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Faerie Tale - Sixth Entry
2023.03.21 05:16 HeadOfSpectre Faerie Tale - Sixth Entry
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Journal of Camille Lambert - April 12th
We could see the shadows of the Nightwalkers from our place by the bonfire. They peeked in through the broken windows of the church, watching us from afar but never actually entering the ruins. I’m not sure if the firelight was what kept them away, or the protective runes that Nina had drawn.
Nina sat on a fallen column, watching them in case they tried anything… and yet if I walked over to the right side of the circle of columns that we’d set up our bonfire in, she seemed… dimmer. Like she was there and yet not there at the same time.
Dom on the other hand was crystal clear. I could see him sitting by the door of the church. I couldn’t see him at all from the left side of the circle. The mist was too thick. But on the right side, he was right there, impossible to miss. The effect was surreal, to say the least. He was holding the device Nina had used to call in her backup. She’d called it a phone but it didn’t look like any phone I’d ever seen.
“ETA, an hour or so for the standby team in Tallinn, 15 hours for the rest,” Nina had said after she’d made her call. “Let’s get comfortable.”
I figured that it’d been about an hour and a half since she’d said that. Standing by the bonfire itself, the world past the columns seemed to be in flux. Sometimes I could see mist through the windows and the holes in the ceiling. Sometimes I could see stars.
Shadows of smaller Nightwalkers darted past the church door sometimes, lingering only long enough to look in on us before retreating back into the darkness. Nina watched each one like a hawk, gripping her shotgun tightly.
I walked out to sit with her for a bit, leaving the light of the fire for a little while. Even from her vantage point, I still couldn’t see Dom but at least I knew he was safe enough.
“How many do you think are out there?” I asked quietly.
“Too many,” Nina replied. “We’re not going back to Puriysk tonight, that’s for damn sure.”
As she spoke, I saw more shadows moving in the dark, skittering away into the mist.
“You sure you want to stay out here? Might be safer to stay with Dom,” I said.
“Probably, but it’s better if I stay here. If the door closes, I’m better off on the inside. Be easier to open it again, that way.”
“Fair enough,” I said, looking back out into the mist. I could see nothing past it.
No shadows. No movement. There wasn’t even any noise. Nina looked up at the darkness again.
“Is it just me or is it quieter out there?” She asked.
“No… it’s quieter out there,” I said. “Could be there’s a big one nearby. Dom said that the small ones usually avoid them.”
Nina kept staring out at the mist, but the silence remained. I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely worried or not. After a few minutes, I saw movement in the mist again. I heard the rustling of trees and saw something standing in the dark. I almost thought that it might have looked like a man… almost. But I couldn’t fully make out the shape of it.
I could see the eyes of the Nightwalker shining in the firelight, before it finally moved, darting out of sight. Nina watched it go, before returning her attention to me.
“Good news is, we won’t be alone for that much longer,” She said. “After the first group shows up, we can head into Puriysk with them and start setting up shop. By the time the rest of them arrive, we should be in a good place. After that, it’s just a matter of getting people out and dealing with Calhoun,”
“You make it sound easy,” I said.
“I mean, it probably won’t be a walk in the park,” Nina admitted. “But at least we won’t be running this job alone. These things go easier when you’ve got help.”
“Yeah… I imagine they would,” I said.
Beside us, I heard a dull thud as a piece of one of the church's more damaged walls fell away and crashed to the ground. Nina was up on her feet immediately, shotgun in hand. I rose to my feet beside her.
“The fuck was that?” She asked.
“Part of the wall, I think,” I said. I spotted the spot where it had fallen and looked up. It had probably come off one of the broken domed towers near the door. One of their ceilings had come down ages ago and I imagined it wouldn’t take much more than a strong gust of wind to knock over some of the loose bricks jutting out from where the roof remained. Nina approached the fallen piece of brick, pausing to inspect it.
“Hell of a big chunk of wall,” She said before looking up again. I did the same, although as I did, I could’ve sworn I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at it. The shadows cast by the bonfire left pools of darkness along the ceiling.
But in those pools, I could see flickering reflections of light.
Two of them.
Staring right at me.
Slowly I reached out, putting a hand on Nina’s shoulder. I didn’t want to yell or move too quickly. I couldn’t see what was in the darkness but I know that it looked poised to strike. Nina looked over at me, before tensing up. I knew that she saw it too. The eyes remained trained on us, and I heard a low, animal hiss coming from the shadows.
“Bonfire…” Nina said, gripping her shotgun tighter “Get Dom… now.”
I took a step back and saw the eyes following me. Nina backed away from the shadows, eyes never leaving the ceiling. I saw limbs splaying outward from the darkness. I could see them tensing up. It was going to lunge.
“MOVE!” I said, breaking into a sprint, but it was too late. The Nightwalker launched itself at Nina like a bullet. I heard her shotgun fire twice, before the creature crashed into the ground, flailing violently. I could see long, dark limbs, more than any human should have struggling to pick itself up. I could see a body that only vaguely resembled a man. It had a torso, a human head, and long black hair, but looked more like a spider than a person. And yet there was something off about it. Something I hadn’t seen on any of the other Nightwalkers. This one had some kind of sigil on its forehead. Something that looked almost like a crimson eye, that seemed to glow with surreal energy.
The Nightwalker looked at Nina, snarling at her. When it opened its mouth, I could see rows upon rows of teeth inside. She fired her shotgun again, but the creature barely even seemed to notice them. Even after she’d gone through the trouble of cursing them, her rounds weren’t doing anything.
“RUN!” I heard her yell, and I didn’t dare question that. I just ran.
I sprinted toward the bonfire, just in time to see Dom running toward me. He took aim at the Nightwalker, firing at it as it tried to go after Nina. But his bullets did next to nothing to it. The Nightwalker didn’t even look at him.
It just kept going for Nina, almost pinning her down. She unloaded two more shells into its face, which did little more than make it flinch and bought her some time to run.
This time, she took off at a sprint toward the bonfire. Dom saw her running and started to backpedal as well, running back toward the bonfire and the safety of the columns. The creature paused as we took shelter by the fire, watching us intently and letting out another serpentine hiss. Nina stared back at it, before looking back at the fire. She tossed her shotgun aside and hastily grabbed one of the spare branches we’d kept for the bonfire. She put it in the fire, before pulling it out and brandishing it like a weapon. The Nightwalker hissed and recoiled a bit, focused on the flame. As it paused, Dom grabbed Nina’s shotgun off the ground and took aim.
“Don’t…” She said, putting a hand up to stop him, her voice low and intense. She didn’t dare look away from the Nightwalker. “Save the cursed rounds… they won’t kill it. Just get outside.”
“What about you?” Dom asked.
“Outside,” Nina repeated. “Now.”
I put a hand on Dom’s shoulder.
“Let’s go!” I said, trying to tug him along behind me.
He hesitated for a moment longer before finally letting me take him. We backed through the right set of columns, and once we were through I saw Nina taking a step away from the bonfire, toward the right set of columns. The Nightwalker passed the left set of columns, trying to follow her.
“Come on…” She said under her breath, “Come and get me, shithead…”
I saw it inching closer to her, and tensing up again, getting ready to pounce. That was when Nina made her move. She thrust her burning branch into the Nightwalker's face, earning a cry of pain from it and making it jerk back. I saw it swatting at the branch, trying to get rid of the fire. Nina took the chance to run, sprinting at top speed toward the door of the church.
“GO!”
Neither of us needed to be told twice. We ran for the church door, as the Nightwalker let out a roar from behind us. I looked back to see it charging toward us again, gaining ground. As we ran back out into the field, we were greeted by countless blinding lights. I saw Nina pause, before feeling her grab me by the back of the shirt and pull me away. I could see Dom in her other hand. She dragged us both down to the ground in the instant before the Nightwalker emerged from the door of the church.
I saw it recoil, putting up its clawed hands to try and shield its eyes from the blinding light.
Then I heard the gunfire.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see several men, each holding automatic rifles advancing on the Nightwalker. It shrank back toward the church, trying to shield itself from the gunfire, clearly overwhelmed. But just like with Nina’s shotgun before it, the bullets did little to harm it. Despite all the gunfire it took, it didn’t fall. I could hear it hissing, I could see its beady black eyes darting around wildly. It lunged forward again, tackling one of the nearby men and tearing into him, before going after another. I saw its jaws close around his skull and heard the sickening crunch of bone as it took his head. The other men scrambled back, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Nightwalker as they could. It howled in rage, preparing to charge after them when a final, deafening gunshot echoed through the night.
This time, the Nightwalker's entire body seized up. It let out an agonized scream. I could see its clawed hands clutching at a wound that had appeared on its chest… and I could see smoke rising out of that wound. It kept screaming and thrashing violently. Its limbs gave out from underneath it. I could see the wound in its chest sizzling and burning. I saw the flesh and skin sloughing off of its body, and I could see the pale white bone underneath.
The eye sigil on its forehead flickered before fading away and the Nightwalker let out one final, howl before collapsing to the ground, its body still twitching and convulsing. I looked over to see a single woman standing calmly by the nearby trucks. She was tall and pale, with long, stringy black hair and an intense look in her eye.
She was dressed in a long beige coat and holding an ornate revolver in one gloved hand. As the Nightwalker died I saw her gingerly slip the pistol into the inner pocket of her coat before reaching into another pocket for a notebook. Without ever looking away from the dead Nightwalker, she scribbled something down, then pocketed the notebook again and calmly walked toward the church, not even pausing to acknowledge anyone else around her. As she left, I saw the other armed men tending to their dead. With the Nightwalker dead, I could get a better look at them now. They were dressed like soldiers, with bulletproof vests and no shortage of pockets. A few of them wore netted veils over their faces, making it hard to get a good look at them and giving them an eerie appearance, although watching them examine the bodies of their dead and respectfully carrying them away was almost humanizing.
Nina sat up, her blonde hair messy and a somewhat disoriented look on her face. She looked over toward the source of the lights that had blinded us. Four large SUVs were parked outside of the church, their headlights shining on the door. From those SUVs, I could see more armed men getting out and one of them was coming toward us.
“Nina Valentine?” I heard him ask. He had a heavy Slavic accent.
“Still alive,” She said, as she slowly climbed to her feet.
“Good. I’m Olev Kallas, I’m from the Tallinn Office, Director Durand sends his regards,” He offered Nina a hand to shake and she reluctantly took it. “The Director is currently en route, as are the rest of the team. In the meanwhile, we’re here to help.”
“Yeah and right on fucking time too,” She said, looking over at the dead Nightwalker.
“Ah… yes, you can thank Dr. Di Cesare for that,” Kallas said.
Nina raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling that she recognized the name, but she didn’t comment on it.
“But first, I imagine you and your friends must need a hot meal and a cold drink right about now and I can get you both.”
“Oh you’ve got no fucking idea…” Nina said, as Dom helped me to my feet. She waited until we were up, before gesturing for us to follow as Kallas led us toward one of the SUV’s.
***
I barely recognized the empty field around us as Puriysk. The buildings were all long gone and in their place was a paved highway that I’d never seen before.
“The town’s been gone for as long as I can remember,” Kallas said. “I couldn’t tell you if it was us, or the Soviets who got rid of the ruins. I read somewhere that there was some talk about refurbishing the old Church, but as you see, nothing ever came of it.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Nina said, “Made my job a hell of a lot easier.”
We drove down the highway, past the wide open landscape and as we drove, I couldn’t help but admire it. In the distance, I could see the lights from another nearby town and watched as they drew closer and closer. God, I’d never seen a place so full of life before. As we drove along the quiet streets, past the sleeping buildings in the early hours of the morning, they still seemed so alive. Street lights cast a warm glow on the few passersby out doing their business. There were more cars on the road than I’d ever seen before, some driving past us to their own destinations and others parked and still.
“I can drop you three off at a hotel if you’d like,” Kallas offered. “You can get cleaned up and have a short rest before Director Durand arrives. I can pick up some fresh clothes for you, and then we can have a debrief over dinner.”
“Yeah, works for me,” Nina said before looking over at us.
“Dinner sounds good,” I said, although at the time I had no idea what exactly a hotel was. Thankfully, I got my answer pretty quickly.
The room I got was comfortable. The bed was softer than anything I’d ever laid on before and the hot water… oh God… I spent almost an hour in the shower alone, enjoying the steam and feeling the tension drain out of my muscles. When I was done, I put on a soft, fluffy bathrobe and laid down, letting myself relax for the first time in days. I almost dozed off… and maybe I would have if I hadn’t heard a knock on my door.
I considered ignoring it and just letting sleep take me, but I figured I might as well make sure it wasn’t important. Tying my bathrobe a little tighter around me, I got up to answer the door and was greeted by Dom, still wet from the shower.
“Hey,” He said. “Sorry, I hope I’m not bothering you!”
“It’s fine!” I replied, putting on a smile, “Come on in.”
I opened the door all the way to let him inside, but he hesitated.
“No, it’s alright. I just thought I’d check on you. It’s been… well, it’s been one hell of a past few days. And this feels like the first chance we’ve had to really breathe in a while.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I sighed. I still held the door open for him. “Well, we’re not going to have this conversation in the hall, so come on in. I’ve got a coffee machine in here and I’m dying to try it out.”
I’m not sure if it was the promise of coffee that made him accept my invitation or the realization that I probably didn’t want to be in the hall with just a bathrobe on, but he came inside anyway.I went to the coffee machine and tried to figure it out. They had these little cups that I’d never seen before, but otherwise, it seemed fairly straightforward.
“Man… it’s really something else out here, isn’t it?” Dom asked, going to sit down on the bed. “It’s just so bright out here!”
“I’m still not entirely convinced I’m not dreaming,” I admitted. I managed to get one of the cups into the coffee machine and watched as it pissed out a somewhat pathetic amount of scalding hot coffee that admittedly did smell very nice. It had a lovely vanilla aroma.
I brought the first cup over to Dom.
“Glad I’m not the only one,” He said as I went back to make another cup, “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if Nina’s backup was even going to come through and I sure as hell didn’t expect any of this.”
“You and me both,” I said with a sigh, “Is it wrong to say that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop?”
“Well, when something seems too good to be true…” Dom murmured, “Although then again… looking at what we had in there compared to what Nina’s been telling me about life out here, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve had it bad for so long that even the smallest good thing would seem too good to be true.”
“That’s a disturbing thought,” I said.
“Maybe. But what if it’s true?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Either way… this isn’t much more than a break, isn’t it?” Dom asked, “The calm before the storm. I know that after we talk to the Director, Nina’s going right back in… and I’m going with her.”
I nodded before taking my coffee and joining him on the bed.
“I know,” I said. “And I’m going with you.”
“You know that you don’t have to, right?” Dom asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I know that this kind of thing isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse. I’m not saying to just let it be or anything, but there’s other ways to help that don’t involve shooting things and burning down buildings.”
Again, I paused.
“Maybe,” I said. “Honestly, whatever I can do, I just want to do it. Whatever it may be. I’ve been just accepting things the way they were for too long, the same as you. I don’t want to just accept it anymore! I can’t.”
“And you aren’t,” Dom said, “I mean… shit, I watched you take pot shots at a Nightwalker the other night. Ever since we left, you’ve done whatever you can to help out. You’ve done a hell of a lot more to fix things than anyone else I know. That takes a hell of a lot of strength. More than I’d probably have in your shoes… honestly, you’re half the reason I’m still doing this, Cam.”
I looked at him and felt his hand pressing over mine.
“Only half?” I teased, trying to distract from the shade I could feel my cheeks flushing.
“Well, there’s everyone else too.” He said, “But right now, the one I care the most about is you.”
I actually broke down laughing at that and gently pushed him away.
“Too much?” He asked.
“No,” I said. “Just right.”
I let my head rest on his shoulder and for a little bit, we just sat together, hand in hand and beautifully content. I sensed him hesitating for a little while, before finally seizing the moment and placing his hand on my chin. I let him. He lifted my face and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, one that I all too happily reciprocated.
After all… who knew when we’d get another chance?
***
The restaurant that Kallas brought us to was fairly quiet, although it wasn’t empty. As we walked in, I could see a large table set out with faces both familiar and unfamiliar at it.
Nina had washed almost an entire layer of dirt and soot off her face. Her hair looked cleaner and she was clearly wearing new, cleaner jeans. Although I didn’t think she’d actually changed her T-shirt. I recognized it by the neckline, but I’d never seen the whole thing before. It had a graphic of a warning label on it that said: ‘DO NOT USE FOR WET GRINDING’ although the ‘DO NOT’ part was crossed out in red.
Had she seriously been wearing that the whole fucking time…? At least it looked like she’d recently washed it.
Beside Nina, I saw Natalya, looking a little more cleaned up and wearing new clothes. Someone must have gotten her out of Puriysk earlier that day. The dark haired woman that Kallas had named as Dr. Di Cesare sat on the other side of Nina, although she was more focused on her own journal than any of us.
Lastly, I saw a man I didn’t recognize at all. He was tall and looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with wavy blond hair and a clean shaven face. He was dressed in a nice but slightly wrinkled suit.
The blond man was the first one to speak.
“Mr. Kallas, good to see you again,” He said as he got up to greet us.
“Director Durand, I have to say that the pleasure is all mine,” Kallas said, shaking Durand’s hand. His attention turned to us next.
“You two must be Camille Lambert and Dom Hoskins, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Milo Durand. I’m the Director of the Fae Relations Bureau’s Department of Public Safety.”
“Hell of a mouthful,” Dom said, shaking Durand’s hand.
“Just call us the FRB for short,” He said with a smile, “Take a seat. Dr. Di Cesare and I wanted to take some time to go through the situation with the Calhoun Pocket.”
Kallas pulled out some seats for us and we sat down. There were glasses of water waiting for us at the table. As soon as we sat down, Dr. Di Cesare glanced up at us, but didn’t close her notebook.
“So… now that we’re all here. Where should we begin?” Kallas asked.
“Well for starters, I’d like to get a solid picture of what exactly we’re going to be walking into when we send the rest of our people into the Calhoun Pocket,” Durand said, “Mr. Kallas, I’m aware you’re detachment has already properly secured Puriysk. But I’ve got some questions regarding the other towns so we know what else to expect once we’re inside.”
“What exactly is it that you want to know?” I asked.
“Well for starters, we need access to the other towns. We were told that navigating between them could be difficult, but I imagine there must be some way to circumvent that,”
“There is,” Dom said, “The roads don’t always go to the same places, but there are always landmarks and turns. You can use those to navigate.”
“One of the files I found in the archive at the Deputy’s Office has a list of landmarks and directions to reach the different towns,” Nina added, “I emailed you a copy earlier to go over,”
Durand nodded.
“Excellent. Which leads me to my next question. Infrastructure. I can’t imagine Calhoun’s been running a show like his without some means of providing food and power to the other towns. I’m aware that Rankin Mills had a power plant, so I figure that Calhoun is using that to keep the lights on. But what about food, gas, supplies?”
“Most of the food comes from Bakersfield,” I said. “There’s a lot of farmland there, most of it fairly safe from the mist. I used to work at a Roadhouse in Thompson Falls. We’d get deliveries every week or so.”
“I see… what about Puriysk and Thompson Falls? What’s there?”
“Puriysk was where they trained a lot of the Sheriff’s Boys,” Dom said. “They had the largest Deputy’s Office outside of Parsons. And Thompson Falls was more of a mining community. Lotta the construction work that was done in Parsons was done by people brought in from Thompson and Puriysk.”
Durand raised an eyebrow.
“Construction in Parsons?” He asked.
“Calhoun’s sorta been using it as his capital. Far as I can tell, he’s been trying to build up the towns, although Parson’s the one that’s gotten the most attention,” Dom said. “I guess it’s as close to a capital city as we’ve got in there. He also mentioned the ‘Sovereign Nation of Calhoun’ although I haven’t heard anyone outside of Parsons use that name.”
“Sovereign Nation of Calhoun…” Durand repeated, before glancing at Nina. She just gave a slightly defeated nod as if to say: ‘Yeah, he actually called it that.’
“Okay… let’s talk about Calhoun himself… what do you know?” Durand asked.
“Not a hell of a lot,” Dom said, “Closest I’ve ever come to actually meeting the guy is when he spoke to us outside of the church last night. Other than that, he rarely leaves his house in Parsons and rarely appears in public and most of what I’ve heard is just rumors.”
“Whatever you’ve heard… odds are that it’s true,” Natalya said quietly, drawing all eyes at the table over to her.
“I’ve heard the story enough times now… first from my mother, then from so many afterward. One day, the days just grew dimmer. The clouds above us just grew so thick that you could not see the sun and the mist drifted through the streets. The roads no longer led to the same places… and at night, the shadows moved, devouring any in their paths alive and screaming. First, it came for Parsons, then Rankin, Puriysk, Bakersfield, and Thompson. One by one. In time, it will come for others. He will come for others.”
Durand leaned in a little bit, listening intently. Dr. Di Cesare had also paused, listening as Natalya spoke.
“My mother told me that after the change, Calhoun’s people began to enter the town. Drunken louts, filling up the bars demanding free alcohol in exchange for ‘protection’ from the things outside. Although even with the alcohol, they still left bodies in their wake.”
She paused, slipping back into old, bitter memories.
“She told me of the ways Calhoun had changed Puriysk… most of the men either joined his little militia out of necessity or were given other jobs where they were worked to the bone. And the women…” She paused, “The homemakers he generally left alone but the young and the pretty ones found their way into the brothel. After all, his soldiers needed something to do to pass the time when they weren’t drinking and acting like children with guns. Governor Calhoun raped Puriysk, just the same as he raped every other town he took. All my life, I’ve watched as he’s milked them for his own gain and spread like a disease across new towns, looking for more. Before I even understood what home was, he had taken my home from me. Before I was old enough to speak, he had taken my life from me. Because of him, I grew up in a brothel in a town that does not exist.”
Durand was silent, before looking at Nina who drummed her fingers on the table.
“Valentine?” He asked.
“Like Dom said, the only interaction we had with that guy was when he talked to us last night,” She said. “I’m not a psychologist but I’d figure most of what he said is pretty on par with what a narcissistic megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur would probably say. It was probably a whole lot of horseshit… probably…”
“But?” Durand asked. Nina sighed.
“There was one thing he said that stood out, he said that if we killed him, we’d be killing everyone else in the pocket too. He made it sound like his life was tied to it, or something. I don’t know if he can actually fucking do that or not but I’m also not sure I’d want to chance it. Some of those documents I found in the Puriysk archive mentioned Calhoun and something called ‘The Eldest’.”
At the mention of the name, Dr. Di Cesare looked up.
“Gretchen,” Durand asked, “Do you recognize that name.”
Gretchen Di Cesare gave a curt nod before flipping through her notebook to a previous page. As she did, I noticed her sleeve lifting briefly, revealing a tattoo on her wrist. Two wavy, parallel lines. It looked like the zodiac sign for ‘Aquarius.’
“The Eldest… Old Fae. ‘The eldest’ according to myth, hence the name. Few documented encounters. None modern…” She paused to think for a moment, “Hard to kill… harder to control. Would need the heart either way. No small task but… possible… probable.”
“Old Fae?” I asked, “What exactly is that?”
“More or less exactly what it says on the tin,” Nina said. “Really old forest fae who got fucked up by the Midnight Grove… and a real fucking problem if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with. Do we even know how to kill an Old Fae?”
“As stated, the heart,” Dr. Di Cesare said, “Find that, kill the Fae. Would reckon that Calhoun has it. If not on his person, then somewhere safe. And should that fail…”
She removed the revolver from her coat pocket and set it down on the table without a word.
“A contingency. Custom revolver, specialized blessed rounds - Malvian ice.”
I saw Nina raise an eyebrow.
“You put Malvian ice in a gun?” She asked.
“What’s Malvian ice?” I asked. I figured that this conversation required a bit of context.
“Frozen mist, obtained from the domain of an Ancient God. In essence, a part of the God herself” Dr. Di Cesare said. “Weaponized - could kill anything beneath the Ancient Gods. Never tried it with bullets before, but the live fire trial yielded promising results.”
My mind flashed back to the Nightwalker we’d run into last night and the way its flesh had melted away after Dr. Di Cesare had shot it with that gun. The memory sent a chill through me.
“So you built a gun that can shoot an Old Fae dead?” Nina asked. I couldn’t tell if she was disturbed by the guns existence or excited to try it out.
“Old Fae, Grovewalkers, and most lesser Gods, amongst other things,” Dr. Di Cesare said. “So long as it has a physical form, it can be killed.”
“Dr. Di Cesare agreed to assist us with this job, in the interest of doing her own research on the Calhoun pocket,” Durand added. “The gun is her contribution to this project. It’s intended as more of an emergency measure than anything else. But if necessary, we could use it to kill whatever is allowing Calhoun to control the pocket reality.”
Nina just whistled and sat back in her chair. She seemed almost at a loss for words.
“So… all we need to do is shoot Calhoun or this ‘Eldest’ thing with that gun, after we get everyone out and we’re golden, right?” Dom asked.
“I would regard The Eldest as a higher priority than Calhoun right now,” Durand said. “Calhoun could have been lying about tying his own life to the existence of the pocket reality, but I’m not willing to take that gamble if I don’t have to. Right now, my gut is saying to try and take him alive.”
“He’s not gonna go quietly if we try,” Nina pointed out. “Hypothetical question, if we destroy the heart, would that take the risk of killing Calhoun out of the equation?”
“No. Whatever spell was used, would not die with the caster,” Dr. Di Cesare said.
Nina nodded thoughtfully.
“I see. Fuck.”
“To your point though: Killing Calhoun is likely inevitable. And while I lack any meaningful data on the spell used by the Eldest or how to circumvent it, I can predict the timeframe of such a collapse. The effect would not be immediate. Could take minutes, hours or days. There may be a window for escape.”
“We'll have time to cross that bridge when we get to it,” Durand said. “Last question I’ve got is about the local militia, but Mr. Kallas and I can discuss that with Valentine and Mr. Hoskins separately. In the meanwhile, I believe our first order of business should be eliminating collateral. We’ll start with Puriysk, then move on to Rankin Mills, Bakersfield, and Thompson Falls. Once we’ve cleared out those towns, we’ll focus on Parsons and Calhoun. Mr. Kallas, I’ll leave it to you to oversee the evacuation efforts. It’s probably redundant to say this, but we’ve got our work cut out for us, ladies and gentlemen so let’s keep our heads down, our minds sharp and get through this as cleanly as possible. Now… without any further ado, I promised you people dinner and I’m not going to put you all to work on an empty stomach. So, as the Estonians say: ‘Head isu.’”
***
Looking back, there was a sort of bittersweetness to that evening. On one hand, I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten so well. After dinner, I went back to the hotel, enjoyed my hot shower, and sank into my warm sheets, waiting for Dom to come back from his meeting with Nina, Kallas, and Durand.
And yet… at the same time, all I could think about was what would happen in the morning. In the morning, we’d be leaving again, going back to Puriysk. Back to Calhoun. Part of me almost dreaded it, fearing that if I left this place then I’d never get to come back again.
But listening to Durand and the others talk during that briefing… so much of it went completely over my head and I couldn’t help but feel like that was a good thing. They’d been focused, precise, knowledgeable and most of all, prepared.
Calhoun’s threats lingered in the back of my mind, but they seemed so much smaller now. I struggled to imagine that Calhoun and the Sheriff’s Boys could do much the face of what had come for him, even with some kind of all powerful Fae at his disposal. Just Nina alone had been enough to rip Puriysk from his grasp… what could an army of her do?
I should have taken comfort in that idea. I did take comfort in that idea. But I still couldn’t help but worry all the same. Maybe what Dom had said earlier was true. Maybe we’d had it so bad for so long that even the smallest good thing now seemed too good to be true… maybe. When Dom came back, I was waiting for him. We lay in bed together, talking quietly to each other about what was going to happen in the morning, and holding hands, we drifted off into sleep.
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Second Entry
Third Entry
Fourth Entry
Fifth Entry
Journal of Camille Lambert - April 12th
We could see the shadows of the Nightwalkers from our place by the bonfire. They peeked in through the broken windows of the church, watching us from afar but never actually entering the ruins. I’m not sure if the firelight was what kept them away, or the protective runes that Nina had drawn.
Nina sat on a fallen column, watching them in case they tried anything… and yet if I walked over to the right side of the circle of columns that we’d set up our bonfire in, she seemed… dimmer. Like she was there and yet not there at the same time.
Dom on the other hand was crystal clear. I could see him sitting by the door of the church. I couldn’t see him at all from the left side of the circle. The mist was too thick. But on the right side, he was right there, impossible to miss. The effect was surreal, to say the least. He was holding the device Nina had used to call in her backup. She’d called it a phone but it didn’t look like any phone I’d ever seen.
“ETA, an hour or so for the standby team in Tallinn, 15 hours for the rest,” Nina had said after she’d made her call. “Let’s get comfortable.”
I figured that it’d been about an hour and a half since she’d said that. Standing by the bonfire itself, the world past the columns seemed to be in flux. Sometimes I could see mist through the windows and the holes in the ceiling. Sometimes I could see stars.
Shadows of smaller Nightwalkers darted past the church door sometimes, lingering only long enough to look in on us before retreating back into the darkness. Nina watched each one like a hawk, gripping her shotgun tightly.
I walked out to sit with her for a bit, leaving the light of the fire for a little while. Even from her vantage point, I still couldn’t see Dom but at least I knew he was safe enough.
“How many do you think are out there?” I asked quietly.
“Too many,” Nina replied. “We’re not going back to Puriysk tonight, that’s for damn sure.”
As she spoke, I saw more shadows moving in the dark, skittering away into the mist.
“You sure you want to stay out here? Might be safer to stay with Dom,” I said.
“Probably, but it’s better if I stay here. If the door closes, I’m better off on the inside. Be easier to open it again, that way.”
“Fair enough,” I said, looking back out into the mist. I could see nothing past it.
No shadows. No movement. There wasn’t even any noise. Nina looked up at the darkness again.
“Is it just me or is it quieter out there?” She asked.
“No… it’s quieter out there,” I said. “Could be there’s a big one nearby. Dom said that the small ones usually avoid them.”
Nina kept staring out at the mist, but the silence remained. I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely worried or not. After a few minutes, I saw movement in the mist again. I heard the rustling of trees and saw something standing in the dark. I almost thought that it might have looked like a man… almost. But I couldn’t fully make out the shape of it.
I could see the eyes of the Nightwalker shining in the firelight, before it finally moved, darting out of sight. Nina watched it go, before returning her attention to me.
“Good news is, we won’t be alone for that much longer,” She said. “After the first group shows up, we can head into Puriysk with them and start setting up shop. By the time the rest of them arrive, we should be in a good place. After that, it’s just a matter of getting people out and dealing with Calhoun,”
“You make it sound easy,” I said.
“I mean, it probably won’t be a walk in the park,” Nina admitted. “But at least we won’t be running this job alone. These things go easier when you’ve got help.”
“Yeah… I imagine they would,” I said.
Beside us, I heard a dull thud as a piece of one of the church's more damaged walls fell away and crashed to the ground. Nina was up on her feet immediately, shotgun in hand. I rose to my feet beside her.
“The fuck was that?” She asked.
“Part of the wall, I think,” I said. I spotted the spot where it had fallen and looked up. It had probably come off one of the broken domed towers near the door. One of their ceilings had come down ages ago and I imagined it wouldn’t take much more than a strong gust of wind to knock over some of the loose bricks jutting out from where the roof remained. Nina approached the fallen piece of brick, pausing to inspect it.
“Hell of a big chunk of wall,” She said before looking up again. I did the same, although as I did, I could’ve sworn I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at it. The shadows cast by the bonfire left pools of darkness along the ceiling.
But in those pools, I could see flickering reflections of light.
Two of them.
Staring right at me.
Slowly I reached out, putting a hand on Nina’s shoulder. I didn’t want to yell or move too quickly. I couldn’t see what was in the darkness but I know that it looked poised to strike. Nina looked over at me, before tensing up. I knew that she saw it too. The eyes remained trained on us, and I heard a low, animal hiss coming from the shadows.
“Bonfire…” Nina said, gripping her shotgun tighter “Get Dom… now.”
I took a step back and saw the eyes following me. Nina backed away from the shadows, eyes never leaving the ceiling. I saw limbs splaying outward from the darkness. I could see them tensing up. It was going to lunge.
“MOVE!” I said, breaking into a sprint, but it was too late. The Nightwalker launched itself at Nina like a bullet. I heard her shotgun fire twice, before the creature crashed into the ground, flailing violently. I could see long, dark limbs, more than any human should have struggling to pick itself up. I could see a body that only vaguely resembled a man. It had a torso, a human head, and long black hair, but looked more like a spider than a person. And yet there was something off about it. Something I hadn’t seen on any of the other Nightwalkers. This one had some kind of sigil on its forehead. Something that looked almost like a crimson eye, that seemed to glow with surreal energy.
The Nightwalker looked at Nina, snarling at her. When it opened its mouth, I could see rows upon rows of teeth inside. She fired her shotgun again, but the creature barely even seemed to notice them. Even after she’d gone through the trouble of cursing them, her rounds weren’t doing anything.
“RUN!” I heard her yell, and I didn’t dare question that. I just ran.
I sprinted toward the bonfire, just in time to see Dom running toward me. He took aim at the Nightwalker, firing at it as it tried to go after Nina. But his bullets did next to nothing to it. The Nightwalker didn’t even look at him.
It just kept going for Nina, almost pinning her down. She unloaded two more shells into its face, which did little more than make it flinch and bought her some time to run.
This time, she took off at a sprint toward the bonfire. Dom saw her running and started to backpedal as well, running back toward the bonfire and the safety of the columns. The creature paused as we took shelter by the fire, watching us intently and letting out another serpentine hiss. Nina stared back at it, before looking back at the fire. She tossed her shotgun aside and hastily grabbed one of the spare branches we’d kept for the bonfire. She put it in the fire, before pulling it out and brandishing it like a weapon. The Nightwalker hissed and recoiled a bit, focused on the flame. As it paused, Dom grabbed Nina’s shotgun off the ground and took aim.
“Don’t…” She said, putting a hand up to stop him, her voice low and intense. She didn’t dare look away from the Nightwalker. “Save the cursed rounds… they won’t kill it. Just get outside.”
“What about you?” Dom asked.
“Outside,” Nina repeated. “Now.”
I put a hand on Dom’s shoulder.
“Let’s go!” I said, trying to tug him along behind me.
He hesitated for a moment longer before finally letting me take him. We backed through the right set of columns, and once we were through I saw Nina taking a step away from the bonfire, toward the right set of columns. The Nightwalker passed the left set of columns, trying to follow her.
“Come on…” She said under her breath, “Come and get me, shithead…”
I saw it inching closer to her, and tensing up again, getting ready to pounce. That was when Nina made her move. She thrust her burning branch into the Nightwalker's face, earning a cry of pain from it and making it jerk back. I saw it swatting at the branch, trying to get rid of the fire. Nina took the chance to run, sprinting at top speed toward the door of the church.
“GO!”
Neither of us needed to be told twice. We ran for the church door, as the Nightwalker let out a roar from behind us. I looked back to see it charging toward us again, gaining ground. As we ran back out into the field, we were greeted by countless blinding lights. I saw Nina pause, before feeling her grab me by the back of the shirt and pull me away. I could see Dom in her other hand. She dragged us both down to the ground in the instant before the Nightwalker emerged from the door of the church.
I saw it recoil, putting up its clawed hands to try and shield its eyes from the blinding light.
Then I heard the gunfire.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see several men, each holding automatic rifles advancing on the Nightwalker. It shrank back toward the church, trying to shield itself from the gunfire, clearly overwhelmed. But just like with Nina’s shotgun before it, the bullets did little to harm it. Despite all the gunfire it took, it didn’t fall. I could hear it hissing, I could see its beady black eyes darting around wildly. It lunged forward again, tackling one of the nearby men and tearing into him, before going after another. I saw its jaws close around his skull and heard the sickening crunch of bone as it took his head. The other men scrambled back, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Nightwalker as they could. It howled in rage, preparing to charge after them when a final, deafening gunshot echoed through the night.
This time, the Nightwalker's entire body seized up. It let out an agonized scream. I could see its clawed hands clutching at a wound that had appeared on its chest… and I could see smoke rising out of that wound. It kept screaming and thrashing violently. Its limbs gave out from underneath it. I could see the wound in its chest sizzling and burning. I saw the flesh and skin sloughing off of its body, and I could see the pale white bone underneath.
The eye sigil on its forehead flickered before fading away and the Nightwalker let out one final, howl before collapsing to the ground, its body still twitching and convulsing. I looked over to see a single woman standing calmly by the nearby trucks. She was tall and pale, with long, stringy black hair and an intense look in her eye.
She was dressed in a long beige coat and holding an ornate revolver in one gloved hand. As the Nightwalker died I saw her gingerly slip the pistol into the inner pocket of her coat before reaching into another pocket for a notebook. Without ever looking away from the dead Nightwalker, she scribbled something down, then pocketed the notebook again and calmly walked toward the church, not even pausing to acknowledge anyone else around her. As she left, I saw the other armed men tending to their dead. With the Nightwalker dead, I could get a better look at them now. They were dressed like soldiers, with bulletproof vests and no shortage of pockets. A few of them wore netted veils over their faces, making it hard to get a good look at them and giving them an eerie appearance, although watching them examine the bodies of their dead and respectfully carrying them away was almost humanizing.
Nina sat up, her blonde hair messy and a somewhat disoriented look on her face. She looked over toward the source of the lights that had blinded us. Four large SUVs were parked outside of the church, their headlights shining on the door. From those SUVs, I could see more armed men getting out and one of them was coming toward us.
“Nina Valentine?” I heard him ask. He had a heavy Slavic accent.
“Still alive,” She said, as she slowly climbed to her feet.
“Good. I’m Olev Kallas, I’m from the Tallinn Office, Director Durand sends his regards,” He offered Nina a hand to shake and she reluctantly took it. “The Director is currently en route, as are the rest of the team. In the meanwhile, we’re here to help.”
“Yeah and right on fucking time too,” She said, looking over at the dead Nightwalker.
“Ah… yes, you can thank Dr. Di Cesare for that,” Kallas said.
Nina raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling that she recognized the name, but she didn’t comment on it.
“But first, I imagine you and your friends must need a hot meal and a cold drink right about now and I can get you both.”
“Oh you’ve got no fucking idea…” Nina said, as Dom helped me to my feet. She waited until we were up, before gesturing for us to follow as Kallas led us toward one of the SUV’s.
***
I barely recognized the empty field around us as Puriysk. The buildings were all long gone and in their place was a paved highway that I’d never seen before.
“The town’s been gone for as long as I can remember,” Kallas said. “I couldn’t tell you if it was us, or the Soviets who got rid of the ruins. I read somewhere that there was some talk about refurbishing the old Church, but as you see, nothing ever came of it.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Nina said, “Made my job a hell of a lot easier.”
We drove down the highway, past the wide open landscape and as we drove, I couldn’t help but admire it. In the distance, I could see the lights from another nearby town and watched as they drew closer and closer. God, I’d never seen a place so full of life before. As we drove along the quiet streets, past the sleeping buildings in the early hours of the morning, they still seemed so alive. Street lights cast a warm glow on the few passersby out doing their business. There were more cars on the road than I’d ever seen before, some driving past us to their own destinations and others parked and still.
“I can drop you three off at a hotel if you’d like,” Kallas offered. “You can get cleaned up and have a short rest before Director Durand arrives. I can pick up some fresh clothes for you, and then we can have a debrief over dinner.”
“Yeah, works for me,” Nina said before looking over at us.
“Dinner sounds good,” I said, although at the time I had no idea what exactly a hotel was. Thankfully, I got my answer pretty quickly.
The room I got was comfortable. The bed was softer than anything I’d ever laid on before and the hot water… oh God… I spent almost an hour in the shower alone, enjoying the steam and feeling the tension drain out of my muscles. When I was done, I put on a soft, fluffy bathrobe and laid down, letting myself relax for the first time in days. I almost dozed off… and maybe I would have if I hadn’t heard a knock on my door.
I considered ignoring it and just letting sleep take me, but I figured I might as well make sure it wasn’t important. Tying my bathrobe a little tighter around me, I got up to answer the door and was greeted by Dom, still wet from the shower.
“Hey,” He said. “Sorry, I hope I’m not bothering you!”
“It’s fine!” I replied, putting on a smile, “Come on in.”
I opened the door all the way to let him inside, but he hesitated.
“No, it’s alright. I just thought I’d check on you. It’s been… well, it’s been one hell of a past few days. And this feels like the first chance we’ve had to really breathe in a while.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I sighed. I still held the door open for him. “Well, we’re not going to have this conversation in the hall, so come on in. I’ve got a coffee machine in here and I’m dying to try it out.”
I’m not sure if it was the promise of coffee that made him accept my invitation or the realization that I probably didn’t want to be in the hall with just a bathrobe on, but he came inside anyway.I went to the coffee machine and tried to figure it out. They had these little cups that I’d never seen before, but otherwise, it seemed fairly straightforward.
“Man… it’s really something else out here, isn’t it?” Dom asked, going to sit down on the bed. “It’s just so bright out here!”
“I’m still not entirely convinced I’m not dreaming,” I admitted. I managed to get one of the cups into the coffee machine and watched as it pissed out a somewhat pathetic amount of scalding hot coffee that admittedly did smell very nice. It had a lovely vanilla aroma.
I brought the first cup over to Dom.
“Glad I’m not the only one,” He said as I went back to make another cup, “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if Nina’s backup was even going to come through and I sure as hell didn’t expect any of this.”
“You and me both,” I said with a sigh, “Is it wrong to say that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop?”
“Well, when something seems too good to be true…” Dom murmured, “Although then again… looking at what we had in there compared to what Nina’s been telling me about life out here, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve had it bad for so long that even the smallest good thing would seem too good to be true.”
“That’s a disturbing thought,” I said.
“Maybe. But what if it’s true?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Either way… this isn’t much more than a break, isn’t it?” Dom asked, “The calm before the storm. I know that after we talk to the Director, Nina’s going right back in… and I’m going with her.”
I nodded before taking my coffee and joining him on the bed.
“I know,” I said. “And I’m going with you.”
“You know that you don’t have to, right?” Dom asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I know that this kind of thing isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse. I’m not saying to just let it be or anything, but there’s other ways to help that don’t involve shooting things and burning down buildings.”
Again, I paused.
“Maybe,” I said. “Honestly, whatever I can do, I just want to do it. Whatever it may be. I’ve been just accepting things the way they were for too long, the same as you. I don’t want to just accept it anymore! I can’t.”
“And you aren’t,” Dom said, “I mean… shit, I watched you take pot shots at a Nightwalker the other night. Ever since we left, you’ve done whatever you can to help out. You’ve done a hell of a lot more to fix things than anyone else I know. That takes a hell of a lot of strength. More than I’d probably have in your shoes… honestly, you’re half the reason I’m still doing this, Cam.”
I looked at him and felt his hand pressing over mine.
“Only half?” I teased, trying to distract from the shade I could feel my cheeks flushing.
“Well, there’s everyone else too.” He said, “But right now, the one I care the most about is you.”
I actually broke down laughing at that and gently pushed him away.
“Too much?” He asked.
“No,” I said. “Just right.”
I let my head rest on his shoulder and for a little bit, we just sat together, hand in hand and beautifully content. I sensed him hesitating for a little while, before finally seizing the moment and placing his hand on my chin. I let him. He lifted my face and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, one that I all too happily reciprocated.
After all… who knew when we’d get another chance?
***
The restaurant that Kallas brought us to was fairly quiet, although it wasn’t empty. As we walked in, I could see a large table set out with faces both familiar and unfamiliar at it.
Nina had washed almost an entire layer of dirt and soot off her face. Her hair looked cleaner and she was clearly wearing new, cleaner jeans. Although I didn’t think she’d actually changed her T-shirt. I recognized it by the neckline, but I’d never seen the whole thing before. It had a graphic of a warning label on it that said: ‘DO NOT USE FOR WET GRINDING’ although the ‘DO NOT’ part was crossed out in red.
Had she seriously been wearing that the whole fucking time…? At least it looked like she’d recently washed it.
Beside Nina, I saw Natalya, looking a little more cleaned up and wearing new clothes. Someone must have gotten her out of Puriysk earlier that day. The dark haired woman that Kallas had named as Dr. Di Cesare sat on the other side of Nina, although she was more focused on her own journal than any of us.
Lastly, I saw a man I didn’t recognize at all. He was tall and looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with wavy blond hair and a clean shaven face. He was dressed in a nice but slightly wrinkled suit.
The blond man was the first one to speak.
“Mr. Kallas, good to see you again,” He said as he got up to greet us.
“Director Durand, I have to say that the pleasure is all mine,” Kallas said, shaking Durand’s hand. His attention turned to us next.
“You two must be Camille Lambert and Dom Hoskins, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Milo Durand. I’m the Director of the Fae Relations Bureau’s Department of Public Safety.”
“Hell of a mouthful,” Dom said, shaking Durand’s hand.
“Just call us the FRB for short,” He said with a smile, “Take a seat. Dr. Di Cesare and I wanted to take some time to go through the situation with the Calhoun Pocket.”
Kallas pulled out some seats for us and we sat down. There were glasses of water waiting for us at the table. As soon as we sat down, Dr. Di Cesare glanced up at us, but didn’t close her notebook.
“So… now that we’re all here. Where should we begin?” Kallas asked.
“Well for starters, I’d like to get a solid picture of what exactly we’re going to be walking into when we send the rest of our people into the Calhoun Pocket,” Durand said, “Mr. Kallas, I’m aware you’re detachment has already properly secured Puriysk. But I’ve got some questions regarding the other towns so we know what else to expect once we’re inside.”
“What exactly is it that you want to know?” I asked.
“Well for starters, we need access to the other towns. We were told that navigating between them could be difficult, but I imagine there must be some way to circumvent that,”
“There is,” Dom said, “The roads don’t always go to the same places, but there are always landmarks and turns. You can use those to navigate.”
“One of the files I found in the archive at the Deputy’s Office has a list of landmarks and directions to reach the different towns,” Nina added, “I emailed you a copy earlier to go over,”
Durand nodded.
“Excellent. Which leads me to my next question. Infrastructure. I can’t imagine Calhoun’s been running a show like his without some means of providing food and power to the other towns. I’m aware that Rankin Mills had a power plant, so I figure that Calhoun is using that to keep the lights on. But what about food, gas, supplies?”
“Most of the food comes from Bakersfield,” I said. “There’s a lot of farmland there, most of it fairly safe from the mist. I used to work at a Roadhouse in Thompson Falls. We’d get deliveries every week or so.”
“I see… what about Puriysk and Thompson Falls? What’s there?”
“Puriysk was where they trained a lot of the Sheriff’s Boys,” Dom said. “They had the largest Deputy’s Office outside of Parsons. And Thompson Falls was more of a mining community. Lotta the construction work that was done in Parsons was done by people brought in from Thompson and Puriysk.”
Durand raised an eyebrow.
“Construction in Parsons?” He asked.
“Calhoun’s sorta been using it as his capital. Far as I can tell, he’s been trying to build up the towns, although Parson’s the one that’s gotten the most attention,” Dom said. “I guess it’s as close to a capital city as we’ve got in there. He also mentioned the ‘Sovereign Nation of Calhoun’ although I haven’t heard anyone outside of Parsons use that name.”
“Sovereign Nation of Calhoun…” Durand repeated, before glancing at Nina. She just gave a slightly defeated nod as if to say: ‘Yeah, he actually called it that.’
“Okay… let’s talk about Calhoun himself… what do you know?” Durand asked.
“Not a hell of a lot,” Dom said, “Closest I’ve ever come to actually meeting the guy is when he spoke to us outside of the church last night. Other than that, he rarely leaves his house in Parsons and rarely appears in public and most of what I’ve heard is just rumors.”
“Whatever you’ve heard… odds are that it’s true,” Natalya said quietly, drawing all eyes at the table over to her.
“I’ve heard the story enough times now… first from my mother, then from so many afterward. One day, the days just grew dimmer. The clouds above us just grew so thick that you could not see the sun and the mist drifted through the streets. The roads no longer led to the same places… and at night, the shadows moved, devouring any in their paths alive and screaming. First, it came for Parsons, then Rankin, Puriysk, Bakersfield, and Thompson. One by one. In time, it will come for others. He will come for others.”
Durand leaned in a little bit, listening intently. Dr. Di Cesare had also paused, listening as Natalya spoke.
“My mother told me that after the change, Calhoun’s people began to enter the town. Drunken louts, filling up the bars demanding free alcohol in exchange for ‘protection’ from the things outside. Although even with the alcohol, they still left bodies in their wake.”
She paused, slipping back into old, bitter memories.
“She told me of the ways Calhoun had changed Puriysk… most of the men either joined his little militia out of necessity or were given other jobs where they were worked to the bone. And the women…” She paused, “The homemakers he generally left alone but the young and the pretty ones found their way into the brothel. After all, his soldiers needed something to do to pass the time when they weren’t drinking and acting like children with guns. Governor Calhoun raped Puriysk, just the same as he raped every other town he took. All my life, I’ve watched as he’s milked them for his own gain and spread like a disease across new towns, looking for more. Before I even understood what home was, he had taken my home from me. Before I was old enough to speak, he had taken my life from me. Because of him, I grew up in a brothel in a town that does not exist.”
