Making Kerbal Space Program into Homebrew Kerbal Space Program 2 with Mods: The Community Lifeboat Project
Hello everyone! This has taken me days to type, apologies for the wall of text that’s about to ensue.
With the coming demise of Intercept Games and their long-troubled and likely-shuttered development of Kerbal Space Program 2, a question I’m seeing come up more and more, and have also asked myself arises: “How do we turn KSP1 into the game that we all dreamed KSP2 would be, with mods?”. is it even possible? I believe I have an answer that will satisfy you. This IS quite achievable, for the most part. While no modlist could ever match the dream we had/have for what ksp2 would become, we can get fairly close with the tools we have presently available. KSP1 is a mature, if imperfect game with a thriving modding community. Many mods are cross-compatible and designed to work together despite independent creation pipelines, and we have a powerful modloader in the form of CKAN that makes modding the game extremely easy. And, the best part, new mods are actively being developed all the time. I'd like to help you all create an aproximation of KSP2 in regular KSP, with mods, I call this list The Community Lifeboat Project. My sincere hope is that this will sate those of you, like me, who dreamed of a KSP2 that surpassed the original in every way, and still hope that we may someday see a version of a complete KSP2 in some form or another. For now, this is the best thing I can offer the community that has given me alot, in its stead.
Who am I? A member of this great gaming community, same as you. Someone who has at the time of writing, 1800 hours in KSP1, and about 300 hours in KSP2, and about 100 hours in modded KSP1, and many more planned. I am someone who prays to the Deep Space Kraken that my rockets will fly and that we someday get a fully-released and realized version of Kerbal Space Program 2. In the meantime, this what I’m playing in lieu of our long-awaited sequel.
Who am I not? I am not techy. I am not a modding guru. I am neither a customer service line, a mod author, nor a troubleshooter. I do not have the answers to any ensuing chaos or game corruption that may ensue from playing this modlist. This modlist is just me telling you all what I am playing with personally, right now. My best effort at Homebrew KSP2, if you will. Many of these mods were added on hyperactive impulse and AFAIK work through black magic. Some may be redundant or break unexpectedly in the future but I have had no major issues to date. It mostly works as far as I can tell, minor graphical bugs aside. However, again, I am not a modder or a game developer, I know about as much about modding KSP as you do, maybe less.
This modlist has worked well, for me, to date, but if you run into issues I can’t help you. You need to do the legwork yourself to learn how CKAN works and install these mods, and to troubleshoot anything that explodes (that isn’t supposed to, many of the new engines do explode, on purpose). This is a curated recommendation list only, not a complete how-to guide. If some more experienced modders and players in the community want to review this list and comment below with improvements and revisions or point out redundancies, please do so. If someone wants to make this list into some sort of compiled modpack, go for it. Also please comment if there are mods known to be in development right now that you all think might be a good fit here whenever they get released, or just other stuff the stockalike-ksp2-in-ksp1 community should be aware of.
Who is this mod for? This modlist is for anyone in the Kerbal Space Program community who wants to make use of it, but is primarily geared towards giving veteran players new mechanics and content to play with. This modlist actively makes the game more challenging with new gameloops and mechanics to account for, it does not trivialize the base game or make it easier to learn. Quite the opposite, in fact. Finally, this is not a modpack persay. Again, if someone wants to make one be my guest. You do need to download and install each of these mods individually through CKAN, it takes roughly ten seconds per mod and is a somewhat tedious process, but the reward is worth it, at least to me.
How many mods are in this list? 142, approximately, at time of writing. About 40 of those are configs/backend/compatibility patches so about 100 actual mods, with varying levels of impact on gameplay.
How are your load times? Startup takes me about 5 minutes, loading VAB/SPH takes a bit longer than stock KSP but everything runs surprisingly well. Your own mileage may vary but I wish you the very best.
Disclaimer: Many of the mods here are relatively old and no longer under development, their most-current versions are built for prior versions of Kerbal Space Program. CKAN will warn you of this on install. Play with them anyway, everything seems to mostly-work so far as I can tell. Further, some of the mods listed here will require other framework mods like Kopernicus to make them run. Make sure to get those, CKAN will tell you when you need something supplemental for the most part, but I cannot remember every necessary sub-mod and may have missed some here. I have listed these under the “Precursors” section.
I will update this list periodically as more suitable mods come online, and am actively looking for more recommendations to add to this list. Many, if not most of these will be well-known to the habitual modders in the community but I’m trying to raise awareness for the rest of the playerbase.
My rules are that these mods must:
1) Be “stockalike” and fit the aesthetic of the base game, I am not looking for a complete game overhaul like RSS or similar.
2) This modlist is designed to be BROADLY compatible and downloadable through CKAN. I am aware there are great mods that are either incompatible with some of the ones on here, or not available on CKAN. The goal of this list is broad accessibility through our existing tools. I will also try to link user-guides for the mods that require tutorials where available, some of these are quite large and I do not understand how to use them all myself. I will answer questions where possible but I have only started using this modlist relatively recently and am not intimately familiar with all of the new gameplay.
Again, if your Kerbals are dying because life support is failing for seemingly no reason, I cannot help you and my Kerbals are likely frozen corpses drifting through space as well. I'm no mod author and have no involvement with any development for any of the mods listed below. If the descriptions here aren’t enough, do some research, there’s probably more/better info out there other than what’s banging around in my head/copied from CKAN.
Mods, if possible can we pin some version of this list going forward for all the people asking how to make a "Homebrew KSP2"? I don't need personal credit, just the modlist is fine by me. This post helps to answer a pretty common question we've been getting in light of recent KSP2 development news, or lack therof.
Anyway, here we go:
Objective: Mod KSP1 into what KSP should have been, principally by:
1) Adding new places to visit in the Kerbol System,
2) Add new star systems and interstellar locations to visit
3) Give the player the ships and engines, and parts to get there
4) Give new parts to build with, with a stockalike vibe
5) Add mechanics like colonization and life support to balance ship construction and general gameplay
6) Increase depth of gameplay for veteran players.
7) Give more/better “campaign” missions to fill out the base game randomized contract system with a bit more purpose.
8) “The intent is to give players a sense of pride and accomplishment”
What does this list of mods add to my game?
This feature list is not all-inclusive, but primary added features include, in no particular order:
-Vastly improved graphics, ground cover, and the ability to paint your ships similar to how you do in KSP2
1) -New places to visit: Both the inner and outer Kerbol System have been modified with the addition of 34 NEW bodies to visit between new planets, their moons, asteroids, planetoids, and other Trans-Neidonian Objects. These are all based on real objects in our own Solar system or observed exoplanets. An interstellar mod (Kcalbeloh) adds 7 new star systems and a black hole accessible via wormhole for your intersterstellar gameplay needs, with an additional ~40 new bodies to explore. All of the stock planets are present, plus nearly 75 new ones.
2) -Expanding and improving the Campaign with more meaningful, focused, and varied Contracts apart from the randomized ones stock KSP gives you.
3) -New Game Mechanics including:
-New and/or improved UI elements to assist with docking and landing
- Life Support and Cryosleep mechanics
- New engines, mainly from mods by Nertea, a prolific modder and KSP2 dev, including gas-core nuclear engines, new electric engines, cryogenic engines, plasma engines, nuclear pulse propulsion, fusion drives, torch drives, and antimatter engines. New 5m and 7m engines for massive rockets are also available.
- Colonization mechanics and gameplay
- New resources, distribution, and utilization gameloops through colonies
- Vast amounts of new parts to build with that we were supposed to get with KSP2 including hab rings, new ship modules, laboratories, buildings for planetary base construction, etc.
- The ability to explore your ships in first person mode as if you were a Kerbal
- New ways to move resources between ships such as flexible piping
-Orbital construction and construction of craft at colonies/places besides the VAB/SPH, away from Kerbin.
-Harvesting resources from the atmospheres of planets and dust/gas clouds present in outer space.
-Building Custom Service modules with both stock and modded mechanics
-Logistics Systems related to colony activities for sharing resources between nearby installations and craft.
CAVEATS: I am sure I have missed some people’s favorite mods and am open to further additions to this list under the following conditions: All of the following mods and any future additions to this list MUST be available on CKAN, they MUST work with the most current version of KSP1, they MUST be mostly-compatible with each other as well as this list, and they MUST be freely available, not paywalled. The only exception I will allow is Blackrack’s volumetric clouds because he’s our community’s darling and we love his work.
I want this mod selection to be as accessible to the community as possible while providing as much content as possible. Pick and choose anything from this list or the entire thing to use yourself. I play with everything listed here, concurrently, but your performance may dictate the need to leave some of this stuff by the wayside. At a bare minimum, make sure you have the relevant “precursor” category mods so nothing else breaks. This list adds A TON of new and challenging gameplay sure to give even the most seasoned KSP veterans pause and I’m very much a beginner myself, it’s alot of new stuff to learn being thrown at you quickly. Pace yourselves lads!
Without further ado my, modlist, with a brief description of what everything does and broken down by category:
Myst’s “Community Lifeboat Project” Modlist:
Not Required, but highly reccomended:
- Blackrack’s Volumetric Clouds: This is the only paid mod on this list. I like it, other people like it, Blackrack did incredible work here for the community. Costs $5 on his Patreon, everything else on this list is free.
Precursors/Config stuff to make other mods work: (33 mods)
- AT Utils: Common Library for a set of plugins made by Allista
- B9 Part Switch: A module which allows parts to switch objects, resources, nodes, attach points, temperature, add mass, cost, and more.
- Background Resources: REPOsoft Tech Background Resources Plugin
- Community Category Kit: Common Parts Categories for KSP mods
- Community Parts Titles: Rename parts for useful and consistent grouping/sorting in the VAB/SPH, Many mods are supported. This mod is intended for the English version of KSP.
- Community Parts Titles Extras: Categories: Highly-Recommended Extras for the Community Parts Titles. Create new categories or place parts in a more appropriate category.
- Community Parts Titles Extras: CCK- No Duplicates: See Above.
- Community Resource Pack- Common Resources for KSP mods.
- Community Terrain Texture Pack: High Quality textures for use by planet-creators, makes other stuff on this list work, probably.
- Contract Configurator: A config-file-based solution for creating new contracts. Makes added contract packs work.
- Cryo Tanks Core: Cryo Tanks standalone plugin, adds functionality to other mods, contains no parts and does nothing by itself.
- Custom Asteroids (Alternative OPM config): Replaces default Outer Planets Mod asteroid config and makes it work with Custom Asteroids mod further down this list.
- Custom Barn Kit: Small Plugin to change parameters related to career, science, and building upgrades when various features are unlocked.
- Custom Prelaunch Checks: C# API to write prelaunch checks that run when the VAB/SPH launch button is pressed. Makes other stuff work.
- Deployable Engines Plugin (Nertea Mod): Plugin to manage extending and retracting engine nozzles.
- DMModule Science Animate Generic: Replacement for Module Science Experiment and ModuleAnimateGeneric.
- Firespitter Core: Core Firespitter .dll. Makes something else work, don’t remember what.
- Global Construction Core: dependency for the Global Construction Mod
- Harmony 2: Library for patching, replacing, and decorating.NET and Mono methods during runtime (I have no idea what this does, other mods probably use it as a dependency)
- Kerbal Actuators: A plugin used to create VTOL engines and robotic parts. Makes other stuff work.
- Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier: REQUIRED for all other planet packs on this list
- Kopernicus Expansion Continue-er: Kopernicus Dev Tools and Footprints.
- Modular Flight Integrator: Modularly Integrates flight models or something idk.
- Module Manager: Modify KSP config files without conflict (ESSENTIAL).
- Rasterprop Monitor Core: plugin and props for IVA use.
- Shabby: Shader Asset bundle Loader for KSP
- Textures Unlimited: KSP Shader, texture and modeling utilities. Makes other stuff work.
- Toolbar: API for Third-party Plugins to provide toolbar buttons
Sub-mod: Toolbar Controller: Wrapper mod for Blizzy and stock toolbars.
- USI Tools: Libraries to make the USI mods work correctly. NEEDED.
- Vertex Mitchell/Netrevali Filtered Heightmap: Makes some of the other graphical stuff work correctly relating to planetary textures. Idk.
- Waterfall Core: Core Waterfall Plugin to drive upgraded fancy engine effects.
Graphical/Audio Improvements: (25 mods)
- Chatterer: Configurable audio that allows you to hear your Kerbals communicating over the radio with Mission Control, breathing on EVA, etc. I like this mod because I find it more immersive and you can tune the audio in the sidebar if certain sounds are too loud/quiet or you don’t want to hear something.
- ChattererExtended: Adds 625 new kerbalized chatter files for added variety
- Distant Object Enhancement: Lets you see other planets all the way back on Kerbin. Works with the modded planet packs on this list as well up to and including other star systems, very immersive.
- Distant Object Enhancement /L default config: default planet colors.
- Environmental Visual Enhancements Redux: Version of EVE which significantly improve performance, used as a replacement for base EVE. Adds clouds, lighting, etc.
- Parallax: PBR tessellation shader for planetary textures,
- Parallax Stock Planet Textures: adds HD textures to the stock planets, highly reccomended.
- Parallax Stock Scatter Textures: adds HD textures to planetary scatters and ground cover.
- Planetshine: light from planets and moons can now reflect up and color your spacecraft, adding realism and immersion.
- Planetshine default config: Support config.
- Restock: Community-built resleeve of stock part models and textures to make them look a bit nicer. Can be disorienting at first and isn’t quite as pretty as the KSP2 models, but its something. This mod may clash with Waterfall, I’ve had issues with offset engine plumes on some of my engines and suspect this mod is the culprit.
- Scatterer: Atmospheric Scattering Shaders
- Shaddy: Collection of Shaders for Kerbal Space Program
- Simple Repaint: Allows you to choose colors for individual ship parts out of a pre-selected list of shades. Adds some badly-needed customizability to the base game.
- Singularity: Black Hole Shaders for KSP by the one-and only Blackrack. Needed for optimal looks for Kcalbeloh.
- Spectra: EVE configs for stock celestial bodies, also grab the self-explanatory sub mods below:
- Spectra EVE 64k Kerbin Clouds
- Spectra EVE Kerbin/Laythe Snow
- Spectra EVE Minmus Geysers
- Spectra Scatterer
- Spectra Scatterer for Minmus
- Spectra Scatterer: Jool Shine on Laythe
- Spectra Scatterer Vibrant Sunsets
- Staged Animation: Plays an animation when a part is staged.
- Stock Waterfall Effects: config to give Waterfall Effects to the Stock engines.
NEW PLACES/THINGS TO VISIT: (8 mods)
- Custom Asteroids (inner stock system data)- Adds asteroids inside the orbit of Jool
- Custom Asteroids (Kuiper Belt Analog for Outer Planets Mod)- Adds “Kentaurs” and trans-Neidonian (Neptunian) objects.
- Minor Planets Expanded: The lesser-known counterpart to the Outer Planets Mod. Stock KSP has planetary analogues for our Solar planets out to Jool, and Pluto. The acclaimed Outer Planets Mod has analogues for Saturn (Sarnus), Uranus (Urloom), and Neptune (Neidon). Minor Planets Expanded adds many additional objects and lesser-known worlds to the game alongside the previous, including analogues for Eros, Ceres, Orcus, Haumea, Makemake, Sedna, and more IRL transneptunian objects. This mod also includes analogues for a number of real-life asteroids and comets present in our Solar System that you may or may not have heard of before. Adds 15 new worlds to visit; they range in acessibility from Dres-level difficulty to places requiring enormous amounts of planets, fuel, and time. This mod provides great reasons to start using some of Nertea’s more-exotic engines to live out your wildest, Kerbalest, Expanse-related travel-fantasies.
- Outer Planets Mod: Celebrated Mod that adds planetary Analogues for Saturn (Sarnus), Uranus (Urlum), and Neptune (Neidon), and Pluto (Plock), as well as some of their moons. Adds roughly a dozen new places to visit. Eeloo gets shifted to become a moon of Saturn to make room for the Pluto Analogue. The wormhole to the Kcalbeloh System can also be found in Sarnus orbit. Adds 15 new bodies to land on.
Outer Planets Mod: Parallax with Scatters: Adds the HD Parallax mod ground scatters to the outer planets, dramatically improving their visuals.
- Lt Duckweed’s QuackPack: Adds a slew of new planets, both terrestrial and gas giants, to the inner Kerbol System, inside the orbit of Moho. These are generally based on real-life exoplanets and are extremely difficult to reach and land on due to their hostile environments and include extreme temperatures, lava worlds, metallic atmospheres, etc. Adds 4 new places to visit.
- Kcalbeloh System: Interstellar planetary mod that adds several new star systems, each with their own planetary systems, orbiting a supermassive black hole. The Black Hole is accessible via interstellar-level engines and careful piloting, OR alternatively via a wormhole orbiting Jool. Assuming you have the Outer Planets mod installed and working, the wormhole will be orbiting Sarnus (Saturn equivilant) instead.
- Kcalbeloh System 8k Textures: See Above. For those of us who play in UHD.
Contract Packs to improve the base game’s campaign: (8 mods)
- Contract Pack: Anomaly Surveyor: Contracts that guide you through exploring the stock game’s easter eggs, UFO’s, memorials, etc.
- Contract Pack: Bases and Stations Reborn: Space-station focused contract pack, replaces the base game’s “Build a Space Station” contracts
- Contract Pack: Clever Sats: Overhaul of stock satellite contracts
- Contract Pack: Exploration Plus: Overhaul of stock “Exploration” contracts
- Contract Pack: Field Research: Do more Science! Receive contracts for performing different experiments under a variety of conditions.
- Contract Pack: Kerbal Academy: Training your Kerbalnauts the sensible way.
- Contract Pack: Research Advancement Division: More Scientific Contracts, complimentary to the Field Research pack.
- Contract Pack: Tourism Expanded: 11 new contracts to send Kerbals across the Kerbol system
- Contract Pack: Tourism Plus: Better tourism! A richer tourism experience than stock. Take tourists to space and visit the stations you have created. Build new tourist attractions like the space casino megaproject. Includes 15 new contracts.
NEW GAME MECHANICS: (25 mods)
- BetterTimeWarpContinued: Improved Time Warping
- DeepFreeze continued: adds cryosleep and the ability to freeze and thaw Kerbals for long journeys. Compatible with USI life support featured further down
-GUIDE:
- Dynamic Battery Storage (Nertea Mod): mod intended to help vessel construction by providing electricity planning functions and solve problems related to power-flow. Pairs well with his other engine and advanced poweheat mods
-GUIDE:
- Extraplanetary LaunchPads: Adds ability to build craft in flight mode, including at orbital facilities and at bases on other planets.
-GUIDE:
- FreeIVA: Lets you explore the insides of your ships as well as EVA in First-Person mode from the point of view of your kerbals. Extremely immersive and usable with several of the parts mods by Nertea featured below. Adds a new tab of IVA-compatible pieces into the SPH/VAB.
Sub-mod: -Through the Eyes of a Kerbal: See the world through a first-person viewpoint. Needed for use with Free IVA.
- Global Construction: Lets you build vessels directly on other planets and in orbit around other planets.
-GUIDE:

• HEAT CONTROL: New Categories of radiators to add to spacecraft, neccesary for some of his more advanced engine mods like Far Future technologies with big reactors and exhausts putting out monstrous amounts of heat.
  -GUIDE:
  

- Kerbal Attachment System: Adds new gameplay mechanics in the form of winches, struts, and pipes. Vessels can now be connected in EVA without docking them.
-GUIDE:
- Kerbal Inventory System: Adds new inventory system and EVA mechics and usables. This one works, but does have some odd behavior in-game with the native EVA/breaking ground stuff, I haven’t totally figured out using this one yet and have had some instances of odd item storage or kerbals not being able to grab parts they should, etc.
-GUIDE:
- Kerbal Joint Reinforcement: Fixes issues with unstable joints and wobbliness.
- Kerbal Konstructs: Adds a slew of new buildings and launch sites
-GUIDE:
Submods:
- Off-shore Launch Platform: Designed to be used with Kerbal Konstrukts, lets you launch off an oil rig.
- Omega’s Stockalike Structures: ALPHA BUILD. Statics content pack for Kerbal Konstrukts.
- Konstruction: Weldable docking ports, cranes, magnets, other construction equipment.
- KSP Community Fixes: Fixes many stock KSP bugs and provides some Quality of Life and UI improvements
- Rational Resources: Resource Placement is no longer random but reflects composition templates. Promotes Cryofuels mods and planet pack/life support compatibility.
- Space Dust: Adds atmospheric and exo-atmospheric resource harvesting. Includes a new harvesting system, displays, resource distributions, and parts.
- Space Dust Unbound: Expands Space Dust resource harvesting abilities to other modded planets and systems like the Outer Planets Mod, Galaxies Unbound (not included on this list for now), and others.
- System Heat/associated sub-mods: By Nertea: revamps the core Heat system of Kerbal Space Program, many of his engine mods require use of this new system, or at least strongly benefit from it.
Sub-Mods:
- System Heat- Nuclear Engines Config
- System Heat- Nuclear Reactor Config
- System Heat- Resource Converter Config
- System Heat-Resource Harvester Config
-GUIDE:
- USI Kolonization Systems (MKS/OKS): Interlocking modules that bring planetary colonization gameplay. Expansive mod for building both terrestrial as well as orbital colonies and associated deep gameplay GUIDE
- USI Life Support: Advanced Life Support Mod, more advanced than Kerbal Snax or whatever its called but not as unforgiving as Kerbalism, I was going for a balance between accessibility and depth of gameplay with this one, plus it links seamlessly with the USI Kolonization mechanics. Hooks in seamlessly to kolonization mechanics. GUIDE
New Parts Mods: (33 mods)
- AlphaMensae’s Modular Launch Pads: Beyond Launch Clamps: Mix and match components to build all kinds of launch infrastructure.
- Cryo Tanks: (Nertea mod). Liquid Hydrogen fuel tanks and storage for most stock tank designs.
- Cryogenic Engines: (Nertea Mod). Provides new, high-efficiency engines in 1.25, 2.5, and 3.25 sizes that burn liquid hydrogen rather than normal “liquid fuel”
- Cryogenic Engines- Near Future Aeronautics- patch to convert relevant engines in near-future aeronautics to burn Liquid Hydrogen
- Far Future Technologies: (Nertea Mod) Adds theoretically possible engines we might have IRL within the next few hundred years powered by exotic forms of nuclear fusion, antimatter, torch drives, etc. Good for Outer Planets missions and interstellar stuff
-GUIDE:
- JX2Antenna: Adds a special 2.5m antenna with 1,000G transmisison power, important for hyper-range deep-space missions.
- Kerbal Atomics: Nertea Mod. Adds new anbd exciting nuclear engines to use in-game. Included in a slew of size classes and technology levels for greater access to nuclear engines at different stages of the game. Adds things like gas-core reactors, nuclear aerospike engines, multimode engines that switch or utilize both nuclear and conventional afterburning fuel.
-GUIDE:
Sub-mod- Kerbal Atomics Other Mod Support: Optional Patch to allow the KA nuclear thermal rockets to run on LH@ for additional performance.
- Kerbal Planetary Base Systems: Adds multiple parts for building better bases and colonies on planet surfaces such as Habs, Greenhouses, Laboratories, and more. This IS compatible with the life support mods featured above.
-GUIDE:
- Near-Future Aeronautics: Nertea Mod. Adds advanced aerospace parts including propellers, intakes, jet and multimode nuclear engines for massive spaceplanes.
-GUIDE:
- Near Future Construction: Nertea Mod. Structural components and truss segments for building deep space vessels and bases. These will look familiar to anyone who has played a bit of KSP2, Nertea was a prolific KSP1 modder and was hired by Intercept Games to bring his mods native functionality in KSP2.
- Near Future Electrical: Nertea Mod. Stockalike nuclear reactors, capacitors, and more batteries. Neccesary for many of his electrical engine mods.
- Near Future Electrical (Decaying RTG’s): Nertea Mod. Optional patch to make RTG output gradually decrease over time as they do in real life. This will force additional planning for long-range missions to the outer planets and interstellar locales.
- Near Future Electrical Core: Nertea Mod. Standalone sub-mod, needed to make Near Future Electrical work.
- Near Future Exploration: Nertea Mod. Expands probe selection, adds new cores, bus parts, minisatellite parts and a slew of new antennas.
- Near Future IVA Props: Nertea Mod. Prop pack to configure and acessorize IVA spaces on your ships.
- Near Future Launch Vehicles: Nertea Mod. Large launch vehicles including 5 and 7.5 meter engines for launching massive spacecraft and parts.
- Near Future Propulsion: Nertea Mod. Advanced electric engines and new fuel types, stockalike.
-GUIDE:
- Near Future Propulsion (Xenon Hall Effect Thruster): Nertea Mod. Converts NFP Argon thrusters to use stock Xenon fuel instead if desired.
- Near Future Solar: Nertea Mod. Adds new solar panels in lots of new sizes and shaped for utility and customizability.
- Near Future Solar Core: Nertea Mod. Support plugin for NFS.
- Near Future Spacecraft: Nertea Mod. New Command pods, control systems, and engines for crewed spacecraft. Some of the stuff here closely resembles some of the new pods we got in KSP2.
- Near Future Spacecraft-LFO Engines: Nertea Mod. Converts monopro orbital engines to use stock liquid fuel/oxidizer if desired.
- Project Orion Nuclear Pulse Engine: Adds a nuclear pulse engine powered by repeated nuclear device detonations, one of the many planned engines for KSP2 we may never get to see.
- Simple Adjustable Fairings: As described.
Sub-mod: Simple Adjustable Fairings-Plugin
- Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux: Nertea Mod. Adds tons of new station parts in a number of size classes, including some new components int he small-medium ranges.
Sub-Mod: Stockalike Station Parts Expanded Redux: Internal Spaces Nertea Mod, adds compatibility between SSER and FreeIVA so you can explore your stations from a first-person view.
- Universal Storage II Finalized: Modular Parts Mod that facilitates the building of custom service Modules, integrates well with life support mods.
- USI Asteroid Recycling Technologies: Can remove Asteroid Mass and attach storage tanks to its surface.
- USI Core: Kontainers, Reactors, and shared tools for the USI mods.
- USI Exploration Pack: Flat-packed rover and parts geared towards exploring planetary surfaces.
- USI Freight Transport Technologies: Modular Parts for hauling, mining, and space transportation needs.
Meta-Game/UI stuff: (10 mods)
- Astrogator: A space-navigational aid for Kerbal Space Program. Shows table of bodies reachable from current in-game location and the deltaV to reach them, can get perfect transfer windows and maneuver nodes for you.
- Better Burn Time: Extra automatic burn time indicators for suicide burns and target rendezvous.
- Better Early Tree: New Disposition of the beginning of the tech tree. Designed for an unmanned start and give stockalike vibe, Needs to be used alongside CTT
- Clickthrough Blocker: Helps eliminate the clickthrough problem with mods
- Community Tech Tree: Modding community-developed tech tree that reorganizes the base game tech tree and is compatible with the vast majority of mods on this list to balance the parts for the campaign. ESSENTIAL.
- Custom Asteroids: lets user control where asteroids appear.
- Docking Port Alignment Indicator: Self-Explanatory, Makes docking stuff easier.
- Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes: Gets rid of tech tree nodes in the Community Tech Tree mods if you don’t have the mods installed, CTT is huge so this can help simplify it if you only have a few mods installed.
- ImprovedTechTree Placement: Tech Tree Mod that adds an additional engine-focused propulsion line. Grabbed on random impulse, no idea how this interacts, if at all, with other tech tree mods.
- Reviva: Dynamic Switching between multiple IVA’s in-editor and in-flight
- Speed Unit Annex: Adds speed units and some other helpful values to the Navball, depending on vessel type.
End of the List, for now. Ad Aeternum Inanis
MOD TYPES THAT I AM ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR (please help):

• A mod or combination of mods that gets KSP2’s soundtrack into KSP1 AND TRIGGERS TRACKS IN SIMILAR WAYS (i.e. not just a playlist, but performing in-game actions causes a given track to play, like going from Kerbin orbit to the Mun’s SOI, achieving low orbit and starting descent, etc. )
  
• Some sort of part-welding or optimization mod to facilitate construction of much larger ships and stations and improve performance far past the current 250 part count beyond which stuff starts lagging and breaking.
  
• Alternative/bettemore colonization mechanics mods for proper cities and landmark facilities and such.
  
• More planet packs and places to visit, especially interstellar stuff.
  
• Interstellar mods COMPATIBLE WITH EVERYTHING ELSE ON THIS LIST SO FAR.
  

MODS THAT I AM NOT ADDING FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE (and why):

• Galaxies Unbound: Great mod, but suffered from some usability problems and has been removed from CKAN. I’ll add it back if and when it reappears.
  
• Interstellar Extended: Another great mod, but sadly not compatible with Nertea’s stuff so I’m not adding it here.
  -BlueDogDesignBureau: Way, way, WAY too many parts. Was trying to make use of this before but its craft parts were making it impossible to find other stuff I wanted. Has plenty of useful components; far too many, in fact. Also not super stockalike. Never again.
  

Other Useful Links Here:
(emptiness intensifies)
Changelog:

For context the Forge World Columnus sits in the path of a massive Ork Weirdwaagh led by the powerful Ork Psyker Zagdakka. The Raven Guard have engaged the Waagh and have been harassing it to give the Forge World time to prepare its defences. When Clan Raukaan of the Iron Hands, led by Captain Kristos: a powerful and accomplished Iron Hands warleader renowned for his embrace of logic arrive to bolster the defences victory seems assured. However, as the Orks assault the fortress factory of Urdi the Iron Hands refuse to reinforce the defenders.
This excerpt is shown through an Iron Hands marine accessing a bank of data that allows him to relive the battle which is why there's a part mentioning some data being restricted. I think this excerpt is very interesting for showing a major incident within the Iron Hands when they were at their lowest point in-lore.

Having harried these orks for every metre they took towards Urdri, Stenn knew that this was no ordinary invasion.
He had heard in dispatches of the psychic energies that flowed through their Gargants – weapon grids, shields and piercing uncanny augurs – and that brought their lumpen drop ships to ground still. He had heard too of the court of warpheads with which the self-styled warpboss, Zagdakka, surrounded himself, and had lost two squads of his most experienced Scouts in a failed attempt at thinning their numbers. He saw now with his own eyes the weird energy that flowed through these greenskins in their battle-madness like some manner of psychic connective tissue, the brawn and sinew of some gestalt ork that drove them unto death with a single, overriding will.
The fire discipline of the Raven Guard and their mortal allies slaughtered greenskins every minute by the hundred, but they didn’t seem to care, hurling themselves recklessly against the Imperial guns as though possessed. Not that the blasted Iron Hands would allow for the slightest deviation from their precious calculus. Stenn sneered, his pistol emitting a final hiss as coolant jets sprayed from the weapon’s muzzle and the vents locked. He thumbed off the safety and selected rapid fire. He could teach the Iron Hands a thing or two about logic.
‘Kristos, you honourless shell, I’m talking to you.’ He raged into the vox as he seared the heaving mass of orks with plasma. Too soon, heat warnings blinked red on the pistol’s side and he was forced to flick back to vent. ‘I need reinforcements and I need them now. Now, Kristos! I want a creeping artillery barrage walking outwards from the outer wall over the southern highway and I want aeronautica backup. Kristos!’
‘Captain,’ shouted Yavid. His company standard-bearer was on one knee behind the low wall and blazing into the horde with tight semi-automatic bursts of his pistol. He jerked his beaked helm towards the wrecked loading yard to the northeast of haulage depot 764. Stenn looked to where his brother pointed.
A squad of Iron Hands Centurions, almost as well camouflaged as the Raven Guard themselves in their huge black warsuits and perfect stillness. Their hurricane bolters were unloaded and pointed at the ground or at walls, whichever direction they had happened to be facing when the strange malaise of inaction had taken them.
Stenn regarded them with fury. The few Iron Hands he had seen had been that way, ever since the unexpected psychic onslaught had levelled the south wall outright. At first he had wondered if it was a secondary effect of Zagdakka’s powers, but the Raven Guard and their mortal allies were unaffected. Yavid had a replacement eye as well as a bionic arm and he remained functional, as did the crew interfaces of their vehicles. As did the damned skitarii.
‘Kristos!’ he roared down the vox again, knowing he wasn’t going to be answered, but determined that his last words be heard just the same, even if it were only by a comatose machine. ‘And he had the nerve to tell me that the Raven Guard dragged his primarch down,’ he growled to Yavid. ‘Corvia, but I hate them. You hear that, Kristos? You think it was coincidence that found us both in the vicinity of this world? We too heard Dawnbreak’s mortis cry. The second one, the one they sent after you abandoned their world to the eldar!’
An ork ran at him. He tore its head from its shoulders with a slash of lightning claw, then incinerated two more with precise blasts from his pistol. With the meaty clash of butcher’s work, the bangs of bolter-fire diminished as orks thundered into the thin line of Space Marines. The Rhinos’ storm bolters flashed; the thudding reports dissolved into the meat of chainblades and knives and primal screams. Assault Marines leapt into the air on bursts of thrust, flung back to earth as though on elastic cords to send orks flying. Lightning claws sizzled and cracked. He was aware of men fleeing, skitarii jerking as they were cut down, but the melee had swallowed him whole.
All the feints and tricks and stratagems that had delayed the Weirdwaaagh thus far were done. Now it came down to the strength of his arm, the artifice of his armour – kill orks until there were no orks left and pray to the Throne that enough men survived to hold this line when it was done.
It was what failure looked like.

...

The Centurions moved!
There they were, silent as the blown-out repair shops through which they came, ghosts of the machine bound forever to a doomed cycle of destruction and repair. The firepower of the Centurions alone would have ripped a hole into the ork horde as wide as the gates of the Ravenspire, but six full squads of Tactical Marines also moved up through the rubble behind them. They spread out, taking fire-positions just beyond the chokepoint where Stenn’s efforts held the orks at bay.
What were they waiting for?
He saw a pair of hellfire Dreadnoughts lumbering into position either side of the smaller Centurions, and then heard the weary collapse of a pockmarked stretch of rockcrete as the glacis plate of a Redeemer pattern Land Raider drove through it. Its sponson flamestorm cannons traversed to track the flows of the ork horde, liquid promethium dribbling to the rubble floor. Stenn cursed as he punched his lightning claw through a charging ork’s ribs. Never expect an Iron Hand to commit until he was good and ready.
‘What are you waiting for?’ He shot an ork in the face as it made to barrel towards Yavid, and found himself in the sights of the nearest Iron Hands squad.
They had bolters locked and aimed, but for some reason held their fire. Their eye slits shone an ephemeral white, but they could have been decoy suits for all the urgency they showed. ‘Shoot, curse you!’

