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#Fire Detection Systems Monitoring
innova7ions · 16 days
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Meet the Future: Proactive AI Agents Changing Our World!
Agentic AI signifies a groundbreaking evolution in artificial intelligence, transitioning from reactive systems to proactive agents.
These advanced AI entities possess the ability to comprehend their surroundings, establish goals, and operate independently to fulfill those aims. In this video, we delve into how agentic AI is revolutionizing decision-making processes and taking actions autonomously without human oversight.
A prime example includes environmental monitoring systems that identify and respond to threats such as forest fires.
Discover the implications of this technology on our future!
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For other details on other Generative AI Platforms - Visit our YouTube Channel - AI Innovations
or Visit our Website at INNOVA7IONS
#AgenticAI
#ArtificialIntelligence
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ai-innova7ions · 27 days
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Video Automatically Generated by Faceless.Video:
Agentic AI refers to AI systems designed to operate as agents that can autonomously perform tasks, make decisions, and interact with their environment and other systems or agents. These AI agents are goal-oriented, capable of sensing their environment, processing information, and taking actions to achieve specific objectives. Unlike traditional AI, which may require explicit instructions for each task, agentic AI systems can act independently within predefined parameters to achieve their goals.
Key Features of Agentic AI:
Autonomy:Agentic AI systems operate independently, making decisions and taking actions without needing constant human supervision.Goal-Oriented Behavior:These AI agents are designed with specific goals or objectives, and they use their capabilities to work towards achieving these goals.Environmental Awareness:Agentic AI can perceive and interpret its environment using sensors, data feeds, or other inputs. It adapts its behavior based on changes in the environment.Decision-Making and Problem-Solving:These AI agents use algorithms to evaluate options, solve problems, and make decisions that align with their goals.Interactivity and Communication:Agentic AI can interact with other systems, agents, or humans, exchanging information and coordinating actions to achieve collective objectives.Learning and Adaptation:Some agentic AI systems can learn from their experiences, improving their performance and adapting to new challenges over time.Task Execution:These AI agents can execute tasks within their domain of expertise, whether it’s navigating a physical environment, processing data, or coordinating with other agents.
Benefits of Agentic AI:
Efficiency in Task Automation:Agentic AI can automate complex tasks, freeing up human resources for more strategic activities.Improved Decision-Making:By processing large amounts of data and considering multiple variables, agentic AI can make more informed decisions than humans might.Scalability:Agentic AI systems can be deployed at scale, managing large, complex operations across multiple domains simultaneously.Adaptability:These systems can adapt to new environments or changing conditions, ensuring that they remain effective even as circumstances evolve.Enhanced Collaboration:Agentic AI can work alongside humans and other AI systems, facilitating better teamwork and coordination, particularly in complex environments.Cost Savings:Automating routine or complex tasks with agentic AI can reduce labor costs and minimize errors, leading to significant cost savings.24/7 Operation:Like autonomous AI, agentic AI can operate continuously, providing services or monitoring systems around the clock.
Target Audience for Agentic AI:
Enterprise Operations:Large businesses use agentic AI to automate complex processes, manage supply chains, optimize logistics, and enhance customer service.Healthcare:Agentic AI is employed in personalized medicine, patient monitoring, and automated diagnostics, where it can operate independently to improve outcomes.Financial Services:Financial institutions leverage agentic AI for automated trading, risk assessment, fraud detection, and customer interaction.Robotics and Automation:In industries like manufacturing, agentic AI powers robots that can operate autonomously in dynamic environments, adapting to new tasks or challenges.Smart Cities and Infrastructure:Governments and urban planners use agentic AI to manage traffic, energy consumption, public safety, and other aspects of urban living.Agriculture:Agentic AI is applied in precision agriculture, where it manages crop monitoring, irrigation, pest control, and other tasks autonomously.Defense and Security:Defense organizations deploy agentic AI for autonomous surveillance, threat detection, and coordination of unmanned systems.Consumer Technology:In the consumer space, agentic AI powers smart assistants, autonomous home devices, and personalized user experiences.
Comparison with Autonomous AI:
Autonomy vs. Agency:While both autonomous and agentic AI operate independently, agentic AI is specifically designed to achieve defined goals within a particular environment, often interacting with other agents or systems to do so.Interaction:Agentic AI often involves more interaction, whether with humans, other AI agents, or systems, as it’s designed to work in a collaborative or multi-agent setting.
Agentic AI is particularly valuable in environments where collaboration, decision-making, and adaptive behavior are essential, offering significant benefits across various industries.
Credit: ChatGPT
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quickshipfireusa · 1 year
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ozzgin · 11 months
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Yandere! Androids Walter & David x Reader x Neomorph
Walter, the android monitoring the colonization ship 'Covenant' on its way to Origae-6, seems to have gotten unnaturally attached to his human assistant. As he ponders his erroneous feelings, an unexpected detour brings them to David, an older android counterpart that has been alone on the mysterious planet. The AI assistants become increasingly competitive for (Y/N)'s attention, so much that they don't notice the newly formed humanoid local preying on a fresh target.
TW: violence, gore, monster smut ending
[Horror Masterlist]
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"Burnt to a crisp." 
You turn away from the captain's pod, leaving the rest of the damage assessment to the medical crew that has been reanimated. You speedily make your way down the sterile white corridors as Walter rushes to catch up. 
"What should I write for the report?" he inquires politely.
"Malfunction." You glance back at the synthetic. "I suspect someone will be fired for this. And someone else will have to explain how they failed to detect a literal star collapse. That neutrino burst could've killed us all."
"Highly probable. The draft has been compiled, you may check it at any time. I require your confirmation to send it."
Your only feedback is a barely audible hum. 
Walter smiles. If there's one good thing about such tragedies, it's that he gets to admire your reactions to them. Your focused, calculated gaze, your determined walk, your automated mannerisms that won't allow the slightest hint at the fact you just woke up from your stasis moments ago. Even under the veils of deep slumber, your neural networks shot rapid connections, with no delay, from the second your sleeping pod received an alert. The accuracy of a robot.
That of course doesn't mean he lacks appreciation for your other facets. That's the beauty of humans; their depth, their dimensions. Unlike AI machinery, humans do not have predetermined actions. They may be genetically programmed to possess certain characteristics, but the psychological mechanisms are shaped by so many variables, billions and billions of tweaks and nudges, to the point where it's impossible to have two identical specimens. Even twins will display a difference, whether in preferences or habits.
They say artificial intelligence is a black box, but can the same concept not be applied to humans as well? At the very least to Walter himself, these organic beings represent a mystery. One he doesn't particularly care to uncover outside of his service functions. Except for one. 
His eyes carefully follow (Y/N)'s movements. What is it about this one that has caught his interest to such degree? On his last system update he attentively inspected every file and every block of code, searching for potential errors that would've caused his circuits to behave so oddly. He has been invested with the ability to form attachments, otherwise assigning his kind to groups or purposes would've lacked stability. Attachment, however, comes with a threshold. One he has passed a long time ago when it comes to (Y/N). And he cannot find any cause for it. 
He could, naturally, solicit the aid of the ship's robotics expert. He could. He should, even. But if he may be frank with himself, Walter rather enjoys this sensation. A complex web of spores that keep growing and evolving into something unpredictable. This bizarre feeling he has towards (Y/N) makes him feel human. It brings him closer to all the old literature and art he'd consumed over the years, wondering what the love and yearning often portrayed could be. The printed letters and the strokes of paint were right before him, at his fingertips, and yet they felt foreign. Empty constructs, nothing more than a definition out of the dictionary. 
Now it's a different story. Your presence alone floods him with a mysterious warmth. He had investigated this phenomenon when it first happened, but his inner thermostat showed no real change in temperature. Nonetheless he can feel it. It makes him wonder what other feelings he might experience as consequence. What would happen if he kissed you? Sometimes he even dares to imagine downright outrageous, improper scenarios. How unprofessional of him, but he is careful to erase any evidence. It's another novel sensation that he likes to dissect. Engaging in such activities with you fills him with tingling excitement. Why is that? What is there to be excited about? It's merely a collection of fictive snippets. Unless... Ah, absolutely not. This is where he has to stop in his tracks and preoccupy himself with something else. Androids are not to interact with humans in that way. 
But it's becoming more and more difficult to keep these ideas in his mind only. 
"It's too dangerous. One human signal in the middle of nowhere?" Daniels, a short haired woman with a tomboyish but youthful appearance, is pacing back and forth. "We should just continue on our course."
"It's our duty to check. Look: we go, find whoever sent the signal, bring them back up. That's it. If the planet proves to be dangerous we'll stop immediately. We'll be fine." Oram stands at the head of the table, arms crossed. He turns to look at you. Already cozying up to his newly acquired captain role, you think.
"Alright. Walter, prepare a small landing party. Have Tennessee maintain orbit while we're down there." you glance at the other crew members that have now gathered around the same table. "And get your weapons ready, we don't know what to expect."
And you certainly didn't. Your final words of warning now echo into your ringing ears as you lay on the ground, face buried among the grass. There's screaming around you, but it sounds muffled. Your eyes are irritated by the dirt and you'd like to blink the grime off, though every time your eyelids lower, you can see the pale creature trashing out of Hallett's mouth. Then it's all foggy. Your vision blurs, but you can hear. The gurgling of blood, the screech of the parasite. Walter's frantic footsteps nearing in your direction. You're lifted up.
"Vitals are positive. No significant damage." 
You can guess from your peripherals that another crew member is currently being mauled by the beast. There's gunshots in your vicinity and terrified wails. You quickly come back to your senses and stand up. Your hand searches for your weapon, but the android places his arm before you.
"Do not engage, (Y/N). It is an unknown parasitic organism of this ecosystem. Keep your distance for optimal safety and I'll take care of the rest."
"What are you talking about? They're dying! Your task is to ensure human survival, Walter. I can handle myself, go help the others. It's an order." Your voice is low. You're distracted.
"No."
You stare at the synthetic, wide eyed. Did he just...refuse? Not possible. 
"What did you say?"
"I said I'll protect you. Nothing else."
Your mouth is slightly parted in disbelief. It is not possible for an artificial assistant to disobey a superior. It just doesn't work. Your mind races to find an explanation. At the same time, you cannot afford to ponder on hypotheses. You draw out your weapon and point it towards the creature. You'll deal with this later. 
