#Biological WMD

[recursive360]

☣ BIO-WEAPON? 😷

BBC News | Covid: FBI chief Christopher Wray says China lab leak 'most likely'

“Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed "bio-weapons", "biological threat agents", or "bio-agents") are living organisms or replicating entities ( ⁠i.e. viruses, which are not universally considered "alive"). Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

Offensive biological warfare is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law and several international treaties. In particular, the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) bans the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons. Therefore, the use of biological agents in armed conflict is a war crime. In contrast, defensive biological research for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes is not prohibited by the BWC...

A biological attack could conceivably result in large numbers of civilian casualties and cause severe disruption to economic and societal infrastructure...

As a tactical weapon for military use, a significant problem with biological warfare is that it would take days to be effective, and therefore might not immediately stop an opposing force. Some biological agents (smallpox, pneumonic plague) have the capability of person-to-person transmission via aerosolized respiratory droplets. This feature can be undesirable, as the agent(s) may be transmitted by this mechanism to unintended populations, including neutral or even friendly forces. Worse still, such a weapon could "escape" the laboratory where it was developed, even if there was no intent to use it – for example by infecting a researcher who then transmits it to the outside world before realizing that they were infected. Several cases are known of researchers becoming infected and dying of Ebola, which they had been working with in the lab (though nobody else was infected in those cases) – while there is no evidence that their work was directed towards biological warfare, it demonstrates the potential for accidental infection even of careful researchers fully aware of the dangers. While containment of biological warfare is less of a concern for certain criminal or terrorist organizations, it remains a significant concern for the military and civilian populations of virtually all nations.”

=> Source: Wikipedia

[15-lizards]

“Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin” the concept of Nature Versus Nurture would blow some of y’alls minds.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Gortash: "I see murder as a grim necessity, to provoke a desired response from those who witness it. To Orin, it was a pleasurable pastime... I don't even want to know what it is to you." [dev: hint of disgust]

Rude. Orin judges Durge for the cannibalism, and Gortash gets on their case about their unsanitary, criminally insane turn-ons? My god, it's like you people think you have standards or something!

[stormofneurosis]

I got a new computer

I went to register it with the company because it's having an annoying issue I want to see if I can resolve.

This is too funny not to share.

This is their honest-to-goodness drop down list asking what I intend to use the computer for.

I'm laughing my butt off.

(basic bitch Dell laptop that will let me play things like Zuma that my mac couldn't handle)

[liesmyteachertoldme]

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. It was the first multilateral disamament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. (WMD)

[medievaljournalist]

my new thing is kidnapping isekai protagonists to sell as biological WMDs because they have a strain of the flu from 700 years in the future

[sephirthoughts]

Father: Verb

Summary:

11 year-old WMD Sephiroth is assigned a new handler/bodyguard, named Vincent Valentine.

I am sure this has been done 10000 times but I can't stop thinking about it, so here's my version.

Rating: teen and up

tags: vincent & sephiroth centric, canon typical violence, autistic sephiroth, canon fix-it

Chapter 1: Spaghetti

He never cried.

He never dared. Not after that day, when a fit of exhausted frustration, during a rigorous testing session, resulted in the violent destruction of half a research facility, which killed nine people, and left fifty-two injured. The Shinra first responders found him huddled amid the flaming rubble, in tears.

He was seven years old.

Sephiroth is dangerous. His emotions are destructive. When he fails to control himself, people die.

But he was a hero. A hero doesn’t let people die. A hero doesn’t lose control. His over-educated but emotionally immature mind surmised that a hero must have no emotions. So from then on, Sephiroth had no emotions. At least, not the dangerous kind, that made people have long meetings about him, behind closed doors, and whisper about him in the halls.

It was shortly thereafter that he began to have a recurring dream, about a pair of eyes, watching him, in the dark. He was used to being watched constantly, by people, but these eyes were different. They were cold and inhuman, and their gaze was filled with killing intent.

“Who is the man with the glowing red eyes?” he asked one of his handlers, who was delivering breakfast, one morning.

She looked confused. “I’m not sure. Was this someone you saw, in the house?”

