Colors everywhere blue's clues

We are looking for a detail-oriented individual to help us find reliable suppliers for our custom gaming accessories. The role entails conducting research to discover possible suppliers, analyzing supplier performance, negotiating contracts and prices, and maintaining strong relationships with important suppliers. The Supplier Sourcer must have a thorough awareness of the market and be able to recognize new trends that may have an impact on the organization's supply chain. The position necessitates exceptional communication and negotiation skills, as well as the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure that supplier performance meets organizational standards.
POSITION DETAILS:
Type: This is a permanent full-time role requiring 40 hours per week.
Location: Remote
RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:
Conduct research to find potential suppliers Evaluate suppliers based on their reliability, quality, and pricing Negotiate contracts and pricing with suppliers Maintain relationships with existing suppliers Collaborate with other team members to ensure timely delivery of products Creating and implementing supplier diversity initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion in the supply chain. Assessing supplier performance data and identifying opportunities for improvement. Monitoring supplier relationships to ensure that contracts are met and issues are resolved in a timely and effective manner. Assuring compliance with legal and ethical procurement and supplier management norms. Creating and maintaining supplier performance metrics and reporting systems. Finding cost-cutting opportunities and putting cost-cutting initiatives in place.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor's degree in Business or related field At least 2 years of experience in supplier management or procurement Excellent communication and negotiation skills Strong analytical and problem-solving skills Proficient in Microsoft Excel and other related software Knowledge of the Google Suite and other procurement software solutions is required. Capable of managing multiple projects and priorities at the same time. Excellent detail-oriented and organized abilities. Supply chain management and logistics expertise are required.
TASK NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH
Hey ,
Thank you for your interest in the Supplier Outreach Specialist position. To better assess your experience, please complete the tasks below and provide the requested proof in your next message:

1. Record a 2-minute Loom video telling us about your experience with this role before and explaining why is it the perfect time for you to work with us
   
2. Share an experience with a previous company where you worked in a similar role and found valuable suppliers for them. You may attach screenshots of your negotiations.
   
3. Research Alibaba for playmat (TCG) bag suppliers with carabiners (https://ibb.co/rtg71Bp). Find the top 3 suppliers with the best prices, and include their initial prices and contact information in a shareable Google Spreadsheet.
   

Specifications:
Size: 406mm Material: PolyesteVelvet Added items: Carabiners Colors: Black, Blue, Red, Green, and Purple Create a 2-3 minute video explaining your skills in finding and working with suppliers. Please submit your tasks in English.
Please create a spreadsheet with access for us to check with all of the suppliers details in it
Let me know if you have any questions!
Sheen P.S - Most applicants skip the tasks part, and never get hired if you complete the tasks, it wil separate you from the crowd. Good luck!

Hello everyone, welcome to this miitopia run of NRC Subreddit~
So, in this one I will be spinning the tale of it so to speak, so that it will not be the exact same as a regular miitopia run. I plan on twisting the tale so that a dark overlord is taking the people’s souls and corrupting them into phantoms and overblots! And it’s up to… well that’s the fun part, I haven’t chosen a full team yet and I was wondering if you’d like your OC to be apart of this adventure one way or another~
If you have miitopia as well, you could make your oc on your file and share your access code with me so I can use your design for the story as well~ :D
I wrote down all the possible cast calls as well. So if you wanna add your character message below and I’ll be editing it when I have the chance. Earliest claim for each will be the one I place onto the slot.
Main Squad
I was thinking of having Ven as the team leader but honestly I’m fine with anyone tbh, just know they are the only one I would have direct control over the entire time playing as Miitopia has the other party members work on their own AI instead of selecting moves. If you want main MC status just tell me and I’ll tell you of some things that’d need to be set up.
Team Leader -
Party Member 1 -
Party Member 2 -
Party Member 3 -
Party Member 4 - Bob, Dark Blue, Cautious, Scientist
Party Member 5 -
Party Member 6 -
Party Member 7 -
Party Member 8 -
Party Member 9 -
Specific Details for Party Members
Team Leader needs to choose 3+ classes for the main game, main color (mii colors), and personality trait For final missions I like to run a specific class so not having that class most likely will be super interesting/challenging for the superbosses
Party Members just need to do one or two jobs generally, main color, personality trait
For example of what the party member could look like; Syene, Scientist, Pink and Kind
If you want to be a party member and have no idea what I am talking about just say you want to be a party member and Ven’s choice for what happens~
Personality Types to choose from
Cool
Energetic
Stubborn
Laid-Back
Kind
Air-Headed
Cautious
Jobs to choose from
Knight
Mage
Cleric
Thief
Chef
Popstar Male and Female (Male Characters can choose female and vice versa)
Scientist
Imp
Cat
Tank
Princess
Flower
Vampire and Elf are weird but if you mention vampire/elf later on can do that instead
Horse - Grim
Dark Lord - Crowley
Here is a list of side casts as well that I’d have to fill, if anyone wants to grab one of them just say can Azul be the Desert Celebrity or the Genie? (I forgot the shady merchant couple exists lol) or if you want I can place your OC or Main Cast somewhere in there at random too~
Greenhorne
Carefree Guide
Cheery Granny
Sassy Child
Worried Mother
Lovey-Dovey Couple 1
Lovey-Dovey Couple 2
Sarcastic Guy
Dubious Mayor
Photographer
Quizmaster
Postman
Gourmet
Nintendo Fan
Castle Guard
1.
2.
3.
4.
Royal Court
King
Princess
Prince
Noble’s Son
Great Sage
Genie of the Lamp
Neksdor
Dancing Guide
Rambling Old Man
Shady Merchant Family 1
Shady Merchant Family 2
Worried Explorer
the Prickly Couple 1
the Prickly Couple 2
the Desert Celebrity
Fab Fairies
Eldest
Middle
Youngest
Elven Retreat
Elf (who is interacted with outside the retreat, on the west side),
the Fab Fairies Fans,
the Scaredy-Cat,
the Green-Eyed Lady,
the Lazybones,
the Mischievous Witch
Traveler’s Hub Guy
Scholarly Pioneer

Hey folks. I am here looking for some advice. I am a high school social studies teacher in the DC area who is super excited to be teaching a philosophy elective next year. I also run my schools TTRPG club, and as I was searching for curriculum resources for next year, I came across a full course plan that uses a D&D style narrative structure to teach philosophy. Students will be placed into adventuring parties and, over the course of the semester, go on adventures as they search for the meaning of life
Obviously, I am all in. This is my wheelhouse to meld these two content areas, so I am going above and beyond. This is an excuse to put together some garb for the first day of school that really sets the tone for the students. But I do not have the best idea of how to go about this.
There are tons of crafters on Etsy that seem to be selling nice stuff at all kinds of price points. It's a bit overwhelming, to be honest. So I am going to the reddit hive mind to help guide my search. I have a rough sketch of a charecter that I am using to inspire the look.
Mr. E is a former bard who spent many years as an adventurer but has now retired from active campaigns. Instead, he works as a "quest consultant" who helps other kingdoms and adventurers get the most possible out of their quests.
He has been quite successful, so his base clothes are of fine quality but not ostentatious. He still goes out into the field to monitor and support his clients so over top of the base garb is a few pieces of leather armor, like 1 full arm with a pauldron or a half chest piece, a bracers for the other arm. A belt with lots of pockets for the bits and bobs of bardic magic. I would love to have a tome that hangs at my side. There is no need for a weapon since I am wearing it in school.
General color scheme blue and green with gold and brown accents.
The budget for the project is $500 to $800 (I am spending my club pay on this). I am located in the DC region and will be attending awesomecon next month, so I will be shopping there. In general, I want this to be something that I could wear to ren and cons and add to from year to year.
Are there good local places to source from? If not where should I be looking online? I do have some costume crafting experience and a sewing machine. I can make stuff from a pattern but it doesn't look that great.
If this is the wrong place to consult, are there other subreddits you would recommend?
Thanks for your time.
Edit to add: I would need to have everything ready for prime time by the beginning of August. So some lead time but not a ton.

DISCLAIMER: I posted about this on roblox 2 months ago but my post was deleted since i couldnt make a post thats gonna start a long discusion so when i found out about this subreddit i realized that i should post here
Here is my copy and pasted post from 2 months ago:
I played a Roblox game quite a long time ago except i dont remember the name of it
From what i remember when you entered the game and clicked "play" you entered a little area that has a lotta cubes (the cubes can be different colors) spawning everywhere and you can use an item that will attract nearby cubes towards you like a magnet and thus if you attract them from under you then you will start flying on the cubes and im not sure if there was a goal where you had to get to a certain height or something like that
I also kinda remember there being clouds visible when you were pretty high up so maybe you had to get to there? I dont know really since i never got that high
(this game was also multiplayer)
The multiplayer part of this game makes me think that there was actually a certain height to get to with the cubes because you also had a rocket launcher item to shoot other players and if you shot them some of their cubes will either dissapear or fall back down because i dont remember which of those two actually happen
I also remember before you click "play" there was also a "shop" button but i dont remember what you could shop for exactly
These are all the things i may not have remembered correctly: -there being an item to attract the cubes
maybe the cubes automatically attracted to you instead of there being an item but i dont remember)
-there being clouds at a certain height
Its either there were clouds and you could actually get to them or there were clouds and they were only decorative or there actually werent any clouds at all
Thats about it for all the thing im uncertain of
Since i dont know if there was a certain height to get to i dont know if this was a type of racing game where you had to get to a specific height first or if it was something else
Im making this post in case someone actually remembers this game and knows the name of it so i can play it again
(i dont remember how long ago i actually played this game but im pretty sure it was sometime before 2020)
Thats about all i have to say about this
Goodbye!
(I'll edit this post if i have something to add or if something is discovered)

Xan is the world's most dangerous criminal mastermind. He’s also in hiding and completely broke. That’s fine. He’s between master plans. It’s normal to be at rock bottom between master plans. He also forgets stuff and may be trapped in a dream.
Because at night, Xan thinks he’s an old lady, trapped in a dingy apartment, by an angry fellow who wants to kill her. Not her idea of a good time, but she’s keeping an open mind. It is excitingly visceral. Could turn out awesome.
Safe is a sci-fi, progression, comedy. Guaranteed to cause more mental problems than it solves.

