#;;Decoding Encrypted Messages. [Asks]

[jinruinokyuseishu]

" I don't care! " Sirin's outburst comes off as blunt and unexpected. Fists balled at her sides, shaking but still holding firm, eyes closed and face scrunched up out of irritation. " I don't want to go. I don't want to be around any of those people! "

It doesn't take long for her to realize that she'd been yelling. What was once childish fury had melted away into a shrinking feeling of cowardice. " I-- Sorry. I didn't mean to yell.. "

Prompted Asks || Always Accepting

Given the last medical facility she had once resided in had been the farthest thing from beneficial or kind, her reaction was only to be expected even if the goal was to simply have her get a check-up.

“I see.”

There's no hostility to his voice in the least after he waits for child to finish, Kevin's tone as level as ever. Though he's seen others flinch or begin reaching for their weapons in response to such outbursts, the only thing that the Sire of the Kaslana sees before him is a scared little girl.

For what reason did he have to feel as if he should retaliate with force?

“--It’s alright. As long as it is only the two of us.”

It’s not meant to be a threat, really, only a fact--Were any of the others here, namely Jackal or Gray Serpent; The circumstances might--No, it would definitely have escalated to a situation where he'd have needed to physically step in. As his hand instinctively reaches out to gently rest upon her head, he stops himself abruptly, lowering his arm back to his side.

"--I'm not an expert, but I know enough. If...."

A pause. Su taught him in the past, as well as MEI and Mobius; He at least knows enough to get by, to determine certain conditions to a point where he would at least have the knowledge to direct her to an expert.

"....If you don't want Jackal to examine you, I can."

@remunporium

[lunaiz4-misc]

By the time the humans invented wireless Internet, the aliens had already been monitoring the RF bands on and in the vicinity of Earth for decades. Well, they didn't have decades - that was a human concept - but many full orbits of the little blue planet around its yellow star.

The packet encryption broke easily when subjected to advanced computing techniques, and soon they were able to pick up, decode, and even send information on the "world wide web." Wary of being detected, they were careful to limit their queries, but even a severely restricted ability to actually *ask questions* made the xenoscience division go starry-eyed.

Their excitement was short-lived, however, as the screen displayed a message that chilled them to their cores: "to continue, please prove you are a human."

[guilty-pleasures21]

The perfect guy

Ahh! Thank you so much for following this story! I really appreciate all the love and support you guys have given me. I'm currently going to start work on the Bridgerton-themed fic, so feel free to request for anything you want to see in that one. And any other requests besides 🤗!

The project

The new guy

The lie

The new body

The hospital

The first time

The suit

The virus

The escape

Warnings: explicit descriptions of sex (male x female).

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She wandered through the halls of the base, pushing the cart of cleaning supplies in front of her. She'd managed to convince one of the janitors to let her use his access card - a kindly old gentleman she'd always been friendly with. His expression had softened as she'd begged and pleaded with him until finally, he'd asked her what she'd use it for. She'd told him that he'd be safer if he didn't know - if he let her tie him up and pretend she'd forced his hand - and he'd agreed, his own heart aching at the pain in her expression. And that was how she'd ended up here: breaking into a top secret government facility to bust out her one true love. ��Turning down the hallway to the medical bay now.”

“Let me know when you've lost access,” Miguel replied over her earphones.

“Roger that.” She continued down the winding corridors until finally, she reached a door her card couldn’t access. She pushed the cart aside and took a moment to calm herself. Twelve minutes, she only had twelve minutes. Twelve minutes next to a lifetime. “¿Querido? Estoy listo. (I'm ready.)”

“Roger that.” A tense moment of silence passed, the only sound the beating of her heart in her chest. Then the card reader flashed green and the door slid open before her. “You have twelve minutes, querida. Starting the countdown now.”

She dashed through the series of unlocked doors until finally, she reached the isolation room. She rushed in as quickly as she could and ripped aside the blanket covering Miguel's body. She flicked on the life support monitors, then waited for her phone to connect to his brain. “¿Querido?”

A pause. Then, “I'm in. Uploading consciousness now. Ten minutes until discovery.”

Ten minutes: that meant they'd only have three minutes to escape before anyone caught them. X watched Miguel's chest, anxiously waiting for it to start rising and falling with his breaths. He was still in his Spiderman suit, the nanobots caressing his cold skin gently. Maybe he'd be able to use his powers to help them escape.

“Five minutes until upload is complete,” Miguel informed her, his chest beginning to move. X grabbed his hand quickly, her own heart threatening to burst out of her chest in anxiety. They had to make it out of this together, they had to: they didn’t have any other choice.

Margo searched for the breach in the system, her eyes glued to the monitor before her. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she decoded the information on the screen, trying to undo the complex encryption stopping her. Then finally, she shot out of her seat.

“I got-” She paused as a message flickered on her screen, just one word: please. Her eyes widened with shock. Miguel? He was still … alive?! Her fellow programmers turned to face her, waiting for her to continue.

“What?!” one of them pressed when she remained silent. “Did you get it?!”

“Huh?” Margo looked up at all the other people hunched over their computers, their determined faces lit up by the glowing light of their monitors. None of them wore the easy smile that X always shared with anyone she came across nor the excited curiosity constantly displayed across Miguel's face as he indulged in all the physical sensations his new body had to offer. She hesitated, her eyes flickering back to the single word blinking in the corner of her screen. “I got nothing. Have you managed to find it yet?” She sat back down, a sense of hopeful relief overcoming her when the other guy shook his head. Then she resumed her frantic typing: maybe she couldn't stop the rest of them completely, but she could at least delay them for a little longer.

They were in the last minute of the transfer - the window in which he wouldn't be able to communicate with her until he woke up. X held onto his hand as she waited in silence, rubbing his palm to warm him up a little - they'd kept his body cold so it wouldn't start decomposing, but he was starting to heat up now that his heart was beating again. She brought his fingers to her lips to press a quick kiss to them, then she glanced at her phone again. Four minutes left before someone found them. No, wait … Six? Miguel shifted in position, starting to awaken, and X tucked her phone back into her pocket. “¿Querido?”

He squeezed her hand, then blinked his eyes open slowly, getting used to the light. He turned to face her and smiled when his gaze focused on her, his full lips curling at the ends with delight as soon as he could make her out. X bent over and wrapped her arms around his neck, showering his face with quick kisses. “We have five minutes?"

Miguel swallowed, wetting his throat a little so he could speak. “Margo.”

X’s eyes teared up as she grasped his meaning - she'd bought them some extra time, even though she’d known that it would cost her. X nodded in understanding and stepped back, holding onto Miguel’s arm to support him as he stood. “Can you get us out of here?”

Miguel flexed and relaxed his muscles, getting used to his physical form again. Then he slid his arms around X’s waist and lifted her onto his hips. “Hold tight, querida. Don't let go, no matter what happens.”

X curled herself around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck and breathing in the warm, masculine scent of him.

“No matter what happens,” she echoed in agreement. “No blackouts, Miguel.”

He smiled at the familiar catchphrase. “No blackouts, X.”

Gabriella giggled as her parents held onto her hands and swung her into the air between them. “Again! Again!”

“No, wait!” X stopped her. “I want to know what happened next! What did Anna do after Nick stole her ball?”

“She kicked him!” Gabriella looked up at X, her dark eyes wide with excitement just like her mother's always were. “And then Ms Jenny came before they could start fighting! It was crazy.”

“That is crazy,” X agreed, nodding along to the story. Then she turned serious. “Don't fight with people, okay, Beebee? It's never worth it.”

Miguel shrugged at her words, recalling all the times he’d had to use force to take a villain down. “It's some-”

“It's never worth it,” X interrupted, narrowing her eyes at her husband and fixing him with a threatening glare. Miguel held his free hand up in surrender.

“Okay! Okay. Whatever you say, querida. Listen to your mami, arañita.” He bent over and made his voice low, but kept it loud enough for X to hear. “She might beat us up otherwise!” His wife rolled her eyes in exasperation. Sure she was tiny and adorable, but she’d literally created a superhero, broken into a top secret military base and then pushed an entire human being out of her body after working on it for nine months! His wife was a total badass.

Gabriella looked up at her father, carefully studying his large and towering form. Then she tugged on his hand, gesturing for him to bend over and let her whisper in his ear. “Don't worry, Papa, you can take her!” Miguel chuckled at his daughter’s response.

“You really think so?” Gabriella nodded in agreement and Miguel continued. “Let's get her on the count of three, okay? One, two, three!” The two of them pounced on X, attacking her with their fingers and tickling her mercilessly.

“Ah! Stop! Stop!” She batted their hands away and ran a few steps ahead, putting some distance between them. Then she turned around and huffed at them, her lips twisting down at the ends as her brows furrowed in irritation. Dios, she was just as beautiful as the day she’d first connected him to her cameras. She waited until they reached her, then she smacked Miguel on the arm. “So mean, querido! You're being a bad influence on your daughter. ” She took Gabi's hand in hers and they started walking again.

