Happy to end a hot team’s streak. Three points coming at a good time. Really a bit of a smash and grab for us considering we come away with 36% possession with 6 shots (2 on target) vs their 17 (4). Kept in this match with great goalkeeping and a few nice individual performances/efforts. For a team moving to possession style we seem quite disjointed.
I think we really do have some good players in Lambert, Haakenson, Burks we are integrating in this squad. That being said, I think we also lack personnel. Having to play Chol and Lacy both start, players who don’t offer much in possession, kills a lot of our attacks and ability to retain the ball. I still believe in Agudelo the guy works his ass off with decent retention and feet.
I was sitting behind Marcena too, he seems to be stressed, was constantly screaming at Lacy instructions. Looked like anxious over coaching.
Defense split quite a bit few times too easily some better finishing we draw this game. Silva can’t come back soon enough. I wish we had kept Dhillon the guy is the best supporting cast.
I’m giving Marcena confidence for now we’ve had some unfortunate injuries our midfield has such little depth. I was sitting behind at. 15 or 16 y/o Academy player on our bench. But also good for him!

All working as of 6 / 1 / 2024
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(Tons of New Unique 🔥 gameplay elements; RPG Factor, Loot, Armor, Weapons, Enemies, Tweaks and Quests, Content, Clothes and Outfits, Perks, Locations, sounds, textures, Life in the commonwealth, and pipboy health management in the STAT category, ACTUAL use for FOOD outside of survival mode, New Treasures, battle encounters and OVERHAULED cities and factions including UNIQUE new Created Locations to discover across the DLC and Base game.)
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Normal or Easy setting playthrough
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Player FACE Preset 13‼️
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Pickup: False:Camera from Chem Bench and favorite.
I have a three in one right handed vanilla weapons mod in there already.
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• Munitions
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• No Load Screen Rotation

Secret Dragon - Chapter 2: Ignite
I opened the book and skimmed through a few chapters, happy to finally see some true information, with substance. Although I had many books of my own, I had never brought any of them to class; I had no intention of being asked about them or pressing the issue.
By virtue of my existence, it and I would be scrutinized. I had neither the patience nor the desire for another microscope to be placed above me.
But Sasha had no such reservations even after I told him about the curriculum, although he relented and said he would figure out a way around that nonsense. It seemed as if he was determined to go against the grain.
We spoke deeply, about different subjects, our project, and his books. The more he talked the more at ease he became. I unknowingly got closer and closer to him as the time passed. I had to literally pull myself back a few times. I wondered if he noticed. It was confusing how I kept leaning into the heat coming off his breath.
We were both startled at the sound of chairs scraping. We looked around as our peers gathered their things.
“It seems that for the first time this class is actually worth my time. Usually I am the first to leave,” Sasha said, surprised.
“I know,” I revealed.
“Hmmm,” he vocalized deeply. I had no idea if it was “oh really” or “interesting” or any other answer. It was just a deep throat vibration. I just knew he would do that a lot. I could feel it.
As I was packing my things, I realized I was a little feverish. I put a hand to my cheek. Was it hot? Or was it that he was speaking heat in my direction? I couldn’t tell. I never ran hot.
He watched me touching my face and chuckled to himself, putting away his books. I really wanted to be annoyed—at anyone else I would have been—but his lighthearted laughter surprised me; so joyous after so many weeks of being a specter in the classroom.
I looked him in his eyes, though, and shook my head challengingly at him, as if to say “what?” That only made him laugh out loud. It was both quiet and bassy all at the same time. The kind of laugh that was bottomless, scratchy. The kind of laugh you could tell would boom and shake you if given the space.
I never thought I’d hear that coming from him, let alone directed at me. I refrained from expressing an iota of emotion beyond a small smile. I had to stay cool.
Pam walked over to our table swiftly, no doubt looking to be rid of Jonah. She smiled at Sasha, grinned really.
“So. We finally meet! Pam Swiftwater,” she chirped. Her hand shot out as fast as she walked. Sasha halted his movement. He extended his hand more slowly, gently, engulfing her delicate hands in his large ones.
“Of course. I am Sasha Emberscale,” Sasha said, pulling his hand back to pat his chest.
Pam gave me a knowing glance of drama. “Oh I know who you are,” she said.
“Likewise; you are in my open physical hour,” he reminded her. “You are on the track team.”
“That’s right! It’s nice to finally, officially, meet you.”
Sasha raised his brow at her. “My friend has spoken of you,” he said offhand.
“What friend?” Pam asked, taken aback.
“Seth Fairbreeze, dragon of the wind.”
“Oh?” Pam said, her interest piqued. I didn’t know whether she knew who that was. But it intrigued both of us nonetheless.
“I will introduce you, of course, now that we are properly acquainted.”
“I can’t wait.” I knew she couldn’t.
Pam glanced back at her table and groaned. “Let’s get out of here. If I have to talk to Jonah any longer, I swear Imma strangle him.”
Sasha laughed heartily. “Very well. Let us depart this place to avoid attempted murder,” he joked.
“Why don’t you stick with us? We’re in the same course after this,” I suggested, gathering my items. I didn’t even hesitate asking him that. I’d done enough hesitating.
Sasha’s laugh tapered off into a quiet chuckle. “Of course. I would desire nothing more.”
I couldn’t hide my elation this time. Pam snickered at me. Thankfully he didn’t notice. I assumed.
Sasha draped his jacket across his arm, opting not to put it back on. Admittedly I enjoyed the view. He gestured for us to exit the class before him.
Every once in a while he would look down at me as we walked through the halls. I noticed his eyes following me.
I would sneak a glance at him when he wasn’t looking. It was apparent just how large he was now that I was walking right next to him. He was one of the only people in school taller than me. His shoulders were broad, arms thick. I know I was staring at the way they flexed as he moved. Couldn’t help but to.
Everything in me wanted to take that arm of his for my own. The thought of it being mine just felt so natural. I had to check myself a few times walking beside him.
It would be mine in time. That I promised myself.
—
We entered our Dragontongue class where I took a seat on his right at a table. Pam sat at mine.
Class with Sasha was much more interesting than ever before. He spoke freely and pleasantly, a stark contrast to the silent dragon he had been before I sat at his table in Dragonology. It was like something that had weighed on him had vanished.
I wasn’t unaware that he was happier since we had talked. I was pleased that it was me that had pulled him out of whatever darkness was holding him.
Again a pang of irritation ran through me. Why had I not introduced myself before? Just hearing the depth of his voice and the eloquence of his speech had me feeling some type of way. I could have been hearing that in my ears for weeks, those words of his carried on desert sands.
As class droned on, I saw that Sasha was appraising the professor with a raised brow as if too polite to allow complete disdain across his face.
He began to tell us about different Dragontongue dialects quietly, I suppose to keep himself occupied or distracted. I had to lean all the way in to hear his voice. It reverberated in my ears.
“If you were to say that word in the southern regions of Lyfax, it would mean to place bricks or stones atop each other as if building something. If you said that in the northeastern region, it means much the same, but doubles as a slang word meaning to fu— I am sorry, to have relations with someone.”
Pam squealed and covered her mouth. I covered mine too. I had wanted to hear the word ‘fuck’ come out of his polite mouth.
“Are you serious?” I asked instead.
“Yes, I am,” he said, brow raised. “Take care in who you say it to and in what context.”
Sasha tapped another paragraph “This term here. If you were to say it in the Northernmost tip of the country, it is basically calling someone a piece of filth in the wrong context, while just a few regions down it simply means to clean something without any further colloquial use. Their origins most likely started off with the same meaning and deviated as the people left and settled elsewhere. Knowing different dialects of Dragontongue in Lyfax is important. Linguistics interests me, as you can probably surmise.”
“Do you speak a lot of languages?” Pam asked.
“I occasionally travel for my work and interact with different dignitaries. I must know many languages and dialects at least at a rudimentary level.”
“Oh wow…” I said, truly impressed. Now that I had listened to his voice, I couldn’t place his accent. Unless deep was one. It wasn’t as if I was familiar with Lyfaxians’ manner of speech or various accents anyway. “What do you speak?” I asked
“Hmmmm. Common Lyfaxian. Common Lizardtongue. Dragontongue, of course; several dialects: fire, moon and wind. Many people know these. Shelltongue. Salamandra…one other.”
“Goodness,” I said in awe. I stashed away that “one other.” I’d ask about it later. I couldn’t imagine why it would be a secret. Hypocritically.
“My speech is not perfect in Shelltongue or Salamandra yet. But I can hold a conversation. I would enjoy learning and speaking your dialect of Dragontongue, as you mentioned earlier,” he remarked to me. Of course, Pam regarded me in shock. She gave me a chiding look, rightfully so.
Sasha didn’t miss her reaction. “If it is trouble, do not worry about it,” he said, frowning.
“No, It’s okay,” I reassured him. “I don’t mind.”
He was still uncertain, looking at Pam’s concerned face. “If I am to converse with a new group of dragons, I would prefer to know their dialect,” he whispered. “But not if it is cause for alarm. For some reason.”
Pam sighed in relief upon hearing him refer to me as a dragon. “Oh okay.”
“It’s fine. Complicated. I’ll tell you later,” I said, waving it all away. Sasha nodded.
“So did you all decide on a topic for your assignment?” Pam asked.
“Of course. We spoke much of it. I look forward to working with Leila.” Sasha said. I liked the way he said my name, the way he swung the vowels upward to where they needed to go. As it should be. “It will be interesting,” he said.
Pam glanced over to me. “How so?”
I looked amused, I’m sure. “Let’s say our Dragonology topic is about to be spicy,” I hinted.
“Sasha you’re a horrible influence already,” she accused, raising her brows at him.
“Of course,” he confirmed, chuckling deeply. “One needs a little corruption in the right direction, every once in a while.”
“Corruption? Oh really?” I said, regarding him in what I intended to be mock surprise. But I was genuinely shocked that he said it. He hadn’t corrupted me yet. He could try, but only when I was through with him.
Sasha chuckled silently. Just a trembling of the shoulders. A soft billow of scalding heat wafting across my face. Mmm, maybe sooner then.
Pam’s eyes widened, but she was beyond amused. If she could manifest a snack to observe our rapidly forming dynamic, she would have in a heartbeat.
She sat back, twirling her pencil. I knew she was about to start something. The twitch in the corner of her mouth was working. She was about to instigate her heart out. I groaned quietly.
“You know, Leila speaks all the same languages you do. She’s fluent in Shelltongue even; one of her best friends is Turtlefolk. She works at a place where a lot of people from different places come through. She took it upon herself to learn their languages.”
I groaned more.
“Is that so?” Sasha inquired, angling his body toward me. He sounded impressed.
I just rubbed my brows. I did not advertise my language skills. He looked at me with interest. “That is admirable. Why do you not wish to speak of it?” he asked.
“I don’t like puffing myself up. Drawing attention. Not that you are doing that,” I clarified.
Sasha smiled. “I know what you meant,” he said, speaking Shelltongue. I grinned. “I have been somewhat successful at not drawing attention—past my appearance at least—for a few weeks now.”
“Except your grades of course,” I pointed out in Shelltongue as well. “Literally perfect grades except two, and that’s only because of inaccuracies.”
Sasha raised his brow. “Ah, right, you have been keeping tabs on my marks. Very well; I have been under the radar except for my marks.”
“See? Y’all can speak tongues to each other in every flavor,” Pam said casually.
My mouth dropped. To say my eyes widened would be an understand. I shielded the side of my face.
Sasha choked and laughed quietly, holding his chest.
Never had she been that brazen. And she had said some crazy ass things for as long as I’d know her.
She looked so proud of herself.
“Pam, you are trying to start something, are you not?” Sasha guessed—back in Lizardtongue—looking away in laughter.
“Of course not. I don’t know what you mean,” she said, smirking.
I rubbed my face. “What were we even talking about?”
Sasha spoke as quietly as he could. “Different languages. Dialects. Things of that nature. Tongues, apparently,” he said, leaning toward me.
Really Sasha? I thought. He was something else.
He leaned back again and looked ahead, his smile dimming. “Also, things your professor apparently will not teach,” he said, the scales of his brows beginning to furrow.
“Yeah. It’s frustrating,” I agreed, uncovering my face.
“This class is testing my endurance. To hear my language butchered and be told that the proper way is incorrect is vexing.”
Pam stared at the professor, then at Sasha. “I’m sorry. This class is far beneath how you—and we—speak.”Pam and the rest of the Swiftwater Clan spoke to my family in the True way, the way of Sun Dragons.
Sasha leaned back. “And yet I have no choice but to be here,” he remarked. “And, apparently, neither do you both.”
It was a painful requirement, but a mandatory one. I nodded.
Pam turned back to the front of class. “You must be bored here at this university,” she said.
Sasha rubbed his chin. “Hmmmm,” he rumbled deeply. The vibration of that inquisitive hum made my shoulders tingle. I had to close my eyes and put a hand to my chest to halt my heart’s pounding.
“I was, yes,” he said slowly, “but yesterday was my last day of boredom. Today, the season has changed.” He glanced at me as he said it.
My mouth twitched into a smile. I found his choice of words particularly appealing. Pam looked curiously at him, but said nothing.
Sasha angled his body back toward me. I don’t know if I imagined it, but it felt like his whole existence was radiating heat now. It sent rush through my body.
“Let us return to our ‘lesson’ and pretend to care,” he suggested.
“Sasha,” I laughed, nudging his arm. It was hot to the touch. I was not imagining it.
“What?” he said innocently.
I shook my head at him, incredulous. I had no idea he was so funny. Who would have thought that sullen dragon was full of humor. He relented.
“I will behave myself,” he lied through his fanged teeth, patting his chest.
“Doubtful,” I returned, amused. It was easy to talk to him. Like we were old friends. Sasha was right: Pam had started something.
—
Sasha continued pointing out more language dialect rules and vocabulary from Lyfax. Things we couldn’t have learned on our own.
There were so many regions to learn about. I listened intently as he described them, and asked questions about everything. It was as if he was taking me on a mental tour of those far away places…
Before that day we hadn’t said a word to each other. Hadn’t shaken hands or anything. Whenever we had met eyes, we would quickly look away. I didn’t understand why we had done that. Now here we were hunched over a text book with our heads damn near touching. The heat of his breath warmed my face. It was hotter than earlier that day. Much hotter. No one was close enough to be bothered by it but Pam, and she did not seem to react to it.
And still I kept on gravitating closer. Because of how he had angled his body toward me, my left arm eventually pressed against his right.
My breathing stuttered, being in such close proximity to him. And I knew he felt it. He had to have felt it. Because I felt him tremble.
And there it was again! That strange rumble emanating from him, from his throat, I could now tell. Now that I was touching him, it was amplified, coursing through me. I tried to pinpoint its essence. It was very much like a growl, the crackling of a fire. And a hum; it reminded me of the way he responded to things without words. Hmmm.
All of it together was a magnetic song. I couldn’t help but listen. Let it lull me into a dream.
I wandered from the lesson for a moment to imagine what it would be like to just feel all of it pressed up against my chest. To embrace him and the heat he radiated.
I wanted to feel his fire whipping around me, not just the heat off him. To embrace a cascade of his flames. washing over me, engulfing me fully.
What would kissing Sasha be like? By the Goddess, the thought of drinking his fire until the persistent ice inside me melted was too tantalizing. If only I could just taste his breath inside my mouth… I wanted to look into his throat where I knew a flickering flame lie in wait. To explore it. Mmm.
It was like some deep ancestral memory was awakening. My breathing grew heavier. I swear to the goddess I heard his breath do the same. Except his breathing was punctuated by the rumbling crackle right under it. I knew he was in the same place I was.
I had to close my eyes and turn my head away from the heat coming off the words from his mouth. Because if I didn’t I would do something about it in that classroom—
“Leila?”
I emerged from my other world, his voice having shaken me from my daydream. I looked back to him.
“Class is over,” he rumbled into my ear quietly, the hotness washing over my neck and face. I rubbed those intense thoughts from my brows but they lingered everywhere else. I inhaled deeply and set about gathering my stuff. My hands shook.
Something hot brushed down my arm as he got up to gather his things. I looked down to see his claw drifting away from it. I thought it was an accident until he glanced at me. He smiled faintly though his brows were intense.
“Let us go,” he said gently, nodding toward the door.
“Okay,” I said, my eyebrow raising in interest. I slipped my bag over my shoulder. When he turned toward the door, I touched the trail of burning scales where he’d run his finger. When I say I could not breathe… I covered my mouth, then just rubbed my face with both hands. I didn’t know what to do. Mercy.
Looking around, my peers were also preparing to leave, so I composed myself the best I could and followed Sasha through the doorway.
—-
Dragontongue had been our last class of the day—”wow, you want that Dragontongue real bad huh?”Pam said— and it was time for us to part ways.
She chatted with Sasha, and I examined him while he was distracted.
I followed his gestures and mannerisms, wondering how he could weave such a spell over me that day. My behavior and my carefully curated facade were usually well under my control, perfected to give nothing away but pleasantness. But this dragon…
What I thought had been a perfect program was utterly interrupted. And the funny thing was, I wasn’t even mad at it. It was a break from the rigidity and monotony of my endless time at school. A break from my own reluctance to invite unknowns to myself, even those I desired. Like him.
For the first time in my life I thought ‘this is what the Sun must feel like to everyone else.’
From the moment I knew myself, my body had been cold. It was a point of contention between me, my parents and my Clan, all the Sun Clans. My mother was literally the leader of the Sun Dragons. And we, Sunscales, were Prime. Named directly after the Goddess.
People thought I was sickly. Anemic they called me. Even worse, some thought I was cursed. Most thought I wasn’t fit to be a leader in the future.
I did not let it stop me. I aimed for absolute perfection to stave off any doubt. Even at the expense of my own happiness sometimes.
My cold scales did not bother me. Although, at times, I wondered if I would be that way forever.
But now, I had felt Sasha’s warmth. This dragon had actually apologized in our first class for giving me the heat I never felt outside of putting my whole hand in a woodfire. It lingered in my scales as if they had drank it. They had awakened from a cold slumber.
I couldn’t go back.
I touched my arm that had been pressed against his, where his claw had grazed. Still hot to the touch. In fact everywhere he had breathed on, been near or looked at blazed. He had touched other things, shook hands with peers, finally, spoken to Pam, and none reacted as if he was exuding endless fire. Just me. Just for me.
“It has been a good day. You two have been so welcoming,” he said graciously. I was broken from my musings, realizing he was leaving. “I hope we continue to be friends during my time here.”
“For sure,” I said without hesitation, a little breathlessly. I didn’t want him to leave. He smiled warmly at me, almost in relief.
Pam smiled too. “Same,” she said. She began to rummage in her bag.
“It was nice to finally meet you,” he said softly to me. He put his hand out. I took it in mine. It was even hotter than before, unless I imagined it. I again put my other hand on top of his as if taking the warmth from it, to hold till later.
I don’t know what possessed me, but I let my thumb slide over the scales on the back of his hand. I didn’t even realize at first. But then I looked up and noticed Sasha was staring at me with his brow raised.
Gods, I could have died right there. Melted right into the floor and fallen into the void.
I almost pulled my hand in embarrassment, but he did not seem startled or upset. Instead Sasha placed his other hand atop mine. His face became intense for a moment, then softened. It seemed that neither of us wanted to let go. We did, though. The moment was brief, but it held much.
Pam, who had glanced up at us, had a barely concealed grin spreading over her face. She broke the spell that had drifted over us.
“Thank you for teaching us all that extra stuff about different dialects. I especially like that ridiculous word with the bricks,” she said, breaking the tense air.
Sasha shook his head as if clearing it. “Of course. I thought you might find that one amusing,” he said. He glanced at his phone, which had vibrated.
“You can lay your bricks on me anytime,” I mumbled to myself, still feeling the heaviness of that moment in my chest. I couldn’t help myself, saying that. I knew good and well it was provocative. I knew he might hear me. My mouth simply didn’t care. It was going to get me in trouble, I just knew it. I stared at my hand in wonder. It felt like fire had spread over it. What was he doing to me? Did he even realize that he was doing something? It didn’t seem like it.
In that same vein, Sasha didn’t say anything; he hadn’t been paying attention, I thought. Probably for the best. But then I heard him say something under his breath.
“Wow,” he whispered, silently laughing. I looked up at him. He covered his eyes, his shoulders shaking.
“Oh shit,” I said, covering my eyes as well.
Pam looked up. “What?” she asked, startled.
Sasha tried his best to keep a straight face, but it was impossible. He just laughed aloud then, a laugh that shook me to the core.
“Shut up,” I said, also laughing. I shielded my face in my hand as if I could hide from the embarrassment.
“I have said nothing,” he pointed out, his hands up.
“Please, please, let’s pretend I didn’t just say that shit,” I pleaded with him.
Pam’s eyes widened. “Oh my gods, what?”
“I will not say, Pam, yet I will never forget it,” Sasha said, smiling widely.
“What?” I replied, shocked.
“I will never forget it,” he repeated.
“By the Goddess Sasha. Are you serious?”
Sasha rubbed his eyes, still chuckling occasionally. “I am. Would you, if you were in my position?”
“Oh my gods,” I said weakly, still covering the side of my face.
Sasha patted his hand on his chest. “Gods, truly I needed today, desperately. It is no trouble to me, that you have said this. Certainly not. Unfortunately, I have a meeting to attend to, but we will discuss this permanent memory later, Leila Sunscale,” he said.
“Yeah, I bet,” I groaned, my voice shakey. I covered my face more. I was out of my mind, surely.
I heard Sasha begin to walk away, but his footsteps slowed. He hesitated, I guessed.
“Leila, do you have plans today?" he asked.
I looked up. He was looking at me expectantly. I couldn’t even say anything. I was still reeling from my ridiculous blunder. Now he wanted to see me! “What? I… umm—“
“No she doesn’t have plans,” Pam spoke up. Bless her.
Sasha smiled. “Perhaps we can speak of our project. I will find you later this evening as long as you are outside. I apologize for my abrupt departure but I must go.”
“Okay, cool,” I said. I rubbed my forehead.
He walked to the exit and looked back at me. “Perhaps we can build something later; I am not a bad mason, Leila Sunscale,” he said, chin raised. My mouth dropped. This dragon…
He let out a deep laugh and left. I watched him disappear through the doors of the hall, then followed him out. I saw a flash of red turn a corner into another building, vanishing from my sight.
"No he didn’t," I said in disbelief. "Did you hear what he just said?" I asked incredulously, gesturing toward his exit.
“What the hells did you say Leila?”
“I may have said a little something about bricks under my breath but his ass heard me. My gods.”
“Are you serious? Girrrrl," Pam said, shaking her head. “The gall on you.”
"Why did I say that? I must be crazy." I placed my hand over my forehead. Hot.
"I mean, he liked it," Pam said. "He thought it was funny. See, no harm done. If anything it sounds like Sasha has some business with you Leila," she teased.
I rubbed my face. I couldn't believe that I had run my mouth like that. In the other hand, I was pleased to have been so reckless. It had led me down this path. My scales prickled despite my embarrassment. Why should I feel bad now? He took my accidental flirtations as an invitation. And wasn’t that what I wanted?
Pam’s demeanor softened.
“Hey, for weeks you’ve been talking about how attracted you are to him. He turned out to be super nice, and he has a sense of humor, too. I like him. Fate is smiling on you again.”
"You sound like my mother," I noted.
“That's 'cause she's always right, isn’t she?" Pam pointed out, brow raised.
“Fine… She is,” I conceded. She would have said those words. In truth I had heard her say them many times.
Resigned to my fate, I stepped into the quad with Pan. I walked into a shaft of sunlight and sat on the bench it spilled onto, the Sun’s rays warming me. I closed my eyes against them, basking.
“I may as well go study while I wait for him. I can’t believe this is happening,” I remarked.
“Well believe it. Your bricklayer is seeing you today,” Pam teased.
“Pam, for real?” I remarked, opening my eyes.
“What? Come on. We can both go study.” Pam hugged me. She looked puzzled though.
“Leila. You feel hot. You never run hot. You’re not having a stroke are you?” she asked, alarmed.
“No. That’s just because he sat next to me the whole day,” I revealed. And breathed on me, leaned on me… I shut my eyes, wishing I had lied.
Pam nodded, not noticing my apprehension. “Oh okay. That makes sense. We did just get out of class. I didn’t know fire dragons were like that just idly,” she mused. “Let’s get on out of here.”
I wanted to tell her what I really felt. But I was sure it would sound crazy. Maybe I would after I met him and spoke to him. Privately.

