#nearby auditor office

[isoauditr]

How Can ISO Certification Help You Retain Your Clients?

The usefulness of industry standards is a topic of contention among many businesses. First, for two reasons, it takes a lot of work to get ISO certified and costs the company money and workforce.

Nevertheless, years of research have demonstrated that ISO certification is valuable.

Further, research has shown that organizations that had achieved ISO certification had several indisputable advantages in terms of operational effectiveness, staff engagement, and customer satisfaction.

These advantages work together to propel client development for companies of all sizes and sectors. For more insights into this, in this article, we’ll walk you through the following:

Advantages of Getting ISO Certification for Your Business

How Does ISO Increase Customer Satisfaction?

Top 3 Ways in Which ISO Helps in Getting More Clients

Advantages of Getting ISO Certification for Your Business

The primary benefits of getting ISO certification for business are:

The ISO standards and related systems provide the structure necessary for your business to implement the best practices widely accepted worldwide.

The cost of certification will be more than made up in revenue. According to research, three out of five businesses reported increased revenues after receiving an ISO certification. The revenue growth certified enterprises saw was noticeably higher than that of non-certified companies.

Many MNCs only collaborate with certified businesses. For instance, dealing with government entities and their external partners sometimes necessitates adherence to one or more ISO standards.

Moreover, while country-specific certificates may not be accepted internationally, ISO certifications are typically accepted, enhancing your reputation in international markets.

Companies with ISO certification report higher levels of general work satisfaction, better motivation, lower turnover rates, lower absence rates, and better management-employee communication.

As employees and management work towards a common goal (getting ISO certified), it brings them together and helps in improving employee engagement. Further, employees feel empowered, and their overall performance gets better.

A crucial component of preserving customer happiness and cutting waste is eliminating or minimizing variance from one product or procedure to the next.

Since standardization helps to maintain the uniformity of goods and processes throughout an industry, this consistency is one of the main objectives of ISO.

But how exactly does it help in retaining clients? 

Let’s decode that in the next section. 

How Does ISO Increase Customer Satisfaction?

Obtaining ISO certification is one surefire way to increase customer satisfaction. Why? Because it helps in making internal processes more efficient and sustainable. 

Here are some other ways in which it boosts customer satisfaction:

1. Improve Product Quality and Delivery Time

You’re often required to have a robust quality control system for products and customer service to comply with ISO and other standards. And requires establishing quality management procedures, keeping track of product quality, and conducting internal audits.

ISO helps you can ensure that clients receive their products on time. You can even identify the underlying causes of issues, which will help you save money by avoiding having to redo work.

2. Make Effective Use of Documented Complaints

It’s critical to handle complaints effectively to keep your consumers happy. Additionally, an ISO certification will help you access information you may use to advance your company.

Because ISO and other standards require a system for documenting customer complaints and routinely analyzing them to enhance operations, as a result, reduced customer complaints were one of the top advantages of becoming certified.

3. Monitor Clients Needs Better

Some standards demand that you have a system in place to keep track of client satisfaction and need. This might involve checking warranty claims, conducting routine client surveys, and checking social media.

The needs of a client must be continuously checked. With the help of the data, you’ll be able to gather and examine new technologies, develop client relationships, and change products to suit the customers’ requirements.

4. Create a Client-Specific Team

You may develop a customer-focused company by using ISO standards. The certification procedure unites all parties, from management to guarantee continuous efforts to satisfy customers.

Therefore, depending on the standard, you’ll be required to adhere to stringent requirements for quality assurance, handling complaints, and keeping track of client satisfaction to earn the certification.

Top 5 Ways in Which ISO Helps in Getting More Clients

Here are the top five ways in which an ISO certification can help you land more clients:

1. Establish Authority

By implementing ISO standards, you demonstrate to the public that you are serious about your business operations. Your systems automatically become modern and organized, which improves your productivity and working style.

2. Employ an Outcome-Based Approach

One of the main advantages of ISO is having a defined list of all your business-related operations. It aids in efficiently creating goals and tracking progress. All of it helps to develop a focused strategy that produces results.

Also, when your company begins to serve its customers successfully and efficiently, it helps to attract new customers and keep hold of existing ones.

3. Stay Ahead of the Competition

With an ISO-certified business, you can easily distinguish yourself from your rivals in the market. Your competitive edge makes it easy for you to pitch potential new clients. As a result, you gain an advantage over your competitors, eventually boosting your reputation.

4. Be Prepared for Challenges

Small business owners sometimes choose to play it safe at their present level rather than take on more significant challenges. However, having your business ISO certified gives you a springboard to aim for more meaningful goals in addition to helping you perform successfully at your current level.

ISO standards are recognized for revolutionizing business. Their implementation catalyzes smoothing out operations, improving team performance, raising sales, and so on.

It enables you to guide your company toward development and success successfully. Therefore, it’s time to adopt ISO standards and see the growth in your clientele. Ready to get started?

About IS Auditr

IS Auditr is a team of experienced ISO and Audit experts. They offer several end-to-end services, provide certifications to businesses and help them enhance their day-to-day operations. If you want to know more about how ISO certification can help retain clients, feel free to contact us.

[cosmica-galaxy]

~ AUDITOR ~

The moment the egg appeared after a passionate night with his Player, the Auditor almost seemed to know instantly that it was his. Mostly because of the shadowy aura that surrounded the little egg. 

Both he and his Player happily embraced the new vessel for life as they decided that moment forward they were excited to become parents.

The Auditor, despite his busy work schedule, always made time to do his duties as a partner in looking after the little egg. It was hard to balance the organization, hunting Hank Wimbleton, AND being an employer on top of parenthood…but it would all be worth it in the end. Still…there were days where it felt like it was getting too much. The painful daily dance of going back and forth between the parents almost seemed tirelessly endless.

Until one day, The Auditor decided that he had a bright idea.

The egg was always in need of warmth and protection, this much was very obvious. But his idea combined both of these into one single effort.

He decided he could store his egg INSIDE of his body.

No, he didn't absorb it or send it to the hell dimension. He merely kept his body folded around the egg in a protective manner. Kinda like a storage unit. The egg would be inside of his body, but in a little…pouch-like area he’ll make for it so it doesn’t go into his hell dimension. That way, it got both heat and protection from a single parent and it would render the current trading back and forth routine completely obsolete. What better place to be safely incubated than inside of an employer, a variety of nevadean god?

So, with your added permission, the Auditor became the egg's personal guardian 24/7 for 6 long months. It was a strange feeling carrying around that egg, but it was a welcome one. He would do anything for the offspring of himself and his precious Player, even if it meant dealing with a little bit of added weight and pressure. Then, one fateful day while he was doing his business paperwork at his desk, he swore he felt his chest heave. He paused for a moment, blinking in confusion. Until he felt the heave come from his chest again, surprising him. The Auditor was quick to lay down the pen and reach into his body. Pulling out his obsidian-colored egg from within the confines of his chest, the Auditor holds it curiously. Before jumping in shock when the egg wiggles in his hands. He stands up quickly and rushes to the center of his office, gently placing the egg on the floor as he waits nearby. His crimson eyes watching it with enthrallment. Then, it wiggles again…and again…and again. Suddenly, a loud sound fills the room. Crack! The employer’s eyes widens as he sees a large crack form in the top of the egg. Coming closer to the egg by squatting, he watches the motions intensely as more cracks develop on the shell. Then…the top suddenly popped off and beautiful iridescent white flames could be seen fluttering about on the inside. Despite his excitement, the employer merely watches. Admiring the scene as his child forces their way into the world of Nevada. Not lending a hand to help as he longs to encourage his child to complete their first task on their own. To prove to him how strong they are. There was a bit of a small struggle with the egg, but with one final push, the egg shell splits into two halves and the top piece falls away, revealing a small flaming white body that lets out a couple of inquisitive squeaks as they sniff the fresh air. That’s when the Auditor finally leans in to touch his newly born young one, which rapidly squeaks in response to his touching. He grins as he finally helps to peel away the remaining shell from the youngling’s body, fully freeing the child from their confines. “Excellent work. You’re already coming along strongly.” The Auditor coos to his little one, picking them up off the floor and taking the little flame into his arms. He nuzzles the little baby affectionately with his cheek as he lets out a few purrs, receiving a higher pitched purr in return from his little baby. The child then lets out a slow multi-colored yawn as they were already tired, the father merely chuckles at the display. “I didn’t expect you to have much strength right now. You’re still a newborn after all. But you will gain more potential as you grow older and stronger. One day, you’ll even take your place among the employers. For now, rest my child. You still have your other parent to meet later on.” The Auditor purrs in contentment as he nuzzles his child again, enticing another yawn out of the newborn as they curl into a little ball close to his chest. “My precious Player is going to be so happy to finally meet you…” –  (Warning for a non-overly description of Tricky feeding his babies a grunt)

~ TRICKY ~ The moment the eggs appeared after the night that Tricky got…ahem…frisky with his precious Player, Tricky was already going over names and becoming very protective of them. Already seeming to understand that they were his. Despite his insanity, he still seemed to be aware of his actions and intentions when dealing with his newly acquired young. As for the eggs, there were three in total sitting together in a little pillow nest that Tricky slew together for his little ones to sit in until they were ready to pop out. Each egg was donned with a unique pattern that seemed to be correlated to Tricky in some form of fashion. Now with precious cargo hiding in the building that Tricky and his Player called home, the zed was much more protective than he had ever been before. Any potential dangers or threats to his unborn babies were dealt with in a timely manner. Any trespassers were viciously torn apart and used as decoration to warn others to never trespass upon his territory. Despite his much more hostile approach to those outside of his immediate circle, the moment he comes back into the refurbished building, his mood does a 180. He becomes loving and affectionate to his Player and always goes to check on the eggs and spiffy up their pillow place. He would even bring home gifts. From blankets, to food for his lover, and heat retainers for his developing little ones. He even took up night patrols to make sure his eggs were safe and that the parameter was secure. For months, you and Tricky took up roles as protectors and babysitters while your little ones safely developed in their nest. Safe, warm, and protected. Then, one day that happened exactly on the dot of 6 months later, Tricky watched in surprise as one of his eggs jostled around while he was on his parental shift. The clown jumps to his feet quickly and eyes the egg that was moving, which was the smallest egg. Purple with green dots all over it. He nestles in close, practically laying on his stomach and sitting on his haunches while he watches with growing interest as the egg wiggles again. Then, a loud sound fills the room. Crack! But that wasn’t all. A chorus quickly followed after that sound! Crack! Crack Crack! With every sound a fracture would appear on Tricky’s eggs and he watched in complete awe as three of his eggs began to move around. More cracks forming on the surface of their shells as Tricky could barely contain the violent shaking of his body. Then, the smallest egg’s top suddenly pops off. Revealing a small gray face with a greenish skull-like accent and bright red hair, just like his. The littlest one begins to cry out a chorus of squeaks as Tricky licks the little one early, enticing more squeaking and whimpers from his newly born baby. “HELLO LITTLE BABY!! I’M PAPA CLOWN!! PAPA TRICKY :D :D” Tricky bellows, causing the little one to flinch from the audio. Then, the second egg’s top pops off. Revealing a slightly larger baby and similar skin, but with a straight line of red hair instead of a full head of hair. It looked like a mini mohawk in a way. Tricky greeted the second baby just like he did the first, with a warm lick across the face. Finally, the third egg cracks open, revealing the third and biggest baby. This one was heavier than the others, not to mention larger, but it also had similar markings and similar hair tufts that look identical to their father. Tricky, just like the ones before, gave the biggest baby a big ole lick. Tricky took into account the appearance and sounds that his newborns were making and he couldn’t stop shaking violently from excitement. But the moment he tried to lick them again, one decided to take a nip out of his tongue. It makes the father flinch and look closer at his babies. Finding that they already had teeth…sharp ones at that. They were also gnawing on their eggshells, even eating them! So clearly they were hungry. “CLOWN KNOWS WHY YOU BITE! YOU ARE HUNGRY! CLOWN WILL GET FOOD FOR BABIES! BE RIGHT BACK!” The insane clown says as he leaps out a nearby open window and begins to head off somewhere with his trusty stop sign over his shoulder. Not a few moments later, he was back climbing in through the window with a deceased bandit in his grasp. Having been bludgeoned to death by a certain traffic sign that the clown was notorious for carrying. He lays the body down next to the nest, which rouses the little newborns back into a squeaking and nipping little mob. “DINNER TIME! :D” Tricky happily announces. He then quickly rips a chunk of meat from the deceased grunt and happily feeds it to the littlest baby, which surprisingly swallows down the chunk of flesh with little to no problem before squeaking out for more food.

Once the other babies knew they were getting fed, Tricky had his hands (and ears) filled with the noisy cries of his babies wanting dinner. To which he fed them as quickly as he could. This process continued until the three little babies were finally full enough to settle down and cuddle up to one another in their nest. Tiny bellies stuffed full with meat from their ‘dinner’. Tricky was surprised, seeing as the little ones nearly ate half of his kill and they were just born! “CLOWN HAS NEVER BEEN PROUDER!” The insane zed sniffs in pride while dramatically wiping away a fake tear. He couldn’t wait to show his Player how good of a father he is when they get back from their supply run!

[isomumbai]

What are the criteria for selecting a certification body for ISO 27001 in Mumbai?

/ Uncategorized / By Factocert Mysore

ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai: The protection of sensitive statistics is paramount for organizations of all sizes in the bustling town of Mumbai, in which industries flourish and opposition is fierce. A superb way to gain this is to reap ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai, which gives a framework for organizing, implementing, preserving, and normally enhancing an records safety manipulate device (ISMS). Choosing the proper certification frame to conduct the ISO 27001 Certification Audits in Mumbai, however, calls for careful interest and assessment. As decided we can find out the most critical groups in Mumbai that should preserve in mind while selecting ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai

Understanding ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai

Before moving into the necessities for selecting a certification frame, it’s important to apprehend ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai and its significance. ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai is a widely frequently happening global method that specifies the requirements for organizing, imposing, keeping, and improving an ISMS. Achieving ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai demonstrates that an organization has ok protection talents to protect its records, excessive-tech assets, and consumer records.

