#he’s also in the tech’s alive camp for the record

[heyclickadee]

Mwahahaha.

[astorythatwritesitself]

Hell why not I’ll roll again: shrios sorry brainrot + Only Poppies Grow Where I Last Saw You

Contemplating this as Halcyon plays, clearly this is supposed to be the angst mines, right?

... anyway this immediately puts me in the mind of my like - one of my little monkey's paw 'Thane Lives' scenarios for post ME3 - man's alive and well, but Adrian's.

Officially. MIA.

Realistically, presumed dead by virtually everyone except like a third of current/former Normandy crew, and Thane is... well, both channeling his grief and doing what he can to confirm things one way or another; he's on Earth, aiding the search for bodies, and perhaps, survivors. The blast from the Catalyst has severely fucked most tech, so it's a long, tricky job. Heartbreaking - but occasionally, almost miraculous, it can be like seeing the dead come back to life.

And yet he does not - cannot - believe the reports from a seaside camp, that they found Commander Shepard washed in with the tide.

That's what the dogtags say, anyway; and while lab tests against prior samples are a bust due to records getting scrambled, they do have both elder Shepards present to test DNA against, and it is a match. And - look, a full on clone couldn't fool Thane, he knows it's her.

Which, great! Cause that makes one of them!

Yeah, while there's a little bit of patchy recall - she recognizes her parents and Joker fairly ok & feels some empty recognition towards her crewmates- it's very quickly apparent that Adrian's lost most of her memory prior to like, her very early 20s. So, you know, very fun times for everyone involved, particularly the guy who's already been half mourning and trying not to totally lose himself in what memories were there - now she's there, but sees him as little more than a stranger. 🙃

And beyond that - the general consensus is, well, try to fix that, right? But there's a few members of the crew (Joker, Ashley & Tali, probably) who are hesitant - and Thane is trying to figure out how to articulate that forcing Adrian to remember would be straight up cruel, and yes it's painful but gods be damned, he loves her and knows what it's like to keep reliving the worst day of your life, if Shepard can finally have some peace, then let her.

Shepard, meanwhile, is like. Mostly focused on physically recovering and re-learning how to walk after having about half her body rebuilt again, and doesn't have any helpful answers regarding the mental part of her recovery. On the one hand: clearly she is Someone Important, these people hanging around seem to Mean Something, and even if she can't remember why... there's that hollow little ache every time she sees them, like taking a step without realizing you're going over an edge (to badly quote lemony snicket lol).

On the other: the bits she's picked up of Shepard's life sound like way more of a burden than she wants to bear. So, she politely yet firmly asks everyone to fuck the hell off for a little while and let her breathe for a few.

It could just end there...

but I'm a sucker lol. The setup lets Thane still be around as Adrian’s recovering, and as she has some time to just. Fucking rest for once without a bajillion nightmares, she decides... yeah, if things return naturally, fine, she'll take it. But if Shepard’s life was half as fucked up as it feels, just learning them as facts without the experience recall, she'd rather let that go.

That doesn't mean she's necessarily letting the people go, though; it becomes a sorta slice of life/recovery fic, Adrian slowly re-learning about the people in her life and how those relationships might or might not change -

But also a strange, sweet little journey with Thane. He remembers plenty of course, and tries to keep his distance at first because yeah he's alright at looking calm but internally his emotions are a wreck... but it's almost like the first time, quick talks that stretch a little longer, not-at-all subtle looks (Adrian may not recall much, but her tastes haven't changed & she's still weak for dark eyes and a cool coat lol); support when some things do start coming back - Akuze does return, a few scattered pieces through the first battle of the Citadel, some elements of Virmire - but relatively muted, compared to how they affected her before.

She never does remember their first courtship, but she likes spending time with Thane after all, especially once she's cleared to start getting some time outside - he's sweet, good to talk to, and she did very much appreciate that he seemed willing from the start to accept if she didn’t want to focus on recovering things. Idk man just increasing Soft moments, and yes it hurts Thane, knowing the Shepard who awoke him is essentially dead... but he's coming at it this time with a different perspective too, no longer expecting to die any time between now and next Tuesday, y’know? It's not like he's quite exactly the same man Shepard left on the Citadel.

So it's different - but maybe a bit of a gift, getting to fall in love all over again and dream of a future together from the very start.

[bartletforamerica]

How the Bartlet Administration Reacts to COVID-19

Abbey: is not taking any chances. After losing the fight to get the President to retreat to the farm or Camp David, she gets him to agree to limit himself to the oval office and the residence, with as few in person meetings as possible. Even before they’ve pulled together a White House task force, she’s made sure that everything is being disinfected and that her entire schedule is either canceled or made virtual. Her staff is the first to be working from home (and oh boy does she scold if she finds out any of them did something she thinks is foolish), with most of the rest of the White House staff following shortly after. She makes it her mission to do PSAs on what people should be doing and even does a virtual Sesame Street collaboration to teach kids how to wash their hands.

Zoey: Is not super pleased to be stuck in the Residence 24/7. She’s doing classes from her bedroom, so yay to not having to get out of bed early, but she can tell people are super disappointed that her camera is set up so that she has only a blank wall behind her [it turns out the secret service is very touchy about where you take video calls]. She also gets officially hired and given a security clearance for the sole fact that she’s one of the only people allowed to be near her dad who is tech-literate. She ends up doing some of her reading on the couch in his office so that she's on hand for when he's supposed to be skyping with the senior staff and can't figure out what link to click. She spends a lot of time worrying about Ellie, who helping do research about the virus, and texting her friends.

The President: is not happy to be closed up away from people. He also thinks that Abbey is overreacting where he's concerned. He misses actually getting to be around the younger staff. He and Zoey do a cooking from home video at C.J.'s suggestion, so that the country can see he's alive and to encourage people to not go out. They make chili and fight over whether it needs more cumin or oregano while Abbey records it and pipes in from behind the camera. The country is treated to a history of chili and a diplomatic incident nearly happens because apparently Mexicans deny having any association with it, even though most food historians say it has Mexican roots. The flaming debate doesn't stop a second episode at Thanksgiving where the country is treated to the history of the yam and all the secret spices that go into the President's stuffing. A large portion of the country gives him flack for putting Oysters in his stuffing. [In a small bedroom in an Illinois apartment a woman finally figures out why Joe Bethersonsen sounded so familiar.]

Leo: moved into the Residence because there was no way he was going to talk the President off ledges via skype for however long this lasted. He can only do so much. Zoey helps him learn to use Skype and he finds himself missing Margaret desperately even when he spends most of the day with a computer dedicated to having her on Skype so he can turn to it and ask her questions. She insists he get exercise and eat healthy (something he thinks she’s collaborating with the first lady on behind his back—they say very similar things much of the time). He skypes with Mallory on Sunday mornings over breakfast in his room and they pretend they’re at a hotel having a fancy brunch.

Charlie: is not particularly happy. He got sent home with everyone else because he’s not particularly necessary to have on hand if the president isn’t going anywhere. He’s still getting paid and he does do some work (the most important bit being hanging out on the phone with the president so he can ramble about history so Zoey can get her own reading done, Leo can browbeat the staff, and the first lady can do her own job) but he’s been ordered by the president and first lady to focus on getting extra school done while he can.

Donna: started freaking out the first day there was a rumor of a new disease in China. Then the White House shut down and even senior staff got sent home unless they absolutely needed to be in the building (basically just C.J. and some of her staff). And her roommate (not the one she'd really liked, who had a cat, but one she hopes is only temporary) works for a GOP congressman who thinks the whole thing is a hoax and bans masks in his office, so Donna is not at all happy and spends time she should be working cleaning things her roommate touches and that's sixty percent of how she ends up living with Josh.

Josh: is struggling with not being allowed to leave the house on pain of the first lady taking him to task (something about his lungs and the bullet). Even when he was putting his nose to the grindstone to make it through college and law school, he liked being around people while he studied, so he was usually in the library or a cafe rather than his room. He works best when he can bounce ideas off people and take in new ideas. When he was grounded after surgery it absolutely sucked and that was why he drove everyone crazy calling them all the time. Yeah he was bored, but he was also lonely. Plus he's not the best with technology. He very nearly went on national tv with his boxers showing, if not for Donna skyping him beforehand and making sure he fixed the camera. Between needing not to be alone and needing his assistant to be able to actually help him, the invite for Donna to stay with him slips out when she's complaining about her roommate. She shows up two hours later with two suitcases of clothes and two suitcases with pasta, toilet paper, and flour.

Donna and Josh: are handling the pandemic much better now that they're together. Josh can bounce ideas off Donna without it tying up his phone line. And she can listen in on his calls to the various members of congress about the stimulus package that they're working on. It's an even better look at Josh's job than she had before, and while it makes some of her work harder to focus on, she feels like she understands some things better than she ever has before. Josh even starts listening to her about how to sway certain congressmembers to their side. When they're not working, Donna forces Josh to cook with her so they're not entirely subsisting on delivery. They tried making bread and managed to spill half a bag of flour on the floor in the process but they ate all of it, even though it tasted pretty bland. Josh finally got Donna into baseball when it came back. Toby spit out his beer when he was on speakerphone with them and he heard Donna accurately yelling at the Mets for screwing up. Donna wears Josh's clothes more than her own, since she doesn't have to be on camera most of the time. They're platonically sharing a bed because they haven't found a convertible sofa for his living room that they like, they say, and it doesn't make sense for one of them to sleep on the couch, which they say has a spring that makes it uncomfortable to sleep on, even though Donna lounges on it all day with no problem. They are absolutely not dating and so they tell all their friends.

C.J.: spends five minutes laughing every time she gets off the phone with Josh or Donna. She loves her friends but god they're so completely in denial. It does, however, give her a much needed break. Her job has always involved a lot of people and knowing what venue to meet them in to ensure that she gets or passes on the information she needs. COVID protocols mean no more one-on-one meetings with journalists in her office, no more gaggles following her through the halls. The press corps were not happy when they moved all briefings outside and insisted on face masks and shields in addition to everyone sitting six feet apart. She gets asked about the president's health at least once a day and they start doing weekly waving from the balconies just so the press corps can get footage of him, healthy and shouting down to Danny and some of the others. Someone makes a cartoon of the president in the tower, with Abbey as his dragon keeper and though no one is willing to justify a cartoon with a comment, privately C.J. thinks it's accurate. She's always admired Abbey's fierce protectiveness of her family, even when she doesn't agree with every way it expresses itself or when it interferes with C.J.'s job. She has to come up with new ways to push the White House agenda (keep the economy afloat, stay home, no, don't listen to the GOP governors or those running for the primary, those ideas are not good, go the fuck home and stop having parties) and while some work, others bomb. It would help if everyone would stay on message and not screw up.

Sam: would like to make it clear that he did not know how many people would be at that gathering. He thought he was going for an outdoor meal with just a few old friends who could help raise money for the democratic party, not a fifty-person birthday party. The media fallout nearly gets him fired. Instead he gets yelled at by C.J., then by the First Lady. Mallory even sends him a card about how stupid he was. He's pretty sure that having Donna around is the only reason that Josh hasn't made the same mistake by now. It had to have been a toss up as to which of the two of them would screw up. Sam just isn't lucky enough to have a Donna (Sam is very happy that Josh has a Donna, Sam just wants Josh to realize that he talks about Donna the same way most men talk about their wives, because it's really hard not to respond to "why do I put up with finding her hair clogging the shower drain" with "because you love her and can't live without her, stupid"). He instead has adopted a cat for company. It tries to scratch him every time he tries to pet it. Sam spends his days trying to find a way to say "fuck the economy until we've beaten the virus" in a way that is palatable to the American people while trying to remind Toby that they can't actually say that outright. This is not an easy task.

Toby: would like to tell most of the American public to shut up, stay indoors for two months, pretty much nobody excepted, and if you don't, then you get tossed out to sea. He's come within an inch of telling anti-mask people they deserve to get sick on the record and is strongly advocating that the federal government figure out a way to mandate that every person in the country, minus those with legitimate medical exceptions, get the vaccine as soon as possible. He is also about to get evicted because it turns out his neighbors do not appreciate having rubber balls bounced against the walls for hours on end. Apparently, the thud is rather annoying. He worries about everyone, though this is delivered brusquely. Out of everyone he's taking the new work from home situation the best. No one can pop in to distract him, or comment on his eating habits. And if he doesn't want to talk to someone, he can always turn his phone to silent and pretend not to have seen they called. He's not pleased the Yankees lost to the Rays (necessitating rooting for either the Dodgers or the Rays, one of which beat his team and the other which betrayed New York), but he can at least take solace in the fact that the Mets didn't even make the playoffs.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Shinkai: Ginsei no Shou - Saito Hajime Chapter #7 English Translation

My translation of the 7th Ginsei no Shou chapter for Saito... It’s probably because that this is my favourite chapter from the game and one that I found especially enjoyable to read (and had more of an understanding of it before getting translations for this lol) that I somehow translated this in record time when compared to all the other things I’ve worked on.... 

Unlike Kazama’s final Tsukikage chapter, the dialogue for this wasn’t all separated line by line in the CN TLs I found for the Saito chapters [NAMELY BECAUSE I WROTE EACH DAMN FUCKING WORD OUT FOR THAT CHAPTER], so some of the text in this remains lumped together. Also, huzzah for google translate providing the translations of place names since I wouldn’t have been able to translate the Japanese words that had been left in the original tl for this otherwise. I don’t usually make adjustments based on the original JP text until I start editing for the video... which will be done later.

All images used in this post were screencaps of game footage I recorded through vlc... also is it just me who feels that my English comes across as a lot more archaic when I stick to the original tl sentence structure...? lol. Anyway, as always, my translation may not be 100% accurate since I do not translate from Japanese.

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ANOTHER GINSEI NO SHOU SAITO CHAPTER... one that I do not intend to translate right away... well I also include it in a note about what chapter it refers too. lol. it’s right below the cut.

Enjoy~! OR ELSE! MWHAHAHA!!

(jk, lol. plus, i’m too lazy to think of anything. oh and im currently working on the subtitle positioning for this now as the file got transferred recently since i finished the first round of timing [i need to do this multiple times to get the fade in/out of my subtitles to match the timing of game text’s fade/in... or to at least have them as close as possible] before having all of these tech problems.)

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

Forward Notes

Based on what I remember from tokio-fujita’s notes (sorry but I didn’t check since im kinda busy rn, and the internet on my laptop is kinda unstable as I’m still transferring files... 17.3 gb remains from the dramas transfer) on Saito’s position in the Shinsengumi after leading them to Aizu, I’ve left his position as taichou in this translation due to how the only English translation for that is ‘captain’ which doesn’t show a difference in roles from when he was the Third Division captain ‘kaichou/kumicho’ [note to self: include this along with the link to the page in the post description later. also i will probably just change this to ‘captain’ anyway when i do my subtitle video].

Chapter 6 and 7 occur in Aizu

Hakuoki Shinkai: Ginsei no Shou - Saito Hajime Chapter #7

Translation by KumoriYami

7th month, 4th year of Keiou, after the Shinsengumi left for Sendai——

The Aizu, who had offended the Satcho were engulfed in the bitter flames of war.

When Shirakawa Castle was attacked, it would be a lie to say that I wasn't worried then.

Hijikata-san, Heisuke-kun, Shimada-san, and Souma-kun.

It was no longer possible to fight alongside the people who we deeply trusted since the beginning.

However……

I still have Saito-san.

Saito-san also me, although/even if/despite how I can't fight alongside him.

We relied upon one another, setting out for Shirakawa——

Shirakawa Castle, which had become the headquarters for my father's rasetsu—— we confronted him and Kazama Chikage there.

As Kazama-san had the overwhelming strength of an oni, if the fight was drawn out, Saito-san would have no chance of winning.

But, we still had....

Comrades we could rely on.

Even if [they] leave. Even if [they/they've] choose/chosen different paths.

As long as they maintained/followed their own bushido, everyone was still heading in the same direction.

I believe that as long as we moved forward, one day, our paths will surely cross again, and we will fight to the very end.

If only/I wish that everyone could see each other one more time, I could only pray that everyone would be safe……

Saito-san once again returned to the battlefield.

4th year of Keiou, 8th month

The Aizu Shinsengumi under the command of the Aizu, fought at the Bonari Pass——

After that, they fought bravely to stop the New Government army from entering Aizu Castle.

By the ninth month however, there were not many members left of the Aizu Shinsengumi, yet they still set out to defend/protect Nyoraido [refers to chapter 6] .

This is the story of what happened while I was waiting for Saito-san after he left. 

Fourth year of Keiou, Ninth month

Fourth year of Keiou, Ninth month

Saito-san and the other members of the troop left camp to protect Nyoraido.

Following his instructions/In accordance with his wishes, I accompanied the men who were seriously injured in battle to the rear of the formation.

Yukimura: Please wait a bit longer, I will treat you immediately.

Soldier:……At the most crucial moment, to be unable to help Saito-taichou, I'm terribly sorry.

Yukimura: ……There was no way you could, you are wounded after all.

Soldier: The taicho, is he really okay?

Perhaps it was because his wounds were too painful, that the soldier continued to weakly repeat himself.

Yukimura: Saito-san will be fine. He will surely come back alive.

In order to reassure the soldier, I spoke decisively/resolutely.

Yukimura: That's why, you need to focus on recovering right now.

Soldier:......Okay, I will.

Three days later.

The soldiers who had stayed in Nyoraido, none of them had come back yet.

The news from the front lines had also been cut off.

All that we knew was was the hopeless information brought back by the wounded.

There weren't enough bandages and medicines, and the wounded kept pouring in.

The soldier's and my worries became more intense.

It was at this time——

Aizu soldier: This is terrible/Bad news! Apparently Nyoraido has been completely surrounded by the enemy! The Shinsengumi in Nyoraido might have completely wiped out.

Yukimura:……!

The moment I heard such a dreadful announcement/news, it felt like the blood had been drained from my entire body. [news/information might be changed for ^^^ sentences. might use intelligence, communication]

A commotion spread throughout the entire formation [camp sounds more appropriate].

Soldier: Yukimura-san……

The wounded soldier looked at me with an anxious expression.

Previously, the instant I heard such news, I probably would have broken down into tears.

But, now——

Yukimura:……When such fierce fighting is going on, all sorts of rumours will be flying around we can't assume that everything is accurate before receiving an official confirmation.

Hearing what I said, the soldier seemed to calm down.

Soldier:……That's right. Before figuring things out, we'll still believe in/continue to trust the Taichou, and wait until he returns.

Even if Nyoraido has been surrounded by the enemy, the Shinsengumi may not necessarily be completely wiped out.

Shinsengumi——they, along with Saito-san, I don't know how many times they had escaped from death.

More importantly, Saito-san cannot die yet.

——flashback——

Saito: Yukimura, I wish to make you a promise.

Yukimura: A promise for me......? What is it?" Saito: No matter what happens in the future....... I will protect you with my life. This decision is not because of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata-san, or an order from the Aizu....... but of my own volition.

——end flashback——

At the time, he promised……

Even now, I can still clearly remember how we kissed after.

Saito-san, he made a promise to me.

He will come back to me.

I repeated those words in my heart over and over again, as if to convince myself......

But my heart was beating wildly, and cold sweat dripped from my forehead.

This wasn't able to eliminate my sense of unease.

Yukimura: …………

I truly wanted to rush over to Nyoraido, to immediately go to his side.

But, my duty right now, is to treat the wounded here.

So…… I could only trust/believe in him, and wait here.

After, I continued to focus on treating the wounded while waiting for Saito-san to return.

But, reports on the situation in Nyoraido, they never came again,

The sense of [them being] defeat[ed] became more intense, and the dreary mood gradually enveloped the entire formation [will probably use "camp"]. [The feeling that they had been defeated became more intense, and...]

Soldier 2: Yukimura-san, isn't it time for you to rest? You look very pale.

