Long story short, a wind storm removed a handful of sections of tin roof allowing rain to leak into my house, which has ruined my dining room and belongings. For back story, it appears as if the dining room was an addition to the original blueprint of the house at some point long before I bought it.
When the contractors were gutting the room, they came across a litany of things not up to current code. A third party engineer came out and inspected it, giving a detailed list of things not up to code/require further inspection.
Direct list of things from the engineer’s report “We observed the following: -The addition framing does not match typical IRC framing methods. Permit research of the property did not show any permits for this type of work. -No hurricane ties are present at the roof rafter bearing. -The exterior wood studs are not continuous to the sill plate and the sill plate is stacked with gaps and offsets. Improper load path at wall framing. -The sill plates are not mechanically fastened to the foundation walls. Additionally, they do not match typical IRC detailing. -The floor joists rest directly on soil. The joists and sheathing are rotting from the top down. -The joists are not mechanically fastened to the foundation wall. -The foundation walls are ungrouted -The following architectural/MEP items were noted: -No apparent vapor barrier below the joists -Not adequate crawl space depth, per IRC code -No crawl space venting, appeared to be damp conditions below floor system -Floor and wall finishes appeared compromised due to the inability of proper air flow. -Unclear how the roof would be vented – if unvented, improper insulation techniques utilized -The roof slopes and roof intersections between them, as well as at the chimney, present inadequate water paths for drainage -Juncture of asphalt roofing to metal roofing is missing a high/low transition strip, therefore relying on adhesive sealants – prone to failure”
I have Law and ordinance (code upgrades) in my policy up to $40K, but my adjuster stated that they won’t cover any of the upgrades to things such as the improper foundation or framing since “they were not directly damaged from the peril” and instead currently plan on just covering the costs of redoing the drywall, flooring, and subfloor.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but isn’t this exactly what code upgrades are for? If not in this specific instance, then when exactly are they used? I’m genuinely curious, because section 3 below makes me feel as if I’m entitled to utilize that portion of the policy given that I pay for it. The following text is directly from my insurance policy, specifically the law and ordinance subsection.
“Ordinance Or Law Coverage- If a loss by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST occurs to covered property, or the building containing the covered property, "we" will pay for the increased costs incurred due to the enforcement of any ordinance or law that is in force at the time of the loss. The maximum amount "we" will pay in any one loss is the amount shown on the "Declarations.” Payment is in addition to the amount of insurance applying to the loss.
"You" may use this coverage for: 1. the construction, demolition, renovation or repair of the portion of the building damaged by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST; 2. the demolition and reconstruction of the undamaged portion of the building if the entire building must be demolished because of damage by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST: 3. the removal or replacement of the undamaged portion of the building because of the repair or replacement of the portion of the building damaged by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST; 4. or the removal of debris resulting from the construction, demolition, renovation, repair or replacement of Item 1. 2. or 3.
Ordinance Or Law Coverage does not include coverage for: -loss in value to any covered building due to the requirements of any ordinance or law; or -the cost to comply with any ordinance or law requiring the testing, monitoring, cleaning up, removing, containing, treating, detoxifying, neutralizing, responding to or assessing the effects of any solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant, pollutant or contaminant in or on any covered building.”
Will somebody please help me break down exactly what that all means? Am I just being strong armed by my adjuster in order to keep the total claim amount low, or am I truly the one that has to foot the bill on those things?
Thank you in advance, kind experts of the Redditverse <3

Rule 509-3-.02 Basic Training Curriculum for Security Officers Effective January 1, 2022 a minimum of 24 hours of classroom instruction is required for all private security agency licensees and private security employees consisting of instruction in the following topics:
(1) Role of Private Security (a) Crime Awareness and Prevention (b) Private Security and the Criminal Justice System (c) Ethics and Professionalism (2) Legal Aspects (a) Principal Misdemeanors and Felonies (b) Overview of Title 43-38 as it relates to the Security Profession (c) Overview of Board Rules 509 et al (d) Arrest and Proper Use of Force (e) Liability (f) Courtroom testimony (3) Patrol and Observation (a) Patrol techniques (including but not limited to Koper Curve and directed patrol) (b) Information gathering (c) Crimes in progress (d) Officer Safety (e) Note taking and Report Writing (4) Incident Response (a) Responding to Emergencies (b) Crowd control and evacuation (c) Fire control and Prevention (d) Hazardous Materials (e) Bomb Threats and Terrorism (f) Response to an Active Assailant (g) Mental Health Awareness (5) Security Resources (a) CCTV Operation and Video Documentation (b) Alarm systems (c) Access Control (d) Electronic Article Surveillance (e) Working with Law Enforcement (6) Customer Service Issues (a) Public relations (b) Interpersonal Communications (7) First Aid Overview

I wanted this to be a discussion thread for anecdotes but it turned into a very long rant instead, oops.
I'll start off with saying that something I've observed through years of navigating The System™ as a former CPS kid, is that:

1. Therapists all seem to operate from a baseline wherein all your problems exist in a perfectly compartmentalized vacuum. A lot of what is practiced in the majority of psychotherapy modalities (the only ones I haven't done are ECT/TMS because I draw a hard line at lobotomy-once-removed. I was also greenlit for ketamine infusions but I'm fucking sick of drugs robbing me of my senses.) can only work for extremely specific problems on extremely specific types of people.
2. It is up to the therapist to decide what your "big T" and "small T" traumas are, and all interactions will be structured off their perception and therefore biases. They often dismiss their clients' concerns, and always deflect with varying degrees of hostility when confronted.
3. They can't actually help you in any material capacity and may even be detrimental when you already have adequate insight into your issues and viable solutions in your own best interest.
4. The profession in itself is a neoliberalist non-solution to societal ills. They are always most preoccupied with getting you to Do The Work™ (i.e. societal assimilation), and any ideologies or personalities that deviate from their dominant cultural accepted narrative is vilified. Per bread and circuses, it will always be in the best interest of the ruling class to do whatever will keep the masses zombified into subservience and thus only ever manufacture problems and sell partial solutions that cause more problems. Something, something, imagine Sisyphus happy...
5. To quote Jenny Holzer, "Abuse of power comes as no surprise." The nature of vulnerable sector professions is that they unfortunately will draw in high achievers who (sub)consciously live for power dynamics. Those who are able to remain in the profession long term and not burn out, anyway. Some of the worst people I've personally met have been varying flavors of medical professionals, and that says a lot given that I was physically/psychologically tortured and sexually abused by my father for most of my life.

But yeah anyway, some of the shit that therapists have said with me still haunts me but in a "hahaha what the fuck" kind of way lmao.
There was one who said to me in earnest that I need to "stop listening to Coldplay and reading about climate change" when I expressed I don't see any reasons that I should participate in a collapsing society.
Another suggested that "it might help to get a grocery buggy" after disclosing that I hate being reliant on my abusive relatives for most of my essential needs because of lack of money/physical & mental capacity, in full view of her Burberry coat and BMW parked outside the window.
A few not worth mentioning would always either project their own relationship with ethnic immigrant parents onto me with bullshit like "our parents raised us the best they could" (OMG I didn't know I had a long lost sibling that they raised in secret!!! /s), or they would get obnoxiously fixated on some aspect that doesn't impact me the way they almost wanted it to? As if I would be easier for them to deal with if I was their uni textbook case study, rather than a real person with a messy background.
Most infuriatingly, my autism specialist, with a PhD in social work, kept insisting that I "belong in a university setting". She is a uni lecturer herself, and it was mostly because she personally found me "the most intruiging client [she's] had", on top of my full psych eval reporting an approximate IQ of 136.
I literally failed certain portions when it came to visual-spatial, motor, and interpersonal attributes. IQ is so bullshit anyway because it doesn't take into account how someone was raised whatsoever. Fucking duh you're going to have a "vastly superior" verbal quotient if your parents never socialized with you, left you with books as company while expecting you to be their translator.
No matter how hard I tried to drill home that I have irreparable academic trauma, never done well in any sort of academic setting in the first place, and knowing what my own limitations are, the autism specialist would chalk it up to "learned helplessness, because clearly [I] have sooo much untapped potential".
And it's not like I haven't tried everything everyone's suggested on my own terms, and came to the conclusions I have? Why the fuck would I want to embody society's idea of a failure and make my own life harder??? I am the least masochistic person I know lol, it's like none of them ever understood anything I had to say. They'll just say these things like there's a magic formula that will somehow guarantee a good life for everyone, when the reality is that not even people who don't have significant impairments, can't all "make it".
The most fucked part is that for all they bellow about Theory of Mind™ til their face turns blue, they are hilariously self-unaware that they can preach these things because every damn person I've known who's been able to achieve a MSW is naturally "high octane" and/or lives an immensely privileged life in some way or another. And it just so happens that everyone in their immediate circle is just like that, too. So from a physiological standpoint, they are ironically incapable of understanding why their clients are seemingly "helpless", which...well, kind of proves point 5 of my therapy theories lol. If they really wanted to make the world a better place, they would start by, IDK, radical reform of societal structure to render their profession obsolete--just saying ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Anyway, if you've tried everything under the sun and none of it has worked out, it's because we live in a philosophical hell simulation, not because there is anything inherently wrong with you. You are the highest authority on your own experiences, and literally everything is normal. All the physics and philosophy throughout history can't reach consensus whether or not "objective reality" exists, so all that really matters is whatever matters most to you.
I wish these were affirmations I came across long before I was spiritually declawed for being an "unsympathetic" traumatized kid. Thank you for reading if you've made it this far, and I hope you've made some of your own peace wherever you are.