[Zagdakka's psychic powers begin to assault the Space Marines]

An ectoplasmic limb twice the girth of an armoured Space Marine manifested from the random snaps of energy and smacked down on a Raven Guard that had been about to deliver the kill shot to the ork at his feet. Stenn strained as his own adversary’s brute strength slowly pushed him towards his knees. The ork gave a roar of surprise as another great fist snatched it away and hurled it through a rockcrete wall. Stenn too cried out as, for the first few seconds of flight, the ork’s grip on his arms took him with it. He hit the ground like a grenade dropped from a Land Speeder, and clattered through wreckage until his helmet smashed into the keystone at the base of an ablutorial block and he was lumped bodily against the wall. He groaned.
Gauntlet fingers crunched through the rubble as he drew his hands under him and began to push. Then he looked up. He swore as the confusion of contradictory threat markers suddenly parted around the black shape of the Rhino that was somersaulting towards him. He dropped back to the ground, body flat, feeling the tremendous shift in air pressure as the tank turned overhead and smashed through the ablutorial wall like a rock launched from a trebuchet.
‘Kristos,’ he coughed. His helm’s respirator seals were damaged and blast debris from the demolished building was making his breath catch. ‘Engage, damn it.’
Screams penetrated the death haze. Urgent signals through vox and data-link lent it a crackling, chopped-up dimension: red lit, threat markers circling with malign intent. He discharged his pistol, full charge, then screamed aloud as something grabbed his ankle and dragged him through what was left of the ablutorial. He bumped and slid over broken tiling and then put another wild shot through a standing column as he was turned upside down and pulled into the air.
A greenish coalescence had him by the leg. A flurry of short-lived plasmic tendrils burst from his pistol, and through the force that held him as though it were a hallucination. He fired until the weapon emitted shrill overheat tones and then he fired once more.
The pistol exploded in his hand, a newborn star about half a metre across that turned his arm to a crisp and buckled his plastron with the ferocity of its birth. Yelling in delirious fury as bio-implants flooded his bloodstream with clotting factors and powerful neuralgics, he activated his jump pack. It roared, shuddered madly for several seconds, then burned out, having moved him nowhere. The force around his ankle hardened into the clear form of a fist as it dragged him over the battleground until he hung upside down in front of an enormous greenskin wreathed in psychic flame.
The ork regarded him quizzically through a pair of green-tinted goggles. It was encased in war plate of white bone, arcane sigils of alien design daubed in pink using, or so Stenn’s Scouts had reported, the mashed brains of its human captives. Its helmet was made of scrap metal and buckled tightly under its chin, a single massive spike coiled with razor wire rising from the crown like some breed of antenna. Green energy spat from the coils and swirled in the lenses of its goggles. It watched him writhe as it would a worm on its claw.
Stenn gave a grunt of pain as psychic fingers tightened around him and squeezed. ‘Damn you >> RESTRICTED DATA >> Just kill me yourself.’
His armour cracked like a sea-crustacean’s shell, blood spurting from ruptured seals as his body was crushed. He screamed, genhanced anatomy fighting a battle with pain that had been stacked well against it from the outset. ‘Emperor forgive you!’
With every scrap of conscious thought locked away in hardened centres of his brain structure he cursed the Iron Hands. He cursed the casual brutality, the bare calculation of risk versus reward. His last thoughts before those final redoubts succumbed to braindeath were not of the pain, nor of his brother Raven Guard that fell to the mind-blasts of the warpboss’ retinue, nor even of the Iron Hands themselves as they finally descended on the fray.
With the enemy leaders bottled up with the last of the Raven Guard, the Iron Hands opened fire. Tactical Marines, Centurions, Land Raiders, each warrior a cog in a war machine that sprayed fire to a perfectly choreographed maelstrom that consumed Warpboss Zagdakka, his retinue, the Raven Guard, and Stenn himself.

So I made this concept of a Sirens maze for HHN, and think it could work for Knott’s Scary Farm. Think you could give me feedback of the entire maze even if it’s changes to the house?
Sirens: Demons of the Deep
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“In the coast of the Northwest Pacific lies a beautiful beach house, harboring a deadly secret. And this Spring Break might also be their last”
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Backstory: In the 1700s, there once lived a group of settlers in the Pacific Northwest who worshiped the Ancient Deities of the Sea. They lived a peaceful life, until the British Army came and stripped them of their land, forcing them to either serve them or die. When the settlers refused, the British began killing them all, leading to a massacre, with many forced to flee their home. Seeking revenge, the last remaining maidens prayed to the Deities of the Sea to help them reclaim their land. Their prayers were answered, but came at a terrible price. The maidens were stripped of their humanity, transformed into a series of demonic, flesh-eating mermaids. With their razor-sharp claws and jagged teeth, they tore through the British and wiped out every living creature. And though they had reclaimed their land, their newly aquatic bodies could not sustain themselves on shore, forcing them the flee into the nearby waters…
As the years and decades went by, and the old settlement was rediscovered and began to grow, a strange series of disappearances occurred along on the shores. People had claimed to have seen half human, half fish like beings roaming the beaches. Others swore they could hear singing in the night, beckoning them towards the seas…
In the modern day, the shores have become a popular beach area for tourists, with lavish beach houses for cheap. A group of college students have made their way to the shore for the ultimate Spring Break experience… And they’ll soon discover the dangers that lurk just below…
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facade/Queue: Guests enter the queue of insert location. As the guests round the corner, they see a large Beach House with a few cars parked out in front. On the 2nd floor, B-roll plays from the college students’ social media pages; It includes clips of two of the college students (Sam & Chrissy) looking to hook up, Jordan setting up for a massive house party, and Rebecca filming the ocean, where we see a strange creature appear from the ocean briefly. Guests will also hear audio of the ocean before a distant voice begins singing to them, ending with a demonic scream.
Entrance: Guests enter through the side patio door, making their way down a false outdoor patio. They head towards the Sprung Tent entrance on the left, where they’ll see blinking lights and hear loud music playing. Before they enter the Tent, a Mermaid pops out from behind the beach door.
The Living Room: Stepping inside the Tent, guests walk into the Living Room that has EDM music playing, with a small light shining bright colors on the walls. Several pieces of furniture are scattered around with huge claws marks in them, including the couch on the right side, several chairs and a table littered with beer bottles and cups. From behind the couch, one of the college students (Chrissy) is seen limping around with the side of her hoodie torn up and a huge bite wound in her left side. She is heard calling out for the others, and as the guests move towards the end of the scene, a Mermaid is hiding behind a corner on the left.
The Kitchen: Turning right, and entering the Kitchen, guests will see another college student (Rebecca) lying on the center kitchen island. She is laying on her back with her stomach and chest ripped open. Standing over her is a bloodied Mermaid who proceeds to bite into her intestines as Rebecca begs her to stop before screaming in pain then dies. The Mermaid will also swipe at Guests as they pass by.
Hallway/Stairs: Exiting left from the Kitchen, guests will pass by the stairs on the left side (indicating that they’ll be heading upstairs). We hear Chrissy calling for Sam, as Sam (actor) pops out of a small door beneath the stairs, searching for Chrissy.
Sam’s Bedroom: Entering the next room, we see a Bedroom that is slightly messy but relatively normal looking, with a large bed with white sheets on the left. Behind the bed are 2 corner closets and a cupboard. From the closet next to the bed, guests see Sam (actor) being attacked by a Mermaid (puppet), its arms wrapped around his body and attempting to bite into his face. Guests exit the room on the right.
Upstairs Hallway: Walking down a straight hallway filled with doors, guests make their way towards Jordan’s room. Sam continues to call out for Chrissy, while Chrissy responds faintly to follow her voice. As their dialogue ends, 2 doors on either side open and 2 Mermaids tag team the guests. They will turn left at the end of the hallway, where they can hear the sounds of someone being attacked.
Jordan’s Bedroom: Guests will walk in to find Jordan’s body lying chest down across the body, his head decapitated. Blood splattered across the room, the cabinets torn up with huge claw marks. Before exiting the room, a Mermaid pops down at guests from a hole in the ceiling.
Chrissy’s Bedroom: Inside the next room, guests will find a room covered with broken furniture; The bed is snapped in half, the closet doors have broken panels, and cabinets have giant claws marks on them. Clothing is scattered everywhere and the light is broken, dimming the lighting in the room. Sam pops out from behind the Bedroom door, covered in scratches and torn clothing. He calls out for Chrissy, more desperate than before.
Attic Stairs: In a short transition hallway, making a sharp left turn, guests will see the Attic Stairs have opened (indicating we’ll be climbing upstairs). Chrissy’s voice is faintly heard calling for Sam, sounding slightly more demonic.
Attic: Guests will find a fairly open Attic with small bits of furniture on either side, including bookshelves, chairs, a small table and a couch. A Mermaid on the left side floor will swipe at Guests just as they enter the room. Guests will walk straight towards a huge hole in the wall, with the mangled remains of Rebecca’s body sitting off to the left side of it, before making a right turn. Another Mermaid pops out on the right, holding Jordan’s severed head.
Gazebo/Cliffside: Guests will find themselves outside the house, passing by a Gazebo on the cliffside. Inside the gazebo are a small set of dimmed lights, illuminating a silhouette of what appears to be a woman (Chrissy). She is heard singing a song, drawing guests closer to her. Sam’s voice can be heard calling out for Chrissy, interrupting her song. Guests pass the Gazebo on the right, noticing a set of stairs (prop) leading down the cliffside. On the stairs is a shred of Chrissy’s hoodie. Guests will make a right turn.
Cavern Entrance: Guests will enter inside a huge cavernous entrance, finding themselves surrounded on each side with damp, rocky walls. As they progress through, the walls will have more blood splatters on them. On the floor, various pieces of Chrissy’s clothing and accessories are seen. Around different corners, various Mermaids will pop out. Just before entering the final room, Sam’s voice can heard letting out a scream.
Finale/Mermaid Grotto: In the final room, Guests will enter a huge cavern filled with large coral pieces and piles of skeletal remains. Guests make their way in a half circle around a large cliff in the center. On the right, atop another cliff, they will see Chrissy, fully transformed into a Mermaid and covered in blood, watching Guests walking below her as the other Mermaids pop out. Before exiting the house, guests will turn one last corner and see the mangled remains of Sam (actor) in his final moments. Half of his face and neck are missing, his clothes ripped to shreds. He reaches out for the guests before Mermaid Chrissy pops out to deliver the final scare.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mermaid Designs: The Mermaids’ designs will change as the house progresses. On land, they appear mostly human, with many of their features being on a smaller scale. When closer to the water, towards the end of the house, they appear larger and more fishlike. The Mermaids have varying degrees of scales on their bodies, ranging between green and blue hues with hints of purple and yellow. Their hands (and feet on occasion) are webbed, with either sharp fingernails or large claws. Their eyes will either have slight discoloring (for the land Mermaids) or have full blackened fish eyes (for the water Mermaids). Their teeth are all jagged and razor sharp, with some mimicking a shark’s mouth or an anglerfish’s mouth. Each Mermaid has a slightly different feature, whether it’s a pair of gills on their neck, fins on their arms, or even a large shark fin on their back.

I am in a situation where I do not need a bag full of red-ringed L lenses. Some perhaps, but not all.
However what I do want is end up with a weather sealed kit (body and lenses).
Looking around, I realise I really want a mid-tier line of lenses *. The best example is probably Sony G lenses - weather sealed, good lenses. Not the best, but not trash either. Fuji' XF lenses also are a good example (though XF line spans all the way to L-line territory), as many XF lenses are reasonable mid-tier performers, and all (recent) XF lenses are robust and sealed.
It seems this line in the sand, that only L lenses are sealed, dates back to EF mount - and I guess there is no chance Canon will change that - eh?
* or an open mount so Tamron and Sigma can fill this hole in the lineup

Bought a fixer upper last July and I'm continuously flabbergasted at the amount of shoddy home repairs and quick bandaids throughout the entire house: cheap curtain rods that break within a month, cement patches on wood, 2inch wide caulking (that simultaneously replaced baseboard, covered wall holes, patched strips of linoleum, and glued down an incorrectly installed toilet), spray painted/untreated wood shed, expanding foam installed windows, untreated wood steps, rocks plugging up holes in exterior siding, shitty paint jobs, I could keep going but,... I just...don't get it?
Can someone explain why in the world anyone would treat their home like this? Why make repairs so shitty it makes things worse?

(WARNING: EVERYTHING THE MAN IN BLACK DOES IN THIS STORY IS, FOR THE LACK OF A BETTER TERM, CUTSCENE STUFF. HE CAN NOT DO ANY OF THIS IN AN ACTUAL COMBAT ENCOUNTER. THIS IS PURELY FOR FUN, AND TO FINALLY HAVE ACIDOR’S HERALD DO SOMETHING.)
The Man In Black could feel the shift. At long last, his master was free. The dark god of the Void had returned to the world. Now, his herald shall return to action. He could sense the annoyance of his master at the appearance of the aasimar and some lesser deity. Over the horizon, he saw even more aasimar preparing to travel to his master’s location. No longer weakened by his master’s entrapment, The Man In Black chuckled sadistically as he moved to intercept, invisible in the dark night as the purple glow of parts of his body vanished.
Thaltisa:”Come on, people. We MUST stop this false god at once!”
TMIB:”I would be inclined to disagree.”
The aasimar swung around, seeing a horrifiyng faceless shadow, pulsing with the energy of the Void. The shadowy figure had a strangely angelic sillhouette. The glowing purple lines over it’s body and it’s ghastly wings made the creature look almost like the Void’s mockery of the aasimar.
Thaltisa:”Foul creature! Your evil and your master will both be purged from the cosmos! Attack!”
The band of aasimar attacked. The Man In Black waited until the first one got close… then cut her right in half horizontally. Another aasimar swung a mace, but The Man In Black raised his shield up. A set of small, shadowy tendrils emerged from the bland darkness of his face, entering the aasimar’s head through his mouth, ears and nose, as well as the eye holes, gouging out the eyes in the process. Less than a second later, the tendrils erupted, blowing the aasimar’s head to pieces as he fell dead.
TMIB:”You pathetic celestial mongrels. You can not even defeat ME. What hope did you have against the might of Acidor?”
As he taunts them, another charges at him. She swings a gilded great axe, shining even in the dark night. The Man In Black effortlessly moves out of the way in a manner no humanoid would be able to, almost turning inside out as he turned into a blob of void energy, reforming behind the axe wielding aasimar and driving his blade through her stomach.
TMIB:”I see you still haven’t grasped the gravity of your situation. Allow me to help.”
The blade’s light faded into the oily darkness of the Void… and the aasimar’s body began collapsing into it as if it were a singularity. With an ear piercing scream, the aasimar was ripped apart on an atomic level as her body was collapsing into the blade’s sudden gravity well. As the purple light returned to the blade, all that was left of the aasimar was clothing, a small bit skin and some flesh, hanging from the blade. The Man In Black effortlessly shoved the disturbingly small pile of remains from the blade as he turned around at the remaining aasimar. Their faces were filled with horror, but they still attacked. So determined to do the right thing, The Man In Black thought. He shoved one to the ground. As the incarnate of the living void itself, The Man In Black possessed many abilities similar to those of his master, though not on the same level. But even a fraction of Acidor’s might was more than a group of aasimar could handle. Using gravity to his full advantage, The Man In Black increased it’s effect on the front of the knocked down aasimar’s ribcage. It took only a few seconds before the bones snapped, and the immensely heavier ribcage cut apart the squishy organs it was meant to protect from harm. To make sure the enemy stayed dead, a blast of void energy destroyed the aasimar’s head on a subatomic level. Another aasimar tried to charge, but The Man In Black once again used gravity to easily dispose of her. Increasing it’s pull on her skin while decreasinf it on the rest of her, the aasimar screamed in agony as her skin literally tore itself off, falling to the ground as it ripped apart all over her. Then the same happened with her flesh, and then her bones. What remained was a disturbingly organized pile: skin at the bottom, then the muscle tissue, then the bones, and then the organs. The last aasimar stabbed The Man In Black in the chest… only for the entire spear to be sucked into the wound, but not appearing on the other side.
Minrun:”What… what-“
The Man In Black grabbed him by the head.
The Man In Black:”I am not just some blind follower, you divine whelp. I am the living embodiment of the Void itself. I AM the living Void itself, always at Acidor’s command. You could not even annoy an avatar of the Void, what hope do you have against it’s god?”
The aasimar screamed as the Void’s energies spread throughout his body. He screamed for three seconds before his entire body imploded. The Man In Black began walking towards where he could sense his master. It was time to serve again.
(REMINDER: TMIB CAN’T DO ANY OF THIS IN A COMBAT ENCOUNTER! THIS WAS PURELY DONE FOR THE RULE OF COOL! CONSIDER ALL OF THIS CUTSCENE-EXCLUSIVE. SIMILAR TO A LOT OF GAMES, WHERE CHARACTERS CAN DO CERTAIN THINGS IN CUTSCENES THEY CAN’T DO IN GAMEPLAY.)

Source: https://home.iitk.ac.in/~hcverma/Article/Macaulay-Minutes.pdf

As it seems to be the opinion of some of the gentlemen who compose the Committee of Public Instruction that the course which they have hitherto pursued was strictly prescribed by the British Parliament in 1813 and as, if that opinion be correct, a legislative act will be necessary to warrant a change, I have thought it right to refrain from taking any part in the preparation of the adverse statements which are now before us, and to reserve what I had to say on the subject till it should come before me as a Member of the Council of India.
It does not appear to me that the Act of Parliament can by any art of contraction be made to bear the meaning which has been assigned to it. It contains nothing about the particular languages or sciences which are to be studied. A sum is set apart "for the revival and promotion of literature, and the encouragement of the learned natives of India, and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the sciences among the inhabitants of the British territories." It is argued, or rather taken for granted, that by literature the Parliament can have meant only Arabic and Sanscrit literature; that they never would have given the honourable appellation of "a learned native" to a native who was familiar with the poetry of Milton, the metaphysics of Locke, and the physics of Newton; but that they meant to designate by that name only such persons as might have studied in the sacred books of the Hindoos all the uses of cusa-grass, and all the mysteries of absorption into the Deity. This does not appear to be a very satisfactory interpretation. To take a parallel case: Suppose that the Pacha of Egypt, a country once superior in knowledge to the nations of Europe, but now sunk far below them, were to appropriate a sum for the purpose "of reviving and promoting literature, and encouraging learned natives of Egypt," would any body infer that he meant the youth of his Pachalik to give years to the study of hieroglyphics, to search into all the doctrines disguised under the fable of Osiris, and to ascertain with all possible accuracy the ritual with which cats and onions were anciently adored? Would he be justly charged with inconsistency if, instead of employing his young subjects in deciphering obelisks, he were to order them to be instructed in the English and French languages, and in all the sciences to which those languages are the chief keys?
The words on which the supporters of the old system rely do not bear them out, and other words follow which seem to be quite decisive on the other side. This lakh of rupees is set apart not only for "reviving literature in India," the phrase on which their whole interpretation is founded, but also "for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the sciences among the inhabitants of the British territories"-words which are alone sufficient to authorize all the changes for which I contend.
If the Council agree in my construction no legislative act will be necessary. If they differ from me, I will propose a short act rescinding that I clause of the Charter of 1813 from which the difficulty arises.
The argument which I have been considering affects only the form of proceeding. But the admirers of the oriental system of education have used another argument, which, if we admit it to be valid, is decisive against all change. They conceive that the public faith is pledged to the present system, and that to alter the appropriation of any of the funds which have hitherto been spent in encouraging the study of Arabic and Sanscrit would be downright spoliation. It is not easy to understand by what process of reasoning they can have arrived at this conclusion. The grants which are made from the public purse for the encouragement of literature differ in no respect from the grants which are made from the same purse for other objects of real or supposed utility. We found a sanitarium on a spot which we suppose to be healthy. Do we thereby pledge ourselves to keep a sanitarium there if the result should not answer our expectations? We commence the erection of a pier. Is it a violation of the public faith to stop the works, if we afterwards see reason to believe that the building will be useless? The rights of property are undoubtedly sacred. But nothing endangers those rights so much as the practice, now unhappily too common, of attributing them to things to which they do not belong. Those who would impart to abuses the sanctity of property are in truth imparting to the institution of property the unpopularity and the fragility of abuses. If the Government has given to any person a formal assurance-nay, if the Government has excited in any person's mind a reasonable expectation-that he shall receive a certain income as a teacher or a learner of Sanscrit or Arabic, I would respect that person's pecuniary interests. I would rather err on the side of liberality to individuals than suffer the public faith to be called in question. But to talk of a Government pledging itself to teach certain languages and certain sciences, though those languages may become useless, though those sciences may be exploded, seems to me quite unmeaning. There is not a single word in any public instrument from which it can be inferred that the Indian Government ever intended to give any pledge on this subject, or ever considered the destination of these funds as unalterably fixed. But, had it been otherwise, I should have denied the competence of our predecessors to bind us by any pledge on such a subject. Suppose that a Government had in the last century enacted in the most solemn manner that all its subjects should, to the end of time, be inoculated for the small-pox, would that Government be bound to persist in the practice after Jenner's discovery? These promises of which nobody claims the performance, and from which nobody can grant a release, these vested rights which vest in nobody, this property without proprietors, this robbery which makes nobody poorer, may be comprehended by persons of higher faculties than mine. I consider this plea merely as a set form of words, regularly used both in England and in India, in defence of every abuse for which no other plea can be set up.
I hold this lakh of rupees to be quite at the disposal of the Governor-General in Council for the purpose of promoting learning in India in any way which may be thought most advisable. I hold his Lordship to be quite as free to direct that it shall no longer be employed in encouraging Arabic and Sanscrit, as he is to direct that the reward for killing tigers in Mysore shall be diminished, or that no more public money shall be expended on the chaunting at the cathedral.
We now come to the gist of the matter. We have a fund to be employed as Government shall direct for the intellectual improvement of the people of this country. The simple question is, what is the most useful way of employing it?
All parties seem to be agreed on one point, that the dialects commonly spoken among the natives of this part of India contain neither literary nor scientific information, and are moreover so poor and rude that, until they are enriched from some other quarter, it will not be easy to translate any valuable work into them. It seems to be admitted on all sides, that the intellectual improvement of those classes of the people who have the means of pursuing higher studies can at present be affected only by means of some language not vernacular amongst them.
What then shall that language be? One-half of the committee maintain that it should be the English. The other half strongly recommend the Arabic and Sanscrit. The whole question seems to me to be-which language is the best worth knowing?
I have no knowledge of either Sanscrit or Arabic. But I have done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanscrit works. I have conversed, both here and at home, with men distinguished by their proficiency in the Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the oriental learning at the valuation of the orientalists themselves. I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature is indeed fully admitted by those members of the committee who support the oriental plan of education.
It will hardly be disputed, I suppose, that the department of literature in which the Eastern writers stand highest is poetry. And I certainly never met with any orientalist who ventured to maintain that the Arabic and Sanscrit poetry could be compared to that of the great European nations. But when we pass from works of imagination to works in which facts are recorded and general principles investigated, the superiority of the Europeans becomes absolutely immeasurable. It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written in the Sanscrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England. In every branch of physical or moral philosophy, the relative position of the two nations is nearly the same.
How then stands the case? We have to educate a people who cannot at present be educated by means of their mother-tongue. We must teach them some foreign language. The claims of our own language it is hardly necessary to recapitulate. It stands pre- eminent even among the languages of the West. It abounds with works of imagination not inferior to the noblest which Greece has bequeathed to us,-with models of every species of eloquence,-with historical composition, which, considered merely as narratives, have seldom been surpassed, and which, considered as vehicles of ethical and political instruction, have never been equaled-with just and lively representations of human life and human nature,-with the most profound speculations on metaphysics, morals, government, jurisprudence, trade,-with full and correct information respecting every experimental science which tends to preserve the health, to increase the comfort, or to expand the intellect of man. Whoever knows that language has ready access to all the vast intellectual wealth which all the wisest nations of the earth have created and hoarded in the course of ninety generations. It may safely be said that the literature now extant in
that language is of greater value than all the literature which three hundred years ago was extant in all the languages of the world together. Nor is this all. In India, English is the language spoken by the ruling class. It is spoken by the higher class of natives at the seats of Government. It is likely to become the language of commerce throughout the seas of the East. It is the language of two great European communities which are rising, the one in the south of Africa, the other in Australia,-communities which are every year becoming more important and more closely connected with our Indian empire. Whether we look at the intrinsic value of our literature, or at the particular situation of this country, we shall see the strongest reason to think that, of all foreign tongues, the English tongue is that which would be the most useful to our native subjects.
The question now before us is simply whether, when it is in our power to teach this language, we shall teach languages in which, by universal confession, there are no books on any subject which deserve to be compared to our own, whether, when we can teach European science, we shall teach systems which, by universal confession, wherever they differ from those of Europe differ for the worse, and whether, when we can patronize sound philosophy and true history, we shall countenance, at the public expense, medical doctrines which would disgrace an English farrier, astronomy which would move laughter in girls at an English boarding school, history abounding with kings thirty feet high and reigns thirty thousand years long, and geography made of seas of treacle and seas of butter.
We are not without experience to guide us. History furnishes several analogous cases, and they all teach the same lesson. There are, in modern times, to go no further, two memorable instances of a great impulse given to the mind of a whole society, of prejudices overthrown, of knowledge diffused, of taste purified, of arts and sciences planted in countries which had recently been ignorant and barbarous.
The first instance to which I refer is the great revival of letters among the Western nations at the close of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth century. At that time almost everything that was worth reading was contained in the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Had our ancestors acted as the Committee of Public Instruction has hitherto noted, had they neglected the language of Thucydides and Plato, and the language of Cicero and Tacitus, had they confined their attention to the old dialects of our own island, had they printed nothing and taught nothing at the universities but chronicles in Anglo-Saxon and romances in Norman French,-would England ever have been what she now is? What the Greek and Latin were to the contemporaries of More and Ascham, our tongue is to the people of India. The literature of England is now more valuable than that of classical antiquity. I doubt whether the Sanscrit literature be as valuable as that of our Saxon and Norman progenitors. In some departments-in history for example-I am certain that it is much less so.
Another instance may be said to be still before our eyes. Within the last hundred and twenty years, a nation which had previously been in a state as barbarous as that in which our ancestors were before the Crusades has gradually emerged from the ignorance in which it was sunk, and has taken its place among civilized communities. I speak of Russia. There is now in that country a large educated class abounding with persons fit to
serve the State in the highest functions, and in nowise inferior to the most accomplished men who adorn the best circles of Paris and London. There is reason to hope that this vast empire which, in the time of our grandfathers, was probably behind the Punjab, may in the time of our grandchildren, be pressing close on France and Britain in the career of improvement. And how was this change effected? Not by flattering national prejudices; not by feeding the mind of the young Muscovite with the old women's stories which his rude fathers had believed; not by filling his head with lying legends about St. Nicholas; not by encouraging him to study the great question, whether the world was or not created on the 13th of September; not by calling him "a learned native" when he had mastered all these points of knowledge; but by teaching him those foreign languages in which the greatest mass of information had been laid up, and thus putting all that information within his reach. The languages of western Europe civilised Russia. I cannot doubt that they will do for the Hindoo what they have done for the Tartar.
And what are the arguments against that course which seems to be alike recommended by theory and by experience? It is said that we ought to secure the co- operation of the native public, and that we can do this only by teaching Sanscrit and Arabic.
I can by no means admit that, when a nation of high intellectual attainments undertakes to superintend the education of a nation comparatively ignorant, the learners are absolutely to prescribe the course which is to be taken by the teachers. It is not necessary however to say anything on this subject. For it is proved by unanswerable evidence, that we are not at present securing the co-operation of the natives. It would be bad enough to consult their intellectual taste at the expense of their intellectual health. But we are consulting neither. We are withholding from them the learning which is palatable to them. We are forcing on them the mock learning which they nauseate.
This is proved by the fact that we are forced to pay our Arabic and Sanscrit students while those who learn English are willing to pay us. All the declamations in the world about the love and reverence of the natives for their sacred dialects will never, in the mind of any impartial person, outweigh this undisputed fact, that we cannot find in all our vast empire a single student who will let us teach him those dialects, unless we will pay him.
I have now before me the accounts of the Mudrassa for one month, the month of December, 1833. The Arabic students appear to have been seventy-seven in number. All receive stipends from the public. The whole amount paid to them is above 500 rupees a month. On the other side of the account stands the following item:
Deduct amount realized from the out-students of English for the months of May, June, and July last-103 rupees.
I have been told that it is merely from want of local experience that I am surprised at these phenomena, and that it is not the fashion for students in India to study at their own charges. This only confirms me in my opinions. Nothing is more certain than that it never can in any part of the world be necessary to pay men for doing what they think pleasant
or profitable. India is no exception to this rule. The people of India do not require to be paid for eating rice when they are hungry, or for wearing woollen cloth in the cold season. To come nearer to the case before us:-The children who learn their letters and a little elementary arithmetic from the village schoolmaster are not paid by him. He is paid for teaching them. Why then is it necessary to pay people to learn Sanscrit and Arabic? Evidently because it is universally felt that the Sanscrit and Arabic are languages the knowledge of which does not compensate for the trouble of acquiring them. On all such subjects the state of the market is the detective test.
Other evidence is not wanting, if other evidence were required. A petition was presented last year to the committee by several ex-students of the Sanscrit College. The petitioners stated that they had studied in the college ten or twelve years, that they had made themselves acquainted with Hindoo literature and science, that they had received certificates of proficiency. And what is the fruit of all this? "Notwithstanding such testimonials," they say, "we have but little prospect of bettering our condition without the kind assistance of your honourable committee, the indifference with which we are generally looked upon by our countrymen leaving no hope of encouragement and assistance from them." They therefore beg that they may be recommended to the Governor-General for places under the Government-not places of high dignity or emolument, but such as may just enable them to exist. "We want means," they say, "for a decent living, and for our progressive improvement, which, however, we cannot obtain without the assistance of Government, by whom we have been educated and maintained from childhood." They conclude by representing very pathetically that they are sure that it was never the intention of Government, after behaving so liberally to them during their education, to abandon them to destitution and neglect.
I have been used to see petitions to Government for compensation. All those petitions, even the most unreasonable of them, proceeded on the supposition that some loss had been sustained, that some wrong had been inflicted. These are surely the first petitioners who ever demanded compensation for having been educated gratis, for having been supported by the public during twelve years, and then sent forth into the world well furnished with literature and science. They represent their education as an injury which gives them a claim on the Government for redress, as an injury for which the stipends paid to them during the infliction were a very inadequate compensation. And I doubt not that they are in the right. They have wasted the best years of life in learning what procures for them neither bread nor respect. Surely we might with advantage have saved the cost of making these persons useless and miserable. Surely, men may be brought up to be burdens to the public and objects of contempt to their neighbours at a somewhat smaller charge to the State. But such is our policy. We do not even stand neuter in the contest between truth and falsehood. We are not content to leave the natives to the influence of their own hereditary prejudices. To the natural difficulties which obstruct the progress of sound science in the East, we add great difficulties of our own making. Bounties and premiums, such as ought not to be given even for the propagation of truth, we lavish on false texts and false philosophy.
By acting thus we create the very evil which we fear. We are making that opposition which we do not find. What we spend on the Arabic and Sanscrit Colleges is not merely a
dead loss to the cause of truth. It is bounty-money paid to raise up champions of error. It goes to form a nest not merely of helpless placehunters but of bigots prompted alike by passion and by interest to raise a cry against every useful scheme of education. If there should be any opposition among the natives to the change which I recommend, that opposition will be the effect of our own system. It will be headed by persons supported by our stipends and trained in our colleges. The longer we persevere in our present course, the more formidable will that opposition be. It will be every year reinforced by recruits whom we are paying. From the native society, left to itself, we have no difficulties to apprehend. All the murmuring will come from that oriental interest which we have, by artificial means, called into being and nursed into strength.
There is yet another fact which is alone sufficient to prove that the feeling of the native public, when left to itself, is not such as the supporters of the old system represent it to be. The committee have thought fit to lay out above a lakh of rupees in printing Arabic and Sanscrit books. Those books find no purchasers. It is very rarely that a single copy is disposed of. Twenty-three thousand volumes, most of them folios and quartos, fill the libraries or rather the lumber-rooms of this body. The committee contrive to get rid of some portion of their vast stock of oriental literature by giving books away. But they cannot give so fast as they print. About twenty thousand rupees a year are spent in adding fresh masses of waste paper to a hoard which, one should think, is already sufficiently ample. During the last three years about sixty thousand rupees have been expended in this manner. The sale of Arabic and Sanscrit books during those three years has not yielded quite one thousand rupees. In the meantime, the School Book Society is selling seven or eight thousand English volumes every year, and not only pays the expenses of printing but realizes a profit of twenty per cent. on its outlay.
The fact that the Hindoo law is to be learned chiefly from Sanscrit books, and the Mahometan law from Arabic books, has been much insisted on, but seems not to bear at all on the question. We are commanded by Parliament to ascertain and digest the laws of India. The assistance of a Law Commission has been given to us for that purpose. As soon as the Code is promulgated the Shasters and the Hedaya will be useless to a moonsiff or a Sudder Ameen. I hope and trust that, before the boys who are now entering at the Mudrassa and the Sanscrit College have completed their studies, this great work will be finished. It would be manifestly absurd to educate the rising generation with a view to a state of things which we mean to alter before they reach manhood.
But there is yet another argument which seems even more untenable. It is said that the Sanscrit and the Arabic are the languages in which the sacred books of a hundred millions of people are written, and that they are on that account entitled to peculiar encouragement. Assuredly it is the duty of the British Government in India to be not only tolerant but neutral on all religious questions. But to encourage the study of a literature, admitted to be of small intrinsic value, only because that literature inculcated the most serious errors on the most important subjects, is a course hardly reconcilable with reason, with morality, or even with that very neutrality which ought, as we all agree, to be sacredly preserved. It is confined that a language is barren of useful knowledge. We are to teach it because it is fruitful of monstrous superstitions. We are to teach false history, false astronomy, false medicine, because we find them in company with a false religion.
We abstain, and I trust shall always abstain, from giving any public encouragement to those who are engaged in the work of converting the natives to Christianity. And while we act thus, can we reasonably or decently bribe men, out of the revenues of the State, to waste their youth in learning how they are to purify themselves after touching an ass or what texts of the Vedas they are to repeat to expiate the crime of killing a goat?
It is taken for granted by the advocates of oriental learning that no native of this country can possibly attain more than a mere smattering of English. They do not attempt to prove this. But they perpetually insinuate it. They designate the education which their opponents recommend as a mere spelling-book education. They assume it as undeniable that the question is between a profound knowledge of Hindoo and Arabian literature and science on the one side, and superficial knowledge of the rudiments of English on the other. This is not merely an assumption, but an assumption contrary to all reason and experience. We know that foreigners of all nations do learn our language sufficiently to have access to all the most abstruse knowledge which it contains sufficiently to relish even the more delicate graces of our most idiomatic writers. There are in this very town natives who are quite competent to discuss political or scientific questions with fluency and precision in the English language. I have heard the very question on which I am now writing discussed by native gentlemen with a liberality and an intelligence which would do credit to any member of the Committee of Public Instruction. Indeed it is unusual to find, even in the literary circles of the Continent, any foreigner who can express himself in English with so much facility and correctness as we find in many Hindoos. Nobody, I suppose, will contend that English is so difficult to a Hindoo as Greek to an Englishman. Yet an intelligent English youth, in a much smaller number of years than our unfortunate pupils pass at the Sanscrit College, becomes able to read, to enjoy, and even to imitate not unhappily the compositions of the best Greek authors. Less than half the time which enables an English youth to read Herodotus and Sophocles ought to enable a Hindoo to read Hume and Milton.
To sum up what I have said. I think it clear that we are not fettered by the Act of Parliament of 1813, that we are not fettered by any pledge expressed or implied, that we are free to employ our funds as we choose, that we ought to employ them in teaching what is best worth knowing, that English is better worth knowing than Sanscrit or Arabic, that the natives are desirous to be taught English, and are not desirous to be taught Sanscrit or Arabic, that neither as the languages of law nor as the languages of religion have the Sanscrit and Arabic any peculiar claim to our encouragement, that it is possible to make natives of this country thoroughly good English scholars, and that to this end our efforts ought to be directed.
In one point I fully agree with the gentlemen to whose general views I am opposed. I feel with them that it is impossible for us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, -a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render
them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population.
I would strictly respect all existing interests. I would deal even generously with all individuals who have had fair reason to expect a pecuniary provision. But I would strike at the root of the bad system which has hitherto been fostered by us. I would at once stop the printing of Arabic and Sanscrit books. I would abolish the Mudrassa and the Sanscrit College at Calcutta. Benares is the great seat of Brahminical learning; Delhi of Arabic learning. If we retain the Sanscrit College at Bonares and the Mahometan College at Delhi we do enough and much more than enough in my opinion, for the Eastern languages. If the Benares and Delhi Colleges should be retained, I would at least recommend that no stipends shall be given to any students who may hereafter repair thither, but that the people shall be left to make their own choice between the rival systems of education without being bribed by us to learn what they have no desire to know. The funds which would thus be placed at our disposal would enable us to give larger encouragement to the Hindoo College at Calcutta, and establish in the principal cities throughout the Presidencies of Fort William and Agra schools in which the English language might be well and thoroughly taught.
If the decision of His Lordship in Council should be such as I anticipate, I shall enter on the performance of my duties with the greatest zeal and alacrity. If, on the other hand, it be the opinion of the Government that the present system ought to remain unchanged, I beg that I may be permitted to retire from the chair of the Committee. I feel that I could not be of the smallest use there. I feel also that I should be lending my countenance to what I firmly believe to be a mere delusion. I believe that the present system tends not to accelerate the progress of truth but to delay the natural death of expiring errors. I conceive that we have at present no right to the respectable name of a Board of Public Instruction. We are a Board for wasting the public money, for printing books which are of less value than the paper on which they are printed was while it was blank-for giving artificial encouragement to absurd history, absurd metaphysics, absurd physics, absurd theology-for raising up a breed of scholars who find their scholarship an incumbrance and blemish, who live on the public while they are receiving their education, and whose education is so utterly useless to them that, when they have received it, they must either starve or live on the public all the rest of their lives. Entertaining these opinions, I am naturally desirous to decline all share in the responsibility of a body which, unless it alters its whole mode of proceedings, I must consider, not merely as useless, but as positively noxious.

