#stray field immune

[futureelectronic1527]

Melexis: Introducing Induxis (Fully Integrated Inductive Switch)

https://www.futureelectronics.com/m/melexis . Discover the first Induxis® switch, an inductive switch that fully integrates the coils. Contact-less, magnet-less, and stray field immune, this solution simply detects any conductive target (e.g. metal). It is ideal for safety applications in the area of electrification. https://youtu.be/ilXKkf_K30U

[enavstars]

Cyberpunk au

RGB designs for a new au

Important things:

The inspiration for this was the game Stray (that I finally played).

This is a hyperfixation that I don't know when it's going to end. I'll probably draw things from it as much as my motivation lets me but don't expect it to be a constant thing like Eclipse or On the road.

I love worldbuilding so there is a lot of details of this au already, feel free to ask questions.

The world is dark and very corrupted but the tone of the au is chill because the sibs dgaf about the world.

Worldbuilding details (my friend wrote this because this is complicated and I suck at writing) [very long text under the cut]:

The key element of this AU’s worldbuilding is a new biohazardous artificial plant which was originally genetically engineered by the scientist of the RGB’s city-state to fight the air pollution that plagued the region by attempting to reduce the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere (yes this is a biopunk universe :)). However, because they are an ugly reddish colour, have a bitter taste and are extremely nutrient-deficient and unhealthy, they have no natural predators and can spread like wildfire across both fertile plots and forests like weeds. On top of that, due to that nutrient deficiency, which stems from the slow absorption ability of their roots (not nearly enough to keep the heavy rate of photosynthesis), they evolved on their own to attach themselves to other living beings as parasites and basically invaded the entire area around the metropolis. With them being potentially lethal, this caused a massive problem that made the city panic; although they have plenty of weak points (like fire and a vulnerable immune system) and it takes them very long to get their roots to the rest of the body, their grip is so deep and strong that the only option is to remove the infected body part. So their special ability became a critical issue when the plants unexpectedly ended up liking animals better, and with them humans themselves, because they could carry them to other places and infest those too while still sucking the life out of them until they die (oopsie). Ultimately, with the lack of proper information on the parasites, and because the situation was handled very poorly overall, they ended up taking many people’s lives and made the most vulnerable species of the area (like cattle) go endangered or extinct, which in turn altered the balance of the ecosystem and the working class’ means of living :).

Sorry this chunk was so technical, we (@kaigoesbrr and I) are biology nerds, but basically the plants were so good at making more oxygen and so ass at getting what they needed to do so that they became parasites, and now they get what they need from plants and animals (and they like animals better, like humans, because they have more stuff and help them spread further). Then society collapsed :).

All of this caused a deep economic crisis that brought about high rates of poverty, and with it, a deep fear of the infested world outside the city walls. So this whole conundrum led to the city closing off to the lands around it, implementing absurd levels of security like a tight border control and a slower, more strict business traffic, and making a huge dark translucent dome that encapsulates the whole city to keep any potential smuggled plants from ever growing by blocking the natural sunlight. They even made a ditch around their walls (kind of like a moat) and burnt and bombed the fields and suburbs around them to make them extremely infertile. So yeah, this city-state is a terrible place to live, a gloomy prison where not even the sun and stars can be seen, but most the inhabitants never leave out of that paranoid terror and the heavy bureaucracy needed to just go outside and touch grass.

(haha with poor funding corrupt scientists who didn’t know what they were doing made a mess, shocker how that would backfire horribly).

However, the outside isn’t as bad as they make it out to be. In the end, the plants did clean the air as they were supposed to, and, as nature does, it did somewhat recover from the disaster to where human life is now sustainable again.

Taking advantage of their thick crust, trees were the least affected by the plague, and the other plants in the forest developed new natural defences against the parasites, which was yet another reason why they in turn became best at infecting animals. And many of the fungi, abundant in the now more humid forest (haha cooler air equals more rain), took advantage of their weak immune system (due to their fucking incompetent creators making a mess of the original plant’s DNA) and infected them (haha scammer get scammed). So basically, the fields and farmlands were lost to the people, but the forests are still intact. Also, even though one of the rivers around the city, the one which makes its ways under it and is therefore connected to the water supply and sewer systems, is trashed, the other, which is further away, is now perfectly healthy due to the city closing off and therefore leaving it alone for enough time. The real issue here lies within the actual government, which obviously does not want to expose how corrupt and lazy they are when dealing with problems and so they keep fueling the paranoia of their most vulnerable citizens since they are kids :). One way they do so is by manipulating the information their people get, claiming bullshit like “the current ecosystem is wild and polluted, it cannot offer our economy anything anymore!” and “the plants are dangerous and will kill you if you ever come into contact with them, and they have infected virtually every living thing around!”. Another is by not educating their population about “the Outside”, treating it like a sort of taboo. Therefore, they refuse to explain, or hush those who try to, the actual danger of the plants and how to deal with them (they do have many weaknesses, after all).

But the people in this world have yet another nasty problem. In this AU there are beings believed to be anthropomorphic demons due to their pointy ears, fangs, and sometimes strange behaviour. But in fact, these people are descendants of the dragons that once lived in these nations, but their origins were forgotten as the world gradually lost touch with its spirituality and ancestry, and now those who were once revered for their “godlike attributes” (yes, they kinda worshipped dragons, I mean, who wouldn’t) are today facing discrimination. However, even though they aren’t considered exactly “people”, the pure humans are still kind of afraid of them, so they usually choose the subtler kind of racism. In most governments, “Demons” get less job opportunities and are denied high positions, can be freely banned from any establishment, and face unmatched prejudice just for existing, especially those with a stronger blood relation with their ancestry. In the city, they are treated as less than even the robots (nindroids of all kinds), who are treated like any other respected social group by now because they have grown so advanced that most of them are just like humans in metal armour. In fact, many of them are mechanics, who are held in high esteem for making the many bionic implants for the humans.

And all of that combined made the RGB siblings (who are obviously demons, especially Lloyd), decide never to leave the Outside, where they grew up, to go live in the city.

When they were younger, Kai and Nya adopted Lloyd when they found him asleep in a box in the middle of nowhere, after having been abandoned themselves a few years earlier. This time, though, their dynamic in this AU is more of a team than Kai being a mom to them both like he always is, so even if Kai feels the most responsible for being the eldest sibling, they rely on each other almost equally. They fend off the plants that threaten them with fire (no they do not have powers, but Kai uses a fucking flamethrower because it’s Kai), and usually live on whatever they can find in the wild: mostly by making traps for game, fishing in the cleaner river and occasionally foraging edible plats (that’s more risky and they are more carnivorous anyway). Also, Nya routinely strolls through the ruins of the suburbs to collect scrap junk to turn as much of it as she can into useful trinkets, the rest of which she sells to Ed and Edna’s junkyard and their son, who is an amateur mechanic (wink wink but no shipping actually). Apart from that though, they usually sneak into the metropolis to cause a bit of mayhem here and there, which over time and on top of the fear over their species has earned them a reputation of People You Don't Wanna Mess With (or "Demons", more like). More than once they’ve even messed with a few of the gangs around town, which started sprouting up after the disaster, so overall their presence in the city is tolerated, but frowned upon. They manage to bypass the annoying border control thanks to the faulty assistant robot who raised them, named Echo (wink wink), who cannot perform any other social job (what he was made for) than to be the ferryman for those few people who decide to cross the wide moat and venture out into the Outside. They usually take a secret tunnel that a few smugglers managed to make, and the Guard do nothing because they do not give a fuck about demons anyway (in fact, only a few people know that their actual names aren’t Red, Blue and Green because nobody gives a fuck indeed). They do actually know a few people there, some of whom are also demons (like Mistake and Ronin), but especially as kids (which is when the story starts) they spend most of their time in the wild chilling and going on adventures :³.

(no the city and the plants are not named, we’re lazy :))

Anyway this is what I'll say for now. There's a lot more info, and hopefully drawings, coming. Hope you like this au because I love it for now ^^

(Btw let me know if you want me to make a post/reblog explaining the designs for the Rgb siblings and some info behind them)

[acesw]

The "Storm"

"The 'Storm' brings frequent anomalies. And also more development and field missions. Sadly, combat is not my thing; luckily, data analysis is!" - X, Xtreme Talent

The "Storm" is an intriguing topic to look into in the world of Reverse: 1999, and a lot of people tend to be confused on how it works alongside the functions of the immunity zones. For this post, this'll essentially be a more detailed explanation on it. This post will cover what the "Storm" is, its patterns, and the function of the immunity zones with Asymmetrical Nuclide R. This'll be a really long post, so hold tight. :) [Spoilers for Chapter 5-6]

What is the “Storm” anyway?

The “Storm”—or the "Emanation" to the Islanders—is a supernatural phenomena that is affecting most of the globe. It destroys the current era of society and reconstructs it into a point in the past or in the future. It “reverses” time, with the tendency to regress through eras. This means human technology increasingly deteriorates while arcanum flourishes.

Being a phenomena caused by arcanum, the “Storm” is difficult to be studied. Basic understanding of the "Storm" requires affinity with arcanum.

The “Storm” is unpredictable; Besides the Manus and the Apeiron to some degree, no one knows when the “Storm” happens, but the closer we get to its occurrence, the easier it is to figure it out. Manus activity is shown to accelerate the "Storm", with events beginning to deviate from the historic timeline due to their influence.

