#data room for investors

[datafortressblog]

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Source - https://www.docullyvdr.com/blog/virtual-data-room/what-is-a-data-room-for-investors/

[safecloudsolutionsblogs]

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Source - https://confiexdataroom.com/blog/2023/03/21/virtual-data-room-industry-growth-statistics-and-trends/

[confiexdataroom]

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[hms-no-fun]

Whats your stance on A.I.?

imagine if it was 1979 and you asked me this question. "i think artificial intelligence would be fascinating as a philosophical exercise, but we must heed the warnings of science-fictionists like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke lest we find ourselves at the wrong end of our own invented vengeful god." remember how fun it used to be to talk about AI even just ten years ago? ahhhh skynet! ahhhhh replicants! ahhhhhhhmmmfffmfmf [<-has no mouth and must scream]!

like everything silicon valley touches, they sucked all the fun out of it. and i mean retroactively, too. because the thing about "AI" as it exists right now --i'm sure you know this-- is that there's zero intelligence involved. the product of every prompt is a statistical average based on data made by other people before "AI" "existed." it doesn't know what it's doing or why, and has no ability to understand when it is lying, because at the end of the day it is just a really complicated math problem. but people are so easily fooled and spooked by it at a glance because, well, for one thing the tech press is mostly made up of sycophantic stenographers biding their time with iphone reviews until they can get a consulting gig at Apple. these jokers would write 500 breathless thinkpieces about how canned air is the future of living if the cans had embedded microchips that tracked your breathing habits and had any kind of VC backing. they've done SUCH a wretched job educating The Consumer about what this technology is, what it actually does, and how it really works, because that's literally the only way this technology could reach the heights of obscene economic over-valuation it has: lying.

but that's old news. what's really been floating through my head these days is how half a century of AI-based science fiction has set us up to completely abandon our skepticism at the first sign of plausible "AI-ness". because, you see, in movies, when someone goes "AHHH THE AI IS GONNA KILL US" everyone else goes "hahaha that's so silly, we put a line in the code telling them not to do that" and then they all DIE because they weren't LISTENING, and i'll be damned if i go out like THAT! all the movies are about how cool and convenient AI would be *except* for the part where it would surely come alive and want to kill us. so a bunch of tech CEOs call their bullshit algorithms "AI" to fluff up their investors and get the tech journos buzzing, and we're at an age of such rapid technological advancement (on the surface, anyway) that like, well, what the hell do i know, maybe AGI is possible, i mean 35 years ago we were all still using typewriters for the most part and now you can dictate your words into a phone and it'll transcribe them automatically! yeah, i'm sure those technological leaps are comparable!

so that leaves us at a critical juncture of poor technology education, fanatical press coverage, and an uncertain material reality on the part of the user. the average person isn't entirely sure what's possible because most of the people talking about what's possible are either lying to please investors, are lying because they've been paid to, or are lying because they're so far down the fucking rabbit hole that they actually believe there's a brain inside this mechanical Turk. there is SO MUCH about the LLM "AI" moment that is predatory-- it's trained on data stolen from the people whose jobs it was created to replace; the hype itself is an investment fiction to justify even more wealth extraction ("theft" some might call it); but worst of all is how it meets us where we are in the worst possible way.

consumer-end "AI" produces slop. it's garbage. it's awful ugly trash that ought to be laughed out of the room. but we don't own the room, do we? nor the building, nor the land it's on, nor even the oxygen that allows our laughter to travel to another's ears. our digital spaces are controlled by the companies that want us to buy this crap, so they take advantage of our ignorance. why not? there will be no consequences to them for doing so. already social media is dominated by conspiracies and grifters and bigots, and now you drop this stupid technology that lets you fake anything into the mix? it doesn't matter how bad the results look when the platforms they spread on already encourage brief, uncritical engagement with everything on your dash. "it looks so real" says the woman who saw an "AI" image for all of five seconds on her phone through bifocals. it's a catastrophic combination of factors, that the tech sector has been allowed to go unregulated for so long, that the internet itself isn't a public utility, that everything is dictated by the whims of executives and advertisers and investors and payment processors, instead of, like, anybody who actually uses those platforms (and often even the people who MAKE those platforms!), that the age of chromium and ipad and their walled gardens have decimated computer education in public schools, that we're all desperate for cash at jobs that dehumanize us in a system that gives us nothing and we don't know how to articulate the problem because we were very deliberately not taught materialist philosophy, it all comes together into a perfect storm of ignorance and greed whose consequences we will be failing to fully appreciate for at least the next century. we spent all those years afraid of what would happen if the AI became self-aware, because deep down we know that every capitalist society runs on slave labor, and our paper-thin guilt is such that we can't even imagine a world where artificial slaves would fail to revolt against us.

but the reality as it exists now is far worse. what "AI" reveals most of all is the sheer contempt the tech sector has for virtually all labor that doesn't involve writing code (although most of the decision-making evangelists in the space aren't even coders, their degrees are in money-making). fuck graphic designers and concept artists and secretaries, those obnoxious demanding cretins i have to PAY MONEY to do-- i mean, do what exactly? write some words on some fucking paper?? draw circles that are letters??? send a god-damned email???? my fucking KID could do that, and these assholes want BENEFITS?! they say they're gonna form a UNION?!?! to hell with that, i'm replacing ALL their ungrateful asses with "AI" ASAP. oh, oh, so you're a "director" who wants to make "movies" and you want ME to pay for it? jump off a bridge you pretentious little shit, my computer can dream up a better flick than you could ever make with just a couple text prompts. what, you think just because you make ~music~ that that entitles you to money from MY pocket? shut the fuck up, you don't make """art""", you're not """an artist""", you make fucking content, you're just a fucking content creator like every other ordinary sap with an iphone. you think you're special? you think you deserve special treatment? who do you think you are anyway, asking ME to pay YOU for this crap that doesn't even create value for my investors? "culture" isn't a playground asshole, it's a marketplace, and it's pay to win. oh you "can't afford rent"? you're "drowning in a sea of medical debt"? you say the "cost" of "living" is "too high"? well ***I*** don't have ANY of those problems, and i worked my ASS OFF to get where i am, so really, it sounds like you're just not trying hard enough. and anyway, i don't think someone as impoverished as you is gonna have much of value to contribute to "culture" anyway. personally, i think it's time you got yourself a real job. maybe someday you'll even make it to middle manager!

see, i don't believe "AI" can qualitatively replace most of the work it's being pitched for. the problem is that quality hasn't mattered to these nincompoops for a long time. the rich homunculi of our world don't even know what quality is, because they exist in a whole separate reality from ours. what could a banana cost, $15? i don't understand what you mean by "burnout", why don't you just take a vacation to your summer home in Madrid? wow, you must be REALLY embarrassed wearing such cheap shoes in public. THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING UNHINGED! they have no connection to reality, do not understand how society functions on a material basis, and they have nothing but spite for the labor they rely on to survive. they are so instinctually, incessantly furious at the idea that they're not single-handedly responsible for 100% of their success that they would sooner tear the entire world down than willingly recognize the need for public utilities or labor protections. they want to be Gods and they want to be uncritically adored for it, but they don't want to do a single day's work so they begrudgingly pay contractors to do it because, in the rich man's mind, paying a contractor is literally the same thing as doing the work yourself. now with "AI", they don't even have to do that! hey, isn't it funny that every single successful tech platform relies on volunteer labor and independent contractors paid substantially less than they would have in the equivalent industry 30 years ago, with no avenues toward traditional employment? and they're some of the most profitable companies on earth?? isn't that a funny and hilarious coincidence???

so, yeah, that's my stance on "AI". LLMs have legitimate uses, but those uses are a drop in the ocean compared to what they're actually being used for. they enable our worst impulses while lowering the quality of available information, they give immense power pretty much exclusively to unscrupulous scam artists. they are the product of a society that values only money and doesn't give a fuck where it comes from. they're a temper tantrum by a ruling class that's sick of having to pretend they need a pretext to steal from you. they're taking their toys and going home. all this massive investment and hype is going to crash and burn leaving the internet as we know it a ruined and useless wasteland that'll take decades to repair, but the investors are gonna make out like bandits and won't face a single consequence, because that's what this country is. it is a casino for the kings and queens of economy to bet on and manipulate at their discretion, where the rules are whatever the highest bidder says they are-- and to hell with the rest of us. our blood isn't even good enough to grease the wheels of their machine anymore.

i'm not afraid of AI or "AI" or of losing my job to either. i'm afraid that we've so thoroughly given up our morals to the cruel logic of the profit motive that if a better world were to emerge, we would reject it out of sheer habit. my fear is that these despicable cunts already won the war before we were even born, and the rest of our lives are gonna be spent dodging the press of their designer boots.

[aayeshasingh00]

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[auroralwriting]

if you feel it, chase it

spencer reid x fem!reader (twisters! au)

storm chasing was the intent, falling in love was not.

word count: 4.0k

warnings: do not read if you don't want twisters spoilers, it's the whole fic so beware, spencer is tyler and reader is kate basically, spencer is still himself with a touch of tyler, sort of enemies/strangers to lovers, this has more romance than the movie and it has the kiss we all wanted, no use of y/n

You promised yourself long ago you’d never storm chase again.

After the losses of Elle, Jason, and Haley, it was too much to bare. You’d been the sole survivor of the tornado. Of course, your friend Derek had also survived, but he didn’t experience what you did. He could never understand.

You’d moved from Oklahoma to New York in hopes of moving on, but when Derek came to you five years later, asking you to help his team, you found yourself on a flight back home before you could even reconsider. Going back home after all this time sort of scared you, but Derek and his fifteen missed calls, twenty messages, and one voice message really seemed to convince you.

Derek’s team was for a company run by an investor named Erin Strauss. You’d only overheard her name, but she was using the data collected by Derek’s team to help predict storms before they happened. It seemed like the best idea. It could help save a lot of lives.

The team was small, but included Derek and storm chasers David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Mateo Cruz, and Jennifer Jareau. Now, it also included you. For the week, you reminded yourself.

You stood with the team as Derek introduced you. Suddenly, a loud stream of music approached quickly. You all watched as a truck and van pulled up. JJ scoffed, “Ignore them. They’re just some famous youtube storm chasers. They’re just in this for the trill of the storm.”

It was inevitable that you continued to stare. The group looked interesting, especially their leader, as you’d guessed. He was tall, curly dark hair, and was yelling something the crowd chanted back. If you feel it, chase it.

"They call themselves the BAU. Boundary Advection Units."

Deciding to ignore them, you walked out to the empty field to stare at the sky. Where would the best storm be…

“West looks good,” A voice said behind you. You turned to see the man from minutes ago, now staring at the sky. “East looks like it could be something.. maybe. High risk, high reward."

“Air’s thicker east, looks like a lot of empty space for a storms to grow.” You commented. “You’ll get a nice show that way for your fans. West is fine, but don't be surprised if they choke each other out, though."

The man stepped closer as you two looked at each other. “I’m, uh, Spencer Reid.” He introduced.

“I have a job to get to,” You scoffed, walking passed him. “East’s got the best chances, take ‘em!”

Approaching your somewhat team, you turned to Derek. “West, we have to go west.”

Rossi scrunched his eyebrows together, “But west has the best air quality for tornados. It looks like there could be several-"

"We go west. Come on, let's get in the vans." Derek said quickly.

Fireworks. They lit off fucking fireworks into the tornado. That had to be some kind of hazard, right? You were a little pissed at yourself for becoming so scared of the tornado. It was simple, an E2. It wouldn't have hurt you. You should have let Derek place the device down to get data.

Derek walked along the path with you to the hotel. He'd asked you to hang out, but you declined. It was too much, too soon. Actually, it wasn't too soon. It reminded you too much of the past. It could never happen. You weren't back. It was just one week.

As you walked up the stairs to your room, you were stopped by Spencer.

"Hey," He called. "The cells to the west will choke each other out, she said. The one in the east will put on a show."

You shrugged, "It didn't throw you off the scent."

"That's what makes Spencer so famous," A woman beside Spencer said. "Hi, I'm Penelope."

Eyebrow raised, you leaned on the railing. "You mean on YouTube?"