Durand was silent, before looking at Nina who drummed her fingers on the table.
“Valentine?” He asked.
“Like Dom said, the only interaction we had with that guy was when he talked to us last night,” She said. “I’m not a psychologist but I’d figure most of what he said is pretty on par with what a narcissistic megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur would probably say. It was probably a whole lot of horseshit… probably…”
“But?” Durand asked. Nina sighed.
“There was one thing he said that stood out, he said that if we killed him, we’d be killing everyone else in the pocket too. He made it sound like his life was tied to it, or something. I don’t know if he can actually fucking do that or not but I’m also not sure I’d want to chance it. Some of those documents I found in the Puriysk archive mentioned Calhoun and something called ‘The Eldest’.”
At the mention of the name, Dr. Di Cesare looked up.
“Gretchen,” Durand asked, “Do you recognize that name.”
Gretchen Di Cesare gave a curt nod before flipping through her notebook to a previous page. As she did, I noticed her sleeve lifting briefly, revealing a tattoo on her wrist. Two wavy, parallel lines. It looked like the zodiac sign for ‘Aquarius.’
“The Eldest… Old Fae. ‘The eldest’ according to myth, hence the name. Few documented encounters. None modern…” She paused to think for a moment, “Hard to kill… harder to control. Would need the heart either way. No small task but… possible… probable.”
“Old Fae?” I asked, “What exactly is that?”
“More or less exactly what it says on the tin,” Nina said. “Really old forest fae who got fucked up by the Midnight Grove… and a real fucking problem if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with. Do we even know how to kill an Old Fae?”
“As stated, the heart,” Dr. Di Cesare said, “Find that, kill the Fae. Would reckon that Calhoun has it. If not on his person, then somewhere safe. And should that fail…”
She removed the revolver from her coat pocket and set it down on the table without a word.
“A contingency. Custom revolver, specialized blessed rounds - Malvian ice.”
I saw Nina raise an eyebrow.
“You put Malvian ice in a gun?” She asked.
“What’s Malvian ice?” I asked. I figured that this conversation required a bit of context.
“Frozen mist, obtained from the domain of an Ancient God. In essence, a part of the God herself” Dr. Di Cesare said. “Weaponized - could kill anything beneath the Ancient Gods. Never tried it with bullets before, but the live fire trial yielded promising results.”
My mind flashed back to the Nightwalker we’d run into last night and the way its flesh had melted away after Dr. Di Cesare had shot it with that gun. The memory sent a chill through me.
“So you built a gun that can shoot an Old Fae dead?” Nina asked. I couldn’t tell if she was disturbed by the guns existence or excited to try it out.
“Old Fae, Grovewalkers, and most lesser Gods, amongst other things,” Dr. Di Cesare said. “So long as it has a physical form, it can be killed.”
“Dr. Di Cesare agreed to assist us with this job, in the interest of doing her own research on the Calhoun pocket,” Durand added. “The gun is her contribution to this project. It’s intended as more of an emergency measure than anything else. But if necessary, we could use it to kill whatever is allowing Calhoun to control the pocket reality.”
Nina just whistled and sat back in her chair. She seemed almost at a loss for words.
“So… all we need to do is shoot Calhoun or this ‘Eldest’ thing with that gun, after we get everyone out and we’re golden, right?” Dom asked.
“I would regard The Eldest as a higher priority than Calhoun right now,” Durand said. “Calhoun could have been lying about tying his own life to the existence of the pocket reality, but I’m not willing to take that gamble if I don’t have to. Right now, my gut is saying to try and take him alive.”
“He’s not gonna go quietly if we try,” Nina pointed out. “Hypothetical question, if we destroy the heart, would that take the risk of killing Calhoun out of the equation?”
“No. Whatever spell was used, would not die with the caster,” Dr. Di Cesare said.
Nina nodded thoughtfully.
“I see. Fuck.”
“To your point though: Killing Calhoun is likely inevitable. And while I lack any meaningful data on the spell used by the Eldest or how to circumvent it, I can predict the timeframe of such a collapse. The effect would not be immediate. Could take minutes, hours or days. There may be a window for escape.”
“We'll have time to cross that bridge when we get to it,” Durand said. “Last question I’ve got is about the local militia, but Mr. Kallas and I can discuss that with Valentine and Mr. Hoskins separately. In the meanwhile, I believe our first order of business should be eliminating collateral. We’ll start with Puriysk, then move on to Rankin Mills, Bakersfield, and Thompson Falls. Once we’ve cleared out those towns, we’ll focus on Parsons and Calhoun. Mr. Kallas, I’ll leave it to you to oversee the evacuation efforts. It’s probably redundant to say this, but we’ve got our work cut out for us, ladies and gentlemen so let’s keep our heads down, our minds sharp and get through this as cleanly as possible. Now… without any further ado, I promised you people dinner and I’m not going to put you all to work on an empty stomach. So, as the Estonians say: ‘Head isu.’”
***
Looking back, there was a sort of bittersweetness to that evening. On one hand, I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten so well. After dinner, I went back to the hotel, enjoyed my hot shower, and sank into my warm sheets, waiting for Dom to come back from his meeting with Nina, Kallas, and Durand.
And yet… at the same time, all I could think about was what would happen in the morning. In the morning, we’d be leaving again, going back to Puriysk. Back to Calhoun. Part of me almost dreaded it, fearing that if I left this place then I’d never get to come back again.
But listening to Durand and the others talk during that briefing… so much of it went completely over my head and I couldn’t help but feel like that was a good thing. They’d been focused, precise, knowledgeable and most of all, prepared.
Calhoun’s threats lingered in the back of my mind, but they seemed so much smaller now. I struggled to imagine that Calhoun and the Sheriff’s Boys could do much the face of what had come for him, even with some kind of all powerful Fae at his disposal. Just Nina alone had been enough to rip Puriysk from his grasp… what could an army of her do?
I should have taken comfort in that idea. I did take comfort in that idea. But I still couldn’t help but worry all the same. Maybe what Dom had said earlier was true. Maybe we’d had it so bad for so long that even the smallest good thing now seemed too good to be true… maybe. When Dom came back, I was waiting for him. We lay in bed together, talking quietly to each other about what was going to happen in the morning, and holding hands, we drifted off into sleep.
2023.03.21 05:15 HeadOfSpectre Faerie Tale - Sixth Entry
First Entry
Second Entry
Third Entry
Fourth Entry
Fifth Entry
Journal of Camille Lambert - April 12th
We could see the shadows of the Nightwalkers from our place by the bonfire. They peeked in through the broken windows of the church, watching us from afar but never actually entering the ruins. I’m not sure if the firelight was what kept them away, or the protective runes that Nina had drawn.
Nina sat on a fallen column, watching them in case they tried anything… and yet if I walked over to the right side of the circle of columns that we’d set up our bonfire in, she seemed… dimmer. Like she was there and yet not there at the same time.
Dom on the other hand was crystal clear. I could see him sitting by the door of the church. I couldn’t see him at all from the left side of the circle. The mist was too thick. But on the right side, he was right there, impossible to miss. The effect was surreal, to say the least. He was holding the device Nina had used to call in her backup. She’d called it a phone but it didn’t look like any phone I’d ever seen.
“ETA, an hour or so for the standby team in Tallinn, 15 hours for the rest,” Nina had said after she’d made her call. “Let’s get comfortable.”
I figured that it’d been about an hour and a half since she’d said that. Standing by the bonfire itself, the world past the columns seemed to be in flux. Sometimes I could see mist through the windows and the holes in the ceiling. Sometimes I could see stars.
Shadows of smaller Nightwalkers darted past the church door sometimes, lingering only long enough to look in on us before retreating back into the darkness. Nina watched each one like a hawk, gripping her shotgun tightly.
I walked out to sit with her for a bit, leaving the light of the fire for a little while. Even from her vantage point, I still couldn’t see Dom but at least I knew he was safe enough.
“How many do you think are out there?” I asked quietly.
“Too many,” Nina replied. “We’re not going back to Puriysk tonight, that’s for damn sure.”
As she spoke, I saw more shadows moving in the dark, skittering away into the mist.
“You sure you want to stay out here? Might be safer to stay with Dom,” I said.
“Probably, but it’s better if I stay here. If the door closes, I’m better off on the inside. Be easier to open it again, that way.”
“Fair enough,” I said, looking back out into the mist. I could see nothing past it.
No shadows. No movement. There wasn’t even any noise. Nina looked up at the darkness again.
“Is it just me or is it quieter out there?” She asked.
“No… it’s quieter out there,” I said. “Could be there’s a big one nearby. Dom said that the small ones usually avoid them.”
Nina kept staring out at the mist, but the silence remained. I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely worried or not. After a few minutes, I saw movement in the mist again. I heard the rustling of trees and saw something standing in the dark. I almost thought that it might have looked like a man… almost. But I couldn’t fully make out the shape of it.
I could see the eyes of the Nightwalker shining in the firelight, before it finally moved, darting out of sight. Nina watched it go, before returning her attention to me.
“Good news is, we won’t be alone for that much longer,” She said. “After the first group shows up, we can head into Puriysk with them and start setting up shop. By the time the rest of them arrive, we should be in a good place. After that, it’s just a matter of getting people out and dealing with Calhoun,”
“You make it sound easy,” I said.
“I mean, it probably won’t be a walk in the park,” Nina admitted. “But at least we won’t be running this job alone. These things go easier when you’ve got help.”
“Yeah… I imagine they would,” I said.
Beside us, I heard a dull thud as a piece of one of the church's more damaged walls fell away and crashed to the ground. Nina was up on her feet immediately, shotgun in hand. I rose to my feet beside her.
“The fuck was that?” She asked.
“Part of the wall, I think,” I said. I spotted the spot where it had fallen and looked up. It had probably come off one of the broken domed towers near the door. One of their ceilings had come down ages ago and I imagined it wouldn’t take much more than a strong gust of wind to knock over some of the loose bricks jutting out from where the roof remained. Nina approached the fallen piece of brick, pausing to inspect it.
“Hell of a big chunk of wall,” She said before looking up again. I did the same, although as I did, I could’ve sworn I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at it. The shadows cast by the bonfire left pools of darkness along the ceiling.
But in those pools, I could see flickering reflections of light.
Two of them.
Staring right at me.
Slowly I reached out, putting a hand on Nina’s shoulder. I didn’t want to yell or move too quickly. I couldn’t see what was in the darkness but I know that it looked poised to strike. Nina looked over at me, before tensing up. I knew that she saw it too. The eyes remained trained on us, and I heard a low, animal hiss coming from the shadows.
“Bonfire…” Nina said, gripping her shotgun tighter “Get Dom… now.”
I took a step back and saw the eyes following me. Nina backed away from the shadows, eyes never leaving the ceiling. I saw limbs splaying outward from the darkness. I could see them tensing up. It was going to lunge.
“MOVE!” I said, breaking into a sprint, but it was too late. The Nightwalker launched itself at Nina like a bullet. I heard her shotgun fire twice, before the creature crashed into the ground, flailing violently. I could see long, dark limbs, more than any human should have struggling to pick itself up. I could see a body that only vaguely resembled a man. It had a torso, a human head, and long black hair, but looked more like a spider than a person. And yet there was something off about it. Something I hadn’t seen on any of the other Nightwalkers. This one had some kind of sigil on its forehead. Something that looked almost like a crimson eye, that seemed to glow with surreal energy.
The Nightwalker looked at Nina, snarling at her. When it opened its mouth, I could see rows upon rows of teeth inside. She fired her shotgun again, but the creature barely even seemed to notice them. Even after she’d gone through the trouble of cursing them, her rounds weren’t doing anything.
“RUN!” I heard her yell, and I didn’t dare question that. I just ran.
I sprinted toward the bonfire, just in time to see Dom running toward me. He took aim at the Nightwalker, firing at it as it tried to go after Nina. But his bullets did next to nothing to it. The Nightwalker didn’t even look at him.
It just kept going for Nina, almost pinning her down. She unloaded two more shells into its face, which did little more than make it flinch and bought her some time to run.
This time, she took off at a sprint toward the bonfire. Dom saw her running and started to backpedal as well, running back toward the bonfire and the safety of the columns. The creature paused as we took shelter by the fire, watching us intently and letting out another serpentine hiss. Nina stared back at it, before looking back at the fire. She tossed her shotgun aside and hastily grabbed one of the spare branches we’d kept for the bonfire. She put it in the fire, before pulling it out and brandishing it like a weapon. The Nightwalker hissed and recoiled a bit, focused on the flame. As it paused, Dom grabbed Nina’s shotgun off the ground and took aim.
“Don’t…” She said, putting a hand up to stop him, her voice low and intense. She didn’t dare look away from the Nightwalker. “Save the cursed rounds… they won’t kill it. Just get outside.”
“What about you?” Dom asked.
“Outside,” Nina repeated. “Now.”
I put a hand on Dom’s shoulder.
“Let’s go!” I said, trying to tug him along behind me.
He hesitated for a moment longer before finally letting me take him. We backed through the right set of columns, and once we were through I saw Nina taking a step away from the bonfire, toward the right set of columns. The Nightwalker passed the left set of columns, trying to follow her.
“Come on…” She said under her breath, “Come and get me, shithead…”
I saw it inching closer to her, and tensing up again, getting ready to pounce. That was when Nina made her move. She thrust her burning branch into the Nightwalker's face, earning a cry of pain from it and making it jerk back. I saw it swatting at the branch, trying to get rid of the fire. Nina took the chance to run, sprinting at top speed toward the door of the church.
“GO!”
Neither of us needed to be told twice. We ran for the church door, as the Nightwalker let out a roar from behind us. I looked back to see it charging toward us again, gaining ground. As we ran back out into the field, we were greeted by countless blinding lights. I saw Nina pause, before feeling her grab me by the back of the shirt and pull me away. I could see Dom in her other hand. She dragged us both down to the ground in the instant before the Nightwalker emerged from the door of the church.
I saw it recoil, putting up its clawed hands to try and shield its eyes from the blinding light.
Then I heard the gunfire.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see several men, each holding automatic rifles advancing on the Nightwalker. It shrank back toward the church, trying to shield itself from the gunfire, clearly overwhelmed. But just like with Nina’s shotgun before it, the bullets did little to harm it. Despite all the gunfire it took, it didn’t fall. I could hear it hissing, I could see its beady black eyes darting around wildly. It lunged forward again, tackling one of the nearby men and tearing into him, before going after another. I saw its jaws close around his skull and heard the sickening crunch of bone as it took his head. The other men scrambled back, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Nightwalker as they could. It howled in rage, preparing to charge after them when a final, deafening gunshot echoed through the night.
This time, the Nightwalker's entire body seized up. It let out an agonized scream. I could see its clawed hands clutching at a wound that had appeared on its chest… and I could see smoke rising out of that wound. It kept screaming and thrashing violently. Its limbs gave out from underneath it. I could see the wound in its chest sizzling and burning. I saw the flesh and skin sloughing off of its body, and I could see the pale white bone underneath.
The eye sigil on its forehead flickered before fading away and the Nightwalker let out one final, howl before collapsing to the ground, its body still twitching and convulsing. I looked over to see a single woman standing calmly by the nearby trucks. She was tall and pale, with long, stringy black hair and an intense look in her eye.
She was dressed in a long beige coat and holding an ornate revolver in one gloved hand. As the Nightwalker died I saw her gingerly slip the pistol into the inner pocket of her coat before reaching into another pocket for a notebook. Without ever looking away from the dead Nightwalker, she scribbled something down, then pocketed the notebook again and calmly walked toward the church, not even pausing to acknowledge anyone else around her. As she left, I saw the other armed men tending to their dead. With the Nightwalker dead, I could get a better look at them now. They were dressed like soldiers, with bulletproof vests and no shortage of pockets. A few of them wore netted veils over their faces, making it hard to get a good look at them and giving them an eerie appearance, although watching them examine the bodies of their dead and respectfully carrying them away was almost humanizing.
Nina sat up, her blonde hair messy and a somewhat disoriented look on her face. She looked over toward the source of the lights that had blinded us. Four large SUVs were parked outside of the church, their headlights shining on the door. From those SUVs, I could see more armed men getting out and one of them was coming toward us.
“Nina Valentine?” I heard him ask. He had a heavy Slavic accent.
“Still alive,” She said, as she slowly climbed to her feet.
“Good. I’m Olev Kallas, I’m from the Tallinn Office, Director Durand sends his regards,” He offered Nina a hand to shake and she reluctantly took it. “The Director is currently en route, as are the rest of the team. In the meanwhile, we’re here to help.”
“Yeah and right on fucking time too,” She said, looking over at the dead Nightwalker.
“Ah… yes, you can thank Dr. Di Cesare for that,” Kallas said.
Nina raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling that she recognized the name, but she didn’t comment on it.
“But first, I imagine you and your friends must need a hot meal and a cold drink right about now and I can get you both.”
“Oh you’ve got no fucking idea…” Nina said, as Dom helped me to my feet. She waited until we were up, before gesturing for us to follow as Kallas led us toward one of the SUV’s.
***
I barely recognized the empty field around us as Puriysk. The buildings were all long gone and in their place was a paved highway that I’d never seen before.
“The town’s been gone for as long as I can remember,” Kallas said. “I couldn’t tell you if it was us, or the Soviets who got rid of the ruins. I read somewhere that there was some talk about refurbishing the old Church, but as you see, nothing ever came of it.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Nina said, “Made my job a hell of a lot easier.”
We drove down the highway, past the wide open landscape and as we drove, I couldn’t help but admire it. In the distance, I could see the lights from another nearby town and watched as they drew closer and closer. God, I’d never seen a place so full of life before. As we drove along the quiet streets, past the sleeping buildings in the early hours of the morning, they still seemed so alive. Street lights cast a warm glow on the few passersby out doing their business. There were more cars on the road than I’d ever seen before, some driving past us to their own destinations and others parked and still.
“I can drop you three off at a hotel if you’d like,” Kallas offered. “You can get cleaned up and have a short rest before Director Durand arrives. I can pick up some fresh clothes for you, and then we can have a debrief over dinner.”
“Yeah, works for me,” Nina said before looking over at us.
“Dinner sounds good,” I said, although at the time I had no idea what exactly a hotel was. Thankfully, I got my answer pretty quickly.
The room I got was comfortable. The bed was softer than anything I’d ever laid on before and the hot water… oh God… I spent almost an hour in the shower alone, enjoying the steam and feeling the tension drain out of my muscles. When I was done, I put on a soft, fluffy bathrobe and laid down, letting myself relax for the first time in days. I almost dozed off… and maybe I would have if I hadn’t heard a knock on my door.
I considered ignoring it and just letting sleep take me, but I figured I might as well make sure it wasn’t important. Tying my bathrobe a little tighter around me, I got up to answer the door and was greeted by Dom, still wet from the shower.
“Hey,” He said. “Sorry, I hope I’m not bothering you!”
“It’s fine!” I replied, putting on a smile, “Come on in.”
I opened the door all the way to let him inside, but he hesitated.
“No, it’s alright. I just thought I’d check on you. It’s been… well, it’s been one hell of a past few days. And this feels like the first chance we’ve had to really breathe in a while.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I sighed. I still held the door open for him. “Well, we’re not going to have this conversation in the hall, so come on in. I’ve got a coffee machine in here and I’m dying to try it out.”
I’m not sure if it was the promise of coffee that made him accept my invitation or the realization that I probably didn’t want to be in the hall with just a bathrobe on, but he came inside anyway.I went to the coffee machine and tried to figure it out. They had these little cups that I’d never seen before, but otherwise, it seemed fairly straightforward.
“Man… it’s really something else out here, isn’t it?” Dom asked, going to sit down on the bed. “It’s just so bright out here!”
“I’m still not entirely convinced I’m not dreaming,” I admitted. I managed to get one of the cups into the coffee machine and watched as it pissed out a somewhat pathetic amount of scalding hot coffee that admittedly did smell very nice. It had a lovely vanilla aroma.
I brought the first cup over to Dom.
“Glad I’m not the only one,” He said as I went back to make another cup, “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if Nina’s backup was even going to come through and I sure as hell didn’t expect any of this.”
“You and me both,” I said with a sigh, “Is it wrong to say that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop?”
“Well, when something seems too good to be true…” Dom murmured, “Although then again… looking at what we had in there compared to what Nina’s been telling me about life out here, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve had it bad for so long that even the smallest good thing would seem too good to be true.”
“That’s a disturbing thought,” I said.
“Maybe. But what if it’s true?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Either way… this isn’t much more than a break, isn’t it?” Dom asked, “The calm before the storm. I know that after we talk to the Director, Nina’s going right back in… and I’m going with her.”
I nodded before taking my coffee and joining him on the bed.
“I know,” I said. “And I’m going with you.”
“You know that you don’t have to, right?” Dom asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I know that this kind of thing isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse. I’m not saying to just let it be or anything, but there’s other ways to help that don’t involve shooting things and burning down buildings.”
Again, I paused.
“Maybe,” I said. “Honestly, whatever I can do, I just want to do it. Whatever it may be. I’ve been just accepting things the way they were for too long, the same as you. I don’t want to just accept it anymore! I can’t.”
“And you aren’t,” Dom said, “I mean… shit, I watched you take pot shots at a Nightwalker the other night. Ever since we left, you’ve done whatever you can to help out. You’ve done a hell of a lot more to fix things than anyone else I know. That takes a hell of a lot of strength. More than I’d probably have in your shoes… honestly, you’re half the reason I’m still doing this, Cam.”
I looked at him and felt his hand pressing over mine.
“Only half?” I teased, trying to distract from the shade I could feel my cheeks flushing.
“Well, there’s everyone else too.” He said, “But right now, the one I care the most about is you.”
I actually broke down laughing at that and gently pushed him away.
“Too much?” He asked.
“No,” I said. “Just right.”
I let my head rest on his shoulder and for a little bit, we just sat together, hand in hand and beautifully content. I sensed him hesitating for a little while, before finally seizing the moment and placing his hand on my chin. I let him. He lifted my face and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, one that I all too happily reciprocated.
After all… who knew when we’d get another chance?
***
The restaurant that Kallas brought us to was fairly quiet, although it wasn’t empty. As we walked in, I could see a large table set out with faces both familiar and unfamiliar at it.
Nina had washed almost an entire layer of dirt and soot off her face. Her hair looked cleaner and she was clearly wearing new, cleaner jeans. Although I didn’t think she’d actually changed her T-shirt. I recognized it by the neckline, but I’d never seen the whole thing before. It had a graphic of a warning label on it that said: ‘DO NOT USE FOR WET GRINDING’ although the ‘DO NOT’ part was crossed out in red.
Had she seriously been wearing that the whole fucking time…? At least it looked like she’d recently washed it.
Beside Nina, I saw Natalya, looking a little more cleaned up and wearing new clothes. Someone must have gotten her out of Puriysk earlier that day. The dark haired woman that Kallas had named as Dr. Di Cesare sat on the other side of Nina, although she was more focused on her own journal than any of us.
Lastly, I saw a man I didn’t recognize at all. He was tall and looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with wavy blond hair and a clean shaven face. He was dressed in a nice but slightly wrinkled suit.
The blond man was the first one to speak.
“Mr. Kallas, good to see you again,” He said as he got up to greet us.
“Director Durand, I have to say that the pleasure is all mine,” Kallas said, shaking Durand’s hand. His attention turned to us next.
“You two must be Camille Lambert and Dom Hoskins, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Milo Durand. I’m the Director of the Fae Relations Bureau’s Department of Public Safety.”
“Hell of a mouthful,” Dom said, shaking Durand’s hand.
“Just call us the FRB for short,” He said with a smile, “Take a seat. Dr. Di Cesare and I wanted to take some time to go through the situation with the Calhoun Pocket.”
Kallas pulled out some seats for us and we sat down. There were glasses of water waiting for us at the table. As soon as we sat down, Dr. Di Cesare glanced up at us, but didn’t close her notebook.
“So… now that we’re all here. Where should we begin?” Kallas asked.
“Well for starters, I’d like to get a solid picture of what exactly we’re going to be walking into when we send the rest of our people into the Calhoun Pocket,” Durand said, “Mr. Kallas, I’m aware you’re detachment has already properly secured Puriysk. But I’ve got some questions regarding the other towns so we know what else to expect once we’re inside.”
“What exactly is it that you want to know?” I asked.
“Well for starters, we need access to the other towns. We were told that navigating between them could be difficult, but I imagine there must be some way to circumvent that,”
“There is,” Dom said, “The roads don’t always go to the same places, but there are always landmarks and turns. You can use those to navigate.”
“One of the files I found in the archive at the Deputy’s Office has a list of landmarks and directions to reach the different towns,” Nina added, “I emailed you a copy earlier to go over,”
Durand nodded.
“Excellent. Which leads me to my next question. Infrastructure. I can’t imagine Calhoun’s been running a show like his without some means of providing food and power to the other towns. I’m aware that Rankin Mills had a power plant, so I figure that Calhoun is using that to keep the lights on. But what about food, gas, supplies?”
“Most of the food comes from Bakersfield,” I said. “There’s a lot of farmland there, most of it fairly safe from the mist. I used to work at a Roadhouse in Thompson Falls. We’d get deliveries every week or so.”
“I see… what about Puriysk and Thompson Falls? What’s there?”
“Puriysk was where they trained a lot of the Sheriff’s Boys,” Dom said. “They had the largest Deputy’s Office outside of Parsons. And Thompson Falls was more of a mining community. Lotta the construction work that was done in Parsons was done by people brought in from Thompson and Puriysk.”
Durand raised an eyebrow.
“Construction in Parsons?” He asked.
“Calhoun’s sorta been using it as his capital. Far as I can tell, he’s been trying to build up the towns, although Parson’s the one that’s gotten the most attention,” Dom said. “I guess it’s as close to a capital city as we’ve got in there. He also mentioned the ‘Sovereign Nation of Calhoun’ although I haven’t heard anyone outside of Parsons use that name.”
“Sovereign Nation of Calhoun…” Durand repeated, before glancing at Nina. She just gave a slightly defeated nod as if to say: ‘Yeah, he actually called it that.’
“Okay… let’s talk about Calhoun himself… what do you know?” Durand asked.
“Not a hell of a lot,” Dom said, “Closest I’ve ever come to actually meeting the guy is when he spoke to us outside of the church last night. Other than that, he rarely leaves his house in Parsons and rarely appears in public and most of what I’ve heard is just rumors.”
“Whatever you’ve heard… odds are that it’s true,” Natalya said quietly, drawing all eyes at the table over to her.
“I’ve heard the story enough times now… first from my mother, then from so many afterward. One day, the days just grew dimmer. The clouds above us just grew so thick that you could not see the sun and the mist drifted through the streets. The roads no longer led to the same places… and at night, the shadows moved, devouring any in their paths alive and screaming. First, it came for Parsons, then Rankin, Puriysk, Bakersfield, and Thompson. One by one. In time, it will come for others. He will come for others.”
Durand leaned in a little bit, listening intently. Dr. Di Cesare had also paused, listening as Natalya spoke.
“My mother told me that after the change, Calhoun’s people began to enter the town. Drunken louts, filling up the bars demanding free alcohol in exchange for ‘protection’ from the things outside. Although even with the alcohol, they still left bodies in their wake.”
She paused, slipping back into old, bitter memories.
“She told me of the ways Calhoun had changed Puriysk… most of the men either joined his little militia out of necessity or were given other jobs where they were worked to the bone. And the women…” She paused, “The homemakers he generally left alone but the young and the pretty ones found their way into the brothel. After all, his soldiers needed something to do to pass the time when they weren’t drinking and acting like children with guns. Governor Calhoun raped Puriysk, just the same as he raped every other town he took. All my life, I’ve watched as he’s milked them for his own gain and spread like a disease across new towns, looking for more. Before I even understood what home was, he had taken my home from me. Before I was old enough to speak, he had taken my life from me. Because of him, I grew up in a brothel in a town that does not exist.”
Durand was silent, before looking at Nina who drummed her fingers on the table.
“Valentine?” He asked.
“Like Dom said, the only interaction we had with that guy was when he talked to us last night,” She said. “I’m not a psychologist but I’d figure most of what he said is pretty on par with what a narcissistic megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur would probably say. It was probably a whole lot of horseshit… probably…”
“But?” Durand asked. Nina sighed.
“There was one thing he said that stood out, he said that if we killed him, we’d be killing everyone else in the pocket too. He made it sound like his life was tied to it, or something. I don’t know if he can actually fucking do that or not but I’m also not sure I’d want to chance it. Some of those documents I found in the Puriysk archive mentioned Calhoun and something called ‘The Eldest’.”
At the mention of the name, Dr. Di Cesare looked up.
“Gretchen,” Durand asked, “Do you recognize that name.”
Gretchen Di Cesare gave a curt nod before flipping through her notebook to a previous page. As she did, I noticed her sleeve lifting briefly, revealing a tattoo on her wrist. Two wavy, parallel lines. It looked like the zodiac sign for ‘Aquarius.’
“The Eldest… Old Fae. ‘The eldest’ according to myth, hence the name. Few documented encounters. None modern…” She paused to think for a moment, “Hard to kill… harder to control. Would need the heart either way. No small task but… possible… probable.”
“Old Fae?” I asked, “What exactly is that?”
“More or less exactly what it says on the tin,” Nina said. “Really old forest fae who got fucked up by the Midnight Grove… and a real fucking problem if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with. Do we even know how to kill an Old Fae?”
“As stated, the heart,” Dr. Di Cesare said, “Find that, kill the Fae. Would reckon that Calhoun has it. If not on his person, then somewhere safe. And should that fail…”
She removed the revolver from her coat pocket and set it down on the table without a word.
“A contingency. Custom revolver, specialized blessed rounds - Malvian ice.”
I saw Nina raise an eyebrow.
“You put Malvian ice in a gun?” She asked.
“What’s Malvian ice?” I asked. I figured that this conversation required a bit of context.
“Frozen mist, obtained from the domain of an Ancient God. In essence, a part of the God herself” Dr. Di Cesare said. “Weaponized - could kill anything beneath the Ancient Gods. Never tried it with bullets before, but the live fire trial yielded promising results.”
My mind flashed back to the Nightwalker we’d run into last night and the way its flesh had melted away after Dr. Di Cesare had shot it with that gun. The memory sent a chill through me.
“So you built a gun that can shoot an Old Fae dead?” Nina asked. I couldn’t tell if she was disturbed by the guns existence or excited to try it out.
“Old Fae, Grovewalkers, and most lesser Gods, amongst other things,” Dr. Di Cesare said. “So long as it has a physical form, it can be killed.”
“Dr. Di Cesare agreed to assist us with this job, in the interest of doing her own research on the Calhoun pocket,” Durand added. “The gun is her contribution to this project. It’s intended as more of an emergency measure than anything else. But if necessary, we could use it to kill whatever is allowing Calhoun to control the pocket reality.”
Nina just whistled and sat back in her chair. She seemed almost at a loss for words.
“So… all we need to do is shoot Calhoun or this ‘Eldest’ thing with that gun, after we get everyone out and we’re golden, right?” Dom asked.
“I would regard The Eldest as a higher priority than Calhoun right now,” Durand said. “Calhoun could have been lying about tying his own life to the existence of the pocket reality, but I’m not willing to take that gamble if I don’t have to. Right now, my gut is saying to try and take him alive.”
“He’s not gonna go quietly if we try,” Nina pointed out. “Hypothetical question, if we destroy the heart, would that take the risk of killing Calhoun out of the equation?”
“No. Whatever spell was used, would not die with the caster,” Dr. Di Cesare said.
Nina nodded thoughtfully.
“I see. Fuck.”
“To your point though: Killing Calhoun is likely inevitable. And while I lack any meaningful data on the spell used by the Eldest or how to circumvent it, I can predict the timeframe of such a collapse. The effect would not be immediate. Could take minutes, hours or days. There may be a window for escape.”
“We'll have time to cross that bridge when we get to it,” Durand said. “Last question I’ve got is about the local militia, but Mr. Kallas and I can discuss that with Valentine and Mr. Hoskins separately. In the meanwhile, I believe our first order of business should be eliminating collateral. We’ll start with Puriysk, then move on to Rankin Mills, Bakersfield, and Thompson Falls. Once we’ve cleared out those towns, we’ll focus on Parsons and Calhoun. Mr. Kallas, I’ll leave it to you to oversee the evacuation efforts. It’s probably redundant to say this, but we’ve got our work cut out for us, ladies and gentlemen so let’s keep our heads down, our minds sharp and get through this as cleanly as possible. Now… without any further ado, I promised you people dinner and I’m not going to put you all to work on an empty stomach. So, as the Estonians say: ‘Head isu.’”
***
Looking back, there was a sort of bittersweetness to that evening. On one hand, I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten so well. After dinner, I went back to the hotel, enjoyed my hot shower, and sank into my warm sheets, waiting for Dom to come back from his meeting with Nina, Kallas, and Durand.
And yet… at the same time, all I could think about was what would happen in the morning. In the morning, we’d be leaving again, going back to Puriysk. Back to Calhoun. Part of me almost dreaded it, fearing that if I left this place then I’d never get to come back again.
But listening to Durand and the others talk during that briefing… so much of it went completely over my head and I couldn’t help but feel like that was a good thing. They’d been focused, precise, knowledgeable and most of all, prepared.
Calhoun’s threats lingered in the back of my mind, but they seemed so much smaller now. I struggled to imagine that Calhoun and the Sheriff’s Boys could do much the face of what had come for him, even with some kind of all powerful Fae at his disposal. Just Nina alone had been enough to rip Puriysk from his grasp… what could an army of her do?
I should have taken comfort in that idea. I did take comfort in that idea. But I still couldn’t help but worry all the same. Maybe what Dom had said earlier was true. Maybe we’d had it so bad for so long that even the smallest good thing now seemed too good to be true… maybe. When Dom came back, I was waiting for him. We lay in bed together, talking quietly to each other about what was going to happen in the morning, and holding hands, we drifted off into sleep.
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Second Entry
Third Entry
Fourth Entry
Fifth Entry
Journal of Camille Lambert - April 12th
We could see the shadows of the Nightwalkers from our place by the bonfire. They peeked in through the broken windows of the church, watching us from afar but never actually entering the ruins. I’m not sure if the firelight was what kept them away, or the protective runes that Nina had drawn.
Nina sat on a fallen column, watching them in case they tried anything… and yet if I walked over to the right side of the circle of columns that we’d set up our bonfire in, she seemed… dimmer. Like she was there and yet not there at the same time.
Dom on the other hand was crystal clear. I could see him sitting by the door of the church. I couldn’t see him at all from the left side of the circle. The mist was too thick. But on the right side, he was right there, impossible to miss. The effect was surreal, to say the least. He was holding the device Nina had used to call in her backup. She’d called it a phone but it didn’t look like any phone I’d ever seen.
“ETA, an hour or so for the standby team in Tallinn, 15 hours for the rest,” Nina had said after she’d made her call. “Let’s get comfortable.”
I figured that it’d been about an hour and a half since she’d said that. Standing by the bonfire itself, the world past the columns seemed to be in flux. Sometimes I could see mist through the windows and the holes in the ceiling. Sometimes I could see stars.
Shadows of smaller Nightwalkers darted past the church door sometimes, lingering only long enough to look in on us before retreating back into the darkness. Nina watched each one like a hawk, gripping her shotgun tightly.
I walked out to sit with her for a bit, leaving the light of the fire for a little while. Even from her vantage point, I still couldn’t see Dom but at least I knew he was safe enough.
“How many do you think are out there?” I asked quietly.
“Too many,” Nina replied. “We’re not going back to Puriysk tonight, that’s for damn sure.”
As she spoke, I saw more shadows moving in the dark, skittering away into the mist.
“You sure you want to stay out here? Might be safer to stay with Dom,” I said.
“Probably, but it’s better if I stay here. If the door closes, I’m better off on the inside. Be easier to open it again, that way.”
“Fair enough,” I said, looking back out into the mist. I could see nothing past it.
No shadows. No movement. There wasn’t even any noise. Nina looked up at the darkness again.
“Is it just me or is it quieter out there?” She asked.
“No… it’s quieter out there,” I said. “Could be there’s a big one nearby. Dom said that the small ones usually avoid them.”
Nina kept staring out at the mist, but the silence remained. I wasn’t sure if she was genuinely worried or not. After a few minutes, I saw movement in the mist again. I heard the rustling of trees and saw something standing in the dark. I almost thought that it might have looked like a man… almost. But I couldn’t fully make out the shape of it.
I could see the eyes of the Nightwalker shining in the firelight, before it finally moved, darting out of sight. Nina watched it go, before returning her attention to me.
“Good news is, we won’t be alone for that much longer,” She said. “After the first group shows up, we can head into Puriysk with them and start setting up shop. By the time the rest of them arrive, we should be in a good place. After that, it’s just a matter of getting people out and dealing with Calhoun,”
“You make it sound easy,” I said.
“I mean, it probably won’t be a walk in the park,” Nina admitted. “But at least we won’t be running this job alone. These things go easier when you’ve got help.”
“Yeah… I imagine they would,” I said.
Beside us, I heard a dull thud as a piece of one of the church's more damaged walls fell away and crashed to the ground. Nina was up on her feet immediately, shotgun in hand. I rose to my feet beside her.
“The fuck was that?” She asked.
“Part of the wall, I think,” I said. I spotted the spot where it had fallen and looked up. It had probably come off one of the broken domed towers near the door. One of their ceilings had come down ages ago and I imagined it wouldn’t take much more than a strong gust of wind to knock over some of the loose bricks jutting out from where the roof remained. Nina approached the fallen piece of brick, pausing to inspect it.
“Hell of a big chunk of wall,” She said before looking up again. I did the same, although as I did, I could’ve sworn I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at it. The shadows cast by the bonfire left pools of darkness along the ceiling.
But in those pools, I could see flickering reflections of light.
Two of them.
Staring right at me.
Slowly I reached out, putting a hand on Nina’s shoulder. I didn’t want to yell or move too quickly. I couldn’t see what was in the darkness but I know that it looked poised to strike. Nina looked over at me, before tensing up. I knew that she saw it too. The eyes remained trained on us, and I heard a low, animal hiss coming from the shadows.
“Bonfire…” Nina said, gripping her shotgun tighter “Get Dom… now.”
I took a step back and saw the eyes following me. Nina backed away from the shadows, eyes never leaving the ceiling. I saw limbs splaying outward from the darkness. I could see them tensing up. It was going to lunge.
“MOVE!” I said, breaking into a sprint, but it was too late. The Nightwalker launched itself at Nina like a bullet. I heard her shotgun fire twice, before the creature crashed into the ground, flailing violently. I could see long, dark limbs, more than any human should have struggling to pick itself up. I could see a body that only vaguely resembled a man. It had a torso, a human head, and long black hair, but looked more like a spider than a person. And yet there was something off about it. Something I hadn’t seen on any of the other Nightwalkers. This one had some kind of sigil on its forehead. Something that looked almost like a crimson eye, that seemed to glow with surreal energy.
The Nightwalker looked at Nina, snarling at her. When it opened its mouth, I could see rows upon rows of teeth inside. She fired her shotgun again, but the creature barely even seemed to notice them. Even after she’d gone through the trouble of cursing them, her rounds weren’t doing anything.
“RUN!” I heard her yell, and I didn’t dare question that. I just ran.
I sprinted toward the bonfire, just in time to see Dom running toward me. He took aim at the Nightwalker, firing at it as it tried to go after Nina. But his bullets did next to nothing to it. The Nightwalker didn’t even look at him.
It just kept going for Nina, almost pinning her down. She unloaded two more shells into its face, which did little more than make it flinch and bought her some time to run.
This time, she took off at a sprint toward the bonfire. Dom saw her running and started to backpedal as well, running back toward the bonfire and the safety of the columns. The creature paused as we took shelter by the fire, watching us intently and letting out another serpentine hiss. Nina stared back at it, before looking back at the fire. She tossed her shotgun aside and hastily grabbed one of the spare branches we’d kept for the bonfire. She put it in the fire, before pulling it out and brandishing it like a weapon. The Nightwalker hissed and recoiled a bit, focused on the flame. As it paused, Dom grabbed Nina’s shotgun off the ground and took aim.
“Don’t…” She said, putting a hand up to stop him, her voice low and intense. She didn’t dare look away from the Nightwalker. “Save the cursed rounds… they won’t kill it. Just get outside.”
“What about you?” Dom asked.
“Outside,” Nina repeated. “Now.”
I put a hand on Dom’s shoulder.
“Let’s go!” I said, trying to tug him along behind me.
He hesitated for a moment longer before finally letting me take him. We backed through the right set of columns, and once we were through I saw Nina taking a step away from the bonfire, toward the right set of columns. The Nightwalker passed the left set of columns, trying to follow her.
“Come on…” She said under her breath, “Come and get me, shithead…”
I saw it inching closer to her, and tensing up again, getting ready to pounce. That was when Nina made her move. She thrust her burning branch into the Nightwalker's face, earning a cry of pain from it and making it jerk back. I saw it swatting at the branch, trying to get rid of the fire. Nina took the chance to run, sprinting at top speed toward the door of the church.
“GO!”
Neither of us needed to be told twice. We ran for the church door, as the Nightwalker let out a roar from behind us. I looked back to see it charging toward us again, gaining ground. As we ran back out into the field, we were greeted by countless blinding lights. I saw Nina pause, before feeling her grab me by the back of the shirt and pull me away. I could see Dom in her other hand. She dragged us both down to the ground in the instant before the Nightwalker emerged from the door of the church.
I saw it recoil, putting up its clawed hands to try and shield its eyes from the blinding light.
Then I heard the gunfire.
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see several men, each holding automatic rifles advancing on the Nightwalker. It shrank back toward the church, trying to shield itself from the gunfire, clearly overwhelmed. But just like with Nina’s shotgun before it, the bullets did little to harm it. Despite all the gunfire it took, it didn’t fall. I could hear it hissing, I could see its beady black eyes darting around wildly. It lunged forward again, tackling one of the nearby men and tearing into him, before going after another. I saw its jaws close around his skull and heard the sickening crunch of bone as it took his head. The other men scrambled back, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the Nightwalker as they could. It howled in rage, preparing to charge after them when a final, deafening gunshot echoed through the night.
This time, the Nightwalker's entire body seized up. It let out an agonized scream. I could see its clawed hands clutching at a wound that had appeared on its chest… and I could see smoke rising out of that wound. It kept screaming and thrashing violently. Its limbs gave out from underneath it. I could see the wound in its chest sizzling and burning. I saw the flesh and skin sloughing off of its body, and I could see the pale white bone underneath.
The eye sigil on its forehead flickered before fading away and the Nightwalker let out one final, howl before collapsing to the ground, its body still twitching and convulsing. I looked over to see a single woman standing calmly by the nearby trucks. She was tall and pale, with long, stringy black hair and an intense look in her eye.
She was dressed in a long beige coat and holding an ornate revolver in one gloved hand. As the Nightwalker died I saw her gingerly slip the pistol into the inner pocket of her coat before reaching into another pocket for a notebook. Without ever looking away from the dead Nightwalker, she scribbled something down, then pocketed the notebook again and calmly walked toward the church, not even pausing to acknowledge anyone else around her. As she left, I saw the other armed men tending to their dead. With the Nightwalker dead, I could get a better look at them now. They were dressed like soldiers, with bulletproof vests and no shortage of pockets. A few of them wore netted veils over their faces, making it hard to get a good look at them and giving them an eerie appearance, although watching them examine the bodies of their dead and respectfully carrying them away was almost humanizing.
Nina sat up, her blonde hair messy and a somewhat disoriented look on her face. She looked over toward the source of the lights that had blinded us. Four large SUVs were parked outside of the church, their headlights shining on the door. From those SUVs, I could see more armed men getting out and one of them was coming toward us.
“Nina Valentine?” I heard him ask. He had a heavy Slavic accent.
“Still alive,” She said, as she slowly climbed to her feet.
“Good. I’m Olev Kallas, I’m from the Tallinn Office, Director Durand sends his regards,” He offered Nina a hand to shake and she reluctantly took it. “The Director is currently en route, as are the rest of the team. In the meanwhile, we’re here to help.”
“Yeah and right on fucking time too,” She said, looking over at the dead Nightwalker.
“Ah… yes, you can thank Dr. Di Cesare for that,” Kallas said.
Nina raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling that she recognized the name, but she didn’t comment on it.
“But first, I imagine you and your friends must need a hot meal and a cold drink right about now and I can get you both.”
“Oh you’ve got no fucking idea…” Nina said, as Dom helped me to my feet. She waited until we were up, before gesturing for us to follow as Kallas led us toward one of the SUV’s.
***
I barely recognized the empty field around us as Puriysk. The buildings were all long gone and in their place was a paved highway that I’d never seen before.
“The town’s been gone for as long as I can remember,” Kallas said. “I couldn’t tell you if it was us, or the Soviets who got rid of the ruins. I read somewhere that there was some talk about refurbishing the old Church, but as you see, nothing ever came of it.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Nina said, “Made my job a hell of a lot easier.”
We drove down the highway, past the wide open landscape and as we drove, I couldn’t help but admire it. In the distance, I could see the lights from another nearby town and watched as they drew closer and closer. God, I’d never seen a place so full of life before. As we drove along the quiet streets, past the sleeping buildings in the early hours of the morning, they still seemed so alive. Street lights cast a warm glow on the few passersby out doing their business. There were more cars on the road than I’d ever seen before, some driving past us to their own destinations and others parked and still.
“I can drop you three off at a hotel if you’d like,” Kallas offered. “You can get cleaned up and have a short rest before Director Durand arrives. I can pick up some fresh clothes for you, and then we can have a debrief over dinner.”
“Yeah, works for me,” Nina said before looking over at us.
“Dinner sounds good,” I said, although at the time I had no idea what exactly a hotel was. Thankfully, I got my answer pretty quickly.
The room I got was comfortable. The bed was softer than anything I’d ever laid on before and the hot water… oh God… I spent almost an hour in the shower alone, enjoying the steam and feeling the tension drain out of my muscles. When I was done, I put on a soft, fluffy bathrobe and laid down, letting myself relax for the first time in days. I almost dozed off… and maybe I would have if I hadn’t heard a knock on my door.
I considered ignoring it and just letting sleep take me, but I figured I might as well make sure it wasn’t important. Tying my bathrobe a little tighter around me, I got up to answer the door and was greeted by Dom, still wet from the shower.
“Hey,” He said. “Sorry, I hope I’m not bothering you!”
“It’s fine!” I replied, putting on a smile, “Come on in.”
I opened the door all the way to let him inside, but he hesitated.
“No, it’s alright. I just thought I’d check on you. It’s been… well, it’s been one hell of a past few days. And this feels like the first chance we’ve had to really breathe in a while.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I sighed. I still held the door open for him. “Well, we’re not going to have this conversation in the hall, so come on in. I’ve got a coffee machine in here and I’m dying to try it out.”
I’m not sure if it was the promise of coffee that made him accept my invitation or the realization that I probably didn’t want to be in the hall with just a bathrobe on, but he came inside anyway.I went to the coffee machine and tried to figure it out. They had these little cups that I’d never seen before, but otherwise, it seemed fairly straightforward.
“Man… it’s really something else out here, isn’t it?” Dom asked, going to sit down on the bed. “It’s just so bright out here!”
“I’m still not entirely convinced I’m not dreaming,” I admitted. I managed to get one of the cups into the coffee machine and watched as it pissed out a somewhat pathetic amount of scalding hot coffee that admittedly did smell very nice. It had a lovely vanilla aroma.
I brought the first cup over to Dom.
“Glad I’m not the only one,” He said as I went back to make another cup, “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if Nina’s backup was even going to come through and I sure as hell didn’t expect any of this.”
“You and me both,” I said with a sigh, “Is it wrong to say that I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop?”
“Well, when something seems too good to be true…” Dom murmured, “Although then again… looking at what we had in there compared to what Nina’s been telling me about life out here, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve had it bad for so long that even the smallest good thing would seem too good to be true.”
“That’s a disturbing thought,” I said.
“Maybe. But what if it’s true?”
I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Either way… this isn’t much more than a break, isn’t it?” Dom asked, “The calm before the storm. I know that after we talk to the Director, Nina’s going right back in… and I’m going with her.”
I nodded before taking my coffee and joining him on the bed.
“I know,” I said. “And I’m going with you.”
“You know that you don’t have to, right?” Dom asked. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I know that this kind of thing isn’t exactly in your wheelhouse. I’m not saying to just let it be or anything, but there’s other ways to help that don’t involve shooting things and burning down buildings.”
Again, I paused.
“Maybe,” I said. “Honestly, whatever I can do, I just want to do it. Whatever it may be. I’ve been just accepting things the way they were for too long, the same as you. I don’t want to just accept it anymore! I can’t.”
