#mostly machine translated my way through so it's not accurate but i think i laughed when mitsu said something like

[protect-namine]

bought this for the njmts. I liked it!! but I also ended up feeling sad over them

[kalashnikovlaserpussy]

The Sol Account Chapter 2: Sapphire Spiders

The motion sensor alert dragged Emily out of her sleep. Her internal clock claimed it had been 4 hours since she’d drifted into sleep while maintaining her body. The silicone nanotech skin of her left arm still pulled back to reveal the honeycomb paneling holding it up and the sticky ball joint that had been messing with her for the past week. That and all the other mechanical issues her body experienced. There were not many reliable parts in the atomic hellscape that now stretches between Toronto and Florida. Her sonar equipment was on before she was even awake, one animate target. Weight and height estimates put it well outside of human limits and wildly outside of even the Architect's largest personal exoskeletons. She locked all motors and forced sleep breathing, whatever this was she wanted the element of surprise. The thermal scanners were online within moments. There was a large crystalline mass in the shape of a vaguely humanoid creature with four arms and a lower half somewhere between an arachnid thorax and lobster body with eight arachnid legs. It was currently rustling through a backpack fitted to it’s bizarre physiology. Emily had expected another human to be bunking with her but didn’t care much. At least she wasn’t at risk this time. She reactivated her motors and chose to greet them while she continued work on her arm.

“Nice to meet you”

The creature jolted backwards at the comment and hurriedly chittered into their translator, which began speaking in an even british accent. “I could have sworn you were a statue!”

Emily carefully re-laid a wire that was nearly caught in her joint and affixed it with electrical tape. “Nope, just mostly metal, well, now that I think of it a better descriptor would be a small bag of meat piloting a metal statue, it’s a weird situation. Anyways, I'm guessing you’re my roommate?”

The creature tilted it’s almost canine head backed by a cobra-esque hood. Five compound eyes shimmering on either side as it’s mandibles spoke with a sound like hundreds of glass bottles vibrating against each other. “I believe so, but is the Terran word for such a concept not bunkmates?”

She set her tools aside for a moment and turned to the creature while pondering the question. “Kinda, we’re good at making useless distinctions. Though something you absolutely should know, this isn’t ‘Terran’, we’ve got too many languages to declare one as definitive, we call this English. Anyways, I’m Emily”

“I’m T’Throuk’tnaurtuk- wait that’s not right, uh, let me see what’s wrong with this thing,” The creature began fiddling with the device. The three digits on three of its forelimbs rapidly ricocheting off the display on one side of the titanium trapezoid before lifting the edge to its mouth once more and speaking. “I’m Arthur, well, that’s the closest name that won’t be impossible to speak. I could have sworn I had set this thing to shoot for cultural and rarity replication, but it appears I had been mistaken,”

“Nice to meet you Arthur, I must say your physiology is strange, is your body composed of crystals?”

“Yes, Aluminum and Phosphorus silicate oxides to be exact. Though I would prefer if you avoided the term ‘Lithoid’. It was accurate by technicality but now it’s just used by meat people like the less savory of the Architects to insult anyone who runs on silicates. My species, the Tourazi, or Cavers if that rolls of the mandibles better, prefer the terms crystalide or gemoid,” Arthur began rummaging through the pack once more, Idly decorating their bed space. Adorning the corners with glowing maroon crystals and paper thin sheets of crystal that had been, cut, scored with lettering, and bound into books.

“Oof, a biochemistry slur, I’ll be sure to avoid that then. What are you here for?” Emily carefully pried a piece of debris from between the joint’s mechanisms. It instantly went from borderline arthritic to moving perfectly.

Arthur’s response came carefully and laden with worry. “You wouldn’t believe me if I said I was a literary nerd hired to itemize your civilization’s best works would you?”

“Eh, I’ve seen weirder, last week I was walking through a glowing swamp and fighting crocodile shark hybrids. A crystal covered alien literature nerd is nothing.” Emily swiftly knitted the honeycomb paneling of her forearm back together and began using the nanotech binder to do the same to her skin.

“Wonderful, you’re the first person I’ve told who hasn’t laughed in my face and asked if I was a mercenary”

Emily grimaced and began piling her tools back into their bag. “Sorry, most Terrans suck at keeping an open mind. I tried to make sure everyone I brought up here was as open minded as possible, but I didn’t have much time and some of the ones who were nearly perfect for coming up here first weren’t okay with me specifically leading. Tried to have me killed or, just tried kill me themselves,”

Arthur recoiled, their crystalline body flickering through several distinct glowing shockwaves of confusion and horror. “What!? Why? What could you have possibly done to prompt such aggressions?”

“I’m what my species calls transgender, what I wanted to be physically and socially was different from my sex at birth. It’s part of the reason I replaced everything I could with machines, and despite a lot of people being open minded everywhere else, people like me just don’t fit in to their opinions on the world around them. And they lash out because they made those opinions part of themselves. By not fitting their opinions I became a personal attack. The people I could take were at worst not actively aggressive about it,”

Arthur shimmered a puzzled purple as they laid down across their bed, curling their legs into their thorax and rolling themselves to lay face up. “I see, an unfortunate fate for sure, to become so wrapped around one’s own misunderstandings as to forget where you end and they begin. I’m sorry for my lack of awareness, my species doesn’t have much dimorphism and our bodies are all compatible for transplantation, so while we have similar concepts they resolve quite easily. I myself would probably be considered phenotypically male, though I doubt the concept translates quite as well,”

Emily pivoted herself upwards into the open top bunk with her empty hand. Carefully stowing the tool bag before laying down. “Understandable, there are too many ways for a species to work for such ideas to match up. Thanks for the interesting talk Arthur,”

