#Electronics Puzzle Lab

[xboxissues]

New Xbox Games for May 13 to 17 2024

[mckitterick]

She Won. They Didn't Just Change the Machines. They Rewired the Election. How Leonard Leo's 2021 sale of an electronics firm enabled tech giants to subvert the 2024 election.

Everyone knows how the Republicans interfered in the 2024 US elections through voter interference and voter-roll manipulation, which in itself could have changed the outcomes of the elections. What's coming to light now reveals that indeed those occupying the White House, at least, are not those who won the election.

Here's how they did it.

(full story is replicated here below the read-more: X)

She Won

The missing votes uncovered in Smart Elections’ legal case in Rockland County, New York, are just the tip of the iceberg—an iceberg that extends across the swing states and into Texas.

On Monday, an investigator’s story finally hit the news cycle: Pro V&V, one of only two federally accredited testing labs, approved sweeping last-minute updates to ES&S voting machines in the months leading up to the 2024 election—without independent testing, public disclosure, or full certification review.

These changes were labeled “de minimis”—a term meant for trivial tweaks. But they touched ballot scanners, altered reporting software, and modified audit files—yet were all rubber-stamped with no oversight.

That revelation is a shock to the public.

But for those who’ve been digging into the bizarre election data since November, this isn’t the headline—it’s the final piece to the puzzle. While Pro V&V was quietly updating equipment in plain sight, a parallel operation was unfolding behind the curtain—between tech giants and Donald Trump.

And it started with a long forgotten sale.

A Power Cord Becomes a Backdoor

In March 2021, Leonard Leo—the judicial kingmaker behind the modern conservative legal machine—sold a quiet Chicago company by the name of Tripp Lite for $1.65 billion. The buyer: Eaton Corporation, a global power infrastructure conglomerate that just happened to have a partnership with Peter Thiel’s Palantir.

To most, Tripp Lite was just a hardware brand—battery backups, surge protectors, power strips. But in America’s elections, Tripp Lite devices were something else entirely.

They are physically connected to ES&S central tabulators and Electionware servers, and Dominion tabulators and central servers across the country. And they aren’t dumb devices. They are smart UPS units—programmable, updatable, and capable of communicating directly with the election system via USB, serial port, or Ethernet.

ES&S systems, including central tabulators and Electionware servers, rely on Tripp Lite UPS devices. ES&S’s Electionware suite runs on Windows OS, which automatically trusts connected UPS hardware.

If Eaton pushed an update to those UPS units, it could have gained root-level access to the host tabulation environment—without ever modifying certified election software.

In Dominion’s Democracy Suite 5.17, the drivers for these UPS units are listed as “optional”—meaning they can be updated remotely without triggering certification requirements or oversight. Optional means unregulated. Unregulated means invisible. And invisible means perfect for infiltration.

Enter the ballot scrubbing platform BallotProof. Co-created by Ethan Shaotran, a longtime employee of Elon Musk and current DOGE employee, BallotProof was pitched as a transparency solution—an app to “verify” scanned ballot images and support election integrity.

With Palantir's AI controlling the backend, and BallotProof cleaning the front, only one thing was missing: the signal to go live.

September 2024: Eaton and Musk Make It Official

Then came the final public breadcrumb:In September 2024, Eaton formally partnered with Elon Musk.

The stated purpose? A vague, forward-looking collaboration focused on “grid resilience” and “next-generation communications.”

But buried in the partnership documents was this line:

“Exploring integration with Starlink's emerging low-orbit DTC infrastructure for secure operational continuity.”

The Activation: Starlink Goes Direct-to-Cell

That signal came on October 30, 2024—just days before the election, Musk activated 265 brand new low Earth orbit (LEO) V2 Mini satellites, each equipped with Direct-to-Cell (DTC) technology capable of processing, routing, and manipulating real-time data, including voting data, through his satellite network.

DTC doesn’t require routers, towers, or a traditional SIM. It connects directly from satellite to any compatible device—including embedded modems in “air-gapped” voting systems, smart UPS units, or unsecured auxiliary hardware.

From that moment on:

Commands could be sent from orbit

Patch delivery became invisible to domestic monitors

Compromised devices could be triggered remotely

This groundbreaking project that should have taken two-plus years to build, was completed in just under ten months.

Elon Musk boasts endlessly about everything he’s launching, building, buying—or even just thinking about—whether it’s real or not. But he pulls off one of the largest and fastest technological feats in modern day history… and says nothing? One might think that was kind of… “weird.”

According to New York Times reporting, on October 5—just before Starlink’s DTC activation—Musk texted a confidant:

“I’m feeling more optimistic after tonight. Tomorrow we unleash the anomaly in the matrix.”

Then, an hour later:

“This isn’t something on the chessboard, so they’ll be quite surprised. ‘Lasers’ from space.”

It read like a riddle. In hindsight, it was a blueprint.

The Outcome

Data that makes no statistical sense. A clean sweep in all seven swing states.

The fall of the Blue Wall. Eighty-eight counties flipped red—not one flipped blue.

Every victory landed just under the threshold that would trigger an automatic recount. Donald Trump outperformed expectations in down-ballot races with margins never before seen—while Kamala Harris simultaneously underperformed in those exact same areas.

If one were to accept these results at face value—Donald Trump, a 34-count convicted felon, supposedly outperformed Ronald Reagan. According to the co-founder of the Election Truth Alliance:

“These anomalies didn’t happen nationwide. They didn’t even happen across all voting methods—this just doesn’t reflect human voting behavior.”

They were concentrated.

Targeted.

Specific to swing states and Texas—and specific to Election Day voting.

And the supposed explanation? “Her policies were unpopular.” Let’s think this through logically. We’re supposed to believe that in all the battleground states, Democratic voters were so disillusioned by Vice President Harris’s platform that they voted blue down ballot—but flipped to Trump at the top of the ticket?

Not in early voting.

Not by mail.

With exception to Nevada, only on Election Day.

And only after a certain threshold of ballots had been cast—where VP Harris’s numbers begin to diverge from her own party, and Trump’s suddenly begin to surge. As President Biden would say, “C’mon, man.”

In the world of election data analysis, there’s a term for that: vote-flipping algorithm.

And of course, Donald Trump himself:

He spent a year telling his followers he didn’t need their votes—at one point stating,

“…in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote.”

____

They almost got away with the coup. The fact that they still occupy the White House and control most of the US government will make removing them and replacing them with the rightful President Harris a very difficult task.

But for this nation to survive, and for the world to not fall further into chaos due to this "administration," we must rid ourselves of the pretender and his minions and controllers once and for all.

[goodlucktai]

9, raph and leo?

dialogue prompts

9. “I know, I know it hurts.”

x

When Raph was eight years old, the twins decided they needed their own bedrooms and, like with all other things they had ever decided, they made it everyone else’s problem. As a united front, the two of them had the capacity to wear down a squad of Navy Seals in a manner of days, let alone one overtired single father. 

The campaign for separate bedrooms turned out to be a long con. Donnie had been denied an evil science laboratory by Splinter multiple times, on the grounds of it being dangerous, and Donnie being seven, and evil being bad. But a room of his own could be whatever he wanted, and he wanted a lab. 

It took most of a week for Splinter to discover that the twins were still doubled up in the room that was ostensibly Leo’s while Donnie’s was being used for nefarious purposes, but by then Donnie had installed an electronic lock on the door that he built out of components gutted from old kitchen appliances and was fully ready to die on that hill. 

While Pops and Donnie were locked in a contest of wills that would ultimately go in Donnie’s favor (because Splinter’s achilles heel back then—and even now—was that he thought little turtles at their most sulky and unreasonable were just adorable) Raphie had looked at Leo with a confused frown on his face. 

“How come you went along with it, Lee? You didn’t even get your own room.”

Leo shrugged, bright gold eyes shining with interest as he watched his twin and his father argue back and forth. He was following it carefully, probably ready to join in if it looked like Donnie was going to lose—more engaged than he ever was playing video games or flipping through comics. 

At the time, all Leo said was, “Just wanted to see if I could.”

Raph thought it was because he was a troublemaker, and he maintained that idea up until Mikey—intuitive beyond his years, even as a sweet little six year old—said he figured it was just that Leo’s head went as crazy fast as Donnie’s did, only in ways that didn’t involve breaking and building things. 

A full decade later, Raph knows Mikey was right on the money. Looking back, he sees a kid who was wickedly smart and terribly understimulated. Leo didn’t create trouble for the heck of it, he just liked having problems to solve. He wanted conversations and tricks and puzzles, he needed hoops to jump through like dolphins did on TV, or else he’d get cranky and sneaky. 

Their world became a much simpler, more peaceful place once Leo got his first phone and discovered an online chess app with a leaderboard. 

All this to say, Leo has had a mind for strategy since before he could talk in full sentences. He’s a natural-born leader, and after the failed Krang invasion, he really stepped up and took it seriously. Raph is so proud of him he doesn’t have words big enough to contain the size and shape of it all. It isn’t as hard as he had imagined it would be to let go of the reins and give Leo the room he needs to shine. 

Some days are better than others. For the most part, Leo says jump and his brothers don’t even ask how high, they just shoot for the rafters. Their teamwork is cohesive, as solid as it was when they initially realized their ninpo, and Raph thinks he’d feel sorry for the Shredder if that guy showed his face in their town again. 

But there are also days like today, when Leo says something that Raph’s big brother meter pings as Leo being silly, stirring shit up for lack of better thing to do, and he doesn’t linger on it past that initial knee-jerk impression. 

They’re working with a group of mutants out of Hell’s Kitchen, mutants who are walking the line between vigilantism and outright crime. They’re rough around the edges, but good-natured for the most part. The turtles kept bumping into that other group as they crisscrossed around the city until finally their leader, Old Hob, said, “Why don’t we just get on the same program instead of stepping on each other’s heels?” and a tentative partnership was formed. 

It’s been a week since then, and in that time Raph and his brothers have been firmly adopted by the grown-up mutants, who ask pointed questions about what time they went to bed the night before and whether or not they had a decent breakfast and how their online classes are going. 

“This must be what having overbearing aunties is like,” Donnie said to April on the phone none-too-quietly, and Sally, feline mutant and aforementioned overbearing auntie, knocked her knuckles on his battleshell reprovingly. But that about summed it up. 

There was one spanner in the works, and that was Liam.  

——

“Anyone else getting bad vibes from that guy by the way?” Leo says one day. 

There’s something performative about it, his usual pomp and charisma with a plastic edge. Mikey tilts his head like a service dog who just caught the scent of a potential medical emergency. Donnie looks up from his phone, eyes keen the way they only are when he and his twin are about to communicate with the telepathy they’ll deny they have.

But Raph is having a bad pain day, and his well of patience for shenanigans is much shallower than it normally is. 

“Leon, don’t start,” he says, rubbing the slider’s head playfully to take any sting out of the dismissal. “If I have to put up with any middle child nonsense today I’m gonna scream.”

There’s a beat, his second-youngest brother visibly hesitating on a mental fork in the road. He’s gotten so good about being forthcoming but his first impulse is still to play along, deny, conceal-don’t-feel. He still has this idea in his head of what a good leader is supposed to be, and he’s still willing to whittle parts of himself away that don’t fit that mold. 

To his credit, Leo tries again. “I don’t like him,” he says with less certainty. 

“You don’t have to be best friends with the guy,” Raph replies. There’s enough warning in his tone that Leo knows to drop it. “Just get along until we go home.”

He works his shoulder, trying to do something about the solid ache it’s become, and Leo’s eyes drop to the mass of scarring there and then flit away. He starts to outline the route their patrol is going to take, reaching into his belt bag for the jar of Tiger Balm he’s taken to carrying with him and handing it over to Raph as he talks. 

Raph smiles, the warmth in his chest ballooning up to swallow the impending impatience and annoyance brought out by pain. That warmth stays with him through their whole run, even as Donnie video-calls April and deadpans “POV you’re tailing some guy who didn’t get the memo that armed robbery is cringe as hell,” even as Mikey goes out of his way to jump and tumble off a fire escape in time to give Mondo a high-five as he skates by in the opposite direction, even as Leo progressively gets quieter the closer they get to their two AM check-in at the Mutanimals’ railyard base.

Looking back, Raph can count all the red flags he missed and hates himself a little more for each one. Leo sometimes causes problems for fun, and he likes to see what trouble he can get away with or get himself out of, and he is a downright menace to society when he’s bored—but he’s good. He’s sweet, and charming, and wants to help. He wouldn’t have raised an issue with the other group of mutants, potentially cutting ties with useful allies, unless he had a decent reason to. 

And that reason, Raph discovers that night—after information has been exchanged and all that's left is to hang out at the base watching TV and playing table tennis until Splinter inevitably texts to remind his sons of their curfew—is Liam. 

