The stress of the last six months has nearly killed me. Besides the general cratering of the outside world—political strife, climate change, inflated rents, corporate greed, and the baffling resurgence of crew socks—my internal life was falling apart, too. I'm at the point where I can't see a way out of the darkness, and that feeling has only grown in the last few days.
My struggles ramped up exponentially in the last two weeks. It started when my long-term girlfriend and I called it quits after five years. There was no definitive relationship-altering fight or infidelity. It was simply the boring banality of the "roommate-ification" of our lives together. We both felt the shift but never talked about it. Turns out communication is important.
Truthfully, we'd stayed together for so long because we couldn't afford to live apart. Our rent had nearly doubled the last time we re-upped our lease but even that was a bargain compared to what was out there currently. We were trapped by our need to have a roof over our heads.
My job had stagnated, and I couldn't find anything better. I was stuck. Like me, she'd been job hunting as well. Unlike me, she had a master's, and her prospects should've been higher. They weren't. For five months, she applied to hundreds of jobs and couldn't break through. If she got a rejection email, it was a win. Most of the time, the companies never responded.
Finally, she found a great opportunity at a Fortune 500 company. It was an involved process. She nailed the five interviews, and her "test project" was well received. She was offered the position, and it came with a massive pay increase—double her current salary. I was proud of her—she needed a win. We celebrated with pizza and beer that night.
Two days later, she dropped the bomb that she was breaking things off. The relationship ending wasn't a surprise. The timing was. The discussion was brief, and there was zero chance of reconciliation. She declined when I asked if she could stay until the lease ended. Mentally, it would've been too much for her. Two days after that, she moved out, taking half the rent with her. I was stuck in a lease I couldn't afford on my salary for the next six months.
My free time evaporated as I took on two extra gigs to help make ends meet. In addition to my office nine to five, I drove for a delivery app on the weekends and took a part-time night job stocking shelves at a local grocery store. When I wasn't hustling for housing, I slept or ate. I did nothing beyond that. Nothing brings me joy. There is no spark.
This drudgery has become my daily routine, and it's killing me.
To help cover some cost gaps, I've started selling off some of my stuff online. It was just me here, and I decided that the Spartan lifestyle would have to work for now. Anything I could fetch a decent amount for went up for sale. My apartment is so empty now every noise causes an echo.
Before my shift at the grocery store, I agreed to meet someone who wanted to take a look at my kitchen table. It was a lovely table – my ex had obsessed over it – but I didn't see a need at the moment. Now that I was a bachelor, my TV trays became my default kitchen tables anyway. I wasn't planning on any dinner parties in the future anyway.
A couple showed up later than they said they would. It was a bored-looking guy and a fastidious young woman. She made friendly small talk as she looked over the table. Her boyfriend (I think) stayed quiet and played bodyguard. I gave him a friendly nod at one point, and he just looked away. She said they'd take it without trying to talk me down. I took the small win.
She asked if I could help carry it down to their truck. I was running late, but feeling helpful, even for a fleeting few seconds, was worth it. Her silent boyfriend and I hauled the table through the hallway and even managed to avoid hitting the walls the entire way down.
I placed it in their truck, got my money, and turned to leave. The girl said thanks, and the boyfriend finally returned the nod. I gave a weird half-wave to them both and started to walk away when I heard the passenger window being rolled down.
"Hey man," the boyfriend said, his voice higher pitched than I thought it would. "What was up with your brother giving us the evil eye in the lobby when we got here?"
I turned around, "Huh? I don't have a brother."
"A cousin then?"
"My family lives about a thousand miles away. What happened in the lobby?"
"A dude that looked just like you was hiding in a dark hallway in the lobby and staring at my girl's ass."
"Jacob, really," she said.
"I'm sorry that happened, but I had nothing to do with it. We do have the occasional homeless guy meander in. Maybe you saw one of them," I said. "Did he say or do anything bad?"
"Jacob, I asked you to not say something," the girl said, burying her head in her hands.
Jacob's frosty attitude to me made sense now. "He said something about running up that ass. I dunno, he was mumbling. I told him I'd beat his ass if he didn't stop staring. Seemed to shut him up."
"Oh. Well, congrats," I said. "I'll tell the manager. Thanks for letting me know."
"You should do a better job keeping jokers like that out of the building."
"Jacob, he's not a security guard."
"He should still be a man and protect his home."
"Have a good night," I said, ending the conversation and heading back up to my apartment. I had about five minutes to change and head out before I'd be late. Last thing my ego needed was to be fired from my backup job.
Thankfully, I was able to slip into work and not get spotted by my boss. That was the last of the good news, though. We had a massive weekly order come in, which meant I'd be there late, plus someone had called out. Worse, our hand truck had a flat tire, and I spent the next few hours torturing my muscles, schlepping heavy boxes around the store. I soldiered on, counting down the minutes until I left and fantasizing about going to bed for the night.
If wishing for sleep wasn't a sad statement to my mental well-being, nothing was.
I came home after my shift at the grocery store and plopped down on the couch. I had contemplated selling it, but it was an older Ikea number, and I didn't think the value would replace my desire to sit. I could feel my body sink into the cushions, and the day's tension seep out. I was beat and tired to the point that turning on the TV was a chore.
I picked up my phone and thought I'd doomscroll until sleep overtook me. I didn't expect it to be a long scroll, as even the methadone that is my phone has failed me lately. As I lowered myself from a slumped position to a supine one, I heard footsteps outside my apartment door. This was not unusual, but the noise I heard sounded like kid footsteps. That was unusual, as nobody on our floor had kids, and it was almost midnight.
Despite my body screaming at me to not move, my brain suggested I check it out. I rolled myself off the couch and eventually stood up. I listened again and heard the kid running down the hallway. I walked over to my door and looked out the peephole. I didn't see anyone.
"Maybe I'm dreaming," I said to myself. "Maybe I'm not staring out a peephole, expecting to see a kid running down the hall at midnight, but instead, I'm cuddled up in my bed, snoozing." I pinched my arm and felt the pain. I was definitely in the waking world.
I turned to head back to the couch when I heard the running again, this time louder. I opened my door and peeked out into the hallway. Nobody was there. The door from the apartment across me opened up, too. Gloria, a young at heart grandma who was friendly/constantly buzzed in a wine mom kind of way, gave me a once over.
"You heard that, too?" she asked.
"Kids?"
"No rugrats around. I assumed it was some drunk assholes stumbling home from the bar."
I laughed. Gloria was, as always, blunt. "I didn't see any assholes," I said.
"Then you're not watching the right kind of internet videos," she said with a wink and a hoarse cackle.
I blushed. How do you respond to that? I just kind of nodded in agreement and shrugged.
"Gotta get your jollies while you can," she said before adding, "You need some rest, dear. You look like hammered shit." She shut her door and went back inside.
She was right. I felt like hammered shit. Since I wasn't going to solve the case of the mysterious runner and was sure it wasn't some lost kid, I decided to call it a night. I went back inside, shut down the apartment, and crawled into bed.
I thought about watching one of the "right kind of internet videos" but fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
***
"Your problem is you think the world owes you something."
John, my elderly coworker at the grocery store, was standing by while I unloaded a pallet of cereal. I liked John, and when I first started, we instantly clicked. He's quick with a joke and fun to talk to. He's also about thirty years older than me and speaks with the Boomer combination of accumulated wisdom, backhanded compliments, and fringe conspiracy nonsense. Still, regardless of how couched the kindness is in gobbledygook, he's usually coming from a good place.
"What?" I said, putting a box of Captain Crunch on the shelf.
"You're complaining about your situation, right? Saying it ain't fair. The world took a paddle to your hind quarters? Hey brother, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Gotta just pick yourself up and start over. You're smart enough – figured this job out right quick – you can do it."
The job was wheeling pallets around the store and stocking shelves. It wasn't much to figure out, but I understood his meaning. The other stuff wasn't necessary, though. "I'm just in a funk. I don't see a way forward."
"Hey, so you've bottomed out. No shame in that. Happens to us all. Silver lining, you can only go up," he said before adding, "Unless some other bad shit happens to you like your car dies or your apartment building burns down. But after that, it's only up."
"The apartment building burning down would be a blessing," I said, hoisting another little Captain on the shelf. "The rent is killing me."
"Have you tried negotiating a lower rent? They used to do that when I was your age."
"I think they'd evict me if I even asked."
"Hell, then you'd have at least thirty days, maybe forty, before they'd kick you out. Plenty of time to turn things around."
"Uh-huh," I said, "Any chance you could give me a hand here?"
"My back is screaming like a pretty young thing after prom," he said, holding his back for emphasis.
