Bb messenger smileys free download

Dokkan Community

2017.05.18 06:29 GrieverXVII Dokkan Community

Welcome to the Dokkan Battle Community! This subreddit is for both the Japanese and Global versions of the mobile game. Find Information, guides, news, fan art, meme's and everything else you love about Dokkan Battle all in one awesome community!

[link]

2013.03.20 03:29 evrydayzawrkday Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server subreddit. Post blog posts you like, KB's you wrote or ask a question. Open forum for Exchange Administrators / Engineers / Architects and everyone to get along and ask questions.

[link]

2011.03.31 09:27 Petrarch1603 Downton Abbey

Welcome to the Downton Abbey subreddit, a place to discuss all things related to the show, the 2 feature films, the cast and the real-life history/context of the franchise. We hope you enjoy your stay.

[link]

2024.06.09 22:38 DocumentWilling6781 Intermittently Slow Fios Gigabit Performance - What to do?

Hello all!
My family and I have been Verizon Fios customers for many years, and I must say, we are actually quite happy with the service. However, recently, I have noticed that the speeds we receive are often inconsistent, with common throughput during file transfers and downloads less than 100 megabits per second on a regular basis. This is both over Ethernet and Wi-fi and is true across multiple devices. I spoke with the phone support and had a technician visit the premises, as well as ran the speed test tool on VZ's website (speedtest[dot]verizon[dot]net). The results on the Verizon provided speed test are often inconsistent, and they tend to jump around a lot. However, I regularly see speeds between 200 and 400 Mbps on the router side, which is far less than what we pay for. (FYI, we are subscribed to Fios Gigabit, which promises up to 940/880).
I often run large file transfers between my cloud storage and my computer here at home, so this is a rather large problem. When I spoke to the phone service, they rebooted the ONT and router several times, and the kind woman I spoke with was very concerned about the performance. However, when the technician visited, everything looked on the up and up when he visited, and he said he didn't see anything wrong. I completely understand that, especially as this is a very inconsistent problem that comes in and out quite often.
If any of y'all have Fios and might be able to offer any support on what I might be able to try here, please feel free to shout out, as I am really hoping the community might be able to offer some guidance.
Also, I don't know if the official Verizon support lurks on here, but if you guys do, please reach out as well, I'm happy to work with y'all to solve this together.
Also, for reference, I am running the Fios-provided CR1000A router, however I have a dedicated DHCP and DNS server elsewhere on the network, running Windows Server 2022. The Fios-provided router serves as my router and firewall, as well as a Wi-fi access point.
Let me know if there's any other relevant information I can provide to assist with troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing you all's suggestions!

submitted by DocumentWilling6781 to verizon [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:38 TempusCarpe The Confirmed Hoax Fallacy

The Confirmed Hoax Fallacy An Old Argument Raises Its Ignorant Head Yet Again TEMPORAL RECON JUN 8
I was recently invited to write an essay by someone who I respect greatly in their own personal search for truth. He asked that, while an update to Conviction of a Time Traveler is not necessarily in the offing, he did wonder if I might be amenable to a friendly reminder of the evidence provided in COATT nearly a decade ago now.
What spurred his request was that he had noticed recently that several people online had been echoing the ‘confirmed hoax’ trope when discussions would might around to the John Titor series of posts which occurred online back in 2000/2001.
His noticing of this false argument was nothing new; I had also noticed it crop up from time to time over the last 20 years. I hold the ‘confirmed hoax’ argument in special and particular disdain. Why?
Primarily because evidence exists and was provided in Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2009 that Titor was legitimate and, ironically enough, was read by many of the so-called experts espousing the ‘confirmed hoax’ lie. So when these fake experts tell you that the Titor story was a ‘confirmed hoax,’ they are lying to you.
Conviction of a Time Traveler provided new and original evidence that has never, to date, been debunked since its publication; a full 14 years. The evidence provided (which many of these lazy forum participants are aware of) pointed to one, inexorable and inescapable conclusion: Titor was legit. But this evidence, while never disproven, is always ignored. Why is that? We’ll put a pin in that…
Pledge your support
Ironically, not only has the evidence documented in Conviction of a Time Traveler never been debunked, but it has also even been plagiarized by lazy authors who can’t be bothered to do original research or, lacking the intellectual horsepower necessary to do even that, fail to provide appropriate attribution to their source material.
So what of this, ‘Confirmed Hoax’ claim? Is it true? HAS the John Titor episode actually been ‘confirmed’ as a hoax?
When someone in a position of pretend authority declares from their cardboard pedestal that the John Titor story is a ‘Confirmed Hoax,’ have you ever noticed they never provide the person who did the confirming?
“Confirmed hoax?” ‘Confirmed’ by whom, pray tell?
When the term ‘Confirmed Hoax’ is used, what imagery comes to mind? I dare say it implies that some sort of shadowy group of learned scholars sat around a big wooden table, carefully assessed and addressed the claims. All the evidence and counter-arguments were carefully measured while hidden away in some stone castle somewhere until a white puff of smoke curls over its stone-tiled rooftops, declaring to the world once and for all,
“Our confirmation is complete. John Titor was a hoax!”
Bullshit.
Here’s the dirty little secret of the ‘Confirmed Hoax’ statements: they are actually shorthand for,
“I don’t have the intellectual capacity to argue in favor or against, so in order to come off like some sort of authority and maintain my fake position of authority, I’ll just take the safest position and simply declare that the Titor story is a hoax, that it was ‘confirmed’ and let’s please just move on to some other topic.”
‘Confirmed Hoax,’ is a coward’s gambit, a bet, that there won’t be anyone to come along to rock the boat and topple these posers off their flimsy stage of pretend authority.
This was the environment I walked into when I first published Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2010, and apparently, it hasn’t changed in 15 years.
When I first posted on Paranormalis (IIRC) announcing that I had written a book that documented the evidence in favor of Titor’s veracity, the then-reigning Titor authority (‘Darby’) haughtily pronounced, “Present your evidence and we’ll discuss it.”
Share
It was in that moment that I chose a path that nobody before me had ever embarked upon. I said, “No.”
Nobody had ever said ‘no’ before. There are pages and pages of forum posts by people before me who discovered some of the same bits and pieces that I discovered that pointed to Titor’s truth. And they were excited to show what they had discovered! And, owing to their excitement, and unfortunately, their naivete, they excitedly shared their evidence, wrongfully believing that the forums’ leadership was interested in getting to the bottom of the Titor episode.
Little did they suspect that ‘Darby’ and others were acting as gatekeepers of truth, whose sole purpose was to establish and maintain a lid on the narrative that was the John Titor episode. He, and his ilk gaslighted and bullied these poor naifs into silence by using their fake authority to debunk and explain away the very real evidence they had discovered.
That is, until COATT was published.
Unfortunately for these enemies of Truth, the internet is forever. In my research leading up to the publication of Conviction of a Time Traveler, I had the benefit of not only studying Titor’s posts, but also all the follow-on discussions after their departure.
I reviewed literally years of online forum content and, as I did so, I made a very curious observation: in all the years of discussion after Titor departed, not one piece of evidence ever (ever) caused ‘Darby’ or any of the other fake authorities to question their ‘it’s a hoax!’ position. They NEVER saw a piece of evidence that they didn’t dismiss, mock, ignore or explain away with contortions of logic that would make Wetzel’s Pretzels blush. This is in stark contrast to how someone who was truly in search of truth would act.
If ‘Darby’ and the others truly were curious, isn’t this a little odd? Really? Not ONE piece of evidence ever caused ‘Darby’ to pause and say, “hmm, that’s interesting…”
Not once, ever.
And there are years of forum posts to confirm this.
So, when Darby commanded from his perch of fake authority that I ‘present my evidence so that we might discuss it’ I laughed in his face [paraphrasing],
“No. A real discussion of the evidence hasn’t occurred here for years, and I do not recognize your so-called position as some sort of ‘expert’ on the Titor story. LITERALLY EVERYTHING there is to learn, or study, is published in the Titor posts for all to read. You hold no special knowledge, no special position, no special nothing. I do not submit to your fake authority. You want to learn about Titor, read the book.”
Or words to that effect, anyway…
In the end, the evidence provided in COATT was so unassailable and the argument so solid that ‘Darby’ and his ilk suddenly became more and more quiet as they slowly realized I wasn’t going to wilt under their “authoritay.” Eventually, they slinked away with their rhetorical tails tucked.
But this was not the end of the story! Because ‘time travel’ had become quite the pet interest of mine (owing to the further evidence I discovered after publication), that I continued to post online in various discussion forums. I even wrote numerous essays on a variety of topics, all spurred on by the ‘time travel’ question and all its implications.
Fast Forward Fast forwarding to today, we’re back at the ‘confirmed hoax’ argument again. What was once offered up (“HOAX!”) by Darby and others, is now cold soup served by the latest crop of fake authorities. And what happens when fake authority utters the ‘Confirmed Hoax’ discussion-brake? The same thing that happened a decade ago: the earnest neophyte shrugs their shoulders secure in the false belief that others smarter than they have studied the topic and arrived at some irrefutable conclusion; no further discussion necessary (or allowed). They have no idea just how close they came to uncovering something truly fantastic, had they only relied on their own judgment instead of the know-nothing proclamations of others.
Pledge your support
Which brings me to why I wrote COATT in the first place. Instead of simply doing my research and arriving at my own (private) conclusion, I realized that too many people were believing fake authority and ignoring Titor’s warnings about our future. Once I realized that Titor was legitimate (caveated, of course), how could I NOT share my findings? The stakes were simply too high.
IF what Titor said were true 24 years ago, that the world was heading for an upending change in the status quo, and that many people would die as a result of it, how could I remain silent and not inform others that his warnings were something to be listened to? Perhaps people with ears to hear might take heed and make the appropriate preparations. I know I did.
But, as my friend has informed me, it appears that the fake experts have reared their ugly and useless heads once again telling us that there is ‘nothing to the Titor story’ and that it is a “confirmed hoax.”
THIS was the reason that I was recently asked to provide my evidence once again. And THIS is the reason this essay is dragging on. These pretenders to authority are like roaches; as soon as the exterminator leaves, they come out of the woodwork intent on dismantling the Truth once again. God’s work never ends, it seems, even with a 99% success rate…
So, now that we’ve got all THAT out of the way, and as a sort of transition, I’d like to bring you up to speed on what I’ve been up to since I published Conviction of a Time Traveler in 2010.
To be perfectly frank, after COATT’s publication, I thought I was done with the Titor story; I had said my piece and was perfectly willing to move on with my life and prepare for the event that causes the change in the status quo. But the annoying fact was that the Titor story itself didn’t end with the cessation of Titor’s posts in 2001.
As new evidence appeared in the months and years following publication, like dog shit on my shoe that I can’t scrape off, I could never cleanly cleave myself from the Titor story. Not that I wanted to, mind you, it is a fascinating topic, regardless of your opinion.
But what surprised me the most was that new evidence continued to appear, year after year. And, as more evidence appeared, my curiosity was consistently kept piqued and on alert. Trust me, it is exhausting.
To give you a sense of what I discovered, I can tell you that your experts are wrong and that ‘time travel’ is neither novel nor unusual; we are very literally awash in ‘time travelers.’ My research suggests that ‘time machines’ have been present in our past going as far back as 850AD. But I digress.
Share
Suffice it to say that the Titor rabbit hole is but one example of a massively large group of programs from an unknown number of organizations from across time. The ‘time travel’ question runs much deeper (and much farther back in time) and crosses over into more (so-called) esoteric topics than anyone gives it credit for. As I said, it’s exhausting.
My whole point here is that, even after I published in 2009, my curiosity in the topic (and its implications of yet larger vistas) did not wane. And, because of this continued and unabating curiosity, I discovered yet more evidence, crafted more theories and came to more conclusions.
A philosopher once described the acquisition of new information as an ever-expanding circle surrounding the man; a horizon where known and unknown meet where new answers only beget new questions which push the circle farther and farther out. This has been my experience over the last 15 years re the Titor narrative and the larger ‘time travel’ question. How could it be otherwise?
Unfortunately for you, you are being convinced by fools that the Titor episode is a ‘Confirmed Hoax.’ You haven’t even made the leap to the possibility that ‘time travel’ is even possible. How can you explore the implications of ‘time travel’ when you can’t even consider its reality, a fundamental starting point? I have a very strong (ehem) conviction that our collective naïveté on the subject will be violently revoked in the very near ‘future.’
The Two Camps, The Two Mistakes During my research, I observed that within the Titor commentariat there are two basic camps: the Debunkers and the True Believers.
The Debunking camp will provide any contortion of logic to maintain the ‘Titor was a hoax’ narrative.
The True Believers, on the other hand, will believe any contortion of logic that maintains their belief in The Gospel of John.
What if I told you both camps were wrong?
Now, the debunking camp will tell you that Titor must be a hoax because his predictions didn’t come true. Oh, well…his predictions didn’t come true? I guess we’re done then? Obviously, his whole purpose for posting was to make predictions like some Magic Eight Ball, right? And if those don’t pan out, well, ‘CONFIRMED HOAX!’
Get the Book
On the other side of that coin, the True Believers out there, who never saw a confirmation bias they didn’t love, will tell you that Titor’s predictions didn’t come true because he changed the future. This of course is a recipe for explaining away literally any detracting evidence thus making Titor true no matter any evidence to the contrary.
Let’s take the True Believers first:
The concept of Divergence, while a handy explanation, does not/cannot explain all differences in histories away. In fact, were what Titor said was true (remember, we are True Believers for the moment and are taking Titor’s words as gospel) he absolutely must take measures to minimize divergence as much as possible and NOT allow it to span wildly. Otherwise, the entire power of the ‘time machine’ is rendered moot. I accept that Divergence is likely a real measurement necessary for the efficient execution of ‘time travel’ missions, but it should, by no means, be the magic skeleton key to explain away every question.
In fact, while divergence is very likely a real ‘thing’ or artifact or measurement of difference between world lines, the Truth is that divergence must absolutely be kept to a minimum to make any practical use of the gravity engine sitting in the back seat of your old blue Geo Metro.
So, no. Divergence cannot be the handy tool we need to contort ourselves into believing, as much as we might like to.
Now for the debunkers:
The debunkers have a variety of options available to them to argue that Titor was a ‘confirmed hoax.’ Regardless, these arguments typically boil down to two primary classes:
He has special training or knowledge, and/or
He’s just a lucky guesser.
Unfortunately for the debunkers (and those who listen to them), these explanations make a very serious error: that predictions are a relevant metric to judge Titor’s truth at all. They are not.
Serious question: Why should a ‘time traveler’ be subject to the same metrics that a psychic is to determine if his claims of ‘time travel’ are true?
The point here is that you can’t compare a horse to a whale and complain that the horse can’t swim. They are two completely different animals, and the same goes for ‘time travelers’ and psychics or tarot readers or any other domain whose reputation is dependent on the true-ness of the information they provide. Comparing Titor’s predictions to actual, experienced history is also an imperfect and inappropriate metric if one is to objectively assess Titor from a blank slate starting point. This points to a much deeper insight into the true purpose of the Titor posts, but that’s for a different day.
So, because of both these problems, any real researcher worth their salt would have to find some other way to determine the truth/falsity of the Titor narrative.
Remember, when first approaching the Titor question as an objective investigator, Titor is both equally a hoax and legitimate. Imagine Schrodinger’s cat meets Columbo…
I’ll give you this observation for free, just to get your juices flowing:
Did you notice that absolutely none of John’s predictions (event + date) came true, but all his statements concerning conditions about our future did?
Don’t you find this interesting? Or hadn’t you noticed, too blinded by the bright and shiny, attention-grabbing predictions of nuclear war?
But I am getting ahead of myself; we still haven’t provided the evidence that it’s simply more likely that Titor was an actual time traveler than some ‘hoaxer genius.’ And so we finally get to the whole point of this essay in the first place, a reminder and summary of the evidence first provided in Conviction of a Time Traveler all the way back in those halcyon days of 2010:

Wireless Internet: Titor correctly predicted the advent of wireless internet when we were still using dial-up modems and America Online. Cable internet connections had only just been introduced.

“My closest friend raises horses and another works for a company that maintains “wireless” Internet nodes.”
– J. Titor, Nov 7, 2000

YouTube becoming like ‘live theatre’: Titor correctly predicted the social evolution of YouTube and the decentralization of entertainment away from Hollywood evolving from short videos of grannies and cute kittens on Youtube to a sort of “live theatre” where actual shows would be presented by literally anyone, online, in a world that hadn’t even seen streaming services or video sharing services such as Rumble, etc.

“Yes, there is an entertainment industry. Again, it is very decentralized. The technology to express yourself with video is so readily available that many people do it all by themselves or in small groups. Much of the distribution is over the web. I would compare it theater here.”
-J. Titor

IBM 5100 special capabilities: The statement that kicked everything off. Titor correctly identified the secret capabilities of the very first desktop computer manufactured by IBM in the 1970’s. These capabilities were utterly unknown and unacknowledged until Titor’s appearance in 2000. Interestingly, using this information, I was able to determine the most likely candidate of Titor’s grandfather which, upon this identification, also explained why Titor had to go all the way back to 1975 to pick up a copy of the 5100 and not 1985, 1995, or ‘elsewhen.’

“I was “sent” to get an IBM computer system called the 5100. It was one the first portable computers made and it has the ability to read the older IBM programming languages in addition to APL and Basic.”
– J. Titor, Nov 15, 2000

VOIP: Titor correctly predicted the development of phone calls being run across the internet, again, in a time where downloading a picture over dial-up took minutes.

“Many people use the Internet for communication and entertainment. I would say that affects our speech. We type very fast.”
– J. Titor, Feb 15, 2001

Soldier’s Winter Poem: Titor correctly predicted the poem, by name, “A Soldier’s Winter” and its topic. There is more to this particular prediction and statement about “A Soldier’s Winter“ than meets the eye, however.

“A Soldier’s Winter.”
-J. Titor, Feb 21, 2001

Second gulf war: Titor correctly predicted a second incursion into Iraq by allied forces. There is also more to this statement by Titor as well. But that’s a little advanced for right now.

“Are you really surprised to find out that Iraq has nukes now or is that just BS to whip everyone up into accepting the next war?”
-J. Titor, Feb 25, 2001

WMD and ‘hype’: Titor correctly predicted that the WMD story was hype and not to be believed (also, there is more to this statement than is visible on the surface). This statement’s purpose is closely related to statements #6 and #9.

“Are you really surprised to find out that Iraq has nukes now or is that just BS to whip everyone up into accepting the next war?”
-J. Titor, Feb 25, 2001

Optical Measurement for atomic clock: A biggie. Titor correctly predicted the development of a new sort of atomic clock and the reasons why it was an improvement over the then-current ‘radio’ method of atomic measurement (more precise).

Specifically, atomic clocks determine the length of a second by measuring the frequency of a particular atom. Cesium, Rhodium, etc. Measuring this frequency is done using something called the “radio method” which makes use of a gas and hitting that gas and atom with a microwave (the ‘radio’ part of the measurement). However, Titor claimed that a new ‘time machine’ had been developed that makes use of an optical means of measuring the atom’s frequency, an improvement. The Optical Frequency Comb was developed after Titor’s departure which enabled the measurement of an atom’s frequency optically, and which also allowed for greater precision in that measurement. Titor’s statement is a 3-fer:
He predicts an optical measurement system for atomic clocks.
He predicts the new system measures oscillation and not some other aspect.
He predicts this new system increases measurement precision and not some other aspect.
“The C206 uses 6 cesium clocks but they use an optical system to check the oscillation frequency. This makes the worldline divergence confidence much higher.”
– J. Titor, Nov 7, 2000

Ginger: The most enigmatic piece of evidence and what originally spurred me to look closer at this ‘confirmed hoax’ in 2010. In the very opening of Titor’s posts in 2000, someone asked three questions to allow Titor to ‘prove’ he was legitimate. Those questions were:

“1. What was the final death count in the recent India earthquake?

What is the "Ginger" (IT) invention?
Who wins the Stanley Cup (Hockey) this year?”

M. Kolesnik, Jan 29, 2001

As you see, questions 1 and 3 are of the magic eight ball variety and are wholly inappropriate to assess Titor’s truthfulness. But we’ll extend some grace to Mr. Kolesnik as it was so early on in their discourse. And Titor demurred on answering these two questions anyway. He refused to answer the first question because he claimed he simply didn’t know. And he refused to answer the third question because he felt it to be unfair for someone to earn money using his information (pointing to a larger context of rules by which they operate).
But, the middle question, ‘…what is Ginger…’ did not violate either of those two questions so he acquiesced and answered it. He answered by saying,
“It looks like a sort of motorized scooter. What do you think IT is?”
– J. Titor, Jan 29, 2001
This answer immediately got my attention because, in 2000 when the question was asked, the answer was truly unknown, thus Mr. Kolesnik’s question. However, in 2009 when I was first looking into the Titor narrative, I knew what Ginger was because I remembered it. Hindsight truly was 20/20.
As a bit of background, during 1999 (the exact timing escapes me), a ‘viral’ marketing campaign was underway by an inventor named Dean Kamen. While never revealing what this new product was, the billboards merely asked,
“What is IT?”
or
“What is Ginger?”
That was all they said. It is obvious now, and was obvious even then, that Kamen was attempting to create a buzz for his new invention. Fair enough. It also explains why it was asked of Titor in 2000. Kamen’s ad campaign was working! People were truly wondering.
Now understand, the hype (and I use that term specifically) surrounding the Ginger ad campaign was fairly strong. Kamen predicted that his invention would reinvent how people moved about cities; it would cause their utter redesign and how they were laid out and organized. Big claims, to be sure. So strong in fact that Kamen was able to land a spot on Good Morning America where he finally revealed what his invention was.
In December of 2001, and live on the air, Kamen, with Katie Couric, revealed Ginger to the world. Ginger was none other than the Segway.
And what did Titor say it was?
“A type of motorized scooter”
And Stella says there’s nothing more to learn…
Get the Book
Titor’s absolute spot-on declaration of what Kamen’s invention was nearly a year before it was unveiled hit me right between the eyes. Eight years later, I already knew that Ginger was the Segway because I remembered the event.
Here was a maniac on the internet claiming to be a ‘time traveler’ and he correctly ‘guessed’ what Ginger was a mere 2 ½ hours after it was asked and 11 months before it was officially unveiled?
It was Titor’s statement here that caused me to look deeper (much deeper, in fact) into the Titor narrative and, after exhaustive research and extensive supporting evidence, I concluded that Titor was in fact, legitimate.
Now here’s the truly interesting part of this piece of the Titor saga: you can’t find this statement about Ginger online anywhere anymore. It has been scrubbed from online sources everywhere.
Now, when I first discovered the Titor story, I saw that there appeared to be a couple different versions of the posts and I just, by chance, found a version of the posts with the Ginger reference in it. I saw that some versions had the Ginger reference, and some did not. At the time, I did not know how to understand this. But I do now.
Revisiting Old Theories As I mentioned before, hindsight is 20/20, and that is especially true when discussing ‘time travel’ and ‘time travelers.’ So, it seems oddly appropriate to provide a few examples of updated information that only revealed themselves with the fullness of time after publication.
‘leader’ In Conviction of a Time Traveler, I found the following quote especially interesting:
“The President or “leader” in 2005 I believe tried desperately to be the next Lincoln and hold the country together but many of their policies drove a larger wedge into the Bill of Rights. The President in 2009 was interested only in keeping his/her power base.”

