#Fully Managed Databases

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Linkrot

For the rest of May, my bestselling solarpunk utopian novel THE LOST CAUSE (2023) is available as a $2.99, DRM-free ebook!

Here's an underrated cognitive virtue: "object permanence" – that is, remembering how you perceived something previously. As Riley Quinn often reminds us, the left is the ideology of object permanence – to be a leftist is to hate and mistrust the CIA even when they're tormenting Trump for a brief instant, or to remember that it was once possible for a working person to support their family with their wages:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/27/six-sells/#youre-holding-it-wrong

The thing is, object permanence is hard. Life comes at you quickly. It's very hard to remember facts, and the order in which those facts arrived – it's even harder to remember how you felt about those facts in the moment.

This is where blogging comes in – for me, at least. Back in 1997, Scott Edelman – editor of Science Fiction Age – asked me to take over the back page of the magazine by writing up ten links of interest for the nascent web. I wrote that column until the spring of 2000, then, in early 2001, Mark Frauenfelder asked me to guest-edit Boing Boing, whereupon the tempo of my web-logging went daily. I kept that up on Boing Boing for more than 19 years, writing about 54,000 posts. In February, 2020, I started Pluralistic.net, my solo project, a kind of blog/newsletter, and in the four-plus years since, I've written about 1,200 editions containing between one and twelve posts each.

This gigantic corpus of everything I ever considered to be noteworthy is immensely valuable to me. The act of taking notes in public is a powerful discipline: rather than jotting cryptic notes to myself in a commonplace book, I publish those notes for strangers. This imposes a rigor on the note-taking that makes those notes far more useful to me in years to come.

Better still: public note-taking is powerfully mnemonic. The things I've taken notes on form a kind of supersaturated solution of story ideas, essay ideas, speech ideas, and more, and periodically two or more of these fragments will glom together, nucleate, and a fully-formed work will crystallize out of the solution.

Then, the fact that all these fragments are also database entries – contained in the back-end of a WordPress installation that I can run complex queries on – comes into play, letting me swiftly and reliably confirm my memories of these long-gone phenomena. Inevitably, these queries turn up material that I've totally forgotten, and these make the result even richer, like adding homemade stock to a stew to bring out a rich and complicated flavor. Better still, many of these posts have been annotated by readers with supplemental materials or vigorous objections.

I call this all "The Memex Method" and it lets me write a lot (I wrote nine books during lockdown, as I used work to distract me from anxiety – something I stumbled into through a lifetime of chronic pain management):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

Back in 2013, I started a new daily Boing Boing feature: "This Day In Blogging History," wherein I would look at the archive of posts for that day one, five and ten years previously:

https://boingboing.net/2013/06/24/this-day-in-blogging-history.html

With Pluralistic, I turned this into a daily newsletter feature, now stretching back to twenty, fifteen, ten, five and one year ago. Here's today's:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/21/noway-back-machine/#retro

This is a tremendous adjunct to the Memex Method. It's a structured way to review everything I've ever thought about, in five-year increments, every single day. I liken this to working dough, where there's stuff at the edges getting dried out and crumbly, and so your fold it all back into the middle. All these old fragments naturally slip out of your thoughts and understanding, but you can revive their centrality by briefly paying attention to them for a few minutes every day.

This structured daily review is a wonderful way to maintain object permanence, reviewing your attitudes and beliefs over time. It's also a way to understand the long-forgotten origins of issues that are central to you today. Yesterday, I was reminded that I started thinking about automotive Right to Repair 15 years ago:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/right-repair-law-pro

Given that we're still fighting over this, that's some important perspective, a reminder of the likely timescales involved in more recent issues where I feel like little progress is being made.

Remember when we all got pissed off because the mustache-twirling evil CEO of Warners, David Zaslav, was shredding highly anticipated TV shows and movies prior to their release to get a tax-credit? Turns out that we started getting angry about this stuff twenty years ago, when Michael Eisner did it to Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911":

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/05/us/disney-is-blocking-distribution-of-film-that-criticizes-bush.html

It's not just object permanence: this daily spelunk through my old records is also a way to continuously and methodically sound the web for linkrot: when old links go bad. Over the past five years, I've noticed a very sharp increase in linkrot, and even worse, in the odious practice of spammers taking over my dead friends' former blogs and turning them into AI spam-farms:

https://www.wired.com/story/confessions-of-an-ai-clickbait-kingpin/

The good people at the Pew Research Center have just released a careful, quantitative study of linkrot that confirms – and exceeds – my worst suspicions about the decay of the web:

https://www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/2024/05/17/when-online-content-disappears/

The headline finding from "When Online Content Disappears" is that 38% of the web of 2013 is gone today. Wikipedia references are especially hard-hit, with 23% of news links missing and 21% of government websites gone. The majority of Wikipedia entries have at least one broken link in their reference sections. Twitter is another industrial-scale oubliette: a fifth of English tweets disappear within a matter of months; for Turkish and Arabic tweets, it's 40%.

Thankfully, someone has plugged the web's memory-hole. Since 2001, the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine has allowed web users to see captures of web-pages, tracking their changes over time. I was at the Wayback Machine's launch party, and right away, I could see its value. Today, I make extensive use of Wayback Machine captures for my "This Day In History" posts, and when I find dead links on the web.

The Wayback Machine went public in 2001, but Archive founder Brewster Kahle started scraping the web in 1996. Today's post graphic – a modified Yahoo homepage from October 17, 1996 – is the oldest Yahoo capture on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/19960501000000*/yahoo.com

Remember that the next time someone tells you that we must stamp out web-scraping for one reason or another. There are plenty of ugly ways to use scraping (looking at you, Clearview AI) that we should ban, but scraping itself is very good:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/17/how-to-think-about-scraping/

And so is the Internet Archive, which makes the legal threats it faces today all the more frightening. Lawsuits brought by the Big Five publishers and Big Three labels will, if successful, snuff out the Internet Archive altogether, and with it, the Wayback Machine – the only record we have of our ephemeral internet:

https://blog.archive.org/2024/04/19/internet-archive-stands-firm-on-library-digital-rights-in-final-brief-of-hachette-v-internet-archive-lawsuit/

Libraries burn. The Internet Archive may seem like a sturdy and eternal repository for our collective object permanence about the internet, but it is very fragile, and could disappear like that.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/21/noway-back-machine/#pew-pew-pew

[actualbird]

tot is a very funny game in many areas, but i think one thing that wouldve made it even more hilarious is if we had more stories occurring before main story 5 (i.e. when luke enters the NXX investigation team and reveals himself to be an NSB agent) and IN THAT DURATION BEFORE THAT REVEAL, the game leaned WAY MORE into luke trying and failing to pass as a regular normal civilian

luke hacks into a highly secure online database and mc is like "what how do you know how to do that" and luke laughs nervously and says "i took some online courses when i was in college!"

luke drives a car like hes in the fast and the furious franchise, fully doing vehicular maneuvers like hes a getaway driver in a high-speed chase and mc is holding onto the handlebar for dear life like "HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE LIKE THIS" and luke just shrugs and says "uh, video games"

luke fully manages to beat up an entire group of assailants without breaking a sweat and mc is like "OKAY. YOU ARE NOT NORMAL. WHAT. HOW. WHY????" and luke is like "self defense classes!" and shes like "you were fighting like a one man army, i do NOT believe you" and luke is silent for a moment before adding "....they were...advanced self defense classes?"

luke is a horrible liar and mc does not believe him but she also did not have enough of a wild ass imagination to jump to the conclusion that the truth is that hes a SECRET AGENT

[idyllwave]

Warnings | angst, character death, etc.

Boothill carries the last words you ever spoke to him around with him everywhere he goes.

You were a dear friend of his back when he was fully human, but after what happened and you and him were turned into cyborgs essentially, well, you kind of were different from before.

Way different.

At first everything was all well and good until the IPC got a hold of you.

Boothill remembers searching for you everywhere. He looked through every IPC database, raided every IPC HQ he could find. But you were nowhere to be found.

Well, until you found him that is.

You had a gun pointed right as his head when he next saw you. And you sported an IPC uniform too.

He remembered asking what happened to you and why you were sporting a new getup, but...you didn't remember him at all. Which was when he realized what the IPC did.

They erased your memory. In other words, you were more machine than human. The only human thing about you was that you still had half of a human brain (the other half was all oil and wire since the IPC needed to erase those memories somehow), a human heart, and of course the skin on your face.

It made everything in Boothill run cold. You were essentially a lab rat. Butchered in some lab as they took you apart and put you back together again so they could use you to hunt him down.

Vile, disgusting. It made his teeth grind.

Though everything came to a stand still when you started to beat him in the fight.

He was laying on his back, some of his wires were short-circuiting. Everything hurt.

And you were standing above him, a gun still pointed at him.

Though, he started to wonder why you wouldn't shoot. But his wonders were soon answered when you stopped pointing the gun at him and instead pointed it at yourself.

His eyes widened as he looked at you, "Wait, what are you-"

You smiled at him, "sorry, but you can't undo what the IPC has done. It's a miracle I even managed to gain this little control of my body.

The breath you took was shaky.

"So Boothill..., if I was going to die either way... What...what should I have done differently, huh...?"

[tracklessreason]

Hellooo there!

I was just wondering, is there possibly a happy ending where Hive manages to take back his identity (or maybe forge himself a new one, since bumblebee is gone) without getting rid of the primes? Like, does he ever manage to get them under control and learn to use his ability as an extension of himself rather than a replacement of himself? I'm sure it would be a rough journey, but what I'm imagining is after a few thousand years, and he's now this wise, respected figure like Optimus was, with his own identity as a prime rather than just being known as the mouthpiece for the others.

Just asking, because I think that Hive Prime as a concept has the potential to be such a badass character (largest of all primes, speaks in a hundred voices, can communicate with all past primes, etc)... if he wasn't so tragic and actually went to therapy 😭

YES FINALLY!!!

YOU HAVE DISCOVERED ENDING 1 OF 3!!

THE CANON ENDING!!!!

The intended route for this AU has always been Hive taking control of his life!

This post talks about it in an almost fanfic style, but basically, after waking up from stasis, Hive is fully done with the other Prime's bullshit, and refuses to be just their voice anymore. The entire time he was in stasis, he was arguing with them, fighting for control over his own body, and that's something I plan to discuss more in a different post.