“And you aren’t,” Dom said, “I mean… shit, I watched you take pot shots at a Nightwalker the other night. Ever since we left, you’ve done whatever you can to help out. You’ve done a hell of a lot more to fix things than anyone else I know. That takes a hell of a lot of strength. More than I’d probably have in your shoes… honestly, you’re half the reason I’m still doing this, Cam.”
I looked at him and felt his hand pressing over mine.
“Only half?” I teased, trying to distract from the shade I could feel my cheeks flushing.
“Well, there’s everyone else too.” He said, “But right now, the one I care the most about is you.”
I actually broke down laughing at that and gently pushed him away.
“Too much?” He asked.
“No,” I said. “Just right.”
I let my head rest on his shoulder and for a little bit, we just sat together, hand in hand and beautifully content. I sensed him hesitating for a little while, before finally seizing the moment and placing his hand on my chin. I let him. He lifted my face and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, one that I all too happily reciprocated.
After all… who knew when we’d get another chance?
***
The restaurant that Kallas brought us to was fairly quiet, although it wasn’t empty. As we walked in, I could see a large table set out with faces both familiar and unfamiliar at it.
Nina had washed almost an entire layer of dirt and soot off her face. Her hair looked cleaner and she was clearly wearing new, cleaner jeans. Although I didn’t think she’d actually changed her T-shirt. I recognized it by the neckline, but I’d never seen the whole thing before. It had a graphic of a warning label on it that said: ‘DO NOT USE FOR WET GRINDING’ although the ‘DO NOT’ part was crossed out in red.
Had she seriously been wearing that the whole fucking time…? At least it looked like she’d recently washed it.
Beside Nina, I saw Natalya, looking a little more cleaned up and wearing new clothes. Someone must have gotten her out of Puriysk earlier that day. The dark haired woman that Kallas had named as Dr. Di Cesare sat on the other side of Nina, although she was more focused on her own journal than any of us.
Lastly, I saw a man I didn’t recognize at all. He was tall and looked to be somewhere in his fifties, with wavy blond hair and a clean shaven face. He was dressed in a nice but slightly wrinkled suit.
The blond man was the first one to speak.
“Mr. Kallas, good to see you again,” He said as he got up to greet us.
“Director Durand, I have to say that the pleasure is all mine,” Kallas said, shaking Durand’s hand. His attention turned to us next.
“You two must be Camille Lambert and Dom Hoskins, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Milo Durand. I’m the Director of the Fae Relations Bureau’s Department of Public Safety.”
“Hell of a mouthful,” Dom said, shaking Durand’s hand.
“Just call us the FRB for short,” He said with a smile, “Take a seat. Dr. Di Cesare and I wanted to take some time to go through the situation with the Calhoun Pocket.”
Kallas pulled out some seats for us and we sat down. There were glasses of water waiting for us at the table. As soon as we sat down, Dr. Di Cesare glanced up at us, but didn’t close her notebook.
“So… now that we’re all here. Where should we begin?” Kallas asked.
“Well for starters, I’d like to get a solid picture of what exactly we’re going to be walking into when we send the rest of our people into the Calhoun Pocket,” Durand said, “Mr. Kallas, I’m aware you’re detachment has already properly secured Puriysk. But I’ve got some questions regarding the other towns so we know what else to expect once we’re inside.”
“What exactly is it that you want to know?” I asked.
“Well for starters, we need access to the other towns. We were told that navigating between them could be difficult, but I imagine there must be some way to circumvent that,”
“There is,” Dom said, “The roads don’t always go to the same places, but there are always landmarks and turns. You can use those to navigate.”
“One of the files I found in the archive at the Deputy’s Office has a list of landmarks and directions to reach the different towns,” Nina added, “I emailed you a copy earlier to go over,”
Durand nodded.
“Excellent. Which leads me to my next question. Infrastructure. I can’t imagine Calhoun’s been running a show like his without some means of providing food and power to the other towns. I’m aware that Rankin Mills had a power plant, so I figure that Calhoun is using that to keep the lights on. But what about food, gas, supplies?”
“Most of the food comes from Bakersfield,” I said. “There’s a lot of farmland there, most of it fairly safe from the mist. I used to work at a Roadhouse in Thompson Falls. We’d get deliveries every week or so.”
“I see… what about Puriysk and Thompson Falls? What’s there?”
“Puriysk was where they trained a lot of the Sheriff’s Boys,” Dom said. “They had the largest Deputy’s Office outside of Parsons. And Thompson Falls was more of a mining community. Lotta the construction work that was done in Parsons was done by people brought in from Thompson and Puriysk.”
Durand raised an eyebrow.
“Construction in Parsons?” He asked.
“Calhoun’s sorta been using it as his capital. Far as I can tell, he’s been trying to build up the towns, although Parson’s the one that’s gotten the most attention,” Dom said. “I guess it’s as close to a capital city as we’ve got in there. He also mentioned the ‘Sovereign Nation of Calhoun’ although I haven’t heard anyone outside of Parsons use that name.”
“Sovereign Nation of Calhoun…” Durand repeated, before glancing at Nina. She just gave a slightly defeated nod as if to say: ‘Yeah, he actually called it that.’
“Okay… let’s talk about Calhoun himself… what do you know?” Durand asked.
“Not a hell of a lot,” Dom said, “Closest I’ve ever come to actually meeting the guy is when he spoke to us outside of the church last night. Other than that, he rarely leaves his house in Parsons and rarely appears in public and most of what I’ve heard is just rumors.”
“Whatever you’ve heard… odds are that it’s true,” Natalya said quietly, drawing all eyes at the table over to her.
“I’ve heard the story enough times now… first from my mother, then from so many afterward. One day, the days just grew dimmer. The clouds above us just grew so thick that you could not see the sun and the mist drifted through the streets. The roads no longer led to the same places… and at night, the shadows moved, devouring any in their paths alive and screaming. First, it came for Parsons, then Rankin, Puriysk, Bakersfield, and Thompson. One by one. In time, it will come for others. He will come for others.”
Durand leaned in a little bit, listening intently. Dr. Di Cesare had also paused, listening as Natalya spoke.
“My mother told me that after the change, Calhoun’s people began to enter the town. Drunken louts, filling up the bars demanding free alcohol in exchange for ‘protection’ from the things outside. Although even with the alcohol, they still left bodies in their wake.”
She paused, slipping back into old, bitter memories.
“She told me of the ways Calhoun had changed Puriysk… most of the men either joined his little militia out of necessity or were given other jobs where they were worked to the bone. And the women…” She paused, “The homemakers he generally left alone but the young and the pretty ones found their way into the brothel. After all, his soldiers needed something to do to pass the time when they weren’t drinking and acting like children with guns. Governor Calhoun raped Puriysk, just the same as he raped every other town he took. All my life, I’ve watched as he’s milked them for his own gain and spread like a disease across new towns, looking for more. Before I even understood what home was, he had taken my home from me. Before I was old enough to speak, he had taken my life from me. Because of him, I grew up in a brothel in a town that does not exist.”
Durand was silent, before looking at Nina who drummed her fingers on the table.
“Valentine?” He asked.
“Like Dom said, the only interaction we had with that guy was when he talked to us last night,” She said. “I’m not a psychologist but I’d figure most of what he said is pretty on par with what a narcissistic megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur would probably say. It was probably a whole lot of horseshit… probably…”
“But?” Durand asked. Nina sighed.
“There was one thing he said that stood out, he said that if we killed him, we’d be killing everyone else in the pocket too. He made it sound like his life was tied to it, or something. I don’t know if he can actually fucking do that or not but I’m also not sure I’d want to chance it. Some of those documents I found in the Puriysk archive mentioned Calhoun and something called ‘The Eldest’.”
At the mention of the name, Dr. Di Cesare looked up.
“Gretchen,” Durand asked, “Do you recognize that name.”
Gretchen Di Cesare gave a curt nod before flipping through her notebook to a previous page. As she did, I noticed her sleeve lifting briefly, revealing a tattoo on her wrist. Two wavy, parallel lines. It looked like the zodiac sign for ‘Aquarius.’
“The Eldest… Old Fae. ‘The eldest’ according to myth, hence the name. Few documented encounters. None modern…” She paused to think for a moment, “Hard to kill… harder to control. Would need the heart either way. No small task but… possible… probable.”
“Old Fae?” I asked, “What exactly is that?”
“More or less exactly what it says on the tin,” Nina said. “Really old forest fae who got fucked up by the Midnight Grove… and a real fucking problem if that’s what we’re going to have to deal with. Do we even know how to kill an Old Fae?”
“As stated, the heart,” Dr. Di Cesare said, “Find that, kill the Fae. Would reckon that Calhoun has it. If not on his person, then somewhere safe. And should that fail…”
She removed the revolver from her coat pocket and set it down on the table without a word.
“A contingency. Custom revolver, specialized blessed rounds - Malvian ice.”
I saw Nina raise an eyebrow.
“You put Malvian ice in a gun?” She asked.
“What’s Malvian ice?” I asked. I figured that this conversation required a bit of context.
“Frozen mist, obtained from the domain of an Ancient God. In essence, a part of the God herself” Dr. Di Cesare said. “Weaponized - could kill anything beneath the Ancient Gods. Never tried it with bullets before, but the live fire trial yielded promising results.”
My mind flashed back to the Nightwalker we’d run into last night and the way its flesh had melted away after Dr. Di Cesare had shot it with that gun. The memory sent a chill through me.
“So you built a gun that can shoot an Old Fae dead?” Nina asked. I couldn’t tell if she was disturbed by the guns existence or excited to try it out.
“Old Fae, Grovewalkers, and most lesser Gods, amongst other things,” Dr. Di Cesare said. “So long as it has a physical form, it can be killed.”
“Dr. Di Cesare agreed to assist us with this job, in the interest of doing her own research on the Calhoun pocket,” Durand added. “The gun is her contribution to this project. It’s intended as more of an emergency measure than anything else. But if necessary, we could use it to kill whatever is allowing Calhoun to control the pocket reality.”
Nina just whistled and sat back in her chair. She seemed almost at a loss for words.
“So… all we need to do is shoot Calhoun or this ‘Eldest’ thing with that gun, after we get everyone out and we’re golden, right?” Dom asked.
“I would regard The Eldest as a higher priority than Calhoun right now,” Durand said. “Calhoun could have been lying about tying his own life to the existence of the pocket reality, but I’m not willing to take that gamble if I don’t have to. Right now, my gut is saying to try and take him alive.”
“He’s not gonna go quietly if we try,” Nina pointed out. “Hypothetical question, if we destroy the heart, would that take the risk of killing Calhoun out of the equation?”
“No. Whatever spell was used, would not die with the caster,” Dr. Di Cesare said.
Nina nodded thoughtfully.
“I see. Fuck.”
“To your point though: Killing Calhoun is likely inevitable. And while I lack any meaningful data on the spell used by the Eldest or how to circumvent it, I can predict the timeframe of such a collapse. The effect would not be immediate. Could take minutes, hours or days. There may be a window for escape.”
“We'll have time to cross that bridge when we get to it,” Durand said. “Last question I’ve got is about the local militia, but Mr. Kallas and I can discuss that with Valentine and Mr. Hoskins separately. In the meanwhile, I believe our first order of business should be eliminating collateral. We’ll start with Puriysk, then move on to Rankin Mills, Bakersfield, and Thompson Falls. Once we’ve cleared out those towns, we’ll focus on Parsons and Calhoun. Mr. Kallas, I’ll leave it to you to oversee the evacuation efforts. It’s probably redundant to say this, but we’ve got our work cut out for us, ladies and gentlemen so let’s keep our heads down, our minds sharp and get through this as cleanly as possible. Now… without any further ado, I promised you people dinner and I’m not going to put you all to work on an empty stomach. So, as the Estonians say: ‘Head isu.’”
***
Looking back, there was a sort of bittersweetness to that evening. On one hand, I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten so well. After dinner, I went back to the hotel, enjoyed my hot shower, and sank into my warm sheets, waiting for Dom to come back from his meeting with Nina, Kallas, and Durand.
And yet… at the same time, all I could think about was what would happen in the morning. In the morning, we’d be leaving again, going back to Puriysk. Back to Calhoun. Part of me almost dreaded it, fearing that if I left this place then I’d never get to come back again.
But listening to Durand and the others talk during that briefing… so much of it went completely over my head and I couldn’t help but feel like that was a good thing. They’d been focused, precise, knowledgeable and most of all, prepared.
Calhoun’s threats lingered in the back of my mind, but they seemed so much smaller now. I struggled to imagine that Calhoun and the Sheriff’s Boys could do much the face of what had come for him, even with some kind of all powerful Fae at his disposal. Just Nina alone had been enough to rip Puriysk from his grasp… what could an army of her do?
I should have taken comfort in that idea. I did take comfort in that idea. But I still couldn’t help but worry all the same. Maybe what Dom had said earlier was true. Maybe we’d had it so bad for so long that even the smallest good thing now seemed too good to be true… maybe. When Dom came back, I was waiting for him. We lay in bed together, talking quietly to each other about what was going to happen in the morning, and holding hands, we drifted off into sleep.
2023.03.21 05:14 ChadleyXXX WHAT LOT WAS MORE INSANE THAN MIAMI 03???!?
Truth. I have never seen anything like the 03 Rage Cage. 12 foot high chain link fences (with barbed wire if memory serves me right.) You could buy any drug you wanted. First, and only time to this day, that I've seen N20 pushers with coordinated radios, head sets, identifiable tshirts, etc. People dropping like flies from nitrous. Plenty of fights. Broken glass everywhere. Just total s*** show. RAGE CAGE! Then, you crossed the street and walked into the venue about 100 yards away. Show over, rinse. repeat. ABSURD. RAGE CAGE! The main shakedown lot in 03' was a tiny fenced in area. Think WWF Steel Cage match with 900 rotating wooks coming in and out of the door and up and over the fence at times. Unreal! RAGE CAGE! It was as close to a Phish Royal Rumble as you could get. With the monorail up above too. The monorail rides also shouldn't be forgotten. Those turned into communal Phish drug dens/toilets. Dude. Absolutely. Those monorails would be packed like sardines with people trying to tip them over and destroy all of the people inside. Miami 03' was full of barbarians. Miami '03 was the first time i was offered to buy crack on lot .. it was from a 10yr old kid and his 6 yr old bro. RAGE CAGE! Tanks going all night for 4 days straight. Hooker tents. Dudes nodding out with needles in their arms laying 3 deep against concrete in the mud. F****** core yo. All walks of life converging in a post apocalyptic slab of cement. Miami 03 was INSANE. We saw an unresponsive (dead?) guy laying on the ground. He was alone, and everyone in my group were concerned. After trying to wake up/ revive this kid, we all decided the best thing to do was to try to get him medical attention. We saw a cop, told him we that we thought this kid was dead, and watched what he did. He went over to the kid, said something into a radio, and walked off. Complete anarchy. All walks of life converging in a post apocalyptic slab of cement.
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2023.03.21 05:13 yackzsznn Mock Draft 2.0 with Explanations
Please keep an open mind after all no one knows what’ll actually happen
1.01 CAR: C.J. Stroud, QB Ohio State
Despite the current lack of receiving talent, Carolina is a team ready to compete right now. They were active in free agency, signing Miles Sanders, Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Bradley Bozeman, and Shy Tuttle, among others. They’ll need to find more WRs, but it feels like the main core is here now. Stroud is tall and accurate, with a good blend of poise and playmaking ability. He’s pro-ready. New QB coach Josh McCown raved about Stroud on Underdog Fantasy’s channel before he was hired in Carolina, and compared Stroud to Joe Burrow. My gut feeling is that they prefer Stroud.
1.02 HOU: Bryce Young, QB Alabama
IND Receives: 1.03 ARI Receives: 1.04, 3.79, 2024 Rd4
1.03 IND: Anthony Richardson, QB Florida
The Colts are in a dangerous position behind the Cardinals who could very well trade the 3rd overall pick to a QB needy team. I have the Colts playing it safe and jumping up one spot. I would love to see Richardson with the coach that helped turn a total project QB in Jalen Hurts into MVP runner up. Obviously Hurts himself had the most to do with that, but if Indianapolis is confident Richardson will put in the work to learn, they should absolutely take him. At the very least Steichen and Richardson would turn the Colts into a top 5 rushing attack in football, at best Richardson turns into a shiftier Hurts with a more powerful arm. Scary to think about. The Colts are one of the only teams reportedly interested in signing Lamar Jackson, which almost certainly will not actually happen, but it goes to show that Steichen is justifiably very interested in that mobile QB archetype.
1.04 ARI: Will Anderson Jr, ED Alabama
With Jalen Carter’s stock falling fast, Anderson might be the only real blue chip player in this class. Anderson also happens to fill a position of dire need for Arizona, as their current best defensive lineman is probably Cameron Thomas? The 87th overall pick last season. It’s bleak. Theres not much to say other than they need help on the DLine and Anderson happens to be the best player for that.
1.05 SEA: Tyree Wilson, ED Texas Tech
The Seahawks sorely need talent on their defensive line. Late in the season, Seattle’s run defense totally fell apart, prompting Pete Carroll to remark that the defensive issues were “killing him.” Seattle allowed the most rushing yards in the league from week 12 onward. Tyree Wilson is a long, powerful edge rusher from Texas Tech who was productive stopping the run and rushing the passer despite his technical flaws. Wilson is a 6’6 freak of nature and it sounds like some teams may even have him above Will Anderson on their boards; with all the bad press Jalen Carter has gotten recently, it’s not unthinkable that Wilson is selected ahead of Carter, despite the talent gap.
1.06 DET: Jalen Carter, DL Georgia
Selecting Carter is getting riskier and riskier, but he may be too talented to pass up here. Detroit had an explosive offense, but the defense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Detroit desperately needs a difference maker next to Alim McNeill inside. Houston and Hutchinson were a productive edge duo last year, and with the complete overhaul in the secondary, DT is the most glaring need on the defense. Detroit seems to have the strongest culture in the league. Maybe they could help Carter get back on track. It could very well be a worthy gamble. Carter is the best player in the draft.
1.07 LV: Christian Gonzalez, CB Oregon
Aside from Nate Hobbs, this CB room does not have a reliable corner. The Raiders aren’t afraid to play some aggressive man coverage. Vegas doesn’t really have the personnel to play this way though, as they were 30th in the league in EPA/pass attempt. Gonzalez is a fantastic corner prospect with easy long speed and elite change of direction ability. His extreme versatility + a healthy Nate Hobbs could help Patrick Graham’s vision come to life.
1.08 ATL: Devon Witherspoon, CB Illinois
Atlanta needs more help in that secondary. AJ Terrell is a top corner, but one side of the field being locked up doesn’t help much when offenses can just throw somewhere else. Atlanta was still the second worst defense in the league vs the pass, allowing +0.11 EPA/dropback. He measured in pretty small at only 181 pounds with a 73 inch wingspan, and on tape he doesn’t necessarily look like a top top tier athlete. However, it’s tough to argue with the results. Witherspoon was as lockdown as it gets in 2022, allowing a 25 passer rating when targeted. He’s physical with a great burst coming downhill and outstanding ball skills.
1.09 CHI: Paris Johnson Jr, T Ohio State
It seems like the Bears believe in Fields as their guy. Johnson Jr had experience playing guard and tackle at Ohio State. He could play right guard year one, move to tackle later, all while working with the best offensive line coach in the world. He’s very raw, so he’ll need time, but he has the perfect frame and the movement skills to match. He could be the next great Eagles tackle with the right development. The Eagles hosted Paris Johnson with one of their top 30 visits, so there is interest here.
NE Receives: 1.10 PHI Receives: 1.14, 3.76
1.10 NE: Peter Skoronski, T Northwestern
The projected starting tackles for New England are Riley Reiff and Trent Brown. With many teams needing Olinemen ahead of them, it could be a good idea to trade up to get your guy. Brown has some right tackle experience if you want to keep Skoronski at his college position of left tackle. Skoronski could also be a guard, which could help in the future. Many are concerned about his small arms, but here’s a direct quote from legendary New England offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia about arm length. “that shit is overrated.” Skoronski is a flexible and intelligent tackle prospect and if you can stomach the short arms, I assume he’d be high on your board. Scarneccia is retired now, but I’m sure his philosophies still matter in New England.
1.11 TEN: Broderick Jones, T Georgia
The Titans sorely need to create some displacement in the running game. NextGenStats has them allowing 1.17 yards before contact, 25th in the league. Derrick Henry was running into brick walls snap after snap, especially towards the end of the season. Henry isn’t the type of runner who can really make guys miss in the backfield. The line isn’t looking any better post free agency. Dillard-Radunz-Brewer-Brunskill-Petit Frier isn’t moving anybody. Jones has a five star, SEC pedigree with ideal size, good footwork, and a nasty streak. He can help build up this really bad line.
1.12 HOU: Quentin Johnston, WR TCU
With the recent trade of Brandin Cooks the Texans don't really have a surefire number one receiver. They brought in a Shanahan guy with DeMeco Ryans, that means monster skill position players. I’m more sure Addison and JSN will end up being good pros, but Johnston has the ability to take a slant to the house, or take the top off the defense, opening up space for crossing routes. With hardly any starter worthy receivers, picking one here is probably necessary.
GB Receives: 1.13, 4.112, WR Elijah Moore NYJ Receives: QB Aaron Rodgers, 5.149
1.13 GB: Lukas Van Ness, ED Iowa
Smith, Van Ness, Gary, and Clark would be a great group with so many different skill sets, body types, and versatility there. The knock on Van Ness is his pass rush plan. He has one! But it’s only one. Bull rush bullrush bull rush. Van Ness is just a power rusher at this point, but I’ve seen flashes of high level coordination with his hands, and he’s just so strong.
1.14 PHI: Myles Murphy, ED Clemson
With the resigning's of both star cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry, CB is no longer a position of need at pick 10 or in this case, 14. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are getting old and are due to regress sooner than later. I think NFL teams will be higher on Murphy than the draft community seems to be. At 270 pounds with plenty of explosiveness off the line, Murphy has a lot of potential as a power rusher and the frame that would fit with what the team likes.
1.15 GB: Dalton Kincaid, TE Utah
After letting Tonyan walk in free agency they have no answer at tight end. Kincaid is probably the best tight end on the board, a smooth runner with soft hands and a lightning quick transition from catcher to runner. Jordan Love will be under a lot of pressure and it's best to give him as much help as possible. Kincaid is too wiry to be a great inline blocker, which may hurt his case a bit. Although he does give good effort there so he could always line up in that spot
1.16 WSH: Will Levis, QB Kentucky
The Commanders are currently rolling into the NFC East, where 3/4 teams made the playoffs last season, with Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett. Brissett played fine last year, but is he enough to avoid the basement of this division? That might not be a bet Rivera can afford to make. If he is here at 16, they should sprint to the podium. Will Levis played in a pro-style system in college, has easy arm strength, some mobility, and great toughness. Eric Bieniemy helped harness Patrick Mahomes’ raw talent, and Levis’s down 2022 is somewhat reminiscent of Justin Herbert’s situation his last year at Oregon. I doubt front offices are this low on him but maybe this can work.
1.17 PIT: Joey Porter Jr, CB Penn State
The Steelers let recent breakout CB Cam Sutton walk in free agency to the Lions. In return they signed 32 year old Patrick Peterson. While the signing isn't terrible it likely won't last long. Joey Porter Jr to Pittsburgh feels like such an ideal fit. After all, he is the son of former Steelers LB, Joey Porter. Porter’s wingspan is over 80 inches long, putting him in the 97th percentile for cornerbacks. He is exactly the kind of player to be lining up opposite Peterson. His length, speed, and play strength scream Steeler, it would be hard to pass on him.
1.18 DET: Deonte Banks, CB Maryland
With both Jeff Okudah and Moseley in the final year of their contracts, the Lions could use this opportunity to draft an elite-level corner without feeling the need to rush him to the field. Banks only allowed a 43.3% completion rate in coverage last year and crushed the combine. He’s 6’0 with 4.3 speed and a 42 inch vertical. Easy first round CB who could very well go higher than this.
1.19 TB: Brian Branch, S Alabama
Although offensive line is probably the biggest need, Tampa simply doesn’t have many functional defensive backs under contract. Branch is more of a nickel/box safety than someone who’s going to be ranging over the top, but he has great instincts to cover up his zones and the movement ability to mirror slot receivers in man. As long as Bowles is in charge, you may be asked to line up anywhere and do anything on any given snap. Branch feels like a good fit.
NYG Receives: 1.20 SEA Receives: 1.25, 3.89
1.20 NYG: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR Ohio State
The Giants have been lacking a WR1 since OBJ left in 2019. With arguably the best WR in the draft still on the board, I could see them jumping the many other receiver needy teams to take JSN. Smith-Njigba is my personal WR1 because of his ability to shake man coverage with his change of direction ability and uncanny sense of where to settle in the open zone. His long speed is not good as we see on his tape, but he’s crafty, balanced, and smooth, more of a slot guy. He'll step in and be Daniels Jones' most reliable receiver right away.
1.21 LAC: Zay Flowers, WR Boston College
Zay Flowers is exactly what the Chargers need. They don’t need a huge piece, they’ve got Keenan Allen to exploit zone and Mike Williams to win contested catches and dominate in the red zone. What Justin Herbert and this offense could really use is someone who can take the top off the defense and turn underneath passes into explosive plays. Flowers isn’t great at everything, but he’s great at that. LA doesn’t
1.22 BAL: Jordan Addison, WR USC
Todd Monken won’t be able to get the desired results in the passing game without better pass catchers. Despite an underwhelming combine, Jordan Addison is still a good prospect. He’s smooth, he doesn’t give away his breaks, he can win deep, and he has some wiggle after the catch. Addison doesn’t have the play strength to ever be considered a “tier one” threat that you can build an offense around, but he’s a very safe bet to be a nice piece for years to come.
1.23 MIN: Nolan Smith, ED Georgia
Nolan Smith is a good player. He could probably even move off ball and replace Kendricks, but I think the tape is good enough that you could keep him at EDGE. Especially in Brian Flores’ scheme that gets people flying through gaps, tracking down QBs as a free rusher, and dropping into coverage no matter what position you play. I can’t think of someone more dangerous as a free runner than Nolan Smith. With his 4.3 speed and elite change of direction ability, not many players could reliably make this guy miss. Smith’s athleticism makes him a great potential dropper when they get in those zero looks. Nolan Smith feels like their guy.
1.24 JAX: Darnell Wright, T Tennessee
With Jawaan Taylor leaving in free agency this team is in need of a replacement. He plays with great balance and is outstanding as a run blocker. Wright has issues with his hand placement but his size and phenomenal movement skills leave you tantalized about what he could be. Wright did well vs top competition this season and won the offensive line practice player of the week award at the Senior Bowl. He’ll be an upgrade over Walker Little
1.25 SEA: O’Cyrus Torrence, G Florida
While there are other needs, specifically at the WR and Center positions, by the way the board has fallen, Torrence is the best option. With Gabe Jackson being cut and Damien Lewis entering the final year of his deal next season, they're gonna look to upgrade at guard. O’Cyrus Torrence is a massive interior lineman who dominates down blocks, doesn’t commit penalties, and holds up well in pass protection. It feels like he’d be a good match.
1.26 DAL: Bijan Robinson, RB Texas
With Zeke getting released the team should look for a second RB. The generational running back talent has obvious ties to Dallas as a Texas Longhorn. Even with Pollard under the franchise tag, that’s just a one-year deal. The future of the Dallas ground game can be an elite pairing between Robinson and Pollard in 2023. Robinson finished the 2022 college season as PFF’s second-highest-graded rusher in the FBS, tallying 18 rushing TDs and 1,575 rushing yards. He forced 104 missed tackles (40% broken tackle rate) – a metric that has shown to be super predictive of success rushing at the NFL level.
1.27 BUF: Michael Mayer, TE Notre Dame
Buffalo’s supporting cast was exposed in the playoffs. They had no second tight end worth playing, so all year they had to live in 11 personnel even though the receiving core wasn’t that deep. Buffalo was 32nd in the league in frequency of 12 personnel looks. They didn’t have much personnel versatility, and by the end of the year, the offense seemed stale and totally reliant on the “Josh Allen go do something” play. Michael Mayer has been super productive for a major school from a young age. He’s got the route running savvy to create separation, and the physicality to make contested catches and key blocks. The Bills should just be looking to add any kind of real second threat next to Diggs. Mayer could be that guy.
1.28 CIN: Anton Harrison, T Oklahoma
La’el Collins will never be the same. He looked completely washed this season after injuring his back. The addition of Orlando Brown was a good deal and will hopefully pan out well for them. Harrison is an extremely young, yet technically proficient pass protector with quick feet to stay balanced and a strong punch to stile and stay connected to rushers. My only issue is that he only played LT in his college career. Orlando Brown seems 100% serious on staying at LT which could go badly if Harrison can't keep his same production on the right side.
1.29 NO: Calijah Kancey, DL Pittsburgh
The Saints struck early in free agency by signing former Chiefs DT Khalen Saunders and former Jets DT Nathan Shepherd. However, neither of those offers the interior pass rush ability that Calijah Kancey does. Kancey is arguably the best pure pass rusher in the draft when you consider just how deep his bag of moves is, and his ridiculous 22.7% pass rush win rate. Should be a no-brainer her for the Saints
1.30 PHI: Bryan Bresee, DL Clemson
A bit of a project guy here but worth taking the risk. At 6'5" 300lbs he's a monster on the line. He plays with unique speed, length, and power giving him a shocking burst to throw the lineman off his balance. His versatility might be his greatest strength. He has the playstyle to play anywhere along the line and still perform the same. His injury risk is a bit concerning but the eagles seem to have a good medical staff to keep him healthy.
1.31 KC: BJ Ojulari, ED LSU
The Chiefs need a replacement for Frank Clark who simply is not getting it done. Carlos Dunlap is also not a lock to return, and Mike Danna is a free agent after the 2023 season. George Karlaftis looks solid, but there’s not much after him. B.J. Ojulari has the speed to complement Karlaftis’ power. He has an explosive first step and has demonstrated numerous swim moves to attack offensive tackles
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1.01 CAR: C.J. Stroud, QB Ohio State
Despite the current lack of receiving talent, Carolina is a team ready to compete right now. They were active in free agency, signing Miles Sanders, Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Bradley Bozeman, and Shy Tuttle, among others. They’ll need to find more WRs, but it feels like the main core is here now. Stroud is tall and accurate, with a good blend of poise and playmaking ability. He’s pro-ready. New QB coach Josh McCown raved about Stroud on Underdog Fantasy’s channel before he was hired in Carolina, and compared Stroud to Joe Burrow. My gut feeling is that they prefer Stroud.
1.02 HOU: Bryce Young, QB Alabama
IND Receives: 1.03 ARI Receives: 1.04, 3.79, 2024 Rd4
1.03 IND: Anthony Richardson, QB Florida
The Colts are in a dangerous position behind the Cardinals who could very well trade the 3rd overall pick to a QB needy team. I have the Colts playing it safe and jumping up one spot. I would love to see Richardson with the coach that helped turn a total project QB in Jalen Hurts into MVP runner up. Obviously Hurts himself had the most to do with that, but if Indianapolis is confident Richardson will put in the work to learn, they should absolutely take him. At the very least Steichen and Richardson would turn the Colts into a top 5 rushing attack in football, at best Richardson turns into a shiftier Hurts with a more powerful arm. Scary to think about. The Colts are one of the only teams reportedly interested in signing Lamar Jackson, which almost certainly will not actually happen, but it goes to show that Steichen is justifiably very interested in that mobile QB archetype.
1.04 ARI: Will Anderson Jr, ED Alabama
With Jalen Carter’s stock falling fast, Anderson might be the only real blue chip player in this class. Anderson also happens to fill a position of dire need for Arizona, as their current best defensive lineman is probably Cameron Thomas? The 87th overall pick last season. It’s bleak. Theres not much to say other than they need help on the DLine and Anderson happens to be the best player for that.
1.05 SEA: Tyree Wilson, ED Texas Tech
The Seahawks sorely need talent on their defensive line. Late in the season, Seattle’s run defense totally fell apart, prompting Pete Carroll to remark that the defensive issues were “killing him.” Seattle allowed the most rushing yards in the league from week 12 onward. Tyree Wilson is a long, powerful edge rusher from Texas Tech who was productive stopping the run and rushing the passer despite his technical flaws. Wilson is a 6’6 freak of nature and it sounds like some teams may even have him above Will Anderson on their boards; with all the bad press Jalen Carter has gotten recently, it’s not unthinkable that Wilson is selected ahead of Carter, despite the talent gap.
1.06 DET: Jalen Carter, DL Georgia
Selecting Carter is getting riskier and riskier, but he may be too talented to pass up here. Detroit had an explosive offense, but the defense couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Detroit desperately needs a difference maker next to Alim McNeill inside. Houston and Hutchinson were a productive edge duo last year, and with the complete overhaul in the secondary, DT is the most glaring need on the defense. Detroit seems to have the strongest culture in the league. Maybe they could help Carter get back on track. It could very well be a worthy gamble. Carter is the best player in the draft.
1.07 LV: Christian Gonzalez, CB Oregon
Aside from Nate Hobbs, this CB room does not have a reliable corner. The Raiders aren’t afraid to play some aggressive man coverage. Vegas doesn’t really have the personnel to play this way though, as they were 30th in the league in EPA/pass attempt. Gonzalez is a fantastic corner prospect with easy long speed and elite change of direction ability. His extreme versatility + a healthy Nate Hobbs could help Patrick Graham’s vision come to life.
1.08 ATL: Devon Witherspoon, CB Illinois
Atlanta needs more help in that secondary. AJ Terrell is a top corner, but one side of the field being locked up doesn’t help much when offenses can just throw somewhere else. Atlanta was still the second worst defense in the league vs the pass, allowing +0.11 EPA/dropback. He measured in pretty small at only 181 pounds with a 73 inch wingspan, and on tape he doesn’t necessarily look like a top top tier athlete. However, it’s tough to argue with the results. Witherspoon was as lockdown as it gets in 2022, allowing a 25 passer rating when targeted. He’s physical with a great burst coming downhill and outstanding ball skills.
1.09 CHI: Paris Johnson Jr, T Ohio State
It seems like the Bears believe in Fields as their guy. Johnson Jr had experience playing guard and tackle at Ohio State. He could play right guard year one, move to tackle later, all while working with the best offensive line coach in the world. He’s very raw, so he’ll need time, but he has the perfect frame and the movement skills to match. He could be the next great Eagles tackle with the right development. The Eagles hosted Paris Johnson with one of their top 30 visits, so there is interest here.
NE Receives: 1.10 PHI Receives: 1.14, 3.76
1.10 NE: Peter Skoronski, T Northwestern
The projected starting tackles for New England are Riley Reiff and Trent Brown. With many teams needing Olinemen ahead of them, it could be a good idea to trade up to get your guy. Brown has some right tackle experience if you want to keep Skoronski at his college position of left tackle. Skoronski could also be a guard, which could help in the future. Many are concerned about his small arms, but here’s a direct quote from legendary New England offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia about arm length. “that shit is overrated.” Skoronski is a flexible and intelligent tackle prospect and if you can stomach the short arms, I assume he’d be high on your board. Scarneccia is retired now, but I’m sure his philosophies still matter in New England.
1.11 TEN: Broderick Jones, T Georgia
The Titans sorely need to create some displacement in the running game. NextGenStats has them allowing 1.17 yards before contact, 25th in the league. Derrick Henry was running into brick walls snap after snap, especially towards the end of the season. Henry isn’t the type of runner who can really make guys miss in the backfield. The line isn’t looking any better post free agency. Dillard-Radunz-Brewer-Brunskill-Petit Frier isn’t moving anybody. Jones has a five star, SEC pedigree with ideal size, good footwork, and a nasty streak. He can help build up this really bad line.
1.12 HOU: Quentin Johnston, WR TCU
With the recent trade of Brandin Cooks the Texans don't really have a surefire number one receiver. They brought in a Shanahan guy with DeMeco Ryans, that means monster skill position players. I’m more sure Addison and JSN will end up being good pros, but Johnston has the ability to take a slant to the house, or take the top off the defense, opening up space for crossing routes. With hardly any starter worthy receivers, picking one here is probably necessary.
GB Receives: 1.13, 4.112, WR Elijah Moore NYJ Receives: QB Aaron Rodgers, 5.149
1.13 GB: Lukas Van Ness, ED Iowa
Smith, Van Ness, Gary, and Clark would be a great group with so many different skill sets, body types, and versatility there. The knock on Van Ness is his pass rush plan. He has one! But it’s only one. Bull rush bullrush bull rush. Van Ness is just a power rusher at this point, but I’ve seen flashes of high level coordination with his hands, and he’s just so strong.
1.14 PHI: Myles Murphy, ED Clemson
With the resigning's of both star cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry, CB is no longer a position of need at pick 10 or in this case, 14. Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox are getting old and are due to regress sooner than later. I think NFL teams will be higher on Murphy than the draft community seems to be. At 270 pounds with plenty of explosiveness off the line, Murphy has a lot of potential as a power rusher and the frame that would fit with what the team likes.
1.15 GB: Dalton Kincaid, TE Utah
After letting Tonyan walk in free agency they have no answer at tight end. Kincaid is probably the best tight end on the board, a smooth runner with soft hands and a lightning quick transition from catcher to runner. Jordan Love will be under a lot of pressure and it's best to give him as much help as possible. Kincaid is too wiry to be a great inline blocker, which may hurt his case a bit. Although he does give good effort there so he could always line up in that spot
1.16 WSH: Will Levis, QB Kentucky
The Commanders are currently rolling into the NFC East, where 3/4 teams made the playoffs last season, with Sam Howell and Jacoby Brissett. Brissett played fine last year, but is he enough to avoid the basement of this division? That might not be a bet Rivera can afford to make. If he is here at 16, they should sprint to the podium. Will Levis played in a pro-style system in college, has easy arm strength, some mobility, and great toughness. Eric Bieniemy helped harness Patrick Mahomes’ raw talent, and Levis’s down 2022 is somewhat reminiscent of Justin Herbert’s situation his last year at Oregon. I doubt front offices are this low on him but maybe this can work.
1.17 PIT: Joey Porter Jr, CB Penn State
The Steelers let recent breakout CB Cam Sutton walk in free agency to the Lions. In return they signed 32 year old Patrick Peterson. While the signing isn't terrible it likely won't last long. Joey Porter Jr to Pittsburgh feels like such an ideal fit. After all, he is the son of former Steelers LB, Joey Porter. Porter’s wingspan is over 80 inches long, putting him in the 97th percentile for cornerbacks. He is exactly the kind of player to be lining up opposite Peterson. His length, speed, and play strength scream Steeler, it would be hard to pass on him.
1.18 DET: Deonte Banks, CB Maryland
With both Jeff Okudah and Moseley in the final year of their contracts, the Lions could use this opportunity to draft an elite-level corner without feeling the need to rush him to the field. Banks only allowed a 43.3% completion rate in coverage last year and crushed the combine. He’s 6’0 with 4.3 speed and a 42 inch vertical. Easy first round CB who could very well go higher than this.
1.19 TB: Brian Branch, S Alabama
Although offensive line is probably the biggest need, Tampa simply doesn’t have many functional defensive backs under contract. Branch is more of a nickel/box safety than someone who’s going to be ranging over the top, but he has great instincts to cover up his zones and the movement ability to mirror slot receivers in man. As long as Bowles is in charge, you may be asked to line up anywhere and do anything on any given snap. Branch feels like a good fit.
NYG Receives: 1.20 SEA Receives: 1.25, 3.89
1.20 NYG: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR Ohio State
The Giants have been lacking a WR1 since OBJ left in 2019. With arguably the best WR in the draft still on the board, I could see them jumping the many other receiver needy teams to take JSN. Smith-Njigba is my personal WR1 because of his ability to shake man coverage with his change of direction ability and uncanny sense of where to settle in the open zone. His long speed is not good as we see on his tape, but he’s crafty, balanced, and smooth, more of a slot guy. He'll step in and be Daniels Jones' most reliable receiver right away.
1.21 LAC: Zay Flowers, WR Boston College
Zay Flowers is exactly what the Chargers need. They don’t need a huge piece, they’ve got Keenan Allen to exploit zone and Mike Williams to win contested catches and dominate in the red zone. What Justin Herbert and this offense could really use is someone who can take the top off the defense and turn underneath passes into explosive plays. Flowers isn’t great at everything, but he’s great at that. LA doesn’t
1.22 BAL: Jordan Addison, WR USC
Todd Monken won’t be able to get the desired results in the passing game without better pass catchers. Despite an underwhelming combine, Jordan Addison is still a good prospect. He’s smooth, he doesn’t give away his breaks, he can win deep, and he has some wiggle after the catch. Addison doesn’t have the play strength to ever be considered a “tier one” threat that you can build an offense around, but he’s a very safe bet to be a nice piece for years to come.
1.23 MIN: Nolan Smith, ED Georgia
Nolan Smith is a good player. He could probably even move off ball and replace Kendricks, but I think the tape is good enough that you could keep him at EDGE. Especially in Brian Flores’ scheme that gets people flying through gaps, tracking down QBs as a free rusher, and dropping into coverage no matter what position you play. I can’t think of someone more dangerous as a free runner than Nolan Smith. With his 4.3 speed and elite change of direction ability, not many players could reliably make this guy miss. Smith’s athleticism makes him a great potential dropper when they get in those zero looks. Nolan Smith feels like their guy.
1.24 JAX: Darnell Wright, T Tennessee
With Jawaan Taylor leaving in free agency this team is in need of a replacement. He plays with great balance and is outstanding as a run blocker. Wright has issues with his hand placement but his size and phenomenal movement skills leave you tantalized about what he could be. Wright did well vs top competition this season and won the offensive line practice player of the week award at the Senior Bowl. He’ll be an upgrade over Walker Little
1.25 SEA: O’Cyrus Torrence, G Florida
While there are other needs, specifically at the WR and Center positions, by the way the board has fallen, Torrence is the best option. With Gabe Jackson being cut and Damien Lewis entering the final year of his deal next season, they're gonna look to upgrade at guard. O’Cyrus Torrence is a massive interior lineman who dominates down blocks, doesn’t commit penalties, and holds up well in pass protection. It feels like he’d be a good match.
1.26 DAL: Bijan Robinson, RB Texas
With Zeke getting released the team should look for a second RB. The generational running back talent has obvious ties to Dallas as a Texas Longhorn. Even with Pollard under the franchise tag, that’s just a one-year deal. The future of the Dallas ground game can be an elite pairing between Robinson and Pollard in 2023. Robinson finished the 2022 college season as PFF’s second-highest-graded rusher in the FBS, tallying 18 rushing TDs and 1,575 rushing yards. He forced 104 missed tackles (40% broken tackle rate) – a metric that has shown to be super predictive of success rushing at the NFL level.
1.27 BUF: Michael Mayer, TE Notre Dame
Buffalo’s supporting cast was exposed in the playoffs. They had no second tight end worth playing, so all year they had to live in 11 personnel even though the receiving core wasn’t that deep. Buffalo was 32nd in the league in frequency of 12 personnel looks. They didn’t have much personnel versatility, and by the end of the year, the offense seemed stale and totally reliant on the “Josh Allen go do something” play. Michael Mayer has been super productive for a major school from a young age. He’s got the route running savvy to create separation, and the physicality to make contested catches and key blocks. The Bills should just be looking to add any kind of real second threat next to Diggs. Mayer could be that guy.
1.28 CIN: Anton Harrison, T Oklahoma
La’el Collins will never be the same. He looked completely washed this season after injuring his back. The addition of Orlando Brown was a good deal and will hopefully pan out well for them. Harrison is an extremely young, yet technically proficient pass protector with quick feet to stay balanced and a strong punch to stile and stay connected to rushers. My only issue is that he only played LT in his college career. Orlando Brown seems 100% serious on staying at LT which could go badly if Harrison can't keep his same production on the right side.
1.29 NO: Calijah Kancey, DL Pittsburgh
The Saints struck early in free agency by signing former Chiefs DT Khalen Saunders and former Jets DT Nathan Shepherd. However, neither of those offers the interior pass rush ability that Calijah Kancey does. Kancey is arguably the best pure pass rusher in the draft when you consider just how deep his bag of moves is, and his ridiculous 22.7% pass rush win rate. Should be a no-brainer her for the Saints
1.30 PHI: Bryan Bresee, DL Clemson
A bit of a project guy here but worth taking the risk. At 6'5" 300lbs he's a monster on the line. He plays with unique speed, length, and power giving him a shocking burst to throw the lineman off his balance. His versatility might be his greatest strength. He has the playstyle to play anywhere along the line and still perform the same. His injury risk is a bit concerning but the eagles seem to have a good medical staff to keep him healthy.
1.31 KC: BJ Ojulari, ED LSU
The Chiefs need a replacement for Frank Clark who simply is not getting it done. Carlos Dunlap is also not a lock to return, and Mike Danna is a free agent after the 2023 season. George Karlaftis looks solid, but there’s not much after him. B.J. Ojulari has the speed to complement Karlaftis’ power. He has an explosive first step and has demonstrated numerous swim moves to attack offensive tackles
2023.03.21 04:40 deadbeetchadttv Ghosts of Tabor 30 hour review.
First reddit post and going to keep it pretty short.
I've got 30 hours total with 2 hours in the current release.
The good:
Game loop 10/10
Attention to detail 8/10
Graphics 7/10
Fun 7/10
If you love the looter extraction game loop you'll look past the early access flaws, at it's core this is an extremely promising project and bug fix/ alpha updates were extremely fast. Combat waffle is trying to put it's best foot forward.
The bad:
Hands stuck in everything.
Loot placed where due to collision only long armed basketball players can reach it.
Gun play that leaves a LOT to be desired due to general jank and collision.
Dropped your mag on the ground......and it's gone.
It's game is in EARLY access. It's playable and the glaring bugs like missing hideout items seem to be fixed, but you are going to remember this game is in EARLY testing every 5 minutes at a minimum.
If you are looking to hop over from Pavlov and play a polished easy to understand experience you are going to want to check back a few major updates from now, it's hard to say how long that will be but I'm optimistic due to how fast the big fixes came in alpha that we will see some substantial polish to the current content soon.
Lastly I'll say I'm NOT very optimistic that combat waffle will be able to both polish the game AND release enough new content for the game to not get stale, not because I have any reason to think badly of them as developers, but currently, there is nothing besides fetch it or kill it quests and the (again, really really fun) game loop.
But without fleshing out the hideout with non combat activities, adding maps, the whole nine yards I think player base will dwindle if they don't atleast add some type of grind or end game like labs asap.
If you're a tarkov player it won't take you more than a day or two to be sitting on mountains of loot going "uh so what now" instead of annual wipes we would need monthly wipes as it currently sits.
All that said I'm overall extremely hyped and hopeful that today, it's one of the most fun games I've played in VR and that one year from today, we will see one of the first VR games that can really be played as a "main" game daily.
submitted by deadbeetchadttv to virtualreality [link] [comments]
I've got 30 hours total with 2 hours in the current release.
The good:
Game loop 10/10
Attention to detail 8/10
Graphics 7/10
Fun 7/10
If you love the looter extraction game loop you'll look past the early access flaws, at it's core this is an extremely promising project and bug fix/ alpha updates were extremely fast. Combat waffle is trying to put it's best foot forward.
The bad:
Hands stuck in everything.
Loot placed where due to collision only long armed basketball players can reach it.
Gun play that leaves a LOT to be desired due to general jank and collision.
Dropped your mag on the ground......and it's gone.
It's game is in EARLY access. It's playable and the glaring bugs like missing hideout items seem to be fixed, but you are going to remember this game is in EARLY testing every 5 minutes at a minimum.
If you are looking to hop over from Pavlov and play a polished easy to understand experience you are going to want to check back a few major updates from now, it's hard to say how long that will be but I'm optimistic due to how fast the big fixes came in alpha that we will see some substantial polish to the current content soon.
Lastly I'll say I'm NOT very optimistic that combat waffle will be able to both polish the game AND release enough new content for the game to not get stale, not because I have any reason to think badly of them as developers, but currently, there is nothing besides fetch it or kill it quests and the (again, really really fun) game loop.
But without fleshing out the hideout with non combat activities, adding maps, the whole nine yards I think player base will dwindle if they don't atleast add some type of grind or end game like labs asap.
If you're a tarkov player it won't take you more than a day or two to be sitting on mountains of loot going "uh so what now" instead of annual wipes we would need monthly wipes as it currently sits.
All that said I'm overall extremely hyped and hopeful that today, it's one of the most fun games I've played in VR and that one year from today, we will see one of the first VR games that can really be played as a "main" game daily.
2023.03.21 04:37 thecosmicsleuth Honoring the space "In Between" Equinox 🙏❣️ A Writing by Narayan Indra
Equinox is the point when the Sun crosses the equator and everywhere on Earth day and night are approximately of equal length. On the EQUINOX, we symbolically honor the space between the seasons. These in between points have been celebrated by our ancestors from the beginning of time and are wonderful days for prayer and contemplation where we can pause and make peace with the past in order to bring in the new. Symbolically, it can be viewed as the point when day meets night, where opposites meet on equal ground, where we can integrate the duality within the oneness of existence.