J. Titor, Feb 19, 2001

And it wasn’t necessarily the full content of Titor’s statement here, it was those damn quotes around the word ‘leader.’ Why would he put quotes around a word so simple in its definition? In COATT, I surmised that Titor was referring to Obama at the time for a variety of reasons. Namely the very high coincidence factor between facts surrounding Obama and Lincoln. My own belief also was that Titor would not consider Obama as the rightful leader of the United States due to the known problems with his birth certificate, thus making him ineligible for the Presidency. Thus, Titor wrote ‘leader’ with those quotes around it indicating his misgivings.
Of course, here we are 24 years after Titor’s statement and 12 years after I wrote COATT, and I have now come to a different conclusion about the quotation marks around the word ‘leader’. I now surmise that Titor was referring to Biden and not Obama when he wrote that. Because I personally didn’t have a ‘time machine’ at the time, I never could have expected the dementia patient currently ‘in’ the White House and supposedly ‘leading’ the country. For anyone watching, it is patently obvious that Mr. Biden isn’t ‘leading’ anything. So, in the context of this and our current national situation, those quotation marks sure make a hell of a lot more sense now, don’t you think? This reassessment obviously puts a giant bullseye on the 2024-2025 time period for what Titor commented upon in 2000.
So, yes. I have reassessed this particular conclusion since publishing Conviction of a Time Traveler due to the slow passage of time and its equally slow revelation of Truth.
Gates Another interesting comment by Titor had to do with Bill Gates. Recall that in 2000/2001, Bill Gates was ‘merely’ the CEO of Microsoft. He was among the richest men in the world and many news stories of the time commented upon this fact. Almost kind of like Elon Musk’s notoriety in both scope and scale. So, as such, a forum participant named ‘Joe’ asked Titor for any information regarding Bill Gates’ future. Titor’s response?
“This I do know but I won’t discuss.”
-J. Titor, Feb 23, 2001
An interesting, if not completely unhelpful, answer. Wouldn’t you say?
Considering we now know how Gates has morphed from Tech Titan selling mediocre products to Farmland baron, GMO mosquito breeder and mRNA advocate and (alleged) mass murderer in India and elsewhere in the third world, Titor’s statement that he does know about Gates’ future rings true.
In fact, what was also a bit interesting was when someone later pressed him on any information regarding Gates’ future. To which he responded,
Just curious, why is he of such interest?
-J Titor, Mar 5, 2001
Considering what we know now about Gates and his predilections (his ‘wife’ deserted him upon revelation of his visits to Epstein Island), I’m willing to bet that John was naturally curious as to why Gates, of all people, was of such interest to the forum participants that they would ask twice about him. Coincidence? Or did Titor suspect a mole from a different program in the forum? Who knows. His curiosity about their curiosity in Gates is interesting, nothing more.
Conclusion And there you have (some of) it. A summary of some of the evidence documented in Conviction of a Time Traveler written nearly 15 years ago. The evidence contained in that small book has never been debunked or disproven. It has been plagiarized by some and ignored by others. If you were unaware of COATT and are a regular participant in the online discussions about ‘time travel,’ you should ask yourself why the ‘leadership’ on those forums never mention COATT. Curious, don’t you think?
The reason I wrote COATT in the first place was because, after I had done my own research to satiate my own personal curiosity, I realized that some people online were downplaying his posts’ importance in the hopes that they could dissuade people from believing in Titor and the possibility of ‘time travel.’
I saw this dishonesty and decided to fight back against it by merely providing the information I discovered. From my point of view, Titor was warning us about a very severe time in our future that would upend the status quo and was to be a highly dangerous one.
Taken at face value (always a good starting point), Titor’s warnings merited being taken seriously. Had the naysayer’s deceit been left unanswered, how many of you would have failed to prepare for what is just around the corner? You have prepared, haven’t you?
And yes, as is readily obvious to many, those hard times are right around the corner. Looking at Titor’s statements 24 years later and simply looking around at the state of America and the world, do his statements seem so outlandish now?
John’s ‘final’ words to the forum in March of 2001 ring eerily prescient now:
Bring a gas can with you when the car dies on the side of the road.
-J. Titor, Mar 23, 2001
It is my sincerest hope that my small book project (and the essays that followed) spurred you to think twice about the world we live in and take the necessary actions you feel you should to keep you and your family safe for the world’s awakening and rebirth.
As Ever,
Temporal Recon Share
As Ever

submitted by TempusCarpe to JohnTitor [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:30 Eduardo_007 [ Available ] The Challenge of Politics: An Introduction to Political Science 7th Edition Seventh Edition by Douglas W. Simon, Joseph Romance Textbook Ebook PDF reddit. eText ISBN: 9781071835401 ISBN-13: 978-1071835395 ISBN-10: 1071835394 ISBN 9781071835401

TITLE : The Challenge of Politics An Introduction to Political Science Seventh Edition 7th Edition by Douglas W. Simon, Joseph Romance Digital Textbook Ebook PDF Download Reddit.
AUTHORS : Douglas W. Simon, Joseph Romance
EDITION : 7th Edition - Seventh Edition
Feel free to message or Send me a chat request on Reddit / Discord / Email if you need the Textbook Pdf
Discord ID: textbookfinder#1311
Email id: [findmytextbookforme@gmail.com](mailto:findmytextbookforme@gmail.com)
Original Textbook Cover Photo: https://postimg.cc/hhbyGzTT
Thank you 🙂
[ Please Join this SUB and help us to GROW ]

submitted by Eduardo_007 to TextbookRequest_Ebook [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:29 hasntbeenmadeyet [PC] [Free to Play] [Early 2010’s] [FPS] [CS-like] A free to play counterstrike-ish FPS I found in the early 2010’s

So I understand that this description doesn’t slim it down very much, but you guys could find HALF a needle in TWO haystacks, if it came to it. The game had a bit of a counter strike/combat arms feel to it and I can recall this sort of warehouse map with storage crates around it. The graphics were what you’d expect for a free to play game of that era. I don’t believe it was a browser game, as it required a download. It was free to play and I discovered it when some kids my age showed it to me at a library. Hopefully someone here knows the name of it, happy hunting and thanks.

submitted by hasntbeenmadeyet to tipofmyjoystick [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:26 Domukin [H] 500+ steam keys [W] Lost in Play, En garde, Atari 50, Grindstone, PayPal, Offers

Looking to buy a few games from current humble bundles. I’d buy them myself but am trying to avoid getting too many duplicates.
Want:

Lost in Play,
En garde,
Atari 50,
Grindstone,
Wishlist (scroll to the bottom)

KEYS AVAILABLE:

112 Operator
112 Operator
911 Operator
911 Operator
A Juggler's Tale
A Mortician's Tale
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery
Aegis Defenders
Age of Wonders Planetfall
Ageless
Agent in Depth
Agents of Mayhem
Alchemy Garden
Alien Spidy
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Almost There: The Platformer
American Fugitive
Amnesia: Rebirth
Arboria
Arcade Paradise
Arcade Spirits
Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded
As Far As The Eye
Automachef
Autonauts
Autonauts vs PirateBots
Aven Colony
Backbone
Bartlow's Dread Machine
Basement
Batman™: Arkham City GOTY Edition
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
BATTLETECH
BATTLETECH DLC Shadow Hawk Pack
Before We Leave
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
Bendy and the Dark Revival
Beneath Oresa
Between the Stars
Beyond Eyes
Beyond The Wire
Big Crown®: Showdown
Biomutant
Black Book
Blade Assault
Bomber Crew
Book of Demons
Book of Demons
Boreal Blade
Boundless
BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE
Broken Age
Broken Age
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Brutal Legend
Brütal Legend
Calico
Calico
Call of Cthulhu
Capitalism 2
Cepheus Protocol
Chariot
Chess Ultra
Children of Silentown
Chivalry 2
ChromaGun
Citizen Sleeper
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
Conan Chop Chop
Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel
Costume Quest
Crown Trick
Crying Suns
Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashe
Darksiders Genesis
Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
Darksiders Warmastered Edition
Darkwood
Day of the Tentacle Remastered
Deadly Days
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Death Squared
DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT
Deceive Inc.
Demon Turf
Desert Child
DESOLATE
Destroy All Humans!
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter
Dicey Dungeons
DiRT Rally
DiRT Rally 2.0 - H2 RWD Double Pack
DiRT Rally 2.0 - Opel Manta 400
Dirt Rally 2.0 - Porsche 911 RGT Rally Spec
Disciples: Liberation
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut
Divekick
DmC: Devil May Cry
Doom Eternal
Double Fine Adventure
Driftland: The Magic Revival
DUCATI - 90th Anniversary
Due Process
Dungeon Drafters
DUSK
Edge Of Eternity
El Hijo - A Wild West Tale
ELDERBORN
Eldest Souls
ELEX
ELEX II
Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG
Endless Space 2
Endless Space® 2 - Digital Deluxe Edition
Endzone - A World Apart
Escape Goat 2
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Europa Universalis IV
Evan's Remains
Everdream Valley
Evil Genius 2: World Domination
Expeditions: Rome
Expeditions: Viking
Fae Tactics
Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
Fantasy Blacksmith
Farming Simulator 17
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Rise of SH1FT3R
Felix The Reaper
Filthy Animals Heist Simulator
First Class Trouble
Fling to the Finish
Flynn: Son of Crimson
Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
Founders' Fortune
Frozenheim
Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
Fury Unleashed
Gamedec
GARAGE: Bad Trip
Gauntlet
GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath
Generation Zero
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe
Genesis Noir
Ghostrunner
GNOG
Go Home Dinosaurs
Gocco of War
Going Under
Golden Light
Golf Gang
Golf With Your Friends - OST
Golf With Your Friends + Caddypack DLC
Greak: Memories of Azur
Greak: Memories of Azur
GreedFall
Grim Fandango Remastered
GRIME
Guts and Glory
Hack 'n' Slash
Hacknet
Hammerting
Hard West
Headlander
Heave Ho
Heaven's Vault
Hell Pie
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Hello Neighbor + Hello Neighbor Hide an
Hellpoint
Hellpoint
Hexologic
Hiveswap Friendsim
HIVESWAP: Act 1
Hokko Life
Homestead Arcana
Honey I Joined a Cult
Hot Brass
Hotshot Racing
Hyper Gunsport
Hypnospace Outlaw
I am not a Monster: First Contact
I Expect You To Die
If Found...
Ikenfell
Ikonei Island
Immortal Life
Indivisible
Iron Brigade
iron danger
Iron Danger
John Wick Hex
John Wick Hex
JUMANJI: The Video Game
Just Die Already
Katana ZERO
Killing Floor 2
Killing Floor Incursion
Killsquad
Kingdom Two Crowns
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning - FATE Edition
Kraken Academy!!
Kyle is Famous: Complete Edition
Lake
Last Call BBS
Legend of Keepers
Lethal League Blaze
Life is Strange 2: Complete Season
Lightmatter
Little Big Workshop
Little League World Series Baseball 2022
Little Orpheus
Loop Hero
Lords and Villeins
Love is Dead
Lovecraft's Untold Storie
Luck be a Landlord
Luna's Wandering Stars
Lust from Beyond - M Edition
Magicka
Mahokenshi - The Samurai Deckbuilder
Maid of Sker
Main Assembly
Manifold Garden
Marvel's Midnight Suns Digital+ Edition
Mask of the Rose
Massive Chalice
Mechs & Mercs: Black Talons
Men of War: Assault Squad 2
Metro Exodus
Midnight Suns - Doctor Strange Defenders Skin
Milky Way Prince - The Vampire Star
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
Möbius Front '83
Monaco
Monaco
Monster Crown
Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
Monster Train (First Class - Collectors Edition)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
MORDHAU
Morkredd
Mount & Blade: Warband
Mr. Prepper
Myst III: Exile
Myst IV: Revelation
Myst V: End of Ages
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER
Necromunda: Hired Gun
NecroWorm
Neon Sundown
Neversong
Niche - a genetics survival
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor
No Place Like Home
Nobody Saves the World
Not Tonight
Nowhere Prophet
Nuclear Throne
Old School Musical
OlliOlli World
One Way Heroics
Operation: Tango
Orwell: Ignorance is Strength
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
Out of Space
Overcooked
OVERCOOKED 2
Overcooked 2 Surf 'n' Turf Pack DLC
Overcooked 2 Too Many Cooks DLC
Oxenfree
PAC-MAN™ CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION 2
Paint the Town Red
Paradise Lost
Paratopic
Partisans 1941
Party Hard
Patch Quest
Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
PAW Patrol the Movie: Adventure City Calls
Paw Paw Paw
Pawnbarian
PAYDAY 2
Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
Per Aspera
Pesterquest
PGA TOUR 2K21
PGA Tour 2K21
Phantom Doctrine
Pine
Popup Dungeon
Post Void
Project Hospital
Project Wingman
Project Winter
Psychonauts
Psychonauts
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin
Pumpkin Jack
RAD
RAD
Radio Commander
Raiden V: Director's Cut
Railroad Corporation
Railway Empire
Railway Empire
Rain of Reflections: Set Free
Raji: An Ancient Epic
Rebel Cops
Red Solstice 2: Survivors
Red Solstice 2: Survivors
Relicta
Remnant: From The Ashes
Remnants of Naezith
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
Resident Evil Revelations
Retimed
Retrowave
Ring of Pain
Ring of Pain
Road 96
Road Redemption
Rogue : Genesia
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
Rogue Lords
Rover Mechanic Simulator
Rubber Bandits
RUMBLE
Rustler
S.W.I.N.E. HD Remaster
Sam & Max Save the World
Saturday Morning RPG
Say No! More
Scorn
ScourgeBringer
Secret Neighbor
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game
Shadows Awakening
Shady Part of Me
Shing!
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate
shutshimi
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
SimpleRockets 2
SIMULACRA
SIMULACRA
SIMULACRA 2
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Skully
Slain: Back from Hell
Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
Snowtopia: Ski Resort Builder
SONG OF HORROR COMPLETE EDITION
SoulCalibur VI
Space Crew: Legendary Edition
Space Crew: Legendary Edition
Speed Brawl
Spellcaster University
Spelunx and the Caves of Mr. Seudo
Spirit of the island
Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition
Splasher
Stacking
STAR WARS - Knights of the Old Republic
StarCrossed
Staxel
Stealth 2: A Game of Clones
Stick Fight
Stick Fight: The Game
Stick Fight: The Game
Stick Fight: The Game
Strange Brigade
Strange Brigade
Stray Blade
Street Fighter V
Strider
Strikers Edge
Struggling
Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
Sunless Sea
Sunless Skies
Sunset Overdrive
Super Hexagon
Super Meat Boy
SUPERHOT
Superhot mind control delete
Superliminal
Superliminal
Survivalist: Invisible Strain
Surviving the Aftermath
Swag and Sorcery
Syberia 3
System Shock 2
System Shock Enhanced Edition
SYSTEM SHOCK: ENHANCED EDITION
Tabletop Playground
Tales of the Tiny Planet
Tango Fiesta
TaniNani
TEMTEM
The Assembly
The Bard's Tale IV: Director's
The Beast Inside
The Forest Cathedral
The Forgotten City
The Invisible Hand
The Journey Down: Chapter Three
The King's Bird
The Manhole: Masterpiece Edition
The Messenger
The Quarry Deluxe Edition
The Serpent Rogue
The Survivalists
The Uncertain Last quiet day
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead - 400 Days
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
The Walking Dead: Final Season
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
The Walking Dead: Michonne - A Telltale Miniseries
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners VR
The Walking Dead: Season Two
The Walking Dead: Season Two
The Wild Eight
The Witch of Fern Island
The Witness
The Wolf Among Us
There is No Light: Enhanced Edition
This Is the Police 2
This War of Mine
This War of Mine
Throne of Lies® The Online Game of Deceit
Through the Darkest of Times
Ticket to Ride
Tilt Brush
Timelie
Tinkertown
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Chaotic Great Edition
Tinykin
Tools Up
Tooth and Tail
Torchlight
Torchlight II
Total Tank Simulator
Townscaper
Trek to Yomi
Tribes of Midgard
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
Tropico 3
Tropico 3: Absolute Power
Tropico 4
Tropico 4
Tropico 4: Megalopolis
Tropico 4: Modern Times
Tropico 4: Pirate Heaven
Tropico 4: Plantador
Tropico 4: Propaganda!
Tropico 4: Quick-dry Cement
Tropico 4: Voodoo
Tropico Reloaded
Trover Saves the Universe
Trover Saves the Universe VR
Truberbrook / Trüberbrook
Turbo Golf Racing
Twin Mirror
Unexplored 2: The Wayfarers Legacy
Unholy Heights
UnMetal
Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition
Vampire Survivors
Vertigo Remastered
Vikings - Wolves of Midgard
Void Bastards
Wargroove
Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector
Warhammer 40,000: Gladius
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus Standard
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin – Ultimate Edition
Warhammer: Chaosbane
WARSAW
WARSAW
Wasteland 3
We Need to Go Deeper
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest
West of Dead
West of Dead
Windjammers 2
Winkeltje: The Little Shop
Wizard of Legend
Wizard of Legend
Worms Revolution
Worms Rumble
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
X-Com 2
X-Com 2 Reinforcement Pack
X-Morph: Defense
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
XCOM 2
XCOM CHIMERA SQUAD
XCOM® 2 + 2 DLC
Yoku's Island Express
Yuppie Psycho
Zoeti
Zombie Driver HD
Zombotron
Zwei: The Arges Adventure
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection

WISHLIST:

ANIMAL WELL
Another Crab's Treasure
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Baldur's Gate 3
Beat Saber
Blade & Sorcery
Bluey: The Videogame
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
Bonelab
Bright Memory: Infinite
Buckshot Roulette
Can of Wormholes
Captain Blacksword
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 - Dodge Plymouth Chrysler Remastered
Cart Life
Classic Marathon 2
Classic Marathon Infinity
COCOON
COMPOUND
Coral Island
Corn Kidz 64
CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION
Crow Country
CRUMB Circuit Simulator
Cryptmaster
Crystal Project
CTRL Phreak
Deadlink
Deltarune
DREDGE - The Pale Reach
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
Dungeon Munchies
Dungeons of Blood and Dream
Dyson Sphere Program
Eastward
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
Fata Deum
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE
First Cut: Samurai Duel
Galactic-Civilizations-iv
Golden Idol Mysteries: The Lemurian Vampire
Gourdlets
Hades II
Harold Halibut
High On Life: High On Knife
Hogwarts Legacy
Immortality
In Stars and Time
Judgment
Just Shapes & Beats
Keylocker Turn Based Cyberpunk Action
Kingmakers
LEGOÂ® Star Warsâ„¢: The Skywalker Saga
Lightyear Frontier
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Lil' Guardsman
Little Kitty, Big City
Live A Live
Lone Fungus
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Lossless Scaling
Lost Judgment
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Microcivilization
Mina the Hollower
Mon Bazou
Moncage
MULLET MADJACK
My Summer Car
Myst
NEO: The World Ends with You
No Umbrellas Allowed
NORCO
Ooblets
OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition
OVR Toolkit
Pacific Drive
Paper Trail
Peglin
Pepper Grinder
Persona 5 Royal
Phantom Abyss
Phantom Brigade
Pizza Tower
Pseudoregalia
Rack and Slay
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Remnant II
Resident Evil 4 (2023)
Return to Monkey Island
Reus 2
Road Diner Simulator
Rogue Star Rescue
RP7
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright
RUMBLE
Rusty's Retirement
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time
SAND LAND
Sea of Stars
Secrets of Grindea
Sekiroâ„¢: Shadows Die Twice - GOTY Edition
Settlement Survival
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Shadow Legend VR
Shashingo: Learn Japanese with Photography
Slay the Princess
Slay the Spire 2
Slice & Dice
Soulstone Survivors
Spiritfall
Spirittea
STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R
Star Trek: Resurgence
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
Starfield
Starship Troopers - Terran Command
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
The Riftbreaker
The Wandering Village
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
UNDERDOGS
Underspace
Vampire: The MasqueradeÂ® - Bloodlinesâ„¢ 2
Viewfinder
Walkabout Mini Golf VR
Whirligig VR Media Player
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Zeno Clash

submitted by Domukin to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:24 UlyssesCockmore AD&D2E/Five Leagues from the Borderlands - Chapter 3 – Reconnaissance against the Orcs – Y1, M4, D12 -> D14 (Link to free battlemaps download included)

AD&D2E/Five Leagues from the Borderlands - Chapter 3 – Reconnaissance against the Orcs – Y1, M4, D12 -> D14 (Link to free battlemaps download included)

submitted by UlyssesCockmore to SoloActualPlay [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:19 ExplanationFamous435 Detailed how I passed for FREE!

How I passed the NCLEX in 85 without buying resources (eg. Uworld), cause some of us are broke! This is a long post but I wanted to be detailed for those who are super worried and want specifics!
1 Mark K: keep in mind that they are a bit old, the principles are generally the same though and was a helpful refresher. Lectures can be found online along with his lecture notes (search "Mark K free online").

Create your own notes: I followed his notes but also made my own on a separate doc, it made it easier for me to navigate and allowed me to add in extra info from other resources (add info learned from practice questions!). I listened to the lectures once. Then I went over my notes a couple days before my exam, highlighting the key info I kept forgetting. The day before my exam I only reviewed the info I highlighted.
Main topics from him that came up on my exam included adrenal/thyroid issues (eg. Cushing's), peds development + teaching (Piaget), and maternity.
Warning: you will still need to supplement your studies. He only goes over a handful of conditions. Go through every body system after starting practice questions and write down pertinent conditions, just know what each are in general. I used some old class notes.
Note: Mark K uses brand names. NCLEX only uses generic. You also do not need to remember lab values for next-gen!

2 Practice questions

I searched up/downloaded a bunch of old Uworld. Also try extra searches online such as "free Uworld practice questions online". One I downloaded by searching "PDFCOFFEE Uworld 2015", I got to about page 1500 on that doc before my exam + did some other PDFs. Warning: some online links are finicky and you have to play around with them/delete many popup tabs.
When self-scoring, remember SATA questions now give partial points (search up scoring rules).
Nurselabs: I ran out of time to use this, but used it a bit during school. Tons of free questions + rationales.

3 Free trials

After you have done a ton of PDF questions, do free trials. You want to do these near the end when you have a decent understanding of question format. Trials will give you exposure to the NCLEX testing format.
Archer: has a great "24 hr" free trial. You can use it for longer than 24hrs but the question bank will reset meaning it may give you previously tested questions.
NCLEX BootCamp: also a good free trial. I really liked that many questions have videos of people actually doing the questions/explaining them. It also has a readiness exam.
Uworld: this trial is not as good but, free is free. It had 50 questions, many of them testing the same topics.
FYI: if you end up wanting to buy them, there are many discount codes floating around Reddit.

4 Extra resources/tips/info

Videos: obviously search up videos for topics you need clarification (eg. simple nursing, level-up RN)
Saunder's textbook (bad idea, big waste of time imo): after Mark K I thought having a good baseline of the material would be best before doing practice questions so I started studying the textbook. It has waaaay too much info that's too specific, you'd never remember all of it. Went through half and it didn't help me answer a single question. It could be helpful for topic clarification but I thought videos on x2 speed were better. If you do want it, it's free on LibGen.
NCLEX Crusade 7 day training YouTube: when I started questions I was miserable! I was getting everything wrong at first :(. That's why it's best to jump right into questions after Mark K cause they test on the most RANDOM shit that you cannot possibly create a baseline for it all. Learn how to answer questions based on type/format. I watched Crusade x2 speed which gave some helpful tips on how to prioritize. They are long, he stops a lot so you have to skip a lot, only watch if you have time.
- Important tip: use M-ABC's and Maslow's hierarchy (pain is considered psychological not physical), for prioritization ask "is this a normal finding for this condition?", NCLEX is a "perfect" world.
Vocab list: make a list of common term you keep forgetting. Questions are hard to answer if you don't know what the symptom means. Go over them a few days before your exam.
Suffixes: very important to know! It's the best way to get through pharm. NCLEX also tests a lot on procedures. Learn ending such as "itis", "ectomy", "scopy", "otomy".
Note conditions you see over and over in practice questions. For me i noticed: myasthenia gravis, guillian barre, diverticulosis/itis, pancreatitis, appendicitis, sickle cell. For Canadians, note scope differences between UNAs (HCA), LPNs, RNs.
NCLEX sample: while they don't have answer keys, the NCLEX website has samples of the exams. Read through a couple just to get a sense of differences between the official thing and practice questions (don't read them all cause the no answers will just freak you out).
Ask a friend!: there is no shame in asking friends who have written the exam already if you can use the remainder of their test bank subscriptions. I ended up doing one readiness exam thanks to a friend.