When Hive wakes, he crafts the audio database of the voices of every autobot, layers it to make a new voice of his own, and gathers the autobots to give a speech, which goes like this...

"Autobots. You once knew me as Bumblebee. We fought as brothers, under my late friend and mentor, Optimus Prime, from whom the Matrix of Leadership was bestowed upon me. His death has cast a shadow over us all, and in the darkness, I fear I lost my way.

I had always known myself as a follower, a hand to be guided by our leader's wisdom. Without him...I thought I was nothing. I had no faith in myself as your leader, and in turn you had no faith in me. I can blame none but myself for how our need for guidance has mislead us. The Matrix decided the word of all Primes should guide us into this new era, but only now do I understand that that means me as well. I won't live in the shadow of my predecessors any longer. Not Prima, not Quintus...and not Optimus.

The past is no more, and the future lies before us, a future to which I will proudly lead the way. No longer will I be the Mouthpiece of the Primes.

My name is Hive Prime, and I...

am the Voice of the Autobots!

[adragonsdance]

I may be yelling unheard into the uncaring void, but I’m gonna keep yelling about this au anyway.

I think I’m gonna call it the Corporate Problems AU, because this ship is full of Mira corporation’s Biggest Problems!

This au sits on the foundations of a lot of background worldbuilding that, admittedly, isn’t mine. At some point years ago, I read the Mimicry series on Ao3 by missteavee, and it was so good that it irrevocably rewired my brain, and completely changed the way that i view Among us. That worldbuilding is now the only thing I can think of as among us story cannon. So. It’s fantastic go check it out. There are a lotta elements that are important in like, How This World Works, but imma put a summary of the Important Bits (plus a few probably less important bits, because its fun) at the end of this post.

Because I have been Thinking about The Characters. I have ideas and concepts, but no plot. Which is a problem. But we’re not gonna think about that right now because Concepts and Characters are Fun!

The Main Cast, the crew, are Scar, Grian, Impulse, Skizz, Tango, Jimmy, Etho, Pearl, and Gem. All of them are hiding something, and all of them lied, frauded, or hacked their way onto the ship so that as far as Mira’s databases are concerned, this is a perfectly normal, approved crew traveling to Polus and following all regulations. They are not. And no one group is aware that none of the others are legitimate Mira employees either! This ship houses Chaos.

For starters, the integrity, (the name of the skeld ship, which I am treating as a standard class of Mira corporate space ships, each of which has its own name) actually belongs to a group of space pirates. Grian, scar, and jimmy stole the ship, disconnected it from all Mira systems, and proceeded to make a number of definitely illegal modifications, including making it suitable as their full-time living space. Grian used to work for Mira as a xenobiologist, until he managed to discover Mira’s corporate-genocide-coverup. Scar had been a pirate moving himself around Miras various corporate sectors and stealing tech and information for years at that point, and jimmy was Grian’s “I know a guy” computer tech guy to help them gut the ship of all of Mira’s influence.

Etho was the original founder of Mira, before it grew into a huge company, and stayed on the board as the primary influence in the company as it grew, until the rest of the board decided he had a few too many morals, and attempted to assassinate him via space-transport-malfunction. He ended up stranded on an unexplored planet, but survived. But that happened decades ago. He has not aged. He might possibly be immortal now, we have no idea.

Tango is an imposter, native to Polus, and a soldier in the very much active war that Mira is completely covering up. He doesn’t know that most of Mira’s employees don’t know that they’re fighting a war. He’s tech-savvy, and a very good shapeshifter by his species standards. He’s not red, because Grian’s red, but I can’t decide if I want to make him a light “frost” blue, or the shade of blue that’s literally called “tango blue”. Probably the latter. Im not sure if there’s gonna be another imposter on the ship, or who they are if they’re there.

For the rest of the crew, I’m still kinda figuring out What Their Deal Is. I think I’ve got impulse and skizz down, but from here on out, things might be subject to change.

Impulse is a bit of an inventor, with credentials in physics, and a lot of experience dabbling in other fields as well. He discovered or created something that the government was not thrilled with. I think that thing might have been a fully sentient, sapient AI, and I think that AI was skizz. After having his research publication denied, and the narrative equivalent of the FBI showing up at his house to try and confiscate his research and tech, he and skizz went on the run. They stole some advanced tech, probably from Mira, to build skizz a hyper-realistic, or possibly partially organic body, and decided that hacking into Mira’s databases and getting themselves an extended stay on Polus, one of the most remote research stations, would be a good way to hide.

Gem and peral I am much less sure of.

Gem is the ship’s acting medic. She has absolutely no medical experience. I wanted to have scientist gem, because I think that’s a fun character. She’s a xenobiologist and anthropologist. Possibly officially, possibly not. She wants to get to Plous for her own reasons, and is definitly not actually a miracle employee. One idea I had was to make her a retired or hiding mercenary or bounty hunter or something, but I’m not sure. I also kinda want to make her the other imposter, just because she gets imposter so frequently in the recent among us streams.

Peral, I really have no idea. She’s another candidate for the other imposter. She’s probably not human either way. She is a chemist though, that part of her credentials, at least, isn’t fake.

You throw all of these characters into the close quarters of a spaceship for 6-9 months, and intrigue, secrets, and shenanigans ensue! That’s about all I got for plot so far. Maybe overthrowing Mira, who knows.

————————————————————

For context, here’s the other worldbuiling this au rests on:

Imposters— they are a species of sapient predatory mimics who are native to the planet Polus. When Mira scientists first set up on Polus, they drilled into one of the imposter-inhabited caves, and had a rather disastrous first contact. The cave they drilled into was a steam cavern, seemingly inhabited by hundreds of little alien worms. Mira labeled these worms as Polus Lifeform Type x223, and deemed them of high scientific interest. Recently, the company had issued an order that these worms are very scientifically valuable, and to collect and flash-freeze samples en masse. These worms are actually the newborn stage of imposters, and the steam caverns are their nurseries. None of the average Mira employees are aware of this. The imposters are in a fully militarized guerrilla warfare against a force attempting to genocide them. It is heavily implied that this is not the first alien species they have encountered and had to fight off.

Crewmates— the crewmates are a narative-equivalent-of-humans-species called Humana/humanae. They’re basically humans but a little to the left. Particularly in that they have very colorful eyes in any visible shade. The colour of their eyes is very important, especially in the dominant culture that we see. The colour of your eyes is your name, and while in small groups, like on a ship, going by base colour (ie. Blue, or yellow) is fine, generally, people are referred to by their “perfect shade” that is your specific colour name, (ie saffron, or crimson, or cerulean, etc). I think your colour generally dominates your dress, and is the colour of your MIRA space suit. They have a cultural idea of modesty that includes covering the face in public, generally by wearing a colorful vail, and is why no one typically takes off their helmets. Aside from the heads of the company and a few select high ranking staff and scientists, none of the Humana know that they ate fighting in a war. Mira claims, and bases all their released protocols and information on the idea, that imposters are an infective parasite, not a sentient species, and they are very careful to keep just the right about of stress and fear that no one has the incentive to look too closely at the evidence. (Yes I have picked out specific colours, to the hex code, for each of the characters)

[the-nox-syndicate]

SysNotes devlog 1

Hiya! We're a web developer by trade and we wanted to build ourselves a web-app to manage our system and to get to know each other better. We thought it would be fun to make a sort of a devlog on this blog to show off the development! The working title of this project is SysNotes (but better ideas are welcome!)

What SysNotes is✅:

A place to store profiles of all of our parts

A tool to figure out who is in front

A way to explore our inner world

A private chat similar to PluralKit

A way to combine info about our system with info about our OCs etc as an all-encompassing "brain-world" management system

A personal and tailor-made tool made for our needs

What SysNotes is not❌:

A fronting tracker (we see no need for it in our system)

A social media where users can interact (but we're open to make it so if people are interested)

A public platform that can be used by others (we don't have much experience actually hosting web-apps, but will consider it if there is enough interest!)

An offline app

So if this sounds interesting to you, you can find the first devlog below the cut (it's a long one!):

(I have used word highlighting and emojis as it helps me read large chunks of text, I hope it's alright with y'all!)

Tech stack & setup (feel free to skip if you don't care!)

The project is set up using:

Database: MySQL 8.4.3

Language: PHP 8.3

Framework: Laravel 10 with Breeze (authentication and user accounts) and Livewire 3 (front end integration)

Styling: Tailwind v4

I tried to set up Laragon to easily run the backend, but I ran into issues so I'm just running "php artisan serve" for now and using Laragon to run the DB. Also I'm compiling styles in real time with "npm run dev". Speaking of the DB, I just migrated the default auth tables for now. I will be making app-related DB tables in the next devlog. The awesome thing about Laravel is its Breeze starter kit, which gives you fully functioning authentication and basic account management out of the box, as well as optional Livewire to integrate server-side processing into HTML in the sexiest way. This means that I could get all the boring stuff out of the way with one terminal command. Win!

Styling and layout (for the UI nerds - you can skip this too!)

I changed the default accent color from purple to orange (personal preference) and used an emoji as a placeholder for the logo. I actually kinda like the emoji AS a logo so I might keep it.

Laravel Breeze came with a basic dashboard page, which I expanded with a few containers for the different sections of the page. I made use of the components that come with Breeze to reuse code for buttons etc throughout the code, and made new components as the need arose. Man, I love clean code 😌

I liked the dotted default Laravel page background, so I added it to the dashboard to create the look of a bullet journal. I like the journal-type visuals for this project as it goes with the theme of a notebook/file. I found the code for it here.

I also added some placeholder menu items for the pages that I would like to have in the app - Profile, (Inner) World, Front Decider, and Chat.

i ran into an issue dynamically building Tailwind classes such as class="bg-{{$activeStatus['color']}}-400" - turns out dynamically-created classes aren't supported, even if they're constructed in the component rather than the blade file. You learn something new every day huh…

Also, coming from Tailwind v3, "ps-*" and "pe-*" were confusing to get used to since my muscle memory is "pl-*" and "pr-*" 😂

Feature 1: Profiles page - proof of concept

This is a page where each alter's profiles will be displayed. You can switch between the profiles by clicking on each person's name. The current profile is highlighted in the list using a pale orange colour.

