#my team is already two staff down due to the new measures announced today

[onceuponathreetwoone]

[cheri-translates]

[CN] S2 Gavin - The Guardian Project (Eng Translation)

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a company project in Season 2 which has not been released in English servers!🍒

Timeline: Stray Date -> The Guardian Project -> The STF Filming Project

Case Details:

I clinched the opportunity to film an Evolver crime documentary with the STF. It didn’t cross my mind that I’d be working with the Special Operations Team.

Although the case seemed simple, it suddenly became dangerous halfway. A broken lead... a bomb that could detonate at any moment... 

This time, can Gavin and I have a pleasant collaboration? 

[ CHAPTER ONE ]

MC: Finally done...

Morning light streams in from outside the window. I straighten up from the laptop, rub my eyes, and once again check through the filming proposal I spent the entire night on.

The cover of the proposal reads: STF Collaboration Project.

Half a month earlier, a government-related department announced that the STF would be working with the media to create a special documentary regarding Evolver criminals.

Recently, the small increase in the frequency of Evolver criminals has led to diverse and confused comments from the public.

This documentary is meant to showcase STF’s resolute attack on Evolver criminals to them.

And my company managed to win the bid for this filming opportunity. As it has a lot of significance, I decided to handle it personally.

Just when I’m doing a final thorough check, the phone on my desk vibrates.

Anna: MC, the STF just got in contact and adjusted the timing. They want the filming crew to be at STF today.

MC: Huh? But we agreed that it’d be ten days later. How could they suddenly change the timing?

Anna: They said they happen to have a case which doesn’t have a high difficulty yet is very novel, so it’s suitable for our shoot.

MC: All right, I’ll make the arrangements.

Anna: Okay, I’ve already sent you the meeting address.

After hanging up, I immediately make several phone calls, arranging for equipment and a photographer.

Time is of the essence. I bring the proposal along with me, and rush to the STF.

At the entrance of STF, an officer politely stops me.

STF officer: What are you here for?

MC: Hello, we’re the producing team from [MC’s Company Name]. We’re here to collaborate with STF to film a documentary on Evol criminals. This is the filming permit.

I hand him the permit while explaining. After checking it meticulously, he lets us enter.

According to my memory after being here a few times, I successfully find the meeting room.

The door is ajar. Plain white light spills from the gap, along with sounds of conversations. I can faintly hear phrases such as “scene of the crime”, “investigation direction”.

I gently knock at the door before me.

??: Enter.

As the door opens, the gigantic electronic screens in the meeting room enter my vision.

Just as I'm about to introduce myself, the smile on my lips freeze in place.

In the huge meeting room, the white decor casts everything in a cold light. It also makes the sharp eyes of the man, who is donned in uniform at the other end of the long table, appear even more icy.

And at this moment, that pair of amber eyes shift away from the materials in his hand, and land on me.

MC: Gavin...?

-

[ CHAPTER TWO ]

Under the gaze of a room full of STF members, I take a few steps back calmly.

MC: Sorry... I might have walked into the wrong room.

Gavin’s voice suddenly resounds. 

Gavin: No need to look around. You didn’t walk into the wrong room.

MC: Didn’t they say the difficulty level of this collaborative case wasn’t high? Why is the Special Operations Team being deployed?

I mutter softly, suppressing the questions in my heart. I usher the photographer into the meeting room, and we sit at the seats furthest away from Gavin. 

A young special officer sitting at the side greets me amicably. 

Young special officer: You should be the person-in-charge for this program, right? 

I nod. 

MC: Hello everyone. I’m the person-in-charge for this program, MC. 

Gavin tosses me a stack of documents from the table, speaking in a low voice.

Gavin: First, familiarise yourself with the materials of this case. 

I take the materials and flip through them quickly. At the same time, Gavin continues with his analysis of the case before my interruption.

Gavin: On the day of the incident, there was a heavy rain which could have buried many traces of the crime. As such, it’s necessary to conduct a key survey of the Evol fluctuations left on the scene.

The young special officer sitting next to me leans over enthusiastically, explaining the case to me softly. 

Young special officer: This case is pretty novel, and is very suitable for your shoot.

MC: Mm, I see from the materials that a nationally protected thousand-year-old marriage tree at the Beishan Scenic Area was chopped down in the middle of the night.

Young special officer: Typically, we'd leave cases of such level to smaller teams to handle. 

He stealthily tilts his chin towards Gavin. 

Young special officer: But yesterday, this case was suddenly brought to the Special Operations Team by Captain Gavin, who said he wanted to investigate this first. 

The special officer is about to say something else, but a cold voice interrupts him. 

Gavin: MC. 

I lift my head to see Gavin’s hands pressing down on the materials on the table. He stares at me. 

Gavin: That’s the entire course of action. Do you have any questions? 

I instantly cast a glance at the map behind Gavin. 

The Beishan Scenic Area has been circled. Next to it has the word “Invisibility” written in red, with a question mark after it. 

MC: I have no questions.

Gavin: Before I allow the media to participate in the investigative operations, you have to guarantee not to disclose any information, or disrupt the overall plan. 

Gavin straightens up and meets my eyes.

Gavin: So, repeat the course of action I just mentioned.  

He looks at me with an expressionless gaze, as though he doesn’t believe I’d be remember his words seriously.

I return his gaze without a sign of weakness, and repeat his plan perfectly, word for word.

At this moment, a slight measure of ease appears on his originally expressionless face.

Gavin: You have a good memory.

The meeting room doors are pushed open, and a special officer walks in. 

Special officer: A new lead has been discovered.

-

[ CHAPTER THREE ]

For a long time, the Beishan Scenic Area has been popular with tourists due to the thousand-year-old marriage tree on the top of the mountain. 

I climb to the top of the mountain with a video camera, and see the thousand-year-old tree, which has been chopped down.

It now rests to the side in a strange manner. The marriage slips hanging on the tree are also twisted together in disarray. 

Young officer: That’s where the new lead is.

I look in the direction he’s pointing at, and discover a footprint near the tree. 

MC: This footprint looks like it belongs to a man. But limited information can be extracted from a mere footprint.

Young officer: Don’t worry. Captain Gavin has said that even the most trivial information may hide concrete clues. Our task is to find the criminal. 

He seems to have a lot of trust in Gavin. I can’t help but ask:

MC: Aren’t you scared of him?

In the distance, Gavin investigates the scene. Under the sun, his eyes are cold and fierce, reminiscent of an unsheathed sharp sword, glowing with a cold light and preventing anyone from coming near. 

Young officer: I’m scared, but it was Captain Gavin who saved me from the brink of death during a mission. Even though I’m still scared of him, I know he’s a captain worthy of following. 

While he speaks, Gavin seems to have finished his investigation. He looks over in our direction and strides over. 

Gavin: Go look for the staff and ask for a list of visitors. 

Gavin throws a task to the young officer, then turns towards me.

Gavin: What were the two of you talking about just now? 

MC: Nothing much. We were talking about how it’s pretty difficult to find someone based on a footprint.

Gavin smiles slightly. The shadow of the tree falls on his face, dissipating the chilling aura he exudes. 

Gavin: Looks like they haven’t taught you some things.

[Note: He’s likely referring to Black Swan]

He suddenly closes the distance between us. His eyes flit past my face, resting on something behind me. 

His breath is at my ear, and only the ends of his brown hair can be seen, moving slightly in the sun. 

MC: Gavin, you...

Gavin: Don’t move. 

After a few seconds, Gavin restores our original distance, his hand holding on to a marriage slip.  

Gavin: What can you tell from this?

I try to stabilise my breathing. Looking at the marriage slip in his hands, I see a pair of names belonging to a couple. 

MC: There are many names on the marriage tree. Couples will tie their marriage slips on the tree to pray for blessings from the gods. But what does this have to do with the case?

Gavin: There are typically two causes for crimes committed on impulse - self-benefit and passion. As a national scenic spot, the Beishan Scenic Area would not give rise to conflicts of interest. The criminal we are looking for likely committed the crime due to his emotions. 

MC: I understand now. He must have tied a marriage slip onto the tree before, but since his wish didn’t come true, he decided to chop down this “sacred tree”.

Gavin: That is only one possible inference. As of now, we still lack key evidence. 

The young officer walks over and hands a very thick list of names to Gavin. 

Young officer: Captain Gavin, this is the name list of everyone who purchased a marriage slip from this site over the last six months. 

MC: The marriage slip belonging to the suspect has definitely been removed from the tree. If we can find any mismatch between the list and the marriage slips on the tree, the chances of that person being the suspect is very high.

Gavin: Good reaction speed. 

He lifts his eyes towards me with approval, his gaze as cool as the wind in late autumn.

Young officer: Captain Gavin, we’ve made a record of the names found on the marriage slips.

Two name lists are handed to Gavin. After a brief look at them, he hands them to me.

Gavin: Take a look.

MC: Only three names are mismatched... and only one is a male. It should be him then.

Gavin: Go and ask the staff if they have any impressions of him. Then look for the date he purchased the marriage slip from the name list, and check the surveillance tape for that day. 

The young officer brings the list of names over to the staff and queries them. Gavin toys with the marriage slip in his hand, and suddenly asks:

Gavin: Why did you take up this program? 

MC: This sort of government-supported large-scale projects can bring in a lot of resources. When there’s something to gain, everyone will rush to obtain it.

Gavin: You seemed very surprised to see me.

MC: The Special Operations Team has always accepted the most difficult tasks, so I didn’t understand why you’d take up such a small case.

Gavin doesn’t respond to my words.

The young officer walks over and talks to Gavin. He nods, then looks at me.

Gavin: We’ve got the appearance of the suspect and have confirmed his address. We’ll carry out the arrest tomorrow, at 9am.

-

[ CHAPTER FOUR ]

Following the address Gavin provided, I reach the location of the suspect’s home. The door is already surrounded by special police officers, and Gavin stands in the middle, pointing a gun at the door.

At the entrance of the stairs, I carefully set up the camera, prepared to take photos of the heroic postures of the special police officers when they arrest the criminal from all directions. 

Gavin suddenly tosses a glance at me.

Gavin: Later, remain where you are. Don’t move around.

MC: Actually, I can follow the team from behind and go in too.

Gavin: Anything can happen during an arrest. You’re not a law enforcement officer, so don’t hold us back.

He no longer looks at me. His side profile is cold, and his tone clearly leaves no room for negotiation.

Gavin: Our target criminal could possess an Evol related to invisibility. Be careful during the arrest, and block off all escape routes immediately.

He lowers his voice, staring at the closed door. 

After a while--

Gavin: Now!

The well-trained special officers quickly kick the door open. Gavin takes the lead and rushes in with a pistol.

I stand outside the door, waiting for Gavin’s instructions. 

At this moment, the door opposite suddenly opens. A woman walks out, slightly anxious. 

Woman: Are you... looking for the person who lives there?

She looks at the door opposite and stops talking.

MC: Your neighbour could be the suspect we’re trying to arrest. 

The woman hesitates, then retrieves a letter from her house and hands it to me.

Woman: We don’t usually communicate, and I haven’t seen him much. But three days ago, he suddenly gave me a letter and said if anyone comes looking for him, I should pass this letter to them.

The handheld transceiver crackles.

[Note: It’s basically a walkie-talkie but it doesn’t sound cool enough for Captain Gavin so...]

Gavin: You can come in now. 

-

Holding onto the letter, I turn around and enter the house. Gavin has his arms crossed over his chest, standing in front of a map of Loveland City, pursing his lips.

A young officer pulls me to a corner and speaks softly:

Young officer: The suspect isn’t here, but we found tools to create explosives. The situation has become more serious. No one dares to disturb Captain Gavin when he’s thinking about cases, so just ask me if you have any questions.

Without saying anything, I walk towards Gavin.

Gavin frowns and turns his head, the light flashing in his eyes akin to a cold, sharp blade. 

When he sees that it’s me, his frown relaxes, and he speaks lightly.

Gavin: What’s in your hand? 

MC: It could be helpful with solving the case. 

I hand the letter to him, and he tears it open without hesitation. 

Gavin: “The marriage tree is just the beginning. The good show awaits.” There are tools for creating explosives in his room. Looks like he’s thinking of creating explosions in Loveland City... just as I thought.

Gavin quickly holds up his handheld transceiver. 

Gavin: Team One, follow me to a school five kilometres away. Team Two, do a deployment and control of all the intersections within ten kilometres. 

MC: Did you discover something? 

While the team members prepare, Gavin explains. 

Gavin: The suspect used a colourless pen to circle a location on this map. The markings of such colourless pens can be captured by a screen. 

Looking through the screen of my camera, I can indeed see that a school has been circled.

MC: Is this the place where the bomb is hidden?

Gavin: Not necessarily. It could be a trap.

MC: Which is why you’ve split them into two teams - one to follow the lead and investigate the school, and the other team to continue looking for the suspect in the vicinity. Earlier, you mentioned that it was “just as you thought”. Did you already guess the suspect would create explosives?

 I vaguely guess that this is the real reason why Gavin took up the case. 

Gavin: This case is related to an earlier case, where a large number of gunpowder-creating materials disappeared. In the end, they confessed that the transaction took place at the Beishan Scenic Area. 

MC: The Beishan Scenic Area... the very first crime committed by the suspect was also in the Beishan Scenic Area. You took up this case because of the lead? 

Gavin looks at me, as though he’s about to say something. In the end, he simply keeps the map, turns around, and leaves. 

-

[ CHAPTER FIVE ]

We reach the high school marked out in the map.

It is still school time. The campus is noisy, and students frolic in the playground.

A few students who are messing around see Gavin. His handsome face doesn’t hide his terrifying aura, and the students quickly run away in fear.

MC: Looks like your aura as the school tyrant is the same as back then.

Gavin casts me a sweeping glance. 

Gavin: And you’re still the same as last time, unafraid of me. 

Soon after, the students on campus are evacuated. Donning bomb suits, the special police officers shuttle across the floors searching for the bomb.