I didn't push. "Hey, I meant to tell you about some weird shit that happened the other night."
"Lay it on me. I love the strange."
"So, after my shift the other day, I got home around midnight and was flopped on the couch. I heard someone running down the hallway outside my apartment. I wasn't the only one. A few other neighbors heard it, too. When we checked, though, nobody was there."
"That ain't strange," John said, waving his hand, "that's a man who's plowing another man's wife running for his life."
I laughed. "That's not the weird part. So, for the next two nights, it's the same thing. Around midnight, someone runs down the hallway. Only this time, they're trying the door handles as they pass. So, I asked the front desk to check the security cameras, and they do."
"They see a man running away holding his clothes?"
"There wasn't anyone running down the hall," I said, "But the weird thing was, you could see the door handles turning on the video."
"Damn, that's a good one," John said, "You sure it wasn't just a camera glitch. These new ones from overseas aren't as reliable as they want you to think. Chinese probably using them to spy on you, too."
He continued as my brain tried to reconcile John's two opposing comments. "Weird shit happens at night, man. Before working here, I only worked the day shift. Even when they offered me more money to work nights, I turned it down. Even when they promised me a promotion, I turned them down."
In a previous life, John had worked as a paramedic. He came by it after serving in a medical unit in the army. He'd told me he loved the rush of the job, but after a while, the death and hurt in people's eyes got to be too much to handle. But he worked there for almost twenty years. So, the man had a tolerance for shenanigans and odd occurrences.
"Why'd you agree to work nights here?"
"Shit, we're home before the witching hour. This is like late afternoons, at best. But if it was overnights, hell no. Captain Crunch can anchor his own ship to the shelves. I'd take my ass to 7-11 for a day shift before agreeing to work an overnight."
"Something happen to you during the army?”
“I got the clap,” he offered.
I sighed. “What turned you off nights?"
"Oh. I heard enough stories from coworkers to know I didn't want to experience any of that hoo-doo shit," he said, "trying to save someone's life is hard enough without adding in demon kids and ghosts."
"Did your coworkers see demon kids?" I asked, moving on from the good Captain to the Trix rabbit.
He nodded, "They saw too much. I find it odd, even with all the surveillance we have now and all the science we know about these days, that the night still scares us. You ever know someone who worked a night shift?"
I had. My ex. During college, she worked the overnight desk at a hotel for a while. She quit because the job gave her bad vibes. I told John as much.
He pointed and laughed, "See! Don't you find it odd that every person who works at night always has a story of something eerie happening to them? Every person, buster. That's what they call an irrefutable fact."
"Maybe the ghost running down the hallway is an old employee still doing his rounds."
"In that case, keep that door double locked. I'd even wedge a towel under the door just in case."
"Maybe they're friendly? Casper-like in that way."
"You ever heard someone tell you about a friendly ghost outside the funny papers?"
"I'm sure it happens," I said, "The scary ghosts are more popular though."
“We think we know everything there is to know but we are just babes in the woods when it comes to night things.” John shook his head. "Imma tell you one or three things that happened to a guy I worked with back when I first got hired on to chase after corpses in the ambo. Guy's name was Gil. Quiet man, kept to himself. Didn't rock the boat or demand a bigger paddle. Just rowed with us. Good cat to learn under," John said, finally handing me a cereal box.
I took it, and he kept going, "Now, Gil, ya see, he had a little wifey that would pester him about working days. She was a cop and worked evenings at that time, so they never saw each other. When married people can't align their genitals every now and then, it spells doom."
"A little too much information but sure," I said, shelving another box of Trix.
"Probably part of what happened with you and yours," he said. He wasn't wrong, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear it.
John kept on, "Gil finally got approved to move to nights. Little pay boost and a happy, 'fulfilled' wife should've made that man happy. But it didn't. I saw him a few months later, and he had changed. He might've been quiet when he was working with me, but he'd talk to you if you engaged. When I saw him that time, though, oh boy. He looked sick."
"Wasn't a fan of working nights?"
"Wasn't a fan of living anymore is the feeling I got," John said, "After some prodding, he got to talking with me some. Told me he missed days because the nights were messing with him. I thought it had to do with the schedule change, but that wasn't the case. He said he saw things in the dark he couldn't explain. Things that would turn James Brown into James White, ya dig?"
"I...dig," I said.
"Told me they got a call to an abandoned apartment building one night, around three in the morning. Wasn't unusual. Old buildings in the city are where hop-heads congregate and share drugs. Sometimes, the drugs are too much. Sometimes, they find a person passed out or, worse, dead. When you work in the ambo, you aren't scared of death like a civilian. You've been around it. Probably seen a few folks take their last breaths. It doesn't bother you the way Mother Nature intended it should."
He handed me another box, continuing his assist streak, and kept going, "Ambo pulled up, Gil stepped out and looked for someone to talk to. Nobody there, though. Not uncommon. Some people want to help but not be involved. There's not a soul around. He calls out, but nothing comes back. Tells me he turns to get back in the ambulance when he hears a scream from inside the run-down building. They're calling for help. He's gotta go in the abandoned building in the dark."
"No thanks," I said.
"But it don't bother a medic like that. Gil's done a million of these calls. No big deal. He runs into that building but doesn't come back out until twenty minutes later. Just goes missing. After five, the crew heads in to back him up but can't find him. Gil tells me his crew called the cops. It was like he had vanished."
"What happened?"
"I asked him and he got real quiet. Said he fell into some place that looked like here but wasn't here. Said he felt their eyes on him. Judging him. Told me they followed him home and wouldn't leave him be."
"Who?"
John shrugged, "He didn't say. Shut down after that and left. Just walked past me like I was shit on the sidewalk. He quit about a week later. Heard he had a stroke a year later and was a tombstone owner three months after that. Good guy, though."
"Your aversion to overnights makes a little more sense."
"Never in a million years. You don't want something like that coming after you."
"In my case, could it get much worse?" I said with a half-smile.
"Man, I wouldn't even joke about that," he said, making the sign of the cross, "You don't want that shit attachin' itself to you. With your luck, you'd bring him in here, and it'd hop over to me. I can't have a ghost crimping my style."
After a bit, he got called away to sign off on a delivery. I finished out my shift and headed out to the parking lot. When I exited the building and spotted my car, I froze. My doors were all open, and the interior lights were on. Someone had broken in.
I glanced around the lot to see if the thief was still around, but there wasn't another person near me. I walked over to the car and peered inside. My glovebox had been ripped open, and my registration was pulled out, but nothing else was missing.
I found little hand prints in the dirt all along the body and the windows. I held mine up for comparison, and they were about half the size. It must've been some tweens or teens who did this. Maybe they were going to steal some things and got cold feet. I contemplated calling the cops, but since nothing had happened and they wouldn't do anything anyway, there was no reason to delay sleep any longer than I had to. I closed all the doors and climbed inside.
I started the car and heard something rattling in the AC vents. I pulled out my phone and shined the light at the vent. There was a small piece of paper inside. I looked around my car for some tool to pull it out and only found an ink pen and a bent-up paperclip. After McGuyvering the vent for a bit, the paper finally came out.
I held it up and unfolded it. There was a handwritten note. It simply read, "I know you're here. I know you're hiding him. I will find you both, and then it'll be your turn to run the race. We all have to run at some point."
I had no idea what that meant, but my body still provided goosebumps. Who was trying to find me? Who was the second person? Why leave a note in my AC vent? What the hell did run the race mean? I hadn't run a race since elementary school and wasn't planning to do so any time soon. Did they mean the rat race? Because I was basically marathoning that motherfucker already.
"Jesus Christ," I said, shaking my head. "What else, universe?"
As if it were a well-practiced comedy routine, the universe responded. My back passenger door swung open, and I heard footsteps running away from my car. I sprung up and scrambled to get out. There wasn't anyone else in the lot that I could see, but very clearly, someone had been hiding in my backseat.
My nerves were shot already, and this was not something I wanted to deal with at the moment. My brain decided that to avoid a breakdown, I needed to shift into automatic mode and just get back to the safety of my apartment. I'd be more prepared to deal with this – whatever it was – in the morning.
Either that or I'd jump in front of a bus. Both sounded satisfying, albeit in different ways.
***
"There he is," Gloria said as soon as I turned down the hallway. I looked up and noticed a small cabal of my neighbors standing in a semi-circle, waiting for me. They all look displeased.
"Hey guys," I said, confused. "I miss an invite for a block party?"
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"About?"
"Don't play dumb," another neighbor said, jabbing their finger in my direction.