Criteria for Selecting a ISO 27001  Certification Body in Mumbai

1. Accreditation: The certification frame’s accreditation is the most vital difficulty to bear in mind. Ensure that the certification body is authorized thru a identified accreditation frame, which incorporates the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) in India. Accreditation guarantees the certification body follows normal practices and requirements for accomplishing audits international.

2. Industry Experience: Evaluate the certification frame’s experience and information in mission ISO 27001  Certification audits in Mumbai, especially inside the Mumbai vicinity and your enterprise area. A professional certification body can have a deep expertise of the unique challenges and requirements faced via corporations in Mumbai, permitting them to offer treasured insights and guidance in the course of the certification method.

3. Qualified Auditors: The competency and qualifications of the auditors assigned to conduct the ISO 27001 Certification Audits in Mumbai are vital. Ensure that the certification body employs auditors with relevant qualifications, inclusive of Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) or Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and function significant experience records safety control.

4. Reputation and References: Research the certification frame’s recognition within the industry and try to find references from past customers. A reputable certification frame can have a track record of turning in awesome offerings and helping agencies reap ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai effectively. Additionally, consider reaching out to different Mumbai businesses that have gone through the certification system for pointers.

5. Cost and Value: While price is surely a component, it must not be the sole determinant in deciding on a certification body. Evaluate the overall cost proposition supplied via the certification body, including the first-class in their offerings, information in their auditors, and degree of assistance supplied throughout the certification process. Investing in a good certification frame can yield long-term advantages in improved safety posture and competitive benefits.

Points to Consider During Evaluation

Location: Consider the proximity of the certification frame’s office to your business place in Mumbai. A nearby certification frame may provide greater comfort and accessibility during the audit procedure.

Audit Methodology: Inquire about the certification body’s audit approach and technique. Ensure that the technique is rigorous, whole, and aligned with ISO 27001 necessities.

Support Services: Evaluate the level of help and steerage furnished via the certification frame earlier than, in the course of, and after the audit. A certification body that gives schooling, resources, and ongoing assistance can facilitate a smoother certification manner.

Timeline and Scheduling: Discuss the timeline for the certification method and make certain that it aligns with your business objectives and time limits. Clarify any ability scheduling conflicts and make certain that the certification body can accommodate your timeline requirements.

Conclusion

Selecting the right certification frame for ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai is a selection that calls for careful consideration and evaluation. Companies can choose a certification frame that meets their precise needs and requirements by considering factors such as accreditation, industry enjoyment, qualified auditors, reputation, and value proposition. Partnering with the proper certification frame no longer best ensures a hit ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai but strengthens data security practices and enhances organizational resilience in the dynamic enterprise panorama of Mumbai.

Why Factocert for ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai

We provide the best ISO 27001 consultants in Mumbai who are knowledgeable and provide the best solution. And to know how to get ISO certification. Kindly reach us at contact@factocert.com. work according to ISO standards and help organizations implement ISO 27001 certification in Mumbai with proper documentation.

For more information, visit ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai.

Related Links:

ISO Certification in Mumbai

ISO 9001 Certification in Mumbai

ISO 14001 Certification in Mumbai

ISO 45001 Certification in Mumbai

ISO 27001 Certification in Mumbai

ISO 22000 Certification in Mumbai

ISO 13485 Certification in Mumbai

CE MARK Certification in Mumbai

[smsfaccountingservices]

Setting Up an SMSF: Contact Recognised SMSF Accountants in Melbourne!

People who are interested in setting up an SMSF in Melbourne should contact a recognised SMSF accounting firm nearby to make an informed decision. SMSF purchases need to adhere to strict regulations and understand many complicated factors to manage the wealth generation for the future. 

Some reputable accounting firms have skilled SMSF auditor who offer a variety of services regarding investment and SMSF for generating wealth strategically and managing it properly to grow from time to time to get a satisfactory amount at the time of retirement.

Benefits of Connecting with Experienced SMSF Accounting Consultants:

Connecting with experienced SMSF accounting experts can guide people to get many benefits through the self-managed superannuation funds when follow their advice properly.

People can purchase lands, residential or commercial buildings, offices or other income-specific properties by using their self-managed superannuation funds to customise and increase their financial goals by contacting an accounting expert. 

Regardless of the complexity or size of the SMSF, a few reputable consultants offer specialised services connected to SMSF administration that can give high-quality services, value for money, low-cost SMSF administration, and competitive fixed fees.

These experts also help in managing annual financial statements, tax reports, independent audits, and any other SMSF work that clients require at the same time.

A few well-known SMSF consultants in the investment industry have established their reputation for dependability and trustworthiness via their knowledge and proficiency in a range of SMSF investments, including SMSF establishment, tax returns, and insightful tax guidance.

These experts continue to prepare proactive SMSF tax solutions and engage with clients regularly. 

They guarantee timely and effective SMSF services and assist customers in contacting technical support and assistance by phone, email, or in-person meetings.

They help customers choose SMSFs for the first time or optimise already-existing SMSFs, with their in-depth understanding of SMSF rules, regulations, and market trends.

Meanwhile, people should contact expert SMSF accounting services to get the best advice and assistance.

Source

[esgjuly]

Comprehending the Energy Audit

In our opinion as Energy Auditor, an energy audit is a survey by an energy auditor to ascertain the amount of energy a building uses and to pinpoint methods for lowering energy usage. These are employed to raise a building's energy efficiency, whether residential, commercial, or industrial. Three components comprise an energy audit: assessment, testing, and recommendations for improvement. A building evaluation is the initial stage. This entails examining previous energy bills and the physical attributes and operation of your building. Inquiries about the building's construction date, usage patterns, and kind of HVAC system will be made by the energy auditor.

To help you as Energy Consultant, following the audit, the energy auditor will advise you on how to improve your facility's energy efficiency. This could involve making adjustments to the insulation, windows, doors, and heating and cooling system. Several forms of energy audits exist, including walk-through, target, and thorough audits. A walk-through energy audit is the easiest and fastest kind of audit. When the energy auditor visits your home, they will look for areas where energy is being squandered. They will also ask you how much energy you use. A walk-through energy audit is less thorough than a target energy audit.

We believe as an Energy Auditor, the Energy Auditor will not only locate locations where your house is losing energy and measure how much electricity it uses, but they will also make recommendations on making your house more energy efficient. Lower your energy costs and improve the comfort of your house with the aid of an energy audit. In addition, an energy audit is going to: An energy audit will pinpoint places in your house where energy is lost, such as drafts, inadequate insulation, or outdated windows. The energy auditor will recommend lowering your energy costs based on the audit's findings. Safety issues like electrical risks or carbon monoxide leaks might also be found with an energy audit.

As an expert Energy Audit, obtaining an Energy Auditor can be done in several ways. Check out the Department of Energy's Home Energy Score Program. Consult your local or state government's energy or winterization offices. They can help you find a company or group qualified to conduct an energy audit. Speak with your energy service provider to determine if they evaluate household energy. They might also recommend a nearby auditor with whom you work. Speak with reputable groups like Residential Energy Services Network or the Building Performance Institute. Employ a non-public energy auditor.

In our role as Energy Consultant, this could involve inquiries concerning the audit's findings, the suggested adjustments, or the price of those adjustments. Make room in your house for the energy auditor to access your windows, doors, insulation, heating and cooling system, and other fixtures. You should anticipate a few things both during and following the energy audit. The energy auditor will question you about how your house is used and run tests to determine its energy use. The energy auditor will provide a cost estimate for the energy efficiency upgrades they suggest.

.

[wainewintern24]

An Energy Audit: What Is It?

As an Energy Audit, a home or business building's energy efficiency is assessed through an energy audit. Energy efficiency is the ability to perform a task with less energy. You will receive a comprehensive assessment of your energy efficiency and electricity consumption from the audit. The audit report contains vital information about your energy use and Energy Star rating. With this knowledge, you can detect and address any problems with energy use to reduce the cost of electricity. Before installing a renewable energy system, it is wise to do an energy audit. A certified energy advisor or auditor will conduct an energy audit of a business or a residence. The task of finishing energy efficiency evaluations for both commercial and non-commercial buildings fall to energy auditors. To ascertain your energy consumption and issue areas, a qualified energy auditor will visit your residence or business and walk through the interior and exterior. 

Being an Energy Consultant, they will examine components that enhance the overall energy efficiency of your house or place of business as they go through it. Your insulation levels, including those in the basement and external attic walls, will be examined by the auditor and you’re heating and cooling systems or HVAC system. They will also measure and count the number of windows and doors in the building in addition to taking external measurements. An energy auditor will look for air leaks in a home or place of business to assess how tight a building's envelope is. An air sealing technique is used in an airtightness test. The auditor will shut the building's front door and install a big fan inside. The testing fan will compel outside air to enter gaps or cracks by drawing interior air outside the structure. Although most auditors use feathers or incense to detect the gaps precisely, these air leaks are frequently easily felt with the hand. An energy auditor will do a thermographic scan to evaluate the energy use of your house or place of business in addition to the airtightness test. 

As one of the leading Energy Auditor, they will measure energy consumption using a variety of energy utilization instruments, including surface thermometers, furnace efficiency meters, and infrared cameras. Lastly, the auditor will review previous utility invoices. The energy auditor will present you with a comprehensive list of recommendations for energy efficiency upgrades you can implement after evaluating and testing your home or business structure. The majority of the suggestions can reduce your utility costs if they are followed. Check out the Home Energy Score Program the US Department of Energy offers. Speak with the energy or winterization office of your local or state government they can help you locate a business or group capable of conducting an energy audit. By conversing with them, find out if your energy supplier performs home energy evaluations. They suggest a nearby auditor that you can work with. Look through the network of Residential Energy Services. Keeping a checklist of the areas you have audited and noting the problems you found will be helpful. It's essential to remember that completing a do-it-yourself home energy audit will be less reliable and credible than hiring a professional. Also, leave it to a pro if you need help with how to inspect or remedy a problem.

[adtechmetallurgicalmaterials]

Rising gas prices plus Ukraine-Russia geopolitical crisis threaten job security at Limerick alumina refinery

The Ukrainian-Russian geopolitical conflict and its economic fallout are threatening the future viability of Rusal-owned West Limerick, according to the company's directors and auditors.

The company has posted a net loss of more than 363 million euros since gas prices rose in the year before the Ukrainian invasion.

Now, because of the conflict, those prices have risen again, putting the group under intense pressure. Because of the document, nearly 500 employees at Europe's largest bauxite refinery, which produces 30 percent of the country's alumina, which is mainly used in aircraft, are again concerned.

Limerick Alumina Refining paid more than €46 million in wages to local workers in a report filed with the Companies Registry Office.

Aughinish's parent company has pledged continued support until December 31, 2023, and the directors said they "reasonably expected" the company would remain trading.

Niall Collins, a local TD who holds regular meetings with Aughinish management, said: "They told us, and no one refuted it, that Aughinish was the most efficient of the Rusal global groups. It was involved in the process of making a commodity that was in huge global demand. .”

Cllr Stephen Keary, former mayor and mayor of the area where the local alumina refinery is located, said: "I am very concerned about reading the reports on its viability."

Aluminum World Report

“This is a fantastic employer for West Limerick and North Kerry. If anything happens to it, it will be the death knell for the area. Many of the people who work there have a specific skill set and don’t have the opportunity to redeploy to Similar facilities," Cllr Keary said.

Dee Ryan, chief executive of Limerick Chamber, said: "If anything happens, which we hope doesn't happen, people in the area will have a hard time finding equivalent jobs nearby."

Adtech Metallurgical Materials Co.,Ltd is a Sino-foreign joint venture integrating R&D, production, operation and service of metallurgical materials. With strong technical force and perfect production and operation system, it has passed ISO 9001 quality system certification and ISO14001 environmental assessment certification. It has established long-term cooperative partnerships with more than a dozen countries and regions. The main products of adtech :

porous ceramic filter, cff filter. ceramic foundry filter . porous ceramic plate . ceramic filter plate . deep bed filter. deep bed filter aluminium.

ceramic foam filter . metal foam filter. alumina foam. metal filtration.

degassing aluminum,rotary degassing, inline degasser .online degasser . nitrogen degassing . degassing equipment . rotary degassing . rotary degasser,. aluminium degassing machine. rotary degassing aluminum .degassing machine. degassing unit .

boron nitride coating ,deslagging , granular flux,bn coating,tundish powder, refining flux, aluminum casting Flux.casting flux .aluminum degassing flux . refining agent . deslagging agent . cover flux for aluminium, cover flux, flux for aluminum casting . boron nitride paint . covering agent .

launder system . electric launder system .

tundish nozzle, tap out cone, tap out cone, caster tip , tap cone, etc.

To learn more, please follow website: https://www.alalloycasting.com/ 

Contact: sales@alalloycasting.com

[concealeddarkness13]

Fire and Steel (Speedrunning Therapy) Part 7

Content warning for forced medical procedures. I’m riding this wave of motivation to write this until it goes away. So, here’s the next part! This one also features writing from @drabbleitout, from the perspective of the TB characters! I say when it is her writing, and when it is my writing. About 7,800 words

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, @drabbleitout, and @for-fuchs-sake!

(This section is written by @drabbleitout)

Garnet was always on the other end of calls like this. People reporting loved ones missing, apartments or homes broken into, explaining that invasive, alien feeling of someone else having been in your private space or the sobbing fear of the wellbeing of a loved one. He sat on the couch as an officer rattled off the usual questions. “I’m telling you I’m sure. It was those Auditor bastards.”