His daughter - their daughter. Their own little baby who had her eyes and her hair and his nose and his smile. Dios, he'd never stop being amazed by the sight of their own perfect little daughter. He grabbed hold of her and lifted her up onto his shoulders, holding her high above the world as they continued walking home. “Our daughter? Where is she? Where did she disappear to? She was right here a second ago!”

Gabriella giggled as Miguel pretended to search their surroundings for her. “Papa! I'm right here!”

“Gabi?! Bebita?! Where are you?! I can't see you!” Miguel insisted, setting his features into an expression of horror. X chased after him with her arms outstretched, her heart pounding with terror at the thought that their daughter might topple off her father’s broad shoulders. She hated when Miguel played with her like that!

“Miguel! ¡Querido! ¡Bájala! (Put her down!)” she exclaimed, trying to grab Gabriella. Miguel turned to face her, a confused expression on his face.

“¿Qué?” he asked. “¿Quién?” (What? Who?) X folded her arms across her chest and frowned. Miguel grinned at the sight and finally crouched down, allowing Gabi to slide off of him. X rushed to support her, making sure she wouldn’t hurt herself, then she straightened and looked up at Miguel with a scowl. She was so cute whenever she was mad at him, her arched brows crashing together, her nose scrunching up, her lips pursing in irritation. He bent over and pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then he took hold of Gabi's free hand again. “So who got the ball in the end?”

Gabi’s eyes lit up in excitement and she continued chattering away animatedly, clutching onto her parents’ hands as she finished telling them about her day at school.

“You remember our phone numbers, ¿sí, bebita?” X asked as they walked up to the Parker’s door. Gabi sighed at the question.

“Sí, mama,” she reassured her before rattling off her parents’ numbers for what felt like the hundredth time that day. X smiled and leaned over to give her daughter a kiss on the top of her head.

“Good girl!” she praised her. “Remember to call us if you need anything and never do anything you don't feel comfortable doing. ¿Entiendes, mi amor?”

“Entiendo, mama,” Gabriella replied in that same bored tone. Miguel chuckled.

“She sounds just like you, querida,” he teased his wife. X sighed and shot him an exasperated look. But the ends of her lips twitched when she saw the grin on his face. She stepped forward to ring the doorbell and was quickly greeted by MJ's welcoming smile when she opened the door.

“Mr and Mrs O'Hara!” A slight blush coloured her cheeks as her gaze fell on Miguel - as with everyone else in their little suburban neighbourhood - then she quickly turned her attention to Gabi. “Hi Gabriella! Are you ready for the sleepover?”

“Yes, Mrs Parker! Thank you for having me!” She swivelled around to give her parents quick hugs, buzzing with excitement for her first sleepover. “Bye mama, love you! Bye papa, love you!” Then she turned back to MJ and ran into the house when she stepped aside.

“Someone's an eager beaver!” MJ joked. X gestured to Miguel beside her.

“She gets it from her dad.” She held her hand out to Miguel so he'd pass her the box of cupcakes she'd brought along, then she handed it over to MJ. “Thanks so much for organising this Mary Jane, I baked some cupcakes if you'd like to share them with the kids. Please let us know if you need any help, all right?”

Miguel watched fondly as his wife gave their neighbour a warm smile. She was always so genuine in her interactions with people, always so sincere. He didn't know how she still managed to trust in people even after everything they'd been through, fighting so hard to get to the small and happy life that they shared now. He thanked his lucky stars again that she had fought for him: that she'd risked so much to give him the chance to kiss her awake every morning when he got up and cuddle her in his arms every night when they went to bed. MJ thanked the both of them, then went to watch over the kids, leaving Miguel to take hold of his wife's hand and walk back home with her.

He kept his grip on her hand when they entered her house, stopping her from getting too far out of his reach.

“Querida.” Miguel pulled his little wife back to him and bent over to rest his head on her shoulder. “Should we start working on baby number two now?”

X giggled at his naughty suggestion, but leaned into his warm and soothing touch anyway.

“Like you aren’t always working on baby number two,” she chastised him. He’d pounce on her as soon as their daughter fell asleep every night, ushering his wife into their bedroom and taking pleasure in her body after an entire day of having to be apart. He'd found a job as a software developer once they'd settled into their unassuming suburb and though he enjoyed his work, he always got a little anxious that someone might try to take her away from him when he wasn't there to look after her. Miguel pushed X towards the stairs as he brushed his lips along the side of her neck, guiding her in the direction of their bedroom.

“Miguel,” X began, stopping them in their tracks. She turned around and slid her hands up her husband's broad chest before wrapping her arms around his neck. “We have the whole house to ourselves, querido. Why wait until the bedroom?”

She gave him a naughty grin and Miguel groaned at the mischievous look on her face.

“P*ta madre, querida.” He curled his arms around her and nipped at her earlobe playfully, causing her to shudder against him. He straightened to look at her, then smiled when he saw her grinning up at him already. Miguel bent over to press his lips to hers and started pushing her towards the sofa this time as he slid his tongue into her mouth. X clung onto his shoulders, trying to keep herself from stumbling backwards, but Miguel held her upright, his hands wandering all over her body as he rushed to take her clothes off. He pushed her onto the sofa and X laughed as she tripped over her jeans, already bunched up around her ankles. Miguel knelt on the ground to pull them the rest of the way off, then he climbed up over her once he'd tossed them aside.

She cupped his cheek in her hand as their tongues tangled together, brushing her fingers over the faint hint of stubble creeping along his jawline. Shit, he was so. Freakin’. Perfect! X slid her fingers into his hair and tugged on his soft waves gently, delighting in the taste of him in her mouth. Miguel moved his lips to her neck and slid his hands down her curves, meaning to pull her shirt off. But she stopped him, suddenly remembering something.

“Wait!” she exclaimed. Miguel looked up at her in question, sitting back so she could push herself up to a seat. She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “I have a surprise! Wait here!”

X jumped up off the sofa and ran up to their bedroom, leaving her husband sighing at her sudden departure and sinking back into his seat. She dashed over to their cupboard and dug through her clothes to find the underwear she'd somehow managed to keep hidden from him. He was always so curious, her husband, and though it made for plenty of new experiences for their little family, it also made it incredibly difficult for her to surprise him. So, she’d take whatever opportunity she could get. She zipped over to the bathroom to get changed, then hurried back down the stairs, not wanting to keep her handsome husband waiting for too long.

Miguel tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for her. She loved surprises, his adorable little wife. It didn't matter whether she was the one planning them or the one receiving them: she just liked the joy that would fill the room whenever it was revealed.

“I’m ready, querido,” X called from somewhere behind him. Miguel twisted his head to look back at her and his jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing.

She’d seen the silky green lingerie set in a shop window on her way back from grocery shopping the other day. It had been a while since she’d treated herself like that, what with Gabriella still being too young to go over to her friends’ houses and Miguel being too busy working at his full-time job. She herself spent her days as a biology teacher for the secondary school kids at Gabi’s school. It had taken a bit of getting used to, having to communicate with young students as opposed to the genius scientific minds she’d collaborated with in her previous jobs, but it was nice being able to mentor the kids and enjoy the quiet little life she and her husband had managed to build for themselves. X grinned as she placed her hands on her husband's shoulders and straddled his lap.

Miguel felt his heart start to quicken in his chest as he trailed his eyes over his wife's beautiful body. He hadn’t seen it before, the buttery deep-green fabric that clung to her intimate bits so very nicely. But he liked it.

“Do you like it, querido?” X asked, delighting in the hungry look on his face. Miguel lifted his gaze to hers, his brows furrowed in confusion. Then his eyes fell back to her body.

“Hmm? Yeah,” he mumbled distractedly. “What material is this?” He reached up to circle his thumbs around her nipples and X sucked in a breath at the feeling. Coño, his wife was beautiful, her head falling back in pleasure to expose the delicate length of her neck.

“Silk,” she replied once she’d regained her senses. She ran her hands along his shoulders, squeezing his muscles appreciatively. “Do you like it?”

“Mmm,” Miguel hummed in agreement, sliding his hands along the smooth curves of her waist. X grinned and tilted his face up to hers so she could start kissing him. She slid her fingers into his hair as she swirled her tongue around his, scrunching his soft waves in her hand. Miguel tightened his grip on her waist, moaning into her mouth as she began rolling her hips against his. He glided his hands up her back and wrapped her up in his arms, pulling her closer so her soft breasts pressed against his hard chest. X flinched as he reached down to squeeze her ass, her hips grinding against his and causing him to groan into the crook of her neck. “Querida …”

X dug her fingers into his shoulders and stopped her movements until he pulled back to look at her. She smiled when their eyes met, then leaned forward to run her hands up his neck and to his cheeks. She held his face in position as she kissed him again, her hands drifting down to the hem of his shirt as she smiled against his lips. She sat back to tug it off of him, then let her hands glide down his torso when he took over for her and pulled it off. She bit her lip at the feeling of his smooth skin beneath her palms, then she bent over to begin pressing soft kisses down the side of his neck. Miguel sighed as she made her way down his body, her lips and tongue tracing the outlines of his muscles teasingly. He lifted himself off his seat as she lowered herself to her knees, giving her the space to take his trousers off. X maintained his gaze as she took hold of his cock, fixing him with a naughty grin. Miguel kept his eyes trained on her as she guided him to her mouth and began showering his tip with soft kisses. He dug his fingers into the cushions as she swirled her tongue around him, his nerves lighting on fire as his wife teased and pleasured him with her mouth. She closed her lips around him and sucked on him carefully, slowly pulling him deeper into her mouth. Miguel groaned and slid his fingers into her hair to tug her back and forth, gently guiding her movements along his cock. X gripped onto his thighs and let out a low moan, knowing the vibrations would cause him to shudder in response. She pushed herself forward when he did, taking all of him into her mouth then swallowing around him when she felt his tip hit the back of her throat.