"I'm not playing," I said, realizing the self-burn only after the words escaped my lips.
Gloria showed me the screen on her phone. It was a static shot of her door from across the hall. She pressed play, and nothing happened for a beat until something darted across the screen. That was the whole thing. I looked up at her, my face twisted up in confusion.
"Well," she said, "What do you have to say?"
"What was that?" I asked.
"That was you!" the pointing neighbor said, pointing harder than I thought possible.
"What?" I said, laughing. "Are you all serious?" They didn't laugh, and I realized they weren't joking. "How can you even tell it's me? It's a blur. Never mind the fact I've been at work for the last five hours. Plus, this blur is half my size. I get we're all weirded out about the Phantom Runner, but it's not me. I swear to God. I don't even have the energy to think about running, let alone the physical desire to."
"Then explain this," Gloria said, slightly swaying from the half bottle of Pinot Noir coursing through her blood. She rewound the video and froze it on a specific frame. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I was looking at...me. Or, rather, something pretending to be me.
"What the fuck?" I said, my jaw dropping.
"Still think we're lying?" the pointer said smugly.
"No, but, guys, this isn't me. I... I've been at work. Wanna see my schedule?"
I reached into my phone and pulled it out. There was an email with my work schedule that confirmed what I was saying. They relaxed, and, for the first time, anger gave way to fear. Their very plausible explanation was suddenly invalid. It left two implausible answers floating in the ether: either I had a pint-sized doppelganger terrorizing the hallways of my apartment, or a ghost was haunting the building.
"I'm...gonna go inside," the pointer said, walking back to their home. Everyone else drifted away until it was just Gloria and I standing alone in the hallway.
She looked at me and sighed, "I feel like an asshole," she said. "Sorry I accused you of causing the racket."
"If I had seen the video, I would've thought the same thing," I said. "We're good."
"What do you think it is?" she asked.
I shrugged and let out an exhausted sigh. "Honestly, Gloria, I've had a screwed-up night already, and this is the cherry on top of the shit sundae; forgive my language. I don't have the mental bandwidth to even comprehend what's on the video at the moment."
"Think it's after you?" she asked, though I suspected the wine had forced her to put that idea out into the universe. As I had already seen, the universe seemed to take requests on my behalf.
"Maybe it's after you?" I said, coming off a little meaner than I intended, but I didn't care. I left her there to contemplate that scenario and went into my apartment.
As soon as the door shut behind me, I felt on edge. Just because I didn't have the mental bandwidth to discuss the doppelganger didn't mean it wasn't dominating my thoughts. I saw the frame of the video. The damn ghost looked exactly like me. What could that possibly mean? I know I had wished for death, but I was very still alive. I had rent due to prove that.
Did I happen to live in a place haunted by a ghost that looked strikingly like me? Was it some kid with a passing resemblance just causing chaos? Was it something else I couldn't even comprehend – an alien? A clone? A secret government project?
There was a thumping coming from the hallway. The mini Usain Bolt was at it again. I knew the neighbors would ignore it. Since they had all thought it was me, which was proven to be untrue, they would avoid the running man from now on. While curious and confused by the creature, they'd never put themselves in harm's way to discover what it was. They were not a brave lot.
Neither was I, but maybe my life crumbling around me had forced my hand. I walked over to my door and swung it open. I hit record on my phone, stuck it out like a periscope, and glanced around the hallway. Nobody was there. No neighbors were looking. No person was running.
"You gotta stop, man. I need to go to sleep," I said to the empty space. No response, not that I was expecting one.
I turned to walk back in, and I caught something out of the corner of my eye. A face at the end of the hallway peeked around the corner. For a quick second, we locked eyes, and it was like I was looking into a mirror. This thing was me. But...how?
I tried to get it on video, but it ducked back into the shadows. I took that as a cue to shut and lock my door. My heart was racing, and I didn't want to think about this anymore, but I couldn't help it. There was a me in the hallway who enjoyed pestering my neighbors. Worse, they liked to run for some ungodly reason.
I put my phone on the counter, the video still rolling, when there was a knock at my door. It echoed in my near-empty apartment. I tried to ignore it and convince myself it was something else, but it wasn't. The ghost was knocking on my door. Even with my brain paralyzed, I couldn't help but think that it was awfully polite to knock.
Another knock, this one more forceful. I wondered if the neighbors thought I was making this up?
"I know you're in there," a voice said. It sounded just like me. "This is about the race. We all have to run the race. It's your turn now."
I froze. My legs went wobbly like a boxer on the brink of a blackout, but I stayed tall. I opened my mouth to speak and found the words dying in my throat. I grabbed a nearby bottle of water and took a chug.
"We all have to run the race."
"What race?" I choked out, "What are you talking about?"
"Open up. They're in there already, and I need to get them."
I glanced all around my empty apartment. I didn't see anyone else in here. I didn't hear anything. Whatever this thing was, it was lying. I grabbed my phone and held it in my hand. I wanted to document this to prove that I wasn't crazy.
“Did you leave the note?”
“I know they’re in there with you,” it repeated.
"There's no one in here," I said.
"They're hiding. I think I know where. I can hear them."
"You've gotta get out of here," I said. "There's nothing here, and you're scaring people."
"I'm scared, and you should be! You have to run the race, man! Open up, and I can show you."
The handle started to shake. I peered through the keyhole and only saw the top of the other me's head. They began to shoulder the door, and it crunched against my nose. I screamed out in pain and stumbled back. I tripped over my feet and landed hard on my ass.
The thing slammed into the door two more times, shaking the walls. The strength seemed unnatural. On the third hit, the door burst open. I finally got a view of the thing. It was me. Scaled down by half, but it was me. We both seemed shocked.
"You're so much taller up close," the other me said.
"Who the fuck are you?"
I felt a buzzing in my feet that seemed to climb up my body until it reached my brain. There was an intense pain that rippled through the folds of my mind. Through the pain, I could hear a disembodied voice whisper, "We all must run the race. We all have to run. Chase it. Chase yourself." It felt like my skull was going to split in two. I clutched the sides of my head and let out a primal scream that hurt my own ears.
Then it was gone. But I could still feel the echoes in my mind. "We all have to run the race. We all have to run." The thought would waver between making no sense and making complete sense. One second, I was questioning what was happening to my mind, and the next, all I felt was the desire to continue the race.
"There he is!" the other me yelled, pointing at the hallway.
I glanced over and saw another version of me standing in the hallway. It was half the size of the other me that had broken into my place. When tiny me locked eyes with my intruder, he ran for the open hallway closet.
The other me followed, screaming that it would catch the little bastard if it was the last thing he'd do. I pushed myself up to my feet and felt queasy. I watched as the other me ran head-first into the closet without slowing. I expected to hear a loud thump as it hit the back wall but none came.
"We all have to run the race," the voice in my head said, soothing my nerves. "It's your time to run the race."
I moved down the hallway, each footfall echoing loudly in the empty apartment, each step bringing me closer to the closet door. Something was drawing me there. The voice's words echoed in my mind as well: "We all have to run the race. It's your turn now."
I grabbed the door and stopped. Something was compelling me to move forward. To go into the closet. To chase myself. To run the race.
"No," I whispered and yanked my hand from the door. I pulled out my still recording phone, and stared into the camera. My face was devoid of color, and you could see the fear etched into me. "I'm freaking out because...because…"
I stopped. I felt an invisible hand grab my body and tug. "Because...because if I don't run the race, something bad will happen. I have to chase it. I...I have to."
My phone dropped from my hand, and I didn’t care. The force pulling me forward stopped but my body kept going. I could feel the last strands of my rational mind splintering. My thoughts became focused on one thing: I had to catch myself, find out what was happening, and run the race. If I ran, maybe I'd win.
I needed a win.
I walked into the back of the closet and felt a door handle sticking out of the wall. I'd been in that closet a million times before and never had seen this. But a sense of calm washed over me. This….this was supposed to be here. This was perfectly fine.
I turned the handle and pulled open the invisible door. In front of me was a hallway that looked strikingly like the one outside my apartment. At the end of the hallway, I saw Gloria step out of their home to leave for the night. She was huge. Twice my size, easy.
Another door opened, and I saw...me—a giant version of me. The Hulk version of me was getting ready to go to the grocery store for work. I watched as the giant Gloria and giant me joked and laughed. I was stunned.
I stared, and a new thought came to me. I have to find the smaller me and talk to it. I needed to find out if there's a way out of this...this….
"It's your turn to run," the voice said.
Calm embraced me. "It's my turn to run," I repeated. As the giant me took off and the giant Gloria re-entered her apartment, the hallway beckoned.
"We all have to run the race," I said softly, "It's my turn now."
I started running.

