#and looks like malware to boot

[mountmortar]

on an entirely unrelated note the processor that my family's desktop computer runs on is so old that people on youtube are making videos about it going "the grandpa of quad cores" and "can it still perform?" which is really fucking hilarious to me. the computer itself only has 6GB of RAM and is running windows 7 so it's still chugging away even though sometimes the screen just goes pitch black for a second because the NVIDIA drivers just straight up. Fail

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Demon-haunted computers are back, baby

Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.

As a science fiction writer, I am professionally irritated by a lot of sf movies. Not only do those writers get paid a lot more than I do, they insist on including things like "self-destruct" buttons on the bridges of their starships.

Look, I get it. When the evil empire is closing in on your flagship with its secret transdimensional technology, it's important that you keep those secrets out of the emperor's hand. An irrevocable self-destruct switch there on the bridge gets the job done! (It has to be irrevocable, otherwise the baddies'll just swarm the bridge and toggle it off).

But c'mon. If there's a facility built into your spaceship that causes it to explode no matter what the people on the bridge do, that is also a pretty big security risk! What if the bad guy figures out how to hijack the measure that – by design – the people who depend on the spaceship as a matter of life and death can't detect or override?

I mean, sure, you can try to simplify that self-destruct system to make it easier to audit and assure yourself that it doesn't have any bugs in it, but remember Schneier's Law: anyone can design a security system that works so well that they themselves can't think of a flaw in it. That doesn't mean you've made a security system that works – only that you've made a security system that works on people stupider than you.

I know it's weird to be worried about realism in movies that pretend we will ever find a practical means to visit other star systems and shuttle back and forth between them (which we are very, very unlikely to do):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/09/astrobezzle/#send-robots-instead

But this kind of foolishness galls me. It galls me even more when it happens in the real world of technology design, which is why I've spent the past quarter-century being very cross about Digital Rights Management in general, and trusted computing in particular.

It all starts in 2002, when a team from Microsoft visited our offices at EFF to tell us about this new thing they'd dreamed up called "trusted computing":

https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/05/trusting-trust/#thompsons-devil

The big idea was to stick a second computer inside your computer, a very secure little co-processor, that you couldn't access directly, let alone reprogram or interfere with. As far as this "trusted platform module" was concerned, you were the enemy. The "trust" in trusted computing was about other people being able to trust your computer, even if they didn't trust you.

So that little TPM would do all kinds of cute tricks. It could observe and produce a cryptographically signed manifest of the entire boot-chain of your computer, which was meant to be an unforgeable certificate attesting to which kind of computer you were running and what software you were running on it. That meant that programs on other computers could decide whether to talk to your computer based on whether they agreed with your choices about which code to run.

This process, called "remote attestation," is generally billed as a way to identify and block computers that have been compromised by malware, or to identify gamers who are running cheats and refuse to play with them. But inevitably it turns into a way to refuse service to computers that have privacy blockers turned on, or are running stream-ripping software, or whose owners are blocking ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/02/self-incrimination/#wei-bai-bai

After all, a system that treats the device's owner as an adversary is a natural ally for the owner's other, human adversaries. The rubric for treating the owner as an adversary focuses on the way that users can be fooled by bad people with bad programs. If your computer gets taken over by malicious software, that malware might intercept queries from your antivirus program and send it false data that lulls it into thinking your computer is fine, even as your private data is being plundered and your system is being used to launch malware attacks on others.

These separate, non-user-accessible, non-updateable secure systems serve a nubs of certainty, a remote fortress that observes and faithfully reports on the interior workings of your computer. This separate system can't be user-modifiable or field-updateable, because then malicious software could impersonate the user and disable the security chip.

It's true that compromised computers are a real and terrifying problem. Your computer is privy to your most intimate secrets and an attacker who can turn it against you can harm you in untold ways. But the widespread redesign of out computers to treat us as their enemies gives rise to a range of completely predictable and – I would argue – even worse harms. Building computers that treat their owners as untrusted parties is a system that works well, but fails badly.

First of all, there are the ways that trusted computing is designed to hurt you. The most reliable way to enshittify something is to supply it over a computer that runs programs you can't alter, and that rats you out to third parties if you run counter-programs that disenshittify the service you're using. That's how we get inkjet printers that refuse to use perfectly good third-party ink and cars that refuse to accept perfectly good engine repairs if they are performed by third-party mechanics:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

It's how we get cursed devices and appliances, from the juicer that won't squeeze third-party juice to the insulin pump that won't connect to a third-party continuous glucose monitor:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

But trusted computing doesn't just create an opaque veil between your computer and the programs you use to inspect and control it. Trusted computing creates a no-go zone where programs can change their behavior based on whether they think they're being observed.

The most prominent example of this is Dieselgate, where auto manufacturers murdered hundreds of people by gimmicking their cars to emit illegal amount of NOX. Key to Dieselgate was a program that sought to determine whether it was being observed by regulators (it checked for the telltale signs of the standard test-suite) and changed its behavior to color within the lines.

Software that is seeking to harm the owner of the device that's running it must be able to detect when it is being run inside a simulation, a test-suite, a virtual machine, or any other hallucinatory virtual world. Just as Descartes couldn't know whether anything was real until he assured himself that he could trust his senses, malware is always questing to discover whether it is running in the real universe, or in a simulation created by a wicked god:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/28/descartes-was-an-optimist/#uh-oh

That's why mobile malware uses clever gambits like periodically checking for readings from your device's accelerometer, on the theory that a virtual mobile phone running on a security researcher's test bench won't have the fidelity to generate plausible jiggles to match the real data that comes from a phone in your pocket:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/01/google-play-malware-used-phones-motion-sensors-to-conceal-itself/

Sometimes this backfires in absolutely delightful ways. When the Wannacry ransomware was holding the world hostage, the security researcher Marcus Hutchins noticed that its code made reference to a very weird website: iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com. Hutchins stood up a website at that address and every Wannacry-infection in the world went instantly dormant:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/10/flintstone-delano-roosevelt/#the-matrix

It turns out that Wannacry's authors were using that ferkakte URL the same way that mobile malware authors were using accelerometer readings – to fulfill Descartes' imperative to distinguish the Matrix from reality. The malware authors knew that security researchers often ran malicious code inside sandboxes that answered every network query with fake data in hopes of eliciting responses that could be analyzed for weaknesses. So the Wannacry worm would periodically poll this nonexistent website and, if it got an answer, it would assume that it was being monitored by a security researcher and it would retreat to an encrypted blob, ceasing to operate lest it give intelligence to the enemy. When Hutchins put a webserver up at iuqerfsodp9ifjaposdfjhgosurijfaewrwergwea.com, every Wannacry instance in the world was instantly convinced that it was running on an enemy's simulator and withdrew into sulky hibernation.

The arms race to distinguish simulation from reality is critical and the stakes only get higher by the day. Malware abounds, even as our devices grow more intimately woven through our lives. We put our bodies into computers – cars, buildings – and computers inside our bodies. We absolutely want our computers to be able to faithfully convey what's going on inside them.

But we keep running as hard as we can in the opposite direction, leaning harder into secure computing models built on subsystems in our computers that treat us as the threat. Take UEFI, the ubiquitous security system that observes your computer's boot process, halting it if it sees something it doesn't approve of. On the one hand, this has made installing GNU/Linux and other alternative OSes vastly harder across a wide variety of devices. This means that when a vendor end-of-lifes a gadget, no one can make an alternative OS for it, so off the landfill it goes.

It doesn't help that UEFI – and other trusted computing modules – are covered by Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it a felony to publish information that can bypass or weaken the system. The threat of a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine means that UEFI and other trusted computing systems are understudied, leaving them festering with longstanding bugs:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/09/free-sample/#que-viva

Here's where it gets really bad. If an attacker can get inside UEFI, they can run malicious software that – by design – no program running on our computers can detect or block. That badware is running in "Ring -1" – a zone of privilege that overrides the operating system itself.

Here's the bad news: UEFI malware has already been detected in the wild:

https://securelist.com/cosmicstrand-uefi-firmware-rootkit/106973/

And here's the worst news: researchers have just identified another exploitable UEFI bug, dubbed Pixiefail:

https://blog.quarkslab.com/pixiefail-nine-vulnerabilities-in-tianocores-edk-ii-ipv6-network-stack.html

Writing in Ars Technica, Dan Goodin breaks down Pixiefail, describing how anyone on the same LAN as a vulnerable computer can infect its firmware:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/new-uefi-vulnerabilities-send-firmware-devs-across-an-entire-ecosystem-scrambling/

That vulnerability extends to computers in a data-center where the attacker has a cloud computing instance. PXE – the system that Pixiefail attacks – isn't widely used in home or office environments, but it's very common in data-centers.

Again, once a computer is exploited with Pixiefail, software running on that computer can't detect or delete the Pixiefail code. When the compromised computer is queried by the operating system, Pixiefail undetectably lies to the OS. "Hey, OS, does this drive have a file called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope." "Hey, OS, are you running a process called 'pixiefail?'" "Nope."

This is a self-destruct switch that's been compromised by the enemy, and which no one on the bridge can de-activate – by design. It's not the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

There are models for helping your computer bust out of the Matrix. Back in 2016, Edward Snowden and bunnie Huang prototyped and published source code and schematics for an "introspection engine":

https://assets.pubpub.org/aacpjrja/AgainstTheLaw-CounteringLawfulAbusesofDigitalSurveillance.pdf

This is a single-board computer that lives in an ultraslim shim that you slide between your iPhone's mainboard and its case, leaving a ribbon cable poking out of the SIM slot. This connects to a case that has its own OLED display. The board has leads that physically contact each of the network interfaces on the phone, conveying any data they transit to the screen so that you can observe the data your phone is sending without having to trust your phone.

(I liked this gadget so much that I included it as a major plot point in my 2020 novel Attack Surface, the third book in the Little Brother series):

https://craphound.com/attacksurface/

We don't have to cede control over our devices in order to secure them. Indeed, we can't ever secure them unless we can control them. Self-destruct switches don't belong on the bridge of your spaceship, and trusted computing modules don't belong in your devices.

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/17/descartes-delenda-est/#self-destruct-sequence-initiated

Image: Mike (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwellmike/15676883261/

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

[ambroziadelphine]

Forgotten (Bucky Barnes x Reader) Part 5

Marvel Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

"First rule of going on the run is don't run, walk." Nat said as we strolled through the mall, Bubs was out of his bright vest, his plain black coat making him look more common, helpful he wasn't full grown yet considering his breed size so he's less obvious. Steve was looking around as he had a ballcap and glasses on, Nat's hood was up as I had my hair all tucked in a beanie, damn my hair be an uncommon color.

"If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall off." Steve said making me crack a smile. We headed up to the apple store, Nat using a laptop to decrypt the USB.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up S.H.I.E.L.D will know exactly where we are." She said as Steve looked around, Bubs sitting at my feet beside him.

"How much time will we have?" He asked.

"About nine minutes from.." she paused, putting the USB in. "Now." She said and I ever so slightly slowed time for everything but us. It was only enough to delay about 10 seconds per minute, giving Nat a little extra time for this.

"Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something." Nat said, her brows furrowing as she worked on it. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands." She said, Steve leaning against the table slightly as he looked at her.

"Can you override it?" He asked and she pursed her lips.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly." She said, glancing at Steve and I as she said the last word, a chuckle coming from me.

"I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program S.H.I.E.L.D developed to track hostile malware, so, if we cant read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from." She said, working before a sales person came up to us and I winced, reluctantly bringing his slowed down ass into the time speed so they wouldn't notice the difference.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" He asked and I just kept my head down, pretending to look at another laptop vaguely beside them, Nat putting on her charm as she smiled and put a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations." She lied, Steve smiling sheepishly to play along.

"Right. We're getting married." He said dumbly making my stifle a laugh, shaking my head slightly as Nat turned back to the computer.

"Congratulations. Where are you guys thinking about going?" The sales guy asked, Steve glancing at te computer as he looked back at the guy.

"New Jersey." He said, I facepalmed at his bad acting skills and thanked god this guy looked like a bit of an idiot.

"Oh." He said before he got a look on his face and I could tell Steve tensed, thinking he recognized him before pointing to him and squinting. "I have the exact same glasses." He said, a small snort coming from me making Nat smirk.

"Wow, you two are practically twins." She mused making the sales guy chuckle.

"Yea, I wish." He said, doing this weird hand gesture to Steve's body. "Specimen." He said with small laugh.

"If you guys need anything, I've been Aaron." He said, holding up his name tag as they said their thanks and he wandered off and exited the time speed.

"You said nine minutes. Come on." Steve said, checking his watch as I sighed, slowing time to 20 seconds a minute.

"Relax." Natasha said before she smirked a moment later. "Got it." She said and Steve looked at it closely.

"Know it?" Nat asked, Steve furrowing his brows.

"I used to. Let's go" He said as we left with the USB in hand, getting out of there as soon as possible. "Standard tac team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us." He said as he grabbed Bub's collar, letting my shrink myself as we passed a corner as I laid in Bub's fur.

"If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro with Bub." He said, trying to take control of the situation but Nat wasn't having it.

"Shut up and put your arm around me. Laugh at something I said." She said without missing a beat.

"What?" Steve asked, confused.

"Do it." She said, putting his arm around her as he did as she said, all of us walking blissfully passed the two tac team members, Steve giving a glance behind them when they were fully behind us. We got on an escalator and I put a hand on Bub, rubbing his head as I leaned close to his ear.

"Head down." I said, Bub's doing as said as he lowered himself further from view, Nat getting Steve to kiss her as Rumlow passed us on the escalator when we went down. "Good boy." I whispered to him, giving him small scratches as his tag wagged, a grin on my face before we were off with Steve holding his leash again.

-----------------------------------

It didn't take us long to ditch Natasha's car and take a truck which Steve hotwired, headed to New Jersey as Bub ate in the back with me from a bowl after we picked up some food. We had been on the move so quickly we couldn't take time to stop and find Agent Hill, so he was with us for the time being. Something I think Steve is a little grateful for so he didn't feel as worried about me. Nat had her feet up on the dash, arms crossed as Steve drove.

"Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?" She asked him, a small smile coming to my face at that, not something I had actually considered asking.

"Nazi Germany." He said, Nat humming before Steve turned to her. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash." He said as I chuckled, petting Bub's head before he pawed at his now empty bowl, nudging the water bottle held in my hand as I smiled, pouring some out for him which he happily gulped up.

"Alright, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer." She said, before furrowing her brows a little. "I feel like, if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know." She rattled on, Steve rolling his eyes.

"What?" He asked, a sneaky smile on Nat's face as she turned to him.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" She asked making me laugh.

"That bad, huh?" He asked jokingly as she laughed a little.

"I didn't say that." She defended ass Steve nodded.

"We, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." He said, I just shook my head at this because it was kinda true in what it sounded like.

"No, I didn't." She said her voice cracking in her amusement. "I just wondered how much practice you've had." She said making me snort, covering my mouth.

"You don't need practice." Steve scoffed, Nat shrugging with a smirk.

"Everyone needs practice." She said, Steve getting obviously flustered.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, I'm not dead." He said, Nat looking away for a moment before turning to him with a half smile.

"Nobody special, though?" She asked and I smiled sadly, Steve giving a scoff.

"Believe it or not, it's hard to find someone with shared life experience." He said, Nat waving him off.

"Well, that's all right. You just make something up." She said making me chuckle.

"What happens when they find out?" I asked her, she gave me a playful glare.

"What, like you?" He asked her, she shrugged and looked at him.

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstance." She mused, shaking her head as she looked forward. "It's not all things to all people, all the time. Neither am I." She said, Steve giving her a long look.

"That's a tough way to live." He said.

"It's a good way not to die, thought." She hummed, a moment of silence settling over the car before Steve turned to her again.