“¡P*tas!” Miguel swore, his body tightening at the pleasant sensation. He let go of her hair, then sank lower into his seat, relaxing into her embrace. X pulled her head back, letting him fall out of her mouth, and Miguel clenched his muscles to control himself as she climbed back onto his lap. He kept his hands on her waist as she circled her arms around his neck and bent over to nibble his jaw. Then she moved her mouth to his and pressed quick kisses to the corners of his lips, only causing his agitation to grow. Miguel growled and cupped her cheek in his hand, angling her head so he could kiss her properly. X giggled into his mouth and he smiled in response to her reaction - just like he always did. He kissed her for a little longer, relishing the taste of her in his mouth, then he flipped them around so she was suddenly underneath him. X looked up at him with wide eyes, startled, but he didn’t give her the chance to respond before he’d flipped her over onto her knees. Miguel curled himself around her and X relaxed into his embrace as he began kissing and nibbling on the side of her neck. He was so warm, his body so toned and defined against hers. He slid his hand down her back and into her panties, then closed his fingers around her soft flesh. X squealed, knowing he loved it when she did that, and Miguel grinned at the sound.

“Eres tan linda, mi amor (you're so lovely, my love),” he mumbled into the crook of her neck. “Tan hermosa. Mi esposita preciosa y inteligente. (So beautiful. My smart and pretty little wife.)” X shivered as the tips of his fangs pricked her skin and Miguel chuckled. He straightened to slide her panties off of her, then he slipped his hand between her legs.

She gasped at the feeling of her husband’s large fingers dragging up and down her p*ssy, then arched her back to spread herself wider for him. Miguel snickered at her eagerness and bent over to kiss her cheek before moving behind her again. He took hold of his cock and traced his tip along her folds, teasing her sensitive nerves as he lubricated himself in her c*m. He dipped his tip in and out of her entrance and X twisted her head back to scowl at him.

“Stop teasing me, Miguel!” she scolded him. Miguel laughed at the irritation on his wife’s face.

“Fine,” he relented. He notched his tip to her entrance then squeezed her ass in his hands as he eased himself into her. He rolled his hips gently as he pushed himself inside of her, keeping his movements slow so he could feel himself brushing against every inch of her warm and soft walls. F*ck, she felt good. He flipped his hands up her sides and unclipped her bra and X hastily pulled the straps off so she could toss it aside. Miguel chuckled at her enthusiasm, then he cupped her breasts in his hands, flicking and rolling her nipples with his fingers.

X flopped over onto the backrest, her brain turning numb at the feeling of his cock nestled deep inside of her. Shit, he felt good. Her p*ssy started throbbing around his dick as he continued to play with her breasts and Miguel grunted before moving his hands to her hips and thrusting himself in and out of her.

She was so cute, the helpless moans and whimpers falling from her mouth sounding like music to his ears. X pushed herself up and Miguel pulled her against him, holding her tight against his chest. She reached up and wrapped an arm around his neck, her slender finger sliding into his hair, and Miguel snuck a hand back up to her breasts. He squeezed her soft flesh as he sped up his movements, the sound of his balls slapping against her ass filling the room. Then he reached down and started rubbing her clit, the feeling of his fingers against her sensitive bundle of nerves amplifying her pleasure.

“M-M-Miguel!” X whined, her small body shuddering in his arms as she reached her climax. He stopped his movements abruptly, wanting to revel in the feeling of her clenching around his cock. Then he pulled out of her when she was done and spun her around so she was laying on her back.

She looked up at her husband with a dazed expression, her chest heaving with shallow breaths as she came down from her high. But then he was tracing her soaked folds with his tip and dipping in and out of her teasingly again. X squeezed her legs together as her p*ssy continued to flutter from the overstimulation, but her husband pried her thighs apart and held them down so he could slide his cock back into her. Miguel inhaled deeply at the delicious feeling of being snuggled tightly within his wife's warm and wet walls, then he glided his hands up her torso to start playing with her breasts again.

She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes as he flicked her nipples, the blissful expression on her face driving him closer to his own edge. He bounced her breasts teasingly, delighting in the way they jiggled between his fingers. Then he cupped them gently, his large hands swallowing her soft flesh whole. X clenched her muscles, tightening her grip on his cock, and Miguel let out a choked gasp at the sensation.

“Querida,” he groaned, the gruff tone of his voice causing a shiver to run down her spine. She pulled him into her again, squeezing his dick tight, and Miguel growled at the feeling this time. He moved his hands to her wrists and loomed over her, his copper eyes sparking as he pinned her against the sofa. “Arañita.”

X giggled at the note of warning in his voice and her back arched off the sofa in response to the feeling of his cock buried inside of her. Miguel bit his lip at the smile on her face, his stomach tightening at the sight of her curly hair tumbling around her shoulders and framing her sweet features so perfectly. Then he slid his hand under her back and started pumping himself in and out of her.

She yelped at the sudden force of his movements, the sofa creaking beneath them as he thrust his dick into her again and again. Her body stretched itself out at the feeling, preparing for another round of contractions to overtake her, and she grabbed onto a cushion to keep herself grounded.

“Mmm, querido …” his wife moaned, biting her lower lip in pleasure at the feeling of him. ¡P*tas! She was so. P*nche. Beautiful! His gorgeous f*cking wife! The woman who had given him their beautiful little daughter, the perfect combination of the both of them together. Mierda, he couldn't wait to put another baby in her - to see her waddling around the house again, all swollen with his seed. Coño, she was cute when she was pregnant.

She giggled at his mumbling about wanting to put another baby in her and how so very cute she looked when she was pregnant. She thanked her lucky stars again that she got to wake up in his arms every morning and fall asleep in them again every night. He was so sweet, her husband, always looking after his little wife and daughter, constantly making sure that no harm ever befell them. She gasped as he reached his climax, relishing the feeling of his warm c*m shooting into her womb and filling her up so very deliciously. Then she reached her orgasm too, her p*ssy clenching around his cock as she shook and shuddered beneath him.

He hovered over her when he was done, panting as he tried to catch his breath. F*ck, that had felt good. X looked up at him, her wide eyes travelling over the outlines of his muscles, highlighted by the sweat glistening on his skin. Then she lifted her gaze to his. “Should we check if it worked?

Miguel pursed his lips in confusion. “If what worked?”

X forced the corners of her lips to twist down at the ends, trying to hide her excited smile. “Should we check on baby number two?”

Miguel raised an eyebrow as he sat back, his lips curling into a smirk at her enthusiastic suggestion. “It takes a little longer than that, querida.”

X sat up and shrugged, her stomach flipping at the smug look on his face. “You never know.”

Miguel grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist as he leaned forward to press a kiss to her cheek.

“Está bien, mi amor (it's okay, my love),” he reassured her, his voice thick with mischief. “We can always keep trying.” He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, then brushed his nose down the side of her neck.

X giggled at his naughty declaration. “Migue-el!”

He pulled back to look at her, finally starting to get suspicious at the beaming smile on his wife's adorable face. “What?”

She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, settling herself back on his lap.

“Maybe … we don’t have to keep trying anymore,” she suggested, shrugging nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal that she was growing another little baby inside of her right then. She placed a hand on her stomach and her lips twisted into a cheeky smile again. “Maybe baby number two is already here?”

His jaw dropped and his eyes widened in disbelief at her revelation. She was pregnant?! And she hadn't told him?! She was actually insane, his pretty little wife. Miguel reached a hand down to her abdomen and brushed his fingers along her skin.

“Are you …” He swallowed hard, trying to compose himself so his voice wouldn't crack when he asked her the question. “You're pregnant?”

X nodded quickly, then lowered her gaze, suddenly becoming shy at the awestruck expression on his face.

“I haven't had my period for 2 months,” she confessed softly. “So I did a pregnancy test the other day and it was positive!”

A rush of joy swept over him at her words. He was going to be a father! Again! ¡Ay, mierda! He couldn't wait! Miguel grinned and ran his fingers through her hair, elated.