The ancients, who knew themselves to be at one with the Earth, honored these planetary shifts as important reflections of life. As above so below, As within, so without.
This eternal medicine reminds us of the equanimity necessary to reconcile opposites. Sometimes in order to restore balance, we take must take an eagle-eye view to gain a broader perspective. For only within that lens of wholeness can we regain our footing and receive the instructions that will guide our actions into alignment with the good of all.
Just as the eagle flies between earth and sky, we must find that place of the in-between, the middle way where opposites can co-exist with their differences.
Boundaries appear and dissolve depending on our lens of perception. There is unity within diversity, grand design within multiplicity of form. This is the great paradox of life.
I will add Gregg Braden's remarks talking about the power of the 'in between' in his book Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt. He says: "There’s a power that lives in the space ‘between,’ that subtle instant when something ends, and what follows next hasn’t yet begun.
"From the birth and death of galaxies, to the beginning and ending of careers and relationships, and even the simplicity of breathing in and out, creation is the story of beginnings and endings: cycles that start and stop, expand and contract, live and die.
"Regardless of scale, between the ‘beginning’ and the ‘end’, there is a moment in time when neither one has fully happened. That moment is where magic and miracles come from!
"In the instant of between, all possibilities exist, and none have been chosen. From this place, we’re given the power to heal our bodies, change our lives, and bring peace to the world. All events originate from this powerful, magical moment.
“The mystery and possibilities of the space that connects two events has long been honored in the wisdom of traditions of our past. Native traditions of North America, for example, state that two times each day the earth enters into precisely such mystical realms.
“We find one realm immediately after the sun disappears below the horizon, just before the darkness of night arrives. The second realm occurs just before the sun reappears from the edge of the sky, after the darkest part of the night.
“Both are twilight moments — neither completely day nor completely night. It is during this time, the traditions suggest, that an opening occurs in which profound truths may be realized, deep healings may occur, and prayers have their greatest power.
"In his classic work "A Separate Reality", anthropologist Carlos Casteneda called this opening a ‘crack between the worlds’ and described it as an access point into the unseen realms of spirits, demons, and power.
"Modern scientists acknowledge the power of just such a place. For them, however, the point is less about day, night, and time, and more about the matter that our world is made of. From the perspective of a scientist, what we see as the solid world around us is anything but solid!
"When the local movie theater projects a moving image on the screen in front of us, for example, we know that the story we’re seeing is an illusion. The romance and tragedy that tugs at our heartstrings is actually the result of many still pictures being flashed very quickly, one after another, to create the sense of a continuous story. While our eyes do see the single pictures, frame by frame, our brain merges them together into what we perceive as that uninterrupted film.
"Quantum physicists suggest that our world works in much the same way. For instance, what we see as the football touchdown or triple axel of a figure skater on a Sunday-afternoon sports program, in quantum terms, is actually a series of individual events that happen very fast and close together.
"Similar to the way in which many images strung together make a movie look so real, life actually occurs as brief, tiny bursts of light called quanta. The quanta of life happen so quickly that, unless our brain is trained to operate differently (as it would in some forms of meditation), it simply averages the pulses to create the continuous action we see as the Sunday sports.
“Within this simplified explanation of life, we also find the key to our healing. For one burst of light to end before the next begins, there must, by definition, be a moment in between.
“Within this space, for a brief instant, there exists a perfect balance where nothing is happening — the events that led to the burst are complete, and the new events haven’t started.
“In this place of ‘no thing,’ all scenarios of life/death/suffering/healing/wapeace exist as possibilities and potential. This is the place where feelings and prayers become the blueprints of life.”
So wherever you may find yourself, take time to pause, ground your roots into Mamma Earth and access this in between space of pure potentiality. For in the in between space of Earth and Sky, we exist as midpoints between the realms. Let’s recalibrate, in sacred manner, to the greater cycles of life that we are a part of.
Equinox Blessings to you and all living Souls on our beautiful planet Earth!
May we remember and may our remembrance awaken within us a new way of living.
submitted by thecosmicsleuth to spirituality [link] [comments]
The ancients, who knew themselves to be at one with the Earth, honored these planetary shifts as important reflections of life. As above so below, As within, so without.
This eternal medicine reminds us of the equanimity necessary to reconcile opposites. Sometimes in order to restore balance, we take must take an eagle-eye view to gain a broader perspective. For only within that lens of wholeness can we regain our footing and receive the instructions that will guide our actions into alignment with the good of all.
Just as the eagle flies between earth and sky, we must find that place of the in-between, the middle way where opposites can co-exist with their differences.
Boundaries appear and dissolve depending on our lens of perception. There is unity within diversity, grand design within multiplicity of form. This is the great paradox of life.
I will add Gregg Braden's remarks talking about the power of the 'in between' in his book Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer: The Hidden Power of Beauty, Blessings, Wisdom, and Hurt. He says: "There’s a power that lives in the space ‘between,’ that subtle instant when something ends, and what follows next hasn’t yet begun.
"From the birth and death of galaxies, to the beginning and ending of careers and relationships, and even the simplicity of breathing in and out, creation is the story of beginnings and endings: cycles that start and stop, expand and contract, live and die.
"Regardless of scale, between the ‘beginning’ and the ‘end’, there is a moment in time when neither one has fully happened. That moment is where magic and miracles come from!
"In the instant of between, all possibilities exist, and none have been chosen. From this place, we’re given the power to heal our bodies, change our lives, and bring peace to the world. All events originate from this powerful, magical moment.
“The mystery and possibilities of the space that connects two events has long been honored in the wisdom of traditions of our past. Native traditions of North America, for example, state that two times each day the earth enters into precisely such mystical realms.
“We find one realm immediately after the sun disappears below the horizon, just before the darkness of night arrives. The second realm occurs just before the sun reappears from the edge of the sky, after the darkest part of the night.
“Both are twilight moments — neither completely day nor completely night. It is during this time, the traditions suggest, that an opening occurs in which profound truths may be realized, deep healings may occur, and prayers have their greatest power.
"In his classic work "A Separate Reality", anthropologist Carlos Casteneda called this opening a ‘crack between the worlds’ and described it as an access point into the unseen realms of spirits, demons, and power.
"Modern scientists acknowledge the power of just such a place. For them, however, the point is less about day, night, and time, and more about the matter that our world is made of. From the perspective of a scientist, what we see as the solid world around us is anything but solid!
"When the local movie theater projects a moving image on the screen in front of us, for example, we know that the story we’re seeing is an illusion. The romance and tragedy that tugs at our heartstrings is actually the result of many still pictures being flashed very quickly, one after another, to create the sense of a continuous story. While our eyes do see the single pictures, frame by frame, our brain merges them together into what we perceive as that uninterrupted film.
"Quantum physicists suggest that our world works in much the same way. For instance, what we see as the football touchdown or triple axel of a figure skater on a Sunday-afternoon sports program, in quantum terms, is actually a series of individual events that happen very fast and close together.
"Similar to the way in which many images strung together make a movie look so real, life actually occurs as brief, tiny bursts of light called quanta. The quanta of life happen so quickly that, unless our brain is trained to operate differently (as it would in some forms of meditation), it simply averages the pulses to create the continuous action we see as the Sunday sports.
“Within this simplified explanation of life, we also find the key to our healing. For one burst of light to end before the next begins, there must, by definition, be a moment in between.
“Within this space, for a brief instant, there exists a perfect balance where nothing is happening — the events that led to the burst are complete, and the new events haven’t started.
“In this place of ‘no thing,’ all scenarios of life/death/suffering/healing/wapeace exist as possibilities and potential. This is the place where feelings and prayers become the blueprints of life.”
So wherever you may find yourself, take time to pause, ground your roots into Mamma Earth and access this in between space of pure potentiality. For in the in between space of Earth and Sky, we exist as midpoints between the realms. Let’s recalibrate, in sacred manner, to the greater cycles of life that we are a part of.
Equinox Blessings to you and all living Souls on our beautiful planet Earth!
May we remember and may our remembrance awaken within us a new way of living.
2023.03.21 04:25 Scary_Transition_957 What to do with 24 foot hole in the yard?
I've got an above ground pool, buried in ground, and it's surrounded by a nice deck. I've decided to pull the pool out, which just involves cutting up the liner (have to replace it every 8 years anyway) and removing the metal walls. What that leaves me with is a nice deck with a 24 foot diameter, 4-5 foot deep hole in it.
I've contemplated filling it with sand and making a sand pit. Filling with dirt, planting a tree, but IDK really what to do with this. Sand would become a cat turd garden, a tree would look like a pinkie in a condom because of the diameter of the hole. I'm at a loss. Any suggestions?
submitted by Scary_Transition_957 to landscaping [link] [comments]
I've contemplated filling it with sand and making a sand pit. Filling with dirt, planting a tree, but IDK really what to do with this. Sand would become a cat turd garden, a tree would look like a pinkie in a condom because of the diameter of the hole. I'm at a loss. Any suggestions?
2023.03.21 04:18 spacemouse133 Poem✨
You still have the audacity To betray me And bash my name My whole life I have gone Without hating anyone But now That’s not true Because I hate you I still can’t believe you You said that about me After all that happened
You used my body This whole time Telling everyone We weren’t together Then when we were alone Promising me we were We fought On my doubts That turned out to be true I hated fighting You know that I hated it I just wanted You to keep your promise That I was the only one You made love to I was the only one Who had your heart And everything I did Was because Everything I was feeling Was valid You know what’s funny At first I did not ask anything of you But honesty and communication I did not ask you about any girl Nor did I feel the need to Until for my birthday When You gave me betrayal as a present And I saw u were talking to other girls When you said you weren’t I asked just to see the messages If they were nothing But you refused And only deleted them And said “they mean nothing” In my head “Liar” And then my anxiety grew And I cried Knowing you were betraying me But I stayed Because I didn’t want it to be true For a reason I will never understand And as I tried to control Your infidelity It became overwhelming For the both of us I tried to manage it And work it out with you But you pushed me away Because of your guilt Because you knew Everything I was worrying about Was true
The blaming of me for our break up in November When in reality It should not been Because of my trust If should have been Because I left you After you Physically held me down Not letting me go And hurting my arms For 30 mins You kept on shushing me Every-time I asked you please let go Until I screamed To be let free And u finally let me go Because u couldn’t have your family Asking questions About what happened That you Were abusing me But I realize now Nothing would have changed If they knew
You know something I forgot to tell you? Your mom loves you so much That when I did eventually tell her About your abuse She turned the blame on me And said It wouldn’t have happened if only I had trusted you And not looked at your phone Your whole family Is poison
If you ever read this Seeing if I am doing better without you Just know I am doing better Without your poison And tell your mother I will never forgive her For ignoring the abuse in 2020 Your mother Is evil She got mad at you For hurting her But never mad at you For the way You abused me As a women How can you Let your son Do this to someone You trapped me Almost every day In that room And because of that I lost myself And I depended on you You were the guard To my prison I wanted to leave The whole time Deep down My inner child Was screaming The whole time But I was trapped This whole time I realize Even though I forgave you I buried what happened Deep down I was left traumatized And permanently scarred I lost myself I have been drowning But now I am above the surface My trauma Is above ground I am finally Free I realize I lost myself I mourn The loss of time But am grateful For my eyes finally being opened And I hope To never Ever See you Ever Again
submitted by spacemouse133 to abusesurvivors [link] [comments]
You used my body This whole time Telling everyone We weren’t together Then when we were alone Promising me we were We fought On my doubts That turned out to be true I hated fighting You know that I hated it I just wanted You to keep your promise That I was the only one You made love to I was the only one Who had your heart And everything I did Was because Everything I was feeling Was valid You know what’s funny At first I did not ask anything of you But honesty and communication I did not ask you about any girl Nor did I feel the need to Until for my birthday When You gave me betrayal as a present And I saw u were talking to other girls When you said you weren’t I asked just to see the messages If they were nothing But you refused And only deleted them And said “they mean nothing” In my head “Liar” And then my anxiety grew And I cried Knowing you were betraying me But I stayed Because I didn’t want it to be true For a reason I will never understand And as I tried to control Your infidelity It became overwhelming For the both of us I tried to manage it And work it out with you But you pushed me away Because of your guilt Because you knew Everything I was worrying about Was true
The blaming of me for our break up in November When in reality It should not been Because of my trust If should have been Because I left you After you Physically held me down Not letting me go And hurting my arms For 30 mins You kept on shushing me Every-time I asked you please let go Until I screamed To be let free And u finally let me go Because u couldn’t have your family Asking questions About what happened That you Were abusing me But I realize now Nothing would have changed If they knew
You know something I forgot to tell you? Your mom loves you so much That when I did eventually tell her About your abuse She turned the blame on me And said It wouldn’t have happened if only I had trusted you And not looked at your phone Your whole family Is poison
If you ever read this Seeing if I am doing better without you Just know I am doing better Without your poison And tell your mother I will never forgive her For ignoring the abuse in 2020 Your mother Is evil She got mad at you For hurting her But never mad at you For the way You abused me As a women How can you Let your son Do this to someone You trapped me Almost every day In that room And because of that I lost myself And I depended on you You were the guard To my prison I wanted to leave The whole time Deep down My inner child Was screaming The whole time But I was trapped This whole time I realize Even though I forgave you I buried what happened Deep down I was left traumatized And permanently scarred I lost myself I have been drowning But now I am above the surface My trauma Is above ground I am finally Free I realize I lost myself I mourn The loss of time But am grateful For my eyes finally being opened And I hope To never Ever See you Ever Again
2023.03.21 03:46 AltNationReality March 20 2023 Lake Level 1046.04' ASL ... down 0.03'
- The water level dropped 3/8" to 1046.04' ASL, 24.9261% of Full Pool Capacity
- Transient low for the last 24 hours... 1045.95' ASL, at 11AM
- Average outflow for Sunday... 14743 CFS, higher than Saturday's 11582 CFS and higher than last Sunday's 12222 CFS
- 30-day average outflow is 11756 CFS
- The lake is now 17.64' lower than at this time last year
- The lake is now above Tier 2B by 1' 1/2"
- The 10-day moving average is down 0.02' or 1/4" per day
- The 5-day moving average is now up 0.02' or 1/4" per day
- Lake Powell is at 3520.98' ASL, up 0.17' or 2", 21.1303% of Full Pool Capacity
- Great Salt Lake is at 4189.12' ASL (current all-time low... 4188.20' on November 8)
2023.03.21 03:42 clarelou_ My father does not understand my struggles with my period
possible trigger warning for anyone who does not want to hear about female bodily functions then don’t read this.
I just want to rant so sorry if my writing is bad. I F17 am really angry at my father for not understanding my period struggles. It started last week. I asked him three times last week if he could pick up some pads while he was at the store. He said things along the lines of “yeah, okay” every time. Each time he did not come back with pads. He said it was my fault that I didn’t text him to remind him the first two times. He went to the store yesterday morning and I texted him to remind him about the pads. About 30 minutes before I had to go to work yesterday my period started. I asked him if he got the pads. He said no. I didn’t even say anything him and I frantically searched for pads. I managed to find two somehow. I usually walk to work but it was too late to walk. I had to plead to my father to give me a ride. He was angrily talking to me the whole ride. He told me I needed to be responsible and get to work by myself. Once I was at work I had to push through. I had a pretty bad headache. One of my coworkers started her period and she didn’t have a pad. I really didn’t want to but I gave her my last pad. Once I finished my work around 11 I came back home. I was really tired and I wanted to go to bed but I had to wash myself since the pad I had was soiled. I called my mom to ask her if she knew where any pads or tampons were. She works in a different city some of the time so she wasn’t there. She said all she had was panty liners. I stacked them up and slept on a towel. I went to school embarrassed today because I was wearing bathing suit bottoms stuffed with paper towels. I have a lot of shame and embarrassment about my period. No one ever taught me how to take care of myself while on my period. When I had my first period a lot of people saw me bleeding and made fun of me. Now I feel very ashamed. I am embarrassed to tell anyone about having my period. I wish I could’ve asked my friends for a pad. I felt so stupid because I was too shy. I reminded my father in the morning to go to the store, and I texted him. I was just praying I could get a pad after school when I got home I asked my dad for the pads and he gave me a box of panty liners. I was so upset. All I could do was scream I quickly ran to my room. He said that he didn’t see the pads he normally bought me so he just grabbed that box. Usually I buy pads for myself but lately he hasn’t been letting me go to the store with him because I am at school. We only have one car and he uses it most of the time. I tried to calm myself down. I asked him if I could use the car to go to the store he said no. He wanted to take my little sister to the pool near our house instead. He took the car. I feel like this is all my fault I should have found a way to get to the store last week. If only I could have asked someone for a pad. Now I am sitting on a towel in my room, crying. What hurt me the most is he said when he left with my sister. He said ” we are leaving now, so you can have your time alone “. I feel so abandoned. I never want to go through something like this again. I need to look into reusable menstrual products, like washable pads or a menstrual cup. I I feel like there is no point in talking to him because he just will not understand. I’ve read a lot of posts on this subreddit. I know my problem. Isn’t that big compared to other people. I just wanted to get this off my chest and have someone listen to me.
submitted by clarelou_ to TrueOffMyChest [link] [comments]
I just want to rant so sorry if my writing is bad. I F17 am really angry at my father for not understanding my period struggles. It started last week. I asked him three times last week if he could pick up some pads while he was at the store. He said things along the lines of “yeah, okay” every time. Each time he did not come back with pads. He said it was my fault that I didn’t text him to remind him the first two times. He went to the store yesterday morning and I texted him to remind him about the pads. About 30 minutes before I had to go to work yesterday my period started. I asked him if he got the pads. He said no. I didn’t even say anything him and I frantically searched for pads. I managed to find two somehow. I usually walk to work but it was too late to walk. I had to plead to my father to give me a ride. He was angrily talking to me the whole ride. He told me I needed to be responsible and get to work by myself. Once I was at work I had to push through. I had a pretty bad headache. One of my coworkers started her period and she didn’t have a pad. I really didn’t want to but I gave her my last pad. Once I finished my work around 11 I came back home. I was really tired and I wanted to go to bed but I had to wash myself since the pad I had was soiled. I called my mom to ask her if she knew where any pads or tampons were. She works in a different city some of the time so she wasn’t there. She said all she had was panty liners. I stacked them up and slept on a towel. I went to school embarrassed today because I was wearing bathing suit bottoms stuffed with paper towels. I have a lot of shame and embarrassment about my period. No one ever taught me how to take care of myself while on my period. When I had my first period a lot of people saw me bleeding and made fun of me. Now I feel very ashamed. I am embarrassed to tell anyone about having my period. I wish I could’ve asked my friends for a pad. I felt so stupid because I was too shy. I reminded my father in the morning to go to the store, and I texted him. I was just praying I could get a pad after school when I got home I asked my dad for the pads and he gave me a box of panty liners. I was so upset. All I could do was scream I quickly ran to my room. He said that he didn’t see the pads he normally bought me so he just grabbed that box. Usually I buy pads for myself but lately he hasn’t been letting me go to the store with him because I am at school. We only have one car and he uses it most of the time. I tried to calm myself down. I asked him if I could use the car to go to the store he said no. He wanted to take my little sister to the pool near our house instead. He took the car. I feel like this is all my fault I should have found a way to get to the store last week. If only I could have asked someone for a pad. Now I am sitting on a towel in my room, crying. What hurt me the most is he said when he left with my sister. He said ” we are leaving now, so you can have your time alone “. I feel so abandoned. I never want to go through something like this again. I need to look into reusable menstrual products, like washable pads or a menstrual cup. I I feel like there is no point in talking to him because he just will not understand. I’ve read a lot of posts on this subreddit. I know my problem. Isn’t that big compared to other people. I just wanted to get this off my chest and have someone listen to me.
2023.03.21 02:40 bigjohn14325 Sequence Marina’s Last Voyage: How WWE Should Book Bron Breakker on the Main Roster
Raw April 3rd, 2023
It’s the Raw after WrestleMania, John Cena has just defeated Austin Theory to win his record tying 6th United States Championship. John Cena comes out on Raw and he brings back his iconic US open challenge, this is when Rick Steiner comes out and introduces the product of his semen the newly renamed BRONSON STEINER!!!
Bronson Steiner vs John Cena(c) United States Championship
John Cena has defeated some of the greatest that this business has to offer, but never has John Cena been into the ring with a freak athlete who also happens to carry the Steiner name. Bronson floors Cena with a HUGE spear to start off the match. Cena is no slouch however and he begins to mount a comeback. Cena hits a shoulder block followed up by another but BRONSON CATCHES HIM WITH A FRANKENSTEINER, SHADES OF HIS UNCLE SCOTT. Bronson locks in the STEINER RECLINER and Cena is fading but staying true to his moniker “Never Give Up” and he powers out with Bronson on his shoulders and hits the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT THE REF COUNTS…. ONE…. STEINER KICKS OUT AT ONE. Bronson pops back up and he hits A MILITARY PRESS POWERSLAM, ONE… TWO… THREE!!! BRONSON STEINER HAS DEFEATED JOHN CENA TO WIN THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!! For the second year in a row, Bronson Steiner has won a championship on the Raw after WrestleMania.
Bronson Steiner defeats John Cena to win the United States Championship in 12:04
Raw April 10th, 2023
Bronson Steiner is interviewed backstage about his recent US Title win and he is asked about carrying the Steiner name and what it means to him in which he responds that his father & his uncle were the greatest tag team in WCW history, they were both United States Champions, Scott was world champion, hell they’re former WWE World Tag Team Champions but the Steiner name doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Everyone talks about the Rhodes, Anoa’i, or the Orton dynasty but the Steiner family has been largely forgotten by wrestling fans and he aims to not only create a legacy for himself but to make the Steiner name mean something once again.
Raw April 17, 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Chad Gable: United States Championship
Bronson decides that he wants to hold an open challenge for the United States Championship. The man to answer that challenge is Chad Gable who dropped the shoosh gimmick and is back to being a serious professional wrestler. Gable puts on a hell of a showing against Steiner but the younger & fresher talent proves to be too much for Chad Gable. Bronson Steiner retains the United States Championship in his first defense.
Bronson Steiner defeats Chad Gable to retain the United States Championship in 8:28
Raw May 8th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Bronson Reed /w The Miz: King of the Ring First Round
In real life, it was just announced that King & Queen of the Ring will be taking place in May. We have 8 men from Raw & 8 men from Smackdown who will make up the King of the Ring Tournament. In the first round, we will have the battle of the Bronson’s as Bronson Steiner takes on Bronson Reed. The former NXT North American Champion proves to be one hell of a challenge for the young Steiner. While the referee is distracted, The Miz sneak attacks Steiner hitting a Skull Crushing Finale at ringside and rolls him back into the ring. Bronson follows it up with a top rope splash, he makes the cover, ONE… TWO… STEINER BARELY KICKS OUT!!! Steiner recovers and hits a huge military press powerslam on Reed. BRONSON STEINER ADVANCES IN THE KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Bronson Reed in 14:08
Raw May 15th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Braun Strowman: King of the Ring Quarterfinal
Bronson Steiner has made it to the Quarterfinals but he has the biggest (literally & figuratively) challenge that he’s ever face so far. Braun Strowman has been on a rampage since turning heel. At the star of the match, Strowman tries to bully Bronson who shows absolutely no fear and he bitch slaps Strowman which enraged the monster and they begin to brawl but the match quickly gets out of hand. They’re trading blows in the corner, the ref is trying to break it up but Bronson accidentally floors the ref with a right. They begin fighting outside the ring and up the stage. Strowman picks up Steiner and hits A RUNNING POWERSLAM THROUGH THE LED BOARD SPARKS ARE FLYING EVERYWHERE!!! Both men have to be carried out of the arena.
Bronson Steiner vs Braun Strowman ends in a no contest in 8:04
Raw May 22nd, 2023
King & Queen of the Ring 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Braun Strowman: United States Championship
At the PPV, before the match can even start, Steiner & Strowman start brawling and they’re fighting into the crown. Bronson has never had an opponent quite as powerful as Strowman and he knows that if he wants to win that he’s going to take risks. They’re fighting near a balcony and Bronson nails Strowman with a low blow. Steiner climbs to the top of the balcony and DIVES NEARLY 20 FEET ONTO STROWMAN. They finally manage to get back into the ring to start the match and it’s them hitting power move after power move on each other. Bronson manages to lift up Strowman and land a STEINER SCREWDRIVER!!! HE MAKES THE COVER ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER HAS RETAINED THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Braun Strowman to retain the United States Championship in 13:13
Raw May 28th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Bobby Roode: Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
After toppling the monster among men, Bronson Steiner has a new challenge and that is the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It’s a concept completely foreign to the young upstart. But in order to even qualify for the match, Bronson will have to contest with Bobby Roode who only recently returned from neck surgery. Bobby Roode is a man who can make anyone look good in a match and he has previous experience facing a Steiner but that experience DOESNT pay off as Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Roode to qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Roode to qualify for Money in the Bank in 12:56
Money in the Bank 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Finn Bálor vs Bobby Lashley vs Pete Dunne vs LA Knight vs Gunther vs Seth Rollins vs Solo Sikoa: Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Bronson Steiner is entering the first ladder match of his career and he’s completely out of his element here. But Steiner wants to prove that not only can he adapt, but he can win the match and guarantee himself a world title match in the near future. This match is pure anarchy, Ali is using the environment around him to take out his opponents, Pete Dunnes does ladder assisted joint manipulation, and Solo Sikoa uses his Samoan strength to batter the competition. Steiner quickly adapts to this chaotic match and starts muscling around guys such as Ali & Seth Rollins. It’s then that Steiner comes face to face with THE ALMIGHTY!!! These two big meaty men start slapping meat and BRONSON STARTS GETTING THE BETTER OF LASHLEY!!! Bronson sets up a ladder in the middle of the ring but Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin and they’re beating him down as Lashley begins to climb the ladder. Bronson just barely dispatches of Alexander & Benjamin in time to climb the ladder and meet Lashley at the top. They’re trading blows until BRONSON STEINER HIS A MASSIVE FRANKENSTEINER OFF THE TOP OF THE LADDER!!!! Lashley is down and once again, Steiner slowly gets back to his feet to climb the ladder but out comes OMOS. He picks up Steiner and hits a huge choke slam on Steiner through a ladder bridged at ringside. As Omos goes to pick up Lashley and help him win the match, LA KNIGHT SNEAKS BACK INTO THE RING AND CLIMBS THE LADDER TO RETRIEVE THE BRIEFCASE!!! LA KNIGHT IS MR MONEY IN THE BANK.
LA Knight wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in 26:47
Raw July 10th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs The Hurt Business: Gauntlet Match
After being robbed of Money in the Bank, Bronson Steiner is understandably pissed off and he want to kick the piss out of Hurt Business. MVP says that he’s not going to let another Steiner humiliate Lashley, which is a reference to Scott Steiner & Bobby Lashley’s feud circa 2009 TNA. Bronson being the tough as nails fighting champion that he is, he agrees to fight all of the members of Hurt Business and if any of them can beat him, he’ll put up his United States Championship on the line at Summerslam. The match is made a gauntlet match.
Our first is Shelton Benjamin. These two have an excellent athletic contest with Shelton reminding everyone just how good he still is. Not even 10 minutes in, Steiner defeats Benjamin with a top-rope Frankensteiner. The second man to answer this gauntlet is Cedric Alexander. He starts to wear down Bronson picking up where Benjamin left off after a thrilling 12 minutes, Steiner puts away Alexander with a TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER. Bronson is really starting to tire out and it couldn’t come at a worse time because out next is OMOS!!! The seven foot three Nigerian giant makes his stoic walk down to the ring but he makes a quick stop under the ring and grabs a STEEL CHAIR. Omos enters the ring and BATTERS STEINER OVER AND OVER AGAIN BREAKING THE CHAIR OVER THE BACK OF BRONSON STEINER. Omos hits a thunderous choke bomb on Steiner RIGHT THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! With Omos disqualified, there’s only one man left and that man is Bobby Lashley. When he gets in the ring, Steiner is still laid out at ringside. The ref begins the count and Steiner barely gets back in the ring before the count of ten but Steiner is too beaten up to stand against Lashley who hits Steiner with multiple spears. Lashley locks in the Hurt Lock and Steiner passes out. BOBBY LASHLEY WILL CHALLENGE BRONSON STEINER FOR THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP AT SUMMERSLAM!!!
The Hurt Business defeats Bronson Steiner in 32:08
Summerslam 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Bobby Lashley: United States Championship
Bronson Steiner goes into Summerslam not at 100% after weeks of beatdowns from Hurt Business and on top of that has easily the toughest challenge of his career. They have a great big man match that sees Steiner hang in there. Near the end of the match, we have a ref bump. Bronson hits a Steiner Screw Driver, BUT NO REF TO COUNT THE PIN!!! Omos comes out to help Lashley finish off Steiner. STEINER DOES THE UNTHINKABLE AND HITS THE MILITARY PRESS POWERSLAM ON OMOS THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! Steiner gets a measure of revenge for a few weeks ago on Raw. Back to the match, Lashley manages to lock in the Hurt Lock that has put so many wrestlers away for the past three years but Bronson is a special breed. BRONSON STEINER BECOMES THE FIRST PERSON TO BREAK THE HURT LOCK!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Lashley to retain the United States Championship in 15:04
Raw August 21st, 2023
After the biggest win of his career at Summerslam, Bronson Steiner is out cutting a promo about what’s next for him as United States Champion, ya know all the usual stuff. This is when the cameras cut to the backstage area and we see Rick Steiner being assaulted by none other than…. TOMMASO CIAMPA!!! Steiner makes a beeline for the backstage area but Ciampa is long gone by the time Steiner gets there and all that’s left is the brutally beaten & bloodied father of Bronson Steiner.
Raw August 28th, 2023
Throughout this particular episode of Raw, Bronson Steiner is looking for Tommaso Ciampa. Finally, we see a car pull up in the arena and it’s Tommaso Ciampa and HE MEANS BUSINESS!!! He starts making his way through the arena when Steiner goes right for Ciampa and they have an intense backstage brawl. They have to be separated by security. Bronson yells to Ciampa that “IF YOU KEEP MESSING WITH MY FAMILY ILL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!”
Raw September 5th, 2023
Tommaso Ciampa finally explains why he attacked Bronson Steiner and his family. Ciampa says that he helped build NXT and he was the face of that brand, that was until Steiner came in with that stupid ring name and his lineage and he took not only his spot but the only thing in this business and that’s Goldie. Ciampa says since Bronson took something he loved, now he’s going to take something from Steiner that he loves and that is the UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Raw September 26th, 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Tommaso Ciampa: United States Championship
These two have a very hard-hitting match that see them not only wanting to win the match but down right maim the other. Ciampa uses every dirty heel trick in the book but nothing is working on Steiner who has been operating on an entirely different level as of late. Bronson pays homage to his father but hitting the DIVING BULLDOG ON CIAMPA!!! ONE… TWO… THREE. BRONSON STEINER HAS RETAINED THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!! But what the ref didn’t see is that Ciampa’s foot was under the bottom rope.
Bronson Steiner defeats Tommaso Ciampa to retain the United States Championship in 13:44
Raw October 3rd, 2023
Ciampa is raging because he aaa screwed out of the United States Championship. He says that this is just like what happened in NXT. Steiner gets a rocket strapped to his back because he’s a Steiner then he steals Ciampa’s spot in NXT. Ciampa should be United States Champion, not Steiner and so he challenges him to ONE MORE MATCH AT CROWN JEWEL!!! Steiner comes out and he says that he’s going to put Ciampa down for good just like he put down the old guard of NXT. Steiner of course accepts the match and just to make sure Ciampa doesn’t leave with any more excuses, Steiner suggests they make it LAST MAN STANDING!!!
Crown Jewel 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Tommaso Ciampa: Last Man Standing Match for The United States Championship
We finally get to Crown Jewel. These two men have been feuding since Summerslam and things will finally come to a head. It’s Bronson Steiner, the man who ushered in the current era of NXT vs Tommaso Ciampa who was the last of the old guard from the Black & Gold Era of NXT. These two men go to war, Steiner SPEARS CIAMPA THROUGH THE BARRICADE. Ciampa hits a FAIRYTALE ENDING THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! But if there’s anything that Steiner has in common with Ciampa is that they both have that never say die attitude. Steiner beats the 10 count but before he can do anything to Ciampa, he is speared out of nowhere by….. GOLDBERG!!! What in the fuck. Ciampa capitalizes and he brings the US Title Belt into the ring and hits one last FAIRYTALE ENDING ONTO THE US TITLE BELT AS ONE FINAL FUCK YOU TO BRONSON STEINER. ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR… FIVE… SIX… SEVEN… EIGHT… NINE… TEN… TOMMASO CIAMPA FINALLY HAS HIS FIRST TASTE OF MAIN ROSTER GOLD!!!
Tommaso Ciampa defeats Bronson Steiner to win the United States Championship in 28:55
Raw November 6th, 2023
Goldberg explains that he attacked Bronson Steiner because of his hatred for the Steiner family. He says that they made his life hell in WCW and it kills him to see fans cheering a Steiner when those same neck beards booing Goldberg for making a career out of doing the right thing. Goldberg has returned and he has just one more match left in him and he wants his final match to be the one that sees the end of the Steiner family in the world of professional wrestling. Goldberg challenges Bronson Steiner to match at Survivor Series, the same event that Goldberg made his triumphant return seven years ago.
Survivor Series 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Goldberg
Almost 7 years to the day after Goldberg returned to WWE in explosive fashion and squashed Brock Lesnar. Da man is facing is many ways a younger version of himself, both former NFL players, both had meteoric rises to the top in their respective companies. The match begins and Goldberg immediately charges Steiner who overpowers Goldberg with a huge shoulder tackle. Goldberg is momentarily stunned but goes for a spear by Steiner leapfrogs and rebounds off the tops NAILING GOLDBERG WITH A SPEAR OF HIS OWN. GOLDBERG STUMBLES BACK TO HIS FEET ONLY TO BE HIT WITH A SECOND SPEAR FROM STEINER!!! Goldberg is in a bad way as Steiner follows it up with his patented military press powerslam but he doesn’t make the cover instead he locks in the STEINER RECLINER AND THERE IS NO WAY OUT FOR GOLDBERG. For the first time in his career, GOLDBERG TAPS OUT. BRONSON STEINER HAS OFFICIALLY RETIRED GOLDBERG!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Goldberg in 89 seconds
Royal Rumble 2024
30 Man Royal Rumble Match
So far, 29 men have entered the Royal Rumble and Brock Lesnar has been dominating the match. Who can stop Brock Lesnar except for ENTRANT NUMBER 30, BRONSON STEINER!!! They comes face to to face in the ring for the first time ever. They go off in a test of strength with BRONSON GETTING THE BETTER OF BROCK. HE LIFTS BROCK WAY OVER HIS HEAD AND CHUCKS HIM RIGHT OUT OF THE RING. BRONSON STEINER HAS ELIMINATED BROCK LESNAR IN CONVINCING FASHION!!! Bronson is slowly clearing the field, he eliminates both Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin at the same time. He body slams Braun Strowman over the top rope. Bronson Steiner seems to have the 2024 Royal Rumble on lock. Directly mirroring Royal Rumble 2004, Brock Lesnar sneak back into the ring and NAIL BRONSON WITH AN F-5!!! Bronson is stunned as he slowly uses the rope to get back to his feet. He sees Brock walking back up the ramp looking satisfied at what he has done. From behind, old rival TOMMASO CIAMPA DUMPS BRONSON STEINER OVER THE TOP ROPE ENDING THE SECOND GENERATION STEINERS HOPES OF MAIN EVENTING WRESTLEMANIA!!!
Raw January 28th, 2024
Bronson Steiner is understandably pissed the fuck off that Brock Lesnar cost him the Royal Rumble. He says that he wants Brock Lesnar right here, right now. But there’s no sign of Brock Lesnar. Bronson refuses to leave the ring until Brock Lesnar shows his face. After a minute or so, Adam Pearce comes out and says that Brock isn’t here and he has a show to run. Later in the night, the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship is announced with Gunther defending the title against Brock Lesnar and four other competitors. The other four will be determined through qualifying matches. Bronson Steiner barges in Adam Pearce’s office and is asking why the hell was Brock Lesnar just inserted into the match while everyone else has to earn their spot. Bronson says that he has unfinished business with Brock Lesnar, and Pearce says that putting Brock in the chamber wasn’t his call but what he can do is give Steiner a qualifying match next week on Raw.
Bronson Steiner vs The Miz: Elimination Chamber Qualifier
Bronson Steiner faces the WWE’s resident loudmouth and he means fucking business. Steiner immediately drops The Miz with a double leg takedown and he’s pounding that ass the way I pound Jay Castle with rights & lefts. Bronson picks up Miz and nails him with a Military Press Powerslam but doesn’t pin him. Bronson locks in the Steiner Recliner and Miz immediately taps out. BRONSON STEINER DEFEATS THE MIZ IN JUST OVER A MINUTE TO QUALIFY FOR ELIMINATION CHAMBER!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats The Miz in 1:03
Elimination Chamber 2024
Bronson Steiner vs Brock Lesnar vs Gunther(c) vs Sheamus vs Ricochet vs Seth Rollins: Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Entrant #1: Ricochet Entrant #2: Brock Lesnar
Two former rivals start off as the first two entrants in the Elimination Chamber Match. Ricochet’s career never recovered after his crushing defeat to Brock four years ago. Ricochet refuses to let Brock punk him this time around and he immediate charges the much larger opponent. Brock is caught off guard by the absolute speed & tenacity of Ricochet but it doesn’t last long and Brock is hitting German after German on Ricochet. Brock is taunting Bronson who still locked in his pod.
Entrant #3: Seth Rollins
Rollins is out next and he alongside Ricochet decide to form an unlikely alliance to take down the much bigger threat. We get a few minutes of high flying fuckery that sees Rollins & Ricochet hit Lesnar with a bunch double team moves that Lesnar sells beautifully.
Entrant #4: Sheamus
Out next is Sheamus who levels both Seth Rollins & Ricochet with a Brough Kick just in time for Lesnar to make it back to his feet. These two have an EXTREMELY hard-hitting exchange. Sheamus hits Lesnar with a Brough Kick and he does that amazing thing where he staggers back and Sheamus goes for another one but Lesnar counters into an F-5 while staring down Steiner straight in the eyes. ONE… TWO… THREE…. SHEAMUS IS THE FIRST ONE OUT!!!
Entrant #5: Bronson Steiner
We begin the countdown to the fifth entrant and it is of course, Bronson Steiner. Both Steiner & Lesnar finally are able to go at it properly and it is as JR would put it; a slobberknocker. Lesnar actually gets the better of Steiner and plants him with an F-5 but before Lesnar can pin him, Rollins floors Lesnar with a springboard knee. Rollins follows it up with a Curb Stomp attempts but similar to Randy Orton, Lesnar catches Rollins mid move and nails him with an F-5, ONE…. TWO… THREE….. SETH ROLLINS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!!!!!
Entrant #6: Gunther
Gunther is the final man to enter the match and it’s chops for everyone. Gunther turns Ricochet inside out with a thunderous chop. He then levels Lesnar, Gunther chops Steiner over and over again who doesn’t go down and he continues fighting back, Gunther has Steiner leaned against a pod and he goes to chop him again but Bronson moves and GUNTHER DESTROYS THE POD WITH JUST ONE CHOP!!! Gunther’s hand is cut and Bronson senses this and he takes the fight to the World Heavyweight Champion but he’s worn out and Gunther manages to drop kick him which sends him flying into the chamber wall. Gunther redirects his attention to Lesnar and they start where they left off. Lesnar hoists the big Austrian up for an F-5 but out of nowhere, STEINER SPEARS LESNAR!!! STEINER FOLLOWS IT UP WITH A MILITARY PRESS SLAM. RICOCHET HITS A 630 ONTO LESNAR FROM THE TOP OF THE POD. ONE… TWO… THREE…. RICOCHET HAS DOME THE UNTHINKABLE AND ELIMINATED BROCK LESNAR!!! Ricochet got his revenge for Crown Jewel 2020. When Brock recovers, he is PISSED!!! Before leaving the chamber, he plants both Ricochet & Steiner with and F-5 but he isn’t done with Steiner just yet. Lesnar locks in the Kimura and SNAPS THE ARM OF BRONSON STEINER!!! A few EMT’s enter the chamber to try and get Steiner out of the chamber but he refuses to quit and he puts up a valiant effort against Gunther but he’s in ungodly amounts of pain. He nearly collapses because the pain is so unbearable which makes him easy pickings for the current heavyweight champ. Gunther his The Last Symphony, ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER’S DREAMS OF WINNING THE BIG GOLD BELT ARE CRUSHED. Gunther goes on to defeat Ricochet to win the match.
Gunther wins the elimination chamber to retain The World Heavyweight Championship in 27:57
Raw February 26th, 2024
We’re just over a week removed from Elimination Chamber and things have never looked worse for Bronson Steiner. Brock Lesnar broke Steiner’s arm after being eliminated in the chamber so not only was Steiner robbed of the World Heavyweight Championship, but now he may miss out on his first WrestleMania. Steiner now sporting a sling has a sit-down interview with Michael Cole who starts off asking him about why this beef between Steiner & Lesnar got out of hand so quickly. Bronson explains that he never liked Brock, he is someone that doesn’t respect this business or the people in it. His father & his uncle dedicated their entire lives to this business and they didn’t get half the opportunities that Lesnar was given. Bronson says that the doctors won’t clear him which means he’ll have to work twice as hard to prove them wrong.
Raw March 28th, 2024
After weeks of working hard to get his arm back into shape, doctors still refuse to clear Bronson Steiner to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 40 and Adam Pearce says that Steiner is just going to have to sit this one out which doesn’t not sit well with him. Finally, he goes to the head honcho Triple H and he says that he cannot sanction a match between them and that’s when he says that they can only fight in an UNSANCTIONED MATCH!!!
WrestleMania 40
Bronson Steiner vs Brock Lesnar: Unsanctioned Match
We are here at the 40th edition of WrestleMania and this is going to be the match of a lifetime for Bronson Steiner. Brock Lesnar comes out with his bun shaved off and wearing his original 2002 gear. He comes out not even wearing his ring gear, just a pair of jeans really symbolizing just how personal this feud has become. Bronson runs straight to the ring and he’s trading blows with Brock to start the match. Steiner is really taking the fight to Lesnar and it spills outside the ring. Bro son looks to spear Lesnar through the barricade like he did a few weeks ago but Lesnar gets out of the way and BRONSON WIPES OUT THROUGH THE BARRICADE!!! Brock goes after the still weakened arm of Steiner smashing it against the ring post. Brock wants to inflict as much damage as possible and he removes the protective padding at ringside and goes for a German on the concrete but Bronson gets out of it and HITS A FRANKENSTEINER ON THE EXPOSED CONCRETE!!! Brock is out of it as Bronson rolls him back in the ring. He then goes under the ring and throws a wide variety of weapons into the ring such as chairs, kendo sticks, trash cans, and a table. We see Lesnar powerbomb Steiner through a metal trash can and we Steiner spear Lesnar through the table set up in the corner. Finally, LESNAR HITS AN F-5 ON BRONSON STEINER, ONE… TWO… BRONSON KICKS OUT!!! Lesnar does something no one thought they would see again and HE HITS A SHOOTING STAR PRESS AND IT ACTUALLY FUCKING LANDS!!! Lesnar once again makes the cover, ONE… TWO… BRONSON SOMEHOW SOME WAY STILL KICKS OUT!!! Lesnar is completely out of options as Steiner recovers and hits his fathers patented Diving Bulldog followed by Bronson’s signature the Military Press Powerslam. The ref counts, ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER HAS DEFEATED BROCK LESNAR ON THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL!!! After the match, Brock Lesnar nods at Steiner as a show of respect.
Bronson Steiner defeats Brock Lesnar in 36:07
Epilogue
The next night on Raw, Brock Lesnar finally retires from WWE giving Bronson Steiner the rub of having retired both Goldberg & Brock Lesnar within his first year on the main roster. At Summerslam, Bronson Steiner would challenge the ever so dominant Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship and he would go on to win the big gold belt that his uncle once held but more importantly his father never got to hold and we have a nice moment in the ring where Bronson hands his father the big gold belt that he finally gets to hold high above his shoulders.
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It’s the Raw after WrestleMania, John Cena has just defeated Austin Theory to win his record tying 6th United States Championship. John Cena comes out on Raw and he brings back his iconic US open challenge, this is when Rick Steiner comes out and introduces the product of his semen the newly renamed BRONSON STEINER!!!
Bronson Steiner vs John Cena(c) United States Championship
John Cena has defeated some of the greatest that this business has to offer, but never has John Cena been into the ring with a freak athlete who also happens to carry the Steiner name. Bronson floors Cena with a HUGE spear to start off the match. Cena is no slouch however and he begins to mount a comeback. Cena hits a shoulder block followed up by another but BRONSON CATCHES HIM WITH A FRANKENSTEINER, SHADES OF HIS UNCLE SCOTT. Bronson locks in the STEINER RECLINER and Cena is fading but staying true to his moniker “Never Give Up” and he powers out with Bronson on his shoulders and hits the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT THE REF COUNTS…. ONE…. STEINER KICKS OUT AT ONE. Bronson pops back up and he hits A MILITARY PRESS POWERSLAM, ONE… TWO… THREE!!! BRONSON STEINER HAS DEFEATED JOHN CENA TO WIN THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!! For the second year in a row, Bronson Steiner has won a championship on the Raw after WrestleMania.
Bronson Steiner defeats John Cena to win the United States Championship in 12:04
Raw April 10th, 2023
Bronson Steiner is interviewed backstage about his recent US Title win and he is asked about carrying the Steiner name and what it means to him in which he responds that his father & his uncle were the greatest tag team in WCW history, they were both United States Champions, Scott was world champion, hell they’re former WWE World Tag Team Champions but the Steiner name doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Everyone talks about the Rhodes, Anoa’i, or the Orton dynasty but the Steiner family has been largely forgotten by wrestling fans and he aims to not only create a legacy for himself but to make the Steiner name mean something once again.
Raw April 17, 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Chad Gable: United States Championship
Bronson decides that he wants to hold an open challenge for the United States Championship. The man to answer that challenge is Chad Gable who dropped the shoosh gimmick and is back to being a serious professional wrestler. Gable puts on a hell of a showing against Steiner but the younger & fresher talent proves to be too much for Chad Gable. Bronson Steiner retains the United States Championship in his first defense.
Bronson Steiner defeats Chad Gable to retain the United States Championship in 8:28
Raw May 8th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Bronson Reed /w The Miz: King of the Ring First Round
In real life, it was just announced that King & Queen of the Ring will be taking place in May. We have 8 men from Raw & 8 men from Smackdown who will make up the King of the Ring Tournament. In the first round, we will have the battle of the Bronson’s as Bronson Steiner takes on Bronson Reed. The former NXT North American Champion proves to be one hell of a challenge for the young Steiner. While the referee is distracted, The Miz sneak attacks Steiner hitting a Skull Crushing Finale at ringside and rolls him back into the ring. Bronson follows it up with a top rope splash, he makes the cover, ONE… TWO… STEINER BARELY KICKS OUT!!! Steiner recovers and hits a huge military press powerslam on Reed. BRONSON STEINER ADVANCES IN THE KING OF THE RING TOURNAMENT!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Bronson Reed in 14:08
Raw May 15th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Braun Strowman: King of the Ring Quarterfinal
Bronson Steiner has made it to the Quarterfinals but he has the biggest (literally & figuratively) challenge that he’s ever face so far. Braun Strowman has been on a rampage since turning heel. At the star of the match, Strowman tries to bully Bronson who shows absolutely no fear and he bitch slaps Strowman which enraged the monster and they begin to brawl but the match quickly gets out of hand. They’re trading blows in the corner, the ref is trying to break it up but Bronson accidentally floors the ref with a right. They begin fighting outside the ring and up the stage. Strowman picks up Steiner and hits A RUNNING POWERSLAM THROUGH THE LED BOARD SPARKS ARE FLYING EVERYWHERE!!! Both men have to be carried out of the arena.
