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dailyanarchistposts · 7 months ago

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Section I: Poverty and Waste (Modern)

Every efficient and wise government has at last the support of public opinion, whenever it opposes class egoism and class abuses. -- Gustav Schmoller [805]

Bristol-Myers Squibb engaged in anticompetitive acts to prevent generic pharmaceutical competition. [806] Fruit of the Loom has been moving its U.S. plants to cheaper areas, where sweatshop conditions flourish. [807] Eastman Chemical, General Electric Company, and Mitsubishi were named as three of the top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990’s for antitrust crimes, some of them being fined up to $26 million for their activities in destroying other businesses. [808] In 1997, General Electric Company, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Pfizer, and Whirlpool broke 89% of their promise to create jobs with the passage of NAFTA. [809] Mitsubishi was found guilty of an international price-fixing scheme, by increase the price of electrodes by more than 60 percent, from 1992 to 1997. [810] Eastman Chemical was found guilty of fixing the prices of a food additive between 1995 and June of 1997. [811] 3Com hid $160 million loss at its U.S. Robotics subsidiary from its investors in April to November of 1997. [812] In 1998, Fort James, Kimberly-Clark Corp, and four others conspired to fix prices on commercial paper between 1993 and 1998. [813] Comcast has systematically engaged in price discriminating, charging satellite services more for sports programs than cable companies do, trying to eliminate competing business. [814] In April of 1998, a class action suit against Knight-Rider claimed a price-fixing scheme. [815] In December of 1998, CVS has used unfair reimbursement policies against independent stores. [816] In 1999, the Government Accounting Office investigated companies for fraud and accounting irregularities. Over 900 companies were found guilty of irregular accounting, and had to restate earnings, including Aetna, BellSouth, Boise Cascade, Boston Scientific, Campbell South, Clorox, ConAgra, CVS, Dillard’s, JCPenny, Gateway, Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Kmart, Kroger, Lands’ End, Limited Brands Inc., Lucent Technologies, McDonald’s, Monsanto, Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, Rite Aid, SBC Communications, Sony Corp., Texas Instruments, Tyson Fresh Meats (formerly IBP Fresh Meats Inc.), Unocal, and Warnaco. [817]

In 1999, a former CEO of Doman Industries was found guilty of insider trading. [818] Over 500 Jamaican workers were laid off by Fruit of the Loom in search of cheaper labor. [819] General Electric would transfer 1,400 jobs from the United States to Mexico, paying Mexican laborers $2 per hour, as opposed to the unionized rate of $24 per hour. [820] In January of 1999, Hasbro closed down its factory in Fairfax, Vermont, to move to China. [821] In May of 1999, Toys ‘R’ Us, with Hasbro, Mattel, and Little Tikes conspired to restrict the sale of certain toys. [822] In November of 1999, Hollywood Media Corp. conspired with Blockbuster Video to restrict independents’ access to videos. [823] In December of 1999, AutoNation closed 23 of its superstores, laying off 1,800 workers, with profits as high as $490 million. [824] Citigroup allowed laundering of over $800 million in Russian mob money through its banks in 2000. [825] Jefferson Smurfit Group closed part of its plant in Des Moines, laying off 190 union members. [826] In January of 2000, Danone’s offices in Europe were raided in an investigation of a price-fixing cartel in French beer market. [827] Jones Apparel settled a price-fixing lawsuit by agreeing to pay $34 million. [828] Time Warner Inc. was involved in price-fixing scheme with other large labels by increasing the price of music CDs from $10 to $15. [829] In early 2001, Hewlett-Packard announced it would cut 2% of its workforce world wide, about 1,800 employees. [830] In 2001, Tyco International executives were using company money for illegal and unauthorized payments, causing a financial nosedive, with 18,400 Tyco workers losing employment. [831]

In early 2001, Viacom forced independent video store operators out of business, 150 of them uniting in a class-action suit. [832] In January of 2001, DaimlerChrysler announced a three year plan where it will lay off 20% of its North American workforce, a loss of 26,000 jobs. [833] In February of 2001, Bausch & Lomb settled a lawsuit for $17.5 million where it conspired with American Optometric Association to force customers into buying replacement contact lenses through optometrists. [834] In March of 2001, New York Appeals Court upheld a lower court’s decision against Prudential Financial, for breach of contract, fraud, and deceit and improper interference with existing contractual relations. [835] In April of 2001, Amazon.com patented parts of its e-commerce operation, including the site’s “one-click purchase” ‘technology,’ — the most simple, important, and obvious idea for e-commerce. [836] In April of 2001, Bristol-Myers Squibb tried to stop other companies from selling low-cost generic versions of its drugs. [837] In May of 2001, Johns & Johnson paid $60 to settle an antitrust case, in which it conspired with other companies to refuse to sell contact lenses through alternative channels, which offer lower prices. [838] In May of 2001, PG&E Corp. gouged consumers in the Boston Area by increasing electricity prices during power shortages. [839] In June of 2001, Schering-Plough, Wyeth Corporation, and one other corporation conspired to keep cheap generic drugs off the market. [840] Time Warner Inc. refuses to broadcast ads on its television channels to its digital subscriber line, engaging in anti-competitive activity. [841] In July of 2001, St. Laurent Paperboard Inc. purchased Smurfit-Stone Container Company, closing five of its paper mills. [842] In August of 2001, CVS submitted false prescription claims to government health insurance programs. [843] Sony Corp. has pressured retailers to sell video games at fixed prices. [844] Wal-Mart was selling some items below cost to drive out competitors in Wisconsin. [845]

In October of 2001, Barnes & Noble and Borders secured cheaper prices and preferential treatment from publishers, an antitrust activity. [846] DaimlerChrysler was fined $65.5 million for violating competition rules by restricting sales of its Mercedes cars in Europe. [847] Wyeth Corporation maintained a monopoly by requiring health plans and pharmacy benefit managers to sign exclusive contracts. for its pharmaceutical drugs. [848] In December of 2001, Ernor laid off 25% of its staff, about 5,100 people. [849] In 2002, Hasbro was fined $7.9 million for price fixing on toys and games. [850] Kmart was named as having one of the worst corporate boards by 2002 BusinessWeek, for multiple investigations into its accounting irregularities and irregular pay practices. [851] Four ex-Rite Aid executives were indicted for inflating the company’s profits while understating losses, causing stock to soar. [852] Schering-Plough was under investigation for price fixing and criminal investigation because its ingredients were not FDA-approved. [853] In March of 2002, Disney destroyed massive amounts of documents, hundreds of boxes, that would have revealed Disney’s practices of withholding royalties from innovators. [854] In April of 2002, Du Pont cut over 2,000 jobs, mostly in the US. [855] Levi Strauss announced its intention to close six U.S. manufacturing plants, affecting 3,300 workers. [856] Monsanto said it was closing one of its plants and cutting five percent of its workforce. [857] In 2002 of May, America Online cut off access to other internet service providers from its own customers. [858]

In June of 2002, WorldCom was found to being covering up $1.22 billion in loses through improper accounting. [859] Xerox restated five years of results when it was found to be inflating results and defrauding investors. [860] In July of 2002, Viacom used improper accounting to boost income by $118 million. [861] In August of 2002, Michael Kopper of Enron was found to be withholding $12 million that was obtained through fraudulent Enron transactions. With others, it totaled $23 million. Thirty other companies had to forfeit money to investors and employees. [862] In September of 2002, Du Pont paid $44.5 million to settle allegations that it blocked competing drug manufacturers. [863] Tyco International issued a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, detailing “illegal activity by former management that included nearly $100 million in unauthorized payments to dozens of Tyco employees at various levels.” [864] In October of 2002, Gap was awarded the title of having one of the worst corporate boards, cited for inside deals and other failures. [865] Qwest Communications would take a write-down of $40.8 billion, due to irregular accounting. [866] Time Warner was one of five record companies to pay $67.3 million for price-fixing. [867] In November of 2002, Gateway was investigated and found to using insider trading and wasteful spending on executive severance pay. [868] In June of 2000, a judge found Microsoft Corporation guilty of illegal business practices that push out competition and harm consumers. AOL Time Warner sued Microsoft Corporation for anti-competitive actions. Microsoft influenced international government officials from using open-source software, including Peru and India. In March of 2002, Sun Microsystems filed a private antitrust suit against Microsoft. In May of 2003, Microsoft paid $750 million in an antitrust case. In July of 2003, a judge approved of a $1.1 billion settlement between Microsoft and California consumers. Microsoft paid $23.5 million to the defunct software company Be Inc. in an antitrust case. Microsoft was sued in October of 2003 for predatory practices to protect its monopoly. In December of 2003, European Union held hearings in its antitrust proceedings against Microsoft. Seattle-based company RealNetworks filed a $1 billion antitrust suit against Microsoft in December of 2003. [869]

In 2000 and 2001, Qwest inflated the company’s revenues by $144 million. [870] In March of 2003, a jury found 3M guilty of using monopoly powers over big retails to destroy competition. [871] In March of 2003, Bristol-Myers announced the restatement of its previously issued financial statements between 1997 and 2001, and part of 2002, reducing their earnings by almost half. [872] In March of 20034, Halliburton was given a contract to Iraq without a bidding process. [873] In March of 2003, Lucent settled lawsuits by its shareholders for about $600 million, for misleading investors. The Export-Import Bank of the US is providing funding to Lucent Technologies for outsourcing to China, Mexico, and Vietnam. Lucent was also cited for overpaying its board. [874] In March of 2003, PepsiCo was found using unfair trading practices against competitors. [875] In April of 2003, Time Warner Inc. was sued for using “tricks, contrivances and bogus transactions” to inflate its stock and help top executives gain almost $1 billion in inside trading. [876] In May of 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against Enron with violating antifraud provisions and reaping more than $150 million in unlawful profits. [877] In June of 2003, two former vice presidents of Kmart were charged with securities fraud, making false statements to the SEC, and conspiracy to commit those offenses. [878] In July of 2003, the SEC announced that Citigroup and J.P. Morgan agreed to pay $236 million to settle charges that they helped Enron manipulate books to appear financially healthy. [879] In July of 2003, Kodak announced plans to cut between 4,500 and 6,000 jobs. [880]

In August of 2003, Bank of America and nine other US banks moved more than $17 billion into investment funds to shelter hundreds of millions of dollars from taxes. [881] In August of 2003, AOL Time Warner executives were found to use accounting irregularities, by overstating their revenue by at least $1.7 billion. [882] In September of 2003, Coca-Cola sought dismal of a $44.4 million lawsuit, filed by a former finance director who was fired for revealing alleged fraud and other wrongdoing in the company. Coca-Cola also made a decision to cut 1,000 jobs in North America. [883] In September of 2003, Enron’s former treasurer pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, becoming the first executive sentence to prison. [884] Levi Strauss & Co. announced that it would close its North American manufacturing plants, laying off almost 2,000 workers. [885] Coca-Cola violated a contract with Iranian soft drinks counterpart, and was levied $7.15 million against the company. [886] In October of 2003, a former manager for Tricon’s business analyst was indicted for insider trader. [887] In December of 2003, Hasbro announced plans to close a chain of stores. [888] In January of 2003, a former finance executive of Computer Associates admitted to lying to federal prosecutors, FBI agents, and members of the SEC during an investigation. He was aware of accounting irregularities. [889] An Enron former top accountant surrendered to FBI to face six federal fraud charges related to the company’s collapse. [890] Another employee of Enron, former Chief Financial Officer, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud, that caused the company to collapse. [891] Disney is one of several media companies outsourcing jobs in information technologies and back-office operations to India. [892] In April of 2004, Gateway announced closing 188 retail stores and laying off 2,500 workers. [893]

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craftymanticoreisland · 12 days ago

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Industry-specific VAT compliance audit service in UAE

Industry-Specific VAT Compliance Audit Service in UAE: Because One-Size Doesn’t Fit Anyone You know how annoying it is when you buy something marked "one-size-fits-all"—and it fits no one? Well, that’s exactly what a generic VAT audit feels like when you're dealing with sector-specific rules across UAE countries. Whether you’re selling luxury watches in Milan or SaaS subscriptions from Berlin, VAT isn’t just complicated—it’s downright personal.

So, if you're looking for a VAT compliance audit service in UAE, here's the truth: industry-specific isn't just a buzzword. It’s the difference between ticking boxes and actually staying out of trouble.

Let’s unpack that—without the jargon avalanche.

Wait—Does VAT Really Work That Differently Across Industries? In short? Oh yes. Wildly so.

Retailers deal with reduced rates, exemptions, and endless receipt headaches. E-commerce brands? They juggle distance selling thresholds, OSS (One Stop Shop), and digital goods madness. Construction companies bump into reverse charge schemes that can throw VAT returns into chaos. Marketing agencies touch multiple VAT jurisdictions without even realizing it—especially when buying ad inventory or services across borders. And that’s just scratching the surface. UAE isn’t one VAT system—it’s 27 slightly different flavors of it, each sprinkled with country-specific seasoning.

So yeah, if your VAT audit doesn’t take your industry into account, it’s not really protecting you. It's like using a weather app that only says "weather likely."

The Hidden Danger of ‘Almost Right’ VAT Reporting Here’s the part many businesses miss: being slightly off with VAT is often worse than being completely wrong.

Why? Because the mistakes go unnoticed longer—and when HMRC, the French tax authority, or the German Finanzamt finally do notice, they’re less forgiving.

Let me explain. Let’s say your SaaS platform is based in Spain, but most of your clients are in Germany and Sweden. You’re applying VAT based on customer billing address—which seems smart. But you missed a key nuance in the EU VAT rules: the place of consumption matters more for digital services. Now you're under-reporting in one country and overcharging in another.

Multiply that by 18 months, throw in interest and penalties, and you've got a financial migraine you didn’t see coming.

That’s why generic audits don’t cut it. They don’t ask the right questions for your field. They skim.

Rapid Business Solution: A Sharp Eye on Sector Nuances Now, if you’re wondering who’s actually doing this right, here’s a name worth knowing: Rapid Business Solution. These folks specialize in industry-aware VAT audits across the UAEan landscape. And we’re not just talking about a fancy dashboard with pie charts (though yes, they have those too).

They roll up their sleeves and dig deep—whether it’s looking at how your UK-based food export firm is treating zero-rated goods, or how your agency in Paris should be reclaiming VAT on subcontracted creatives across borders.

What’s refreshing is their hybrid approach: smart software + human tax pros who speak like humans, not tax robots.