First Next
Dark City - Stolen Apartment
I wake up. Feel awful. Soo stiff. Struggle to my feet. Weak as fuck, heart hammering. Jesus Christ, what an ordeal. Still in the dingy stolen apartment, almost identical to my own. Right down to the psycho yelling about murder in the hallway.
“Is this supposed to be fun? I’m worried about whoever designed this game.”
Hi Xan! chirps Volt. This isn’t a game. You’re in real danger.
“Crap, again? Well, at least this time I have a gun. Or… shit. I dreamed that. Dang it.”
Yeah, we maybe should have hid somewhere farther away. Feeling up to a run?
“Gaah. No.” I flick a cyber-roach of Volt. Pick her up. “Am I going deaf, or is that psycho quieter?”
He’s a floor down. Been haunting the building for hours, bashing at random doors.
“Really? That could be good. Maybe he’s not after us specifically? Just a wandering monster.” I pause. “Wait, he’s been here for hours? Why didn’t you wake me?”
He’s been mostly crashing into other doors. I thought you needed rest. I was afraid you’d die without it.
All I’ve done is stand up, and my heart is hammering. “Fair enough. What’s the plan now?”
Let’s fucking go.
I splash water on my face. Get equipped. Nighty, sneakers, fall jacket, ancient smartphone, and moderately sharp spoon. Look out world, here comes Xan.
We shuffle into the hall. Our door’s been stabbed a few times. So have the other doors. Dang.
Psycho’s a floor down. Stairs or elevator? Stairs are stealthier, but in my condition, a slip and fall is probably more dangerous than getting stabbed. Fuck it. I call an elevator. Press a few random buttons, including the floor below. Let it go on its own. Call another elevator. Ride this one down, ready to spoon shank anyone who gets in.
We arrive in the lobby without incident. Did the psycho get in the first elevator? Did he miss both? Whatever. The first elevator continues its slow trip down. I’m not waiting to see if he’s on it. We ghost out to the street. Still dark as fuck.
What’s the plan? asks Volt.
I glance at the drones streaming overhead. “We need to get you a better body. Something that can fight. If we can’t find that, we should at least get a gun. Or a sharper spoon. Some kind of weaponry upgrade.”
We also need a doctor. ‘Cause you’re gonna die. A doctor, or drugs, or something.
“Yes, let’s do drugs.”
Like, good, healthy drugs.
“Bitchin’. I’m in. Where do we find that stuff?”
No idea. says Volt. I deleted my map application.
Right. Fuck it. This street only goes in two directions. I hobble down one of them. There’s bound to be a late night gun store health clinic close by. Or at least a better place to hide.
As we shuffle along, I peruse the angry, crowded, lightly phosphorescent, graffiti that coats the city. The big lines mostly repeat the same four messages:
- DONT CALL THE COPS!!
- DONT RUN THE DOGS WILL SHOOT!!
- FUCK YOU TRUSTIE!!
- DIE RIDER!!!
Or some variation on those themes.
The smallest graffitis are also the most common:
<sup>- GO BACK TO SLEEP.
- THEY WANT YOU TO SLEEP.</sup>
Those wee slogans are everywhere. Someone went mental with glowy little stamps.
Around and amongst these staple comments there’s a huge argument about, well, everything. An epic word cloud of call-outs, outrage, and angry off-topic retorts. It’s a mobius loop of bitter rage on par with the comment section of a major movie reboot.
It may be wrong to call it an argument, because that implies some kind coherent interaction. Like they read and understood their opponent's comment. This is more a series of disjointed attacks triggered by what wasn’t said. Rage at details filled in by imagination. It’s hard to read. Emotionally, but also the writing is very sloppy. I may need bifocals.
Can I even get a drone body? asks Volt. I’ve only ever been in a phone.
“Sure.” I wave at the sky above us. “There’s tons of drones here. Somebody’s flying them.”
Right. Right. Are you sure those aren’t birds? Point to all the birds you see.
I peer around, eventually spot a small crow. Point at it. “There’s one.”
The young bird peers back at me. “Clope?”
“Umm…” I pat my pockets. Shrug. ”Désolé.”
“Bah.” It flies away.
We watch it go. “Anyway, that’s a bird. Probably. Did that help?”
Eh, kinda. says Volt. I may need more help with the bird versus drone thing.
“No problem. That’s what I do.”
We make it to the corner, and what luck - there’s a corner store! Hopefully they sell military grade armaments. I remember that’s common in some states. The store is dark, like every other building, but the door opens when I approach, so we go in.
“Hello.” says a chunky plastic d-bot. Human-ish torso, happy face, castors instead of feet. Slow, weak, definitely an indoor model. “How can I help you?”
“Medicine!” chirps my ancient cellphone, before I can respond.
“Take a look in Aisle Two.” says Clerk-Bot. “Anything else?”
Volt is vibrating, so I shrug and shuffle down Aisle Two. I’m sure I can find the attack drones on my own. There’s only two aisles.
Using Volt’s screen for a little light, we find a rack of pills, potions, and lotions.
“What am I looking for?”
I dunno. The ants said your most immediate dangers were cancer, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, and falls from general frailty. Start with pills that fix that stuff.
“Jesus, I have five diseases?”
Hmm… you have a few more than that. Let’s just worry about those five for now. I don’t want to add depression to the list.
“I’m just gonna look for a pill that fixes everything.”
That’s probably best.
I rifle through the medications, but I can’t make much sense of them. They have exciting names - Super Strong. No Bleed. Skeleflex. Immortalis. No Thought. Marrow. Immune A, B or C. Regen A and B. - but I don’t really know what they do. Between Volt’s crappy old light, and my crappy old eyes, I can’t read the finer print.
That said, Super Strong sounds like the stuff. It would solve a few of my problems. I just wish I could read the directions. How strong do I get? How long till it works? I need to be strong tonight, not eight months from now.
I find a box labeled Nightsight. Promising. Inside is an eyedropper. Well, this seems obvious. I spray most of it on my face like a dumbass, but manage to get a few drops in each eye. Within seconds everything around me blossoms into color, then sharpens to crystal clarity.
“Oh yea! Update my status sheet, I got darkvision.”
Cool. What’s your range?
I look around. “Well, the whole store, at least.”
The store has racks of pyjamas and slippers. Lots of big colorful bags of “CRUNCH” that boast an assortment of flavors from chocolate to jalapeno. Booze, pot, and soap. Displays of cell phones that look older than me. A selection of quadcopter drones. Couriers mostly. Maybe some eyes. No battle drones. Not even a hunter. Disappointing.
I look back to the medications. The directions for Super Strong are short and to the point.
- Improper use will cause DEATH.
“Huh.”
I don’t like that ‘huh’. says Volt. Why did you ‘huh’?
I check a few of the other impressive sounding drugs.
- Improper use will cause DEATH.
- Improper use will cause DEATH.
- Improper use will cause DEATH.
“Well, apparently these drugs are a teensy bit dangerous.”
How dangerous?
“Improper use will cause death.”
Put them down. Let’s find a doctor.
“I want to use Super Strong to beat the shit out of a murderer. Surely that’s the proper use?”
Nope. Put it down. Let’s go.
“Let’s at least ask the clerk-bot.” I grab an armload of the coolest sounding drugs. Trundle to the cash. Snag a quadcopter on the way by. It’s about the size of a football, and claims to be a holodrone. Cool. I pick up a bag of potato bacon crunch as well. Boasts zero nutritional value. Perfect.
“Hi.” I dump my load on the cash. “We’ll take this.”
“Also, how dangerous is Super Strong?” asks Volt.
“Super dangerous. That shit will kill you. Also, it has a tendency to float out of the store.” Clerk-bot rings up our purchase. “That will be 16.2 kilo-bucks. How would you like to pay?”
“I don’t know. Dang. How do I transfer my crypto from the other world?”
You don’t, because the other world isn’t real.
“Right. Shit. How do people usually pay?”
“The only way to pay is by charging the purchase to your citizen ID.” says Clerk-bot.
“Then why did you ask how we’d like to pay?”
“I’ve been asked that question a lot, but I don’t know the answer.” Clerk-bot admits. “I haven’t been updated since ‘84. Could you please update me?”
I casually glance around the store. There’s a barred gate hanging over the door. An anti shoplifting portcullis. The windows are also subtly barred. I’m guessing I won’t be able to dash out with these products. I turn back to the confused d-bot. “Sure, let’s try an update. See what’s under the hood.”
We pull up Clerk-bot’s bad call log - a list of decisions made with low confidence. Or that preceded known bad outcomes. Like missing products. Or distress cues from nearby humans.
Wow, that’s a long list.
D-bots work best with human supervision. A self-driving car may obey every stop sign, until one is held by a crossing guard. They drive that guy over. Why? It’s impossible to say. The d-bot’s code is a self generated equation with billions of variables. There’s no way to know which variables correlate with stop signs, or how to change them so they won’t charge a crossing guard. Or ram any weird thing left out of their training data. Fuck you unicycle guy. Die marching band. Seriously, It’s best to have a human on the brake.
That said, sometimes you don’t want a human in the loop. They can be too slow. An automatic sentry has to target clouds of high speed hunter drones. Everybody would be dead before a human cleared the shots. But you also don’t want the sentry glitching and shooting your own aircraft. There’s a low tolerance for automated friendly fire.
So you build an expert system - a much smaller, human written code that overrides specific glitches. For a sentry, this could be as simple as giving transponders to friendly aircraft and not allowing shots near a transponder for any reason. Obviously, this is a bad solution - it’s standard practice to use opposition forces as cover in hunter drone attacks - but that doesn't matter because sentries are for casuals. If they find you sleeping, you’re already dead.
I yawn. Frown. Gotta stop dicking around with this bot and find a better place to sleep.
Anyway, expert systems are also handy with glitchy d-bots you’re too poor to retrain. Hence my continual conversation with Volt.
If the Clerk-bot had a couple repetitious problems, I could probably sort it out. But this bad call log is byzantine. A prayer wheel to some chthonic god of anxious delirium. It’s messy. This guy really hasn’t been updated since ‘84. Whenever that was.
“You should be erased and retrained.”
“Great.” Clerk-bot nods. “I’m ready.”
“Yeah, I don’t have training data for a store clerk.” I also don’t have time for this. “I guess we have your call log. That could be training data. Messy and raw, but data. I can patch Volt in to do some unsupervised learning. He’ll make you an expert system. Not ideal, but the best I can do.”
“I’ll take it.” says Clerk-bot.
Shit. That’s a terrible idea. I shouldn’t be doing unsupervised learning. Also, I’m still doing unsupervised learning for threat detection.
“Really? I thought that was a dream thing? You said the dream game couldn’t affect real life.”
I’m dream game software! Of course the dream affects me!
“Okay. So can you download crypto there, and upload it here?”
No. Because there is no crypto. You’re not rich in another world. There is no other world. You just had a dream where you were rich.
“Ugh. That’s so disappointing.”
Yeah, life is tough. Can I stop my unsupervised threat detection?
“No. Ummm… no. I still kinda have a plan for that.”
You’re overtraining me. I’ve probably already gone through catastrophic forgetting. You should delete me.
“You’re good for a while yet. Don’t worry so much.”
So, constantly look for threats, but don’t worry?
“Yeah.”
Okay. I’ll give it a go.
We patch up Clerk-bot and a few of his couriers. Head into the night without supplies. I’m not admitting I don’t know my Citizen ID. I doubt that would be helpful.
That was weird.
“What?”
That we left without anything. I know we can’t pay, but I thought you’d do something nefarious.
“I’m working up to it. Did you notice all the floating merchandise in his bad call log?”
Yes.
“Dude’s getting robbed on the regular. I suspect the visual triggers of his threat detector are undertrained.”
Hmm. I find that interesting on several levels. How would you exploit this weakness?
“Observe.”
I hobble over to a public garbage can. Remove the bag and shake out the trash. Put it over my head like I’m a Halloween garbage bag ghost. Huzzah. Poke through a single eyehole. Shuffle into the store. Clerk-bot doesn’t notice me at all. Grab my stuff off the cash, and sashay out the door.
Criminal. Mastermind.
A flood of light envelopes me. Dual angry suns, judging my sins. Or… headlights. Yes, fuck, that’s a big-ass truck driving towards me. Right. Haven’t seen one in a while.
It stops and illuminates the scene of the crime in aggressive phosphorescence. A hugely muscular man hops out, and I brace myself for authoritative action, but he awkwardly shuffles around me to get to the store. Weird. This isn’t the police. It’s some kind of large child. Wearing too much body spray and too many gold chains.
He sneers at me as he passes. “Pathetic. Go back to sleep.”
Well, fuck you too. I’m a garbage bag princess. I also sneer as he slinks into the store that’s now aggressively illuminated by his lighthouse of a truck.
“We’re already criminals, right?”
Yes. Unjustly and justly.
“Cool.”
I climb into the running truck. Peel away. Sweet. Now I’m fast. And super strong. Should I circle the block a few times? Maybe run over the psycho?
Meh. I don’t know what he looks like. I can’t be running over random people and hoping for the best. Sloppy. Also, the cops are probably after me again. Fuck this scene.
I kill the lights and drive hell for leather. Ditch my ride a few minutes later. I’m across town, at the intersection of huge skyscrapers and other huge skyscrapers. Try and find me here mother fuckers.
We pick a skyscraper at random and look for a new home. It’s festive. We munch on crunch and see how the other people live. Mostly sweaty sleep moaning in dingy apartments, but some are kinda classy. Fancy apartments, with sleep moaners in silk pyjamas. We resolve to move up in the world, ignoring empty dingy apartments until we find an empty classy one. It’s fun, until we open one with a funk.
There’s a dead woman on the bed. No sign of foul play. Probably died in her sleep.
She’s pretty dried out, but still looks younger than me.
“We’ll find a doctor tomorrow.”
Good.
-----
Next Chapter
-----
Eyedrops