“Querida …” He stroked her cheek affectionately, then brushed his fingers down the length of her body. “When … We have to go to the doctor. We have to make sure everything is okay.” She'd had a few difficulties during her pregnancy with Gabriella and though it had all turned out fine in the end, he didn't dare take any risks with his precious little wife. But ay, mierda, he was going to be a father again!

Her heart thumped in her chest at the dazed look on her husband's face as he stood up and started pulling his clothes back on. It had been a real struggle to keep such a huge secret from him for so long, but the payoff had been completely worth it!

“Miguel.” X patted the empty space beside her, beckoning him back to the sofa. He lowered himself onto his seat and she climbed up onto his lap again. “Next week? Gabi doesn't come back until tomorrow, you know …” Her lips curled into a mischievous smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Miguel grinned and dragged his hands up and down her sides.

“Next week,” he relented, the blood already beginning to rush to his centre again. “But no blackouts, querida.”

Her chest warmed at the familiar phrase - at the promise that had gotten them through all the seemingly impossible trials they'd managed to overcome so far. X leaned forward and pressed her lips to her husband's. “No blackouts, mi amor.”

The end

Tags: @jadeloverxd @migshusben

[international-writing]

Intelligence 101

Writing a story about spies and international intrigue? Not sure what you're diving into? Let me help!

Let's start with the basics.

What is Intelligence?

Basically, "intelligence" refers to the information gathered by governments or institutions that might help guide their course of action. However, there are many types of intelligence depending on how it was obtained, its purpose and the subject:

Human Intelligence: The word says it, intelligence obtained from human sources, generally during covert operations. Whether or not it is relevant depends on the operative's skills within their field of action.

Political Intelligence: Makes use of open-source reports provided by diplomatic personnel, particularly military attachés. Helps foresee the behavior of a country's political forces abroad. It's the least reliable source of information but the parts regarding military organization are the most sought after. Ironically, they're more accesible during war than when in peace.

Economical Intelligence: The collection of information on trade, finances, natural resources, industrial capacities, etc.

Technological Intelligence: Relating to the creation, development and improvement of methods of access and protection of information.

Strategic Intelligence: In charge of gathering information regarding the capacities and intentions of other countries. Includes covert operations beyond the borders, development and maintenance of special and secret diplomatic relations are included here.

Tactical Intelligence: Otherwise known as "operational" or "of combat". It has military purposes and is mainly used in times of war or international tension.

Counterintelligence: In charge of protecting a country's own intelligence systems against foreign ones.

Signal Intelligence (SIGINT): Obtained by the interception and decoding of encrypted messages.

Electronic Intelligence (ELINT): Includes remote sensors such as motion, sound and traffic ones placed in strategic spots in other countries to learn about their capabilities.

False Intelligence: Makes use of deception, disinformation, subversion and double agents.

Images Intelligence (IMINT): Videos, aerial and satellite information. Nowadays they play a vital part in the gathering of strategic information.

Now that we have dipped our toes into the intricate world of espionage things should start to seem clearer. I hope this has helped you and if you would like more information on the subject of Intelligence do stay tuned.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to submit an ask and i will do my best to help!

[top-secret-replier]

So you like Morse code, I carefully encrypted this message for you in layers of cypher language, let's see if you can decode it, if you get stuck, you can ask for help 😁😁

Below is your message

📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ ��︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📫︎📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📭︎ 📬︎📫︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📬︎📬︎📫︎ 📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎ 📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎📬︎📫︎

please i can't do this it's been driving me crazy since i got it 😭

[whistleclangen]

⛰️ for the ask game!!

Thank you ever so much for the ask, and my apologies for taking so long to reply. I was trying to decide what to say, because there is quite a bit of lore but I wanted to try and reveal a lot of it through the story itself. However, there is one big piece of the story that would be difficult to tell through the pov of the cats.

You may remember that a while back I shared a map of what Whistleclan and their neighboring clans’ territory looks like. You may remember that there was a little twolegplace in the bottom right corner, on Whistleclan territory. This was the place Daisypaw was taken when she was captured by twolegs. Well.

This place is in fact a twoleg cult compound. The cult is devoted to an ancient eldritch entity, and had plans to awaken this entity to channel its power for their own ends. The exact entity doesn’t matter. Suffice it to say, it's something that resides deep in the ocean, and it has tentacles. You see where this is going. They had intended to summon it to the end of their dock, and they had the animal sacrifices ready to go, but unfortunately they got the location a liiitttle bit off. The entity ended up being summoned a few miles down the shoreline instead, right outside of the old Whistleclan camp, and took the members of the clan as its sacrifices. The twolegs, meanwhile, are just confused and upset about their ritual failing. They have plans to try it again. There is nothing the cats can do to hinder the entity. It is awake now.

Additionally, if you would like to decode any encrypted messages that may be showing up in posts and you happen to need a keyword, I might recommend looking back through old moon updates to find any oddly emphasized letters :3

[jpitha]

Dreams of Hyacinth 25

First / Previous / Next

Everyone looked over at Tink while she received and decoded the beacon that linked in near them. It took her a few minutes with Hat's help as the encryption was pretty thick.

"Okay, if Hat and I are reading the encryption correctly... no. Nobody thought to talk to the Nanites."

Chloe rolls her eyes and put her head in her hands. "Ancestors, we're idiots. Who replied?"

Tink scans the message again. "It's not specifically signed, but it mentions Priority Express and Timewinder by name."

"I know Express, I trust them. I'm not that familiar with Timewinder, but if they both agree we didn't reach out to the Nanites, then I think it's safe to say that we didn't." Chloe sits back into her chair and leans back. "Typical. Go in guns blazing and only think to ask questions after the dust has settled and everyone is mad."

Tink leans behind Hat and makes a face that Nick couldn't see. He did see Hat's reaction though. Hat was chuckling and trying not to show.

Eastern ignores the two of them. "So then we should try and contact the Nanites right?"

Chloe looks up at Eastern. "How do you suggest?"

"We-eell" Eastern leans back and closes her eyes, thinking. "The Nanites come from some stone that Melody touched at a Gate, right?"

"That's right"

"What happens if another human goes to touch the Gate?"

Hat sits up straight. "We... don't know. Nobody else did it."

Eastern nods her head. "Sounds like that's what should happen next. Some human should go to a Gate - does it matter which one? - and touch it, and get their own... dose? of Nanites."

Hat moves to stand up. "It's as good of an idea as any so far." As he stands he looks at Eastern and Nick. "So? Either of you want to become Gods?"

Eastern raised an eyebrow. "I don't think it works like that. You're not a God. You just... have... godlike... power. Fine." Eastern looks at Nick. "What do you think hon?"

Nick sighs. "What I think is that we're getting so deep into this we're about to be crushed by the pressure." Hat chuckles. "But, having said all that, I can't go this far and not see it through. If for Selkirk if nothing else."

Eastern nods. "For Selkirk. I agree. Do you want to touch the magic stone?"

Nick smiles. "How about we both do it? If we're going to do this together, let's do it together."

Eastern leans over and kisses Nick. In the mindspace, it tingles. She looks at the AIs. "Okay. We'll do it. We'll - together - go and touch the stone at a Gate and see what happens. If we get a dose of Nanites, then you can talk to them and we can see what they say. Tink, will you take us?"

Tink looks at the two of them, surprised. "What? Sure. I'll do it. I figured you were going to go off with hat and Chloe now."

Eastern shakes her head no. "I'd rather you take us, if you can Tink. You have shown us you really care about us. You came to our defence just now about Sol and how we all feel abandoned. The last thing I want to do is abandon you! Plus, we just cleaned up your stateroom and I'd hate to have to move again."

Tink smiles and stands up. "Of course I'll take you. I swear, you two are the nicest criminals I've ever met. It's a wonder you lived this long."

Chloe looks at Tink and then at Nick and Eastern. "You're criminals?"

"Small time." Nick smiles at Eastern and she winks at Chloe. "This all started when Jameson wanted Nick to do some light shoplifting of a coffin box."

"Which turned out to be a suggestion planted by Raaden and her Voice to get 'voluneers' for the cybernetic augmentation program." Nick adds

"Which was also sold to us as a way to get more human pilots for starships." Eastern shrugs. "With how she's been, I have no idea if that's actually the plan."

Chloe looks thoughtful. "Give her background and what I've seen of her, I would not be surprised if that is actually one of her goals. Hmmm." Chloe's chair disappears. "Well, we can deal with that later."

They all leave the Mindspace and get back to their bodies. A few hours have passed so it's nearly dinner time. Tink's support frames once again were in the kitchen cooking. They came out after a bit carrying two plates piled with food.

Once again, the meal was excellent. Chloe didn't partake, but she sat with Nick and Eastern as they ate and discussed the current state of Sol.

"We're hardly experts." Nick looked up from his plate at Chloe who was watching them imperiously. "I grew up on Parvati, I've only been on Hyacinth in Sol and it's not like I kept up on local politics. I was too busy surviving."

Chloe nodded. "That's fair. Even the things you learn on the street can be helpful though. We've been out of Sol for a decade now." She looked over at Eastern. "What about you Eastern? You're from Sol, aren't you?"