“Garnet,” she was young, from one of the nearby precincts, but it was clear in her tone this wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with this sort of thing. “We know you don’t like them, why would you think—?”

“Because of her prosthetics. I’m sure of it, okay?”

“They have no record of human testing.”

“Just look into it, okay?” He glared up at her, worrying his hands. After a moment she nodded, going back to making notes on her tablet. Turning, he looked back at Beau who was seated at the bar, shoulders fallen, head heavy, allowing the technician to access the port on his neck and retrieve memories from the night before. He looked scattered, leaning to the side where they’d used the diffuser to attach his mobility system, leaving the entire right side unresponsive. Judging by what little charge he had, they’d come early in the night, meaning he’d lied there hours before Garnet found him.

Useless. You’re fucking useless. That little voice hissed from the corner of his mind. He had to tear his stare away from Beau.

He was easily distracted as the towering form of Ives emerged through the door. His hair hung messily in his face, mouth opening as if he needed to breathe, clearly having to cool his systems as if he’d ran all the way there —and it dawned on Garnet he probably did. He’d heard over the scanners. He’d pieced it together. Scanning the room he noticed Beau, slipping past detectives studying the broken door lock and starting towards him.

And then he noticed Garnet.

Averting sharply, he marched over to the couch. “How did you let this happen?” Was the first thing out of his mouth. The first thing in three years he’d ever said directly to him. Garnet almost couldn’t believe it, watching the widen intensity of Ives stare narrow into a searing glare. “You saw what happened yesterday at the station. You know they had an interest in her. How could you be so stupid to let this happen?”

“I didn’t let it happen.” Garnet snarled, pressing himself up to his feet, hating that he still lacked a few inches in comparison.

“Well, you certainly didn’t stop it.” Ives growled. And for all of Garnet’s searing rage he knew Ives was right. That was the worst part, he was right.

The technicians finished with Beau, helping him regain control of his right side and heading for the door.

“If you’ve done this to spite me, congratulations Lieutenant, you’ve won. You’ve done it.”

“Hold the fuck up! You think I let them come and take her just to piss you off?” Garnet stepped closer, glaring up into his searing icy stare. “That I would let anyone hurt her because of you? How fucking egocentric are you?” He stabbed a finger into Ives’ chest, close enough now as if daring him to get physical. “I don’t give a fuck about you, and I don’t know why you’re pretending like you care about her. You’ll fucking ditch her in a few years like you did everyone else.”

Ives’ glare wrinkled as if he’d been struck somewhere, but never pulled away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Clearly,” Garnet nodded, “because you never think of anyone else. You up and left your entire family. Ryker, Valletta, me, all of us. You rather go play soldier with breaching. Just can’t get rid of that based programming, can you?” It was Ives’ turn to step in, backing Garnet to the couch threatening to shove him over it.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The fuck I don’t.”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Beau whimpered, pulling at Ives trying to create space between them.

“You don’t give a shit about Chess, you just want new attention!”

“Don’t pleasure yourself by assuming you know anything about me,” Ives moved as if he may lift a threatening hand, Beau taking the opportunity to slip between him and Garnet, pushing them apart. “You accepted full responsibility when you brought her into your home. What happened was your fault!”

“I know you fucking asshole! I know! You think I don’t feel fucking terrible about that!”

“Do you ever feel, Lieutenant? I’ve yet to see you care for anyone. Why wouldn’t you dismiss Chess, you do everyone else.”

“Ives, it was me!” He barked wedging himself in place, trying not to choke on his words. “I was the one who was there and let it happen. If you’re going to be angry at anyone, be angry at me. Garnet didn’t know. He wasn’t there.”

“Beau,” Garnet hissed, grabbing his shoulder.

“I was there. I was right there and I let them take her.” He pointed at the floor where their bed had been. “I didn’t hear them come in or sense them, not until it was too late. Garnet was in the other room, sleeping. He didn’t know.” Beau’s voice shook, the warning of a critical charge level blinking in his HUD. “Garnet would never want anything to happen to her I know you care a lot about Chess, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t.”

The intensity never left Ives’ stare, flickering up to Garnet before easing back a step. Detectives at the door stopped to watch, scrambling to go back to their work as Ives spotted them. “It wasn’t your fault,” Ives said with great difficulty, even if he meant it. “Either of you.”

Garnet scoffed, helping Beau take a seat on the couch. “You just came from one of their labs, you didn’t see her?”

“I didn’t know I should be looking for her there,” Ives growled.

“She could be at any of them,” Beau weakly said, touching his throat at the strange wheezing noise. Heat tarnished.

“Alright, let’s hear it,” the gruff voice turned them all to the door finding Detective Khan entering. He was half shrugged into a sports coat, sweatshirt on underneath looking as if he’d just rolled out of bed. He scratched his bald head, giving the room a quick swivel before turning back to them. “Well, go on? What happened?”

“The hell are you doing here?” Garnet grumbled.

“I heard a call that a Mediator’s apartment had been broken into and someone was reported missing. Might have low key hoped it was you, Lieutenant,” he joked grimly. “Seriously, cut the shit. What happened?”

“Auditors came in, in the middle of the night. Around two, maybe?” Beau struggled to recall. Everything felt blurry and scrambled. He was trying not to cry at the memory of Chess’ cries, the way she’d looked at him as they drug her away. “They’re interested in her type of prosthetics.”

“It’s a long story.” Ives quickly added.

“I’m a detective, Ives, long stories are kinda my thing.”

“She’s got some foreign prosthetics, not from here. Auditors are interested in the technology.” Garnet rushed through it, “They’ve probably taken her back to a lab.” Khan glanced between them.

“You got proof it’s Auditors?”

“Not enough time to go into it, but yeah. Clock’s tickin’, Khan.”

“Doesn’t stop either,” he shrugged. “Alright, I’m gonna have to get details later, but I’ll take your word for it given your… backgrounds. We need to narrow down which lab. It couldn’t be far, they wouldn’t have moved her to HQ but not too far from it either. You,” he pointed at Ives, “Come with me back to the office, explain on the way. You two, get cleaned up and head in. We’ll talk more once you’re there. Get him some batteries or something, he looks like he might be a fire hazard at this point.” He gave Beau a pat on the head. “Let’s move, boys.”

* (Now back to Chess’s POV)

I…I was slumped in a chair. I opened my eyes to a sterile white room. Three different bastards were flitting around the room, looking at all the fucking monitors with numbers and charts and all that medical shit. I clenched my jaw to keep myself from cussing them all out.

One of the Auditors, a woman with a tight bun, pulled down something hanging from the ceiling, looking like a wide cylinder. She put that over my chest. “What’s your age?” she muttered, not looking at me.

I glared at her. “Fuck you.”

A voice spoke over a speaker. “Told you Maverick, she doesn’t talk.” I glanced around for escape routes, but there was nothing. Only cameras pointed at me from every corner of the room.

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged and brought over a cart that had all the fucking medical torture tools. “Go ahead and run scans, I’ll check the teeth.” She grasped my jaw with a gloved hand, and I tried to bite at her, but she got a good leverage and forced my jaw open a little. The pressure she put on my jaw hurt so badly that tears blurred my vision. “Open or I’ll use force.”

“Don’t forget, we’ve got IV5 just down the hall,” the voice said over the speaker.

Shit. I huffed out some smoke from my nose, but I opened my jaw willingly.

The bastard also known as Maverick brought a mirror into my mouth, looking for a long time. “Mid twenties,” she said, saying other things that I didn’t understand. “What’s the temperature reading we’ve got on the lungs?”

“500, 260 Celsius,” one of the other bastards called. “This is insane. It’s like a furnace in there. But we’re looking at biological tissue. And you should see this DNA. I’ve never seen combinations like this.”

I started shaking at their words. I was always going to be an experiment. “This is gonna be fun then, isn’t it?” Maverick said, finally letting go of my face. “Want to tell us what you know? What country did you get these from?”

I kept glaring at her. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does if you know what’s good for you. This could be a type of weapon they’re developing. There could be war on the rise.”

One of the other bastards looked at me. “Maybe we should start producing more of the IV5’s bring them back in case we need to deploy them. Guess we don’t need any more test runs in the Mediator services.” Fuck.

“I’m sure we could convert the B0’s too. That one would probably make a good spy if we could filter out the empathy,” another bastard chimed in. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Let’s worry about what we can find here first,” Maverick said. “We need to find out how her body is housing the fire like this. Figure out what’s going on in her DNA, take more samples if we have to. I want everything looked over before we get a Doctor involved. When they see we have a human subject they’re going to flip unless we have a good case.”

“Human,” one of them added mockingly with air quotes.

“Either way, we need to prove our case,” Maverick continued. “Good catch, Steve.”

The person over the speaker chuckled. “What can I say? I have an eye for precious gems.” So, he probably was the person I had punched.

“Can you imagine if we could figure out how to get this into Synthetics?” She grabbed my head again and turned it both ways as she grabbed a pair of scissors. Fuck, what was she going to do? And what were they going to do to Ives and Beau? “Programmable units that could harness fire? We’d lead the way in artic exploration or warfare. What else could we get, water? Earth? Can you imagine being able to stop an earthquake?”

“Or cause one.”

Maverick didn’t respond, just pulling at the collar of Beau’s hoodie. I watched in horror as she cut down the center and then the sleeves as well. She pulled it off of me and threw it away. I stared at the bin, and that was the last straw.

I started sobbing. “I’m not from this fucking planet! You don’t need to worry about any fucking wars because of me! I don’t even fucking know how I got here!”

“Bingo, got us an E.T.” one of them cheered. “Told you, not human.”

“Got that on record, Steven?”

“Yep.”

“So we’ve got some alien tech here. At least that’s something we know what to do with, right?” Maverick chuckled. “Oh cut the act, no one believes the tears.”

I couldn’t fucking stop. They were going to hurt Beau and Ives. They were going to use them for wars. And it was all my fault. I couldn’t even try to fix it, or they’d still get hurt. One of the others muttered as I continued. “B0 does that same thing sometimes, drives me up a friggin’ wall. Like, we get it, you can play charades.”

Maverick held my head back and still as I kept sobbing. She cut pieces of my hair off, putting them into a bag and sealing it. She then grabbed my hair and pulled it up on top of my head before she undid the cuffs. But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t do anything or they’d hurt Ives and Beau.

She wasn’t looking at me. “Ok, if you want to send in the gurney. I’m moving her to room 445C for scans and testing.” The doors opened with a shriek, and I flinched. Other bastards rolled up a table to the chair. “I’m so glad we can just make the Synths get up here if we need them to. I’m not about all this struggling.”

Two bastards lifted me out of the chair and onto the table, cuffing my prosthetic arm to the table. I didn’t struggle, just trying to stop sobbing. I squeezed my eyes shut, and more tears streaked down my cheeks as the pushed me down to lie down on the table. I flinched when cold scissors touched my skin, and I opened my eyes to see them cutting the right collar and sleeve of my shirt and the left side of the shorts. Beau’s clothes were so ruined. It was all my fault. I should have kept my old clothes on.

They strapped me down once I lay down on the table, and they rolled me out of the room. The lights in this fucking building were bright and hurt my eyes, and I squinted against them, starting to get a headache from all the crying and brightness and exhaustion. It took forever, but they finally brought me to another room, where there were other things hanging from the ceiling. I had no idea what I was even looking at.

Maverick pulled one of them down, and that one held some ring-like fixtures that could go around my arm. “Alright, we’re starting some scans.” She pulled the edge of the table so that my prosthetic arm was brought up perpendicular to my body. I couldn’t move it. She stepped away, but looked back at me. “I wouldn’t struggle too much. Once this gets to going you really don’t want it coming in contact with your skin.”

She left, and I stared at the machine as the lights dimmed and it started moving around my arm. It came dangerously close to my skin, and tears slipped down my cheeks as I tried to stay as still as I could. Even once the machine was done, no one came back.

*

Time passed in a blur of tests and pain and periods of silence where I didn’t have anything to think about except how terrible I was for putting Ives and Beau in danger. I didn’t know how long it had been since I had been captured, but I refused to eat or drink as much as I could. They would probably drug the food and water.

The lights were blinding me, but I had nothing else to look at. I didn’t want to move. But then movement appeared on the edge of my vision, and I looked over slightly to see someone else I hadn’t seen before. He was older, with short, dark hair and glasses. He stared at me, and he looked worried. Why would he look worried? What was the point of pretending?

He said something, but I couldn’t understand. He leaned away, speaking to someone else, and the lights dimmed a moment later. I blinked as he sat down next to me with a huff, getting closer to me.

“You must be Chess,” he whispered, sounding kind. Why the fuck were they doing this? There was no way I’d believe that someone would be kind now. “I know you’re probably feeling terrible at the moment. I hear you haven’t been eating.”

I would never eat. They totally drugged the food, and I wasn’t about to compromise myself even more than I already had. I snarled. “Fuck you.” I hated how weak and raspy my voice sounded.

“That’s understandable. I take no offense to it. Please, don’t be afraid. I’m not here to test or prod. I’m supposed to just be surveying. Seeing the work, so to speak.” He was still a damn bastard. “Although I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me.” He leaned back to grab a tablet from the counter near me, propping it in his lap to look over it. “I also know you have no reason to trust me, but you seriously should eat something.” He frowned, looking up at me as he scooted to be in line with my head. He held up the tablet for me to see, but it all looked like nonsense. He pointed at the top right corner that read: ‘Subject Title/Model’ where it was filled with question marks. What the fuck did that matter to me? Why was he showing me this?

“Ives told me about you. Not, well, not about this. But I heard the others using him to threaten you into complying.” He leaned closer to whisper. “Ives was released days ago. He isn’t here. They can’t hurt him or Beau. They’re actually very low level engineers, they don’t speak for the company or make any decisions. I promise you, neither of them are in any danger.”

