I hope you're all doing fantastic today. I had an absolute blast yesterday diving into the world of Diablo IV at a friend's place. Let me tell you, it was an experience like no other. I couldn't tear myself away from the screen—I was completely hooked from the moment I started playing.
You see, I've always been a huge fan of arpgs. There's just something about immersing yourself in a rich fantasy world, battling hordes of monsters, and leveling up your character that's incredibly thrilling to me. The sense of progression, the adrenaline rush of combat, and the satisfaction of finding epic looy, it's all so addicting.
So, when I got the chance to try out Diablo IV, I was beyond excited. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. From the stunning graphics to the immersive gameplay, every aspect of the game drew me in deeper and deeper. The dark, atmospheric world of Sanctuary felt alive and teeming with danger at every turn. And the combat—oh man, the combat was just sublime. It was fast-paced, visceral, and oh-so-satisfying. I lost track of time as I hacked and slashed my way through demonic hordes, each battle more intense than the last.
But what really set Diablo IV apart for me was the sense of freedom it offered. The game encourages exploration and experimentation, allowing you to tailor your playstyle to suit your preferences. Whether you prefer to charge headlong into battle as a fearless barbarian, rain down destruction from afar as a powerful sorceress, or outwit your enemies with cunning traps and gadgets as a clever rogue, the choice is yours. And with the promise of endless dungeons to delve into, loot to uncover, and challenges to conquer, I knew right then and there that Diablo IV was a game I needed to have in my collection.
Unfortunately, my current financial situation has put a damper on my gaming ambitions. But when I saw that Diablo IV Ultimate Edition was on sale for 50% off, I couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. To be able to continue my adventure in Sanctuary from the comfort of my own home would be a dream come true.
So, to anyone out there who's willing to lend a helping hand, I want to express my deepest gratitude. Your generosity would mean more to me than words can express, and I promise to pay it forward in any way I can. Thank you all for considering my request, and here's to many more epic gaming adventures ahead!
Battlenet ID: Dansu#11620
Diablo IV Ultimate Edition link: https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/diablo-iv?p=1067098

”Stop.”
I really needed the bathroom.
For fifty painstaking minutes, I had been staring at the clock on the wall, willing it to go faster, uncomfortably shifting side to side in my seat so much that I was starting to get weird looks.
2:52pm.
Eight minutes, I thought dizzily, squeezing my legs together.
Which was just two chunks of four minutes.
Four chunks of two minutes.
The pain started like normal stomach pain, the kind I could deal with.
I swallowed two Tylenol with lukewarm soda.
But this was different.
This kind of pain was contorting and twisting my gut so much, I had to keep leaning onto my left buttock for relief.
I must have done it so many times, I caught the attention of the guy sitting next to me. Roman Hemlock who was half asleep, dark blonde curls hanging in half lidded eyes, his chin leaning on his fist. He shot me a look. I couldn't tell if it was Are you okay? or Can you stop moving around so much?
From the single crease in his brow, the slight curl in his lip, I guessed the latter.
It's not like Roman was helping.
For half the class, he'd been tapping his foot on the floor, then his chair leg, and to complete the orchestra, his fingers joined in, tap, tap, tapping on the edge of his desk. I didn't know if it was a bored thing, an ADHD thing, or he was trying to keep himself awake. It was easy to tolerate without the pain, but with it, the boy’s incessant tapping was more akin to a dentist drill splitting my skull open. I already felt nauseous, the sad looking chicken nuggets I forced down at lunch making an unwelcome appearance at the back of my throat.
It was too fucking hot, the stuffy summer air glueing my hair to the back of my neck. The material of my shirt was making me cringe, sticky against my skin.
Tipping my head back, the lights were too bright. Every sound was too loud. Imogen Prairie, who was sitting behind me chewing her gum a little too loudly.
Kaz Samuels scribbling notes like a maniac.
I could hear every stroke of his pencil, every time he paused, looked up at the presentation, and continued writing.
When I leaned forward in my chair, I could smell exactly what Isabella Trinity had eaten for lunch, the stink hanging in the air.
It became a case of sucking in my stomach and taking slow, deep breaths.
I’d never had these kinds of stomach cramps before. But it didn't take me long to figure out what they were.
I was yet to start my period at the grand age of sixteen, which meant this was it.
After countless sessions with the doctor, and feeling like a social outcast among my group of friends who started their periods in middle school, it had finally happened. The cramps in my gut that felt like my torso was being ripped apart, was in fact me entering womanhood. When my breath started to quicken, my mouth watering, I raised my hand, biting my lip against a cry.
Fuck.
Something lurched in my gut, a wave of nausea crashing into me.
I was going to throw up.
“Mr Brighton.”
Roman spoke up before me, waving his arm. “Can I use the bathroom?”
The teacher’s answer was always the same. Which was why I had been crossing my legs for the entirety of the class, unable to focus on anything but my gut trying to twist itself inside out.
Mr Brighton leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the PowerPoint awash in our faces. We had been staring at the exact same slide for maybe five minutes now, and our physics teacher was yet to speak, his gaze somewhere else.
Mr Brighton was my Dad’s age, a greying man in his early fifties who always wore the exact same suit with the exact same stain on his collar.
The man was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Normally, I would drift off myself, lulled into slumber by the low drone of his voice.
But the pain ripping me apart was keeping me awake.
“Mr Brighton.” Roman said, louder. His voice snapped me out of it. “Can I use the bathroom?” He paused, exaggerating a loud sigh. ”Please?”
The teacher straightened up, folding his arms.
“Mr Hemlock, you know the rules. Why didn't you go before class?”
“I didn't need to go an hour ago, did I?”
“You will no longer need to go to the bathroom, Mr Hemlock.”
Roman made a snorting noise.
“What?”
The low murmur of my classmates collapsed into white noise.
Glancing at the clock, I was anticipating the school bell.
The sickness swimming in the pit of my belly was reaching dangerous territory.
2:52pm.
Something ice cold trickled down my spine.
It was 2:52 the last time I checked, and five minutes had surely passed.
This time, I waited a whole minute and counted the seconds under my breath. The clock still didn't move. The ticker was frozen halfway between three and four.
Slowly, the same realisation began to hit the twelve of us. The clock on the wall had stopped. But it wasn't the only thing that had stopped. The cool breeze drifting through the window was gone.
The sound of birds outside, and the cheer squad practising their routine.
Everything had stopped. Trying to ignore a sickly slither of panic twisting its way through me, I checked my phone under my desk. There was a text from my Mom lighting up my notifications. When I tried to swipe it open, nothing happened. My lock screen was frozen, stuck at 2:52pm.
With my hands growing clammy around my phone, I stared at the time, willing it to move, to flick to 2:53.
But nothing happened, the numbers stubbornly staying at 2:52.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman’s voice brought me back to reality, though I was sure I'd dropped my phone. I heard it hit the floor with a sickening crack. Whatever he was saying, though, faded into dull murmur, when I turned toward the window.
Something was wrong outside.
The cheer squad were nowhere to be seen.
Being on the top floor gave us a front row seat to their practice sessions.
I stopped watching when their flyer did a death defying flip, almost breaking her neck. 2:52pm. I couldn't see the cheer squad. But I did see Jessie Carson mid-sprint across the track field, strawberry blonde curls suspended in a halo around her.
I could see exactly where she had frozen in place, her left foot hovering off of the ground, her right foot driving momentum. It wasn't just Jessie who had stopped. The dirt she was kicking into a cloud behind her was hovering, caught in mid-air.
Studying the faces around me, my mouth went dry.
Roman Hemlock, mid-argument with our physics teacher.
His eyes were wide, lips curved into what would have been a yell.
Fuck.
Was I the only one?
But then Roman blinked, and I realized the boy wasn't frozen. He was trying to think of a comeback. “What do you mean I won't need the bathroom anymore?”
“Mr Hemlock, please lower your voice.”
“Why? You can't dictate to me when I do and don't need the bathroom, dude!”
Moving onto the rest of my class, the others were still moving.
It was too quiet, though.
Yes, Roman was still tapping his foot.
Imogen was still chewing her gum.
Kaz was still scribbling notes like a psychopath.
But they were the only noise I could hear.
I wasn't the only one confused. The classroom had pricked with a sense of urgency. Kids were checking their phones, their gazes glued to the clock. Even Roman, who was still arguing, was starting to notice. I watched his gaze lazily roll to the clock on the wall.
I pretended not to see his cheeks visibly paling.
We had all come to the exact same terrifying conclusion.
2:52pm.
Time had come to a halt, and somehow, we had not.
“Is that clock broken?” Roman interrupted, leaning forward in his chair.
Kaz twisted around, settling the boy with an eye-roll.
“Check your phone, dumbass.”
“I broke my phone.”
Imogen threw her iPhone at him, narrowly missing hitting him in the face.
“Everything is frozen,” She said, her voice shuddering. “It's not just the clock.”
I waited for Roman’s response. For once, though, he was speechless.
“Well done, Imogen. That is correct.” Mr Brighton spoke up, tearing a piece of paper from a workbook and striding over to the door, glueing it over the glass window. When we started to protest, some of us were shouting, while others bursting into tears, he calmly took out his key and locked us in.
I should have been surprised that our teacher had spontaneously decided to take his entire class hostage, but the rumor mill had been churning.
According to Becca Jason, the guy’s wife divorced him and took his kids.
I could feel myself sinking into my chair, phantom bugs filling my mouth.
So, this guy had nothing to lose.
Taking his place in front of his desk, the man settled us with a patient smile.
“From now on, you will stay inside this room.” He said. “In case you haven't noticed, time is currently frozen at fifty two minutes past two. The thirteen of us are tucked into the twenty first second, and will be, for the foreseeable future.”
I could tell the others wanted to argue, but we couldn't deny that time had stopped. Kaz was staring down at his frozen phone, Imogen hyperventilating behind me, Roman glaring at the clock, chewing on a pencil. We wanted it to be a prank, a joke, some kind of glitch in the matrix that would fix itself.
But then a whole minute passed by. Followed by another. Kaz threw his phone on the floor, hissing in frustration. Imogen let out a wet sounding sob.
Roman’s pencil split in his mouth, slipping from his fingers. We couldn't pretend it wasn't happening or call our teacher out on his BS, because it was everywhere around us. The sudden absence of outdoor ambience, birdsong, planes flying overhead, and traffic outside the school gates. Everyone and everything had stopped, and we were the only ones left.
This was a nightmare, surely.
My physics class were some of the most boring and pretentious people in the school, and somehow the world had been reduced to the twelve of us inside our classroom. We were scared, of course we were. But reality had stopped making sense, crashing and burning in a single second. We had no choice but to listen to our teacher. “Now, before you freak out, it may not feel like it, but the twelve of you have also stopped.”
Mr Brighton held out his own hand, and placed it on his heart.
He was right.
I was so busy trying to understand what was happening, I had failed to realize my period cramps were gone.
“Do me a favor, and press your hand over your heart.”
“You mean like, in a culty way?” Imogen whispered.
“Obviously.” Roman grumbled, halfway out of his seat. He was hesitant, though, in case our teacher was armed. It only took one glance from our teacher, and he slumped back into his chair. “This crazy fucker clearly wants to play mind games with us.”
“No, I'm just asking you to feel for your heart.”
I felt for mine, and there was nothing, my stomach twisting.
Roman stabbed his fingers into his neck, feeling for a pulse.
He tried his wrist.
Then his heart.
Nothing.
“The twelve of you are currently in a state of stasis,” the teacher explained to us, “You are not alive, nor are you dead. Your bodily functions are also on pause, such as your heartbeat and your pulse. In this state there will be no need for food and water, or going to the bathroom.” His gaze found a ghastly looking Roman, who looked like he was going to faint. “Your minds, however, as you can see, are working as usual.”
“But why?” Imogen demanded in a shriek.
Mr Brighton’s lip curled. “I would rather not answer that question.”
“Because you're lonely.” Roman spoke up. He swung back on his chair, narrowed eyes glued to the teacher.
“Your wife and kids left you, so you're asserting power over a group of sixteen year olds. Which is kinda fucking pathetic.”
Mr Brighton’s expression darkened, and something slimy crept up my throat.
The worst thing any of us could do was threaten him. He had taken kidnapping to a whole new level, and we were alone with this psychopath, trapped inside a second. I waited for the man to stride forward and attack the kid. But he didn't. Instead, the teacher leaned back on his desk. “Yes.” The man nodded.
“I suppose you could say I am.”
“But why us?!” Kaz hissed.
“Because you are children.” Mr Brighton responded casually.
He straightened up, taking slow, intimidating steps towards Roman’s desk. The rest of us leaned back. I tried to pull my desk with me, but it was glued to the floor. Frozen. Mr Brighton’s shoes went click-clack across the hardwood floor.
“You are right,” the man said in a murmur, “I am lonely. My wife and kids did leave me, and I have nobody left to control. I have nobody else to contort and use to my advantage.” Reaching Roman’s desk, he leaned in close until he was nose to nose with the kid.
“Congratulations, Mr Hemlock. You have just earned yourself detention.”
Roman stayed stubbornly still, but he was visibly afraid. I could see him very slowly backing away. Roman was all bark and no bite. He was a loud mouth, sure, but he was also the least confrontational person in the class.
“What?” He spluttered. “You trap us in a time loop or time trap, or whatever, and you still want to act like a teacher?”
“Stand up.” The teacher ordered.
“What if I don't?”
Mr Brighton’s expression didn't waver. “You said it yourself. I can and have trapped you inside a single second. What else do you think I'm capable of?”
Roman stood, kicking his chair out of the way.
“What are you planning on doing to me, old man?”
The teacher maintained his smile. “Stand up straight, and close your mouth.”
To my confusion, Roman Hemlock did all the above.
He straightened up, and closed his mouth.
“Do not fight me.” The teacher said calmly, “Do as you are told, and follow me.”
The boy did exactly as instructed.
His jaw slackened, that rebellious light in his eyes fizzling out.
I think that's when we all collectively agreed that going against this teacher and trying to escape was mental suicide.
“I will use Mr Hemlock as an example to all of you,” Mr Brighton said, turning to the rest of us. “If you break the rules or are derogatory in any way, you will be given detention.”
He grabbed the boy’s shoulders, forcing him to walk towards the supply closet. Roman moved like a robot, slightly off balance, his gaze glued to thin air, like he was tracking invisible butterflies.
"Your time in detention will depend on the severity of your rule-break.” He opened the door, gently pushing Roman inside, and following suit. When the door closed behind them, there was a pause, and I remembered how to breathe.
Kaz Samuels slowly got up from his desk, inching towards the closet.
“This guy is a certified nut.” He announced.
He turned towards us. “Whatever he's doing to Hemlock, we’re probably next.”
“He stopped time.” I spoke up, my own voice barely a croak. “He’s capable of anything.”
“But how did he stop time?” Kaz whistled, tipping his head back. The boy was slow, his fingers grasping each desk as he slid down the aisle. “He said he was lonely, right? But why take it out on us? What did we do to him?”
“Check his desk for a weapon!” Imogen whisper-shrieked.
Kaz nodded, striding over to the man's desk, his hands moving frantically, shoving paper on the floor. He took an uncertain seat on the man's chair. “There's nothing here,” he murmured, lifting stained coffee mugs and ancient textbooks. “It's just…test papers.” Kaz ducked from view, trying the drawers.
“He's a fan of Pokémon,” he said, “There's a tonne of Pokémon cards,” Kaz straightened up, running a hand through his hair. “No sign of a weapon, though.”
He picked up a ruler, waving it around. “This could work. If we plunge it in his eye.”
“Try his laptop!” Imogen was halfway out of her seat.
Kaz did, slamming the keys. “It's locked.”
“Look harder!” Ren Clarke threw a pencil at him.
“I am!”
After a minute of searching, Kaz grabbed a single piece of paper.
He held it up, and I squinted.
It was a list of our names, with several of them highlighted.
“Fuck.” Kaz dropped the list, his expression crumpling. The stubborn bravado facade transforming him into our sort of leader dissipated, hollowing him out into exactly what he was. Just a scared kid. Kaz’s hands were shaking.
“Mr Brighton’s got a hit list.” He whispered. “He's going to kill us.”
“How do you know that?” I found myself asking.
Kaz slowly dropped into a crouch, picking up the paper and holding it up.
“Look.” He pointed to a capitalised name at the top of the list highlighted in red.
ROMAN HEMLOCK.
There were six names highlighted in red, including mine.
CRISTA ADAMS.
As if on cue, Roman’s cry rang out from the supply closet, suddenly, freezing us all in place. Kaz jumped up, adapting the expression of a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide, almost unseeing.
He fell over himself to tidy up the desk, putting everything back where he had found it, sliding the list between a pile of test papers. Kaz took slow, stumbled steps back, his feverish gaze glued to the closet, before turning and making a break for it and diving into his seat.
“Brighton’s got a hit liiiist,” Kaz said, in a mocking sing-song, “And we’re all on it.”
What followed was deathly silence. I think we were expecting Roman to cry out again. But when he didn't, the class started to stir. Some kids started praying to a god they didn't believe in, while others were in varying states of denial, trying to call their parents with dead phones.
I wasn't sure what parts of me had stopped, but I was still alive, still felt like my lungs were deprived of oxygen, my chest aching. I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to find my voice, a shriek trying and failing to rip through my mouth. Being kidnapped and held hostage is one thing, but being imprisoned inside a single, never ending second, was an existential hell worse than death. Slowly, I pressed my palm over my heart once again. Then I breathed into my cupped hands.
I was expecting it, but no longer being able to feel my own heartbeat and breath, was fear I didn't think was possible. The kind that glued me to my seat, hollowing me out completely until I was nothing, an empty shell with no heartbeat, no breath, no thoughts, except denial, followed by acceptance.
And finally, regret.
I regretted not hugging my mother goodbye before I left for school.
I regretted acting like a spoiled brat when my parents refused to drive me halfway across the country so I could attend Coachella.
I regretted stepping inside Mr Brighton’s fourth period physics class.
Mr Brighton reappeared, slamming the door behind him and locking the boy inside. Part of me flinched, while the rest of me remembered not to move a muscle. I was barely aware of time passing. Or it wasn't. Time had stopped, so now long had I been sitting there?
I could no longer measure the passage of time with hunger or thirst, and my body felt the same. I wasn't stiff or tired or achy. Looking out of the window, the sky was the exact same crystal blue, every cloud in the exact same place.
Jessie Carson was still frozen mid-run, strands of dark red hair caught around her.
“What's wrong with you guys?” Mr Brighton chuckled, and I twisted back to the front, a shiver writhing down my spine. “Why don't you give me a smile?”
The teacher returned to his desk, and I was already subconsciously sitting up straight in my seat, forcing my lips into a jaw-breaking grin, following Brighton’s instructions. In the corner of my eye, Imogen was sitting very still, forcing an award-winning cheesy smile, while Kaz grinned through gritted teeth.
“Mr Hemlock just earned himself two weeks inside the supply closet.” he said casually, perching himself on the edge of his desk. The man studied each of us, taking his time to rip every shred of us apart.
Mind, body, and soul.
I struggled to maintain my stupid smile, shoving my shaking hands in my lap.
“Would anyone like to join him, or are you going to follow the rules?”
The rest of us stayed silent. I don't think any of us breathed.
Our teacher nodded to Kaz, inclining his head.
“Samuels. Are you all right?”
Kaz’s smile faltered slightly. He shifted in his chair. I could see sweat trickling down his right temple. “Uh, yeah.” He swiped at his forehead, like he couldn't believe he was sweating. “Yeah, I'm good.”
The teacher’s eyes narrowed. He moved toward his desk, and we all held our breaths. Mr Brighton seemed to study his hit-list, lips curving into a frown.
His gaze flicked to the boy, and then the paper.
He knew, I thought dizzily.
Mr Brighton knew the kid had been rummaging through his desk. But this was all about control. The teacher was using fear to control us, to manipulate our thoughts without having to get physical. He could have called out the boy right then, but Brighton was settling with mental torture instead. He just wanted to make my classmate squirm.
Without a word, the man folded up the piece of paper and slipped it into his pocket. “Mr Samuels, you are sweating,” our physics teacher said, mocking a frown. “Are you feeling okay?”
Kaz hesitated, tapping his shoe in a rhythm.
Being one of the smartest kids in the room definitely gave him an advantage.
I could already see the cogs turning behind half lidded eyes. Kaz was weighing each scenario, sorting them into positives and negatives.
The positives of answering would mean he was one step towards being in the clear, but there were two negatives.
Brighton would question him if he had left his seat, and then demand how his hit-list had magically moved across the desk.
Talking back was surely a rule-break, as well as outright lying.
Opening his mouth would get him in trouble, either way, and Kaz knew that.
So, he just nodded, forcing an even bigger smile.
Brighton’s lips pricked, his gaze straying on Kaz. “Good!” He cleared his throat, turning to the class. Kaz slumped in his seat with a sharp breath, resting his head in his arms. If Mr Brighton noticed, he didn't say anything. “Ignore the sweating. It should stop, along with hunger and thirst.”
Our teacher seemed to be able to manipulate everything in his vicinity.
Time.
Minds.
And slowly… contorting us into his own.
In the single second we were trapped inside, I felt days go by in a dizzying whirlwind that was like being permanently high. When I stood up, I felt like I was floating.
When I sat down, hours could go by, even days, and I wouldn't even feel them. I did try and count the days, initially, scribbling them on a scrap piece of paper, but somewhere around the thirteenth or fourteenth day, I lost count. The world around us never changed, in permanent stasis, and maybe that was sending us a little crazy.
After a while of being stuck at our desks, Mr Brighton allowed us to wander the classroom, as long as we stayed away from the door. I lay on the floor for days, counting ceiling tiles.
Sometimes, Imogen would join me.
I couldn't sleep, but I could pretend to sleep, imagining a world that was back to normal. I didn't feel hungry, but my brain did like to remind me of food at the weirdest times. I was aware of weeks passing us by, and then months.
I never grew hungry or tired, and my bodily functions were none existent.
I couldn't remember what pain felt like, or the urge to go to the bathroom. Even the concept of eating and drinking became foreign to me. Putting something in your mouth and chewing to sustain yourself?
That sounded odd.
The only thing that was changing was our slowly unravelling metal state.
I don't know how it started. Weekends and Tuesdays blended together. On one particular SaturTuesday, I was hanging upside down from my desk, watching Kaz and Imogen doodle on the whiteboard.
Kaz had a plan to escape, but after a while, his ‘plan’ to distract the teacher, had gone nowhere. After passing notes between us, the twelve of us had decided that we needed a weapon.
That was maybe a month ago. I wasn't sure what mind games our teacher was playing, but Kaz Samuels, who we were counting on to be our brains, was slowly falling under his spell. Their game had been going on for three days. The two of them were having a competition to see who could draw the craziest thing.
Mr Brighton was at his desk as usual, marking papers.
Imogen was drawing a weird looking ‘skateboard’ when the doors to the storage closet flew open.
Roman Hemlock appeared, and to my surprise, wasn't a hollow eyed shell.
He held up his hand in a wave, his lips forming a small smile.
“Yo.”
Roman’s reappearance was enough to snap us out of it. Kaz and Imogen stopped arguing, the rest of the class going silent. I sat up, blinking rapidly.
I was sure our collective consensus was that Roman Hemlock was dead.
Mr Brighton lifted his head and gave the boy a civil nod. “Mr Hemlock will be rejoining us,” he said, his gaze going back to marking papers. “Please make him feel comfortable. I'm sure he's very excited to be able to talk to you again.”
Instead of going to his desk, the boy immediately joined the others, snatching the marker off of a baffled looking Kaz, and drawing an overly artistic sketch of a penis. I wasn't sure what confused me more. The fact that Roman Hemlock had some serious artistic skills, or that he seemed suspiciously fine for someone who had been locked in the storage closet for two weeks with no social interaction.
With my last few lingering brain cells still clinging on, I studied the boy.
There were no signs of bruises or scratches.
His eyes seemed normal, not diluted or half lidded.
Unable to stop myself, I jumped off of my desk and joined the others, where Kaz was already interrogating the guy.
“WHAT–”
Imogen nudged him, and he lowered his voice, leaning against the wall. “What did he do to you?”
Roman shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Relax, dude. He didn't do anything to me.”
“Then what was that yell?” Imogen hissed.
The boy cocked his head. “Yell?”
“You yelled out,” Kaz folded his arms, narrowing his eyes. He was already suspecting one of us had been compromised– or worse, brainwashed into compliance. Kaz stepped closer, backing Roman into the desk. “You cried out when you first went in there,” he murmured, “So, what was that?”
Something in Roman’s eyes darkened. “Oh,” He said, his lip curling. “That.”
Kaz’s expression softened. He rested his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Yeah,” He whispered. “What did he do to you?”
Imogen shoved Kaz out of the way, shooting the boy a glare.
“You don't have to tell us, you know.” She said in a small voice. “If it's too traumatising, or he did something you don't want to talk about–”
Roman cut her off with a laugh, and suddenly, all eyes were on him.
The remaining nine of us were eagerly awaiting an explanation.
“Are you fucking serious?”
When Kaz didn't respond, Roman gathered us in a kind of hustle, the four of us grouped together. I felt like I was on the football field. Still, though, if the guy’s goal was to look as suspicious as possible, he was doing a great job.
Roman studied each of us, one eyebrow cocked. When Mr Brighton glanced up from his work, Roman shot him a grin, lowering his voice to a hiss.
“You seriously think our fifty year old physics teacher has been abusing me in the storage closet?
“Then why did you cry out?” Kaz demanded. “Did he hit you?”
Roman stuck out his bottom lip. “I'm pretty sure he didn't hit me.”
“So, you cried out for no reason.”
“Why are you covering for him?” Imogen poked his forehead. “Are you lobotomised?”
Roman wafted her hand away. “Stop prodding me, and no, I'm 100% good.” He backed away from us, like we were observers, and he was the zoo attraction.
“I won't be, if you keep treating me like I'm senile.”
“Okay, fine,” Kaz sighed. “Just answer one.”
“Shoot.”
“When you first went in there, you made an unmistakable sound of distress–”
“Not this again,” Roman groaned. “Of course I yelled! I was shoved into a pitch black storage closet on my own! What, did you expect me to stay silent?”
Kaz didn't look convinced, Imogen nervously sucking her teeth.
The boy leaned back, resting his head against the wall. His eyes flickered shut.
“Stop looking at me like that, there's nothing to tell you,” he murmured, “Brighton didn't do shit to me. I was just freaked out.” Prying one eye open, he fixed us with a glare. “I am so sorry for reacting like a human. Next time, I'll make sure to attack him and pin him to the ground.”
It's not like we believed him. I don't think Roman believed himself.
Something significant had changed in him. He was no longer argumentative, like half of his personality had been torn away. Roman set a precedent. Because once he was following instructions and walking around with a dazed smile, others began to follow. I can't remember how much time had passed since I thought about escaping.
Days and weeks and months had collapsed into fleeting seconds I only noticed when I wasn't playing games.
I wasn't aware of my own lack of sanity until I found myself, on a random SaturWednesday. I was laughing, gathered with the others on the floor, around a Monopoly board. The game had been going on for almost a week.
Reality hit me when I was laughing so hard I tipped back.
I can't remember why I was laughing. I think Imogen told a bad joke.
“Hand it over.” Roman, who was the King of Monopoly, held out his hand, demanding my last 250 bucks. I remember noticing his smile, my foggy brain trying to find hints that he was in some kind of trance, or being controlled by Brighton. But no. His smile was real.
Genuine.
To my shock and confusion, so was mine.
I wasn't in a trance or any type of mind manipulation. I was completely conscious.
Was this… Stockholm syndrome? I thought dizzily.
Was I enjoying this?
My thoughts were like cotton candy, disconnected and wrong, and they barely felt like my own. My gaze found Imogen and Kaz, the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder, enveloped in the game.
They looked exactly the same, their hair, clothes, everything about them staying stagnant. It was them themselves who had drastically changed. I had never seen them look so carefree. Imogen was a hotheaded cheerleader, and Kaz was the smart kid who gave himself nosebleeds from overworking himself. But now, they were laughing, nudging each other, caught up in an inside joke. Blinking slowly, my gaze strayed on them.
Sure, it could be manipulation. It could be brainwashing. But it could also be real.
Kaz caught my eye, raising a brow.
“You good, Christa?”
Again, my smile felt real. Like I was having fun.
“Good. It's your turn.”
I picked up the dice, throwing them across the board.
Two sixes.
“I can already see her landing on one of my hotels.” Roman murmured. He sat up, resting his chin on his knees. “As the clear winner, I have a proposition.”
Ignoring him, I moved my piece– immediately landing on Park Place.
“I'll give you 500,” Roman announced, “If you give up New York avenue.”
“That's all I've got!”
Imogen nudged me. “Don't do it. If you give him New York Avenue, he only needs one more.”
“One thousand.” Roman waved the notes in my face.
“My final offer.”
When I reached for the cash, he held it back.
“New York Avenue, he said, with a grin.
“And your pride.”
Reluctantly, I handed my only property over.
Kaz threw the dice and moved his piece, and I half remembered we had an escape plan. “Community chest.” Kaz picked up a card. “Go straight to jail.”*
Roman spluttered. “That's karma,” he said, “For stealing from the bank.”
“You were stealing too!”
We had a plan.
We had…. a plan.
After discussing it in detail, Imogen and I were going to try and get onto Brighton’s laptop. It wasn't a perfect way to escape, but it was coherent.
So, what happened?
We were going to get out, so what… what was this?
Kaz’s earlier words hit me from months ago.
“Mr Brighton *is the thing keeping us here,”* he explained. “If we kill him, I'm like, 98% sure we’ll go back to normal.”
“Okay, and what if he dies and we’re *stuck?”* Imogen whisper-shrieked.
“I said 98% for a reason. Yes, there's a small chance his power will die with him. But there's a bigger chance that its effects will die when he does.”
Ren nodded slowly. “Right, and where exactly did you learn this information?”
“You'll feel a lot better if I don't answer that.”
“Okay.” Ren gritted his teeth. “So, we just need to find a weapon, right?”
“And don't tell Hemlock,” Kaz rolled his eyes. “I don't care what he says, that boy definitely had his mind fucked with. Hemlock is a liability. If we tell Roman, he tells Brighton, and we’re screwed.” Kaz nodded to me, then the others. “Keep your mouths shut.”
Presently, I wasn't sure the boy wanted to escape.
Slowly, I rolled my eyes over to Mr Brighton, who had joined us to play.
He was happily marking papers, taking part when he could.
It felt…right.
Not like we had been forced or manipulated, but more like he belonged. Part of me wanted to question why I felt like this, but I found that I didn't care. I didn't care that we were essentially dead, in a never ending stasis and stuck inside fifty two minutes past two. I stopped thinking about the outside world a long time ago.
I couldn't even remember my Mom’s face.
I made my decision, dazedly watching Imogen throw a chance card at Roman.
He flung one back, threatening to tip the board.
I wanted to stay.
In the corner of my eye, however, someone was still awake.
Ren, who had been sitting next to me, kept moving, further and further away. I didn't notice until he was inching towards our teacher, a box cutter clenched between his fist. There must have been a point when we found a box cutter, when we made it our weapon of choice.
But somewhere along the way, I think we just… lost the longing to want to escape.
I didn't see the exact moment the boy stabbed the blade into the man's neck, plunging it through his flesh, but I did feel a sudden jolt, like time itself was starting to falter and tremble.
Mr Brighton dropped to the ground, and I found my gaze flashing to the frozen clock.
Which was moving, suddenly.
Slowly creeping towards 2:53pm.
Something sticky ran underneath me, warm and wet.
Blood.
Blood that was running.
Roman’s half lidded eyes found mine, and he blinked, dropping the dice.
Like he'd been asleep for a long time.
2:53pm.
We were free.
The cool spring breeze grazing my cheeks was back. I could feel my own heartbeat, sticky sweat on my forehead.
And outside, Jessie Carson let out a gut-churning scream.
For a disorienting moment, I don't think any of us believed we were free.
Roman twisted around, his gaze on the doorway.
The piece of paper the teacher had stuck to the glass slipped away.
But Roman’s gaze was glued to the door, his cheeks paling.
His lips parted into a silent cry.
Following his eyes, I glimpsed a shadow.
A shadow that was frozen at 2:52pm.
2:53pm.
“Fuck.” Roman whispered, stumbling to his feet.
He turned to the rest of us, his eyes wild.
“Get DOWN!”
I dropped onto my knees, crawling under a desk, the classroom exploding around me.
2:54.
Blood splattered the walls, and I was crawling in it, stained in my friends.
2:55.
I grabbed Mr Brighton's hand, squeezing for dear life.
Roman joined me, his trembling fingers feeling for a pulse.
A gunshot rang in my ears, rattling my skull.
When Roman went limp next to me, I wrapped my arms around my teacher.
“Mr Brighton, say Stop.”
He was so cold…
“Mr Brighton! Take us back!”
Footsteps coming towards me.
2:56.