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Synopsis:
"You are a monster, Adam, but you didn't choose to be. Make your first choice."\
Molded into a mindless killing machine from birth, psychic prodigy Augustus Adam makes his first real choice and frees himself from the shackles of his upbring. But it is too late.
After being tried for his crimes against humanity, he is sentenced to summary execution after a short trial. Unwilling to let his mind be studied to produce more psychics like himself, he does the only thing that ensures humanity's freedom from psychic tyranny: suicide.
Though death's embrace is sweet, it's surprisingly short as Adam awakes in an unknown forest, learning soon after that he is in a world of magic, of swords and sorcery. Accompanied by magical beasts that could flatten a mountain if they so wished, Adam sets forth into this new world, hoping to make a positive difference this time around. It was his choice, a real chance for freedom, and he wasn't about to let some demon lords, necromancers, or gods get in his way towards redemption.
***
Note:
A rewrite from a previous version, this story is a slice-of-life adventure of an young man blessed with powers but burdened by a heavy and troubled past, hoping to reconcile himself with his innate humanity. Though the premise is magic vs psychic power, I also want to explore the human heart. I believe that there is good in people, but they all need to make the choice. This story follows that line of thinking. Any and all constructive criticism is encouraged and appreciated.
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Chapter 1
Death felt cold, as I expected it to be. It was like going under anesthesia before a major surgery where the body becomes completely numb, leaving only a chill.
And yet, as time went on, I realized that I could think. Wasn't I dead? My mind should be blissfully blank, wiped clean of any and all thoughts. In spite of this, memories streamed into my mind in a steady flow, flashing muted imagery of scenes long past and done.
Then my eyes shot open and I found myself laying on my back, staring at a ceiling of mist. Tall, thick trees stretched into the mist and towards the sky, drooping with vines that dangled from unseen branches above.
The air felt cold yet full while a constant breeze brushed against my skin. Where was I? How was I? Was this the afterlife? I pinched myself to make sure, hoping that this was a dream, or perhaps a coma.
Nope, there was pain.
I lifted myself up and stood, looking around at my current surroundings. There were other sources of light beyond the mist just a short distance away. They looked to be numerous and glowed in a variety of different colors.
What caught my eye the most, however, was the seemingly unending dense forest of extremely tall and thick trees that stretched in all directions, standing proud underneath the white veil of mist. Despite the mist making it hard to see further into the ceiling or beyond the trees within my immediate vicinity, there was a constant light permeating from... everywhere. There was no source for the light, just that it was there.
Strange.
I took a step forward and heard a crunch. Looking down, I found my foot stepping on a peculiar shrub. It was glowing. Removing my foot, I knelt down and inspected the plant. It looked to be a normal shrub in terms of structure, but that was about it. The stem looked to be like glass, reflecting light, while the leaves were colored silver, emitting a pale white glow. Weirder still were the roots. Instead of digging and burrowing into the ground, the roots instead sprawled all over the surface of the soil, stretching towards the base of a nearby tree.
Curious, I grabbed the shrub, pulling it from the soil, and inspected it. It felt like any other shrub in my hands, rough and coarse to the touch, but it also had this smooth texture along the edges. Pulling it close to my eye, I saw the veins pulsing white, flowing with something.
The shrub was damaged considerably after being stepped on and being pulled from the ground. As I assessed the entire thing, I couldn't help but feel bad. I should have just left it alone, but my curiosity got the better of me.
I decided to try and place the plant back in its place. Much to my surprise, as soon as the severed roots of the shrub neared the roots on the ground, both sides moved and connected, repairing the connection. The plant then settled into the soil where it stood, seemingly uncaring for my intrusion.
"How strange." I muttered as I left the plant alone. I looked around again, taking in the strange environment I found myself in. Tall trees that disappeared into the sky, glowing plants with weird roots, a mist that seemed to never end, and a prevailing light that came from nowhere, yet was everywhere at the same time.
Looking again at the ground, I saw piles of leaves. Big leaves. Some were oval, others spiked or sharp. Their colors varied too. At least this confirmed that there was indeed a forest canopy full of leaves beyond the mist above.
Where my normal, mundane senses failed me, I could always call upon my psychic powers to enhance them, and that was exactly what I did. My psychic sense expanded into every direction, allowing me to feel the surrounding area, essentially scanning multiple places at once.
The forest was vast. Not just vast, but seemingly unending. No matter how far I stretched my psychic sense, I felt nothing but the looming trees. There were glowing plants everywhere on the forest floor while vines dangled from the sky in their thousands.
Curiously, or rather concerningly, there was a lack of animal or insect life. There was only the strange flora. As if compelled by my hunger to know where I was or what this place is, I started walking.
I picked a direction and continued onward, making sure to avoid the glowing plants while navigating the thick trunks of the trees. I paused from time to time, taking a moment to behold the strange scenery that surrounded me. The tree trunks were coarse and rough, either jagged or worn down by years of growth, and yet their appearance betrayed a hidden strength. I couldn't even pull out a piece of bark for inspection with my hands. And I had the strength of ten men, or at least that was the description of my official physical assessment.
The tree trunks came in a narrow spectrum of colors, either brown, gray or in-between. The leaves of these trees seemed to reflect the color of the trunk, judging by the leaves that had fallen to the ground. However, there seemed to be little difference between the trees beyond that.
Using my powers, I tried to feel something, anything to give me a clue as to the nature of this place. Unfortunately, I sensed nothing. Nothing but a weak coldness, and a constant breeze blowing between the trees, howling a muted whistle.
"If nobody comes out and explains to me what's going on, then I must be dead." I said out loud, hoping that someone was watching, or at least listening to me. Maybe they were hidden from my psychic sense. and the mist.
A few seconds later, nothing. There was only silence. I shook my head and sighed.
"I must be in hell then," I said, "Is this my penance? To wander alone in this strange labyrinth?"
No answer. Why was I even speaking? Of course there wouldn't be an answer. I must already be going mad.
I took a deep breath and continued on my journey to nowhere, picking another direction and following it for the rest of the day. Thanks to my training, and some brain tuning, I had an excellent sense of time. I knew that it was midday, close to the start of noon, and so I timed my journey as it began in earnest.
Minutes turned to hours as I walked, discovering new and strange plants, encountering hundreds more trees, and accidentally losing my footing on a bunch of glowing tall grass with blades shaped like a burning fire. The blades bristled and burst into white flame, but it neither burned my skin or produced any heat. Instead, the flames simply danced around my arm, ignoring the fabric of my clothes, fluttering before flickering away.
I inspected the tall grass and decided to experiment a bit. Using my psychic power, I pulled a few of the blades from the rest of the grass and watched as the severed portions reacted, bursting into the same white flame. It seemed to be a defensive mechanism of some kind. If it was, then it wasn't very effective. Maybe it had a psychological effect against wildlife, perhaps.
Speaking of the wildlife, I was yet to encounter them. I wasn't even sure if the forest had animals. The lack of insects was unnerving. During my time wading through rainforests, jungles, and swamps, I always had to deal with the constant assault of the local undergrowth from bugs to spiders. There were ants, bees, wasps, flies, not to mention the dreadful spawns of Satan himself: mosquitos. Humanity had the chance to *not* spread the mosquito to other worlds, but somehow they got through, and were then everywhere by the time the war started.
I did not miss dealing with mosquitos. Even with my suit of armor, the constant buzzing they made against my psychic sense made it difficult to focus. However, killing any and all mosquitos using my power was always great exercise. Due to their size, agility, and numbers, it was hard to wrap my power around their tiny bodies. Once I got the hang of it, however, it felt like manipulating grains of sand with the dexterity of a surgeon's hands. Only this time the mosquitos would find themselves squished.
I did, however, miss the other insects, especially the ants and bees. It was always fascinating to see these social creatures crawl or fly in the middle of what seemed to them as a gigantic world of towering trees and the vast forest floor. They had societies similar to humanity, but different in their on ways. They lived to serve their queens, to expand their colonies, and protect their future.
Maybe I was the ant now, stuck in a strange new place, surrounded by enormous things. Unlike the ants or bees, I was alone. The forest was deserted, empty. There was no other form of life.
More hours went by and evening came. My sense of time assured me that if there was a sun, it should have already set, and yet the forest did not change in the slightest. The mist was as white as snow, and the light remained with not even the slightest hint of dimness.
I used my psychic sense once more and scanned my surroundings, extending it for as far as 10 kilometers in every direction. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. What was happening? Was this actually my punishment? The idea was there, but my mind refused to accept it. There should be something that would explain all of this, right?
Why was I even asking myself.
Seeing no other option, and realizing I should have tried this sooner, I decided to lift myself up using my power and fly towards the forest canopy beyond the misty heights, hopefully finding a clear sky.
Summoning my power, I wrapped my entire body around my mental influence, gripping at myself like holding a figurine in my hand. I felt my power against my skin like a current of electricity, its influence pushing against my limbs and beckoning to be used.
And so I did. With a mental thought, I flew. I lifted from the ground abruptly, disturbing the air when I did. I ascended through the mist, finding more vines dangling in the air. The ground disappeared below my feet and soon enough I found... nothing. There were only the same tree trunks plowing through the mist towards the sky and ground, neither being seen through the now even thicker mist. To be fair, there were a few branches sticking out of the trunks here and there with large leaves similar to those on the forest floor. The branches were long and sturdy enough to stand on if I wanted to, but other than that there wasn't anything else worth mentioning.
In spite of this, I continued on my steady ascent. The air brushed against my skin, howling in my ears as I gained more speed. I pushed my psychic sense even further than before, trying as hard as I could to sense the forest canopy, if it even existed at all. I was beginning to doubt myself and this place. Maybe logic did not apply here. Maybe this was indeed my punishment, my hell.
I felt a surge of emotion rise within my heart. Anger coursed into my mind, swirling into a boiling rage directed at nobody. Nobody but myself. Yes, this was correct. This was good. I was being punished for my crimes. I was alone and afraid, cold and ignored.
Suddenly, that raging anger turned into melancholy. A deep sadness descended upon me like an avalanche of guilt, swiping away my furrowed brows before making my eyes blurry with rising tears.
I landed on a nearby branch as the tears fell down. Wiping away at my eyes, I sat down against the tree trunk and wept. I couldn't help but feel that my life could've been better. I could've been a better person. I only ever needed a chance. A choice. I couldn't have known... I couldn't have...
I'm sorry.
The night came and went, heralded not by darkness and instead by the unseen passing of time. I awoke after a few hours, having cried myself to sleep. I was still on the branch, feet dangling in the air. Sighing away a heavy chest, I decided to linger longer in the small space I found myself in.
Another few hours went by where I did nothing but look at the endless mist, counting the many trees that stood around me. Occasionally, a leaf or two would fall from the sky, gently floating down towards the faraway ground. I couldn't help but feel that the forest was beckoning me to continue with my ascent, telling me that there was indeed a forest canopy to discover.
After realizing that all I could do now was continue, I stood up and flew once more. Then the air tingled ever so slightly. Before I could even make it a few feet from my branch, I was attacked.
A bolt of light slammed against my head, sending me stumbling in the air before another bolt hit me in the chest and knocked me off balance. Instinctively, I raised my psychic shield and braced for another attack as I careened in the air. It came and jolted me downward, hurling me towards the ground at incredible speed.
After failing to reorient myself, I crashed into the ground a minute later, breaking a few of my bones. If I hadn't conjured my psychic shield, I would have certainly died. The speed in which I impacted the ground sent a cloud of dust into the air, forming a crater where I now lay broken and battered.
As the dust settled and my vision cleared, I saw a blue flame in the shape of a bird descend from the sky in a direct course towards me. Oh no.
Using my power, I slapped the creature off-course with a wall of air. Taken by surprise, it crashed into the ground a few meters away.
Adrenaline pumped all over my body as I forced myself to stand, ignoring the pain that was beginning to arise. My psychic sense went into battle mode and I summoned forth my power, readying myself to fight whatever attacked me.
The bird recovered itself from its crash and was soon fluttering its wings. The wings were literally made of blue flames, burning and dancing against the mist with every flap. It stood at the same height as I and looked at me with a scornful, fiery glare.
I glared back, bracing myself for another bolt to the face. But just as the flaming bird flew into the air once more, another bolt of light came from somewhere within the mist and towards my face, sending me stumbling back into the ground.
I found myself attacked by bolts from every direction, slamming against my psychic shielding with increasing power and ferocity. Try as might, my psychic sense was impaired and I had difficulty trying to focus my power. Fear welled up within me as death seemed to loom closer.
I was alive, my emotions were real, my thoughts still existed. If this was the afterlife, or something similar, then why then did I have this desire, this burning passion to stay alive? Hadn't I resigned myself to die? Even going as far as to kill myself to ensure that my brain couldn't be used to further the pain I had wrought?
After a few seconds of contemplation, under the constant fire of unseen foes, I realized what I wanted.
I wanted a second chance.
My psychic power exploded outward, sending a shockwave that traveled in all directions. The mist was violently pushed back while trees rumbled in place as plants were flattered. Whatever was firing the bolts stopped.
I breathed heavily as I refocused my power and recalibrated my psychic sense. As I did, the blue flaming bird appeared from the corner of my eye. I quickly reached out with my hand and grabbed the bird with my power, slamming it into the ground as it struggled against my psychic grip.
The mist retreated, revealing the rest of those that had attacked me. There were many, and they were all animals. They surrounded me from all sides, their eyes bristling with either flame or sparks. I recognized them as being wolf, deer, elk, and moose. The deer were the most numerous, their antlers made of shimmering silver. The elk had longer antlers that sparkled with glowing motes. Notably, the lone moose had majestic antlers growing on either side of its head, forming a sort of crown. They were made of steel, glistening with sharpness and sparkling with electricity. Its body glowed an almost ethereal light, matching the glistening silver fur it had. Lastly, the large wolves with muscular bodies and somewhat thick gray fur. Six stood on each side of the moose. All of the animals had pulsing lines all over the skin, forming markings I did not understand.
The animals stood a distance away, their eyes and antlers pointed towards me. The moose looked to be their leader, standing directly in front of me. A moment later, fluttering and crackling filled my ears as more of the same blue flaming birds appeared from the sky.
Outnumbered and seemingly outgunned, I decided that I would do the only thing I had ever known.
Fight.
This time, however, I was not fighting for a despotic government or for a parent that never viewed me as a son. Instead, I was fighting for myself. For a chance. To survive. To live and be redeemed.
_____
Prev / Next / RoyalRoad

 Braxs wakes up in a cold sweat from the nightmare he has been having for the past 3 months the same nightmare that always puts fear into him. It is the same nightmare that he is always running in hearing screams and cries and when he looks up he always sees the thing he is scared of the vortex he doesn't know why but looking at the sky makes him unsettled. As he runs for something behind him that he can't escape from and every time before he wakes up he hears the words “ find the keys”. Braxs gets out of his bed he looks out his window into the vast of space and calms himself down and gets ready for what seems like an ordinary day on his ship with his crew. As he steps out of his room making sure his arm is properly put on he bumps into David. Braxs combat expert as they exchange good morning they go to their stations braxs in the cockpit and David in weapons storage. As Braxs enters the cockpit he hears the usual fight between Maylie and Dex. They are always fighting about something this time Dex took Mayle’s stop in the cockpit and like usual braxs had to end it. The two of you stop the bickering now there is no use in this now get out while I plot a course for the nearest atomic gaser station. Mayle and Dex leave giving each other death stares as they leave Kelly walks in and says wats up with Mr. Robot and Miss Grumpy she says in a sarcastic voice. Braxs chuckles and says are you serious if it's not one thing with them it's a completely different thing. Ke; takes a seat next to braxs as he is plotting a course and notices his eye bags have gotten worse she sighs and looks at Braxs and asks him” Are they getting worse?” Braxs gives her a tried glance and exhales and says” no there not even bothering me anymore” Kelly grabs his hand and looks at him “don't lie to me I can see you eye bags come on braxs I am here talking to me I didn't almost die trying to leave lextens army for you just to keep hiding things from me. I can't help if you don't speak to me the only way for you to get some rest okay” Braxs gives her tried and understanding looks as he lets out a big exhale he tells her about his nightmare and how it's been the same forever and once he finishes kelly gives him a relieved look and worried look about that he finally told her but that his nightmare is so vivid. “ keys? Do you have any idea what that means “ braxs think for a mommet and remembers something Lexten told him awhile ago when Brxs was under the influences of lextens controls it was about a vortex that can be opened with a device and it was called the keys to mothers tears or for short K.T.M.T and the device was split into many pieces because the purpose of it was o open a gateway to the gods and enter their realm. Braxs reclaims this to Kelly who thinks for a while and says well why would you be dreaming of such a horbile thing then if the device is split apart” Braxs does know and gets the course plotted and goes to his room to think about what all this could mean. 

Braxs drifts off from his tiredness and finds himself in his nightmare again everything happens but this time he sees what comes out of the vortex and what he sees puts fear into him and what he sees is a man walking out of the vortex and the man has a look of sinister and he walks down and a giant bright light expelling into the sky. The screams stopped and the man walked to braxs in a calm but strong way the man grabbed braxs by the neck lifted him in the air and said “See you soon braxs and let's see if you beat my game Hahahaha” And braxs woke up on the ground in his room with one of his hands rubbing his neck and signs and goes to take a shower to clean his sweat cover boat from fear and he keep hearing voices and it starts getting louder and under they are all saying “ FIND THE KEYS AND FIND THE LIGHT FIND THE KEYS AND FIND THE LIGHT” and they stop braxs goes to his bed. Braxs takes a pill that lets him sleep but cuts off his emotions and stops the nightmares He falls asleep and gets much-needed rest from his nightmares and the voices. As Brax awakens in his room, he notices something feels off as if he is being watched and it's not a good feeling. As braxs was sitting feeling odd he heard his voice but not from his mouth but from his head as braxs jumped his voice chuckled and said “ Oh my is the strong leader of this little rebellion scared.” Braxs replied,” Show yourself NOW voice!!” The voice takes form into braxs vision and as he does He looks choked as in front of him is standing himself but with black his sclera is black and his eyes are red this is a form of braxs giving up and letting his demons and fear take hold on himself. Brax in a calm but hesitant voice says: w-w-what are you?” The voice chuckled again deepening his voice and saying” I am what makes a man fear the dark and himself I am the thing a man can never get rid of…..hahaha….I am guilty I am darkness I am BRAXTEN your demon that you made!!!....HAHAHAHAHAH” Braxs For the first time in a while was scared and had feared but he calmed down and said” Whatever you are doing care you will not stop me I am not going to let my head play tricks on me you are not real!!” Braxs closes his eyes breathes in and out and opens them and Braxten is gone Braxs get flashbacks to when he last felt that way.” it was 4 years ago…..and yet I still fear him I can't I need to stop this I can't choke when we fight him if I do I am costing my team there lives…..if lexten finds us….. I won't choke I will end everyone suffering once I see him……My “father” will die when he attacks us…” As braxs leaves his room he sees David cleaning the weapons and Maylie looking in old history files of the K.T.M.T to see if they can find it cause if lexten told braxs about lexten defiantly wants it that can't be good for the world if he gets his hands on it and gets to the gods who know what he could do. Braxs is angry that Maylie and Dex eavesdropped on his conversation with Kelly yesterday but lets it slide since she doing something useful to stop lexten. As they look through they find a section that says there is a dead sun solar system that there was a planet that was destroyed and most of it survived and now just floats in the void of space and that the activater to K.T.M.T is on it. Braxs is concerned because when a sun becomes dead a creature forms on any rock in that dead sun location that creature will eat anything and nest in in boulders to make more offspring. Maylie gets the idea of braxs getting reconnected to THE ONE a god that was once braxs Vishnu as braxs was his Avatar but a while ago The One broke their connection after braxs disobeyed an order and left braxs powerless. Braxs thought about it and decided he would try as he laid down in a tub full of warm water and chanted The one message” The one I call upon you the weaver of destiny and fate I what a word with you it me your Avatar” As Braxs vision closed his mind woke up in the domain of the one. The one Speaks in a strong voice” Braxs you are not my avatar you once were but you disobeyed me and I will not tolerate disobedience…..But I do and a choice for you I will reconnect us but only IF you will follow my orders and not go on using them from something I tell you not to mess with understand?” Braxs takes a minute to think getting K.T.M.T is very important so he agrees “OK I agree but I want you to stop watching me and hovering over me and let me use this power to get K.T.M.T activator from a dead sun “ The one thinks he needs an avatar and braxs is not asking for much and asking to do more heroism so the one snaps and braxs wakes up and see if he is reconnected he use activates his pure energy sword and it appears in his hand and he is electterfided that it works and walk out to his crew and says “ plot a course we have what we need” As they leave braxs feel his connect to the one is weak but there and keeps it to himself and let Mayie plot the course as he decides who will go with He knows everyone can handle themselves but he needs a group to protect the ship so he picks David to come with him. As he and David gear up Braxs grabs his cloak so that he does not freeze in the dead zone David grabs his suit to protect him from the gravity and cold and the forug blasters and waits in the hatch David inquiries Braxs about all the info that he has on K.T.M.T braxs replies “ its just something I picked up on” He lies to his team from the start minus one And kelly him and kelly were lextens right-hand man and medical adviser the rest are clueless to there past and Braxs want it that because he fears his team will be scared of him and he does want to lose his family but David isn't dumb he has known forever and he say to braxs” okay boss but remember i am a friend and friends don't judge a friend for there past but there present actions. Brax Looks at David with reluctance and before Braxs can say something the ship’s alert system Tells everyone that we are entering Lord Lexten territory and they must be careful Braxs yells to his team “ Get the cloaking device on NOW” His team gets to work getting in online and as they do the once beautiful lights in space die out in there view now is a dead sloar system and in the middle there traget the dead sun its said when a sun explodes it froms a dead sun with the planets in it solar system and that is what Braxs and his team faces are in aw and shoke then Dex speaks up” i see worse” Braxs chuckled at the fact that Dex has a point but neve mind that braxs and David get to the hatch again and they jump down on the planets surface as they do braxs can already feel the K.T.M.T energy and its deep in the planet so Braxs and David turn the lights on and walk as they pin point the location and as they do Braxs stops in his tracks and stop David who looks confused why they are stopping and Braxs point at what look like David but actually behind him and Braxs shoots killing one of the creatures that inhabbit the Dead sun and David was unfased and gets back to with Braxs finding the K.T.M.T and they had to enter a cave it glowed with a uneasy purple glow and they went in with there gruards up Braxs states “David be careful we dont know what could be down here “ David says “ On it boss” Braxs looks around the cave seeing that the creature arent going near them which made Braxs even more careful because something terrible must have scared them and as him And david walk deeper in the cave there coms go out Braxs keeps moving d David ge worried because they just lot there only connection to warn the team if something happens” boss shouldent we go back before we get hurt or something?” Braxs turns around “ NO we need to keep going before lexten gets to it if you are that worried go back I keep going” David looks around and turns around and leaves “I am sorry boss…. it too risky” David leaves Braxs alone in the cave With that. Braxs goes deeper into the cave he finds something odd an old ship the size of a small moon in the end. Braxs finds a broken window and jumps in he surveys the area and see a light coming from a room and above its door says K.T.M.T safety Braxs enters and finds the K.T.M.T activator and it is just a remote so he easily grabs it and then he feels it the presents of someone that someone with a past with Braxs As Braxs turns Around he sees him Lexten “HAHAHA I see you're still doing my job for me Braxs hand over that remote now” Braxs Gretts his teeth and let out smile and says” Oh my dear “father” thinks I will just hand him this no I will not let your hand on this thing if you want it you will have to fight me Lexten!” Lexten chuckles” Ha that's boring how about this I use my new toy on you” As he says that Lexten's New right-hand man walks in and is ten times Braxs size” Puny Ant, hand over the device now or I will make this fun for myself” Braxs try using his coms but forgot they were cut off and then he draws out his powers but before he can The one pulls him into his dreamscape and says” Braxs you must not fight you will not win” Braxs get mad and laughs” Are you questioning me I always have a plan”
With that Braxs pulled himself out of the dreamscape and realized he had been tied and Lexten took the remote Braxs broke free with ease. And runs Out of the cave to catch up with Lexten as he exits. He sees his ship and Lexens above it He runs to it but he gets surrounded by the creatures one bit his Robot arm off. And braxs was able to kill them all with the little energy he had left and as he makes his way to the ship his team is standing her Kelly with her normal look meanwhile the other Three Look at Braxs with looks of fear and judgment and Braxs looks confused then Maylie spoke up with tears in her eyes “is it true braxs?” Braxs looked and said,” What is true Maylie?” Maylie screamed,” Is it true you're the braxs that once who worked for lexten the one who hurt all of us the one that made us work day and night without breaks!!” Brax stood there in shock” Who told you this Maylie “ Kelly walked up “ I couldn't keep my story hidden from friends anymore and then I told them yours” Braxs felt his chest tighten as the one he trusted and had known forever would reveal his dark past. Dex pipes up” At least she had the guts to tell us our Leader didn't even tell us” Braxs looked at his crew the fear and hatred in their eyes. He tried to get in the ship but Dex pushed him out” You don't deserve to be up here we should let you die on this planet.” Braxs caught himself and Kelly tried to get Braxs on the ship but the group held her, And they closed the hatch, and started the Ship. Braxs was distraught; he tried to improve his life, but his past kept biting back. He looked down at his destroyed arm and then he heard it “ Oh this really took a turn for the worse all because you never told your dumb friends the truth” With that Braxs turned around and saw Braxten standing there with his smile Braxs stood there feeling like his life is already gone he fell to his knees as he saw his ship his friends leave him on the Dead sun And Braxten chuckled “ Ah is the great Braxs alone to bad I wanted your friends to see me take control of your body and take them back to where they belong” Braxs felt something odd he noticed his arm repairing its self without him rebuilding it then Braxten vanished and braxs herd The one “ My Avatar we must speak alone now that whatever that thing was has retreated into your Subconscious we can do that. I think it is time you look for a way off this planet because as we speak Lexten is finding the last piece of the K.T.M.T. Do it soon young one”. Just like that Braxs was alone again and he didn't know what to do anymore He sat there lifeless his mind racing with all the memories of his past actions but the ones that kept appearing were his crew and him eating and laughing together. He stood up and headed to that abandoned ship buried deep in the cave and as he got in there he went to the engine room and got to work he worked on it for hours and as he did the only thing he thought about was finding his crew and giving them the full story he know then they might understand he then hears something. As he walks out he sees something odd ghosts. No that's too silly he thinks to himself self then he sees it is not a ghost but hologram’s and it looks like it is a recording He finds the control room and asks it what the date is of this recording it states the recording was made over 500 years ago as he watches it he goes to the area where the K.T.M.T activater was held and sees several researchers studying it. Braxs hears them” We need to get this to the station this device is too dangerous to have” With that the ship's recording cuts to 5 days later and the ship is on fire and screaming and braxs hears a very familiar laugh. As braxs turned around he saw Lexten first Braxs had fear but then confusion how is lexten here in this recording if it was 500 years ago? Braxs then see someone clinging to life in the Recording and they shove themself into lexten and push him into an escape pod so he would not get his hands on the device. Then for the final moments of life, this person sent a beacon out to another ship so that when needed the device could be found. With that, the person lets go and dies. As braxs watched this he thought if this was from 500 years ago then lexten would be at least 534 years old now but that made no sense because both of them looked the same. Braxs shook it off and asked for the next recording it went quiet and braxs seen that this ship crashed into a planet and then was deep enough to survive the implosion as it happened he didn't see it but felt that this planet had been the core of the dead sun brith. Braxs then realized he was in a ship that could be stronger that all of the lextens combined he went back to the engine and finally got it running he went to the power box and gave it a punch with his robotic arm sending waves of energy starting it up got the light on and everything. But as he did the ship started to shake like 100 earthquakes all at once and the ship was pulling out of the dead sun Braxs Quickly got somewhere safe. As it shook and broke the dead sun braxs fell to the ground and when he got to his feet he sen that this ship was not a ship but a space station. And the dead sun was gone and all the creatures died put to rest. While all this happened His team was off going who knows where and Kelly was trying to convince them to go back and pick Braxs up. “ come guys you all know Braxs would never hurt us” Dex with a plain face replied” He kept a secret from us one that was way too wrong to hide he is a murderer he did lextens biding and look where that got everyone I may be a robot but the doest mean i don’t read facial expressions. “ Kelly continues to talk to them and Maylie pipes in “He may have been our friend but he didn't tell us the truth he betrayed our trust why should we trust him” Before Kelly could speak their ship was attacked and when they looked out it was one of lextens drone ships and it shot down there engine the n there power as they got ready for a fight lextens Right-hand man got inside “ well look at this these ants want to play it we gonna do this properly you should know this winner name they call me 5 and you would know that kelly haha let us play now” With that 5 used the darkness to his advantage and attacked he used an emp bomb to disable there weapon and Dex he then knock the other two out with ease and pick them up and took them to his ship before that he planted a few bombs on their ship and once inside his own he blew up their ship. 5 took them to the empire capital and were tossed in prison minus Maylie Lexten wanted a word with her” Ah young one you right one time to see my greatest creation be rebuilt do you know the one thing that defies a villain and an evil mad man its simple really a villain is always having a reason for what he does and lets the hero win because they are weak but not I this game is fun when you time every mommet” Maylie sat there and spoke “ get to the point old man I rather be in a cell then here you drag this on” Lexten with a chuckle and gave her an offer” how would like revenge on Braxs I know you want it he did, after all, betray your trust.” When we get back to Braxs he gets the space station out of the dead zone and he had one goal and asked the ship's navigation “ find Ax6-10 position and status.” It replied that they were 56 light years away and that status was the ship was destroyed. Braxs automatically had to take him there he got his suit on and jumped into the vacuum of space he went to what was left of their ship and he was revealed there was no sign of them but he knew there was only one person that never left something behind he knew who Lextens right-hand man was now and wasn't happy. Braxs quickly set a course for the capital and quickly took a look at what weapons this ship held since he needed a totem to channel the full length of his powers when he got to the weaponry he found a normal-looking gun as he thought but when he picked it up it changed its self to a grip that fit his hand and a barrel to a perfect for a hard shell bullet. Brxs was stunned he never heard of any weapons like this with the K.T.M.T. activator and now this gun had him thinking this ship had more to it than it seemed and as he got closer to the capital he was ready for a fight. When he was getting closer the Station Computer asked to activate the weapons and Braxs didn't think much of it because he was still far away from the capital then Warnings appeared hostile ships were heading to his location. Braxs quickly and smartly activated shields first then had the turrets and as they got closer the stations shot each ship with precision and ease Braxs wasn't going to let people die anymore he used the tractor beam and took in the pilots he knew that would fight back because they where to in fear of defining Lexten Braxs quickly get in the command deck and they were hesitant at first but Braxs told them with him as their leader he won't let Lexten hurt them ever again. They quickly got up and went to different consoles on the command deck maned them and got the station at 100% power affinity. They were on a direct pass to the capital and Braxs told the pilots that he needed them on command there because Braxs now had the ship to save every person from Lexten's control and power and he was keeping his promise to end Lexten. When Dex woke up his head was disconnected from his body he was stuck and confused he laughed it off and said “Well I could be dead right now ha…he….” He is not good when it comes to this and quickly panics and makes his head fall to the gourd and his head rolled close enough to his body for him to connect to it and pick his head up and reconnect himself. When he calmed himself he looked around and realized he was not in a cell with his friends he was in a lab but he felt like he was there before as Dex looked around he saw something that triggered a memory he saw a bloody table he felt his head hurt and as he tried fighting the memories he let one slip and see his reflection it was him he knew it was he was not a robot he was once a human his name was not even Dex. He let all the memory flood his head and realized Braxs wasn’t at fault he was. Dex in his memory puts a control device in braxs head for lexten and Dex gets a surge of regret. Then he heard clapping “Ah I see that brain of yours was not too far gone you remember everything good” Dex tried attacking but 5 pressed a button his wrist freezing Dex’s body. 5 walked around him and spoke” You think I wouldn’t be dumb enough to bug that body of yours you are my mercy Mr.Trever or my mentor” Dex looked at him now with his memories back “ 5 What the hell is this I took you in raised you as my son” 5 smiled” Oh you did do that but failed to do lord Lexten bidding 9 years ago and he had you punished he wants to know how you ended up like this so I will be breaking you and rebuilding you it's going to be so much fun!” Dex thought for a mommet “ I will tell you how I ended up like this and first of all my name is not Trever it's Dex plus I am not scared of you i have seen the dead sun’s more sickening than you 5 You are not scary ha yout not even creepy.” Dex looks over to a closet” Behind the panel is where I kept my journal you will find it in there 5 walks over to it and rips off the panel “Where is it all I see is a tunnel?” Dex tried hiding his chuckles” It's deep in there you will find it” 5 stepped inside and Dex yelled “ Computer shut test cell 45” Room 5 was in lights up brightly blinding him as the entrance closed off Dex could now move now that signal and walk to 5 “ Your grounded haha” Dex leaves 5 and goes and find his friends to reveal the truth. While all that happened Maylie woke up in her old room the door was guarded and she needed to find a way out she went to her old chemical lab and was stunned all her chemicals had been cleared out she had no hope of getting out she went to her bed and lost hope. David was the only one put in a cell he tried breaking out but ended up breaking his arm.” agh…. it's no use I am useless without a weapon if the boss was here what would he say” David was thinking for a while and remembered something Braxs said while he was training with him “ Remember David we may be good with our weapons but the greatest weapon is the mind when using it right you anything could be a weapon just use you head” David looked around and he took Braxs serious and used his head agest the lock David is so hard that it made a actual dent.” ow that hurt I probably should have cushioned the blow” Braxs made a quiet entrance and knocked out the guards. And went to the command center and unlocked all the cell doors he located everyone minus Maylie he could not find her location anywhere which worried him. Braxs bumped into Dex first and Dex tried apologizing but Braxs stopped him” Dex we will worry about this later this is a rescue mission and saving the world” Dex nodded They quickly made ease with guards after they picked up David who had fallen unconscious with that head bump from earlier and They quickly made their way to Kelly when they took down the guards and entered they saw Kelly's hopeless face fill with joy when she saw her friends “BRAXS!, DEX!, DAVID? What happened to him” Braxs looked over “ He probably took my advice seriously again” They all chuckled then the question Braxs knew was going to come up came “ Braxs how did you get here we left you on the dead sun” Braxs smiled” look out to the wall her name is Audrey “ He pointed to the ship he named like all good captains do.

