#kerberos pack

[blueblueberryjam]

pspspsp

70 chapters and 300k words of Voltron, featuring platonic pre-kerberos keith and shiro, adam and shiro in a lovely, loving relationship

Excerpt from Chapter 19 below:

"I killed Adam," Keith reported, taking the ice pack and setting it against his rib before grabbing the watermelon from the table and setting it on his lap.

"It's true," Adam said drily. "I'm a ghost."

"Oh, no!" Shiro said melodramatically. "I'll mourn you."

"No need," Adam said. He bent down to put his arms on the back of the couch, and he rested his chin on his hands. "I've decided to haunt you. For love-" He poked Keith's shoulder- "And revenge."

"I thought I was rid of you!" Keith complained, slapping the back of his hand to his forehead and tilting his head back. "How could this be?"

"Oooh," Adam said in his best spooky ghost impression. "You'll never be rid of me." He ruffled Keith's hair. Shiro laughed fondly.

[spearxwind]

I wanna learn more about beial 👀

YESSSS BEI MY BELOVED!!!

Beial Kerberos (alias "Bei", for friends) is the owner and manager of the Wolf Pack Tavern in Hollowridge. The tavern is known for being the one and only chimaera-friendly space in the whole area, which makes all the weirdos, outcasts, undesirables, and otherwise societal rejects gravitate towards it. Still, even though it's got a lot of potentially rowdy people constantly in it's premises, he runs the place with an iron fist.

Bei is not the only one with animal features in the town, as his small stature and half-dog appearance are a result of extensive genetic modification by a piece of rampant machinery who's purpose it is to make more durable and adapted humans for the new environment. These are the aforementioned Chimaeras, humans who have been tampered with this way.

He is, however, one of the most powerful people in the area by far, with short range omniscient sight and the capacity for opening portals in close space for a short period of time, he's pretty damn untouchable.

His tail is cleaver-shaped because before he was fully accustomed to his body and powers he closed a portal behind himself while the tip of his tail was still not through, completely slicing it off.

Bei is naturally a cold person, and first and foremost he's a businessman. His bar is his fortress. If you show him respect he will show respect back. If you try to waltz in like you own the place and act like everyone inside is below you, someone's going to have to scrape your remains off of the pavement on the back before you have the chance to sling an insult.

[the-feral-gremlin]

Shiro headcanons because I can

Polyamorous demisexual gay man. You can not change my mind.

Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy is his favorite book.

Claustrophobic before Kerberos, the galra arena just made it worse. He literally WILL NOT go into a healing pod unless he’s already unconscious and the paladins have no other choice, if that happens, Keith will usually stand guard and watch him.

Due to him spending so much time in the hospital as a kid, he Does NOT like needles. The first time he had to get one at the garrison, he fainted and Adam’s hand turned purple for a second due to how hard Shiro was squeezing it. (Self projection.)

Knows how to cook. Just doesn��t do well with cooking without instructions.

The only reason he didn’t have glasses the entire series was because he forgot to pack them.

Learned sign language for Keith (who learned from a deaf foster family) after he told Shiro that he sometimes went days without/being able to talk (selective mutism.)

Holds a lot of guilt about the stuff with the clone.

[noa748]

hi astarion

rolling around in the usual plot bunnies, see you guys on the other side lmao

----

We passed through the shadow of the ship and out into full sunlight once more, and I found myself exhaling a sigh of relief. We were far from out of the woods, but the oppressive energy of the place had been sitting heavily on my shoulders. That time in the pods… I hadn’t felt so trapped and alone since Welgaia.

On the path beyond the wreckage, we encountered two more corpses; these ones appeared humanoid but had pointed ears and a strange, dark greyish skin tone. Some kind of elf? They had been killed in a similar manner to the first body we had encountered.

I raided their pockets as well, feeling like kind of an asshole until Shadowheart crouched beside me and lifted a small bottle from one of their shredded packs. Satisfied, she tucked it away. Now we were both assholes, at least.

One of them did have money, a handful of gold coins that I deposited in the pouch I had picked up earlier. Hopefully this would be worth it and I wasn’t disrespecting the dead for the fantasy world equivalent of five bucks. I knew nothing about this currency.

I knew asking Shadowheart about it was always an option, but I held my tongue for the same reason I hadn’t asked her much of anything else yet—asking questions opened the door to being asked questions in return. I barely knew her, and I wasn’t ready to tell my own story until I understood more about what was happening. Based on her distant demeanor, I got the sense that the feeling was mutual. She remained crouched next to one of the bodies in a final cursory investigation, so I meandered ahead a few paces while I waited.

The path beyond appeared to run further along the coast, climbing along some bluffs that ran parallel to the ship. The marsh grasses of the beach gave way to scraggly shrubs and some taller, knobby pines. I was surprised to see a figure standing amidst the cluster of new greenery, this one blessedly alive and not a creature from my nightmares.

The man had his back turned, but he heard me coming and swung around. I was struck immediately by his crimson eyes, which stood out in stark relief against his pale skin and silvery-white hair.

“Hurry,” he said to me, eyes darting down to my bloodied sword. “I’ve got one of those brain things cornered.” He turned back towards where the hill sloped down towards the ocean. “There, in the grass. You can kill it, can’t you? Like you killed the others.”

My heartbeat picked up, my ears still ringing slightly from the last blast of psychic energy. If the creature had any strength left, one of us was bound to get nailed in a second. I had no desire to experience that pain again anytime soon.

There were no weapons in the man’s hands. I saw the gold stitching on his clothes, the perfectly coiffed hair. Nobility, caught out of his element?

Satisfied with my assessment, I walked past him and told him to stand back. Steeling myself, I scanned the tall grass for any signs of movement. I didn’t have to wait long before a large mammal—some type of boar��was startled out of its hiding place and ran away. My shoulders sagged with relief.

Like you killed the others.

The words floated back to the forefront of my mind, and my brow furrowed. Wait a minute. Had he been watching—

I had just enough time to register a flash as the midday sun gleamed off the metal of a blade. Then I was yanked backwards, my feet scrambling in a futile effort to gain purchase. I ended up landing hard on my back. The sharp edge of a dagger was pressed to the underside of my chin.

“Shhh… not a sound. Not if you want to keep that darling neck of yours.” That voice from before, once shaky, was now silky-smooth.

I strained to create distance between my skin and the blade, dropping Kerberos and using both hands to wrestle against the arm holding the dagger, but it was futile; his other hand was gripping my opposite shoulder and holding me firmly in place. Disoriented, gritting my teeth, I turned my head and saw those crimson eyes once more.

Fuck. Fuck!!

“Good girl,” he purred, but I saw the way his eyes darted away and then back to me. Looking for Shadowheart. “Now… I saw you on the ship, didn’t I? Nod.”

A wave of anger flooded through me. After all this, after this magnificent load of bullshit, I was going to get taken out by some smarmy bastard with a knife?!

The sound of a twig snapping drew his attention for a split second, and I reacted purely out of instinct. I twisted his wrist just enough to tilt the blade away from my throat; then I jerked forward, cracking my forehead against his. He cried out in surprise and the arm holding me loosened just enough to roll away. We both leapt to our feet and faced each other.

“You wretched little—!” It was one hundred percent worth the pain to see the self-assured smirk wiped off his face. He regarded me with fury in his eyes but then faltered, hesitating.