Fuck that. I couldn’t believe that. I coughed weakly, releasing a little bit of smoke. “You’re just…trying to make me more compliant. I won’t eat anything they give me.”

“I know you can’t believe me. I don’t blame you for that. And I won’t ask you to do that and I’m not here to force feed you either.”

He glanced at the door and hesitated before continuing. “I work closely with Beau and Ives. I do examinations at Station Six. I’ve met Ryker and Garnet, and Ives told me you’ve met them too. I admit, there aren’t many who are compassionate in this line of work, and this is far from ethical. I’m going to get word to them you’re here, and get them to you.” He moved back, putting the tablet back on the counter. He then grabbed another tool and used it to actually loosen the cuff on my wrist. I blinked and stared at him, but I couldn’t just believe what he said.

“I’m sorry I can’t do much more right away. And even if you don’t believe me, I want you to know I’m going to get a message to them. As soon as I leave this room. But I wanted to see if there’s anything I can get you in the meantime?”

I just shook my head, staring at him. What was the point of all this? Why would they do this?

“I cannot apologize enough for what’s happened, and I promise you there will be consequences for this.” He pulled out what looked like a pouched drink as he whispered. There it was. The reason they wanted me to believe him. So they could get me to have their fucking drugged drink. “I won’t make you, but will you at the very least drink this?” He opened it, and I started to snarl, but he then drank some of it, and I clearly saw him swallow. What? “It’s electrolytes, just to give you energy. Just so they won’t force you to eat. If they see your levels going too low, they will. This should buy you enough time until I can get someone here.

“Again, you have no reason to trust me. But I swear to you, I’m getting you help.” He offered the drink, and, I stared.

Damnit. But he drank it, and he had swallowed. And I was nauseous from hunger, but I could probably have a drink at least. And getting force-fed sounded worse. “Fine.” I leaned forward as best I could to take sips. And it felt so nice to my dry mouth.

He smiled. “Not too much too quickly. You don’t want to be ill. Hopefully this will give you a little more strength, just to hold on a little bit longer.” I drank as much as I could before I felt too nauseous. He nodded and stood up. “Let me act quickly. I’ll be back with help.” He pushed the stool back in place and left. I stared after him, just hoping I hadn’t made a terrible mistake to trust him.

* (Writing from @drabbleitout)

Another night with nothing. Another night Garnet wasn’t sleeping. Beau tried making dinner, not nearly as accustomed to it, bringing it into the bedroom where Garnet worked over his laptop and tablet. He didn’t stop. Between shifts, sometimes even on shift, and nearly all night long. He’d only pause for a cigarette or if his body involuntarily dropped him into sleep while in the middle of his research.

Ives fared no better.

It was the most discussion Beau had seen between them since his activation. Emails, messages, texts of swapping information, digital threads in search of a lead as if they were their own detective department. Beau would catch up to their updates only to fall behind in his attempt to keep them both up and running.

It was midnight when he finally gave up, locking up, pulling the curtains to, going back into the bedroom. Expectedly, Garnet was still working, food only half touched on the nightstand. “Jaime, we need a break,” he whispered, unheard. Beau moved closer, stepping around to plug in Garnet’s phone to charge, putting away the tablet that wasn’t currently glued to his hand and cutting out the table light.

“Hey,” Garnet finally peeled his stair away from the screen, squinting.

“That’s enough,” Beau whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’ve done enough today.”

“It’s enough when we find her. We’ve got it down to two. We’ve almost got it. We’ve almost… figured out…” he went quiet as Beau cupped his face in his hands, thumbs petting his cheeks.

“Please?” Beau whispered, “You’re wearing yourself out. Even if you found out tonight, you’re in no condition to go out. I saw the way you were driving today. You need rest.”

“I can’t.” Garnet hissed, pulling his face free to turn back to his laptop.

“You can. You have to.” Beau reached for the screen, stopping as Garnet caught his wrist. “Garnet, you barely get sleep on a good day, you’ve had less that eight hours since it happened. You’ve done enough.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You need to sleep—”

“I can’t! I have to figure this out. It’s been nearly a week. You know what Khan said they could have moved her somewhere. You know how this works. Just like any other kidnapping, but they’ve got money and resources. They could be anywhere. If we don’t find her—” Beau scooted closer, pulling him into his shoulder.

Garnet froze, as tense as an overtuned piano string. His heart was racing, thoughts scattered, his electromagnetic field practically jittering in Beau’s scanners. The light from the laptop skewed across the wall, fallen from his lap onto the bed. Garnet didn’t reach for it. His breath jumped, catching. It wasn’t until wet warmth soaked into the shoulder of Beau’s shirt did he realize Garnet was crying.

Beau leaned their heads together, carefully petting over his coily hair, over and again. “You’ve done enough, Jaime… it’s enough.”

“No,” he croaked, shaking as his arms wrapped around Beau. He ducked his face into his neck, trying to hide from the creaking sobs, fingers winding into his shirt. “I should’ve heard. I should’ve heard them.”

“I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it’s okay. You were sleeping. You didn’t expect them to come here.”

“I saw a car in the parking lot,” Garnet sniffled, difficult for him to speak as he shook with sobs. “At the station. I didn’t listen to my gut. I should’ve listened!” Beau blindly reached behind him, closing the laptop and moving it aside before rocking to the side, pulling Garnet down to the bed.

“We’re going to find her,” Beau whispered. “We’ll find her,” over and over like a mantra, soothing a hand across Garnet’s back. He stayed that way as Garnet fell asleep, and even still as he slept. Never going into stasis. Never moving. Watching the black sky wake into a sickly grey and steel blue, syncing to Garnet’s phone to screen calls and notifications, shutting off his alarm before it could blare out. He notified Ryker that they’d be late, giving him an extra hour of sleep before giving in to wake him.

*

He was still exhausted as they went into the station, bombarded by Ives in the parking lot as he waited at the back door. Just as he had every morning. He never went to his own apartment anymore, staying in the barracks, working at the station.

“Khan wants to see us,” Ives said, following them in. “Right away.”

“The fuck? Why didn’t you call me?”

“He just notified me. I thought it had something to do with you when you didn’t show. But he wouldn’t disclose any information.” Beau followed them, concerned with Kahn calling them in. They traveled upstairs to the detective offices, Garnet pushing Khan’s door open to stop.

“I think we have her,” Khan announced.

Beau could no longer stand, sliding down the door jamb to sit in the floor.

“Hey Doc, it’s Garnet,” his voice was thick, knee bouncing as he fought to hold himself together. “You gotta –a status report? How’s she doing?”

“Physically not terrible,” he breathed into the phone, shuffling clear that he was trying to stay out of sight, wherever he was. “She’s a bit weak, refusing food and fluids. Still quick with the tongue, that’s for sure. So far it’s just been studies. I can’t say it hasn’t been… traumatic. But there’s been no cutting or surgery of any kind.”

“Do you have the location?” Ives pressed.

“I’m sending it over now. There’s a shift change at eight. I can probably get into security, get the doors and everything open for you if you’ve got a team to come down here.” Beau barely heard the rest, eyes watering with the overwhelming news. Of course, he hadn’t stopped thinking they would find her. It had only been the last few days the thought of not finding her alive began to root it’s way into him. But now they had hope. They had a chance.

"We'll be on our way." Khan announced.

*

Beau was the only one with enough common sense to drive. Given clearance from Khan, the three of them were allowed to move in on the lab with five other officers in wait behind them. Yew cleared them through the gate, relaying which cameras were clear. Any that weren’t, Ives took little time to cut and repeat their feed, giving them a clear entrance.

“I’m on point,” he said with little room to argue. Garnet nodded without another word.

“Shift change has been delayed, but there’s no time to wait,” Yew came over the comms. “They’ve started a procedure without any clearance. You need to move in now." Beau screeched to the curb, all of them piling out in full riot gear, making movements awkward and slow for Beau. He hurried after them, already hacking at the pad of the door.

Without warning Ives staggered, a shrieking round flying into the side of the building from somewhere unknown. TLN splattered on the wall, dark and shimmering, leaking from Ives’ side. He turned in search of the gunman, almost growling as he turned for the door and kicked it at the brace bar causing it to fold inward with a horrific shriek. With rifle raised he shoved inside, Garnet checking the parking lot for the shooter as he pressed Beau inside, following shortly.

Auditors stopped as they stepped out into the hall, reeling back into their rooms. "You need to go up two floors. Take a right from the stairwell. Third door on your left." Yew informed. Ives took off in a sprint, Garnet struggling to keep up with them as they hurried for the closest stairwell. Beau and Ives effortlessly took two stairs at a time, Garnet fighting for air as the lack of sleep and meals came bearing down on him.

"You're interfering with city jurisdiction. If you do not stand down I will have no choice but to fire." Ives announced, rifle to his shoulder, threatening any of the Auditors that tried to step out in his way. Beau drew his shock pistol, covering him as they inched down the hallway. The room in question opened, releasing an Auditor in medical gear, spilling screams into the hall.

Chess' screams.

Ives gave no second warning. He fired on the three Auditors, stun bullets sending them convulsing to the floor. He considered drawing his firearm as well, wanting to pull real bullets through them, but heeded the warnings in his HUD as he stepped over them towards the door. The Auditor in medical scrubs stammered at his approach, making a sad effort to block the door. Ives grabbed them by their collar, and slung them with all his force down the hall. He backed away from the door, taking three long strides and throwing all of his weight, shoulder first, into it.

It flew off its track, crashing into the far wall of the room.

* (Back to Chess’s POV!)

The bastards had just walked in and quickly brought out medical tools and hooked me up to machines. They just pushed an oxygen mask on me, and I tried not to start crying all over again. I had to obey, just in case Beau and Ives could be hurt.

They didn’t even bother to give me some kind of sedation before they grabbed some heavy duty tools and started prying at my prosthetic arm. Oh fuck. Instant pain burned up my arm, and I screamed and tried to cower away from them, but they just held me down as one of them kept prying at my arm. And I kept screaming, starting to cough up smoke as tears leaked from my eyes.

And then...they were gone. First the people who were holding me down and then the person who was prying at my arm. I barely registered that as I kept sobbing and coughing up smoke, but then someone else moved into view…and they were a cop with a helmet on, hiding their features. Fuck. I tried to cower away from them as they took the oxygen mask away from my face, until they spoke and I froze.

“Chess? Chess, l-little one, I’m here.”

I blinked and remembered and stared, starting to cry worse. I tried to take deep breaths. “Ives,” I croaked.

He tore his helmet off, and there he was. I saw him. He gasped in breaths as well, looking me over. And…he started crying. He tore the straps away from me. “It’s me. I’m here. I’ve got you.” I cried worse. He was here. I…I was safe. I hadn’t hurt him because of my presence. He was ok. He scooped me up gently, and I clung to him, still sobbing.

“I’m taking you home,” he said softly, and I believed him. I…I was safe. He held me close as he walked me out of the building, and I held onto him tighter.

I kept sobbing. “I’m…I’m sorry. They threatened you and Beau. And I couldn’t…I couldn’t do what you asked. I couldn’t put my safety over yours. I had to cooperate. I couldn’t let you get hurt.”

“Please, stop apologizing,” he wheezed. “You did nothing wrong. It isn’t your fault. You did everything you could and you did such a good job. I’m the one who’s sorry. I wasn’t careful that day, I should have stood watch to make sure no one would see you. I put you at risk and I got you hurt. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head, about to argue that it was all my fault. That I had put him in danger by punching the Auditor and I should have done better in not letting them see me. But Ives stiffened, and I blinked and looked up at him. He looked panicked as he looked down and over at me. “I have to get you out.” He sounded unsteady as he rushed out of the building. I barely noticed how nice it was to be in the sun again as I started panicking all over again. What had I done? Was Ives getting hurt for coming to rescue me?

He set me down, but I held onto him. “Get in the car,” he begged, and his voice sounded weird. He clawed at the handle of the police car Garnet and Beau used. “Please, get in the car.”

I would not leave him. Not again! I would protect him! I started sobbing all over again. I held his hands tightly. “No. I won’t. I’m not leaving you. What’s going on?” I looked around for anyone, and Beau and Garnet were leaving the building too. “Please! Something’s wrong!”

Ives tried to push me away. “Get-“ He stumbled, one hand catching the roof of the car so he wouldn’t fall. He wrenched his head aside, and I stared. I had done this. It was all my fault. He was here, and something was happening because of this!

“Ives? Ives, what is it?” Beau walked closer cautiously.

“In-fected.” Ives’s voice was scratchy, and he pulled away from me, getting stiff and not moving. I screamed a sob as I walked closer to Ives. There had to be something I could do!

“Chess.” Garnet sounded worried. “Chess, come here. Slowly come over here.”

But…but everything had just been fine! I couldn’t leave Ives now! Not when he had just saved me! I couldn’t do that! “What did I do? Did I hurt him? I’m sorry!”

Garnet edged over to me and eased a hand around my arm, trying to pull me away gently, and I tried to resist, but I was too weak. “No, it wasn’t you kid. This wasn’t you. You didn’t hurt him.” But it was my fault! A loud gunshot sparked off the roof of the car, and I cowered. This was all my fault. “Beau, take a step back. A few steps back, Bud.”

Beau didn’t move. “Ives,” he whispered.

Garnet reached for his radio. “1-65 to dispatch. I need a tech out to my location now.” He brought his hand to his ear. “Yew, we got a situation. One of these guerilla fucks are out here firing infection rounds. They got Ives—Beau, I said back up. Now!”

I stared as Ives started moving again, having jerking movements as he turned to Beau. His…his eyes. There was no whites to his eyes or blue color, just lenses that were red. I froze. I couldn’t move. Ives was hurt.