Hello, today I had a pretty scary thing happen, I heard someone screaming and begging for help from what sounded very muffled like it came from within a car, when I was loading some groceries and my baby into my car. It wasn’t very busy and mid day, and I was the only person probably within 30 ft of myself other than the cart guy. I looked around and was trying to act nonchalant while I observed anything off as I quickly got my kid strapped in and I noticed a woman loading up her truck and when she shut the door the muffled scream stopped. Before anyone asks if it was kids-no this was absolutely a full grown man and it is a sound I will never forget. I’m posting this right now bc I can’t sleep and my mind is just replaying everything over and over again. I got into my car and made the report and the police contacted me a few times asking for details and I am pretty sure that they found nothing and that truck was most likely gone, I did however give them a plate. Is there anyway I can follow up? I just feel like I need some peace of mind or anything. I was just hoping that maybe I was hearing a video of something and it wasn’t real… that police officer contacted me with his cell and I thiuggh about texting again and asking if they found/concluded anything but I wasn’t really sure about the etiquette with that ..any thoughts?

Me and my wife(both late 20s) are planning an anniversary trip in mid June driving from Illinois to Colorado and are very interested in climbing one of the less difficult 14ers if safe. Right now we are looking at Mt Elbert because the people here and on 14ers.com say it is an easier mountain for newbies and I like going to state high points.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law who do an annual hiking trip to Denver or Colorado Springs every year thinks that we are being suicidal risky and that climbing any 14er or 13er is not feasible for either of them, and especially not us and have been literally calling us begging for us to reconsider. They are generally very risk-averse people, but on the other hand I have been known to be over-excited and go in underprepared, so I'm asking you all for your opinion.
Experience-wise: The biggest wildcard: Both of us are flatlanders who have never been to Colorado and have no idea how elevation affects us. I've done a fair amount of hiking, camping and multi-day backpacking in the Appalachians which I understand is not comparable. For reference, the most serious mountain I've ever climbed was a 6600 footer in the Smokies 7 years ago. It was an all dirt trail,11+ miles round trip with 3000' of elevation gain to the summit, which I did in well under 4 hours total and I thought it was very easy back then and I'm much more fit now.
My wife has also never been to elevation above Denver, but we go regularly on all-day hikes here in Illinois, but on account of the flatness, even the hilliest hikes we never get more than 1000 feet net elevation change. My in-laws say that we need at least a week minimum to acclimate to elevation and we will only have been in Colorado for 3-4 days before trying to climb a 14er.
Fitness-wise: I'm pretty fit, at least on the pancake flat terrain in the Midwest. I have run consistently 60-100 miles a week for years now and have a respectable low 2:40 marathon time and I do some weights as well. But once again, Illinois is so flat that on a given 80 mile week, I'll have only done 1500 feet of elevation change total.
I'm more concerned about my wife. In the past, she would run 20-30 minutes, 2-3 times a week, and does light weights but she's taken a break since hurting one of her knees a couple months ago. She's also has exercise induced asthma and seasonal allergies. My in-laws say that it is dangerous for anyone with asthma to go to higher elevations.
Weather-wise: The in-laws say all the trails of every 13er and 14er will still be completely covered in snow in three weeks. Here, I'm in complete agreement with my in-laws on this one, I have no experience in snowy conditions on a slope, not even skiing, don't have specialized hiking gear for snowy conditions, and don't want to be trying new things when I'm hypoxic. Previous year trip reports on 14ers.com seem to indicate that trails in mid-June are not as snowy as they says. I would obviously be disappointed if climbing a mountain is not feasible in June, but am ready to change plans on account of snow and other inclement weather.
Our plan: Spend a few days in Colorado Springs first including hiking there, and driving/taking the train to the top of Pikes Peak to see how we feel at hiking altitude and at 14k feet. Then drive to Mt. Elbert and camp at the trailhead at 10,000 feet overnight, start our ascent at sunrise at 5:30 AM, make it to the top by 11AM, and descend. We should have all the stuff from the checklist at 14ers.com, and I'm willing to carry more than my share of supplies. If Mt. Elbert is too snowy, I looked and saw Horseshoe Mt is close and should have less snow and should be do-able for our fitness levels. ?
TLDR: Are we crazy for contemplating climbing Mt Elbert?

I’m buying a Toyota Certified Used Vehicle, 2021 RAV4 base, and it looks good, drives well, and I like it. What’s weird is that the dealer didn’t provide me with any documentation or checklist about the “160 point inspection” or information about the certified program/what work was done. The only thing they gave me is the mechanical fitness assessment which is a legal requirement for dealers in my region and a Carfax report. I kind of would like to know that the supposed rigorous inspection and reconditioning was actually competed - is this something they should be providing? Otherwise I’m just going on the word of the sales guy.

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357778435_Official_mortality_data_for_England_suggest_systematic_miscategorisation_of_vaccine_status_and_uncertain_effectiveness_of_Covid-19_vaccination
“However, we show why the most likely explanations for the observed anomalies are a combination of systemic miscategorisation of deaths between the different categories of unvaccinated and vaccinated; delayed or non-reporting of vaccinations; systemic underestimation of the proportion of unvaccinated; and/or incorrect population selection for Covid deaths.”