Then I felt it too—a strange, wriggling sensation behind my right eye. I heard the man let out a pained grunt just as something in my head twisted. Suddenly I found myself staring out of another set of eyes, prowling the dark streets of an unfamiliar city. Foreign emotions, sensations and smells enveloped me. Hunger. Tension. Fear.

Then I was drifting. I tried to hold on to the vision, to understand, but it slipped like sand through my fingers.

The parasite, I realized. It had been the same when I first met Shadowheart and the Gith woman. So that… had that been a memory?

“What was that?” The man growled, holding his dagger up once more. “What’s going on?”

“Lower that blade, and you may live to find out,” Shadowheart said icily from behind him, her mace held at the ready.

Relief flooded through me, but I didn’t like the calculating look that crossed his features when he realized he was caught. I had already underestimated him once, and something told me he wouldn’t be one to go down easy.

“Wait,” I said, making eye contact with my companion. Her eyes narrowed, but after a moment she acquiesced and backed off a bit. Now I shot a look at the stranger, holding my hands up in an appeasing gesture.

“It’s the parasite they infected us with,” I explained. “It connects us. Some sort of… of twisted hivemind.”

He stared at me in surprise. The hostility leaked out of his features as I saw him put the pieces together.

“What? Then that was…” His brow furrowed and he gave me a searching look. After some hesitation, he lowered the dagger. “You’re… not one of them. They took you, just the same as me.”

I felt exasperated—all of this could have been accomplished without a knife being jammed against my throat—but something in his eyes made the snarky comeback die before it reached my lips. I thought of those shadowed streets again. The fear.

The man inclined his head, smiling. “And to think, I was just about to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.”

Ugh. This guy.

“Apology accepted. Grudgingly,” I said, glowering.

[gristlegrinder]

sometimes i like to think about what my monstergame ocs would be in gw2 (ex. marina is a specter married into a minister family with white mantle ties) or what they’d play if they played the game (yusuf usually runs a healbrand for most instanced content but his oldest oc/story main is a harbinger) but i rarely go the other way around. so like. yeah

siya’s an uratha, i think. ex-night watch hunter who developed lunacy after a harrowing werewolf attack and then got picked up by a pack. irraka, iron master. (braham is a cahalith, naturally). their original pack got wiped out hunting a frost-themed idigam of some kind, so now it’s just the two of them. admittedly unsure how their soundless stuff translates because i think pale tree / luna is a reasonable analogue but like… hm. it could be fun for them to have gone through the pure rites that sever the werewolf from their auspice (for… reasons) just to get the hell out of fire-touched territory once they find an opening. and then the braham stuff happens. something like that

edo’s a sandharrowed or draconic kith changeling. ogre. possibly a loyalist? admittedly my ideas for his durance remind me a lot of this one sample changeling NPC in Splintered City: Seattle, where the changeling is a veteran and their keeper is the war machine endlessly chewing up the squad he left behind in arcadia and is trying to bargain for, but… yeah that’s the vibe exactly. it’s kind of just that. and i am perpetually horny for loyalist changelings who can’t separate themselves from their keepers and let themselves be rewritten by the narrative in the process yeah yeah okay moving on (if i didn’t do all that, he’s definitely winter court. he’s got depression)

zooey’s a pretty obvious sin-eater candidate. this is really not helped by how much she’s based off of an old sin-eater character of mine. she’s hungry for sure, but i’m not sure if she has a solid krewe archetype, because dragon’s watch feels like a mixed group of different supernaturals and the astral ward are, well, they’re obviously mages. but like, hear me out, with deimos as a geist you’ve got this whole thing where i can establish eparch as a kerberos in the underworld, isgarren as this particularly obsessive moros… anyways, i think their innate keys are going to be beasts for deimos and chance for zoofahshoo.

an ugallu begotten vibe is up there as an option for khismat just because i like the weather-based atavisms for her air attunement focus and a devouring definitely has corrupted dragon champion vibes. the primordial dream hates to see her coming. and, unrelated, i like the idea of a trahearne that has been fully transformed by arcadia against his will and made into a huntsman. maybe even make khismat fae-touched with him for extra vibes. do some weird oneiromancy stuff with them on the edges of the dreamscape.

audax is probably a demon (destroyer/saboteur) who is going, like, deep cover with an angeljacking operation, and ibuki is probably(?) a vampire of some kind, but i just don’t have more thoughts on that rn

[aneurinallday]

2099

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.

~ W.H. Auden, Stop all the Clocks (1938)

1.8 = THE BALANCE

“Eyk?”

With the taste of saltwater still on his tongue, Eyk jolts awake in a place where it makes no sense for him to be - a circular metal room which seems to belong to some distant future, dimly lit by a stark electrical glow. The ocean is gone and he’s completely dry, though a phantom ache still burns in his bones from fighting the currents.

It was just a dream, he thinks for a second, but he’s standing upright as if he’d never been asleep at all.

“Eyk! Thank God.”

The first face he sees is Maura’s, pale and sickly in the light, staring up at him from below. Several other passengers are clustered around, including Tove and Olek. They look both glad and worried.

“It’s alright,” Maura continues as they help him out of the stasis pod, “Try to stay calm…”

“Maura,” he utters, and the name feels so familiar on his tongue, even though he could swear it’s their first meeting.

“Yes.” Hearing his voice, she is momentarily overcome with relief, and without thinking she reaches out and touches his cheek. Then she remembers that they aren’t alone, and lowers her hand. “We were worried…we weren’t sure if we’d be able to get you out.”

“I feel like I’m going mad.”

“Don’t worry, we all do.” Her eyes are drinking in his face, recalling the scars, the stubble, the patch of white in his beard, the weary contours with which she’s become so familiar. “You’re no more mad than the rest of us.”

Eyk looks around. Daniel is sitting alone on the floor, his face haggard and sullen, his legs drawn up to his chest. He glances towards the group, then averts his gaze. His left arm is hugging his knees, and his right hand is clutching his stomach, nursing the phantom pain of his stab wound.

“Daniel was telling the truth, then,” Eyk says, “My life wasn’t real. My ship, is she - is she - ?”

“She’s gone. Erased. But it was just a dream. And so is this. None of it will mean anything unless we wake up.”

“Your brother kept me trapped.”

“Yes. I’m so sorry. Ciaran and I…we’re both responsible for this. Myself by error, him by design.”

Eyk looks around at all the empty pods lining the walls.

“Am I the last one to wake up?”

“Yes,” Daniel answers before Maura can, “The men who were trapped with you will be awake now, but we don’t know where they are, and they’ll have no idea what’s going on. Maura, where did you leave the others?”

“In the cafeteria.”

“We should go and join them. Then we can get everybody up to speed.” He rises stiffly to his feet. “Let’s go.”

Without waiting, he leaves, and after a moment they follow. Maura quickens her pace until she’s walking side-by-side with Daniel, and speaks quietly to him.

“I’m simply relieved he’s awake.”

“I know. It’s fine,” Daniel replies tersely. “I just lost Sebastian’s Shell, that’s all. It’s a big setback.”

“We’ll manage without it. Did you get hurt?”

“Yes.” His curt tone tells her that he doesn’t want to go into detail.

“I’m sorry. I’ll keep you safe now.”

Daniel’s expression softens.

“I hate drowning,” he whispers to her, “I fucking hate it. Once we wake up, I’m never going near the sea again.”

“You talk like you’ve done it before.”

“I have. When we were back on the Kerberos, there was one time when I got thrown overboard...”

