#Data Recovery Agency

[laelior]

.

[puramudotcom]

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[drdemonprince]

The data does not support the assumption that all burned out people can “recover.” And when we fully appreciate what burnout signals in the body, and where it comes from on a social, economic, and psychological level, it should become clear to us that there’s nothing beneficial in returning to an unsustainable status quo. 

The term “burned out” is sometimes used to simply mean “stressed” or “tired,” and many organizations benefit from framing the condition in such light terms. Short-term, casual burnout (like you might get after one particularly stressful work deadline, or following final exams) has a positive prognosis: within three months of enjoying a reduced workload and increased time for rest and leisure, 80% of mildly burned-out workers are able to make a full return to their jobs. 

But there’s a lot of unanswered questions lurking behind this happy statistic. For instance, how many workers in this economy actually have the ability to take three months off work to focus on burnout recovery? What happens if a mildly burnt-out person does not get that rest, and has to keep toiling away as more deadlines pile up? And what is the point of returning to work if the job is going to remain as grueling and uncontrollable as it was when it first burned the worker out? 

Burnout that is not treated swiftly can become far more severe. Clinical psychologist and burnout expert Arno van Dam writes that when left unattended (or forcibly pushed through), mild burnout can metastasize into clinical burnout, which the International Classification of Diseases defines as feelings of energy depletion, increased mental distance, and a reduced sense of personal agency. Clinically burned-out people are not only tired, they also feel detached from other people and no longer in control of their lives, in other words.

Unfortunately, clinical burnout has quite a dismal trajectory. Multiple studies by van Dam and others have found that clinical burnout sufferers may require a year or more of rest following treatment before they can feel better, and that some of burnout’s lingering effects don’t go away easily, if at all. 

In one study conducted by Anita Eskildsen, for example, burnout sufferers continued to show memory and processing speed declines one year after burnout. Their cognitive processing skills improved slightly since seeking treatment, but the experience of having been burnt out had still left them operating significantly below their non-burned-out peers or their prior self, with no signs of bouncing back. 

It took two years for subjects in one of van Dam’s studies to return to “normal” levels of involvement and competence at work. following an incident of clinical burnout. However, even after a multi-year recovery period they still performed worse than the non-burned-out control group on a cognitive task designed to test their planning and preparation abilities. Though they no longer qualified as clinically burned out, former burnout sufferers still reported greater exhaustion, fatigue, depression, and distress than controls.

In his review of the scientific literature, van Dam reports that anywhere from 25% to 50% of clinical burnout sufferers do not make a full recovery even four years after their illness. Studies generally find that burnout sufferers make most of their mental and physical health gains in the first year after treatment, but continue to underperform on neuropsychological tests for many years afterward, compared to control subjects who were never burned out. 

People who have experienced burnout report worse memories, slower reaction times, less attentiveness, lower motivation, greater exhaustion, reduced work capability, and more negative health symptoms, long after their period of overwork has stopped. It’s as if burnout sufferers have fallen off their previous life trajectory, and cannot ever climb fully back up. 

And that’s just among the people who receive some kind of treatment for their burnout and have the opportunity to rest. I found one study that followed burned-out teachers for seven years and reported over 14% of them remained highly burnt-out the entire time. These teachers continued feeling depersonalized, emotionally drained, ineffective, dizzy, sick to their stomachs, and desperate to leave their jobs for the better part of a decade. But they kept working in spite of it (or more likely, from a lack of other options), lowering their odds of ever healing all the while. 

Van Dam observes that clinical burnout patients tend to suffer from an excess of perseverance, rather than the opposite: “Patients with clinical burnout…report that they ignored stress symptoms for several years,” he writes. “Living a stressful life was a normal condition for them. Some were not even aware of the stressfulness of their lives, until they collapsed.”

Instead of seeking help for workplace problems or reducing their workload, as most people do, clinical burnout sufferers typically push themselves through unpleasant circumstances and avoid asking for help. They’re also less likely to give up when placed under frustrating circumstances, instead throttling the gas in hopes that their problems can be fixed with extra effort. They become hyperactive, unable to rest or enjoy holidays, their bodies wired to treat work as the solution to every problem. It is only after living at this unrelenting pace for years that they tumble into severe burnout. 

Among both masked Autistics and overworked employees, the people most likely to reach catastrophic, body-breaking levels of burnout are the people most primed to ignore their own physical boundaries for as long as possible. Clinical burnout sufferers work far past the point that virtually anyone else would ask for help, take a break, or stop caring about their work.

And when viewed from this perspective, we can see burnout as the saving grace of the compulsive workaholic — and the path to liberation for the masked disabled person who has nearly killed themselves trying to pass as a diligent worker bee. 

I wrote about the latest data on burnout "recovery," and the similarities and differences between Autistic burnout and conventional clinical burnout. The full piece is free to read or have narrated to you in the Substack app at drdevonprice.substack.com

[bondrees]

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[reasonsforhope]

"One of the world's rarest cats, the Iberian lynx, is no longer classed as endangered, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

On Thursday [June 20, 2024], the IUCN, which categorises species according to the level of risk they face in a "red list", bumped the Iberian lynx from "endangered" to "vulnerable" after a significant surge in numbers.

Its population grew from 62 mature individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022. While young and mature lynx combined now have an estimated population of more than 2,000, the IUCN reports.

As the name suggests, the wild cat species calls the Iberian region - Spain and Portugal - home.

According to the latest census data, there were a total of 14 clusters where the animals were stable and reproducing. Of those, 13 were located in Spain and one in Portugal.

The wild cat used to be common across the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, but from the 1960s its numbers plummeted.

Habitat loss, poaching and road accidents all helped to push the species to the brink of extinction.

Now, the cat is coming back.

The increase is largely thanks to conservation efforts that have focused on increasing the abundance of its main food source - the also endangered wild rabbit, known as European rabbit.

Programmes to free hundreds of captive lynxes and restoring scrublands and forests have also played an important role in ensuring the lynx is no longer endangered.

Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, a coordinator responsible for leading the conservation action, described it as the "greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation".

Mr Ortiz said there was still "a lot of work to do" to ensure the animals survive and the species can recover.

"Looking ahead, there are plans to reintroduce the Iberian lynx to new sites in central and northern Spain,” he added.

The area the species occupies is now much larger, according to IUCN, jumping from 449 sq km (173 sq miles) in 2005 to 3,320 sq km today."

-via BBC News, June 20, 2024

[montereybayaquarium]

For over 40 years, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Program has helped southern sea otters bounce back—turning the tide for these critters! 🦦🌊

💙 Our pioneering surrogacy program pairs stranded pups with otter moms who teach them survival skills before they return to the wild. 🔬 Our scientists study otters’ lives, populations, behaviors, and health to support their recovery.

🏠 We partner with zoos and aquariums to find homes for non-releasable otters and share our expertise to boost the species’ survival.

🌎 More recently, our team has been monitoring the potential environmental effects of the Moss Landing battery fires on Elkhorn Slough, home to over 100 sea otters. By teaming up with conservation groups and agencies, we're collecting vital data to protect sea otters, their invertebrate prey, and the entire ecosystem. 

Together, we’re working for a future where sea otters thrive! 🦦💙

[huxhsz]

✈ — weightless paradise

transmigrated non-mc!reader x caleb

prev ch: 02 - experiment┆series masterlist ┆next ch: 04 - helplessness

This isn’t how the game was supposed to go. You're not supposed to be here. You're an anomaly. But if you’re already here, then… can’t you just enjoy it for now? Just for a little while? Before the main story begins? Before everything inevitably falls into place? ...Right?

— content warning/s:

non-consensual medical & scientific experimentation

torture and pain

implied abuse and dehumanization

physical violence and injury (cutting, burning, blunt trauma)

blood and gore

powerlessness and loss of agency

cross-posted on ao3! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

CH. 03 — REGENERATION

You know it’s coming long before they take you.

The way the scientists look at you has changed. The whispers when they pass, the lingering stares through the observation window—it’s been building for days. They’ve been patient. Watching. Waiting.

Today, they’re done waiting.

The guards come for you after morning rations. Caleb’s still chewing on a stale protein bar when they grab your arm. He freezes, his gaze sharpening.

“No,” he says flatly.

One of the guards shoots him a warning look. “Stay out of it.”

Caleb moves anyway, standing before you. His hand catches your wrist, fingers curling tightly.

“You’re not taking them,” he says.

“Let go,” the guard snaps.

Caleb doesn’t. His grip tightens. His eyes burn cold and sharp, something dangerous flickering behind them.

“Hey,” you say quietly. “It’s okay.”

He doesn’t look at you. “No, it’s not.”

The guard’s hand falls to the baton at his side.

“It’s okay,” you repeat, more firmly this time. You pry Caleb’s fingers loose from your wrist. His grip lingers just a second too long.

The guards drag you away.

The room is cold.

They strip you down to the standard medical gown—thin, scratchy fabric that clings to your skin. The table beneath you is hard and metal, straps digging into your wrists and ankles.

“You’re Subject 000,” one of the scientists says, speaking more to his clipboard than to you. “Chronosight.”

You don’t answer.

“We need to test your regenerative capabilities.”

Your breath catches. “What?”

The scientist doesn’t even look at you. “We’ve seen indications of accelerated recovery, but no confirmed data.” He taps his pen against the clipboard. “Today, we’ll be determining the limits.”

Your stomach turns.

Limits.

“What—” Your voice breaks. You swallow hard and try again. “What does that mean?”

The scientist gestures toward one of the assistants. You hear the tray before you see it—metal instruments clattering faintly against one another. Blades. Syringes. Scissors.

Your blood runs cold.

“I don’t…” Your breathing quickens. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’s necessary,” the scientist says. “For research.”

You flinch as one of the assistants grabs your arm, forcing it flat against the table. Something cold swipes over your skin—alcohol.

“It’s okay,” you tell yourself. “I’ll be fine. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

The scalpel gleams as the assistant lifts it.

The blade sinks into your arm.

The pain is white-hot, sharp enough to steal the breath from your lungs. You barely hear yourself scream. Your body jerks instinctively against the straps. Blood spills across your skin, bright and wet.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

The assistant pulls the blade away. The wound gapes open—too deep, too wide. Blood drips steadily down your arm.

The scientist leans closer, watching. Waiting.

You wait too.

For the pain to fade. For the wound to close. For something—anything—to fix this.

Seconds pass. Your arm still burns.

“It’s not healing,” one of the assistants mutters.

“Wait,” the scientist says.