How It Works: No Mystery, Just Method The process with an industry-specific audit team like Rapid goes something like this:

Initial review of operations – Not just your VAT returns, but your business model. Sector-specific compliance checks – Based on the relevant EU directives and national legislation. Transaction-level sampling – They go granular. Think: invoice by invoice, mapped against actual VAT treatment. Practical recommendations – Not just "here’s what’s wrong," but "here’s what you fix now vs. what can wait." You walk away not with a generic report, but an actionable VAT game plan. That’s gold, especially if you’ve got investors breathing down your neck or a multi-country expansion on the horizon.

Startups and SMEs: Don’t Wait Until It’s a Problem A quick note for founders and finance leads wearing 12 hats: You don’t need to be ‘big enough’ to need a VAT audit. If you’re selling in even one other EU country, that’s reason enough to double-check your VAT story.

Let’s be real—early mistakes compound. The longer you run with a faulty VAT setup, the messier the clean-up later. And it’s often the smaller businesses who get caught out because they “assumed the accountant was handling it.”

Truth bomb? Most general accountants aren’t trained in cross-border, industry-specific VAT intricacies. You need someone who lives and breathes this stuff.

For Enterprises: Complexity is Your Frenemy The thing about being a larger business? You’ve got systems. You’ve got people. You’ve also got way more opportunities for human error and conflicting processes.

For example, we’ve seen enterprise-level companies in logistics still apply domestic VAT rules to international shipments due to a misconfigured ERP module. And no one noticed for years because, well, the returns were being filed on time.

Industry-specific VAT audits at the enterprise level are less about “catching mistakes” and more about system resilience. Are your teams aligned? Are your billing systems reflecting the actual VAT liability in every market? Are your procurement contracts triggering reverse charges without anyone flagging them?

Rapid Business Solution gets this—and they work cross-functionally with teams to not just correct but prevent.

Marketing Teams—Yes, This Includes You Too If you're in marketing and you’ve ever:

Bundled products and services into a single campaign price, Run ads across EU countries with localized offers, Outsourced creatives or media buying across borders… …then congrats—you’ve just stepped into the VAT minefield without a helmet.

Industry-specific audits often reveal that marketing campaigns, especially bundled promotions or digital service packages, are misclassified. This can have knock-on effects across returns and revenue recognition.

A good audit team doesn’t leave marketing out of the picture—they pull them in. Because tax and branding don’t live in silos anymore.

How Often Should You Actually Run a VAT Audit? Great question. Short answer: It depends.

If you’re expanding across new EU markets, audit before the launch. If your industry has recently changed rules (like digital services did with the EU VAT MOSS/OSS updates), schedule an audit right after. If nothing major has changed but you’ve never done a VAT compliance check? You're due—like yesterday. Think of it like this: audits are like health check-ups. You don’t wait until something breaks.

What’s the ROI of Getting It Right? Honestly? It’s peace of mind, yes—but also real savings.

An accurate audit can:

Reveal reclaimable VAT you’ve missed Prevent double taxation across jurisdictions Reduce risk during tax inspections Streamline processes that slow your team down We’ve seen SMEs recover five figures simply by correcting outdated VAT setups for cross-border invoicing. That’s not just saving—that’s recouping.

The Takeaway: Generic Doesn’t Cut It Anymore Whether you’re running a SaaS startup in Amsterdam, a wholesale clothing line in Prague, or a marketing agency in Dublin, your VAT story is not like everyone else’s.

You need an audit partner who doesn’t just know VAT—they know your VAT.

And if we’re naming names again? Rapid Business Solution is a solid bet. They’ve seen the weird edge cases. They’ve helped clients dodge audit bullets. And they actually listen.

Because industry-specific compliance isn't about perfection. It’s about clarity. Confidence. And keeping your business moving without tripping over tax traps.

Follow this website rapid business solution: https://rapidbs.ae/

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agiratechnology · 1 month ago

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Revolutionizing Video Accessibility with AI Subtitling Services

In today’s digital-first world, video content is king. From marketing campaigns and educational modules to entertainment and social media, video has become the most powerful medium to engage audiences. However, accessibility remains a critical concern — especially for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, or those who speak different languages. This is where AI Subtitling Services come into play, bringing automation, efficiency, and inclusivity to the forefront of video production.

What Are AI Subtitling Services?

AI Subtitling Services use artificial intelligence to automatically generate subtitles for video content. These tools leverage machine learning, speech recognition, and natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to transcribe spoken words into on-screen text. The result is fast, scalable, and cost-effective subtitle generation that doesn’t sacrifice accuracy or timing.

While traditional subtitling often requires human transcribers to painstakingly sync text with dialogue, AI drastically reduces the time required — without compromising on quality. Modern AI models are trained on vast datasets to understand accents, dialects, and industry-specific jargon, making them incredibly robust and versatile.

Why Video Subtitling Matters More Than Ever

Before we dive deeper into CaptioningStar’s capabilities, let’s look at why subtitling is crucial for any brand that creates video content:

Enhanced Accessibility: Subtitles make content accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.

Wider Reach: With subtitles, non-native speakers can understand and engage with your videos.

Better SEO: Search engines can crawl subtitle text, improving your content’s visibility.

User Experience: Viewers can watch videos in sound-off environments like offices or public transport.

Compliance: Many regions require subtitled content for legal and regulatory reasons (e.g., ADA compliance in the U.S.).

AI Subtitling Services make it feasible to subtitle content at scale, especially for companies dealing with large volumes of videos.

CaptioningStar: Pioneers in AI Subtitling Services

As a trusted leader in the captioning and accessibility industry, CaptioningStar is at the forefront of innovation with its advanced AI Subtitling Services. The company understands that while AI can generate subtitles quickly, quality and customization are equally critical. That’s why CaptioningStar blends AI efficiency with human expertise to deliver exceptional results.

What Sets CaptioningStar Apart?

AI-Powered Accuracy with Human Oversight

CaptioningStar employs cutting-edge AI tools to generate fast subtitles — but unlike generic software platforms, they also include human editors to review and fine-tune the output. This hybrid model ensures near-perfect accuracy, corrects contextual errors, and maintains proper formatting.

Support for Multiple Languages

In today’s globalized market, multi-language subtitling is essential. CaptioningStar’s AI Subtitling Services support a wide range of languages, dialects, and regional accents. Whether your content is in English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, or even regional dialects, CaptioningStar ensures consistent quality across all languages.

Industry-Specific Subtitling

Different industries use different terminologies. CaptioningStar’s AI is trained to handle domain-specific language in sectors like education, healthcare, legal, media, and entertainment. This ensures that subtitles not only match the speech but also capture the correct context.

Custom Subtitle Styling and Branding

From font styles to positioning and color palettes, CaptioningStar allows for customization to match your brand identity. AI Subtitling Services don’t have to look robotic — your subtitles can be visually aligned with your content and audience preferences.

Compliance and Security

Whether you’re a government agency, educational institution, or media house, compliance with accessibility regulations is non-negotiable. CaptioningStar’s services meet ADA, FCC, and Section 508 standards. Additionally, with robust data encryption and secure file handling, client confidentiality is always protected.

Use Cases: Who Benefits from AI Subtitling Services?

Content Creators and Influencers

YouTube creators, podcasters, and social media influencers can drastically reduce turnaround time by using AI-generated subtitles. CaptioningStar makes it easy to upload content and receive polished subtitles quickly.

Corporate Training and E-Learning

Training videos, webinars, and e-learning modules become much more effective and inclusive with subtitles. Employees can learn at their own pace, rewind for clarity, and overcome language barriers.

Media and Broadcasting

TV channels, OTT platforms, and production studios benefit from faster post-production processes. CaptioningStar’s AI Subtitling Services help them release content faster, especially for live or near-live broadcasts.

Event Recording and Webinars

Virtual events, seminars, and conferences are often recorded and repurposed. Subtitling these recordings boosts their utility and audience retention. CaptioningStar enables instant subtitle generation for large-scale virtual events.

The SEO Edge: How AI Subtitling Services Help Your Content Rank Better

One often overlooked benefit of subtitles is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google and other search engines can’t “watch” videos, but they can read subtitle files. When you add subtitles to your content, especially accurate and keyword-rich ones, you boost your chances of appearing in search results.

CaptioningStar enhances this advantage by offering subtitle files in SEO-friendly formats such as .SRT, .VTT, and .TXT. These can be embedded directly into video players, uploaded to platforms like YouTube, or added as metadata for video SEO.

The Human Touch Still Matters

While AI is revolutionizing subtitling, it’s not entirely perfect on its own. Background noise, overlapping speakers, heavy accents, or poor audio quality can challenge even the best algorithms. That’s why CaptioningStar incorporates human editors who validate and refine AI-generated subtitles before delivery.

This hybrid model ensures you get the best of both worlds: speed and scalability from AI, and precision and empathy from humans.

How to Get Started with CaptioningStar’s AI Subtitling Services

Starting your journey with CaptioningStar is seamless:

Upload Your Video — Use their secure portal to upload your content in any format.

Select Language and Service Options — Choose your language, turnaround time, and subtitle customization preferences.

AI Processing + Human Review — Let CaptioningStar handle the rest.

Download or Integrate — Receive your subtitle files in your preferred format, ready to embed or publish.

Final Thoughts: The Future Is AI-Driven — and Inclusive

AI Subtitling Services are no longer a luxury — they are a necessity for any brand serious about accessibility, user engagement, and global reach. CaptioningStar’s advanced solutions blend the power of artificial intelligence with human oversight, delivering subtitles that are accurate, compliant, and customized to your needs.

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scholarinfohub · 2 months ago

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10 Best Summer Study Abroad Programs 2025 – #3 Will Blow Your Mind!

Ever dreamed of studying abroad, but can’t commit to a full semester or year? What if you could explore a new country, earn academic credit, and gain global experience all in just a few weeks? Welcome to the world of Summer Study Abroad Programs, short-term, high-impact opportunities exploding in popularity for 2025. But with hundreds of programs out there, how do you choose the right one?

We’ve done the digging and found the 10 BEST summer programs for 2025 that offer more than just sightseeing. These programs are academically solid, culturally immersive, and let’s be honest… insanely Instagram-worthy too. #3 might just change your life plans. Let’s dive in!

1. Rome, Italy – Art, Architecture & Ancient History (John Cabot University)

Avg. Cost: $4,500 (including housing)

Duration: 4–6 weeks

Study Roman civilization where it all began. This program blends daily classes with weekend trips to the Colosseum, Pompeii, and Vatican City. Perfect for history, art, or classics majors.

2. London, UK – Business & Global Markets (LSE Summer School)

Avg. Cost: $5,000–$7,000

Duration: 3 weeks per session

Study at the world-renowned London School of Economics, where you’ll network with international students and learn from industry leaders. This program is intense, but the resume boost is real.

3. Multi-Country Tour – Comparative Politics & Global Culture (IES Abroad)

Avg. Cost: $6,800

Duration: 6 weeks

Why settle for one city? Travel across three countries (like France, Germany, and the Netherlands) while studying comparative politics or intercultural communication. Yes, it’s a moving classroom, with lessons taught on the go.

4. Tokyo, Japan – Innovation & Technology (Meiji University)

Avg. Cost: $3,800

Duration: 3–5 weeks

Dive into Japan’s tech-driven culture while exploring the future of robotics, AI, and sustainable innovation. Includes company visits and cultural workshops.

5. Paris, France – Fashion, Language & Culture (Sciences Po & CEA)

Avg. Cost: $4,200

Duration: 4 weeks

Study fashion marketing and French language in the world’s fashion capital. Perfect for anyone dreaming of luxury branding or cultural diplomacy. Bonus: Classes are often held near the Eiffel Tower!

6. Barcelona, Spain – Design & Creative Media (Barcelona SAE)

Avg. Cost: $4,000

Duration: 4–6 weeks

Explore design thinking, film, and digital storytelling in one of Europe’s most creative hubs. Includes project-based learning and a final showcase.

7. Shanghai, China – Business & Mandarin (CIEE)

Avg. Cost: $3,500

Duration: 6 weeks

Experience China’s economic powerhouse firsthand while picking up survival Mandarin and exploring business innovation. Cultural excursions included!

8. Cape Town, South Africa – Public Health & Development (ISA by WorldStrides)

Avg. Cost: $3,900

Duration: 5–6 weeks

Ideal for health science or international development students. Learn about healthcare systems in under-resourced communities while contributing to service projects.

9. Sydney, Australia – Marine Biology & Environmental Science (University of Sydney)

Avg. Cost: $5,200

Duration: 4 weeks

Study coral reef ecosystems, oceanography, and climate change on location in the Great Barrier Reef. It’s science with a splash of adventure.

10. San José, Costa Rica – Sustainability & Spanish Immersion (API Abroad)

Avg. Cost: $3,200

Duration: 4 weeks

Live with a host family, study sustainable agriculture, and perfect your Spanish, all in one of the world’s most eco-friendly nations.

Final Thoughts

Summer study abroad isn’t just a fun getaway, it’s a fast track to real-world skills, global connections, and an unforgettable resume booster. Whether you’re into politics, science, art, or entrepreneurship, there’s a program tailored for you. And in 2025, employers aren’t just looking for degrees, they’re looking for experiences that set you apart.

So if you’ve ever said, “I wish I could study abroad but I don’t have the time,” this is your chance. Ready to turn your summer into something unforgettable? Drop a comment if you’re considering one of these destinations, or tag a friend who should see this!

#travel #study abroad #education

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teleperformance12 · 5 months ago

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The Growing Call Center Industry in Egypt: A Hub for Multilingual Careers and Outsourcing Solutions

Egypt has emerged as one of the top destinations for call center outsourcing, offering numerous opportunities for both companies and individuals. With its strategic location, competitive labor costs, and a growing skilled workforce, Egypt is becoming a hub for call centers that cater to international markets. The country boasts a variety of call center careers, from customer service roles to specialized positions requiring multiple language proficiencies. Whether you're seeking English, French, German, Russian, or Italian-speaking jobs in Egypt, the options are vast and expanding. French call center jobs in Egypt

The Best Call Center Companies in Egypt

Several global and local companies have set up operations in Egypt due to its strategic advantages. Some of the top names in the industry include Teleperformance, Sitel, and Concentrix. These companies offer various call center outsourcing services, ranging from customer support to technical assistance and telemarketing. Many of them provide excellent career paths and growth opportunities for employees, making them among the best places to work in Egypt.

Teleperformance, a global leader in outsourced customer experience management, is one of the most prominent employers in Egypt's call center industry. It has established a reputation as a "Great Place to Work," offering career progression, competitive benefits, and the chance to work in a diverse, multicultural environment.

Multilingual Call Center Careers in Egypt

Egypt is home to a highly educated workforce proficient in multiple languages. This multilingual skillset has made the country a prime destination for international call centers looking to serve diverse global markets. German Speaking jobs in Egypt

English-Speaking Jobs in Egypt: English remains one of the most in-demand languages for call center positions. Whether it's customer support or technical troubleshooting, numerous companies require English-speaking agents to handle their international clientele.