Yukimura: No, it isn't time to rest yet/it's not the time to rest.

Soldier 2:……Under these circumstances, if you collapse, once something happens, there won't be anyone to depend/rely on [for what you do]. Even if it's just a short nap…… please, for everyone's sake.

When faced with such a strong request, I couldn't refuse.

Yukimura: Okay. Then I'll go and nap/sleep for a bit.

I decided to go find a corner to go nap in .

Perhaps it was because I was so tired, but once I closed my eyes, I immediately fell asleep.

As I slept, I had a dream.

Yukimura Nn, nn......

I didn't know where I was in this dream, the surroundings were hazy as I looked around.

Where……is this?

Yukimura: Is this the Aizu's…… camp……?

……Right.

I was waiting for Saito-san to come back…… then……

My head felt numb and heavy as I looked around again……

Saito:……Yukimura.

Yukimura: Saito-san……!

The person I wanted to see suddenly appeared before me/Now that the one I wanted to see  suddenly appeared, I immediately got up.

Yukimura: You're back from fighting at Nyoraido! Where are the rest of the soldiers……

Saito:……In regards to this, I have something that I must tell you.

Yukimura: Eh……?

Hearing him say such ominous remarks, I couldn't help but feel confused.

Saito: Even now, you have always been at my side…… My gratitude towards you goes beyond words. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't have been able to continue fighting until now.

Yukimura: Thanks for what [reword later]……

Why was he suddenly saying such a thing?

Yukimura:……To speak of thanks, it's too much, I don't need it [It's too much for you to speak of thanking me/it's unnecessary for you to thank me]. Because, you and I……

We are no longer outsiders [/We can no longer be considered as outsiders/strangers...not sure what i’ll go with here] ——I just wanted to say that.

I don't know why, but I couldn't say anything.

The Saito-san before my eyes/right now, there was a subtle sadness to his expression, as if he was extremely sorry.

He…… wasn't like the one [man] I knew at all.

In this unnatural atmosphere, he spoke solemnly.

Saito: I……there is something I must tell you…… No matter what happens, no matter what you experience/encounter/face…… but now I [reword later]……

Yukimura:……!?

I was too late to ask him——

Saito-san's figure was already starting to fade away, then completely disappeared into the darkness of night.

Yukimura: Saito-san, don't go! What are saying to me——

I shouted out then/and lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, my entire body was drenched in sweat.

Yukimura: Just now, that was a dream……

The foreboding feeling/premonition made my heart beat wildly.

Why was it at this time, that I dreamed of Saito-san?

Furthermore, in my dream, it seemed like he had something to tell me.

I had a bad hunch/felt a sense of foreboding, but there was nothing I could do.

Looking around everywhere, Saito-san and the others still hadn't come back.

Although/Even if I dreaded to think so……

Just now, it was just a bad dream, it shouldn't be a sign that something bad would happen.

Saito-san and the other soldiers, what happened to them?

……No, it couldn't be.

He promised me, he would surely come back.

But, if that wasn't the case?

……If I continued to wait here, would he really come back?

I……

Choices 

【Search for him】 【Believe in him and wait】 <-

Although I wanted to immediately rush to Saito-san's side……

I still remembered what he said before.

——flashback——

Saito:......As time passes, things change. The world, ideals, and even the Shinsengumi. Even so, that does not mean that everything must change. As things change with time, so too will there be things that do not change. And I...... I believe in the things that do not change.

——end flashback——

……Saito-san had never gone against the promise he made me/never broke the promise he made me.

Regardless if it was when he left the Shinsengumi to join the Guardians of the Imperial Tomb, or when he was defeated at/during the Battle of Toba-Fushimi.

Also, there was when he ended up fighting Kazama-san.

In the end, he always came back to my side [me].

So, as he promised, he will certainly come back to me.

So, I too——

Yukimura:…………

An incredible feeling swelled in my chest.

It wasn't because of panic, rather it felt like the stars were whispering to me……

This feeling pushed me out of camp.

Outside of camp was a forest that always looked the same at night [reword later].

Although I didn't know if any of the soldiers would return, I thought……

I felt somewhat dejected, and couldn't help but look up towards the night sky.

It was full of stars, quietly twinkling.

Long before I was born, these stars, they must have been watching the world in silence/been silently watching the world.

No matter how many years passed, these silver stars would always shine in the night sky.

Yukimura: Me too……

Under the allure of the dim starlight, I couldn't help but say this/I was unable to restrain my emotions.

Yukimura: I also…… believe in the things that do not change.

Even if the path forward was covered in darkness, the light that pointed towards the future still shined.

Yukimura: I believe——no matter what happens in the future, you will not change.

Just as I muttered this to myself.

There was the sound of movement through foliage.

I froze, staring attentively in the direction of the sound.

After/Then……

???: Is.…… someone there?

The moment I heard that voice, I burst into tears [or: almost burst into tears]. 

Shortly after, a single silhouette flashed in the woods, and its figure gradually became clearer.

Saito: Chizuru…… is that you?

My beloved/The man/The one I loved was calling my name, I could no longer/was no longer able to control myself.

Yukimura: Saito-san…… Hajime-san!

I shouted his name, throwing myself at him.

Yukimura: You came back……! Hajime-san……!

I wanted to welcome him back with a smile.

I didn't want to be crying when we were reunited.

If I cried, that would make it harder to see Hajime-san’s face……

All sorts of thoughts that I had been repressing came bursting out of my heart.

Saito: Ah…… I'm back, Chizuru. Didn't I promise you that I would return? Why are you crying? Could it be, that you didn't believe me?

Hearing Hajime-san's question, I shook my head.

Yukimura: How could I not trust you. However, I was always worried…… [and] when I heard the bad rumours at camp, my heart felt like it was going to crack/split open. Also…… I had a dream, a dream where you went far, far away……

Saito:……I see.

As I cried, Hajime-san awkwardly embraced me.

His uniform, it was completely dirty……

Although his uniform was black, a single glance showed that there were bloodstains and bullet holes everywhere.

Just from seeing him like this, I could tell he had seen a fierce battle. [ or "it was as if I could see a fierce battle." check jp mtl]

A moment later, Hajime-san showed a bitter expression.

Saito: When [we were] surrounded by the New Government Army, I was prepared to be completely wiped out/defeated…… At this time, one of the seriously injured/wounded soldiers told me: we've all been injured [been completely beaten... or some other word that i think of later that implies helplessness] and can no longer be of use to fight. Leave us behind and get out of here with the rest of the troop members——

Yukimura:……!

The decision that had been before Hajime-san, the weight of it left me speechless.

Saito: The me from before, perhaps I would have accepted this proposal. But…… the me now, it was impossible [reword later]. Hijikata-san entrusted me with the leadership of the Shinsengumi. Additionally, I could not leave those who trusted me and stayed/chose to fight together with me when the Aizu were abandoned.

Yukimura:……Nn.

I looked straight into Hajime-san's eyes, and nodded approvingly/nodded in agreement.

Hearing about the changes in Hajime-san's heart, I felt delighted/happy, as if it was my own affair.

Saito: If I had accepted that soldier's proposal, I likely would have returned sooner…… Carefully leading the troops back, it took longer than I thought…… I'm sorry for making you worry about me.

After listening to Hajime-san's words, I shook my head.

Yukimura: I……that's not important/it doesn't matter.  As long as are you are like this, and as long as you come back to me…… that's enough.

Saito:…………Yes [alt I see/is that so. check audio].

Yukimura: What happened to the other troop members/soldiers?

Saito: Because they're moving while carrying the wounded, I think that it will probably be a while longer before they catch up. But they will certainly catch up.

Yukimura: So it's like that, that's good……

Just by/from feeling Hajime-san's temperature [warmth] and his breathing, I was already very happy.

As long as he was like this now, and alive [As long as he lived like this now]…… being at my side, it was enough.

From the way he was looking at me, I could clearly feel that he felt the same way I did.

Saito:……Even for myself, I find it/feel that it's incredible/unimaginable.

Yukimura:……?

I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant.

Saito: Previously, I thought, the ideal wish of a warrior/samurai [check audio] would be to die in battle. However, I now fight for the sake of my comrades, so as to survive [so that we survive/live. chck jp mtl].

Indeed, if it was the past Hajime-san, when faced between choosing life and death, he likely wouldn’t have hesitated.

But......

Yukimura: I.......love the you now....... and I love the you back then. No....... no matter however you are, I will always accept you.

Hajime-san's eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

Saito:……You once told me before. The answer, the one I painfully struggled to find, whatever it was, you would accept it.

Yukimura:……Nn.

Saito: The one who changed me, it was probably you, Chizuru.

Yukimura: Eh......?

Saito: At the most dire point/height of the fighting, I thought of your face…… and my determination to not die grew stronger. Furthermore, every time I thought of how you were doing everything to help the wounded at camp, I kept thinking that these soldiers must not die here.

Yukimura:…………

Carefully listening to my lover's voice, his words, made me feel infinitely happy. [Listening to my lover's voice, his words made me feel extremely happy.]

When Hajime-san was desperately fighting at Nyoraido, if I was able to provide him some courage……

Nothing could make me happier. 

After a short while, Hajime-san slightly tilted his head, almost as if he was urging something.

There was no need to ask what would happen next.

I closed my eyes, quietly responding to him.

After a pleasant wait, our lips were pressed together.

This kiss, it was very restrained, just like how he was.

My heart was beating loudly.

These thoughts became increasingly stronger in my heart, how I wish the two of us could stay in this forest at night forever. [check jp mtl. i’m probably going to go with something to the effect of: How I wish we could just stay forever in this moment, alone and encompassed by this forest at night.*this sentence is pissing me off lol.]

No matter what happens, I will never leave him again.

Saito:……From now on, I will never let you be this sad again. So, let me see you smile/your smile. In order to see your smile, no matter what happens, I will always return to you. [check jp mtl]

Before, I once asked him what he would do one day if he had to drink the Ochimizu for the Shinsengumi……

The answer that came from his lips without any hesitation, was to 【drink it】.

Yukimura:…………Nn. Hajime-san…… Hajime-san, as long as you stay by my side, I will always be happy.

He had asked me to smile, but i couldn't help but to continue crying...

As a result, I was smiling and crying in front of the person that i loved.

About half a month later, the 22nd of the 9th month——

The Aizu-han, which had been firmly resisting the New Government army, surrendered.

——End——

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

well, I probably could have made it easier for myself if I just copied the flashback text from SK/KW/EB... but I just couldn’t bring myself to look up the games to copy said text (had to uninstall them from my old pc for space to take stuff off my passport) since it’d really bother me knowing if I copied something than said it was my translation... which is why i didn’t. ah well. as a translator, the idea of taking credit on something that i didn’t translate really doesn’t sit well with me... but I still think that what I did for those parts came close to what I remember from the games...   

gotta say though: I really dislike the word 「隊士」. In both Chinese and Japanese... and that, as a translator,  i really don’t like how the Gregorian calendar names the months lol. it’s just so much easier to just leave the date as what it says based on the old Japanese calendar... with the era name and month number. let’s me not worry about doing research to ensure the accuracy of things (i require that all of my videos be precise when it comes to dates)... 

also, i wish it’d snow everyday for a week. id get motivated enough to finish a chapter with that.... tho it’d need to be a heavy snowfall so it’s very visible. lol. maintaining my motivation on one thing for a long period of time just doesn't come easy to me... especially when it’s something that has +4000 words in it.

[aknosde]

Fátima I’ll have you know that I wasn’t actually going to drop all of this but then you told me to and I can’t fucking resist you. This is really long I’m sorry. Percy Jackson tiktok au:

This au is like 99% fluff. The only thing that keeps it from being 100% is that I’m maintaining Percy’s history of child abuse, Annabeth's tenuous relationship with her parents, Leo’s mom’s death, The death of Carter and Sadie’s parents, as well as Hazel’s issues (minus the dying), but these things don’t actually come into play.

As you can deduce above, the characters are Percy, Carter, Sadie, Hazel, Annabeth, and Leo. For the sake of my sanity, they are all sophomores in high school.

Character Histories

Percy and Hazel met when he was five and she was four. Hazel’s mom brought her into Sweet on America while Percy was hanging around Sally. They quickly became inseparable, had playdates most weekends until they could control their own schedules, and at around 8/9 years old they started referring to each other as siblings.

Percy: *standing, having a serious conversation with another child at the park*

Hazel: *climbing him*

Percy: WHy are you doing this? The jungle gym is right over there?

Hazel: *continues to climb him*

Percy: You’re a gremlin *pats her affectionately*

      Annabeth and Leo met when they started middle school. Annabeth’s relationship with her father and stepmother has reached a nice area, not perfect, but good, and she doesn’t really talk with her birth mother. Leo’s mom died when he was in fourth grade, he’s fostered by a middle class family, and goes to private school with Annabeth on an academic scholarship.

Leo: –so the problem is that this formula doesn’t work with the diameter of a cylinder but I need...

Annabeth: speak english please

*fifteen minutes later* Annabeth: I think I’ll put vertical supports her, although triangular would be more stable, but according to the building codes...

Leo: I beg of you,,,

     Cater and Sadie’s history stays much the same, they were raised separately until Julius died, except he died during a cave in on one of his digs, and Ruby died in a construction accident. (She was walking by when the supports failed) They started living with Amos in eighth grade. Yes, Amos still has a baboon, an alligator, and an indoor basketball court.

Carter: And so that’s why Amos named his baboon Kufu.

Sadie: You are literally the most annoying person alive, can I have your fries?

    Carter and Percy met on the subway when they were ten, going to a day camp in the summer while Julius was giving some lectures in the city. They were inseparable for the week, and then didn’t speak to each other for four years.

Hazel’s mom has a few mental illnesses that developed when Hazel was around 10, she’s still present in Hazel’s life, and they live together, but she’s not always all there. Once Gabe is out of the picture Hazel spends a lot of time at the Jacksons’ apartment, enough where she keeps a toothbrush there.

As for Gabe, he remains his normal abusive self. Things come to a climax when Percy is 11/12 after Gabe throws a bottle at him. There’s no reasonable excuse for this, and Sally comes home while Percy’s still crying. Gabe’s dealt with swiftly, but Percy has some scarring on the left side of his face.

Also quick note: in this au Percy is 1/2 black, 1/4 moreno, and 1/4 native american. (Moreno and native from Sally and black from his dad)

Their Accounts

So as in the post that got this all started, Percy’s account is largely Ancient Greek and Roman mythology and history. He also does some stuff for indigenous mythology, but he’s super into the greek and roman stuff. (Insert this meme (it’s the thirteenth one down)) He also does skateboarding and some light gymnastics/parkour/acrobatics.

    Hazel is a gymnast. She’s also just super nice and supportive so she makes those motivational videos, but mostly it’s gym stuff and her and Percy hanging out. She’s not quite as popular but she doesn’t really care. She is also the #1 horse girl, and rates horses. Percy would tease her, but he’s also a horse girl.

    Sadie does comedy. Some if it’s scripted or little skits, but there’s a lot of her just ranting at her camera. Also her life is just weird (*cough* alligator and baboon *cough*) so people just like to see what she’s doing. Also a theatre kid™, sorry, I don’t make the rules.

    Carter gives detailed accounts of every Egyptian myth he thinks is cool (all of them), but he makes more comedic abridged versions too. He’s also known to make videos laying out archeological digs. About a quarter of his videos feature Sadie insulting him in the background.

  Leoooooo! He has a lot of comedy, the first video of his to do well was a situational comedy, he always has a sarcastic comment or a bad joke. Most of his stuff now is for robotics. He’s on the robotics team at his and Annabeth’s school, but he does a lot of stuff on the side just making crazy cool contraptions. He has a series of him going scrounging for parts because he doesn’t exactly have the money for a lot of his stuff. Also skateboards occasionally.

 Annabeth’s account in verging on booktok. Every time she reads a book she reviews it, and if it’s popular she’ll record herself reading it and put the best clips together. She’s still really into architecture, she talks about it often, shows some of her sketches, and has a series where her followers can pick videos in New York and she’ll go and critique them. Also has some lifestyle videos about staying organized, but only for school stuff because otherwise she’s pretty messy.

Prequel Stuff

Carter and Percy reconnect when they start duetting each other’s mythology busting videos. They have two series together, one on parallels between Greek and Egyptian myths (called Percy and Carter’s Mythological Mashup) and another about hellenistic culture, specifically about Egypt during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. (Working title: Colonizers suck,,, but the Aesthetics)

Them getting closer forms a friend group of Percy, Hazel, Sadie, and Carter, and they hang out most weekends. Their parents are all friends now.

Okay, The Actual Thing

I lied, there’s a prologue: everything starts at the very end of freshman year when Percy posts a video of him, Hazel, Carter, and Sadie at central park. (caption yet to be determined). It ends up on Leo’s fyp and his though process goes something like ‘oh, it’s a bunch of pretty people who aren’t white.’ He follows Percy and forgets about it.

 So Leo’s life is going pretty normal, Percy’s videos pop up on his following and for you pages. Nothing really happens until Percy makes a video detailing a type of ancient greek technology (im thinking torsion catapult but its not set in stone). Leo thinks it sounds really cool, so he makes it and duets Percy’s video

From there, their friendship develops. Leo keeps making models and prototypes of ancient tech for some of Percy’s videos, and eventually he starts doing his own research. And in turn, Percy duets Leos videos and talks about the historical significance of certain mechanisms or their origins. By now, they’re mutuals and talk pretty often. 

 Annabeth also follows Percy after one of his videos appears on her fyp, but much later then Leo. In fact, he’s on her page because she follows Leo. She’s with Leo when this happens, and asks him about Percy and checks his profile before following him. He follows her back the next day. 

The first time they interact beyond liking each others videos is when Annabeth takes part in one of those ‘creators are struggling like you’ with her ADHD and dyslexia, which Percy continues from her.

 One day Percy and Leo (quite literally) run into each other, and as they’re mutuals and do text, they decide they might as well hang out in person, thus Leo is indicted into Percy’s friend group.

Leo eventually brings Annabeth along too

And the rest of it would be shorter 4+ panel comics and maybe a few mini arcs. I have specific videos outlined for each of them.

[allsassnoclass]

“Every day you wake up and make it my problem” Luke to Ashton

alrighty a theatre au for the only person in the theatre department who can handle me <3

Opening night brings a palpable excitement in the air, a nervous energy that can only naturally be produced at this point in the production process.  The scenes have been blocked, the lines memorized, the sets built, the costumes sewn, and every piece of design meticulously brought together to create something ready for sharing.  As Luke hangs up the laundered costume pieces and ensures that the dressing rooms are prepared for the night, he can already feel the excitement amongst the crew milling about.  It will only be compounded once the actors arrive for the night.

Luke has his sewing kit, numerous pins, extra hairspray, and a bite light.  There aren't many quick changes in Hamlet, and all of them have been easily doable in dress rehearsals.  He's ready.

When he wanders out to backstage, Calum and Michael seem to be ready, too.  Calum is sitting on the acting block Michael has commandeered as his seat since tech, scrolling through his phone while Michael goes through his pre-show duties on the other side of the stage.

"Ready for tonight?" Luke asks, making Calum jump.

"Yeah.  Is the laundry up?"

"Costumes are all clean and accounted for," Luke says.  "If you want an empty dressing room, now is your time."

He stands and stretches, wandering over to the dressing rooms.  Luke takes his spot and watches Michael  continue to double-check props on the other side of the stage.  Once satisfied, he heads back over, stopping short when he sees Luke.

"You're not my boyfriend," Michael says.

"He went to go get ready before the rush," Luke says.  "Ready for tonight?"

"Very," Michael says.  "No one has broken anything yet, which is a bit worrying, but I'm fucking ready to open."

"No one's broken any props or sets, you mean.  I've had to resew numerous buttons and seams.  Ashton can barely keep his clothes on."

