#Brass Bullet Terminals

[rhinozilla]

I was rereading some of the earlier fics in your Detroit 07 series and you mention Connor's box of trinkets and I was wondering if along with the ones you have included in fics (like the mug, snow globe, and the baseball stuff) if there are any other keepsakes you have head cannons for?

He still has the little Tinman figurine from the Wizard of Oz that Chris Miller gave him years ago. It still sits on his desk by his monitor. He has since added framed pictures of himself with his brothers.

He also still has the lucky buckeye that Penny gave him when he established Hank’s garage as his bedroom. Now that the house is Connor and Julia’s, he will move the buckeye around the house, like the window or the bookshelf or the bedside table. Always somewhere easily visible.

He has a friendship bracelet from Bonny Stevens that he never wears out of fear of breaking it or losing it. He keeps it in the drawer of his office desk next to his old coin. It’s stretchy, so he will fiddle with it sometimes instead of the coin. He also kept all of their pen pal letters and all of the subsequent cards (birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s, etc) that she has made for him.

He has an action figure of Lieutenant Commander Data from Star Trek, signed by Brent Spiner. Ben Collins gifted it to him from his personal collection when Connor made Sergeant (which hasn’t happened in Detroit 07 yet, but I can see it already). Connor was so appreciative that he literally jumped on Ben to hug him.

Gavin also gave him an action figure, but of the Terminator, as a joke. Connor was less happy about this gift, but he still keeps it on a bookshelf at home, more as a reminder of how far his and Gavin’s relationship has improved.

Person gave him a set of brass knuckles “for home protection.” Connor found that funny until Julia actually used them when someone broke into their home and sent the guy to the hospital. He’s never been more proud or terrified. He keeps his old Cyberlife jacket folded in a keepsake box at the back of a shelf in the closet. He has thought about disposing of it several times over the years, but he can never bring himself to actually destroy it. It was the first clothing that he ever wore, and it was what he was wearing when he deviated and chose to live. It still has the bullet holes in it, and although the thirium has long since evaporated, he can still detect the stains. He doesn’t take it out often.

[ecswire]

Connecting Power with Precision: The Importance of Electrical Wire Terminal Connectors

In the complex world of electrical systems, even the smallest components play a crucial role in ensuring safety, efficiency, and performance. Among these vital components are electrical wire terminal connectors—small but powerful parts that make secure, reliable connections between wires and electrical devices. From household appliances to industrial machinery, these connectors are foundational to modern electronics and electrical infrastructure.

What Are Electrical Wire Terminal Connectors?

Electrical wire terminal connectors are devices used to join electrical wires to each other or to terminals on electrical components. They ensure a firm connection, facilitate current flow, and protect the conductors from environmental factors like moisture, dust, and vibration. These connectors come in many shapes, sizes, and materials, and are designed for a wide range of applications.

The main types include:

Ring Terminals – Designed to connect a wire to a post or stud, often used in automotive and industrial settings.

Spade Terminals – Flat, fork-like connectors that can be easily inserted or removed from screw terminals.

Butt Connectors – Used to connect two wires end-to-end securely.

Bullet Connectors – Male and female connectors that allow for quick disconnection, often used in automotive wiring.

Push-On Terminals – Common in household appliances, these offer fast and easy installation without tools.

Each type serves a specific purpose, and choosing the right one is essential for maintaining electrical integrity.

Why Are They Important?

While wire terminal connectors may appear simple, their impact is anything but. A poor or loose connection can lead to overheating, short circuits, or system failures. In critical applications such as automotive wiring or industrial control panels, a failed connection can cause equipment damage, operational downtime, or even safety hazards.

High-quality electrical terminal connectors:

Enhance safety by minimizing the risk of electrical fires or shocks.

Improve durability of electrical systems by resisting corrosion and wear.

Ensure efficient current flow, reducing energy loss.

Simplify maintenance, as components can be easily disconnected or replaced.

In industries where precision and reliability are paramount, such as aerospace, marine, telecommunications, and home automation, these connectors are indispensable.

The Manufacturing Process

Manufacturing electrical wire terminal connectors requires precision engineering. Most connectors are made from metals like copper, brass, or aluminum, often coated with tin or nickel to prevent oxidation and enhance conductivity. The process typically includes:

Stamping – Shaping the metal into the desired form.

Plating – Applying a protective layer to improve corrosion resistance.

Insulating – Adding a PVC, nylon, or heat-shrink sleeve to prevent electrical shorts.

Testing – Ensuring connectors meet safety, conductivity, and durability standards.

Automation has greatly improved production consistency, allowing manufacturers to meet the growing demand for high-performance connectors in both commercial and consumer applications.

Choosing the Right Connector

Selecting the right wire terminal connector depends on several factors:

Wire gauge (AWG) – The connector must fit the wire size correctly.

Current and voltage rating – It must withstand the electrical load.

Environmental exposure – For outdoor or high-humidity applications, corrosion resistance and waterproofing are essential.

Mechanical stress – In high-vibration settings, connectors with strong crimping and locking mechanisms are preferred.

Electricians, engineers, and DIY enthusiasts alike should consider these factors to ensure optimal performance and longevity.

Trends and Innovations

With the rise of smart technology, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems, the demand for advanced electrical connectors is growing. Modern innovations include:

Quick-connect terminals for faster installation in modular systems.

Color-coded and pre-insulated connectors to improve safety and ease of use.

High-temperature and waterproof terminals for extreme conditions.

Solderless terminals for applications where heat application is not viable.

These advancements are making electrical systems more adaptable, efficient, and easier to assemble or repair.

Electrical wire terminal connectors are essential components that often go unnoticed but are critical to the success of electrical systems everywhere. From improving connectivity to ensuring safety and system performance, their importance cannot be overstated. As technology evolves, so too does the need for advanced, high-quality connectors that can meet the challenges of tomorrow. Whether you're wiring a light switch or building complex machinery, it all starts with the right connection.

[adelaideautorecycling]

Brass Scrap Recycling in Lonsdale: A Sustainable Choice

Introduction

Brass is one of the most valuable and widely used metals in various industries, including plumbing, electrical, and decorative applications. Recycling brass scrap not only conserves natural resources but also significantly reduces environmental impact. If you're in Lonsdale and looking for efficient ways to recycle brass, understanding the process and benefits can help you make informed decisions.

The Importance of Brass Recycling

Brass is an alloy primarily made of copper and zinc, making it highly durable and recyclable. Unlike some materials that degrade after recycling, brass retains its properties, allowing it to be reused repeatedly without loss of quality. Recycling brass scrap:

Conserves natural resources by reducing the need for virgin metal extraction.

Lowers energy consumption compared to producing new brass.

Reduces waste in landfills, contributing to a cleaner environment.

Provides financial incentives for individuals and businesses.

Sources of Brass Scrap

Brass scrap comes from various sources, including:

Plumbing fittings and fixtures – Old taps, pipes, and valves.

Electrical components – Connectors, terminals, and switches.

Industrial machinery – Gears, bearings, and other mechanical parts.

Decorative items – Door handles, chandeliers, and musical instruments.

Spent ammunition – Bullet casings made of brass.

The Brass Recycling Process

The process of recycling brass scrap involves several key steps:

Collection – Brass scrap is collected from different sources, including households, businesses, and industrial sites.

Sorting – The scrap is sorted based on its type and composition to ensure efficient processing.

Cleaning – Any contaminants, such as paint, plastic, or other metals, are removed.

Melting – The cleaned brass scrap is melted at high temperatures in a furnace.

Refining and Alloying – The molten brass is refined and adjusted to achieve the desired alloy composition.

Casting or Rolling – The refined brass is then cast into ingots or rolled into sheets for reuse in manufacturing.

Brass scrap recycling in Lonsdale is a smart and sustainable choice for individuals and businesses alike. By recycling brass, you contribute to environmental conservation, reduce waste, and gain financial benefits. Whether you're a homeowner, contractor, or industrial operator, finding a reliable brass recycling service ensures that your scrap is processed efficiently and responsibly.

[atplblog]

Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] This Professional Video Balun Pair from Paruht Dome and Bullet Cameras with a Power Connector offers excellent signal transmission and extends HD signal range over long distances for Dome Cameras and CCTV systems. It features top-notch connectors, a specialized casing, pure brass contacts, and a carefully designed anti-interference structure. It is suitable for cameras, monitors, DVR cards, recorders, and other devices. The setup is simple and efficient, using standard UTP cabling and a low voltage power source. The installation is hassle-free, ensuring a clear video signal with anti-jamming capabilities and supporting simultaneous transmission of frequency and power signals. It includes a unique secure push-pin terminal block that locks UTP cables in place, minimizing the risk of disconnections. Compatible with all analog CCTV systems and surveillance DVR setups, it is equipped with wave filters, anti-static features, and surge protection to provide stable and high-quality HD video transmission. Works with CVI, TVI, CVBS, and AHD video systems, compatible with 720P/960P/1080P resolutions, and supports up to 8MP for CCTV cameras, monitors, DVR cards, and recording Paruht devices. The HD-CVI/TVI/AHD/CVBS Paruht Passive Video & Power Balun offers easy setup through standard UTP cabling and a low-voltage power source. LED indicators show green for active status and yellow for inactive status. Utilizes UTP CAT5/CAT6 for video transmission, featuring RJ45+DC+BNC interfaces. It supports transmission distances of up to 984 feet for 720P CVI/AHD/CVBS and 1080P CVI/TVI/AHD. The Paruht device delivers clear analog video signals with anti-interference properties and enables simultaneous frequency and DC power transmission. Compact and innovative, it includes built-in transient suppression for protection and easy installation. High-Performance Paruht Video Balun Set with DC Power and UTP, designed for use in Dome Cameras, CCTV systems, and Surveillance setups. This UTP Passive Paruht Camera Video Balun includes a DC Power Connector for HD-CVI/TVI/AHD and supports passive video, power, and data (audio) transfer through an RJ45 connection. It acts as a power supply transceiver for CCTV video using a passive balun. [ad_2]

[fraternizereloads]

Hornady Dangerous Game Ammunition 375 H&H Magnum

From African big game to the American Grizzly Bear, Hornady's Dangerous Game ammunition provides the shooter an exceptional load with more energy transfer and lots of knockdown power. The Hornady Dangerous Game Expanding bullets are designed for taking down the world's toughest and biggest game animals. This ammunition is new production, non-corrosive, in boxer primed, reloadable brass cases.

The .375 H&H Magnum, commonly known as the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, is a powerful rifle cartridge designed for big-game hunting. It was developed by British gunmaker Holland & Holland in 1912 and has since gained a reputation as a versatile and effective round for hunting large and dangerous game.

The cartridge features a .375-inch (9.5 mm) bullet diameter and a case length of 2.85 inches (72.4 mm). The original design consisted of a belted, rimless bottlenecked case, which allows for smooth feeding and extraction in bolt-action rifles. The .375 H&H Magnum operates at relatively high pressures, which contributes to its excellent long-range performance and stopping power.

The .375 H&H Magnum is known for its versatility, as it can be used to hunt a wide range of game species, including African "Big Five" game (elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, and leopard). It offers a good balance between trajectory, recoil, and terminal ballistics, making it popular among professional hunters and safari enthusiasts.

The cartridge has a reputation for its ability to deliver deep penetration and high energy transfer, thanks to its large bullet diameter and high muzzle velocity. It typically fires bullets weighing between 235 and 350 grains, with velocities ranging from around 2,500 to 2,700 feet per second (760 to 820 meters per second). This combination of bullet weight and velocity results in excellent stopping power and the ability to take down large and dangerous game animals.

Overall, the .375 H&H Magnum is a well-regarded cartridge in the hunting community, particularly for those pursuing big game in Africa and other regions where encounters with large and potentially dangerous animals are expected.

The DGX Bonded (Dangerous Game eXpanding) bullet features a copper-clad steel jacket bonded to a lead core to provide limited, controlled expansion with deep penetration and high weight retention. Bonding the jacket to the core prevents separation from high-energy impact on tough material like bone, ensuring the bullet stays together for deep expansion. DGX Bonded bullets are built to the same profile as the corresponding DGS (Dangerous Game Solid) bullets but expand to 1½ to 2 times their bullet diameter.

[technotale]

"Ammunition: A Comprehensive Guide to Types, Components, and Function"

Ammunition refers to the cartridges or rounds that contain propellant, projectiles, and primers used in firearms. It is an essential component of firearms, providing the necessary power and projectile to propel the bullet or shot towards a target. Ammunition is designed and manufactured in various calibers, types, and configurations to match specific firearms and intended purposes.