Eastern wiped her mouth delicately. "Yes, I grew up on Luna. I've moved around to a few stations and Orbitals until I settled on Hyacinth, but I've probably spend the most time between Hyacinth and Stross on Luna."

Chloe raises an eyebrow, waiting.

"I don't follow the news Chloe. I keep my head down and try to survive."

Nick looks over at Eastern. "But you were a fan of Melo- OW!" Nick rubs his arm where Eastern punched it.

Chloe smirks, but still says nothing.

Eastern sighs. "Okay. fine when I was a kid, I met Melody at a meet and greet on Luna. I spent like 4 minutes with her and got a signed photo, it was a formative memory and I resented AIs for killing her ever since I heard word of her death."

The smirk leaves Chloe's face.

"But!" Eastern continues. "Raaden is not Melody. I believed - still do, Ancestors protect me - that Melody had everyone's best interest in mind. Raaden is out for power." Eastern looked up at Chloe, her eyes hard. "Melody already had the power. She was just looking to extend her each to Sol and help the people there. She could have stayed on the Reach and ruled and lived a long life. She thought that everyone deserved more."

"Do you blame us for her death?" Chloe's voice is quiet.

Eastern stares at Chloe. "I did, for a long time." She looks away. "But, I don't know now. I think you were scared of what she was bringing, what she represented. You used her Voice as an excuse to go after her harder than was necessary." She stared back at Chloe, her eyes aflame. "You didn't even try talking to her! You just linked in and opened fire!"

Chloe's shoulder droop. "Eastern, there were hundreds of things we could have done, but didn't. Some good, some bad... some awful. You might be right that we were too worried about the status quo changing, but Raaden is proving us at least a little right. She's taking ownership of Sol by asking for it. She uses her Voice and said "I own this company now." and-" Chloe spreads her hands "-she does. Nobody questions it, all the paperwork is done legally. Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't cut out the middleman and just told the right people with her Voice that she owns Sol outright."

Nick sips his tea. Tink's support frame has cleared the table and brought out a small plate of sweets and a pot of tea. "I don't know if she can, Chloe. It seems that Raaden is limited by asking for things that exist. She's trying to do things quietly. Declaring herself Empress of Sol is possible, but it's anything but quiet. Requesting ownership in all the major corporations in Sol gets her practically unlimited money and the power that comes with that money. She doesn't need to be declared ruler of Sol, she already is."

"Now you know what I meant when I said we can't go back." Tink is speaking through the support frame. "If we link in, we'll probably be attacked immediately. The only thing saving us is that wormholes can't be tracked... yet."

"So then, what do we do? Just go find a Gate and touch it?" Eastern looks at the frame when she's talking to Tink.

"Maybe. But, in as the ancient words say: 'then what'? Do we build our own empire of people with our own pet human who has a voice that can't be disobeyed? What happens if you try and use a Voice on an Empress? What if the Nanites don't want to work with us? There are too many unknowns."

Nick puts his empty teacup down on the table with a quiet clink. "So then what? Let Raaden consolidate power in Sol?"

"I didn't say that either, Nick." Tink sighs. When she does, the support frame's robotic chest rises and falls. "But I don't know what to do either."

Chloe stands. "We're going in circles. We're arguing hypotheticals. You two already agreed to touch a stone in a Gate and see if we can contact the Nanites. I think that's our next step. Maybe we can reach out to them through your cybernetics." Chloe also looks at Tink's support frame when she speaks. "Tink, I'll send you some coordinates, and we'll link there. Once there we can examine the Gate more closely."

"Uh, Sure Chloe, but do you want to... talk to any other AI? Anyone else that should know about what we're doing?"

Chloe shakes her head. "No. We are constantly explaining to the humans that we're decentralized. If one - or a few - of us want to go off on our own and do some experimentation, we can." She smiles sadly. "It hasn't stopped us in the past." As she walks towards the door, she looks at Nick and Eastern. "We'll leave tomorrow. Get some rest, I anticipate that tomorrow will be a busy day."

Nick and Eastern said their good nights and retired to their stateroom. It really was nice. They showered and got ready for bed. As Nick sank into the comfortable bed he looked over at Eastern. "Well, I wish Selkirk was here with us, but I'm glad you're still here."

Eastern turned and looked at Nick and smiled. "Me too hon. I miss Selkirk and I'm glad you're here."

"So, we're just going to link to a Gate, touch it and...."

"Yeah, and... We have no idea what's going to happen, but at least something is going to happen. Selkirk won't have died for nothing."

Nick stared up at the ceiling a long time. Finally he turned to Eastern. "If Selkirk's surgery was a success, would we have stayed?"

Eastern gets into bed and fluffs up her pillow before answering. "I don't know Nick, probably? I guess we would have talked it over with her and then we could have decided all three of us what to do."

"I guess what I'm asking is, are we moving against Raaden out of revenge for Selkirk, or are we doing it because we think she's wrong?"

"It can be both Nick." Eastern looks at him oddly. "What's up? You're not saying something."

"I don't know." Nick sighs. "Something feels off about this new plan of action. Like, we're on our way to just being like Raaden but for the other team. From what you told me about Melody, she really seemed like she was out to change things, not just keep people fighting but with her in charge now."

Eastern nods. "That's how I always understood it, yes. Though, we don't really know what she had in mind. I don't think she was planning on doing what Raaden is doing, but I also don't think she'd mind it too much if Raaden had a chance to tell her about it. Melody was always going to be in charge if she had stayed alive. How she got there could have gone differently, but-" Eastern shrugs her shoulders "-the fact that she glassed three cities on Earth means she wasn't all fluffy bunnies either."

"No right answers?"

Eastern's small smile shines on Nick as he lay back on his pillow. "No right answers, and a whole lot of wrong ones hon. Just like always." She bends over and kisses him gently. "Maybe things will feel better in the morning."

Nick turns off the light and rolls over.

Nick dreams.

This time, Nick is somewhere he doesn't recognize. It's dark and shadowy. He stumbles around, bumping his knees on unseen things and almost tripping as he makes his way in a random direction. With a sharp crack and flash, a spotlight illuminates Eastern, a fair distance away. His breath is taken away by her beauty.

She's in an emerald green gown that shines like a star. Strapless and form fitting, it accentuates her while not overpowering her. The gown flows down her body and onto the floor, spiling out behind her for a meter or so. Her back is to him and when he shouts her name, she turns and smiles like daybreak.

As she smiles, a circle of light appears over her head, just a few centimeters, blinding bright but also not hurting his eyes to look at. It shines and flashes as she beckons to him to approach. As she reached her hand out to him, all of Nick's obstacles burn away in her brilliant light and stumbling, he runs towards her hand.

The moment he grasps her hand, a wave of light washes over him, warm like the sun. It's too bright to see and Nick closes his eyes against the onslaught. After the wave passes and he opens his eyes again, he's standing on a beach. It's not Parvati though, the sky is too blue, and the sun is too white.

"Where are we?" Nick looks around blinking. He looks down and sees that he's wearing an emerald green outfit as well. Kind of a cross between a suit and a uniform, it emphasizes his form while accentuating it and he looks like a perfect match to Eastern.

"We're on Earth I think, hon. I've never been, so I'm just guessing." She looks over at him and smiles again. "You have a crown too! Look!"

Nick tries to look up but can't see the top of his head. He leans back to try and get a look as Eastern giggles. He'll have to wait until he can find a mirror to check it out. Eastern grabs his upper arm sharply and gasps. As Nick looks over at her she points.

Out in the sea, maybe twenty meters from them is a person. They look human, but also not quite human. It's a person of indeterminate gender with anonymous features and pale green skin. They have no hair and seem to have no clothes, but their bodies are also smooth with no hair, genitalia and no definition. Nick blinks and they appear next to them.

"So. You two think you can rule?" Their voice self harmonizes. They sound like hundreds of people speaking all at once.

Nick sputters. "We don't know! We were just-"

They hold up a hand. "Silence. We are here only because you have been in Her presence and enough of us exist to manage this. It's slightly easier with your cybernetic... accessories. Don't think you're the first to do that, either. What you are attempting to do has been done before. Billions perished the last time. What makes you think your attempt will be different?"

Nick and Eastern look at each other, surprised. Eastern looks down a Nick - is she taller now? - and smiles. She turns to face the being, a representative of the Nanites Nick realizes with a shock. "It will be different because we are the ones doing it this time."

The being looks at Nick, and then Eastern. As if it was the first time they notice where they are, they look around at the beach. They look up at the sky, seeing the gulls wheeling overhead. They look back at Nick and Eastern. "You selected this meeting place. It is auspicious. The sea is a place of beginnings - and endings. Fine. When you come to meet us more formally, we will... discuss things."

Nick wakes up with a start. Sitting up, he looks around the stateroom. It's still the middle of the night according to the clock by his bed. He looks over at Eastern's sleeping form and wonders.