Gavin doesn’t wear a bomb suit. He leans against a ginkgo tree, thinking about something.

I set up the camera.

On the screen, ginkgo leaves fall one after another. One leaf falls onto the man’s silver badge. The ginkgo leaf casts a warm yellow reflection on the cold badge.

Special officer: Captain Gavin, we have searched the entire campus but we didn’t discover anything. 

The map was really just a trap. 

Expressionless, Gavin responds with an “mm”. He takes out his handheld transceiver.

Gavin: Team Two, your report. 

A response quickly comes through the transceiver.

Special officer: The deployment and control has been done. As of now, we haven’t found anything suspicious. 

With a slight furrowing of his brows, Gavin takes another look at the map. 

I lean over, and ask in the voice of an interviewer:

MC: The only lead has been broken. What does Captain Gavin intend to do next?

Gavin: Even if a lead is broken, it’s still a type of clue.

He hands me a marker pen, signalling that I should draw two circles - one where the school is, and one where the suspect’s home is.

Gavin: As of now, these are the places associated with the suspect. There must be a connection between them.

MC: Apart from their close proximity, I can’t find anything else. 

Gavin, who has been casually leaning against the tree all this while, suddenly straightens up.

Gavin: Exactly - the close proximity. 

MC: What you’re saying is that the proximity is the suspect’s main deciding factor on where to plant the bomb?

Gavin: First-time offenders will typically choose a location within their comfort zone to commit the crime. Within the range of the suspect’s comfort zone, there are only two places with high human traffic volume. Apart from the school, it’s the Diagonal Garden.

Gavin holds up the handheld transceiver.

Gavin: Team Two, head to the Diagonal Garden. 

Person on the other end: Received. 

Five minutes later, the handheld transceiver crackles. 

Person on the other end: Captain Gavin, we have reached the Diagonal Garden, but there was a small explosion before we arrived. 

Gavin: Casualties? 

Person on the other end: The explosives weren’t powerful and no one was hurt. But we found a warning letter on the scene. 

-

[ CHAPTER SIX ]

In the STF meeting room, Gavin is doing an analysis of the case. 

Gavin: At present, we have grasped information pertaining to the criminal. As he is suspected to have the ability of invisibility, we may not be able to find his hiding spot even if we use Evol. 

Once he begins the analysis, Gavin’s abilities are displayed clearly. 

He is like a sharp and bright sword, cutting through the darkness and drawing out light reminiscent of shooting stars...

I study the warning letter, which has one sentence written on it: “Tomorrow at 7pm, please look forward to an even grander gift.”

MC: At 7pm tomorrow, the criminal is going to detonate the bomb. But the leads we have right now aren’t enough to find him. 

Gavin: If we can’t find him, we’ll just force him to show himself. 

The map behind him still has Beishan Scenic Area, the criminal’s home, and the Diagonal Garden circled. 

I suddenly realise an issue everyone has neglected. 

MC: The criminal’s purpose is to detonate a bomb and cause chaos. But his act of chopping down the tree at the start stems from his emotions. Why did his motives change? 

Gavin’s slender fingers pause on the map. He nods lightly.

Gavin: No. His motive has never changed. 

He turns to a young officer at the side. 

Gavin: Check up on the woman who went to the Beishan Scenic Area with him.

MC: Do you think the girl knows where the suspect is? 

Gavin shakes his head.

Gavin: The suspect has always been acting based on his emotions. So the location he selected for the “gift” is definitely related to that girl. 

Gavin explains patiently. For some reason, the special officers at the side look stunned, as though they’ve seen a ghost. 

The young officer turns on his laptop. I look at the screen in shock, watching as a stream of data appears - his Evol is the ability to control the flow of information.

Looks like everyone in the Special Operations Team, from its captain to its members, are not just normal people. 

Very quickly, they find the girl. The girl, who has been invited to STF, looks very nervous. When faced with the special officer’s questions, she can’t speak at all.

MC: Let me do the asking. The way you’re doing it won’t get you anywhere. 

Gavin looks at me. Unexpectedly, he nods.

MC: Don’t be afraid. I’d just like to ask you to recall your boyfriend. 

Girl: We broke up a month ago. My family doesn’t like Evolvers. You should know that a lot of normal people can’t really accept Evolvers...

MC: What is his Evol? Do you know what it is?

Girl: Invisibility. 

My eyes meet Gavin’s. 

MC: Do you remember any places that were very important to the both of you? 

Girl: Apart from the marriage tree, there’s also the amusement park Ferris wheel in the centre of the city. He confessed his feelings for me there. 

Gavin presses the handheld transceiver.

Gavin: The target location is the amusement park at the centre of the city. The entire team will leave in ten minutes. 

-

[ CHAPTER SEVEN ]

It is close to dusk, and the tender night breeze brings with it the sweet scent of cotton candy. In the amusement park, happy smiles are found on adults and children.

They have no idea that a bomb is hidden in a certain corner of the amusement park.

Under Gavin’s instructions, plainclothes police wordlessly meld into the crowd. 

Gavin: The criminal could be hiding in the crowd. We can’t startle him. Instead, he has to show himself.

The red light on the handheld transceiver blinks a few times. This amusement park is now in STF’s control. 

MC: How do you intend to lure him out? 

Gavin: The police dogs are searching for the location of the bomb. Once they’re done, I will have the amusement park start the fire alarm to evacuate the crowd. 

Gavin’s tone is calm. In an instant, I already know what he’s going to do. 

MC: Are you planning to defuse the bomb on your own and lure the suspect to show himself? What if he detonates the bomb while you’re defusing it?

Gavin: As long as he appears nearby, I will know where he is. He wouldn’t have time to detonate the bomb.

As the sky continuously grows darker, there isn’t any information on the bomb’s location from the transceiver. 

I look at the time. There’s only an hour left till the time stated in the warning letter. 

MC: I have a plan. It could lure the suspect out without requiring more manpower. Would you like to try? 

Gavin turns his head to look at me steadily.

Gavin: What do you need me to do?

MC: You’re agreeing just like that? 

Gavin: The police dogs are still confirming the location of the bomb. I promise you, it’s just an additional measure. 

He walks to the ticket counter of the Ferris wheel. When he returns, there are two tickets for the Ferris wheel in his hand. 

An unnatural expression flashes across his face, but it quickly vanishes. What’s left in his eyes is a peaceful gaze. 

Gavin: Let’s go. 

MC: All right. 

-

The Ferris wheel ascends slowly. The glow of sunset displays beautiful colours in the sky. They are reflected in the eyes of the person seated opposite me, looking even more amazing than the scenery.

The wind gently blows Gavin’s brown hair, and his eyes fall on my face. 

MC: You used to say that you really liked looking down from this height, because you can see the whole of Loveland City. 

Gavin: Actually, those were just excuses to stay with you a little longer. Whether it was tying my shoes for a few more minutes, or pretending that I forgot to bring an umbrella on rainy days. 

Gavin: They all were. 

I’m left stunned. In the narrow space, the night is hidden in his eyes, and seems to be hidden in his words as well. 

At this moment, the Ferris wheel reaches the peak, then starts making its descent. 

I blink, trying my best to maintain an indifferent facade. 

MC: I thought about it for a long time. We should break up. You’re an Evolver, and that makes me feel very unsafe. Perhaps Evolvers and normal humans shouldn’t be together.

The Ferris wheel finishes its round and the door slowly opens.

Even after saying my lines, Gavin still looks at me, his sharp eyebrows furrowed slightly. 

MC: You...

Suddenly, a formless hand grabs my wrist. At the same time, a furious voice sounds. 

Invisible man: Why don’t you understand! What wrong did Evolvers do? Why do you have to treat them differently?

But Gavin is even faster. A raging wind courses from all directions, swirling a person’s silhouette in front of me. 

The invisible man struggles in pain, and Gavin pulls me behind him.

Gavin: Are you okay?

I nod my head. I watch the special police officers work together to take down the invisible man. But they are unable to find a detonator on him.

The invisible man is suppressed by Gavin, and he gives up struggling. I have a clear view of his face - he’s a young and delicate man. 

Invisible man: The STF isn’t that great either! You’re helping a normal person attack an Evolver? Who are you to sanction me?

He struggles, glaring angrily at Gavin.

Under his glare, Gavin coldly handcuffs the man’s wrists.

After he gets up, Gavin straightens his back. He lower his eyes towards the invisible man lying on the floor, and his tone is icy.

Gavin: Listen carefully. Capturing you is done in the name of the law, not STF. Having Evol is not a reason to commit crimes. Your crimes will always belong to your own name.

Gavin straightens up, and the special officers at the side hastily bring the invisible man to the police car. 

I walk towards Gavin. 

MC: Gavin.

Gavin turns around, the coldness in his eyes not yet faded.

Gavin: What’s wrong? 

MC: I think I know what this documentary should convey to the audience. Even with sword-like authority, the STF will always have justice as its supreme guide.

A sudden night breeze courses past, lingering around my wrist. Gavin looks at me, his eyes deep.

But the corners of his lips suddenly curl upwards.

Gavin: Given your position, you shouldn’t be talking to me about justice.

I smile as well, extending a hand towards him.

MC: Gavin, it has been a pleasant collaboration.

Gavin arches his eyebrows. He removes the leather glove on his right hand, and holds onto my hand.

His palm is dry and warm. As compared to last time, there are more thin calluses on it.

Gavin: It has been a pleasant collaboration. 

- End -

The program has received stable ratings, and has remained moderately popular during its broadcast period. The company has used this success to adjust its future direction, seeking a more integrated and comprehensive layout. The STF clicked ‘like’ on the documentary, arousing heated discussions among netizens.

[aka-irish]

