Happy almost summer. Today is the release day for Nocturne Alchemy (NAVA) Summer 2023 Limited Collection and Resurgence. The collections will be up from June 9, 2023, at 8AM PST and will come down July 28, 2023, at 8PM PST. Ajevie will decant the collection, as will Crypta Obscura. I will edit this to be prettier.
Also, Thoth’s Spring 2023 Archive is still running and will be up until July 3, 2023, at 8PM PST.

Limited Collection

BLEU FELINE COLLECTION

6ml sky blue transparent bottle with black dropper insert and lid. ~ AEGEAN BLEU – Lemon/Orange zest, Crete Orange Blossom extraction, Tonka Bean, Wild Juniper Berries, eNVie saphir absolute, Vanilla Bean, Bastet’s Musk, Benzoin absolute, and Mandarin Zest
CYAN BLEU – Oak, Mallow Root, Transylvania Blue Juniper, Vanilla Bean, eNVie saphir absolute, Romanian Clove, Sugar Cookies, Buttercream Frosting, Vanilla Extract, Blue Clove, Kashmir (Studio Limited Originals) Red Musk, and Cemetery Snow (Permanent Collection) absolute: Cemetery Dirt, White Patchouli lite, Sandalwood Musk, and White Cedar Vanilla
EGYPTIAN BLEU – Patchouli, Dried Date accord, Egyptian Musk, Amber, Sandalwood, Rockrose, Vetiver, Frankincense, Myrrh, Cedarwood, Bastet’s Musk absolute, and eNVie saphir absolute
PHTHALO BLEU – Black Honey accord, Vanilla smoked Sandalwood, Caramelized Tonka Bean, Amber, Maple Wood, Dried Pipe Tobacco, Coriander essential oil, Tanaka Wood, eNVie saphir absolute, and Bastet’s Musk absolute
PRUSSIAN BLEU – Garden Rose accord, Rose Petals, Rose absolute, Candied Figs accord, Green Fir accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute, eNVie saphir absolute, Lotus Blossom, Nevada desert Patchouli, French Vanilla Bean, and Bulgarian Rose
CAT SIDHE COLLECTION 6ml pink matte bottle with black dropper insert and lid ~ ANAM – Irish Blue Hydrangea, French Vanilla Bean, Patchouli Musk accord, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Moonstone (Studio Limited) Vanilla, and Lotus Amber accord
CAISLEAN OIR – Irish Vanilla Cream, Vanilla Musk accord, Labdanum, Languid Amber Cordial accord (rich PC Ozymandias amber absolute), Bastet’s Amber, and a touch of Irish cream Whiskey accord (non-alcoholic)
Dúlamán – Irish Clover, Irish Heather, Irish Yellow Furze Flower, Irish Wisteria, Coconut Milk, Bastet’s Musk, Sweet Musk, and Crimson (Studio Limited) Red Musk
MOYA – Irish Caramel Bread Pudding accord, Custard accord, Vanilla absolute, Mallow, Warm Caramel Sauce accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute, and Whipped Cream accord (vegan) with a dusting of Cocoa powder
SPRING ’23 HONEY BEE COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid ~ AMBER COTTON CANDY & HONEY BEE – Fossilized Amber accord, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Labdanum, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Cedar Chips, Cotton Candy accord, Vanilla-sugar, Whipped Orange Blossom Honey accord, Languid Amber Cordial accord (rich PC Ozymandias amber absolute), French Vanilla, Caramel and Raspberry Essence
FRANKINCENSE & HONEY BEE – Sacred Frankincense resin, Egyptian Frankincense, Whipped Orange Blossom Honey accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute. Pear skin, Wisteria accord, Clove dust, Lemon Zest, Pine, and calming Cedar-Vanilla accord
23 TEA (and Service) SUMMER COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid. New tea-inspired perfume and service. Spring ’23 LAIT perfume can be found in the Summer Resurgence. ~ Blueberry Cheesecake Tea – Summer Blueberries, Blueberry Skin, Blueberry Syrup accord, Egyptian Sugar accord, Cheesecake (vegan) accord, Vanilla, Japanese Yuzu Lemon zest, Black Tea accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute
Lait de Riz a la Vanille – Vanilla Bean, Rice Milk accord, Sweet Milk accord, a dash of Bastet’s Ice Cream accord, Bastet’s Musk, Sweet Mallow, and Tahitian Vanilla Beans
Peach Vanille Crème Tea – Peach skin, Peach pit, Ripened Peach accord, Black Tea, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Vanilla Bean Cordial, and Vanilla-Sugar
thé sucré – Iced Tea accord, Sweet Tea accord, Black Tea, Sugar, Pink Sugar accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute, and warmed Vanilla Husk sweetened with Sugar
SUMMER ’23 SLUSHIE PERFUME COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid, also available in 6ml blue-pearl colored bottle with white dropper insert and lid. See drop-down for specifics. ~ Blue Raspberry Cream Soda Slushie – Blue Raspberry Syrup accord, Vanilla Cream accord, Vanilla Bean, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Caramelized Vanilla-Sugar, Raspberry Essence
Orange Cream Soda Slushie – Blood Orange zest Syrup accord, Blood Orange essential oil, Vanilla Bean Cordial, Orange Zest, Caramelized Vanilla-Sugar, French Vanilla, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Bergamot essence, Tonka Bean, Mandarin infused Vanilla-Cream
Pineapple Cream Soda Slushie – Whipped Pineapple Syrup accord, Vanilla Cream accord, Vanilla Bean, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Caramelized Vanilla-Sugar and sweet freshly cut Pineapple accord
Strawberry Cream Soda Slushie – Vine-ripened Strawberry Syrup accord, Strawberry Shake accord (vegan), Caramelized Vanilla-Sugar, Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Cream accord, Strawberry essence accord, Marshmallow Cream, Peach nectar, and Sugar Crystals
Watermelon Cream Soda Slushie – Sweet Watermelon Syrup accord, Caramelized Vanilla-Sugar, Vanilla Cream accord, Strawberry/Pineapple/Peach essence, Vanilla Musk, Bastet’s Amber, and Bastet’s Musk
NA ZODIAC COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid ~ Zodiac: Libra – Orange Skin, Peach Nectar, Cherry Blossom, Japanese Jasmine extract, Rice Milk accord, eNVie saphir, and Bastet’s Amber Absolute
Zodiac: Virgo – Lily of the Valley essence, Heliotrope, White Patchouli, Japanese Bergamot essence, Bastet’s Musk, and eNVie saphir
CRYSTALLINE COLLECTION C10-C12 in 6ml purple bottle twist cap with dropper insert made specifically for these special colored bottles *see below for colored bottle information. The Crystalline Collection will not return in the purple bottle or Resurgence next year. ~ Crystalline #10 – Toasted Coconut, Coconut Pulp, Caramelized Sugar, Tonka, Coconut Milk, Bastet’s Musk, eNVie saphir, Crystalline (Studio Limited Originals)
Crystalline #11 – Sandalwood Milk accord, Santalum extract, Australian Sandalwood, Sandalwood Chips in Oudh blend, Golden Indian Sandalwood, Kobalt (Studio Limited Originals) Vanilla, Jasmine, Cedarwood, Red Sandalwood and Crystalline (Studio Limited Originals)
Crystalline #12 – Bastet’s Ice Cream; Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar, Mallow Root extract, Sweet Mallow, Sugar, Bastet’s Musk absolute and Crystalline (Studio Limited Originals)
ENCENS COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid ~ Encens étoile (Star Incense) – Egyptian Myrrh, Wood Ember accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute, Lotus Blossom, Incense, Patchouli Musk, and French Vanilla Bean Fleck
Encens Lune – (Moon Incense) Water Lily, Incense, Amber, Sandalwood, Labdanum, Lotus Blossom petal, eNVie saphir absolute, Vetiver, and Cedarwood
Encens Soleil – (Sun Incense) Frankincense Resin, Red Sandalwood, Incense, eNVie saphir absolute, Lemon peel, Pine, Wisteria, Clove, and Pear skin
SUMMER ECLIPSE COLLECTION 6ml blue-pearl bottle with a dropper insert and lid *see colored bottles below. Eclipse perfume does not return as a Resurgence. Limited to 75 bottles each. ~ Eclipse Khayal – Cola Root Extract, Languid Amber Cordial accord (rich PC Ozymandias amber absolute), Labdanum absolute, Bastet’s Musk absolute, and Tonka Bean
Eclipse Sahar – Black Currant Extract, Tonka Bean, Labdanum absolute, eNVie saphir absolute, and Bourbon Vanilla (Studio Limited Originals) absolute
SUMMER ’23 COTTON CANDY COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid ~ Cotton Candy Blueberry Marshmallow Musk – Blueberry Skin, Blueberry Essence accord, Cotton Candy accord, Vanilla Spun Sugar, Mallow, Bastet’s Musk, Caramel, Raspberry essence, and Vanilla Bean
Cotton Candy Pistachio Cherry Marshmallow Musk – Pistachio essence, Cherry Skin, Almond accord, Cherry Juice, Mallow, Bastet’s Musk, Caramel, Strawberry essence, Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Spun Sugar, Cotton Candy accord, Crystalline (Studio Limited), Heliotrope, Honey and Vanilla Pudding accord
Cotton Candy Tonka Marshmallow Musk – Tonka Bean absolute, Mallow, Bastet’s Musk, Caramel, Raspberry essence, Vanilla Bean, Vanilla Spun Sugar, Cotton Candy accord, Bastet’s Amber and Vanilla Bean Cordial
SUMMER ’23 ICE CREAM COLLECTION 5ml cobalt blue bottle with phenolic lid ~ Ice Cream & Estate Gianduja alle Nocciole – Chocolate Hazelnut accord, Cacao absolute, White Chocolate essence, Bastet’s Ice Cream blend (Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar), and Vanilla-butter
Ice Cream & Summer Cardamom & Butter Pecan – Summer Cardamom essential oil, Caramelized Pralines, Butter Toasted Pecans, Bastet’s Ice Cream blend (Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar), and Vanilla Buttercream
Ice Cream & Summer Iced Coffee – Iced Espresso accord, Organic Coffee Bean extraction, Brown Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Bastet’s Ice Cream blend (Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar), and Vanilla Bean Cordial
SUMMER ’23 MUSK COLLECTION 6ml clear cylindrical bottle with silver domed lid and insert dropper. Special Musks do not return as a Resurgence. PINK MUSK has a very light pink-tinged metallic-colored domed lid and insert dropper.~ Pink Musk – Satsuma Plum, Bubblegum accord, Pear skin, Apple skin, Cotton Candy accord, Japanese Yuzu essential oil, Vanilla, Crimson (Studio Limited) Red Musk, Violet, Pink Sugar accord, Honeysuckle nectar, Bastet’s Musk: white floral blends of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily.
Buttercream Musk – Buttercream accord, Sugar, Butter, Whipped Cream, Vanilla Bean Absolute, Madagascar Vanilla Bean essence, and Bastet’s Musk white floral blends of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily
Neptune Musk – Ambergris accord, Ocean Salt accord, eNVie saphir, Sea water accord, Driftwood accord, and Bastet’s Musk white floral blends of Tuberose, Mallow, Angelica, Musk Flower, and White Lily

Resurgence Collection

SUMMER ROAR, REST AND RELAXATION

REX

Limestone Amber accord, Amber, eNVie saphir absolute, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Bourbon Vanille Absolute and NA Jurassic Amber accord

Lounge Lizard

White Patchouli, Amber accord, Green Cardamom, White Sandalwood, Frankincense, Myrrh, Black Pepper, Himalayan Cedarwood, Moonstone Vanilla absolute, Vanilla Bean and Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla

THE BEAUTIFUL SUMMER COLLECTION

Ederra

Peach/Apple/Rose Dew accord, Orange Flower, Coconut Milk and Shavings, Bastet Amber absolute and Egyptian White Linen accord.

Kaunis

Pink Raspberry, Lime, Juniper, Violet Leaf, Lemon zest, Kashmir Red Musk absolute, Red Pine, Green Pine Needle, Egyptian Musk, Egyptian Black Linen accord, Raisin accord, Dried Date accord, Sandalwood and Amber.

Aljamal

Mandarin, Geranium, Black Amber, Bourbon accord, Ruby Red Grapefruit zest, Pink Sugar accord, Bastet’s Musk absolute, Vanilla Bean Cordial and Crimson Musk absolute.

Magnifique

Red Frangipani, French Apple Blossom, French Vanilla, Snow Musk accord, Vanilla Bean essence and Vanilla Bean Musk.

Utsukushi

Japanese Honeydew Melon accord, Peach essence, Strawberry accord, Japanese Pear essence, Bourbon Vanille absolute, Sweet Egyptian Musk and Bastet’s Musk blend.

Go Halainn

Hyacinth, Jasmine, Narcissus, Rose petals, Ocean accord, Sea salt essence accord, Ambergris (vegan) and Bastet’s Musk absolute.

BASTET’S AMBER SUMMER ’22 COLLECTION

5ml traditional amber bottle in the drop-down. Aging Bastet Amber will allow the perfume to radiate and permeate
Bastet’s Amber Summer Twilight

French Vanilla Bean powder, Jasmine petal powder, Lotus Blossom, Patchouli essence, Bastet’s Amber absolute, toasted Black Peppercorn essential oil and eNVie saphir absolute.

Bastet’s Amber Summer Dawn

Blue Orchid accord, Blueberry essence, NA Oudh, California Redwood essence, Oak essence and Bastet’s Amber absolute.

SUMMER COTTON CANDY 2022

Cotton Candy Cola Marshmallow Musk

Cola Root, Cola accord, Lemon Zest, Marshmallow Crème, Vanilla Bean essence, Bastet’s Musk absolute, Cotton Candy accord, Strawberry essence accord, French Vanilla Bean.

Cotton Candy Jasmine Marshmallow Musk

Egyptian Jasmine Sambac, Ghost Velvet Jasmine accord, Vanilla Bean essence, Cotton Candy accord, Jasmine petals, French Vanilla Bean infused Marshmallow Crème, Bastet’s Musk absolute.

Cotton Candy Mango Rice Milk Marshmallow Musk

Mango skin essence, Mango seed, Mango accord, Rice Milk accord, Marshmallow Crème, Mallow root, Crystalline Vanilla absolute, Vanilla Bean essence, Cotton Candy accord and Vanilla Crème.

SUMMER HONEY BEE COLLECTION 2022

Heather & Honeysuckle Honey Bee

Heather accord, Egyptian Honeysuckle, Nevada Honeysuckle, Wood Moss, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Whipped Orange Blossom Honey.

Strawberry & Rose Honey Bee

Strawberry essence accord, Strawberry Crème accord, Red Rose accord, Bulgarian Rose, Spanish Saffron, Tea Rose, Mallow Crème, Vanilla Bean whipped accord, Whipped Orange Blossom Honey.

Cardamom & Custard Honey Bee

Sri Lanka Cardamom, Vanilla Crème Brûlée accord, Sugared Vanilla Bean Fleck, Custard accord, Crystalline Vanilla absolute, Whipped Orange Blossom Honey, Whipped Crème, Caramel essence and French Vanilla. -please note due to natural perfume notes the blend is naturally creamy-opaque, do give a little shake in the bottle before application

BASTET'S PYRAMID CAFÉ

Pyramid Cake Caramel Carrot

Carrot Cake accord, Carrot Seed, Cinnamon/Clove/Nutmeg essence, Raisin accord, Caramel accord, Caramel Crème accord, Egyptian Sugar, Carrot juice accord, Coconut milk, Peach skin, Italian Orange zest, Maple Sugar accord, Vanilla Bean Cake accord, Crystalline Vanilla and Musk.

Pyramid Cake Raspberry Van

Raspberry Seed, Raspberry essence accord, Vanilla Bean Cordial, Crystalline Vanilla infused Raspberry Sugar, Bastet’s Ice Cream essence, Vanilla Cake accord and Lemon zest infused Cotton Candy accord.

Pyramid Cake Red Velvet

Cocoa Absolute, Cacao Absolute, Chocolate Cake accord, Chocolate Frosting, Bastet’s Amber absolute, Bastet’s Musk absolute, Toffee Almond accord, Coconut Shred, Tonka Bean, Santalum White and Vanilla Bean Musk.

SUMMER ICE CREAMS

Ice Cream & Summer Apricot

NA Summer Apricot accord, Apricot skin, Apricot seed, Vanilla Bean Absolute, eNVie parfum saphir (Egyptian Amber & Musk Resin, blue balsamic amber, sweet papyrus oil from Cairo and Siam benzoin) and Bastet’s Ice Cream (Vanilla Crystalline Cream, Butter accord, Caramel Accord, French Vanilla Bean Absolute, Vanilla Milk accord, Vanilla Orchid, Crystalline Absolute and Vanilla Sugar).

Ice Cream & Summer Lavender

NA Summer Lavender accord, French Lavender, English Lavender, Crystalline Vanilla Absolute, eNVie parfum saphir and Bastet’s Ice Cream.

Ice Cream & Summer Gardenia & Coconut

NA Summer Gardenia accord, Hyacinth accord, Narcissus, Coconut Pulp, Toasted Coconut, Coconut Milk, Buttercream, Heliotrope, Vanilla, Lime zest, eNVie parfum saphir and Bastet’s Ice Cream.