A typical ammunition cartridge consists of several components. The bullet, also known as the projectile, is the part that is expelled from the firearm's barrel and strikes the target. The case, usually made of brass or steel, holds the other components together and provides structural support. Inside the case, there is a propellant, such as gunpowder, which burns rapidly upon ignition, creating high-pressure gas that propels the bullet. Lastly, there is a primer, a small explosive charge that ignites the propellant when struck by the firearm's firing pin.

Ammunition is manufactured to meet various needs and applications. Different calibers are designed to fit specific firearms, ensuring compatibility and safety. Ammunition can vary in terms of bullet weight, shape, and design, which influences factors like accuracy, penetration, and terminal ballistics. There are different types of ammunition for different purposes, such as target shooting, hunting, self-defense, military operations, or law enforcement.

Manufacturing ammunition requires careful adherence to quality control standards and safety protocols. The components are assembled in specialized factories using automated processes and machinery. The propellant charges are precisely measured to ensure consistent performance, and the ammunition undergoes rigorous testing to verify its reliability, accuracy, and safety.

Ammunition is regulated by laws and regulations in most countries to ensure responsible use and prevent misuse or unauthorized access. Restrictions may be in place regarding the purchase, possession, and transportation of certain types of ammunition. Compliance with these regulations is crucial to maintain safety and prevent criminal activities.

Overall, ammunition is a vital component of firearms, enabling their functionality and use. Its manufacturing involves careful precision and adherence to safety standards. Understanding the different types and characteristics of ammunition is important for responsible firearm owners, shooters, and professionals who rely on firearms for various purposes.

Read more @ https://techinforite.blogspot.com/2023/06/historical-insights-evolution-of.html

[electricalcomponents-blog]

[gaaye-2010]

Crimp Terminal Connector

[poorlytunedukulele]

Prompt 8 - Trespasser

October 08, 2841; near Old Cairo, Egypt, Earth

How funny it was that such important events could happen on such ordinary days.

Andal and Cayde were after Filchis, a Kings Captain.  There was a decent bounty on her head.  Normally, low-raking Captains were below the Vanguard's notice- but this one had managed to actually kill a few Guardians.  Her head was already on a pike, as far as the brass was concerned.

Andal and Cayde headed to the lair where Filchis was supposedly working- cautious, because Filchis had killed two Guardians, but not too cautious, because... well, Filchis was a Captain and Cayde and Andal were Cayde and Andal.

They arrived at the hideout to find it in disarray.  Doors wide open, broken Shanks scattered all around.

"Turf war?" Cayde guessed hopefully.  Perhaps a rival Fallen had already killed Filchis and this would be an easy bounty to collect.

But there were no Fallen in the hideout, neither Filchis's crew nor her rivals'.  There were plenty of dead bodies, but as Sundance glumly reported, Filchis wasn't among them.

Exactly why wasn't evident until they stumbled upon him.

It was a control room of sorts.  More of a control alcove.  A control breakfast nook.  There were no doors that could be closed (a poor planning decision in Andal's opinion- just anyone could walk up and start messing with things).  A few terminals had been haphazardly shoved into the corners.  At one of them, with their back turned to the hallway, was an upright figure in a House of Kings cloak.  Andal almost drew his weapon before the person let out a frustrated sigh and tapped at one of the screens with a five-fingered hand.  They were human- and apparently the cause of the abundance of Fallen corpses around.

Andal kept himself from drawing, but he must have made a noise of surprise.  The person turned.  The brief glimpse of an Exo face (black, with red highlights and cerulean eyes) was all Andal needed to confirm that they weren't a threat.  Too late he saw the gun in the stranger's hand.  The Exo automatically aimed and let out a spread. 

Andal dodged.  Two of the bullets missed him, but one ricocheted off of his chestplate and a sting told him the other had penetrated the weaker armor between his shoulder and his neck.  There was a beat of silence as all of the Guardians froze- the stranger's gun rigid and still, no longer tracking Andal's motion- Cayde taken by surprise, Andal with his hand at his hip.

The echo of the gunshot reverberated.  There was a heartbeat of stillness as everyone sized each other up, waiting to see what the others would do-

Then Cayde straightened, crossing his arms.  "Four-burst?" he said skeptically.  "Really?  Excessive."

"Got you, didn't it?" the trespasser replied in a raspy baritone.  The spell was broken- Andal let his hand drift away from his cannon and the trespasser holstered his gun in turn.

It finally seemed to occur to the stranger that shooting someone was something you should apologize for.  "Sorry," he said, businesslike.  He still turned back to the terminal he was working on.

"We're looking for a Captain by the name of Filchis," Cayde said, taking the lead.  "Haven't seen her around, have ya?"

"Filchis?" the other Exo replied, optics flicking from the terminal to Cayde's face, then back.  "She's not here.  I waited 'till she was gone before I broke in.  I'm not after her."

"Bigger fish to fry?" Andal guessed.

The Exo's expression darkened.  "Vokril," he muttered.

"King Baron," Sundance said in recognition.  "Got a hefty bounty on his head."

The trespasser didn't immediately reply, still lost in his data.

"You're not after the bounty," Andal reasoned. 

"It's... personal," was all the other Hunter said.

Andal took a critical look at the Fallen corpses on the floor and came to a conclusion.  "Well, you know, I certainly wouldn't object to some more help on this hunt.  Especially not from someone as skilled in... infiltration as you."  Infiltration seemed a good word to describe the havoc the Exo has wrought here.  "And hey, we'd be willing to split the bounty.  If you're willing to split the one on Vokril for our help with him."

Cayde interjected.  "Not like you were gonna pick it up anyway, right?"

The trespasser just frowned at them for a moment before an orange Ghost appeared and bonked him on the head in chastisement.  "You help them kill one Captain, then they help you kill Vokril and you'll get paid for it," the Ghost said.  

"Alright," the trespasser said, sounding resigned.  "You're the boss."

"Good man," Andal said, stepping forward to shake the stranger's hand.  "I'm Andal Brask.  This is my packmate, Cayde-6."

The Exo nodded at Andal's words and took his hand.  "Shiro-4."

AO3 Linky!

[aion-rsa]

Streaming on Plex: Best Movies and TV Shows You Can Watch for FREE in September

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article is sponsored by Plex. You can download the Free Plex App now by clicking here!

There’s an overwhelming amount of new movies and TV shows hitting streaming services this fall. If you’re starving for new content, it’s set to be a fantastic time, but if your wallet is starving for funds, it can be pretty stressful. With studios and content providers spreading their libraries out across so many different streaming services, keeping up with all of your favorites can get expensive. Thankfully, Plex TV is here to keep you entertained without breaking the bank.

Plex is a globally available one-stop-shop streaming media service offering thousands of free movies and TV shows and hundreds of free-to-stream live TV channels, from the biggest names in entertainment, including Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, Legendary, AMC, A+E, Crackle, and Reuters. Plex is the only streaming service that lets users manage their personal media alongside a continuously growing library of free third-party entertainment spanning all genres, interests, and mediums including podcasts, music, and more. With a highly customizable interface and smart recommendations based on the media you enjoy, Plex brings its users the best media experience on the planet from any device, anywhere.

Plex releases brand new and beloved titles to its platform monthly and we’ll be here to help you identify the cream of the crop. View Plex TV now for the best free entertainment streaming and check back each month for Den of Geek Critics’ picks!

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DEN OF GEEK CRITICS’ PICKS

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

They’re the world’s most fearsome fightin’ team. They’re heroes in a half-shell and they’re green. I mean, what more do we need to say? 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is no Citizen Kane, but comic book movie fans flock to it like the four titular turtles to pizza. The film knows exactly what it is, providing cheesy one-liners, silly action, and unpretentious fun. Throwing in Will Arnett as a sidekick for April O’Neil was an inspired choice that paid dividends in laughs and whoever tapped Tony Shaloub to voice Splinter should get a pay raise. Produced by Nickelodeon Pictures, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn’t only the highest grossing film in the series, but also the highest grossing Nickelodeon film of all-time. This reboot of the classic ninja team helped spawn further films, new TV series, and a renewed interest in one of the most beloved comic book properties ever. Cowabunga, dude!

Noah

This isn’t your Sunday School’s Noah. Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of the story of the biblical figure Noah is an awe-inspiring epic that takes the bones of the famous story and infuses themes about environmentalism, self-doubt, and yes, faith. Pulling liberally from texts like the Book of Enoch, the film has far more action than just leading animals onto a boat and a storm. Shot by Matthew Libatique, the movie looks absolutely gorgeous and at times can be genuinely breath-taking, but it’s not just about the visuals. Russell Crowe stuns in the title role, but the entire ensemble is great, including a post-Potter Emma Watson and a ferocious Ray Winstone. No one expected Noah to be more akin to a thought-provoking art house film than a straight-forward epic, but that’s the sort of genius you get from Aronofsky, one of the most exciting and inventive filmmakers working today. 

Shine a Light

Even if we hadn’t just lost the immortal, suave Charlie Watts, the heartbeat of rock and roll’s longest institution, The Rolling Stones, we’d still be recommending Martin Scorsese’s Shine a Light. Capturing the legendary band during their A Bigger Bang Tour in 2006, Scorsese spends a lot of the time rightfully focusing on Watts. With the camera fixated on Watts, you witness his unflappability; the way that he can make such raucous playing look so effortless. You also catch the man’s unique, jazz-influenced technique, like how he rarely hits the center of his snare, or how he changes his grip whenever he hits a cymbal. Even in their old age, the Stones are still one of the tightest, most electrifying live acts, and Shine a Light puts you right on stage with them as they barrel through one of the deepest catalogs in recorded music. It’s simply a masterful concert film.

The Virgin Suicides

Sofia Coppola likely has to deal with accusations about nepotism to this day, but anyone who saw her directorial debut The Virgin Suicides knows that Francis’ daughter would have made it as a filmmaker even without her famous last name. This haunting adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel of the same name taps into the melancholy of childhood, the dreamlike haze of memory, and the mystery that lurks inside suburban homes. Coppola expertly captures the pull that an ethereal group of sisters have on the imaginative group of boys that pine for them in a way that is relatable for anyone that had an unrequited crush in high school. As a coming-of-age movie, it is one of a kind. As an exploration of trauma and grief, it is crushingly effective. The original score by the band Air only adds to its hypnagogic vibe. 

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School

Punk rock music and Roger Corman pictures are some of the core tenants that Den of Geek was founded on, so of course we’re going to recommend 1979’s Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, which features possibly the coolest band of all-time, The Ramones. Let our resident punk rock movie expert Jim Knipfel break it down for you:

“After producing so many dozens of teen rebellion films over the years, Corman finally hit the pinnacle, the ultimate teen rebellion picture, with the cartoon antics ratcheted up more than a few notches. There are so many bad jokes flying around, so many visual gags and film references packed into every scene, so many overwrought teen film clichés pushed way past absurd, it’s a film that demands multiple viewings. Even if “Riff Randall, rock ’n’ roller” (P.J. Soles) doesn’t look much like any punk chick I ever knew, I’m perfectly willing to accept it. And in historical terms, it really was this film more than the 4 albums they had out at the time that spread the word about The Ramones to mainstream America, and that’s worth something. Old as I am I still get a thrill every time the students and the Ramones blow up Vince Lombardi High, and anyone who doesn’t must be wrong in the head somehow.”