I feel like an idiot for posting this on Reddit but I don't really feel comfortable venting about this with friends, so here we are!
(21F) It's been two years since I broke up with my ex boyfriend. It was a really healthy relationship and we remain really close friends, it just didn't make sense to me to keep up with it anymore.
Well, I'm a 21 year old girl, and since that breakup my social life hasn't been all that interesting really. I'm a 4th year law student and college ended up being not all that exciting, and even tough I've got to meet my amazing group of friends, I didn't really relate to anyone else. Therefore, this time when you're supposed to meet lots of people and broaden your horizons ended up stagnating a bit for me.
I consider myself an easy going person, I've never in my life find it hard to make friends or getting to know people. It's just that I haven't got many chances to. I spend most my time with my friends I already know or end up meeting people at parties who I don't talk to ever again, and being still in college doesn't give me much time for new activities. Romantic-wise, I've never been the type that cares too much (or even at all) to be in a relationship, and I never really liked the idea of having to chase anything. I thrive on my own most of the time, and whatever happens, happens. But like anyone else, I sometimes miss the occasional flirt and whatever comes with it haha. Intimacy in geral, or just having fun. More than the horny!!!! aspect of it, I really do miss getting to make friends and talk to somebody new.
Well, as I've stated before, I think I'm really easy to talk to, overall funny and outgoing. Charming in a good day, perhaps haha. About my looks, well I wouldn't say I'm stunning but I'm not very insecure, or at least I don't let it get to my head very often. Maybe not the type you'd give a second look or flirt on the subway - unless I'm reading some cool book or something haha - but maybe buy me a drink in the night if we're having a good time lol. I'm usually very friendly with anyone I meet so I don't even know how people make the jump to flirtation these days...
Back to the dating apps: as we've seen here, I'm stagnant. Not even my social media does wonders for me anymore since I've had the stupid idea of soft blocking almost everyone when I've gotten out of high school (so real to be fair), so most of my followers are people I actually know or work with today. There's always a random guy out of nowhere but you know, no one interesting enough !!
That being said, should I overcome my fear of dating apps? I'm NOT gonna lie to you, to this very day I've always been a bit prejudiced about it. Not judgemental of people who use them at all, I just never thought I'd be into it because I don't think that's the coolest way to say I've met a significant other haha. I mean, my future boyfriend can be using a dating app right now, but he surely won't find me in one. At least that's how I like to put it.
Still, I'm reluctant. My brain tells me not to do it, but at the same time my heart is telling me to do so for the plot. I really hate the idea of having to create a profile that appeals to anyone, plus the dynamic of maybe not finding matches???? I don't have many self esteem issues but idk how that would affect me in the long run. Plus, maybe this might sound wrong, but given the fact that I study law people on my field of study expect some odd seriousness of their employees, and as common as they are there's still many preconceptions about dating apps within these firms. I mean, I already hold the weight of my digital footprint being goofy on twitter haha
WELL I don't know what to expect of this! But it's my first post on Reddit so there's that! I ended up writing a lot more than I intended so feel free to engage and talk to me. Or even to call me an idiot. It's late in the night in here and I feel like oversharing SO there's that freedom of opinating about strangers lives on the internet lol
Anyway thanks in advance, and I apologize for any mistake since english ain't my first language!