Apex Legends: The Top Predator Part 1

A cough can be heard as a pair of large metal doors slide open, a bespectacled older man in a lab coat with combed back white walks through with a few military-esque soldiers clad in a black armor, holding assault rifles trails behind him. Another man dressed in a dark grey military garb with various silver and gold medals pinned to his suit can be seen staring at a bunch of monitors, displaying the legendary Apex Games. "Doctor Traxler, thank you for meeting me here today." The doctor removes his glasses, giving them a quick breath and wipe with his shirt before putting them back on. "Colonel Braxton, thank you for inviting me into this...most interesting opportunity." Colonel Braxton points to the monitors, "I love these games, Doctor. But I feel we need to really shake things up. New competitors keep climbing aboard and accepting the challenge, but I feel the competition has become stagnant. The new girl Rampart is quite exciting but soon shall she grow old with the world as well. With the Syndicate scouring for new players, I feel now would be a great opportunity for our organization to come up with a perfect solution, test the might of the competitors and bring forth a combatant of our own. But alas, I feel we need to...start from scratch. Basically, what I am implying here, Doctor, is that we create our own competitor, someone that the Syndicate and Apex games cannot find an answer for." Doctor Traxler strokes his chin, pondering the offer. "And you want me to create a being...a whole person...or something akin...to place in the games to rival the Syndicate?" asks the doctor. "Yes" says Colonel Braxton dryly. "Then what would you suggest, Colonel?" asks the doctor. "I say we collect information of the combatants, learn weaknesses...strengths...how their bodies function on an internal level. That way we can provide adequate measures to create the unstoppable force...an Apex Predator. "Hmmm, very well" says Traxler. "Which one do you think we should pick first?" The Colonel looks sternly at the monitors as he thinks. " "I say we start simple and work from there. Crypto runs with a scanner on him and is quite a technological genius...I don't want his drone discovering anything, same with that Lifeline girl. Caustic is quite smart himself and I feel would be able to notice anything different with his body. Wattson would provide useful but regarding her electrical prowess, she could potentially short any ship. Revenant is a robot, he is out, same as Pathfinder. Bloodhound doesn't have any readily available info to start with. Octane runs too much on stimulants and would require a special ship to enter his bloodstream to start, something more durable for the extra turbulence. Wraith would be great to discover any diagnostical differences with her teleportation technology, but she possesses a danger sense. I feel Gibraltar, Mirage, Bangalore, or Loba would be a good start" The doctor looks at screens. "Let's start with thief. I feel she is a safe bet and no one would look twice at any complaints from her." "Very well" says the Colonel. "Prepare a small group and enter the shrinking bay, we will provide a ship for you to go." The doctor smiles, almost menacingly "Of course". The doctor and the two guards behind him leave as they begin preparations for their experiment. *On the drop ship hours later, just before the new game. The Legends prepare themselves for battle, awaiting for the groups to be displayed. Loba sits alone, legs crossed as she stares in thought at the wolf staff she carries with her. Unbeknownst to anyone, a small spherical ship flies into the dropship. Doctor Traxler and a couple henchman are aboard as they travel through the air towards the unsuspecting aristocrat. "There she is, men. I want all things ready to go before they drop, cameras on, diagnostics going, shields up. We need to enter her heart and station there, that way we can monitor electrical currents and other stressors that may occur or are induced" the doctor exclaims the orders. The ship itself flies towards Loba as she retracts the staff and expands it, the ship enters her nose and follows the passage of air as she breathes. Loba twitches a bit as her nose tickles slightly from the near microscopic ship. The screens display the teams, Loba is partnered with Wattson and Bloodhound. "Oui" Wattson squeals in excitement as she claps, entering her loading station. Bloodhound stows their knife as they step. Loba flicks one of her red braids as she enters next to her team. Mirage yells out "We are so gonna win. Bamboozle ya foozles...ok that was bad..I'm sorry" he stutters. "Ya plonker, keep yer head on straight, mate" says Rampart next to him. Gibraltar lets out a big bellow as the platforms begin to drop. "Time to crush some hearts, team" Loba says as she slyly smirks and smiles to her team. The hatches open and the teams deploy, the jetpacks enabling them to drop. Inside of Loba, the ship travels through her lungs as the wind from her breathing can be heard, a small thumping echos in the distance. "Alright men, we are near her heart" announces Traxler as the booming grows. We will monitor and record all cardiac activity...as well as induce a few misfires to see how well she recovers. Start recording in 3,2....1" The ship enters atop her pulsing organ "Thoom-thoomp...thoom-thoomp...thoom-thoomp" her heart beats strongly within her chest. Outside, Loba and her group are engaging in a battle with some of the others. Loba throws her bangle and teleports behind a rock, drops a click out of her Volt SMG and reloads it. *Boom-thoom. Boo-thoom. boom-thoom, her heart picking up, racing slightly more from the excitement of the combat. She peers out from the rock and starts laying fire, a shot hits a Mirage clone and it fades. "Tch, stupid dupes" scoffs the Brazilian thief. She leans out further and a bullet hits the rock "DAMMIT", she ducks back behind. *BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM* pounds her heart as the ship maintains stability on top of it. Inside of the ship the doctor marvels at the success of the plan so far as her heart squirms and throbs inside of her breast. "The project is going so well so far, I am impressed. Alright men prepare to induce irregularities in 3...2..1" The doctor pushes down a button that yields a small current throughout Loba's body. *BOOMTHUMPBOOMBOOM* her heart flails inside of her for a brief moment*. "Tck" she gives a brief wince at the slight pain her chest. "What the hell was that?" she questions. She fights the pain and jump drives behind another rock, tossing an arc star at Mirage, Caustic and Wraith. The grenade explodes, releasing a gas trap Caustic laid out...Mirage and Wraith begin coughing as they run from their cover. A scanner deploys from Bloodhound from the distance near them, they fire off a few sniper rounds, hitting Wraith as she appears out from the miasma cloud. She falls and Mirage preparing another dupe but runs into one of Wattson's electrical fences. "DAMMIT" he yells as he falls, defeated. "My vision doesn't change..I don't need my teammates" yells the angry Caustic, as the large sociopathic doctor throws a gas bomb towards Wattson. It hits and she begins coughing before going down to a flurry of bullets fired from Caustic's carbine. "NO" yells out Loba as she tosses a second grenade at him before pulling out her pistol from behind the rock and starts firing a few volleys. Caustic ducks into his gas cloud and unloads a few bullets. One hits Loba square in the shoulder "I'm hit she yells as she falls back. "BUMPBUMPBUMPBUMP goes her heart, pounding away from the bullet hitting her. She heaves as her chest rises and falls, "hit her again" commands the doctor as they unleash a second current through her pumping organ *BOOMTHUMPTHUMP...THMPHBOOM..THUMP* it stumbles in her chest. "GAHK" she yells out as she reaches a hand to her chest, as it heaves...all she feels is her organ fumbling. *BOOM THUMPthHMP...THUMP..THUMPTHUMP..* the pulsing muscle inside of booms and lets out a few, sharp beats before regulating itself. Loba herself loosening the grip as she pops back up from her, focusing on the task at hand. She fires off a few shots from her SMG and it strikes surfacing Caustic, downing him. She picks herself up, hand re-clutching at her breast, heartbeat still pumping hard due to adrenaline, but steady nonetheless. She reaches Wattson and injects her with a revive shot, enabling the French woman to resume fighting. Bloodhound approaches them, "Thank the gods, you are alright" They look at Wattson. Bloodhound turns to stare at Loba clutching her chest, panting and sweating. "Are you alright, friend?" they ask. Loba gulps before straightening up and steadying herself "I'll be fine. Let's go finish this up..I want to wash the blood off my heels" says the woman. Inside of her, Doctor Traxler looks at the recordings and listens to the sounds of her life giving muscle pounding away "Beautiful...isn't it, men? We are inside a very person...detailing and dictating how their very essence beats. It's...exhilarating" Back to the fight at hand, the group treks further across the sand of King's Canyon, Wattson looking around and Bloodhound scanning for the remaining group or groups. Loba rubs her chest as her feat drag slightly. "Are you sure you are okay?" asks Wattson. "She swallows and nods, the effects on her heart taking a small toll already. "EAT LEAD, YA BLOODY SISSIES" the quick rattle before booms of a machine gun fire up as Rampart sits a top a small building, raining bullets down on the squad. They manage to duck behind another shack and few open supply bins. "Can you guys distract her while I take aim?" asks Bloodhound. "I can give a few moments" proclaims Loba, as she stamps her wolf staff in the sand, opening up the black market boutique. Loba summons a devotion LMG and prepares her bangle to jump drive. Wattson grabs a couple grenades and starts to toss them. Bloodhound activates their Beast of the Hunt to switch their vision to see the target and increase their speed. The grenades Wattson toss manage to spark up some dust as Loba throws her jump drive to get closer to Rampart. "YES YES YES YES...THIS IS THE BEST BLOODY DAY EVERRRRR!!" Yells out Rampart in excitement as she continues to storm down the artillery fire. Wattson rushes out as Loba preps for one more jump drive..she throws the ring and lands behind her while Rampart's attention is on Wattson. "Blood hell?" says the girl as Loba lights up a devotion her, taking her down. "That's the last one" says the man-eater and lady killer. "Think again, little girl." a shriveling and cold voice pierces from the shadows, as Revenant grabs her from behind the building and takes her down. 'NO" as Loba gets dragged down. The woman hits the ground and rolls back. As she recovers, she starts firing bullets at the simulacrum. He weaves through the bullets and throws a spinning back kick, hitting the gun. "Gah" Loba squeals out as she loses her weapon. She pulls her pistol from her hip and throws a kick of her own, the master assassin dodging as she thrusts a clawed hand at her. She throws an arm out, dodging to side as he takes a few strands of hair off. Knocking his arm, she lines for a pistol shot, he dodges as the bullet grazes across the metal face plate, sparking. With her heart pounding, she continues to engage as best as she can with the superhuman android. They exchange and deflect blows, Rev slices her pistol into pieces with a bladed hand. Loba manages to flip back, throw her ring and slide it under his legs. Not registering yet, he charges forward with his bladed fingers. They pierce the wall behind her as she ports behind him. Staff expanded, she hits him, rattling the android. He recovers and grabs the staff before pulling her in and throws a massive knee to her gut and an elbow to the back of her neck, flooring her. "Awww..what's the matter? A little disappointed" he mocks her. "Go to hell, demonio" she spits at him. The cold, bright yellow eyes glow with murderous intent as he straddles the downed opponent, hand shifting to it's bladed form. He slides the blade down her neck to her chest, right in the center between her breasts. "I told you...I'll slice your heart out." He presses the blade slightly against her breast, it bounds heavily from her heart throbbing furiously beneath it. *BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM* Inside of Loba, Traxler is smiling even wider. This fight is everything we needed...but this Revenant will be a hard one. Strike a current, I want her in full cardiac arrest. She's done her share and we can blame it on the robot. His henchman strikes a final current. Outside Rev prepares to sink the blade as a shot is fired off and strikes the side of his head, downing the simulacrum. "For Artur" says Bloodhound as they managed to find a proper angle to get the shot, and more importantly the win. Wattson leaps for joy as she celebrates and the rest of the legends are up and about from the games. All but one. *BMPHTHUMP* Loba gasps as her heart gives a crunching beat. She lays their gasping as she clasps her chest, her body convulsing. "Wait hold on, LOBA!!" scream the legends as they run to the champion. *THMPH...THMPBOOMTHUMPTHMPH.....THMPBOOMTHUNLUBDUBDUBDUB...THMPHBOOMP* her heart squirms and uncoordinatedly convulses in her chest. Lifeline rushes next to her as she lays an ear on her thrashing chest. "THMTHMBOOMBOMM...THMBUMPBUMPTHOMM..THOOM....THOOM...thoomp...thmp..boomp...thmp* Loba's heart starts slowing. "Her boom-boom's goin crazy" as she starts to compress against it. "thmph...thooomph....thmBOOM...thmbooom...THMP.. the organ squirms and fades before picking up. Inside of her "she is a fighter" proclaims the doctor. "Begin to charge another shot". Lifeline hooks her medic drone to Loba, and shoots her with a syringe. "I can help" Wattsons chimes in as she charges a small electric current herself and places her hands atop the chest of the now almost motionless Loba. She can feel the struggling heart beneath her and with a quick jolt lets loose a small defib like charge. Loba's chest jerks up. Wattson can see her hands shaking from the organ pumping. *BBOOMP..BOOMTHMPHBOOM...Ba-boomp..thmp..boom. Lifeline lays her head back down on her breast "Give anotha zap" Wattson charges and zaps her chest again *BOOM THUMP...LUBDUB...DUBDUMTHOMMPBUM*. Inside her chest, the ship starts to spark as her organ can't decide if it wants to steady itself or flatline. "Dammit! We need to get out of here. We can deliver the currents but the external ones from that Wattson are going to fry us and leave us for dead. We have what we need..let's go" commands Traxler as they detach and start leave her body, passing out through the lungs and the nose, making a narrow escape. "Clear" yells Wattson as she discharges and jerks the chest of Loba up once again. She feels for her heartbeat..the strong organ pulses beneath her, pushing her hands up. Lifeline listens again, ear sinking against her chest *boom thoom...bump-thoom...bum-thoomp...bump-thoomp...bum-thoomp. "We got her beating steady" she proclaims. The Maori mammoth Gibraltar bends down and picks up the limp woman's body. "Let's get er back home, bruddas and sistas" Somethin ain't right about today. He glares at Rev, and the simulacrum just stares back. The legends start to head to the drop ship to return home. At the secret base of the new unknown organization, Traxler returns and walks into the screen room to meet the Colonel. "How was the mission" he asks. The doctor pulls out a small USB like drive. "Splendid" He smiles. "Good job, Doctor Traxler. We just a couple more..dives...and we can begin building our creation. "I can't wait" says the gray haired man. "It will be...beautiful." "That it will indeed my good doctor...that it will indeed" says the colonel before turning back to the monitors. At Mirage's Bar..the home of the legends, Loba lies in the bed of her room before stirring. "MMhmm" she groans as she wakes up. She sits up and clutches her chest with a wince, "what the hell happened today?" she questions to herself. "I'll tell you" says that same, hollow voice from the shadows as the smoldering yellow eyes pierce through the veil of darkness. The 7 foot simulacrom lurches forward with an unnatural silence. "DEMONIO!" Loba growls out.."tch" she grasps at her chest as the other hand tries to find her pistol at her bedside. "Someone tried to take you, little girl. That heart of yours almost failed and trust me...it wasn't me." says the assassin. "I don't know how...but I know you're stronger than to fall to a heart attack in battle...you're much stronger than your parents were..hahahah". He chokes and laughs". Loba growls and groans again..finding the pistol, she weakly aims at him. He mockingly puts a finger to and holds it down. "I told you..I want you to be the one to truly end me. I wouldn't kill you and my means are more direct that to cause a heart attack. I'm the best bet you guys have here. And I will be keeping an eye out for this to happen again. You can thank me later..Loba...hehehehahahah" The simulacrum chuckles once more before fading back into the shadows and disappears. Loba lies there, dropping her gun onto her sheets before collapsing back down. "He isn't wrong" she says before taking a few deep breaths, eyes shut and she drifts asleep.

[archadianskies]

Whumptober Day 23

Exhaustion + Sleep Deprivation  → part of the MT-RK900

Whumptober Masterlist | 23/31 of RK900 short stories ↳ on Ao3

Tags:  Post-Pacifist Best Ending x Exhaustion x Sleep Deprivation

{Character sheet + bonus art here, and here. }

It starts small, starts as barely noticeable symptoms that can easily be mistaken for something else. Nothing is easily mistaken to him, nothing is ever dismissed casually, not when he deals with people’s lives on a daily basis. That includes the lives of his colleagues too, and today, specifically, it involves the lives of his human colleagues.

“Dr Fitzpatrick, you are exhibiting the initial signs of influenza.” He tells his senior, the Director of the trauma unit and his attending leader for the shift. “It is best to take precautionary measures and time off to recuperate whilst removing yourself from possibly infecting others.”

“What?” She blinks at him, brows creased and lips pursed in a frown. “It’s been a long shift, that’s all.” He says nothing, though his expression must say a lot because her frown deepens. “You’re sure?”

“With adequate care you will recover much quicker and stop the spread amongst our colleagues, than if you were to continue working and possibly, quite rapidly, infect others.” Ronan says evenly. “Influenza season is already underway, we are treating more and more patients everyday and we have had three deaths already.”

She gives him a long hard look, searching his face for some sort of reaction before she sighs tiredly. “Are there others on the team you think might have it?”

“There are four possible nurses, one clerk, and two registrars also exhibiting early signs.” Ronan informs her and she groans into her hand, rubbing her temples. 

“It’s not up to me to give others time off, you know.”

“I know. But you can speak to the right staff, and I can give them my findings.” He nods.

“We’re run off our feet already, and you’re rostered at Jericho for the next three days!”

“I can change that. Androids are not susceptible to influenza, and aside from the cold weather affecting some of the older models, we weather winter well.” He glances at the door. “If you can help arrange it, I will stay on for the week and use mainly a team mostly made up of the other android nurses here, minimising the risk of infection amongst the staff.”

“Ronan, you- that’s insane! No one can work an entire week, especially not in trauma!”

“No human can, but I am not human.” Ronan reminds her gently, and he knows she is tired and she knows he is counting on this. She relents, shoulders sagging.

“Four days. Not seven. Four, and I will aim to be back by then.” She points her finger at him accusingly. “Don’t you dare take on more than you can handle. You’re the best trauma surgeon I’ve ever worked with, so god help me if you run yourself ragged because you’re too damn nice!”

* 

So it begins. After careful negotiations the ration rises from five human nurses for every one android nurse, to two humans per one android. Ronan assigns various amounts of memory in his processing core to take over the clerical duties, and the E.D. phone is now answered by an ST300 temporarily stepping in from reception. This means she can answer the call and feed the information directly onto his HUD for ease of triaging. He keeps patient charts in a digital folder, and medication schedules, and theatre bookings.

He utilises programming that would normally be used for listing mission objectives and keeping tabs on the status of other soldiers in his battalion, for good instead, for saving lives and managing their care. At the seventieth hour mark, one of the android nurses pass him a bottle of thirium and he drains it, belatedly realising his levels are below optimum given how fast he is burning through it due to the high number of processes he is running. No matter. He will continue.