Ives lunged at Beau and tackled him to the ground, and Garnet scooped me up and ran for the car. “Shit, shit, shit.” He opened the door. “Do what he says, get in the car.”

I was useless. There was nothing I could do to help. So, I just got in the car and watched as I tried to get myself to stop sobbing.

Beau pushed back Ives from slamming him against the wall. Ives grabbed for Beau’s neck instead, succeeding in wrapping his hand around Beau’s throat as Beau called for Garnet.

“Don’t look, kid.” Garnet turned me away, and I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut as gunshots rang out. Ives…Ives was going to die, and it was all my fault. But then Garnet cursed, and I had to look again as Ives rushed the car. Garnet slammed the car door closed, but Ives still grabbed him and slammed him on the hood of the car. No! I couldn’t lose any of them! I started punching the glass window with my prosthetic, trying to get out and help, but I was too weak. I coughed up smoke, tears still streaking down my cheeks. I couldn’t let them get hurt!

I vaguely saw Garnet punch Ives and narrowly avoided getting hit himself. He punched Ives again, but Ives caught sight of me and froze, staring. I froze too. This wasn’t Ives. It wasn’t his fault. Why? Why did this happen? Why did he have to get hurt? I deserved it more!

“Beau, get in the car and drive!” Garnet punched Ives again and tried to get him in a headlock, but Ives just pulled Garnet with him before pulling him off and throwing him. Ives walked closer, and I couldn’t do anything but stare.

Beau screamed something, but I barely heard it, just staring at Ives. He didn’t do anything, just stared back. A sob wracked my body. “Please. You said we’d go to the beach together.” My voice came out small and broken.

Ives stumbled, falling to a knee. I gasped and moved closer to the window. Maybe…maybe he was fighting back? A pained expression came to his face, and he looked up at me with a blue eye. He was still there! I…I had to help him somehow! I started punching at the window again. I had to get out and help him!

"Ḃ̴̯e̸͉͌a̸͕͆u̴̖͌,̶̉ͅ ̴̈͜s̵̟̓h̴̩̕ű̷̼t̷̼͐ ̶̹͝m̴̦͘ė̵͚ ̸̲̎ḍ̵̒ó̷̦w̴̲̿n̴͕͛.̸͕̈́" He had such a mechanical voice, but I could tell he was in pain. I had to help!

He bowed his head and stood again. His eyes were back to red as he smashed through the window and grabbed me by the throat, squeezing too tightly. I gasped, tears streaking down my cheeks as I stared at him. I tried to scrabble at his hand, but he knocked away my left arm and grabbed my prosthetic arm tightly by the wrist. I cried out as a sharp pain shot up my arm.

I just kept staring at him, trying to gasping in a breath. “I…I can’t…” I can’t fight you.

Darkness threatened to overtake me, but Beau jumped at Ives’s head, catching a leg across Ives’s face, throwing his weight, which got Ives to let go. I collapsed in the seat, gasping for breath and coughing up smoke. I just curled up, trying to regain my breath and not pay attention to anything. They…they would probably have to kill him to stop him. And I couldn’t fight him.

I heard some gunshots, but I didn’t look up. It was all so overwhelming, and I squeezed my eyes shut and held my head. I was useless.

Glass broke from a window near me. “Chess? Chess??” I looked up to see Garnet, and I just sobbed worse, unable to get any words out. He looked back outside the car. “Beau, duck!” Some other gun went off, and Garnet turned back to me.

I could hear the doctor who had seen me before. “Get Ives into repair, now. Lieutenant, how is Chess?”

Garnet picked me up, and I sobbed into his shoulder, unable to speak. “You okay? Can you look at me? Can you breathe?”

I just nodded. “I’m…” But then I looked up and panicked all over again. Ives was passed out on the ground, and there were fucking Auditors surrounding him! They were going to hurt him because I tried to escape! I tore myself out of Garnet’s grip and ran for Ives. “You fuckers aren’t taking Ives!”

The doctor tried to block me. “Please, Chess, please. We need to take him in. He’s been infected and if we don’t hurry he could infect Beau, or hurt someone worse. You’ve seen what can happen. We have to get him quarantined.”

I snarled at him. “Like they took me in?!” I ran around him and charged the Auditors, clenching my fists, fully ready to punch any of them who got in my way. But they backed away, so I was able to get to Ives, and I stood protectively over him, glaring at anyone who got close.

They just stared at me, not moving, but Beau walked up and touched my shoulder and nodded. I looked over at him, starting to sob all over again. I wouldn’t actually be able to stop the Auditors. They’d take Ives and hurt him. “Please. They can’t take him.”

“It’s okay.” Garnet spoke. Beau must have not been able to speak. “They’re the only ones who can help him, Chess.” Beau nodded. “Dr. Yew is going to help him.”

Even Beau and Garnet were saying they weren’t going to hurt him. I…had to trust them. I slumped and moved away, my body shaking with silent sobs. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

Beau hugged me tightly, and I hugged him back. My tears were finally drying up. Beau was unsteady on his feet, and I wasn’t much better, but I tried to help steady him.

Garnet walked over and helped steady both of us. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “How do you feel? You wanna sit down?”

They were doing something near Ives in the background, and I made sure to keep my eyes away from that. “I might need to sit down. I’m fucking exhausted, and I haven’t had any food the whole time. But…I’m fine. What about you?” I looked over at Beau, and, oh fuck. He was so hurt. Was that from trying to stop Ives? “I’m…I’m sorry, Beau. I didn’t even notice… What can I do to help?”

Beau shook his head as he leaned on the car with a thin smile. “He says he’ll be alright,” Garnet said. “We wanna make sure you’re alright. You’re probably dehydrated, probably can’t get you any solids for a bit.” He glanced over, and I looked too, to see an ambulance pulling up. I tensed. Would I have to go to the hospital? “I’m not a doctor, Chess, but you probably need to get checked out by a medic. And I know -I know with what you just went through. But you got roughed up back there.”

I nodded. I felt like shit, so he probably was right. “I’ll go. I just…might panic a little. Is there any way you could come with me? I don’t wanna be alone right now.” I could barely believe I was free again. And Garnet and Beau and Ives and the others cared so much about me as to help me.

“Absolutely.” Garnet grinned. “Might’ve broken my hand.” Beau leaned over and picked up something that I only now noticed was part of his arm. Shit. “Beau says he’s going to catch a ride back with someone for Mikki to look him over. She should be able to fix it, uh, without an Auditor’s help.”

I just felt more nauseous. It was because of me that he had even gotten hurt. Beau smiled and opened his mouth, but it was just static and clicking that came out. He shrugged, and Garnet spoke. “He’ll come meet us after. Oh, and bring Niner.”

I nodded and hugged Beau tightly. “Be safe. And I’d better see you soon, or my righteous fury will burn all the bad guys down.” I smiled shakily as I pulled back and looked back at Garnet. “Thank you so much.” I hugged him tightly too. I…I loved hugs. “I was…so scared.”

He chuckled, patting my back. “You’re one tough gal. You had every right to be scared. I…” He took a breath. “I was scared too, kid. I’m glad you’re okay.”

There was a jingle, and I looked up to see people coming out of the ambulance in medical uniforms. Garnet waved at them. “We need a ride to the hospital. I’m going with her, so, go ahead and call us both in.” He reached out to Beau, brushing over his head and pulling him close to press a kiss to his forehead. “Be careful, bud. Call me when you’re done.” He stepped back and led me to the ambulance.

I had to focus to take try to take less unsteady steps, and I took Garnet’s hand as we walked. I…I didn’t want to think about what happened for a bit, so I glanced over at Garnet, a smile pulling at my lips. “What’s going on between you and Beau? I saw that kiss.”

“Adrenalin makes me emotional.” He chuckled. “And, uh, and I worry about him. Why, you want one? They’re free today. Usually run you twenty bucks.” He signaled to the medic in the ambulance and helped me step into the ambulance.

I laughed, wincing a little at how weak it sounded. “I wouldn’t mind it. It looked nice.” It was nice to talk about normal things again. But then I saw the gurney that the medic was gesturing to, and I started shaking. I didn’t want to get strapped down again. I swallowed hard and looked back at Garnet. “But also, you look exhausted too. Were you getting enough sleep?”

“I’m never getting enough sleep.” He went slow, but he helped me sit on the gurney. He kept hold of my hand the whole time, and when I sat back, he leaned over and kissed my forehead too, and I almost burst into tears again from the gentle touch. He sat down next to me, still holding my hand, as he looked up at the medic. “Hey doc.”

“Third time this month, Garnet.” The medic shook her head. “You robbin’ cradles now?”

“Nah, this is my little sister. She’s been through it, so be nice. Not a fan of needles, runs in the family.”

“Good deal.” She turned to me. “You alright if I close the doors or you need a second, honey?”

I took a deep breath and squeezed Garnet’s hand. I would be ok as long as he was with me. “I’m good with you closing the doors.”

“You got this.” He winked, running a thumb across my knuckles. “We’re gonna be okay.”

[juhiscorner25]

Five Qualities Every Good Auditors In DWC Should Possess

Assuming you at any point set off for college, you could recall how you thought about where you needed to go. The scholastic distinction, the nearby offices, their post-degree standpoint — you needed the most elite instruction in the event that you were going to pay a premium for the experience.

Audit firms are something similar — they're costly to draw in, thus associations need to guarantee they select the right one for them very much like understudies choosing schools. However, colleges aren't simply their renowned name, block, and mortar — what truly makes them up as individuals.

Underneath the facade of any association — audit firms included — are the individuals that, in their own particular manners, add to the general outcome of the institution. We may be generally little pinions in a bigger machine, yet that doesn't mean it's not vital to in any case distinguish yourself from the other moving parts.

At the point when a business initially connects with an audit firm, obviously, they'll initially investigate the standing and experience, administrations offered, and so forth. In any case, what will truly matter in the end is the individual DIFC approved auditors that convey exhaustive arrangements and give a smooth encounter.

In this, specialized abilities are fundamental, as you probably know — accreditations and so forth.

What is the real meaning of "delicate abilities?" In this article, we'll tell you. You'll realize what else makes a genuinely extraordinary auditor and how to isolate yourself from others. In cultivating these less-proclaimed aptitudes, you'll adjust yourself into a genuinely "great" auditor, setting yourself up for future achievement.

1. Great Auditors are Steady

We should begin with the nuts and bolts of impressive skill: these may appear glaringly evident, however, you should be solid, ready, and on time for meetings.

More than that, however, consistent correspondence is urgent. A decent auditor consistently gives criticism on progress, the general status, and the consequences of the audit. You ought to likewise answer any inquiries raised all through and make yourself accessible to talk about any worries as they emerge.

All that assists work with trusting among you and the client — when individuals comprehend that they can depend on you to assist them with working through this troublesome cycle, it facilitates a portion of the recognizable rubbing audits connotate (particularly year over year as audits repeat).

Yet, you're not the main thing that requires to remain steady — your system ought to be as well. While every evaluation ought to be custom fitted to the particular objectives of the client, following a baseline, methodical cycle for each audit — including the planning, understanding, and opening shot stages, testing, gathering, and reporting — likewise helps, both in setting assumptions and achieving higher proficiency for all interested parties.

2. Great Auditors are Incredible Audience members

A gigantic piece of this occupation is collecting significant information from clients — "collecting" being the watchword there.

During walkthroughs and meetings, a decent auditor just seeks clarification on pressing issues or demands clarifying reactions 20% of the time, letting the client portray processes and answer inquiries the other 80% of the time.

However long we're talking rates, you ought to listen without fail during an audit. Simultaneously, you ought to likewise report settings and information about cycles and controls accordingly so that any clarifying volatility you have with the client is minimal.

Comprehend that an association would prefer to do anything else than enduring an audit — be deferential and exploit the time they give you by gleaning all the information you can.

3. Great Auditors Have Sympathy

That is an ideal segue into our next point. As we said, even a routine audit can be an interruption to somebody's typical business tasks, and our work can likewise ignite numerous feelings among client staff, including tension, dissatisfaction, or disarray.

However, DWC-approved auditors grasp this and lead with sympathy — they realize that gathering documentation for an audit isn't their client's most important utilization of time, thus they maintain a point of view zeroed in on the ultimate objectives, which is critical to progress.

Assuming your audit is routine — i.e., it happens yearly — be forthright with any progressions so there are no curve balls during the evaluation. Come what may be a cordial face that drives your client through the interaction, facilitates concern, gives clear headings, and answers any inquiries.

Making things as simple as workable for them will go much farther than you think.

4. Great Auditors Are Proactive

Indeed, the idea of an audit is for the most part responsive — an auditor's responsibility is to survey cycles and controls currently set up prior to reporting on those findings.

However, if you need to lift yourself, you'll likewise proactively furnish clients with extra, significant information that can assist with spurring an effective audit, for example,

Specialized refreshes

Guidance regarding readiness evaluations

Improvements to consider for the following year's examination

5. Great Auditors Have Integrity

Toward the finish of an audit, the opinion is delivered and given to current and possible clients, partners, and investors. That opinion is the culmination of all the difficult work finished during the audit time frame, and clients need it to hold weight with their own clients. As a matter of fact, it will to a great extent just be basically as important as their picked audit company's standing.

Notorieties — particularly ones in this industry where independence is so significant — depend on integrity, yet as we referenced previously, every firm is reliant upon its individual benefactors. You'll have to do your part and perform fair work with a guarantee of nice qualities. Pair, these things will give a reliable establishment on which your clients and their clients can depend.

Moving Forward in Your Profession as an Auditor

Colleges are by and large exceptionally particular about which understudies to confess to their projects — all things considered, they just need the most elite representing them. Businesses are something very similar, which is the reason it's essential to the point that aspiring applicants — regardless of where you're trying to secure your opportunity — distinguish themselves using any and all means conceivable.