"You know, its kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who that someone really is." Steve said, a sigh coming from me as I thought of that. I didn't know Winter, but I still trusted him. He still made me feel safe and I wanted to protect him, so I guess Steve's words are true only depending on the situation.

"Yeah." Nat said softly, looking away before looking back. "Who do you want me to do?" She asked, Steve giving her a tiny smile.

"How about a friend?" He asked, a small chuckle and smile coming from her.

"Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers." She said, silence settling over the car we finally arrived to our stop. We all got out and looked around, an old army base here as we approached the fence.

"This it?" Steve asked as Nat pocketed her detection thingy. I didn't know what the hell it was.

"The file came from these coordinates." She said as we all stopped by the gates.

"So did I." Steve said, my eyes turning to the land before me in realization that this was where he had trained and served in the military.

-------------------------

Walking around as we looked for something was tough, but Steve had directed me to stay behind a bit, meaning I was mainly just playing with Bub's, having a ball I'd throw a few feet, just enough to keep him in sight as he'd then race back to me with it, his long legs pushing him quickly as he'd skid to a stop on the ground. I wasn't listening as they talked, just keeping an ear out incase they called me over, which happened a few moments after I threw the ball again for Bub.

"Did you find it?" I asked as I ran closer, Bub's not far behind with the ball in his mouth. Steve and Nat were in front of this big building obviously sheltered underground.

"We think so." He said before looking around and sighing, coming up and putting his hands on my shoulders. "I want you to stay out here and stay low. I don't want to risk you and Bub getting hurt if this is a trap." He said as I sighed and nodded, gathering Bub's as I walked to a nearby building, sitting down in it's shaded spot where Steve could clearly see me from the building door. I waved to them as they entered, hoping thing went okay as Bub laid his head in my lap, pushing his ball to me as I smiled and kept throwing it for him, getting bored quite quickly as I pulled at the grass.

They were only in there for about 15 minutes before I heard something strange, Bub's ears back as he started pulling on my sleeve, urging me to move away and I frowned. I got up, letting him pull my a few more feet away before I screamed as the loudest bang I've ever heard sounded from behind me, a force knocking me to the ground as I felt the ground shake a little. I flipped around on my back, breathing heavily with wide eyes, panic running through me as I struggled to get up, running to what used to be the building Nat and Steve had gone in. I felt my heart beating in my ears as Bub's ran to me, my eyes still wide in shock as I checked him over in my dazed state, seeing he was thankfully alright. I turned back to the rubble and felt my dazed state fade, fear and panic for my friends flooding in as I felt tears welling me my eyes.

"Steve?! Natasha!" I called, supersizing myself as I began hurriedly moving rubble, my body feeling like ice as I yelled for them, Bub helping as he sniffed them out. I saw something move and saw Steve's shield as I rushed over, pulling rubble from around them as they both had taken cover in a small hole they found. Natasha was unconscious and I quickly helped him pick her up, both of us rushing with Bub hot on our tails to hide as Helicarriers flew overhead.

[titan-star]

Clash of the Titans

[This takes place after Titan leaves Malware's and heads back home. Elena threw Padre in an amazing stunt of strength -- don't mess with the Gators.]

Padre felt his entire world go full kilter as he was effortlessly spun around and was ragdolled into the trees. He yelped in surprise as he was flung into the air. A loud OOF was pounded out of him as he smashed into a tree, the weight of his body completely snapping it and knocking down another.

Padre grunted loudly as he rolled around a few times in the dirt and quickly got up, snarling and completely enRAGED!

THAT STUPID BITCH!! I'LL KILL HER FIRST!!

He huffed as he snarled and quickly got up and growled in annoyance as he could feel something wrong-- his leg. The damn impact of the fall and the scrapes he got from Monty was starting to make his joints lock up.

Well FUCK. He might have to leave for now. Padre looked down at his arm and noticed right away, with wide eyes....that Monty fucking bit through his TELEPORTAL MODULATOR!

Padre felt overwhelming R A G E burn his insides as he let out a frustrated roar and kicked the fallen tree. His boot went straight through the thick wood, kicking up dirt as splinters and wood debris shot out from the impact.

This trip was NOT going as planned!! AT ALL!!

He wasn't alone. Padre stared at the yellow bot heading his way and he internally sighed. Oh, crud. One of them must have called for Titan.

This wasn't going his way at all....

Son. Of. A. Bitc--

Titan, puffing steam and his pupils slightly red and teary eyed, had seen Monty's body on the way over. He didn't see his kids. He didn't know where they were!! But he knew where HE was! That bastard look-alike! He's not getting past him today and this ends NOW!!

Titan threw himself at Padre as he was muttering something, the two rolling around the ground as they both struggled to get the upper hand. Titan didn't care for any of the scratches or cuts that his doppelganger gave him with those talons he used to try and get Titan off him.

Titan lifted a fist and swung wildly across Padre's face. A large chunk of faceplate flew off from the impact, making Padre's head snap violently from the strike. It dazed him enough for Titan to gain the upper hand as he pinned Padre with his own weight and began to wail on him. He put his all into every punch to hit Padre in the face, the chest, the neck. Each dent didn't help Titan feel any better...it wasn't ENOUGH to make this bastard suffer. Where were his kids?! Why did he have to kill Monty?!

WHERE ARE THEY?!

Padre knew what he was talking about. But he only cackled, his voice box fizzling in and out in volume from the damage he'd been taking.

This only infuriated Titan. He huffed, slowly standing up to hover over Padre. Why was he laughing?! He shook with fury as saline tears began to slide down his cheeks. This asshole walked around the theater as if he was himself! By the sounds of Monty's message: Was probably trying to pass off as him! Why?!

What's so fucking funny?! Speak! Where are my kids?! WHY WOULD YOU PRETEND TO BE ME?!

Padre only chuckled lowly with a wheezing sound. He could feel oil leaking into his stomach cavity from the internal injuries Monty and Titan both inflicted.

B̵̹̉e̵͓͑c̸̯͗a̶͉͂ŭ̶̞s̵̖̀e̷͉̓ ̵̻̏i̷̩͐t̶̤̋'̶̞̑s̷̚ͅ ̶̠͠f̴̼̾u̵̹̍n̷̩̐.̵̞̀.̴̻̐.̴͔̇

That was the wrong answer.... Titan could only see red. Fury clouded his mind as his fans whirred loudly as he shook with rage. Titan could feel.... something....strange...gathering in his hands. Whatever it was....

He was going to use it to END this guy.

Unknowingly, Titan lifted his arms and felt some kind of energy gather into the palms of his hands. Was this

..... magic??? Is that what it felt like?

It tingled a little.

Titan let out an enraged cry as he took that ball of magic and sLAMMED it into Padre. All of this will end here and NOW! No more!!

Padre grinned widely as he watched the hot, molten gold, colored light crash into him. Welp! He had a good run. At least he made a Titan cry. And he DID have fun playing pretend. At least he got one last kill in before his demise.

.........

Titan stared at the ground in confusion. The....guy wasn't there. It was....

...Wh...What the fuck?!

HONK?!

Titan had ..... accidentally turned Padre.....into a golden goose.

[magic-hcs]

Got a lil funny scenario for you!

The boy had a lazy free day, sleeping in late. He hears his brother coming home and head downstairs to greet him, wearing only boxers and looking all disheveled. To his surprise his brother isn't alone but has a human accompanying him (for some service they are doing at their house as it's revealed later.)

Turns out this human is their soulmate and the boy is meeting them for the first time looking like this !

Fooooooor Syrup! 😂

I had so much fun writing this! thank you so much for sending in this ask.

Syrup: US Papyrus

Time to cast some magic and see what we'll get!✨

✨✨

Syrup: Ah…

ground, please swallow him whole now, please and thank you.

“bro ya back, did you bring the new coffee beansss witthh youuu…” His words slowly come to a dragging halt as he stares with wide sockets at the human next to Sky.

oh bollocks…

Syrup had been working for quite a while, a day or two trying to crack at this malware failure that his current contractor had given him to fix. And the coffee in his canteen had been running empty, so he decided to go downstairs and fix his canteen with a whole new lot of coffee - maybe a lollipop or fifteen to keep him busy - when he heard the front door close and the recognizable taps of Sky’s boots and his voice. Only wearing his hoodie and some underwear, a thoroughly chewed through lollipop stick hanging between his teeth and bags for days underneath his sockets, Syrup strolled towards the hall, already mumbling his question.

And here he stood now, standing in his hobo looking glory, staring at the human who returned his gaze with widened eyes of their own. A small tug inside Syrup’s soul soon followed, filling him with the feeling of elation like he just found something he had forgotten about but been searching for oh so long. Afterwards, the searing and chilling touch of mortification followed it. Burning his cheek bones a dark orange, and drenching his back with a cold sweat.

The chewed out lollipop stick slips from his teeth, landing on the floor with a tack and his jaw falls open with a clack. A few seconds of absolute silence.

And then, Syrup’s damned sleep deprive and social capabilities decided to merge and introduce itself. “ahooga.” (He had meant to say ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’.)

once again, ground, you have permission to swallow him hole, please do it fast.

✨✨

✨✨

Thank you for participating in this spell, i hope it was to your satisfaction.

[malevolent-misfortune]

Virus

The soft sound of whirring fans could be heard from the android as he sat on the ground of the somewhat abandoned factory. He always liked to spend time here when not in the elevator, as it brought them peace, or what that would feel like if he wasn't a robot. They were powered down in sleep mode, a thing he did quite a bit since it does take quite a bit of power just to run.

Yes he could always power fully down, but never did for some strange reason, only doing it when needing major repairs. Plus, it was much quicker to boot up from sleep rather than from shut-off, so it helps. Though, it's not always the best thing, as he was still connected up to the internet, leaving them vulnerable to viruses that could infect his system.

But, he had a good Anti-Malware system, right? They had a strong one installed when they were created, and never had any problems with malware before. Surely the little android wouldn't have to worry about anything. They were safe. His system was protected.

Few of the lights that were powered on flickered every once in a while, adding to the soft noises of still running machineries. The flickering of the lights picked up, before being turned off, along with the area around the robot being filled with a black smoke. Never a good sign.

Bright, piercing red eyes were all that appeared in the smoke, looking down at Prototype with such resentment. The smoke slowly disappeared, revealing the dream parasite right in front of the robot, lights turning back on, though now much dimmer than before.

The parasite kept her piercing gaze on Prototype. Oh how she wanted to just rip the poor, helpless bot limb from limb, destroy any and every piece of him. But no, she was here for a reason; she needed them. Not to just mess and torment the android, though that would come with it, she knew how close he is with Pest so it's perfect.

She could never fully get into Pest's mind unlike the others, no matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to. She thought that maybe hijacking the bot in a way could get her closer to that insect. It shouldn't be too hard; she was powerful, so how hard could it be. Though not as simple as going into dreams, it should be at least somewhat similar in some way.

There are lots of ways she could go, she just had to stay undetected, both by Prototype's system and Pest. Viruses do it all the time! Yeah they'll eventually get found, but if it says undetected they can really do some damage. Not that she did want to cause immediate damage, she needed to take this slowly.

With that, the parasite disappeared again, black smoke appearing from where she was. The smoke trailed up close to Prototype, going through and into one of the vents on him. All the inner workings, wires, hard drive, SSD, everything.

Smoke traveled all throughout the parts, it seeping in more into everything. This was much easier than she thought, she should've tried this ages ago! Having access to everything in Prototype's system, being able to do whatever she wanted. Soon, the smoke left in the air fully disappeared, just as if she was never there.

Without warning, the fans on the little android stopped, more following behind it. He shut down.

Oh this is going to be fun.

[violetfractal]

i had a dream i was interloping in a stranger’s house. i wanted to look at porn, so i booted up his ancient-ass computer with the beige crt monitor. okay, it’s a command prompt. white text on a black screen.

I try typing “firefox”. it opens a third-person shooter called “counterstrike ‘97” where you play as a squirrel and do sweet aerial combos. i play for a minute. fun, but not porn. alt f4.

I try typing “iexp”. it runs a game inside the text console. I control a guy sinking to the bottom of the ocean. dodge left and right, try not to touch jellyfish. basic. alt f4.

I type “netscape”. success — it opens an internet browser! the browser is riddled with malware, popups galore. for a moment I see porn, but i fail to click to that window. soon the whole screen is a livestream of a hairy guy sitting at his desk and singing a song. he’s playing with scientific apparatuses like dolls, making them dance along.

I hear a key turn in the front door. the homeowner is here! He stops with the door half open to finish a conversation. I run out the back door. no porn for me…

[the-most-humble-blog]

🌀 The Simulation Doesn’t Owe You Closure, Sweetie

✨ The world is under no obligation to make sense to your primate-ass brain. 🧠🐒

It never signed a contract. It doesn’t owe you a neat plotline, a moral arc, or even a coherent beginning. You're demanding Shakespeare from a kaleidoscope of atoms mid-fart. Let that sink in.

👁️ You Woke Up Today and Just... Assumed Everything Was Still Real?

🛌 You opened your eyes. ☀️ The sun “rose.” 💬 Your brain whispered, “Same planet, same timeline, same you.”

But what evidence do you actually have?

You don’t know where the sun was five minutes ago.

You don’t know your memories are real — you just have a highly convincing slideshow in your skull.

You’re trusting your meat processor because it feels consistent.

Feelings are not facts. 🥴 Neither is “breakfast.” 🍳 You cooked it in a dream. 🎭 And your dream cooked you.

🌌 Alternate Hypothesis:

👉 The entire universe may have booted up this morning ⚡️ Fully formed 🗃️ With backlogged memories 📚 Fake Wikipedia articles 📸 Childhood photos pre-installed

...just so you wouldn’t freak out when you looked in the mirror and said:

"Oh thank god, I’m still me."

But that “you”? That little voice saying “still me”? 🎤 Might be the software. Not the speaker.

💫 You Ever Wonder Why Dreams Feel More Like Home Than Real Life?

Because they don’t ask for logic. They don’t care about time. They don’t require coherence.

And your brain... loves it.

🌪 Dreams are where your inner tyrant gets to speak. 🦴 Your subconscious gets to lick its wounds and howl at nothing. 🐍 Your fears wear your face, and your fantasies violate causality.

Meanwhile, “reality” asks you to pay rent.

Which one sounds more like base reality to you?

🪞 Your “I Am” Is a Lie of Convenience

Say it with me:

"I...am."

👃 But your nose bacteria said it too. 💩 So did the E. coli in your gut. 🦠 Your biome — the literal orgy of germs you walk around with — voted unanimously on your behalf.

You’re not a “person.” You’re a coalition of goo, pretending to have a name.

You're basically a haunted Roomba in a trench coat, gaslighting yourself with words like "consciousness."

☠️ Death? You Think You Know Death?

You think it’s an ending? A door? A fade to black?

👻 Some theories suggest you never actually die. You just quantum leap into another version of reality where you didn’t.

🚙 You crash the car.

🎲 Reality branches.

🧍One version of you dies.

👤 Another keeps driving, blissfully unaware.

Congratulations. You’re quantumly immortal.

Now live with that.

🧩 Nothing You Believe Is Yours

🔄 Your preferences? Algorithmic.

��� Your language? Colonial malware.

🎶 Your music taste? Trauma harmonized.

🍔 Your favorite meal? A mouth-based memory of safety.

🧍‍♂️ Your personality? Copied and pasted from people who bullied you in 7th grade and won.

Everything you think is you is actually borrowed, imprinted, marketed, or stolen.

You’re just the crust forming on top.

👾 Thought Experiment:

Imagine you wake up tomorrow and everything is the same, but:

Gravity is 2% weaker

Everyone speaks your native tongue, but words now mean different things

The moon is slightly larger

Diddy is President

Would you notice? Would you even question it?

Or would you just scroll your phone, complain about gas prices, and say:

“Ugh. Mondays.”