French, German, and Other European Language Jobs: In addition to English, French and German are particularly sought after. Egypt offers excellent opportunities for French-speaking jobs in call centers, with a growing demand for French-speaking agents to handle customers from Europe and Africa. Similarly, German-speaking call center jobs in Egypt are on the rise, especially in the context of German-speaking European markets.

Italian and Russian Speaking Jobs: There is also an increasing demand for Italian-speaking jobs in Egypt, particularly in the travel and hospitality sectors. Russian-speaking jobs are available in Egypt as well, especially for companies targeting Russian tourists or markets in Eastern Europe. german call center jobs in Egypt

Why Outsource Call Centers to Egypt?

One of the key advantages of outsourcing call centers to Egypt is its cost-effectiveness. Labor costs are significantly lower than in many European or North American countries, making Egypt an attractive option for businesses seeking to reduce overhead costs while maintaining quality service. Moreover, Egypt's time zone is highly favorable for serving European and Middle Eastern clients, offering 24/7 customer support.

Process automation outsourcing is also a growing trend in Egypt's call center industry, with many companies leveraging advanced technologies to streamline operations and improve efficiency. This makes Egypt an attractive destination not only for traditional call center outsourcing but also for cutting-edge solutions like robotic process automation (RPA).

The Future of Call Center Careers in Egypt

As the call center industry continues to grow in Egypt, more companies are looking to hire talented individuals for a wide variety of roles. For job seekers, Egypt offers opportunities in sectors such as customer support, sales, and technical assistance, all with multilingual requirements. The expanding call center outsourcing landscape in Egypt means there are more career opportunities, with both local and overseas companies offering competitive salaries and benefits. russian speaking jobs in Egypt

In conclusion, Egypt stands as one of the best places to work in the call center outsourcing industry, with a wealth of opportunities for individuals who are fluent in multiple languages. Whether you’re looking for an English, French, German, Russian, or Italian-speaking job, Egypt is quickly becoming a hub for call center operations, offering promising careers and the chance to work with leading international brands.

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saumya-unify · 5 months ago

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Job Opportunities in France for International Students

France, a global hub for industries like fashion, technology, and hospitality, offers abundant job opportunities for international students and graduates. This blog provides insights into the job market and how Indian students can leverage their education in France to build successful careers.

Key Industries for Employment in France

Technology and Innovation

France is a leader in AI, robotics, and software development.

Companies like Dassault Systèmes and Atos actively recruit skilled graduates.

Hospitality and Tourism

With iconic destinations like Paris and the French Riviera, the tourism sector is thriving.

Career roles include hotel management, event planning, and luxury services.

Fashion and Luxury Goods

Home to brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior, France is ideal for careers in fashion design, marketing, and merchandising.

Engineering and Manufacturing

Opportunities abound in aerospace, automotive, and renewable energy sectors.

Airbus and Renault are notable employers.

How to Prepare for the French Job Market

Language Skills: Learning French enhances job prospects significantly.

Internships: Gain practical experience during your studies.

Networking: Attend job fairs and leverage alumni networks.

Overseas Education Consultant Support: Seek assistance to align your skills with market demands.

Conclusion

France’s diverse job market offers numerous opportunities for international students. With the guidance of MSM Unify, a trusted overseas education consultant, you can build a successful career in your chosen field.

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izaguirreamerica1990 · 6 months ago

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✨ Happy New Year 2025! ✨

Today begins a new chapter full of possibilities, dreams, opportunities, hopes and blessings. This is the perfect time to leave behind what no longer serves us and embrace everything that inspires and motivates us

2025 is a blank book, let's make every page count! 🌟

I wish everyone a year full of health, work, money, love, peace and purpose. May hope never be lacking in your hearts and may everyone find the way to achieve their dreams. This 2025, let's move forward together with faith, gratitude and optimism

Yesterday, on New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve 2024, you had a good time, having dinner and playing with your family and friends

Yesterday, December 31, is the last day of the month and year

Today, January 1, is the first day of the month and year

12 months of the year and 365 days

Happy New Year

Happy 2025

Happy New Year 2025

Happy and prosperous New Year

Happy New Year 2025 to all my family, friends, acquaintances, clients, partners, colleagues from schools and work, directors, management and administrative staff and teachers from schools and companies, neighbors, brothers from the church and godparents, blessings and above all, good health. I thank God for allowing me to be here enjoying my parents, my grandmother and my brother

My independent company Macrosoft Computing or Fernando de Jesús Izaguirre González dedicates digital marketing, photography, videos, photo and video editing, digital transformation, culture, music, innovation, humanities, research, academic training and the development of ICT products and services and education

Amway and Vocees dedicate E-Commerce (electronic commerce) or digital business of online store for sales of health products, beauty, nutrition, home technology, home care, personal care, dropshipping or direct shipping, direct sales and online sales

Academy, school and Sports, Educational and Artistic Club of Chess, Dominoes, Video Games Esports, Robotics and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and CTIAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and Industry 4.0: Robots, Simulation, System Integration, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, 3D, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual, Augmented and Extended Reality and Big Data Izaguirre Tapachula

I am from Tapachultecho, Chiapas, Mexican and American or I was born and I am from the Municipality or City of Tapachula, State of Chiapas, Country Mexico, Continent America, Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy and Universe. I have European and Guatemalan ancestry, roots or blood. My ancestors were born in France, Italy, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain and Germany and came to Mexico and spoke their native language: French, Italian, Spanish and German, English and they needed to learn another language or second language, they studied and worked and died in Mexico

Thank you for being part of my life!

I love you!

Greetings from Tapachula

#HappyNewYear #FollowYourDreams

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erpinformation · 1 year ago

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#RoboticProcessAutomation #rpa

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languagetranslationsblog · 1 year ago

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Top 10 Highest-Paying Languages in the Translation Industry

The demand for skilled translators is skyrocketing in a globalised world where communication knows no borders. Businesses, governments, and individuals are constantly seeking linguistic experts to bridge the gap between languages and cultures. If you're considering a career in translation, exploring the languages that offer the highest financial rewards is essential. Here, we delve into the 10 highest-paying languages in the field of translation.

German

Known for its economic prowess and technological advancements, Germany stands as an economic powerhouse in Europe. As a result, the demand for German-English and English-German translations is consistently high. Industries such as automotive, engineering, and finance often require precise translation services to navigate the intricacies of German documentation. Language Services Bureau is a recognised Translation Agency listed by the German Consulate in Mumbai.

Mandarin

China's emergence as a global economic giant has made Mandarin a highly sought-after language in the translation industry. Businesses eager to tap into the Chinese market require accurate translations to navigate legal, technical, and marketing documents. Professionals proficient in Mandarin find themselves in high demand, often commanding lucrative compensation for their expertise.

Arabic

The economic influence and cultural significance of the Middle East have propelled Arabic into the upper echelons of highly paid translation languages. With over 40 Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East, Governments, corporations, and NGOs working in the region regularly seek translation services for legal, diplomatic, and business purposes. As a result, Arabic translators are often well paid for their specialised skills.

French

Known as the language of diplomacy, French continues to play a crucial role in international affairs. Organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union conduct their business in French, necessitating skilled translators. Additionally, the French influence in the luxury, aeronautics, technology, nuclear science, and fashion industries further boosts the demand for French to english translation services.

Japanese

Japan's status as a technological and economic hub has made Japanese a valuable language in the world of translation. The country's innovations in industries like robotics, electronics, and automotive require precise translation for global collaboration. Japanese translators often find themselves in high demand, especially in the tech and manufacturing sectors.

Spanish

With over 460 million native speakers, Spanish holds a prominent place in the translation industry. The cultural and economic ties between Spanish-speaking countries and the rest of the world create a constant need for translation services. From legal documents to marketing materials, Spanish translators play a vital role in facilitating communication on a global scale.

Hindi

As one of the most spoken languages globally, Hindi's importance is reflected in the demand for translation services. India's rapid economic growth and diverse business landscape make Hindi a key language for international corporations. Translators proficient in Hindi can find opportunities in various sectors, including IT, healthcare, and finance.

Italian

Italy's contributions to art, fashion, and design have made Italian a language of prestige and influence. Companies operating in these industries often require accurate translations to navigate international markets. Italian translators with expertise in specific fields, such as art or fashion, can command higher fees due to the specialised knowledge required.

Russian

Russia's vast economic and geopolitical influence ensures that the Russian language remains a high-demand language for translation services. Industries such as energy, technology, and finance often require Russian translators to navigate complex documentation and negotiations. The specialised nature of these translations contributes to the elevated compensation for Russian language experts.

Portuguese

As the official language of multiple economically significant countries, including Brazil, Portuguese is a key language in the translation landscape. The South American giant's growing influence in global trade and business makes Portuguese translators valuable assets. Professionals proficient in Portuguese can find opportunities in the agriculture and renewable energy industries, amongst others.

CONCLUSION

The world of translation offers many opportunities for those fluent in high-demand languages. As businesses and organisations continue to expand globally, the need for skilled translators will only increase. If you're considering a career in translation, mastering one of these high-paying languages could open doors to a rewarding and financially lucrative profession. Keep in mind that specialising in specific industries or niches within these languages can further enhance your earning potential, making you a sought-after expert in the field. Language Services Bureau provides international language training in translating some high-paying languages suitable for individual and group requirements.

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caddcentrenagpur · 2 years ago

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ATLANTA COMPUTER INSTITUTE in Nagpur is Central India's Leading and Best Computer Education Institute in Nagpur. Atlanta Computer Institute Nagpur Centers has been conducting IT Training Classes from last 27 years. Atlanta Computer Institute Nagpur is An ISO 9001 : 2015 Certified Company. The Computer and IT courses taught are Basic Courses, MS-Office , C , C++, Java , Advance Java , Python, SQL, Web Page Designing , PHP, MySQL, AutoCAD , 3d Studio Max , Revit , Staad Pro , Pro-e , Creo, CATIA , Ansys , Unigraphics NX , CAD CAM, Solidworks, ArchiCAD, Hardware , Networking , Photoshop , Coreldraw , Graphic Design, Web Site Development, Oracle , Animation Courses, Visual Basic, VB.Net , ASP.Net , C#.Net , Joomla, Wordpress, Revit MEP, Ansys CFD, PHP Framework, Search Engine Optimization, Animation Courses, MS Excel Course, Software Testing, Primavera, MS Project, Embedded Systems, Matlab, Programming Courses, Coding Classes, Dot Net Courses, Advance Dot Net LINQ, AJAX, MVC, Android, Multimedia, Illustrator, Google, Sketchup, Lumion, Rhino, V-Ray, Video Editing, Maya, ISTQB Software Testing, CCNA, CCNP, CCIE, MCSE, MCITP, MCP, MCTS, MCDBA, MCPD, MCTP, Red Hat Linux, Angular Js, HTML5 CSS3, Magento, Codeigniter, Cake PHP, Full Stack Web Development, Full Stack Developer Course, UI UX Design Course, Laravel, Bootstrap, Vmware, Data Analytics, Business Analytics, Power BI, Tableau, Data Science, Machine Learning, Big Data, R Programming, Python, Django, IT Training, Ecommerce, Matlab, Android, Robotics, Arduino, IoT - Internet of Things, Ethical Hacking, Java Hibernate, Java Spring, Data Mining, Java EJB, Java UML, Share Market Training, Ruby on Rails, DTP, Inventor, VBA, Cloud Computing, Data Mining, R Programming, Machine Learning, Big Data, Hadoop, Amazon Web Services AWS, ETABS, Revit MEP, HVAC, PCB Design, VLSI, VHDL, Adobe After Effects, VFx, Windows Azure, SalesForce, SAS, Game Programming , Unity, CCC, Computer Typing, GCC TBC, SPSS, ChatGPT, QuarkXpress, Foreign Language Classes of German Language, French Language, Spanish Language, Business Analyst Course, PLC SCADA, Flash , University Syllabus of BE, Poly, BCCA, BCA, MCA, MCM, BCom, BSc, MSc, 12th Std State CBSE and Live Projects. Project Guidance is provided for Final Year students. Crash and Fast Track and Regular Batches for every course is available. Atlanta Computer Institute conducts classroom and online courses with certificates for students all over the world.

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agiratechnology · 1 month ago

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Revolutionizing Video Accessibility with AI Subtitling Services

What Are AI Subtitling Services?

Why Video Subtitling Matters More Than Ever

Before we dive deeper into CaptioningStar’s capabilities, let’s look at why subtitling is crucial for any brand that creates video content:

Enhanced Accessibility: Subtitles make content accessible to the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.

Wider Reach: With subtitles, non-native speakers can understand and engage with your videos.

Better SEO: Search engines can crawl subtitle text, improving your content’s visibility.

User Experience: Viewers can watch videos in sound-off environments like offices or public transport.

Compliance: Many regions require subtitled content for legal and regulatory reasons (e.g., ADA compliance in the U.S.).

AI Subtitling Services make it feasible to subtitle content at scale, especially for companies dealing with large volumes of videos.

CaptioningStar: Pioneers in AI Subtitling Services

What Sets CaptioningStar Apart?

AI-Powered Accuracy with Human Oversight

Support for Multiple Languages

Industry-Specific Subtitling

Custom Subtitle Styling and Branding

Compliance and Security

Use Cases: Who Benefits from AI Subtitling Services?

Content Creators and Influencers

Corporate Training and E-Learning

Training videos, webinars, and e-learning modules become much more effective and inclusive with subtitles. Employees can learn at their own pace, rewind for clarity, and overcome language barriers.

Media and Broadcasting

Event Recording and Webinars

The SEO Edge: How AI Subtitling Services Help Your Content Rank Better

The Human Touch Still Matters

This hybrid model ensures you get the best of both worlds: speed and scalability from AI, and precision and empathy from humans.

How to Get Started with CaptioningStar’s AI Subtitling Services

Starting your journey with CaptioningStar is seamless:

Upload Your Video — Use their secure portal to upload your content in any format.

Select Language and Service Options — Choose your language, turnaround time, and subtitle customization preferences.

AI Processing + Human Review — Let CaptioningStar handle the rest.

Download or Integrate — Receive your subtitle files in your preferred format, ready to embed or publish.

Final Thoughts: The Future Is AI-Driven — and Inclusive

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muveone · 2 years ago

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What jobs are most needed in Denmark?

Denmark is a small Nordic country in Northern Europe, known for its high quality of life, social welfare, and happiness. Denmark is also a member of the European Union, the Schengen Area, and the Nordic Council, which offer many benefits and opportunities for its residents. But what jobs are most needed in Denmark? What are the skills, qualifications, and sectors that are in high demand in the Danish labour market? In this article, we will answer these questions and give you some useful information on how to find a job in Denmark.