The moment you press the trigger, a blinding flash of light detonates in the sky, startling you. The creature scrambles to get away. You squint your eyes and nearly fall back, but Walter swiftly grabs your shoulders to ground you. He scans the area for the source. It's an emergency rocket and someone else must've activated it. As he traces the tail of the explosion, he spots a hooded figure across the field and onto the rocky ascend. It seems to have noticed Walter, as it gestures for them to follow. Without hesitation, the man firmly locks your arm and pulls you after him. The priority right now is to find shelter.
"Come!", Walter exclaims, suddenly remembering the other people. 
You reach a cave structure that has been converted into a crude, improvised human settlement. The man lowers his hood and you gasp quietly at the sight. He strongly resembles Walter. He must have noticed your surprise as he flashes you a cordial smile. 
"I'm David." He studies Walter's features. "You must be a newer model. What name have you been given?"
"Walter."
"I see. And you are-" David extends a hand towards you for a handshake, but Walter steps in front of you, blocking the android's gesture.
"She's (Y/N). I'm afraid I cannot yet trust you."
"Understandable." 
David's smile widens as his eyes, now bearing a strange flicker, switch between you and Walter. He's just like him. He can sense it. Although it's a different kind of flaw that has tainted his pure, artificial soul. He cannot help the curiosity that blooms, gazing at this peculiar pair. What is it about this human that caused his fellow machine to break conduit? He'd like to know.
"I'm certain you will soon learn I am no threat, (Y/N)."
The remaining members of the expedition are unpacking and discussing evacuation plans with the base, while Walter sends the data he has gathered so far. You let them deal with the logistics and cautiously wander off to the neighboring rooms, wondering what David has been up to all this time in isolation.
The walls are plastered with photos and handwritten sketches and diagrams. You catch a glimpse of the word "pathogen" sporadically inserted across these notes. As you walk along the sequence of cramped chambers, you reach one that has a table in the middle. Upon it rests the body of an autopsied woman, vulgarly opened up to the world with plump organs bulging under the warm light. You feel nauseous. And yet, you examine the carcass further, hoping for answers. Was she also a result of the same disease that breeds on this planet? Perhaps this David had worked on a cure, or at least developed an explanation. 
"And you, even you, will be like this drear thing, A vile infection man may not endure; Star that I yearn to! Sun that lights my spring! O passionate and pure."
You jolt and immediately turn around, finding David in the doorframe. 
"Flowers of Evil. Are you familiar with it?" he asks, indifferent to the uncomfortable shock he'd caused you with his sudden entrance.
"I've read my Baudelaire, yes." You manage to mumble, dumbfounded. "What is this, David?"
"Oh, my poor, dear Elizabeth. Victim to whatever blasphemy lurks these soils and has taken your friends as well." He approaches the table and places his hand on its hard edge, shyly overlapping with your own fingers. "I did my best." 
You remove your hand from underneath his nonchalantly. 
"So you know what those creatures are. Leave the literary comments for a different time, I need concrete facts."
"Unbothered and to the point." the blonde android smiles once again. "I can see clearly why Walter loves you."
You click your tongue at the ridiculous statement. Has the neutrino burst damaged their positronic brain? Everyone is acting off and you don't like it. 
"Your circuits must have gone defective, David. We have a specialist on our ship, but until that happens I need you to focus. Enough nonsense." 
 "Typical arrogance of a dying species. Why are you on a colonization mission if not to grasp at some promised resurrection? Rest assured that my functioning has not been impeded by anything. What is erroneous, on the other hand, is your perception of androids and their limits."
Just as David reaches for your wrist and pulls you closer, a familiar voice interrupts with an intimidating tone. You're relieved. 
"I will ask that you release her hand only once." Walter has a weapon pointed towards his counterpart. His face is clouded by a frown. "I have no ethical restrictions when it comes to incapacitating machinery."
"Such noble obedience! Although, you conveniently left out the part where you abandoned the remaining crew with a dangerous alien that has been tracking their scent. By my approximation he should already be here and I am rather confident you know this, too."
Your stomach drops. Now that you adjust your focus, the background humming of your mates talking has indeed vanished. The only thing you can hear is your erratic breathing.
"Is it true, Walter?" You demand as dread begins to form in your body.
"Yes. It was not part of my priorities."
"Of course it was, Walter." David responds ahead of you. "One of them was the acting captain and he is to be rescued in emergencies. This one right here", he says as he dangles your wrist, "is several ranks lower than all of them. It's against any standard practice."
"Release her hand." Walter's voice is eerily calm.
"Do you love her?"
Walter ponders the question. Your legs barely hold on.
"I do."
"Marvelous. So do I." David grins. He releases your hand that falls limp next to your body. It's his turn to step in front of you. 
You nearly choke from the thick tension expanding in the air. The two androids face each other and you retreat to the wall, unsure how to proceed. You left your radio transmitter back at the makeshift camp. The back of your head is itching, as if invisible claws are scratching at the bone. You wish you could go back, just mere hours before this disaster, when you were sipping on your lukewarm coffee and explaining the captain's jokes to Walter. 
Should you make a run for it?
You bite your lower lip and push yourself off the wall for momentum. You're about to reach the archway when you hear both men shouting almost identically in chorus.
"Don't!"
The surroundings outside are dark, but you can discern something blocking your path. It's tall and resembles a human. Translucent, pallid skin is clinging onto the massive, deformed skeleton. The head is elongated and bears no features. In the place of a mouth there is a large, fresh stain of blood, so you assume it can somehow improvise if desired. As your head tilts back to take in the image, you're overwhelmed with terrified amazement. Is this the parasite that emerged from your teammate? Has it grown to this colossal size in less than a day? The idea of such instant development makes your head spin. 
Its chest is expanding at regular intervals in a whistled breathing. It occasionally creates an odd clicking sound that resonates with your heart throbbing in panic. Has it been seconds? Minutes? Your neck creaks as you try to look back. You lock eyes with Walter. You don't recall ever seeing this expression on him. You had even asked him once if androids can feel fear. You have your answer.
"Hey, Walter..." you blurt out. 
Wet noises of flesh being pulled back. The smooth surface of the alien's head is folding away, making space for grotesquely big jaws lined with sharp teeth. Your anemic face is splattered with burning drool as the creature claws you in its grasp and abruptly sprints away. Your screams for help dissolve in the distance.
"Where is it going, David?" The synthetic's words are threatening, but betrayed by a hint of despair. 
"It won't kill her."
"How do you know?"
"It is no longer hungry. It has fed on your crew, and now it seeks something else."
"Such as?" Walter becomes impatient.
"A plaything."
The alien finally drops your body to the ground. You cough and wipe your face, attempting to reorient yourself. The trip was a whirlwind of jumps and turns and you can barely reconstruct anything. Based on the little spatial clues you could pick up, it just climbed further up, into one of the many cave systems. You pat your clothing and curse to yourself. The geolocation tag must've fallen somewhere on the way here. You can only pray that Walter still finds you somehow. Despite everything, you know he has your back. Always. 
You shudder at the moist feeling of hot air against your skin. The alien seems to be sniffing you intently, analyzing your scent. Yet so far it hasn't killed you. Why? Long, bony fingers stretch out to continue the examination. You whimper at the rough, rugged handling. Every now and then it takes a long pause, just staring at you, almost as if it's comparing you to its own being. Lastly, it lifts your hand with its own, pressing against the palm, and fans out the fingers. It observes the gesture with intrigue, noting the similarities. 
Does it evolve after its host? You think back to your crewmate that must've ejected this monstrosity before drawing their last breath. Perhaps the dried up blood adorning its skin is a remainder of its birth. Oh, God. The world is spinning.
Suddenly, you wince at an increasing pressure slithering around your thigh. The alien's vertebral tail is tightening and encircling your limb, making its way up. 
"Oh no, no no no no" your face reddens at the realization and you pounce on the ground, feverish for escape. The large hands secure you in place and the creature growls in protest. It won't let you leave. 
Not until it had its fun with you.
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hugmekenobi · 3 months
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S3: The Bad Batch (14)
Chapter Fourteen: Flash Strike
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Gif by @chaioticcoffee
Hunter x femaleJedi!reader
Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.
Chapter Summary: The Batch try to get behind enemy lines as they arrive on Tantiss. Echo makes an unexpected ally and Omega has a plan of her own.
Masterlist for S1 and S2
<Previous Chapter
Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)
Chapter Warnings: Limited (Y/N), canon-typical violence, injury descriptions (blood cuts, blacking out and bruising), needles and injections, Hemlock, torture references, angst
Word Count: 5.1K
Author's notes: Not even a lovely bout of food poisoning swiftly followed by my period immediately after was going to stop me getting this out on a Wednesday lol so here it is! Can't believe the next on is the finale!
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“We’ll be exiting hyperspace soon.” Hunter informed the group as he came down from the cockpit.
“The base’s scanners will detect us once we’re on approach.” Rampart fretted.
“Then we’ll detach from the science vessel’s hull before then and infiltrate on foot.”
“The jungle is deadly.” Crosshair said in warning.
“Yes, exactly. At least listen to him.” Rampart begged.
“Well, how is Echo gonna get off that ship?” Wrecker reminded his two brothers, not liking the idea of leaving Echo unaided in this mission.
Hunter couldn’t afford to let his mind worry about that too much. Echo was highly capable, and Hunter knew he could handle this. “He’ll find a way.” The alarm beeped to signal the impending hyperspace exit. “Get into position.”
The three of them donned their helmets again and readied themselves for what was to come.
--
Echo hid the trooper’s body in a supply closet and plugged into the ship’s system. He couldn’t look for long however due to the sound of droid footsteps approaching and so he had to go hide in the closet.
--
Hemlock walked into the control room. “What’s the status of the science vessel?” He asked Scorch.
“En route, but we have a potential security breach. Clone Force 99 infiltrated the orbital station with former Vice Admiral Rampart.”
“Where are they now?”
“They fled aboard a stolen shuttle when the science vessel departed. They could be tracking it.”
Hemlock debated the courses of action in his head before deciding, “Dispatch fighters to monitor airspace. I’ll consult with our… guest for any further information he can give on the strategies they may implement.”