The pain sharpens, a dull throb radiating through your bones. You squeeze your eyes shut, clutching at the flickering threads of your ability—the tangled web of timelines twisting behind your eyes.

There’s too much. Too many outcomes. Too many paths. None of them end with this not hurting.

Then—slowly—the pain fades.

When you open your eyes, the wound is closing. Flesh knitting back together, skin smoothing over as if nothing happened. Blood still stains your arm, but there’s no sign of the injury.

“She’s stable,” the scientist murmurs. “Accelerated recovery confirmed.”

“Again,” someone says.

The blade returns.

They test burns. Blunt trauma. A puncture wound to your side. Each injury sears through you—sharp, overwhelming, impossible to forget. The worst part isn’t the pain.

It’s knowing they’ll just keep going.

You lose track of how many times it happens—how many times they hurt you, watch you heal, then hurt you again. Your mind swims, flickering in and out of focus. Everything is red and white and wrong.

At some point, the scientist’s voice cuts through the haze.

“That’s enough for today.”

Cold hands unbuckle the straps. You feel yourself being lifted—your body heavy, limbs numb.

You barely remember the walk back.

When you wake up, you’re in your room again.

Your body aches, every nerve still buzzing faintly with pain. The cuts are gone, the burns no longer blistering your skin—but you feel them. The memory of it lingers, crawling beneath your skin.

Something warm presses against your hand.

You turn your head.

Caleb’s sitting beside you. His hair is a mess, his jacket wrinkled like he’s been here for hours. His fingers are wrapped tightly around yours, his knuckles white.

“You’re awake,” he says quietly.

Your voice shakes. “Yeah.”

His grip tightens. His head dips forward, his hair falling over his eyes. He doesn’t say anything for a long time.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs.

You blink slowly. “For what?”

“For not stopping them.”

His voice is quiet, but there’s something raw beneath it.

You squeeze his hand. “It’s not your fault.”

His fingers twitch against yours. “It should’ve been me.”

“It shouldn’t have been anyone,” you say.

He doesn’t answer.

The silence stretches between you, thin and fragile.

Finally, his hand lifts. His palm presses lightly against your face, warm and steady. His thumb brushes beneath your eye.

“You’re okay now,” he says softly. “That’s what matters.”

You don’t know if that’s true.

But you close your eyes, lean into his hand, and pretend that it is.

[covid-safer-hotties]

also preserved on our archive

by Rowan Walrath

Public and private funding is lacking, scrambling opportunities to develop treatments

In brief Long COVID is a difficult therapeutic area to work in. It’s a scientifically challenging condition, but perhaps more critically, few want to fund new treatments. Private investors, Big Pharma, and government agencies alike see long COVID as too risky as long as its underlying mechanisms are so poorly understood. This dynamic has hampered the few biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies trying to develop new medicines. The lack of funding has frustrated people with long COVID, who have few options available to them. And crucially, it has snarled research and development, cutting drug development short.

When COVID-19 hit, the biotechnology company Aim ImmunoTech was developing a drug for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, better known as ME/CFS. As more people came down with COVID-19, some began to describe lingering problems that sounded a lot like ME/CFS. In many cases, people who got sick simply never seemed to get better. In others, they recovered completely—or thought they had—only to be waylaid by new problems: fatigue that wouldn’t go away with any amount of rest, brain fog that got in the way of normal conversations, a sudden tendency toward dizziness and fainting, or all the above.

There was a clear overlap between the condition, which patients began calling long COVID, and ME/CFS. People with ME/CFS have a deep, debilitating fatigue. They cannot tolerate much, if any, exercise; walking up a slight incline can mean days of recovery. Those with the most severe cases are bedbound.

Aim’s leaders set out to test whether the company’s drug, Ampligen, which is approved for ME/CFS in Argentina but not yet in the US, might be a good fit for treating long COVID. They started with a tiny study, just 4 people. When most of those participants responded well, they scaled up to 80. While initial data were mixed, people taking Ampligen were generally able to walk farther in a 6 min walk test than those who took a placebo, indicating improvement in baseline fatigue. The company is now making plans for a follow-on study in long COVID.

Aim’s motivation for testing Ampligen in long COVID was twofold. Executives believed they could help people with the condition, given the significant overlap in symptoms with ME/CFS. But they also, plainly, thought there’d be money. They were wrong.

“When we first went out to do this study in long COVID, there was money from . . . RECOVER,” Aim scientific officer Chris McAleer says, referring to Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER), the National Institutes of Health’s $1.7 billion initiative to fund projects investigating causes of, and potential treatments for, long COVID. McAleer says Aim attempted to get RECOVER funds, “believing that we had a therapeutic for these individuals, and we get nothing.”

Instead of funding novel medicines like Ampligen, the NIH has directed most of its RECOVER resources to observational studies designed to learn more about the condition, not treat it. Only last year did the agency begin to fund clinical trials for long COVID treatments, and those investigate the repurposing of approved drugs. What RECOVER is not doing is funding new compounds.

RECOVER is the only federal funding mechanism aimed at long COVID research. Other initiatives, like the $5 billion Project NextGen and the $577 million Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern, put grant money toward next-generation vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and antivirals for COVID-19. They stop short of testing those compounds as long COVID treatments.

Private funding is even harder to come by. Large pharmaceutical companies have mostly stayed away from the condition. (Some RECOVER trials are testing Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid, but a Pfizer spokesperson confirms that Pfizer is not sponsoring those studies.) Most investors have also avoided long COVID: a senior analyst on PitchBook’s biotech team, which tracks industry financing closely, says he isn’t aware of any investment in the space.

“What you need is innovation on this front that’s not driven by profit motive, but impact on global human health,” says Sumit Chanda, an immunologist and microbiologist at Scripps Research who coleads one of the AViDD centers. “We could have been filling in the gaps for things like long COVID, where pharma doesn’t see that there’s a billion-dollar market.”

The few biotech companies that are developing potential treatments for long COVID, including Aim, are usually funding those efforts out of their own balance sheets. Experts warn that such a pattern is not sustainable. At least four companies that were developing long COVID treatments have shut down because of an apparent lack of finances. Others are evaluating a shift away from long COVID.

“It is seen by the industry and by investors as a shot in the dark,” says Radu Pislariu, cofounder and CEO of Laurent Pharmaceuticals, a start-up that’s developing an antiviral and anti-inflammatory for long COVID. “What I know is that nobody wants to hear about COVID. When you say the name COVID, it’s bad . . ., but long COVID is not going anywhere, because COVID-19 is endemic. It will stay. At some point, everyone will realize that we have to do more for it.”

‘Time and patience and money’ Much of the hesitancy to make new medicines stems from the evasive nature of long COVID itself. The condition is multisystemic, affecting the brain, heart, endocrine network, immune system, reproductive organs, and gastrointestinal tract. While researchers are finding increasing evidence for some of the disease’s mechanisms, like viral persistence, immune dysregulation, and mitochondrial dysfunction, they might not uncover a one-size-fits-all treatment.

“Until we have a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of long COVID, I think physicians are doing the best they can with the information they have and the guidance that is available to them,” says Ian Simon, director of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Long COVID Research and Practice. The research taking place now will eventually guide new therapeutic development, he says.

Meanwhile, time marches on.

By the end of 2023, more than 409 million people worldwide had long COVID, according to a recent review coauthored by two cofounders of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) and several prominent long COVID researchers (Nat. Med. 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03173-6). Most of those 409 million contracted COVID-19 and then long COVID after vaccines and antivirals became available. That fact undercuts the notion that the condition results only from severe cases of COVID-19 contracted before those interventions existed. (Vaccination and treatment with antivirals do correlate with a lower incidence of long COVID but don’t prevent it outright.)

“There is that narrative that long COVID is over,” says Hannah Davis, cofounder of the PLRC and a coauthor of the review, who has had long COVID since 2020. “I think that’s fairly obviously not true.”

The few biotech companies that have taken matters into their own hands, like Aim, are often reduced to small study sizes with limited time frames because they can’t get outside funding.

InflammX Therapeutics, a Florida-based ophthalmology firm headed by former Bausch & Lomb executive Brian Levy, started testing an anti-inflammatory drug candidate called Xiflam after Levy’s daughter came down with long COVID. Xiflam is designed to close connexin 43 (Cx43) hemichannels when they become pathological. The hemichannels, which form in cell membranes, would otherwise allow intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to escape and signal the NLRP3 inflammasome to crank up its activity, causing pain and inflammation.

InflammX originally conceived of Xiflam as a treatment for inflammation in various eye disorders, but after Levy familiarized himself with the literature on long COVID, he figured the compound might be useful for people like his daughter.

InflammX set up a small Phase 2a study at a site just outside Boston. The trial will enroll just 20 participants, including Levy’s daughter and InflammX’s chief operating and financial officer, David Pool, who also has long COVID. The study is set up such that participants don’t know if they’re taking Xiflam or a placebo.

Levy says the company tried to communicate with NIH RECOVER staff multiple times but never heard back. “We couldn’t wait,” he says.

Larger firms are similarly disconnected from US federal efforts. COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna appointed a vice president of long COVID last year. Bishoy Rizkalla now oversees a small team studying how the company’s messenger RNA shots could mitigate problems caused by new and latent viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. But Rizkalla says Moderna has no federally funded projects in long COVID.

Federal bureaucracy has slowed down research in other ways. When long COVID appeared, Tonix Pharmaceuticals was developing a possible drug called TNX-102 SL to treat fibromyalgia. The two conditions look similar: they’re painful, fatiguing, and multisystemic, and fibromyalgia can crop up after a viral infection.

But it wasn’t easy to design a study to test the compound in long COVID. Among other issues, the US Food and Drug Administration initially insisted that participants have a positive COVID-19 test confirmed by a laboratory, like a polymerase chain reaction test, to be included in the study. At-home diagnostics wouldn’t count.

“We spent a huge amount of money, and we couldn’t enroll people who had lab-confirmed COVID because no one was going to labs to confirm their COVID,” cofounder and CEO Seth Lederman says. “We just ran out of time and patience and money, frankly.”

Tonix had planned to enroll 450 participants. The company ultimately enrolled only 63. The study failed to meet its primary end point of reducing pain intensity, a result Lederman attributes to the smaller-than-expected sample size.

TNX-102 SL trended toward improvements in fatigue and other areas, like sleep quality and cognitive function, but Tonix is moving away from developing the compound as a long COVID treatment and focusing on developing it for fibromyalgia. If it’s approved, Lederman hopes that physicians will prescribe it to people who meet the clinical criteria for fibromyalgia regardless of whether their condition stems from COVID-19.