"I bet you like that," Michael says, waggling his eyebrows.  Luke flips him off, too used to Michael's teasing to be truly bothered.  Ever since he first saw their lead actor and tripped over his own feet he hasn't known peace.

In his defense, Ashton is very beautiful.  It is not Luke's fault that he got flustered during their first interaction.  At least he was only writing down measurements instead of having to take them, because being that close to him without time to mentally prepare would have been embarrassing for everyone.  (If he still has to take a few breaths when helping Ashton get on his more intricate costumes, that's his business, especially because being under the stage lights only enhances all of Ashton's best features.)

"Ashton gets to make out with your boyfriend every night.  Stop laughing," he says flatly.

"Yeah, and it's fucking hot," Michael says, nudging Luke out of his seat.

Luke rolls his eyes.  Reducing the relationship between Hamlet and Horatio to a "fucking hot" make out scene is a disservice to all of the painstaking work that Ashton, Calum, and the director have done to seamlessly incorporate it into the story without alienating or reducing Ophelia, but Michael isn't exactly wrong.

Ashton seems like a good kisser.  Luke wants to know what it'd be like to be on the receiving end of that when there's no acting involved.

Luke kills time with Michael until he has to go on headset, signaling that it's late enough that Luke should probably check on the actors.  Gertrude's zipper on her dress keeps getting jammed to the point where Luke is really considering replacing it.  It works most of the time, but Luke is getting sick of having to finagle it.  He helps her get it up and makes a note to replace it before tomorrow, then he heads to men's dress, ready to camp out until someone else needs him

"Luke!" Ashton greets exuberantly as soon as he steps in the door.  He has his makeup on, just simple things to ensure he doesn't get washed out under the stage lights, but he looks stunning.  He isn't even in his main costume yet, an intricate black tunic with gold embroidery meant to blur the line between historical and contemporary like everything else in the show, but Luke wants to swoon.

"Hi."

"Thanks for fixing my buttons," he says.  "Again."

"Try not to rip them off tonight," Luke says.

"I always try," Ashton says.  Somehow, Luke still feels like he's going to be fixing a button.  Ashton doesn't restrain himself onstage.  It makes him captivating to watch, but it also means that unnecessary rips and button tears occur, sometimes in ways that Luke thinks should be impossible.  Being wardrobe head for this production has taught him many new ways to break a costume.

He helps the actors here and there with things like hair or specialty makeup, distracting himself from Ashton changing in the background and passing the time until the actors go to warm ups.  Rosencrantz has managed to misplace his socks because he hadn't zipped his laundry bag when he gave it to be washed and Gildenstern can't find one of her shoes, but otherwise there isn't much for Luke to do with this show.  He wanders out by Michael, knowing by now where he can stand to watch from offstage and when he'll have to move so he's not in the way.

When the lights go down and the warnings about flash photography and food in the theater play over the loudspeaker, Luke's heart starts thumping harder in his chest.  Michael turns on the fog machine for a bit of haze at the beginning, Bernardo and Francisco take their places onstage, and the play begins.

Even after having seen the show during the crew view and hearing it over the monitors backstage every night since, he manages to get lost in the story.  Each performer is on top of things tonight, none more so than Ashton.  From the moment he steps out on stage the charismatic actor is gone, replaced by a moody but no less magnetic Hamlet.  His grief and anger is palpable in his introductory scene, and his relief at seeing Horatio for the first time perfectly sets up their dependency in the rest of the show.  His scene with the ghost is heartbreaking, and Luke finds himself subconsciously biting his lip and leaning forward, wanting nothing more than to erase his pain.  Hamlet is enamored by Ophelia and broken by her betrayal, and every soliloquy is captivating.  No one can command a stage like Ashton Irwin.

Intermission sees Luke attending to his actual job as a dresser, helping with the laces on a few costumes and checking with all the actors to be sure there's no issues.  Ashton grabs his shoulders and blurts an excited sentence about crowd reactions, then immediately goes backstage to get "back into the Hamlet zone."  Calum watches this interaction with raised eyebrows.  When he heads backstage, Luke hopes he's not going to gossip with Michael.

The second half of the show goes just as smoothly as the first.  Michael has him take care of the actress playing Oscric when she feels a little bit faint, but once she gets more water in her she perks back up and Luke can return to watching Ashton's breakdown on stage.  The ending duel scene is more polished and realistic than they've ever done it, but it's Horatio's final moments with Hamlet that leave Luke speechless.  Something about Calum cradling Ashton in his arms while Ashton commands him to stay alive and tell his story has Luke tearing up.

He leaves during curtain call to grab the laundry bag and set himself up outside the dressing rooms, ready to take everything that needs to be washed.  It feels anticlimactic to have the first night of the show done, but Luke typically doesn't feel the same sense of accomplishment as the actors do after each individual performance.  It never truly hits him until strike, when he has to put everything away and reset the theatre and costume space to prepare for the next show.  Luke congratulates every actor that passes and waits for them all to leave so he can go home.  There's no one waiting for him in the audience tonight and he wasn't told about any after-parties, so he's looking forward to getting sleep before returning to the costume shop tomorrow to take care of the notes he has.

"Ashton's the last one in men's dress," Calum says when he hands in his own laundry.  "He asked me to send you in."

Luke had been hoping that Ashton would be able to make it an entire show without a costume mishap.  Apparently that hope had been misguided.

"It's Luke," he announces, knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

Ashton is pulling on a t-shirt, giving Luke an accidental glimpse at the dimples in his lower back.  When he turns around he looks sheepish.

"I lost a button during the duel."

Luke sighs.

"I promise I'm not deliberately being destructive," Ashton says.  "I'm not trying to make more work for you."

"Yet every day you wake up and make it my problem," Luke says.  "Can I see which button?"

Ashton brings him his dueling vest, pointing out where a simple black button had fallen.  Luke will walk by the stage to see if it's still there or Michael found it, but if not then it won't be difficult to replace.

"I'm really sorry," Ashton says, still standing close.  "I swear I won't make you fix my costume tomorrow."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Luke says.  "You have the worst track record with costumes out of everyone I've ever worked with."

"Well, I need some excuse to keep talking to you."

Luke blinks at him.

"That was a joke.  I mean, I do love having a reason to talk to you, but it'd be shitty of me to be deliberately making your job hard."

"Oh," Luke says.  "You don't need a reason to talk to me.  You can just do it."

"There's not a lot of time for it in the middle of a show," Ashton says.  "Unless you'd want to see me outside of work sometime?  Say, for a coffee or dinner?  As a date?"

"Me?" Luke asks.  Ashton makes a show of looking around the empty dressing room.

"I don't see any other tall, attractive blond men named Luke who keep putting my clothing back together."

Luke smiles, not trying to hide his excitement.  He's a shit actor anyway, and Ashton would see right through him.

"I could do that, but only if you stop ruining your costumes every night.  Make it through tomorrow with no mishaps and we'll go on a date."

"You drive a hard bargain, Hemmings, but I'll try my best.  For you, I'd sew everything back together myself if I had to."

"Please don't," Luke says.

"You don't trust me?" Ashton pouts.

"No," Luke laughs.  "You keep destroying your costumes.  I'm not about to trust you to fix them correctly."

Ashton shrugs.  "Yeah, okay.  I'm not a good sewer, anyway."

"That's what you have me for," Luke says.  Ashton smiles, just as dazzling under the dressing room lights as it is onstage.  It takes Luke's breath away, just a little.

The dressing room door opens, bringing Luke back to Earth.  Calum pokes his head in.

"Hey Ash, your siblings want to see you.  Stop flirting with Luke and get out here."  He doesn't wait for a response, thankfully leaving them alone again for another moment.  Ashton ducks his head, scuffing his shoes against the floor.

"I shouldn't keep them waiting," he says.

"It's hard being a star," Luke replies.  It makes Ashton smile again, which is an exhilarating experience in of itself.

"We'll check in about the date tomorrow," Ashton says.  "No more costume mishaps, cross my heart."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Luke teases.  Ashton snorts.

"Have a good night, Luke.  Congrats on the show."

"You too," Luke says.  "You're really amazing up there."

"Thank goodness," Ashton says.  "It'd be a bit late to replace me otherwise."

Luke rolls his eyes with a smile.  "Get out of here, superstar.  Go see your family."

Ashton blows him a kiss and ducks into a bow with a flourish on the way out the door.  Luke stands in the middle of the dressing room, running his finger over the spot on Ashton's vest where the button is missing.  He should probably be annoyed, but he's not.  He's going on a date with Ashton at some point, and that's worth all of the lost buttons and torn costumes in the entire production.

[5289belle]

Captain America’s Legacy

Summary:  When Katerina Rogers watches as the flags smashers cause further mayhem, she knows she needs to come out of hiding and go help Sam and Bucky take them down, all while dealing with the fact that the United States government replaced her dad with some idiot as Captain America.

Meet Katerina (Katy) Rogers, the daughter of Natasha and Steve. Will take place during the falcon and the winter solider with some flashbacks to black widow and civil war. Also Tony is alive in this timeline, Steve did that snap instead, Natasha still died getting the soul stone.

Part Two

Walking along the road the three had been silent for twenty minutes now. Then Sam spoke up, “Wait, how did you know where to find me Kat?” He looked at her with questioning in his eyes.

“Oh that, ha easy. I tracked you through your phone, GPS can be really helpful.” She said with a laugh.

“Since when do you know how to hack?”

Looking at him with a smirk she responded lightly “Tony showed me how, about nine years ago. I just never felt the need to use it much on missions. What with Tony and all his techno stuff, and then when we went on the run it just never came up.

Bucky had been just staring ahead stoically the whole time, Sam just shook his head as they continued on. Looking over to Bucky Sam asked

“What going on in that cyborg brain of yours?”

“It’s computing”

Sam chuckled at that, while Katy broke out in a smile and tried not to snort. “You know what I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they’re malfunctioning shutting down. Yep, they’re on fire.”

Ignoring him Bucky interrupted with “We gotta figure out where the serum’s coming from.”

“Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight super soldiers runnin’ loose?”

“Well, lets first ask where do we start? Who made the serum?” Katy spoke up from between them.

Slowly they heard the car come up beside them, honking. Looking over she noticed it was Walker and Hoskins, great she thought and tried not to roll her eyes too hard.

“So that didn’t go as planned, huh?” Walker asked the trio.

Pointedly ignoring him they continued walking on, a few moments later Walker continued on “Look, at least we know what we’re up against now, huh?

And were pretty sure it’s one of the big three, so..”

Sam replies with “Aliens, androids, or wizards right?

“Pretty sure” Walker say’s looking at them hopefully.

Annoyed Bucky interrupts with “There’s no such thin as wizards.”

“Alright then it’s aliens or androids”

Sam responds with “Or super soldiers.”

Surprised Hoskins asks “Shit, super soldiers, for real?”

“Yeah”

“All right, well then we gotta work together” John says to them, having enough of the conversation Bucky say “That’s not happening”, which is quickly followed up by Katy with “Yeah, no. Were good, we can handle this ourselves.”

John replies “I think we stand a much better chance if we all just..”

Interrupting him Bucky yells quietly “Just cause you carry that shield, it doesn’t mean your Captain America.”

“Exactly, just saying you’re Captain America just doesn’t make it so. It’s title that has to be earned, and its sacred.” Katy responds with a scowl on her face. She can barely contain her rage at his presence. This was not good for her mental health.

“Look, I’ve done the work, okay?”

Looking at John, Bucky asks “You ever jump on top of a grenade?”

“Or put your life on the line for the greater good?” she adds on.

“Yeah. Actually, I have. Four times. It’s a thing I do with my helmet, it’s a reinforced helmet and I’ve put my life on the line many times in the heat of battle.” John responds, trying to defend his honor. “Look, it’s twenty miles to the airport you three need a ride?”

Katy just scoffs at this and looks ahead with her jaw clenched

“Guy’s. Gary stop. Get in.”

Reluctantly they stop and get, leaving her to be sandwiched between Sam and Bucky.

“Okay, so we’ve got eight super soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?”

Thinking it over Sam respond’s “They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during the blip. Maybe they’re just trying to help.”

“They had a funny way of showing it.” Bucky says.

“That serum doesn’t exactly have a great track record.” John says then looks over to Bucky and Katy and says “No offense”

She merely raises her eyebrow and declines to responds.

“We need to figure out where their going. How’d you track ‘em

Here? The flag smashers?” Sam asks.

Hoskins joins in “uh, no we didn’t track them, we tracked you, uh, through redwing.”

“You hacked my tech?” Sam say’s angered

Chuckling Walker replies “Sorry, it’s not exactly hacking. It’s government property.

Meanwhile Bucky was just staring directly towards Walker, noticing he voices out “Does he always just stare like that?”

Sam glances at Bucky and responds, “You get used to it.”

Clearing his throat John say’s to them “okay look, you know things have gotten kind of, uh…” Hoskins finishes his sentence with “Chaotic”

“Yeah. The GRC, they’re doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post blip.

Ignoring them for a few seconds she just tunes them out. Living in Europe for the past six months and moving around from place to place she’s seen the displacement camps and knows that the GRC has been useless for they people who never disappeared. As always the government was ignoring the larger picture in order to fix a smaller picture with a quick fix. Leading to more problems, like the flag smashers… If her dad was here he would know what to do…

Sighing she stopped her train of thought, with her heart constricting in sadness at the mere thought. It still hurt too much to think about them. She would drive herself insane if she kept thinking what if?

Coming back to the conversation at hand she heard Walker say “If you guys, if you joined up with us we could..”

“No” Bucky and Katy said in unison.

“I got mad respect for the three of you, the falcon, the winter soldier and Captain Widow. But you were getting your asses kicked till we showed up” Hoskins said to the three.

“What?” she asked in confusion, looking over at Hoskins she continued “What did you call me?

“Captain Widow, that’s your superhero name right? Cause your dad was Captain America and your mom was Black Widow”

Shaking her head in confusion and annoyance she asks

“Is that what everyone refers to me as?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Just no, I just…” she sighs and doesn’t know how to respond. Since when did she get that moniker? The Captain Widow? Seriously!.. Well, it was at least better than the other one she had been given…

While she pondering over the recent revelation Buck asks “Who are you?”

“Lemar Hoskins”

“Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter on tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins.”

“I’m Battlestar. John’s partner.

“Battlestar!?” Bucky says, clearly his hurt by this. With that he’s had enough and calls for the car to stop and leaves, she happily joins him. Glad to be gone from that situation. Walking side by side, she looks over to him and notices the grimace on his face. Clearly he was not taking the news well.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine” he says dismissively. Sam then walks up to them and joins them on their silent walk back to the airport.

With that Bucky stands up and walk over to Sam and sits down next to him and looks between him and Katy. “There is someone that you two should meet.”

Some time later, Bucky is sitting on a crate thinking pensively while Sam and Katy are laying on the seats.

“Let’s take the shield. Let’s takes the shield and do this ourselves.”

“We can’t just run up on the man, beat him up, and take it.”

“Why not? It would certainly make me happy” Katy says, now she can’t stop picturing it, she doesn’t know why but something about his face just makes her want to punch him.

“Do you remember what happened the last time we stole it?”

“Maybe”

“Possibly” she says.

“I’ll help you two in case you forgot. Sharon was branded enemy of the state, and Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Kat and I were on the run for two years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live the rest of my life la vida loca. We just got our asses handed to us by super soldiers, and we got nothing.”

Interrupting she say responds “Not entirely true, we know there’s at least eight of them, and that they steal supplies, like medicine and stuff. Plus, they know how to handle themselves in a fight.”

With that they head off to Baltimore Maryland. Where Sam and Katy find out there was a black super soldier since the fifties and no one knew about it, not even Steve. Sam is angry at the revelation, how could no one tell him, why was it a secret. Katy is just shocked, she had no idea that the U.S had also had their own batch of super soldiers they were using, she thought it was just the Soviet Union with the Black Widow program.

While Sam is having it out with Bucky suddenly a siren wails out as a cop patrol car rolls up and stops in front of them. “What could they possibly want?” She asks out loud.

“Hey, is there a problem here?” One of the officers ask.

“No, we’re just talking.”

“We’re fine” Bucky adds on, Katy responds dismissively “We’re good, thank you though. We don’t need your assistance, have a good day”

The officer walks up to Sam and singles him out asking him for his ID, at this Bucky says “Man, seriously?”

“I don’t have ID, why?”

“Okay sir, just calm down.”

Affronted Sam goes on “I am calm, what do you want.”

“Just give him your ID”

“NO, I’m giving him shit We’re just talking”

“Hey is this guy bothering you two?”

“No, he’s not bothering us. Do you know who this is?”

The other officer walks up to his partner and whispers something to him, then the other one apologizes to Sam.

Before long, Bucky is being arrested for missing his court mandated therapy.

A couple hours later the three find themselves at the precinct. In the lobby Sam and Katy are waiting to hear news about Bucky when his therapist walks up to them.

“Sam. I’ve heard a lot about you.” turning to look over at Katy she asks “and who are you?”.

“Hi, I’m Katerina Rogers, but you can call me Katy. May I ask who you are?”

“I’m Dr. Raynor. I’m James’s therapist”.

Walking up to her he shakes her hand and replies “So nice to meet you. Thank you for getting him out.” Katy smiles at her nodding her head along.

“That was not me”

“Christina, it’s great to see you again.” Walkers voice rang out.

“You got to be kidding me you know him?” Sam asked Dr. Raynor.

“Yeah, we did some field ops back in the day.

“I heard you were working with Bucky, so I thought I’d step in. Bucky’s not gonna be following a strict schedule any longer. walking up to her he smiled.

“We haven’t finished our work. Who authorized this?”

Pointing to himself “Um..”

Rolling her eyes on the sideline Katy thought to herself at least he did something good for Bucky, this way they can carry on the mission. He’s still pretentious, but I suppose he not the absolute worst…

Just then they released Bucky and he came walking up to the group.

With that Walker told them he would be outside waiting for them.

“James, condition of your release, session now. You too, Sam and Katy.”

“That’s okay. I’ll be out here with Katy..” Sam replied while Katy also rang out “Oh, no I couldn’t join in..”

“That wasn’t a request”

The two looked to each other in defeat and then followed after Bucky and the Dr.

Sitting down at a table with Dr. Raynor on the other side the three were all seated next to each other with Katy in the middle, each were silent and brooding, clearly not wanting to be there.

“So.. Who would like to start?”

Pursing her lips Katy stubbornly remained silent. Sam chose to speak first “All right, look Dr. Raynor? I get it, why you want me to talk to freaky magoo over here. But I’m 100% fine”

“It is my job to make sure that you’re okay. You to Katy, I heard that you just disappeared six months ago without a trace after your parent’s funeral. I can imagination how hard that must have been. I know your friends here were worried about you. And so yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional but it’s the only way I can see if you’re getting over whatever’s eating at you guys.”

“Look I appreciate the concern I do, however I’m perfectly fine. I just needed a break, all good now..” Katy said trying to excuse herself. The Dr. just looked at her and then to the other two.

“This is ridiculous” Sam said afterwards, Bucky followed up with “Yeah. I agree.”

“See making progress already. So who wants to go first? No volunteers, wow. How surprising. Okay. We’re going to do an exercise. It’s something I use with couples when they are trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna build together. Are you familiar with the miracle question?”

“Absolutely not”

“Of course, not”

“What is that?”

“Okay it goes like this, suppose that while you’re sleeping a miracle occurs. When you wake up, what is something that you would like to see that would make your life better?”

“In my miracle he would talk less.”

“exactly what I was gonna say, Isn’t that ironic?”

“These two would banter less.”

“You guys are leaving me with no choice. It’s time for the soul-gazing exercise.”

“I like this one better” Bucky says with a smile while Sam smiled and responds “Oh, God. He’s gonna love this.” Katy merely says, “I’m good, I’ll just watch.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“This is right up your alley”

“Katy, you have to join in. I really think this would be helpful for you three.” Dr. Raynor responds to the three’s remarks. “Turn around, face each other.”