We walked together through the courtyard. I glanced through the windows of various buildings looking for red scales moving in the halls. I saw nothing, of course.
We ended up going to the library. The room was large and made of ironwood. Small nooks with tables were tucked away amongst large shelves full of tomes.
We chose a table with a window next to it.
I studied as attentively as I could, trying to occupy my mind. But I could not stop seeing Sasha in my vision. Pam gave up trying to get me to engage in conversations with her. Instead I studied for the assignment in Dragonology on my laptop, and daydreamed.
—
“It’s getting late. You don’t know when Sasha will be looking for you.” Pam said, shaking me from my focus.
The light from the windows had waned somewhat, giving way to the Sun readying for slumber.
“Oh, right. I was deep into this essay here. I wish I had borrowed his books and saved my eyes,” I said, rubbing them.
Pam yawned as we packed our things, hefting her bag up. “I’m going to head home. Tell me how everything goes. Tell me if y’all build a house!”
“Pam!” I gasped. “Oh my gods.”
“Love you! Bye!” Pam called, rushing off.
—
I strolled around the grounds reading a book, looking up at the Sun every once in a while. But I didn’t spot Sasha anywhere. I hoped that I had not missed him. I had studied a bit longer than I intended.
Eventually I sat on a bench to wait. I would wait until dusk settled. And if he didn’t show I would see him the following day. It was not as if we had exchanged our numbers.
I pulled out my notebook full of writings, poetry, doodles. It was just one volume from a collection of filled books over the duration of my life, where I pressed flowers of my heart through its pages.
Before I could put pen to paper, I paused.
I put away my old faithful journal and pulled out a new one in deep red. It was not a coincidence by any stretch. I had stared at it on the shelves of an art store until I gave in and bought it.
I hadn’t written one thing in it since. After all, I hadn’t known him, and didn’t want to write only about his appearance. I wanted to know what he was made of. Now, having met Sasha, the red book was begging for ink.
So I let myself fall into a rhythm. So many elements of Sasha had revealed themselves to me that day: this dragon’s voice, his heat, his mannerisms. The words he said, the way he said them, his sense of humor hidden under all that seriousness.
I searched my brain and gathered up all my own words, sifted through them. I wrote a few things here and there, but nothing like what I wanted.
I looked up toward the Sun for some bit of inspiration, and my breath caught. A red form flew in front of it, wings beating. Seeing Sasha framed in that circle of fire was more than I could have hoped for. I stared up at him flying until he stopped, scanning for something.
The moment of inspiration I had been searching for was right there. I spoke aloud what I had and wrote it as swiftly as my claws could move:
“A dragon in a Circle. An Inferno wrapped in the Sun A scarlet vision framed in fire A cloud of embers in the Goddess’s hands She Holds all of him out toward me The gift of a flame within a flame “
I dropped my pen and covered my mouth in embarrassment. “Oh my gods what am I writing?” I asked myself. I stared at the words.
I turned my head to read them as if a new perspective would make them less mortifying.
“Hmm,” I muttered. “Needs some work but…’A flame within a flame.’ That’s some good shit.”
I looked back up. Sasha’s gaze swept over me then away. I waved my arm up at him, bangles jangling, hoping he saw me so he wouldn’t be looking all around all day.
When Sasha looked back in my direction he stopped where he was. He descended slowly until he locked eyes with me. My heart pounded again. It was driving me up the wall, the anxiety. Or rather anticipation. I pressed my hand to my chest watching him grow closer. His wings were huge, blocking out the Sun.
I had been staring at Sasha from a distance since he had arrived, his very first day. He was imposing, the way he had entered my classes, but exceptionally polite. I had been silently competing with him since laying eyes on his grades.
Now the distance was finally closed after my nervousness had kept me away. I folded my notebook shut and stood as Sasha landed with a woosh of air.
I looked upon him not as a mysterious figure in the back of class but as a new friend. More. I couldn’t help but smile when he straightened his already straight clothes as he moved toward me.
He smiled right back at me, chin raised.
“Leila,” he said.
“Sasha. Hey,” I replied.
“So,” he said, “you spoke of bricks earlier,” he teased.
My mouth dropped again. This dragon…
“You aren’t letting that go are you?” I asked.
“Never. Even if nothing ever came of it, I would never forget.”
“By the gods,” I muttered.
“I am not complaining,” he clarified.
My eyes widened. Then it occurred to me that he had insinuated something would come of it. Goddess, I felt my own fire sweep across my cheeks. I was so flustered I covered my mouth with the heel of my palm letting my claws settle over my cheek. I couldn’t stop the motion fast enough.
Sasha laughed good naturedly. Sweetly, even. “I will stop teasing. For now,” he said.
“For now?” I repeated past my palm.
“For now.”
I lowered my hand. “You are a trip, do you know that?” I said, raising my eyebrow. Even though I had been nervous, actually talking to him made me feel like meeting all his words head on.
He gestured for me to walk beside him without answering. I did. I almost took his arm again, so I clutched my notebook to my chest to keep my hands in check. We didn’t say much as we walked along the quad together.
Some students were staring at us as we walked. I suppose we made quite the pair together.
“It appears we are a bit of a spectacle,” he muttered to himself curiously, agreeing with my thoughts.
I couldn’t help stealing glances at him every once in a while.
His posture was impecable. He held his left hand behind his back. The other lingered in front of his chest as if ready for something. I didn’t know how else to describe it. It was interesting, that pose; deliberate. I saw that he had rings on his fingers as well. I had not noticed them before. They were red like his scales, rough hewn. The overall pose made him seem so stately.
I couldn’t quite describe his expression. It was both intense and peaceful all at once.
He caught me staring one time, though. He was looking right at me when I peeked. I turned away and put a hand to my face. I hoisted up my bag.
“Here,” he said.
I turned back. “Here what?” I asked.
He put his hand out to me, gesturing toward my bag. I stopped walking.
“Oh. Okay. Such a gentleman,” I said, a smile playing on my face, impressed. He chuckled to himself, accepting my compliment.
I slipped my bag from my shoulder, and he took it to hold on his elbow. We started walking again. I didn’t care after that; I looked at him openly, a little bit enamored.
‘Ok Mr. Sasha Emberscale. I see you,’ I thought.
PART 2