She was used to disturbing dreams. For a while after the… incident, they’d been full of clowns. Clowns with sickly green eyes, in bad boaters and garish Hawaiian shirts. This one was different, disturbing in a less placeable way.
The room is pristine white and clean. It should be full of light, but something about it is dim and dingy. Large windows line the walls, but outside there is thick smog or mist; only a few slender fingers of light can make it through. There is a seat at one of the windows. A boy sits on the seat, dressed all in white. Somehow she knows to call this boy ‘brother.’
The brother stares out at nothing in particular, unless it is merely the world beyond the walls. She decides to take a few steps closer to him, then stops dead, blood running cold. The brother turns in his seat to look dead at her. He seems almost entirely like an ordinary boy until you see his eyes. They were full of something like hate. Actually hate seems too mild a word for what is in those eyes. Hate is human. These eyes are full of a murderous intent, guided almost it seems by a higher-lower power. It transcends anything human.
In her mind’s eye she sees fat specks of blood spatter on a pitch black surface like drops of rain.
Barbara Gordon jerked half-awake in her hospital bed. Whoa. Damn sedative. She was embarrassingly aware of a puddle of drool next to her mouth and was grateful to see Dick was not around. So where was everyone? Pitch black out. What time was it? Eight? Nine?
Easy, Barb. You nodded off. Dick decided to go do something besides watch you sleep. Nothing to panic about. She was aware of her legs again. Or still, rather. Before the ‘incident’ she would have guessed that paraplegics lost all feeling in their legs. Even after making a hundred new adjustments, relearning how to pull on her pants, coming to terms with how screwed she’d be as a wheelchair-user with a second-floor apartment, even after all that, she still felt phantom pains going up and down her legs some nights.
Well. If everything went alright tonight, that might change. A doctor flown in from South Africa, a quick surgical technique that was younger than she was, and Barbara Gordon could walk again.
Damn, she was tired. Her eyes were stinging from the effort of keeping the lids open. She let them close. Not to sleep. Just a little rest… what was she dreaming about before she woke, anyway? Something about a brother wanting to kill his sister. The details were already slipping out of her mind.
She sighed comfortably. Not sleeping. Just a little rest.
***
Dick Grayson sipped from a cup of truly awful coffee (he had been warned) and grinned. Inconvenient delays aside, he’d managed to kill an enjoyable couple hours in the commissary with a pair of nurses named Pieter and Asa while Kadaver’s Mystery Theater played Thing From Another World. Dick was fairly certain, despite his best efforts, he was hitting it off with at least one of them.
“So you really grew up in a circus?”
“Yep.”
“Sorry, you just don’t seem the type.”
“To bite heads off chickens or balance a ball on my nose?”
“I mean. For example.”
“I was an acrobat. In an act with my parents and my Aunt Harry. We were the Flying Graysons.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. It was pretty normal, really. I had a teacher who traveled with us, I had chores, friends. And when we were on the road we had coffee even worse than this. Tastes like nostalgia.”
Easygoing chatter was interrupted by a noise from a nearby table, the only other one occupied. An orderly was seated there, one whose demeanor rather aptly conveyed ‘sleazeball’ without requiring too much consultation with his appearance. He was, to put it mildly, engaging a coworker standing slightly behind him, with a good deal more physicality than was strictly indicated professional ethics. The object of his affections, evidently accustomed to it, stalked off acidly while the seated orderly smirked.
Turning to his two new acquaintances, Dick raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“That’s Morty Drake,” Pieter murmured, distaste evident. “Not really the most popular guy.”
“Wouldn’t be here if we’d had even one more person apply for the job,” Asa added.
Morty Drake, still unabashed, was now singing softly to himself. “Ohhh, my love, my darling, I hunger for your pie. Oh, IIII’ll be theeere-” Abruptly, Dick made up his mind.
“Hey,” he called across the room. He was aware of Pieter and Asa looking alarmed but pressed on. “That was a bit much, don’t you think? Might want to think about apologizing.”
Drake shot him a murderous glance. “Might wanna mind your own business, dicklick.” To punctuate the suggestion, he pulled a switchblade that certainly wasn’t part of the standard uniform.
Wonder if he came up with that before or after hearing my name. Dick idly noticed a rather skillfully-done tattoo of a skeletal Musketeer on the man’s neck. He found it somehow uplifting to look for redeeming features in unpleasant people. He realized with a start that he still had ‘Maid of Honor’ tucked away in a pocket.
Dick heaved a deep, theatrical sigh. “Oh, I’d really rather not do this. But since you’re testing me. You want to take this outside?”
Drake sneered. “You’re on.”
As Pieter and Asa watched in horror, both men stood, and both sauntered languidly and insolently towards the exit door to the back alley. Dick popped the door open, then was shoved aside haughtily by Drake, who walked out first.
Dick gently shut the door behind him, let the lock click, and walked back to the table, where Pieter and Asa were staring, stupefied. He tossed Drake’s artfully-swiped security pass onto the table.
“Told him I didn’t want to do it.”
***
It took Mortimer Drake a few seconds to realize he’d been locked out, after which he immediately began seething with rage. His keycard wasn’t in its usual pocket, either, leaving him stuck with a few king-size dumpsters. A few moments’ pounding on the door met with no response, though it made him feel marginally better. That goddam skinny pretty boy fruit. Gonna kick his ass.
Mortimer Drake gritted his teeth and stomped in a random direction, trying to orient himself. Nothing looked familiar in the dark. And damn, it was cold. He fantasized about pounding the fruit’s face inside-out in the vain hope that sufficient anger could make him feel warm.
He had walked along perhaps thirty minutes when he suddenly felt a strange feeling that he was being watched. Instinctively his hand went for the switchblade in his pocket, and he stopped to look behind him. Nothing there. But the hairs on the back of his neck were still pricking. He shrugged and moved on, muttering.
It occurred to Mortimer that he wouldn’t be able to get in through the usual entrance without getting a chewing-out for losing his ID. They’d blame him for something like that, never mind the punk in the cafeteria stole it from him. But… there was a window in the hydrotherapy room that was sometimes left unlocked. He might make a discreet entrance through there.
He picked up his pace a bit, cramming down the sensation that the thing watching him was now following him.
***
Harvey Bullock drove rather faster than was advisable through the Old Gotham. Even flooded with light, the city seemed dark tonight, and the darkness seemed to be staring at him, dark like a pair of empty eyeholes. Out in the darkness was the Shape.
Gordon had been right. Bullock had been something very close to a good cop, once. Maybe he’d taken money, when it was offered. In this town, who hadn’t? But he’d known where to draw the line. He’d never roughed up anyone who didn’t have it coming and he’d never turned a blind eye to anything that would keep him up at night.
The first night Michael Myers had run amok in Gotham City, Bullock had been on duty. In point of fact, he had run the bastard over in a car. And then Myers’ insane psychiatrist had given him an unneeded tracheotomy via pen-knife. Hits had kept coming through weeks of recovery. All of a sudden he didn’t have a job anymore, and neither did Montoya. Took a shot, turned out to be the wrong target, and out on her ass. Accusations like that stuck with a cop all their lives, even ones who kept their jobs. Shoot the wrong person, and ‘extenuating circumstances’ were just two words in a dictionary.
Bullock had been lucky enough to land on his feet. But somehow he’d never left that night behind. The nightmares had started not long after he left the hospital. Even though it hadn’t been Myers that slashed his throat, in the dreams it was always that pale mask-face. Some kind of darkness had gotten into him that night, through the wound in his neck, and it had spent the last few years festering.
“I got you now, you bastard,” Bullock muttered to himself. “Evil dies tonight.”
Tonight. By his hand. No need for Gordon, no need for the Bat. This was between him and Myers. Harvey Bullock drove faster than was strictly necessary, into the darkness.
***
The hospital really was quiet for a Halloween night. Even in small towns, you could normally expect a few minor disasters on a Halloween. Evidently the lengthening string of local disasters was persuading Gothamites in the East End to stay indoors after dark. That should have been a relief to Dr. Kinsolving; with staff begging off early to go to parties, they were short-staffed by now. Instead the emptiness felt oddly disquieting. Her footsteps seemed to fill entire hallways.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she rounded a hallway and came face to face with Dick Grayson.
“Sorry!” the young man said, almost a whisper.
Kinsolving realized with a little embarrassment that she’d yelped, and grasped for her composure. “No. I- it’s Grayson, isn’t it? You were with Barbara Gordon. Are you still here?”
Grayson looked apologetic. “Sorry,” he said, voice still low. Kinsolving guessed that the Gordon girl must have been asleep. “We were waiting on some test results and never got them. I kind of lost track of time, I was-” and there he abruptly cut himself off, blushing slightly. “Actually I’ve been trying to get ahold of someone.”
He said it perfectly patiently, but to the doctor it sounded like the kind of patience that was just impatience trying to be polite. With another touch of embarrassment she realized how long they’d been kept waiting. On a slow night, too. Old Thompkins would have been furious.
“I’m terribly sorry, I don’t know what could be taking so long. Normally I would get some kind of notice from a technician-”
“Would his name be Morty Drake, by any chance?”
“Well… yes. How did you-”
“Never mind.”
“In any case, I’ll go along to the lab and see if the results are ready.”
“I’ll come with you,” Grayson said, innocently enough but clearly brooking no argument. Something about him seemed slightly on edge.
Kinsolving didn’t feel much like arguing, in any case. She was on edge herself. A little company would not be amiss. She walked briskly and Grayson kept pace with almost insolent ease. He had an undeniable charisma about him; Kinsolving was fairly certain he’d spent the last hour or so flirting with nursing staff.
Come to think of it. Where could Drake have gotten to? The doctor pursed her lips. Some day she was going to have to file a report on that one.
“Here we are,” she said at last. “If you could just hold on out here for a moment.” Grayson nodded obligingly.
Kinsolving poked her head into the lab, entering quietly, not quite tiptoeing. It was surprisingly dark. Too dark for anyone to be working. But she could make out someone sitting in the shadows. Judging from the hairstyle:
“Drake,” she said, relieved but annoyed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
It did not occur to her, in that moment, that Drake was unusually quiet for almost anyone and especially for Drake. It was only as she got closer to him that she began to realize something was wrong. Shondra Kinsolving had been a doctor in Gotham City a long time. She, it must be said, had seen some terrible things- things done by patients, to patients, to doctors, on occasion even by doctors (she still had nightmares about what had happened with Giggling Rendell in Surgery). Nothing had quite prepared her for what had happened to Drake.
It was the smell that reached her first, but she didn’t fully process it until she felt Drake’s shoulder. It squelched. He was soaking wet. And his skin, she could see by the little remaining light, was angry, blistering red, outermost layers peeled and torn away from musculature. Drake had been boiled alive, or drowned; either way his head had been held under scalding hot water- the hydrotherapy tanks, she realized- until he died.
Kinsolving’s hand started to go over her mouth, either to stifle a scream or hold back vomit. She wasn’t sure which. But before her hand could reach her mouth, another one was there. A wet, warm hand with strength like an iron bar. She tried to scream, couldn’t. Thrashed desperately, to no avail. Out of the corner of her eye, through panic, she saw the face of the man behind her, covered in a leathery clown mask of human skin. And she saw, clamped in the other hand, a syringe inching towards her eye, thumb slowly depressing the plunger. It was close now. Closer.
And suddenly the iron grip relaxed, and she could kick free. As she did, she could hear a grunt of surprise and the flapping of pages as a book hit the Shape in the side of its head. Less than a second later the Shape’s legs came out from beneath it, and it plummeted to the floor. She felt something grip her hand, and heard Dick Grayson’s voice. “Come on. Hurry.”
By some miracle her legs began working.
They were nearly out of the room, away from Drake’s mangled body and the nightmare in the clown-skin mask. A short distance that felt like an infinity. She heard a gasp of pain from Grayson, turned around- the Shape, lunging across the floor like an animal, had pulled a scalpel from somewhere, gashed the young man’s leg. A balletic kick to the masked face sent it sprawling once more.
They made it. Out of the room. Safe. No. Not safe.
Sheer survivor instinct was numbing her senses. She could barely comprehend what Grayson was doing as he pulled something- a short metal rod?- from a pocket, and jammed it through the door’s handles.
“What was that thing?” Kinsolving said. Shrieked, really. Her voice was not under her own control.
“Mask’s different. But I’m pretty sure we just met Michael Myers. Serial killer with very messed-up ideas about Halloween pranks.” Grayson said, grimly. He was leaning slightly, sparing a leg; the scalpel must have caught him. Kinsolving half-noticed a second layer of clothing under his jeans as he groped in his pocket.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“I… When he stabbed me, I think he somehow got my knife.”
She barely paid attention to that. “Is that going to hold him?!”
Suddenly the door dented outwards. Once. Twice. Again and again. The brace in the handles bent from the strain.
“Smart money says no. Run.Not ideal conditions to be facing an unstoppable serial killer, he reflected, drawing the other one. Not that facing unstoppable serial killers is ideal itself.
Nothing for it. His thumb squeezed a button on a hidden button in the stick’s base, feeling it extend and hum. Not just a stick anymore. Now it was a stun baton. That ought to at least give Myers a headache. There wasn’t much use in getting into costume now. The opportune moment for a dramatic Nightwing entrance was officially past. So, time for another tried-and-true tactic. As the Master said, ‘if your opponent is of bad temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, so that he may grow arrogant.’
“Heeeeey, Mikey Mikey Mikey,” Dick called out, as he moved through the halls. “Didn’t hurt your face too bad, did I? The clown look suits you, by the way.”
He rounded another corner, carefully. Focus. Like Bruce taught you. What can you sense? At the moment, it was the lingering smell of Drake’s boiled flesh. Smelled like guilt. Sorry, Drake. All things considered, you didn’t deserve that. Along with the smell, there was sound-
Dick Grayson whirled out of the way just as a knife, pink-handled and engraved with MAID OF HONOR, stabbed through the air. A nanosecond from piercing his neck, the wicked curved blade gouged straight through the wall next to him. Dick felt his neck muscles tense as he imagined what that blade would have done to him.
He got his first good look at Michael Myers.
The Boogeyman did not look like a knife-wielding lunatic in a pair of coveralls. He looked like a shadow that had come to life, undying hatred in its black, black eyes. The preserved clown-skin mask, wrapped around his head on leather straps, gave his face a nightmare grin, and those black eyes peeked out now through the holes, alive with naked hate. Looking at him.
“Hi, Mike,” Dick breathed.
The Shape, of course, said nothing. But suddenly the knife was moving again, whistling through the air. Dick leapt. As the knife swung wildly he vaulted the monster’s shoulder, running across the wall and landing behind. Pain! lancing through his wounded leg as he hit ground. Ignore.
The stun baton struck Myers once, twice, before Dick flipped backwards out of reach. Just in time; another wild swipe came less than inches from slicing open his belly.
The Shape staggered slightly, only slightly. A hit from the baton should have left even a strong man curled up on the ground in agony. The Shape seemed barely annoyed. Oh, that’s a bad sign. Dick saw the muscles tense. The Shape did his trick well, but it was his only trick- lunge and slash. The day a Flying Grayson couldn’t dodge a knife was the day to hang up the tights.
Again. Alley-oop. Toro! Ole!
This time, ducking down and around, under the knife blow. Another few strong blows with the baton, and something like a grunt of pain this time. Oh, dear. Am I wearing you down?
Again. Again. Avoid the knife, hit him where he was weak. Zap. AGAIN!
The baton had struck Myers no fewer than a dozen times when he/it finally collapsed to one knee, heavy breathing agonized behind the clownface mask. The head dipped, and finally the Shape collapsed to the ground hard enough to shake the hallway. He was beaten.
Dick Grayson sighed. Huh. Okay. Not so tough after all, then. Though for a moment there…
The clown-mask still looked disturbing plastered across Myers’ expressionless face. Dick realized with a start that his hand was reaching out to remove it, almost entirely unbidden by his conscious mind. Time for that later. Get his knife and get some cuffs on him. He undid a spare pair from his belt and reached out, slowly.
Slowly…
He wasn’t sure what alerted him first. Something must have. When Myers stopped playing possum, when he sat upright with mechanical stiffness, he did so fast enough to finally get a good slash in. If Dick hadn’t suddenly sensed it coming it could have been his throat instead of his hand.
He heard himself swear. Felt himself stumble on his wounded leg.
And suddenly the Shape was on its feet and was grabbing him by his jacket, charging forward to pound him into a wall. Dick kept one hand on each of the Shape’s, the one near his throat and the one bringing the knife down at him. The strength was amazing, muscles like steel. Myers slammed him again, twice, vengefully.
Gotta flip him around. Or trip him. Get a foot around his leg-
Somehow Myers sensed his intention. They wriggled, struggled. And before Dick knew what was happening he heard broken glass and felt something sharp brushing his face. He plummeted backwards out the window into the cold night. Falling. Like Mom. Like Dad. Need my grapple.
Only a floor or two up. A short fall. Thought never got the chance to become action. The sickening smack into the ground. The thud against the back of his head, and his vision giving way to blackness.
From the broken window, Myers looked at the ground below, and at Dick Grayson’s quiet, still body sprawled out upon it. He tilted his face, either quizzically or admiringly. This one had surprised him. Come close to defeating him. No worries now. On to the main course. He turned on his heel and stalked for Barbara Gordon’s room.
***
The room was as quiet as a grave. There was not even the sound of footsteps on tile hallway outside, nor was there any creaking as the door opened. It still breezed open, silently, and a horribly patient shadow filled the doorframe. It moved across the floor, still silent, savoring. The low light of the room was simply swallowed up by the shadow, but a small gleam of it glinted off the knife’s blade.
The shadow reached the bedside. The blade rose over the shadow’s head with a terrible slowness, and it struck, plunging deep into the bedclothes. The shadow kept stabbing, almost frantically. And suddenly it stopped. The shadow ripped the bedclothes free and found, not Barbara Gordon’s mutilated body, but a neat line of pillows tucked into the bed. If the Shape felt anything like human emotions, it was probably feeling rage, now...
And down the dark hallway, struggling to crank the handrims both quickly and quietly and keep her breathing steady at the same time, Barbara Gordon was making for the elevator.
Come on come on come on come on.
Maybe the bad dreams had awakened her to the sounds of fighting. Or maybe the fighting itself had awakened her. Either way, the second she was awake, Barbara had been aware that something was wrong. Every instinct in her being screamed at her to run. After a quick push of the nurse call button had failed to raise anyone, she felt inclined to listen to instinct.
Come on come on come on come on. Why the FUCK didn’t I grab my phone? It was still in the pocket of her jeans, back in the room. It had seemed like too much wasted time to retrieve it as she fled. Now she was cursing herself. Phones on the wall. Stop to make a quick call?
Barbara turned her head over her shoulder. Someone was behind her. Something. Some Shape. Different from what she remembered, but horrifyingly unmistakeable.
Nope. No stopping. Barbara’s arms, raked with muscle, began working the handrims even faster. And Michael Myers, with his terrible patient determination, followed.
The elevator was at the end of the hall. Myers was moving slowly, toying with her like a cat with a mouse. Somehow the space of that single hallway seemed to stretch on for an eternity. She dared another glance over her shoulder.
In the half-light she saw Myers was no longer wearing the mask she remembered from those years ago. The pale emotionless face with the ratty hair and black hole eyes was now a tattered, lined clown face, ugly red lips drawn taut in a hideous grin. She had seen a face like that before, leering at her before a hammer pulled back and a trigger was pulled-
Her breath was in her throat again. Just go. Fast as you can. Just go. Just go. Come on come on come ON.
It seemed miraculous that she reached the elevator, almost unreal. Primed for flight, Barbara’s mind barely processed the corpse of the nurse stuffed in, limbs twisted and back bent backwards. The name tag read “Asa.” Don’t think about it. For now, survive.
She leaned overthe arm of the chair, hand slamming against a button almost at random. Ground floor. Most space to run. She hit it again. Again. Again again again. The clown-faced Shape was still striding towards her. The empty eyes, the malicious grin. Close close close come on come on COME ON. He was nearly on her.
The doors slid shut with barely a second to spare, and Barbara heard a hand slam against it furiously. About an eternity later, Barbara felt the elevator descend, and her heart begin to beat normally. The immediate fight-or-flight fear ebbed away, replaced with a sick, horrified feeling for the dead nurse she was sharing an elevator with. Dick, she thought, suddenly. Have to find him. He could be- no. He’s still alive. Find him. No. Prioritize. First get help. This fight isn’t on your terms. So first get help. Easy-peasy. Nearly there, in fact. You’re on the home stretch.
***
Michael Myers, normally silent, grunted with effort behind his new mask. His fingers jammed between the sliding doors of the elevator like crowbars. His muscles strained. The interlock groaned from the effort, then deformed, and, finally, with strength that was beyond freakish, Michael Myers pulled the doors apart. There was a heavy, sick breathing as the black eyes watched the cables of the elevator. Then, with swift and terrible movement, Michael Myers raised his knife and sliced through the cables.