Ice Cream & Summer Peach

NA Summer Peach accord, Peach skin, Ripe Peach accord, Tonka, Crystalline Vanilla Absolute, eNVie parfum saphir and Bastet’s Ice Cream.

Ice Cream & Summer Rose

Bastet’s Ice Cream, Egyptian Rosewater, Romanian Rosewater, Summer Bulgarian Rose, Saffron, Agarwood essence, Vanilla Sugar, Vanilla Musk and eNVie parfum saphir.

RLCS 22-23: Europe

Regional #3	Day	UTC
Rounds 1 & 2	Fri	15:00	Today
Playoffs - Top 8	Sat	15:00
Playoffs - Top 4	Sun	15:00
RLCS 2022-23 Guide

Coverage

Official Bracket
Liquipedia / / ShiftRLE.gg

Streams

Platforms	Link
Twitch	RocketLeague
YouTube	Rocket League Esports
Twitch	Team Broadcasts

The main channel will show a featured match from each round, while the participating teams may be running a stream for their own matches. Below is a List of Team Broadcasts:

Team BDS	FUFAXDOP	G1	Hogan Mode
Karmine Corp	Team Liquid	Luna Galaxy	Moist Esports
Monaco Esports	Oxygen Esports	PSG TUNDRA	Solary
suhhh	Team Vitality	Williams Resolve	Guild Esports

Results

Elimination		Liquipedia Bracket
▼ Upper Round 1		(Bo5)
Karmine Corp	15:00 UTC	Solary
PSG TUNDRA	15:00 UTC	Guild Esports
Team BDS	15:00 UTC	Williams Resolve
Oxygen Esports	15:00 UTC	Luna Galaxy
Team Vitality	15:00 UTC	Monaco Esports
G1	15:00 UTC	suhhh
Team Liquid	15:00 UTC	FUFAXDOP
Moist Esports	15:00 UTC	Hogan Mode
▼ Upper Quarterfinals		(Bo5)
TBD	15:45 UTC	TBD
TBD	15:45 UTC	TBD
TBD	15:45 UTC	TBD
TBD	15:45 UTC	TBD
▼ Lower Round 1		(Bo5)
TBD	16:30 UTC	TBD
TBD	16:30 UTC	TBD
TBD	16:30 UTC	TBD
TBD	16:30 UTC	TBD
▼ Lower Round 2		(Bo5)
TBD	17:15 UTC	TBD
TBD	17:15 UTC	TBD
TBD	17:15 UTC	TBD
TBD	17:15 UTC	TBD

​

Everything in my inventory is up for trade. The most valuable items are listed here, the rest you can find in My Inventory

Feel free to Add Me or even better send a Trade Offer. Open for any suggestions: upgrades, downgrades / knives, gloves, skins / stickers, patterns, floats.

All Buyouts are listed in cash value.

KNIVES

★ Butterfly Knife Freehand FN #1, B/O: $2500

★ Butterfly Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $822

★ Butterfly Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $616

⎯

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW #1, B/O: $1300

★ Bayonet Autotronic FN, B/O: $1050

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW, B/O: $629

★ Bayonet Bright Water FT, B/O: $326

★ Bayonet Safari Mesh BS, B/O: $233

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★ Karambit Lore FT, B/O: $1110

★ Karambit Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $840

★ Karambit Freehand MW, B/O: $784

★ Karambit Bright Water MW, B/O: $759

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★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $751

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★ Nomad Knife Fade FN, B/O: $1156

★ Nomad Knife Slaughter MW, B/O: $544

★ Nomad Knife Blue Steel WW, B/O: $318

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★ Flip Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $646

★ Flip Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $574

★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) MW, B/O: $552

★ Flip Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $257

★ Flip Knife Freehand FT, B/O: $255

★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $287

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★ Huntsman Knife Lore FN, B/O: $461

★ Huntsman Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $436

★ Huntsman Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $353

★ Huntsman Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $212

★ Huntsman Knife Bright Water FT, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT MW, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT BS, B/O: $123

★ StatTrak™ Huntsman Knife Rust Coat BS, B/O: $127

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★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $375

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $363

★ Bowie Knife Tiger Tooth FN, B/O: $269

★ Bowie Knife Crimson Web WW, B/O: $192

★ Bowie Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $159

★ Bowie Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $126

⎯

★ Stiletto Knife Slaughter FN, B/O: $616

★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web FT, B/O: $412

★ StatTrak™ Stiletto Knife Night Stripe FT, B/O: $227

⎯

★ Falchion Knife Lore FT, B/O: $214

★ Falchion Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $192

★ Falchion Knife Scorched WW, B/O: $105

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★ Survival Knife Crimson Web BS, B/O: $216

★ Survival Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $198

★ Survival Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $111

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★ Shadow Daggers Fade FN, B/O: $368

★ Shadow Daggers Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $228

★ Shadow Daggers, B/O: $201

★ Shadow Daggers Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $108

★ Shadow Daggers Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $105

★ Shadow Daggers Black Laminate FT, B/O: $99

★ Shadow Daggers Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $85

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★ Gut Knife Doppler (Sapphire) MW #1, B/O: $1700

★ Gut Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $223

★ Gut Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $203

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $191

★ Gut Knife Case Hardened BS, B/O: $127

⎯

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife, B/O: $138

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $111

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★ Classic Knife Urban Masked FT, B/O: $146

★ StatTrak™ Classic Knife Stained BS, B/O: $168

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★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $476

★ Ursus Knife, B/O: $375

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★ Skeleton Knife, B/O: $1137

★ Talon Knife, B/O: $608

★ Paracord Knife, B/O: $305

★ Survival Knife Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $97

GLOVES

★ Moto Gloves Transport MW, B/O: $204

★ Moto Gloves Polygon BS, B/O: $142

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

⎯

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono WW, B/O: $1215

★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike FT, B/O: $672

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander FT, B/O: $305

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander BS, B/O: $140

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web BS, B/O: $137

★ Specialist Gloves Buckshot FT, B/O: $75

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★ Driver Gloves Crimson Weave FT, B/O: $359

★ Driver Gloves Imperial Plaid BS, B/O: $229

★ Driver Gloves Overtake BS, B/O: $77

★ Driver Gloves Racing Green FT, B/O: $48

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★ Sport Gloves Omega FT, B/O: $739

★ Sport Gloves Amphibious BS #2, B/O: $733

★ Sport Gloves Arid BS, B/O: $292

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★ Hand Wraps Giraffe MW, B/O: $212

★ Hand Wraps Leather FT, B/O: $160

★ Hand Wraps Desert Shamagh MW, B/O: $101

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★ Broken Fang Gloves Yellow-banded MW, B/O: $185

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point FT, B/O: $67

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point WW, B/O: $59

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★ Hydra Gloves Case Hardened BS, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald FT, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald BS, B/O: $62

WEAPONS

AK-47 Case Hardened BS, B/O: $130

AK-47 Bloodsport MW, B/O: $79

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Bloodsport FT, B/O: $70

AK-47 Neon Rider MW, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AK-47 Aquamarine Revenge FT, B/O: $72

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AWP Fade FN, B/O: $1039

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Wildfire MW, B/O: $95

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP Duality FN, B/O: $81

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Chromatic Aberration FN, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Electric Hive FT, B/O: $55

⎯

Desert Eagle Blaze FN, B/O: $623

Desert Eagle Emerald Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $241

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Printstream FT, B/O: $54

⎯

M4A1-S Blue Phosphor FN, B/O: $434

StatTrak™ M4A1-S Bright Water MW, B/O: $55

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M4A4 Poseidon FN, B/O: $1465

M4A4 Asiimov BS, B/O: $55

M4A4 Hellfire MW, B/O: $50

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USP-S Kill Confirmed MW, B/O: $72

USP-S Printstream FT, B/O: $69

StatTrak™ USP-S Kill Confirmed FT, B/O: $139

⎯

AUG Flame Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $234

P90 Run and Hide FT, B/O: $147

Five-SeveN Candy Apple FN, B/O: $61

Trade Offer Link - Steam Profile Link - My Inventory

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There has been a lot of talk recently about the lack of SP depth at AAA so I thought it would be a good time to dig deeper then that and highlight some names in AA (and lower) that might not be as far away as some would think. The AA rotation deserves a bit of a spotlight with the performances of some of the pitchers there.
There has been a lot of criticism of the organization drafting and developing of pitching prospects (much being very fair) but we really might now be seeing some of the results coming through.
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I have excluded a few guys who are years away from making a real impact who are below AA but I will make some notes on them. Brandon Barriera (#2 Prospect) in A-Ball is looking very good and is being brought along slowly after his injury so has pitched just 13.1 IP. Dahian Santos (#12 Prospect) in A-Ball might be the biggest sleeper pitcher in the organization. His fastball-slider combination is electric but is extremely raw overall as a pitcher. He is learning a changeup and is gaining muscle fast in order to take the next step in the organization. CJ Van Eyk (N/R Prospect) still has the raw tools to be a good pitcher but has pitched just 7.0 IP over the last two seasons and is on the IL again.
Adam Macko, Yosver Zulueta, Hayden Juenger & Hagen Danner are honesty still very talented pitchers but all seem destined to be relief pitchers at this point in their development. This post focuses more on pitchers who have good odds of remaining as SP. Don't sleep on these guys though, they all have electric bullpen arms and might see some of them in our bullpen come next season.
In terms of the 2022 draft it is of course much too early but there are some really interesting names and notes: Ryan Jennings (Round 4) who can throw 99 mph as a reliever and that seemed like his career path BUT has had surprisingly good results as an SP at the moment in A-Ball. Insane fastball-slider combo but needs a third pitch. Mason Fluharty (Round 5) has been tearing through the minors and is already in AA as a reliever. Unique but effective cutter-slider combo. Rocking a sweet 1.25 ERA & 0.83 WHIP this season. T.J. Brock (Round 6) dominated A+ in 20 IP to a tune of 1.77 ERA and is already in AA. Electric fastball-slider combo. Devereaux Harrison (9th Round) is an SP turned RP turned SP again in A+ with a 2.63 ERA. He struggled with his control as an RP but it has vastly improved as a starter.
Ian Churchill (Round 10), Pat Gallagher (Round 11), Nolan Perry (Round 12), Bo Bonds (Round 13) & Ryan Chasse (Round 17) are the others pitchers from the draft class but they are just getting things started but all look fine-to-good in small sample sizes in Rookie or Low A. The early returns on this draft class are really positive and probably deserve a spotlight post on its own.
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New Hampshire Fisher Cats Rotation:
Ricky Tiedemann (Age 20):

• 91st Overall in 2021 Draft // 1st Ranked Prospect
• 4.97 ERA / 1.62 FIP / 2.18 xFIP
• 16.34 K/9 - 4.97 BB/9 - 0.00 H9
• 1.26 WHIP & 0.205 OBA

We have all read dozens upon dozens of articles on this guy. There really isn't too much to say on Ricky. He has missed most of the season due to injury. He really is as good as advertised though with top of the rotation potential. His injury likely pushes he debut back until mid-way next year at best. He still needs to refine his control and get a little deeper into game. Be excited though, I do think his injury has killed a lot of the excitement people had in following the AA team which does still have an excellent staff...
Adam Kloffenstein (Age 22):

• 88th Overall in 2019 Draft // N/R Prospect // Peaked @ #8 in 2018
• Nickname = King Kloff
• 3.12 ERA / 3.61 FIP / 3.37 xFIP
• 11.08 SO/9 - 3.81 BB/9 - 0.87 H9
• 1.29 WHIP & .231 OBA

Probably the biggest story from the Blue Jays minor leagues this year. A prospect who was once deemed a steal at his draft position who quickly become one of the better valued prospects in our system to falling off the map in 3 years and likely on his last chance to be a starter has become one of the most stable pitchers in the entire organization. A former power pitcher came into the year losing some mph on his velocity in order to get some proper control and it has paid off for him.
He leads the entire Eastern League in strikeouts & is second in innings pitched behind only a pitcher turning 27 this year. This season he has gone 5.0 IP+ in 8 straight starts now of which half have been a QS. He has allowed 0 ER or 1 ER in 7-of-10 starts. The Blue Jays in recent years have struggled developing pitchers who can pitch deep into games; coming into this season 6 of the 10 pitchers on the Blue Jays Top 30 list are very likely or already on their way to becoming RP; Zulueta, Macko, Juenger, Danner, Hernandez & Carter.
His strikeouts are up, his walks are down, his HR allowed are down, his BABIP is reasonable and his FIP is in range of ERA. He ranks near the top of the league in most statistics and only turns 23 later this year. He has been very consistent on top of everything. This is looking like a real breakthrough rather than a fluke.
The concern with him moving forward include avoiding losing much more velocity or he needs even more improved location to compensate as well trying to develop a third above average pitch as he currently heavily sticks with his effective two pitch combo. The Blue Jays will likely keep him in AA so he can continue to build confidence after 3 years of struggles but a run in AAA and becoming Major League starter depth next season is very much in play if he keeps it up.
He will very likely be added to the 40-Man this off-season with the team lacking SP depth there.
Paxton Schultz (Age 25):

• 433rd Overall in 2019 Draft // N/R Prospect // Never Ranked
• 3.30 ERA / 3.07 FIP / 3.75 xFIP
• 10.49 K/9 - 3.69 BB/9 - 0.58 H9
• 1.32 WHIP & .236 OBA

As I was writing this Schultz actually had his AAA debut; pitching 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB & 6 SO in an excellent debut.
Schultz was not actually a Blue Jays draft pick...he was acquired from MIL as a PTBNL for Blue Jays legend Derek Fisher. May have won the trade all these years later. He has always been considered a "low-ceiling" prospect and always put together solid but unspectacular seasons which meant he never really caught the eye of scouts. This year he kind of has put everything together and went from career minor league player to someone who could be that 6th to 8th starter depth we have been really needing in the minors. He doesn't have overpowering stuff by any means but he is really smart and does not allow very much hard contact.
His numbers have been great across the board. Career bests in pretty much everything and has improved in his consistency from years past. He has allowed less than 2 ER in 8-of-10 AA starts. He has actually been a tad unlucky this season as well rocking a BABIP higher than his used to. He also tends to avoid very much disaster starters; in his career of 55 starts he has allowed 5 runs just 3 times (never more) and over the last 2 years has pitched under 4 innings just 3 times. Pretty much an ideal from a #5/#6 starter.
All this has earned him a promotion to AAA now where if he keeps up the same level of consistency he very likely works his way into becoming the teams 6th starter and likely finds himself on the 40-Man roster. If an injury occurs to the rotation Schultz might be the guy to fill in.
Sem Robberse (Age 21):

• International Free Agent in 2019 // 6th Ranked Prospect // Peaked at 6th in 2022
• Nickname: The Pitching Dutchman
• 4.73 ERA / 4.96 FIP / 4.00 xFIP
• 9.45 K/9 - 3.38 BB/9 - 1.69 H9
• 1.18 WHIP & .217 OBA

Don't let the ERA fool you, he has had a much better season than that would suggest. At quick glance his WHIP and OBA are some of the best in the league. Most of the damage coming from an increase in HR allowed this season which is something he is trying to work on. Otherwise his numbers are on par with or better than they have before.
He is considered by many to be the smartest pitcher in the organization. He spent most of COVID studying pitching sequencing and strategies needed for a pitcher. Dude has zero ego to his game and embraces being taught which makes him loved in the organization. Robberse is one of the prospects that we will see play for the Blue Jays one day, whether it will be as a mid-rotation pitcher or as the odd spot stater remains to be see. Probably the "safest" starting prospect in the organization.
He has 5 pitches with his slider and curve be his good ones and throws some decent heat at 92 mph+ but one of his goals is too increase that. He was at 185 lbs last season and is aiming to get over 200 in hopes of increasing his velocity as well as help with his durability although he is already a rather good innings eater being behind Koff.
His major concern is when he does lose control he starts getting hit very hard...which doesn't happen all too often but something he is trying to cut back on. There is a legit claim for him to be the organizations #2 pitching prospect.
Chad Dallas (Age 22):

• 121st Overall in 2021 // N/R Prospect // Peaked at 28th in 2022
• Nickname: Cheese
• A+: 2.03 ERA / 3.09 FIP / 3.71 xFIP w/ 0.94 WHIP & .146 OBA (12.49 SO/9 - 4.05 BB/9 - 0.3 H9)
• AA: 2.42 ERA / 3.76 FIP / 4.52 xFIP w/ 0.85 WHIP & .128 OBA (8.06 SO/9 - 3.63 BB/9 - 0.40 H9)

This is the dude to be excited about and his seemly quick and easy transition into AA which is considered to be the hardest jump for a pitcher in the minors is only more reasons to be excited. In his 5 A+ starts he allowed just 6 ER in 26.2 IP...4 of those 6 came in a single bad start 4.2 IP...he dominated with easy in his other 4 starts which earned him the quick promotion. He loves to just pound the zone and go after hitters.
It is easy to see where his success comes from. Having 4 pitches all very decent including a nasty, nasty slider...a very good curveball, a fastball that touches 95 mph and a changeup he is working on heavily. His control is what really hurt him last year but he has for the most part vastly improved in the matter.
His AA debuts was one of the best I have seen: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB & 9 SO. Since then he had three more starts; one where he lost his command in struggled and another 2 dominating outings where he has allowed 1 total ER in 11.0 IP. There was a lot of "bullpen" risk when he was drafted but he put a lot of that to rest with having no trouble hitting 5-7 IP constantly this season. In his 9 starts he has gone 5.0 IP in 7 of them with the other two falling short (4.1 / 4.2 ) due to struggles not stamina.
He does struggle against LHP hitters and it is something to monitor. His two big outlier blunder starts this season were with lineups that were lefty heavy. Which is the main reason for him wanting to improve his changeup. His cutter and curveball are killer against RHH but don't have the same effect on LHH.
If he does not rocket up prospect boards this season then I have no idea what scouts are looking for anymore.
Trenton Wallace (Age 24):
He hasn't pitched in AA yet but was the one who got the call-up to replace Shultz. He is on the older side but was just drafted in 2021. Has caught the attention of scouts with his performance in A+ but AA will be the big test for him. Cruised through A+ with a 1.79 ERA / 3.20 FIP / 4.18 xFIP with an elite WHIP of 0.82 and 0.155 OBA. There is a good chance we are talking about him a long with the rest of the successful AA pitchers in month time.. A mid- 90's fastball and mesmerizing slider is what gets the job done for him. 5 of his 8 starts he allowed exactly 0 ER including an outing where he thew 5 perfect innings.
He is looking like a massive steal being drafted in the 11th round of the 2021 draft.
The other name in AA are Jimmy Robbins (Age 25); he was very solid last season in between A+/AA but was a tad over-age and now in his full season in AA has lost the strike-zone and is averaging 6.65 BB/9 which has lead to a ERA of 5.40. Even with his success last season; never really caught the eyes of scouts and wasn't protected in the Rule 5 draft even though some fans argued he should. Seems to have been the right call.
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Tiedemann - Kloffenstein - Robberse - Dallas (+Wallace) might be the best rotation we have had in a single level of the minors in a very long time. All are no older than 22 as well so even with some bumps in the road they have time on their hands. All 4 are going to be very exciting to monitor. Paxton Schultz is also worth watching as he might have leap frogged his way right into the 6th SP role with other options in AAA falling apart or being converted to relievers.
Our upper minors pitching depth has been a big concern to fans but they depth coming from AA and below might soon change that.
Who wouldn't want a future rotation of King Kloff, The Pitching Dutchman, Cheese & Ricky Titty?!?