💎Sharing this 💎GEM💎 of a Load order💎
(Tons of New Unique 🔥 gameplay elements; RPG Factor, Loot, Armor, Weapons, Enemies, Tweaks and Quests, Content, Clothes and Outfits, Perks, Locations, sounds, textures, Life in the commonwealth, and pipboy health management in the STAT category, ACTUAL use for FOOD outside of survival mode, New Treasures, battle encounters and OVERHAULED cities and factions including UNIQUE new Created Locations to discover across the DLC and Base game.)
Personal Preference settings are marked =‼️
Normal or Easy setting playthrough
(It will be HARDER THOUGH!)
Player FACE Preset 13‼️
Skk Damage Settings; ‼️ 50% or 100% enemy damage out 200% or 250% player damage out
Munitions settings; add .223 ammo add 12.7mm ammo Remove .22 ammo
Pickup: False:Camera from Chem Bench and favorite.
I have a three in one right handed vanilla weapons mod in there already.
150/150 ❤️’s = new weapons

• Munitions
• Awckr no DLC
• Kill tips and hit sounds
• Player Responds to Pain
• Better companions - all In one
• ITO institute Technology overhaul ❤️+30
• Immersive Animation Framework
• Modern Pharmacy IAF
• Borealis Landscape
• Borealis Landscape LOD
• UCO Base game
• UCO Season Pass
• Immersive HUD (iHud)
• Def_Ui Core
• Def_Ui_rollups Pipboy Vis
• Def_Ui HUDFramework Patch
• PAC AIO
• Bye Bye Clouds
• Polluted Climate
• Polluted weathers interior patch
• True Eyes
• NPC’s Travel
• Water LOD Fix
• In-game third person camera config
• Experienced Third Person Animations
• 3rd Person - ADS Style H
• New weapon Idle animations - E
• A touch of life - Complete
• Take a knee - 3rd person stealth
• (Official) Caliente’s Beautiful bodies curvy AIO
• WX Hair Colors (All Naturals)
• Obtainable Animatronic Alien Blaster❤️+1
• Immersive Gameplay Dismemberment
• Sarcastic Josie Preset
• Busty
• Commonwealth wilderness overhaul
• Protected Unique NPC’s
• Classy Chassis replacer outfits
• Alien Assault Rifle ❤️+1
• Church of Atom Overhaul❤️+1
• Atoms Glory Threads❤️+3
• Atoms Glory Threads patch
• Better 3rd person firearms handling
• Builder Mode - Lite
• Complete HUD Removal immersive
• Spadeys additional stocks
• Spadeys additional stocks patch
• The Attachment Pack
• More Map Markers
• The Attachment Pack implementation patch
• Smart Ai - immersive gameplay standalone
• Skk Combat Stalkers
• Spitfire (enhanced Muzzle FX)
• Improved Lighting ballistics
• Enhanced Decal Draw Distance - Medium
• Imperial stormtrooper skins
• BOS Stormtroopers
• Tyson’s Gloves
• Simple Attack and Death reactions
• Bathroom Effects Fix - no effects
• Good Neighbor Town
• Diamond City Supplements
• Fallout IV -gore overhaul- 3.0
• Remove Ugly Flat Trash
• Ony’s Standalone run/jog Female V2
• Energy weapon kill FX
• Dogs not Brahmin
• Retro Institute Overhaul
• FireFlies
• Running with hands animations
• Marksman Pistol (super comanche)❤️+1
• Navy SubmachineGun❤️+1
• Vintage Repeater❤️+1
• Laser Musket overhaul and remesh
• Unique Uniques - by TrainWiz❤️+1
• Unique Uniques - a mid game friend patch
• 20mm Anti Power Armor Rifle❤️+1
• Gatling Gun - Rat Runners Arsenal❤️+1
• Makeshift .32 SMG❤️+1
• Handmade Assault SMG (raider❤️+1
• Amac-1500❤️+1
• JC bikini NeverNude replacer
• Handmade Assault Smg (raider Scopes patch)
• Enclave Outposts
• .30 Carbine pistol - automag❤️+1
• Very Zen Darker Roads
• Small Game Shotgun - a .410❤️+1
• Unlimited resources shipment
• Black Shadowed Combat Armor
• Talon Company Gunners (armor Retexture)
• Combat armor remodel - 1.12mb
• Enhanced Lights and FX
• The automatic Rifle (colt monitor Bar)❤️+1
• New Vegas light machine guns❤️+2
• PBW - the 9mm pistol❤️+1
• Daks Combat Rifle Remesh Redux❤️
• Tomacuzi-9 smg ❤️+1
• 12.7mm pistol (sig sauer)❤️+1
• Assault Rifle MK II Replacer - by Dak
• Laser musket overhaul and remesh attachment pack patch
• Nimrout Smg expansion final version
• Capital wasteland 32❤️+1
• Tavor X95 by FX0x01 ❤️+1
• See through Scopes - GOTY
• Modern Enhanced Optics Overlay
• Hitman47101’s Animation replacer combo
• Throwing Knives and grenade pack
• West-Tek Optics pack
• West-Tek Optics Pack - Tweaks
• Aim Fatigue
• Quick Step
• ADS Lean Patch
• Modest Scavenger
• NPC Loot Drop Rebalance
• Capital Wasteland MacCready (April Fools 2021)
• Nimrout Synth Armor replacer And Rogue Variant no schemes
• Commonwealth 2.0- raider overhaul
• Commonwealth 2.0- raider overhaul PLUS
• Grafs Assaultron Armor (Cbbe)
• Ghouls of commonwealth
• Fallout 3 NV Feral Ghoul Replacer
• Radical - COA Addon❤️+2
• Fallout 4 Enemies of the commonwealth
• Caves of the commonwealth - darker❤️+?
• Raiders replace creatures
• Roving War Parties, raiding parties
• Guelphs- the tribe
• Faster Enemy Respawn (hardcore)
• The 770 perk tree overhaul (dlc)
• Reanimation pack for submachine gun
• ITO Institute Technology overhaul (Lite Patch)
• Improved lighting ballistics
• Spitfire (enhanced Muzzle FX)
• Skk Dynamic Damage Manager
• Simple Killmoves - Resident Evil Style
• Subterranean Skirmish❤️+1
• Graf’s Security Fences
• Improved Conveyor Snapping
• Some assembly required (power armor)
• Operation Artichoke❤️+2?
• Far Better Far Harbor - exploration
• CSEP presents commonwealth killer ❤️+1?
• Dc Guard Atmor Overhaul
• Munitions manufacturing
• Boston FPS FIX VD - AIO
• Smooth First Person Sprint
• Consistent sensitivity
• Realistic reverb and ambiance
• Realistic Sound XB1
• Pip-boy Flashlight- small
• STS - all in one (scrap that settlement)
• No Load Screen Rotation

💎Sharing this 💎GEM💎 of a Load order💎
(Tons of New Unique 🔥 gameplay elements; RPG Factor, Loot, Armor, Weapons, Enemies, Tweaks and Quests, Content, Clothes and Outfits, Perks, Locations, sounds, textures, Life in the commonwealth, and pipboy health management in the STAT category, ACTUAL use for FOOD outside of survival mode, New Treasures, battle encounters and OVERHAULED cities and factions including UNIQUE new Created Locations to discover across the DLC and Base game.)
Personal Preference settings are marked =‼️
Normal or Easy setting playthrough
(It will be HARDER THOUGH!)
Player FACE Preset 13‼️
Skk Damage Settings; ‼️ 50% or 100% enemy damage out 200% or 250% player damage out
Munitions settings; add .223 ammo add 12.7mm ammo Remove .22 ammo
Pickup: False:Camera from Chem Bench and favorite.
I have a three in one right handed vanilla weapons mod in there already.
150/150 ❤️’s = new weapons

• Munitions
• Awckr no DLC
• Kill tips and hit sounds
• Player Responds to Pain
• Better companions - all In one
• ITO institute Technology overhaul ❤️+30
• Immersive Animation Framework
• Modern Pharmacy IAF
• Borealis Landscape
• Borealis Landscape LOD
• UCO Base game
• UCO Season Pass
• Immersive HUD (iHud)
• Def_Ui Core
• Def_Ui_rollups Pipboy Vis
• Def_Ui HUDFramework Patch
• PAC AIO
• Bye Bye Clouds
• Polluted Climate
• Polluted weathers interior patch
• True Eyes
• NPC’s Travel
• Water LOD Fix
• In-game third person camera config
• Experienced Third Person Animations
• 3rd Person - ADS Style H
• New weapon Idle animations - E
• A touch of life - Complete
• Take a knee - 3rd person stealth
• (Official) Caliente’s Beautiful bodies curvy AIO
• WX Hair Colors (All Naturals)
• Obtainable Animatronic Alien Blaster❤️+1
• Immersive Gameplay Dismemberment
• Sarcastic Josie Preset
• Busty
• Commonwealth wilderness overhaul
• Protected Unique NPC’s
• Classy Chassis replacer outfits
• Alien Assault Rifle ❤️+1
• Church of Atom Overhaul❤️+1
• Atoms Glory Threads❤️+3
• Atoms Glory Threads patch
• Better 3rd person firearms handling
• Builder Mode - Lite
• Complete HUD Removal immersive
• Spadeys additional stocks
• Spadeys additional stocks patch
• The Attachment Pack
• More Map Markers
• The Attachment Pack implementation patch
• Smart Ai - immersive gameplay standalone
• Skk Combat Stalkers
• Spitfire (enhanced Muzzle FX)
• Improved Lighting ballistics
• Enhanced Decal Draw Distance - Medium
• Imperial stormtrooper skins
• BOS Stormtroopers
• Tyson’s Gloves
• Simple Attack and Death reactions
• Bathroom Effects Fix - no effects
• Good Neighbor Town
• Diamond City Supplements
• Fallout IV -gore overhaul- 3.0
• Remove Ugly Flat Trash
• Ony’s Standalone run/jog Female V2
• Energy weapon kill FX
• Dogs not Brahmin
• Retro Institute Overhaul
• FireFlies
• Running with hands animations
• Marksman Pistol (super comanche)❤️+1
• Navy SubmachineGun❤️+1
• Vintage Repeater❤️+1
• Laser Musket overhaul and remesh
• Unique Uniques - by TrainWiz❤️+1
• Unique Uniques - a mid game friend patch
• 20mm Anti Power Armor Rifle❤️+1
• Gatling Gun - Rat Runners Arsenal❤️+1
• Makeshift .32 SMG❤️+1
• Handmade Assault SMG (raider❤️+1
• Amac-1500❤️+1
• JC bikini NeverNude replacer
• Handmade Assault Smg (raider Scopes patch)
• Enclave Outposts
• .30 Carbine pistol - automag❤️+1
• Very Zen Darker Roads
• Small Game Shotgun - a .410❤️+1
• Unlimited resources shipment
• Black Shadowed Combat Armor
• Talon Company Gunners (armor Retexture)
• Combat armor remodel - 1.12mb
• Enhanced Lights and FX
• The automatic Rifle (colt monitor Bar)❤️+1
• New Vegas light machine guns❤️+2
• PBW - the 9mm pistol❤️+1
• Daks Combat Rifle Remesh Redux❤️
• Tomacuzi-9 smg ❤️+1
• 12.7mm pistol (sig sauer)❤️+1
• Assault Rifle MK II Replacer - by Dak
• Laser musket overhaul and remesh attachment pack patch
• Nimrout Smg expansion final version
• Capital wasteland 32❤️+1
• Tavor X95 by FX0x01 ❤️+1
• See through Scopes - GOTY
• Modern Enhanced Optics Overlay
• Hitman47101’s Animation replacer combo
• Throwing Knives and grenade pack
• West-Tek Optics pack
• West-Tek Optics Pack - Tweaks
• Aim Fatigue
• Quick Step
• ADS Lean Patch
• Modest Scavenger
• NPC Loot Drop Rebalance
• Capital Wasteland MacCready (April Fools 2021)
• Nimrout Synth Armor replacer And Rogue Variant no schemes
• Commonwealth 2.0- raider overhaul
• Commonwealth 2.0- raider overhaul PLUS
• Grafs Assaultron Armor (Cbbe)
• Ghouls of commonwealth
• Fallout 3 NV Feral Ghoul Replacer
• Radical - COA Addon❤️+2
• Fallout 4 Enemies of the commonwealth
• Caves of the commonwealth - darker❤️+?
• Raiders replace creatures
• Roving War Parties, raiding parties
• Guelphs- the tribe
• Faster Enemy Respawn (hardcore)
• The 770 perk tree overhaul (dlc)
• Reanimation pack for submachine gun
• ITO Institute Technology overhaul (Lite Patch)
• Improved lighting ballistics
• Spitfire (enhanced Muzzle FX)
• Skk Dynamic Damage Manager
• Simple Killmoves - Resident Evil Style
• Subterranean Skirmish❤️+1
• Graf’s Security Fences
• Improved Conveyor Snapping
• Some assembly required (power armor)
• Operation Artichoke❤️+2?
• Far Better Far Harbor - exploration
• CSEP presents commonwealth killer ❤️+1?
• Dc Guard Atmor Overhaul
• Munitions manufacturing
• Boston FPS FIX VD - AIO
• Smooth First Person Sprint
• Consistent sensitivity
• Realistic reverb and ambiance
• Realistic Sound XB1
• Pip-boy Flashlight- small
• STS - all in one (scrap that settlement)
• No Load Screen Rotation