He doubles back into the meeting room where he left his phone and sees the goose mutant has put himself between Leo and the only exit, head lowered on a serpentine neck, beak open to show a flash of sharp teeth in a display that Raph’s animal hindbrain reads clearly as threat. 

His grip on the doorframe causes it to crack. 

“Leo,” he says in a voice he doesn’t recognize. 

His little brother’s head jerks up, half-hopeful, half-disbelieving. Later, Raph will hate himself for putting even a sliver of doubt in Leo’s mind, for unknowingly invalidating his feelings. Leo should never be surprised that his big brother showed up for him. He should never have been left to fend for himself in a situation that made him uncomfortable, especially after he found the courage to be upfront about it. 

“C’mere,” Raph says, lifting an arm—a little turtle’s cue to tuck themselves safely against Raph’s side. 

Whatever his expression is doing, it’s caused dead silence to blanket the room like a foot of packed snow. Liam looks markedly unhappy to see Raphael standing there, but Leo runs to meet him. 

A strategist, a faceman, a leader, and barely seventeen years old. 

“We were just talking,” Liam says with a lightness that rings as false. 

“Next time I find out you and my brother were just talking, I’ll wring your skinny neck,” Raph replies, matching his tone. Liam may be twice Raph’s age, but he’s half Raph’s size, and Raph has gone head-to-head with the Krang general and the Shredder and walked it off each time. Raph is fully prepared, in this moment, to murder this fucking goose. 

Leo taps on Raph’s carapace, just as one of his violent inner voices is lifting its head in the back of his brain and considering making an appearance. On Leo’s end, a warning that someone else is coming from down the hall. On Raph’s end, a reminder that his first priority is the one he’s holding. 

He turns, keeping Leo beside him, in time to see Hob appear around the corner. The cat mutant stops dead in his tracks, slitted eyes moving from Raph, down to Leo, to the doorway beside them, and back again.  

“Problem?”

“We’re going home,” Raph says, a rumble in his voice he wouldn’t know how to temper even if he wanted to. “And we’re not coming back. Don’t call us unless someone’s dying or there’s another alien invasion.”

“Knock on wood,” Leo mumbles near-silently. 

Old Hob doesn’t answer right away. It’s impossible to tell what the older mutant is thinking on a good day, outwardly recalcitrant and unfriendly, even though he has never snapped at Mikey’s cheerful rambling or Leo’s wheedling attempts to goad him into yet another chess match or even Donnie’s accidental ninpo-related shortage of every appliance in the Mutanimals’ kitchen. He and Sally and Ray and Herman all go out of their way to make their base comfortable and accessible to the turtles and Mondo and Pete, like it really matters to them that the younger mutants have a safe place tucked away that they can fall back on. 

And Raph had appreciated that, up until now. Up until they proved it wasn’t safe, actually. Up until he’d seen a grown man leering meanly at his baby brother, just because he thought he could keep getting away with it.

When Hob does speak, all he says is, “Get home safe, boys.”

Raph shoulders around him, and collects Donnie and Mikey from the main room immediately. Mikey says, “Woah, are you guys okay?” and Donnie shoots a poisonous look behind them, like if he glares hard enough he can see back in time to what happened to put those expressions on Leo and Raph’s faces. 

“We’re peachy, Miguelito,” Leo says, disquietingly convincing. “Just had a difference of opinion with our hosts is all.” 

“Stay out of Hell’s Kitchen from now on until I say so,” Raph adds sternly. 

Raph tells dad about Liam when they get home, because there is no universe where that doesn’t happen, and Leo immediately gets hauled into Splinter’s room for what sounds like a very serious conversation. Raph, Donnie and Mikey cluster shamelessly outside the door to eavesdrop, and some frightened thing in Raph’s heart lets out the breath it’s been holding when Leo says, “Nothing happened, papa, I promise. He was just weird.”

“Let him be weird to my Baby Blue one more time and I will show him exactly why your father was the undisputed Battle Nexus champion,” Splinter says. He cups Leo’s face and rubs his thumb over a striped cheek, as if he’d like to keep his son right there where no one had the capacity to hurt him. “Thank you for telling us. I’m so proud of you. I will actually kill him if he looks at you again.”

Leonardo smiles brightly, daddy’s boy of the family and glutton for attention that he is, those leftover dregs of anxiety in his eyes finally melting away. 

“I think we should let dad kill him,” Donnie announces, eyes icy, tone flat. 

“Nah,” Mikey says, disingenuously cheerful. “Next time we run into Liam I’m setting him the fuck on fire!” 

“Language,” Raph scolds by rote, but his heart isn’t in it. 

He can’t get that scene he walked in on back at the railyard out of his head. He can’t help thinking what if something worse had happened because I didn’t listen? 

It feels like there’s a ghost in his chest, rattling his heart. He’s haunted by the what if. 

——

After dinner, Leo looks at Raph meaningfully and points at the infirmary. Doctor Leo’s orders supersede all others, 100% of the time, so Raphael sighs and surrenders his controller to Mikey’s grabby hands without bothering to make the token argument. He keeps driving Princess Peach off the track anyway. 

“Have you been stretching?” Leo says, feeling along Raph’s upper arm, where the muscles are visibly knotted. Even his careful touch hurts—that whole side of his body is tender with pain. Raph can’t help but flinch when his shoulder spasms and Leo hisses. “Shit, sorry, I know, I know it hurts. God, Raphie, you gotta say something before it gets this bad. I’m not afraid to bench you, big guy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Raph says, amused by his little brother’s no-nonsense tone, warmed by the care Leo always takes with his family when they’re sitting in his infirmary and putting their hurts in his hands. 

There’s nothing performative about him here. It’s just Leo, stripped of every false layer. 

“Let’s try to massage it out,” Leo says, all his attention bent to the task. “Then we’ll apply heat.” 

Raph hums, watching him work. His arm radiates pain, and he has to grit his teeth as Leo goes to work on the knots and the ache flares close to unbearable and wanes to a dull throb and then flares again. 

“Hey,” Raph says before he can overthink it any more. “What would you have done if I didn’t see you and Liam?”

Leo pauses, but only for a split-second. He’s as good as cornered here, because there’s no way he’ll leave Raph when he’s in pain, and there’s nowhere to hide. Thankfully for Raph’s sanity, he doesn’t try to pretend he doesn’t know what they’re talking about, even if he takes a long moment to finally answer. 

“Would’ve made Angie make me a Portal Promise to never be alone with him,” Leo admits. Flushing slightly, he mumbles, “It’s, uh, a thing we do—we both make portals, you know, so—it just means we have to keep that promise no matter what happens or what rules we have to break, and we won’t get in trouble later as long as we’re honest.” 

Raph’s heart hurts. His little brothers are so sweet, and people exist in the world who would hurt them, and he has no idea how to reconcile that. He hates that both things could be true at the same time. 

“Tello doesn’t need to be encouraged to stay away from people, and I’m pretty sure he can read my mind? But I would’ve told him anyway,” Leo goes on. “I tell him everything. I’d try to word it so he didn’t get angry enough to do something drastic, like, cut the brake lines on Liam’s Toyota Corolla. And I’d have to make it sound like you and I were on the same page, otherwise he’d go to you about it, and you’d—uh, be annoyed that I didn’t drop it, I guess.”

Getting impaled by the Krang hurt less than this, Raph thinks. He feels sick. 

“Leo—”

“I know,” Leo says quickly, a little too loud. “I know that I don’t always take stuff seriously. It’s not your fault for thinking—you know. You didn’t do anything wrong, Raphie. I just gotta grow up.”

This kid, who—like the rest of them—has already matured well past his age, well before he should have had to. Who’s terrified of letting his family down, who has so much he thinks he needs to live up to. Any perceived failure weighs on him like the death penalty, and Raph knows he had a hand in that. 

He needs to listen. Even when he’s aching and short-tempered. Even when Leo is talking around something that scares him. Maybe especially then. 

“Can we make a deal?” Raph says, reaching up to hold Leo’s hands still under one of his own. Leo is staring hard at Raph’s plastron and doesn’t seem willing to lift his eyes for love or money, but he jerks his head in a nod. “Next time I’m not hearing you, and it’s something serious like today was serious, tell me, and I’ll stop.”

Leo’s mouth twists a bit. If it were for anyone else’s sake, he’d get in Raph’s face and make himself heard no problemo, but it’s an entirely different story when it’s his own safety in question. That part of Leo that wants to always rely on his brothers is constantly at war with the part that believes he’s not supposed to need anyone’s help anymore. 

It would be impossible for him to plant himself like a tree and refuse to be budged and demand Raph’s attention if he thought for one second that it would make Raph angry at him. 

“What if we came up with a code word?” Raph offers, squeezing Leo’s hands. “If I’m being a stubborn punk, you can tell me the code word, and I’ll listen, and I won’t get mad. Even if it turns out to be a mistake or a misunderstanding. Okay?”

He finally gets a peek of gold as Leo dares to make eye contact. He looks embarrassed, like they’ve made a huge deal out of this for no good reason, and hiding inside his shell until everyone promises to pretend like nothing happened is looking more tempting by the second. 

But he’s Leo, their fearless leader. He stared down that portal into the prison dimension without flinching. If he can do that, he can do anything. 

“What word?” he finally says. 

“You pick,” Raph tells him. 

A smile creeps onto Leo’s face, picking its way carefully across shaky ground. 

“‘Goose’,” he suggests.

"‘Goose’ it is," Raph replies firmly, committing it to memory.

He lifts his good arm and drags his little brother into a solid hug, ignoring the twinge in his back and side. Leonardo scrambles to return the embrace, shoving his face against Raph’s unscarred shoulder and clinging for all he’s worth. Which is a lot. He’s worth so much. 

Later, when Raph’s got the electric heating pad on his arm and he and Leo are watching TikTok compilations to pass the time, Mikey comes through the infirmary door at top speed, waving his phone above his head like a maniac. 

“Look what Mondo sent me!” he shouts at full volume. “I put it in the group chat!”

The video shared in the Mad Dogz chat shows Liam being kicked out of the railyard, his bags tossed into the road. Sally is going off at him at the top of her lungs, and Hob is standing by with his arms folded like he’s fully ready to let her maul the guy, and the rest of the grown-up mutants are making it pretty clear with their body language that the goose isn’t welcome anymore. 

“Dunno what they saw on the security cam, but they effin’ hated it,” Mondo says in the recording, unbothered by the absolute chaos unfolding in front of him. “Good riddance, Liam sucks. Oh, Mikester, Hob wants to know if you guys’ll be back in the Kitchen for Herman’s D&D oneshot on Saturday so he knows how much food to order. He said you should bring your dad around this time—as if we need another boring old man in the group, ugh. Anyway, let me know and I’ll pass it along, dude!”

A weight Raph hadn’t even realized he was still carrying melts off his shoulders. Leo huffs under his breath, a disbelieving little laugh. 

“Can we go, Raphie?” Mikey asks with wide eyes. “Don worked so hard on all our character sheets. He even 3D-printed custom figurines.”

“My bard is going to carry this team,” Donnie says loudly from the next room, because he’s never met a private conversation he wouldn’t shamelessly listen in on. 

It’s so important to the Mutanimals that their young friends feel safe with them, and here’s proof of that in Mikey’s hands. Raph doesn’t fully understand why they care, but he’s grateful that they do. It didn’t hit him until now how much it hurt to have the railyard taken away—and how relieved he is that they can go back, after all. 

He squeezes the arm he still has around Leo’s shoulders, prompting his brother to look up at him. 

“What do you say, Fearless?” he says warmly. “Your call.”

Raph’s listening this time. 

[satorusugurugurl]

It’s Alive!

Summary: After losing you beloved husband You seek out the help of the renowned doctor; Satoru Frankenstein, to bring him back, With some upgraded ‘equipment’!

Pairing: Kenjaku!Geto Suguru x AFAB!Reader

Warning: Frankenstein themes, language, size kink, monster sex, unprotected sex, cream pies, ( it’s monster sex—kinda)

Word Count: 2.1K

A/N: Kinktober day Twenty-Six: Frankenstein! I kind of struggled with this one I had like three versions going. But this one was The one I was most happy with.

He was cold. Too cold.

Your eyes watered as you remembered how your husband Suguru’s remains were rolled past yours on a cold steel table a week ago. A white sheet shielding your eyes from the irrevocable damage done to his body. This felt wrong on so many levels. But you needed him; you couldn’t lose him.

That’s what brought you to this old rickety castle, hoping Dr. Satoru Frankenstein could get your beloved husband back to life. He, of course, agreed, with no cost either, all because he was eager to test his new equipment. It almost seemed too good to be true.

“Missus.” A deep, smooth voice drew you out of your spiraling anxiety. “Missus, it’s time.” You turned to look at the young man before you. A black arrow tattoo crossed the bridge of his nose, while two additional arrows went down his cheeks, one under each eye.