For those in Blacksburg, here's a rundown of 28 local events you can enjoy in Blacksburg and throughout the New River Valley as June arrives.
Weekend Rundown of Local Fun: 1. Matt Holloman in Concert Rising Silo Farm Brewery, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Born and raised in southeastern Virginia, Matt Holloman has been playing around Virginia for more than 25 years. Growing up on his older brother’s blues collection, Matt mixed the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters with the experimental sounds of songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Frank Black, creating a style all his own. Always interested in reinventing his live performance, Matt uses a looper so he can improvise and manipulate layers of sound not usually heard from an acoustic performer. You can also expect simple, but memorable songs, reminiscent of storytelling songwriters like John Prine and Bob Dylan. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777075
2. Friday Nights at the Farm with Music from Jim Korb Beliveau Farm Winery, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Jim Korb is an acoustic musician and guitarist based in Southwest, VA and a member of the band Stonehouse. "Just a singer; a natural-born guitar ringer, playing and singing a mix of Classic Country, Eagles, CCR, Skynyrd, and a little bit of everything else from John Denver to The Blues." Beliveau welcomes a special musical guest every Friday night with live music from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM and sing along to all of your favorite classics. Enjoy delicious food from their full service kitchen until 8:30 PM and chat over a glass of wine during our extended bar hours until 9:00 PM. Get a $5 Beliveau Buck to use during your next visit for every $50.00 you spend on Friday nights from 6:00-9:00 PM. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777450
3. Pizza Roll (Bike Ride) Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 6:00 PM - TBD Admission: Free The New River Valley Bicycle Association (NRVBA) presents a Pizza Roll starting at the Blacksburg Library. Enjoy a five mile bike ride on the Huckleberry Trail and through Virginia Tech's campus, followed by post ride pizza at Benny's provided by Trek Blacksburg. This is a NRVBA ride, meaning waivers are required and can be filled out on site. If you have never ridden with NRVBA before, your first ride is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777778
4. The Grascals in Concert Little River Bluegrass Barn, Radford Friday, May 31, 2024, 7:00 - 10:00 PM General Admission: $30.00, Reserved Tickets: $35.00 Great musicians will always find a way to make good music, but for great musicians to make great music, they must form a bond – one that, more often than not, goes beyond the purely musical to the personal. For The Grascals, that bond has been forged at the intersection of personal friendships, shared professional resumes and an appreciation for the innovative mingling of bluegrass and country music that has been a hallmark of the Nashville scene for more than 40 years. Their cutting-edge modern bluegrass is delivered with a deep knowledge of, and admiration for, the work of the music’s founding fathers. Timely yet timeless, The Grascals make music that is entirely relevant to the here and now yet immersed in traditional values of soul and musicianship. It’s a unique sound that has earned three Grammy® nominations and two Entertainer of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association, as well as national media attention that seems to perpetually elude acts entrenched in niche genres. Such appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Fox & Friends, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and CBS’ The Talk. The Grascals have over 200 guest appearances on the Grand Ole Opry to their credit and have also performed on the revered stages of Radio City Music Hall, the Ryman Auditorium and the Kennedy Center as well as music festivals such as MerleFest, Stagecoach, and the CMA Music Festival. In addition to performing across the United States and Canada, the awarding-winning band has traveled the world to take bluegrass music to Japan, Greece, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and Belgium. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777777
5. Line Dancing at Sinkland Sinkland Farms, Christiansburg Friday, May 31, 2024, 7:00 PM - TBD Admission: $10.00 Join Sinkland Farms for a fun-filled night of line dancing. All types of music and all levels of experience welcome. Energetic, enthusiastic instruction begins at 8:00 PM. Adult beverages and food truck will be available for purchase. Weather permitting, there will be outdoor dancing as well. This event is fun for all. Ages 16 & under must be accompanied by an adult. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778214
6. 2024 Pulaski County Spring Flea Market New River Valley Fairgrounds, Dublin Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM Admission: $2.00, Kids 6 and Under: Free The Dublin Lions Club presents the 2024 Two-Day Pulaski County Spring Flea Market celebrating 49 years. With over 20,000 visitors and 800 vendors spaces, more than a dozen different food vendors offering varied food options and the chance to eat a few of the famous "Lion Dogs", you will not want to miss this event. Check out vendors with crafts, antiques and more at the semi-annual Pulaski County Flea Market. Expect to have a ton of fun hunting for that rare items or the deal of the century. Although over 100 spaces are under roof, it is a largely an outdoor event. All proceeds go to the Dublin Lions and their numerous community causes such as eyeglasses for the needy and hunger relief in the community. This is their primary fundraiser each year. The event is rain or shine and parking is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778201
7. Benefit Ride for Bubba Williston's Family KFC, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM $15.00-$20.00 Donation per vehicle. The Benefit Ride for Bubba's Family will start and end at KFC. Registration begins at 9:00 AM with kickstands up at 10:30 AM. Help raise money for Bubba Williston’s family. Bubba lost his life on Thursday, April 11th after saving his boys. Bubba leaves behind a wife, Danielle and three small children, Brantley, Kyler and Aubree. Let’s come together as a community and help ease the financial burden. There will also be door prizes, raffle and 50/50 raffle. Lunch will be served following the ride and returning to KFC. All bikes, cars, trucks and all vehicles welcome. Snacks will be provided on ride and lunch and drinks afterward. All proceeds benefit Bubba's wife and his three children. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778242
8. Cabin Fever 12: Six Band Charity Event Cabin Fever, Pilot Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Adults: $10.00, Kids 13 & Under: Free Cabin Fever Charity Events presents their semi-annual charitable musical fundraiser event Cabin Fever 12 benefiting the Floyd County Humane Society in honor of Kevin Dodson. A family style buffet and t-shirts will also be available for purchase and there will be both a live and silent auction featuring donations from local businesses and our line-up of seven performers. 100% of the proceeds from all items will be donated to the Floyd County Humane Society. Music Performers include Chris and Chelsea, Seph Custer, Jake and Jess, The Good Ole Boys, The Flying Doves, Hoppie Vaughan and the Ministers of Soul and By All Means. The family style buffet is highlighted by the world class pulled barbecue provided by Cabin Fever friend Hamp Maxwell is $10.00 per person. Credit cards and personal checks will be accepted the day of the event. Pets and children are welcome. Bring your dog and a $25.00 donation will be made on your behalf. All donations made to Cavin Fever Charity are 100% tax deductible. The event is BYOB and lawn chairs are welcome. Parking is free. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778240
9. Summer Reading Kickoff Event Blacksburg Library, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Admission: Free Grab your chalk and head to the library to kick off our summer reading program. Enjoy activities like a chalk walk, face painting, bubbles, and a sweet treat. Available while supplies last. All ages are welcome. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777959
10. Ride-A-Rescue Cornhole Tournament Bisset Park, Radford Saturday, June 1, 2024, 11:00 AM - TBD Tournament Entry: $25.00 per team, Spectators: Free Ride-A-Rescue and Winterfrost Farm presents their Ride-A-Rescue Cornhole Tournament. Ride-A-Rescue is a local, non-profit, equine rescue that is holding an epic Cornhole Tournament throwdown to raise funds and awareness for their rescue's operation and rescue horses. The Cornhole Tournament is a double elimination tournament and open to all ages. There will also be a Kids Corner open all day and food vendors on site. First, second and third place teams will win big prizes. Teams can battle back in the Losers Bracket for another shot at the championship. All participating teams will also be entered in a drawing for awesome bonus prizes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776144
11. Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer JBR Vineyards LLC, Pearisburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 12:00 - 5:00 PM and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 1:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Wine Pricing: Tasting: $5.00, Glass of Wine: $5.00, Bottles of Wine: $15.00-$20.00 plus tax Experience the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer with a delightful afternoon of wine tasting. Savor fine wine in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Stroll through the vineyard with a glass of your favorite wine. Credit cards and cash accepted. Dogs and kids welcome. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778155
12. Annual Loyalists in the Backcountry Event Wilderness Road Regional Museum, Newbern Saturday, June 1, 2024 and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free Join the Wilderness Road Regional Museum for the Two-Day Annual Loyalists in the Backcountry Event and learn about both the Patriots and Loyalists in the Backcountry of Southwest Virginia during the Revolutionary War. There will be some mischief afoot. Living history will be presented by the Fincastle Company on both days. Members of the Fincastle Company Living History group will share the history of the complicated interactions of the Patriots, "rascally" Loyalists, Tories, and those trying to stay "unaffected" during the American Revolution. On Sunday, there will be expanded programming including kids activities and a mock round up of the Tories to recreate some actual events in and around the Newbern area during the Revolutionary timeframe to include conspiracies, counterfeiting, and rounding up of the rascals. The event is free, but donations are always welcome and appreciated. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778165
13. 2024 New Town Festival Gospel Sing St. Luke and Odd Fellows Hall, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free The Blacksburg Museum & Cultural Foundation presents the 8th Annual New Town Festival Gospel Sing. The afternoon will be filled with dancing, singing and fellowship as five local groups and soloists perform their favorite current and old-time gospel favorites. Kirk’s BBQ will be onsite with food available for purchase. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778231
14. Speed Friending Program for Ages 20-45 Christiansburg Library, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: Free Are you interested in meeting new people? Want to make friends in the area, but find it hard to make time? Join the library for a fun and free way to connect with others in the community. Speed Friending will start with a speedy round of conversation starters. Yes, similar to speed dating, questions and conversation will be available for those who need it. Hang around after to chat, enjoy snacks, play games, or make plans with new friends. There will also be door prizes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778081
15. Saturday Afternoon Music with Leslie Brooks New River Vineyard & Winery, Fairlawn Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2:00 - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Leslie Brooks is a singer-songwriter, performing solo with guitar, playing jazz, folk, blues, rockin' country and popular favorites originally from Kentucky now resides in Virginia. She has played the best venues in a 16-state area, as well as in Norway and Monte Carlo. Opened for Heart, James Taylor, Bob Margolin and Willie Nelson to name a few. Feel to free to select your favorites from her 300-song music menu. Seating is first come, first served. No reservation required. Guests can bring a blanket and/or chair. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778088
16. Spring Garden Day and Flower Art Opening Montgomery Museum of Art & History Gardens, Christiansburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2:00 - 4:00 PM Admission: Free This event will feature the "Flower Art in the Garden" Theme Show, showcasing the creativity of local artists. Participants were tasked with decorating "flat flower" templates, thoughtfully crafted by students at Blacksburg High School, which will be placed throughout the site. Participants were encouraged to incorporate native southwest Virginia plants into their artwork, resulting in a vibrant display that celebrates the region's natural beauty and artistic talent. In addition to the art exhibit, Spring Garden Day offers a wonderful opportunity for attendees to explore the Museum Garden with gardeners on-site to answer any questions. Visitors will also have the chance to engage with the Virginia Native Plant Society's plant clinic, Virginia Master Naturalists, and Virginia Master Gardeners, as several booths will be set up to provide information and insights into the rich botanical heritage of Southwest Virginia. Note: This event was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 4th, but was postponed due to inclement weather. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778241
17. Summer Arts Festival Free Classic Movies: Wizard of Oz Lyric Theatre, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 3:00 - 4:45 PM Admission: Free The 2024 Summer Arts Festival kicks of the Free Classic Movies series featuring "The Wizard of Oz". The classic "Wizard of Oz" was originally released in 1939 with a rating of PG and stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. Synopsis: Dorothy Gale along with her dog Toto is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home to Kansas and help her friends as well. The Summer Arts Festival is presented by Virginia Tech and the Town of Blacksburg. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778205
18. Grand Opening in Blacksburg J.H Bards Spirit Co., Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 4:00 - 9:00 PM and Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: Free J.H Bards Spirit Co. has moved the distillery from Fairlawn to Blacksburg and can't wait to show you their new completely renovated digs. On Saturday, last call will be ~8:40 PM and on Sunday ~5:30 PM. Parking is available in the Kent Square parking deck, on-street anywhere downtown, or in the municipal lot directly across Washington Street from us. Enter the distillery off of Draper Road. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778076
19. 2024 Oldtown Nights Concert Series Kickoff featuring Miller Holler Band Oldtown Fields (Shawsville Middle School Rec Area), Shawsville Saturday, June 1, 2024, 5:30 - 9:00 PM Adults: $5.00, Ages 12 & Under: Free The Eastmont Community Foundation presents the 8th season of the Oldtown Nights Concert Series Kickoff featuring the Miller Holler Band with a large open green space that is family and children friendly. Miller Holler is a country rock band with southern roots and a hunger for going against the grain and stirring up the music industry in Nashville, Tennessee. Concessions and drinks including adult beverages for those ages 21 & up will be available for purchase. Please bring cash for tickets and beer sales. Only limited credit card sales available. Please bring your own chairs and/or blankets. No tents or umbrellas allowed. Ages 16 & under must be accompanied by an adult. No outside drinks and no pets permitted. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=774327
20. The Wild Wood Band in Concert Long Way Brewing, Radford Saturday, June 1, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Wild Wood is based in the New River Valley performing country, classic rock & country, folk, bluegrass and originals. Enjoy an old school sound and a very eclectic catalog of music with your favorite sing-along ballads and originals. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778071
21. Baxter Briefly in Concert Rising Silo Farm Brewery, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Admission: Free Baxter Briefly is a Roanoke, VA musician performing unique and original music in the alternative rock, nu-funk and indie realms. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778232
22. Stand Up Comedy Show with Headliner Heather Joyce Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill, Blacksburg Saturday, June 1, 2024, 8:00 - 9:30 PM Admission: $7.00 Comedians Gone Rogue presents a Stand Up Comedy Show with Headliner Heather Joyce in the Banquet Room. Headliner Heather Joyce will be joined by other amazing comediennes from across Virginia and one very strong and independent man. Other performers include: Andrew Gustafson, Katherine Rogue, Christinia Tynes, Chelsea McCreight and Amanda Fitz. The cover goes directly to the talent. For ages 18 & up. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778246
23. 2024 Huckleberry Jam Point-to-Point 8.1 Mile and 1.75 Mile Run / Walk Runabout Sports, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 6:45 - 11:00 AM 8.1 Mile Run: $40.00 (through June 1st), $45.00 (after June 1st) 1.75 Mile Run: $29.00 (through June 1st), $32.00 (after June 1st) Return Shuttle: $5.00 Runabout Sports presents the 4th Annual Huckleberry Jam Point-to-Point 8.1 Mile and 1.75 Mile Runs on the Huckleberry Trail with the 8.1 Mile Run starting at RunAbout Sports in Blacksburg, VA and the 1.75 Mile Run starting on the Huckleberry Trail in Christiansburg, VA at the gate by Uptown Christiansburg's Kohl's store with both runs finishing at the Christiansburg Rec Center. Race Day Registration & Packet Pickup is from 6:45-7:45 AM. The 8.1 Mile Race starts at RunAbout Sports at 8:00 AM. The 1.75 Mile Race starts on Huckleberry Trail near Kohl's side of Uptown Christiansburg at 8:30 AM. Both race distances are point-to-point courses finishing at the Christiansburg Rec Center. Two aid stations will provide water and Gatorade along the way. RunAbout Sports will be donating all net proceeds to the Friends of the Huckleberry Trail. The group uses 100% of donations and funding for the engineering and construction of the Huckleberry Trail and the amenities along the trail. Participants may purchase an add-on shuttle ticket for $5.00 per person when registering. If you have a ride from the Christiansburg Rec Center, you are not required to purchase a shuttle pass. All finishers will receive an engraved rail-road spike finisher award with overall awards for the top three male and female finishers. The top two finishers in each age group also receive awards. Spectators and those picking up runners from the finish may park in front of the Christiansburg Rec Center and walk to the back where the race finishes. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778200
24. 2024 Check Farm Trail Downtown Check, Check Sunday, June 2, 2024, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Admission: Free Floyd Country Tourism presents the 3rd Annual Check Farm Trail at seven participating farms and businesses throughout Check, Virginia. This family-friendly experience is an up-close chance to learn about agriculture through demonstrations, tastings and farm tours including plants & animals and more. Food and/or products will be available for purchase at most of the farms and businesses. Carpooling is encouraged and please leave pets at home. Note: Times and hours vary by farm and tour stop. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=778239
25. Youth Spaghetti Fundraiser Blacksburg United Methodist Church, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:00 - 6:00 PM Admission: $10.00 The Youth Ministry at Blacksburg United Methodist Church (BUMC) hosts a Youth Spaghetti Fundraiser. This fundraiser will offset cost associated with summer youth mission trip. BUMC’s youth will venture to the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Camp Occohannock on the Bay this summer. During the weeklong mission trip, the youth will work with Chesapeake Housing Mission. Grab lunch from 12:00-2:00 PM or dinner from 4:00-6:00 PM. The menu includes one serving of spaghetti (with or without ground beef), salad, garlic bread and choice of cookie (chocolate chip, sugar or snickerdoodle). For those unable to dine in, carryout will be available. Pre-ordering is available online. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777765
26. Free Outdoor Acroyoga Class and Jam In Balance Yoga Studio @ VTCRC, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 12:30 - 2:30 PM Admission: Free Learn about the playful practice of Acroyoga in a safe environment. Acroyoga is a physical practice that combines yoga and acrobatics typically involving a base, a flyer, and spotter. No experience or partner is necessary. The first hour will be guided learning, followed by free form jam for an hour. This event will be held outdoors at the corner of Pratt Drive and Kraft Drive. The rain location will be In Balance CRC studio. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=777994
27. Book Club: Mr. Brightside's Italian Adventures with Discussion and Tasting Blacksburg Wine Lab, Blacksburg Sunday, June 2, 2024, 1:00 - 3:00 PM Admission: $40.00 Join the Wine Lab Book Club tasting & discussing featuring Mr. Brightside's Italian Adventures by Ryan Jacobson. After the success of his first humorous travel memoir, "The Adventures of Mr. Brightside", in which he traveled around the world exploring each country he visited on three different budget levels, Ryan Jacobson has now decided to tackle the country of Italy. Ryan travels to all of the Italy's twenty unique regions and splits his time in each by spending half his time on a low budget and half on a luxury budget before moving on to the next. Through the use of his humorous storytelling, Ryan shares what makes each of the regions so special and worthy of visiting. Reservations are required. Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776425
28. Sunday Mountain Music Series Kickoff with Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillin Band Mountain Lake Lodge, Pembroke Sunday, June 2, 2024, 4:00 - 6:00 PM Free Admission Mountain Lake Lodge presents their Sunday Mountain Music Series Kickoff with Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillin Band. Victor Lawson and the Boogie Chillen Band have forged an identity as a good-time party band that plays the real deal blues and down in the mud rock ‘n roll and funk music as well. The tight three-man band takes their name from the song, “Boogie Chillen” which was made famous by late Delta blues icon, John Lee Hooker. From Tennessee to Virginia to West Virginia, in bars and saloons and restaurants and festivals, Victor Lawson and Boogie Chillen’s exuberant, joyful music has made the band one of the area’s premier attractions. Stop by Salt Pond Pub every Sunday from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 4:00-6:00 PM and enjoy live music along with food and drinks. Perfect for relaxing with the whole family (furry friends are welcome too). Link: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=776813
For all the 65+ big events happening this weekend, check out: • http://www.nextthreedays.com/featuredevents.cfm
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

As of the posting of this chapter, I now have just one full, and one mostly finished, chapter left to go before Reddit has caught up to my manuscript. Honestly, I'm not really sure where the story is headed next; My writer's block led to me writing the final chapter of the novel so I could move on from it, so I know where the story ends... But I'm as clueless as all of you about how it will get there. And personally, I'm excited to see it unfold... Especially with what takes place in this chapter and the next.
Up until now it's been merely place-setting for the REAL story. Welcome to the meat of the story, Reddit. Shit's about to get insane.
[First] [Glossary Addendum] [Previous]
[From the Abyss Artisanry, Wolfreach Commercial District, 23rd of Nocun, 5016 TE]

[Boltz]
Darkness... Flickering reality, ever-shifting... The screams of the half-Taken and the un-natural howls and cries of... things, jumping in and out of the places where reality itself wavered...
"GAH!" I shot up in bed, my breath coming in ragged gasps, my heart thundering in my chest. Chit, who had apparently been laying against my shoulder, let out a small cry of alarm as my shoulder suddenly shot past her head. I looked around the room, expecting to see it flickering like an old archive record from the Terran History Archive. But it wasn't... My breathing started to slow, though my heart continued to beat in my chest like a demented war-drum. I'm fine... Reality is fine. Nothing is - I let out a yell and my body jerked away as Chit reached out to touch my arm, before recovering. I looked down at my hands, and was shocked to see them shaking as though I was freezing. Chit laid her hand on my arm again, and this time I didn't flinch. Taking it as a cue, my lover shifted her body to be on my lap, and simply wrapped her arms around me. She hadn't seen what I had... But I was grateful for that. I simply wrapped my own arms around her and gripped her body tight, willing my nerves to settle. What I saw... I could only pray to the Duality that it wouldn't come to pass.
As my lover held me though, instead of my nerves simply calming, my composure slipped, slowly, cracking little by little as it slipped away, until I was crying like a child into my beloved Siren's neck. If it bothered her, she gave no indication of it; She simply held me tight, allowing the tears to flow.