 At the eightieth hour, he receives a concerned message from Simon while he is operating on a stabbing victim. The knife penetrated into the victim’s small bowel and it is a race against time to repair the damage. He manages to send Simon a quick reassuring message that yes he is fine, but will not be able to come home for some time yet. Dr Fitzpatrick had said four days but he knows it will not be four days. He will need longer because the humans will need longer. It is alright. He is an RK900, CyberLife’s latest cutting edge android. He can manage.

As predicted, Dr Fitzpatrick does not return after four days. No matter. Ronan powers on, temporarily rotating out the last of the human nurses as a precautionary measure as a surge of new influenza patients floods the hospital. Humans are woefully unprepared for the season due to a lot of factors, be they socio-economic or just plain ignorance. There was a pandemic his father lived through, with many wild tales of humans simply ignoring even the basic, primitive safety measures attempted. It does not surprise Ronan to see so many victims this season either, given all that Hank has told him about those ‘unprecedented times’. 

There is no time to stand under the charging bay downlights. There has been a shooting and there are multiple victims en route to the hospital. And hours before that, there had been a multi vehicle crash on the highway. And hours before that, there was a case of food poisoning at a children’s party which meant Ronan had to call the paediatric registrar for extra help. There is never a good time, and so he has to be conservative about power usage to ensure he can still handle the workload safely. 

“Your hair is white.” One of the nurses whisper to him as they’re scrubbing up for yet another surgery. Ah. His stress levels must be high. He hasn’t checked- he turned off his notifications ten hours ago. 

“I am functioning adequately. It is only cosmetic.” He reassures them with words, and he’s glad there’s a mask over his mouth because he hasn’t quite mastered how to give reassuring smiles to match. 

“You’ve been on call for five days, nearly six now.” They’re brows crease in concern and beneath their mask Ronan knows they are frowning. “You’ve given all of us an hour break every eight hours to ensure we have enough time to charge adequately. You’ve done this for all android staff except yourself!”

“There is no other android qualified for surgery.” He reminds them, flicking through the patient’s stats and passing them on to the surgical team. “So I cannot rest.”

On the first surgery on his sixth consecutive day as the trauma surgeon on call, Ronan finds that the bulbs in the surgical downlights have been replaced with UV charging lights. The same nurse who raised concerns earlier gives him a somewhat stern, no-nonsense look.

“So you can charge while you operate.” A compromise, he realises, and a very kind one too. He gets to work, and he feels the tension unwind from his shoulders, his battery core soaking up the charge as the lights bear down on him. It’s not quite stasis, not quite reprieve from the onslaught of duties, but it’s close.

**

“Simon?” Dr Anthea looks up from her tablet, blinking in surprise as the Jericho leader stands in the doorway of her office. “What can I do for you?”

“Ronan is still at Detroit Metro.” The PL600 chews his bottom lip, wringing his hands together anxiously. “It’s been six whole days straight and he stopped answering my messages on the fourth day.”

“Yes he’s temporarily removed himself from our roster to manage Detroit Metro ED while the human staff recover from the flu.” She sighs, shaking her head. “He’s very much like you, you know: he’ll work himself ragged for the sake of others.” Not quite the answer Simon hopes to hear, she’s sure, but it’s the one she’s giving because she’s right. She’s heard the tales from Professor Joshua. She knows during Jericho’s early stage, Simon nearly died keeping everyone safe and functioning. 

“I just- I’ve left so many messages at reception and though the receptionist assures me she’s passed them on, I can’t help but feel like he literally won’t stop unless he’s physically unable to keep working.” Simon gives her a pained look to which she can only reply with a cocked brow.

“Like you, Simon?”

“Well- alright, yes, like me!” Simon huffs, and it coaxes a laugh from her as the PL600 looks torn between embarrassment and determination. “You are the only android surgeon still qualified to work at human hospitals. To work at that human hospital.” He says it quietly, with caution, because they both know that was a different part of her life. Not an unpleasant one, definitely not, given she deviated out of empathy, out of kindness, but still a different chapter now put behind her. She has the qualifications because she never bothered to give them up like the other medroids. Sentimentality, perhaps, because Detroit Metro had been her home for so very long and to still see a valid ID badge gives her a little spark of joy whenever she opens her drawer. 

“Please?” Simon of the Jericho Four is pleading with her and she knows she cannot deny him a single thing, lovely and courageous and prone to martyrdom as he is.

*

It’s been eight days, twice the number of days she thought she’d need, but she’s feeling strong and healthy and definitely not weighed down by any symptoms anymore. Damn that android and his perceptive, persuasive ways. She both hates and loves how he’d been right, and yes he’s been running an incredibly tight ship here in her absence, though she wonders which other staff he’s rostered on to replace him because obviously he hasn’t been working the entire eight days straight. Right? Surely not. Obviously not. She warned him she’d be Very Cross if he worked more than four days. 

“Nicola?” She turns at the voice and there, right there is Medroid Anthea. The surgeon she shoved into an ambulance with as many android nurses as she could find when racing through the unit after that horrible announcement androids had to be surrendered to the police. Not on her watch, no damn way. 

“Anthea.” She smiles, though a little puzzled. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you’ve worn my best surgeon down to his bones here so I’m coming back as a favour, just so he gets rest.” There’s a pause as she lets that sink in.

“Are you telling me Ronan’s been here the entire time?! All eight days?!” She nearly explodes with anger and Anthea cocks a perfectly arched brow in that gesture she hasn’t realised she’s missed seeing so much. They made such a great team.

“Why do you sound like you didn’t know this?”

“Because I didn’t! I’ve been on sick leave, recovering from the flu! Oh that boy, honestly!”

“Simon’s here to drag him home, and I’m here for his shift.” Anthea smiles as she clips her ID onto her scrubs. “Just like old times?”

She’s smiling so hard her cheeks ache. “Yeah. Just like old times.”

* 

Simon can’t even stay angry with him. The anger just seeps out of him the moment he sees how exhausted Ronan looks, his hair stark white meaning his stress levels are at their peak given the weather isn’t cold enough to activate his tundra camouflage. He’d demanded his stats and the RK900 had given them with great embarrassment and Simon realised he’d been so very close to just shutting down to conserve what pitiful charge he had left. Honestly.

“You’re mad at me.” Ronan says quietly as Simon ushers him inside the apartment.

“I was.” Simon hangs up their coats before wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing his cheek to his chest. “Couldn’t stay mad, though. I know why you did it.”

“I had to help.”

“I know, love. I know.” Simon sighs, looking up at him fondly. “Because you’re a good, kind person and a wonderful colleague.”

Ronan says nothing, only offers a small smile before leaning down to bump his nose against his fondly.

“Right.” Simon declares with a nod, stepping back, grabbing his wrist and tugging him to their bedroom. “I’m putting you under the lights for a six hour charge and you are not leaving the bed a second earlier.”

“Yes, doctor.” Ronan smiles tiredly, pausing only to press their lips together in quiet gratitude before he lays down and closes his eyes. 

[sonicrevival]

Reunions: Chapter 3 of 4: Regicide

Quite large one today.