“No. I’ve only dreamed of him,” the boy said, matter-of-factly, as he scooped up a spoonful of dense, grey, nutrient-rich paste. “He watches me, and never says anything. He wants to kill me, but…he doesn’t, for some reason.”

“If you’re having nightmares, I can request that they prescribe you a sedative, to help you sleep,” she frowned.

“They’re not nightmares. It’s only that he seems so sad.”

“What does he look like? Can you describe him?”

The boy shook his head. “I can’t see his face, only his eyes. But I think I’ll meet him, soon. I’ll tell you, when I do.”

Four years passed, however, before he met the man with the red eyes. Though, by then, that handler had long been moved to another division, so he never had a chance to tell her about it.

He was walking down the hall, headed for the training yard, as he did every morning, when he noticed something was different, today. The atmosphere was tense, and the energy of the place was all wrong. People were whispering in excited tones.

“…aware that no one here can handle him. If something goes wrong we’ll all die…”

“…sending in a Turk. You know, just in case….”

“…hear that guy’s not normal…”

“…supposed to be a real badass, though…”

“…say they woke him up, just for this assignment…”

They always thought Sephiroth couldn’t hear them, if they lowered their voices, as if he was a normal person, with normal hearing. He never bothered to disabuse them of the notion. They didn’t like being reminded that the eleven-year-old biological weapon they were working in close proximity to every day was, indeed, a literal superhuman.

He pretended to ignore their chatter and reported to the training yard, as usual. If the fuss was related to what he suspected, they would come to him, soon enough. He was calmly practicing his sword forms, when his chief handler appeared and asked him to take a break. Following him, was the man with the red eyes.

Sephiroth had never seen anyone like this person, and was instantly enthralled by him. He was very tall and thin, and he wore strange, black-leather body armor, from head to toe, with one brass gauntlet, brass boots, and a floor-length, crimson cloak.

His long, shaggy, black hair hung over most of his face, and the rest of it was hidden behind the high collar of the cloak, but the eyes were the same. They were blood red, and one had flecks of gold around the pupil. Keen and cold, and filled with killing intent. The exact eyes from his dreams.

“This is Special Security Agent Vincent Valentine,” the handler was saying. “He’ll be looking after you, from now on. He’s your direct superior, so you must address him as ‘Agent Valentine’ or ‘sir’ and treat him with all due—”

“Just Vincent,” the red-eyed man interrupted gruffly. “Don’t call me sir, either.”

“Pleased to meet you, Vincent,” Sephiroth said, bowing dutifully. “I’m Sephiroth. I don’t have a surname, so everyone calls me by my forename.”

“Unless you need anything else, I will leave you two to get acquainted,” the handler put in, with a bow. “Good day, gentlemen.”

“Turks are assassins and spies,” Sephiroth asserted, once he’d gone. “Why would they assign you to look after me?”

“Not a Turk, anymore,” the man named Vincent replied, without looking at him.

“Have you been in the labs upstairs? I’m not allowed to go up there.” Sephiroth got out his locket and held up the picture, for the man to see. “This is my mother. Have you ever seen her?”

The scarlet eyes flickered over the locket and away. “No.”

The boy wasn’t excessively surprised or disappointed by the answer. He’d asked every person he’d met if they’d seen her, and no one ever had. He tucked the locket away again. “Why do people say they woke you up for this assignment? Were you in stasis?”

“Something like that.”

“You’re not afraid of me,” Sephiroth said, stepping closer.

Vincent gave a derisive snort. “No.”

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it. It’s not to protect me, it’s because they think you’re strong enough to kill me, if you need to.”

The scarlet eyes glanced down at him, but the man said nothing.

“Would you really kill me?” Sephiroth persisted. “Do you think you could?”

Vincent’s arms were crossed tightly on his chest, under his cloak, and he hadn’t moved, since they began talking. Now, suddenly, too quickly for even Sephiroth’s superhuman eyes to see, he seemed to vanish and reappear in front of him, his blood-red cloak billowing and whirling in the windless air, with a life of its own, and the massive triple-barrel of his heavy handgun pressed to the child’s forehead.

“You’re not the only freak in this sideshow,” Vincent growled, as the hammer clicked back.