Bronson Steiner vs Braun Strowman ends in a no contest in 8:04
Raw May 22nd, 2023
King & Queen of the Ring 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Braun Strowman: United States Championship
At the PPV, before the match can even start, Steiner & Strowman start brawling and they’re fighting into the crown. Bronson has never had an opponent quite as powerful as Strowman and he knows that if he wants to win that he’s going to take risks. They’re fighting near a balcony and Bronson nails Strowman with a low blow. Steiner climbs to the top of the balcony and DIVES NEARLY 20 FEET ONTO STROWMAN. They finally manage to get back into the ring to start the match and it’s them hitting power move after power move on each other. Bronson manages to lift up Strowman and land a STEINER SCREWDRIVER!!! HE MAKES THE COVER ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER HAS RETAINED THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Braun Strowman to retain the United States Championship in 13:13
Raw May 28th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Bobby Roode: Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
After toppling the monster among men, Bronson Steiner has a new challenge and that is the upcoming Money in the Bank Ladder Match. It’s a concept completely foreign to the young upstart. But in order to even qualify for the match, Bronson will have to contest with Bobby Roode who only recently returned from neck surgery. Bobby Roode is a man who can make anyone look good in a match and he has previous experience facing a Steiner but that experience DOESNT pay off as Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Roode to qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Roode to qualify for Money in the Bank in 12:56
Money in the Bank 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Finn Bálor vs Bobby Lashley vs Pete Dunne vs LA Knight vs Gunther vs Seth Rollins vs Solo Sikoa: Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Bronson Steiner is entering the first ladder match of his career and he’s completely out of his element here. But Steiner wants to prove that not only can he adapt, but he can win the match and guarantee himself a world title match in the near future. This match is pure anarchy, Ali is using the environment around him to take out his opponents, Pete Dunnes does ladder assisted joint manipulation, and Solo Sikoa uses his Samoan strength to batter the competition. Steiner quickly adapts to this chaotic match and starts muscling around guys such as Ali & Seth Rollins. It’s then that Steiner comes face to face with THE ALMIGHTY!!! These two big meaty men start slapping meat and BRONSON STARTS GETTING THE BETTER OF LASHLEY!!! Bronson sets up a ladder in the middle of the ring but Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin and they’re beating him down as Lashley begins to climb the ladder. Bronson just barely dispatches of Alexander & Benjamin in time to climb the ladder and meet Lashley at the top. They’re trading blows until BRONSON STEINER HIS A MASSIVE FRANKENSTEINER OFF THE TOP OF THE LADDER!!!! Lashley is down and once again, Steiner slowly gets back to his feet to climb the ladder but out comes OMOS. He picks up Steiner and hits a huge choke slam on Steiner through a ladder bridged at ringside. As Omos goes to pick up Lashley and help him win the match, LA KNIGHT SNEAKS BACK INTO THE RING AND CLIMBS THE LADDER TO RETRIEVE THE BRIEFCASE!!! LA KNIGHT IS MR MONEY IN THE BANK.
LA Knight wins the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in 26:47
Raw July 10th, 2023
Bronson Steiner vs The Hurt Business: Gauntlet Match
After being robbed of Money in the Bank, Bronson Steiner is understandably pissed off and he want to kick the piss out of Hurt Business. MVP says that he’s not going to let another Steiner humiliate Lashley, which is a reference to Scott Steiner & Bobby Lashley’s feud circa 2009 TNA. Bronson being the tough as nails fighting champion that he is, he agrees to fight all of the members of Hurt Business and if any of them can beat him, he’ll put up his United States Championship on the line at Summerslam. The match is made a gauntlet match.
Our first is Shelton Benjamin. These two have an excellent athletic contest with Shelton reminding everyone just how good he still is. Not even 10 minutes in, Steiner defeats Benjamin with a top-rope Frankensteiner. The second man to answer this gauntlet is Cedric Alexander. He starts to wear down Bronson picking up where Benjamin left off after a thrilling 12 minutes, Steiner puts away Alexander with a TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER. Bronson is really starting to tire out and it couldn’t come at a worse time because out next is OMOS!!! The seven foot three Nigerian giant makes his stoic walk down to the ring but he makes a quick stop under the ring and grabs a STEEL CHAIR. Omos enters the ring and BATTERS STEINER OVER AND OVER AGAIN BREAKING THE CHAIR OVER THE BACK OF BRONSON STEINER. Omos hits a thunderous choke bomb on Steiner RIGHT THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! With Omos disqualified, there’s only one man left and that man is Bobby Lashley. When he gets in the ring, Steiner is still laid out at ringside. The ref begins the count and Steiner barely gets back in the ring before the count of ten but Steiner is too beaten up to stand against Lashley who hits Steiner with multiple spears. Lashley locks in the Hurt Lock and Steiner passes out. BOBBY LASHLEY WILL CHALLENGE BRONSON STEINER FOR THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP AT SUMMERSLAM!!!
The Hurt Business defeats Bronson Steiner in 32:08
Summerslam 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Bobby Lashley: United States Championship
Bronson Steiner goes into Summerslam not at 100% after weeks of beatdowns from Hurt Business and on top of that has easily the toughest challenge of his career. They have a great big man match that sees Steiner hang in there. Near the end of the match, we have a ref bump. Bronson hits a Steiner Screw Driver, BUT NO REF TO COUNT THE PIN!!! Omos comes out to help Lashley finish off Steiner. STEINER DOES THE UNTHINKABLE AND HITS THE MILITARY PRESS POWERSLAM ON OMOS THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! Steiner gets a measure of revenge for a few weeks ago on Raw. Back to the match, Lashley manages to lock in the Hurt Lock that has put so many wrestlers away for the past three years but Bronson is a special breed. BRONSON STEINER BECOMES THE FIRST PERSON TO BREAK THE HURT LOCK!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Bobby Lashley to retain the United States Championship in 15:04
Raw August 21st, 2023
After the biggest win of his career at Summerslam, Bronson Steiner is out cutting a promo about what’s next for him as United States Champion, ya know all the usual stuff. This is when the cameras cut to the backstage area and we see Rick Steiner being assaulted by none other than…. TOMMASO CIAMPA!!! Steiner makes a beeline for the backstage area but Ciampa is long gone by the time Steiner gets there and all that’s left is the brutally beaten & bloodied father of Bronson Steiner.
Raw August 28th, 2023
Throughout this particular episode of Raw, Bronson Steiner is looking for Tommaso Ciampa. Finally, we see a car pull up in the arena and it’s Tommaso Ciampa and HE MEANS BUSINESS!!! He starts making his way through the arena when Steiner goes right for Ciampa and they have an intense backstage brawl. They have to be separated by security. Bronson yells to Ciampa that “IF YOU KEEP MESSING WITH MY FAMILY ILL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!”
Raw September 5th, 2023
Tommaso Ciampa finally explains why he attacked Bronson Steiner and his family. Ciampa says that he helped build NXT and he was the face of that brand, that was until Steiner came in with that stupid ring name and his lineage and he took not only his spot but the only thing in this business and that’s Goldie. Ciampa says since Bronson took something he loved, now he’s going to take something from Steiner that he loves and that is the UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Raw September 26th, 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Tommaso Ciampa: United States Championship
These two have a very hard-hitting match that see them not only wanting to win the match but down right maim the other. Ciampa uses every dirty heel trick in the book but nothing is working on Steiner who has been operating on an entirely different level as of late. Bronson pays homage to his father but hitting the DIVING BULLDOG ON CIAMPA!!! ONE… TWO… THREE. BRONSON STEINER HAS RETAINED THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP!!! But what the ref didn’t see is that Ciampa’s foot was under the bottom rope.
Bronson Steiner defeats Tommaso Ciampa to retain the United States Championship in 13:44
Raw October 3rd, 2023
Ciampa is raging because he aaa screwed out of the United States Championship. He says that this is just like what happened in NXT. Steiner gets a rocket strapped to his back because he’s a Steiner then he steals Ciampa’s spot in NXT. Ciampa should be United States Champion, not Steiner and so he challenges him to ONE MORE MATCH AT CROWN JEWEL!!! Steiner comes out and he says that he’s going to put Ciampa down for good just like he put down the old guard of NXT. Steiner of course accepts the match and just to make sure Ciampa doesn’t leave with any more excuses, Steiner suggests they make it LAST MAN STANDING!!!
Crown Jewel 2023
Bronson Steiner(c) vs Tommaso Ciampa: Last Man Standing Match for The United States Championship
We finally get to Crown Jewel. These two men have been feuding since Summerslam and things will finally come to a head. It’s Bronson Steiner, the man who ushered in the current era of NXT vs Tommaso Ciampa who was the last of the old guard from the Black & Gold Era of NXT. These two men go to war, Steiner SPEARS CIAMPA THROUGH THE BARRICADE. Ciampa hits a FAIRYTALE ENDING THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!! But if there’s anything that Steiner has in common with Ciampa is that they both have that never say die attitude. Steiner beats the 10 count but before he can do anything to Ciampa, he is speared out of nowhere by….. GOLDBERG!!! What in the fuck. Ciampa capitalizes and he brings the US Title Belt into the ring and hits one last FAIRYTALE ENDING ONTO THE US TITLE BELT AS ONE FINAL FUCK YOU TO BRONSON STEINER. ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR… FIVE… SIX… SEVEN… EIGHT… NINE… TEN… TOMMASO CIAMPA FINALLY HAS HIS FIRST TASTE OF MAIN ROSTER GOLD!!!
Tommaso Ciampa defeats Bronson Steiner to win the United States Championship in 28:55
Raw November 6th, 2023
Goldberg explains that he attacked Bronson Steiner because of his hatred for the Steiner family. He says that they made his life hell in WCW and it kills him to see fans cheering a Steiner when those same neck beards booing Goldberg for making a career out of doing the right thing. Goldberg has returned and he has just one more match left in him and he wants his final match to be the one that sees the end of the Steiner family in the world of professional wrestling. Goldberg challenges Bronson Steiner to match at Survivor Series, the same event that Goldberg made his triumphant return seven years ago.
Survivor Series 2023
Bronson Steiner vs Goldberg
Almost 7 years to the day after Goldberg returned to WWE in explosive fashion and squashed Brock Lesnar. Da man is facing is many ways a younger version of himself, both former NFL players, both had meteoric rises to the top in their respective companies. The match begins and Goldberg immediately charges Steiner who overpowers Goldberg with a huge shoulder tackle. Goldberg is momentarily stunned but goes for a spear by Steiner leapfrogs and rebounds off the tops NAILING GOLDBERG WITH A SPEAR OF HIS OWN. GOLDBERG STUMBLES BACK TO HIS FEET ONLY TO BE HIT WITH A SECOND SPEAR FROM STEINER!!! Goldberg is in a bad way as Steiner follows it up with his patented military press powerslam but he doesn’t make the cover instead he locks in the STEINER RECLINER AND THERE IS NO WAY OUT FOR GOLDBERG. For the first time in his career, GOLDBERG TAPS OUT. BRONSON STEINER HAS OFFICIALLY RETIRED GOLDBERG!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats Goldberg in 89 seconds
Royal Rumble 2024
30 Man Royal Rumble Match
So far, 29 men have entered the Royal Rumble and Brock Lesnar has been dominating the match. Who can stop Brock Lesnar except for ENTRANT NUMBER 30, BRONSON STEINER!!! They comes face to to face in the ring for the first time ever. They go off in a test of strength with BRONSON GETTING THE BETTER OF BROCK. HE LIFTS BROCK WAY OVER HIS HEAD AND CHUCKS HIM RIGHT OUT OF THE RING. BRONSON STEINER HAS ELIMINATED BROCK LESNAR IN CONVINCING FASHION!!! Bronson is slowly clearing the field, he eliminates both Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin at the same time. He body slams Braun Strowman over the top rope. Bronson Steiner seems to have the 2024 Royal Rumble on lock. Directly mirroring Royal Rumble 2004, Brock Lesnar sneak back into the ring and NAIL BRONSON WITH AN F-5!!! Bronson is stunned as he slowly uses the rope to get back to his feet. He sees Brock walking back up the ramp looking satisfied at what he has done. From behind, old rival TOMMASO CIAMPA DUMPS BRONSON STEINER OVER THE TOP ROPE ENDING THE SECOND GENERATION STEINERS HOPES OF MAIN EVENTING WRESTLEMANIA!!!
Raw January 28th, 2024
Bronson Steiner is understandably pissed the fuck off that Brock Lesnar cost him the Royal Rumble. He says that he wants Brock Lesnar right here, right now. But there’s no sign of Brock Lesnar. Bronson refuses to leave the ring until Brock Lesnar shows his face. After a minute or so, Adam Pearce comes out and says that Brock isn’t here and he has a show to run. Later in the night, the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship is announced with Gunther defending the title against Brock Lesnar and four other competitors. The other four will be determined through qualifying matches. Bronson Steiner barges in Adam Pearce’s office and is asking why the hell was Brock Lesnar just inserted into the match while everyone else has to earn their spot. Bronson says that he has unfinished business with Brock Lesnar, and Pearce says that putting Brock in the chamber wasn’t his call but what he can do is give Steiner a qualifying match next week on Raw.
In this timeline, after Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship he retires the Universal Championship reintroducing the big gold belt which is won by Seth Rollins in a tournament at Backlash but later in the year he loses the belt to Gunther who goes on a long dominant run with the belt.Raw February 5th, 2024
Bronson Steiner vs The Miz: Elimination Chamber Qualifier
Bronson Steiner faces the WWE’s resident loudmouth and he means fucking business. Steiner immediately drops The Miz with a double leg takedown and he’s pounding that ass the way I pound Jay Castle with rights & lefts. Bronson picks up Miz and nails him with a Military Press Powerslam but doesn’t pin him. Bronson locks in the Steiner Recliner and Miz immediately taps out. BRONSON STEINER DEFEATS THE MIZ IN JUST OVER A MINUTE TO QUALIFY FOR ELIMINATION CHAMBER!!!
Bronson Steiner defeats The Miz in 1:03
Elimination Chamber 2024
Bronson Steiner vs Brock Lesnar vs Gunther(c) vs Sheamus vs Ricochet vs Seth Rollins: Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Entrant #1: Ricochet Entrant #2: Brock Lesnar
Two former rivals start off as the first two entrants in the Elimination Chamber Match. Ricochet’s career never recovered after his crushing defeat to Brock four years ago. Ricochet refuses to let Brock punk him this time around and he immediate charges the much larger opponent. Brock is caught off guard by the absolute speed & tenacity of Ricochet but it doesn’t last long and Brock is hitting German after German on Ricochet. Brock is taunting Bronson who still locked in his pod.
Entrant #3: Seth Rollins
Rollins is out next and he alongside Ricochet decide to form an unlikely alliance to take down the much bigger threat. We get a few minutes of high flying fuckery that sees Rollins & Ricochet hit Lesnar with a bunch double team moves that Lesnar sells beautifully.
Entrant #4: Sheamus
Out next is Sheamus who levels both Seth Rollins & Ricochet with a Brough Kick just in time for Lesnar to make it back to his feet. These two have an EXTREMELY hard-hitting exchange. Sheamus hits Lesnar with a Brough Kick and he does that amazing thing where he staggers back and Sheamus goes for another one but Lesnar counters into an F-5 while staring down Steiner straight in the eyes. ONE… TWO… THREE…. SHEAMUS IS THE FIRST ONE OUT!!!
Entrant #5: Bronson Steiner
We begin the countdown to the fifth entrant and it is of course, Bronson Steiner. Both Steiner & Lesnar finally are able to go at it properly and it is as JR would put it; a slobberknocker. Lesnar actually gets the better of Steiner and plants him with an F-5 but before Lesnar can pin him, Rollins floors Lesnar with a springboard knee. Rollins follows it up with a Curb Stomp attempts but similar to Randy Orton, Lesnar catches Rollins mid move and nails him with an F-5, ONE…. TWO… THREE….. SETH ROLLINS HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!!!!!
Entrant #6: Gunther
Gunther is the final man to enter the match and it’s chops for everyone. Gunther turns Ricochet inside out with a thunderous chop. He then levels Lesnar, Gunther chops Steiner over and over again who doesn’t go down and he continues fighting back, Gunther has Steiner leaned against a pod and he goes to chop him again but Bronson moves and GUNTHER DESTROYS THE POD WITH JUST ONE CHOP!!! Gunther’s hand is cut and Bronson senses this and he takes the fight to the World Heavyweight Champion but he’s worn out and Gunther manages to drop kick him which sends him flying into the chamber wall. Gunther redirects his attention to Lesnar and they start where they left off. Lesnar hoists the big Austrian up for an F-5 but out of nowhere, STEINER SPEARS LESNAR!!! STEINER FOLLOWS IT UP WITH A MILITARY PRESS SLAM. RICOCHET HITS A 630 ONTO LESNAR FROM THE TOP OF THE POD. ONE… TWO… THREE…. RICOCHET HAS DOME THE UNTHINKABLE AND ELIMINATED BROCK LESNAR!!! Ricochet got his revenge for Crown Jewel 2020. When Brock recovers, he is PISSED!!! Before leaving the chamber, he plants both Ricochet & Steiner with and F-5 but he isn’t done with Steiner just yet. Lesnar locks in the Kimura and SNAPS THE ARM OF BRONSON STEINER!!! A few EMT’s enter the chamber to try and get Steiner out of the chamber but he refuses to quit and he puts up a valiant effort against Gunther but he’s in ungodly amounts of pain. He nearly collapses because the pain is so unbearable which makes him easy pickings for the current heavyweight champ. Gunther his The Last Symphony, ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER’S DREAMS OF WINNING THE BIG GOLD BELT ARE CRUSHED. Gunther goes on to defeat Ricochet to win the match.
Gunther wins the elimination chamber to retain The World Heavyweight Championship in 27:57
Raw February 26th, 2024
We’re just over a week removed from Elimination Chamber and things have never looked worse for Bronson Steiner. Brock Lesnar broke Steiner’s arm after being eliminated in the chamber so not only was Steiner robbed of the World Heavyweight Championship, but now he may miss out on his first WrestleMania. Steiner now sporting a sling has a sit-down interview with Michael Cole who starts off asking him about why this beef between Steiner & Lesnar got out of hand so quickly. Bronson explains that he never liked Brock, he is someone that doesn’t respect this business or the people in it. His father & his uncle dedicated their entire lives to this business and they didn’t get half the opportunities that Lesnar was given. Bronson says that the doctors won’t clear him which means he’ll have to work twice as hard to prove them wrong.
Raw March 28th, 2024
After weeks of working hard to get his arm back into shape, doctors still refuse to clear Bronson Steiner to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 40 and Adam Pearce says that Steiner is just going to have to sit this one out which doesn’t not sit well with him. Finally, he goes to the head honcho Triple H and he says that he cannot sanction a match between them and that’s when he says that they can only fight in an UNSANCTIONED MATCH!!!
WrestleMania 40
Bronson Steiner vs Brock Lesnar: Unsanctioned Match
We are here at the 40th edition of WrestleMania and this is going to be the match of a lifetime for Bronson Steiner. Brock Lesnar comes out with his bun shaved off and wearing his original 2002 gear. He comes out not even wearing his ring gear, just a pair of jeans really symbolizing just how personal this feud has become. Bronson runs straight to the ring and he’s trading blows with Brock to start the match. Steiner is really taking the fight to Lesnar and it spills outside the ring. Bro son looks to spear Lesnar through the barricade like he did a few weeks ago but Lesnar gets out of the way and BRONSON WIPES OUT THROUGH THE BARRICADE!!! Brock goes after the still weakened arm of Steiner smashing it against the ring post. Brock wants to inflict as much damage as possible and he removes the protective padding at ringside and goes for a German on the concrete but Bronson gets out of it and HITS A FRANKENSTEINER ON THE EXPOSED CONCRETE!!! Brock is out of it as Bronson rolls him back in the ring. He then goes under the ring and throws a wide variety of weapons into the ring such as chairs, kendo sticks, trash cans, and a table. We see Lesnar powerbomb Steiner through a metal trash can and we Steiner spear Lesnar through the table set up in the corner. Finally, LESNAR HITS AN F-5 ON BRONSON STEINER, ONE… TWO… BRONSON KICKS OUT!!! Lesnar does something no one thought they would see again and HE HITS A SHOOTING STAR PRESS AND IT ACTUALLY FUCKING LANDS!!! Lesnar once again makes the cover, ONE… TWO… BRONSON SOMEHOW SOME WAY STILL KICKS OUT!!! Lesnar is completely out of options as Steiner recovers and hits his fathers patented Diving Bulldog followed by Bronson’s signature the Military Press Powerslam. The ref counts, ONE… TWO… THREE… BRONSON STEINER HAS DEFEATED BROCK LESNAR ON THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL!!! After the match, Brock Lesnar nods at Steiner as a show of respect.
Bronson Steiner defeats Brock Lesnar in 36:07
Epilogue
The next night on Raw, Brock Lesnar finally retires from WWE giving Bronson Steiner the rub of having retired both Goldberg & Brock Lesnar within his first year on the main roster. At Summerslam, Bronson Steiner would challenge the ever so dominant Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship and he would go on to win the big gold belt that his uncle once held but more importantly his father never got to hold and we have a nice moment in the ring where Bronson hands his father the big gold belt that he finally gets to hold high above his shoulders.
2023.03.21 02:26 amywood123 Portable Monitor with STONE serial Touch Screen and ESP32
 | Using STONE serial touch screen portable monitor, the hardware department decided to use NXP’s 32-bit microprocessor chip as the whole machine monitoring, ECG analysis, control center, by ECG bioelectricity acquisition amplification, right leg drive, import MIT ECG database to do an algorithm, but also monitor SpO2 sensor electrical signal, blood pressure, respiratory electrical signal amplification, and filtering processing, through high-speed baud rate communication, drive STONE serial touch screen to display waveform and parameter changes in real-time, and compare with a reference value to make a judgment, and monitor and alarm the changes of human body parameters. If there is a range deviation, it automatically issues voice prompts. submitted by amywood123 to u/amywood123 [link] [comments] The new version of the STONE serial touch screen perfectly supports curve depiction and display, the communication protocol is simple and easy to remember, microcontroller engineers can use it after reading the manual, there are many examples of drivers in the command set, directly copied to modify the name and parameters can be used. Serial connection is simple, you can use the official adapter board, whether it is a direct serial connection or USB to serial, it is very convenient and easy to use. The monitor displays multiple groups of vital parameters at the same time, especially 3 curves that are dynamically drawn and displayed at the same time very smoothly, and should be able to draw more groups of curve graphics at the same time, you can try as needed. Of course, the command set curve function has an example of multiple data pushed at the same time, but the actual use of the current hardware does not respond, I hope the official can be optimized as soon as possible. It may also be solved by updating the firmware. For this new version of the drawing curve function, I first tried how can not be tuned out, and finally learned that the serial screen has a new firmware, brushed the new firmware to see the “real face of the mountain”. Seeing the smooth ECG curve coming out of the serial screen with the firmware brushed, the mood is happy, huh …… The design picture of this project is shown in Figure (1). The interface is based on a STWI101WT-01 serial screen with 1024*600 resolution, the left side shows 2/3 of the waveform curve and the right 1/3 shows the value. This article will focus on the creation and depiction of the curve chart view. It is completely according to the production process of the project demo, with no classification, maybe you feel messy, but it is the real process of real development. First, We Decided To Fix The Curve Depiction Of ECG.Figure (1) Project Design Expected InterfaceThis demo simulates a 75bpm heart rate, which is equivalent to an 800ms heartbeat, i.e. one point every 40ms, one cycle every 20 points, based on the whole chart view control X axis divided into 100 equal parts, 4s waveform per screen, screen refresh rate 25Hz, looks very smooth. The line series element of this chart view control is set to smooth = false (ECG waveform is sharp), the lower envelope is not displayed, and the point marker is not displayed. area. Here see Figure (4), min = 0, max = 140 for the Y axis, the maximum value given in the program is 130, and the range is relatively full. See Figure (2) – Figure (7) for other parameters, which are set for chart view1 and its elements X axis1, Yaxis2, bar series1, and line series1. We choose transparent rgba (0,0,0,0) for the bg color of the chart view control, which reveals the base color (black), and other controls, such as view, have the same characteristics. Figure (2) Property settings of chart view1 Figure (3) X axis1 property setting of chart view1 Figure (4) Y axis1 property setting of chart view1 Figure (5) bar series1 property setting of chart view1 Figure (6) The line series1 property setting of chart view111 Figure (7) line series1 property setting of chart view12 The programming code to simulate the ECG waveform (75bpm) according to the above settings is as follows. First, define two variables as follows. Int num19_1 = 0; Int num19_2 = 0; Then generally in the main loop main.c, the ECG curve is depicted by the following code. delay(10);num19_1 += 1; if(num19_1 >= 4){ // Draw one point every 40ms. num19_1 = 0; num19_2 += 1; if(num19_2 == 3){ Serial.println("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series1\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\" :10}>ET"); }else if(num19_2 == 4){ Serial.println("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series1\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\" :130}>ET"); }else{ Serial.println("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series1\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\" :40}>ET"); } if(num19_2 >= 20){ //every 20 data is a cycle num19_2 = 0; } } Then You Want To Take Care Of The CO2 Curve, Focusing On Scan Synchronization.The 3 curves of this project, chart view2 is for the SpO2 blood oxygen sensor and chart view3 is for CO2 respiration.Chart view2, chart view3 X axis are set min = 0, max = 100, and ECG chart view1 the same, curve sweep to keep synchronized, chart view2 Y axis2 max = 100, so the preparation of the program Y-axis value is given to 95 maximum, the algorithm is shown in the following program code. First, define 3 variables as follows. Int num19_3 = 0; Int num19_4 = 0; Int num19_5 = 0; The CO2 curve is then generally depicted in the main loop, main.c, by the following code. num19_3 += 1; if(num19_3 >= 4){ //one point every 40ms num19_3 = 0; num19_4 += 1; if(num19_4 <= 10){ num19_5 = num19_4\9; //the first 10 points increase linearly* Serial.print("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series3\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\":" ); Serial.print(num19_5); Serial.println("}>ET"); }else if(num19_4 <= 40){ // the last 30 points decrease linearly num19_5 = 95 - (num19_4 - 10)\3;* Serial.print("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series3\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\":" ); Serial.print(num19_5); Serial.println("}>ET"); }else{ num19_4 = 0; Serial.println("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series3\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\" :5}>ET"); } }Figure (8) shows the ECG waveform at the top and the CO2 waveform at the bottom (symbol round radius = 4) Figure (9) shows the ECG waveform at the top and the CO2 waveform at the bottom (symbol round radius = 30) The following CO2 waveform in Figure (8) is the effect of the above program when the attribute symbol round radius = 4 for line series3. We try to modify symbol round radius = 30, hoping that the curve transition is more rounded, but the test result is no different from Figure (8), see Figure (9), which shows that when the points are denser, the rounding effect is not obvious. This can only be achieved by changing the point coordinates. Figure (10) with coordinates separating axes Let’s take a look at the properties of the X axis in Figure (3) by using Figure (10). In Figure (3), when show = true for split line, the long vertical bar (separator bar) will be displayed; when show = true for line, the horizontal line of X-axis will be displayed (such as the horizontal line at the bottom of the top chart view); when show = true for tick, the thin line of the scale below the horizontal line of X-axis will be displayed; when show = true for label, the number below the horizontal line of X-axis (the value filled in data) will be displayed. = true, it will show the number below the horizontal line of the X-axis (the value filled in the data). That’s all. Now It Was Down To The SpO2 Curve And Decided To Use AD Conversion.Curve simulation using ESP32 ADC, it is 12-bit, full scale 4096. chart view2 Y axis max = 255, the ADC read-in value divided by 20, can meet the curve display. The full-scale SPO2 display is 100%, so the ADC read in value divided by 20 and then divided by 2.55 can be displayed in label2, the program because it is an integer number operation, the algorithm is corrected, please see the actual test ok program code. Use the function analogRead(32) in Arduino to read the AD conversion value of GPIO32 (also ADC-CH4) of ESP32 directly. The test can be done by a potentiometer, but also simply connect the ADC-CH4 pin to GND, to +3.3V, to +5V, or overhang to see the interference waveform, see video effect (shown at low when grounded, connected to +3.3V, +5V is the same high full amplitude, the overhang is a spurious curve), the right label2 control timely display ADC voltage changes. The code and algorithm code is as follows.//--------ADC------- int adcPin = 32; // GPIO32, also ADC-CH4 int adcValue = 0; int num19_6 = 0; delay(10); adcValue = analogRead(adcPin); // Read in the value of the AD conversion adcValue = adcValue/20; //-----SPO2 curve plotting ------ num19_6 += 1; if(num19_6 >= 4){ // one point every 40ms num19_6 = 0; Serial.print("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"line_series\",\"widget\":\"line_series2\",\"mode\":\"push\",\"value\":" ); Serial.print(adcValue); Serial.println("}>ET"); adcValue = (adcValue\10)/21;* Serial.print("ST<{\"cmd_code\":\"set_value\",\"type\":\"label\",\"widget\":\"label2\",\"value\":"); Serial.print(adcValue); Serial.println("}>ET"); }Fig. (11) The actual completed 3 groups of curves partially See Figure (11) for a partial shot of the actual picture, and Figure (12) for the design interface in the computer. As in Figure (3), when the show = false of the split line of the X axis2 of the chart view2, the separator bar of the yellow SPO2 area in the middle of Figure (12) will turn off the display (like the real picture); the smooth waveform of the video display can be done completely as a real-time oscilloscope. Figure (12) 3 sets of curves completed by computer Reference Points
Figure (14) Instructions for using the chart view of the curve control 2. Arduino’s analogRead() read function for analog AD conversion. In the Arduino version 1.8.13 menu “Help”—“Reference” —- “learning —– “Analog I/O”, you can see the description of the analogRead() function As follows. AnalogRead()DescriptionThe Arduino board contains a 6-channel (8 channels on the Mini and Nano, 16 on the Mega), 10-bit analog-to-digital converter. This means that it will map input voltages between 0 and 5 volts into integer values between 0 and 1023. This yields a resolution between readings of 5 volts / 1024 units or, .0049 volts (4.9 mV) per unit. analogReference ().It takes about 100 microseconds (0.0001 s) to read an analog input, so the maximum reading rate is about 10,000 times a second. SyntaxanalogRead(pin)Parameterspin: the number of the analog input pins to read from (0 to 5 on most boards, 0 to 7 on the Mini and Nano, 0 to 15 on the Mega)Returnsint (0 to 1023)NoteIf the analog input pin is not connected to anything, the value returned by analogRead() will fluctuate based on a number of factors (e.g. the values of the other analog inputs, how close your hand is to the board, etc.).However, please note that here the ADC-CH4 of ESP32 is 12 bits and the return value will be 0 to 4096. For more details, please refer to the related link in the original article and the ESP32 manual. https://preview.redd.it/4mz8szynvzoa1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=0bfc4b775317d2dd0f62a5a9b2e7d28e5db5b18d https://preview.redd.it/u7m6hihovzoa1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=f81e776020ff18ded7016903f12914c600f966c6 Article Source：https://www.stoneitech.com/portable-monitor-with-stone-serial-touch-screen-and-esp32/ |
2023.03.21 02:25 cruisingNW The Foundations of Humanity 7 (A Choice) - an NoP fanfic
The Foundations of Humanity 7 (A Choice) - an NoP fanfic
Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for establishing the Nature of Predators Universe, and for allowing Fanfics to flourish!
Memory transcription subject: Valek, Venlil-Human Partnership Program Participant
Date [standardized human time]: August 24th, 2136. Early evening
Door. Curtain. Button. Water. Curtain.
My mind swam in a torrent of thought and worry. Maeve promised me everything she told me was true, and this newest revelation was so haunting, for it to be false, a lie or a joke, would be a cruelty I had convinced myself to believe Maeve was not capable of. I sat down in the steaming water, and felt the heat dissipate my nerves and calm my mind. This was kept from us for a reason, I see that now. No other Venlil, except maybe our upper leadership, knew about this horror. Did they know? Do our leaders still trust Humans even after this? Does Tarva? Should I?
No. Come back. Find solid ground. This is not something that can be kept secret forever, other Venlil will face my choice, and I needed to choose. There has been no instance of Human-on-Venlil violence in the almost two months we have known each other, despite thousands of opportunities and even after instigation by Venlil. Maeve has repeatedly shown genuine care for me, even when, and especially when, no one is looking. The way her eyes shine when she laughs. The way I feel so much more than what I am when she listens. The way we fit together, mind and body; like Puzzle Pieces.
My instinct screamed against my ribcage. My ears searching for any exit. But it is my decision. I choose this. I choose to try to understand.
“I choose Maeve.”
Deep breath. And another. This is right. This is what I want. I reached for my Pad.
I think I’m ready to talk, can you come to the baths? I'm in the near corner on the left as you enter.
Ok! I’m on my way!
Enjoying my soak, but not wanting to have a chocolate ring on my face, I began my cleaning routine. Very thankful for the well-stocked bathing cabinet, I finally got the stain out of my salt-and-pepper velvet, then, while I was already in dirty water, I proceeded to clean the rest of me. I had the good sense to freshen up before coming to the station, but by now my body felt caked in musk from my constant blooming. I was glad to spend most of my time in the room, it would be embarrassing for another Venlil to see me like this.
I was fluffy-clean and finishing up, refilling the tub with fresh water for a leisurely soak, when I heard Maeve come in. After opening the curtain, I looked up to see her wearing her head covering and mask; my ears drooped in worry, but I thought it best not to address it.
“I just finished cleaning, but I think I’d like a soak. Would you like to take the next bath?” I asked, gesturing to the paired tub.
“I-I think I’m alright.” She mumbled, fidgeting with her mask, “If you’re not done I could go back to the room?”
“I asked you to come because I want you to be here. It’s ok, we’re alright.” I stepped out of the tub and, still dripping, grabbed Maeve’s hand and guided her to the side of my bath as I stepped back in. “You don't have to get in, but I’d like you to stay. And,” I dropped my voice and closed the curtain, “I’d like you to take off your mask and covering, please.”
I couldn't see her face, but the stiffening of her shoulders told me she was worried. “Please?”
A pause, then Maeve removed her mask and visor first, and I could see why she hesitated. Her eyes were puffy-red from crying and lips curled in clear anguish. Maeve told me that rejection was painful, but I never imagined this. Trying to hide my worry, I reached out to her face and pulled it to me, resting my snout against her cheek. “Thank you. I’m so sorry to cause you worry, and I would like to try again.”
Reaching over the tub I pulled a small stool beside it, and Maeve gratefully accepted the seat.
Settling into a comfortable position, I took the initiative to talk first. “Thank you for telling me about your people, and your world. If you'd like, I want to talk to you about mine.” Maeve nodded through shaking breaths, her recently-freed hair bobbing in her enthusiasm. “I’m from The Grove. Closest city is Hidden Plains, two stops sun-left on The Ring from the capital and half a claw’s bus ride; It's a farming town. The grove it was named after is long gone, swallowed by the town, but we were still surrounded by trees. The ride there and back is my favorite place to be, with the road winding through old growth. The trees were so incredible! Once you got out of the orchards, you'd see massive trunks, as thick as a house! I'd have to lay on the seat and look up to see any branches, they sat so high. Sometimes, after a good rain, mists would weave through the forest, and I could see sunbeams shining through. I remember sometimes I’d see a predator, in a tree or clearing. The first couple times I’d panic in my seat, and once I saw one look at the bus! I woke up at the station, that time.”
Maeve couldn't hide a sniffling giggle at that, which delighted me. Chuckling, I responded “yeah ha ha, it's very funny… it is though. After the first few times, I realized that they ran from the road more often than not. The only time I ever saw one even near it, they were trying to cross over, and ran off before we got close. I think I knew, around then, that predators didn't really… hunt us. I checked, and attacks on Venlil did happen, but only a pawful every year, and it had been decades since an attack in a city or town. It’s like they know we are dangerous and avoid us. I think it's one of the reasons why I joined this program. I wanted to see what Humans would be like: would they run or would they hunt? What would a smart predator want from us? And the answer, every time, from every Venlil I’ve asked has always been: a friend.”
“You are a good friend Maeve. I won’t deny the… complicated past of humanity. But you are not your ancestors. You are my friend. And I’d like to keep it that way. Ok?”
Mostly calmed down, but still sniffling, Maeve took a deep breath and answered, “Ok. Ok, Valek.” a few more deep breaths and she found her voice, “I think I’ll take that bath now”
Laughing together, she stood up and moved to the other tub while I pressed the fill button. I knew humans preferred modesty, so I raised the rigid privacy screen between us. “My family grows their own strain of Starberries you know? Ours are sweeter and lighter, best used for desserts. Our berry patches are lined up in long troughs, which made running much easier. I was the fastest kid in town, ya know!”
Through a bubbling laugh, “I bet you were!” I could hear her lowering herself into the water, with a contented hum following closely behind. “I needed this, Valek. Thank you… I’d love to try those berries sometime.”
“You will.” I promised, my tail swishing under the water.
“Did you still live in The Grove when you joined the program?” she asked; I could hear water sloshing as she started her own bathing routine.
“Not by then, no. I was actually going to Hidden Plains University for natural sciences! I wanted to find out why predators were more common in some places than others, as well as research whether coexistence is feasible, or even possible. I… didn’t do well in that class. Most of my peers were exterminators-to-be and the class was geared toward that. Honestly, I basically dropped out and asked to join the UN once we talked for a couple weeks.”
“What??” Maeve asked, aghast.
“They wouldn't have me. I got the letter a few days before leaving for the meetup. So, once this is done,” my eyes glossed over, tail curling around me, “I guess I’m… going back home. Everyone needs farmers, and we have a good plot out there. I’ll be fine. I can start my own research in the forest! And… it will be good to run again.”
A moment’s silence, “I’m sorry, Valek. But I'm glad you’re not giving up. I don’t know if you know this, but we have entire sciences dedicated to specific predators. Mostly they fall under the umbrella of Ecology, but so many people specialize so far that they, together, make an amazing body of knowledge.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Well the best way to explain it is how it's built into our education. The specifics vary between countries or cultures, but in general it works like this: your family teaches you enough to go to school, you go to public school, basically until adulthood, to learn the fundamentals of everything humans have ever known. Then, you go to College to learn the complexities of specific subjects. You get your Masters by being successful, and often better, than your peers on harder subjects. Then you get your Doctorate by defending your Thesis. This whole path can take more than 30 years, almost a third a human lifetime, to complete. Your thesis is one piece of new knowledge: something that you have researched and cataloged for however long it takes you to say ‘this is true, and this is worth knowing’. Some people work on their thesis for years, even decades, before they finally defend it well enough.”
“Wow,” I whistled, “does every human do this?”
“Oh, gosh no. But enough do. Many people stop sometime before the end, satisfied with the knowledge they have gained. Most people just focus on what is useful; what is needed to be prosperous. And with that, they become really good at one or two things. Some people are good at languages; they push themselves, and become fluent in around 20 languages, without a translator! Some people become really good at talking; they argue laws, and help governments communicate for peace. Some people become really good at throwing a ball, and can throw it over 160 kilometers per hour.”
“See, now I know you're lying. That's fast enough to knock down a Mazic!”
“It’s true! It’s true that most races can do something better than the average human; for example, I’m sure most Venlil can outrun a human in a sprint. But for anything you can think of, I bet there is at least one human who can do it better. That's the power of specialization.”
I could hear Maeve get out of the tub, and waited a moment, “What do you specialize in?”
“I don’t; or at least, I’m not trying to. But if I had to choose one thing that I think I do better than other people… I would like it to be…”
Strong arms found their way around my torso, coming from behind me and dodging my periphery. With a yelp, I was pulled from the water and locked in a hug against a toweled body.
“Hugs!”
Instinct took over as I thrashed my arms and legs, my tail lashing against her firm stance, screaming Venlil expletives. That I, in hindsight, rather hoped were not captured by the translator. “Maeve, put me down! Stars above, I almost had a heart attack!” I cried petulantly, while my bloom told my tale.
Maeve was still cackling while we made our way to the drying corridor, Maeve’s clothes over her shoulder. I was so glad to see her smile again, my tail was frantic the whole walk to our room. Maeve told me about her time in school; how she never really got on with the competition. I told her about that one time I drifted off in class and gave the wrong date when called; we had moved on to the Iftali Schism, when I was still thinking about the Farsul Great Retirement. It was… nice, seeing where we were so similar, when there have been so many differences. But those differences brought them to the stars, on their own merit, and found us.
Reaching the room, I thought to go for an easy one this time. “How do humans entertain themselves? The way some Venlil say it, you’d think every human subsists on Bloodsport and cub sacrifices."
Chuckling along with me, she replied, "No, no baby sacrifices. And we haven't done duels to the death for at least 300 years-" -- "-wait, what?-" -- "-but we do have a lot of fun with conflict and competition. Close your eyes, I wanna get changed. We use the term Sport to refer to competitive play, and these days most of the money is in Major League Gaming, but that's very recent. Historically sports were very physical; human players using their specifically trained human bodies in a real space. Most games fell under ‘work with a team to take a thing to a place better than the other team’, with a heavy emphasis on teamwork and effective strategy. What about you? What do Venlil do for fun?”
I could hear rustling fabric from in front of me, and quick movements, “We Make, and we Talk. New construction projects and other public works are always on the broadcast, there's always something happening somewhere on the planet. Walking around the city it's not unusual to see community art or writing to make something big. We even have giant sandpits for kids to build in! It's cleaner than letting them play in the mud. But my favorite were the Forums! Comfortable parks, or open concrete, anywhere there's open space you'll see a bunch of venlil talking about something or other. Normally just gossip, but sometimes work, or what restaurants have new stuff. Before I got on the ship, all the buzz was about you guys, of course.”
“You can open your eyes now. And what did you do, Valek?”
Opening my eyes, I saw that Maeve had changed into a two-piece pajama set. The bottoms were dark with a colorful, apparently random, pattern. Some shapes looked like a badge, some just a ball of hair. The sleeves of her top were cut at the shoulder, and a group of three uniformed humans standing on a stage were painted on the front.
“Well the gossip was always fun. I liked talking to the Exterminators; they knew the most about, and had the most experience with predators. There was a lot of… unpleasantness to sift through, but I took what I could get without getting Diagnosed. I really enjoyed painting! There's a piece on the corner of the State building that I did; you can't really see it with everyone else’s work, but I know it's there.”
“That's so cool! We put a lot of emphasis on art too, but it's normally a more personal experience; one artist with big works. It’s getting late, but we could try going to the rec room tomorrow; they may have drawing materials?”
Starting to feel my own fatigue, I struggled through a yawn, “I’d really like that.”
We started our resting routine, I had already bathed so I just settled in; Maeve brushed her teeth and made her bed before climbing in. I used my pad to dim the lights.
“What are you doing after this, Maeve?”
A moment for thought, then, “Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead. I figured this would be a small thing: make a new friend, exchange some letters. Humans have been doing pen-pals for over a century, it’s nothing new. At the time it didn't seem… real…”
She continued, “But I’m in space. My new… friend," she giggled, "is a whole different life form. I’m here and this is real, and it’s… incredible! I don’t know what I’m doing after this, but I will never forget what this is. I’ll never forget you.”
…
…
“Hey Maeve?”
“Hmm?”
“... can I come up?”
Silence. Longer than existence, but shorter than a breath.
“... I think I’d like that.” The whisper came from above me.
I froze, my breath in my throat. I hadn't honestly expected a Yes. Pulling the sheet from me and grabbing my pillow, I stood up and climbed up to the top bunk; Maeve was facing away from me this time. Bringing my full body up, I stretched out on my side beside her, hopeful the dimmed lights hid my quickly brightening snout.
“Wh…What if we did more of this? After the program?”
Maeve lifted and turned her head. Not enough to see me, but I clearly had her attention, “What do you mean?”
“B-Before the meetup, I was talking to other Venlil on Bleat, others in the program, and… to say it’s a success would be a massive understatement. I’m certain we aren't the only pair who want to keep in contact or maybe… cohabitate?”
Maeve turned her body at that, and was mostly on her back, looking at the ceiling.
“That’s… not something to rush into. I want to sleep on it, please.”
I nodded, and understanding the conversation was over, rolled over to sleep. This, however, was not Maeve’s desired outcome.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Her hand was at my hip, and she pulled to roll me on my back. Maeve was facing me now, and my eye caught the glint in hers.
"That's not a 'No'. That's a 'this is serious and we should think about it'. I try not to make big decisions in the same bed with a boy I like."
Maeve pulled herself towards me, her right arm under my back and hand at my side, her left scratching the base of my chin; I heard my tail slowly thumping the bed at our feet.
"For the moment though, I hope you sleep well. Goodnight Valek."
"Goodnight Maeve."
submitted by cruisingNW to HFY [link] [comments]
Thank you u/SpacePaladin15 for establishing the Nature of Predators Universe, and for allowing Fanfics to flourish!
Memory transcription subject: Valek, Venlil-Human Partnership Program Participant
Date [standardized human time]: August 24th, 2136. Early evening
Door. Curtain. Button. Water. Curtain.
My mind swam in a torrent of thought and worry. Maeve promised me everything she told me was true, and this newest revelation was so haunting, for it to be false, a lie or a joke, would be a cruelty I had convinced myself to believe Maeve was not capable of. I sat down in the steaming water, and felt the heat dissipate my nerves and calm my mind. This was kept from us for a reason, I see that now. No other Venlil, except maybe our upper leadership, knew about this horror. Did they know? Do our leaders still trust Humans even after this? Does Tarva? Should I?
No. Come back. Find solid ground. This is not something that can be kept secret forever, other Venlil will face my choice, and I needed to choose. There has been no instance of Human-on-Venlil violence in the almost two months we have known each other, despite thousands of opportunities and even after instigation by Venlil. Maeve has repeatedly shown genuine care for me, even when, and especially when, no one is looking. The way her eyes shine when she laughs. The way I feel so much more than what I am when she listens. The way we fit together, mind and body; like Puzzle Pieces.
My instinct screamed against my ribcage. My ears searching for any exit. But it is my decision. I choose this. I choose to try to understand.
“I choose Maeve.”
Deep breath. And another. This is right. This is what I want. I reached for my Pad.
I think I’m ready to talk, can you come to the baths? I'm in the near corner on the left as you enter.
Ok! I’m on my way!
Enjoying my soak, but not wanting to have a chocolate ring on my face, I began my cleaning routine. Very thankful for the well-stocked bathing cabinet, I finally got the stain out of my salt-and-pepper velvet, then, while I was already in dirty water, I proceeded to clean the rest of me. I had the good sense to freshen up before coming to the station, but by now my body felt caked in musk from my constant blooming. I was glad to spend most of my time in the room, it would be embarrassing for another Venlil to see me like this.
I was fluffy-clean and finishing up, refilling the tub with fresh water for a leisurely soak, when I heard Maeve come in. After opening the curtain, I looked up to see her wearing her head covering and mask; my ears drooped in worry, but I thought it best not to address it.
“I just finished cleaning, but I think I’d like a soak. Would you like to take the next bath?” I asked, gesturing to the paired tub.
“I-I think I’m alright.” She mumbled, fidgeting with her mask, “If you’re not done I could go back to the room?”
“I asked you to come because I want you to be here. It’s ok, we’re alright.” I stepped out of the tub and, still dripping, grabbed Maeve’s hand and guided her to the side of my bath as I stepped back in. “You don't have to get in, but I’d like you to stay. And,” I dropped my voice and closed the curtain, “I’d like you to take off your mask and covering, please.”
I couldn't see her face, but the stiffening of her shoulders told me she was worried. “Please?”
A pause, then Maeve removed her mask and visor first, and I could see why she hesitated. Her eyes were puffy-red from crying and lips curled in clear anguish. Maeve told me that rejection was painful, but I never imagined this. Trying to hide my worry, I reached out to her face and pulled it to me, resting my snout against her cheek. “Thank you. I’m so sorry to cause you worry, and I would like to try again.”
Reaching over the tub I pulled a small stool beside it, and Maeve gratefully accepted the seat.
Settling into a comfortable position, I took the initiative to talk first. “Thank you for telling me about your people, and your world. If you'd like, I want to talk to you about mine.” Maeve nodded through shaking breaths, her recently-freed hair bobbing in her enthusiasm. “I’m from The Grove. Closest city is Hidden Plains, two stops sun-left on The Ring from the capital and half a claw’s bus ride; It's a farming town. The grove it was named after is long gone, swallowed by the town, but we were still surrounded by trees. The ride there and back is my favorite place to be, with the road winding through old growth. The trees were so incredible! Once you got out of the orchards, you'd see massive trunks, as thick as a house! I'd have to lay on the seat and look up to see any branches, they sat so high. Sometimes, after a good rain, mists would weave through the forest, and I could see sunbeams shining through. I remember sometimes I’d see a predator, in a tree or clearing. The first couple times I’d panic in my seat, and once I saw one look at the bus! I woke up at the station, that time.”
Maeve couldn't hide a sniffling giggle at that, which delighted me. Chuckling, I responded “yeah ha ha, it's very funny… it is though. After the first few times, I realized that they ran from the road more often than not. The only time I ever saw one even near it, they were trying to cross over, and ran off before we got close. I think I knew, around then, that predators didn't really… hunt us. I checked, and attacks on Venlil did happen, but only a pawful every year, and it had been decades since an attack in a city or town. It’s like they know we are dangerous and avoid us. I think it's one of the reasons why I joined this program. I wanted to see what Humans would be like: would they run or would they hunt? What would a smart predator want from us? And the answer, every time, from every Venlil I’ve asked has always been: a friend.”
“You are a good friend Maeve. I won’t deny the… complicated past of humanity. But you are not your ancestors. You are my friend. And I’d like to keep it that way. Ok?”
Mostly calmed down, but still sniffling, Maeve took a deep breath and answered, “Ok. Ok, Valek.” a few more deep breaths and she found her voice, “I think I’ll take that bath now”
Laughing together, she stood up and moved to the other tub while I pressed the fill button. I knew humans preferred modesty, so I raised the rigid privacy screen between us. “My family grows their own strain of Starberries you know? Ours are sweeter and lighter, best used for desserts. Our berry patches are lined up in long troughs, which made running much easier. I was the fastest kid in town, ya know!”