[wennjunhui]

seventeen hospital au

im back at it again with another random seventeen post bc nurse!jun is ruining me :)))))

disclaimer: the most i know about hospitals and how they work is from chicago med so dont expect this to be accurate 

seungcheol

attending physician in the ed

kinda intimidating but is really a huge softie

but don’t make him angry bc that is not a good idea at all

always seen with a protein shake

tends to hover over the new med students a lot

partially because it’s important to evaluate them and their knowledge

but most because he thinks its funny when they freak out around him

always asks for a psych consult even when he knows its not necessary

bc its totally in the best interest in the patient and not because hes bored and wants to talk with his bff nahhh

has a long term girlfriend that works as a software developer

everyone in the ed tryna get him to propose bc ITS BEEN 9 YEARS DAMMIT WIFE HER ALREADY

jeonghan

psychiatry fellow

usually works night shifts because hes sleeps schedule is fucked 

functions on coffee and coffee alone

is constantly Tired

catch him napping in the break rooms whenever he has time

originally wanted to go into psychology, but he gets too invested and thought it would be better to maintain short term relationships

bffs with seungcheol, but bffls with joshua

by the off chance he’s not tried, he’ll go around the ed and tease the doctors and nurses

hes in the ed a lot tho bc someone keeps calling him even tho “he literally just sprained his ankle seungcheol why am i here”

joshua

plastics fellow

fucking loaded

pulls up to the ed in a fucking gold ferrari and just shrugs when people ask about

‘yeah i got it as a birthday gift, treat yourself ya know?’

born and raised in the us, but went to south korea to further his studies

bffls with jeonghan

by GOD the chance theyre in the same room, its game over for everyone

his surgery playlist is fucking wild 

did a heartbreaking ballad just finish playing? oh thats sad but move over its britney bitch 

always brings a guitar to work parties

‘if you sing sunday morning one more fucking time-’ proceeds to sing sunday morning ‘GODDAMMIT JOSHUA’

is seeing the cute hotel concierge that works a few blocks away 

junhui

the Hot Nurse

literally all the patients fucking swoon 

kinda makes patients nervous bc of how handsome he is

ok i’ll stop now

occasionally scrubs in as a surgical nurse for minghao

he pretends to be all cool and hot shit in front of patients, but when hes around staff he turns into a giant bright ball of excitable fluff 

will always be asked to be assigned to kid patients bc he loves kids

studied abroad in korea and decided he loved it there so he stayed

may or may not have a crush on someone in the hospital but shh no one knows except jeonghan and minghao

has no problem calculating correct dosages but cant do basic math for the life of him

‘no junhui, 7+8 does not equal 17′

soonyoung

senior resident in the ed

HYPEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!111

works night shifts bc otherwise the ed would be dead without him

probably drinks too much redbull for his own health

his favorite treatment room is treatment room five because “that’s where a patient peed on me on my first day here”

“ok soonyoung good to kno”

“no problem”

not very tech savvy 

always manages to fuck up the tablets somehow every shift

for the love of GOD dont let him near an xray machine

also never assign him and seungkwan on the same patient they will accomplish nothing 

has taken chan under his wing

wonwoo

neurology resident

blind as fuck

harry potter glasses for days

looks really cold on the outside but is really just a huge fucking dork

like actually he laughs and jokes about anything and everything

neurology can be dark sometimes yo and humor is a great way to cope with it

that and gaming

half the reason why he cant see is bc he spent too much time playing video games growing up

still kinda does but he gets away with it

accompanies soonyoung on the night shift bc he knows soonyoung gets lonely sometimes

plays ballads in the surgery rooms because it helps him keep calm

jihoon

pathology resident

‘forget working with humans hAVE YOU SEEN THIS BLOOD CULTURE ITS COOL AS FUCK’

that being said, he hangs around the break rooms a lot because being cooped up in pathology is just tiring sometimes and he needs actual people to talk to

but mostly its so he can draw on jeonghans sleeping face

shares a flat with soonyoung bc rent is expensive yo

usually has the best tunes down in pathology 

originally wanted to go into music, but school kinda killed his enjoyment of it for a long time

is slowly getting back into and finding his joy in it again

he knows too many stories about the ed that hes forced to listen to

“for the last fucking time soonyoung i dont care about how your patient threw up on seungkwan”

“okokok but`”

“no”

seokmin

ed resident wanting to specialize in pediatrics

SUNSHINE AND HAPPINESS AND SMILES EVERYWHERE

wow literally everyone in the ed is in love with him a teeny tiny bit

because he has such a bright and positive aura around him that its hard not to feel happy 

sings to the smol children if they get scared 

everyone always asks him to sing at work parties and he kills it every time despite being initially shy

“wait wait wait you were in a rock band in high school???”

has a crush on the ed secretary out front

its so fucking cute the rest of the ed ships them so much

sometimes he doubts himself and his skills and that makes his day very sad

but everyone in the ed is in love with him and will constantly be there to remind seokmin about how amazing his is and how much he deserves to be here

and thatll make his day better c:

mingyu

ed resident

the Hot Doctor

wow everyone has a crush on him even if you dont you do

pray for the patients that get assigned to both mingyu and jun your in for a visual attack

tho the facade for mingyu usually breaks after a minute of meeting him

clumsy af yo

once knocked over the patients entire tray of food because his limbs were longer than he remembered

sometimes forgets to put on hand sanitizer and seungcheol always yells at him about

from the other side of the ed “MINGYU, HANDS”