Sephiroth switched instantly into combat mode, and his blade flashed out, like lightning. His first slash would’ve taken anyone else’s arm off, but Vincent was already behind him, somehow. Sephiroth dodged the grapple and flipped forward, throwing out a barrage of slashes, which missed the cloaked man as he vanished again, in a whirl of crimson.

The boy gave a cry, as his knee was kicked out from under him, then quick as a whip, he was hoisted up by the back of his jacket and thrown bodily across the training yard. He careened into a concrete barrier, through which his body smashed like a meteor, before he pushed off the ground with his feet, and went darting back through the air, toward Vincent, only to be swatted away like a fly, and wind up rolling to a stop, halfway across the training yard.

They went on like this for quite some time, without pausing, the red and black-clad man tossing the armed child around the training yard, neither of them showing any signs of fatigue or loss of focus. Sephiroth would’ve kept going all day, if he’d been allowed, but eventually Vincent called halt, and said he was expected to escort the boy to his quarters, for his noon meal. They’d been at it for almost three hours.

Thrilled and elated, to find someone who could actually fight with him, Sephiroth followed Vincent eagerly, big, green eyes fixed admiringly on the back of his head, as they walked down the halls, together.

He had never felt so energized, in all his time here—which was his entire life. This strange man with the red eyes, from his dreams, was the first opponent with whom he’d genuinely let loose and used all his strength.

And he’d been beaten so soundly, he felt it in his bones. It was an exhilarating feeling, to no longer be the strongest person around, and not to have to carefully restrain himself, when sparring with a partner.

“Vincent, will you stay and have lunch with me?” the boy asked hopefully, when they arrived back at his quarters.

Vincent hesitated at the door, then stepped reluctantly inside, looking about the suite of rooms like it was a wild animal exhibit, and the denizens might leap out from behind the furniture and attack, at any moment.

“It’s only me who lives here,” Sephiroth assured him. “I don’t know why they gave me all these rooms. I only use the bedroom and the main room. And the bathroom. Do you live in the manor, too? What are your rooms like?”

“I live…downstairs,” Vincent said vaguely, behind his high collar.

“There’s nothing below this floor but the basement storage levels. You don’t mean you live down there, do you?”

A handler arrived to deliver his meal, just then, so the conversation was forestalled, for the moment. Vincent stood against the wall, watching silently, as the man set a tray in front of the boy. It was divided into six sections, each filled with a different colored paste.

“I’m very sorry, sir,” the handler said to Vincent. “We weren’t told you’d be joining the asset for lunch. I will bring whatever you’d like from the kitchen, right away.”

Vincent was silent for so long, the man began to get visibly uneasy.

“Spaghetti,” he said suddenly, his deep voice giving the handler a start. “Spaghetti with meatballs. And…apple juice. And ice cream. Strawberry ice cream.”

The handler blinked, bewildered, then bowed and hurried away, saying he’d bring the things as soon as possible. When he’d gone, Vincent walked over to the table, took Sephiroth’s spoon from his hand and his tray from in front of him, and strode down the hall.

Sephiroth sat, speechless, for a moment, then jumped up and hurried after him. Vincent was in the bathroom, using the spoon to scrape the the contents of the tray into the toilet.

“Vincent, what are you doing?” he asked curiously.

“Putting this shit where it belongs,” Vincent replied flatly. “Don’t eat this anymore, understood?”

“Th—that’s the food they give me. What do you mean, don’t eat it anymore?”

“This is not food,” Vincent said, brandishing the tray and then tossing it into the bathtub. “Is this really what you’ve been living on?”

The boy looked perplexed. “What else is there?”

Vincent stood there, looking down at him, for a beat, then he dropped to one knee, in front of him, and pulled his collar down, exposing the rest of his face.

Sephiroth’s heart lurched and began to run raggedly in his little chest. Vincent was…beautiful. He was the most beautiful person the boy had ever seen, aside from the picture of his mother. He wanted to touch his perfect face, but he would never dare do something so outrageous.

To his immediate astonishment, however, the beautiful man touched him. Cautiously, as if Sephiroth were a baby bird that might be crushed in his hands, he reached out his black-gloved hand, and laid it almost weightlessly on the boy’s shoulder.