“Choso.” You greeted, fingers gripping the front of your gown. “I-I’m ready.”

He led you up the stairs to the tower. You gripped the railing, climbing higher and higher until Choso opened the door to Satoru’s lab. Lightning flashed, machines hummed, and Satoru ran around his lab, round black goggles shielding his eyes from the flashing machines and whirling wind from the open hatch in the ceiling. His prestigious white hair and lab coat whirled around as he glanced toward you and his assistant.

“Ah! Mrs. Geto, Choso, hurry, it's almost time!”

Choso nodded, ushering you to the side before rushing to help Satoru. Your eyes fixed on the clothes body they were lifting into the opened hatch—your beloved husband. You clasped your hands together, bottom lip quivering, as you prayed for this to work, for him to be okay.

Lightning flashed, and thunder roared as Satoru jumped down from the stairs he was on, rushing towards a wall of valves and electronic machines. “On my word, Choso!” He shouted as his assistant ran to the room's other side, grabbing a lever. Satoru’s attention was transfixed on the flashing lightning strikes in the dark skies above. He was focused like the mad scientist he was. “Steady—steady!” A giant lightning bolt striped the mechanical structure. He had set up outside the tower on the roof. “Now!!”

Choso flipped the lever, and as he did, electricity sparked, flowing down towards the table. You screamed, covering your eyes and ears as the machines cried out screaming. Gojo laughed maniacally as the sparks continued to spark until they died down. It was only then that Gojo lifted his goggles before grinning.

“Choso! Bring him down!”

You felt a swell of anxiety as Choso began lowering the table, and you rushed forward, watching as the form underneath it began to twitch. You swallowed, watching as Satoru rushed forward, yanking the sheet off of your husband. Stitches ran along his forehead and different body parts that had been stitched back together. As your eyes roamed over his body, he suddenly blinked. One violet eye, one brown, stared up at Satoru before darting towards you.

“Oh!” You gasped, placing your hand over your chest with wide eyes. “Suguru?”

Your husband slowly sat up, looking down at his hands before his attention focused on you. You stared at one another in shock and hope. Your breathing hitched as you stepped forward, gently, taking him much larger on your own. Your husband looked puzzled at the gesture for the briefest moments before his fingers curled, clasping your hand and his.

“It’s alive,” Satoru announced to Choso. “It’s alive! It’s alive!” He laughed madly as Suguru pulled your hand up to his mouth, pressing a kiss against it.

“O-Oh Suguru!” You chirped out as your relief and joy overflowed like a fountain.

Suguru kicked the rest of the sheet off before standing before you. His frame is much larger than you remembered it before. He towered over you with a sly smirk before cupping your cheek. You learned into it, fighting a sob as Satoru cleared his throat.

“I have made several improvements to your husband. Please take the time to get reacquainted with him.”

Without another word, the two men left you and your husband alone. You listen until the door shuts behind them, and when it does, you finally allow yourself to look up at Suguru. He smiled fondly before lifting you by the hips and carrying you to the nearest wall.

“Suguru?” You swallowed, staring up at his tall, muscular form. “Darling, what are you—“ you gasped, recoiling as he bunched your skirts up, lifting it to your hips. “O-Oh!”

“Wife~” he cooed, growling as he towered over you. His large muscles pulsed as he leaned down next to your ear. “You’re so small~ I can easily lift you.” You gasped as he ran his hands down, groping your thighs as he forced you to wrap them around his waist. “So cute~ so small, I’ll protect you.”

And you knew he meant every single word he said. Because you wanted him to protect you, he was tall, muscular, and strong. Your body shivered against his thick form, making you drip with need as he reached his hands up, tugging your lacy undergarments to the side. You couldn’t remember the last time you were so aroused; Suguru always had that effect on you. But his newer, stronger form made you even wetter.

“Suguru~!” You cried out, wrapping your arms around his neck, pulling him down to your mouth, kissing him with a force so strong it almost knocked the wind out of his lungs.

He kissed you back, snarling as he did. He wasted no time as he reached down, stroking himself with three quick pumps before he pressed the head of his cock against your entrance. His cock was larger than you remembered causing you to hiss out in slight discomfort that slowly eased into pure pleasure. This must have been the additional upgrade Satoru had been talking about. Suguru paused momentarily, allowing you to adjust, his body as stiff and rigid as a rock.

“Are you okay?” He whispered against your lips, his two different-colored eyes examining your face.

“Yes~ I missed you so much, Sugu!” You shot out, kissing him eagerly as he continued pushing inside of you. You moaned, burying your face in the inside of his neck as he stretched your inner walls out like you had never been stretched before. He rested his stitched forehead against your shoulder, dark hair tickling your heated skin as he completely bottomed out inside of you. You never thought being fucked with such a big cock would feel good. But it felt so fucking so good, fuck it just felt so right, like he was meant to be inside of you despite the size difference.

When your body finally adjusted to the size, you pulled your head away just as he did. You lost yourself in his eyes, panting softly as you panted softly as he began rocking his hips. The head of his cock brushed right against your g-spot, drawing out a shaky breath from you as you dug your nails into his back. Suguru hissed against your skin, leaning back to plant kisses along your sensitive neck. Each roll and rock he pushed into you had his cock moving deeper inside of you. Until the head of it brushed against your cervix. The sensation was almost electrifying, making you arch off the wall.

“Fuck, fuck, holy fuck!” His grip on your hips tightened as he began pounding into you. You grabbed a handful of black silky locks, pulling at it.

“Princess,” he roared, “you’re so wet and tight for me.” His finger dug into your flesh, making you rock them faster. “You have no idea how fucking good you feel.” Suguru mewled as his cock throbbed deep within you.

The coil deep within you began to tighten; you were growing close to your release. Suguru grunted and growled in your ear, his cock sliding in and out of your slickened folds as he thrust his hips up, nearly causing the wall behind you to crack. One robust and large arm held you in place while his free hand reached up, gently choking you. His huge fingers squeezed around your delicate neck as he let out an animalistic sound as you rocked your hips against his faster and harder.

“Haah! Suguru!” You gasped, your erect nipples rubbing against his bare stitched skin. “Nngh fuck yes!.”

“Princess, I-I’m gonna cum, fuck, I’m so close.”

“M-Me too!”

He didn’t need to be told a second time; his thrusts became erratic as he cut off your airway just a bit. That left you desperate. Your eyes rolled back as you continued moving, trying to push each other over the edge, and everything continued to build until you both came simultaneously. Your body stilled as Sugurue growled as his cum came out in ropes painting your walls. Your pussy clenched tightly around him, cumming harder than you had ever come before. You both stayed there gasping and panting roughly until the waves of pleasure died down. You grinned as he leaned back to look at you; his cheeks were faintly flushed as he smiled back. The two of you leaned in for another kiss, only to jump as someone bangs on the door.

You blinked, looking at the door, and several people came running in with torches and pitchforks. But they—weren't people, they were vegetables? The fuck? They yelled and screamed, not seeming to care that Suguru was balls deep inside of you. Your husband didn’t even mind them as he stared at you.

“Princess?” Your vision began to fade as Suguru called out your name several times. “Hey, wake up.” When you blinked again, you found Suguru’s violet eyes on you. “Hey, sleepy head, we're home.”

He was wearing all black, bolts sticking out of his neck. Stitches had been drawn across his forehead, smeared here and there. Huh, you glanced around before looking down at yourself. You were in a white dress and could feel the sticky, tacky face paint on you.

Oh yeah, you went to Satoru’s Halloween party. You had too many shots, and getting home was a bit of a blur. But your tall, large husband was anything but blurry. He was all muscle and kind. He agreed to be the DD for you both so you could have a fun time! And you had a fun time but were craving a different kind of fun now.

“Mmm, I had the craziest dream.” You yawned as Suguru unbuckled your seatbelt before carefully scooping you into his large arms. “You were Frankenstine’s monster, and we had hot monster sex.”

Your husband gave you a judgmental look with a laugh before shaking his head as he carried you inside. “Hot monster sex?” He shook his head. “So that’s why you were moaning and squirming the whole ride home. Because I was fucking you as a monster?”

“I was not!”

“Yes, you were, Little Monster Fucker; I bet when you get into the room, those panties are gonna be soaked.”

You pouted, crossing your arms over your chest. “They are not.” You stuck your bottom lip out. “And I’m not a monster fucker!” Suguru gave you an incredulous look.

“Says the person who dreamt of me as a reanimated man fucking her.”

You open your mouth to babble, shut it as a thought, and roam over your mind. “Wait, does that count as necrophilia?” Your husband stopped dead in his tracks, turning his head slowly to stare down at you.

“You know what, I was gonna fuck your brains out against the wall, but that was the least sexiest thing you could’ve said.”

“Wait! Please fuck me. I’m sorry!”

Suguru rolled his eyes. “Only because you said please, you little necrophiliac.” You grimaced, shaking your head in disgust.

“Eww, no, I would much rather be a monster fucker.” You sighed dramatically, going slightly slack in his arms. “Oooh, please, Mr. Monster, don’t do the nastiest things to meet Daddy!”

“Oh my god,” Suguru laughed softly, shaking his head as he carried you into the bedroom. “I want you to remember this moment when I get you a T-shirt that says: ‘Proud Monster Fucker’ on it for Christmas.”

“It’s better than ‘Proud Necrophiliac’!”

Sugar dropped you on the bed, sighing deeply. “Stop saying that damn word.” He turned his jeans down, freeing his monster-sized thick hard cock out, rubbing the tip over your bottom lip. “And put your mouth to better usage.” You grinned slowly, taking his thick, monster-like length into your mouth. Maybe you were a monster fucker, but you were proud to be one for him!

Forever Tag List:

@darkstarlight82 @pandoness @nealeart @simp-plague @sugurubabe @chilichopsticks @reap3erslov3 @wil10wthetree @msniks @lana18918 @draculemon

Kinktober Tag List:

@candy-s72

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 16, Unaccompanied - Pt. 3

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language.

Word Count: 977

Previously On...: You felt even worse when Bucky revealed that Carthage had someone weaseled her way onto the Quinjet to join him on the Russia mission.

A/N: It's short, so you'll get two parts today! Second one will post at 5pm, EST. NOTE! The tag list is a fickle bitch, so I'm not really going to be dealing with it anymore. If you want to be notified when I update, please enable notifications from my Blog page!

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917!

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

Taglist: (Sadly, tag list is closed; Tumblr will not let me add anyone new. If you want to be notified when I update, please Follow me for Notifications!) @jmeelee @cazellen @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @blackhawkfanatic @buckybarnessimpp @hayjat @capswife @itsteambarnes @marygoddessofmischief @sebastians-love @learisa @lethallyprotected @rabbitrabbit12321 @buckybarnesandmarvel @fanfictiongirl77 @calwitch @fantasyfootballchampion @selella @jackiehollanderr @wintercrows @sashaisready @missvelvetsstuff @angelbabyyy99 @keylimebeag @maybefoxysouls @vicmc624 @j23r23 @wintercrows @crist1216 @cjand10 @pattiemac1@les-sel @dottirose @winterslove1917 @harperkenobi @ivet4 @casey1-2007 @mrsevans90 @steeph-aniie @bean-bean2000 @beanbagbitch @peachiestevie @wintrsoldrluvr @shadowzena43

Tumblr will not let me directly tag the following: @marcswife21 @erelierraceala @jupiter-107 @doublejeon @hiqhkey @unaxv @brookeleclerc

“Hey, kiddo,” Tony greeted you as you entered his lab. He was surrounded by bits and pieces of various tech, obviously in the middle of some experimentation. “How are you feeling? Obviously good enough to be walking around. I’m glad you’re here, actually– I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“I thought Carthage was benched, Tony!” you interrupted, ignoring his greeting. Rhodey had been making a slow, but steady, recovery, but as far as you knew, Tony had not lifted his blanket ban on keeping Jade grounded from further missions. Tony frowned at you. “She is,” he said, giving you a puzzled look.

“Then why the fuck is she on the Quinjet with Bucky on the way to Moscow right this minute?” you asked, accusation clouding your words.

Tony put down the electronic components he’d been holding. “Well, I certainly didn’t approve it. I only just got you to forgive me. You think I want to willingly make you even more pissed?”

“Well, someone did,” you said. Your arms were crossed over your chest and you were pouting like a petulant child. 

“I’ll look into it,” he promised, “but don’t overlook the possibility that she took it upon herself to stow away. Not just to get some alone time with Barnes, but to get herself back on the mission roster, too.”

You hadn’t considered that, but now that you did, you wouldn’t have put it past her at all. “Thanks,” you huffed.