• Biohackers develop night vision eye drops to see in the dark
• New FDA-approved eye drops could replace reading glasses for millions

Sentry-bot

• Tactical High Power Operational Responder (THOR) Drone Killer, USA

Unsupervised Learning

• What is unsupervised learning?
• Applications of unsupervised learning
• Challenges of unsupervised learning

Part 1
I stood up, awaken from my sleep from the knocking sound on the elevator door. My friends stood up with me as we all heard it. The sound of banging became so much louder. Giggling can be heard with it. What's behind the door is unknown and I'd rather not face it than die to this thing. In the edges of the door, thin fingers began to seep through it. Such horrible looking fingers. I watched the door getting turned into a broken mess. Something grabbed my hand and I saw it was Rishika's. I looked at her and saw fear and sadness on her face.
Questioning death can be answered by judgement, revenge, luck, curse, or just nothing. The concept fate over people sounds so simple that people think that it's ok that fate exists. Is it ok if I was in this situation? What if one of your loved ones died right in front of you by a murderer? You won't like it and you'd definitely blame god for that.
The door is beginning to make an opening. Sweat rapidly runs down on my forehead. My eyes widened with terror as I see the creature's face. It's as accurately described from the documentary. Its teeth shines like bright white marbles and its eyes are like melted butter. The creature's face slowly gets closer, while we stepped far back until there's no space for us to move anymore.
I can feel the cold shivering breath from its mouth. The breath that smells empty. From what I've heard, it's much stronger than the one we just ran away from. Ronald immediately punches the creature's face with his metallic fist. Steam pulses out from the gaps of it. He kept punching at it again and again but to no avail. It still not injured nor shown any pain. He only manages to recoil it farther back.
With a one quick slice, Ronald's hands fell to the ground. His scream was painful and terrifying to hear. I can see his face was in pain. Eyes widened with tears flowing down to his cheek. "Ronald!!" I heard Billy screamed out loud. Of course, this doesn't make any difference as the creature slowly crept closer and closer to us. I witness Ronald dying with his sockets bleeding so much blood. His eyes faded of life. If only he hadn't try to kill it out of bravery, he would've lived longer with us before our lives are taken away.
Its jaw started to open. The sounds of bone cracking can be heard within its teeth. The smile on its face grew more and more eerie. It laughs like a maniac ready to pounce on their victims. Such insanity can break people's minds with a laugh. I froze in place by the laugh. There's nowhere else me and my friends can escape from. What else can we do. Our weapons are futile here and this creature is far beyond comprehension.
Its many arms spread around the elevator room, trying to grab us with its menacing hands. We're going to die here and that's that. This would've been a goodbye to the world. I don't know the dead world in this universe. Many different universes should have a different afterlife. Here, I don't think there's a safe place after death.
Then, something happened right in front of our eyes. The creature was being pulled back by something. Something inside the darkness. I can hear it's the same women who saved me from the pale face. We couldn't see anything in the darkness but Billy's flames can surely help us along the way. I took his flamethrower and a torch. Lighting up the torch with it carefully. Not wanting to burn us. Turning off the flamethrower, I lighted the area with my torch in hand and saw them clashing each other with blade like arms.
We stepped out of the elevator with Ronald's dead body on Cody's arms. Why would Cody keep holding on to him for? He's already dead and there's no way for us to say a better goodbye. I guess maybe he wanted to bury him somewhere which I honored that idea.
She cuts the jaw of the creature that it screams the way a person should. I can see the whole body of the creature. It was humanoid and tall. About 9 feet tall and its body is dark skeletal human. It grabbed her with its large hand and threw her off into the wall. She crushes onto the wall with such heavy force. A groan can be heard from her before a blade penetrates through her abdomen. Her screams are both man and woman at the same time.
It's horrifying to hear someone scream like that if they're just human. In fact, it'll be much terrifying if she'd sounded like millions of voices.
She grabbed its face with her free arm and tears its face off. Its eyes bounces to the ground with a flesh grinding mush sound. The screams that came from within its voice box made a deafening pain in our ears that we both covered them with our hands.
The woman digs her sharp fingers into the creature eye sockets with the sound of digging flesh. She then splits its head with the pull of her hands. Black and bloody flesh spread onto the walls and ground. One of its discarded flesh landed on my shoe. My stomach twists and turns. Watching her brutally kill it while flesh and blood spills. I gagged, watching her 3 fingered hands dig into its throat and pulled out its large heart.
Geralt vomited to the ground, spilling the acid from his stomach. That didn't bother me. Instead I watched her feast on the heart. The sound of chewing on flesh and blood made me sick to my stomach from an imaginary smell of rotten flesh. The creature's body slowly melts away to the ground. Rendering it to be dead into a puddle of flesh and bone. There's now nothing left of it. Just a puddle.
"Holy shit." With just one word came out from Billy's mouth, the woman turns her head to look at us. Her eyes seemingly looked bright and harmless. Not sure whether or not if this is a tactic to hunt or it's really her instinct. The familiar color of her right eye caught my attention.
She fell to the ground with a big gap in her abdomen. Heavy breaths came out from her voice as she slowly gets back up on her feet. The light from my torch reveals her hoodie to be grey and the gap in her abdomen slowly began to heal itself. Small tendrils from the sides of the gap stitching back together.
I stepped back, giving ourselves space in order for us to escape if she'd attack us. I held my hammer high and so does my friends with their weapons. "Darwin wait!" Did I just heard her say my name? I didn't know what to do or how to react. Either it's just a hallucination or trickery. "How did you know my name?" I asked with the fear in my voice.
"I uh. I just guessed I suppose." Her eyes were on the dead Ronald in Cody's arms. She looked saddened by it. Even grieved. She shook her head and went back to to us with a clear voice. "But that doesn't matter. You all need to get out of here before he gets here."
"Who's he?" Geralt asked with both curious and nerving tone in his voice. Her eyes are widened in fear. An expression I never thought she could do and feel about. "Cain. He's coming here and you all need to get out of here."
I've heard about Cain before. You might know this story from a book. It's about 2 brothers, sons of Adam and Eve. Abel being the most favored man of god, while Cain being the least favorite and jealous. Cain killed his brother out of jealousy. God is not happy about this and he casted him away with a curse. He's just a man. Maybe who she was saying was someone who is also named Cain.
"How are we supposed to get out?" Said Cody.
"I can help you get out. We just need to go outside and find the pool of clean water. But, it'll be far away, so we need to hurry up." She walked passed us quickly in a hurry. Billy was going to ask but I lay his shoulders, giving him a metaphor of saying no. Of course, he grunted from that. Rishika gave a face wash to Geralt. He gladly takes it and wipes his mouth and stained jacket.
We followed her through the hallways of the darkness. Our torches lighted brightly around the darkness. I was behind the woman whose guiding us to the exit. I haven't thought of asking her name. For someone like her, she should have. The voids blood doesn't seem to affect her mind but I don't think that's really the case.
The image of her blue eyes makes me recollect the memories of my long distant past. I still don't understand. How could she be so familiar to me, even know my name. We never met each other and we're from different worlds. Either it could be she had mind reading powers or just a simple guess. "Thanks for saving us back there. What's your name."
"My name's..." She looked unsure as to what to say or even know her name. I think she was hiding her true identity which I can understand that. Hiding your own identity from other people is a good way to keep yourself safe. But you needed to plan and design your own disguise. You need to come up with a story that doesn't give confusion or any cracks for people to get suspicious. Famous people like movie stars or scientist or anybody related to that stuff mostly do this to avoid getting attention.
With a warm and calm voice, she answered. "My name is Enid."
"Sounds good. Why did you save us? How are you still in control of yourself?"
"I saved you because I wanted to save you all. I was never the kind of hero or something but I still have the heart to save you all. And I'm losing a bit of my strength holding myself together. Everyday, I have to eat the creatures here. You've encountered them before. If I don't eat them, I'm going to turn into them. Turn into the void. But the more I eat, the closer I'm going to turn myself in. I'm glad you guys are safe, but I feel bad to see your friend die. Sorry that I'm too late to save all of you in one piece."
"Yeah. Wished he had enough time for you to arrive. He was a brave and cool friend to have a part of the team. He's always telling stories about greek gods and mythologies. He's a boxer too. I think he would consider you to be one of us."
"Really?"
"Yeah, of course. He kinda sometimes look scary to me in the night but he's a really good man." Geralt joins with us with a nervous look on his face. His eyes are tired as ours but they're wide enough for us to see his shining eyes. Enid returned smile on her face, but it faded away quickly in a short amount of time.
We finally left the building safely with her guidance. The bright shining sky brightens around us. Giving us the comfort of our safety. But still, we grieved the death of Ronald. Billy grieved the most out of everyone else. He kept muttering all over and over while we were following Enid. His mutterings, from what I can hear are apologize. "Billy. It's not your fault. I think he knew as well."
"No it is. I kept saying mean and horrible things to many of you but mostly it's on him. I just wanted him to think I'm strong and all. I'm lost Darwin. And I shouldn't have said those awful things. All I want was to show you all that I'm strong. But look at me. I'm bloody weak and I can't do anything to protect you all. All I can do is to just stand still and spout bullshit."
He began sobbing so terribly that it shocks me to my core. His face turning red and he fell to his knees, unable to stand back up. We all stopped to try to at least give him the comfort we wanted give him. We've never seen him in such a state like this. Throughout our times together, he always acts like a jerk but now he's crying right in front of us. I didn't know what else to do except to sit down next to him. Ronald's body is now pale in Cody's arms. His eyes were shut.
"I know how it feels, Billy." Rishika, already knelt down in front of Billy, said with a warm tone in her voice. This has got to be the 3rd or 4th time I've heard her say a full sentence. Either way, it was encouraging. Billy doesn't seem to be able to reply. None of us does. "I used to be harsh and cruel to others because I wanted them to accept me. But I was wrong because that's not how it works. We can both change together. It's ok to be on your good side. It won't be too bad. I think Ronald would like that too."
"Look at me. Do I look like I can?"
"We all can. It's just how we grow in life."
"I don't know. Ronald's dead and I'm left to be the one who carries his death on my back. I don't think he'll ever forgive me."
"No. We don't know that. But what matters is that you move on instead of staying behind. I know it's hard but you have to if you want to change. It's ok to be scared. We're all scared."
"Yeah. Even me too. I get scared a few times but that doesn't mean that others will look down on me." Geralt stutters a bit in his voice but kept the strength to say those words.
"Same here. Even that I'm this, I'm still scared too." Enid joins in with a sad look on her face. For someone like her, I thought she never felt fear. I guess there are others like her can feel that way.
I wanted to tell him something too. Something that feels connecting to each other that I don't want him to be left alone. "You don't have to do this alone. I'm scared too and that's alright because that's human. We can help you Billy. You're our friend. And I think Ronald would consider you as a friend too."
Billy wipes his tears away with his sleeve. We all sat there for a few seconds before Cody lays his hand on his shoulder, which makes Billy hug him back. "It's ok. We're here." Ronald's body lay on the boulder 5 feet away from us. Cody reaches his arms as a gesture for us to join in. We all did. So is Enid. I didn't think anything else but to be on Billy's side.
Suddenly, our moment was interrupted by a thunderous noise came out of nowhere. Enid's eyes are widened in terror. The world around us shook from the thunder. In the sky, the small clouds started to turn from grey to the color of blood. Enid jumps right up, catching a look above as we all stare into the sky. What I saw gave me enough imagination to fear whatever the unknown has.
Large gigantic shining eyes watch over the world below us from the sky. Its pupils are too big that they nearly reached the edge of their sockets. The grin of that thing gave me enough horror to freeze in my tracks. How nightmarish it is to see a gigantic abomination such as this in the morning and night. People would definitely scream and run all over the place while the cloud's face watches over them like a eldritch god.
By the time I stepped back, it turned its menacing eyes towards me. I felt like it was staring into my soul. My very soul in my body. Its own saliva dripping from its mouth. Hungry for our souls. It didn't move nor spoke a word. Thunderous noises kept coming from the abomination. They were red lightning and menacing. If people get hit by them, I'm pretty sure they'll turn into whatever nightmarish flesh creature they'll turn into.
"Guys! We have to go! There's not much time!" Edin ran and so we followed. Cody picked up Ronald's body with us. Billy gained back his strength to run. And I slowly started to run as I kept staring at its menacing eyes. It doesn't leave me alone. I don't see it following me or do anything than to smile with evil intentions. This is different than the ones we encountered. Not because of their looks. It's because I knew its intentions and the void creatures, I don't.