“Sephiroth, I…I’m sorry,” he said, inexplicably. “I’m so sorry.”

Sephiroth had no idea what was happening, except that the man was touching him, in a non-hostile way, that didn’t appear to have an immediate purpose, and it was making his head feel hot and fuzzy, the way it did when the old professor gave him medicine, sometimes.

Aside from the lingering trace of killing intent in his scarlet eyes, Vincent’s face wore an expression Sephiroth didn’t recognize. It wasn’t on any of the emotion flash-cards the Shinra PR people made him study, in order to ‘seem more human.’

Was he a lunatic? He didn’t dress like anyone else Sephiroth had ever seen, and he was acting rather bizarrely. When the handler asked what he’d like to eat, he said a lot of strange words, that Sephiroth had never heard, and then he’d dumped Sephiroth’s lunch into the toilet.

“It’s alright, it was just a little food. I can get more,” Sephiroth said gingerly. “Vincent, are you…unwell?”

“No—well, yes.” His black brow furrowed. “But I’m not insane, which is what you’re asking, correct? If I’m reacting strongly to some things, that’s because it is difficult, for me, to see you living this way, like an animal in captivity.”

“Why should you be distressed by the way I live? We only met today.”

The scarlet and gold eyes gazed intently into his, for another beat, then Vincent looked away, shaking his head. “Because you’re an innocent child. They have no right to treat you this way.”

“I’m an asset, not a child,” Sephiroth pointed out. “That’s what the old professor says. They don’t treat me that badly, so don’t worry about me. I like the food.”

“Do you?”

“Well…no, but I don’t hate it. It’s just…normal.”

“That’s because you’ve never eaten anything else. We’ll fix that, today.”

When the handler returned, Vincent took the tray from him and growled, “Get out,” before the man could say another word. He hastily retreated, more than happy to leave the two terrifying superhumans to whatever they were doing.

Meanwhile, the tangy-salty-herby aroma coming from the things on the tray struck Sephiroth’s enhanced senses like a slap. He wrinkled his nose, as he eyed them doubtfully.

There was a large plate of some pale, yarn-like substance, doused in a thick, red slurry, with dark brown lumps in it, a glass of what appeared to be urine, at first glance, and a bowl with a creamy, pale-pink paste in it. That seemed the most familiar, only there were red chunks in it, that Sephiroth was revolted by. They looked a bit like human flesh, when it had been torn up by explosives.

He watched warily, as Vincent used the fork to wind the yarny bits from the plate into a wad, then stuck the tines through a brown lump.

“Eat,” he said, holding it out to him.

Sephiroth balked. “Vincent, I don’t—mph!”

His protest was muffled by the forkful of food Vincent simply shoved into his mouth, when he opened it to argue.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Vincent warned, seeing the boy about to spit it out. “Chew. Swallow. Now.”

Suppressing a gag, Sephiroth did as he was told. Then his big, green eyes went wide. His slit pupils dilated. A tart, salty, sweet, oily, aromatic, nearly indescribable chaos of flavors was exploding on his tongue.

A little shudder passed through his body, and suddenly his eyes were stinging, like they’d had a bright light shone in them. He stared, stupefied, into the middle distance, and opened his mouth, for the next bite, which Vincent was already hovering with.

“What…what is this?” he asked, after he’d chewed and swallowed again.

“Spaghetti. You like it?”

“I never tasted anything like it in my life! I want to eat spaghetti every day! For all three meals! Only spaghetti!”

“You’ll get tired of it, if you do that. There are other things just as delicious. Let me show you how to wrap the noodles up on the fork, come here.”

Sephiroth took the fork in his hand, and guided by Vincent, went to work learning this new skill. The noodles kept slipping off, but at last, he managed to wind up a somewhat lopsided spaghetti wad, complete with meatball on the end.

He stuffed the large bite into his mouth, beaming triumphantly as he chewed.

Vincent gave an approving dip of his chin.

Within a very few minutes, Sephiroth had cleaned the plate spotless. Vincent picked up a napkin and dabbed the orange sauce stains from then corners of the boy’s mouth, as he gazed mournfully down at the empty dish.