The logic for the profiles functionality uses a Livewire component called Profiles, which loads profile data and passes it into the blade view to be displayed. It also handles logic such as switching between the profiles and formatting data. Currently, the data is hardcoded into the component using an associative array, but I will be converting it to use the database in the next devlog.

New profile (TBC)

You will be able to create new profiles on the same page (this is yet to be implemented). My vision is that the New Alter form will unfold under the button, and fold back up again once the form has been submitted.

Alter name, pronouns, status

The most interesting component here is the status, which is currently set to a hardcoded list of "active", "dormant", and "unknown". However, I envision this to be a customisable list where I can add new statuses to the list from a settings menu (yet to be implemented).

Alter image

I wanted the folder that contained alter images and other assets to be outside of my Laravel project, in the Pictures folder of my operating system. I wanted to do this so that I can back up the assets folder whenever I back up my Pictures folder lol (not for adding/deleting the files - this all happens through the app to maintain data integrity!). However, I learned that Laravel does not support that and it will not be able to see my files because they are external. I found a workaround by using symbolic links (symlinks) 🔗. Basically, they allow to have one folder of identical contents in more than one place. I ran "mklink /D [external path] [internal path]" to create the symlink between my Pictures folder and Laravel's internal assets folder, so that any files that I add to my Pictures folder automatically copy over to Laravel's folder. I changed a couple lines in filesystems.php to point to the symlinked folder:

And I was also getting a "404 file not found" error - I think the issue was because the port wasn't originally specified. I changed the base app URL to the localhost IP address in .env:

…And after all this messing around, it works!

(My Pictures folder)

(My Laravel storage)

(And here is Alice's photo displayed - dw I DO know Ibuki's actual name)

Alter description and history

The description and history fields support HTML, so I can format these fields however I like, and add custom features like tables and bullet point lists.

This is done by using blade's HTML preservation tags "{!! !!}" as opposed to the plain text tags "{{ }}".

(Here I define Alice's description contents)

(And here I insert them into the template)

Traits, likes, dislikes, front triggers

These are saved as separate lists and rendered as fun badges. These will be used in the Front Decider (anyone has a better name for it?? 🤔) tool to help me identify which alter "I" am as it's a big struggle for us. Front Decider will work similar to FlowCharty.

What next?

There's lots more things I want to do with SysNotes! But I will take it one step at a time - here is the plan for the next devlog:

Setting up database tables for the profile data

Adding the "New Profile" form so I can create alters from within the app

Adding ability to edit each field on the profile

I tried my best to explain my work process in a way that wold somewhat make sense to non-coders - if you have any feedback for the future format of these devlogs, let me know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimers:

I have not used AI in the making of this app and I do NOT support the Vibe Coding mind virus that is currently on the loose. Programming is a form of art, and I will defend manual coding until the day I die.

Any alter data found in the screenshots is dummy data that does not represent our actual system.

I will not be making the code publicly available until it is a bit more fleshed out, this so far is just a trial for a concept I had bouncing around my head over the weekend.

We are SYSCOURSE NEUTRAL! Please don't start fights under this post

[itistheserver]

The Code of Clarity

Conor leaned back on his couch, controller in hand, fully immersed in the vibrant world of his favorite RPG.

It was his day off—finally—a day to unwind, no deadlines, no stress, just him and his games. A notification popped up on his phone, but he ignored it. Then another. And another.

His phone rang.

Sighing, he paused his game and picked up.

"Conor, we need you at the office. Now."

It was his manager, Dave. The frantic urgency in his voice shattered any hope that this was a minor issue.

"What's going on?" Conor asked, already knowing he wouldn’t like the answer.

"System’s down, orders are backed up, and the whole team is freaking out. We can’t fix it."

Conor sighed again, heavier this time. His day off was officially over.

The office was chaos. Desks were cluttered with half-empty coffee cups, people were shouting over each other, and error messages glowed angrily on every screen.

Conor barely made it to his desk before the first person grabbed him.

"Conor, my terminal won’t process requests!"

Before he could answer, another voice cut in.

"The database won’t sync! It’s like—like it’s rejecting all queries!"

"Conor, my dashboard is frozen!"

One by one, they came at him. He tried to tackle each issue, moving from one person to another, checking logs, running quick fixes—but nothing held. For every solution, a new problem emerged. The stress in the air was suffocating.

An hour passed. Frustration clawed at his patience.

Finally, he sat down at his desk, clenched his fists, and shut his eyes.

Then, something shifted. A pulse. A connection.

Inhale.

Exhale.

A presence settled in his mind—calm, precise, powerful. The Server.

"Shut out the emotion. Look at the issue. Logically determine a solution."

The words weren’t spoken, but Conor felt them as if they had always been there. His racing heart steadied. The noise around him faded.

Five seconds after closing his eyes he opened them. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. His mind, now clear, traced the problem back to its source. A simple misalignment in the database—a cascading failure caused by a minor update. The fix was obvious now.

His hands moved with certainty. Commands executed. Corrections deployed. Systems rebooted.

Fifteen minutes. That was all it took.

One by one, the errors disappeared. The frantic voices quieted. The tension lifted.

Dave approached, relief evident in his eyes. "You did it. Everything’s back online."

Conor simply nodded, standing up.

"I’m heading home," he said.

"Wait—"

But Conor was already walking away. His day off was waiting.

And this time, thanks to the Server, no interruptions.

[play-safe-games]

Hi folks.

@graysongoal here. If you've visited the site at all in the last, say, nine months, the likelihood is that you have been seeing a lot of my work.

Earlier this week - in fact, right after our last LinkedIn post went up - the Game Content Triggers Database site stopped loading.

I've been panicking for two days, because I've put at least 15-20 hours a week into adding games to the database, doing outreach, and more for the last several months. There were games set up to post daily well into the month of October, and I had some volunteers excited about potentially starting work soon.

I've reached out to the site's creator and manager Coty Craven multiple times, only to be left on read.

Today, IGN published the article I'm linking to below. Given the investigation into the accusations - and the lack of communication from Coty - I fully believe what is written is factual.

This also likely means that the site was purposefully taken down, erasing months of work that I and others volunteered to do in the name of helping make gaming more accessible.

I do not know if or when the site will return. If it does, I can assure y'all that there will be a rebrand and a renaming - and that it will not be connected with Coty at all. (To be fair, he really hasn't been involved in the last several months anyway.)

While I (and others) continue to process what has happened, I ask that you make space for us to grieve the friendships and bonds that we thought were real.

Thanks 💛

[mychlapci]

reading that Tarantulas and Prowl processor overload ask has revived one of my recently dormant fetishes

(this is an expansion on the forced porn download ask actually, wasn't really done b4 sending)

Prowl's archives just being a massive database of miscellaneous data, which seems like a fully practical thing that he'd do for simulation work at first glance, but in truth, he just never deletes anything because he gets off to the feeling of being just sooooo full in places no physical sensation can reach.

He wasn't always like this, you see. Prowl used to maintain good software management habits. He'd defrag according to a strict schedule, used connection buffers often and cleared his processing queues before recharge. He would never think twice about netdiving into shady websites with nasty popups, let alone download anything from there. But eventually, as his processors develop at that exponential pace his handlers noticed upon bringing him online, Prowl got bolder.

Bold enough to make a slip up and plug into a corrupt mainframe, triggering that forced download and kickstarting his fetish for good. He barely remembers anything about that incident other than an overwhelming mental barrage of arousal. Sometimes Prowl wonders if his colleagues at the time knew just what was literally going through his head as he slumped over on the console, seizing in place as they frantically tried to disconnect him safely. Maybe they caught the scent of his overload under his panels, and chose not to say anything.

Prowl would of course say that he was perfectly fine after that incident, but he'd be haunted by that instance of utter bliss he'd felt when like 30 terrabytes of ERP chatlogs and erotic flashgames burned through his neural circuitry. Eventually, he'd start by visiting a library. Full of clean and safe data to indulge in. Then he started logging all non-confidential precinct data, like routine security footage that's get deleted anyways, and dispatch call recordings. Then he started downloading from legal websites, then onto not so legal ones.

He even has backup and extra hard drives stored in his office and habisuite in plain sight, since no one else but other archivists and data specialists would catch on to his kink in the first place. Every once in a while, he'd plug himself into all these units and just let all that data flood through him, his fans and cooling systems squealing in effort to keep up with the deluge of information forcing it's way through his staticy brain, reducing his overclocked cognitive units into jello as his RAM gets consumed by pure uncontrollable math.

He loves the feel of his mind being pounded by googols of nonsense, it makes him hornier than anything else. He'd save anything from the internet, books and numeric databases are his usual go tos; high definition media are a must, the more graphically and audially intensive the better; the most unoptimized and performance heavy video games, anything that would fill up his hungry battle computer until it's full to bursting and melting.

Sometimes when he feels extra naughty, he'd even fire up the various malware and viruses the Spec Ops team would bring back, on top of all the seedy ones he'd find online. He'd trigger them in his processor and lie back in his berth, finger his fluttering pussy and feel the malicious software start tearing through his brain as his battle computer instinctively fights back, making him feel soooo hot all over. And every time he overloads, it sweeps all of his progress, and the self cleaning protocols will just have to restart as he writhes helplessly in the dark of his room.

Software sanctity? Fuck that, he'd hit anything as long as it demolishes his brain and make him into a silly, messy, spasming horny mess. A real dataslut.

god this is so good. He's quite literally overloading his processor out. It's almost like an addiction. Of course, Prowl could stop any time he wants... he could, he just doesn't want to! After a while, pumping his head full of junk data and malicious viruses is the only way Prowl can even have a fulfilling orgasm. Being full of miscellaneous data is just not enough. It's a pleasant pressure in his constantly calculating brain, yes, but if he wants to cum, he needs something stronger. He'll keep frying his brain inside of his helm as long as he gets to feel that electrifying thrill of his battle computer struggling to deflect the attacks on his mainframe.

It feels like he's falling apart at the circuits, delicate wiring so hot that it's disintegrating into dust, and all he can do is frantically rub his soaking wet valve through it all, optics bright and staring off into space as his HUD floods with nonsense. All his senses are completely taken over by the foreign malware, all he knows is that he feels so good.