“Why do you even care, though?” he asked. “I thought you two broke up. Can’t believe you still won’t tell me why, by the way.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Because it’s not your business, Boss,” you told him. Truthfully, you wanted to confide in Tony, to tell him what Bucky had done, what he had said, so you could bask in the comfort you knew he would offer you, but you truly believed that, if he knew the full truth, there was a very good chance Tony would actually try to murder Bucky. You might not be prepared to fully forgive him, or be with him again, but you certainly didn’t want him dead. And honestly? The last time the two had gone up against one another, it hadn’t ended so well for Tony, either. You doubted Bucky would purposefully hurt him– he wouldn’t do that to you– but you’d never forgive yourself if Tony got himself injured because of you.

“Pfft,” Tony scoffed. “Not my business? What kind of pseudo-big brother would I be if I didn’t look out for my pseudo-little sister? Besides, you think I don’t already know it has to do with him and Carthage being a little too close?”

“Tony,” you warned. “Just find out how she got on that Quinjet, okay? Please?”

“Finnnnnne,” Tony conceded with a roll of his eyes. “You’re lucky I still feel guilty about that med bay incident.”

“Thank you,” you said. “I really appreciate it.”

“With that out of the way,” he said, sliding his rolling stool over to you, “I need a favor.”

You rolled your eyes. Leave it to Tony to ask for a favor in your moment of turmoil. “Go on,” you urged him.

“The annual shareholder gala is on Saturday,” he told you. You nodded, knowing that the event was upcoming. You’d been planning on being away on the mission, so you hadn’t given it much thought. “Big topic of conversation’s going to be your C-PAS. I want you to be there to talk it up, get the investors excited about it so they’ll open their wallets.”

“Ugh, Tony,” you groaned, “you know I fucking hate schmoozing. Can’t you do it? You’re so much better at bullshitting rich people than I am! Besides, I’m sick. What if I throw up on everyone important? Is that really a risk you’re willing to take? Think of the optics.”

Tony rolled his eyes at you. “We’ll load you up with anti nausea meds if we have to,” he reassured you, “so you’ll be fine for a couple of hours. Come on, Pocket. You’re my Chief Technical Officer. This program is your baby. No one is going to sell it as passionately as you. You know that. Don’t you want to show your hard work off?”

You considered it for a moment before dropping your arms and let out a groan. “Fiiiine,” you conceded. “But you’re really gonna owe me for this one, Stark.”

“I’ll buy you a pony,” he said with a smile.

“Oh my God, really?” you squealed. You knew he didn’t mean it, but you sure as shit were going to play into it.

“No,” Tony said, looking at you like you were a complete idiot. “Where the hell would we keep it?”

“I dunno.” Your expression turned into a sour pout. “You could buy a farm Upstate or something.”

“I suppose we could raise some sheep there,” he said thoughtfully.

“Oh my god,” you laughed. “That takes me back.”

Tony grinned at you. “So, all seriousness, what do you want in exchange for a few hours of your time on Saturday?”

“Buy me a new dress,” you said. “And shoes.”

“That’s it?” he asked, sounding somewhat disappointed, as though he’d expected you to ask for a yacht or some such thing. Maybe you did need to up your asking game.

“Okay, how’s this– new dress, shoes, handbag and jewelry, PLUS,” you added with a pointed look, “official write ups in Carthage’s file listing her as unfit to continue beyond her probationary period for recklessness and conduct unbecoming an Avenger. Enough to guarantee no amount of votes will allow her to stay.”

Tony put a hand on your shoulder. “My dear Pocket,” he said, smirk growing wider, “here I was hoping you were going to ask me for something difficult. It would be my pleasure.”

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[randomalistic]

It has occurred to me I do not have an intro post.

——————————————

HI :] My name is Random and this is my main blog! (multifandom)

Bsky (active) / Twitter (inactive)

21 yo 🦜They/it/she 🍓Demigirl + Acespec Lesbian 🏳️‍🌈 ADHD

🇺🇸 <- Not a fan of this (I live here)

☆ My Artfight! (Very new to it, follow me so i can discover your fellas...)

☆ See #My Videos for YouTube videos I've uploaded :]

☆ Recent hyperfixations:

Deltarune (mostly Tenna/Spamton)

Wreck-it Ralph (2012) tagged #wir, #wir video (sideblog: king-crawler)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986) tagged #tgmd, #gay rats

Transformers One (2024) tagged #tfone #gay bots #tf #transfotmers // maybe idk I’M NEW THIS FANDOM

Navigation ————————

🎨 Art Tag - most art is on fixation sideblogs but I post here sometimes

🦜Sona Tag

txt - My post tag (most of them)

Age 16+ reccomended- posts are sometimes suggestive (but only for the sillies.)

——————————————————

Bigots and TERFs GTFO!!!! 🥳 Other than that uhhh no DNI list but I do block for my own sake. Basically just use kindness & common sense and don't be a jerk ❤️ I don't car

INTERESTS————

General: Birds/Ornithology ♡ Animated movies / shows, media analysis & filmmaking, Art (all of it), ecology/biology, most nintendo games, compelling sci-fi & horror

——————————————

Media I enjoy / am knowledgeable of:

UNDERTALE/deltarune, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Doctor Who, FNAF, Steven Universe, Yume Nikki, SPORE, Wobbledogs, Omori, BOTW/TOTK, Mario Galaxy Games (you get the idea).

Creators: Vinesauce, Jerma, freaks like that

——————————————————

Some favorites from each:

——————————————————

Music: I like electronic music I find on YouTube!

I listen to a lot of music by Halley Labs/Lapfox Trax. I also like Dream Puzzles, Nobonoko, C418, etc. Also stuff like Tally Hall and Lemon Demon but I’m sure you knew that just by looking at me

☆ Favorite Album: The Quick Brown Fox - NERVES ENDING

——————————————————

🤓 CRINGE CORNER:

I’m a furry and a selfshipper lmao

——————————————————

🦜SONAS:

The silly little red parrot.

The parrot is free to draw, just be respectful with its depiction (no NSFW or bigotry)

I also have a WIP raptor sona, which is currently a private design. But just know I'm a dinosaur in my heart ❤️ΘΔ

☆ KIN LIST:

Kinning isn’t a super serious thing for me, but a few characters personally resonate with me a lot. AKA brooooo this is literally meeee

My sonas

Jevil

The Quick Brown Fox

Wow I thought there were more than that

NEXT.

♡ F/O LIST

These fixations last anywhere from 4 months - 2 years so I don’t have a lot of them lol

Jolyne Cujoh 🌊🧵💚(my only normal crush)

Spamton NEO 💸🎢💖(fav. my wife.)

TURBO??? (it’s complicated ..?)

I have 2 dedicated fandom/selfship blogs also!

(Bigshotspambot) (King-Crawler)

♡ Thanks for reading! I hope this helped give u an idea of who I am :]

[archaic-stranger]

the biophysics students

examining life on all possible scales

reading a dozen papers on just one molecule

marveling at the work of early x-ray crystallographers

untangling a complex NMR spectrum as if it's a logic puzzle

deducing a chemical structure one piece at a time

hours spent perfecting a computational model

grounding your work in quantitative theory

a disciplined approach to problem-solving

the satisfaction of clean mass spec data

becoming comfortable with complicated equations

chilly air in the temperature-controlled equipment room

understanding the physics that grounds all larger phenomena

pages of instrument printouts cluttering your desk

seeing the contributions of a single atom to a wider system

safety goggles sized perfectly to fit your face

diagraming electron spins and magnetic fields

loyalty to your favorite graphing software

savoring a cup of coffee while you wait to collect your data

dreaming of the contributions your work will make one day

late nights at the lab computer

doodling protein ribbon diagrams on your homework

[dungeon-master-mike]

Board Games/Things Mike owns - S1

Was very bored today so I decided to analyze Mike's bedroom/basement in s1 and I thought, why not make a post abt all the board games and things alike since he has a lot. This is not all of it of course

Found in Mike's Bedoom

Yahtzee 1982

Some Milton Bradley Jigsaw puzzle, not sure which

The Adventures of Indiana Jones 1984

Another Jigsaw Puzzle I wouldn't know

Science Fair Electronic Digital Logic Lab Kit 1977

Some sort of Tool kit for kids? Not sure what.

Spirograph 1967

Some Fine arts box

Found in Mike's Closet

Ouija Board 1972

(I love how the rest of his games are family friendly fun! and then in his closet it's like i speak to the dead occasionally)

Found in Mike's Basement

Stay Alive 1978

The Happy Little Train Game 1957

Score Four 1971

Family Fued 1981

Upwords 1983

Dungeon! 1981

Twirlograph 1968

(I cannot read or find any of the other ones in the fourth pic for the life of me so if you know, please do tell.)

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Inside Mercury: What experimental geophysics is revealing about our strangest planet

Mercury doesn't give up its secrets easily. The smallest planet in our solar system is also one of the most extreme—a sun-scorched, metal-rich world with a puzzling magnetic field and lavas unlike anything found on Earth.

"We still don't fully understand how Mercury got to be the way it is," said Anne Pommier, an experimental geophysicist at Carnegie Science's Earth and Planets Laboratory (EPL). "But each new data point helps narrow down the possibilities."

In a recent Neighborhood Lecture, Pommier explored Mercury's past, present, and future—drawing on decades of research, new lab experiments, and the promise of a new mission on the horizon.

A planet that defies expectations

Mercury has long fascinated Carnegie scientists.

In 1903, the institution's Year Book noted that "observations of Mercury are much wanted." Decades later, planetary scientist George Wetherill—director of Carnegie's former Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM, which is now part of EPL)—predicted Mercury's heavily cratered surface well before spacecraft confirmed it. In the 2000s, another DTM director, Sean Solomon, led NASA's MESSENGER mission, which orbited Mercury for four years and transformed our understanding of its surface and interior.

"All we know about this planet pretty much comes from two missions: Mariner 10 and MESSENGER," said Pommier. "Both of them raised as many questions as they answered."

One of the biggest: Why is Mercury so metal-rich? Its core makes up 60% of the planet's volume—compared to Earth's 15%. Some scientists believe it formed from metal-rich building blocks others think that early collisions stripped away much of its rocky mantle.

"We need more data from the field, more experiments, more modeling to see which hypothesis makes the most sense," said Pommier.

A new mission and new tools

Answers may soon be on the way. In 2025, the joint European-Japanese mission BepiColombo will begin orbiting Mercury. Its instruments will probe the planet's magnetic field, chemistry, and—most exciting for Pommier—electrical conductivity.

But interpreting that data requires something we don't yet have: a detailed understanding of how Mercury-like rocks behave under Mercury-like conditions.

To bridge that gap, Pommier's team creates analog materials that replicate Mercury's oxygen-poor—or "reduced"—geochemistry. In such environments, elements behave differently, forming unusual minerals.

"Mercury is a very reduced planet—completely unlike Earth," Pommier said. Its rocks are rich in sulfur and other elements that thrive in oxygen-poor environments, forming minerals like iron and calcium sulfides rarely seen on Earth

Making magma from scratch

To study Mercury's volcanic past, Pommier's collaborators synthesized Mercury-like glasses—artificial lavas based on MESSENGER data—and analyzed them using high-resolution tools including Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electron microscopy.

The results revealed a striking difference. On Earth, lava is built from silicon-oxygen bonds that form sticky, polymer-like chains. On Mercury, sulfur bonds with silicon to create shorter, less connected silicon-sulfur structures.

"This radically changes their physical properties," said Pommier. "Sulfur breaks up those long chains and replaces them with shorter, less interconnected structures."

The upshot? Mercury's ancient lavas may have flowed more like syrup than tar. Former Carnegie postdoc Megan Mouser measured these viscosities and found them to be orders of magnitude lower than Earth's. That might help explain the planet's surprisingly smooth volcanic plains—though Pommier notes other factors could be involved.

Still, it underscores a broader truth in planetary science: atomic-scale chemistry can shape entire landscapes.

Simulating a magnetic past

Mercury's magnetic field is another mystery. Although weak, it's still active—surprising for such a small, slowly cooling planet. To explore why, Pommier and U.K.-based colleague Christopher Davies and his research group ran thousands of models simulating Mercury's core evolution over billions of years.

Only a narrow range of scenarios reproduced both the field we observe today and the magnetic signature detected in crustal rocks that formed 3.8 billion years ago. In these models, Mercury maintains its dynamo by slowly growing a solid inner core, while a thin convecting layer in the outer core continues to generate the field.

"We think the convecting region in the molten outer core is getting thinner and thinner," said Pommier, "which might explain why the field is so weak today."

The importance of fundamental research

The tools and techniques developed in Pommier's lab—such as high-pressure presses, spectroscopy, and thermal modeling—are also used in energy research, materials science, and electronics.

"Basic research leads to discoveries that not only tell us about Mercury," said EPL Director Mike Walter, "they also lead to technical advances that have applications to the real world."