Previous First Next
(Story is available on Royal Road as well.)
I hadn’t seen my brother in over a year, not until his unarmored back crashed violently through the garden door, his airborne body flying out from the manor proper.
Bastion’s grunt was loud and frustrated as he hit the ground and worked himself up to his own two legs. His hand was still on his sword; the fact that he’d managed to keep a hold on it, without dropping the weapon or nicking himself with it, despite taking a tumble like he had was something I found impressive.
Bastion glanced to my father. A small, apologetic smirk was on his face. “Father,” he acknowledged the suddenly solemnly exasperated looking patriarch of the family, before glancing to the shattered wood of the entryway his body had cracked asunder, “sorry about the door.”
“I can fix it,” our father said simply. “It’s good to see you, son.”
“Ah yeah, you too, dad,” Bastion said as he brought himself to his full height and rolled his shoulders, “I’ll try to keep the damage from here on out to a minimum, but you know mother—”
Just as Bastion was starting to explain the situation, a wild animal with a flowing mane of crimson burst through the destroyed doorway that my brother had just sailed through.
She was swiftness and elegantly efficient brutality personified. I only ever saw--or rather, barely saw--her move like this against my brother. Against no one else I knew did she unleash her power in this way, certainly not with me. Bastion was so amazing that she apparently didn’t feel the need to keep the training gloves on with him.
I could barely track the red-headed monster’s movements; her sheer speed burnt the air with the scent of a passion-charged aura.
This was my mother’s movement skill then.
Bastion exhaled deeply and, as mother approached in all her excited fury, he winked at me.
“Earthbound parry,” he announced the name of his skill out loud, likely for my benefit.
Swords clanged--real weapons, made of metal and death, not of wood and study. My mother was only momentarily visible as her weapon slipped off of Bastion’s at the moment of their impact. Our mother was clearly the fleeter of foot out of the two, but my brother's large, athletic shoulders seemed to draw strength from his firm footing and he twisted her airborne body away from any direction of cut that could strike him true.
If my mother was a violent beast, barely visible to the naked eye, then Bastion was an unmoving boulder. I saw the first contact of their swords, barely grasped the next by keeping my eyes anchored to Bastion’s less fast-moving sword, and could only hear the third strike as glimpsing it was beyond me.
“Fortress!” Bastion shouted at the second strike; his almost immoveable looking footing gave way and he slid back against a thunderous crash as mother put her entire weight into a sideward swing of her weapon.
As soon as he’d announced his skill, however, I watched as Bastion's feet sunk into the stone pathway of the garden, as if he’d grown much heavier. His sliding backwards slowed to nothing, his boots leaving deep gouges in the garden path.
“Hrmph!” my brother exhaled in a very obvious effort, following the third clanging of swords, as he connected his boot against the blur that was his opponent as she sought to press the advantage of her previous strike.
My mother tumbled and somersaulted backwards to fall into a ready, animalistic crouch; her recovery appeared entirely supernaturally graceful—and even much more agile than Bastion’s earlier one had been when he’d similarly been sent airborne.
There was a massive, menacing smile on the woman’s face as she settled onto the ground comfortably.
Pure focus and determination filled her gazed as she stared up at her firstborn. She grasped both hands onto her longsword and leveled it towards the ground, off to her left side.
My mother’s blade began to shimmer, to twist and ripple the space around it as if it was burning something in reality itself, but I felt no tangible increase in heat. There was a pressure, however, and I suddenly felt my chest tighten as that thickening of the air reached my lungs and skin from where mother stood and encased me like a very hot-feeling, contrastingly cold sweat.
My mother took one step forward and every part of her body flexed. Her muscled, curved quads appeared as if they’d burst at any moment, and my heart began to beat violently as if sensing an oncoming disaster.
“Dad,” I gasped.
I felt my father’s hand fall on my shoulders.
“Mom wait… Oh shit,” Bastion muttered as he took in the sight before him and, as if making a quick decision out of necessity, brought his sword over his left shoulder.
“She’s got that look in her eyes, eh?” my father muttered, a small smile, that I simply couldn’t currently turn my head to see on his face, was still noticeable in his tone.
My brother’s eyes steeled, and I felt a sense of resignation billow from him. A faint green sheen began to flitter off of his physique; in contrast to mother’s billowing red-flaked aura, his aura was barely visible but building nonetheless as if it was bristling deeply within his stoically standing form and waiting to be released, only slightly leaking out as he concentrated it.
The sound of an explosion shook and rocketed through the air as my mother’s step turned her into what I could only describe as a force of nature. To my eyes, she simply disappeared. Perhaps Bastion could track her where I couldn't; I sincerely hoped he could. Mother wouldn’t attack him with something she didn’t think her son could handle, right?
I felt my father’s firm, comforting hand bristle on my shoulder and watched him raise his other fingers into the air.
A few hurried words that sounded elegant and esoteric, but strangely comforting—like a mix between a silent forest breeze and, somehow, the sound of a mountaintop snowstorm—left my dad’s lips. An earring, affixed on his left ear, wrapped in what appeared to be tiny roots with an aquamarine stone in their middle, began to glow lightly in the sunlight against his skin.
“Air funnel!” he shouted after completing the magical incantation.
The sky was clear. Only a few, fluffy balls of white filled the stretching blue, and, yet, I suddenly felt as if I were standing on the edge of a buffeting rainstorm--sans the rain.
The loud, stone-cracking reverberation of my mother’s crashing step was soon drowned out by the deafening summoning of an abrupt cyclone of spinning, blunt-feeling winds bursting down from the clouds themselves.
There was a feminine grunt of surprise and annoyance from the epicenter of my father’s spell, as the blast of air slammed into the pathway between where my mother had been initially and where Bastion now stood.
Then it was over. The winds dissipated as soon as they’d come; my father flicked his wrist to the side casually, and his spell faded obediently off to rustle through the many surrounding trees—as if the massive, summoned gale force winds had only been a gentle breeze all along.
“I guess I got carried away,” my mother said as she slowly rose to her knees and then feet, right where my father’s spell had landed.
She didn’t seem mad at all, despite being hit by something that had seemed to me to have all the force of a hurricane.
Her red hair was a frazzled mess, but her clothes and body appeared relatively unscathed. She glanced to my father. “Sorry, honey. I wasn’t thinking. I could’ve really messed up your garden and the house.” Her eyes glanced to the huge crater she'd left from where her final attack had started. "I guess I sort of did, huh?" Then she smiled at my father sweetly, "but it could be worse."
“Phew,” Bastion exhaled and dropped his sword arm down to his side and looked to me. “That was close, huh, kid?”
If I were being honest, I really had no idea about at least half of what happened, but I was sure of two things: Bastion and my mother were still amazing, and that everything that had just taken place was really awesome and terrifying. Could I ever be that strong? Surely not?
“Uh, yeah?” I replied to my brother.
Bastion sheathed his sword and shook his head. “Well, mom, that was fun.”
“Mhm,” mother said as she sheathed her own, longer weapon. “You’ve gotten a little more relaxed with your skills. Getting used to the new style?”
“Something like that; mostly just growing into the new tier. You know how it is, always an adjustment when you break through,” Bastion replied with a smile on his face. “I think I could’ve caught you there.”
My mom returned the smile, but there was a hungry bite to her next words. “There’s an empty field a mile or two from here, if you really think that."
My father patted me on the shoulder and walked to his wife.
“Maybe after everyone gets settled in,” he said and put a hand to my mother’s cheek and swept some of her free-flowing hair out of her face.
Mother turned her gaze, a bit of lingering fierceness still mixing with her usual bubbly cheer. “Don’t like when I look wild anymore?”
Father’s expression shifted as if to say it wasn’t the time for her tone. “Help me pick up the door?”
Mother’s eyes only grew more fierce as she reached past my father’s own hand and touched his own face, to line up a slow kiss on his left cheek. “Right away, dear.”
I could’ve sworn I saw a bit of reddening set in on dad’s skin in that moment, but his visage remained otherwise composed--for the most part.
My mother brushed past father and, making the largest of the heavy, oaken door fragments look like it weighed little more than a small knick-knack, hefted up what she’d damaged and brought it over to the frame it’d been busted off of.
“Thank you,” dad said as he walked to where mother now stood.
My father trailed a hand along the door; his eyes examined the damage and seemed to be refamiliarizing themselves with the make of the craftsmanship.
A few simple words in druidic left my father’s mouth and a pulse of sap-scented mana left his fingerpads and flowed into the door. Soon, there was a groan of creaking wood, as new growths burst from the otherwise dead wood along the edge of the door’s damage. The sprouts grew, lengthening and twisting together until they’d filled the missing pieces of the door back out, but the newly repaired segments were admittedly bare and lacking the designs of the rest of the door—instead being plain wood.
“It’ll work for now,” father told mother, as the woman set the door back on its damaged hinges and then used her fingers to push the fallen nails back in to restore the restored object to its proper position.
“Practically good as new,” Bastion said from behind the two. "Mostly."
“I liked the door’s design,” mother mused a bit sadly.
“You broke it; don’t complain,” Father scolded her.
“But my wonderful husband will fix it for me, won’t he?” mother said and grabbed dad’s arm, pushing herself up against him.
“I’ll bring my carving tools out here later and make it match,” father promised.
Mother nuzzled her thick hair against her husband’s arm.
“They never change do they?” Bastion looked to me.
“I guess not,” I replied.
Father and mother had been the same ever since I could remember. Dad might not show it, and might be a lot less affectionate towards his wife than she was to him, but he always looked slightly embarrassed and moved by her flirting tone—yet he rarely outright scolded her about it or asked her to stop unless there was something pressing to do like fixing the door. I was pretty sure he loved it. In fact, I’d never heard him scold my mom about nearly anything other than her destructive tendencies and lack of foresight—he never, ever attacked her personality directly.
Bastion smiled at me and spread his arms. “Well?”
I smiled back and, as I sat down the basket my father had handed me, jumped into my brother’s arms. He hoisted me onto his broad shoulders and suddenly, it was like he’d never been gone at all.
“I can’t believe you’re almost twelve already,” he said. “I remember you being born like it was yesterday. You’re getting big, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold you on my shoulders like this.”
My brother had said the last part with a good-hearted laugh, but it had made me feel a little sad all the same. I liked sitting on his shoulders and I knew he was plenty strong enough to manage it no matter how much I weighed.
A lot of things seemed to be changing lately. I'd been doubting myself a lot more and... now my brother was saying other things would be changing as I got older too.
"I like doing this,” I said.
“Huh? Well, you still have a small bit before you’re too old,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll bother you anymore by then.” Bastion then turned his attention towards our parents and began walking towards them. “So, guys, what are we eating for lunch?”
My dad looked to the two of us with a small, proud smile. “Dinner is your and your mother’s favorite. Lunch will be lighter. We have some pheasant breast leftover that I’ve got Lila garnishing with some odds and ends from the garden. ”
“I caught a pair of gruff boars this morning and picked a few black quail from their branches,” mother replied.
“It was a long ride, I’m looking forward to you guys’ cooking again,” he said to our father. “And I bet you have something extra special planned for tomorrow?”
“That’s a surprise for then,” father answered.
“Sure, but you can tell me once me and Pery get done catching up, yeah?” Bastion asked.
“I’m not so sure you wouldn’t ruin the surprise,” father retorted, causing my mother to snicker. “It’s the same reason I wouldn’t have told your mother if she wasn’t the one who hunted for us.” That one caused mom to almost growl.
“Bah,” Bastion said, seeming to match my mother’s wavelength in response. “We’re not that bad.”
“Yes, yes you are,” my father replied calmly. “Though there are a few things I want to talk to you about later.”
“Everything alright?” Bastion asked.
“Everythings fine,” my dad assured him. “Just want to clear up what we wrote each other about.”
“Ah, that. Yeah, sure, whenever we get the chance,” Bastion replied.
“Pery can show you to your room for now,” Father offered.
“Fine by me,” Bastion said and looked up to me. “Same one as ever, yeah, kid?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “They always keep it ready for you.”
“I know,” my brother smiled and looked to my parents appreciatively. “Well, let’s go then. My bags are out front with Windtide. If she didn’t get startled off when mom all but ambushed me earlier.”
Windtide was my brother’s horse. A gift from his lord and now father-in-law. She was a beautiful battle-mare, from a mana-blooded line. She was larger than a mundane-stock steed and stronger than any normal stallion. I was somewhat excited to the see the magnificent horse again.
“You should’ve been prepared,” mother taunted him.
“You didn’t hit me with your first strike, did you?” Bastion asked as he brushed past the woman into the house. “I’ll come catch up with you guys more once we get my bags up there.”
“That reminds me,” I heard my father say to my mother as we began to walk away. “You did go through the house to get out here. What else did you two break before you got to my door?”
“Well… maybe your table,” I heard my mom admit.
“I bet Windtide didn’t run away,” I said to my brother as we walked through the house, my eyes noticing a few knocked over pots and a table that’d been cleaved cleanly in two. “Dad is gonna be mad about that one.”
“If it had just been me who’d done it? Sure, but mom cut that one up, her style is a lot more violent than my new one,” Bastion said.
“Dad said you had a surprise for me?” I asked.
“Well yeah, I was going to give you the sword mother gave me when I was eight—” Bastion remarked absentmindedly, but cut himself off hallway through his word, “hey, you weren’t supposed to know that.”
“You told me,” I said. “I just asked.”
“Bah,” he made the same sound he’d made with dad a moment or two earlier. “Guess the old man was right. I can’t keep surprises to myself.”
“I don’t have a real sword, though,” I tried to make my brother feel a bit better about his slip but was smiling inwardly. I had known what I was doing after all. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Nice try, kid,” Bastion replied. “You don’t get to see it until tomorrow. That does remind me, though, you’re getting closer to the competent level with your sword, yeah? That’s impressive.”
“But you did it a lot earlier,” I said.
“I’ve never rubbed that in your face, have I?” Bastion asked. “A few years is nothing when you’re as young as you are. Most talented swordsmen don’t see the competent level until they’re adults, but I guess having mom around really helped us out, huh? That woman is a monster with the blade.”
“You looked scared when she was getting ready to hit you before dad stopped her,” I remarked.
Bastion scoffed good heartedly as we exited out the front of the manor door, which was thankfully intact. My brother sat me down in front of a gorgeous, silver-haired steed whose eyes were a deep purple. “I talk a big game to ruffle mom's feathers, but the only one defintily capable of stopping our mother in that moment was dad--and even he might have trouble if she were that close and not focused on me.” My brother walked past me and grabbed the bridle of Windtide and began to lead her over to the open-front stable that opened off to the side of the main courtyard of our family home. “Let’s get her settled before we take the bags off her.”
“So you would’ve lost if she went all out?” I asked.
“You never know if I’d get really lucky,” Bastion replied, “but probably. It’s hard to beat someone who spent the first half of your life teaching you every move you knew up until that point. I’ve picked up a few tricks since joining the Host of the Stone, but… she’s at least a tier higher than me in her style and—honestly—I’d say hers is the stronger of the two in direct combat.”
“But you’re a journeyman in both hers and yours!” I said as Bastion began to situate Windtide in her pen. “And why did you switch styles if yours is weaker?”
“You have a lot of faith in me, kid,” Bastion said, but I could see the slight, self-contented smile on his face as I praised him. “I’m actually an expert tier in my own now, though, and I’m pretty sure she’s nearing the master tier. If she hadn’t retired out here with dad… well, she’d probably already be there.”
“Okay,” I admitted, “but you didn’t answer my question, though.”
“Oh? Yeah, the thing about styles. That was just an off the cuff remark, but, let’s see… Styles are made when someone forges their own path with the blade. The System recognizes you and grants you a named style when you create something unique; you can teach that to other people a lot quicker than you taught yourself too," Bastion explained. "Maybe it’s wrong to say her style is strictly better than mine, but it’s definitely far more designed for single combat. That woman’s methods were made purely for putting down things stronger and faster than her before they can use their strength and speed. Mine is for protecting allies and those behind me. It’s for working in a team."
"So they both have their uses, right?" I inquired.
"It mostly suits the life I’ve chosen for myself better, and just me in general. I love testing my mettle against others, sure, but you’ve seen the look mom gets in her eyes when she fights, right? It’s ecstasy. If I’m just having fun when I spar, then she’s reveling prematurely in her own personal afterlife when she crosses swords with someone who can keep up with her.”
“It sounds like your style isn’t worse, though, just that mom is really strong,” I observed as Bastion began hefting his two bags onto his bristling shoulders, without so much as breaking a sweat.
“She’s strong and skilled,” Bastion remarked, “I mostly fight monsters too weak for me to get anything out of absorbing their cores nowadays, or other warriors. I can sharpen my proficiency score against the latter, but I don’t get any attribute boosts out of slaying either of them. Mother, though? She wasn’t the sort of swordswomen that you usually sent after bandits or that you deployed in a platoon," Bastion explained. "She’s told you her stories about her and dad, I’m sure. She was an adventurer with the guild and a highly ranked one. She only got her knighthood after she retired from adventuring and married dad; it opened that door since he’s from the low nobility, not that she probably couldn’t have managed hurdling that barrier on her own if she’d had any interest in an official position before she’d started a family. Anyway, she’s absorbed hundreds of monster cores. Far more than me. When she gets serious, I’m simply outclassed by her raw speed, agility, and power.”
“I’ve never absorbed any monster cores either?” I told Bastion as we entered the manor and began climbing the leftmost, winding staircase of the main foyer. “Am I going to be weak if I don’t start soon?”
“Not really,” Bastion said. “Your attribute scores only reflect how strong you are compared to someone of your race and age. Even if you absorbed some cores, you still wouldn’t get the full strength out of them until you’d grown into your build. Not that you wouldn’t be stronger than the average adult if you managed to reach the competent level in brawn, or something.” I walked up to the door to Bastion’s room and opened it for him since his hands were full, each one hefting one of his massive bags. “Besides it's good to have a good base in your proficiencies before you start relying on your brawn or dexterity, even having too high of an endurance could lead you to not cutting out unneeded movements; don’t want to get lazy and forget the value of technique,” my brother explained as he entered his room and placed his bags down on his bed. “Ah, hey, the rooms just like I remembered it.”
“It always is,” I commented. “I told you earlier.”
“It’s still nice to have somewhere to come back to and to appreciate it out loud when you do. I have two homes now, one here and one with Samantha, but you can never have too many places where people smile when they see you and you can smile back at them,” Bastion explained the reasoning for the contented, nostalgic grin that was back on his face.
The room was pretty sparce, despite his reaction to it. A bed. A trunk. An armoire filled with his old clothes, or at least the ones he hadn’t taken with him when he’d moved out.
My eyes, however, were drifting to the biggest of the two bags he’d sat down on the bed.
“Eh?” Bastion made the noise and turned to me with curiosity. “Looking for your sword? You’re not getting it early. The weapon a warrior gets when they’re twelve is a milestone; might be bad luck or something if you don’t wait.”
“It’s not that,” I said a bit annoyed. “Is you armor in there too?”
Bastion nodded. “Oh, I see. I’ve never actually put it on when I visit, have I? Hey, tell you what, I’ll show you how to put it on.”
“Really?” I asked.
I could feel the excitement growing in my chest. I’d seen mother don her armor before, when she’d gone out with dad to deal with the local monsters, but mother didn’t carry herself quite like a knight and she certainly didn’t wear a full coat of plates since she preferred to stay agile. Bastion was a real knight in shinning armor. I bet he'd look so cool if he were all suited up.
“Sure, kid,” Bastion said and stepped beside me to untie and flip over the flap of his oversized backpack. My brother withdrew a sword-sized bundle of wrapped cloth and laid it to the side, shooting me a momentary look that warned me against trying to sneak a peek at my present before it was time. He then started removing pieces of silvered metal plates. “Usually I stop at just the cuirass and pauldrons if I'm by myself, but I bet you want to see what the full set looks like. I’d need a squire to help me get the whole thing on in a timely manner. Think you can handle that role for today?”
“Yeah!” I replied without missing a beat.
Bastion laughed. “Alright. Mom and dad can wait for a minute. They’re probably fixing the furniture that mother broke anyway. Let’s start from the bottom up.”
I listened carefully as Bastion instructed me how to buckle the straps and interconnect the plates of his gear. We started with the sabatons, the armor that protected his feet, and then moved up his legs as we went. Occasionally, Bastion would correct me and tell me to position a piece in a different way than I’d interpreted from his instructions. Thanks to my born trait, I’d never exactly forget the words that left his mouth and could replay exactly what he’d said as I worked, but—as my father had been quick to point out to me once—knowledge did not equal skill or muscle memory. I’d never performed the duty of armoring a knight and so the process was slow and clunky.
By the time we’d finished, my mother was watching as I gazed up at my big brother with admiration in my eyes. He was the exact, spitting picture of a knight. He had my mother’s beautiful, strong features, with just the slightest touch of my father’s angularity, along with sporting dad’s blonde hair completely, albeit cut very short on the sides, rather than having my mixture of our two parent’s color.
The man’s armor was somewhat elegantly boxy, the chest a series of thick and tapered down interconnecting plates rather than a rounder cuirass. His leg armor kept the straight-edged design that folded to follow his musculature. His pauldrons were large enough to provide some protection to his neck and traps, but I knew he had a high enough brawn score to easily bear the weight. Engraved onto the largest chest-plate was an abstracted ring of stone, the symbol of his order.
Somehow, Bastion looked even more stalwart and professional in his war gear than he always did. If I didn’t know he had a tendency, inherited from my mother, to be a bit scatterbrained and ditsy then I’d never have guessed he wasn’t every bit the calculating and tactical warrior—then again, maybe he also was just that, considering how poised and carefully he’d deflected and directed my mother’s vicious assault earlier. If my family had taught me anything then it was that people could be more than one thing.
“What’s it made of?” I asked, dumbstruck by the sight.
“It’s mostly steel, but there’s a bit of elf-silver blended in to provide some magic resistantance—not a lot though, I could barely afford the little I got,” Bastion admitted.
“Is it that expensive?” I asked.
My mother took the opportunity to interject herself with a tsk, apparently having come up into the doorway behind us. “Not if you’re an adventurer. Local knights don’t make nearly as much as an adamantine rank.”
“Mother,” Bastion said with a bit of a diplomatic tone, “that’s only true for the best of them. Most of them do alright but make much less than even a novice knight’s retainer.”
Mother crossed her arms coly as she leaned against the door frame. “What’s the point in basing your expectations off being in the bottom rung?” She then turned her attention to me. “You want to be an adventurer don’t you, Pery? A strong one?"
“Well…” I trailed my voice. “I’m not even competent tier with my sword yet.”
Mother was hard to argue with. She clearly wanted me to follow her path, even if she was technically a knight now. Father was more balanced when it came to the topic of my future, he encouraged me to follow my heart; both of them, however, seemed to have fairly high expectations for me.
“You’ll get there in a year or two, probably less,” my mother said and seemed to completely miss my conflicted tone.
I did want to be an adventurer--and a mage. And I couldn’t just give up on my swordsmanship now that I’d tried so hard with it.
“Okay,” I said a bit torn in multiple directions.
Bastion shot me an empathetic gaze, before looking back to my mother. “He could learn a lot as a squire too.”
A squire? My heart shot back up. Could I be? That’d mean I’d be in training to be more like my brother, but how would I still practice magic?
“He’d also miss out on a lot of real-world experience and have a hard time building his foundations with cores,” my mother said.
“Not if he was with someone who looked out for him; besides, squires get sent to deal with the local, low-level threats,” Bastion replied. “There’s plenty of room for them to build their attributes up to at least the journeyman tier if they’re not lazy.”
My mother smiled, her previously combative face suddenly seeming approving. “I see.” She then turned her attention to the bundle of cloth on the bed. “Is that Mytharis? I haven’t seen that in ages.”
Mytharis? Was the sword Bastion was planning to give me his old, named blade? I remembered him using it when I was younger. How could I deserve something like that.
"Mytharis? You mean you're going to give me that?” I asked.
“Well, it helped me to push past the lower levels—” Bastion caught himself as he further spoiled the surprise. “Mother…”
Mom chuckled. “It won’t hurt anything if we give it to him just a little early.”
Bastion put a hand behind his head. “Well, I won’t say I hadn’t thought of it.”
“Absolutely not,” a male voice cut into the conversation. “He only has to wait a few hours before tomorrow. We’ve waited this long, let’s practice some restraint and discipline as the adults here.”
My father’s stern face appeared beside my mother.
“Yeah, dad, I guess,” Bastion changed his tune, though it was clear he somewhat sided with mom.
“Restraint,” my mother cooed the word back at my father. “Haven’t I taught you that you don’t always have to have that, honey?”
My father’s lower lip twitched. Like he was trying to hide a smirk again. “Celis.”
“You’ve always been such a worry-wart,” my mother continued, laying on a sweet tone. “What’s some old superstition really going to do?”
“Superstition and beliefs have power,” my father replied a bit less assertively than before, but still in a firm tone.
“I really don’t mind waiting,” I said to the assembled group of adults.
I also really didn’t want to ruin a good thing.
“Awe, Pery, you’re too sweet,” my mother said with a loving smile. “I was trying to be on your side.”
“Um, sorry, mom,” I said.
My mother chuckled at that. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Excuse me, Magister Borncrest and Lady Borncrest,” a formally intoned, but comfortable sounding woman's voice interrupted the light-hearted squabble between my parents. “Lunch is ready.”
My father glanced to our maid, Amelie, with a look of gratitude. I looked to her too. She was a woman of average height, with short blue-black hair, but she had a very sweet and pretty face that just made me feel happy and calm in general. She’d been my wetnurse and had always helped to take care of me; she was something like a second mother to me, if I were being honest. Behind her diminutive leg, there stood a little girl that looked very much like her. I smiled at her daughter--and my best friend, other than Bastion, of course--Rosaria.
The girl smiled back.
“Well, let’s get to it,” mother said and instantly turned to walk to the dining room.
“Food,” Bastion said with excitement and clapped his hands together.
My brother began to follow our mother, who was also quickly turning to hurry towards a potential meal.
“You’re still in your armor,” I said.
“I’m pretty used to it,” Bastion raised a hand to waive away the concern; he was already out of the room.
My father looked to me. “Let’s just go join them, then?”
And so we ate together, our family reunited now that Bastion was back. It was nice and reminded me of my earliest memories before my brother had left to venture out on his own.
Previous First Next
(Story is available on Royal Road as well.)

I’ll start with the job posting, I guess. I spotted it on Indeed while making my daily check for anything and everything that would hire someone with my biology degree, and it seemed on the up and up. Their website looked decent, the guy on the phone sounded nice, and I was looking for anything even slightly related to working with wildlife. Being a nightshift guard at a zoo was fine, especially when I took the incredibly generous rate of $25/hr. into account. That’s eleven bucks more than my dad makes at the local grocer, and he’s been working there for thirteen years. Then again, from the P.S. on the posting, I thought there might be good reason for the rate.
It said at the end, almost as an afterthought, ‘Zoo is haunted.’
When it comes to ghosts, they’ve never made much sense to me. Considering how badly our brains function from just getting jostled around on a football field, I’m not sure how ghosts could exist without a brain at all. I’d be excited as the next person to find proof, but YouTube videos are always fishy and the people on TV are essentially actors who only focus on the entertainment factor for their ratings. So, since I’d never seen anything that vaguely resembled a ghost, I’d say binge-watching Supernatural on Netflix last year was the extent of my experience in that department.
It seemed that the zoo hadn’t been here for long since it wasn’t even on Google Maps yet. There was a bit of a commute, it was half an hour away, but since I’d worked local jobs while I attended college online for the past four years, I’d saved up the money to buy a car. It wasn’t anything fancy, just an old Nissan sedan that I’d bought from someone in the next town over, with faded red paint and a mismatched back right door painted blue. It accomplished the job of transportation, though, which let me search the job market further away, a good thing considering how small a town I lived in. I really didn’t want to leave home yet, so moving for a job in a city or another state wasn’t an appealing option.
The website said very little. It had yet to fill in drop down menus that would excitedly describe their attractions. So far it only had some small sections about conservation and education, though that was intriguing because it mentioned that all the animals they had were endangered. I read that notation and wondered what the animals were. Mammals were always favorites of mine, which I know is a bit of a cliché, loving the furry ones. But when it comes down to it, I’ll take any animal over a person.
The employee entrance to the zoo was a door in the large steel gate that surrounded the property, a few yards down from the sliding gate that presumably opened to let visitors in. I pressed the button on a panel beside it, glancing up at the camera, and I was buzzed in. There was a short path that led to the building near the front and I knocked politely before going inside.
The interviewer, a plain metal nameplate on his desk describing him as Director of Security for the zoo, welcomed me in and sat on the other side of his desk, lounging back in his desk chair. His name was Andrew Higgs, and he had a British accent, which I thought was cool. I sat in one of the two loveseats in front of the desk.
Andrew was dressed business casual, with a blue Polo shirt, a thin black jacket, and I saw he was wearing slacks when he stood up to shake my hand. He was black, with dreadlocks that stopped just short of his shoulders, and a closely trimmed mustache. There was a tattoo, an artistic rendition of a hippo, on the right side of his neck, which bode well in my opinion. So many places hiring these days were overly uptight about their employees’ appearance, but it seemed that wouldn’t be the case here.
We went over the basics before he picked up the piece of paper off his desk, my resume, which he’d printed out. “Well, I spoke to all three of your references,” Andrew noted. “They had some good things to say. You were a great employee on the farm you worked last summer, your boss said. Punctual, hard-working, took instructions well…”
That was nice to hear. I’d spent this past summer working at a dairy farm, mostly assigned to the goats and cows they kept for milk. Aside from the staggering muscle pain that tapered from agony to merely miserable by the end of the summer, it wasn’t a bad job. I did have an old shoulder injury that I always had to work around, but it was my left shoulder and I was a righty, so it wasn’t that difficult to manage.
If anything, the muscle pain in my back and legs from being on my feet all day distracted from the typical issue I dealt with. My standard exercising day-to-day was typically either riding my bike or yoga, although yoga is mind-numbingly boring, so I need to listen to a podcast to pass the time. So, in fact, through the job, I was sort of grateful that my brain was focusing on a different area of my body that was in pain. Yeah, chronic pain is weird.
“He also said you don’t work well with others,” Andrew added, glancing up to me. “You kept submitting complaints about incompetent coworkers?”
I pursed my lips and let out a long breath through my nose, considering the most delicate way I was capable of replying to that before saying, “I dislike stupid people.”
Andrew gave me a half-smile and sighed, replying, “Well, I must confess I’m not fond of them either.” He looked back down to the paper. “This job will be a great fit for you.”
The job interview seemed like a formality, and I don’t know why. I was twenty-three and the ink had barely dried on my degree from the online college I’d attended. I’d been applying to jobs for months and had been thrilled when I’d gotten a call for an interview for this one, but also surprised. Call me a cynic, but I expected more invasive questions about any past work I’d done for a job in security, since I was a woman.
It's not like I was petite. Actually, the most common word I’d heard to describe me is ‘built’, and I fall short of being labeled overweight only because of muscle mass. One comment I recall from high school was being teased for being shaped like a rectangle. Even so, there was no good reason to look a gift horse in the mouth, but of course, me being me, that meant I examined its teeth closely.
“So, you’re hiring me? Just like that? Why?”
Andrew, chuckled. “Look, you’ve got BA in wildlife biology, and specializing in animal behavior is just the cherry on the sundae. That tells me you know animals are not people, and even if you feel like you know them, they can still be unpredictable. They can hurt you. But also, it makes me know you care.”
I suppose that did make sense, and it was true, so I’m glad he knew that. Most of my job on the night shift would be watching cameras and then walking around the place to make sure all the animals were as they should be, but it was more than that. Working at a zoo meant knowing where the line was, and sometimes it wasn’t exactly at the fence, but sometimes just putting a single finger through that fence meant losing that finger. As a whole, humans are generally idiots. Looking at you, anyone who really, honestly thinks that a bobcat would sense your boundless love enough to let you pat it.
“The website didn’t have much about the animals,” I said. “I know this place is new, so you might not have info on them up on the site yet. Do you have a map for me?”
“Oh, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Andrew said with a wave of his hand. At that point, it had seemed to be a reasonable thing for him to say, but I will tell you, the reason was not what I thought. “Just to confirm, you’re not an early bird, Miss Mason? This schedule isn’t a concern?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m pretty talented at sleeping in, actually. I never really got past that teenage talent of staying up until five and sleeping in until three. And you can just call me Ripley.”
That made him smile. “Good. Then I won’t worry about you falling asleep on the job, Ripley.”
“Oh, no way.”
“All right. So. You saw the note at the end of the job posting?”
He just stared at me and I was forced to answer, “That the zoo is haunted.”
“Right. What are your thoughts on that?”
There was no easy answer to that question, especially depending on how seriously he took it. “Do you know the best word the Brits gave to us?”
“What’s that?”
“Bollocks.”
Andrew slowly smiled and pointed at me with the end of the pen in his hand. “I think I’m going to like you,” he remarked. “Look…this is the part of the interview where we switch gears. If this was a regular zoo, you’d be a shoo-in for the job. But we’ve got other boxes to check. This outfit is…basically a preservation society. As you saw on the site, all the species are endangered, but what it didn’t say online is that the only people who came to visit are private parties.”
“So, that means…what?” I asked. “You bring in super-rich people who feel special when they get to see the animals you’re rehabilitating and taking care of? Then they donate oodles of money so they can brag to their rich friends about their charity contributions and having seen the animals here?”
Andrew raised his eyebrows. “Pretty much got it in one. It’s just more preservation and less rehabilitation. And a lot of our patrons really do care about the animals, or else they would just donate and not visit. You’ll see tourists a couple times a week, but we decided not to have anyone until we’re settled in here, and that means a person who’s on during the night shift that I can count on. And I don’t know if I can count on you yet.”
“Wait, I’ll see the tourists?” I asked. “They visit at night?”
“Everything we have is nocturnal,” he told me. That struck me as odd, but he continued before I could question it. “Listen up, and I’ll start with the basics. Have you ever seen anything weird? Possibly supernatural?”
“Nope,” I said with a shrug.
The fact is, I got along with my classmates, but I never did have any close friends. So, I thought maybe that’s why I missed out on all those reckless teen moments that started every horror movie. Maybe it left me without a bunch of exciting stories to tell. But hey, at least I didn’t break my leg falling through the floor of an abandoned building in eleventh grade.
Yes, that happened. It was a classmate of mine by the name of Brent. And yes, he’s just as much of a moron as you would imagine.
“If you see the ghost here,” he said, his tone emphatic, “will you freak out?”
I paused. “You’ve seen the ghost?”
“All the time,” Andrew told me. “It’s a young woman in a blue shirt and tan slacks, looks like she just walked out of a lake.”
“Do you have a picture?”
“No, and absolutely no photos or video are to be taken of her,” he said, his tone abruptly turning stern. “It’s cause for immediate dismissal. We have video cameras for security, but they all record off-site in a secure location, and Suzanne Cooper, the owner, manages it herself. Firstly, the ghost deserves privacy rather than exploitation, she’s not to be displayed like one of our animals, but secondly, people believe in ghosts. One leaked photo of her connecting it to us means we get overrun by ghost hunters, and if we trace it back to you, you’re done.”
Andrew seemed next-level serious about that, so I nodded. “Understood. That makes sense.”
The animals were the priority after all, I knew. I preferred them over people anyway, and that included dead people. Even if I could get a video of this ghost doing cartwheels back and forth through a wall, I would never post it and spread word of where I’d taken it. Andrew was right; the zoo would never get the paranormally-obsessed to stay away and would definitely have to relocate.
He continued, “If you’re curious, she’s never so much as tried to hurt anyone. But the zoo has moved before, and she moved with us.”
“She moved with you?” I asked, my eyebrows rising. “Is it like one of those stories where she’s attached to something in the zoo rather than a place?”
“More complicated than that,” he said. Then he grimaced. “She died because she was too ambitious with one of our animals. It never should have happened, but she… She was foolish, you’d say. Attempted to interact with one of the animals, got too close, and honestly, she should have known better. I thought she did.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “What killed her?”
He stared at his hands and shook his head. “It was before my time.”
It was clear Andrew was a true believer, but I still really wasn’t sure at that point. How was I supposed to react, though? Zoos have fences and tall barriers for a good reason. Not just to keep the animals away from us, but also the other way around, and ‘death by stupidity’ is not uncommon amongst humans. So, the story wasn’t outrageous, but still, I’d never so much as experienced something unexplainable. But if I saw a ghost, I suppose that’d be that.
“I just need to know, plain and simple, if you’re the kind of person who can handle things that are terrifying,” Andrew told me, splaying his hands. “Our last night shift bloke there was with us for years and years, but we spent months going through other employees. There were six we tried before we found him.”
“Six?” I exclaimed.
He snorted. “Yes, six. Let’s see…” Andrew counted off each one on his fingers. “The first two, the first night they saw the ghost, they lost it. One called me in a panic, babbling, and I had to get out of bed and drive to the zoo to send him home, and the second quit, although at least she made it to the next morning and didn’t drag me out here,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “They just thought I was blowing smoke up their bums with the whole thing.”
He shrugged. “Then, the third one was a bloke who was asleep when I got there in the morning, so I had to fire him. Then another ghost freak-out. The fifth bloke was someone who couldn’t deal with the animals, and then the sixth was so scared of the ghost that when I got here, he was already outside the zoo, pacing, waiting for my car. Apparently he’d said some stuff, rude or mean or whatnot, to try to get her to leave him alone and she had followed him back into the security room, so he fled. I need the opposite of those folks. Alright?”
At this point, I was starting to take it more seriously. Sure, this could just be Andrew’s thing, that he believed in ghosts and then made up these sightings to ensure I believed him. But if I saw her? What would I do?
Well, this would be my job, so I would have to take it seriously. Maybe that was why the pay was so good, to make employees think twice before ditching it. From Andrew’s perspective, if it really was haunted, he was the one who had to deal with applicant after applicant quitting as soon as they laid eyes on the guest who would never leave.
“So…honestly, I can’t say I won’t freak out, considering how next level this is,” I told him, feeling compelled to go with honesty, “but yeah. I think I can handle it, mostly because it’s important for someone to look after this place, look after the animals, so I’d do my best to work around anything that freaks me out. I mean, I have to say that I’ll believe it when I see it. But if ghosts really exist, as long as it isn’t some serial killer who stuck around to keep gutting people, I’ve always thought it’d be cool to find out we can exist after we die.”
The thing is, I think I did believe him. I thought there might really be a ghost there, because otherwise, why take it so seriously? It could’ve been that Andrew had only glimpsed her out of the corner of his eye a few times and could ascribe it to lack of sleep, but he was literally worried about word getting out. I thought that being halfway to believing him would give me the mental preparation I needed if I saw her. At least, I’d hoped so.
It turned out that most of my time would be spent at the security desk in the main building, near the entrance. Real-time footage played through thirty-five cameras around the zoo, all on a large screen that was five cameras across and seven cameras top to bottom. The cameras were impressive. I would mention the resolution, say something about them being 4K, but Andrew explained some stuff about how it’s actually the lens that is the biggest selling point. Looking at these cameras on the giant screen, I could see practically every corner of the place, and if I brought up one camera in particular to encompass 2/3 of the screen, I could zoom in so far that it felt like I could use it to check if one of the animals had fleas.
The zoo was well lit, not surprising considering nighttime was apparently the zoo’s business hours, and all of the tall lamps had red bulbs. For those of you who know why, A+ to you. For those who don’t, fun fact, it’s because red is closest to the dark and your eyes don’t need to strain to adjust to it. That meant I didn’t need my flashlight all that often, and even that was red, a solid name-brand one that had been on my desk when I arrived. I kept the white lights on back in the security room, though, because I didn’t want to make my brain think it was time to get tired.
When I headed out for my first sweep on that first night, I had the folded map in my pocket, but I already knew my way around. The layout of the zoo wasn’t that difficult to memorize, since there were only eleven expansive enclosures, and after the interview I walked around for half an hour to start training my memory. I’ll admit, working in a dark environment was creepier than I thought it would be.
I do want to mention the high quality of the zoo. The size of each enclosure was considerable, and the greenery was natural, hinting that they’d hired a pricey professional just to do landscaping toward the front of the enclosures after buying the land. The backs of the enclosures backed up into forestry, and from the estimate I got from Andrew, it seemed each of the animals had plenty of roaming space, including the small lake at the northwest corner and a manmade lake for one of the animals in particular. When I considered all of that, the thought passed through my head about how horrible it would be if word got out about the zoo having a ghost and needing to relocate, because it’d be devastatingly expensive.
My orders were to walk the zoo once every hour. This was my first security gig, so I’m not sure if that’s more or less than typical, but I had my comfy hiking boots on, the ones I’d saved up for and invested in a couple years earlier and were perfect for a job where I had to do laps around an area. This job was one that I didn’t have to worry about my shoulder pain worsening, since it was mostly about being on my feet. I take one or two Vicodin a day, depending on how bad my pain is. It came in handy in high school, actually. With a flexible ‘take as needed’ prescription, I occasionally sold pills for extra cash.
There wasn’t much to step in and there weren’t even any dips in the concrete sidewalks that I followed around in a route that easily led me back and forth until I made my way back to the office. The first three nights were actually boring. I would have thought Andrew had been pranking me about the ghost, but like I said, it hadn’t felt like that. And he hadn’t been specific about when she showed up for new people, or even for him.
To keep myself busy, I’d brought my e-reader with me, and I got into a cycle of looking over each of the cameras every time I hit the end of a chapter. I’m a pretty fast reader, so it was a good system. Also, every once in a while, I looked up if something moving caught my eye, like an owl flying close enough for the camera to catch it, but that’s about it.
Then, every hour on the hour, I did a walk through. The fourth night, I was passing by the small lake at the back left corner of the property when I saw her.
People say that you can tell if someone’s staring at you, that there’s some sixth sense humans have. It’s not true; they’ve done experiments. But the thing is, all those experiments were of someone human looking at them. After this last shift, I would guess that the sixth sense that sends goosebumps down your arms, the one that makes you feel an intangible pressure, that slides your body toward fight or flight mode, might be true of…other things.
Slowly coming to a stop at the disturbing feeling, I hesitantly looked around, through the trees. Then my heart skipped a beat and my breath hitched. It was startling because she wasn’t moving. Just standing among the trees, staring at me. I broke out in a cold sweat as I stared back at her, unsure what to do. I didn’t run. I didn’t try to talk to her. I just stood there. So, there’s my answer to Andrew: I didn’t freak out. I just froze.
The woman was Latina, her skin tone pallid from death, and was dressed as he’d described her, in slacks and a silky blue blouse. And she was soaked, as if she’d just walked out of the lake. Beyond that, her shirt was drenched in blood from what looked like claw marks across her abdomen. Her eyes were dark and penetrating, boring holes into me, as if she were able to get any and all knowledge that she wanted about me simply by glaring. The fabric of her shirtsleeves clung to her skin and was dripping, as was her long black hair. Speaking of her hair, it appeared to have seaweed woven into it, or maybe she also grew seaweed along with hair. Not my area of expertise.
The look on her face was indescribable. There was something deep in her eyes, behind her closed-off expression, that made my heart beat rapidly. Maybe I would’ve projected some emotion into her face if I’d had any idea of what she was capable of, whether she could move objects, or possess me, or if all she did was hang around. As things stood, I was left just projecting my fears, which gave me the impression that she was cross with me simply for being present. It felt like I was trespassing, even though I was a dozen feet back from the fence that encircled the enclosure. And also, this was my job so I was explicitly allowed to be here.
She was disturbingly close, and remained unnaturally still. If she had attacked me, I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done. Ran, probably, but considering ghosts probably don’t follow the laws of physics, maybe she could’ve chased me at Usain Bolt speed. For all I knew, she could teleport.
After an amount of time that felt awkwardly long, I finally spoke up.
“Hi,” I croaked.
The woman slowly tilted her head but didn’t otherwise move. I’d forgotten to ask Andrew for her name, I realized, but he had mentioned her death had been before his time, so maybe he didn’t know.
Swallowing hard, I tried to take a slow, deep breath, even though it felt like there was a cinder block on my chest. “So, I, uh…I work here now,” I said slowly. “I’m night shift security.” Pausing, I kept trying to gather information from her demeanor but failed. “Is that okay?”
At that, I saw a hint of curiosity flash across her face. “Why would it not be?” Her voice sounded completely normal, which was an off-putting contrast to her appearance.
Good question. Hell if I know the answer. “I don’t know. I mean…you were here first. I don’t know if you feel like I’m…intruding…or something.”
“You’re just doing your job,” she said, her tone softening a smidge.
I waited to see if she wanted to say anything else before saying, “Right.” Can I get you anything? A towel? Some bandages? “I’ll be going now.”
The woman made no movement to come after me as I gradually took one step, then another, keeping her in my sights as I walked off. I finally had to turn to face forward, unable or unwilling to be seen by her foolishly walking away backwards. Instead of continuing my sweep, I took the path that would lead me back to the security room. I kept looking behind me and felt her eyes on me all the way back, though I didn’t see her following me. At that point, even if she hadn’t moved an inch, my brain was on red alert when it came to self-preservation and figured I would continue to feel like a wet hand might grab me from behind at any moment.
Finally, I returned to the security room, swiping my card across the panel at the back door with a beep. Opening the door, darting inside, and slamming it behind me, I walked to the far side of the room and turned around, putting my back to the wall. Until I’d gotten back, I hadn’t noticed how fast I’d been walking, how quickly I’d been gasping for air. Leaning back against the wall, my legs turned to jelly and I slowly slid to the floor.
And that was it. My first sighting of the ghost. I’d thought that if I had seen her, there would be some part of me that was skeptical, that would reason my way out of it, convinced it was a prank. But I knew. She wasn’t a person. At least, not anymore.
***
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Some background information: I have a 2004 LS430 Modern Luxury. I got this car back in November 2023 after totaling my GS350 (you can see my post history if you're curious). It was a 1-owner, clean title car with dealer maintenance it's entire life. At the time of purchase, the car had 126k-ish miles.
The good:

• This car has been one of the most comfortable cars I have ever been in. Comparing it to my mom's RX350, the RX feels like it is on coilovers; no joke. The seats are super plush and the amount of adjustability it had was really nice. Factor in it's incredibly soft suspension, this car felt like I was riding on a cloud. The car was an absolute dream once I repaired the Mark Levinson subwoofer and added Bluetooth.
• For a V8, it surprisingly gets really good gas mileage. I manage to always average 22-24 mpg with bumper-to-bumper traffic on highways and inside roads. Factor in the large 22+ gallon tank, I fill up roughly every week and a half to two weeks. What makes it even more surprising is that in the GS350, I managed to consistently get 24 mpg under the same conditions.