Through a bubbling laugh, “I bet you were!” I could hear her lowering herself into the water, with a contented hum following closely behind. “I needed this, Valek. Thank you… I’d love to try those berries sometime.”
“You will.” I promised, my tail swishing under the water.
“Did you still live in The Grove when you joined the program?” she asked; I could hear water sloshing as she started her own bathing routine.
“Not by then, no. I was actually going to Hidden Plains University for natural sciences! I wanted to find out why predators were more common in some places than others, as well as research whether coexistence is feasible, or even possible. I… didn’t do well in that class. Most of my peers were exterminators-to-be and the class was geared toward that. Honestly, I basically dropped out and asked to join the UN once we talked for a couple weeks.”
“What??” Maeve asked, aghast.
“They wouldn't have me. I got the letter a few days before leaving for the meetup. So, once this is done,” my eyes glossed over, tail curling around me, “I guess I’m… going back home. Everyone needs farmers, and we have a good plot out there. I’ll be fine. I can start my own research in the forest! And… it will be good to run again.”
A moment’s silence, “I’m sorry, Valek. But I'm glad you’re not giving up. I don’t know if you know this, but we have entire sciences dedicated to specific predators. Mostly they fall under the umbrella of Ecology, but so many people specialize so far that they, together, make an amazing body of knowledge.”
“Really? Like what?”
“Well the best way to explain it is how it's built into our education. The specifics vary between countries or cultures, but in general it works like this: your family teaches you enough to go to school, you go to public school, basically until adulthood, to learn the fundamentals of everything humans have ever known. Then, you go to College to learn the complexities of specific subjects. You get your Masters by being successful, and often better, than your peers on harder subjects. Then you get your Doctorate by defending your Thesis. This whole path can take more than 30 years, almost a third a human lifetime, to complete. Your thesis is one piece of new knowledge: something that you have researched and cataloged for however long it takes you to say ‘this is true, and this is worth knowing’. Some people work on their thesis for years, even decades, before they finally defend it well enough.”
“Wow,” I whistled, “does every human do this?”
“Oh, gosh no. But enough do. Many people stop sometime before the end, satisfied with the knowledge they have gained. Most people just focus on what is useful; what is needed to be prosperous. And with that, they become really good at one or two things. Some people are good at languages; they push themselves, and become fluent in around 20 languages, without a translator! Some people become really good at talking; they argue laws, and help governments communicate for peace. Some people become really good at throwing a ball, and can throw it over 160 kilometers per hour.”
“See, now I know you're lying. That's fast enough to knock down a Mazic!”
“It’s true! It’s true that most races can do something better than the average human; for example, I’m sure most Venlil can outrun a human in a sprint. But for anything you can think of, I bet there is at least one human who can do it better. That's the power of specialization.”
I could hear Maeve get out of the tub, and waited a moment, “What do you specialize in?”
“I don’t; or at least, I’m not trying to. But if I had to choose one thing that I think I do better than other people… I would like it to be…”
Strong arms found their way around my torso, coming from behind me and dodging my periphery. With a yelp, I was pulled from the water and locked in a hug against a toweled body.
“Hugs!”
Instinct took over as I thrashed my arms and legs, my tail lashing against her firm stance, screaming Venlil expletives. That I, in hindsight, rather hoped were not captured by the translator. “Maeve, put me down! Stars above, I almost had a heart attack!” I cried petulantly, while my bloom told my tale.
Maeve was still cackling while we made our way to the drying corridor, Maeve’s clothes over her shoulder. I was so glad to see her smile again, my tail was frantic the whole walk to our room. Maeve told me about her time in school; how she never really got on with the competition. I told her about that one time I drifted off in class and gave the wrong date when called; we had moved on to the Iftali Schism, when I was still thinking about the Farsul Great Retirement. It was… nice, seeing where we were so similar, when there have been so many differences. But those differences brought them to the stars, on their own merit, and found us.
Reaching the room, I thought to go for an easy one this time. “How do humans entertain themselves? The way some Venlil say it, you’d think every human subsists on Bloodsport and cub sacrifices."
Chuckling along with me, she replied, "No, no baby sacrifices. And we haven't done duels to the death for at least 300 years-" -- "-wait, what?-" -- "-but we do have a lot of fun with conflict and competition. Close your eyes, I wanna get changed. We use the term Sport to refer to competitive play, and these days most of the money is in Major League Gaming, but that's very recent. Historically sports were very physical; human players using their specifically trained human bodies in a real space. Most games fell under ‘work with a team to take a thing to a place better than the other team’, with a heavy emphasis on teamwork and effective strategy. What about you? What do Venlil do for fun?”
I could hear rustling fabric from in front of me, and quick movements, “We Make, and we Talk. New construction projects and other public works are always on the broadcast, there's always something happening somewhere on the planet. Walking around the city it's not unusual to see community art or writing to make something big. We even have giant sandpits for kids to build in! It's cleaner than letting them play in the mud. But my favorite were the Forums! Comfortable parks, or open concrete, anywhere there's open space you'll see a bunch of venlil talking about something or other. Normally just gossip, but sometimes work, or what restaurants have new stuff. Before I got on the ship, all the buzz was about you guys, of course.”
“You can open your eyes now. And what did you do, Valek?”
Opening my eyes, I saw that Maeve had changed into a two-piece pajama set. The bottoms were dark with a colorful, apparently random, pattern. Some shapes looked like a badge, some just a ball of hair. The sleeves of her top were cut at the shoulder, and a group of three uniformed humans standing on a stage were painted on the front.
“Well the gossip was always fun. I liked talking to the Exterminators; they knew the most about, and had the most experience with predators. There was a lot of… unpleasantness to sift through, but I took what I could get without getting Diagnosed. I really enjoyed painting! There's a piece on the corner of the State building that I did; you can't really see it with everyone else’s work, but I know it's there.”
“That's so cool! We put a lot of emphasis on art too, but it's normally a more personal experience; one artist with big works. It’s getting late, but we could try going to the rec room tomorrow; they may have drawing materials?”
Starting to feel my own fatigue, I struggled through a yawn, “I’d really like that.”
We started our resting routine, I had already bathed so I just settled in; Maeve brushed her teeth and made her bed before climbing in. I used my pad to dim the lights.
“What are you doing after this, Maeve?”
A moment for thought, then, “Honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead. I figured this would be a small thing: make a new friend, exchange some letters. Humans have been doing pen-pals for over a century, it’s nothing new. At the time it didn't seem… real…”
She continued, “But I’m in space. My new… friend," she giggled, "is a whole different life form. I’m here and this is real, and it’s… incredible! I don’t know what I’m doing after this, but I will never forget what this is. I’ll never forget you.”
…
…
“Hey Maeve?”
“Hmm?”
“... can I come up?”
Silence. Longer than existence, but shorter than a breath.
“... I think I’d like that.” The whisper came from above me.
I froze, my breath in my throat. I hadn't honestly expected a Yes. Pulling the sheet from me and grabbing my pillow, I stood up and climbed up to the top bunk; Maeve was facing away from me this time. Bringing my full body up, I stretched out on my side beside her, hopeful the dimmed lights hid my quickly brightening snout.
“Wh…What if we did more of this? After the program?”
Maeve lifted and turned her head. Not enough to see me, but I clearly had her attention, “What do you mean?”
“B-Before the meetup, I was talking to other Venlil on Bleat, others in the program, and… to say it’s a success would be a massive understatement. I’m certain we aren't the only pair who want to keep in contact or maybe… cohabitate?”
Maeve turned her body at that, and was mostly on her back, looking at the ceiling.
“That’s… not something to rush into. I want to sleep on it, please.”
I nodded, and understanding the conversation was over, rolled over to sleep. This, however, was not Maeve’s desired outcome.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Her hand was at my hip, and she pulled to roll me on my back. Maeve was facing me now, and my eye caught the glint in hers.
"That's not a 'No'. That's a 'this is serious and we should think about it'. I try not to make big decisions in the same bed with a boy I like."
Maeve pulled herself towards me, her right arm under my back and hand at my side, her left scratching the base of my chin; I heard my tail slowly thumping the bed at our feet.
"For the moment though, I hope you sleep well. Goodnight Valek."
"Goodnight Maeve."
2023.03.21 01:38 SirLurksAlot_2021 📈 Daily GameStop Statistics Recap. March 20: Up 1.63%. MTD: Down 12.27%. YTD: Down 8.61%. Buy/Sell Ratio: 80% Buys, 20% Sells. Apes are hodling strong. BUY HODL DRS BOOK 🌙
 | Things are getting interesting! The streak of short volume above 70% is at 19 consecutive trading days. The borrow fee is still going up, and the number of shares available to borrow is very low. 🔥 submitted by SirLurksAlot_2021 to GMEJungle [link] [comments] --------------------------------------------------- Orders on Fidelity - See the screenshot below
--------------------------------------------------- source: iborrowdesk.com ---------------------------------------------------- source: fidelity.com ----------------------------------------------------
For apes new to my daily posts, please see My perspective on GME buy/sell ratio from Fidelity and Retail Ape Sentiment: Analyzing 5 Months of Fidelity Buy/Sell Ratio Data for information about how I gather and use the buy/sell ratio stats as an objective measure of ape sentiment. Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. I am just an average, crayon eating ape. Nothing in this post should be taken as financial advice. --------------------------------------------------- |
2023.03.21 01:28 theargos PSA: There is no requirement to file a tax return if earning over £100k
I've seen a lot of misinformation spouted on this sub, and in particular on this recent thread today so thought I would educate those that aren't familiar with the self-assessment regime.
As credentials, I'm a chartered tax advisor, specialising in high net worth individuals, and deal with this regularly. The below does not constitute tax advice and you should seek professional advice if this issue affects you.
If you earn over £100,000, there is nothing in statute or common law that compels you to therefore submit a tax return, and HMRC's website telling you to do so is neither correct nor legally binding in any shape or form. This is the source most people reference.
Individuals are only required to submit a tax return where HMRC have issued the taxpayer with one, this is spelled out clearly in s8 of the Taxes Management Act 1970.
HMRC may choose to issue the taxpayer with a return, based on their understanding of their circumstances or any other information provided to them. In which case they are required by law to submit a return unless HMRC chooses to withdraw the return. Failure to do so results in late submission penalties and interest.
Alternatively, the taxpayer may be required to 'notify of chargeability to tax' under s7 TMA 1970. In such a scenario, where the taxpayer knows they are liable to income tax, they must notify HMRC by 31 October after the end of the tax year in question, at which point HMRC will issue them with a tax return. Failure to notify also carries penalties and interest.
Clearly, therefore, if the taxpayer owes HMRC tax they must notify and HMRC will issue a return.
"But doesn't everyone who is employed and in PAYE owe tax?" I hear you ask.
S7(3) and s7(4) TMA 1970 covers this point:
(3A person shall not be required to give notice under subsection (1) above in respect of a year of assessment if for that year -)
(athe person's total income consists of income from sources falling within subsections (4) to (7) below,)
(bthe person has no chargeable gains, and)
(cthe person is not liable to an amount of tax under any provision listed in relation to the person in section 30 of ITA 2007 (additional tax).)
(4A source of income falls within this subsection in relation to a year of assessment if—)
(aall payments of, or on account of, income from it during that year, and)
(ball income from it for that year which does not consist of payments,)
have or has been taken into account in the making of deductions or repayments of tax under PAYE regulations.
So to summarise:
If a taxpayer earns over £100k, they do not automatically have to submit a tax return. The taxpayer needs to review if they owe further tax on their earnings and/or other income and notify HMRC if they owe more tax than what has been deducted at source.
If the amount is generally small, HMRC can adjust their tax code to deal with this, but if large they may require a self-assessment tax return to be submitted.
If HMRC do issue a tax return, the taxpayer can always ask them to withdraw the tax return prior to the filing deadline on the grounds their affairs are simple and can be dealt with via PAYE - ONLY if this is applicable.
TL;DR: If someone earns over £100k, they should work out if they need to pay more tax than what has been deducted at source. If they don't owe anything more, they don't have to do anything.
submitted by theargos to UKPersonalFinance [link] [comments]
As credentials, I'm a chartered tax advisor, specialising in high net worth individuals, and deal with this regularly. The below does not constitute tax advice and you should seek professional advice if this issue affects you.
If you earn over £100,000, there is nothing in statute or common law that compels you to therefore submit a tax return, and HMRC's website telling you to do so is neither correct nor legally binding in any shape or form. This is the source most people reference.
Individuals are only required to submit a tax return where HMRC have issued the taxpayer with one, this is spelled out clearly in s8 of the Taxes Management Act 1970.
HMRC may choose to issue the taxpayer with a return, based on their understanding of their circumstances or any other information provided to them. In which case they are required by law to submit a return unless HMRC chooses to withdraw the return. Failure to do so results in late submission penalties and interest.
Alternatively, the taxpayer may be required to 'notify of chargeability to tax' under s7 TMA 1970. In such a scenario, where the taxpayer knows they are liable to income tax, they must notify HMRC by 31 October after the end of the tax year in question, at which point HMRC will issue them with a tax return. Failure to notify also carries penalties and interest.
Clearly, therefore, if the taxpayer owes HMRC tax they must notify and HMRC will issue a return.
"But doesn't everyone who is employed and in PAYE owe tax?" I hear you ask.
S7(3) and s7(4) TMA 1970 covers this point:
(3A person shall not be required to give notice under subsection (1) above in respect of a year of assessment if for that year -)
(athe person's total income consists of income from sources falling within subsections (4) to (7) below,)
(bthe person has no chargeable gains, and)
(cthe person is not liable to an amount of tax under any provision listed in relation to the person in section 30 of ITA 2007 (additional tax).)
(4A source of income falls within this subsection in relation to a year of assessment if—)
(aall payments of, or on account of, income from it during that year, and)
(ball income from it for that year which does not consist of payments,)
have or has been taken into account in the making of deductions or repayments of tax under PAYE regulations.
So to summarise:
If a taxpayer earns over £100k, they do not automatically have to submit a tax return. The taxpayer needs to review if they owe further tax on their earnings and/or other income and notify HMRC if they owe more tax than what has been deducted at source.
If the amount is generally small, HMRC can adjust their tax code to deal with this, but if large they may require a self-assessment tax return to be submitted.
If HMRC do issue a tax return, the taxpayer can always ask them to withdraw the tax return prior to the filing deadline on the grounds their affairs are simple and can be dealt with via PAYE - ONLY if this is applicable.
TL;DR: If someone earns over £100k, they should work out if they need to pay more tax than what has been deducted at source. If they don't owe anything more, they don't have to do anything.
2023.03.21 01:25 Trash_Tia Every October 1st, the eighteen year old's in my town go crazy for one night. We call it The Teen Purge. (Part 2)
Dearest [BLANK]
I don’t want to say your name because then I will feel the need to say so much more and I’ll end up writing far too much.
Names are hard for me.
You lost yours a while ago, at least in my mind. I stopped calling you [BLANK]. You were just a monster.
A murderer.
I know you won’t read this but I’m putting this out there anyway. I want to talk to you.
I guess this is my way of… apologising. You’re the first in a long list of people I want to say goodbye to. I feel like you were the one who started this.
You were the one who opened my eyes to Littlewood’s curse. I’ve been so angry for so many years. I have felt so much fucking pain. Agony. The kind I can’t even explain. It’s like drowning, [BLANK]. I’ve wanted to kill you so many times, often dreaming about it the older I became. You stopped having an identity in my nightmares and became a faceless shadow suffocating my chest.
Ironically enough, [BLANK], we’re actually the worst ones. The class of 2022 really outdid all of you. I finally understand what it might have been like for you. I understand that craving you felt—to kill. To destroy. And that nothing would get in our way. We would kill parents, strangers, and children, until sunrise—until the curse was lifted and we were given back our souls, only to be hollow inside. Broken. I know what it feels like to be alone and abandoned by the ones you thought you could trust. I never knew where you had gone after you ripped our town apart. But I didn’t care. I wanted you gone, [BLANK], so I didn’t have to see your stupid face.
Now I know the truth, I can only wish you some kind of peace. I know it's impossible to think, even when part of me knows your fate, but I hope you got away from here.
I hope part of you is still planning to come visit me. Lastly, I hope you can forgive me for hating you for so long. I wish you told me. I know I was a little kid, but you could have told me what was going to happen to you. To you, Luce and Poppy. If you had, maybe mom might be here.
…Who am I kidding? If you didn’t kill her eleven years ago, I probably would have this year.
After all, it’s always loved ones.
Is that why you killed her, [BLANK]? Did she mean something to you?
Did I?
Anyway. Thank you for being there when I was a kid.
Thank you for making me laugh and spew milk out of my nose.
Thank you for killing my mother before I did it myself and surrendered the last dregs of my humanity.
I’ll remember you, [BLANK].
Not just the flashes I saw of you—the ones you put inside my head.
The times that mattered. You know, when we were friends. You do remember, right?
It was you and me against the world, [BLANK]! And it always will be. I promise.
Love,
Bee. <3
...
Was I having an aneurysm?
Pressing my forehead against the cool brick of a crumbling wall, I revelled in the stink of burning which was thankfully blocking out the horrific taste of skin slithering back up my throat as I heaved up the contents of my stomach. I was used to the stink of charred human flesh. After all, the town was burning and its victims were our feast. Our prizes. I chose not to look around me or take in my surroundings. I didn’t want to look at a town which we had ripped apart once again. I didn’t want to see bodies littering the roads and sidewalk, chunks of flesh and torso’s lying in unsuspecting places.
So many thoughts were alive inside my head, an endless hurricane of both nothing and everything colliding into a vicious void I couldn’t explain, couldn’t understand, couldn’t stop—and yet that thought in particular was the one which reigned dominant.
It had to be an aneurism, right?
I didn’t feel like I’d cracked my head or something had seriously gone wrong inside my brain.
I was burning.
I remembered googling the term in middle school when I had a shitty headache, and my aunt had dropped the word in conversation with the doctor.
"What if it is an aneurysm?"
He chuckled in reply. "It's just a pressure headache, Miss Levi."
Suffice to say, once I knew what an aneurysm was, I closed down my aunt’s laptop and crawled under my bed. Like I could hide from something like that. I remember reading it up on Web MD. Not exactly the best place to check your symptoms, but eleven year old me just wanted answers to the pounding pain which felt like someone slamming a rock onto the back of my head and temples.
Nausea and vomiting? Yep. I felt like my insides were attempting to projectile vomit my organs.
Stiff neck? Sort of. I felt stiff all over, my whole body aching like I’d just been through a meat grinder.
Blurred or double vision? My vision wasn’t mine. I was seeing things I shouldn’t—a world which wasn’t from my perspective.
Sensitivity to light? The sunrise was pretty harsh on my eyes. I wasn’t ready to see broad daylight and what exactly my class had done to our town. I never saw burning as a symptom. I never saw a never ending fucking inferno inside your brain, eating you from the inside, as a symptom.
I wouldn’t call it an aneurysm, but it definitely was something. I don’t know how to explain the immense pressure in my head, like something alive was bleeding inside my brain and latching onto me.
Burning. I was… I was burning.
Everything inside me was fucking burning, and I couldn’t stop it.
I couldn’t put this ferocious blaze out because it was inside my skull.
Despite being in denial, I didn’t feel like myself anymore. Like my soul had been forced back inside a body which didn’t belong to me; a body which had been twisted and purged of everything she was, and turned into a monster, pupiteered by the curse.
I was still running on adrenaline, a senseless and mindless craving ripping through all logic. It was still alive inside me, gritting my teeth together in a Wonderland Smile which I couldn’t stop, which was stretched so wide across my face my jaw felt like it was going to concave. I remembered flashes of my before. Before I woke up. Before Littlewood gave me my mind back.
I had brutally killed a woman and her husband, carving their eyes out and teasing them with their last breaths with the hope of survival, only to rip away their life before that hope could blossom inside them. It was hope suffocated by a despair which was so agonising that it bled inside me once my eyes were open and I was staring down at my own fists, at the woman’s eyeball’s squished between my blood spattered knuckles while the rest of her painted me like I was her canvas.
I had danced in her husbands remains, twirling to a song only I could hear.
All of that made sense. It made sense that I had been turned into a monster like the rest of my class and it made a sick kind of sense that I had been the one to hollow out a man’s body with my own hands. I had been part of 2022’s Teen Purge, a fate I knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t ever escape. There were still so many questions I wanted answering. I wanted to know why the curse was triggered by a man-made substance we had been subjected to, and why Jun had been able to coherently text me before sunrise.
Jun.
I had to… find him. Before he did something he would regret. No, I thought dizzily. Before he came to terms with what he had done under the influence. That thought was driving me crazy, but it was being pushed back, overwhelmed by something else entirely which was taking over me, enveloping me. At some point, I dropped my phone and smashed the screen. I didn’t know when exactly that was. Time was going so slowly. One minute I had been pushing myself into a stumbled run towards Littlewood’s scrapyard, motivated by Jun’s cryptic text before something inside me… snapped. I had a destination, an escape which was slowly building into a coherent plan—before I was… nothing.
I was nameless, a shadow teetering between life and death while my body and brain were burned alive. It was in my blood, my bones, my thoughts. Burning. I couldn’t control myself as I screamed into the air choked with smoke. Did it come from inside my head?
No. No, it was a fire which had been set across the road from me. My thoughts were tangled and confusing, and after a while—they weren’t even mine. The longer I burned, the longer I screamed into nothing, the physical presence which had forced its way inside my head started to multiply.
How am I supposed to describe this sensation accurately? How can I tell you this without sounding fucking insane?
It was… the feeling of being drowned inside my own mind, in bleeding memories entangled together which weren’t mine creating a storm inside my head.
Whispering voices fighting to make themselves heard. The unyielding force of dozens of thoughts and feelings taking over me one by one. Initially, I fought against them. I tried to push them out, because while they were seeping inside my thought process, parasites crawling into my brain, I was growing numb.
My own thoughts were turning obsolete, everything I was fading as my body became theirs. It happened slowly. I felt myself drop to the ground, still burning, the inferno in my brain and body growing brighter and brighter, numbed only slightly by my senses being snatched from me. I hit the ground, but I didn’t feel impact. Instead, the whispering grew less incoherent until there were voices. Real voices screaming inside my head. “Mother!” A girl’s cry rang inside my skull. It wasn’t the cry of a child, no. It was a teenager. “You don’t have to do this to us!”
She was my age. Her wail was enough to stop my attempts at prying away the voices, and I let go. I let each of them in. I let them bleed into me until I was nothing, and they were… something. The force of her rattled me until I couldn’t breathe, until I couldn’t force my body into a sitting position. Lying faced down on singed grass with no choice but to listen to them, a sea of tangled thoughts plunging me further into the dark, a wave of ice cold water enveloping my own sense of being.
As the nameless girl took over, spiderwebbing inside me, my senses became entangled with her. I wasn’t just hearing her. I was… I was feeling her. And within a single breath choked from my hijacked mouth, I was her. Her cry was mine, strangled and twisted, ripping from my own lips. This stranger. I could feel her writhing body pressed against something harsh digging into our back, aching arms pinned above us.
The smell of smoulder scratched the back of our nose, a panicking feeling turning our gut. In front of us was darkness speckled with blurred orange. Shadows with no faces. The girl wasn’t alone. Next to her were squirming silhouettes, and I felt a raging agony and frustration ripping her apart. She wasn’t alone. Those were her thoughts, and while she was terrified of her fate, part of her felt like she could die. As long as it was with them. Glimpsing a figure striding through the dark, a figure carrying a burning torch, I waited for her to talk.
I waited for her to cry out, for some kind of explanation for what I was seeing. Before I could, however, the girl and her memory was being ripped away—and I heard her fighting back, trying to reach out, trying to leach back onto me. Her prying fingers failed to grasp hold, only for a second mind to find its way inside me, harsher. Recent. The girl wasn’t the only one to try and use my mouth to scream.
Littlewood High’s gymnasium blossomed into my mind, followed by sharp clarity. This kid was far more hesitant to reveal to me who they were. They held back a little, only choosing to show me their point of view of tipping their head back as a wave of water came down, drenching them and the rest of their class.
Blood. That’s what I had thought. I thought it was blood drenching my face and clothes, gluing my hair to my head and pasting my eyes shut. It was blood that had been spilled and had already been spilled; the blood of my mother when I watched her gutted by Noah Sharpe. Somehow, that colourless substance which had purposely drenched us had forced that one thought into our heads.
We were covered in it.
That, combined with the images in our heads of smouldering flame enveloping flesh and hair, an inferno setting our bodies alight, was enough to drive even the strongest minds to pure insanity. And I was seeing it. I was seeing each experience. I was seeing the faces of loved ones driving them crazier.
I felt their attempts to regain control of their mind, but the damage was already done.
They slipped to their knees, their screams joining a symphony orchestra of cries around them-- and saw exactly what I did. Burning. Charred flesh and singed hair. Agonizing wails rattling their skulls until they were forced to join. Their hands were in their hair, gripping and pulling and tearing at their scalp—bloody fingernails raking down their face and a smile beginning to split their lips in half.
The Wonderland Smile, chasing away logical fear and pain previously grounding them in a reality they believed in. A craving was coming alive inside of them, a hunger to rid themselves of that pain—all of that blood. By making others feel the despair which had taken an unyielding hold.
It was getting harder to differentiate whose memory from who.
This time they were stronger.
I saw sterile flooring and running feet.
Everything was blinding white. I heard his gasps for breath, a nightmarish fear eating him up from the inside pushing him to run faster.
I recognised him. Not his psychotic laugher when he had kidnapped me a year earlier, but his struggle to keep breathing. Keep sucking in precious oxygen which felt so far away. Just like the others before him, while his being seeped inside me, I had found myself once again plunged inside a memory. This time it was someone I recognised. Not a stranger from past years, but a classmate just below me.
Tommy Nolan had an asthma attack in junior year. Second period math, he’d jumped up with a panicked look on his face, clutching his chest. I remember thinking his breathing sounded wrong, like it was a car-engine trying and failing to start. His face had been pale, trembling hands clutching at his chest.
Tommy wasn’t the kind of guy who would intentionally attract attention to himself. He was an introvert through and through. However, this was the type of thing he couldn’t hide away from or push people away. “I can’t breathe.” He’d managed to gasp out, before the teacher had escorted him out of the class and to the nurse’s office. What I felt wasn’t an asthma attack gripping his chest. It was pure panic and fear squeezing the air from his lungs and stumbling his already clumsy steps.
Tommy reached a corner and threw himself into a run which was cut short by rough hands grabbing hold of him and yanking him back. I didn’t see the rest of Tommy Nolan’s memory. At least, I didn’t see an escape or anything which hinted at where he was. I just saw the same. A coffin-like enveloping darkness. Restrained hands.
Raging fire.
I don’t know if it was Tommy’s splintered mind which had catapulted me from my own mind, or maybe he didn’t want me to see everything. Before I could grasp onto his memory, he let go. The whispering voices let me go, and I found myself pressed against grass wet with dew, an intense pressure in my nose and crawling around the back of head, blood pooling down my chin. I took a moment to gather myself. The sky was still half dark and half-light, pink and orange streaks taking over pooling black. Across the street, Lili Marriot was standing with the town preacher’s severed head clumsily forced onto a make-shift pike.
The man's eyes were still open, wide with horror.
She wasn’t moving, her scarlet hands still grasping the weapon for dear life. I got to my feet slowly, ignoring my own blood spattered hands. I didn’t think about the woman I had murdered, or her husband, as I hopped onto a trashed bike which had been abandoned on the side of the road. It was still usable. Sure, it had bits of skin stuck in the wheels, but it would work.
I pushed myself into a smooth pace which was normal. It felt normal, like every other morning when Jun and I biked to school. Instead of taking in the apocalyptic landscape around me, I focused on the road and finding my friend.
That morning, I saw a mix.
I saw kids who were waking up and finding themselves painted in their victims. I saw them crying.
Screaming.
I saw one girl slice open her own throat over the corpse of her little brother.
But I was also seeing kids still entangled in their own undoing, still tearing Littlewood apart. Under the last splinters of night, I saw my classmates around me.
But I chose to be ignorant. I needed to find Jun and saving the town's people who had been brought to the brink of despair was the last thing on my mind. Still though, I watched.
I couldn’t help it. There was a sort of morbid curiosity inside me once I had been freed from the curse, and then watching the rest of my class still in its iron grip. The varsity boys dragged an old man by his neck down the road, chanting the school anthem. One of them was wearing someone’s skull which had been ripped of its flesh, the remnants of a bulging eye still glued inside the socket. They wore their football jerseys, and somehow that made them even more terrifying. They were the perfect depiction of Noah Sharpe. Gen Z version. Littlewood's golden boy turned psycho.
Eleven years later, it had taken them too.
“REDHAWKS!” Their war cries bled into the dull sunrise, stamping their feet to a beat only they could hear. The old man was struggling, his face beet red, prying wrinkly fingers attempting to tug the tough rope cinched around his limp neck. But they weren’t letting go, only laughing when he let out a pained cry, begging them to let him die, begging to let him asphyxiate.
“REDHAWKS!”
They ignored him, pulling his limp body across the road.
“REDHAWKS!”
STAMP.
STAMP.
STAMP.
“REDHAWKS!”
I could still hear their phantom yelling when I neared the scrapyard. Passing the diner, which was nothing but a blur of vivid orange, I saw a group of girl’s shrieking those horrific hyena laughs, diving into the flames and dancing in the smoke, entangling themselves in licking flames. Laughter twisted into screams and cries of agony mixed with a pleasure, a euphoria, I didn’t even think existed. I had felt it writhing in every soul which had bled inside me. The craving to die. When I squeezed the handlebars tighter, I felt something shift inside me once the stink of smoke had travelled into my nose and was choking the back of my throat.
Looking down at my palms, my skin had started to catch alight. No, I wasn’t seeing things. I could feel it, flames crawling up my arms, licking across my flesh and melting through my sweater sleeve.
I opened my mouth to cry out, and in the blink of an eye I was back inside that coffin-like tunnel drowning Tommy Nolan’s memory. He didn’t want me to see it, had pulled away before I could glimpse what exactly was in there. This time, though, it wasn’t Tommy Nolan strapped to a metal slab. It was me. I was closed in, suffocating on my own sobs, on curling smoke already dancing in the back of my mind. All I could see was fiery orange and red engulfing me, filling the tunnel. The thought hit me when my own body was writhing, dancing in vivid orange getting brighter and brighter, licking across my flesh in sharp rivulets, singing my hair from my scalp.
I was in an incinerator.
No… no not just me.
We.
Tommy Nolan, and the nameless girl’s whose screams had rattled my skull.
All of us.
We were in an incinerator.
The shock of the vision, as well as all of our pain entwining into one pulled me back to uncertain reality. I didn’t even realise I’d let go of the bike handlebars before I was crashing down on rough concrete, smacking my head on the curb. Stars exploded in the backs of my eyes. But the fire was gone. Like it had never fucking existed. Except I knew it did. It had in Tommy Nolan’s memory, as well as my future. An endless fire which had ripped away our flesh and sent us plunging into the dark. It made me wonder about that first memory. The girl tied to the tree in front of blurred orange. Was that how all of this had started?
Did I see the first glimpses of Littlewood’s curse? When I pushed the bike off of me and checked my arms and legs for burns or signs of smoulder, there was nothing there. Fuck. Whatever had taken over my mind and crawled into my brain wasn’t letting go, but I found myself hanging onto them. My head hit the ground and I stared at the sky, at red and orange clouds which almost resembled the end of the world.
The sky, just like the ground below, had been set alight. Maybe it was the end of the world, I thought.
Maybe Littlewood was really falling this time.
I don’t know how long I lay there trying to catch my breath, trying to force my maple syrup thoughts into fruition. I was trying to shake my head of possible concussion, dislodging my brain from the puddle of fog it had fallen into, when I heard running footsteps.
Bare feet slapping against gravel. I knew what this was. I’d heard it as a kid, an animal-like herd of kids which had congregated into their own tribe.
I had heard them running past my house every year, and each time I thought they would catch me. I thought they’d crawl through my window like Noah Sharpe and his gang. But this was my class.
These were the kids I had been going to school with for years. The sound of their whooping and laughter brought me out of it, just a little. Twisting to my side, I glimpsed them suddenly. White canisters. The ones I’d seen in the school, the ones I’d seen being put into the sprinkler system. They were everywhere, dotted across the road, turned over on their head and leaking that same colourless substance onto cement and into the air. I wondered if they had been purposely placed.
“Help me! Oh god, please help me!”
Just ahead of me, a woman in her thirties was sprinting. Her expression was wild with fright, dark hair flying behind her in a whirlwind. I recognised the look on her face. It was exactly what I’d felt a year prior when I escaped Tommy Nolan and his gang with an inch of my life. The girl caught my eye for a fleeting moment and it looked like she might have found solace in me. Her mouth opened in a silent plea, her trembling hands raising above her head.
Before she realised what I was.
I had been so focused on looking at her face, I’d failed to see the mess of startling red painting the front of her shirt. She was screaming, sobbing into the wind. There was something wrapped around her left wrist, the entrails of some poor souls guts fashioned into makeshift restraints. Twisting around, the girl dropped to her knees and buried her head in the ground. “Don’t!” she screamed. “Please! Don’t!”
She wasn’t running, I thought.
Why wasn’t she running?
When the hysterical girl started to crawl across the ground, they appeared like animals, like they had been staying back, teasing her with the hope of survival. There were eight of them. All of them carrying lead pipes. The look on their faces was feral. Blood stained grins and empty eyes only seeing prey—only seeing another victim they could tear apart. I started to get up, started to plan my escape which was just to run and never stop fucking running until I was away from them. When more war cries rang out. This time from the other side of the road. Two separate tribes of kids advancing towards her. The second group were faster, and I recognised a face enveloped in the disgusting stain of red which painted them.
Jun. He didn’t look like Jun anymore. I could hardly even see his face through a coating of red smearing his cheeks and eyes which he must have done himself.
War paint.
Wielding a long thread of wire wrapped around his left wrist and trailing on the ground, my best friend joined the mass of kids closing in on the girl. His eyes were vacant and dark, empty of anything human. It was Noah all over again, except this time I wasn’t a frightened six year old. I could stop it. I remember getting to my feet. Movement. Several heads whipped around. I’d already caught their attention but their gazes barely strayed on me before going back to the girl. With my attention on him, I moved towards him, taking my steps slowly. Another kid crawled out of their hiding place behind a dumpster. This time they looked younger.
I didn’t even want to guess how old.
When half of the kids jumped the little kid while the others took care of the girl, I forced my legs to keep going, keep moving. But I stopped when the woman dived to her feet and made a run for it, pushing herself into a sprint. I watched Jun pursue her like a lion chasing after a deer with an almost supernatural speed. While her steps were stumbled and clumsy, his were calculated. I couldn’t move when he dived onto her back and brought her to the ground, her face smacking against cement with a meaty smack. She squirmed, fighting to get away, but he was already forcing the metal wire into her throat, wrapping it around and around until her face was turning red, and then blue, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
The wire sliced cleanly into her flesh and red began to swim from her, startling pooling red I will never forget which stained his hands. I knew what he was doing. Squeezing tighter. Jun’s weapon wasn’t to asphyxiate and strangle. It was a garotte. And his prize was progressively more inevitable the more he forced the cutting wire through layers of skin until it met bone. “Jun!” I was yelling his name before I knew what I was doing. I don’t know how I got to him without breaking down, but when my face was buried into his back and I was sobbing his name, everything felt…. Right. Even if it was just for a little while. Because, like a fairy-tale narrating the clock striking twelve and a magic spell wearing off, a dazzling sunrise broke through the clouds as dawn hit, and the woman’s gurgling stopped. Just like the jerking movements of Jun’s hands as they struggled to cut through bone.
I watched him blink himself awake through my own tears. Swiping at his eyes, my best friend stared down at his scarlet hands, and then grasping at his own face, running filthy fingers down his cheeks, as if he could tear his own flesh off of the bone.
I wasn’t paying attention to Jun as he fully came to. I was staring at a little girl who had walked out of her house clutching a stuffed teddy bear and seeing the body of her mother on the ground. A numbness started to take over me, a heavy weight on my chest. I remember his warm arms were suddenly around me, and they were tight, so tight, almost suffocating the breath from my lungs. Jun’s body felt strange against mine, a trembling, rattling mass as he let out a gut lurching cry into my shoulder.
I had never heard him scream before. Jun had always hidden behind a bright smile which had finally crumbled under the curse.
“Did I…”
His words collapsed into a sob.
“Did I… do this?"
The metal wire was still attached to him, coiled around his wrist.
It marked him as a member of that tribe.
“No.” I whispered into the damp material of his shirt. "No, none of this was you."
He laughed, sputtering on a sob.
“You’re okay.” I said. “You’re okay. Just breathe."
An icy shiver ripped its way down my spine when his lips found my ear. “Do you… really want to outrun the asteroid?” He whispered, choking on a hysterical laugh. “Do you think we are worthy, Bee?” His tone darkened. “Is our suffering worthy?”
I shook off that comment for a moment, focusing on him. "You texted me." I said in a hiss. "How were you awake?"
Awareness bled into his expression, followed by confusion. "I… did?"
As if on cue, footsteps startled me, and Jun’s phone hit the ground in front of us followed by the curve of a heel splintering the screen. When I looked up, Ms Hawkins, our drama teacher, was looming over us holding a gun. It didn’t look like the usual gun I saw my neighbours use on wildlife. This one had a red coloured butt and fit perfectly into her hand. She shot Jun first. The bullet hit his arm and he sent me a helpless look, his hand going to the tiny dart stuck into his lower elbow, before dropping to the ground. The teacher kicked Jun onto his side, before twisting and pointing the gun between my brows.
I remember her pulling the trigger, but it wasn’t just aimed at me. It was aimed at every other soul which had entangled itself with me. Noah, his class, and the ones before hiThis had happened to every year prior to us—and I had a sickening feeling I knew what was coming next. I woke to a nauseating feeling of movement to find my head uncomfortably pressed against a bus window. Outside, a long stretch of dead road leading to nowhere. There were no signs, no civilization. Nothing.
It took me a disorienting moment to figure out I was on a school bus. The same school bus I had seen in thousands of other memories. Next to me, Jun poked me in the shoulder. He was awake and seemed with-it enough to talk.
Though there was a strange smile on his face which was twisting my gut. I turned around to face him and blinked rapidly, because my friend’s face morphed and blurred, twisting into hundreds of others. First, girls and boys in strange clothing like they were from the dark ages, and the distant sound of horseback—a carriage being dragged. I could smell wildflowers mixed with the stink of rot and excrement, hear the sound of birds and chains rattling around jiggling wrists. Then I was seeing strangers, each of them bearing clothes from different eras. I saw Tommy Nolan, and then Chrissy Lackey. Bobby Chase.
Faces from previous years.
All blood spattered. All wide eyed, a haunting, hollow look on their faces.
Until Noah. Until I saw his face twisted with anger and pain and frustration. His hands went to his hair in a silent cry, and he was slamming bloodied fists into his temples.
Over and over again.
“Fuck!” He gritted out.
“Get me off this bus! I don’t want to be here... I want to go home. I want to go back! Can't you see this is shady? Where are they taking us?"
“Hey! Hey, calm down!”
The voice was Poppy. Her shriek echoed in my brain, as the bus they were on collapsed into panic and Noah was diving from his seat, before being grabbed and restrained by guards, and shoved back next to Poppy. I felt her gentle hand on his shoulder. Poppy’s arms were around him, and Noah was relaxing into her embrace.
“We’re going to the Halfway House, Noah.”
Her soothing murmur inside my head was cut short when I sensed the coffin-like tunnel once again.
Flames.
Getting closer and closer.
And his screams.
Ringing so loud in my head, horrifying wails of agony cracking my skull open.
I felt my own clammy palms press against my ears, the force of his cry becoming my own.
“Bee?”
I was sweating and shaking, choking on stale vomit in my mouth, when Jun waved a wary hand in front of my face, and I found reality once again.
When my gaze found his, Jun had that smile again. He sat back with a sigh, pressing his head against the seat. “You got it, huh?” He chuckled. “Damn, I wish I did. I really wanted to be chosen."
I found my breath, swallowing whatever the fuck I'd eaten in the last twelve hours. “Got what?”
He shrugged. “Do you remember when I asked you if you would give your life to destroy an asteroid?”
I had to think back to that conversation which didn’t seem relevant until now. “Jun—”
He cut me off, his smile fading a little. “I really did want to see my dad,” he whispered. As he spoke, I found my gaze wandering and finding our classmates who were either asleep or staring into an oblivion only they could see. Jun sighed. “I imagined all of these scenarios in my head. That we would all come to the halfway house and heal and get better like all the other kids before us, and I’d jump on a plane and go and visit dad.” I noticed his hands were trembling in his lap. “But I’m a fucking idiot. I'm naïve.” He turned to me. “We’re just kids, right? What do we know?"
I was losing my patience with his cryptic words. “What are you talking about?”
“I was kidnapped like you,” He said softly. “Last year, the night of the Teen Purge. I never told you about it, because I didn't want there to be a time when I would have to," Jun pulled a face. "I forgot to close our gate so I rushed out to lock it up before I brought attention to our house. But I was too late. They were waiting for me outside. The bastards knocked me out with a bat, and I woke up on the roof of the school.” He dug his hands in his lap, choking out a hiss.
“I was the only one left, Bee. When I woke up, I was staring at the people she had pushed to their deaths. My hands were tied behind my back so I couldn’t move, or try to get away and this girl…” He trailed off, his gaze going to a stray raindrop on the window, “this girl was dangling me over the edge. Like I was bait over a shark tank. It was fucking freezing and I was only in my pyjamas, and I remember wondering if I was actually going to die.” The bus went over a bump, and I grabbed onto his hand, squeezing it as tight as I could. “I waited for it,” Jun whispered. “I waited for her to kill me, but she wrenched me back. And her eyes... her eyes were pitch black. Hollow.” His eyes filled with tears. “She was smiling. Smiling like it would thrill her to watch me fall like the ones before me. And she would have no fucking mercy.”
As if his words were a narration, I was seeing the vision for myself, like somewhere inside my head, the girl lingered. I could see it. I could see pooling darkness, a long way down. Jun, his arms tied behind his back, a single strip of duct tape over his mouth— while arms were wrapped around his waist, dangling him teasingly as he twisted and struggled in her arms.
Like I was seeing it through her POV, I glimpsed tangled blonde curls in front of my face, a carving knife slick red clenched in my fist. She held him tight, squeezing the breath from him.
“Long way down, huh?” Her voice was a cackle clanging in my skull.
“Mmpphh!”
I could see his wide eyes, petrified as she pushed him closer and closer to the edge.
Jun continued in a low murmur. “But… this girl didn’t push me. She didn't kill me. Instead, she… she pulled me close. I could… I could smell her rotting breath. But through all the black, whatever had possessed her... I could see that there was still something there. It was weak, but still alive. Before I knew it, I was on my knees and she was in front of me like she could see right through me. Like she could reach into my head and pull out every memory I've ever had." His voice trembled. "She asked me a question. And I’ll never forget it, Bee. Because it was what changed my way of thinking. Instead of being scared to die, I felt like I could finally embrace it.”
His words sent my gut galloping into my throat.
I saw it. I saw her yanking him back onto his knees and pulling him close.
"Jun Sato," Her voice from the memory echoed in my mind. "Would you like to hear something cool?"
“What?” I whispered presently, shaking away the vision. The girl was insistent on shoving her memory onto me.
Jun’s eyes found mine, and for the first time in the 17 years of the Teen Purge, I saw the Wonderland Smile in broad daylight. I saw insanity brewing in eyes which had been darkened far before Littlewood’s curse had snatched his mind.
It had been hours since the curse had let us go, and there it was, splitting my best friend’s mouth apart into a cheshire cat grin. It was exactly what I’d seen on Noah Sharpe’s face before he sliced my mother’s throat open and gutted her. But while Noah's expression had been a blank slate, a monster, I only saw tragic hope lighting up my best friend's eyes. But it wasn’t real hope. Real hope was wanting to survive. It was forcing yourself to keep going no matter what. What I saw was that craving I’d felt when I’d woken up covered in blood, the one emitting from every voice inside my head.
The overwhelming pleasure which came with the thought of dying—giving yourself up.
"She asked me if I wanted to save the world.” He said, his eyes twinkling. “How cool is that?”
I was losing him.
“What did you say?” I asked stiffly.
He smiled. “I said yes. What else could I say? She got this weird look on her face, this smile, which was both maniacal and yet unbelievably sad, it made me feel like I would feel it too. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” Jun turned towards the window, this time, like he was refusing to admit it to my face. “She told me I will. Just like her, and the kids before her. That’s what the siren inside her head said. At that point I hoped I’d be able to save the world, and then visit my dad. I really thought it was as easy as that.” His lips twisted, eyes lighting up.
“But… then I understood what she meant. I finally understood, and I wasn’t scared anymore. How could I fear my own fate? She didn’t mean me saving the world, Bee. She meant me, and you, all of us in the past and present and future giving our lives for seven billion others. The world."
I had to stop myself from slapping him across the face. He was really choosing now to go off the deep end?
Whatever this girl had fed him was her own personal idea of death, which sounded like rainbows and cotton candy.
Jun turned to me with almost cartoon-like eyes.
“You can hear them,” he murmured. “the girl had that exact same look in her eyes.”
Swallowing hard, I fought to breathe. “What do you mean?”
“Haunted.” Jun said. “They’re telling you exactly what happened to them, and you can’t stop it. You want to pull them out of your head, but you can’t. They’re like a parasite taking over. They keep singing and you're ignoring them. But you need to listen. She told me to listen. If I was chosen."
I didn’t reply.
“Can you tell me?” His voice was small. “How does this end?"
Lying on a metal slab and staring at pooling black while flames licked across my flesh and set my hair alight, my body smouldering. Burning bright. That was how it was going to end. Like Noah and every year before us, we were going to burn.
And it made sense… right? Why wouldn’t a town permanently get rid of their youth tainted by a curse?
But it still felt like I was missing something.
And that something was getting closer as we approached the Halfway House.
"Bee?" Jun murmured. "Are you okay?"
Instead of responding, I pressed my face into his shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut. But closing my eyes was somehow worse. Like I was giving in to this supposed fate. Blinking them open, I turned to the window. Outside, Fall was taking over nature, and for the first time in a while I took a moment to take it in, breathing in the smell of wet mildew and crushed leaves drifting through the window and marvelling beautiful decay.
It's crazy how much you start to notice about the world around you when you know your time is running out. I don't think I'll ever look at a tree the same again. Jun was staring forwards, his eyes vacant, a small curl of a smile on his lips. I didn't trust it was his. Whoever this girl was had buried her way into my friend's mind, sending him into a trace. When I shoved him, Jun still turned to me and blinked, and it was still him. I had no doubt about that.
But it almost felt like he was looking through me, and what was inside my head.
Some psycho bitch had fucked with his head, and my first priority was snapping him out of it and bringing him back down to earth. Whether he liked it or not. In my cotton candy thoughts still half asleep from the tranquilliser, though, I was slowly conducting a plan to get the fuck out of there.
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I don’t want to say your name because then I will feel the need to say so much more and I’ll end up writing far too much.
Names are hard for me.
You lost yours a while ago, at least in my mind. I stopped calling you [BLANK]. You were just a monster.
A murderer.
I know you won’t read this but I’m putting this out there anyway. I want to talk to you.
I guess this is my way of… apologising. You’re the first in a long list of people I want to say goodbye to. I feel like you were the one who started this.
You were the one who opened my eyes to Littlewood’s curse. I’ve been so angry for so many years. I have felt so much fucking pain. Agony. The kind I can’t even explain. It’s like drowning, [BLANK]. I’ve wanted to kill you so many times, often dreaming about it the older I became. You stopped having an identity in my nightmares and became a faceless shadow suffocating my chest.
Ironically enough, [BLANK], we’re actually the worst ones. The class of 2022 really outdid all of you. I finally understand what it might have been like for you. I understand that craving you felt—to kill. To destroy. And that nothing would get in our way. We would kill parents, strangers, and children, until sunrise—until the curse was lifted and we were given back our souls, only to be hollow inside. Broken. I know what it feels like to be alone and abandoned by the ones you thought you could trust. I never knew where you had gone after you ripped our town apart. But I didn’t care. I wanted you gone, [BLANK], so I didn’t have to see your stupid face.
Now I know the truth, I can only wish you some kind of peace. I know it's impossible to think, even when part of me knows your fate, but I hope you got away from here.
I hope part of you is still planning to come visit me. Lastly, I hope you can forgive me for hating you for so long. I wish you told me. I know I was a little kid, but you could have told me what was going to happen to you. To you, Luce and Poppy. If you had, maybe mom might be here.
…Who am I kidding? If you didn’t kill her eleven years ago, I probably would have this year.
After all, it’s always loved ones.
Is that why you killed her, [BLANK]? Did she mean something to you?
Did I?
Anyway. Thank you for being there when I was a kid.