I'd like to start by letting everyone know that the genre is Fantasy Epic, and that this is a long prologue at 6,414 words. This prologue serves a purpose as it takes care of a lot of my setting and plot setup. It also gives the reader a fair bit of worldbuilding without making it too much of an info dump (talking to you Robert Jordan ;P).
I've had several people beta read this for me and gotten a lot of positive feedback. The prolbem for me is that these were all people I know very well on a personal level. Several have made comparisons to Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings as far as how well the full book is written. The problem is, friends and family can often have a bias and make things seem better than they really are. So, now I want to do a test run in the real world and see what people who don't know me think. Is it as engaging and compelling as they have made me hope that it is?
I'm basically wanting to take a page from a couple authors I admire and follow the ABC rule for critiquing. Please let me know of any point where you thought it was Awesome, Boring or Confusing. I know prologues aren't everyone's favorite thing, but this has basically been written like a novella for the main story as it foreshadows a lot of things leading all the way into book four.
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PROLOGUE
ARCHIVE INFINITUM
October 14, 844 (Alt-Future)
"Welcome back to the Archive, Master Jonathan."
"Thank you, Charles. It's good to be back. Have you noticed anything interesting in the Physical Realm?"
"I have not, sir. Do you require any assistance today?"
"Thank you, but no. I'm only here to revisit a passage within the history of the Order. Shortly after, I'll depart for the reunion at the Tower."
"Excellent, sir. I'll leave you to it."
Jonathan emerged from the ether and walked through the Archive doors. Inhaling deeply, he breathed in the familiar scents of dusty cleanliness that can only truly be found in a place of learning. The lights reflected off the floor's white marble surface, casting a glow that evenly lit every corner of the large chamber. Even so, the room still felt cavernous to him, as if he were a galleon amidst the vastness of the ocean.
Jonathan appeared to be in his early to mid forties. Though, with the way he carried himself and the spring in his step, he seemed closer to his late twenties. His hair was shoulder length and dark gray. He wore bifocals though he hadn't needed them since his ascension, and dressed with a refined sense of style.
His gray eyes were by far his most interesting feature, though. They were the only hint of how old he truly was and the many adventures and travesties he'd witnessed. Regardless, how old he was didn't matter as age had long since lost its meaning for him. After all, being an immortal tended to give a man new priorities in life.
As he strolled across the room, a lift descended from the tower's heights. The square platform had waist high rails around its perimeter. It floated through the air showing no sign of a suspension system to raise or lower it. This was accomplished by a magical enchantment that allowed it to levitate and dart about the room at mind numbing speeds. As he stepped up onto the platform's dais, it landed on the floor in front of him. He took a position at its center, then, after folding his arms behind his back, mentally willed it to take him to floor eight hundred forty four.
It rose off the ground, gradually gaining speed until it was a hundred or so feet in the air. At that point, the platform took off like a rocket. The thought of what these speeds would do to him if this were outside the Realm of Intellect crossed his mind, making him chuckle nervously. He knew he had to be moving close to six hundred miles per hour.
Now, let me tell you a bit about Jonathan's pet project, The Archive Infinitum. The Archive is a magical structure he'd designed shortly after the cataclysm that nearly wiped out the human race. An event most of you now refer to as the Night of Burning Skies. That same event is also what gave us the powers we now refer to as magic.
Shortly after obtaining his ascension, he learned that science's multiverse theories were close to how reality really worked. There are an infinite number of parallel universes, or branching timelines, that coexist simultaneously. What was different is that each universe shared a common six realm structure. The Physical Realm, the Realm of Intellect, the Dominion of Shadows, the Plane of Enlightenment, the Land of the Forgotten, and the Ether.
He built the Archive within the Realm of Intellect so it wouldn't be bound by the laws of physics or time as we know them. Once the structure was anchored in place, he could set most of those parameters himself. What he didn't realize was that making it here would have an unintended, though not unwelcome, side effect. The structure's size, shape, and architectural style could change by anyone who entered it.
When someone enters the Archive, it ascertains their strength of mind and will. Suppose the individual's mental fortitude is deemed stronger than that of the other occupants. In that case, the appearance will adjust to one that best serves and appeals to that individual. This could become unsettling for the occupants already inside the first few times it happened. That being said, it has no effect on the contents atop the shelves or where you're located within the structure. For Jonathan, it shared an uncanny resemblance to the George Peabody Library, though on a much grander scale.
The lift stopped after a brief ride, and Jonathan stepped off. He resumed his stride, passing row after row of the cherry wood bookcases. There were hundreds of rows and thousands of tomes and scrolls in each. As a scholar, he'd spent most of his existence here. But, even so, he knew there would always be something more to be gleaned from their pages.
Today was a day of remembrance. Of celebration. Of mourning. It was the anniversary of the end of a war that had lasted ten thousand years. With the death of one individual, a light of hope was given to many. For others, it was a bittersweet victory that left a void in their hearts. He'd come here today to revisit a passage that would return him to that fateful day. Reliving the event which granted them this peace, and once again, paying his respects to a dear friend.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes. Here we go."
The plaque on the side of the bookcase read, Row DD, Column 15. Now that he'd found the right one, he began scanning the shelves. It wasn't long before his hand landed on the tome he sought.
"Here it is." He pulled it down from the shelf. "My word. Has it truly been fifteen hundred years since I glanced through these pages?"
Looking at the cover, he chuckled. The combined magic of the Archive and the Realm had created a thin layer of dust. Giving it the feeling of something ancient and lost to time. Raising it to his lips, he blew the dust away, causing the magic to dissipate as it fell to the floor. He pulled open the cover and rifled through the pages. The section he stopped at contained the account of Rexinon the Prophet's final words.
Summoning his divine magics, he channeled a spell into the tome. The words that once filled the passages began to fade away, leaving only the blank pages, which now bled a blueish gray smoke. The soft glow of the lights against the floor diminished as the smoke spread. As the darkness grew more substantial, luminescent spheres and arcs of brilliant blues and crimson could be seen dancing about its surface like lightning.
The ground trembled beneath his feet, and the smokey haze took on a more stormlike appearance. All around him, the air started to feel heavy, and the taste of dust and sea salt filled his mouth. A gentle rain began to fall, and the room's remaining lights winked out. If not for the increasing flashes of lightning, he would've been left in total darkness. But even this was not a comfort, as those flashes cast shadows against the storm's ever swirling walls. Many of which appeared to be dark things that should never be seen in the light.
The storm's intensity grew, bringing disorienting cracks of thunder and wind whipping around him. It assaulted his senses and seemed to have an almost vengeful purpose. That meant he had to constantly focus on the spell, bracing himself against the onslaught. If he failed, it would kill him without question.
Some of the shadows began to take on a physical form with details beyond what the walls could offer them. He watched as an hourglass tumbled end over end, circling him before it returned to the storm. A moment later, a blazing fireplace and mantle emerged but produced neither light nor heat. Finally, a door engraved with the crest of the Order appeared. These images were ones he'd expected to see for this particular passage, and so came as no surprise. However, when a fourth image appeared, he was caught off guard.
Although it was normal for three images to accompany this spell, an occasional fourth spoke of prophecy. He focused intently on this final image. It showed twelve people standing in a circle; one of them was coated in blood. Two others were bound by chains. One a man, the other a woman.
He looked closer at the man and realized it was Godric. His eyes opened wide as he tried to decipher the meaning behind the image. Only a few moments passed while he speculated, but it was a few moments too many. Disaster struck, and too late, he realized his mistake. He'd lost focus, and now the storm would surely take him.
Hurricane force winds and debris tore at his clothes, quickly turning them into rags. One powerful gust slammed into his side as if he'd been struck by a car, knocking him off his feet. The storm swelled with even greater ferocity. It threatened to consume him this time, and he wondered if it would finally cost him.
Rain and hail pelted his face and body, while dust and sand stung his eyes. As he wiped away the grit, a bolt of lightning struck before him, temporarily blinding him. He got to his hands and knees, gasping for breath as the storm continued to beat him relentlessly.
Steeling himself against the pain, he rose to his feet. As fast as he could manage, he began casting mental defenses and barriers to protect his mind from the horrific assault. He bellowed in defiance of the storm, "I will not let it end this way! I refuse!" One defense after another was laid upon his person, until finally, he succeeded. The winds died to a breeze as the rain became little more than a summer misting.
He heard the sound of a quill scratching against paper over the storm's remnants, and the air behind his back grew hot as a crackling fire joined the room's ambiance. The sickly sweet smell of incense filled his nostrils, reminding him of days spent in his master's study. Another fond memory.
The storm wall vanished as the tremors subsided, making the room visible through a misty haze. The light of the fireplace cast his shadow across the now rough cut gray stone floor. Half a dozen tapestries hung around the room, and a liquor cabinet stood at the room's far corner. The main entry door remained closed to his left, and the doorway to the study's balcony lay to his right. At the room's center sat Rexinon at his desk, writing furiously on a piece of parchment.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although he'd done this countless times, the journey into the pages of history was always filled with peril. But, blessedly, the most intense part of the spell was complete. And while he could now relax in that fact, that fourth image still concerned him.
He stood in the familiar square room, clothing restored to its original state. The evening's air flowed through the open windows, making the ambient temperature quite cozy. Crossing the room, he paused at the desk and listened as Rexinon started muttering. "What I wouldn't give for a typewriter, much less a computer. Would make this so much faster."
Jonathan couldn't help but crack a smile. "Oh, but how many times have I thought the same thing, old friend?" He remarked, though he knew Rexinon couldn't hear him.
He stepped up to the desk and leaned over it. Looking down at the paper Rexinon was writing on, he frowned. Like so many times before, it appeared as little more than black scribbles on a page. Those words had to be important, but there was no way to know.
This was one of the spell's critical weaknesses. The details within the vision were only as precise as what was written in the tome. Most of the books in the Archive were magically transcribed. The benefits of this were completed histories free of victor and writer biases. Although, it wasn't flawless.
Throughout history, there have been individuals or events that the spell couldn't see. The most well known examples of these blips in time were the United States presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945 and the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Michael Durham, from 2063 to 2065. All that is known about them was their lives before office and the accounts written by those around them. These gaps in history were generally the result of one of two things. In these two cases, a place or individual with a strong connection to the Dominion of Shadows.
Sighing, he pushed off the desk and crossed the room to the liquor cabinet. He opened the glass doors, pulling several bottles and a glass from the shelves. He made a drink consisting of three parts Red Adders Bite and one part Dry Amorian Blood Wine, then added a lime wedge to the rim of the glass. The others wouldn't arrive for another half hour, leaving him time to kill.
He walked around the room with his drink in hand and studied the various tapestries, several of which he'd been a part of. Each one depicted an accomplishment or tragedy facilitated by the Order. All save one, which showed a scene from the event that started it all.
The one to the left of the cabinet showed the Order's founding. In the background stood a grand tower of black and white marble. Its four sides were engraved with the Mark of Hellyrr, which glowed with a magical light. In front of it stood a man facing a gathered crowd, his arms swept wide in triumph. They looked up at him and the structure with reverence and awe.
He continued to move in a counterclockwise manner around the room. Above the main entry door hung another tapestry. One he was even depicted in. It showed the aftermath of a massacre. Six figures stood amidst the bodies of hundreds. The earth around them was scorched by flame, and the blood of the fallen had stained it red. The cloud covered sky glowed a deep crimson with gold outlines from the fires below. It had come to be known as the Cleansing of Elysian, in which the entirety of the planet's second continent had been annihilated to preserve the world.
"I wish it had never come to this. Why can't we all just get along? Instead of thriving in the prosperity of our two lands, they plotted and began planning to bring war to our own people. To rape, pillage, and enslave them. Even with all my vast knowledge and wisdom, I can't understand why they felt the need to dominate and control the world." He looked back up at the tapestry. "Even now, most of the land is still uninhabitable."
He turned around and looked at the tapestry above the balcony door. This one would appear out of place with the others to all but a few handfuls of people. Even for those who learned the truth behind it, it looked like little more than an artist's vision of what a beautiful landscape at sunset should look like. The sky is dotted with hundreds of stars as shades of red, orange, and yellow dance across the land's horizon. The artist's point of view appears to be looking down from a hillside. Down the hill's slope, you can see a pond teaming with wildlife along its edge. The remaining landscape is filled with miles of forest stretching toward the horizon.
For the few who survived this event and still remained, they knew it depicted the final moments of their world before all of humanity was nearly lost.
Jonathan fixated on this tapestry more than he had on the others. The longer he stared, the more distant his expression grew. Over time, his breathing quickened, and his grip on the glass slipped. It shattered as it hit the floor, causing the rug to stain from the liquid. The sound jerked him out of the trance like state, making him feel ill.
He could still recall the memory of that long ago day like it were yesterday. The thought of how close humanity had come to extinction made his legs weak, and he stumbled back against the wall behind him. He slid down the stones' cool surface and noticed his hands were now trembling. Through shuddering breaths, he uttered the words of a broken man. "So much death. So many lives were lost that day. So many. Oh, Sonia. Even after all this time, I still miss you."
The main entry door slammed open, crashing against the wall with a loud bang. Jonathan jerked as one of them collided mere inches from where he sat. The startling sound had been enough to pull him from his stupor, but it still took a moment for him to gather himself. A man in the doorway lowered his foot from where he'd obviously kicked the unlocked door in.
"Knock, knock, Rex. Seems you've done it now."
"Seth. I'll never understand the animosity you held for Rexinon," Jonathan said wearily as he got to his feet.
Seth stood just shy of five foot eight inches and had slick black hair that he kept combed back. He wore black jeans and a beige dress shirt with mother of pearl buttons, which had seen far too much polish in recent days. A malevolent grin displayed his perfect teeth and careless eyes. He strode into the room, dragging a chair behind him, and placed it on the rug by the fireplace.
"Was kicking the door in really necessary, Seth?"
A second man stepped into the room, obviously annoyed by the unnecessary use of force. He wore a navy blue business suit and towered over everyone else in the room, and that was saying something considering Jonathan was six foot. As he still held to the standards of a marine, he kept his hair high and tight and his face clean shaven. He stood at the rug's edge out of respect for the Order so as not to mar the embroidered Mark of Hellyrr. A respect Seth clearly lacked.
"Godric Gibbs. This day changed you. Hell, it changed all of us, but few as much as you," Jonathan said. He looked back at the door as the third and final man entered. "Assassin."
This man was of a height with Jonathan and wore all black from head to toe. His outfit looked like something out of a TV show. Almost like a cross between Gi Joe's Snake Eyes, and CW Arrow's League of Assassins. After ten thousand years, all they knew about him was his previous occupation as a contract killer. It wasn't long before they'd taken to calling him Assassin, as they had no other name to go by. Any time he was asked a question regarding his past, he either remained silent or dodged it outright. He took a position to Godric's left and, like Godric, took care of where he stood on the rug.
The three men stood in silence and watched as Rexinon continued to write. Godric and Assassin seemed content to wait until he addressed them. On the other hand, Seth seemed to grow more agitated as the minutes passed. Jonathan chuckled in spite of himself.
About twenty minutes later, Rexinon spoke, "Reverend Seth Jones, Colonel Godric Gibbs, and Assassin. To what do I owe the pleasure?" His tone plainly indicated that he already knew.
Seth spoke first. "Oh, cut the crap, Rex. You already know why we're here. This cult thing of yours has gone on long enough."
"Well, there's the pot calling the kettle black," Jonathan muttered sarcastically.
Godric rolled his eyes. Everyone in the room knew about Seth's past as a cult leader. They also knew his anger was more at being forced to wait in silence than anything to do with Rexinon or the Order.
"Calm yourself, Seth. There's no need for such hostilities." Godric looked at Rexinon apologetically. "I'm sorry to have to do this, old friend, but my hands are tied. Rexinon the Prophet, Headmaster of the Hellyrrian Order, you've been charged with conspiracy to overthrow the governments of Aurelia and seize control for the Order.
"As we speak, the leaders of the Hellyrrian Order are being gathered for execution. Furthermore, your towers and all their artifacts will be destroyed, and any remnants of the Order's existence is to be wiped from the face of history. As of 0813 this morning, you have been sentenced to death. How do you plead?"
Rexinon continued to write at an incredible rate. He knew why they'd come. He'd known this was coming for months. After all, his gift was the gift of prophecy. The evidence for the charges against him was both substantial and ethereal, depending on what light was shown on it.
Two centuries ago, the Order had tracked the activities of an unknown number of individuals who'd been subtly manipulating several of the Aurelian governing bodies. They'd spread like a poison, corrupting them and turning once prosperous kingdoms which knew few hardships, into lands where the people had to fight just to survive. The problem was that whoever that force had been, always seemed to be just one step ahead of them. Now, not only was it check, but checkmate. The Order had lost.
"I believe the Righteous Twelve to be ill advised. I believe you've been manipulated by the same corrupted governing body which we've spent so long trying to purify—." Seth grunted. "—But," he said at length, "I accept all charges against me, save one. Neither myself nor anyone else of the Order has ever sought to rule Aurelia, as the charges would imply. The Cleansing of Elysian should've been proof enough to show that to be true."
Rexinon penned the final words of his letter and placed the pen back in its stand. Pulling the top off a jar, he dusted the page with a thin layer of sand to soak up any excess ink. After dumping the sand back into another jar to be cleaned, he pushed away from his desk and stood to look at his guests for the first time. After nudging his stool back under, he addressed Godric directly.
"Will you join me on the balcony one last time?"
Godric nodded his head and gestured towards the balcony doorway. As they stepped outside, Jonathan followed.
Rexinon leaned against the railing and looked out over the city, his gaze fixed on the setting sun. Godric joined him and looked down to the tower's base, some five hundred feet below. Although he was not afraid of heights, it gave him respect for the sturdily mounted railing at the balcony's edge.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rexinon said. Godric looked at him, confused. "The way the world has turned out since that day? Ten thousand years of watching as civilization was rebuilt and destroyed time and time again by a senseless war. Watching them evolve into something more as they learned how to use these gifts we were given. In some ways, we're greater than we ever were. In other ways, we're inferior. If I have any regrets, it's that I couldn't do more to leave the people better prepared for this new age."
"Well spoken. If it's any consolation, I believe this is wrong. I even spoke out against the council for a different outcome. For my efforts, though, I was threatened with execution if I didn't cease my objections."
Rexinon's tone grew heated after hearing of the council's reaction. "You should know better than anyone why I fought so hard against them, then. I'm not against governance. I'm against corrupt governance. We had far too many corrupt politicians and warlords in our own time for me to ever want to allow it again."
Godric nodded his head. "Yes. The problem is you played too heavy a hand too quickly. Instead of accepting that they'd been beaten, they cheated by playing with an ace they had hidden up their collective sleeves."
Rexinon sighed, knowing his words were true. "Indeed. I've accepted my fate. I won't run. Won't even make it difficult for y'all. I have no need to. I would like to make one final request to ease your conscience, though."
Rexinon leaned toward Godric conspiratorially. As he did this, the world around them began to shimmer and distort. Almost like the motion blurring you'd see on a TV. Likewise, their conversation was masked by the sound of white noise and the sound of hushed incoherent whispers.
This was the second hurdle the scrying spells had to deal with. Individuals with divine magic could conceal their conversations or even the events they were a part of. Rexinon had concealed this conversation, and to this day, Godric has never spoken of what was said.
Jonathan returned to the study with a resigned sigh. There was nothing more he could learn from their conversation. Assassin stood in the same spot he'd been when he first entered the room and looked as if he hadn't so much as twitched. Seth, however, was rummaging through the desk's drawers. He'd tried to figure out what he was looking for in the past, but nothing seemed obvious.
The shards of glass from when he'd dropped his cup earlier had vanished, along with the stain on the rug from the liquor. As expected, the glass had returned to the cabinet, and the bottles had refilled to where they were before he'd arrived. This was yet another reminder that this was a magically induced vision of an event that had long since passed. It could be too easy to forget that this wasn't real and that if he spent too much time here, it would have consequences in the real world for him.
He knew they'd be out there a while. In previous visits, he'd occasionally spent this time combing through the room, similar to what Seth was doing. Having cataloged everything centuries ago, there was nothing left to do but wait. So, he walked around the desk and sat squarely within the Mark of Hellyrr embroidered on the rug. There, for the next hour or so, he would remain, arms folded, legs crossed, and eyes shut. Freeing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts and emotions. At least, that was the plan.
About forty minutes in, Seth started to grumble and complain, forcing Jonathan to give up on his meditation. "… I know he's one of the humblest among our kind, but lord, does he have to be so dull? I can't find anything interesting anywhere. Even his liquor cabinet is dull." Seth walked from behind the desk to the liquor cabinet, pulled a few bottles out at random, and read the labels aloud. "Red Adders Bite, Amorian Blood Wine. Christ, he's even got Athester's Sweet Malt. This crap might as well be water." He pulled another bottle down and said, "At least he's got the taste to have at least one bottle of Nordic Berserker."
"Some of us prefer the simpler things in life. You might find life more enjoyable when you aren't always looking for the rare and exotic," Assassin said with a disinterested, almost dismissive tone.
Seth clicked his tongue. "Hell, even this letter he was so focused on when we arrived makes no sense." Seth thrust the letter towards Assassin, who took it nonchalantly. "Look at this."
Jonathan studied Assassin intently, hoping for any sign that would reveal the letter's contents. It was no use, though; for all the emotion he showed, Jonathan would've thought it no more important than a grocery list. But, if that were the case, why obscure it from the eyes of the scrying spell? The frustration caused by such a simple sheet of paper was baffling.
Jonathan got to his feet as Rexinon and Godric returned. As Rexinon walked to stand at the center of the rug, Jonathan moved behind the desk. Godric walked toward Assassin and conversed with him for a few minutes. Once again, the sound of white noise shrouded what was said. This time, it was Godric who masked his words from the spell. When Assassin nodded, Godric moved beside him and faced Rexinon.
Rexinon looked at each tapestry and seemed to relive each as he did so. They all knew those accomplishments and tragedies would stand the test of time. Any efforts to change that would fall flat. The Order had played too significant a role in shaping this new world. Finally, he turned to Godric, kneeling as he met his regret filled eyes.
Assassin pulled an infamous rod from his side, dubbed the Executioner's Handle. Forged in the Dominion of Shadow by Assassin some three thousand years ago. It was one and a half feet long of shadow infused steel and bound with his own divine essence. Ominous black tendrils crawled along Assassin's hand like something alive and flowed into the handle. The shaft elongated, and an axe head formed at its end.
Though he had accepted his fate, seeing that axe form made Rexinon's heart stop momentarily. He looked at Godric questioningly. Godric knew what that look meant and nodded his head in assent. Agreeing to this had allowed them both to right several wrongs this night by asking one simple question. "Do you have any final words or requests?"
"I have two, if you'll grant them. The first, allow me to disband the Order formally as my final act as headmaster."
Seth started to protest, but Assassin lowered the axehead in his direction as a silent threat. Seth glared at Assassin with seething hatred. Godric nodded to Rexinon. "Proceed."
As the headmaster of the Hellyrrian Order, he had a mental connection with every member. Without hesitation, Rexinon's eyes began to glow with a brilliant purple hue. This would be Rexinon's final order, and Godric knew it would save thousands.
"My brothers and sisters, hear me now and heed my words. Abandon the Order and save yourselves. Flee to the hills and never look back to what we once were. With my dying breath, the Hellyrrian Order is no more. The governments of Aurelia have played a hand we can't stand against. Anyone who disregards this command will be hunted down and executed without mercy. To the leaders and guild masters of the Order, I charge you with dismantling everything relating to the Order and turning over every artifact and document you can to Godric the Just, Jonathan the Wise, or Assassin the Watcher. I also ask that you help calm those who feel outraged and betrayed by this night. Do not blame the Twelve, as they were little more than pawns in this corrupt game of politics. Farewell, my friends. My family. May the peace we have fought for be found in the coming days."
The glow faded, and he slumped forward onto his hands, his breathing labored. A few moments passed, and he managed to catch his breath but still looked towards the ground.
"The second request I have is that anyone who would heed that warning be spared. The ruling factions wanted me. As long as no one else causes trouble, we know they won't cause too much fuss over it."
His voice took on a much sharper edge as he looked back up. "You call us a cult, though you know we are nothing of the sort. On the contrary, our Order has stood for nearly five thousand years for the betterment of the entire world. How they treated you should tell you that what I said and what we were doing was justified."
"Shut your mouth, Rex!" Seth spat venomously.
Godric glared at Seth. His own anger with this situation was at the point of breaking free. "Be silent! I don't know what kind of grudge you have, but I, for one, don't give a damn what the council said. Rexinon doesn't deserve death for the crimes he's being accused of. Unfortunately, the ruling factions in almost every nation are corrupted and working towards being as corrupt as they were back in our day." Godric sighed. "Regrettably, my hands are tied, though. The law is the law, and I have been overruled on this matter. Regardless of what my conscience thinks, I will abide by the rules of the land."
Rexinon nodded, understanding Godric's situation perfectly. Godric had become the divine embodiment of law and justice at his ascension. While those two things work hand in hand, they are far from the same, and one must often walk a fine line to serve them both. In this case, the choices were clear. In the end, it didn't matter what he chose; he would inevitably betray one virtue or the other. Unfortunately, there was no good way for him to handle this, and Rexinon could see how this was affecting him.
"The majority of the Order will heed my warning. As for the leaders, if any are still alive, they will follow that command to the letter. They'll even aid you in handling any hotheads who resist," Rexinon said.
"The good news is that no one has yet been executed this evening. I'll personally see to it that those who abide by that order are given a chance to live long, productive lives within society. If all goes well, you will be the only casualty of this idiocy."
Rexinon gave the faintest sign of a smile with a halfhearted chuckle as he said, "Godric, one thing I'll not allow is any of the Order's work ending up in the hands of one of those tyrants. Therefore, I demand that Jonathan be given every document, scroll, and tome held within our strongholds for safekeeping." Rexinon felt exhausted. The spell to warn his Order took more out of him than anticipated.
"You're in no position to be making demands of us," Seth said. Godric finally snapped and struck him so hard that he slammed back into the wall beside the fireplace, cracking it. He got back to his feet a moment later, fixed his shirt, and looked down at the blood he'd wiped from his lip. Godric looked back at Rexinon.
"As you were saying."
"Assassin, I'd ask that you secure all our relics and artifacts, regardless of their magical significance. I don't need to tell you what all we have housed around Aurelia."
"No, you don't. The nukes of our time were nothing compared to some of those items," Assassin replied.
"We'll see to it that it's done. There are things within these walls that were never meant for untrained mortal hands," Godric added.
"Thank you."
"As for the texts, Jonathan will have a field day going through everything. There is far too much the council doesn't understand within these walls that we can't afford to lose."
"Godric was right, Rex. I still have everything. Much of which has been quite useful over the centuries,"
Godric turned his head away, no longer able to look Rexinon in the eye. "I no longer deserve the right to call you a friend, but is there anything else you would ask of me?"
Rexinon looked at Godric for a long time and couldn't help but smile. Not at his pain or suffering in following the orders given to him, but knowing that if anyone here had ever been a friend to him, Godric certainly was. With his final words, he left Godric with a warning.
"No, but I'll leave you with this. Be wary of those among you, for one will betray you all. My friend."
Godric nodded, accepting these as Rexinon's final words as a tear ran down his cheek. Rexinon lowered his head, and Assassin enveloped his axe's blade in a purple aura.
"Woah, Assassin, what's with the new color? Never seen that before," Seth asked.
Ignoring the question, Assassin swung the axe, severing Rexinon's head cleanly.
That night, the cries of the Order were heard in every city across Aurelia. All mourning the death of the Order's first, and last, headmaster.
Jonathan fought back tears of his own as he watched the axe's head vanish. Assassin secured the handle on his belt as he walked towards the desk. Godric looked as though he was going to be sick.
"Did you do as I asked?" Godric asked shakily.
"Of course. I may be a trained killer, but even I know this was bullshit, mate."
Seth walked over and picked up Rexinon's severed head by the hair. He held it up before him, a mischievous grin on his face. Then he whispered something into Rexinon's ear.
Assassin's eyes locked on Seth. As he let go of the head, he used one of his abilities, known as shadow step, to cross the distance to where Seth stood. Before Rexinon's head hit the ground, Assassin snatched it out of the air and punched Seth so hard that it sent him flying into the same section of the wall he'd hit earlier. He bounced off it, but the force of the impact sent several of the stones flying into the next room. Seth crumpled to the floor, where he lay unmoving for several seconds. After a while, his head snapped upright, and he began to laugh. He stood up as if nothing had happened and headed out the door. Godric, now seething with anger, watched as Assassin started to go after him. "Leave him. He's not worth your time."
Jonathan paced around the room, waiting for the spell to wear off. His heart ached, and his own anger toward Seth at that moment made him wish he could destroy the man. But that was Seth's way, and they'd all learned to let it go in time. The world began to blur and vanish, reverting to the Archive once again.
He closed the cover, placing the tome back on the shelf with a heavy sigh. His fingers lingered on the binding as he read the inscription, A Complete History of the Hellyrrian Order, Volume 666. Finally, Jonathan let his hand fall to the side as he walked away with his shoulders slumped.
As if speaking to an old friend, he lamented, "Damn you, Rex. Why couldn't you have just left well enough alone?"
As Jonathan walked away, he shed a tear at the loss of one of his closest friends.