“THANKS HYUNG”

always brings his own lunch bc hospital foods shit and he makes better food at home 

sometimes brings in cookies for the staff in the break room

theyre usually gone within an hour

minghao

trauma and emergency medicine fellow

TALENTED

was personally scouted by hospital officials in china

really young to be such an expert in his field

also his hands are really sensitive to abnormalities in the human body so he feels out the situation and catches the situation really early

is kinda intimidating because of his rbf and takes no shit approach

but is really super soft and fluffy once not in a work environment

relied on jun a lot in terms of adjustment here in korea, and he’s probably closest to him in the ed 

has jun scrub in with him for surgeries sometimes

objectively has the best surgery playlists

from pink floyd, to an obscure japanese indie rock

bickers with mingyu a lot of proper treatment of patients

usually theyre both right tho they just cant communicate effectively

is secretly seeing another chinese surgeon from plastics, but they hide it really well except from jun ofc

seungkwan

nurse

a really loud and mouthy one at that

nags everyone in the ed a lot despite not being the charge nurse

tho hes getting there and everyone knows it 

despite that, hes really sweet and caring towards patients 

is also really weak for kids, but he cant ever be assigned to them because he’ll freak out if something happens to them

always earns high marks on nurse feedback forms because he does his job AND is entertaining 

even tho he nags everyone else, sometimes hes too selfless and forgets to take care of himself

“did you forget your lunch? aiii how could you do that? here take mine”

“seungkwan you need to eat to”

“i said take it, now eat and make your mom proud”

cries and often laments how much he loves his staff when hes had a little too much to drink at work parties

hansol

a new nurse

really chill, vibin through life

is really a much appreciated presence to have around the ed, especially when things can become hectic really quickly

often acts as a translator between english and korean 

will laugh at pretty much anything (which wonwoo appreciates alot because at least someone likes his jokes)

one thing that always gets his blood boiling is the blatant ignorance some patients have

like the offhanded racism against him or his coworkers, or comments about lgbtq+ people 

and there have been times when he hasnt been able to control how he responds because wow he Dislikes ignorant people

so whenever he gets a patient like that, he often asks to switch with another nurse because “if i have to listen to karen say something racist about jun or minghao again im gonna lose my fucking mind”

med students usually hang around him bc of how approachable he is

shower thoughts

“do you ever wonder this would taste like”

“hansol dont-”

chan

med student in his final year

is really eager to learn and get started on things!

ed is his first choice for match day

soonyoung has taken him under his wing so he mainly just shadows him

and its always a fun and great time chan has learned so much from him 

the entire ed staff has adopted him and will riot if he doesnt get accepted on match day

“chan, whos baby are you?”

“for the last time hyung IM TWENTY SEVEN”

if hes not shadowing soonyoung, hes probably studying in the break rooms with hansol throwing popcorn at him

“hyung stop im tryna study”

“ok but catch this in your mouth first”

still has a lot to learn, but hes out there conquering the world of medicine yall better watch out

[ehyde]

A Void Between Two Stars

Chapter 3

Fandom: Akatsuki no Yona Series: Alien Larp AU Wordcount: 8253 (so far), projected to be about 25k total Characters: Suwon, Judo, Keishuk, Minsu, Zeno, Kyoga, Yonhi, misc OCs Ships: there are several spaceships

The latest installment of my sci-fi au, in which Suwon is an AI leading Kouka in a rebellion against his former extraterrestrial masters. When the connection between the AI and its human host is severed, Suwon–both of them–must learn to live as only half of himself, while Judo faces the challenge of trying to figure out which one, man or machine, is truly his king.

For more info about the AU and other works in the series, check out the series masterpost. Thank you to @greymantleish for beta reading!

Keep reading below the cut or read from the beginning on AO3.

He didn’t sleep again that night. Or perhaps he did, unknowing—it felt like too little time passed, but this body could not keep accurate time, after all...at any rate, he was awake when dawn broke and a servant brought the morning meal he customarily took alone.

All through the night, Won—easier to think of himself as Won than Suwon while he wasn’t fully himself—had searched for a solution to his problem, and still it eluded him. His mind kept turning to other worries. Normally, of course, he could think through whatever caught his fancy, but a human brain could only do so much. He didn’t have time to wonder when or if he could have opened up to Minsu, to wonder if Judo was resting as ordered. Those weren’t priorities...were they? He certainly didn’t have time to worry about the headache that had never quite faded away, or what it might mean. It shouldn’t be like this. With such a limited, human brain, shouldn’t not thinking about things be easier?

He needed his power core. That was his priority. It was out there, and he had hostages...it should be so simple!

“Your Majesty?” Minsu’s voice and a tap at the door greeted him. “You have a...very strange visitor. I should probably turn someone like this away, but…” He paused. Won opened the door so that he could come inside and speak in private. “He says he came on behalf of Princess Yona.”

Princess Yona, who had been in orbit in a ship of her own. It wouldn’t be impossible to land without computer guidance, and if she had, that meant there was a ship within reach. “Show him in,” Won commanded.

“Yes, sir. You’ll be ready by then?” Ready? Belatedly, he realized he hadn’t changed out of his sleeping clothes. “Though he was nearly naked when he arrived, so it hardly matters in this case,” Minsu muttered as he bowed and left the room.

Image did matter, though. Won knew that. Even if he wasn’t truly Suwon, even if his visitor had arrived at the palace...wait, naked? That made no sense. He spent so long trying to puzzle that out that when Minsu returned, he still wore only one layer of his robes. His guest, Yona’s yellow-haired companion, wore a tunic identical to Minsu��s, and might look less out of place than Won did at the moment.

“Ah, it’s been a few decades since Zeno’s worn this uniform! Thanks, lad! Now the boy won’t scold Zeno!” With that, Minsu departed once again.

“Ouryuu,” Won greeted the dragon with a nod.

“Hi, Mister Compu—” Ouryuu stopped. Stared. “Ah, you’re not! I suppose Zeno has to call you big brother king then!”