Thank you for making me laugh and spew milk out of my nose.
Thank you for killing my mother before I did it myself and surrendered the last dregs of my humanity.
I’ll remember you, [BLANK].
Not just the flashes I saw of you—the ones you put inside my head.
The times that mattered. You know, when we were friends. You do remember, right?
It was you and me against the world, [BLANK]! And it always will be. I promise.
Love,
Bee. <3
...
Was I having an aneurysm?
Pressing my forehead against the cool brick of a crumbling wall, I revelled in the stink of burning which was thankfully blocking out the horrific taste of skin slithering back up my throat as I heaved up the contents of my stomach. I was used to the stink of charred human flesh. After all, the town was burning and its victims were our feast. Our prizes. I chose not to look around me or take in my surroundings. I didn’t want to look at a town which we had ripped apart once again. I didn’t want to see bodies littering the roads and sidewalk, chunks of flesh and torso’s lying in unsuspecting places.
So many thoughts were alive inside my head, an endless hurricane of both nothing and everything colliding into a vicious void I couldn’t explain, couldn’t understand, couldn’t stop—and yet that thought in particular was the one which reigned dominant.
It had to be an aneurism, right?
I didn’t feel like I’d cracked my head or something had seriously gone wrong inside my brain.
I was burning.
I remembered googling the term in middle school when I had a shitty headache, and my aunt had dropped the word in conversation with the doctor.
"What if it is an aneurysm?"
He chuckled in reply. "It's just a pressure headache, Miss Levi."
Suffice to say, once I knew what an aneurysm was, I closed down my aunt’s laptop and crawled under my bed. Like I could hide from something like that. I remember reading it up on Web MD. Not exactly the best place to check your symptoms, but eleven year old me just wanted answers to the pounding pain which felt like someone slamming a rock onto the back of my head and temples.
Nausea and vomiting? Yep. I felt like my insides were attempting to projectile vomit my organs.
Stiff neck? Sort of. I felt stiff all over, my whole body aching like I’d just been through a meat grinder.
Blurred or double vision? My vision wasn’t mine. I was seeing things I shouldn’t—a world which wasn’t from my perspective.
Sensitivity to light? The sunrise was pretty harsh on my eyes. I wasn’t ready to see broad daylight and what exactly my class had done to our town. I never saw burning as a symptom. I never saw a never ending fucking inferno inside your brain, eating you from the inside, as a symptom.
I wouldn’t call it an aneurysm, but it definitely was something. I don’t know how to explain the immense pressure in my head, like something alive was bleeding inside my brain and latching onto me.
Burning. I was… I was burning.
Everything inside me was fucking burning, and I couldn’t stop it.
I couldn’t put this ferocious blaze out because it was inside my skull.
Despite being in denial, I didn’t feel like myself anymore. Like my soul had been forced back inside a body which didn’t belong to me; a body which had been twisted and purged of everything she was, and turned into a monster, pupiteered by the curse.
I was still running on adrenaline, a senseless and mindless craving ripping through all logic. It was still alive inside me, gritting my teeth together in a Wonderland Smile which I couldn’t stop, which was stretched so wide across my face my jaw felt like it was going to concave. I remembered flashes of my before. Before I woke up. Before Littlewood gave me my mind back.
I had brutally killed a woman and her husband, carving their eyes out and teasing them with their last breaths with the hope of survival, only to rip away their life before that hope could blossom inside them. It was hope suffocated by a despair which was so agonising that it bled inside me once my eyes were open and I was staring down at my own fists, at the woman’s eyeball’s squished between my blood spattered knuckles while the rest of her painted me like I was her canvas.
I had danced in her husbands remains, twirling to a song only I could hear.
All of that made sense. It made sense that I had been turned into a monster like the rest of my class and it made a sick kind of sense that I had been the one to hollow out a man’s body with my own hands. I had been part of 2022’s Teen Purge, a fate I knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t ever escape. There were still so many questions I wanted answering. I wanted to know why the curse was triggered by a man-made substance we had been subjected to, and why Jun had been able to coherently text me before sunrise.
Jun.
I had to… find him. Before he did something he would regret. No, I thought dizzily. Before he came to terms with what he had done under the influence. That thought was driving me crazy, but it was being pushed back, overwhelmed by something else entirely which was taking over me, enveloping me. At some point, I dropped my phone and smashed the screen. I didn’t know when exactly that was. Time was going so slowly. One minute I had been pushing myself into a stumbled run towards Littlewood’s scrapyard, motivated by Jun’s cryptic text before something inside me… snapped. I had a destination, an escape which was slowly building into a coherent plan—before I was… nothing.
I was nameless, a shadow teetering between life and death while my body and brain were burned alive. It was in my blood, my bones, my thoughts. Burning. I couldn’t control myself as I screamed into the air choked with smoke. Did it come from inside my head?
No. No, it was a fire which had been set across the road from me. My thoughts were tangled and confusing, and after a while—they weren’t even mine. The longer I burned, the longer I screamed into nothing, the physical presence which had forced its way inside my head started to multiply.
How am I supposed to describe this sensation accurately? How can I tell you this without sounding fucking insane?
It was… the feeling of being drowned inside my own mind, in bleeding memories entangled together which weren’t mine creating a storm inside my head.
Whispering voices fighting to make themselves heard. The unyielding force of dozens of thoughts and feelings taking over me one by one. Initially, I fought against them. I tried to push them out, because while they were seeping inside my thought process, parasites crawling into my brain, I was growing numb.
My own thoughts were turning obsolete, everything I was fading as my body became theirs. It happened slowly. I felt myself drop to the ground, still burning, the inferno in my brain and body growing brighter and brighter, numbed only slightly by my senses being snatched from me. I hit the ground, but I didn’t feel impact. Instead, the whispering grew less incoherent until there were voices. Real voices screaming inside my head. “Mother!” A girl’s cry rang inside my skull. It wasn’t the cry of a child, no. It was a teenager. “You don’t have to do this to us!”
She was my age. Her wail was enough to stop my attempts at prying away the voices, and I let go. I let each of them in. I let them bleed into me until I was nothing, and they were… something. The force of her rattled me until I couldn’t breathe, until I couldn’t force my body into a sitting position. Lying faced down on singed grass with no choice but to listen to them, a sea of tangled thoughts plunging me further into the dark, a wave of ice cold water enveloping my own sense of being.
As the nameless girl took over, spiderwebbing inside me, my senses became entangled with her. I wasn’t just hearing her. I was… I was feeling her. And within a single breath choked from my hijacked mouth, I was her. Her cry was mine, strangled and twisted, ripping from my own lips. This stranger. I could feel her writhing body pressed against something harsh digging into our back, aching arms pinned above us.
The smell of smoulder scratched the back of our nose, a panicking feeling turning our gut. In front of us was darkness speckled with blurred orange. Shadows with no faces. The girl wasn’t alone. Next to her were squirming silhouettes, and I felt a raging agony and frustration ripping her apart. She wasn’t alone. Those were her thoughts, and while she was terrified of her fate, part of her felt like she could die. As long as it was with them. Glimpsing a figure striding through the dark, a figure carrying a burning torch, I waited for her to talk.
I waited for her to cry out, for some kind of explanation for what I was seeing. Before I could, however, the girl and her memory was being ripped away—and I heard her fighting back, trying to reach out, trying to leach back onto me. Her prying fingers failed to grasp hold, only for a second mind to find its way inside me, harsher. Recent. The girl wasn’t the only one to try and use my mouth to scream.
Littlewood High’s gymnasium blossomed into my mind, followed by sharp clarity. This kid was far more hesitant to reveal to me who they were. They held back a little, only choosing to show me their point of view of tipping their head back as a wave of water came down, drenching them and the rest of their class.
Blood. That’s what I had thought. I thought it was blood drenching my face and clothes, gluing my hair to my head and pasting my eyes shut. It was blood that had been spilled and had already been spilled; the blood of my mother when I watched her gutted by Noah Sharpe. Somehow, that colourless substance which had purposely drenched us had forced that one thought into our heads.
We were covered in it.
That, combined with the images in our heads of smouldering flame enveloping flesh and hair, an inferno setting our bodies alight, was enough to drive even the strongest minds to pure insanity. And I was seeing it. I was seeing each experience. I was seeing the faces of loved ones driving them crazier.
I felt their attempts to regain control of their mind, but the damage was already done.
They slipped to their knees, their screams joining a symphony orchestra of cries around them-- and saw exactly what I did. Burning. Charred flesh and singed hair. Agonizing wails rattling their skulls until they were forced to join. Their hands were in their hair, gripping and pulling and tearing at their scalp—bloody fingernails raking down their face and a smile beginning to split their lips in half.
The Wonderland Smile, chasing away logical fear and pain previously grounding them in a reality they believed in. A craving was coming alive inside of them, a hunger to rid themselves of that pain—all of that blood. By making others feel the despair which had taken an unyielding hold.
It was getting harder to differentiate whose memory from who.
This time they were stronger.
I saw sterile flooring and running feet.
Everything was blinding white. I heard his gasps for breath, a nightmarish fear eating him up from the inside pushing him to run faster.
I recognised him. Not his psychotic laugher when he had kidnapped me a year earlier, but his struggle to keep breathing. Keep sucking in precious oxygen which felt so far away. Just like the others before him, while his being seeped inside me, I had found myself once again plunged inside a memory. This time it was someone I recognised. Not a stranger from past years, but a classmate just below me.
Tommy Nolan had an asthma attack in junior year. Second period math, he’d jumped up with a panicked look on his face, clutching his chest. I remember thinking his breathing sounded wrong, like it was a car-engine trying and failing to start. His face had been pale, trembling hands clutching at his chest.
Tommy wasn’t the kind of guy who would intentionally attract attention to himself. He was an introvert through and through. However, this was the type of thing he couldn’t hide away from or push people away. “I can’t breathe.” He’d managed to gasp out, before the teacher had escorted him out of the class and to the nurse’s office. What I felt wasn’t an asthma attack gripping his chest. It was pure panic and fear squeezing the air from his lungs and stumbling his already clumsy steps.
Tommy reached a corner and threw himself into a run which was cut short by rough hands grabbing hold of him and yanking him back. I didn’t see the rest of Tommy Nolan’s memory. At least, I didn’t see an escape or anything which hinted at where he was. I just saw the same. A coffin-like enveloping darkness. Restrained hands.
Raging fire.
I don’t know if it was Tommy’s splintered mind which had catapulted me from my own mind, or maybe he didn’t want me to see everything. Before I could grasp onto his memory, he let go. The whispering voices let me go, and I found myself pressed against grass wet with dew, an intense pressure in my nose and crawling around the back of head, blood pooling down my chin. I took a moment to gather myself. The sky was still half dark and half-light, pink and orange streaks taking over pooling black. Across the street, Lili Marriot was standing with the town preacher’s severed head clumsily forced onto a make-shift pike.
The man's eyes were still open, wide with horror.
She wasn’t moving, her scarlet hands still grasping the weapon for dear life. I got to my feet slowly, ignoring my own blood spattered hands. I didn’t think about the woman I had murdered, or her husband, as I hopped onto a trashed bike which had been abandoned on the side of the road. It was still usable. Sure, it had bits of skin stuck in the wheels, but it would work.
I pushed myself into a smooth pace which was normal. It felt normal, like every other morning when Jun and I biked to school. Instead of taking in the apocalyptic landscape around me, I focused on the road and finding my friend.
That morning, I saw a mix.
I saw kids who were waking up and finding themselves painted in their victims. I saw them crying.
Screaming.
I saw one girl slice open her own throat over the corpse of her little brother.
But I was also seeing kids still entangled in their own undoing, still tearing Littlewood apart. Under the last splinters of night, I saw my classmates around me.
But I chose to be ignorant. I needed to find Jun and saving the town's people who had been brought to the brink of despair was the last thing on my mind. Still though, I watched.
I couldn’t help it. There was a sort of morbid curiosity inside me once I had been freed from the curse, and then watching the rest of my class still in its iron grip. The varsity boys dragged an old man by his neck down the road, chanting the school anthem. One of them was wearing someone’s skull which had been ripped of its flesh, the remnants of a bulging eye still glued inside the socket. They wore their football jerseys, and somehow that made them even more terrifying. They were the perfect depiction of Noah Sharpe. Gen Z version. Littlewood's golden boy turned psycho.
Eleven years later, it had taken them too.
“REDHAWKS!” Their war cries bled into the dull sunrise, stamping their feet to a beat only they could hear. The old man was struggling, his face beet red, prying wrinkly fingers attempting to tug the tough rope cinched around his limp neck. But they weren’t letting go, only laughing when he let out a pained cry, begging them to let him die, begging to let him asphyxiate.
“REDHAWKS!”
They ignored him, pulling his limp body across the road.
“REDHAWKS!”
STAMP.
STAMP.
STAMP.
“REDHAWKS!”
I could still hear their phantom yelling when I neared the scrapyard. Passing the diner, which was nothing but a blur of vivid orange, I saw a group of girl’s shrieking those horrific hyena laughs, diving into the flames and dancing in the smoke, entangling themselves in licking flames. Laughter twisted into screams and cries of agony mixed with a pleasure, a euphoria, I didn’t even think existed. I had felt it writhing in every soul which had bled inside me. The craving to die. When I squeezed the handlebars tighter, I felt something shift inside me once the stink of smoke had travelled into my nose and was choking the back of my throat.
Looking down at my palms, my skin had started to catch alight. No, I wasn’t seeing things. I could feel it, flames crawling up my arms, licking across my flesh and melting through my sweater sleeve.
I opened my mouth to cry out, and in the blink of an eye I was back inside that coffin-like tunnel drowning Tommy Nolan’s memory. He didn’t want me to see it, had pulled away before I could glimpse what exactly was in there. This time, though, it wasn’t Tommy Nolan strapped to a metal slab. It was me. I was closed in, suffocating on my own sobs, on curling smoke already dancing in the back of my mind. All I could see was fiery orange and red engulfing me, filling the tunnel. The thought hit me when my own body was writhing, dancing in vivid orange getting brighter and brighter, licking across my flesh in sharp rivulets, singing my hair from my scalp.
I was in an incinerator.
No… no not just me.
We.
Tommy Nolan, and the nameless girl’s whose screams had rattled my skull.
All of us.
We were in an incinerator.
The shock of the vision, as well as all of our pain entwining into one pulled me back to uncertain reality. I didn’t even realise I’d let go of the bike handlebars before I was crashing down on rough concrete, smacking my head on the curb. Stars exploded in the backs of my eyes. But the fire was gone. Like it had never fucking existed. Except I knew it did. It had in Tommy Nolan’s memory, as well as my future. An endless fire which had ripped away our flesh and sent us plunging into the dark. It made me wonder about that first memory. The girl tied to the tree in front of blurred orange. Was that how all of this had started?
Did I see the first glimpses of Littlewood’s curse? When I pushed the bike off of me and checked my arms and legs for burns or signs of smoulder, there was nothing there. Fuck. Whatever had taken over my mind and crawled into my brain wasn’t letting go, but I found myself hanging onto them. My head hit the ground and I stared at the sky, at red and orange clouds which almost resembled the end of the world.
The sky, just like the ground below, had been set alight. Maybe it was the end of the world, I thought.
Maybe Littlewood was really falling this time.
I don’t know how long I lay there trying to catch my breath, trying to force my maple syrup thoughts into fruition. I was trying to shake my head of possible concussion, dislodging my brain from the puddle of fog it had fallen into, when I heard running footsteps.
Bare feet slapping against gravel. I knew what this was. I’d heard it as a kid, an animal-like herd of kids which had congregated into their own tribe.
I had heard them running past my house every year, and each time I thought they would catch me. I thought they’d crawl through my window like Noah Sharpe and his gang. But this was my class.
These were the kids I had been going to school with for years. The sound of their whooping and laughter brought me out of it, just a little. Twisting to my side, I glimpsed them suddenly. White canisters. The ones I’d seen in the school, the ones I’d seen being put into the sprinkler system. They were everywhere, dotted across the road, turned over on their head and leaking that same colourless substance onto cement and into the air. I wondered if they had been purposely placed.
“Help me! Oh god, please help me!”
Just ahead of me, a woman in her thirties was sprinting. Her expression was wild with fright, dark hair flying behind her in a whirlwind. I recognised the look on her face. It was exactly what I’d felt a year prior when I escaped Tommy Nolan and his gang with an inch of my life. The girl caught my eye for a fleeting moment and it looked like she might have found solace in me. Her mouth opened in a silent plea, her trembling hands raising above her head.
Before she realised what I was.
I had been so focused on looking at her face, I’d failed to see the mess of startling red painting the front of her shirt. She was screaming, sobbing into the wind. There was something wrapped around her left wrist, the entrails of some poor souls guts fashioned into makeshift restraints. Twisting around, the girl dropped to her knees and buried her head in the ground. “Don’t!” she screamed. “Please! Don’t!”
She wasn’t running, I thought.
Why wasn’t she running?
When the hysterical girl started to crawl across the ground, they appeared like animals, like they had been staying back, teasing her with the hope of survival. There were eight of them. All of them carrying lead pipes. The look on their faces was feral. Blood stained grins and empty eyes only seeing prey—only seeing another victim they could tear apart. I started to get up, started to plan my escape which was just to run and never stop fucking running until I was away from them. When more war cries rang out. This time from the other side of the road. Two separate tribes of kids advancing towards her. The second group were faster, and I recognised a face enveloped in the disgusting stain of red which painted them.
Jun. He didn’t look like Jun anymore. I could hardly even see his face through a coating of red smearing his cheeks and eyes which he must have done himself.
War paint.
Wielding a long thread of wire wrapped around his left wrist and trailing on the ground, my best friend joined the mass of kids closing in on the girl. His eyes were vacant and dark, empty of anything human. It was Noah all over again, except this time I wasn’t a frightened six year old. I could stop it. I remember getting to my feet. Movement. Several heads whipped around. I’d already caught their attention but their gazes barely strayed on me before going back to the girl. With my attention on him, I moved towards him, taking my steps slowly. Another kid crawled out of their hiding place behind a dumpster. This time they looked younger.
I didn’t even want to guess how old.
When half of the kids jumped the little kid while the others took care of the girl, I forced my legs to keep going, keep moving. But I stopped when the woman dived to her feet and made a run for it, pushing herself into a sprint. I watched Jun pursue her like a lion chasing after a deer with an almost supernatural speed. While her steps were stumbled and clumsy, his were calculated. I couldn’t move when he dived onto her back and brought her to the ground, her face smacking against cement with a meaty smack. She squirmed, fighting to get away, but he was already forcing the metal wire into her throat, wrapping it around and around until her face was turning red, and then blue, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
The wire sliced cleanly into her flesh and red began to swim from her, startling pooling red I will never forget which stained his hands. I knew what he was doing. Squeezing tighter. Jun’s weapon wasn’t to asphyxiate and strangle. It was a garotte. And his prize was progressively more inevitable the more he forced the cutting wire through layers of skin until it met bone. “Jun!” I was yelling his name before I knew what I was doing. I don’t know how I got to him without breaking down, but when my face was buried into his back and I was sobbing his name, everything felt…. Right. Even if it was just for a little while. Because, like a fairy-tale narrating the clock striking twelve and a magic spell wearing off, a dazzling sunrise broke through the clouds as dawn hit, and the woman’s gurgling stopped. Just like the jerking movements of Jun’s hands as they struggled to cut through bone.
I watched him blink himself awake through my own tears. Swiping at his eyes, my best friend stared down at his scarlet hands, and then grasping at his own face, running filthy fingers down his cheeks, as if he could tear his own flesh off of the bone.
I wasn’t paying attention to Jun as he fully came to. I was staring at a little girl who had walked out of her house clutching a stuffed teddy bear and seeing the body of her mother on the ground. A numbness started to take over me, a heavy weight on my chest. I remember his warm arms were suddenly around me, and they were tight, so tight, almost suffocating the breath from my lungs. Jun’s body felt strange against mine, a trembling, rattling mass as he let out a gut lurching cry into my shoulder.
I had never heard him scream before. Jun had always hidden behind a bright smile which had finally crumbled under the curse.
“Did I…”
His words collapsed into a sob.
“Did I… do this?"
The metal wire was still attached to him, coiled around his wrist.
It marked him as a member of that tribe.
“No.” I whispered into the damp material of his shirt. "No, none of this was you."
He laughed, sputtering on a sob.
“You’re okay.” I said. “You’re okay. Just breathe."
An icy shiver ripped its way down my spine when his lips found my ear. “Do you… really want to outrun the asteroid?” He whispered, choking on a hysterical laugh. “Do you think we are worthy, Bee?” His tone darkened. “Is our suffering worthy?”
I shook off that comment for a moment, focusing on him. "You texted me." I said in a hiss. "How were you awake?"
Awareness bled into his expression, followed by confusion. "I… did?"
As if on cue, footsteps startled me, and Jun’s phone hit the ground in front of us followed by the curve of a heel splintering the screen. When I looked up, Ms Hawkins, our drama teacher, was looming over us holding a gun. It didn’t look like the usual gun I saw my neighbours use on wildlife. This one had a red coloured butt and fit perfectly into her hand. She shot Jun first. The bullet hit his arm and he sent me a helpless look, his hand going to the tiny dart stuck into his lower elbow, before dropping to the ground. The teacher kicked Jun onto his side, before twisting and pointing the gun between my brows.
I remember her pulling the trigger, but it wasn’t just aimed at me. It was aimed at every other soul which had entangled itself with me. Noah, his class, and the ones before hiThis had happened to every year prior to us—and I had a sickening feeling I knew what was coming next. I woke to a nauseating feeling of movement to find my head uncomfortably pressed against a bus window. Outside, a long stretch of dead road leading to nowhere. There were no signs, no civilization. Nothing.
It took me a disorienting moment to figure out I was on a school bus. The same school bus I had seen in thousands of other memories. Next to me, Jun poked me in the shoulder. He was awake and seemed with-it enough to talk.
Though there was a strange smile on his face which was twisting my gut. I turned around to face him and blinked rapidly, because my friend’s face morphed and blurred, twisting into hundreds of others. First, girls and boys in strange clothing like they were from the dark ages, and the distant sound of horseback—a carriage being dragged. I could smell wildflowers mixed with the stink of rot and excrement, hear the sound of birds and chains rattling around jiggling wrists. Then I was seeing strangers, each of them bearing clothes from different eras. I saw Tommy Nolan, and then Chrissy Lackey. Bobby Chase.
Faces from previous years.
All blood spattered. All wide eyed, a haunting, hollow look on their faces.
Until Noah. Until I saw his face twisted with anger and pain and frustration. His hands went to his hair in a silent cry, and he was slamming bloodied fists into his temples.
Over and over again.
“Fuck!” He gritted out.
“Get me off this bus! I don’t want to be here... I want to go home. I want to go back! Can't you see this is shady? Where are they taking us?"
“Hey! Hey, calm down!”
The voice was Poppy. Her shriek echoed in my brain, as the bus they were on collapsed into panic and Noah was diving from his seat, before being grabbed and restrained by guards, and shoved back next to Poppy. I felt her gentle hand on his shoulder. Poppy’s arms were around him, and Noah was relaxing into her embrace.
“We’re going to the Halfway House, Noah.”
Her soothing murmur inside my head was cut short when I sensed the coffin-like tunnel once again.
Flames.
Getting closer and closer.
And his screams.
Ringing so loud in my head, horrifying wails of agony cracking my skull open.
I felt my own clammy palms press against my ears, the force of his cry becoming my own.
“Bee?”
I was sweating and shaking, choking on stale vomit in my mouth, when Jun waved a wary hand in front of my face, and I found reality once again.
When my gaze found his, Jun had that smile again. He sat back with a sigh, pressing his head against the seat. “You got it, huh?” He chuckled. “Damn, I wish I did. I really wanted to be chosen."
I found my breath, swallowing whatever the fuck I'd eaten in the last twelve hours. “Got what?”
He shrugged. “Do you remember when I asked you if you would give your life to destroy an asteroid?”
I had to think back to that conversation which didn’t seem relevant until now. “Jun—”
He cut me off, his smile fading a little. “I really did want to see my dad,” he whispered. As he spoke, I found my gaze wandering and finding our classmates who were either asleep or staring into an oblivion only they could see. Jun sighed. “I imagined all of these scenarios in my head. That we would all come to the halfway house and heal and get better like all the other kids before us, and I’d jump on a plane and go and visit dad.” I noticed his hands were trembling in his lap. “But I’m a fucking idiot. I'm naïve.” He turned to me. “We’re just kids, right? What do we know?"
I was losing my patience with his cryptic words. “What are you talking about?”
“I was kidnapped like you,” He said softly. “Last year, the night of the Teen Purge. I never told you about it, because I didn't want there to be a time when I would have to," Jun pulled a face. "I forgot to close our gate so I rushed out to lock it up before I brought attention to our house. But I was too late. They were waiting for me outside. The bastards knocked me out with a bat, and I woke up on the roof of the school.” He dug his hands in his lap, choking out a hiss.
“I was the only one left, Bee. When I woke up, I was staring at the people she had pushed to their deaths. My hands were tied behind my back so I couldn’t move, or try to get away and this girl…” He trailed off, his gaze going to a stray raindrop on the window, “this girl was dangling me over the edge. Like I was bait over a shark tank. It was fucking freezing and I was only in my pyjamas, and I remember wondering if I was actually going to die.” The bus went over a bump, and I grabbed onto his hand, squeezing it as tight as I could. “I waited for it,” Jun whispered. “I waited for her to kill me, but she wrenched me back. And her eyes... her eyes were pitch black. Hollow.” His eyes filled with tears. “She was smiling. Smiling like it would thrill her to watch me fall like the ones before me. And she would have no fucking mercy.”
As if his words were a narration, I was seeing the vision for myself, like somewhere inside my head, the girl lingered. I could see it. I could see pooling darkness, a long way down. Jun, his arms tied behind his back, a single strip of duct tape over his mouth— while arms were wrapped around his waist, dangling him teasingly as he twisted and struggled in her arms.
Like I was seeing it through her POV, I glimpsed tangled blonde curls in front of my face, a carving knife slick red clenched in my fist. She held him tight, squeezing the breath from him.
“Long way down, huh?” Her voice was a cackle clanging in my skull.
“Mmpphh!”
I could see his wide eyes, petrified as she pushed him closer and closer to the edge.
Jun continued in a low murmur. “But… this girl didn’t push me. She didn't kill me. Instead, she… she pulled me close. I could… I could smell her rotting breath. But through all the black, whatever had possessed her... I could see that there was still something there. It was weak, but still alive. Before I knew it, I was on my knees and she was in front of me like she could see right through me. Like she could reach into my head and pull out every memory I've ever had." His voice trembled. "She asked me a question. And I’ll never forget it, Bee. Because it was what changed my way of thinking. Instead of being scared to die, I felt like I could finally embrace it.”
His words sent my gut galloping into my throat.
I saw it. I saw her yanking him back onto his knees and pulling him close.
"Jun Sato," Her voice from the memory echoed in my mind. "Would you like to hear something cool?"
“What?” I whispered presently, shaking away the vision. The girl was insistent on shoving her memory onto me.
Jun’s eyes found mine, and for the first time in the 17 years of the Teen Purge, I saw the Wonderland Smile in broad daylight. I saw insanity brewing in eyes which had been darkened far before Littlewood’s curse had snatched his mind.
It had been hours since the curse had let us go, and there it was, splitting my best friend’s mouth apart into a cheshire cat grin. It was exactly what I’d seen on Noah Sharpe’s face before he sliced my mother’s throat open and gutted her. But while Noah's expression had been a blank slate, a monster, I only saw tragic hope lighting up my best friend's eyes. But it wasn’t real hope. Real hope was wanting to survive. It was forcing yourself to keep going no matter what. What I saw was that craving I’d felt when I’d woken up covered in blood, the one emitting from every voice inside my head.
The overwhelming pleasure which came with the thought of dying—giving yourself up.
"She asked me if I wanted to save the world.” He said, his eyes twinkling. “How cool is that?”
I was losing him.
“What did you say?” I asked stiffly.
He smiled. “I said yes. What else could I say? She got this weird look on her face, this smile, which was both maniacal and yet unbelievably sad, it made me feel like I would feel it too. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” Jun turned towards the window, this time, like he was refusing to admit it to my face. “She told me I will. Just like her, and the kids before her. That’s what the siren inside her head said. At that point I hoped I’d be able to save the world, and then visit my dad. I really thought it was as easy as that.” His lips twisted, eyes lighting up.
“But… then I understood what she meant. I finally understood, and I wasn’t scared anymore. How could I fear my own fate? She didn’t mean me saving the world, Bee. She meant me, and you, all of us in the past and present and future giving our lives for seven billion others. The world."
I had to stop myself from slapping him across the face. He was really choosing now to go off the deep end?
Whatever this girl had fed him was her own personal idea of death, which sounded like rainbows and cotton candy.
Jun turned to me with almost cartoon-like eyes.
“You can hear them,” he murmured. “the girl had that exact same look in her eyes.”
Swallowing hard, I fought to breathe. “What do you mean?”
“Haunted.” Jun said. “They’re telling you exactly what happened to them, and you can’t stop it. You want to pull them out of your head, but you can’t. They’re like a parasite taking over. They keep singing and you're ignoring them. But you need to listen. She told me to listen. If I was chosen."
I didn’t reply.
“Can you tell me?” His voice was small. “How does this end?"
Lying on a metal slab and staring at pooling black while flames licked across my flesh and set my hair alight, my body smouldering. Burning bright. That was how it was going to end. Like Noah and every year before us, we were going to burn.
And it made sense… right? Why wouldn’t a town permanently get rid of their youth tainted by a curse?
But it still felt like I was missing something.
And that something was getting closer as we approached the Halfway House.
"Bee?" Jun murmured. "Are you okay?"
Instead of responding, I pressed my face into his shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut. But closing my eyes was somehow worse. Like I was giving in to this supposed fate. Blinking them open, I turned to the window. Outside, Fall was taking over nature, and for the first time in a while I took a moment to take it in, breathing in the smell of wet mildew and crushed leaves drifting through the window and marvelling beautiful decay.
It's crazy how much you start to notice about the world around you when you know your time is running out. I don't think I'll ever look at a tree the same again. Jun was staring forwards, his eyes vacant, a small curl of a smile on his lips. I didn't trust it was his. Whoever this girl was had buried her way into my friend's mind, sending him into a trace. When I shoved him, Jun still turned to me and blinked, and it was still him. I had no doubt about that.
But it almost felt like he was looking through me, and what was inside my head.
Some psycho bitch had fucked with his head, and my first priority was snapping him out of it and bringing him back down to earth. Whether he liked it or not. In my cotton candy thoughts still half asleep from the tranquilliser, though, I was slowly conducting a plan to get the fuck out of there.
2023.03.21 01:22 autotldr In November 2022 a nuclear power plant leaked contaminated water in Minnesota. Information on the event wasn't released to the public until 19Mar23.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 78%. (I'm a bot)
Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: water#1 leak#2 Xcel#3 plant#4 tritium#5
Post found in /worldnews, /environment, /news, /Denver, /minnesota and /inthenews.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.
submitted by autotldr to autotldr [link] [comments]
Minnesota officials are monitoring the cleanup of a 400,000 gallon leak of contaminated water from a nuclear power plant in the city of Monticello run by the energy giant Xcel Energy.
Officials attributed the leak to a water pipe running between two buildings at the plant site.
The amount of contaminated water that leaked out is enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool about 60% full.
Tritium is a naturally occurring form of hydrogen that emits a weak form of radiation, which can't travel far in air or penetrate skin, according to the NRC. Tritium is also a byproduct of producing electricity in nuclear power plants, and the dose of tritium that comes from nuclear power plants is much lower than exposures from radiation present in the natural environment, according to the NRC. Xcel said the tritium levels in the leaked water were below NRC safety thresholds.
To contain the leak, the water is being diverted to a treatment system inside the plant, which prevents water from leaving the plant.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said Xcel is considering building above ground storage tanks or installing a retention pond to store the water containing tritium that has been recovered, as well as considering treatment, reuse and disposal options.
Post found in /worldnews, /environment, /news, /Denver, /minnesota and /inthenews.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.
2023.03.21 01:03 Writteninsanity Chapter 14 - SIX ORBITS - When humanity enters the galactic stage we find that our history of violence is quite unusual, but not because we wreaked unimaginable death and destruction upon each other, but rather because we stopped eventually.
"Tanner Dock Thirteen, if you're leaving, thank you for coming to Mythellion and w-" Victoria and I were far enough into the crowd to smother the noise before the elevator could finish, and the next wave of passengers were pressing buttons to get to their floor before the doors could close. We'd come to the docks in the minutes after the Sun Shields reopened to ensure that the concourse would be as busy as possible and let us disappear into the crowd.
The soundscape of the docks was dominated by the thrumming engines of an Anteraxi exploratory heavy cruiser consuming most of Tanner Dock's third-floor landing stations. It took up so much space on the upper floors that several research vessels had docked on the first floor to our right, despite that usually being limited to personal craft. The violent blue neon of the ship's external stabilizers coated the entire dock in their coloured light.
"What's that doing here?" Victoria asked, having broken my rule of 'keep your head down' to stare up at the Cruiser. Anteraxi combat 'Skitter' drones coated the bottom of the war machine, each as large as my ship, if not bigger.
"Don't know. Better not to ask questions."
"I didn't think they came out this far."
"They usually don't, but it's an Anteraxi port so…"
"Maybe.." Victoria didn't ask any more questions, understanding that my drift to quiet had been turning my attention back to the crowds around us. The people that were cover for us were also potential cover for the hunters. I pushed my jacket back out of the way of my Hammerhead and the bag I had over my shoulder. We'd picked up the extra firepower in case they tried something on the docks. People were, frankly, more forgiving of violence on its way off the Station than they would be of someone shooting in a shopping plaza.
"Hey, Reg," I pulled up to the valet counter, already reaching out with my PA to accept the charge for calling the ship and not collecting it, but the bill wasn't issued.
A spike of annoyance filled my head.
"Yeah, sorry. Got caught up in something last time," I offered, still staring out at the crowd instead of into the booth. The first ships that had been locked down by the sun shield were disconnecting and firing up their engines.
A second spike. I turned.
"Shit, sorry Alea," I groaned when I connected that the annoyance was from me assuming that it was Reg at the counter. Some Thirik understood that most organics couldn't tell them apart, Alea wasn't one of them. "Wasn't looking."
The third spike of annoyance was noticeable but less severe.
"Distracted," I explained before I took another check of the crowd. Victoria hadn't bothered looking at the booth at all, scanning the tops of people's heads while occasionally flicking her eyes up to the engines of the Anteraxi cruiser. "Just need to call down my ship, cover any fees if I have them."
Instead of disappearing into the wires right away, Alea paused momentarily, holding still in the air. After a second, there was a flicker of reassurance in my head, followed by Alea flashing away into the exposed wires at the back of the Station.
"Reg, you legend," I whispered to myself once I was out of earshot. I would have to let Nolad know that his spark-kin was upholding the family legacy.
"Everything okay?" Victoria asked as a Dageral slipped into line behind us, only giving enough space to show they thought Victoria and I were together.
"They're just getting the ship. Shouldn't be long."
"I haven't seen anyone yet."
"Keep an eye."
"Of course."
Just as I felt the tell-tale static tingle of Alea returning through the wires, a collective gasp erupted throughout the concourse as a splash of red light swallowed the blue for a moment for a breath, the remnants of an engine explosion. "Shit," I hissed.
The floor shook as the shockwave reached our part of the Station, a violent rumble only controlled by some of the thousands of stabilizers of the docking bays. Heads whipped around in the crowd as people tried to locate the source.
Another dock might have just had an engine malfunction but-
That would be too convenient.
A question filled my head.
"I don't know," I answered as I returned to the counter where Alea had popped into a static-y existence. Looks like something happened at another dock.
The screen below Alea flickered on, displaying the station she'd moved my ship to. Luckily, it wasn't far. I held out my PA to offer a tip.
Thankfulness.
"Don't mention it," I answered as I pulled my wrist away; it was less than I would have tipped Reg anyway. "Okay, Victoria, let's get to my ship and get armed. Then we can call Dvall and let her know that we're not taking off when this i-"
"Kingston."
I snapped my eyes to follow Victoria's and saw the two Fotuan hunters near the elevators.
"Kingston we-"
More importantly, I saw them see her.
"Let's go," I yanked on Victoria's arm to get her started, not breaking into a run but moving through the crowd without caring whose shoulder I pushed out of the way.
My ship was close to us, just a few hundred feet. There was more ground between the Fotuans and us than between us and freedom. I pointed out the ship to Victoria; in any other situation, she might have sneered at the vintage matte-gray paint job left from its days as a service vessel, but right now, the yellow-green accents were enough to make it look like an escape plan.
I clicked my PA and told my ship to get ready for launch. The sound of the engines was overpowered by the Cruiser above us, but I saw them ignite. I didn't turn to see the Fotuan's reaction, but they were probably putting two and two together.
"Incoming message from Dvall."
"Shut up. Not now." I hissed as we pushed past the last few members of the crowd between us and the currently extending boarding ramp. The door on the side of the Gunboat Diplomat was slowly creeping open, the automated boarding process much slower than doing it manually from within the ship.
Victoria stopped on the walkway's edge, peering over the edge for a second down toward the crackling white-translucent barrier separating us from space. She glanced from the abyss to the incoming gangway, back to the abyss. "Can't this piece of shit go any faster?"
"Don't be a dick about my ship when you're about to get on it." The answer was no, it wasn't going to come any faster. I spun. The Fotuans had closed some of the distance but weren't on top of us yet.
I reached into the bag at my side and pulled out the antique Basking, keeping the barrel pointed to the ground as I pushed the bag back out of the way and set myself to shoot.
The faster of the two Fotuans caught my eyes, there wasn't any recognition, but there was understanding. We were both hired guns.
Of course, that didn't change a damn thing.
"Kingston."
"You first."
They were close now, only a dozen rows of passersby between myself and a gunfight.
The sharp metallic clang of the gangway slamming into the edge of the dock rang out, and I heard Victoria's foot hit the metal. On cue, I snapped up the Basking just as the Fotuans watched Victoria step out into the open.
People screamed.
People ran.
People scattered.
I darted up the ramp after Victoria as confusion spread through the already nervous crowd, catching a glimpse of one of the Fotuans pulling out a gun just as they were practically thrown to the side by the waves of panic.
Victoria disappeared into the mouth of the ship. I sent the command, and the gangway started retracting with me. It might have thrown Victoria off if she'd still been running on it, but it wasn't my first hot boarding.
A crack erupted behind me, and a shot sparked uselessly against the ship's shield as the door slammed behind me, the boarding ramp snapping in as it did. I saw the sparks of another shot through the door, but there was no sign of the impact within the ship.
I still wasn't about to press our luck.
Victoria was several steps back from the door, leaning against a locker door with her lungs heaving. I pushed past her, around the disorganized armoury station and into the cockpit, sliding into my seat as part of the same motion.
The screens flickered to life as I bought out the command wires, untangling two of them.
Welcome Back, Kingston.
"Initiate undocking. Hot launch."
There is an unrecognized lifeform abor-
"Approve biomets. Undock. Hot Launch."
Approved. You are not currently connected t-"
"Yes," I pre-empted the ship, and it shuddered to life as I finally got the patches on the end of the command wires stuck onto the back of my hands, the familiar tingle of the needles slipping into my skin washed over my arms as I set my hands on the manual power controls. "Strap in, Victoria."
"Pardon?"
The ship dropped out of the dock instead of floating away from it, zipping below ground level. As the video feeds for the outside of the ship started to stream to the panels in front of me, I saw the Fotuan hunters on the dock watching us as we disappeared below the walkway. The massive translucent barrier under us gave way, letting the Gunboat Diplomat and us out into space.
"More warning next time," Victoria called out from the back of the ship.
"Sorry," I offered out of habit instead of sincerity. Everyone knew standing on a moving ship was asking for a headache and vertigo. If you were sitting, the stabilizers took care of your perception; if you were standing, they had fewer touchpoints to do so.
I took a deep breath and brought up the command log for the ship, setting timers to activate deep space supports and engines. We could leave some redundant comfort systems on for a while as long as we were in solar range.
Once I had the systems lined up, I brought up the navigation as I flew the ship slightly out of the docking zone to prevent getting a fine. We didn't have the ration or power stores to get all the way to Fotul, and I was going to need access clearance to their space either way.
Victoria walked up into the cockpit now that we were idle, ducking to avoid the doorframe as she did. She glanced over my shoulder for a second before taking the co-pilot seat. Once she was strapped in, she spoke up, "Ovigaia?"
"Mhm," I confirmed that it was the planet I had brought up on my screen.
"Why are we going there?"
"Humans can't fly in Fotuan space."
"How does-"
"Ovigaia is my- Our best chance at getting access codes."
"It is?"
"Have some friends there."
"Friends like Yinde?"
I set a course instead of responding, giving the computer time to calculate.
Incoming message from Dvall.
"Accept."
"Why the fuck did ya not answer earlier?"
"Wh-"
"Kingston, what the hell? I'm here tryin' to reach ya, and you're puttin' me on goddamn 'read.' You'd better 'ave been gettin' shot at."
Victoria looked over at me, and I shook my head. There wasn't a point to trying to explain. "What's up, Dvall. Are you al-"
"I almost got fuckin' vaporized tryin' to get to that stupid ship is what's up."
"Wait-"
"Some bastard shot it in the docks, almost took out that wing of the Station. Kingston, I was about to be in that thing. What the hell were you do-"
The ship cut her off to deliver a critical message:
Incoming ballistics.
Out of the frying pan…
submitted by Writteninsanity to JacksonWrites [link] [comments]
The soundscape of the docks was dominated by the thrumming engines of an Anteraxi exploratory heavy cruiser consuming most of Tanner Dock's third-floor landing stations. It took up so much space on the upper floors that several research vessels had docked on the first floor to our right, despite that usually being limited to personal craft. The violent blue neon of the ship's external stabilizers coated the entire dock in their coloured light.
"What's that doing here?" Victoria asked, having broken my rule of 'keep your head down' to stare up at the Cruiser. Anteraxi combat 'Skitter' drones coated the bottom of the war machine, each as large as my ship, if not bigger.
"Don't know. Better not to ask questions."
"I didn't think they came out this far."
"They usually don't, but it's an Anteraxi port so…"
"Maybe.." Victoria didn't ask any more questions, understanding that my drift to quiet had been turning my attention back to the crowds around us. The people that were cover for us were also potential cover for the hunters. I pushed my jacket back out of the way of my Hammerhead and the bag I had over my shoulder. We'd picked up the extra firepower in case they tried something on the docks. People were, frankly, more forgiving of violence on its way off the Station than they would be of someone shooting in a shopping plaza.
"Hey, Reg," I pulled up to the valet counter, already reaching out with my PA to accept the charge for calling the ship and not collecting it, but the bill wasn't issued.
A spike of annoyance filled my head.
"Yeah, sorry. Got caught up in something last time," I offered, still staring out at the crowd instead of into the booth. The first ships that had been locked down by the sun shield were disconnecting and firing up their engines.
A second spike. I turned.
"Shit, sorry Alea," I groaned when I connected that the annoyance was from me assuming that it was Reg at the counter. Some Thirik understood that most organics couldn't tell them apart, Alea wasn't one of them. "Wasn't looking."
The third spike of annoyance was noticeable but less severe.
"Distracted," I explained before I took another check of the crowd. Victoria hadn't bothered looking at the booth at all, scanning the tops of people's heads while occasionally flicking her eyes up to the engines of the Anteraxi cruiser. "Just need to call down my ship, cover any fees if I have them."
Instead of disappearing into the wires right away, Alea paused momentarily, holding still in the air. After a second, there was a flicker of reassurance in my head, followed by Alea flashing away into the exposed wires at the back of the Station.
"Reg, you legend," I whispered to myself once I was out of earshot. I would have to let Nolad know that his spark-kin was upholding the family legacy.
"Everything okay?" Victoria asked as a Dageral slipped into line behind us, only giving enough space to show they thought Victoria and I were together.
"They're just getting the ship. Shouldn't be long."
"I haven't seen anyone yet."
"Keep an eye."
"Of course."
Just as I felt the tell-tale static tingle of Alea returning through the wires, a collective gasp erupted throughout the concourse as a splash of red light swallowed the blue for a moment for a breath, the remnants of an engine explosion. "Shit," I hissed.
The floor shook as the shockwave reached our part of the Station, a violent rumble only controlled by some of the thousands of stabilizers of the docking bays. Heads whipped around in the crowd as people tried to locate the source.
Another dock might have just had an engine malfunction but-
That would be too convenient.
A question filled my head.
"I don't know," I answered as I returned to the counter where Alea had popped into a static-y existence. Looks like something happened at another dock.
The screen below Alea flickered on, displaying the station she'd moved my ship to. Luckily, it wasn't far. I held out my PA to offer a tip.
Thankfulness.
"Don't mention it," I answered as I pulled my wrist away; it was less than I would have tipped Reg anyway. "Okay, Victoria, let's get to my ship and get armed. Then we can call Dvall and let her know that we're not taking off when this i-"
"Kingston."
I snapped my eyes to follow Victoria's and saw the two Fotuan hunters near the elevators.
"Kingston we-"
More importantly, I saw them see her.
"Let's go," I yanked on Victoria's arm to get her started, not breaking into a run but moving through the crowd without caring whose shoulder I pushed out of the way.
My ship was close to us, just a few hundred feet. There was more ground between the Fotuans and us than between us and freedom. I pointed out the ship to Victoria; in any other situation, she might have sneered at the vintage matte-gray paint job left from its days as a service vessel, but right now, the yellow-green accents were enough to make it look like an escape plan.
I clicked my PA and told my ship to get ready for launch. The sound of the engines was overpowered by the Cruiser above us, but I saw them ignite. I didn't turn to see the Fotuan's reaction, but they were probably putting two and two together.
"Incoming message from Dvall."
"Shut up. Not now." I hissed as we pushed past the last few members of the crowd between us and the currently extending boarding ramp. The door on the side of the Gunboat Diplomat was slowly creeping open, the automated boarding process much slower than doing it manually from within the ship.
Victoria stopped on the walkway's edge, peering over the edge for a second down toward the crackling white-translucent barrier separating us from space. She glanced from the abyss to the incoming gangway, back to the abyss. "Can't this piece of shit go any faster?"
"Don't be a dick about my ship when you're about to get on it." The answer was no, it wasn't going to come any faster. I spun. The Fotuans had closed some of the distance but weren't on top of us yet.
I reached into the bag at my side and pulled out the antique Basking, keeping the barrel pointed to the ground as I pushed the bag back out of the way and set myself to shoot.
The faster of the two Fotuans caught my eyes, there wasn't any recognition, but there was understanding. We were both hired guns.
Of course, that didn't change a damn thing.
"Kingston."
"You first."
They were close now, only a dozen rows of passersby between myself and a gunfight.
The sharp metallic clang of the gangway slamming into the edge of the dock rang out, and I heard Victoria's foot hit the metal. On cue, I snapped up the Basking just as the Fotuans watched Victoria step out into the open.
People screamed.
People ran.
People scattered.
I darted up the ramp after Victoria as confusion spread through the already nervous crowd, catching a glimpse of one of the Fotuans pulling out a gun just as they were practically thrown to the side by the waves of panic.
Victoria disappeared into the mouth of the ship. I sent the command, and the gangway started retracting with me. It might have thrown Victoria off if she'd still been running on it, but it wasn't my first hot boarding.
A crack erupted behind me, and a shot sparked uselessly against the ship's shield as the door slammed behind me, the boarding ramp snapping in as it did. I saw the sparks of another shot through the door, but there was no sign of the impact within the ship.
I still wasn't about to press our luck.
Victoria was several steps back from the door, leaning against a locker door with her lungs heaving. I pushed past her, around the disorganized armoury station and into the cockpit, sliding into my seat as part of the same motion.
The screens flickered to life as I bought out the command wires, untangling two of them.
Welcome Back, Kingston.
"Initiate undocking. Hot launch."
There is an unrecognized lifeform abor-
"Approve biomets. Undock. Hot Launch."
Approved. You are not currently connected t-"
"Yes," I pre-empted the ship, and it shuddered to life as I finally got the patches on the end of the command wires stuck onto the back of my hands, the familiar tingle of the needles slipping into my skin washed over my arms as I set my hands on the manual power controls. "Strap in, Victoria."
"Pardon?"
The ship dropped out of the dock instead of floating away from it, zipping below ground level. As the video feeds for the outside of the ship started to stream to the panels in front of me, I saw the Fotuan hunters on the dock watching us as we disappeared below the walkway. The massive translucent barrier under us gave way, letting the Gunboat Diplomat and us out into space.
"More warning next time," Victoria called out from the back of the ship.
"Sorry," I offered out of habit instead of sincerity. Everyone knew standing on a moving ship was asking for a headache and vertigo. If you were sitting, the stabilizers took care of your perception; if you were standing, they had fewer touchpoints to do so.
I took a deep breath and brought up the command log for the ship, setting timers to activate deep space supports and engines. We could leave some redundant comfort systems on for a while as long as we were in solar range.