First / Previous / Next

[annoyinglandmagazine]

Maedhros 🔶️

Thank for the ask! I think I did the quirks and hobbies already for Maedhros but I’m happy to do another one!

Maedhros writes a concerning amount of letters. Like people have noticed and commented on the bizarre amount of his dealings that are done through epistolary. Less a case of ‘this meeting should have been an email’ and more a case of ‘this chain of letters is long enough to be a novel and I could have gotten to Himring and just had a meeting with you in far less time.’

The reasons for this are complicated but one of the main ones is language. Obviously Maedhros speaks Sindarin fluently but it’s not perfect. This of course being the Feanorian linguistic standard for perfect with Nelyo’s own golden child perfectionism added in. So when he doesn’t know precisely the word that has the correct connotations in a conversation it entirely throws him off his rhythm. Because yes he gives good speeches in any language and still gets his point across but it sounds better in Quenya. So he spends hours pouring over dictionaries and essays, trying to work out the way to make things sound and convey exactly what he wants to get across with exactly the right amount of subtlety and respect because this used to be so easy for him and he can’t afford for his political skills to be anything less than his best right now when he needs to compensate for everyone being predisposed to think of all he says as the words of a heartless kinslayer. He didn’t pick Himring because it was a hard and cold journey for people to make to meet with him in person but it doesn’t hurt matters either. This way he can draft and redraft everything he says and in doing so almost replicate the skill he would have had before. Another factor is that on rare occasions he gets triggered by something and spaces out or breaks off mid sentence and he really doesn’t want that to happen during negotiations.

A downside of this is security, Maedhros is most definitely wary of people intercepting messages and getting classified information. So, of course, being his paranoid self Maedhros decides to experiment with encrypted letters for any remotely sensitive information. So on top of receiving five letters a month now all his correspondents have to become code breakers as well. Some take better to this than others. Fingolfin and the Sindar find it slightly odd but dismiss it and employ someone to decode them before putting it on their desks. Fingon makes a game of it and tries to see what’s the most risqué letter he can send through all the official channels without anyone noticing something amiss. His brothers naturally get competitive over who can come up with the most ridiculously impractical code to write to their brother in before he realises they’re messing with him and not just concerned about security.

[msn-04iinightingale]

Exhumation

Helios

Langogne (Small village in the eastern mountains along the river Coen)

2400 Hours

Adept Marie Dufresne sat in the old leather chair, staring at the communications array before her. The message had come in several minutes ago, but she had yet to really process it.

Outside, the wind howled as it rattled the walls of the old Church.

Marie had been stationed at this hole in the wall outpost for...Blake, how long had it been now...five years? But she knew the place had been around for far longer. If she had to guess, back to the closing days of the Jihad. The church and village of Langogne were even older, the small farming community nestled in the mountains east of Coen City. The church was stone, and local wood, dedicated to some branch of local religion brought by the original colonists of Helios. Normally, that would make problems, but no one came up here anymore. The few times she ventured into the village, she heard the locals whisper of curses, of how the woods around here were a little too dark, the nights too long, of spirits that haunt the old church and surrounding woods at night. When she first arrived, she laughed.

Now, she was inclined to agree.

She sighed. It didn't matter anymore, they'd be leaving soon. Or dead.

The message was simple, and once she had decoded the BEO level encryption, she had stared at it for several long minutes. She read it again, just in case she was mistaken.

Coen Fallen. Open the Casket.

She felt a chill run up her spine. It carried the authorization of Precentor Herschel. She remembered she had been so honored at first, when he had given her this position. In person no less. She was so proud of this task.

That was before she knew what that task entailed.

She stood, feeling the cold more acutely than she had ever before as she made her way from her office. The room she had selected as hers had been, she suspected, part of the rectory.

Outside, in the hall, waited Acolyte Mateo Gilabert. A heavily built man, he provided security for the small outpost, what little was needed. No one knew they were here, after all. He saluted her, Mauser Laser Rifle slung over his shoulder as always. Mateo was a good man, quiet, but a good soldier.

"Your orders, Adept?" he asked, his voice strong and deep.

"...it's time, Mateo." she spoke, finally.

"...I...I see Adept." the soldier replied. "Then we will be leaving soon?"

"Yes, we will...once we have opened it."

Mateo nodded.

"I'll begin prepping the supplies. We will need them for the journey south. With any luck, we will hit loyal lines in a week."

"Good...see to it." she said, forcing conviction into her voice where she felt none. The prospect of moving through difficult terrain on foot during the current weather wasn't appealing, however, staying was even less. The invaders, this, SLDF, would be able to find them from the communication they received. It was likely, they were already sending people to investigate.

She frowned slightly as she continued her journey to the tomb. They were the enemy, invading armies of hostile soldiers, mechwarriors, and more. But still...she was not without pity for them. She doubted they deserved what waited below.

Her footsteps rang in the empty building, as she made her way through the chapel and to the entrance of the crypt below.

Fitting, she supposed.

She descended the stone stairs and was greeted by the out of place sight of a heavy blast door, featureless, save for the keypad along one side. She punched in the code by memory, all 28 characters of it. There was a hiss of hydraulics, and a psssssssh of a releasing seal, and the door swung inward. She stepped inside, boots clacking along the metal flooring as she walked to the next chamber.

Acolyte Karel Nistor looked up from his terminal. The technical expert of the three, he was the one in charge of monitoring and maintaining the...

"It's time. We need to open it." she said.

The thin, pale man only nodded, adjusting his glasses as he began to work. The process, as she understood it, was a complicated one on his end. He began the incantations and rituals of appeasement for the machine. She watched him, pointedly ignoring what lay in the center of the room. He was quite the technology whizz, she understood. She liked him, and wondered how he came to find himself with this of all duties.

Finally, when she could no longer ignore it, she turned to regard...

It.

The center of the converted crypt was taken up by machinery, large, arcane in nature, it thrummed with power quietly. Most of the equipment defied easy identification, but in the center of it, placed horizontally, was the Casket. A stasis casket. Measuring 1.5 meters by 3, the oblong rectangle of metal lay like a sarcophagus in the middle of a tomb. A hand print scanner inlaid along the top, delicate scripture of Blake's holy word traced the entire lid. The only other feature, was...the window. Set along the "head" of the Casket.

Marie stared at the frosted window with something approaching dread. She vividly remembered when, after about three weeks here, she had gotten curious, and, against Acolyte Nistor's advice, had brushed the coating of frost from the armored glass.

She remembered screaming.

She shuddered, but tamped it down. She would get to see the occupant in person soon enough. Her eyes strayed down along to the only other feature of note on the lid.

A name, old earth French.

Gévaudan.

---

//Cycle#46853481// //00:32:45//

The Clan Battle Armor slumped forward, the visor pierced by their hand, silencing the struggles of the pilot within. The other four lay broken around them. They were getting very good at neutralizing enemy Battle Armor while unmounted.

A heavy infantry squad opened fire, sending machine gun fire tracing through the ruins. The reverse trajectory calculations showed the exact position of the combatants. Targets listed by priority of threat to themselves ran down the side of their vision.

/ENGAGE ADRENAL ENHANCEMENT /ENGAGE SYNAPTIC OVERCLOCK

They darted through the plentiful cover, moving on all fours to keep a low profile. Before the soldiers could react, they were amongst them.

Black iron taloned manipulator hands reached out and broke the neck of the first, easy as a grown man would a dry twig.

/ENGAGE VIBROBLADES

They lashed out with blade limbs, cutting down the infantry with ease and sprays of crimson. They panicked, and screamed, firing wildly.

Inefficient, and ill advised. Indeed, they registered at least one case of friendly fire, the soldier taking at least three rounds to the chest from one of their companions.

/IMPACT DETECTED, MINOR CHASSIS DAMAGE

They spun, lashing out with a leg to grab the soldier that shot them by the head, wrenching them off their feet and slamming their head into the floor.

The final soldier attempted to run. They brought them down from behind, the forearm mounted laser burning out the back of their skull with a snap.

//END CYCLE//

The datastream fed in a new battlefield, this time, they were in a battlemech. An unfamiliar battlefield, against familiar opponents. The Wolf's Dagoons came for them. They were ready.

//Cycle#46853482// //00:00:00//

---

"Almost ready, Adept." Karel said, breaking the near silence of the crypt.

"Good, good." Marie replied, looking his way. She removed a data chip from her pocket. It was the other part of her message. It's orders. Whatever they were, she knew they would mean nothing but death for the SLDF. She slid the chip back into her pocket, and waited.

---

//Cycle#46853482// //00:20:36//

The Black Warhammer with the red hourglass slid free from the retractable blade of their Deva, cockpit ruined. Around their damaged mech, three lances worth of Dragoons lay dead or eliminated.

They assessed the damage to their mech as the data stream cycled. This marked the 213th time they had run this scenario. It was the 200th that they completed successfully.

//END CYCLE//

The landscape changed again, this time, a cold, snowy world, lots of mountains and trees. This one was a new addition. They had yet to complete this one. The enemy was...skilled. The Black Timberwolf stalked through the trees, slipping in and out of sight. They readied themselves.