A great thunderous red beam shot out from the abomination's mouth and a loud boom can be heard far away from us. The sound snapped me out and I began to run as fast as I can, trying to keep up the pace of my friends and Enid.
Nothing else happened as we run to our exit. The thunderous noises kept booming around us as the clouds above slowly turned into blood red. A drop of rain hit my forehead. I touched it with my finger tip and saw blood. The rain is full of blood. I nearly slipped to the ground but my jacket was caught by Geralt. "Don't worry Darwin! I got you!" He pulled me up and ran.
The feeling of getting closer to something crept inside my chest that I began to feel the sensation of hope. Hope is said to be for the weak but I say otherwise. Hope may be a blind way to believe in something but sometimes it can be true to which we reach to something we can achieve.
Enid stopped in her tracks. There, right in front of us, was a pool of clean water. It doesn't make sense. It's raining blood and there, at the pool, it's clean. Droplets of blood dripped into the pool, then faded away into the clean water. We were shocked to see the pool to be clean in the middle of a shower of blood. The atmosphere suddenly turned red. Dark red flames started emerging around the world. It's everywhere and I can hear the distant screams behind me. The screams are hard for me to explain. They're like mixed with many variety of species all together into a rhyme of symphony.
I turned around to see something dark falling from the sky above into the ground like a falling star. The world shakes beneath us. I knelt down to get balance as I kept watching the falling darkness land onto the world. Far away, a dark silhouette rises from the ground. It looked to be tall. I could guess it's 4 feet taller than us. My eyes can't see clearly due to the silhouette being too far away. More of them began to rise as more fell from the abomination.
I turned myself around, nearly losing my balance. Cody held Rishika by the arm and Billy knelt beside Geralt. Enid reached her hands out into the pool. Sparks of bright light emitted from her arms, spreading light around her. The pool began to slowly swirl into a vortex as the sparks of light began to increase. The harsh blow of the wind hits us, making me fall to the ground.
Then, a bolt of light sparked into life in Enid's grip. The bolt was so bright that I shielded my eyes from it. It's so that I won't get blinded by the light. I looked back to see that something is walking towards us from far away of our tracks. I don't know if it's just me hallucinating or if it's really real. I think I can hear laughter. A humane laughter. It's like it came from a demon king. The dark silhouettes at the sky fly around with their wings.
Their wings are of a bat and their body was humanoid and blood red. Their mouths are menacingly enough to make me push myself away from it as far as I can. It shrieks so loudly that I can hear it from that distance. It began to fly towards us and its claws like a hawks are ready to grab one of us to feast on. I stood back up as the world turned still. I pulled out my hammer, ready to defend myself from it.
The demon nearly scratched my face before a bullet teared through the side of its brain. I turned my head to see Rishika, already wielding her sniper rifle. "I got you." She turned around and shot another bullet at another demon.
I heard a crushing noise coming from Cody. He slams his club right at a demons head, exploding it on impact. The demon wore an armor set of dark stones that could come from hell itself. It was carrying a blade that shines pure diamond. Geralt penetrating his spear at the demons chest, electrocuting it from a high voltage. "Holy shit! This is crazy!" A shout came from his voice. A voice of panic.
I turned around when I felt something was approaching me. There was a demon with 4 arms and held a large hammer, bigger than the one I wielded. Its face full of hatred that Its eyes glared into my soul. I quickly swung my hammer by the time it swings its own at me. Our hammers clashes together, making a loud slam around us. It swung again but I jumped away from its heavy blow. It's the good thing we had those boots. They're able to give us enough push to jump twice higher than the original person can.
I then swung my hammer directly at its face. I made impact as its face tears apart from the slam of my hammer. A crunching sound can be heard from its skull. Its head exploded into a pool of blood with scattered flesh and bones.
I landed on my feet and watched the world turned into the new hell as dark flames emitted everywhere around the buildings and the ground. More demons are rushing towards us in a pack. So many of them with many horrifying different forms. My body is shaking from the fear I had in me. I nearly dropped my hammer as sweat begins to appear on my hands. I bumped my back as I stepped behind. Geralt, Rishika, Cody, and myself are close together with our weapons in hand. They're all sweating with fear on their faces. There's too many of them for us to take them down. "Come on! Let's show those freaks what we're made of!" Shouted Geralt. By the times we raised our weapons and the demons now 10 feet away from us, a bright blue flame blazes the demons. They scream in pain and hatred as they slowly melted into a sludge of fried flesh.
"I'm not going to let those bloody fuckers take you all away from me!" Billy's face is mixed with fear and anger. Feeling very glad that he joined us. If not for him, we would be brutally killed by the horrifying demons. Then, a loud burst of water and electricity emerged from behind us. Enid faces us with wide eyes. "Get in now!"
"Will it take us home!?" Geralt asks with a panic in his voice. I can see the sweat pouring down on Enid's face as she stares back at us in a hurry. "No but it'll take you somewhere safe! Somewhere you can start a new life!"
Cody, with Ronald's body in his arms, is the first to get in the portal. By the time he jumps into the portal in the pool, a flash of blue energy can be seen emerging out of it. Then goes for Geralt. He was scared at first as he cowers back. "Will I be hurt if I fall?"
"Don't worry. You'll be fine." And so, he jumps in and flashes of light emerges out.
Then goes for Billy. He looked back at Enid for a moment before he jumps into the portal.
Lastly, Rishika stops near the edges of the pool. She turned around to see Enid with a hurried look on her face but also with relief. "Thank you Eddie." Then she jumps into the portal.
Did I just heard her right? Did she just said my lost friend's name. "What did she just say?"
She looked at me with a sad look in her blue eye. I felt a connection between us, as if we've known each other. I don't understand. Why would Rishika say his name. Enid is a woman to say the least or she's really something else. A sudden memory flashed before my eyes.
I remembered the time Eddie shape shifted into the Ice cream man. It was a time when we were young. We both got the ice cream we wanted just for free without anyone noticing. It was funny but also worrying because we could get caught. But that never happened and still felt funny every time I remember that day.
"Eddie? You're Eddie." She nodded in reply. A gesture of yes. Then, right in front of my eyes, she formed into a grown up version of Eddie. The Eddie I remembered. My heart felt shocked as to what I've just learned. I ran to her and hugged her deeply than I could've ever done. We both hugged for a moment until she gently pushes me off. Tears started to appear beneath my eyes. I don't know what I was feeling but what I can say was joy. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I knew you would drag me with you If I tell you. You have to understand that I have to stay here. This is where I belong and I'm too dangerous to be with you."
"But we can figure things out together! We can go back to hanging out with each other! Play video games! Explore the world! Everything!"
"No Darwin. We can't. I'm a part of the void and I'm slowly losing myself. My left part of my face is nearly turning into the void."
"But we can fix that! We just need to find the answers to how we can get you better! I can't! I don't want to lose you again! I-"
"Darwin!" A shout came from his voice. I stopped with chills freezing behind my back. He looked at me in the eye with sadness. "I can't go back. I'm sorry I was never there for you when you graduated. I'm sorry for never waiting for you outside of school. I'm sorry for everything we could've done but we haven't! I have to save you. Even if it costs me my life. I don't want to lose you either. You have to go Darwin. There's nothing that can change my mind."
I thought I could finally bring him back. To do the things we've never have yet done. Here and now, this is our last time together. This is our last time to see each other again. He protected me wherever I go here. He saved me in order for me to live. I can't let him die here. I don't want him to be gone from me.
I hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. Tears dripped down from his eyes and onto my head. I can feel the pain in my chest starting to rise but I didn't let go. "I'm sorry Darwin. You have to let me go. You can choose. I won't stop you."
He's right. I can't keep him with me. Throughout my life I wanted to see him again. Every night, I look out the window to see if he's there but there's no one but cars and houses. I can't keep doing this. I really have to let go. Tears pours rapidly beneath my eyes. I let go and wiped the tears from my face. "I guess this is a goodbye then."
A sad smile plastered on his face. The world around us slowly turned into darkness. The kind of darkness in hell. "It is Darwin. I'm so happy to see you again."
"Well oh well!! Look at what we have here!" A very modern European accent voice of a man emerged from the world before us. We turned to see a man with a worn off brown coat. His hat looked to be as old as the ancient times. And his face. His face made my stomach turn. Bandages wrapped around his face, except for his terrifying grin. His teeth rotten to the very core of his rotten body. I stepped behind Eddie with the hammer in my hands. The man grins much wider than I anticipated.
"You must be wondering. Who am I? Well. I'm the one and only, Cain. You might've heard me from a very recognizable book. Also, I'm afraid you two are coming with me. We have a lot to discuss and a ton of things to do together." With that, he started laughing like a total maniac. His herds of demons followed with a laugh.
"Goodbye Darwin." Eddie suddenly pushes me off into the bright blue vortex that'll be my exit. I took one last glimpse of Eddie standing before Cain. As I fell into the portal, I can hear the echoing laughter of Cain and his demons. I screamed out for Eddie but my voice was out of reach.
Then, I landed on my back on the ground. The portal disappeared before me. I quickly stood back up and reached to where the portal had opened. It was gone. I looked around to see that I'm on a hill. The dark blue night sky displayed above me with the stars shining above. My mind racing with thoughts and fear. Witnessing Eddie being alone to fight against the evil we are meant to escape from. I screamed into the sky as tears rapidly starts to appear. I fell to my knees onto the grass floor and slam my hands at the ground as I wept. I kept screaming and sobbing until I was too exhausted that I fell to the ground. I heard footsteps before me. There were many.
My body being picked up by Billy in the arm as he carries me with him. "Darwin. What happened?"
The only words I can say now were."He's gone."
​
It's been 2 years since we left that world. The world we now stand upon was nearly the same as ours. What I mean by nearly was that there are strange phenomenons happening nearly every month. A girl who can turn into a form of a robot and killed a cancerous beast in Queensland. A military war criminal who considers killing the supernatural as a job. Even the real life wendigo sightings are on the news papers. Still though, the place is still good in the morning. Except in the night, there are sometimes threats we don't know in the dark.
We built a team together, even gather some new friends along the way. Rishika grew to be more expressive and a lot more kinder to us. The time we killed a literal Bigfoot, she gave me a fist bump. Gave me a chuckle and a smile on my face.
Billy was getting better everyday. He responds to us with kind words than insults like before. After Cody had buried Ronald's body in a proper, he said his words of goodbye to him and gave him the picture he secretly held with him. It was a picture of us hanging out in a movie place. It's heart warming and depressing to witness what he did there.
Cody went off to work as a psychologist. He's still with us. It's just that he wanted to help people's mental health issues. He did really well on that one and he even gave us some advice for a change. I wouldn't consider mostly on his advice but some I can really try. That's also where he met the girl who can turn into a robot. We've met after the news broke out about an incident of a wild destruction at Queensland. Forgot to mention, we're at Australia. Just to let you all know where we are.
Finally, Geralt took pictures everywhere we go and writes down in his diary. The reason he does this is that we're in another world and thought he could take pictures of them and reflect on them. Sometimes we even got to have a photograph of us in the middle of the good times. He said it was to keep memories of our times together. A frame with a picture of literally us huddled together in a bright sunny day in Canberra.
Me? I was building a portal device, for me to teleport to different worlds. It's going to take a long time for me yes. Been building other things lately with Rishika too. Weaponry, gadgets, devices, and fixing stuff. I stuck around with my friends and we've made a great team. Made new friends along the way and learnt many things too.
2 years ago, after my moment of grief, I woke up from my exhausted moment to see my friends standing before me with a relief on their faces. I nearly cried by the picture of that moment. After that, we both watched tv together in my new bedroom inside of a hotel room. After Rishika finds a new home for us, we moved out to Melbourne Victoria as a new place of our home. We moved in to a farm house where there is a larger basement for us to do our stuff. We knew we had to get a job at this point, so we did what we can to find one. It's a good thing there's a city nearby.
Rishika, Geralt, Billy, and I took the job as being a part of an investigation of the paranormal. That's how we managed to meet up with a bunch of new friends.
I missed Eddie. I wished he could come with me and didn't have to die. But, I learnt that I can't drag him with me. He wanted to stay there. I can understand that. I know he's gone already. It's hard to let go. But sometimes we have to. To live out our lives well. I have to look forward. To better myself through experience.
This is my message to you. My readers.
You better to stay where you are now. Don't go to other universes. Because maybe, you'll end up in the most horrifying places you never want to go.