As of ‘The Star’ and Chapter 6, we find that Laplace has been keeping track of possible “critical points.” Critical points indicate where the eye of the “Storm” might be. An “eye” tends to be located at places globally significant, where historical events take place. It can be a cultural event, a significant movement, or a major conflict. These events don’t have to directly affect the entire world, per se. They merely have to be significant enough to leave a mark in the world's history.

Right now, 8 “Storms” have passed and we have one that is currently beginning to take place. With the information we have of each one, we find common themes among them:

1. Most of these “Storms” occur at least 1 year after the other. There are 4 exceptions to it: 

1999 (The Progenitor)

1987 (3 years)

1929 (1 day)

1914 (5 months)

2. They’re triggered when the timeline destabilises, or strays from what is the normal ‘course’ of the world’s timeline. (As said by Greta Hofmann)

3. The nature of the “Storm” and the Storm Syndrome are usually based on the themes of the era and the conflict.

A very clear example of this would be the “Storms” of 1966 and 1929. With 1966, we see how the height of the “Storm” deconstructs everything around the critical point with booming bold colours and pop-like art, reminiscent of the UK’s Swinging Sixties (as mentioned by the game itself).

With 1929, we see how the Storm Syndrome affects the mass population of humans, with how they sell food in exchange for gold and money to eat because of how it references the sudden rise in the American stock market. This led to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the crash caused an economic recession in the US.

Important notes about the "Storm"

Now we have to keep in mind that there are some things that need to be noted about this phenomenon. For one, the “Storm” doesn’t induce the grandfather paradox, since the survivors of the phenomenon don’t cease to exist whenever they arrive in an era that precedes their lifetime. They don’t encounter the younger versions of themselves either.

Also, since this is an event caused by arcanum, the people who are mainly affected are humans and mixed people who don't have strong arcanum. Pure-blood arcanists tend to be the ones who are the last to be affected by the "Storm," since they only begin to feel the effects once the countdown is approaches near-zero.

The memories of the survivors are quite faded. For example, none of them could remember what happened during 1999 that caused the first “Storm.” Greta and Vertin themselves confirm that they and the Foundation have rather vague memories of that time for reasons yet to be found.

And lastly, as stated before, the “Storm” can be accelerated / triggered early by orchestrating a chain of events that further puts strain on the critical point, and significantly causes disruption in the original timeline. This is the case with 1929 and 1914 right now.

Immunity Zones, Asymmetrical Nuclide R, and Vertin

With these out of the way, there is now space to talk about the points of immunity. For a location to be immune, the area would need a “core” that distributes a high concentration of Asymmetrical Nuclide R.

AN-R is a nuclide that’s present in the “Storm's" rainwater, as well as the fog in Apeiron, the Spinning Wheel, and possibly the Yuān temple in Pei City alongside Uluru in Australia. The nuclide creates a structure that makes it possible to survive the “Storm,” but it is an unstable component that can quickly disappear when isolated from the rain drops.

A more stabilised structure of these nuclides are those found imbued in the Manus Vindictae Mask, and the fog surrounding the cores of the immunity zones. However, when one comes close to said fog, it can affect people’s minds to the point of deep sleep until they’re taken out of the area. Otherwise, time flows normally within the immunity zones, unaffected by the “Storm.”

Meanwhile, as the truth remains unknown (noting that Asymmetrical Protein G is a false biomolecule), Vertin is the only person who is able to cross the “Storm” unharmed. She is able to endure most of its effects such as the fog.

For example: In the fog surrounding the Apeiron and the caves of the Island, she wasn’t afflicted with the deep sleep most of the time until she was fully immersed in it. However, she only needed to be woken up by any sort of disturbance. (i.e. pain caused by the bangle)

Despite this however, she’s unable to perceive and predict the “Storm," needing technology from Laplace to keep track of its countdown.

Anyway, AN-R tends to spread throughout an entire area and creates a range of immunity from the “Storm.” This range becomes theoretically weaker as one strays further from the main source; it's why Vertin’s breakaway group got reversed as they played outside the tower, while Madam Z survived while being barely outside the building. (Chapter 3)

It may also explain why the humans did not survive being in Vertin’s suitcase, since the spinning wheel might not be a strong enough core for the nuclide to resonate really well with humans. But I’m not exactly sure why this is, so this is only an assumption for myself.

For now, this is all the information that I have of the "Storm" and the immunity zones. There are some pieces of information that I also found while looking into it, but I've kept these as footnotes for now to go back to later once things begin to come together.

Many ideas can be thought of on how the phenomenon could affect many other areas, but this is essentially how it works based on what was observed in the story. I hope it answers a lot of questions for some who don't quite understand the "Storm." And if there aren't, feel free to ask me anything. Thanks for reaching the end. :)

[animeyanderelover]

I’m currently in Europe so I’m awake for once when requests are open!

May I request how Ciel, Sebastian, and Reiji Sakamaki’s would treat a s/o who’s body is really fragile (they bruise easily, have fragile bones, etc.). Thank you very much! 💖

I actually planned a little special for my 6k celebration but I’m still so loaded with requests that I think that I’ll have to cancel that and do it a bit later😵‍💫.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, overprotective behavior, abduction

S/o with a very fragile body

Ciel Phantomhive

☕️Ciel’s condition was of a rather delicate status during his early childhood days too. His asthma used to be quite bad, there were days where he couldn’t leave the house or his room. So despite his strict and sometimes apathetic attitude he can understand his darling’s frustration and anger regarding the hindrance that is their body. Unable to do so many things simply because it’ll only result in large and painful bruises or even a few broken bones. Whilst the Phantomhive heir bears more sympathy for you though, that doesn’t mean by a long shot that he’ll let you risk anything. He’s overprotective and his paranoia worsens because of your risky condition. He probably feels the constant need to know where you are and if he’s in the mansion, he wants you in his field of vision.

☕️A doctor is constantly checking on your condition and is always kept close in case something should happen. He’ll also force you to consume medicine and vitamins to strengthen your immune system and overall condition. Ciel will also be really pissed if one of his clumsy servants accidentally hurts you. He holds them dear somewhere in his heart, knows that all of them are primarily here for their skills to kill and protect him. That all doesn’t stop him from lashing out on them if their chaotic antics hurt you, especially because of your delicate body. He argues heavily with you when you insist to do something which he knows your body won’t handle and at one point just snaps, slight paranoia shining through.

☕️He feels sorry afterwards but knows that he’s in the right. Ciel tries to be softer and more spoiling to you in other areas as a sort of attempt to distract you from the sadness of the inability of your own body. Your room is designed to be comfy and cozy with minimal risk of you hurting yourself. There are events where you two do go out but you’re never allowed to stray away from him as he keeps an eye on your condition sharply. When he catches yet another bruise on your body, he will end up interrogating you how and where you got it. The whole mansion is over time (y/n)-proofed for you only to decrease chances of you hurting yourself. He treats you like glass at most times.

Sebastian Michaelis

🐈‍⬛It’s pure and unaltered overprotective instincts speaking out of the demon because his human mate is such a delicate thing. He feels the constant need to be around you to protect you from everything that could even bruise your skin or hurt and damage you even the slightest bit. When he catches a good glimpse of your bruises and scratches the first time, you swear that you hear a low growl rumbling deep inside his chest. He still has a contract with his master but at times he seems slightly tense, subtle glances outside and at the clock. As soon as the demon is free to go, he’s rushing to you to check on you. It isn’t very often that he’s ever made a great fuss about someone but he does exactly that when he’s with you.

🐈‍⬛The demon becomes essentially your doctor who bandages every little injury and makes ointment himself to help the bruises you have. He is able to sense your disappointment and sadness because your body holds you back from doing the most basic things but Sebastian is firm in his decision to minimize the risk of you hurting yourself. Whether you like it or not, you’re his mate and he can’t let you risk your health. Sebastian keeps you fairly isolated and to himself as he’s coddling over your fragile condition. He could almost enjoy this in a way, him as your sole caretaker, if it wouldn’t be for the constant injuries. It isn’t normal nor healthy which only makes him more protective, worried for your wellbeing. He’d like to call himself patient but it’s likely he’s tempted to kidnap you faster because of your weak physical body.

🐈‍⬛He’s clingy, barely leaves you alone when he’s with you and is staring at you just to ensure that nothing happens. Your sadness doesn’t fly over his head though as he tries to entertain you otherwise. He gets you books, reads to you, if you enjoy music he’ll play something for you. The demon himself is more careful with his own physical affection simply because he knows that you can’t handle much. Normally he’d love to bruise you with bites and kisses but he has to hold back as you are unable to endure that. He still needs some skin-ship so he often holds you softly in his arms. He’s quite aggressive if someone accidentally hurts you, even if just by accidents since his overprotective instincts just ring loudly the moment you get harmed.

Reiji Sakamaki

☕️Reiji is the worst one in here which is essentially boiled down to two main reasons. The first one is that he’s such a perfectionist and has high expectations on his s/o. Surely they’re special because otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten obsessed with them. Their frail body is such a big thorn in his eyes though and he’s not one to hide his obvious displeasure because of it. Especially in the beginning he openly shows his dissatisfaction and it makes you feel down because you know that he’s blaming you too for not having done more to fix your body. The vampire dedicates his time into brewing together medicine to increase your physical health and you’re forced to consume it daily.