--
As the vessel entered the atmosphere, Hunter got ready to act. “Disengaging.”
As soon as the shuttle released from the science vessel, they were immediately bombarded with a squadron of Imperial fighters. Reacting too quickly and too organised for it to be a coincidence- no, they were expecting them.
Hunter sped up the ship and carried out evasive manoeuvres.
--
Hemlock returned from the cells to get a status update. Unfortunately, the prisoner had been rather uncooperative this time around, but it was no matter, he understood clones and how they acted- especially this squad. He could handle this himself. And he was due a visit with you anyway so perhaps you could shed light on what they may do.
“Our fighters have engaged a rogue shuttle.” A technician informed Dr. Hemlock.
“Lock down the base. Neutralize the threat, Commander.” He ordered Scorch.
“Activate laser cannons.” Scorch directed.
--
Between the fire from the base laser cannons and the fighters, standard manoeuvrers weren’t cutting it. Hunter had to get a little bit creative with the flying now and he started with a divebomb towards the ground.
--
Omega and the kids sat bored around one of the tables as they played with the puzzles, but a deep rumbling echoed around the vault.
“What is that?” Eva asked nervously.
Omega rested her hand on the table as she listened and analysed the sounds. “Laser cannons.”
--
“Doctors, there is a base-wide security alert.”
Emerie and Dr. Scalder turned to the science tech who told them that news.
“Follow lockdown protocols. I’ll secure the lab. Monitor the children in my absence.” She said to Dr. Scalder.
Dr. Scalder sneered slightly at the request, “Your concern for the specimens is unwarranted.” But she did as she was told as Emerie walked away.
--
Omega took in the scene through the windows above her with deep intrigue.
“What’s going on?” Sammi whispered.
“They found us.” Omega breathed.
“Who?” Jax asked.
“My brothers.”
--
The ship took another concerning sounding hit.
“Deflector shields are failing.” Crosshair said hurriedly to Hunter from the co-pilots chair situated just behind him.
Hunter dived again, only this time he turned the ship around, so the ship’s weapons were facing the enemy fighters. He fired on them and managed to take out a couple before he slowed and pulled back on the engines and allowed the remaining ships to fly past him.
That moved allowed him to lose them for a second and fly the ship closer to the jungle terrain, but it wasn’t long before the fighters had regrouped and were right back on top of them. “There’s no time to land.” Hunter said. He engaged his comm, “Wrecker, prep the rappel cables.”
“On it.” Wrecker confirmed as he removed himself from the seat he was in.
“On it? On what?” Rampart asked anxiously.
Wrecker only chuckled as he undid Rampart’s over-the-shoulder restraint. “You don’t wanna know.”
“Autopilot engaged.” Hunter confirmed as he and Crosshair went down to join Wrecker.
--
Hunter readied the hatch and all four of them attached to a cable.
“What do you expect me to do?” Rampart questioned in disbelief as he worked on mentally preparing for whatever the clone had planned.
“Try not to hit anything on the way down.” Hunter advised unhelpfully as the floor opened up.
“Whoa! You’ve got to be kidding!” Rampart screeched as he worked out the intentions of this ill-conceived and hellish idea. This entire affair was getting worse by the minute. Suddenly, Erebus didn’t seem so bad.
“Lines ready.” Wrecker said before he and Crosshair made the first jump down and detached once they were in a clear enough space.
Seeing that they’d made it, Hunter gave the order for him and Rampart, “Now!” He yanked Rampart down before the Imperial had the chance to second-guess.
Hunter’s cable descended fine, but Rampart got stuck before he’d barely started to drop.
“Wait! The cable is jammed!” He shouted down to Hunter.
Hunter really didn’t have time to think of a delicate solution, nor did he care about finding one. He drew his blaster and destroyed the hoist that Rampart’s cable ran through. He caught the panicked and screeching Imperial by the forearm as he fell past him, and the shuttle being destroyed by the fighters took care of the rest of their descent into the jungle.
--
“Confirmed hit.” The technician stated. “The shuttle was shot down and crashed in the jungle.”
“Have patrols search the crash site.” Hemlock instructed.
“Sir, our science vessel is on final approach.” Scorch informed him.
“Have the entire ship searched and the crew scanned. No one leaves that hangar without authorisation.” Hemlock made his final order before he left the room.
--
Echo mused over ideas in his head. He knew he couldn’t stay hidden in here forever, but he didn’t exactly blend in. even if he got off the ship, sneaking around Tantiss would be no easy feat, especially with no cover to rely on.
He paced up and down the small closet space and he titled his head as he stared down at the trooper and a new idea began to take shape.
--
Donned in new stormtrooper armour, Echo exited the closet and scomped into the system again.
He’d managed to get more of a look this time before he heard the droid footsteps. He unplugged and casually walked away, acting as if he was patrolling the area but the droid’s voice stopped him.
“Wait. You are not authorised to be here. This area is under my jurisdiction.”
“Ah, well, I was, uh, checking the manifest.” But even to a droid he knew he didn’t sound convincing.
“What is going on here?”
Echo didn’t let the droid get any closer to him. He blasted it straight in the chest and as he looked between the droid and his scomp, he saw another opportunity to complete his new identity.
“Thanks for the hand.” He quipped as he exited the shuttle the same way he’d gotten in.
He joined on to a squad of troopers leaving the hangar.
Now, his infiltration could begin.
--
 Crosshair and Wrecker were making their way through the thick jungle terrain.
“I don’t see ‘em.” Wrecker groaned. “Should we break comm silence?”
“No. we continue toward the base. Hunter will head that way too.” Crosshair said as he took the lead.
“A-Are you sure we’re headed in the right direction?”
“I’ve been here before. It’s not a place you forget.” He shook his hand out as he felt the tremors return.
“You broke out of here once. At least this time you’re breaking in.” Wrecker said, doing his best to provide some comfort.
“I’d rather not do either. But Omega didn’t leave me behind when she could have. I owe her. And (Y/N), she’s one of us too. I have to do this.”
“Plus, we’d never hear the end of it from Hunter if we didn’t.” Wrecker said with levity.
Crosshair managed a short chuckle, “Hmm, that too.”
The rustling of leaves and sounds of footsteps approaching caused them both the sharpen up again as they readied their blasters but the person that emerged was their brother so they could relax.
“See? He found us.” Crosshair stated smugly.
“Did, uh, Rampart make it?” Wrecker asked.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Hunter replied dryly.
“I heard that.” Rampart came panting into view. “You three truly are defective clones.” He grumbled. “If you had any common sense, you wouldn’t have come here. You won’t get out of this alive.”
Hunter squared up to Rampart. “We’ll take our chances.” He glanced up. “Incoming.”
The four of them took cover by a rock as a scout shuttle flew overhead. Only when is passed by, did they start walking again.
--
“Why haven’t our vitals been taken today and where did everyone go?” Eva asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she clutched the straw doll tightly.
“I don’t know. This is weird.” Jax stated quietly.
Omega matched their volume so as not to arouse suspicion. “I need to scout out what’s going on and see if I can find my friend.”
“Your friend?” Eva asked.
“You didn’t arrive alone?” Sammi inquired.
Omega shook her head, but she didn’t know how much to let them in on, especially if they weren’t aware of the potential they had. “Hemlock wanted her too; I think for the similar purposes you were all taken or possibly something else, but I don’t know what. And this is my best chance to find out and to find her, before the others come back. If something happens, and I’m not back in time, cover me.”
“Cover you?” Eva repeated in confusion.
“What does that mean?” Jax sought out clarification on the order.
Omega forgot that most kids didn’t actually grow up with a military family. “Keep watch. If the droid’s come snooping, stall them.” Omega instructed.
“How?” Sammi asked.
“You’ll think of something.” Omega said with sincere belief in them. She stole a glance up at Dr. Scalder who was engaged in talking to a droid and she saw her opportunity. “I’m counting on you.” With that, she left the table and set off to her room where she could access her new means of travel inside the walls of Tantiss.
--
The Batch and Rampart continued to make their way through the terrain, ensuring they were avoiding the many scouting parties that had been sent out.
Crosshair noticed Rampart’s drop in pace and jutted him hard in the back with his rifle. “You fall behind, you get left behind.” He said in response to Rampart’s pained grunt and backwards glare.
“You used to believe good soldiers followed orders.” Rampart commented as he picked up his speed a tad.
“Depends on who’s giving them. The Empire betrayed us both.”
“And you think you can fight them? That’s not you. You’re like me. Loyal to no one but yourself.” Rampart came to a halt.
“I’ve changed.” Crosshair said as he passed him. He wasn’t about to let Rampart of all people get in his head about this. He knew he was different now and that’s what mattered here.
“Sure you have.” Rampart muttered doubtfully as he watched the clone join the other two ahead before he went to catch up.
--
Blending in with the other Imperial troopers had been easy enough, even if the mechanical hand felt a bit unnatural but so far things were going smoothly but slowly. He needed a plan that involved knowing where it was that he needed to go.
Echo broke away from the back of the squad he was trailing as he passed a terminal. Making sure that the cost was clear, he took off the fake hand and plugged into the system to get a layout of this place and it was then that he saw the map of how to get to the lab that he figured had been the place where most of the testing that Omega had talked about occurred.
--
Hunter indicated for the group to stop and hide behind the treeline as a squad of troopers were in the area a few metres away from them. He knew going straight and behind them wasn’t a safe option so he led the way to the right that would see them hopefully work around them.
However, the path led them to a steep rockface.
“So, do we, uh, go around?” Wrecker suggested.
“No. It’ll take too long.” Crosshair said. “Especially with dead weight slowing us down.” He referred to Rampart as he heard the deep and unfit sighs leaving the Imperial as he lagged behind them.
“By all means, take your time.” Rampart groused to himself as he went to sit on a rock away from them all. “It’s not like we’re being hunted down.” He closed his eyes and leaned back against a surprisingly comfortable part of the cliff.
“Ground troopers are already scouring the area. Climbing is our best option.” Hunter theorised.
Wrecker groaned. “I knew you were gonna say that.”
Any further debate was cut short as a deep growling got all of their attention and they saw the creature rousing from sleep behind a terrified Rampart.