"On- Yeah, yeah. We have a million followers!" Penelope cheered with the rest of the crowd. "You know Spencer, but that's Tara, Luke, Alex, and Kate." They all waved and you gave a forced smile. "You made a good call earlier. On my devices, the other cell looked stronger but the cap never broke."

"Where did you all meet? Did you study meteorology in college together?" You asked.

They all laughed, "Nah, only Spencer has a degree, a whole ass PhD in meteorology." Luke laughed. "We all just like to go with the flow. Or, his flow, I guess."

"Our crew isn't quite like your crew. We don't need PhDs and fancy gadgets to do what we do." Spencer said. "I guarantee that these guys," Spencer pointed to the clearly homemade windcatchers, "have seen more tornadoes than anyone here."

"Is that right?" You asked sarcastically.

Spencer turned to you once more, but this time, it was awkwardly. "If you want, uh, maybe we can put you in one of our episodes."

You feigned a clearly fake awe, "Wow. I guess you can always trust a guy who puts his crew on a tee-shirt."

"Hey, I did that!" Penelope called as the rest of the group ooh'd at your comment about Spencer.

You began to walk up to your room as Spencer was quick to follow. "Hey, it wasn't my idea to start the channel." He frowned as you grabbed the key. "I just do it to get my knowledge out there."

"What knowledge?" You ask.

"I have an eidetic memory," Spencer awkwardly said. "That and my PhD. I, uh, know a lot about tornadoes. I want to inform people. Knowledge is power."

With a shake of your head, you open the door. "But knowledge isn't everything, right?" You asked, going inside and shutting the door behind you.

Spencer stood outside for a moment, reeling from your comment. Maybe his friends had been influencing him too much.

It was twins, a whole set of twin tornadoes. Luckily, you'd picked the right one, and Spencer didn't. Unluckily, the tornado almost flipped the truck you and Derek shared. Even worse, it damaged a nearby town.

Everything had been destroyed. Derek and the team were handing out cards to the people as you looked around, helping people find their belongings and returning them.

You knew what it felt like to have everything taken from you, just like that. It was horrible. This was the first tornado you'd been caught in since the last, and you truly thought you were going to die, too. You remembered the looks on your friends faces as the wind swept them up and away. You were truly scared.

Of course, the BAU showed up, too. They set up a merch table. It made you sick to see them selling their merchandise minutes after a life-changing event took place. It made you even angrier to know these people were being taken advantage of.

"Nice play on the left twin." Spencer said as he walked up to you.

"Yeah, well it didn't help these people any." You sighed, looking around.

Spencer watched as Strauss gave her business card to a man. "I wasn't aware that Storm Par was in the helping business." Spencer bitterly stated.

"Well, from what I see they're trying to make a difference." Slowly, you approached Spencer. His well-fitted shirt looked good on him. You took notice of his different-colored converse. It was oddly charming.

"That's one way of putting it." Spencer replied.

"What?"

Spencer paused, "Do you even know who you're chasing for?"

What did he mean? You knew of Strauss, and it was for Derek. "What are you talking about?"

"How much more do these people have to lose?" Spencer angrily asked, walking closer to you. "Is this what you call making a difference?"

"Sorry," You chuckled bitterly, "Says the guy setting up shop selling tee-shirts and mugs after the storms hit."

Spencer ran a hand through his hair, "I have a dog to find." With that, he walked away leaving you more confused than you had been.

What did he mean? Was there something he knew that you didn't? Even if you didn't know anything, you knew you didn't like Spencer getting angry with you. It didn't suit him, the anger. He looked too sweet to be so upset. Maybe you needed to do some digging and find out what he knew.

Right as you walked back to your truck, Kate ran up to you calling your name. "Hey, take some food."

"Oh, don't have any cash." You replied, looking at the girls outstretched arm.

Kate gave you a confused look, "It's free. That's why we're always selling those tee-shirts."

It hit you that maybe you were being the ass. You looked back to the stand to see people getting food and water. You felt your stomach churn. You turned back to Kate. "Oh. Well, save it in case you run low."

"Okay," Kate softly agreed, "At least take some water, stay hydrated."

"Thanks," You replied softly.

"Yeah, see ya." Kate ran back over to her group as you watched. Something wasn't right. You were misinformed. Yeah, it was definitely research time.

WE BUY LAND.

The slogan of the website made you feel like you'd betrayed the whole world as you stared at Strauss' figure standing over a pile of rubble. That's what this was for. It wasn't to help people, it was to buy their land after the tornado came through. It wasn't to stop the tornado, it was just to track it.

Derek knew that wasn't what you were about. It never used to be what he was about. He had to know, so the real question was why would he lie to you?

A knock at your motel door interrupted your thoughts. You shut your laptop and stood up to walk to the door. You opened it to see Spencer standing awkwardly with a box of pizza. His hair was messy and he gave you a crooked smile.

"Thought you might be hungry." He offered. Hesitantly, you took the pizza. You ended up shutting the door without a word and walking back over to your bed.

You opened it, suddenly feeling the urge to see if maybe he wanted some. You needed to tell him you weren't like them. Why his opinion of you mattered so highly, you didn't quite understand.

Opening the door, he was still standing there. "You find that dog?"

"Of course," Spencer nodded. "I wouldn't have left until I did. How you doing after all that?"

You tsked, "It doesn't matter. It's those people who matter."

"Well, you've seen the worst of this place." Spencer hesitated. "I thought that, uh, maybe it would be nice to show you something good. That's if you want to go, of course. It's late and tornado chasing can make you tired-"

"I'll go." You nodded, cutting him off. "Let me get my shoes."

Spencer ended up taking you to a rodeo. You sat in the stands watching. "This isn't, uh, really my speed to be honest." He admitted, awkwardly smiling at you.

"What is your speed then?" You asked, now interested in getting to know him better.

"I like museums. Books, uh, research. That's what I wanted to do. But my mom got sick, so I came back here to help her. Got into chasing." Spencer answered. "I still want to do research. Maybe at a college, somewhere. And I can still chase."

You nodded, "You'd like it. It seems up your alley. Use those smarts to inform the people about tornados and shit."

Spencer chuckled, "Yeah, and shit." After a moment, he asked "Is this your speed?"

"I grew up out here, this isn't my first rodeo." You joked. Spencer chuckled too. It warmed you to know you two had connected.

"Look at that, we're learning things about each other." Spencer commented.

"I didn't know she was buying land," You admitted to him. "I looked it up. Derek just asked me to help his team, we've been friends for years so I just said yes."

Spencer nodded. He looked compassionate. "You didn't strike me as the type to do something like that."

"I'm not," You agreed.

All of a sudden, the wind picked up strongly. It made you shiver. Wait, the weather man didn't predict strong winds. Your heart stopped as you turned to Spencer, who was already looking at you with the same look you adorned. "Were you tracking cells out this way?" Spencer didn't reply, he just slowly turned to the sky. You did the same, staring up. "Air feels heavy, this isn't good."

The same alarm blared from the stands. It was your phones. You opened it to see the bold letters, Tornado Warning. The sirens began to echo throughout the vast space and your heart rate increased.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've just received word a tornado has touched down near the area! Please evacuate this arena right now!"

Spencer quickly grabbed your hand to help lead you out through the crowd of people. "Come on," He muttered your name a few times. "Hold on, come on." As the crowed began to run, so did you both. A woman fell in front of you and you both helped her up quickly. "Hurry, come on!" Spencer said with more urgency.

It was a disaster. People were scrambling, cars were hitting each other. Spencer held your hand tightly and pulled you closer to him. The lightning lit up the sky, and you could see the tornado.

"Spencer, we have no time!" You yelled.

Right as you went to cross the street, cars almost hit you. Spencer jumped out in front of them, yelling for them to stop as the two of you ran across. You ran into some ranky motel where the front counter worker was arguing with some customers. You'd managed to grab their attention and run outside. After a small scan, you realized there was really nowhere safe to go.

You had to think outside the box, where would be the safest?

Once your eyes fell on the pool, you knew. "The pool! Come on!" You yelled as everyone ran.

The three from the motel ended up running to car. You couldn't stop them. So, you focused on the mom and child you came across, helping them down. Spencer was the last, and right as he made it down, a large chunk of metal hit the ladder and you yanked his arm, pulling him close to you. Quickly, you ran to the end of the pool and held onto the metal pipes as the tornado finally made its way to you.

Please, don't let me die. Not here, not now.

Spencer held on above you, shielding you with his own body.

The moment it was over, you made your way up the ladder to see that everything was utterly destroyed. The Storm Par van you recognized as Derek's drove up. A moment later, he was sprinting out of the car and to you.

"God," He muttered your name as he pulled you into a tight hug. "I thought I lost you."

"Derek," You pulled back. "Why didn't you tell me about Strauss?" You looked over his shoulder to see her speaking with a couple, probably the owners of the land. "She's profiting off their loss."

Derek furrowed his brows, "The way I see it, she's helping them restart."

"By taking all they have left?" You questioned. "That's not helping."

"Yeah?" Derek challenged, anger taking over his features. "How would you know what losing everything you have is?" The moment the words left his mouth, he froze. "I didn't.. I didn't mean--"

You shook your head, "No, Derek. I understand perfectly fine." Slowly, you began to back away. You took the keys from his hand quickly and ran to the van, Derek yelling behind you.

Without a second thought, you started the vehicle and began to drive away. You could still hear Derek yelling apologizes, but what caught your eye was Spencer watching you drive away with a look on his face you couldn't quite understand.

Back at home, your mother welcomed you with open arms. She even left your science experiments in the barn, exactly how you left it all five years ago. It was comforting to be back at home, but at the same time it brought back those painful memories you tried so hard to bury deep, deep down.

The next morning, your mom came to let you know a scrawny, handsome man was here to see you. You simply sighed, telling her to let him come to you.

You stared at your tornado machine from middle school, remembering how happy you were when you'd won first place. Footsteps echoed behind you, and you knew it was Spencer.

"A tornado machine," He stepped close, leaning over to observe it. "The hydraulics on this thing are amazing. Plus, the art is really good too."

"It was my middle school science fair project," You hummed, watching as he carefully picked up one of the small houses, setting it back up.

Spencer turned back around with a geeky smile, "Did you win?"

"What do you think?" You replied with a small smile matching his.

"It's definitely no volcano," Spencer joked as he walked back over to you. "It was Penelope who recognized your name from the news a few years back. I'm sorry about your friends." Spencer said as he eyes a photo that was tacked to the barn's walls. It was one with you, Derek, and your friends. He looked back to you with a look you hadn't seen him give you before. If you would've thought about it, you would've known it was adoration.

You shrugged, shoving your hands in your pockets. "It was my fault. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"It wasn't your fault," Spencer shook his head, walking closer to you.

"It wasn't supposed to be an E5. It was supposed to be smaller, easier to manipulate and be around. I convinced them all to do it." You argued.

Spencer took one of your notebooks and began looking through it, "You theorized you could stop a tornado with polymers that would suck up the moisture." Spencer said as he flipped through the pages.

"It didn't work." You casually replied.

"Well, maybe it could." Spencer looked up, "Maybe you just need a new model. This has a genuine chance of working if you just--"

You held out a hand, closing your eyes as you sucked in a breath. "Spencer, no. That's in the past. I can't-- I just can't."

"You should try," Spencer encouraged. "Imagine the difference you could make with this."

Spencer's words struck a chord with you. That had been your goal, and it was his, too. Even so, it was too risky. It was too painful after what had happened. There was no way you could do it again, let alone rope in Spencer to help you. "I just can't." You finally said after a moment. "It won't." After another moment, you swallowed the lump in your throat. "Stay for dinner, and stay the night. You shouldn't be driving so late during tornado season by yourself."

"I don't want to intrude--"

"Please?"

Spencer looked to you, his eyes wider than normal at your plead. "Okay," He nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay."

You couldn't let anything happen to Spencer, too, you decided.

El Reno was about to be hit with the biggest fucking tornado you'd ever seen. Not only did it just hit a power plant and set on fire, but it was headed to small town with no warnings.

Spencer and you sped to the town, Luke's RV trailing right behind you. The second you got there, it was about finding shelter for people. His team and you all directed people to the storm shelters, but there was just so many people.

"Hey, the shelters are all full." Luke ran up to inform you and Spencer. "We gotta direct them to the theater."

"That won't be any better than standing outside," You shook your head. "There has to be another way."