I was a former federal employee. I filed an official EEO complaint in November 2022. After a year of investigation, in early 2023, I chose to request a hearing from EEO since I did all my filing myself and did not hire an attorney.
After a month, I received a notification to file motions and the initial conference is set within two weeks. The timeline is very tight, and I need to find an attorney immediately. Any recommendations for finding a good attorney?
Im not sure if the AJ favor the agency side, The ADR appear in the EEO portal at the beginning but now dismissed. Although I would never accept ADR.
Any thoughts/comments are welcome.
AP

I recently booked a stay at a hotel that is part of The Edit collection. I paid with my CSR card but didn't book through Chase Travel because the rate I got booking through the hotel directly was much better than what I saw on the Chase portal. Does anyone know if I will still get The Edit perks (breakfast, hotel credit, room upgrade, etc.)since I booked w/ a CSR and will put it down for incidentals? If not, does anyone know if there is a way to get those or have Chase match the price that I booked through the Marriott site? Thanks in advance

I haven’t fleshed out all the details of this idea yet, so by all means, critique and improve this concept until we hit that sweet spot.
PURPOSE: To inject that rare “holy shit” series of moments that players will be excited to chance across, and will undoubtedly provide those panicked adrenaline / dopamine rushes that we can make epic memories around.
FREQUENCY: Once per calendar day, per server (only tiers 3 and 4, softcore and hardcore are independent)
ORIGINATION: Randomly assigned, at a randomized time, a single killable mob (could be a cow, world boss, fallen, etc.) becomes an Uber Goblin in disguise. You can’t detect this mob from looking at it.
INITIATION: Upon being hit by any player, the Uber Goblin reveals itself and takes off running, per usual. This Uber Goblin probably needs a distinct look, and should probably be slightly larger than typical Loot Goblin.
REWARD FOR KILL: 50% more drops than a normal Loot Goblin, AND… 1 Resplendent Spark! … to only the player who gets the LAST HIT to kill the Uber Goblin.
THE CHALLENGE: The Uber Goblin has the following unique features… - It never escapes via portal - It runs, jumps gaps, blinks short distances to average approximately 2-3 times faster than a typical Loot Goblin - Its movement cannot be hindered. Permanently unstoppable. - Its health pool is not a numerical amount. Instead, each successful hit damages it for 1% (or 0.5% or whatever balance makes sense). I’d say the full chase from initiation until kill should average around 3-4 minutes. - Each successful hit of the Uber Goblin, causes it to very briefly disappear and reappear in almost the same location along with 3 decoys that look exactly like the Uber Goblin. The real one and the decoys will take off in random directions and they each get 1 second of immunity. - Hitting a decoy extinguishes it with no reward. Decoys will not extinguish until hit by a player. - No place in the open world is off limits for the Uber Goblin to run. It could venture into a Helltide, a Stronghold… just not a town or city where players are unable to attack.
THE MAP ALERT: Upon initiation, a quick map alert to everyone on the server should go out and say something to the effect of, “An Uber Goblin has been discovered in Scosglen!” Nothing more. No icon telling you anything about its location. Let the mass rush begin to take part in the chase. And may the best hunter win!
Thoughts?