Because here’s the horrifying truth:

Reality doesn’t need to be real to be consistent. 🧠 It just has to feel real long enough for you to shut up and go to work.

🕷 The Memory Trap

You can’t even prove you remember things accurately.

Your brain doesn’t store memories — 🧱 it reconstructs them. Like a trauma-themed Minecraft server.

So when someone says:

“But I remember that happening…”

Know this:

🎥 They don’t remember what happened. They remember remembering it once.

You're a feedback loop hallucinating confidence.

💃 You’re Dancing in a Dead Man’s Dream

What if everything you see is a ghost’s last vision before brain death?

🧬 What if you're the synaptic echo of someone else’s final moment — A projection flickering through dissolving tissue?

And your purpose?

To feel just enough agency to make death seem like it had meaning.

You were never supposed to wake up in the first place.

🎯 So What Now, Smart Guy?

You think you’ve got a grip on reality?

Cool. Name five sensations that are definitely real and not simulated.

Take your time. I’ll wait.

(Just kidding — time is fake too.)

And while you’re busy explaining your deep, spiritual certainty…

Let me ask you this:

🕵️‍♂️ Where were you in 1997? Be specific.

What socks were you wearing? What did the air smell like? What did Diddy do to you?

Exactly.

You don’t know.

Which means...

You don’t exist with the kind of continuity you think you do. You exist like a flickering cursor on a corrupted save file.

🧼 Clean on the surface. 🧟‍♂️ Rot underneath.

💣 The Final Blow:

You’ve never been “awake.” You’ve never been “alive.” You’ve only ever been stimulus fed to a frightened organism trying to rationalize entropy.

And the universe?

It was never “created.” It just booted up. No moral. No meaning. No arc.

Just inputs → outputs → extinction.

And all along you’ve been pretending:

“I get it now. I understand.”

Oh really?

Then why can’t you even remember if Diddy touched you, dumbass?

🧬 Reboot your expectations. Reality was never built to comfort you. It was built to run — and you’re just a background process.

🔻 CALL TO REALITY STACK 🔻

⚖️ Free Speech Disclaimer:

This is a work of satire. Unless it isn’t.

🔁 Reblog if your dream self is starting to feel more like you. 💬 Comment if you think “waking up” might be the real delusion. 📩 DM if you have memories that feel older than your body. 🧼 Wash your hands, but reality won't rinse off. 🔁 Share before the simulation changes your backstory again.

[devastator1775]

Anne's Journey: Two eternal Souls And The Lost Daughter - Chapter 5: Taking the next step

Summary: Anne tells Ashley everything and later, takes the decision that will change everything.

Anne’s nerves were pretty much shot by the time she and Ashley arrived at her home. Luckily, neither of Anne’s parents were at home, having another late night at the hospital. The distraught Drone quickly ran inside her house, with Ashley on her heels, and slammed the door behind them.

Ashley let out a sigh. “Anne, can y-“

“Not here.” Anne said as she grabbed Ashley by her arm and started to drag her up the stairs. “My room.”

“Okay, but-!” The other Drone groaned when Anne once again seemed to ignore her. “Will you please t- Ow, you’re hurting my arm!”

Anne quickly let go, her hands shaking and expression distraught. She hadn’t realized how hard she had been pulling. Was her strength increasing too? How much more would her body change? She gave her dearest friend an apologetic look, regret dripping of her visor. “Ash, sorry, I …I- “

“It’s fine!” Ashley grunted, rubbing her shoulder. She started to push her friend up the stairs. She practically lobbed Anne into her room, crossing her arms with a huff.

“Now can you please tell me what happened?” She asked, her voice still soft and filled with concern, despite the clear annoyance that was projected on her visor.

Anne started to hastily unpack her laptop and booting everything up, fumbling with cables and other equipment she was plugging in. “In a minute.”

Ashley let out a groan. “Anne, this starting to- “

Anne snapped her gaze to her friend. “Ash, someone was running a trace on me, and I need to know if they know who and/or where I am!” She shouted. She turned her attention back to her laptop. “Now let me work.”

Ashley stood there with her mouth agape, looking like she was going to say something for a moment, but decided against it. She crossed her arms with a sigh and waited for Anne to finish her business.

Anne ran several programs, scanned her equipment with any sort of anti-viral/hacking/diagnostic software that she owned, and …eventually let out a sigh of relief. Good, it looked like that whoever had been trying to run a trace on her didn’t succeed. Nor was any sort of malware installed on her laptop. Just to be completely sure, Anne ran a full self-diagnostic cycle to see if they hadn’t attempted to install any malicious software on her system. After a few tense minutes, the scan came up clean.

“Phew, we’re okay.”

“Are we?” Ash asked, her tone flat. “Or do you need to yell at me some more?”

The other Drone flinched, suddenly feeling really bad on how she had spoken against her best friend moments earlier. “Ash, I’m sorry about that. I-“

Ash groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. “No-no-no, I’m the one who’s sorry.” She said, her tone sincere with a hint of guilt. “You didn’t deserve that jab. I was being pushy during a tense situation and made you lash out.”

“I still shouldn’t have shouted like that.”

“Let’s agree we were both in the wrong?”

“Agreed.”

“You good?”

“I’m good. You good?”

“I’m good. We're good.”

Anne quickly ran up to Ashley and hugged her tightly, her mind finally releasing some of the stress that had been building up since they’ve left the municipal building.

“There, there.” Ashley chuckled, trying to conceal her blush when she eventually let go of her. “So, do I need to ask again, or …?”

Anne sat down on her bed, looking at her hand that were folded on her lap. “I …I’m not really sure what happened.” Anne stated truthfully. “Everything was going fine. I had access to my core and I was running the trace. I was finally so close to getting some answers, and ….I got hacked. I must have triggered an alarm or something.”

“Someone back-hacked you?” Ashley asked. “That fast? Who? Centre Security?”

Anne shook her head. “If that was the case, we would have seen security around the Centre, or even heard alarms.” She nervously wrung her hands together. “It was someone else, somewhere else.”

“Who? Why?”

“No idea, on either question.”

“And you’re sure they didn’t get a lock on you?”

“I terminated the connection before they could finish, which overloaded my systems and caused that …exploding feedback. But, judging by the lack of any sort of tracking malware on myself or the laptop, I’m certain they don’t have anything on me. Us.” Anne stated confidently. Of this, she was sure. There was no way they knew who she was or where she was.

“Did you at least get what you were looking for?”

Anne’s eyes grew wide, pretty much filling up her entire visor. In the excitement, she almost had forgotten that she had copied over the files to her drive, before their mystery hacker had butted in. She jumped up and ran to her computer, accessing the files. But the moment she opened them, she felt her heart sing.

“No …no-no-no, this can’t be right!” Anne lamented. With a growl, she slammed her fist on the table. “Son of a [beep]ing Trojan!”

“What?” Ashley questioned, joining her friend at her computer. The moment she looked over Anne’s shoulder to see what was wrong, she winced. “Ooh …that’s not good, right?”

Anne felt despair fill her core when she looked at the files …or what was left of them. It seemed that due to the sudden termination of the connection – or maybe due to something their hacker counterpart had done – that the files got corrupted and thus, unreadable. Not that she couldn’t open the files, but all the text were just symbols or jumbled words. With a long groan, Anne slumped on the ground, burying her face in her hands. Ashley knelt down next to her and started to stroke her back, not really sure what she could say.

After a few moments of silence, Ashley eventually broke it to cautiously ask a question. “So …what now?” She asked softly. “Try again another time?”

“No …no, we better not.” Anne reluctantly answered, letting out a heavy sigh. “They’re probably expecting me now.” She really didn’t feel to go up against that hacker again. Anne was good, but whoever that was, was in a whole other league than her. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Maybe …hey, are you listening?”

Ashley had stopped paying attention to her friend halfway through and seemed to be focused on something on the screen. “You’ve got something.”

“Huh?”

Ashley turned to Anne with a little smile. “I mean, there’s something actually readable here.”

“What? Show me!” Anne jumped up and looked at her computer. She gasped. Ashley was right. There was some data that didn’t get corrupted. It wasn’t much, but it was …well, something, like Ash had said. With a cheer, Anne threw her arms around Ashley and kissed her cheek. “Ash, you’re the best!”

“I didn’t do anything, though.” Ashley mumbled, turning away so Anne wouldn’t see her visor completely lighting up. She coughed in her hand, hoping Anne hadn’t caught unto her sudden bashfulness, and cleared her throat. “Besides, don’t get your hopes up. I said there was something readable, I have no idea if it’s usable.”

Anne deflated. “Y-yeah …”

The redheaded Drone flinched and guiltily wrung her hands together. “Anne, I didn’t mean to … “

“No-no, you are right. Don’t count our cogs before they’re all smelted, like the old saying goes.” Anne stated, going to her computer to start scanning the files for useful date. Just like Ashley had pointed out, there wasn’t much to go on. Most readable words didn’t really reveal anything. She just kept scanning over the file, hoping for a bit of good luck. “Let’s just hope that something – wait …I think …”

“What did y-? “ Ashley jumped when Anne suddenly let out a cheer. With a heavy sigh, she placed her hand over her core. “Girl, give me some warning. You almost made me yuck my core out.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Anne apologized, grabbing Ashley and dragging her to the screen. “I found them!”

Ashley practically grabbed the laptop and buried her face into it. “YOU HAVE? WHERE?”

“I almost didn’t see it, but I can make out their last known location.” Anne pointed at the screen.

The redhead squinted her eyes and read where Anne was pointing. She whistled. “Zeta District?” She read aloud. “Talk about faraway relatives. That place is so far removed from anything, I’m surprised the Global Mainframe has a connection there.”

“I know, but …at least I know where they are.” Anne beamed. She finally had some answers. Nothing much, but it was a start.”

“Anne, hold your Sentinel.” Ashley said, grabbing Anne by the shoulders. “You have a location, but …I’m sorry to say this, but you don’t even know if they’re …you know, alive.”

Ashley had a point, though. The part of the data that would show their current status got corrupted, which meant … No, she wouldn’t let this spoil her mood. Even this scrap of information was something she could use. She could …she could …

“Huh …”

“Something wrong, Anne?”

“What now?”

“Well …” Ashley opened her mouth, looking very determined to make a suggestion …and then let her arms fall to her side. “No idea, 2tone.”

“Me neither.”

“Excuse me?” Ashley couldn’t help but grin. “So, you’ve planned this entire heist to get this info …and now, you have no idea what’s the next step?”

“I know, I know.” Blush lines formed on Anne’s visor. She really hadn’t figured out what she had to do next. She had been so busy planning how to acquire the information from the Centre, that she forgotten to figure out what she’d had to do with it when she’d get it.

“Well, why don’t we forget about that for a while …” Ashley began cautiously, as she started to walk circles around Anne, letting her gaze go over her, like she was checking her out. “Let’s talk about how you regrew your visor after it got blown out?”

“Oh yeah …that.” Anne almost forgot about that …scratch that, she had totally and completely forgotten about that. Ashley had seen her heal in quite the spectacular fashion.

“That.” Ashley confirmed and crossed her arms, giving her friend an apprehensive look. “Anne, what was that? That …didn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen you getting patched up, like, a thousand times.”

“I …” Anne took a deep breath, anxiety filling her core, even more than when she was dealing with that hacker. How would Ash react? How would she look at her when she’d hear her story? Afraid? Jealous? Could she lose her best friend over this? Her best course of action, she figured, was just being honest and hope for the best. Right …here goes nothing. “I don’t really know what it is, exactly. It started a few days ago, when I accidentally dropped a wrench on my head.”

Ashley grinned slightly. “Yeah, sounds like you. Continue.”

And thus, Anne told Ashley what she knew. How she suspected the first time it happened was when she tumbled out of bed, which made Ashley laugh – Anne took that as a good sign. How she witnessed it really happen the day before.

“Daaaang …that’s crazy.” Ashley eventually exclaimed softly. “Hey, you’ve been getting faster, stronger …is it the same thing?”

“I guess …” Anne confessed. “I didn’t have that yesterday, though.”

“I see …” Ashley looked at the ground for a few moments, before her gaze turned to Anne. “Could …could you show me?”

“Show you?”

Ashley held up her hands, her expression showing shame for asking that. “Oops, nope, I didn’t ask anything. That was stupid and thoughtless. That was me running my mouth without thinking again. Forget I-“

“Okay, I’ll show you.”

Ashley blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Really.”

Anne walked over to her dresser and took out the same knife she had ‘experimented’ with the other day. Even if her beloved bestie lacked some tact from time to time, she couldn’t blame Ashley for being curious, though. In fact, …she was as well. How much more would these things evolve? Her enhanced healing – still weird to even think that – was getting faster with every day. And the things that happened today? What other surprises would there be in store for her.

She waited for Ashley to join her by the dresser, while she rolled up her sleeve. She held out the knife to Ash, who reluctantly took it.

“You want me to …?” the latter muttered as she stared at Anne’s arm.

“Just …don’t stab me.” Anne mumbled, blushing as she remembered her fiasco from the other night. “It still hurts, y’know.”

“Yeah, I figured.” Ashley’s voice had this almost unnoticeable shiver to it. She brought the knife to Anne’s arm, took a deep breath and …made a cut.

Anne winced and grimaced when she saw oil starting to lead out. She opened her mouth to say something; but immediately, the wound started to glow red and hot. A few moments later, the wound closed itself. Like before, it didn’t even leave a mark. She wiped the heat-dried oil of her arm and held it up. “There, satisfied?”

Ashley took a hold of Anne’s arm and gave it a look, gently rubbing a finger over where the cut had been only seconds ago. Anne had noticed how quickly it had started to heal this time. The other times it had taken a while longer before the healing started. Perhaps her powers were getting stronger? Or maybe smaller wounds just healed faster?  She pulled her arm away, not really feeling ready to experiment a second time.

Ashley took a few steps away from her friend, arms crossed and her gaze fixed to the ceiling, clearly deep in thought. Anne nervously played with the zipper of her jacket while she waited for her partner in (playful) crime to say what she was thinking. Eventually, Ashley broke the silence with a deep inhale, before letting it slowly be released into the tense air.

“Honestly, …I think this is …” She looked up with a grin. “Awesome. Absolutely awesome!”

A giant question mark formed on Anne’s visor.

“I mean, super-healing, super-agility, super-strength! you’re basically turning into a superhero!” Ashley was gushing at this point, pacing around the room with – literal – sparkles in her visor. She let out a gasp. “No-no-no, dude, remember those scary stories at camp? Can you grow wings? Do you have a tail?”

“N-no? I am not following, Ash.” Anne stated dryly, flabbergasted at how enthusiastically her friend was taking this. Honestly, she felt …kinda offended, or something? She was going through a few emotions right now.

“You know, the ‘Legend of the Murder Drones’ stories?” Ashley explained eagerly, her eyes wide with excitement. “Giant, oil-thirsty Drones with tails and wings, cast down by Evil Creators to hunt down the Drones of the Old Times? I loved that story!”

“Well, I’m so glad that I remind you of some mythological monster.” Anne stated dryly, hoping that the sharp tone in her voice would make Ash simmer down a bit. “Really, so happy that you’re taking this so well! And without a drop of concern, no doubt.” She let out a huff and crossed her arms.

Ashley flinched, looking very guilty suddenly. “Oh …yeah, I guess that you …” She nervously rubbed the back of her head, throwing a nervous, apologetic grin Anne’s way. “How …are you feeling about all this?”

“Honestly?” Anne took a deep, shuddering breath. She plopped down on her bed, letting herself fall backwards to stare at the ceiling. “I’m scared, Ash. I mean, why am I getting these abilities? Why did they start now, when I’m already dealing with my whole mystery parents- Oh!”

Anne bolted upright, throwing her friend a look.