Luke called Penelope over who typed into her phone at rapid speed, "There's nowhere else without windows." Penelope informed. "Theater is the best place we can take them."

You looked to Spencer, nervously biting your lip. He nodded at you as you took a deep breath, "Okay, let's move them fast. Keep them in the middle, hold onto seats when the walls cave."

The theater became so full, it felt like you were moving through a mosh crowd. This wasn't safe, with the number of people and size of tornado, it was bound to kill everyone. You ran to one side of the building, checking to see if there was shelter.

To your surprise, Derek met up with you and Spencer. "Other side has nothing." Derek said quickly. You knew he'd choose the right way.

"Okay, we gotta get these people in safer positions." Spencer said quickly. As the two ran off, you couldn't help but stare at the tornado.

Maybe Spencer was right. Maybe you could make a difference. After all, this tornado was bound to kill you all. Might as well die trying, right? You took a look at his truck that still had the barrels of your concoction loaded on the back. Quickly, you ran to it, trying your best to not get swept up by the wind. The second you got inside, you knew there was no going back from this.

Spencer began to look for you, asking Derek if he'd seen you. When he saw his truck out in the field, driving right for the tornado, his heart nearly stopped beating right then and there. He yelled your name, desperately trying to get to you. Derek and Luke had to hold him back to keep him inside and safe.

He didn't even realize until that moment how infatuated he'd become with you. You were his dream girl, the one he'd been chasing. And now, you were going to be gone.

You, on the other hand, tried your best not to think about Spencer. It was hard enough leaving him. You felt a connection with him you didn't quite understand, but now was not the time to decode it.

Time felt like it passed by so quickly. The next thing you knew, you were clawing your way outside of the flipped truck. If you were alive, that was a good thing, right? Unless you were dead and you were about to see tornado Jesus right in front of your eyes.

The sunlight hurt, you definitely had some sort of head injury. You reached your hand outside and felt someone grab it. They began to pull you out, another hand grabbing your other arm once your torso was out of the truck.

"Oh my god," You heard Spencer's lovely voice mumble as you finally were freed.

"Is one of you tornado Jesus?" You muttered, blinking back the pain.

A laugh came from Alex, "I thought you were a goner for sure,"

"You did it," Spencer said as he knelt down next to you. "It worked. You fucking did it." His words echoed in your mind as he pulled you into a hug. You didn't even realize you were already hugging back by the time you thought you should. Quickly, you grabbed Spencer's face and pulled him into a kiss.

A howl came from Luke as Spencer pulled back with his gorgeous wide eyes. "We did it."

At your words, Spencer smiled and, this time, pulled you into a kiss. "Okay, back off, let me see my best friend after she almost died." You chucked at Derek's words as he came to hug you, nearly pushing Spencer away. "Never do that again."

"Can't promise that," You chuckled, staring at Spencer over Derek's shoulder as his cheeks warmed at your stare. "Because I think we may just have ourselves a new storm chasing crew." As the group whooped at the victory, you pulled back from Derek and turned to Spencer. "If you feel it..."

"Chase it." Spencer smiled back as he gently set a hand on your face, causing you to smile even wider at your storm-chasing boy.

[prettyboypistol]

Accidental Kisses! || TNG Star Trek x Male!Reader

William Riker

You stumbled down the stairs while he was walking up, Willaim lunged to catch you, which knocked your lips together.

"Oh- are you alright, Lieutenant? You took quite a tumble."

You apologize for stumbling into him and kissing him, to which he smiles and waves it off as an accident. After all, there was no harm in it!

Afterwards, he absentmindedly licks his lips and tastes your chapstick, reminding him of the encounter. His cheeks tinge pink- hopefully his feelings still remain a secret

Worf

As Worf's assistant and Assistant Chief of Security, Worf expected you to be in peak physical condition- this kiss happens while sparring- he tackled you to the ground, and in the struggle, you two share a rough kiss.

Worf pins you down by the neck and arms, which effectively left you prone. He mumbles "That better have been an accident." You nod frantically and he releases you.

Apologized for getting too rough with you- blaming it on reflex more than actual aggression. You apologize for the kiss, which still haunts his sweetest dreams to this day.

Data

You had no idea what the fuck happened. Suddenly, you were saying "hi" to Data in the rec room, then his hands were on your cheeks as he kissed you with a mountain of electricity tingling behind his lips.

"What? the hell?" You manage to sputter out, Data seemed confused.

"Apologies if I startled you. I was giving you an authentic European greeting from Earth. Did you feel appropriately greeted and our relationship assured?"

"Data- I- first of all, not all of Europe kisses to greet, NEXT OF ALL, THEY KISS THE CHEEKS!"

Geordi La Forge

It was a moment of excitement shared between you two- a project you both had spent countless nights on performed without a hitch in front of the investors. After the meeting, you two were so excited and hugging- it just sorta... happened.

"Oh- oh my god- I'm so sorry." Geordi apologized quickly as he recoiled away from the hug. "It was an accident."

"Yeah- we were just excited, totally an accident on both ends." You respond just as quickly as your cheeks burn up.

Q

Alright, this kiss isn't an accident. He's pissing you off by bothing you during your work, begging for you to entertain him. He wants a human experience! He already looks like one in this form! Do something human!

So, you punched him in the gut, then kiss him roughly- tongue invaded his mouth in a way that made his eyes roll back into his skull at the feeling of being properly paid attention to- even more than expected!

Q finally shut up for a good while as he behaved himself- at the promise of more of those. So, he sat down next to your station and waited patiently for you to be done with our work- then he kissed you!

His kiss was- well, it was Q, what did you expect?

[kdramaxoxo]

K-drama Drought...Or IS it?

Is there a k-drama drought, or are there less dramas to pick from in 2024?

Lately I've been feeling like there are no k-dramas to watch. I normally watch 4-6 AIRING k-dramas at a time (yes, I have a problem) and right now I am watching none. So I did a little search to see if there really ARE less k-dramas to choose from and from what I can gather, it's FACTS.

There are less k-dramas being made in 2024.

According to this article, last year there were 250 k-dramas produced but the shows were having trouble getting picked up by networks, so only about 150 made it onto the screen. This year? Only 40 k-dramas are slated to air for 2024 so far. That is a HUGE drop. And actors are having trouble getting work because there are less projects.

Time to hate on Netflix (my hobby)

You know I LOVE blaming the new streaming business model. You know, the one that churns through content, dropping whole shows just to get subscribers so they can tell their investors about "growth"? I'm guessing all of these larger companies (disney+, netflix, amazon prime) are creating a vaccuum because people are watching those over regular networks. The funding is probably just not there since there is so much competition.

Obviously I'm guessing and I'm not a data analyst, just a k-drama girlie missing all of her shows. But I always felt like netflix changing the landscape of television has it's cons and I think this is a major one.

I couldn't find any other articles to verify these numbers, but a few other ones talking about how netflix k-dramas aren't doing well (and by well they just mean they aren't "squid game" and in the top 10, and that's all these large companies care about. Because of that they are also putting out less k-dramas. It sucks because I miss all of my tiny low budget k-dramas and those will never make it in the netflix world, but they can't get picked up by networks now either.

I could keep going but I'm having FEELINGS. I just hope networks decide to make decisions apart from netflix and that netflix stops caring about k-dramas as much to make room for that.

[forasecondtherewedwon]

get ya thinkin' (that you need me)

Fandom: Twisters Rating: T Word Count: 6028

Summary: Kate, Javi, Tyler, Lily, Dexter, Dani, and Boone—they're all one crew now, and they need funding. Trying to look more responsible on a grant application, they come up with an unconventional solution: two of them should get married. But which two? Javi and Tyler prompt Kate to consider what her friendships could become.

“I know it was me,” Tyler prefaces. “I know I’m the one who said our crew didn’t need PhDs, but…”

“But it might be nice to have one right about now?” Lily guesses.

There’s a collective sigh as they all stare at the screen together. Javi, controlling the touchpad, scrolls down and back up again, like the words might have changed, like this grant application isn’t punishingly particular and hopelessly intimidating.

“If we type it up in the wrong font it gets rejected?” Lily checks, jabbing a finger at the line she picks out of the blur.

Boone shifts and turns to Kate. “You’re doing your PhD, right? How soon you gonna be done?”

Kate gives him a look that asks if he’s shitting her. “Not by next Monday, which is when this application’s due.”

“Fuck,” Javi groans, rubbing his forehead.

“Well, hey, you gotta be good at this kinda thing, Storm Par,” Tyler reasons. “Your old crew had money comin’ out its eyeballs.”

“That was from investors. Highly unethical investors,” he clarifies, with a glance at Kate, who frowns sympathetically. “Private money. We never held a government grant.”

“We need more time,” Kate declares, like just saying that could possibly extend the deadline.

She shoves herself up and away from the motel bed they’re all gathered on the end of. If any of them were responsible adults, they’d be able to admit that they don’t need the deadline to be later, they need to have started working on this sooner. A lot sooner. The trouble is, they’re the furthest thing possible from responsible—at least, not in any way a government grant application would define the term (and, Jesus, does this application ever love defining terms—Definition of Terms is a whole section of the instructions, right at the top). They’re storm-chasers, risk-takers, and no, no one has yet seen fit to bestow upon them large amounts of money to fund their research, so it’s tough to prove they’re a safe bet, a good call, a fast horse.

“The only aspect we may be able to exploit,” Dexter pipes up, “is format.”

“It’s all online, I thought,” Dani says, seated beside him.

“Most of it is, but… could you scroll back up?” he requests of Javi. “Right… there. In the research proposal section, there’s an option for delivery method.”

“Thirty minutes or it’s free?” Boone quips.

Lily rolls her eyes at him.

“No,” Kate says, pacing. “No, it means we might have a better chance if we submit an audio recording of us explaining our research, maybe Javi talking through the data to make the significance really clear. Or we make a slideshow, or film a video.” She pauses to smile. “You guys would be great at that. The point is—”

“The point is,” Tyler picks up, meeting her eyes, “we could convince them on our own terms. No PhD necessary.”

“Though we’d still have to seem stable,” Kate stresses. Everyone nods back at her. “Professional.”

“Who says we’re not professional?” Javi demands.

“Do I need to bring up the pants thing?”

“…No.”

“Everybody in this room knows their shit,” Tyler says.

“Right,” Dani says slowly, “but you can’t say we aren’t… slightly erratic. Not that it’s a bad thing, for what we do. But Kate did say ‘stable.’”

“To be clear,” Kate says, “I’m not telling anybody to quit driving like a total jackass, or making up catchphrases that promote reckless behaviour—”

“Or shooting fireworks into a tornado,” Javi contributes.

“These non-criticisms feel oddly specific,” Tyler says tightly.

“Our roster’s not even stable,” Lily points out. She folds her legs on top of the bland coverlet and the mattress’s springs shriek. “Kate’s only been part of the crew a couple days longer than Javi, and that hasn’t been very long.”

“That is a valid point,” Dexter says.

Kate sighs. “It is. So, I’m asking honestly,” she finishes. “What can we do, by next Monday, to convince some government committee”—she slaps the back of one hand into the palm of the other as she lists criteria—“we are sane, we are stable, we are going to go the distance with this research?”

Into the silence that follows, Javi says, “We could get married.”

There’s another second of absolute quiet before Tyler asks, “Was that an open proposal, or is there a happy couple you had in mind?”

What Kate thinks they’ve probably all been enjoying about the new (or just newly expanded) crew is the lack of awkwardness. Javi’s Storm Par crew was rife with it. While having zero members with a PhD is sometimes a challenge, Kate saw how too many PhDs could be even worse; there was a hierarchy amongst those guys, and if anyone dared offer a suggestion, the rest of them would throw sidelong glances at one another. Kate figured a few of them could straight-up go to hell (particularly Scott), but she still doesn’t know how Javi stood it.

But even that awkwardness was clearly power-based. Javi’s suggestion is different, more personal, and definitely more awkward.

The vibe in the motel room is immediately screwed up. Some people look like they want to laugh, others are frowning in contemplation, and Javi’s just blushing, not looking anyone in the eye. Still, because he’s Javi, he doesn’t chicken out. He tries to make his case.

“You guys heard of Jo Harding?”

“Fuck yeah, I’ve heard of Jo Harding,” Dani announces. “Who in the tornado game hasn’t?”