“I’m not saying we’re not going to do another study in long COVID, but for the short term, it’s deemphasized,” Lederman says.

Abandoned attempts Without more public or private investment, it’s unclear how research can proceed. The small corner of the private sector that has endeavored to take on long COVID is slowly becoming a graveyard.

Axcella Therapeutics made a big gamble in late 2022. The company pivoted from trying to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a liver disease, to addressing chronic fatigue in people with long COVID. In doing so, Axcella reoriented itself exclusively around long COVID, laying off most of its staff and abandoning other research activities. People in a 41-person Phase 2a trial of the drug candidate, AXA1125, showed improvement in fatigue scores based on a clinical questionnaire (eClinicalMedicine 2023, DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101946), but Axcella shut down before it could get its planned 300-person follow-on study up and running.

The fate of AXA1125 may be to gather dust. Axcella’s former executives have moved on to other pursuits. Erstwhile chief medical officer Margaret Koziel, once a champion of AXA1125, says by email that she is “not up to date on current research on long COVID.” Staff at the University of Oxford, which ran the Phase 2a study, were not able to procure information about the planned Phase 2b/3 trial. A spokesperson for Flagship Pioneering, the venture firm that founded Axcella in 2011, declined to comment to C&EN.

Other firms have met similar ends. Ampio Pharmaceuticals dissolved in August after completing only a Phase 1 study to evaluate an inhaled medication called Ampion in people with long COVID who have breathing issues. Biotech firm SolAeroMed shut down before even starting a trial of its bronchodilating medicine for people with long COVID. “Unfortunately we were unable to attract funding to support our clinical work for COVID,” CEO John Dennis says by email.

Another biotech company, Aerium Therapeutics, did manage to get just enough of its monoclonal antibody AER002 manufactured and in the hands of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, before it ended operations. The researchers are now testing AER002 in a Phase 2 trial with people with long COVID. Michael Peluso, an infectious disease clinician and researcher at UCSF and principal investigator of the trial, says that while AER002 may not advance without a company behind it, the study could be valuable for validating long COVID’s mechanisms of disease and providing a proof of concept for monoclonal antibody treatment more generally.

“[Aerium] put a lot of effort into making sure that the study would not be impacted,” Peluso says. “Regardless of the results of this study, doing a follow-up study now that we’ve kind of learned the mechanics of it with modern monoclonals would be really, really interesting.”

‘A squandered opportunity’ In 2022, the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) put about $577 million toward nine research centers that would discover and develop antivirals for various pathogens. Called the Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern, the centers were initially imagined as 5-year projects, enough time to ready multiple candidates for preclinical development. The NIH allocated money for the first 3 years and promised more funds to come later.

The prospect excited John Chodera, a computational chemist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a principal investigator at an AViDD center called the AI-Driven Structure-Enabled Antiviral Platform. Chodera figured that if his team were able to develop a potent antiviral for SARS-CoV-2, it could potentially be used to treat long COVID as well. A predominant theory is that reservoirs of hidden virus in the body cause ongoing symptoms.

But Chodera says NIAID told him and other AViDD investigators that establishing long COVID models was out of scope. And last year, Congress clawed back unspent COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, including the pool of money intended for the AViDD centers’ last 2 years. Lawmakers were supposed to come through with additional funding, Chodera says, but it never materialized. All nine AViDD centers will run out of money come May 2025.

“When we do start to understand what the molecular targets for long COVID are going to be, it’d be very easy to pivot and train our fire on those targets,” says Chanda from Scripps’s AViDD center. “The problem is that it took us probably 2 years to get everything up and going. If you cut the funding after 3 years, we basically have to dismantle it. We don’t have an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, look, this is what we’ve done. We can now take this and train our fire on X, Y, and Z.’ ”

Researchers at multiple AViDD centers confirm that the NIH has offered a 1-year, no-cost extension, but it doesn’t come with additional funds. They now find themselves in the same position as many academic labs: seeking grant money to keep their projects going.

Worse, they say, is that applying for other grants will likely mean splitting up research teams, thus undoing the network effect that these centers were supposed to provide.

“Now what we’ve got is a bunch of half bridges with nowhere to fund the continuation of that work,” says Nathaniel Moorman, cofounder and scientific adviser of the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative, which houses an AViDD center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“This was a squandered opportunity, not just for pandemic preparedness but to tackle these unmet needs that are being neglected by biotech and pharma,” Chanda says.

Viral persistence Ann Kwong has been here before. The virologist was among the first industry scientists trying to develop antivirals for hepatitis C virus (HCV) back in the 1990s. Kwong led an antiviral discovery team at the Schering-Plough Research Institute for 6 years. In 1997, Vertex Pharmaceuticals recruited her to lead its new virology group.

Kwong and her team at Vertex developed a number of antivirals for HCV, HIV, and influenza viruses; one was the HCV protease inhibitor telaprevir. She recalls that a major challenge for the HCV antivirals was that scientists didn’t know where in the body the virus was hiding. Kwong says she had to fight to develop an antiviral that targeted the liver since it hadn’t yet been confirmed that HCV primarily resides there. People with chronic hepatitis C would in many cases eventually develop liver failure or cancer, but they presented with other issues too, like brain fog, fatigue, and inflammation.

She sees the same dynamic playing out in long COVID.

“This reminds me of HIV days and HCV days,” Kwong says. “This idea that pharma doesn’t want to work on this because we don’t know things about SARS-CoV-2 and long COVID is bullshit.”

Since January, Kwong has been cooking up something new. She’s approaching long COVID the way she did chronic hepatitis C: treating it as a chronic infection, through a start-up called Persistence Bio. Persistence is still in stealth; its name reflects its mission to create antivirals that can reach hidden reservoirs of persistent SARS-CoV-2, which many researchers believe to be a cause of long COVID.

“Long COVID is really interesting because there’s so many different symptoms,” Kwong says. “As a virologist, I am not surprised, because it’s an amazing virus. It infects every tissue in your body. . . . All the autopsy studies show that it’s in your brain. It’s in your gut. It’s in your lungs. It’s in your heart. To me, all the different symptoms are indicative of where the virus has gone when it infected you.”

Kwong has experienced some of these symptoms firsthand. She contracted COVID-19 while flying home to Massachusetts from Germany in 2020. For about a year afterward, she’d get caught off guard by sudden bouts of fatigue, bending over to catch her breath as she walked around the horse farm where she lives, her legs aching. Those symptoms went away with time and luck, but another round of symptoms roared to life this spring, including what Kwong describes as “partial blackouts.”

Kwong hasn’t been formally diagnosed with long COVID, but she says she “strongly suspects” she has it. Others among Persistence’s team of about 25 also have the condition.

“Long COVID patients have been involved with the founding of our company, and we work closely with them and know how awful the condition can be,” Kwong says. “It is a big motivator for our team.”

Persistence is in the process of fundraising. Kwong says she’s in conversations with private investors, but she and her cofounders are hoping to get public funding too.

On Sept. 23, the NIH is convening a 3-day workshop to review what RECOVER has accomplished and plan the next phase of the initiative. Crucially, that phase will include additional clinical trials. RECOVER’s $1.7 billion in funding includes a recent award of $515 million over the next 4 years. It’s not out of the question that this time, industry players might be invited to the table. Tonix Pharmaceuticals’ Lederman and Aim ImmunoTech’s McAleer will both speak during the workshop.

The US Senate Committee on Appropriations explicitly directed the NIH during an Aug. 1 meeting to prioritize research to understand, diagnose, and treat long COVID. It also recommended that Congress put $1.5 billion toward the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which often partners with industry players. The committee instructed ARPA-H to invest in “high-risk, high-reward research . . . focused on drug trials, development of biomarkers, and research that includes long COVID associated conditions.” Also last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Long COVID Research Moonshot Act, which would give the NIH $1 billion a year for a decade to treat and monitor patients.

It’s these kinds of mechanisms that might make a difference for long COVID drug development.

“What I’ve seen a lot is pharma being hesitant to get involved,” says Lisa McCorkell, a cofounder of the PLRC and a coauthor of the recent long COVID review. “Maybe they’ll invest if NIH also matches their investment or something like that. Having those public-private partnerships is really, at this stage, what will propel us forward.”

Chemical & Engineering News ISSN 0009-2347 Copyright © 2024 American Chemical Society

[1americanconservative]

https://help.x.com/rules-and-poli...

PHASE TWO HAS BEGUN — TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PERMANENTLY DISMANTLE THE IRS AND LAUNCH GOLD-BACKED CURRENCY PILOT THROUGH U.S. TREASURY

· Just days after ripping $600 billion from the hands of the globalist tax cartel, President Trump has dropped the second hammer: a sweeping Executive Order to initiate the shutdown of the Internal Revenue Service as we know it — and replace it with a sovereign, asset-backed monetary system under full constitutional control.

· Effective immediately, the IRS is being stripped of its enforcement arms, foreign contracts, and offshore data routing infrastructure. Their legal immunity? Gone. Their backdoor ties to the World Bank and BIS? Cut. The agency once used to audit patriots, blackmail dissidents, and fund wars without consent is now being gutted from the inside. And this time, there’s no recovery plan.

· At the heart of this new order is Patriot Coin — the codename for the gold-pegged transitional asset system being deployed under a secret joint operation between the U.S. Treasury and Space Force cyber teams. According to White Hat sources, this digital infrastructure runs on quantum-encrypted channels, fully sovereign, completely offline from the SWIFT network, and resistant to IMF interference. The coin is backed by audited reserves held at strategic vault sites recently repatriated from London, Basel, and Hong Kong.

· But this isn’t crypto. This is anti-FED tech — tethered to tangible American resources, minted by a restored Treasury, and governed by GESARA protocols. The goal? To eliminate fractional lending, interest slavery, and globalist banking dependency in one synchronized move.

· Trump’s Executive Order lays out a 180-day wind-down plan of legacy IRS systems, while also announcing the formation of the American Financial Sovereignty Task Force — a wartime economic unit tasked with auditing the Federal Reserve, freezing cartel accounts, and redirecting seized assets to the new Treasury Redemption Pool.

· Early figures estimate $8.3 trillion in black budget funds, money-laundered foundations, and insider trading profits will be redirected back to the people over the next 18 months. You read that right — trillions are coming home.

· Already, global markets are rattling. The ECB issued a Level 3 alert. The World Bank called for an emergency meeting. And the Rothschild family has reportedly begun liquidating foreign real estate in Zurich, Monaco, and South Africa. They know what’s coming. They always knew. But they never expected it would move this fast.