While you'll likewise have to raise your formal and specialized schooling to an acceptable level, presently you comprehend that being an auditor isn't just about certifications and that delicate abilities can assist you with doing better fill-ins also.

Tags:

Audit Firms In Dubai Airport Free Zone, Company Liquidation Services Dubai

[when-life-gives-you-lemons-if]

Don't answer this if it makes uncomfy!💖

RO's reactions to a mc with a very high sex drive? uwuwu

Did we play the same game? Those ROs are thirsty and hot for Mc, you think they would mind? 😜

Let's start with the thirstiest of them all... the teacher!

The teacher would wake up MC with a morning kiss just to get some. Then would find a way to sneak in another quickie at the breakfast table, again... to get some. Then, there would be some sexting during the day, and maybe a meeting over lunch break... just to get some. The teacher is very flexible, and would do it everywhere, in the bathroom of the nearby cafe, inside one of the supply rooms at the school, in the car while parked in an underground parking lot... really, anywhere is good to get some.

The ex/friend would be busy during the day and would ask Mc to stop by the Barlow project building, just to get some. Then expect some late-night show-up at MC's house again to get some. They would convince MC to let them stay overnight and do it all night long.

The neighbor is a 3-time triathlon finalist and has no issue with stamina, now they might invite MC along during one of those early morning jogs and they would literally do it in the park. Behind a tree or in a bush! Once back home, let's clean up in the shower for another round right before MC goes to work.

Fiffer would have MC come over to the cafe before closing time, and once every customer is gone, instead of cleaning the cafe and putting the chairs up, MC's legs or Fiffer's legs would be up on one of those tables. (That cafe will get an F the next time a food auditor checks that place.)

The boss/coworker works with MC and would be living with MC. So... you can already imagine that the two of them will always be in a one-on-one meeting in W's office. 😅

[writersmilex]

Auditor : Head-canons

- You have a chance to walk the ranks. And you're going to take it.

-.No matter how much the people of higher rank tried to keep you in one spot, it didn't stop you.

- along for this deep-seated hatred from this guy who shows up randomly and keeps killing the agents there and leaving the location unusable.

- You have proven many wrong and now you're in a high ranking position, you're the one to order people around yourself. - You have witnessed the boss; the Auditor, loose his temper pretty often. But you're not afraid of him at all.

- You're rank is high enough to be able to work with the boss of bosses. Of course you're aware of the Auditor, you work for him actually.

- However you were in such a position that you mostly did paperwork and stuff like that. Someones got to keep track of things around here! Luckily you're not alone in this and have some co-workers that go through all that paperwork with you.

- What you hate the most about your work is that these criminals keep raiding locations. All that damage done costs you a lot of time in paperwork and reports of these raids.

- So, you and Auditor have mutual foes. You don't want them dead necessarily, you just hate all the paperwork. - Besides, this whole agency is hellbent on killing one person and his friends, because the agency believes he's to dangerous to be left alive. You haven't met this Hank Wimbleton yourself, so you can't judge him personally. Everyone keeps saying that he kills anyone on sight. And from the raid reports you go through, it makes sort of sense. - All you want is that this Hank person stops creating so much paperwork that you have to deal with. - As the head-person of paper deals, the Auditor confronts you on any happenings. Meaning you interact with him quite a lot.

Acquaintance___

- Now, you have earned the Auditor's trust. Congrats! Well... not completely but, it's a start.

- You work much closer with him and a relationship is building a bit. You could call it that.

- You help him go through the paperwork part of his job, and if he asks for a drink you get him one.

- "That it for now, you're free to go." That's your cue and you bid Auditor goodbye and leave his office space. He sits there by himself now, no other being in the room other than him. The ticking clock on the wall the only noise in the room.

- Suddenly he wishes for you to return. This silence in unpleasant to him.

- The he realized it's weak to think like that and resumes his work, but the feeling lingers.

- He rewards your hard work, you don't have to pay for lunch served at the lunchroom.

- And got a promotion yay! You're now the Auditor's assistant. Which means you get a bigger office and even more paperwork... that's not so yay... But you do spend a lot more time with him than before. Not only that, you have more people working under you. - "At least you're competent, (Y/n)." He told you once quietly, as if he didn't want you to hear it. Was that a compliment? - The Auditor seems to have trust in you. In the way he has you work over documents with sensitive information. You take pride in that fact.

Platonic___

- You'd be surprised, that such a menacing figure as Auditor could have such a sweet-tooth. He often drinks sugary sodas. You learned later that all that sugar doesn't affect him at all, lucky him...

- Uttering his name kind of... summons him? Well... every time you mention him, he happens to be nearby. Weird... As if listening in on conversion about him

- At this point, Auditor trusts you with information on his personal life. So hey! If you go out to get some lunch, could you get by the bakery and get a muffin for him? Thanks!

- You never expected yourself to get this close to your own boss. It was more pleasant really.

- Auditor always loses his temper with other employees. However he seems to be able to control himself when it comes to you.

- Auditor; despite his temper, is quite loose when he's calm. Any mishaps he'll just brush off.

- He talks a lot, so if you're present in his office space, he'll start talking to you whether you're listening or not doesn't matter to him. He wants to get some things off of his chest. - "Who does he think i am! Some kind of worm?! I swear him and his god complex." Auditor complains out loud, one of his many complains of Director Phobos of today. - As his 'sort of' friend, you're happy to listen to his ramblings. If it makes him feel better, which it does. Take it that Auditor is not good at personal relationships, actually having a friend for the first time in a long while is a blessing to him. - One time, Auditor offered to get you a drink. Usually it's you who gets his drink. Which seems that he has taken a liking to you.

Romantic__Pining____

- Auditor preferred your company over anyone else. He couldn't keep his mind off you.

- the moment you has touched him for the first time was odd. His flames didn't burn as you has assumed. Instead, his flames feel pleasantly warm. Like sliding your hand over the surface of warm water without getting wet.

- He is quick to defend your honor. If anyone even dares to speak ill about you... wel, that person won't be seen again.

- This man doesn't have many close friends. But then it comes to you, he wants to be more than friends with you (how cheesy)

- The Auditor's flames rises a little every time be sees you.

- He happily talks about his plans for world domination or destruction (i'm not sure what he wanted)

- "and with you by my side, we'll be unstoppable!" He cackles like an evil villain. You just smile, glad that he doesn't plan on leaving you behind on this action.

- Your feelings became clear when Auditor gave you a sincere thank you.

- You took take of another raid report in another location. Whether it was Jezus or those other guys, you don't care anymore. The work is done.

- Auditor gave you a look of gratitude. "Thank you (Y/n), you're always so helpful." He says. And your heart skipped a beat. You took that as a compliment and hastily left the office.

- you had to sleep a night over that one, it was just a compliment and yet it meant a lot it you.

- You spoke with a Soldat whose close to you. You needed to speak to someone about what you're feeling.

- The Soldat was unable to give any advice on romance. But he believes you shouldn't wait to long with confessing your liking to Auditor.

Romantic__Relationship___

- Auditor has gotten to terms with his feeling about you. And felt it was time to court you.

- The confession was pretty, uh... formal? He requested you in his office space, and after swallowing his nervousness, he took your hands in his, looked you in the face and asks you out basically.

- He was overjoyed when you accepted with a smile, but he tried his best to keep his cool. His flames flicker and grew with excitement. It was even better when you lean in to kiss him on his cheek, he thought he could have exploded. Looking at you with wide eyes, holding his own cheek.

- An official relationship started, but nothing really changed at first. Both parties unsure of what to do.

- At first Auditor just stood very close to you, then he started holding your hand when he thought no one was looking. And if you were to leave his sight to do some work, he would give you a quick hug before letting you leave. He's really trying.

- Much later things got a bit more comfortable. For example the two of have cuddle nights in your loft.

- Auditor is like a furnace, it's lovely to cuddle with him in the winter, but not as much in the summer... And he feels a little sad when you don't want to cuddle with him in the specific time of year, if you explain to him he'll understand.

- He has the ability to change shape, he likes to change into a blob like thing and rest on your lap like a cat. Even better when you start to stroke him like a cat. It always feels strange to have this weird purring blob on your lap. - If he really wants to, he can shape-shift into a worm like thing and lay in your neck. He has fallen asleep there more than once. - And he loves pats indeed. If you're cuddling with him in your loft, don't forget to pat and stroke the flames over his head. It makes him purr and nuzzle you. - Auditor wants to keep you close it him, to protect you from his enemies. He doesn't wish any harm on you for course. He has his men sure, but he'd rather protect you himself. __________________________________________ hmmm. i got really stuck on this one, not my proudest work. I hope you like it at least. Thanks for reading, - Smilex

[lordsenorslowmo]

Hope I'm not bombarding you with requests here, I just thought of something. I'd like to request a sort of prequel to the corruption ask where Auditor!Reader finds out Corrupted BF is battling Tricky and decides to help, because if Tricky were to fall under the corruption, all would likely be lost.

(Hey I welcome the requests, it means more people may see it and request their own stories. Just happy to get back to writing)

Employer!Reader Corruption AU: A Tricky Situation

Things hadn't been going right, you had half the city quarantined due to a rapidly spreading infection. Something that tainted the very soul of who it infected. Your experiments into curing it had proven ineffective. Music slowed and even reversed the corruption, but it couldn't do so on the large scale. And you couldn't waste the time going around and one by one curing people, even with the Improbability Drive.

You had already closed the city off, preventing anyone from leaving, until you were able to get this fixed you couldn't risk it spreading farther than you could contain. Your agents were busy 24/7 containing any newfound infestations, while you were busy trying to fix it. Luis Dearest and his ex wife were working on finding the cause of the corruption.

The one shared link to all of this was Cherry Dearest and her boyfriend Keith, the patient zero and super spreader of this ruin. Pico was placed in charge of locating them, but had yet to find them. The situation was a mess. There wasn't much you could do beyond occasionally reverse the corruption of the few people they could wrangle into your office.

You needed to find and cure Keith and Cherry before things got out of hand more than it already was. Yet, you couldn't detect them anywhere within the city. Which wasn't good, as it meant they were either dead or weren't in the city, and you couldn't tell which was a worse reality.

Scouring the city had proven fruitless, until you got a call from your brother.

Hey, you locked the city right?...

...Yes, something is spreading and I needed to keep it contained

Tricky was identified leaving the city you two creatures in toe...

Might these two be infected?...

...Keep them contained and if any of your men show signs of infection, terminate them

Very well...

Another trip back home, you really expect it by now. You informed your agents and left, hoping that Tricky would prove resilient to the corruption long enough for you to capture Cherry and Keith.

By the time you arrived, you saw that Tricky had already begun his little rematch with Keith, completely oblivious to the changes that consumed him. As you got closer you saw Hank not from them, prying his knife out of a corrupted Grunt's skull. You knew he was eyeing you from behind his glasses, but you were more concerned about the corruption spreading further.

You ignored him as best you could as you got closer to Tricky and the others.

Even as the first round came to an end, Tricky still seemed just as unstable and mad as he always was, the corruption was trying to stick to him, but it seemed actually repulsed by him.

CLOWN CANNOT DIE

CLOWN IS IMMMMUUUUUUNNNNNEEEEE

You hopped on top of a nearby rock, getting their attention. "Hey Tricky! You wanna kill?!"

YES

Access Granted:

Reality Paradigm: Musical Competition

Setting: Funk Off

Would You Like To Change Paradigms?

Selected Paradigm: Nevada

Paradigm Cannot Be Changed Without Administrative Permission

ID Confirmed

WARNING:

Paradigm Shift Will Alter Reality

Would You Like To Proceed?

You felt the change immediately, everything felt like home again. And you hated it. Tricky seemed to notice it as well, as his grip on his stop sign tightened.

"Have fun" With that you turned around and punched through a corrupted Soldat's head. Tricky's laugh echoed loudly through the air as he lunged at Keith, who managed to deflect Tricky's stop sign with his microphone. You were more focused on fending off your brother's infected grunts.

Using a grunt as a living flail to bash other corrupted grunts into a meaty paste. Occasionally hurling some towards Hank so he wouldn't try and stab you while you were busy. Tricky seemed to actually enjoy trying to cleave the kid in half. Whatever had Keith under it's sway was desperately trying to avoid death by clownery.

You needed Tricky to weaken Keith, not kill him. Cherry was as still as a corpse as ever on top of her speakers, occasionally twitching. You hopped up and drifted towards her. Her corrupted gaze digging into your own, when you tried to move to capture her, you were crushed beneath a MAG Agent half corrupted by this taint. It seemed to be fighting with itself over the corruption overcoming it. You snaked your tendrils up its body before stabbing through it's head. It groaned as you manifested it front of it. Dancing around its fists as it smashed at you.

Finally tired of it, you shifted behind it's head and bisected it's head. As it fell to the ground, you narrowly dodged one of Tricky's signs, using the MAG Agent's corpse to protect you from three other signs. Keith was actually running away from Tricky and towards you. If it weren't for Cherry moving and stabbing an Obelisk through you, you would've been able to capture Keith, before he and Cherry vanished along with the Speakers, likely using Cherry's own flavor of demonic powers to flee from Nevada.

When you shifted away from the pillar you were impaled by, you had reason to believe they had returned back to the City. Now all you had to do was-

You thwacked Tricky on the forehead with the back of your hand, which he was surprised back, shaking his head before roaring in your face, before you slapped him again.

YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU

CLOWN KILLLLLLLLSS YOOOOOOOUUU

You grabbed his head and pointed him towards Hank who was still killing Corrupted Grunts.

Not In The Mood

Go Kill Hank

HHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKK

You slapped him on the back as he leapt towards the assassin. You weren't in the mood to deal with him and whatever this corruption was. You shifted Reality back to how it was prior to your arrival, the last thing you wanted was more violence back in the city than was already there. You needed to head back before things got worse back there.