From the beginning...
Cast

Part 2, Chapter 10

The next morning dawns cold and clear. It is plain that autumn is upon the land, and with the Great Glacier just leagues to the north, winter will come soon. The party goes about their morning business, eating (everyone), checking the state of the beard and deciding whether or not to shave it off (Arthur, generally, but also Atticus as Novos doesn’t grow a beard and Zander doesn’t shave his), climbing into armor (pretty much everyone except Dillium, Felicity, and Pocky), feeding and loading horses and asses (pretty much everyone, but particularly Zander, Arthur, Atticus, and Pocky), and finally packing up the pavillionsol (Dillium). Ready for the day’s journey, the group mounts up. On cue, the guide appears, apparently having prepared well ahead. If he’s irritated that the party slept all the way until dawn, he has the good grace to keep that to himself.
Felicity speaks up. “We’ve changed our minds, actually. I don’t think there’s any particular benefit in going to Dragon’s Perch—”
“I agree.”
“—so we’re going to go to Samek instead.”
“Samek? Hmmm. Do they know you are coming? If they don’t, it will take them a while.”
“No, they don’t know we’re coming, that I am aware of.”
The guide nods once and sets out. Much of the day is uneventful, and it does warm up to a comfortable level. By late afternoon, those with tender backsides are wondering when the ride will conclude when the guide raises his hand in a universal gesture of ‘stop and shut up a minute.’ The party still hasn’t learned that gesture, but fortunately there are no giants about [1]. “We’re here,” is all he says.
“Where?” “I don’t see anything.” “What are we supposed to see?” Like tourists on vacation, they peer around in all directions. They can’t see the entrance for the hill. Or rather, the entrance to the gnomish town of Samek is so well hidden in the side of the hill that for a while, only Dillium can see the faint outline of the round doorway. One by one, Flea, Arthur, and Zander finally pick it out. Novos is absolutely certain they are playing a prank on him. Arthur is first. Knocking on the hill seems odd, but practically before he gets a third knock, a small hole opens up around waist height. Two beady little eyes peer out (at Arthur’s belt).
“What!?”
“We are here—”
“So I see.” The window closes.
Zander walks up and knocks. The same window opens, and the same beady little eyes peer out.
“What!?”
“Do you know who I am?” Zander asks.
The beady little eyes look him up and down. “No,” and the window closes.
Dillium tries next. Knock, window, eyes. “Good day. We are here to see—”
“So see.” Window shuts.
Novos walks up. “I know how to do this.” Knock, window, eyes, increasingly aggravated tone. “Let us in.”
“No.”
Felicity has had enough of this. Walking up to the door, she stands for a moment gathering her thoughts. Knock, window, eyes, aggravated tone. “Good day. I’m here on behalf of the Duke of Soravia to see the wise men of your town, or those in charge.”
“Which ones?”
“What?”
“Which ones, the wise men, or those that are in charge?”
“How about if we start with the ones in charge, and perhaps they will decide to allow us to speak with the wise ones.”
The beady little eyes peer out, look around at the party, and appear to give that some thought. “Wait here.” The window closes.
Minutes pass. Tens of minutes pass. Novos gets bored and walks up to the door. He barely gets a third knock in before the window opens. A different set of beady little eyes peers out, and a different aggravated voice says, “What do you want now?”
“We’ve been waiting for a while, and—”
“—And you’ll continue to wait!.” The window slams shut unnecessarily roughly.
“Why you—” Rough arms grab Novos from behind and pull him away before he can do something regretful.
“We’ll wait, as they’ve asked,” Felicity says. She looks around to ask the guide how long they can expect to wait, but he’s disappeared.
The evening passes. As the cold sets in, Atticus and Pocky gather enough light branches for a fire. There’s no benches or logs to sit on, so they squat or sit on the ground. Arthur has taken to pulling off portions of his armor and working on polishing and repairing the scorch marks from the lava snakes [2]. Atticus and Mar debate the relative benefits of following the letter of the law versus being merciful, though in the end, both of them seem to be arguing the same things in violent agreement. Pocky falls asleep against Modred’s side as Beaker plays with a bone left over from… Wait, where did he get that bone anyway?
Finally, the reality that the night is upon them sets in. A proper camp is set, and watches begin. Zander takes the first watch, but sees nothing of interest. He does hear the chirping of grasshoppers, the droning of the cicadas, and the baying of the hounds. Suddenly, the hounds stop. Unnerved, Zander wakes Arthur, who has the next watch. Arthur, Atticus, and Zander take a turn around the camp, but cannot see nor hear anything that sounds like dogs. Arthur agrees to start his watch a few minutes early and Zander takes Pocky inside the pavillionsol to sleep. Arthur’s, and then Dillium’s watches pass uneventfully. Novos, as normal, takes the last watch. As usual, he is so wrapped up with his puzzle box that he notices absolutely nothing.
The cold morning brings breakfast, bickering, and an irritated Novos marching up to the door to bang on it. “We’ve been here all night,” he informs the guard.
“Yes. Yes you have.” The window closes.
Knock. Window. Eyes. “When will we see—”
“When it is time.” The window closes.
Before he can knock again, Dillium grabs his wrist, pushing him back, she squares herself to the door. “When it is time, please inform us.” She says to the closed window.
The window opens and two beady little eyes peer out. A slightly irritated voice replies, “What else would we do?” The window closes.
Several hours pass as the valley warms up. Arthur, Pocky, Atticus, and Mar all work on armor, doing the necessary daily ritual of dusting, oiling, checking rivets to make sure they are still tight and sound. Polish is applied, worked into the metal, and removed. Bickering, some good natured and others not, flows. At midmorning, the guide turns up suddenly, and squats down near the fire. Minutes later, the window opens and familiar eyes peer out. Felicity quickly crosses over to the door.
“Is the council ready for us?” She asks.
“Council? You wanted to speak with those who lead.”
“Yes. I assume that would be your leadership council.” Felicity replies.
“So it is. So it is. There certainly are a lot of you. You can’t all come.” The window closes.
Felicity thinks quickly and makes a motion to Dillium. Knocking gently, she waits for the window to open. “How many of us may come?” She asks sweetly.
“Uhm… “ The window closes. A minute later it re-opens. “Three.” The gnome says.
“Fine. I agree.”
“You agree? I mean, Yes, of course you agree. Come, come!” Suddenly in a hurry, the gnome opens the door, which slides open silently.
As Felicity and Dillium take a step toward the door, the guide steps up behind them. “Where are you going?” Flea asks imperiously.
“The little ones know me.”
“Which ones?”
The guide thinks. “Mayhaps all of them?” With a slight shrug, Felicity accepts that, and they all pass into a dark room, barely tall enough to stand up in.
Dillium is the tallest of the small group, and she has to stoop over to get through the passageway. The guide bends his head down a bit, but Felicity strides forward as if she owns the place, the top of her hair only occasionally brushing the ceiling of the passage. There are guards in dark metal armor in front and behind, but the guard who let them in the door is wearing a much more colorful shirt. As their eyes grow accustomed to the darkness, they note that there are luminescent lichens on the walls, providing a dim light that casts no shadows and fails to illuminate the armored gnomes.
The corridor stretches on for ages. There are branching tunnels to either side, and once, down. Tiny faces can be seen in the dim light as word spreads of the Big’uns. Dillium’s back is screaming by the time they finally reach a room and stop. A door on one side of the room is guarded by two more of the dark-skinned, dark-armored gnomes and a small fire is burning in the middle of the room. The benches around the room are designed for shorter legs and smaller butts, so the guide simply squats down. Dillium sits and starts to work the kinks out of her back. The guards don’t speak, but every once in a while, a face peers in through the open doorway they came in. Some faces are much smaller than others, and a motherly hand frequently grabs the tot and hustles them along.
The trio waits.
***
Pocky and Zander practice sword work as Atticus watches and occasionally tosses out suggestions. Mar naps. Arthur works on removing scorch marks from his armor while Novos plays with his puzzle box and loafs. Something draws Arthur’s attention. As he looks up, he sees eyes staring at him intently peering out from a bush. Without breaking eye contact, he feels around until he grabs Novos’ head and points it at the bush. Novos stares, uncertain what he’s meant to be looking at. “Zander!” Arthur hisses. He points at the bush with too many eyes. Well, two is too many for a bush. Zander looks. He looks some more. Arthur looks away for a moment, and when he looks back, the eyes are gone. Everyone runs over and crowds around the bush. Novos sees what looks like prints—paw prints not unlike Modred’s pawprints, though Modred is being lazy over next to the pavillionsol. Novos looks around, but sees no other paw prints. The men walk around the bush looking for other tracks, but only manage to obscure everything.
***
An hour passes. The guide lounges as if he has nothing on his mind. Dillium meditates, while Felicity tries to work out what the team’s next move should be. Somewhat abruptly, a young gnome opens the door and comes through. “Ready are you?” The darkened room has only a few dim lights. An ancient gnome sits on a three-legged stool in the middle of the room, a small rod in his hand. Eight or nine other gnomes cluster around the small room, some sitting on tiny gnome-sized benches, others standing. Any whispering that might have been going on ceases when the Big’uns come into the chamber.
The eldest speaks. “Warren. Several turnings it has been since last among us you came. Tell. What is the state of the above-realm?”
“They grow bolder. I have seen them throughout the valley, and without fear. If you are to act, you might contemplate doing so soon.” The gnomes chatter amongst themselves in a foreign tongue. The elder lets it go for a few minutes, then he raps on the floor with his rod. Silence returns.
“As I have feared it is. Soon must we act. Well to see you it is. Not so long to visit should you wait.” Turning his attention to Felicity, he inquires, “Please to tell name and purpose for disturbing.”
Felicity tells who she is, and allows Dillium to introduce herself. Flea announces that war is soon to be upon the land. The Duke of Soravia needs friends and allies for the coming conflict, and wishes to include the gnomes. The gnomes chatter nervously, and some of the chatter sounds of anger or fear. Again, the elder waits several minutes and then raps his rod upon the ground.
“Aware of the duke we are, but no call to extend friendship hand we have heard. What does the duke wish of us?” The chatter now is less nervous and more fearful.
“The danger to us all is great, but the duke understands that each should contribute within their talents and means. I suggest that your greatest assistance may lie in logistics, and supply. Perhaps providing some of the greatly admired gnomish craftsmanship would help to raise funds. Any assistance that you willingly provide for the benefit of one and all is exactly enough.” The chatter and babble of the gnomes in the room sounds almost relieved, but still a touch fearful. The elder allows it to go on for several minutes before he raps on the floor once. Saying something in gnomish, he raises his hand. One by one, the gnomes lift their hands out parallel to the floor. It takes a moment or two, but finally all of them agree.
“Determine what we can contribute, we must. If any. As talk we must, a favor for us could you do.” He speaks a few words of gnomish before continuing.
***
“So what is inside that puzzle box you keep playing with?” Arthur asks. He seems more tired of the delay than curious, and is simply passing the time. Mar casts an irritated glance at Novos.
“Dunno. Perhaps a great treasure. Maybe all the misfortune in the world. Probably nothing. Dillium gave it to me months ago.” He continues manhandling it, pushing, prodding, tapping, and so on.
Zander comes over and plops down next to Novos. “Can I have a go?”
“Sure.” Novos hands the box over to Zander, who takes it gingerly in his large rough hands. After a minute or two of working with it to no avail, he hands it over to a beckoning Arthur who seems to have seen something the others missed. He didn’t. Atticus and Mar both have a go before Pocky takes a turn. In three deft moves, the box is opened, revealing an empty space in the middle, roughly large enough for three large silver coins stacked on top of each other. He shrugs as he hands it back to Novos.
With a sigh, Novos starts trying to close the box.
*** “Many generations ago, when but a babe my own great-grandsire’s great-grandsire was, did Callarduran Smoothands of a king tell us. When nigh was the time would he arise. Half of a golden crown he gave us, and a tomb of a great warrior king showed he us. When greatest was our need, take our half of the golden crown to the tomb we are to do, and with the other half reunite it. Drawing close the time is. Our enemies the tomb have discovered we fear. The other half of the crown have they stolen. Taken our birthright, they have. The other half of the crown return to us?” [3]
Dillium recognizes Callarduran Smoothands from a lecture that seemed to last forever, but probably was just before lunchtime. Callarduran is the god of the Svirfneblin, and is held in high regard—perhaps more so than the head of the gnomish pantheon, Garl Glittergold [4].
“Who are these enemies?” Felicity asks.
“Evil ones they are. From us they rob. Our people they kill. Monsters they are.”
An older gnome arrives from the darkness. He is wearing dark armor, and carrying a soft bag made of what appears to be moss. The eldest reaches into the bag and withdraws an arc of gold. It certainly appears to be what you’d expect half a tiara or head band to look like, but it is nearly entirely devoid of ornamentation or decoration. The full crown must be rather plain indeed. Dismissing the trio with a “Think on your words we will,” Felicity, Dillium, Warren (the guide), and Ser Reginald the gnome are escorted from the hall and out of Samek.
Ser Reginald greets them as friends, and chatters through much of the trek up to the surface. He says he is one of a very few remaining ‘royal escorts,’ first named soon after Callarduran Smoothands gave them their half of the crown. They have, over many many many many many many generations (he was unable to count them all), been responsible for guarding the crown and preparing for the arrival of the king. He’s fought the evil ones, and admitted to hunting and killing them in their beds, but would not give a physical description of them. He also admitted that he knew precisely where the tomb was, but had never been inside, “as the time was not yet to hand.”
Finally, they reach the doorway to the outside. With a warning to shield their eyes lest they be struck blind by the sun, Ser Reginald leads the group out to find the rest of the party scrambling to their feet. To the consternation of Ser Reginald, they take the time to break camp, saddle their beasts, and mount up. Ser Reginald wants nothing to do with the horses, so the party creeps along at gnomish walking pace. It is quite possibly the slowest escort quest ever.
Several hours later, the group approaches yet another clearing when they everyone hear a loud rumbling WHOMP! Everyone recognizes it as the sound of rocks falling inside a cave or building. Ahead, a cloud of dust pours out of a cut stone entrance into a hill. “We need to get a move on. The evil ones are already inside!” cries Ser Reginald.
Leaving the horses and asses outside, the party enters the main hall. Arthur asks Atticus to remain with Pocky and the animals, but Mar accompanies the group inside. The moderately sized room has two doorways, though both appear to have been blocked by the recent rock movement. A few minutes of contemplation leads Arthur to believe that one side would take considerable effort to unblock, while the other could be done rather quickly. As he gets to work, the others take in their surroundings. Just inside the door is a carving in an archaic form of common that says “Allies Over Enemies”. Zander notes that there is some indication that there is a test, and one of the mostly broken archways has the word ‘Wit’ carved above it. Felicity notes that according to the archaic writing, there are two tests inside. Dillium is drawn to the faded frescos, though they tend to depict war and destruction.
Soon enough Arthur has the passageway cleared well enough, and the party groups up to go into a large room. The door slides shut smoothly behind them, though there is a door on the far side. Arthur inspects it, “just in case” it is unlocked. It isn’t. The room is more or less devoid of decoration or ornamentation, but there are four columns, one each corner of the room. Novos looks at the column, but fails to note that each side has a letter on it. He does see that he can turn the column one quarter turn, so he does. Once it turns, it refuses to turn again. Members of the party spread out to try to understand the test. Someone notices that there is a small mark on the wall beside each column, but it takes everyone writing down the letters on each column before someone decides to make an effort to coordinate. Arthur suggests that since each column contains an “L”, they should turn the L’s toward the center. Novos points out that he can’t turn the column any further, but Zander turns another column easily. Mar turns another one. As Novos leans up against his column, it turns. The party realizes that the columns can be turned to spell words, and Mar identified the word that was spelled out when they entered. This gets the group going, and with some tactics employed, spell out a word that they hope will open the door. As the last column clicks into place, the door opens smoothly.
The doorway leads to a huge cavern with a five-foot wide natural stone bridge crossing what appears to be a deep, wide chasm. The cavern is pitch black, and while there might be some air movement, the ceiling is too far above and the floor of the chasm too far below to see. The party sets up a marching order with Arthur in the lead and Novos in the rear. Dillium Lights up her staff so that the humans can see and they set out. Ten or fifteen paces across, the party is surprised to come under attack by arrows and javelins. Everyone dodges out of the way of the poorly thrown darts, but one strikes home. No one can see where the javelins came from, or whether it is some sort of trap or if they were thrown. Unfortunately, no one notices that one of the party members has fallen off the stone bridge, either. At the other end of the bridge is a door that opens easily, and everyone makes it into a small foyer. Except for Felicity, who lies at the bottom of the chasm, nearly impaled by a stalagmite. [5] Novos disappears and makes his way to the bottom of the chasm where he finds Felicity and feeds her his last healing potion. Zander pulls out his Wonderous Figurine and activates it. A good-sized wyvern appears on the bridge. He tells it to go down into the chasm and bring back the human. He might have said ‘woman’ but the stone wyvern doesn’t know the difference anyway. It takes off and glides down into the chasm below, and when it finds a human, the wyvern grabs it with his sharp claws and brings it back up to Zander. Novos picks himself up, dusts himself off, and winces at the fresh puncture wounds. Zander, a little annoyed, tells the wyvern to go get the other one, and he does, fresh puncture wounds and all.
Meanwhile, Arthur, Dillium, Mar, and Ser Reginald continue on into a large room. The room is dominated by a huge stone in the middle, with some sort of gemstone embedded in. They also see a dog-like creature standing on the stone, with a piece of golden metal in one hand and a bow in the other. Ser Reginald shouts, “The evil one has the other half of the crown! Get it!” Arthur races forward and Smites the creature.
Mar snarls, “Gnolls. I should have known their stench. She manifests a Spiritual Weapon and attacks with it, then casts a Guiding Bolt. The gnoll, clearly outmatched, fires his bow (missing) and climbs down off the stone. By this time, Novos, Zander, and Felicity have come in (minus the wyvern). Novos speeds over to take a flanking position on the gnoll, but the recent puncture wounds from the wyvern still ache, and he misses entirely.
Around the same time, a larger group of gnolls, armored and armed with swords and axes, enter from the other side and take up positions. One of the larger ones raises his axe to cut down Novos, but one of the gnolls barks out something in a barking sort of bark. All of the gnolls stop and refrain from attacking. Except the one with the huge gash down his front from Arthur. He comes up with a sword and stabs at the air near Arthur. Dillium, likewise shouts for Arthur and Novos (and Mar) to stop.
“Who leads?” asks the female gnoll, as she wraps her shawl around her.
Zander raises his hand. “That would be me. I am the leader of Task Force Chimera.” He sheathes his sword and meets the female gnome in the middle of the room. “I am Zander Roaringhorn, from Cormyr. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”
“Raa’ka. Ssand’r. Sand’r.” Her mouth doesn’t quite make all the sounds as she tries to get his name right. She tells Zander that they are here to fulfil a prophecy that tells of an Alpha Gnoll that will arise in their hour of need. Unfortunately, the crown is… not what they expected. Arthur climbs up on the stone and agrees that the gemstone in the middle seems to connect two pieces of a crown—there’s three pieces total, rather than the two that both the gnolls and gnomes thought.
“Give me the crown!” Ser Reginald cries. Mar snarls.
“I will not. Perhaps we should put the crown together, and then figure out what to do. It is obvious neither of us have the whole tale.” Ser Reginald, thoughtful, agrees.
“You put your piece in first, then.” He says.
“No you put yours in.” Raa’ka replies.
Arthur says, “How about you put them in together. At the same time,” clarifies when the gnolls seem unsure. He jumps down from the stone and gives Ser Reginald a boost up. Raa’ka needs no help.
Gently placing the two pieces of the crown in small cutouts in the stone that appear to be made exactly for their pieces. Ser Reginald and Raa’ka watch for a moment. “Now what?” The crown welds itself together before their eyes. The gem in the center pulses, then shines brightly. Then the whole crown sinks down into the stone. “NO!”
The room rumbles and shakes. The giant stone is cracked into pieces as Raa’ka and Ser Reginald leap to safety. As the dust swirls around and the rumbling fades away, all hear a booming voice.
“AT LAST I AM FREE!”