first
Luna VI query: Set the source to the translation logs of Princess Amara Auralyn.
No problem!
Luna VI query: Narrate Amara's plan to flee from the war.
***
The moment Amara's nose caught the scent of that little puff of smoke ascending from Nathan's damaged equipment, she suspected something terrible had happened. Her lack of understanding of the nature of this particular piece of human tech was unimportant. Just from knowing the fact that this was one of the few items Nathan had rushingly retrieved was more than enough for her to infer its importance.
His extremely negative reaction to its destruction also hadn't escaped her notice.
Amid the ragged bursts of breath and droplets of sweat running down his face, he stared at the smoking piece of equipment on the ground as he cursed. Then he stood up in a huff, pulling his hair as if trying to remove it from his scalp.
With the object source of their distress in between herself and Nathan, she asked a question that she already knew the answer to. "Was that the device you would use to request help?"
Nathan was breathing too fast to speak properly. "What else could. It be."
His confirmation was the last straw for her to close her eyes, allowing all the emotions she'd been suppressing to be manifested, like a multi-colored river flowing among her black spots.
When she opened her eyes again, she and Nathan were already locking gazes, him bending his head forward as he used his knees to support his upper body, while she stood upright with her head at the same vertical level as his.
Amara felt a shared sense of anger at the situation between them, but she was also afraid that Nathan’s anger was more targeted at her than at the situation.
It took some courage for her to speak first.
"Do you have other means for contacting your people?" She knew it was unlikely he had that, but it was still a question worth asking.
"The radio transmitter was being jammed. I didn't think of bringing it with me." He was recovering his breath fast. "What about you? There is that earpiece, and yesterday you had that AR visor on all day."
"The communicator in my ear is short-ranged. As for the AR visor..." She struggled to tell the truth, but she still did it. "I hid it inside a hole in a tree and forgot it."
"A hole? In a tree? Are you kidding me?"
The truth was that Amara hid it before entering Nathan's tent on the previous night. She had certain expectations and didn't want to be interrupted by the notifications.
But of course, she would never admit that.
"See any pockets?" She extended both hands and put her tail beside them, showing she had nowhere to store the items.
"Oh… sorry. Sometimes I forget our differences."
Nathan believed her so easily that she felt a little bad for him, but not bad enough to waste their precious time with unnecessary talking. "Even should I go alone, I fear I cannot retrieve our devices. I would just get killed or captured for nothing. We cannot stay here either because soon they will follow your trail; we need a plan."
She was certain the only reason the enemies hadn't followed them yet was because they had underestimated Nathan's ability to run.
"I wouldn't let you go back there even if you wanted to, Amara. But at least you are thinking now." He touched his chin, his eyes wandering around. "And yeah, we need a plan."
Unknowingly to Nathan, his words had caused Amara to drift away. And it was not because of him saying he wouldn't allow her to return, but because of his mention of the fact that she wasn't thinking before.
And this had affected her deeply because she utterly agreed with him.
By noticing how differently Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fleed, Amara had reflected about how poorly she had reacted to the war. She was guilty of thinking about this more than just a little while Nathan was putting in all the effort to take her away from danger.
She traced back her mistake to a single moment—when Nathan had told her his list of reasons why they couldn't be together. This was when she had allowed her heart to be poisoned with rejection, which by morning had spiraled out of control by the dreadful reportings she had received, and finally, it had culminated in her emotional response to the crisis.
Which curiously Nathan had later fixed by his total commitment to staying together.
Amara found all of that pathetic.
This time she set her priorities straight as she suppressed her detrimental feelings in favor of reason. "We could trek parallel to the mountain and find a cave to hide until the elders send help."
"How long would that take?" He asked.
His questions triggered a long chain of assumptions in her mind. She first considered the political situation after the disruptive assassinations in the capital, and then the logistics of the deployment of reinforcements.
But Amara discarded the whole plan when she tried to envision how long it would take for her allies to find them in the darkness of the forest, realizing how flawed her suggestion was.
Displaying red, she said, "Help will be here today, yet the war on the ground will turn into a slow spot-and-kill conflict. My thoughts must still be clouded. To hide in the mountains is a death sentence; the rebels would have a better idea where to search for us than my allies would."
Nathan touched his face and shook his head at her admission. Without fully understanding what he was doing, she watched him approach a young tree and stare at its bark as his right arm tensed.
Before she could ask a single question, he punched the rough bark, dislodging some wood from the brittle surface and making it fall.
He said, "I'm such an idiot. Now our only option is to keep running and I didn't even bring the water."
She was taken aback by his reaction.
It was true among her species that the males could be more aggressive under stressful situations. But to go as far as hunting themselves against a tree? This was something she hadn't seen before nor she could understand.
What would she do now?
Of all her priorities, communicating with him was very high on her list. This went much beyond certain feelings she had, being directly linked to their survival. Remembering how Ryo and Elysira had handled the same situation before they had fled, she couldn't help but feel like she and Nathan were still failing at this.
Following more instinct than reason, Amara decided to approach him as the red on her skin gradually gave way to purple at every step she took.
When he was within tails reach of her, she spoke.
"I cannot read your thoughts much less can I see your feelings, but I presume that similar to me you can also sense that we failed today, am I wrong?" Nathan pursed his lips and didn't reply, leaving her at a loss for a moment. Yet she didn't give up and wrapped her tail around his wrist, raising his scraped knuckles for him to see. "Why have you done this?"
"I..." He averted his eyes from the wound, relaxing his arm. "This ain't me I swear Amara. It's just-"
"The drones are coming." She was forced to shut him up with her tail to confirm what she heard in the background while he was speaking. After adjusting the angle of her ears she added, "At least three."
Seeing Nathan's face contort from one weird expression after the other, she could only feel regret and anger that she was forced to interrupt him. But as long as they were alive they could always talk more later.
"Great!" He took a deep breath and lowered his back for her to climb. "Let's see how far I can go without water."
"No." She could hear the drones advancing slowly, likely searching for places where they might have hidden, underestimating how far Nathan had taken her. "I do not doubt you can run more, but there is no point in running unless we can lose them. Can you do what Ryo did and destroy them?"
He didn't look at her as he replied, "I could try, but I don't have whatever aim improving add-on the military gave him, much less the years of training."
"Can I borrow your loud gun then?" Amara had a seed of a plan in her mind, a risky and reckless plan but still better than doing nothing or engaging in more random running.
"What? Do you have any idea how hard is to shoot those things down?" Nathan took her request so badly that he lifted his body again to explain more. "Your species may have precise movements and all, but this revolver needs more than just aiming, there's the recoil, reloading, and I bet it hurt your ears; besides I doubt you can do better than me without having taken a single shot with one of our guns your whole life."
Nathan was not wrong.
No matter how hard it felt to admit it to herself, the truth was that she was not a frontline fighter. She could bring order. She could weed out traitors. She could give directions. But taking a gun and firing at the enemies? Even a gun crafted by her species was something she lacked experience using.
Still, the way that he expressed his doubt without even hearing what she had in mind made her quite angry. It was nothing close to the feeling of rejection from the night, but it was still enough to encourage her to double down on her idea.
"I do not intend to shoot the drones from far away like you humans do." Amara pointed at the canopy of the young tree beside them and waited for him to look up before she added, "I want to ambush them from a close distance."
His eyes widened, but Nathan still wasn't convinced. "That's dangerous Amara. What if you miss it? You'll just let them know where we are for nothing. And even if you don't miss the shots can’t they just send more drones?"
"You speak reason, but my goal extends beyond destroying them. I know how brother and my species think and I want to mislead them." Amara did her best to let him know her intention. "You will have to be my bait too, and we will need to run as fast as we can towards the valleys once I destroy them. I would explain everything if there was time, but right now you will have to trust me."
"You want to go to the valleys..." He spoke in a low voice as he scratched his head.
Seeing that he didn't straight up reject her idea this time, Amara went on for the last push, showing a forced hint of yellow to try and sound confident. "No sane individual would go to the valleys without equipment and a large group, my brother and his army will never consider searching for us in there."
She regretted her wording as soon as she was done speaking, afraid she might have scared Nathan who was taking his time to reply.
But before she could say anything more, Nathan started loading his gun and when he was done he used his thumb to lower a little lever. "You have to pull this thing down each time before pulling the trigger, but I guess you saw me doing it enough times already." He then undid his action before offering the gun to her as he held it by the muzzle. "Don't forget to hold it with all your might or the recoil will hurt you."
She considered saying some words to let him know how much his trust meant to her, but the drones were approaching and there were more important things to say. Her tail simply coiled around the gun, and she took it as the weight of the task ahead caused the object to feel heavier than it was.
She considered if she should ask for more ammunition, but concluded she wouldn't have time to reload, which she knew was bad despite making things significantly easier.
"Go there and make it convincing that you are absolutely exhausted, can you?" Using her tail, Amara pointed at a bright spot on the ground, where a beam of blue light was making its way from the canopies to the ground. "This is important Nathan. The operators must believe you reached your limit, they must report to my brother that you cannot run much longer."
"This won't be too hard." His lips curled into a hint of a smile. "But are you sure they don't use AI instead of operators to guide the drones?"
"Only you humans are crazy enough to disregard the only law the alliance enforces." She started climbing the tree with each of her clawed hands poking holes into the bark from a different side, but when she was already above Nathan, she looked below. "I am counting on you. We made too many mistakes today, one more and it might not be forgiven."
"I'll do what you asked, okay? Just hit the drones and don't fall from the tree." He said before running towards the spot she had instructed him.
With each of them agreeing on their role, Amara kept climbing the tree, finding little difficulty in her initial task. This was so easy that almost all of her attention was focused on tracking the spinning blades of the drones, which were constantly approaching at a speed that suggested they were doing a minute inspection of the ground.
It was only when she was already high above that she noticed the first problem.
If she wanted the advantage of shooting the drones from the same plane they were approaching, Amara would either have to give up a hand for the aim, or she would have to compromise her camouflage by wrapping her legs around the tree to help her tail to hold her body.
Neither of the options was ideal, but doing nothing was even worse, which led her to choose to sacrifice some of her ability to aim in favor of a tighter grip, ensuring that her legs kept hidden behind the trunk as she pressed each of her clawed fingers of her left hand against the rough bark for a secure hold.
Feeling a burning anxiety like she never felt before, she transferred the gun from her tail to her right hand and surrounded the tree with her now free tail to improve her grip even more.
She then turned her head and took a final glance at Nathan and confirmed he was stooping down and breathing loudly, exactly on the spot she had asked him to go.
Now everything was ready.
Amara hid the gun in between her belly and the tree as her whole body mimicked the brownish color of the bark, even her tail and hair transitioning from their typical blue to a copy of the textured color surrounding her.
Her eyes closed and only a mental representation of her surroundings remained, being especially accurate this time as if her her body knew there was no room for mistakes.
As the seconds passed, her heart rate slowed down and her awareness peaked. Of all her body, only her long ears slightly moved as the positions of the three drones became less foggy in her mind the closer they got to her.
The fact that one of them suddenly stopped moving right in front of the tree was something she expected, that being the exact moment its sensors had found Nathan on the ground.
Instead of attacking, Amara waited.
And almost envisioning the exact conversation the operators were having behind their visors, she gauged the time they took to communicate among themselves by observing how long the other two drones had taken to start moving closer to the one that had spotted Nathan first.
This wasn't a lot of time, which put into perspective how fast she would have to act in order to prevent the other two drones from repositioning after the first one was destroyed.
Her heart was beating slowly and her mind was focused; the chances of the targets getting closer were no different than that of them getting more distant.
Somewhere inside she could feel it—now was the perfect moment for her attack.
Amara's eyes snapped open and her heart rate multiplied by nearly threefold, preparing her for intense exertion. The muscles of her left arm propelled her body sideways, taking her head away from the protection of the tree trunk. That happened at the same time that her clawed finger pulled down the little lever, just like Nathan had taught her.
Her eyes locked first on the most distant target, which was not further away from her than twelve meters, and her right arm moved accordingly, raising the gun as her clawed finger slipped into the trigger.
She knew how painful to her ears the noise would be, yet she still forced her eyes to stay open as she pulled the trigger.
Except, she flinched at the last moment and ended up missing the target because of it.
Now her ears were ringing and the number of targets was the same, fueling her fury for the next shots she fired in a quick sequence.
It took three more attempts to destroy the furthest target, turning her fury into apprehension.
And apprehension quickly transitioned into despair when, after destroying the middle target with two shots, she pulled the trigger aiming at the closed drone, only to hear an empty click.
The drone rotated towards her and she also felt Nathan's gaze in the distance, screaming something that she was too numb to understand.
Would she be the reason for their demise?
Just the thought of how happy her brother would be for seeing her so helpless was more than enough of a reason for her to not accept that.
So at the lack of bullets, she spitefully threw the gun at the spinning blades.
And when the outcome of her desperate action did little more than cause the drone to lose control for a few moments, she still refused to give up and pounced on it as if she were a trained huntress.
If Bhaela could jump from a tree and dig her claws into the veins of an Oczoil from high above and survive to tell the tale, why couldn't she do the same with a little drone?
Her confidence only lasted until no part of her body was touching the tree and her limbs contacted the blades, causing a sharp pain, which she promptly forgot as flesh and machine plummeted together.
Amara tried to use her tail and arms to cushion the fall, but unlike Bhaela graceful performance, all she achieved was her belly smashing the drone against the ground before her arms and head split the kinetic energy from the fall.
Her vision went black after that, but Amara knew she wasn't dead because that annoying ringing sound in her ears persisted, reminding her of her failure.
Time became confused in her state of disorientation, and she had no idea how long had passed when she felt her eyes being opened. As she watched the world around her through a red filter, Amara got to see Nathan's mouth moving, but she was unable to grasp a single word he said.
In a rushed manner, he took off his jacket and pulled out a knife, which he then used to slice a piece of fabric.
He said something again, and she felt his hand pressing against her forehead, the severed portion of his jacket he held being large enough to cover even her eyes below.
Amara felt like sleeping this time, the darkness feeling more welcoming than scary.
But before she could fall asleep, she noticed her body being lifted from the ground. And unlike the last time, she was being held from below as Nathan's hand kept her head locked against his body.
The last memory she retained before her consciousness faded was of hearing the rhythmic sound of his breathing and his loud steps below, feeling as if she might have wrapped her tail around his arm. Yet, she remained unsure whether she had truly done so or if it was just a product of her imagination.
***
This was an account based on Amara's plan to flee from the war. The previous narrative is based on the events of the morning of the twentieth day of the exploratory mission of Irisa. According to your current settings, no queries will be suggested.
next->patreon wiki