· Meanwhile, across America, thousands of dormant gold and silver mines are being reopened under nationalized contracts, designed to sustain the upcoming hard currency transition. Trump’s team is coordinating with BRICS-aligned economists to ensure that PatriotCoin remains independent but interoperable with global de-dollarization movements — bypassing SWIFT and shutting the door on CBDC tyranny.

· Expect the sabotage to intensify. Watch for “accidental outages,” cyber false flags, and fake financial panics. But hold the line. Because when the Green Button is finally pushed, it won’t just trigger Med Beds — it will unlock Treasury Wallets for every citizen under GESARA compliance. Direct credits. Debt cancellation. Real time transfers, validated by biometric ID and stored on military-grade quantum servers.

· The trap was always economic. The war was always spiritual. But the takedown is now fully kinetic.

· IRS dismantled. Federal Reserve under seizure. Gold-backed currency underway.

· This is not a drill. This is the Return of the Republic — and the final death of globalist finance.

· The Great Reversal has begun

[pohtaytoh]

Bad Blood

ᡕᠵデ气亠 Agent!Daniela x Agent!Sophia

Daniela Avanzini and Sophia Laforteza, long-time agent rivals, once close friends, were forced to partner on a mission. They can't stand each other until a high-stakes mission causes a life-threatening injury, leading to a mending of a wound that was neglected for years and feelings…?

parts: one. two. three. four. five. six. seven. eight. nine. ten. eleven. twelve. thirteen. fourteen. fifteen. sixteen. seventeen. eighteen.

Months turned into a full year since the incident at the data center. A whole year. It felt like a lifetime, and yet, in some ways, it felt like just yesterday Daniela was holding Sophia’s lifeless hand, whispering desperate pleas. But Sophia was no longer lifeless. She was vibrant, stubborn, and slowly, surely, becoming her old self again.

The rehabilitation wing had become a second home for Daniela. Every day, she was there, a constant presence. Sophia’s progress, though hard-won, was truly amazing. The slurring in her speech was almost completely gone, replaced by her usual clear, sharp voice. 

Her motor skills were back, and she could move with almost all her old grace and precision. The memory lapses were rare now, tiny blips that they could laugh about, rather than terrifying voids.

One morning, Sophia was in the agency's specialized gym, the one designed for agents recovering from serious injuries. She was doing advanced combat drills, her movements fluid and powerful. She punched, kicked, and dodged with a speed that would have made any normal person dizzy. 

Daniela stood by, watching, a proud smile on her face.

"Looking good, Laforteza!" Daniela called out, clapping her hands. "Almost as good as me!"

Sophia smirked, wiping sweat from her brow. "Almost, Avanzini. But you still haven't mastered my signature spin kick." She demonstrated, a blur of motion, ending in a perfect, balanced pose.

"Show-off," Daniela teased, but her eyes were full of admiration. She remembered the days when Sophia could barely lift her arm. Now, she is almost back to her peak.

Later, they were working on a complex memory and puzzle-solving simulation. It was Sophia's old strength, and it had been one of the hardest things for her to get back. She sat at a console, her brow furrowed in concentration, her fingers flying across the holographic keyboard.

"Okay, Sophia," the therapist's voice said from the speaker. "Level five. You have sixty seconds to decrypt the code."

Sophia typed furiously, her eyes scanning the complex patterns. She mumbled to herself, working through the logic. Daniela leaned over her shoulder, watching, a quiet presence.

"Almost there, Soph," Daniela whispered, her breath warm on Sophia's ear.

Sophia pressed the final button. "Done!"

The screen flashed green. "Decryption complete. Time: 45 seconds. New personal best, Agent Laforteza!"

Sophia let out a whoop of triumph, turning to Daniela with a wide, radiant smile. "I did it, Dani! I actually did it!"

Daniela hugged her tight, a spontaneous, joyful embrace. "I knew you could, Soph! You're amazing!"

Sophia hugged her back, her arms strong around Daniela's waist. For a moment, they just held each other, the warmth of their bodies, the beating of their hearts, a silent conversation of love and victory. It was in these quiet moments, these small, everyday triumphs, that their love deepened, growing stronger with every shared breath.

The entire team had been instrumental in Sophia's recovery. 

Megan organized celebratory dinners, making sure Sophia ate well and felt loved. 

Manon dragged Sophia to friendly sparring matches, pushing her physical limits with laughter and encouragement. 

Lara helped Sophia with complex tactical planning exercises, sharpening her mind. 

Yoonchae, always thoughtful, created personalized recovery journals and art therapy sessions, helping Sophia process the emotional side of her journey.

Finally, after months of relentless hard work, Director Evans called Sophia into his office. Daniela waited outside, pacing nervously. When Sophia emerged, her face was beaming.

"Full clearance, Dani!" Sophia exclaimed, rushing to hug her. "I'm back! Full active duty!"

Daniela let out a whoop of joy, spinning Sophia around. "That's amazing, Soph! I knew you'd get there!"

A few weeks later, the entire team was called into a briefing room. The air was different now. Not thick with tension, but humming with a quiet, confident energy. Daniela and Sophia sat side-by-side, their knees almost touching, a silent comfort passing between them.

Director Evans stood at the head of the table, a rare, almost imperceptible smile on his face. "Agents. I have a new assignment for you. It's not a high-stakes, world-ending threat. It's what we call a 'clean-up' mission."

A few agents chuckled. These were the missions that tested their precision and teamwork, but without the immediate threat of global catastrophe.

"We've tracked a rogue scientist, Dr. Aris Thorne," Evans explained, pulling up a holographic image of a nervous-looking man. 

‘He's developed a highly advanced, miniature data-siphon. It can steal encrypted information from secure networks without leaving a trace. He's trying to sell it on the black market in Geneva, Switzerland."

"Our objective," Evans continued, "is to retrieve the device and apprehend Thorne. Discreetly. No alarms, no collateral damage. Just a clean, surgical operation. Agent Avanzini, Agent Laforteza, you'll be the primary infiltration team. Megan and Manon, you're on external support and extraction. Lara and Yoonchae, overwatch and long-range intel."

Daniela and Sophia exchanged a quick glance, a shared excitement sparking between them. Their first mission back, together, as a truly united team.

The planning was seamless. There was no more bickering, no more subtle jabs. They worked in perfect harmony, anticipating each other's thoughts, completing each other's sentences.

"Okay, the ventilation system here," Daniela pointed to a blueprint of the Geneva hotel where Thorne was staying. "It's old, but less monitored."

"And if we use a micro-EMP burst on the local network," Sophia added, "we can create a 30-second window to bypass the security cameras on the third floor."

"Perfect," Daniela affirmed, a small, knowing smile on her face. "Manon, Megan, are you ready to create a diversion on the ground floor?"

"Always ready for a party, Dani!" Manon's voice crackled through the comms.

The mission began under the cover of a quiet Geneva night. Daniela and Sophia, dressed in sleek, dark suits, moved like shadows across the rooftops. The air was cool, crisp, carrying the faint scent of old stone and fresh rain.

"Okay, Soph," Daniela whispered into her comms. "Entry point in sight. Looks clear."

"Copy that, Dani," Sophia replied, her voice calm and steady in Daniela's ear. "I've got eyes on the security patrol. They're cycling away from your position now. You have a 45-second window."

Daniela moved, dropping silently onto a small balcony, then expertly picking the lock on a service door. Sophia was right behind her, a silent, graceful presence. They moved through the hotel's service corridors, their footsteps barely a whisper.

"Target's room is on the fifth floor," Sophia fed her intel. "Room 507. He's still inside. Looks like he's preparing for the exchange."

"Got it," Daniela responded. They reached the stairs. "Manon, Megan, ready for the diversion?"

"Ready, Dani!" Megan confirmed.

"Three... two... one... now!" Daniela whispered.

Down on the ground floor, a sudden, loud, but contained explosion echoed through the hotel lobby. It was a flash-bang, designed to create chaos without actual damage. Alarms blared, and shouts erupted.

"Diversion is successful!" Manon cheered. "Chaos achieved! You guys have about two minutes before they figure it out!"

Daniela and Sophia used the confusion, moving quickly up the stairs. They reached the fifth floor. The corridor was empty, the sounds of the alarm muffled.

"Okay, Soph, the micro-EMP," Daniela said, looking at the camera above Room 507.

Sophia pulled out a small device, aiming it at the camera. A faint thrum filled the air, and the camera's red light flickered, then went dark. "Thirty seconds, Dani. Go!"

Daniela was already moving, her lock-picking tools out. She worked quickly, her fingers dancing over the tumblers, the familiar clicks a comforting sound. In less than twenty seconds, the lock gave way.

"Clear!" Daniela whispered, pushing the door open silently.

They slipped into the room. It was a luxurious hotel suite, dimly lit. Dr. Thorne was at a table, meticulously packing a small, glowing device into a briefcase. He looked up, startled, as the door opened.

"Dr. Thorne," Sophia said, her voice calm and authoritative, her pistol aimed steadily at him. "Don't move. The device, please."

Thorne, a coward at heart, immediately raised his hands. "No! Please! I'll cooperate!"

Daniela moved swiftly, disarming him and securing the briefcase with the data-siphon. "Device secured," she reported in her comms. "Target apprehended. Ready for extraction."

"Excellent work, team!" Director Evans' voice boomed over the comms, a rare note of genuine pleasure in his tone. "Megan, Manon, initiated a quiet extraction protocol. Lara, Yoonchae, confirm all clear."

The mission was a complete success. Clean, precise, and without a single hitch. Daniela and Sophia worked together like a single, perfectly coordinated unit, their movements flowing, their communication telepathic. 

Back at the agency, after the debrief and the paperwork, the team gathered in the breakroom. Everyone was buzzing with the success of the mission.

"That was smooth, you two," Manon said, clapping Daniela and Sophia on the back. "Like you never left."

"Better than ever, actually," Megan added, smiling. "You guys were amazing out there."

Lara gave them a rare, approving nod. "Efficient. Well done."

Yoonchae, her eyes bright, just beamed at them. "You were so cool, unnies!"

Daniela and Sophia exchanged a look, a warmth passing between them. The compliments felt good, but the real victory was in their quiet understanding, the way they moved through the world now, side-by-side, their hearts finally aligned.

Later that evening, after they'd both showered and changed into regular clothes, Daniela found Sophia in the agency's quiet lounge area. Sophia was looking out the window at the city lights, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Daniela walked over, a nervous flutter in her stomach. This was it. This was the moment.