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Chapter 32
As Mae had previewed, the weeks that passed since the incident in the Logistics Bay were fraught with speculation and feeding the rumor mill. Quin felt he couldn’t walk ten paces on Nemo before meeting some askance gaze of a crewmember or hearing the murmurings of a conversation that abruptly stopped when he would round a corner. Mae was right though that, after a while, the incident became old news and the ruckus died down a bit. Certainly, there was always an inappropriate joke to be had during dinner or dark looks from certain members of the crew, but as the time passed, people turned once again to daily happenings onboard, when the next stopover would take place, and the perennial favorite: who happened to be sleeping with whom.
This last item tended to occupy people to no end, and Quin felt a bit unfortunate that this news also pertained him. Mae and Liza’s breakup and the apparent spat that he and Pepper had ran through the corridors just as fast as the news about Nova. Quin was honestly unsure which conversation he dreaded being brought up more. It seemed that individuals he had never or barely even met knew more about his world than he himself was aware. It was during one of these conversations with two people from the Engineering section that Quin accidently lost it and stormed off, an act he regretted immediately for furthering the gossip chain.
“So is it true that you had to hold Mae back so she wouldn’t punch Liza?” the guy had asked.
”What? NO. What the hell?” Quin responded, flabbergasted.
“Well, I heard from someone in the officer’s corridor that there was yelling and someone got hit. Do you know who got punched?” The other person was practically on their toes with anticipation.
“NO ONE GOT PUNCHED!” Quin shouted, ready to leave the conversation as soon as possible.
“Jeez, why are you yelling?” as the first person, blind to Quin’s growing frustration.
“Don’t you know, Liza’s friend broke up with him the next day because of the fight?” The second person remarked to the first, now completely cutting Quin out of the conversation.
“WE WEREN’T EVEN DATING! WHAT THE HELL?!” Quin screamed, turned on his heels and stormed off to nowhere in particular.
Thankfully, this was probably the worst interaction he had had as a result of those unfortunate few days, aside from the actual conversations themselves that he experienced with Pepper and Nova themselves. He would have appreciated any interaction with either of them at all, if he was honest. The silent treatment from the both of them was practically unbearable. Mae’s words of encouragement, “Time, give it time,” only helped so much when he would pass by Pepper in the corridors or when he had to work directly with Nova during his long shifts in the lab. Nova had limited their conversations to something like a comment box, dropping in parcels of a conversation to the syslog, to be taken up at her leisure and delivered at inconvenient times in the middle of the night. But at the very least, Nova was responding, albeit specifically for work and solely related to their responsibilities together. Pepper, on the other hand, was completely mute. Painfully so, Quin noted as she passed by him going into the cafeteria and didn’t even afford him a glance.
The level of complete non-interaction with Pepper and the invasion into his life by everyone else was beginning to wear on him, and he felt more cut off from the rest of the crew than ever before. He had stopped visiting Bostwick’s chamber for fear of the look of pity that the Commander often wore when passing by him. At least Mae had somewhat of a ‘tough love’ approach to cheering him up. Bostwick’s uncompromising warmth and sympathetic looks made Quin feel guilty rather than comforted, and shameful rather than encouraged. In fact, in the two and a half weeks that passed since Nemo had left the Rhea stopover and Quin passed the night under the watch of the Commander, Quin had only exchanged glances with Bostwick.
Then there was the insomnia. At first, Quin felt nothing but lethargy as he felt the different components of his life crumble around him. The inability to communicate with Tess, the intolerable pity of Mae and Bostwick, the unbearable silence from Pepper and Nova, the frustration expressed by the command staff, and the whispers and side-eyes from the rest of the crew all contributed to the complete physical and mental shutdown he experienced after leaving Rhea. He would steal away to his chamber during break periods to nap, and he would skip meals in order to stay in his room, profiting from the odd bits of food Mae snuck out of the cafeteria. However, after several days of feeling an inability to motivate himself to be out of bed, he started to find that he would lie awake, staring at the ceiling, or glancing at the clock and fretting that it was already 4:00 in the morning.
It was on one of these early mornings that Quin saw the numbers 3:22 at the top of his tablet, and he felt as if it would be impossible for him to find any sleep that night. He had laid down in bed at 22:05 with every intention of forcing a good night’s sleep, but with five hours passing by and no respite coming, he sat up on the edge of his bed and rubbed his eyes a bit. He figured that the coffee station in the kitchen would probably have some hot water with which to make tea, and that could possibly help him. He threw his jumpsuit and boots on and strolled out of the room.
The ship was deserted and peaceful, the type of quiet that Quin relished. It was almost trance-inducing, the soft hum of the ship that Quin felt coming through the very walls themselves. He felt the sound reverberate through him and it was soothing. He set off toward the kitchen. The sleet grey walls of Nemo’s interior usually made for a serious backdrop, but at this hour, it had the effect of dimming the corridors and adding to the sleepy atmosphere of the ship. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and followed the sleek lines of the hallways with his eyes as he passed. He came upon the cafeteria doors and walked by them to skirt the main room. He was heading for the back area, the sparkling room with gleaming metal and white tile and a peaceful getaway. Upon swiping his arm against the pad, though, he found that the space was already occupied. A voice greeted him before he had an opportunity to look up.
“Hey Quin, can’t sleep? Is it another bad dream?” Bostwick was sitting on a stool with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand and his illuminated tablet resting on one of the food prep work tables. The man had a weary look around his eyes but Quin could still discern the warmth that emanated from the wrinkles near his temples and the large smile he wore. Quin froze, unsure whether to step into the room and submit himself to another round of pity or try to find some excuse for leaving and head back to his room. In his uncertainty, he ended up standing in the doorway, causing the automatic doors to try to swish shut but freezing and retracting, over and over again.
“Well? Are you just going to stand there, mouth agape, or are you going to come get something to drink like you had planned?” Bostwick said with an eyebrow raised, his mouth now reflecting a knowing smirk. Slowly, Quin trudged into the room, his hands clenched in his pockets as he tried to suppress the nerves that were boiling in his stomach. He gingerly walked over to the coffee station and put a tea bag in a cup and pressed the release valve to allow boiling water to fall over it. Then he set the cup down to steep. He kept his eyes fixed on the surface of the brewing tea, though he felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand as he guarded himself for Bostwick’s eventual conversation starter. But after a minute, it didn’t come. Quin stood there watching the deep brown tea diffuse throughout the water but did not hear a word come from Bostwick. Hesitantly, Quin looked around and saw Bostwick tapping on his tablet, seemingly composing a message.
Quin shuffled his feet a bit before clearing his throat lightly. Without even looking up, Bostwick said, “I’m able to read signs, Quin. If you don’t want to talk to me, I’m more than happy to oblige your intention to be left alone.”
Quin’s eyes shot up to look at Bostwick, who kept on typing as if he hadn’t spoken. Quin was left a bit taken aback. Oh hell, he thought, is it that obvious or can he read my mind? He shuffled again and then picked up his tea cup. Quick, say something, you idiot, his mind was screaming at him as he struggled to put together his words.
“Look, uh, Commander, I—“ Quin started, but was immediately cut off.
“Louis, but please continue,” Bostwick said, looking up at him and smiling.
Whatever momentum Quin had built up in trying to speak, he lost it with Bostwick’s interruption. He started to second-guess even his need to speak if Bostwick was going to be able to anticipate the conversation. His mentor apparently picked up on his nervousness, because he relieved Quin’s tension by taking up what was going through Quin’s head.
“Quin, listen, I understand that you feel like you want to be left alone,” Bostwick said, his tone soft and unassailing. “And I’m sensing that you feel a bit embarrassed about being vulnerable in front of me. That’s a totally normal human feeling. I hope you aren’t feeling, though, that I overstepped any boundaries by not waking you up immediately when you fell asleep in my room?”
“No, uh, Louis, it’s not that,” Quin said abashedly.
“Good, I’m glad. So if you are feeling ashamed about the way I show that I care about you, please just tell me, and we can talk about how I can change that.”
Again, Quin was at a loss for words. It’s not that I don’t want him to care about me, he thought, it’s that I want him to be mad. Why wasn’t he angry at all? That I could deal with. But he’s so kind that I feel like I want to scream. Quin lifted his eyes and finally met Bostwick’s own piercing gaze. Bostwick seemed to interpret the silence and took up the conversation again.
“Unless…perhaps you are feeling ashamed about your own reaction?” Bostwick posited. “Quin, it’s almost the twenty-third century, well actually, for everyone not aboard this ship, it already is. We are long past the cultural stereotype of men not being able to cry. I’d say that your expression of deep emotion is quite masculine, and I for one would—“
Quin interrupted him, “No, Louis, it’s not that either.”
Bostwick fell silent for a moment, then continued gently, “Okay, again, if you wouldn’t like to discuss it right now, you can simply have your tea and we can sip our respective beverages in silence. Though I will note that a 3am excursion raises all sorts of eyebrows that a lesser XO would rush to conclusions. Thankfully for you, I’m not a lesser XO.” He ended with a smirk, returning to his tablet with a very self-satisfied look on his face.
Quin let the silence fill the room again as he turned his cup in his hands, the warmth slowly radiating through his cold fingertips and seemingly giving him a bit of courage. After a moment, he slowly walked over to the work table and set his cup down. Again, without looking up, Bostwick pulled a stool out from underneath the table and pushed it toward Quin. Quin couldn’t help but smile a bit at Bostwick’s level of tact in assuming. He took the proffered stool and plopped himself down, elbows on the work table and eyes fixed on the tea cup. Hesitantly, he glanced at Bostwick, who was humming a tune and slowly shaking his head back and forth in rhythm as he completed his message and hit the send button.
Quin cleared his throat and made his attempt, “Commander, uh sorry, Louis, it’s not that I don’t appreciate everything. I really do. I just…I was just wishing you would be less…I don’t know…understanding? A little more mad?”
“I have no intention of being mad at you Quin. That would be counterproductive and a waste of energy. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Well, I um, what do you mean?” Quin shook his head as his eyes fell.
“I’d imagine that your self-imposed reclusion and the restrictions imposed by Captain Fuentes would be a sufficient punishment, and you are probably looking for a friendly face, especially after things with Ensign Jefferson, erm, Pepper, have recently soured. That would leave you with Mae to seek some company and I daresay that Lieutenant Rohlwing has her own mission responsibilities and personal tumult to deal with, no?”
Quin was staring with his mouth open at Bostwick, who yet again was wearing a rather pleased smirk on his face. How in the hell did he know all of that? Quin thought, unable to keep an astounded look off his face.
Bostwick chuckled, then seemingly replied to Quin’s thought, “You people think the command staff are a bunch of old farts out of touch with the inner workings of the social network among you youths, but I too hear things. I have my spies on board.”
Quin laughed, causing Bostwick to perk up a bit, “Oh alright,” he rejoiced, arms up in the air. “Ten points to Bostwick for making the moody one laugh.”
Quin laughed more heartily and took a sip of his tea. When he looked back up he saw Bostwick was staring at him with an encouraging look on his face, as if to say May I keep asking questions? Quin sipped his tea again and nodded softly, almost to himself as he continued to chuckle.
“So, I take it you and Ms. Jefferson have not spoken much since we set off from Rhea?” Bostwick asked, eyebrow raised.
“No, that would require her wanting to speak to me,” Quin said dryly.
“How do you know she doesn’t want to speak to you?” Bostwick asked.
“Well, she seems to avoid or ignore me, so I’m trying to take the hint,” Quin said, trying to be nonchalant in his tone.
“Do you still like her?” Bostwick continued.
“Yeah, a lot. I thought we were doing well, really well on Rhea, but I said some stupid things in defending Mae to her, and I know I need to apologize, but she basically called me a coward, she said I needed to ‘grow a spine.’” Quin quickly gave Bostwick the back and forth of what constituted Pepper and his last conversation.
“I don’t think you are a coward. You do have a tendency to take your relationships with everyone very seriously, which is for the most part endearing, but I can see how she would find that stubbornness a bit frustrating when she is trying to argue with it.”
“So now you are on her side?” Quin said sharply.
“I wouldn’t dare try to take her side, but you don’t need to bite my head off for trying to give you some advice. I can see it’s not welcome though,” Bostwick said flatly, falling silent.
“No…wait, I’m sorry,” Quin said, changing his tone immediately. “Please, Louis, help me. What should I do?”
“An honest apology to start, you would be surprised how far being honest and sincere gets you. People seem to forget that. Then I would try to start seeing Ms. Jefferson outside of your interactions with Mae and Liza. Give yourselves something to talk about other than your common friends. That way you don’t revert into difficult territory immediately.”
“Like what?” Quin asked. “Watch a movie with her or something?”
“That being your strong, go-to approach, sure you could start there,” Bostwick said. “As an extra hint, I hear that the kitchen has some late-night snacks stashed away back here, and if you know someone, you can get good movie food. You could even, you know, call it a date or something. Don’t be afraid to ask her to do something at the next stopover too. Again, call it a date. If she sees you taking her seriously like you do everything else, she’ll probably appreciate you being intentional about it. That’s my guess. Anyway, Cronus is supposed to be a little bit more of an open schedule, so you can be more creative.”
Bostwick was making all sorts of sense. His was the type of advice that Quin had been looking for all along. Quin found himself shaking his head, as he processed everything. Bostwick seemed to misinterpret it.
“What? You’re thinking a different approach?” he said, a bit surprised.
“NO! No, sorry, it’s just…I’ve been such an idiot. That’s really good advice, I’ve just been stupid not talking to you. I don’t know why,” Quin finished, again shaking his head.
“Because you are young, and you guys don’t like getting romantic advice from someone your parents’ age,” Bostwick said, smiling.
“You aren’t that old,” Quin said, “I know we joke about it, but you can’t be more than…”
Bostwick laughed. “Be careful how you finish that sentence, Mr. Hammond.”
“Well, anyway, you aren’t that old. You just…I don’t know, you have this way about you, it made me want to avoid you. I felt ashamed that you were being all sympathetic, and it made me blind to the fact that I really needed to talk to you. What I mean is, you are a good listener, and I forgot that when I was unable to think straight. I felt all of these things happening around me, and you were there when that stuff happened with Nova. I know you were just trying to be nice. I’m sorry I was such an ass.”
“Well, if you were looking for honest and sincere apologies, Quin, you just found yourself one,” Bostwick said, putting his hand on Quin’s shoulder. “Change it up a little to be specific for her, and I’m sure you will have a good result. Don’t forgot to take care of yourself when you are trying to fix everything else, you know? It’s not possible to be perfect, so don’t make yourself sick in trying to be.”
“Yeah, right,” Quin said softly. “I wish I could fix everything, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“That would be nice, but unfortunately, we aren’t computers, and life isn’t all math problems. Sometimes life just needs time and a bit of decent humanity.” The two of them were silent for a little while as Quin stewed in his thoughts. Despite the hour, he was wide awake and appreciative of his little night excursion. After the pause had continued much longer than Quin expected, he looked up and saw Bostwick studying him. The man opened his mouth and then hesitated, before beginning tenderly, “Speaking of, how are things going with Nova?”
Quin sighed a bit, collecting his thoughts. Then he decided it was for the best and recounted to Bostwick the last conversation that Nova and he had face to face. The two of them had really not spoken since that evening some weeks ago. As Quin was narrating the story to Bostwick, the Commander was slightly chuckling and shaking his head. Astounded, Quin finished his story and confronted Bostwick.
“What’s so funny?” he demanded. “You’ve been laughing the entire time.”
“She’s quite brilliant, you know,” Bostwick said, scratching his forehead, eyes wide. “She presents these neat little ethical quandaries as if they were nothing and yet, scientists and philosophers have been asking the same types of questions about artificial intelligence for maybe two hundred years. It’s only now that we have got a being that is the walking and talking example of that.”
“Yeah, well, she’s another one that’s not talking to me,” Quin said.
“Well, Quin, I’m afraid I must give you the same advice. You should apologize. In her view, and I think objectively, you were somewhat of, if I may borrow your words, ‘an ass.’”
“This time I think you are definitely taking her side,” Quin said, sourly.
“Indeed. You created her. She takes her direction from you. You are kind of like her father, her brother, her friend, and her crewmate all rolled into one. The obligations of any one of those roles would be enough to say you needed to be there for her, and unfortunately you found yourself too busy being in your own head. Perhaps this is the root of your problem with both Ms. Jefferson and Nova. You are so busy letting everything weigh on you, being worried all the time, that you are unable to focus externally and be present for other people.” Quin’s eyes were downcast, his shoulders slumped. Well, if this is his form of a closing pick-me-up, I don’t think it’s working, Quin thought, sighing deeply.
“Fortunately,” Bostwick continued suddenly, “I think the solution is relatively simple and similar. You need to apologize to Nova, sincerely this time, and you need to spend some time with her, outside of work, so that you can normalize being around her. If your point was that you sometimes forget that she is only part human, then you need to do more human things with her in order to sensitize yourself to how she acts. She shouldn’t have to change for you, it should be the other way around. She can’t just be a mantelpiece in your career, Quin. She thinks.”
Quin sighed aloud, saying, “Yet again, another piece of sound advice from the ever-so-sage Commander Bostwick. And yet again, the solution is that I was wrong.”
Bostwick laughed. “Well, welcome to being an adult, my friend. Everything is complicated and you are usually wrong.” He patted Quin on the back. “Sarcasm aside, it’s okay to be wrong, just own up to it.”
Quin nodded slightly, acknowledging Bostwick’s counsel. The room was silent for a bit longer. The Commander downed his cup of coffee and looked into it, as if inspecting the bottom.
“You know what,” he said, looking up. “I think I’m going to have some tea too, but I’ve been keen to try some of the apple honey they brought me, you want some?” Quin nodded slowly, lost in his thought. Honey, he said to himself, honey, something about…honey.
“Can you believe they make all of this on Rhea?” Bostwick said over his shoulder. “I honestly can’t understand how their entire ecosystem, let alone their economy, operates off apples. It’s nuts.” Bostwick chuckled to himself. “Sorry for the pun.” Apples and honey, Quin’s brain was churning, but at this hour it was too fuzzy. …and honey.
He set two new cups down in front of them, still steaming and with the tea infusers bobbing around on the surface. He pulled a jar down from one of the kitchen cabinets and ladled a small bit of honey into each cup. After stirring a bit, Bostwick took a sip and smacked his lips, grinning satisfactorily at Quin.
“Oh my, that’s so good,” Bostwick said, relishing the taste as he took another draw. “You should drink it while it’s hot.”
Quin brought the cup to his lips mechanically, though he could have sworn that he was missing something. He felt himself distracted by Louis enjoying his cup of tea, the early hour, and the lack of a good night’s sleep for several days. I could have sworn that I just remembered something, he thought, growing frustrated at the lack of ability of his brain to recall what it was that was escaping him. Resigning himself, he took a long swig, his eyes closing automatically when the taste of the sweet and sour apple-tinged honey hit his lips. Instantly, he was transported back onto Rhea, where he savored several fleeting moments of being away and being happy. Unfortunately, his happiness was suddenly ripped away from the call from Nemo. What I wouldn’t give to be back there to have some more time with Pepper and Mae, he thought while recollecting the honey tasting in the orchard. He remembered the smile on Pepper’s face, how infectious it was, and Mae’s giggling at him.
“Hmm,” Bostwick said into the silence, “it’s just about time that the command deck wakes up. Some of the buzzing should start soon.”
“Buzzing?” Quin asked distantly, almost half-consciously.
“Sorry, yeah, buzzing. Message traffic. Unfortunately, a lot of the lingo revolves around bees.”
“Bees?” Quin asked, his brain slowly coming to.
“Yeah, bees,” Bostwick said, studying Quin curiously. “You know, Captain Fuentes being the Queen, the Deck being the hive, that sort of thing.”
“Bees!” Quin exclaimed.
“What?” Bostwick demanded, flabbergasted.
“Louis! BEES!” Quin shouted, shooting off his stool and slamming his cup down.
“Quin, I don’t-“ Bostwick began, but Quin wasn’t listening. The young man half-sprinted out of the room.
“BEES!” Quin shouted again, his face mixed with a smile and intense concentration.
“Okay, Mr. Cage,” Bostwick said, chuckling and shaking his head, his eyes and mouth reflecting a knowing smile as he watched Quin run out of the room.