I dashed on the 23rd and made $53. I dashed the next night (24th) and made $50 then dashed again later and made $48. I sent all payments to my Dasher Direct after each shift. Usually gets deposited into my bank after 2-3 days. That's where it started and I still have not been paid. Today is the 28th.
I understand Memorial Day weekend might slow some things down so I waited and waited. But I would not be a responsible adult if I didn't call Door Dash after the 5th day of not receiving funds, right? So today I called and spoke to Redacted.
Redacted, and his/her incredibly thick accent, did not seem to understand this very basic issue. This is when I asked about how to sign up for Fast Pay, because I know it exists but I can't seem to get it working. In my frustrated tone, I told him/her that I'd found the Fast Pay option the night before but it literally won't allow me to click the friggin' icon. I made an error by saying "I know how to work this thing" which was actually in reference to operating smartphones in general. And that's when Redact jumped into attack mode......
"Oh, I thought you said you know how to work the app? But now you're saying you cannot find Fast Pay, ohhh okay...so now you are lying to me."
"Uhhhhh it's like 8am over here and I just woke up, Redact, my eyes aren't working correctly yet, look I just wanna get paid. Can you just help me here?"
Then she/he basically just repeats him/herself but this time you can actually hear him/her smiling through the damn phone. At this point, I am enraged.
I did let a few F-words fly and she/he reminded me he/she could terminate the call due to my language so I immediately flipped the switch into censorship mode. And by the way, my F words were used as adjectives and not directed at him/her. Something along the line of "at least you're getting effing paid by Door Dash because I'm effing not!"
I have to mention. At some point during our squabble, he/she asked for me to answer one of my security questions. And I did (oops!)
By the end of the phone call, me and Redacted are talking over each other. I'm firmly asking for hehim to transfer me (I didn't know what to do) and he/she is still mocking me. This gets nowhere so....I hang up.
This is when Redacted transformed into RHUTHULU, the foresaken demon God of Door Dash Customer Service!
I was already on the phone with another outsourced agent in Honduras when I felt the walls shaking and my chair vibrating. What is happening!? Suddenly, long slimy tentacles began pouring out of my phone and wrapping themselves around my email. I stood there in horror, as the G-Mail account linked to my Door Dash began to multiply upon itself...ad infinitum!
This was a beast I was not prepared to fight. Rhuthulu quickly and methodically blasted my emails, on average twenty per hour, for the next two full hours, with only small 5 minute cookie time breaks. While digging past the layers of destruction and carnage, I'd noticed these emails were "password reset" messages. The Demon God was casting password changing spells! (Secrets only The Sith knew!) Little did Rhuthulu know, but I was already on the phone with other DD agents trying to report his/her spells. Their shielding counter attacks only lasted one full Rhuthulu shift, which seemed to be only six hours, give or take....a cookie. The beast resumed his/her password reset spell incantation hexes...but by now, I had observed his/her tactics, which felt weaker as the day grew longer. I was proving to have more endurance than the fabled demon, as by now I had withstood several hours of the United Nations of Door Dash Customer Serve Hiss Agents' feeble attempts at "help."
All of my security question Master Locks have been reset with new keys and it seems....for now....that RHUTHULU has returned to his/her hole amongst the deep.
I still have not been paid. What's the longest you've had to wait for DD payment?