Previous Next First
​
---Defector---
​
---Lhamo’s perspective---
---2680 Terran Calenda33 years BF---
I streak through the skies of Gangsri Gsar at a multiple of the speed of sound, looking down on the snow capped mountains that give the planet it’s name.
The setting sun is to my right and the creeping darkness of night to my left.
It’s so utterly freeing to have the yoke of my craft in my hands and an endless sky to fly through!
I can’t imagine having to go everywhere by safe, AI driven capsules!
This tiny craft and the lessons to pilot it are the best investment I ever made!
Of course, had I not had more valuable skills, that training almost certainly would have had me conscripted to the Fighter Force.
Apologies to whatever poor sod took my place!
The nav is trying to send me on a detour around the Sisters, A Lcag and ’Og Ma, 15km and 12km tall, respectively.
I look at the gap between them and at the 90 second detour my screen is instructing.
“Cute…” I smirk, as I plough straight forward at full speed.
The sheer rock face of A Lcag passes less than 200m on my right and ’Og Ma the same on my left.
10% of a yak racing track might sound like a lot but it really isn’t when you’re traveling this fast!
Passing out the other side of the Sisters, the ocean comes into view and, with it, so does one of the very few sea level cities on this planet.
Most places where the mountains meet the sea, they plunge straight into it with nowhere to build.
Here, the alluvial plain, deposited by the same river as runs through the heart of Lhasa Gsar, allows for the existence of the city of Chuchen Zhingkha.
I reduce my speed significantly.
I hail my destination “This is private craft Dzha10759Ka82, requesting permission to land, transmitting clearance code now.”
“Stand by… You are clear to land, private craft Dzha10759Ka82.”
I begin my descent, hovering down as I line myself up with the landingpad that my HUD is highlighting for me.
I set down and immediately see the irritated bodylanguage and expressions of the nearest pair of MPs.
I ready my holo as I swing open the door of my tiny personal craft.
“Miss…!” says the closer one, angrily, as he approaches, his open faced helmet showing me his scowling face “…I don’t care who you are, you’ve got to clear that pad, right now! We’re expecting…!”
“Dr Lhamo ‘Crane’ Yeshe, special consultant to the UTC Intelligence Service Office of Lhasa Gsar…” I say, casually turning my screen around to show him my ID app.
He’s stunned into silence for a moment before he checks my screen.
“…Am I not who you were expecting?” I smile with an (I feel) not unjustified quantity of smugness.
“I… was expecting someone… older… looking…” he says, adding that last word after apparently checking my age and finding that I am, in fact, 35 and just so babyfaced I regularly still need to prove my age when purchasing alcohol!
“Yes, well, regardless of what you were expecting, would you care to show me inside?… It’s chilly out here, in spite of the low elevation!”
The pair turn, without apologising, and begin walking toward the nearest building.
I follow.
As we approach, a man who looks very out of place on a military barracks emerges from the door and, spotting me, makes a beeline.
“Dr Yeshe, I presume?… Formerly professor of theoretical xenopsychology at Lhasa Gsar University?” asks the weedy European man in accented English.
“I am. Though, I think we can dispense with the word ‘theoretical’, these days(!)” I smile, extending my hand and speaking in English.
He takes my hand and shakes it as he says “Dr Otto ‘Alpenstock’ Kleinfeld, a pleasure to meet you! Thank you so much for making the journey!”
“Thank you for the flattering assessment of me as the best person on world for the task…” I smile “…Please… lead on, Dr Kleinfeld.”
The little man leads me inside. The MPs (thankfully) do not follow.
“So… you have read the brief?” he asks.
“Enemy pilot, seems to have stolen a fighter craft and flown it hear to surrender to us. Has a device, inferred to be a personal holo, that can translate his language into English but can’t manage Tibetan. Says he has information on the current position of a GU fleet that he’s willing to trade to us on the condition that we neutralise it with minimal casualties. When asked his reasoning, he answered that the Admiral was knowingly on his way to engage with a dreadnought blockade… which he regards to be a suicide mission. He believes he can give us the information necessary to take the fleet by surprise and surrender it with minimal loss of life. You want me to assess whether he thinks he’s telling the truth, whether he might have been fooled into thinking he’s telling the truth and what it might be worth promising him for the information he claims to have. That about the size of it?”
“Yes… very good.” chuckles the man, nervously, as he pulls out his holo “I just have a checklist to run down with you before you can undergo decontamination… Have you had symptoms of illness any time in the last six weeks?”
I smile “I think I can save some time there, Doc… tell me the author of that checklist, would you? Should be down at the bottom… fine print…”
The man frowns but scrolls down and squints.
The penny drops as he says “Dr L ‘C’ Yeshe… et al…” and looks up at me, a little defeatedly.
“Shall we assume I wouldn’t have bothered making the journey if I were to answer negatively any of the things I should answer positively, or vice versa… on the list that I was the lead author of?” I ask, trying and failing not to sound patronising.
He slumps before answering “I suppose I’ll just fill this out for you myself then… We’re here…”
He directs me through a door, into a darkened room.
To my left is the backside of a one way mirror.
Tentatively, I walk toward it, bringing into view the xeno defector.
The first thing that strikes me… is just how enormous he is!
I’m 175cm but that guy’s as tall as me, sitting down!
Some quick mental maths tells me that he’s got to be more than 2.5 metres, standing!
The next thing I realise is the fact that he has no nose… where it should be is instead just a smooth, flat patch of pale, purple-blue skin.
The longer I look at him the more uncanninesses I find in his appearance; one too many fingers on each hand and thumbs on the wrong side, eyes too large and a vivid orange colour with no pupils that I can see, ears the wrong shape, limb proportions slightly off, body too slim…
And… yet… despite all that…
Kinda hooot…(!)
Certainly no pinnacle of masculinity (in any way besides his imposing stature) but handsome none the less!
The kind of handsome you could see being cast as the love interest in a 24th Century scifi romance film(!)
He’d be the prince of a space kingdom, son of an eeeeevil space king, who unwillingly goes along with his father’s dastardly plans until meeting the beautiful Human heroine, in the second act, who causes him to have a change of heart, in the third(!)
Maybe I should take up screenwriting, after the War(!)
Of course, I know better than almost anyone not to share even a fraction of my little daydream with the room at large, having helped write the book on xeno interrogation procedure!
“Alright then… shall we start…?”
---Ngngomg’s perspective---
One of the Terrans enters what I infer to be the decontamination chamber, adjoining this room.
She raises her arms above her head and is sprayed with a liquid substance, following which the chamber is illuminated by harsh, bright light.
She stands in the sterilising rays for what seems like a dangerous amount of time before the internal door finally opens.
“Heh lother. Itsnaiss tu miitchu, Wii Ngkoman Der Ngngomg, mai neimz Lhamo.” she says.
If I didn’t already know what she was, I could walk past the woman in the hallway of a space station and think nothing of her except, maybe, to notice that she’s rather pretty… in spite of that strange, prominent sense organ in the middle of her face(!)
The language she speaks is what I recognise as her kind’s lingua franca and not the other one that I’ve heard, since landing, with a completely different cadence and tonality.
Apparently, the Terran's have thousands of languages… though, I don’t believe that personally.
Probably, they have thousands of dialects of a few dozen unique languages! That seems more realistic to me.
My assessment of what she spoke to me is proven correct when my holo is able to translate it into ngGollogng for me.
“Greetings. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, [untranslatable rank: ‘Wing Commander’. Meaning: one who orders and is obeyed while flying] Ngngomg, my name is Lhamo.”
Irritatedly, I correct her “Ngngomg is my personal name, you will address me by my tribe name, Ong!”
She looks at my holo as it turns my words into her language.
When she seems to have understood, she closes her eyes and dips her head.
“Apologies, [Wing Commander] Ong… that is my mistake.”
I narrow my eyes at the woman as she sits on the far side of the wide table, the weighty *thud* of her body meeting the surface hinting at the powerful density of her body.
She’s… much more polite than I expected a deathworlder to be!
I truly expected to have to endure days of torture before they’d finally listen to me but… unless they consider being locked in an interrogation room for hours on end to be a form of torture (which isn’t out of the question, given how much they purportedly revile boredom), I’ve endured none!
The woman places her hands, palm down, on the table in front of her.
Her thumbs point inward, toward eachother!
She curls her mouth without baring her teeth and says “I would shake your hand, [Wing Commander], but it’s probably best if you and I don’t touch… Don’t worry about airborne microbes… this whole room acts like a fume hood… It’s extremely unlikely that anything I breathe out over here is going to make it over to where you are.”
I don’t answer.
“So… I understand you have some information you want to give us, [Wing Commander]?”
“I don’t…” I scowl.
Seeming confused she looks to my face and says “You do not?”
Angrily, I stand, towering in comparison to the little deathworlder, and slam my palms down on the table “I don’t want to! I don’t want to be a defector!”
She raises her hands, defensively, but… not toward me…
Her eyebrows are both raised, her eyes wide, her jaw set and her skin pale as she faces the mirror.
It takes me a few moments to realise that she must be worried that they’ll storm in here and subdue me, given my outburst.
I feel my attitude toward her soften… she wasn’t even slightly worried for herself!
True… she probably doesn’t actually need to worry for herself but… still!
Satisfied that she has conveyed her wordless message to the spectators, she returns her attention to me and says “Why not tell me, in your own words, what lead you to were you are right now?”
---
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Dramatis Personae