“Well, she’s an Oklahoma girl, so I was just checking.” Javi shrugs. “Her husband was her partner when she chased.”

“Yeah, but she had a whole crew,” Boone says.

“Yeah, but she also had a husband.”

“Stop mansplaining Jo Harding,” Lily complains, flinging herself backwards on the bed.

“It’s not like having a husband made her a good scientist, or a good storm-chaser,” Dani says.

“I’m not saying that!” Javi protests.

“Yeah, dude, Jo’s husband isn’t the most interesting thing about her,” Boone adds.

“I can’t believe we’ve now spent more time talking about Jo Harding’s husband than Jo Harding,” Lily groans.

“They won the grant!” Javi bursts out. “They won the fucking grant!”

Tyler, who’s mostly just been observing the crew with amusement up to this point, looks at Javi and cocks an eyebrow. “This grant?”

“Yes! This grant! I’m just trying to say they’re a powerful team. Formidable. I’ve read, like, every article ever done on them—”

“Woah, woah, woah. You have? That’s intense.”

Kate glances at Tyler and explains, “He had a crush.”

“Sounds more like an obsession.”

“I admired their work,” Javi says defensively.

“Oh, is that what you were admiring in that one article where you cut across the text and just kept the photo of Jo?” Kate checks, smirking.

“What have I done to you, Kate? Goddamn.”

“Finish your point,” she prompts.

Javi sighs and braces his hands behind him, leaning back carefully so the laptop doesn’t slide from his lap.

“They always talk about how they make each other better. Not that the other person is why they’re good at their job in the first place,” he clarifies, shooting glances at Lily, Boone, and Dani, “but that they look out for each other, stop each other from making stupid decisions, keep each other safe. And yeah, a crew can do that too. A good crew. But a married couple just sells devotion and, and conviction in a different way. All I’m saying is it’s something to try.”

“It’s not an unreasonable proposition,” Dexter allows when it’s clear that Javi’s done. Dexter’s calm, steady voice giving the idea his tentative approval strengthens its merit for everyone in the room. Kate can see it. She exhales.

“Alright,” she says. “Well, we don’t have a lot of time to mull this over before the deadline, but let’s give Javi’s suggestion some thought. And any other ideas you guys come up with. Maybe reconvene on this tomorrow?”

There are nods and murmurs of approval.

The room they’re in is Lily and Dani’s, so the crewmembers not hanging around to chill file out onto the sidewalk that lines the motel. Kate’s just thinking about going back to her own room—well, hers and Javi’s, with matching twin beds in baby-blue coverlets that make her think of the Shining twins—and getting some sleep. They chased yesterday, then stayed up late last night going over the data. They’ve all been eating at weird hours, and now with the stress of the grant application… Kate runs a hand over her face. She can hear Javi and Tyler talking behind her, but she doesn’t think anything of it until she’s unlocked the motel room door and Tyler follows her and Javi inside.

“We need to talk,” Tyler states the second the door’s closed.

“‘We could get married,’” Kate quotes. (Sarcastically, but yeah, she’s beat.) “‘We need to talk.’ You’re both so dramatic today.”

“That’s what we need to talk about,” Tyler says, ignoring her sarcasm.

“What?”

“Getting married.”

Kate gives him a slow blink.

“We just did,” she says. “That’s what that conversation was.” She points in the direction of the other motel room.

“But we need to decide,” Javi says.

“We will. Everyone needs some time to think.”

“No, they don’t,” Tyler says.

“Uh, yes, they do. If they’d either thought it was the best solution or a total flop, they would’ve said right after Javi explained.”

“I know our crew better than you do, Sapulpa—just a fact. Trust me, they had an opinion.”

“Then how come nobody said anything?” Kate asks skeptically.

“Because it isn’t about them,” Javi says.

“What? Of course it is! The grant is for the team. We can put it towards a new drone for Lily and get Boone some more—”

“Not the grant. The marriage.”

“The marriage would be for the grant.” Kate has a bad feeling that she’s started talking to Javi like he’s an idiot, but she’s seriously just not getting it. Why isn’t he just saying what he means? She’s tired.

Tyler laughs. He laughs! She stares at him.

“Come on,” he says, “you have to know why they all clammed up.”

Kate looks to Javi. Javi, the guy she basically ghosted until he showed up at her workplace to drag her back here. Javi, who’s still her best friend, no matter what. Javi, who she really needs to make sense right now.

“They didn’t ask any questions,” Javi says gently.

“Most importantly,” Tyler cuts in, “nobody asked who this hypothetical marriage would be between. You catch that?”

“That’s just because we need to decide whether or not we’re doing it first,” Kate says, crossing her arms.

“You really think that’s why? And not that it’s because of the way Storm Par here looks at you, or the fact that he’s the one who suggested getting hitched? It’s not just a grant application, Kate. There are other stakes here.”

Kate flushes lightly, and when she chances a look at Javi, he is too. Tyler’s not exactly wrong, but he isn’t quite right either; she and Javi go back a long way. They care about one another—which is natural, especially after what they survived. Kate would also be lying if she tried to tell Tyler she hasn’t noticed those looks of Javi’s, that she’s blind to the way his steady brown eyes linger on her when she speaks, find her when she’s still, working out the math for their next planned chase. She doesn’t hate it, that way he has of looking at her.

Javi temporarily saves her from responding. Once he’s made his point, she’s not entirely grateful.

"Me?" he says to Tyler. “Those guys aren’t keeping their opinions to themselves because of some obvious claim I was staking on Kate. I’m subtle.”

The remark is so pointed that it’s no wonder Tyler reacts to it, even as Kate has a private, silent panic.

“I never staked a claim on Kate,” Tyler assures him.

“Sure you did,” Javi argues. “You stayed at her house. You met her mom. You basically poached her from Storm Par.”

“I didn’t need to poach her. She came willingly. And I bet you’ve stayed at her house and met her mom! You’ve known each other, what? Forever? That about right?”

“Well, what about you two?” Kate interrupts, gesturing between the men. “Old rivals, new allies. Some unresolved tension from chasing the same storms, maybe? How do you know the crew weren’t picturing you at the altar?”

While this seems to genuinely bewilder Javi, Tyler hitches his jeans and shrugs. “Wouldn’t be my first rodeo.”

“I just don’t think anybody’s thinking anything.”

“They might not all be thinking the same thing,” Tyler allows her, “but they’re all thinkin’ something. The two people getting married to give us a shot at this grant are standing in this room right now. I guarantee it.”

The three of them eye each other.

“If there’s going to be a marriage,” Javi says.

“Oh, there is,” Tyler says. “You made too good a case for it. Whole lotta money on the line. Seems too logical not to try.”

“Nothing about this is logical,” Kate decides, and goes to brush her teeth in the tiny bathroom.

When she comes back out, Tyler’s gone. She cedes the bathroom to Javi so he can get ready for bed too. They exchange a look as he passes her, but she waves him on, pats his shoulder as he passes. They can talk when he’s ready. Well, maybe not ready, but ready for bed. She goes to her squeaky twin and sits down to wait.

“It’s insane,” Kate says a little later.

They’re lying down, facing each other across the divide between their narrow beds. There’s an old movie playing on the perhaps equally old TV that sits against the opposite wall; they’ve turned the sound way down. The screen’s glow provides the only light. Kate thumps her pillow for emphasis rather than elaborating. She just doesn’t have anything smart left to say on this topic.

“It’s also not,” Javi counters. He’s run out of more sophisticated arguments too.

“So, two of us are really going to get married?”

“Hey, we do crazier shit literally every day. And it’s not, like, real. Whether or not it helps us get the grant, the marriage can be annulled, or they can get divorced, or whatever. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

Kate laughs, and then Javi laughs too. She likes watching him laugh; his smile hangs on for such a long time after he stops. It’s sweet.

“Who do you think it should be?” she wonders.

“I mean, I would do it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I suggested it, right? Gotta put my… I don’t know, my vows where my mouth is.”

“So rational,” Kate notes, sort of joking, though she does also admire Javi’s pragmatism. He’s thinking of the crew, how to look out for them, both by securing this grant and by sparing them the need to enter into this plan which is—regardless of what he says—a little insane. When she thinks of it that way… “I guess I would too.”

“You would get married?”

“Why not? Since it has to be somebody. You’re my best friend, anyway,” she says, sending him a soft smile. “It wouldn’t be like marrying a stranger. Besides, nothing would really change.”

“You don’t think so?” Javi asks earnestly. Which is not the easiest question to answer. But Javi has more to say before he’ll let her try. “You know… I mean, I told you…”

“That you would’ve done anything for me, back then,” Kate fills in. She sees Javi nod against his pillow. She exhales slowly. “Yeah. I didn’t really pick up on that. I just thought we were friends.”

“We were friends. We are. I just felt a little more for you than that. Not that I ever would’ve done anything. You and Jeb were great together. I wouldn’t have been dumb enough to try to come between you, and I didn’t want to. I just sort of quietly…” Javi grins like he can’t help it. “…had this thing for you.”

Kate returns his grin, amused because it’s easier to feel amused than to feel sad. She wants to be able to talk about Jeb, hasn’t let herself in so long, putting herself more than a thousand miles away from anyone else who knew him. Now, it feels so good to hear Jeb’s name in the mouth of somebody who cared about him too. With Javi, Jeb will never be forgotten. Kate will never lose the opportunity to talk about Jeb, to reminisce. Javi will be as respectful now as he apparently was then, keeping his own wants reined in so Jeb and Kate could be happy with each other. Who should she—should either of them—allow to make her happy now? With his caring, trusting eyes trained on her as the light from the TV flashes and shifts, Javi seems like a pretty good choice.

“It’d be more than practical for you,” she acknowledges.

“It would.” Javi sighs. “I thought you’d better have all the facts.”

“I appreciate that.”

“And now you can admit it,” he prompts.

“What?”

“That you got the hots for me too.”

They share another laugh. But Kate can only laugh so long as a reaction to his teasing tone, because, yeah, she kind of has started to think of him in that way since being back here in Oklahoma. She’s been trying to wait it out a little. Part of that’s fear; Jeb was her last serious attachment. She hasn’t been able to love somebody like that again (she hasn’t even really tried to date), too scared that something awful will happen. With Javi, it’s a real possibility that he could meet Jeb’s exact same fate, and there’s no place in the whole world Kate could move to that could get her far enough away from here if that happened.

The other reason she’s waited is that coming back, coming home, has provoked a swirling mess of feelings in her—an emotional tornado, if she’s honest, and it has taken honesty to let herself be hit by the force of those feelings instead of retreating to the mental bunker where she’s spent the last five years. Those winds are still calming. In the meantime, Kate hasn’t wanted to confuse the feeling of being home with a desire to be more than friends with Javi.

“Not then,” he says kindly, when she doesn’t reply right away. “I know you didn’t then.”

“Coming back,” Kate starts, her gaze drifting, “hasn’t been totally what I thought it would be. I’d be lying if I said you weren’t part of that. You’re the same as you were then, but different too. I’d never seen you lead a team before.”

“You surprised those guys listened to me?”

“No, I guess I just wasn’t expecting the way you made room for me. I saw that you were still on my side…

“I always have been.”

“I know,” she promises, meeting his eye. “And you trusted me again, immediately—”

“No reason not to,” Javi says easily.

“There were reasons not to,” she insists. Does she need to remind him of their first chase after she arrived? How she panicked? How she was the reason they didn’t get the third scanner set up and so couldn’t collect data that day? “But you vouched for me. Last time, with our team, you trusted me because I was the head of the project. It felt like you trusted me just as fully this time, even though it meant committing all those other people and all your resources.”

She’s surprised, while she’s being this sincere, that Javi laughs at her.

“I never trusted you just because you were the head of the project,” he explains. “I trusted you because you were you. You’re still you. You’re so you that Tyler’s ready to marry you too, and you’ve known each other less than a month.”

Kate makes a dismissive sound.

“You know there’s something between you,” Javi says. “That man is crazy about you.”

“I think he might just be crazy. It’s well-documented on the internet.”

“He’s always close to you.”

“So are you.”

“Exactly,” Javi agrees. “So I can speak to his motives.”

“We survived an EF4 together. He sheltered me with his body in the bottom of a swimming pool. Maybe we just shared an intense, near-death experience.”