"Hey," Daniela said softly, standing beside her.

Sophia turned, a gentle smile touching her lips. "Hey yourself. Good mission, huh?"

"The best," Daniela agreed. She took a deep breath. "Soph... I was thinking. We've been through a lot. And... well, we've talked about a lot. And... I was wondering if... if you'd want to go out? Not for a mission, not for debrief. Just... us. A date."

Sophia's smile widened, a soft glow in her eyes. "A date, Avanzini? Are you finally asking me out?"

Daniela felt her cheeks flush. "Maybe. Is that a yes?"

Sophia chuckled, a warm, happy sound. "It's a definite yes, Dani. Where are we going?"

Daniela grinned, a huge, relieved smile spreading across her face. "Surprise. Pick you up at seven?"

"Seven it is," Sophia confirmed, her eyes sparkling.

That night, Daniela picked Sophia up from her apartment. Sophia was wearing a simple, elegant dress, and her hair was down, framing her face softly. She looked beautiful. Daniela felt her breath catch.

"You look... wow," Daniela managed to say, a little awkwardly.

Sophia laughed, a genuine, happy sound. "You don't look so bad yourself, Avanzini."

Daniela had picked a quiet, cozy Italian restaurant downtown. It wasn't fancy, but it had warm lighting and a comfortable atmosphere. They sat across from each other, candlelight flickering between them.

"So," Sophia began, a playful glint in her eyes. "This is different. No comms, no weapons, no life-or-death situations."

"Just us," Daniela said softly, reaching across the table to gently take Sophia's hand. Sophia's fingers intertwined with hers, a perfect fit.

They talked for hours. Not about missions, or the agency, or past rivalries. They talked about their dreams, their fears, their favorite silly movies, the little things that made them laugh. They talked about the future, a future they were now building together.

"You know," Sophia said, her voice quiet, her eyes fixed on Daniela's, "I used to think... I used to think the bad blood between us would never go away. That it was just part of who we were."

Daniela nodded, squeezing Sophia's hand. "Me too. I thought we were stuck in that loop forever. Always fighting, always trying to prove something. I thought fixing us would be impossible. Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes, after all."

"But then," Sophia continued, her gaze softening, "when I was hurt... and you were there. And you said... you said what you said." She smiled, a tender, loving smile. "It was like... all the bad blood just drained away. And all that was left was... this." She gestured between them, to their clasped hands, to the warmth in their eyes.

"This is better," Daniela whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "So much better."

The night air was cool as they walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. The city lights twinkled around them, a beautiful, peaceful backdrop to their new beginning. They walked in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's presence.

They stopped at a small park, a quiet oasis in the middle of the city. The moon was full, casting a soft glow over everything. Daniela turned to Sophia, her heart full, overflowing with a love that felt both fierce and gentle.

"Sophia," Daniela began, her voice soft, "I meant what I said that night. In the server room. And in the hospital. I love you. More than I ever thought possible. You're... everything to me."

Sophia's eyes welled up, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek. She reached up, her hand cupping Daniela's face, her thumb gently stroking her cheek. "I love you too, Dani. Always. Even when I was too stubborn to admit it. Even when I thought I hated you. It was always you."

And then, under the soft glow of the moon, in the quiet of the park, they leaned in. Their lips met, a soft, tender kiss that was years in the making. It was a kiss that spoke of pain and healing, of rivalry and reconciliation, of a love that had fought its way through darkness and emerged stronger than ever. It was the end of one chapter, and the beautiful, breathtaking beginning of another.

Daniela and Sophia, two agents, once rivals, now lovers, stood together, hand in hand, ready to face whatever the future held. Their story wasn't just about missions and danger, it was about finding love in the most unexpected of places, about healing old wounds, and about proving that even from the deepest bad blood, the purest love can bloom. 

And that, for them, was the biggest bang of all.

previous part.

a/n: OFFICIALLY LAST CHAPTER! The ending!!! It has been a ride with you guys and I would like to thank you for sticking with me until this very last chapter. I appreciate the love, feedback, and especially your reactions.

To more sodani fics in the future, yes? The next works that I will be uploading are x reader ones so tune in for that. Special chapter will come right after this! (not sure when though) THANK YOU SM, MWA MWA BESITOS 💋💋

Band-aids don't fix bullet holes but love does...

Just click this: SPECIAL CHAPTER.

[cringywhitedragon]

Heads up folks, NicoNicoDouga is currently down due to a large scale cyberattack

The attack happened on the 8th and the site is still down in terms of video streaming. Apparently there were reports of Ransomware being used during the attack.

The site is still “down” but the blog part is back up but from the report, videos and content posted are ok so do not fret. The site is still down as of this post (save for the blog) and it seems they are working their hardest to fix it and do damage control.

Here is a rough translation of their most recent post:

Report and apology regarding cyberattack on our services

As announced in Niconico Info dated June 8th, 2024, Dwango Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Takeshi Natsuno) has been unable to use the entire Niconico service operated by our company since the early morning of June 8th. It has been confirmed that this outage was caused by a large-scale cyberattack, including ransomware, and we are currently temporarily suspending use of the service and conducting an investigation and response to fully grasp the extent of the damage and restore it.

After confirming the cyberattack, we immediately took emergency measures such as shutting down the relevant servers, and have set up a task force to fully clarify the damage, determine the cause, and restore the system. We would like to report the findings of the investigation to date and future responses as follows.

We sincerely apologize to our users and related parties for the great inconvenience and concern caused.

Response history>

Around 3:30 a.m. on June 8, a malfunction occurred that prevented all of our web services, including our "Nico Nico" and "N Preparatory School" services, from working properly. After an investigation, it was confirmed that the malfunction was caused by a cyber attack, including ransomware, at around 8 a.m. on the same day. A task force was set up on the same day, and in order to prevent the damage from spreading, we immediately cut off communication between servers in the data center provided by our group companies and shut down the servers, temporarily suspending the provision of our web services. In addition, since it was discovered that the attack had also extended to our internal network, we suspended the use of some of our internal business systems and prohibited access to the internal network.

As of June 14, we are currently investigating the extent of the damage and formulating recovery procedures, aiming for a gradual recovery.

June 8, 2024

We have begun an investigation into the malfunction that prevented all of our "Nico Nico" services from working properly and the failure of some of our internal systems.

We have confirmed that the cause of the failure was encryption by ransomware. "Nico Nico" services in general and some internal business systems suspended and servers were shut down

A task force was established

First report "Regarding the situation in which Nico Nico services are unavailable" was announced

June 9, 2024

Contacted the police and consulted with external specialist agencies

Kabukiza office was closed

KADOKAWA announced "Regarding the occurrence of failures on multiple KADOKAWA Group websites"

June 10, 2024

Reported to the Personal Information Protection Commission (first report)

Second report "Regarding the situation in which Nico Nico services are unavailable" was announced

June 12, 2024

Reported the occurrence of the failure to the Kanto Regional Financial Bureau (Financial Services Agency)

June 14, 2024

This announcement

This cyber attack by a third party was repeated even after it was discovered, and even after a server in the private cloud was shut down remotely, the third party was observed to be remotely starting the server and spreading the infection. Therefore, the power cables and communication cables of the servers were physically disconnected and blocked. As a result, all servers installed in the data centers provided by the group companies became unusable. In addition, to prevent further spread of infection, our employees are prohibited from coming to the Kabukiza office in principle, and our internal network and internal business systems have also been shut down.

In addition to public cloud services, Niconico uses private cloud services built in data centers provided by KADOKAWA Group companies, to which our company belongs. One of these, a data center of a group company, was hit by a cyber attack, including ransomware, and a significant number of virtual machines were encrypted and became unavailable. As a result, the systems of all of our web services, including Niconico, were shut down.

This cyber attack by a third party was repeated even after it was discovered, and even after a server in the private cloud was shut down remotely, the third party was observed to be remotely starting the server and spreading the infection. Therefore, the power cables and communication cables of the servers were physically disconnected and blocked. As a result, all servers installed in the data centers provided by the group companies became unusable. In addition, to prevent further spread of infection, our employees are prohibited from coming to the Kabukiza office in principle, and our internal network and internal business systems have also been shut down.

The Niconico Video system, posted video data, and video distribution system were operated on the public cloud, so they were not affected. Niconico Live Broadcasting did not suffer any damage as the system itself was run on a public cloud, but the system that controls Niconico Live Broadcasting's video distribution is run on a private cloud of a group company, so it is possible that past time-shifted footage, etc. may not be available. We are also gradually checking the status of systems other than Niconico Douga and Niconico Live Broadcasting.

■ Services currently suspended

Niconico Family services such as Niconico Video, Niconico Live Broadcast, and Niconico Channel

Niconico account login on external services

Music monetization services

Dwango Ticket

Some functions of Dwango JP Store

N Preparatory School *Restored for students of N High School and S High School

Sending gifts for various projects

■ About Niconico-related programs

Until the end of July, official Niconico live broadcasts and channel live broadcasts using Niconico Live Broadcast and Niconico Channel will be suspended.

Considering that program production requires a preparation period and that Niconico Live Broadcast and Niconico Channel are monthly subscription services, we have decided to suspend live broadcasts on Niconico Live Broadcast until the end of July. Depending on the program, the broadcast may be postponed or broadcast on other services.

The date of resumption of Niconico services, including Niconico Live Broadcast and Niconico Channel, is currently undecided.

Niconico Channel Plus allows viewing of free content without logging in. Paid content viewing and commenting are not available.

■ About the new version "Nico Nico Douga (Re: Kari)" (read: nikoniko douga rikari)

While "Nico Nico" is suspended, as the first step, we will release a new version of "Nico Nico Douga (Re: Kari)" at 3:00 p.m. on June 14, 2024. Our development team voluntarily created this site in just three days, and it is a video community site with only basic functions such as video viewing and commenting, just like the early days of Niconico (2006). In consideration of the load on the service, only a selected portion of the videos posted on Niconico Video is available for viewing. The lineup is mainly popular videos from 2007, and you can watch them for free without an account.

■About the Niconico Manga app

We have already confirmed that many systems were not affected, and we are considering resuming the service with a reduced-function version that allows basic functions such as reading manga, commenting, and adding to favorites. We aim to restore the service by June 2024.

If any new facts become known in the future, we will report them on Niconico Info, Official X, our company website, etc. as they become available. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Added 6/10]

Thank you for your continued patronage. This is the Niconico management team.