Walter and Pommier both emphasized that foundational science—the kind that reveals what Mercury is made of or how a magnetic field forms—ultimately underpins the discoveries and technologies that shape our lives.

Pommier noted that her lab is always interested in philanthropic support from those who are interested in helping to advance a deeper understanding of planetary interiors.

Why Mercury still matters

In a universe full of rocky planets, the one that breaks all rules might be the key to understanding them all.

As astronomers discover more rocky worlds around distant stars, Mercury serves as a crucial benchmark—close enough to study, yet alien enough to challenge our ideas about how planets form and evolve.

"Mercury is so off—it has this huge core, weird chemistry, and a magnetic field that doesn't quite add up," Pommier said. "In a way, it's like an exoplanet in our own backyard."

And with BepiColombo on the way, scientists are gearing up for a new wave of discoveries. Experiments like Pommier's will be essential for interpreting what the mission finds.

"Once the data arrive, we'll have something to compare it all to. The new field observations will guide new experiments, building a feedback loop between lab and space."

In other words, the work is just beginning.

TOP IMAGE: This enhanced-color image of Mercury reveals the planet’s complex surface geology. Captured during MESSENGER’s primary mission, the colors highlight differences in rock composition and texture that aren’t visible to the human eye. Light blues and whites trace fresh crater rays, dark blues mark low-reflectance material likely rich in opaque minerals, and tan areas show ancient lava plains—clues to a volcanic past scientists are still working to decode. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Science

LOWER IMAGE: Atomic structures of synthetic lavas reveal key differences between Earth and Mercury melts. Earth-like, sulfur-free melts (left) form long, sticky chains of silicon and oxygen. Mercury-like melts (right), enriched in sulfur, form shorter, less connected silicon-sulfur chains. This disruption leads to lower viscosity and dramatically different melt behavior. Credit: Anne Pommier

[velvetvexations]

One of my oldest special interests is sex and sexuality, I picked this up around age 11 or 12. It's branches out a lot into gender and kink and things but is still a huge one for me.

A current special interest is Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, that I have only recently started so I don't know much yet but they're very very good, and I love learning about PTerry in general.

I was recently introduced to am electronic production duo called Ivy Lab and I really like them. I've also been listening to Mystery Skulls, different kind of electronica, more EDM. I was recently listening to half•alive and OK Ho who I have liked for a number of years now, definitely not electronica. I recently discovered Dorian Electra and I am in looooove (no romo). I was recently introduced to a very strange UK comedy musician called Jazz Emu and I like him very much.

Video games, I play Destiny 2 with my owner and I'm working at getting more into it, FPS games aren't usually my thing but Destiny 2 is fun and my owner really likes it and it's very fun to play together, and I do get better the more I play. I've been engrossed in Minecraft YouTube lately (another Special Interest) like Hermitcraft and other related stuff so I have been playing Minecraft too. I'm working my way through Disco Elysium which is a good game, my attention just isn't the best. I play Animal Crossing New Horizons on my roomate's Switch, he got it for me last Christmas. I love the indie puzzle game A Little To The Left and I have all their DLC and I play their special holiday levels and things.

Mystery Skulls rules SO hard, oh my God. All of their stuff is fucking fantastic.

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Chapter 4: Another Dead End

Warnings: terrifying whumper, living weapon/lab rat, chained whumpee, rescue whump, intense combat scene

Three whole days passed before Thomas managed to pinpoint the location of Jackal’s second base, the one where Dominic Black would supposedly be in. It was another breadcrumb. Another thin lead to follow. The smallest fraction of a puzzle piece. The atmosphere was tense, with everyone preparing for the worst case scenario.

   “So, tell me again why we have to take them head-on?” Thomas asked nervously. 

   Shadow rolled her eyes in exasperation and began explaining for the second time that day. “This Jackal base is unlike the last one we were at. There is no way to break in except to bust straight through the front doors. I already flew over there to scope out the area a bit earlier, look for any weak points. The place is practically impenetrable. Must be holding something of much greater importance in this one, for the level of security they put into it. That, or they caught wind of our attack on their first base, and are trying to prevent it from happening a second time. Does that answer your question?” Her voice drawled.

   “Yeah, I guess so…” Thomas could feel his stomach twist into knots with anxiety.

   What if something goes wrong? What if they hurt Lucus? He tried to shut out the buzzing, unwelcome thoughts in his head as he packed a localized EMP pulse emitter into the bag he would be bringing. 

   “Your emitter has enough power to knock out the electronic locks on the front doors, right?” Tanner asked, turning to face him. Thomas could only nod numbly.

   “It better be enough, because we only get one shot at this. Miss, and we’ll have lost that chance to use surprise to our advantage,” Shadow snorted, sheathing a dagger at her hip. Tanner threw her an angry glare.

   “Could you at least try to be a bit more sensitive? The kid’s just trying to find his brother.”

   She shrugged impassively, completely unconcerned. “I’m only stating the facts as I see them. It’s called being a realist.”

   “Can we please get going? Before my nerves get the best of me?” Thomas interrupted weakly. Tanner turned to him, smiling faintly.

   “Of course. Let’s move out!”

   As soon as he and Thomas stepped out the door of the lab, Shadow immediately took to the air with a loud flap of her ghostly white wings that slapped the concrete, sending her shooting off into the sky. The resulting wind buffeted Thomas in the face, since she was in front of him, and he coughed at the dust that was thrown up as a result.

   “Whoops, are you good? I probably should have warned you about that.” Tanner laughed, amused. “In the future, you might want to consider not standing directly behind her when she's taking off.”

   “Duly… noted…” Thomas coughed again.

   The two of them traveled to their new target and regrouped with Shadow behind the building, where they would be most unseen. Unlike the run-down, metal-sheeted building of before, this one was much more carefully looked after, and at first glance looked like a regular work office area. The walls were solid concrete.

   “Are you sure this is the right one?” Tanner asked skeptically.

   “Positive. This is the one,” Thomas replied, putting up a confident front.

   “If you say so…” The two of them crept around to the side of the building with Shadow trailing close behind, who was constantly glancing around for danger, on high alert, looking extremely uncomfortable with being so far out of her element. There was little darkness or shadows to use for cover, which she always preferred.

   Then Thomas left the two of them to hide around the corner and walked carefully up to the front doors to place his localized EMP pulse device directly on top of the electric keypad that kept the place locked. Backing up, he clicked a button and the pulse went off, and the keypad fizzed and sparked as it short-circuited. 

   Moment of truth… He cautiously walked back up to the door and tried opening it, and to his great relief, it swung open without a hitch. He let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. So far, so good…

   He gestured at the side of the building and Tanner and Shadow appeared, following him into the now unlocked facility. All of them were surprised to find the front room mostly empty, completely unguarded, without a single man in sight. There was a large, official-looking desk with a glass barrier in the back, with various contents laying perfectly organized on its surface, completely untouched. Several fake plants in pots were lined up against the walls for decoration.

   “Hmph… Something’s not right… I sense trouble. And not the fun kind,” Shadow muttered quietly. 

   Sure enough, a split-second after she said it, two guards rushed out from hiding places on either side of the group of three and ambushed them, raising their guns. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl for Thomas as he watched in person for the first time Shadow’s incredible lightning-fast reflexes kick in. 

   The first guard had barely raised his weapon to hip level when she sent it flying from his grasp with a powerful backflip-style kick, while simultaneously hurling a throwing knife at the second guard’s gun with deadly accuracy, and it lodged itself firmly in the barrel, jamming it.

   She effortlessly dispatched the first man with a forceful punch square in the center of his chest, one that sent the poor guy flying backwards to slam into the far wall, where he landed on the floor with a dull thud and didn’t get back up. 

   Thomas couldn’t believe the power he had just witnessed. It was surreal. Especially considering how lean and slender-built Shadow was. She was smaller than most female adults, but still towered almost half a head higher than him if they were standing side-by side. To him, at first glance, he would have assumed that she was built more for agility and speed to dodge around enemies than flat-out hand-to-hand combat with them. And yet, even with her slightly smaller-than-average body structure, she still possessed the strength of a muscular military soldier. A perfect combination of two quality components that would serve her well in battle; speed and strength.

   I think I underestimated just how dangerous she can be… boy am I glad she’s on OUR side… He thought quietly.

   Shadow’s gaze flicked to the side and she shifted her attention to the guard still standing, who had dropped his jammed and now useless weapon and was hastily backing up as she swiveled towards him, taking a step in his direction with a low, rumbling growl. The man’s eyes were wide with fear, seeing how easily she had struck down his comrade.

   “Whoa, hold on a second, I didn’t mean to–” He stopped talking and whirled around before making a run for it, dashing toward the nearest exit. He was fast, but Shadow was faster. He had only gotten a few steps when she was suddenly directly behind him, swinging an arm around his neck and putting him into a chokehold. Thomas could see that she was only applying the bare minimum amount of pressure needed to keep him restrained, making sure not to cut off his air supply so much that he might pass out.

   “We’re looking for Dominic Black. Care to tell us where we can find him?” Shadow snarled venomously into his ear. The man struggled fiercely in her hold, limbs flailing frantically, but her grip remained firm until he stopped his attempts at escape, quickly realizing that there was no way he could win a fight against her.

   “I-I don’t know where he is! Truly!” He stammered in a panic.

   “Wrong answer,” she hissed, and fast as a snake, she let go of him with one arm and drew a curved dagger from her waist, before slashing it across his outer thigh. He cried out in pain as the cold metal tore through flesh, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Thomas instinctively flinched in sympathy and fear, not having expected her to make such an aggressive move.

   But he could see that the wound was not at all dangerous, though, and that Shadow had intentionally made it shallow and non-lethal, keeping her promise of no killing, and it was clearly only meant to scare the man. It had the desired effect.

   “Let’s try again. Every lie gets more painful than the truth. Now where. Is. Dominic. Black?” Shadow rested her dagger against his arm instead, quietly daring him to keep resisting. He didn’t need to be told twice.

   “Okay, you win! I yield! He’s down that hall somewhere! I don’t know any more than that! I promise!” He gushed, gesturing frantically to a nearby hall.

   “Good choice.” Shadow quickly incapacitated him and wiped the small amount of blood on her dagger on his own shirt before starting off in the direction he had pointed to.

   “Well? Are the two of you coming or not?” She stopped to look back over her shoulder where Thomas was standing, still stunned. He shook himself out of the trance and raced after her, Tanner not far behind.

   Soon enough, they rounded a corner to find five more guards waiting for them, and a tall man in a fancy black suit standing behind them all.

   That must be Dominic, Thomas thought to himself. Within seconds of their arrival, full-on chaos ensued. Shadow launched herself at the man closest to her without missing a beat, dropping him with a single blow to the face before setting to work on the rest. Some of them got off a few rounds with their rifles, but fortunately none of the bullets found their marks in their clumsy hast. Tanner hurled himself into the fray to fight alongside her, coming alive with a speed and skill Thomas had never seen in him before as he moved perfectly in sync with her. While the two of them fought off the soldiers, he could see the man in the black suit slipping away unnoticed into another hallway. 

   No! I can’t let him leave! I have to get him to tell me where Lucas is!

   He ran recklessly across the room, barely dodging blows and flying bodies until he made it to the other side and sprinted without hesitation after the man who had left the scene. The sounds of fighting started to fade as he ran further and further into the facility, until he finally caught up with him. But he screeched to a halt in surprise when the man suddenly whirled around, wielding a small handgun.

   Thomas closed his eyes and winced in anticipation, but the trigger was never pulled. He cautiously opened them to find himself staring down the barrel, but a confused expression was flickering across the man’s features.

   “What–? You–You’re just a teenager! What on earth kind of business do you have in a place like this? And bringing a live Falkry with you!? Are you CRAZY!?” He shook his head in disbelief.

   “You’re… Dominic Black, right?” Thomas asked carefully.

   “Depends. Why do you want to know?” Dominic said warily. Thomas could sense that he had just bought himself a few more minutes of life.

   “I’m here because I’m looking for my brother, Lucas. I have evidence that he’s being held here.” He tried to sound confident, and was surprised to find that he felt unusually calm, given the circumstances.

   “So you decided to come on this insane rescue mission partnering with a monster? You got guts, I’ll give you that… but your brother isn’t here. He was transferred again after the stunt you pulled at the other base. The superiors heard you mention his name on one of the security feeds, so they decided to move him to an even more secure location than this one in case you came looking. It appears that they were right. But I’ll congratulate you on even getting in here to begin with. That alone is quite a feat.” Dominic’s face hardened with resolve. “I’m not exactly a fan of killing young people, but now that you’ve been such a problem for Jackal, you’ve become a liability. Which means I can’t let you leave here alive. Sorry, it’s just the hand you were dealt.”