5 Overall

I was answering average 40-50% questions correctly for about 2 weeks at the very beginning and averaged 70-80% correctly near the end. I studied 1 month and 2 weeks while working full-time.
You will feel like you still know nothing and that you are guessing everything because the questions are so random, that's normal. Honestly, I almost feel like the NCLEX was just made to force us to study instead of testing our nursing knowledge.
Lastly, believe in yourselves! Hope this was helpful! Good luck!

submitted by ExplanationFamous435 to PassNclex [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:18 RhymerBoogz Prizepool (Win up to $100)

Prizepool
-Download "Prizepool" from app store
-Sign up
-Put in my code: ZQLNK
-Link bank
-Spin the "Referral Rush" wheel (1st one is free) to win money. $1-$100
-No Deposit needed
-No minimum withdrawl amount
-Refer others to get more spins
-You can withdraw to bank or instantly to cashapp with the virtual card

submitted by RhymerBoogz to referralcodes [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:15 AdobeCrackFree Adobe Photoshop Crack 2024 Free Download For Windows

submitted by AdobeCrackFree to AdobeCrackWindows [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:13 ArtFraga Tell me why 大村孝佳 Chords - Guitar Tabs - Bordeaux blood by Bordeaux blood

Tell me why 大村孝佳 guitar tabs download as PDF and Guitar Pro on: https://paidtabs.com/search/OpSUl0EzQ-I
Click here for a free preview of the score (first page)
This score has 3 PDF pages
Credit: this score was transcribed/uploaded by @Catch_and_Play
If you cannot find the score, it might be because of a copyright issue. Click on "Request" button at PaidTabs.com to request and get the score.

submitted by ArtFraga to RareTabs [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:12 Hour_Ad_8651 Can someone please use my code I’m .20 away

Can you accept my invitation so that I can get a free gift? Download Temu App and search the code below to accept my invitation! 262153088 thanks in advance🙂‍↕️

submitted by Hour_Ad_8651 to TemuThings [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:10 strengthtoovercome Functional fitness exercise database in Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets for strength training (version 1.7 update)

Functional fitness exercise database in Microsoft Excel / Google Sheets for strength training (version 1.7 update)

Hey workouts community,
I created a functional fitness exercise database in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets for strength training – it’s a resource to help keep all of your strength training exercises organized and quickly accessed in an easy-to-use spreadsheet for your workouts (https://www.reddit.com/personaltraining/s/cvI4jUYMcv). I am constantly updating the exercise database each month with new equipment, exercises, and search filters - so I wanted to share a quick summary of the additions to the database for June.
The highlight of this update is adding the Pull Up Bar as a new primary equipment item and its associated 44 new exercises, as well as adding 37 new box step up variations. A full breakdown of all of the updates in version 1.7 is listed below, as well as the free download link to get your updated copy of the database.
More about the exercise database:
It is time consuming to sift through all the exercise information available on the internet (multiple exercise databases, YouTube videos, fitness pages/social media), so I made this to have all of the data in one spreadsheet that can be quickly filtered for your exercise search. The database has more than 25 search filters available for over 1400 + functional exercises - allowing you to find the information you need in seconds when designing fitness programs or learning new movement patterns.
The fitness library also includes exercises using the barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells, gymnastics rings, parallette bars, calisthenics, clubbells, indian clubs, maces, the bulgarian bag, the strongman sandbag, the landmine attachment, suspension trainer, sliders and other functional equipment that you may not have used for your current workouts. All exercises requiring you to move, stabilize, and develop functional and pain free strength.
In this version 1.7 update, I have added the following to the exercise database:

Added “Pull Up Bar” to the “Primary Equipment” category heading.
Added 44 new pull up bar exercises.
Added 37 new box step up exercises.
Added 9 new kettlebell pistol squat variations.
Added 6 new alternating dumbbell bench press variations.
Added 4 new macebell cossack squat variations.
Renamed eccentric exercise variations.
Renamed ½ or 1 to Half or Single in name description for database consistency.

Enjoy the updated exercise database and feel free to follow along on twitter to stay up to date with the latest version (https://twitter.com/strength2o).
YouTube Tutorial Video:
https://youtu.be/9jW0il570Wg?si=DqA-i5hoko3sCSPz
Download Free Copy MS Excel / Google Sheets (best viewed on tablet/laptop or PC):
https://strengthtoovercome.com/functional-fitness-exercise-database

submitted by strengthtoovercome to workouts [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:07 askkristin EASILY Build Your Credit Scores FAST, Bad Credit Approved

Use this $500k+ credit score building roadmap to build your credit scores (see link below). If you would like to get a free credit sweep consultation head to https://my740.com. https://view.genial.ly/648204eef13b39001342d99e
If you would like to get a free credit sweep consultation head to https://my740.com. Credit Sweep Cheat Sheet Link is below this text. 👉Get the 4-page cheat sheet FREE on my Telegram channel https://sendmeto.co/telegram
Get the Chat with Credit Course at https://sendmeto.co/chat. Get the Dispute Funnel Course at https://sendmeto.co/funnel. Learn about the coaching on my Patreon store under memberships at https://patreon.com/740creditscores
250 collections removed before and after video https://youtu.be/zam8srBB7Qo Importance of sending dispute letters via certified mail short https://youtube.com/shorts/rK-rnS9gJ74?feature=share
Client results playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCkW-fTkIGnxOdGjZrudHSn-ygbYuWuQO
Join my Exclusive Youtube Newsletter at https://sendmeto.co/ytfam, where you'll receive exclusive content, free offers, discounts, early releases and more! As a way to say thank you, you'll receive free and instant access to my "How to Remove Any Account" Google Spreadsheet that walks you through creating a dispute reason step-by-step.
Check out the amazing credit repaicredit sweep store at
Check out the amazing credit repaicredit sweep store at https://www.patreon.com/740CreditScores/shop
Watch my most recent video: https://mylast.video/ask-kristin
Join my Exclusive Youtube Newsletter at https://sendmeto.co/ytfam, where you'll receive exclusive content, free offers, discounts, early releases and more! As a way to say thank you, you'll receive free and instant access to my "How to Remove Any Account" Google Spreadsheet that walks you through creating a dispute reason step-by-step.
Check out the store: https://www.youtube.com/c/AskKristin/store
🔮SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL 🔮 https://www.youtube.com/c/Ask-Kristin?sub_confirmation=1
✨ Check out all 3 credit reports and scores with the same credit monitoring I show in my videos and use for my clients with SmartCredit https://sendmeto.co/smartcredit or IdentityIQ: ✨ https://sendmeto.co/identityiq
🧙‍♀ GET HELP WITH YOUR CREDIT JOURNEY DIY awesome free tools, tutorials and downloads - https://vault.my740.com Free credit sweep course: https://hub.my740.com
🦸‍♀ DFY credit sweep service free consultation 🦸‍♀ https://my740.com Let's jump on a call and see if I can help!
⭐ Video Notes :

submitted by askkristin to u/askkristin [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:06 International_One110 Beyond Meat Unpacked & Served Up Hot $BYND Due Dilligence

Tl;Dr: The setup for $BYND is very similar to $GME & IV has not pumped yet due to little (but eerily similar to GME) price action on both the long-term & short term time-frames. Many bullish factors are listed below, namely 170% cost to borrow with 96% utilization & a high days-to-cover ratio. A catalyst to come is a new collaboration with McDonald's, yet to hit the press (sauce). On both technical & tinfoil (related to GME) levels, $BYND is looking to make a move.
Greetings, fellow carnivores. Happy 06/09 & I hope you are having an excellent weekend given the recent hype! First off, let me say that I believe in the redemption of some of our great American companies from the depths - namely GameStop.
Needless to say, this is not financial advice & we should all do our own research. I'm here to lay out the (lab-made) bull-case for Beyond Meat, ticker $BYND.

The Tandem Trade

Now, we all know what happened with GameStop in January of 2021, and there were a few basket stocks that squoze a bit in tandem. Namely, AMC, (BB)BY, KOSS, and one that people might not have paid attention to (because it wasn't on the list of stocks shown below)- $BYND.
https://preview.redd.it/0bxh071upl5d1.png?width=458&format=png&auto=webp&s=233b7b353691653d8e43a21664a632cdf14fd940
Strap in because we're in this for the (short?) long haul - the company has a terrible standing. It is struggling to get items off the shelf & although their fake chicken is arguably better tasting and healthier than regular chicken - it's weird as shit. So is their chart in January '21:
Ran during the 2021 \"meme stock rally\" on no news
Google shows a moderate averaged price rise of 51%, but it went from a low of $114.05 on 01/04/2021 (same day as GME's Jan dip before the rip) to a high of $221 on January 27th, that infamous GME day - meaning it had a January run of 94% at the same time as GME's rip. Something something about basket stocks. Not to mention, it has the exact same run into June as GME the same year, going from a low of $99.86 to a short-term high of $160.28.
GME 100% run in May-June 2021, Starting ~May 10th.
BYND 50% run in May-June 2021, Starting ~May 10th.
Now, I hope these past trends can help you understand BYND's recent price action in the basket. Let's compare:
GME 1 Month
BYND 1 Month
Looking awfully similar, even with zero dilution from the $BYND board (not flaming GME for doing it as it is very advantageous for their overall business). Now, I introduce you too the Ortex data.
https://preview.redd.it/ee4pso47xl5d1.png?width=1918&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c4e890db93d81d0ac85da995651784cea5f9677

Some notable stats:

170.26% Cost to Borrow
- 96.13% utilization, meaning 96% of loanable shares are already taken.
9.69 Days to Cover
- This has been ticking up quite a bit. This is the ratio of SI / average volume, meaning that to cover one's shorts, the volume would need to be large.
38.83% Short Interest of Free Float
- It has a "Short Score" of 96.16% according to Ortex, indicating the stock has many characteristics of a setup for a capitulation of shorts.
Implied Volatility 30 Day: 40%
- The implied volatility being low (compared to other "meme stocks") means that this is a cheap opportunity to enter into a position compared to the likes of others that have experienced large swings in price, pricing retail out of options on big names like GME.

Bullish Crossover

Additional Macro-factors:

HPAI (highly-pathogenic avian influenza) is spreading throughout farms in America. For the first time in history - cows & humans have been able to contract it. Lab-meat, albeit weird as shit, is positioned to net in a few hypochondriacs who are worried about food & livestock safety. Sauce
This is a big "if" - but news was leaked that BYND accidentally leaked their collaboration with McDonalds, even shown on the McDonald's website - Sauce. When this is released to the press & promotion begins, we could see this as a strong catalyst. Better yet, the reception I'm picking up through my tinfoil says McDonald's might even acquire them.
- An acquisition by McDonald's is some serious tinfoil - please do your own research. BYND has missed their earning's projections early this year, yet continue to claim that 2024 is their "turnaround year". This is why I believe they have something planned. Sauce
Shifting Consumer Preferences (Ethical treatment of animals), Technological Advancement (continues to get cheaper to produce & taste getting better), Health Considerations (Processed Meat = heart disease & cancers; allergy-friendly), Sustainability (Reduces Carbon Footprint; With population increasing, sustainable protein options are important).