I regret moving schools, self harm played a major part in this.
I’m in year 10 and I had to leave my first school since I was bullied after getting into a fight that started out of nowhere. I was punched 8-12 times in the head. Afterwards I stabbed my hand with scissors and had to go to hospital which a lot of people made fun of me on and blamed me.
Before this all happened, I was usually playful and did stupid funny stuff in class. I wasn’t too distracting and people thought I was sweet and chill. After the fight, I started to become completely quiet and barely talked to anyone, even my friends.
3 days after the fight, I returned to school. When I came back, this one girl started to be unbelievably nice and we started to become friends. Of course I still got some support from other people but she was the only one who checked up on me daily.
The few days while I was back, a lot of other people made fun of me for going to the hospital a lot of people were mad at me for calling the police and didn’t really get any support besides this one girl and two of my other good friends, even some of the friend group weren’t on my side or cared, even though I did nothing to start the fight.
I self harmed about 3-4 times a month since June 2022 but ever since the incident (beginning of March) it has been about 3-4 times a week. Barely anyone noticed before the incident but then I started to do it more frequently and didn’t try to hide it as much.
The worst time was about April when I brought a knife in and stabbed myself in the hand to the point I could barely move it. This was when people started to sympathise but it was also when people were at their worst. Some people made fun of me for stabbing my hand and refused to be near me, even my other ‘friends’ still.
The school had to check my bag everyday now. Soon, I brought in a knife another time but I was told if I did it again, I would get expelled. I was given 2 days inclusion. I sneaked in scissors another time and the school was mad at me but didn’t expel me. I was again given 2 days inclusion. I sliced my hand with a sharpener blade and got another day inclusion lost my support from the headteacher. They didn’t expel me. But they said for definite if I did it again, I’m expelled.
At this point everyone felt bad for me, besides these 2 people (one of them being who punched me). They were still mad and hated me for stabbing myself. They were a major reason why I moved schools. It was the worst decision I’ve ever made.
I still had the 3 really good friends (one boy, 2 girls) who have been on my side all the time and cared for me a lot. Although I still had thoughts about them and not wanting to move because of them, I still did. I just didn’t think they were enough. The dumbest reason why I left and my main regret was because I a crush on one of the girls but it was clear they liked someone else so I just couldn’t handle it anymore. They were still a really, really good friend and the only one who comforted me a lot ever since the fight. This was one of the dumbest reasons that influenced me to move. I can not emphasise enough how much I regret this decision.
I had a sudden breakdown in front of my dad and brought up everything that has ever happened. This was when I asked him to move schools. It was two weeks later when I moved. And within those two weeks I’ve told my friends. The main 3 convinced me to stay but I didn’t listen to their advice. They brought up stuff like ‘you need to make new friends, you’ve been with us for 3 years, you won’t find anyone with connection you have with us’. I should’ve listened to them. I would have listened to them but the fact that the headteacher said I could get expelled if I did again went to my head. I thought for definite I would do it again. I felt regret even before I moved, I would’ve asked if my dad if I can just stay at my old school and stupidly I thought it would be too awkward.
The last week at my old school was my hardest. I genuinely felt happy and I felt like all my prior problems that happened had finally stopped. I started to become more playful. But I felt dread knowing I was going to move, the bad feeling when I asked my dad to move had completely gone. I wanted to stay but all the paperwork had been done and it was too late.
I kept the fact that I was going to move from everyone else until the last day. When they all found out, they all looked sad. Even the people who made it clear they didn’t like me said sincerely they would miss me. I spent most of my last day misbehaving and having fun with everyone else, which I haven’t done for a while. But, the friend group I didn’t like as much didn’t even bother to say goodbye or hang out with me on my last day, this really made my decision on moving definite, I somehow felt happy I was moving and eager to start the new school.
The next day, I started the new school. I expected everyone to be nicer and more friendly but my first lesson everyone didn’t want to be next to me. The reasons they said was because ‘He’s Chinese’ and ‘He so ugly’.
2 days later I was invited to join a friend group. I felt happy that they invited me but they ended up being the most bullied people in the year. I wouldn’t have minded it but how weird they acted compared to how chill I wanted them to be disappointed me. They do weird stuff (not like morally bad) that I just feel uncomfortable to be around. They were nothing like my old friends and I don’t feel comfortable acting the way they act. So currently I’m just sitting there on my phone for the entire of break and lunch and occasionally having small conversations with two out of 7 of them. They’re not all bad people but just don’t want to hang out with them. However, one of the guys punched a Year 8 girl in the face and threw hot chocolate at her for only making fun of him and his friend’s glasses. I do not want to be near him but he’s the only guy who would talk to me.
I’ve had to urges to self harm again but if I did, self harming was one of the main reasons why I moved so I couldn’t do it again or else I moved for no reason. I’m still hated and unpopular but my new school just makes me feel worse.
I still talk to the main 3 over the phone but it just sucks not being able to see them as much, especially how they live in another town.
What’s worse is how I had to pick up an entirely new subject (geography) that I have to catch up on by myself and have to learn two more English literature texts (Romeo and Juliet & A Christmas Carol) before the mocks which is in 2 more weeks. AND I still need to be up to date with all my other subjects since all my classes are much ahead of me. I have been unbelievably stressed trying to catch up with all the work I’ve fallen behind in.