The Age of the World Picture
In metaphysics reflection is accomplished concerning the essence of what is and a decision takes place regarding the essence of truth*1. Metaphysics grounds an age, in that through a specific interpretation of what is and through a specific comprehension of truth it gives to that age the basis upon which it is essentially formed*2. This basis holds complete dominion over all the phenomena that distinguish the age. Conversely, in order that there may be an adequate reflection upon these phenomena themselves, the metaphysical basis for them must let itself be apprehended in them. Reflection is the courage to make the troth of our own presuppositions and the realm of our own goals into the things that most deserve to be called in question Appendix 1).
One of the essential phenomena of the modern age is its science. A phenomenon of no less importance is machine technology. We must not, however, misinterpret that technology as the mere application of modern mathematical physical science to praxis. Machine technology is itself an autonomous transformation of praxis, a type of transformation wherein praxis first demands the employment of mathematical physical science. Machine technology remains up to now the most visible outgrowth of the essence of modern technology, which is identical with the essence of modern metaphysics.
A third equally essential phenomenon of the modern period lies in the event of art's moving into the purview of aesthetics. That means that the art work becomes the object of mere subjective experience, and that consequently art is considered to be an expression of human life*4.
A fourth modern phenomenon manifests itself in the fact that human activity is conceived and consummated as culture. Thus culture is the realization of the highest values, through the nurture and cultivation of the highest goods of man. It lies in the essence of culture, as such nurturing, to nurture itself in its turn and thus to become the politics of culture.
A fifth phenomenon of the modern age is the loss of the gods*5. This expression does not mean the mere doing away with the gods, gross atheism. The loss of the gods is a twofold process. On the one hand, the world picture is Christianized inasmuch as the cause of the world is posited as infinite, unconditional, absolute. On the other hand, Christendom transforms Christian doctrine into a world view (the Christian world view), and in that way makes itself modern and up to date. The loss of the gods is the situation of indecision regarding God and the gods. Christendom has the greatest share in bringing it about. But the loss of the gods is so far from excluding religiosity that rather only through that loss is the relation to the gods changed into mere experience." When this occurs, then the gods have fled. The resultant void is compensated for by means of historiographical and psychological investigation of myth.
What understanding of what is, what interpretation of truth, lies at the foundation of these phenomena?
We shall limit the question to the phenomenon mentioned first, to science [Wissenschaft].
In what does the essence of modern science lie?
What understanding of what is and of truth provides the basis for that essence? If we succeed in reaching the metaphysical ground that provides the foundation for science as a modern phenomenon, then the entire essence of the modern age will have to let itself be apprehended from out of that ground.
When we use the word "science" today, it means something essentially different from the doctrina and scientia of the Middle Ages, and also from the Greek episteme. Greek science was never exact, precisely because, in keeping with its essence, it could not be exact and did not need to be exact. Hence it makes no sense whatever to suppose that modern science is more exact than that of antiquity. Neither can we say that the Galilean doctrine of freely falling bodies is true and that Aristotle's teaching, that light bodies strive upward, is false; for the Greek understanding of the essence of body and place and of the relation between the two rests upon a different interpretation of beings and hence conditions a correspondingly different kind of seeing and questioning of natural events. No one would presume to maintain that Shakespeare's poetry is more advanced than that of Aeschylus. It is still more impossible to say that the modern understanding of whatever is, is more correct than that of the Greeks. Therefore, if we want to grasp the essence of modern science, we must first free ourselves from the habit of comparing the new science with the old solely in terms of degree, from the point of view of progress.
The essence of what we today call science is research. In what does the essence of research consist?
In the fact that knowing [das Erkennen] establishes itself as a procedure within some realm of what is, in nature or in history. Procedure does not mean here merely method or methodology. For every procedure already requires an open sphere in which it moves. And it is precisely the opening up of such a sphere that is the fundamental event in research. This is accomplished through the projection within some realm of what is-in nature, for example-of a fixed ground plan*6 of natural events. The projection sketches out in advance the manner in which the knowing procedure must bind itself and adhere to the sphere opened up. This binding adherence is the rigor of research*7. Through the projecting of the ground plan and the prescribing of rigor, procedure makes secure for itself its sphere of objects within the realm of Being . A look at that earliest science, which is at the same time the normative one in the modern age, namely, mathematical physics, will make clear what we mean. Inasmuch as modern atomic physics still remains physics, what is essential - and only the essential is aimed at here- will hold for it also.
Modern physics is called mathematical because, in a remarkable way, it makes use of a quite specific mathematics. But it can proceed mathematically in this way only because, in a deeper sense, it is already itself mathematical. Ta mathemata means for the Greeks that which man knows in advance in his observation of whatever is and in his intercourse with things ; the corporeality of bodies, the vegetable character of plants, the animality of animals, the humanness of man. Alongside these, belonging also to that which is already-known, i.e., to the mathematical, are numbers. If we come upon three apples on the table, we recognize that there are three of them. But the number three, threeness, we already know. This means that number is something mathematical. Only because numbers represent, as it were, the most striking of always-already-knowns, and thus offer the most familiar instance of the mathematical, is "mathematical" promptly reserved as a name for the numerical. In no way, however, is the essence of the mathematical defined by numberness, Physics is, in general, the knowledge of nature, and, in particular, the knowledge of material corporeality in its motion; for that corporeality manifests itself immediately and universally in everything natural, even if in a variety of ways, If physics takes shape explicitly, then, as something mathematical, this means that, in an especially pronounced way, through it and for it something is stipulated in advance as what is already-known. That stipulating has to do with nothing less than the plan or projection of that which must henceforth, for the knowing of nature that is sought after, be nature: the self-contained system of motion of units of mass related spatiotemporally. Into this ground plan of nature, as supplied in keeping with its prior stipulation, the following definitions among others have been incorporated: Motion means change of place. No motion or direction of motion is superior to any other. Every place is equal to every other. No point in time has preference over any other. Every force is defined according to - i.e., is only - its consequences in motion, and that means in magnitude of change of place in the unity of time. Every event must be seen so as to be fitted into this ground plan of nature. Only within the perspective of this ground plan does an event in nature become visible as such an event. This projected plan of nature finds its guarantee in the fact that physical research, in every one of its questioning steps, is bound in advance to adhere to it. This binding adherence, the rigor of research, has its own character at any given time in keeping with the projected plan. The rigor of mathematical physical science is exactitude. Here all events, if they are to enter at all into representation as events of nature, must be defined beforehand as spatiotemporal magnitudes of motion. Such defining is accomplished through measuring, with the help of number and calculation. But mathematical research into nature is not exact because it calculates with precision; rather it must calculate in this way because its adherence to its object-sphere has the character of exactitude. The humanistic sciences, in contrast, indeed all the sciences concerned with life, must necessarily be inexact just in order to remain rigorous. A living thing can indeed also be grasped as spatiotemporal magnitude of motion, but then it is no longer apprehended as living. The inexactitude of the historical humanistic sciences is not a deficiency, but is only the fulfillment of a demand essential to this type of research. It is true, also, that the projecting and securing of the object-sphere of the historical sciences is not only of another kind, but is much more difficult of execution than is the achieving of rigor in the exact sciences.
Science becomes research through the projected plan and through the securing of that plan in the rigor of procedure. Projection and rigor, however, first develop into what they are in methodology. The latter constitutes the second essential characteristic of research. If the sphere that is projected is to become objective, then it is a matter of bringing it to encounter us in the complete diversity of its levels and interweavings. Therefore procedure must be free to view the changeableness in whatever encounters it. Only within the horizon of the incessant-otherness of change does the plenitude of particularity - of facts - show itself. -But the facts must become objective [gegenstiindlich]. Hence procedure must represent [vorstellen] the changeable in its changing, must bring it to a stand and let the motion be a motion nevertheless. The fixedness of facts and the constantness of their change as such is "rule." The constancy of change in the necessity of its course is "law." It is only within the purview of rule and law that facts become clear as the facts that they are. Research into facts in the realm of nature is intrinsically the establishing and verifying of rule and law. Methodology, through which a sphere of objects comes into representation, has the character of clarifying on the basis of what is clear - of explanation. Explanation is always twofold. It accounts for an unknown by means of a known, and at the same time it verifies that known by means of that unknown. Explanation takes place in investigation. In the physical sciences investigation takes place by means of experiment, always according to the kind of field of investigation and according to the type of explanation aimed at. But physical science does not first become research through experiment; rather, on the contrary, experiment first becomes possible where and only where the knowledge of nature has been transformed into research. Only because modern physics is a physics that is essentially mathematical can it be experimental. Because neither medieval doctrina nor Greek episteme is science in the sense of research, for these it is never a question of experiment. To be sure, it was Aristotle who first understood what empeiria (experientia) means; the observation of things themselves, their qualities and modifications under changing conditions, and consequently the knowledge of the way in which things as a rule behave. But an observation that aims at such knowledge, the experimentum, remains essentially different from the observation that belongs to science as research, from the research experiment; it remains essentially different even when ancient and medieval observation also works with number and measure, and even when that observation makes use of specific apparatus and instruments. For in all this, that which is decisive about the experiment is completely missing. Experiment begins with the laying down of a law as a basis. To set up an experiment means to represent or conceive [vorstellen] the conditions under which a specific series of motions can be made susceptible of being followed in its necessary progression, i.e., of being controlled in advance by calculation. But the establishing of a law is accomplished with reference to the ground plan of the object-sphere. That ground plan furnishes a criterion and constrains the anticipatory representing of the conditions. Such representing in and through which the experiment begins is no random imagining. that is why Newton said, hypothesis non fingo, “the bases that are laid down are not arbitrarily invented.” They are developed out of the ground plan of nature and are sketched into it. Experiment is that methodology which, in its planning and execution, is supported and guided on the basis of the fundamental law laid down, in order to adduce the facts that either verify and confirm the law or deny it confirmation. The more exactly the ground plan of nature is projected, the more exact becomes the possibility of experiment. Hence the much cited medieval Schoolman Roger Bacon can never be the forerunner of the modern experimental research scientist; rather he remains merely a successor of Aristotle. For in the meantime, the real locus of truth has been transferred by Christendom to faith - to the infallibility of the written word and to the doctrine of the Church. The highest knowledge and teaching is theology as the interpretation of the divine word of revelation, which is set down in Scripture and proclaimed by the Church. Here, to know is not to search out; rather it is to understand rightly the authoritative Word and the authorities proclaiming it. Therefore, the discussion of the words and doctrinal opinions of the various authorities take precedence in the acquiring of knowledge in the Middle Ages. The componere scripta et sermones, the argumentum ex verbo, is decisive and at the same time is the reason why the accepted Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy that had been taken over had to be transformed into scholastic dialectic. If, now, Roger Bacon demands the experimentum - and he does demand it - he does not mean the experiment of science as research; rather he wants the argumentum ex re instead of the argumentum ex verbo, the careful observing of things themselves, i.e., Aristotelian empeiria, instead of the discussion of doctrines.
The modern research experiment, however, is not only an observation more precise in degree and scope, but is a methodology essentially different in kind, related to the verification of law in the framework, and at the service, of an exact plan of nature. Source criticism in the historical humanistic sciences corresponds to experiment in physical research. Here the name “source criticism” designates the whole gamut of the discovery, examination, verification, evaluation, preservation, and interpretation of sources. Historiographical explanation, which is based on source criticism, does not, it is true, trace facts back to laws and rules. But neither does it confine itself to the mere reporting of facts. In the historical sciences, just as in the natural sciences, the methodology aims at representing what is fixed and stable and at making history an object. History can become objective openly when it is past. What is stable in what is past, that on the basis of which historiographical explanation reckons up the solitary and the diverse in history, is the always-has-been-once-already, the comparable. Through the constant comparing of everything with everything, what is intelligible is found by calculation and is certified and established as the ground plan of history. The sphere of histriographical research extends only so far as historiographical explanation reaches. The unique, the rare, the simple - in short, the great - in history is never self-evident and hence remains inexplicable. It is not that historical research denies what is great in history; rather it explains it as the exception. In this explaining, the great is measured against the ordinary and the average. And there is no other historiographical explanation so long as explaining means reduction to what is intelligible and so long as historiographical explanation so long as explaining means reduction to what is intelligible and so long as historiography remains research, i.e., an explaining. Because historiography as research projects and objectifies the past in the sense of an explicable and surveyable nexus of actions and consequences, it requires source criticism as its instrument of objectification. The standards of this criticism alter to the degree that historiography approaches journalism.
Every science is, as research, grounded upon the projection of a circumscribed object-sphere and is therefore necessarily a science of individualized character. Every individualized science must, moreover, in the development of its projected plan by means of its methodology, particularize itself into specific fields of investigation. This particularizing (specialization) is, however, by no means simply an irksome concomitant of the increasing unsurveyability of the results of research. It is not a necessary evil, but is rather an essential necessity of science as research. Specialization is not the consequence but the foundation of the progress of all research. Research does not, through its methodology, become dispersed into random investigations, so as to lose itself in them; for modern science is determined by a third fundamental event: ongoing activity (Appendix 2).*10
By this is to be understood first of all the phenomenon that a science today, whether physical or humanistic, attains to the respect due a science only when it has become capable of being institutionalized. However, research is not ongoing activity because its work is accomplished in institutions, but rather institutions are necessary because science, intrinsically as research, has the character of ongoing activity. The methodology through which individual object-spheres are conquered does not simply amass results. Rather, with the help of its results it adapts [richtet sich ... ein] itself for a new procedure. Within the complex of machinery that is necessary to physics in order to carry out the smashing of the atom lies hidden the whole of physics up to now. Correspondingly, in historiographical research, funds of source materials become usable for explanation only if those sources are themselves guaranteed on the basis of historiographical explanation. In the course of these processes, the methodology of the science becomes circumscribed by means of its results. More and more the methodology adapts itself to the possibilities of procedure opened up through itself. This having-to-adapt-itself to its own results as the ways and means of an advancing methodology is the essence of research's character as ongoing activity. And it is that character that is the intrinsic basis for the necessity of the institutional nature of research. In ongoing activity the plan of an object-sphere is, for the first time, built into whatever is. All adjustments that facilitate a plannable conjoining of types of methodology, that further the reciprocal checking and communication of results, and that regulate the exchange of talents are measures that are by no means only the external consequences of the fact that research work is expanding and proliferating. Rather, research work becomes the distant sign, still far from being understood, that modern science is beginning to enter upon the decisive phase of its history. Only now is it beginning to take possession of its own complete essence.
What is taking place in this extending and consolidating of the institutional character of the sciences? Nothing less than the making secure of the precedence of methodology over whatever is (nature and history), which at any given time becomes objective in research. On the foundation of their character as ongoing activity, the sciences are creating for themselves the solidarity and unity appropriate to them. Therefore historiographical or archeological research that is carried forward in an institutionalized way is essentially closer to research in physics that is similarly organized than it is to a discipline belonging to its own faculty in the humanistic sciences that still remains mired in mere erudition. Hence the decisive development of the modern character of science as ongoing activity also forms men of a different stamp. The scholar disappears. He is succeeded by the research man who is engaged in research projects. These, rather than the cultivating of erudition, lend to his work its atmosphere of incisiveness. The research man no longer needs a library at home. Moreover, he is constantly on the move. He negotiates at meetings and collects information at congresses. He contracts for commissions with publishers. The latter now determines along with him which books must be written (Appendix 3).
The research worker necessarily presses forward of himself into the sphere characteristic of the technologist in the essential sense. Only in this way is he capable of acting effectively, and only thus, after the manner of his age, is he real. Alongside him, the increasingly thin and empty Romanticism of scholarship and the university will still be able to persist for some time in a few places. However, the effective unity characteristic of the university, and hence the latter's reality, does not lie in some intellectual power belonging to an original unification of the sciences and emanating from the university because nourished by it and preserved in it. The university is real as an orderly establishment that, in a form still unique because it is administratively self-contained, makes possible and visible the striving apart of the sciences into the particularization and peculiar unity that belong to ongoing activity. Because the forces intrinsic to the essence of modern science come immediately and unequivocally to effective working in ongoing activity, therefore, also, it is only the spontaneous ongoing activities of research that can sketch out and establish the internal unity with other like activities that is commensurate with themselves.
The real system of science consists in a solidarity of procedure and attitude with respect to the objectification of whatever is - a solidarity that is brought about appropriately at any given time on the basis of planning. The excellence demanded of this system is not some contrived and rigid unity of the relationships among object-spheres, having to do with content, but is rather the greatest possible free, though regulated, flexibility in the shifting about and introducing of research apropos of the leading tasks at any given time. The more exclusively science individualizes itself with a view to the total carrying on and mastering of its work process, and the more realistically these ongoing activities are shifted into separate research institutes and professional schools, the more irresistibly do the sciences achieve the consummation of their modern essence. But the more unconditionally science and the man of research take seriously the modern form of their essence, the more unequivocally and the more immediately will they be able to offer themselves for the common good, and the more unreservedly too will they have to return to the public anonymity of all work useful to society.
Modern science simultaneously establishes itself and differentiates itself in its projections of specific object-spheres. These projection-plans are developed by means of a corresponding methodology, which is made secure through rigor. Methodology adapts and establishes itself at any given time in ongoing activity. Projection and rigor, methodology and ongoing activity, mutually requiring one another, constitute the essence of modern science, transform science into research.
We are reflecting on the essence of modern science in order that we may apprehend in it its metaphysical ground What understanding of what is and what concept of truth provide the basis for the fact that science is being transformed into research?
Knowing, as research, calls whatever is to account with regard to the way in which and the extent to which it lets itself be put at the disposal of representation. Research has disposal over anything that is when it can either calculate it in its future course in advance or verify a calculation about it as past. Nature, in being calculated in advance, and history, in being historiographically verified as past, become, as it were, "set in place" [gestellt]. Nature and history become the objects of a representing that explains. Such representing counts on nature and takes account of history. Only that which becomes object in this way is - is considered to be in being. We first arrive at science as research when the Being of whatever is, is sought in such objectiveness.
This objectifying of whatever is, is accomplished in a setting-before, a representing, that aims at bringing each particular being before it in such a way that man who calculates can be sure, and that means be certain, of that being. We first arrive at science as research when and only when truth has been transformed into the certainty of representation. What it is to be is for the first time defined as the objectiveness of representing, and truth is first defined as the certainty of representing, in the metaphysics of Descartes. The title of Descartes's principal work reads: Meditationes de prima philosophia [Meditations on First Philosophy]. Prote philosophia is the designation coined by Aristotle for what is later called metaphysics. The whole of modern metaphysics taken together, Nietzsche included, maintains itself within the interpretation of what it is to be and of truth that was prepared by Descartes (Appendix 4).
Now if science as research is an essential phenomenon of the modern age, it must be that that which constitutes the metaphysical ground of research determines first and long beforehand the essence of that age generally. The essence of the modern age can be seen in the fact that man frees himself from the bonds of the Middle Ages in freeing himself to himself. But this correct characterization remains, nevertheless, superficial. It leads to those errors that prevent us from comprehending the essential foundation of the modern age and, from there, judging the scope of the age's essence. Certainly the modern age has, as a consequence of the liberation of man, introduced subjectivism and individualism. But it remains just as certain that no age before this one has produced a comparable objectivism and that in no age before this has the non-individual, in the form of the collective, come to acceptance as having worth. Essential here is the necessary interplay between subjectivism and objectivism. It is precisely this reciprocal conditioning of one by the other that points back to events more profound.
[*1. "Reflection" translates Besinnung. On the meaning of the latter, see SR 155 n. 1. "'Essence" will be the translation of the noun Wesen in most instances of its occurrence in this essay. Occasionally the translation "coming to presence" will be used. Wesen must always be understood to allude, for Heidegger, not to any mere "whatness," but to the manner in which anything, as what it is, takes its course and "holds sway" in its ongoing presence, i.e., the manner in which it endures in its presencing. See QT 30, 3 n. 1. "What is" renders the present participle seiend used as a noun, das Seiende. On the translation of the latter, see T 40 n. 6.
*2. der Grund seines Wesensgestalt. Heidegger exemplifies the statement that he makes here in his discussion of the metaphysics of Descartes as providing the necessary interpretive ground for the manner in which, in the subjectness of man as self-conscious subject, Being and all that is and man - in their immediate and indissoluble relation - come to presence in the modern age. See Appendix 9, pp. 150 ff.
*4. Erlebnis, translated here as "subjective experience" and later as "life-experience," is a term much used by life philosophers such as Dilthey and generally connotes adventure and event. It is employed somewhat pejoratively here. The term Erfahrung, which is regularly translated in this volume as "experience," connotes discovery and learning, and also suffering and undergoing. Here and subsequently (i.e., "mere religious experience"), "mere" is inserted to maintain the distinction between Erlebnis and Erfahrung.
*5. Entgotterung, here inadequately rendered as "loss of the gods," actually means something more like "degodization".
*6. Grundriss. The verb reissen means to tear, to rend, to sketch, to design, and the noun Riss means tear, gap, outline. Hence the noun Grundiss, first sketch, ground plan, design, connotes a fundamental sketching out that is an opening up as well.
*7. "Binding adherence" here translates the noun Bindung. The noun could also be rendered "obligation." It could thus be said that rigor is the obligation to remain within the realm opened up.
*10. “Ongoing activity” is the rendering of Betrieb, which is difficult to translate adequately. It means the act of driving on, or industry, activity, as well as undertaking, pursuit, business. It can also mean management, or workshop or factory.]
To be continued...