There was something about Ouryuu he knew, something important. What was it? “Ah, and Mister Computer was supposed to have a long life, too. It’s too bad!”

“I’m not dead,” Won said sharply. “Ouryuu, why are you here?”

“Oh! It seemed important. Zeno wanted to find out what was going on. See, Seiryuu noticed a big ship that was trying to hide. It was taking Mister Computer’s eyes and Seiryuu didn’t like that.” He looked into Won’s eyes. “Neither did the miss. So, it’s a good thing Ryokuryuu had practice being a pirate!”

“You...stopped them?”

“Well, mostly. But our ship got damaged so we had to take theirs and then one of them escaped in their little ship, and it turns out the big one can’t land, and even though most of the metal boxes are still there, we couldn’t talk to anyone. So Zeno decided the best way to find out what was going on was to come down here and ask.”

“...without a landing craft.”

“Ah, Zeno jumped!” He laughed. “Zeno thought it would just be like falling a really long way…”

“Instead, you became a shooting star.” Ah, yes, that was what he’d forgotten about Ouryuu. Useful. “Did it hurt?” he heard himself asking. A pointless question. He didn’t have time for pointless questions.

“Zeno’s fine now! Although, Zeno’s really hungry! Big brother king won’t mind—?” He reached for a bun from Won’s untouched breakfast plate.

“Communications are down,” Won said. “How are you going to report back?”

“Oh, if Zeno writes a letter really big and goes up to the roof of the castle, then Seiryuu can read it!”

“That’s…”

“Well, Seiryuu can copy it for the lad to read. Seiryuu’s still learning!” No, that wasn’t the piece that shouldn’t be possible. Though no more impossible than for Ouryuu to survive falling to earth from orbit without even a suit. “Seeing you gives Zeno most of the answers he needs already,” said Ouryuu. “Ah, Zeno’s glad Mister Computer will be okay! But,” he added, “I’m glad I was able to speak to you, too.”

Won was glad, too. More than glad. Ouryuu’s story, disjointed as it was, had given him hope again. His satellites weren’t gone. His enemies had been subdued. He should probably thank Yona...ah, no, she wouldn’t want to hear that. He remembered that now, too. “The landing craft,” Won said. The final piece he needed to formulate a plan. “When it got away—did it land?”

“Yep,” said Zeno. “If you find it, give Zeno a ride back, ok?”

Won nodded. He could do it now, he was sure of it. He finally reached for the cup of tea that sat waiting for him, long since cold, and then pressed his fingers against his skull, trying to ignore the still-aching pain. He would be himself again. He would.

Judo did, finally, sleep. He woke at dawn and went to the training grounds, as was his custom. But the king had been right—one side of his body was stiff and sore, protesting with every step he took. Luckily, he wasn't here to practice his usual sword katas.

He usually avoided training with his own blast rays. Even after seeing them in action—feeling them in action, now—they just didn’t feel like weapons in his hands. But now, with who knew what future waiting for them, he had to be ready.

And...they didn’t work. “Damn!” he shouted, drawing a few startled glances from the few soldiers training this early. It really did get everything, didn’t it? The attackers last night, they’d had nearly identical weapons. The prison guards must have put them somewhere—but now the flow of his training was ruined. He fell back into his sword katas with a scowl on his face, and after one stumble too many, finally had to admit that he was getting absolutely nothing out of this.

As he stomped back to his office, he met the king coming from the opposite direction. “General Judo, there you are.” Suwon looked every inch his normal, confident self—the only thing out of place in the picture before him was the black-feathered Keishuk at the king’s side. Judo couldn’t tell if the fact that the aven still wore his normal clothing made him look more or less alien—he’d cut off the sleeves of his robes, but the long winglike feathers on his arms had nearly the same effect, and everything else, up to his now-functionless hairpiece, remained the same.“Come with me. We have work to do.”

Thank god. “You have a plan.”

Suwon nodded. “Our prisoner can give us everything we need.” Judo’s heart began to sink. After last night, he wasn’t so sure about that. “Just follow my lead.” He handed Judo a translator as they approached the prison cells, and Judo noted that he did not don one himself. That was a good sign, right? Whatever knowledge he’d lost, it wasn’t everything. Maybe this could work. Computer or not, Suwon seemed like himself again, and Judo trusted that whatever he had in mind, he could pull it off.

The lead aven—Judo still hadn’t learned their name, and didn’t intend to—was a mess. Their feathers were dirty and bent out of shape, and bloody bandages covered more than just their wrist. Suwon shot a glance at Judo, who shook his head. He hadn’t left them like this—but the palace guards did not look kindly on would-be assassins, let alone those who were monsters.

“You!” the aven growled as Judo, Suwon, and Keishuk stepped into the dim candlelight. “This is barbaric! When the Company hears how we’ve been treated—”

“Yes,” said Suwon before Judo could speak. “I should have done more to ensure you received proper care. I was not myself last night,” he added. “As you are well aware.”

“If this is an apology, then why is that here?”

“I did not come here to apologize. I came here because you’re still useful to me. And General Judo is here because you know exactly what he is capable of doing to you if necessary.”

“What makes you think—”

“You want to leave here, don’t you?” Judo frowned. Just what was Suwon planning? “I want to send a message to the Company. But you’ve taken my satellites, and my agents’ ships—” all two of them, but the aven didn’t need to know that— “are out of reach. I will allow to return to your landing craft, go back to your people and seek medical treatment, if you deliver a message for me.”

“Computer!” Keishuk protested. It seemed that he didn’t like the sound of this any more than Judo did. “After what they tried, you can’t possibly expect them to help you! You’re not operating at full capacity—” As Keishuk spoke, the aven prisoner seemed to grow more confident—and that was when Judo knew that Suwon’s plan, whatever it was, was going to succeed.