So I guess newsreaders can hide their emotions really well on TV. I’ve never seen Mary Markov in any state of heightened temper. The time she came down to help after I’d burned down the FunFlair building with Frankie was definitely a first in that regard. Then again, I’d never committed arson before either, so there were a lot of firsts that night. It’s been two days, but I can still see her angry face before me when I close my eyes. It frightened me a little.
After the fire had been doused by her staff, she gave Fran and me a look unlike anything I’d ever seen before. There was a homicidal rage in her eyes, her mouth had turned into a thin, steely line and the vein on her forehead threatened to pop. To my surprise (and admittedly relief), she turned the entirety of that wrath against Frankie Preston. “What in the world were you thinking?” she thundered, looming dangerously over the shorter man. “You committed a goddamn crime! If you were a normal person, I’d have to get you behind bars now!”
“Wait, I’m the privileged one here?” he snapped. “That woman tortured me! She brought me into this world by fault and proceeded to make me wish I’d never been born! And there was nothing I could ever do about it, because, oh, that’s right, I’m not a normal person! As you so endearingly put it. No one has a fucking clue what I am, so it’s okay for me to suffer, isn’t it?”
Mary opened her mouth to respond, but only ended up shutting it again. Then she focused her scrutiny onto me. “I thought you’d have known better.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I knew what I was getting myself into. This was a contemplated decision.”
“Was it ever.”
I motioned for her to step aside with me, bringing a bit of distance between ourselves and my waiter. “I’ll make it up to you,” I began. “I will, but please, please drop this.”
“Did he force you to come?”
“You don’t actually believe he could force me into anything, do you?”
Mary Markov sighed. “I guess not. Look, it’s not like I don’t understand his grudge. And from what I know of Ms Wallis, she won’t be missed by many. I just wish it didn’t have to come to this. This means a ton of work for me.”
“It means so much more to him.”
Another sorrowful moan. Then, “Alright. I have your back. But don’t, um… encourage this kind of behavior in him, please.”
“I won’t,” I promised. “What are you going to do about the other doll?”
“She’s in bad shape—”
“Trash shape,” Fran chimed in from behind, having inconspicuously strayed closer.
“She’s in bad shape,” Mary repeated, pointedly ignoring him, “and currently unresponsive, but since you said she’s shown signs of sentience, I guess we’ll have to look into her. It prompts a very interesting question, after all.”
“Being?” I offered.
“Think about it. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the other two living dolls, Zion Boyd and Bunny Martell, but they came alive after Frank tinkered with them. And now there’s this one. Maybe your little boyfriend has some kind of yet to be explored ability, seeing as he was the first to gain awareness.” She fell silent for a pregnant pause, glancing between the two of us. “Something to ponder on your drive home. Which you will be starting now.” She made a shooing motion with both her hands.
The message being quite clear, Frankie and I got back into his car. The ride was quiet at first, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable stillness. It felt like a weight I didn’t know I’d been carrying had been lifted. I stared at the server’s profile, alternately framed by nightly darkness and moonlight, drinking in every little detail about it. It was hard to believe that someone as cruel as Philomena Wallis had created something this breathtaking.
“So you’ll probably wanna talk about all of this, huh. About what I am, I mean.” Frankie’s voice was light and relaxed with only a hint of uncertainty gnawing at it.
“What’s there to talk about?”
“Aren’t you surprised? A little… disgusted, maybe?”
“I always knew you weren’t human. Beyond that, it doesn’t really matter to me what you are.” I shrugged. “I mean, I’d be fine if you were human, too. I’d be fine if you were a squonk.”
“What’s a squonk?”
“I don’t know, I just made that up. Anyways, did you actually think I would be grossed out? Did you?”
He smiled. “I guess not. This’ll sound crazy, and it’s hard to explain, but it’s like I got a voice in the back of my head constantly telling me that… that I should wash myself again or that I ought not to touch you. I suppose it’s not really a voice; it’s only these thoughts that kind of keep pushing into my mind even though I should know better. And I do know better. But that doesn’t stop the thoughts.”
I nodded slowly. “I think I understand. I can’t tell you how much I disagree with that voice, though. You’re the cleanest person I’ve ever met and if I could, I’d live in your hair like a cootie."
"That's how close you want me?"
"Yup.”
He let out a soft laugh. “I’m really, really glad you came with me. If there’s ever anything you need, I’ll do it. No matter what. If you want to bury a body, I’ll dig the hole.” He paused. “Actually, we should sell any corpses you might have. It’s wonderfully lucrative.”
I shot him a quick smile before turning to stare out the window with knitted brows. “What do you think about what Mary Markov said? About you being able to make the dolls come alive somehow.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything to it. I don’t remember doing anything special with them. Zion and Bunny were just standing around when I turned them on, and they came to within minutes. I figured they were sentient before, and it was simply repressed. I woke up randomly, too, after all.”
I hummed pensively. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Well, if you’re implying it’s some kinda superpower, then that’s probably the most useless one ever.”
“We don’t have to talk about this now,” I told him, to which he gave me a grateful half-grin.
Per my request, he dropped me off at Nettie’s place. I kissed him goodbye on the crown of his head and told him we’d text the following day. He thanked me again and I watched him drive off before going up to ring the doorbell, mentally preparing an apology for showing up at five-thirty in the morning. My savior human was surprisingly quick to answer, giving me an indulgent wave as soon as I stumbled over my first “I’m sorry”.
“It’s fine,” she muttered. “I hadn’t gone to bed yet.”
I gave her an incredulous look and she sighed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her normally soft, rounded cheeks were sunken, her eyes oddly dull. Judging from the angry red marks, she’d apparently been chewing on her lower lip with some force. It was only then that I took note of the sweater she was wearing. A faded, shaggy piece of fabric that clearly hadn’t been washed since Kit Sutton had given it to her on the cliff that day. I felt a sharp pang in my chest and pulled her into a hug as soon as I’d stepped inside with her.
She stifled a sob when she wrapped her arms around me in return. “It’s hit or miss with me when it comes to sleep lately,” she confessed in a brittle voice.
I swallowed. “I’m working on it. I’ll get her back for you, I have a lead. Is there anything I can do in the meantime?”
“Not really. I just gotta distract myself ‘til the morning comes, I’ll be fine then.”
“Then I’ll stay up with you.”
It was thus decided. We sat down in the living room for a while, then went out into the garden to watch the sunrise. My savior human had taken her place in her mother’s chair while I whipped up some chocolate chip pancakes (one of her favorites) for her for breakfast. I carried them out to her on a little plate with a cup of tea, and for a moment, her expression cleared up for a beam of happiness to shine through. “We should do something productive,” she remarked, and I gave her a questioning tilt of the head. “I’ve been thinking,” she went on. “Isn’t it weird how all these years, you didn’t hop dimensions once, and now all of a sudden it keeps happening?”
“Don’t worry about that right now.”
“I always worry, baby girl. It’s my natural state of being.”
“It shouldn’t be,” I insisted. “It feels wrong. You have your own problems, I don’t want to add to that.”
“Seriously, that’s not what’s happening here. This is just how I keep my mind off… things.”
I rolled my lips together. Blue-haired things, probably. “You deserve so much better. You deserve this to be way, way easier,” I stated.
“That’s a nice thought. But it doesn’t change anything right now. You can control your body, can’t you? Your teeth and tentacles?”
“Yes. It happens automatically when I get scared sometimes, but for the most part, I’m actively doing it.”
“Then how about if we could somehow start getting you on top of your dimension jumping, too? It would be a tad risky and I’m not sure how to go about it exactly, but it would be far better if you could toggle it. You’d be able to stop yourself from hopping when you don’t want to, but maybe you could venture into these other spaces for exploration purposes, too.” The words spilled out of her like a babbling little waterfall as she plucked apart one of her pancakes and stuffed them into her mouth. “Because there has to be more to this. I just have that feeling. So I reckon we try and find a way to work with this. What do you think?”
“Sure. I guess I’d be… open to that.”
“Really? I-I don’t want to pressure you…”
“No, no, it sounds fine! I wanna try!”
“Okay!” She set aside her plate, rubbing her hands in blatant excitement. “So it happens when your flight instinct kicks in, correct? How about we get you in that headspace on purpose?”
“How would we do that?” I asked cautiously.
When I was sitting cross-legged on the ground among my savior human’s countless flowers with my eyes closed and her hand in mine, that question had pretty much answered itself. Nettie Peterson was leading me in a “guided meditation” consisting of several intrusive queries about my first ever jump—the most terrifying moment of my entire life.
“The thing, that floating maw, what did it look like?” she began, referring to the creature that had ended it all.
I furrowed my brows. “It didn’t look like anything,” I replied meekly. “Mostly, it was just… really big and dark.”
“Dark? What color dark?”
“Black, I guess. It swallowed the light.” A pulsating pain began to flare up behind my forehead. “It was nothing. It was like a giant ball of nothing.”
“You told me once that it made a noise,” my best friend went on, her fingers grasping mine a little tighter. “Do you remember that sound?”
I winced. “Yes.”
“Describe it.”
“It was more like a vibration that went through everything,” I mumbled. “The ground was shaking. And then we all screamed.”
“Did you see inside its mouth?”
“No. There was nothing inside of its mouth. There was nothing inside of it. Just emptiness.” I shifted my weight. Images were flashing in front of my inner eye, filling the darkness behind my closed lids. My breath had caught in my throat and it felt like ants were crawling beneath my skin. “And then all of us were suddenly… nothing, everything was gone and at that last moment, everyone was so terrified. They all knew it was over. All of them.”
At first, I thought Nettie Peterson’s hand was trembling. Then I realized it was my own, shaking hers through the contact. For a moment, my body felt feather-light, but not in a relaxing or comfortable way. It was as though I was afloat, out of control and weightless. I didn’t like it. “Can we stop?” I choked out.
“Of course,” my best friend replied, gently squeezing my fingers.
I let go of a deep breath, blinking my eyes open. Across from me, Nettie was giving me a soft but deeply apologetic smile. “Did I push you too far?”
“It’s not your fault. I think I simply wasn’t ready for this.”
“I understand. Let’s go inside and make some more of those—” She stopped mid-sentence. She’d been pointing her chin at the plate of pancakes resting on her chair, only to see that it had changed.
The food I had just served her half an hour ago had turned into a moldy, rotten mess. A couple flies were circling it, emitting a low, almost melodic buzz. My savior human and I traded wide-eyed glances, disbelief, fear and excitement mirrored in our eyes. We then got up to take in our surroundings. The flowers surrounding us weren’t the same anymore. They were either withered or deathly pale; formerly pink, yellow and red petals had become either light gray or iridescently white. Thick, soupy fog was hanging over everything, it was denser and heavier than any we’d ever had in town before. The mist seemed to have consumed all the noise and color in the world, leaving only cold, oppressive silence.
Nettie was the first to regain speech. “It worked! Oh my Lord, it actually worked.”
I clasped her arm and she immediately fell silent. Wordlessly, I pointed at the rolling fog on the other side of the garden fence. There was something moving within. An enormous, caterpillar-like shape soundlessly dragged itself through the air, its long body slowly moving along across the street. My savior human’s jaw had dropped, her mouth wide open as she followed my gaze. Neither of us moved a muscle as we waited for the creature to pass by. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to take note of us at all. I didn’t want to imagine what could happen if one were to draw its attention.
“This is… I don’t believe this,” Nettie breathed, running a hand over her mussed coils. “You did it. We’re not home anymore.”
“What do you propose to do now?”
“Keep our heads low and try to find out anything useful, I’d say.”
I nodded and she folded her hand into the crook of my arm. Together, we proceeded through the open door back into the house. Wammawink and Nettie’s old convertible were standing in their garage, a pool of motor fluid surrounding each vehicle. The paint was peeling from the car doors, matching the way the pictures and photographs around her house had faded.
The food in her kitchen had morphed into a self-contained ecosystem. Bugs were crawling up and down the walls and ghostly white mice scuttled across the floor with shocking brazenness. There was no trace of human life anywhere in sight. We stepped out the front door and into the street only for Nettie to grab me and fling me to the ground next to her. We flattened ourselves against the curb as another one of the gigantic caterpillar-figures snaked its way along just a couple feet above our heads. I craned my neck to give my best friend a sidelong glance out of terrified, saucer-sized eyes. I could see my reflection in hers as she pressed a finger to her lips. I gave her a tiny nod.
Finally, it was gone again and we helped each other to our feet. Nettie brushed down her sweater with great care before tilting her head at me as though asking if I was alright. I gave a reassuring, albeit wavering smile which she returned with a slight strain to her brow. We linked arms again and started walking down the street. The whole dimension seemed to be a mirror image of our hometown, only deader. Aside from the flies and vermin, there seemed to be very little life. All of the houses we were so familiar with looked decrepit, old and empty. Walls were crumbling down, roofs looked to be seconds away from caving in and most windows were shattered. It was impossible to see ahead through the mist, but we managed to hide from the flying worm-things everytime they came up.
We were starting to become a little frustrated seeing as our exploration yielded nothing of note. There was hardly anything to be seen safe from the depressing alternate version of our neighborhood. On top of that, the clammy chill that hung in the air along with the fog was making us increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, we decided we should try and get back home. We returned to Nettie’s garden where we crouched down once again, hand in hand. Before my savior human could begin her questioning though, the ground beneath us suddenly began to shudder, heaving as if moved by some kind of subterranean pulse.
Nettie Peterson and I snapped our eyes open at the exact same time, mouths agape in bewilderment. And then we saw it. It was in the sky, partially veiled by the thick fog yet impossible to overlook. It became darker and darker as it neared, its indescribably large form seemed to envelop the entirety of the heavens. It had been five years since I had last seen it, but I recognized it immediately. Not that it had any features I could have recognized. I remembered though, and in that moment, it all came flooding back to me. The breeders that threw themselves in front of their young, the cries that echoed across the plains together with the stones and soil sent rolling by the earthquake. I caught my best friend’s gaze, read the terror in it and knew that it was just as immense as my own. Her lips were parted in an ear-piercing scream that ended up being drowned out by the hovering roar of the Devourer Of Worlds.
I squeezed her hand so tightly I feared I’d snap her fingers. And suddenly, before I knew it, all was silent again. The air was warmer, filled with the fragrances of countless different flowers. The early morning sun was shining down on us, and it felt like it was heating up my very core. We were back. In the blink of an eye, Nettie had thrown her arms around me, pulling me close to her chest.
“Baby girl,” she whispered.
“That was it,” I rasped out. “That was it.”
“I know.” Withdrawing just an inch, she wiped a thumb over my eye, careful not to scrape me with her nail. It was only then that I realized I was crying. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, noiseless and hot, dripping from my chin and wetting my chest.
"You're not hurt, are you? Look, it's going to be alright. You just take it easy now. We'll go inside, have some tea or coffee or whatever and calm down, a-and then we can figure this all out. Come on. Get up. Easy, easy now." She hugged me even as she pulled me to my feet and into the house alongside her. "So tea. How about strawberry? Or Turkish apple? Or classic chamomile? Something for the nerves, at any rate."
"Wait," I stammered, interrupting her monologue. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"Oh, no. No, no, no, far from it. I'll sign us both up for therapy once I find the time, but for now, tea! Tea."
"Nettie, please don't strain yourse—"
"Listen here, I'm gonna make you some goddamn tea and we'll sit down with it and it's gonna be warm and nice and we'll forget all about this. I'm here. I can take care of you. You do not need to be scared." She pressed her face close up to mine, her voice sharp and a mite threatening.
"I'm sort of scared of you right now."
"Oh." She drew back. "Pardon. I'll put on the tea." A forced, crooked tune tumbled from her lips as she went ahead into the kitchen.
We've both simmered down a little since the incident. It's been two days now. I used most of that time to unwind and recover from what had to be the single most eventful night of my time here on earth. Keep in mind, this happened the morning after the fire. The calm is not going to last much longer, though. I don't mind that, I just need to brace myself.
Rhonda's been in touch.
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart
20: olms and Jewels
21: long hair
22: recruitment
23: waitresses
24: dollhouse
25: burning plastic

