move. My forehead throbbed and I felt bruised. I also felt a pressure squeezing my head from all sides. It was quite peculiar. I sat back in my seat and rubbed my eyes.
Then I froze.
A hand was lying motionless on the floor just behind the table in the center of the office. I leapt to my feet and rushed forward. I gasped from horror as I saw Donald lying on the floor, his chest sliced to ribbons. Gallons of crimson red stained his blue uniform and his eyes stared up empty and terrified. Pallid and shaking I went to my office landline to call for backup immediately. As the receiver met my ear my stomach dropped into my feet.
The line was dead.
The sole means of communication within the core Facility is done through landlines. The landlines are monitored at all times and any interruption results in an immediate response from security. We had many protocols and fail safes to ensure communication remained enabled, but the line was dead and there was no sign of any response. In fact, how long had I been asleep? What was happening? I rushed back to the monitors. I hadn’t noticed it before but I couldn’t see anyone. The cameras were all operating normally but not a single person could be seen. The corridors were just as green and bare as most late evenings. I looked at the clock, it was only 1817h. I had slept for about two and a half hours. Where were the janitors? My heart was hammering in my chest and I couldn’t catch my breath. Meanwhile my head was throbbing and my eyes were burning. Suddenly I heard an indistinct whisper. Gooseflesh bloomed all over my back and arms.
I’d heard this voice before.
I’d heard this voice from the wall.
I turned to the monitors and searched for the wall. It had been brought back to the surface; the hangar! It sat upon the bare ground right by the massive doors. However, the doors were all sealed. The wall itself looked different. It was enormous! Almost three times longer and taller and wider. Just then, I realized that the titanium blast doors had been sealed as well. My heart rate doubled as I noticed large dents, scorch marks and scratches all over the doors. Someone had tried to break them down. The hangar floor was covered in blood and ash as well as abandoned weapons. My God, I even saw a rocket-launcher lying blackened and fractured near the doors. What the hell had happened?
I spun my head to look at the security control panel on the wall to my left. My heart, already blaring, felt like it leapt out of my mouth. My eyes grew wide as I realized someone, probably Donald, had activated a quarantine procedure. This meant that the entire Facility would be sealed airtight. The only way to open any doors now was from the outside. My God! Why had he done this? Where was everyone? Did he try to wake me? Did I really sleep through all this? I looked back at Donald, my heart still hammering from seeing his dead eyes stare into mine. I sighed sadly and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was currently 1831h. I returned to the monitors and began to rewind the security footage.
Surveying the screens, I watched my past-self enter the security office at around 1600h. By 1610h I had passed-out on my chair, drool dangling from my mouth. “Ok, so let’s see where the wall was at that time. Should be room 278B.” I thought to myself aloud as I clicked on the button that would display the footage from that room as well as the surrounding corridors. The screen was black as the footage loaded and I was about to hit the play button but hesitated. Did I really want to see this? I closed my eyes and took a few slow breaths. I can’t figure my way out of here if I don’t know what’s going on. I have to know. I hit play.
The camera was located opposite the door giving a full view of the room. At first everything seemed normal. Benny and some other scientists had transported the wall into room 278B. It was 1623h when they were taking the straps off the wall. A loud popping sound was heard and the researchers spun around. The lights in the room dimmed and flickered. Suddenly something long and slimy exploded from the wall, curled around Benny, and pulled him in. He screamed in terror as he vanished, his cries immediately silenced. My jaw dropped open and a small yell escaped me.
Without realizing it, I was instantly on my feet, shaking my head in pure denial. My heart burst. What the hell was that? What the hell? What the hell? My head was full of static. I felt tears in my eyes as I watched guards and researchers rush into the room. The wall shimmered, it’s simmering surface began to boil and bubble and it grew three feet higher. I saw it reshape itself so that intricately carved figures appeared on the wall’s edge. I leant in closer and gasped. One of those figures looked just like Benny, his mouth stretched open wide into a permanent scream. I didn’t want to continue watching, but I had to. The guards and researchers were horrified by what they saw before them. Suddenly, without warning, their body postures relaxed, their eyes grew glassy, and their arms fell slack at their sides. Those within the room moved as if sleepwalking. Some stayed still while others left the room. Brow furrowed from confusion and fear, my eyes swiveled to the footage of the corridor outside. The guards and researchers that had just exited 278B immediately began attacking and grappling those around them. I yelped as a vacant-eyed guard lazily shot another man in the leg. The thrall then dragged the wounded guard into room 278B. The mad guard held the wounded guard’s leg fast as he casually walked into the grey wall, pulling the struggling man in behind him. During this altercation I noticed Donald for the first time, he was hiding behind the corner of the corridor at the far end and was firing his gun at the madmen. He didn’t manage to hit anyone though. He then ran over to help a stray researcher to their feet and then they both ran down the corridor and out of view.
I can still hear the cries of pain and pleas for mercy as those who fell victim to the thralls were each dragged into that horrifying wall. With every person it swallowed, the wall wriggled and grew and grew. More and more ghastly decorations began to bloom on its surface, all of them made from the bones or likenesses of those who had been absorbed. The bigger it got the stronger its psychic influence became until it seemed to reach nearly everyone in the Facility, turning them into thralls. I looked on in horror as one by one, all janitors, researchers, guards, diggers, admin staff, everyone gradually stopped what they were doing, mid conversation, their eyes emptying. The janitors dropped their mops and buckets. Researchers dropped precious materials and equipment without care, letting them smash to pieces. In unison they all slowly, with vacant expressions, moved toward room 278B. Among the horde of thralls, I saw Bill and Jonesy, and so many others I knew by face. A guy who’d held the door for me once, a researcher who always slurped her coffee at lunch. Hundreds of people! What filled me with an unnamable dread was that I knew what was gonna happen. I knew what was coming. I tried to shout at the monitors, “Stop! Wait!” I grabbed the monitors and shook them with frustration.
A terror began to fill my stomach, deep and cold and aching. Suddenly I noticed Donald reappear on the screen. He was trying to hold back the researcher he’d helped earlier, but it was useless. I saw Donald, chest heaving from effort, stare with incredulity as he sat defeated on the ground. Everyone else around him stumbled dreamily toward their doom. But Donald refused to give up. I saw him run from corridor to corridor, trying desperately to stop them. He threw chairs and tables in their way but they simply pushed them aside or jumped over them. I saw him run toward this office. I saw him enter, saw myself slumped on my chair still completely unconscious. I saw Donald try to shake me awake, he slapped me a few times and was yelling in frustration. He gave up with me eventually and ran over to activate the quarantine lockdown. I saw him tear down the hall back toward room 278B, pistol in hand.
My best guess was that he saw what was happening in room 278B and decided he was gonna stop it. However, as soon as he got close to the door a long pale tendril burst through the door directly into Donald’s chest. The tentacle had a hooked end and it slashed at him. I saw blood spurt out of him, saw him stumble and fall from the ground in fright. However, he still managed to get a hold of his gun and fired multiple shots at the tendril. It writhed and flailed. Donald took the opportunity to climb to his feet. He grimaced and clasped his chest as crimson leaked to the floor. He moved back down the corridor, much more slowly than before. Eventually he got back to the office. He locked the door and then collapsed. I cried out in frustration. That whole time I was completely useless!
My mind felt like static again for a few seconds. I couldn’t work out what my next move should be. A thought hit me hard, one I should really have thought of before. Why had Donald and I not been psychically affected by the wall? Everyone had been enslaved, everyone had been forced to walk into that wall. Why not Donald? And me? I knew it must be connected to my horrendous sleepiness. My eyes grew wide with sudden realization. “Shit, the steel plates in my head!” Donald had a single steel plate in his skull because of a rock-climbing accident he had in his 20s. When I got close to the wall, had it sensed my resistance? Had it tried to incapacitate me? If so, it means this thing possesses sentience.
While I pondered this, I noticed some thralls re-strap the wall in room 278B. They transported it to the elevator and back up to the hangar. Once there, the thralls moved the wall off the scaffold onto the floor and began to beat heavily on the large metal doors with bare fists. Some even shot at the doors with their handguns. The ricochets killed a few of them but not one single person seemed to even notice. Some of the guards even used a rocket launcher! I yelled with shock as they fired at deadly close range, lazily blowing themselves up, leaving the doors scorched. After this proved futile, the thralls all grew suddenly rigid. Next, they all formed a line in front of the wall and one shambling step after another, all the remaining employees were - assimilated. Even the dead and wounded were not spared. Those still alive carried the corpses of their fellow thralls into the wall.
It was 1705h when the last employee disappeared forever into the grey horror, and the wall expanded to its current size. Without warning, a large writhing mass of twisted limbs emerged from the wall. I gasped from horror. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was because the lighting in the hangar wasn’t good enough, but it definitely wasn’t human. Its silhouette was about seven feet tall and thin and stretched. It had too many legs and it didn’t seem to have a head. This thing lumbered over to the doors and began to strike them with a strength and ferocity one would only find in a starving polar bear. I could tell that the doors were taking strain, and they began to bend, but even then, they would not yield. After about half an hour of smashing the door, the creature stopped and slowly shambled toward the stairs. My heart froze. It was coming here! Or was it here already?
My eyes swiveled back to the main monitor and I was surprised to see Donald still alive. He was scratched and bleeding badly as he shakily pushed himself from the floor. He then looked up at the ammunitions cupboard and began to search through his keys. I saw him curse. He couldn’t find the key with his trembling, bloodied fingers. In the next instant his eyes bulged and he heaved as if vomiting. His body doubled over and long grey tendrils oozed from his mouth and wriggled furiously. He grabbed his throat and fell forward onto the floor. Frozen in horror I watched as his body squirmed and he wriggled as if his intestines were filled with snakes. I continued to watch absolutely transfixed as three long grey tendrils emerged again from between Donald’s lips. Slowly they wriggled free of his mouth. They were about half a foot long, dull grey and thin like spaghetti.
I watched as they slithered toward my unconscious form on the monitor. I bit my lip and stood up. Slowly my brain put two and two together. Bile rose in my throat. I yelled at myself to wake up and see the worms. Just then my stomach dropped and I could feel an itchiness in my belly. I could feel the wriggling itch of a thousand grey eels in my gut. Or was I imagining it?