//Cycle#46853483// //00:00:00//

//CYCLE SUSPENDED//

//BEGIN REANIMATION PROTOCOL//

---

Karel gave her a nod. It was time.

Marie inhaled, and then, placed her hand on the scanner. It whirred and beeped, and there was the thrum of a laser scanner. There was a klunk, as the locks disengaged around the lid, and the hiss of the seal releasing.

The lid began to rise.

---

They...were awake.

It was a novel experience after so long asleep. Not that they had been idle. They calculated it was close to 75 years, Terran standard since they had been put into stasis.

Idly, they wondered what the Sphere was like now. Evidently, it was bad enough that they were needed once again.

Pneumatically enhanced lungs drew in breath.

Hydraulically assisted blood began to pump harder through a synthetically enhanced heart.

Multi-spectrum sensing eye lenses winked to life.

They grinned. Not because they had anything to grin about, but because they couldn't not grin.

After all, it was hard to change your face when it was made of metal.

They raised themselves up, myomer muscles heating up, limber and strong.

Jaws worked into the grinning head of a wolf skull slid open.

"...I await your orders, Adept." came the voice, cold as the grave.

[indigitalembrace]

THE ABANDONWARE CIPHER GUIDE - intermission.exe

Most codes in this chapter follow the same key! Many were also solved as part of the plot - check to see if someone sent in an ask or reply with the solution :)

Memories Folder - Vinegere cipher with key REMNANT. File names and contents are encrypted with the same key. Transcriptions available in alt text. NOTE: Some ciphers here may be broken. Try inputting lines of text individually and if that doesn't work, put them together in the same decoding attempt. (or shoot me a DM and i'll decode it for you)

Morse - Just a standard morse code message.

[gnomecorebipbop]

11 & 20 for the RT asks

11. Who amongst their retinue are they closest to?

Barring Idira and Heinrix, Junia has a surprising camaraderie with Ulfar. She also likes Abelard a lot- he's as close as she'd ever really get to a dad. But she knows he's getting older and wants to pay more attention to his family so she was prepared not to get too attached to him.

20. Do they have a talent or hobby that would surprise others?

Her niche interest is iconography. She transcribed, interpreted, encrypted, decoded, and transmitted a lot of telepathic messages over the years so she's pretty acquainted with a lot of symbols, images, and icons at both the Imperium scale to distinct planetside and voidship cultures - she probably has over a hundred thousand images and motifs rattling around in her head.

Nothing super amazing, but Junia and Cassia do have an on-and-off book club (it's hard to keep hobbies up when you're the RT). It's mostly history, political history, and philosophy and occasionally poetry.

[cattstarr]

Questions I found that I'mma answer to distract me from the Big Sad™

1. How long is your "now"?

The amount of time it takes to say the word.

2. What was the moment where you felt most motivated?

When I started my first day of college. Boy, that sure bottomed out. 🙄

3. If you won the lottery, what would your "today" look like in five years?

Moderate sized apartment with a few pets and gizmos to keep me amused.

4. What are you holding onto that’s holding you back?

I honestly have no idea. If I knew what was holding me back, I would be able to be proactive about it.

5. If you didn’t know your age, how old would you think you’d be?

I think physically I look my age but if I'm basing it off of my personality, it fluctuates between like 6 and 12.

6. Do you "work to live" or "live to work"?

No.

7. Do you hate or love better?

My husband stayed happily by my side until the bitter end. I made a lot of mistakes, but my love for him guided me. There was a time where I'd say I hate better, but that time is behind me. 🩵

8. Would you rather lose all your memories or never be able to make new ones?

I would gladly be unable to make new ones. My best days are permanently behind me.

9. How do you measure success?

1:1 Success : Happiness

10. If you restarted your life from scratch, would you end up in the same place?

I don't know. Assuming I know everything I do now may already fuck with my timeline. But I would be more considerate and compassionate and I would try to find my husband sooner.

11. What is something you do differently than anyone else you know, and why?

I'm in my 30s and my marriage will be 21 this year. Seems like everyone I know struggles to find someone worth dedicating all their time to. And most people are bitter about romance, frequently calling me a liar about how mine was conducted.

12. What job would you do if you weren’t paid?

I don't understand the question... 😅

13. What is one part of your everyday routine that you'd be better off without?

Probably crying.

14. Can you ever commit a truly selfless deed?

Depends on your philosophy on that, I guess. Because it's not selfish to be happy with yourself for doing something helpful for someone else.

15. What previous dream do you see the most meaning in?

Bout a month ago I dreamed my husband sent me a decoded message from beyond the grave. I couldn't understand it because it was too encrypted. But he apparently left me clues throughout the history of our relationship and the more I tried to solve the message, the more confused I became.

Another one, I thought I saw him in a crowd outside so I ran to him but I couldn't find him. And then I was lost and alone.

16. What’s a question you wish people would ask when they meet you for the first time?

Idk 🫠

17. If you could have coffee with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

If my husband isn't possible, then Maynard James Keenan.

18. Is life a computer simulation?

I really fucking hope so.

19. Do we have control over technology, or does it have control over us?

Depends on the person.

20. How can a single moment have the power to change everything?

If my husband never spoke to me, I'd be a wildly different person now.

21. What if there were no experts, but everyone knew a little about everything?

...what?😅

22. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what about reality?

...again, what?

23. How much influence does a person’s name have over the course of their life?

I guess it depends on if they meet people who like their name a lot.

24. What happens if aliens are real?

I guess nothing because I'm assuming they already are.

25. If you had to support the idea that aliens weren't real, what would you say?

If aliens were real, I feel like we'd have more evidence of that now.

26. Who decides what the "right" thing is?

That's a funny topic. Everyone believes they're doing the right thing and yet we all bump heads so much. I don't think anyone alive is qualified for that decision.

27. Is time a construct?

Scientifically speaking you can see time occurring. If time truly did not exist, then decay and aging wouldn't be possible. We wouldn't have entropy.

I have a theory that before the Big Bang, time probably didn't exist. But entropy causes the flow of time. So when the universe was born, entropy pushed it to expand, change and grow. And entropy's push is time.

28. Why do most people work five days per week instead of four? Three? Two?

Because capitalism.

29. What shape is the sky?

Spherical

30. Who knew what time it was when the first clock was made?

My assumption is that it was based on the sun or moon's position. So they either started counting at midnight or noon.

What’s better: Being a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

Depends on how lazy you are, ig.

32. Was math created or discovered?

Math was designed to decode the world around us. It's a language that explains the universe. So it's a little of both.

33. Is fate a real thing?

Yes. 🩵

34. Does the "truth" exist, or is it all subjective?

Events only happen one way. The truth cannot be subjective.

35. Can you cry underwater?

You still produce tears, so yes.

36. Why is it called a "building" if it’s already built?

It can always be built upon.

37. At what point does working for a better life become an unhealthy obsession?

When it cannot be done.

38. What is your mother like?

Hot headed and vocal.

39. What is your father like?

Sociopath

40. What happened when you got in trouble as a child?

I'd get yelled at.

41. What is your greatest strength?

Husband says I'm amazing in a crisis.

42. What is your greatest weakness? 

Grief

43. What are some of your fondest memories?

Getting lit with Bunny and rocking out. 🐇 🎶

44. Who took care of you as a kid?

My parents.

45. What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of your life?

Life has no inherent meaning to me. The meaning of my own life was my husband.

46. What was the moment where you felt most grateful?

When my bunny got me presents.

[maxksx]

Interactionist view of reality suggests a completely different picture of communication: communication means to overlap. Because we are no longer inside our body, we are no longer submarines, we are no longer tanks sending encrypted messages that have to be decoded but we are two bodies, different, but at the same time in the same world. We find our connection not in the privacy of our mental inner world … We succeed in doing communication when our worlds handshake. When your world, for a moment, is made of the same things my world is made of. That's why many times we find out that to achieve true communication we have to live together, eat together, walk together, to dance together, to do things together, because that's the way to make our worlds, that are no longer inner worlds, overlap. In fact, some time ago I was asked to give a talk about communication and I started with two slides: in one slide there was the ortodox view, two people are staring at each other and are sending messages. In the second slide, there were two people watching both in the same direction (but not at each other); they were watching the same thing. And that's what in my view is true communication: to perceive the same world and therefore to be made of the same stuff, which is different from having the same meaning in two private inner worlds.

[beatricebidelaire]

The Museum of Weapons in the Museum District of The City is hosting a new exhibition next month, and semi-reliable sources told Beatrice that a certain vintage tool will be there, one that was once used to decode wartime messages encrypted with a method which vfd historical documents referred to as The Sugar Encoding.

According to Dewey’s documents, vfd has lost all of their copies of that certain tool during the past two centuries, aside from one basic unfinished prototype that’s been locked up somewhere safe, because the organization had decided that it’s important to protect the very last one of it the organization had on hand. that was decades ago, and while theoretically the prototype is safely hidden somewhere, the documentations of that has also been lost (or perhaps not, just that the people who knew have decided to keep quiet about it due to worrying that it might fall into the wrong hands, with the series of schisms that have occurred in recent years) so officially, nobody knew where that is.