New on Plex in September:  

1000 Times Good Night 

13 

13 Assassins 

The Accidental Husband 

All Good Things 

Assassination of a High School President 

Awake 

Bent 

Bordertown 

Brain Dead 

Cold Mountain  

The Descent 

The Descent Part 2  

Even Money 

Fear City 

First Snow 

Freedom Writers  

Gray Matters  

The Jesus Rolls 

Johnny Was  

Keys to Tulsa  

The Legend of Bagger Vance  

Mad Money 

Marrowbone 

Murder on the Orient Express 

The Ninth Gate 

Nothing but the Truth  

Ordinary People 

Rememory  

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School  

Sanctuary  

Shine a Light  

Soul Survivors  

Taboo  

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  

The TV Set  

The Virgin Suicides  

What Doesn’t Kill You  

Winter Passing  

World Trade Center  

Catch before it leaves in September: 

31 

Absolution  

Accident Man  

Aeon Flux 

After.Life 

Angel of Death 

Answer Man 

The Bang Bang Club 

Battle Royale 

Blood and Bone 

The Broken 

Cashmere Mafia  

Child 44 

Cleaner 

Cold Comes the Night 

Coming Soon 

The Connection 

Conspiracy  

The Cookout  

Critical Condition  

Dark Crimes  

The Death and Life of Bobby Z 

Death Proof 

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star 

Downhill Racer 

Dragged Across Concrete  

The Dresser  

The Duel 

Dummy 

Flight of Fury 

Flirting with Disaster  

The Foreigner  

Goat  

Gutshot Straight  

Halloween III: Season of the Witch  

The Hard Corps  

Hesher  

High Right 

Honeymoon  

The Hunt 

I Saw the Devil 

In the Mix 

Jason and the Argonauts 

Jeff, Who Lives at Home 

Jiri Dreams of Sushi  

Joe 

Journey to the West  

Kill ‘Em All 

A Kind of Murder 

The Kite Runner 

Lake Placid 2 

Lake Placid 3 

Last Resort 

The Lazarus Project 

Misconduct 

Mr. Church 

Mutant Chronicles 

Mythica: The Godslayer 

Mythica: The Iron Clown  

Never Back Down: No Surrender 

News Radio  

Noah 

Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior  

Ong Bak: The Beginning  

The Order 

Out for a Kill 

The Outcasts  

Phantoms 

Pistol Whipped 

The Protector 

Pulse (2001) 

Reprisal  

Return to the Blue Lagoon 

The River Murders  

The Romantics 

Second in Command 

Shadow Man 

Shattered  

The Shepherd 

Southside with You 

Space Station 76 

Square Pegs 

Standoff 

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation  

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder 

Steel Dawn 

Substitute  

The Super  

SWAT: Under Siege 

The Terminal  

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada  

Touchy Feely  

Trollhunter 

UFO 

Universal Solider: Day of Reckoning  

Vamps  

Vicky Cristina Barcelona  

Walking Tall: Lone Justice 

Warlock 

What Planet are You From?  

World’s Fastest Indian 

World’s Greatest Dad  

The Yellow Handkerchief  

Still streaming on Plex: 

2:22 

2 Days in New York 

21 Jump Street  

22 Bullets  

24 Hours to Live  

3rd Rock from the Sun 

6 Bullets  

99 Homes 

A Little Bit of Heaven 

A Walk in the Woods 

The Air I Breathe  

Alan Partridge 

ALF  

Alone in the Dark 

Amelie 

American Pastoral  

And Soon the Darkness 

Andromeda  

Are You Here 

Arthur and the Invisibles  

Awake 

Battle in Seattle 

Bernie 

Better Watch Out 

Black Death  

Blade of the Immortal 

Blitz 

The Brass Teapot 

Bronson 

The Brothers Bloom 

The Burning Plain 

But I’m a Cheerleader 

Cake  

Candy  

Catch .44 

Cell  

The Choice 

Clerks II 

Coherence  

The Collector  

Colonia  

Congo  

Cooties 

The Core 

The Cotton Club 

Crossing Lines  

Croupier  

Cube  

Cube 2 

Cube Zero 

Cyrano de Bergerac  

Death and the Maiden 

The Deep Blue Sea 

Deep Red 

Derailed 

Detachment 

The Devil’s Rejects  

Diary of the Dead 

District B13 

DOA: Dead or Alive 

Dr. T and the Women  

Eden Lake 

The Edge of Love  

The post Streaming on Plex: Best Movies and TV Shows You Can Watch for FREE in September appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[rabbitcruiser]

Grand Central Terminal, Manhattan (No. 2)

The Main Concourse, originally known as the Express Concourse, is located on the upper platform level of Grand Central, in the geographical center of the station building. The 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) concourse leads directly to most of the terminal's upper-level tracks, although some are accessed from passageways near the concourse.The Main Concourse is usually filled with bustling crowds and is often used as a meeting place.

The terminal's ticket booths are located in the Main Concourse, although many have been closed or repurposed since the introduction of ticket vending machines. The concourse's large American flag was installed there a few days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The Main Concourse is surrounded on most of its sides by balconies. The east side is occupied by an Apple Store, while the west side is occupied by the Italian restaurant Cipriani Dolci (part of Cipriani S.A.), the Campbell Palm Court, and the Campbell Bar, a former financier's office-turned-bar. Underneath the east and west balconies are entrances to Grand Central's passageways, with shops and ticket machines along the walls.

The 18-sided main information booth — originally the "information bureau" — is in the center of the concourse. Its attendants provide train schedules and other information to the public; in 2015, they fielded more than 1,000 questions an hour, according to an MTA spokesman. A door within the marble and brass pagoda conceals a spiral staircase down to a similar booth on the station's Dining Concourse.

The booth is topped by a four-faced brass clock, one of Grand Central's most recognizable icons. The clock was designed by Henry Edward Bedford and cast in Waterbury, Connecticut. Its mechanism was designed by the Self Winding Clock Company and built by the Seth Thomas Clock Company, along with several other clocks in the terminal. Each 24-inch (61 cm) face is made from opalescent glass, now often called opal glass or milk glass. An urban legend, which arose in news reports in the 1990s or even earlier, claimed that the clock faces were actually made of opal, a precious gem, and that renowned auction houses had estimated their worth at millions of dollars. This myth was spread by tour guides in the terminal, by its presentation as fact in Wikipedia from 2006 to 2013, and by major news publications into the present day. It was debunked by Untapped Cities in 2020.

The clock was first stopped for repairs in 1954, after it was found to be losing a minute or two per day. One of the four original clock faces was damaged in 1968 by a police officer's bullet, while he chased members of the Youth International Party who staged a protest inside the terminal. The cracked face was removed in the 1990s during the terminal's restoration. It was replaced with a replica; the original is now part of the New York Transit Museum collection.

Along with the rest of the New York Central Railroad system's clocks, it was formerly set to a clock in the train dispatcher's office at Grand Central.Through the 1980s, they were set to a master clock at a workshop in Grand Central. Since 2004, they have been set to the United States Naval Observatory's atomic clock, accurate to a billionth of a second.

Source: Wikipedia

[nervousalpacahologram]

Best of Best Friends

@swarmisazergling Hap Birth!

“Best friends are a rare breed. And you are the best of best friends.” 

One’s voice seemed to echo in the concrete chamber, reverbing over the ticking and hissing of clockwork. Seven turned in his direction, an expression close to surprise written on their features. “Close to surprise” because their was little more than several mouths slowly drifting across an expanse of smooth skin.

 When One made no attempt to to continue speaking, contemplating his reflection in a glass of oil, Seven responded.

 “I… I’m glad to hear this Old Friend.” They had no clue what to say, unfamiliar with such burst of emotion by One’s standards. Seven carefully inspected the Mekhanite, noting the nearly shell-shocked expression he wore. “What’s gotten you this… verbally free?”

 “It’s nothing Dear Friend. I merely thought it would be something worth saying.” He took a long draught of his oil, draining it to the dregs. His head slipped back, gently clacking against the merciless concrete behind him.

 He was in a sorry state, cloak of rags and bones thrown to the side, revealing pale skin and brass religious vestments beneath. Blue lines of lights scattered across his skin, pulsing and fading with his mood.

 “Does this have anything to do with what happened to Site-01?” Not a month ago the existence of Site-01 had been fed to the Chaos Insurgency by a member of the Red Right Hand. One and Three had been there, and One had almost died. Seven didn’t know all the details, but from the fact that Three had saved him from an entire battalion of Insurgents led them to believe they knew what had happened.

 “That old place? I had no love for it after all these years. It’s that…” He trailed off, glaring pensively at perfectly-timed clockwork.

 “I’m here for you Aaron. You can tell me.” They gently placed a hand on One’s shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

 “Thank you Teeth. It’s that I Failed. I failed to protect 3, 4, 8 or 9. They could have all been captured if not for Four. I was supposed to control 01. And I failed.” Seven could immediately tell that the prophet was lying, calmly tilting his face toward them. One’s slate-grey eyes made contact with Seven’s golden ones. And Seven saw all the truths and lies laid out in front of them.

 “It isn’t that which weighs on your mind. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying. Something happened with Three. Please, my friend, tell me what happened.” Tears had begun to form in the corners of One’s eyes, black and viscous. And then, with a quiet voice:

“He kissed me Seven. He kissed me.” The tears spilled over his cheekbones, dripping slowly down his cheeks. Seven gently wiped them away as he wept, years upon years of repressed emotions welling up past his façade.

 “But that’s not everything, is it One? Something’s wrong, and it’s making you Hurt.” He nodded briefly, shifting and accidently knocking over the crystal wineglass. It shattered loudly on the ground, reverberating in the empty air. A heartbreaking sound wrenched it’s way up from One’s synthetic lungs, something between a choke and a sob.

 “He’s a monster Seven.” Another choke-gasp, “He’s a monster, a beast that I’ve spent my whole life destroying.”

 “Tell me what happened One. Please, it will help.”

 “I was held at gunpoint by a dozen insurgents when the walls of the Site… Buckled. It was torn away and Three walked through. But it just… Wasn’t Him. His shirt and sweater were torn apart, and his chest was a gaping hole, like something had forced it’s way out. And It HAD.” One pitched forward, burying his face into Seven’s kimono.

 “Shh, Shh. It’s alright One. What had?” One of several hands extended from Seven’s back and stroked across One’s scalp soothingly.

 “His heart was beating, and it was Black. The veins and muscle extended from it, merging with the bone of his ribs. And these tendrils whipped through the air, cutting the Insurgency low with one fell swoop. Their bullets, their magic, their screams did nothing. He shrugged them off Seven! They ripped and tore but did Nothing!” He was growing manic, shivering and shaking violently in Seven’s arms.

 More arms unfolded, cradling One to Seven’s body. Seven whispered quiet nonsense to him, putting out as much of a calming aura as they could.

 “…When the screaming stopped, he gathered me in his arms and FLESH and held me. In those moments he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, and he was a monster. I fell in love with a Sarkic abomination.” His struggling and weeping had stopped as he finally admitted it to himself, replaced with some sort of coldness.

 “It doesn’t matter what he is One. It could never matter what he is after all those years of unsaid love.”

 “He can’t love me. He’s a monster.” One sounded defeated, and in that brief moment of silence, Seven made a decision.

 “I knew he was a monster.” Six simple words. Just six, and One looked up at Seven as if they had just stabbed him in the back. The look broke Seven’s heart, but they persevered.

 “You… You knew?” Tears had begun to stream down his face once again.

 “He was anomalous. I aided his misguided attempts to sever that part of himself, to give that part of himself form and then slay it. But it was too strong. It became 058. He rejoined it to Save You Aaron. He needed to accept that part of himself, and circumstance finally, finally forced his hand. Don’t fear him One. Don’t fear him like you’ve feared so much.”

 “Why did you never tell me?”

 “Why? You know why One. You would have killed him, feelings be damned. You would have broken part of your own soul to uphold views you barely even hold anymore.” One pulled himself away gently. Even with the anger and betrayal coursing through his veins, he couldn’t bear to hurt them.

 Their were a million questions flying through his brain at terminal velocity, but he asked none of them. Instead:

 “Can he truly love me? Even as a monster?” Seven smirked, wiping away the drying tears from One’s cheeks. He looked broken, emotionally numb once again, but for an entirely different reason.

 “I’ve seen Mekhanites and Nalkites fall in love before. I wandered with Nadox and Derdekeas themselves. Nalkites can love. They feel it more intensely than any emotion, even as they deny it. The question isn’t if he can love you. It is: Can you love him?” One turned his grey eyes to the floor, squeezing them shut in pain.

 “I’m sorry MEKHANE. But by god, I love him.” Seven gathered him up in their arms, gently tracing the religious vestments that ran across his back. They held him until the sobbing stopped, until they felt the final stage of grief settle like a mantle over One’s shoulders.

 “That’s it Aaron. That’s it. Deep breaths in and out.” The minutes wound down into hours of silence, passed with the ticking of clockwork and the rhythmic rubbing of skin on “skin.” The “skin” on One’s back was close to warm from Seven’s hands by the end of it.

 “I need to talk to him. I need to apologize.”

 “Yes you do my Dear Friend. Talk can be a toxin or balm depending on the ways. Use it now as a cure. Treat this bitter resentment you’ve fostered.” They gently extricated One from their embrace, kimono stained with oil-tears.

 “Much needs to be done… Thank you Seven. For brushing the scales from my eyes.” He stood up, sweeping the Cloak around his shoulders once again. Bones and Metal clattered, a vivid windchime-like sound.

 “Anytime Aaron.” He left, leaving Seven to recline in the empty room with the satisfaction of a job well done.