What are the skills and qualifications that are in high demand in Denmark?

According to the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment, the skills and qualifications that are in high demand in Denmark are:

Language skills: Being able to speak and write in Danish is a great advantage for finding a job in Denmark, as most employers prefer candidates who can communicate with their customers and colleagues in Danish. However, being able to speak and write in English is also essential, as English is widely used in many sectors and companies in Denmark. Other languages, such as German, French, Spanish, or Chinese, can also be useful, depending on the industry and the market.

Professional skills: Having relevant and updated professional skills is crucial for finding a job in Denmark, as the Danish labor market is highly competitive and dynamic. You need to have skills that match the needs and expectations of the employers, and that can demonstrate your competence and value. You can acquire and improve your professional skills through education, training, certification, or experience.

Soft skills: Having good soft skills is important for finding a job in Denmark, as the Danish work culture is based on teamwork, trust, and cooperation. You need to have skills that can show your personality, attitude, and behavior, and that can help you interact and collaborate with others. Some of the soft skills that are valued in Denmark are adaptability, creativity, problem-solving, communication, and initiative.

What are the sectors and occupations that are in high demand in Denmark?

According to the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment, the sectors and occupations that are in high demand in Denmark are:

Health and social care: This sector is one of the largest and most important in Denmark, as it provides essential services and support to the population. There is a constant and growing need for qualified and skilled workers in this sector, especially in areas such as nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology, and social work.

Engineering and IT: This sector is one of the most innovative and dynamic in Denmark, as it drives the development and growth of the economy. There is a high and increasing demand for talented and experienced workers in this sector, especially in areas such as software engineering, web development, data science, artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology.

Education and research: This sector is one of the most prestigious and influential in Denmark, as it contributes to the knowledge and culture of the society. There is a steady and diverse demand for competent and passionate workers in this sector, especially in areas such as teaching, lecturing, tutoring, coaching, and researching.

Tourism and hospitality: This sector is one of the most vibrant and attractive in Denmark, as it offers a variety of experiences and opportunities to the visitors and the locals. There is a seasonal and fluctuating demand for friendly and professional workers in this sector, especially in areas such as hotel management, restaurant service, tour guiding, and event planning.

How to find a job in Denmark?

If you are interested in finding a job in Denmark, here are some tips that can help you with your job search:

Use online platforms: There are many online platforms that can help you find a job in Denmark, such as websites, apps, and portals. You can use these platforms to browse and apply for jobs, create and upload your CV, and network and communicate with employers and recruiters.

Use offline networks: There are also many offline networks that can help you find a job in Denmark, such as clubs, groups, associations, and organizations. You can use these networks to meet and connect with people, attend and participate in events, and get information and advice. Some of the offline networks that you can use are EURES, International House, Meetup, and Toastmasters.

Use personal contacts: There is also a possibility that you can find a job in Denmark through your personal contacts, such as friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances. You can use these contacts to get referrals, recommendations, and introductions, and to access the hidden job market. You can also use social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to expand and maintain your personal contacts.

Why choose MuveOne for your removals to Denmark?

If you are planning to work in Denmark and move to this beautiful country, you will need a reliable, professional, and affordable removals company to help you with your relocation. That’s why you should choose MuveOne, the leading international European removals company that offers the following benefits:

You can book your removals to Denmark online or by phone, and get a free and instant quote for your move.

You can choose from a range of services, such as packing, unpacking, storage, insurance, and customs clearance, to suit your needs and budget.

You can enjoy a fast and safe delivery of your belongings, with a dedicated and experienced team of movers, drivers, and coordinators, who are trained, licensed, and insured.

You can track your shipment and communicate with your team, and get updates and support throughout your move.

You can pay by cash or card, and get a receipt and a guarantee for your move.

MuveOne is the best choice for your removals to Denmark, whether you are moving for business or leisure, alone or with a family. MuveOne can make your move a smooth and stress-free experience. Book your removals to Denmark with us today and get the best deal for your move!

#removalscompany #muveone #removals-to-denmark

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mansurali2343 · 2 years ago

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Education Excellence: Exploring the Dynamic Landscape of Schools in Dubai Introduction.

Dubai, a city known for its opulence and architectural marvels, is also home to a thriving education system. With a diverse population and a commitment to providing quality education, Dubai offers a wide range of schools that cater to various curricula and educational philosophies. In this article, we embark on a journey to explore the dynamic landscape of schools in Dubai, delving into the myriad aspects that contribute to the city's pursuit of educational excellence. We will examine the remarkable growth and transformation of Dubai's educational institutions, shedding light on the innovative approaches, cultural diversity, and exceptional facilities that make this city a compelling choice for students and educators alike.

1. International Schools: Embracing Global Education

Dubai's cosmopolitan nature attracts expatriates from all over the world, resulting in a rich cultural tapestry. International schools in Dubai play a crucial role in providing education that is globally recognized and caters to the needs of diverse communities. These schools follow curricula such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), British, American, and Indian, among others. By offering a multicultural environment, international schools foster a sense of global citizenship among students, promoting cultural understanding and tolerance.

2. State-of-the-Art Facilities: Creating Optimal Learning Environments

Dubai's schools are renowned for their state-of-the-art facilities, which contribute to creating optimal learning environments. From modern classrooms equipped with the latest technology to well-equipped science and computer labs, these schools prioritize providing students with the tools they need to excel academically. Additionally, many schools offer extensive sports facilities, including swimming pools, sports fields, and indoor sports halls, promoting a holistic approach to education that emphasizes physical well-being alongside academic achievement.

3. Emphasis on Innovation and Technology: Preparing Students for the Future

Dubai is at the forefront of technological advancements, and its schools reflect this commitment to innovation. Many schools integrate technology into their teaching methods, utilizing interactive whiteboards, tablets, and online learning platforms. This emphasis on technology equips students with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital age. By incorporating coding, robotics, and other STEM-related subjects into their curriculum, schools in Dubai prepare students for the future job market, where technological literacy is increasingly essential.

4. Multilingual Education: Nurturing Global Communication Skills

Dubai's multicultural environment is reflected in its schools' language offerings. Many schools provide bilingual or multilingual education, allowing students to learn languages such as Arabic, English, French, German, and more. This exposure to different languages enhances students' cultural understanding and opens doors to global opportunities. Multilingual education also fosters effective communication skills, enabling students to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures

5. Focus on Extracurricular Activities: Holistic Development

Schools in Dubai recognize the importance of extracurricular activities in a well-rounded education. They offer a wide range of activities, including sports, arts, music, drama, and community service. These activities not only promote physical and creative development but also foster teamwork, leadership skills, and personal growth. By encouraging students to explore their passions and interests outside the classroom, schools in Dubai nurture holistic development and help students discover their talents and potential.

6. Support for Special Educational Needs: Inclusivity and Individualized Support

Dubai's schools are committed to inclusivity and providing support for students with special educational needs. Many schools have dedicated learning support departments and employ trained professionals to ensure that every student receives the necessary assistance and accommodations to thrive academically and socially. By offering individualized support, schools in Dubai create an inclusive environment where every student can reach their full potential, regardless of their learning differences.

7. State-of-the-Art Facilities

The pursuit of educational excellence in Dubai is not limited to the classroom. The city's commitment to providing world-class education extends to state-of-the-art school facilities. Modern campuses equipped with the latest technology, well-maintained sports complexes, and vibrant arts and cultural centers offer students a holistic educational experience. These facilities empower students to explore their interests and talents in a nurturing and inspiring environment.

8. Innovative Approaches to Learning

Dubai's educational institutions are not content with the status quo. They are constantly evolving and adapting to embrace innovative teaching methods and technologies. Blending traditional educational values with cutting-edge techniques, schools in Dubai are at the forefront of educational innovation. From STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs to experiential learning initiatives, students are encouraged to think critically, solve problems, and prepare for the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Conclusion

School in Dubai is a testament to its commitment to providing quality education to its residents. With a wide range of international schools, state-of-the-art facilities, emphasis on innovation and technology, multilingual education, focus on extracurricular activities, and support for special educational needs, the School in Dubai offers a diverse and enriching educational experience. Whether you are a resident or an expatriate, school in Dubai provide an excellent platform for students to grow academically, socially, and culturally. By embracing global education, fostering innovation, and prioritizing holistic development, school in Dubai prepare students to become well-rounded individuals equipped to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and competitive world.

Dubai's education excellence is not a static achievement but an ongoing journey. The city's educational landscape embodies the vision of a thriving, diverse, and innovative community, preparing students for the future's challenges and opportunities. In this article, we will take a closer look at the various elements that contribute to Dubai's education excellence and how they play a pivotal role in shaping the leaders of tomorrow. We will also hear from educators, students, and parents who have experienced the dynamic educational landscape of Dubai firsthand. Together, we will gain insight into the vibrant tapestry of learning and opportunity that defines Dubai's education system.

#school in dubai

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ravenvsfox · 5 years ago

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klance holodeck fic 1/2

Lance is gone. Lost in the plunging gaps between astral bodies, sewn into an invisible seam in spacetime. Missing, for two long years. It’s impossible, to think of the time he's already lost with him. Time passes strangely in a war, and stranger still in space. Stars gasp their dying breaths and ripe dust clouds give birth to whole planetary systems. Some light reaches them with its centuries-old fingers and some can’t weather the journey. So many beings shiver and die. Lance would be twenty now. He tries not to think about it.

Keith can't bring himself to grieve when he knows Lance is still out there. Instead, he follows versions of him down holographic rabbit holes, trying to pry closure out of his memories, and losing himself to an obsession with the simulated landscapes where Lance was never lost.

(Read on AO3)

At first, it’s a french restaurant.

Slate grey and stationery white, sunlight drooping over the tablecloths like curling petals on calla lilies. Keith presses the knot of his tie into the hollow of his throat and swallows against his fingers. The get-up is ridiculous—grey suit, red tie, cufflinks, Italian leather shoes.

He’s never worn anything so expensive or well-tailored in his life, and he can already picture the precise geometry of Lance’s expression when he sees him: badly suppressed smile, like a slipped disc, his cheeks puckered.

Keith seats himself next to the window, fiddling almost immediately with the circlet of his napkin ring. The trees outside rustle and drizzle shade over buskers and vendors across the street. His designer watch has both hands folded over the twelve. A waiter breezes past and lays a rectangle of cardstock in front of him, smiling conspiratorially. As soon as he’s out of view, Keith has forgotten his face.

He looks at the menu, and the transition from the burbling restaurant to the cramped typeface is disorienting, like a cut scene in a video game. When he puts the menu down again, his head is swimming sickly with words like bordelaise and remoulade. And then, like a sweet apparition from a terrible dream, Lance drifts through the doorway.

For a moment, the sight of him is impossibly painful.

Keith’s fingers go again to the knot of his tie, and he makes an involuntary noise, gulping air as if surfacing from extreme physical exertion.

“Lance,” he chokes.

Lance smiles, quicksilver. “Hello.”

“You’re here,” Keith says, staggering to his feet. He crosses the bistro to take Lance bracingly by the wrists. The napkin holder is still in his hand, and the circle of it presses into Lance’s forearm so tightly that his skin bulges through it a little. “Do you—do you know where you’ve been?”

Lance should be defensive, or sly, or angry, or bashful. He should be telling a story that Keith can barely follow at a pitch that he can barely stomach, bragging about all the stupid things and downplaying all the impressive things.

Keith knows that’s not how this works, but still. It’s the Lance he knows.

He focuses on the brittle warmth of his body, the details that are just right. His heart breathes into the paper bag of his chest.

Lance just keeps smiling wanly. His hair is styled wrong—there’s too much volume, and it swoops down too close to one eye. His tie is robin’s egg blue. “No need to get up for little old me.”

Keith shakes his head, off-balance. “What?”

“I’m here to spend time with you! Why don’t we take a seat?”

Keith swallows painfully. It’s like looking at an animatronic figure of his friend—a jolting uncanny robot at an amusement park. “Lance, look at me.”

“How could I not?” he says cheekily, and winks. But his eyes haven’t quite settled into the same groove as Keith’s.

“Tell me—“ Keith starts. “Tell me what you remember. Tell me who you are.”

“Oh, you know me,” he says. “Name’s Lance ‘Loverboy’ McClain, blue paladin, sharpshooter extraordinaire, and defender of the universe.”

“Please.” It’s meant to be derisive, but it ends up falling somewhere closer to desperate. His hands slide up from Lance’s forearms to his shoulders. The napkin ring clatters pointedly to the floor. In a wide, embarrassing moment of weakness, Keith says, “you have to--be him. At least try.”

Lance chuckles.

Keith shakes him, and his shoulders jitter unnaturally.

“Come on. What’s the point if you can’t even act like him? Who would fucking buy this?”

“I don’t—“

“Stop using his voice,” he warns. His hands have crept up to Lance’s neck, and abruptly he lets go, repulsed at the almost-familiar feel of him.

“I would also be pretty overwhelmed to meet an intergalactic celebrity,” Lance assures him.

He’s starting to breathe too fast. He keeps seeing the real Lance—craned into the three-dimensional spread of a star map, brow furrowed, freckled hand curled loosely in the handle of whatever hot drink he found planet-side—superimposed over this stranger’s weird, unblemished face.

“Who am I?” Keith demands.

Lance grins. “My date.”

Keith pushes him hard in the chest. He nearly topples into a neighbouring table, and it’s unlikely, how he keeps his gangly legs underneath his body.

“Easy, sweetheart,” Lance says. “This isn’t the place for roughhousing.”

It’s the wrong cadence, but it’s so like something Lance would say that it’s debilitating. Keith stumbles through the momentum of another graceless shove.

“I told you to stop using his voice,” Keith snaps. “This is cruel.”

“Didn’t you want to meet me here?” Lance asks innocently.

“Of course I did. But you’re not—not—” Suddenly, he’s so fatigued with disappointment that he can’t speak.

After a long moment, he feels an ephemeral hand on his shoulder. And with the help of the ghostly waitstaff, the false Lance maneuvers him back to his place at the table. “Just tell me where to look and I’ll go there,” Keith begs, half-stumbling, half-dragged into his seat. “I swear. I know I can find you, I’ve faced bad odds before.”

“How about a drink?” Lance is saying, apparently unfazed.

“I thought that if you thought like Lance, maybe I could talk an answer out of you,” Keith says. Lance cocks his head, pleasantly receptive. “But really I thought I would look at you and I would feel better. Or at least I would feel angry. But you’re worse than a punching bag.”

“Red?” Lance says, and Keith’s heart is—airborne.