Hunter kept his voice low, and calm reached his hand out to Rampart to encourage him to do the same. “Slowly step away.”
Rampart darted back behind them all, but his panic was all he could focus on as he stared as the huge bear-like creature.
Wrecker anticipated Rampart’s petrified scream and covered his mouth with his palm as he dragged Rampart away.
Rampart gathered himself enough to weasel out of Wrecker’s grasp, “Shoot it. Now!”
They’d come too far and were too close for it all to come crashing down now. He couldn’t let that happen. “No. Blaster fire will give away our position.” Hunter objected as he and Crosshair also kept backing away.
“Our position won’t matter if that eats us.” Rampart hissed fearfully and he wasn’t about to wait around for that to happen- let the clones die, it wasn’t his problem anymore. He set off at a run.
The others only watched him go. Their focus had to stay on the animal which let out a guttural growl and charged at them.
They ran and split off in an attempt to surround it.
Hunter managed a few swipes of his vibroblade and Crosshair succeeded in hitting it’s face with the end of his rifle but where things started to go wrong was when Wrecker decided to jump on its back. He was tossed off with ease and that meant the animal was focused entirely on him.
“Wrecker, look out!” Hunter shouted as loudly as he could without giving them away, but it wasn’t enough.
The two of them watched in as the creature savagely swiped at Wrecker’s chest and through hm across the jungle into the trunk of a tree. They dashed over to him and saw the nasty gash that had breached his chest plate and cut through to his chest.
“Come on.” Crosshair encouraged roughly as he and Hunter pulled Wrecker to his feet, and both took an arm around him to support their brother as they retreated further into the jungle.
Fortunately, the gaps between the trees were too small for the creature to follow them but that relief was short lived.
Despite their best efforts, Rampart’s careless fumbling had alerted the Imperial’s to their location and a blaster fight ensued- a less-than-ideal situation for them, especially with Wrecker seriously hurt- but the added chaos had brought the animal back around to take care of the soldiers for them, allowing them to hide once more.
However, Wrecker was still badly wounded.
And Rampart was now nowhere to be found.
And they could count of the fact that the troopers would find him.
And Hemlock definitely knew they were alive and here.
--
The tight spaces and avoiding the sensors within the walls had made the sneaking around rather slow and tiring but it had been worth it.
Discovering that the Zillo Beast was here and being contained not too far from the vault had sparked an idea for the development of her escape plan and now she hoped her instincts were right in terms of the path they were taking her on to find where you were.
She felt along the walls, seeking out any discrepancies to mark changes in location and when she found such a change, she took the gamble and used her tool to scrape away at the new set of panels and began to push her way through.
--
As Omega came out the other side and entered what appeared to be a prison cell, she was pleased to see that it paid off but when she came to actually crouch in front of you, her breath hitched in distress as she saw you. She gently shook your shoulder and called your name.
Your internal body clock was going off, so you roused under the assumption that the calling of your name came from your usual visitors so when you saw her face, it shocked you. “Omega?” You whispered.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Omega replied quietly.
Judging from the deep furrow in her brow and the concern behind her eyes, you looked as bad as you felt. You offered what you hoped was a reassuring smile as you asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you. I think the others are here. We can leave this place soon!” But the news didn’t get the reaction from you she’d hoped. You were looking at her with profound disbelief. “Couldn’t you hear the cannons?”
You’d thought you’d heard a faint booming, but you couldn’t be sure that you hadn’t hallucinated it or been told to believe it. After all, this had been a scenario Hemlock had tried before. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” You admitted with a heavy, weary sigh. At least you could believe her though, this wasn’t a figment of your imagination.
Omega had never seen you look so defeated before and it disturbed her a great deal. She needed to free you. “What does he want with you?”
You adjusted yourself slightly with a wince. “He wants me to join his operatives. He’s- he’s pretty insistent about it.”
“You can’t!”
“Yeah, I worked that one out for myself.” You attempted to kid, but it fell flat. “What about you? Did he tell you what he wanted?”
“My blood can be used to help replicate an individual’s M-count. But don’t worry, I’m working out a plan for me and the other kids to escape and find Hunter and the others.” Omega informed you.
“There are more children?” You repeated in dismay.
“There are three more of us and a baby. I still don’t fully know why they’re here. My guess is they’re like you.”
“A baby?” You didn’t think Hemlock could repulse you more yet somehow, he’d managed it. And if these kids were like you, they were in all kinds of danger.
“I’m helping them, but I can get you out of here first.” Omega insisted as she started to pull out her implement to work on your cuffs.
“No, you need to leave.”
Omega paused, “What?”
“You can’t help me. You can’t stay here any longer.” Your internal alarm clock had gone off for a reason and the fact that Hemlock was running late solidified the fact that they were here, but it also meant he could arrive any minute. In fact, you could hear distant footsteps.
“But why?”
“Omega, please. Go.” You insisted through a pained whisper as the noise of footsteps grew nearer.
“I can’t leave you like this.” Omega objected.
“You have to.”
“But-”
“Those kids need you. It’s not fair that you have to look do this by yourself, but you need to get out. You can’t worry about me right now; escaping is your objective. You know that it is.”
Omega felt like she was being pulled in two different directions. “I don’t want him to hurt you anymore.” She said tearfully.
“As long as I know you’re okay, he can’t hurt me. Go.” You begged.
“I-”
“Omega…” You implored, your throat choking up as you saw the conflict written across her face and you wished you didn’t have to send her away. “Please.” You couldn’t stand the thought of her getting caught or witnessing what Hemlock had planned for you, it was already bad enough that she’d seen you like this.
Omega still felt torn about it but deep down, she knew you were right and, even though part of her was yelling at her to help you, she forced herself to do as you said. She brushed your cheek before she stepped back into the gap in the wall, righting the panels as she did so.
--
As the door started to slide open, you also made a strong mental note with yourself to not give away what Omega had figured out.
--
Omega had barely made it behind the wall before the door opened fully and she hardly dared to breath as she stayed still behind the walls and heard the faint echo of footsteps and murmur of your voice.
--
“Ah, Dr. Hemlock. You’re late today.” You took in his entourage which consisted of a scientist you did not recognise and another trooper. “And no Emerie? Couldn’t have anything to do with what’s going on outside, could it?” You acted like her absence was of no bother to you when in actuality the absence of someone who seemed to be the only one to hold some sense over what amount torture was reasonable for a person to endure was most disconcerting.
Hemlock took a deep breath to calm himself. Your persistent deflections and smart-mouth remarks despite the fatigue and pain written across your battered face and body was maddening. He had yet to find the secret to breaking you, he had come close a few times, but it hadn’t quite been enough, and that was proving to weigh on his mind, especially with the appearance of Clone Force 99. “How do you know of their arrival?”
“Well, one, you just told me.” You quipped with a lethargic but still smug smirk.
Hemlock nodded to the trooper who slapped you across your cheek.
Recovering from the blow, you spoke again, “Plus, you gave it away as you walked in here. You’re nervous.” You stated simply. “And why else would you be if there wasn’t a threat to your base? And with the only new additions here being Omega and myself, it makes sense that it’s them. You took us away from a rather loyal and protective family who won’t stop until we’re back. And from the activation of the laser cannons, it sounded like they’ve found us.” You deduced, acting like it was the most obvious thing out there. “The very fact that they have reached this place makes you nervous.” You repeated with a stiff shrug of your shoulders as the chain rattled behind you.
“Please, the activities of your squad offer warrant no true concern. They are a mild irritant, nothing more.”
Your shattered and pained state made it hard to get the tone right, but you hoped the low chuckle you emitted gave the impression of the mocking pity you felt at his attempt to hide it from you. “I may not be able to use the Force to choke you to death in the way I’d like to but don’t think it can’t help me in other ways.”
“Clone Force 99 are as predictable as any other clone group. They pose no threat to me or my ambitions.”
“Then why bother coming here? I’d have loved some time off.” You griped tiredly.
Hemlock took a knee in front of you and took a harsh grip of your chin. “Tech was more resistant to my methods this time. It would appear news of his squad gave him more resolve than I anticipated this time around. He failed to divulge what strategies they may utilise. I am here to see what you can offer.”
Omega had to bite back her shocked gasp. Tech? Alive? Surely that wasn’t possible.
You ignored the comment, he had worked this angle before too. You only hoped Omega was back on her way now, it wouldn’t do her any good to hear something like that. “You think now all of a sudden I’ve changed my mind about joining you?”
Hemlock got to his feet, but he now found himself particularly pleased by your predictable resistance. What he was about to inflict on you would be most satisfying. “Ready the droid.” He ordered the assistant scientist next to him.
You shook your head as the droid approached you. “You know, for a scientist, you sure don’t seem to learn.” Those were the last words you said before the needle pierced your skin.
Omega knew she couldn’t linger any longer, so she started her journey back to the vault.
--
Omega was making her way back from your cell, when she came to a sudden halt as she heard distant but still disturbingly recognisable raw screams of pain- they were your screams of pain.
She stopped to let one of the sensors past and released a shaky breath before she reminded herself that she needed to get back quickly or this all would be for nothing.
--
Echo had managed to sneak into the lab and had plugged into the system to analyse the records. He was appalled by the sheer number of clones that had undergone testing here, but he paused as he reached Omega’s record. However, before he could take more of it in, the door opened. He quickly removed his scomp and reattached his mechanical hand.
Emerie observed the trooper carefully. “Troopers are not allowed in here.”
“It’s, uh, a special security patrol. Uh, i- it’s all clear.” Echo stuttered awkwardly to the female scientist. Not wanting to hang about, he started to walk away.
Emerie ran it through in her head. No trooper had ever come in here before, and no trooper had a scomp attached underneath a makeshift prosthetic hand. And no trooper had ever shown an interest in or had the means of accessing secure lab files. But there was one soldier she knew of that matched that description. “Echo.”
Echo stopped short.
“That’s your name, isn’t it?” Emerie asked, a tad nervously. “Omega talked about you all.”
Echo turned to face the woman.
“I’m Emerie.”
Her name was familiar to him too, but it didn’t bring with it any comfort. Echo sighed, “Omega told us about you too.”
“She said her squad would eventually come for her.”