[phinnsyreads]

FROM: Dr. Arthur █. █████ TO: Director Maria Jones, Recordkeeping and Information Security Administration (RAISA) SUBJECT: Revision of SCP-076 SCP File

Director Jones,

I have to go on record as saying that I seriously object to the proposed revisions of the SCP-076 Special Containment Procedures File. I know that Redact All Important Stuff Already claims it's a security risk, but you and I both know it's just top brass trying to sweep their biggest and most embarrassing mistake ever under the damn rug. Omega-Seven happened. It existed. Those people died because you screwed up, and you can't change that, no matter how hard you try to hide it.

For God's sake, man, those people guarding him deserve to know exactly what he is and what he did. What WE did. How we fucked up, so they'll know better.

---

Item #: SCP-076

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Containment Area 25b is to be located 200 m below sea level, tunneled out of solid bedrock in a seismologically stable area. Sole access to the containment facility is to be through a vertical elevator shaft separated every fifty (50) meters with a reinforced blast door, constructed of 20 cm thick material shielding. Elevator shaft shall be flooded with seawater when not in use.

Containment Area 25b is to be constructed with the following components:

An Outer Security Perimeter against outside threats, staffed by security personnel trained in close quarters battle and counter-intrusion tactics.

An Administrative and Support Area (ASA) consisting of support facilities and living quarters for on-site personnel.

A Primary Containment Zone (PCZ), consisting of a 7 m cube encased in 1.5 m of reinforced material. PCZ is to be designed to be flooded and drained as needed, and should remain filled with seawater unless access to contents is required.

A 150 m "killing corridor" which is to be the sole access to the PCZ from the ASA (including water, power, drainage, and ventilation lines). The walls and floor of the corridor are to be reinforced in a similar manner to the PCZ, with the addition of an electric deterrence system capable of delivering a 20,000 volt shock.

A security station located at the entrance to the killing corridor is to be staffed with no fewer than three (3) armed security personnel on watch at any one point in time. Armament is to include, but not be limited to, at least one (1) ███████ CIW system on a pintle mount with a clear line of sight down the corridor, with a plexiglass screen to protect the operator from thrown weapons.

In the event of a full breach, all on-site staff are to proceed immediately to the closest security station for weapons and armor distribution. Staff will remain at Alert Condition One until SCP-076-2 is confirmed neutralized. Should 90 minutes pass after declaration of full breach without a Stand Down order being given by Level 4 or higher personnel, Final Contingency Measures will be activated, flooding the entire facility in seawater and sealing off the access shaft for a minimum of 24 hours before retrieval is attempted. This will, by necessity, result in the deaths of all on-site staff.

Description: SCP-076 consists of two components: a stone cube (SCP-076-1) and a humanoid entity contained within (SCP-076-2).

SCP-076-1 is a 3 m cube made of black speckled metamorphic stone. All surfaces outside and within SCP-076-1 are covered in deeply engraved patterns corresponding to no known civilizations. Radioisotope analysis indicates that the object is approximately ten thousand (10,000) years old. A door is located on one side, sealed with a lock 0.5 m in width, surrounded by twenty (20) smaller locks in a circular pattern. As of yet, none of the keys have been found, making the door impossible to lock once closed.

Interior temperature is approximately 93 Kelvin, and cannot be altered by any means, internal or external. Directly in the center of the room is a 2.13 m tall stone coffin, held in place and sealed shut by several chains of unknown make and substance, which are attached to the inner corners of SCP-076-1.

SCP-076-2 resembles a lean Semitic human male in his late twenties. Hair is black, and eyes are gray, skin tone olive. Subject is 1.96 m in height and 81.65 kg in weight. Numerous tattoos depicting arcane and occult iconography are present all over the body (mostly in the form of leering demonic faces) and range from subtle to openly ostentatious. Subject, when encased inside SCP-076-1, is technically dead.

However, occasionally SCP-076-2 will awaken, effectively "reanimating", complete with all vital processes needed to sustain a living human being. Subject will then attempt to leave SCP-076-1. If successful, subject will enter a trance state and seek out the nearest human being, ignoring all other living things in the process. Upon coming into contact with living humans, SCP-076-2 will enter a rage state in which it attempts to engage and kill all human beings encountered. To date, only the subject's death has been shown to be effective in ending these rampages.

Terminating SCP-076-2 is often problematic due to its significant physical abilities. Subject has superhuman strength and speed, and although not invulnerable, has shown a remarkable ability to ignore pain and shock, pressing on despite what would be debilitating wounds in normal humans. Prior encounters have shown that SCP-076-2 has the ability to (among other things):

Rip through a reinforced steel security door over the course of four (4) minutes of sustained assault.

Clear over 64 m of distance in under three (3) seconds.

Take multiple .50 caliber BMG rounds to the head and survive for several minutes to continue killing, despite severe damage to the cerebellum.

Swat handgun and assault-rifle caliber bullets out of the air with a length of steel rebar.

Survive for over one (1) hour deprived of oxygen before finally asphyxiating.

SCP-076-2's most unusual ability, however, is its ability to apparently materialize bladed weapons out of nowhere. Slow-motion video footage reveals that the blades in question are actually pulled from a miniature dimensional rift described as a "small hole in space." Where these portals lead is unknown, as is how SCP-076-2 is capable of generating them. Footage of the blades in question shows them to be made out of a completely non-reflective black material appearing as a "black void in space." As the blades rapidly vanish after leaving the subject's possession, no structural analysis is possible at this time.

SCP-076-2 has effectively been killed several times in various manners:

Sustained fire from multiple heavy-caliber machine guns.

Asphyxiation.

Crushed beneath a 13.6 metric tonne piece of elevator equipment for use on SCP-076-1.

Cremation through the use of a Thermate-TH3 grenade placed directly inside SCP-076-2's open chest cavity.

During the worst breach to date, Containment Area-25 (which previously housed SCP-076) was forced to detonate its on site warhead as a last attempt to contain SCP-076-2 while it was attempting escape, resulting in total destruction of the site and all on-site personnel. SCP-076-1 survived.

Upon death, SCP-076-2's remains will putrefy rapidly, until reduced to dust. SCP-076-1 and the coffin within will then slam shut with great force, and the lock will rotate, sealing it shut. SCP-076-2 will then reform within the coffin, a process taking anywhere from six (6) hours to twenty-five (25) years.

What posthumous analysis of SCP-076-2 exists shows that it has a internal system highly different from our own, documented in [DATA EXPUNGED].

Additional: SCP-076 was found in ████████████, Mongolia, in 18██, by archaeologists from England. All members of the expedition were subsequently killed on the return voyage home. SCP-076 was recovered from the ship █████ ███████ by the ███████ Society (one of the organizations that later merged into the modern Global Occult Coalition) and placed on display in their Inner Sanctum.

SCP-076 remained in storage for ███████ (██) years, until SCP-076-2 became active and escaped on ██-██-████. The reason for SCP-076's activation is currently unknown, but it was at this point that the keys to the outer shell were lost. A massive manhunt, lasting over three (3) years and ████ ███████, took place until SCP-076-2 was incapacitated by ██████████ ███████, killing it and causing it to reform inside SCP-076-1, by then retrieved and secured by agents of the SCP Foundation.

Subject was in custody for three (3) more years, under constant supervision, and was terminated whenever it became active, although it occasionally was able to escape for short periods of time, often due to security breaches caused by attacks from other organizations. The Foundation's death toll due to this was [DATA EXPUNGED]

[DATA EXPUNGED]

[DATA EXPUNGED]

After the last incident, the current procedures regarding SCP-076 were implemented, although they are upgraded regularly with the increase in technological standards.

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

Addendum 076-2: "Project Abel" and "Mobile Task Force Omega-7"

!CLASSIFIED!

All information regarding Project Abel and Mobile Task Force Omega-7 ("Pandora's Box") are classified Q Clearance by order of the O-5 Council. By proceeding, you are acknowledging that you have clearance to view these files, and that you have received Need to Know permission from the appropriate Level 4 or higher authority.

FROM: Director Maria Jones, Recordkeeping and Information Security Administration TO: Level 4 Administrators SUBJECT: RAISA Update to Security Protocol Re: Supplemental Information Re: SCP-076

File Name: Addendum 076-1: "Project Abel" and "Mobile Task Force Omega-7"

Prior Classification: O5

New Classification: Level 3, Need-To-Know Basis.

Effective Date: ██-██-████

------

Psychological Profile of Subject SCP-076-2 by Dr. Pamela G████

<Begin Log>

SCP-076-2 either possesses a mind constructed much differently than our own, or is completely insane, with little empathy or ideas in a way we would understand it. Concepts such as sex, love and equality are completely foreign ideas to SCP-076-2, or at least in comparison to its way of viewing them. Also, while subject has admitted greatly enjoying the act of killing, causing pain (either emotionally or physically) holds no attraction to it. In short, a perfect sociopath.

Intelligence tests have been wildly inconclusive when applied to SCP-076-2, and no accurate result has yet been obtained. This may be due to the alien thought processes of the subject. SCP-076-2 has however, shown that it has great knowledge of human anatomy (although in a highly violent context), military tactics of open warfare, metallurgy, and, strangely enough, the care of livestock. Subject has knowledge of several languages including English, but most notable is its knowledge of several dialects of ancient Sumerian, which seems to be its preferred language.

SCP-076 has nothing but contempt for human beings, with one exception: it seems to hold a wary respect for those it acknowledges as its superior. This was discovered when Agent ███████, an agent who had previously had a large amount of experience with SCP-076-2, did not appear once it escaped. Subject seemed distressed, asking several personnel where Agent ███████ was hiding. When it finally did learn of the fate of Agent ███████ (killed as collateral damage in an airstrike intended to halt the advance of SCP-███), SCP-076-2 stopped its rampage and allowed itself to be escorted and restrained.

Subject was then interviewed on the sudden drastic changes in its behavior, recorded here:

<Begin Log>

Dr. ██████: Why are you so interested in the death of Agent ███████?

SCP-076-2: (Subject begins swearing in ancient Sumerian)

Dr. ██████: Why does his death bother you? You've killed many humans before, why is he so- (Is cut off by SCP-076-2)

SCP-076-2: (now speaking in English) Different? Because, unlike you [Sumerian word, untranslated], he was a challenge, a real enemy.

Dr. ██████: Why would that be good for you? Every time you have awoken you've tried to escape. He was responsible for apprehending you several times. Surely you must be glad he's dead.

SCP-076-2: I hardly expect you to understand. Do you know, he managed to shoot me in the head over ██ times? A man like that deserves to die in combat, so close to his opponent he can feel his breath. Not in some [Sumerian words, untranslated] destruction ordered by cowardly kings and princes safe in their palaces. The rest of you… (SCP-076-2 spits) you disgust me. I don't even have the urge to strike you down.

(Subject is silent from then on, refusing to speak or respond)

<End Log>

This indicates a possible psychological inlet into SCP-076-2's mind, and a possible control mechanism. Given the massive drain on resources SCP-076-2 causes due to its escape attempts, and considering Bowe Commission's stated desire to weaponize SCP objects for tactical purposes, I recommend that we pursue this course of action as soon as possible.

<End Log>

------

FROM: Dr. █████ █. █████ TO: Dr. P█████ G████, Project Omega Seven SUBJECT:

He said yes.

------

PROJECT PROPOSAL: MOBILE TASK FORCE OMEGA-7 ("PANDORA'S BOX")

Mission Statement: Support of SCP-076-2 ("Abel") in the field, in high risk tactical situations.

Task Force Organization: Task Force Special Asset "Abel," Task Force Leader John ████████████, 10-20 field agents divided into five teams of 3-5 each. Members of the team are to be personally selected from elite field agents by Subject Abel himself, in order to maintain a smooth relationship between the Artifact and the mundane elements of the Task Force.

Security Protocol: SCP-076-2 ("Abel") is to wear a device attached to the neck that, if triggered or tampered with, will immediately detonate, terminating SCP-076-2 by way of complete destruction of the spinal cord, trachea and all major blood vessels in the neck. A tracking device has also been attached to SCP-076-2's person. It is to refrain from killing unless ordered to do so, and is to avoid causing damage to the organization's facilities.

Armament and Equipment: Team members are to be armed and equipped in accordance with MTF doctrine. As Subject Abel has shown no inclination to use firearms, or in fact, no understanding of their use or tactical implications, he is instead to be armed with one or more edged melee weapons of his choice.

Addendum: Note from Dr. Arthur █. █████: For God's sake, John, find these guys something to do. Abel's getting bored, and he's started putting his team through live fire exercises: they get bullets, he gets training weapons. Have you ever seen someone break a man's jaw using a Nerf sword? He's not gonna stop until someone gets killed.