   His finger started to tighten on the trigger, when a lightning fast blur of motion came streaking out from the hallway to his left, smashing into him with such great force that it sent him skidding and rolling across the smooth tiled floor, while the gun in his hand clattered out of reach. He instinctively started to reach for it again, when a flash of silver metal whistled through the air, and embedded itself barely a centimeter from the hand, which was hastily retracted. The metal belonged to one of Shadow’s daggers, and Thomas looked over to see her standing in the spot Dominic had been a second ago, chest heaving from the exertion of the earlier fight with his minions.

   “Are you… trying to get yourself killed… kid?” She panted, shooting him a furious glare.

   “I–” Thomas opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off with a dismissive wave of her hand, not giving him the opportunity to speak, and turned her attention to Dominic, who cowered against the wall as she loomed menacingly over him, her large white wings doubling her size in appearance.

   “So you’re Dominic Black. I’m not impressed.” She looked down at him in contemptment. “Now tell me, where is the kid’s brother?” 

   Dominic’s eyes were huge with fear at her terrifying sight. “I-I don’t know for sure… h-he was taken out of my possession early this morning. T-They didn’t tell me where they were taking him.”

   Shadow leaned down close to his face, staring deep into his brown eyes with a calculating, studious, searching gaze. A few long, tense seconds passed before she let out an explosive sigh, straightening and stepping back.

   “He’s telling the truth,” she announced. “Lucas isn’t here.”

   Thomas felt an immense wave of disappointment flood over him.

   We were so close… just a fraction too slow… He thought miserably.

   Dominic seemed to be recovering from his shock, regaining some of his composure, and an awkward, shaky smile broke out across his face as he addressed Shadow. “Say… I bet I could triple whatever the teenager’s offering for you to help him on this crazy mission. Someone with your skills could be quite an asset… Any chance you’d be willing to switch sides?” He asked slyly.

   For a heart-stopping second, Thomas wondered if she would actually consider the offer, a sinking wave of dread washing over him, but she only narrowed her eyes at the man. Dominic’s sly face dissolved into a frustrated scowl.

   “Geez, what’s it got to take to gain your loyalty, huh?”

   “The only people I owe my loyalty to are those who never made me question theirs. Tanner, specifically,” Shadow retorted, baring her sharp fangs at him. Then Thomas noticed that Tanner actually hadn’t been seen in awhile.

   “Wait, where is Tanner, anyway?” He asked.

   “He’s over–” Shadow was interrupted when Tanner himself came sprinting into the room, completely out of breath.

   “Backup… coming… silent alarm… went off…” He panted. It got the message through.

   “We should get out while we can, then.” Shadow retrieved the dagger she had lodged into the tiled floor, sheathing it at her hip. 

   “Can’t… coming from everywhere… only way out… is deeper in the facility…” Tanner gasped. 

   Shadow frowned at the news. “Well that certainly throws a hitch in things. But if it’s our only option, we better take it.” She and Thomas followed Tanner as he led the way through the halls, looking for another way out. Behind them, they could hear voices approaching. The extra guards that had arrived as backup were closing in fast.

   “We have to hide and hope they pass us,” Tanner said rapidly.

   “I hate hiding…” Shadow muttered under her breath. They started backing down the nearest pathway until they finally came across two doors on opposite sides of the hall. Tanner quickly shut himself in the one on the left, a janitor’s closet, while Shadow pulled Thomas into the other, locking it behind them. Thomas risked a peek out the small window in the door, seeing the shadows of the approaching soldiers coming around the corner. He quickly ducked down so they wouldn’t see him. He turned around to ask Shadow what to do next, when he noticed that she had become curiously still.

   “That’s not possible… How… We’re not the only ones left,” she whispered quietly to herself in utter disbelief.

   What did she just say? Thomas thought in confusion. Then his gaze traveled from her wide-eyed, shocked face down to what she was staring at. There was a cell in the back of this room. And restrained inside was an unconscious, brown-haired teenage boy… but this boy had wings. Just like Shadow.

   No way… Another Falkry!? He mirrored Shadow’s expression, sharing in her astonishment. The boy’s wings were bound in heavy metal manacles that would have prevented the wings from fully extending, making it so he couldn’t fly away.

   She shook herself out of her shocked trance and used her dagger to destroy the electric keypad that locked the cell. It died in a small shower of sparks, and the cell door unlocked. Without hesitation, she entered the cage and leaned down next to the teenager, feeling his neck for a pulse.

   “I don’t believe it…” She breathed, shaking her head in wonder. And Thomas saw something else flash across her face, so fleetingly he almost missed it altogether… it was hope. Hope for what, he did not know. The tiniest flicker of it, that quickly fell away again.

   Shadow used her dagger to slash through the heavy leather binding the boy’s hands together, and grabbed hold of the chain of the shackle attaching his leg to the stone wall. Before Thomas’s very eyes, he could see sparks of blue energy coming out from her hand, and a thin crust of ice froze over a few links of the chain. Then, she cracked it hard on the ground and the frozen parts shattered like glass on contact.

   “What on earth!? What was THAT!?” He squealed, jumping back in surprise.

   “Shhh! Keep your voice down, kid! It’s just an old party trick. I’ll tell you about it later, when we’re not in imminent danger, alright?” She hissed urgently, shooting him a poisonous glare. Shadow grabbed the boy and effortlessly slung his unconscious form over her shoulder, where his still-manacled wings drooped limply against her back.

   “We’re taking him with us. He’s obviously been heavily drugged for whatever cruel experiments Jackal was doing on him, but he should be able to recover.” She walked up to the door of the room and unlocked it.

   “Wait, what are you doing!?” Thomas asked, alarmed.

   “We can’t stay in hiding forever. Best make a run for it while there are not as many guards in the area. The majority of them have already passed us. I can already hear them leaving,” she explained, and without pause, she opened the door and stepped into the hallway, and Thomas scurried out behind her. A moment later, Tanner emerged from hiding as well, a mop or two falling out of the janitor’s closet on his way as he joined them. Then his eyes fell on the teenager Shadow was carrying.

   “Uh, What…?”

   “I’ll explain later!” She said hastily. The group of them made their way back through the halls, and were close to successfully making it out of the building, when they almost collided head on with a large group of seven guards when rounding the last corner. They all froze when they saw the interesting sight of the Falkry. They clearly hadn’t seen one in person before, their faces stuck in shock, currently unable to move.

   “Tanner, take the boy from me,” Shadow growled. Thinking fast, she shoved the younger Falkry’s unconscious body to him to free up her hands, and Tanner clumsily caught him, slinging him over his own shoulder instead. 

   “Now get down!” She barked. He immediately crouched low, frantically gesturing for Thomas to follow suit. 

   Thomas got the hint, and hit the floor alongside him, though not quite understanding the urgency. He quickly figured out why, however, when Shadow shifted her weight into a better position, in preparation for something, white wings spread wide. He saw her blue eyes start to glow with unnatural power, and a cold energy rippled down her arms over the black leather jacket to be concentrated and intensified at her hands. It looked similar to the energy that she had called ‘a party trick’ when she had broken the chain shackle a short while earlier.

   The seven soldiers before her were transfixed, completely mesmerized by the dazzling sight. Then, with a lion-like roar, her hands shot out in front of her, and two powerful blasts of raw energy erupted from them, streaking toward the enemy, and hitting two of the guards square in the chest. They went flying through the air to collide hard with the far wall. Thomas gasped when he saw that the blue, electric-like energy had solidified into solid ice across their torsos upon contact, pinning the soldiers in place against the wall, completely immobilizing them. The remaining men snapped out of their shock at that, and with surprised shouts, they all went for their weapons in unison. But Shadow lashed out with more blasts of energy, flinging her hands in a flurry of fast movements that trapped the rest of them in their own individual cages of ice, stuck against various surfaces. Then the blue power fizzled and sparked out, and she suddenly staggered heavily to the side, falling to one knee, her hands and shoulders shaking.

   “Shadow! Do you think you can still make it back with us?” Tanner asked, concern filling his eyes as he stood back up.

   “Y-Yeah, of course I can make it. Never been better,” she seethed through gritted teeth, as though she were in agonizing pain. With a labored grunt of effort, she lurched back to her feet, swaying unsteadily before finding her balance.

   What in all of earth WAS that!? Thomas thought in a panic. His whole world of science and logic as he knew it had just exploded before his eyes in soooo many different ways. He was suddenly even more terrified of Shadow then he had been before. But for now he forced the feelings back down to focus on the task at hand, scrambling after Tanner as he exited the main doors of the facility, still carrying the unconscious young Falkry on his shoulder, and Shadow trailed a short distance behind them, looking disoriented.

   They all managed to make it back to the waiting vehicle they had arrived in and Tanner jumped into the driver's seat after tossing the teenage Falkry in the back, before flooring the gas pedal and speeding out of the area before anyone could follow. He drove hurriedly back to Thomas’s lab, where he helped carry the mystery Falkry inside. Thomas followed after Shadow, who still seemed oddly dazed, perhaps an after-effect of whatever stunt she had pulled. 

   Why is that? He spared a glance in her direction and could see that her gaze was somewhat distant, lost. Weird…

   He jogged ahead to catch up with Tanner, who had already reached the medical room in the lab. It had been built when Thomas’s father was in control of things as a precautionary measure in case any employees were injured during experiments, since not all of them were entirely safe to conduct, though he never admitted it out loud.

   Tanner had some experience in the medical field, and got to work setting up heart monitors and other gear for the small unconscious Falkry. Some of the technology hadn’t been used in years, but it still seemed to function all right as far as anyone could tell. 

   Thomas stood nearby watching on, and now that he had the chance to see him up close, he could see that his wings were a mild brown color, somewhere in between the dark and light shades, and the ends of the feathers were chaotically frayed and damaged, unkept, and poorly looked after. The metal manacles still remained firmly in place, but it wasn’t Tanner’s first priority at the moment.

   “Is there… Anything I can do to help?” Thomas asked as he watched his friend bustling around the medical bed.

   “Ah, yes. Would you mind fetching Shadow from wherever she is? I could use her assistance with these manacles, so I can get a better look at the boy’s wings and make sure they’re not broken. If she’s feeling up to the task, that is.”

   Thomas stiffened, remembering how easily Shadow had taken down a full squadron of soldiers in a mere handful of seconds with… whatever it was she had done. 

   Tanner obviously noticed the sudden mood change, and he paused for a moment in his work to face him, placing a reassuring hand on his tense shoulder. “Relax, she won’t hurt you. You’re on the same side of the battle, remember? We’ll explain everything to you later, I promise. But right now, I could really use her help. Think you can handle that?”

   Thomas nodded numbly and darted out of the room. He quickly found Shadow leaning against a counter in another room, with Kenji perched nearby, who was trilling his worry as he hopped closer to her arm. 

   “Scree?” He squawked when he spotted Thomas, flaring his black wings in surprise, and Shadow slowly turned around to face him.

   “Er… Tanner could use… some assistance… in the medical room…” Thomas stammered nervously. She didn’t reply, just brushed past him and headed in that direction. He couldn’t help noticing that her eyes looked incredibly tired and worn out as she passed.

   Thomas watched her go, perplexed in more ways than one, before he heard a quiet crunching sound behind him. He whirled around to see that Kenji was holding half of an apple someone had given him in one scaly set of talons, pecking happily away at it, while watching Thomas curiously with his unusually silver eyes. It was still strange to see silver eyes in a raven, since most corvid’s eyes were black or dark brown. Although it did similarly resemble the ones that Australian Ravens possessed. Only this raven was five times larger. Shadow had called it a ‘Moon Raven’, if he recalled correctly.

   “What are you looking at, bird?” Thomas said randomly. 

   “Grawk!” Kenji poofed up his black feathers like he understood what he had just said, and was offended by it.

   “Crazy bird…” Thomas muttered under his breath and strode off to wait for Tanner to call for him. It was only an hour later that he saw him enter the room he had been pacing in, with Shadow not far behind, seeming to be back to normal with her steely cold eyes and usual excessively tense posture. Kenji was sitting contentedly on her shoulder.

   “So, I assume you want some answers?” Tanner started.

   “Preferably,” Thomas admitted grimly. “Starting with, what on earth happened back there!?”

   Tanner and Shadow shared a glance before he started explaining.

   “Er… You remember how Shadow told you that she has foresight?”

   “Yeah…”

   “Well, she has other abilities too. She has magic that originates in the colder elements, which is how she incapacitated those Jackal guards.”

   Thomas felt like he had been hit by a truck. “Uh… What? Magic, as in, magic magic? Like, real magic?”

   “Yes, ‘magic magic’,” Shadow growled, rolling her eyes sarcastically.

   “Does that mean Tanner has magic too? Since you’re both Falkry?”