“Don’t look so tragic,” he said, holding out the spoon. “Try this, now. It’s called strawberry ice cream.”

CH2:

[sketching-shark]

which of swk's kids do you think would be his heir? and what roles do you think the others would take on?

Uh. Well with the Monkey King's whole 5+ immortality and enlightenment deal, probably none of them XD. As is--and while I am very much aware that this is going against macaques' usual structure of most young directly inheriting their status-- I imagine that SWK would take a little more of a background role to the politics of day-to-day living on Mt. Huaguoshan after he becomes the Buddha Victorious in Strife, and spends more time on that side of things ensuring that the relations between the monkey yao and other beings in heaven and earth stay amicable. So who's officially "in charge" of Mt. Huaguoshan is a pretty fluid thing that can't be completely pinned to one specific individual, but is rather made of a loose coalition between SWK, the immortal monkey generals and marshals Ma, Liu, Beng, and Ba, and a large collection of frequently shifting yaoguai and even a number of humans who specialize in different necessary fields like agriculture, masonry, and medicine.

That said, SWK IS Mt. Huaguoshan's official figurehead, mostly because of his long history as the official communal grandpa and protector of the Fruit and Flower monkey yao, and because of his status as a being who's both monkey, man, and buddha all at once. But less fortunately, there's also the fact that his raw power more or less makes him a living WMD, as proven to heaven all those centuries ago when he havoced through the ranks of the deities and other immortals. So while most are on board with keeping up a good or at least civil relationship with the Mt. Huaguoshan yaoguai now, there's also that background threat of what could and did happen when they're attacked.

So with that kind of situation, Quidou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xing are left in this kind of weird and sometimes frightening place. They have a lot of freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives since Sun Wukong had them not because he needed heirs but because he wanted biological children to love and encourage in their passions. But they are also living in the aftermath of the war with heaven, the burning of Mt. Huaguoshan, and the years-long massacre of monkeys at the hands of hunters which only stopped because SWK massacred said hunters in turn. Things have stabilized significantly since the days of war, genocide and famine, and their father constantly emphasizes the need for diplomatic solutions. Yet there's also always that sense that things could in fact go very bad for them and their loved ones if they aren't able to back up their words with legitimate threats. And they only have to look at the human world to see how often that's the case, even between nations :( Plus while they may also be stone monkeys, Quidhou, Luohou, and Yuebei Xing are also a LOT less immortal and invulnerable than their famous father.

But to give a quick summary, as adults Quidou does find contentment in acting as a Mt. Huaguoshan guard and a shifu for many young monkey yaoguai in the martial arts (he's actually the most skilled fighter out of the three), Luohou becomes an interesting mix of a court painter/traveling diplomat who's frequently on the move, and Yuebei Xing, while more of a homebody and scholar than her brothers, out of the three Sun children ends up gaining the most fame and notoriety mainly because of her vast knowledge of curses, especially one that can condemn even immortals to a painful death.

It's no wonder that a number of deities are regarding the existence of even more dangerous stone monkeys with concern and fear. But the truce between Heaven and Mt. Huagushan still holds.

[corvidcrybaby]

I wanna pick your brain a bit,babe;

Who do you think is/was the first vampire? usually people pin that on Alucard/Dracula, but since you obviously didn’t, who do you think it was/is?

Thanks so much for the ask!