------

Report by Dr. Pamela G████, Project Omega Seven

In light of SCP-076-2's proficient use of the Sumerian language, researchers have asked it to translate several documents. While it originally replied with disinterest, it has translated some of the documents it found worthy of its attention. Most of the documents chosen by SCP-076-2 were regarding battles or legendary heroes, one of its favorites in particular being the "Epic of Gilgamesh".

However, one researcher presented it with the symbol from SCP-073. Upon sight of this, SCP-076-2 became highly enraged, killing several of the researchers before its kill switch could be activated. When revived and questioned about this, SCP-076-2 responded aggressively, and that line of questioning was immediately dropped. It is recommended anything pertaining SCP-073 never be brought to the attention of SCP-076-2 and that the two are never to be in the same facility.

Addendum 076-07: Recently, SCP-105 has been accepted into Mobile Task Force Omega-7, having beaten SCP-076-2 in a contest to see which of the two could activate several devices, each spaced over a mile away from each other and the starting point. SCP-105 managed to score significantly higher than SCP-076-2 by using her inherent abilities to her advantage. SCP-076-2 ceded defeat and allowed her entry into the group.

Addendum 076-09: Proposed introduction of SCP-076-2 to SCP-682 put on indefinite hold. Those with Security Clearance level 4 or higher may request access to Contingency 076-2 #3.

Addendum 076-23: Per the request of the Bowe Commission, Mobile Task Force Omega-7 is to be fielded in the ████████ region of ███████████ against [DATA EXPUNGED].

------

FROM: Dr. Arthur █. █████ TO: Dr. Pamela G████ SUBJECT: Don't do it, Pam

Pam,

For god's sake, don't do it. It's bad enough that they're trying to weaponize Iris too. Don't let the military bully us into doing their dirty work against some sand farmers in ██████████.

------

FROM: General ██████ Bowe TO: Dr. Pamela G████ SUBJECT: A Job Well Done

Excellent work, doctor. The mission went exactly as expected. We'll be calling you again if we need your help.

------

FROM: Dr. Arthur █. █████ TO: Dr. Pamela G████ SUBJECT:

I hope you're fucking proud of yourself.

<hello.jpg>

because you're a bigger asshole than this guy.

------

FROM: Dr. Pamela G████ TO: Omega Seven Team SUBJECT: Reassignment

As of this moment, Dr. Arthur █. █████ has been reassigned to SCP-682 as Level 1 personnel.

------

[DATA EXPUNGED]

------

FROM: Dr. Pamela G████ TO: General ██████ Bowe SUBJECT: Problems

[DATA EXPUNGED]

Despite our best efforts, Subject Abel is proving difficult to control. All our attempts to keep him engaged have been more or less unsuccessful.

The problem is, he's a perfect killing machine, and that's all he wants to do. Which seems like exactly what we wanted, but the problem is, we can't seem to turn him off.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

I'm running out of missions to give him, and the ones I've got left aren't engaging him mentally. He's starting to lash out at the other team members. It's only a matter of time before something goes wrong. Requesting permission to discontinue the project and neutralize Abel temporarily, until we can find something more for him to do.

------

FROM: General ██████ Bowe TO: Dr. Pamela G████, Project Omega Seven SUBJECT: Re: Problems

Unacceptable. Neutralizing Subject Abel at this point is going to cause an unacceptable delay. We'll have another mission for you within a couple of weeks. All you have to do is keep him busy until then. Send him on vacation or something.

------

FROM: Dr. Pamela G████, Project Omega Seven TO: All Staff SUBJECT: ALERT

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED ALERT

SCP-076-2 has disabled the explosive collar failsafe and gone out of control. All staff to high alert. Further requests as events warrant.

------

FROM: AUTOMATED DEFENSE SYSTEM, CONTAINMENT AREA-25 TO: All Sites SUBJECT: FINAL OPTION ENGAGED

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE

As of ██-██-████, ████:██, Containment Area-25 has engaged its on-site nuclear warhead on ten-minute countdown.

------

FROM: O5 Command TO: All Sites SUBJECT: Containment Area 25 Final Option: Response

As of ██-██-████, ████:██, Containment Area-25 has been destroyed by detonation of its on-site nuclear warhead. Sites 67 and 68 are to activate the FEMA protocol and secure the location as soon as possible. Official cover story will be released by RAISA to all personnel once drafted.

------

Revised Psychological Profile of Subject SCP-076-2

<Begin Log>

SCP-076-2 either possesses a mind constructed much differently than our own, or is completely insane, with little empathy or ideas in a way we would understand it. Concepts such as sex, love and equality are completely foreign ideas to SCP-076-2, or at least in comparison to its way of viewing them. Also, while subject seems to greatly enjoy the act of killing, causing pain (either emotionally or physically) holds no attraction to it.

Intelligence tests have been wildly inconclusive when applied to SCP-076-2, and no accurate result has yet been obtained. This is due to the fact that no communication is possible with the Subject when in its "rage" state. Subject has knowledge of several languages including English, but most notable is its knowledge of several dialects of ancient Sumerian, which seem to be its preferred language.

SCP-076-2 has nothing but contempt for human beings and will kill them on sight. No communication is to be attempted with the subject.

<End Log>

===

[The voice of Dr. Arthur █. █████ was provided by Christian Jasper.] [The voice of Dr. Pamela G████ was provided by Brittany Carlton.] [The voice of the interviewer was provided by @phantomancer.] [The voice of SCP-076-2 was provided by @phinnsy.] [The voice of General ██████ Bowe was provided by Lee Daniel.] [The voice of O5-█ was provided by @lapis-liberalis.]

===

[Enjoy the podcast? Consider supporting us on Patreon! Patrons get access to bonus Joke episodes, outtakes, and can even request episodes on specific SCP objects.]

[dreamofcentipedes]

Red Lotus Blooms: 8 - Burning Bright

Summary: A monster is forged in flame. As light burns out, red leaves unfurl. Crossing paths once more, Tatara and Houji hurtle towards the end of the beginning, and the ashes of the past again burn bright.

Characters: Tatara, Houji, Eto, Noro, Arima, Donato

Rating: Teen Words: 8, 766 Link to AO3

Link to Table of Contents

A/N: FINAL CHAPTER! Thank you so much to all you readers, whether you've been here from the start, you hopped on partway through, or you're reading this in the future from start to finish - every comment and kudos I've received from you gave me the willpower to see this through to the end. 

A note on ages: here, Tatara is 17, Eto is 16, and Houji is 27. It's a little under 9 years before Kaneki goes on that fateful date.

Cochlea was a uniform place for diverse peoples. Prisoners sane but for their cannibalism, guards mad but for their wives and two children, it was a melting pot of the most absurd congregation of ghouls and humans alike. Its architecture, with its circling rows of identical doorways, looked bizarre in contrast by its very unremarkability. Perhaps the effect was intentional: to differentiate the prisoner from the prison, chaos from order. The guards would not play into that fantasy, however. Houji often found himself wondering who really needed protecting here: who should be outside the cells, and who should be within.

So it came as a strange relief to meet so disgusting a ghoul as the child-murdering Donato Porpora. For a brief moment, Houji could regain some sense of moral certainty.

“And you are Special Class Kousuke Houji, is that right?”

Houji inwardly flinched at the title that still felt so ill-fitting to him. This ghoul, with his elderly but dignified aspect and his calm smile that seemed to hold secret knowledge, made the honour feel especially rancid. Like he was comparing him with Special Class Wu, a comparison he knew in his heart of hearts to be true.

“Oh, did that have some kind of impact on you? I really can’t tell, your face is solid as a rock.” The ghoul seemed disappointed behind his mockery. Or perhaps it was the other way around.

“Priest.” Houji addressed him, smoothly cutting through his nonsense, firm, clear, impassive. “You know why I am here, and why you are being kept alive.”

“Nosiness as usual then, is it?” He threw back his head with a rasping cackle that echoed behind the glass screen that separated them in the interrogation room.

The balding Warden Koumura sat beside Houji, bored. Houji was sure he had better uses of his time, but it was advised that interrogations took place in groups of two, especially with this ghoul. Arima was unavailable as he was on patrol and, though he was not fond of Koumura, he was preferable to a guard like that savage Tokage. Ultimately, Koumura could not turn down a rule he was meant to impose.

“Have you heard about any ghoul plans to breach Cochlea? Or if anyone who would be stupid enough to try it?” Koumura spat. He was obviously sceptical about these rumours, but they were the reason Houji had been assigned there as extra security.

“Breach Cochlea?” The ghoul seemed interested, for very obvious reasons. “Where did you hear that?”

“First Class Arima overheard a group of ghouls discussing the plans before intercepting them. However, they were not wearing anything indicative of allegiance to any group we know of.” Houji clarified.

“How would I know, when you’ve been keeping me in here so long…” He grumbled.

“Rest assured, an attack will not succeed. This is a maximum security prison now being guarded by myself and one of our finest upcoming investigators. So, if a breach does occur and we discover that you hid something from us, you will have outlived your usefulness. Do you understand?”

That was the view of the brass, anyway. Sceptical about the likelihood of such a bold venture, they had only assigned Arima, since he had raised the concern, and one investigator of his choosing. He had chosen Houji, for reasons he could not decipher. But that was always the way with Arima.

“Come now, you can’t blame me for hating being trapped up in here. I know you do too.”

Houji could not deny it. Caging ghouls up like animals, the pointless torture that went on behind closed doors that everyone could hear regardless – why prolong their suffering so cruelly, so meaninglessly? He may have resigned himself to the reality of the CCG’s role as humanity’s brutish cudgel, but the ghouls could at least be given the decency of a quick death.

Koumura gave him a sceptical side-eye. Houji’s demeanour did not falter.

“Indeed. If I had it my way, you would no longer be with us, Priest. But that is not my decision to make. So we most both perform our given roles.”

He had only the right to observe, to observe and do his duty. He was part of this greater, twisted whole, and so he must accept responsibility for their sins if he wanted to continue serving the CCG regardless.

Donato hinted at a sickly smile. “If I’m not mistaken, you performed that duty spectacularly in China. Is that where you developed this selfless, or should I call it spineless, ideology?”

Houji narrowed his eyes. How did he know about China?

“I’ve never been, myself. Are things much different there?” The old man went on.

Exactly the same. The same as the Japan he had come back to, if not the one he had left.

As soon as he had stepped out of the aeroplane after landing at Narita, he was hit by the same hostile air. He had thought – wished, rather – that when he returned to Japan he would return to how he was before he left. It was now woefully apparent that the Japan he had known was lost forever. Or rather, the self he had known. He was forced to look at the world through this new set of tainted eyes.

“Priest, if you have nothing of worth to say then I will terminate this interrogation.” Houji was getting tired of talking to Donato. The more the Priest talked, the more unpleasant thoughts haunted Houji’s mind. But he would cede no such reaction for that man’s enjoyment. Those days of vulnerability were far behind him.

“You’re getting more and more useless to us every day. Keep that in mind.” Koumura growled in his bullying fashion.

Donato drooped his brows like a child being deprived of his toy. “How rude. I was just making conversation, Special Class. It was no small thing, taking out Chi She Lian. An organisation of that size…that’s a lot of death.”

Blood dripping through the floorboards. A severed head. A ring on a lifeless finger.

“Although – and this is just pure hearsay, mind – I hear that you couldn’t quite finish the job. The one that got away, hmm?”

Houji’s teeth clenched like a vice. How could he know? Before he had left Beijing, he had spent two weeks fruitlessly searching for Tatara Huo. Not a trace. That was the true ghost of China – the one that had not died. It could not end while he was still out there, somewhere, in the shadows, grieving, hating, mourning…

Donato’s lips turned fully upwards now. “Maybe there’s your culprit. That ghoul must want your head more than his own life. Maybe he’s risking everything breaching Cochlea just to kill you. Tie up those loose ends.” The ghoul looked Houji dead in the eye with an expression now serious. “Would you like that, Special Class?”

Houji sat wide-eyed, staring and speechless. These had to be mind games, surely: there was no way the ghoul could know this. But Houji could not help but wonder if it was possible. Whether Tatara could truly be in Tokyo. If it was to kill him, then, perhaps…

Before he could respond, a siren started blaring.

Koumura’s jaw dropped in horror and fearfully turned towards him for an answer. Houji’s body tensed as he understood what it meant. The Priest, at first surprised, burst out into raucous laughter.

“Well, I suppose you’re about to find out! Don’t hold it against me, gentlemen, there really is nothing more I could’ve done for you.”

Houji shot him an icy look with a face of otherworldly calm. “Please relinquish that smug expression, Priest. You’ve no need of it. You will not be escaping this facility today.”