Honestly, I wonder what would happen if he got stuck like that. Just for a day or two. And someone had to find him in his apartment, face twisted in pure bliss as his frame keeps twitching even after countless hours of continuous overloads. Of course, Prowl's processor gets cleaned out after that, yet he can't help but want to repeat it... to feel so absolutely stuffed and overwhelmed with data that he's just a wet, helpless thing. To give up control and let his processor sink into endless pleasure.

But for now, he's got a morning shift at the precinct to finish.

[error4343]

Ok I've had a very random train of thoughts and now wanna compile it into post.

Some MM characters computer-related (???) headcanons lol

Riley:

Has above average knowledge of Excel/Google sheets due to studying finance, but after four years with no practise forgot most of it.

The "Sooon, I have a problem" person in their family. Actually, surprisingly good and patient at explaining computer stuff to older people.

Has a higher responsibility of doing taxes (finance, after all). Even he never fails to do them right, Ed always double checks. Sometimes they get into argument, where inevitably Riley proves he is right but his father would never admit it.

Warren, Leeza, Ooker and other teens:

Also nothing outstanding in terms of skills, except few of them have interest in IT.

They have bunch of small local Discord servers and one big main server with some very stupid name.

Few times Bev tried to bring up importance of parental control over this "new and rapidly growing young community", but thanks God no one took her concerns seriously

Leeza moderates it and her moder role called "Mayor-mini". Like father like daughter.

All teens local jokes and memes were bourn/spread though that server.

Bev:

Rumors says she sacrificed her humanity to obtain such powers with Microsoft software package.

Can build up Access database from scratch, using basic SQL commands, assemble primitive, but surprisingly sufficient interface to it and synchronize it with Excel in span of one day or less.

In her laptop there're every pupil's personal file, countless Excel tables, several automatised document accounts, Google calendar with precisely planned schedule for next several months (for school, church, island and personal matters) and probably Pentagon files.

Probably can find all Pi numbers with Excel formulas.

Never lets anyone to her laptop.

Spends her free time at different forums, mostly gardening-related.

Wade:

Made a very fucking poor decision to let Bev do all the legwork with digital document accounting.

Now has no idea how some of things even work, so just goes with a flow and does what Bev tells.

No wander she got away with embezzlement.

Knows about kid's server. Very proud of Leeza for managing it :)

Because of that, he knows one or two memes from there, but keeps them in secret.

Has hobby of fixing office equipment. Does it with Sturge in spare time due to Dupuytren's contracture not letting him operate his hand fully.

Sarah:

There's no good medical technicians on island, so when something goes wrong with equipment electronics - tries to fix it herself to best of her ability.

Always monitors electronic e-shops for spare details or equipment. Grows more and more addicted to it.

Frequently updates her selection of sites with useful medical information, because Erin asked her for help guiding teens though puberty. For that receives glances from Bev, but doesn't give a shit.

Has reputation of cool aunt among kids, so she was one and only adult invited to main Discord server. Didn't accept it (doesn't even have Discord acc), but still grateful for trust.

Plays solitaire a lot.

John:

Back when he was playing Paul, Bev asked him to do something with Excel. In conclusion, poor bastard had to learn basic computer skills and Excel in span of several days. Now he is traumatized for rest of his life.

Will do all the work manually just to not touch laptop again.

Upsets very easly when does something wrong.

Doesn't own laptop. Don't give that man laptop, he will cry.

By his own will uses it only to watch baseball. Always asks someone to help with that.

[copperbadge]

Hello, hello, could you please say more about how you use Microsoft OneNote in your professional life? I need all the help I can get to stay organized & on top of things, so I would love to know.

Sure! I use it less than previous because there's less randomized stuff I need to do now, so I don't need such robust management, but I can talk about how my use began/evolved. I started using OneNote because it was less finicky than Word but still had an autosave function and basic formatting, so it was useful for initial drafts of documents, taking notes on meetings, and keeping track of information I needed at my fingertips frequently.

OneNote's largest "unit" is the Notebook. You can have multiple Notebooks but I've never bothered; still I can see how if your screen was public a lot, you'd want to put some things in a separate Notebook. The Notebook then breaks down into Sections which look like tabs, which I would assign to broad things like "Meeting Notes", "Assignments", "Templates", "Personal" and "Excel Hacks". Sections break down further into "Pages"; each page is a document stuck into place, which you can title so that you can have a list of "pages" on the sidebar and find the one you want easily. Text in Pages can be formatted to some degree, and if you copypaste from websites, it'll tag on the URL of the site you pasted from, although you can also turn that off if you want. You can drag and drop Pages from one Section to another pretty easily.

So, for example, I'd have a "Meeting Notes" Section, and when I clicked the tab for that section I'd have a list of Pages, each of which was notes from a meeting I'd attended. Every time I went into a meeting I just made a new page, gave it a meeting title and date, and took notes on the meeting into the page window. The "Meeting Notes" Section thus became a fully searchable record of meetings I'd attended and what was said. When meeting notes were no longer relevant I'd drag them to an archival Section to retire in peace.

Here's an example of my Excel section:

You can see "My Notebook" up in the left top corner, my current Sections as tabs at the top, and the pages list on the left (I think more modern OneNote skins put the pages on the right, I moved mine back). Each line on the left is a separate "page" that tells me how to do something in Excel, something I need to do a lot but can't commit to memory (or couldn't but now have, it's a trifle out of date). So we're in My Notebook, section Excel, page Formatting Stripes, and on the right you can see how to format an Excel sheet so that it has alternating colored rows (there are other ways to do this but this way the stripes always stay alternating no matter what moves where). In theory I could dump all this stuff into one Page and call it "Excel" and put it somewhere else, but I liked having an easily-visible list so I don't have to scroll a single document to find what I want.

There aren't nearly as many tab/sections as there used to be; "Assignments" covers "all work that is not excel formulas" and includes stuff like instructions for how to pull a query in our database, a list of what everyone does at our company, a yearly guide to our events program, a few other things. I don't have a "Personal" section any more but I do have 2-3 pages in the Assignments section that are personal notes.

There's no inbuilt tagging function but because the entire notebook is searchable, if you're really into tagging you can simply add keywords to the top or bottom of a page.

I have OneNote pinned to my taskbar in Windows, and it's basically always open but it autosaves, so adding stuff is super simple; if I find a bug in our database or a quirk I want to remember I just click over to OneNote and add it to the database file, or similar.

I don't use it on my phone or tablet, because if I'm at work I have access to my laptop generally, but OneNote does sync across devices as long as you're logged in, so if you have OneNote and a Microsoft login you should be able to access it in multiple places.

[neons-over-welde]

Worldbuilding guide

This post is there to keep the basics of the worldbuilding in one place so you'll be able to find it easily!

So its a cyberpunk AU?

Well yes, but its not a Cyberpunk 2077 AU. So it doesn't take place in Night City or anything, and to be fully honest I've never played Cyberpunk 2077 or even the TTRPG its been inspired by. Its a cyberpunk au in the sense of its aesthetics and setting. Though, I did use some vocabulary from Cyberpunk 2077 in places because it was cool.

If anything I took more inspiration from Blade Runner and Shadowrun!

So its a Modern AU with no fantasy?

No not really, as i said I take inspiration partially from Shadowrun. So some of the fantasy races that exist in DND do exist in the AU. I'm not giving you the exact list (yet) but just know some have been replaced by humans or other things.

Some fantasy concepts such as magic have been replaced by technological equivalent but also there's a notion of some people being more connected to technology than others. You can kinda see that as magic and the weave I suppose lol.

So whats the setting then?

The AU takes place in the Megalopolis of Yvbranka, a massive city that spans several thousand square kilometers. It's divided in several districts but everyone technically lives in the same "city". We're somewhere in the range of the years 2050 to 2090.

Technology has invaded every aspect of life, megacorporations manage everything and body implants and mods are commonplace. A large Network similar to the Internet is accessible from almost anywhere and some would rather live in that Network than live in the realworld. Some also, are able to tune in to this network with way more ease than others, they're commonly called "Netrunners"

About 15 years ago one of the most famous hackers and Netrunners in the Megalopolis took her own life after completing what she considered her most ambitious project. There's rumors of her becoming one with the Global Network but no one's ever been able to track her down. She has, to this day, a cult following who refer to themselves as her "Church" and aim to find her and be one with her. Those lunatics are commonly reffered to as the "Cultists."

The Legendary Netrunner

I won't develop on her much for now but for the moment just know her name was Lolth

Lolth's projects

During her lifetime Lolth developped several programs and worked on various projects but only two are relevant to us for now.

Eilistra-EE : An AI dedicated to the safeguarding of data (as in making sure it isn't lost) and to ensuring the freedom of information. It is thought to be semi-concious/aware.

V-Raun: An AI Lolth created to erase any trace of her passage when jailbreaking into databases and doing her business in the Network. It acts as a malware and erases data everywhere it goes. Seems to have since developped some kind of conciousness as well.

[hopelesslygaysstuff]

pairing: wanda maximoff x fem!reader

summary: the team debriefs, wanda and y/n have a much needed talk, and then they fuck!! yayyyyy ◡̈

content warnings: fingering, cunnilingus, use of the word mommy, mention of murder

A/N: this is the final chapter of this series!! thank you for coming along with me for this story, i appreciate all the support!! <3

word count: 5.2k

Series Masterlist

The plane was silent as Fury took his place near the center of the room, turning in a slow circle as he ran a critical eye over his team. His eyes lingered on y/n, and he stared at Wanda just long enough to make the silence uncomfortable before moving on. After a few long seconds, he nodded at Steve, who leaned forward in his seat as he spoke. 

“Grant Ward has been arrested and taken to The Raft,” He began, his face seemingly made of stone as he recalled the events of the night. “We now have a copy of their entire database, which Bruce and Tony will work on once we arrive home. The virus was successful, and their entire database and communications have been wiped thanks to y/n. The U.S military is currently working on clearing the facility out, and returning the victims to their families.”

The mood of the plane dimmed slightly as they took a moment of silence, remembering the terrifying underlying operations of that facility. Wanda shifted slightly in her seat, her eyes blazing as she realized what Steve meant. Y/n squeezed her hand, and green eyes found hers as they softened slightly. 

“I know it’s upsetting, but we helped a lot of victims today. I assume you weren’t aware of what happened at that facility?” Y/n asked, sending her thoughts in Wanda’s direction. The woman’s hand gripped her tighter as she worked her jaw. 