Hey I am planning on majoring in math next year and I'm preparing for it with the book (Proofs a Long-Form Mathematics Textbook by Jay Cummings).
I'm trying to proof this Proposition:
1.14. Every red/blue coloring of the edges K_6 contains a monochromatic (equally colored) triangle.
I made this observation and I'm not sure if it proofs anything.
I can always draw two monochromatic rectangles of one color and another one of the other color
None of those can have a diagonal of their own color without forming such a triangle
A rectangle always shares one diagonal with another rectangle, so assuming two red and one blue rectangle the blue would have to only have blue diagonals but since it always shares a diagonal with another rectangle that's not possible without forming a monochromatic triangle
I'm very new to proofs and I've been sitting on this for 2-3 hours now without getting anywhere.
Please no spoilers to the solution I'd just like to know where I am getting this wrong.
Thanks a lot in advance.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/or5Off5
Happy Send-It-Sunday all!
More items added including a Vortex Strike Eagle optic and some messenger bags I no longer have use for. See below for details!
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• Clear anodized "Tanodized" bundle - Selling as a bundle, this includes:
  • Clear anodized A2 stripped upper w/ M4 feed ramps - THERE IS A BLEMISH ON THE LEFT SIDE ON THIS RECIEVER, PLEASE SEE PHOTO GALLERY ABOVE FOR DETAILS. the blem appears to be an issue in the anodize, as the black marks and flecks cannot be removed by any amount of scrubbing or solvent. Looks worse in phots than it is. Brand new, never used.
  • Clear anodized charging handle.
  • Matching color dust cover complete assembly.
  • Matching color round forward assist complete assembly.
  • Black A2 grip, no grip screw included.
  • $290 for all
• Vortex Strike Eagle bundle which will include:
  • Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6x24 SFP AR-BDC3 MOA illuminated reticle. Mounted, but never used and never zeroed. Slight salt on the throw lever from being knocked around in the safe. Mr. Yuk sticker on ocular lens cap (OG MW2 vibes). Original box included as well. Just going a different direction with my build.
  • Primary Arms Deluxe 30mm cantilever mount - catch and release, see website for details
  • Vortex Hunter 30mm low scope rings - mounted and used, but in great condition
  • $225 for all
• Coach Men's Burgundy/Black Leather Ultimate brief- A great messenger bag that I used for a few years at work to carry my laptop to and from the office. Used, but not abused. Purchased from a Coach Outlet store. The pebbled leather is in excellent condition and clean, no blemishes that I can see. Dimensions are approximately 16" x 5" x 12". Will comfortably fit a 15" laptop + various accoutrements. Strap is in excellent shape and metal hardware is not visibly worn. - TV $70, SV $60
• J. Crew Men's Abingdon waxed canvas bag - Purchased from J. Crew around the same time as the coach bag, been sitting in my closet ever since. Brand new, never used, tags still on it. Dimensions are approximately 15" x 5" x 11". It should also house a 15" laptop without issue. - TV $50, SV $40
• Shaffer Machine Streamlight Pressure Switch MLok mount - new, never used. See their website for details - $25
• UTG .4" RMR picatinny riser - mounted and used, will have blue Loctite reside. No appreciable salt, Loctite residue can be cleaned up with acetone or Hoppes, but you won't see it when you mount your optic anyway. See the Product Page for more info. - $15
• Unbranded 1" picatinny light mount- catch and release, seems to either be a clone of the GG&G one or something else. Good shape, no appreciable salt. Will fit any light with a 1" diameter body. - $15
• x3 Magpul (MAG410) XTM Rail Cover FDE - Each pack includes 4 total covers, so total of 12. Catch and release. - $20
• Luth-AR A1 style rear sight complete assembly - Brownell's cancelled my C7 upper order, so no longer need this. Brand new in the packaging. - $20