[A Few hours Later...]

[Cewa]
I leapt off of Lan and ran into the workshop, Chit having already unlocked it for me. My Greatwolf companion collided with the door as it was closing, making a crashing noise as his shoulder connected. However, it was then allowed to continue closing, as Chit led me back to the apartment, where Boltz was on the bed, rocking back and forth. I had never seen such terror on his face before, and his eyes looked as though he had been crying. He registered my presence, and asked,
"Reality... Outside... It's not... Not..." He trailed off, shaking his head and rocking himself back and forth once more. I frowned, turning to Chit, and she said,
"All I could get out of him was that he had a nightmare where... Reality was... Flickering? Like the original records from the ship Terrans arrived on." The words sent an icy chill down my spine, and I froze. As I did so, Lan let out a fearful whimper as the mental image leaked across our connection. Seeing my reaction, and giving Lan a worried glance, she asked,
"What is it? What does he mean, reality flickering?" I looked at her, my body feeling hollow, and I replied,
"Obliteration."

[That Lunwatch...]

[Cewa]
I opened my eyes, finding myself in the Cascade. I looked around, and spotted Luunah, watching the universes in their eternal, slow-motion fall in the distance.
"How long do we have?" I asked by way of greeting. He turned to look at me, and frowned.
"What do you mean, Cewa?" He asked, and I growled.
"My Sparkborn, Jakob, woke up last night from a nightmare... Where he saw Khaos Taking a reality. It scared him more than anything I've ever seen.
Luunah fully turned to face me now, and I saw a flicker of concern in his eyes. He walked over to the Observatory, a small, table-like construct with a viewing sphere, he had called it. He gestured to the Observatory and said,
"Show me." Taking a deep breath, I focused on imagining Boltz, and soon enough, a vision appeared of him, sleeping, though his head was twitching left and right. Luunah reached out, and the vision rippled like water, before being replaced by...
"So it's happening again." Luunah said simply, and then looked out at a dark spot on the Cascade. I frowned at him, and he said,
"You must increase your vigilance, Cewa. The first indication of Khaos approaching a reality with Stormbirthed is them receiving visions. The second is the twisting of weak minds. You will find that there are people who will follow Khaos for what it claims to offer them. They will believe it, and follow blindly." I nodded, and Luunah sighed.
"It seems time is running out once more..." He said, and returned to his watching of the Cascade.

[A Cycle Later...]

[Chit'Eiwu]

"... And in other news, rumours have begun to circulate about a new pirate group calling themselves 'The Fingers of Khaotum'. These 'Fingers' have begun to make small time raid attacks on passing freight ships. It is unclear who is leading them or what their ultimate goals are, however-" I turned off the newscast, and sighed. It had taken just three weeks for this group to suddenly start appearing... And I had been one of the victims of their raids. I'd been waiting for a shipment of metals for creating new weapons for sale when the supplier had contacted me to tell me that the courier freighter ship had been attacked and their cargo stolen.
As I was sitting at the table and wondering what was to be the next step, Cewa walked in, and stood near the table. I looked up at him, then froze as I saw the expression on his face. He looked as though he had to inform somebody of their upcoming execution.
"What is it?" I asked, and he sighed.
"The Fingers of Khaotum... Boltz and I have to deploy alongside some Warriors and the CDF to combat them." I blinked, not sure why that would be such a bad thing. The Cluster Defence Force was, after all, a powerful military force.
"The Fingers... Will most likely be able to wield a pale fragment of the power of a Khaosian." He said after a short pause. My heart sank into my stomach; That would mean that only the Kaurine armour that we had developed would protect them.
"I can... I can give you and Boltz a couple of Watches. A week at the most. Make them count... My friend." He said, and gently squeezed my shoulder, a uniquely Terran gesture. I nodded, and he walked out again.

[Seven Watches Later...]

[Boltz]
Resting my elbows on the counter, I ran my face up and down my palms. It had been a hectic week, contacting all of my regular customers, and informing them that I'd be out for a while, and that due to the nature of why I would be absent, I couldn't guarantee my return. The messages also stated that if I was to return, I would look forward to serving their needs once more, but if this was to be our last correspondence, I was honoured that they had chosen From the Abyss Artisanry for their equipment needs. The countdown timer buzzed, indicating that it had finished and was now displaying the "closed" signage, and I straightened, and wearily walked into our apartment and through to the bedroom.
As I rounded the corner however, the weariness melted away; As she had each Lunwatch since Cewa had informed her that we would be deploying, Chit sat on the bed, her body proudly on display as she waited for me. And just as every night before, I couldn't help but grin. It was like she wanted to ensure that our memories had each other's body burned into them in case I didn't return. Not that I was complaining... Though tonight, with it being the last Watch before I deployed, I decided to make it... Special.
Taking a deep breath, I took off and folded each item of clothing with deliberate slowness. First my jacket, which was made of genuine cattle leather, then my shirt, then my shoes where neatly placed beside the door, but out of the way. After that, my pants came off and were folded once, twice, then placed on top of the other two items. My underwear of course, sailed into the washbasket. At last the only thing left to do was reach the bed, at which point things become a bit fuzzy...

[The Next Watch...]

[Cewa]
I knocked on the door to the bedroom of Boltz and Chit's apartment, and I saw an amethyst head raise tiredly from the bed, where both Boltz and Chit were laying together in something of a crumpled mess. Her green eyes gazed at me without focus for a few seconds, before slowly focusing on me, then her head fell back, and she groaned,
"What time is it?" I chuckled, and replied,
"It's about two hours past Solpeak. I figured I'd give you guys almost as much time as possible; We need to be leaving atmo by five." I leaned against the doorframe, and couldn't help but grin as Chit almost lazily hit Boltz with an arm.
It must have been one hell of a Lunwatch they had... Boltz's sandy hair popped up, then turned, and he rolled over to squint at me. I gave an exaggerated wave, and his head dropped, then came back up as he asked,
"Can't delay it?" His words were slightly unclear from drowsiness, and I shook my head.
"Nope, but I deliberately came early in case this very thing happened. Bitterbean?" I replied, and an arm flew up before dropping again. Chuckling as I turned to go into the kitchen, I called out,
"If you're not dressed yet, throw something on; Got a new uniform waiting for you on the ship anyway so that's not an issue." And with that, I strode into the kitchen, knowing from many a visit where the ingredients were. Biterbean granules for the heart of the drink, and an equal amount of sweetcrystal to take the edge off the bitterness. I placed a cup under the receptacle tap, and hit the "bitterbean" button, followed by "type A". The machine scanned the cup, and began to heat up the right amount of water, as set by Boltz, and then walked over to the fridge to grab out a bottle of milk.
As I walked back to the receptacle, the fridge door closing itself without pressure against it doing so, the tap dispensed steaming water until it was about a quarter from the top, before stopping. I pulled the cup out and poured milk until it was just under the lip, paling the color from a dark, almost black, to a muted, muddy brown. Then I took the now empty milk bottle to the reducer and dropped the glass container into it, just as Boltz stumbled out of the room. I noticed however, that he was walking in a slightly awkward way, and chuckled. Definitely a hell of a Lunwatch... Though I couldn't blame him; I was walking the same exact way for the first hour after I woke up. I gestured to the bitterbean, now steaming away on the counter, and he gave me a tired grin.
"Thanks. How long til we gotta be out of atmo?" He asked, and, as I moved out of the way, I replied,
"By five. You've got about two and a half hours to down that and wake up, then we gotta get mobile." He nodded, and grabbed the cup with one hand, lifting it to his lips. He took a sip, and I saw some of the tiredness immediately dissipate from my friend's face.

[Two and a Half Hours Later...]

[Cewa]
I watched in amusement, Aerrin by my side next to the transport shuttle, as Boltz shared one last kiss with Chit before boarding. Aerrin laughed as Boltz finally turned around, jogging over to the shuttle and boarding, his cheeks flushed. I grinned at his expression, which resembled that of a schoolboy who got caught kissing his crush in behind the gymnasium practice mats. Turning to Aerrin, I wrapped my arms around her waist, and said,
"With a bit of luck we'll be back in person in around two weeks." Lifting up one hand, I brushed some hair out of her face, and leaned down to kiss her goodbye, hoping against hope that it wouldn't be our last.
After a few blissful moments though, I had to let go, and reluctantly did so. I stepped back and onto the shuttle ramp, and grabbed onto the overhead stability rail. Aerrin took a few steps back, and I turned towards the pilot, and nodded. The shuttle immediately began ascending, and Aerrin waved, continuing to do so until the shuttle turned away, the side door sliding into place and sealing.
Sighing, I moved to the seating section, and swung myself into one of them beside Boltz. Soon enough, the shuttle rattled as we approached the sound barrier, and then slowly calmed down as the atmosphere around us grew thin. Off to war again, it seems... I thought, and then glanced at Boltz, who had his eyes closed, and teeth clenched. I felt a smile tug at my lips, and added, But at least I'm not alone. I've got the closest thing I've ever had to a sibling here with me.
After a few minutes more of flight, the pilot began speaking into his comms, and I stood up, walking to the cockpit, and taking hold of the handles on the twin seats in the front. The pilot looked around at me, hearing my approach, and said,
"Just received docking clearance, sir." I nodded, and focused my attention ahead of us. Reaching down my connection to Kaelani, I said,
Whereabouts are you, Lan? There was a moment of silence, before he replied,
Approaching the hangar. You're inbound? I nodded, then realised he wouldn't be able to see me do so.
Affirmative; Just a few clicks out. The ship's just come into view, and we're on approach to the hangar area. I caught a flash of the doors to the hangar from the ship interior, and flashed back the sight of the ship we were to serve on.
The Aurora Caelum Procella, was one of a small family of nigh-identical ships. The bow of each, had a sensor array, looking like needles poking out ahead of the massive vessel and the hull was a gunmetal grey aside from a patch displaying the Warrior Emblem: A Kaurine Blade, half Empowered, resting on a metal shield like in the ancient archives Terrans brought with us when we fled wherever we previously called home before the Cluster.
Behind a section of nearly featureless hull, broken only by small lines of dotted windows for the crew quarter areas, sat a series of three large hangars. We were headed for the closest one, but I could also see a set of three visible, and massive, engines a ways behind the last hangar.
From having the systems described to me, I knew there was a fission-fusion duel operation reactor which measured a cube of approximately fifty metres, or about thirty of my roughly one and a half metre height, stacked, in each direction, which provided a number in energy units that I couldn't even remember due to the size of it being impossible for me to grasp at the time.
Alongside this reactor however, were the massive engines of the ship, each of which stretched about twice as far inwards from the nozzles I could see, and with a width of around ten of my height, or just over a metre and a half, the engines would be a most dangerous place to be indeed. Soon enough however, the shuttle docked, and the door popped open with a hiss. Lan sat on the other side, waiting for me.
However, Boltz reached him first, and rubbed the fur between his ears. Over our connection, Lan let out an almost... Terran groan of pleasure, before recovering his composure as Boltz moved on, and saying,
Why does that feel so good? I chuckled as I walked to the door, and hopped down from the shuttle, which this time had not lowered the boarding ramp. Resting a hand on his neck, I shrugged.
"Who knows?" I said aloud, and he stood up to match my stride as we walked to the command bridge.
A few minutes later, we stepped out into a large chamber in the center of the ship, with the walls covered in viewscreens. Lan and I reached the Command Table, and he assumed a bowing position, while I snapped a salute, which consisted of bringing one's arm up as though cradling something to your chest, and clapping your hand to the front of your shoulder, before forming a fist with the same hand and thumping said shoulder. As I did so, the ship's Commander turned from where she had been studying a star chat with one of the navigators, and returned the gesture as she fixed me with a sapphire gaze.
"Ah, Lord Aerrus! Did you have a pleasant flight up?" She asked.

This particular Commander, one Akyra Vikrian, was an Arctus Lepardis, to my great surprise. Her fur was dotted with various patches of black on her silvery coat, with some rings of black enclosing sections of an almost greenish grey color. Her black and white tail swished from side to side for a couple of moments as she spoke, indicating her happiness at seeing me. Her uniform, like the one I would soon don, was a mixed color; The majority of its shape was deep, Lunshade blue, and the hems and collar were a perfect, snow white, though unlike me, her insignia was that of a Blade and shield, with three bars below it, resembling support pillars.
I flashed a grin at her, and nodded, assuming a more relaxed posture.
"Yes, it was slightly bumpy, but that's to expected with a rapid ascent. So, what's the latest?" I asked, stepping down towards the Table, or CT, as we referred to it internally. She pressed a few buttons, and brought up a holographic archive.
"They call themselves the Fingers of Khaotum, though we're not sure yet what their ultimate goal is; They seem to be raiding for supplies right now, though they also leave no survivors behind." She said, bringing up a classified document which contained a report from a recent attack.
"Have the Shadesteppers worked out why they named themselves that?" I asked, stroking my chin thoughtfully, where some facial hair was beginning to develop. She brought up another report in the archive, and paraphrased a summary for me.
"They seem to be a religiously fanatical entity, espousing the virtues of what they call 'The Evershifting Paradise'. Beyond that, Khaotum seems to be their... God?"
I groaned at the words, and her gaze flicked to me.
"What? I've heard of what that sound means from a Terran..." She said. Sighing, I nodded to the door, and said,
"You'll want to follow me. This is... Not something you want to burden the crew here with. Bad enough that leadership members need to know." One of the Terran crewmembers turned to look at me, a frown on his face. Anticipating the question in his eyes, I said to him,
"This is something you would rather not know. If you knew the nature of the force behind these raiders, the lack of sleep would kill you." His face paled, and he nodded.
"Don't worry, crewman; Anything that won't adversely affect you simply by knowing, I will tell you. Anything that will... Well, that's my burden to bear." I added, and rested a hand on his shoulder. I smiled inwardly as the relief washed over his face.
Then I turned and led Akyra out of the bridge, and down to the Cerebis chamber of the ship. Cerebis chambers were a kind of mental projection theatre, used for primarily interrogation techniques, where a person merely thinking about something will project it. As we passed the med bay, I asked Akyra to wait for a moment and walked in, finding a medical assistant on her commpad. She looked up and then rapidly stood and saluted, but I waved a hand.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to report you for that. Do you have any spare bodily waste disposal bags? Specifically I need one with a reverse filter." The assistant nodded, and grabbed one out.
"Using the Cerebis chamber?" She asked, and I nodded.
"Need to show the Commander something... And I don't think she will handle it well." The assistant's face paled slightly, and I allowed myself a grim smile. She shakily sat down again, and I returned to Akyra, handing her the bag.
"You may need this for what I'll be showing you." I said.
[Next: The Fingers of Khaotum]

Context: This is the sixty-eighth of many posts where I share the stories of my travels with those interested and for my future self to read back. This one in particular details my time exploring the Wild Coast of South Africa as well as my time in the Gauteng province.
197 is an odd number. Not just literally, but also figuratively speaking in the context of travel. You see, when I began this journey and decided on a number, I might have rushed to make a decision without putting much thought into the figure itself.
I don’t plan on diving into geopolitics or explaining why I chose that specific numerical value because I know, in the end, I’ll visit many more regions or unrecognised states merely out of interest, and the completion of the 197 goal will just end up as a catchy headline on articles that I’ll never comment on during my 15 minutes of fame.
Now, the more I travel, the more I realize how the answer to "How many countries are there?" will tend to depend on whose gun you’re staring down the barrel of...haha. Jokes aside, I’m curious to see if I, myself, can come to any sort of conclusion down the line…not that my opinion holds anymore or less value than the almost useless “United Nations” consensus.
The more I learn, the more I realise how little I truly know. My views have changed over time, and I’m certain that they’ll continue to do so. Breakaway regions and various cultures are all boxed within a set of forever-shifting lines that have changed throughout history and will never stop changing. Empires rise and fall, languages, once spoken by many, end up as nothing but indecipherable patterns. Cultures blend or adapt over time, and people move around the world in search of a new place to call home. To commit myself to the goal of visiting “every country” in the world is more of a logistics challenge to navigate a bureaucratic maze than anything else. It could also be seen as an ego contest or a collector's most ambitious objective. Yet, despite all that, I think what really drives me to travel is the ever-growing curiosity that comes along with learning more about not just the world around me but also myself. What are my limits? What do I enjoy? What kind of opinions are crafted through various experiences, and how will I change over time? What do I really want to dedicate myself to for the rest of my life? Am I capable of doing more than I think? Should I do more? Does it matter if I do? I guess I’ll find out as time goes on.
Anyway, I digress back to the original topic of today’s blog…picking back up where I left off on the bus from PE to Mthatha. After numerous stops in rundown cities and towns along the way, we hopped off at the gas station and boarded the minibus shuttle bound for Coffee Bay. As we neared the coast and veered off the main highway, the scenery became increasingly vibrant and green, while the condition of the roads deteriorated from pavement to dirt.
As the sun produced a warm glow, ever growing closer to the horizon, the sight of rolling hills speckled with colourful Xhosa rondavels sparked excitement among the three of us. Smiles spread across our faces as we gazed out the windows, eagerly anticipating what was to come.
Our first stop along the coastline was a solid hostel nestled near the banks of Coffee Bay. We spent three nights here, each day a different adventure. We took $5 surfing lessons, explored the nearby cliffside hills to watch the whales splashing in the distance and found various butcher shops for meat to braai for dinner at the firepit.
Setting out on a whim one morning, we found ourselves hitching a ride westward without any particular plan in mind. We spent almost the entirety of the day walking the various dirt paths around the neighbourhood and pausing every now and then for a chat with a local passing by. It was quiet, calm and slow moving. Peaceful, to say the least.
When ready to return, we lucked out again, catching a ride with a dump truck transporting gravel to a nearby site. Josie joined the driver in the cab, while James and I seized the opportunity to climb atop the bucket, surfing the mound of rocks as we bounced along the road.
That evening, after dinner, we played pool and cards, accompanied by another girl from Pretoria who joined our trio temporarily. It was an interesting moment when the four of us realized our small group had managed to form the four corners of the English speaking world.
Josie, James, and I were eager to see more of the Wild Coast but initially uncertain about the logistics or the availability of affordable accommodations. Much to our satisfaction, we stumbled upon a small flyer promoting a multi-day hike traversing various villages, rivers, and countless hills, starting from Mdumbi and concluding in Bulungula. En route, we'd revisit Coffee Bay before venturing on to the Lubanzi region.
At our first stop, we stayed at a backpackers' hostel for three nights. The weather wasn't the best, with only brief intervals of sunshine. In the evenings, when the power would cut out for hours on end, we would sit atop a hill and watch lightning storms tear across the ocean, illuminating the black abyss. This was usually followed by candle-lit cards with other travellers and then a movie.
One day, we even decided to take Xhosa language lessons with a lady from a nearby village. What makes Xhosa so unique compared to any other language I've heard are its distinctive click consonants, borrowed from Khoisan languages. There are three primary click sounds in Xhosa: dental clicks (like the English "tsk tsk"), lateral clicks (similar to the sound used to call a horse), and alveolar clicks (like a cork popping out of a bottle).
Along with the language lesson, she also took the time to answer our questions about the history, traditions and culture of her people, as well as the modern-day trends she observes among the younger generation. I found it particularly interesting to hear about the influence of technology and social media, something I might dive into deeper in a later blog.
I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere and laid-back lifestyle, but I still felt the urge to go for periodic runs and workouts, or at least engage in some kind of physical activity like swimming in the ocean.
Eventually, we set off on our first of three treks heading southwest. The Nguni Cattle seemed to lead the way, leisurely meandering along the beach as we followed the faintest of trails. The walk was quite easy, and we stopped periodically for a swim. At the mouth of the Mthatha River, there was a man with a rickety rowboat and mismatched oars who, for a dollar, offered to ferry us across.
Continuing our journey, we traversed up and down hills, following the winding goat trails whenever they emerged. Everything was green and lush, and as we climbed higher above the jagged coastline, the view was incredible. We could spot groups of dolphins and whales splashing in the distance. Along the way, we strolled by clusters of colourful rondavel homes with their laundry swaying in the breeze. Children greeted us with kind smiles, their curious eyes tracking our every move until we vanished from sight.
We crossed a much smaller river, hoisting the bags above our heads as we waded through. Towards the end, as the tide began to rise, we were forced to walk along the wet rocks, trying not to slip as we made our way around the final bend of a jagged edge to Coffee Bay. It definitely took a while, but it felt nice to finish, arriving just in time for dinner. Unfortunately, I spent the entire night on the toilet, every 30 minutes or so. I think it was the sketchy-looking apple that I decided to take the risk of eating. Lesson learned.
The following morning, we kicked off our journey again. Eventually, we made it to the iconic Hole-in-the-Wall rock formation where James seized the opportunity to surf through the gap. Next, we faced the challenge of crossing the river, with the high tide dictating that we swim across. Utilizing his surfboard as a makeshift raft for our belongings, we shuttled back and forth across the water.
As we neared the end, we followed the setting sun and watched as the whales waved in the distance. Finally, we arrived at the hostel in Lubanzi, a very unique wooden structure that almost resembled a jungle gym, surrounded by tent structures and hobbit-style rooms built into the landscape.
We spent one full day mainly focused on surfing, enjoying the peaceful scenery, and gathering meat for a fireplace braai later that evening. I couldn't help but notice that in the Transkei, especially in the more remote areas, it felt as though time didn’t exist – just night and day. Everything in between had no set schedule.
The weather was warm as we got ready for our last walk to Bulungula. It was a smooth stretch of trekking, with a nice breeze accompanying us up and down the rolling hills. A couple of river crossings went smoothly and finally, we had arrived at our final stop, checking into our own thatch-roofed rondavel to stay the night.
It took a few of those hectic taxi cab shuttle vans to get back to Coffee Bay, which was an adventure in itself, bumping and whipping around the dirt roads, blasting music. We made it in due time and had an early night. The following day, after a slow rise, I made my way to the nearby butcher shop, and the man offered to braai the meat for me inside a rusted shipping container with half a barrel balancing on top of two cinder blocks—cool. Some of the best steak I’ve ever had, massive pieces for about $7. Feeling great, I had one last meal with Josie and James. We said goodbye as they continued on, planning to take a bus from Mthatha to Durban, while I planned to head straight to Joburg with a flight from the small Mthatha airport.
Despite hardly using my camera or drone, I still can vividly picture every moment in the Transkei. The region's intriguing characters and breathtaking nature made it an unforgettable experience, and I enjoyed every step of the journey. However, I found myself eager to head to Johannesburg, spurred on by the prospect of an opportunity that had arisen with a marketing agency. I'll delve into the details of this opportunity at a later time.
After a quick domestic flight to Joburg, I was picked up by Brian, the grandfather of my friend back home. Arriving at their house, I was greeted with a warm welcome by his wife, Jos, who has sadly passed away since then. Despite being in and out of the hospital at the time, she was determined to see me and insisted on hosting me for my first night in the city.
We sat out in the backyard with their next-door neighbours, and it felt nice—like home and a much-needed break from travelling. We talked about my experiences in South Africa thus far and my recent adventures in the Transkei. I also enjoyed talking with Brian, an ex-pilot, about planes, travelling, and what South Africa was like in the past. He mentioned how being a pilot nowadays doesn’t hold as much prestige, which I agreed with; it's all computer-assisted now, and the recognition or respect for pilots seems to have diminished. He had some great stories.
Jos, despite her health, was the perfect host and made sure everything was ready for my stay, even putting out a small bowl of biltong just for me. I tried my best to help whenever possible, as I didn’t want to be a burden.
The next day, they gave me a small tour around the area before we had lunch at one of their favourite restaurants. The food and atmosphere were incredible, reminding me of summer back home. After saying my goodbyes and thank-yous, I took an Uber from the restaurant to the hostel downtown, where I’d be staying in the Parkhurst district.
Johannesburg, or Joburg, is the largest city in South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It's a city that never seems to sleep, with the sprawling Soweto township and a history deeply intertwined with gold mining. I found it fascinating that Joburg is home to the largest hospital in Africa and is served by OR Tambo International, the busiest airport on the continent, and one I got to know quite well by the end of my time in Southern Africa.
Arriving at the quiet and affordable hostel, I greeted the host with "Nkosi" in Xhosa, meaning thank you, after he welcomed me in. He laughed and asked how I knew the word. As it turned out, he was Xhosa himself and was happy to hear I had enjoyed my time in the Transkei.
The next morning, I woke up early and went to the gym before heading to visit Mike, Jos, and Brian’s son, who owned an interesting Pmarketing agency and mentioned he might have an opportunity for me. I was excited to see the office, located in the incredibly posh Sandton region of the city. Meeting the team and talking with Mike about his journey was a great experience. He also mentioned a project they were working on that I might be able to help with on the video editing side. It was a story based in Accra, Ghana, about a boxing group in Jamestown and their partnership with a Danish company. I was thrilled, yet didn't expect to be paid much but was eager to contribute.
Later that evening, they sent over the footage and briefing for the project. I knew I could help improve the video significantly. Coincidentally, I had visited the exact place the video was about and had my own footage from the boxing gym! It was perfect. Then they sent the budget for my editing work, and I was blown away. The payment could cover a flight to Mozambique and all my expenses while I was there. Perhaps I didn’t need to take the long bus ride down after all.
Later that evening, I pulled the trigger and booked the last-minute flight a day before departure, just as a massive hailstorm hit out of nowhere! It was wild to see such a drastic change from a warm, sunny sunset to a loud, snowy hailstorm. Apparently, these freak storms are normal in Joburg, even after a 30-degree day.
The city turned out to be nicer than expected, obviously because of the limited areas I had explored thus far. Johannesburg boasts one of the world's largest manmade woodland areas. One notable feature was the iconic jacaranda trees, lining the streets with bright purple blossoms.
The following day, I made my way to Mike's office, where I dedicated the entire day to working on the Ghana video project. Using my footage and the best of theirs, I pieced together the video. It went very well, and the team was incredibly happy with the result. With the day winding down, I managed to squeeze in a quick gym session before gearing up for my early morning flight scheduled for the next day.
I had done plenty of thinking during the previous week, unsure which route to take for my adventure through Mozambique, Eswatini, and Lesotho, I decided to settle on a practical plan. Opting for a loop journey, I chose to leave the bulk of my belongings in Joburg, starting my travels by heading south east then west, with a plan to eventually circle back north east to the big city.
Several weeks earlier, I had already booked a flight from Joburg to Freetown, Sierra Leone, holding onto the dream of returning to spend a month in the country before Christmas. My goal was to contribute to the nation's rebranding efforts and shed light on what I had witnessed during my previous visit. Despite the distance, I remained in constant contact with my friends there, eager to support and build something meaningful together. However, as my departure date loomed closer, I began to feel the pressure of time constraints. I had to make a decision: would I embark on an ambitious journey through three other nations, or opt for a more simple trip to just Lesotho?
Now, with the editing opportunity from Mike and the content I had gathered from my experiences in the city and South Africa as a whole, I was ready to push my luck and take on the loop. Perhaps I was being a bit greedy, enticed by the prospect of increasing my country count, or maybe I was just eager for another adventure and opportunity to explore with a lighter load. Was I satisfied with what I had seen in South Africa? For the time being, I assured myself that I was. It was time for a new adventure.