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573268/chapters/44028367

Sonic: Revival- Reunions

Chapter 3 of 4: Regicide Morning in Mobotropolis, and a small figure walked the streets, heading nearer to the palace as she pushed through the crowds. None of them paid her any mind, but if they looked closer, they might’ve spotted the faint glow in her blue eyes, or the similarly-bright gemstone in her forehead, mostly covered by her messy ginger hair. Emerl grumbled slightly. Sneaking wasn’t remotely her style, and part of her wanted to be caught so that she could run back and chant “I told you so” at her new friends, in regards to sending her on a mission that didn’t involve fighting… and yet, she remained undetected. She supposed that it wasn’t much of a surprise. Nicole’s holograms and nanite form were both incredibly lifelike. Even she had been fooled when they first met. Of course her new nanite skin was helping… Even if she had no idea what to do with the tail. She just wished that it hadn’t been her that had to do it. *** One hour ago… With the two teams reassembled, and all parties caught up on each other’s conditions, Sally had stressed the need to find where Naugus was first. “Fortunately, we have a team who are experienced with stealth and espionage,” She looked over at Harvey. “Well… we kinda fought Naugus, so now he’s going to be on the lookout for us,” Silver sighed. “We could try disguises, but that won’t hide our energy…” “And we’re not exactly in a position to go in, either…” Sonic grumbled. “I may have a solution…” Nicole spoke up, before gesturing to Emerl. “Me? I don’t think I can help unless you want me to beat his location out of someone…” She recoiled, holding up her hands. “All you need to do is a little scouting. Naugus won’t recognise you because he’s never met you,” Nicole explained. “Still a robot.” “Ah, but I can hide that for you… I can’t do much with the nanites at the moment, but I can form a sort of ‘skin’ with them that will make you look like a Mobian, like this…” Nicole’s eyes flashed green, and nanites swarmed around Emerl’s body. Despite her misgivings, she trusted the lynx, and allowed her to work. Once it was finished, Nicole waved her hand, the wall beside Emerl shifting into a reflective surface. The Nanite skin looked startlingly real. Staring back at Emerl was a small feline girl, with sandy-yellow fur, covered in black spots, with a short tail growing from her backside. Her lower legs and feet were almost completely black, and she had a mop of ginger hair on her head. “Huh… that… looks really lifelike… weird,” She mused. “What am I?” “A black-footed cat,” Nicole replied with a slight smirk. “I thought it was appropriate.” “Alright then… I guess this’ll work.” *** Truth be told, the Gizoid didn’t quite have the heart to tell the lynx ‘No’. Especially after she called her new form ‘cute’. Now that had confused her. She wanted to snap back that she, as a powerful and dangerous robot, was in no way, shape, or form ‘cute’... but she didn’t. Not even when she let out a soft laugh as Emerl’s new face contorted in response. This would require further study, she decided. For now, she had her mission to focus on. Drawing near to the palace, she spotted the figure of a skunk walking down the steps, carrying a staff tipped with a Chaos Emerald. All of that fit the description of Geoffrey St. John, Naugus’ apprentice, and apparently a turncoat. What didn’t match was the enormous energy spike she felt as soon as she locked onto him. Ducking into an alleyway, she made sure her surroundings were clear, then leapt onto the rooftop, brushing the hair away from her forehead to take a deeper scan. The energy levels were off the scale, compared to the profile Nicole had given her. “Hey, Nicole, you seeing these measurements?” She opened a communication link to her friend. “Yes, I can...  I’m showing Sally now…” “Alright…” She nodded, keeping her focus on the skunk. “Hey, is red a natural eye colour for skunks now?” “I… no. And Geoffrey’s eyes aren’t red.” “Well, I’m looking at him right now, and those are definitely red…” She retorted. Nicole went quiet for a minute, before speaking up again, sounding alarmed. “Emerl, get to the Council chamber. That’s not Geoffrey, that’s Naugus!” “Uh, isn’t Naugus bigger and uglier than that?” “It’s Geoffrey’s body, Naugus is possessing him, but don’t worry, Sally has a plan already working. Just get the Council building, I’ll explain on the way.” “Right,” She nodded, vanishing in a burst of blue. *** Emerl lingered in the crowd outside the Council building, fingers gripping the heavy weight in her hands. Sir Charles had passed it to her when she arrived, and she had quickly hid herself in the throng of bodies. Apparently, ‘Geoffrey’ was due to make some kind of announcement, supposedly on Naugus’ behalf, explaining the large gathering of people. If all went smoothly, that announcement wouldn’t be made at all. She listened to the voices of her friends echoing inside her head- Silver’s team inside the Council chamber itself, protecting the city’s leaders. The main Freedom Fighter team, just below the street with Nicole ready to bring them up to the surface, and their secret weapon, lingering on the roof of the building itself, ready to make his appearance, all confirming that they were ready to move. The skunk’s approach drew mixed reactions from the crowd. Nicole had explained that, while Geoffrey was Naugus’ right-hand man, and thus received plenty of support from the wizard’s more ardent backers, to others, he was still considered a traitor after he was found guilty of betraying Elias and the Acorns. “Alright...” Sally’s voice cut through the chatter, the rest of the teams going quiet. “Phase one, go.” As Naugus began to climb the steps, a thin blue shape dropped from the roof of the building, crashing down in front of him. The stonework cracked beneath its weight, the possessed skunk leaping backwards as it rose. Several people in the crowd screamed, and began to run, as Metal Sonic rose to its feet, lunging at Geoffrey’s body. Emerl wasn’t sure what to make of this mechanical Sonic, compared to the last one she fought. Not as strong, by all appearances, but significantly faster. It shot forward with speed greater than Sonic’s own, punching Geoffrey’s face. The force of the first blow sent the skunk reeling, skidding across the ground in a heap. The staff slipped from his fingers, as the robot stalked toward him, its right hand restructuring into a drill. “Emerl, now!” Emerl grinned, racing out of the crowd with her cargo in-hand, lifting it over her head and gently throwing it toward the skunk as she called out to him. “Geoffrey, catch!” Instinctively, his hands snapped up, snatching at the blur of gold and steel. His eyes widened as he looked down at the pristine form of the Sword of Light. The empowered weapon let out a brilliant flash, and Geoffrey screamed in two voices as black fog poured from his mouth and nose. His body slumped to the ground, fingers still gripping the hilt, as the fog pooled nearby, Naugus’ hideous mutated form emerging from it, skin wrinkled and dark, lips pulled back to expose his teeth, barbs growing from his clawed hand, horn curving to a sharper point. Hurriedly, he snatched up his staff, glaring at both Geoffrey and Emerl herself, before noticing the civilians that hadn’t fled. Before he could open his mouth, however, Geoffrey rose and swung the sword at him. Naugus hissed in pain as the blade nicked his left hand. “Monster!” The skunk roared, wincing as the blade continued to glow, smoke rising from where his hands gripped the hilt. “It burns you too, my foolish apprentice!” The wizard fired back, black lightning blasting from his Emerald, knocking the skunk off of his feet. He lost his grip on the Sword of Light, which clattered to the ground nearby. “Alright, Phase Two, let’s move!” Sally’s voice cut in, as the ground nearby began to ripple. “Shard, how are you holding up?” “Not great, unfortunately,” ‘Metal Sonic’ spoke up, optics lighting up in green. “I’m almost out of power. Going to fall back.” “We’ll take it from here,” Emerl smiled over at him. Shard nodded, nanites flowing away from his body to expose his normal, if battered, body, and he fired his engines, launching away from the plaza. As Naugus prepared to strike the prone Geoffrey, Emerl broke into a run, launching herself at the two mages. Curling into a tight ball, she slammed herself into Naugus’ gut, knocking the air from his lungs and forcing him back. Unrolling, she slammed her fist into his face, breaking several of his fangs and sending him sprawling across the ground, before grabbing Geoffrey and launching herself back to the steps, just as the rest of the Freedom Fighters, with the exception of Sally, emerged from below the city. “Oh gods, what’s wrong with his face!?” Sonic yelled, as Naugus rose to his feet, glaring at the assembled team. “His… his body is decaying. Whatever that white flash that Eggman’s machine made was, it’s destabilised him, and he’s starting to de-fuse…” Geoffrey explained weakly. “Gross,” Amy winced. “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Tails nodded. “Well, doesn’t matter what he looks like. We’re still gonna take him down!” Sonic lowered himself, preparing to launch. “Don’t be so sure, Quickster…” Naugus rasped, leaning on his staff. “I’m not sure why you have returned from your excursion to find the former Princess, but you still need me… and I am still the King… call off your new friend, and I might not have you all arrested for treason…” “Oh, come off it, Naugus. We all know what you’re up to,” Bunnie groaned, preparing her arm cannon. “Doesn’t matter how many people you brainwash into electing you, yer still gonna lose in the end!” “Is that so?” His mouth split into a rictus grin as he raised his staff, black magic exploding out from it. For a moment, all of the organic Freedom Fighters felt something dark trying to worm into their minds, before a flicker of green light shielded them, Nicole’s eyes glowing brightly as she strained against the magic, forming a protective bubble around the team. The last dregs of the crowd weren’t so lucky, as their eyes turned black, and they began to lurch toward the Freedom Fighters, reaching out as they shambled forward. “Oh no!” “Not good!” “Dagnabbit, of course he did this…” “It would seem that I still have the support of the people!” Naugus cackled. “Although you are managing to resist, it will not be long before I break the computer’s shields and you too come to recognise my legitimacy! In fact, why not hurry the process along...” He pointed his staff at Nicole, only for Emerl to crash into it, grabbing hold of it and trying to wrench it from his grip. Yet, despite her strength, he managed to hold tight, power arcing along the shaft as both tried to wrench it free from the other. “Leave her alone!” Emerl growled, as her fingers closed around the Chaos Emerald itself. She felt its power flowing into her, felt the two stones already within her chest pulling it toward her. For a moment, her mind began to race again, another flash of the city, and she staggered, head swimming. That was all Naugus needed. The mad chimera wrenched his staff upward, dragging her with it, before she lost her grip and he flung her into the air. At the same moment, he unleashed the bolt of crystallising magic he had been aiming for Nicole, and it caught the Gizoid’s chest, propelling her into the Council building and entombing her within a chunk of green glass. “Emerl!” Nicole called out, but she received no response. Immediately, she remembered Bunnie’s comment in her Uncle’s office, about not wanting to share the fate of Titan Metal Sonic, and she thought back to the destruction of her own nanites at Naugus’ hand. “Emerl, please…” Nothing. “Nicole…” Sonic ventured, eyes fixed on a child, no older than Cream, scraping his hand blankly against their shield bubble. “You gotta stay focused, she’s gonna be-” Nicole looked up at Naugus, growling with barely contained rage, fists clenching. Green fire flooded her eyes, as she floated off the ground. “Are you going to attack me, Nicole?” Naugus jeered, spreading his arms, almost as if he were inviting her to strike. “You know that I will simply destroy any nanites you use against me, and leave your friends at the mercy of both my spell and my people!” “Nicole, listen to me-” Sally’s voice again, but this time, the lynx didn’t respond. The shield flickered and dropped, but before Naugus or his enslaved minions could capitalise in any way, all of them were thrown from their feet by a shockwave of unseen force, hurled backwards. As the civilians landed, the ground beneath them melted, first giving them a soft landing, then reducing to the consistency of mud as they tried to stand, causing them to sink until their legs were trapped, preventing them from moving. She thrust her hand forward, a tremor shaking through the plaza before the ground split open beneath Naugus’ feet, tendrils reaching up from within to drag him down. He recoiled, thrusting his staff down to shatter them as his cape expanded into a pair of huge wings, carrying him out of the gap. Snarling, she reached out for his mind, feeling the presence of four separate voices, all occupying his head, all in conflict. The destabilisation that Geoffrey mentioned.Zeroing in on the strongest voice, she struck, firing psionic lance directly into it. Everything he had taken from her, the people she protected, her friends, her home, and now Emerl, she packed it into her attack, forcing him to feel every last day of it, from the entire three month period, in an instant. Naugus screamed. The glow from the Emerald faded, and his spell died. Those that he had already enslaved remained in his control, but the Freedom Fighters stood firm, all free, as Nicole’s arms sagged and she sank to the floor. “I have the zombies trapped… tear him apart.” “It’s gonna be okay, Nicole. Promise.” Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder, before surging forward, as the rest of the team followed. “Our turn!” Still steadying himself, Naugus had no chance of avoiding the blasts from Bunnie and Rotor’s cannons, staggering him. He raised his staff to fire upon them, but was stopped short when Amy’s hammer slammed into his foot, then his gut, sending him reeling. Tails clubbed the back of his head with his namesakes, as Sonic crashed into his chest, bouncing away to loop around and strike his back. Growling, Naugus melted into his own shadow, reappearing behind them and taking to the air. Immediately, Tails caught up to him, lashing his namesakes at the wizard’s wings. Rather than slice through, however, he bounced off of the magic field flowing through them, recovering just in time to avoid a swipe from Naugus’ claw. Any attempt on the mutant’s part to press the attack ended in another hail of cannon fire, forcing him to wheel away from Bunnie and Rotor’s attacks. He raised his staff, taking aim at them once again, only to feel something wrap around his ankles- a coil of nanites, rising up from the ground to drag him back down toward it. Switching focus, he lowered his weapon instead, preparing to destroy the tendril, just as a second one enveloped it, and a third engulfed his claw. With a howl of rage, Naugus let out a blast of black fire, turning all three to glass. Shattering all three, he glared down at Nicole, the lynx having fallen to her knees, wracked pain from the damage to her city. “You have become a thorn in my side, computer. A once useful pawn, but no longer worth anything… so die…” He hissed, preparing to attack her once more. Below him, Bunnie circled slowly, Sonic hanging onto her arm as she lined up with the chimera. Spotting her chance, she drew her arm back, as Sonic flipped himself over to perch on the palm of her hand. “Ready, sugah?” She asked, flashing him a smirk. “Oh yeah!” He grinned back. Bunnie thrust her arm forward, extending it as she did so, and launching Sonic with all of her strength. At the same time, Sonic sprang away from her, accelerating himself even faster, the recoil from his jump forcing Bunnie back slightly. Sonic’s spinning form tore through the membrane of Naugus’ left wing, not slowing for a second as he uncurled and reached out to grab Tails’ arm. Letting the momentum shift him, Tails went into a tight spin and hurled Sonic back down, straight through the other wing. Just as Rotor caught Sonic, Naugus went into freefall. Spotting his shadow growing larger on the ground, he prepared to melt into it, body turning into black ichor as he fell. Before he could properly shadowmeld, however, the ground itself shifted, and suddenly a brilliant emerald light shone out of it, removing the shadow entirely, stinging Naugus’ dissolving form, and leaving him with nowhere to left softly. He thudded heavily against the ground, rising just in time for Amy to slam her hammer into his forehead, snapping his horn off at the base. “AWAY WITH YOU!” Naugus roared, a shockwave exploding from his staff that knocked all of them down, agony spiking through their bodies. Purple energy seethed within his eyes and the Emerald, his body bulking up. “You cannot take what is rightfully mine away from me!” Dark lightning sparked around his weapon as he held it up, clouds gathering overhead, flashes of the same electricity rippling within them. When the first bolt crashed down, it slammed against the shield dome, arcing out over it for a moment, before both the charge and the dome faded. Before he could call a second shock, however, the crystal stuck to the wall of the Council Building cracked, and then exploded outwards. Emerl clawed her way out of the remainder of the prison, body wreathed in blue fire, nanites sloughing away from her to expose her true form. “Emerl!” Nicole’s face lit up. “Oh, thank the Source…” “Everyone, move!” The Gizoid growled, as her chestplate split open, exposing the raging core within. The Freedom Fighters scattered, and she opened fire, the beam exploding out from within her. Gritting his fangs, Naugus responded in kind, a colossal blast of purple storming up to meet Emerl’s head-on. Both were pushed back by the force of the impact, Naugus’ boots scraping against the ground, sinking into the nanites slightly, while Emerl felt herself pressed against the wall of the building behind her. Bracing herself with her arms, she planted her feet against the wall. Panels on either side of her legs opened, metal rods extending from within to punch into the building, anchoring her in place. At the same time, Naugus felt his boots sinking further into the ground, and realised that he couldn’t move. He glared at Nicole for a moment, before focusing on Emerl once more, and, with a roar of fury, channelled more power into his attack. Slowly, Emerl felt her beam being pushed back toward her, spotting Naugus’ face splitting into a hideous grin. Straining against the force, she dug deep, trying to find more fuel for her fire. A little more rage, a little more fury, anything that could make her burn brighter. Then she spotted Sonic reaching for the fallen sword, and noticed Naugus’ feet sinking into the ground. She glanced down at Nicole, feeling her power surging up again. Something to fight for, and a shot at winning- that was all she needed. Chaos exploded from within her, driving Naugus’ attack back, much closer to him than before. She swelled as she watched his smile die, giving way to a pained grimace- Using that much power while literally coming apart at the seams couldn’t be comfortable, she mused. Then, Naugus let out a shocked gasp, followed by a roar of pain, as Sonic surged past him, slicing into his back with the glowing blade of the Sword of Light. For a moment, he whirled to face the hedgehog, blinded by hatred, then paused as he realised two very crucial facts. Firstly, the searing wound inflicted by the Sword of Light had caused him to lose focus on his clash with the robot. Secondly, he was currently not paying attention to said robot. Almost resigned, he turned back forward, just in time to see the oncoming ray of Chaos fill his vision. His arms raised to shield his face- Not that it was really worth shielding, Emerl decided, and the blast consumed his form, ravaging his body as it ripped him up from the ground and drove him back into it, cutting a furrow through the pavement, until finally the storm of untamed energy finally died down, leaving him embedded in a long crater, the Freedom Fighters slowly gathering around his unmoving body. Emerl peeled herself away from the wall, extracting her legs before dropping to the ground beside Nicole, landing on her knee with a crunch. “Sorry about the damage, Nicole,” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “I was just trying to put him down for good.” “It’s alright…” She smiled back at her. “I already partially disconnected myself from the nanites when I realised the direction that this battle was going in. Didn’t feel a thing.” “Well, that’s good to know,” Emerl shrugged. “You alright?” “You scared me there…” She admitted, looking away. “I couldn’t feel you or hear you or anything. I thought you were dead.” “I couldn’t hear you either, the crystal must’ve blocked our signals out…” She murmured. “I’m glad you’re okay, though.” “I’m glad you’re unhurt too… Just, please don’t scare me like that again,” The lynx looked up at her. Emerl did her best to convey a smile with her eyes, and nodded. “Promise?” “Promise. Now, let’s go see how much damage I did to that ugly jerkwad!” She pointed over at the crevice her beam had dug into the city itself. Nicole laughed, and the two made their way over. The rest of the Freedom Fighters had approached the crater already, where the mad wizard lay, crumpled and still. “Is he dead?” Bunnie asked. “Nah… he’s breathing… Still, while we’re here.” Sonic planted the Sword of Light in the ground, and jumped into the pit, sliding down the ledge. He snatched up the fallen staff, turning it over for a moment before snapping it in half over his knee. It splintered with another flash of purple and black sparks, causing Sonic to leap back and drop both halves. At the same time, the black aura faded from the eyes of the remaining crowd, and they stumbled, most of them collapsing as they rubbed their heads. “W-what happened?” One of them asked, blinking rapidly. Freeing the crowd wasn’t the only effect of breaking the staff, however. Naugus’ eyes snapped open, hands flying to his chest and forehead, clutching at them as he writhed in place. “No… no no no… I can’t… you can’t take this from me…” He hissed, his claw snapping out to close around the fallen Chaos Emerald, plucking it from the ruined staff, pulling it close to his chest. “You’re not exactly in a position to bargain here, Horn-Head,” Sonic shrugged. “We’ve still got the Sword of Light, and you’re not looking so great after that attack. I mean, relatively. I don’t think you’ve ever looked great.” “Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong, Quickster…” Naugus allowed himself a chuckle, a horrible rasping sound, looking up at the blue hedgehog with a twisted grin. “You need me.” “Oh, really?” He asked, raising an eyebrow as he barely managed to keep his smile under control, leaning down a little. “How d’you figure?” “My power is the only thing that can save your precious Princess from her terrible, terrible fate!” He cackled, trying to stand. His leg gave out, and he slumped to his knee, laughter turning to a fit of coughs and splutters. “Your rabbit comrade has seen fit to reject my gift, but Robotnik’s cruel treatment of Miss Acorn requires my special touch. Kill me, imprison me, find any other way to punish me for my crimes… but it will cost you any chance of seeing her restored to normal!” “Is that so?” Naugus froze, as Sonic’s smile grew to truly smug proportions, as the ground split enough for Sally to walk up the flight of steps that Nicole had provided her with, drawing level with her friends, folding her arms as she looked down at him “No, impossible… he… how did you…?” “I had some very good doctors,” Sally replied. For a moment, Naugus stared up at her, jaw hanging open. He barely moved as Sonic sprang back out of the furrow to stand beside her. Then, his face contorted in rage, gritting his fangs, claw tightening around the Emerald. Purple fire ignited within his eyes, flooding out and engulfing his body. His hand slammed against the floor, rearing back up as his muscles swelled, his height growing massively. His wings, horn, and missing teeth regenerated, the former stretching outward to truly enormous lengths. He stood tall, form still silhouetted in the violent purple aura, the Chaos Emerald floating above his head. “All the time I spent scheming, waiting, kowtowing to your idiotic council, and you wretched fools try to take it from me… I will not allow that… you will die for your insolence!” Naugus’ aimed his claw down, lightning exploding out from it. The team scattered, Sonic grabbing Sally and leaping away. “How the heck is he doing that!?” Bunnie yelped, stabilising herself in the air. “It must be one of his new powers!” Tails called back. “That’s right, that form is mostly made of shadows…” Emerl added. “Nicole, give us a light from the floor, and make it big!” Sally commanded, standing up from Sonic’s arms. The lynx nodded, pressing her hands to the floor, beginning to morph the nanites into light-emitting forms once again. Spotting the change, Naugus’ wings opened, lifting him off the ground. As he went, black fog poured from his mouth, hugging the ground. The fog spread out from the landing point, blotting out the light before it could even touch him. Bunnie, Rotor, and Emerl all opened fire on Naugus’ form, but their shots failed to even flinch him. Naugus slammed himself back to the ground, a shock of dark power exploding from his claw toward the team, tearing up the nanite stonework as it went. As they scattered once again, Naugus grinned, releasing a violent burst of power from his torso, throwing all of them to the ground. “I want you to feel my agony… I want you all to feel what it’s like to be torn into three…” He rasped, fingers snapping. In that same moment, purple tendrils speared out from his feet, stabbing into the fallen Freedom Fighters’ foreheads. All of them fell to the ground, reeling in an indescribable pain, except for Nicole and Emerl. “Sally!” Nicole rushed to her best friend’s side, grabbing her hand, but the squirrel didn’t seem to notice the lynx’s presence. “Of course, you two do not feel pain, do you? Not in a way that my magic can trigger… but that does not mean I cannot destroy you…” “I beat you once already… I can do it again!” Emerl stood firm, wreathed in blue. “And if we work together, you don’t stand anything resembling a chance!” “Is that so…” “You bet it is!” She slammed her fist into her palm, rolling out her neck. “Come on, Nicole, let’s finish this!” “Right, right…” Nicole stood up, jumping into Emerl’s storage slot once more. “I admire your confidence… but can you stop me and save them?” Naugus jeered, raising his claw. He pointed at the remnants of the crowd, lightning surging from between the two pincers. “No!” Emerl yelled. In a flash, she was gone, reappearing in the path of the bolt. Thrusting her hands forward, a square barrier of jade light formed in front of her, catching it dead-on. Electricity spread out over the shield, forcing the Gizoid to brace against it. Glancing over her shoulder at the throng of terrified faces, staring up at her, she formed a second barrier as her first shattered, the lightning forcing its way through to the new shield. “You all need to run! Get outta here!” The few that hadn’t already started trying to disperse began to flee, but the size of the crowd was so large that progress was slow, hindered further by the news vans parked nearby, who had initially been there to cover another meeting, and now found themselves getting the scoop on the battle between Naugus and the returning Freedom Fighters. Across the plaza, Naugus chuckled to himself as he watched the two struggle against his new power. As the second shield came up, he diverted his attention to the Freedom Fighters, still wracked with pain at his feet. “Now… which of you shall I kill first?” To his surprise, Sonic stood up, shattering the tendril holding him with a ripple of green. The hedgehog rose slowly, breathing heavily as he glared up at the wizard. His eyes flickered to his fallen comrades, and for a moment, Naugus swore he saw a glimmer of red in them. “Ah, a volunteer.” He grinned, raising his free hand, power flowing between his fingers. Then Sonic vanished, a gale blasting in Naugus’ face. The wizard stumbled back, steadying himself with his wings, looking over his shoulder in time to see Sonic racing for the Sword of Light. Despite his initial burst of speed, the hedgehog was noticeably slower now, his injuries evidently taking their toll. Bolts of dark lightning slammed down from the sky, striking at him as he ran, drawn toward the faster target, even as Naugus spread his wings and lunged after him, more long leap than flight. But even with his body aching and sore from the battle, Sonic dodged, sidestepped, and evaded every bolt. For all his newfound power, the Sword of Light still presented an enormous threat to Naugus. Letting Sonic get to it meant game over, regardless of how strong he was able to make himself with his magic. His armour of shadows would give him no defence against the light. He reached out with his hand, stirring up the darkness coating the ruined floor. Wisps of black magic stirred up, reaching out for Sonic, trying to bind his legs, to trip him up, or pull him down into the dirt. Sonic stumbled for a moment, then leapt upwards, allowing his momentum to carry him forward, over the reach of the shadowy tendrils. That would cost him. Naugus grinned, thrusting his claw out, purple electricity surging out from it. With no traction in the air, there was nothing the blue hedgehog could do to dodge it. The bolt struck home, shocking him for a moment before he fell to the ground, scraping to a halt just shy of the blade. As Naugus loomed over him, Sonic growled, gritting his teeth as he reached out for the sword, but it lay just outside of his reach. The chimera’s claw closed sharply around his body, the serrations on the inside biting into his skin as he was hoisted into the air, face to face with him. “After all this, Quickster… do you have any last words?” Naugus jeered, pointing one sparking finger at Sonic’s head. “What, other than ‘You really need a breathmint’? Just the one…” Sonic spat, grinning back at him. “You really, really shouldn’t have lost focus.” As Naugus opened his mouth to ask what Sonic meant, he felt it. The power of the Chaos Emerald had vanished. Immediately, the spell brewing at his fingertip evaporated, the purple aura faded, and the cloak of shadows melted away to nothing, exposing his body, even more hideously mutated than before. “Missing something?” A mocking voice called behind him, and a glance over his shoulder only confirmed what he had already worked out: Emerl hovered there, throwing and catching the purple Chaos Emerald. Seizing his chance, Sonic forced the distracted wizard’s claw apart, perching on it for a second before slamming himself into his face. Stunned, and with his power finally ebbing away, Naugus stumbled, tipping back into the now-darkness-free ground. Sonic caught Emerl’s free hand, as she lowered them both back to the floor, watching the mutant mage shrink down to his normal size. Lying on the cobblestone plaza, Naugus’ broken horn, teeth, and wings had returned, staring up at Emerl in a state of shock, eyes wide, jaw hanging open. Nicole projected herself out of Emerl as they landed, leaving the slot and merging herself with the city once more. Sonic dropped to the floor, sitting down for a moment as he took several deep breaths. Then Naugus shifted, and all three were back on alert. The wizard rolled over, righting himself as he reached out toward Emerl, weakly grasping for the Chaos Emerald. Emerl stepped back, keeping it from his reach for a moment, before her chestplate opened and the gemstone evaporated, flowing inside her core.  She reeled back for a moment, optics turning purple as a matching aura ignited around her, but after a moment, she straightened, and the blue glow returned to her eyes. “Sorry, but that’s mine now,” She folded her arms. Naugus screamed in four voices. Sonic, Emerl, and Nicole all jumped back as the chimera rocked back on his knees, a dark crack forming across his forehead. Black energy floated out of it, as another crack appeared, then another, and then another. More and more cracks formed across his body, splitting wider and wider apart, until his form shattered, still screaming, into a chaotic spiral of magic and chaos, trying to force itself back together into one shape, then into three, then into one again, one mind fighting for control against three others, the former trying to hold their combined form together, the latter desperately trying to tear in apart. For a moment, Naugus’ silhouette was visible once more, the next, three distinct shapes, one with large wings and ears, one multi-limbed with clawed hands, and one with a large horn, clawing in an attempt to go their separate ways. “I guess this is what Geoff meant by de-stabilising…” Sonic mumbled. “What do we do?” Emerl asked, looking between her two more experienced friends. Just as Nicole opened her mouth to speak, a glowing blade tore through the centre of the magical aberration in front of them. The four voices- Naugus and his three components- screamed in agony for a long moment, before a brilliant flash of light tore them asunder, extinguishing their power in a violent conflagration of energy. As the glow faded, the Sword of Light fell to the ground, and Geoffrey St. John slumped down beside it, his right hand badly burnt. “Geoff!?” “I… I suppose you’ll all be wanting some answers, then?” The skunk wheezed, shifting to a sitting position. “I can explain everything.”