My stomach writhed and I was about to puke when I saw myself awake and stretch in my chair. The worms somehow realized I was awake and they moved out of view towards the –before I could watch the screen any longer, I heard a hiss and something slimy and long wrapped itself around my throat so tight I couldn’t breathe. I gasped with surprise and strained my neck to look at the monitor that showed the room in real time. I saw from the camera behind my head that something thin and grey had wrapped itself around my throat. I saw two more of those things coming at me from behind as well. They were about to come wriggling up my chair when I grimaced with anger and grabbed my gun from its holster. The thing around my neck was hissing and making awful clicking and guttural noises. Its small worm head had a mouth that bit and it latched onto my neck to suck my blood. I pulled at the leach and pressed my gun up against it. I pulled the trigger. With an earsplitting bang and a sound like a water balloon popping the leach was reduced to sticky goo. I pulled the remnants of the leach off my neck and spun around just in time to shoot and kill the others. I grinned with a mad-joy and yelled with relief. Immediately, a wave of nausea and exhaustion hit me and I fell back onto my chair. “What the hell was that? What the hell do I do now?” I sat still for a moment and tried not to lose my mind completely. I swear I could hear Woody the woodpecker laughing somewhere in the distance. I needed to keep it together. I took a long deep breath and tried to think of a way out.
Summarizing the details of my predicament, I realized I was trapped alone inside the Facility with an otherworldly force. Also, even if I found a way out, I’d potentially be letting an evil into the world that could destroy all life. At once an old thought returned to me, one I’d often experienced as a cop. “If I need to sacrifice myself to save others, I will do so without complaint.” A wry smile spread over my face. “Once a cop, always a cop.” My smile vanished as a I continued to think. “But my God, if this thing gets out. If it gets into the minds of other people. If it gets larger and larger. Could it swallow the world? The solar system? What other monstrosities would it unleash?” I was talking aloud now; the sound of my voice gave a new reality to my situation that made me shudder. I turned back to the monitor. It seems I was all caught up with what had happened. I stared blankly into the screen while I watched my past-self continue to wake and wince from pain. I switched the monitor off and saw my reflection in the blackness of the screen. I was pale and my eyes were wide and unblinking. “What do I do now?” I turned in my chair to look at Donald’s body. Were all those worms gone? Could some still be hiding? And what should be done with his body? Probably best to have it burned. “Poor Donald, he didn’t deserve this”, I muttered softly as I examined his corpse, making sure there were no unexplained twitches beneath his skin. My eyes moved from his body up to the ammunition’s cupboard just above. “Wait, why was he trying to get into the cupboard earlier? We don’t have much…”, my eyes grew large with realization. “Holy crap, he was trying to get the bomb! Me and Donald were gonna use a left-over bomb from the excavation site to blow some random shit up!”
I sighed sadly and heavily. We never got around to it. I stood up quickly and walked up to the cupboard. I pulled out my keys and quickly found the key I’d need. I opened the cupboard with little effort and found the ten kilos of plastic explosive inside. It had already been set up with a sixty second timer and a remote detonator by a colleague. I sat at the table with the explosive, a vague plan forming in my broken mind. “Maybe if I somehow get this wall-thing to eat this bomb then...”
Before I could formulate my thoughts fully, the lights flickered, and the entire Facility was plunged into darkness unceremoniously. My nerves were burning with fear. What had happened? Had that thing knocked the power out somehow? The next few seconds that past were some of the longest I’d ever experienced. However, dim green light bloomed to life and the reserve power kicked in. Then I heard slow, shuffling footsteps in the corridor just outside the office. I froze once again, my insides turning to mush. My mind raced. Had I remembered to lock the door? My stomach leapt into my feet as I heard the shuffling get louder and louder. I heard hoarse, wheezing breaths, as if the thing struggled to breathe. I jumped from fright but remained absolutely silent as whatever the thing was banged on the door with a deafening blow.
BANG! The door shook and bent slightly.
BANG! Silence for a moment.
BANG! BANG! Again silence. My heart was hammering in my ears and I sat deathly still. I could hear that thing breathing louder. After a few moments I heard it shuffle away. My entire body was shaking as relief washed over me. Whatever the thing was, it had walked away and I could no longer hear it. I turned to look at the monitors. Dare I turn them on and check what it was? After a few seconds of consideration, holding my breath, I turned to the monitors and switched them on. I waited in nervous anticipation as the screens flickered to life showing me that all the corridors between me and the wall were currently empty. I didn’t bother checking the corridor I suspected the shambling thing was in. I didn’t want to see it unless I needed to. I’d had just about all the stress and terror I could take and by this stage I felt weirdly calm. It must be shock. A thin sigh escaped me as I stood. The fear in my blood began to feed a furnace of anger in my heart. I thought about all those who I had lost. I felt my expression turn to granite, “It’s time to kill this thing.”
I opened the door slowly, my fully loaded gun in my good hand. Spare ammo along with the explosive and a shotgun was stashed in my backpack, and the remote detonator was tied to my belt. I held a heavy-duty flashlight in my shaky right hand. I moved cautiously through the dark green corridors. I’d never thought of how creepy this place could be until this moment. Gooseflesh crept up my arms and neck as I continued. All I could hear were my soft footfalls and shallow anxious breaths. I cleared the corridors one by one until I made it to the stairs that would lead me to the thing that looks like a wall. I walked up the stairs slowly, my ears honing in on any sound. That’s when I heard it. I heard the soft sound of crying.
Someone was crying. I stopped dead in my tracks. My entire body shook from the adrenaline surging through me. I took one step. Then another. Slowly, I climbed. Once my head could peek over the top, I froze. Jonesy was squatting on his knees, naked. He was between the wall and me, with his back facing me. The terrifying thing loomed enormous before us. It was now framed intricately with the skeletons of hundreds of people, all twisted and screaming in agony. Writhing, tortured souls fused together. Then came the sound of crying and moaning from the wall. I could hear them all. They were all screaming. Screaming for me to help them. To join them. I felt that pressure squeeze against my skull tighter and tighter. I shook my head in defiance. “No! You bastard! NO! I will not join you! You’re not Jonesy!” All at once the moans and wails stopped. I suddenly found myself at the top of the stairs without knowing when I’d finished climbing them. “But we are Jonesy” came a voice that was not human. It was a voice made from all those it had swallowed up. It was as though something had made a distorted copy of the voices of all those people and then just used them all at once to speak. It didn’t understand the concept of individuality. All of a sudden, the wall rippled and grey tendrils squirmed from the flesh of the wall, curling around Jonesy as they teased his face and slowly pulled him in. As he disappeared there was a horrendous sucking, squelching noise. “We are Jonesy. We are all. We can be all. We will be all. All and all and more than all.” The voice was chanting this over and over. Louder and louder.
A deafening blast came from the wall and a slithering, writhing mass of tangled human limbs emerged. It had four legs and several arms. It looked like the bodies of eight or more people shuffled and glued into an otherworldly horror. Its multiple mouths screamed a high pitch squeal that was more horrifying than the screams of the damned, and its sharp pointed teeth gnashed and chomped. I only had a second to dodge this monster. I leapt to the side and fired multiple shots at the thing’s center of mass. Its horrifying body of fused torsos wriggled and bled black ichor. It screamed with pain and jumped at me, grabbing my leg. It tossed me into the air and I almost lost my gun as I slammed into the floor a few feet away. Before I could catch my breath, it was upon me again. From the ground I fired several shots at it. This made it jump away and scuttle down the stairs. With it momentarily out of sight, I quickly got to my feet and kept my eyes on the stairs.
After a second, I decided to kneel and take off my backpack as fast as I could. I pulled out the bomb and started the timer. I also decided to get the shotgun out and get it loaded. I needed to do this now or never. As the final shell clicked into place I heard a roar coming from the stairs. The thing was back. Before I could react, it leapt at me and knocked me to the ground. The bomb flew from my grasp. It bared down on me, grabbing at my throat ready to tear me apart. My reflexes saved me though and I managed to use my shotgun to hold the thing at bay, but it was too strong. Desperate, I kicked it hard in the chest and it let go. I used this moment to grab the bomb that lay behind me; only 37 seconds to go! Terrified and crazed, sweat pouring down my face, my mind in pieces, I rammed the bomb into the creature’s mouth and kicked it back again as hard as I could. I heard it yelp like a wounded dog and it lost its footing. It fell sideways and in that second, I took my shotgun and fired at it in the chest. The force of the close-range blast sent me flying. At the same time the creature was hurled back into the wall where it was enveloped quickly.
My head was fuzzy. I was dizzy and the wind had been knocked out of me. Was the bomb going to work? I felt something warm and wet drip into my ear and touched the side of my head. My fingertips came away soaked in blood. My head was spinning. With a foggy mind I grabbed my bag, collecting my weapons and flashlight. As I stood up I heard a low rumbling sound. The ground beneath my feet shook and for a moment I was confused. Then I looked up at the wall. Its surface was roiling and boiling like I’d never seen before. It was shaking and growing. I turned to run when suddenly there was a massive blast from inside it, and the entire wall exploded into hundreds of small grey chunks. These chunks rained down all around the hangar, smashing several aircraft. The blast knocked me off my feet and this time I definitely passed out because when I awoke I could see daylight through the tiny cracks in the blast door. Where the wall had once been now stood a small blackened crater. I turned around to inspect the wall pieces and found that they – my eyes grew wide and my mouth opened. They were melting. As I approached a fragment of wall, a horrible twisted hand shot out at me. I yelled and jumped away. It was still alive! I watched in dumbfounded horror as the pieces continued to melt and began to merge, just like that scene from Terminator 2.
It was rebuilding itself. Then I heard a groan. My blood became ice. I turned slowly in terror to find the shambling, wheezing monstrosity behind me. Like the creature I'd shot, this one seemed made from bits and pieces of human limbs knitted together randomly. This one had legs which came out its mouth, its head positioned within its torso where the bellybutton should be, and it wheezed in pain. I almost puked from fright but my legs were already carrying me away. I sprinted down the corridors, ignoring all the pain and fear and exhaustion and anger and frustration I had inside me. Without thinking, I leapt into the first janitor's closet I found and locked the door with a dull clunking sound. After catching my breath, I found this notepad and pencil, and have been writing this report in the sterile glow of my flashlight. Hopefully, I have left some useful information for anyone who may find this.
Now I lie in wait for that thing. Now I lie in wait for that grey ooze. What is that thing? Is it truly indestructible? If it can survive a bomb like that, what hope do we have? It’s no wall at all. It’s a membrane. An interface. Somewhere very different is pressing up against us. It has torn a small hole, and was now prying it open further. I should blow up this whole damn place! I should burn it! But would it matter? Or would it just be buried, to be rediscovered? I think even if I survive this, nothing can help us. So here I wait, hoping to be saved, but even as I write this I can hear that thing walking past the door. With a soft click I turn off my flashlight. I try not to breathe. I can hear the snuffling, it’s right outside! I can smell its ugly breath.
Oh God! I hear the jingling of keys. The door is unlocking! How? How?
Oh God! The doorknob is turning...