“No, I didn’t know. I thought Grant was the only problem. It’s absolutely disgusting that someone would…” Wanda trailed off, her eyes angry once again as she took a deep breath, relaxing her grip slightly as she pushed down the waves of magic that threatened to escape her firm control. 

Y/n took a quick glance around, the entire team was focused on Steve’s detailed report of the mission. She leaned fully into Wanda’s side, taking the woman by surprise as she grabbed the woman's hand and set it around her waist. Wanda’s shaking fingers gripped the fabric of y/n’s sweater as she stared down in confusion, her previous anger dimming. 

“I’ve noticed that physical touch calms you down.” Y/n thought, leaning her head against Wanda’s shoulder gently. The fingers around her waist started tracing nonsensical patterns as she felt Wanda let out a small huff of laughter. 

“Very observant, I’m glad you paid attention to my lessons.” Wanda sent back, smiling slightly as she turned her face into y/n’s hair. Placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head, Wanda turned her attention back to the mission debrief. 

Tony had stood up at some point, and was projecting a map of the facility onto a screen. He was pointing to various exit points and listing the names of high ranking members of the facility they’d captured. As he spoke, y/n placed a gentle hand on Wanda’s thigh and started tracing her fingers lightly over the smooth fabric. They listened, Wanda slowly turning her attention to each Avenger as she observed them, and y/n spacing out as her eyes grew tired. All she wanted to do was fully lean into Wanda’s warmth, and rest her eyes. Just for a little bit. 

A small break wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Y/n.” A hand pinched her waist, and y/n shot up. With wide eyes, she looked around dazedly at her smirking team members. Fury raised his eyebrows, a slight smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he repeated his question. 

“If you could just recount what happened on your end of things, then we can all settle in for the flight home.” Fury said, and y/n flushed as her mind raced in an attempt to recall her experience. 

Clearing her throat, she relaxed back into Wanda’s side. “I managed to get Ward’s attention using some techniques I learned from my mentor,” She nodded at Wanda briefly. “He took me up to his office and then left, I assume because of something you all did?”

Tony nodded sheepishly, and Natasha patted him on the knee as he muttered something about a rocket dysfunction and fixing his suit. Y/n smiled at them, before continuing. “I managed to get a copy of the database before he came back, which is why it took a few minutes in between each flash drive. But, Wanda had ensured that his suspicions were elsewhere before he returned.” 

As she said that last part, y/n observed her team as they looked at Wanda. Most were indifferent or even impressed, but Natasha looked slightly angry as she stared at the woman. Tony just looked impressed, and he shot a crooked smile at y/n, which she returned. 

“I managed to upload the virus, and then we made it out before the database was wiped.” Y/n finished, stifling a yawn. 

Fury leaned forward in his seat, steepling his fingers as he locked eyes on Wanda. “As happy as we are to meet your mentor,” He began, and Wanda tensed. “Why exactly is she here?”

Wanda stared back, an air of indifference around her as she answered. “I did some of my own research on the facility once I learned about y/n’s mission, and upon discovering some concerning practices, I became worried about y/n’s safety. I wasn’t aware that she would have a team with her, as I wasn’t privy to the details of her mission, so I decided to come down and check up on her myself.”

“So you flew to the other side of the country, to… check on y/n?” Fury asked, mistrust shining in his eyes. 

“I’ve grown to care deeply for y/n,” Wanda said, her back straightening as she looked Fury square in the eye. “So yes, I flew across the country to ensure she was safe.”

Natasha let out a surprised huff, raising her eyebrows at y/n. Tony still looked impressed, and y/n gave them a look that said ‘we’ll talk about this later’. Wanda was still locked in a staring contest with Fury, who had narrowed his eyes suspiciously as the whole team observed with bated breath. 

“You stayed with her for the entire summer.” Fury said abruptly, turning his attention to y/n, who nodded. “Can she be trusted?” 

Y/n let her own eyes narrow, her hand tightening on Wanda’s thigh. “If I didn’t trust her, she wouldn’t be on this plane, Nick.” Tony’s jaw dropped, someone stifled a laugh, and Wanda looked over in surprise. “I trust her with my life, is that good enough for you?” Y/n practically spat out the last sentence, wanting this debrief to end as soon as possible. 

Wanda’s fingers returned to her waist, tracing soothing patterns as y/n attempted to blow Fury up with her mind. Surprisingly, it was Natasha who spoke up as she looked Wanda up and down.

“If y/n trusts her, then I see no reason to deny her clearance.” Natasha eyed Wanda, who gave her a small smile, before letting her eyes glance over at y/n. She observed the way that y/n leaned her full body weight against the woman, and the hand that was tracing soft circles on Wanda’s thigh. Natasha blinked, before smiling internally at the knowledge that y/n had finally found someone outside of the Avengers who cared about her immensely. She would still be having a chat with the woman though, she wasn’t going to let Wanda off that easily. Not after y/n had been crying for a solid week when she returned home. 

Fury nodded, clapping his hands together as he stood. He dismissed them, letting them know how pleased he was with the success of the mission, before making his way towards the front of the plane. The rest of the team started disassembling their gear, and disappearing into different rooms to change into a more comfortable outfit. Y/n simply leaned further into Wanda, who wrapped both arms around her as she buried her nose into the girl’s soft hair. 

“Sleep darling,” Wanda whispered, noticing how the girl’s eyes were closing of their own accord. Y/n tried to protest, shifting slightly in Wanda’s hold, but accidentally making herself more comfortable in the process. She gave up after a few seconds, wrapping her arms around Wanda’s waist as she rested her head against the front of her shoulder, burying her face into the woman’s neck and sighing contentedly. 

Y/n was fast asleep by the time that the rest of the team settled down, having been lulled to sleep by the rumble of the plane engine, Wanda’s warmth, and that comforting vanilla scent she’d missed. Tony still had an impressed look on his face as he appraised Wanda, before Natasha shoved him into a seat while shaking her head at his lingering stares. 

Wrapping her arms securely around y/n, Wanda made herself comfortable for the flight. She let herself relax slightly, mentally running over all the things she wanted to explain and apologize for. She took one last glance around at the rest of the Avengers, most of them already asleep, before allowing herself to close her eyes and relax fully with y/n wrapped in her arms. 

—

Y/n shouldered her small gear bag, leaning against Wanda as the team walked towards the compound. The sun was almost ready to rise, the first hints of pink peeking over the horizon. The team was silent, most of them still waking up and stretching as they shook off the jet lag. 

“I’m craving some tea.” Y/n murmured, smiling to herself when Wanda’s hand placed itself on the small of her back. Wanda hummed in response, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she took in the Avengers compound. She continued to look around as they entered the building, taking everything in with slightly widened eyes. 

Pulling Wanda towards the kitchen, y/n waved Natasha off towards the gym as Tony muttered something about sorting through the flash drive as he scurried towards his workshop. Pushing open a door, y/n led Wanda towards the modern-looking kitchen as she set her bag down on the counter. 

WIthout exchanging many words, the pair made some tea in a comfortable silence. A few rays of orange hit the counter as the sun started streaming through the large windows. As soon as the tea was made, y/n intertwined her fingers with Wanda’s and led her towards the elevators. 

Y/n watched Wanda’s fingers out of the corner of her eye as they fiddled with the mug in her hand. The woman’s green eyes were glued to the steaming liquid, and her posture was unusually tense. As soon as the elevators dinged open, y/n watched green eyes blink slowly as they stepped off and made their way towards her room. 

Pressing the door open, y/n set her bag down near her dresser before turning back towards Wanda. The woman stood near the door, her eyes eagerly taking in y/n’s room as her fingers tapped against her mug. 

“We don’t have to talk right now.” Y/n said, sitting down on the bed and placing her steaming tea on the nightstand. Wanda looked torn for a moment, before she crossed the room and sat down next to y/n. 

“No,” Wanda started, smiling softly at y/n when she met her eyes. “You deserve an explanation, and I don’t want to keep that from you any longer than I already have.”

Y/n just nodded, leaning against the headboard of her bed as she waited patiently for Wanda to begin speaking. The redhead opened her mouth, before closing it as her brows furrowed. 

“I’m trying to find the right words.” Wanda said, frustration bleeding through as she blew across the surface of her tea. Y/n reached for her own tea, sipping it as she observed Wanda. She still couldn’t quite believe that she was here, and having Wanda in her room felt sort of surreal. She watched Wanda work her jaw slightly before taking pity on her. 

Reaching out a hand, y/n tugged Wanda closer. She looked surprised, but obligingly scooted closer, her knees touching y/n’s crossed legs as she sipped her tea. Y/n’s hand moved to rest against Wanda’s thigh, and she slowly drew circles until the woman started talking. 

“I love you,” Wanda started, and y/n couldn't stop the slow smile that spread across her face. “I just… got scared.” 

A confused look came across y/n’s face. “I scared you? Or the feelings did?”

“No,” Wanda hesitated briefly, reaching down a hand to trace over y/n’s on her thigh. “I was scared that something awful would happen to you. Every person I’ve loved has been taken from me, my parents and Pietro.” 

Wanda stopped talking for a moment, before blinking away the unshed tears in her eyes as she looked y/n in the eye. “I stopped letting myself love after they died, because I was too afraid to get hurt again. But you…” Wanda squeezed y/n’s hand as she laughed slightly. “You caused me to feel more than I have in a long time. As soon as I realized I loved you, the only thing I wanted to do was protect you, to keep you safe so that I wouldn’t have to deal with heartbreak again.” 

“It was hard to say goodbye,” Wanda continued, a faraway look in her eyes. “I didn’t know how to say that I loved you when you left because the only thing I wanted to do was plead with you to stay. I felt that if I said goodbye, or told you I loved you, it would be the last time I would ever get the chance to.” She shook her head sadly, a tear slipping down her face as she brought her tea to her lips. 

Y/n set her own mug back on the nightstand as relief rushed through her. She’d been so worried that Wanda didn’t hold the same feelings as she did, but this entire time the woman had done nothing but love her. Reaching out, y/n grabbed Wanda’s mug and placed it next to hers before pulling her in for a searing kiss. 

Pulling back, y/n smiled widely as Wanda just blinked at her in shock. “So you really did fly across the country just to check on me?” 