Positions:

-A one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple(circle) hedgie eater.
-06/21/2024 Calls:

400 - 7$ calls @ 1.06 each. I bought my largest position in-the-money as to set a strong downside protection; akin to DFV's strategy of $20 GME calls.
200 - 8$ calls @ .61 each.
224 - 9$ calls @ .35 each.
- These $8 & $9 calls are to provide support to the downside as positive price action unfolds, building Gamma on the chain as well as ensuring delta is hedged, increasing overall buying pressure.

Feel free to do the math on your own to see how much I've lost.
Disclaimer (for the second time): This is a risky scenario and although I am confident in my investment & am prone to a riskier investment style; I recommend everyone do their own research before making their own investment decisions. With that said, thank you for reading and have a great weekend.
Edit: Cleared up photos that were pasted in a bad format.

submitted by International_One110 to Shortsqueeze [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:06 stinky_catto 21f Scotland!! looking to make new friends:)

hi!! i’m from scotland and looking to make some gaming buddies or just people I can talk to!! I have ps, xbox and switch but also happy to play crossplay:)) currently playing ow2, minecraft, pokemon, fortnite, apex, genshin,ac and a couple others but happy to get any free games or re-download some others:)) otherwise i collect lego, plushies and little trinkets:) i play the bagpipes and i’m interested in other languages (can speak french and spanish and learning japanese and german) i also love cats and watch a bunch of anime (terror in resonance is my current number one and i also have a haku tattoo!!) feel free to dm me and i’ll try get back to everyone:) also ps. if you’ve dm’d me in the past my reddit has cleared all of my chats and requests so im sorry for not responding:(( i’ve tried to fix it but cannot so just message again:))

submitted by stinky_catto to MakeFriendsUK [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:06 Weathers_Writing I think God might be real, just not in the way you think (Part 4)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.