Hello friends! please use my description of what I remember about the game
Platform(s): PC
Genre: Arkanoid
Estimated year of release: before 2002
Graphics/art style: 3D low poly, and sprites based on 3D low poly.
Notable gameplay mechanics: The main feature of this arkanoid was that between levels you could buy weapons and upgrades for the platform in the next level in the store. currency in the store for blue crystals that fell out of blocks and had to be caught. It is noteworthy that each weapon had cartridges, they also had to be purchased and they ran out in battle. the blocks were mostly destroyed by weapons purchased before the level, the ball also took part in the game, it had to be hit, and classic upgrades for the ball fell out of the blocks. Another feature was the end of the level, when all the blocks are destroyed: the platform controlled by the player transforms into a spaceship. he starts flying forward like in Tyrian and you need to dodge asteroids. during a collision, the asteroids knocked crystals out of the ship, thereby losing currency for the store. asteroids could be shot with weapons.
Other details: Space theme of the game design, dynamic effects, explosions, high-quality animation. I remember that there were many different weapons. rocket launchers, miniguns, lasers (you could put several on the platform, it looked cool how shell casings fell when firing from machine guns). in the store the products were in the form of 3D models and when hovered they rotated around an axis

My old car (Alto 800) was damaged significantly in an accident on October 15, 2023. The insurance company said the vehicle is total loss and the insurer arranged the purchase of the damaged vehicle as a salvage sale. I have received a document from the buying company called "SALVAGE-Vehicle Purchase Form". This mentions that the sale of the repaired car to a new buyer may be delayed, and it may take 90 days at most to find a new buyer. The RTO owner transfer formalities would happen after that.
The sale happened in 18th Nov and more than 5 months have passed. The car is with them and they had asked my aadhaar card copy to buy an insurance in my name. As insurance is needed for sale of vehicles, I agreed but got them to send me the scan of a letter stating that the insurance is taken under my name for transferring the ownership of the car and they are proceeding with the transfer and that the insurance will be transferred in the new owners name after sale. The process is being delayed a lot. Now they are asking me to sign a new agreement since the old one is expired (90 days are over). They say some more repairs are pending before sale, but I don't think insurance can be issued if that was the case.
​
TL;DR: My old car, in roadworthy condition and legally in my name with an insurance in my name, is with a third party who is supposed to sell it off and transfer the name to someone else.
Will I get in trouble if they use the car for some illegal purpose? I have the car sale agreement (not in stamp paper) and the letter from them that they are proceeding for sale. Will I get in trouble with the RTO for this? For legal context, I am from Kerala.

Hi I am looking for advice on what to do here. My wife and I (both 28 years old) combined bring in $5900 per month after taxes. We bought our first house for $200,000 in 2022. We pay $1450/month for mortgage + condo fees. $400 utilities on the worst winter months. Add in phones, house + car insurance this comes to $2010 monthly. Other expenses to factor in (and I am over estimating here to be safer) would be gas ($400), groceries ($600 on the very high end) and our 2 large dogs ($200) adding $1200, so in total we are looking at $3210 monthly expenses and $2690 leftover. However we don't have much savings, only $2000 and this is due to us buying stuff for the house the last year and not being as financially responsible as we should have been.
I have bad credit due to a bad car loan I couldn't afford when I was 18 and stupid. My partner has excellent at around 830 and no personal debt. I never wanted to finance a car in my life again but we're feeling like we are out of options.
Our current car is a 2003 Nissan Xterra with 330,000km. Major oil leak estimated at $2000 to repair, an electrical problem we already spent $1000 trying to fix that keeps resurfacing, brakes and tires need replaced and overall is falling apart. We're worried it's going to break down any day. We have 1 car and that is because I work from home and it works great for us. My partner drives 90km round trip to work 5 days a week, all highway.
We are looking for a SUV due to our 2 large dogs, rough winters in our part of Alberta + love to go camping. We have come across a 2024 cx5 GS comfort for just over $40,000. We are considering a 6 year term at 4.9% which works out to $300 bi-weekly. Factor in the increase in insurance and it's adding around $750 monthly to our expenses. It seems we can afford it and still have $1900+ to put into savings. The used vehicle interest rates are terribly high here at 8.99% and the private used market is just awful and we're worried about getting another beater car that only lasts 2 years again.
But we are both terrified of having this payment at all, especially for 6 years. I don't know exactly what advice were looking for, but we're so stressed and anxious about this because we aren't seeing another option. It seems to be our only option and within our budget but we just don't know what to do.