☕️He even watches you just to make sure that you really take it. You’re on a strict schedule as it is. A healthy diet, physical workouts to slowly strengthen your bones and the time where you go to bed and get enough rest. Reiji is a controlling individual and wants his partner to be perfect in every aspect. Another big problem is that Reiji is a sadist and will punish his s/o if they misbehave. He’s not as dumb and impulsive as to let that get the better of him if he’s confronted with your weak body. If he goes too harsh, chances are that he will cause you permanent damage and he does not wish to be responsible if he ruins you. He will still lecture and teach you better if you behave like an ungrateful brat. You should thank him for even bothering with a helpless case like you.

☕️He’s huge in degrading you for your condition and making you feel like you’re a burden because of it. Harshly sucking your blood so that it hurts is also always an option although he makes sure that you always consume enough nutrition to ensure a healthy blood flow. You end up with large bruises on your neck and shoulder though whenever he does this. Examines your body all the time for new bruises and is always questioning you sternly when he sees a new one. All your clothes are covering you up completely to hide all the bruises because he doesn’t want his brothers to look and make unnecessary comments. He is more lovely when he softens up, treats you nicer and far more delicate, indulges in little wishes of yours as he stops blaming you for your fragile body.

[elliemarchetti]

Of Grief and Guilt

A depressing entry for @marauders-rarepair-fics and @stag-microfic’s prompts 25 (respectively monster and immune) inspired by this work of art.

Plot: Sirius mourns James. Non canon compliant.

Words: 378

The deer lay limp on the blood-soaked wooden floor, the dog’s dark head on its mute, motionless chest, waiting in vain for an impossible awakening. They rested in a pool of sticky crimson, brown eyes wide open, blind to the sorrow they were now immune to, grey ones blurred with blame yet so tastelessly alive.

The hound bit his mangled lips, choked on air he couldn’t get inside its lungs. He needed to muffle his stuttering, stumbling brain, the echoes of remorse and regret spreading in his eardrums like a disease, but he was so angry his limbs were numb, so angry he could only stare at the round, shattered spectacles a couple of feet away.

“If I don’t survive, move on for the both of us,” James had told him the last time they spoke, but how could he when his absence felt like an amputated limb, when even fleeting flashes of the way he used to tuck stray locks behind his ears were mutilation? Every deconstructed image of their fingers intwined was a bullet in the leaking hole he once called heart, every memory of phantom kisses and knowing, toothy grins just an excuse for his throat to burn with the remnants of insipid grief.

At the funeral, Sirius kneeled in front of the casket, in death like he should’ve in life, and instead of proposing with a ring he gently placed a new pair of glasses on his best friend’s face. For the first time, they sat straight on his nose, a clear sign the stag was far away, his legacy alive in every place he graced with his presence but his remains ready to feed the moist, unforgiving ground. He promised himself to never look back, but guilt consumed him like a flesh-eating monster, its fruits so decadent in their ripeness they rot his soul from the core. He had wandered aimlessly, trying to escape a beloved ghost haunting the field of his vision, but in the end, when a tepid spring began to give way to a hot summer, he broke his vow, lashes heavy with the salt of dried teardrops.

“You’re avenged,” he murmured, caressing the marble headstone, but only the howl of a lone wolf responded in the murderous, moonlit night.  

[leggerefiore]

Have any of the kids ever had that moment where they find a wild Pokemon and ask their dads, “Can we keep it?”

Erin rarely approaches wild pokemon since he is so nervous and easily frightened. Yet, somehow, the boy is not immune to the appeal of some pokemon he might see. A lonely pokemon hanging out near the Gear Station with no apparent trainer simply made him too sad to ignore. He began to sneak it treats and whatever else whenever he visited the station. Eventually, it began to follow him around. His small hands pet the odd rag that covered the pokemon's body, and he could only giggle at the happy sounds that came from it.

Ingo could only watch in terror as his son approached him, crying and begging to keep the stray Mimikyu that had been left by some cruel person. He almost felt like he could not say not to either party. The eerie black claw of the ghost-type was trying to wipe away the boy's tears as he pleaded. New friend for the Erin, he supposed.

Inka often brings home wild pokemon to the point Emmet was on his knees to please put down that Teddiursa – He loves her too much to lose her. The younger twin simply is eager to explore so many different pokemon and their competitive viability. He frequently has to deal with a crying little girl who just wants every pokemon in the world – while still being just too young to be a proper trainer. There is nothing that can be done but to wait until she can get her trainer's licence, yet it is clear that she wants it now. Inka, however, had a plan to keep another outside of the Joltik that her father had lovingly bred for her. She giggled at the pokemon that she carried in her arms.

Emmet nearly screamed at the Deino in Inka's grasp. Where did she get that!? He is frantically trying to separate her from the dragon type before it bites her or an angry Hydreigon shows up to Hyper Beam them both for taking its child. But, he freezes when Inka casually offers a berry to pokemon. It snacks on it happily and nuzzles int her palm when she pets it. He blinked. “Can I keep it?” she asked. His answer still wants to be a 'no.'

Emma rarely brings home stray pokemon, unlike her sister. None simply appealed to her. She does try to help her sister (or stop her) during her searches for pokemon that she insists on being superb in competitive battling. The older twin simply does not care for battling as much as the younger does. But… a certain star-like pokemon caught her interest as it nervously dotted around the grassy field.

Emmet felt his heart skip a beat when Emma later showed up with her prize. A pink pokemon was asleep in her arms, and Emma stared up at him silently with pleading eyes. He did not think that he could deny her the Cleffa.

Cyllene was not really an outside person. She rarely ventured too far into the wilderness. Sinnoh might have been a region with a natural beauty to it, but she was simply a homebody who preferred the company of machines. Though, she still managed to find one despite that. Machinery, after all, did attract pokemon, too. She found a special friend who played around with her as she tinkered. It was scary at first, but it slowly grew to be something she truly cared for. Eventually, she wanted to capture the zippy creature and keep it around always. But, she worried about what her father might say.

Cyrus felt his heart stop when his daughter came before him with a familiar pokemon. Her big eyes filled with anxiety. Then, his heart was destroyed. The Rotom buzzed around her, clearly trying to perk up the nervous girl. He relented without any hesitation.

[kareofbears]

a fragile line, chapter 2/3

Newt and Thomas always had something going on—even in the Maze, Gally knew right away. But never did he think it would turn into something like this; a devotion fermented. A reverence that made the chapel look blasphemous in comparison.

—

Or, as they infiltrate WICKED, Gally notices the shift between Newt and Thomas.

read on ao3 or below the cut

Thomas and Newt had come up to Gally with a fresh idea and a fresher bruise to match.

The plan is changing, they told him, clutching that battered notebook in their hands like it were a manual for how to barge into WICKED’s impenetrable tower. They spoke quickly, efficiently, nearly cutting each other off with how they finish each other’s thoughts, neatly tacking more details as they recount their changes. It isn’t the first time that Gally’s listened to Thomas labor through a plan, but it’s the first time he’s seen Thomas share that stage with Newt—or rather, sees Newt share that stage with Thomas. Words are as part of Thomas’ arsenal as much as his speed is, but where Thomas is practiced in its art, Newt has long since perfected it.

When they finished, Gally only had one question: “Seems like you shanks already got it under control. Why’d you bother bringing it to me?”

They both frowned at him, as if the answer should already be apparent. “We want to know what you think.”

Once they’re in the city, they split off with Brenda without so much as a wave. Too many eyes on them for a proper goodbye. True to his word, Newt slows his gait until he shuffles into the crowd of fellow WICKED soldiers, intermingling with them until Gally can’t tell which one’s him, little more than someone in a crowd. Despite that, he watches Thomas linger on a specific figure for a long moment before tearing his focus away.

They enter the tower without issues, and a variety of scientists, soldiers, and administrative personnel swirl around them like sharks. A bead of sweat rolls down his nape.

Like this, none of them speak, letting the thrum of their heartbeats merge with the ceaseless noise of people working around them. He has his eyes glued in front of him, as if straying his sightline would be a dead giveaway that he doesn’t belong, that he’s an intruder, that he deserves to be killed and sucked dry like any Immune that enters this facility.

In the corner of his eye, he sees Teresa studying him, and he resists the urge to tell her to cut it out. Every once in a while, someone in a white coat brushes past her, grins easy and familiar, some even offering her a friendly wave. He grips his stun gun a little tighter. For once, they were all playing in her field, and she has the advantage here. Not for the first time, he imagines her screaming for help, exposing them all until Ava Paige herself sticks a needle in their arm to drain them for everything they have left.

“Nobody comes back until you find them.” The words are rumbled high above them and spoken almost playfully; it parts the white noise of the facility easily. “And if you don’t find them—well. Let’s not talk about that quite just yet.”

Janson.

Gally risks a glance upwards, sees how he’s leaning over the glass bridge above them, arms splayed wide against the railing and overlooking the entire lobby, that nasty smirk resting on his face. Carefully, Gally casts his eyes back down, sees how Thomas is staring right up at Janson, and can imagine all too well the ripple of maddening fury spasming behind the mask.

With no amount of care, Gally shoulders past Thomas, rough and insistent. “Focus.”

Thomas takes a deep breath, and takes a step forward, and another, each more stiff than the last; as if smoothing out his stride would cause him to snap in half.