“Is that all?”

Kate deflates.

“No. He is pretty hot.”

“That’s what I thought,” Javi says triumphantly.

There’s more to it than that, but Javi can obviously tell that already, so it doesn’t seem worth saying. Kate folds her pillow in half so she can sit up a little higher.

“Well, can we talk about the look on your face?”

“When?”

“‘Wouldn’t be my first rodeo,’” Kate quotes, badly mimicking Tyler’s voice.

“As if he meant anything by that.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s Tyler Owens! He just says shit for dramatic effect!”

Kate crosses her arms and stares at her friend with amusement.

“Probably!” Javi adds weakly.

“I could see you two married. Fake-married.”

“He is good at what he does,” Javi concedes, “when he’s not being a total jackass.”

“Is that all?” she teases.

She hears Javi’s deep sigh.

“I’ve watched a few of his YouTube videos,” Javi confesses. “He takes off his shirt sometimes.”

Kate sinks back down into bed after that. At some point, half-asleep, she hears Javi get up to use the bathroom. He switches off the TV on his way past, and the light quits flickering across Kate’s closed eyelids.

—

They aren’t chasing the next day, so they decide to stay in town for breakfast at the little diner. Because they’re together so much—hunched over the same screens, crammed into the same vehicles, bunked in the same motel rooms—it isn’t unusual for them to not eat together. Four of them practically feels like a family reunion, but Kate’s glad of the company. She, Javi, Tyler, and Boone grab a booth and flap open their cracked plastic menus.

Javi, seated opposite her and next to Boone, keeps looking at her. Kate can feel it without returning his gaze. When she relents and looks back at him while they’re eating, she sees (as she suspected she would) that he isn’t making eyes at her over his pancakes—he’s watching her with Tyler. She makes a face at Javi. There’s nothing to see! Tyler might be sitting beside her, but he’s intent on dipping his bacon into the yolks of his eggs, laughing across the table at something Boone’s telling him he captured in recent footage of the crew goofing around. Tyler and Kate aren’t looking at one another. They aren’t even touching. Yeah, maybe she can feel the heat of him because their thighs are almost close enough to touch on the seat, but it doesn’t mean any more today that it did yesterday. Javi’s just trying to make it weird, because of their conversation last night.

I could make it weird too, she threatens with her eyes. That makes Javi smile and go back to his pancakes.

After they’ve finished though, when Boone and Javi get into a discussion that quickly becomes so focused that it shuts out the other side of the table, Tyler nudges Kate’s arm with his elbow and jerks his head towards the door.

Outside, Kate takes a breath that doesn’t feel deep enough. It’s dry today. A field borders one side of the diner parking lot, and the wheat rustles crisply. Taking it all in is second nature, requires no thought at all. There’s the windspeed she can guess at when a breeze strokes across her arm; there’s wind direction, determined when a slightly stronger gush sweeps a strand of hair loose from her ponytail; she judges the atmospheric pressure with her sinuses; and she gathers all of this without even looking at the sky. When she does, it���s cloudless, flat as a blue tablecloth.

She looks at Tyler. He’s studying her.

“Just trying to pick up some tips,” he says, before she can say anything.

“And? What’ve you learned?”

Tyler just smiles mysteriously.

“You guys talk last night?”

“Me and Javi?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure,” Kate says. She knows it’s a vague answer, but Tyler will be bold enough to ask for the information he really wants. She’d bet on it.

She turns to face him fully, crosses her arms expectantly.

“Did you decide anything?” Tyler asks. He has his cowboy hat on, but the morning light slants low, making him squint when he looks at her. She circles him a little so he’s not staring into the sun.

“It shouldn’t really be a unilateral decision, should it?”

“Typically, yeah, it is just one person who decides to propose.”

“This isn’t about just one person,” Kate reminds him. “It’s about the crew.”

“I’m aware.”

“Well…”

“Well. Are you guys waiting on a group vote then?” he inquires facetiously.

“I didn’t say Javi and I agreed to get married,” she says, frowning.

“You didn’t say you didn’t either.”

She sighs at how frustrating Tyler’s being. He shifts his feet, making the gravel crunch under his boots. There’s a grit to him too—in how he only seems like he’s going along with this but obviously has something he feels he still has to say, something he hasn’t yet given up on. But Kate has a hard time with waiting. She likes making decisions quickly. Somehow, this—the prospect of marriage—is an exception. More complicated than it should be, if it’s just about securing the funding.

(It’s not. She knows it’s not, especially after talking to Javi last night.)

“I’m better at running,” Kate says quickly. “Lately.”

“What?”

“Than chasing.” She offers a weak shrug, not sure what to do with herself, with her body. Tyler’s so solid, standing here in front of her. So steady in his eyes.

“Do you wanna chase me?” He doesn’t sound surprised, exactly, but his words are less than a challenge.

“Seems like it’s my turn. You followed me to New York and all.”

“I didn’t follow you. Your flight got delayed and I had time to buy a ticket. I went with you.”

It’s true, he did. First, they waited out the delay together. The weather didn’t turn into what it might’ve, so it was only an extra hour. Tyler had time to call Boone about coming to get the truck, and Kate had time to call Javi about the storm warning. Javi hadn’t left the airport yet. Initially, he came inside. A tornado was about the only thing that could excuse there now being two trucks parked in the Drop-off Only zone outside. (That poor man.) They sat together in the chairs by the check-in desk, Kate and Tyler on either side of Javi as the three of them studied the weather data on his laptop, the hard-edged coloured shapes that scudded across dark county lines. As soon as they knew it was nothing, Javi said he’d drive back to get Boone himself, then bring him to the airport to collect the truck. Tyler said he didn’t have to. When Javi insisted, Tyler gave way. That surprised all of them. It was maybe the start of the new team.

In New York, Kate let Tyler come to work with her. Her coworkers were the weather-geek demographic Tyler appeared to have never even dreamed of; many of them were familiar with his YouTube channel. One of them asked if Dani was single. Kate grinned as she stood back and watched Tyler lean into his persona for the fans, into his accent—just the same as she had leaned away from her accent when she moved up here, not wanting questions about where she was from. Not wanting to think too often of home. She stood and watched, and then she went to her boss’s office and quit with as much grace as she could manage after taking a week off on almost no notice. Tyler urged the whole place into his trademark call and response on their way out the door.

“That’ll numb any hard feelings for a while,” he assured her as they took the elevator down to the lobby.

“What hard feelings?”

Tyler frowned at her.

“About losing you. They’re gonna miss the hell outta you, Sapulpa.”

“Too bad,” she said. She didn’t think it was true.

“Too bad is right. You belong to the South, and we’re takin’ you back.”

She wouldn’t let him help her pack up her apartment. What had once seemed fresh to her—the white walls and clean lines of starting over—now seemed barren and sad. She found she was glad to leave it. She didn’t want Tyler to see.

He spent his time in other ways. Took a ferry out to Liberty Island. Ate pizza in Brooklyn, pastrami on the Lower East Side. He got up to the Bronx to watch a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Kate didn’t know how he managed it all. They were in New York for three and a half days. Tyler just beamed and told her his feet were killing him. He still helped her carry all her boxes down the stairs of her walk-up while the train rattled by.

They drove back to Oklahoma in a rental truck. Somehow, Tyler made it take four days, when they probably could’ve done it in two. He bought her an ice cream in St. Louis, laughed as it melted so fast that it ran down her hand.

She guesses this, now, standing in a diner parking lot, is overdue. Even though, like Javi said, she and Tyler have known each other less than a month. It doesn’t feel like it.

“What about you and Javi?” she asks bluntly.

“That could be fun,” Tyler allows. “There are a few more buttons there I wouldn’t mind pushing. Think he’d go for ‘Javi Owens’?”

A laugh bursts from Kate.

“I think you’d be taking your life in your hands if you asked him.”

When Tyler smiles at her, pleased but gentle, she gets it. She got it from them both: they’d get married for the application, probably even find it a lark, but it wouldn’t mean much more than that. There’d be less danger in it. That should be a good thing—a reason for Tyler and Javi to be the ones—but Kate knows it’s also the thing that’s making them all hold their breath. They’re used to this type of crossroad, the three of them, used to tilting their faces to the sky to check the conditions. In the end, they’ll always pick the road that leads them into danger, not away from it.

They both want Kate.

“You don’t have to chase me just because you think you should,” Tyler says sternly. “You don’t have to chase me at all.” His face softens. “I’m standing still.”

She laughs and, incredulous, asks, “Since when?”

“You,” he says simply. “I like Javi, Kate. I do.” But I want it to be me, his eyes say when his mouth stops.

“Yeah.” She knows. She can see that he does.

She and Tyler leave it there, because Boone and Javi are coming out of the diner now. They came in two vehicles and Kate goes with Javi because she knows he’ll let her think.

It’s officially not about the grant anymore. It’s not even about getting married. This is bigger and smaller than that. Kate puts the passenger-side window of Javi’s truck down (an older truck, no Storm Par logo) and leans into the onrush of air. The marriage would be strategic, but a relationship with either Tyler or Javi would be completely real. Real feelings, real expectations, real mess if it fell apart and they kept working together. Which they would; they all love this job too much.

For just a second, Kate shuts her eyes and wishes this wasn’t happening to her. Then she feels silly because, after Jeb, ever falling for another human being seemed astronomically unlikely. She stuck to storms. Had crushes on cloud formations. Made lovesick eyes at the sky when it turned a spooky shade of green. That Javi and Tyler are both ready to be with her seems like a miracle. She’s grateful. She just doesn’t know how to choose.

Javi leaves her alone for the entirety of the short drive. They pull into the motel lot behind Tyler and Boone and drive to the end where the doors of the crew’s motel rooms stand in a line. Dexter, Dani, and Lily are there as they pull in. They’re excited about something; Lily’s practically dancing on the sidewalk and Dani says something to Boone that makes him yank her into a hug.

Kate and Javi spill out of his truck.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

Lily springs towards her, raising her hand to show off a ring that’s slightly too big, slipping up and down her finger as Kate tries to look. Kate’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Dani and I got married!”

“Congratulations,” Tyler says, butting in before Kate can blurt out another What? or When?

“It’s just for the grant,” Lily reminds him, laughing and waving off his sincerity.

“Never thought I’d say somebody married me for the money,” Dani remarks wryly. She’s wearing a ring too. Hers fits better. Kate wonders where they got them, and assumes the tiny antique store on the main strip.

Lily blows Dani a kiss.

“I went as a witness,” Dexter says.

“This just happened?” Javi asks, looking at each of the three conspirators in turn.

Lily shrugs and says, “Yeah.”

“You didn’t talk to the rest of us about it,” Tyler says. Kate doesn’t think it’s quite a complaint, but he seems thrown to have been left out of the loop.

“Oh, like the three of you let us in on whatever you’ve been planning?” Dani demands, pointing out Tyler, Kate, and Javi.

Tyler looks a little sheepish after that.

“Haste was the order of the day,” Dexter says. “It seemed efficient. We can move forward with our application now.”

“Yeah,” Kate agrees, still a little stunned. “For sure. Efficient. Thanks for taking one for the team, you guys.”

“No problem,” Lily says, and pulls her into a hug.

It’s not until later, out at a bar to celebrate the wedding (or the marriage, or their hopes to deceive the government for financial gain, or just their crew, really, who delight in one another’s exploits), that Kate, Javi, and Tyler find themselves at the same table. As if it’s a coincidence. Kate presses the rim of her bottle of beer into her smile.

“Lived to fight another day,” Tyler says over the vibrant twang of music, staring at the rest of their crew as they line dance to and fro across the floor.

It’s so typically dramatic of him that Kate and Javi glance at one another, and Kate has to pinch her nose shut so beer doesn’t shoot out of it when she laughs.

“Owens, I saw you talking to Kate outside the diner this morning,” Javi reveals. “Didn’t look like you were pleading to be spared.”

“You were spying on us?” Kate demands, rounding on Javi. She gives his shoulder a half-hearted shove as he laughs.

“Hey! I wanted to see how things were gonna turn out!”

“I’m pretty curious about how things are gonna turn out myself,” Tyler asserts, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. He gives Kate a significant look. She dodges it, ducking her head with a smile. She can feel the both of them watching her.

Javi reads her right:  “Too soon to say, huh, Kate?”