"Representative Xyla, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
The human delegate to the Forian people's stood politely from behind his desk and motioned her into a chair opposite him.
"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Delegate River. I'm afraid I have come with ill tidings and to request assistance of the human Empire."
River smiled softly, his features gentle, but in his eyes were calculations, predictions, expectations.
"The empire and the Forian people have always been staunch allies. What can we do for you?"
Xyla produced her tablet, conjuring on it a series of reports from Forian expeditionary forces that had recently made contact with a new interstellar race. Though protocols were followed and the Forians had attempted peaceful communication, they had been rebuffed by the 'Legion' - a race of fungal sentients of seemingly unending number.
The Legion had all but decimated the first contact party and had ravaged the rescue fleet that had jumped in to save the expedition forces from what they had assumed was some form of natural disaster or disease. They had been met with harsh fighting in orbit as biological ships released clouds of mines like spores that detonated across the hulls of the rescue vehicles. Even after the rescue force realized this was a conscious attack and had begun evasive maneuvers and return fire their attempts were found meaningless against the Legion vessels. Outnumbered, outgunned and unprepared, the Forian rescue fleet fled back to Forian space, the expeditionary force was assumed totally lost.
And the retreat carved a galactic trail for the Legion to follow.
The human read through the reports with a stoic expression. They highlighted the negative trend the war was on, as Forian planet after Forian planet fell to Legion ships and soldiers, ultimately to be consumed by their growth. The Legion had seen only success in the conflict and had carved the Forian community into two halves, each half holding on by threads.
"Your people are divided and engaged in a loosing war with the Legion," he summarized. "I'm certain we can be of assistance. Humanity has encountered these foes before. I will have our commanders generate reports of their findings, suggestions of favorable battle tactics, recommendations on how to proceed. And, of course, you will have our assistance in rebuilding."
"Your offer is much appreciated, Delegate River, but I'm afraid the Forian people need more."
One of the Tufts of hair above the human's eyes raised slightly - an expression Xyla had learned meant the human was either confused, intrigued or entertained. Or all three. Humans were rather complex social creatures.
"If you have a proposal I can bring it forward to the Baron here. If it is within our power we could grant it immediately. Of course," he set the tablet down and turned fully towards Xyla, his countenance more serious than polite now, "if you are requesting something more serious, something substantial, it will need to approved by the emperor and his advisors. I can only promise so much."
Xyla was familiar with the human empire's negotiating. Generally, they would hear a proposal and, if they found it favorable, they would respond within 2 human days. If they found it politely unfavorable, they would simply not respond, answering inquiries with "the advisors are still discussing it," or "a decision has not yet been made on the matter, sorry." And wholly unfavorable proposals, such as the joint research agreement Xyla had proposed not 3 human years ago were immediately shut down. Her proposal now was one she expected wholesale rejection on, but she had been armed by the Forian primarch with a new bargaining tool and an imperative to make the humans agree. The Forians could not take no for answer on this.
"We believe the humans would be potent allies in this fight. Our military intelligence once generated a report on human forces that implied that what we could see of human military and weaponry was a 'placating show' and that more effort had been spent to conceal human military might than any galactic nation had ever spent using military might."
The human said nothing. He leaned forward resting his elbows on the desk, his fingers into a steeple, and his mouth behind his hands. His head tilted down and he now looked up with his eyes towards Xyla. The look was serious, dangerous, predatory even. But he did not say anything.
"The Forians formally request human aid in defeating the Legion forces and reuniting Forian space."
"We cannot fulfill that request at this time," he said flatly.
"We know humans can fight," Xyla demanded. Her skin began to glow from bioluminescence, betraying the passion of her position from the calmness of her speech. "Are you not capable of defeating the Legion? Are you afraid of them?"
"That is not the issue, Representative Xyla..." the human began.
"Tell me honestly now, could human warships defeat the Legion in combat?"
The human glanced down at Xylas tablet before bringing his gaze back to hers.
"Off the record," he said.
Xyla shut off her tablet and stowed it in her pocket as the human walked quietly around the desk and poked his head out the door. He glanced side to side for a moment and then, seemingly satisfied, closed and locked the door. He returned to his desk, opened the drawer and withdrew a tablet of his own, which he powered off and set face down on the desk. Finally, he regarded her intently.
"Your military intelligence is correct. Humans have concealed their military prowess from other galactic nations."
"Could you beat the Legion?"
"Yes. Of all the space-faring races we've come across, the Legion are perhaps the second or third most formidable - not counting ourselves of course. We wouldn't handily defeat them, per se, but we could all but guarantee military success against the forces you are engaging."
"Second or third?" Xyla stammered.
"Well naturally the federation is first. Then there's the Gaussians with their rather crafty electronic warfare. Their combat effectiveness is rather remarkable actually and the rest of the galactic community simply hasn't realized the potential Gaussians have for warfare due to their friendly nature. And they have more ships than we do people. Even still, they don't have a whole lot of bona fide military resources. Once they're done with their one trick of electronic warfare they are beatable with simple weaponry and tactics.
Then the Legion, with their large number and very fast resupply times, plus the fact that one Legionaire could eventually reproduce into a whole horde of fighters by itself, means that any conflicts with them not resolved very quickly and incredibly - ah - judiciously could very quickly become a quagmire. The empire certainly cannot afford a second war that could turn into a stalemate without our full attention. This is why I must deny your request.
As for the second or third place race, it's hard to say yet. The Wagash people - I don't believe your kind has encountered them yet actually, so I ask you to keep this between us - is rather warlike. We don't know the full strength of their forces yet and they are new to the galactic scene having only just achieved FTL a few cycles ago. But they remind us of us, and that means they're not to be trifled with lightly."
Xyla was shocked into silence for a moment. The human had acknowledged the threat of the Legion, but had framed it as one of time and effort, not insurmountable forces or indestructible vessels. And they weren't even as much of a threat as some new race that hadn't even made it to the galactic community yet?
"I see you are processing still, so let me reiterate our previous offer. We can have the empires' top military analysts review your positions and provide you with advice on how to proceed and findings from our own initial skirmish with the Legion. That information should greatly improve Forian combat effectiveness and it really is a very generous offer."
"What of human warships? Simply on loan?"
"No."
"Hired human mercenaries?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Human weapons? Training? Even just a blueprint?"
"Out of the question," the human said flatly. "What I've offered is already a stretch and..."
Xyla cut him off, "the Primarch calls in his favor."
"What?"
Xyla stood now, reaching her full height and allowing her bioluminescence to fill the room with different shades of blue and purple. She put on her most commanding voice.
"The Primarch calls in his favor."
"You don't know what you're asking," the human said in a warning tone. "This is Pandora's box and you don't just want the key, you want a sledge hammer to break it open."
"I have read your human mythology, River, and I know of Pandora's box. Do you know what was inside?"
"Monsters of every kind imaginable."
"Hope," Xyla said resolutely. "Delegate River, these reports do not tell the full story. Our forces are fractured beyond repair. Our colonies are starving, our ships and stations destroyed and left derelict. Even our homeworld is on the brink, fighting an unending battle just to supply forces and equipment enough to slow the Legion advance. Not stop it, not turn it, slow it. Without human military intervention, the Forian race is finished. We are a proud people, Mr. River, but not to proud to beg. Please help us."
River was silent for a moment, staring into the room beyond Xyla. His calculating eyes had glasses over as if seeing something horrible from his past before him now.
"The human emperor," he eventually said, seemingly to himself, "was once rescued from drowning during a visit to that aquatic colony of yours by the Forian prince. He vowed to repay the debt when your people asked. You, of course, know this, since you're calling in that favor." He looked at her now. "But you don't really know the magnitude of what you're asking. Humans going to war with anyone is going to change everything. On a galactic scale."
Xyla scoffed, but the human's serious expression quieted her quickly.
"Your people like to race, yes?" River asked.
"Yes," Xyla responded. "It is our - as you humans practice it - sport."
"Your fastest racer, how quick are they?"
"Resbin his our fastest racer. He could circumnavigate our home planet in less than three of its days."
"How long would it take you to do?" River asked.
"Well I'm no racer," Xyla blushed shyly. "Maybe 20? 15 if I'm given time to get in shape."
River sighed and then looked at her deeply. "You are to your race what Resbin is to mine. At least in terms of military. I said that the Legion was perhaps the second or third strongest military power in our galaxy? Well the difference between first place, the federation, and second place is like the difference between Resbian and you. It's astronomical. It's leaps and bounds. It's degrees of magnitude different. The only things that prevent us from wiping out the Legion are that we'd have to be decisive and thorough and that we're too busy with the federation to be thorough. You're asking an adult to get into a fight with a child, only once everyone else sees the adult fight they'll realize they're all children. It's going to start an arms race with every other species in the galaxy."
"We have no other choice," Xyla said. "We need your military to save us from annihilation."
River sighed for a moment and rubbed his hand across his brow. He muttered under his breath for a moment; something about diplomatic relations in light of military prowess. Eventually he stood.
"I must attend to something first. Will you stay here a moment while I make some negotiations?"
Xyla nodded and River left the room quietly. He was back in only a few minutes and nodded to her.
"You'll have our support, but just how much support we can offer depends on this next bit."
He tapped on his tablet a few decisive keystrokes and a telemonitor descended from the ceiling behind her. It whirred quietly for a moment before an image of another human appeared on it. In contrast to River's white, stiff attire with blue trim, this human wore black with a white undershirt and no accenting colors. His feet were kicked up on his desk as he leaned back in his chair and grinned at the screen.
"River," he called jovially, "finally calling to surrender, eh? Well you can suck my..."
River cut him off with quickly and loudly, "I'm joined by a representative of the Forian people, Ms Xyla."
Xyla nodded a polite greeting and the human on the monitor stammered for a moment before adopting a polite, formal posture.
"Ah. Apologies Ms Xyla. How can the Federation of Human Territories be of assistance?"
"The Forians have called in their favor," River answered for her. "I'm calling to negotiate a cease-fire while we answer it."
"The federation is friendly to the Forian people, but we are under no such obligations, River. I respect you for responding to a favor, but your cease fire is denied."
River put out his palms in a placating gesture. "Hear me out first. The favor is military aide. The reason," he swiped at his tablet and the human on the monitor looked down at his own as he received the message, "is of mutual interest to us."
The human on the screen was quiet for a moment as he read. His face changed from one of surprise and curiosity over the call to one of bitterness and anger. Finally, he looked up at Xyla through the monitor.
"The Legion harvested one of our colonies when we first encountered them. An undefended civilian colony was all but devoured. And when we finally made diplomatic contact with them they said it wasn't their fault, they just eat dead stuff. It was the colony's fault for being dead so easily. I thought we destroyed those sporey bastards but I guess we just accidentally sent them your way. River, you have your cease fire. And Xyla, you just got more ships. Tell your Primarch to point em out and get out the way, the humans are coming."
The transmission went dark and River turned towards Xyla. "Well," he clapped his hands and rubbed them enthusiastically, "with Imperial and Federation forces we should have that taken care in a couple days. It's like you got two Resbins for the price of one."
"And what you said about Pandora's box? About the arms race?"
"Oh I meant it. You're going to see monsters and all the galactic stage will feel like children before the human militaries. But you'll get your hope too. And besides," he winked, "a favor is owed."