So, my answer to this inquiry is simultaneously droll and deep. The harsh reality is that I think it was probably just some nobody. I tend to take a cryptobiologist's approach to how vampires work in the Hellsing universe. I know the text doesn't really support this, but I'm going off of the spin on the Hellsing lore that I utilize in Lesions of a Different Kind that asserts that vampires are a predator species that are a direct link to humanity which have been evolving alongside mankind for thousands upon thousands of years. There is a magical component in how these creatures transmit their infection and perpetuate their existence - in a way, they're a spiritual equivalent to Cordyceps (fucking horrifying, I know), in that they are a magical pestilence which brings about a distinctly biological change in their victims, driving them to perpetuate with others while also allowing them to retain their mental faculties and indeed even enhance them. Due to this? I think the first vampire was probably some random former hunter-gatherer from tens of thousands of years in the past, and that they've been perpetuating themselves ever since. It should be noted that in my Hellsing fanfiction I operate under the assumption that vampirekind are quite scarce. Low in number, and I mean low in number. Perhaps only a couple or few hundred scattered throughout the globe - this part on its own actually is backed by the text, incidentally, based on the entire fact that Sir Integra was taken aback by how unnaturally many vampire attacks were happening when Millennium began producing their artificial vampires as test subjects. Plus, given how horrifyingly powerful Alucard and Seras are, and even the Cheddar Priest (who we do not see a chip from, so we might possibly assume that he's a natural vampire)? It stands to reason they must be scarce. Big fish need big ponds to support themselves. I also hesitate to draw upon Gonzo Hellsing, but we do know Hirano was in cahoots with some of those decisions in the show's development, so we might also gesture to Incognito as further illustration of how horrifically powerful the average True Vampire can become (something I also play with in Lesions, with how Judah and Erzsebet are both sapient WMD's in their own right).

TL;DR some caveman named Ugg that ate something funny in a cursed cave somewhere and woke up the next evening covered in Gugg and Goog's blood. Thanks for asking!

[socialoutsider1a]

From the TV Tropes page on characters on the Blacklist:

Frederick Barnes (No. 47)

Played By: Robert Sean Leonard

"Barnes has always operated with a certain level of... detachment—always the designer, the seller. Never the delivery agent of his own weapons. But if Barnes is now willing to use his work to kill indiscriminately, then he is, quite literally, the most dangerous man in the world."

— Raymond "Red" Reddington

A former military scientist and known genius who worked in creating and developing WMDs for the U.S. military under DARPA, now a chemical weapons killer for hire.

Anti-Villain: Barnes is motivated by love for his son and takes no pleasure in his acts, acts which are nevertheless monstrous.

All for Nothing: It's all but stated that by the time the FDA finishes testing the cure he developed for his son's rare condition, the boy will be dead.

Character Death: Liz shoots him to prevent him from injecting his son with an untested cure. This, notably, is an action Liz comes to regret or at least question.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His son.

Faux Affably Evil: He acts like most of Robert Sean Leonard's characters—calm, very polite, somewhat awkward. Then he lets a trainload of people die horrifying deaths.

I Did What I Had to Do: He will go to any lengths to save the life of his son.

Mad Scientist: A genius at designing biological weapons, he's gone off the deep end and started publicly using them to commit mass murder.

A Million Is a Statistic: He'll sacrifice the whole damn country in pursuit of a cure for his son's rare condition.

Papa Wolf: Willing to kill thousands, even millions, to save his son, Ethan.

Put Your Gun Down And Step Away: He pulls this on Liz. It works the first time. It doesn't the second time.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: He is just trying to cure his son from a rare disease.

Would Hurt a Child: Barnes is willing to murder a child amongst the other train passengers. Even after seeing the boy, he continues with his plan without hesitation.

[heliianth]

scene im deleting from a fic draft bc its no longer compliant with plot plans but i liked it so im posting it :)

“It's a miracle he's alive,“ they say. A ridiculous notion, they’d realize, if only they knew more.

Rouge would like to think she knows lots about Project Shadow, a R&D commission that evolved into multiple artificial organisms classified in papers as government-owned WMDs. Papers stored and digitized detailing the mechanisms of chaos energy, the growth rate of monsters. She prepared to deliver the crown jewel of the stack, a report on the condition of the final Subject, P-610 “the Biolizard.” Its visage remained in her mind. Toothless gums poking out from behind scaled lips, its vacant expression leaving wide the empty orifices stuffed with tubes where eyes should be. On life support, the scientists said. Barely self-sustaining, with an aggressive demeanor and no apparent intelligence. The Biolizard should've been a dead end, cause for directional reconsideration. The Professor seemed to think so, but there was critical success in a single area: it just wouldn't die. So they locked it up where no one but the trustworthy tight lips had to look at it, and the report went into the dustbin servers.

Originally, all of it had gone in one ear and out the other, the only things lingering between what she could use as leverage for more valuable information. Fed bullshit, worth only what she could get paid for it, she told herself in front of the ARK's console. Then they started falling out of the sky.