Ugh. Meant Gen Z in the title, not Gen X.
You have seen the lists; "Things Millennials/Gen Z Would not Know"; "Things those who were not alive in the 80s/90s Would not Know"; and so on. Most of these lists, however, are kinda generic and ignore the fact that the Internet exists and that Gen Z/Millennials do watch older movies, have grand parents, and so on. Sure, they may not have used a rotary phone, or shot pics on film, but they know these things were common at one point in time. I mean, none of us were served by a soda jerk, but we know this was a thing.
A couple of months ago I thought of something that was ubiquitous to life in the 80s and/or the 90s that everyone who lived through these decades would know about, but was also something that would be unknown to those who didn't. Then I forgot what it was.
Anyways, what can you think of? Off the top of my head, I got these:

1. Smoking was a hellofalot more popular, yes, but it's not like everyone smoked let alone smoking was allowed everywhere. iirc, smoking was starting to be banned on domestic flights (in the U.S.) in the 80s, and most office buildings did not allow it except for in dedicated smoking lounges, it seemed. Also, I am pretty sure that hospitals, dentist offices, ect. had already banned smoking inside by the 80s. You would still see doctors, college professors, etc. smoking outside, though.
2. In the early 80s, a microwave would set you back about $900, adjusted for inflation. A 40" TV would've been the equivalent of $10K today.
3. There was no Instagram, TikTok, etc., but kids did go to the mall to hangout and be seen. New shoes? Wear them to the mall in hopes that others will see you wearing them. People, usually guys, would literally pose up against a wall or lean on a railing to look cool. They would remain in that spot/position for long periods of time, once again in hopes of being seen by the right people.
4. No instant messaging or social media, sure. But, there was gossip. And telephones. There may not have been recorded proof that you did this or that, but people talked. I think today's kids might be surprised how fast word would spread without instant messaging. By the end of the day everyone at school would know what you did. Another big difference is that back then the gossip would linger and people would still talk about the thing years later. These days, it can be quickly forgotten within an hour as messages/gossip rolls in faster than anyone can keep up with.
5. In the U.S., there was a 3-5 year lag between what was popular on the West Coast and what was popular on the East Coast. Some things never crossed over, and remained distinctly regional.
6. People didn't travel as much by plane in the U.S. and even fewer flew out of country compared to today. For one, plane tickets were expensive. For two, it was all about the road trip. An 80s vacation would likely be an interstate drive to visit an aunt in Idaho that nobody but the aunt's sister (your mother) wanted to do. Camping and/or lodging were also popular vacations.
7. Geometric designs, Memphis Design, etc. were not as popular as people may think and where they were, were mostly in print. Most homes were decorated with stuff from the 40s, 50s, and 60s and I think that kitsch was pretty popular. But yeah, no one geometrically designed furniture, wall art, or other motifs. Mauve was likely a southern/Florida thing. Most 80s design seemed to be updated mid-century modern. At least in Southern California.
8. Speaking of it, brass was very popular and glass tabletops, shelves, etc. were also popular. Also, there was kinda an exotic thing going on. Not sure if it were influenced by the Vietnam War, Hawaii 5-0; Contras/Nicaragua, cocaine, etc., but Americans seemed to have a fascination all things 'jungle'. Sleek black panther statuettes, broad-leaf house plants, bamboo, etc. There was also a huge fascination with Japan and all-things Japanese.
9. No one had neon inside their homes.
10. Despite the popularity of some movies (War Games, Farris Bueller's Day Off, 16 Candles to a lesser extent, Weird Science, etc.) pretty much no one had a computer in their home and of those who did, they were not connected to the Internet.
11. There was Pong and Atari, yes, and later Nintendo. But there was also Intellivision and ColecoVision, which in my opinion had superior games. It may worth a read, check out how Atari was based on Pong and how this made Atari games 'weird'. Also, the seriously cool kids had Segas, not Nintendos.
12. Gaming was pretty big back in the day. A 90s PC gaming rig could set you back $10K in 90s dollars, though. Ironically, a $200 cheap Android smart phone has more computing/GPU power than your average maxed out PC. I bought a 250 GB external drive in 2003 or so for $300. It was on sale and I couldn't pass up on that price. These days, you can get a 6TB drive for that price.
13. Despite popular Gen Z belief, you could not pay for four years of college and buy a home while working at McDonald's part time for minimum wage. Most first time home buyers were married couples on two incomes and the average size of an 80s home was 1,500 - 2,000 sq. ft. smaller. Yes, the dollar went further, but people simply did not buy as much stuff as people do today. As mentioned, a vacation for many was a camping trip or a drive to visit a relative. There were no smart phones, smart phone plans, Internet plans, etc. Music fests were practically non-existent and bands played live shows either to promote a new album, to become known, or to give something back to fans, so yeah, they were cheaper. But, there were really only one or two shows per year, if not per 2-3 years, that people 'had to' go to.
14. MTV, was not that popular in the 80s. Most people did not have cable television, which did not really become popular in the U.S. until the early 90s.

Anyways, what do you got?

Found this article after doing a quick deep-dive after this post from u/evilez:
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/1d33m4l/does_anybody_remember_what_podcast_this_was/
"Hello fine ladies and gentlemen! I remember listening to a podcast less than a year ago. The main subject of the podcast was UFOs (I think)... anyways the guest told a story that a congressman or senator wrote a bill that was against the CIA or going to defund the CIA, in the 80's... and shortly thereafter, someone broke into his home, dragged his wife out into the street and stuck a gun in her mouth and told her to kill the bill."
Some light Googling brought up this article about the history of the CIA, the OSS, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan's attempts at defunding the agency in the 90s.
Here's an article about that attempt brought by Moynihan published on the Carnegie Endowment Website on December 20, 2005.
https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2005/12/the-case-for-abolishing-the-cia?lang=en
Here's the New Yorker piece about all of this from October 3rd, 2022.

Spooked -- What’s wrong with the C.I.A.? -- By Amy Davidson Sorkin -- October 3, 2022

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/10/has-the-cia-done-more-harm-than-good
According to the article regarding the resuscitation of the OSS as the CIA immediately following Roswell and the Twining Memo:
"Many of its officers moved straight to the new C.I.A. Most consequentially, perhaps, four future directors of the C.I.A. were O.S.S. veterans: Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, William Colby, and William Casey."
Here's the New Yorker article in full:
"On January 4, 1995, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, of New York, introduced a bill called the Abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency Act. It had been a rough stretch for the C.I.A. The year before, Aldrich Ames, a longtime officer, had been convicted of being a longtime mole for Soviet (and then Russian) intelligence. Despite having a reputation among his colleagues as a problem drinker who appeared to live far beyond his means, Ames had been given high-level assignments with access to the names of American sources in the U.S.S.R. When the F.B.I. finally arrested him, he was in the Jaguar he used for commuting to work at Langley; by then, he was responsible for the death of at least ten agents. Moynihan said that the case was such a flamboyant display of incompetence that it might actually be a distraction from “the most fundamental defects of the C.I.A.” He meant that the agency—in what he considered to be its “defining failure”—had both missed the fact that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse and done little to hasten its end.
He gave a diagnosis for what had gone wrong. “Secrecy keeps mistakes secret,” he said. “Secrecy is a disease. It causes a hardening of the arteries of the mind.” He quoted John le Carré on that point, adding that the best information actually came from the likes of area specialists, diplomats, historians, and journalists. If the C.I.A. was disbanded, he said, the State Department could pick up the intelligence work, and do a better job.
Moynihan was, in some respects, being disingenuous. As he well knew, even if his bill had passed, spies and spying wouldn’t have gone away. The State Department already had its own mini agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The Departments of Energy and Treasury each had one, too. The Defense Intelligence Agency conducted clandestine operations; U.S. Army Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence, and the Office of Naval Intelligence kept themselves busy as well. The National Security Agency was nearly two decades away from the revelation, by Edward Snowden, a contractor and a former C.I.A. employee, that it had collected information about the phone calls of most Americans, but it was a behemoth even in Moynihan’s time. So was the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There were about a dozen agencies then; now, after reforms that were supposed to streamline things, there are eighteen, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (O.D.N.I.), a sort of meta-C.I.A. that has a couple of thousand employees, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis. The Drug Enforcement Administration (which currently has foreign offices in sixty-nine countries) has an Office of National Security Intelligence. Four million people in the United States now have security clearances.
It can be hard to sort out which agencies do what; players in the espionage business aren’t always good with boundaries. Both the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. make use of satellite resources, including commercial ones, but there is a separate agency in charge of a spy-satellite fleet, the National Reconnaissance Office—not to be confused with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which deals with both space-based and ground-level imaging, or with Space Delta 18, the nation’s newest intelligence agency, which is attached to the Space Force. Abolishing the C.I.A. might do nothing more than reconfigure the turf wars.
[NOTE: both Sean Kirkpatrick and David Grusch worked for the NRO and at least Grusch worked for the NGA]
As the senator from New York also knew, a large proportion of the C.I.A.’s resources are devoted not to intelligence gathering but to covert operations, some of which look like military operations. In “Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence” (Princeton)—one of several recent books that coincide with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the agency’s founding—Amy B. Zegart, a political scientist at Stanford, writes that it’s “getting harder to know just where the CIA’s role ends and the military’s role begins.” Yet the agency’s paramilitary pursuits and related covert activities go back decades. They include the botched Bay of Pigs landing, the brutal Phoenix Program in Vietnam, and a long list of assassination attempts, coup plots, the mining of a harbor (with explosive devices the agency built itself), and drone strikes. These operations have very seldom ended well.
Moynihan’s bill had no more luck than another that he introduced the same day, aimed at ending Major League Baseball’s exemption from antitrust laws. In each case, people understood that there was a problem, but both institutions were protected by the sense that there was something essential, and perhaps authentically American, about them, including their very brokenness. A sudden turn of events can convince even the C.I.A.’s most sober critics that the agency will save us all, whether from terrorists or from Donald Trump. But, seventy-five years in, it’s far from clear whether the C.I.A. is good at its job, or what that job is or should be, or how we could get rid of the agency if we wanted to.
How did we end up with the C.I.A.? A familiar explanation is that the shock of Pearl Harbor made the United States realize it needed more spies; the Office of Strategic Services was formed and jumped into action; and, when the war ended, the O.S.S. evolved seamlessly into the C.I.A., ready to go out and win the Cold War. But that narrative isn’t quite right, particularly regarding the relationship between the O.S.S. and the C.I.A.
[NOTE: We know how ended up with the CIA. ROSWELL.]
The United States has always used spies of some sort. George Washington had a discretionary espionage budget for which he didn’t have to turn in receipts. In the early part of the twentieth century, the State Department had an intelligence-analysis unit, along with a cryptography group called the Black Chamber, which operated out of a brownstone in New York’s Murray Hill until it was shut down, in 1929. The Army and the Navy had cryptography and reconnaissance units, too. When the Second World War began, their operations ramped up dramatically, and, as Nicholas Reynolds recounts in “Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence” (Mariner), these units, not the O.S.S., handled most of the code-breaking. The problem became the volume of raw intelligence. The task of making sense of it and of turning it into something that policymakers could use went to an office within the Army’s military-intelligence division (or G-2), which, Reynolds says, produced “the country’s best strategic intelligence” during the war. That office’s work was directed by Alfred McCormack, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone and a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Many of the people he brought in were young corporate lawyers; the theory was that their training in plowing through mountains of documents made them ideal intelligence analysts.
William J. Donovan, who led and largely conceived of the O.S.S., was also a Wall Street lawyer, but one with an aversion to the “legalistic.” What Donovan envisioned was essentially an array of commando units that would operate stealthily and behind enemy lines. In practice, what he tried to build, according to a colleague, was a “private army.” His escapades often risked too much and gained too little. In late 1943, one of his own officers wrote to him that “the set-up has been incredibly wasteful in manpower and, except for a few spotty accomplishments, has been a national failure.” And it had produced “chaos in the field.” Donovan’s nickname was Wild Bill, but his staff called him Seabiscuit, after the thoroughbred, because of his tendency to race around, engaging in what was basically war tourism. In the end, though, the O.S.S. made real contributions, including through its contacts with the French Resistance. But Donovan’s complaint about D Day was that there was “too much planning.” Counterintelligence and strategic thinking bored him, and the O.S.S.’s analysis division was seen as secondary to its operations.
When Harry Truman became President, in April, 1945, he took a look at the O.S.S. and, in September, 1945, abolished it. About two years later, he signed the National Security Act, which established the C.I.A. (and the Department of Defense), but he didn’t want the new agency to be like the group Donovan had run. Instead, it was supposed to do what its name suggested: centralize the intelligence that various agencies gathered, analyze it, and turn it into something the President could use.
[NOTE: I tried doing some research after reading something yesterday about how the NSA was developed in 1952 under Project Sigma to try and decode "alien" communications. If anyone can offer anything, you'd be helping humanity.]
“It was not intended as a ‘Cloak and Dagger’ Outfit!,” Truman later wrote. He also had to deal with public apprehensions that he might create what a Chicago Tribune headline called a “Super Gestapo Agency”—which is why, in its charter, the C.I.A. was banned from domestic spying.
Reynolds’s book is the best of the recent batch, and the most readable. It does not retrofit the history of the O.S.S. around the assumption that the C.I.A. was the inevitable lead postwar intelligence agency. There were other contenders, including a version of McCormack’s office in the State Department—something like what Moynihan wanted. J. Edgar Hoover argued that “World Wide Intelligence” should be turned over to the F.B.I., with military intelligence subservient to him. In some alternative history, he might have pulled that off; by 1943, he was running undercover operations in twenty Latin American countries. And so things could have been worse.
[WHAT UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS WERE WE RUNNING IN LATIN AMERICANS COUNTRIES IN 1943.]
Donovan was an adept publicist, but what mattered most, in the end, was that he was good, or lucky, when it came to hiring people. Despite the “pale, male, and Yale” stereotype, the O.S.S. was somewhat more diverse than other units, and certainly more eclectic. Among its ranks were Ralph Bunche, Herbert Marcuse, and Julia Child. Many of its officers moved straight to the new C.I.A. Most consequentially, perhaps, four future directors of the C.I.A. were O.S.S. veterans: Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, William Colby, and William Casey. Each seems to have had glory-day memories of the O.S.S., which is to say that each, in various ways, was afflicted with what a general in Army intelligence called “the screwball Donovan effect.” Casey, who put a picture of Donovan on his wall, said of his old boss, “We all glowed in his presence.” Wild Bill lost the bureaucratic fight but won the personnel and mythology wars.
And, of course, the agency found customers and collaborators in the White House. There was no mention of covert action in the law that chartered the C.I.A., but Presidents—starting with Truman—began using it that way. One of the agency’s first operations involved meddling in the 1948 Italian election, to insure the victory of the Christian Democrats. The subsidies and outright bribery of Italian politicians, some of them on the far, far right, continued into the nineteen-seventies.
Almost from its creation, though, there was a sense that something about the C.I.A. was off. The split between covert action and intelligence gathering and analysis was part of it. The director of the agency was also supposed to be the leader of U.S. intelligence as a whole, but, invariably, the person in the job seemed more invested in preëminence than in coördination. That setup remained in place until the establishment of the O.D.N.I., in 2004, a move that thus far has mostly continued a tradition of trying to deal with the C.I.A.’s dysfunction by setting up ever more agencies, offices, and centers. (The N.S.A. was established, in 1952, in response to a series of cryptography-related failures.) “Legacy of Ashes,” Tim Weiner’s 2008 history of the C.I.A.—and still an invaluable overview—takes its title from a lament by Eisenhower about what he’d be leaving his successors if the “faulty” structure of American intelligence wasn’t changed. Since Weiner’s book was published, the ashes, and the agencies, have only been piling up.
Zegart’s “Spies, Lies, and Algorithms” aims to bring that history to the present. Zegart has served as an adviser to intelligence agencies, and she provides a decent guide to our current bureaucracy. Throughout, her book is clear and well organized—maybe a little too well organized, one feels, after taking in the “Seven Deadly Biases” of intelligence analysis, the “Four Main Adversaries” and the “Five Types of Attack” in the crypto area, and the “Three Words, Four Types” that define covert action. (The covert-action words, incidentally, are “influence,” “acknowledged,” and “abroad.”) Not a few paragraphs read like PowerPoint charts; contradictions are displayed without really being reckoned with. She observes that the balance between “hunting” and “gathering” seems off, but, in her telling, the fact that Presidents of both parties regularly turn to the C.I.A. for paramilitary and other covert tasks constitutes proof that doing so is part of the order of things. The impression she leaves is that if it all goes wrong, it’s because some checklist has been missed. One of the top priorities of U.S. intelligence today, she thinks, should be persuading tech companies to get with the program and help out. She moots the creation of yet another agency, to deal with OSINT—open-source intelligence.
In one chapter, Zegart provides a list of scandals involving spying within the U.S. by various intelligence agencies—notably the N.S.A., the F.B.I., and the C.I.A. “All of these activities violated American law,” she writes. “But that’s the point: domestic laws forbid this kind of surveillance of Americans.” How is that the point, exactly? She depicts the Senate’s 2014 Torture Report, which detailed profound abuses in the C.I.A.’s so-called black sites, as a they-said, the-agency-said, who-knows case. She turns it into a parable about the problems with Congress—suggesting that, although the committee structure may have needed rejiggering, the moral compass of those involved in the program of torture was just fine.
Another new volume, “A Question of Standing: A History of the CIA” (Oxford), by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Edinburgh, offers the insights of a more distant observer. He can be astute about how “false memories” of the O.S.S.’s accomplishments have led the C.I.A. astray. Part of his argument is that the agency has acted as if its influence depended on its standing with whoever is in the White House, thus motivating it to offer Presidents quick fixes that fix nothing. The net effect is to reduce its standing, and that of the U.S., with the public at home and abroad. But Jeffreys-Jones is prone to rash generalizations and pronouncements. He theorizes that, in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush’s national-security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, may have been susceptible to “war mongering” due to her status as “a descendant of slaves,” and that the working-class background of the C.I.A.’s director, George Tenet, made him more likely to vouch for the faulty intelligence on weapons of mass destruction used to justify the war. “Social mobility so often leads to conformity,” warns Jeffreys-Jones, himself the son of an academic historian.
During the Vietnam War, the C.I.A. had discouraging intelligence to offer, and, when successive Administrations didn’t want to hear it, focussed on being helpful by providing those supposedly quick fixes. That meant abetting a coup in 1963, spying on antiwar protesters, and launching the Phoenix Program, an anti-Vietcong campaign marked by torture and by arbitrary executions; in total, more than twenty thousand people were killed under Phoenix’s auspices.
Phoenix was run by William Colby, the O.S.S. alum, who was soon promoted to C.I.A. director. At lower levels, discontent about Vietnam fueled leaks. In December, 1974, the journalist Seymour Hersh told the agency that he was about to publish a story in the Times exposing its domestic spying. Whether in a miscalculation or (as Jeffreys-Jones somewhat breathlessly speculates) as an act of personal expiation, Colby gave Hersh partial confirmation. Amid the scandals and the Congressional hearings that followed, Colby angered some of his colleagues, and Henry Kissinger, by laying bare even more. It emerged that, in 1973, Colby’s predecessor had asked senior agency officials to produce a list of things the C.I.A. had done that might have been unlawful. The resulting document, covering just the prior fifteen years, was known in-house as “The Family Jewels,” and was almost seven hundred pages long.
The question of how much it matters who works at the C.I.A. is a perennial one. The influence of Donovan’s acolytes shows that decisions about whom you recruit can, in a formative period or at a critical juncture, make a big difference. But, once an institutional culture has become entrenched, it can be easier to see how the institution shapes the people within it than vice versa.
“Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage” (Putnam), by Nathalia Holt, comes at the question from a different angle. It’s about five women who worked for the early C.I.A.; three also worked at the O.S.S., and one, Eloise Page, began her career as Bill Donovan’s secretary. Holt is also the author of “Rise of the Rocket Girls,” about women in the early years of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and “The Queens of Animation,” about women at the Walt Disney Company. Her book contains fine material for a beautifully art-directed streaming series, with set pieces in postwar Paris, nineteen-fifties Baghdad, and nineteen-seventies Greece, where Page was the C.I.A.’s first woman station chief. It even has a framing device in the form of the “Petticoat Panel,” a working group of C.I.A. women that convened in 1953 to document their unequal pay and treatment. Holt quotes the transcript of the meeting at which the leadership of the agency summarily rejected their findings. Helms, the future director, says, “It is just nonsense for these gals to come on here and think that the government is going to fall apart because their brains aren’t going to be used to the maximum.” (In 1977, Helms was convicted of lying to Congress about the C.I.A.’s machinations in Chile.) What the book is not, unfortunately, is a coherent history of the C.I.A., of the era it depicts, or even of these women’s work.
Holt’s research does turn up evidence that Jane Burrell, one of her subjects, was the first C.I.A. officer to die in the line of duty, in a plane crash in France, in 1948, a fact that the agency itself apparently missed. Holt ends her book with a call for a star honoring Burrell to be added to the C.I.A.’s memorial wall. Of the hundred and thirty-seven officers represented there, she writes, forty-five died accidentally, the majority in plane crashes, meaning that Burrell’s case would be fairly typical. Burrell was on the return leg of a trip to Brussels, where she’d been sent to talk to war-crimes investigators about a mess the C.I.A. had created by relying on an agent who turned out to have worked with the S.S. and was now in custody. In that respect, too, Burrell, who had personally handled the agent, was typical of the C.I.A. (After Burrell vouched for him, the man was released.) The subject of the C.I.A.’s postwar relations with former Nazis—some of whom, like Reinhard Gehlen, it helped to install in West Germany’s new intelligence service—and with collaborationist émigré groups is, no doubt, a morass. Holt, alas, manages to make the story even more garbled than it has to be. In the end, she basically treats the whole sordid episode as a learning experience for the Gals.
The problem is that the agency doesn’t seem to learn much. Holt credits Mary Hutchison with helping to build a network of émigré Ukrainian nationalists. Beginning in 1949, the agency parachuted some of them (including one whom Hutchison apparently distrusted) behind the Soviet border, where they were quickly captured—and repeated the same procedure for a number of years. “Despite the catastrophe, the Ukraine operation would serve as a template moving forward,” Holt writes. “The C.I.A. had more success with back-to-back operations in Iran and Guatemala, where covert action was able to deftly oust leaders considered undesirable.” It’s odd to describe these coups as deft. One of Zegart’s handy lists is of the “unintended consequences” in Iran: “religious extremism, a revolutionary overthrow, the American hostage crisis, severed ties, regional instability, and today’s rising nuclear dangers.” Guatemala is still dealing with the violent legacy of the coup that the C.I.A. visited upon it. Then there’s the question of the intended consequences, which were, respectively, to elevate a shah and a military regime. Secret wars tend not to be so secret in the country where they take place.
It was, no doubt, frustrating for Hutchison when, a few years later, her colleagues on the Bay of Pigs task force failed to make use of her Spanish-language skills. But are we supposed to think that the whole misconceived enterprise would have gone off without a hitch were it not for the C.I.A.’s misogyny? One of Holt’s minor themes is that women in the C.I.A. were seen as more natural analysts than operatives—with analysis, in turn, seen as less manly, and less valuable, to everybody’s detriment. But she is more intent on showing that these women were also daring. The main point of “Wise Gals” is that it’s cool that women were in the early C.I.A., and therefore that the C.I.A. itself was cooler than we’d realized. Holt celebrates a big promotion Page got that afforded her access to the secret of a safe containing shellfish-derived poison. You don’t have to be pale, male, and Yale to be complicit in a bungled assassination plot, or, for that matter, a program of rendition and torture.
Why do so many books about the C.I.A. have trouble getting their story straight? It can’t just be the secrecy of the work itself, at least with regard to the earlier years, about which much has been declassified. (Much remains under wraps: Moynihan complained that classification created more than six million supposed secrets in 1993; Zegart writes that the number in 2016 was fifty-five million—not all of which can possibly have been critical.) The aura of secrecy, by contrast, probably does distort the judgment of its chroniclers. And the scope of the agency’s work is a challenge: it’s hard to write expertly on places as far-ranging as the Democratic Republic of Congo (where the agency initially planned to poison President Patrice Lumumba’s toothpaste, and instead ended up handing a quarter of a million dollars to Joseph Mobutu, the country’s future dictator, who facilitated the assassination) and Afghanistan (where the C.I.A. has had forty years of illusory gains and worse losses). But the biggest problem may be the agency’s own pattern of self-deception. Holt, for example, sometimes seems to go wrong when, rummaging through the archives, she gives too much credit to contemporaneous internal assessments of an agent’s or an operation’s worth.
In truth, the C.I.A. has had a “defining failure” for every decade of its existence—sometimes more than one. For Moynihan, in the nineteen-nineties, it was the lack of foresight about the Soviet Union; in the two-thousands, it was the phantom weapons of mass destruction, followed by torture and, in still evolving ways, by the drone-based program of targeted killings, with its high toll of civilian deaths. Barack Obama’s rapport with John Brennan, the C.I.A.’s director from 2013 to 2017, seems to have brought him to accept the view that the killing of American citizens abroad was acceptable, if managed prudently. The overuse of the agency on the battlefield is due not to a military-manpower shortage but to wishful thinking about the benefits of secrecy and of a lack of accountability.
It’s difficult to know, at this point, what the C.I.A.’s next defining failure—or, if one tries to be optimistic, its stabilizing success—will be. Donald Trump has had a complicated relationship with the intelligence community—increasingly capitalized and abbreviated to I.C.—which is presently conducting a damage assessment regarding documents with classified markings that he kept at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home. He might, of course, be reëlected, and have the C.I.A.’s tools at his disposal again. If the C.I.A. isn’t the place to turn for an expedient solution to foreign-policy problems, neither is it bound to be the place to turn for a solution to our democracy’s political problems.
“If you ask intelligence officers what misperceptions bother them most, odds are they’ll mention ethics,” Zegart writes. She quotes an official who complains that “people think we’re lawbreakers, we’re human rights violators.” She insists that “officers think about ethics a lot.” She portrays the agency as being filled with hardworking moms and dads who do a great deal of “agonizing.” No doubt she’s right. But if the C.I.A. keeps falling down all the same, something must be tragically amiss in the agency’s structure or culture, or both. All the talk of coups and assassination plots, Zegart worries, distracts people from understanding the C.I.A.’s more basic intelligence mission. In fact, the party most distracted by such activities—and by the military role it has taken on—seems to be the agency itself. ♦
An earlier version of this article misstated the numerical designation of the Space Force unit dedicated to intelligence.
Published in the print edition of the October 10, 2022, issue.