God morgon!
Här är morgonens positiva nyheter. Ha en bra vecka!

• Avståndet mellan forskning och handling är ofta långt, men inte alltid. En forskare från Chalmers var med och utvecklade ett nytt och bättre sätt att rena vatten från kvicksilver, och nu har han valt att starta ett företag för att se till att produkten kommer ut på marknaden och faktiskt kommer till nytta. Cirka hälften av Sveriges sjöar har för höga nivåer av kvicksilver, främst pga industriutsläpp och tandläkarmottagningar.
• För några dagar sedan röstade EU-parlamentet igenom regelpaketet “Rätten att reparera” som ska göra det enklare för konsumenter att laga sina varor, framförallt hemelektronik såsom mobiltelefoner, tvättmaskiner, TV-apparater etc. Bland annat måste tillverkaren erbjuda reparation till ett rimligt pris även efter garantin gått ut, och man måste även se till att även tredje parter har tillgång till reservdelar, verktyg och instruktioner. Konsumenten ska även uppmuntras att välja reparation över nyköp, m.h.a. t.ex. ekonomiska incitament.
• I tre år har det pågått en tävling för att locka människor att uppfinna något som tar bort kol ur atmosfären. Efter flera uteslutningsomgångar har man nu presenterat de 100 mest lovande tekniska lösningarna på problemet. (Tack u/Onaliquidrock för tipset!)
• I november förra året tappade NASA kontakt med en rymdsonden Voyager 1, som både är en av de äldsta och den som befinner sig längst bort i rymden (nästan 170 gånger längre bort än solen). Till slut lyckades man lista ut att boven var ett trasigt chip, och efter att ha kodat om i princip hela maskinen fick man i tisdags kontakt med den igen.*
• Forskare vid Umeå universitet har utvecklat en ny bromsmedicin för en särskilt aggressiv form av ALS. Patienten som fått testa behandlingen fick sin diagnos under 2020, och skulle sannolikt ha gått bort året därpå. Tack vare den nya medicinen har man lyckats bromsa in sjukdomsförloppet så pass mycket att han fortfarande kan leva ett socialt och aktivt liv, och hans skademarkörer i blodet har minskat med 90%. En av överläkarna säger: “Vi har aldrig tidigare sett så här bra resultat med någon behandling” .“Att den här patienten fortfarande kan gå mer eller mindre obehindrat i en trappa fortfarande fyra år efter sjukdomsutbrottet, det är faktiskt lite av ett mirakel att se”, säger en av forskarna. (Tack u**/siraelwindrunner** för tipset!)

*Mer info om Voyager 1 ifall man är nyfiken: Den är byggd på 70-talet vilket är en utmaning i sig, men även innebär att nästan all orginaldokumentation endast finns i pappersform. Till solen tar det åtta minuter för ljuset att färdas, till rymdsonden tar det 22,5 timmar.
Dessa inlägg har fått en egen hemsida! Det är har gjort den. Vi har lite problem med att skriva länken direkt i inlägget, men jag kommer lägga den i en kommentar här nedanför. Har man själv stött på någon positiv nyhet får man gärna skriva den i en kommentar eller skicka iväg ett PM, så kan jag ta med den i nästa veckas inlägg
Källor

• Kvicksilver
• Rätten att reparera
• Rätten att reparera 2
• NASA 1
• NASA 2
• ALS
• Kol 1
• Kol 2

Small Finance Banks: The RBI has invited applications from small finance banks meeting specified criteria, including a minimum net worth of Rs 1,000 crore, for becoming regular or universal banks. There are about a dozen SFBs, including AU Small Finance Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
HCL Technologies: HCL Software, the software business unit of HCL Tech, announced that it has been selected by the State Bank of India for their Mar Tech solution as part of SBI's digital transformation programme
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The company's arm, Apollo HealthCo, will raise Rs 2,475 crore from Advent International and integrate Keimed over the next 24-30 months.
Adani Enterprises: The company's Mauritius-based arm completed the acquisition of a 49% stake in Abu Dhabi-based Adani Esyasoft Smart Solutions for $24,500. Patanjali Foods: The company received a proposal to acquire a non-food business from Patanjali Ayurved.
NDTV: The company reported a 59% growth in revenue YoY in the fourth quarter. Its digital arm witnessed a significant increase of 39% in global traffic in March 2024.
AMI Organics: The company approved raising to Rs 99 crore via preferential issue of shares. Cipla: The company arm, Cipla Health, completed the purchase of cosmetics and personal care businesses from Ivia Beaute.
Hinduja Global Solutions: The company arm acquired a 51% stake in Seven Star Balaji Broadband. Seven Star Balaji Broadband is now the step-down arm of the company. Macrotech Developers: NCLT has approved a resolution plan for V Hotels in which the company will pay Rs 900 crore under the resolution plan for V Hotels over 270 days; the first tranche of Rs 90 crore has already been remitted.
Lloyds Enterprises: The company has invested a 26% stake in Adithya Power.
CESC: The company has successfully acquired a 100% stake in Bhadla 3 SKP Green Ventures from SKP Green Ventures for a total sale consideration of Rs 3.84 crore. The target company is involved in developing a 300 MW renewable solar park in Rajasthan.
NBCC: gets an in-principle approval to form a wholly owned subsidiary in Dubai
Ircon: International gets order worth Rs 1,198.09 cr from the East Coast Railway
ICICIBank: Q4 Earnings Net profit gains over 17% to ₹10,707.5 crore, up 3.7% from Street estimates
RBLBank: reports 352.5 crore net profit in fourth quarter, above Street estimates
Force Motors: declares dividend of 20 per share as Q4 revenue rises 35%
SBI Card results: Q4 net profit surges over 11% to 662 crore
INDIAN RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY: CO SAYS GOVT GRANTED THE 'NAVRATNA STATUS' TO CO