End of part 10.


[1] Unlike last chapter.
[2] in Chapter 8
[3] Modified slightly from Race for the Crown, Adventures of the Potbellied Kobold, by Jeff Stevens Games.
[4] The Gnomish Pantheon
[5] Remember, stalagmite “might” reach the ceiling, and stalactites hang on tite to the ceiling. Or, you can do the boring National Parks Service way of remembering.

Had a great time at my first match. The extra shirt I brought did not work for concealment so I'll have to get myself a vest for future matches. I had three goals going into this match and I met them all. 1. Not get DQ'ed 2. Not have a procedural violation 3. Not miss a target.
What I learned from today is, my shirt kept getting in the way of drawing my pistol so that slowed me down. I'm not that bad of a shooter, but definitely need to work on target acquisition.

I’m sure someone’s compiled a list of the best tips and tricks to optimize system function speed access health etc. I just found out about the idea of power draw during a low temperature process and saw a video of someone “unlocking hidden cpu cores.” With comments about custom circuits on die.
Having found out also about power laws, wireless energy transfer bench top lasers and vcas in euro rack as well as building network switch neural nets and alternative processor architecture historical trajectory (amd 64 core analogue? VGA and most interestingly what I interpret to be 4 bit instructions for first gen intel) my faith in the binary machine is in question. Could someone help me optimize my computers with the state of the art tricks. I’m interested in researching timing.
Heard the term recently “analogue clocking” is this a pop quiz for computer scientists on state based machines or actually possible for 1 core, 1 cpu… (I get this is possible with multi cpu by sampling don’t understand how state based machines wouldn’t short out. Would really like to master every perspective on clocking. How does ntp fit into this picture, can I use a continuous clock source? Can I use a clock divider (esp for 1 cpu at a time?) can you multi tuning over clock with a clock sync or continuous Casio type clock?
Finally how do I make my fiber coil function as a continuous compute computational capacitor, seems like this ring accelerator idea is pretty powerful can it reintegrate the computational output stream and clock with its source? Are they premade cheaply?
Could anyone help me solve super threading confusion and is the claim that the cpu is an integrate power distributor and task handler while the current concept of the graphics card firstly understood to be the graph processing unit (am I correct?) accomplishes all user specific task load ie the computations we care about?
I just saw a post with someone using tpu from google coral to decrease cpu, what’s the best use of this chip especially for non conventional hardware hacking. Tpu clock generator, process modeler… is this the device I could use simply as a general purpose look up table of thread completions shouldn’t all hardware have one of thes tables. mind racing with the possibility of harnessing time wave processing 4 forecasting (going to need some help with this concept).
Super excited to implement sota! Are there better os’ (rtos) for general purpose use and for specific workflows (data science/vaximaging/and control systems come to mind? Starting to see signs of different system philosophies with amusing cautionary vibes definitely hoping for a base rate clarification.
Thanks !

Bought a few sleeved boosters of Lost Origin and one of them had 3 hits in one. 😮