Looking for the best web hosting service to kickstart your online presence? With countless options out there, it’s crucial to find a reliable host that offers speed, security, and excellent customer support. From budget-friendly shared hosting to powerful dedicated servers, there's a perfect fit for everyone.
Whether you’re a blogger, small business owner, or running a high-traffic website, the right web host can make all the difference. Let’s dive into the top Web Hosting Services like ScalaHosting, that are making waves.

ScalaHosting - Best Web Hosting Overall

Pricing:
ScalaHosting offers three main web hosting plans with different pricing for various durations:
Mini Plan:

• 36 months: $2.95/month
• 12 months: $2.95/month
• 1 month: $11.95/month

Start Plan:

• 36 months: $5.95/month
• 12 months: $5.95/month
• 1 month: $14.95/month

Advanced Plan:

• 36 months: $9.95/month
• 12 months: $9.95/month
• 1 month: $19.95/month

Entry Cloud Plan:

• 36 months: $14.95/month
• 12 months: $19.95/month
• 1 month: $34.95/month

ScalaHosting is renowned for its reliable, secure, and high-performance web hosting services, offering shared, VPS, and managed cloud hosting. Their proprietary SPanel provides users with enhanced control and flexibility, while SShield ensures advanced cybersecurity. ScalaHosting's scalable and affordable solutions cater to businesses of all sizes. Their commitment to innovation and exceptional customer support sets them apart in the hosting industry.
Pros:

• Outstanding uptime performance
• Versatile VPS hosting packages
• Competitive Pricing
• Dependable customer support
• Unique money-back guarantee tied to uptime

Cons:

• Limited availability of Windows-based server choices
• Absence of dedicated hosting options
• Site builder tools, while functional, may not be as user-friendly as those offered by competitors.
• Effort required to integrate your website with monitoring tools

Bluehost - Best for New Websites

Pricing:
Here are the pricing details for Bluehost shared hosting plans:

• Basic: $2.95 per month – Made for a simple website or blog.
• Choice Plus: $5.45 per month – Ideal for multiple sites needing storage, security, and backups.
• Online Store: $9.95 per month – Great for all online selling, with eCommerce tools built-in.
• Cloud: $29.99 per month – World-class speeds for your WordPress sites.

These prices are for new customers during their initial term and will renew at the regular rate after the initial term ends.
Established in 2003, Bluehost is a web hosting provider serving over two million websites globally. It offers various hosting options like shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with features such as a free domain for the first year and 24/7 customer support. Known for its user-friendly services, Bluehost is also recommended by WordPress.org. It provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, ensuring customer satisfaction.
Pros:

• Includes a free domain and SSL certificate
• Offers tools that are beneficial for businesses
• Features a modern and user-friendly interface
• Provides highly reliable servers
• Includes a website staging area
• Boasts an easy-to-use website builder
• Delivers excellent performance

Cons:

• Introductory pricing rises upon renewal
• Migration tools could be improved
• Server locations are limited to the US

Bluehost provides 24/7 customer support via phone and live chat. Sales inquiries can be made at 844-303-1730, and customer support is available at 888-401-4678 or internationally at +1 801-765-9400. Press, media, and legal inquiries can be addressed via specific emails on their site. Extensive resources, including a knowledge base, blog, and webinars, are also available.

HostGator - Best for Reliable Hosting

Pricing:

• Hatchling Plan: Hosts one website for $3.75 per month.
• Baby Plan: Offers hosting for unlimited websites at $4.50 per month.
• Business Plan: Includes hosting for unlimited websites, a free dedicated IP address, SEO tools, and a complimentary upgrade to Positive SSL for $6.25 per month.

HostGator is a web hosting company offering shared, reseller, VPS, and dedicated hosting services. It provides tools for website creation and management, including easy website builders, domain registration, and 24/7 support. Users can select from various plans tailored for personal blogs to large business websites, paying monthly or annually. Known for its reliable uptime and scalable solutions, HostGator is a popular choice for individuals and businesses.
Pros:

• Offers stable and dependable web hosting services.
• Provides rapid loading times for websites.
• Features competitive pricing with plans starting as low as $3.75 per month.
• Includes a complimentary Gator website builder with subscriptions.

Cons:

• The availability of free security tools is restricted.
• Server locations are limited to the United States only.

HostGator offers 24/7/365 customer support via toll-free at (866) 964-2867, local at (713) 574-5287, and international at +1 713-574-5287. Live chat and email support are also available. Additional resources include their Knowledge Base, blog, YouTube tutorials, Facebook community, and webinars.

GreenGeeks - Best for Eco-Friendly Hosting

Pricing:

• Lite Plan: $2.95 per month for hosting one website, 50GB of storage, and 50 email accounts.
• Pro Plan: $4.95 per month for unlimited websites and disk space, unlimited email accounts, on-demand backups, and WordPress repair features.
• Premium Plan: $8.95 per month includes all Pro features plus a free dedicated IP, AlphaSSL, and object caching.

GreenGeeks is an eco-friendly web hosting provider offering shared, VPS, and reseller hosting services. It offsets its carbon footprint by purchasing three times the energy it consumes in renewable energy credits. This commitment ensures a reduction in overall carbon emissions. Their hosting platform is designed for energy efficiency. GreenGeeks provides reliable and sustainable web hosting solutions.
Pros:

• Easy integration with cPanel.
• Comprehensive security features.
• Data centers are located in the US, Canada, and the Netherlands.

Cons:

• SSL certificates do not activate automatically.
• Customer support could be more effective.

GreenGeeks offers eco-friendly web hosting and strong customer support via 24/7 live chat, phone (+1 877-326-7483), and email. They provide tutorials, webinars, and a knowledge base for troubleshooting. GreenGeeks emphasizes efficient issue resolution and customer satisfaction.

Wix - Best for Website Builder

Pricing:

• Business Elite: US$ 46/mo - Offers 15 collaborators, unlimited storage, advanced marketing suite, free domain for 1 year, advanced site analytics, accept payments, advanced eCommerce, advanced developer platform
• Business: US$ 22/mo - Offers 10 collaborators, 100 GB storage, standard marketing suite, free domain for 1 year, standard site analytics, accept payments, standard eCommerce
• Core: US$ 11/mo - Offers 5 collaborators, 50 GB storage, basic marketing suite, free domain for 1 year, basic site analytics, accept payments, basic eCommerce
• Light: US$ 7/mo - Offers 2 collaborators, 2 GB storage, light marketing suite, free domain for 1 year

Wix is a cloud-based web development platform that enables users to create websites using drag-and-drop tools. It offers customizable templates, e-commerce features, social plugins, contact forms, and more, without requiring coding knowledge. Users can choose between free and premium plans, with premium plans providing additional features and storage. Wix is designed to help individuals and small businesses quickly establish an online presence. Its intuitive interface makes website creation accessible and efficient.
Pros:

• AI assistance quickly creates tailored website designs based on user responses.
• Websites are optimized for mobile devices, ensuring a seamless experience.
• Drag-and-drop functionality allows for easy customization of website layouts, including adding and rearranging content without coding.
• Offers over 800 templates tailored for various needs and industries, along with a free plan to familiarize users with the platform.

Cons:

• Using the AI-assisted builder requires precise prompts to achieve the desired website outcome.
• Wix's subscription plans are generally more expensive compared to competitors like Hostinger.

Wix offers 24/7 customer support through its Help Center, which provides resources like tutorials and support articles. Users can contact agents directly for personalized help. Wix also supports enterprise solutions, sales inquiries, partnerships, and an affiliate program. The Help Center ensures effective website management and growth.

What is web hosting and why is it necessary?

Web hosting is a service that allows individuals and organizations to publish their websites or web applications on the Internet. It provides the necessary infrastructure, including servers and storage, to ensure that websites are accessible and functional. Without web hosting, websites would not be able to operate or be viewed by users online.

What are the different types of web hosting services?

Common web hosting types include shared VPS (virtual private server), and dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is the most budget-friendly, while VPS and dedicated hosting provide better security and performance, preferred by larger or established websites.

How do I choose the best web hosting services?

Select the best web hosting by considering your website’s size, traffic, and objectives. Decide between shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting based on your needs. Also, look for services that offer essential extras like domain names and support your preferred communication methods, such as live chat or email.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, selecting the best web hosting service depends on your specific needs, budget, and technical expertise. Providers like ScalaHosting offer robust features, excellent performance, and strong customer support, making them a great choice for many users. Carefully evaluate each option to ensure it aligns with your website's requirements.

Hey fellow PMs,
Recently, I have been conducting market research on AI Meeting Assistants for my personal project. The objectives were to evaluate the category’s status quo and assess market potential. I was surprised by how many solutions simply copy each other and compete only in marketing copy.
I believe all these tools might be useful, and I am curious to know if you are using any of them and why. I tested some during the customer discovery and customer development phases and was surprised by the outputs they produce.
To make it easier to find something specific, the tools are grouped into categories. I have also excluded sales call-oriented solutions. Looking forward to your feedback!

• Quality of information gained (1-6)
• Meeting reports & search for information (7-16)
• Video highlights (17-20)
• Information flow through integrations (21-25)
• Meeting analytics (26-27)
• Just notetaking & summaries (28-37)
• Video conferencing software (38-39)

Note: All listed tools have transcribe, notetaking and summarization functionalities. It’s a base.

Quality of Information Gained

1. Kaiwa - Auto-generates agendas tailored to your goals. Assists during calls to make the most of your time. Allows combining conversational data from multiple meetings into various deliverables.
2. Charma - Focuses only on 1v1 conversations. The cool features are: a) connects with your internal chat and automatically forms an actionable agenda based on recent chat history; b) AI writes worded feedback for a reportee based on keywords you provide.
3. Dive - Creates an agenda during the call based on your prompt and provides well-organized post-meeting notes.
4. Fellow - Allows collaborative agenda writing before the meeting (from scratch or using 500+ pre-built templates). Sends a detailed report if you didn’t join a meeting, with the ability to watch the recording. Lovely feature is a meeting cost.
5. Krisp - Provides noise cancellation, so the quality of the meeting can dramatically increase (for those who conduct calls from Starbucks :))..
6. MeetingCulture - For Microsoft 365 only. Agenda builder based on templates, voting during the call, and a pretty cool feedback score after the meeting. Feels like a massive solution with hundreds of features for enterprises rather than small teams.

Meeting Reports & Search for Information

1. Fantom - One of the most popular notetaking tools. Based on the selected template, it automatically parses meeting conversations into a report (summary, takeaways, action items).
2. Otter - Auto-joins your conferencing software as a bot to take and share meeting notes. A cool feature they have is advanced search functionality to find information from past meetings (e.g., ‘what are my takeaways from calls this week’). They also have a tailored solution for sales teams.
3. Tactiq - Can generate personalized meeting recaps based on your custom template. You can write and save prompts to get insights from a collection of meetings.
4. Notta - Converts meetings, interviews, and other conversations into searchable text, focusing on transcription use cases (supports 40+ languages). Recently, they acquired Airgram to enter new markets outside of Japan.
5. Collato - Transforms conversational data into documents based on the selected template.
6. ParrotAI - Offers rich-text functionality for meeting transcription. AI brainstorms ideas based on meeting notes.
7. Laxis - AI can compose follow-up emails. You can search for specific information across all processed meetings. Features a unique integration with Cisco Webex.
8. Sembly - ChatGPT for your meetings. Provides suggested prompts to give you ideas for what to search across meeting transcriptions.

Video Highlights

1. Read - Provides easy access to rewatch moments related to action items.
2. Huddle - Generates concise meeting summary videos. Has the ability to record and share your own video (similar to Loom).
3. Rewatch - Collaborative video hub. They have a ‘Series’ feature that allows you to record and share your updates with the team without joining a meeting.
4. tldv - Allows you to get combined meeting notes and video highlights from several conducted meetings at once. Supports 30+ languages.

Information Flow through Integrations

1. Grain - Has integration with several platforms, allowing meeting summaries to be updated in HubSpot, Salesforce, and Productboard. Very minimalistic design.
2. Circleback - Minimalistic design with the ability to create Zaps to automatically send summaries and notes to the desired platform.
3. Spinach - Plenty of integrations to process your meeting notes.
4. Nyota - Automatically creates tickets and updates agendas with action items. Has integration with Notion.
5. Noty - Creates to-do lists after meetings with the ability to set deadlines for each task. Has a centralized dashboard for all to-do items.

Meeting Analytics

1. Fireflies - A very comprehensive app that feels like a knowledge base for meetings. You can upload video or audio files, and they will be parsed into a report (summaries, action items). It includes a dashboard with meeting statistics such as speaking time, number of monologues or questions raised, and silence time. The app also has a mobile version.
2. Equal Time - Valuable for companies with a D&I strategy. Auto-detects genders and notifies you if one gender is over-talking. Also provides stats on how long each person speaks and who needs to be heard more.
3. MeetGeek - Cool statistics like sentiment, punctuality, talk rate, etc. Includes coaching functionality for sales teams.

Just Notetaking & Summaries

1. Scribbl - Takes meeting notes and breaks them down into a digestible set of topics.
2. Jamie - Downloadable app that joins your meeting and provides meeting notes (currently only for macOS). Has built-in meeting notifications.
3. Cogram - Focuses on privacy. Creates a post-meeting report with a summary, bullet points, and action items.
4. Wudpecker - Provides the ability to set a personalized structure for reports and process notes in 100+ languages.
5. Colibri - A lightweight and simple solution that uses ChatGPT to generate summaries and action items. They offer standalone solutions for sales and legal teams.
6. Leexi - Valuable for sales teams, as there is an in-built training program for them.
7. Supernormal - Meeting notes based on selected templates. Notion-like design with a focus on simplicity.
8. BlueDot - Free Google Meet extension backed by Google for Startups. It’s cool that no bots join the call, but it’s limited in functionality: provides post-meeting transcriptions and summaries.
9. Briefly - Organizes conversational data into summaries, key insights grouped by discussion topics, and text action items. You can easily share a particular piece by email or manually copy and paste it.
10. MetaView - Writes notes based on meeting type, grouping information into different sections. Primarily for the hiring use case.
11. Superpowered - No bots at meetings. Downloadable app to take high-quality notes.

Video Conferencing Software

1. Dyte - Deduces the agenda at the beginning of a call and notifies participants about it. An interesting feature is AFK Mode: if your microphone and speakers are turned off, it generates a brief text summary for you.
2. Rumi - Provides real-time notes and summaries.

If I forgot any important assistants, please DM me or just put them in the comments. Thank you!

Whether you know or not, Elementor is one of the most popular page builders for WordPress. It is used by over 16M+ websites. It allows you to customize your site using a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to create pages and posts without coding skills.
It offers both free and pro versions of its plugin. Elementor’s free version comes with 40+ basic widgets and 30+ templates. The Elementor Pro version offers an extra 90+ widgets, 300+ templates, website builder kits, premium support, and other features.
Aside from page builder, it also provides WordPress hosting, which is a somewhat unique service among WordPress builders.
In a word, Elementor Hosting provides everything you need to get from scratch to a running WordPress site where you can start building with Elementor.
That is, it creates and hosts your WordPress site for you. It also pre-installs all of the Elementor tools, allowing you to get started straight away.
If you are interested in purchasing an Elementor for your website, it is the right time to do so.
Elementor, the leading website builder for WordPress, is celebrating its birthday with an incredible sale. For a limited time, you can get up to 30% OFF on page builder + 75% OFF on hosting.
This sale is a limited-time offer, so don't wait too long. Head over to Elementor's website and take advantage of this incredible deal before it's gone.
Visit Elementor Website

Whether you know or not, Elementor is one of the most popular page builders for WordPress. It is used by over 16M+ websites. It allows you to customize your site using a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to create pages and posts without coding skills.
It offers both free and pro versions of its plugin. Elementor’s free version comes with 40+ basic widgets and 30+ templates. The Elementor Pro version offers an extra 90+ widgets, 300+ templates, website builder kits, premium support, and other features.
Aside from page builder, it also provides WordPress hosting, which is a somewhat unique service among WordPress builders.
In a word, Elementor Hosting provides everything you need to get from scratch to a running WordPress site where you can start building with Elementor.
That is, it creates and hosts your WordPress site for you. It also pre-installs all of the Elementor tools, allowing you to get started straight away.
If you are interested in purchasing an Elementor for your website, it is the right time to do so.
Elementor, the leading website builder for WordPress, is celebrating its birthday with an incredible sale. For a limited time, you can get up to 30% OFF on page builder + 75% OFF on hosting.
This sale is a limited-time offer, so don't wait too long. Head over to Elementor's website and take advantage of this incredible deal before it's gone.
Visit Elementor Website

Whether you know or not, Elementor is one of the most popular page builders for WordPress. It is used by over 16M+ websites. It allows you to customize your site using a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to create pages and posts without coding skills.
It offers both free and pro versions of its plugin. Elementor’s free version comes with 40+ basic widgets and 30+ templates. The Elementor Pro version offers an extra 90+ widgets, 300+ templates, website builder kits, premium support, and other features.
Aside from page builder, it also provides WordPress hosting, which is a somewhat unique service among WordPress builders.
In a word, Elementor Hosting provides everything you need to get from scratch to a running WordPress site where you can start building with Elementor.
That is, it creates and hosts your WordPress site for you. It also pre-installs all of the Elementor tools, allowing you to get started straight away.
If you are interested in purchasing an Elementor for your website, it is the right time to do so.
Elementor, the leading website builder for WordPress, is celebrating its birthday with an incredible sale. For a limited time, you can get up to 30% OFF on page builder + 75% OFF on hosting.
This sale is a limited-time offer, so don't wait too long. Head over to Elementor's website and take advantage of this incredible deal before it's gone.
Visit Elementor Website

Hey fellow PMs,
Recently, I have been conducting market research on AI Meeting Assistants for my personal project. The objectives were to evaluate the category’s status quo and assess market potential. I was surprised by how many solutions simply copy each other and compete only in marketing copy.
I believe all these tools might be useful, and I am curious to know if you are using any of them and why. I tested some during the customer discovery and customer development phases and was surprised by the outputs they produced.
To make it easier to find something specific, the tools are grouped into categories. I have also excluded sales call-oriented solutions. Looking forward to your feedback!

• Quality of information gained (1-6)
• Meeting reports & search for information (7-16)
• Video highlights (17-20)
• Information flow through integrations (21-25)
• Meeting analytics (26-27)
• Just notetaking & summaries (28-37)
• Video conferencing software (38-39)

Note: All listed tools have transcribing,, notetaking and summarization functionalities. It’s a base.

Quality of Information Gained

1. Kaiwa - Auto-generates agendas tailored to your goals. Assists during calls to make the most of your time. Allows combining conversational data from multiple meetings into various deliverables.
2. Charma - Focuses only on 1v1 conversations. The cool features are:
   1. connects with your internal chat and automatically forms an actionable agenda based on recent chat history
   2. AI writes worded feedback for a reportee based on keywords you provide.
3. Dive - Creates an agenda during the call based on your prompt and provides well-organized post-meeting notes.
4. Fellow - Allows collaborative agenda writing before the meeting (from scratch or using 500+ pre-built templates). Sends a detailed report if you didn’t join a meeting, with the ability to watch the recording. Lovely feature is a meeting cost.
5. Krisp - Provides noise cancellation, so the quality of the meeting can dramatically increase (for those who conduct calls from Starbucks :))..
6. MeetingCulture - For Microsoft 365 only. Agenda builder based on templates, voting during the call, and a pretty cool feedback score after the meeting. Feels like a massive solution with hundreds of features for enterprises rather than small teams.

Meeting Reports & Search for Information

1. Fantom - One of the most popular notetaking tools. Based on the selected template, it automatically parses meeting conversations into a report (summary, takeaways, action items).
2. Otter - Auto-joins your conferencing software as a bot to take and share meeting notes. A cool feature they have is advanced search functionality to find information from past meetings (e.g., ‘what are my takeaways from calls this week’). They also have a tailored solution for sales teams.
3. Tactiq - Can generate personalized meeting recaps based on your custom template. You can write and save prompts to get insights from a collection of meetings.
4. Notta - Converts meetings, interviews, and other conversations into searchable text, focusing on transcription use cases (supports 40+ languages). Recently, they acquired Airgram to enter new markets outside of Japan.
5. Collato - Transforms conversational data into documents based on the selected template.
6. ParrotAI - Offers rich-text functionality for meeting transcription. AI brainstorms ideas based on meeting notes.
7. Laxis - AI can compose follow-up emails. You can search for specific information across all processed meetings. Features a unique integration with Cisco Webex.
8. Sembly - ChatGPT for your meetings. Provides suggested prompts to give you ideas for what to search across meeting transcriptions.

Video Highlights

1. Read - Provides easy access to rewatch moments related to action items.
2. Huddle - Generates concise meeting summary videos. Has the ability to record and share your own video (similar to Loom).
3. Rewatch - Collaborative video hub. They have a ‘Series’ feature that allows you to record and share your updates with the team without joining a meeting.
4. tldv - Allows you to get combined meeting notes and video highlights from several conducted meetings at once. Supports 30+ languages.