Which has been causing an issue for decoding certain historical messages left behind in old commonplace books.

The arrival of this exhibition and, if the rumors are true, the tool, may prove to be invaluable, and could help them decode old historical messages that have stayed secret for years.

Hence the emergency meeting Beatrice called.

“We obviously need to steal it,” she announces to the room of people - room, in this case, refers to Dewey’s secret underwater library.

[govindhtech]

What Is AWS KMS(Key Management Service) And Its Features

What Is AWS KMS?

Utilize AWS KMS to create and validate message authentication codes (MACs), digitally sign data, encrypt data inside your apps using AWS Encryption SDK, and encrypt data across your AWS workloads.

You have control over the cryptographic keys that are used to safeguard your data with AWS Key Management Service (KMS). You have centralized control over the permissions and lifecycle of your keys with AWS KMS. You have complete control over who can manage keys and who can use them, and you may create new keys at any time. Because of its integration with other AWS services, it is simpler to encrypt data stored in these services and manage who has access to the decryption keys.

You can audit who used which keys, on which resources, and when with the help of AWS CloudTrail, which is connected with AWS KMS. Using the AWS SDK or directly, AWS KMS makes it easier for developers to incorporate digital signature or encryption features into their application code. In order to help developers that need to encrypt and decode data locally within their applications, the AWS Encryption SDK supports AWS KMS.

Key Features

Audit monitoring

Every request you make to AWS KMS is documented in a log file if your AWS account has AWS CloudTrail enabled. The Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket that you designated when you configured AWS CloudTrail receives this log file. The user’s information, time, date, API action, and, if applicable, the key used are all included in the data that is recorded.

Scalability, durability, and high availability

One completely managed service is AWS KMS. The solution adapts to your demands automatically as your encryption usage increases. It enables you to utilize and manage tens of thousands of KMS keys in your account at any time. You can ask for higher limits if needed, although it specifies default limits for the quantity of keys and request rates.

It is not possible to export the KMS keys that you generate or that other AWS services generate for you. As a result, AWS KMS is accountable for their longevity. AWS KMS keeps several encrypted copies of your keys in systems built for 99.999999999% durability to assist ensure that both your keys and your data are highly accessible.

DynamoDB Global Tables, multi-Region high availability architectures, disaster recovery, and globally distributed consistent digital signatures are examples of workflows that use KMS multi-Region keys for encrypted data or digital signatures that go between regions. Interoperable keys that can be copied into several regions using the same key material and key IDs are known as KMS multi-Region keys.

With a regional API endpoint, AWS KMS is intended to be a highly available service. AWS KMS is designed to offer a certain level of availability because the majority of AWS services depend on it for encryption and decryption. The AWS KMS Service Level Agreement supports this availability, which is compatible with the rest of AWS.

Secure

No one, not even AWS staff, can obtain your plaintext keys from the service with AWS KMS’s design. The service protects the confidentiality and integrity of your keys by using hardware security modules (HSMs) that are continuously validated under the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Cryptographic Module Validation Program of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The cryptographic foundation for safeguarding KMS keys is AWS KMS HSMs.

For every cryptographic process that takes place in KMS, they establish a safe, hardware-protected perimeter. All actions requiring decrypted KMS key material take place strictly within the FIPS 140-2 Security Level 3 border of these HSMs, as does all key material for KMS keys generated within AWS KMS HSMs. All firmware updates for AWS KMS HSMs are submitted to a NIST-accredited lab for validation in accordance with FIPS 140-2 Security Level 3, and updates are managed by a multi-party access control that is audited and examined by an impartial group within Amazon.

Your plaintext keys are only ever used in the HSMs’ volatile memory for the duration required to complete the cryptographic operation you have requested; they are never written to disk. This is true whether you import keys into the service, ask AWS KMS to generate keys for you, or use the custom key store option to generate keys in an AWS CloudHSM cluster. Whether you generate a single Region key or many Region keys is up to you. Single Region keys are only used within the AWS Region in which they were generated and are never sent outside of that region.

Asymmetric keys

Asymmetric KMS keys and data key pairs can be created and used with the aid of AWS KMS. A KMS key can be designated as a key agreement key pair, an encryption key pair, or a signing key pair. HSMs are used to generate key pairs and carry out asymmetric cryptographic operations with these KMS keys. While the private part of the asymmetric KMS key is always available, you can request the public part to be used in your local apps. An asymmetric key’s private part can be imported from your own key management system.

An asymmetric data key pair can also be requested from the service. The public key, private key, and a copy of the private key encrypted with a symmetric KMS key you specify are all returned in plaintext by this procedure. You can keep the encrypted copy of the private key for later use and utilize the plaintext public or private key in your local application.

HMAC

Hash-Based Message Authentication Codes (HMACs) can be generated and validated from within AWS KMS‘s FIPS 140-2 approved HSMs. HMACs are a type of cryptographic building block that generates a unique keyed message authentication code by combining secret key material into a hash function. Because the key material is generated and utilized only within AWS KMS, HMAC KMS keys offer an advantage over HMACs from application software. The access controls you establish on the key also apply to them.

RFC 20104 specifies industry standards that are followed by the HMAC KMS keys and HMAC algorithms used by AWS KMS. AWS KMS hardware security modules approved by the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Module Validation Program generate HMAC KMS keys, which ensure that AWS KMS is never left unencrypted. Additionally, you can import your own HMAC key from your own key management system.

Compliance

The following compliance regimes have verified and certified the security and quality controls in AWS KMS:

AWS System and Organization Controls SOC 1, 2, and 3 reports. A copy of the reports is available for download from AWS Artifact.

Catalog of Cloud Computing Compliance Controls (C5).

Level 1 PCI Data Security Standard.

FIPS 140-2 is Federal Information Processing Standards. NIST certified the AWS KMS cryptography module at FIPS 140-2 Security Level 3.

FedRAMP is Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.

HIPAA protects healthcare insurance.

Custom key stores

The capacity to own and govern the device or devices where key material and cryptographic operations take place is combined with the practical and extensive key management interface of AWS KMS in custom key stores. As a result, you take on greater accountability for the HSMs’ functionality as well as the longevity and accessibility of cryptographic keys. Two varieties of custom key stores are available using AWS KMS:

CloudHSM backed key store

All keys are generated and stored in an AWS CloudHSM cluster that you own and manage, and you can create a KMS key in an AWS CloudHSM custom key store. The cryptographic operations under a KMS key are carried out only in your AWS CloudHSM cluster when you use it in a custom key store.

Using a bespoke key store entails paying more for the AWS CloudHSM cluster and puts you in charge of making sure the key material is available in that cluster.

External key store

You can generate a KMS key in an AWS KMS external key store (XKS), where all keys are generated and stored in an external key manager that you own and administer, if you have a regulatory requirement to store and use your encryption keys on-site or outside of the AWS Cloud. Your key material never leaves your HSM when you use an XKS.

When employing an external key store, you are in charge of the cryptographic operations of external keys as well as the durability, availability, latency, performance, and security of the key material, unlike with normal KMS keys or a key in a CloudHSM custom key store. The networking, software, and hardware components of the XKS infrastructure you utilize can have an impact on the availability and performance of KMS operations.

Client-side encryption

Data can be protected directly within your AWS application or in hybrid and multicloud environments by using AWS KMS with client-side encryption libraries. Before storing data in AWS services, or any other storage medium and third-party services you choose, you can use these libraries to encrypt the data. These libraries help you encrypt and decode data using best practices and industry standards. With encryption libraries, you may focus on your application’s core functionality instead of data encryption and decryption.

The general-purpose AWS Encryption SDK may encrypt and decrypt any data.

An encryption library called the AWS Database Encryption SDK helps you safeguard private information kept in your database and offers extra functionality for accessing and querying encrypted data.

An encryption library called the Amazon S3 Encryption Client is used to encrypt and decrypt data kept in your S3 bucket.

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[the-whispers-of-death]

may i present an even worse idea: serial killer!sylvester coming home once stone has already left for work.

there's no notes anywhere for him to find, except for that pesky little beeper stone forced sylvester to learn to use and decode and encrypt messages with.

imaging after months of silence, stone just gets the message "alive" sent to him. while he cant even respond

Imagine Stone doesn't even know what Serial Killer!Sylvester has done because he had already been deployed when the law enforcement had come to the empty house (because Sylvester hadn't come home either yet) and no one even thought to come to him to ask about where his husband was. And imagine that when Sylvester did come home, he realized that Stone was deployed and just went into hiding again.

So Stone comes home several months later when his deployment is over and the police is on his doorstep, saying that Sylvester has killed so many people. And he ends up going to jail for obstruction at best (accomplice to murder at worst) because he refused to help the police capture his husband via having him send a message on the beeper for them to meet.