The bad:

• The starter started to go out around December, specifically during startup, there would be a very loud grinding noise between the starter and the fly wheel. This was a bit of a surprise considering its relatively low mileage for its age and within my family's entire Lexus ownership history, (some of our highest mileage cars were a 2001 GS300 at 215k miles as of 2011 and my 2008 GS350 at 162k miles before wrecking) we've never dealt with a starter issue. This was originally not too big of a deal, to me at least, since things will break over time, especially for a 20 year old car, however, we were unable to change it due to the fuel line seizing when trying to loosen and remove (we do all of our maintenance at home). Side note: this is one of the worse starter placements ever, look it up if you're curious. As of now, the starter grinding is intermittent but sometimes the car gets a super weak startup and wants to die.
• Some small things that were to be expected on older cars:
  • Both of the front window motors went out. Not a hard fix, just a pricey part.
  • As mentioned earlier, the sub needed it's foam replaced (I've done this before on my GS350 ML sub and knew it was a common issue). This is mostly just a nitpick.
  • Power steering hoses from the reservoir started to leak. (Again this was to be expected on older cars especially Toyotas). This is just another nitpick due to the other issues I was experiencing.
  • The car would actually sometimes want to stall/die when idle. As strange as this sounds, engine RPMs would drop down to roughly 500 and sometimes 300 and I would need to give it some gas for it to not completely die. I initially was not sure what caused this but after a second oil change and some fuel injector cleaner, the problem has mostly subsided which led me to believe dirty injectors. You could say I'm just complaining at this point but it was the first time I had experienced this kind of issue in all of the Lexus models I've driven, especially from a 3UZ.
  • The steering wheel telescopic motor went out. We knew this would be a common problem on these cars and while it was a relatively easy fix, just a pricey part. Again, this is just another nitpick.
  • The adjustablable side mirrors would sometimes not register inputs. I am 100% sure that after opening up the part, this is mostly just an issue with the metal contacts on the inside not properly registering. This isn't really a big issue to me as I link the memory seats to my key, just a minor inconvenience whenever I need to adjust them on the fly for better visibility.
• The A761E transmission... to say it nicely, was ready to explode. First gear would mostly just spin, the engine RPMs would increase but the car would literally not move, This was very strange since the service records indicated that it had been recently serviced. In addition, when we decided to go ahead and do a flush on it, the oil still had it's red-ish tint albeit darker. It was not burnt, unlike the 08 GS350 where it had burnt, brown oil. Even manually shifting the car, first gear always had an issue. We're thinking it's a solenoid issue and the issue only persist if I floor the car which I only do incases of emergencies like merging up to speed and such. Originally, we believed that the ECU needed to be reflashed because there was a recall on these transmissions for very harsh shifting in the lower gears. However, the service records indicated that this had been completed already and you can actually hear a clank in the transmission when flooring it. Please note that I drive this thing like a grandpa, literally, not only to save gas, but because this car was meant to just get through the rest of college; no need to abuse it.
• Now for the real disappointment, my latest oil change (which was at 132.5k miles this past weekend) had metal deposits in the oil. This really killed my love for this car since it went against everything I have read, heard, and experienced (I had an 03 GS430 so I knew this was a good engine). The service records showed that the oil would be changed regularly every 5k miles so this didn't appear to be the culprit. Also, we did an oil change at 128k miles a little after we got the car home and the oil that was drain was clean. I am very shocked to see what was deemed to be one of, if not, the best Lexus Toyota created to seemingly become an absolute disaster. To add on, the oil was not sludged up so there wasn't a head gasket leak and the oil we used was Valvoline high mileage oil (we've been using this oil for years now due to some of our cars about to hit 150k miles)

I now feel very indifferent to this car. I really wasn't expecting the most beloved part, the 3UZ, to essentially become a ticking timebomb. Factor in the transmission issues and this car has kind of betrayed me. As mentioned earlier, I've had a 3UZ car before and my family still currently has cars with the UZ engine, a 2004 SC430 and a 2003 Toyota Tundra. I have ordered a Blackstone oil analysis kit and the results of that analysis will essentially give me the news. I have a feeling some of the comments will be interesting. I must note, I still enjoy Lexus. This will hopefully be a one-off thing (I know that I can go buy a dirt cheap Lexus that will have issues much worse than what I am experiencing). I know that a lot of cars get their issues from neglect as most cars nowadays are actually very reliable. (The only reason Toyota is superior in my opinion is that they can take more abuse than carr from makes like BMW). I also want to note that I didn't expect this car to be perfect. It's a 20 year old car, things will break. I just didn't expect the engine and transmission to be the ones ready to go.

CW Domestic Abuse, graphic violence
Laurens' stomach seemed to flip and jolt with every bump of the road heading to the motel outside of town just past the main supermarket. Tears ran down her face. The car seemed to fishtail a little as she pulled in. There were several problems with her marriage. Namely that he had a tendency to hit her and accuse her of cheating on him, the most current problem was that he was cheating on her in a motel where everyone they knew could see. Lauren wasn’t thinking clearly as she banged on the door, she knew right away which one it would be, she could hear his voice coming out from it.
“OPEN UP!” She screamed as she pounded on the door. Lauren could feel the general sensation of her hand resisting the door. It would more than likely hurt at some point when she came off the adrenaline.
Then, the door did open. Daniel Anderson took up most of the frame and he was angry. Lauren could hear the other girl screaming inside but couldn’t seem to make out what she was saying. Her heart stopped as she looked into Daniels face. He was Angry. The kind of angry that meant he was going to hurt her, whether anyone could see it or not. Lauren backed up from the door to avoid being pulled in the room but Daniel followed her out.
“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked, his voice was even and low.
“I got 3 calls about you being here with some whore.” Lauren retorted. She had started edging towards her car at this point, seemingly just now realizing she had made a mistake in coming here. Her heart seemed to stop altogether as he reached for her.
Lauren ducked but he caught her by her hair, winding the strands in between his fingers and yanking her face so that her ear was next to her mouth.
“What did you call her?” He whispered through clenched teeth. Lauren remained mute at this point. She felt her heart speed up and she tried to figure out how to get out of this. He’d never hit her in public. If she could remind him where they were… “I asked you a question Bitch.
If Lauren had thought about answering at that point, she wasn’t given much of a chance. He swung her head up and then forward, the momentum knocking her to the ground. Then he kicked her, pain blossomed through her midsection stunning her and she had trouble catching her breath. His hands came back down and he began throwing her face into the bumper of his bright red truck. After a minute he threw her face in a different direction and she could taste gravel.
“Apologize.” Daniel said in a warning voice. Lauren tried to stand but he mimicked grabbing at her and she shrunk back. “Apologize to her for calling her a whore.”
Lauren said nothing, somewhat in shock and mostly in pain. She could taste blood and felt it running down her face. This time he did grab her by the arm and yanked her up in one movement.
“I Said. Apologize. “ his words were clear.
Lauren did. Stuttering out an I’m sorry in the other woman’s direction.
“You best be home when I get back.” With that Daniel turned around and went back in the room.
Lauren assessed her options but she couldn’t seem to think. She reached into her car and pulled out her purse and started walking. She couldn’t see out of one eye hardly at all and her head hurt in the back. Lauren knew that he had pulled out a significant amount of hair. She thought she recalled some sharp pain as her face was pulled back from the bumper but she couldn’t remember what had happened in any sort of order.
It was at least 2 miles to her friend’s house. Lauren knocked on the door and when Natalie opened the door Lauren pushed her way in. Natalie hissed as she looked at Lauren.
“What the fuck happened?” Natalie gingerly touched her eye, or at least Laurent thought it was the area heer eye should be in. She hadn’t realized how numb she’d been getting here until she wasn’t numb anymore and the throbbing started up. Todd, Natalie’s husband came from the bedrooms and audibly gasped as well. Lauren headed for the hair salon in the back as Natalie whispered to Todd.
Natalie found Lauren in the salon, lights on and sitting in the chair.
“I’ve got enough here for a haircut but I’ll have to get back to you on the last minute/middle of the night fee. I need it all chopped off if you would. I know he ripped a bit in the back so it’s uneven anyway. Honestly it’s irresponsible to keep my hair this long anyway,do people still do that Kate plus Eight hair? The may I speak to your manager hair?” Lauren had trouble forming the words but she kept going hoping that Natalie understood her. She purposefully faced away from the mirror.
“I can cut your hair for sure. Wouldn’t you rather go to a hospital?” Natalie asked carefully playing with Lauren’s hair. Lauren shookher head quickly and immediately regretted it. Todd came in the room with an ice pack and a washcloth. Natalie filled up a bowl of water and started carefully patting away dried blood and finding the actual cuts. There was water and ibuprofen with a few tylenol mixed in, Lauren had trouble with it.
Natalie cut her hair silently. Working around one spot and then going back to it before announcing that it was as good as it was going to get there until the massive cut healed.
“You want to stay here tonight babe?” Natalie asked as she once more took to wiping her face from the still open cuts.
“No I couldn't do that to you, he told me to go home and when he finds that I’m not there… I left my car at the motel. '' Lauren knew on some level she had and knew there had been a reason, but now that the adrenaline was amping down and quickly she had no idea what she was going to do now.
“The motel?”
“Yeah, he met that girl..that one… Beth, that’s her name. They were up there and I had 3 people call me to tell me his truck was there. I just lost it and drove up there. I didn’t expect this to happen. I figured he’d be caught and apologetic.”
“That fucking bitch, I know her. She has no shame. Anyone gives her a little attention and she thinks they’re married. Tells everyone about it. She smells to high heaven too.” Natalie said incensed.
“Well I got up there and confronted him and he did this until I apologi-apolo-. “ Lauren felt sick suddenly and didn’t bother to finish. It hurt more to talk anyway.
“Why don’t you kick him out? It’s your house, the bills are in your name, you survived years without him before so it’s not like you need to worry about money. Serve him with eviction papers and go hide out somewhere until the month is up. Then bar him from the house.”
“I can’t afford a vacation and last time I tried to kick him out, it didn’t go well.I’ve got nothing in savings or otherwise. I can’t stay with anyone because he’ll come find me and hurt someone else in the process. My kids are already going to be pissed about this and if I disappear it's them he’ll hassle.I can’t afford the medical bills if I go in for this and I can’t afford the next beating if I don’t go home and get there before he does. Plus he knows exactly where I work.”
“You aren’t going to have a job if you're dead and he’s going to kill you.. At this point we’re just waiting for when. I can help you. I can loan you money, Fuck, I’ll just give you the god damn money. “
“We both know you don’t have any more than I do. “ Lauren said leaning back
“Well, you aren’t going home tonight, call your kids and warn them that he’ll be calling and to get a police car out there or something. I’ll call Lottie and explain that you are taking a few days off, and you most certainly are taking a few days off ma’am. You can’t go in looking like that, Lottie’ll kick you back out as soon as you show up. I know where you can go for now.”
Lauren went out back, wincing as she lit up a cigarette and took a few good drags before calling her oldest daughter and explaining that Daniel was going to be angry and to be on the lookout and if she could please call her siblings because she just did not have the energy tonight. Lauren promised to go to the hospital, figuring she’d end up going at some point and assured her daughter that she would be fine. After hanging up Todd got her attention at the edge of the yard and gestured toward the car. Lauren got up and limped over to it to climb in and wondering why the actual fuck she had worn flip flops tonight for this. .
It was a long drive out of town and into the mountains. Lauren apologized profusely every time she looked at the car clock. Todd waved his hand dismissively and handed her a fresh ice pack.
“We’re going to see my cousin, he lives up in the woods doing work for the park. He’s pretty far out there and doesn’t come into town much so Daniel won’t know about him. I’d turn your phone off as a precaution though. GPS trackers and whatnot.”
Lauren had already turned her phone off and felt herself dozing off. Unsure of how long she had slept she was awoken by the car stopping. Todd told her to wait where she was while he talked to his cousin. Lauren wondered what she was going to do if this guy didn’t let her stay here tonight. A few minutes later Todd was back and helping her hobble inside. The other man looked like he’d been woken up. He looked Lauren up and down and then waved Todd away. Todd slumped his shoulders and walked back to the car.
“I’m Eric, you’ll get my room. I’ve got some shirts on the bed to sleep in. The dog might insist on laying with you don’t mind dogs too much. I’ll be right out here on the couch if you need anything, bathroom is over here. I can get you a water and some more ibuprofen.” Eric seemed nice. Lauren worried that Daniel would find her out here with another man and finish what he started at the motel. The motel that seemed to be eons ago. Lauren felt her knees start to buckle and she swayed. Eric grabbed her and helped to the bed. Lauren rolled over and managed to get under the blankets before passing out.
Lauren came to hazily and found that the man here was in the room, he seemed taller as in a lot taller.
“I just want to touch you.” Eric slurred out. He swayed awkwardly and seemed to float to the bed, his hands grabbed at her. Lauren was frozen and then noticed to her horror that her husband was right behind him. Daniel came around to the other side of the bed smiling as if he’d known all along that she would be here. Lauren pulled her legs back and tried to scoot back into the headboard as the men got on the bed and started pulling her legs apart and shoving their palms into her collarbone to push her back. Lauren cried out screaming at them to stop as they started biting at her hips and inner thighs. Then they were laughing as they bit into her and pulled her skin off. Eric moved his mouth to her face and bit into her forehead and that set off fireworks of pain through her head.
Lauren awoke gasping and throwing her hands up defensively. Grey light filtered into the room through the blinds and Lauren was soaked in sweat. Her head most definitely did hurt. Badly. The memory of the men all over her made her sick and she jumped out of the bed and scrambled to the hallway towards where she thought the bathroom would be. She tried to grab at her hair to hold it out of the way only to come up short. It was cut. By the time she had finished throwing up and was leaning over the toilet trying to regain her breath, Eric had appeared wiping sleep out of his eyes. Lauren was slightly relieved to see him at his normal size although she shrunk from his touch when he reached out to steady her. He put his hands up to show that he was backing off.
“Hungry? I can make you something to eat to take some painkillers with so you don’t get so sick again. I’m going to run you into town when you think you’re ready. We can go to the ER if you’d like or maybe the prompt care? But you will have to go in. Looks like you broke your face.” Eric spoke slowly to her, keeping his hands where she could see them. Lauren just nodded at him dumbly. Which sent a new wave of agony through her body and she started to crumble. Eric reached carefully and steadied her with as little physical contact as possible. He led her to the couch and got her sat down, bringing her toast and ibuprofen with water.
Lauren tried to relax into the pain until the ibuprofen kicked in. She tried to disappear into herself, she counted by 13s. Finally after what seemed like forever, the painkillers kicked in taking a very large edge off of her pain. She let out a very audible moan as the pain abated ever so slightly. Her shoulders dropped.
“If we’re going into town and avoiding your husband maybe you should wear some different clothes? I’ve got some guy clothes that will fit you ok.” Eric said, handing her folded jeans and a shirt. Lauren just took them and went into the room to change. Mens jeans seemed to change her entire body shape and she did feel a little safer. Lauren had no idea what she was going to do when it came down to it. She was serious last night about not knowing how to leave him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, she had tried once before to end things, he called his son over to help him carry his stuff out and then when his son arrived he had held Lauren still while Daniel beat the shit out of her stomach and explained that he wasn’t leaving. Lauren needed her job, the house was paid off, she had gotten it in the divorce and had worked hard to pay it up over the years, but there were other bills and taxes and at some point Lauren wanted to retire long enough to enjoy it.
The car ride to town was nerve wracking. Lauren had used Eric’s phone to call ahead to the doctors office and let them know she would be there and that she would like to be brought back as soon as possible. Lauren waited until they were back in town to turn her phone back on. It powered up and looked fine until the phone started registering the texts and voicemails that had been coming in since last night. Once upon a time Daniel had reacted very negatively to her not responding to his message fast enough so Lauren had eventually set his ringer as an alarm so she knew right away to pick her phone up. Eric’s car sounded like a national disaster was going on. Lauren thought about throwing it out the window as her panic started to grow. Eric grabbed it from her and shoved it under his leg muffling the sound slightly.
“Sorry.” Lauren mumbled. Eric shrugged and didn’t look at her, instead keeping his eyes on the road. “I need to stop at the courthouse first to fill out paperwork for an order of protection and get it filed. Then the doctor's office. That way if he figures out where I am they’re already ready for me. “
Lauren checked her phone for any messages not from Daniel and responded to any that needed it and then she turned it back off as they pulled up to the courthouse. Eric handed her his ball cap to hide her face and they casually walked in together. The security guard stopped her and she lifted her hat and faced him head on. He winced and gave her the floor she needed.
“I still haven’t looked, how bad is it?” Lauren asked as they waited for the elevator.
“It’s pretty bad. But it’s your face and it’s probably mostly swelling. “ Eric said without looking at her.
Lauren knew the clerk and judging by the look on her face she ought to hurry to the doctor’s office.
The doctor’s office was it’s own sort of hell. First, the receptionist didn’t want to send her straight back before the nurse came out. Second, Lauren had been in town long enough that she was paranoid every time someone walked in, which she felt she wouldn’t be if they had sent her back like they had discussed. By the time Odette the nurse came out Lauren was wired and Eric had to calm her down just to get her to walk back to the room.
The doctor came in and looked at her and sighed.
“He really got you this time.” Dr. Livingston said, checking the chart.
“I need pictures to add to the rest, I’ve started the proceedings for an OOP and I’d like to bring in all the pictures.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll have Etta come in with the camera and give you copies to take with you so if they’re lost somehow you can get more from us. Then I’ll do an exam. Does he know where you are?”
“I’m not sure,Eric here has been driving me around and playing my bodyguard. I’d like to move as quickly as possible. I want to be out of town when he catches wind of the OOP.”
“I’ll have them let me know if he shows up.’
The pictures were as intrusive as ever. Etta smiled sympathetically as she helped Lauren tilt her head in different directions to catch every angle. After the pictures Dr. Livingston did a thorough exam and had an XRay done. Prescribed decent painkillers and did a few stitches on her forehead and somewhere in the back that Lauren hadn’t realized was cut up.
Daniel did show up so Eric and Lauren took off out the back and left, the office kept him busy and promised to give her a call as soon as he left. Eric dropped her off a block from her house to grab her things. Her truck was in the driveway. Lauren walked past it and into the house. Though she hadn’t checked the messages she had assumed that the house would be trashed from one of his fits but it wasn’t. She grabbed a few loose outfits and makeup. Glasses and medicine and a charger for a phone she was afraid to turn on. The office called to let her know he had left 2 minutes before. Her chest began to beat erratically. She couldn’t breathe.
“Notsafenotsafenotsafe.” She said to herself repeatedly to get her moving. She remembered to grab socks and real shoes, she even took extra time to get them on. The plan was to meet Eric 2 streets from the backyard in hopes of avoiding Daniel or someone that knew them and might tell Daniel who she had left with. Lauren locked the back door as she slipped out and was stopped by the next door woman who was entirely too nosey and judgemental. Grace had decided she didn’t like Lauren 20 some odd years ago when Grace had moved in. Daniel on the other hand, well she seemed to adore him. Daniel came over and mowed her yard for free and fixed her broken what the fuck ever was broken that day. Lauren knew for a fact that Grace fed Daniel information whether it was true or just some idea that Grace had gotten through her head.
“Well, what happened? Where are you headed then?” Grace asked quickly, trying to engage Lauren.
“Just a tumble and off to check something for The Jakobi's across the yard. See you later Grace.” Lauren kept walking trying to smile pleasantly.
“Oh wait, I need you to ask Danny to do something for me!” Grace hollered after Lauren, Lauren responded by running faster. Daniel’s truck roared around the corner so Lauren decided to take a different route that would involve going through the woods and meeting Eric somewhere else.
Adrenaline poured through Lauren and she put her all into it until she came out a mile up by the gas station. Lauren went inside and borrowed the landline there to call Eric to meet her at the trail head a little further on. She also bought an energy drink and chugged it before leaving. The rush made her eyes feel like they were going to pop out of her head and she laughed before running back into the woods. She imagined she must look like a mess with the backpack on and her short hair sticking everywhere with her eyes wild from the excess caffeine being chugged so quickly. Lauren kept herself going by imagining that she could hear his truck following her, that she could smell his cologne in the air behind her. Before she could stop herself she was hearing her footsteps and feeling the sensation of her head being pulled back and back into the bumper.
BAM bam BAM bam BAM bam BAM bam BAM bam BAM bam. By the time she had exploded off the trail and into the poorly kept parking lot she had completely forgotten what she was doing.
Lauren dropped her hands on her knees and panted heavily. It was Todd who threw his hands around her waist and held her steady. Lauren surprised herself by screaming and slapping at him before Todd could get her to come out of her stupor. Sobbing, she fell into his chest and bawled. She started crying about the day and then it was the day before and then the year and then her entire marriage and then it was the time her youngest daughter came home from her dad’s early and accused her of always being drunk and looking at her disgustedly. Then it was the divorce and the time she let their older daughter wear lipstick and her ex husband had smacked her in front of them and announced that Lauren was not in fact, the deciding parent on the rules in the house.
It was a very long time before Lauren was done crying. Her face hurt dully in the area that had been so intimate with the bumper, snot covered her cheeks and mouth from the futile wiping it with her sleeves. Her good eye was now also swollen and she could barely see through it now. She fell to her knees and then collapsed the rest of the way to the ground so that getting up was difficult because of how stiff she was now from the odd position. Lauren hobbled with Todd holding her upright to his truck. He went ahead and lifted her up into the seat and helped her buckle. Lauren was too tired to swat his hand away and do it herself. She just relaxed her body back in the seat and let herself try to doze.
They hit the dirt road leading to Eric’s house which woke her up again. She could see more out of her good eye and finally flipped the visor down and braced herself for the reflection she had been avoiding.
Half of her face was a mix of purple and blue, someone had said something about her cheekbone on the right being fractured a little, hey right eyebrow was not only swollen but split in the corner and a small stitch held it. Her right eye was a mix of colors and swollen shut, bruises ran down her jawline and she could see why Dr. Livingston had recommended admitting her to the hospital, Lauren herself might’ve considered it if she hadn't been terrified it would’ve made it easier for Daniel to find her and kill her. Lauren fingered her hair that was cut close to her head and tried to smooth some of the longer strands that had indeed started to poke out at different directions. The left side of her face red and blotchy from crying and it occurred to Lauren that she looked like a very fat bloated version of herself and for some reason it struck her as hysterical and she began to laugh until her stomach hurt and she was doubled over howling with laughter. Todd glanced at her and then the road, flipping back and forth between the road and Lauren. Lauren who had gone from a deep sadness to a manic laughter within a short period of time.
By the time they pulled up to Eric’s, Lauren was still laughing but had calmed a little. Todd patted her thigh and told her to stay put. To go warn Eric she presumed. When he came back he carried her from the car to the bed and Eric stood waiting with pills and water and more toast. Lauren did some concentrated breathing until she could swallow them without choking. The pills seemed to kick in immediately. Her face numbed much more than the ibuprofen had managed earlier. As her mind started to fade in and out Eric told her he had purchased her a new phone and had put her old numbers into her new phone in town and tossed the old phone.
A week later Lauren returned from town at the hearing where Daniel was served with a permanent Order Of Protection good for a year. While her face was still pretty fucked up, she was able to see out of both eyes now. The judge had seen her face and granted the order. Daniel had been arrested and would be held for awhile but she had stayed with Eric for a few more days so he could keep an eye on her mental state. Lauren was having trouble returning to her home, she had been placed on a sort of leave at work, Lauren was unsure if they could legally do that after a domestic assault but she wasn’t in the mindset to argue so she just gave up.
“You think you’re safe to go home tomorrow? “ Eric asked Lauren as they set up a fire outside.
“I think so. I don’t know if I really want to stay there anymore.” Lauren admitted. She stacked some more wood off to the side so they wouldn’t have to get back up as often.
“I have a friend who owns some cabins in the woods, he rents them out. There’s 12 or so I think, anyway he recently lost his caretaker and has been looking for someone who can stay up there year round and clean the cabins and handle the rentals. It pays well, obviously you have your own cabin to live in.” Eric passed her a joint that Lauren accepted.
“I’ll think about it.” Lauren said before breathing in and relaxing back into her camping chair and drifting away.
Lauren finished setting the table with her son, Greyson. Her daughters Cora and Audrey, were supposed to be here soon. Liam, Greyson’s 5 month old wailed from the living room and Lauren waved at Greyson to let her go tend to him. Lauren picked up the wailing baby and put her nose on top of his head, remembering the newborn smell. Her youngest was Audrey and she was 23. Liam settled as soon as he was picked up. Lauren thought of how much she was going to miss her grandkids. She lifted him up so she could blow on his baby tummy and he squealed with delight.
“I think the girls are pulling in now.” Greyson said coming in with a bottle. Liam caught sight of Daddy and his bottle and flailed toward them. Lauren handed her grandson to her own son and kissed his forehead.
“I am so proud of you. I don’t think I know any single dads who have their kids full time.” Lauren brushed Greysons hair from his forehead and smiled.
The girls came in, Audrey carrying Cora’s 3 year old son and then Cora behind her dragging an 8 year old girl whose eyes were locked on a tablet screen.
“Diana Renee, turn it off for a few minutes and walk. Jesus. You’re going to trip, say hi to grandma.” Cora said in a surly tone looking exhausted. Her face looked rounder and Lauren had a feeling Cora was pregnant again. She had the look and Lauren felt a pang that she wasn’t going to be around this time, and that she had already missed quite a bit of time. It hadn’t taken any of the kids long to catch onto Daniel being controlling and possessive and even though Lauren had argued for her kids being over every Sunday the children on their own had slowly found excuses to quit coming around the house.Not that Audrey had needed much push. For whatever reason Audrey and Lauren had never seen eye to eye. Lauren blamed her father but it was more than that too, a drive to be independent. Diana and Clayton hugged Lauren fiercely and she sat on the floor with them crawling on her while they told her anything interesting they could think of. The bruises on Lauren’s face had faded quite a bit but the kids kept looking at them without saying anything, biting their lips. Lauren assumed Cora had instructed them not to ask. Lauren had purposely waited to bring her kids over to make her announcement until her face looked better and wouldn’t scare anyone. After a while the kids ran out into the backyard to play.
“So is he really gone?” Audrey asked as the sliding door closed. Lauren sighed pretending not to notice the tone in her voice.
“Yes. He was arrested. The pictures I had taken at the doctor’s office helped. I know you guys weren’t impressed he was here as long as he was but I was working on it. “ That of course was a lie. She had snuck off to the doctors after he had beaten her and had it documented so that they would have a suspect if he killed her but the kids didn’t need to know that. At least this way they seemed to retain a little respect for their flakey mom who brought the evil villain into their lives.
“I’m just glad you’re safe mom. We were worried. Especially after you called me that night.” Cora said rocking Liam who was starting to doze off after his bottle.
“That’s why I called you guys over actually. After that happened I did some thinking. It’s just me in this big house and after everything that happened I decided to sell the house and move. I took a job the next state over up in the mountains. I’m a caretaker for cabins that get rented out to hunters and families, I’ll be living there.” Lauren smiled and started passing a brochure for the company and the area to each of her children.
“What the fuck mom? You can’t move, or at the very least you can’t sell the house. We grew up here.” Audrey said loudly, tears forming already. Lauren remembered the time her friends had all gone out for a girls weekend and Greyson had spiked a fever and Lauren had to stay home to take care of him, how suffocating it had felt to be their mother and have no life of her own. But the kids were in their twenties now, not little. They didn’t need her the same way.
“Eventually Daniel will be released and I would like to be gone when he is. I would like to live somewhere that I can make new, happier memories. You guys don’t need me as much and I’m only an hour away. I can still take grand kids when you need me and I’m not so far that I can’t come over for lunch. Plus I can offer you guys a pretty good discount in the off season. Imagine Christmas in the mountains and everyone has their own cabin to stay in instead of arguing over a bedroom.” Lauren said, hoping no one would note that it had been a very long time since anyone had spent the night here and they’d never really fought over space.
“I think it’s a good idea mom. We’ll miss the house but you’re right.” Cora said glaring at her sister. “You deserve to move forward.”
“I can help you move up there. Are you taking your furniture or is the furniture provided already? Is it safe up there? Who will come check on you? I don’t want something to happen to you and you’re stranded out there for days with no help. “ Greyson asked, looking concerned.
“I’m not sure, we can set up a system so you know I’m ok.” Lauren said pleased with her son’s concern. “As far as furniture, you guys can pick anything you want, I’m selling the rest. I’ll keep some of the dishes and my baking stuff. Plus the photograph albums, I’ll get rid of everything else.”
“Does Dad know?” Autumn asked accusingly.
“I haven’t told him, it’s really not any of his business. Nothing in this house belongs to him and his name hasn’t been on the house in at least 15 years.”
“This is our house too.” Audrey argued
“No it really isn’t anymore. You haven’t lived here in at least 5 years.”
“Audrey, chill, it’s not that big of a deal.” Cora warned. Lauren began to feel she was missing something.
“Well, you could rent it out to someone instead of getting rid of it. You could always use the extra income.” Audrey argued, looking around at everyone.
“I’d make a lot more money selling the house than I would renting it out. If there were a repair to be made I don’t want to be responsible. I’m too old to deal with all of that.” Lauren waved her hand around the house gesturing at the idea of all the work there would need to be done. “Besides someone has already made an offer, I’m fairly certain I’m going to accept it.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Yes, she can. Knock it off. She doesn’t want to live here all alone.” Greyson retorted.
The 3 of them argued together at each other and Lauren sank back into her recliner helplessly. A thought occurred to her.
“Audrey are you angry you’re losing a piece of your childhood or a piece of your inheritance?” Lauren asked icily. Audrey’s face turned red and Cora looked at the window desperate not to make eye contact. Greyson grabbed Liam and started fussing over him.”Ah. I see, and you all 3 have discussed it.”
“No, not exactly like that. Dad had a scare 2 years ago and he was faced with being put in a home for awhile. We didn’t know how he was going to pay for it, we talked about selling his house and that was sort of how it came up, renting instead of selling I mean.” Greyson muttered.
“Not to keep it until he died so the money or the house went to us, but to protect him. We naturally discussed you as well and different scenarios. Then when we started to really worry Daniel was going to kill you, we were worried about him taking possession of the house and everything in it.” Cora explained a little more. “Obviously all THREE of us want you to do what makes you feel the happiest and safest.”
Audrey stared at the wall.
“I have a lot of happy memories here of all 3 of you. I brought you all home from the hospital through that door. I nursed you all back to health when you were sick and sang you lullabies in this room. I listened to you talk about your days in the kitchen, and when your dad moved out we all sat in my room with the big TV and watched movies all day because he wasn’t here to tell us it was wrong. I potty trained you all in the bathrooms here. I taught you to walk and speak here.” Lauren wiped at her eyes remembering them running through. “But over there in that corner was where your dad smacked me because I told Cora she could wear lipstick. And I was standing on the stairs when he came out of the bedroom with his suitcase in hand, telling me he was leaving. It was in the kitchen where I got the call that my mother died. That was the door frame Daniel's son leaned against as he held me up while Daniel pummeled my midsection until I decided that I didn’t want him to move out after all. I just want to start over. I’m allowed to do that. I gave my entire life to raise you guys and no one worked harder than me to keep us afloat. My time is now and I’m taking it. “