Information Flow through Integrations

1. Grain - Has integration with several platforms, allowing meeting summaries to be updated in HubSpot, Salesforce, and Productboard. Very minimalistic design.
2. Circleback - Minimalistic design with the ability to create Zaps to automatically send summaries and notes to the desired platform.
3. Spinach - Plenty of integrations to process your meeting notes.
4. Nyota - Automatically creates tickets and updates agendas with action items. Has integration with Notion.
5. Noty - Creates to-do lists after meetings with the ability to set deadlines for each task. Has a centralized dashboard for all to-do items.

Meeting Analytics

1. Fireflies - A very comprehensive app that feels like a knowledge base for meetings. You can upload video or audio files, and they will be parsed into a report (summaries, action items). It includes a dashboard with meeting statistics such as speaking time, number of monologues or questions raised, and silence time. The app also has a mobile version.
2. Equal Time - Valuable for companies with a D&I strategy. Auto-detects genders and notifies you if one gender is over-talking. Also provides stats on how long each person speaks and who needs to be heard more.
3. MeetGeek - Cool statistics like sentiment, punctuality, talk rate, etc. Includes coaching functionality for sales teams.

Just Notetaking & Summaries

1. Scribbl - Takes meeting notes and breaks them down into a digestible set of topics.
2. Jamie - Downloadable app that joins your meeting and provides meeting notes (currently only for macOS). Has built-in meeting notifications.
3. Cogram - Focuses on privacy. Creates a post-meeting report with a summary, bullet points, and action items.
4. Wudpecker - Provides the ability to set a personalized structure for reports and process notes in 100+ languages.
5. Colibri - A lightweight and simple solution that uses ChatGPT to generate summaries and action items. They offer standalone solutions for sales and legal teams.
6. Leexi - Valuable for sales teams, as there is an in-built training program for them.
7. Supernormal - Meeting notes based on selected templates. Notion-like design with a focus on simplicity.
8. BlueDot - Free Google Meet extension backed by Google for Startups. It’s cool that no bots join the call, but it’s limited in functionality: provides post-meeting transcriptions and summaries.
9. Briefly - Organizes conversational data into summaries, key insights grouped by discussion topics, and text action items. You can easily share a particular piece by email or manually copy and paste it.
10. MetaView - Writes notes based on meeting type, grouping information into different sections. Primarily for the hiring use case.
11. Superpowered - No bots at meetings. Downloadable app to take high-quality notes.

Video Conferencing Software

1. Dyte - Deduces the agenda at the beginning of a call and notifies participants about it. An interesting feature is AFK Mode: if your microphone and speakers are turned off, it generates a brief text summary for you.
2. Rumi - Provides real-time notes and summaries.

If I forgot any important assistants, please DM me or just put them in the comments. Thank you!

Subreddit Patreon
First Prev
Anglestan
Augustus 5, 1923 A.V
The Solarias Cathedral, New Lundun
Helena (Herzhia), The Goddess of The Sun
Light. As soon as her eyes opened, she was hit by bright lights and unfamiliar faces. Faces full of apprehension and fear. The air was cold, and her skin was wet. Her wings were soaked and dripped with her healing fluid. She began to move, placing her hands on the floor, all four of them, and pushing herself up to her feet. She stood at her height, towering over everyone and anyone around her.
She did not feel the least bit embarrassed by her nude form, taking a wobbly step out of the glass chamber. Her eyes shone a golden yellow, almost glowing like the rays of the sun, and her blonde hair were resting on her shoulders. Helena scanned the room, looking at every person who surrounded her. They took a step back as she moved forward, giving her a wide berth.
“She’s… huge,” a young man managed to say, swallowing hard.
“Would. Next question,” another man said, with pointed ears and red eyes.
“That’s not what I meant Louis—”
“Oh, I know exactly what you mean. I’m looking at them right now.”
“Charles, Louis, shut up,” another man spoke, standing behind a woman with pointed ears and red eyes. He looked to be the one in charge. A dignified look with ranking medals and sporting a patch over his eye. The woman in front of him was no doubt a strigoi. Yet, he did not seem to be afraid of her. Nor did anyone else seem afraid to be in the presence of the strigoi around them.
“Who had awoken me?” Helena spoke. The people around her visibly grimaced. Though she spoke with her mouth, they also heard her words in their head. As if she spoke directly to their mind and peeked at their thoughts. One man immediately fell to his knees and began saying prayers. While another stayed silent, but had a tear falling down his cheek. Another man whom she assumed was the Great Grandfather, had thrown himself at her feet, keeping his face glued to the floor and uttering whispers.
“I did,” the man with the patch said. He stepped in front, ushering the strigoi woman in front of him to his side.
“What is your name? How many years had it been? What era is this?” Helena asked.
“I am Colonel Mark Jacobs, leader of the Hemolites division. I was the one who asked the Great Grandfather to awaken you,” he said. “Helena, Goddess of the Sun, if you are angered by this action, please direct it toward me and not anyone else. It was I who sought your assistance, out of necessity.”
“I do not harbor ill will towards you or your actions. Tell me, what year is it?”
“It is the year 1923, your holiness.”
“A century. It had been a century since the fatal blow against me,” she said. “I see that you have strigoi among you. What is the meaning of this? I assume humanity has won against the Crescent, and took the strigoi as their slaves?”
“No, your holiness,” Mark said. “These strigoi had been living with us humans in harmony. We have learned to live and accept them. They are called Dantenites, strigoi who lived in a city called Dante, located several hundred meters underground. However, the Crescent has returned, from the walled land of Italiemagne. Those Crescent strigoi seek to destroy us as revenge. Humanity has taken serious blows as the Crescent had taken to using new tactics and constantly evolved their methods throughout the war. I believe that your return may be exactly what we need.”
The goddess looked at the Great Grandfather at her feet. “Rise, Great Grandfather. State your name,” she told him. The Great Grandfather immediately rose to his feet and looked up at her in all her glory. Her skin glowed a faint yellow, and the symbol of the sun on her sternum shone a bright light.
“A-Aurelius, your holiness…”
“Aurelius. You have served the Church well, as your forefathers have. I will need you to gather all you can and bring them to the Cathedral as soon as daybreak. I would need to know of the full situation, and what humanity has done in the century that I was asleep.”
“Yes, y-your holiness,” Aurelius replied. He hurriedly left the room and went through the whole cathedral, telling everyone he could come across about the goddess’s return. Gathering all he could and declaring it a holiday. The cathedral soon made the announcement on the loudspeakers, and missionaries went out to get people from their homes and bring them back to the church.
Helena turned back to Mark who looked him up and down. “Mark Jacobs was it?” she said. “Tell me all you know of this war. How it started, what the Crescent has done, and how humanity has fared.”
Mark nodded and pulled out some of the files from his coat. “I also have some things I need to discuss with you. There are a lot of things that have changed. Things that you should know, and things we can do to end this war as swiftly as possible. I have plans. Also, your holiness, should I fetch you some garments?”
Helena raised a brow. “You speak to me so casually and even look me in the eye. Have you no fear, child?”
“Not even death scares me now. I’ve faced it so many times that I’ve grown familiar with it.”
“I see. Well, I have no qualms with nudity. However, if it bothers the others I suggest they leave us the room,” Helena commanded.
“No,” Mark said firmly.
“No?”
“Mark, we can’t. She’s—” Olivia started.
“They are my friends. My guards. My companions. They go where I go.”
Helena stared at him with an amused expression. “I like you. You remind me of a human I was once very fond of,” she said. “I’m glad that humans have not lost their edge and boldness. Very well. Your group shall stay. Now, tell me. What has been going on since I have been gone? Spare no details, I am a patient woman.”
Mark nodded. “Humans have grown in power after the Crescent’s defeat. We walled in the Crescent in the country of Italiemagne, where they have resided ever since. A non-aggression pact was signed, and those strigoi who posed no harm and were former humans turned against their will, were allowed back into Anglestan. After years of fighting for their rights, they were allowed an autonomous city underneath New Lundun, called Dante. Dantenites who still occasionally go up the surface of New Lundun were dubbed Duskwalkers. The only other country with a community that allowed strigoi to live with them was Russland.”
“Ah yes, I remember how the Russ strigoi fought alongside their human counterparts. It was a fierce battle.”
“Yes. The leader of Russland currently, is a strigoi as well.”
“What about the king? Who is the new King?”
“Changes in government and politics led to the abolishment of the monarchy. We have cabinet members and a president, with a constitution to ensure checks and balances. All are beholden to the Constitution. However, just recently our president was killed by an explosion in the UHT headquarters, in New Amsterdam, UNA. I think the person in charge right now is the vice president.”
“You abolished the King? Humanity really has changed in a mere century. As expected. What is this… UHT?”
“After the war, the UHT was established to foster relations and prevent another war. It stands for the United Human Territories. Discussions and decisions were made between world leaders in order to move accordingly and prevent conflict with one another.”
“It does not seem very effective. However, I do see its merit. In my opinion, a singular world government would be more beneficial to all of humanity instead of fractured factions with their own rules and interests.”
“I don’t think humanity would like that. We love to have our individuality and differences.”
“Truly,” Helena smiled. “Now, what has humanity done during my sleep and how did the Crescent return?”
Mark cleared his throat and sat down on the floor. Helena nodded and did the same, sitting in front of him. The rest of his team followed suit. “Humanity has grown a lot in the past hundred years,” the colonel began. “Skyships. Flying machines and mechanized warfare. Chemical weapons and the extensive use of fire have led to improvements in firestarter technology. Humanity had developed an international free market and trade, automatic weapons, industrialization of commercial products, studies into physics, atomic tech, genetics, and long-range communications. Centralized economy, public transport, international relations, and even a eugenics program.”
“It seems like humans have been… very busy. All in a century? You have made more advancements than any other galactic race that I know of, in such a short period of time,” Helena pondered. “You also said your kind has already done research into atomic technologies?”
“Yes, though it's spearheaded by the UNA. Not just research, but application. Nuclear energy and weaponry.”
“Impressive. I set the timetable for humanity discovering atomic technology five centuries from the start of my slumber. You’ve managed to do it in one. Even with the gifts I’ve left behind for the church to tinker with, I did not think that humans could study and engineer imitations of my machines so quickly… and with such precision.”
Mark nodded. “So after a century of peace, the Crescent decided to launch an attack on New Lundun and the lower half of Anglestan. Anglestan is split in two right now, but we’re fighting them off. We believe the Crescent is trying to finish what the previous war started. World domination, revenge, a sense of superiority. They’ve had a few wins as of late. Polskania has fallen. So has Francaisia. Castillia is holding out. Belgia has been taken, and the rest of Europa is fighting them off. We believe there’s a traitor in the UHT, hence the bombing of its headquarters. The head of Russland is being suspected, but we don’t know for sure. All we know is, someone is trying to sabotage humanity’s efforts, and is giving the enemy intel and supplying them with our own tech to fight us back.”
Helena hummed. “From how I see it, humanity has a big chance of winning.”
“Winning is not the problem,” Mark sighed. “It’s how long it should take. Ending it, as soon as possible. I lost my mother to this war. Hundreds of thousands… no, millions have lost their mothers too. Families. Bothers. Sisters. Friends. Children. The pain I’ve felt losing my own mother is felt all around the world. For as long as the Crescent stands and exists, this suffering will continue. I don’t want statistics. I don’t care if humanity has a big chance of winning. I care about the people who have lost their lives, and those who have no choice but to continue fighting, or else more will be lost.”
The goddess listened intently, slowly nodding her head. “I see your conviction, young one.” She stood up to her feet and reached her hand out into the air. The clanging of metal was heard from the other room. Things crashing into one another before finally, the wall behind Helena began to melt. A flaming sword burst through the molten wall and flew right into her hand. “I shall join your fight, and bring you the swift victory you so crave.”
“Thank you, Your Holiness.”
“Helena. Just call me by my name. You have impressed me enough to earn it,” she said. “You look so young yet hold so much respect from your companions. The title you hold is high by all means, and you carry yourself well. Humans always surprise me. You remind me of why they inspire me so.”
“That is high praise from you, Helena. There is more you should know however,” Mark nodded, handing her Thatcher’s folders. “These are the projects of the previous colonel before I took her place.”
“Interesting,” she said as she took them.
“The previous Colonel, Thatcher, wanted to create supersoldiers, using your DNA, and with your expertise in genetic engineering. I read her notes,” Mark said. “You’re a vampyr.”
“Wait, WHAT?!” Louis gasped. Olivia and Emma covered their mouths in shock. Phineas kept a straight face while Zach and Charles were nearly foaming at the mouth, losing their minds at the revelation. “Mark, this is a joke, right?” Olivia asked. “The goddess is a vampyr?!”
“It was a closely guarded secret,” the goddess nodded. “But by all accounts it's true. I am Grygori. The race that humans have dubbed the vampyr. However, I am on the side of humanity. This body of mine was not my own but built from a template. My friend’s body was that template. As a grygori, it is true that our understanding and knowledge of genetic engineering is second to none.”
Olivia cleared her throat. “Y-Your holiness,” she said. “So, you’re… not a goddess?”
“I am what people believe I am to be. If you think that I am a goddess, then who am I to say that I am not to you? That is how you see me. If millions see me that way, who am I to dash that hope surrounding the belief? I am the goddess, not because I want to be, but because I have to be,” she stated. “But then, Mark Jacobs, what benefit would you have revealing this to your group?”
“I trust that they won’t share it with anyone else. But I want everyone here to be on the same page about what you can and cannot do. The illusion of power can make or break the balance in a war,” he said. “We want the enemy and people to think you’re a goddess capable of anything, but those who work with you should know and understand your limitations so that we know what we’re working with.”
“Wise. Truly wise.”
Mark nodded. He pointed toward the files in Helena’s hand. “The Lunari and the Solari, that’s what Thatcher called them,” Mark explained. “Strigoi capable of going out into the sun, and supersoldiers enhanced by strigoi genetics. For the former, we already have a way. A half-breed strigoi. First of her kind, and able to turn any true born like herself. You can see it in the files I gave. For the latter, well, that’s what Thatcher was hoping you could help with.”
Helena flipped through the files, reading each and every word. “Doable,” she said. “I can help improve your soldiers’ capabilities, and with the help of this… Six individual, all human-aligned strigoi can be turned into ‘blessed children’, or ‘Lunari’. The first hybrid child. Huh. Definitely not the last one in this era if you were to ask your wife. We might be on to a new era entirely.”
Mark’s eyes squinted. “My wife? What? What do you mean?”
“Is she not your wife?” the goddess pointed at Olivia.
“Well, I— no. I mean she is my partner, but not my wife… yet,” Mark cleared his throat. “But what did you mean? Not the last? A new era?”
“I see you haven’t told him. I can see the child growing in you,” Helena said.
“Liv..?”
“I-I didn’t think it was possible,” Olivia stammered. “I-it’s been two months, and I thought I was just late and…” She instinctively placed her hands down to her stomach, pressing on it lightly. “Oh Sol, I-I’m pregnant…”
“H-how is this possible?! The report said that—”
“That Six’s genealogy states she was born from a human and a strigoi,” Helena said. “But in order for her to exist, the human parent would have to be completely immune to the virus that turns humans into strigoi. Yes, I just finished reading the report. Conception is not possible for any regular strigoi and human being, but the immunity makes it so.”
Mark lost his composure, stepping back and sharing a look with Olivia. “T-That would mean…”
“Yes,” Helena answered. “You are immune, and the father of a strigoi hybrid. A blessed child. A Lunari.”
“Oh Sol, M-Mark…” Olivia shook, her knees going weak. She held on to the colonel for support, looking down at the floor in shock. “I-I didn’t even think this would happen I— I’m sorry. Do you even want it… him? Her?”
“Y-you have nothing to apologize for,” Mark swallowed hard. “I’m happy of course… But I guess we have to be careful with you now. There’s so much we don’t know about. We will need to be very careful with our child too, but I’m sure if he or she is anything like us, then we might have our hands full soon. B-But don’t worry, okay?”
“But not only that,” Helena said.
“T-there’s more?”
The goddess nodded. “Thatcher did not think of this, but I saw its potential immediately. The fact that an immunity exists means that a cure can be developed,” she said. “Mark Jacobs, your lineage is special. You hold the key to reverting any turned strigoi back to a human, and I have the knowledge to make it possible. I thought there was nothing that could be done for the turned, but that was because someone with immunity was unheard of. But since you exist, and we have fifty percent of Six’s DNA from her paternal side, working a cure is possible. We cannot change the true born, but becoming a Lunari is their closest option.”
“Okay hold up!” Louis swiped his hands in the air. “So first off, the boss got his girlfriend fucking pregnant, have you two ever heard of protection?! And second of all, we can all become this Lunari thing?!”
“Precisely,” Helena nodded.
“So… all of us can see the sun one day?” he asked, raising his hand.
“That is right. True born can be turned into Lunari, and the turned can be reverted back.”
“This opens so many possibilities…” Zach commented.
Olivia’s eyes went wide, letting out a gasp and looking up at the goddess.“M-My parents,” Olivia said. “ M-my parents t-they’ve wanted to grow old for so long. Will you be able to change them back? Is it really possible?”
“It isn’t as difficult as when I created this body.”
“B-but will Mark be hurt..?”
“To my knowledge, no. I simply have to study his DNA. A simple extraction of tissue samples and fluids will be needed. I can synthesize one once I figure out which part of Mark makes him immune. I can mass produce it after.”
Olivia looked at Mark. She reached for his hand and held it tightly. “I won’t let her do it if you don’t want to,” she told him. “But my parents… they've always talked about wanting to taste food again. To go outside. To grow old.”
“I’ll do it,” Mark said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Don’t worry. After the war is over, I’ll do it.”
“A-are you sure?”
“If it’s for you? Anything. Always.”
Helena hummed and walked to the side of the room, where there was another glass chamber that held her golden stola, her clothes, on display. She broke the glass and reached for it, placing it on her form. “Now then,” she started. “We all understand each other now and I’ve read the projects the previous colonel had plans for. Approve them all. I will monitor its progress and help work on them to accelerate the process. I will personally work on these… powered armor and supersoldiers. We will begin Project Lunari as soon as we can. That means you know where your next stop is already, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Mark nodded. “I’m going to have to talk to the mayor of Dante.”
“That you do, young man. Now, we must address the people and let Anglestan know of my return. I would advise, however, that the world not find out about me yet, for just a little longer.”
Just then, Aurelius burst through the room. He had heavy beads of sweat on his forehead and was panting heavily. “I-I have gathered the masses. A total of two million had come, even from other cities.”
“Good. Let us now tell the people about my return and bolster their faith.”
Mark turned to look at Olivia and gave her a nod. They followed the goddess hand in hand all the way back up the stairs where a large crowd had gathered just outside the cathedral. The Great Grandfather was on a podium at a stage outside the cathedral that looked like it had just been assembled a few minutes ago.
“Brothers! Sisters! Followers of Sol and his ways! We are graced! For today is a truly blessed day!” he said.
He raised his hands into the air and looked up into the early morning sky. The sun was about to rise. Olivia and the rest of the hemolites opted to stay inside the cathedral, while Mark and the human operators stepped outside to watch. “Rejoice! For our blessed goddess—”
Just then, Helena spread her wings and flew out of the cathedral doors and into the sky in a flash of speed. A trail of white and yellow light behind her path. She opened her wings out in front of the crowd as she hovered weightlessly in the air, holding her flaming sword in her hand. Her four arms outstretched into the sky while her hair floated around as if she was underwater.
“—has returned!” Aurelius finished.
The people gasped and fell silent, while some murmured and looked in shock. Many looked pale and others shone brightly with awe and admiration. The color showing in their faces. Frightened looks and wide smiles mingled and mixed together within the crowd. It was evident who were the true followers, and the unbelievers who only followed out of tradition or fear of being ridiculed. Some were just afraid of the sheer power before them. Seeing a goddess in the flesh was sure to be more than what others could comfortably handle.
“Hear me, people of Anglestan!” Helena spoke. Her voice boomed impossibly loud and yet very soft and calm. It rang in everyone’s heads as if she had spoken directly into their minds. “I have heard your pleas and your prayers! This war has taken enough from you, and so I have returned to put an end to it once and for all! Fear not! For I am at your side, and we will vanquish the enemies of man, in the name of Sol, by the Order of the Sun, and by my burning will I will bring humanity to victory!”
The crowd cheered loudly. All of them this time. Clapping and crying, whistling and screaming at the top of their lungs. “We’re saved! We’re saved!” they yelled out, cheering her name. “Helena! Goddess of the Sun! Save us!”
Young Mark Jacobs. I did not want to return at all. I do not want to rule humanity like this. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, and you’ve put the queen on the board. The Crescent will act accordingly, and I hope that you know what you’re doing. I am not a guarantee to win this war.
She came down to the stage with blinding speed, slamming down with such force that the steel under it bent.
“I am Helena! Mother of the Church of Sol! The Goddess of the Sun! I will lead you to victory, and my light will guide the way! Fight with me, and we shall bask in the light of day! Veritas!” Now we reach the turning point.