   “Sadly, not anymore. When Jackal cut off my wings, they also did something that disrupted my connection with magic. I can't use it anymore. So now Shadow’s the only one left with any.” Tanner chuckled with a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

   Shadow just nodded somberly. “My magic must always be a last resort, though. It has rules, it has... limitations. After using so much of it all at once like I did at the Jackal facility, it leaves me extremely weakened, vulnerable to attack. And if I use too much, I could even pass out altogether. It can nearly kill me.”

   "Why didn't you tell me before? I think it would have been quite useful to know--" Thomas started.

   "--Because I don't trust you! And I never will!" Shadow cut him off sharply, eyes coloring with raw hatred, in purest form. He was taken aback by her sudden outburst. "When Jackal learned of my power, they sought to use it for themselves as a weapon. Use me, as a weapon. I had absolutely no reason to believe that you would be any different! You're human, just like the rest of them! I only agreed to help you find your brother because you agreed to help me take down Jackal. Once that's done, we both walk away with something we want, and that's the end of it. Period. I don't need to trust you to hold up my end of the bargain." Her eyes flared dangerously before she scowled darkly.

   "You saw what they did to that other Falkry. The more secrets I have, the safer I'll be in the end. That's how it always works. That way, should you try anything against me, I can pull out a new trick you haven't seen before to defend myself. So, with that being said, I will only give you the bare minimum amount of information needed to get me what I want. Is that perfectly understood?" She bared her cat-like fangs with a hiss when she said it, the white feathers of her wings bristling furiously with apprehension. Then she spun around and stormed out of the room, only pausing for a single moment to throw a few last sentences over her shoulder.

   "You want my trust? You'll have to do more than just earn it. You also have to deserve it." And then she was gone, leaving Thomas and Tanner alone to share stunned looks.

   "Well, that went well," Tanner sighed, massaging his temples with his forefingers. He looked over to see Thomas with a faraway expression on his face, deep in thought.

   "Try not to take it too personally, alright? Practically Shadow's whole life has been a sequence of tragic events, pain, loss, and grief. Not to mention broken trust. Old wounds like that don't heal easily. It will take time for her to realize that the past is the past, and that she can't bar herself from the world forever. But I’m confident she'll come around eventually, no matter how long that may be."

   "Yeah, I hope you're right about that. It makes it pretty hard to work with her on finding my brother when she is so... skittish," Thomas answered distantly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The next morning at the lab…

   Everyone was gathered in the medical room in tense, apprehensive silence as they waited for the mysterious Falkry to awaken, the heavy sedative that Jackal had administered the day before now almost completely worn off.

   Thomas could see Shadow watching his limp form on the medical bed with intense interest, but was keeping her face unusually blank, utterly devoid of all emotion. Kenji sat nearly, preening the black feathers on his chest, and Tanner leaned against a table.

   “So… You and Tanner are not the only Falkry left?” Thomas said cautiously, breaking the awkward quiet of the room.

   “It would certainly appear that way…” Shadow replied distantly. “But if he was in Jackal’s possession, that could mean–” She abruptly fell silent when the teenager’s brown wing twitched slightly, and he let out a small groan as he finally began to stir, slowly coming to his senses. After what seemed like forever, his eyes finally fluttered open, and he sat up in confusion, examining his manacle-free wings, perplexed. 

   “Wha…?” He started to speak, looking at Tanner and Thomas. Then his gaze found Shadow, and his eyes went huge, nearly popping out of his head.

   "Hey–you… You're Shadow, aren't you? As in the Shadow? You look exactly like they described...!"

   Shadow narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, suddenly wary. “Should I… know you?”

   “No–It’s just–My parents told me all about you, and there aren’t a lot of Falkry with distinct snow-white wings out there. So I figured you’d be her. The one from their stories. The war hero. They said you rescued them all a few years back.” The boy’s eyes were bright with excitement, with no trace of residual tiredness or fatigue.

   A war hero? Thomas thought in confusion.

   “My name’s Roy, by the way. Wow, I never thought I’d actually get to meet you in real life! We all thought you were dead–” He continued.

   “--‘We’?” Shadow cut him off.

   “Er–My parents were part of a group of survivors that got out alive after the initial attack on your hideout. At least, that’s what they told me… After that, the survivors split into two separate groups that went in different directions, because it would be harder for the humans to catch them all. My parents were in one of those groups. I grew up in one of the hideouts we were staying in. This is all so cool! Is this some kind of laboratory!?” The teenager's wide eyes wandered around the room in amazement, jumping topics.

   Thomas’s brain hurt from the overload of information. What hideout? What survivors? What is he talking about? He wondered. But he decided to keep his mouth shut for now.

   Shadow took a step towards the medical bed Roy was sitting in, leaning on the side of it. “Focus. What happened next?” She growled. Thomas was surprised by the urgent tones in her voice.

   “Right. Then one day we were, ah, er–” Roy’s face scrunched up with a pained look, his excitement deflating in a heartbeat. “We were attacked… By Jackal. T-They took us completely by surprise. By the time we realized we were under attack, it was too late... But they were powerful. So crazy powerful… We never stood a chance against them…” He winced, as if even thinking about it brought him pain. “They… They killed everyone. It was total chaos. I honestly don’t know why they didn’t kill me as well…”

   “It’s because you’re obviously young. They figured you’d show far less resistance than someone with battle experience, like myself. Their goal is to learn as much about us and our powers as they can. That’s how they function. They only need one or two survivors to study, and the rest are disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible.” A dark look flitted across Shadow’s face as she spoke, so fast that Thomas almost missed it entirely. “And the second group of survivors? Do you know what became of them?”

   “No… after they split up, the two groups never saw each other again, according to my parents. Before they died in the fight…”

   “Scrawk?” Kenji hopped closer on his perching spot, and Roy’s eyes lit up when he saw him, completely forgetting his misery.

   “What!? You have a pet bird!? That is AWESOME!!” He reached for him, and after a brief pause, the raven climbed into his lap, making the bird equivalent of a purr, like he was trying to offer some level of comfort to him.

   “What were your parent’s names?” Shadow prodded.

   “Amon and Echo,” Roy answered. “Oh, and I forgot to ask. Who are the rest of you, exactly?” He gestured towards Thomas and Tanner.

   “Of course! My name is Tanner and that one is Thomas,” Tanner introduced. Thomas gave a small, cautious wave.

   “And how did I end up here?” Roy’s eyes drifted around the room, slowly taking it all in.

   “Funny story, actually. We were participating in a raid on one of Jackal’s many bases in the city when Shadow found you in a back room. After that, we brought you here, to Thomas’s lab, where you will be safe. But Shadow’s technically the one that saved you.”

   “You have my gratitude then, for my rescue.” Roy turned his head to face her, sliding off the medical bed to try out his legs. Shadow’s only acknowledgement was a tight nod.

   “This is a lot to take in. Why were you raiding a Jackal base, anyway?”

   “We were searching for Thomas’s brother, who supposedly went missing more than a year ago,” Tanner sighed.

   “Ooh, sounds like fun. Can I help?” Roy asked.

   Tanner chuckled at his enthusiasm, amused. “We’ll see. For now though I suggest you focus on simply recovering. You’ve been through quite an ordeal.”

   “Well, now that all of that is out of the way, I have better things to do than wait around,” Shadow interjected gruffly, before turning and stiffly leaving the room.

   Geez, what’s HER problem? Thomas thought to himself, watching her go. Then it occurred to him why she had pressed Roy so hard for immediate answers about the survivors group he was in.

   Oh… They must have all been people she knew in her past life. It sounds like she had already assumed that they were all dead… But this is the first time she’s gotten actual confirmation of that. I bet that hurts.

   He suddenly felt very insensitive.

   When Tanner said she had a ‘rough life’, I didn’t realize that she and the other Falkry were being hunted by humans all this time… no wonder she hates me so much. That must have been what Roy was referring to when he talked about the ‘surviving groups’. They must be the few Falkry that survived human attacks...

   The pieces slowly started falling into place in his mind.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

City of Monsters and Magic Masterlist

Main Stories Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222

[gaijin-fujin-resonance]

The Quantum Sea

Random thoughts from a Twitter thread on 夢遊猫 SLEEP WALK that I want to preserve somewhere.

(Honestly, not a callout, just an observation on how translations differ with expectations, and me trying to puzzle through the meanings of phases in a language I don't speak, about physics, which is a language that feels far more intuitive to me.)

I was researching and refreshing my memory on Quantum Superpositions trying to understand the lyrics to 夢遊猫, and stumbled across the concept of Quantum Immortality and JUST thought

oh

OH!!!

I keep looking for translations of Imai's new lyrics. The problem is, they're all translated by Sakurai Partisans, who don't really seem to grok Imai's worldview? When I look up the individual words, they seem to have other connotations that could make the entire song mean something else.

But because most translators are translating through Sakurai goggles, they pick the meaning closest to what they believe Sakurai would have meant. When Imai has made it clear that B-T Mark II has a different worldview. We're in Imai-space now.

(It's hitting me personally because it's that autistic thing where I think I'm saying something as clear as day; but the other person takes my words and twists them to be symbolic or representative of some completely different idea that exists in their head but not mine.)

In this translation I found, I was looking for the meaning of 反物質. This means 'antimatter'. Imai's made it clear that he wrote 夢遊猫 SLEEP WALK about Quantum Mechanics. Antimatter exists only at the quantum level, fizzing in and out of existence, annihilating and being annihilated by baryons (the particles of ordinary matter). For example, our familiar negatively charged Electrons have an antimatter equivalent with a positive charge, called Positrons.

The translator I'm reading refuses to accept that Imai literally means 'antimatter' as in quantum physics and tries to alter the word to the more metaphysical 'incorporeal'. To try to drag Imai's scientific mind to Sakurai's romantic, gothic world of ghosts and spirits.

I'm sure that the literal scientific meaning of Antimatter appeals to Imai; it goes along with his さかしま, left-hand, rebel worldview. Imai loves seemingly irreconcilable dualities (see his whole Six/Nine - North/South obsession) and Antimatter / Matter is a fascinating duality at the quantum level. It exists. It can be created in a lab, but Antimatter is highly volatile. Its rarity is a complete scientific mystery that no one can adequately explain, yet the physics of this universe doesn't add up on a mathematical level without it.

SO VERY IMAI.

確認 has been translated as 'affirmation' when it's more like 'confirmation'. This is the whole point of Schroedinger: in a Quantum Superposition, all possible states exist at the same time. Confirmation (via observation) crystalises one or another quantum state into being!

'Antimatter verification' has a very different meaning from 'incorporeal affirmation' doesn't it? Completely changes what the song is about, right?

I reckon '天空の決定' is another of Imai's wonderful puns. On the surface, it's 'heavenly decision' - something like fate or the gods' oracle. Pull the words apart and 天空 can be both 'heaven' but also sky, air, ether: the scientific medium in which subatomic collisions take place. (Antimatter is most commonly generated in the wild by cosmic gamma rays interacting with our planet's atmosphere.)

I've lost the interview now, but there was one where Imai tried to explain the Shroedinger's Cat aspects of Sleepwalk as "it exists; it does not exist" <- this is exactly a Quantum Superposition! Until you observe and crystalise it into being with a '決定', all possibilities are true at the same time.

Again, 'heavenly decision' vs 'atmospheric determination' give different meanings to the song. (And a pun itself is a superposition where both meanings can be true at the same time!)

Imai was also saying "if you go to the quantum sea, you can go to various places in an instant" Once particles are quantum entangled, they stay in their collective superposition, even when removed to great distances. (Spooky action at a distance! This is why Einstein hated Quantum physics, and dismissed it with his famous aphorism 'god does not play dice'. But Imai's whole song is about gods rolling dice.)

Quantum Entanglement happens only at a microscopic, subatomic level. But Imai has stated that he is playing, doing a thought experiment: what if this quantum stuff that goes on at the micro level could also happen at the macro level? Cosmic inflation! Being everywhere in the universe at once! (Shades of Douglas Adams' Infinite Improbability Drive.)

I'm fascinated by the idea that this is the kind of thing that Imai thinks about before he goes to sleep at night. Sleepwalking through the quantum sea?

Ach, but my feelings for Imai are so complicated. Like yes, I lust for him, want to go BODY TO BODY.

But I also want to go MIND TO MIND, play around in his cerebellum!

Find out if he's also someone who wonders what it would be like to play in the quantum sea of possibility? But even if he was, this language barrier I'm wrestling with, would always get in the way. What if I'm the one projecting my own childhood fascination with physics onto a guy who just wrote a silly song about a cosmic cat?

[labyrinthinesyndicatex]

Character Information

Name: Gavin Scott Age: 39 Pronouns: he/him Face Claim: Dan Stevens Occupation: Surveillance Tech Expert for the Castenada family Neighborhood: The Flats

Short Facts

Despite growing up in the Bible Belt of Charleston, Gavin's true church was his collection of circuit boards - he'd rush home from Sunday service to tinker with electronics.