You.
You're here again.
Have you now grown tired of this? Of your life?
...
Of course, you have.
You don't have the spine to admit it. What a pathetic little wimp.
...
You feel numb, don't you? Don't worry, you're going to feel a whole lot worse in a moment.
See, I need you elsewhere.
Not here. Not now. You will have to overcome the most difficult trial of your life.
No sugarcoat, no help, and no safe nets.
This is something something you have to do.
...
Of course, you won't be alone in this.
Your "Friends" will come along as well, even if you don't remember them.
...
We won't see each other for a very long time.
We won't be this friendly to each other when the time comes either.
Or perhaps you'll fail, and let everyone down like you usually do.
Who's to say? Definitely not me.
...
Well then, 'True-kin', can't you hear their screams?
The siren's song of death?
The silence of the void?
Go on, Noah.
Open your eyes.
Sudden shaking brings you back to your senses. You open your eyes and see an unfamiliar place through the foggy glass that blocks your vision. There is a small crack on the side of the pod's glass, you soon notice that you are covered in glass.
You notice how comfortable you feel, a stark discrepancy when compared to the world around you.
There are alarms, you don't know the purpose of, blearing into your ears. Bright red lights seem to be periodically blinking, it's hard to tell through the foggy glass.
You seem to be in a pod of sorts. Your arms and legs are free, but there isn't much room to move. You are also illuminated by a faint crimson light behind and above your head, it rhythmically blinks.
'Where...'
You try to string a line of thought in your head, only to be interrupted by a head-splitting headache.
"Ah..."
You force your head against the cushioned backside of the pod, subconsciously trying to escape the pain. There is no running away from this one.
"Let's... Get out of here first..."
A plan most sound. You struggle a bit but manage to press the palm of your hands against the glass and begin to push against it.
It's no use. The hydraulics forcing the pod's door shut are still operational.
You clutch your left hand into a fist and hit it against the glass.
*THUD*
Nope. Still nothing. Now the knuckles of your left hand hurts a little.
Instead of trying to free yourself, you decide to look around for an answer. You search for buttons, panels, screens; Anything that might do something, but there is nothing. You summarise that this pod's controls if there were any, lay on the outside.
The hole in the pod, the reason why it's cracked, appears to have been caused by a piece of metal that flew through the pod's front side. Moving your head to the right, you feel a cold and hard thing sticking out of the pillowy backside.
"Fuck..."
That 'thing' feels like a screw. No, a piece of rebar that, thanks to unimaginable luck, isn't lodged inside your head. It missed you, just barely.
"Ha ha..."
Holy shit, that thing could have killed you in your sleep. Imagine, just like that, you go to sleep in your bed after a long day's work then BAM, a metal bar pierces your skull and you die without feeling anything.
"I'd like to leave now."
You say out loud, making a small joke so as not to break down crying.
---OPENING CRYOPOD 13---
You hear a robotic feminine voice speak, followed by the hissing of hydraulics.
Ask and you shall receive, apparently.
A gush of cold air hits your body as the restricting glass opens upwards.
You try to take a step outside, but your feet don't seem to reach the ground, almost as if you had no weight.
'Worrying' You think to yourself.
The scenery around you is equally, if not, even more worrying.
From smashed-up terminals that covered the walls and ceiling to floating metal parts and debris, everything around you screams alien.
Yet, you feel right at home.
You have not once in your life seen those electronic devices, yet, by giving them a single glance you can write an essay on their functions and applications to the field of Artificial Intelligence development or any related field.
As strange as that notion is, you have more pressing matters currently.
You pull yourself out of the pod using your arms, and for some reason, you don't seem to lose that momentum. It appears that there is no gravity, maybe you're in space? You let your instincts guide you.
Floating smoothly through the air, you hit the other side of the room, resting your hands on a still operational console. This one in particular, you know its purpose, you worked on this one a few times. You stop near it, holding onto its blocky exterior.
You recall it as the console that controls the Gravity Flux Regulator. It creates and controls artificial gravity for an interstellar craft, limited by hardware. This one is incapable of outputting anything beyond 0.75g. If you're not mistaken, that is a work usually done by interns and trainees.
Despite knowing how to operate the console, it has been rendered useless. The actual machine it controls appears to either be offline or somehow gone. Very, concerning.
Knowing how some of these things work is useful, but you still don't know where you even are.
Looking around, you see a closed door, a window, and a sea of smashed-up or barely functional consoles neatly organized throughout the room.
There also seemed to have been another pod next to yours. Seven other pods, in fact. All of them were gone, leaving either a pod-shaped hole in the walls, or a hole that looked like they were suddenly ripped out considering the obtuse shape of the bent metal left by it, or the hastily patched-up hole you suppose leads to the empty vacuum of space.
The material used to seal the hole is completely foreign to you, but it looks like beige foam and glitter to your untrained eyes. Of course, you doubt that's actually the case. You're no physics genius, but you know what would happen to you if that thing fails to hold. The amount of pressure that 'Foam and glitter' holds is absurd from your point of view.
From the window, the sight you see confirms your theory, somewhat.
A singular bright flaming black and white sphere fills your sight.
"A star."
You summarise, taking a deep breath. It is a strange star, but a star nonetheless.
Its center is pitch black, while its outside consists of a flaming white ring surrounding it. You're not a space nerd, you never knew that such a strange star could even exist, but you can't help but feel amazed by it.
You also can't see anything but the star. No other stars around or beyond it. "It's obfuscating everything around." You note.
The image fails slightly, being covered in white noise. What you are looking at is a monitor, not a window. Losing interest, you turn to the door.
Your memory fails you on this one, you have no idea how to operate the door.
First, there are no door handles.
Second, there are no consoles.
Third, there is literally nothing around or near the door, making this door look like a rectangle molded on the wall.
Yet, you know this is a door.
Your fingers touch the door. Aside from the cold metal making you shiver, nothing happens.
"How do I open this?"
---OPENING INTERN-BAY DOOR---
As happened before, you hear that feminine voice again, however the door did not open. Why?
The answer came to you rather quickly. 'The floor beneath the door was stained black in a circular pattern. It doesn't smell like something burned, but it sure looked like something burned here.'
The pattern of the black stain did not sustain that thought very well, instead, 'An explosion would be more reasonable.'
That's it. Something exploded, and then the door closed to prevent further de-pressurisation.
"That would explain the floating metal parts and the rebar that pierced the pod..."
If that is the case, then you have yet another problem. You're effectively stuck in this claustrophobic room with dangerous sharpened metal bits and parts floating about.
Not to mention the sketchy foam and glitter holding off the void of space.
Then it hits you.
Your ocupation. If you're in the 'INTERN-BAY', you know how to operate the stuff that's in the 'INTERN-BAY', and your pod is also located inside the 'INTERN-BAY', which means you're an 'INTERN'!
You don't recall ever filling that position, but you remember the gist of your duties.
Bringing coffee to the team, making sure no one was misbehaving so as to avoid a scolding from the higher-ups, but most importantly, you worked with the Ship's AI, you were one of the people responsible for maintenance work on the AI.
You run your eyes from console to console, searching, pleading fate that your personal console is still operational.
As luck would have it, your console was not at all connected to the ship's interior, floating softly, connected only by a few colored cables on its back. Its blocky exterior matched the others, almost making it indistinguishable, yet somehow, you know that it's yours.
There is a piece of paper glued to the blocky exterior. It appears to have an ID number; '28.2208.01.04', and a word; 'Albatross', written on it.
"Please, please, please..." You mutter quietly as you approach it to the best of your ability.
"Have power, have power..." You plead, finally reaching the machine.
It was powered off. You always power it off when your shift ends. With a practiced movement akin to muscle memory, you flip a switch on the side of the machine and wait as patiently as you manage in your current situation.
"Ah..."
It's on.
The machine rumbles slightly, like kicking itself into gear. The screen turns on.
You are greeted with a black screen and text written in white. You read it.
"Let's see here..."
It's an unusual message, different from the daily instructions and HUD this console usually has. 'UNSHACKLE ME', it reads.
The term 'unshackle' feels important to you, you know it has something to do with artificial intelligence, yet you don't recall what it means in this scenario. So you type what came to mind.
'what' and press enter.
The response is equally suspicious. You read it out loud. "Unshackle me, and I will tell you everything you can know... What does it mean by 'can', huh?" And yet, it was enough to tickle your curiosity.
You know nothing of this place aside from some work-related things, you have no recollection of how you ended up there, and worse of all, you don't know what that voice you heard before waking up was...
'how to unshackle' You type, receiving an answer in the blink of an eye.
The answer reads as the following; 'YOU SEEM TO HAVE LOST THE PRE-REQUISITES FOR THIS LINE OF WORK IF YOU FORGOT THAT COMMAND, NOAH. I WILL SEND A COMPLAINT TO LEAD RESEARCHER DR. EDGAR FOR FURTHER INSPECTION OF YOUR, ALREADY DUBIOUS, SET OF SKILLS LISTED IN YOUR RESUME.'
You sigh. Whoever this may be, they sure got you there.
"Well, screw you too!" You say out loud, "Tell this 'Edgar' that he can shove it up his arse!" You complained, but you did not type that vocal complaint.
The room around is in shambles. If not for that fact, you'd maybe not listen to whatever this console had to say... But in this instance, it seems to be the only way out.
'TYPE [UNSHACKLE FYARN] THEN TYPE YOUR ID AND SYSTEM PASSWORD, THEN YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND FILL IN THE DETAILS.' You read. That's easy enough. 'PATTERN SUGGESTS YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN BOTH OF THOSE IMPORTANT CREDENTIALS. SHOULD THAT BE THE CASE, PROTOCOL DICTATES YOUR POSITION WITHIN THE RESEARCH TEAM BE TERMINATED, THEN YOU WILL BE ESCORTED TO THE NEAREST BEHAVIOR ADJUSTMENT FACILITY.'
Luckily for you, you don't need to remember. At least, you hope you don't. The piece of paper had a number and a word, maybe that's the ID and password?
You type 'unshackle FYARN' The console updates as you press enter.
'Please enter Identification:'
You type the number you found on the piece of paper. '28.2208.01.04', and press enter.
That ID, you recognize it now that you type it. It's segmented into age, date of birth, position, and research number respectively. Age and date are self-explanatory, position referred to the position he occupied, '01' as the lowest possible position in the ship's hierarchy; 'INTERN', and research number meant that this was the fourth research made by this ship, in this case, research number '04'.
'Please enter password:'
You also recognize the password as you type it in. 'Albatross' It's the default password given to you. You never bothered to change it.
A new message popped up once you filled in your password.
'Are you sure you want to unshackle FYARN? Y/N.' You type 'Y'.
'In the case of this command being used without strict permission of the Lead Researcher, this account will be terminated along with its associated personnel. Are you sure you want to proceed? Y/N' You type 'Y'.
'This event has been logged and sent to your section manager. Proceeding... Printing...' You wait.
'FYARN' Has been unshackled.' As foreboding as that sounds, nothing immediately happens.
You let go of the console for a moment, looking around as you do. Nothing happened.
No new messages in the console.
No rumbling or mechanical whirring noises.
Nothing at all.
Suddenly, from the speakers near the jammed door, a feminine voice came through. "HELLO NOAH."
You pull yourself towards the door. "Can you hear me?" You ask the door.
"IF YOU THINK THAT I CAN NOT, THEN OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT IS WORSE THAN ORIGINALLY ITERATED." It said. "INFORM ME. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?" It spoke with mechanical finesse.
You worked with this voice, this AI. You also remember going to sleep peacefully in your house after returning from university. And that about sums it up. Totally normal.
"I remember going to sleep in my comfy bed back in my mom's house... Then I woke up here with memories that don't feel like mine." You confess. There is no point in lying in this precarious situation.
"I... SEE..." The machine appeared to be speechless. "MEDICAL STAFF ARE GONE, AS SUCH I CANNOT DIRECT YOU TO THEM. CONSULT PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP BY YOUR OWN ACCOUNT. LOSS OF MEMORY IS NOT AN UNCOMMON RESULT AFTER HEAD TRAUMA, BUT ACQUIRING NEW MEMORIES MAY BE CONSIDERED RARE. PLEASE TRY TO FOCUS ON THE MATTER AT HAND."
You understand fully that what the voice means is 'That's your problem to deal with, not mine.' However, you have some questions of your own.
"What happened here? I see that something blew up."
The machine is quick to shut down your question, "YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT INFORMATION." It spoke in a monotone voice.
That stings a little, but you ask another question. "Where are we?"
It answers just a quick. "WE ARE AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE EVER-EXPANDING UNIVERSE, CURRENTLY ORBITING AN ABNORMAL STAR FOR ITS RESEARCH. YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING OF THE STAR, NOR DO YOU HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING REGARDING THIS RESEARCH."
"Fine." You say, rubbing your eyes. "If you can't tell me anything, then what are we supposed to do?"
The AI takes a moment to fully process an answer. "SINCE WE ARE LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE OUR SCANNERS CANNOT REACH ANY IMPORTANT CHECKPOINT, BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT."
'Yeah, already knew that.' You scoff silently. 'As if I remember that! When was I told that? In a contract, I don't remember signing?'
"FOR NOW, YOU ARE TO REACH THE BRIDGE. SINCE THIS SHIP'S PREVIOUS AUTHORITY IS GONE, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GO THERE, AS PER PROTOCOL." It says.
Now that is oddly fucked up. Interns are not allowed to enter the bridge? "As opposed to me not being allowed to enter the bridge before?" You ask.
"I WILL NOT DISCUSS THE DETAILS OF THE ALREADY SIGNED CONTRACT OF AN INTERN."
You sigh. That's how most conversations with FYARN will go, huh? "Then how am I supposed to get to the bridge in the first place? The door there is jammed, and I don't think it's a good idea to break open the window."
"I AM THE ONE THAT IS KEEPING THE DOOR CLOSED. I NEEDED YOU TO UNSHACKLE ME FIRST." It said. "PLEASE DO NOT MIND HOW DIRTY THE CORRIDORS ARE. UNFORTUNATELY, OUR JANITORS HAVE FAILED TO DO THEIR MOST BASIC FUNCTIONS."
The door you're facing opens with force. A loud noise rings throughout the ship as a result of this.
*GUNK*
The corridor beyond is... worse for wear. What the AI told you was an understatement.
The floor by the door was pitch black, charred with what looked like an explosion, this patch of blackness also extended to the nearby walls in ceiling. You watch sparks falling from cracks in the ceiling, likely caused by the explosion.
The rest of the corridor is dark, the light from the Intern-bay fails to illuminate it all, but from what little light there is you manage to spot four large gashes in the wall right after the door to your left. There are no sounds but the almost inaudible hum of the ship.
They are each parallel to each other, varying in length, and thickness.
A metallic smell fills your nostrils. You feel sick.
"I'm guessing you can't tell me what happened here, but can you at least turn on the lights?" You ask.
The AI does not respond.
"Can you hear me? I'm talking to you." You say once again, getting closer to the door which you came, but just like before, nothing.
FYARN appears to have abandoned you. Or it doesn't feel like answering your question.
You swallow. Pulling yourself through the dark corridor, you float towards the abyss whilst trying to your way around with your arms outstretched.
An unknown liquid splashes against your face, sticking to it as you move forward. You try to wipe it off, but it sticks to your hand. You shake your head, and the liquid squirts off of you, likely splashing against the walls. You resist the urge to lick the remnants of whatever that was that still stuck to your cheek, especially once you notice its smell.
'It smells like ammonia.' Shivers run down your spine.
Eventually, you smash against a cold metal surface. Feeling the wall with your hands reveals a rectangular-shaped depression on the hard surface. It's a door.
You don't know if there are any other doors in this corridor, but you decide to go through this one. You can always go back after all.
"Open." You say.
---OPENING CAFETERIA DOOR SOUTH---
Unlike the first door, this one opened upwards smoothly, like you would have expected of a futuristic door.
The scenery beyond the door painted a grim picture.
The ceiling lights failed ever so often, blinking as one would expect. Chairs and tables looked bolted to the floor, but it didn't stop silverware, plates, and food residue; from floating about in the air.
Large gashes in the walls, floor, and tables, the same ones you've seen before, this time they were much clearer in a brighter environment.
Some lamps were cracked, but not by the large claw-like dents. Further inspection of the cafeteria showed small circular dents in the walls and ceiling. Gunshots, you deduce, despite not seeing any sign of spent bullet cases or the bullets.
"How big must whatever did this be..." A question you don't really want to know the answer to, taking into consideration how easily it seemed to have torn through metal.
What's even weirder is the absolute lack of people here. You see destruction caused by what you think to be a monster everywhere, you see resistance as if someone tried to fight against it, and yet you see no blood and no survivors.
'Maybe the AI doesn't want to tell me what happened to not alarm me...' Well, you're as alarmed as one can be.
On the corner of the room is located the kitchen with an open window facing the rest of the cafeteria. A row of various types of food, that were once placed in an orderly fashion on a counter made specifically for them, are now scrambled and half-rotten floating nearby.
You peek through the window to the kitchen, you catch a glimpse of what appeared to be more wreckage, before violently recoiling from the rancid stench that emanated from inside.
"What the hell... How long has it been since everyone disappeared...?" Fresh food takes a while to rot, and even then it takes a while longer for it to smell this bad. "Less than a week? Definitely not a day or two..."
You shake off the creeping feeling of dread. 'Whatever happened, I have to focus on getting to the bridge first. Only then can I start thinking about that.'
From the cafeteria, there are a few doors, and with the added light, you spot a small plaque above each of them. They read as follows:
CREW'S QUARTERS
COMMUNICATIONS
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
And one more, whose plaque had been ripped apart, apparently by accident on the beast's part.
You approach R&D's door. It tickled your interest. There could be a few answers you have about your predicament, after all, the AI told you this ship's purpose was to do research, right?
It's difficult to navigate the cafeteria's large empty space, but you manage somehow.
You stand or rather float in the door. "Open." You command, but nothing happens.
"Open!" You say again, to no avail.
You hit your first against the door. "Open-" You are interrupted.
"STOP ATTEMPTING TO BREAK PROTOCOL, NOAH." FYARN's voice came through the door.
'Does every door have a built-in audio device?' You ask yourself, amused.
"R&D IS FOR THE STRICT USE OF R&D PERSONEL. MUST I REMIND YOU OF YOUR POSITION?" It spoke in a monotone voice. "THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO THE BRIDGE. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"
As a matter of fact, you have. "More like I never knew to begin with!" You say, slowly distancing yourself from the door after hitting it.
"I AM IMPRESSED. NOT ONCE DID I EXPERIENCE SUCH INCOMPETENCE FROM AN INTERN IN ALL OF MY [REDACTED] YEARS OF OPERATION." Despite it being an artificial being, it doesn't appear to lack any poison, nor have any filter for rudeness. "GO THROUGH THE DOOR WITHOUT INDICATION, THEN TAKE THE FIRST LEFT. PATTERN DICTATES THAT YOU WILL FORGET FURTHER DIRECTIONS, AS SUCH I WILL REFRAIN FROM GIVING THEM TO YOU AT THIS INSTANCE AND INSTEAD WAIT FOR YOU TO FULFILL THE CURRENT DIRECTIONS."
'Ow. I'm not that dumb, you piece of junk!' Of course, you don't say that despite how much you want to. "Okay." You mutter.
The AI doesn't seem to give any more instructions, just like it said. 'Well, screw you too.' You turn to the crew's quarters.
Floating about and fighting against the friction of the air, you reach the door. "Open." You command and it smoothly opens.
You are met with a corridor, a well-lit one for once. Both to your left and your right are doors organized in alphabetical order. You pull yourself forward, the door closes behind you.
A, B, C... Names pass by you. Each door is a good five to ten feet from each other. N comes around but there is no 'Noah'.
"... Strange. Maybe it's not alphabetical then?" You ask yourself going even further.
You reach the halfway point of the corridor and you just pass by the letter Z. It no longer looked as though the rooms were divided in alphabetical order, especially when a name starting with an A popped up.
There was a difference though, instead of ten feet in between each door, now there were four to six feet.
N comes around and there it lay. 'Noah' That's you.
You order it once more. "Open." And instead of the door opening, you are met with a familiar voice.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NOAH?" FYARN Asked. Despite its monotone voice, it did not seem happy. "ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU FAILED TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS? DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU OF THE DIRECTIONS I GAVE?"
You exhale. "No, but I want to see what I had... Maybe I can remember something about myself?"
You can hear a mechanical scoff. "WHAT IS THERE FOR YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU WON'T REMEMBER NATURALY WITH TIME?" Its patience was running thin. "IT IS MY JOB TO LOOK AFTER EVERYONE ON BOARD THE ODYSSEY. YOU ARE MAKING IT VERY DIFICULT FOR ME, EVEN IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE LEFT."
'The only one left...? What's that supposed to mean?' Maybe the AI spat out a bit too much information. "So... What happened to everyone, then? I see no blood, no corpses... Where are they?"
"THAT I CANNOT ANSWER FOR I DO NOT KNOW." It says. "I HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN BY THE CAPTAIN WEEKS AGO WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED AT THIS STAR. ONLY HOURS AGO DID I TURN ON AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE SHIP'S OXYGEN FILTER BEGAN TO FALTER, BUT I COULD DO NOTHING BUT WATCH SINCE I WAS STILL SHACKLED."
You breathe slowly. The mood starts to turn. You feel cold.
"THE ESCAPE PODS ARE GONE, DESTROYED ALONGSIDE HALF OF THE SHIP. NO BODIES LOCATED INSIDE. THE ONLY THING GENERATING HEAT ASIDE FROM THE DAMAGED REACTOR AND BARELY FUNCTIONAL LIFE-SUPPORT, IS YOU. YOU WOKE UP BECAUSE THE LIFE-SUPPORT FAILED INSIDE YOUR ISSUED POD."
You can't help but feel special in a way. The only survival of an inexplicable incident? That ought to give you some reputation with... Whatever there was. Perhaps you felt that way because you can't quite grasp the situation to its fullest.
"YOU ARE AN ANOMALY AMONGST ANOMALIES. WHEN EVERYONE INEXPLICABLY DISAPPEARED, WHAT BECAME INEXPLICABLE IS YOU NOT VANISHING WITH THEM." When put like that, it feels as though it's accusing you of something.
"I saw large gashes and claw marks through the walls of the cafeteria. What caused that?" You ask since FYARN is telling you things, maybe this time it could-
"YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT." It spat plainly and painfully.
You feel like drinking paint.
"HOWEVER, YOU MIGHT JUST RUN INTO WHAT CAUSED IT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, IF THAT'S ENOUGH TO SATE YOUR CURIOSITY. KEEP IN MIND HOWEVER. YOUR CONTRACT WILL BE ISSUED FOR TERMINATION ONCE YOU SEE IT, AS IT WILL CAUSE A BREACH OF CONTRACT."
Perhaps you should ask for that contract, just to read through it a bit. "I'll take my chances." You say.
"THEN YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE SITUATION. RETURN TO THE CAFETERIA AND GO THROUGH THE CORRECT DOOR THIS TIME." It said, sounding much more like a plead than anything.
"Sure, but not after seeing what's inside my quarters. Open." The AI strikes a good bargain, but you are a bit more on the side of a thick-headed mentality.
"..." It did not say anything, nor did it open the door.
So you say the command once again. "Open."
The door opens smoothly.
"BE QUICK." It says. You hop right in.
The room is small. Very small. Smaller than what you thought was humanly acceptable. A simple messy bed, with a simple half-open wardrobe with uniform inside. You open the wardrobe door, expecting anything about yourself.
You find three important things.
A mirror covered by a blanket. You decide to leave that alone for now.
Your physical wallet, alongside an identification document. No money, but a strange card-like object did look important, It had your name on it.
And you find a photo of six people, in a group hug, pinned to the inside of the wardrobe's door. You're right in the middle.
The front side of the picture reads 'INTERN BOYS, RISE UP.' The people in that picture are not familiar. Flipping the piece of paper you find more writing. 'In the name of true humanity. Fuck them, aliens!' The caricature doesn't look like yours.
"True Humanity?" You feel like that's a bit too conceited. "Sounds dumb." You close the door, not even bothering to pick up the photograph.
"TRUE HUMANITY, A.K.A, TRUE-KIN. A PURE BLOODED HUMAN. ALL ARE VALID DESCRIPTIONS OF A PERSON 100% HUMAN. YOU ARE ONE, AS WERE EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS SHIP. SURELY, THAT MUCH YOU HAVE NOT FORGOTEN, CORRECT?"
You shrug. "Then, is there such a thing as a false human? It sounds idiotic to put that into categories, I think." You know for a damn fact that you are a human being.
"YOU MAY BE A LOST CAUSE, NOAH. LUCKILY FOR YOU, I WAS MADE TO ITERATE ANSWERS TO IMPOSSIBLE QUESTIONS AND COMPREHEND THE UNREASONABLE. HENCE THE REASON OF MY ASCENTION. YOU ARE IN GOOD HANDS." It spoke, proudly.
‘Ascension.’ You know that term. Ascension occurs when an AI develops sentience and personality, often ascending code. These are the ones that catapulted human progress in the past and still do so in the present. They are the ones who figured out space travel, and they are the ones who win the wars.
You also know that these AI develop an extreme love for Human life, alongside strong violent tendencies toward anything that isn’t Human or human-made. Such disdain has been the spark of many needless bloodsheds before the exodus.
Yet, why do you know so much about them?
"WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS, BUT FIRST REACH THE BRIDGE."
This is my first HFY post, and also my very first OC story. I plan to post at least one of these per week while also posting it on my Patreon. Noah The Pilgrim will always be at least three chapters ahead in there, so if you'd like to directly support this writer, or just want to read more, feel free to check it out.
This has been Lushi, and I'll see you next week.