(This one was a little rougher to finish then the others as I was caught in between several things while writing it, so if its not of the same quality I apologize)

[longlivethereaper]

Monster Hotel - Chapter one

Short summary: Purely for fun, NSFW story about lots of different monsters and a night auditor at a hotel! 

Chapter 1/?

Chapter one

No matter how busy, I still enjoyed the holidays. Of course my shift wasn’t really all that hectic no matter the time of year; working overnights at a hotel has its perks after all. On the best of nights, I barely even saw anyone when breakfast started and that was at the very end of my shifts. Nights like tonight, however, Christmas eve? Full of people calling or simply walking in, looking for some sort of room vacancy. Of course I felt terrible turning people away, however I simply had nothing to offer them in terms of rooms. A list of nearby hotels and inns were slowly crossed off as they too ran out of vacancy. 

Then there were the drunk folks. Mostly younger kids on winter break from college or the older people coming back from some out of town party or wedding. It baffled me, too, that someone would have their wedding on Christmas eve. I’d learned a routine by then: stay in the back office if you heard people walking unless you didn’t hear any of the doors opening, or saw someone entering with luggage. Thankfully the door to the back office was was right near the computer I typically sat at to chat with friends or work on whatever projects I might have going on and I so happened to glance over on this night to see a man with long black hair standing right at that door, offering a patient smile and a quirked brow. 

I quickly stood and hurried out, watching him back up with near silent steps to be in front of the main desk where he belonged. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” I sputtered with a small laugh. “Sometimes I get a little caught up in things.”

“Not a problem,” he reassured, that same smile still on his lips. “Johanson, checking in.”

“Right, of course,” I breathed, signing into the computer and biting the inside of my cheek as I scrolled through the list of names still yet to check in. It wasn’t many, almost never was and I frowned, eyebrows scrunching down. “I’m sorry, I’m not--”

“It’s probably under Johnson, it’s not often they spell my name correctly,” he said with a small but curt laugh, dark eyes glancing off to the side before returning back to me.

Second name on the list, pulling up the reservation and matching I.D. with the address listed. They really did spell it wrong, something that while wasn’t done often still bothered me. 

“I’ll fix that for you, sir,” I responded, a small, short hum as I did so, rechecking the I.D. to make sure it was right. “And perfect. Breakfast is from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The wifi is complimentary, as is a water if you’d like?” I offered with a smile up at him. 

He was incredibly tall, at least half a foot taller than myself and while I wasn’t the tallest, I was at least average for a man my age… maybe an inch or two shorter. 

“No thank you,” he answered, leaning in a little to rest his elbows on the counter, quirking that sharp eyebrow again. “Will you be here all night?”

An odd question to most, though normally it was asked by women looking for some ounce of security. A small nod, blinking up at him curiously. Closer like this, his eyes were still dark but they weren’t black like I thought before. A rich brown perhaps, though it was still hard to tell. 

“Yes sir, there is someone at the front desk 24/7,” I responded with a smile in return. “Here are your room keys.”

Two plastic cards about the size of a credit card, tucked neatly into a paper envelope with a paper card explaining the internet password instructions. 

“Would you be needing anything else tonight?”

He looked down at the packet handed off and accepted it, slender fingers brushing against my hand as he did so. He was cold, remarkably so, though maybe it was from just having come inside from the snowy cold. A glance at the number on the packet and a soft hum as it was slid into a breast pocket. 

“You aren’t spending the holidays with anyone?” he asked casually, ignoring my own inquiry. 

Personal questions like this weren’t totally out of the norm, especially for a night auditor such as myself. People thought the position odd, someone willing to work so late especially if they thought I had someone to return home to.

“Ah, just my cat I suppose,” I admitted with a much more shy smile. “I work a lot.”

“Mm, and I imagine these long nights must bore you after a while? No guests for long periods of time?” he asked, dark eyes sliding down then back up.

It took probably too long for me to realize he was checking me out. Me? It’s not like I was terrible looking, but this guy was absolutely gorgeous, not someone I pegged for being into me. Or maybe he was just bored, lonely from the holidays. 

“It’s not so bad. I keep myself busy with cleaning and stocking.” A mostly honest answer, though those things rarely took up much of my time.

I’d heard of coworkers being asked up to guest rooms for something other than an immediate maintenance problem, but never had I been asked. Then again, I may have been jumping to conclusions, I wasn’t exactly being asked now.

Black hair was being tucked behind a pierced ear as he picked his briefcase up from the ground, slipping on a pair of sunglasses that I didn’t think weird until later. Who wears sunglasses at night, indoors?

“I’m sure I’ll see you at some point,” he hummed, turning and heading for the elevators. 

Sharp shoes clacked on the polished floors as I watched him leave, almost too awestruck to hear the phone ringing. Scrambling, the phone was answered in time, giving my long spiel of which hotel, where and who I was. No, sorry, we are in fact sold out tonight. Try giving this other hotel a call. Yes of course, have a good night. A breath after the call ended, glancing towards the elevators before closing the door to the back office, ensuring it was locked, then heading the short way to the kitchen. 

Part of our hotel’s policy was to keep coffee hot and ready, 24/7. Even if no one had even looked at the machines in more than five hours. As fresh coffee was being made, old coffee was being dumped, still steaming hot and yet still apparently a hazard to drink. 

“Excuse me, sir?”

A short yelp, immediately biting the inside of my cheek after and quickly apologizing, holding firm to the pot I had been emptying. Standing at the entrance of the kitchen, something easily accessible to guests through the dining room, was a man, offering a wide, teasing grin. 

“Shit, my bad,” he laughed, running a large hand through chestnut hair. “Didn’t mean to scare you, kid.”

Clearing my throat, I set the pot down on the counter and offered an apologetic smile. Was tonight the night for attractive guests?

“It’s quite alright, I’m fine. How may I help you?” I asked, trying to keep what little composure I had after nearly dumping boiling hot coffee all over myself.

“I was just hoping to check in, saw a sign that the front desk employee was down here? Guessing that’s you,” he said, that grin still clear on his face. 

He was darker than the other man, though that certainly wouldn’t take much as pale as he had been. More rugged almost, jeans and a sweatshirt instead of the fancy suit. I nodded, quick to clear my head of any suggestive thoughts and offered a smile of my own as I walked passed.

“That’s me! Right this way,” I responded cheerily, walking briskly to the desk. 

I felt almost naked not being behind the desk when a guest came around, like my protective barrier was gone though I supposed that was a bit silly. Not once had I had a guest even threaten me, thankful for it. I was just a nervous person in general, I suppose. 

“Last name?” I asked, smiling up at the other man as I waited patiently, hands hovering over the keys.

“Holloway, Beaux’s the first,” he added, leaning on his forearms that rested on the desk.

A whiff of pine, something a bit comforting for some reason. A wood worker then? Or just lived in the woods probably, something prevalent in the area. 

“Could I please see your I.D.?” 

Handed over with no problem, pursing my lips as I tried to focus my eyes on the tiny lettering most I.D.s seemed to have. An issue for someone with dyslexia, but keywords matched up just fine and I handed the car back with a smile.

“Just one key will be fine,” he piped up before I even had a chance to say anything else. “And I come here every year, so you can save the spiel,” he added with a wink. “Breakfast from 6 to 10, check out at 11, I know it well,” Beaux laughed, a hand dragging back through that thick, light hair even though it fell right back into place. 

“Certainly. Will you be needing anything else tonight?” I asked, hands clasping together to rest on the desk. An easy interaction, my favorite ones of course. No hassle, no issues with cards or I.D.s.

A shake of his head, warm brown eyes almost twinkling a little as he stood up straight, accepting the key packet and glancing at the number. 

“Everything’s perfect. Oh, you ain’t seen a fella come in yet, have you? Long black hair, probably wearing sunglasses. Johanson is the name.”

“Ah, I am sorry but I can’t give out that information unfortunately,” I explained with an apologetic smile.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. I’ll just give the bastard a call. Always has his cell on him,” he laughed, giving a short wave before grabbing his backpack and heading towards the elevators. 

It wasn’t uncommon for people who worked in the same business or in town for the same reason would stay at the same hotel but show up at different times and ask for the other. But it was still a privacy and safety issue and who didn’t have some sort of communication device in this day and age. 

[kiatheinsomniac]

Unwoven Fate V

[MASTERLIST OF CHAPTERS]

The trip with the courtesans had been a long once and she was glad that she had arrived so early in the morning at Monteriggioni or else she would have missed them. It was nice to have company. She shared her story with the girls along the way; from the attack on her childhood home, being raised by her Aunt and Uncle and that life-changing eavesdrop to her travels across Tuscany.

The young woman did her best to keep her body moving on the horse, trying to stay warm after she had lent her cloak to Lucrezia, an hour into the journey, who had been shivering violently and cursing the bitter cold. The courtesans were good company: they kept good conversation and were an entirely new type of people to (Y/n).

Her Aunt had told her that they were vile women, taking the easy way in life, that (Y/n) should be proud to be unlike them. (Y/n) had acknowledged that this was her Aunt's opinion but had never formed one herself, never having met a courtesan until this day. They had been kind and they paid her respect too, it seemed. And it was a different kind of respect, one she had not experienced before: it was not the obligatory respect that came with her family money and her fancy outfits, it was a respect that she had earned herself by respecting these women in turn, by sharing her generosity with them regarding her cloak and letting some of them ride her horse when their feet grew tired.

The rented horse was stolen by now: she had known that she wouldn't be back in the promised time when she rented it but now a part of her felt bad for taking it away from its owner. Either way, she needed the creature - until she reached Rome, anyway.

Upon arriving, some more girls were waiting at the gates to help carry bags of belongings and lead the courtesans of Monteriggioni to their new workplace in Rome. (Y/n) trailed along behind them, looking around as she travelled. Those same guards were here: the red uniforms with the bull crest. Those bull flags flew from towers, Roman ruins, homes and shops too.

Bull. . . Bull! The papal Bull! She resisted the urge to smack herself in the head: how had it taken her so long to figure it out? Was the Pope on a quest to conquer Italy? To divide or to unite?

Either way, she followed the courtesans, the group of girls patiently waiting as she left her horse discreetly in a stable, not wanting to pay to have it watched. Her money was running thin as it is.

After a while of walking (hearing the calls and whistles of men for the girls all the way), they arrived at a grand building, covered in Roses and seemingly recently restored. Courtesans waited outside and Lucrezia stopped at the threshold to hand (Y/n)'s woollen black cloak back to her.

"Thank you for your kindness and company, we've all enjoyed you coming with us." The blonde smiled, leaning forwards to give her an amiable hug. (Y/n) froze for a moment before returning the gesture, wrapping her arms around the woman and squeezing for a moment before they both pulled back.

"It's not a problem at all - I'm thankful that you let me come with you. Now the Auditores. . . ?" She replied, looking around the brothel to see courtesans and men all around, the place smelling distinctly of sleepless nights and roses.

"Who are you looking for in particular?" She quizzed, "Ezio, I assume?" Lucrezia replied, gesturing her hand to the hidden blade on (Y/n)'s wrist. 

"Mario, actually. That was the name in the letter." The blonde woman's face dampened for a moment, her smile fading.

"He was killed in the attack." She replied sadly, "I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you were looking for him or else I would have told you."

"He mentioned some other relatives in the letter: a sister-in-law, niece and nephew. Are they alive?" (Y/n) questioned, biting her inner cheek and starting to pray that she had not come to Rome for a fruitless journey.

"I should hope so." A matured voice spoke up from the staircase. There, stood a woman in her late-middle-ages. Her hair was dark and streaked with grey, crows feet at her dark eyes. Her hair was styled up and she wore the sort of dress that (Y/n) was so accustomed to wearing herself. "What business do you have with my family?" The young woman assumed that this was the in-law.

"It's a bit of a long story. . ." She began, approaching the woman and bowing her head with respect, "I've travelled from the countryside near Forlì. From there, I've been to the city itself, then Firenze, Monteriggioni and now Roma."

"Then your journey has been a long one." She turned around and started walking up the stairs, "Come, rest in the office and tell me your tale." (Y/n) followed behind, hearing the faint sounds of the women working behind heavily closed doors.

The office wasn't too small, with a desk in the light from the back window, a bookshelf and a long screen dividing the room, seeing the posters of a bed behind the screen.

A young-looking woman, but older than (Y/n), was sitting at the desk with a quill in hand, a letter in another. She looked up upon the arrival of the two new women.

"Mother, who is this?" She asked politely, giving (Y/n) a small smile before continuing with her work.

"She says she has business with our family." The older woman replied. So this was the niece, (Y/n) concluded. The in-law gestured for (Y/n) to take a seat before taking one herself.

"I'm going to have to give you a bit of my life’s story for all of this to make sense but I'll try to keep it as short as I can." She began, looking between the two Madames of the brothel. "When I was a young child, my family home was attacked. My mother put me into the maid's arms and told her to run but I saw the attackers kill my parents. My Aunt and Uncle took me in after that and raised me as their own. But, a few days ago, I was walking past the room where my Aunt, Uncle and their guests were and I heard her. . ."

She took in a shaky breath to compose herself, the words wounding her just as deeply as the moment she first heard them, "I heard my Aunt say that she'd had my parents killed. . . And that she thought it was the best thing she had ever done." She could see the shock on the women's faces after saying this. "Since then, I travelled back to my childhood home in Forlì where I found a secret compartment containing this-" she showed her hidden blade and pulled Mario's letter to her parents out of her pocket, placing it on the desk, "-and this. I don't know anyone else who knew my parents except my existing family and Mario. I'm sure you can see why confronting my family was out of the question." Claudia had read the letter by now.

"Your parents were Assassins too?" Claudia spoke up and (Y/n) nodded her head.

"I never even knew until I read this. . ." She bit her cheek to fight the tears that threatened her eyes, "And suddenly I feel like I don't know anything."