Houji rose briskly out of his chair, grabbed his attaché case, and marched out of the room with Koumura scrambling after him. The door closed behind them with a slam as they exited onto the ground floor, and Houji looked up to the great gates at the top of the prison. Slowly but steadily, they were opening.

--

Like clockwork, the heavy gates on Cochlea’s roof opened exactly on time. Tatara could hardly believe it. Eto had promised she could do it with her ‘connections’, but she had refused to specify what they were no matter how hard Tatara grilled her. In the end he decided to allow her this modicum of trust and return on a different day if it failed - after he beheaded the girl for her deception. Yet it seemed that trust was well founded. He wondered if she might have orchestrated a riot among the prisoners or something of that nature, but it looked peaceful enough down the great fall encircled by rows and rows of jail cells. That is, until the guards noticed the doorway receding.

There was no time for standing around. Tatara beckoned for his cohort, the remaining rabble of Aogiri, to follow him down the sinkhole. He jumped, and two hundred red cloaks followed him.

The ghouls unleashed hell on the guards below. Storms of ukaku shards thundered down upon them, and quinque bullets shot upwards in return. There were casualties on both sides already, but Tatara had the element of surprise. He landed on the first elevated platform in the centre of Cochlea, and immediately began sprinting, his eyes darting around on all sides for Houji. Seeing the afterimage of a white coat disappear behind an opaque screen on a floor above, he quickly rammed his kagune through the five guards charging at him simultaneously, smoothly slid it out, and launched himself into the air to an astonishing height to follow him.

He landed with a crash onto the railing, and, raising his head, stared at the now visible face of the white-coated figure with surprise and anger.

“You’re-”

“Not Houji.” The bespectacled man finished, and cut Tatara open.

--

Houji pelted through the rain of shards as ghouls descended from above.  He could not understand how it happened. Were there ghouls strong enough to open the gates from the outside? After Loong, he could not doubt it. Guards rushed out into the fray, only for several to be impaled immediately. Arima was nowhere to be seen – his patrol had probably led him to the other end of the facility. More and more of the ghouls were landing on the ground floor, white-masked and red-cloaked.

If these ghouls spring some of the inmates…

There were immensely powerful ghouls being kept here. The S-Rate Tail Brothers. Tokage’s plaything, that S-Rate Jason. Not to mention the SS-Rate Priest. Iff even some of them were to escape, it could spell dire news for Tokyo. Houji could not let that happen.

He clicked open his attaché case, and drew out Douhi.

Special Class Zhao, who had miraculously survived Loong’s onslaught thanks to the quick feet of the other survivors in getting him medical attention, had presented Houji with three quinques before he left China. Seeing Zhao’s armless stump and remembering how he had failed to fulfil Zhao’s wish of putting a final end to Chi She Lian, Houji hardly felt like he deserved them, but Zhao had insisted on rewarding Loong’s slayer. Two of the quinques were unique as the results of new studies in quinque research which combined the kakuhou of one ghoul with the cell matter of another, allowing, for instance, an ukaku quinque to be augmented with the strength of a powerful bikaku ghoul.

Such was the case with Douhi, named for the lead researcher of the project. It was a long cannon in pale yellow with curved horns protruding from either side, and it was made from the ukaku kakuhou of a Chi She Lian ghoul and the cell matter of Fei Huo.

For this reason, too, China never left him.

He pummelled out shards from Douhi that rained and slashed through the ghouls charging towards him. Even so, they were quickly swarming the place. Guards unleashed quinques and fought all around him, some pushing forward, some giving ground. Koumura was barking orders but noticeably not fighting himself, his electric baton-style quinque hanging uselessly at his side. Kagune came darting towards Houji but he blew them apart with the force of his cannon, followed by the heads of their owners.

He swung around to obliterate another kagune spiralling towards him, but lost his momentum when he saw the monstrosity. It was huge, grotesque, with jagged teeth like razor blades. The moment of hesitation allowed it to smash Douhi out of his hands and send it clattering to the floor.

The kagune’s owner appeared briefly behind it, but there was nothing brief about the tall, pony-tailed figure with his eyeless, grinning mask. He looked like trouble. Houji glanced concernedly to the far edge of their arena where Douhi had fallen metres ahead of him, but the distance was too long and the fighting too thick to retrieve it, not to mention that his opponent blocked the way. There was no chance of fighting that thing without a weapon.

He saw Koumura shrinking against the wall on the periphery of the battle. If he’s not doing anything anyway…Houji caught his eye and shouted over the fray: “Quinques!” Koumura blinked and nodded frantically, and, hesitantly raising his baton, began fighting his way to the armoury on the same floor.

As Houji watched the eyeless figure stand stock still and swing his kagune around for another attack, Houji knew that until Koumura could retrieve the weapons he needed, he would have to be exceedingly careful. He turned and dashed behind him as the kagune hurtled in his direction. Pushing his way through the calamity of ghouls and guards, the kagune found itself lost, as if confused, unable to locate Houji in the fray. Houji punched away the ghouls surrounding him with his fists, constantly keeping up his pace, knowing that if he slowed down he was dead. Yet despite his efforts, the grinning ghoul’s kagune found him again and charged at him through the crowd – eating up guard, ghoul, and anything that stood in its way.

Thankfully, Houji had calculated everything just right. Or, almost just right. He still needed to leap to the floor before the kagune bit the air in front of him and could go no further. His python of a kagune had finally ran out length. This would have not been a handicap for any other ghoul, but this was one insisted on standing still, eery and overconfident. It cocked its head to the side, confused. But the victory did not last long. Houji scrambled up and began dashing into the crowd again as slowly, it began to walk forward.

Winding and weaving through the hordes of people, ducking kagune and quinque alike in the mad fury of combat, running at the greatest pace he could muster, Houji was quickly becoming exhausted and wondered how much longer he could keep up. Finally, he heard the shout of a familiar voice over the cacophony, calling his name.

Houji leapt up and made himself as visible as he could. Before the fat kagune could devour him, Koumura hurled him two attaché cases, one of which he caught in the air. When he hit the ground, he clicked the release and sliced the toothy maw leering over his head in half. No matter how strong his opponent was, it was no match for Chi She.

The second of the hybrid quinques Zhao had given him was a koukaku-type quinque with a broad blade outlined in red and a segmented silver guard attached to a lengthy pole. Houji had recognised the quinque at first sight, save for the red. It was the poleaxe he had used to kill Loong. The already extant quinque was, in an act of grotesque irony, infused with the cell matter of its victim to create Chi She, named for the organisation that it both led and destroyed.

There was little that Loong’s claws could not cut through. Houji blitzed his way through the obstructing ghouls and darted towards the grinning ghoul, whose attention was still fixed on his mutilated kagune. With a single heavy slash, he separated the ghoul’s torso from his pelvis.

When it fell to the floor with a thud, Houji allowed himself a moment to breathe. But almost immediately, he could tell something was not right. The ghoul’s legs were still standing.

The thin strand of flesh that still stood between the two halves began retracting at an incredible speed, swinging up the ghoul’s top half with it. Squelching, the torso reattached itself, and the bloody gash regenerated as if nothing had happened. The ghoul cracked its neck.

Houji looked on in horror. What on earth was this ghoul? Such regenerative abilities were far beyond the purview of typical ghoul biology. He readied Chi She in a defensive stance as he saw his kagune regenerate instantaneously as well. He was preparing for the worst, when he heard a girl’s voice call out:

“It’s okay, Noro, I’ll deal with this one.”

The ghoul jumped backwards, and a colossal mass crashed down in front of Houji. Instinctively, he shielded himself from the blast force, but when he turned his eyes upward again he saw a thin, grinning face whose slobbering tongue alone was almost the size of his head. Houji fell back to create some distance and examined the monster in full view.

The great white behemoth was draped in a burgundy cloak, with four enormous kagune like spider legs ripping out from its sides and a set of shorter ones bursting from the top like flower petals. Its face was made up of an elongated chin, a set of four horns, and a single mad red eye. Thin arms like bird legs served as the creature’s arms while its legs were obscured by the cloak. Suffice it to say, he was dealing with a kakuja – and no ordinary one at that.

“Hooouuujiii-kun!” The creature sung in a distorted sing-song voice. Houji flinched at the recognition. How can it know me?

But then, he was thinking he was starting to recognise it as well. He had never seen it before, but he had heard the reports of the creature that had killed the wife of his mentor Mado in Houji’s absence. Could this thing be that One-Eyed Owl?

“I can’t kill you or Tatara will be pissed, so don’t worry! I’m just going to rough you up for a bit, okay?”

Tatara?

Had this thing – just said…

“Is Tatara Huo in this building?” Houji questioned desperately.

“Oh, oopsy, I said too much. Well, can’t have you interfering. Lights out for now, Houji-kun!”

The monster swung one of its chicken legs towards him and Houji lifted Chi She’s great weight just in time to block it. The force still sent him skidding across the floor, and before he knew it, one of its arachnid kagune descended on him from above. There was no time to block this one, and Houji felt his ribcage reverberate as he was knocked across the floor.

He barely had time to recover before the creature was on him again, laughing in crazed delight. Its size did not seem to impact its speed at all, and it was all Houji could do to dodge while its sledgehammer kagune came crashing down like lightning. Still, if he could avenge Associate Special Class Kasuka…

And yet, while Houji knew that was where his mind should be, it was not. He could only think of the name she had mentioned. The unfinished business which kept the memories of China swinging over his head like the sword of Damocles. Tatara. He was here. That damnable priest had been right. He was here, just for the sake of killing him; and here Houji was, fighting some other ghoul entirely.

He could make out openings in his foe’s defence, but he could not take advantage of them: because for every brief moment of rest his eyes were on the railings of Cochlea above him, searching for a white-cloaked figure amongst those endless rows of grey.

When at last, he saw him.

White cloak. White hair. Red mask. And the awed hatred burning in his eyes when they briefly met with his. Without a doubt, it was Tatara Huo. The heir of Chi She Lian was in Tokyo.

And he was fighting Arima.

This was bad. Arima was too strong, even for a Huo. Houji had seen his skill firsthand in the Clown Operation, and he had been promoted two ranks since then after forcing this very same Owl to retreat in their last encounter. Sure enough, he could already see Arima’s strikes ripping Tatara apart; at this rate, if Houji did not get up there in time, Tatara would die at the hands of a complete stranger. He could not allow that. It had to be him. For Tatara’s sake, and his own.

The Owl was quick to exploit his distraction. A clawed hand smashed him down into the Cochlea floor, and he coughed up blood as pain quivered through him. Then it hoisted him into the air, lifting him by his collar above its ecstatic face, its overgrown tongue licking the bone where its lips should be.

“Ah, but you know…I am hungry…”

There was no time for this. Houji had to leave. So with one sudden swing, he cleaved its tongue in two.

“AaaaaaAaAAAAAAAAAAAAAeEEEEEEEEEEiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIII”

The ghoul gave a cartoonish scream as it shook the blood off its broken tongue to splatter onto the floor, and in that gory mass followed Houji. His coat and suit thoroughly bloodsoaked, as the ghoul raged he pulled himself out of the red water and called for Koumura. The Warden, holding his own against the ghouls surrounding him and the remaining guards, perked his head up.

“I’ve spotted a highly dangerous ghoul. Please hold off the ghouls here before I get back!”

For all his personal failings, the Warden was an Associate Special Class Investigator. Backed up by his guards, he should be able to handle the heat for a time, at least. That was what Houji told himself. The Warden’s face went completely pale.

“But this is a highly dangerous ghoul!”

Houji paused in his dash for the stairs, and tossed Koumura his Chi She, which he caught between fumbling hands.

“You won’t lose with this.” Houji assured him, and ran for the other attaché case which Koumura had thrown to him before. It felt right, that this should be the one to end it.

He clicked the release, and Hollow swirled up his arm.

This was the third of the quinques Zhao had bestowed upon him. Wu had written a proper testament after all, albeit just a list of curt demands utterly devoid of sentiment. One of those sundry requests was that Houji inherit her quinque. No reason given. Whether it was out of any fondness for him, or if it was meant to teach him some kind of lesson, or if it was just some incomprehensible prank, Houji could not tell. To the end, he could not understand that woman. But if Hollow would put her killer to rest, that would ease the memory of yet another lost soul.

Leaving Koumura hacking away at his enemies with Chi She, Houji ran through the door to the stairway. He only prayed that he would make it in time.

--

Houji. He had seen Houji. Through the rage of blood and searing pain, Tatara was sure he had caught his eye. He was fighting some enormous ghoul, probably one of the escapees. Tatara had followed the smell to where he was: the smell that had filled his soul with such a confused anguish. He was sure that, somehow, after this long, long, year, he had smelled his brother and sister again.