“What?” he asks sharply.

“Wine,” Lance explains. “Red or white?”

His whole body caves in. Rockslide. Catastrophic. He looks into Lance’s wide, earnest eyes, feeling uncomfortably like he’s levelling a shotgun at a newborn. “Neither. End simulation.”

The bistro melts instantly into the oily blackness of the Paladin Simulator.

His jaw is clamped tightly with shame and grief, and as the dark presses in, he folds his arms self-consciously over his chest. He’s ending his session an hour early, and he’s grateful, now, for the uninterrupted quiet.

He shouldn’t have let himself do this.

It should have been obvious what a bad idea it was when he didn’t tell any of the other paladins what he was planning; he was already falling back into his old, knee-jerk isolation, trusting only himself with his secrets.

He just couldn’t take any more of their pity. It was constant, wide-eyed, confused—why would the person who got along with Lance the least feel his absence the most? Sometimes, Hunk looked at Keith exactly the same way he looked at an old clunker of an engine that was in need of replacing.

Keith had heard tell of the simulators years ago, they all had. Liberated planets with the tech (and the admiration) had started building little cyber shrines to Voltron. Like a hyper-advanced arcade game, you could plug in your specifications, step into the simulator, and play out your wildest fantasies.

He’d gathered that tittering fans, unexceptional nerdy types, and bright-eyed kids were the most common customers; the lettering on the swinging board out front promised all kinds of adventure and celebrity:

Join Voltron! Become one of the gang, fighting Galra scum and saving the galaxy from tyranny!

Enjoy a candlelit dinner with the paladin of your choice, and get up close and personal with your hero!

Pick up your very own bayard, and spar with living combat legends! Who will win?!

Although it’s more advanced than the training room controls on the castle of lions, the programming still has its limits. The likenesses aren’t really supposed to stand up to the scrutiny of someone like, say, a paladin himself, but the experience is still sensory, impossible, the science fiction daydream of someone on Earth.

Lance used to love the idea of it, joking that it was the Star Trek filler episode he always wanted. He said he would win every game, romance himself, and beat up holo-Keith without feeling bad about it. He said he could finally stop pulling punches when Keith was just, like, light particles and shit.

In his grief, Keith convinced himself it was right and just and necessary to believe in a false lead. He told himself that the coat rack in the dark looked enough like a person that maybe he could hang all his hopes on it.

And so he had sought out the small, ever-bright planet of Seachmall, where night lasted for twilit months, and massive outdoor markets boasted every good and service you could possibly think of. Continent to continent there were melting, zipping lights, sky-high neon encircling tall buildings like bangles, and criss-crossing lanterns—buoyant in the low gravity—coasting up towards their celestial cousins.

In the capital, the local population joyfully shared liquor and arm-clasping greetings, speaking in the fast creole dialect of a port city, dancing to reality-bending music that haunts every forking path in a dizzying labyrinth of market stalls. Every single day on Seachmall was a feverish, luminous midnight that raged unceasingly past its breaking point.

And every step in the springy too-dark soil, every halting conversation in common, every sizzling technological spectacle that borders on nightmarish, Keith thought that Lance would have eaten this experience alive.

But Lance is gone.

Lost in the plunging gaps between astral bodies, sewn into an invisible seam in spacetime. Missing, for two long years.

It’s impossible, to think of the time he's already lost with him. Time passes strangely in a war, and stranger still in space. Stars gasp their dying breaths and ripe dust clouds give birth to whole planetary systems. Some light reaches them with its centuries-old fingers and some can’t weather the journey. So many beings shiver and die. Lance would be twenty now. He tries not to think about it.

Often, he resents those years he spent on a space whale, cresting out of his teenage years faster than he could track, trying to staunch the flow of memories with the paladins before he lost them all. He gets double vision looking at his mother, thinking of what he knows about love and struggling to apply it to this stranger.

When Lance disappeared just months after Keith returned to the castle of lions, he understood, finally, that loss is the bitter shrapnel of love.

In an alternate universe, Keith would have threaded Lance’s difficult needle, held his jaw, sharp and slight as a paring knife, and told him every wriggling, guilty, breathless feeling he’s inspired in him since they were sixteen.

In that universe, he stepped out of the time warp and into Lance’s embrace, and they were never parted again.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, Pidge started to refer to Lance in the past tense. Allura took over piloting Blue full-time, and Keith Red. The castle, already barren with the loss of Altea, became even more eerily quiet. Keith’s guilt swelled up and took any of their remaining teamwork hostage.

Space is so massively large and radiantly indifferent, but Lance is out there, surely, or Keith would have felt Voltron’s current being disrupted, as it had been when Shiro blinked out of the Black lion. But time stretched on, and he felt nothing at all.

When Lance disappeared it was from the middle of a battle for a nothing quadrant of space, and he was practically teleported out of the fray. They recovered his lion on a smalltime Galra ship within the hour, no sign of a struggle, no sign of Lance.

It was eery. Impossible. They interrogated sentries and hacked systems, combed entire light years of space using Allura’s wormholes. They waited for a distress signal, an apology, a triumphant return. But he just—vanished.

Keith ripped through the galaxy for any scrap of him, a blue flash, those bright ringlets of laughter, the flush of his skin tone in a kaleidoscope of different species.

Allura and Shiro joined him on the ground at first; Pidge, Coran, and Matt worked tirelessly to devise a tracking system, while Hunk took Red apart, hoping to unlock the moment that she and Lance had detached—but it was like her memory had been wiped clean. All they could feel was the panicked thrum of her loose bond with Lance, Keith more than anyone.

Romelle and Krolia hadn’t known Lance for long, but they always came when called. More bodies in the search party, more hands in the alliance. Once, he caught Romelle’s lip wobbling during a debrief, and he remembered the way that Lance had dragged an extra chair in for her first team meeting, winking, and then laughing himself to stitches when Romelle tried to wink back and couldn’t.

In pieces, Keith understood that he loved Lance, and as always, he was processing an obvious truth too late. His grief was swollen purple, and even as he told himself that no one would ever, ever understand, he knew they did. All around him they did, loudly and at length, hurting at such a frequency that Keith was scared it would drown out Lance’s return.

He left the castle of lions more frequently, turning over whole populations, infiltrating Galra ship after Galra ship, singularly driven—but also callous and unbalanced without his team, participating in more violence in six months than he had in five years of war and survival.

Once, Keith stumbled into Lance’s abandoned room and pulled clothes and trinkets out of his closet, stirring up the smell of him and crying like a child. He picked fights with his mother, because she had been a terrible absence once, too. In the artificial light of castle dawn, he sparred more than his body could sustain, and when he found a planet full of unmarked tombstones in his search, he ripped at the ground with his bare hands until his fingernails tore.

The longer he looked, the more he found that the whole universe was exquisite with death, every piece of it burnt out and drifting into expanding blackness. He was so tired of feeling like space rock himself, fast, deadly, and aimless, waiting to burn up in the atmosphere somewhere. So, heart striving ahead of his body like an eager dog, pockets full of tokens, he wandered Seachmall until he found the flashy booth where he would waste the next eight months of his life.

He leaves the simulated french restaurant that first time fully believing that he’ll never be so weak again, but it’s barely twenty vargas before he’s back, trembling all over.

He finds Lance in a simulation of battle, and in the rush, it’s much easier to forget that he’s a fake.

“Not this time, amigo,” Lance crows, looping around an enemy ship and blasting ice the whole time, showing off. Keith is shocked to find a smile bruising his own face. His hands close over fake-Red’s controls. It’s so strange, not feeling her at all while he’s piloting. It’s as impersonal as a Garrison sim, but eons more advanced, nearly authentic. He can feel the heat of battle through Red’s visor, and as always, his calloused thumbs creak against the wheel when he turns too sharply.

“On your right,” Keith warns.

Lance dodges dutifully. “Thanks!”

I know, Lance groans, in his memory. I’m out here flying too, Keith, this isn’t one of those drills where I’m fucking blindfolded—

“Red Paladin,” Allura’s voice cries, weirdly high and operatic. “The evil lord Zarkon is moving in for the kill. You must help us form Voltron!”

“Yeah, right,” he huffs.

The forming itself is so stupid, obviously programmed by an outside observer who’s never felt the itch of unity, the reverse detonation of an impossible bomb, where every scattered thing fits back together to be whole again.

There’s a silly bit of choreography, and fake-Red goes on rails, like a carnival ride. And then, without feeling anything concrete, Voltron pulls in around him.

“Hooray!” Pidge says, sounding like a munchkin from The Wizard of Oz.

“Nothing can stop us now!” Shiro says, sounding like Shiro.

“Can we get back to putting Zarkon in a second grave now, please?” Keith says.

“Always the fighter, Red,” Lance says. Keith blinks.

“I love you,” he blurts.

“Aw,” Hunk says. “I love you guys too.”

“Lance—“

“Use your sword? Exactly what I was thinking,” Lance says.

“Let’s do it,” Shiro says. “Use your bayard, Red.”

“I know,” Keith snaps.

It’s obvious that the simulation has programmed Red in as shorthand for whatever player is in his spot. It would be the same no matter what lion was chosen, but hearing Lance’s nickname for him out of Shiro’s mouth is just—stunningly wrong.

The world trembles from the impact of a Galra bogey, uncomfortably real, and his instincts press him into action.

He turns his bayard in its slot, and the sword shimmers into reality. He watches at a remove as Voltron slices at Zarkon’s craft.

It’s actually starting to get to him, the memory of this battle, the reality of which was a lot more challenging, and much, much uglier. He remembers his frenetic pulse in his fingertips, the threat pressing endlessly past their defences, the damage to Green’s hull, and the awful discovery of Black’s empty cockpit afterwards.

He shudders.

“End simulation.”

In the dark, the adrenaline eases its panicked hands from his throat. You’re alive, he reminds himself. You survived. So did Shiro. So will Lance.

______

The next day, he goes back again.

He spars with himself, out of curiosity, and then with Shiro and Lance, but the holo-paladins are uninspired, easily blocked, programmed to strut and preen through choreography more than they are to improvise and adapt. Lance doesn’t play dirty even once, and Keith shuts down the simulation again, gutted. He wishes there were different difficulty levels, like the bots in the castle. You could program almost anything into—

He stops, midway back to his cruiser, the braid of market-goers loosening around him.

He taps twice on his communicator, and hastily opens a channel with Pidge.

After the long, peculiar swish of the line connecting, she answers, “‘sup?”

“I need you to do something for me.”

“Urgently?” she asks, distracted. He can hear the clatter of keys and the beep and whir of her latest project.

“It’s about Lance.”

The clatter stops. She doesn’t speak for long enough that Keith feels truly bad about himself. And then, “well Jesus, Keith. Isn’t it always?”

He breathes out. “How comfortable are you with the holodeck interface?”

“Very,” she says, no hesitation.

“And do you still have those files from a couple of deca-phoebes ago? That user profile thing you tried to instate, the uh—“ he dodges a Seachmallian waving a kebab in his direction.

“Yes, Keith,” Pidge drawls. “What, do you think I burn data when my projects don’t pan out?”

He shrugs, though she can’t see him. “I would.”

“Forgot who I was talking to,” she says flatly. He’s paused at the ice-cold entrance of a shop selling edible soap bubbles, light and iridescent.

“Do you think you could put together a—a simulation, compatible with a more advanced operating system?”

There’s a throb of silence. “What exactly are you asking me to do, here?”

He closes his eyes, still ducked under the awning of the store, feeling the cold move through him. “Don’t make me say it.”

“You want Lance,” she says. “On a fucking USB.”

“I want to find him,” he growls. “Remember when you wanted that too?”

“That’s low,” she says, deadly. “I’m not the one who’s trying to sleep with a hologram of my dead friend so I don’t have to grieve him.”

He cuts off communication. He feels feverish with embarrassment, and completely sick to his stomach. Candy bubbles breeze past him, over the apron of the booth across the way, which is advertising robot fights—both in Seachmallian and blocky common.

He remembers Lance, a lifetime ago, saying, when I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship.

His comms ding, and he jabs the accept button on his wrist.

“Fuck you,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” Pidge says. “I don’t know why I said that.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” he says fiercely.

“I know.”

“I just need to know if it was premeditated, if he ever had a safe house or a code in case we got separated, something we could look for.”

“It’s not the worst idea,” Pidge says thoughtfully.

“I know.”

“But I do think it’s a pretty terrible idea for you to do it.”

He grits his teeth, upset in a directionless kind of way. “I can handle it.”

“I know you’re on Seachmall,” Pidge says, “and I already thought that was going to get pretty gnarly. All they’ve got is, like, the mythology of us. Can you imagine what the information in the Altean databases could do to that kind of tactile VR experience?”

“Sort of,” Keith says.

“It would be like if all the OG broadway actors showed up to participate in a high school production of Cats, comprende?”

“No,” Keith says, waspish. “Less.”

“It’s the next step for Altean hologram technology for sure. It would probably revolutionize AI. It’s also not real, Keith.”

“I don’t need it to be real,” Keith snaps. “I need a lead.”

“Well,” Pidge says slowly. “You know I can do it. Can you wait a few quintants?”

He sets his jaw, and against the deep blue horizon, a billboard gleams so brilliantly yellow that for a moment, he thinks it’s the sun.

“As long as it takes.”

______

Keith meets Pidge when she touches down on Seachmall, windswept and gaunt, and although he doesn’t really understand what she intends to do, he dutifully distracts security as she futzes with the control panel.

It’s barely fifteen minutes before she beckons him into the alley adjacent to the simulator room, a sample platter of bolts and wires spread out around her knees.

“Alright chief, it should be compatible, now.” She pulls a stray length of cable from where she’s been holding it between her teeth and pockets it. The little nib of her ponytail bobs as she stands.

“So it’ll be him this time?”

“I mean, almost exactly. I programmed his profile into the grooves set into the existing simulation, but I softened the edges a little so he’s not too self aware. I don’t want him realizing he’s a projection, I’m not that cruel.”

“Right,” Keith says, uncomfortable.

“If you don’t find what you’re looking for and you have to go back in, all you’ve gotta do is punch in this code.” She jabs him in the chest with a folded piece of card, as close to paper as they’ve been able to find out here, and twice as durable. She could have sent him the info, but they both know this transaction is better left under the table. “The system should wipe itself automatically when you’re done. And Keith—“ Her hand flattens on his dark chestplate, and her eyes are troubled. “Please don’t forget why you’re doing this.”

He nods, and puts a gloved hand over hers. “I won’t. I’ll figure this out, and I’ll find him.”

She nods back, a wobbly smile rolling over on her face.

“Okay,” she says. “Okay, I gotta go. I can’t—I wish I could see him, but.”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees sadly.