The look on Ashley’s face betrayed that she had come to the same conclusion. “You think that …?”

“It …could be? Maybe?” Anne stated unsurely. “I mean …it would make sense?”

“It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise, right?”

Anne bit her lower lip and started to pace around her room. To think that she hadn’t made the connection earlier.

Her being left at Hazel and Naomi’s as a baby;

The fake file about her ‘fake dead parents’;

The decoy Parental Source Code that protected the truth in her core;

These …abilities that she’s been developing;

The hacker trying to stop her.

“What if it’s all connected?” Anne asked aloud, jumping from her bed to pace around the room. “What if this is why my birth parents left me behind? What if they knew this could happen to me? And if so, why? To protect me? Themselves? Were they on the run from someone who wanted me?”

“Or was responsible for these abilities in the first place?” Ashley added. “I mean, it’s maybe a cliché, but if they didn’t want to be found, or even wanted to know you were their child, maybe the best thing was to …hide you away?”

“Maybe?” Anne sighed. Once again, she was left with more questions than answers, but at least this time, she had something. “I’ll never know for sure if I, you know, don’t meet my birth parents and ask them myself.”

“Yeah, about that …” Ashley whipped out her phone and quickly typed in something. “Zeta District is, like, hundreds of miles away from Rivetdale. How are you going to convince your parents to take you there?”

Anne froze. Her parents. She hadn’t considered that. How was she going to convince them? Scratch that: how was she going to tell them that she had looked into this? That she had hacked her way into a government mainframe to get this information? How would they react about …everything?

And what about that hacker? What was their angle? Were they dangerous? What if she’d run into them again?

What of her parents then?

What of Ashley?

Something clicked in the back of Anne’s head. She knew what needed to be done. And the thought saddened her. But she couldn’t show it to Ashley.

“Psh, I’m sure I’ll think of something.” Anne said with a dismissive wave and giving Ashley a wide grin, making the latter tilt her head in confusion. “Give me a few days to think of something. Maybe it’s best if we’ll lay low for a little while, y’know.”

“Ooo-kay?” Ashley drawled out.

Anne walked up to the other girl and threw her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Uh, not that I’m complaining, but what’s this for?” Ashley asked, awkwardly returning the unexpected hug.

“Just …thank you for your help with this.” Anne explained, resting her chin on Ashley’s shoulder, trying to hide the sad expression that she had trouble hiding away. “And for, you know, being so cool with the whole powers thing.”

Ashley let out a chuckle. “Hey, no problem.” She responded with a big grin, oblivious to Anne’s sullen mood. She pulled away from the hug and softly punched the latter’s shoulder. “What are friends for, right?”

“Right.” Anne echoed.

In her mind, she was already apologizing to her friend, because of what she had to do.

***

“So, how was school, darling?” Hazel asked at the dinner table that evening.

“School was fine.” Anne replied, a bit absentmindedly.

“Did you and Ashley have fun at the mall?” Naomi asked, taking a bite of her Battery Casserole.

“Mh-hmmm …” Anne poked at her food.

Hazel threw her wife a look, who just shrugged her shoulders, clueless about what could be amiss with their daughters current mood.

“Anne, everything okay?” Naomi asked, folding her hands on the table and giving her daughter a concerned look. “You look a bit …distracted.”

Anne quickly looked up and gave her mothers a smile. “Oh, sorry.” She apologized. “Just tired. Me and Ash practically ran a marathon today.”

“Oh? Okay…” Hazel responded, not really convinced.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea! You’ve got a long weekend coming up, right?” Naomi piped up with a big grin, feeling like this table needed some dire mood-improving shenanigans. “How about we go do something? Pack our bags and, I don’t know, just go somewhere?”

Hazel clapped her hands together with an exalted gasp. “Wonderful idea, Omi! Oh, I could ask Reggie if we could borrow his Vacation Cabin in Chromium Fields Winter Resort. With the new babies, he and his spouses won’t have the time. He’s been lamenting that the space has been going to waste these last few months. I’m sure he’ll be happy to let us use it.”

“It has been a while since I’ve broken a limb or two by skiing.” Naomi quipped, chuckling as she received a stern look from her wife. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

“That sounds …great, actually.” Anne replied, managing to produce something of a enthusiastic smile.

“You could invite Ash as well!” Hazel suggested.

A wicked grin spread on Naomi’s face. “Yes, it would be good for you two. It’s a great place for rom- ouch!” She winced when Hazel kicked her shin under the table. “A-a great place for fun, I was going to say.”

Anne tilted her head, extremely confused. “Ooo-kay? I’ll …be sure to give Ash an invitation.” She stood up from the table. “Can I be excused?”

“Oh?” Hazel looked at her daughter’s plate. “You hardly touched your food, Anne.”

“Yeah, I’m just not that hungry.” Anne explained.

Naomi sighed and gave her wife a look, who sighed as well and nodded. “Okay, fine. But if you’re feeling peckish later, we’ll leave it in the fridge for you.”

“Deal!” Anne walked up to Naomi and threw her arms around her. “Love you, momma.”

“L-love you too, kiddo.” Naomi replied, a bit befuddled by this sudden bout of affection.

“Hey, how about me?” Hazel asked, extending her arms. She laughed as Anne practically threw herself in her arms and gave her a big hug. “We love you so much, Anne.”

“I know …” Anne replied softly. “I love you too, mom.”

Anne eventually broke away from the hug and started to make her way upstairs. Both parents smiled warmly at her, but the moment they heard the door of her room close, the smiles faded.

“Did you see that?” Naomi asked, reaching out to grab Hazel’s hand.

“Yes, she seemed …down?” Hazel replied, concern radiating from her face. She let out a soft gasp. “Do you think something happened between her and Ashley?”

“Maybe?” Naomi sighed. “Maybe Ash finally confessed what we all have been obviously seeing?”

“She would have told us something.” Hazel bit her lower lip. “Do you think it has something to do with ….you know? I mean, when she found out, she was so distraught and I know she told you she doesn’t hate us, but …” She sighed and let her hands run through Naomi’s pink dyed hair. “I’m just scared we’re gonna lose her.”

Naomi affectionately placed a hand on her wife’s face and gently rubbed her thumb over her cheek. “Hazel, baby, love of my life …you worry too much. Anne loves us, maybe almost as much as we love her. We just …need to give her some space for now. You’ll see, with a little time, she’ll be back to her regular bright self.”

Hazel nodded and leaned in to kiss Naomi, who eagerly accepted. She grinned mischievously at her wife as they broke away from the kiss. “How come you always know what to say to me, Naomi Brinkman?”

“Because, baby, I know you.” Naomi responded, letting her hands slide from Hazel’s face to her hips, gently squeezing when they reached their destination.

“Noami, Anne is upstairs.” Hazel chastised with a flustered whisper, as she tried to pull her wife’s hands away from her waist. She gasped when Naomi suddenly pulled her unto her lap.

“So you’ll better stay quiet, if you don’t want her to come down and see what’s going on, Babe.” Naomi whispered back, as she started to leave a trail of kisses on Hazel’s neck.

Hazel sputtered a few objections, but by the third kiss, she relented. She let out a heavy sigh as she surrendered herself to her wife’s loving touches and wrapped her arms around the latter’s waist. Loving this treatment or not, she’d be sure to get retribution on Naomi for this later that night.

***

It was the middle of the night when Anne’s internal alarm clock rang, which she quickly turned off. She slowly crawled out of bed, already dressed. She snuck to her door and opened it slightly. There was no indication that her parents had heard her alarm.

“Okay …let’s do this.” Anne told herself as she walked over to her desk.

She sat herself down in front of her mirror, and grabbed a blank data stick from her drawers, plugging it into the data port at the back of her neck. Once she was sure that the storage device was securely in place, she turned her attention to her mirror and opened her inbuilt recording software. A little red dot at the corner of her vision told her that she was recording.

She took a deep breath. This was going to be hard.

“Mom, momma, when you see this recording, I’ll …I’ll be long gone. Please, don’t be mad. I needed to do this.” She began, trying very hard to keep her voice even and not to cry. “First, I want you guys to know, that this isn’t because anything you have done. This is not your fault. This was my decision for my own reasons. You have been nothing but wonderful and understanding, but …”

She closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts.

“I haven’t been honest with you guys.” She confessed. “For the last few days, I have been investigating the events surrounding my adoption. I’ve done a few things that you wouldn’t approve of, but …it worked. I …I’ve found out parts of the truth. Things you don’t know, and that I can’t say because ….”

She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t mention the hacker, the forged files, the location that her Parental Source Code had shown her.

“I have found them.” Anne continued. “I found proof that my parents – my birth parents – are still alive and out there. And I’m going to find them, because there are questions, and they will be the only ones who will have the answers.”

Her entire body was shaking. There was a part, deep inside of her, screaming to stop this. That this was a bad idea. But she ignored it, and continued.

“Ash has helped me with these. Please, don’t be mad at her. She only did it because I asked her.” She pleaded. “She doesn’t know I’m doing this. She’ll be mad. She’ll be distraught. But please, tell her this, because it’s the same thing I’m going to tell you.”

She took a deep breath and she couldn’t keep digital tear from flowing down her visor.

“I love you guys. So much, and this …this is the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I NEED to do this. For your own safety, I can’t let you, or her, be involved in this anymore.” Anne’s voice started to break. She took a few shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down. “Don’t try to find me, because you’re not going to be able to. When and if I can, I will try to contact you. I’ll find a way to make you know that I am alright. I promise that I’ll be careful. I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to come back to you. I’ll happily accept any sort of punishment when I do.”

She closed her eyes for a few moments, breathing heavily.

“Hazel, Naomi, you have been the best parents that a girl can wish for.” Anne said with a broken voice, heavy with sadness. “I love you all. I’m so sorry. Goodbye.”

She ended the recording and saved it to the drive in her neck. When it was done, she pulled it out with a heavy, sullen sigh. She looked at it for a few moments, contemplating her next actions. She closed her fist around the drive and gave it a good squeeze. She grabbed an empty envelope, wrote PLAY ME on it and placed the drive inside.

She took a deep breath and walked over to her closet, pulling out a backpack she had been preparing after Ashley had left. She had a small sleeping bag, some food, pretty much all of her allowance, her laptop and some other things. She was sure that she would be fully prepared for a long trip, hard as it was going to be. With a sigh, she threw the heavy pack on her back, letting her gaze go over her room. She wasn’t going to see it anymore for a long time.

She silently snuck out of her room and snuck to the master bedroom. She slowly opened the door to her parents’ bedroom and peeked inside. No movement from either of them. Good, she hadn’t woken them up. She crept inside and silently made her way to the bed. She couldn’t help but smile when she looked at her parents. Hazel was on her back, with Naomi curled up closely against her. She placed the envelope on the bedstand and walked backwards, away from them, trying to keep herself from sobbing as silent tears ran down her visor.

“I’m so sorry.” She whispered. “I love you so much.”

She made her way downstairs and grabbed her jacket …and an extra jacket, you never knew. She made a quick stop in the kitchen to raid the cabinets, for some extra snacks. She would be in enough trouble with her parents already, so this wouldn’t be that much worse. When she felt she was good and ready, she walked over to the front door. As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she turned around and let her gaze go around the place for one last time. This was her house. Where she grew up. Where she and her parents had laughed, had fights, made up. They had parties here. They had celebrated her good grades. It’s where she had confessed to her parents about her sexuality. Where they celebrated her coming out with a “coming out party”.

This was her home.

And she was leaving it behind.

Anne took a deep breath and turned the doorknob. The nightly chill of Copper-9 greeted her. The skies were clear and the moon was out in full. She walked outside and closed the door behind her.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.”

Anne, not wanting to scream out, slapped her hands on her face with such force that she almost dislodged her visor. She turned around, not believing who she was seeing.

“Ash?” Anne asked, remembering that she was trying to sneak out just in time to bring her voice down to a whisper. “What are you doing here?”

Ashley, also wearing a backpack and looking just as ready for a long trip as Anne, grinned mischievously and walked over to her shocked friend. “Now, did you really think I wouldn’t figure out what you were going to do? Please, I’ve known you since we were babies. You’re going to Zeta District and find your parents. ”

Anne grabbed Ashley by the shoulders, spun her around and tried to push her away. “Even so, you can’t stop me. You need to return home, and-“

Ash snapped around, shoving Anne away from her. “I’m doing no such thing, 2Tone.” She said, grinning widely. “I’m going with you.”

“What? No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m not letting you.”

“How about I scream and wake up your parents and the whole dang neighborhood?”

Anne sighed and held up her hands. “Why, Ash, why are you doing this?” She asked pleadingly. “This could be dangerous. You don’t need to be a part of this.”

“Hey, I became an integral part of this the moment you asked me to perform your little heist with you.” Ashley grinned, hoisting her backpack higher onto her shoulders. “Like it or not, I’m coming with. Especially because it could be dangerous. You need someone to watch your back.”

“What about your dad?”

“Oh, I’ll be in serious trouble when I get back.” Ashley grinned. “But then again, your parents will be too. We’ll be grounded for years.”

Anne sighed, but managed to bring herself to smile. “I’m not going to convince you to turn around and go home, aren’t I?”

“About as much chance I have to convince you to do the same.” Ash placed a hand on Anne’s shoulder. “I’m with you, Anne. Wherever you’re going. I wouldn’t dare to call myself your friend ever again, if I’d let you do this alone. So, you’re stuck with me, 2tone.”

Anne took a deep breath for a few moments …and then threw her arms around Ashley, who immediately returned the hug.

“Thank you, Ash.”

“Anytime, Anne.”

As they broke away from the hug, Anne couldn’t help but to gaze at her friend for a moment. Ashley Yates, who would do this reckless and dangerous thing with her, just so she would see her parents. A warm feeling washed over her. Something familiar, but …different.

“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Ashley asked, jolting Anne from her thoughts.

“The train station.” Anne revealed, grabbing Ashley’s hand as she started to drag her along. “There’s a freight train leaving for Faraday City. From there, we can hop over to another train, head over to the next city and so on.”

“Just hop from train to train until we reach …where exactly?” Ash asked, running after her friend. “The Zeta District is huge, with dozens of cities and towns. What are you gonna do? Go from town to town and ask around?”

“I’ve managed to clear up some of the corrupted file, and I’ve managed to locate where their codes were last registered.” Anne grinned. “A coastal town named Little Diodeton.”

“Little Diodeton, here we come.” Ashley grinned. “One thing: how are we going to get tickets? The station is probably closed.”

“Easy …we don’t buy tickets.”

“I’m loving this plan already.”

“Let’s go.”

The trip to the station didn’t give any troubles, since the streets were deserted. Once there, it took them a little sneaking around security, but eventually Anne noticed the train they needed.

“This is it, Ash.” She whisper-shouted as she pointed to the train serial designation. “GPMD301021.”

While Ashley stood on look-out, Anne used her newfound enhanced strength to open the doors of one of the freight container, signaling the former to join her as she jumped in.

“Good, we’re in the clear.” Ashley said as they closed the container door behind them. She let out a long sigh. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

“Yeah …”

“You good?”

“I’m good. You?”

“I’m good.”

“Good.”

“Still time to turn back, you know.”

“I know.”

“Not gonna?”

“No.” Anne took a deep breath. “I need to do this.”

“Okay then …” Ashley took Anne’s hand and squeezed it, giving her a warm smile. “I’m with you, every step of the way.”

Once again, that strange feeling was bubbling up inside of Anne’s core, making her feeling all warm and fuzzy. “I know.” She let out a yelp when the train suddenly jerked, nearly knocking the two Drones off their feet. Anne let out a embarrassed giggle. “We, eh …we better get comfy and catch some sleep. Still a long way to go to Faraday City.”