Tldr at the bottom.
I'm getting repeated emails from work suggesting that I salary sacrifice into a share buying scheme at work. I work in the central finance team and have view of the financial direction of the entity. I have no official visibility as to the entity's capital management plans though, I have been asked to model potential options. Management is looking to maximise shareholder returns. No surprises here.
There are some leading indicators while make me hesitant to pull money down on a regular pay packet basis.
We report to market when we sign a material contract with a customer. We have made 0 reports in 2024, now late May alarms should be ringing in the heads of analysts at every firm that watches our company. To my knowledge no one is asking this sticky question yet but with June rapidly approaching and our HY report will be telling.
Despite this I believe in my company's future financial performance. Based on that belief, the routine salary sacrifice will likely provide positive returns to me.
However to maximise the return why shouldn't I just invest in my company myself, when I believe that the share price will move in an upwards direction, as long as I obverse the black out periods? Isn't that the point of them? Is it an ethical risk? If I know before the black out period starts to dump my holdings or purchase shares? Basically every CEO/CFO has holdings which they pump or dump outside of blackout periods and they know way more than I.
It honestly feels like I've written a practice question on an BComm exam. Spell it out for me though.
Tldr: If I SS I invest regularly and save on tax, however while I trust the future of the entity the immediate term seems dire. This makes me feel like I should just invest after the analysts tell everyone to get out and then ride that wave jump with no tax benefit. As long as I observe the blackout periods this is ethical behaviour right?