Small Finance Banks: The RBI has invited applications from small finance banks meeting specified criteria, including a minimum net worth of Rs 1,000 crore, for becoming regular or universal banks. There are about a dozen SFBs, including AU Small Finance Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank.
HCL Technologies: HCL Software, the software business unit of HCL Tech, announced that it has been selected by the State Bank of India for their Mar Tech solution as part of SBI's digital transformation programme
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The company's arm, Apollo HealthCo, will raise Rs 2,475 crore from Advent International and integrate Keimed over the next 24-30 months.
Adani Enterprises: The company's Mauritius-based arm completed the acquisition of a 49% stake in Abu Dhabi-based Adani Esyasoft Smart Solutions for $24,500. Patanjali Foods: The company received a proposal to acquire a non-food business from Patanjali Ayurved.
NDTV: The company reported a 59% growth in revenue YoY in the fourth quarter. Its digital arm witnessed a significant increase of 39% in global traffic in March 2024.
AMI Organics: The company approved raising to Rs 99 crore via preferential issue of shares. Cipla: The company arm, Cipla Health, completed the purchase of cosmetics and personal care businesses from Ivia Beaute.
Hinduja Global Solutions: The company arm acquired a 51% stake in Seven Star Balaji Broadband. Seven Star Balaji Broadband is now the step-down arm of the company. Macrotech Developers: NCLT has approved a resolution plan for V Hotels in which the company will pay Rs 900 crore under the resolution plan for V Hotels over 270 days; the first tranche of Rs 90 crore has already been remitted.
Lloyds Enterprises: The company has invested a 26% stake in Adithya Power.
CESC: The company has successfully acquired a 100% stake in Bhadla 3 SKP Green Ventures from SKP Green Ventures for a total sale consideration of Rs 3.84 crore. The target company is involved in developing a 300 MW renewable solar park in Rajasthan.
NBCC: gets an in-principle approval to form a wholly owned subsidiary in Dubai
Ircon: International gets order worth Rs 1,198.09 cr from the East Coast Railway
ICICIBank: Q4 Earnings Net profit gains over 17% to ₹10,707.5 crore, up 3.7% from Street estimates
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Yet another three months away from this sub... I swear if anyone of you know me, I'll be surprised at this point. Anyway, here ye go!
Also, to any of you that actually like my stuff and want more of it sooner, I'm happy to say that I have more time set to this more than ever before! So, buckle up cause I'm going to be posting as much as I can with the best quality I can provide!
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Notice: This story is about to humanity, but they are introduced much later into the narrative.
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Prev: Chains of The Veiled (2/?) :
Next:
First: Chains of The Veiled : humansarespaceorcs (reddit.com)
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Never has the light of hydrogen fusion felt so cold. Our orbit was all but a few thousand kilometers from the surface of an infernal furnace of the vacuum in which we trek. A star which functioned at the location for a galactic travel hub. Hundreds of Warp Gates, all orbiting the start so closely in order to provide themselves with the necessary power. Warp gates which were suspended in place by solar sails constantly utilizing the photons emitted to remain in their orbit so low to the star. It was a complex machine which could maintain a perfect orbit around a healthy star, all with the powers that such suns provided. A genius of engineering and physics that allowed all species of the Galactic Assembly easy travel and access to countless other worlds. These gates were the lifeblood as much as they were the backbone…
And so close to us was a Hubgate, crumbling at the seams. Torpedoes from the black craft struck at crucial hardpoints. The force causes the gate to collapse down into the gravity well of the Solar mass, no longer able to maintain its stable orbit. It was a rapid collapse due to the mass of the star itself, leading the structure and any left inside of it charing beyond the point of ashes. From the screens of the bridge, I watched from rear facing cameras as the very means of what provided our salvation crumbled. Any that might have been behind us either were left to the perverted mitts of those black fleet scum, or flew head first into the stars, incinerating almost immediately.
We were thousands of lightyears from the Fulkari territories, but despite the distance I could still hear the ongoing screams in the back of my mind as I knew chaos continued to boil in the distant void. The tension from our near death encounter began to slowly fade, as adrenaline began to lessen within the blood streams of everyone present on the bridge. There were several that collapsed from the built up stress from the previous engagement, sobbing and mumbling sighs of relief followed in tandem with the first one to collapse…
The first being Kazzi, in all of her tearful state. She collapsed onto her knees just off to my side, eyes glazed over with a sense of realization. Reality ramming down a mallet upon everything she had and lived for. Her life, her reputation, her home, any family that couldn’t have escaped in time, it was all ashes. Entombed behind lightyears of travel which we could no longer reach. We saw on the other end of the warp gates that Black fleet torpedo craft were sent to destroy each gate that connected to each hub star. Along with any allied gates, effectively isolating the remaining Fulkari colonies to a bitter end, and a shallow, yet radioactive grave.
She knew all of this, and even more that I couldn’t even begin to try and understand. I never knew who she was all that well, only basing my perception of her based on stereotypes. I could only envision her as a sort of rich snob who constantly needed to remind others of her worth in order to actually feel like it. However, for once I saw something that made her seem like much more of a person. Terror, and loss, emotions which swirled all throughout the visage of a woman who just lost everything to mechanical nightmares.
All she had was this ship, and whatever money she had left her bank saved up. Whilst it was likely a lot given her position as an executive, no amount of money could ever repair a broken life so extreme as that. That I know, a healthy family is a priceless artifact that’s difficult to part with when the inevitability of death claims them. A state of being wrought so soon by forces from a dark beyond. That Black Fleet, whatever it is, has caused so much unnecessary suffering. It’s just like the Foretold and how they were destined to ruin everything. Vile creatures that just refused to die, as if they were evil incarnate. A force of the natural world that just couldn’t die out despite all of their harmful tendencies.
I watched the emotion in her face amalgamate into something of pure sorrow. Tears poured from eyes which beamed despair… She was left a mumbling mess, struggling to compose what little she had of herself. I sighed, moving away from my terminal. I walked up to Kazzi and enveloped her in a hug. She showed no resistance at my advance, and actively moved to return my gesture in kind. However, Kazzi seemed to be doing so instinctively rather than consciously, as she remained in this state of glazed horror. I did my best to comfort her in what was clearly her darkest hour.
A transmission was received on our comms unit, and the closest person did their best to respond. Clicking on the accept button, a repeat message played on loop. An almost robotic tone flooded the bridge, “This is Admiral Gesvolt of the AGN. To any and all vessels who can hear this message, we have just received the alert regarding the collapse of the Fulkari warp network due to outside parties and malicious forces. Should you be refugees from this assault upon the Fulkari, redirect your course to the Core. Station 68 shall be awaiting you for processing and interrogation…”
The message seemed to repeat over and over, and it seemed that fleeing to the Core was indeed where we were fated to arrive. The Core, a Solar system that was discovered outside of any territories owned by other races, as neutral space, it functions as the Galactic assembly’s home system. A place of commerce and political power. A center of federal power unlike any other. The Core functioned as a headquarters and organizer of many things, one such included refugees from any kind of tragic incident. And this was no other. The message was broadcasted upon all channels, so it was impossible for anyone to not catch wind of the event. Information travels fast, quick like any travel through a warp gate…
As my mind wandered, Kazzi poked at me as I hugged her. With the general understanding that my physical contact wasn’t as comforting as it initially was. I let go of Kazzi, and let her get her bearings. She struggled to stand upright, “Please… take us to Core… I need to go lay down for a minute.” She kept her gaze away from me, turning from the bridge to go to her personal quarters. I didn’t want to take risks with her, but she likely needed some space. I didn’t lose a single person on this ship during the escape, and I don’t plan to now. Stay strong Kazzi, just a while longer…
Still, we had somewhere we had to be. People that we had to take to receive the care and assistance they properly needed. Walking back to the Helm controls, I began to drive the ship across the Hub star. Nearly one thousand warp gates were all present, each one leading to another Galactic Assembly member's homeworld. The Territory of the GA as an organization exceeded 100,000 star systems, and we were encroaching upon the system which functioned as its heart. The warps gates that we passed were all basic in their construction, but the one which we encroached upon was ornamented extremely, with an almost regal appearance. One that signified importance and power.
I had the ship orient itself to follow the recently reopened refugee lane. This was a section of the warp gate which was devoted to quick and easy access into the Core, following a space lane to station 68. These kinds of lanes were rarely ever opened, and were mainly active during tragedies or wartime. Given the context, this specialized lane was opened for both reasons. I brought the ship to follow others in a line. Each ship which found itself traveling through this lane was one which managed to escape the attack, with some worse for wear. I could see sections of other ships which were shot off, still active with doors leading to those blasted portions sealed shut… It was concerning to see how many of these ships suffered such blasts. How many people were sucked out into the void during the escape? A question that I didn’t want answered truthfully. We followed a route map which was sent to us, one which all of the refugee ships were meant to follow to station-68.
The station itself orbited the system’s second planet, one of the many ecumenopolis bodies of the Core. It was a large station, utilized as a sort of residence for Refugees until another unit of housing could be constructed to accommodate those that needed help. Agricultural bays were all over the massive pillar of a space station, this provided plenty of self sustainability to victims of all kinds. Which was very helpful for me. After all of the chaos unfolded behind us, I needed something to distract myself from all the traumatic stress, and a good hearty meal was definitely the way to go about it.
One aspect of the station was the sheer amount of docking bays or refugee vessels. This was a standard feature, as it made it easier and more effective at offloading massive amounts of people onto the station. I oriented the Yacht towards one of these docking bays and contacted the automated dockyard systems regarding entry. When the link is established I begin to request permission to dock. “Attention Dockyard, this is the private yacht Prestigious Vow requesting docking to offload refugees that we have on board…”
I waited for a response from the master computer, before receiving a confirmation almost immediately. “Prestigious Vow you are clear to dock. Please align with bay section-28 to begin offloading” spoke an automated response over the comms. It made sense why they were resorting to Automated directors, the influx of sudden refugees would warrant quite the reaction, and using the system to streamline the process would be most effective. Handling Numerous ships like they were as of now would be nightmarish for the standard operating tower to organize. Flying over to the designated section of the station, I found drone guides flying out to meet us.
Using drone guides to assist with docking ships was a common practice across all of GA space, and made it to where more organized dock movements occurred, resulting in little to nothing in terms of station related accidents. The disk-like drones blinked as they went about assisting the vessel latch into the drydock appropriately. With a shift in movement, I could feel the buckling of momentum as the magnetic locks kept us firm in place as the walkways began to fold out from the station bay. A few arms folded out of the section of drydock that we were parked in, and moved to attack itself to the ship side where the entrances to the yacht’s airlocks were. With everything in position, I received a notification from the station’s systems to open comms for their announcement to the crew and passengers. I pressed the confirm button to permit the station system access to the shipwide speakers,
“This is an informant message to notify all refugees, all civilians are steer clear of the airlock units. Station staff shall make they’re way to assist with retrieval of refugees and any critically injured state. We shall assist with offloading all passengers to a waiting area to receive lodging until further notice. Compliance is an order as we seek to help you in this unfortunate time.” spoke the automated communicator. I sighed, feeling a sense of relief washing over me as we seemed out of the storm. At least, for the little moment that we had. The people that were operating the bridge sighed with a similar disposition to my own. And went to take the lift down from the bridge to the lower decks with the airlocks. They all made their way onto the lift, but I made no such indication of following. I knew that I needed to check up on the Fulkari who rightfully owned this ship.
Kazzi was likely unstable, and needed someone to help her with the revelation, and the likely possibility of there being nothing left. I can’t imagine the struggle that the Fulkari are currently suffering. She and I aren’t so much of friends to mean that much, but as of now I’m all she has. I walked out of the bridge, through a small yet luxurious hallway leading behind the lift, Turning the corner, I walked up to one of two doors. One which led to the captain’s quarters, and the other which was designed to accommodate the VIP. I walked to the VIP room, as this was the room which Kazzi likely made her abode upon the vessel. I sighed, and lifted my hand to knock upon the door.
I received nothing in turn…
I knocked a little louder, yet still didn’t hear anything. Concerned, I opened the door to see Kazzi wallowing on her floor-bolted-bed, curled up as she looked out of her room’s viewport along the back of the bridgetower. She remained still, motionless in her fixture much like the star of the Core. From her view, she had a prime view of the city planet in which we orbited, and the star which peaked beyond its horizon. An ethereal sight to be sure, but something that did little to ease the Fulkari’s current condition.
Not once has an encounter with Kazzi ever gone so cold like now. In which I felt so sorry for the woman who had it all, only to lose it instantly… It was surreal, as everything seemed to be as of recent. The evacuation, the attack… the destruction not just upon the warp gates, but whatever devastation continued in the severed reaches of the Fulkari. And I had no doubt in my mind that Kazzi was trapped on her own. In that head of hers was swirling doubts and thoughts which plagued her subconscious.
Trauma was a gate that locked a victim deep within their minds, unable to pass due to not having a key at their disposal to open that impasse. It keeps them still, with unyielding strength in the bars which were cold to the touch. A lock so complex held her there, one which could take her time to break on her own. But too much time to make any significant progress. She was someone new in this new stage of vulnerability. And The Kazzi I knew seemed to die beyond that warp gate, with this new person taking her place. I knew that Kazzi, now matter who she was now, needed someone to break her out. I was the only one she currently had, and I needed to take the mantle of responsibility and give her the love and care she needed to brave through this nightmare.
I walked up and went about setting my four legs to loaf upon her bed, leaving me in a position where I was pointing directly at the window. I turned my forebody to look at her for a moment, before looking back out the window with her. Despite my homeworld being one covered in frigide oceans and stormy seas, breaking the ice was something of a challenge given the sophistication of our situation. The atmosphere hung heavy like the death tolls which were yet to be counted. Despite my attempts to do so, it was Kazzi to speak in this thickened atmosphere that permeated not just her room, but the entire ship itself.
“Why?” She uttered, almost eshaberated with that single word. That single word which seemed to draw so much strength to utter. “Why would those… things attack us?... wha-... What even were they?” She wasn’t expecting any answer, those abominations were all still a mystery after all. But at the same time my mind was made up on what I figured to be the truth. Whether that be the case or not. I took a moment to waver on whether or not I should tell, but even if it hurts, it’s best to rip off a band-aid while you still can. “Foretold,” I stated, confident that what those machines were was a culmination of effort from whatever surviving Foretold might exist. Her head lifted up to where it was level with the floor. She looked dead straight before turning to look at me like I was Insane.
“What?... wha-that’s not possible; That war wasn’t even over a decade ago. There’s no way that they could’ve survived, let alone build such a force within such a small amount of time.” Kazzi made a fair point, based on the average decade in the Galactic Assembly, there’s not enough time to build an armada of such magnitude. “But at the same time who else could it be?” I said, “The technology that the black fleet utilized was relatively primitive despite the prowess of those… horribly terrifying robotics. Their ships were flimsy when hit with the Fulkari main weapons, breaking apart nigh instantly. There are many ships in the GA, but not built like the ones used in that black fleet… Only the Foretold vessels fit those kinds of makes, swarms of steel meant to drown out anything in their path with sheer volume. I know you think I’m insane for thinking this, but who else in the galaxy could manage to travel through an FTL method that the GA has never developed?”
“I-... I don’t want to believe that’s true… It can’t be… It had to be someone else, powerful like the first of the GA, those who can master a realm of the Universe we don’t know of. After all, those religious Foretold didn’t have such advanced technology like that…” I listened to her, and could only sigh. “A lot can change in a single decade Kazzi…” I said, “Whether or not I’m right is up to you to decide, but at the same time it’s up to me to see to it that I help you.”
“Get to the point…” She muttered, throwing me for a loop all but for a single moment. I sighed, trying to ease into a more tender disposition. I wasn’t one for such buddy-buddy interactions. Such things weren’t common amongst my own kind. I simply scooted over and placed a paw upon her shoulder, a gesture she initially shivered at… “look, I’m not going to pretend I understand the feelings that are permeating all about you right now. But I’m here for you. I intend on providing however much support you need. I doubt you want to talk about it, but take your time. I’m willing to help you, it’s up to you if you’re willing to let me.”
Kazzi… spoke nothing in response, her head hanging low. I couldn’t see her face, with her keeping it hidden from me. I didn’t say much else after that, simply letting the atmosphere that seemed to radiate about the room, hoping that maybe the intensity would fade with time. Awkwardness was a radiation all in itself, one that you could never truly cure or forget. I knew that nothing could save her from the sorrow of losing her home, but I can do whatever I can to ease the wound that the blow caused into something manageable. Mentally, I knew she wouldn’t be able to recover. Frankly I’d be more concerned if she wasn’t like this…
Despite the silence, I could hear some sort of whimpering from the Fulkari woman… as she scooted closer to me. She simply moved to lean against my side, letting herself recollect herself mentally and physically. Kazzi… wasn’t a strong woman. Fulkari weren’t physically bulky, being very thin and lanky in their builds. Kazzi also wasn’t as mentally fortified as I was. She never had the unfortunate fate of being dragged into the military to serve. She never faced the grueling horrors of war like I had to.
But then again my people, the Hystravics, were a near polar opposite of the Fulkari in countless ways physically and culturally. It’s almost laughable how comedical our differences were, like brain versus brawn, pretentious versus proud… Night and day, we had little to nothing in common, but in the end we were all we had at the moment. At the lowest points, we’re all the same, and the walls we built from flawed societies crumble in turn. Presenting the true you, at your most vulnerable. I never considered Kazzi someone pleasing to associate with due to her lustrous and flaunting lifestyle. Evil, greedy corporations and all that stigmatism…
But seeing her in this way, in a light which shines only during the darkest hours, it presents a new way of viewing another. One which can lead to bonds forming no matter the divide. One which rarely ever shines, but surely does so brightly when it decides to. Kazzi was someone who hid behind her status, because she was afraid. I could see it in her eyes that she was beyond terrified. Implications were all but fact, and the truth was as easy to say as curses when near blackout drunk. Did her status provide her a comfort that she never had? What was her life before I met her? What was her fami-...
A question like that was best not asked so soon…
I held her close, staying silent and giving her all the time I was willing to provide. I was willing to stay as long as I needed to. I moved to wrap my arm around her, keeping her close and providing her the moment she needed to recollect herself into something relatively presentable. She breathed erratically as I felt tears flow against my fur. Everything that was happening felt so surreal. Everything that shouldn’t ever occur happened all at once. The last war occurred only to prevent everything that was happening… all those lives lost just to suffer another cruel fate wrought by those scumbag foretold… if everything that happened was to occur again, then I know for a fact that we of the GA shall crush them for this crime…
After a while of sulking and shivering at my side for what felt like several minutes, Kazzi began to recollect herself after a long and powerful session of crying, one which allowed her to release all the built up emotion bottled from the events. I was caught in the floodgates, being washed by a tsunami of pain from a woman who just lost everything worth more than any bank account… more than any credit could ever amount to her. Her home, in which she was raised and lived all her life. With family and friends alike… riding upon success and building a name for herself. Something that now meant nothing. But she seemed to start coming to terms with her new existence. For better or for worse…
“Kovvak?” She muttered, in a vocal range that I was just able to receive. I responded with a simple, “Yes, Kazzi?”
“Is fate the one we face, because of the actions we’ve taken? Was the last war… really worth it?”
…
“Believe me Kazzi, I’ve asked myself that very question for years now. I’ll tell you when I finally get the answer” I retorted. It was a thought which plagued my mind ever since the last of the enemy ships fell silent in their drifting through the void. I’ll never get my answers on whether or not it was worth it. Guilt tainted my mind due to the conflict, despite my hatred for those we fought. I wasn’t stubborn enough to deny that there were wrongs and rights to both sides of the war. But war was never about who was right, only who’s left.
I could hear a grumble, something which sounded like a roar. There was no beast where we were though, only a monstrous appetite of a hungry Fulkari. I shot up, surprised to hear such a rumble from the relatively skinny Fulkari. I chuckled seeing her flustered at her sudden show of hunger, as she went about blushing a flush purple of embarrassment at the sound. There were still some tears in her eyes as she turned to apologize directly. “I-I’m so sorry about that!” She loudly spoke in the aftermath of her little roar. I chuckled, finding it understandable and simply waving her down over the whole thing. Fulkari required plenty of energy considering their remarkable metabolism and usage of a wide amount of nutrients, and given the chase it was no doubt that Kazzi needed something to chew on. I decided to offer a suggestion to the Fulkari woman. “What do you say you and I go and get something to eat? Talk about where we go from here? We need a path to walk after all…”
…
“Sure thing” she said, with a soft and heartwarming smile.