“I’m keeping your guards here as hostages,” Suwon continued, ignoring Keishuk’s objections. “You must have planned on a location to meet your landing craft. Summon it, and I will escort you there.”

“...why not confiscate my ship and send one of your own people?” the prisoner asked.

“What people?” Suwon asked. “This isn’t something a human can do, no matter how much knowledge I’ve given them. And I need Keishuk here. Warn your friends, of course, if you’re worried about that.” A ridiculous concern, his tone said, and the aven seemed to agree.

“I’ll do it,” the prisoner said. Quick to agree—they thought they were getting the best of the situation, and Judo still couldn’t see how they weren’t. But whatever Suwon’s plan was, the aven was playing right into it. “My hand,” the prisoner demanded. “You kept my hand, didn’t you? On ice?” Judo gaped at them. They’d really been serious about aven doctors sewing it back on!

“...oh,” said Suwon. “I wasn’t thinking clearly yesterday. You understand.”

Even after this, the aven tried to push their luck, asking Suwon to simply let them go rather than escort them to the landing site. But when Judo reminded them that it was for their own protection—that any off-duty soldier who saw a monster wandering free might not hesitate to take their head—they shuddered and didn’t ask again. Keishuk shuddered, too. Suwon allowed the aven to send a brief message via one of the confiscated communicators—no conversation, of course—and then, reluctantly, the aven agreed to lead Suwon to the landing site.

A military cart carried them high into the mountains above the castle, but they had to abandon the cart and travel the last hour on foot. Judo rethought his earlier caution—no one, soldier or otherwise, would have stumbled across them by accident out here. The forest shade scattered the day’s bright sunlight, and Judo almost mistook the shimmering metal hull of the ship for a mountain stream. The only other space-ship he’d seen was the one belonging to Lady Lili’s companions, and this was much smaller.

As the ship came into view, the gleam in their prisoner’s eye was impossible to miss. Judo almost pitied the other aven guards, who they undoubtedly planned to abandon—almost. Then the door of the ship slid open. The monster standing inside was not aven—it was some sort of furred beast, with ears like a cat. Was there no end to them? “Arouk!” cried the monster. “Thank the balance you came. The natives, they had some weapon—they took the carrier—I’m the only one who…” She trailed off, ears twitching in confusion, as she registered the others who had met the ship. “Arouk. What—?”

The aven spun around to face Suwon, feathers flaring in outrage. “You—you knew! You tricked me!”

The cat-creature drew a weapon and fired, but Judo dodged it in time. He didn’t know what sort of force the aven—Arouk—had expected to find waiting for him, but one creature was easy to subdue. He took her weapon and bound her wrists. “We’ll take the shuttle back to the palace,” said Suwon. “Keishuk, can you pilot?” With a nod, Keishuk stepped inside, then Suwon and Judo led their two prisoners before them.

Outside, the ship had seemed to be made of solid metal. From inside, nearly half of it was transparent. Judo had known of ships like this for half a year. He’d never been inside one, let alone flown...but he could marvel at the novelty sometime when he didn’t have prisoners to guard. “So you were toying with me?” Arouk asked. “What you said before is still true, you know. There’s no one you can spare to use the ship.”

“This shuttle is what carries your pulse weapon, is it not?” Arouk stubbornly didn’t budge, but the other prisoner nodded. “Once I learned you used it for multiple attacks, on the satellites too, well—its power source is exactly what I need.”

“But—your message—”

“Oh, I think my message will be quite clear,” said Suwon. “Don’t you?” He looked from Judo to Keishuk, then stared out the wide window at the earth below. “I’m sorry for including you in the deception. Every time I tried to put it into words, the plan fell apart in my head. This human mind is still…”

“This—” the new prisoner began with a start. “This is the AI?”

“He’s not the AI!” Arouk spoke to the new prisoner, but looked directly at Suwon. “He’s an infuriating human who thinks he’s the AI. I don’t know why you’re doing this,” he continued. “Powering up the computer won’t make you part of it again. Your nanobots are dead. You have to know that. You should be happy you’re free.”

“Enough.” One word from Suwon was all it took to silence them. Judo stared at Suwon. Free? He wouldn’t question his king in front of their prisoners—but there were suddenly so many things he needed to ask.

“Your Majesty—”

“We shouldn’t keep them in the dungeons indefinitely,” said Suwon as he, Keishuk, and Judo left their two prisoners with the palace guard. Onlookers—courtiers and soldiers alike—crowded the courtyard, staring at the ship in awe. Even after Lili and several other aven tourists had spoken publicly, the rumors of the monsters’ near-magical technology had been met with doubt. Well, here was their proof. “Every offworlder is an important prisoner. Perhaps an estate near the city…”

“Your Majesty—”

“Ah, yes, Keishuk, I trust you to handle the reboot. Some of these soldiers can help you dismount and move the power source.” They’d already left the courtyard behind, but he gestured as if the soldiers were still right behind him. “Oh. I don’t...I’ve forgotten the name of the craftsman who can help you with my circuitry. I…”

“Minsu can look that up, computer,” said Keishuk. “While I admit that level of detailed soldering and wirework is beyond me—just what were you planning to tell the man? The work has to be done in your chamber.”

“Ah…” Suwon paused, then brightened. “Minsu knows enough to explain what’s needed.”

“No, he does not,” Keishuk countered. “He doesn’t know—”

“He is not to know that it’s me!” said Suwon sharply. “But he knows enough to explain you. Tell him...tell him whatever seems fitting.” Keishuk sighed. “If you go into the city, I suggest you wear a cloak,” he added, unhelpfully.