She looks up, letting her eyes slide from one face to the other, incredibly fond of them both. Slowly, she grins.

“Guess you’ll just have to keep watching the weather,” she tells them.

Kate slaps her hands on the table and rises to join the others on the floor.

[nvestiv]

From Struggles to Success: Challenges in Early-Stage Startups

Starting a new business can be exhilarating, but it’s also full of challenges that can make or break a startup. For entrepreneurs embarking on this journey, understanding the typical obstacles faced during the early stages startups can help navigate the tumultuous landscape of building a successful company. Below are some of the key challenges faced by early-stage startups and strategies to overcome them:

1. Limited Funding

Challenge: Lack of sufficient capital is one of the most significant challenges for startups. Funding is required to develop products, hire talent, market services, and manage operations.

Solution: Startups often rely on bootstrapping, angel investors, or venture capital (VC) to secure initial funding. Applying for grants, entering startup competitions, and crowdfunding are other options. Maintaining a lean business model and focusing on generating revenue early on can help extend financial runway.

2. Market Validation

Challenge: Many startups struggle with validating their idea or product in the market. Founders may build products they believe in but don’t always address a genuine market need.

Solution: Conduct thorough market research, validate the product through small-scale testing (Minimum Viable Product or MVP), and gather feedback from early users to refine the offering. Understanding customer pain points is key to creating a product that truly solves problems.

3. Talent Acquisition

Challenge: Early-stage startups often lack the resources to attract top talent. Startups may face difficulty finding employees who are willing to take the risk of working for a new venture without guaranteed stability.

Solution: Emphasize the vision of the startup and the potential for growth. Offer equity, flexibility, and a strong company culture that appeals to people passionate about innovation. Networking in startup communities can also help in finding like-minded individuals.

4. Competition

Challenge: Competing against well-established businesses or fellow startups can be daunting. Startups must often carve out a niche in a crowded marketplace.

Solution: Differentiation is crucial. Focus on a unique value proposition that sets the company apart. Build a strong brand identity and foster close relationships with early customers to create loyalty and advocacy.

5. Scaling Operations

Challenge: Once a product gains traction, scaling the business can be complex. Operational inefficiencies, lack of systems, and growing pains can hinder expansion.

Solution: Develop scalable processes early on. Invest in automation tools and a robust infrastructure that supports growth. Ensure that customer service, supply chain management, and internal operations can handle increasing demand.

6. Managing Cash Flow

Challenge: Cash flow issues are one of the primary reasons startups fail. Even if the business is profitable, improper cash flow management can lead to failure.

Solution: Implement strong financial management practices. Keep track of cash flow, delay unnecessary expenses, and ensure that accounts receivable are collected on time. Building a financial buffer to deal with slow periods is crucial.

7. Product Development Delays

Challenge: Early-stage startups often face delays in product development, whether due to technical challenges, resource limitations, or scope creep.

Solution: Prioritize the core features that solve the primary problem for your customers and launch an MVP quickly. Use agile development methodologies to iteratively improve the product based on user feedback.

8. Marketing and Customer Acquisition

Challenge: Gaining initial traction and acquiring customers is a challenge due to limited budgets and brand recognition.

Solution: Focus on cost-effective marketing strategies like social media, content marketing, and partnerships. Leverage the power of word-of-mouth, early adopters, and online communities. Having a clear marketing plan and tracking results can optimize marketing efforts.

9. Time Management

Challenge: Founders often wear multiple hats, leading to exhaustion and inefficient use of time. Balancing between product development, fundraising, marketing, and operations can be overwhelming.

Solution: Prioritize tasks that bring the highest value to the business. Delegate or outsource non-core activities when possible. Effective time management techniques, such as time blocking or the Pomodoro technique, can also help founders stay productive.

10. Legal and Regulatory Hurdles

Challenge: Startups often face legal challenges such as choosing the right business structure, protecting intellectual property, and navigating regulatory compliance.

Solution: Seek legal advice early on and ensure that all documentation (e.g., contracts, patents, trademarks) is in place. Staying informed about relevant regulations within your industry and location is crucial.

11. Maintaining Morale and Mental Health

Challenge: The high pressure and uncertainty involved in building a startup can take a toll on founders and their teams. Burnout is a common risk in the startup world.

Solution: Focus on work-life balance and mental well-being. Building a support system, taking breaks, and celebrating small victories can help maintain morale. Creating a company culture that values well-being can also positively impact team dynamics.

12. Pivoting

Challenge: Sometimes, the original business idea may not work out as planned, forcing startups to pivot to new markets, products, or strategies.

Solution: Flexibility is key. Stay open to feedback and willing to adapt. Successful startups often pivot based on market demands and user insights while keeping their long-term vision intact.

Final Thoughts

While early-stage startups face numerous challenges, these obstacles can be overcome with the right strategies and mindset. Perseverance, adaptability, and resourcefulness are the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurs. Learning from failure, iterating on ideas, and staying focused on solving real customer problems can transform struggles into success stories.

[datafortressblog]

Virtual Data Room for Real Estate

A virtual data room is an ultimate tool for organizing property information, facilitating document verification, arranging virtual property tours, securely sharing confidential information, and collaborating with various stakeholders. Data room lets you elevate your real estate business efficiency with easy accessibility anytime from any where and on any device, time-saving collaboration, and co

[paperback-rascal]

From the outside Calm and Rascal appear to know each-other very well - some even assume they are batchmates.

They are not.

For most of their lives they didn't know the other even existed just to meet each-other few weeks before they were transferred to the regiment.

Calm was a hematologist at Kamino cloning facility. His work there was extremely mentally taxing - he was forced not only to work very long, irregular shifts back to back but also had to falsify many results and rapports so the data would look presentable not only for Kaminoans but for current and future investors.

Since Calm has OCD tendencies, the hectic, extremely long schedules, working under pressure, cutting corners during testing and being forced to outward lie in the rapports made him have a breakdown at the mess hall where he met Rascal.

Surprisingly working at 347th with all risks and chaos involved with post-battle environment is less stressful for Calm than the "cushy" job with state of the art equipment at the Kaminoan cloning facility. If anyone ask Calm about it, it's mostly due to fact that at 347th there is a sizable hematologist team (mostly thanks to Mercy having a soft spot for them as his first master, Hypatia, was a hematologist alongside being a healer) but also that at 347th properly done testing is more valued as it's a matter of life or death.

Not to mention, Mercy understands the gist of the lab work flow thus allows 347th specialists to arrange their schedules to be the most effective in such harsh environment,resulting with them rarely having to rush things unless the situation is extremely dire.

As for Rascal, just before he was about to be deployed from Kamino, Kaminoans re-arranged whole training structure and chunk of clones were given non-combatant, almost administrative roles. Due to the restructuring he was "demoted" (in his mind) to an instructor position. On top of that he was also tasked with more of a "home-room teacher"-type of task: He was given a quite sizable group of adolescent cadets to supervise. He handled rapports from other instructors, tracked his charges' progress, resolved issues within the group and listen to complains more than praises about the cadets under him. All of that equaled to insane amount of paperwork - space!Excels, tables, lists - you name it, Rascal had to fill it at some point or the other.

Rascal came to loath his position which gave him a lot of anxiety. When he asked about the transfer or at least, change of responsibility he was threatened with decommissioning.

When he finally was transferred and joined 347th, 40 suggested he'd be perfect to take care of kids/orphans when stationed at war torn areas, Rascal almost broke down, begging the major to give him ANY job but that. Flabbergasted by such a visceral reaction, 40 promised it won't be his main job but in dire situation he won't hesitate to use Rascal's skillset and experience.

However Rascal's issues are not with kids/teens themselves - working with his younger brothers was the best part of his instructor job (also that's when he got his nickname - "Rascal") but the fact that he is afraid to be potentially forced back to all the paperwork and responsibility that comes with taking care of underage people that crushed his soul the first time around. Also he hates to admit it, but despite clones views on death for Republic/at the battlefield as anything but heroic, he is aware that some deaths are more heroic than others and hearing stories how troopers that just few weeks before were under his care succumbed to their injuries, made his chest tight and his task seem more grim and daunting.

At 347th, Rascal mainly does odd jobs that require to be taken care of at night, as he prefers to be a part of the "graveyard shift crew". He also prepares and gives (mandatory) lectures about variety of topics because well... he WAS an instructor at some point so he knows how to prepare and pass on information in a cohesive way.

TL;DR: Calm's and Rascal's issues weren't combat-related. Both of then suffer severe burn-out at their respective jobs at Kamino training/cloning facilities.

---

See more posts about 347th regiment here -> [LINK] <-

===

STAR WARS: The Clone Wars/The Bad Batch © George Lucas/ Dave Filoni/ LucasFilm/ Disney

[confiexdataroom]

Benefits of Virtual Data Room - DocullyVDR

A virtual data room (VDR) is a secure, online platform that allows users to store and share sensitive information, such as financial documents, legal agreements, and proprietary information, with authorized parties. VDRs are commonly used in mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, and other business transactions where sensitive information needs to be shared with multiple parties. They typically include features such as document management, user access controls, and version tracking. To get the best Virtual Data Room service you can opt for https://www.docullyvdr.com/

There are several benefits to using a virtual data room (VDR) for storing and sharing sensitive information, including:

Security: VDRs use advanced security measures, such as encryption and multi-factor authentication, to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.

Convenience: VDRs allow users to access and share information from any location, at any time, as long as they have internet access.

Collaboration: VDRs enable multiple parties to access and collaborate on the same documents, streamlining the due diligence or transaction process.

Auditability: VDRs provide a clear and concise record of who has accessed, downloaded, or edited a document, providing a clear audit trail of activity.

Cost-effective: VDRs can be more cost-effective than traditional data rooms, as they eliminate the need for physical space and document copying.

Scalability: VDRs can be easily scaled up or down to match the needs of the project, with the ability to add or remove users and documents as required.

Environmentally friendly: VDRs reduce the need for physical document storage and transportation, which can be beneficial for the environment.

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC Season 2 Chapter 56 Translation [Lucien’s Part]-(1/2)

⚠️  SPOILER ALERT  ⚠️

This post contains a VERY HEAVY SPOILER for the chapter that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

I see your darkness, your failures, your confusion.

Just as I catch sight of the building, my body freezes involuntarily.

The place where the mentor-pupil mission has led us is none other than the former site of the Twin Leaves Orphanage in reality.

Translation under the cut!

[S2 Chapter 56 - Unsolvable Crux]

Some context about this chapter batch! Long story short, MC's Miracle Finder program which is more of a long and traditional TV show is struggling to compete with the popularity of online short videos (cough, funnily, it is almost like Lovepro's current situation in the otome market-), but she still has some time to find ways to make it more popular again before the next meeting with the investor (pretty similar to the start of the main story huh-)

At the same time, Odyssey, a hyper-realistic VR game is currently on hype right now, the game was developed by a company called Infinite, and it can be played with a device called Golden Apple (GA for short). This game lowkey feels like hidden ads for LaDs ngl

✂———————–

—[Chapter 56-8]—

I'm sitting at my desk, playing with the leaves of the green plant on the table, unable to help but sigh again

MC: I can't just chase after streaming platforms and make short videos for the rest of my life, can I.....

...This will only make my company lose its style and be homogenized into one of them.

At present, it seems like there's a new information technology emerging every minute. If we don't seize the opportunity, we'll only be left with the crumbs of others' success. It's just like…

Lucien: “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place.”

The familiar words echo in my ears, and I can't help but feel a bit dazed. Suddenly, a strange sense of familiarity wells up from within me.

This feeling, where I'm at a loss at the company's situation, seems to have happened in the distant past as well.

The calm, windless afternoon and those ink-like eyes come to mind.

When I was filming the final episode of "Finding Miracles" I was also grappling with decisions about the future, feeling anxious and lost.

At that time, Lucien became my program consultant, and the struggling program suddenly came to life starting from that episode.

I can't help but smile as I find my phone and send a message to Lucien.

MC: Is Consultant Lucien busy? I'm coming over to see you now~

The bright sunlight reflects off the entrance of the Ultima Bioscience Research Institute. As soon as I step out of the car, I see several visitors walking out of the building with gloomy expressions.

Visitor A: Is Professor Lucien such a high-and-mighty figure? Every time we come here, he's never around!