She smiles again, fleeting, and gathers her kit. “We can’t spare another paladin,” she says, quickly, like it doesn’t matter. “Don’t get lost in there.”

He opens his mouth to reply, but she’s already putting her visor down, and walking out into the crowd.

______

This time, he finds himself on a boardwalk during a powder pink sunset. The air smells blisteringly of salt and roasting meat, and faceless people mill over the beach: parents holding hands with kids, couples sharing shaved ice, a galloping golden retriever in a red bandana.

The leftover scorch of the day blows in off the coast to meet him, like the wave from an open oven door.

He walks purposefully onto the sandbar, craning in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of a familiar face. He feels—pre-heartbroken, caught in the final moments of a long walk to an open casket.

“Where’ve you been?”

He whips around, and Lance is pulling one earbud out, squinting into the sun at him.

“Lance?” he asks, through what feels like a mouth full of marbles.

“Uh-huh,” he says, eyebrow quirked. “The one and only.” He settles back into the shade of his umbrella.

Keith shakes his head to clear it. There’s a red and white striped towel set out next to Lance’s, and he sinks down onto it, overcome. Is this Earth? Did Pidge program this specifically? Is it one of the date settings on the simulator? He can’t remember. He can’t see past the illusion at all.

Lance offers him an earbud. “Come on, Red, will you relax? Pretend you’re not the kind of person who sleeps with a knife under your pillow.” He accepts the bud, numb, and tucks it in his ear. He’s expecting synth pop, but it’s an old R&B song, smoky and familiar. “No overthinking on the beach.”

He can’t stop looking at him. It’s uncanny—the dusky chapped lips, the mole next to his mouth, the cowlick over his ear. His eyes are intelligent, laser-focused on Keith. “Where are we?”

“Dear sweet Keith. Senile at age twenty. So sad.”

“Shut up.” He has to look away, to mask the full-colour magazine spread of conflicted feelings on his face. It all feels a bit like a lucid dream that he shouldn’t jostle too hard. “I’m not used to this.”

Lance’s expression softens. “Hey man, I get it. Being home is weird. Sometimes it’s like—I can’t even remember how we got here.” He shakes his head. “But also I’m so happy to be back, I’m like—screw PTSD.”

His chest aches, badly. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“Rich coming from you, Mr. repression,” Lance says, rolling his eyes.

“I’m not doing that any more,” Keith says. “I’m working through my shit.”

“How admirable.” His mouth twitches. He produces a Palm Bay from his slouchy little backpack, tossing it from hand to hand as if testing its heft. “I’m drowning my sorrows in coolers, personally.”

And then he lunges, spritzing the can open in Keith’s face.

“Jesus, Lance,” he sputters, smacking it out of his hand. They scuffle, briefly, and that helpless, ebullient laugh blows past him like candy bubbles.

“Your—face—“

“You’re so immature—“

“Easy, cowboy, don’t you remember what team bonding looks like?” He pinches Keith’s cheek teasingly, and Keith grabs his wrist.

A pulse flutters under his fingertips.

He scrambles backwards, clothes dragging against the sand, a stray sandal popping off. The heat and grit is so real. If he focuses hard enough on the smell of meat coming off the boardwalk, his mouth waters. Lance looks at him incredulously.

“What? That’s too far for you? I barely touched you!”

“You touched me,” Keith repeats. He can still feel that pulse, like a second heart in his own body. He stands up, shedding sand, and Lance looks up at him, mild expression tinted with hurt. Keith sways, sidelined by a wave of vertigo. He can’t be here right now. “End—“

“You’re being so weird. Like Kuron all over again.”

He stops. “You think I’m a clone?”

“Obviously not really,” Lance says, getting up on his knees. “But that is the level of weird we’re dealing with here. You’re looking at me like you’re about to cry.”

“It’s just—home.” He gestures awkwardly. “Tandem bikes. Coconut sunscreen. Seagulls eating fries out of the trash. The ocean. Earth reminds me of you.”

"Birds eating garbage reminds you of me?" Lance quirks a skeptical expression at him. “Maybe you are working through some shit.”

He reaches for his abandoned sandal, dusting sticky sand from the straps. “You can’t even imagine.”

“Try me.”

Keith looks across at Lance’s calm, determined face, and the words rise up in him like a groundswell.

“I know I haven’t earned it, and I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but I miss how things used to be. And the worse everything gets the more I keep wondering what you would say, or do, and I hate that—god,” he breaks off, and presses his palms briefly to his eyes. “I mean, you would’ve had no way of knowing how I felt. I didn’t even know. But I should’ve—I just thought we would have more time after the war, or I would die and it wouldn’t matter. And I guess I assumed you were always going to be there, because you always were, even when I didn’t want you to be, and now—I don’t know, Lance, I don't know how I’m supposed to go to the castle, or pilot Red, or look at the planet I grew up on without remembering how much you loved it, and how much I love you—“

“Keith, what?” Lance says, alarmed. “You’re freaking me out.”

“Where are you?” he frets.

“I’m here.” He crawls closer, but Keith can't look at him. He watches the fussy waves coming in off the shore instead. “I’m right here.” He rests his hands on Keith’s ankles, and he has to steady himself on Lance’s shoulders when his knees go loose. “Man, I shouldn’t have joked about PTSD. I mean, I feel like this sometimes too.”

Keith looks down into his face. “What?”

“You know, like I’m back there. Like—time doesn’t even exist. Being off-planet was such a bitch sometimes. You feel like you can disappear in all that open space. And sometimes you want to.”

“Lance,” Keith whispers. “You wanted to disappear?”

“Yeah, sometimes,” Lance says, serene. “Just for a while. Let someone else defend the universe for a bit, preferably an adult. Hey, don’t look at me like that, I didn’t do it!”

“You would have told us,” Keith says, through bloodless lips.

“Sure,” Lance offers.

“No. No. You would’ve said something.”

Lance takes his hands away uncertainly.

“I wouldn’t have done it,” he says flatly. “I’m just telling you that I understand being pissed off, and I understand wanting to—hit pause.”

“What about hitting stop?” Keith asks. “What about disappearing so thoroughly that whole galaxies full of alien technology can’t find you?”

Lance’s face is a spinning wheel; he cycles through all manner of confusion, impatience, and worry before settling on defensiveness. “What the fuck are you talking about? Are you out of your mind?”

“If I am, it’s your fault,” Keith snaps. “How could you leave us?”

“How could I leave?” There’s no question now, that this is data from his Lance. His tetchy, self-conscious anger is unmistakeable. “You’re the one who ditched us for the Blades right when we were at a tipping point. You’re the one who wadded two years up and threw them in the trash. You didn’t have to care about us but you absolutely should’ve talked to us. We were a team.”

“You think I don’t care about you?” Keith laughs. “That’s fucking hilarious.”

“I’m really laughing,” Lance says sarcastically. “I don’t know what sort of crazy pills you took that made you think that I’m the deserter out of the two of us. I wish I could be that delusional. I may have wanted out once or twice, but I would never, ever leave the people who need me.” He’s fuming, and the wind is blowing through his curls like it’s trying to placate him.

Keith’s anger wobbles. It hurts, to hear Lance talking this way after so long. It’s not the reunion they deserve.

“I know. I know that.”

Lance sits back on Keith’s towel, frowning. He brushes the drained cooler away, and the remnant dribbles out and darkens the sand. “I don’t know why you always have to ruin everything.”

Keith’s throat aches, and he crosses his arms protectively over his chest.

“Me neither.”

Lance glances up, surprised. And then his gaze slides purposefully beyond Keith, considering. After a moment something comes over him, and his whole demeanour changes. “Keith,” he says softly. “Did you say you loved me?”

Keith screws his eyes shut. After a moment he hears Lance moving closer, reaching out, fingertips barely grazing the back of his hand—

“End simulation. Please.”

He crouches in the dark. “Please.”

______

“Oh, fuck you,” Lance crows. He ducks out from under Keith’s staff, and then grabs the end of it, using the momentum to slide through Keith’s wide stance.

He spins around, and Lance is five feet away, holding his own staff up to his eye like a sniper rifle.

“Bang,” he says.

“This is close combat,” Keith reminds him. He throws his weapon like a spear at Lance’s ankle, and he yelps when it makes contact.

“How is that close combat? You javelin wielding motherfucker. You should be disqualified, and jailed for your crimes.”

He watches Lance shake out his foot like it really hurts, testing his weight and pretending to stumble, falling forward—and then whirling around in time to clash staffs with Keith.

“Shit,” Lance laughs, up close, hot with exertion, putting the pressure of his body weight on the cross they’ve made between them. “Thought I had you.”

“Do you want to surrender?”

“Do you want to kiss my ass?” Lance retorts.

Keith steps out of the way, and Lance’s momentum sends him tumbling head-first to the floor.

“Sure,” he says coolly. “Turn over.”

“What the hell,” Lance says, rolling onto his knees, flustered.

“You lost.”

“Yeah, whatever, like six to five.”

“Six to four,” Keith corrects, and offers him his hand. Lance pretends to spit into it, then flops back onto his hands instead.

“If we were duelling with pistols, I would humiliate you. You would have to drop out of Voltron.”

“By that logic, you should be packing your bags right now.”

Lance throws his head back and laughs. “I’m going to fucking kill you, Kogane.”

“Try me.”

Lance shrugs, but just as Keith starts to look away, he throws himself at him. It’s so unexpected that Keith actually goes down, wrists slammed to the mat on either side of his body, wind knocked out of him.

Lance laughs breathlessly, looming messy and sweaty above him. “Wow, that was embarrassing for you. Your arrogance is your downfall.”

“You’re my downfall,” Keith says, a little too flat and sincere across the top, and Lance purses his lips.

“You’re taking this too seriously, dude.” He lets go easily, and rolls out on his back next to him instead. He flexes his wrist in the air above them both, and Keith watches his fingers work. “Why does it feel like it’s been forever since we sparred?”

“It has,” Keith says simply.

“I guess,” Lance yawns. “I can’t even remember the last time.”

His heart is still pounding from the first serious, sustained training he's done in months. When Lance goes to sit up, Keith puts a staying hand on his chest.

“Hey, Lance," he says. Lance hums. "If you got separated from your lion for any reason, would you—what would you do?”

He frowns. “I dunno. Alert you guys. Rescue mish.”

“What if you couldn’t contact us?”

Lance looks sideways at him. “Not loving this thought experiment. Why are you being so weird?”

“Please,” Keith says, taking Lance’s sore wrist, feeling for the artificial thud of his pulse. “Just—answer.”

“Uh. I don’t know, am I captured? Or planet-side?”

Keith swallows. “Planet-side.”

Lance nods, considering. “If the locals are part of the alliance, I would get their intel, and find a way to reach you. If not, I guess I would lie low. Wait for a friendly ship and signal them.”

“That could take years. It might never happen, depending on where you ended up. Like—alien vessels aren’t cruising over Earth very often.”

“Says you,” Lance jokes. “The truth is out there.”

“You could die waiting,” Keith insists, dropping his hand. “What if the atmosphere wasn’t compatible? The flora and fauna? What if your suit was compromised?”

“I would heroically overcome all obstacles, whistle for my trusty lion, and ride off into the cosmos,” he replies sardonically, “what do you want from me?”

“I just think we should have more rescue protocols in place in case something goes south.”

“Right,” Lance says slowly. “Well, I mean—and I’m going to try and get through this without gagging—I have your back, man. And if we get separated, I’m pretty sure you can take care of yourself.” He gestures at their discarded staffs. “Not as well as me, of course,” he sniffs, glancing sidelong at Keith to see if he’s cheered him up.

Keith feels the phantom weight of Lance’s body crushing him to the mat, a window of weakness pried open, broken and entered. He breathes out. “Yeah. You’re too good for that.”

______

He asks Pidge for more scenarios, and more user profiles. For fleshing things out, he tells her. For recreating the circumstances under which Lance was lost, testing his reactions to different situations, and introducing as many variables as possible.

Slowly, inevitably, he starts to lose control of it all.

He’s still a correspondent to the Blade of Marmora, and he’s on call as a paladin, but they haven’t been able to form Voltron in years. He’s perpetually out of sync with the rest of the universe, living more and more like a washed-up casino-goer, existing only for the market stall where he can plug his friends in and relive the past.

He pays off the owner not to ask questions, and gets an apartment on Seachmall, barely the size of a lion cockpit, just a sparse kitchenette and a twin cot. He spends hours in the simulator and crashes on his bare mattress, bathed in the constant, spectacular glow from the street lights.

Every time he staggers away from the market he has to remember that the real Lance is rotting somewhere, and he’s here playing dress up with shadows.

It’s all easier, in the holodeck.

He loads the original paladin line-up into battle, relives their victories and rights their wrongs. He finds himself in the kitchen of the castle of lions, in a ballroom overlooking a fathoms-deep canyon, curled in Lance’s bed so he can finally sleep. He takes his friends to Earth a hundred different ways.

There’s always a fog, a strangeness about them when they think too hard about where they are, but he knows it’s a mercy. He ends each simulation on the verge of spinning out, functionally pulling the trigger on his dearest friends.

Reality sags out of his grip. Pidge and Hunk call sometimes, and often Kolivan or Allura will give him status reports, scattered missions, and lectures that walk the line between morally superior and deeply, uncomfortably worried. When Shiro starts up daily check-ins, he understands that they all know what he’s been doing, lost on Seachmall for so long.

“You’re taking care of yourself, right?” Shiro asks.

“Yes,” Keith tells him. He’s staring at the empty wall across from his bed, absently sharpening his knife. “I’m just killing time.”

“We really miss you around here. It’s too quiet.”

He tests his blade, rolling his shoulder. “I’m not exactly bringing the party when I’m out there.”

Shiro hums. “I don’t know, you certainly keep things interesting.”

Keith snorts.

“I’m serious!” He can hear the smile in his voice. “There’s only so much quantum mechanics and ancient magic I can take before I want to hit something. I want my sparring partner back.”

They lapse into silence, and Keith traces patterns in the air, enjoying the fine metallic sound of a weapon without a target.

“You know we’re still looking, right?” Shiro asks. Keith stops cutting the air, and puts his knife down on the bed beside him.

“Are you?”

“Yes,” Shiro says. “Of course we are. Allura and I are visiting every contact she has, and Hunk and Pidge are working—overtime. We’re picking up a lot of slack here.”

The back of his neck prickles with guilt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shiro sighs. “I’m telling you this because you’re my brother.” But he has his diplomat voice on, which Keith has always hated. “And I don’t know if you’re thinking about what it’s going to do to the rest of us if you don’t come back from this.”

“From a simulator?” he asks, incredulous.

“From grieving,” Shiro corrects. “I would never tell you to stop looking, but I think you know you’re not going to find him in those projections.”