[georgecmatthews]

Coronavirus impact and response: A global view

Every morning, my day begins by discussing the latest developments in the coronavirus fight with my team of strategists on-the-ground in Hong Kong, Italy, London, Tokyo, New York and elsewhere. Today, my weekly blog features several members of Invesco’s Global Market Strategy Office, who answer the most pressing questions they’ve been hearing from investors who are concerned about COVID-19 and its impact on the global economy.

Q. What did China do right, and is economic activity really returning?

David Chao (Hong Kong): Chinese authorities acted late to contain the mysterious illness, and they then had to resort to extreme social-distancing controls and lockdown measures. Despite being disruptive, these measures have achieved effective results: For example, two months after the government locked down Wuhan on Jan. 23, the Ministry of Health has reported no new infection cases.1 The new infections curve in China was also flattened through large-scale virus testing, which led to more accurate diagnosis and ultimately slowed the contagion.

That being said, China is still not out of the coronavirus woods yet. The country has shifted its attention from preventing the domestic spread of the disease to preventing foreigners from bringing the contagion back into China.

These extreme health control measures have come at a steep cost. Beijing sacrificed near-term economic growth,2 recently reporting its worst monthly economic data on record,3 which will likely translate into flat or negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Q1.

Demand-driven economic activity remains soft, including land transactions and rail and air travel. But production activities are rebounding, including freight transport and coal consumption, and many people are returning to work — as of last week, the work return rate reached above 95% for large industrial companies and around 60% for small and mid-sized enterprises.4

The Chinese economy is seeing healthy increases in credit demand and money supply growth. These developments are encouraging and — when coupled with recent monetary stimulus from the People’s Bank of China and a widely expected significant fiscal stimulus — point to the potential for China’s economy to experience a V-shaped recovery.     

Q. What can we learn from South Korea? What is the situation in Japan?

Tomo Kinoshita (Tokyo): South Korea’s efforts to combat coronavirus yielded impressive results. After a dramatic increase in cases through the first week of March, driven by a surge among participants in a large religious gathering in Daegu, the number of daily new patients has dropped to only approximately 100 over the past week.5 The slower pace of spread is due to the Korean government’s aggressive measures, including testing as many potential patients as possible (including via drive-through testing), providing testing and treatment free of charge, and closing schools. While there still is a risk of an explosive increase, the situation is stabilizing.

In Japan, the government was widely criticized for how it handled a large cruise ship case early in the outbreak. But it also took bold actions from an early stage. On Feb. 26, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe publicly asked organizers of national-level major events (such as sports and cultural events) to cancel, postpone, or downsize those events. He also asked all primary, secondary, and high schools to terminate classes from March 2 until the end of this school year (which normally runs to the end of March). An explosive increase in patients cannot be ruled out in the near term as Japan continues to have daily new cases with untraceable sources. But for now, Japan is not in a crisis situation on an epidemiological front.

On an economic front, Japan’s consumption has been deteriorating since the majority of the population has generally refrained from going out for dining and non-essential activities. Responding to the prospect that negative GDP growth is very likely for the second and third quarters, the Abe administration announced that it would reveal a significant fiscal package in April, which would add fiscal firepower to the existing fiscal easing measures incorporated in the fiscal year (FY) 2019 supplemental budget and FY2020 general budget.    

Q. What is the situation on the ground in Italy?

Luca Tobagi (Milan): The COVID-19 emergency in Italy is still proving very complicated to manage. The number of infected people keeps increasing, and we have not yet seen a meaningful slowdown in growth rates in the North, notwithstanding three weeks of lockdown with increasingly tight containment measures. Those measures are not yet as draconian as those we saw in Hubei province in China, but Italy has already closed all schools and all places where people can gather, from bars and restaurants to movie theaters and churches. The Army is starting to patrol the streets in some cities in order to support the tighter containment measures.

The number of deaths has risen rapidly, mostly among elderly people, and has surpassed China. However, the biggest problem is that the Italian health care system is under serious strain. If we do not see a slowdown in the contagion soon, it might not have the capacity to treat all patients. This is a cautionary tale for the US and other countries. The more containment measures that can be adopted now, the better.

Q. What is the state of the monetary and fiscal policy response globally?

Arnab Das (London): Monetary policy coordinated closely with fiscal policy are key lines of defense against the economic blow of the coronavirus. Major central bank responses have included rates near or below zero, a sharp rise in quantitative easing (QE), a revival of crisis programs such as Federal Reserve funding of commercial paper and primary dealers, and more.

The Fed’s sharp increase in intervention in the financial markets on March 23, with Treasury fiscal backstops for credit risk, should help stop the seizing up of major swaths of the US financial system including corporate and municipal credit markets, which would have otherwise impaired the provision of fiscal support for the US and global economies. This should also help alleviate the upward pressure on the US dollar, which has been severely tightening both US and global financial conditions.

Looking forward, two questions stand out:

Given such low rates and large balance sheets, what more can central banks do? A lot: QE programs can be expanded, limits on the European Central Bank’s QE program can be loosened or lifted, Fed asset purchases can be expanded from Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities to include corporate debt, Fed dollar swaps can be extended to more central banks, and bank liquidity coverage ratios and high-quality liquid asset holdings can be eased to reduce strains in US dollar funding. The last three would require legislation and a Treasury backstop against credit risk.