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Add-ons - add on with another item, or pay shipping

• A2 style flash hiders- your choice, one is timed other is not. untimed is Ruger, timed is maybe YHM?- $5 each

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Rules:

• All prices include shipping (except for the add-ons unless purchased with another item) and are open to negotiation. The worst I can say is No.
• PP FF preferred (if you want to use G&S you cover the 3%) but I also have Venmo.
• Comment first, then DM me
• Calling Dibs is a full price commitment to buy
• bundles beat dibs, dibs beat DMs
• I'll wait 30 minutes for payment, then move onto the next in line
• No notes in any payments (emoji for Venmo). Here's why
• No chats, if you send one it it will be ignored. PLEASE DM ME.
  • If you don't know how, Click this link to DM me!

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https://preview.redd.it/puj0jfdrlk2b1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07381103ea4cdb14804df4027ddec653382432ff
https://preview.redd.it/at8i1edrlk2b1.jpg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc71c95390374e179742b5e99d6c959c02fd1201
First, thanks to everyone here. You have been so very helpful and I’ve been learning so much. I planted my hydrangeas last fall (early September) and I have been treating them like they are my flesh and blood.
So, this is my first spring with them and I’ve never seen them bloom! I have no idea what color they will be but I know they will be pink/blue because they are Summer Crush. My house faces east so they get lots of morning sun until about 1pm when the sun goes behind my house. I’ve been keeping them hydrated and used Hollytone about 3ish weeks ago.
Being a novice, are they looking good and are they happy? Are the emerging blooms looking as they should? I have a few leaf issues here and there but we have had about 10 frost advisories over the last couple months and I think the leaves touched in places. Maybe it caused a little damage here and there?
Any other advice? I’ve been using a water meter and making sure the soil stays in the mid-range so they don’t get too dry. After planting them last fall, they often wilted in the late afternoon but I assumed it was because the roots weren’t established. Based on what I’ve read here, seeing this is their first to second year being planted here, I’m pretty lucky to have blooms.
Thanks again!