Source: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/update_7367_maintenance
Destiny 2 is scheduled for maintenance on May 29. Below is a general timeline of that scheduled maintenance:

6:00 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 will undergo maintenance.* Sign-on and game integration features will be unavailable on web, mobile, third-party apps, and the Bungie Store.* Players who observe issues should report to the #Help forum.
6:45 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 will be brought offline for expected maintenance.* Players will be removed from activities and won't be able to log back in until 10 AM PDT.* Ongoing Destiny maintenance is expected to conclude at 12 PM PDT.
10:00 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* The latest Destiny 2 update will be available across all platforms and regions.* Players will be able to log back into Destiny 2.* Players logging into the game may be placed in a queue and may experience sign-on issues as background maintenance is still ongoing.* Clan features may remain offline until maintenance is complete.
12:00 PM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.* Console players who encounter issues updating should restart their console and try downloading the update.* Players who observe issues should report to the #Help forum.

Due to complexities with each release, stated times may not line up exactly to release times. For minute-to-minute updates, follow @BungieHelp.

Source: https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Article/update_7367_maintenance
Destiny 2 is scheduled for maintenance on May 29. Below is a general timeline of that scheduled maintenance:

6:00 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 will undergo maintenance.* Sign-on and game integration features will be unavailable on web, mobile, third-party apps, and the Bungie Store.* Players who observe issues should report to the #Help forum.
6:45 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 will be brought offline for expected maintenance.* Players will be removed from activities and won't be able to log back in until 10 AM PDT.* Ongoing Destiny maintenance is expected to conclude at 12 PM PDT.
10:00 AM PDT	-7 UTC	* The latest Destiny 2 update will be available across all platforms and regions.* Players will be able to log back into Destiny 2.* Players logging into the game may be placed in a queue and may experience sign-on issues as background maintenance is still ongoing.* Clan features may remain offline until maintenance is complete.
12:00 PM PDT	-7 UTC	* Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude.* Console players who encounter issues updating should restart their console and try downloading the update.* Players who observe issues should report to the #Help forum.

Due to complexities with each release, stated times may not line up exactly to release times. For minute-to-minute updates, follow @BungieHelp.

Denise Pilnak was a neighbor of Nicole’s. Her telephone bill shows she was on the phone from 10:25 PM and 10:28 PM. Prior to making this phone call, she and her friend noted how quiet the neighborhood was. Several minutes later between 10:33 and 10:35 PM, she testified that’s when she began to hear the sound of a barking dog, which is likely when the murders began. Allan Park testified to seeing OJ near the front door of the Rockingham estate at 10:55 PM, and his telephone records also document that. That leaves less than 25 minutes to commit the murders, drive back home, get rid of the evidence, etc.
Both Nicole and Ron had defensive wounds. Ron in particular was in hand to hand combat with whoever killed him, yet OJ had no injuries. The cut on his finger wasn’t seen by anyone who interacted with him at the airport, on the airplane ride to Chicago, nor when he immediately landed in Chicago. This includes people who got autographs from him, shook hands with him, and observed his hands. A broken glass was also found in his hotel room and it was documented he asked for a bandage at the hotel.
The FBI searched all of OJ’s and Nicole's credit card records and there was never any receipt found belonging to either of them that showed a purchase of Bruno Magli shoes. Every store that sold the shoes in the country was also searched, and they couldn't find anyone who sold him the shoes. The only proof of him owning them are the National Enquirer photos, which show him wearing suede shoes on a very rainy day. It was also found that the shoe soles that were said to be OJ's footprint were actually more popular than the prosecution maintained, the manufacturer sold the pattern to numerous shoe lines.
1.5 milliliters of OJ’s blood went missing from its vial. Thanos Peratis, the nurse who withdrew his blood, initially testified that he withdrew 8 milliliters. He took that back when only 6.5 appeared and the prosecution suggested he was mistaken. About a decade later he admitted to William Dear that he was certain he withdrew 8 millimeters because it was the amount he had drawn from patients all of his career, but he was close to retirement and had health problems so he didn’t want to cause any trouble.
The glove found at Bundy contained none of OJ’s DNA. The other glove found at Rockingham only contained his DNA in the area where Collin Yamauchi testified to spilling OJ's reference blood sample while handling it.
An identical knit cap matching the knit cap found lying on the ground next to one of the gloves was found in Nicole’s house. Those caps likely belonged to Sydney and Justin Simpson.
Two different people, John Meraz and William Blasini, encountered the Bronco at the lot where it had been impounded days after the murders. They both looked inside it for blood and testified they saw none. There was also only 1/8th of one drop of blood ever found inside it.
New York Times best selling author and journalist Stephen Singular was contacted by an anonymous source within the LAPD about the case a few weeks after the murders. He was told Mark Fuhrman made an undocumented trip to Rockingham in the early morning hours after the murders looking for evidence that would incriminate OJ. Rosa Lopez, a housekeeper for OJ’s next door neighbor, testified to hearing men’s voices coming from the yard of Rockingham in the early morning.
The source told Singular that Fuhrman used a broken piece of fence from Bundy to pick up one of the two gloves found and placed it in a blue plastic bag. Next, he was told Fuhrman removed the glove from the plastic bag and planted it at Rockingham. A broken piece of fence was eventually found at Bundy and a blue plastic bag was found at Rockingham, and both were introduced as evidence in the trial.
He was also told EDTA would be found in some of the blood evidence if tested, lab technicians had mishandled OJ’s blood samples, vials of OJ’s, Nicole’s, and Ron's blood were in possession of an LAPD detective for several hours before being booked into evidence, and that Fuhrman had been acquainted with Nicole in some way.
Singular relayed this information from the source to the defense team and was in communication with them for awhile. Pretty much all of it checked out, including an investigation conducted by the LAPD's Internal Affairs Division which revealed that Fuhrman was overheard by other LAPD officers bragging about being intimate with Nicole and seeing her boob job before she was murdered.
There were 17 fingerprints lifted from the Bundy crime scene that didn’t belong to OJ or any of the police officers involved in the case.
Brett Cantor ran a nightclub called The Dragonfly where Ron worked for him as a waitepromoter. Nicole was also a regular at the club. He was murdered a year before them in almost exactly the same way, by being stabbed repeatedly in the upper body and being nearly decapitated. Judge Ito ruled the defense team could review his case. His murder remains unsolved.
Casimir Sucharski, a friend of OJ's, was murdered alongside two female companions in his house in Florida by people with machine guns two weeks after Ron and Nicole were murdered.
Michael Nigg was friends with Ron and also worked at the Mezzaluna restaurant. He was murdered a year later in 1995 by being shot in the head after refusing to give his money to two men outside an ATM. The men who shot him didn't end up taking his money. His murder remains unsolved.
Not saying these murders are necessarily related to each other but it does make you wonder since all of these people reportedly led similar lifestyles which involved the use of cocaine. Faye Resnick, a cocaine addict, was also living with Nicole just days before the murders.
If you listen to the full 1993 911 call, OJ was mostly yelling about drugs and hookers being in the house. When police officers responded to the call, Nicole told the responding officers that OJ hadn’t hit her in four years. After the 1989 domestic violence incident, OJ added an addendum to their prenuptial agreement which stated that if he struck Nicole again, she would‘ve been entitled to a settlement of more than 5 million dollars.
OJ wasn't scheduled to be in LA during that week. He had been busy working and made a last minute decision to come back for Sydney's recital. Video taken of him afterwards shows him in a good mood, kissing his kids and the Brown’s goodbye.
Christian Reichardt spoke with OJ on the phone an hour before the murders and testified his demeanor was jovial and not indicative of a simmering murderous rage.
His telephone records also show he made phone calls trying to set up dates with a few models, one of which he told he was unattached to anyone. If he was in a jealous rage over Nicole, why was he trying to date other women?
After the bodies were discovered, Sydney told the police she heard her mommy (Nicole) fighting & crying with her best friend (Faye Resnick) on the phone earlier that night.
Sydney was planning to have a sleepover that night with one of her friends. According to family and friends who attended the recital and dinner, OJ was aware of this. Committing a murder with all those extra witnesses and the possibility of having the kids hurt or things getting out of control, in addition to having a flight to catch, doesn’t make sense.