Due to the effects of a large-scale cyber attack, Niconico has been unavailable since the early morning of June 8th.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

As of 6:00 p.m. on June 10th, we are working to rebuild the entire Niconico system without being affected by the cyber attack, in parallel with an investigation to grasp the full extent of the damage.

We have received many inquiries from you, such as "Will premium membership fees and paid channel membership fees be charged during the service suspension period?" and "What will happen to the time shift deadline for live broadcasts?". We are currently in the process of investigating the impact, so we cannot answer your questions, but we will respond sincerely, so please wait for further information.

Our executive officer Shigetaka Kurita and CTO Keiichi Suzuki are scheduled to explain the expected time until recovery and the information learned from the investigation up to that point this week.

We will inform you again about this as soon as we are ready.

■ Services currently suspended

Niconico Family Services such as Niconico Video, Niconico Live Broadcast, Niconico Channel, etc.

Niconico Account Login on External Services

[Added 2024/06/10 18:00]

Gifts for various projects (due to the suspension of related systems)

■ Programs scheduled to be canceled/postponed (as of June 10)

Programs from June 10 to June 16

■ Current situation

In parallel with the recovery work, we are investigating the route of the attack and the possibility of information leakage.

No credit card information has been leaked (Niconico does not store credit card information on its own servers).

The official program "Monthly Niconico Info" scheduled for June 11 at 20:00 will be broadcast on YouTube and X at a reduced scale. During this program, we will verbally explain the current situation in an easy-to-understand manner. (※There is no prospect of providing additional information, such as detailed recovery dates, during this program.)

"Monthly Niconico Info" can be viewed at the following URL. YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@niconico_news X (formerly Twitter) → https://x.com/nico_nico_info

The latest information will be posted on Niconico Info and the official X (formerly Twitter).

We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to users and content providers who regularly enjoy our videos and live broadcasts. We ask for your understanding and cooperation until the issue is resolved.

Published on 6/8]

Thank you for your continued patronage. This is the Niconico management team.

Currently, Niconico is under a large-scale cyber attack, and in order to minimize the impact, we have temporarily suspended our services.

We are accelerating our investigation and taking measures, but we cannot begin recovery until we are confident that we have completely eliminated the effects of the cyber attack and our safety has been confirmed. We do not expect to be able to restore services at least this weekend.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

We will inform you of the latest situation again on Monday (June 10, 2024).

■ Suspended services

Niconico family services such as Niconico Video, Niconico Live Broadcast, and Niconico Channel

Niconico account login on external services

■ Current situation

In parallel with the recovery work, we are investigating the route of the attack and the possibility of information leakage.

No credit card information has been confirmed to have been leaked (Niconico does not store credit card information on its own servers).

Future information will be announced on Niconico Info and Official X (formerly Twitter) as it becomes available.

We deeply apologize to all users who were looking forward to the video posts and live broadcasts scheduled for this weekend. We ask for your understanding and cooperation until the response is complete.

[tarithenurse]

Inhuman

Fandom: MCU Pairing/starring: Eventually Bucky x fem!reader, Loki x fem!reader, Stucky, more (some canon, some not). Word count: 1667. Contents: Recovery, mystery. A/N: This was my first ever fanfic - it looked different in its original version but I'm editing heavily. It will be tackling everything from "Civil War" and on differently than canon. Any questions are welcome. Please comment and like and reblog. Let me know if you want a tag.

Chapter 6

You wake up to Stark’s face centimetres from yours, scaring you shitless and punching him straight in the face as a knee-jerk reaction before you manage to recall what’s going on. Especially Natasha seems very proud of this but you’re less happy...partially because it hurts your own face too. That and you fixing his now broken nose seem to make it up for Stark and he divulges the information that you’re are on the way “home” to the Bunker, but not without stopping to get some proper food on the way to celebrate. The idea alone makes your stomach growl.

“Stopping for food” apparently means landing in Paris and getting a four-star restaurant to stay open after hours so the team can have dinner. Naturally, you aren’t going to complain about getting the most lavish meal in your life and Crème Brûlée for dessert on the way home from what’s officially your first job with the Avengers…though the whole situation’s surreal.

…

You don’t get a chance to tell your parents face to face that your vacations cut short. In fact you don’t get to do more than send them a text that you’re fine and that “someone”, probably a SHIELD employee, will stop by to get your luggage. Meanwhile you’re spending the flight getting updated on the case that’d brought you to the mountain facility.

It all leads back to the threat Coulson had visited the Bunker about. Unfortunately, it seems that the guy behind it wasn’t actually there, but there are loads of data, materials, and witnesses to provide new information. SHIELD’s taking care of that part together with Stark and Natasha who on their end also are working through the data downloaded from the computers. There’s a lot.

As for the Inhumans, they’re being offered medical attention at the agency and the offer to either join them or go back to their old lives, more or less. Apparently, Emmanuel’s stoked by the idea of being an agent and as of now no one has contradicted him.

When the team finally gets back to the Bunker, you’re allowed to crash straight away but with the promise of a full day of training in only a handful of hours. Especially Bruce seems determined to borrow you for some new tests.

… …

Being woken up by FRIDAY at five in the morning and told to join Bruce in the kitchen isn’t really something to brighten the mood when you’re not a morning person, but you’ve learned long ago that FRIDAY doesn’t give up. If the AI can get Stark out of bed in the morning (not always, though) then it can get any normal being up too. Thankfully, Bruce greets you with fresh orange juice and pancakes. Smart man.

“I’ve been thinking about you radar…would you mind joining me on a walk outside the perimeter?”

You don’t even try to stifle a yawn. “Fine.”

Dew’s lying in a thin glittery layer on everything, making your bare toes wet as you walk through the grass.

The further you get away from the Bunker the more small specks of glitter start showing up for you. All of them appear after an unmarked line which must be the system Banner’s mentioned before. Soon they’re crawling and buzzing everywhere: underneath your and your odd colleague’s feet, circling above your heads, coming to a perfect standstill when they get near only to suddenly scamper away if any of you get too close. Most must be belonging to insects because Banner can’t see many of them, but to you it seems like a million minuscule fireflies everywhere around them.

“It’s magnificent. Like silver…and gold and…copper everywhere.”

Bruce looks at the empty air, trying to imagine what you’ve been describing. “Why different colours?”

“I dunno...there doesn’t seem to be much logic to it. Not like when you turned green and your glitter did too.” You shrug, rolling up the wrapper from the pancakes.

“You haven’t said that before.” His right eyebrow has found its way to his hairline all on its own.

Guilt burns in your cheeks. “…I guess…I forgot to mention. A lot happened yesterday and now…I’m not quite awake yet.”

“No worries, guess I should be the one to apologize anyways.”

As you steal a glance at him, you can see that he really looks ashamed with glistening eyes and lips drawn thin. “No. You didn’t hurt me. Or Emmanuel.”

The two of you walk on a bit in silence before you stop him. Further up ahead is a herd of deer. They don’t seem to have noticed the intruders yet because they keep grazing peacefully in the morning mist. The doctor looks at you questioningly and you point towards them as an answer.

When he does spot them, he just stands with mouth open just as spellbound as you are: one of the does is not grazing but has sought a bit away from the herd. She’s fawning. It’s possible to tell there’s one kid on the way because of its silvery-white sparkles clear within the softer golden particles that make up the mother. Despite the burning feeling of the contractions that you share with the doe even from this distance, it’s still an amazing sight.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the fawn is standing on its wobbly, long legs, trying to steer its weight towards the mother. As the little creature, also a female, homes in, you and Bruce back away slowly. It’s odd to explain these things to someone who cannot see it but at least Bruce seems to appreciate the firefly analogy.

Walking back, he starts to hum the starting song from the Lion King and as you pass through the doors to the kitchen, together you’re starting over with the opening chorus line – it’s not pretty, probably not correctly pronounced, but most surely heartfelt. Surprisingly, there’s no applause from Stark and Steve, only deafening silence and open mouths due to the horror they’ve just witnessed.

After a brief delay, the silence’s broken by Clint barging into the room. “What was that?!”

“That...” explains Stark, still wide-eyed from the incident, “was the cast from the High School Musical 15...or a pack of hyenas.”

“You’re one to talk! I’ve heard you in the shower when we had to sit in that wretched helicarrier for days!” The rebuttal comes promptly from Bruce and serves its purpose. Stark’s on the defence while the guys are grilling him.

... ...

You’ve been alone in the Bunker for a few days now. Somehow, everyone else have found something to do elsewhere but it does grant some time without hard training. It’s not difficult being on your own. There’s a lot of entertainment and if you need anything that’s not in the Bunker then FRIDAY orders it. One of those days, the first package arrives.

You still haven’t been able to figure out how deliveries make it here, but this time you realize it’s someone on a cover-address, bringing things to the Bunker if one of the Stark Industry drones can’t do it. The man who brings everything doesn’t want to answer any questions as to where the Bunker actually is, though, and he leaves laughing as if he doesn’t even believe you don’t know. The package itself gets scanned by FRIDAY and Stark’s notified…the only answer’s to just leave it in the lab.

Three days later another one arrives. It’s the same man who delivers it and he’s still not sharing any information as to the whereabouts of the place. And again, you just need to leave the package in the lab.

By the end of your solitary days there are four packages waiting to be opened. All you’ve learned from the delivery-man’s that you can call him Bob (it’s probably not even his real name) but he still hasn’t divulged anything else before Stark returns. First thing he does, however, is to go to the lab and busy himself there with some new gadget.

Only once does he emerge allowing for you to ask him about the contents of the packages reminding him of their existence. So he disappears again, but this time not for long.

“Mister Stark would like to see you in the lab.”

You’ve been there many times before, but it’s never been it this messy. You have to step over a big pile of blueprints and then skirt around a fallen chair. On the table are the packages. Open. Stark’s leaning up against the wall and just staring at them, hair messy and arms crossed defiantly over his chest.

“Hav’a look.”

You’re not quite sure what to expect, but obviously something’s gotten to him. In the first box’s a note with the scribbled words “Drink me” tied to a vial with a blue liquid in it. In the second box is a stale muffin accompanied by the note “Eat me”. The third box has a surveillance picture from the raid in the mountain and a last note simply stating: “So close, yet so far”…and finally in the fourth a brick with “Find me” attached to it.

“He’s taunting us!” Tony’s words carry a fine explosion of spittle.

“We knew ‘t’was a matter of time before he’d resurface somehow.”