Keishuk looked as if he wanted to speak again, but he only sighed, turned, and left. Whispers followed him. Rumor must have spread through the palace—it seemed everyone knew who he was, even if they watched him with suspicion.

“Now, Your Majesty—”

“Until Keishuk is ready, I have several mundane tasks to take care of. I’m going to my room now; you need not follow.”

Dammit, the king was definitely avoiding the subject on purpose. “Your Majesty, are you going to address what just happened, or not?”

“We got the power source we needed. I don’t know what else there is to discuss.”

“Dammit, Your Majesty, are you going to be yourself again or aren’t you?”

They were near the king’s chamber, now. Alone. Suwon slumped to the floor. “I don’t know,” he said. “My nanobots are fragile. If the pulse hit them...but we weren’t in the castle. We were in Kuuto. It isn’t certain—” He lifted a hand to massage his temple as he spoke, and  Judo remembered the screaming pain in Suwon’s head. Uncertain, is it? “But I’ll be functional again soon. I’ll be myself. Whether or not I can reconnect to this body, I’ll still need it to act as king, so…”

But you are this body. The computer was still offline. Everything the king had done over the past day had been just this body. Of course he was— “What did that aven mean by “free?” Judo asked sharply.

“Find out what equipment Keishuk needed from the university,” said Suwon, ignoring the question. “You can ride out to get it.”

“Your Majesty—”

Suwon stood up, straightened his robes, and looked Judo in the eye. “Go,” he repeated.

And because Judo knew that the man before him was still his king, he left.

[dynoguard]

NaNoWriMo: Return of the DinoKnights (Day 12)

Day 1 & 2 text is here.

Day 3 is here.

Day 4 is here.

Day 5 is here.

Day 6 is here.

Day 7 is here.

Day 8 is here.

Day 9 is here.

Day 10 is here.

Day 11 is here.

Today’s update is extra long, so I have included a read more break to not completely destroy everyone’s timelines. 

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Jason asked. The dark hallways of Science Tower One reminded him of his father’s video games; a maze of doors, winding hallways, vaulted ceilings made of the same bits, rearranged over and over again. 

“It’s not.” Linn replied. “Not if we’re trying to get back to control. But we’re not.”

“Are you going to eat me?”

Linn stopped. She spun around with a hop. To Jason, she moved like a small bird, deliberate and graceful with bursts of erratic speed. “Eat you? Did that translate right?”

“You say we’re going to find your friend but we’re just wandering in the dark.” Jason said. “And the teeth and claws and stuff.”

“You don’t like my claws?”

“It’s not-” Jason shook his head. “Just, if you’re going to eat me, give me a head start.”

Linn lowered her head but kept her snout forward, her neck curving gracefully, the feathers on her forearms fanning out as she clicked the large, curved, sickle-like claws on each foot against the floor.  “Why would I give you a head start when I could just GOBBLE YOU UP!”

She lunged forward, jaws snapping open, her sharp teeth bared. Jason leapt backward. The back of his left leg caught the edge of the cylindrical decorative planter behind him, sending him tumbling, gracelessly, over a squat fern of what was (until today) an extinct species.  

Jason started to struggle to his feet in a panic when he heard Linn laughing. Her laughter came in bursts, starting as musical giggles then rising to full guffaws before halting with an inhalation of breath that sounded a bit like a goose honking. 

“Are you-” Linn managed to say through her laughter. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Jason said. Linn extended a clawed hand and, after a moment’s hesitation, he took it. It was smooth and scaled and softer than he expected. He could feel her claws against his skin, but as she helped him to his feet he did not feel even a scratch. Even when his weight shifted unexpectedly as he untangled himself from the plant. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. And your face, the look on your face!” Linn laughed. 

Jason flushed with embarrassment, his brown skin turning a darker shade for a moment. He leaned against a smooth section of the hallway wall. “Okay, yeah, if I’d been watching it would have been funny. But if you didn’t lure me down here to eat me-”

“You can talk and you’re not cooked, why would I eat you?” Linn paused. “You do cook your not-talking food, right?” 

“Yeah, we cook our food, most of the time.” Jason replied. “And we don’t eat anything that talks... that we know of.”

“Score two for humanity.” Linn laughed. “If we go to control, the adults are just going to put us in a corner until they figure everything out. So I’m being helpful, we’re going to meet Kyle where he’s going.”

“Where is-” The lights flickered on suddenly. Jason snapped his eyes closed against the sudden burst of light. 

“HEY THERE!-”

Jason turned to see the face of another dinosaur with its jaws wide open. He once against screamed and leapt back. This time Linn was there to catch him.

“-CU-CU-CUSTOMER!” The dinosaur was behind the wall Jason had been leaning on, which he could now see was a panel of black glass. The Dinosovian in the mirror resembled a green Tyrannosaurus Rex, though proportioned more like a human being and wearing a shiny, tailored purple jacket over a bodysuit similar to the one Linn wore.. He seemed vaguely plastic, a bit too angular, and his head plumage was coiffed into a ridiculous crest. “You look like you could use a snack with b-b-b-b-bite!” 

“Hey Mister Bite!” Linn chirped as if the creature were a life-long friend.

“Cu-cu-customer Linn-in-in.” The pitchman seemed to twitch and relocate within the glass as he spoke, An assortment of packages materialized around him, “Good to see you again. What can I g-g-get you?”

“It’s a vending machine?”

“You haven’t heard of Mister B-b-b-bite?” The pitchman turned its attention to Jason. “You must have been living under a r-r-r-ock.”

“Is it broken?” Jason asked. “Why does it talk like that?”

“It’s called sh-sh-showmanship!” Mister Bite replied. 