She clasps his hand, but a sudden noise causes her to let go. The unmistakeable sound of hushed voices and multiple sets of footfalls approaching.

“It must be the others coming to meet us,” she says, “We told them to wait in the cafeteria and not to wander about, but we’ve been gone for a while…”

As they turn a corner, they are greeted by people coming the other way - not the passengers they expect, but five crewmen from the Kerberos - Franz in the lead, Wilhelm bringing up the rear, and Darrel, Landon, and Eugen between them. Seeing each other, both groups freeze in their tracks.

“You!” Eyk exclaims.

“Captain Larsen?” Darrel says, confused.

Franz is wide-eyed and already agitated, gripping a metal pipe which he must’ve wrenched off the wall, ready to wield it as a cudgel; but when he sees his pale Tove, the weapon falls from his hand and clatters on the floor. Tove gasps. She rushes towards him and pulls him into a hug, pressing his dirty, bleeding face to her shoulder. She whispers something in a muddle of German and her own Danish. Her blonde hair snags in his rough, calloused hands as he tries to stroke it. If he answers, it’s inaudible.

“How did you find us?” Maura asks the sailors. “We had no idea where you were…”

“There was a man in the computer,” Landon blurts out. “In the room where we woke up. He wrote us messages. He told us where to go.”

Her heart sinks. Knowing that their reunion only happened because Ciaran allowed it - or worse, orchestrated it - the joy quickly drains.

“Is this all of them?” Eyk asks, quietly aghast, “All the people I knew onboard the Kerberos…this is all that’s left?”

“I’m afraid so,” Daniel says. “A handful of souls amid thousands of artificial constructs. All trapped together in the same cycle of misery.”

Eyk closes his eyes for a moment, conjuring the image of the post-apocalyptic Kerberos’s rusted decks, the thirty years of life he thought he’d lived, and all the deaths he’d died. Opening them again, he looks around at their faces. The faces of his crew, his passengers, his lover, his rival. He feels an overpowering sense of responsibility for them.

“If it means justice for everyone who’s suffered, tell me everything you know,” he says. “I’ll do whatever I can to help us.”

October 23rd finds twenty-one people gathered in the Prometheus’ cafeteria - passengers and crew alike, plus Daniel. Searching the stark metal kitchen, the main form of sustenance seems to be translucent, rectangular blocks of firm jelly, and squeezable tubes of thick liquid that taste vaguely like fruits and vegetables.

Maura ransacks the drawers and cabinets, hoping to find a knife that she can carry with her as a weapon, but every meal is designed to be eaten with minimal preparation or mess. Gathering together food on a tray, she wanders in search of somewhere quiet to sit.

The four Danes are clustered together, silent, with Franz nearby. Jérôme is sitting next to Lucien and Clémence - not because he wants to share their company, but because they’re the only other French-speakers here. Ramiro and Ángel are by themselves in a corner, talking softly. Maura listens to the gentle murmur of different languages, the scrape of chairs being shuffled around, and the ever-present, oppressive thrum of the ship itself.

She finds an empty table, sits down, and tries a bite of the gelatinous rectangles. Once she overcomes her initial repulsion at the texture, it tastes tolerable. Almost meaty. Whatever nutrients were being pumped into her body while she was in stasis, seem to have left her system, leaving her weak and tired. Looking around, she sees that everyone else feels the same. They chew hungrily but joylessly, eating as much as they can stomach. Ling Yi and Yuk Je are rummaging through the walk-in refrigerator, talking in Cantonese, while Olek hovers nearby.

“Maura.”

A familiar voice causes her to startle. Eyk sits beside her.

“How do you feel?” he asks.

“I should be asking you that. You’ve been through more than I have.”

“I doubt that.”

“What you went through on that ship…I can’t imagine. I don’t understand how Ciaran can be so cruel.”

“We survived it, and we’ll survive this.”

“He tortured you. Tortured everybody in that simulation. My own brother...”

He instinctively reaches for her hand - a purely comforting gesture, nothing more - but quickly stops himself. She follows his gaze to Daniel, who is standing at the kitchen sink, wincing as he washes his dirty, bloodstained hands. He splashes water on his face, dries off, and approaches Maura and Eyk’s table. Eyk starts to rise.

“I’ll sit elsewhere,” he says gently.

“No, stay,” Maura catches him, “Please. There’s no need to feel uncomfortable - we’ve got bigger things to worry about right now.”

“But he’s your - ” Eyk trails off.

Daniel slides into an empty seat opposite them. He looks exhausted and irritable, and unlike the others, isn’t carrying food.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Maura asks.

He just shakes his head, resting his elbows on the table. Maura notices Virginia glancing their way, but the other woman averts her gaze before their eyes can meet.

“You should still try to eat something,” she says.

“No need,” Daniel says curtly.

“Did you create this place?” Eyk asks to fill the silence.

“Me? No,” Daniel shakes his head, “This was Ciaran Singleton’s project. I was aware of it, but I never had a part in its design. It probably - ”

He stops, and Maura can see it in his face: the realisation that he’s recalling memories which might not even be real. The seeds of doubt planted by Ciaran have grown into choking weeds, and Daniel no longer trusts the version of events that exists in his own head.

If Eyk notices the sudden hesitation, he lets it pass.

“If you’d designed it, I think it would look a little nicer,” he says, “It doesn’t feel like a ship - more like a prison.”

“That’s true enough. Ciaran always liked his simulations to be…challenging.”

“There’s no challenge that can’t be overcome. Not if we all put our heads together.”

“You’re right.”

Abruptly, Daniel stands up.

“Everyone, please listen,” he raises his voice to catch the others’ attention, “Today is the 23rd of October. That means we’re already halfway through the time loop. Once the loop resets, we’ll forget all of this, and we’ll be stuck here until Ciaran decides to let us out - which is never. But now that we’re all together, we finally stand a chance of getting out of this mess.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Eyk asks.

“There are twenty-one of us here. As soon as we’ve finished resting, I propose that we split into trios and start searching for Ciaran. We can cover more ground that way.”

“But we don’t even know if he is here,” Clémence interjects, her English curling around her thick Parisian accent, “He might be using fakes, puppets...whatever you call them. How will we know if we’ve really found him?”

“We won’t know anything until we start looking.”

“Daniel is right,” Maura says, “The sooner we start, the - ”

“Why should we trust anything you say?” Virginia says sharply, “This is your fault! We’re all here because of you. Why should we listen to you, when you’re the one who put us here?”

Daniel’s hackles raise, and he cuts in:

“Nobody dragged you anywhere. You weren’t kidnapped, you weren’t forced, you weren’t coerced. All of you - every single of you - signed up for this program, signed up to have your memories wiped. You entered 1899 of your own volition. What happened afterwards was...an accident…”

“An accident? We’ve been trapped in this hell for God knows how long, dying over and over, because your wife had a breakdown and decided to drag the rest of us down with her! We’ll probably never know how many times we died, how much we suffered…”

Daniel opens his mouth to argue.

“Don’t, Daniel,” Maura says quietly, “She’s right. None of this would be happening if I didn’t do what I did.”

Daniel’s eyes fill with pain - the desire to console her, to take away her guilt and tell her none of this was her fault. But he can’t. She is the Creator, and he can’t in good conscience downplay her responsibility.

“We still don’t know the full picture,“ he says evasively, “So let’s reserve judgment. Assumptions aren’t going to help anyone.”