The flurry of activity around them is ceaseless, everyone either gearing up to a long night of testing cure variants or on their way to hunt down the escaped Immunes who are less than a few meters from where Gally is standing. Newt, on the other hand, is taking the long way around Sub-Level 3.

The bigger the group, the more likely we'll get caught, Thomas had said. Newt would be our eyes, make sure no one suspects anything. There's the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Thomas rolled his eyes. Yes, Newt, I know it's the only time you and I are being separated. Reconvene at Sub-Level 3 and keep your radio on.

They get to the power box without issue and Gally gets to work. Without saying a word, he pulls out his hacksaw without saying a word, sparks flying incessantly while Thomas radios Newt.

"Status update?"

"Absolutely radiant. You boys see Janson on your way in?"

"Yeah. Where's he headed?"

"Going up, by the looks of it. Careful—from what I've seen, those elevators could go straight down to the Sub-Levels. When I meet up with you, I'll lose eyes on him."

"Janson or not, you have to be here with me." A semblance of a smile ghosts his features. "Non-negotiable, right?"

"You're getting it now, Tommy."

The air is thick with sparks as he works, blinding him until his vision is nothing more than stars that are mere inches from his face. It’s tough work, cutting metal, and his wrist groans with the effort of digging, digging, digging, until, with a satisfying thunk of a heavy lock hitting the ground, he swings the box open and doesn't hesitate to rewire it until the harsh red pings into a pleasant green.

Gally signals—they're good to go. "We're done here," Thomas reports.

"Good that. Just saw Janson go up. Hopefully that ugly bastard locks up in his office for an hour or so. I'll make my way to you."

"Good that. See you soon."

"Over and out, fellow soldier."

They ditch the tools as they take the stairs down, Teresa leading them. Her face is still crestfallen and slightly glazed, but she's still moving in the right direction, at least.

The glowing signs on the wall indicate where they are. Sub-Level 1, Sub-Level 2, Sub-Level 3. Gripping the door handle, he peers in, feels his heart stutter in his chest, before letting it close again.

"What?" Thomas whispers, eyebrows already raised in accusation.

Gally ignores him, turning to Teresa. "You hide it from us on purpose?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sub-Level 3 isn't just where they keep the hostages, and the serum," he hisses out. "It's where they keep everything valuable and fucking dangerous."

Thomas' eyes widen as he lets the implication settle in. Guns, drones, tasers, cuffs, grenades. Everything that could capture them. Before this, they were under the impression that it would be similar to a medical ward.

At least, that's what they were led to believe by the person who gave the building's schematics.

Teresa takes a step back, pupils shaking. "I swear, I didn't mean to," she stammers out. "I just forgot."

"Save it." Gally turns to Thomas, brows furrowed. "Warn Newt, but plans won't change."

Thomas' mouth twists in displeasure. "This could get ugly."

"This has been ugly," he shoots back. "We just need to lie lower than usual." He grips Thomas' forearm. "Do you understand, you temperamental shank?"

Thomas rips away from him, stare venomous as he pulls out the radio. "I get the idea," he spits before updating Newt.

Gally allows himself one, massive eye roll before straightening up, mustering calm, and entering Sub-Level 3.

—

Gally didn't just sit on his ass while the rest of them were traipsing in the Scorch.

He's a soldier now. It doesn't really matter that he's not happy about that development—he's alive, and he should just be grateful about it. But the past six months have been dedicated training, discipline, and giving himself up to the art of war. Or at least, the scrappy version of it. Lawrence's men don't have any funds, and most of the weapons they can get their hands on is from ripping it straight from the hands of WICKED themselves. Resources were scarce; knives were blunt, gas was limited, and bullets above all else were a rarity—Gally never even shot a loaded gun until three months after he was trained to pull the trigger.

So seeing Sub-Level 3 was both a nightmare and a fever dream for him.

Layers and layers of machine guns are stacked through bulletproof glass, grenade belts hung up like it was someone's closet. Daggers, knives, machetes, all plastered against the backs of soldiers with more hidden underneath the fabric of their jumpsuits. All of it sharpened to a tee.

Sweat coats his hands but he doesn't wipe it off. Someone could be watching and sniffing them out. Instead, he focuses on making his stride strong and confident, shadowing Teresa and keeping an eye on Thomas, the fall of their footsteps matching the thud of Gally's heart.

They turn a corner and stop in their tracks. A drone is airborne in the middle of the hallway, hovering as if it were a mini Berg. Beside it, someone in a lab coat was instructing everyone to move around it. "Just doing some repairs!" he yelled. "Apologies everyone, we just needed a space to do some testing. Please move around the drone."

Gally and Thomas share a look before advancing, warily keeping an eye on the drone. It helps that other soldiers looked equally as unwilling to go near the drone as they are. Machine guns with wings, Lawrence's men had called them. A buggy drone, exactly what they needed.

Not for the first time, a sick feeling of premonition coats his skin. He can't tell if it's paranoia, panic, or some kind of sixth sense he's developed when it comes to WICKED. But it's the feeling he got the first time he laid eyes on Thomas. It's the feeling he got the day he found them on the outskirts of the Last City.

Everything in Gally's life has been ripped away from him one way or another—everything but himself. And he's learned to trust himself.

Going against his own advice to Thomas, Gally lifts his radio to his lips until he can speak into it with nothing more than a mutter. "Did you secure the bus?"

"Yeah," Brenda responds, equally hushed. "Pretty quiet down here. You?"

"If you left for a few minutes, do you think it'll still be secured?"

"Uh, probably?" Even through the static of the radio, her quizzical tone is audible. "There's enough buses that if someone takes this one, I can grab another." There's a pause, and then she groans. "You're going to ask me to do something."

"I need you to steal a lab coat and get to Sub-Level 3." Thomas whirls on him, and even the mask can't conceal his incredulity. "I have a bad feeling."

"What are you, five?"

Gally represses a retort. "I just—" he tries, racking his brain for logic like he always does, use the pragmatism that he knows they associate him with, but he comes up blank. "I need you on shift right now."

There's a longer pause. "Fine."

He lets out a sharp breath. "Thanks."

"Heading out."

Thomas continues to give him a look, and Gally can't muster anything more than a shrug. "Don't like taking chances."

"Sure you don’t."

They give it a wide berth as they skirt around it, but with every step that Thomas takes, the camera on the drone seems to follow him, shifting its barrel to be pointed directly at Thomas.

Step, shift. Step, shift.

Gally glances around, sees other soldiers staring at Thomas, bewildered and apprehensive, wondering the same thing as Gally. Why was the drone following him?

An idea slides into his brain and Gally swivels at Teresa, looking gaunt. He watched her remove Thomas' tracker like she did with everyone else, and saw it with his own eyes. But is it possible that she left something there on purpose?

"Just doing some repairs!" they repeat.

Coincidence or planned?

"Nothing to worry about folks!"

When they reach the halfway point of skirting the drone, it begins to glow a bright, sinister red.

Teresa turns to Gally. I don't know, she mouths, distressed, and Gally doesn't trust her, will never trust her, but he saw her remove it, helped Thomas clot the bleeding himself.

"Keep on walking!"

The drone, slow and steady, begins to clank. Gally pivots to Thomas, and even with the masks, he knows what they're both thinking. If that drone turns on, Thomas is as good as dead. But if they do something about it, it'll attract an insurmountable amount of attention.

Propellers stutter, erratically falling down just to fly up again, and the light only grows bright, then brighter still, and Gally knows what that means. He's been warned of it too many times, had seen it with his own eyes too many times, had seen people fall to it too many times.

"Run," he breathes to Thomas, as the rifle of the drone twitches.

But before anyone can move a muscle, before Thomas can even take another step, a loud gunshot sounds out. The drone falls to the ground, camera shot clean through.

Silence falls throughout the floor.

A single look at where it was shot tells Gally everything he needs to know. One bullet, clean through the core machinery of the drone. A steady hand, knowledge of the anatomy of rifle drones, and most of all, done to protect Thomas. This precision in aim was famous back in the Glade.

"Oh my," a voice speaks behind them, humor-infused and mocking at the same time. "What could have happened here?" It's like a bucket of ice water fell down his back, and Gally turns to see Janson standing there, eyebrows raised as he peers at the group of people huddled around the drone like it was an impromptu funeral. "An unfortunate malfunction, I presume, but I do believe WICKED enforces a strict rule of not firing on any Sub-Level, am I correct?" His eyes light up. "Hello, Teresa. I see you're getting in the middle of this mess, same as I am."

Nobody speaks. Teresa doesn't even look like she's breathing.

Janson claps his hands together. "Who is it, then? Who shot it?" It's quiet, only the scuttling of shoes against the squeaky clean floors. It looks like Janson is going to speak when someone takes a step forward. "You then? Come closer."

A million thoughts barge into Gally's brain in the moment, all fighting for a chance to be first.

There's a few dozen WICKED personnel surrounding them, with about half of those carrying firearms. If Newt speaks, his voice will give them away. If Newt takes another step forward, he risks showing his limp. If Newt doesn't give the right answer, it would reveal that he's not actually a WICKED soldier at all.

Above all else, if Janson even breathes in Newt's direction, Thomas might actually just blow this place up.