For a brief, fantastical moment, Tatara imagined that they had somehow been returned to life. That they had come here to save him. When that beautiful dream was deflated and Tatara realised the gruesome truth, he went through the pain of losing his family all over again. There was only one thing it could really mean.

Kousuke Houji had perverted the bodies of his family into his personal ghoul-killing weapons.

Knowing this, he could not abide Houji’s breath a second longer. He could no longer waste time on this immovable enemy. But every time he tried he tried to turn his back on the dove, the dove would burn his back to smithereens.

His quinque was a peculiar model made from four metal planks that came together to form a lance and split apart to fire balls of electricity. The combination of short-distance and long distance fighting techniques, as utilised by the tremendous skill of its wielder, rendered any of Tatara’s attempts to either attack or escape completely useless.

Some of his hits Tatara managed to dodge within a hair’s breadth; but most connected. He could barely stand from all the wounds littered across his body. Great stretches of flesh were torn off and blackened from the force of the thunderstorm bursting from his quinque. There were huge gashes across crucial tendons in his arms and legs, and more than he could count across his chest. His face, too, had a disfiguring scar slashed straight across it that set his eyeballs stinging like they had in front of the burning house at Yangshuo. That was the last time he had ever felt so helpless. It was as if all the strength he had tireless worked to gain had evaporated in an instant.

I still can’t accomplish a single thing.

The dove, on the other hand, was completely unharmed.

Tatara collapsed to the floor with another shock from the lightning quinque. His loathing for the dove for holding him back from Houji yet again had been overwhelmed by an almost religious sense of fear. No single person could be this powerful. As he struggled to raise his head from the ground, the man stepped over him, all in white, with the light shining off his glasses and his lance still buzzing with power. The image was godlike.

He felt, then, that more than Houji, more than himself, this was the true face of Death. This man not much older than himself, with his long blue hair and cold mien, was assuredly the reaper. And to think they had crossed paths out of such random chance…

“You’re sturdy, aren’t you…” The reaper murmured as he raised his quinque over Tatara’s head.

He could not die this way. He could not die at the hands of some stranger dove, not after coming all this way. Not with Houji still breathing. He would not let even the reaper deny him that right.

Tatara’s kagune blasted from his back and slammed into the quinque, scattering it to the floor. The dove looked to where the weapon clattered away in mild surprise and dashed to retrieve it. This was Tatara’s window of opportunity. He pulled himself up, and, with a draconic roar, activated his kakuja.

The flesh was not half-formed around him before the dove sliced off all of his limbs. Tatara’s roar vanished into the air. The reaper had already retrieved his quinque and closed the distance.

It was over.

As something shattered within Tatara’s soul, his waking mind plunged into oblivion.

--

By the time Houji finally reached the railing where he had seen Tatara fighting, it was empty. Blood coated the cold metal, but there was neither ghoul nor investigator to be seen, dead or alive. He looked into the distance left and right, clutched the edge of the barrier and searched up and down for any sign of the two. There was nothing.

Houji yelled a cry of frustration that was lost beyond his throat, soundless and impotent. He hung his head in remorse that he had come too late again. And when he did, he bore witness to the bloodbath below.

Koumura, and all the guards who had fought with him, lay dead, their bodies bloody and savaged. The carcass of that mutant kakuja lay splayed out amidst the carnage. A little girl wrapped in bandages skipped over the abundance of death with the ghoul in the grinning mask in tow. Some of the ghouls had joined their victims, but not nearly so many.

As soon as he saw it, he was snapped back to his senses, and he knew he should have never gone after Tatara. That Priest had scrambled his brains. If he had simply stayed where the battle needed him most, this tragedy could have been avoided.

Raising his head, he saw ghouls spread out all across the facility, running towards cells and smashing open their windows. Houji realised with horror that it had only been a portion of their forces he had fought on the ground floor, and that first and foremost, it had served as a distraction. He had been so concerned with keeping the Priest and his fellow SS Rates behind bars, the ghouls had exercised free rein over the rest of the prison, releasing C Rates and B Rates and A Rates and S Rates alike.

There were more guards than those who had fought with Koumura, but they were evidently ill-equipped to deal with the threat, and there was no sign of Arima. That left it to him. He readied Hollow.

This was the last time, he swore. The last time he ever let his conscience get the better of him.

Pulling the trigger, he unleashed hell from above.

--

When Tatara awoke, it was dark, and it was raining.

He lifted himself off the ground with the stubs of his half-regenerated arms as the water assaulted his face like tears. He could not see anything in the blackness. Wherever he was, it was not Cochlea.

He had failed to kill Houji.

He tried to stand, but his legs were only stumps, too. Pathetically, he fell head first into the watery concrete with a clang of his mask, grazing his already swollen face. How did he end up like this? He tried to lift himself again.

���Kishou really did a number on you, huh, Tatara?”

Tatara started at the voice, and almost fell over again. He recognised it. That crooning, mocking tone was the last thing he needed right now. He ignored her and drew out his kagune. He smashed it into the paving stones, dragging his incomplete body behind it.

“Woah woah woah, where are you going?” She asked. Tatara could just see her through the darkness by the single glow of her red eye.

“Cochlea. To kill Houji. Where else.” He growled. His throat was coarse, his voice pained and too quiet to sound as firm as he intended.

“Ugh, seriously? And here I thought we taught you a lesson. You’re a stubborn bastard, I’ll give you that. Stubborn and foolish.”

Tatara twisted his form around in bewildered anger. His eyes adjusting to the dark, he could see the outline of her mummified form. In the shadowlight, those rabbit ears on her hood made her look like some kind of devil.

“What – are you saying…?”

“I’m saying my buddy just fucked you up, on my orders.”

Tatara’s eyes dilated. That couldn’t be. There was no way that could be.

“How do you think we got into Cochlea in the first place, numbskull? He let us in. Kishou Arima is my partner in crime. Oh, but don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret.”

A dove? Working with a ghoul? It was impossible. Unheard of. She was lying. She had to be lying, messing with his head.

“I started the fight.” He argued back, between coughs of blood he caught in his mask. “I came to him.”

“And you saw him because he was on his way to fight you. Oh, and for the record, that’s why I positioned him there in the first place. Told him to spread some rumours about an impending ghoul attack on Cochlea, and to bring Houji along, of course.”

Tatara was becoming furious. What was she saying? She had been orchestrating the situation, the whole time?

“Ah,” she continued rambling, “he was a bit of a wildcard, though. We weren’t able to rescue as many ghouls as we wanted because of him. He killed one of our guys for every prisoner we sprung, which was kind of a pain. But this,” her eye shone down at him through the darkness, “this makes it all worth it.”

Tatara lost it. He ripped his kagune from the concrete and sent it swirling around Eto, trapping her in the same constrictor hold as before. She stood motionless in its folds as the dirge of heavy rain resounded around them.

“What are you talking about?” He screamed. “You only went to Cochlea because I made you!”

“No,” Eto responded unperturbed, and in a flash she suddenly expanded. A gigantic kagune emerged from her back and swung up her arm, knotted and swollen, the size of a car, with hundreds of branches like withered trees and human hands. Tatara’s kagune hold was broken in an instant, and the hand at the head of Eto’s abomination now caught Tatara’s throat and hoisted him into the air.

“You went to Cochlea because I tricked you.”

Tatara thrashed uselessly, wheezing for air. He could not breathe. Everything burned. The monster beneath him grinned with a daemoniacal aspect. It was dark. It was cold. He could not move his arms. He could not move his legs. Why was this happening?

“We’d planned to infiltrate Cochlea for ages. How else would we have been able to do it in two days’ time? When you wouldn’t join us the first time, I asked Kishou to plant himself and Houji in Cochlea so you would come along on this little mission of ours. He heard all about your past from Houji, and I heard all about it from him. I wanted nothing better than to snatch the object of your desire right from under you, exactly when you were so close to dying just the way you want. Then, I wanted to really teach you about death. That was Kishou’s specialty. So he sliced you up good and proper and gave you back to me before I made my getaway, which brings us up to now.”

Tatara hated the woman below him more than even Houji at that moment. He hated her for going to such lengths just to make him suffer, and when he thought about how he had fallen for every trap she had set, he began to fear her too.

“Then you – you let me win?!”

“Duh, and the drones you killed were far from my best people, either. After you tried so hard turning them into charcoal and taking down Noro, I decided I didn’t want to deny you your victory. Nothing better than a shot of overconfidence to show you how unprepared you really are. You were always joining me in Cochlea, whether you agreed to come along, I made you come along, or I tricked you into coming along and let you think it was your own idea. I figured the last option would be the best one. I wanted to break you in the right way.” Under her bandages, she seemed to lick her lips. “I am an author, after all.”

The world distorted below Tatara. Amidst the shadows he thought he could see an army of demons, and the sky began undulating like a sea of fire. Between the hell in the sky and its spawn on the ground, Eto’s small form seemed to flare up like a rising flame, synchronising with the twisted form of her gargantuan arm.

“Ah, but Tatara,” her voice seemed to carry on the red ocean, rising, “I didn’t do this because I hate you or anything. Actually, I really like you. I really want you to join Aogiri Tree. That’s why I did it.”

It was all sound to Tatara. Senseless sound. The primal religious terror that Tatara had felt with Arima, he now felt with Eto. They had the power to mean nothing at all.

Eto released her grip, and with panic Tatara came crashing to the ground, smacking his head against the concrete. It made him dizzy, but he retained enough consciousness to see the form of the blurred demon in front of him approach with the scores of laughing night behind her. She lifted his chin, and brought her faceless face close to his, boring her red eye into his own.

“Your brother and sister sacrificed themselves for you, but how are you using that life? You’re running around like a mad dog, living in pits and on roadsides, biting strangers just for the sake of biting them. You justify it to yourself, if it’s all for the sake of killing Houji, Houji, Houji, Houji. But this has nothing to do with Houji. It’s not for the sake of your family either. I think, Tatara, deep down, you really just want to kill yourself. Am I wrong?”

“Y-You are-”

“Not.” Eto cut him off. “I can see it. In these.” She brought out two fingers, and pressed them hard into Tatara’s eyes. He screamed.

“Don’t you think your brother would have wanted you to continue the legacy of Chi She Lian? Don’t you think that’s why he protected you? You can’t do that alone, but that’s exactly what you’re doing. Chi She Lian wanted to build a better world for ghouls, but you couldn’t care less about that. You don’t even care about avenging their deaths. If you kill Houji along the way, well, that’s a plus, but when push comes to shove, you want to fight Houji so you can die against Houji and join your family in the pit.”

“N-no, that’s not-“ He shouted out desperately in his blindness.

“True.” Eto cut him off. “It’s true. I can taste it. In these.”

Tatara felt fingers tugging at his mask, and he heard its metallic clatter on the pavement. Then he felt something warm descend on his lips. It sucked on them like seawater, and something wormish slipped in, sliding against Tatara’s tongue, tugging it forwards. He felt compelled to reciprocate. He just wanted something warm to cling onto. Everything hurt. His body. Her words. Everything.

It was lasting too long, and he was struggling to breathe again. But when the warmth left him and he heaved for air, he missed it with a paranoid intensity. He moved his lips motionlessly.

“Want more?” He heard Eto’s voice coo down to him.

He nodded frantically, dignity long gone, desperate only for the warm bosom of something like love.

“I’ll give you more.” Came her voice, maternal and soothing.

He felt something touch his bottom lip, but it was not warm. It was cold, and sharp, and it stabbed right through it. Tatara screamed.

“Sh, sh, sh, sh.” Eto whispered softly in his ear. “No more noise. I’ll do your speaking for you.”

Then she began to sing.

“Tyger, tyger, burning bright,”

He could feel string being pulled through the hole behind the needle, and then the same pain on his top lip.

“In the forest of the night,”

He felt too terrified to scream any more, and after each stab came the string, closing up his mouth, one by one.

“What immortal hand or eye,”

He did not know if he would ever be able to scream again.

“Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Her movements stopped, and Tatara knew that the stitching must be complete. He was too horrified to risk speaking, so she spoke for him, whispering the words he needed to hear.

“You can still atone, Tatara, you can still honour your family’s legacy. I mean to change the world through Aogiri. There are forces at work that only Kishou and I know about, who want to keep everything exactly the way it is. Aogiri is the only organisation that can stop them. The only force that can truly save our species. We will create the world Yan wanted to see.”

Her voice calmed Tatara even through the residual agony burning on his lips. Here, it sounded soft, honest, itself pained, unlike the ruthless mockery and interrogation of before.