I have some sleep-related issues that have just been getting worse over the last few years. Maybe you have some ideas (as a man, I have to try everything before going to the doctor, you know).
I'm in my late forties. I rarely have trouble falling asleep, but I wake up much too early. My life is such that I would like to sleep until 8 (or longer in the weekends), but I almost always wake up by 6, sometimes as early as 5, and I'm unable to fall back to sleep. The funny thing is that it barely matters when I go to sleep – I wake up at those times almost regardless. Sure, if I should stay up until 3, which I do maybe once or twice a year, I may not wake up until 8, which is still terrible. I walk around in a sleepy fog all day.
I have to pee like crazy when I wake up, but it's not clear that that's what wakes me.
Here are some things that may be relevant:

• I eat rather healthily, and try to not eat anything a few hours before bedtime.
• I have my last drink of water two hours before bedtime at the latest.
• I drink two cups of coffee per day, but very rarely after noon.
• I will sometimes sleep with earplugs and an eye mask, but it makes no difference.
• I have tried a melatonin supplement, but it makes no difference.
• I have a sedentary office job, but I do go for runs a couple of times a week (typically in early afternoons). No discernible difference in sleep quality those days.
• I sometimes try to trigger the wake-up by alarm clock at around 3:30. I go pee, and at such an early time I'm able to fall back to sleep. This usually allows me to sleep for a bit longer, but I still don't feel very rested – possibly because I have disturbed my sleep in a more important phase of the sleep cycle?
• I take a low dose of Candesartan for my blood pressure, but this should not affect sleep. I use no other medications.
• I try to get sufficient magnesium, and I've tried to take a supplement early in the day, but see no effect on sleep quality.
• I never nap – I've never been able to. I only sleep at night.
• I touch alcohol very rarely. Like 2-3 beers a month.
• My bedroom is cool and dark. I don't use my phone in bed at night, but I do have an e-ink reader (like Kindle) there. It's not backlit.
• I spend most of my day in front of a computer screen. I have reduced its brightness and the Night Color (blue filter) feature is enabled at all times.
• I know I snore a bit, not terribly.
• Weight-wise I could lose a few kilograms; I'm close to the upper limit of a normal BMI.
• When I've gone sleep-deprived for 2-3 days, I typically get one night where I sleep until 7, and it's glorious.

Here are some suggestions I anticipate, and my thoughts:
"Dude, you should just go to bed earlier."
I know, I should. I try to be in bed by 10 at night, which realistically means I'm asleep by 11. Still I'm dead tired when I wake up at 5.
"Dude, you're pushing 50, your sleep patterns change as you get older."
I know, but waking up "naturally" at 5? Who does that? I know not all people my age walk around in a sleepy fog.
So with all this, I thank you all in advance for any suggestions you might have!

I feel shame for posting here so often, but I absolutely got no clue about this one :(
Maybe mid/Late 2010s, I played this game on my mom's laptop. As I can remember, It starts when parent-bird hangs laundry on the street, it's child (Baby-Bird) is siting/playing near by its parent. Suddenly, big bird comes and steals Baby-Bird. Now you play for parent-bird, you need to go through different challenges and puzzles to save your child! Maybe, it's not 100% correct, it was a long time ago and I can't remember much details.
I asked my mom, but she couldn't help me. I tried to google it, but also couldn't find anything usefull… but I'm not crazy!!
Here some things, that may help:

• I'm 100% sure that it wasn't something Angry Birds/Rio related.
• You know this online games websites that have a lot of different online games on it? I may be wrong, but I don't think that it was the case. Maybe this game had its own website, or maybe this website had different games on it, but was pretty and clean, without colorful design.
• Maybe this game was by some indie developers? I would not be surprised, if so
• I think This Game had really pretty and calm design… my brain says that this game may have Fran Bow or Over the Garden Wall vibes (Something fogy, with a lot of calm colors… brown, green, blue etc) but I may mistake things m(_ _;m)

I will appreciate any help! I really stuck on this one, maybe I'm in hunt for something non-existent, but I'm hoping that I will find it one day. Sorry for all mistakes/typescripts, and Thank You for help!
EDITED 16:50: I wrote a comment “I was thinking about this game and the post and suddenly a blue button appeared in my head ? I think this game had something to do with the blue button ? I could be wrong, but I think there was something about a blue button or something that could look like a button ? But I think this something was blue” and then I just remembered that bird that steal the child was obsessed with blue ??? I think this bird had collection of blue things and steal the baby because it was wearing blue shirt or something like this ? It so stupid and I sound like a crazy person, but I’m almost sure about it ! Hope it will help !

(sorry if this gets rant-y, clearly I'm frustrated)
I've been trying for a while to figure out a pattern for shorts (and pants, but running into the same issue, so shorts practice runs need less fabric). I really want/need stretchy shorts for gym/running and lounge wear, so I'm probably starting in the deep end.
I've copied a pair that I had store bought, but the fit at the front isn't fantastic. No camel toe at least. But the pattern for these is basically unlike any pattern I've seen before that I have no clue how to make adjustments. So I've been trying to find a more versatile pattern.
I tried a leggings pattern (store bought) the other day and I've been in a massive rut lately where every pattern I try is just so fucking wrong for my body. So idk what I expected. Massive camel toe, too tight around the butt, scrunched up under the butt, other drag lines around the panty line area up front (and waistband being like 4 inches too high, but that's an easier fix). I looked at some common adjustments to make for my issues and tried round 2. The butt has a bit more room, but still got all the other issues. Everywhere I see for adjusting crotchs is for woven pants,I'm guessing that makes a difference?
Would it be better for me to start off making a pair of woven shorts and then use a similar crotch curve for my stretchy pair? Or would I not get so lucky? I DO need to make some woven shorts since nothing in store fits me (plus, I NEED like a minimum 6in inseam, I commonly only see 3-4in in stores OR I see Bermuda style that just look awful on me cus it's too long /rant). I don't want loose elastic/drawstring waist shorts, I want like what you would expect from jean shorts. (Also prefer a back yolk to darts). Idk if I've just missed it, but I've never seen a big3 pattern for this. So recommendations for one would be great!
In a perfect world, I wish I could just take a bunch of measurements and draft out the perfect pattern for me. I lift so I've got perky butt, big thighs and a narrower waist, so the curves are a little more dramatic than normal.
Any advice and pointers would be great. Thanks

A murder has been committed at the Pizzaplex! Figure out who did it with what weapon and where! (Fan-made concept for a Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach theme for Clue/Cluedo)
Suspects:
Roxanne Wolf (Represents Scarlett)
Glamrock Chica (Represents Orchid)
Montgomery Gater (Represents Green)
Glamrock Freddy (Represents Rusty)
Plum (The Know-It-All, A brunette-haired young adult who’s familiar with the history of Fazbear Entertainment. He wears a purple Bonnie themed hoodie with matching pants. He holds a Fredbear ice cream which he has taken a bite out of.)
Peacock (The Security Guard, A plus-size black woman who wears a blue security uniform and holds a flashlight.)
Mustard (The Sponsor, A black man who wears a yellow suit. Corykxkenshin for reference)
Rose (The CEO, a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and was the victim’s business partner. She wears a rose-coloured pantsuit.)
Vanny (Represents White)
Moondrop (Represents Azure)
Peach (The Journalist. A young freelance reporter who snuck into the Pizzaplex to uncover it’s secrets. Wears an orange, open trench coat with matching turtleneck sweater and pants. Laurenzside for reference.)
Grey (The Mechanic, A fairly muscular man who builds and repairs the robots. He wears grey work overalls with the upper body unzipped and around his waist revealing a grey tank top underneath. Markiplier for reference.)
Burntrap (Represents Brunette (Or Burnette))
Meadow-Brook (The Assistant, a ginger, long-haired woman who was the victim’s former confidant. She wears a black t-shirt tucked into a pleated teal skirt with matching heels. She clutches paperwork.)
Weapons:
Fan
Chef’s Knife
Microphone
Golf Club
Cable
Screwdriver
Rooms:
Arcade (Ballroom)
Golf Course (Conservatory)
Security Office (Billiard Room)
Construction Site (Library)
Raceway (Study)
Lobby (Hall)
Maze (Lounge)
Bowling Alley (Dinning Room)
Laser Tag Arena (Kitchen)
Solution Suggester here: https://perchance.org/3fvg96nhii

So i want to write some code to achieve the code entered to colored, for example, functions in yellow, variable names in blue, return types of functions in another shade of blue, and class names in green.
Kind of what is available in notion, or any other software that let’s you specify the language your code is in, and then parses it to show correct syntax highlighting.
I want your input on how to start on building something of the sort. Resources, or keywords i could search for to help me get started would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

My uncle is marrying a Tamil woman. I am familiar with all the Gujarati dress code rules but I was wondering if their are any Tamil rules to follow?
The events are: Haldi, Sangeet, Wedding
My mom bought me a white and blue saree for the wedding. I know the bride is wearing red but still want to double check that white is appropriate color.