Hello I wanted to do a chronological playlist combining all The Beatles material on Spotify from the live releases, to studio tracks, to outtakes. Here is a link to the playlist and below are my justifications for the placements. Would be curious if anyone could tell me any sections where I may have went wrong with the dates. This project has inspired me to dig deeper into the bootlegs of the studio sessions and I’ve already begun doing that so maybe I will make a post about that at some point as well.
1958-1961
1 We Were Four Guys… That’s All [Anthology 1]
Actually an interview clip from December 8 1970. Placed here for sequencing like in Anthology 1.
2 The Quarrymen - That’ll Be The Day [Anthology 1]
3 The Quarrymen - In Spite Of All The Danger [Anthology 1]
Two Quarrymen recordings from July 12 1958. These are the only official releases of the Quarrymen on Spotify. You may see another song listed by them on their Spotify but this is actually a different group.
4 Sometimes I’d Borrow… Those Still Exist [Anthology 1]
Actually from an interview on November 3 1994 but placed here for sequencing like Anthology 1
5 Hallelujah I Love Her So [Anthology 1]
6 You’ll Be Mine [Anthology 1]
7 Cayenne [Anthology 1]
1960 home demos. Left the sequencing the same as Anthology 1. Not sure on exact dates, but the interview clip mentions Hallelujah so I think it makes sense to start with.
8 First Of All… It Didn’t Do A Thing Here [Anthology 1]
Actually an interview clip from October 27 1962 but placed here for sequencing like Anthology as he mentions the Tony Sheridan recordings.
9 My Bonnie [Anthology 1]
10 Ain’t She Sweet [Anthology 1]
11 Cry For A Shadow [Anthology 1]
All recording with Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers June 22 1961. The June 22nd date is disputed
1962
12 Brian Was A Beautiful Guy… He Presented Us Well [Anthology 1]
13 I Secured Them… A Beatle Drink Even Then [Anthology 1]
Actually from October 1971 and October 1964 interviews respectively but placed here for sequencing like on Anthology 1.
14 Searchin’ [Anthology 1]
15 Three Cool Cats [Anthology 1]
16 The Sheik Of Araby [Anthology 1]
17 Like Dreamers Do [Anthology 1]
18 Hello Little Girl [Anthology 1]
Beatles Decca audition tape recordings. Recorded January 1 1962 from Anthology 1.
19 Well The Recording Test… By My Artists [Anthology 1]
Actually from the same October 1964 interview as I secured them… but placed here for sequencing like Anthology 1.
20 Besame Mucho [Anthology 1]
21 Love Me Do [Anthology 1]
Recorded June 6 1962 featuring Pete Best on drums for Love Me Do
22 How Do You Do It? [Anthology 1]
Recorded September 4 1962
23 Please Please Me [Anthology 1]
Recorded September 11 1962
24 Love Me Do (Single Version) - 2023 Mix
25 P.S I Love You [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
Love me do, the first Beatles single, releases October 5 1962. This version features Ringo on drums and would be different from the version on the Please Please Me LP.
1963
26 Please Please Me [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
27 Ask Me Why [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
Please Please Me releases as a single January 11 1963
28 Keep Your Hands Off My Baby [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
29 Beautiful Dreamer [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded January 26 1963 for the Beatles Saturday Club.
30 One After 909 (Takes 3, 4, & 5 with stops) [Anthology 1]
31 One After 909 (Takes 4 & 5 complete) [Anthology 1]
Recorded March 5 1963
32 Misery [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded March 12 1963 for Here We Go
33 I’m Talking About You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded March 16 1963 for the Beatles Saturday Club
34 I Saw Her Standing There [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
35 Misery [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
36 Anna (Go To Him) [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
37 Chains [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
38 Boys [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
39 Love Me Do [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
40 Baby It’s You [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
41 Do You Want To Know A Secret [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
42 A Taste Of Honey [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
43 There’s A Place [Please Please Me 2009 Remaster]
44 Twist And Shout [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
Please Please Me LP released March 22 1963. This version of Love Me Do features Andy White on drums. I exclude all the singles that release before the album when doing this so Please Please Me, Ask Me Why, and P.S. I Love You were excluded.
45 From Me To You [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
46 Thank You Girl [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
From Me To You single releases April 11 1963
47 We Were Performers… In Britain [Anthology 1]
Actually from a December 8 1970 interview, but placed here before a big chunk of live material similar to the sequencing on Anthology 1.
48 Love These Goon Shows! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
49 I Got To Find My Baby [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
50 Young Blood [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
51 Sha La La La La! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
52 Baby It’s You [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded June 11 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
53 Sure To Fall (In Love With You) [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded June 18 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
54 Some Other Guy [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
55 Thank You Girl [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded June 23 1963 for Easy Beat
56 I’ll Be On My Way [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded June 24 1963 for Side by Side
57 Hey Paul… [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
58 Hello! [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
59 A Real Treat [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
60 Boys [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
61 Absolutely Fab [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
62 Chains [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
63 Bumper Bundle [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
64 P.S. I Love You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded June 25 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
65 Lend Me Your Comb [Anthology 1]
Recorded July 2 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
66 That’s All Right (Mama) [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
67 Carol [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
68 What Is It, George? [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
69 Soldier Of Love [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
70 A Little Rhyme [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
71 Clarabella [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
72 Lend Me Your Comb [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded July 16 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
73 And Here We Go Again [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
74 A Taste Of Honey [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
75 Sweet Little Sixteen [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
76 1822! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
77 Lonesome Tears In My Eyes [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
78 Nothin’ Shakin’ [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
79 So How Come (No One Loves Me) [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
80 Love Me Do [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded July 23 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
81 Memphis, Tennessee [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
82 The Hippy Hippy Shake [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
83 Set Fire To That Lot! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
84 Matchbox [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
85 How About It, Gorgeous? [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
86 Do You Want To Know A Secret [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
87 Till There Was You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
88 Please Mister Postman [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded July 30 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
89 I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You) [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
90 Crying, Waiting, Hoping [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
91 To Know Her Is To Love Her [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
92 The Honeymoon Song [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
93 Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
94 Twist And Shout [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded August 6 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
95 I Got A Woman [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
96 Long Tall Sally [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
97 Please Please Me [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded August 13 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
98 Glad All Over [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
99 I Just Don’t Understand [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
100 Slow Down [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
101 Words Of Love [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded August 20 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
102 She Loves You [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
103 I’ll Get You [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
She Loves You single releases August 23 1963
104 Dear Wack! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
105 You Really Got A Hold On Me [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
106 Glad All Over [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
107 Lift Lid Again [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded August 24 1963 for Saturday Club
108 A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
109 Ooh! My Soul [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
110 Ooh! My Arms [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
111 Don’t Ever Change [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
112 Anna (Go To Him) [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded August 27 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
113 Honey Don’t [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
114 Roll Over Beethoven [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
115 There’s A Place [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded September 3 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
116 Too Much Monkey Business [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
117 Lower 5E [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
118 The Hippy Hippy Shake [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded September 10 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
119 Lucille [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded September 17 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
120 Ask Me Why [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
121 The 49 Weeks [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
122 Sure To Fall (In Love With You) [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
123 Never Mind, Eh? [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
124 Bye, Bye [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded September 24 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
125 Devil In Her Heart [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded September 25 1963 for Pop Go The Beatles
126 Lucille [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
127 I Saw Her Standing There [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
128 I’ll Get You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
129 Memphis, Tennessee [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
130 She Loves You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
131 Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded October 5 1963 for Saturday Club
132 I’ll Get You [Anthology 1]
Recorded October 13 1963 at the Palladium
133 Now Hush, Hush [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
134 From Me To You [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
135 I Saw Her Standing There [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded October 20 1963 for Easy Beat
136 I Saw Her Standing There [Anthology 1]
137 From Me To You [Anthology 1]
138 Money (That’s What I Want) [Anthology 1]
139 You Really Got A Hold On Me [Anthology 1]
140 Roll Over Beethoven [Anthology 1]
Recorded October 24 1963 at the Karlaplansstudion
141 Beatles Greetings [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded November 3 1963 for The Public Ear
142 She Loves You [Anthology 1]
143 Till There Was You [Anthology 1]
144 Twist And Shout [Anthology 1]
Recorded November 4 1963 at Prince of Wales Theatre
145 It Won’t Be Long [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
146 All I’ve Got To Do [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
147 All My Loving [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
148 Don’t Bother Me [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
149 Little Child [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
150 Till There Was You [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
151 Please Mister Postman [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
152 Roll Over Beethoven [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
153 Hold Me Tight [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
154 You Really Got A Hold On Me [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
155 I Wanna Be Your Man [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
156 Devil In Her Heart [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
157 Not A Second Time [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
158 Money (That’s What I Want) [With The Beatles 2009 Remaster]
With The Beatles releases November 22 1963
159 I Want To Hold Your Hand [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
160 This Boy [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
I Want To Hold Your Hand single releases November 29 1963
161 This Boy [Anthology 1]
162 I Want To Hold Your Hand [Anthology 1]
163 Boys, What Was I Thinking… [Anthology 1]
164 Moonlight Bay [Anthology 1]
Recorded December 2 1963 at ATV Studios
165 Brian Bathtubes [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
166 This Boy [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded December 21 1963 for Saturday Club
167 Money (That’s What I Want) [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
168 I Want To Hold Your Hand [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded December 26 1963 for The Beatles Say From Us To You
1964
169 Can’t Buy Me Love (Takes 1 & 2) [Anthology 1]
Recorded January 29 1964 in Paris during their residency at Olympia. Komm gib mir deine Hand and Sie liebt dich were also recorded at this session.
170 All My Loving (Live on the Ed Sullivan Show) [Anthology 1]
Recorded February 9 1964 for the Ed Sullivan Show in New York City
171 Johnny B Goode [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
172 If I Wasn’t in America [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded February 15 1964 for Saturday Club
173 You Can’t Do That (Take 6) [Anthology 1]
174 And I Love Her (Take 2) [Anthology 1]
Recorded February 25 1964 in EMI
175 Komm gib mir deine Hand [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
176 Sie liebt dich [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
German version singles of I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You released March 5 1964*. These were done to try to penetrate the German market after The Beatles began to achieve international fame following I Want To Hold Your Hand going #1 in the US with pressure from Odeon execs. *Both Walter Everett and Barry Miles write the single was released in West Germany on March 5 1964, but the songs were not mixed for mono and stereo until the 10th and 12th. John C. Winn says the single was rush-released in West Germany after mixing, but does not provide a release date. See this for more details.
177 Can’t Buy Me Love [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
178 You Can’t Do That [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
Can’t Buy Me Love releases as a single March 20 1964
179 From Us To You Opening [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
180 Can’t Buy Me Love [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
181 From Fluff To You [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
182 Till There Was You [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
183 Ringo? Yep! [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
184 I Wanna Be Your Man [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
185 Just A Rumour [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
186 Roll Over Beethoven [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
187 All My Loving [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
188 Oh, Can’t We? Yes We Can [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
189 From Us To You Closing [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
From BBC vol 1 these are listed as March 10 1964 but Oh Can’t We? from vol 2 I believe lists the correct date of March 30 1964.
190 I Got A Woman [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded April 4 1964 for the Saturday Club
191 A Hard Day’s Night (Take 1) [Anthology 1]
Recorded April 16 1964 in EMI
192 I Wanna Be Your Man [Anthology 1]
193 Long Tall Sally [Anthology 1]
194 Boys [Anthology 1]
195 Shout [Anthology 1]
Recorded April 19 1964 for Around The Beatles in London
196 I Forgot To Remember To Forget [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded May 18 1964 for From Us To You Say The Beatles
197 I’ll Be Back (Take 2) [Anthology 1]
198 I’ll Be Back (Take 3) [Anthology 1]
Recorded June 1 1964 in EMI
199 You Know What To Do (Demo) [Anthology 1]
200 No Reply (Demo) [Anthology 1]
Recorded June 3 1964 in EMI
201 Long Tall Sally [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
202 I Call Your Name [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
203 Slow Down [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
204 Matchbox [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
The Long Tall Sally EP releases June 19 1964
205 A Hard Day’s Night [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
206 I Should Have Known Better [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
207 If I Fell [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
208 I’m Happy Just To Dance With You [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
209 And I Love Her [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
210 Tell Me Why [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
211 Any Time At All [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
212 I’ll Cry Instead [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
213 Things We Said Today [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
214 When I Get Home [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
215 I’ll Be Back [A Hard Day’s Night 2009 Remaster]
A Hard Day’s Night releases July 10 1964 along with A Hard Day’s Night single featuring the B Sides Things We Said Today and I Should Have Known Better in the UK and the US. Can’t Buy Me Love and You Can’t Do That were previously released singles.
216 Crinsk Dee Night [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
217 A Hard Day’s Night [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
218 Things We Said Today [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
219 Long Tall Sally [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
220 If I Fell [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
221 A Hard Job Writing Them [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
222 And I Love Her [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
223 You Can’t Do That [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded July 16 1964 for Top Gear
224 Mr Moonlight (Takes 1 & 4) [Anthology 1]
225 Leave My Kitten Alone (Take 5) [Anthology 1]
Recorded August 14 1964 in EMI
226 You Can’t Do That [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
227 All My Loving [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
228 Things We Said [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
229 Roll Over Beethoven [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
230 I Want To Hold Your Hand [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
231 Boys [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
232 She Loves You [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
233 Long Tall Sally [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
Recorded August 23 1964 at the Hollywood Bowl. I have decided to split Hollywood Bowl’s tracklist by day it was actually recorded and yes it does make the sequencing terrible. I did try to mirror the original setlist as closely as possible for that day, but both the The Paul McCartney Project and Beatles Bible list She Loves You as the 4th song, but the song features a clip saying “the next song will unfortunately be the last” making me think a different show show I put it second to last. The rest of the tracks on Hollywood Bowl are from the 1965 tour.
234 No Reply (Take 2) [Anthology 1]
Recorded September 30 1964 in EMI
235 Eight Days A Week (Sequence Takes 1, 2, & 4) [Anthology 1]
236 Eight Days A Week (Complete Take 5) [Anthology 1]
Recorded October 6 1964 in EMI
237 Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Take 2) [Anthology 1]
Recorded October 18 1964 in EMI
238 Riding On A Bus [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
239 She’s A Woman [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
240 I Feel Fine [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
241 I’m A Loser [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
242 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
243 Honey Don’t [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
244 I’ll Follow The Sun [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
245 That’s What We’re Here For [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
246 I Feel Fine (Studio Out-take) [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded November 26 1964 for Top Gear
247 I Feel Fine [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
248 She’s A Woman [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
I Feel Fine single releases November 27 1964
249 No Reply [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
250 I’m A Loser [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
251 Baby’s In Black [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
252 Rock And Roll Music [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
253 I’ll Follow The Sun [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
254 Mr Moonlight [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
255 Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey - Medley [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
256 Eight Days A Week [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
257 Words Of Love [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
258 Honey Don’t [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
259 Every Little Thing [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
260 I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
261 What You’re Doing [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
262 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [Beatles For Sales 2009 Remaster]
Beatles For Sale releases December 4 1964
263 Rock and Roll Music [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
264 Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded December 26 1964 for Saturday Club
1965
265 Yes It Is (Takes 2 & 14) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 16 1965 in EMI
266 You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Takes 1, 2, & 5) [Anthology 2]
267 If You’ve Got Trouble [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 18 1965 in EMI
268 That Means A Lot (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 20 1965 in EMI
269 Ticket To Ride [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
270 Yes It Is [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
Ticket To Ride single releases April 9 1965
271 Green With Black Shutters [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
272 Ticket To Ride [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
273 Dizzy Miss Lizzy [Live At The BBC (Remastered)]
Recorded June 7 1965 for the Beatles Invite You To Take A Ticket To Ride
274 Bad Boy [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
Bad Boy releases June 14 1965 on Beatles VI in the US
275 I’m Down (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
276 Yesterday (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
Recorded June 14 1965 in EMI
277 It’s Only Love (Takes 2 & 3) [Anthology 2]
Recorded June 18 1965 in EMI
278 Help! [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
279 I’m Down [Past Masters (Vols. 1 & 2) 2009 Remaster]
Help! single releases July 23 1965
280 I Feel Fine [Anthology 2]
281 Ticket To Ride [Anthology 2]
282 Yesterday [Anthology 2]
283 Help! [Anthology 2]
Recorded August 1 1965 for Blackpool Night Out at ABC Theatre, Blackpool, UK
284 The Night Before [Help! 2009 Remaster]
285 You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
286 I Need You [Help! 2009 Remaster]
287 Another Girl [Help! 2009 Remaster]
288 You’re Going To Lose That Girl [Help! 2009 Remaster]
289 Act Naturally [Help! 2009 Remaster]
290 It’s Only Love [Help! 2009 Remaster]
291 You Like Me Too Much [Help! 2009 Remaster]
292 Tell Me What You See [Help! 2009 Remaster]
293 I’ve Just Seen A Face [Help! 2009 Remaster]
294 Yesterday [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
295 Dizzy Miss Lizzy [Help! 2009 Remaster]
Help! releases August 6 1965. Ticket To Ride and Help! were previously released singles.
296 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [Anthology 2]
Recorded August 15 1965 at Shea Stadium, New York City
297 Ticket To Ride [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
298 Help! [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
299 Dizzy Miss Lizzy [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
Recorded August 29 1965 at the Hollywood Bowl. Dizzy Miss Lizzy includes recordings from August 30th spliced in so I put it last.
300 Twist And Shout [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
301 She’s A Woman [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
302 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
303 Can’t Buy Me Love [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
304 Baby’s In Black [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
305 A Hard Day’s Night [Live At The Hollywood Bowl 2016 Remaster]
Recorded August 30 1965 at the Hollywood Bowl
306 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
Recorded October 12 1965 in EMI
307 I’m Looking Through You (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
Recorded October 24 1965 in EMI
308 12 Bar Original (Take 2 Edited) [Anthology 2]
Recorded November 4 1965 in EMI
309 John Pop Profile [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
310 George Pop Profile [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded November 30 1965 at The BBC
311 Day Tripper [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
312 We Can Work It Out [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out released as a double A Sided single December 3 1965 along with Rubber Soul.
313 Drive My Car [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
314 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
315 You Won’t See Me [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
316 Nowhere Man [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
317 Think For Yourself [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
318 The Word [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
319 Michelle [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
320 What Goes On [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
321 Girl [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
322 I’m Looking Through You [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
323 In My Life [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
324 Wait [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
325 If I Needed Someone [The Beatles 1962-1966 2023 Mix]
326 Run For Your Life [Rubber Soul 2009 Remaster]
Rubber Soul was released December 3 1965
1966
327 She Said She Said (Johns Demo) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
John Lennon began recording She Said She Said in March of 1966 and this is a home demo.
328 Yellow Submarine - Songwriting Work Tape Part 1 [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
329 Yellow Submarine - Songwriting Work Tape Part 2 [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
These are home demos of Yellow Submarine and I am assuming they would go around here, but I’m not sure of an exact date. Possibly before She Said She Said, but I believe before the studio recording began.
330 Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
331 Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
Recorded April 6 1966 in EMI. This was the beginning of the Revolver sessions. I am pretty sure these are the exact same but the mixing and mastering are different.
332 Tomorrow Never Knows (RM Mono Mix 11) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
From the April 7 1966 tape loop overdubbing sessions or the final overdubbing on April 22nd in EMI
333 Got To Get You Into My Life (First Version Take 5) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
334 Got To Get You Into My Life (First Version Take 5) [Anthology 2]
Recorded April 7 1966 in Abbey Road Studios
335 Love You To (Take 1) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
336 Love You To (Unnumbered Take) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Love You To began recording April 11 1966 in Abbey Road Studios with an additional session taking place on the 13th. I am going to assume these are both from the 11th.
337 Love You To (Take 7) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded April 13 1966 adding an additional vocal to a previous take
338 Paperback Writer (Takes 1 & 2) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded April 13 1966 in EMI
339 Rain (Take 5 Actual Speed) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
340 Rain (take 5 Slowed Down For Master) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Either recorded April 14 or 16 1966 in EMI
341 Doctor Robert (Take 7) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded April 19 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
342 And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version Take 2) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
343 And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version Take 2 Giggles) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
344 And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version Take 2) [Anthology 2]
First version of And Your Bird Can Sing was recorded April 20 1966 in Abbey Road Studios
345 And Your Bird Can Sing (Second Version Take 5) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Second version of And Your Bird Can Sing was April 26 1966 in Abbey Road Studios
346 I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal Fragment) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
347 I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal Instrumental) [Anthology 2]
348 I’m Only Sleeping (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
349 I’m Only Sleeping (Take 2) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
350 I’m Only Sleeping (Take 5) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded April 27 1966 in Abbey Road Studios
351 Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only) [Anthology 2]
352 Eleanor Rigby (Speech Before Take 2) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
353 Eleanor Rigby (Take 2) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded April 28 1966 in Abbey Road Studios
354 Paul Pop Profile [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
355 Ringo Pop Profile [On Air - Live At The BBC (Vol.2)]
Recorded May 2 1966 at The BBC
356 I’m Only Sleeping (Mono Mix RM1) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
I’m Only Sleeping was completed May 6 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
357 Taxman (Take 11) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
358 Taxman (Take 11) [Anthology 2]
Overdubbing for Taxman Take 11 was done May 16 1966.
359 For No One (Take 10 Backing Track) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
I am assuming this is from the May 16 1966 session at Abbey Road but possibly from the May 9 1966 session. I believe the French horn solo was recorded at the final session on the 19th.
360 Yellow Submarine (Take 4 Before Sound Effects) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded May 26 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
361 Yellow Submarine (Highlighted Sound Effects) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded June 1 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
362 I Want To Tell You (Speech And Take 4) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded June 2 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
363 Paperback Writer [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
364 Rain [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Paperback Writer single releases June 10 1966
365 Here, There And Everywhere (Take 6) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded June 14 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
366 Got To Get You Into My Life (Second Version Unnumbered Mix) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
367 Got To Get You Into My life (Second Version Take 8) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded June 17 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
368 She Said She Said (Take 15 Backing Track) [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Recorded June 21 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
369 Rock And Roll Music [Anthology 2]
370 She’s A Woman [Anthology 2]
Recorded June 30 1966 at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan
371 Taxman [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
372 Eleanor Rigby [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
373 I’m Only Sleeping [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
374 Love You To [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
375 Here, There And Everywhere [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
376 Yellow Submarine [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
377 She Said She Said [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
378 Good Day Sunshine [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
379 And Your Bird Can Sing [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
380 For No One [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
381 Doctor Robert [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
382 I Want To Tell You [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
383 Got To Get You Into My Life [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
384 Tomorrow Never Knows [Revolver (Super Deluxe)]
Revolver releases August 5 1966 along with Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine as a double A Sided single.
385 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
386 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1) [Anthology 2]
387 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 4) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded November 24 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
388 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded November 29 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
389 When I’m 64 (Take 2) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded December 6 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
390 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 And Edit) [Anthology 2]
391 Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
I believe the edit was done and take 26 was recorded December 8 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
392 Strawberry Fields Forever (Demo Sequence) [Anthology 2]
The final edit for the song was done on December 22 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
393 Penny Lane (Take 6) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded December 29 1966 at Abbey Road Studios
1967
394 Penny Lane (Vocal Overdubs And Speech) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded January 10 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
395 Penny Lane (Alternate Mix) [Anthology 2]
Likely created January 12 1967 at a later overdubbing session.
396 A Day In The Life (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
397 A Day In The Life (Take 2) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
A Day In The Life began recording January 19 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
398 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
399 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Take 9 And Speech) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 1 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
400 Good Morning Good Morning (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
401 Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 8 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
402 Fixing A Hole (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
403 Fixing A Hole (Speech & Take 3) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 9 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
404 A Day In The Life (Orchestra Overdub) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
405 A Day In The Life (Takes 1, 2, 6 & Orchestra) [Anthology 2]
406 A Day In The Life (Hummed Last Chord) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 10 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
407 Strawberry Fields Forever [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
408 Penny Lane [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane release as a double A Sided single February 13 1967
409 Only A Northern Song (Takes 3 & 12) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 14 1967 at Abbey Road Studios. I do not believe these takes include the overdubs done on April 20th but would be interested in hearing from someone that knows more.
410 Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8 With Overdubs) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 16 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
411 Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (Speech Before Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
412 Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite! (Takes 1 & 2) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 17 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
413 Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (Take 7) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
414 Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (Take 7) [Anthology 2]
Recorded February 20 1967 these are duplicates but with different mixing and mastering
415 A Day In The Life (The Last Chord) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 22 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
416 Lovely Rita (Speech & Take 9) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 24 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
417 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded February 28 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
418 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Speech, False Start & Take 5) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
419 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Takes 6, 7 & 8) [Anthology 2]
Recorded March 2 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
420 Getting Better (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded March 9 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
421 Getting Better (Take 12) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Likely recorded March 10 1967 following John Lennon’s LSD incident the previous day, but possibly both recorded on the 9th.
422 Within You Without You (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
423 Within You Without You (George Coaching The Musicians) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded March 15 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
424 She’s Leaving Home (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
425 She’s Leaving Home (Take 6) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded March 17 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
426 Within You Without You (Instrumental) [Anthology 2]
This version contains overdubs that were done on March 22 1967, but it’s possible this is based off the mix created April 3rd but it does not feature the sound effects overdubbed at that session so I’ve placed it here.
427 With A Little Help From My Friends (Take 1) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded March 29 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
428 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (Take 5) [Anthology 2]
429 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (Speech & Take 8) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Recorded April 1 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
430 You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (Extended Stereo Mix) [Anthology 2]
Recorded May 17 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
431 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
432 With A Little Help From My Friends [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
433 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
434 Getting Better [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
435 Fixing A Hole [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
436 She’s Leaving Home [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
437 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
438 Within You Without You [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
439 When I’m Sixty-Four [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
440 Lovely Rita [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
441 Good Morning Good Morning [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
442 Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
443 A Day In The Life [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Super Deluxe Edition)]
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP releases May 29 1967
444 All You Need Is Love [1 2015 Remaster]
445 Baby, You’re A Rich Man [Magical Mystery Tour 2009 Remaster]
All You Need Is Love single releases July 7 1967
446 I Am The Walrus (Take 16) [Anthology 2]
Recorded September 5 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
447 The Fool On The Hill (Demo) [Anthology 2]
Recorded September 6 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
448 Your Mother Should Know (Take 27) [Anthology 2]
Recorded September 16 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
449 The Fool On The Hill (Take 4) [Anthology 2]
Recorded September 25 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
450 Hello Goodbye (Take 16) [Anthology 2]
Recorded October 19 1967 at Abbey Road Studios
451 Hello Goodbye [1 2015 Remaster]
452 I Am The Walrus [The Beatles 1967-1970 2023 Mix]
453 Magical Mystery Tour [The Beatles 1967-1970 2023 Mix]
454 The Fool On The Hill [The Beatles 1967-1970 2023 Mix]
455 Flying [Magical Mystery Tour 2009 Remaster]
456 Blue Jay Way [Magical Mystery Tour 2009 Remaster]
457 Your Mother Should Know [Magical Mystery Tour 2009 Remaster]
Magical Mystery Tour releases November 27 1967 in the US before the UK EP.

Hey, thanks for looking. I’m going to try to sell some stuff.
I'm definitely open to questions and feedback.
The prices here include shipping. I'm open to offers, especially on bundles. I can bring some of these down quite a bit, especially the lowest value items, if I'm able to ship them together.
These will ship USPS Ground Advantage unless it’s cheaper to do Priority. Anything sold will be boxed safely, but I’m going to reuse supplies so something might show up in a box with branding or wear.
I’m only taking Paypal. F&F is preferred, but I’m up for G&S.
Here’s a timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/timestamp-5-27-24-tpBkBqv
Let me know if you have any questions.