For context: making my own head cannon faction for shits and giggles and trying to figure out how they would fit into the Imperium and not be purged. They are technically the Foederati Sabbatical, human client states that pay very high tithes in exchange for as much autonomy as possible. As I learn about things I realize the best way to describe them as in the same ballpark of Rouge Traders. But this makes it very hard for them to tithe out manufactured goods because ev en if the Mechanicum can't touch them for tech heresy, writs of the Emperor and all that, the Mechanicum would pitch a fit if the Foederati sent the Navy ships that had no machine spirits. The Foederati hate and fear anything that could be connected to the Warp and wouldn't even make STC patterns for export.
But apperently Rouge Trader Fleets can and are often contracted to act as troop transports. And I was thinking, to make sure there's minimal contact between the Foederati crews and the IG, they'd put the troops into long term storage pods for the trip. Power is usually not the thing that's in short supply on a 40k ship.
Now I was thinking if there's an imetmediate level between time freezing stasis pods and cyrogenic regular freezing pods, like the water pod things from Event Horizon, whether or not that movie is canon, but the concept of being semi-asleep for the jouney. If they could do that then they could provide an added benefit of acting as medical unit both during the voyage and as a convolesence hospital ship in the campaigns themselves. Basically, clean out latent cancers, reset hormone levels, stress and otherwise, turbo charge the repairative effects of sleep, balance out any nutritional deficets in the IG en route.
In theory, this would be a great way to transport IG units from Hive Worlds who are just filled with industrial pollutants and probably have loads of physchological trauma to their hormone and limbic systems (and yes emotional trauma has real physical effects like this). It would make them a lot easier to control as it would lessen neurodivergent and post traumatic stress symtoms, at least until the life of a gaurdsman erased all the gains.
But aside from this most preferred option, I was wondering if the Imperium has any other form of stasis pods I should be aware of. The relic stasis boxes aren't important for this purpose. And I was thinking something the size of a an Imperial destroyer, if packed to the gills with stasis pods and not needing extra bunks, food or sanitary systems could maybe ship 250,000 IG as a time? Or is that low balling it from existing sources? Of note hear, the Foederati ships are at least as automated as the Bucephalus, which I'm thinking would make something the size of a Cobra Destroyer need a crew of less than 1,000, verus a Cobra which needs 15,000. And that frees up a fuckton of support space.
And I do know the verse runs way more on rule of cool than anything else. But I at least want to try and make the attmept to keep my thing in plausible ranges.