All three scoot out with their chairs and then scoot right back in forming a triangle with their knees touching.

“You should really enjoy this.” Sam says aloud to Bucky.

Looking right back at him with a sarcastic smile he replies, “I’m going to” While nodding his head. “This will be fun” Katy remarks, trying to lighten the mood and her nerves. Just great.

“Face each other”

“Let’s do it. Let’s stare” Bucky says to them.

“Get close”

“How much closer can we get? Our knees are touching?” Katy says confused. Bucky looks to his doctor and says “This is a good exercise. Thanks Doc.

“All right, good. All right, get close.”

With that they mange to get closer by arranging their knees to open up and allow the other ones to slide in closer on her left side Sam sits with his knees by hers, while on the right Bucky sits with his knee on hers, their other knees our on each other’s. All three our extremely uncomfortable.

“It’s a little close” Bucky says. “That’s what you wanted right?” Sam replies, Katy just sits there shaking her head. Dr. Raynor interrupts with “Guys, good. Now look at each other.

Looking up they look into each other’s eyes, Sam and Bucky are just staring at each other, both refusing to blink. While Katy looks right at their eyebrows refusing to make eye contact, fed up with the whole situation and their childish staring contest.

“Wait, what are you doing? Are you having a staring contest?” Snapping her fingers, she says blink to them repeatedly until they snap out of it. Katy looks up relieved.

“All right James, why does Sam aggravate you?”

Looking up her with a smirk he’s about to respond when she replies, “and don’t say something childish.”

At that he licks his lips and looks down, getting serious. Looking to Sam he asks, “Why did you give up that shield?”

At this Katy looks to Sam with the same questioning look, she desperately needs to know that answer to this. Why did he give it up to the museum when he could have given it to her…?

“Why are you making such a big deal out of something that had nothing to do with you?”

Finally, she speaks up, “Why didn’t you pass it on to me? If you didn’t want it?”

Looking over to her he responds “You went AWOL, we couldn’t find you. How could I have given to you when you weren’t there. I thought you would like that it went to the museum with the rest of the Captain America exhibition.”

Looking down in pain, she purses her lips and then glances back up

“Okay, so maybe it would have been hard to give to me if you couldn’t find me. I just don’t know why you thought I would rather have it collecting dust in a museum…”

Speaking up Bucky looked to Sam “Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing.

“Shut up”

“So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you he was wrong about me.”

“Or me” she muttered.

“You finished?”

“Yeah”

“All right, good. Maybe this is something you or Steve will never understand. But can you except that I did what I thought was right?

Bucky just looks down; Sam absorbs this and scoffs “You know what Doc? I don’t have time for this. We have some real serious shit going on. So how about this? I will squash it right now. We go deal with that, and when we’re done, we both can go on separate, long vacations, and never see each other again.”

“I like that”

“Great”

“You two can’t mean that!?”

Nodding his head Sam responds “Well, let’s get to work. Thanks Doc, for making it weird. I feel much better. I’ll see you outside. Getting up Sam walk out with Katy right on his heels, she looks back to check on Bucky and then continues on outside.

Meeting Walker and Hoskins outside they conclude that it would be better to work apart, all thought now they know the leader’s name is Karli Morgenthau. While walking down the street Bucky speaks up and says he knows a place to start. So now their heading to Germany, off to see Zemo..

Walking along the hallway in the prison Bucky lets them know he’s going in there alone.

“Why?”

“You two are avengers. You know how he feels about that.”

“It’s not like you two were known for frolickin’ in the sun together.”

“He was obsessed with hydra. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it.”

With that Bucky walks off leaving Sam and Katy to wait there.

An hour later they find themselves in a old building while Bucky explains he wants to break Zemo out of jail, how he could escape.

Sam is not having it, and neither is Katy.

“You want to break out the guy who tried to break up the avengers and framed you for a bombing?” she asked him shocked. She knew they were desperate for leads but not that desperate.

“Where are we, Buck? Have you lost you mind?” Sam called out.

“We have no leads no moves, nothing”

“What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars. “

“And we also have eight super soldiers that are loose.”

“It’s not the worst plan I suppose. Better than joining up with Walker and Hoskins.” She joins in.

Looking over at her incredulously Sam continues “Zemo’s gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense.”

Turning on the lights he says “Offense”

“Why are we on a mechanic shop? That where we are right?” she says looking to Bucky for answers.

“Super soldiers go against everything he believes in. He is crazy but he still has a code.”

“I’ve been on the wrong side of that code and so have you and Kat. He blew up the UN, he killed King T’Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? You think the Wakandans for about it? It’s a rhetorical question. They didn’t I know why this matter to you, buts it pushing you off the deep end.”

“Sam, we don’t know how they’re getting’ the serum. We don’t even know how many of them there are. Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I?”

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything” Bucky empathizes.

Tilting her head at that Katy looks over and ask, “So what’s this hypothetical?”

As Bucky is explaining the gears in her head are turning and she starting to figure out that everything he is saying has either already happened or currently is. Half expecting Zemo to come walking in any minute now. She’s not disappointed when he does. Sam however is livid.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa”

“No listen”

“What are you doin’ here?” Sam questions.

“I didn’t want to you, cause I knew you wouldn’t let this happen. “

“What did you do?”

“We need him”

“This has gotta be good” she says.

“You’re going back to prison!” Sam shouts

“If I may” Zemo begins before both Bucky and Sam interrupts yelling “NO”

Zemo mutters “apologies” as Katy watches and tilts her head. How polite she thought to herself.

Looking to both Katy and Sam Bucky say “When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me.”

“Of course, you were innocent, and those accords were utter bullshit, just another way for the UN to try and make the avengers their very own weapon to be used when they so desired.” She looks to him, and licks her lips, “I would do it all over again”

“I’m asking for you to do it again” he says while looking into her eyes, mesmerized by his ice blues eyes she mutters “Always, I’ll always help if you need. Until the end.” Turning to Sam he looks at him questioningly, waiting for his answer.

Zemo breaks in with “I really think I’m invaluable..”

“Shut up” Sam breaks in and looks back to Bucky and Katy.

“Okay. If we do this, you don’t make a move without our permission.”

“Fair”

“Okay Zemo, where do we start?”

[microcos-pod]

Micro-Cosmos S1E3: A Little Piece of Home Transcript

(The crew celebrates a special day. Transcript begins below break.)

[THEME MUSIC FADES IN] ANNOUNCER Futuristic Trail Mix Productions presents Micro-Cosmos: A Science Fiction Podcast. [THEME MUSIC FADES OUT] [sfx: button press] ATHENA Hey, HQ. It's Officer Athena Romero, with Crew #0137-F. I'm transmitting from... North 54 degrees, West 109 degrees, in a moment of alone time. Camp's not too far, I just... wanted to come out here to record. We were up so, so early, but we made really good time getting our travel in for the day. And... I don't know. I felt like being introspective. I know that's rarely a good thing to be, for people of our situation... but sometimes it can't be helped, I guess. We're nearing what Doctor Couvillion calls the temperate forest region of the planet. Oh, uh, Felix is... fine, by the way, in case you were wondering. I know I haven't talked about him a lot for the last week since his little run in with Mercutio, and in hindsight, that was probably a little alarming from your perspective. But, no. He's, um... just been very focused on his work. Ever since our encounter with that little... strange... cat lizard dinosaur thing, he's taken to a pretty enthusiastic approach of figuring out what it actually is. You know, what is eats, how it behaves, it's characteristics. Thus, he's not been his usual social self, but he's had what I guess you'd call a breakthrough. He's named it. The species, I mean. Varanus concolor. Apparently he's determined that it's a new species of monitor lizard. Exciting stuff. Miles and Cal have been sorta... tense, the last little bit? I don't know if Miles is still mad at them about that terrible, terrible prank or just for being, you know, Cal. I like Cal. And Miles. Honestly, I do. I think they're almost a little too similar to get along sometimes. I get that. I've been in the same spot for most of my life. I only recently figured out how to sort of... stop taking my own reflection personally. [sfx: fingers drumming on comms, pacing footsteps] ATHENA (CONT’D) Alex is good! If you're wondering. You know, morale and all. We've been talking a lot, since we're sort of the only ones not in our own world. Well, I guess we're all in our own world, that's sort of our job, but... 

[Athena laughs.] ATHENA (CONT’D) Literal humour, Athena. Good one. Anyways, she's nice to talk to. Leadership skills to boot, in case you didn't already know and needed someone to sing her praises. I think I'd be more than willing to sing her praises. So... the mission's going very well. Everyone is healthy and accounted for, and we're absolutely on track to get to our shipment drop-off point. Comms and tech and climate are all nominal. We're okay. We're okay.

[sfx: bag shuffling as she picks it up, footsteps] ATHENA (CONT'D) Oh, by the way, before I head back. It's my birthday. I don't know if that's something I should mention. Just thought... I don't know. I don't expect the others to notice, or even know at all, really. But it's nice to acknowledge another year, you know? I'm certainly not spending it where I would've expected to be if you had asked me on my previous... thirty birthdays. Anyways. Yes, it is my birthday, and I kind of miss home, and also I kind of don't, and also being here is present enough. So, I will celebrate by breaking open some of the candy in my bag, and getting some sleep- FELIX, ALEX SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! [Athena laughs.] ATHENA Guys! What are you doing?

ALEX Oh, come on Romero. You didn't really think you were going to get it past us, did you?

ATHENA No, I wasn't meaning to-

ALEX Oh, don't bother backtracking. You're busted.

FELIX There's no real party, or, presents, or... anything that would make this a proper birthday because of our circumstance, of course, but...

ALEX But an ambush was the least we could do.

FELIX The Commander and I only found out when she was conversing with Cal, inquiring of the database today's points of interest, or else we would've...

ALEX Done more than an ambush.Alex observes Athena, who's just standing there, staring at the two of them and grinning. But, I don't know. Seems like the ambush worked out pretty well. Try to smile less, huh?

ATHENA Heh. I, I mean... this is really sweet of you guys, I appreciate it.

MILES Appreciate what?

[sfx: footsteps, tapping on a screen] [C41′s JINGLE PLAYS] ATHENA Oh, uh, hey Miles!

MILES Heeey Athena, guys. What's up?

FELIX Did we...?

ALEX Nope.

FELIX So we forgot to...?

ALEX Yep.

FELIX Dammit.

ALEX Well, when you assume...

C41 Oh, um! Happy Birthday, Athena!

ATHENA Oh, uh, thank you Cal. Anyways, I was thinking we could get to bed early-

MILES Crap, it's your birthday?

ATHENA ... Yeah.

MILES I am so so sorry, I had no idea, I must have like, missed the memo, but-

ATHENA No, no, Miles, it's okay, I promise. I didn't say anything, and so how would you know? Spending it away from home, I wasn't really sure what to do, it's kind of hard, but...I just got busted by the Commander, so... [The crew laughs nervously.] MILES Happy Birthday.

ATHENA Thanks.

MILES You're welcome. Yeah, uh, actually, Cal and I forgot something back at our setup.

C41 We did?

MILES We did. The thing. We need. We need that thing, Cal, uh... we will be back... later. [sfx: footsteps walking away]

[C41′s JINGLE PLAYS.] FELIX Well, who wants to get this party started and play some cards?

***

MILES Caal! Why didn't you tell me it was Athena's birthday?

C41 I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It's just another day of the year, which... happens to be the day that Athena was born. You can congratulate her on still being alive, like you did, and then move on! Didn't seem that important to me.

MILES Yes, it's a big deal! It's like you said, it's the day someone was born, not just another day. Come on, Cal! Remember when Em and I made a huuuge deal about it on the anniversary that I created you?

C41 By chance, do you mean Doctor Macey? If so, then unfortunately, yes I do remember. It was very loud. If not, I haven't the slightest clue who 'Em' is.

MILES Yes. Her. Doctor Macey.

C41 Okay whatever. Anyways. Do continue on with what you were saying. It's proving to be really entertaining.

MILES Oh, I'll show you entertaining.

How did you not know that birthdays were important? Seriously, there's even a song about them. I taught you better than that.

[Miles sighs.]

MILES Cally, I didn't mean it like-

C41 It's Cal. And no, you're right. Why would something the O Great and Powerful and All-Knowing Miles Abbott made be so inconsiderate and dumb?

MILES Seriously, Cal. I didn't mean it. You know how I get.

C41 Yeah?

Oh, just drop it.

[C41 lets out a long series of scoffs and huffs in the following silence.]

C41 (CONT'D) ... Miles?

Miiiiiiles...?

MILES Caaaal....

Caaaaaaaal.....

C41 Miles- MILES Cal, I need to make Athena a birthday present!

I don't even know what she'd like, let alone what I could make her! There's like, nothing even worthy of being a gift on this planet.

[sfx: Miles snapping.]

MILES (CONT'D) What do I have? What do I even have? What does our camp have? I need to find something. Anything. I'll make it work. Cal, help me look. Please.

[C41 snorts.]

C41 Oh.

Oh, you mean actually help.

[sfx: a buzzing noise of C41′s form]

C41 (CONT'D) Um... well there are some big batteries that Alex didn't need over there, she left them this morning with her equipment. There is a... There is a... it looks like... is that a plastic fork? I really hope that isn't used. You all are a mess. And, um... what's that box, over there? What's that?

[sfx: footsteps, objects being knocked over]

MILES It's, uhhh... Chocolate. And... more chocolate. A gift from Emily, I... forgot I had these.

C41 Huh. A... whole box, huh? Of chocolate? What could you even make with those?

MILES I don't know, okay? I don't even know like, maybe I'm overreacting. Athena didn't tell us because she's not at home, or whatever-

Wait. Cal, what, um, what does Athena's home have?

C41 What?

MILES Where she's from. What's it like?

C41 Patroclus C? Well, it's-

[sfx: a long glitch]

C41 (CONT'D)- Patroclus C. A moon in orbit around more well-known terrestrial body Mirana Dunis. Patroclus-C is known for it's industrial prosperity and plentiful resources, as well as it's freezing conditions.

Notable landmarks include it's few geysers. All imported plant and animal life have adapted to the cold climate, however they take refuge in the steamy geysers that provide both water and heat- MILES Okay, Cal. That's enough, thanks.

[sfx: the same glitch, a zap]

C41 Oh, ouch. Eugh. Why did you let that happen? You know I hate that mode!

MILES I'm sorry! I'm stressing a bit here, if you haven't noticed.

C41 Yes, I'm well aware.

MILES Anyways. I... I think I have a plan.

C41 That's never good.

MILES Let's just hope this turns out. Mmm.... a decent start. ***

FELIX Have any... fives?

ALEX Go fish. [sfx: drawing a playing card].

ALEX (CONT'D) Got any queens?

FELIX Yes, yes. Queen of stars.

ALEX Thank you! Got any threes?

FELIX Go fish.

[sfx: drawing a card]

ALEX So close.

[sfx: approaching footsteps]

FELIX (with his mouth full) Better luck next time. Do you have any-

ALEX Want us to deal you in, Romero?

FELIX Athena? Hm. Cannot believe you were still doing work on your birthday.

ATHENA What's the name of the game?

ALEX Go fish. Do you play?

ATHENA I like to think cribbage is more my forte but... sure. Deal me in.

[sfx: cards shuffling]

ATHENA (CONT'D) Who's winning?

ALEX Me. I've won three matches.

ATHENA And how many has Felix won?

ALEX We've played three matches.

[Alex and Athena laugh.]

FELIX I am beginning to suspect her a cheat.

ALEX Can't help having an eye for this stuff.

ATHENA For what, counting cards?

ALEX I wish. Patterns. Got any kings, Athena?

ATHENA Go fish. Is that technically cheating, then? Patterns?

[sfx: drawing a card]

FELIX I believe I can call it cheating if it makes me feel badly about myself.

ATHENA Fair enough. Felix? Any fours?

FELIX Go fish. See, that felt perfectly fair.

ALEX Doc, I said patterns, not x-ray vision. You keep accusing me of cheating, I'm gonna start to take it personally.

FELIX I harbor suspicion, not accusation. Commander, do you have any aces?

[Alex sighs.]

[sfx: passing cards]

ALEX Dishes and comets. Happy?

FELIX Yes. Athena, do you have any sixes?

ATHENA Yeaaah. Here you go.

[sfx: passing cards, movement of pairs]

ALEX Feeling better about yourself?

FELIX Yes. Very.

ATHENA Jeez, you're already on track to win.

ALEX Felix, should I start repaying you all that whining?

FELIX I-

MILES (distant) DOES ANYONE HAVE JUMPER CABLES?

[sfx: stumbling, approaching footsteps]

FELIX Speaking of.

ALEX Uh... no, I don't think so. Maybe you should ask Cal?

MILES (distant) No. That's okay. I'll use the transport hawser. That should work... just as well if not better. I'll... I'm gonna go get that. Bye.

[sfx: retreating footsteps]

ATHENA That's... that's for... emergencies, what do they need that for-

ALEX My guess? Nothing good.

FELIX Commander, do you have any twos?

ALEX No, but I do have a Petty Officer who needs their marbles back.

[sfx: standing, retreating footsteps]

ATHENA Alex?

ALEX (O.S.) I'll be right back!

FELIX It's her turn, actually. Which one of us should go next?

ATHENA It's my birthday. Got any sevens?

***

[sfx: shuffling]

MILES I got something! Not cables, but... almost even better.

[C41′s JINGLE PLAYS]

C41 You're... actually doing this?

Oh... Okay. Even if it may be sliiiightly dangerous? Not that I care or anything-

MILES Look, I just can't sit back and do nothing for Athena's birthday.

C41 Yeah, but I think it would be better to guarantee everyone's safety than... You know, possibly blowing us up and setting everything on fire.

[sfx: metal chain drops]

[Miles sighs.]

MILES I guess that's true. I just don't want to disappoint her.

ALEX You're not disappointing her, kid.

MILES Huh?

Oh. Hi, Commander.

ALEX Wipe that sad look off your face. Even if you didn't know, she's happy that you're at least thinking about her right now.

[sfx: footsteps, shuffling, sitting]

MILES I... guess that's true. But I want to make her something. That's what I specialize in.

ALEX Fair enough. I guess I just didn't know you guys were this good of friends.

MILES I don't know that we are. It just seems like the kind of thing I should've tried for, I guess. We've got so much time to spend together and I don't want you guys thinking I'm cold and ignoring you all just because I get wrapped up in crap and get away from myself and especially lately with everything going on with Cal-

ALEX Hey. We don't think that. And I'm not just saying that, either. What were you planning on doing?

MILES I- ... Well, if I tell you, it would ruin the surprise.

ALEX Okay, okay. Do your thing, fix-it guy.

[sfx: getting up, a few footsteps]

MILES Hey, Commander? What if she doesn't like it?

[sfx: footsteps stop]

ALEX Remember what we talked about, kid. Make it from your heart, and she'll love it.

MILES O-okay, Commander... Thank you.

ALEX No problem, Miles. Always here to help. Let me know if you need anything else, yeah?

MILES Mhm! Now, I... I gotta get this show on the road.

ALEX Cal, keep an eye on them for me.

C41 Will do, Commander.

ALEX Good luuuck!

[sfx: retreating footsteps, tent closes]

C41 Well, that surely was-

MILES Alright Cally! We have some major business to attend to!

C41 -motivational.

MILES Okay, so I'm thinking... What if we melt the plastic fork? Like, all the way, and then, and, and then shape it around to make a base for the volcano geyser thing?

C41 That sounds incredibly dangerous. And like it would be highly amusing to watch.

[sfx: a whirring]

C41 (CONT'D) And according to my calculations I am correct on both counts. Do it.

MILES And... then we can put the chocolate in- Hold on, do we have anything to keep the chocolate melted?

C41 Hm. Probably not.