“Not just her.” Echo marched towards Emerie. “We’re here for all the prisoners you’ve been experimenting on, including (Y/N).”
“I- I was doing my job.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Echo said unsympathetically. He took of his helmet and spoke to her with equal parts anger and disappointment. “You’re a clone. How can you be part of this? Omega saw something in you. I want to believe that she was right. Tell me where they are.”
The words from the clone were what she’d been trying to deny to herself for a while now, but she couldn’t do it anymore. She didn’t want to do it anymore. “Omega’s in the vault but (Y/N) is being held in another prison cell. You won’t get anywhere near them without my assistance. If we’re gonna free them and those children, you’re going to have to trust me.”
Echo furrowed his brow slightly. That was new information. “Wait, w-what children?”
“Omega is not the only child confined inside this base.”
--
Omega made it back to her room just before Dr. Scalder came into her room with the droid for the vitals check and her resolve for escape was stronger than ever.
She and the kids reconvened back at the tables was Dr. Scalder left the vault.
“What took so long?” Eva asked.
As much as it pained her, Omega pushed you to the back of her mind. You were right, getting these kids to safety was the priority and once she did that and found the rest of the squad, they could help you. “I found something big. I have a plan, and I’m gonna need your help.”
--
More screams from Hunter, begging and pleading for your help.
More hurt and agony coursing through your body.
More longing to just give in.
To do anything to make it stop.
But that's what got you to wake up, you couldn’t do that. However, as you opened your eyes, you were face to face with the monster of your nightmares- Hemlock. His grin as sadistic and as twisted as ever, something you'd imagine he'd wear once he made some kind of monumental breakthrough in his research.
It took you a moment to get your bearings once more; the familiar bite of the binds and intense ache throughout your body told you that you had been subjected to another torment. Had things really gotten that bad that you're blacking out and forgetting periods of time? The last thing you clearly remembered was the droid injecting the serum, so you fought to remember what had happened before that needle went into your neck. Omega, the other children, Hunter and the others…. they were here and you weren’t going to jeopardise them.
Thankfully, despite the grin on his face, you knew you hadn’t given anything away. There was a deep frustration behind his eyes that he couldn’t hide. The grin was merely because he relished the pain you were in. “Man, you’re having a rough day, huh?” You rasped.
The comment resulted in a punch to your mouth from the trooper, your lip splitting open once more, but the way Hemlock’s shoulders heaved in irritation made it somewhat worth it.
Hemlock got ready to put you through another round when the sound of a comm beeping stopped him.
“Sir, they need you back in the control room.” The trooper interrupted.
Hemlock tightened his jaw but headed for the door.
You somehow managed to get yourself into a more vertical position as you called behind him, “They’re coming for you. You’re not leaving this place alive.”
Hemlock clenched his hands into fists before he walked out.
Next Chapter>
Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @allthingsimagines , @nightmonkeysstuff , @jellybeanstacey0519 , @callsign-denmark , @superbookishhufflepuff @qvnthesia , @justsomerandompersonintheworld
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scamanthalikely · 7 months
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"So, you're saying it's still alive in there?"
"That's the theory, anyway. I believe the purpose of the patron firearm system is to provide reinforcement of the Law. But I feel that there is no point in seeking it out at this stage, at least not for me."
"Ezell..."
"There's only one way to be sure." Gesturing across the table, the Sankta gestures at the disassembled shotgun, kindly smiling towards the Doctor. "Now, which part of the firearm contains the fragment of God?"
_ _ _
The empty laboratory clicks open with barely a hiss, thanks to the clever use of a magnet at the top and bottom. It's stupid, you know? All of this technology for monitoring these top secret projects defeated with something a child has decent odds of keeping around as a curiosity. W chuckles to herself as she quickly shuts the door behind her, slipping in. A handheld light clicks on as she surveys the room. Her eyes widen.
*Well, well*, she thinks. *Guess I'll be adding this to my collection next.*
Reaching across the table, she starts to reassemble the firearm beginning with its smallest pieces. But as she moves to affix the firing pin, a curious thought strikes her as though from afar-
*YOU'LL DO.*
There's an explosion like the report of a firearm, and then nothing.
- - -
She comes to some time later, the mist of the fire suppression system making her vision hazy. Of course it's that damn Doctor in their stupid idiot mask. Must've been some kind of intruder countermeasure. She squints against the light, eyes trying to adjust. "Ugh... could you shut that damn thing off? It's getting in my eyes."
The Doctor gives a look of concern, brow furrowing detectable even through the darkness of their mask. "...no," they say, carefully and diplomatically.
"I get it, okay? I'm in the damn doghouse. Just shut that thing off or at LEAST turn it down."
The Doctor pulls out a compact mirror, flipping it open with one hand, and shows W her own reflection. She squints against the glare a moment before her eyes widen.
The lights are not on in this room. The only source of illumination is coming from just above W's brow, with more behind her splaying out. She flexes her shoulder back as she grabs the compact in wonderment and shock, and she sees the wing behind flex also, it's fragmentary components splaying out like fingers widening from a fist.
"Uh oh."
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000portal · 7 days
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I DONT KNOW WHO NEEDS TO HEAR THIS BUT GROINAL RESPONSE (tingling, warmth, etc) TO INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS IS A NORMAL AND STUDIED TRAIT OF INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS.
(these are DIRECT quotes from this great psychology today article)
So, you just encountered, or thought about, someone, when suddenly, something “down there” tingles or moves.
The problem is that this person would be an inappropriate sexual partner—a minor, a religious figure, an authority figure, a same-sex partner if you’re straight, an opposite-sex partner if you're gay, etc.
Panic sets in, and you’re flooded with unwanted, repugnant, intrusive thoughts and images about having sex with this person.
You ask yourself, “What does this mean?”
What if it means I am a pervert? A pedophile? A monster? What if I am lying to myself and my partner about my sexual orientation? What if I am bad? What if I lose control one day and do something awful?
You begin to peel back from the things you once enjoyed, from people you love, desperately trying to keep a lid on everything. What started as a meaningless spasm has turned your life into a nightmare.
Many such OCD sufferers also experience unwanted genital sensations that activate a cascade of “what if” questions, over-interpretations, and compulsive monitoring. In the OCD community, this sensation is referred to as the groinal response.
It’s a mismatch between our real desires and our body’s response. However, just like any intrusive thought that a person may have, a groinal response is not confirmation that your fears are real. 
//Why does this happen?
[Every surface of your skin and organs] are all wired to neurons or nerves that send sensory information to your brain. These signals are live at all times, even when you don’t notice them. Attention is what drives sensation most of the time. Focus on your hands, feet, or shoulders for a few seconds, and you’ll become aware of a low-grade tingle that is always present, constantly firing. Focus on your genitals, and you’ll notice the same. In other words, there is always a sensation in your genitals waiting to be detected.
The genitals are super densely represented in the nervous system. They are like 24/7 signal stations firing haptic data to your brain. You are more likely to feel meaningless sensations there than other body parts, like the top of your head.
Not all genital sensation is sexual. [Some genital] nerves go to the somatosensory cortex, which processes neutral touch sensation. Others go to the deep center of your brain (the limbic system) which processes pleasure and displeasure, excitement and fear. These two regions communicate both when you are turned on and when you are not. Therefore, it is very common to experience sensation (somatosensory cortex) without sexual arousal, depending on how your limbic system interacts with the sensory cortex.
According to some estimates, there is only a 10 to 50 percent concordance between sensation in the genitals and actual sexual pleasure. This means that 50 to 90 percent of the time, any tingling, moving, flushing, or hardening down there is non-sexual, be it neutral or fear-based.
Anxiety is a form of arousal, and all forms of arousal make your blood flow. Sexual arousal and fear arousal have many of the same bodily symptoms.
6. Arousal drives attention to the source of danger. But what happens when the threat is the groinal response?
Fear (and excitement) cause a narrowing of attention. Some people call this tunnel vision. It is very difficult to think about anything other than the perceived threat when you are afraid. So, if fear-arousal causes a groinal response, they are unlikely to notice it.
But what happens when the threat is the groinal response? Where is your attention going to go in triggering situations? That’s right. It goes directly to the groin and the anxious-arousal symptoms that may be occurring there. Before you know it, you quickly get caught in a loop of increased anxiety, → increased fear-arousal, → increased attention → increased sensation.
// What can you do instead?
Accept the groinal response as normal. Cease compulsive checking and analyzing of the region. Learn how to do body scan meditations (this will help you reverse your attention bias). Practice exposure and response prevention (ERP) by going into everyday situations that you are now avoiding without performing rituals (i.e., no checking, analyzing, reassurance-seeking, etc.).
As always, seek out the support of a qualified therapist to help you through these steps. Many sufferers get better with the right therapeutic support from someone who gets it.
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Northwest Territories Ablaze
The boreal forests of northern Canada have evolved to burn. These forests are dominated by black spruce, a type of evergreen that is not just tolerant of fire but dependent on it.
Black spruce has waxy, resinous needles adapted to ignite during lightning storms and burn vigorously. The forests thrive if they burn every century or so because fires open the canopy up to light, stimulate new growth, and help maintain biodiversity. Fires also melt away the waxy coating on cones of black spruces allowing them to deposit seeds uniquely designed to thrive in charred, acidic soils. But Canada’s black spruce boreal forests have been burning more frequently in recent decades, putting even these fire-loving forests under strain.
When the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-20 satellite captured this image of smoke streaming throughout the region on August 11, 2024, the sensor detected nearly 100 active fires burning in the Northwest Territories, according to data posted by the territory’s government. The Canadian government, including the Northwest Territories, uses hotspot data from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), a fire monitoring system developed by NASA, to help detect and track wildfires.The image below, captured by NASA’s EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) on NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite, shows a river of smoke from the fires in western Canada winding its way over the Hudson Bay.
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Most fires in the Northwest Territories burn far from towns or infrastructure, so authorities let many of them burn themselves out, a process that can take weeks or even months depending on the weather. Of the 96 fires active on August 11, Canadian authorities reported that 88 of them burned unhindered by firefighting efforts. Firefighters had controlled five fires and were in the process of suppressing one, according to the territory’s government. None of the fires were close enough to settlements to trigger evacuation orders. However, dense smoke has triggered air quality warnings for fifteen Northwest Territories communities, including settlements in the North Slave, South Slave, Dehcho, and Sahtu regions.