Without thinking about it too hard, Gally moves in front of Newt. "Director Janson," he greets, gesturing to his black uniform. "I'm his superior. Unfortunately, there's been a tech issue and he's fairly new to the Sub-Levels. Isn't aware of the regulations here. We'll be sure to reteach them accordingly." For emphasis, he grabs Newt by the arm and shakes him, ignoring the heat from Thomas' glare behind him.

He's seen this enough times to replicate it. Gally had spent the better part of the past six months trying to get into the facility, had memorized and engrained the way WICKED personnel work—how they greet each other, the rankings, the military positions, shift work, weapons, anything he can get his hands on. To beat these assholes, he has to become one of them. It's not something he thinks about too often.

It also helps that Gally is presumed dead.

Janson clicks his tongue. "Then I suggest you begin supervising a little bit better, then." Pointing at Newt, his tone is deceivingly light-hearted. "Not again."

Newt stays deathly still.

Then Janson leans back, grinning wide. "What's everyone standing around for? We have Immunes to hunt, don't we?"

Immediately, everyone disperses, eager to get away from Janson's prying eyes. They take it as an opportunity to slink away, wanting to merge into the shuffle. Everyone except Thomas, who decides to bump into Janson on purpose, before continuing his gait.

Never again. Gally is never, ever working with Thomas again after this.

As the door to the Immunes gets closer, Gally leans close to Thomas, but gets cut off.

“He’s going to be looking a lot fucking closer now."

Thomas slams the button open with the butt of his taser. "Then let him look."

—

With the guards miserably unprepared for their assault, it takes a shockingly short time to take control of the Immunes room.

The air is still thick with static and floor littered with bodies as Gally rushes to the vault, tossing the extra hacksaw to Newt so he can start freeing the Immunes. “You know how to use one of those?”

“I’ve had my fair share of lock breaking, thanks,” Newt replies, kneeling as he starts working the metal with sure, steady hands, melting through it twice as fast as Gally can. For a moment, he wonders when he learned to do that, before chalking it up as yet another thing Gally missed out on in the past six months. He'll ask when this shit show is done.

"Done, Newt?" Thomas interrupts, ripping his mask off, expression antsy. "Give me the saw, I'm breaking into the serum vault."

Newt doesn't even look up. "You're too slow with it," he says, curt. "Leave me alone. Help Gally when he's done."

Despite everything, Gally cracks a grin. "You tell him, Newt."

Grumbling, Thomas squats next to Gally. For a long moment, neither of them speak. When he hits the halfway point, Thomas mutters, voice quiet. "Thanks. For earlier."

He eyes Thomas before focusing back on his work again. "Don't sweat it."

"You saved Newt." His voice cracks near the end, before becoming almost too soft to hear. "That's everything."

Newt's door opens and he peers in, unintelligible muttering as he approaches the kids, tone soothing but firmly urging them to get up.

Gally's own metal door breaks free, and swings open, revealing a dozen terrified kids. Thomas straightens up, and although it's brittle and fading and accidentally comes off as bellicose in a certain light, his smile is genuine. "Come on," he coaxes. "We're going to get you out of here." Turning, "Newt, now that you're done—"

Newt whirls on Thomas, and gone is the calm that he was directing towards the Immunes. "I'm on it," he snarls, militant and venomous all at once. "Fucking hell. Give me some room, mate."

Gally stills.

Thomas looks like the floor fell underneath him. Then his expression hardens, focused. "Who am I?"

There's a beat, where Newt and Thomas are studying each other before Newt’s eyes flutter close, mouth twisting in concentration. “I know you, I know I do. You’re someone I trust, someone I’m safe around. I just don’t—“ he falters. “I just can’t quite remember exactly who you are.”

“It’s okay,” Thomas’ tone is delicate, as if his syllables danced on eggshells. “It’s okay.”

"And I'm supposed to get that," he nods at the serum vault. "Open, because I know whatever's in there is important to you."

"It should be important to you, too," Thomas reprimands gently. He reaches into his breast pocket and offers a folded piece of paper to Newt. "Here. You wrote this for yourself."

Newt's brows scrunch as he reads it, expression blurring into a handful of emotions, recognition shining through before settling into shame. "Tommy," he breathes out.

"Don't apologize," Thomas mutters. "We knew this would probably happen." Taking a step forward, Gally almost averts his gaze when Thomas presses his lips to Newt's temple, tender and devout, and pulls away. "Now, open the damn vault."

Newt gets to work as Gally glances around, belatedly realizing that something is very wrong. "Minho."

"Shit," Thomas closes his eyes, thinking hard, before stalking forward. Action oriented, always. "Teresa, where the hell is he?"

Gally lets them figure it out, opting to approach Newt. His shoulders are tense, and even if his hands are still steady, he knows Newt's tell often manifests through what he says—or what he doesn't.

"Want to swap?" he offers.

Newt shakes his head and doesn't say anything. Gally lets him have his brief moment of quiet, orchestrated by the quick, harsh tone that Thomas and Teresa are throwing at each other like knives behind them.

Tries not to think about the implications of Newt's health. Fails.

The Flare is inevitable. He's seen it happen to anyone who isn't an Immune. It rips everything away from the person like paint stripper, seeping the saturation out of someone until all that's left is a thin layer of what it used to be. Reduces someone into something animalistic, uncontrollable, monstrous, vile, unthinking. How long does Newt have? Enough for the mission? Enough to find Minho? Enough for the next half hour? Gally's never fucked around when it comes to the Flare, but seeing Newt forget Thomas is somehow the most harrowing thing he's seen the virus do.

It doesn't matter, really. The current cure may not be perfect, but there's a serum on the other side of this door that'll give Newt time, no matter how short.

"—soon as Newt gets the serum, you're taking us there," Thomas is saying, words quick and sharp.

"Okay," Teresa says, still searching the monitor in front of her. "What about the Immunes?"

"Gally's—"

Suddenly, the door slides open slightly, and immediately all of them have their tasers out. Pointed, still, silent.

"I didn't come all the way out here to be threatened," a familiar voice grumbles. "Put that shit away."

"Brenda," Thomas breathes. "Almost shot you."

"Yeah, yeah. I think everyone in this room has been threatened by you one way or another." She walks in, wearing a lab coat and—is that glasses? She must have really been trying to sell the role of a scientist. "Except for your Newt, of course."

"Of course," Thomas agrees.

Brenda glances around, taking in the Immunes huddled along the walls. "Hey," she greets. Most of them are still cowering from fear, but a few braver ones give her a wave. "What do you need from me, Gally? Still need me to clean up after your mess?" she teases, but her eyes are serious.

Gally rises to his feet. "Minho's not here," he cuts to the chase. "We have to get him. Can you get the Immunes down to the bus?" After a moment, he tacks on: "Please. And thanks."

"A little manners go a long way," Brenda says. "When can I expect you boys?"

"Give us as long as you can," Gally replies, vision straying to the Immunes. For a split-second, he sees Chuck's face in one of theirs. "But if things go south, just take them and go."

Brenda frowns, but doesn't disagree. Facing the kids: "Alright. Not great with kids, but you guys seem promising. You three—" she points at a few Immunes. "Grab the guns from these unconscious bastards and arm yourselves. Don't fall behind, and don't do anything stupid." Brenda stops herself, suddenly unsure. "And don't be scared. It'll be okay."

They do as she says, one girl looking particularly excited at the chance to be holding a pistol. A boy nervously puts his hand up. "This guy doesn't have a gun," he squeaks out. “Or any weapons, actually.”

Brenda scowls at him. "Then don't pick that guy then, kid."

"Thanks," Gally repeats, letting sincerity bleed through this time. "Seriously."

She smiles before gesturing for the kids to go. "See you soon," she says, giving him a fist bump. "Bye Gally, Newt. Thomas—don't blow the place up." He simply waves in response, and Brenda leads them out the back exit, the door closing with a sense of finality.

"Here we go," Newt mummers, the lock finally falling away with a clatter that sounds almost like victory.

Thomas immediately surges forward, a newfound energy almost making his eyes glow. "It's open?" he exclaims. "That's great. Come on, let's get this serum in you."

Newt flashes a wide grin, and Gally can't help but notice how much younger it makes him look. Can’t help but notice how much life he has in him whenever he looks at Thomas. “Wow, Tommy, I was just thinking we chuckled the vials out on the Scorch, how about it?”

“So funny,” Thomas deadpans, mood undamped as he hauls Newt on his feet and sets him aside with ease. “Serum, then Minho.” He pulls the vault door open and his mouth splits into a smile that matches Newt.

“It’s not perfect yet,” Teresa says quietly, and they all ignore her. “Thomas, I think it’s your blood—“

Thomas darts into the vault with the duffel. “Newt,” he calls over the sound of clinking glass. “Roll your sleeve up. I’m not wasting a single second.”

Newt rolls his eyes but obliges. “You talk like the vials are suddenly going to fly away into thin air.”

“Who the hell knows, nowadays.” Thomas walks out, bag significantly more full and pure joy coating his features, practically skipping as he approaches Newt. “We didn’t even know about the Flare until—“

The door slides open again, and Gally turns, ready to retort. “You forgot something, Brenda—?”

His voice dies in his throat, replaced by his heart beating in overtime.

“I knew there was something a little odd in the works,” Janson says, voice lilted as a dozen WICKED soldiers march in, surrounding them. “Thank you for the heads up, Teresa.”

Slowly, they all turn their heads. Teresa gazes at the ground like she wants nothing more than to sink into it.