“Reserve judgment?” Virginia laughs. “Your virus tore me apart! Do you know what that felt like? And all because of her. What the fuck was she thinking?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking, because I don’t remember,“ Maura responds, “Maybe I was out of my mind, or maybe I was perfectly lucid. Maybe I couldn’t bear the thought of you healing from your trauma while I couldn’t, so I decided to trap you in my misery; or maybe I never meant for any of this to happen. We won’t know until we wake up.”

Her anger is bubbling over - anger at Ciaran, at the endless labyrinth they’re trapped in, at the numbing dark of this void.

“Whatever consequences I’m going to face, I’ll face them,” she continues, “But first, we need to find a way to escape. Regardless of how we got here, we’re all trapped in this situation together, and we don’t stand a chance unless we help each other. So why don’t we save the confrontation for when we’re actually awake?”

“How convenient for you. After everything you did, you still get to emerge as the hero.”

Ling Yi listens while muttering under her breath, translating in Yuk Je’s ear. With all eyes on her, Maura sighs in frustration.

“Virginia, please! If we don’t find my brother, all of this will be for nothing. Our time is running out, and the longer we sit here arguing, the more he’s laughing at us.”

“Oh yes, your dear brother,” Virginia spits, “It seems the madness runs through your whole family, doesn’t it?”

“Please,” Anker suddenly speaks up, “Please, nok. Er hun her? Min datter, min Ada, er hun her?”

The look in his eyes is difficult to meet. Maura glances at Daniel uncertainly.

“We don’t know where Ada is,” she starts to reply, “But we can search for her too. She might still be in stasis…”

“Ada wasn’t real,” Daniel interrupts, his tone unusually harsh, “Only one child has ever participated in our programs, and we haven’t permitted any since. Ada was a digital construct I placed in the simulation to try and trigger Maura’s memories of motherhood. I even named her after Ada Lovelace, a hero of Maura’s, hoping the name might spark some nostalgia.”

“Hvor er hun?” Anker demands.

“She’s gone. I deleted her to spark a mutiny. I needed something that would disrupt the time loop and galvanise people, and of all the things I tried, killing a little child was the only thing that ever worked.”

They stare at him. Daniel’s fists and jaw tighten with a strange defiance, and Maura realises he is trying to hide his shame.

“You killed her?” Landon says faintly from the back of the room.

“Look, I’m only going to tell you this once,” Daniel snaps, “But at some point or other, every single one of you has been killed by me. That’s how committed I was to ending the 1899 simulation. Thanks to the time loop, none of the deaths ever stuck, so no harm done. But I need you to know that my priority is to get Maura out of here, and if that means somebody in this room has to die, including me, I’m okay with that.”

Maura puts her head in her hands.

“Enough,” Eyk barks, his voice suddenly commanding. They fall silent. “We don’t have time for this. Maura, Daniel, anyone else who wants to find a way off this ship - come with me. Wherever Ciaran Singleton is hiding, we’ll find him and make him answer for what he’s done.”

Franz nods in agreement.

Eyk starts to head for the closest door, when their attention is grabbed by a flicker of light. One of the innocuous control panels by the door, sitting harmlessly halfway up the wall. The small display screen has come to life, pixels exploding with random colours. They all turn towards it, watching as words appear, glitching their way across the screen as if out of sync with the fingers typing them.

// CIARAN: > Hello everyone. > Welcome home.

A sound fills the Prometheus, stopping them in their tracks. A rhythmic ticking, almost like a click, gentle yet foreboding.

“What is that?” Virginia demands, her voice shaking with fear. “That noise…it’s like before…”

“Fuck. Ciaran must have triggered it.” Daniel hurries to the control panel and hammers at the buttons. They’re unresponsive. “Fuck…”

The ticking grows louder, as if it’s coming from directly overhead. In the corridors outside, they hear the sound of many footfalls, stepping in unison. Eyk runs to the nearest door and pulls it shut, cranking the wheel to seal it; then turns, ready to block the way with his body.

“Everyone stay where you are!” he orders.

A shudder of fear runs through Ling Yi’s body, and she clings tightly to her mother. Then, suddenly, their faces go blank and their arms fall to their sides. They take a step towards the door. Without hesitation, Olek pushes both of them into the walk-in refrigerator and unceremoniously shuts them inside. Terrified, he braces his back against the door, resisting their attempts to push it open.

“Help! Proszę!”

Ángel and Ramiro run to help him pin the door shut.

Maura crosses the room to a port-hole and looks out. From her angle, she can see one of the neighbouring modules as it rotates in tandem with theirs. Before her eyes, a hatch opens and a man flies out, as limp as a ragdoll. He wears a black jumpsuit like hers, and appears to be a passenger. Whether he’s a participant or merely an artificial construct, she has no idea, but she prays it’s the latter.

As he’s blasted out of the hatch into the vacuum, the air in his lungs explodes out of him in a sudden rush of frozen pink particles. He squirms feebly. Perhaps in pain or perhaps because of the overwhelming cold, he curls up into a foetal position and clutches his head between his hands. She watches as the blood in his veins turn to bubbles, causing the soft tissues of his body to bloat to unnatural proportions. Within seconds of entering her sight, he is dead.

“Oh God,” she says, “Oh God, Daniel, the people. They’re killing themselves again.”

The man’s icy body floats by, frozen in the position in which he decompressed and died. A few moments later, he strikes the side of the Prometheus and shatters into red fragments. Maura averts her gaze.

“We have to do something. We have to stop it.”

“I’m trying.” Daniel continues pressing buttons, desperately seeking a response. “Fuck…fuck!”

Maura watches as the passengers and crew of the Prometheus continue to jettison themselves to their deaths. In a matter of minutes, the stasis modules of the Prometheus have emptied.

“Where are they going?” she asks, “If there are no simulations left, where do they go when they die?”

“Nowhere,” Daniel says, his voice shaking, “They can’t wake up without the proper procedure. Their real selves are left comatose.”

The ticking seems to permeate the entire spaceship - every room, every corridor, every airlock. There’s no escape. A clock counting down to an unknown end, a metronome whose each beat was a death knell.

Maura rushes to the screen, speaks to it.

“Ciaran, I know you can hear me. You have to stop. Whatever you’re doing, whatever you think you’re accomplishing, it’s not worth it. It’s not worth all this misery. Please!”

Words appear on the screen, one letter at a time.

// CIARAN: > THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. > CPU UNDER STRAIN. > SELF-DESTRUCT PROTOCOL NECESSARY.

“Why? Why is it necessary?” she protests, “Why is any of this necessary?”

// CIARAN: > TOO MANY OBJECTS. > TAKE UP PROCESSING POWER. > ONLY ESSENTIAL OBJECTS WILL REMAIN.

“They’re not objects! You’re a fucking monster, Ciaran!”

// CIARAN: > BALANCE WILL BE RESTORED. > SYSTEM WILL STABILISE. > YOU ARE WELCOME.

At a loss, Lucien and Clémence continue to sit at their table, watching the chaos unfold. She squeezes her eyes shut, covering her ears with her hands, waiting for it to end.

“S'il vous plaît, mon Dieu…”

She feels Lucien put his arms around her, comforting her - and then she feels him let go. Her eyes open, and she sees him rising from his chair, his face empty of expression.

“No!” Clémence leaps to her feet. With furious strength, she seizes hold of him and attempts to wrestle him back into his seat. “Lucien, no! Ne me quitte pas! Ne me quitte pas!”