submitted by Weathers_Writing to weatherswriting [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:03 Weathers_Writing I think God might be real, just not in the way you think (Part 4)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Content Warning: Domestic Abuse
***
We pulled off I-51 a little after midnight, stopping at a truck stop which was couched between the highway and a large forest.
We waited in the van for ten minutes or so. Trent had increased the sonar radius to its maximum of 30 miles a little over an hour ago. Somehow the red pings had kept up with us, holding a steady distance of around 20 miles. Considering we were averaging around 80 mph, and a coyote's top speed is only around 40 mph, we figured they had been enhanced in some way. Either that, or they shape-shifted into something faster. Regardless, now that we had stopped, we waited to see if the demon spawn would try and close the distance. Luckily, or unluckily, they didn't. They kept their 20 mile buffer, but we noticed they were beginning to spread out along the circumference of that boundary.
"We're close. They know that, so they're trying to trap us in." Trent said.
"Trying to?—more like they have."
We considered whether we should stay in the van and keep watch, but we figured that would do us little good. At their speed, they could be on us in ten minutes, which means we would need to stay up all night and keep tabs on their positions. Trent offered to stay up, of course, but I shut him down.
"The demon doesn't want to kill us now. You said it yourself. Plus, we need our rest. If they come, they come."
Trent didn't like it, but he acquiesced.
The truck stop had all the essentials: a gas station and mini mart with showers and an attached McDonald's, a large parking lot for truckers to idle and sleep, and even a section with lodging for those who wanted a more comfortable night's rest. I told Trent that he should take advantage of the showers, and after a little convincing, he agreed. While he was cleaning himself up, I patrolled the dingy, half-stocked aisles of "Daisy's Quick Mart". I probably would have been appalled at the quality of the store had I actually been paying any attention to it whatsoever. But I wasn't. I was thinking hard about what awaited me tomorrow.
During the drive, I had asked Trent why the demon would want us to return to the crash site. What did he mean that I would be 'confronting a dark entity in a place he couldn't help me'? He seemed hesitant to answer, but my little stunt outside the storage facility seemed to have sufficiently motivated him.
"When I said I've never done this before, I meant it." Trent started. "I've never done this exact thing before—meaning I've never projected someone into the past."
"So, I'm time traveling?" I asked.
"No—don't think of it like that." Trent paused, trying to come up with a good explanation. "It's more like I'm opening a window for you to look through: not a door. You're going to see the past, but you can't interact with the physicalities there. But that doesn't mean you can't interact with anything."
There was a space of silence as Trent tried to let me work out his meaning for myself. "I don't get it. Are you saying there's something I can interact with? Like what?" And then it hit me. "The demon. The demon can interact with me? Meaning what? It can kill me?"
"Meaning… I'm not exactly sure. You're going to be in a kind of psychic space. If it does damage, it won't be to your body. It'll be to your mind—or spirit. But I don't know what the limits of that damage could be. I just don't have those answers."
"If you've never done this, how do you know any of it will work?"
"That's an easy one." Trent answered. "Because it's been done to me."
There was silence.
"Look, if I know anything, I know my tech. Don't doubt that this will work. It's my job to make sure it does. I just need you to be in the right mental for this. Just because it knows your coming doesn't mean it automatically has the upper hand. It won't be able to see you unless you make contact with it first. In other words, you have to initiate contact. As long as you remain a spectator, you should be okay. Trust me. Just don't make contact."
I started pacing faster—fast enough to catch the attention of the overnight shift worker, a young man whose name I can't quite remember. I know it started with a "J". Jake, maybe? Anyway, he asked if I was alright, to which I responded in the affirmative. He left me alone for another couple passes, but when I almost ran into one of the shelves, he stood up and said, "Uh—I'm going to have to ask you to stop running around. I don't want you to hurt yourself."
I must have stared daggers at him, because he recoiled from my gaze. What's gotten into me? I thought. Then, steadying myself, I apologized. I looked around and grabbed the nearest edible looking piece of merchandise: a bag of Swedish Fish, and placed it down on the counter. "Just this, please."
The cashier rang me up. It was surprisingly cheap.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the young man asked. He was tall with brown hair. He seemed tired—maybe even more tired than me. But he also seemed kind.
I smiled as best I could and said, "No, I'm not. But there's not really anything you can do. Hell, there might not be anything I can do." I furrowed my eyebrows at my own response, realizing that imminent death may have broken my verbal filter.
On the other hand, the cashier did not seem surprised at all. "Ah, I see. It's one of those problems." He responded. "Well, hey, for what it's worth, you seem like one of the resilient ones. I think you'll be alright."
I only smiled and nodded at his mildly cryptic comment. Looking back, the whole interaction was a bit strange, but I had way too much mental clutter to recognize that in the moment. I took my Swedish Fish and walked through the anteroom which led to McDonald's. I found an open yellow booth that wasn't littered with crumpled straw sleeves and sat down, chomping mindlessly on my little red fish until Trent returned. When he arrived, he took my place, and I went to shower. After we were both clean and fed, we returned to the van. The pings were still pushed safely out of harm's way. But that didn't mean we were out of harm's way. Trent asked me if I wanted to sleep in the van, saying that "it'd be the safest place."
I thought it over. He was right, obviously. The van was not only outfitted with weapons I couldn't even begin to understand, but it was also our escape, and it would be just as difficult, if not more difficult to break into than the studio-style motel rooms with their wood doors and big windows. Still, if this was going to be my last night on earth, I wanted to sleep in a bed. A real bed. Trent understood and said he'd stay parked right outside my room for the night.
After purchasing a key from the night attendant, I moseyed over to the cement walkways which connected the twenty or so rooms. Mine was room #56, which I thought was odd since, like I said, there were only 20 rooms. I lugged in my tomato plushie and dad's old book and placed them on the queen mattress.
"I'll be right outside." Trent said after I collapsed onto the bed.
"Trent," I called out, stopping him half-way through the door.
"Yeah?"
All the blood in my body rushed up to my face as I realized my unfiltered mouth almost reflexively said the word "stay". I stared at Trent, my heart beating, my face hot. I considered asking him to sleep on the floor like my dad, but that would be childish and impolite. The alternative was to share my bed… Or I could take the floor.
"I'll just be right outside." Trent said before my mind processed a solution. "Come by if you need anything. I'll be up most of the night anyway."
"Okay," I replied in a faint voice.
Trent shut the door.
I sat atop the bedsheets and acquainted myself with my new living space. A feeling of regret closed over me as I considered that even sleeping on a carseat would have been better if it meant I didn't have to be alone. With a sigh, I turned on the bedside lamp and grabbed the book and stuffed tomato, using the tomato as a backrest as I slipped my legs under the covers and situated the book upright on my thighs. I cracked it open and was immediately blasted with a puff of dusty, old book scent. It was ripe at first, and I turned my head away to sneeze, but as I perused through the pages, the scent grew on me. It reminded me of the days growing up when I'd step into dad's study and read through one of the many volumes on cryptic topics which were at least two college degrees above my Lexile range.
I was only a couple minutes into browsing the collection of different scientific and philosophical works when I came across a page which contained highlighted text. This was unusual, as my dad would never mark up his books. He was a purist on that point. I rubbed my thumb over the yellow lines, and sure enough, it was highlighter.
The highlighted text was part of a small book by Carl Jung called "Synchronicity". There were a total of three pages that were marked, and they advanced like this:
Page 5:
The philosophical principle that underlies our conception of natural law is causality*. But if the connection between cause and effect turns out to be only statistically valid and relatively true, then the causal principle is only of relative use for explaining natural processes… That is as much to say that the connection of events may in certain circumstances be other than causal, and require another principle of explanation.*
Page 19:
…there are events which are related to one another experimentally, and in this case meaningfully*, without there being any possibility of proving that this relation is a causal one, since the "transmission" exhibits none of the known properties of energy…a situation which does not yet exist and will only occur in the future could transmit itself as a phenomenon of energy to a receiver in the present…Therefore, it cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity... "synchronicity"*
Page 22:
A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer… which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.
I flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. There was no more highlighted text, but there was a message on the last page which read:
Matthew 7:7-8
I'll meet you in the darkest place.
He also included his typical smiley face which had an ovular shape and three sprouts of hair which I now realized kind of resembled my tomato plushie. It was my dad's writing, of course. But why? And how? What did this mean?
The motel had a Bible stashed away in the nighstand drawer. I got it out and looked up the verses which read the following:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
I spent maybe an hour ruminating on all of this. The whole discourse on energy and causality and a "falling together in time" just seemed so right. It was clear that my dad definitely did know what I was going through, but for whatever reason, he made it seem like he was oblivious. Why had he hidden that from me? I felt like I was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, my dad loved me enough to leave this note, maybe even knowing the exact moment I'd need it. But on the other hand, he had neglected my struggles throughout my entire childhood. He even lied at times. Was this really enough to make up for all of that?
And then there was the section about the future transmitting energy to the past. I read back through the whole paragraph and the original writer had meant it to say this as something that wasn't possible, but my dad's highlighting made it seem like he wanted to flip the meaning. The future does affect the past. I thought about where I was headed and wondered if I would soon discover that for myself.
Lastly, dad's message. The Bible verse reminded me of the first time I prayed; how I reached out to God and received peace as an answer to my prayer. Now I feel like I'm actively seeking… something, but I don't know yet what I'll find. And then there's knocking. At first that reminded me of the story with the beetle tapping on the window, but then I went back even deeper in my memory and dug out the monster tapping at my window, and the words my dad spoke to me in order to set my mind at ease: "you're a superhero. And you know what your greatest superpower is? Your greatest power is you get to tell the monsters what to do. Because the monsters are only as strong as the stories you tell about them…so if you're ever scared, honey, just dream up a better story."
I was crying into my stuffed tomato now. I felt like all the blinking pieces of my life had finally been pulled together into a completed puzzle. This was all by design. My entire life, filled with so much chaos and confusion, was actually preparing me for this moment. And my dad thought I had the tools and strength enough to get through it. I flipped through the book one more time, thinking maybe he had left some other hidden comment—some formula to defeat this demon and return home. But there was nothing. Only that one comment: "I'll meet you in the darkest place."
What's the darkest place, dad? Is that where I'm going? Are you saying you'll be there, too?
With those thoughts in mind, my eyes became heavy shutters which, with a slight pressure on the pulley, winded shut. My swimming thoughts and firework-like fears dissipated, and I returned to a precious childhood memory. It was after an evening soccer practice. Summer. Dad was driving me to Dairy Queen. I got a cherry-dipped twist cone. I was happy.
So, so happy.
***
I woke up to sunlight blaring through my windows. Shit, I overslept, was my immediate thought. I threw off my covers and opened the front door. A glance at the clock showed 1:13 PM. I shouldn't have even been allowed to stay checked in this long. Damn, am I gonna get double-billed for this?
I heard a rummaging sound around the corner of my motel room. It sounded like a squirrel was trying to find an afternoon snack in one of the garbage bins. I stepped outside. The sun was extremely bright, to the point where I had to squint and put my hand over my eyes to even see the ground in front of me. I was trying to walk toward the van, but somehow I ended up in front of the trash bins where the animal's tail was sticking out from a turned-over, silver garbage can. Its tail was wagging excitedly, and I remember thinking that it was much too large to be a squirrel.
The animal bent down as if biting onto something, and I heard the sound of its growl as it struggled to tug whatever it was free from the barrel. Inch by inch, the creature backed out of the canister, and more of its sharp, sticky hair was revealed. I heard something snap, then the creature leapt back and I saw what it was chomping on. My eyes widened in horror as the pink tube of a human intestine was pulled taut like the end of a tangled hose. Blood and entrails were spilling out of the human's opened gut. And then, behind the canine, I saw the person's face. His face was pale white, his eyes closed, and his hair was slicked back… It was Trent.
Before I could react, I heard footsteps approaching from behind. I whirled around and saw my dad. But—no, it wasn't him. It was someone wearing a paper-mache face mask that was painted to look like my dad. The forehead of the mask was already beginning to crack, white specks breaking off like sawdust. Through the cracks, I could see the figure's true form. I didn't know darkness had its own type of light, but that's the only way to describe it. It was as if malevolence itself was reified into a skin which was actually an amalgamation of millions of little, oozing parasites that leached into the nearby light. When it finally spoke, the demon's voice was a full octave lower than the old man's at the deli. And it had an earth-stilling gravitas.
"Today's the day!" He sang and reached into his pocket. His lips curled upward into a foxy smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day." He said and held up a razor blade. Half his facade had already fallen apart, and now I could see the bugs up close, writhing in what was either horror or ecstasy. And his scent… it was somehow more rank than the rabid coyote rummaging through the trash can with Trent's cut open body inside. The demon closed in on my position, and in one, decisive motion, he brought the blade close to his chin, then sliced it across my throat. "Wake up!" He screamed.
I jumped out of my bed and grabbed my throat, feeling the cold sting of its quick slice. Hyperventilating, I patted the area down, trying to hold the blood in, but when I removed my hands, I saw they were dry. It was only a dream, I thought. Gray light was only beginning to filter in through the drapes. I'm in my hotel room. I'm safe. I tried consoling, but the pragmatic mental massages weren't enough to hold the force of my knees buckling. I dropped onto the carpet and cried for a long while.
Outside, rain was beginning to fall.
***
By the time I met up with Trent, I had already composed myself and decided to keep my dad's message and the nightmare to myself. None of it seemed particularly productive from a logistical standpoint, anyway. And I wanted to focus on the mission.
We stopped by McDonald's and bought a couple cups of coffee. Trent asked if I wanted any food, and I declined. Black coffee seemed like the only thing my stomach could take at the present moment. I could tell Trent was hungry, but he tried playing it off (I guess to be respectful of me?) I told him to knock it off and get something to eat. I didn't need my Charon getting lightheaded and dropping the paddle before he finished rowing me to Hell. He didn't care much for my joke, but he ordered a couple Chicken McGriddles at the kiosk anyway.
There were maybe ten patrons spread throughout the restaurant. We sat down at the same booth from the prior night, this time across from one another. Trent spent the first ten minutes or so babbling about our fuel supply and the logistics of the trip from here on in. Practical stuff. I've come to realize that's how he deals with his stress. He talks it out in short, durable sentences. I mostly nodded and watched as what looked like a storm front closed in on the truck stop. The sky was overcast, and there were darker clouds in the distance. The rain was still only a patter, but a middle-aged man wearing a yellow bow tie on the wall-mounted TV confirmed that there would be heavier rain and thunderstorms very soon.
After the worker delivered Trent's food and he ate it in record time, I posed the one question that was still on my mind.
"How do I fight him?" I asked.
Trent finished a large gulp of his coffee, then looked at me. It was the first substantial thing I'd said all morning; Trent could tell something was off with me, but he figured there was no point in asking what it was. "By 'him', I assume you mean the demon?"
I nodded.
Trent licked his teeth clean. "You could try praying again."
"I'm serious," I responded.
"I'm serious, too. It worked before, didn't it?"
"You mean at my house?"
Trent nodded.
"I thought you weren't a religious man?"
"I'm not. Just a practical one. If praying worked before, maybe it'll work again."
"That's the best you've got? A maybe?"
"No, I've got a lot of shit better than a maybe." He answered. "It's just not accessible where you're going. Which is why I recommend not making contact on the first run."
"First run? So we're going to do this more than once?"
"At least," Trent answered. Then, seeing my expression, he continued. "What? You thought this was going to be a one-and-done? We have to conduct some research first. I did tell you this was new for me, right?"
Somehow Trent's response had set my mind at ease a little. I was going to have more than one chance. Of course, why wouldn't I be able to go back more than once?
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? It would have gone a long way in easing my mind."
Trent lifted his hands in defense. "Sorry, I just thought that was a given. I mean, what we're doing is dangerous, just like I said, but it doesn't mean we aren't going to approach this as safely and scientifically as possible. However, there is a different problem with running multiple trials."
"The Organization?"
"That's right," Trent said like a proud parent. "Our little experiment will be like a giant spotlight, and the longer we wait around after it's on us, the greater the chance we'll have unwelcome company."
"So, safe but speedy."
"Safe but speedy. Exactly."
***
We fueled up and were back on the road a little after 8:00. From that point on, Trent and I were absolutely silent. I had the distinct feeling of being in the eye of a storm. The pings moved closer commensurate with our progress toward the crash site. The cloudfront continued its advance. And I noticed a haze beginning to descend onto the road ahead of us. It was fog.
We meandered further inland, the forest thickening around us until the rain almost stopped entirely—the leaves drinking it up before it fell onto our windshield. I kept my eyes on the radar. We were approaching the large yellow circle which indicated we had arrived. As we pulled closer, I began to feel things. Fear. Eeriness. Doubt. Then happiness. Hope. Love. Normally feelings like these had a clear source to picture, but these sensations came on in waves without any discernible reason. It was almost as if they were blinking into existence inside me.
"Here we go," Trent said like an airline pilot readying his crew for turbulence.
I still recall the exact moment we crossed the boundary into the area of higher energy. It was like something just "clicked" in my brain, and all of a sudden everything felt so much closer. The sound of the rain against the trees was almost right next to my ear. The trees in the distance would oscillate between their position a half-mile out, then suddenly seem five meters away. If I focused on something long enough, it began to radiate those same ethereal particles as when Trent released Ava's "phase lock". I checked to make sure the shifter wasn't set to "TD". Sure enough, it was still in drive.
"Can you see them?" Trent asked. "The shifts?"
"Yeah," I said in a dreamy voice. I felt like I was driving through a wonderland.
"It's the energy. I barely notice a difference. A bit of movement in the trees, but not much else. But I'm sure for you, it's a whole experience."
"What is this?" I raised my hand and caught some of the pixel dust dripping off the sun visor. It disappeared when it made contact with my hand.
"It's a kind of radiation. Everything emits it, just in different quantities. I'm still not exactly sure how it relates to the other realms, but I'm guessing it's a kind of primordial matter that helps connect our worlds."
"It's beautiful," I exclaimed. "I wish I could see the world like this all the time."
"Maybe you will," Trent whispered.
As we arrived at the crash site, I began to get glimpses of the past. My childhood dreams and memories were pushing their way out from my subconscious. I noticed an increased number of blinks, which were validated by Ava who reported the following: "Currently detecting 14,350 novel emergences and 2,777 controlled agents. Net anomalies: 2,777."
"That's a lot of blinks." I remarked. "Why doesn't Ava include them in the net anomalies?"
Trent turned his head so I could see his smirk. "Because blinks aren't anomalies."
I thought about it for a second. Blinks aren't anomalies. "I never thought about it that way."
"It's hard to think about it that way when 'normal' for most people means not picking up on a fundamental aspect of reality. But that doesn't make it any less real."
We continued past the epicenter of the yellow circle. "Are we not stopping?" I asked. "I think we already passed the crash site."
"It doesn't have to be exactly at the site," Trent said. "Plus, we don't want to stop on the side of the road and risk getting some civilian involved. There's a field about half a mile up ahead. I'm going to pull off the road and set up camp there.
The "field" that Trent was referring to was actually a large clearing that dipped down into several trench-like troughs which were filled to the brim with fog like witches cauldrons. Further on in the distance, I saw open fields, probably used for farming, and then a large hill where the trees once again reasserted themselves. We had pulled off the road and up a small incline where the trees had already been broken down, leaving a trail for us to drive through. When we surfaced at the edge of the clearing, Trent pulled us onto a flat bed of dried mud which was maybe thirty yards long.
"Here," he said with a sigh.
We both sat for a minute, looking around at the field. We had finally arrived. The rain was beginning to pick up, and the dark sky made it almost impossible to discern the time of day.
"You ready?" Trent asked.
I looked at him. Really looked at him. In his blue eyes. Was I ready? Did it even matter?
"Let's do this," I said.
***
This was the first time I was really able to inspect the back of Trent's van. He had talked up his gear a lot, and honestly, I was impressed. Not in the way that a scientist is impressed by another scientist's lab—I wasn't any kind of expert—but it still seemed remarkably well managed. Now that I was in a state where my vision had been enhanced, I could actually see the enigmatic particles circulating through the pneumatic tubes which were coiled like the pipes and valves of an elaborate wind instrument. The walls of the van, itself, were glistening white, making it easier to make out everything else inside. Along the floor were five overturned columns. Each column was dark and had a vibrating quality, as if they were charged with energy. Then atop the center three columns was a small altar which supported an apparatus with two skinny, metal arms holding a silver halo. At present, the arms were folded and the halo was suspended a few inches above the altar, faced-down. I thought maybe I'd see particles exuding from it, but instead it was emitting visible waves which bent and warped everything they touched.
"That thing is emitting a lot of energy." I remarked, gesturing toward the halo.
Trent stepped in between the columns and started pulling out the packages he had stuffed in there yesterday. "Just wait till' it's on."
Most of the packages contained only a single piece of equipment, and were otherwise packed with foam peanuts. We carefully removed each box and set them on the ground outside. I asked if the rain would damage any of the stuff inside, to which Trent only laughed and continued lugging out the boxes. When they were all out, Trent removed a box cutter from his pocket and went one-by-one opening them. There were eight pieces in total.
"What is it?" I asked as we fished the first item out.
"It's another apparatus, like the one inside. Except it'll mount on the ground out here."
I pulled out what looked like a metal tripod.
"Good, that'll go on the bottom."
"Where are we setting it up?"
"Over here," Trent said and stepped five paces away from the van. He coordinated himself up so he was centrally aligned with the inner ring, then stomped a few times. "This is the spot."
As we continued to work, I asked Trent about how the whole contraption works.
"Do you remember the first time we were in the van? When we had to escape from the semi-truck?" Trent asked and connected a secondary mounting apparatus on top of the tripod. It had four spider-like legs that made right angles and stuck into the ground.
"Of course," I said. "The 'phase lock'."
"Yeah," Trent said and gestured toward the metal stick that was in my hand. I handed it to him. "The phase lock is a seal on the level of energy that the van is allowed to release. It also controls its dispersion pattern so that it releases its energy in a steady wave. This allows Ava to scan for anomalies without causing us to become an anomaly." Trent stuck the plank into the neck of the tripod.
"So when you released the phase lock, we started emitting more energy."
"That's right." Trent confirmed. "Enough to create an alternate route through a different realm."
"So we blinked into a different realm, then back, just to avoid that truck?"
"That's right."
"But why couldn't we just move out of the way?"
"Because it had locked onto us. It was tracking our motion and adjusting its course based on the amount of energy we were emitting. So in order to escape, we had to radically skew our potential energy and then use it to shift."
"Couldn't he have just followed us?"
Trent connected four more pieces to the device which now looked like an elaborate teepee. He was fishing in the last box when he spoke again. "Yeah, he could have. But it was highly improbable that he would have found us." Trent returned from the bottom of the box with another silver ring in hand. "Think of it like this. Let's say you're trying to escape from some bad guy who's coming after you, and you enter a new room you've never seen before. Would you prefer this room to have three doors to go through, or ten?"
I thought about his riddle for a second, then responded, "It depends where they go."
Trent fastened the ring atop the teepee. "Let's say they all lead to random places, or let's say they're all closets that lead nowhere. The key is that more is better, because the more doors he has to check, the less likely he is to pick the correct one. Make sense?"
"So we opened up a bunch of doors and escaped through one at random?"
"Hence the gear 'TD', for 'Trap Door'."
I marveled at the insights, but not for long. Trent hopped back in the van and pulled a lever that I hadn't seen until now. The two metal arms raised the inner ring until it was perpendicular with the altar. Then Trent clicked one of three red buttons along the back wall, and I saw what looked like a large, glass eye suspended in a magnifying glass protruding from the wall, aligned with the center of both rings. A couple seconds later, the glass eye began to focus the energy which was being fed to it from the pneumatic tubes, and a blue pyramid of light projected from it into the first ring, then from the first ring into the second ring. All three pieces were aligned at slightly diminishing heights, so the cylinder of light beamed through the second ring, into the ground.
"Alright, time for the first trial."
I felt the nerves starting up in my stomach. Trent sensed this and hopped out of the truck. It was raining quite hard now, though it was still warm. Both Trent and I were soaked, but that hardly concerned us. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "I know you're feeling scared." He said. "But trust me on this. You're going to do fine. Just keep in mind what we talked about. Stay a spectator. Okay?"
I looked into his blue eyes, which seemed especially gray in the dark. Still, Trent's voice was reassuring. All I had to do was trust him. Trust myself. Trust my dad. And it was all going to turn out right.
"I'm ready," I said.
Trent was still for a second, holding my eyes in his. Then he guided me behind the outer ring and into the cylinder of light.
"I should step into it now?" I asked, afraid I'd be called away immediately.
"It's not on yet, so don't worry. I still have to press another button."
I followed Trent's instructions and stood in the blue light which was centered on my chest. Then I watched as Trent ran into the back of the van and posted up next to the glass eye. "Ready?" He yelled out. It was hard to hear him over the rain, but I yelled back. "Ready!"
The next thing I saw was a blinding blue light beam from the van. I heard what sounded like a laser, then saw the cylinder oscillate, expanding and compressing. When the energy reached the second ring, I saw everything around me light up—it looked brighter than noon on a cloudless day. Then the oscillations made their way to me, and I was swallowed up whole.
***
When I came to, I was in the backseat of a car. I felt my butt rumbling. Everything was dim and quiet. And then I heard a woman's voice from in front of me.
"Mark, please, not with Lauren in the back."
The man, who I now identified as my father, pulled the cigarette away from his lips and blew the smoke at my mom. He eyed the back seat where I was sitting, using one of five markers that hadn't rolled off my lap to color a rabbit in my animal color book.
"The kid's fine." he said and took another drag.
"Mark," my mom repeated.
I saw my dad raise his hand in a rapid motion. "I said she's fine, Cheryl. Now check the map and make sure we're going the right away. I can't see shit with all this fog."
I took a moment to make sure I was really in the back seat. I patted myself. I clearly had weight. Then I tried touching the car. At first, my fingertips met a solid surface, but when I tried to press through, my hand slipped into the car. I quickly pulled my hand away as if I had reached into a fire.
That's when I heard the little three year old next to me start crying. I turned and saw that little-me had dropped another couple markers onto the ground and was struggling to reach them.
"Hey!" my dad shouted. "What did I say about crying?"
"Quit it, Mark. She just dropped her markers." said my mom; she turned to help me pick them up.
"What did you say to me?" Mark spat with a voice full of guile. He reached out and pushed her back into her seat. "Don't," he commanded. "She has to learn how to deal with life."
"Deal…" My mom started in disbelief. "Deal with life? Do you hear yourself? What's gotten into you?"
"Sometimes shit happens. It doesn't give her the right to cry. You helping her is just going to reinforce her behavior."
"Her behavior? What about your behavior? You're acting like a total dick."
I didn't even have a moment to react before my dad's hand was across my mom's face. I felt the slap more than I heard it, my own face seeming to swell with the force of the blow. I saw my mom cover her mouth and lean away. Then little-me began to cry even louder, which only challenged my dad to step up his own volume.
"Everyone needs to get a fucking grip before I crash this car." My dad shouted and took another drag. The scariest part was I couldn't tell if he was warning us or threatening us. I felt the sudden urge to do something. There was no way this was real. I was definitely in some fantasy concocted by the demon. He wanted to turn me against my dad. That was the only explanation for something like this. My dad was a good man, not… this.
As I contemplated what to do, I saw a small, golden light appear behind little-me's window. Apparently she saw it, too, because her cries hushed as she traced the wisp with her eyes. After a second, the wisp transformed into a bunny rabbit, reminiscent of the one she was coloring. The rabbit hopped alongside the window, then did a couple circles in place. I watched little me let out a playful laugh and reach toward the window.
"What's going on back there?" my dad asked with a scowl. Apparently the only sound more disturbing than cries were laughs.
I looked back to the front and saw my mom wiping blood from her lip. Her expression was miserable. "Leave her alone, Mark."
"I'll do whatever I damn well want to do, Cheryl. It's my kid back there."
My mom was quiet.
When I looked back toward the rabbit, it was no longer a rabbit but a person. Or at least it looked like a person. The figure radiated pure gold, and atop his head was what appeared to be a King's crown. I recalled Allison's experience of seeing the sun-like figure in her moment of distress. Was that what was happening here? Was this really all true?
"Hey!" My dad shouted, eyeing little-me from the rear-view mirror. "What are you reaching at?"
I looked and saw the golden figure extending his hand toward the window, and little me's hand was reaching back. "Mom, dad, it bright." little-me said.
"What's bright, honey?" my mom asked.
"Don't encourage her, Cheryl."
"Someone there!" little me shouted happily and dropped the rest of the markers and the coloring book onto the ground.
"Who's there?" asked my mom.
"Cheryl, I swear to God. Sit the fuck down."
Everything from that moment on happened so quickly I barely had any time to process it. My mom lifted out of her seat to either get little me's attention or help me pick up my coloring book. My dad responded by grabbing onto her throat, letting go of the steering wheel entirely. He threw her back against the car door, and her head hit the window so hard, the glass cracked. My dad had dropped his cigarette, and I could smell smoke coming from under his seat, but that didn't seem to bother him at all. He turned toward little-me at the same moment my three-year-old hand reached out and grabbed onto the golden figure, whose hand diffused through the window. When my dad turned, I got a whiff of the most awful smell that I wouldn't have been able to place had I not had that nightmare last night. He grabbed onto little-me's shoulder and tugged her away from the golden figure that was trying to pull her the other way. My dad's facade began to crack, and I could see those dark bugs crawling out from the pores in his arms, marching down toward little-me.
I reacted.
I grabbed onto my dad's arm and pulled him off little-me. I heard the sound of my shirt ripping as she was torn from his grip and pulled out of the car, diffusing through it like a ghost. My brief victory was immediately overturned as I saw what was now clearly the demon smiling at me, his wretched fingers curled around my forearm.
"Caught you," He sneered.
Then the whole world once again diffused into countless numbers of particles, only this time, instead of riding through it, I felt like I was falling through an elevator shaft with each floor darker than the last. The further I fell, the less I became aware of my surroundings, and the more I felt a deep sense of loneliness. It was as if I was the only person in the whole world: and the whole world was a prison designed entirely for me. This went on for so long, I began to forget who I was. Where I was. What was.
And then I landed.
***
Source Used:
Jung, Carl. Synchronicity. Translated by Sonu Shamdasani, Princeton University Press, 2010.