His best friend's garage became his first "lab" - the eccentric inventor father unknowingly set Gavin on his future path by letting him experiment with electronics there.

While his parents celebrated his acceptance to Purdue as a step toward a "respectable" career, they didn't realize it would ultimately lead him deeper into his fascination with complex systems.

The revelation of his father's gambling problem came as a double shock - not just the debt, but the fact that his seemingly straight-laced religious father had lived a double life.

His first attempt at hacking wasn't for personal gain or mischief - it was a misguided attempt to right the wrong done to his family by targeting the casino that had taken his father's money.

What Gavin thought would be his biggest mistake - getting caught hacking the casino - turned out to be his unconventional entry into a new career with the Castenada family.

His mother continues to send him Bible verses even after his career choice, showing their ongoing connection despite their divergent paths.

He's developed a reputation for maintaining his characteristic smile regardless of the situation - whether dealing with family expectations or criminal enterprises.

Biography

The Bible Belt wasn't exactly a breeding ground for future surveillance experts, but that's where Gavin Scott's story began. Raised in the outskirts of Charleston, South Carolina by deeply religious parents, he spent his Sundays in wooden pews while his mind wandered to bigger things. Mainly, the circuit boards waiting at home. October 22nd, 1985 blessed his parents with a son they were certain would follow their spiritual path, but the boy had other ideas. While they dreamed of him joining youth groups and leading Bible study, he was more interested in basketball and comic books. Later on, he met his best friend in middle school. The boy’s father was an eccentric inventor who turned their garage into a wonderland of half-finished gadgets and mysterious electronics. Soon enough, Gavin was spending every free moment at their house, learning to take apart computers and rebuild them from scratch. The hobby quickly became an obsession, and Gavin discovered he had a natural talent for understanding complex systems. His parents, though puzzled by this sudden technical interest, channeled his newfound passion toward respectable ambitions, celebrating when he landed a spot at Purdue. Their prayers seemed answered - their son was headed for a bright, honest future. During his sophomore year in college, his father's sudden death revealed an ugly truth: the mild-mannered religious man had a gambling problem that left the family drowning in debt. In a moment of brilliant stupidity, Gavin decided to hack the casino that had taken his father's money. That's how he ended up in Dante Castenada's office, expecting handcuffs but getting a job offer instead. The crime family needed someone who could think three steps ahead in the digital age, and Gavin's attempted hack had inadvertently become the world's most aggressive job application. These days, Gavin is surrounded by screens and servers. He manages the Castenada family's extensive surveillance network and security systems, keeping their gun-running business running smoothly in the digital age. His mother still sends him Bible verses and prayers for his salvation, which he receives with the same smile he gives everything else in life. While he occasionally wonders what life might have been like if he'd stayed on the straight and narrow, he's found his niche in this world of digital shadows and surveillance. Besides, as he often jokes, the health insurance is surprisingly good - far better than any company he’d ever worked for.

[uwudonoodle]

This month for my book / movie club, we read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, and I have some thoughts. It was my first Crichton book, so I was looking forward to it (they did Jurassic Park before I joined). I didn't hate it, but I was underwhelmed. It was all plot and no character. The plot itself, the mystery of the virus was fairly interesting, but I think it was bogged down with too much scientific jargon. It's clear that the author did a lot of research, and the science itself is pretty accurate, which is admirable, but not all research serves a narrative. Not all sci-fi needs to be accurate to tell a good story.

It's not that I hated what the book was, but I think it could've been more. The characters were basically props to give exposition. They were all generic white male scientists with only a couple of unique traits to distinguish them. The most prominent female character in the book was the voice recording in the lab, whom the male characters liked because she sounded sultry.

There was essentially no character development. They could have had the scientists butt heads about procedure or hypothesis, and come to a better understanding and even become good friends by the end, but they didn't. They worked amicably most of the time and didn't develop anything more than the professional working relationship they started with. They're was a baby who was a survivor that was basically treated as any other piece of evidence. I kept waiting for someone's humanity to come out around the baby, but he was just treated as an object (they kept refusing to feed him because maybe having an empty stomach was why he survived, talk about neglect). It would have been interesting to have one of the scientists develop an attachment to the baby, and possibly seek to adopt him by the end, but no such luck. He was just another piece of the puzzle to serve the mystery. For a story about saving humanity, there was very little humanity to be had.

One other nitpick: It drove me nuts how often the scientists were trying to look at things critically and unbiased, and then they'd refer to humanity as "man" or "mankind". I get it, this was written in the 60's, and that's how people talked back then. But you're literally referring to your entire species by your own gender, my dude. I could let it roll off my shoulder a few times, but I lost count after about 40 times. It ended up rolling my eyes a lot at that specifically.

I thought I would enjoy the movie better, as I thought the actors would have to add more personality to the characters. We watched the film from 1971. Unfortunately for me, they followed the book very closely. I'll give them a point for a faithful adaption since so many movies fail at that, but I think a looser adaption would have made for a better film.

The improvements they did make was to add more female characters. They made one of the scientists a woman, and not a 25 year old super model either. She was a very average looking 40 something woman, which was very refreshing. They also added a female nurse to help take care of the baby (it was a relief to me to have someone to comfort the baby and advocate for his care). I also really liked the set design of the lab. Vintage 70's futurism is always a good vibe.

Unfortunately the script followed the book a little too religiously. The dialogue droned on with scientific jargon that was difficult to follow, and sometimes had me zoning out. They also had some disturbing scenes of putting lab rats and monkeys to sleep that probably wouldn't be allowed today. Besides the nice set design, it was visually very sterile. It felt claustrophobic and bland under all the florescent lights. Film is a visual art form. The very least you can do is make it appealing to look at.

The worst part was the music and sound effects. It had the most grating minor 70's "the aliens are coming" electronic score, which I guess served the plot, but was overall very unpleasant. The music coupled with all of the obnoxious sounds and alarms in the lab made for a true assault on the senses in some scenes. Even my partner in the other room came and asked what all that terrible noise was all about. I was relieved when the credits finally rolled if only to experience silence again.

I guess I get why it's a classic, since they did build some tension with the mystery, and the climax was exciting. For people who crave scientific accuracy, this is an excellent recommendation (my sister mentioned that this was required reading for the AP Biology class at my high school). As someone who wants emotional satisfaction and human connection in my stories, I'm probably not the target audience. It was an interesting experience, but I'm happy to move onto the next book.

[smolpumpkinpaws]

Here to make carer!Plankton content cause nobody else will and I don't blame them

This is based more on the cartoon version of Plankton, but I really like his design in the musical, soo yeah.

My headcanons for Plankton as a carer:

-Is probably happy either way as a "daddy" type of carer or more as a big brother type.

-Probably heard about this agere stuff and thought it looked weird, but ended up really liking it as he looked into it

-Calls you "little one," "chum," or "gadget"

-Is a bit awkward and at times strict when he first starts caring for you, but gets the hang of it as he gets to know your needs. He just wants to do what he can to help keep you safe and cared for.

-Generally doesn't let you into his lab for your safety (hence he's a little bit strict at times). If he's working with heavy machinery, he may use a baby monitor to see/hear how you're doing

-May sometimes use his knowledge of robotics to make you an electronic toy or even alter one of your existing toys to add new features (with your permission, of course)

-Considering the state of the Chum Bucket, he's probably not the best cook. Most dinners will probably either consist of heating up chicken nuggets and frozen peas, or just ordering something in

-Enjoys working on puzzles with you

[yonderh2]

PEM Electrolyser: The Quiet Engine of the Green Hydrogen Revolution

The phrase “clean energy future” often conjures images of solar panels and wind turbines spinning against blue skies. But behind these romantic visuals lies an unsung hero—quiet, compact, and chemically brilliant—the PEM electrolyser. It may not have the glamour of a solar farm or the drama of a windmill, but it’s working tirelessly behind the scenes to convert water into one of the cleanest fuels imaginable: green hydrogen.

In this blog, we’re taking a different approach. Let’s walk through the human, environmental, and technical layers of this incredible piece of technology—not just what it does, but why it matters.

A Clean Fuel, Born of Water and Electricity

A PEM electrolyser (Proton Exchange Membrane) is essentially a device that uses electricity—preferably from renewable sources—to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. It’s elegant science. Two electrodes, an anode and a cathode, are separated by a proton-conductive membrane. When a current is passed, hydrogen ions move through the membrane and recombine with electrons at the cathode to form hydrogen gas. The oxygen, meanwhile, is released at the anode.

This reaction happens without burning fossil fuels, without emitting CO₂, and without requiring high temperatures or complicated logistics. Just clean electricity and water.

Sounds simple? In theory, yes. But what makes a PEM electrolyser extraordinary is its adaptability, responsiveness, and scalability in real-world industrial environments.

Why PEM and Not Alkaline?

There are multiple types of electrolysers, and alkaline versions have been around longer. So why is the market slowly but surely shifting toward PEM?

Fast response times: PEM electrolysers can quickly ramp up and down based on electricity supply—perfect for coupling with solar and wind power, which are intermittent by nature.

Compact size: Because of their higher current density, they occupy less space, making them ideal for on-site hydrogen production in urban and industrial areas.

High purity: The hydrogen generated is of high purity, essential for applications like fuel cells and green ammonia synthesis.

If you’re running a large-scale hydrogen fueling station or integrating green hydrogen into a refinery, you want equipment that is smart, efficient, and consistent. That’s where the PEM electrolyser stands out.

A Human Story from the Hydrogen Frontlines

Let’s take a moment to leave the lab and walk into a story.

Maya is a renewable energy engineer working with a European startup focused on zero-emission logistics. Their goal? Replace diesel delivery fleets with hydrogen-powered vehicles in congested urban zones.

Initially, the project was rocky. Alkaline electrolysis setups couldn’t keep up with the erratic solar feed from rooftop panels. The trucks were often idle due to hydrogen supply issues.

Enter the PEM electrolyser—installed compactly behind the company’s charging depot. With its fast startup time and responsive performance, hydrogen production stabilized. No more waiting. No more schedule chaos.

“It was like plugging a missing piece into our clean energy puzzle,” Maya recalls. “Not the flashiest part, but probably the most crucial.”

The Market Speaks: Industry Adoption Is Accelerating

Global interest in PEM electrolysers is exploding. Governments from Germany to India are funding hydrogen missions. Major players like Siemens, Cummins, and ITM Power are investing millions into improving efficiency, reducing cost, and expanding capacity.

Sectors embracing PEM electrolysis include:

Transport: For fueling hydrogen buses, trains, and trucks

Power balancing: Grid operators using excess renewable energy to produce hydrogen during low-demand periods

Industrial processes: Refineries, fertilizer plants, and steel manufacturers substituting gray hydrogen with green alternatives

And thanks to digital integration, many PEM systems now include predictive maintenance, IoT sensors, and real-time performance tracking.

Challenges: No Innovation Without Friction

It’s not all smooth sailing. Like any disruptive technology, PEM electrolysers face their share of hurdles:

Cost: Platinum-group metals used in membranes and electrodes are expensive.

Durability: Long-term operation under fluctuating power sources can degrade performance.

Scale: Meeting global hydrogen demand will require scaling up to gigawatt-level production, and infrastructure is still catching up.

Yet, these challenges are more of an engineering obstacle than a scientific one. With research advancing rapidly in low-cost membranes and recycling techniques, most experts agree—PEM is just getting started.

PEM Electrolyser and the Future of Decentralized Energy

In the near future, we might see buildings with rooftop solar panels generating their own hydrogen. Hospitals, remote communities, and military bases could become energy self-sufficient using compact PEM units.

The dream? A decentralized hydrogen economy where energy is produced where it’s needed—without a pipeline, without a tanker truck, without pollution.

This isn’t science fiction. Pilots are already underway in Japan, California, and the Nordics. A world where your home or factory has a personal hydrogen generator might be just a decade away.

Why You Should Care, Even If You’re Not an Engineer

Even if you never touch a PEM unit in your life, it may power the bus you ride, the package delivery you depend on, or the electricity during an outage. Every industry that uses heat, electricity, or transport will be affected.

And here's the kicker: Green hydrogen isn't just a cleaner fuel. It's a geopolitical equalizer. Countries rich in sun and wind but poor in fossil fuels—like India or Morocco—can become energy exporters.

So, the next time someone mentions “green hydrogen,” remember: the humble PEM electrolyser might be the engine powering it all.

Final Thoughts: Tiny Cell, Global Impact

The world doesn’t need more big promises—it needs silent, scalable solutions that just work. The PEM electrolyser fits that bill. It's efficient. It's resilient. It's transformative.

In a world facing climate deadlines and resource wars, this isn’t just technology—it’s hope, neatly engineered.