Hi, all,
I drive a 2017 4x4 LT Crew Cab. I've had it for 5 years or so. About year or so into owning it (and exclusively during summer months), I'd have these very weird short circuits, primarily at low speeds and only when turning or backing into/pulling out of a parking space. The display would black out, the power steering would lock up, and the whole electrical system would hiccup for a moment before turning back on.
A few times when driving at highway speeds when I'd flip the blinker, the display would black out. Power steering wouldn't cut out (thankfully -- or, at least, I couldn't tell if the power steering cut out).
I took it into the dealer's service center (it was under an extended warranty at the time) and they couldn't replicate the problem (of course). This happened a couple of times. Fast forward a couple of years (May 2021) and the truck got particularly cantankerous on a longer trip. Managed to get there & back, and immediately dropped it off at different mechanic. They took a look, again couldn't replicate the problem, replaced the battery and tightened the battery point connections.
No problems from May 2021 to now (including a couple of longer trips in Summer 2022). We got a hot spell in April, and when waiting in car line to pick up my kids, there was a very brief hiccup in the electric, but it didn't repeat. A few weeks later, we took another long trip (this time with family in tow) on Memorial Day weekend, and when we were there, the truck got real pissy getting into/out of a parking lot. Didn't want to risk a longer trip with my wife & kids, so I rented a car, had the truck transported back to my house, and made an appointment with another mechanic. I've been driving the truck since we got back (10 or so days) and have had no issues with it at all.
I've seen a lot posts on forums about issues related to the ground connections, both in the wheel well and under the dash on the driver's side. I've also read that this is a problem that other drivers of Chevy/GMC trucks/truck-frame SUVs from about 2012-2019 have had. I've heard stories of the soundproofing getting in the way and causing shorts, of the connections getting jostled loose, of it just being poor design in these model years, and so on.
I'm reaching out to you all to see fi any of you have had similar issues with your Silverados, and if so, if you were able to identify the root cause and fix it (either temporarily, as happened in May 2021 when the mechanics merely "tightened the connections", or more permanently.)
I'm not confident that the mechanics will be able to replicate the problem (in fact, I'm sure that they won't; it typically only seems to happen when it's hot (it's not right now) and when the truck has been running for an hour or more. As such, I'd like to equip them with as much intel as I can.
Thanks in advance, Silveradoans!

Hello,
I'm an experienced and results-driven developer with expertise in multiple programming languages, frameworks, diverse technology stacks, and cloud platforms. My strong analytical mindset and ability to quickly learn new technologies have consistently led to efficient project completion and meeting deadlines. In a span of last 6 years, I have worked on full-stack application development, ETL processes, API development, automation, and cloud management, particularly on AWS and GCP.
Best Qualities:

• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to quickly learn new technologies.
• Proficient in full-stack application development, ETL processes, API development, automation, and cloud management & cloud-based application development (AWS, GCP).
• Experienced in working with diverse technology stacks and frameworks.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills and ability to devise innovative solutions.
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities within agile (SCRUM & KANBAN), self-motivated teams.

Courses & Certifications:

• AWS Certified Developer – Associate (October 2022)
• JetBrains Python Core Certification (January 2022)
• RHCE

Skills: - Python - Go - FastAPI - Vuejs & Nuxtjs - Ruby on Rails - AWS EC2, SQS, SNS, SES, Lambda, ECS, S3, KMS, - GCP Compute Engine, Pub/Sub, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, Cloud Storage - Firebase Firestore, Hosting, Authentication - MySQL - Postgres - Couchbase - Cassandra - Docker - Git
Please contact me for my resume.
What I'm Looking for in a Job:
Long-term Projects: I have a preference for long-term projects that allow me to dive deep into complex challenges and contribute to sustained growth and success.
Open to Short-term Projects: While my preference lies with long-term projects, I'm open to considering short-term projects if they are interesting and offer compelling compensation.
Remote Opportunities: As a remote developer based in India, I am actively seeking remote job opportunities. I am comfortable working remotely and value the flexibility it provides.
Open to Relocation: While I currently prefer remote work, I am open to relocation if the opportunity arises. However, for relocation, I would require the company to provide the necessary visa sponsorship. We can discuss potential relocation options in the future as well.
Remuneration: When working from India, my starting remuneration is $25 USD per hour. For opportunities outside of India that require relocation, the remuneration will be based on the living expenses in the respective country.
No Office-based Work in India: I am not interested in office-based positions within India.
Please take these preferences into consideration when considering me for a position. I am excited to contribute my skills and expertise to a team that aligns with my long-term goals and offers engaging projects.
If you have any opportunities or would like to discuss further, please feel free to reach out to me via dm.
Thank you for considering my application!