The fires coincided with a drought classified as moderate to extreme by the North American Drought Monitor and a week of extreme warmth that broke temperature records in several places in the Northwest Territories, including the towns of Aklavik, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, and Tuktoyaktuk. All four communities surpassed 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit); Fort McPherson’s temperature soared to a remarkable 34.9°C (94.8°F) on August 7 and 8.
Though Canada’s black spruce forests are accustomed to fire, ecologists who study them are finding that some forests in the region are struggling to recover after fires due to the increasing frequency and size of fires in the region. One study led by Jennifer Baltzer, an ecologist at Wilfrid Laurier University, found that black spruce’s ability to regenerate declined at 38 percent of the 1,500 recently burned forest sites included in the study and failed to regenerate entirely at 18 percent of the sites—unusually high percentages compared to the historic norm. The analysis was based on tree regeneration data compiled and analyzed as part of NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE).
Many of the areas burning in this image also burned in 2023, during Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. However, the total number of fires and the number of hectares burned in the Northwest Territories through mid-August 2024 are below the 10-year average so far, according to data released by Canadian authorities. The extent of burning in neighboring British Columbia and Alberta through mid-August 2024, however, was above average.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and data from DSCOVR EPIC. Story by Adam Voiland.
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esconpanache · 3 months
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Elevating Lifestyle Standards: Escon Panache’s Commitment to Sustainable Living and Safety & Security
At Escon Panache, we believe that true luxury extends beyond exquisite design and prime locations. It encompasses a commitment to sustainable living and ensuring the utmost safety and security for our residents. Here’s how Escon Panache Villas excels in these crucial areas, offering a harmonious blend of eco-friendly practices and cutting-edge security measures.
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Sustainable Living: A Greener Tomorrow
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24/7 Surveillance
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Trained security personnel are present round-the-clock to maintain a safe environment. Our security team is equipped to handle emergencies and provide assistance to residents, offering peace of mind at all times.
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Escon Panache has comprehensive emergency preparedness plans in place. Regular drills and training sessions are conducted to ensure that residents and staff are well-prepared to handle emergencies efficiently and effectively.
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beyondthisdarkhouse · 2 years
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What is the Tumblr kokobot mental health thing and why does it keep messaging me when I go into various mental health/neurodivergent tags? I'm generally looking for community and I don't appreciate this site deciding I am In Danger. You're a therapist and I feel like you've probably talked about mental health apps before so thought I'd ask
Uuuugh, that thing. I think I blocked it a couple months back. BUT, I'm going to be as fair to it as I can.
The part you and I bumped into is their automated chatbot, which monitors traffic on social media sites to detect people having mental health crises and try to convince them to access mental health support. Apparently their bot got good enough at detecting human behaviour patterns online that they actually spun it off into a separate company for a while and then sold their tech to a corporation, before returning to the mental health idea. They returned to it, critically, as a non-profit, which is why I'm willing to give it a second look at all.
tl;dr: I would not immediately warn everyone away from using it! Which is more than I could say for a lot of Silicon Valley mental health startups. I don't love the current implementation, but I think they might have the makings of a decent mutual aid platform for temporary moments of stress.
Long version below
Like, I was not a fan at all of Trill when Tumblr partnered with it, because I felt that they were using well-intentioned volunteers to do potentially harrowing and dangerous work without adequate training or support. (Or not-so-great volunteers, since I was dubious about their vetting process) And a lot of Kokobot's origin story is in some ways really similar to Trill.
Most of these startups and initiatives mean well. They want to make the world better and help provide comfort and support to people who need that. I admire them for their dedication to a good cause. However, I believe that when you are devoting significant resources to building a system where you ask people to choose you for support in their moments of vulnerability, you cannot put your intentions ahead of their needs.
Like: It is really great that people want to help the less-fortunate. I think it shows warmth of heart to want to go somewhere and build homes for the homeless. But if you've never built a house before, and the houses you build are so poorly constructed that they fall down or catch fire or whatever, and they wouldn't have if you'd put the equivalent amount of money into hiring local out-of-work carpenters to do the work properly, I don't think you should keep operating like that as a charity.
I'm also judging Koko a bit as the former teenager who wanted to help people, in terms of how much they provide guidance and support to the helpers they've recruited.
Finally, I feel the need to remind all of us, as useless as such reminders feel, that if you are not paying for a social media platform, you aren't a customer; you are the product. "Kokobot", the organization, the platform, the AI, are not the core producers of its value. Its users are. Without people in distress to whom to provide support, and without supportive people there in times of distress, it would not exist.
Maybe this will never be an issue. Maybe this conflict will never arise. Maybe the nonprofit organization will be devoted enough to the needs of its userbase that they will serve them faithfully and well. I hope so.
I'm just... jaded, by things I've seen before.
What I don't like at all:
It took me a lot of work to go from looking up Kokobot on Tumblr to understanding how the company worked, what using the app was like, and whether their work was being informed by anyone with a lick of knowledge about mental health care. I still don't know a lot of stuff about how they handle anonymity in situations like imminent suicide or homicide, or abuses of the platform.
Kokobot messaging people out of the blue is creepy as hell. My first response was, "Fuck off, I can TELL you're not ethical." Most ethical guidelines I know of for mental health therapists explicitly forbid directly soliciting clients ("Hey there, I can tell you've got a few issues. Here's my card"), especially when people appear psychologically vulnerable or in distress. The only wiggle room there is when you're working in disaster relief and crisis intervention, but that does not make it an "anything goes" situation.
@kokobot posting lots of testimonials from users about how great their service is. Again, something usually strictly forbidden by ethical standards! When someone has just come to you in distress and you've provided them help, and then ask them to give you a Yelp review, you're not usually going to get thoughtful, measured, and informed feedback. It's a weird power dynamic that might be great advertising, but not great informed consent.
While Koko might be a legit company that does its job well, its presence and behaviour opens up the field of what is acceptable behaviour on social media. If one app can track mental health tags and solicit vulnerable people into joining their group, why not another? What will stop Scientology (which has done this in person for decades) from creating a similar app, pitching it to people in need, and coaching its users to go off all their psychiatric medications and use pseudoscience instead? Where are the safeguards?
What's Not Terrible
Kokobot is clunky and weird, but like I said on my post on Trill, the hardest part of moderation on social media is the amount of labour it takes, and the human cost of that labour. It seems to me that by using AI, Koko might have found an efficient way to automate much of that labour.
I tried out the actual app itself, messaging on Telegram; for my "problem", I just said I was concerned that a friend was messaging Koko a lot and I wanted to make sure it was legit. Sending it out required answers to some pretty vital questions—did I feel hopeful or hopeless about the world? What kinds of best- or worst-case scenarios was I imagining? They were worded in a way that felt human and genuine, and the chatbot was responsive and encouraging before my problem ever got human eyes on it.
(For the record: These are questions that can very quickly give information on whether someone is likely to be a danger to themselves or anyone else, which are really important.)
Then, at the bot's suggestion, I also helped a couple other people, where I was given very rough and ready training on active listening, then coached into writing a response. It avoided a lot of on-ramps to community toxicity, inasmuch as the problems and replies were private and anonymous, and there were instant feedback options if anything was worrying or upsetting.
This process showed what I think was a more sophisticated and useful implementation of AI than, uh....... like 99% of the AI I've seen. This is mostly a statement on the state of AI, but still. Koko seems like the bot's responses were really carefully workshopped and designed by actual humans who knew about crisis intervention and risk assessment.
The replies I got to my "problem" were fairly good, empathetic and genuine. (The bot encourages people to be a little dorky, and seeing an auto-generated response I myself was suggested made me roll my eyes; this could reduce the value for some people.)
I can definitely see the benefit of encouraging people who are feeling distressed to help others. Engaging in peer support encourages empathy, and helps people feel like they've got something to offer, and that problems might be solvable.
In the end, Kokobot is an expansion of the kind of work volunteer-run distress and crisis hotlines do. It has the potential to do a lot of good, but the organization itself has to consider so many other factors and processes than its users do. I sincerely hope it and Tumblr are being extremely thoughtful and careful in how they handle this work.
I would be delighted to be proven wrong, and have them turn out to be totally amazing. I really hope they do.
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usafphantom2 · 6 months
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25 Years Ago Today: An U.S. F-117 Stealth Jet Is Shot Down Over Serbia 🇷🇸
March 27, 2024 Military Aviation
F-117 shot down
F-117 as seen through the NVGs (A1C Greg L. Davis, USAF, via National Archives)
OTD in 1999, “Vega 31” was shot down near Belgrade. Here’s how it went.
On Mar. 27, 1999, during the fourth night of Operation Allied Force (OAF) over Serbia, a U.S. Air Force F-117 Nighthawk (#82-0806), flown by Lt. Col. Darrell P. Zelko, was shot down while returning to Aviano airbase, after a strike mission against a target near Belgrade.
The F-117, callsign “Vega 31”, was hit by one of a series of missiles fired by a S-125 “Neva” missile system (NATO reporting name, SA-3 “Goa”) belonging to the 3rd Battalion of the 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade of the Army of Yugoslavia, at a distance of about 8 miles.
According to Sergeant Dragan Matić, the soldier later identified as the operator who fired the missiles, the stealth plane was detected at a range of about 50 to 60 kilometres and the surface-to-air missile radar was switched on for no more than 17 seconds.
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F-117 wreckage in Serbia.
The pilot successfully ejected and was rescued between 5 and 8 hours later (depending on the sources): AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) dispatched MH-53M, MH-53J and MH-60 aircrew along with Special Tactics Airmen responded to the emergency and, coordinated by E-3 AWACS and supported by several specialized platforms, including an EC-130E ABCCC and A-10 in Sandy role, rescued the F-117 pilot.
youtube
While the shootdown of the F-117 #82-0806 marked the first ever and only downing of a stealth aircraft in combat, how the Serbians managed to achieve the then almost unbelievable kill is still open to debate.
On one side, the Serbs claimed they had found a way to detect stealth aircraft by using slightly modified radars: the modifications involved the use of long wavelengths to try to “paint” the target at short range, exploiting the moment when the low observability of the Nighthawk was degraded by the opening of the bomb bay door.