“Thomas,” Janson takes a step towards him, gun pointing at Thomas, who immediately takes a step closer to Newt, partially blocking him. “You know you need to give me that bag.”

He doesn’t speak. His eyes are darting everywhere, in all directions: up into the ceiling, down at the floor, left to the soldiers, right to their weapons. It’s as if he’s trying to look for a way out by looking hard enough. Gally concedes that it worked well enough in the maze. Slyly, he sees Thomas’ hand cover his holster.

“You don’t want to do that,” Janson chides. Thomas stills for a second before rushing to pull out his pistol. “I said,'' Janson stretches other the vowels lackadaisically, shifting his aim so that it’s directly on Newt. “You don’t want to do that.”

That gets Thomas to stop moving. Gally notes with the idle, dazed part of his mind that Janson knows exactly how to get to Thomas. Or maybe Thomas is just really obvious about Newt.

“Good.” Janson takes a lap around the room, surveying the damage. “You take a good portion of my men and move the Immunes. Now, you're going to—"

But Janson doesn't know the new Thomas quite as well.

With a speed that Gally's long-since associated with him, Thomas yanks a stun grenade from his belt, unclips it and throws it directly at Janson. Duck."

Newt grabs Thomas and Gally and pulls them into the serum vault just as it goes off, the sound of bodies hitting the ground almost satisfying. They stay still for a few seconds before Gally peeks out. "Nice one, Greenie. Who knew your crazy methods would actually—"

Something catches his eye, and Gally frowns as something rolls into the vault with them, before his eyes widen. "Fuck."

There's no time to move, no time to run. The only thing Gally can do is use his body to shield Newt and Thomas from another stun grenade that goes off only a few feet in front of him.

The last thing he sees is Teresa's hand still outstretched, expression unreadable.

—

He feels like a Griever just sucker punched him to the gut.

Every inch of his body is sore, with random points of his body twitching at unexpected moments. Vaguely, something smells like it's burning, and Gally thinks it might just be from being fried by a stun grenade.

His eyes flutter open as confusion hits him. That stun grenade should've killed him. Unless—

There's the sound of someone shuffling near him, and it takes all of his remaining energy to twist his neck sideways. It takes a second for him to realize that they're not in the same room anymore. Floor to ceiling of cold concrete, his best guess is they're in some stairwell somewhere.

Teresa is kneeling next to Thomas—still knocked out—careful hands holding a syringe as she extracts blood from his arm, brows creased in concentration. It's as if his vocal chords are tangled up, and it takes him a few tries before he croaks out: "You use a non-lethal stunner?"

Her eyes flicker to him briefly before focusing on Thomas once more. There's already one, full vial of blood tucked into her coat. "The medical wing," she starts, voice quiet but sure. "Take the door on your right. At the end of the hall there'll be an elevator. Go up to the 21st floor. Turn left, there'll be a portion of glass walls. You can't miss it."

He stares at her. "Shouldn't you kill us?"

She lets out a sharp breath. "I never wanted you guys dead, you know. I just wanted to find a cure."

"You're on WICKED's side—"

"I'm on the side that would help me find a cure." She finishes up with Thomas, gently bandaging his arm almost affectionately. "WICKED had the funds and the access to Immunes. It was a no-brainer." She glances around Thomas, then Newt, then Gally. "You recovered quickly," she tells him. "You get hit with stun grenades often?"

If he had any liking towards her, he would've offered that it was part of his training. Non-lethal stunners were something they were expected to endure on a daily basis while patrolling the outer wall. As it was, Gally stayed silent.

Teresa nods to herself, as if expecting the cold shoulder. "Janson's still out there. Had to choose between killing him or getting you three out of there."

"You'd kill Janson?" he rasps out. "Would killing him help you get the cure?"

"No." Her index finger gently traces Thomas' bandage, but she carefully avoids touching his skin. "But it would keep Tom safe."

A pang of pity strikes deep in his chest. "Thomas is Newt’s," he says bluntly. It's the closest thing to mercy that he can offer her. "That's not changing anytime soon. Or ever, really."

Teresa lets out a huff. "Thanks. I think I picked up on that." She gets on her feet, pocketing the second vial into her coat, the two bottles clinking against each other almost rhythmically. "The other two should be up in the next minute, and you'll be able to move again in the next ten. You'll probably get your strength back quicker than them."

She moves to the door, and as she's about to leave, she hesitates. "Tell Thomas I'm sorry. I think it got caught in the crossfire, during the chaos."

Gally scrunches his brows. "What?"

"Just tell him to find me. I'll be in the labs, somewhere, but I need to hide from WICKED, too. Tell him I think I might have the cure. The real one." She swallows, and pain flashes on her features before smoothing it out. "His need to protect Newt should be enough to outweigh his distrust of me, at least."

With that, she walks out the door, leaving Gally to stare up at the ceiling to wait out the stunner.

—

It doesn't take long for Thomas to rouse.

He scrambles on his feet, only for him to immediately throw up on the staircase. Gally can sympathize. "Where—"

"Chill out Greenie," he mollifies. He eventually found the strength to sit up, letting the wall support him. The soreness in his body is subdued and he can shift around without groaning out loud. "Newt's behind you."

Thomas turns and sinks to his knees, where Newt's eyes are still closed and relaxed. He watches, feeling almost voyeuristic as he touches the black veins on Newt's jaw. "Why isn't he up yet?"

"Not sure. Teresa said he'll be up soon."

At that, Thomas' hand stills. "Teresa," he mutters, like he's just remembering where they are right now. "Teresa. The cure. The serum."

Thomas pivots to Gally. "Where's the duffel?"

Gally hesitates. "Greenie..."

He stands, eyes lighting up as he spots the duffel bag sitting on the bottom stair. "Did you already inject—"

"Thomas."

Thomas opens the bag before his entire frame stills, motionless.

Gally's mouth flattens into a thin line. He knows exactly what Thomas is looking at—broken glass swimming in bright, blue liquid, sloshing within the bag. Not a single vial left untouched.

All the serums broke.

For a long, long moment, it doesn't even look like Thomas is breathing. Slowly, he reaches into the bag and cups a handful of wet, shards of glass, thoughtless of the pain. "Do you..." His voice is a terrible thing, crackling with grief. "If I separate the glass, then maybe..."

Gally is shaking his head before Thomas can finish. "I don't think so."

"Okay." Bit by bit, one hand clutching the fragmented pieces and the other still clenching tightly onto the dripping duffel bag, he settles next to Newt. "Okay."

He watches as Thomas looks at the ceiling, then to his hands, blue serum mingling with the red of his blood, before staring at Newt. The concrete walls provide a blissful quiet from what Gally's sure is a hectic facility mere meters from where they're sitting. Like this, he can hear Newt's steady breathing and Thomas' erratic exhales, with the faintest sound of glass clinking against one another as Thomas' hands shake and falter.

Like a bad surgeon, he sees how Thomas, impossibly, pulls himself together stitch by stich until he becomes something that functions again; tangled, knotted, limbs jumbled, but forced to function. He takes a deep breath before turning to Gally once more.

"What did Teresa say?" he asked, voice steady and monotone. His expressionless face giving nothing away, but his eyes swirls with something like darkness, thick and heavy.

"She told me where the medical wing is." Gally sees Newt's fingers twitch. "She also said she thinks she has a cure. Took some of your blood."

Thomas' expression doesn't shift. "A cure."

"That's what she said."

"A cure," he reiterates, like he was tasting the syllables on his tongue, like it was an effort to speak. Almost thoughtlessly, Thomas lets go of the duffel and sinks his fingers into Newt's thick hair. "A cure."

Gally leans forward. "Thomas." He keeps his words neutral, steady. This is how he speaks, in the rare moments where he's involved in hostage situations. Who the hostage is, he's not sure. "We can't trust Teresa, remember?"

Thomas' eyes lift. They're bloodshot and vicious. "The cure needs to exist."

For a moment, Gally wants to argue. Weren't you the one who blew up at her? Weren't you the one who was itching to kill her not long ago? Weren't you the one she hurt the most? Instead, he watches as Thomas continues to comb through Newt's hair, mummering to him softly, like softness is enough to remove the Flare from his veins.

"It needs to exist," Gally echoes.

Eventually, Newt's eyes flutter open before immediately lurching sideways, retching. Even from this angle, Gally can see the black liquid splatter on the floor.

"It's okay," There's none of the violence present when he looks at Newt; only worry and warmth in the cold stairwell they're all hiding in. "Don't get up too fast, but we need to go soon."

Slumping back into the floor, his voice has a shake to it that he isn't used to hearing. "Tommy."

"Yeah?" he replies, still combing through Newt's hair.

"Your name is Tommy."

The hand stills, before continuing. "Yeah, it's Tommy."

Newt sits up, Thomas helping him as he does so, and looks at Gally with that peculiar expression. "It's Gally," he says, beating him to it. "How much do you remember this time?"

"Where are we?"

"The WICKED facility. We're getting your serum and Minho, then we're getting the fuck out of here." At the tilt of Newt's head, Gally tries again, a twinge in his chest as he has to explain, "Minho's our friend. We need to save him."

"We must really like this guy then." Newt raises a hand and Thomas helps him stand. "What do I need a serum for?"

There's silence for a moment. "We should hurry," Gally says instead. "Newt, are you good?"