When I first took this job, I never could have predicted what would happen. After all the years of training and the experiences that I have had throughout my life, I am pretty good at being prepared for the worst. But before I begin this story, a little bit about myself.
I was a bit of a troubled child some might say. I lost both my parents to a car accident when I was 2. After that, I bounced from foster home to foster home. I blame it on the system. Almost every foster home I was put in was terrible. The parents were only doing it for the money and barely took care of the foster children. And when Social Services came, you think they listened to the children? No. But, I took on a personality that did help throughout this time. I decided that I wouldn't take shit from anyone. When some of the foster homes' actual children tried to bully me or other foster kids, they very quickly learned not to after several broken bones. In addition, I took this attitude to the public schools. Bullies would pick on the weak, and they would suddenly have broken noses and fingers. But, since it was the public school the bullies were not punished. Only me. However when the bullies would see me or get close to their victims while I was around they would quickly go the other way. This went on for the entirety of my youth. I never had a plan for my life. All I knew was that I was unwanted anywhere, and had nowhere to go. But one day, I was passing by the living room, and I saw a commercial on the tv that changed my life's course. It was an ad to join the United States Marine Corps. After this, I found a new purpose for my life. Unfortunately I was 15 at the time. But I immediately started training myself physically and mentally for this new course. I studied at the public library since I wasn't allowed to use the foster home's computer. I started working out at the high school's gym after class. And finally at 18 I joined the Corps. The next 8 years were the best of my life. After boot camp, MCT (Marine Combat Training), and SOI (School of Infantry) I soon learned about the Raiders. Which is Marine Corps special forces. I immediately put in for it and got selected. I was able to go to several foreign countries and fight many battles. All of my fellow Marines were the greatest family I ever had. Once I was at the end of my second enlistment I decided it was time for me to enter the civilian world again. At that time, we had a bad mission and I lost my closest friends. So I did what anybody in this situation does. I found a reasonably inexpensive apartment and drank excessively for the next month. Once I felt that my liver had been well punished, I began searching for a job. Now, money was not an issue for me at this time. I had plenty in savings to last most people a couple of years. While I was in the military, I never really bought anything since I knew I would be traveling all over. I also still had money saved from the insurance when my parents passed all those years ago that I refused to spend. So I tried finding a job that I would fit into given my skill sets. After some time I found what I was looking for. It was a position within a security company that provides its services to companies in both the private sector as well as government facilities. I immediately applied and got accepted. For the next year after this, I was able to complete some training required for the job and bought my own house in Nevada. I worked as a fill in guard for multiple high ranking officials here and there within my state. But one day, I was given a position that would alter my perception of reality forever.
“John!” my boss bellowed as he entered the locker room. I had been getting my gear, body armor, and rifle ready to head to the meeting room. I look up and see this mountain of a man standing in the doorway with a large jolly smile on his face. “Got a job for you” he continued, waving a file in his hand. “What's the Job?” I asked while doing my best to give back a friendly grin. I've been told I’m not great at expressing my emotions. But I’ve been trying. “Well, good news. It's a government facility that needs a pair of guards.” My ears perked up as he said this. “Where at?” I asked with some excitement in my voice. “A warehouse in the desert just outside of the town where you live.” My shoulders drop a little with disappointment. “What sort of warehouse is it?” I ask. “It is a government funded science facility. Something about monitoring seismic activity in the area. During the evening, you and one other guard will be posted there to watch over the equipment.” I thought for a moment and I remembered the place he was talking about. About 5 miles from my home on the outskirts of town, there is a fenced off plot of land that has one large building out in the middle. I had always driven past it on the way to a rifle range and saw the no trespassing signs on the fence and didn't think much of it. “What's the uniform situation?” I ask. “Standard Polo, slacks, and duty belt.” “Body armor and weapons?” I asked, already feeling the boredom seeping in. “None required. You can wear soft armor if it makes you feel better. But there will be a locker with shotguns as a last resort. Aside from that, just your nightstick.” It is at this point I let out a disappointed sigh. After a long moment I look up and ask, “why did you pick me specifically for this position?” He looks at me with that unwavering smile and says, “well, nobody wanted to volunteer for it. So I decided to volun-tell the first person I saw this morning.” He leans over and gives me a strong pat on the back and walks out. I sigh again, take off my usual gear and just dress in the uniform he told me. I do grab my soft armor though. With my duty belt and the file in hand, I head to my SUV. Opening the file, there was the basic information about the warehouse and a padlock key labeled “Front gate”. I shake my head and begin my drive to this warehouse. Luckily, this place was in between home and our headquarters. So once I started this job, at least I wouldn't have to drive as much.
I pulled up to the gate and pulled out the key that was provided with the file. After entering and securing the gate, I look toward the building and see two vehicles parked out front. One large gray sedan and a red prius. Once I pulled up, a round looking man alongside a woman that was wearing our security uniform stepped out of the building and headed toward me. “Welcome!” the man said with a blinding smile. Man, these morning people really are something else. The woman approached me with an equally bright smile holding out her hand. “You must be my new partner. I'm Stacy. Nice to meet you.” “Likewise.” I said, shaking her hand and trying to put on my friendliest smile. Stacy, on first impressions, has a very friendly personality. She had fairly light brown hair and emerald green eyes. She stood roughly a foot shorter than myself, and her physique is slender and well toned while still being curved in a very attractive way. What caught my attention was the fact that, despite her size and stature, she carried herself with a sense of confidence while not trying to be overly imposing. The man that was there I could only describe as plump. He was about 2 inches shorter than Stacy. He had a balding head with a very poor attempt at a comb over. “Well then, Mr. Miller.” He said. “Just John is fine.” I responded. “Alright John. You can call me Bill. Now that we are acquainted, let's begin the tour.” He turned around and headed to the main entrance. Upon entering, I quickly identified the four quadcons and large mobile research vehicle parked in the center. There were dirty tire tracks leading from the large double doors to the vehicle. “Here is the research equipment you will be guarding. Every evening, once the scientists put their equipment away, you will be responsible for verifying that all of the locks are secured. The keys will be given to you and placed in a lockbox that is kept in your office.” Glancing to the right, I saw what I assumed to be our office. It was a small shack built into the side of the main building. Beckoning us toward it, Bill said, “and over here is where you will likely be spending most of your time.” In the office, there was a long desk with large windows looking out to the interior of the warehouse. At the back there was a small restroom that was surprisingly clean. And, what I was looking for, at the back corner was a locked green weapons locker that housed two Mossberg 500 pump action shotguns. Next to that was a small table with walkie talkies on charging stations. Above the charging station were two flat screen TVs with the video feed of security cameras monitoring both the inside and outside of the building. On the desk was a land line telephone, coffee pot, and a microwave. Underneath was a minifridge and a locking filing cabinet. Bill motioned to the cabinet, “This is where the keys to the storage units and truck will be kept with at least one of you having the key to it nearby. All the amenities are available to use, the AC works, and the chairs are comfy.” He grinned proudly like a child that had just finished his chores. “And if you'll follow me,” he said exiting the office door. As we followed, he went around the office shack where a side by side ATV was parked. Attached to it was a spot light on the front and an extra fuel container in the back. “This will be your steed” Bill says with exaggerated grandeur. “You will be able to use this to go around the compound if needed. Just log your driving so we know when the fuel needs to be replenished. Now, over here,” turning on his heel, he walked toward the opposite end of the warehouse. In this direction was a door labeled Janitors closet. Opening it, there were shelves of cleaning supplies, a push broom, and a wheeled bucket with a mop in it. “You can use these if you need to. There are cleaners that take care of the whole building during the day.” Well, at least we won't be doubling as janitors. Bill clapped his hands together, “do you have any questions?” He began walking back toward the office. “Do you get much disturbance out here that requires guarding?” I asked. “Well, the equipment and research is funded by the government. So they want to be sure nothing gets taken. As far as the disturbances, there are the occasional teenagers that try to sneak onto the property at night to do whatever teens do these days.” “What sort of research is being done here?” Stacy asked. We got back to the office and Bill leaned on the wall sweating and out of breath. “I don't know all the details. But it has something to do with monitoring the seismic readings in order to predict earthquakes or something. But I'm sure they can explain it better.” He pulled out a white cloth and wiped his head. I guess he used all his energy for the introduction. At that moment, we heard the crunching of graven as more vehicles pulled up outside. “Speak of the devil” Bill put the cloth away and looked at his watch. Through the window of the office the clock on the wall read nine in the morning. “If you follow me, we can meet the researchers.” For the next several minutes, we were introduced to the lead researcher Mike and his four grad students. Once introductions were finished, they loaded up the large truck and headed out to the desert. “Allright,” Bill said again, clapping. “You will be on guard during the night. Be here at six this evening. for the start of your shift. At six in the morning we will have two other guards relieve you during the day.” He headed over to the red Prius. “If you have any other questions, my cell number is in your files. Good luck” He hopped in and drove off leaving the two of us standing in front of the building. “Well,” Stacy said after a moment of silence. “I look forward to working with you, and I guess I'll see you tonight.” I nodded at this. “See you then.” We both left the site for the day. It turned out that Stacy and I both lived in the same town not too far apart. At least the company chose guards that live close to the site to save on driving.
The next four weeks were fairly uneventful. On the first night, we were able to talk with the researchers. Their explanation was the same as Bill had said. They were monitoring the seismic reading to predict earthquakes. But when the lead researcher said that, I got the sense that there was more to it. After some interrogation tips that I got from a CIA member that was stationed in Syria with me, I began to get good at knowing when someone was lying or withholding information. But, I didn't press the issue. If this was something more serious, there would be alot more security than two guards at a time with minimal equipment. After some deliberation with Stacy, we came up with a routine for our shifts. Every hour, one of us would take a walk around the inside of the warehouse. And every four hours one of us would take the ATV and do a patrol around the perimeter of the fence. The whole drive takes about twenty minutes. As far as issues during this time, not much happened. Every once in a while a camera would go down and one of us would check on it. After either jiggling the cable or just resetting it, the feed would go back to normal. There was one night that we noticed some teens outside of the fence seemingly daring each other to climb over. After revving the ATV and hitting them with the spotlight, they decided to leave. But during our shifts I did get to learn more about Stacy. She is a near polar opposite to me. She is very cheerful and chatty. From what she told me, I learned that she was mostly raised by her grandfather who was a police officer for the majority of his life. She had great respect for him before his passing. She wanted to be just like him with his sense of justice and strength. However, she decided to become private security instead of a police officer. I did notice that she seemed to avoid the topic of her parents. From the different walks of life that I encountered within the military, I decided it was best not to press the topic. She also seemed to like the horror genre of stories and films. During our shifts we were allowed to bring things to pass the time. She would bring a wireless speaker and play music and something called creepypasta. I on the other hand would put in one ear bud with music and read a book when we were not chatting. During the first week, we did have to stand guard for the entire 7 days. But after that more guards were stationed at the warehouse for the weekend to give us time off. This did come with an issue. Stacy would ask to hang out during the weekend. She would want to go to the movie theater or get lunch somewhere. But when she asked, I would say that I had plans. Which isn't a lie, but it mostly consisted of meal prep, physical training, and going to a shooting range. The problem I had was this, I never had a girlfriend. While Stacy is both kind and beautiful, I have no idea how to proceed with this. I would only feel awkward. Despite this, she didn't seem to have any intention of giving up. She would still ask every Friday, and when I told her I was busy, she would say, “maybe next weekend then.”
It was Friday of the fifth week when it happened. Me and Stacy were five hours into our shift, and I had just gotten back from a patrol on the ATV. “See any of the Graboids that they are looking for?” Stacy asked, grinning. “I'm afraid not,” I said disappointedly. “Just the usual rodents and reptiles. Although maybe they turned to shriekers and left.” I grinned as well. After logging the patrol, I entered the office and picked up “The Art Of War” and continued reading where I left off. Stacy was listening to one of those creepypastas on her phone. It was about something called a Skinwalker hunting hikers in a national park. It seemed kind of interesting. Maybe I should start looking into these stories. “So,” Stacy said, pausing the video. “You wanna catch a movie this weekend?” Her emerald eyes glistened with anticipation. “Sorry. I have plans.” I responded. She sighed and slouched sadly. “Well. Maybe next weekend then.” I know if anyone saw me in this situation, they would be screaming at me. A beautiful woman is asking me if I want to spend time together outside of work. After this exchange we continued with our activities waiting for my alarm to go off signaling a patrol. It was at this moment when we felt a strong tremor beneath the warehouse. Feeling tremors wasnt that unusual for this area. Every once in a while we might feel a light one during our shifts. But this one was stronger than any other that we've felt. But before we could get under our desk expecting it to be an earthquake, it was already over. The whole thing had lasted less than a minute. We both sat back in our chairs and looked at each other with a sigh of relief. Soon our nerves were settled and we returned to our entertainment. Fifteen minutes later the alarm on my phone sounded. Stacy stood up stretching. “I'll take this one”, she said. I nodded in agreement and looked back at the camera feeds. The camera that overlooked the corner by the janitors closet was static. “Could you look at camera three when you walk by it?” I asked, pointing at the monitor. She nodded and gave a thumbs up. “Got it.” She grabbed a walkie off the charger and clipped it to her belt. Once she left the office, I returned to my book, occasionally glancing at the monitor. After a few minutes, I heard a click on my radio and then a door slam from the other side of the warehouse. I picked up the radio, “Stacy, you good?” I asked. From the way the office was positioned, the view of that closet is blocked by the truck and quadcons. I looked at the monitor and that camera was still out. “Stacy, you good?” I repeated. No answer. I grabbed my radio and a flashlight and headed out the office to check on her. My worry was that during that tremor, some of the cleaner spilled and she might have slipped on it hitting her head. I very quickly walked over to the closet. I didn't see Stacy anywhere, but her radio was on the floor by the door. I ran over and opened the door worried. But instead of seeing Stacy laying on the floor unconscious, there was a large hole on the concrete. I stood there for a moment trying to process what I was looking at. But remembering Stacy, I pulled out my flashlight carefully looking down the hole. Instead of going straight down, it went in at an angle almost like a tunnel. It was large enough for myself to crawl into if I needed to. “Stacy!” I yelled. “Are you down there?” No response. “Shit” I muttered to myself. I then got down and headed in.
The tunnel seemed to go down for at least twenty feet before leading into another much larger tunnel. Once there, I was surprisingly able to stand up with plenty of room. “I wonder if this is what those researchers were looking into.” I thought to myself. Looking left and right, this tunnel continued further than my flashlight could reach. “Stacy! Can you hear me?” I yelled. The only response I got was my own echo. Looking down, I tried to find any indication of the direction she might have gone. At first I didn't see anything. I did notice that there were drag marks in the dirt going left. No boot marks though. I made a mark in the dirt to indicate the tunnel back to the surface, and started down the left tunnel. For the next ten minutes, I was quickly walking my way through this dark tunnel, yelling Stacy's name all throughout. The tunnel kept going down and curving every now and then. But still no sign of Stacy. Eventually I came to a fork. It was here that the drag marks stopped. After calling Stacy's name a few more times, I knew I had to get to the surface and call for backup. As much as I hated the idea, I knew it was necessary. But right as I was about to turn and head back, I heard a scream. It was very faint, but it came from the right tunnel. Now that I had a direction, I decided to continue quicker than before. I traveled deeper and deeper into these unknown depths. It was at this point that I noticed a turn off up ahead going left. I knew that if there wasn't another sound at this intersection, that I would have to return. I got to the turn off and yelled for Stacy. After a few minutes I heard what sounded like footsteps coming toward me. “Stacy?” I yelled. I carefully walked forward. There was another sound. Heavy breathing. The tunnel turned right. As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw something straight out of a horror movie. It stood on all fours with short legs and long arms, head just about touching the ceiling at roughly eight feet in height. Its skin was an ashen gray color with small tufts of fur near the shoulders. The face and large ears reminded me of a bat. Its eyes were so white, they almost seemed to glow in the darkness. I got the sense that, while it couldn't see me, it knew I was there due to my yelling. As soon as I lock eyes with this creature, before I can do anything, it inhales and lets out an ear piercing shriek. I covered my ears, but it didn't do anything as my vision started to fade to black.
“Sergeant!” There was somebody yelling. “Sergeant Miller!” I opened my eyes and I was on the ground looking at the bright sky. Then a figure appeared reaching down to help me up. Corporal Johnson grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “You good sergeant?” He asked. “Yeah, I'm good!” I yelled back grabbing my rifle and getting back to the cover of the hummvee. As bullets riddled the opposite side of the vehicle, I went to the front and returned fire over the hood taking out two of the attackers. Johnson came up behind me doing the same. “The fifty is down, and Rodriguez is hit!” He yelled while reloading. I looked at the hummvee ahead of ours. The doors were open and I saw Corporal Smith messing with the radio while being covered by Private Williams. On the ground beside them was Rodriguez being treated by the Corpsman. I looked back to Johnson, “Cover me! I'm moving up”, I yelled to him. He nodded, racking his rifle. “Moving!” I yelled as I sprinted to the next vic. A couple of bullets hit near my feet. As soon as I got to the rear, I yelled, “set!” Johnson started running while I kept him covered. Once we were both there, we checked on Rodriguez. The corpsman looked up at me, “we need a medevac now!” He yelled holding a wound near the neck. I nodded quickly and got up to Smith who was yelling on the radio. I knelt down, “what's the ETA on those birds?” I asked. He shook his head angrily. “They are at least five minutes out!” He said cursing as a bullet hit the top of the door next to him. “We won't last that long! Just get on the 240 and fire back now!” I yelled in his ear. “Aye Sergeant!” Smith climbs into the hummvee and mounts the turret with the 240 machine gun firing back. I looked back at Johnson, “we need to get to the lead vic and mount the Mark 19!” I yelled back. Johnson gave me a devilish grin, “aye sergeant!” He yelled back. The lead hummvee was two vehicles ahead. With the help of Williams’ suppressing fire, we got to the second vic. “Just one more” I thought to myself. Johnson got ready to move to the next hummvee. I nod at him and get set for suppressing fire. “Moving!” He selled. Right as he started running there was a snap and he hit the dirt as blood started pooling by his head. “Sniper!” I yelled back to the others. But as soon as I looked back to where Smiths’ 240 was roaring, the entire hummvee exploded as an RPG detonated below it. A large piece of what I assume was the door, hit me in the helmet and I was back on the ground. I looked up with blurred vision seeing an attack helicopter unloading its payload toward the enemy placements. But as I blinked, there was a large face staring at me from across the street. An inhuman face. Almost like a bat. I start to remember what this thing is, just as my vision fades to black.
“Sergeant!” There was somebody yelling. “Sergeant Miller!” I opened my eyes and I was on the ground looking at the bright sky. Then a figure appeared reaching down to help me up. Corporal Johnson grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “You good sergeant?” He asked. “Yeah, I'm good!” I yelled back grabbing my rifle and getting back to the cover of the hummvee. As bullets riddled the opposite side of the vehicle, I went to the front and returned fire over the hood taking out two of the attackers. Johnson came up behind me doing the same. “The fifty is down, and Rodriguez is hit!” He yelled while reloading. I looked at the hummvee ahead of ours. The doors were open and I saw Corporal Smith messing with the radio while being covered by Private Williams. I looked back at Johnson. “Wait.” I thought to myself. “I-I was just here.” I watched as Johnson continued to make the same moves as he did in this memory. I stand up and look around as he runs to the next hummvee. I hear the corpsman yell about evac. Smith yelling about the ETA on the birds. “This,” I said to myself. “This was the last mission.” Then I remembered. A face. An inhuman face. I looked across the street where I saw it. I close my eyes and shake my head. When I opened my eyes, I was back in the darkness of a tunnel. The monster was now looming over me reaching out with its large clawed hand. I immediately jumped back out of its arms reach. The monster seemed surprised that its trance was broken. It began to inhale, readying another shriek. But before it could let out its scream, I drew the compact Sig pistol that I keep under my uniform and put two rounds between its eyes. Now when I asked the boss about having weapons, he said they weren't required. He didn't say I couldn't conceal one just in case. The creature slumped to the ground lifeless. Despite the ringing in my ears from the shot, I knew I had to continue forward to find Stacy. I looked down and was glad to see the footprints and drag marks were clear and continued forward. As I continued down the tunnels, the walls started to change. The texture went from the dirt and stone to a black and almost rubbery plastic. If I had to compare, it looked almost like the walls in that Aliens movie. That thought also unnerved me. Soon after noticing the changes, I started to hear a voice further down the tunnel. It was Stacy's voice. Faint, but there. I quickened my pace. The tunnel then seemed to open up into a large cavern. It was so large that my flashlight couldn't reach the opposite end. The walls had that same alien-like texture. I then noticed bulb-like growths attached to the walls. Walking to the nearest one I peered in. There was the remains of a human skeleton. From the looks of it, the bones were here for many years. The clothes, or what was left of them, looked similar to those I've seen in mining pictures from the 1800s. Moving forward, each bulb, or pod I guessed, had a similar sight. A human skeleton, no flesh remaining. They were all in a pose that suggested they all died screaming. At least, those that still had a jaw attached. After looking into the fifth one, I heard Stacy’s voice again from across the cavern. I immediately started walking in that direction. At that moment I looked up toward the ceiling and saw a nightmare. There were hundreds of those creatures attached and encased in similar pods. All seemingly asleep and ready to get out at a moment's notice. Off to the side, there were several of those bods that were empty. Immediately lowering my light, I hastened my pace as quietly as possible. At the end of the cavern, I saw the pale face of Stacy peeking out of what I now assumed were feeding pods. “No daddy, no.” She was muttering to herself quietly. “Don't hurt mommy.” I lifted her head up and her eyes were open but unfocused. “She must be in that trance” I thought to myself. Reaching to my belt, I pulled out a pocket knife and began cutting away at the pod. Luckily for me, whatever this was made of had not hardened yet. As soon as there was enough give, I pulled Stacy out and placed her on the ground. “Come on. Wake up Stacy.” I said quietly into her ear. After about a minute of speaking to her and giving a light sternum rub, her eyes finally came back into focus. “John?” She asked. I put my hand over her mouth and whispered into her ear, “Shh. We need to get out of here quietly.” I pointed the light up at the creature pods. Her eyes widened. Then she looked at me and nodded slowly. I removed my hand and helped her to her feet. She was a little wobbly. “Can you walk?” I asked. She nodded again and we began our track to the surface.
I took point and followed the tracks that led me here. Seeing me with my pistol aimed ahead Stacy asked, “are there more of them in the tunnels?” “Yeah.” I said gesturing up ahead at the carcass of the creature that I shot earlier. She nodded approvingly. She then pulled out her own Sig pistol from her waistband. I think I’m in love. We continued down the tunnels with haste. When we rounded one corner, another two more of the creatures were shuffling towards us. As soon as I saw them, I took a knee and put two rounds in the first one killing it. The second one climbed over the body and sped up taking a deep breath. But before I could fire at it, Stacy put three rounds into its head. I looked back at her and she was in a perfect shooter's stance the muzzle of her pistol still smoking. With our ears still ringing, I gave her a thumbs up and we continued. After some time, we finally reached the smaller tunnel leading up to the janitor's closet in the warehouse. We got out and looked around making sure that none of the creatures were waiting above. After clearing the building, we both sighed with relief. Stacy then started toward the office. “I'm going to call for backup,” she said. I shook my head. “No. We need to collapse that cavern before those things can get up here.” She looked at me with confusion. “And how do you expect us to do that? I doubt the researchers have explosives in their truck,” she said pointing at the vehicle. “Just follow me,” I said heading to the front door. Stacy hesitated and quickly followed. I immediately ran to my SUV and opened the rear. As soon as Stacy caught up, I opened the plastic cases and her eyes widened. “Take your pick,” I said gesturing toward the case full of guns and armor. After a moment, she grabbed a suppressed Honey Badger rifle, a glock 17, and a chest rig for spare magazines. I took my own Suppressed M4 rifle, glock 19, and my plate carrier. After we strapped on the gear, I handed her a pair of noise canceling headphones to help with the gunshots underground. “So, you usually carry this much gear?” Stacy asked, turning on the headphones. “Well,” I said. “You never know when you need it.” After putting on my own headphones, I pulled out a duffel bag from a much deeper compartment of the case. I set it on the ground and opened it. Stacy's eyes went even wider than before. “Is that?” she stammered. “Yep.” I said, looking down at the large bag full of plastic bricks marked as C4. “Where did you?” she started. “Let's just say I know a guy who knows a guy.” I responded, pulling out a detonator and making sure I had enough components. “Let's move.” I said, throwing the bag over my shoulder and loading my rifle. She nodded, loading her rifle.
Once we reentered the tunnel, the mics on the headphones were able to pick up the faint sounds of the creatures footsteps and distant shrieks. I looked back at Stacy, “ready.” I asked. “Let's go,” She responded. I placed a glow stick at the entrance and began the move forward. After only a few minutes of walking one of those creatures rounded a corner. As it did, it let out one of those ear piercing screams. But, fortunately for us, those headphones worked very well at canceling out the effect that it had. I grinned and promptly put two rounds between its eyes. After stepping over the body and rounded the corner, there were two more. “Shit,” I thought. “More of those pods must have opened.” Despite this revelation, we continued. Killing every creature along the way. Stacy did surprise me though. All of her moves were smooth and calculated. She clearly had more training than what the security company provided. Maybe I should ask her about it when we get out of here. She might make a good range buddy. It took twice as long to get to the cavern the second time. A couple of those creatures almost got the jump on us. They would wait around corners or try to attack from behind. I did get hit, but somehow it only damaged the armor plate. I did note that it went through the plate like butter. Definitely didn't want to get directly hit by that. Once we finally arrived at the cavern, there were more empty pods. And even more were starting to move. I dropped the duffel bag and gave Stacy some of the bricks and detonators. “You take that side and I'll take this one,” I told her. “Got it,” she said. I quickly showed her how to arm the device and we began planting. I put some of them in the empty food pods as well as sticking them to the wall. A couple of the pods burst open. I was quickly able to dispatch them. Once we finally finished planting the C4, we met back at the entrance of the cavern. I took out a timer and attached it to the wall. “We are going to have to run,” I said, punching in fifteen minutes. She took a deep breath and nodded. I nodded back and hit start. We bolted down the tunnels. The bodies of the creatures we killed on the way in, did slow us down. But I calculated that. A couple of them did try to ambush us, but we quickly put them down. Throughout this run, I was able to place a couple of the remaining C4 at key intersections in order to collapse the tunnels. We finally reached the last turn and saw the first glow stick up ahead. I glanced down at the timer on my watch. 5 minutes. “Perfect,” I thought, grinning to myself. I helped Stacy up the tunnel. “Keep going. I'll be right up.” I said. I knelt down and planted the last C4 charge at the base of the exit. I then began crawling up the tunnel. But just before my legs entered the hole, something grabbed my right foot and yanked me back down. It held me upside down and I was able to get a good look at my assailant. It was one of those creatures, but this one seemed bigger. There were scars all over its face and torso. “And you must be the leader,” I said. It snarled. My rifle was on my back so I couldn't grab it. It reared its other arm back and readied a slash. “I don't think so,” I said, drawing my pistol and dumping half the mag into its body. It let out one last scream dropping me and falling dead. I looked at my timer. 2 minutes. Shit. I dove into the tunnel and crawled up as fast as I could. When my head popped out, Stacy was there and she helped pull me out. I looked at her and quickly motioned to the door. “We need to haul ass!” I yelled. Without hesitation, she sprinted with me to the door. She passed me and slammed into the door opening it. I guess I'll need to work on my run time. As soon as I passed the threshold, I heard the beeping of my watch indicating the 5 second mark. We bolted toward the gate. Once we got there, the timer went off. There was a rumble underground as I knew the C4 had detonated. It was a moment later that the backside of the warehouse exploded, as the rest of it caved in. I noticed that a section of the desert seemed to sink slightly. That area was where the researchers seemed to spend the most time. I knew they were hiding something. I shook my head and looked back at our vehicles. Somehow, by some miracle, no debris had hit them. We glanced at each other and both let out a big sigh of relief. We began walking back to my SUV. “So,” I said. “What’s playing in the theater?” Stacy looked up at me, smiled and began laughing. I laughed too as she leaned on my shoulder. “Don't know. As long as it's not horror.” I put my arm around her shoulders. “I agree.”