MILES Dammit, okay. That's fine, that's cool, uh... We can hook it up to the batteries someway to keep the heat constant and the launch device powered, that's fine, I can do that...

This is going to be a piece of cake. Let's go, Cally!

C41 How many times to I have to tell you? It's Cal.

MILES Mhmm, yeah. Let's just kick this baby in the teeth.

C41 Wh... what?

MILES It's an expression. Like, "let's blow this popsicle stand"? Or... "let's get this show on the road"?

C41 I don't understand how that could be related to either of those meanings.

MILES Whatever. I am gonna get this thing started, and it's going to be great.

[sfx: prolonged noises of tinkering and contstruction, a zap of electricity]

[Miles yelps.]

[C41 laughs.]

MILES Not funny!

[sfx: more sounds of construction and tinkering]

MILES Aaaaand there! Done. Finished. Phew.

C41 That looks...That... looks...I mean, um...That looks so good!

MILES You think?

C41 Yeah, I think she's-

ALEX (O.S.) How's it looking in here?

MILES Yeah, I think everything went great!

ALEX Perfect!

[sfx: Alex claps]

ALEX (CONT’D) Well, grab it and let's go; we have a birthday to celebrate. Take Cal and we'll meet her and Felix at that clearing. We're doing a little more celebration for Athena.

MILES Okay, Cal. You heard the boss; let's get going then.

C41 Yuuup.

MILES You know, I’m pretty proud of this.

C41 As you should be, Miles.

***

[sfx: approaching footsteps]

MILES HEY! Hey, guys I'm back!

FELIX Hello- oh. Oh wow. What...

ATHENA Miles... what's all this?

MILES It's, uh, it's your gift!

ATHENA Oh, Miles, really you didn't need to do that, that's super sweet, but-

MILES Oh, it's... it's just a little... something... electrocuted myself a few times making it, but- Happy Birthday!

ATHENA Oh. Oh, wow, that's really something, Miles, I love it!

What is it?

MILES It's a geyser. Like... you said. Well, actually you didn't say, but I did some digging and your... your home plant has... geysers, yeah? So it's like a little piece of home.

A geyser.

ALEX A geyser.

ATHENA Oh! Yes! A geyser. Of course! That's really thoughtful, Miles, you, uh... you shouldn't have! So it's like a... trinket! Or a little... a sculpture!

ALEX Oh... just you wait.

MILES Well, it's for more than just show.

Heh. Bet you've never seen anything like this before.

FELIX I'm quite sure I have not.

[sfx: setting down the present, the geyser bubbles and erupts pathetically, with a crackle]

[Miles breathing heavily.]

MILES Ta-dah!

ATHENA Ohhhh, wow, that's... that's so cool. Was it... was it supposed to melt like that?

MILES It was not the intention but apparently... that doesn't matter now-

[C41′s JINGLE PLAYS] 

C41 Evidently.

[sfx: more crackling]

ALEX Oh, okay, is this thing going to blow, Miles? Like actually, really blow?

MILES Shouldn't. It's a possibility... but it shouldn't.

ALEX Cal?

C41 Probably not? It'll be fine! Maybe Miles should get a little closer to shield the blast just in case.

MILES DON'T YOU RUIN THIS BY TRYING TO GET ME KILLED!

C41 Who, me? Never.

[sfx: the crackling and bubbling stops]

ALEX Alright, okay, okay. That was very cool. Right Athena?

ATHENA Right!

ATHENA (CONT'D) Look Miles, I really appreciate this, it's very, very sweet and I just hope you didn't feel like you had to do this, or anything-

MILES No, no, no. I wanted to. I mean... you were around to... keep me calm when I thought we were gonna get eaten in the woods. I didn't want you to think I didn't care, and... I wanted to make something nice for you. Normally I have more stuff to work with than forks and batteries and... chocolate.

FELIX Real chocolate?

ALEX Yes, real chocolate. Not now.

FELIX Ugh, and it's all on the grass, and... what a waste.

ALEX There will be more chocolate. Actually. Felix?

[sfx: receding footsteps]

[Alex and Felix whisper as they retreat.]

ATHENA Um, okay, but... Anyways. Thank you, Miles. That was a lot of fun. And I hope you didn't actually electrocute yourself.

MILES Oh, don't worry, it's not the first time.

C41 They're not joking.

MILES More of a shock than anything.

ATHENA Doesn't sound great for your health either way.

MILES Well, heh, yeah, I mean- Hey, wait a second. Wait what's-

ATHENA Huh?

[sfx: candles burning, approaching steps]

[Alex, Felix, Miles and C41 begin singing “Happy Birthday”]

ATHENA (overlapping) Oh, my... guys, what are you... that better not be our only fruit cake-

ALEX Come on, blow out the... flare candles. Make a wish.

ATHENA Okay, okay!

[sfx: blowing on candles, a glitch]

[sfx: candles burning]

[Alex laughs.]

[Athena hums in confusion]

[sfx: blowing on candles, a glitch]

[sfx: candles burning]

ALEX Come on, Romero. All in one go, now.

ATHENA Right. [sfx: blowing on candles, candles extinguishing]

[The crew cheers.] ALEX Happy Birthday. I'll clean up Miles's present later.

[Alex and Athena laugh.]

FELIX Time for cake!

[Felix leads Alex, Miles, and C41 in singing “For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow”]

FELIX  Cake! ***

[THEME MUSIC FADES IN]

ANNOUNCER Micro-Cosmos: A New Science Fiction Podcast. This episode, "A Little Piece of Home", was written by Zyrel Thompson and Lauren Tucker, edited by Luka Miller, and directed by Jesse Smith, Zyrel Thompson, and Lauren Tucker. It starred Jesse Smith as the voice of Athena Romero, Jackson Rossman as the voice of Miles Abbott, Luka Miller as the voice of Alex dela Cruz, Kaleb Piper as the voice of Felix Couvillion, and Pippa van Beek-Paterson as the voice of Cal. Original music by Julia Barnes, and sound editing by Tobias Friedman. Be sure to stay tuned to our feed for upcoming episodes from the new backpacking intergalactic adventure from Futuristic Trail Mix Productions. To follow the show and find transcripts, you can find us on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram as @MicroCosPod. Questions, comments, and concerns can be emailed to us via futuretrailmixpros@gmail.com. Find more information on the show on our website, microcospod.space. Thank you for listening.

[THEME MUSIC FADES OUT]

[borderlandsthirst]

Flame Angel au

Koetai  

Physical 

Has a long gash going down her back at a slanted angle, it’s decorated with the twins’ snake symbol and a pair of dragon wings. 

Triple pierced ears, a small hoop for the earlobe and studs for the other holes. 

Long kinky hair kept in a ponytail, left side of her hair shaved around the ears. 

Has smaller scars over her body from years of abuse, use to try and cover them but now wears them with pride. 

Fashion since is nonexistent, just like the twins she wears an inconsistent color scheme. 

Has her own symbol she wears on the back of her jacket. A dark orange, six-winged serpent surrounded by flames. 

Has a pet Spiderantling name Natty who grows up to be a badass Spiderant Queen. 

I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE!! 

Long post under the cut along with psychological destress and dark thoughts.

Mental 

Mostly shattered, years of mental and physical abuse has left Koetai in a state of numbness that only eases when the twins are around. 

It’s a bit unstable, can fly off the handle sometimes and takes it out on the followers.  

Has accidentally scratched Tyreen once while having a fit, it didn’t really affect her physically but emotionally she understands what it means to be treated poorly by your parents. Even if it’s not the same kind of trauma. 

Sometimes she’ll just shut down while in the safety of the Cathedral, while working with a saint or one of the twins she just stops and stare into the distance. Takes a while to bring her back 

Has stolen small unimportant items from the twins to take with her while she’s in the field so it feels like they’re with her. She needs them with her. 

Feels empty when the twins aren’t around or isn’t being praised by the followers, she’s the right hand of the twin Gods, she’s the enforcer. How can nobody see how powerful and important she is? 

Is a bit sadistic, will toy with Crimson Raider soldiers like a cat and then kill them in the most gruesome way imagine with her bare hands or a weapon that’s either her’s or theirs. All with a smile on her face. 

Takes pleasure in all pain, mostly people she knows are innocent and not fighters. Why should she care about the pain of children when nobody cared about her’s? 

Personality 

Crazy, that’s to be expected after everything that’s happened to her. 

Will fake you out in a heartbeat, one second she’s quiet and smiling real menacingly in your face, the next you’re lying on the ground bleeding while she walks off with your money and loot. 

Only when she’s with the twins can the girl she could have grown into is revealed, kinda shy in interested in music and crafting. And yoga, she has to be at ease to keep the twins at ease when they’re about to snap. 

Loves Troy and Tyreen but would never tell them (they’ll figure it out on their own eventually), because to her they are real Gods. 

When she’s focused on something she’ll get real quiet so her concentration isn’t broken. Sometime she’ll stick her tongue out the side of her mouth, Troy and Tyreen have many pictures. 

Gets along with the twins amazingly well, it’s almost like they’ve been together forever. Will let Tyreen do her hair and makeup, will let Troy do her nails. All three of them will sleep in a pile. 

Is standoffish towards literally everyone else, the bandits of Pandora remind her too much of a crazy, shitty father. 

See the cultist as demons, they aren’t even lost souls, just ants on the surface of a dry ass planet, but the twins have given them a chance to seek out salvation. She just loves the part where the follows fall out of line, although she hates seeing the twins angry, she loves the killing part.

Troy 

Physical 

Has a pretty nasty scar on his right shoulder leading down to the area across from his ribs. 

Troy protects his damaged area with a skin friendly and cushiony gel liner filled with medical beads. It hugs his shoulder and keeps his bracer in place without causing more harm to his body. 

Wishes for nothing more than to be normal like his sister, he constructs a prosthetic using stolen Hyperion tech that (surprisingly) still works and sprays it his skin tone. 

He has built up muscle mass (but is still skinny around his ribs) still has his eight pack (or is it a six pack?) 

Will cake on so much eye shadow you wonder if it's just a part of his face. And wears more eyeliner that is necessary when in front of a crowd. 

Has nipple piercings, gauges, a lip piercing, and a di- 

Still has the things in his arm (because Idk what they are) that are medical ports the pump nutrition into him. And so does his spinel connecter.  

THICK THIGHS AND ASS!! 

Mental 

Hates his body, even though he has an eight pack he loses weight at a dangerous rate, he has to eat lots of meat every day. 

Has night terrors often and usually wakes up with a knife in his hand. He wishes he could muster his powers to heal himself a real right arm. 

Tyreen usually has to come and calm him enough to get him back in bed, on especially terrible nights she’ll have him sleep with her for comfort.  

When alone he mumbles his mother’s name like a mantra, Leda Calypso. Like saying her name with keep him from going insane. 

Is angry at Tyreen for latching onto him as a fetus and almost killing him, but knows that she obviously didn’t mean to, this kind of thing happens sometimes to twins. And it’s not like she could do anything about the Leech, she was a fetus. 

Doesn’t stop him from hating what happened. Even though he loves his only family member. 

Has found himself thinking about very dark things involving Tyreen and blood. 

Making his prosthetic look like a real arm only broke him more, but even if it looks real, he knows it’s not. 

Personality 

A mask of channeled angsty goth teen energy, not as dramatic as Tyreen, but when he is it’s a fucking show. Overconfident in himself and cocky. 

Doesn’t like when the followers get too close to him, Tyreen, or Koetai. Will act like he gives a damn about his followers at a distance, but if they get too close? He crushes they’re skull with his cybernetic. 

Is a cold and viscous beast with no remorse for anyone, will stump in your ribcage just for looking at him. 

Keeps his personal saints at an arm's length, on Koetai can get close, anyone who steps out of line is, well, dead. 

Behind closed doors he’s all over his machines, he loves to tinker and build. He created the blueprints for the COV’s guns, Koetai’s buzzaxe, and countless other knickknacks across the camps of Pandora. 

Loves beatboxing, will make up some horrible beat in hopes that Tyreen or Koetai will rap or sing to it, can actually sing himself. Has sung the girls to sleep before. 

Records personal logs for himself whenever he’s in the mood, it can be about anything, personal issues, how being the GodKing makes him feel, how there’s really only one asset in his life that’s keeping him together. 

Love to bake, surprising to someone who doesn’t know him. But Troy loves sweets and it’s hard to get that on Pandora, so he makes them himself. 

Tyreen 

Physical 

Tyreen has a matching scar on her left shoulder blade where she was connected to Troy. 

She wears at least two layers of clothing to ensure it stays hidden, it doesn’t matter if it’s hot out, if her scar is covered then she’s satisfied.  

Has perfected a balanced look of dark makeup to make her look grown and sexy since she has a baby face. Sharp eyeliner, dark blue or black eyeshadow, and variety of dark lip-glosses.  

Works out with Troy (but not too much, just enough to stay in shape) so she has a nice four pack. 

Also has piercings, cute little studs for her ears, a nose piercing, nipples too, and a cl- 

Has her mother’s last name tattooed across her lower back. And has the COV logo tattooed on her right shoulder (really to match the eye on Troy’s shoulder.) 

Doesn’t wear a glove on her left had (since it doesn’t do anything nor does it really match the outfit.) 

THICK THIGHS SAVE LIVES, while big booties end them. 

Mental 

Can HEAR the Leech talking to her, trying to convince her to consume more, feed more, TAKE MORE. Has even told her to leech her brother more times than one. 

Was once teetering on the edge of insanity because of the constant whispering in the back of her head, but over the years she’s managed to push it back. But sometimes the voice breaks through again. 

Because of the voice she barely sleeps, it’s not like she needs to, but she can’t even if she needed to. 

Loves her brother with all her heart but feels like he hates her for what she’s done. Sure, she wasn’t even born yet, but she almost killed him before he was even born. 

Actually despises the fact she’s a siren, if she wasn’t a siren Troy would messed up, mom would still be alive, and dad wouldn’t have treated us so coldly. 

Doesn’t have it together as much as she likes to think, would have a mental breakdown behind closed door, Troy has only seen it once and spent hours with Tyreen as she sobbed uncontrollably into his arms. She made sure to never let him witness that again. 

Tyreen has clawed at her tattooed arm a few times, scratched thick deep cuts that immediately heal close, just to be scratched open again. 

Only perusing the Grant Vault for Troy’s sake, hopefully all that power will keep his stable for the rest of their lives. 

Personality 

Egotistical and shamelessly smug. Thinks she’s big shit and that she’s on top of the world. Lives with a shit-eating grin on her face while in front of the camera. 

Actually convinces everyone around her that she truly does care about of her followers (but is really still afraid of them.) Wouldn’t hesitate to punt-kick one in private though.  

Enjoys followers throwing themselves at her feet to offer gifts and praise, but if anyone touches her, even accidently, they’re dead. They’re not even allowed to kiss her boots, she doesn’t want their saliva on her clothes. 

When away from public she is extremely soft and sweet, kisses? She gives kisses to her brother and to Koetai, she is also pretty chill. 

While Troy bakes, Tyreen cooks. She may not need to eat real food but that doesn’t mean she can’t if she wants to. Pasta, sandwiches, a fucking baked potato? You name it, she can make it.  

Loves to sing, her mother said she had the voice of an angel, will perform a little concert for Troy and Koetai and feel flushed and proud afterwards. 

Enjoys painting like no one would believe, has a painting station in the corner of her room where she spends a good amount of time painting pictures of her loved ones, which is only three people, not including her father. 

Enjoys just, sitting outside on her balcony with the fresh air, even if the air is dry and smells like skag shit.  

First time I’ve ever written anything like this and I’m sure I did it badly, still more to come, should work on a position structure or something. Also need to make a layout of the common and working rooms.

[selemina]

So how about you tell me a bit about what you're upto? What's going on in your campaigns this week? :3

This week nothing, because I have been busy with real life, I didn’t have time to prepare. ^^’ But I can tell you what happened in the last sessions up to this point!

The quarantine story arc started with everybody going to a student fashion show. Alexia and Isa had been invited to be models, but once there and with a few events, both Permid and Lyn also asked to join. However, in the middle of it, they realized their tech wizard Raph was... not online. Which was impossible : Raph is ALWAYS online! They tried to contact people in Saclay and couldn’t get anybody. Worried, they drove with a few other people from Saclay, over to a secret entrance. (I took some liberty with reality, based around the historical fact that there are aquaduct networks that used to bring water from Saclay to Versaille’s castle for the fountains of the palace. :) ) Using those tunnels, they managed to get inside... All of Saclay was under a severe quarantine : no radio, no internet, no phone lines... Everything was cut off. Knowing this had to be about the magical events happening around town, the group realized they would be hunted down sooner or later. In any case, Salin and Saka (both from Mira) coulldn’t be found by the government, so they offered to get a few of the kids and go over to the other world, Mira, to hid in there for a week or so until the search let up.

Saka, Isa, Lyn and Permid agreed to go with Salin to Mira, while Ivan and Alexia decided to stay to keep an eye on things and protect who needed it. They also had not heard about Damiana in a while...

The A team, in Mira, landed at the White tower as usual, where Master Kavoleg was in the middle of a meeting with representants of each nation, informing them about the existence of Earth, and the imminent crisis it faced of having magical resurface, all unsupervised and without direction. After most left, they met the Human representant of this council :

He seemed very curious about this new human-only world with no magic. They all discussed the current state of things, and the worry that if there was already a military presence during this “quarantine”, things might be a little difficult to resolve peacefully...

Still, since they had a week of down time, Saka asked to start looking for his missing brother, Sisik, that had last been since just before the whole thing. They headed to the port town where he had been seen last, and started looking. They heard about the fact that Sisik was looking into disappearances that seemed to target specifically magic users, and just as they exited the building, someone tried to get saka alone in an alleyway. While Isa was 100% here to help, Saka and Permid saw right through it, and managed to stop the kidnapping attempt peacefully (I will never say enough how proud I am of my players for going out of their way to not be murder hobos! ;W;)

They learned that those kidnappers had no real idea who they worked for, they were just there to subdue people and pass them over to someone else, and got a better cut if the people were magic users. They handed the kidnappers to the town’s guard, and Saka immediately stormed out, realizing that this was a serious issue, and his brother might be somewhere in there. He went to the Axis outpost, and was told that if he could provide something that belonged to Sisik, they could attempt to locate him.

Which meant They had to go back to Saka’s home, in Iridescence, the land of dragonborns. A place he had avoided at any cost for three years... Still, for his brother, he pushed through and went, with the others in tow. It didn’t take very long for his anxiety to return to be explained, as they ran into his ex-lover, Zahz. Apparently their relationship had been toxic, between Zahz’s abuse of control, and Saka’s desperation to be loved at any cost, and the break-up had been messy. But it had been enough of a shock that Zahz had decided to work on himself, or at least start the process to become a better person. The two awkardly reconnected, wary of falling into old habits but still very much in love with the other. Saka also visited his parents again after 3 years, and after some scolding for not giving news himself, he was given one of Sisik’s baby teeth to help locate him.

The process didn’t seem to go through, until Permid realized the problem was that Sisik was in a different plane of existence. With Salin’s help, they devised a spell to locate the plane in which Sisik was being held, and once they had this information, they adapted the locate spell to be able to reach Sisik. They very quickly realized he was in the Underdark (which I THOUGHT was a different plane for some reason, so woops, now the Underdark is a different plane in my world. XD), and that his magic had been drained from him to the point of leaving him barely alive. There was also mention of a Wish spell, that left Permid very worried... Saka on the other end focused on the fact that magic drain at this degree was not only against the Axis’ codes, but also a warning sign of a potential catastrophy about to happen. He made a report to his superior in the Axis, and called for backup. They agreed to start organizing a strike team to take this threat down and save the captured civilians, giving the group a few days to get ready before the attack while they located precisely where the prison was.