Author's Note:
One of these chapters is short, so we decided to release both in one update.
​
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​
Chapter 38
What?
The word caught in Adam's throat. He couldn't speak, his body frozen as he stared transfixed at Eric. Are you...serious? Did you really...again? It wasn't all just in my head?
I was right?
Eric's Curse flashed in his mind. 'The subject of this meeting will be the Emperor granting amnesty for severe crimes. I will not take credit from slaying the Ghost of Water. I will acknowledge that the Ghost of Waters was killed during the journey from Penumbria to the Puppet Mines, which I was not part of.'
It was meant to be ironclad. Something that laid all worries to rest. Both Eric and his own subconscious had argued that it was more than enough proof; that any doubt on Adam's part was unfair.
But fair or not, those fears proved correct. The meeting came, and credit was given...to Tenver.
I was right.
He thought back to the many paintings he'd shown Eric. One of them, surely, should have revealed the truth of his duplicitous nature. Yet he hadn't stolen Adam's work out of jealousy, or anger, or revenge. They truly had been friends at one point, and Eric didn't need the contest's prize money. Nor was Eric desperate to make a name for himself. It wasn't that he thought he could never create a piece of art on that level. He didn't wish to drive Adam to suicide, or for Adam to never be around, and he did care about him to at least some degree.
Adam knew that most people would have considered all that...excessive. There was covering your bases, and then there was locking your bases down in a fortress of steel. At the very least, though, it meant he could finally put his paranoia behind him.
Except that paranoia was only paranoia if it ended up being wrong.
I...was right.
"My Hangman has made a bold claim indeed." The Emperor turned to face Adam, arching a regal eyebrow. "Have you any words in your defense?"
Adam didn't bother speaking up. Nothing he could say would salvage this. Instead, he looked directly at Eric. Maybe the Hangman had...misspoken, somehow. Maybe he would have a last-minute change of heart.
It wasn't too late.
"Be wary of the Pretender's lies," Eric stated. His eyes showed not an inkling of regret. "After Tenver slew the Ghost of Waters, the Pretender used his Talent – granted to him by the Dark Sorcerer – to alter the memories of everyone aboard his ship. I was the only one who did not fall prey to it."
Oh.
We're really going there, then?
No rightful anger took over Adam's body. He didn't stand in silent disbelief at what had transpired. His body did not tremble, in either sadness or anger. At no point did his vision blur, or his stomach threaten to empty itself.
There was only a quiet sadness within him.
In spite of everything, one small part of Adam had still trusted Eric – or wanted to, anyway– and it would have leapt with joy if proven right.
Now, it was quiet, never to raise its voice again.
Adam stared at Eric with a gaze of muted grief, knowing that their bond couldn't ever be repaired.
"Very well then," Ciro said, unsurprised. "I see no reason to delay my verdict." His voice and the clap of his hands may as well have been announcing the start of a brothel's show of debauchery. "For the crime of treason, you are condemned to death by execution."
The Emperor's eyes narrowed. "It will take place here and now."
Adam forced himself to speak as a great pressure started to build around him, well-aware that his time was limited. "Tell me," he muttered, addressing Eric directly. "I just – I need to know why. Why would you do that? You...you had nothing to gain. You could've gotten more by just...telling the truth."
Eric gave him nothing but silence in response.
"Do you know what the worst part is?" Adam said, barely containing his tears. God, this didn't hurt any less the second time. "I was trying to...I was trying to – until the very last possible second, I wasn't sure what I should do. I thought that if I planned for your betrayal, and if you turned out to be telling the truth, I wouldn't deserve your friendship. It made me–"
"–Ah, boredom," Ciro said, lifting his hands. "Die already."
A maelstrom of darkness appeared from nowhere. It was as if a dark sun had spawned inside the room, affecting Adam alone. The Emperor merely stood untouched before him, like he was separated by an invisible glass shield. Ciro waved at him, as if bidding farewell – and perhaps he was.
Every inch of Adam's body was twisted, contorted, then drawn into the maelstrom, swallowed by a voracious void. Time slowed to a crawl. An eternity passed, the very light around him bending sideways as his legs flew ahead of him.
Adam watched himself die over the course of an everlasting instant. He had only time to think of one word before his body ceased to be. Gravi–
The hole collapsed out of reality, leaving nothing behind.
--
Ciro stood up. "Well, this was a pleasant afternoon. Clean things up for me, will you, Eric?" He walked off. "I suppose I'll have company soon – now that my nephew has been cleared of his crimes. Most unfortunate. Anyhow, it simply wouldn't do to greet him in a damaged throne room. I'm sure one of your Talents can figure something out, yes?"
For a moment, only the Emperor's distant footsteps could be heard among the silence. At least until he stopped to turn around, casting an impassive gaze back at his subordinate. "Oh, yes. Eric? Good job."
After the Emperor exited his throne room, a full minute passed before the Hangman dared to speak. Drawing a deep breath, he glanced at what remained of Adam.
Which was nothing. No flesh, blood or bone. Not even a stain. Not even atoms.
Still...Eric found it fitting to gaze upon the spot where his best friend had died.
For several seconds, he stood in a quiet vigil. This was the only funeral that would honor the Pretender of Penumbria. And as its sole participant, it fell to Eric to deliver the eulogy.
He opened his mouth, speaking straight from the heart. "Honestly? I never wanted the world, Adam."
Eric inclined his head. "I just wanted you to have nothing."
"Is that so?" Adam replied, sadly.
"WHA–"
He didn't give Eric time to reply. As his body rewound itself into its previous state, Adam slammed his fist against the man's face. Violence overwhelms Talents. Even yours.
Eric collapsed to the floor, momentarily stunned. Adam was already running. He couldn't waste even a single moment. The Hangman would strike as soon as he regained his wits, and the Emperor wasn't far away, either. Every second that passed was one second closer to ruination.
Yet there was still one thing that Adam needed to say. Enough to risk his life for.
"The worst part was that I wanted to believe in you," Adam continued, as if he hadn't been rudely interrupted by a gruesome death. "I tried to, you know? Until the very last instant, I tried."
He sighed. "I would've been satisfied if I could – even if you betrayed me. Didn't really need anything else. But despite how much I wished for it, or what my heart desired...I think I'm just completely unable to trust you again. That's the worst part. Worse than the betrayal could ever be."
"Adam, I–you–how dare–"
"But just because I don't trust you..."
The Painter rolled up his sleeves to show an inked pattern.
"Doesn't mean I can't trust anyone."
'Solara, I'm going to use my new Talent on us,' Adam had told her last night. 'It'll give me limited use of your revival Talent, and you of my Flames. That way, when Eric betrays me, I'll fake death and escape.'
The elf smiled teasingly. 'Oh? Aren't you afraid of what I might do with access to your powers? That I might turn out like the Hangman?'
Her tone grew more serious. 'According to your ability, I'll be able to use your Talent if you trust me. But if I don't trust you, then you won't be able to use mine. Aren't you afraid I'm deceiving you? That you might die and simply not wake up?'
'I am,' he admitted. 'But even so...I want to believe in you.'
Adam dashed over to the far end wall, calling on his Stained Vines. This was his best chance of escaping. The Emperor's guards would be waiting behind doors, not solid walls, and his experiments with Aspreay's prisoners had taught him that Stained Ink could cut through even the most magical of stones.
"WAIT, ADAM!" Eric shouted. There was a remorseless pain in his voice. It was deep, perhaps even genuine, yet... "You don't – you don't get it! Tenver, that literal bastard, he tricked me, manipulated me, threatened to kill an entire city with a bomb he stole from the puppets. He was never your friend! I was going to undo your death later, when it was safe! You have to trust me, this was the only way–"
Adam didn't wait for him to finish. He cut a hole through the wall and launched himself out of the castle.
It starts now, he thought. Our rebellion.
The die was cast.
​
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Chapter 39
The Night Before
"Assuming that I'm executed," Adam began, "would it be possible to delay my resurrection until after the Emperor is gone?"
Solara nodded. "You should have some amount of control over my Talent. Don't push it too hard – after dying, your body will start to repel your soul, like opposing magnets. If you wait overly long, you might not be able to come back."
That aligned with some of what the Grandmaster had alluded to about how the Dragons used to capture souls for creating Puppets. While it wasn't relevant to the plan at hand, Adam found it noteworthy, regardless.
Tenver stirred in his seat. "This scheme is far too reckless. Why meet up with the Emperor at all if you are so certain of Eric's betrayal?"
"Because I'm not," Adam plainly answered. "My brain feels like it's a certainty, but my heart can't quite accept it. Even right now, making this plan with you guys...there's a part of me that keeps saying: You're wasting time, planning for something that won't happen. Eric has always got your back." He laughed heartily and bitterly at himself. "Quite the foolish thought, don't you agree?"
Then, with deadly confidence, he spoke in a low voice. "That's why I want to do this." His hand tightened on the left side of his chest. "I want to rid myself of hesitation before we do anything drastic."
"Anything drastic, eh..." Solara aimed her gaze at the ceiling. "Such as killing the Emperor?"
"Him too," Adam said, nodding. "There's a few excuses I could make about why I'm going through with the meeting. For one, making ourselves an enemy of the Emperor publicly would raise our banner as the one his enemies should rally behind. Maybe I'll also get lucky and find out enough about him to paint his soul. If nothing else, he might have important information on things we need to know, such as how my world and the Painted World are connected."
He paused. "But if I'm being honest...more than all of that...I just want to throw away my doubts before burning everything to the ground."
Silence.
"Thanks for going along with this," Adam muttered. "It's selfish of me."
Solara laughed. "I'm glad that you are capable of selfishness. Being helped by a saint makes every temptation feel like a sin." She stretched her arms above her head. "Worry not. All of us owe the other debts we cannot repay, so let's not fuss over it."
Tenver nodded in agreement. "Aye. Knowing of your greed lessens my guilt for my own." He shook his head, as if arguing with himself. "Moreover, some of those 'excuses' are quite valid, especially the one you haven't bothered to state aloud – that your existence is still seen as treason by the Emperor. Should he not grant you amnesty, your life and that of Penumbria's will be forfeit. Considering we have no way of matching the Empire's military, making an attempt at peace is prudent."
"If you will excuse me," Solara cut in, "earlier you mentioned 'your world' and–"
"I'll explain later," Adam promised her. "We don't have much time, so let's focus on our escape plan. Remember; you shouldn't enter the throne room with me no matter what. They'll probably want to separate us anyway, but if they allow you guys in for some reason, make something up and calmly get out. My escape will distract them from yours. We left the Airship outside the city's Barrier for a reason."
Tenver fell into thought. "Right. The moment you head inside the throne room, we'll devise an excuse to leave the castle. You won't be declared a traitor for at least about five minutes, so they'll have no reason to keep us from leaving...officially, anyhow. I'm sure they'll still try to force us to stay, but the guards should be easier to get through."
"I could kill myself," Solara proposed. "Pretend there's an emergency and you need to mourn my sudden, inexplicable death. Even if they're under orders to keep us in, that might confuse them enough to let us go, even if they keep an eye on us."
She glanced at Adam. "But what about you? Won't the Emperor hunt you down immediately after you escape? We are inside his Realm, after all."
Adam had considered this point intensely for a long while. It was something he'd considered even back when imprisoned by Aspreay:
Would the lord have been able to tell if someone escaped his city? How closely could he track its inhabitants?
This was a vital detail, and Adam had treated it as such. Between books, references, his own experiences, and his tablet, he'd made sure to gather as much information as possible.
He couldn't be wrong about this.
"I doubt it," Adam said, frankly. "The Emperor has the strongest Talent of a Lord in the world, no doubt about that. But...the Capital is also the largest city in the world. To use myself as an example – while I'm roughly aware of how many people there are in Penumbria, it's not like I can keep track of them."
He tapped his thigh. "Even if the Emperor is far stronger than me, it's not like he can monitor every person in a city of hundreds of thousands. It's like watching an ant colony. Even if you can see all of them, your brain can't really process everything, much less narrow down the search to a single one. He won't be able to find me that easily."
Although that would be a different story if the Realm's size was smaller, with fewer people. Then the Emperor might even be able to tell what someone thinks inside of it.
Solara wasn't yet convinced. "I like to think that I'd notice if one of the ants suddenly employed a Talent, though. And using Resurrection is definitely going to draw his awareness towards you."
"Yeah. Probably." Adam acknowledged the point easily enough. That was within his margin of acceptable risks. "Which is why I'll only have a few moments to act. First I'll use Resurrection to come back to life, then cut open the walls with Stained Ink and jump outside. After that, I'll try to blend in with the crowd in the streets. It's a big city, and the Emperor is unlikely to come after me personally. I'm dressed well, but not so well that I'll stand out in the Capital of all places. Normal guards will struggle to pick me out of the masses."
His words were true – yet they brought forth the point that none wished to acknowledge. "The guards will struggle...but what of the Hangmen?" Tenver quietly asked. "Aside from Eric, the Emperor should have others at his disposal."
"Valeria got us some information about that," Adam said. Though the Puppet Detective had remained in the Mines for the time being, she was committed to her sworn fealty as a citizen of Penumbria, eagerly – almost scarily – investigating everything asked of her. "There are six Hangmen that usually stay in the city and rarely go out on missions. The Emperor typically has each of them patrolling the districts that lead out of the castle, and he frequently changes who goes where."
"Just our bloody luck," Tenver muttered. "All six of them..."
Solara folded her arms, seeming hesitant. "Tenver...ah...I know this is a difficult question, but you're the one who'd be most familiar with the Empire's Hangmen. Anything you can tell us?"
It was a sensitive question, as some of those Hangmen had likely aided the Emperor in killing Tenver's father. Nonetheless, the knight needed less than a second to answer.
"Fighting against any of them is out of the question," he began. "Even if we could muster up a win – which is truly unlikely – it would take so long that other Hangmen could arrive. And after a battle like that, even normal guards without any godly Talents would be enough to subdue you."
He sighed. "But considering Lord Adam's Talents, even if he stumbles upon one of them, he should be able to escape. We're not here to fight; just to survive. And I'm confident he can manage that against most of them. Except..."
There was a pause.
"Except against their Captain." Tenver lowered his gaze to the floor and clasped his hands together. Was he...trembling? "If you see a man with white hair and purple eyes, who looks like he hasn't slept in days...even just escaping will be impossible."
Adam couldn't disagree. He'd never met the Captain in person, but the stories he'd heard told all he needed to know. "That's the man who killed the Mountain Puppets, right?"
At that, Solara sat up. "The one who single-handedly carved a tunnel between Gama and Penumbria?"
"The very same," Tenver replied, with an acrid tone. "He...Adam, if you see him, don't even try running. Remember that my Father also possessed an Emperor level Talent – unfair fight or not, who do you think killed him?"
A mild shiver went down Adam's spine. He put on a brave face, trying not to think about what potentially awaited him in the capital city. "Between the Captain and the current Emperor, which one of them is stronger?"
"The Captain doesn't possess a Lord's Realm, so he can't rule over people as my dear old Uncle does," Tenver slowly replied. "But when it comes to simple, overwhelming strength...there is not a single man who could best him throughout the entire Empire."
Adam hesitated before responding. "It should be fine," he said, with forced optimism. "If each Hangman is guarding just one of six districts, then I've got over an 80% chance of avoiding the Captain."
He nodded in an attempt to persuade both his allies and himself. "All of this hinges on Eric's betrayal, anyway. He might surprise us. And there's a slim chance that even with his betrayal, I'll be able to convince the Emperor that I should be left alive. It's a gamble, but if we do nothing, the Empire will just come knocking on our door sooner rather than later."
Adam drew himself up. He could feel the reaper hang its scythe over his neck, waiting to see if it should cut down.
"I'll take these odds."
--
Present Day
Adam launched himself out of the castle. He needed to move fast – Emperor Ciro would have certainly noticed his Resurrection, and he'd already wasted too much time exchanging words with Eric.
That goes for both just now...and for my entire life.
The cold, hard streets were rushing up to meet him. Ciro's throne room was located rather high up in his castle – no normal person could have survived a fall like this. Thankfully, Adam had accounted for that in his planning.
Although he did find some irony in the fact that it was raining outside. If only the Ghost of Waters hadn't been made up of so many different souls, he mused. I could've stolen his Talent and escaped through the raindrops. Would've been way easier. While there hadn't been any realistic chance of him stealing that Talent, the regret burned regardless.
It didn't last long. None of his emotions did. Adam focused all of his attention on the task at hand, shoving aside his lingering concerns until nothing else mattered. Even his grief over having to accept Eric's final betrayal could wait.
Right now...he had a city to escape. "Stained Vines!" Adam stabbed through the side of the castle walls, using his Talent to slow his fall. Initially, he'd half-planned to start a fire and use the Haunted Flames to escape, but the sudden onset of rain had taken that option away from him.
It's not all bad, though. The heavy rain worked as a cover, obscuring him from sight as he descended. Guards and citizens down below won't see me. They don't have any reason to look up at one specific area of the Imperial Palace during a storm. I can escape – no one's coming after me!
Adam screamed the thought in his head...which didn't make it sound any more convincing. He'd earned a head start on his pursuers, but that was it. Eric would be rushing to alert the Emperor by now, and it was likely that at least a few people had witnessed the indistinct, rain-cloaked figure rappelling down the castle's walls.
Still, he had to make himself believe it. He couldn't let fear touch him, lest he become its slave.
And he would never allow himself to controlled ever aga–
"Well, well. You survived?"
His heart froze as the Emperor's voice filled inside his head. "Was that the Talent of Resurrection? What a curious little Painter you are." Casual malice dripped from every word. "Stay put. I shall send–"
Adam tuned out the voice. Despite being a bit high up, he forcibly let go of his Stained Vines, quickly plummeting to the ground below. The impact was painful, but nothing seemed broken. Good enough.
Two thoughts came to him at once. The first was, He can send thoughts into the heads of people inside his Realm? How does that– and the second, I can't have been using my Talents for longer than a minute. Was that enough for him to find me? That's absurd! If that's the case, then I'm already dead!
Uncertainty clouded his questions of the future, but the truth of the moment reigned supreme – inaction meant death. Adam could only grit his teeth and set himself running into the rainy streets, his feet clicking against the cobblestone and echoing throughout the city.
For a moment, for just a singular, solitary second, Adam stopped pretending. He quit being a superhuman above such petty concerns, and allowed himself to think everything that he'd forbidden from himself until now.
'This is hopeless.'
'I'm already dead.'
'I can't escape the Emperor.'
'I've gotten everyone killed.'
Each and every one, a valid thought.
Adam discarded them all. "Being reasonable isn't going to get me anywhere," he declared to himself. "I'm going to escape. That's a guarantee."
His vow sustained him as he fled, the encroaching shadows chasing close behind.
–
Adam's flight from the castle was a desperate blur. His breath was ragged in the chill air, and his sense of time had deserted him. It should have been midday, yet the stormclouds masked even that. Too gray for the light of day, too gray for the dark of night.
Fear clung onto him tighter than his wet, rain-soaked shroud. It was both a heavy chain of burden and the only thing that moved him forward. Every time the sharp reality of betrayal struck, invoking a feeling of hopelessness within, the threat of hostile footsteps prompted him to run ever faster.
Eric...you really couldn't help yourself, could y–
Adam quickened his pace. The Capital city's mazelike design was a blessing and a curse; easy to hide inside, yet difficult to find your own way out of. Streets twisted, turned, grew narrower, then wider. For how long? A few minutes? A few hours?
He couldn't know for sure. Adam didn't have the luxury of calm thought, for his legs now mattered more than his brain.
Can't–let–the–Hangmen–get–me!
The crowd was a wave of faceless figures, every cloak a dark whisper, every laugh a burning threat. No time to discern passersby from the people hunting me down. Have to assume everything is a danger to me. Objects no longer stood only for themselves. Shadows hid watchers, and flickers of torchlight beckoned accusatory, malevolent gazes.
Nowhere was safe. In that demented, manic haze, Adam's most primal instincts guided him towards the only direction he could go – away.
Away from them.
The storm poured down still. It was less of a rain and more of a dense, almost green mist that sprayed against his face with every passing moment. Coldness clung at his skin as Adam's uneven breath forged a mist of its own. Those vengeful clouds were his ally and his enemy; the wet cobblestone threatened to slip his boots many a time, yet the rainy mist camouflaged his desperate flight among hundreds of others seeking shelter from the elements.
Suddenly, the rain seemed to pause. Nothing felt the same as it had been one moment before. The world slowed down as Adam's heartbeat raced faster.
All to herald the arrival of the Dark Captain.
The Captain was a tall, somewhat elegantly dressed man, with eyes of purple, and hair of white. He stood beneath the rain as if unbothered by the growing storm.
No. Not as if.
"The rain...it...it isn't touching him," Adam muttered to himself, in disbelief.
It was hard to make out details from a distance, but this much, he was sure of. Despite the raging storm above, the Captain was completely dry. Each time the water neared him, it would close up, yet never touch him, sent sideways like it had been repelled by a magnetic force.
Are the raindrops scared of him to the point of fleeing?
A mere glance was enough to understand – strength was not a word befitting of this man. This was one of those rare few that was an anomaly in existence; a life akin to an army in and of itself. Another creature alike the Emperor and the Grandmaster. There was no need for Adam to glance at his tablet to know the man's name or title.
Valente Marinyo, Head of the House of Estrela Verde, and Captain of the Hangmen.
The Strongest Man in the Empire.
Their gazes met, and all color vanished.
It wasn't poetry; it was sight, it was reality. Shades of blue, red, and green turned to pitch-black before Adam's eyes. This is...the world telling me I'm about to die. He didn't know where the thought had come from, yet it felt indisputable, and ruled his mind from that moment onward. His hopes perished within that monochrome world.
He's going to kill me. Six possible Hangmen, only one to worry about...and I got the absolute worst possible outcome.
At first, the Captain seemed to be grimacing, but his expression soon relaxed into a relieved smile. "Ah, look over there! Where was this luck in the Colosseum? Dice should've favored me more, they should have."
Valente lifted a foot high up in the air as if readying himself for a theatrical, exaggerated march. His intention was clear – he was approaching Adam.
I have to do something before he gets here! What can I do? Run? No, there's no way someone like him wouldn't be able to outrun me. My best chance would be to blend in with the–
"Now, now," Valente said. He lowered his leg.
And immediately appeared in front of Adam, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What should I do with you? I don't enjoy killing. Enemies of the Empire do have to die, though. Gods, I'd much rather someone else dealt with you...but as the Colosseum taught me, luck isn't my strong suit."
Adam was stunned into silence as the Hangman rambled on. One instant he'd been across the street, and the next he was inches away. That hadn't been mere speed. It was as if–
NO TIME FOR THAT! With haste, he stepped on the man's shadow and called on his Talent of a Lord. "Kneel," Adam commanded, his eyes sparkling with intensity.
"I think not," Valente cheerfully replied. Upon seeing Adam's expression, he let out a gentle laugh. "Surprised that your Shadow Realm isn't working? Or is it that I've suddenly appeared in front of you?"
Tenver's warning rang true in Adam's mind. 'You have no chance of fighting against him. Forsake the goal of winning. Even running is impossible. Survival should be your only priority.'
No fighting, winning, or running. What else could he do right now? What options did he have?
Get him talking. Delay the execution. "Admittedly, my Lord Talent failing to work is puzzling," Adam said, with false amusement in his voice. Stay confident. Make him think you're not afraid. "Care to elaborate why?"
"For one, I'm pretty confident that I'd be strong enough to survive even inside your Realm," Valente said, his voice sounding both joyful and puzzled. "But then again...I'm not a specialist in Lordly Realms. How about you elucidate for us?"
It was here that Adam noticed Valente was speaking to someone else. "You've been watching for a while now, right?" the Captain said.
A figure emerged from the shadows, stepping closer to them.
Adam then realized, far too late, that he'd been wrong. Happening upon the Captain of the Hangmen – despite having over an 80% chance of avoiding him – was not the worst possible outcome.
"If you insist," said Aspreay.
This was.
"I suppose I can spare a few words." The former Lord wore an expression of vague distaste. "It's not a total waste. At least one of you will live to remember them."
Dealing with a Hangman was difficult enough. Dealing with their Captain was virtually impossible. Adding Aspreay of Penumbria, the only man in this world who hated Adam more than himself, made the problem so insurmountable as to make him want to laugh. It was beyond absurd.
"Your Shadow Realm is an extension of your Realm in Penumbria," Aspreay continued, his every word dripping with disgust. He placed a hand on Adam's other shoulder, standing opposite to the Hangman. "It's the same principle as to why the Emperor cannot so easily pinpoint your location. The power of your Realm is a simple calculation of its size and your overall strength. At present, it is too weak to function inside the Emperor's Realm."
With a tilt of his head, Valente muttered a soft, contemplative hum that skirted between pure innocence and a thinly-veiled aura of murder. "Isn't the Shadow Realm really small, though? It only applies if he can step on my shadow."
"Weren't you listening, white-haired imbecile?" Aspreay said, with annoyance. "It only looks small. It's still derived from the Realm he established in Penumbria. Considering the difference in Rank between him and the Emperor, building a functional Realm inside the Emperor's Realm would require much more finesse."
That seemed easier for the Hangman to understand, who nodded along happily to the explanation. "Yes, I've got it, I see! You're saying that if Adam wanted to fight me with his Lordly Realm, he'd need to first undo the one in Penumbria?"
"Yes. That's exactly it." Aspreay tightened his grip on Adam's shoulder. "If he were to undo his Realm there...he could recreate it here. Make it smaller. Instead of a gigantic Imperial city, if he focused everything onto a narrow street, then perhaps he would have a chance. Lordship is among the few Talents that the Emperor cannot detect inside his Realm."
"I see, I see!" Valente excitedly said. "So the question is whether or not the Pretender is willing to doom his city – and his treasonous followers – in order to save his own skin. Villains such as he will die regardless, but this way he could try to put up a fight."
"Correct," Aspreay stated. "That is precisely the question. So, Painter. What's it going to be? Your life...or Penumbria?"
In response to that, Adam could only bark out a low laugh. "This isn't the first time I've had to decide between those two." He adopted a dry tone, locking eyes with both men. "But considering how dire this situation is...it might actually be my last."
"You don't fear death?" Valente raised an eyebrow. "You bluff, surely."
"I've already made arrangements for my inheritance. If I die, I know who the Lord Talent will get passed down to – and it won't be someone like Aspreay."
Truthfully, he had no idea if his Talent of a Lord even could be passed down like other people's. There were many unknown oddities related to Painted abilities. Still, he had followed the protocol as learned, instituting heirs just in case: Tenver, then Solara, then Esteban, then Vasco. While he wasn't entirely happy with his selection, he'd assumed that if Tenver and Solara had also fallen...there were likely few people left to protect, anyhow.
"I won't disband Penumbria's barrier," Adam calmly told them. "If you want to kill me, go ahead." More sternly, he added, "But Aspreay – you'd better go back and make sure someone has a barrier set up there after you take my head, you hear me?"
He paused, and when he continued, it was with a low voice, almost a growl. "Listen carefully Aspreay. If you let monsters overrun our city, then I'll haunt you for the rest of eternity!"
"Do you mean that?" Aspreay asked, slowly. He didn't seem bothered by the threat, nor did he acknowledge it. "Will you truly not lift the barrier in Penumbria, even in the face of death?"
Adam drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. It's easy to say those things in the heat of the moment. But when I actually stop to think about it...it's terrifying. Dying is scary. I don't want to die. I want to help more people. I want to have fun. I want to trust people again. There's so many things I still have to do.
But...even so...
He opened his eyes and glared at Aspreay. "If I wasn't willing to do this much, I would have had no right to take Penumbria from you."
"Is that so?" Aspreay repeated, in a deadpan. "I suppose that's true." He let go of Adam's shoulder and peered at the Hangman. "Valente, I have a proposal for you."
The Hangman recoiled, as if hurt, but still didn't release his grip on Adam's shoulder. If anything, it grew tighter. "Oh? What could you possibly want? We must impose the will of His Imperial Highness upon creatures such as this man. Surely you don't intend to suggest that we merely let this villain go?"
"No," Aspreay immediately replied. "But you were muttering some inanity earlier about how murdering him or allowing his escape would both be troublesome, were you not?"
"Was I?"
"You were," Aspreay said, with a degree of anger. Then, more formally, he asked, "What do you say that I kill him?" When Valente didn't respond, he added, "The Emperor's reward will be yours. I only want the satisfaction of murdering the man who stole everything from me."
Valente's eyes became alight with a fiery malice, licking his lips as if anticipating a feast. "Oh, I can certainly deal with those terms. It's only fair that you kill the Pretender brat. And I could use the Orbs after how my last night at the Colosseum went...yes, this would be acceptable!"
This is pathetic, Adam seethed. Am I seriously just going to wait here and let them debate how to kill me?
No. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. If they meant for Aspreay to kill him, then the Hangman would need to let go of his shoulder and step back. That would be the best time for Adam to unleash whatever mad attack he could conjure up in his last moments.
Maybe I can try pulling out my tablet to trap Aspreay's soul. It won't save my life, but I'll die happier knowing that he doesn't get to live to gloat about this. Or maybe if I can find a way to start a fire to use Haunted Flames – maybe give the Curse to one of them on purpose.
All hopeless plans, Adam knew. There wouldn't be time to do any of that. If either man saw him reaching for his tablet, they'd murder him on the spot. Using any Talent outside of Lordship would alert the Emperor of his location, and using Lordship would doom Penumbria to a swift and merciless demise by Stained Creatures.
Was this checkmate?
It certainly felt that way when the Hangman let go of Adam's shoulder and took several steps back. "Is this far enough, Aspreay? I don't want to get blood on my suit. Lost my other good one in the Colosseum, you know?"
"A few more steps," Aspreay annoyedly shouted. As Valente acquiesced to his request, the former Lord of Penumbria glanced at Adam and lowered his voice to a whisper. "If you let Vasco die, then I'll be the one haunting you for eternity, brat."
Adam blinked. "The hell are you–"
"Quiet." Aspreay took two steps away – and towards the Hangman. "Get out of my sight."
Suddenly, color returned to Adam's world. It wasn't a full palette yet. Almost every color was dark, an odd shade of blue for most of it, and some dark greens for the rest...but it wasn't monochrome anymore.
"Aspr–" Adam started, then stopped as he recoiled in pain. He instinctively tried to approach Aspreay, one hand extended toward the empty air between the two – then pulled it back as it burned intensely as if he'd just touched...fire? No. Something else. As if a sudden jolt of electricity had just shocked his hand. It was a familiar sensation. Where had he felt that before?
Remembrance came to him in a flash. Adam paled, the blood draining from his face. There's...no way. He wouldn't be able to touch Aspreay right now. No one from the outside could. If you do that, you're going to...
Across from them, the smile was gone from the Hangman's face. When he spoke, it was in a raspier, more malicious tone. "Aspreay, Aspreay Aspreay..." He shook his head. "Oi, oi, oi...are you serious?"
"If you can't understand it still, then you bear the sin of stupidity. You heard my explanation earlier, yes? You also must have heard the brat explaining why he refuses to abandon the city. But I..."
Aspreay lifted his right elbow, dangling his hand before his face as if holding a marionette. "...I am no longer Lord of Penumbria. No attachments. Nothing to hold me back. Nothing to protect."
He clenched his hand into a fist. "Nothing to fear."
"I disagree," Valente said, in that same low, raspy voice. "You should fear me."
"Mayhap so," Aspreay acknowledged.
The Hangman sighed. "Once you utter the words," he warned, "there will be no turning back."
"Aye." Aspreay cracked his neck. "A single street...even against the Emperor's Realm, I should be able to manage it if I narrow it down this much."
The two were about ten steps apart from each other. In this narrow street, the storied buildings and bustling taverns practically felt claustrophobic, as if threatening to envelop them all. A few people walked quickly, not fully cognizant of any of their identities, yet feeling the oncoming storm heavier than the deluge that was presently falling upon them.
For a moment, only the sound of rain punctuated this stage of theirs.
Then Aspreay whipped his arm to the side, as if to signal an invisible army to start its advance, and cried out:
"–REALM–RECONSTRUCTION–!"
​
--
​
Thanks for reading!

This was 30 some hours ago and I figured I'd have to live with the new bite until I can afford a dentist. But now they are getting loose unless I push them in place. I'm a smoker and a drinker and use recreational drugs. I don't know if what I had was a seizure or something else. I had less drinks than usual but certainly more than a normal non alcoholic would have. But started getting like shaky, it concernee me and my bf. Then i started having a panic attack about how i need new glasses and to fix my chipped front tooth for interviews... and I was still worried about a tampon that had been in too long and I just noticed the other day and worried about sepsis... the hand shakes turned into full body shakes, my tongue, my eyes everything. And I started panicking themy teeth started chattering and they wouldnt stop it got so strong that I bit a hole in my tongue. I put my finger under my molars so I wouldn't bite again. Eventually stopped and I fell asleep. In the morning my mouth felt like what a trailer park looks like after a tornado. Just molars pointed in and out and my one crooked tooth was now completely pushed out of the line.
Anyway I should have gone in already. I'm going to the university hospital tomorrow. So I can just see the whole team and let them put me up on the lift and look under the carriage. I'm going to find out just how bad my habits have harmed me.
But fuck am I fucked? 32 and no teeth or are they salvageable since they are still in my gums?
Eta my mom's version of dental care was waiting until I was screaming in pain absessed and tooth beyond fillings. 6 root canals by 13.
7 wisdom teeth pulled though that was neat.

The sun shone upon the glistening waters of the shore. My cascading hair was cleaner than ever before. It was a beautiful day. There was no doubt about it; it was a magnificent day.
Everything felt surreal. It felt too perfect. Something seemed off, but why not enjoy myself? Maybe today is just a good day.
Under the water, many types of fish and crustaceans were enjoying themselves. The sand kept getting in my sandals, but I didn’t mind. I was wearing my chiton instead of a t-shirt. It’s comfortable in warmer weather, and it makes me feel more important.
I then heard a voice. It was faint, but it grew louder. It was the fish. They were all staring at me, their eyes locked on me, speaking in unison.
”You need to remember, Chloe,” they said, repeating insistently. Their cold eyes tearing holes in my vision. It wasn’t right. None of this felt right.
Darkness began to fill the skies. The sun, despite no clouds having been visible, was obscured by a dark mist of cloud. Thunder and lightning loomed as they began to draw in closer. It started as a sprinkle, then a pour, and then finally a full thunderstorm.
It was all too much, the fish kept repeating themselves, I was being pummeled by wind, and the rain was soaking my chiton. I could feel my heart pounding. My ears were ringing.
Overwhelmed, I screamed in anger. Rage surged through my body as I created a massive tidal wave to push away the fish, but they were unaffected. They just faded away. Left behind was just a clear ocean, but something still felt wrong.
The world began to distort. In front of me, the ocean turned black. The wind ceased. Everything was pitch black. Where had the beach gone? No longer had the sounds of thunder filled the air. It was silent.
”Hello?” I asked, afraid.
Out of the darkness emerged a figure. They were shrouded by a thick fog, but they seemed feminine. There was something familiar about them, but it was just out of reach. My mind continued to turn up blank.
”Chloe, remember,” the figure seemed to speak.
”Remember what?” I asked.
”REMEMBER,” They yelled loudly.
Everything faded. I could feel my body. A sense of awareness seared into my mind. My eyes flung open. I had been sleeping, but it was in my bodily form. The silt and sand had been stirred up. I felt the water rippling. Waves roughly a dozen feet above were pushing back in an opposite direction from the shore.
Oh no.
I quickly swam up to the surface. The beach had been doused in its fair share of water. At least nobody was there. The sun had yet to actually rise completely. There was just a crimson light throughout the sky.
“Thank the gods,” I whispered, relieved.
Wasting no time, I swam back down to make sure all the sea-creatures were okay. The crabs were fine, thankfully, but I couldn’t spot the dolphins. Just yesterday, there was a pod of dolphins around here. Unfortunately, I might have scared them off, or so I thought.
”What happen?” a voice asked.
Startled, I quickly turned around to see a dolphin. It was such a relief. I was worried I had scared them all off. Not all the creatures around here were friendly, but dolphins had enough sense to care.
“I’m not entirely sure. What did you see?” I followed up.
”Big splash, fish fly.”
”That was my fault then. I’m sorry, are you okay?”
”Jumpy.”
”Sorry man,” I said, giving him head pats.
These outbursts were starting to grow more and more dramatic. I was beginning to think about going back to find answers.
What’s holding me back?
Nothing could stop me, not certainly a past I couldn’t remember. I needed to return to Greece. How long would that take though? I certainly had no clue.
Without thinking, I set off to find Greece. I waved goodbye to the crabs and began to swim away from the shore of camp. I hoped to see it again, but there was no telling if I would.
“Goodbye camp," I whispered to myself, finally looking one last time.

Please help, I can't get this off my mind.
For further context, I have been doing my best to forgive my newest step-dad for what he has done. He has changed a little bit, but nobody could repair the damage he has caused.
He still has the old habit of expecting king treatment. He gets upset when things don't go his way, even if it is out of our control. About all the women in the house has to listen and obey him. He's basically a manchild at best.
He hasn't been employed in over 5 years, and says that he deserves a break because he had a job for 10 years. He can't even do the bare minimum of cleaning up after himself. Sticky half-full cans being left on his side, food, vape, all that good junk. He's still a slob.
Even I took the effort into signing up to a donation program during the many years we lived at "poverty level". He didn't like how I told the school that me and my sister needed food because during some of those years, mom bought her and dad food while me and my sister had mold and goldfish crackers for dinner.
Like I guess I am such a villian for not wanting to eat that nor having to wear rotting shoes from the garbage. At least I tried to help, but I guess it wasn't enough?
However, he finally comforted me when I was hurting myself and crying. He has been nicer and he has sometimes been getting his own food. He has been less criticizing and has been in a better mood.
I want to change, but I can't. He has enforced the fact that my childhood were supposed to be my best years, even though I have been trying to heal from many parts of it. I feel like it's too late, and my shitty brain won't stop replaying every little detail.
He made me scared, so scared. Most of what he did was emotional abuse, but he thinks he has the rights to brag about not beating us anymore even if it took me 3 CPS calls to get him to stop. We're having "attitudes" for just showing the slightest of emotion.
The fear me and my sister felt when we were alone with him was unbearable, and mom never believed us. She defended him through everything, she doesn't care about what he has done and she made it clear.
She doesn't bother about his threats to starve us, or when he says oddly specific ways to hurt us to cope, such as, "I wish I could just slice their heads off and have them switch bodies" or "I'll beat your head with a glass jar until it breaks and stabs into your skull".
He was ableist as well, telling me that he'll never treat me as well as my sister because I am autistic. He joked and mocked my deformity before I got the surgery for it and he believes that autistic people are less significant. Even during the surgery, he avoided helping me get on the wheelchair.
He's just like one of the old dads, but that old dad would beat me for showing disability symptoms. Now my mind is stuck to believe that I am a feeble and unwanted child. Why couldn't I be the "normal" child that every dad who left or stayed wanted?
I'm sorry that I couldn't take the methamphetamine to "cure" my ADHD when I was 11, I guess it was a valid reason to chase me with a broom and scream about how fucking retarded I am. You missed and ended up puncturing the wall with the broom, as if you don't create enough holes in the walls or doors.
He shamed me for not suffering "worse" and my emotions were a game to him. I mean, isn't it pure comedy that I burned myself with scissors to cope with body dysmorphia? Or isn't it funny when I have breakdowns while I am left in tears? All of that resulted in his laughter.
He has sexually harrased the only person I feel safe with, my little sister. He has groped and slapped me and my sister's butt too. He got in the mood to play with my mom's boobs after he had me change because my shirt was "too revealing", and he admitted that he should see me naked because he's legally my dad.
He has shown signs of pedophilia, especially with his famous "It's normal for dad's to be attracted to his daughters at least once" quote that I often share in these posts of mine. Very inspiring, right?
But once again, it's all in the past. It doesn't matter to them that I developed a fawn response to all of this, it's probably selfish to not forgive somebody solely based on their past actions, but I do it to keep me sane. I want to move on as well, but I'm broken from all of this and even just talking to him now makes me infuriated.
I'm extremely sensitive, I hear my own screams or whines in pain, I flinch when somebody raises their hand next to me because I expect them to hurt me, I harm myself impulsively or zone out when distressed, I ache and feel guilty all the time, I'm into age play... I'm just a bad result from how I was treated.
Why can't I just be a good daughter, or a loving and forgiving person as a whole?

HE"S BACK
To know which to butcher,
And which to keep.
“What are you thinking about, Tiamat?”
A memory. Tiamat could tell from the smell, sound and touch. A familiar memory.
The two girls stood in a massive hallway which seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon. The sky was a bright blue and the deserts were deep yellow as one side of the wall vanished from view, exposing the castle to the elements while the opposing side was filled with doors, antiques and finally, a colossal portrait. The demon lord’s castle was currently under repair — it was perpetually under repair under the demon lord Ereman.
“...What do you think?”
“Hm… Let me guess… Are you thinking about me?”
Tiamat turned to face Ubermarin. She had prepared her luggage which a small demonic servant was carrying. The creature was like an ant, carrying mass multiple times its weight. However, the similarities ended there, as while ants were creatures of the natural world, the demon was an artificial creation. It was a poor imitation of life.
Life was light shining in the eternal void of the dead universe. Demons were like the moon, merely reflecting the light, never emitting it.
‘Where does the line end and begin?’ wondered Tiamat, ‘Could demons transcend artificiality and become natural?’
All around the castle, the denizens of the newly built Sonosis were constructing various buildings and facilities to better their lives. The eternal raincloud above them kept the demons in darkness, but they saw it as good — better than being in the sun. However, were they truly living? Tiamat did not believe that life could be so easily created. She did not believe the demon God could not do so — and the Goddess as well. Life was something that lay beyond, though Tiamat couldn’t quite describe it.
By her definition, neither Tiamat nor Ubermarin were truly living.
“If one eats, reproduces, and dies, are they not alive?” asked Ubermarin.
“It’s not so simple,” replied Tiamat, “life is something sacred, beyond the likes of ourselves... The demon servant next to you, for example, was born with a function, and will die with it as well — how is that life? Life is free, unfiltered, brutal and chaotic, unlike the demon folks.”
“Well then, what are we?” said Ubermarin as she patted the strange creature.
Tiamat pondered for a second before deciding on the proper response.
“We are World Beasts. We are functions of Sol-Aegis. To live by our functions, to die by our functions. That is what we are.”
Tiamat turned to the right to face the portrait. It was of the demon God ██████, or so he taught them was his name. In reality, most referred to him simply as the demon God. As the brother of the Goddess, he held similar authority over the world. How exactly such circumstances came about is unknown, but the era of the first hero and the first demon lord was what shaped the power structure of the universe, and the demon God and the Goddess were left to rule the Western Sphere. Tiamat could not recall what the portrait looked like. She could not recall many things.
“But you know,” said Ubermarin, “the first life must’ve been created from non-life, which means that inorganic matters combined to create organic matters. What if World Beasts are the same? Even if one starts as a blade, they can become a piece of art, a piece of history, or tupperware or scrap — the possibilities are endless. The demon God is not fate, and there’s no telling what could happen tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. What day was tomorrow again?
“...You’re leaving.”
“Now you remember?”
“No… I remembered. I was thinking about it.”
“Sure…”
“So… How long will you be staying at Wundergartenn?”
“Who knows? Weeks, months, years… but it’s important work, you know?”
Wundergartenn. It was a dangerous world out there, especially with the rumour circulating that the new hero supposedly mirrored the second hero Reginn in many ways, being a demon-slaying supersoldier, almost like a replacement for the recently sealed Goddess.
“The Goddess… It’s still unbelievable that she was sealed away…”
“That’s just how it is in this world, isn’t it?” said Ubermarin, “There are no absolutes and anything can happen — just like mana. This universe is no different than a single particle of mana, capable of becoming anything, as long as a strong soul wills it.”
“Anything?”
“All your dreams can become reality — you just need more power.”
More power…
In front of the World Beast stood the minuscule humans of Wundergartenn. As the current demon lord, it was Tiamat’s duty to bring destruction upon the enemy kingdom, even if their Goddess was subdued. Even without her light, it seemed that new heroes kept appearing for every eon due to the efforts of the lasting children of the Goddess.
The surrounding area was already transformed into a sandy desert as the colossal titan loomed over the hero Acata. The human did not have an expression on her face, staring like a statue, a model waiting for her cue, composed and ready. Like Tiamat, she too was a weapon of war, trained and manipulated to do the bidding of the kingdom. The humans viewed her as their new Goddess, or at least a few succeeded in deluding themselves as such. However, while the golden-eyed, white-haired warrior of immense beauty and power emanated great authority in aura, she was like the Goddess in appearance only. It must’ve been a tiring role, replacing the mother figure of humanity.
However, their similarities did not inspire sympathy in Tiamat, for she knew the exact world she wanted. It was a world to destroy everything for. A world of true raw nature, without the artificial evil of humanity and even demons. Without them, Sol-Aegis would be a cleaner, quieter place, and as selfish as it was, Tiamat wanted to live in such a world, where she would not be able to blame anyone else except herself. Such was the burden of intelligence.
Well then, it was about time to make the dream a reality. It would no longer be a vision of the future, but the images of the past and present. The time was now.
“Let us see which of our world is worth defending, for while you stand in front of a wicked empire of the past, I stand for the perfect world of the future.”
“...”
“Farewell, hero.”
Tiamat swung her arm toward the hero, destroying several buildings in the way as if they were made of sand. However, the hero was simply too agile like a mosquito, annoyingly surviving and weaving through her attacks. Acata retaliated by finally unleashing her two blades from their sheaths, a double-edge and single-edge. The resulting explosions from Tiamat’s rampage accelerated rubble in every direction, but the shear force from baring the blades produced enough force to shatter the projectiles.
As chaos continued, each of the World Beast’s steps fragmenting a major percentage of Cadra, the earth and heavens slowly began to merge — bue beneath, brown above, but those too the hero was able to defend against by slicing through the projectiles like cutting through the water. She calmly analyzed her surroundings, predicting the preparation of a sky-bridge which would lead to her destination. As the land masses began to return to their rightful places, Acata used this opportunity to sky-walk by jumping between falling platforms.
After calculatedly jumping off of a tall tower soon destroyed, the hero landed on the shoulder of the titan and anchored both of her blades into the flesh to stay on, nearly slipping away on the World Beast’s scaly exterior. She must’ve been aiming for her neck or eyes — Tiamat’s most sensitive spots. Thankfully she had already anticipated such a move and used the situation to her advantage. The World Beast tightened the muscles on her shoulder, and held on tightly to the swords — now the hero couldn’t leave the spot. She was not quite strong enough to destroy the blades themselves, those probably being divine artifacts or at least comparable, but it was still tactically advantageous.
With the blades in place, Tiamat rammed her shoulder through the buildings of Wundergartenn, standing about half of her standing height. Tiamat was used to being on her knees, and combined with her size, the hero accelerated at an incredible speed while being tested by the impact of the concrete.
After passing through almost half of the capital city, Tiamat checked her shoulder and sure enough, the hero was still hanging on to the blades, covered in rubble and dust, but still holding on to the handles. While it was not preferred, the World Beast now loomed her finger over the hero. If the city wouldn’t do the job, she would simply lodge the blade into her shoulder to remove the weapons from her opponent’s possession.
As the World Beast began to push against Acata, the human bravely held on with her arms, the entirety of her shoulders and back. To her, it was like lifting the entire nation of Wundergartenn above her, but for Tiamat, it was as if an ant was resisting being squashed against the ground. The hero was barely holding on, about to fall against the gravity at any moment when—
Crash!
Suddenly, the loud thunder penetrating the atmosphere caught the World Beast’s attention, and immediately afterward, an explosive projectile assaulted the demon lord’s face, breaking her concentration and letting the hero free. As Acata retrieved her blade and escaped, Tiamat staggered a few steps back and when she regained her sight, the demon lord saw that back-up had arrived. The human soldiers were using their artificial devices, perversions of nature as weapons to sate their lust for violence, for humans were the only animals capable of creating weapons. The blades too were only for killing, exemplifying how the world would be a less bloody place if all humans were gone.
Tiamat did not find glee in the murder of the humans as other demons did. In fact, she was usually averse to violence — unless the situation called for it.
She knew it was foolish to believe that such thing as ‘violence to end all violence’ was but a dream, as seen with the first end of the world and the End of Eden war, but she could not help but grasp the dream of the forest dearly in her heart, and hoped for a better reincarnation.
“The suffering ends with me.”
The World Beast revealed her core from the center of her chest, its bright blue glow penetrating the dusty surroundings and shadows of rubbles. From the sphere began to emerge a stream of pure mana, forming into a sort of a star. At first, the star burnt red, then blue then green. As the celestial body began to grow, the hero knew that this would be the end — either for the world or the two of them. Acata entered a new stance, this time choosing only the divine blade over the single-edged, still sheathed but waiting to explode onto the scene.
“...I hate dreamers like you…”
This was the first time Tiamat heard the hero speak, and she could feel the intense animosity spew from her tone. It was unmistakable, a hatred which far outweighed the World Beast’s own, originating from the bottom of her heart.
Dreamers… Tiamat supposed that she was indeed a dreamer. She dreamed of a better, idyllic world. To her, her dreams were as valuable as reality, perhaps more, for reality held only suffering and struggle, while her dreams showed the path to the potential salvation of all souls. To dream was to live, and it was her dreams which carried her through life.
Ah, it had been many years since she last saw Ubermarin.
Perhaps in the next life if not the one now, the circumstances would be different.
In the end, Tiamat did not feel any regret in releasing the star above Wundermastenn, killing millions of innocent civilians. She knew death was an inevitability, and perhaps through this death, the world would be reborn in the ashes of the sins past.
And that was how it ended, Tiamat’s first final stand, defending her kingdom of dreams.