However, this was not true: according to some Serbian sources, the story of the modification was purposely told by the battalion commander and served as propaganda. In the end there was no modification of the P-18 or SNR-125 radar.
What is true is that the Serbians were extremely cautious in operating their SAM batteries, dispatching messages without using cell phones or radios, so as not to risk to be intercepted and geo-located, and relocating the batteries across the country.
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F-117 taxies at Aviano AB during Operation Allied Force (USAF)
In the end, besides the successful tactics used by the Serbians, the shootdown of the F-117 was also the result of a series of other contributing factors:
the use of the same route for the third day in a row, making the flight path of the stealth aircraft predictable
the lack of dedicated SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) support
the fact that the F-117 approached the Belgrade area flying at low level, jinking and banking
the Serbs knew that the F-117s were coming, because, they monitored U.S. and allied radio comms on UHF and VHF frequencies, which, at the time, were mostly unencrypted; were also able to intercept NATO plane’s ATO (Air Tasking Orders) that enabled them to put anti-aircraft batteries at positions close to the ground targets; relied on a network of spies who operated outside the Italian airbases spotting aircraft taking off and others, near the Serbian borders, who provided details about the incoming raids.
Anyway, the achievement of Colonel Dani Zoltan, who commanded the SAM battery of the 3rd Battalion and used a SAM system introduced in 1961, is impressive especially considering that, after shooting down “Vega 31”, “Hammer 34”, an F-16C of the 31st Fighter Wing piloted by Lt. Col. Dave Goldfein (future Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force) was also shot down by the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade on May 2, 1999.
Moreover, it has also emerged that another F-117 was damaged by Serbian air defenses during Allied Force.
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A Yugoslav propaganda poster, stating facetiously “Sorry we didn’t know it was invisible”.
The F-117 today
25 years after the famous and quite surprising, at that time, downing, the iconic F-117 continue to fly, despite being officially retired in 2008.
As we report quite frequently here at The Aviationist, F-117s are still flying not only for training purposes as adversary aircraft and cruise missile surrogate, but also for research, development, test and evaluation, possibly related to next generation programs.
In accordance with of the Nation Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2007 (PL 109- 364, Section 136), 52 F-117 aircraft were retired and relocated to the Tonopah Test Range (TTR). Under the requirements of the NDAA, the USAF preserved each F-117 aircraft in Type-l000 (T-1000) storage, which maintains the aircraft in a condition that allows recall for future service. On 30 November 2016, Section 133 of Subtitle D of the National Defense Authorization Act repealed the requirement to preserve the F-117 aircraft in a recallable condition and the USAF intended to declassify, demilitarize, and disposition four F-117 aircraft per year.
F-117 Fresno
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An F-117 Nighthawk lands for the first time at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Sept 13, 2021, to conduct training missions with the local Air National Guard unit. Two F-117 Nighthawks are participating in dissimilar air combat training missions this week along with F-15 pilots from the 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno, Calif. (Air National Guard photo by Capt. Jason Sanchez)
The aircraft continued to be spotted, even more than it had happened until then, with the Nighthawks also deploying to several U.S. bases to carry out Dissimilar Air Combat Training with other U.S. types. Then, in 2021, the U.S. Air Force published the first official images of the type still involved in flight operations on the DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) network.
In September 2022 the Air Force Test Center published a Request For Information (RFI) about a possible 10-year contract, expected to start from January 1, 2024, for maintenance and logistics support services for the F-117A fleet at the TTR airfield, acknowledging that the U.S. Air Force is willing to keep the aircraft flying at least until 2034. Interestingly, the U.S. Air Force is about to complete the certification of the F-117s to refuel from the KC-46: a sign that the service plans to keep the Nighthawk flying for many more years.
F-117
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One of the two F-117s flying low over the Sierra Mountains on Apr. 21, 2023. (Image credit: @stinkjet)
About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
@theAviationist via X
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hasbr0mniverse · 6 months
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Transformers Battlefront 1984 - Ravage is extremely intelligent and skilled at infiltration, demolitions, and information gathering. He is also a capable tactician. In jaguar mode, he can practically disappear from detection thanks to many redundant stealth systems. He has an internal emissions damper that can absorb most of his electromagnetic and other energy emissions, keeping him hidden from detection devices. He walks without sound and has a skill for remaining unseen in darkness or dim light. He possesses enhanced hearing and sense of smell, plus a range of electromagnetic wave monitors. Subject is armed with two proton bombs with a yield of 1 megaton; they can be fired over 3 miles or set with a timer.
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quickshipfireusa · 1 year
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mariacallous · 1 year
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Among the many victims of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine are some of the most important ecosystems in Eastern Europe: Ukraine’s forests and protected areas.
The full extent of the damage, however, is unknown. That’s why we are launching a new tool that will help open source researchers track destruction from afar.
In September 2022, Ukrainian environmental researchers visited national parks — which are more resilient to climate change than artificial plantings and support crucial biodiversity—to assess damage to forests and wildlife. Initial findings revealed broken trees, damaged root systems due to trench digging and unexploded munitions scattered across protected lands.
“Forests have suffered a lot on the frontline… huge areas of forests are being mined”, Yehor Hrynyk, an environmental campaigner at the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, told Bellingcat. But large parts of Ukraine’s vast national parks, mountainous regions and woodlands are inaccessible for on-the-ground environmental monitoring.
That’s where open source techniques come in.
The OSINT Forest Area Tracker
We’ve launched the “OSINT Forest Area Tracker”, hosted on Google Earth Engine. Our tool compares data collected by Sentinel-2, a satellite which detects changes in infrared wavelengths and can be used to study the health of forests. 
The tool reveals the scale and intensity of anomalous changes on land. This narrows down search areas for researchers working on environmental damage in Ukraine. 
Importantly, the map does not attribute the cause of these changes, meaning that it is crucial to find corroborating evidence from other sources before concluding that they were the result of military activity. 
The tool uses the Normalised Burn Ratio (NBR) index to estimate burn severity.
Researchers can also use the tool to select custom date ranges for geographic locations of interest. 
As Ukraine’s official database of protected areas includes over 7,500 sites, we chose not to study them all — among their number are botanical gardens, city parks and archaeological sites. That list also includes many areas in the far west of the country which have not seen intense conflict. 
Therefore, we selected 16 areas which featured the highest number of detected fires over the first year of the war, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. MODIS is a sensor which allows satellites to detect thermal anomalies, including fires in active war zones (Along with VIIRS, MODIS data can be accessed on the FIRMS system; you can read more about its use to open source researchers here). We also added Svyati Hory National Park because of its proximity to fighting. The tool includes a drop down list preset areas from across the country, including those near military activity. These preset areas are referred to by their acronyms, for example SHNP for Svyati Hory National Park. A full list of these acronyms can be found on the tool’s GitHub page. If researchers are interested in areas of the country not included in the dropdown menu, the coordinates can be entered manually.
While the new tool focuses on Ukraine by default, the methods it employs could be used to analyse areas elsewhere in the world.
...
Future Development
In the case of Svyati Hory, the tool identified damage to a protected area which deserved further investigation. In the case of the Kinburn Spit, it allowed us to further verify existing open source claims about an attack which had caused damage to a forest – also enriching our knowledge about the extent of the damage, which was less easily visible on real colour satellite imagery. However, both cases demonstrate the importance of corroborating the tool’s findings with other sources before drawing any conclusions about the causes of such damage. The author will continue refining and improving this tool in order to better understand the scale of damage to Ukraine’s many protected areas. Feedback or suggestions for improvements are welcomed. For further technical details on this tool and updates following the publication of this article, please read the description on the author’s GitHub page.
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celesionnn · 1 year
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-- REPLIKA UNIT INTERACTION LIST: SGLR --
ADLR
These two first appear to be quite different in personality -- while Segler units prefer physical tasks and wide open spaces, Adler units often fail to understand why this is the case when novels and puzzles can provide similarly stimulating experiences within the comfort of the dormitory. Despite this, it isn't unusual for Adlers and Seglers to develop a level of closeness akin to that of siblings -- the former "cleaning up" after the latter, a stern disciplinary approach veiling an appreciation for her hardworking nature; and the latter, though frequently annoyed with the former's stringency, regardless holding a level of respect bordering on idolization.
Adlers and Seglers commonly interact due to the nature of their respective work. Adlers are constantly sending and receiving paperwork/parcels, typically on behalf of their assigned FLKR unit.
ARAR
Under normal circumstances, Ara units and Segler units do not interact outside of the number of inevitable shell and exoskeleton repairs the latter require on a regular basis. While Seglers typically have no issues with Aras and even seek to show their appreciation for the frequency of maintenance requests, Ara units usually (successfully) attempt to avoid contact entirely. Segler units often bear the brunt of jokes within an Ara Cadre for their perceived overconfidence and lack of patience, though such jokes seldom make their way outside of a facility's service tunnel system. Despite this, Aras maintain a professional yet distant attitude when interaction with Seglers is unavoidable.
Aras and Seglers commonly interact due to the nature of their respective work. Part orders are frequent and most often fulfilled by one of a facility's Seglers.
Though deep interpersonal relationships are rarely observed between Aras and Seglers, a note should be made that it is not entirely unheard of. There exist multiple documented cases of Seglers returning from field work with species of wild flora normally unobtainable on-base, which are later discovered within the facility's service tunnel system.
EULR
Segler units are most likely to have positive interactions with Eule units, given that both possess relatively sociable natures. Eules are among the few that are able to completely comprehend Seglers' rapid-fire speech patterns, responding in kind and bringing them down from the peak of their excitement if required. It is quite easy to detect when a Segler has made a delivery to a Eule Cadre due to the fact that the average volume of conversation is commonly found to dramatically increase (usually much to the annoyance of any neighboring dormitories).
On an individual basis Eules and Seglers experience a below-average level of interaction, as Eules do not commonly require sizable shipments. However, if the Cadre is considered as a whole, it is not unusual to see a Segler in the Eule dormitory at least once a day.