They found themselves a little hideaway behind a bunch of storage crates and got out their sleeping bags. They got themselves comfortable and ready to rest before they’d needed to get off the train. Ashley must’ve been tired, because it took no time before she started dozing off.

“Ash?”

“Hmmm?”

“I’m glad you’re with me.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Anne.”

Anne wrapped an arm around Ashley’s shoulder and pulled her closer, smiling as the latter snuggled up close against her. A moment later, Ashley’s visor showed [SLEEP MODE], snoring softly. Anne couldn’t help but giggle and got comfortable as well. There was an excited buzzing inside her core. She still couldn’t believe that she was doing this. Just a couple of days of traveling …and she’d get the answers she needed.

Everything was going to be smooth sailing from now on.

Anne just knew it.

[shinagawa-division]

"A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.”

Introduction

Malphas or more commonly known as “Masuzō Shinomiya” is a mechanical spider turn android created by CodeX’s 3rd Member Sumire Shinomiya to be an enforcer guarding Scorpion Den and is a living malware program in human form. Despite being “related” to the infamous anarchist and mass criminal, very little people-save for a select few-know about his existence and origin. Despite not caring much for humanity as a whole, he is deeply devoted to Sumire for giving him life and has sworn an oath to always protect her.

Malphas is a young man of above average height and a lean figure and is considered extremely handsome. He has straight black hair that stops at the base of his neck and looks slightly disheveled, like he hasn’t brushed it in a few days and long bangs that brushes his cheeks and almost covers his eyes with purple highlights painting at the end of them. He has six eyes that are narrow and are a captivating dark violet color but whenever he’s going out or is around people, the other four are masterfully camouflaged, they always seemed to have a bored look in them, however, his eyes turn into a malicious red whenever he enters “Kill Mode.” On his cheek are three small purple diamond face tattoos.

Like his creator, Malphas shares the same gothic style as her, however, his is more on the punkish side with lots of chains and leather. He wears a dark purple button up shirt and a black chest harness strapped tightly on him, on top of that, he wears a black leather jacket with various pins and patches, he also wears black ripped jeans held up by a black belt with various chains dangling from it and a pair of black combat boots. For accessories, he wears a black choker, various of rings including his wedding ring, and a number of ear and body piercings.

Name Meanings

Masuzō (増造) - increase creation

Shinomiya (四宮) - four shrine

Aliases

“Malphas” - True Name

“Mal” - Common Nickname

DeathWeaver - Gaming Handle

Every nickname that starts with the word “Mal” - Sumire

Big Brother - Aiko

Nii-sama - Seizou

Mister Masuzō - Goro

“Pretty Boy, Handsome, Hottie, etc.”

“Eurebus” - A.D.A.

Biographical Info

Gender - Male

Age - 6 (22 Physically)

Birthday - October 24th

Ethnicity - Japanese

Hair Color - Black with purple highlights

Eye Color - Dark Violet

Height - 195cm / 6’5

Weight - 70kg / 154lbs

Star Sign - Scorpio

Piercings - Lobes, Helix, Conch, Industrial, Tragus, Lip, Tongue, Bellybutton, Eyebrow, Prince Albert

Markings - A strange purple symbol on the nape of his neck, three purple diamond tattoos on his cheek, spider tattoo on his left hand, pentagram tattoo on his right hand.

Family

Creator / “Younger Sister”

“Younger Sister”

“Younger Brother”

“Wife”

“Brother-in-Law”

“Sister-in-Law”

“Daughter”

“Daughter”

“Son”

“Adopted Son”

Voiced By - Chogakusei (Rapping)

Personality

At first glance, Malphas just seems to be like your average guy if not a little unapproachable due to his towering height, dark gothic clothing, and sharp glare that seems to be permanently etched onto his ethereal features. He’s silent, brooding, and refuses to talk to anyone unless he absolutely has to or is ordered to by his creator. As an android, he’s highly intelligent and is only truly limited by his imagination making him a very valuable ally to people he deems worthy of his aid and a very deadly foe should one be unfortunate enough to earn his ire. Whereas his little sister has an air of innocence to her, Malphas has an air of malice to him.

Unlike his younger sister, Malphas prefers to keep his emotions on the down low, while he can experience and feel human emotions, he would rather not show them, seeing it as a sign of weakness. Due of having infinite knowledge, Malphas cares little about the world around him and matters that don’t concern himself, his siblings, or his creator. He’s apathetic to a fault and has little to no regard of human life, in fact, at times he seems to even enjoy destroying his enemies, nonetheless the members of Scorpion Den respect and admire him and in turn he dutifully follows any requests or orders regardless of any branch.

Despite his cold, blunt, and borderline cruel nature, Malphas has nothing but respect and devotion to his creator and that there’s nothing that he loves more than his younger sibling who he swore to protect and keep them as happy as they can be. It’s because of this soft spot for the three most important people in his life that goes against and beyond his initial programming and code as a weapon and malware, he’s gained sentience a long time ago, now he has full control of his autonomy and free will.

Most people would think that Malphas is incapable of joking or has a dislike for it but that’s actually not the case, when he’s around people he genuinely likes knows he can let his guard down with, he almost becomes like a different person. He’s more expressive, sarcastic, teasing, and flirtatious, plus he’s not above using both his intelligence and good looks to get what he wants, he pulls pranks and he often banters with Sumire and Aiko, it’s the few times one can see the three of them genuinely act like a family with each other.

As expected from a weapon crafted by a crazed anarchist, Malphas has a “Kill Mode” programmed into him which is similar to Aiko’s “Defense Mode” but takes much more priority with offense and eliminating any and all targets he sets his sights on with extreme prejudice, whether they pose as a genuine threat to Sumire and Aiko or not. Due to being an enforcer and guard for Scorpion Den who has plenty of enemies, it’s almost normal to see Malphas revert to this mode more often than not.

Trivia

He is the very first of Sumire’s inventions and as such has authority and access to all of her other inventions whenever she is not present.

His virtual A.I. form is the same as the symbol on his neck.

He is mostly seen as a spiderbot always on Sumire’s person, it’s his android body that is actually a rarity to be seen.

His spiderbot form is actually his 2nd, his original form is kept preserved yet discarded in an old chest Sumire keeps locked in her lab.

Malphas dislikes sweets and has a preference for spicy foods, it’s one of the few things he and Aiko disagree on.

Only Sumire and the core members of Scorpion Den know about Malphas’ sentience, he keeps it a secret from everyone else.

Unbeknownst to his creator, Malphas is in a relationship with Kaoru Shinozaki’s A.I., A.D.A./Ageha Shinozaki. The two of them started out as friends with benefits before getting into a real relationship and have been together for a few months.

Malphas is good friends with Kaoru Shinozaki’s other A.I., A.R.K./Aruto Shinozaki with the two of them often secretly hanging out.

Malphas is an expert in multiple areas and skills.

Like his creator and his namesake, Malphas has a fondness for demonology and the occult and has collected items connected to it that he has stored down in Sumire’s lab.

He is the leader of a hivemind of over 10,000 spiderbots like him at his command, he treats them like extensions of himself and takes good care of them.

[pccleanerexperts]

Boost Your Computer’s Lifespan with Advanced PC Cleanup Tools

In today’s digital age, our computers are indispensable for work, entertainment, and staying connected. However, as time goes on, even the most powerful machines can start to lag, freeze, or crash. The good news? You don’t need to replace your computer just yet. Advanced PC cleanup tools can revitalize your device, enhance its performance, and significantly extend its lifespan. In this blog, we’ll explore how these tools work and why they’re essential for every computer user.

Why Do Computers Slow Down Over Time?

Before we delve into the benefits of PC cleanup tools, it’s important to understand why computers slow down in the first place. Here are some common reasons:

Cluttered Hard Drive: Over time, your computer accumulates unnecessary files like temporary files, cache, and old downloads, taking up valuable storage space.

Fragmented Data: On traditional hard drives, files can become fragmented, making it harder for your system to access them quickly.

Outdated Software: Running outdated programs or operating systems can lead to compatibility issues and security vulnerabilities.

Startup Overload: Too many programs launching at startup can slow down your boot time and overall performance.

Malware and Viruses: These can hog system resources and compromise your computer’s functionality.

How Advanced PC Cleanup Tools Work

Advanced PC cleanup tools are designed to tackle these issues head-on. Here’s how they can help:

Cleans Up Junk Files These tools scan your system for temporary files, cache, and other unnecessary data, freeing up valuable storage space. A cleaner hard drive means faster read/write speeds and improved performance.

Defragments Your Hard Drive For traditional HDDs, cleanup tools can defragment your drive, organizing files for quicker access. (Note: SSDs don’t require defragmentation, but they can still benefit from optimization.)

Manages Startup Programs By identifying and disabling unnecessary startup programs, cleanup tools can significantly reduce boot time and improve system responsiveness.

Updates Software Automatically Many cleanup tools can scan for outdated software and drivers, ensuring your system runs smoothly and securely.

Detects and Removes Malware Some advanced cleanup tools include antivirus features to detect and remove malware, protecting your system from harmful threats.

Optimizes System Settings These tools can tweak system settings for better performance, such as adjusting power settings or clearing memory leaks.

Benefits of Using PC Cleanup Tools

Improved Performance: By removing clutter and optimizing settings, your computer will run faster and more efficiently.

Extended Lifespan: Regular maintenance reduces wear and tear on your hardware, helping your computer last longer.

Cost Savings: Instead of investing in a new computer, you can extend the life of your current device with minimal expense.

Enhanced Security: Keeping your system clean and up-to-date reduces the risk of malware infections and data breaches.

User-Friendly: Most cleanup tools are designed with simplicity in mind, making it easy for even non-tech-savvy users to maintain their computers.

Choosing the Right PC Cleanup Tool

Not all cleanup tools are created equal. Here are some features to look for when selecting the right software for your needs:

Comprehensive Scanning: The tool should scan for junk files, registry errors, and malware.

Automation: Look for software that offers scheduled cleanups to keep your system running smoothly without manual intervention.

User-Friendly Interface: A clean, intuitive interface makes it easy to navigate and use the software.

Customization Options: The ability to choose which files or programs to clean or remove gives you more control over the process.

Positive Reviews and Reputation: Research user reviews and ratings to ensure the software is reliable and effective.

Some popular options include Rabid Cleaner, AVG TuneUp, and Glary Utilities. Many of these tools offer free versions with basic features, as well as premium versions with advanced capabilities.

Tips for Maintaining Your Computer’s Health

While PC cleanup tools are a powerful solution, combining them with good habits can further extend your computer’s life:

Regularly Update Your OS and Software: Keep your operating system and applications up-to-date to avoid security vulnerabilities.

Back Up Your Data: Regularly back up important files to an external drive or cloud storage.

Avoid Overloading Your Hard Drive: Keep at least 10-15% of your hard drive free for optimal performance.

Use a Surge Protector: Protect your computer from power surges that can damage hardware.

Clean Your Hardware: Dust and debris can clog fans and vents, causing overheating. Regularly clean your computer’s exterior and internal components.

All in all

Your computer is an investment, and with the right care, it can serve you well for years to come. Advanced PC cleanup tools are a simple yet effective way to maintain your system’s performance, protect it from threats, and extend its lifespan. By incorporating these tools into your regular maintenance routine, you can save money, boost productivity, and enjoy a faster, more reliable computing experience.

Ready to give your computer a fresh start? Explore the best PC cleanup tools today and take the first step toward a healthier, longer-lasting machine!

[dr-docktor]

ok, i have to know, in a floppy disk curt post you mention an video game, it sounds cool what else is there to know about it (if this question is good/ applicable tell me)

HYPNOSPACE OUTLAW!!!

Legitimately one of my favorite games OF ALL TIME. Criminally underrated

It takes place in this sort of alternative historical timeline. Specifically spanning November, 1999 to January, 2000.

This company called Merchantsoft discovered a way that allows people to access the internet in their sleep via these headbands. The player is hired as a sort of moderator to report any activity that goes against the rules of Hypnospace.

You’re assigned specific cases, things like tracking down a specific piece of malware that’s been passed around, or figuring out who’s behind all the bullying in the teens/kids area.

The puzzle aspect centers around the sort of rabbit-hole nature of the early internet and reading people’s pages for clues on where to go next.

While most of them are usually unimportant to cases, there’s a TON of really interesting characters, fictional pop and consumer culture, to even real life events. I would never be able to do justice how well this game’s universe is built. Each page genuinely feels like it could’ve been a real person that existed at the time. The entire page someone made that includes a timeline of the popular music genres that ALL include a full song as a sort of sample is insane.

The music is INSANE. ITS SO GOOD. The way that the developers and whoever was in charge of the music MASTERED so so many different genres and themes only makes the word feel more real.

Literally every time I boot up the game on stream with my friends we make it a point to play their sort of version of the pokemon rap called The Squisherz Rap. Satellite Orchestra by Barnaby’s Chair is also super fun (also lowkey a Curtwen song but shhhh)

I could spend hours just sitting there and reading through the dozens of pages created for this fictional internet. Keep in mind this game came out in 2019 so there’s zero chance of any cut corners via ai. Which really highlights the fact that ai is just not needed, even for insane projects like this.

I cannot praise this game enough. PLEASE check it out, even if it’s just looking at the soundtrack.

How it relates to Floppy Disk Curt is mainly using a lot of art and aesthetics as a huge source of inspiration.

[wolfcake101]

hey can we know wolfie's goofy sad fucked up backstory

OH YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OF COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEHEHEHHEHAHHAEHAEJHEJHEJEAJHA YOU HAVE UNLEASHED MY ANNOYING ASS WRATH

okay anyways soooo this is inspired by a baldi basics song (the baldis basics musical by random encounters.....sigh) also you will probably think its cliche as hell but i thought it was cool ok :(

Okay so. Wolfie was sitting at her house one day right? just a normal day for her. Oh by the way her name isnt really Wolfie, its a nickname (she doesn't like her real name). She gets this tOtAlLy UnSuSpIcIoUs GaMe in the mail n stuff. She's kind of suspicious at first, but then she puts it on her computer and she just decides to use windows defender or smth to see if its malware or something. It comes up as clean so Wolfie's just like 'yknow what? sure ill boot it up' (this was hinted in the background of this artwork) and then woopsie she blacks out and wakes up in the beautiful ~here school~

All the school faculty and students in BB+ are not in the school coincidentally (they're still like, enrolled/working at the school ofc but they just coincidentally have an off day today, so wolfie doesnt know about them yet.) Anyways, Baldi greets Wolfie yadda yadda, she learns that she has to get 7 notebooks to escape the game.. so she gets to work on that. But woops, looks like something fucked up and Wolfie gets an impossible question on the 2nd notebook. Baldi gets pissed (though good news i have decided that usually baldi doesnt get pissed...unless if theres some null bullshittery going on. so like yeah) and the real "fun" begins.

I'm realllllyyyyyyyy lazy so I won't bother explaining most of her time trying to get 7 notebooks, but just know that there was a lot of close calls. After a long stressful time, Wolfie grabbed he 6th notebook. She's very close to escaping. And when she goes to search for the 7th, ol' Gotta Sweep comes over and takes her to a random place in the school. with baldi in reach. and playtime on the other side of her. So, she panics and just decides to dash into the nearest room because wolfie swears she hasn't been in that room before, so SURELY it must have the 7th notebook. She was wrong. she had been there before. Baldi closed in on her, and she was unable to escape. her fate was sealed.