Yes, unused. Apparently there was a cache of the things, unboxed but never deployed, in some school's warehouse. There are still some on eBay if anyone wants to root around for them. The seller is a straight shooter, but the new-as-mint prices are a bit more than you'll find elsewhere on the site. The benefits are a 100% checked out device, with the most recent software and all new batteries, plus a power adapter.
I was led to Alphasmart by way of googlesurfing info on the Freewrite line, which has a price tag that puckers every orifice I own. Man, they are proud of those things. And it's not quite as unplugged as I'd like, as it seems to rely on WiFi to upload content to a third party site — which means I'd be at the mercy of the site owners if they (1) decided to start charging for storage; or (2) tanked, and deleted all files after the bankruptcy. And in any case, I'd have to use WiFi to transfer my scribblings.
My purpose for the Neo is to have a fast, light, reliable, and minimal-fuss device that I can do a lot of writing on, fast. Laptops are fine, but not always desirable. Tablets' onscreen keyboards are really grim. Two-device solutions (iPad with a keyboard case) are in the same cognitive category as a laptop. I just want a minimal-fuss keyboard and screen, which is precisely what the Neo is.
Overall impressions:
The Neo management software no longer functions on macOS, though I've discovered Alphasync, and that works well enough for faster file transfers. I wouldn't mind deleting the instructional applets from the Neo, though, if that would mean more free space available for text file storage.
Quirks I've found so far are about what I anticipated based on reading online fora (including this one) and a browse of the manuals. The single greatest letdown is that it can't talk directly to the Lightning port on an iPhone or iPad, as the Apple device complains that the Neo is "drawing too much power". Pfft. I've heard rumors that attaching it with an unpowered USB hub in between the Neo and the phone/pad works as effectively as using a powered one, but the point here is to be as close to additional-peripherals-free as possible.
Another quirk is that the Neo seems to use a different character subset from more-or-less standard ANSI. Em dashes and "smart" quotes translate well enough in an incoming file (dropped in by way of Alphasmart), and look right on the Neo screen, but when those files come back out of the Neo, those characters are replaced by oddly accented Os and Ns in the text file.
This isn't a deal-breaker. Text files generated on the Neo will not include em dashes or smart quotes; it lacks a way to generate them. Only files added to it from external sources are likely to have them. I can search/replace quotes and dashes on my own, in my sundry Mac desktop programs, and I'll only really need to do that with files made on the Neo, as part of edit-and-polish on a desktop system.
USB connection to the Mac works fine, which is not surprising; USB is a serial format, and serial communications protocols have been pretty consistent for … oh … since at least the 1960s, I think, so they're unlikely to change much, even if the port connectors do.
And it's that USB connection I like to watch when I'm sending a file. It looks very much like a movie effect where a flow of text appears rapidly on some actor's computer screen. Does take a while, though, even at maximum speed, which is why I was glad to find Alphasync.
I know there's a Git repository of the source for the Neo manager software, but alas, no one has compiled it into a 64-bit macOS application yet.
Plaudits:
I think what tickles me the most is the legitimate cleverness of these devices from an engineering perspective. They're little more than a keyboard with some RAM, with basic working additions such as a screen and batteries, and a rudimentary file system, likely resident on ROM.
And their method of sending files is bloody brilliant; it's slow, yes, but essentially the device is pretending to be a human-operated keyboard when it's sending, passing along the full record of every keystroke you made and saved in the text file, as though it's being typed in live.
There's so little that can go wrong here. It depends on no third-party hardware or drivers, relies on no external communications methods or devices, simply using the most fundamental comms protocol, common to all computers, to deliver its message.
Sometimes the most elegant solutions are the ones that leverage technology which has been around for at least fifty years, without any fuss or additional baggage.
AlphaSmart essentially built a portable typewriter with its own built-in supply of paper and ink, and gave it the ability to send work results to computer by the least complicated method available, and that's why these things are still in demand today.

There haven't been any new games coming out lately that have grabbed my attention, so I'm looking for something that can keep me occupied for a while. I want a game I get so into that I go, "Let me do this one last thing real quick," and then suddenly three hours have passed and I'm halfway through something entirely different instead. I'm primarily looking for PC and Switch games, but anything other than a PS5 and Xbox consoles are fair game. I play all sorts of games, so I'm open to some less-traditional-but-still-weirdly-cozy games as well.
Some things that I like (of course they don't all have to be in the same game):

• Colorful, unique fantasy worlds
• Exploring, collecting, and gathering
• Being able to go at my own pace and being able to focus on one thing at a time, rather than having to spread my attention between multiple tasks at once
• Character creation
• Controller support for third person games. M&K is fine for 2D and first person games.
• Having some sort of goal. But I also like having the freedom to do my own thing as well if I want.
• Cool plants (not taking care of them though)

Things that I don't like:

• Farming. I'm okay with a little farming if I can mostly ignore it, but I don't want that to be the main draw of the game. More open to farming if it's a fantasy setting though.
• Inventory management. This is the biggest reason I have issues with a lot of the farming/crafting games. I hate constantly running out of space, having to run back home to drop items off while I'm in the middle of something, having to dig through my 20 severely unorganized chests to find the item I need, etc.
• Having a million different work benches, especially if they take time to craft items
• Taking care of animals
• In general, having to manage a lot of smaller (especially daily) tasks at once
• Time limits. I get too stressed out by them, even if they're generous.
• Realism. This has less to do with the setting (although I do prefer fantasy) and more to do with the mechanics and art style.

Some games that I like:

• Dragon Quest Builders 2: One of my favorite games. The game is cute and colorful and I love the characters. You get a huge inventory with 999 items per stack and the ability to craft from storage. Most materials are plentiful and you can eventually get unlimited basic materials. NPCs will also take care of things like farming and cooking so you don't have to worry about doing them. The game makes things super convenient so you can really focus on the story and building parts of the game. The game also gives enough guidance so that less creative people (me) can still have fun.
• Atelier series (non-timed): I like that the games often use item categories rather than specific items for crafting, so you're almost always have the necessary items on hand to craft what you need if you're just looking to play through the story. Will I still spend two hours crafting one item? Yes. But the game doesn't make me do that, I do that to myself. Sophie 1 & 2 are my favorites.
• Grow: Song of the Evertree: I liked how colorful and unique the world in this game was. I also like combining things to create other things, so I enjoyed the world creation aspect, although actually taking care of them did get a bit tedious after a while.
• Wildmender: This game stole so much of my time. I lost hours to terraforming and planting. Lots of cool plants in this game. Easy to make things look nice even if you're not that creative. I also liked the various difficulty settings.
• Rune Factory: I like JRPGs. I like the characters. I like being able to level up basically everything that you do. I always do minimal farming and get through the game just fine like that.
• Sun Haven: Similar to Rune Factory. I liked the setting and story. I especially liked Withergate. I used mods to make the farming part easier. The game has a lot of crafting stations but most of them aren't all that necessary.
• Slime Rancher: I know this one seems like it has a lot of my dislikes, but I think the way they were done made the game more enjoyable. I love the art style and how the movement feels in the game. The smaller inventory wasn't much of a hassle because you're usually not picking up a ton of things in one go. Fast travel makes getting around easier, and there's no mandatory bedtime so you don't have to worry about getting back home at the end of the day. You can start automating things pretty early on so taking care of the slimes isn't that hard. Also you can combine slimes to make other slimes, which is something I enjoy. The game feels pretty focused on a few different mechanics so it never gets too overwhelming.
• Dorfromantik and Islanders: Putting these two together since I like them for similar reasons. I like these types of chill run-based games where you just try to go as far as you can with what you have. I also like seeing the landscapes grow in Dorfromantik.
• Balatro and Slay the Spire: Not really cozy, but I still find them relaxing. They're mouse only, so they don't take a lot of effort to play. You can also take your time with them and you don't have to manage a ton of different things at once. It's also very easy to "just one more run" these games. I like the adjustable difficulty, so if I want a challenge I can have one, but if I want to just turn my brain off or try out different ideas for fun I can do that too.