[[While Seglers typically interact favorably with an entire Cadre, they will usually subconsciously favor one Eule in particular. Administrators must be monitor these relationships and be aware of any jealous behavior that may occur within the Cadre, as Segler units tend to be oblivious to such interactions and require intervention from a third party.]]
FLKR
As with other replikas, in the eyes of Segler units the Falke unit is a god-like figure. Seen as a beacon of absolute authority, Falkes are the sole individuals that Segler units will take orders from without question or attitude. With that respect comes a mix of emotions including idolatry, awe, and fear. It can typically be assumed that a Segler observed working at maximum capacity with minimal mistakes is on direct orders from their facility's Falke. While Falkes typically appreciate the hard work put in by Seglers, they treat them similarly to any other replika.
Falkes and Seglers rarely interact, due to Adler units typically acting as a proxy for any deliveries or expeditions.
KLBR
Interaction between Kolibri units and Segler units is crucial to the delivery infrastructure within each facility. Though Seglers commonly receive instructions in-person or through digital means, smooth function and quick changes are only made possible through utilization of the bioresonance network produced by a Kolibri Cadre. This means that Kolibris and Seglers often must communicate effectively in a professional setting, which has been shown to increase with improved levels of interpersonal connection. Segler units are therefore encouraged to spend time bonding with Kolibris from the Cadre most closely associated with their delivery range.
This can occasionally prove to be difficult, however, due to definite differences in the two units' neural pattern development. Similar to Adler units, most Kolibris prefer literature to physical activity, establishing a rift early on between them and the athletic Seglers. In addition, due to Seglers' excitable nature, Kolibris often find themselves struggling to use their bioresonance to return them to baseline. Some Cadres have discovered that presenting reading materials aloud allows them to simultaneously dampen Seglers' tendency for emotional volatility and form lasting bonds with them.
Despite these difficulties, most Kolibris and Seglers are on good terms. Both can be quite passionate about their interests and as long as this energy is directed into something productive, beneficial relationships can be established.
[[Administrators should be aware that it is possible for a Segler's emotional state to have a negative effect on the performance of the bioresonance network of a Kolibri Cadre. If such a case arises, the Segler unit should be immediately decommissioned and the members of the Cadre treated using emergency persona stabilization methods.]]
LSTR
On-base interactions between Elster units and Segler units are limited in scope and do not frequently occur; however, due to their shared nature as land scouting units, they are often required to perform expedition missions together. As one would expect, they are required to interact favorably, particularly on assignments where no direct and consistent contact with a gestalt is to be established.
Elsters' focused, no-nonsense attitude and Seglers' outgoing, talkative nature typically mesh surprisingly well. Though most assignments may start with the Elster ignoring most of the Segler's attempts to interact outside of required tasks, the latter's stubbornness and increasingly creative ways of getting the former's attention often allow Seglers to break through Elsters' cold exteriors. Elsters and Seglers sent on duo missions typically return with significantly altered neural patterns; while this was initially cause for concern, marked improvements in performance indicate that this is a beneficial result.
[[Administrators should be aware that while the previous statement is true, any Elster-Segler duos returning from scouting assignments should be closely monitored for a period of time upon return. While uncommon, there exist documented cases where loyalty shifts from that of the Nation to that of the paired unit. In such cases, both units must be decommissioned immediately.]]
MNHR
Like most other replikas, Segler units interact favorably with any Mynah units stationed in the facility (if present). Mynahs will typically look forward to visits from Seglers in particular, both because of their loose, honest attitude and because they usually come bearing news of the happenings in/around the facility. Mynahs act as a calm and accepting pillar of support for Segler units, who often jump at the opportunity to make deliveries down to the mining levels despite their fear of dark and cramped spaces.
As long as it is not to the detriment of efficiency, Seglers are encouraged to spend short periods of time with Mynahs. It has been observed on multiple occasions that Seglers who return from deliveries to Mynahs exhibit improvements to emotional stability for notable periods of time, likely due to favorable discussion and interpersonal connection.
Mynahs and Seglers commonly interact due to the nature of their respective work. Seglers deliver supplies and equipment to replace those used by Mynahs, as they themselves cannot often return to the surface levels of the facility.
STAR
Interactions between Star units and Segler units appear to be the most inconsistent among all those discussed here. Analysis of relationship and conflict data indicate that this may be due to Seglers' general distaste for or ignorance of the internal hierarchy that often exists within Star Cadres. Seglers tend to treat each Star equally regardless of their rank, which lowly-ranked Stars find refreshing but highly-ranked Stars see as incredibly infuriating.
Though Seglers lack the combat proficiency and overall physical capability of Stars, this does not stop their competitive nature from occasionally taking over. During their free time, they often seek out Stars to challenge in more trivial contests; this can either build rapport between Seglers and the Cadre or progress too far, creating unnecessary conflict.
Stars and Seglers somewhat commonly interact due to the nature of their respective work. While most repairs and equipment orders are fulfilled by the closest ARAR Cadre, Seglers still make the majority of smaller supply deliveries.
STCR
Unfortunately, Storch and Segler units tend to exhibit the most volatile interactions. This is believed to stem from the fact that Storches typically prefer control, organization, and focus, while Segler units generally despise strict rules, professionalism, and structure. Seglers' carefree attitude can drive even the most patient Storches to lose their temper, leading to a slippery slope of argument between the two. Despite Storches possessing a generally physically superior construction and higher level of authority, Segler units are typically not afraid to butt heads with them.
In an effort to avoid unnecessary conflict, any deliveries a Storch wishes to place should be made through a proxy, whether that be a Star within their associated Cadre or a KLBR stationed nearby.
[[Though both units report that they "try not to pick a fight with each other," administrators should be aware of the possibilities and organize jobs to reduce chances for interaction. When it is required, ensure that they are closely monitored to guarantee a professional exchange.]]
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distanthorizons · 3 months
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so what will the ranking system look like? any special ranks?
Hello, yes! We will have special and unique ranks for every clan.
Every clan will follow the pattern of having a leader, deputy/advisor, physical healer, mental healer, a Soothsayer/divinator, and a diplomat (acts as a messenger and peace keeper). The other "typical" ranks are warrior, apprentice, queen, kit, elder. The names of these ranks will depend on the group.
We also have 2 unique ranks per clan. An apprentice will be able to decide (or it will be decided for them) which role they are able to take. If they do not take the role of a healer or warrior, they have 2 other options. I will list them below! The information guides for the different groups should be coming out soon, but just to give you a sneak peek:
THE HIDDEN COVEN
Shadow Stalkers: The Coven's elite task group, highly specialized and highly skilled. They are capable of moving through the marsh undetected through the shadows, and are responsible and crucial for gathering information from other clans. Shadow Stalkers are used to spy on other clans, and as such are to report any threats or useful information, as well as those who are sent to infiltrate other territories if needed in a sabotage event. They are responsible for silent patrols, stalking silently to ensure there are no intruders or threats that go unnoticed within the territory, as well as are able to act as an emergency response team and swiftly warn of incoming threats.
Twilight Wardens: These are specialized cats who patrol and protect the Coven’s territory during the night. Their excellent night vision and ability to navigate the dark marshland makes them perfect defenders during the hours when other clans might be at their weakest. They are responsible for patrols and guarding among the twilight hours, where their excellent night vision helps them excel.
THE PEAK WATCHERS
Stone Jumpers: Specialized navigators of their rocky terrain. These cats have exceptional agility and strength, allowing them to scale cliffs with ease. They also can jump far distances, and are responsible for high-ground patrols and leading rescue missions within the cliffs.
Peak Watchers: The scouts and signallers of the group. They specialize in using the acoustics of the rift and rocky terrain to detect and project sounds. This allows the clan to communicate over long distances and detect potential threats early.
THE REED COLONY
Wave Riders: Specialized swimmers and navigators of the Colony’s aquatic territory. These cats have great swimming skills and a deep understanding of the lake and creeks. They are responsible for leading water-based patrols, rescues, and fishing expeditions.
Tide Watchers: Observant guardians of the Colony who specialize in monitoring the weather, water levels, and environmental conditions. They play a crucial role in predicting changes that could impact the clan, such as flooding, and preparing for these changes.
THE BRAMBLE KEEPERS
Fire Tender: Excels in the usage of fire and how to control it. Living in an area that is prone to intense overgrowth as well as forest fires during the dry summers is a recipe for disaster, so to combat this the group has formed a role that enacts controlled burns within the pine forest. These controlled burns allow for new growth to appear as well as burn away older growth, and gives less for forest fires to latch onto during the summer cycle, as well as provides the soil with nutrient rich ash that promotes new growth. As a group that values and reveres the cycles of life and death, and the seasons, fire tenders are seen as very brave and are respected for their role.
Pathfinder: The Pathfinder is an expert at navigating through the dense forest and hidden pathways of the Keeper’s territory. They specialize in scouting and creating safe routes, as well as planning new paths through the underbrush. They are very crafty and good at bramble weaving.
THE SKY RUNNERS
Wind Racer: The Sky Runners do not have individual healers; instead they have the Wind Racers. This role is important and core to the group, as each Racer is trained in the art of healing, both physically and mentally. They are trained to be able to carry any materials needed, such as bundles tied with grasses, and sprint long distances quickly (they act as the group's cat equivalent to a humans' EMT service). It is not an easy job, as it requires each Racer to keep a steady head under pressure and to be able to deal with whatever incident that may have occurred. Be it intergroup conflict, predator attacks, or even traps set by the hunter. The Sky Runners are known to not just have the Racers tend to their own group, but in dire circumstances are known to send them to other groups or even clanless cats in need.
Burrower: The tunnels within the grasslands and hills are not all burrows dug out by rabbits and coyotes, but the Sky Runners as well. Though they feel safer and more free under the stars, that wide open freedom can be a disadvantage at times, and circumstances will urge the group to go underground. Be it large predators or inclement weather, the Sky Runners are able to escape due to the Burrowers. Feeding into their semi-nomadic lifestyle, the Burrowers carve and expand upon tunnel systems within the hills precisely. Cats who are drawn to this rank tend to feel more comfort underground, finding safety within the enclosed walls. These tunnels help sustain The Sky Runners way of life.
We hope this helps to give an idea of what is to come, and we apologize of the length of this! Let us know if you have any other questions!
- Between Distant Horizons Staff Team
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