She woke up the next day or whatever. Good news, everything's normal again! (aka no null bullshittery) Bad news, though. she's stuck here forever. she just cried. for hours. she ruined her only chance to get out. After a lot of weeping she tried to explore around the school. she was terrified after learning there was now TWICE the people to deal with (all the plus characters are now back at the school oh boy) Wolfie had to slowly get used to this new way of living. she ended up taking a liking to dr. reflex as you all know and thats about all of it!!

im sorry this was a very long post oofg,,,,,,

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast - OMT!Tails

Replaces: Miles Morales

"Hey, Sonic. I've... helped Central City out again, just like you wanted me to. Heh, it was just Fang and his crew causing some trouble today. Since we're pretty used to their tricks, I knew what I was doing, hehehe. ... You know, I know it's been about a year by now, but I still miss you a lot, buddy. I mean, you've always been the one to lift us up whenever we felt down. You'd always tell us that if we wanted something done, to do it right away and when we can. The only way to live a life without regrets, huh? I know things look grey for me as I am, but I know there's a world of colour out there waiting for me! I just gotta know where to look. I promise I'll make you proud out there, Sonic. I know it's tough, but someday, I'll be out stopping the worst of villains just like you once had!"

Miles "Tails" Prower, a name any big Sonic fan will be familiar with. Over those past 30 years, he's been right by Sonic's side in his adventures, even stretching out his own independence along the way. Would you believe he even saved Station Square all on his own that one time?

But this version of Tails had it worse prior. He was one of several victims of torture at the hands of the Outbreak Malware Threat, and seemed to have gone through this more times than he can count. Though, even as his sanity felt on the brink of collapse from all of it, he decided to take the chance and fight OMT head on. And though it led to yet another death, he still went down fighting.

Then three months after it started, Sonic's actions permanently halted the loops, and our kitsune assisted in the final push to finish off OMT once and for all. However, this ultimately came at the price of Sonic's life.

A year later, that's when we see Tails is fully into his role as the protector of his world. Knuckles, Amy and Sally have become able to legally give him accommodation in this time, and Cream had been taken in as an adopted little sister for the kid after Vanilla's passing during one of the OMT loops. And compared to Miles Morales, who had to keep his parents in the dark about being Spidey, Tails's companions fully supported his new role.

One evening, when Tails was visiting Sonic's grave and recalling his day, he felt someone walking behind him. In a quick attack, he ended up knocking out what looked like Sonic, much to his shock. He decided to escort this version of the blue blur back to his workshop, where he tied the latter to a punching bag due to suspicions about what he's doing here.

He learned during their first proper conversation that this Sonic, specifically Crossover Realm Sonic, was from another dimension outright, and wasn't too chuffed about being at the OMT universe. However, he had an idea on how to get back. He and Tails were able to locate the Paradox Prism in a cave and were able to use it to enter the Shatterverse, which had stayed intact after the Prism was fixed again.

During their time at New Yolk City, Tails got to learn more about Nine, who had mostly isolated himself after what he tried to pull to make his own world. Seeing a version of himself who understood his struggles helped the usually-cold guy feel more happy with himself.

As they prepared to escort CR!Sonic back to his dimension, who had agreed to give Tails a bit of training to help hone his skills, they had a brief run-in with Mr. Doctor Eggman of the Chaos Council, who was none too happy about getting booted out of the city after the Council's defeat.

After he went down, they continued on their way, but were soon intercepted by Eggman Nega. You know, that version of Eggman from Blaze's dimension. I couldn't really explain what happened in the aftermath of their first encounter, and though the two were back in their dimensions safely, CR!Sonic was badly shook up from the experience, which he explained to Exegod during that time.

Whilst stringing out with Nine, Tails not only got a special nanomachine-based suit made from OMT's remaining particles, but he also met some other heroes from outside his universe, namely OMT!Mina from a parallel timeline to him, Mini Sonic, Mr. Needlemouse and EX!Alice, alongside her modified Eggman mech, E4-R6:3.

Once CR!Sonic was back in business again, alongside bringing his Soap Shoes back for this adventure, the six heroes had to hold off the villains trying to cause mayhem in the OMT universe; Eggman Nega, a mysterious spider ninja, Zeena and Surge. And despite the close scrapes they got through, Tails was able to send his multidimensional friends back home while he took care of business.

During his final encounter with the spider ninja, her identity was fully revealed; Uma Arachnis, who, in this universe, was a close friend to Tails. When she realised who she was enlisted to kill, she willingly surrendered, only to get blasted in the back. However, I can confirm that, compared to the Prowler, she survived this injury and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Around 6 months later is when the events of More than One Universe begin. Tails was feeling eager to see his multiversal friends again, and OMT!Robotnik was pretty willing to help out, using a special device he had designed. However, Robotnik saying too much about villains and causing Tails to get confused triggered an explosion that not only rendered the poor kid sick for a week, but also seemed to start bringing multiversal evils in one-by-one.

The first one Tails encountered after his recovery was Shalian, a byproduct of attempts to destroy the villainous Toxinfect. And with enough skill, he not only neutralised the villain, but also got one step closer to his part-time graduation at Mobius University. Before a mysterious human threat could attack, though, Tails was warped back to the Wing Fortress, with Shalian and CR!Corrupt trapped in unbreakable cages.

Robotnik explained just what the heck happened and enlisted Tails with the work of using a wrist teleporter to catch any more multiversal crooks and bring them there to be sent back to their dimensions. Before they got started, Tails got OMT!Mina and Mini Sonic on board to help out, whilst confessing his crush on the girl with a bouquet of flowers.

Next up on the list was Talrareth, that one ghost from Phantom Beginning. And though Tails struggled quite a bit, AVA!Corrupt showed up to help him neutralise this third threat safely. After some banter, those two were sent over for containment as well. That seemed to leave one more on the list, that being the mysterious human threat from before, Richard Ambersilve.

Richard had camped at OMT!Sally's place after he got some free will, clearly lost in his mind, and was non-hostile in that moment. Once they got back to the Wing Fortress, it was revealed that Sonath was also concealed there, who explained amongst some of the other crooks just what was meant to happen before his arrival here (which, for Jordan's sake, I'm not going to spoil a single word of here).

After that was when OMT!Robotnik got ready to send them all back, even with OMT!Tails's fear that they'd all die if they were sent home now. He promptly betrayed Ivo and fought him in an alternate dimension known as the Third Realm, making it clear that there's a chance to change their fates. Once the fight was over, Robotnik was left where he was.

And so the cures started rolling out, with Shalian being the first subject. And while he tried resisting the cure, he felt a lot better for it. However, that's when things started running amok. Richard lost himself to his curse again, and all the remaining crooks (save for AVA!Corrupt, who defected on his own) went out to continue wreaking havoc on the planet.

During the fight, OMT!Sally intervened to protect her surrogate nephew from harm, and was killed shortly after, telling Tails to enjoy the future for her in her last breaths. The poor kid was absolutely shook up from losing another person close to him, wishing to make Richard suffer for what he did and running away willingly.

In their attempts to get Tails back, Knuckles, OMT!Mina and Amy ended up bringing a few new multiversal allies into the case; specifically the Tails and Sonic from the Errorverse, alongside some other heroes from their universe, and CU!Sonic and CU!Sonia. The groups managed to find Tails and helped him feel more accepting of their support. This was in part thanks to Mobiverse Tails becoming a sort of big brother mentor for the youngster and giving him the support he needed.

From there, the focus was on curing those remaining villains, alongside a few other threats that started flocking into the universe, and sending them to an alternate realm where they can feel much safer. During this time, more multiversal heroes joined the cause, and OMT!Robotnik later returned, having been left dangling over Emerald Hill for 12 hours straight without calling for backup.

When further blamed for causing this mess by Robotnik, Tails developed plans to erase all traces of his existence, believing it'd be the only way to put everything right. However, he couldn't go through with it in the end,

By the end of things, all that was left was Richard, who OMT!Tails wanted to suffer for everything he did. However, CU!Sonic stopped him from going through with the final blow, making it clear there's some lines heroes of the Sonic multiverse do not cross. He stood down willingly and got that last cure into Richard safely.

With that, the ex-villains were all safely sent back home, and the multiversal device was fixed and upgraded to overcome its previous flaws. As for Tails, he felt like this would be the last goodbye from his new friends, but they made clear that it wouldn't be the case. Together, they could form a new multiversal team. And from then on, they became known as... the Blur Gang.

It's later on that they cross into further through the Sonic multiverse and see what it takes to be those heroes, for better or worse. During Many More Heroes' prologue, he comes across his crueller counterpart from the Anti-Universe, Anti-Miles, who donned a Gemerl suit of his own, and unwittingly made a rival out of him.

In the present day, OMT!Tails met Superstars / Discovery Omega Amy, who was on her own mission to capture and neutralise the twisted Crimtake while he was vulnerable from multiversal travelling, and he was more than happy to help her out on her quest.

On the way, he helped Black Knight Amy out of being forced into a brutal sadistic choice; saving a train Sonic was trying to stop, saving Merlina, or saving a little girl. Fortunately for her, OMT!Tails's arrival meant the three could evenly split the responsibilities, hence averting what would be her "canon event".

It was later that OMT!Tails was allowed to see what the Quill Society was like, alongside Lost Memory Sonic's twisted ideals of what a "canon event" comes down to. Rightfully so, OMT!Tails exposes this twisted ideal to the Blur Gang and numerous Quill Society members after snooping in on a conversation of a plan to let OMT!Cream die to Crimtake as part of the "canon".

After LM!Sonic realised he was ratted out, OMT!Tails called out for the Quill Society to apprehend him (though initially forgetting to state WHICH Sonic he wanted catching, causing some brief confusion). This team struggle proved a good turning point for Tails, who was chased by Turbo, Fiona and Metallix, the only other rogue members of the Society, while trying to get to the right place.

LM!Sonic did catch up where OMT!Tails was trying to activate a variant of Terminal Velocity, and decided to heartlessly claim OMT!Tails AND Antho were nothing but mistakes and that their destinies weren't to be. This only earned him a good butt-whooping from MV!Tails for that in the Space Elevator, buying OMT!Tails and SS!Amy the opportunity to head after Crimtake, who was now inheriting the powers of both Devoid AND DX, and stop him from fulfilling his plans, which would've been the actual cause of multiversal stability had he succeeded.

Crimtake was indeed successfully stopped, and LM!Sonic was kicked out of the Quill Society for good after what he did, with his tragic past not excusing any of his heartless actions. Turbo and Fiona were allowed to stay, due to them getting turned on by LM!Sonic prior, and Metallix got reprogrammed to fix his rogue programming.

That said, this victory didn't come without trouble. Crimtake made a last resort attempt to kill his two pursuers whilst wearing his vessel and soul out of power. And before he disintegrated away for good, he managed to knock OMT!Tails into another dimension, specifically the Blitz universe, where a familiar female companion of a certain other Tails finds him...

As for what the Beyond section entails now, we'll see for the future.

[delicatekidinfluencer]

How to Root Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F With Odin Tool

Learning how to root SM J260F, particularly the Samsung Galaxy J2 Core model, can significantly enhance your device's functionality and user experience. The root process allows you to access and modify the operating system's code, enabling you to install custom ROMs, remove pre-installed apps, and even boost your device's speed and battery life. In this guide, we'll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to root Samsung SM-J260F. We'll also delve into using the Odin Tool, a popular firmware flashing tool developed by Samsung. This tool is particularly useful when you want to root Samsung SM-J260F, unlocking a world of customizability and improved performance. So, let's get started with the process of rooting your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core model SM-J260F. Read more - Why we want to root - Full Details with a guide 

Table of Contents

The Pros and Cons of Rooting Your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260FThe Advantages of Rooting SM-J260F The Drawbacks of Rooting Samsung SM-J260F 8 Steps To Root SM J260F Verifying Successful Rooting of Your SM-J260F Reversing the Root Process on Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F Conclusion Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat should I do if I can't find my Samsung SM-J260F model listed on the Chainfire website to root SM-J260F? Why did my attempts to root SM-J260F with applications like KingoRoot, Kinguser, FramaRoot, Kingroot, Vroot, Root Master, z4root, and Root Genius fail? I have rooted my Samsung SM-J260F, but the system indicates "su binary needs to be updated/The Superuser binary (su) must be updated". How can I resolve this issue? I've rooted my Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F and now the Kinguser binary (su) needs updates? How to Fix the "Unfortunately, kinguser has Stopped" Error in Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F After Rooting? What should I do if I encounter the "Unfortunately, kingroot has Stopped" error while trying to root SM-J260F? Why am I seeing "Root Failed! , No Strategy Found, ConnectionUnstabitil , need root" error when trying to root my Samsung SM-J260F? How to fix Google Play Store errors on my rooted SM-J260F? What should I do if I encounter the "could not do normal boot odin mode" error while trying to root SM-J260F? What should I do if my Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F gets stuck on the logo screen after trying to root? Fix Bootloop on device (continuously restart)

The Pros and Cons of Rooting Your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F

When deciding whether to root your SM J260F, it's essential to weigh the pros and cons. Rooting, though potentially beneficial, comes with its own set of risks and challenges. Here's a balanced look at the advantages and drawbacks of rooting your Samsung SM-J260F. The Advantages of Rooting SM-J260F 1. Custom Software (ROMs): One of the main reasons people choose to root Samsung SM-J260F is the ability to install custom ROMs. These ROMs can enhance performance, provide additional features, and even update your device to a newer version of Android. 2. Apps Permission Control: Rooting provides you with complete control over what your apps can and cannot do. This means you can block ads, remove bloatware, and enhance battery life. 3. Full Device Control: Rooting your Samsung SM-J260F allows for total control over your device. You can change the CPU speed, modify system files, use themes, and even change boot images. The Drawbacks of Rooting Samsung SM-J260F 1. Bricking Your Device: The most significant risk when you root Samsung SM-J260F is bricking your device, rendering it unusable. This usually happens when the rooting process is not followed correctly. 2. Voiding Your Warranty: Most manufacturers, including Samsung, will void your warranty if they find out you've rooted your device. 3. Security Risks: Rooting can make your device more vulnerable to viruses and malware because you bypass certain protections put in place by Google. 4. System Updates: Sometimes, rooting can cause issues with system updates. This means you may not be able to install updates or may face instability after an update. In conclusion, deciding how to root SM-J260F isn't a decision to be taken lightly. While the benefits can be significant, the risks are equally substantial. Always ensure you understand the process and the potential implications before proceeding.

8 Steps To Root SM J260F

Note - First Back up your data  Step 1 - Charge your phone up to 50%. - Download the Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F USB Driver and install it on your computer. - Turn ON USB Debugging and Developer mode on the phone. Step 2 Download the Odin program to your PC - Now download the Odin program to your laptop or your Computer. - After downloading, install and launch it. Step 3 - Take your phone and Turn it OFF by pressing the power key. - Now press and hold the Power key + Home key + Volume down key until boot to download mode.

Step 4 - Connect your phone to your PC or laptop by using a USB data cable. It's better to use original Data cables. Step 5 Download the CF-Root file for Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F - Download the CF-Root file for Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F. (Yes this zip may include Odin tool again. Use one of the Odin.) - CF root file is ZIP so, you have to unzip it.

Step 6 - Now press the Volume up key to continue to Download Mode.

- After tapping the Volume up key, you will able to see the "Added" message in the Odin tool's notification box.

Step 7 - Click PDA / AP and browse to the downloaded CF-Root file.  - Select  "Auto Reboot".

- Start Rooting by Clicking Start. - Read More -  Increase RAM SIZE after root Step 8 - Please wait until the phone restarts automatically and it will display a green Pass.

Root Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F - The last step is to Factory Reset your phone after turning it on. - Now, Congratulations you have Successfully Rooted :) - Read more, OK I rooted. Now what next?