"I think it would be best if you speak to my son, Ezio." The in-law spoke up, catching (Y/n)'s teary eyes, "He is acting as the Assassin Brotherhood’s leader at the moment and if he isn't already informed of your parents then one of his contacts will be."

"Thank you. . ." (Y/n) trailed off, looking between the two strangers and realising that she did not know their names still.

"Maria."

"And Claudia - I am sure that you know our surname well." She smiled, giving (Y/n) back the letter from Mario. She could tell that she was sad to let something go that had been written by her passed uncle, "My brother can be a hard man to contact but I have a meeting with him in three days, I can take you with me and you can discuss things with him then."

"Thank you." (Y/n) replied gratefully, "Until then, do you know any places nearby where I could rent a room?"

"You can stay here until then." Maria offered, "We will close off a room for you. There's one downstairs that serves as more of a supply cupboard than a workplace, I'm sure you'd prefer that."

"I'll take whatever you'll give." She replied gratefully and heard her stomach rumble, inwardly cringing and hoping that the other two hadn't heard her. It was now becoming evening and she hadn't eaten since Florence yesterday.

"There is a baker's nearby though." The younger Auditore woman smiled amiably, getting up from her seat, "Come, I'll take you."

⚜⚜⚜

The past three days had been spent at the brothel: spending much time talking to Claudia and understanding her job in the Brotherhood as well as the courtesan teaching her a few Assassin tricks: blending in, pickpocketing (it had felt very dishonest to (Y/n) but the last of her money had been spent on food and she knew that she needed it to get by - she also found that she was also very good at it). She was small and went more unnoticed than others when she bumped into someone and her fingers were quick, nimble from her years of violin-playing.

"We're heading to Isola Tiberina." Claudia had told her that afternoon. Claudia was wearing a fine red and gold dress and (Y/n) decided that she didn't want to feel underdressed compared to her, slipping on the deep blue silk dress that she had kept in her bag, the one not given away to that bastard tailor in Forlì. She kept her hair in the two dutch braids which had now become much more comfortable for her as they were easy to do, held fast and kept her long tresses out of the way.

She followed Claudia through the streets of Rome, keeping close and trying to memorise each detail in order to learn her way around the city by heart. Some streets were narrow and there were staircases that looked like an alley but turned out to be a door, tunnels were scattered around too and there were some small gardens here and there. Eventually, they reached a  river and Claudia led the two of them over a bridge. (Y/n) looked up to a tall building that had a pigeon coop and stood in front of a small square of sorts.

Merchants and craftsmen called out to passers-by and the Auditore woman led (Y/n) down to a doorway, holding it open and motioning for (Y/n) to make her way down the stairs. Upon arriving, she could tell that the place was newly occupied: sparse furniture that looked as though it could fall apart at any moment, lots of repairs that needed to be done in the plaster and cobwebs in the rafters. But she could hear the crackle of a fireplace nearby as well, a sign that they were not too uncomfortable here.

"Claudia." The man gave Claudia a warm hug in greeting while (Y/n) stood by silently, waiting to be introduced. Though, someone else addressed her first.

"Emma?" The man was much older than (Y/n) and dressed mostly in browns and yellows. (Y/n) could feel her breath hitch in her throat. She hadn't heard that name in so long that it both killed her and brought her to life at once. Her mother's name. "No, you're far too young. . ." He glanced down at her wrist to see the dull metal of her hidden blade, "Who are you?" His eyes flickered between hers, brows narrowing. A tension seemed to fall over the room and suddenly everyone was suspicious.

"I'm her and Lorenzo's daughter. I. . ." She found herself stammering. This man had known her mother's face and clearly, (Y/n) had grown into it well. Her Aunt had never mentioned that. "I came here looking for answers." She cast a glance over her shoulder to Claudia, now accompanied by the man who had hugged her in greeting. All of the older people in the room seemed beyond astonished. The man spoke up once more, killing the silence that had now hung over the room for a long time.

"I think we would like some answers now too.” He answered solemnly as whispers broke out among the elders of the group. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean: you're supposed to be dead."

[sciencespies]

Eight of America’s Most Unusual Polling Places

https://sciencespies.com/history/eight-of-americas-most-unusual-polling-places/

Eight of America’s Most Unusual Polling Places

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | Oct. 20, 2020, 8 a.m.

Most people probably wouldn’t expect to cast their vote in a museum full of boisterous Mardi Gras-like costumes. But for anyone who lives within a three-minute walk of the Mummers Museum in South Philadelphia, in the city’s Ward 2 Division 1, that is where they will be headed to vote this Election Day.

The Mummers Museum, a 44-year-old homage to the oldest continuous folk parade in the United States, is one of the 61 polling places Ryan Donnell has documented since 2008 in his quest to photograph the most unusual polling places in America. The ongoing project, which the D.C.-based photographer embarked on in 2008, attempts to capture the process of voting in America and, in doing so, offer a view into how democracy plays out in specific regions.

“I think that idea of looking at democracy through the locations where we vote is really interesting,” says Donnell, a freelance photographer who has a background in photojournalism. “The polling places in Chicago are not like the polling places in L.A. or not like the polling places in Philadelphia or Iowa. You can see a real cross section of America through these particular places.”

The polling places Donnell photographs may not match the conventional idea of a polling place, the vast majority of which are schools, community centers and churches. However, they all conform to the overarching federal and state government requirements for polling places, such as accessibility for disabled people, as well as numerous restrictions on the local level, the main arbiter of polling place locations, that vary from locality to locality. These factors include parking space, square footage of the premises and distance between voting machines, the latter two a new priority in many areas due to the ongoing pandemic.

As Robert Stein, political scientist and professor at Rice University explains, the county clerks or other designated officials who choose the locations of the polling places have unofficial considerations as well, such as whether people feel safe voting in an area and how central the area is to the local community.

“People sometimes don’t necessarily vote where they live because when you get up in the morning, where’s the first place you go? To work, to school, to shop, to drop the kids off,” Stein says of early in-person voting, an option for voters in most states this election cycle. “And it may be that the more convenient location isn’t nearest to your house, but a large supermarket with lots of parking, 50 voting machines and one that you can easily access off the freeway.”

Each of the unusual polling places featured below will be in use in the upcoming 2020 presidential election.

Mummers Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mummer’s Museum. Philadelphia, 2010.

(Ryan Donnell)

The Mummers Parade is an icon of Philadelphia culture and officially dates back to 1901, though locals have engaged in “Mummery”—gallivanting around town in costumes and poking fun—on New Year’s Day since the 17th century. The museum—which has been used as a polling place for many years—commemorates the time-honored tradition. “It’s a weird tradition,” says Donnell, who lived in Philadelphia for almost a decade. “So the fact that they have a polling center inside the Mummers Museum is very uniquely Philadelphia.”

One-Room Schoolhouse, Sherman Township, Iowa

Former one-room schoolhouse. Story County, Iowa. 2014.

(Ryan Donnell)

In the late 19th century, Iowa used to have about 14,000 one-room schoolhouses, the most of any state in the U.S. While many of those that are still standing, like Forest Grove School No. 5 and North River Stone Schoolhouse, are now historical sites, this 130-year-old one on a grassy plot surrounded by farmland and wind turbines about an hour’s drive from Des Moines is still serving out its civic duty—now in a different capacity. “I was standing on top of my car so I was kind of a curiosity,” Donnell says. “But as a photographer, you’re used to being a curiosity waiting for things.”

Lawn Lanes Bowling Alley, Chicago, Illinois

Lawn Lanes bowling alley. Chicago, 2012.

(Ryan Donnell)

Lawn Lanes is located in West Lawn, an area on the southwest side of Chicago known for its diversity. The bowling alley has served as a polling place for at least 12 years and is the designated polling place for about 750 voters in 2020. Lawn Lanes’ manager David Supanich says his father, who previously ran the establishment, agreed to offer the site as a polling place after the local ward office decided to look for a new location to decrease Election Day congestion in the area. Unusual polling places like this bowling alley are typically employed if an area doesn’t have enough public buildings that fulfill the requirements. The placement of the voting machines in a separate room of the bowling alley made capturing both the polling booths and the bowling equipment a challenge for Donnell.

Saigon Maxim Restaurant, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Saigon Maxim restaurant. Philadelphia, 2008.

(Ryan Donnell)

Donnell frequented this Vietnamese restaurant situated in the heart of Philadelphia’s Little Saigon when he used to live nearby. The restaurant serves as the polling place for residents of the neighborhood and features a large stage for community events ranging from birthdays to weddings. “It’s just a wonderful look at the diversity of the city,” Donnell says. “I felt like for [Saigon Maxim] it was really important to get a sense of the vastness of the restaurant because those Vietnamese restaurants and Chinese restaurants are often so big, they’re like community centers, essentially.”

Ray Lounsberry’s Shed, Nevada Township, Iowa

Tractor barn. Story County, Iowa. 2014.

(Ryan Donnell)

Ray Lounsberry has opened up his agricultural garage to voters for almost two decades. A county auditor asked to use his garage because the previous polling place was too cold, deterring voters from coming to cast their ballots. The World War II veteran, just a few years shy of his 100th birthday, has regularly helped poll workers set up the area in preparation for the hundreds of voters assigned to his precinct, Nevada Township, by setting up chairs and bringing refreshments for the workers. “I feel like I’m doing a service to the county by letting them use this,” Lounsberry told Dan Mika of the Nevada Journal. “I don’t mind at all.”

Su Nueva Laundromat, Chicago, Illinois

Su Nueva Lavanderia. Chicago, 2012.

(Ryan Donnell)

“[The Su Nueva Laundromat] is probably the most popular one because I think it’s just the weirdest shot, you know, with the dryers and stuff like that,” Donnell says. “Again, it just shows this diversity and this wonderful multi-ethnicity aspect to American voting.” Su Nueva, a 10-minute walk from Lawn Lanes, is also located in West Lawn and is the official polling place for about 700 registered voters. Since he photographed the place in 2012, Donnell has noticed that now every election cycle, the spot will pop up in local coverage of Chicago polling places. Donnell noted that the man in the St. Louis Cardinals cap is like an homage to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

Water Department Laboratory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Water Department testing laboratory. Philadelphia, 2009.

(Ryan Donnell)

The laboratory, a sprawling brick building that far outsizes surrounding abodes, is used to test the quality of the city’s drinking water, among other water purity tests. Because there was nothing that obviously indicated near the voting machines that the polling place was a laboratory, Donnell recalls waiting for an hour or two for someone in a lab coat to walk into his six-by-six frame to show the scientific nature of the location. Stein says research has shown that the physical building where voting takes place can influence voters’ choice of candidate and their stances on issues, even if identifying iconography is covered.

Pressure Billiards and Café, Chicago, Illinois

Pressure Billards & Cafe. Chicago, 2012.

(Ryan Donnell)

While many restaurants and other small businesses that volunteer as polling places will shut down for Election Day, the ongoing billiards game on the left of the photograph is evidence that Pressure Billiards and Café, located in Edgewater, Chicago, kept business going alongside voting. The venue, which has been a polling place since at least 2012, however, still sees less business on Election Day as regulars know that fewer tables will be open. Commercial establishments like this one that serve as polling places are often compensated with a small fee—in 2015, Chicago vendors were offered $150 at minimum.

#History

[speedypostbarbarian]

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Lastly, Safety and checking services on an all day, every day premise

The Jewelry just as Gemplex office to help the assembling of uncommon earth component adornments.

Approved Auditors In DMCC enquires call @ +971 45 570 204 / Email Us : support@kgrnaudit.com

Types of DMCC Organizations

The accompanying types of organizations can set up their business tasks in DMCC/JLT free zone:

Free Zone Company (FZCO)

Branch or backup of a universal organization

Branch or backup of a neighborhood organization

DMCC Location

DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodity Center) – situated in Jumeirah Lakes Towers and intended for exchange, DMCC has everything to set up, develop and assemble your business. Multiple times delegated ‘Worldwide Free Zone of the Year’ by the Financial Times magazine, DMCC is home to a dynamic network, creative foundation, world-class services and a shocking selection of properties, all minutes from superb air, ocean and street connects to the world. Propelled in 2002, DMCC is the committed worldwide community for in excess of 13,000 organizations from a wide scope of businesses and areas, as assorted as agro, vitality and budgetary services to precious stones, gold and base metals.

Benefits in DMCC

0% corporate and individual assessment for a long time 100% remote proprietorship. Simple set up process, help with sponsorship of workers and numerous other UAE government-related services, which fuse a wide scope of moderate property decisions.

The targets of DMCC

Creation of a committed commercial center in Dubai.

Increase the worth and volume of items exchanged and through the district.

Facilitation and reconciliation of the whole worth chain of its key sections.

Broaden the nearby market skyline for example Refining – Manufacturing – Trade.

Create industry explicit market foundation for its center fragments, advance new items and services.

Provide a steady business condition through reason fabricated framework.

Promote territorial industry development.

Enhance the neighborhood industry through the usage of worldwide principles.

Types of DMCC licenses

Trading License.

Service License.

Industrial License.

The adjusted DMCC business focuses

Austria Business Center BB1 Business Center Diamond Business Center DMCC Business Center German Arabian Business Center HDS Serviced Offices The One Business Center Mayfair Business Center Open Business Center Park Avenue Offices Servcorp Serviced Offices Star Business Center

Approved Auditors In DMCC enquires call @ +971 45 570 204 / Email Us : support@kgrnaudit.com

KGRN Approved Auditors in DMCC

In the first place, KGRN one among the Approved Auditors in DMCC, with its administrative center at Business Bay and a branch in SAIF Zone Approved in all the significant free zones including DMCC, SAIF, JAFZA, DWC, Maydan and so forth giving proficient services in the field of Auditing, Accounting, VAT Consultation, Company Formation, and CFO services and so on.