Lyn, Isa and Permid had a moment of hesitation : they came here to hide for a while, not to be part of a strike team and potentially kill people! Salin reminded them that they always had the opportunity to leave if they wanted, but she would be doing everything she could to keep them safe and away from the main battle. In the end, they decided to stay and assist Saka. -Which Salin was very glad for, as it would force Saka to hold back to keep them safe too, keeping him from putting himself in danger recklessly like he had a tendency to. A little bit of manipulation Zahz reproached her later, but to each their way of keeping their friends safe. ;)

The B team had their own adventure in the meantime! :) As a doctor, Ivan realized very quickly that the Tieflings under his care were being brought to a field hospital the government had put in place, away from prying eyes, essentially in a temporary military base. VERY unhappy about this, he started organizing a passive resistance with the nurses and other doctors, while making sure he could go to said hospital and visit the tieflings himself.

Damiana, who had started showing tiefling traits, had been kept in her own room without any phone or internet for a week now by her very religious grandmother, in the hopes of forcing the devil out of her. All it did was push her to escape her house once she heard that her family wanted to send her to a covenant essentially, so god could help her repent. None of that for Dami, thank you! She eventually found her way to the student dorms, and was given a place to stay for the moment, and a way to disguise herself to look like she used to.

On her side, Alexia had been keeping an eye on her and her patron’s territory : the school. To their credit, the military presence here wasn’t abusive, just checking for anybody’s ID as they passed by. Soon, though, a different kind of government official showed up, walking straight to her : enter Special Agent Dyla Ross, that I’ve spoken about at length already. XD He presented himself, and asked Alexia, as a person of interest, to follow him to the field camp. There, a small firing squad suddenly appeared, weapons trained on her, and got ready to fire. Alexia decided to protect herself with mage armor, while Ivan (who was just coming back from the field hospital and saw his student in danger) rushed over, projecting an illusion in front of her for added protection. The weapons clicked, unloaded from the start, and the firing squad moved back into their hiding spot while Dylan casually walked back in. This had been a test to see what their first reflex to danger was : if they had attacked the firing squad, it would have looked very bad for them, but instead they chose to be safe. He then got them both into his office and got as much information from them as he could. Ivan being very forthcoming and open with information, even helpful, seemed to surprise Dylan deeply, but he appreciated it. There was only one attempted lie, that Dylan dissuaded quickly. Ivan offered to send Peter his way, since the vampire was originally from Mira, to get more intel on the new world.

The next day, Alexia and Damiana met a new friendly face over breakfast : Tethys, an exchange student that seemed to also have magic abilities. Shortly after, Dylan showed up again, offering to drive the kids over to the atomic research facility next to the Synchrotron to test out some theories about magic. Under the supervision of Archeon White talon, Permid’s dad and local scientist, they set up different dummies and tries spells on them. Everything was recorded in any ways science knew how : heat, motion, air displacement, visual, slow motion... After a few shots, Dylan got on the field and asked to be fired at with magic. Everybody immediately protested, but he insisted. He tried to use deflect missile on a few things, quickly realizing he could not actually catch magic, and after a round of test got himself healed on camera for the record.

They then drove to Ivan’s house (because Dylan wanted to try and see Peter again), where the doctor and Dylan spoke some more while the team welcomed a second new face : Shanti! :) Recently turned tiefling too, plagued by voices in her mind for a while, Shanti got to meet Omnideus and become a cleric like Ivan. They caught her and tethys up to speed, and everybody turned in for the day.

Next day! :D While Shanti was getting used to the new house, Oni came by the see if she needed anything (since he’s been adopted more or less by the Standons, and is still looking for purpose). After a short talk, shanti noticed Omnideus staring ominously in the direction of the school, and they both hurried there. At school, a fire alarm had gone off, and Alexia, Dami and Tethys started evacuating, when Alexia was informed by her patron that something bad was going on. They quickly realized there was a student in distress, in the middle of a wild magic surge, unfortunately wrecking havoc on the school ground as she looked for help. They got there, along with Shanti while Oni kept the military forces from doing anything stupid and making things worse. Damiana figured out that they needed to help the student focus on a spell to expel the excess magic, and with reassuring words and a comforting, confident presence, they helped her calm down enough to cast a spell, resolving the surge as peacefully as they could. (Rip school windows) And guess who showed up! :D Dylan, again, having heard that something was going on at the school. He took in the situation, forced to recognize that these kids knew what they were doing. He also confronted Alexia about things she was not telling him on purpose, and as a show of what her patron could do, she made the statue right behind her brandish its stone cane straight at Dylan’s face, not touching him but barely. (Dylan had to recognize that yeah, ok, she was being honest about her patron being In the statue...)

He then told them to all come at the field camp tonight, as they needed to discuss how to handle this whole situation, and make a proper plan before his superior, the General in charge of the quarantine, showed up to demand a report and a plan of action.

And that’s it! :D So next time will be a big session : between storming the underdark fortress and deciding on what the world should know of what’s going on here, big things are going to happen, as we reach this arc’s finale! :D And after that.. Beach episode on Mira! ;) (And then we move to the next and final story arc! ;) )

[creepingsharia]

A Rogues Gallery of Terror-Tied CAIR Leaders

Posted on October 30, 2011

via WND.

As former FBI agent Mike Rolf acknowledges in “Muslim Mafia,” “CAIR has had a number of people in positions of power within the organization that have been directly connected to terrorism and have either been prosecuted or thrown out of the country.” According to another FBI veteran familiar with recent and ongoing cases involving CAIR officials, “Their offices have been a turnstile for terrorists and their supporters.”

FBI agents arresting CAIR founding director Ghassan Elashi in 2002. A review of the public record, including federal criminal court documents, past IRS 990 tax records and Federal Election Commission records detailing donor occupations, reveals that CAIR has been associated with a disturbing number of convicted terrorists or felons in terrorism probes, as well as suspected terrorists and active targets of terrorism investigations. The list is long and includes:

Ghassan Elashi: One of CAIR’s founding directors, he was convicted in 2004 of illegally shipping high-tech goods to terror state Syria and is serving 80 months in prison. He was also convicted of providing material support to Hamas in the Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial. He was chairman of the charity, which provided seed capital to CAIR. Elashi is related to Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

Muthanna al-Hanooti: The CAIR director’s home was raided in 2006 by FBI agents in connection with an active terrorism investigation. Agents also searched the offices of his advocacy group, Focus on Advocacy and Advancement of International Relations, which al-Hanooti operates out of Dearborn, Mich., and Washington, D.C.Al-Hanooti, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iraq, formerly helped run a suspected Hamas terror front called LIFE for Relief and Development. Its Michigan offices also were raided in September 2006. In 2004, LIFE’s Baghdad office was raided by U.S. troops, who seized files and computers. Al-Hanooti is related to Sheik Mohammed al-Hanooti, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Muthanna al-Hanooti, wearing traditional headgarb “Al-Hanooti collected over $6 million for support of Hamas,” according to a 2001 FBI report, and was present with CAIR and Holy Land officials at a secret Hamas fundraising summit held in 1993 at a Philadelphia hotel. Prosecutors added his name to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case. Although Al-Hanooti denies supporting Hamas, he has praised Palestinian suicide bombers as “martyrs” who are “alive in the eyes of Allah.”

Abdurahman Alamoudi: Another CAIR director, he is serving 23 years in federal prison for plotting terrorism. Alamoudi, who was caught on tape complaining that bin Laden hadn’t killed enough Americans in the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, was one of al-Qaida’s top fundraisers in America, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Siraj Wahhaj: A member of CAIR’s board of advisers, Wahhaj was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The radical Brooklyn imam was close to convicted terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and defended him during his trial.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj “Muslim Mafia,” citing co-author’s Sperry’s previous book “Infiltration” as well as terror expert Steven Emerson’s research, reports that Wahhaj, a black convert to Islam, is converting gang members to Islam and holding “jihad camps” for them. With a combination of Islam and Uzis, he has said, the street thugs will be a powerful force for Islam the day America “will crumble.” Wahhaj was a key speaker at CAIR’s 15th annual fund-raising banquet in Arlington, Va., in 2009.

Randall “Ismail” Royer: The former CAIR communications specialist and civil-rights coordinator is serving 20 years in prison in connection with the Virginia Jihad Network, which he led while employed by CAIR at its Washington headquarters. The group trained to kill U.S. soldiers overseas, cased the FBI headquarters and cheered the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Abu Ali, convicted of plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush, was among those who trained with Royer’s Northern Virginia cell.

Bassam Khafagi: Another CAIR official, Khafagi was arrested in 2003 while serving as CAIR’s director of community affairs. He pleaded guilty to charges of bank and visa fraud stemming from a federal counter-terror probe of his leadership role in the Islamic Assembly of North America, which has supported al-Qaida and advocated suicide attacks on America. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and deported to his native Egypt.

Laura Jaghlit: A civil-rights coordinator for CAIR, her Washington-area home was raided by federal agents after 9/11 as part of an investigation into terrorist financing, money laundering and tax fraud. Her husband Mohammed Jaghlit, a key leader in the Saudi-backed SAAR network, is a target of the still-active probe.Jaghlit sent two letters accompanying donations – one for $10,000, the other for $5,000 – from the SAAR Foundation to Sami al-Arian, now a convicted terrorist. In each letter, according to a federal affidavit, “Jaghlit instructed al-Arian not to disclose the contribution publicly or to the media.”Investigators suspect the funds were intended for Palestinian terrorists via a U.S. front called WISE, which at the time employed an official who personally delivered a satellite phone battery to Osama bin Laden. The same official also worked for Jaghlit’s group.In addition, Jaghlit donated a total of $37,200 to the Holy Land Foundation, which prosecutors say is a Hamas front. Jaghlit subsequently was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.

Nihad Awad

Nihad Awad: Wiretap evidence from the Holy Land case puts CAIR’s executive director at the Philadelphia meeting of Hamas leaders and activists in 1993 that was secretly recorded by the FBI. Participants hatched a plot to disguise payments to Hamas terrorists as charitable giving.During the meeting, according to FBI transcripts, Awad was recorded discussing the propaganda effort. He mentions Ghassan Dahduli, whom he worked with at the time at the Islamic Association for Palestine, another Hamas front. Both were IAP officers. Dahduli’s name also was listed in the address book of bin Laden’s personal secretary, Wadi al-Hage, who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in the U.S. embassy bombings. Dahduli, an ethnic-Palestinian like Awad, was deported to Jordan after 9/11 for refusing to cooperate in the terror investigation. (An April 28, 2009, letter from FBI assistant director Richard C. Powers to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. – which singles out CAIR chief Awad for suspicion – explains how the group’s many Hamas connections caused the FBI to sever ties with CAIR.)Awad’s and Dahduli’s phone numbers are listed in a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by federal investigators revealing “important phone numbers” for the “Palestine Section” of the Brotherhood in America. The court exhibit showed Hamas fugitive Mousa Abu Marzook listed on the same page with Awad.

Omar Ahmad

Omar Ahmad: U.S. prosecutors also named CAIR’s founder and chairman emeritus as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land case. Ahmad, too, was placed at the Philadelphia meeting, FBI special agent Lara Burns testified at the trial. Prosecutors also designated him as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Palestine Committee” in America. Ahmad, like his CAIR partner Awad, is ethnic-Palestinian.(Though both Ahmad and Awad were senior leaders of IAP, the Hamas front, neither of their biographical sketches posted on CAIR’s website mentions their IAP past.)

Nabil Sadoun

Nabil Sadoun: A CAIR board member, Sadoun has served on the board of the United Association for Studies and Research, which investigators believe to be a key Hamas front in America. In fact, Sadoun co-founded UASR with Hamas leader Marzook. The Justice Department added UASR to the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land case. UPDATE: In 2010, Sadoun was ordered deported to his native Jordan. An immigration judge referenced Sadoun’s relationship with Hamas and the Holy Land Foundation during a deportation hearing.

Mohamed Nimer: CAIR’s research director also served as a board director for UASR, the strategic arm for Hamas in the U.S. CAIR neglects to mention Nimer’s and Sadoun’s roles in UASR in their bios.

Mohamed Nimer

Rafeeq Jaber: A founding director of CAIR, Jaber was the long-time president of the Islamic Association for Palestine. In 2002, a federal judge found that “the Islamic Association for Palestine has acted in support of Hamas.” In his capacity as IAP chief, Jaber praised Hezbollah attacks on Israel. He also served on the board of a radical mosque in the Chicago area.

Rabith Hadid: The CAIR fundraiser was a founder of the Global Relief Foundation, which after 9/11 was blacklisted by the Treasury Department for financing al-Qaida and other terror groups. Its assets were frozen in December 2001. Hadid was arrested on terror-related charges and deported to Lebanon in 2003.

Hamza Yusuf: The FBI investigated the CAIR board member after 9/11, because just two days before the attacks, he made an ominous prediction to a Muslim audience.”This country is facing a terrible fate, and the reason for that is because this country stands condemned,” Yusuf warned. “It stands condemned like Europe stood condemned because of what it did. And lest people forget, Europe suffered two world wars after conquering the Muslim lands.”

Check the left navigation bar for key reports on CAIR’s terror  links that you can save and send to your elected officials or those seeking office.

[nemossubmarine]

Warhammer 40k: Wrath & Glory RP #44

As Gorm goes to talk with Carl and Gimlet goes to check Engarde’s body, Saef makes his way to his room. Outside it in the hallway he spies uncomfortable looking Vivek and his older sister Mai. As soon as Vivek notices Saef, he ducks into Saef’s room, leaving the siblings to talk with each other. Mai questions who Vivek is, like is he Saef’s… Friend, says Saef. Next thing Mai asks is about Saef’s new look. Saef explains the whole psyker, sanctioned psyker, army business, and Mai is like alright, did not know that. Anyway, Mai tried to reach Saef earlier but only met up with this strange AdMech boy (also Saef’s friend), which wasn’t exactly surprising considering Saef’s track record. But what she meant to say was that their parents are returning to Civitas A. Mai clearly thinks it’s not a great idea, she has tried to talk them out of it. Mai and her husband and kid are staying on Santa Maria, and Saef says he can put a good word in with the Captain. She is planning on sending money to the parents back home, anything to help their remaining siblings to get a little ahead in life, and she was thinking she could help Saef too, but clearly he has a good career ahead of him. Mai says Saef got back just in time before their parents left and she suggests he goes to say goodbye. (they sort of agree to have lunch later, it’s a bit awkward, as all Saef-family stuff is)

So Saef makes his way to his parents’ room and catches them just in time before they leave. Mother Analyn does most (all) talking, she is of course glad to see her son before they leave and happy (though surprised) that he has chosen to serve the Imperial Army (and also since when were you a psyker?). Saef asks if it’s safe to return and if they have a place to stay, and Analyn says there’s a camp for returning people. Saef says he can send his pay check for them and if they ever need anything they can just contact him. Analyn says that Saef should send the address to where he is stationed so they can send cookies or something. Saef likes that. It’s all super awkward still, but Saef takes his parents to the transporter and waves them goodbye.

After Laurel has left Gorm armors up and he and Uffe go to visit Z47r at his ship. It’s a bit stuffy for the Astartes, but they find the tech-priest working on a replacement jaw for himself. Gorm comments how there wasn’t any losses in the battle, and Z47r says he lost a Skitarius and several servitors before the arrival of our heroes, but yes, good job all. Gorm affirms with Z47r that he can locate Rolf, and Z47r says he will do this, but again needs to be on Triplex Phall for that. Gorm then asks about servo-skulls and whether Z47r could make Snorri’s skull into a servo-skull. Z47r says of course, and then asks what kind. They discuss a bit on how servo-skulls are made and what were Snorri’s strengths. Gorm agrees to bring Snorri to Z47r and he says he’ll have the skull finished before they get to Triplex Phall.

Gorm wants to talk with Z47r about Uffe, and surprisingly Uffe wants to stay in to listen in on this, but Gorm does the talking. Gorm is frank with the tech-priest as he appears to appreciate it, and says that he knows that Z47r has rifled through Uffe’s memories. Z47r admits to this, he says his mentor X56r contacted him to work on two Wolves, standard memory erasing after traumatic events. Gorm supposes Z47r doesn’t know about the memories’ content and Z47r says the AdMechs usually don’t look through the memories, they just erase the synapses. Gorm says he’ll contact Fenris about this AdMech + Space Wolves co-operation and Z47r has nothing to complain about that.

Before they leave Z47r has a question for Uffe. He noted that he was carrying an AdMech standard plasma caliver, and wonders where he got it from. Uffe replies that he got it from Vivek. Gorm notes that obviously they all know what’s going on re: knowing Vivek before/after servitoring. Z47r comments he doesn’t care about the fate of any particular servitor. Gorm agrees and maneuvers Uffe out of the room.

Outside Gorm comments to Uffe that he was rather open with the detail of where he got his gun, and Uffe asks if he should have lied. Gorm says he’s not reprimanding Uffe, just trying to keep a working relationship with the tech-priest, he doesn’t like the man, and understands that Uffe might have some difficulty with him. Uffe says he understands, and says he needs to go get his phone back from Vivek. Gorm stops Uffe and asks if he’s alright, and Uffe pauses for a bit before admitting he’s not sure and that he needs to talk with Vivek. Gorm reminds Uffe that he’s there for him if he needs him, Uffe nods, bonks Gorm’s head and leaves. 

Saef returns to his room and Vivek sort of catches him at the doorway, says there’s a bit of a hitch and sits him down with Felis Catus on his lap. The little bit of a hitch is that there is only one of the two kiddos in the room. Theo is sitting on his bed, unservitored, but Rat is nowhere in sight. Saef introduces himself to Theo who notes that last time they met Saef punched him in the face. But hey, all cool now. Saef asks where Rat is and Theo says that Rat followed an Inquisitor lady (Inpax), because she couldn’t let her take Eden. Theo tried to stop her, but she can turn invisible. Sorry. Saef says it’s okay, Rat would not have been stopped anyway, she’s that type of person. Theo has been hanging in the room alone mostly with the cat, when Mai stopped by so he asked her to text Saef about the Rat thing, but by now she could be anywhere. Saef texts Rat and gets back briefly shared location (Triplex Phall (surprise, surprise!)), a shush emoji and “I’ll leave you a sign”. At least she’s alive. (at some point Vivek is picked up by a very serious looking (so normal looking) Uffe)

Gimlet texts Saef and Gorm and asks them to come to his room for a talk. He’s made tea, and he has his Inquisition badge on the table, so it must be serious business. Gimlet gets right to the business, namely that he thinks our heroes should look into the data disk once more, to get some information. Kuru was not a nice man and he was at least related to weapon smuggling (being a Mendoza) and whatever Eden and Eden’s creator have done. Gorm says information is good, but he admits hesitance in looking through another man’s memories. He’s not sure what this has to do with Gimlet’s mission. Gimlet is apparently worried about who took Kuru’s body from the Necron planet, and why did it end up on Dew Mountain. Gorm says it must have been the Mechanicus, no one else would know anything about it. Gimlet asks why they would take it, and Gorm guesses to hide stuff? But the most important part of Kuru (for Eden’s purposes) was the data disk, so why the body. Gorm points out that Eden is not an AdMech technically, so AdMech may have a completely different priority. Gorm says he feels responsibility about the data disk since it was handed to him, and he won’t hand it over unless Saef agrees. Saef points out that Vivek was previously really mad about them looking into the data disk when Saef accidentally slipped that information to him. Gorm agrees that Vivek should be taken into account, and says Gimlet must get Vivek’s permission for it (which is exactly what Gimlet didn’t want).

Gimlet says he has some more information he hasn’t yet told and Gorm and Saef sigh really loudly. Gimlet mentions that he was looking into Eden and Eden’s creator at the behest of Inpax, as well as the connection between Kane Bullard and Eden, and for that he was tasked to get the data disk. Saef says he asked Eden about his connection with Kane Bullard and Eden said he helped to complete the work Eden’s creator started. 