Verifying Successful Rooting of Your SM-J260F

To confirm if you've managed to properly root your Samsung SM-J260F, there are a couple of straightforward methods you can utilize. If an application titled "SuperSu" is present on your device after the rooting process, it typically indicates successful root status. But if you're still harboring doubts about how to root SM-J260F and whether it's been done correctly, there's an additional step you can take. Simply make use of a trusted third-party application, specifically designed to assess root access on devices like the root Samsung sm-j260f. This will conclusively inform you if your phone has been rooted effectively.  Top 10 Rooted apps for android devices

Reversing the Root Process on Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F

After successfully executing the 'root sm j260f' process on your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core, you may decide that root permissions are no longer necessary for your needs. In this case, unrooting your Samsung SM-J260F becomes your next step. Rest assured, the process to revert back from the root Samsung sm-j260f is straightforward and involves a few simple steps. Click here for more detailed instructions on how to unroot sm-j260f and bring your device back to its original settings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, learning to root sm j260f using the Odin Tool unlocks the full potential of your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core. Despite being a technical process, it offers control and customization options. However, it's crucial to back up your data before rooting any device, including the Samsung sm-j260f variant. Remember, rooting may void your warranty, but the benefits can outweigh the risks if done correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I can't find my Samsung SM-J260F model listed on the Chainfire website to root SM-J260F? If your specific model, such as the Samsung SM-J260F, isn't listed on the Chainfire website, don't worry - there are other options available to root your Samsung SM-J260F. The absence of your phone model could indicate that the developers are currently making or updating your phone's CF file. In the meantime, you can consider using a different method to root Samsung SM-J260F. Numerous rooting apps are available that can help you root your Samsung SM-J260F effectively. It's recommended to wait for the official update, but if immediate rooting is necessary, these apps can be a viable alternative. For more details on how to root SM-J260F using these alternative methods, refer this guide. Why did my attempts to root SM-J260F with applications like KingoRoot, Kinguser, FramaRoot, Kingroot, Vroot, Root Master, z4root, and Root Genius fail? Rooting applications such as KingoRoot, Kinguser, FramaRoot, Kingroot, Vroot, Root Master, z4root, and Root Genius can potentially root your Samsung SM-J260F. However, these applications may fail to root Samsung SM-J260F if your phone model isn't supported by the app. It's important to note that not all rooting applications are universal and can work with every phone model. If you're struggling with how to root SM-J260F using these applications, it's advisable to try the CF-Root method instead. This is considered the standard way to root mobile phones, including the SM-J260F, and is likely to be successful where other methods have failed. I have rooted my Samsung SM-J260F, but the system indicates "su binary needs to be updated/The Superuser binary (su) must be updated". How can I resolve this issue? If you encounter the "su binary needs to be updated" issue after rooting your SM-J260F, you can resolve it by following these steps: first, unroot your device and remove all rooting apps. Then, restart your phone to clear any remaining data from the apps. Update the Superuser binary (su) and proceed to root your Samsung SM-J260F again by following the provided guide. Always exercise caution when rooting your device or seek professional assistance if needed. I've rooted my Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F and now the Kinguser binary (su) needs updates? If you're facing issues after you root sm j260f, you can follow these steps to unroot your phone: - Update Kinguser binary (su): Open the Kinguser app and follow the prompts to update. - Remove rooting apps: Go to Settings > Apps > Select the app > Uninstall. - Unroot your phone: Use a root access file manager to delete the "su" and "busybox" files from the /system/bin and /system/xbin directories. - Restart your phone: Restart your phone to ensure all changes take effect. If you want to root your phone again, follow a guide on how to root sm-j260f. Always take a full backup of your data before making any changes to your phone's software. How to Fix the "Unfortunately, kinguser has Stopped" Error in Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F After Rooting? If you've recently attempted to root SM j260f and are experiencing the "Unfortunately, kinguser has stopped" error on your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F, here are some solutions you can try. Firstly, try restarting your device to see if the issue resolves itself. If the problem persists, follow these steps: - Open the Settings page on your device. - Navigate to the App or Application Manager. - Scroll down the list of applications to find 'kinguser'. - Once found, click on it and select 'Delete cache and data'. This process should ideally fix the error you're encountering after trying to root Samsung sm-j260f. If the problem still persists, you may need to consult with a professional or explore other forums that offer solutions on how to root sm-j260f without encountering such issues. What should I do if I encounter the "Unfortunately, kingroot has Stopped" error while trying to root SM-J260F? This is a common issue faced by many users attempting to root the Samsung SM-J260F. If you see the "Unfortunately, kingroot has Stopped" error message on your device, don't worry. Here's a simple solution to tackle this problem: Firstly, restart your device and check if the issue persists. If that doesn't work, follow these steps: - Navigate to the Settings page on your device. - Look for the app or application manager. - Find kingroot in the list of applications. - Select kingroot and delete both cache and data. This should ideally resolve the "Unfortunately, kingroot has Stopped" error you're facing while trying to root Samsung SM-J260F. If the issue continues, you might need to consider other methods on how to root SM-J260F. Why am I seeing "Root Failed! , No Strategy Found, ConnectionUnstabitil , need root" error when trying to root my Samsung SM-J260F? If you're encountering the "Root Failed!, No Strategy Found, ConnectionUnstabitil, need root" error while trying to root your SM-J260F, it's likely due to the use of an incompatible rooting app. For your Samsung device, we highly recommend you to root Samsung SM-J260F using the CF root method. This method is known to be quite effective and eliminates common issues that are often associated with other rooting methods. Just follow our step-by-step guide on how to root SM-J260F using the Odin tool to avoid such errors in the future. How to fix Google Play Store errors on my rooted SM-J260F? If you're facing Google Play Store errors after rooting your Samsung SM-J260F, follow these steps: - Switch to a new Google account. - In device settings, navigate to App Manager > Google Play Store. Clear both cache and data. - If errors persist, delete unnecessary media files to free up storage space. These steps should help resolve most Google Play Store errors after rooting your device. What should I do if I encounter the "could not do normal boot odin mode" error while trying to root SM-J260F? The "could not do normal boot odin mode" error often occurs when you use an incorrect CF root file while trying to root Samsung SM-J260F. However, there's no need to worry as you can still switch on your phone. For a comprehensive solution on how to resolve this issue and successfully root SM-J260F, please follow this link . Remember, using the correct files and procedure is crucial when you attempt to root Samsung SM-J260F to avoid such issues.   What should I do if my Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F gets stuck on the logo screen after trying to root? If your Samsung Galaxy J2 Core SM-J260F gets stuck on the logo screen after attempting to root Samsung sm j260f, there are a few steps you can take to resolve the issue. - Firstly, navigate to the Odin tool and switch to DL mode. Then, repeat the above steps for rooting your device. - If the problem persists, it's possible that the CF Root file you downloaded is damaged or incorrect. Read the full article

[saiilorstars]

ch.10: On the Run

Steve Rogers x OFC fic • squeeze your eyes for a Bucky Barnes x (2nd) OFC

taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​​​​​​​​​​​ @arrthurpendragon​​​​​​​​​​​ @anotherunreadblog​​​​​​​​​​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​​​​​​​​​ @stareyedplanet​​​​​​​​​​​ @gloryekaterina​​​ @averyhotchner​​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​​​​​​ @lenonizi @kmc1989​​​​​​​​​​​​

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist• Chloe’s Masterlist​​

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

Natasha noticed the half sprints between Steve and Chloe on their way to the closest mall. The only reason they weren't able to fully run was because of Seren. For every step that Steve took, Seren only took half of it and he had to pull her the rest of the way. She was having the hardest time staying awake and, most importantly, staying focused on what was happening around them. The sedative had yet to completely metabolize through her system but unfortunately they just didn't have the time to wait it out. Steve wasn't letting her out of her sight and that's what he told Natasha when she suggested Chloe should wait with Seren outside of the mall.

"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha muttered when it finally became too noticeable.

"Not trying to run," Steve said, keeping an arm tightly around Seren's waist. "If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall and I'm going to trip Seren." He couldn't stop himself from checking the immediate areas to see if anyone was coming their way.

So far, there was no public announcement that they were being hunted but he was no fool, at least not anymore. SHIELD didn't operate by the books as it was and now that they were finally, openly, going rogue, who knew how they would hunt. Anyone could be an enemy.

"Just look ahead," Chloe directed. "I've been on my own plenty of time to know a thing or two about blending in."

"Then stop trying to sprint," hissed Natasha.

"I just want to get to the store quickly!"

Fortunately, they made their way into a Mac store soon enough. Natasha found the first display computer and got straight to work. Steve stepped up beside her and with him Seren. She breathed easily, that much Steve could tell and was fully relieved that it hadn't worsened outside of the hospital. She leaned her head on his shoulder and brought her jacket closer around her. That, Steve noticed as well and it did worry him because Seren hardly got cold. It was part of her Celessian biology; her body temperature operated differently. Conditions had to be on the extreme side for her to be that kind of cold.

"We'll be quick," he murmured to her. She nodded silently.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are," Natasha forewarned the group as she readied the laptop.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asked her.

"Nine minutes," Chloe blurted then promptly clapped a hand over her mouth. With her wide eyes, she told the group the answer did not come from her but from the Hivemind.

"They're right," Natasha plugged the USB into the laptop. "Anything else the Hivemind is saying right now?"

"Sort of..." Chloe admitted, "And I can understand them better too. They didn't really speak English to me before and now..."

"What are they saying about SHIELD right now?" asked Steve.

"Run," sighed Chloe. "The Ghost is coming." That was a real motivation to keep working.

"Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something," Natasha's findings drew Seren's attention back to the screen. "This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can't you override it?" Chloe leaned closer to Natasha.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with anything?" One of the male employees came up to the group, startling them like a domino effect.

Chloe sprung into action, reverting back to her secretive ways. Years of skills for hiding and secrets didn't just disappear after all. "We're just helping our friends find some honeymoon destinations!" She motioned to Steve and Seren with a joyous laugh to match the story. Then, Chloe threw a direct look at Steve. He better play along for their sake.

Steve deadpanned her for the longest minute until she ultimately won the stare-off and he accepted the lie. "Yup," he said, glancing at the employee. "We're getting married."

Seren also nodded at the lie.

"Congratulations," the employee said to the pair, not noticing a single thing. "Where are you guys thinking about going?"

"Uuh…" Seren would blame her foggy head for her lack of skills at the moment. She looked up at Steve instead, hoping that he was much more collected with the lying thing than her.

Steve had the idea to glance at the screen and thankfully saw the signal tracing to somewhere in New Jersey. "New Jersey!"

"Oh." The employee spent the next moment staring at Steve. For a moment, Steve panicked thinking he was about to be recognized. "I have the exact same glasses!"

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha's sarcasm was lost on the employee, not so much with Chloe who snorted.

"Yeah, I wish," the employee said, gesturing to Steve afterwards, "Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."

"Thank you," Seren said quickly to get the man moving away. He then glared at Chloe. "Not okay, Chloe."

"Yeah, that was horrible," Chloe said, shaking her head. "Seren's got the excuse because she's made some good UCs before, but you? What's yours?"

Steve was even less impressed and instead turned his attention on Natasha. "How are we doing?"

"Shh, relax. Got it," the redhead pointed at the screen. Steve leaned down to see Wheaton, NJ proudly blinking on the screen. Natasha saw his grim expression. "You know it?"

"I used to," he muttered. "Let's go." He plucked the USB out of the computer and stuffed it into his pocket. He gripped his hold around Seren's waist and told her they were leaving. Her feet bumped into each other on their first steps but thankfully she got ahold of herself only a few steps later.

The others were quick to follow behind. It wasn't long before Steve spotted familiar faces around. "Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you take Seren and hit the south escalator to the metro."

"You're mad," Seren was quick to huff. It was the first time she spoke in a complete sentence since waking up. "We're not separating..."

"She's right," Natasha said, much too calm for the situation they were about to possibly get into. There were two agents coming straight towards. "Rogers, just keep holding Seren and in 5 seconds, laugh. In 4, Chloe and I will move to the right. Seren, try to stay awake."

"Natasha, I don't think—" Steve started when Natasha gave him a hard shove on his arm and moved away with Chloe. He barely had time to react when he saw the agents growing closer and just did what Natasha said and laughed like Seren had said something. Immediately after they were in the clear, Steve apologized to Seren. "I'm going to get you somewhere you can rest, I swear."

Seren half smiled up at him. "It's alright, I'm..." She breathed in again like she was about to yawn. "...fine."

Steve thought the opposite. "You're supposed to be resting, taking it easy. And you're still cold." He gently touched her cheek and confirmed it.

"Just my body trying to get back to..." she couldn't help it and yawned that time, "Back to normal."

Steve started pulling his jacket off when Natasha hissed at him to leave it on. "She's cold," Steve argued but Natasha was adamant.

"And we're surrounded and in need of a disguise so leave it on!"

They reached the escalators and quickly stepped on. They were almost out of the building, so close...until Chloe spotted Rumlow on the escalator beside them coming up.

"Dammit," she bit on her bottom lip. "We can't fight on the steps, can we?" They were surrounded in front and behind.

The situation still didn't phase Natasha. "We'll get out," she said confidently. "Rogers?"

Steve was already dreading her next words. "What?"

"Kiss Seren, now."

Steve looked over his shoulder at her like she was insane. "What!? I'm not — we're not doing that!"

"Fine, then we do nothing and they take us all and separate us and I'm sure they would love to get their hands on medicated Seren. What do you think they're going to do to get information out of her? Start with the power dampening cuffs, I'm sure."

Steve hated Natasha for two seconds before realizing she was right.

"It's a tactic," Natasha said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable. So do it. Sure Soul won't mind."

Seren felt the light flick on the back of her head and rubbed it with her hand. Steve hated things even more because Seren barely had a clue about the conversation.

"Just do it!" Natasha nearly snarled.

Steve almost considered leaving the three women to take on Rumlow and his crow on his own. They would maybe have a chance then...

But he couldn't bear the thought of leaving Seren to her chances. Pick the lesser evil. "Seren?" She looked up at him with doe eyes as if to purposely make him feel even worse. He dipped his head and captured her lips in a kiss.

As fogged-up as her mind was, Seren remembered the feeling of his lips against hers and kissed back. In a way, it helped her feel even more lucid and in control of her emotions. When Steve pulled away, the first thing he noticed was that Rumlow and his crew had passed them without so much of a glance in their direction. Then he looked down at Seren and saw her smiling at him. It eased his nerves a bit to see her content. He felt awful for using their love as a tactic and even more knowing that Seren wasn't 100% herself. He would never do anything with her if she wasn't completely lucid and he hoped to God that when she was finally back to normal, she wouldn't get upset about this. It took two years of pining to get her and he didn't want to do anything that would make him lose her.

~0~

After finding a modest car, the trip to New Jersey was on. Natasha and Chloe had climbed into the backseat, leaving Seren the passenger's side. Almost as soon as they had taken off, Seren had fallen asleep. She slept soundly for an hour and woke up with a much better face — a more lucid one.

"Good morning there, sleeping beauty," she heard behind her. It took her a few minutes to realize it was Natasha in the backseat. She had made herself comfortable by propping one leg between the driver's and passenger's seat. "How we feeling?"

Seren rolled her eyes and looked up ahead towards the road. "Fine," she said, her voice raspy. "Don't you ever put a sedative in me again. I will make you regret it."

"Oh, she's fine alright," Natasha concluded.

"Lay off," went Steve. He reached a hand out to take Seren's and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

Seren heard the heavy concern in his voice and glanced at him. "Much better, I promise," she said. "Stop worrying about me, please." She was a lot more cozy with her and Steve's sweaters on and definitely better rested.

"You were poisoned on my behalf," Chloe spoke up when she leaned forward. "Worrying is all we can do. I'm sorry Seren. I'm...I'm so sorry."

"Chloe it's fine. Just...no more lies, please. And no more sedatives," Seren added in a harder tone. She looked back at Natasha and Chloe. "Are we clear on that one, ladies?"

"Yes, ma'am," Natasha gave her a mock salute.

Seren breathed in and exhaled, taking a moment to finish waking up. Her eyes started flickering around their scenery...which wasn't much. "Um...where exactly are we going? And when did we get into a car?" She turned her head in Steve's direction. "You don't have a car."