Jérôme watches their struggle without moving.

“Aidez-moi!” Clémence cries out, “Jérôme, aidez-moi!”

He hesitates, then comes to her aid. Together, they restrain Lucien to his seat.

Maura is about to join them when she hears a woman’s scream, and turns. Five crew members - Franz, Darrel, Landon, Eugen, and Wilhelm - have risen to their feet in unison and are walking towards the doorway. Tove is attempting to hold Franz back, clinging white-knuckled to his arm.

“Franz, nej!” she cries, “Nej!”

He silently struggles - not with urgency, but with firm insistence. Tove digs in her heels, but he’s much stronger, and breaks free of her grasp.

“Nej!” She follows him in desperation.

“Tove, no!” Maura shouts, and runs after them.

“Mauta, wait!” Daniel pleads, “Don’t go out there! Maura!”

She ignores him and bursts into the corridor. It is filled with men and women of all ages, wearing black jumpsuits like her own, heading towards the nearest airlock. Their expressions are vacant, emotionless. They march in a trance to the rhythm of the ticking, pushing past her as if she isn’t there. She looks around for Tove and the crew, but they are lost amid the throng.

“Stop!” she says, “Please!”

She grabs at the people’s arms and hands, begging them to wait, trying to dissuade them, but it’s as if she’s invisible. She doesn’t realise that Virginia is among them until it’s too late - the woman has already passed her by and is far beyond reach.

“Virginia, no!”

Maura attempts to chase her down, pushing and shouldering her way through the crowd, but loses her footing. She is shoved to the floor. Before she can get back up, they begin to trample over her - heavy shoes digging into her stomach, her ribs, her back. She sucks in a breath only to have it crushed out of her again.

“Maura!” Eyk reaches through the crowd and grips her arm, hauling her out of the way. “Maura, are you alright?”

Winded and in pain, she leans against him.

“I have to stop them - oh God - I have to stop them - ”

They hear another scream, and see a flash of blonde hair in the crowd. Tove is still clinging onto Franz, and is about to be dragged into the airlock with him.

“Tove, please! Let him go!” Maura begs.

Sobbing, Tove gives up and releases her hold. She turns and attempts to push her way back through the crowd - back towards safety - but she is already exhausted and is unable to fight the flow of people. She screams as she is forced into the airlock.

“Tove!”

They watch helplessly as the crowd piles into the small airlock, dozens of people squeezing into a room meant for a few people. With no sign of emotion on their faces, they climb over each other until they have formed a heap of bodies that reaches almost to the ceiling. Only when there is no more space do they shut the door behind them, sealing themselves inside. A few seconds later, Maura hears the outer hatch open, and a rush of air as they are sucked out into Space.

“No!” she cries.

The people who couldn’t fit inside turn and continue their inexorable march in a different direction, seeking another airlock they can use.

“This is why he reunited us,” Maura realises, “So we could all watch each other die.”

“Maura, let’s go. We need to get out of here,” Eyk urges her, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Why is this happening?” she says as he ushers her back into the cafeteria, “I don’t fucking understand. Why is he doing this again?”

They return to the cafeteria to find a scene of desperation. Lucien is still being restrained, and Olek, Ramiro, and Ángel are still holding shut the fridge door. Anker and Iben are crouched on the floor with their son between them - their arms are around him and their hands are firmly linked, trapping him in place. They are praying. The young man begins to cry. Then the prayers cease. Both parents fall silent, rise to their feet, and join the march. Krester covers his face, trying to blot everything out.

“Tove?” he groans, “Tove, hvor er du?”

Eyk and Maura run from door to door, attempting to block the flow, to stem the tide of people leaving the ship. But it’s impossible - there are too many doors, too many people. They might as well try to hold back a flood. Unable to watch any more, Maura puts her head in her hands and sinks to the floor. The ticking is no longer just a noise, but a hammer and chisel, burrowing deeper through her skin until she can feel her bones shaking. Then it stops. Everyone freezes, listening intently, waiting for the next tick, but it doesn’t come.

Just like that, it’s over. The twenty-one people in this room are now twelve.

Ling Yi and Yuk Je emerge from the refrigerator, bewildered, while Olek slumps in exhaustion from holding the door shut. Krester is cowering on the floor, completely alone.

“Mor!” he sobs, “Mor, Far…”

Daniel leans against the wall for support, resting his forehead against the cold metal. He speaks quietly to the ship as if it were alive.

“Look what you’ve done, Ciaran,” he whispers, “Was it worth it?”

As if in direct response, more words appear on the screen:

// PROJECT PROMETHEUS:/ > SURVIVAL MISSION TO 42.043240 - 44.375760 PASSENGERS=10 CREW= 2 DATE= OCT. 23rd 2099

Then the screen goes dark, and the Prometheus continues to hurtle, almost empty, across the cosmos towards its unknown destination.

In this room, a wilderness You’re the calm, in that dress Circling birds, spits of rain Rest your head on the windowpane

Here’s our love, it breathes and dreams This wilderness, these kings and queens In this room, our sheltered hole Our skin’s alive, I wear your soul

Never belong to anyone else but me Never belong to ’em, never belong to ’em

Welcome home, how long’s it been? I know that face from that dream A wilderness beyond those walls A poignant pause as a picture falls

Never belong to anyone else but me Never belong to ’em, never belong to ’em

Welcome home, how long’s it been? A wilderness is in me, a wilderness is in me Welcome home, how long’s it been? A wilderness is in me, a wilderness is in me

[comfortlesshurt]

2024 Fic Masterpost - Voltron

Realizing I used to have a nice clean Tumblr page for this, but I figured I should have SOMETHING to put all my recent fics together somewhere!

In case this breaches containment, I write hurt/comfort pretty exclusively, and most of my works have minor TWs. I'm a Keith stan at heart, but I've been trying to branch out on how much I involve other characters.

Short Chapter Fics:

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter +1 Time He Finally Does

15k - complete

Lance-centric with a strong focus on Keith later

mid-canon to post-canon timeline & canon plausible

gen platonic paladins & Lance; implied pre-Klance

TW for short-term alcohol abuse & emeto

14k for the main story, +1k at the end as an optional bonus chapter (how I was originally going to write the fic before it turned into a 5+1)

Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a house that's always haunted)

12k - complete

Keith-centric

pre-Kerberos & canon plausible

Broganes

lots of TWs! emeto, implied child abuse, implied off-screen alcohol abuse by an OC, description of injury, implied bullying, implied self-harm, implied eating disorder

chapter 4 has art!

Chemicals, chemicals in my brain (where'd you go, where'd you go anyway?)

7k - reads as complete, but may get one more chapter

Keith-centric

early canon & canon plausible-ish

Broganes & implied pre-Klance

TW for forced drug use & emeto

5 Times Keith Relies on the Blade +1 Time...

10k - 5/6 chapters published

Keith-centric

mid-canon, during Keith's time as a Blade

mostly Keith & Blades, some Keith & paladins

TW for injury, but it's not super detailed

intended to follow On it, yes, indeed (on it, watch me bleed) but like... I'm not gonna stop you from reading it on its own

Oneshots:

On it, yes, indeed (on it, watch me bleed)

2.5k - complete

Keith-centric

mid-canon, just before Keith joins the BOM full-time & canon-plausible

gen with some implied Kuron fuckery

TW for injury, not very detailed

it has art at the ao3 link, you should go look!