So, I have 60k in upcoming medical expenses not covered by insurances.
We bought a money pit (despite all the research, inspections, etc.), our house did not appreciate yet, in fact it depreciated some and the discovered house issues will likely depreciate it more. We already spent 15k on the repairs and have 15k more quoted in unexpected expenses, and there is another issue that just came up that may mean very expensive repairs also.
Plus we have 30k in debt (most of it tying back to the medical and house expenses).
We are middle class, and make okay money not enough to thrive. We do have about 1k left a month that we are throwing at debt currently.
At this point just looking for creative solutions. Do we take out a loan to repair everything and do some kind of themed Airbnb to make more money faster and get ahead? Do we sell the house at loss and take a big hit? Do we each work 2 jobs? Do we start a business? (We both climbed career ladders fairly quickly, so I know we have some smarts). Do we sue the sellers (although we will unlikely win - not enough direct evidence that they knew about the issues). Do we live abroad as expats for a couple of years and earn most of our income to get ahead?
What would you do to make these lemons into lemonade? Looking for life tips/wisdom form the fellow hustlers. Thank you!

20 F - 5’2 and 125ish lbs
Hi! Looking for advice. I started lifting weights and cleaned up my diet abt 1.5 years ago and probably lost 10 lbs, and definitely put on a good amount of muscle. Went down from a size 6 to 4. I was tracking on MFP and aiming for 100g protein a day. Moved to college last Fall and have struggled to lose more fat. I want to be lean enough that my muscles pop more, visible abs, etc. I’m assuming that weight would probably be around 105 lbs for me. If I’m being honest, I think over my fitness journey I have messed up my hunger cues a lot and now find myself overeating when I never used to before/ fearing being hungry too much. Because now, when I try to put myself in a deficit, I just feel ravenous all the time and it is unsustainable. Right now, it feels like I have to be constantly munching all day to avoid “feeling hungry” which is super annoying because I don’t want to be thinking about food all the time. Also not only have I not been losing fat, I seem to have unintentionally bulked this year. (5lbs)
Currently I work out 4-5x a week (Run 1 mile/10 min of cardio + 45 min lift) and then one long run (3-5 miles). At college its hard to track cals and macros because I have to eat at the dining hall, even though I try to mainly chef up things in my dorm. I’m gonna move home for the summer soon and hopefully can go back to tracking accurately. I try to eat a lot of greek yogurt, oats, chicken, eggs/egg whites, ultra filtered milk, whole grain bread, brown rice, fruit/veg, and minimize my added sugar. Estimating that these days I get 70-110g protein per day. I also try to prioritize fiber along with protein for the sake of my gut. I don’t struggle with binging or late night eating. I also only drink when forced :) I’ve tried 16h IF in the past but have noticed that it doesn’t make me feel great.
Does anyone have any hacks for how to lose the last 20 pounds or so in the form of habits? I know it may be a difficult task because I don’t need to lose it, it’s just vanity :-) I want to lose it healthily and sustainably, and obviously don’t want to sacrifice my fitness for it. I’m sure that there are habits that I can optimize for this, I just can’t see them myself right now. :(
Thanks in advance!

Long, vulnerable post alert 🥹
Hi everyone! I had a hysterectomy in October 2023 and the surgeon accidentally cut my bladder (it was a large bladder injury - approx 5inch hole cut in my bladder), which turned into a fistula (I had to wear a catheter and adult diapers for months). A urologist tried to repair but the bladder injury was so severe that he had to refer me to an urology oncologist. Due to the nature/location of the fistula, I had a UTI and was on antibiotics from October when the bladder injury occurred through the next surgery to try to prevent a kidney infection, which decreased my overall gut health. I was out of work for 6 weeks following the hysterectomy, then went back to work until my next surgery in February 2024 to repair my fistula and surrounding area as well as damage to my colon, all of which was a result of the hysterectomy. The following week after that surgery, I developed a bilateral kidney infection and turned septic and was back in the hospital for another 7 days fighting for my life. My oncologist ordered me to be on leave until June to recover and heal from surgery, kidney infection, sepsis, and work to rebuild my overall health, but my sick and vacation leave have officially run out. We have 4 young children and financially are a two income family. I have been approved for the federal leave donation program and while I don’t usually like to put myself out there to ask for handouts, I am stepping out of my comfort zone to ask if anyone has any leave that they would like to donate, I would be so grateful.
If employees within GSA wish to donate leave, they may do so by visiting the https://vltp.gsa.gov/ website.
If federal employees outside of GSA wish to donate leave, they may do so by completing the Request to Donate Annual Leave(Outside Agency) form. The donor will complete Part A, and Part B must be completed by the donor's respective VLTP/OHRM Coordinator. The completed form should then be emailed to lakita.rivero@gsa.gov
Thank you sincerely for your consideration.

Long, vulnerable post alert 🥺
Hi everyone! I had a hysterectomy in October 2023 and the surgeon accidentally cut my bladder (it was a large bladder injury - approx 5inch hole cut in my bladder), which turned into a fistula (I had to wear a catheter and adult diapers for months). A urologist tried to repair but the bladder injury was so severe that he had to refer me to an urology oncologist. Due to the nature/location of the fistula, I had a UTI and was on antibiotics from October when the bladder injury occurred through the next surgery to try to prevent a kidney infection, which decreased my overall gut health. I was out of work for 6 weeks following the hysterectomy, then went back to work until my next surgery in February 2024 to repair my fistula and surrounding area as well as damage to my colon, all of which was a result of the hysterectomy. The following week after that surgery, I developed a bilateral kidney infection and turned septic and was back in the hospital for another 7 days fighting for my life. My oncologist ordered me to be on leave until June to recover and heal from surgery, kidney infection, sepsis, and work to rebuild my overall health, but my sick and vacation leave have officially run out. We have 4 young children and financially are a two income family. I have been approved for the federal leave donation program and while I don’t usually like to put myself out there to ask for handouts, I am stepping out of my comfort zone to ask if anyone has any leave that they would like to donate, I would be so grateful.
If employees within GSA wish to donate leave, they may do so by visiting the https://vltp.gsa.gov/ website.
If federal employees outside of GSA wish to donate leave, they may do so by completing the Request to Donate Annual Leave(Outside Agency) form. The donor will complete Part A, and Part B must be completed by the donor's respective VLTP/OHRM Coordinator. The completed form should then be emailed to lakita.rivero@gsa.gov
Thank you sincerely for your consideration.