An adorable blush made its way onto Wanda’s face as she answered, “Yes, I wanted to make sure you were alright and tell you that I loved you.” She cupped her hands around y/n’s jaw, her green eyes searching the girl’s face. “I hope I didn’t make an irreversible mistake by not giving you a proper goodbye.” 

Shaking her head, y/n pulled Wanda back for another kiss. This time, the redhead wasn’t taken off guard, and sucked y/n’s bottom lip in between her teeth as the girl leaned back. Pulling away, y/n asked one final question as Wanda’s lips chased hers. 

“Why didn't you come sooner? Or answer my texts?” 

Wanda smiled sheepishly at y/n as her thumbs ran gently over her cheeks. “I was busy murdering a coven of witches.” Y/n’s mouth fell open, and Wanda added, “Agatha sends her regards.” 

Shoving her slightly, y/n huffed. “You told me I could watch the next time you had to get rid of someone!” She crossed her arms as Wanda’s eyebrows rose in an attempt not to laugh. 

“You were a bit preoccupied, darling.” Wanda reminded her, and y/n sighed. 

“Fine, but next time you have to let me come along.” Y/n demanded, and Wanda nodded as she leaned in for another kiss. A single finger made its way to her lips, and Wanda froze in surprise. “Promise me.” 

“Promise you what?” Wanda asked, her green eyes locked on y/n’s. Swallowing harshly, y/n bit back the sudden tears that sprung into her eyes as she thought about her next words. “Promise that you’ll let me come along next time,” And shushed Wanda when she began to speak, her voice cracking. 

“Promise me that you’ll never make me feel unloved again.”

A tear slid down y/n’s face as she said the last part, and Wanda nodded quickly as she pulled y/n into a tight embrace. With her cries muffled against Wanda’s shoulder, y/n finally let out all the fears she’d had in the last week as a firm hand ran soothingly over her back. 

With her lips close to y/n’s ear, Wanda murmured her promises as she let her own tears fall. She really hadn’t meant to hurt y/n, and resolved to herself to make it up to the girl for the rest of her life, no matter how long it took. She held her close, burying her face into y/n’s hair as she soothed her, her hands rubbing circles on the girls back as her cries subsided.

Eventually, y/n’s tears stopped. She let herself linger in Wanda’s embrace, enjoying the feeling of being held. “You love me, right?”

The words were said against Wanda’s neck, and the woman shivered slightly as y/n’s lips moved against her skin. She tilted her head to place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “I do love you, darling. I promise.”

Pulling away, y/n smiled softly at Wanda before her gaze dropped to her lips. The redhead raised an eyebrow at her, and y/n rolled her eyes before her hands wrapped around the woman’s collar and pulled her in. 

Their lips met fiercely, fighting for dominance for a brief moment before y/n surrendered and allowed Wanda to take control of the kiss. Strong hands pushed against y/n’s shoulders until she was fully on the mattress, one of Wanda’s hands snaked around to the back of her head to grip her hair. 

At a small yet urgent tug of her hair, y/n broke the kiss and allowed her head to be tilted back as Wanda trailed her wet lips down her jaw and to her neck. Placing hot, open mouthed kisses against the girl’s sensitive skin, Wanda shifted her body until one of her thighs slipped between y/n’s parted legs.  

Upon feeling the heat rising from y/n’s core, and smirking when the girl’s hips raised against her thigh, Wanda disconnected her lips from y/n’s neck. Gazing down at y/n’s desperate form, green eyes turned scarlet as Wanda’s magic twisted against her fingers. Within seconds, their clothes disappeared, and y/n groaned at the feeling of Wanda’s skin against hers. 

“God, you’re so desperate for me.” Wanda mumbled, panting at the feeling of y/n’s slick center thrusting against her thigh. One of her hands traveled across the girl’s overheated skin, teasing her until it reached the girl’s soft breasts. Her fingers expertly rolled y/n’s nipple, and Wanda leaned down to envelop the other in her mouth. 

Moaning, y/n arched her back as she pushed her chest further into Wanda’s stimulating touch. Her hand tangled in red locks of hair, while the other gripped the headboard behind her tightly. She could feel her own wetness spreading across Wanda’s thigh, but she was too far gone to care, so she rolled her hips shamelessly against the woman’s wet thigh. 

“Patience darling.” Wanda said, disconnecting her lips from y/n’s nipple after a teasing bite, causing the girl to jerk beneath her. 

“I waited for a whole week, Wanda.” Y/n said, trying not to sound too desperate. Wanda gripped her wrist when she attempted to touch the redhead, pinning her hand down as her green eyes bore into hers. 

“What do you mean by that?” Wanda asked, feeling excitement grow as she hoped y/n would say what she was thinking. Y/n struggled against her grip briefly, before giving up and staring up at Wanda with puppy eyes. 

Wanda raised a single eyebrow. Y/n rushed to answer as she remembered the question she’d just been asked. “One of your rules is that only you are allowed to touch me, so…” She trailed off, and Wanda’s eyes lit up. 

“You haven’t touched yourself at all?” She checked, and at y/n’s sheepish nod, bent down to capture the girl’s lips. She let her tongue slide against y/n’s before biting down on the girl’s bottom lip, drawing a whimper from her. “Good girl.”

A wandering hand made its way down y/n’s body, sliding easily over the girl’s damp skin until it reached the apex of her thighs. Wanda teased the soft skin of y/n’s mound, before dipping her fingers lower and moaning at the feeling of slick juices coating the girl’s inner thighs. 

A feral look made its way into Wanda’s green eyes, and in one swift movement, she thrust two fingers into y/n. The girl’s wrists flexed underneath her hand as her back arched up towards Wanda, who set a bruising pace as she twisted her fingers inside y/n’s dripping pussy. 

“Do you like that darling?” Wanda asked, and y/n moaned as white hot pleasure coursed through her. “Do you like it when mommy is rough with you?” 

Y/n’s head spun as a thick vanilla haze swept over her as Wanda’s words reached her. She tried her best to respond, fighting against Wanda’s hand on her wrists as she rolled her hips in time to the woman’s rough thrusts. 

“Answer me.”

“Yes mommy.” Y/n managed to say, her quiet words almost lost in the wet sound of Wanda’s fingers slamming into her. With each thrust, y/n was thrown further into the vanilla haze that she’d grown to crave. 

“Elaborate darling, I know you're a smart girl.” Wanda’s voice broke through the haze, and y/n managed to focus on those sparkling green eyes. Wanda’s red hair fell down around y/n’s head like a curtain, drawing all of y/n’s attention to her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her lips parted as she panted from the exertion of fucking her fingers into the girl below her. Y/n had never seen such a beautiful sight. 

“I like when mommy is rough with me and when mommy hurts me.” Y/n said, her voice breathy as she arched her body into Wanda’s. “Please let me come. I’ve been good, haven’t I?”

Wanda moaned at the desperation in y/n’s voice. She thought about denying the girl, the thought of edging her almost too good to pass up, but then she saw the look in y/n’s eyes. Her eyes shone up at her, little breaths leaving y/n’s lips with every thrust as her eyes locked on Wanda’s. The look of pure love in them caused Wanda to snap. 

“Come for me, darling.” She whispered, her eyes locked on y/n’s face as the girl’s hips sped up. Her face screwed up, her brows burrowing as her lips parted and her legs tensed around Wanda’s hand as the woman continued thrusting deep into her. Wanda’s thumb reached up and rubbed a few fast circles on y/n’s clit, and the girl spasmed as her orgasm washed over her. 

The vanilla haze sharpened as her body convulsed, her legs snapping tight around Wanda’s hand as she pulled her wrists roughly against the woman’s bruising grip. Her eyes screwed shut as she heard Wanda’s soothing voice telling her to breathe. The hand on her wrists disappeared, and y/n reached down to grip Wanda’s shoulders with trembling fingers.

As her body relaxed, still twitching from the aftershocks, y/n opened her eyes to find Wanda’s concerned face looking down at her. She realized that one hand was caressing her face gently, wiping away the few tears that had escaped, while the other one was still trapped between her legs. Y/n smiled softly, relaxing her legs and parting them as Wanda slowly removed her drenched fingers. Trailing them up y/n’s body, she nudged the girl’s lips until they parted and gently sucked them clean. 

Y/n moved, her own hand trailing down Wanda’s body with the intention of reciprocating, but Wanda captured the hand with her own and shook her head. “No darling, today is about you.” 

“But,” Y/n protested, forgetting that Wanda’s fingers were still knuckle deep in her mouth. She glared at Wanda when the woman chuckled, before the woman pulled her fingers from her mouth, moving the wet digits to circle y/n’s nipple. 

“I want to make you feel good though.” Y/n said, even as her breath shuttered due to Wanda’s nimble fingers. Wanda simply raised an eyebrow, leaning down to kiss y/n deeply. At the series of moans y/n let into the kiss, Wanda knew she had the girl wrapped around her fingers. 

Pulling back, Wanda descended y/n’s body, leaving open mouthed kisses on her soft skin. After a particularly harsh hickey to her inner thigh, y/n felt the vanilla haze enter her mind again, and she propped herself up on a few pillows as she watched Wanda leave marks all over her thighs and hips. 

Reaching out a hand, y/n ran her fingers through Wanda’s hair before gently tugging her head closer to her still-sensitive pussy. Wanda smirked up at her, getting comfortable on the bed as she asked, “Did you want something, darling?” 

“I want your mouth,” Y/n said, her pupils blown as she took in the image of Wanda’s sinfully plump lips hovering over her slick center. At Wanda’s raised eyebrow, she elaborated, “I want you to eat me out until your jaw is sore and the only thing you can taste is me.” 

“Fuck.” Wanda moaned, her eyes widening at y/n’s request. She let her tongue drag over the girl’s pussy, increasing the pressure when she reached her clit, and smirking when y/n’s hips stuttered beneath her. “Are you sure, love?” 

Y/n let her head rest against the headboard as she watched Wanda drag her tongue against her once more. Deciding that Wanda needed one more push, she teasingly rolled her nipple between her fingers as green eyes tracked the movement. “Please, mommy? I wanna come in your mouth so bad.” 