Super Nintendo

• Ghoul Patrol Limited Run Sealed - $45 – This is unopened, but the box is a little warped. - https://imgur.com/a/TQZWjNj

GameCube

• Pokemon Colosseum MANUAL ONLY - $35 - The manual has heavy wear. There are some tears and marks. - https://imgur.com/a/EHRFuNT

Wii

• Disney Think Fast - $7 - This is the game, case, and manual. It works fine and the disc has some light scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/3MPZZE9

DS

• Resident Evil Deadly Silence loose - $45 - This cart played fine, but it took a couple of seconds for my 3DS to find, so the contacts might need to be cleaned. There's a notable stain on the label and the serial number stamp on the back is extremely faint. I was unable to see the stamp in most lighting. - https://imgur.com/a/tVNB22v
• 18 DS and 3DS manuals - 1-9 for $6, all for $11 - These are in good condition, but there are some marks and bends. America's Greatest Kitchen, Ghostbusters the Video Game, Imagine Master Chef, Jake Power Fireman, Mahjongg Mysteries, Mystery Case Files Millionheir, Mystery P.I. Portrait of a Thief, My Word Coach, Petz Dogz 2, The Naked Brothers Band The Video Game, Pictochat, Pogo Island, TouchMaster, WordJong Yard Sale Hidden Treasures Sunnyville, Nintendo DS Health and Safety Precautions Booklet, Asphalt 3D 3DS, Madden Football 3DS - https://imgur.com/a/09go5MX

Switch

• The Bridge Curse Road to Salvation sealed - $45 - This is a multilanguage import. - https://imgur.com/a/bridge-curse-road-to-salvation-switch-lMgHIKV
• Cardfight Vanguard EX Sealed - $20 - I believe that all releases of this game are Japanese language with English incorporated into the gameplay, but I'm fairly certain this game doesn't have a English language option. - https://imgur.com/a/CIciUj3
• Embers of Mirrim Sealed - $35 - https://imgur.com/a/vag9et7
• Fran Bow Sealed - $110 - https://imgur.com/a/m0JzD7d
• Gimmick Special Edition sealed - $30 https://imgur.com/a/3HXwvQj

Dreamcast

• F1 World Grand Prix loose - $12 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use resurfacing. - https://imgur.com/a/web-browser-web-browser-2-0-f1-world-grand-prix-sega-gt-dreamcast-qwNgKg9
• Sega GT loose - $12 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use resurfacing. - https://imgur.com/a/web-browser-web-browser-2-0-f1-world-grand-prix-sega-gt-dreamcast-qwNgKg9
• Sidney 2000 Olympics loose - $12 - Played, but heavy scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/IpVrFnS
• Tee Off loose - $12 - Played, but heavy scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/IpVrFnS
• TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat loose - $12 - Played, but heavy scratches. Stickers and stamps on the disc. - https://imgur.com/a/IpVrFnS
• web browser loose - $12 - This loaded, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/web-browser-web-browser-2-0-f1-world-grand-prix-sega-gt-dreamcast-qwNgKg9
• Web Browser 2.0 loose - $12 - This loaded, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/web-browser-web-browser-2-0-f1-world-grand-prix-sega-gt-dreamcast-qwNgKg9

PlayStation 2

• ATV Offroad Fury loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/fZC31jR
• ATV Offroad Fury 2 - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/aek5HFQ
• Cabela's Big Game Hunter loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/fZC31jR
• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/fZC31jR
• Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2 loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/PWTpSaP
• Cabela's Outdoor Adventures loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/PWTpSaP
• Call of Duty Finest Hour loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/PWTpSaP
• Cars - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/cars-ps2-VboRJee
• Cars damaged - $8 - This played for me, but it's not in good condition. The label is water damaged and the disc's grip has pieces broken off. Someone could do something with this if they were to put a protector on the grip and resurface it to clean it up (works, but pretty ugly). I would add this to a group only taking account of its weight if asked. - https://imgur.com/a/cars-ps2-damaged-5lS2AXw
• ESPN College Hoops 2K5 loose - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/DeqF2Ed
• ESPN NFL 2K5 - $10 - I played this a bit, but it has heavy scratches and could use a resurface. - https://imgur.com/a/DeqF2Ed
• Final Fantasy X - $12 - Game, case, manual. The disc is scratched and there's some wear to the materials, but it didn't give me a problem when I tested it. - https://imgur.com/a/2JrXsUn
• Final Fantasy X-2 - $12 - Game, case, manual. The disc is scratched and there's some wear to the materials, but it didn't give me a problem when I tested it. - https://imgur.com/a/2JrXsUn
• Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia - $12 - Game, manual, case. There's some light scratches on the disc and some wear on the case and label. This is an expansion for a discontinued MMO, so it doesn't have the use it once did. - https://imgur.com/a/7IvyMRy
• Formula One 2001 - $10 - Game and case. Tested fine, disc has some scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/PKtmMad
• IHRA Professional Drag Racing - $11 - Game, manual, case. The game played well, but the disc is scratched and there's a fair amount of wear on the other materials. - https://imgur.com/a/NEJPm5v
• Jak 2 loose - $10 - The disc is pretty scratched, but it played fine. I would probably resurface it if I was going to keep it. - https://imgur.com/a/ZoyFMd6
• Medal of Honor European Assault loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/DeqF2Ed
• Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/ZcjBTyv
• Need for Speed Carbon loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/bI32gla
• Need for Speed Underground loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/bI32gla
• World Championship Poker loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/bI32gla
• World series Poker Tournament of Champions loose - $10 - Disc tested fine, is scratched. - https://imgur.com/a/bI32gla
• AV Cable - $10 - This works fine. I think it's off brand. - https://imgur.com/a/pX20nRn

PlayStation 3

• Need for Speed Rivals - $10 - Disc and case. Disc looks great, plays fine. Some surface wear on case. - https://imgur.com/a/need-speed-rivals-ps3-1uKPBLD
• Resistance 2 - $10 - Disc and case. Disc looks great, plays fine. Some surface wear on case. - https://imgur.com/a/resistance-2-ps3-pTh14dI

PlayStation 4

• Dark Thrones / Witch Hunter Double Pack - $10 - Disc is like new. The case has a store sticker on it. - https://imgur.com/a/DwpZfcP
• The Missing JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories sealed - $60 - https://imgur.com/a/A2MjGhI
• Stray sealed - $20 - https://imgur.com/a/ayIBBbk

PlayStation 5

• Gigabash sealed - $50 - https://imgur.com/a/aN2jJq2
• Like a Dragon Gaiden The Man Who Erased His Name sealed - $50 - This is a multilanguage import. - https://imgur.com/a/814lpeS
• River City Girls 2 sealed - $40 - This is a multilanguage import. - https://imgur.com/a/p49SuAm

Xbox

• Armed and Dangerous - $15 - Game, case, label. The disc has several scratches. I was able to play this, but my Xbox's laser is failing so it took a few tries (as it does with everything I put in it). - https://imgur.com/a/armed-dangerous-xbox-zy4PoHn
• Zathura - $15 - Game, case, label. The disc has light circular scratches. I was able to play this, but my Xbox's laser is failing so it took a few tries (as it does with everything I put in it). - https://imgur.com/a/YCC1lv6

Xbox 360

• Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham - $10 - Game, case, manual. There are scratches on the disc and some wear to the case and label. - https://imgur.com/a/doR6dyB
• Medal of Honor Limited Edition - $10 - Game, case, manual. Light scratches on disc, light wear on materials. - https://imgur.com/a/tTyScLf
• Resident Evil 5 - $10 - Game and manual. Disc is scratched, some wear on the case. - https://imgur.com/a/kWI7GF5

PC

• Clifford The Big Red Dog Thinking Adventures MANUAL ONLY - $7 - This could be put into the DS manual group. - https://imgur.com/a/clifford-thinking-adventures-pc-32pts0G
• Hoyle Card Games - $14 - For Win XP/Vista/7, Macintosh OS X 10.411-10.6, may not work on anything else. Light scratches on disc and some surface wear on sleeve edges. - https://imgur.com/a/hoyle-card-games-pc-5-24-24-uaODbUl
• I Spy Spooky Mansion Deluxe - $14 - Disc looks good, some scratches on the jewel case. For Win 95/98/2000/ME/XP and Macintosh OS X 10.1.2, may not work on anything else. - https://imgur.com/a/i-spy-spooky-mansion-deluxe-5-24-24-vNSJ26R
• Lemmings - $12 - This is a 90s CD-ROM for DOS. I played it with DOSBox, but it wouldn't do anything on a modern OS. Both disc and case have scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/lemmings-dos-fGs6gSs
• Seven Kingdoms The Fryhtan Wars - $10 - This is for Windows 95/98 and may not work on anything else. Disc has some scratches. - https://imgur.com/a/tMYdwPs
• Star Wars Jedi Knight Academy - $10 - This is for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. It may not work on anything else. - https://imgur.com/a/tA2GsoC
• Warlords Battlecry II - $10 - This is for Windows Windows 95/98 and it may not work on anything else. - https://imgur.com/a/o0eg3Pi
• Zoo Tycoon Complete Edition - $31 - Game plays fine. I booted it up and fed some visitors to a grizzly bear. Several light scratches, wear on sleeve's edges, bits of old tape on sleeve. Plays on my modern OS, but it's meant for Win 98/2000/ME/XP and may not play on something else. - https://imgur.com/a/zoo-tycoon-complete-collection-5-24-24-mbFy9Yo

Soundtrack

• Castlevania Symphony of the Night OST CD sealed - $40 - https://imgur.com/a/nlX1me2

Index First Previous [Next]

Chapter 11: Jenny Hoskins

Jenny strolled through the park at the centre of Aurora City. Overhead she had the ten meter thick water shield which separated the park from the thin Martian atmosphere. The transparent dome had been extraordinarily expensive to construct over the park, but the consensus that ruled Aurora City before the dome was built had decided it was worth the expense. It was the only truly large space in the whole city. Many called it the place of sanity. The dome that housed the park was 250 meters in diameter and 30 meters tall in the middle. It held both a wild section, which was more like a bit of wood, and a more cultivated section. The latter was more like a formal garden, where most things that grew were actually edible plants, nut and fruit trees and shrubs.
A lot of perennials growing in the park were in bloom and she could smell many different sweet flower smells as she strolled past them. Many plants had trouble adopting to the longer seasons on Mars and some artificial lighting was used in the park to get a nice aesthetic balance between flowering and non-flowering plants. There was some arguments about this, but there was of course no natural cycle that fit the Mars year, being twice as long as a year on Earth. Pollinators, like bumble bees, industriously moved around the flowering plants. Under one of the shrubs she saw one of the few brown-grey rabbits that lived in the park. The rabbits were all neutered and were propagated at the veterinary lab. It wouldn’t do to have a rabbit population running wild – that could have ruined the fine balance that was maintained in the garden.
As she rounded a tall hedge a small child, maybe 2-3 years old, dressed in colourful clothes, came running towards her and squealed “Friend. Friend.”
Jenny crouched and held out her hands. The child, a girl, stopped and looked a bit hesitantly at her. Then the girl turned around and looked at what was presumably her mother, who was walking towards her. The girl pointed at Jenny and looked at her mother and repeated. “Friend. Play!”
“No, sweetheart, no, that is not a friend.”
The girl looked at Jenny and then back at her mother, with a puzzled frown on her face. The mother reached down and picked the girl up. “Here. Let’s go see some real friends.”
She turned around with the girl lodged on her hip and walked away without looking back at Jenny.
Jenny stood up and looked after them as they walked off. She sighed, shook her head slightly and continued strolling through the park.
Towards her right she could make out the entrance to the old council building, the Nexus. This was were the city consensus used to meet for day long decision making processes, before the economic collapse. Thirty years earlier, the economic model on which Aurora City was based had collapsed. After several desperate and failed attempts to save the city from bankruptcy, the bondholders and banks had moved in and demanded payments on the massive loans. Most of them were Americas-based, with a smattering of EU, Indian Hegemony and Oceanian investors. The Americas-based investors and banks were only partially backed by the Americas Central Bank and a full bank run was in the making, with a potential large scale economic collapse in the Western hemisphere on Earth as a result. Obviously that couldn’t be allowed to happen. In a lightning strike, Americas Space Corps troops had moved in and taken over control of Aurora City, with a minimum of violence. A few hard core Consensualists got hurt at a brawl with the troops at the Nexus in the last hour of the takeover. But the takeover was quickly completed.
The Americas government had promised to repay the non-Americas investors ten cents on the dollar when the situation was stabilised, and when the now nationalised city state was put up for sale on the open market. This was over ten years ago and nothing new had happened on this front. This had been the last drop for the EU – they had had very frayed relations with the Americas for over half a century. The situation today was that Aurora City was run by a governor with unlimited power. The governor was appointed by the Americas senate and operated much like Mac Arthur had run Japan after their surrender, at the end of the 50 year Global War in the 20th century.
An ongoing and unresolved debate still raged across the city and the rest of the solar system among economists, activists, researchers, social influencers, politicians and people in general, about where the blame lay for the collapse of the Aurora City business model and the subsequent takeoveoccupation. About a third argued it was a plot by Americas and another third argued it was a failed experiment in consensus governing of a nascent city state. The final third was an unholy mess of conspiracy theories, crackpots and some quite sound alternative theories.
The original citizens of Aurora City had not taken kindly to the takeover. They consisted of relatively rich immigrants or children and grand children of immigrants from all over Earth. They had paid significant amounts of money to emigrate to Aurora City and through blood, sweat and tears build up the city over nearly a century. Even if there had only been very sporadic violent resistance, the people of the city considered themselves under occupation. They balanced the complex task of resisting the occupying power, whilst not destroying the viability of the closed loop environmental system ton which they all depended. A very active underground trade in goods, services and resources existed in parallel with the crippled public economy, which was a huge drain on the governor’s resources, without seemingly damaging the city population much.
The governor had a very difficult task of keeping the city operating at a level that convinced the investors that they would get some money back, at some point. This had to be done without upsetting the applecart completely with an open rebellion from the city population. A rebellion which could trigger the economic collapse the takeoveoccupation had been put in place to avoid in the first place.
These days, the city population showed their open rebellion publicly, mostly through cultural differences. Really long unkempt hair, a long beard, hippy-like fashion, which was supported by the underground economy, with mended and recycled clothes and other resources. This was in stark contrast to the occupying forces, military police and governor’s office, where close cropped hair and business dress was the requirement. There was never a mistake as to in which camp one belonged. Most restaurants, pubs, clubs and shops catered to one or the other, even if essentially all those that ran the places were original Nexus City citizens. Only about two, three percent of the population were migrants from Americas, and most of them didn’t feel very welcome at all.
Jenny, being an Americas Space Corps Commander, with short cropped hair, no makeup, with plain, new clothes was clearly in the camp of the occupier. She didn’t feel particularly comfortable in her role here, but she went where the Space Corps sent her. Now she was at a loose end as she had just been moved from her previous role as Chief of Staff at the Space Corps HQ on Mars. She had been assigned as liaison to an EU ship on a mission to Jupiter, but the mission was classified and she had not yet been given the security clearance that allowed her access to the mission information. As usual, the Space Corps bureaucracy was demonstrating that the bureaucracy ruled, unless missiles were flying. The only thing she knew was that it was an unusual mission. Americas and EU didn’t have much in common these days and they were at a bit of a standoff over Mars, so a liaison mission on an EU ship was unusual, to say the least. She did know that the ship was the EUSC Corvette Mannerheim, and that it was leaving tomorrow.
Jenny had been just over two years in her role at Nexus City and was taking a walk around the city, to say goodbye to the few friends she had made and the places she had liked. She didn’t expect to ever come back here again.
The next place to visit for Jenny was the aquarium. The person in charge of the Nexus City radiation shielding, Mr. Biswas, was also the senior aquarist of the city. Large parts of the city was covered by transparent domes with XX meters of water in it. This provided several benefits. A quite adequate radiation shield, which was needed as Mars’ atmosphere wasn’t thick enough to protect it from cosmic rays. The water also let through some sunlight, which made the city much more pleasant to live in – the alternative was to live in tunnels with no sunlight. Finally, the water actually had a limited but actual ecosystem in it, with fish, other aquatic animals and underwater plants. The fish, animals and plants were decoration and a way to keep the water body clean and interesting. It wasn’t suitable for growing fish for food, which was done in the huge aquaponic farms outside of the city proper.
As a hobby aquarist, Jenny had found a real friend in Mr. Biswas. Having a career in the Space Corps hadn’t exactly made it easy to have an aquarium. She probably hadn’t had one for the last ten years, when she thought about it. So when she ended up in Aurora City, with the huge city spanning aquariums, she had spent a lot of her free time working as a volunteer at the aquarium. Mr. Biswas was one of the few native citizens who didn’t care anything about the politics of the situation and had treated Jenny first as any other volunteer and then finally as a friend.
She found Mr. Biswas in the hatchery, where he was leaning over a water-filled trough with a few thousand fish eggs. The hatchery smelled faintly of lake water and there was a constant underlying noise of running water and murmuring pumps.
“Mr. Biswas,” Jenny said.
He turned around and pushed up his glasses on the top of his bald head. Once he saw her a huge smile appeared on his face.
“Ms Hoskins! Lovely to see you! To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Well, I really just wanted to see you, and some of your darling fish. And, well, I am shipping out. So I won’t be back for a while.”
Mr. Biswas frowned and looked at her.
“Well that is not good news. I had been looking forward to our conversations, and your excellent help, for quite some time more.”
She nodded. She didn’t quite know what to say.
“I presume you can’t tell me much about where you are going?”
A slight shake of her head.
“Well, a great shame. But don’t be glum Ms. Hoskins. Let’s go and have a look at our catfish smolt, they are doing quite well. Much thanks to you I must say.”
He peeled off the thin protective rubber gloves he had on and put them in the recycling bin. Then he took her lightly by the arm and led her through the different sections of the aquarium hatchery and past the smolt tanks. Jenny had looked after these catfish since they arrived as eggs, when you could just about see the eyes forming in the egg. They had grown through the stages of larvae and then juvenile fish. She had worked with the other volunteers to inspect them regularly, remove dead eggs and larvae and finally transferred them to the larger fish tank, where they were now. A few more months and they would be ready to be introduced in the large aquariums, where they would help keep the bottom clean of waste and plant debris.
Once they arrived at the fish tanks they talked about the development of the fish and the planned distribution over the different water bodies in the city. Jenny could almost forget that this was probably the last time ever she was here. When it was time to go, she thanked Mr. Biswas for the time together and gave him a brief hug.
“I know we don’t talk of your work here,’ he said. “But, go out there and do good work. I know you can and you will. Safe travels my friend.”
It stung a bit at the corner of her eyes. She nodded and made a little wave with her hand. Then she walked out of the Nexus aquarium hatchery for the last time.
***
The next morning she was early at the spaceport and reported in with the officer in charge. She had received the security clearance late at night and had spent a few hours reading up on the mission. She was going to be the Space Corps liaison officer to an EUDSC mission to Jupiter, where there was a foreign object under investigation by ESA. The EU was in a war-of-words conflict with the Chinese about jurisdiction and had decided to bury the hatchet enough that a Space Corps liaison was deemed to be a benefit. Her mission was simple. Make sure that no mistake is made that puts the Americas Space Corps and the EUSC in conflict with each other. Somewhat surprisingly they were going to meet a fast courier en route from Earth, which would deliver an EUSC team and an Admiral (no less!) onto the corvette she was about to board, that would take all of them the rest of the way to Jupiter. This, together with her role, was an indication that the powers that be considered what was going on a very high priority. There had been an indication in the briefing of a security breach, so she wasn’t going to get more information until she met up with the EU team en route.
The officer in charge of the spaceport personally followed her out to the launch pad. Cleary there were not a lot of other interesting things going on at the moment.
“You are going up to an EU corvette for a mission to Jupiter. Highly unusual,” he said, unashamedly fishing for more information.
“Yes, it is. I was told yesterday that I am going. So I really don’t know much what brought this on.”
“I heard some rumours of a strange object. If the EU wants us to be involved it must be about the Chinese. We saw some unexpected fleet movement on their behalf recently. But I didn’t think it would mean we would involve the EU.”
“Well, maybe it is more that they are involving us?”
“Hmph. Well, maybe so.”
Clearly he wasn’t very impressed by the idea that the Space Corps didn’t hold the initiative in whatever manoeuvrings were going on. Jenny found that most officers of the Space Corpse looked down their noses at the EU space forces. Not without reason. But she thought that it never paid to underestimate your opponents, or reluctant partners for now.
Once he realised he would’t get much more out of her, he wished her good hunting and went back to the office, leaving her in the hands of an underofficer to lead her to the shuttle.
***
The shuttle arrived at the EUDSC Corvette Mannerheim an hour after it had taken off from Nexus City. The trip was uneventful and apart from the crew of the shuttle, she was alone onboard.
She could see the ship through one of the windows in the shuttle as they approached. She knew the profile and specifications of all the EUSC ships, but it was always different to see a ship live and close up. She had served a few years on a larger Space Corps ship, a destroyer, as a communications officer and later in charge of offensive weapons.
The EUSC Mannerheim was a Nordic-type corvette of which six had been built twenty years earlier. She had been assembled at the EU orbital shipyard New Rotterdam, which resided in high Earth orbit. It was a blocky design, all in black, with no planetary landing capabilities. She was 220 meters long and 30 meters wide at the widest. She carried a crew of 28 and often a detachment of 12 marines. She could be equipped with 50 long distance anti-ship missiles and she had 12 point defence cannons.
Jenny waited patiently as they docked with the corvette. As she sat waiting, she considered if she had heard of any recent engagements where a liaison officer was exchanged with the EU. She couldn’t think of any, but then there was a lot going on that wasn’t known to everyone within the service. On the other hand, as a chief of staff at Mars HQ she ought to have known if anything was happening at Mars or further out of the gravity well.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the sergeant in charge of the passenger cabin came and announced that the docking procedure was complete and she could transfer now. She grabbed her meagre baggage and moved over to the docking tube.
“Ma’am, do you need assistance across the tube?”
She smiled at the sergeant. “No sergeant, I am used to docking tubes. Thanks for the offer though.”
He nodded and opened the hatch and swung it sideways on the big hinges. The docking tube was of EU design and had slightly different arrangements of handholds and lights than the Space Corps tubes. She pushed the luggage bag ahead of her and slowly launched herself down the tube. As she arrived, she could see a person at the other end of the airlock door, through the small window. He nodded at her and disappeared from view. Right after, the door cracked open. It then gradually swung open and she was met by a young man in ship uniform. A petty officer if she read the insignia correctly. He nodded and invited her into the airlock with a hand gesture.
“Commander, this way please. May I take your bag?”
“Of course,” she replied and pushed the bag in his direction. She grabbed a handhold and moved into the airlock. Apart from minor differences, it was essentially the same as an airlock in a Space Corps ship. The petty officer closed the airlock behind her and then moved to the ship side of the airlock and opened it. As it opened, she could hear the familiar ship sounds, but the smell of the ship was subtly different. It smelled faintly of something, cinnamon?
Right in front of her was an navy officer which could only be the Officer On Deck. She straightened and saluted.
“Request permission to come aboard, sir.”
The officer saluted right back.
“Commander, welcome onboard the EUDSC Corvette Mannerheim. I am lieutenant Schwartz and it would be my pleasure to guide you to your cabin. Mr. Peters here will bring your bag,” he said indicating the petty officer. He invited her to follow her along into a corridor.
The internal colours of the EU ship were different from a Space Corps ship. The colour palette was mainly different shades of blue with some grey mixed in. Apart from that, it reminded her of other ships she had served on. All warning labels, signs and notices were clear and easy to understand, but had different colours and sometimes different iconography.
Lt Schwartz turned to her. “The captain will receive you at 1800 hours for dinner at the captains’ mess. Ship board time right now is,” he looked at his comm, “1650 hours. That should give you time to familiarise yourself with the emergency procedures. Mr Peters here will show you the cabin and facilities. Your cabin is right here. Number 403. Mr Peters will fetch you at 1755 hours and show you to the captain’s mess.”
With that he nodded to her. “Commander,” and left along a side corridor.
Mr Peters opened the cabin door and let her enter. He took a few minutes to show her the different emergency procedures and equipment, where to find the head and how to operate the communal bathroom. Then he left her, promising to be back in about an hour to pick her up.
She drifted in the middle of the small cabin, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was good to be back on a ship, even if this wasn’t her ship.
Index First Previous [Next]

I (35F) have been watching my sister Sally (25F) slowly (but also very quickly) spiral out of control. It started with getting fired from a few jobs for drinking, then progressed to sleeping with a guy who had previously slept with our 3rd sister (Fiona 27F), he did not disclose he had an incurable STD and now Fiona has the STD too. Fiona told Sally that their relationship would not be the same if she slept with him. Sally did it anyway. Fiona and Sally live together. Sally progresses from sleeping with the guy to dating him. They break up. He spits on her and tells her she should go kill herself.
She spends HOURS of our 4th sister's (Melly 33F badass business boss bitch, mom of 3 under the age of 5) time on the phone emotionally dumping. How much he hurt her, how his words/actions are unacceptable, how she finally feels free now that she's rid of him. Two days later she calls Melly to tell her that she got back together with him. "A lot of tears, sobs, sex, and love just went into that convo and I feel whole again and I'm happy we fought for each other."
At this point I reached out. I was in an abusive relationship for 10 years and have 2 children with my abuser. She watched me crawl out of that DEEP, dark hole and STRUGGLE for years afterwards (I'm doing great now. I got sober, went back to school, and have been working as an ultrasound tech for a year.) I still struggle because of the presence he has in my life. I approached her in a loving way. Empathized with her, acknowledged how our childhood trauma destroyed our self esteem and as a result we accept love that is less than what we deserve. Told her that I'd never cut her off but that this was absolutely less than what she deserves.
She didn't read it for days. She said it was because she's so busy going on job interviews. She has a marketing degree, this asshole she's with is in window sales, and now she wants to get into sales too. She has a few local interviews with some MLMs, but Melly brings this to her attention. And then she gets a "better" offer. The asshole's friend Link (M25-30ish) used to work with a woman named Jolene who now is in charge of hiring new sales people for a solar company working in San Diego (we all live in the southern US). Link baits her with "you can make $5k/wk." Sally, Link, and Jolene hop on a 3 ways call on Saturday. Jolene offers Sally the job. Sally comes to the family group text telling us how excited she is. We ask a few questions: Is the plane ticket round trip or one way? What is the name of the company? What is Jolene's last name? Are you going to get a W2 or a 1099? Is this only commission? Are you responsible for paying them back for your plane ticket, food, and housing? She can't answer a single fucking one.
This company is sketch to say the very least. They are supposedly buying her a plane ticket, feeding her, and housing her. They are doing this to have her walk door to door trying to sell solar equiptment. They want her to fly out on Tuesday. We asked if she could wait a little while until after a music festival she plans to attend in three weeks. Give us some time to verify that this company is even legit. She says she can't. She says "it's now or never." 🚩
They finally send over a contract. She owes them rent out of her commission, and they reserve the right the change the rate of rent at any time. 🚩 "Jolene said it's only going to be $100 week and sometimes it'll up a little." They do not have a functioning website. 🚩
My mom calls the San Diego police department. They tell her without a doubt this is a scam and she will most likely be abducted.
We can't find much online other than it's a scam for the buyer, and disgruntled employees. She isn't listening to any of it. "But I am 25 years old. I am making this decision and trusting my gut that I can trust that Abe won't send me off to be a sex slave or to be murdered."
We have tried to approach this in every way possible. Treating her like an autonomous adult, telling her she's an idiot, begging, etc. As an addict/alcoholic, I believe that there isn't much I can do other than being there when she's ready for help. However, I feel like this is monumentally idiotic and I really don't trust her mental state at all right now. Do we just let my mentally unstable sister fly off into the sex trafficking sunset? Or do we kidnap her to prevent her from being kidnapped?
My grandmother pays her phone bill and is ready to cut it off, but we're scared that'll just push her further away from us. My mom is ready and able to physically restrain her. But even if we stop her from getting on this plane, will there be another plane next week? Will we be able to convince her to get the mental help she needs? Or do we have to let her hit her own rock bottom? We're just so scared she'll be dead first.
So... would we be the assholes if we physically stopped her?