submitted by Weathers_Writing to nosleep [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:02 ArtFraga The Living Infinite II Chords - Guitar Tabs - Soilwork by Soilwork

The Living Infinite II guitar tabs download as PDF and Guitar Pro on: https://paidtabs.com/search/vWebuQl2eoc
Click here for a free preview of the score (first page)
This score has 11 PDF pages
Credit: this score was transcribed/uploaded by @Hectones
If you cannot find the score, it might be because of a copyright issue. Click on "Request" button at PaidTabs.com to request and get the score.

submitted by ArtFraga to RareTabs [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:02 Fudgemann707 Please help me clear my system data.

https://preview.redd.it/a6nh2po9ql5d1.png?width=1166&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee4e0d6edc1c9235f368090ffeda652ff7e0a9e7
My system data is out of control. I downloaded and ran CleanMyMac X and it didn't work. How do I get rid of this?
Details: I'm trying to move all of my iCloud files onto an SSD. I realized I needed free space on my mac in order to download them and then move them over (I guess. I'd obviously like to just download everything directly to the SSD but doesn't seem to be an option).
A minute ago I had like 70gb of free space on my mac, with about 90gb used in system data. I grabbed a file that was around 65gb, dragged it to the SSD. It started the process, but I decided I wanted to clear my 90gb first so I could move more at a time. I cancelled the transfer and now it looks like this. Wtf. Please help me.

submitted by Fudgemann707 to ios [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:01 Fudgemann707 Please Help. Clearing System Data.

submitted by Fudgemann707 to mac [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 22:00 spencewatson01 FREE SMOOTHIE from Tropical Smoothie!

The Easiest and Most Tasty Referral Code on Reddit!
Just download the Tropical Smoothie App, spend $5 and we both get a FREE SMOOTHIE! No purchase required!

https://engagement.punchh.com/b/tropicalsmoothiecafe?invite_code=SpkWatso9145

submitted by spencewatson01 to Referrallinks [link] [comments]

2024.06.09 21:52 alexa_tuning [ Available ] Rosen & Barkin's 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult 6th Edition Sixth Edition by Schaider, Jeffrey J., Hayden, Stephen R., Wolfe, Richard E Textbook Ebook PDF reddit. Publisher: LWW - Wolters Kluwer Health. eText ISBN 9781496392961 ISBN: 9781496392954 ISBN-10: 1496392957 ISBN 14963929

TITLE : Rosen and Barkin's 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult Sixth Edition 6th Edition by Schaider, Jeffrey J., Hayden, Stephen R., Wolfe, Richard E. Digital Textbook Ebook PDF Download Reddit.
AUTHORS : Schaider, Jeffrey J., Hayden, Stephen R., Wolfe, Richard E.
EDITION : 6th Edition - Sixth Edition
PUBLISHER : LWW - Wolters Kluwer Health
Feel free to message or Send me a chat request on Reddit / Discord / Email if you need the Textbook Pdf
Discord ID: textbookfinder#1311
Email id: [findmytextbookforme@gmail.com](mailto:findmytextbookforme@gmail.com)
Original Textbook Cover Photo: https://postimg.cc/rdR6FCqJ
Thank you :)

submitted by alexa_tuning to TextBookPDF [link] [comments]

http://rodzice.org/