How do we know enough is being done? The US dollar is the single most-important indicator. Whenever the dollar surges, the Fed should get back on the case, providing all the dollar funding required to ensure markets operate and clear. Second, “safe-haven” bond yields — especially US Treasury yields — should fall when risk assets are under pressure; if they don’t, the Fed should offer more liquidity.

In terms of fiscal policy, governments everywhere are stepping up to the plate with spending, lending, and guarantee programs. The UK has gone furthest, and France and Germany are floating fiscal plans. Italy’s plan is far too small for the country hardest hit by the pandemic, but relaxation of European Union fiscal rules paves the way for more. We expect the US to act too as lockdowns spread across the country. US fiscal support is taking shape, but is already taking longer because Congress must work with federal, state, and municipal governments — but pressures in labor, credit, and muni bond markets already show the need. The key goal of fiscal programs is for public spending to tide the economy over by cushioning sharp falls in private spending as governments impose social-distancing lockdowns, people prioritize basic needs over discretionary spending, and firms respond with their own spending cutbacks in staff, purchasing and investment.

How long will such emergency support last? In such a severe, sudden shock, we believe governments must come in, and in a big way. Support will be needed until the coronavirus is credibly contained, perhaps months, quarters, or even a year from now (as more governments are starting to acknowledge). Eventually, the economy should recover and tax revenue rise, so both public spending and public debt can be slowly reduced. But if societies do not act in this way, the economy could emerge from the pandemic significantly smaller with lower potential growth rates given major, long-running job losses, widespread bankruptcies, and greater wealth destruction.

Q. What is the potential hit to US GDP?

Brian Levitt (New York): It is evident that containing the spread of the coronavirus requires social distancing and isolation. The ultimate loss of US economic activity will be difficult to estimate with any precision. Consider that roughly 50% of the US economy is driven by non-health care related consumption.6 Industries such as general merchandise and other retail, transportation, and arts and entertainment account for over $2 trillion in US economic output, suggesting that approximately 10% of the economy will now exhibit limited activity for weeks, if not longer.6 For example, US restaurant bookings have declined 56% from 12 months ago (the number is the same globally).7 Jobless claims are already rising rapidly8 and will likely hit all-time highs. The next couple of quarters will likely produce declines in economic activity globally, the likes of which we have never seen, including during the 2008 global financial crisis. It is no longer a question of whether there will be a recession, but rather the magnitude and duration of the recession. Policymakers will continue to work to support the global financial system and to provide bridge support to households, businesses, and communities.

We maintain confidence that pent-up demand will build during this prolonged period of social distancing and will support growth later in the year, assuming the virus is ultimately contained. However, we temper our expectations for the recovery as we expect a ripple effect on future consumption due to the rise in the number of furloughed or unemployed workers. Ultimately, we would expect deep contraction in US economic growth for the next couple of quarters, followed by an economic recovery driven by pent-up demand (the greater the fiscal stimulus, the sharper the economic recovery is expected to be; the smaller the fiscal stimulus, the more modest the outlook for economic recovery). Fortunately for investors, history suggests that financial markets bottom four months before the trough in economic activity.9

Q. What are your thoughts about equity and bond markets?

Talley Leger (New York): Near-term chaos can create long-term opportunities for patient investors. We’re starting to see the kind of despair that kills old bull markets and gives birth to new ones. To be clear, bottoming is a process, and virus-related uncertainty could continue to weigh on markets until the number of new cases outside of China peaks and/or the fiscal response becomes coordinated and forceful. However, indications of excessive caution in the marketplace suggest savvy investors should start considering opportunities to be contrarian when others are fearful.

Tim Horsburgh (New York): Treasuries, commercial paper, municipals, investment grade credit, and high yield credit have all shown significant signs of systemic stress, with echoes of 2008, during the recent sell off. Amidst this turmoil, bid/ask spreads have hit levels not seen since 2008-2009. We don’t believe that the US fixed income market is fundamentally broken, however. This volatility is likely more of a function of lower dealer inventory and heavy selling pressure rather than a breakdown in the market. Trades and new deals are still getting completed.

With spreads wide by historical standards, investment grade US corporate credit looks attractive to us relative to US high yield given the greater flexibility and financial stability inherent in many high-quality borrowers. In an environment of heightened stress and dislocation, a rise in defaults is almost assured at this point. High-quality names should be able to better absorb the financial hits looming. Within the large universe of BBB bonds, we will likely see some downgrades into high yield territory as this crisis progresses. However, we don’t expect this to overwhelm the high yield universe. Many (but not all) BBB borrowers have financial room to maneuver in order to maintain that rating, even in this current crisis, preventing a wider wave of downgrades.

Q. What is an asset allocator to do?

Paul Jackson (London): Diversification is more important than ever but is harder to achieve than usual, given that assets have been moving together.

My favored “defensive” assets are cash and gold. I currently favor a barbell approach of combining cash and gold with commodities and real estate (REITs), which are the cyclical assets that I think have the most upside under our more optimistic scenarios.

Equities are also an important part of any long-term investor’s portfolio. Equity markets that I believe have the most upside in the shorter term include the UK and Japan.

Investment grade credit seems to offer a good combination of risk, reward, and diversification. I am, however, more wary of high yield credit.

Conclusion

Kristina Hooper: I value the input of the seasoned strategists in the Global Market Strategy Office, and I believe their experience and knowledge can help us put today’s tumultuous events into perspective.  We have all lived through a range of economic and market crises, which enables us to look beyond the short-term turmoil and to take a measured approach with a long-term view.  It is our greatest priority to serve our clients in this difficult time, and we are committed to providing you with regular commentary and insights as we work through this crisis together.

You can find further commentary from this team and from our portfolio managers here: What investors need to know about the coronavirus.

1 Source: National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China

2 Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, “Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods Went down by 20.5 percent in the First Two Months of 2020”

3 Source: Financial Times, “Chinese economy suffers record blow from coronavirus”

4 Source: China’s Ministry of Industry & Information Technology

5 Source: Yonhap News Agency as of March 23, 2020

6 Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Dec. 31, 2019

7 Source: Booking.com, March 19, 2020

8 Source: US Department of Labor, March 19, 2020

9 Sources: Bloomberg, L.P.; Strategas Research Partners, Dec. 31, 2019                                                                                                               

Important information

Blog header image: Eberhard Grossgasteiger / Unsplash

Diversification does not guarantee a profit or eliminate the risk of loss.

Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the economy when standard monetary policy has become ineffective.

Safe havens are investments that are expected to hold or increase their value in volatile markets.

A shared dollar swap line is a temporary reciprocal agreement between central banks to trade currencies at the current exchange rate.

The bid-ask spread is the difference between an asset’s ask price and its bid price.

Fluctuations in the price of gold and precious metals may affect the profitability of companies in the gold and precious metals sector. Changes in the political or economic conditions of countries where companies in the gold and precious metals sector are located may have a direct effect on the price of gold and precious metals.

Commodities may subject an investor to greater volatility than traditional securities such as stocks and bonds and can fluctuate significantly based on weather, political, tax, and other regulatory and market developments. 

Investments in real estate related instruments may be affected by economic, legal, or environmental factors that affect property values, rents or occupancies of real estate. Real estate companies, including REITs or similar structures, tend to be small and mid-cap companies and their shares may be more volatile and less liquid.

The opinions referenced above are those of the authors as of March 23, 2020. These comments should not be construed as recommendations, but as an illustration of broader themes. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions; there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations.

from Expert Investment Views: Invesco Blog https://www.blog.invesco.us.com/coronavirus-impact-and-response-a-global-view/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Bobrovsky Benched; Hornqvist Injured; Top Line Thompson; Midseason Guide – January 11

  Today is the day, Dobber community! Today is the day that the 2019 Dobber Hockey Midseason Fantasy Guide drops. If you haven’t reserved your copy, you can buy it right now. It contains rest of season projections, recommendations, call-ups, trade targets, and a whole lot more. Get the edge you need to put yourself in a position to win down the stretch of the fantasy hockey campaign!

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Both Tyler Bozak and Patrick Maroon were scratches for St. Louis on Thursday night, the former due to injury, the latter due to, well, I guess under-performance. Here’s the thing with Maroon: he’s shooting 5.3 percent this year after being a career 11.9 percent shooter heading into the season. Out of 343 forwards with at least 300 minutes at 5v5 this year, Maroon is 342nd in PDO (only Tomas Nosek is worse). I wonder why his season looks so bad.

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Patric Hornqvist has been sidelined with a concussion, say the Penguins. There is obviously no timeline for his return. He’s had his share in his career, so at this point let’s just say well wishes and hope there’s nothing lingering from this.

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After spending some time on the fourth line, James van Riemsdyk was on the top line for the Flyers Thursday night with Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny. The Flyers change their lines often but let’s hope this can stick for a little while. They are paying him $7M this year, after all.

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Jack Eichel was back in Sabres practice skating on the top line. Phil Housley wouldn’t commit to him returning on Friday night but it sure seems like he will.

One more thing to note: Tage Thompson, not Sam Reinhart (who was on the second line), was skating on the top line with Eichel and Jeff Skinner. I will say I’ve been impressed with Thompson this year. The raw production isn’t there but skating 12-13 minutes a game, often in the bottom-6, will not often make a player seem flattering. I’m excited to see what he can do here.

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It looks like Detroit defenceman Mike Green could return to the Wings this weekend. I know he’s a favourite punching bag for some but he played at a 41-point pace two years ago, a 41-point pace last year, and had 16 points in 23 games this year before injury. He’s fantasy-relevant, even on a team like Detroit. Maybe scour the waiver wire in case someone got impatient.

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After the benchings last game, Florida shook up their lineup, moving Denis Malgin to the top line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, Jared McCann centering the second line flanked by Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov, and Henrik Borgstrom moved down to the third line.

*

An update on the injured Devils players:

Taylor Hall isn’t skating

Cory Schneider just returned to the ice on Thursday

MacKenzie Blackwood skated in morning skate with the team and will be re-evaluated Friday

*

The first bit of news to come out Thursday morning was this:

  #CBJ announce that G Sergei Bobrovsky “will not be with the team” tonight when they play Nashville. Release does not use the word suspension, but that’s how it sounds. pic.twitter.com/oGOSasL2P9

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 10, 2019

  One reason why I hate news releases like this is because this could be anything. Did Bobrovsky miss a video session, was it a heated argument with the coaching staff, or did he get into a bar fight? All the same, the team is sealing up tight about this so I’m not sure we’ll get the real answer anytime soon. It may be another nail in the coffin for Bobrovsky’s tenure in Columbus, too.

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Just as a small aside, I find it kind of odd we (fans, writers, media) often talk about Toronto’s impending cap crunch, but not Tampa Bay’s. This is a team with over $73-million in commitments for 2019-20, leaving them with less than $10-million in cap space with Brayden Point to sign. They will also have three regular defencemen coming off the books in need of replacing (a couple will come internally, I’m sure), and new contracts needed for Cedric Paquette and Adam Erne. Someone needs to go but there are very few players on that team with significant money committed and no form of movement protection, be it full or partial NTCs or NMCs. It’s basically J.T. Miller, Yanni Gourde, and Nikita Kucherov. Considering Gourde’s new contract hasn’t even started and there’s no way they’d trade Kucherov, it seems Miller is the most likely bet to be traded. But will there be suitors, and will the team have to sweeten the deal? We’ll see.

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Not fantasy relevant in the slightest but I enjoyed this story from Emily Kaplan at ESPN about hockey players having a hard time finding jeans and dress pants that fit. I know I absolutely despise wearing jeans for reasons outlined in the article. It isn’t exclusive to hockey players, so a lot of people can probably identify with this issue.

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Mat Barzal continued his recent hot streak posting a goal and two assists in the Islanders road game against the Rangers. That gives him 19 points in his last 14 games, leaving him just shy of a point-per-game pace on the season. Even with the Islanders’ focus on defence this year, Barzal is shining. He’s already one of the outstanding young stars in the game. It won’t be long until he’s mentioned in the same breath as all the stars in the game, period.

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Boone Jenner had a pair of goals on Thursday night in Columbus’s 4-3 overtime win at home to Nashville, adding five blocked shots and five hits for good measure. He’s on pace for over 200 shots and though the hit and PIM totals are down from where he normally is, they’re still very solid for multi-cat leagues.

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Alex Ovechkin scored two goals in Washington’s 4-2 win over Boston. It was Ovechkin’s first multi-goal game in four weeks, which I guess counts as a drought? He’s well on his way to a 50-goal season. It’s a wonder if he’ll ever slow down.

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Toronto’s top line did what it normally does and suffocated the opponent, this time New Jersey, with offensive pressure. John Tavares had two goals and an assist, Mitch Marner had one of each, and Zach Hyman had a helper in his return to the lineup.

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More updates in the morning. 

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In celebration of the release of the 2019 Dobber Hockey Midseason Guide (be sure to grab your copy!) I wanted to share some of my own tips for the balance of the fantasy hockey season. Most of these will be obvious but please bear with me. Not everyone has been playing fantasy sports for a decade.  

  Be Honest With Yourself

“We deal in deception here. What we do not deal with is self-deception.”

Bonus points for those who can name from which movie that quote belongs.  

Anyway, it’s very important to be honest with yourself. That’s not just life advice, but is especially applicable to fantasy sports, and fantasy hockey. Fantasy owners in 12-team leagues, non-H2H leagues whom are currently sitting in 9th place need to be realistic. Don’t say “well if [this] happens, and [this] happens, and [this] happens, and [this] happens, etc., I can still win.” There may be some confluence of events that could lead to a win but the possibility of that happening is so miniscule as to not be worth considering. Be honest about where you stand with your team, particularly in keeper/dynasty leagues. Once an honest assessment of where a fantasy team stands is done, then the next steps can be taken. Lying to yourself is a quick way to toil in the basement for 2-3 years.