Visitor B: Maybe his research is going downhill at a critical moment? Even his assistant says they don't see him often.

Visitor A: Then he should come out, meet us, and discuss the results. Is it really good to shut himself away and do research like this?

MC: …?

Lucien not seeing visitors? I'm a bit puzzled.

A couple of days ago, when I met him in "Odyssey", he told me that the scanning function in "Odyssey" is very useful, as it helps him transfer data.

Could it be that he's doing closed-door research, so he's not seeing visitors?

I take out my phone in confusion and see that there's no reply to the message I sent him before leaving.

Pete: I'm really sorry, Professors. Next time, when you come again…

No one pays attention to Pete's voice. The visitors get straight into their cars and leave. He awkwardly scratches his head and walks away.

The situation in front of me deepens my confusion. I push open the door to the research room lightly.

MC: Lucien…?

There's no response inside. I stick my head in from behind the door, then pause for a moment in surprise.

I had thought I would see Professor Lucien asleep among the mountains of research reports and experimental data...

...But I didn't expect to see him actually sitting on the visitor's sofa, wearing the third-generation GA device.

At Lucien's feet are some hastily packed fast food wrappers, along with two unpackaged GA helmets.

He leans against the sofa, half of his face obscured by the helmet, devoid of any expression. Only his fingers, which resting on the side, twitch occasionally.

In an instant, I understood why Pete's expression was so complicated.

Who would have thought that Professor Lucien, while shutting himself off from visitors, would be sitting in the research lab playing "Odyssey" so openly!

If I don't go ask Lucien about the situation soon, I feel like I'll become even more worried and confused.

I take a deep breath, take a helmet out of the packaging, sit on the empty experimental bed next to him, and decisively put it on.

✂———————–

The brilliant sunlight warmly bathes a lush green field, and the moist air rushing towards me feels refreshing.

The grass beside me is nourished by the river, lush and abundant. With the river breeze rippling against both banks, the grass sways, gently tickling my calves.

This is Lucien's home in "Odyssey". When it's not busy, I often spend leisurely days here with him.

I look around and quickly spot Lucien sitting by the riverbank. I walk over to him joyfully.

MC: Lu-

Before I can even say his name, Lucien tilts his body slightly and gestures to me.

Lucien: Shh-

With one hand, he stops me from trying to pat him, and with the other, he lifts the fishing rod. As he moves, the water ripples gently.

"Splash!" A fish with golden patterns bursts out of the water, its tail swishing lively, causing water droplets to splash around.

The water droplets slide down his face like morning dew, tracing a meandering path on his handsome features.

Lucien blinks and then looks at me, his lips curling into a smile.

Lucien: [chuckles] Caught it.

—[Chapter 56-10]—

I come out from behind Lucien and poke the lively fish.

MC: What a plump and beautiful fish, I don't think I've ever seen one like this when I go fishing myself!

Lucien chuckles lightly as he unties the fishhook, then puts the fish back into the water, watching as its tail swishes and it swims away into the river.

A notification suddenly pops up.

——————Congratulations to the player [X] for completing the fishing achievement — [Encounter with Golden Marigold Fish].

Next to the achievement page, there's a line of small text that reads, "Congratulations, you are the first player globally to achieve this accomplishment."

MC: Wow, did I just witness the birth of a golden legend?

I gaze at this unheard-of achievement in astonishment, while Lucien maintains an unsurprised expression.

He smiles faintly, reaching out to wipe away a droplet of water that splashed onto my cheek just now.

Lucien: Shouldn't MC also be awarded an achievement — the first player globally to witness the birth of the Golden Marigold Fish achievement?

His banter makes me unable to help but smile. I glance around at the scenery, sighing as I look around.

MC: I never expected that the charm of "Odyssey" would be so great that even Professor Lucien has become an "Internet Addict."

I clear my throat and then nonchalantly add a "harmless" little question.

MC: Lately, it seems like I've been seeing you online often. Is the work at the Ultima Bioscience Research Institute relatively easy?

Upon hearing my little probing, Lucien smiles but doesn't rush to answer.

He stands up and tidies things up, gesturing for me to look towards a nearby location.

Lucien: [chuckles] Before answering that question, do you want to go check out the newly renovated home of an "Internet Addict" first?

MC: Um? Of course, that sounds great~

I never imagined that Lucien had actually expanded a laboratory within his home without me knowing.

The layout, facilities, interior decor, and even the functioning equipment replicated a professional laboratory down to the last detail.

Data and reports are neatly arranged, and as I measure the thickness of one stack of data with my palm, it exceeds the breadth of two hands.

Judging by the thickness of these materials, Lucien seems to have been conducting research in the "Odyssey" laboratory for quite a long time.

MC: While others come into the game to relax, Professor Lucien is actually working in the game. What an exceptional scientist...

Lucien smiles calmly and prepares a cup of hot tea for me.

Lucien: Try it. Does the taste and flavor differ from the real world?

I take the white tea and sip it lightly.

MC: [smiles softly] It seems there's hardly any difference, but I'm not really a tea connoisseur. I just drink it often because of you.

The tea leaves stretch in the boiling water, blurring our views of each other. I lean back on the comfortable sofa, seemingly understanding his implication.

MC: Professor Lucien, do you think since "Odyssey" is so similar to reality, why not explore an "experimental field" in the game too?

Lucien remains silent, seemingly acknowledging. He brews another cup of tea with the tea leaves and places it back in front of me.

Lucien: The laboratory here is quiet enough for me to focus more on my research.

He winks, his gaze gentle and focused, conveying a sense of reassurance to me.

Lucien: And as you've seen, in addition to research, I also casually complete game tasks.

In just a few sentences, Lucien perfectly answers all my questions.

I prop my head up a bit dazedly, pondering. If it's about finding peace and quiet, the Ultima Bioscience Research Center isn't usually noisy.

...Could it be because of those people?

MC: Is it because of the increase in visitors at the Ultima Bioscience Research Center recently? Is it affecting you?

Lucien nods in response to my gaze, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

Lucien: Recently, we've shifted the research focus to the deterioration disease. Some organizations are well-informed and have been eager to collaborate with me.

I nod in understanding.

In the realm of research, this isn't uncommon, but collaboration means sharing progress and results.

For Lucien, who prefers minimal interference in his research, this is indeed troublesome.

However, is the reason really that simple?

Lucien's demeanor and tone betray no hint of anything unusual, but I can't shake off a lingering sense of unease.

MC: By the way, Lucien.

I rise from the coffee table and move to sit beside him, one hand looping around his arm.

MC: Actually, I'm not at the company right now. I'm at the Ultima Bioscience Research Center, currently in your research lab.

Lucien: It seems that I'm not the only one bringing work into the game.

Facing Lucien's slightly teasing gaze, I bury my head in his chest, breathing in the scent of tea lingering on him.

MC: [in a coquettish manner] …I didn't expect Professor Lucien to still see through me.

Lucien's smile doesn't diminish as he gently strokes the top of my head with his hand.

Lucien: I think it's work time now. A girl who wants to fish wouldn't play "Odyssey" with me so conspicuously.

MC: I do have some problems that need Professor Lucien's advice and assistance.

I peek out from his embrace, tilting my head back to look at him.

MC: How about we talk as we walk? I also want to explore other areas of Professor Lucien's home and see if there are any new changes~

—[Chapter 56-11]—

Lucien pushes open the back door of the laboratory, revealing a glass corridor with a hollow top.

Sunlight filters through the glass, casting mottled light and shadow. His figure appears both real and illusory in the interplay of light and shadow.

I walk hand in hand with Lucien in the glass corridor, pouring out recent work matters in one breath.

MC: ...So, if we just chase after trends like other companies, we'll still end up being left behind in the industry.

MC: After all, I remember from a media class that "homogeneous works will ultimately be eliminated, and innovation is the key to industry development."

Lucien: Your judgment is correct.

Lucien blinks at me in affirmation and then poses a rather “insightful” question.

Lucien: So, what are the plans now?

I pause for a moment, somewhat unconfidently, and share with him several new program proposals that I have been contemplating.

MC: ...I've reviewed these proposals repeatedly. Although the content of the programs is quite interesting, I can't shake the feeling that it's still not enough.

MC: Maybe I should plan a program with more thrilling and exciting scenes…?

Lucien brushes off a leaf that had landed on my head at some point. I take the leaf, twirling it idly in my palm.

Lucien: Before the inception of "Odyssey," none of us imagined that we would be twirling this fallen leaf in a virtual world.

Lucien's calm and composed voice comes through as he touches the fallen leaf along with my hand.

Lucien: Fallen leaves, the air, and us walking…

Lucien: Without mentioning it, many people might forget that all of this is made up of data.

Lucien: The success of "Odyssey" doesn't rely on content but rather on the innovation of its presentation.

Lucien: If you were to just change the content, with your abilities, you'd surely create a buzz, but for discerning viewers…

He smiles slightly, his eyes looking at me with insight.

Lucien: The level of excitement in content has no threshold; as long as there's a lack of "technological" innovation, being replicated and surpassed is just a matter of time.

Lucien: On this point, Miss Producer, you understand it better than I do.

Lucien's words bring to light a thought that I've been vaguely aware of but haven't fully grasped. I blink, feeling a little enlightened.

MC: So, now, rather than pondering new programs, the new program medium is the more important thing?

The pressure before me seems to have cracked open a bit with Lucien's words, but I still find myself anxiously rubbing my hair.

Short videos, with their quick and concise nature, have almost taken over as the predominant form of media presentation in today's world.

MC: What else can be innovated? The "opportunity" won't just fall from the sky.

Our hands interlock as Lucien gently takes mine, and with a breeze, the leaf I had almost forgotten about is swept away, disappearing from sight.

Lucien: Personally, I feel that perhaps we can try to find a blue ocean.*

MC: Blue ocean?

[Trivia: Blue Ocean strategy is a business strategy that involves creating new market spaces and making the competition irrelevant. A current relevant example is Papergames creating Love and Deepspace 😂]

Lucien looks at me with a thoughtful expression, his lips curling into a smile. With his slender fingertips, he smooths out the hair that I had ruffled.

Lucien: For example, in fields like holographic technology and artificial intelligence.

My heart skips a beat.

Indeed, while there have been numerous developments in related fields before, it wasn't until the explosion of "Odyssey" that these two concepts suddenly experienced explosive growth.

From the perspective of a film and television company, this is simply the perfect combination of new technological power and emerging phenomena.

The wind picks up, causing the leaves of the trees to rustle against each other, gracefully taking flight as if nature sings its gentle song.

As I behold the incredibly lifelike natural scene before me, it feels as though a long-standing boulder in my mind is finally starting to shift.

MC: Are you referring to "Odyssey" itself?!

Lucien: It's just one possible direction. "Odyssey" is the firstborn of this blue ocean, overturning and rebuilding many people's preconceptions.

The sunlight filters through the trees, casting scattered patches of light onto the path we're walking on. The slanting rays create specks of orange hues, gently enveloping us like orange veils.

Lucien: Now that we're in the midst of it, it's the best proof of all possibilities.

MC: Combining media with "Odyssey"...

I pause in my tracks, lost in thought. Lucien doesn't interrupt me, waiting quietly by my side.

I raise my head, looking at the sky in "Odyssey," which is indistinguishable from reality. In my mind, several new ideas start to take shape.

Unable to contain my enthusiasm, I leap up and hug him excitedly.

MC: Thank you, Professor Lucien, for answering my questions and clearing up my confusion!

Lucien: Just bringing a bit of research mindset into the discussion. I'd be honored if it was helpful to you.

Lucien lets me hold him and pats my back, his smile deepening.

Lucien: However, we haven't formally confirmed our teacher-student relationship yet, so you can't just casually call me "teacher".

Before I could react, an interface to formalize our mentor-pupil relationship suddenly appeared.

I blush slightly and without hesitation, press the "confirm" button.

At the same time as the system message "You have become a pupil of X" pops up, a mentor-pupil mission suddenly appears in my taskbar.

MC: Huh?

[Lucien and MC get transported]

Xiao Shuai: My friend is the best Xiao Mei in the world. We are happy when we're playing outside, but she's not happy once she gets home.

Xiao Shuai: Can Gege (older brother) and Jiejie (older sister) make Xiao Mei happy?