“Yeah, but this...this is...a slap in the face! He knows that we have NOTHING on him from all the data we collected!” Well...not all of us knew that...but fine. Tony’s pacing, waving his arms like an Italian as he speaks. “We still have no idea who he is or what he wants!”

“Bruce might be able to wrangle some answers out of that blue stuff…or maybe ask Coulson to get Simmons to have a look?” A voice in the back of your head’s shouting at you for daring suggest anything. “She’s specialized at this, right?”

“Of course I asked Banner and the others to come back asap! I’m not a moron!” Then he appears to think about it. “But you’re right...I needa hear if Coulson’s gotten anything like this.”

[yayasvalveplay]

Please do!

I got it right here because it's LONG

Cybertronian Autobots

Leader of the Autobots: Elita one. Taken the burden of the Matrix of leadership when Optimus became deadly sick and was forced into a deep recharge to recover. So far a cure hasn't been found.

Second in command: Prowl. The Top of the Intelligence agency, Prowl uses his tac net processor to file useful data, and work through missions. While he is not that socially inclined he still tries his best to get along with everyone. Though his best is usually telling others exactly what they don't want to hear. He does however have a conjunx, Jazz

Third in command: Jazz. Top of the Spy agency, An ex decepticon who changed his ways once he saw what Megatron was doing was wrong. He is goofy, and pretends to be clumsy only for others to see he has changed for the better and is not a threat. Though his decepticon side comes out when he's angry or very worried about his Conjunx Prowl.

Medical CMO: Ratchet. A 'younger' bot (not much older than Prowl) who has climbed his way up to be THE medical officer for most of the autobots. His mentor was Pharma before he went insane. He is also there to oversee Optimus's recovery. So far a cure hasn't been found, and he is scared it won't be.

Others: Iornhide, Kup, Skyfire, Blurr, Wheelie, Windblade, Roller, Bumblebee, Hotrod, Tailgate, Whirl, Cyclonus, Blaster, Rewind, Chromodome.

Earth Autobots

Leader: Arcee. Taking after her Sire Elita One She gathered up a bunch of her friends to embark on a mission to save Optimus (Her carriers) life. This is truly becoming difficult for her to manage, but as long as she doesn't break down into a sobbing mess, she'll be fine.

Scout: Mirage: With his outlyer abuility to turn invisible. He is the best at sneaking into places, and getting out without being caught. Only downside. Hes a royal, and really doesn't like getting his plating dirty if he can help it.

Wreaker: Skids. He's here and he's not ready to play. He may be a bit goofy at times, But under all that, he is a ruthless mech that doesn't take kindly to his friends being hurt.

Wild card/speedeter: Swerve. He's just there. Arcee really didn't want to leave him behind so took him with. At least he's really good at making food, and his meteralogy comes in really handy in sticky situations. Though he has shown he's also good with a gun,, sometimes.

Medic: First aid. First time really being away from his home, from his gestalt. He's a medibot in training who JUST got his license And now he has to deal with his friends getting all hurt on organic planets all because they are looking for a cure for their leader.

Decepticons

Leader: Starscream. Starscream was a fair ruler. And it was him that held off the Autobots for as long as he could before a ceasefire was announced. As both Original leaders were deemed MIA. Starscream waits for something to come along that would restart the war. A bit afraid it will.

Second in command: Shoundwave: A quiet mech, selectively mute. He is the spy master of the Decepicons. and the left hand man of Starscream (They are conjunxed) He knows there had to have been something to cause the ceasefire, and it has to do with Optimus going MIA.

Third in command: Shockwave. Scientist, highly intelligent. Somehow found himself third in command when all he wanted to do was conduct experiments and make gadgets, somehow also found himself best friends with Blurr and Swerve. He doesn't know how that happened.

Others: Skywarp, Thundercracker, Knockout, Breakdown, Constructicons, Most of the Combaticons. (Swindle has fucked off somewhere), DJD, Nickle, Chromia.

Earth Decepticons

Leader: Naudica. She's only there because Starscream told her to pick from a list and head in the direction The Earth Autobots were going. Honestly sure the war is on stand by but did that really mean they had to follow them? What ever she isn't the decepticon leader.

Scout: Blitzwing. He may be a tripple changer, but he's quiet. Good enough to sneak around with his large frame. However because of that Mirage loves sneaking up on him and scaring him. He's going to crush that Blue mech under his pedals if he does that one more time.

Speedster: Smokescreen. Honestly he doesn't know why he's here. He was just scooped up by Nautica and told 'You'll do' Sure he likes to race, he can get up there in speeds. But he'd rather be at home with his twin Darkwing

Wreaker: Grimlock. He was told he'd be able to smash things. Yet he hasn't, and really, he's getting board.Maybe the dark blue bot would like to fight?

Medic: Vortex. Listen This is the best you are going to get, Knockout taught him all that he knows before he was shipped out to run after some Autobots that were leaving space for some unknown reason.

???

Leader, deserter, wonder: Megatron. He doesn't know why he left. He doesn't know why he's scouting Cybertron like he's a wild animal. All he knows is that He is dying, and so is Optimus.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA Studies Reveal Hidden Secrets About Interiors of Moon, Vesta

Analyzing gravity data collected by spacecraft orbiting other worlds reveals groundbreaking insights about planetary structures without having to land on the surface.

Although the Moon and the asteroid Vesta are very different, two NASA studies use the same technique to reveal new details about the interiors of both.

In the lunar study, published May 14 in the journal Nature, researchers developed a new gravity model of the Moon that includes tiny variations in the celestial body’s gravity during its elliptical orbit around Earth. These fluctuations cause the Moon to flex slightly due to Earth’s tidal force — a process called tidal deformation — which provides critical insights into the Moon’s deep internal structure.

Using their model, the researchers produced the most detailed lunar gravitational map yet, providing future missions an improved way to calculate location and time on the Moon. They accomplished this by analyzing data on the motion of NASA’s GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) mission, whose spacecraft, Ebb and Flow, orbited the Moon from Dec. 31, 2011, to Dec. 17, 2012.

In a second study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on April 23, the researchers focused on Vesta, an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Using NASA’s Deep Space Network radiometric data and imaging data from the agency’s Dawn spacecraft, which orbited the asteroid from July 16, 2011, to Sept. 5, 2012, they found that instead of having distinct layers as expected, Vesta’s internal structure may be mostly uniform, with a very small iron core or no core at all.

Both studies were led by Ryan Park, supervisor of the Solar System Dynamics Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and were years in the making due to their complexity. The team used NASA supercomputers to build a detailed map of how gravity varies across each body. From that, they could better understand what the Moon and Vesta are made of and how planetary bodies across the solar system formed.

“Gravity is a unique and fundamental property of a planetary body that can be used to explore its deep interior,” said Park. “Our technique doesn’t need data from the surface; we just need to track the motion of the spacecraft very precisely to get a global view of what’s inside.”

Lunar Asymmetry

The lunar study looked at gravitational changes to the Moon’s near and far sides. While the near side is dominated by vast plains — known as mare — formed by molten rock that cooled and solidified billions of years ago, the far side is more rugged, with few plains.

Some theories suggest intense volcanism on the near side likely caused these differences. That process would have caused radioactive, heat-generating elements to accumulate deep inside the near side’s mantle, and the new study offers the strongest evidence yet that this is likely the case.

“We found that the Moon’s near side is flexing more than the far side, meaning there’s something fundamentally different about the internal structure of the Moon’s near side compared to its far side,” said Park. “When we first analyzed the data, we were so surprised by the result we didn’t believe it. So we ran the calculations many times to verify the findings. In all, this is a decade of work.”

When comparing their results with other models, Park’s team found a small but greater-than-expected difference in how much the two hemispheres deform. The most likely explanation is that the near side has a warm mantle region, indicating the presence of heat-generating radioactive elements, which is evidence for volcanic activity that shaped the Moon’s near side 2 billion to 3 billion years ago.

Vesta’s Evolution

Park’s team applied a similar approach for their study that focused on Vesta’s rotational properties to learn more about its interior.

“Our technique is sensitive to any changes in the gravitational field of a body in space, whether that gravitational field changes over time, like the tidal flexing of the Moon, or through space, like a wobbling asteroid,” said Park. “Vesta wobbles as it spins, so we could measure its moment of inertia, a characteristic that is highly sensitive to the internal structure of the asteroid.”

Changes in inertia can be seen when an ice skater spins with their arms held outward. As they pull their arms in, bringing more mass toward their center of gravity, their inertia decreases and their spin speeds up. By measuring Vesta’s inertia, scientists can gain a detailed understanding of the distribution of mass inside the asteroid: If its inertia is low, there would be a concentration of mass toward its center; if it’s high, the mass would be more evenly distributed.

Some theories suggest that over a long period, Vesta gradually formed onion-like layers and a dense core. But the new inertia measurement from Park’s team suggests instead that Vesta is far more homogeneous, with its mass distributed evenly throughout and only a small core of dense material, or no core.

Gravity slowly pulls the heaviest elements to a planet’s center over time, which is how Earth ended up with a dense core of liquid iron. While Vesta has long been considered a differentiated asteroid, a more homogenous structure would suggest that it may not have fully formed layers or may have formed from the debris of another planetary body after a massive impact.

In 2016, Park used the same data types as the Vesta study to focus on Dawn’s second target, the dwarf planet Ceres, and results suggested a partially differentiated interior.

Park and his team recently applied a similar technique to Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, using data acquired by NASA’s Juno and Galileo spacecraft during their flybys of the Jovian satellite as well as from ground-based observations. By measuring how Io’s gravity changes as it orbits Jupiter, which exerts a powerful tidal force, they revealed that the fiery moon is unlikely to possess a global magma ocean.

“Our technique isn’t restricted just to Io, Ceres, Vesta, or the Moon,” said Park. “There are many opportunities in the future to apply our technique for studying the interiors of intriguing planetary bodies throughout the solar system.”

TOP IMAGE: This artist’s concept shows the Moon’s hot interior and volcanism about 2 to 3 billion years ago. It is thought that volcanic activity on the lunar near side (the side facing Earth) helped create a landscape dominated by vast plains called mare, which are formed by molten rock that cooled and solidified.  Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

CENTRE IMAGE: These views of the Moon’s near side, left, and far side were put together from observations made by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

LOWER IMAGE: NASA’s Dawn mission obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta on July 24, 2011. The spacecraft spent 14 months orbiting the asteroid, capturing more than 30,000 images and fully mapping its surface. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

[the-areph]

AGENCY FOR THE RECOVERY OF ESCAPED PET HUMANS

◇---◇──────────◇---◇

OS - @bluemoonscape

Here at AREPH, our main goal is find and secure any and all loose, missing, and escaped pet humans. If you have a pet human who has run away, contact us through our inbox and we'll get on it! We rehouse abandoned pet humans as well, so if you're looking for a new pet for a low price, get in touch!