Gorm has a question about Eden that he thinks worth thinking into, namely why was Eden created. According to Eden it was so his creator could steal Eden’s body, which makes Gorm think perhaps Eden’s creator had the life eater virus as well. And well, they really can’t be sure that Eden’s creator isn’t Eden, obviously he wouldn’t share that information. The point being they can’t and shouldn’t trust Eden in this moment.

Gimlet explains about the people Alex and Lu Yan were looking into, Inquisitor Engarde and Port Wine respectively. Saef tells Gimlet about the text message Demir sent him, about remembering his father working with Engarde, Eden’s creator and X56r. He also mentions that apparently Engarde was providing eldar crystals to the AdMechs.

Gimlet still would like the data disk, and Gorm says that Gimlet is really into seeking knowledge, but he’s going to have to start making decisions at some point. Gorm fully admits he often makes decisions without much knowledge, but maybe Gimlet goes too far in the opposite direction. For example Gorm knows he needs to find the tech-priest X56r for his mission, and Gimlet in turn needs to decide what to do with Inpax, information or not. Gorm agrees that answers are all right, but he is worried that since it’s clear that the AdMechs and Engarde were involved with xenos stuff, trying to understand that stuff is a sure way to heresy, there is no point in understanding heretics. Gimlet asks doesn’t Gorm want to save civilians (re:people with the life eater virus in them). Gorm thinks saving people is easiest by the way of getting rid of heretics.

Gorm asks again about Inpax, is Gimlet going to kill her immediately or what. Gimlet says he wants answers from her about what has gone down. Gorm also saw the video that Z47r showed Gimlet and to him it looked pretty personal, revenge and all. They speculate about the situation, but decide asking Inpax is probably for the best.

Gorm says he is not on board with all of this, and Gimlet tells him to leave Inpax to him. Gorm says he meant the information about heretics and xenos, he is stopping that if necessary.

Before the conversation is over, Saef mentions that Rat has gone after Inpax and is currently on Triplex Phall and finding her is his top priority. Gorm and Gimlet both appear to be willing to help (though they don’t know about the eldar thing).

While they’ve been talking they’ve heard Vivek and Uffe returning to their respective rooms. Gimlet decides he wants to talk with Vivek now, and asks Saef to stay with him to make so Vivek actually listens to him. Gorm he doesn’t want with, so Gorm leaves to go check up on Uffe presumably.

After Gorm has left Saef goes to get Vivek from his room. Saef immediately notices that something is wrong as Vivek looks quite upset. Saef asks what’s up and Vivek says he and Uffe had a bit of a row, and Vivek honestly doesn’t know what even happened. He can’t give Saef details as ir relates to an incident that he can’t talk about, but basically Uffe accused him of something Vivek knows he didn’t do, but unfortunately he is keeping something secret from Uffe, and Uffe might have picked up on that, so now Uffe is mad at him, and yeah. Saef lets Vivek know that Gimlet wants to talk, and Vivek tries to gather himself before following Saef to Gimlet’s room (Gimlet also notices something being up, but doesn’t mention it). 

Gimlet comes right out and says it, he needs to look into Kuru’s memories. Vivek interrupts him and asks what gives him the right to do that, and Gimlet says he’s hoping Vivek will. Vivek clarifies saying that he needs to know what kind of moral principles Gimlet is operating on (but he is very keen on interrupting Gimlet so he doesn’t get a full sentence out). What kind of information Kuru’s memories might even contain? Who is going to be in trouble? Gimlet attempts to go for “preventing-another-Limestow, and Vivek goes is that the end-all and be-all for Gimlet, and Gimlet frustrated asks him to listen. Nobody knows what Eden has done, and Vivek says he does. Gimlet asks what is that then, and Vivek says a lot of bad stuff, but he can’t share it, because it’s the sort of stuff that is going to get Triplex Phall purged. Gimlet comments the Inquisition already asked him about that and he said no. Vivek says that whether the AdMechs or the Inquisition get him in the end, there’s stuff that just has to not get out. Gimlet asks why AdMechs are going to be after him and Vivek says because as soon as his brother gets back to Triplex Phall, he’s going to let people know that he found a prisoner walking free so they’re going to start looking into it.

But yeah, information, Vivek supposes he can give answers to stuff that’s not going to be harmful to Triplex Phall. Kane Bullard? Eden helped with completing the fucked up metro thing, and as for why Tanner was there, maybe just doing his job of getting rid of criminals (but like in a fucked up way). Kuru’s body? No clue, maybe someone who knows about the virus took the body. Why doesn’t Eden remember Inquisition stuff? Deleted from his memory, there was this email from Inquisitor (presumably Tanner) about procedure and samples Eden had no idea what it was about (and did not recognize the Inquisition symbols in the message, which Kuru noted as odd). The writer never showed up (bc Tanner was dead). There’s a sample at Eden’s base of genetic material he used for example in curing Apple. (that’s the gist of it, except just, like add 120% more meanness for Vivek) Vivek says he’s done and Gimlet is free to come ask more questions, if he can explain his rationality and / or morality. Then he leaves.

Gimlet asks Saef to stay for a bit and asks what Saef thought of what Vivek said. Saef tends to agree with Vivek, private memories are different from information and as Saef sees there’s no reason to disbelieve Vivek. Saef thinks he’ll share information if it is relevant. Gimlet asks if Saef is at all worried about the effect Eden might be having on Vivek. Yes, says Saef, but there’s nothing to be done about it, and not everyone can be saved. With that Saef also leaves.

Saef returns to his room, where Theo has already gone to bed. He finds Vivek in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet seat with his head in his hand. Saef asks whether he should stay or go and Vivek replies with a quiet I don't know, so Saef sits down on the bathroom floor, while Vivek has a bit of a cry. What a cheery way to end this session on.

[etherian-affairs]

For a fic prompt: Pygmalion/Galatea-ish concept where Entraptra finds Hordak (severely damaged cybernetics, powered down/sleep mode) & decides to rebuild him into the perfect Lab Partner (her umpteenth attempt at building one) w/o knowing what she’s going to end up with. Hordak wakes up to exquisitely repaired/partly rebuilt body, b/c Entraptra uses First One’s tech in the rebuild, so it’s that aesthetic blended w/Horde design (think Alita/Gally’s 2nd rebuild “angel” body in Battle Angel Alita).

HERE WE GO KIDDOS. I hope you like it friend.

This actually gets to be a crossposted with Ao3 because it’s long enough to meet my requirements for Ao3 posting.

Story under the read more.

Red across the board. Matching the state of the ship crumbling around Hordak. The would be Lord stumbles through collapsing metal corridors, barely able to keep his balance. The crash was devastating. He had tried everything to soften it but with so much crew already lost there was almost nothing to be done. Now it seemed the rest were gone too.

Soon Hordak would be as well.

He manages to get into the sanctum, the lab. A last ditch effort for survival keeping him moving. His body is ravaged. Beyond what even his species biology and his many augmentations can handle. As he steps into the sanctum his broken leg finally gives, the bone cracking and snapping. He howls in pain. So close to his goal. Slowly he drags himself with his one good arm to the secondary maintenance bay in the sanctum. 

He grabs at one of the dangling data cables and slams it into the port at the base of his neck, issuing commands quickly. Hoping the computers can still decipher them. As sparking damaged manipulators extend Hordak feels himself going under. His last moment of consciousness nothing but his diagnostic feed.

-WRNG: TTL_SYS_FAIL\\Fallback To Core Function Mode.\\Life Support Priority.\\Nanocyte Protocols Engaging.

…

The Fright Zone was dangerous they said. A lifeless land destroyed by the Dark Comet. A place that makes the Crimson Wastes look downright fertile! Hah! How wrong they were! You just had to know where to look.

Entrapta had been curious about this place her whole life. Years and years and years ago the Dark Comet fell out of the sky. It nearly wiped out the scorpion people entirely. They’re still a refugee people to this day in fact, with no land to call their own. The black Garnet Runestone was lost, presumed destroyed, at the time too. The Dark Comet’s crashing had changed Etheria a lot.

And from a distance it looked like it was made of metal. Refined metal. 

For decades it had been too dangerous to even approach the comet. People would get sick at the fringes. Further in burns and things would start to mysteriously appear! Even bots would fizz out and fail! but as time went on it appeared that the exclusion radius around it was shrinking.

Entrapta has been keeping track of the dissipation rate her entire life. 

Now her time had come! The energies that hurt people seemed to be mostly gone! And she had some extra protection she had developed just in case there were stray energies left on site! So Entrapta journeyed to the Fright Zone to be the first to see the Comet up close and live to tell about it.

It was wonderful.

Her theories were right. It’s metal. Not just that it’s constructed. Some sort of vast vessel! Larger than any person made structure she’s ever seen! She spends hours alone exploring the exterior. Falling back only as the light begins to recede from the world in order to rest, set up camp, and make sure she’s not getting sick. 

The next day she actually makes her way inside, and it is even more incredible than the exterior. It’s tech all the way through. Corridors apparently made for humanoid habitation. Dead terminals at regular intervals. Piled up robots of strange designs that seem to have run out of power years ago.

And the bodies.

It isn’t Entrapta’s first run in with the dead, in fact she has done her fair share of dissection and anatomy studies, but it’s still not a common occurrence and there are many here. That is unnerving even for the normally unflappable Princess of Dryl. Most of the dead are in armor or uniforms of different kinds. Their bodies eerily well preserved considering their age. Perhaps the energies that until recently made this place impossible to enter also stopped decay? That would be odd but anything is possible here. 

Entrapta takes her audio recorded notes and then tries to largely ignore the bodies that litter the Comet. They are admittedly interesting in many ways. They are yet more confirmation that the comet is some sort of vessel, and that many appear to be from species she has seen on Etheria. They are not something she likes very much though.

Inevitably Entrapta’s exploration leads her into a large throne chamber. An interesting place to be sure. The room off to the side is much more interesting however. The door is open and even from a distance she can see the many containment tubes within, some broken, others still standing with strange murky figures held within. Tools littering the floor. Bolted down tables some of which have items still on them somehow. This side room is a lab. She would know a lab anywhere.

It does not take long for her to see the body in here. It’s different from all the others in many ways. For starters this one is not like anything she’s seen on Etheria. Its species is completely unknown, some sort of batlike humanoid? It also clearly has tech integrated directly into its body! In fact there is a cable connecting it to… well the vessel itself Entrapta supposes. The cable leads into a mass of them up above and she can’t track where exactly it all goes.

The body is heavily damaged. The limbs are all in various states of destruction, there are what are clearly large gashes on the creatures torso. She suspects that numerous bones must be broken. Yet at each open break there is an unnatural silvery film. Like a sealant. It’s strangely jagged and irregular and seems to move around itself like a liquid. It’s kind of like something Entrapta has seen from some first ones tech experiments she has performed, trying to make self repairing robots. 

Except this isn’t repairing, more like it’s just trying to keep things from getting any worse. Could this person have been a scientist? Trying to integrate first ones tech into the body to save their own life?

That’s when Entrapta sees the nearly imperceptible movement. This isn’t a corpse. This one’s alive. Whatever they did worked.

The Princesses entire plan for this journey changes immediately. 

She spends hours examining every nook and cranny of the lab. Gathering everything she can. Making trips in and out of the Comet to her little camp. Her work extends out from there, picking apart and salvaging from other parts of the ship. She needs tech, their tech. 

She journeys to and from Dryl more than once. Readying herself for what might be her greatest experiment, and what will definitely be her most harrowing. On the final trip she disconnects the lab entity from the cable attached to its spine. It took her awhile to be sure that would not hurt it, and she waited until it was the last thing to do even when she was sure. It’s also just not a pleasant thing to move this creature as the barely held together limbs start to really come apart at the slightest jostle.

It does not wake from whatever stasis it is in.

The final journey to Dryl is slow and careful, but once safely in her own lab the work begins in earnest. 

This lab creature is probably a scientist as she has previously noted to her recorder, at the very least it is more intelligent than the others aboard the ship. It’s alive. Entrapta can repair it, she’s sure she can. Secretly, deep down, she hopes that maybe she’ll finally have that lab partner she keeps trying to create. They never turn out how she wants, she just doesn’t have the skills in making true thinking machines from scratch.

With that secret hope, and the theory that this thing must be a scientist, Entrapta decides on her repair strategy. She will give it the best science body she can! Which given that this is Princess Entrapta also means it will probably be a great body for warfare too! She seems to just make weapons on accident a lot of the time.

Initial exploration of the flesh is promising. There’s tech woven all throughout the body that she can piggyback off of. She has this creatures salvaged tech from the ship to make use of too. Thus the broken limbs are tossed aside, unneeded. Internal biological organs are atrophied and weak. Whatever is keeping this thing alive is focusing on the brain. Entrapta will lean in to that. Don’t need most of those then.

Still most of this will be original work and integration will be difficult. The Princess soon decides on a radical solution. She will use First Ones tech as a bridge, and an enhancement. Some of what’s going on with the lab creature looks very similar to First Ones tech anyway! So it will almost definitely probably work! 

At first Entrapta worries the creature will suddenly awaken, giving her a big startle, but that soon doesn’t appear to be likely as it just lays there half dead even as she digs into its body with knife and power tools. There’s a joke about being a heavy sleeper there somewhere.

Limbs, organs, and flesh are all replaced with tech and metal. The more she works, the more she realizes she needs to remake or else she won’t be able to integrate it all. The only reason she can do this at all is that the silvery film and the First ones crystal she has chosen as a base seem to be able to attach to each other. Soon enough though a repair job becomes a total rebuilding of the creatures body with First Ones tech at its core. The initial synthetic components within being almost all she can keep. 

It’s exciting. Princess Entrapta is pushing the boundaries of known science. She is combining First Ones, Etherian, and Alien technologies all together with biology she barely comprehends. She has no idea what the end result of this will be yet even that unknown is too fascinating to ever let her stop and think about the potential consequences of her radical actions.

When she’s finally done she realized that she has no idea how to wake the being up. It’s actually kind of funny. Still the creature remains alive, if non-functional, and isn’t going anywhere. She has time to figure out how to boot it back up.

…

-SYS_CHK-STS_UPDT\\Foreign Hardware Detected.\\Initializing Integration Stack.\\Compiling System Profile.

The diagnostic feed was all Hordak knew of the world beyond his own mental prison, and it was not much. A quiet eternity of his consciousness being occasionally fed an array of error messages and warnings he could do nothing about.

When one of the system checks finally detected a change he had a brief nanosecond of shock before his consciousness returned to the black box dreams that kept him sane.

-STS_UPDT\\Hardware Profiling Complete.\\Compatibility Registration Underway.

Profiling and Compatibility Registration?  Whoever was working on him wasn’t Horde. The checks wouldn’t be taking multiple stages to complete with approved replacement parts.

Again his mind falls away before he gets a chance to really ponder what is happening to him.

-STS_UPDT-SYS_RBT\\Compatibility Registration Complete.\\Rebooting Core Functions.\\Rebooting Extended Functions.\\All Systems Online.\\Re-initializing Higher Brain Function.

Hordak gasps as his senses return, as his mind can touch a world outside of the blackbox keeping it alive. His fingers curl and claw into the metal table he’s on. They literally dig into it. That’s not quite right. He raises his arm to look at it and finds an alien limb there. A completely synthetic arm and hand. Impeccably machined metal and tuned actuators. It looks like Horde tech, yet not. There’s foreign influence, clean lines and coiled strength. Gleaming chromium metal that glints in the light of wherever he is. 

Then he realizes that the rest of him is the same. Looking down he finds his body largely replaced. Metal plates interlocking and familiar combined with what seems to be some sort of memory alloy to create flexibility. He has seen nothing quite like this in all of his years. How did any of this integrate?

Before he can pull the hardware profile up and begint to try to decipher what has been done to him he notices he’s not alone. A short woman with ridiculously long hair is staring at him in surprise from near a large display. He’s about to speak when she gets the first word in. 

“WOW! I was looking in to how to wake you up but you just did it yourself! How? Why? Did you know you were being repaired? Did you know I was done? How though? Oh! Sorry! Welcome to Dryl! I’m Princess Entrapta I rebuilt you! What’s your name?”

Hordak is taken aback by the loud spunky attitude before him. There’s a lot to process here. Inevitably he decides to simply answer her questions. “Hordak. My name is Hordak." 

There is much for both of them to learn.

[pyro-technically]

The legend of Captain Purkiss part 1

Before I start this LONG story, keep in mind that this is just something I've imagined about for a while now. Also, I think @space-australians and @space-australia-stories would possibly like this. NOW LET'S GET TO IT.

She was a force to be reckoned with, her fame and presence was known across the intergalactic space net. The entire space continuum knew what she was capable of and they feared or admired her. She had a swagger that showed her knowledge and power, it was as if her 5 foot frame were 2 feet taller and a bit scarier. Built lean and ready to kill, she led the entire intergalactic fleet with her crew which also were the best of the best. From a young age of 7, she was taken from Earth and raised in the main vessel as well as trained by Adtor'iik whom of which was considered the greatest of them all with little ol' Erin Purkiss coming as a close second. She spoke 13 languages as well as two languages for the deaf and hard of hearing. It was no wonder she was considered an impossible story.

"...and as tale tells, she fought a great battle with only the skin of her teeth and her own body standing beneath her, taking down the Myrrhj empire single handedly before disappearing without a single trace." The blind story teller came to a close as 30 adamant ears listened closely to the precariously told story. Erin Purkiss must have been a myth the humans started, either that or someone wrote a fake epic about this damned godly being. Mi'jal ran to the other side of the archive and asked for any books on "Erin Purkiss". As a jelly finger pointed to a dusty bookshelf a little high up. He excitedly climbed the steps on the wooden ladder as the floor trailed away beneath his 10 appendages. He searched through the books until he hit the jack pot.

"The tales and history of Captain Purkiss and the Armandii fleet." Sliding down the ladder, he landed with a soft thud against the white marbled floor. He ran home with his bag full of books on the "fools tale" as some called it. His semi-transparent limbs carried him home as he held what he knew was an epic, a tribute to the galactic fleet that always ensured the protection of the galaxy and that they kept their promise of loyalty and obedience to royalty. He quivered at the thought of being up there one day, commanding an entire fleet with everyone willing to back him up, but for now he has to deal with being shoved in lockers and toilets.

When he got home, he bolted up the stairs straight to his room and slammed the door shut as he got weird looks from his family unit. Spilling the books onto the bed, he fervently read through each and every single one faster than a jack rabbit would take off. Each book talked about her tales and stories as they showed the heroic status of this one individual. It was all incredible really! He delved into his last book as he expected it to be the same stories and rumors. What surprised him was that it had pointed out her blood family and who she trained with and who was in every fleet and yada yada. One thing he noticed was that in her last battle (The last Stand of 5000 of which was right before she disappeared) she talked to her comrades about going home to Earth or taking up the job as a freelancer. He used his holotech, who was named "Athena", to look up what a freelancer was.

"A being who spent their career hunting down assassins and bounty hunters"

He froze at the thought of this, what if he could bring back captain Purkiss back into the fleet and reassure the myths and rumors, that was if she was alive or even real in the first place. The book also noted that her last known location was on Ikora (ya it's a destiny reference) and that she was alive and well.

He grabbed a note book and wrote down some notes and a plan to get her back.

She loved sushi (what ever that was)

Last known location was ikora

Should be alive

Talk to Adt'ran princess as well as fleet (somehow) and propose this plan

Since E. Purkiss pledged loyalty and protection to the princess specifically, she should arrive in the time of the royalty's danger

Get someone to potentially "assassinate" the princess

The fleet/princess talk to Purkiss

Idk buy some tacos????

It was fool proof. He needed to somehow contact the fleet AND the royal authorities and considering he was next to nothing to both parties, he had to work hard on this project and not get rejected the first time around. He was nervous and shook with anticipation. He didn't know if she was even real or if it was all a story to tell your kids around a camp fire.