First / Previous / Next
Well, this is new at least.
I've never had to quell a riot before.
Empress, please. This is more a brawl. When there's a riot, we'll let you know. We have seen riots, and this is no riot.
Okay, fine. There's something like two dozen people here and I see what looks like to be more security people, Mariens and Aviens and some Azurians on the edge of things, trying to get a handle on what is going on. Note to myself, I should go visit their offices later. Chairs from nearly restaurants have been taken and broken into clubs, and there is shouting and smoke and the clashing of flesh on feather on bone.
Wait, why is there smoke?
"Ava, Um'reli is there a fire here? I see and smell smoke."
"Um, one moment Melody.... Yes, there is a report of a small fire, but there's also this warning - it says something like Fire Suppression Offline, local assistance is needed." Sounds like we had some kind of Starbase wide fire suppression system but it doesn't work anymore."
All the Builder controlled parts of this place are broken. What is going on here? Was it on purpose or did they just fail because nobody was around to maintain them? "See if you can get it back online. It doesn't have to work forever, just to see if we can knock down the smoke. Turn the air scrubbers and air cycling too here, I don't want people getting ill from the smoke."
"On it, Melody." Um'reli is checking into it while Ava is helping with an overview of the area. It's a wide open area, kind of like the promenade on the lower level, but this area is... nicer? It has parks and gardens! We need to come up here more often. Why is it so drab down closer to the docks.
Well, it's nicer when a riot isn't going on I mean.
Sigh. Fine. Let's stop the riot and figure out what is going on. I take a moment and concentrate, and my crown and wings spring into existence. In fact, let's make those wings bigger and brighter. I'm going to need to be seen and heard. I connect to the Starbase, locate the local public address system - mentally wave to Um'reli and Ava as I go by! - and then...
S̴̨̲̗̥̯̯̩̤͒̎̔̽͊̐̚ṫ̸̝̱͈̙̆͋̌o̴͎͗̌̿̀̍̏̿̚͝p̸͚̐̀̕ ̶̯̌̈́f̵̤͙̪̖̗͖̳̼̺̐̏̊̒͒̈́̀̚̚i̵̡͈̼̱̭̼̻͖̳͋͒̄̊̾͌g̵͚͐͆̀͂͑̌h̶̛̤͙̆̋̍̄͑̓͠t̶̘̖̪͒́i̴̢̞̜̠̠͋n̷̛̪͚͙̞͚͒̀̃̔͂͊̊g̶̢̡̠͍̥̙̹̼̓̃͗ͅ!̶̨̥͎̄͘͝
I swear, it never gets old. Like I pressed pause on a video, everyone immediately stops. I put some work into my command this time, I specified fighting so that they can still move and breathe, but sure enough, everyone stops.
I put a little extra oomph into my presentation and tower over everyone. They turn towards me, fearful and I have their attention.
"Now then. What is going on here. Why are you fighting?"
Everyone starts talking all at once.
"-They started it when-"
"Those liars said that the Empress wasn't-"
"-There isn't enough food for-"
Wait that one. Another one about food? I heard a few of those at the presentation earlier.
"Cease your chatter. You. What was that about food?" I point to the Azurian close to me who mentioned food when they were all talking at once.
"Empress, the results of the last two harvests have been 15 and 20 percent lower than in previous seasons. The population here isn't dropping either. If this keeps up, the garden planetoid won't be able to support us!"
Okay that's serious, but it's not like ' drop everything and have a riot' serious - at least not at the numbers they gave me. What else is going on?
"Thank you, it's important to learn this. Please come to the Throne later and explain to me in more detail about your concerns. That's not enough to have a riot though, is it?"
"Oh the riot? No, that's not about the food supply. It's about them-" They point across the plaza "-not believing that you're holy."
Oh.
One of them, a Aviens, shouts from across the area "You're just someone who showed up and got lucky! You're not holy at all!"
Hisses and curses from this side of the plaza.
Awkward.
Well hold up now. This isn't fair to me. I never said I was holy, they just decided.
You did elevate The Smell of Soil After Rain to bishop during that presentation yesterday. I wonder if they're going around causing trouble in your name.
Hmm.
I stride out across the plaza to the other side. As I approach the people who think I'm not holy they shrink back. I wonder why for a moment and realize my wings and crown are still burning bright. Oops. Nothing like trying to convince people to stop arguing about my alleged godhood while looking like an angry God. I tone down the wings and crown (but I don't remove them entirely) and approach the Aviens who yelled that I wasn't holy. "Was The Smell of Soil After Rain coming around, giving you a hard time?"
The Aviens visibly crumbled. "They said that my family would be forgotten if I didn't attend services. That you ordered it. They said they'd remove my children from school."
What.
"What? No. Absolutely not. I am Empress, I don't need to be your God too. So long as you recognize me as Empress and Builder that's enough. Worship the way you please, or don't worship at all. Atheism it not forbidden."
I turn back to both sides of the crowd. "I will not punish those who choose not to worship me! So long as you accept that I am Empress, that I rule here, that's enough. Nobody here has to also worship me. I will... speak to my Bishop about their... enthusiasm. Nobody here will be compelled to worship. So please. Return to your homes after you assist the security forces here in cleanup."
Everyone looks around at each other, then back at me, still with crown and glowing wings, then back at each other and starts picking up litter and broken pieces of chair.
I turn back to the Aviens who I was talking to, put away my wings and crown and kneel down gently to speak just to them very quietly. They look up at me wide eyed.
"Just for your own information - and if pressed by anyone else I will deny it forever - you're right. I'm just a person who did something stupid, and now I'm Empress. My name is Melody, I like coffee and computer systems and being able to have time alone to read." It's almost a whisper.
They blink in surprise. This was completely unexpected for them. "Hi Melody, my name is Roar of Thunder and I work in an office building down on the docking level. I'm not entirely sure what our job is, but it's not difficult work. I enjoy cooking during my free time."
I stand back up. "It's wonderful to meet you Roar of Thunder. I love your name too." I look around as people continue cleaning up. "Tell you what Thunder. Come up to the Throne tomorrow. I bet we can find a more... stimulating job for you with us."
"That's... that's a wonderful opportunity Empress. I will be there tomorrow."
I spend a few minutes helping clean up the riot. I mean, why not, I'm here already, everyone will love it, and it's something to do. In the meantime Ava and Um'reli seem to get the fire supression going enough to fog some water over the smokier parts of the plaza and soon enough the smoke has dissipated and things are - if not clean - then at least cleaner. I give my thanks and as I get up to leave, one of the Mariens in the security coloration approaches me.
"Empress, thank you for coming up. We didn't even get to report back to headquarters that a riot had broken out yet, how did you know?"
This time I grin impishly. "This is just one of the things that can happen now that the Builders are back. We have eyes and ears all over and can assist quickly when needed. If you'll notice, we even got the old fire suppression foggers going in this sector. Hopefully soon we can get them operating everywhere again."
The Mariens looks amazed and salutes me sharply, then bows. "I am known as Kilad, Empress. I know my supervisor would love to thank you personally."
Ah wonderful! I was hoping to go see more of the security forces. What a nice coincidence.
"Please lead the way Kilad. I would love to meet them."
Kilad walks me across the plaza and through a park. There are trees and greenery, but of course I don't recognize any of the plants. They're very dark green and fragrant though. I wonder if they originated on a planet that has a dimmer star than Earth or our other colonies. Less light might cause them to evolve darker coloration to squeeze every drop of energy out of a weaker star.
We walk through the park and come out in another plaza, just like the one near the train station. At the far end of this one is another large, original looking building made out of the same stone as the Starbase and Administration offices and Bank. Clearly some of the institutions here were original - or the buildings were and they have been repurposed.
Kilad opens the door and I follow. Inside is a bustle of activity. Mariens, Aviens, and all the others are here. The Mariens are all colored the bright yellow of security while those without chromatophores are wearing smart yellow uniforms. Kilad walks up to a low desk in the back of the atrium. There's an Azurian sitting there in a yellow uniform with silver piping along the top. They must be the supervisor. Kilad salutes the Azurian and gives a report.
"Kilad, returning from the suspected riot near the hub station. Suspicions were confirmed, it was a riot between people arguing about the holiness - or not - of the Empress. Luckily the Empress herself showed up to quell the riot and explain that while people can worship her if so desired nobody will be forced to. She also explained that she will speak to her new Biship, The Smell of Soil After Rain about his proselytizing and ask him to tone it down." Kilad gestures behind themselves to me. "Additionally, the Empress herself is here, she'd like to speak to you."
At that, the Azurian looks behind Kilad and nods. I love how it seems like every single Azurian doesn't really care that I'm the Empress. It's refreshing. "Empress." They nod. "Thank you for your assistance, and for the official confirmation that nobody is required to worship you."
"It's quite all right. I'm glad to be able to get the word out that worship is not compulsory. Everyone is free to worship - or not worship - however they see fit. Can you explain to me what the role of your forces is here? It doesn't have to be a whole history, just the basics."
"Yes, Empress. We are the Security force on Reach of the Might of Vzzx" He pronounces Vzzx with a pop on the end. "This station is 100 people, and there are at least a dozen more across the whole of the Reach. We mostly help settle small disputes, assist with investigating petty crime and quell the occasional riot. For the most part, the residents of the Reach are relatively calm and open to working together. There is friction here and there, same as with anywhere, and with living spaces so tight conflict can break out. But, there is a strong sense of collaboration and community here too. You probably saw people cleaning up the riot they caused after it was quelled. That's not because you were there, that's a normal occurrence"
"Do you know any history? Do you know the role of your forces when they Builders were here in force?"
They indicate no, and seem a little sad about it. "Few records exist from then. When I was young, I asked some of the oldest staff here and they made it sound like things were much the same back then as now. It was probably different in that there were Builders able to detect and react to things sooner - like you and your Builders did today - but I imagine the day to day operations were much the same then as now."
"Thank you for the history lesson. What's your name?"
"I am Commander Sep."
"Thank you again Sep!" I incline my head slightly and walk out. I do wonder if I'm being too casual with everyone for a moment, but really this is who I am, how I want to rule. I hear FarReach's words and I'm reminded that she thought I was changing. That's not what I want to happen. I'm going to keep on walking around and talking to people and trying to learn as much about my new home as I can.
My new home. That's what the Reach is.
And I'm here to protect it and its residents.
I spend the evening up here visiting shops, talking to people, trying to learn as much as I can. It turns out most everyone here went down to the Throne this morning, so people are open later today to allow folks who missed their morning shopping to be able to get things.
I stop by a restaurant that looks nice and go to get dinner by myself. After I shoo away the entire staff who practically fell over themselves to be the one who took care of me and gently remind them they have other patrons who also need help, I enjoy my meal and even try out some of the tea that everyone here seems to drink. It's no coffee, but it's pleasant in its own way. It's hot and sweet and herbal and smells slightly of anise. I should see if I can get more to bring back. I think Um'reli might like it.
After dinner, I stroll slowly back towards the train and connect to the Reach and look for Ava and Um'reli. "Ava, Um'reli, where are you?"
"We're back at the Royal Dawn. Where are you Melody, it's so late!"
Is it? Hmm, I should figure out timekeeping here. It's hard to believe it's only been a few days since I left FarReach, I'm probably still on ship's time.
"Oh, after the brawl, I went and met the Security forces up here, and then I walked around talking to people, and got a nice dinner. Um'reli you have got to try this tea they have! I think you'd really like it."
"Oh? Thanks Melody, I will check it out next time we eat. Um, are you coming back? Omar is back too, he has a report about the High Line."
"I'm walking back to the train station now, I'll be home in a bit. No more than half an hour probably. Omar, do you want to tell me about it now while I walk or wait until I get back?"
"How about when you get back Melody. It still odd talking to people like this, it feels like I'm having a discussion with myself."
"Sure thing Omar, see you in a bit."
I make my way back to the hub station just as a train pulls away. As I watch it go, an Aviens is running down the platform. "No no no no, I can't miss my train! They're going to be so mad!" They reach the end of the platform and their feathers ripple and they look despondent.
"What's wrong? What about the next train?"
They look up at me and then see who I am and jump a little." E-Empress! I didn't expect to see you here. Um" And they bow.
"Yes yes, that's fine, but not really necessary unless I'm like, doing royal stuff. What's the matter? You sounded so sad."
"Oh Empress, that was the last train! There isn't another until tomorrow! I have to get back down to my home, my parents are going to be so upset to find out that I missed the last train home again and have nowhere to stay." They're practically in tears.
"Oh no! Well, I have to get down a level too so I can go home. I had no idea that was the last train - I'm still getting used to time here, it's different than where I'm from. Let me see what I can do. What's your name?"
"Oh, thank you, thank you Empress! My name is Sound of the City."
"It's so nice to meet you Sound of the City! Let's see about finding a way for both of us to get home."
I lead them to a seat on the platform and sit next to them. They snuggle up next to me and yawn deeply. Surprised, I look over and realize they're so young! It's just a child. If they were human, they might be a teen. All the more reason to get them home. I lean back a little and connect and search for the train subsystem.
Ah, there it is. They were right, that was the last scheduled train. Luckily though, when you're a Builder, you don't have to worry about things like schedules. Let's see, what train is closest... hmm? Whats that? There's something here marked 'Royal transport - offline' and it very close. Looks like it's over in a siding near here.
I dig a little deeper and it seems like it's a whole train just for the Empress. They must have used it when the previous Empress was traveling around the Reach. I remember in my dream how proud Aeche was of the transit system, I wonder if this was related to it? Well, it's the closest train, and this way I won't mess up tomorrows schedule either. I touch the train gently, and it activates. Basic systems check indicates nothing is wrong. I call the train. After only a minute, there's the trilling chime that indicates a train is coming.
"Sound, look. I found a train."
They blink sleepily and look up and gasp at what they see.
I have to admit, it is impressive. The Royal Transport is a subway train, but turned up loud. It's royal blue and gold and gilded with sweeping flowery designs. It's only three cars - the other trains seem to be between 6 and 10 cars - but what it lacks in length it makes up for in elegance.
I'm almost sad that the station is empty, this is something that needs to be seen.
"This train is beautiful, Empress! This is how we're going to get home?"
"Yup. It's the Royal Transport. It was designed for the Empress to move around the Reach in style."
We approach the door and I step in. It's carpeted! It's so plush. Sound of the City stands at the door, not coming in.
"What's wrong Sound? Come in"
"A-are you sure? It's a train for the Empress."
"And as Empress, I'm telling you it's fine. Please, come aboard. I'll take you home. It's only two stops."
I reach out my hand and they nervously take it and step in. The doors hiss shut behind us. I lead us to a seat and we both sit down. Only after we are seated does it begin to roll away, nearly silently. Sound once again snuggles up and is nearly asleep instantly. While we ride I search the train mentally. Oh! There's a log! The last time this train was used was...
74 years ago? That's it?
My head spins a bit. That's not that long at all. The Administrators had said that there hadn't been an Empress for 'three generations' I guess if they're not that long lived that could account for it. Also, given the robustness of what we build for space on our side of the galaxy, it would explain why things didn't really break down over here. It would also explain why the Gate system was almost completely intact. 74 years though. That's hardly any time at all in an interstellar empire.
But, the K'laxi! My last memories were of touching the Gate and doing an upload before going to visit them. They said that their histories and religion that mentions me and the Gates is a thousand years old.
What happened? Why were the K'laxi ignored? When did the last Empress touch the directory stone? The timing of everything doesn't make sense.
I really have no way of finding out here. Once High Line has been refitted, I think I need to go to the Wilds of Besmara, that mostly destroyed Starbase we saw first and see what happened there.
Then, the train rolls to a stop. Just as silently the doors hiss open and were back at my station. "Sound, wake up, we're here." I say gently. They rustle and blink and realizing they were sleeping on the Empress jump up, embarassed. "I'm so sorry!"
I laugh gently. "It's find Sound. I'm pretty tired too. Let me walk you home."
This is the latest I've been out, and the Reach is so quiet! The lights are down low, but it's still easy to see. Sound said they lived close to the station and they lead me there. It's a little block of apartments in between the bank and the Administrative offices. Convenient location, I bet this place was expensive.
As we approach the door, an older Aviens opens it ahead of us. Clearly upset they point a finger. "Sound of the City, you are late. How did you even get home, the last train arrived a while ago. Were you wandering around causing trouble after you got here?"
"No Father! I was working late to help Gemli finish up inventory and ran to catch the last train. I missed it, and thought I was done for when..." Sound gestures behind them to me. In the low light, I flare the crown and wings just for a moment and darken them again. There's a gasp and the adult Aviens bows low. "E-E-Empress! What are you doing here?"
"I too missed the last train home, and ran into Sound of the City weeping that they were going to be in trouble and had no way of getting home. I was able to call the Royal Transport and bring them and myself back home. I just wanted to make sure they made it home safely. I don't believe Sound should be punished, it seems that they got caught up helping a friend."
"O-of course Empress. Sound, get inside and wash up, it's past bedtime." Sound of the City hesitates a moment, then runs up and hugs me tight. "Thank you, Empress." and they wave and run inside.
"You're very welcome Sound of the City." I look at their parent and narrow my eyes just a bit. "They did not bother me, they did not put me out, I was helping because I wanted to. Do not give them trouble about this."
Their head bobs a nod. "Of course Empress. Thank you Empress, I really am grateful you brought them home. They get caught up helping friends and lose track of time. It's a regular occurrence with them."
"There are worse problems to have than being late because one is helping friends. People like that are what makes the Reach home."
"You're absolutely right Empress. I will do well to remember that."
"Good night then."
"Empress." The bow again and close the door gently.
I walk home, my head filled with worry about why the timeline for things isn't lining up. Something is wrong here.
First / Previous / Next

Just over 23 years have passed since the hot late summer evening when 28-year-old Roberta Martucci disappeared into thin air. Since that 20 August 1999, all trace of this young woman has been lost. Those who did not know her may remember the description given to advance the search: brown curly hair, a dazzling smile, a black floral skirt, high-heeled shoes, and a grey jacket.
Roberta’s disappearance revolves around the Apulian towns of Torre San Giovanni di Ugento, the small village where the girl lived and from where she left on her car that August evening, and Gallipoli, the seaside town to which she was heading to meet a friend, with whom she was supposed to go shopping.
Who was Roberta? According to her sister Lorella – who is largely responsible for the reopening of the case and the charge against a man close to Roberta – she was a serene girl with no known troubles; she had recently left her longtime boyfriend, with whom she remained on good terms. Roberta was the last of five daughters and she was employed in a retirement community. She lived with her mother and some of her sisters. For several months now, she had been friends with two girls from Gallipoli, Rory and Cinzia.

Timeline & events

• August 20, 1999, around 8:00 am: Roberta is spending a few days of vacation. It is the day her sister Sabrina returns from Bologna where she is studying at the local university. Roberta is preparing to go to the beach with her aunt and uncle and her sister Gina.
• 9:00 am: According to phone records, Roberta receives a phone call that lasts approximately 5 minutes.
• 9:30 am: Roberta receives a second call but this time it’s 45 minutes long. Roberta is seen walking away from her relatives gesticulating, pacing up and down the beach – she seems to be arguing animatedly.
• Having finished the call, Roberta returns to her relatives and spends the day; she seems serene. During lunch with her aunt and uncle and her mother Roberta says she would use the car in the evening in order to go to a party in Gallipoli.
• 8:20 pm: Roberta dresses to go out; she borrows a skirt from her sister Lorella. She is wearing a gray pearl top, has a bare back, and puts on her gold earrings with a blue stone to which she matches a gray hand-knit jacket. Sabrina asks Roberta for a ride in her car. The two leave the house, drive away in the white Fiat Uno but Roberta will never return.
• 8:45 pm: Roberta and Sabrina are in the car together. Roberta answers a call saying, "Hi, Rory, if you want to believe Cinzia go ahead, I can’t talk right now." Sabrina’s friend’s house is 200 meters from the Martucci’s.
• 9:30 pm: Rory (the friend with whom Roberta is to meet) is agitated because she’s running late and it’s not like her at all. Rory tries to call Roberta, but her phone turns out to be off.
• 11 pm: Rory writes a message to her friend “ROBERTA NON FARE SCHERZI”.
• August 21, 1999, around 3 am: Roberta’s cell phone rings three times, then it will remain off forever.
• in the afternoon: Several of Roberta’s family members are questioned by police. Her uncle and her aunt mention the two calls Roberta had answered on the morning of the 20th. Her brother-in-law Donato tells about seeing her agitated in this circumstance.
• August 23, 1999: A note is delivered to Donato’s sister’s workplace: “Hi I’m Roberta I wanted to tell you that I’m alive.”
• August 24, 1999: A call comes to the Carabinieri station: the owner of Bar Stella, located on Via Genova in Gallipoli, reports that the white Fiat Uno mentioned in the newspapers is parked in front of the bar. The man is adamant about the fact that the car was not there the night before.
• The doors of the car are closed except for the driver’s. The ignition keys (the only set of keys for the car according to the Martucci family) and registration are missing. All that remains of Roberta is her gray knit jacket on the back seat of the car. No fingerprints are detected inside the cabin, but a handwritten note is found: “I love you my sweet love.” Roberta’s car is located near the home of Rory and the workplace of Cinzia.
• September 6, 1999: Donato makes a spontaneous statement to the Carabinieri again. He tells them that he drove past via Genova on August 23 at 10:30 p.m. and did not see Roberta’s Fiat Uno.
• January 15, 2000: Casarano Carabinieri draw up a restitution report in favor of Laudina, sister of Roberta and wife of Donato, and Laudina drives the car to the home of his mother, Concetta, where she parks it. Concetta will use the car in the next months. The car is released without ignition keys and registration.
• August 2000: The car is scrapped by Laudina.

Follow-up

In the following months, there are several reports about Roberta. A viewer of the well-known TV program Chi l’ha visto? claims to have seen her at a famous club in Milan. A mythomaniac swears he saw her eating a Viennetta at a local restaurant. A young woman even comes forward claiming to have seen Roberta in a dream, according to her murdered and then hidden in a trullo (a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof). There is also no shortage of notes delivered to family or authorities – in addition to the one found in the car, a fax arrives to a Taranto newspaper: “Roberta Martucci alive, poor health condition, change life change life change life, leave her alone, she will only be heard from by family members.”
In 2007, Lecce prosecutor's office received another fax accusing Roberta’s two friends, Rory and Cinzia, and recommending that they be “thrown in jail” for a few months to make them talk: “Regarding Roberta’s sad story, I inform you that she is now gone, but the truth in detail can only be given to you by those two friends in Gallipoli. They know everything.”
Investigators, evidently struggling, nevertheless try to explore some leads, including that of drug-fueled parties in Gallipoli (initially suggested nine months after Roberta’s disappearance by Donato, who was allegedly told by a friend of his about Roberta’s unsavory acquaintances). Rory and Cinzia are investigated – to the point of driving them away from the city – but this trail leads nowhere. The investigators are sure, though, that the two girls have minimized their relationship with Roberta. Repentant mafiosi from Salento and Calabria are heard by the police, but they cannot help the investigation. The hypothesis of a jealous ex-boyfriend is also discarded.
In 2007, seven years after Roberta’s disappearance, Donato is heard. He tells the investigators he and Laudina received the car registration from the Carabinieri of Casarano when the latter released Roberta’s car. Concerning the ignition keys, he tells they already had a copy. On June 13, 2018, Donato is heard once again (this time as a suspect, the first in this case): he tells he doesn’t remember anything about the car registration and the ignition keys. When confronted with the spontaneous statement he made eleven years before, he tells the investigators he doesn’t remember anything about it, but he’s now sure the car was released without keys. On June 14, 2018, a conversation between Donato and his wife is intercepted: the former threatens to harm himself in case the investigation implicates him.
In 2019, on the TV program Chi l’ha visto?, Sabrina confided that she had been sexually abused by her brother-in-law Donato since she was 16 years old; she also says she admitted the fact to her sister Roberta. (This circumstance is confirmed by Donato, but too much time has now passed for him to be prosecuted for this crime under Italian law.) Criminologists Isabel Martina and Roberta Bruzzone, together with Roberta’s sister Lorella, have in the meantime made the investigators reopen the case – they argue that Donato is directly involved in the disappearance and that Sabrina’s allegations are crucial to understanding his motive. Roberta's family is now split in two: on one side Lorella and Sabrina, on the other side the remaining two sisters and the mother, who defend Donato.
In 2022, Roberta’s case is dismissed and so is the charge against Donato. The preliminary hearing judge writes in his motivations report that “there are mere suspicions and conjectures against the suspect that are not supported by concrete and precise factual data that would support an accusation deserving of trial consideration”; he also argues that there could have been another set of car keys.

Key questions

• Were there really two sets of car keys?
• According to the scrapper, the car was handed over with registration and ignition keys. Who had them?
• Why was the car scrapped if it was only 2 years old?
• Is it significant that Roberta disappeared on the very day Sabrina returned from Bologna?
• Why did Roberta tell her family she was going to a party when her friends say they simply had to go shopping?
• Let’s even say that Donato is implicated in some way. Would he have been stupid enough to give his wife the original keys and registration to allow her to take the car back to her mother?

Sources

Mentre Morivo puntata #26 - La Morte di Roberta Martucci
A Pista Fredda - Il Caso di Roberta Martucci
Chi l'ha visto? - La scomparsa di Roberta Martucci - 13/02/2019

Introduction
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