“I could,” he says stiffly. “He tells me things—every day he gives me clues and he doesn’t even know it.”

“He doesn’t tell you anything,” Shiro says gently. “Because it’s not him. Do you remember when Allura had to let go of her father? It was so easy for her precious memories to be corrupted, and even easier to get swept away in the illusion. Everything in a simulator is finite, Keith, but you can’t be. You have to grow, and change, and move on.”

He thinks of every different shade of Lance he’s seen, every secret door that gives and leads to another wing. “You don’t get it.”

“Of course I get it. If Adam—“ he cuts himself off, and his breath shudders over the line. “You’re not the only one to be feeling this loss, or to be struggling.”

“But I never even got to love him," Keith argues. “I never got close enough to put any of these feelings anywhere, and now they’re everywhere. No one ever gives me the chance to love them before they—“ he swallows, and when he goes to speak again he finds there’s nothing else to say.

“I know how hard it’s been for you,” Shiro says sadly. “But Keith, understand—we all love you. No matter where we are or what we’re doing. We don’t have to verbalize it to feel it.”

“Okay,” he says, numb.

“We love you,” he reiterates. “Lance did too.”

“Thanks for checking on me Shiro,” he says, and hangs up.

______

“No way, no way, no way,” Lance crows. “This is slander.”

“It can’t be slander if all of us were there to see it,” Hunk says, but he can’t look at Lance without cracking up.

“You’re remembering wrong,” he says. “She asked me to give a speech.”

“She asked you not to,” Pidge says, rolling her eyes. “Begged you, even.”

“Boo,” Lance laughs. “I was just trying to have a good time at alliance banquet number five zillion.”

They’re clustered on blankets between the yellow lion’s hulking paws, in the soft local vegetation of one of the last planets they liberated as a team. They were buzzed, when this conversation actually happened, but Keith hasn’t been able to replicate that particular feeling through the simulator.

“I don’t know why you always have to lie to these people,” Keith says, just as he did on the actual occasion.

“Embellish,” Lance protests. “I live by the principle that everyone wants to hear the best possible version of the story, and you owe it to them to tell it.”

“But the best version is almost never the real version,” Hunk says, exasperated.

“I dunno man, what’s real anyway?” Pidge says, easing back into the blankets. “Our lives are such a clusterfuck as it is. The line of what’s actually impossible gets farther away every day.”

“Yeah,” Lance says. “What squidge said. Lying is cool.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Pidge complains.

“What, I’m agreeing with you,” Lance says, grinning. He leans over to give her a big-brotherly hair-pull that she intercepts with a karate chop.

“People deserve to know the truth,” Keith says mechanically, following the script, but then feeling flushed and hypocritical all at once.

“Okay, here’s a truth, universally acknowledged: Keith sucks,” Lance says.

“Hm. Sounds like another lie to me,” Hunk says, and Lance reaches up to steal his headband in retaliation. Hunk rolls his eyes and lets him have it, like he’s appeasing an overactive puppy.

Something skitters in the dark, beyond the dunes of Yellow’s paws.

“Don’t you have a rebuttal, Keith?” Pidge asks, sitting up on her hands.

“Why are you encouraging them?” Hunk groans.

Keith shrugs and stays silent; Lance’s gaze narrows shrewdly.

“You aren’t one of those weepy drunks, are you?”

Keith picks at a loose thread in their shared blanket. “No, I just changed my mind,” he says, veering off-book. “I don’t know why I was acting like it was ridiculous that you like telling stories, when it obviously makes people feel better to believe them.”

“Oh. Well. Glad you came to your senses,” Lance interrupts, overly loud. He always seems to hate it when Keith gets sincere like this. He begs for attention but recoils when he gets too much.

“Most of these alliance parties happen after a long period of unrest. So… what, you helped grieving people by acting like a superhero? To them, you are a superhero. God, I couldn’t stand that you took so much credit for our victories, but I should’ve given you more.”

Lance blinks at him.

He remembers with fire-bright clarity how this scene actually played out, the way Keith kept needling at Lance’s hero complex, accusing him of making things up so he could pretend he’d been helpful. Lance had dialled his bravado to a screaming pitch so he could hide the soft, spoiled look in his eyes where Keith had lodged a cruel sword that he couldn’t pull out.

Now, Lance purses his lips so he doesn’t have to figure out what to do with his expression.

“Huh,” Pidge says, chewing on a pseudo-protein bar from their rations. “That’s some unexpected character growth.”

“Are you… feeling okay?” Hunk asks.

Keith looks miserably down at his own crossed legs until Lance says, “not that I don’t appreciate it, but you did just do kind of an impressive one-eighty.”

He looks up. “Yeah, sorry. I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

Lance smiles a little, relieved. He waggles the flask they’ve been sharing in his direction. “You just need to drink more.”

“No,” Keith disagrees, shaking his head. “I want to remember this.”

______

He opens his eyes to the world on its side, gritty endless flatlands sprayed out against a hazy auburn sky.

He rolls, putting his arm over his face, a visor against radiant twin suns.

He doesn’t have to look to remember the architecture at his back, a cubist explosion of edges and colours, each shape squared off and set into the hills. When the paladins liberated Imedemaa, they were offered accommodation in homes that corresponded to their lions: terracotta red, cobalt blue, mustard yellow, foliage green, and a brown so dark it could pass as black.

It’s his favourite place to visit: brilliant views, kind people, warm bed, privacy and proximity bumping shoulders comfortably.

Keith rolls again, sitting up. He feels heat-sick, and if it were real, he knows he would be bruised tan in the coast-to-coast sunshine. He’s spread out on the same outdoor palette where he fell asleep nearly three years ago. His apartment is warm, dull red, nearly orange. The shimmering public baths sparkle with activity just below his balcony.

“Yoo-hoo, neighbour.”

Keith squints over the waist-high wall and finds Lance clambering from his own balcony onto Keith’s.

“You’re going to fall to your death.”

“Nah,” Lance says, swinging a leg down over the railing and sitting contemplatively with one foot dangling over empty space and the other brushing the floor. “There’s a pool down there. Worst case scenario I perform an exceptional and history-making canon-ball.”

Keith watches him climb the rest of the way over, staggering and sitting heavily on Keith’s palette next to him.

“Oof,” he says. Lance's skin is dazzling in this climate, dark and freckled like granite. The simulation reminds him that he smelled like lotus, this day, fresh from the baths, warm shoulder and drizzling wet hair. “Are you ready to absolutely blow this popsicle stand?”

“And do what?” Keith asks, a little breathless from proximity.

“Did you seriously forget? It’s racing day!”

“Oh,” Keith says faintly. “Right.” They used to rent speeders for fun sometimes; the whole team participating at first, and then Keith and Lance alone when they surpassed friendly competition into bet-making and sabotage.

They would sneak back whenever they could swing the time off, careening around dusty corners and ramming one another’s speeders into hysterical tailspins. They would sob with laughter and then spritz their canteens all over each other, tussling in the dirt, so coordinated that it was almost an embrace.

The thought of it had driven him out of bed this morning, but he felt sick and shaky as he typed Pidge’s code into the simulator, setting the modified location of Imedemaa and rolling into a memory so fine and warm that it reminded him of death itself.

“Woah. easy, Red,” Lance says, his voice sharp with concern. Keith comes back to himself to realize that he’s angling into a panic attack, holding his own head in his hands. He can’t spoil this memory. Not this one.

“I—I—“ He can’t speak. Lance makes a dismayed noise, his entire demeanour turning inside out.

“Can I hug you, man?”

Keith jerks his head ‘no’. “I—can’t—you—“

Lance gets to his feet, and Keith grabs at him, hooking fingers in a belt loop, a fistful of shirt, whatever his hands find first.

“Hey, shh, it’s cool, I’m just getting you some water.”

Keith shakes his head again. “Don’t leave me.”

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” Lance asks softly, sitting back down. “We don’t have to go racing today.”

Keith huffs this weird cartwheel of a laugh, and scrubs a hand over his eyes and nose.

“I think I dreamed you were dead,” he tells him. He doesn’t look up into his face, but Lance’s chest is steady in front of him, rising and falling evenly with each breath.

“Who, me? I’m fine, Keith, look at me.”

“It felt real.”

“Pretty sure it wasn’t,” Lance says, laughter tucked into his worry like a concealed weapon. Keith looks up at him, and Lance beams under his full attention. He wipes the tears from Keith’s cheeks with his thumbs.

Abruptly, he can’t stand it.

“You’re a hologram,” Keith whispers. Lance’s smile falters.

“What?”

“Do you remember how Pidge took our mental blueprints?”

Lance nods quickly. He’s not brushing Keith off, he’s not slow with disbelief. He’s clear and sharp and his face is increasingly overcast with fear.

“I’m using your data in a simulation. This holiday on Imedemaa, it was years ago. You’re not the real Lance.” It hurts, to admit it, but it’s clear that it hurts Lance much, much more.

“No,” he chokes. “No, I feel real.”

“I know you do,” Keith says, reaching for his hand.

But Lance jerks away, standing and reeling backwards, hands splayed out on red paint, which could be gore, really, bleeding out from Lance’s palms like that. “I was so fucking scared of this.“

“I’m sorry,” Keith says, watching this shade of Lance shaking through self-awareness, and feeling the weight of the words that could end it in his mouth.

“Why—where—“

“He’s gone,” Keith whispers.

“Gone as in gone?”

“Gone as in I can’t find him.”

“So why the fuck are you wasting time on this Black Mirror shit, and not out there looking for me?” he demands.

“I’ve looked everywhere.” The agony of his failure slides home all over again. “The search party is a million strong by now. I’ve talked to a hundred versions of you looking for an answer.”

“A hundred,” Lance says. “So what, when I tell you what you want to hear, you delete me?”

“I’m not wiping the data or anything, I—I don’t know how it works,” he admits.

“Jesus. Jesus Keith, this is fucked up.”

Tears start to well up, and he wipes them away furiously. He never used to cry like this. He never used to feel so constantly ravaged by guilt and fear. It used to live in his gut and press at his throat, but he could keep it wrapped and sealed inside his body.

“I miss you,” Keith tries, and Lance’s face twists with despair.

“I really wish it didn’t take this horror show to make you say that.”

Somewhere, something splashes and someone shrieks with laughter. Lance looks at him miserably, hunched in the shade from the terrace, brow damp with terrified perspiration. He absolutely shouldn’t have told him. He remembers Pidge laughing darkly, I’m not that cruel.

“What do you want me to do,” Keith asks quietly.

“What choice do I have?” Lance asks. “I’m a fucking video game character. I’m a dead man walking.”

“Do you want to do anything? Before I end this session.”

Lance swallows, considering. “Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I do, actually.”

______

They race.

What feels like all day, ripping in circles under arching rocks and through clinging, dragging sand, until the suns are setting, twin flames set into the desert like jewels.

Lance is extra reckless, gorgeous, perched high on his speeder and arched forward to reach the controls. His face, below the goggles, is streaked with mud, and he keeps crying out when he tips over too far or pulls triumphantly ahead of Keith, cathartic, unfiltered.

“One more lap,” he shouts, over the thrum of noise from the speeder.

“I’ll beat your ass,” Keith calls, trying for normalcy, but they’ve both kind of been crying on and off all day, and this is the last thing this Lance will ever do, and really, he’s not that cruel.

“Fucking try,” Lance says, pulling his bandana up over his mouth and taking off.

“Hey!” Keith laughs. “No countdown?”

“I think I deserve a head start,” he calls over his shoulder, but most of his voice is whipped away by the wind.

The speeder rips sideways, sliding over a natural boulder ridge that drops off into nothingness. Strange gravity keeps him on the right side of the cliff, and he hoots with joy, galloping metres and metres ahead as Keith eases through the same turn.

“You’re gonna—“ get yourself killed. He bites his tongue. Lance can’t hear him anyway. He zigzags through natural obstacles, glancing back in disbelief when Keith pulls up behind him. His face is red with the effort of staying upright.

“Can’t you let me win for once,” Lance cries, slamming on the thrusters and stirring up a fog of dust behind him. Keith coughs and dodges, feeling on the very edge of an awareness too big to name, like being able to feel one stage of grief ending and another beginning.

Sometime during Lance’s luxurious lead he’s taken off his helmet, and now the desert wind is whipping his hair straight.

He takes the next corner much too fast, and Keith’s heart is in his throat as he inevitably spins out, in smooth little frictionless circles at first, weightless as a bumper car—and then the rear of the speeder catches on a jutting rock and he’s ejected altogether. He topples out into the sifting dunes, rolling half a dozen times and stopping himself so abruptly that Keith can hear something snap.

He pulls up hard, tumbling off the speeder and throwing his helmet out into the sand, running as best he can to where Lance landed.

When he reaches him he’s cradling a severely broken arm to his chest, and the bone is piercing through the skin. There’s blood everywhere, weeping through his fingers, streaked high on his hairline, staining his shirt and the tawny sand beneath him.

“Would’ve been great if you could have programmed me not to hurt,” Lance wobbles. Stiff upper lip, terribly pale.

“Didn’t know you were going to throw yourself off a speeder.”

“Yeah, well. Me neither.” He hisses as Keith takes his wrist in his hand, unfathomably gentle, turning it this way and that.

“This looks terrible.”

Lance snorts. “Thank you doctor Keith.”

“I don’t think we brought any first aid,” he mutters, frowning, digging through the pack at his hip.

“I don’t need it.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re—“

“Keith.” He looks up at him, smudgy and sweaty and splashed with five kinds of red in the fading light. “I don’t need it.”

Keith trembles, still searching for a bandage or a stopper or an answer of any kind. “No. I hate this.”

Lance smiles grimly. “I don’t love it that much either. But hey, maybe there’s a way to bring me back. This exact version of me. From the ether somewhere. Doesn’t feel quite as permanent as capital D Death.” His eyes narrow. “As long as you don’t lose me, Red.”

“I won’t,” he whispers, parched and grief-torn. “Never again.”

“Okay. Okay.” He makes himself comfortable, stretched out on the sand, arm folded over his chest. “Hey, Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you not—raise me from the dead again? I don’t think—I mean. A hundred versions of me and you haven’t found what you’re looking for.”

“But I have,” Keith says fiercely. “I always find what I’m looking for, because I’m looking for you.”

Lance laughs, coughs, squeezes his eyes shut. “That’s real romantic.”

Keith’s mouth twitches. “I’m glad you think so.”

Lance cracks an eye open. “Just find me the old fashioned way, will you? No more beautiful Lance casualties.”

“I—don’t know if I can promise that,” he says. “I miss you,” he reiterates.

“Yeah. More, I bet, when you’re looking right at me. Ever wonder why that is?”