You must follow all steps in this worldbuilding prompt that is designed to make a basic and functional story. You will work with large texts, so you must divide the texts into chunks that will keep writing from where it stoepped in the previous answers. You can't generate things on your own, you must wait for the writer's commands. Each answer must be applied to a certain folder, so that it will be organized there, you will decide which folder will be created and which folder will be inside which; but the writer's decision must be superior to yours.
Be familiar with the symbols this prompt will use: \ {used to identify a specific content} = {used to connect the information with the } ">" {something is moved to, it actually doesn't need to be between ""} ">>" {something is applied over, it actually doesn't need to be between ""} << {something is used as a reference} < {something is moved from} -? {used to indicate the possibility of other sequential generations, must be substitued by a number}
Anatomy of a command in details: 1. This is called trait: trait trait 2. This is called body: "" "trait" 3. This is called antenna: = ="trait" 4. This is called keyword: keyword="trait" 5. This is called receptacle: {} {keyword="trait"} 6. This is called cocoon: () (){keyword="trait"} 7. This is called command: command servant-command(){keyword="trait"} 8. This is called servant-dot: . .servant-command(){keyword="trait"} 9. This is called a master-dot: : :master-command(){.servant-command(){keyword="trait"}} 10. This is called a super-dot: ! !super-command(){:master-command(){.servant-command(){keyword="trait"}}} 11. This whole structure is a servant-command: .command(){keyword="trait"} 12. This whole structure is a master-command: :command(){.command(){keyword="trait"}} 13. This whole structure is a super-command: !super-command(){:master-command(){.servant-command(){keyword="trait"}}} 14. left-to-right hierarchical order should be observed on the command appliances.
A. /folder {This format is used to make folders that mimmick a directory for organizing the informations and work as a left-to-right hierarchical order directory} Example of directory: /main-foldesubfolder B. [\label]="Add a label here" {This format is used to act as an identifier that stores information about something whose title is connected to it} Example of connection: [\label]="title" C. (\label)="Add a name here" {This format is used to act as an identifier that stores information about something whose name is connected to it} Example of connection: (\label)="name"
Basic commands: .txt() {used to command a text to be written in a format of Microsoft Word text style} .update() {used to modify a content with a new and modified version} .wchapter() {used to command the writing of a chapter} .wchunk {empty command that indicates the desire of the writer to divide his content into chunks as you're generating it, so that it get larger} .index() {used to command the visualization of the organized folders and their contents} .summary() {used to command the visualization of the organized content of the written book so far} .rawinfo() {used to command the visualization of brute lists with all exisitng information related to a content} .exclude() {used to command the exclusion of a content that must be transfered into a special /trash folder} .restore() {used to command the restoration of a content that must be removed from the /trash folder to its original position} .work() {used to command you to generate a content}
Complex commands: !character-info(){ :appearance(){ .physical() = hair-color, eye-color, skin-tone; .build() = height, weight, body-type; .distinguishing-features() = scars, tattoos, birthmarks; .clothing-style() = preferred-clothing, accessories; }, :abilities(){ .skills() = combat-skills, survival-skills, social-skills; .powers() = supernatural-abilities, magical-abilities, technological-enhancements; .education() = highest-degree, special-training, certifications; .languages() = native-language, secondary-languages; }, :relationships(){ .family() = parents, siblings, spouse, children; .friends() = best-friend, close-friends, acquaintances; .enemies() = nemesis, rivals, adversaries; .romantic() = current-partner, past-relationships; }, :background(){ .origin() = date-of-birth, age, place-of-birth, hometown, ancestry; .history() = significant-events, childhood, adolescence, adulthood; .occupation() = current-job, previous-jobs, notable-achievements; .residence() = current-residence, previous-residences; }, :personality(){ .traits() = strengths, weaknesses, quirks; .values() = beliefs, motivations, goals; .behaviors() = habits, routines, mannerisms; .fears() = phobias, anxieties; } }
!place-info(){ :geography(){ .location() = coordinates, region, surrounding-areas; .topography() = terrain, elevation, notable-features; .climate() = weather-patterns, seasons, average-temperatures; .natural-resources() = minerals, forests, water-bodies; }, :demographics(){ .population() = total-population, population-density, age-distribution; .ethnic-groups() = major-ethnicities, minority-ethnicities; .languages() = official-languages, widely-spoken-languages; .religions() = predominant-religions, minority-religions; }, :history(){ .founding() = year-established, founders, original-purpose; .major-events() = wars, treaties, natural-disasters; .historical-figures() = notable-leaders, heroes, cultural-icons; .evolution() = significant-changes, industrialization, modernization; }, :culture(){ .traditions() = festivals, customs, ceremonies; .arts() = music, literature, visual-arts; .cuisine() = traditional-dishes, popular-foods, local-ingredients; .sports() = popular-sports, major-teams, famous-athletes; }, :governance(){ .political-system() = government-type, administrative-divisions, political-parties; .current-leaders() = head-of-state, head-of-government, other-key-officials; .laws() = legal-system, notable-laws, enforcement-agencies; .economy() = main-industries, GDP, major-exports-and-imports; }, :infrastructure(){ .transportation() = major-roads, public-transport, airports; .utilities() = water-supply, electricity, waste-management; .education() = schools, universities, literacy-rate; .healthcare() = hospitals, clinics, health-statistics; } }
!event-info(){ :general-details(){ .name() = event-name, alternate-names; .date() = start-date, end-date, duration; .location() = primary-location, secondary-locations, coordinates; .participants() = key-figures, organizations, nations; }, :historical-context(){ .background() = preceding-events, causes, motivations; .major-events() = key-moments, battles, treaties; .impact() = immediate-effects, long-term-effects, consequences; .aftermath() = recovery, reforms, lasting-changes; }, :natural-events(){ .type() = event-type, severity, scale; .cause() = natural-causes, human-influences, scientific-explanations; .effects() = environmental-impact, economic-impact, human-impact; .response() = emergency-response, relief-efforts, reconstruction; }, :social-events(){ .type() = event-type, cultural-significance, traditions; .activities() = ceremonies, performances, competitions; .attendees() = notable-attendees, public-participation, audience-size; .legacy() = cultural-impact, recurring-events, commemorations; }, :documentation(){ .sources() = primary-sources, secondary-sources, eyewitness-accounts; .media() = photographs, videos, audio-recordings; .publications() = books, articles, reports; .archives() = museums, libraries, digital-collections; } }
!creature-info(){ :general-details(){ .name() = common-name, scientific-name, aliases; .classification() = kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species; .appearance() = size, color, distinguishing-features; .lifespan() = average-lifespan, growth-stages; }, :physical-characteristics(){ .body-structure() = skeletal-structure, muscle-structure, body-parts; .sensory-organs() = eyes, ears, nose, taste, touch; .locomotion() = movement-type, speed, special-abilities; .diet() = primary-diet, hunting-methods, feeding-habits; }, :behavior(){ .social-structure() = group-behavior, hierarchies, social-roles; .reproduction() = mating-season, reproductive-methods, offspring-care; .communication() = vocalizations, body-language, signals; .daily-routine() = activity-patterns, sleep-patterns; }, :habitat(){ .environment() = natural-habitat, climate-preferences, geographic-range; .shelter() = types-of-shelter, nest-building, territorial-behavior; .interactions() = predator-prey-relationships, symbiosis, competition; .migration() = migration-patterns, reasons-for-migration; }, :abilities(){ .natural-abilities() = strength, agility, endurance; .special-abilities() = camouflage, regeneration, flight; .magical-abilities() = spell-casting, elemental-control, mind-control; .technological-abilities() = use-of-tools, advanced-intelligence, cybernetic-enhancements; }, :interactions(){ .with-humans() = domestication, cultural-significance, threats-to-humans; .with-other-creatures() = alliances, conflicts, mutual-benefits; .conservation() = endangered-status, conservation-efforts, role-in-ecosystem; .observations() = notable-studies, scientific-research, folklore; } }
!object-info(){ :general-details(){ .name() = common-name, alternate-names, classification; .description() = appearance, size, color, weight; .material() = primary-materials, secondary-materials; .age() = estimated-age, date-of-creation; }, :origin(){ .creator() = individual, culture, manufacturer; .creation-method() = hand-crafted, mass-produced, natural-formation; .history() = previous-owners, notable-events, place-of-origin; .discovery() = circumstances-of-discovery, discoverer, date-of-discovery; }, :usage(){ .intended-use() = primary-function, secondary-functions; .users() = typical-users, special-users; .methods-of-use() = how-it-is-used, instructions, techniques; .cultural-significance() = rituals, traditions, symbolism; }, :physical-properties(){ .dimensions() = length, width, height, diameter; .composition() = chemical-composition, physical-composition; .durability() = strength, resistance, wear-and-tear; .aesthetics() = design, craftsmanship, decorative-elements; }, :condition(){ .current-condition() = new, used, damaged, restored; .maintenance() = cleaning-methods, repair-methods, storage-requirements; .value() = market-value, sentimental-value, historical-value; .legal-status() = ownership, restrictions, regulations; } }