Rat Liver (brown) - Increase movement speed while holding shred by 7.5 (was 3.5)
This is because 3.5 is barely a good enough speed to see a difference, but seeing this as a brown I'd understand why.
Rat Tail (brown) - Decreases the time it takes to go into portals by 50%
Rat Tail is a really good add on to have and without it placing portals is so sluggish and takes a bit to do, especially if you want to multitask and place portals during chases. So I made it base kit and gave it a different description, making the time it takes to go through a portal faster.
Rotten Green Tripe (yellow) - Increases Teleport speed by 20% (was 15%)
Rotten Green Tripe is an okay add on and it could really use a buff to make it a bit better.
Viscous Webbing (yellow) - Change: While holding shred for 2 seconds, The Demogorgon gains undetectable.
Viscous Webbing is a pretty terrible add on that nobody will ever run, making it take 16% longer to seal portals. Since the number is really small and it makes sealing portals take 2 seconds longer, instead of buffing it, I changed the effect completely and provided a stealthy aspect to his kit with this add on.
Sticky Lining (yellow) - Increases the Area of Effect of active Portals by +4 meters. New effect: The range of the audio the portals emit is decreased by 4 meters.
Sticky lining is also another add on that never gets any good use, so to make it special, buffing the range and making the portal sounds quieter would make them harder to listen out for.
Brass Case Lighter (green) - Change: Injured survivors that come into contact with active portals suffer from the Hemorrhaged and the Mangled status effect for 80 seconds.
Demo doesn't really have any anti-healing in his kit of add ons and given how useless blindness is, even for 60 seconds, it gives anti-healing status effects.
Deer Lung (green) - Increases Teleport speed by 40% (was 30%) and removes 1 portal (was 2)
Deer lung had too much of a severe downside for only 30% of traverse speed so buffing the speed and removing only 1 portal instead of two shouldn't make it really dangerous.
Thorny Vines (green) Increases Portal Sealing Time by 40% (was 11%). No longer increases the area of effect of active portals by 1 meter.
Thorny vines only made the portals take 1.5 seconds longer to remove and the extra 1 meter of detection was barely anything to help out in a match.
Eleven's Soda (green) - Change: While traversing The Upside Down, the progress of the generators' is determined by the color of their aura.
Seeing which generator is being repaired while you're locked in animation and you can't go back is really annoying so why not let the Demogorgon also see the progress of the generator through the color like the wraith's add on.
Violet Waxcap (green) - Increases the undetectable status effect the Demogorgon gains after emerging from a portal by 5 seconds. (was 1 second)
Come on. 1 second? Really?
Lifeguard Whistle (purple) - Killer instinct is automatically triggered without holding shred. No longer removes 1 meter of detection range
Why would a purple with a good effect need to have such a stupid downside. Just remove it.
Unknown Egg (purple) - Change: While traversing the upside down, press Active Ability 1 to go back to the portal you were going through and reappear from the portal you entered. Does not work when within 16 meters of a hooked survivor.
This would be such a good thing to have because when survivors see you go through a portal they are safe unless you placed a portal next to the one you entered. To prevent this, The Demogorgon should have a button to go back to the start. Also, you can't use it when you are within 16 meters of a hooked survivor to prevent easy Make your Choice and Devour downs.
Upside Down Resin (purple) - Portals take 60% longer to seal (was 40%)
Making portals take a maximum of 24 seconds to seal would be a good thing to have especially since 4 seconds is barely a difference.
Vermillion Webcap (purple) - Increases the undetectable status effect the Demogorgon gains after emerging from a portal by 8 seconds. (was 3 seconds)
Leprose Lichen (red) - The Auras of all Survivors are revealed to you while traversing the Upside Down. This effect lingers while survivors are within 16 meters of an active portal. Change: Removes the Global Teleport sound that occurs when teleporting.
This would make the nerf that they added for this add on actually viable if it had the secondary effect of making the teleport sound inaudible.
Red Moss (red) - Increases the duration of the Undetectable Status Effect by +16 seconds (was 8 seconds) Suppresses all noise made while emerging from Portals. While undetectable, The Growling Sounds the Demogorgon makes is removed. No longer increases the time it takes to emerge from a portal.
Red Moss is a pretty mediocre add on even for an iridescent so these changed definitely would make them suitable for ultra-rare. Also, giving the Demogorgon a more stealthy aspect would make him more fun with a stealth build.

Does anyone carry both the CSR and VX? I'm trying to decide if it makes sense for me.I have the CSR now, paired with the CFU, CF, Ink Unlimited, and Ink Cash, so the spend earnings are pretty solid.
On the surface, it makes so much more sense to pair the CSP and VX instead, but main thing holding me back is the 1.5cpp redemption rate you get with the CSR via the Chase portal, specifically when it comes to redeeming for hotel stays, Hyatt aside. I've found it very difficult to come anywhere close to that redemption rate at other hotel programs, so the added flexibility you get through the portal is really nice.
I know I'll be able to use the travel credits offered by both cards, thus reducing the annual fees but so many of the other benefits overlap. Any words of wisdom or guidance is appreciated!

Hi all! I am looking for a great universal travel card. I am looking at capital one venture, chase sapphire, and AMEX. Open to other suggestions.
I have great credit and good income so I am not worried about approval odds.
I currently have an Apple, Amazon, chase unlimited and chase flex card.
I am flying in the next few weeks and looking for a card I can use on flights, hotels and car rentals with a higher return.
I am debating whether or not the higher annual fee will be worth it on the AMEX and Sapphire cards. I currently have cards with no annual fees. I am also wondering what experiences are using the travel portals for each of these cards. I have noticed that they are more expensive than booking directly. Any insight and suggestions welcome. Hoping to apply for one today and book my trip. Thank you for your help!

Curious if others have compared these and found it to work differently, but I've got what I think is pretty high annual spend and I still can't seem to get the math to work out that the Reserve is better than the Preferred.
Total annual spend on Chase of ~$83k with ~$14k coded as "travel" (per Chase's online annual summary).
Including the dining bonus (which is the same for Pref and Reserve) that gets me a base earnings of ~117k points on the preferred, which then becomes 125k with the 10% annual bonus.
On the Reserve it would be ~131k points (increased travel multiplier but no annual bonus).
Which means I'm looking at earning an additional ~6k points using Reserve vs. Preferred. However, the annual fee for the Reserve would be $325 (after $300 travel credit considering I have one authorized used, my spouse) vs $95 for the preferred (no travel credit, but free authorized used).
Even using $0.02 as a point value (historically have used almost all of my Chase points to transfer into Hyatt) that seems like I'm paying $230 for $122 of extra points?
Perhaps it makes more sense if you plan to use your points in the Chase travel portal or if you value the other Reserve benefits more -- I just don't use the travel portal or put much value on the other benefits since I feel like I get equal or better benefits from Amex Platinum (and do put some travel spending on there as a result, mostly airfare I can book through Amex portal and FHR Hotels and car rentals).
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Thanks for advance for reading this. I'll be moving to San Francisco next year and plan to switch my primary airline from American to United. I'd say I'd travel for pleasure about once every six weeks and usually do one to two international trips a year. I currently have a chase trifecta (CSP) and BILT as my primary two credit cards. Now that will be pivoting to united I was wondering if anyone and the Bay Area can add their two cents to what credit card combinations they have. It seems the explorer card could be a reasonable option To add to my current Credit card lineup. Think my big questions are whether to upgrade to CSR and add an Explorer Card or keep CSP and potentially get a United Club card. At the end of the day my biggest expenses are rent (thank you BILT), food and travel. I feel frustrated at times with the chest portal where I find hotels and flights would be more expensive. That being said I still want to be able to take advantage of budget asian carriers (zipair). Happy to answer more questions. Thank you!