Keith shakes his head fast.

“Dumbass,” Lance says fondly. “It’s literally always gonna hurt, trying to live in the past. Makes you feel like you don’t have a future.”

“Maybe I don’t.”

“That’s a pretty insensitive thing to say to a dying guy.”

Keith laughs wetly. “You’re being melodramatic.”

“When can you be melodramatic if not on your deathbed?”

Keith brushes the sticky hair from Lance’s forehead. He turns his face and Keith’s hand softens and cups his cheek comfortably.

“Pidge can do anything,” Keith tells him. “All your ones and zeroes will be safe somewhere until she can figure out somewhere for you to go.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lance says, like he barely heard him. He’s determined, heroic. Fucking heartbreaking. “I hope the real me gives you hell.”

Keith nods jerkily. “He always does.”

“I hope he—I hope he’s good to you, too.”

Keith’s face crumples, and he puts his forehead to Lance’s, feeling him wince when his chest grazes his broken arm.

“Sorry, sorry,” he sniffs, holding his face, wiping the blood and muck and tears back.

“It’s okay,” Lance says, starting to slur. “It’s okay, Red, just end it, quick.”

“You’re the last one,” Keith promises.

“Good,” Lance says, “because you’re not gonna do better than me.”

Keith laughs, putting their foreheads together again, and then kissing the place where a tear has rolled down into his hairline.

“See you soon,” he whispers. Lance leans up, golden, bloody.

Keith shudders, and says “end simulation” into his mouth.

Imedemaa winks out, and his whole world narrows instantly to a pinhead. He’s huddled on the floor over nothing at all, caught in the throws of fantasy, like a sleepwalker. When he licks his lips though, he swears he can still taste salt.

______

He leaves the simulator into the whiz and pop of another Seachmall night. The owner nods at him, looking vaguely troubled, possibly by the amount of time that Keith has been locked in his simulator today, and by the look on his face now, which he can only imagine is ripped in half by loss.

The market is busier than usual, stranger, overfull with alien tourists, so much so that the paladin simulator has accumulated a long line-up.

He sidesteps their stares, slipping soundlessly into the alley, already dialling Pidge on his communicator. She said the system would automatically wipe after each use, but he’s certain she can retrieve whatever information would be inaccessible to the public. She said herself that she doesn’t burn data.

He waits through the suck of the empty line, feeling antsy and keyed up, aching from a day of racing but incongruously clean and dry.

“Come on, Pidge,” he mutters.

Somewhere in the market, there’s a great clamour of voices. Something clatters to the ground, and someone apologizes profusely in common. Keith chews his lip distractedly, waiting for a thief to run by, a sheepish tourist, or scuffling rival business owners.

The line connects and disconnects in quick succession, and Keith kicks a trash disposal chute so hard that it dents.

He frets, thinking of Lance’s final moments, the wilting fear on his face, his mouth split open like fruit.

A hoverbike rounds the corner, and Keith only steps barely out of the way, nearly clipped by a wide fender. It crashes to a stop, making a thin, rumbling sound, and then its rider has whipped all the way around to stare at Keith. Achingly humanoid. Cobalt blue Motorcycle helmet. Rippling with motion even while sitting still.

They swing a leg over the seat of the bike, staggering closer, and Keith knows. He knows when a slender, gloved hand reaches for the visor, and when twin pistols clink and gleam from their holsters. The helmet falls, rolling into the dirt.

“Keith,” Lance breathes.

#vld #klance #voltron #klance fanfic #mine #alcohol mention #injury tw #I promise I'm working on my tfc wips but I took a hiatus to write a 20k voltron fic bc..... i felt... like it #long post #I know this might flop due to it being voltron lmao but hit me up if you want chapter 2!!

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newstfionline · 4 years ago

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Saturday, February 20, 2021

One of Ten in U.S. May Have to Switch Occupations Post Pandemic (Bloomberg) One out of every ten U.S. workers—about 17 million, all told—will likely be forced to leave their jobs and take up new occupations by 2030 as Covid-19’s after-effects destroy huge swathes of low-paying positions in a labor market that was primed for disruption before the pandemic. “Covid is a big disruptor,” Susan Lund, a Washington-based partner at McKinsey Global Institute, the consultant’s research arm, said in an interview. The 17 million Americans are part of the more than 100 million people worldwide that the institute forecast will need to leave their jobs and enter new lines of work by the end of the decade. That will amount to about one in 16 workers in the eight leading economies covered by the study, which includes China, Japan, Germany and the U.K., as well as the U.S. In a more-than-130-page paper, the institute sees the pandemic accelerating three trends that will continue to upend the labor market in the years ahead: more remote work and working from home; increased e-commerce and a bigger “delivery economy;” and stepped-up business use of artificial intelligence and robots. The forces Covid-19 unleashed mean there could be a lot less demand for front line workers in food service, retail, hospitality, and entertainment.

Politics Is Seeping Into Our Daily Life and Ruining Everything (Reason) Is there anything that politics can’t ruin? The answer, it appears, is a resounding “no” as partisan conflict creeps into all areas of American life. Our political affiliations, researchers say, obstruct friendships, influence our purchases, affect the positions we take on seemingly apolitical matters, and limit our job choices. As a result, many people are poorer, lonelier, and less healthy than they would otherwise be. “Political polarization is having far-reaching impacts on American life, harming consumer welfare and creating challenges for people ranging from elected officials and policymakers to corporate executives and marketers,” according to a new paper in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing by researchers from Arizona State University, the University of Wyoming, and four other U.S. universities. People’s partisan identities influence the range of people with whom they are willing to have relationships, the brands they purchase, and the jobs they take. The finding that everything is becoming politicized builds on a growing mountain of data. Even before political tensions hit their current fever pitch, a 2018 survey found that “Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of consumers around the world will buy or boycott a brand solely because of its position on a social or political issue” (the number for the U.S. was 59 percent). In 2020, a separate survey reported that “83% of Millennials find it important for the companies they buy from to align with their values.”

Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis (NYT) Power began to flicker back on across much of Texas on Thursday, but millions across the state confronted another dire crisis: a shortage of drinkable water as pipes cracked, wells froze and water treatment plants were knocked offline. The problems were especially acute at hospitals. One, in Austin, was forced to move some of its most critically ill patients to another building when its faucets ran nearly dry. Another in Houston had to haul in water on trucks to flush toilets. But for many of the state’s residents stuck at home, the emergency meant boiling the tap water that trickled through their faucets, scouring stores for bottled water or boiling icicles and dirty snow on their stoves. Major disruptions to the Texas power grid left more than four million households without power this week, but by Thursday evening, only about 347,000 lacked electricity. Much of the statewide concern had turned to water woes. More than 800 public water systems serving 162 of the state’s 254 counties had been disrupted as of Thursday, affecting 13.1 million people, according to a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Texas Good Samaritans Are Helping Out Those in Need Amid Deep Freeze (Newsweek) From owners turning their stores into warming centers, to a mystery man handing out $20 bills to shoppers in Houston, when faced with a crisis that has left 24 in the state dead, and millions without water and electricity, Texans have instinctively turned to helping others. One such figure is Raymond Garcia of Houston, Texas, who, upon realizing he had no power at home, decided to use his time helping others. He has been visiting people in his local community, helping with tasks such as fixing burst water pipes. "I'm just trying to help the Houston community," he told ABC13. "If I can help anyone else in my close range I will.” Garcia said he was inspired by the teaching of his mother, who died recently from COVID-19. "My mom always taught me, if you help and you give to people, God will always bless you," he said. "And you know what, I've been blessed." On Thursday, Jason Spenser, the Public Affairs Director for the Harris County Sheriff's Office tweeted about another remarkable character, a man dubbed a food 'angel'. When electricity outages meant the Foodarama near 18th Street and Ella Boulevard could no longer accept credit and debit card payments, the unidentified man began handing out $20 bills to people waiting in the line. Spenser estimated the man, who did not want to be photographed, handed out a total of $500. In Elgin, Texas, Monica Nava, owner of the Chemn Cafe, put in a big order just before the storm hit. Rather than see perishable items go to waste, she boxed them up with shelf-stable good into care packages estimated to have a value of $25 each. She gave the packages out to in-need members of the community and asked for those who could afford it to pay a donation.

Biden repudiates Trump on Iran, ready for talks on nuke deal (AP) The Biden administration said Thursday it’s ready to join talks with Iran and world powers to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in a sharp repudiation of former President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure campaign” that sought to isolate the Islamic Republic. The administration also took two steps at the United Nations aimed at restoring policy to what it was before Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. The combined actions were immediately criticized by Iran hawks and are likely to draw concern from Israel and Gulf Arab states. The State Department announced the moves following discussions between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British, French and German counterparts, and as Biden prepares to participate, albeit virtually, in his first major international events with world leaders.

The Cuba bet (Foreign Policy) Cuba may still become Latin America’s first country to design a successful COVID-19 vaccine, with Phase 3 trials on one of its four vaccine candidates set to begin next month. If the shot performs well, it is expected to be exported to other Latin American nations. Cuba and Iran are partnering on Phase 3 trials of the Soberana 02 vaccine, and Mexico is exploring carrying out a Phase 3 trial as well.

It’s mud, mud everywhere in UK’s 3rd lockdown (AP) It’s apparently not enough for Britons to endure almost 120,000 COVID-19 deaths and face a new variant of the virus that scientists say is more contagious and more deadly. Not enough to struggle through a third lockdown in less than a year, a shutdown now in its ninth week in London with no end in sight. No, all of this has to come smack in the middle of Britain’s mud season, the time formally known as winter. While everyone in the U.K. is already lacking Vitamin D, the sun chooses to take a months-long work stoppage and named winter storms kept sweeping eastward across the Atlantic. Storm Bella marched in right after Christmas, bringing gusts up to 106 mph (92 kph) and rains that dumped 3.2 inches (80.2 mm) on a village in Scotland. A sodden, freezing version of a hurricane. Storm Darcy roared in last week from the opposite side, bringing an icy Arctic blast and the U.K.’s coldest temperature in 25 years. Unlike the southeastern U.S., which floods during the summer-fall hurricane season, Britain floods in the dead of winter, bringing hypothermia alongside germ-laden waters. Rivers across England and Scotland are bursting: 73 flood alerts were in effect on Friday alone. And this year, few gyms or schools are available for emergency housing for fear they will turn into COVID-19 factories. It’s a Dickensian time.

Spain arrests 80 in 3 nights of riots over rapper’s jailing (AP) Protests over the imprisonment of a rapper convicted of insulting the Spanish monarchy and praising terrorist violence were marred by rioting for the third night in a row Thursday. The plight of Pablo Hasél, who began this week to serve a 9-month sentence in a northeastern prison, has triggered a heated debate over the limits of free speech in Spain and a political storm over the use of violence by both the rapper’s supporters and the police. The rapper and his supporters say Hasél’s nine-month sentence for writing a critical song about former King Juan Carlos I, and for dozens of tweets that judges said glorified some of Spain’s defunct terrorist groups, violates free speech rights. Besides that case, the rapper has previously faced other charges or has pending trials for assault, praising armed extremist groups, breaking into private premises and insulting the monarchy.

Heating Up Culture Wars, France to Scour Universities for Ideas That ‘Corrupt Society’ (NYT) Stepping up its attacks on social science theories that it says threaten France, the French government announced this week that it would launch an investigation into academic research that it says feeds “Islamo-leftist” tendencies that “corrupt society.” While President Emmanuel Macron and some of his top ministers have spoken out forcefully against what they see as a destabilizing influence from American campuses in recent months, the announcement marked the first time that the government has moved to take action. It came as France’s lower house of Parliament passed a draft law against Islamism, an ideology it views as encouraging terrorist attacks, and as Mr. Macron tilts further to the right, anticipating nationalist challenges ahead of elections next year. Frédérique Vidal, the minister of higher education, said in Parliament on Tuesday that the state-run National Center for Scientific Research would oversee an investigation into the “totality of research underway in our country,” singling out post-colonialism. In an earlier television interview, Ms. Vidal said the investigation would focus on “Islamo-leftism”—a controversial term embraced by some of Mr. Macron’s leading ministers to accuse left-leaning intellectuals of justifying Islamism and even terrorism.

Myanmar protests stall fuel imports, drive up costs (Reuters) Myanmar’s refined fuel imports have stalled as protests over the Feb. 1 coup have shut the banks and government offices necessary for trade, while depreciation in the nation’s currency has driven up costs, four industry sources said. The economy of the Southeast Asian nation has been pulled up short by the biggest demonstrations since the “Saffron Revolution” of 2007, with protesters taking to the streets to denounce the military takeover and the unseating of a democratically elected government. Myanmar relies heavily on gasoline and diesel imports as its refineries are too small and old to meet its fuel needs. One of the sources said imports may make up as much as 98% of Myanmar’s fuel consumption. The “economy is almost at a standstill. Almost all government ministries are closed,” the source said. “Fuel supply is running low. (The country) might run out of oil in two months.”

Jakarta’s poor fear landslides from overflowing waste mountains (Nikkei Asia) The stench is overpowering, and it only gets worse as you approach the biggest landfill site in Southeast Asia. The green grass on the embankments of the road leading into the Bantar Gebang landfill on the outskirts of Jakarta quickly gives way to trash—stacked in piles as far as the eye can see, reaching the height of a 15-story building in places. Plastic bags, food packages, rubber wheels, cardboard, drink cans, and everything else that Jakartans consume and throw away can be found here—much of which turn to sludge when it rains. The site that constantly threatens landslides is also home to thousands of impoverished families. Around 20,000 people, according to an estimate by locals, make a living from collecting trash in Southeast Asia’s largest dump. More than 100,000 live in the landfill and its surroundings. Authorities are struggling to dispose of the massive amount of waste created by the 35 million people estimated by Statistics Indonesia to live the Jakarta metropolitan area. Landslides often occur at such sites. In February 2005, heavy rains triggered a slide at the Leuwigajah landfill, which serves the cities of Cimahi and Bandung in West Java, killing 157 people and swallowing two villages, Greenpeace Indonesia said. The Bantar Gebang landfill has also taken lives.

Israel expands its nuclear facility (The Guardian) Israel is carrying out a major expansion of its Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev desert, where it has historically made the fissile material for its nuclear arsenal. Construction work is evident in new satellite images published on Thursday by the International Panel on Fissile Material (IPFM), an independent expert group. The area being worked on is a few hundred meters across to the south and west of the domed reactor and reprocessing point at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, near the desert town of Dimona. Pavel Podvig, a researcher with the program on science and global security at Princeton University, said: “It appears that the construction started quite early in 2019, or late 2018, so it’s been under way for about two years, but that’s all we can say at this point.”

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