Once I had the systems lined up, I brought up the navigation as I flew the ship slightly out of the docking zone to prevent getting a fine. We didn't have the ration or power stores to get all the way to Fotul, and I was going to need access clearance to their space either way.
Victoria walked up into the cockpit now that we were idle, ducking to avoid the doorframe as she did. She glanced over my shoulder for a second before taking the co-pilot seat. Once she was strapped in, she spoke up, "Ovigaia?"
"Mhm," I confirmed that it was the planet I had brought up on my screen.
"Why are we going there?"
"Humans can't fly in Fotuan space."
"How does-"
"Ovigaia is my- Our best chance at getting access codes."
"It is?"
"Have some friends there."
"Friends like Yinde?"
I set a course instead of responding, giving the computer time to calculate.
Incoming message from Dvall.
"Accept."
"Why the fuck did ya not answer earlier?"
"Wh-"
"Kingston, what the hell? I'm here tryin' to reach ya, and you're puttin' me on goddamn 'read.' You'd better 'ave been gettin' shot at."
Victoria looked over at me, and I shook my head. There wasn't a point to trying to explain. "What's up, Dvall. Are you al-"
"I almost got fuckin' vaporized tryin' to get to that stupid ship is what's up."
"Wait-"
"Some bastard shot it in the docks, almost took out that wing of the Station. Kingston, I was about to be in that thing. What the hell were you do-"
The ship cut her off to deliver a critical message:
Incoming ballistics.
Out of the frying pan…
2023.03.21 00:54 zachiavelli2 Have coalitions changed the Meta? A thought experiment comparing 82DK & MSA and why warden weekend is not a good thing. A *very* long read
For context - it's late at night where I am and I've played a small amount this war. I normally play colonial, have played since approximately war 79 and have done one war (101) as a Warden . The following is an expression of thought for analysis and discussion without malice or intent to disparage. I want to explore, I know itll probably get memed to hell but bear with me guys/gals and everything inbetween or other - it's going to be a bumpy and overall wordy ride. Might have been better expressed as a video but I'm not confident enough to do that. I've got over 700 hours in game, and I am NOT affiliated in anyway to the above groups and probably don't understand them anyways.
My thesis is simple: Time based coalitions have changed the Meta of Foxhole forever.
We know the game is played by individuals, but is won by collective action. The application of efficiency to the production of war material and its transportation and use in the war is paramount. Simply put: whoever makes more weapons and gets them in the hands of soldiers who use them well normally wins.
So I wanted to ask myself, why are colonials winning a large amount (irrespective of tech imbalance which is beyond the scope of this post. BEYOND SCOPE I KNOW IT IS HUGE BUT CANNOT DISCUSS HERE) and I found i wanted to discuss the commonalities between factions and how their approaches differ.
I'll make some assumptions based on my imperfect understanding of the game and its community ecosystem. I am in no way claiming to be qualified and appreciate feedback to improve this thesis. I am an amateur, exploring a thought.
Foxhole players once they reach a certain level of understanding of game mechanics naturally begin to see the game as a game of efficiencies, how can we make more, quicker and with less effort.
We see it in the small scale of how vets don't normally grab a rifle on busy fronts unless required, preferring to grab what they know is already on the floor thus reducing logi burden - or the calculation of exact numbers of satchels needed to take down a bunker that has also had its hp, integrity and firing angles optimised and tested agonisingly by long suffering builders.
Every system in the game is to be interrogated, and bent/broken to the will of its users for maximum effect wherever possible. To the point we as players willingly even created external systems based upon game systems like the much discussed skynet to wring out further efficiencies.
We forget to discuss often however the commodity with the greatest potential - the people that play. Any faction or clan is ultimately made up on individuals, working together which create outcomes. My idea is that two different methodologies of thought on how to achieve these outcomes are what has led to diferences in the factions so far.
What I am about to speak about is not gospel and true of all clans and users, and therefore this is where I want to bring in the two examples of 82DK and MSA.
They're both household names in the game, and have huge numbers of members at their disposal with varying skills levels and hours in the game using its systems.
82DK is much older and is a legacy clan that has been through many iterations of the game and seen it all and done it all. From what I know its a singular clan, probably split into traditional areas of gameplay such as engineering and logistics, infantry and tanks etc as most conventional clans are. Its strength is in its numbers, on a good day it could probably fill two hexes and has a tight command and control structure centred around set piece operations focused on strategic objectives. They're skilled at planning, logistical build up attack and defense and 1v1 could give any clan a run for their money if not obliterate them in a straight up fight. 82DK has members from the EU, Asia and the USA (probably).
MSA, is different - its a coalition of clans that operate like 82DK - they all probably have their own sections, players with likes and dislikes that exist within one collective and operate in a similar way, normally they pick a hex and push that location. It's much newer however and think has disrupted the Meta in what it's done.
What MSA has done is leverage the power of time differences - the coalition is specifically designed to cover all time zones, with the clans in it operating as semi autonomous units serving a greater objective through a churn of time. By allowing a shared logistical pool to be accessed by these composite units, MSA can keep pressure on a front 24/7 - but also leverage the backline at the same time.
Each clan will have a dedicated logistical Corps that picks up when the last shift leaves, the facilities are optimised, the train routes laid quickly to serve the front, the stockpiles replenished and moved and bunkers dug and teched through consistent activity faster.
They are able TO SCALE production and frontline pressure to meet the overall objective of winning the war. By allowing the smaller clans to maintain the unique identity, they still keep an esprit de Corps, don't stress over their internal processes too much with on boarding and translation etc and are able to have the benefits of real time interaction between people that speak the same language at all times. This provides internal organisational SPEED to accompany the SCALING systems.
This means a new recruit from say China will always have a group of people who finish work when he does, who speaks his language to do something fun with and play with in the game world well supplied by the people that went to sleep before him, meaning throughout a war he is more likely to stay online and more likely to continue to play.
When he goes to sleep, a European aligned to the same objective with the same positive pull factors signs in and man's the still warm tank and has a go at pushing or taking over productive output. They don't need to be given a plan because they will organically find weaknesses through consistent gameplay and testing of defenses - they don't need massive operations all the time. The language and timezone affinity also means people might be more likely to learn and try other bits of the game by engaging with people lile them. Vets make new vets instead of a hard core of.veta playing at the same Time all the time.
MSA is aligned to long term objectives that leverage this time commitment and engagement cycle in a way I think 82DK might not (we could change 82DK for any other conventional regiment at this stage, I'm not throwing shade at all and genuinely want to know what people think).
Alot is made of WARDEN WEEKEND and 82DK ops, which basically apply and direct a huge amount of effort into a small timebox smashing production quotas and offensive action into a short time frame normally aligned to when the average person has time to play games at the weekend.
As a result its GREAT for the casual player, they know each week they can jump in and have a hell of a time for 48 hours, and then rest and recuperate for the week whilst they build up for a big operation again. This builds community and is fantastic to see, it spawned memes and vids and in wars gone by broke stalemates to the point morale collapsed, people had to sign out to break and one side wins. ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL PLEASE LEAVE THE AREA anyone?
But what I'm saying is maybe that weekend big bang meta is now out of date compared to the consistent drip feed time zone model. Warden weekend is often accused of producing inconsistent results, and that gains might often not be built properly as the pushes sign out and lower pop resumes or production can't keep up with the demand from the offensive, necessitating the week cool off to replenish, plan and execute again. Taking the principles of scaling and speed, it doesn't compare on either category. The plan is set for the weekend kind of - and production is organised around time frames- the players can't keep warden weekend levels of engagement up i definitely.
Its also hampered by the architecture of the game, if you have 500 people online but not all of them can get into a hex you're operating in, they might not want to do logi or truck swap and leave the engagement zone - and lose engagement as a result making it less likely they'll turn up next time. This model for these reasons is great for the casual player, but is held back by the inherent realities of the game design and server structure by no fault of its own and thus will not be able to realise its potential.
The coalition model has made the back end of the decision making process faster, the regi playing currently can understand the situation and advise who comes next on where to push and what they need, they can set the scene for the next "shift" to what needs to be done and trust someone will do it without incident.
That flexibility means the coalition model consistently delivers results faster that defy expectation, they don't need big plans because they are focused on the now. If an idea fails, next shift picks up from what's been learnt and pivots to a new strategy and tries that until something works. This can be done throughout the week until something is succesful. Players will more likely see all kinds of arty ops, logi cuts, partisan work and mammon rushes and therefore skill up faster. Scaling at speed.
What this results in is greater factional resilience. Wars are lasting longer as a result of the dev vision tm. So our ability to weather them and keep the population of the faction resilient and engaged is key to winning the war for better or for worse. I think the consistent results and constant emergent gameplay a coalition can better provide is better suited to the long war meta.
Collies are oft accused of being more "sweaty". Sweaty as an adjective means more willing to commit and sacrifice time and effort to win. But what if the coalition means you're getting consistently more "effort" per soldier, throughout the war, but in shorter more controlled bursts that stop burnout more effectively. As this Corps of organisation builds up you scale at speed.
As a longer term vet (and I used the term lightly because I know for many 700 hours isn't much - and foxhole is special in that way) I remember when green man was under popped and an underdog, warden weekend would often be a case of hanging on for dear life and salvaging what you could in the week to prepare for another bum rush.
I think indirectly in some way this has deliberately or not conditioned the colonials and their factional clan leadership/ subconscious thinking and identity to understand the value of constant production and action throughout the week, which means as above you must make a model that encourages not just good and well supplied play, but CONSISTENT play. This synergies quite well with the supp production system and factory queue system and systems like decay that reward consistent play at all times.
In the era of early concrete meta without tools to consistently crack defenses, there have been a number of instances where hexes have had multiple areas become "dead zones" between strong points, exchanging hands multiple times per day between two well defined lines until tech or morale/supply decay allows for decisive action. Colonials factionally have like it or not adapted to that Meta, as a result of clinging on for dear life through weekends - safe in the knowledge that can claw it back and push during the week.
I believe the MSA organisational model represents a better way of dealing with the psychological fallout of such grindy gameplay, mitigating its worse aspects and the negative aspects of the game design. The slow grind in this instance is superior to the big bang operation not because it does more damage to the enemy, but because it MITIGATES DAMAGE TO YOUR PLAYERBASE ENGAGEMENT. Scale and speed.
MSA might have stumbled onto a new way of self organising teams operating within foxhole to greatest effect. I think they are early adopters of the time zone and consistent engagement principle i've observed to an extent I don't think any other group has managed yet or since in foxhole, this goes a large part to explaining their recent success. Happy to be corrected.
I know Wardens have comparable coalitions in the form of Sundial which are working to replicate / are already replicating this system and may go on to iterate and improve it even further.
I think its an interesting area of thought, that merits more discussion. Keen to get peoples thoughts.
Also cutler OP, 30/32, Atlantic nuke incident. (Couldn't write a foxhole reddit post without some factional seething).
Thankyou for reading.
submitted by zachiavelli2 to foxholegame [link] [comments]
My thesis is simple: Time based coalitions have changed the Meta of Foxhole forever.
We know the game is played by individuals, but is won by collective action. The application of efficiency to the production of war material and its transportation and use in the war is paramount. Simply put: whoever makes more weapons and gets them in the hands of soldiers who use them well normally wins.
So I wanted to ask myself, why are colonials winning a large amount (irrespective of tech imbalance which is beyond the scope of this post. BEYOND SCOPE I KNOW IT IS HUGE BUT CANNOT DISCUSS HERE) and I found i wanted to discuss the commonalities between factions and how their approaches differ.
I'll make some assumptions based on my imperfect understanding of the game and its community ecosystem. I am in no way claiming to be qualified and appreciate feedback to improve this thesis. I am an amateur, exploring a thought.
Foxhole players once they reach a certain level of understanding of game mechanics naturally begin to see the game as a game of efficiencies, how can we make more, quicker and with less effort.
We see it in the small scale of how vets don't normally grab a rifle on busy fronts unless required, preferring to grab what they know is already on the floor thus reducing logi burden - or the calculation of exact numbers of satchels needed to take down a bunker that has also had its hp, integrity and firing angles optimised and tested agonisingly by long suffering builders.
Every system in the game is to be interrogated, and bent/broken to the will of its users for maximum effect wherever possible. To the point we as players willingly even created external systems based upon game systems like the much discussed skynet to wring out further efficiencies.
We forget to discuss often however the commodity with the greatest potential - the people that play. Any faction or clan is ultimately made up on individuals, working together which create outcomes. My idea is that two different methodologies of thought on how to achieve these outcomes are what has led to diferences in the factions so far.
What I am about to speak about is not gospel and true of all clans and users, and therefore this is where I want to bring in the two examples of 82DK and MSA.
They're both household names in the game, and have huge numbers of members at their disposal with varying skills levels and hours in the game using its systems.
82DK is much older and is a legacy clan that has been through many iterations of the game and seen it all and done it all. From what I know its a singular clan, probably split into traditional areas of gameplay such as engineering and logistics, infantry and tanks etc as most conventional clans are. Its strength is in its numbers, on a good day it could probably fill two hexes and has a tight command and control structure centred around set piece operations focused on strategic objectives. They're skilled at planning, logistical build up attack and defense and 1v1 could give any clan a run for their money if not obliterate them in a straight up fight. 82DK has members from the EU, Asia and the USA (probably).
MSA, is different - its a coalition of clans that operate like 82DK - they all probably have their own sections, players with likes and dislikes that exist within one collective and operate in a similar way, normally they pick a hex and push that location. It's much newer however and think has disrupted the Meta in what it's done.
What MSA has done is leverage the power of time differences - the coalition is specifically designed to cover all time zones, with the clans in it operating as semi autonomous units serving a greater objective through a churn of time. By allowing a shared logistical pool to be accessed by these composite units, MSA can keep pressure on a front 24/7 - but also leverage the backline at the same time.
Each clan will have a dedicated logistical Corps that picks up when the last shift leaves, the facilities are optimised, the train routes laid quickly to serve the front, the stockpiles replenished and moved and bunkers dug and teched through consistent activity faster.
They are able TO SCALE production and frontline pressure to meet the overall objective of winning the war. By allowing the smaller clans to maintain the unique identity, they still keep an esprit de Corps, don't stress over their internal processes too much with on boarding and translation etc and are able to have the benefits of real time interaction between people that speak the same language at all times. This provides internal organisational SPEED to accompany the SCALING systems.
This means a new recruit from say China will always have a group of people who finish work when he does, who speaks his language to do something fun with and play with in the game world well supplied by the people that went to sleep before him, meaning throughout a war he is more likely to stay online and more likely to continue to play.
When he goes to sleep, a European aligned to the same objective with the same positive pull factors signs in and man's the still warm tank and has a go at pushing or taking over productive output. They don't need to be given a plan because they will organically find weaknesses through consistent gameplay and testing of defenses - they don't need massive operations all the time. The language and timezone affinity also means people might be more likely to learn and try other bits of the game by engaging with people lile them. Vets make new vets instead of a hard core of.veta playing at the same Time all the time.
MSA is aligned to long term objectives that leverage this time commitment and engagement cycle in a way I think 82DK might not (we could change 82DK for any other conventional regiment at this stage, I'm not throwing shade at all and genuinely want to know what people think).
Alot is made of WARDEN WEEKEND and 82DK ops, which basically apply and direct a huge amount of effort into a small timebox smashing production quotas and offensive action into a short time frame normally aligned to when the average person has time to play games at the weekend.
As a result its GREAT for the casual player, they know each week they can jump in and have a hell of a time for 48 hours, and then rest and recuperate for the week whilst they build up for a big operation again. This builds community and is fantastic to see, it spawned memes and vids and in wars gone by broke stalemates to the point morale collapsed, people had to sign out to break and one side wins. ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL PLEASE LEAVE THE AREA anyone?
But what I'm saying is maybe that weekend big bang meta is now out of date compared to the consistent drip feed time zone model. Warden weekend is often accused of producing inconsistent results, and that gains might often not be built properly as the pushes sign out and lower pop resumes or production can't keep up with the demand from the offensive, necessitating the week cool off to replenish, plan and execute again. Taking the principles of scaling and speed, it doesn't compare on either category. The plan is set for the weekend kind of - and production is organised around time frames- the players can't keep warden weekend levels of engagement up i definitely.
Its also hampered by the architecture of the game, if you have 500 people online but not all of them can get into a hex you're operating in, they might not want to do logi or truck swap and leave the engagement zone - and lose engagement as a result making it less likely they'll turn up next time. This model for these reasons is great for the casual player, but is held back by the inherent realities of the game design and server structure by no fault of its own and thus will not be able to realise its potential.
The coalition model has made the back end of the decision making process faster, the regi playing currently can understand the situation and advise who comes next on where to push and what they need, they can set the scene for the next "shift" to what needs to be done and trust someone will do it without incident.
That flexibility means the coalition model consistently delivers results faster that defy expectation, they don't need big plans because they are focused on the now. If an idea fails, next shift picks up from what's been learnt and pivots to a new strategy and tries that until something works. This can be done throughout the week until something is succesful. Players will more likely see all kinds of arty ops, logi cuts, partisan work and mammon rushes and therefore skill up faster. Scaling at speed.
What this results in is greater factional resilience. Wars are lasting longer as a result of the dev vision tm. So our ability to weather them and keep the population of the faction resilient and engaged is key to winning the war for better or for worse. I think the consistent results and constant emergent gameplay a coalition can better provide is better suited to the long war meta.
Collies are oft accused of being more "sweaty". Sweaty as an adjective means more willing to commit and sacrifice time and effort to win. But what if the coalition means you're getting consistently more "effort" per soldier, throughout the war, but in shorter more controlled bursts that stop burnout more effectively. As this Corps of organisation builds up you scale at speed.
As a longer term vet (and I used the term lightly because I know for many 700 hours isn't much - and foxhole is special in that way) I remember when green man was under popped and an underdog, warden weekend would often be a case of hanging on for dear life and salvaging what you could in the week to prepare for another bum rush.
I think indirectly in some way this has deliberately or not conditioned the colonials and their factional clan leadership/ subconscious thinking and identity to understand the value of constant production and action throughout the week, which means as above you must make a model that encourages not just good and well supplied play, but CONSISTENT play. This synergies quite well with the supp production system and factory queue system and systems like decay that reward consistent play at all times.
In the era of early concrete meta without tools to consistently crack defenses, there have been a number of instances where hexes have had multiple areas become "dead zones" between strong points, exchanging hands multiple times per day between two well defined lines until tech or morale/supply decay allows for decisive action. Colonials factionally have like it or not adapted to that Meta, as a result of clinging on for dear life through weekends - safe in the knowledge that can claw it back and push during the week.
I believe the MSA organisational model represents a better way of dealing with the psychological fallout of such grindy gameplay, mitigating its worse aspects and the negative aspects of the game design. The slow grind in this instance is superior to the big bang operation not because it does more damage to the enemy, but because it MITIGATES DAMAGE TO YOUR PLAYERBASE ENGAGEMENT. Scale and speed.
MSA might have stumbled onto a new way of self organising teams operating within foxhole to greatest effect. I think they are early adopters of the time zone and consistent engagement principle i've observed to an extent I don't think any other group has managed yet or since in foxhole, this goes a large part to explaining their recent success. Happy to be corrected.
I know Wardens have comparable coalitions in the form of Sundial which are working to replicate / are already replicating this system and may go on to iterate and improve it even further.
I think its an interesting area of thought, that merits more discussion. Keen to get peoples thoughts.
Also cutler OP, 30/32, Atlantic nuke incident. (Couldn't write a foxhole reddit post without some factional seething).
Thankyou for reading.
2023.03.21 00:29 tikudz trinidad’s medical reform in doable steps
Any nation bests TT.
SHORT TERM, enacted in one year -
* Cost management - Government negotiated costs for medicine and procedures – no one place or doctor will charge different from another as government pays fees for citizens. Fees are STRICTLY regulated to keep them affordable and halt overbilling. Fees for all health care services and medicine are set every two years by negotiations between the health ministry and physicians.
* Adopt ideas from number one ranked FRANCE health system.
* Commission a study of foreign health systems and adopt where feasible – such as UK, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Barbados, Canada, Italy, Israel.
LONG TERM –
* Like France’s VITALE, a DIGITAL SMART CARD replacing paper medical cards.
* Electronic prescribing – defined is the computer-based electronic generation, transmission, and filling of a medical prescription, taking the place of paper prescriptions.
submitted by tikudz to Caribbean [link] [comments]
SHORT TERM, enacted in one year -
- Make health a right, be it public AND private, in the constitution. Currently only public catered to.
- Adopt the UNIVERSAL HEALTH SYSTEM – defined as the state covering medical cost. Barbados, Canada, France, UK, Mexico among the adoptors.
- UHS application to TT – * private doctors and private pharmacy are heavily subsidized to affordable level. Out of pocket is $100 and $20 respectively for citizens. * Remainder, once out of pocket paid by citizens, is given to the doctor and pharmacy quickly by the state.
* Cost management - Government negotiated costs for medicine and procedures – no one place or doctor will charge different from another as government pays fees for citizens. Fees are STRICTLY regulated to keep them affordable and halt overbilling. Fees for all health care services and medicine are set every two years by negotiations between the health ministry and physicians.
* Adopt ideas from number one ranked FRANCE health system.
* Commission a study of foreign health systems and adopt where feasible – such as UK, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Barbados, Canada, Italy, Israel.
- Open a MENTAL HEALTH AND LONLINESS MINISTRY – treating school violence, assessing military and police cadets as well as serving officers and serving the public among its missions.
- Priority surgery - all citizens in need of life saving surgery gets all bills paid by government. The state will begin a drive to speed up their care, as in immediately they are found and aided. Should the care not be available locally, expenses for overseas all state borne.
- Establish local medical school for SPECIALIZATION – to be opened in Trinidad to supply a pool of local professionals, SPECIALIZED DOCTORS above GP with little to no need to go abroad, FREE OF CHARGE. Will expand to include other medical and paramedical training.
- Free medical school – for doctors and staff. Any debt is cleared.
- Adopt South Korean national physical examination – every two years citizens AND foreigners travel to a PHYSICAL EXAMINATION CENTER and undergo a series of ROUTINE EXAMINATIONS: blood work, pap smear, x ray, lung function, ECG, kidney and liver function, blood sugar, stomach cancer screen, dental screen, urine and more.
- CDAP & Children’s Life Fund removed – supplanted by Universal Health – state covered cost for ALL citizens of PRIVATE doctors, facilities and pharmacies, so that free or near nil. (CDAP doesn’t cover all medicine and when government supplied medicine is short, private sources can provide)
- Mercy program - Food delivery for those too ill to shop and cook themselves. The state will deliver nutritionist supervised food free of charge.
- Parental aide program – no matter the economic background a new-born’s parents may apply for an assistant from the government, sent to their residence.
- Healthy eating at state institutions – low fat, sugar, cholesterol, diabetic food and drink are only what permitted at ministries and other government institutions extending to vending machines.
- Food, soda and juice tax – a high tax, designed to reduce consumption of SWEETENED BEVERAGES and food of HIGH SUGAR, FAT, CHOLESTEROL, SALT. This policy intervention is an effort to decrease obesity and the health impacts related to being overweight.
- Subsidized low and zero fat, cholesterol and sugar consumption – a preventative medicine measure, foods, drinks and snacks example: chia, almond butter, sourdough bread, Splenda, versions of chocolate and ice cream, Glucerna, whole wheat, so to healthy processed foods are government subsidized 30% thirty percent to help encourage good health - including foreign brands. Trinidad has very high heart disease rate.
- Ban trans fats – restaurants fry food in oil raising health risk from consumed foodstuff. Business will be mandated to use alternatives.
- 30 minutes tops - Prompt care mandatory. Trinidad doctors right now have patients wait HOURS. Must (keep patients waiting not above half an hour) before patients are seen to under pain of automatic suspension.
- DISSOLVED Medical Board - replaced by a more toothy organization – rather separate to ensure independence. Are led by FOREIGNERS not locals. Responsible for investigating and punishing staff and DOCTORS who are rude, deliver service outside 30 minutes, malpractice.
LONG TERM –
- Second and third cancer treatment centers established – the St. James one added to. A larger, public facility able to support medical tourism and the next in Tobago.
- Ratio – look into increasing doctor to citizen ratio such that doctors are more numerous than present.
- Digital medicine –
* Like France’s VITALE, a DIGITAL SMART CARD replacing paper medical cards.
* Electronic prescribing – defined is the computer-based electronic generation, transmission, and filling of a medical prescription, taking the place of paper prescriptions.
- MULTIPLE hospitals and specilized facilities – only 7 main general hospitals for 1.3 million. Top priority more are constructed.
- Additional medical services and medical tourism - Introduction locally of SPECIALIZED medical health procedures currently sourced abroad, by constructing relevant facilities. Serving locals and for low price, tourists. A source of foreign exchange.
- Medical contruction speed – haste a priority to build facilities and infrastructure. To this end foreign construction workers and architects hired for numbers.
- Establishment of a National Primary Angioplasty Network – treats better with heart conditions backed up by CARDIAC CATH devices installed across the nation, a specialized heart treatment facility and public education.
- Medication delivery - for elderly and those too sickly to reach hospital or pharmacy, a medically certified nurse drops it off at their residence.
- Elderly care nursing homes - a series of free STATE OF THE ART nursing homes constructed both islands, complete with internet and dietician. Are physician operated. Care costs 100 percent state borne - including food, lodging, and medical costs. JAPAN’S geriatric home model will be emulated such as Azalee care centers. Mexico also examined. Private existing facilities are from now state covered.
- Elderly housing – any living in rundown conditions can have their abode fixed or granted a new one if fixing the original impractical. State covered.
- Elderly living communities – are communities government builds to house the elderly (infirm younger people additionally).
- Local medicine and equipment made locally – goal a PERCENTAGE of both, so too herbal medicine included, prioritizing the crucial. Factories built for the purpose.
- Diabetes treatment and research hospital - The Diabetic Wellness Center replaced if needed, the new facility staffed by SPECIALIZED diabetic treatment personnel.
- Medical science institutes and labs – Trinidad shall swiftly establish its own MEDICAL RESEARCH arm. _________________
French health care: Best in the world? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGqiNplU2m4
2023.03.20 23:19 TheGlobalLegend The Cornerstone Brawl is here!
 | https://preview.redd.it/dcw1qa7g9yoa1.jpg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff21cda5515527826bb6fed430c87927c7cf4e64 submitted by TheGlobalLegend to Guildwars2 [link] [comments] Hello Gamers!Did you ever want to become a competitive player? Maybe you wanted to play some tournaments without putting much effort? Or maybe you just want to earn some gold?Now is your chance! Monthly Tournament SeriesThe Cornerstone Brawl is a new series of tournaments happening monthly! This month, the tournament is a 2v2, double elimination style competition! That means if you lose the first match, its not over, and you still get another chance! What's more, this tournament is happening on both regions, EU and NA.
The whole series is going to accommodate all kinds of players with different rulesets and playstyles every month! From your standard 1v1s to big stronghold 8v8s, its all on the table! All the tournaments will also include a generous prize pool to keep people participating! You can find rules, sign ups and all the details about this upcoming tournament and the subsequent tournament in this PvP discord. The Brawl to RememberLast month we hosted a kickstart 1v1 Cornerstone Brawl for people who joined the newly made Cornerstone of the Mists Discord. The result was over 30 people enjoying the competition in pursuit of the prize pool and the competitive spirit! You can read about the result of that and the upcoming competition in the recent Hardstuck post. The InitiativeThis month, we are proud to announce that through this event, we are fundraising money for Gamers Outreach Foundation in their campaign Gamers for Giving. You can read all about their campaign in this post.I'm hoping that the event will reach many people that will end up helping our fellow gamers in hospitals. With that, I wish you all good health and hope to see you there, participating or watching! TL;DR PvP is not dead, new tournament on 26th March, for both EU and NA. Times above. Also fundraising for a charity! Check discord for rules, sign ups and more future tournaments! |
2023.03.20 23:15 Mysterious_Bath Booking Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) Had He Not Gone to WWE - Part 2
Part 1 here if you haven't read.
Chapter 3: A Fallen King
After the shock events in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10, Omega has one thing on his mind, Devitt's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. During Fantastica Mania, Omega sets the challenge out to Devitt after winning a 6-man tag with the Young Bucks against Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii. Omega is later announced as the number 1 contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with a match set for The New Beginning in Osaka.
The New Beginning in Osaka:
Kenny Omega def. King Devitt (c) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
At The New Beginning in Osaka, Omega and Devitt wrestle for 33 minutes with Devitt LOSING TO OMEGA!! OMEGA HITS DEVITT WITH A ONE WINGED ANGEL AND TAKES THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP HOME WITH HIM! THE KING HAS BEEN DETHRONED! Devitt's first reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship ends at 221 days.
New Japan Cup:
Next for Devitt is the New Japan Cup, where in the first round he is placed against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who he beats after a Bloody Sunday in a 12 minute bout. In the quarters, its a fierce confrontation against Bad Luck Fale, who he also beats. In the semis, its a wonderful performance from Hirooki Goto but its not enough to beat Devitt. And now, the finals of the New Japan Cup 2016 is Prince Devitt vs Tetsuya Naito and after 25 minutes Prince Devitt is SUCCESSFUL IN WINNING THE NEW JAPAN CUP, PINNING NAITO FOR THE 3 COUNT AFTER HITTING HIM WITH A BLOODY SUNDAY! When asked who he wants to face after his win, the answer is as clear as day. HE WANTS THE FUCKING OMEGA REMATCH AT INVASION ATTACK!
Invasion Attack:
Kenny Omega (c) def. Prince Devitt to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
At Invasion Attack, the Prince has the perfect opportunity to get rid of the Cleaner by embarrassing him and taking his belt away on his first defense. A 21 minute bout, Devitt finds himself on the losing end once again after a trifecta of V-Triggers and a One Winged Angel. Devitt lashes out after the loss, pushing away Taguchi who tried consoling his tag partner and storming away from the arena.
Devitt disappears for a few months, until his return at Destruction in Tokyo, attacking Omega after a successful defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Devitt is painted red, later revealing its a symbol of the demons that were contained inside of him, but now? They're free. This sets up a match at King of Pro-Wrestling where if Devitt loses, he can't challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as long as Omega is in New Japan.
King of Pro-Wrestling
Kenny Omega (c) def. Prince Devitt to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (As Devitt lost, he can no longer challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as long as Kenny Omega is in New Japan)
Despite a killer contest between the two, with Devitt kicking out of multiple V-Triggers and Omega kicking out of the Bloody Sunday, ITS ADAM FUCKING COLE BAY BAY! Cole runs in and hits Devitt with the Florida Keys on the outside and rolling him back in the ring so Omega can finish Devitt off once and for all with the One Winged Angel, retaining his title and ensuring Devitt can no longer challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for as long as he's there.
Chapter 4: Foreign Excursion
Devitt has a clear goal in mind now after being restricted from obtaining the biggest prize he could have won. Or well, what he thought was the biggest as it turns out the man that fucked him over at King of Pro-Wrestling is the ROH World Champion. Devitt finds himself travelling across continents for his next pursuit. He invades Glory by Honor, attacking Cole after his 8-man tag match and demanding a ROH World Championship match. Cole tells Devitt this isn't Japan and if he wants the title match, he has to properly earn it. Devitt says he'll do it by any means necessary. This leads to Devitt's inclusion in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match at the aforementioned PPV against Punishment Martinez.
Survival of the Fittest:
Prince Devitt def. Punishment Martinez to earn a spot in the Survival of the Fittest elimination match
Devitt finds himself unlucky on paper in this encounter, coming up against one of the toughest men in ROH. It makes no difference to him however, as he beats Martinez with a Bloody Sunday to put him one step closer to that ROH World Championship.
Prince Devitt def. Lio Rush, Bobby Fish, Jax Dane, Dalton Castle and The Punisher to win the Survival of the Fittest elimination match for the No.1 Contendership to the ROH World Championship
Devitt runs riot over the members of the ROH roster, eliminating every single one of them with a Bloody Sunday in quickish fashion to earn the right to face Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship. Cole came out after the match, mockingly congratulating Devitt on his win. Devitt invites him to share the ring with him which Cole does. He then extends his hand out to Cole as a sign of respect. Cole surprisingly goes for it BUT WAIT... DEVITT HITS HIM WITH THE BLOODY SUNDAY! Devitt picks up the ROH Championship and raises it above his head as the fans chant Devitt's name.
Road to Final Battle:
Cole and Devitt meet in the ring on the last ROH show before Final Battle, where Cole decides to add a little twist to the mix. He calls for the match to be a No Holds Barred match to which Devitt is more than willing to participate in. The two reluctantly shake on it before butting heads with each other.
Final Battle:
Prince Devitt def. Adam Cole (c) to win the ROH World Championship
Devitt's pursuit for gold since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the start of the year has been tough, but after 27 minutes in the ring with Adam Cole, Devitt can now consider himself the NEW RING OF HONOR WORLD CHAMPION! Devitt pinned Cole for the 3 count after hitting him with the same Diving Double Foot Stomp to the head that he put Anderson down with. Cole offers his hand out to Devitt after the match and Devitt accepts, showing a respect for each other. Devitt's celebration doesn't last long however, as a man who made his debut earlier in the night, Cody, came out to the ring, supposedly to challenge Devitt to a match. Cody completely avoids Devitt however and has his sights set on Cole. Cody grabs a mic and asks Cole for a match at the ROH 15th Anniversary Show. Cole accepts the match and the two shake on it. Cody pics up his mic again and says "Oh, and one more thing.." before HITTING DEVITT WITH A CROSS RHODES! Cole laughs as Cody reveals himself as the newest member of Bullet Club. Cole then tells Cody to pick up Devitt near the corner, allowing him to hit a Panama Sunrise.
Road to WK11:
On an episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Cole decides to invoke his rematch clause against Devitt, wishing for the match to occur at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Devitt initially declines his offer but after a video is played on the titantron of The Young Bucks beating up Taguchi, he has no choice but to accept it now it's personal.
Wrestle Kingdom 11:
Adam Cole def. Prince Devitt (c) to win the ROH World Championship
Devitt's reign as ROH World Champion comes to a very premature end, losing the title in just over a month to the man he beat for the title at Final Battle. Cody screws Devitt in this match, hitting him with a Cross Rhodes on the outside and tossing him back in the ring before Cole added the final touch, hitting a Panama Sunrise to end the Prince's reign of Ring of Honor.
Chapter 5: The End of the Prince
Fantastica Mania:
Prince Devitt, Rysuke Taguchi, Matt Sydal, Ricochet and Kyle O' Reilly def. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Cody)
Devitt, alongside Taguchi find themselves acquiring the services of Matt Sydal and Ricochet, as well as the No.1 Contender to Cole's ROH World Championship, Kyle O' Reilly. The match lasts 16 minutes and ends with Sydal picking up a pinfall victory over Nick Jackson after hitting him with a Shooting Star Press. After the match, Devitt decided to lay into Cody a bit more, hitting him with a Bloody Sunday and putting the offer out for a match at The New Beginning in Sapporo. Cody grabs the mic while grounded as the winning team exit and accepts Devitt's challenge, calling him a coward bastard.
The New Beginning in Sapporo:
Cody def. Prince Devitt
Devitt's singles woes continues as he suffers another loss to Cody, who puts him away after a trifecta of Cross Rhodes. Cody adds insult to injury by injuring the shoulder of Balor by slamming it with a steel chair repeatedly. This causes Devitt to have to take time out, meaning he'll miss the G1 Climax and potentially big PPV's such as Dominion.
King of Pro-Wrestling:
Ryusuke Taguchi def. Cody (c) to win the IWGP US Championship
After reaggravating his injury, causing him to spend a while longer on the shelf, Devitt made his return to New Japan at King of Pro-Wrestling, aiding Taguchi in defeating Cody to win the IWGP US Championship. Devitt then extends the offer to one more match at Global Wars, which Cody accepts, before getting hit with a Bloody Sunday
Global Wars:
Prince Devitt def. Cody
Devitt finally avenges his loss at The New Beginning in Sapporo by beating Cody in this 17 minute match. Devitt successfully got the pinfall on Cody after a Reverse Bloody Sunday from the 2nd rope. Devitt decides to return the favour from Sapporo, injuring the shoulder of Cody with a steel chair before the Bullet Club come out to save Cody.
Power Struggle:
Prince Devitt def. Hangman Page
Hangman Page decides to step up to the plate in order to avenge his fallen teammate by beating him at Power Struggle. 22 minutes later however and Hangman Page finds himself laid out on the mat after getting hit with a Bloody Sunday and pinned for a 3 count. Cody appears on the titantron and says he wants to finish this at Wrestle Kingdom 12, in the same way he finished AJ Styles off 2 years prior, in a Loser Leaves NJPW match. Devitt says one less member of the Bullet Club is a success for him and accepts the challenge without thinking about the potential consequences this may bring towards him.
Wrestle Kingdom 12:
Cody def. Prince Devitt in a Loser Leaves NJPW match
Despite hitting 2 Bloody Sunday's in this spectacular encounter, Devitt finds himself coming up short in this 36 minute match, getting pinned for the 3 count after an out of this world Cross Rhodes from the second rope. After the match, Omega, the Bucks and Page come out, supposedly to send Devitt out of New Japan painfully. Surprisingly not, as Omega offers his hand out to Devitt as an ultimate sign of respect. Confetti begins spraying across the arena as Devitt is reduced to tears. Cody is against all of this and after Devitt, The Bucks and Page leave the ring, he HITS OMEGA WITH A CROSS RHODES! BULLET CLUB IS IMPLODING! The Bucks and Page run to the ring to confront Cody but NICK TURNS ON MATT, HITTING HIM WITH A SUPERKICK! While all this commotion occurs in the ring, Devitt watches from the rampway, smiling as he leaves New Japan with his main goal the past 4 years finally completed.
Epilogue:
Who knew that all it would take to destroy the Bullet Club would be a handshake? A 4-year rivalry which will go down in the history books, Devitt fought to the last 3 seconds, hoping that one day he'll find his own creation being destroyed. And while Bullet Club would eventually reunite, Devitt still managed to achieve part of his plan. Throughout this rivalry, he found himself butting heads with many members of Bullet Club, including Omega, Styles, Anderson and Gallows, Omega (again), The Bucks, Takahashi, Page, Cole and most importantly Cody. During that time, Devitt managed to pick up his fourth IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship, his first ROH World Championship as well as winning the 2016 New Japan Cup. Overall, wherever this version of Devitt goes to next, you can guarentee he'll tear the competition down.
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Chapter 3: A Fallen King
After the shock events in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 10, Omega has one thing on his mind, Devitt's IWGP Heavyweight Championship. During Fantastica Mania, Omega sets the challenge out to Devitt after winning a 6-man tag with the Young Bucks against Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii. Omega is later announced as the number 1 contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with a match set for The New Beginning in Osaka.
The New Beginning in Osaka:
Kenny Omega def. King Devitt (c) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
At The New Beginning in Osaka, Omega and Devitt wrestle for 33 minutes with Devitt LOSING TO OMEGA!! OMEGA HITS DEVITT WITH A ONE WINGED ANGEL AND TAKES THE IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP HOME WITH HIM! THE KING HAS BEEN DETHRONED! Devitt's first reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship ends at 221 days.
New Japan Cup:
Next for Devitt is the New Japan Cup, where in the first round he is placed against Hiroyoshi Tenzan, who he beats after a Bloody Sunday in a 12 minute bout. In the quarters, its a fierce confrontation against Bad Luck Fale, who he also beats. In the semis, its a wonderful performance from Hirooki Goto but its not enough to beat Devitt. And now, the finals of the New Japan Cup 2016 is Prince Devitt vs Tetsuya Naito and after 25 minutes Prince Devitt is SUCCESSFUL IN WINNING THE NEW JAPAN CUP, PINNING NAITO FOR THE 3 COUNT AFTER HITTING HIM WITH A BLOODY SUNDAY! When asked who he wants to face after his win, the answer is as clear as day. HE WANTS THE FUCKING OMEGA REMATCH AT INVASION ATTACK!
Invasion Attack:
Kenny Omega (c) def. Prince Devitt to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
At Invasion Attack, the Prince has the perfect opportunity to get rid of the Cleaner by embarrassing him and taking his belt away on his first defense. A 21 minute bout, Devitt finds himself on the losing end once again after a trifecta of V-Triggers and a One Winged Angel. Devitt lashes out after the loss, pushing away Taguchi who tried consoling his tag partner and storming away from the arena.
Devitt disappears for a few months, until his return at Destruction in Tokyo, attacking Omega after a successful defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi. Devitt is painted red, later revealing its a symbol of the demons that were contained inside of him, but now? They're free. This sets up a match at King of Pro-Wrestling where if Devitt loses, he can't challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as long as Omega is in New Japan.
King of Pro-Wrestling
Kenny Omega (c) def. Prince Devitt to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (As Devitt lost, he can no longer challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as long as Kenny Omega is in New Japan)
Despite a killer contest between the two, with Devitt kicking out of multiple V-Triggers and Omega kicking out of the Bloody Sunday, ITS ADAM FUCKING COLE BAY BAY! Cole runs in and hits Devitt with the Florida Keys on the outside and rolling him back in the ring so Omega can finish Devitt off once and for all with the One Winged Angel, retaining his title and ensuring Devitt can no longer challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for as long as he's there.
Chapter 4: Foreign Excursion
Devitt has a clear goal in mind now after being restricted from obtaining the biggest prize he could have won. Or well, what he thought was the biggest as it turns out the man that fucked him over at King of Pro-Wrestling is the ROH World Champion. Devitt finds himself travelling across continents for his next pursuit. He invades Glory by Honor, attacking Cole after his 8-man tag match and demanding a ROH World Championship match. Cole tells Devitt this isn't Japan and if he wants the title match, he has to properly earn it. Devitt says he'll do it by any means necessary. This leads to Devitt's inclusion in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match at the aforementioned PPV against Punishment Martinez.
Survival of the Fittest:
Prince Devitt def. Punishment Martinez to earn a spot in the Survival of the Fittest elimination match
Devitt finds himself unlucky on paper in this encounter, coming up against one of the toughest men in ROH. It makes no difference to him however, as he beats Martinez with a Bloody Sunday to put him one step closer to that ROH World Championship.
Prince Devitt def. Lio Rush, Bobby Fish, Jax Dane, Dalton Castle and The Punisher to win the Survival of the Fittest elimination match for the No.1 Contendership to the ROH World Championship
Devitt runs riot over the members of the ROH roster, eliminating every single one of them with a Bloody Sunday in quickish fashion to earn the right to face Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship. Cole came out after the match, mockingly congratulating Devitt on his win. Devitt invites him to share the ring with him which Cole does. He then extends his hand out to Cole as a sign of respect. Cole surprisingly goes for it BUT WAIT... DEVITT HITS HIM WITH THE BLOODY SUNDAY! Devitt picks up the ROH Championship and raises it above his head as the fans chant Devitt's name.
Road to Final Battle:
Cole and Devitt meet in the ring on the last ROH show before Final Battle, where Cole decides to add a little twist to the mix. He calls for the match to be a No Holds Barred match to which Devitt is more than willing to participate in. The two reluctantly shake on it before butting heads with each other.
Final Battle:
Prince Devitt def. Adam Cole (c) to win the ROH World Championship
Devitt's pursuit for gold since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the start of the year has been tough, but after 27 minutes in the ring with Adam Cole, Devitt can now consider himself the NEW RING OF HONOR WORLD CHAMPION! Devitt pinned Cole for the 3 count after hitting him with the same Diving Double Foot Stomp to the head that he put Anderson down with. Cole offers his hand out to Devitt after the match and Devitt accepts, showing a respect for each other. Devitt's celebration doesn't last long however, as a man who made his debut earlier in the night, Cody, came out to the ring, supposedly to challenge Devitt to a match. Cody completely avoids Devitt however and has his sights set on Cole. Cody grabs a mic and asks Cole for a match at the ROH 15th Anniversary Show. Cole accepts the match and the two shake on it. Cody pics up his mic again and says "Oh, and one more thing.." before HITTING DEVITT WITH A CROSS RHODES! Cole laughs as Cody reveals himself as the newest member of Bullet Club. Cole then tells Cody to pick up Devitt near the corner, allowing him to hit a Panama Sunrise.
Road to WK11:
On an episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Cole decides to invoke his rematch clause against Devitt, wishing for the match to occur at Wrestle Kingdom 11. Devitt initially declines his offer but after a video is played on the titantron of The Young Bucks beating up Taguchi, he has no choice but to accept it now it's personal.
Wrestle Kingdom 11:
Adam Cole def. Prince Devitt (c) to win the ROH World Championship
Devitt's reign as ROH World Champion comes to a very premature end, losing the title in just over a month to the man he beat for the title at Final Battle. Cody screws Devitt in this match, hitting him with a Cross Rhodes on the outside and tossing him back in the ring before Cole added the final touch, hitting a Panama Sunrise to end the Prince's reign of Ring of Honor.
Chapter 5: The End of the Prince
Fantastica Mania:
Prince Devitt, Rysuke Taguchi, Matt Sydal, Ricochet and Kyle O' Reilly def. Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Cody)
Devitt, alongside Taguchi find themselves acquiring the services of Matt Sydal and Ricochet, as well as the No.1 Contender to Cole's ROH World Championship, Kyle O' Reilly. The match lasts 16 minutes and ends with Sydal picking up a pinfall victory over Nick Jackson after hitting him with a Shooting Star Press. After the match, Devitt decided to lay into Cody a bit more, hitting him with a Bloody Sunday and putting the offer out for a match at The New Beginning in Sapporo. Cody grabs the mic while grounded as the winning team exit and accepts Devitt's challenge, calling him a coward bastard.
The New Beginning in Sapporo:
Cody def. Prince Devitt
Devitt's singles woes continues as he suffers another loss to Cody, who puts him away after a trifecta of Cross Rhodes. Cody adds insult to injury by injuring the shoulder of Balor by slamming it with a steel chair repeatedly. This causes Devitt to have to take time out, meaning he'll miss the G1 Climax and potentially big PPV's such as Dominion.
King of Pro-Wrestling:
Ryusuke Taguchi def. Cody (c) to win the IWGP US Championship
After reaggravating his injury, causing him to spend a while longer on the shelf, Devitt made his return to New Japan at King of Pro-Wrestling, aiding Taguchi in defeating Cody to win the IWGP US Championship. Devitt then extends the offer to one more match at Global Wars, which Cody accepts, before getting hit with a Bloody Sunday
Global Wars:
Prince Devitt def. Cody
Devitt finally avenges his loss at The New Beginning in Sapporo by beating Cody in this 17 minute match. Devitt successfully got the pinfall on Cody after a Reverse Bloody Sunday from the 2nd rope. Devitt decides to return the favour from Sapporo, injuring the shoulder of Cody with a steel chair before the Bullet Club come out to save Cody.
Power Struggle:
Prince Devitt def. Hangman Page
Hangman Page decides to step up to the plate in order to avenge his fallen teammate by beating him at Power Struggle. 22 minutes later however and Hangman Page finds himself laid out on the mat after getting hit with a Bloody Sunday and pinned for a 3 count. Cody appears on the titantron and says he wants to finish this at Wrestle Kingdom 12, in the same way he finished AJ Styles off 2 years prior, in a Loser Leaves NJPW match. Devitt says one less member of the Bullet Club is a success for him and accepts the challenge without thinking about the potential consequences this may bring towards him.
Wrestle Kingdom 12:
Cody def. Prince Devitt in a Loser Leaves NJPW match
Despite hitting 2 Bloody Sunday's in this spectacular encounter, Devitt finds himself coming up short in this 36 minute match, getting pinned for the 3 count after an out of this world Cross Rhodes from the second rope. After the match, Omega, the Bucks and Page come out, supposedly to send Devitt out of New Japan painfully. Surprisingly not, as Omega offers his hand out to Devitt as an ultimate sign of respect. Confetti begins spraying across the arena as Devitt is reduced to tears. Cody is against all of this and after Devitt, The Bucks and Page leave the ring, he HITS OMEGA WITH A CROSS RHODES! BULLET CLUB IS IMPLODING! The Bucks and Page run to the ring to confront Cody but NICK TURNS ON MATT, HITTING HIM WITH A SUPERKICK! While all this commotion occurs in the ring, Devitt watches from the rampway, smiling as he leaves New Japan with his main goal the past 4 years finally completed.
Epilogue:
Who knew that all it would take to destroy the Bullet Club would be a handshake? A 4-year rivalry which will go down in the history books, Devitt fought to the last 3 seconds, hoping that one day he'll find his own creation being destroyed. And while Bullet Club would eventually reunite, Devitt still managed to achieve part of his plan. Throughout this rivalry, he found himself butting heads with many members of Bullet Club, including Omega, Styles, Anderson and Gallows, Omega (again), The Bucks, Takahashi, Page, Cole and most importantly Cody. During that time, Devitt managed to pick up his fourth IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship, his first ROH World Championship as well as winning the 2016 New Japan Cup. Overall, wherever this version of Devitt goes to next, you can guarentee he'll tear the competition down.