Trying to get a good gauge on my value at this point in my career. I don't want to say I'm chasing the dollar, but I am 27, have a wife who just started working in the medical field, and have a 5 month old son.
I've worked as a Systems Administrator / IT Analyst at this same company for the last 5 years. We have since raised our total employee count to about 100 across 5 different branches.
I have a Masters degree in Information Technology Management with a concentration in Cyber Security, which I graduated with in 2022.
I live in North Carolina, and I get paid hourly which equates to about $65,000 a year..
Part of a 2 man IT team, just me and my manager, in charge of all 100 employees, and I'm mainly the only one dealing with the users and general issues. Manager mainly deals with contracts / budgeting / larger infrastructure type issues that he would rather do himself (he built the infrastructure of the company himself from the ground up prior to me arriving).
We do absolutely no out-sourcing, everything is in house. From MDM to O365 management, to Azure, User Administration, ERP troubleshooting, Server Management, Info Sec, RDM, hardware management.. the whole works, including a Help Desk role.
Fellow Systems Administrators... should I honestly be making more at this point in my career? What are your opinions or suggestions?

Hey guys, I hope all is well. Please delete if not in the appropriate spot.
For the last few weeks I've been checking the Amazon jobs portal, got set up for alerts, and check pretty frequently for any warehouse positions that may become available, but so far I haven't seen anything at all for the JAX warehouse.
Any suggestions? I would also love to pick an active employees brain about stuff if possible.
I'm currently working from home as a fraud analyst and am looking for a change of scenery, Amazon seems like a great fit for me, especially if they have benefits for part time workers (please correct me if I'm wrong). For reference, I've worked in the UPS warehouse and was Army, I know it is not easy work by any means and would be a drastic change.
TIA!
Eric

Hi. I need help regarding blocking of our wifi connection based on employee's shift. We have 2 shifts per day and I only need to block those employees in their current shift schedule.
How and what devices can help me do that?

TW: Miscarriage
My domestic partner suffered a devastating miscarriage in January of 2023. Subsequently, our fertility doctor sent the fetal tissue to a third party provider for lab services to determine whether a chromosomal abnormality was the cause. Since then, we've been fortunate enough to have a beautiful healthy baby girl. It wasn't until April of this year (a year and three months after the service) that we received a bill in the mail for $799 from a company called Natera. The bill was for the lab services requested by our doctor, and the bill explained that our insurance refused to cover the services, so we would instead be on the hook for the payment.
Setting aside that this bill was a slap in the face and reopened the wound of an upsetting point in our lives, Natera is in-network, and this service should absolutely have been covered by my health insurance. I'm fortunate enough to have good insurance through my work, and, through my benefits, a patient advocate who sometimes acts as a buffer between employees and our insurance company. I reached out explaining the situation, and my patient advocate reached out to Cigna, my insurance company, who explained that Natera had failed to complete a preauthorization before the service, which is why their claim was rejected, but that they were "prohibited from billing the patient." When I looked in my Cigna portal, I saw the claim and EOB, which indeed noted multiple times that this was a mistake of the provider's, and that I was not on the hook to pay anything, even noting that if I had already paid the provider, I should request reimbursement from them.
Cigna in turn reached out to Natera, who said they would submit a new claim with retro preauthorization. However, I never saw a new claim surface in my portal, and we continued getting more mail from Natera with increasingly urgent language about our bill being "PAST DUE." Not knowing what else to do, I called Natera billing myself on three occasions to speak directly with customer support. The first time, the specialist said she would escalate the matter to her supervisor and that I should see the balance on my bill go back to zero at payment.natera.com within a week (it's been over a week and the balance is still $799). The second time, I was disconnected. The third time, the specialist told me to hold while he connected with customer support, and, over the course of a half an hour, repeatedly returned to the line every two minutes to robotically let me know he was still waiting for a response and could he put me on a brief hold. In the third instance I told him "I know this isn't your fault, but I've been on hold with you for a half an hour; can you just call me back when you hear from them?" He said he would call back in between 30-60 minutes and never did.
I submitted a message to Natera's online portal explaining the situation, the research I and my patient advocate did confirming this was Natera's fault and that it was not just to be billing me for their mistake. I noted that Natera had told my insurance they would resubmit the claim but that no such claim had surfaced. A week later, I received a response thanking me for choosing Natera and saying that because their claim was rejected by insurance, they had no choice but to bill me (citing the original claim from a year ago — not even noting any new claim with retro preauthorization).
I am writing this in part because I am at my wits end being harassed by Natera — while also trying to parent my infant daughter and return to work — and unsure how to proceed getting this nightmare resolved. Furthermore, I want to spread the word that Natera's billing department is cruel and predatory, and hopefully assure someone else in my shoes that they aren't alone. Upon research, it sounds like Natera has been accused and even brought to court for ripping off customers with bogus bills, so I can only hope they're brought to some semblance of justice.
On the first point — my being unsure how to proceed — any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Vivian Wakes up the next day and immediately gets dressed to go to Lucius’s house
Vivian: Oh crap I need to get up I promised I wasn’t gonna be late!
A few hours later and Vivian gets to his house
Vivian: I-I’m HERE”
Lucius walks in
Lucius: Hello my young padawan”
Vivian: I’m ready to learn sir!
Lucius: Did you pack your bags?
Vivian: b-bags? No why?”
Lucius: We’re heading to the land of Nazareth darling and I swear I told you to pack!”
Vivian: I’m so sorry sir my apologies
Vivian bows for forgiveness
Lucius: hey hey don’t do that kid it’s a bit embarrassing
Vivian stands up straight
Vivian: YES SIR”
Lucius: well since you haven’t packed I guess we’re gonna have to wait until tomorrow…anyways go pack up and say goodbye to your friends because we’ll probably be gone for 3 years or so”
Vivian: th-THREE YEARS?!”
Lucius: If you wish to get better then it is something we must do”
Vivian: o-ok…”
Vivian leaves the mansion
Vivian: I don’t wanna leave that long…
Suddenly a Giant explosion occurs and Vivian sees Angel and Hercule chasing down Techneo the Cyber Outlaw
Vivian runs over to them
Vivian: H-HEY what’s going on team?
Angel: This Guy is what’s going on. He just stole $500 worth of money”
Vivian: W-well lets chase him down and after the r we capture him I gotta tell you something…”
They all start chasing Techneo
Hercule: You will not escape villain
Hercule grabs the ground and hurls it at him
Techneo: Aren’t you an a strong fellow”
Techneo jumps extremely high onto a building
Angel chases him from the skies
Angel: Your not getting away this time
Angel dives down from the sky and punches him in the face
Techneo: C-crap your strong”
He pulls out a lasso and ties her up
Angel: h-hey! You won’t get away!”
Vivian floats into the building and casts a stun beam at Techneo
Techneo is hit and he ends up dropping the money bag
Techneo: oh crap I feel drunk~
Techneo falls off the building
Angel: great job Vivi! Now what did you wanna tell us?
Vivian: uhhh uhhh ITS NOTHING”
Angel: come on you know you wanna”
Vivian: uhhhhh fine…. I’m going to Nazareth to learn how to control my magic….”
Vivian starts crying
Angel pats her head and hugs her
Angel: it’s ok I mean even if your gonna be gone it won’t be that long…”
Vivian cries
Vivian: th-three years 😭”
Angel: oh crap… Well don’t worry we can write letters to each other it’s not like we will stay apart
Vivian: I-I guess so”
After taking Techneo to jail the 3 head to the station to tell there boss Sheriff Sleuth the news
Sleuth: Your going away?
Vivian: Y-yes
Sleuth: well then you’re gonna have to give me your badge…”
Vivian: I know….”
She holds her badge thinking of all the memories she made
Vivian: I’ll be back someday…”
She gives sleuth the badge
Vivian: Th-thank you all for being with me”
They all hug her except for sleuth
Hercule: it is ok magic girl”
Angel: she has a name you know…and she’s perfect no matter what…”
Vivian: I’ll be back in 3 years and by then I want you all to get stronger too”
Angel: we will don’t worry about us”
The next day Vivian enters The mansion with her bags
Vivian: I’m ready!
Lucius: looks like you prepared?
Vivian: Y-yeah it took a while
Lucius: well then let’s get going
Lucius creates a portal and they both go through it