We often work closely with associates at ANAKT, helping make sure all of the pets at the Garden are where they are supposed to be.

We have staff members that are human, but rest assured that they are monitored and checked frequently for any misconduct. They also are not allowed any clearance above Level 3. Do not pry into the file of Eddy.

◇---◇──────────◇---◇

TAG DIRECTORY:

#OS REPORTS - Lore content, original posts

#OS FINDINGS - Reblogs

#AREPH PAPERWORK - All AREPH staff and patient profiles

#AREPH INTERCOM - Any in-lore announcements

#OS SPEAKING - Mod/Blue speaking

◇---◇──────────◇---◇

FONTS:

- Name plaque: ABNES REGULAR

- Data: DESIGNER or AZONIX

All are downloadable for free through DaFont on IbisPaint

FACULTY UNITS:

UNIT: HOSPITAL [TRAINEE, L1, OS]

UNIT: LP HOLDING [L1, OS]

UNIT: STRATEGICS [L2, OS]

UNIT: RETRIEVAL [L3, OS]

UNIT: MILITARY [L4, OS]

UNIT: HP HOLDING AND TESTING [L5, OS]

PERMITTED UNITS FOR PATIENT ADMITTANCE:

UNIT: HOSPITAL

UNIT: LP HOLDING/TESTING

UNIT: HP HOLDING/TESTING

CLEARANCE LEVELS:

HOSPITAL ACCESS [TRAINEE]

HOSPITAL AND LP HOLDING/TESTING CLEARANCE [L1]

STRATEGICS UNIT CLEARANCE [L2]

RETRIEVAL UNIT CLEARANCE [L3]

MILITARY CLEARANCE [L4]

HP HOLDING/TESTING CLEARANCE [L5]

OVERSEER [OS]

formatting and assets were all done by me lol (zen @verdantlights ) hi hehe i made the profile templates :tism:

[huxhsz]

✈ — weightless paradise

transmigrated non-mc!reader x caleb

prev ch: 03 - regeneration┆series masterlist ┆next ch: 05 - countdown

This isn’t how the game was supposed to go. You're not supposed to be here. You're an anomaly. But if you’re already here, then… can’t you just enjoy it for now? Just for a little while? Before the main story begins? Before everything inevitably falls into place? ...Right?

— content warning/s:

medical trauma

physical violence and injury

psychological trauma

non-consensual medical procedures

depersonalization and loss of agency

emotional dependency

mental health themes

hopelessness and suicidal ideation

cross-posted on ao3! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

CH. 04 — HELPLESSNESS

You don’t fight anymore.

You used to. You think you did. Maybe. It’s hard to remember.

At first, you’d flinch when the guards came. Struggle when they pulled you from your room. Beg when the restraints clicked into place. The words would tumble out—“Please stop, please don’t, please it hurts, please”—and you really thought, at some point, that maybe someone would care.

But no one did.

They never stopped.

And now… now you don’t bother.

When they come for you, you don’t resist. You don’t scream when they strap you down. You don’t ask why, because you already know the answer.

Research.

Data.

For the sake of progress.

It doesn’t matter how much it hurts. It doesn’t matter how much you hate it. It doesn’t matter what you say or do or feel because they’re going to do it anyway.

So you don’t waste the energy anymore.

You lie still as they strap you down, eyes fixed on the cold metal ceiling. You don’t wince when they draw the blade across your arm. You don’t scream when the bone fractures beneath the pressure of the vice. You barely blink when the pain flares bright and sharp across your nerves.

You know it’ll heal.

You know you’ll survive.

You know they’ll just do it again.

So what’s the point?

The scientists take notes. Talk over you like you’re not there. They discuss your recovery rate, your pain threshold, the adaptability of your cells. Sometimes you catch bits of it—faster than Subject 002, lower resistance than Subject 001.

Caleb heals too slowly. Unicorn breaks too easily.

You’re somewhere in between.

How lucky for them.

“Take her back to her room,” one of the scientists says eventually.

The restraints snap open. Someone hauls you upright. Your legs don’t want to work at first—numb, shaky—but you don’t resist as they drag you down the hall.

They open the door. Toss you inside.

You hit the floor hard, knees scraping against the cold tile. The door hisses shut behind you.

You stay there for a moment, cheek pressed to the ground. Your breath rasps in and out of your throat. Your arm still throbs faintly where they cut you, but the skin is already smooth again. Healed. Good as new.

A shadow falls over you.

“You’re back.”

Caleb’s voice is low and steady.

You don’t move.

The sound of footsteps, the faint creak of his knees as he lowers himself beside you. Warm hands catch your arms, pulling you upright. You don’t help him, but you don’t fight either.

He sits on the floor with you, back against the wall. His arms curl around you, drawing you close.

“You’re shaking,” he murmurs.

You hadn’t noticed.

You curl into him instinctively, burying your face against his chest. His jacket smells like smoke and metal and the faint bite of oil. His hand runs slowly through your hair.

“They…” Your voice barely comes out. “They cut me open again.”

“I know,” Caleb says. His voice is low and dark.

“I didn’t stop them.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t even try.”

Caleb’s hand tightens slightly against your hair. “It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t fight,” you whisper.

“It’s not your fault,” he repeats. His hand cups the back of your head, steady and warm. “It’s not weakness to stop struggling when there’s no point.”

It feels like weakness.

“I think…” Your throat tightens. “I think they could kill me, and I wouldn’t even care.”

He tenses beneath you.

“They won’t,” he says. His voice is sharp now, brittle beneath the surface. “I won’t let them.”

“But you can’t stop them.”

His arms tighten around you. His heart pounds hard beneath your ear.

“I’ll find a way,” he murmurs. “I swear it.”

You’re not sure if you believe him.

But you don’t say that.

You just close your eyes, listening to the steady thud of his heart beneath your cheek. His warmth seeps into you, dulling the sharp edges of the day’s pain.

Eventually, your shaking stops.

Eventually, the pain fades.

But you know tomorrow it’ll happen again.

And the next day.

And the next.

And you’re not sure how long you can keep surviving that.

You don’t know how long you sit there.

Caleb’s arms are still wrapped around you, his breath steady against the crown of your head. The floor is cold beneath you both, but his body is warm. Strong. He always feels steady, even when the rest of the world is falling apart.

His hand moves slowly through your hair, fingers brushing your scalp in soft, rhythmic motions. It’s grounding. It makes you feel… not better, exactly. But less broken. Less like you’re going to disappear entirely.

“You should sleep,” he says eventually.

You don’t want to. Sleep means waking up again. Sleep means facing it all tomorrow.

“I’m not tired,” you murmur.

“You’re lying.”

You don’t deny it.

You feel his chin press against the top of your head. “Just rest for a little while. I’ll stay here.”

You know he will. He always does.

But even so…

“I can’t,” you whisper. “I’ll see it again.”

Caleb doesn’t ask what you mean. He already knows.

The past, the future, the shifting possibilities—they blur together sometimes when you close your eyes. Flashes of things that haven’t happened yet. Glimpses of things that have already passed. It’s not always clear which is which. And you can’t stop it.

You see the needles.

The knives.

The blood.

You see Caleb’s face twisted in pain.

You see Unicorn’s eyes wide and empty and blank—

Your breath hitches. Your fingers curl into his jacket.

“I don’t want to see it,” you whisper.

Caleb’s arms tighten around you. His breath is steady against your hair. “You won’t,” he murmurs. “Not tonight.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

You lift your head slightly, pressing your cheek to his collarbone. The fabric of his jacket is worn beneath your fingertips. “How?”

He’s quiet for a moment. His hand moves to your back, fingers trailing over the ridge of your spine.

“Because I’ll stop them,” he says simply. “If they come for you, I’ll stop them.”

You shake your head. “You can’t.”

“Maybe not now.” His voice is low, dark beneath the softness. “But one day.”

You pull back just enough to see his face. His gaze is sharp beneath the fringe of his dark hair. Those violet eyes—cool and steady—meet yours without hesitation.

He really believes it.

That’s the terrifying part.

“You…”

“I’m serious,” he says quietly.

You sit back. His arms loosen around you, but he doesn’t let go entirely. Your hand drifts down, curling over his wrist. His skin is cold. His pulse beneath your fingers is steady.

“How?” you ask.

He doesn’t answer right away. His eyes darken.

“I just know,” he says eventually.

That’s not an answer. But it’s enough for him.

“What…” You hesitate. “What if you can’t?”

“I will.” His voice is so certain.

“How can you be so sure?”

He leans forward slightly, gaze sharpening. “Because I have to.”

You swallow. His expression doesn’t change.

“Even if you have to hurt someone?” you whisper.

“If it keeps you safe.” His answer comes too quickly. No hesitation.

You stare at him. His face is still calm, but his eyes—those deep purple eyes—are burning.

You remember how he looked in the lab. When the scientists strapped him down. When the machines began to hum. You remember the sound of his breathing, thin and shallow. The way his jaw clenched as the voltage climbed higher. He hadn’t screamed.

But his eyes—those burning violet eyes—had found yours across the room.

You wonder if that’s how he held on. If you were the reason.

Or maybe… Maybe he’s just telling you that so you’ll stop shaking.

“I…” You hesitate, your thumb brushing over his wrist. “What if… What if we can’t get out?”

His expression hardens. “We will.”

“And if we don’t?”

He leans in. His forehead presses lightly to yours. His hand settles on the side of your face, thumb brushing the hollow of your cheek. His breath warms your skin.

“We will.” His voice is steady. Calm. Like it’s already a fact. “I promise.”

You don’t know if he can keep that promise.

But you want to believe him anyway.

Your breath shudders out. You close your eyes. His hand stays on your cheek, grounding you.

You don’t believe in much anymore.

But maybe… maybe you can believe in this.

Maybe you can believe in him.

“Okay,” you whisper.

His thumb brushes over your cheekbone. His hand stays at your back as you lean into him, your body relaxing by degrees. His warmth soaks into you, soft and steady.

“You should sleep,” he says softly.

This time, you don’t argue.

You let your eyes close.

You feel his hand settle at the nape of your neck. His breath is steady against your temple. His warmth shields you from the cold.

And for the first time in a long time…

…You sleep without seeing the future.