At the half moaned words, Wanda let her lips wrap around y/n’s swollen clit, sucking harshly. Y/n let out a surprised yelp, which was quickly replaced by low moans and rolling hips as Wanda began flicking her tongue against her. Wanda’s chin was soon soaked with y/n’s juices, and she lapped up as much as she could while still keeping consistent pressure on the girl’s clit. 

Eventually, the frantic rolling of y/n’s hips became too much, and Wanda twisted her fingers as a wisp of scarlet magic wrapped around the girl’s waist and pinned her to the bed. She dove back in, a delicious burn making its way to her jaw as she worked y/n closer to the edge. Her fingers raked along the girl’s hips and thighs, leaving wonderfully red marks along her soft skin as y/n’s hands buried themselves in Wanda’s hair. 

“Please mommy, I wanna come for you. Please let me come, I’ve waited all week for you. Please, please, please I’ve been a good girl. Your good girl.” Y/n begged, feeling her orgasm approaching. 

Wanda groaned slightly, her fingers twisting as her magic stimulated y/n’s clit as she left a large hickey on her hip bone. “Who do you belong to, y/n?” 

A choked sound rang around the room as y/n processed the question. She moved to put her hand over her mouth, embarrassed at how desperate she was becoming, but Wanda’s magic stopped her. Looking down, y/n gazed into Wanda’s scarlet eyes and blurted out her answer. 

“You, Wanda. Only you. Always you.”

Wanda’s eyes widened in pleasure at her answer, and before y/n could process what was happening, her hot mouth was once again wrapped around her pussy. Creating a suction with her lips, Wanda dragged y/n’s clit between her teeth as she felt it convulse under her ministrations. After a few harsh sucks, y/n came again, Wanda’s name streaming from her lips as her hips rutted against her face. 

Scarlet tendrils of magic swirled around the room in a frenzied manner. Wanda’s orgasm came shortly after, the woman having snaked her hand down to her own drenched lips to relieve the unbearable tension in her lower gut. Green eyes closed as her orgasm washed over her in waves, and she detached her lips from y/n’s swollen pussy as the girl squirmed beneath her. 

Eventually, y/n’s hoarse voice brought Wanda back to the present moment. “Wanda, can you hear me? I need you to release me, love.” 

Opening her eyes, Wanda quickly pulled her magic away from y/n as the girl’s body sagged onto the mattress in relief. She blinked, bringing her hand to her face to discover tears on her cheeks. 

Y/n saw the tears almost as soon as Wanda had noticed them, and sat up as she wrapped her arms around the woman’s shoulders. Bringing the woman’s shaking body close, y/n held her tightly as Wanda let out a few quiet sobs. Her magic remained, the red wisps floating around as Wanda buried her face into y/n’s neck. 

Whispering praises into Wanda’s slightly frizzy hair, y/n soothed her with a gentle hand against her back. Rocking back and forth, she continued to comfort the woman for a while, until Wanda pulled away and looked dazedly at her. 

“What’s wrong?” Y/n asked, her hand reaching up to cup Wanda’s jaw as her thumb ran over the woman’s damp cheeks. Wanda’s scarlet eyes shone up at her, her lips parted as she thought about her response. 

“I love you,” Wanda whispered, “I’m moving up here to be with you.” 

At y/n’s surprised look, Wanda rushed to continue. “I cannot be without you for that long, ever again. I’m going to stay with you while I begin the process of creating another one of my facilities here. I’ve always wanted to expand.” She let a playful smile onto her face, gazing at y/n’s shocked face with a look of adoration. 

“I will do whatever it takes to ensure your happiness, darling. That’s a promise. Your happiness is my top priority, and I'll go to great lengths to make sure you're happy. You deserve to have everything you could ever want, and I'll put my heart and soul into making that happen.” Wanda finished, her eyes sparkling up at y/n as her magic hovered with anticipation in the air. 

“Okay.” Y/n said, her words quiet as a beaming smile made its way onto her face. 

Wanda looked at her with scarlet eyes, still in disbelief at the words that y/n had said with quiet certainty. “Okay?” She checked, and y/n nodded enthusiastically before pulling her in for a deep kiss. She could feel y/n smile against her lips, and let her own giddy smile show as she kissed her back with passion. 

Pulling away, y/n let her eyes roam over Wanda’s face as she felt the hole in her heart start to repair itself. She giggled as Wanda teased her, leading the woman into the bathroom for a much needed shower as the red wisps of magic cleaned the bed sheets behind them. Y/n felt herself looking forward to the future, for once. She couldn’t wait to spend her life with the amazing woman she’d come to know and love over the summer. 

They continued about their day, lazing about in y/n’s room and catching up with each other. By the end of the day, y/n had a near-permanent smile on her face. She had successfully completed her mission, made some new friends, and fallen in love all in one summer. The best part? Wanda Maximoff’s eyes were finally sparkling again. But this time, not a rich green color. 

This time, they were sparkling scarlet.

[covid-safer-hotties]

New Onset of Acute and Chronic Hepatic Diseases Post-COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review - Published Sept 10, 2024

Abstract The SARS-CoV-2 virus caused a pandemic in the 2020s, which affected almost every aspect of life. As the world is recovering from the effect of the coronavirus, the concept of post-COVID-19 syndrome has emerged. Multiple organ systems have been implicated, including the liver. We aim to identify and analyze the reported cases of severe and long-term parenchymal liver injury post-COVID-19 infection. Several databases were used to conduct a comprehensive literature search to target studies reporting cases of severe and long-term parenchymal liver injury post-COVID-19 infection. Screening, data extraction, and cross checking were performed by two independent reviewers. Only 22 studies met our inclusion criteria. Our results revealed that liver steatosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and cirrhosis were the most reported liver associated complications post-COVID-19 infection. Moreover, complications like acute liver failure, hepatitis, and liver hemorrhage were also reported. The mechanism of liver injury post-COVID-19 infection is not fully understood. The leading proposed mechanisms include the involvement of the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor expressed in the liver and the overall inflammatory state caused by COVID-19 infection. Future studies should incorporate longer follow-up periods, spanning several years, for better insight into the progression and management of such diseases.

[mariacallous]

According to a memo circulating among State Department staff and reviewed by WIRED, the Trump administration plans to rename the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as US International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA), and to bring it directly under the secretary of state. The document, on which Politico first reported, states that as part of its reorganization, the agency will “leverage blockchain technology” as part of its procurement process.

“All distributions would also be secured and traced via blockchain technology to radically increase security, transparency, and traceability,” the memo reads. “This approach would encourage innovation and efficiency among implementing partners and allow for more flexible and responsive programming focused on tangible impact rather than simply completing activities and inputs.”

The memo does not make clear what specifically this means—if it would encompass doing cash transfers in some kind of cryptocurrency or stablecoin, for example, or simply mean using a blockchain ledger to track aid disbursement.

The memo comes as staffers at USAID are trying to understand their future. The agency was an early target of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has effectively been headed by centibillionaire Elon Musk. Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, the State Department put the entire agency’s staff on administrative leave, slashed its workforce, and halted a portion of payments to partner organizations around the world, including those doing lifesaving work. Since then a federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the dismantling of the agency, but the memo appears to indicate that the administration has plans to continue its mission of drastically cutting USAID and fully folding it into the State Department.

The plans for the blockchain have also caught staffers off guard.

Few blockchain-based projects have managed to achieve large-scale use in the humanitarian sector. Linda Raftree, a consultant who helps humanitarian organizations adopt new technology, says there’s a reason for that—the incorporation of blockchain technology is often unnecessary.

“It feels like a fake technological solution for a problem that doesn’t exist,” she says. “I don’t think we were ever able to find an instance where people were using blockchain where they couldn’t use existing tools.”

Giulio Coppi, a senior humanitarian officer at the nonprofit Access Now who has researched the use of blockchain in humanitarian work, says that blockchain technologies, while sometimes effective, offer no obvious advantages over other tools organizations could use, such as an existing payments system or another database tool. “There’s no proven advantage that it’s cheaper or better,” he says. “The way it’s been presented is this tech solutionist approach that has been proven over and over again to not have any substantial impact in reality.”

There have been, however, some successful instances of using blockchain technology in the humanitarian sector. In 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ran a small pilot to give cash assistance to Ukrainians displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war in a stablecoin. Other pilots have been tested in Kenya by the Kenya Red Cross Society. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which works with the Kenya team, also helped to develop the Humanitarian Token Solution (HTS).

One representative from an NGO that uses blockchain technology, but wasn’t authorized to speak to the media with regards to issues relating to USAID, says that particularly with regards to money transfers, stablecoins can be faster and easier than other methods of reaching communities impacted by a disaster. However, “introducing new systems means you’re setting up a new burden” for the many organizations that USAID partners with, they say. “The relative cost of new systems is harder for small NGOs,” which would often include the kind of local organizations that would be at the front line of response to disasters.

The proposed adoption of blockchain technology seems related to an emphasis on exerting tight controls over aid. The memo seems, for example, to propose that funding should be contingent on outcomes, reading, “Tying payment to outcomes and results rather than inputs would ensure taxpayer dollars deliver maximum impact.” A USAID employee, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the media, says that many of USAID’s contracts already function this way, with organizations being paid after performing their work. However, that’s not possible in all situations. “Those kinds of agreements are often not flexible enough for the environments we work in,” they say, noting that in conflict or disaster zones, situations can change quickly, meaning that what an organization may be able to do or need to do can fluctuate.

Raftree says this language appears to be misleading, and bolsters claims made by Musk and the administration that USAID was corrupt. “It’s not like USAID was delivering tons of cash to people who hadn’t done things,” she says.

[goodfish-bowl]

What Little Remains

Chapter 1: Finding the Pieces

Ectoberhaunt 2024 Day 3: Archeology

AO3 Link

Summary: The Terra Zero Archeology Project has received funding to locate a laboratory of both historical and technological importance. What they actually end up bringing back is something of much greater significance.

Warnings: Dissection, gore, blood

Words: 2,374

They had found it on the planet once known as Earth, now known as Terra Zero. It had been buried in a laboratory of historical and technological importance. The laboratory was the target of their mission and this had merely been something they had discovered along the way, but it was likely a much more significant find than their original goal. It was a miracle, really, that the jar protecting this particular specimen was fully intact, and an even greater wonder that they found a second one to go with it. Despite the atypical building practices found at that location, it had managed to survive the several planetary disasters that had befallen Terra Zero since the lab had been constructed. It was truly an amazingly complex and baffling in its own era. The laboratory itself had been buried under tons of sediment, ash, and debris that had built up on the planet's surface over the centuries, yet it managed to preserve the space from the very passage of time. 