“Yeah, that’s kinda Mister Bite’s deal.” Linn said, turning her own attention to the screen. “Two Chomp-Chomps, a Drom-sized Splort, and- Jason what do you eat?”

“What?”

“Mostly meat, mostly veg?”

“Mix of both?”

“Make that two Drom-sized Splorts, and a Cerowrap.” 

“Coming right up, Cu-cu-customer Linn!” A series of clanking noises and thumps came from behind the wall as a short, catchy tune filled the air. “C-c--communications are down, your account will be debited once connections are re--re-restored!”

A small door, previously indistinguishable from the rest of the wall, opened, and a tray extended from it. On the tray were a pair of red plastic pitchers with silver writing that the translator told Jason’s mind was Dinosovian for “Splort!” Next two it were what looked like a pair of candy bars in silver wrappers and what appeared to be a burrito made with an unfamiliar leaf in place of a tortilla.  

“Thank you, Mister Bite.” Linn shoved one of the pitchers and the leaf-wrap into Jason’s hands. 

“No Pr-pr-problem! Come back when you need more B-b-bite in your d-d-day!” The plastic pitchman then vanished, the screen going blank, once again becoming a pane of black glass. 

“All this talk of eating you made me hungry.” Linn tore the wrapper off the first ‘Chomp-Chomp’. Jason had expected a candy bar of some stripe, but the package contained a tube of cured meat covered in a breading that was mostly small seeds. She took a bite.

Jason sniffed his wrap. It smelled like lettuce with a hint of mint. Under that lay the smell of unfamiliar spices and a hint of something meaty. “So is Mr. Bite like, artificially intelligent or just prerecorded?”

“Low-end AI, programmed to sell food, make small talk and tell some jokes.” Linn replied. “How do your vending machines work?”

“We push buttons.”

“Just like the ones in Historic Tuskaroon!” Linn chirped. “We went there one year on vacation. I got to shoot a brigand with a crossbow, I was all-”

Linn mimed firing the crossbow, then hopped to where she had aimed it. 

“And he was all-” and acted as though the bolt had struck her in the chest, grabbing the impact with a claw and dramatically flopping to the ground. “Ugh!”

Jason took a wary bite of his wrap. The leaf crunched, and tasted much like it smelled, like minty lettuce. The fillings were warm, something that tasted like almonds but was soft like baked beans, a ground, lightly spiced meat that was vaguely pork-like in texture and flavor, and a savory sauce. “This isn’t bad. What kind of meat is this?”

“Dragonfly.” Linn replied. She took a drink from her pitcher, holding it up and gently pouring into her mouth. “But its totally super-processed.”

"Gross.” Jason said. He took another bite anyway. He took an awkward sip from his pitcher. It was carbonated, like a soda and it tasted like coffee and almond milk with a hint of tropical fruit. 

“Huh...” Linn paused. “I just realized we don’t know if you can eat this stuff.”

“It doesn’t taste poisonous.” Jason said. 

“But you could be allergic or something. Maybe you should just let me-”

Jason noticed that both of Linn’s ‘Chomp Chomp’ wrappers were empty. “We can go back if you’re still hungry.”

“Eh, maybe in a bit.” Linn stopped in her tracks.

“What is it?” 

Linn turned to the wall on their left. A heavy door large enough to drive a car through was stuck, half-open. Or, more accurately, half of the door and a section of the wall was missing, Beyond the empty gap was a large, dark room. 

“This is Project Zero.” 

“I don’t come from your time, please explain.” Jason replied. 

“All the Science Towers have cutting edge science projects, some are classified. One in five dinos here work on Project Zero but no one talks about it.” She stepped through the gap, her tail swishing behind her.

“Wait, you said it was top secret.”

She stuck her head out of the door. “Which means if we’re going to find out what it is, we need to do it now, when no one is around to catch us.”

--

“Monsters! You have monsters just wandering around and you didn’t think to tell us?” Sheriff Horne glared at the human Gloria Anning. She and Sagan were the only ones in the control room when she finally made it up stairs. 

“Describe the monster... was it furry with big claws, yay big?” Gloria indicated about five feet with her hand, then mimed a pair of antlers with her hands “Or was it four legged with big horns?” 

“No, not an animal, a monster.” Horne seemed even larger and more powerful in her shiny blue armor and her frustration was palpable. “A monster, capital M, emphasis on the ‘onster’, it was like a living shadow full of purple lightning,”

“We don’t... have anything like that.” Sagan said.

“No. We don’t.” Gloria said. “Tell me more, Sheriff.”

Sheriff Horne recounted her journey to the vehicle bay in detail, omitting exactly how much the chittervoles had startled her.  

“Is it possible this ‘specter’ could be something you picked up on your way to the present?” Gloria asked.

“I don’t know. I’m not-” Sheriff Horne sighed. “I’m not good with the science. I know how to operate stuff-”

She slapped her armored hand against her chest plate for emphasis. “-but Linn’s the smart egg in the family.”

“And she’s wandering around with my son right now.” 

“That’s not good.” Horne said. “I mean, no offense, but I don’t know you, or your species. For all I know he could eat her.”

“He is a teenager.” Gloria interjected. 

Both Horne and Sagan looked at her.

“I’m kidding,” Gloria said. “I’m pretty sure we have more in common than we don’t. Which is is why instead of returning here now that power is on, everyone has wandered off and left us to worry.”

“She’s right.” Sagan said. “So do we wait here for them to come back or go looking for them.”

“Kyle and Zara are scientists at the top of their fields.” Sheriff Horne replied. “And Brach’s just as smart and curious.”

“So we-” Gloria began.

-better find them before they accidentally teleport us into the sun or unleash killer robots on the world or turn air into fire or something.” Horne said as she stomped toward the door to Section 2. 