“You’re lost, confused, lashing out after everything was taken from you. I understand, I used to be the same. But it’s okay now. I’ll make everything better. After all, I promised you, didn’t I?”

The pressure lifted from Tatara’s eyeballs, and he opened them with a flutter of fear. He could see Eto lit up beneath the fire-sky, her bandages unravelling to reveal her bare skin and her beautiful face, looking at him gently through one green eye and one red. Tatara breathed faintly through his stitched mouth in awe.

“I will become your God.”

At that moment, he thought he fell in love with her.

--

Three days after the assault on Cochlea, Special Class Houji stared out from his office window at an afternoon sky awash with the first splashes of sunset. The redness of its waves sank his mind even deeper in its ruminations. He had only one thought that came with fire.

His office was otherwise empty, save for the entry, to his surprise, of First Class Arima. They hailed each other in greeting as Arima walked over to Houji’s desk.

“I’ve just come from a meeting with Special Class Washuu.”

“Oh?”

Arima pre-empted his question. “The guarding of Cochlea was my operation, so it was only me that they questioned. They didn’t blame you for its failure at all.”

They should, Houji thought to himself guiltily. It felt as though he was constantly being lifted up by others and protected for his misdeeds. A demotion or two would have been more than warranted.

Arima seemed to notice his fallen face. “Our conduct was not subjected to scrutiny. The other Special Classes are unanimous that we mediated the damage as best we could. It was Koumura and his lax administration that was lacking. He should have taken the threat more seriously, and, so Special Class Washuu said, so should have his father the Chairman. But with the number of ghouls you killed in particular, they are certain many more would have been released were it not for your presence.”

Arima spoke with nothing like consolation or pity, but in the same controlled, professional voice he always had. It made Houji feel more confident in his judgement. Although ghouls as dangerous as Jason and the Tail Brothers had made it out, he had at least kept his promise to the Priest, who was still rotting away in his cell curmudgeonly.

Despite that, he knew his inner sin. And despite that, he still could not stop himself from asking, one last time:

“First Class Arima, thank you for your words. But I still have one question, if I may.”

Arima looked down at him expressionlessly. “Go on.”

“What happened to the ghoul I saw you fighting with? It had a white cloak with a flame pattern, and a red iron mask.”

There was a hint – just a hint - of surprise in his reaction. “Ah, that one. It got away. It was surprisingly strong.”

“Even for you?”

Arima gave a polite, artificial smile. “Even for me.”

Houji gave such a smile of his own as he turned his attention back to the reddening sky.

“Thank you, First Class Arima.”

“Special Class.” Came Arima’s voice in acknowledgement, followed by his receding footsteps.

Too strong for Arima…

If that was true, Tatara would already be his brother’s equal. Houji turned his gaze to the cases containing the quinques he had retrieved from Cochlea, and remembered all the blood that had been spilt to make them. When the day came to finally end this struggle, he knew much more would follow.

When the day comes.

For now though, Houji knew better than to try and rush things to a conclusion. For now, he would pursue his duties in the CCG to the utmost of his ability, just as he always had, and put his personal desires aside. One day, he knew, he would finally meet Tatara in battle; but he would come to that day the long way round.

Forgive me, Tatara. I cannot give you peace yet.

--

The lotuses were in bloom.

Full red colour burst brilliantly on the flowers floating in the pond. Their leaves were stained as if from blood, but they had become something beautiful. Tatara pondered how far they had come since the shrivelled shrubs of the Yangshuo retreat. The flowers may be different, but his eyes were the same.

“Ah, he’s here.”

Eto’s voice called to him from the side. She was not wearing her bandages today, but appeared to him as he first saw her – or not quite. She too had bloomed. In what he had once seen as a childish nuisance he now saw the very spirit of power.

There was only one who could rival her. At the top of the slope from the forested alcove, where the pond lay hidden in the empty cemetery, stood the white-coated form of the reaper. Standing there, Kishou Arima appeared as a concentrated sunbeam, radiant in burning majesty. Tatara could truly believe he was the One-Eyed King.

There was much to this world Tatara had not known which Eto had shown him. V. The Washuu clan. Half-ghouls and half-humans. She told him about her past and Arima’s both, and about their plan, to raise a successor to achieve their dream of uprooting that warped root and creating a peaceful world for ghouls. He was reminded of how Yan had groomed him for that very similar role, and had saved him, in the end, for that purpose.

He and Eto ascended the slope to meet Arima. The King could not come down to his subjects. When they reached the top of the hill, Tatara fell on one knee before him.

“Welcome, Tatara.”

“King.” He responded with deference, his voice muffled behind his mask and stitched mouth. Now that he had fully regenerated, he was presentable for the ceremony. Eto had even ordered a new robe to be spun for him for the occasion; but not an Aogiri one. It was a Chi She Lian robe, decorated with the same licking flames at the bottom, but free from all the dirt, filth and blood of his old one.

“You seek to join Aogiri Tree?”

“If I may have that honour.”

“The honour would be ours.” Arima’s face was pensive. “I have heard you are a ghoul of ambition. Certainly, besides Eto you are the strongest ghoul I have fought in my career. Few have lasted so long against me. But, you are not the heir we are looking for. Do you still wish to join us?”

Tatara knew as much from Eto. That was another reason she had him fight Arima: they had decided that the messiah they needed was a ghoul strong enough to kill him. Again like Yan, their commitment to their mission extended beyond the parameters of their own lives. But Tatara had not managed to lay a dent in Arima. Despite Yan’s hopes, he was not the saviour the ghoul world needed.

“I do, King.”

His insufficiency for that role had been hammered into him excruciatingly in his one-sided ‘fights’ with Arima and Eto both, but he had found peace with it now. There was another way to honour Yan’s legacy.

He would take on the role Yan did. He would advance the cause of Aogiri Tree to raise up the true messiah, who would finally save the ghouls from their damnation to torment and tragedy that Tatara knew so well. Yan had thrown him into the fire to make him strong enough to survive, and that was what Tatara meant to do this world. How had Eto put it? To take this fucked up, piece of shit world, fuck it up even more and then give it a factory reset.

“Your humility does you credit. It is a small organisation yet, but I have full confidence that you can take it to greater heights.”

Arima released his attaché case, and brought out his lance-like quinque. Tatara did not flinch.

“In honour of your strength, your heritage, and the role you played in the honourable cause of our martyred comrades in Chi She Lian, I hereby dub you a leader of Aogiri Tree.”

Arima tapped his quinque lightly on each of Tatara’s shoulders. The honour surprised him. He felt greatly humbled. Eto was smiling widely at him, and he was glad his mask obscured the blood he felt rushing to his cheeks.

“Looks like we’ll be working together closely, Tatara.”

Arima nodded. “The two of you and Noro will bring the organisation forward while I maintain my cover in the CCG.”

“King, I will not squander this honour you have given me.” Speaking so ceremonially, Tatara felt like he was performing once more in the disciplined rites of Chi She Lian. It gave his life an order he desperately needed.

Arima gave another nod and looked towards the sunset. “With that settled, I should be leaving. Oh, one last thing.” He fixed Tatara with a steady gaze. “Houji asked after you.”

Tatara lowered his head.

“Is that so?”

“Do you still want to kill him?

There was no doubt about that. He could never forgive the lives he took from him, especially not after he made them into his quinques. But he had already seen where haste had taken him. He turned his eyes upwards again.

“The work of Aogiri Tree comes first and foremost.”

Now he had a real reason to live, there was no need to rush things. He would continue the work of Chi She Lian first and foremost, and take his revenge the long way round. His God was different now. Arima gave a small smile, and Eto did too.

“I see.” Arima responded. “Then, fare well, Tatara. I wish you luck.”

“King.” Tatara lowered his head again in respect. When he looked up again, he could see Arima’s snow-white back descending down the cemetery path. They waited by the pond fo r a little while longer to put distance between them.

Tatara rose and felt his shoulders. A leader of Aogiri Tree. Arima had given him quite the gift. He had been blessed, many times over, and not just by Arima. His very ability to stand there that day, watching the lotuses float by and the sky fall into deeper depths of red – his life itself – was a agift to him from Fei. The purpose symbolised by his robes and the mask he felt on his face were given to him by Yan. And the stitches he stroked beneath it were bestowed upon him by Eto.

They carried her unique scent. They smelled of human and ghoul, of blood and of lotus petals.

Looking back, it was scents like this one that Tatara had followed from the start. The smell of the flowers had taken him to the catfish pond, and the odour of blood had taken him to that ghoul in the alleyway. The stink of power and vengeance had summoned him to the Longxia’s den, whereas Fei had merely followed Tatara’s scent, and Yan a scent greater than either of them could detect. The doves followed that bloody miasma to Xuhangli, the same reek that brought Eto to him; and the whiff of Houji’s blood, blended with that of his family, had brought Tatara to Cochlea. Everywhere, anywhere, the strength of their noses had led them to destruction.

But even so, he wanted to see where Eto’s scent would lead him. That predatory instinct to follow the smell of something more was common to ghouls and humans alike, and he could no more defy it than he could shut out the roaring of the flames that burned in his brain since that fateful day in Yangshuo. No matter where it took him, he knew that the smell she was following came from something real, if just out of sight. So he would follow the smell of her. With these stitches, she had given him the promise of a new world.

She turned to him as the burning sky cast her in a light as terrible and beautiful as herself.

“Let’s go, Tatara.”

“Mm.”

Together, they walked down the graveyard path beneath the setting sun, towards the great ghoul dawn.

[atplblog]

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#4yrsago Chuck Wendig's Zeroes: a hacker technothriller in the War Games lineage

Chuck Wendig's new technothriller Zeroes is a hacker misfit tale in the lineage of War Games and Sneakers, true to the spirit (and often, the minutae) of security work, and exciting as hell to boot.

The story revolves around a mismatched team of hackers -- a hick social engineer; a streetwise urban carder; a foulmouthed troll; an ethical hacktivist with ties to the Syrian resistance; and an antiquated survivalist cypherpunk prepper gun-nut -- who are arm-twisted into going to work as penetration-testers at a super-secret government facility called the Hunting Lodge. Once they arrive, they quickly learn that they're the least promising team in the operation, second-fiddlers to the living legends who've already been kidnapped/threatened into working on the project -- whatever that is.

Writing about hacking is really hard. The core tasks of hacking are simply not very cinematic, nor are they enormously interesting to observe closely. Largely, they consist of long sessions of careful, quiet, tedious trial-and-error, followed by the anticlimax of getting a root prompt or successfully opening a mostly innocuous file that has a few clues that can be used to pry loose another, slightly more interesting file.

But while hacking is dull, hackers are fascinating. The anthropology and ethnography of how hacker collectives divide up their work, figure out how to trust each other while still minimizing the risk of exposure, and cheer each other on/demoralize each other with trash talk are a peek into a fantastic, paranoid, semi-criminal underground that never changes.

That's why books like anthropologist Gabriella Coleman's Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy are so successful: they revolve around technology, but they tell the story as an anthropological case-study, using human relationships to put the technology in context.

Zeroes is very much in this tradition, and it's the same tactic that makes perennial hacker favorites like 1998's Hackers so evergreen -- the technology has moved on, but the questions raised by attacking, exploring, tweaking and securing that technology are only more relevant with every passing day.

Wendig's technological choices ring very true through most of the book -- a lot of this feels like stuff you might hear presented at Defcon or dumped by a Snowden-Mark-II whistleblower. The Zeroes have been brought in to work on something called TYPHON, which, it seems, is a predictive AI surveillance tool that is supposed to replace the grotesquely inaccurate DHS watchlisting procedure and other tea-leaf-reading components of the global war on terror.

But Typhon's exact nature is mysterious, sinister, and threatening. It's clear from pretty early on that even the Hunting Lodge's top brass aren't entirely clear on what Typhon is, nor how all the work done by Lodge teams fits together. By the time the Zeroes work out the details, there's already bullets flying, and the story banks hard into a second act that gets into some serious Terminator/Matrix territory, the kind of thing that plays an open chord across all the strings of our collective anxieties about power, money, and political corruption.

The third act is an endless lunatic drum-solo of action-adventure played on an array of crashing symbols and high-hats. Wendig clearly had a lot of fun thinking up ways of topping himself when it came to new ways that an all-pervasive technological adversary could make life horrifying for a plucky band of adventurers. It slips over into silly in places, but it's never stupid, and it's always great fun. You're gonna like this one.

Zeroes [Chuck Wendig/Harper]

https://boingboing.net/2015/08/18/chuck-wendigs-zeroes-a-hack.html