The Terra Zero Archeology Project, shortened down to T.Z.A.P, had only been able to discover it through a related digital archiving project, following mentions of its existence along with digital records from the time, particularly a set of patents that were of interest to the team's investors. They read like utter nonsense, completely indecipherable despite running them through every algorithm available and having sloughs of intergalactic experts look them over. The only hope of figuring them out lay in the lab where they had been created. A myzack-chase through several databases and many long message chains and holos later, the mission was underway. The promise of new technologies was what got the T.Z.A.P. its funding in the first place. This lab was sure to have them keep their funding for a while longer. 

The lab itself had been odd, with unknown radioactive elements non-native to the Terra Zero planetary area found in unusual amounts with a positive correlation with the proximity to the lab. Special suits were created just for this excavation, and entire collections of journals were being written based off of the findings. The interior of the lab looked untouched, only a thin coat of dust covered every surface. It was in a general state of disarray like it had been abandoned in the middle of something, but the walls were intact (except for the portion they had drilled through) with minimal rust and decay setting in. It was an astronomically amazing find. 

Then there were the samples. 

Most of the samples, which looked to be biological samples from a dissection, were degraded beyond use, a millennium beyond expiration. They appeared to be humanoid in nature, which ended up being one of the most unnerving portions of the discovery. It wouldn’t be confirmed until they were actually processed and tested. It wasn’t safe to assume, they had found ones made of ‘rubber’ before. One jar, containing a singular, whole hand, was preserved properly, in what appeared to be an isotopic solution tinted green. The next samples of interest were a set of small vials containing a viscous green liquid that actively rested in a set of a dozen, three of which were intact, the rest exposed to the heavy, damp atmosphere of the lab. It was an unnaturally bright green substance with a dull glow, flecked with red. The intact vials wouldn’t be opened until after the samples of the broken ones were processed first. It would give them a good idea of the decay rate of the substance. There was a heavy containment unit, made from glass that could rival modern war spacecraft windows, with a glowing crystal orb inside, floating in a similar solution to what the vials must contain. All of the other samples were labeled “Phantom” with a time and date on their collection date. This one was marked with the name “Danny”, instead. They were all within two days of each other, with the orb being last. 

The most valuable thing T.Z.A.P. managed to collect from the lab, other than just recording of the finding of an intact lab from the early 2000s era, was the intact digital files located on the ancient external hard drive. Someone on the tech team had managed to reconstruct and restore the files on it and found hundreds of files containing everything from lab journal entries to video recordings, to entire papers. It was an almanium mine of information, shining light on many of the patents themselves, though the blueprints and the construction of the technology remained theoretical at best. Whoever had designed these was using a language all of their own that no one else could decipher. 

The samples and digital files were brought into the in-orbit lab and processed while the systems scanned the antique files for relevant information, matching the patents and the surviving samples. The computer pinged a collection of lab recordings almost immediately, curiously matching the time stamps of the sample collections. 

Zavier, one of the many interns assigned to this project, absently clicked on one at random, sound on, in the middle of the main research room. 

Corroded, the audio snapped and popped, showing its age, but it caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Grainy footage of a woman in a teal jumpsuit, with red goggles covering her eyes, and black gloves covered the screen. A large figure in orange moved in the background. 

“This is Doctor Madeline Fenton, it is June 4th, 2006, at precisely 14:23. I am joined by Doctor Jack Fenton in collecting a whole-piece sample from the ecto-entity known as Phantom.”   

Ecto-entity. It was a term that popped up frequently in the study of this particular laboratory and the related patents. There were at least a dozen sets of eyes on the monitor at this point, several different people scribbling down notes of interest. 

“As mentioned in Recording 632006-334 samples collected from Phantom seem to rapidly degenerate once removed from the central entity. To correct this, we have diluted a solution made from the entity’s own ectoplasm mixed with an isotopic preservation solution in an attempt to preserve the sample for further, future study.”

The woman moved the camera to show a prone figure, heavily strapped down to a mental table, distinctly human, despite their odd features for the time. They appeared young, prepubescent in age, uselessly crying and thrashing on the table they were strapped to. They were covered in past incisions, and missing several fingers from their other hand. Several harsh breaths of horror were taken around the room. Zavier should’ve paused the video there, but he hadn’t. 

“Our intended sample is going to be the entire right hand.”

The child on the table let out a heart wrenching whine, barely picked up through the harsh muzzle on their face. 

Something in the room broke, it sounded fragile, but no one moved, transfixed by the screen. 

The woman, Dr. Madeline repositioned the camera over the child’s right hand. They visibly struggled, straining against the restraint. 

“Jack, the bone saw?”

“Here you go, darling!” The man said with a large smile. 

The boy screamed and it echoed around the entire room, the video filled with bright colors of green and red as the bone saw ate through flesh.

The video was abruptly stopped before it could finish, and someone immediately rushed to the trash unit in the corner. A few people did. The scream still seemed to linger around the room anyways. 

“What in the void of space are you all doing?!” A new voice interrupted.

“H-head Doctor! I didn’t mean to! But it started playing and I didn’t want to stop it so I let it play!”

“And?”

“A… a-and?” the intern stuttered. 

“What did you learn?”

“That… that I shouldn’t click on a random video without permission…” Zavier admitted reluctantly. 

“I meant about our subject.”

“OH! Oh… um. Young, possibly male humanoid, unusual features… they cut off their hand with a bone saw…” Zavier’s voice trembled, unable to focus on the words coming out of his mouth with the scream echoing even louder in his own head than it had in the room. 

The Head Doctor’s eyes darkened. Her grip tightening on her tablet, before snapping down the tech and sending out several messages all at once in a furious efficiency. 

“If continuing on this particular project makes you uncomfortable, please report to the main deck for reassignment!” The Head Doctor announced it to the whole room. “I understand that we’re dealing with humanoid experimentation in this discovery. You will not be punished for wanting to be reassigned.”

Several people left the room almost immediately, practically fleeing in terror. Zavier found himself agreeing, but was firmly rooted in place. Others thought about it, before following the rest out. From the two dozen researchers and interns in the room, less than a fourth remained. Zavier rediscovered his ability to move for a moment, and contemplated joining them before staying in his spot. He couldn’t. 

“Intern. I need you to find the video of the collection of the orb. The video should be labeled 642006-1746.”

“Yes, ma’am. May I ask why?” 

Zavier really didn’t want ot have to watch another video when this one was going to be haunting him for the next decade.

“The sample associated with it refuses to be identified, but it has responded to external stimuli, including sounds and being moved about. Several of our preliminary scans have identified something similar to brain waves emitting from it. We need to identify it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Zavier swallowed thickly before clicking on the video labeled just as the Head Doctor had specified. The video pulled up just like the first, popping and snapping before settling in place. The same woman from the first video appeared in the camera, slightly worse for wear. Her suit was splattered with green and red. Zavier cringed and looked away, but refrained from covering his ears with his hands. He had to at least listen, even if that was the worst part. 

“This is Doctor Madeline Fenton, it is June 4th, 2006, at 17:46. Dr. Jack Fenton and I have just finished our full dissection of the ecto-entity once known as Phantom.”

The camera panned to show the same child from earlier, cut up into pieces, a large vivisection cut splaying their chest wide open, cavity practically hollowed out, and several stained jars littered the free space on the table. They boy wasn’t moving anymore.

“We have made an… interesting discovery concerning its biology.” 

The scientist paused for a moment, glancing behind her before she seemed to hesitate. 

“Not… not only did it possess a perfect copy of human biology, it was a functioning one. However, after considerable loss of ectoplasm and substantial damage to its internal organs, its facsimile of life ceased. We were able to locate its core,” she held up the jar containing the small glowing orb. It seemed so tragic floating in that solution. All that blood and viscera for something the size of a pinging ball. She placed the jar on a table out of frame.

“And have successfully removed it and placed it within an isolating containment unit. Reasons for this have been stated in my husband and I’s previous papers on the nature of cores. However, Phantom’s seems to be behaving differently than expected. It’s fallen completely dormant after drawing in all available ectoplasm. Theories on this will be further elaborated in the paper currently being constructed on the ecto-entity Phant-”

There was a flash of light in the background that glitched out the camera for a moment, before the video returned. There was much more red than there was before. The boy was noticeably different, his appearance much more in line with the humans of the era, black hair and red blood. 

The woman swiftly turned around, a weapon she reached for off screen suddenly in her hand. It clattered to the ground soon after. She made a horrible choking noise, like she was being strangled. Zavier didn’t think she had the right to react like that. She and her partner had done this after all.

“Danny..?”

The Head Doctor reached over Zavier and turned the video off, gripping the bridge of her nose and letting out a harsh breath of her own. Zavier himself sunk further into his seat to process the information that was likely going to continue to plague his nightmares. He didn’t know why he felt so terrible, or why it was all knotted up in the base of his throat. That kid had been dead for over a millennium at this point. There was no saving them, just the bits of what little of them that remained, as samples, recordings, and data. He shouldn’t be this horrified and torn up over someone long dead. 

“Intern, what is your name?”

“Zavier, ma’am.”

“Zavier, go make yourself something warm to eat and distract yourself. I don’t want to see you until it looks like you’ve had at least a full cycle of rest. Senior members,” she signaled the three of the older researchers who had remained, one of which was trying to light a smoke in the corner, “We are going to be having a long night to figure out the nature of this research. If… If this lines up with some of my current conclusions, then we may have a much more… interesting project on our hands.”

“Ma’am… what do you mean by that?” 

One of the researchers asked, coming in closer to relieve Zavier from his seat at the monitor. Zavier hadn’t been expecting his knees to be so weak when he tried to stand and the world spun around him for a moment before he managed to steady himself.

“Simple. We have the current approval and supplies to use the D.R.C.R.A. on a suitable… sample of interest,” The Doctor claimed. 

“You don’t mean… by the void,” The researcher with the smoke cackled. “Oh, this is going to get us in so much trouble!”

“Well, it would certainly line up with our objective to study the era. What’s better than a first-person witness?”

Ectoberhaunt 2024 Masterpost