He trudged over to his desk and turned in the radio. He turned to local news as he only used the outdated tech to listen to news, local police, or maybe he'd occasionally pick up obscure contact attempts. He had once gotten in trouble with the galactic court as he listened in to secret transmission of the main vessel to another military vessel as it talked about a rogue attempting to attack wrong doers.

He smiled at the thought of something that would help him and little did he know that just exactly that came on.

"We have gotten reports of an unidentified sos call from the distant planet A3TB6712. Here's the recording. "

"Hello, is anyone there?! My ship is destroyed and I'm severely injured. I repeat, my ship is destroyed and I'm stranded here with little food. I've lost alot of blood and I don't have proper medical equipment with me. Please anyo-" as the radio crackled to an eerie silence as the female voice came to an end, the previous announcer came to life on the intercom again and stated that it had sounded like the illusive Erin Purkiss herself.

It was like Mi'jal won the lottery! It was his ticket to meet his role model and what he thought was his warrior. He spent the rest of the night planning until he saw a smoke trail in the light of the 2 moons that rose in the sky a little off in the distance. Curiosity got the better of him and he packed necessities and even a medical pack with the hopes of it being the legend herself.

Excitement tore through him as he snuck off into the night, hoping to not be caught by authority. As he followed the black clouds as they caressed the night sky, his mind wondered a little too far as he thought about what would await him. It wasn't too far now, he only needed to travel about 10 minutes more before he reached his destination. He stopped. What if it was her? Would she punish him for breaking the Ad'riian law? Mi'jal shivered before he continued his journey.

She was human and humans were known for being ruthless and merciless to their victims. But they were friends with the Ad'rii, right? Right???

He let out a shaky breath as a ruined ship lay before him. It didn't seem like it crashed too long ago but long enough that the transmission made it onto the radial news. He looked around for any evidence of life as he turned on his ancient radio set again.

"-lease save me, anything would help, anyth- is worthless. These dammed creatures are probably sleeping by now-" He couldn't believe his hearing cavities, the same female voice, presumably Erin's, said that exact phrase of hopelessness? He had to persist if she was still alive. He examined the area around and inside the ship and found that the radio was torn out, shards of glass as well as blood and boot prints were leading out into the forest. What he assumed was the food storage was raided and the medical cabinet was empty. The only thing that was left behind was a golden plaque. It had terran writing on it but he didn't recognize the words as he was barely learning human tongue. He grabbed it off the wall and shoved it into his duffle bag as he raced into the wilderness, following the bloody book tracks left behind.

-----

I was light headed and on the verge of death as nausea took its place in my abdomen. "Damn it" whispered it's way out of my mouth as the fire in front of me kept me warm as I stuffed the last of my clean cloth into my wound. How I'm still alive, I'm not sure, but I escaped my old friends, my team, my family as that is what I cared about right now other than the blinding pain in my left kidney as I poured fresh water into the wound to try to keep it clean. That damned ship had enough medical supplies to mop the floor with but not sew up my f**- I sighed as the thought made its way into my mind. I used to be a hero, a legend to be told, but now all I do with my life is hunt down criminals and use my last dying breath to kill them before some miracle saved me from the cold hands of death. I was trained to work with other people, this lone wild thing was a pain in my as- "Arrgh!" Another bolt of pain shot through my gut.

Suddenly I felt as if I was being watched. I looked around as the hair on my neck stood on end, it felt as if by surroundings got colder. "W-Who's there!" A shaky figure came out of the bushes as he made his way forward. I kept my hand by my trusty quazart pistol.

"Who are you?" I said sternly as the small jelly creature stopped. "WHO ARE YOU!?" A shrill shriek made its way out of his lungs as he fell to the floor as if he was dead. I sighed and pulled him over to the fire. I muttered a quiet apology and explained that I was just startled by his appearance. He seemed to calm down a little bit but still remained still with fear. I kept my hand on the bloodied cloth that kept my wound closed and he seemed to notice this. He beemed with sudden confidence and spoke in a language that I long have forgotten. I gave him a confused look and he shoved a medical kit into my hands, a full kit with everything I needed.

Another miracle. I threaded the needle with the durable thread and started to disinfect my wound without hurting myself too badly. I had sewn the cut closed and prayed that I still had enough blood to function enough to not die. I'm still amazed I didn't pass out from blood loss honestly. The semi-transparent alien spoke again as the words were familiar. U slowly pieced together the words until it all clicked together in my mind. He was speaking English, I hadn't speak it since I left that fleet.

"Excuse me for bad English, but what is your name, human?" I contemplated telling him who I really was. He must've been too young to know why I left, why I vanished off the grid.

"Erin." As soon as those sounds left my mouth, it was as if he became possessed. He grew excited and shook with a new look in his eyes. He asked me millions of questions of how life in the fleet was and how did you become so brave and why did you leave.

--

As the foreign words left my gooey lips, she looked away, a ping of guilt settled in my gut.

"I left because I did something I shouldn't have."

Wonder and amazement took over his mind. How did she single handedly hide from the scouts and officers of the fleet, authorities, royal authorities, as well as avoided attention from everything else? She looked back over.

"When I stood there, facing all of those soldiers, I saw someone who was cruel and evil but the galactic fleet saw nothing of that. So I killed him myself when I got the chance and ran. The galactic court now wants my head for what I did, so I hide where I will be invisible until I can run without being seen. I crashed here about a day ago as I ran into the military vessels 3 and 8, behemoths of power those things are and they shot me out of the sky. They are still searching for me and will kill me when I get the chance."

Mi'jal was engrossed by the sudden confession but sat uncomfortably. "What did prince do?" His broken English again shine through his intelligent look.

"He killed and enslaved my people and took them from Earth to do his bidding. When I wad younger, I was taken into the fleet so I could avoid the chaos that was prince Ejett. They trained me too kill him but since that was so long ago, the price's actions became invisible and what I did was assumed to be wrong."

Silence again filled the space between them as she finished up her story and put the fire out. "If it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, may I stay at your dwelling for the night being?" Mi'jal thought about it and nodded. She grabbed her black helmet which would match the thermodynamic suit she was in the midst of putting on over her under clothing. The suit had a transistor radio, pouches for ammo and weapons, and a sheath for some sort of staff that was attached to the back. She slid the helmet on and helped the young alien up as they traversed the wildlife back to civilization.

[ledenews]

OVAC HOF 2020 - Daryl 'Boogie' Johnson

(Publisher's Note: This is the first in a series of articles that will feature many members of the 2020 OVAC Hall of Fame class.) There were times he would even forget about it unless a friend of his would bring it up out of the blue. Why is Daryl “Boogie” Johnson not yet inducted into the OVAC Hall of Fame despite all the serious truth? He collected more than 4,000 rushing yards in three seasons; led the Wheeling Park Patriots to the high school’s first-ever appearance in the state Class AAA championship game; won the Kennedy Award for being the best football player in the state; AND the former running back got a full-ride with a Division I program at Oklahoma State. Worthy? Not worthy? Johnson was forced to accept the latter, but only up until January 19, when the OVAC announced its Class of the 1990s, and low and behold, there he was, finally, on the list. “It’s a great feeling; it really is. A few of my friends have talked about it a few times, but then I really did forget about it because I never heard anything at all,” Johnson explained. “But each year when the induction does take place and one of us sees something on TV, then, of course, it hits my mind again. “I’m happy because a lot of people thought I had been inducted a long time ago, but when that OPEN LETTER came out, I heard about it for weeks because so many people couldn’t believe it,” he said. “And since it was announced, I have heard from so many of my former teammates and all of my friends, and over and over they would text that they’re a ‘Fan of the Boogie Man’ because of your piece.”

The Patriots finally made it to the Class AAA championship in 1991, but the team lost 15-14 to Capital High.

Glory Days.

Johnson’s career at Oklahoma State was cut short by injuries suffered during his first few seasons. Once returning home, he found employment, started a family, and became very involved with the Wheeling community. But, Johnson admits, some dreams didn’t come true. “Actually, I really only played high school football for about 2.5 years because my sophomore year I didn’t start until the sixth game, and my senior year I only played seven full games because our coach then, Ron White, would pull the starters once we were up by 25 points because he was trying to keep us healthy,” Johnson recalled. “Coach (Mark) Nardone, God bless his soul, always told me that if he was the coach of that team, that I would have broken the national record. “When I was in high school, I did want WVU to be my step, but they were late in the recruiting process and couldn’t offer me a full scholarship and wanted me to walk on in the beginning,” he said. “There were a lot of phone calls and visits to campuses, but when Oklahoma State called, that was it. I was a big Barry Sanders fan, and that’s why I knew they had a place in their offense for a running back of my size. So, that was it.” But Johnson explained there was a second reason why he ended up playing against teams like Texas, Oklahoma, and SMU, and it involved the head coach for the crosstown rival. “I’ll have to give a lot of credit to Coach Jim Thomas, and most people don’t know what he did for me,” Johnson said. “Coach Thomas knew a guy connected to that program and some others, and it was that guy who called me first. When I sent my tape for Oklahoma State, I sent it to that guy because of Coach Thomas. “But because that guy, and I wish I could remember his name, too, but that was when a lot of other schools started calling, too. Virginia, Virginia Tech, and even Washington State,” he continued. “They wanted me to fly out there, see the campus, meet with the coaches, and stuff, but once I heard from the Cowboys, I committed.”

Johnson has long served as a mentor to Elijah Bell, a 2016 graduate of Wheeling Park who is now training in an NFL prep camp.

Coming Home.

When Johnson returned home to Wheeling, all he heard about was that ’91 state championship game against Capital High at Laidley Field in Charleston. Most believe Boogie scored late in the fourth quarter when an in-motion play was ruled dead before he crossed the goal line. Instead, a 15-14 defeat. And Johnson also heard over and over again that he was a shoo-in for the local Hall of Fame by one fan after another, so that allowed the former Park star to hope for an early entry was possible, too. Nope. Instead, it took 29 years and 43 days after his final game representing an OVAC team. “No one seems to know why it took so long, but that’s OK. The wait is over, and I’m very happy about it. My family is thrilled, I’ve heard from a lot of the linemen that blocked for me back in those days and from a lot of friends, too,” he said. “Heck, I’m just glad I’m still alive because you never know about life. “I haven’t made any plans for the induction (in August), but I’m sure we’ll have something everyone can come to afterward,” Johnson added. “But it’s going to be a little weird for me, too, because the game of football has centered around my sons for a lot of years. That’s what football has been about for me, but that day might be a little different.” Read the full article

[joestories]

The Meadowlands

When I was in college, I made this comic. The art wasn't very good, and the story may not have been very good either, so I'm providing a summary instead.

We start with the protagonist, Tim, on the phone trying to get tech support, but it’s the near future and the operator he's dealing with is a robot.

The robot lets it slip that the company is going under and the whole robot workforce is being auctioned off tomorrow.

The next day, Tim goes to the auction. It was poorly publicized, and he is able to buy the robot he spoke with on the phone for cheap. Most of the others go unsold.

The robot wasn’t really designed to do anything but technical support. But Tim is a tinkerer. He has a workbench full of tools. He believes that with the right tools, you can fix almost anything.

He finds that the robot is capable of learning with a simple modification. He names the robot Gary. "I think you were meant for more than tech support, Gary."

Gary becomes absorbed in Tim’s life.

Tim likes to listen to records and is always fixing old broken things. He tries to teach Gary how to fix things.

There's also Emma. She lives down the hall from Tim. Gary meets her one day when they're coming back from record shopping. She sees Tim in the hall and stops him, demanding to see the new records he bought. Gary observes that Tim becomes very nervous around Emma.

Gary later listens while Tim explains to him that Emma has a lame boyfriend who doesn’t like to listen to records. Gary tries to be supportive but doesn't understand the situation.

Things are getting scary in the outside world. Our country is at war with another country, but lately, there are a lot more military vehicles in the streets. A new curfew is imposed. The shelves at the local grocery store are often nearly empty.

Some of the neighbors start to leave the city. They're heading south. One day, Tim finds Emma crying in the stairwell. She had a scary encounter with a soldier.

She joins Tim in his apartment. He makes her a tea and they listen to records until she feels better. Her boyfriend is gone. He decided it was too much effort to come to visit her. She hasn't seen him in a month.

After that night, Emma and Tim start hanging out every day. In part because it's scary to go outside. The whole world is going to shit, but Tim sees this as a silver lining. The future is bleak, but the present (which is really all we have) is quite nice.

One night, when Emma doesn't come to visit, Tim goes to see her at her apartment. She's sick, it's the kind of sickness where you need to take the blue pills every so often to get well. She's out of blue pills.

Before she can talk him out of it, and even though it's after curfew, he rushes out to find the pills. He brings Gary along because even though Gary isn't very strong, Tim feels braver when he's around.

The guy at the deli doesn't officially have any medicine for sale, but Tim convinces him to sell some blue pills from his personal stash.

Tim feels victorious. He rushes back towards his building with Gary.

A big military truck takes a corner too quickly and collides with Tim. He collapses on the ground in a crumpled mess. Gary goes to him, and when he touches him, he can tell that Tim is dead. Military men emerge from the truck. Gary panics, takes the medicine, and runs back to the building.

He leaves the medicine at Emma's door. He doesn't really understand what just happened. He's never seen death before. He returns to Tim's apartment and connects to his charger.

In the middle of the night, a big government machine comes and removes a wall from outside Tim's apartment, allowing it easy access to everything inside. The contents, including Gary, are sucked into a large bin, and the wall is replaced. The bin is hauled off to the dump.

As the sun rises, Gary finds himself in a giant trash heap in some sort of massive walled-off landfill.

Back at the building, Emma finds the blue pills outside her door. She goes to see Tim and finds a completely vacant apartment.

In the landfill, Gary wanders around aimlessly till he finds the rest of his former robot co-workers, all smashed to pieces and discarded.

Using the tinkering knowledge he picked up from Tim, Gary is able to put together one single working robot from the parts. Gary switches on the mode that will allow this robot to learn. Gary's first real memory was of having this mode switched on. It feels like an important thing to do.

Gary finds very long arms and legs that were meant for construction equipment and attaches them to the robot. When the robot stands, it towers over Gary. They walk to the wall and it lifts Gary out, then steps out itself. They go their separate ways.

Gary walks all day and makes it back to Tim’s building in the evening. Emma, now recovered, finds him wandering around the building and brings him into her apartment.

She's been able to figure out Tim's fate on her own. But the building is nearly empty now, and she's relieved to have a familiar in Gary. He reminds her of Tim in some ways. She can see subtle ways in which Gary has taken on Tim's mannerisms. So she starts to talk to him like he's Tim. She has whole conversations with him. She tells him about The Meadowlands, the theme park south of the city where her family used to go on vacation when she a little girl.

The two of them sit and listen to records until the city looks like it’s ready to come apart. The power is starting to come and go, and one day it seems to go for good. Emma tells Gary they're going to have to leave the city.

She takes him to the garage underneath the building. She's not sure which car is Tim's, but there's only a few left, so she starts asking each one if it's Tim's car. Cars are bad at lying, and she's able to figure out which one is his pretty quickly. It won't unlock the doors so she tells it Tim has died. The car determines this to be true and is distraught by the news about its former owner's death. The car speaks fondly of Tim. Emma listens patiently. Finally, they are allowed in.

The car asks them where they want to go. Emma isn't sure. Gary says, "The Meadowlands."

The car drives them out of the neighborhood. Soldiers give them looks like they shouldn't be here. They cross a bridge, and as the sun sets, they can see a strange orange glow on the horizon. Distant fires? Who knows.

Ten miles outside the city, in the middle of nowhere, they encounter a military checkpoint. It's dark. The solider that speaks to Emma seems to have bad intentions and asks her to step out of the car.

She tries to drive away, but another soldier opens fire. The car is hit and crashes into a tree.

When Emma wakes up, she's tied up in what appears to be a makeshift military base. She's in the shower area of a summer camp. The floor is concrete, and the cinder block walls are lined with showerheads. Above her, she can see stars. A solider notices that she's awake and excitedly gets some of the other soldiers. She asks why she's here. One of them laughs. Another says they'll know soon.

An hour later, a man in a solid black uniform arrives and all the soldiers salute him. He looks at Emma and makes a dismissive face. "I don't care what you do with her. But you can't keep her."

He leaves, and the three soldiers surround her and tell her to strip naked. When she doesn't comply fast enough, one of them kicks her and she falls. "My hands are tied," she says. One of the soldiers approaches and unties them. She surveys her captors. They all have guns. It's a hopeless situation.

She tells herself that if she's going to die, at least she'll die fighting.

She lunges at the soldier closest to her. He wasn't expecting it. She sinks her teeth into his neck and the blood comes quickly. She's shocked at how easy it was, but she doesn't have much time to celebrate before the butt of a rifle connects with her skull.

And then the world goes blurry.

Everything seems far away and quiet and barely there. She crawling. Where? Away. She can sense that there are still people here. She's kicked in the ribs and she rolls onto her back.

She's lying on the dirty concrete floor looking up at the stars. Looming over her is the angriest looking soldier of the three. He approaches her. And even though her vision is still blurry, it sure looks like there's something looming over him, blotting out the stars. He's starting to rip away her shirt when a large metal arm comes into the light.

And then the soldier is being pulled backward. And lifted into the sky. And flung far far away into the night. Emma tries to make sense of what she's seeing. Her savior appears to be a robot-like Gary, but with very large arms and legs.

There's gunfire. Someone is shooting at the robot. Its giant arm raises and comes down. The gunfire stops. The arm returns, covered in blood.

The non-bloody arm extends and opens a large hand for Emma. She climbs onto it and the robot lifts her high. Above the showers, above the camp. The robot carries her out, and she looks down. There are dozens of other robots, other misfits built out of scrap parts. They're fighting the soldiers, and they appear to be winning. There are dead soldiers everywhere. What a strange time to be alive, she thinks.

The robot with long limbs brings Emma to the edge of the parking lot and gently returns her to the ground. She looks up. It's Gary. She has a lot of questions, but she has trouble speaking. She tries to stand and stumbles. Gary catches her. He can tell that she's hurt, so he picks her up and carries her, into the forest, away from the battle, towards safety. The robot with long limbs returns to do more killing.

Gary explains that he knew the soldiers were going to hurt her, he had to get any help any way he could. He wants to know if he did the right thing. "Yes," says Emma.

The sun is coming up when Gary emerges from the forest. He sees a small town where he might be able to find medical supplies, but he's wary of soldiers.

He climbs up a nearby hill and finds a small cave in which to hide Emma. Gary tells her he's going to get medicine. "Okay Gary," says Emma.

Gary finds the town empty. He goes to a pharmacy, forces the door open, and finds blue pills and bandages. As he's leaving, he sees a tiny portable record player. He thinks this might cheer up Emma, so he takes it as well.

Gary returns to the cave. Emma is slumped over. When he touches her, he can tell that she's dead.

He places the medicine, the bandages, and the tiny record player around Emma's body.

Gary is directionless. He walks to the top of the hill to survey the landscape. Off in the distance, across a great field, he can see a roller coaster on the horizon. The Meadowlands.

He returns to the cave. He picks up Emma's body and carries it down the hill, towards the amusement park.

As he carries the body through the field, he’s spotted by a group of men wielding machetes. These aren't soldiers, they seem to be civilians that have armed themselves. When they see he's carrying a dead woman, they come running at him brandishing their weapons. This is as it should be, Gary thinks. He stops walking. He will not defend himself. He is decapitated.

Then everything is black.

Then Gary wakes up, but he's not quite Gary. He's sorta Gary, but also something else. He can tell a lot of time has passed.

He surveys his situation. He’s been put into some sort of advanced robot intelligence operation that closely resembles a phone bank system. He's expected to provide technical support to robots in the field that are in need of assistance. Robots seem to have taken over the planet. Gary is basically back to where he started.