Didn't mean to make the post this long, but I hope it helps. Also, I love checking out demos so if there are any demos for upcoming games that I should try out let me know. I tried out the demo for Horticular a while back and I'm super excited for it. I also tried out Tiny Glade, and while it's not quite what I'm looking for in this post I still thought it was adorable and I'm looking forward to that game as well.

Part 2
While I was deciding what to do next, Aimee burst through the door. She was soaking wet and shivering. Her clothes were matted down with dirt and mud.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“I was lost in the woods,” she said.
“How did you get there?” I asked.
“I don't know…I just remember going to sleep next to you and then all of a sudden I was in the woods,” she said as she continued to shiver.
I helped her into the bathroom and wrapped my arms around her to try and warm her up.
“You'll get all dirty,” she said.
“It's okay, I don't mind at all,” I said.
She kissed me before leaning her head into my chest. Then she stepped back and looked at me. “Looks like we'll both need a shower now,” she said. “Want to join me?”
She carefully took off her dirty clothes and piled them on the floor. Then she helped me get mine off before grabbing my hand and leading me into the shower with her.
After we were finished and dry, we got dressed. She put on new clothes and I had to put the same ones on again. “Guess I should have gotten clean clothes first,” I said.
“I'll go with you so you can get changed and hopefully Josh will be there…we really need to talk to him,” she said.
“I agree. He's been acting weirder than the rest of us have.”
We took the stairs to my floor and walked over to my room. The door was slightly ajar. We pushed it further open and peeked inside before going in. At first, we didn't see anything, but after we walked in, Aimee was the first to notice him.
“Oh my God!” she shouted.
It was Greg's roommate, Amir. He was lying on the floor behind my bed. Bubbles of drool were coming out of his mouth and his eyes were wide open. He looked terrified and his mouth was twitching but he made no sound.
“Get help!” shouted Aimee before she knelt down beside him.
I called 9-1-1 on my phone while running into the hall and yelling for help. Some of my floormates came over first. Then the RA joined us with a first aid kit. He pulled out a CPR mask and began doing chest compressions before breathing into Amir's mouth.
The paramedics arrived pretty quickly and took over for the RA. Campus police showed up next while the EMTs were putting Amir on a stretcher and wheeling him to the elevator.
We were questioned by the campus police and then by the local police. Greg and Emily came over while we were still talking to them and couldn't believe what happened. The police told us to stay out of my room while they looked around but that we were free to go.
I peeked inside before we walked away and saw a dark shape moving around inside. “Hey, I think someone's in there!” I shouted to the police. They ran inside and looked around. There weren't many places to hide so their search was quick and didn't turn up anyone.
“Sorry,” I said when they came back out. “I thought I saw something move in there.”
“You can stay in our room,” Emily said. “I'll stay with Greg…poor Amir. I wonder what happened?”
“We should look for Josh,” said Greg.
I tried calling Josh but it went straight to voicemail. “Call me back,” I said before hanging up. I also sent him a text message asking where he was and to call me.
“He's probably in the room,” I said.
Emily brightened up. “We should go now and see if he is there,” she said.
“I need something to eat first,” I said. “Want to go to the cafeteria first and then head out?”
“Good idea,” said Greg.
We went to the cafeteria and shared a table after getting our food. All of us, except for Emily, had class today, but we were all okay with skipping so we could find Josh.
After we were finished eating, we went outside. The sun was out but there were a lot of clouds moving in.
“That doesn't look good,” said Aimee, pointing to the low dark gray clouds heading towards us.
Lightning flashed followed pretty quickly by a rumble of thunder.
“Maybe we should go back in and wait this out,” I said.
Before anyone answered, the rain began to quickly fall. We all ran back inside as more lightning lit up the darkening day.
“Now what do we do?” asked Greg.
“I guess we should go to our classes,” I said.
Emily let me borrow her umbrella since I couldn't go back to my room yet and we all went our separate ways.
I sat down near the back in my Economics class and hoped nothing weird was going to happen. The girl that was at Josh's table the other day was a couple rows in front of me. During class she kept looking back at me every so often and smiling.
After class was over she came over to me. “Aren't you Josh's roommate?”
“Yes, I'm John.”
“My name is Nicole. Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure. Let's go out in the hall.”
We found a bench to sit on. Her eyes were wide and she seemed to be having a hard time containing her excitement.
She waited for the last few people from class to clear out of the area before talking.
“Do you know where Josh is? He was supposed to text me earlier so I could go with him to this special place he found.”
I was about to answer, but she cut me off and kept on talking.
“He told us all about this room where the ceiling is alive. None of us believed him at first until he showed us this trick. I don't know how he did it, but he had us come to his room and he did something with the ceiling. I was sure there was a projector but I couldn't find one. Do you know how he did it?”
This time she waited for me to answer. “I don't know how he did it and I am trying to find him too. The room he is talking about might be dangerous…I wouldn't go if I were you.”
“I have to see it! The others want to, too,” she said.
“Who else did he tell about it?”
Her phone buzzed. She quickly pulled it out of her backpack and looked disappointed. “It isn't Josh, but I have to take this.”
She answered her phone as she walked towards the door to go outside. I wondered if she knew what happened to Amir. I felt like I should tell her.
When I stood up to go follow her, I heard a door opening behind me with an audible creak. I turned around and watched the door gently bounce off the rubber wall protector.
The hallway was silent and it didn't sound like anyone was in the room. I looked back outside and I didn't see Nicole…or anyone else. There should be people here for their next class. I looked up at the digital clock on the wall. It showed 1:00.
I pulled out my phone and texted Aimee. She was in class so I didn't want to call her. I heard noises coming from the classroom that I couldn't make sense of. Before I knew it, I was walking towards the open doorway. When I walked inside the room, I saw black fog coming down from the ceiling. The walls seemed to pulse with life and I felt my shoes sticking to the floor. I tried to lift my foot but it wouldn't budge. The fog was growing bigger and filling up the room. I felt it swirl around me and felt voices inside my head. They were trying to tell me something but I couldn't understand.
I looked at the floor again and saw eyes staring up at me. The whispers turned into pictures in my head and I knew what I had to do. I turned around and walked back into the hallway. Pushing my way through the doors out into the cold stormy day.
I walked down the steep hill leading to the baseball field and toward the woods. Thunder rumbled all around me and the strong winds pushed through the trees.
I still hadn't seen anyone, but I didn't care, I just had to get to the room. Voices filled the silence and encouraged me on my path.
Music tool my attention away from the room and I reached for my phone. Aimee was calling.
I stopped and answered. “Hi.”
“Hey, where are you? Your class was done hours ago and no one has seen you,” she said.
It was like the view in front of me glitched. Then blue sky appeared and I could hear cars driving by behind me.
“I'm by the rec center,” I said. “Are Greg and Emily with you?”
“No, they just left to get some food. Are you coming over here?”
I looked towards the woods, which would take me to the room and was trying to think what I should do.
“John…John!” Aimee shouted.
“What? Why are you yelling?” I asked.
“You wouldn't answer me but it sounded like you were mumbling something to yourself,” she said.
“That's weird. What was I saying?”
“I have no idea. It was gibberish to me…so, are you coming over?”
“Yes…yes, I'll be there shortly,” I said.
“Great! Can't wait to see you.”
“Same here,” I ended the call and headed towards the dorms.
A sudden loud rumble of thunder made me jump. I looked up at the mostly clear sky above me and as far as I could see. I heard another loud one just before I ran into the dorms.
I went up to Aimee's room. She ran over and gave me a hug. “We were worried about you.”
We sat down and started talking. At first we spoke about everything but what was currently going on. Finally, Aimee steered the conversation to what we really should have been talking about and asked, “What do you think happened to Amir?”
“I don't know,” I said. “But he looked absolutely terrified.”
“I wonder what he saw,” she said.
My mind was spinning with everything happening and I didn't really want to think about it anymore. I leaned in and kissed Aimee. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me back. We made out for a while before falling asleep in each other's arms.
I woke up to shadows dancing along the walls and dim light coming in through the window. Aimee was sitting at her desk. She was drawing something.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I had this nightmare,” she said. “And I keep seeing these pictures in my mind when I close my eyes.”
I looked at her drawing. It was mostly water with thick black strands coming out of it in the middle. She pulled out another piece of paper and it was just this scribbled out human shape with long tendrils coming out of its head. There wasn't much detail to the drawing but it reminded me of the shadow I saw on the wall in my class.
“I saw something like that in my class,” I said. “Thought I must have imagined it.”
We met Greg and Emily for breakfast in the dorm cafeteria and made our plan for going back to the tunnels. It was raining outside but there was no thunder or lightning. The way Emily took us last time was mostly outside and we didn't feel like getting drenched before going back to the room.
I was weirdly excited to be going back there and it looked like the others were as well.
“I want to see if I can go back in my room and get changed before we go,” I said.
We finished our food and took the elevator to my floor. When the doors opened, there was a loud boom of thunder and the lights flickered.
“That’s great, maybe we won't be able to go,” said Emily.
“Let's just see how bad it is, maybe we can still just run quickly to the tunnel entrance. Or maybe we can find another way in from the basement of one of the other buildings,” said Aimee.
Lightning flashed outside the windows at the end of the hallway followed by an even louder roar of thunder.
The storm was getting worse and the building shook with each rumble of thunder. The lights flickered a few more times when we walked through my door and then they completely went out. I used my phone light to find my flashlight in the desk drawer while the others sat down.
When my light moved past Josh's desk, I noticed paper everywhere, including on the floor. Each piece had some writing on it.
“What the hell,” I said, picking up a piece of paper. There were unique looking symbols drawn all over this one. They were written in organized columns and were intricately detailed. Another piece had what looked like mathematical equations except there were no recognizable numbers or symbols.
“What is it?” asked Aimee.
“I don't know,” I said.
The others came over and started looking through the pages with me.
“This one looks like cursive writing but doesn't make any sense,” said Emily.
I picked up another one that had random letters spaced out like words but none of them made any sense. I turned towards Emily. “This reminds me…Emily, I forgot to ask about this weird text you sent me.” I opened up my messaging app and showed her what she had sent.
She stared unblinking at the message. Then she apparently tried to read it out loud. “Ph'nglui mglw'nafh umr wgah'nagl fhtagn.”
Emily grabbed the paper I had been holding and started to read that one too. Of course, none of it was making any sense to us, but she was reading it aloud like it was normal English.
“Ngai syha'hrii hupadgh ep shugg. Ngai shagg nafl shuggog ftaghu hrii stell'bsna throd y-s'uhn. R'lyeh hrii kadishtu, ya s'uhn ngai vulgtlagln.” Emily closed her eyes and dropped the paper. There was a rumbling above us that wasn't from the storm.
Aimee, Greg, and I looked up to see the night sky where the ceiling used to be, with the stars brightening the darkened room. A ripple flowed across the ceiling and we stared in amazement at it. It was beautiful just like the room in the tunnels. Time seemed to stand still as I lost myself in the neverending night sky.
I climbed on my bed and raised my arm, stopping my hand just before where the ceiling should be. Then I slowly reached up with one finger breaking the plane into the impossible sky above. There was surface tension that caused more ripples to spread across the ceiling and then my finger broke through.
I shouted in pain, immediately pulling my hand back down. It was freezing cold. My fingertip had no color to it and now felt numb.
“What happened?” Aimee said as her gaze slowly turned away from the ceiling and towards me.
“I don't know,” I said. “But I think we should get out of here.”
Greg was still looking up and didn't move when we called his name. Aimee grabbed my pillow and put it over his face so he couldn't see the ceiling anymore. He looked over at us like he was waking from a dream.
“Come on Greg, let's get Emily and go somewhere else,” I said.
Emily was now sitting at Josh's desk flipping through the papers and whispering fast. It was more of the nonsense words she was reading before.
“Emily…we need to go,” said Greg.
She continued reading and didn't move. Then she stood up and raised her hands towards the ceiling. As she moved them, we could see the stars above moving just like what Josh had done the other night when I thought I was dreaming.
New stars appeared as the night sky circled around above us. Aimee and Greg appeared to be stuck looking at it again. Although I wanted to see what would happen, I think the pain in my finger must have allowed me to keep some focus on the real world around me.
We stood there watching for a long time as the sky continued to move. A brighter star appeared with planets spaced out around it. The biggest planet grew closer and eventually took up the whole ceiling. Then the middle of the ceiling began to droop down like a slow drip of syrup. I felt a low rumble inside my head and could hear some of the words Emily had been speaking. Pictures of a barren planet with a vast ocean appeared before me. Something big was coming out of the water. I started to focus back on the pain in my finger and the room around me.
I grabbed Aimee by the arm and pulled her towards the door. She didn't even seem to notice what I was doing. After I got her through the door, I ran back and did the same for Greg.
The part of the ceiling that was dripping down formed into a large tentacle and began reaching for me. Another one emerged and went towards Emily. I ran to her and pulled her to the ground with me. The rumble in my head grew louder, causing excruciating pain. I fought through it and crawled along the floor dragging Emily with me and staying just out of reach of the appendages. When we reached the door, one of them slid across Emily's leg. She screamed. I stood up and pulled her quickly out the door, slamming it shut behind me.
Aimee and Greg were just standing there in a daze. Emily was crying with her eyes wide, frantically looking around. The thunder outside was almost constant, but I didn't hear any when we were in the room. It must have masked the sound of Emily's scream as I didn't see anyone else in the hall.
I shook Aimee and Greg and called their names. It took a while but they both eventually returned to consciousness.
“Emily needs help,” I said.
I looked at her leg and it was much worse than the marks on Aimee's back. There was a thick patch where the skin was gone and blood was coming out. Greg kneeled down beside Emily, who didn't even seem to notice he was there while Aimee and I went to get help. We knocked on a few doors but no one answered. I ran to the bathrooms and grabbed some paper towels to use to stop the bleeding.
In a minor pause between thunder, I heard the tornado siren as I ran back to Emily. Greg took the paper towels from me and held them to her leg.
“I heard a siren,” I said. “Everyone must be in the storm shelter in the basement.”
“What do you think is happening in your room?” Aimee asked.
“I'm afraid to check,” I said. “But at least nothing is trying to break down the door.”
Greg had grabbed Emily's head and was looking in her eyes. “Emily, it's me.”
He kept talking to her and trying to get her attention. Aimee and I grabbed Emily's arms and pulled her up. She still didn't seem to be aware of her surroundings but she could at least stand with minimal help from us.
“Let's take her to her room,” said Greg.
We led her down the stairs and into her room. Then we got her to lie down on her bed while Aimee ran to the bathroom for antibiotic ointment and bandages.
“I should go see what is happening in my room,” I said.”
“I'll go with you,” said Aimee. “Greg, we'll be back soon.” She grabbed her flashlight and we went out the door.