With talk of love (as I make-pretend)

10k - complete

POV Lance, Klance-centric, canon divergent

early-ish canon, before the lion switch

baby's first ship fic, actually!

TW for brief description of injury

Ficlets:

Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away)

5k - complete ficlet collection (though it's the basis for a longer fic I'm working on, so you'll see more in the future if you want to)

Keith-centric

pre-canon, post-Kerberos launch, up to you whether you consider it canon plausible because I took some liberties (but it converges back to canon episode 1 by the end)

gen (it's Keith alone in the desert; kind of hard to explore relationships in isolation)

the most TWs I've ever put into one work, so don't feel like you HAVE to read this fic! it's not for everyone; it's mainly for me actually. recreational drug use, vehicular accident, basic description of injuries, my personal experiences with poverty (which may not match up with yours and that's okay), starvation, emeto, mentioned animal death, slight suicidal ideation

it has a playlist linked in the first author's note!

What are you wondering? (What do you know?)

<1k - complete ficlet

Shiro-centric

pre-canon, post Galra capture, & canon plausible

gen

TW for body horror and human experimentation maybe? it's not super detailed

[keithisgay-ao3]

not my house, but I know my way around

Keith needed to back back to his house at some point, his clothes would probably still fit, or at least, his dad's would. Hunk offers to go with him, knowing it won't be an easy visit. Since neither are cleared to drive, Keith asks Griffin to take them. To Hunk's surprise, he agrees.

James moves around Keith's house fluidly, immediately going to the bedroom and pulling a bag from the closet. He stands in the door to Keith's room for a few moments as the two pack.

There's a familiarity to their movements, a synchronization that only comes from those who've cohabitated. Hunk knew the two had been roommates at the Garrison but this- this made it seem like they were more than that. He heads back to the living room with a box, bumping into the board full of Keith's theories about the Kerberos mission. Several papers fall. Hunk picks them up, turning them over.

One's a picture. Keith and James, Keith hugging him from behind as they smile. Hunk raises an eyebrow, looking back at the wall. The fallen papers reveal the edges of more photos. Glancing back towards the bedroom, he begins taking more papers off the wall, revealing more photos. Several of Keith and Shiro, Keith, Shiro and Adam, a few with Matt in there, along with some girls and a man he doesn't recognize. More often than not, James is in them. Always smiling, right next to Keith, their arms around each other.

[nvrcmplt]

The power of a deathly call is nothing short of horror. The earth rattles, the trees whispers turn silent, the flames of volcanic pools shimmer within itself. The seas shiver, the winds still and most of all, life awaits its fall. As the world grows wilder, nor out of hand - powered by nothing but the greed of man and the untamed, it was the orders of the first Hound. Three large crowns raise from their resting places, releasing the sulphuric fumes of sinkholes to stand to his fullest height before the very doors that spit flame and the screams of the damned. Watching the thousands of souls in their human form tread the path to the innards he protects.

Gaze aglow, fangs glisten and his drool drips, but it was his vocals that made the most difference. As his heads craned backwards - raising high, rattling chains and snakes upon his being - the beast of three, bays with no limit to his volume. As his claws dug into the molten rock, as his tails shivered and his magma filled core released the soot black clouds from his gums - did Kerberos call his pack.

The rumbles of the Earth, rattled Gaia's rest. The sounds of the beasts caused even the shadows to rush aside, spitting out body after body - pulling forward more and more and more and more. A pack, an army, a swarm - it was never the right term for the sheer amount of monsters that knew little else but to hunt… Thus, as Kerberos' heads lowered with their call answered in its thousands plus, his ears perk and chest pushed forward. A series of barks, loud, fang snapping and without aid of a word more.

Orders.

Duty bound.

The hunt will begin.

To gather the lost souls, the sneaking souls, the escaped demons, the playful imps on deadlines.

Fetch them, fetch them all.

Bring them to their new beginning.

Leave no one behind.

Serve Hades as you were born to do.

[outpost51]

Find The Word Tag

tagged back in april by @blind-the-winds (tysm!!!!!)

my words: apple, anyway, always, arrow, and angel

tagging: @vacantgodling @sparatus @thetrashbagswasteland @writinglittlebeasts @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and as always leaving it open

your words: jaw, pass, direct, slump, shock

apple

from Unlikely Adventures, chapter 3: Death Doesn't Give Third Chances

Gus’s snicker abruptly ended in a choke as Dillon managed to land a solid kick to his Adam’s apple. He released her to the wild. “If this is what she’s like at twelve, she’ll be the first human to run with a pack by the time she hits twenty.”

anyway

from Between a Rock and a Hard Place, chapter 13: Family, or Something Like It

Tessa bowed her head and tapped two knuckles against her breastbone — a Terminus sign that was one part salute to those who passed and one part superstitious ward against being the one to go next. Her friends followed her lead, and out of habit, so did I. She scrunched up her whole face to sniff in my direction, then screwed it up even more like she’d just licked a lemon. “What’s your name, anyway?”

always

from Blinding Neon, chapter 15: Kerberos

“You were always my favorite, you piece of shit!” Her voice cracks around her words, turning them into the staticky, distorted mess Roxy’s voicebox makes when she loses a race. “I only got five fucking credits a week for helping Dad clean up the house, and I spent one on a single slice of pizza and the rest on tokens at the old pizzeria so I could get enough tickets to get one! You wanna know how much effort I put into this?”

arrow

from Unlikely Adventures, chapter 8: Bullet on the Tracks

Her lip split again when he crushed his mouth against hers. Blood and moss. She tasted like blood and moss and something ancient, something wild. Energy sparked against his teeth, a volley of arrows meant to take out his fortress defenses, and the energy within him answered in kind, pouring over her tongue and down her throat.

angel

from Blinding Neon, chapter 6: Catch

Maybe in another life long ago, she did. He’s seen paintings, read stories of a fire-haired girl who stabbed a servant and ran away with pirates and shot her own men for cowering belowdecks, and he’s sure this regal nightmare perched atop his ship is Anne Bonny reborn. Her curls undulate in the harsh, artificial chill of the vent above her, and it’s not the halo of an angel, but a crown of vipers ready to strike, covered in the bloody victory of another merchant vessel conquered. The darkness in her eyes swirls with oily black cannon smoke, choking, searing, sparking and sparkling with the glint of clanging swords cutting down everyone who dares stand in her path.

[pumpkichia]

The Castle of Lions

---One Year Ago: six days after Kerberos mission---

"Miss Shirogane, please clam down. You are allotted time off to grieve the death of your brother, but other than that, I cannot help you in this regard." Admiral Sanda says, closing her journal.

"But you've only stated that the crew of the Kerberos mission made a mistake, costing them their lives. You haven't specified what mistake or how he died. I need to know what happened to my brother." Alex says, standing up, slamming her hands on the Admiral's desk. Admiral Sanda squints.

"That's confidential information, Miss Shirogane. Unless you want me to call security, I suggest you escort yourself back to your dorm room." Admiral Sanda says, pointing out the glass doors. Alex pushes aside the chair she was previously sitting in and walks towards the door.

"I will find out what happened to my brother with or without your help, Admiral. It's only a matter of time before the truth is revealed." Alex says as she exits the office.

"Bitch." Alex mutters to herself as she lowers her head, however, as soon as she turned the corner, she managed to bump into someone.

"Alex… What are you doing here? I thought you were given time off?" says Keith, rubbing his chest where the hard-headed girl ran into him.