"I kind of feel like I got beat up," he rolls his shoulder, wincing. "But otherwise, I can walk."

"I got you," Thomas says gently. "Just stay close to us."

Gally cracks the door open, peering out, and feels someone behind him. "Don't you think it would be better if we had him meet up with Brenda?" he asks without turning around. "We can bring the serum to him afterwards."

"With the way he's going now, I can't risk delaying the serum. And besides," he paused. I promised him we'd stay together. No matter what."

A rush of irritation brushes down his spine. "And that promise is more important than keeping him alive?"

"You know that's not true," Thomas snaps. "But Newt and I talked about this beforehand. He wants to stay, so he's staying."

"Thomas—"

"Gally," his tone is final. "I have to trust Newt."

"Even now?"

"Especially now." Thomas yanks the door open, looks both ways, before leaving. Newt, confused and slightly feverish, follows him without question.

[msfbgraves]

How did John and Betsy meet? Did it bother John that she wasn’t an Omega? Why does John think of Terry and Daniel’s relationship?

I imagine it was rather similar to canon - Betsy was out with an Alpha boy who was constantly negging her, saying how he could have had an omega but they were too high maitenance for him, not that he couldn't change his mind, and though he would always 'respect' her, there were other things they could do, weren't there? You would go the extra mile for your Alpha, wouldn't you, Betsy? And the poor girl was dying with embarassment and trying to leave and when she finally did the boy grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go and John saw red. No idea what came over him he went mental. He lost that fight, there were too many of them, but Betsy brought him home to her Mammy to patch him up and John was a goner. Took him a while to understand what was going on as he'd never felt that way at all. Terry had a field day with all of it. Kept contriving ways for them to run into each other. At one point even cajoled father Martin into preaching about how love was holy when the heart was pure and should be acted upon with grace, and then he still had to set him up at the cinema. John was so new to all of it, and so bashful when he asked: "Can I see you again?" Betsy had some hesitations at first because she was a good girl and John already had a fearsome reputation, but they both clicked and that was that. And John doesn't care what she is, other than his girl, is what. Could be Martian for all the difference it would make to him.

He's also completely immune to Daniel's charm and thinks the boy's connections are more trouble than they're worth, but he loves Terry, and Terry loves him - if he trusts John's adopted omega boy as little as John trusts Daniel.

What John thinks about their relationship? It exasperates him. There are always issues with those two. If he does condemn Terry for straying, especially since the thought is so alien to him. But Terry is both his friend and the reason his family wants for nothing, so, certain things will have to be overlooked. Plus, he's very fond of Terry's puppy Robby in particular and doesn't want to upset his own puppy Tory, who is best friends with Robby and keeps insisting they marry.

[blimbo-buddy]

Tallstar is Jake's boyfriend but also not. They both felt mutual attraction but they never took the next step so it's not official. They yearned but alas!

Tale I imagine has the similar markings to Tallstar but they're orange and white instead of being a tuxedo.

Tale is an adventurous little guy like his siblings and more interested in the clans than Rusty is if there were possible lol.

Rusty, Matilda, Filou, Tommy, and Luna are great older siblings to Tale and often play near the forest and in the fields.

Tale's favorite snack is Crickets!

The kingdoms have recipes they made.

One of the first things they did learn was that you can boil their kibble into water and soften it into a mush. They created stews and experimented with adding different things.

They recreated some human foods like desserts and bread.

They're evolving at a pace. A slow pace but considered the state they were at during Mapleshade's Vengeance timeline, they're a lot better than before lmao

What are some recipe ideas you have that cats would enjoy and make?

Ah, I see I see. I'd imagine the clans would not like it if one of their leaders was openly with a Kittypet. Man, imagining a scenario where TallStar ends up changing and he's like "Sorry babe but I don't yearn anymore lol I'm a true clan cat" and Jake's standing there cartoonishly clutching flowers trying not to cry.

Also I think that's neat with how Tale looks! I dunno why but I always thought orange and white looked the best with cats, especially if they're a very specific sort of orange. Reminds me of this stray cat who came by often and he was a really cool shade of orange with some white undersides, nick named him Creamsicle. I like Tale's older siblings being great like that and letting his adventuring nature run wild (with proper supervision of course), seems like Tale likes crickets because he found a cricket one time and didn't hesitate to crunch down on it.

Also gotta appreciate some good recipes that would be appealing to cats. Chop up some vegetables and boil in some bones and that's a perfect stew to sip on for when the days and nights start getting colder. The vitamins also help with cats who are sick, number 1 thing that you'd be recommended if you came down with a flu. I'd definitely imagine it took alot of trial and error to figure out what the cats can and can't eat when recreating human cuisines and desserts. They'd probably be shocked that humans don't drop dead from things that can easily kill an animal (Like mint).

I've mentioned them before but I got a few:

The crickets that are becoming a popular snack in Warriorclan/Present day Chelford

Dry cat food mixed with an egg or two, garnished with Rosemary. Simmered over medium heat

A buttery breakfast bun that is mildly sweet. Glazed with a thin layer of honey

Lots and lots of differing kinds of jerky. A nice, tough snack to chew on, helps keep your brain active too so that's a plus

Only ever accessible during winter season (Though there is also the option of stealing from freezers, but that's difficult 90% of the time), meat and fish ice pops for everybody!

For a delicious, crunchy or chewy starting dish: Dried, fried, or boiled bird's feet or rat/mouse tail. Twolegplace cats, like clan cats and outsider cats, value every single part of the prey item

Cooked bones that are cracked open so that the marrow inside can easily be slurped out

It's important to remember that the things that cats may enjoy, we as humans will see as gross. Cats in this case won't make the exact same food as we do, they'll most often than not have their own feline-twist to the dish that also falls in line with what they can and can't ingest. Though, that part's up to you if you want to have the Kittypet Kingdom cats evolve to grow stronger systems and become slightly more immune/unaffected to specific things that may make them fall ill

[parasiticjustice]

[RGG Online Translation] Sugoroku Event · Investigation of the Strays (Tanimura & Sugiuchi)

Summary: Tanimura is called into the chief's office and asked to partner up with Sugiuchi under the suspicion that he might be corrupt. With Little Asia threatened, Tanimura has no choice but to investigate the Demon Detective, in the process revealing the truth behind a gold bullion robbery case. Featured Characters: Masayoshi Tanimura, Junji Sugiuchi Spoilers?: Nope, this is set before Yakuza 4 and contains no spoilers for the series.

On this episode, Tanimura steals someone from the hospital and takes them on a field trip to Yokohama! Kiryu would be so proud. Meanwhile, Sugiuchi is not immune to daddy issues.

Sugoroku events are pretty dang long (this one clocked in at a 8000 word script) so I’ve put the whole thing up on Google Docs for easier reading.

Read it here!

[possibleratking]

Scarecrow Pokémon Team

Alright time for a more in-depth look at the Pokémon team I put together for the Scarecrow, this is more of just a generic team idea rather than being for a specific Scarecrow interaction

Also none of them have names cause I suck at that so feel free to suggest some 👍

And their all in costume, some are random, and some are specific

Starting from the newest team members:

Weezing 

Caught as a Koffin hiding in one of the back rooms of Jonathan’s numerous hideouts, he found it absorbing stray fear toxin fumes. Because of the way Weezing’s biology works it can produce its own weak version of fear toxin which it can expel out its body in large, voluminous clouds of orange vapours. 

All poison Pokémon have some form of immunity to poisons/toxins but it can vary wildly between individuals.

Although it can fight Jonathan prefers to use it in bank/chemical heists, where it can envelope an entire building in fumes faster than his own fear toxin can.

Crobat

She was caught as a common Gotham Zubat soon after Scarecrows first run in with the Batman, and although it hasn’t been long, being trusted partners in crime has lead to a strong bond forming allowing Zubat to evolve into the Crobat she is today in a few short years.

She is probably the strongest Pokémon on Scarecrows team, she’s smart enough to solve basic puzzles, is strong enough to lift Jonathan around if he needs an exit, can go toe to toe with the main Pokémon on Batman’s team, and can do it all while being quite as a mouse.

The only downside she has is she is a rather large Crobat, making it hard for her to fight in enclosed spaces. Jonathan still takes her on small scale heists though and has her be surveillance outside.

Banette

One of the two trouble makers of Jonathan’s Pokémon team, he found them hanging out in the closet of his first Gotham apartment.

Banette mainly works as an intel gathering Pokémon, either tailing people Scarecrow wants to use as test subjects, or sneaking around select buildings to make a note of security and exit points.

Surprisingly Banette itself is rarely seen when Scarecrow is actively robbing places, since it seems to have a rather strong reaction to fear toxin that Jonathan has been unable to help with.

Rapidash

The Scarecrows trusty nightmare steed, Rapidash was first acquired as a Ponyta from a farm at the boarder’s of Georgia. The farm they first came from wasn’t a good place, which is why Jonathan at the time had no issues stealing them from that place. After Jonathan had been a villain for a couple of years he sent the farmer a letter, apologising for stealing their Pokémon and laced to the brim with his strongest fear toxin to date.

Although Rapidash is a common sight when Scarecrow is around, he is also the hardest to spot when out of costume. Since the majority of Gotham mounted police force also use Rapidash as their trusted steeds.