Shadow's alive, they said. A few broken ribs, skin gnarled with burns, dead quills galore. But without the donated Chaos Emerald, it would've been much worse.

She can't get it out of her head. The Biolizard's gaping, tongueless mouth and the way the skin surrounding its eye holes crept around the tubes, like it was trying to grow around them. The underlined, circled text summarizing the scientists' report, the lone success. It burns.

The papers in her lap crunched in her hands. Subject P-618. An improvement from it's prototype in every way. Shadow is curled up on his side, paws clutched to his chest, cradling something invisible. His breathing is rhythmic.

With enough exposure to chaos energy, he'll wake up like all he'd had was some unpleasant nap.  

”It's a miracle he's alive,“ they said, unknowing of what dangled at the tip of Rouge's tongue. Biologically immortal. It wasn't a surprise. She knew he'd survive atmospheric re-entry. She'd found the proof, right here in her hands, after the fact. It'd been ridiculous anyone thought otherwise, and they should feel like idiots for worrying.

She's not in control of her own body, sitting here with her ass parked in an uncomfortable chair. Why can't she stop staring?

This feeling is new and terrifying. It clogs her throat, bites at her eyes, and makes her chest constrict. Like for 29 hours she'd lost something valuable, immeasurable in carats and irreplaceable with money. Something had dug into her, the moment Sonic returned to collect them alone. She's sick.

Shadow is the cause, she's sure of it. She knows lots about Project Shadow. Dug through G.U.Ns databases for hours today so she would know more. Something about Shadow is contagious. Some disease he imparts onto others. The intelligent course of action would be to evacuate the danger zone.

She manages to tear her eyes away, but can't leave. She doesn't want to.

[most-mistreated-characters]

Chief Miles O'Brien from Star Trek Deep Space 9

There is no better fit than poor O'Brien. There was always at least one episode per season where he was put through terrible scenarios, which the writers referred to as "O'Brien must suffer" episodes. Highlights include: being infected by a biological WMD, his daughter falling into a temporal anomaly and (temporarily) returning back 10 years older and entirely feral, his wife being possessed by basically the star trek version of Satan, falsely accused of a crime and tortured for it, forced to relive traumatic experiences to keep his crewmates alive, falsely accused of a crime AGAIN and implanted with memories of being in a terrible prison for 20 years with the effects being irreversible, and many others. Also one of the most popular posts ive seen about him on tumblr is just an image of him saying "can i please have food" so he doesnt get much of a break, even here.

miles o’brien propaganda! thanks for submitting

[argumate]

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu likely sought to slow or suspend Western military aid to Ukraine and possibly weaken the NATO alliance in scare-mongering calls with several NATO defense ministers on October 23. Shoigu separately called his counterparts from France, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States on October 23, claiming that Ukraine is preparing to conduct a false-flag attack using a dirty bomb (a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material that is not a nuclear weapon) to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction. Russian state media amplified this false and ridiculous claim.

The Kremlin is unlikely to be preparing an imminent false-flag dirty bomb attack. Shoigu’s claims further a longstanding Russian information campaign. The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed that Western states will help Ukraine conduct a false-flag WMD attack since the earliest stages of its invasion of Ukraine in February. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it had information the US was “preparing provocations to accuse the Russian Armed Forces of using chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear weapons” in April. Putin claimed in his pre-invasion speech on February 24 that Ukraine was preparing for a nuclear attack against Russia, and Russian state disinformation outlets repeatedly claimed Western states were supporting Ukraine’s development of nuclear weapons and planning false-flag attacks.

ugh this aspect of the war seems the most tedious

[originalistideas]

So Vladimir Putin was right all along:

The US Pentagon released a statement on its official website acknowledging that it has funded 46 Ukrainian biological facilities over the past 20 years......

🤔

[5gdiginews]

Statement by the United States on the Twentieth Anniversary of UNSCR 1540 - United States Department of State

UN Security Council Resolution 1540 obliges all states to prevent the transfer of WMD-related objects and information by non-state actors. It is one of the most important tools available to the international community to combat the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, their means of delivery and their financing, all of which pose serious threats to international peace and…