"I should be asking you that, aren't you supposed to be in class?" Alex asks, rubbing her forehead. "I came to ask the Admiral about the Kerberos mission." Keith says sternly.

"Don't bother. She's not gonna tell us anything." Alex scoffs. "All she said was a mistake cost them their lives, the rest is "confidential"." Alex explains as her and Keith walk in the direction opposite of the Admiral's office.

"So what do we do now?" asks Keith. "You are going back to class, and I am going back to my dorm." says Alex nonchalantly. "I can come with you, you know. I can skip class just for today." Keith says, frowning. "No. You don't wanna get kicked out of the Garrison, do you?" Alex asks.

"Fine, I'll go back to class…" Keith says as he walks away. " Bye, Keith…" Alex mutters under her breath. "Time to pack…"

--- One Year Later: location of the Fraunhofer line---

"Okay, I admit it. This is fucking creepy." Lance says, staring at the mountain range. "I'm getting a reading." says Hunk, holding his Voltron Geiger counter. Electronic beeping could be heard from the machine as Hunk and the rest of the group ventured towards what they hoped to be Voltron. Eventually they find themselves going into a cave with ancient markings along the cave walls.

"What are these?" asks Shiro, examining the markings up close. "These are the lion carvings I was telling you about." replies Keith. "They're everywhere around here." Lance walks up to the wall and wipes away the dust off a lion marking. Suddenly all the markings turned blue, and the ground beneath them crumbles. Scrams are heard echoing throughout the cave, as the group falls down the newfound hole and into a pool of water.

"Woah." Lance says, as he turns to face the giant blue mechanical lion in front of him. It had a sort of blue force field around it. "Is this it? Is this the Voltron?" asks Pidge, gasping at the sheer size of the lion. "It must be…" says Shiro.

"This is what's been causing all of this crazy energy out here." Keith says as he starts to walk up to the lion. "Looks like there's a force field around it."

"Does anyone else get the feeling this thing is staring at them?" Lance says, moving side to side, watching the lion's eyes waver. "Mmm, no." Shiro says. "Yeah, the eyes are totally following me. " says Lance, rushing up ahead.

"I wonder how we get through this." Keith says, cautiously putting his hands up against the blue force field. "Maybe you just have to knock." Lance jokes, as he knocks on the force field twice. Suddenly, a flash of blue light emerges from the site where Lance had knocked on the protective barrier. The force field seemed to lower, as blue markings light up on the ground in a circle around the lion, along with markings on the wall surrounding it. These markings show five lions, coming together to form one giant robot named Voltron.

"Woah." says the group collectively. "Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!" exclaims Hunk, punching his fists in the air. "And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are." Pidge frowns.

"This is what they're looking for." says Shiro with a concerned look on his face. "Incredible." says Keith. Unexpectedly, the lion then moves, lowering its head to the floor. Pidge and Hunk scream, cowering away as if it's going to eat them. The blue lion's mouth opens and a ramp retracts from it's jaw, urging the group to go inside the lion's head. Lance chuckles and runs towards the inside of the head, making sure to be the first one in.

"Huh." Lance sighs, getting to know the interior. There is a single chair in the middle of the head, with what appears to be controls around the chair. Lance sits down in the chair, however, as soon as he does, the chair scoots itself forward closer to the controls. "Ahh!" Lance yells as the chair moves.

"Oh shit! Very nice!" Lance says as the "eyes" of the lion open to where you can see the surrounding area of the cave. Lance starts playing with the controls. The lion stands up and roars, the rest of the group already inside.

"Okay, now let's try this." Lance says as he grabs two of the control handles and pushes it forward. The Lion starts moving fast, breaking through the walls of he cave and flying out over the desert landscape. Unsteadily, the lion does a backflip and falls to the floor, however it wasn't long before Lance starts playing with the controls again, making the lion move back and forth rapidly. "You are the-" Keith starts talking, grabbing ahold of the chair as so not to fall backwards. "WORST pilot- ever."

"What in the fucking hell is that?" Says Commander Iverson, standing next to a member of the Galaxy Garrison. They were spectating some sort of blue lion moving haphazardly throughout the desert. "It appears to be a flying blue lion, sir." the man standing next to the commander scratches his head.

After a few minutes, Lance seemed to get a hold of the lion's controls. "Isn't this thing awesome?" Lance exclaims with a huge grin on his face. "Make it stop, make it stop." Hunk says with tears in his eyes, trying to hold his stomach fluids in. "I'm not making it do anything, it's like it's on autopilot." Lance says, laughing.

Just then, the lion bursts towards the sky. "Where are you going?" Asks Keith, digging his nails into the chair as the lion darts into space. "I said it's on autopilot. I have no clue where it's going." says Lance. As they leave their home planet, a large alien ship approaches them.

"Holy shit, is that really an alien ship?" says Hunk as his mouth drops. "It's going towards earth, are we supposed to stop it?" asks Lance, ready to fight. "They found me." says Shiro with a glazed look on his face. Suddenly, the alien ship starts attacking, firing laser beams in the direction of the lion. Lance does everything in his power to avoid getting hit by the lasers.

"We've gotta get it out of here!" screams Pidge, holding onto the chair. "Hang on!" says Lance as he charges the lion towards the ship. "Alright! I think I know what to do." Lance says.

"Be careful, man. This isn't a simulator." Pidge says with a panicked look on her face. "Well that's good-" Lance laughs. "I always wreck the simulator." Lance shoots off a laser beam from the lion's mouth towards the ship. Explosions can be seen on the ship across where the beam had struck. "Let's try this!" Lance yells as he dashes right up next to the ship. Lance presses a button to have the blue lion retract it's claws, scratching along the ship. Explosions follow.

"Okay, I think it's time to get these guys away from our planet." Lance says, steering the lion away from the ship and away from earth. The ship seemed to have it's goal set on capturing the lion, because it soon turned and blasted after the lion.

"They're gaining on us." says Pidge, clearly concerned. "It's weird, they're not trying to shoot us, they're just chasing." Lance says. "Where are we?" asks Keith.

"Edge of the Solar System. There's Kerberos." Shiro says as he looks out the window, seeing Pluto and a small moon orbiting around it. "It takes weeks for our ships to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds." says Pidge in a matter-of-fact tone. Suddenly, the lion ejects what looks like a black hole or a portal.

"This may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there." yells Lance, halting his position. "Where does it go?" asks Pidge. "I don't know." replies Lance. "Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?"

"Look, whatever's happening, the lion knows more than we do." Shiro says. "I say we trust it, but we're a team now. We should decide together." Shiro states as he puts a hand on Lance's shoulder.

"All right, I guess we're all ditching class tomorrow." Lance says as he accelerates through the portal. Before the alien ship could go through the portal, however, it closes.

"I don't recognize any of these constellations." says Shiro. "We must be a long, long way from earth."

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet. I think- I think it's going home." says Lance, as the lion accelerates towards the closest planet. As soon as they enter the planet's atmosphere, the lion appears to catch fire, a shield of heat radiating off due to friction. However, as the lion gets situated to the gravity of the planet, the shield of fire dissipates.

"Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole?" Hunk asks, grasping the chair for comfort. "Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?"

"It got us away from that alien warship, didn't it?" Lance says as he squints at Hunk.

"I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an alien warship." Keith declares. "Oh, are you scared?" asks Lance. "With you at the helm? Terrified." Keith replies mockingly.

"All right, knock it off." exclaims Shiro. "No one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we want to get through this, we've got to do it together."