[flexgallery]

Flex Gallery and the work of Megan Altieri

In response to a lack of public art opportunities during winter, on January 11th, I launched Flex Gallery, a mobile public art space located on my left arm. For the project, I sent canvas armbands to six artists, requesting they turn them into artworks. Each artist works in a wide variety of media, and I provided them with no themes or limitations other than the dimensions of the band. Last month for two weeks, I wore the work of Megan Altieri, a local artist, high school art teacher, and member of the Collective Artspace. I spoke with her last week to learn more about her work and creative process.

Zachary Johnson (ZJ): How did you get started as an artist?

Megan Altieri (MA): I feel like my inclination towards creating was founded on my need to express ideas visually rather than a love for art. I realized that art was the most suitable avenue through which I could express my ideas. Since I was young I’ve worked through my self-discovery and my understanding of the world in a fairly abstract way. It felt more accurate to articulate an idea with a primitive line or a soft form than creating some combination of words. It just feels so literal sometimes and it limits the scope of ideas.

So I guess I started making art more regularly because I was in the market for a new language through which to speak.

ZJ: Why did you decide to become an art teacher?

MA: I wanted to teach kids how to express their ideas. Expressing an idea through a process, with patience, especially now, is hard for young people to do. Or any people, really. It has become so easy to voice emotions and opinions with impulsivity and thoughtlessness. It’s a good exercise for young people to have to translate their ideas into a visual language. It allows them to filter ideas through a more thoughtful and creative lens.

I’m making it sound like that process is actually what happens everyday at school. Of course, plenty of kids are taking my class to learn techniques so they can draw a better portrait of their cat or just to hang out. But all of that is cool with me. I actually like the diversity of their intentions within my classes. It’s like a fun game of trying to figure out what sort of experience each student wants out of the class and how I can push those boundaries.

Also, I just love human beings. A school is a fascinating place to work. You’re literally watching people become people right before your eyes. It offers me a platform to study the development of people. And also allows me to intervene in their developments when I feel like it’s going south. I’m still surprised every day how much I love them all. That level of investment was a total accident, I didn’t sign up for that shit [laughs].

ZJ: Has your job as an art teacher changed how you approach making art?

MA: Who I am as an art teacher and who I am as an artist are two entirely separate entities. They’re totally unrelated in that they satisfy two different parts of my interests and passions. But there is some convenient overlap! Like, I always tell my kids that they don’t need to listen to anything I say unless I’m making work alongside of them, as an artist. I have no business teaching them if I’m not making mistakes with them, growing with them, learning with them.

My work as an artist strays away from criteria on which I grade them. The concepts I’m teaching are mostly technical — how to render form, understanding anatomical proportions, how light affects color. Solving visual problems can be pretty formulaic. Then they see some of my work and they’re always like, “Wait…what? But I thought…”

I suppose creating art has made me want a richer art education experience for my students. Most kids want to learn how to create in a way that makes things that “look real”, that’s where most of their interest will stop and that’s okay. But the more I experience my own discoveries through creating, the more I want my students to use art to explore contemporary art concepts. In my opinion, the best ideas aren’t likely captured by the lessons taught from the curriculum. When I work with higher-level students whose work is more idea-centered, I start to feel a fusion of my passions for art education and art making. Otherwise, they tend to be two wonderful things in my life that are unexpectedly disconnected.

ZJ: This is your first soft sculpture. How did you decide on this approach and what inspired this piece?

MA: I’ve always felt that my work is conducive to soft sculpture. Soft sculpture has this visceral relatability that I’ve always wanted my work to — especially with this current concept of re-writing a logistical tool as an emotional artifact, a structural machine as an inoperative cluster of soft shapes and forms. This piece is meant to explore dichotomies and unexpected associations within a mundane object — taking an object and looking at the layers, literally and conceptually. Obsessing over it, complexifying and dissecting it. It only makes sense that things become soft when we pry into them.

This piece was inspired by a loss I recently experienced. The car became an emblem of that person. I saw it everywhere. My attention was drawn to anything red. I started to become fascinated by my own obsession with this artifact on which I projected my hurt and anxiety. A car is supposed to be this logistical tool that we use to get from one place to another. It wasn’t created to be experienced as a piece of emotional, psychological stimuli. It wasn’t made with the knowledge that you’d be haunted by the specific tone of the blinker or that you’d memorize the layout of a dashboard down to the depths of the ridges on the A/C dial. We dig around our memories for the contours of that chrome door handle, anticipating that it might also bring us back to a state of mind. So much happens in this space that it was never intended to cater to.

Somehow this structured, hard-edged, geometric machine becomes an emotional relic, completely set apart from its purpose. It becomes inoperable, it melts, almost. We dissect it to digest it, as if that process holds any answers. Even if we acknowledge the unresolvable nature of our pursuit, it seems we have to continue obsessing, searching, dissecting. Translating these ideas visually was my way of acknowledging the pathetic but unavoidable impossibility of our obsessive processing when in pursuit of solving our pains.

ZJ: What’s one of the most visually striking things you’ve ever seen?

MA: The Salt Flats in Utah. The vastness was the most powerful thing I’ve ever experienced.

ZJ: What’s next you?

MA: I have more work left to do with this concept. The more I work on the SUV series, the more sub-concepts I unearth. I want these mixed media pieces to evolve into objects. I think the experience I’m trying to offer the viewer could be carried out better through three dimensions. I guess what’s next is more of this until I feel like I’ve exhausted it.

New works by Megan Altieri will be on view alongside the twelve other Flex Gallery artists as part of the Flex Gallery exhibition at UICA in Grand Rapids, MI from June 2 – Aug 4, 2017.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Posts by Zachary Johnson are also available via instagram under the name Vis Ed.