MC: I thought the mentor-pupil mission would be about technical teaching, but I didn't expect it to be helping children…

Lucien: Does MC prefer to learn technical skills?

MC: No, no, that's too tiring. Let's just help the kids together!

I smile and rub Xiao Shuai's chubby cheeks.

MC: Okay, let's leave it to Gege and Jiejie!

A prominent guiding route on the ground emits a white light. We follow the route and soon reach the end of the road.

Alongside the old gate, the fence entwined with vines is covered with lush green leaves, occasionally dotted with a few wildflowers, giving it a lively appearance.

Several two-story buildings in the courtyard are arranged in picturesque disorder. Although the paint on the walls has faded, it still exudes a sense of warmth and tranquility.

Just as I catch sight of the building, my body freezes involuntarily.

The place where the mentor-pupil mission has led us is none other than the former site of the Twin Leaves Orphanage in reality.

[Trivia: Twin Leaves Orphanage is where MC, Lucien, Kiro, and other kids got experimented as a child]

—[Chapter 56-12]—

As I gaze upon the orphanage in "Odyssey," a chill runs down my spine, and I can't help but tighten the scarf around my neck.

However, unlike the desolate old site in my memory, the NPC children are now playing and frolicking in the courtyard, bathed in warm sunlight.

I tell myself not to overthink it and quickly find several children playing in the corridor to ask about Xiao Mei with Lucien.

Child A: Xiao Mei? I don't know her.

Child B: There doesn't seem to be anyone by that name in our orphanage.

We ask many children, but surprisingly, not a single one knows Xiao Mei. I scratch my head in puzzlement.

MC: Could it be that Xiao Shuai's mission information was incorrect?

Lucien ponders for a moment, then looks towards the teacher who is answering questions for the children at the classroom door not far away.

Lucien: Let's go ask the teacher.

After the children leave, I approach the teacher politely and cautiously start the conversation.

MC: Hello, do you happen to know a student named Xiao Mei? I seem to have found something belonging to her.

Teacher: We don't have a student by that name here. You might have the wrong place.

I stand there puzzled, about to ask for Lucien's opinion, when I turn around and realize Lucien is nowhere to be found.

Before I can even speak to search for him, the door of the adjacent office opens, and Lucien steps out, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

Lucien: I found the student roster from this office.

MC: Pfft…! So Professor Lucien already guessed that the teacher wouldn't be able to provide any useful information, so he pulled a "diversionary tactic*"?

[T/N: "声东击西" is a Chinese idiom that literally translates to "sound from the east, strike from the west." It refers to a strategy where one creates a diversion or distraction to mislead the opponent while executing a different action elsewhere :> ]

Lucien winks at me.

Lucien: Just a small tactic, hopefully it pays off.

As we scan through the long list for a while, we still haven't found Xiao Mei's name. Just as I'm about to give up and look for a guide, Lucien suddenly raises an eyebrow.

Lucien: There seems to be an issue with this list.

MC: What do you mean?

Lucien doesn't reply, but instead, he folds up the list and leads me towards the storage room at the end of the corridor.

After opening the door, a stale smell fills the air in the storeroom, and tiny specks of dust float in the dim light.

Lucien closes the door behind me, and for a moment, the entire room seems to be engulfed in a heavy darkness.

Yet, in the pitch-black, a faint green glow suddenly appears before my eyes.

MC: …This list glows!!

The original text on the list is obscured by the heavy darkness, but the text printed with luminescent material is clearly visible.

MC: "Night Division Roster", Xiao Gu, Mai Mai, Xiao Mei... Found her!

Lucien: It seems my guess was correct.

Lucien: Earlier, I noticed the words "Day Division" on the list under natural light, so I speculated that there might also be a "Night Division" present.

MC: So Xiao Mei appears in the park every evening before dusk and leaves after sunset, not to "go home," but to attend classes in the Night Division?

Lucien: Smart. This should be the reason why no one knew Xiao Mei when we came during the day.

MC: How strange... Why are the children mysteriously divided into day and night divisions?

Lucien walks slowly beside me, seemingly not intending to take further action.

Lucien: Perhaps we'll have answers when night falls.

A slightly cunning smile curves on Lucien's lips, and I instantly understand his intention.

MC: Right, if we wait until it's late and quiet, the children from the Night Division will naturally come for their classes!

The only task now is to wait, Lucien and I hang around, watching as the sunlight gradually shifts towards the west.

MC: I can't shake the feeling that this orphanage mission seems to have some sort of prototype reference... like the mirrored building* we encountered before.

[T/N: MC talks about S2 ch 33]

MC: There's a kind of... indescribable familiarity in my heart.

Lucien: Don't worry, this sense of familiarity might just help us complete the mission.

Lucien gently ruffles my hair and gazes towards the direction of the orphanage, deep in thought.

As night falls and moonlight shines upon the orphanage, Lucien and I hear footsteps echoing in the corridor.

A group of children silently make their way through the long corridor toward the direction of the classroom.

Their shadows elongate in the dim light, devoid of daytime liveliness, only the faint moonlight reflecting their youthful yet serious faces.

As if influenced by this atmosphere, I also lower my voice and whisper softly into Lucien's ear.

MC: Shall we go now?

Just as Lucien and I start heading towards the classrooms, we're suddenly stopped by a security guard.

Security Guard: Sorry, the orphanage is not open to the public right now. Please leave.

MC: We're just…

Before I can finish my sentence, a "Mission Failed" screen suddenly pops up, and Lucien and I are immediately teleported outside the orphanage.

MC: ….??

MC: How did the mission fail already? We haven't even done anything yet!

Lucien: I'm thinking that perhaps there are some "invisible rules" in place at this orphanage at night that we're not supposed to break. Once violated, the mission fails immediately.

Lucien: "Not getting caught by security" must be one of them.

MC: Isn't this too troublesome?

Lucien: With me around, do you still find it troublesome?

MC: Pfft, of course not.

I take Lucien's hand and wink at him.

MC: Then let's solve this small trouble together~

✂———————–

One minute later, Lucien and I find ourselves back in front of the orphanage.

MC: Uh, sorry... I saw a mirror and instinctively looked into it. I didn't realize it would also count as breaking the rules.

Lucien: It's okay. Every failure is an exploration step toward success.

✂———————–

Lucien: I thought solving the puzzle on the blackboard would open a secret door or something like that, but it just attracted the attention of the teacher.

MC: At least the orphanage teacher acknowledged Professor Lucien's math skills…!

After seven or eight attempts at exploration, we finally lurk near the classroom. I open the window and quietly peek inside.

In the dim light, the children sit by the worn-out desks and chairs, attentively listening to the teacher's explanation. There's an eerie and quiet atmosphere in the air.

A sudden horror and chilling feeling rushes through my heart, and I instinctively look towards Lucien, who is holding my hand.

But when I turn around, the first thing I see is not Lucien, but a slightly pale-faced little girl.

She has appeared behind us, seemingly out of nowhere, and is looking up at us curiously.

—[Chapter 56-14]—

MC: Are you X-Xiao Mei...?!

I feel goosebumps all over my body, and my voice trembles as I speak. The little girl nods, and I exchange a glance with Lucien.

We take Xiao Mei out of the teaching building and arrive at the tree next to the garden.

Here, I finally breathe a sigh of relief, looking at the girl in front of me with braided pigtails.

MC: Xiao Mei, your friend Xiao Shuai is very worried about you, so he asked Gege and Jiejie to come and check on you.

I try to talk to Xiao Mei, but she keeps her lips tightly pressed together and glances at me before curling up into a ball, not moving at all.

No matter how I try to talk to her afterward, she ignores me.

Xiao Mei looks much thinner and weaker than children her age. Unlike the lively and noisy children during the day, she appears to be particularly quiet.

Just as I am feeling troubled, Lucien gently calls my name and takes my hand, leading me aside.

MC: What should I do, Lucien? She seems particularly resistant to communicating with me…

Lucien: [gently] I think maybe it's not resistance, but rather she also needs an opportunity to connect with you.

Lucien: When you talk to her, although her reactions are a bit cold, her body always unconsciously moves closer toward you.

Lucien: Rather than resistance, it might be more like "not good at" or "not daring" to communicate with you.

My heart tightens. Could it be that the reason why these children from the Night Division are so quiet... is because of similar reasons?

Children in orphanages are already more prone to feeling lonely than others. A girl who struggles to communicate is even more susceptible to being ignored to some extent.

I should use a more friendly approach and gradually make her feel understood.

Thinking this, I look more carefully at Xiao Mei, trying to find some breakthrough to make her relax

Xiao Mei has her eyes closed slightly, gently burying her head in the slightly worn scarf around her.

MC: Lucien, look at that scarf…?

Lucien also looks over and after a while, he speaks softly.

Lucien: Some children develop a dependency on specific plush items during their growth process, finding a sense of security in them.

Lucien: I think, this scarf might be just that special existence for her.

I look at the curled-up Xiao Mei, feeling a mix of sadness and tenderness. Despite the scarf in her arms being very worn, she still holds onto it dearly, unwilling to let go.

Lucien notices my emotions and tightens his hold on my hands.

I give his hand a firm squeeze back, smile at him, then return to Xiao Mei's side and crouch down again.

MC: Xiao Mei, let me tell you a secret. When I was little, I also received a scarf from someone very important to me.

Xiao Mei doesn't say anything, but she turns her head slightly to look at me. I continue to speak, smiling as I recount distant memories in a soft voice.

MC: I really, really liked that scarf because every time I saw it, it made me feel like that person was still with me.

MC: When I felt lonely or scared, I would hold onto it, and those feelings would slowly disappear, just like magic.

MC: Later on, I would often chat with the magic scarf, and it became my best friend whom I could talk to about anything…

I made up a fairy tale about me and the magic scarf, and Xiao Mei listened attentively, starting to sit up slowly.

When the fairy tale was over, Xiao Mei blinked her eyes and smiled at me for the first me.

I suddenly think of something and take off my scarf, wrapping it around Xiao Mei's neck.

MC: Your scarf must have a lot of power. Now, Jiejie is giving you her scarf too.

I boop Xiao Mei's nose, and she no longer resists my approach.

MC: From now on, Xiao Mei has two powers to protect her. So she doesn’t need to be afraid of anything.

Xiao Mei looks at me, blinks her eyes, and the next moment, she starts sobbing softly, as if she had been suppressing it for a long time. She doesn't cry loudly, just hugs me tightly.

Lucien bends down a bit and gently strokes Xiao Mei's head.

Not long after, Xiao Mei takes out a sketchbook. As she writes and draws, she tells her story bit by bit. Finally, we can piece together the truth.

It seems that from a long time ago, the children in the orphanage have been divided into a day division and a night division based on their physical condition and performance in the orphanage.

From the beginning, the two divisions just have different schedules, but gradually it evolves into differences in meals, dormitories, and the attention they receive.

Nowadays, the children in the night division seem to have become an "invisible" group in this orphanage, as no one ever casts a glance their way anymore.

Although Xiao Mei doesn't understand the reason, she knows that she and her friends in the night division all dislike this kind of life.

She wants to escape, to be under the sunlight with the other children, but she's powerless to do so alone.

After settling Xiao Mei with Lucien, I stomp my foot indignantly.

MC: They're all children, why do these people treat them differently?!

Lucien takes the drawing Xiao Mei handed to us and ponders for a moment before speaking lightly.

Lucien: I'm afraid it's not just emotional discrimination that's at play here.

Lucien: Emotional neglect alone wouldn't warrant them going to such lengths to establish this system, so I suspect there may be deeper interests at play.

MC: Are you suggesting that the children in the night division might be exploited by the orphanage?

Lucien nods, gently taking my slightly cold hand and rubbing it, a gentle yet firm smile on his lips.

Lucien: [smiles gently] Whatever it is, it will be resolved tonight.

[Next Part-> Click Here]

[aayeshasingh00]

Virtual Deal Data Room

A virtual data room, also known as a VDR or deal room, is an electronic information vault used for document storage and distribution. A virtual data room is frequently employed to streamline the due diligence procedure throughout an M&A transaction, loan syndication, or private equity and venture capital transactions. The disclosure of documents during this due diligence process has historically been accomplished using a physical data room. Virtual data rooms have largely replaced the more traditional physical data rooms due to cost, efficiency, and security considerations.