The insurance industry is a highly regulated sector that protects corporations and individual policyholders from risks involving their assets, homes, and health. The digital revolution presents numerous challenges to this uniquely positioned industry.
Adapting to New Digital Technologies: Embracing rapid technological changes has been challenging for the insurance sector. Digital transformation has altered how insurance brokers plan their operations, deliver services, and manage internal processes. Brokers find it difficult to stay updated with the latest tools and platforms that manage client information, automate policy renewals, and facilitate seamless communication. The initial investment and learning curve for new software can be hurdles, but these tools ultimately offer significant benefits.
Risk Evaluation and Data Security: In the increasingly digitalized insurance industry, cybersecurity is a necessity. As businesses rely more on digital data and processes, the risk of cyber attacks grows. A data breach not only compromises private client information but also damages trust and can result in significant financial losses. Therefore, insurance brokers must invest in software with advanced security features, although finding suitable solutions can be challenging.
Employee Upskilling with New Digital Skills: To meet the evolving needs of customers, insurers must embrace technology. Insurance brokers need to adapt to provide customer-centric solutions that align with the digital lifestyles of modern consumers, from mobile apps to AI-driven customer support. As technology, risks, and economies evolve, brokers and other employees require continuous digital upskilling and guidance to acquire new skills and reinforce learning.
Consumer Expectations for Quick Digital Interaction: Today's consumers demand efficient digital interactions, personalized coverage, data privacy, and corporate social responsibility more than ever before. Only insurance broking software, with mobile apps and web portals, can meet these expectations. However, transitioning to online interactions can be difficult for traditional insurance brokers.

#verified
Social Services of the Doomed is Verified!
They have magic and fangs. You have red tape! In this epic conflict between fantasy and bureaucracy, will you save your city, or sell your soul?
Social Services of the Doomed is a 400,000-word interactive urban fantasy novel by Fade Manley. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
As an employee of the Department of Supernatural Social Services, it’s your job to mediate when a dispute breaks out between vampires and werewolves. Which is pretty often, these days. Tensions are rising in your city: not all supernatural citizens think that they have to abide by the law. Flocks of harpies are crowing prophecies of doom; wizards are slinging fireballs; trolls aren’t just having peaceful chats about tunneling technology anymore; there are demons in the werewolf dive bar; and something is up with the ley lines. Sometimes it feels like you’re the only one standing between the supernatural factions and a city in flames.
On the other hand, some factions are willing to cut a deal on the side, so if you really want the city to be in flames - and if you feel like that civil-servant paycheck isn’t stretching as far as you’d like - you could make that happen. Every faction knows that you could be useful to them.
How will you handle it? Will you sneak, fight, negotiate, confuse, or just whip out some obscure county regulations? There’s always more paperwork to be done, and if you fall too far behind, your boss might call you in for a chat about your monthly metrics. (Also, your boss might be a constellation. Don’t ask.)

• Make your way through the city as a demon, troll, wizard, or completely mundane human.
• Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, or asexual.
• Advance your career, sink your rival's career, or try to play nice with all your coworkers at once.
• Romance a troll, a demon, a werewolf, a vampire, or your office rival. (Who’s a snake person.)
• Chase demons out of the cubicle farm before everyone gets back from lunch.
• Thwart the dastardly plans of Hell’s minions, or sell your soul to them…or just flirt with a cute demon.

Demons and trolls, vampires and werewolves, wizards and harpies... and you're standing in the middle with the most fearsome thing of all: paperwork.

Links: ⚫ View Social Services of the Doomed
https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1443850/header.jpg?t=1680669952

Quidco is a cashback site just like Topcashback and should be in your arsenal of cashback sites along with the rest of them (all posted on here).
The website is easy to use. Just find the retailer you want to shop at, click through to their website and you'll automatically get cashback at whatever rate is being advertised.
Quidco also have a Highest Cashback Guarantee - they will match the rate of any competitors and give you a little extra on top. This is not widely known!
If you buy giftcards on other cashback apps (ie Airtime Rewards or Jam Doughnut) or through employee benefits portals (Perks At Work or Rewards Gateway) you can still get cashback by shopping at the retailer store via Quidco and paying with those gift cards - win-win.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
For new users they are offering £15 as a bonus by signing up to Quidco via this link, once you've earned £5 in confirmed cashback.
Earn cashback by shopping as usual through the site.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Always use Quidco and Topcashback alongside comparison sites when signing for insurance and utilities - they have good rates for these.
Cashback earned on Quidco is paid in cash, to your bank account or paypal, for free.
You'll also get £15 for referring friends once they earn £5.

There are two membership plans.
The Basic, free version is perfect for most people (I'm on this plan).
The Premium version costs £1 per month (if you earn cashback in that month), gives you up to 20% payout bonus, no ads and up to 10% top-up on cashback rates.

^{Terms - https://www.quidco.com/refer-quidco/
Non-ref link - https://www.quidco.com/}