There is actually a picture in Gotham gazette of Boy Wonder being flung head over arse when he tried to hop on to Scarecrows Rapidash, mistaking it for a police horse.

Murkrow

The second trouble maker of the group, Murkrow has known Jonathan for a long time. Originally this is one of the many Murkrows that used to attack Jonathan when he was younger. But unlike the most of this other Murkrow this one was one of a few that actually felt bad about what they were doing. Leading to this and a small flock of other Murkrow being outcast as well.

This is the only Murkrow that followed Jonathan from his family home.

Despite having being a team for years Murkrow has never evolved and never plans to. Great Granny had a nasty Honchkrow that struck fear into the both of them, to many bad memories to make evolution worth it.

Cacturne

No one knows when this Pokémon showed up in the small Georgian town Jonathan lived in, it isn’t native to the area, and no trainer would release such a rare coloured Pokémon.

It used to watch people as a Cacnea from the fields, hiding from sight but following those entered. It spent a lot of time watching Jonathan while he worked during the harsh midday sun, and they first meet when it fetch Jonathan some water after he collapsed from the over bearing heat.

No one saw it evolve, just that it strolled out of town beside Jonathan the day he left. The large Honchkrow that used to fly round the town disappeared that day also, none were sad to see it gone.

Hope you enjoyed this sorry if it’s long, not very coherent, and there’s any mistakes. This took me an hour and a half to write.

See ya ✌️ 

[polyphonetic]

Last night I dreamt I was time traveling with the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi). However, he was a stacked hot older woman (still he/him) and we made out a bunch and that was pretty funny. He would keep resetting the timeloop, but I had special goggles that would update my memory each time, so we could save time as well as save-state particular repetitive parts of loops. It involved stealing stuff from my estranged father's office as well as his truck for some reason.

I remember driving around dark fields in a vehicle, dodging missles from weird roaming contraptions, searching abandoned grocery stores for food and a special type of wet food for my cat.

This afternoon I had a dream that there was a door in a basement of a house in a rural field. I and a bunch of other people my age would go through it, and it was a portal to this endless plane with black skies and precarious pathways built over bright flowing lava. There were these glowing cats that lived around and they were cuddly and immune to the lava.

However, there became a faction of the other people that wanted to create some sort of right-wing revolution somehow involving living in the endless Nether world (that grew increasingly dangerous to humans as you strayed further from the entrance). A five year old kid who was naively radicalized activated a mechanism that formed these massive metal doors that started to close before the basement entrance, but I was able to hold open the doors and call desperately for everyone to escape.

Afterwards, I tried to deconstruct parts of the door to see if there was any way for someone to escape from the inside should they be trapped within, but the material paradoxically folded endlessly upon and into itself, and was a one-way entrance. Additional doors would also generate to prevent people from holding them open. Despite this, some people of that faction were still compelled to enter and explore, shaming me the whole time.

There was a wild search for potential keys around the property before people entered the lava abyss, as a chance to escape after an entrance. An uncle-ish man saw me taking some of his tools, and asked what was going on. When I explained, he took me to this rounded staircase structure, with a long metal pole in the center pointing down towards a sort of porthole to the abyssal plane.

He showed me deeper layers of that plane, how it transforms into a cerebral-fluid-like sparkling black sea of consciousness, weird bones, and other body structures, before it folds in on itself and exits. I decided I had to enter the plane after that group with him to try to save them.

I crawled down some weird furnished ventilation tunnels towards the exit, and this is where things get fuzzy. The scene shifted to this massive auditorium full of thousands of mages seated along a slope, and one by one disappearing, until I, the final one shifted with the rest into this "graduation" room. I exited this room full of mages to this other room filled with tall vetical strings connecting the floor and ceiling, millimeters apart from each other. Before an instructor, I danced through these lines of energy, focusing my attention on the subtle black coloring on parts of the strings, that while I danced seemed to be animated, and I danced by following these shapes like we were dancing together. These shapes became more detailed as I twirled faster, becoming colored and more realistic, and I danced my way back to the rural field outside of the house which contained the portal.

I looked around the world, and I had a deeper understanding of the material 2D planes that constructed it. I could see vertical and horizontal planes everywhere from which you could see the clouds and nature and could step through them and understand how my world worked. It was like moving in 4 spatial dimensions around my world while still being able to interact with it. At the same time, I saw the former party who had entered the portal, who stumbled deep enough to fall back into this world, but they were blind with eyes that could only now see the abyss they had desired.

[cherrypikkins]

More Non-NG+ Maddening Run - Golden Deer, Siege of Garreg Mach before time skip.

It's worth noting that even a weak gambit is better than no gambit. Felix was able to stop the Death Knight in his tracks and shave off 3hp in the process, allowing Lysithea to finish him off safely.

Right off the bat, this map will force you to deal with multiple problems at once. But if you've trained a good A-Team and really dig your heels in and be patient, you can do it.

Highlights under the cut:

Ladislava will be one of your earliest problems right off the bat. Defeating her quickly is key to stopping the enemy fliers from overwhelming you.

Luckily, there are some green units there to help with this. If you see her targeting a green unit, quietly get your best archers into position to swarm her in one turn. Try to do so without accidentally becoming her new target (watch her danger zone)

Do not even worry about the scary monsters right off the bat. There are plenty of green units to keep them occupied until you get your best gambit-users into position to stun them in one turn.

Now for the strongholds:

Death Knight, as per usual, can be dealt with using a combination of gambits and one heavy hitter. With Felix and Lysithea it only took one gambit + one Dark Spikes.

For Hubert... I don't really know what the strategy is for him. I just had Felix punch him a few times and he went out like a light.

Once you unlock the strongholds, Shamir and Catharine (or their green unit replacements) will take the field and wreck havoc. They will be useful for cleaning up stray reds here and there including the archers manning the long-ranged artillery, but they will eventually get overwhelmed. To get the most mileage out of them, it may be worth healing them from a distance using Physic.

Once the stronghold bosses are defeated, Randolph will charge the front door. The Axe-wielding type units accompanying him are heavy hitters that can easily one shot your tanks, so it would help you had a spare wide-spread gambit (preferably Blaze) to stop them all in their tracks.

Randolph notably is immune to gambit stun. He was, however, NOT immune to Claude's Encloser, which was enough to stop him from moving for an entire round while his entourage was dealt with. Afterwards, swarming him is a simple matter.

Edelgard cannot be gambit stunned or enclosed. Your best bet is to have everyone stay shy of her danger zone while dealing with her entourage. Do not engage her until you can safely swarm her, as she can counterattack from any range.

Good luck! If you can survive it, your next real test (if non-Crimson Flower) is Hunting by Daybreak

[greatmagneticflowmetersstuff]

Setting Up an Electromagnetic Circulation Meter

The electro-magnetic flow meter makes use of Faraday's law of electro-magnetic induction to determine the circulation of conductive liquid. When a performing fluid moves with a magnetic field, voltage is produced which is discovered in between two stainless steel electrodes inside the wall surface sensor. This voltage is proportional to the speed of the fluid, as well as can be used to determine the volumetric circulation of the fluid. The lining material picked for the circulation meter must have excellent electrical protecting properties and also can be immune to deterioration. A number of lining products are utilized, consisting of polyurethane, neoprene and also rubber. The first step is to make certain the pipeline that will be used for the circulation meter is clean and free of obstructions. This is especially essential if the meter will be made use of to keep track of slurries or various other extremely unpleasant liquids that can damage the lining material. Next off, television that will be utilized for the meter needs to be correctly grounded to avoid stray currents from taking a trip down the pipeline or with the procedure liquid. This grounding needs to be done both upstream as well as downstream of the meter. This will certainly guarantee that any type of stray currents can not path themselves around the flow tube, producing an absolutely no shift in the meter's result signal. This can be a trouble for some types of circulation meters, as well as can create a quantifiable modification in the reading. This is why the meter must constantly be based to the procedure liquid prior to it is mounted in a straight pipeline. An additional option is to make use of an in-line model of the circulation meter. These sensing units are set up on opposite sides of the pipe, and also they are strengthened with coils that generate a strong electromagnetic field. Read more great facts on ultrasonic flow meter, click here. This electromagnetic field passes through deeply right into the process liquid (not simply around the electrode just like conventional magmeter probes) so that it can properly determine a vast array of thick liquids as well as slurries. These sensing units likewise have the benefit of needing much less electric power than conventional magmeters, which can decrease running costs. This makes the in-line version especially cost-effective when contrasted to various other flow meters that need additional relocating parts, such as generators and paddles. The meter's precision can be changed by means of a digital control system to make up for variants in the size of the probe, enabling it to operate with a variety of circulation rates. This is useful for applications such as sludge solution in tunnel building or mining, where robust magmeters are called for to gauge unpleasant ore slurries with entrained solids, sand-water combinations, filler materials or bulk solids with the precision called for. The meter is usually readily available with a vacant tube absolutely no attribute to find when the circulation tube is empty. This can be a very handy tool for those times when the meter requires to be drained regularly. You can click this link https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flowmeter#:~:text=Medical%20Definition-,flowmeter,in%20a%20tube%20or%20pipe for more great tips!

[futureelectronic641-blog]

https://www.futureelectronics.com/m/melexis. Melexis' next generation Triaxis devices brings new unique features towards the market of position sensors, like higher temperature stability, better EMC robustness, and stray field immunity. https://youtu.be/JGrlspIKfV0