  Don’t Overvalue Draft Picks

There was a good read yesterday from our very own Alex MacLean about the value of draft picks. Some people get very excited about draft picks when they’re rebuilding but Alex made some salient points about value and likelihood of getting a good player. This is especially true of “first” round picks in keeper leagues. In a 12-team league if teams keep 8 players, you’re most likely drafting guys outside the top-100. In such instances, most people use their “first” round picks on rookies. That can either go very well or very poorly. A few years ago, after Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine were off the board, it effectively turned into a crapshoot. Maybe you drafted Pierre-Luc Dubois, or Matthew Tkachuk, or Clayton Keller. Good for you. There were people who drafted Jesse Puljujarvi, Olli Juolevi, or Alex Nylander. A couple years ago, after Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel were drafted, maybe someone selected Mitch Marner or Mikko Rantanen. That turned out well. Or maybe they drafted Pavel Zacha or Dylan Strome. That did not turn out so well. Quite often, if you get a first round pick that doesn’t include a chance to draft a sure-fire top-tier player like Matthews or McDavid, you’re flipping a coin. If someone is hesitant to give up their “first” round pick in a keeper league trade, maybe try to ask for their second and third instead. Somebody near the top trading away draft picks isn’t likely to be picking in the top-3 anyway, so stockpiling picks in rounds 2-5 should be the focus rather than just one or two draft picks in the first round. I would rather have 4-5 picks in rounds 2-5 than a couple in round 1. Again, this all depends on how many players are kept, too. A “first” round pick in a 12-team league that keeps 3 players is a lot more valuable than a “first” round pick in a league that keeps 8. 

  Swing For The Fences

For those at the other end of the spectrum, those looking to win, too often I see people, to borrow a baseball phrase, nibble at the edges. They trade for a fifth defenceman, a third goalie, or a bench winger. I get the idea; shore up depth in case of injuries. But if you’re in fourth place and looking to make a push for first, nibbling at the edges won’t get it done. Sure, it’ll protect you in case of injuries, but it probably won’t help much in actually gaining ground. The difference between a top-50 defenceman and top-75 defenceman isn’t much, and it’s certainly not enough to push a fantasy roster over the top for a league win. Swing for the fences, then. Go trade for those elite guys with bad first halves like Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Getzlaf, or Shayne Gostisbehere. Don’t trade for Gustav Nyquist, Brock Nelson, or T.J. Brodie.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-bobrovsky-benched-florida-shake-up-top-line-thompson-dobber-midseason-guide-january-11/

[samanthasroberts]

Beijing’s ‘airpocalypse’: city shuts down amid three-day smog red alert

Children kept at home, building sites and factories closed and cars kept off roads as pollution engulfs Chinese capital

Create a paradise, urges the motto of Beijings Baijiazhuang primary school a message stamped on to its front gate in bright red calligraphy.

On Tuesday morning, as Chinas smog-choked capital declared its first ever air pollution red alert, the school, normally buzzing with over-energetic 10-year-olds, was almost silent. A pungent mist hung over the outdoor basketball courts and running track.

And inside the four-floor main building, hundreds of small wooden desks and chairs were empty.

Usually it wont be this quiet, said Wang Ye, a 24-year-old English teacher, as she toured its ghostly corridors and classrooms where forgotten rucksacks and winter coats were among the few reminders of its normal routine.

Across Beijing, thousands of other schools and nurseries were in a similar state of almost total shutdown after the citys authorities announced a three-day state of emergency because of the pollution.

Building sites and factories were forced to close; millions of cars were ordered off the roads; and teams of environmental inspectors fanned out across the surrounding region to ensure that coal-fired power stations and steel mills were not secretly churning out even more filth into the already putrid atmosphere.

The deserted entrance to the Baijiazhuang primary school in Beijing. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

Environment authorities must closely follow the situation, improve monitoring and forecasting, and guide local governments emergency response plans, Chinas environment minister, Chen Jining, said, according to Xinhua, the official news agency.

At 7am, when the red alert the first in Chinese history officially came into force, a thick gloom hung over Beijing.

Pollution levels were already nearly 15 times higher than the World Health Organisation deems safe.

Sorry, your browser is unable to play this video.

Polluting smog envelopes Beijing

Wearing an anti-smog facemask, Wang set off from home just before sunrise and turned up for work alongside about 60 fellow teachers.

But following government advice, just 20 of the schools 250 children those whose working parents had nowhere else to send them had showed up for class.

Learning is quite important to them but health is more important. Under the circumstances I think they should stay at home, said Wang.

Its quite difficult because we must develop and developing can bring some problems, the teacher said of the smog. Asked about its physical effects, she croaked: You can hear my throat.

Those who missed the governments high-profile announcement of the pollution alert on Monday evening needed only to pick up Tuesday mornings papers for the gory details.

The first ever red alert for heavy air pollution, read the Beijing Times front-page headline, pointing readers to an inside spread detailing the citys latest airpocalpyse.

Beneath was an image designed to highlight the Communist partys determination to crack down on polluters: an environmental inspector using a camera to photograph an oil refinery not far from the capital.

Liao Yuxi, a news stand owner, said the alert had proved a double dose of bad news for his family. Not only had he been unable to send his 10-year-old son to school but newspaper sales were also down as many of Beijings 23 million residents avoided venturing out into the foul-tasting murk.

Business isnt good, the 44-year-old said, as his child sat in the corner filling in a colouring book. I read the papers every day. The government always says it is taking measures. But I havent seen any details of them.

Li Biwen would not wear the mask his employers had given him. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

Li Biwen, a 55-year-old street sweeper, said he had no plans to hang up his broom despite the risk the smog posed to his lungs.

In my village the air is much better, said Li, who came to the Chinese capital from Sichuan provinces Luozi county almost two decades ago. [But] in Sichuan I was a farmer. I can make more money in Beijing.

He said his employers had handed out facemasks when the red alert was announced. But I dont want to wear it, Li said, sweeping cigarette butts from a dust-clogged gutter. Its at home.

Others were making the most of the three-day shutdown, which is set to last until Thursday when rain should clear the smog.

Carpenter Jin Yingtang outside his suspended construction site. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

Were off today. Everything has stopped, said Zhang Lijun, a plumber who would normally have been working on one of several skyscrapers being built in the central business district.

In the absence of work, Zhang, 37, was sprawled out in the back of a transit van parked near his building site enjoying a pre-lunch can of Blue Ribbon beer and a cigarette.

But the plumber, who had travelled from the neighbouring province of Hebei to find work, was unimpressed at the suspension. I dont think its a good thing. If we dont work we dont get paid, said Zhang, who usually receives 200 yuan (£20.70) a day.

Plumber Zhang Lijuns construction site was also closed due to the smog. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

Jin Yingtang, a 44-year-old carpenter, turned up at another construction site to find a red placard informing workers of the shutdown. Halt all dirt trucks, gravel trucks and other vehicles which are prone to produce dust and smog, the sign read. All construction units must stop outdoor work.

Jin shrugged when asked about the red alerts impact on his life. I dont feel good or bad about it, he replied. Asked about his plans for his day off, he grinned. Ill have a little rest, he said.

As the pollution levels climbed on Tuesday afternoon, teachers at Baijiazhuang primary school battled to minimise the disruption for their children.

A Vimeo video showing normal life at Baijiazhuang primary school.

Zhang Guohui, the dean, said staff were using the internet and social messaging networks such as WeChat to help pupils study from home.

Wang said she thought her 35-strong class would take advantage of such methods rather than using the smog as an excuse to slack off. I believe they wont just play. They will learn.

Sat in an office beside the schools deserted reception, she said her workplace was a lonely one without the boisterous youngsters it was built to educate. Usually there would be a lot of noise, Wang said. But we love to hear them laugh. Thats quite beautiful.

Additional reporting by Christy Yao

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/09/18/beijings-airpocalypse-city-shuts-down-amid-three-day-smog-red-alert/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/beijings-airpocalypse-city-shuts-down-amid-three-day-smog-red-alert/

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Police Training on Diabetes: Dwindling, If Anything

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/police-training-on-diabetes-dwindling-if-anything/

Police Training on Diabetes: Dwindling, If Anything

Topics touching diabetes never go away, but many of them seem to get sidelined at times. We often ask ourselves, "Whatever happened to...?" In this case, training police to better deal with people with diabetes (PWDs) who might be acting irrationally due to a blood sugar low? Today, fellow D-blogger and journalist Mike Hoskins joins us to report on the state of affairs (spoiler alert: it's frustrating!).

Special to the 'Mine by Michael Hoskins

We've all seen the headlines about police conduct toward those with diabetes, in those regrettable driving-while-low situations.

For example, one story recently came out of Henderson, NV., where police mistook a man's "diabetic shock" for drunken driving back in October 2010 and beat him pretty severely. Video captured it all, and now in February the city and state have agreed to pay $292,500 in damages to the man and his wife as a result.

I cringe every time I hear about these situations, not only because of the generalized fear that this could happen to any of us PWDs, but more specifically because I personally have been behind the wheel and had a low. Luckily, I've not faced any police or first responders who mistook my medical emergency for criminal behavior. But I know it happens, and that scares the heck out of me.

With all the stories about these situations, we wondered what's changed in recent years in how police receive training to recognize and deal with diabetes. What can our community expect these days compared to how things "used to be?"

The answer from some of those who monitor this: not nearly enough.

"Unfortunately, it's a hodgepodge of progress and it's all over the place," said the American Diabetes Association's legal advocacy director, Katie Hathaway. "It's hard to assess if there's been a lot done, but what I can say is that this problem certainly isn't fixed."

In 2007, the ADA released a 20-minute training video to help address this issue (available to purchase in its entirety through the ADA for just $3, or viewable on YouTube in three parts). That video stemmed from a Philadelphia lawsuit settlement and served as a jumping off point for the advocacy organization to target this topic nationally. Many police departments did request the video and used it in training, Hathaway says, but those requests eventually dwindled, and by now, only occasionally trickle in. Most of the current queries the ADA receives on this issue come from people facing these incidents or from other advocacy organizations and entities, but rarely from the police themselves.

Essentially, all the 2007 video covers are the basics about what officers should know in recognizing the signs and symptoms of hypo and hyperglycemia. It includes two "real-life" scenarios: One featuring a woman sitting in the passenger side of an SUV after the driver decides to pull over in front of a school, jump out and run to get some juice for her D-friend (leaving her by herself to encounter police in a confused fashion, of course); and a second example in which a man is arrested and taken to jail, where he's questioned about his diabetes and then later has a high because of his lack of insulin and needs to be taken to the hospital.

What the video does not feature, though, are the most common situations police officers might face dealing with PWDs, for example making on-the-fly decisions about what's happening when someone is swerving all over the road, or if they come up against a violent, arm-swinging individual (who happens to be hypoglycemic). Hathaway says these critical "driving with diabetes" and "combative" points might be fodder for an updated video. (Ya think?) That review is ongoing and some decisions will likely be announced by ADA soon, she said.

So here we are, five years later, and the number of these incidents is once again a "growing concern" for the ADA, particularly with rising number of Type 2's and LADA population, i.e. more individuals using insulin treatment.

Being behind the wheel certainly isn't the only situation where police should be aware of diabetes (remember the 2007 story about Mr. Universe, Doug Burns having a low in a movie theater?...) But the ADA says driving is one of the top situations where police involvement comes into play with PWDs. So the organization continues to prioritize it.

In this January's issue of the journal Diabetes Care, the ADA published its first-ever position statement focused on driving with diabetes. The six-page document advises against "blanket bans or restrictions," and instead recommends that patients who have issues that might pose a driving risk be assessed by an endocrinologist or other diabetes doc.

The ADA is also in the process of reviewing its training tools and determining what else might be done to better train law enforcement officers who might encounter PWDs experiencing glucose lows.

"Some are open to change, some aren't," says the ADA's Hathaway about police. "It's so department-based, and we're up against competing interests of public safety and private rights. These aren't easy situations for police to face, we get that. But we need more institutionalized training than we have now."

The ADA also struggles to have enough resources available to push for better police information and training across the nation. "When you think of the pure number of law enforcement officials, police and sheriff departments around the country... it's a challenge," Hathaway says. "We have a legal advocacy staff of six people who cover all kinds of discrimination issues. Three of those staff — myself and two lawyers who work for me — respond to the circa 250 calls we receive to our 1-800-DIABETES hotline each month."

We also queried Dr. Daniel Lorber, Director of Endocrinology at the New York Hospital of Queens in New York City, who chaired the writing group that developed the ADA position statement on driving with diabetes. He said that his experience consulting on diabetes police training and testifying in court shows that police are still lacking what they need in D-training.

"It's not widespread enough," he said. "This is a problem around the country with police not knowing about hypos or what to do. Yes, maybe things have improved just because there's more public attention. But not by much, and there's still a lot of work to do."

Both Hathaway and Lorber acknowledge that many police departments have embraced change and are willing to work with national organizations to revise policies, but the change is just not at the level it should be and no one really tracks the changes that are happening, so improvement is difficult to measure.

Sadly, two leading law enforcement training organizations — the National Law Enforcement Association and National Law Enforcement Training Center — didn't respond to our requests for their thoughts on this topic. Maybe that reflects the kinds of roadblocks the ADA faces from law enforcement authorities.

Facing that resistance, Hathaway says there's only so much the ADA can do when they're generally tapped to react to calls or court cases, rather than having the opportunity to proactively advocate in general before a situation arises.

In the Nevada traffic stop case referenced earlier, news outlets report that Henderson police "have changed the departmental use of force policies as a result of this incident." But Hathaway emphasizes that sometimes it takes proactive outcry from people living in a particular community to wake up the local law enforcement on this issue. That's where our D-community comes into play!

Police departments need some nudging from their local communities about this training and the materials available, Hathaway said. That might mean contacting local police chiefs or sheriffs and asking questions about these internal policies. Or even bringing them materials to possibly review or use.

"Make some noise, and that will get their attention that this is something to be thinking about if they haven't already," Hathaway says. So what it comes down to, like everything else diabetes, is that we need to advocate for ourselves!

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

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