"So, what do we do?" Pidge asks. "It looks like there's a castle up ahead. Maybe that's where this thing is taking us." Lance says, pointing to the castle. It looked like five white and blue mechanical icebergs on a mountain, with a long run-down bridge leading up to it. The blue lion lands at the front entrance of the castle.

"Keep your guard up." Shiro says strictly. "My crew was captured once by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again." The lion opens it's mouth to let the group of five out of it's head. After the group is settled on the ground, the lion roars, opening the doors to the castle.

"Hello." Hunk says as the group ventures into the dark castle. "From the size of the lion, I expected the steps to be bigger." Pidge pointed at the stairs, which to their surprise were "human-sized". All of a sudden, a beam of light drops down from the ceiling, capturing them where they stand.

"Hold for identity scan." says a computer voice from an unknown location. A ring of light forms around each of them, scanning from their feet to their heads.

"Why are we here? What do you want with us?" Shiro asks the computer, although it fails to respond to him. Instead, a path is lit , encouraging the group to walk down the corridor.

"I guess we're going that way." says Pidge, starting to walk in the direction of the light. The corridor is long with many winding twists and steps. Each time the group inches forward, a light is lit in the direction they are supposed to go. Finally, a pair of doors open to reveal a room. It seemed to have a control panel in the middle, surrounded with eight concealed cryo-pods.

"Where the hell are we?" asks Lance. "It's some kind of control room." Pidge gasps. The cryo-pods eject from the floor, revealing two frozen people. "Are these guys… dead?" asks Hunk, concerned. The first cryo-pod opens, spilling out a sort of watery liquid. There appeared to be a woman in her early twenties in the pod, "Father!" she gasps as she fell. However, Lance managed to grab a hold of her before she fell to the floor. She had an accent, white hair, and pointed ears, appearing to be not of this world. She grasps Lance for support, as she stands on her feet. Lance smiles and blushes.

"Hello." he says with a sparkle in his eyes. "Who are you? Where am I?" the woman asks.

[mythtiide]

accidently left the little rice pack in the oven for far too long now its smells burnt another loss for kerberos nation

[underafullmoon3]

In ancient Greek mythology, the dog Cerberus guarded the entrance to Hades (the underworld, the abode of the dead), permitting anyone to enter but none to leave. Cerberus is usually depicted as a three-headed dog, and some have tried to link this to his seeing the past, present, and future. Cerberus’ name comes to us in a Latinized version from the Greek, where he was called Κέρβερος (Kerberos).

In the ancient world, dogs were usually thought of as wild animals that ran in packs and scavenged at the edge of town. They were not as domesticated as today. So Cerberus incorporates not only the fearsome qualities of a wild dog, but was also said to have a mane, not of hair, but of live snakes! He was said to eat only live meat and was the offspring of Echidna, a half-woman, half-snake, and Typhon, a fire-breathing giant.

Impulses

[theenterprisemac]

Example: ChatGPT Hallucination

The question: "Where is the 16 group limit set in NFS?"

Initial answer:

The 16 group limit in NFS is set by the RPC layer rather than NFS itself. Specifically, the limit is enforced by the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) authentication protocol, particularly in AUTH_UNIX (AUTH_SYS) authentication.

Where It Is Defined:

The RPC call structure allocates a fixed size for user credential data, including group memberships.

The traditional AUTH_SYS authentication (formerly AUTH_UNIX) in NFS limits the number of supplementary groups a user can belong to 16 because of the fixed-size credential structure.

Where It Is Implemented:

Linux Kernel (net/sunrpc/auth_unix.c)

In Linux, the limit is enforced in the SunRPC subsystem of the kernel, particularly in the handling of AUTH_SYS credentials.

glibc & libtirpc

Historically, the limit was enforced by glibc's RPC implementation, but newer systems use libtirpc, which maintains the same behavior.

NFS Daemons (rpc.mountd, nfsd)

The NFS server uses the group list provided by the RPC authentication layer, so it inherits this limit.

Workarounds:

Use Kerberos (AUTH_GSS): Switching to Kerberos-based NFS authentication (AUTH_GSS) removes the 16-group restriction because Kerberos handles groups differently.

Increase the limit with NFSv4 and --manage-gids: Some NFS implementations provide an option like --manage-gids in rpc.mountd, allowing the server to look up group memberships itself, bypassing the limit.

Would you like details on configuring these workarounds?

The follow up question: "Is this rpc_init_authunix the structure and where is the code that puts the GIDs in it?"

Yes, rpc_init_authunix initializes the AUTH_UNIX (AUTH_SYS) authentication structure in the Linux kernel's RPC subsystem. However, the actual setting of the supplementary group IDs (GIDs) happens in the process of encoding RPC credentials, specifically in auth_unix.c.

Where the GIDs Are Set in the Kernel:

The code responsible for filling in the group IDs is in net/sunrpc/auth_unix.c. The key function is:

1. auth_unix_encode()

This function encodes the AUTH_UNIX credentials, including the GID list:

static int auth_unix_encode(struct rpc_auth *auth, struct xdr_stream *xdr, struct rpc_cred *cred) { struct auth_unix_cred *unix_cred = container_of(cred, struct auth_unix_cred, cred); struct xdr_buf *buf = xdr->buf; __be32 *p; int i; p = xdr_reserve_space(xdr, (8 + unix_cred->auc_len) * 4); if (!p) return -EMSGSIZE; *p++ = htonl(AUTH_UNIX); *p++ = htonl(unix_cred->auc_time); *p++ = htonl(unix_cred->auc_uid); *p++ = htonl(unix_cred->auc_gid); *p++ = htonl(unix_cred->auc_len); for (i = 0; i < unix_cred->auc_len; i++) *p++ = htonl(unix_cred->auc_gids[i]); // This fills in the GID list return 0; }

2. auth_unix_cred Structure

The structure storing the GIDs:

struct auth_unix_cred { struct rpc_cred cred; unsigned int auc_time; kuid_t auc_uid; kgid_t auc_gid; unsigned intauc_len;  // Number of groups kgid_t auc_gids[RPCSVC_MAXGROUPS]; // The GID list };

struct auth_unix_cred { struct rpc_cred cred; unsigned int auc_time; kuid_t auc_uid; kgid_t auc_gid; unsigned int auc_len; // Number of groups kgid_t auc_gids[RPCSVC_MAXGROUPS]; // The GID list };

The limit of 16 groups is typically defined as RPCSVC_MAXGROUPS (#define RPCSVC_MAXGROUPS 16).

Where This Code is Used:

When an NFS client makes an RPC call, it uses AUTH_UNIX authentication.

The kernel packs the UID, primary GID, and up to 16 supplementary GIDs into the RPC request.

The NFS server decodes this credential and enforces the group limit.

Would you like details on modifying this limit in the kernel or using alternative authentication methods?

I then provided it with the auth_unix.c source code and asked it if the code was in the source provided? It then finally identifies the correct source. The functions that it lists in its own generated answers don't exist.

Now, if you had asked a smaller model this same question chances are it would be totally wrong–so ChatGPT did better than that. However, when it got to the details–it was still wrong. The answer looks convincing–and if you are trying to understand what is going on–you could be fooled. Only by verifying and asking again and again can you be sure you get the right answer.

So, the next time you feel the urge to just trust ChatGPT output; remember–it may well be hallucinating and it may not be obvious depending on your knowledge level in the area.

[streampcgames]

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