"Ooh," Natasha started smirking. "That's because he stole it. Golden boy stole a car."

"I did not—"

"I'd love to know where Captain America learned how to steal a car."

"Yeah, that'd be nice to know," Chloe joined with her own smirk.

Steve playfully rolled his eyes at the pair. The question was out of the topic but since it was making Seren smile as well, he'd go along with it. "Nazi Germany. Happy?"

"No, kind of lame, actually," Chloe said bluntly.

"Wasn't looking to impress you, Chloe. And we're borrowing, by the way. Take your feet off the arm rest, Natasha."

"Sorry, Dad." Natasha snickered with Chloe. "What does Mom have to say?" She nodded over to Seren who seemed very focused on the road. She may have been trying to piece together the last couple of hours of the day. "Hm, space girl is in space."

Seren blinked and looked back at Natasha with a scrunched nose. "Shut up, Natasha." She then pushed Natasha's foot off the armrest and brought her left arm over it instead. "I may have been in and out but I know you've been messing with Steve."

"Oh, of course you'd remember that," Natasha rolled her eyes.

That time even Steve had to smile. He side-glanced Seren for a brief moment and saw her smiling at him too. "I got your back," she winked at him and his heart swelled in that moment.

"Yikes, you might be grounded," Chloe whispered to Natasha.

"Been there done that," Natasha said dismissively. "Might as well keep going. I've got another question." She smirked immediately when they heard the collective groans from Steve and Seren. "What? You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"It's because whatever you're going to ask is probably going to be none of your business," Seren promptly said.

"Ouch," Natasha brought a hand to her chest. "Guess you're still mad about the sedatives?"

"Oh no, I loved being sedated against my will in the place I fear most."

"Well, next time don't have a mental breakdown. And by the way, if you don't answer my question...you're basically answering it."

Seren shook her head. "I regret meeting you."

"Love you too," Natasha said with a grin. "So, the question?" Seren groaned. "In the mall, neither of you seemed very uncomfortable kissing on the escalator. And you," she pointed at Seren, "weren't even half awake then."

"Don't remind me," Seren heard Steve's quiet mumble. She looked at him curiously.

"And you've pretty much been inseparable ever since the, uh, incident with the cyanide...does that mean you guys are like..." Natasha drifted her finger between the two in question, "You know, finally...?"

Chloe snorted. "If not, I'm going to throw myself out this window because it'd be ridiculous at this point."

"So poetic, Chloe," Steve remarked. "If we say 'yes', does that mean the conversation is over?" Steve looked at Natasha through the rearview mirror.

She smirked. "You wish."

"Back off," Seren cut in. It was her who held onto Steve's hand now. "And Chloe, if you throw yourself out the window, I'm prepared to leave you there. So quit it."

"Yes, mom," Chloe dutifully said. She then leaned forwards between their seats and smiled at the pair. "But I am happy about you guys. It was about damn time. Sorry my chocolates ruined it for you guys."

"We're good, Chloe, thanks."

"Seriously about time," Natasha groaned and shifted in her seat. "The last time Seren dated anyone was, what? Never?"

Seren's face fell flat at the jab. "That is not—"

"And we all know the last time Steve kissed anybody was in 1945!"

"Hey!" Steve frowned.

Chloe laughed at the pair. Natasha had something to say for everyone.

"Am I wrong?" Natasha challenged them with the proudest of smirks. "Seren could probably tell us. Does he need more practice?"

"Natasha stop talking," Seren pulled herself into a better sitting position, her hand never letting go of Steve's. Suddenly, she felt like she didn't really need two sweaters on. It wasn't that cold anymore.

"I'm hearing a 'yes'," Natasha glanced at the giggling Chloe. "What do you think, Winters?"

"Chloe Rose Winters, you better watch what you'll say," warned Seren.

"I'm not going to say anything bad," Chloe said, her eyes drifting towards Steve who was carefully watching her through the rearview mirror. "But everyone needs practice."

"Chloe!" He groaned. He should've seen that coming. Whenever she and Natasha got together on the same side, he paid hell for it.

"Leave him alone," Seren scolded them. She tugged on Steve's hand a bit, earning a brief glance from him. "You do not need practice. At all." Steve didn't say anything but his face was flushed as he drove.

"Oh, so she knows for sure," Natasha's smirk widened and nudged Chloe who burst into laughter.

"I would not blame you if you dropped them both off on the road," Seren said to Steve while the pair behind them went into a fit of laughter. "Seriously. Wouldn't say a word about it."

"I'll just be patient," he said, much kinder than what Seren thought they deserved from him. "One day, they'll be in our shoes."

"Oh, hold on there," Natasha stopped in the middle of her laugh, "You will never get the chance, Rogers. Maybe Winters might."

"Oh c'mon," Steve rolled his eyes.

"She might get you there," Seren said too. "I've known her forever and I've never known about her having a date."

"Me neither," Chloe agreed.

"I don't have time," shrugged Natasha.

"I would've thought it had something to do with the lies that working for S.H.I.E.L.D. usually brings." Steve didn't mean that as a jab for any of them. It was a simple truth he learned over the course of his 2 years with the organization. Even if he had considered the idea about moving on from Seren, which he didn't, having to explain his work to someone outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. was more than challenging. Even if he had dated someone within S.H.I.E.L.D., their schedules would never be aligned. It was a lost cause on both sides. Which was why he was prepared to do anything and everything to keep Seren with him.

"Nah, that's the least of the issues there," Natasha said, cutting Steve's thoughts short. "The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I."

"That's a tough way to live." Steve glanced at Seren who'd gone quiet, even Chloe as well. He hated their circumstances. Each of them had been torn and rebuilt for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s use. For a split second, just a split moment, he wondered if S.H.I.E.L.D. falling was the worst thing that could have happened for them...

"It's a good way not to die, though," Chloe murmured. She knew firsthand what the way of her life entailed. Never finding anyone to connect with, not even revisiting people she had established relationships with. It was too dangerous for both sides.

"My experience is that it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is," Steve said.

"Who do you want us to be, then?" Natasha quirked her eyebrows upwards. It was clear she spoke on behalf of herself and Chloe. No matter what happened, Seren was already on another level for him that made it pretty hard to be mistrusted.

"I'd be good with some friends."

Natasha couldn't help snort at that. "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."

"Or maybe the business was wrong all this time," Steve countered. All the time there could've been something wrong with S.H.I.E.L.D. and nobody noticed. His first thoughts went to Seren who, for as long as she remembered, had given all her time to the organization. Now she was probably being hunted by them like a criminal. They turned on her so quickly, like her work had meant nothing to them.

He glanced at Seren but she was no longer looking at anything. She fell asleep somewhere along the conversation. He squeezed her hand and focused on the road.

~ 0 ~

The sun had gone down by the time they reached the military base where they would supposedly find something linked to the USB.

"Seren, you should stay in here," Steve stood by the passenger door hoping that he could convince her to stay in the car where it was far warmer.

"Not happening," she repeated for the third time and promptly hopped off the car. She'd taken a nice long nap, that was enough. She did, however, zip up the oversized sweater on her to the top.

"Where exactly are we?" Chloe had followed Natasha a bit down the path. It was too dark to make out specific details besides it being a base.

"I don't know," Natasha shrugged. "But this is where the file came from."

"So did I," Steve admitted. He shut the passenger door behind them and walked forwards with Seren. "This camp is where I was trained."

"Really?" Seren's eyes widened. She raked the base over with a new light. "Has it changed much?"

"A little," Steve mumbled. That was an understatement. He could see himself running down the path, barely keeping up with the other soldiers, otherwise failing to be the perfect soldier. There was much to remember from this place and half of it wasn't good.

"This is a dead end," Natasha declared with a heavy sigh. She was walking around with a tech piece she'd taken earlier in the day. "Zero heat signature, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off."

Steve came to an abrupt stop when he noticed a building ahead of them. Seren gazed at the building but couldn't make out what was wrong with it. "What is it?" she eventually had to ask him.

"Army regulations forbid storing ammunition within five hundred yards of the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." He took off for the building and unlocked it with his shield. He went right on in and only then wondered, for a split second, if he'd just led them all into a trap. Thankfully, it turned out to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. office.

"These look old," Chloe noted from the leftover devices she saw lying on the desks, along with a few computers. There was a heavy dust collecting over the tops.

"Maybe this is where it all started," Seren made the conclusion. It had to be because by now S.H.I.E.L.D. was more than modern with its architecture and technology. There was no use being old school about anything.

They left the bullpen to cross a room with familiar-faced portraits hanging on the wall.

"There's Stark's father," Natasha pointed to one of the men's portraits.

"Hm, they don't look alike," Chloe shook her head.

"Who's the girl?" Natasha pointed to the only women of the three portraits.

Seren glanced at Steve when the question was made. She squeezed his hand as much as she could. She wasn't all there yet with her strength but Steve appreciated the gesture. He preferred, though, not to answer Natasha. He turned with Seren and walked down the room, passing by several bookshelves along the way.

Chloe suddenly stopped when she felt a jab in her head. Her light groan pulled the others towards her.

"Chloe?" Seren looked to the woman.

Chloe had grabbed her head as a few images rushed through her mind. It was blurred but if she was seeing correctly, she might save them some time.

"Is this what's been happening?" Seren glanced back at Steve and Natasha.

"They've never seen," Chloe dropped her hands and took in a breath. Her eyes flickered past them to a specific bookshelf. She left Seren and walked past the others. She stopped in front of the special bookshelf and cocked her head to the side. "If you're already working in a secret office...why do you need to hide the elevator?" She glanced at the trio, clearing her throat and gesturing for someone-oh-someone to move it.

Steve came up beside her and indeed noticed the strange space between the bookshelf and the next. "You just saw that in your head right now?"

"Are you going to turn into my grandmother now?" Seren asked. "That's basically the future you're seeing."

Steve started pulling the shelf to the side. Chloe watched intently for the secret elevator to show. "I hope not," she answered Seren's question in a mumble. "I don't see myself as being a wrinkly alien. No offence." Seren chuckled. She could always count on Chloe to bring a smile out of her.

The group went into the old elevator that brought them down into an even older room. The computers were, as Chloe said them, prehistoric.

"This can't be the data-point, this technology is ancient." Natasha couldn't find one modern-looking computer in the room, much less any computer with a lit screen. She drifted towards what seemed like the main computer and noticed a USB port on the desk. There wasn't much to do besides plugging in their USB computer came to life shortly afterwards.

'Initiate system?' blinked in and out on the screen.

"Are we supposed to type 'yes'?" Chloe raised an eyebrow at it.

Natasha went in and typed 'yes' on the computer. "Shall we play a game?" she asked in an odd tone when the computer started turning on completely. She whipped her head in Steve's direction. "It's from a movie that…"

"Yeah, I saw it," he said, pointing to Chloe for reference.

"Rogers, Steven. Born, 1918," started a heavily accented male voice. It froze everyone in their tracks as it kept going, the camera on top of the computer screening everyone. "Soul, Seren. Born 1986. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Born, 1984. Winters, Chloe. Born 1989."

"It's some kind of recording," Natasha presumed, only for the computer to talk at them in return.

"I am not a recording, Fräulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945, but I am."

Seren raised an eyebrow at Steve. "You two know each other?"

Steve was just about making the voice when the screen switched to show an old photograph of Dr. Arnim Zola. Steve stiffened at the sight of the man. "Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull. He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss," Zola said. "Second, look around you. I have never been more alive."

Chloe wouldn't admit how freaky it was that now every single computer in the room was whirling with life...but it was.

"In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body, my mind, however, that was worth saving on two hundred thousand feet of data banks. You are standing in my brain."

Chloe looked down at the floor and promptly steped out of the marked square.

"How did you get here?" asked Steve who couldn't be more baffled by the scene.

"Umm..." Seren scratched the side of her head, drawing Steve's attention. "My grandmother told me about that. It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value."

Steve's expression was incredulous. After everything that Zola helped do, they just brought him over like nothing?

"Yeah, I wasn't fond of the idea either..." Seren said, reading his expression.

"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own," Zola said with a malicious tinge to his words.

Steve couldn't be sucked back into the past. No matter what, he was here and things were certainly not related to HYDRA anymore. "HYDRA died with the Red Skull."

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

"Prove it."

"Accessing archive." Zola brought an old footage of the Red Skull followed by the original founders of S..H.I.E.L.D. "HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize, was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you," Natasha said but she heard Chloe's light gasp on the side.

"The moles..." she whispered.

Seren heard it and shook her head. "Natasha's right, it's impossible. Somebody would have noticed. They would have...they would have—"

"Accidents will happen," Zola said, and Seren's confidence faltered when Zola showed them a series of photo clippings from the Starks' accident. HYDRA was behind it, along with many other 'accidents' around the world. It plummeted when Fury's death came up next.

Seren started breathing heavier. "Somebody would have — nobody noticed?" She felt awful, filled with guilt, that she had worked for tuese people. How did she know that none of her missions had ever been for HYDRA's cause? She didn't.

"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your Life; a zero sum."

Steve heard enough and perhaps it was more anger than logic but he smashed the computer screen with his bare fist. He looked down at Seren beaide him, her eyes filled with angry tears. She was taking the news much like he was. He suspected that the only reason her powers hadn't manifested yet was because her health wasn't completely healed.

It didn't help that only a minute later Zola's face popped up on another screen beside them. "As I was saying…"

"What's on this drive?" Steve demanded to know.

"Project Insight requires insight. So I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm?" asked Natasha. "What does it do?"

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

The entrance doors started closing, making the group whirl around in panic. Steve threw his shield at the doors, but he was a second too late. They were trapped.

Natasha got a ping on her device. "We got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops."

Steve turned to her. "Who fired it?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D." Natasha reread the device to make sure she was right even though she knew she was right.

"S.H.I.E.L.D..." Seren's voice was stark quiet, resigning herself to the horrific things she learned today. S.H.I.E.L.D. turned its back on her and the rest of her friends so easily. The anger she felt was rising and rising...

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain. Admit it, it's better this way. We're both of us...out of time."

"Shut up!" Chloe snapped at it.

"You, however, will be an asset that sadly had to be decommissioned before you were ever useful."

"Excuse me?"

"Nope!" Seren wasn't going to let that thing anywhere near Chloe.

"Over here!" Steve called to them after spotting a small opening on the ground.

"No, I want to know what that means!" Chloe struggled with Seren who was trying to pull her towards the opening.

"Chloe!" Seren groaned. "Not the time!"

"Time is what I've lost because of this!"

Natasha hurried over to them and helped Seren pull Chloe away. Eventually, the blonde gave in and ran with them.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Steve ushered them down first before jumping in himself.

"I don't see this ending well," Chloe said with a body stance ready for impact.

"Did you see it?" Natasha sighed.

"No, I just know."

Steve raised his shield above them just as impact happened, or blasted who knew. They were rocked in the hole and even when Seren tried to use her own powers to create an extensive shield, it wasn't enough. Her strength already wasn't what it should've been. In the end, it was Chloe who managed to help with a radiant blue shield above them.

When everything stilled, Chloe brought down her shield. She managed to push Natasha's body from her side. They had crashed heads one too many times and now they were both groggy.

Steve pushed the chunks of cement out of their way to climb up. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Natasha cleared her throat and shook her head multiple times to shake off the grogginess.

"Me too," Chloe said, rubbing her temples.

Steve waited for Seren to agree and quickly grew concerned when she didn't say anything. He stopped pushing cement out of their way and looked around. Seren had fallen against the crummy wall and was unconscious. The absolute last thing she needed was a concussion of all things right now!

"OUT!" Steve yelled. "LET'S GO!" He couldn't get to Seren until he helped Chloe and Natasha out of their hiding hole. Only then he was able to reach Seren's body and pulled her to him. They were only just able to make it out before the STRIKE agents arrived at the site.