#we can get Ryland

[ratasum]

Legendary rev stances I desperately need:

Trahearne

Snaff

Ryland

[lifelaughloveharrystyles]

Ross Lynch: givemewhatuwant

*on tour with the driver era 2024*

“Y/N do you know where we are at?” Garrison calls from the back of the bus with all the boys.

The Driver Era has been on tour for about a month now, traveling all over the east coast showcasing their phenomenal songs that they made from scratch. I had the amazing opportunity to come on the tour as one of the equipment managers. This has been my biggest dream in my career, working at “The Doors Rock Shop”. It’s a well known instrument company in Atlanta Georgia where people would go to get a guitar and a crystal at the same time. I got this amazing job with touring The Driver Era with my cousin Poppy who is with us on tour as one of the tour photographers.

“Y/N!” Ryland shouts from the back. I look outside to see we are about to arrive to the venue in Asheville North Carolina. “we are about to pull up to the venue guys!” I said looking to the back of the bus and I see Ross in the hall with just pajamas pants on. “Word! i’m ready to stretch my legs and get out and move.” Ross said stretching his arms looking like he just woke up from a nap.

Ross and I have gotten really close on this tour. i’m normally not on their bus, i travel in a large van behind the bus with the crew. We haven’t stopped talking to each other whether it’s in person while im helping carry his beautiful gibson to him when he goes in for his solos or text. We make these jokes everytime I have to give his guitar to him in a show and I always make a bet with him about how many girls will scream “take your shirt off!”. Secretly I was jealous I couldn’t be those beautiful girls making him smile and shake his hips like that and pleading to take his shirt off for me. Having him as a friend is the best, I just know he could never like me that way. I’m his equipment manager, I lift speakers and drums for a living and he’s a fucking rockstar sex god. I mean look at his recent ex. like how can I compare to Jaz Sinclair. I have to be just a friend to protect myself from that energy.

Everyone ends up scattering across the venue to start their projects for the day. The show starts at 8 so I scramble around to the strings van to transfer the instruments to their spots on the stage so the boys can start soundchecking and tuning their guitars to the songs.

“Y/N why is it you’re always the one carrying the most stuff in the building when Greg is suppose to do that because of your knee.” Riker says from the green room where I walked in with a coffee for myself and him. “Riker i’m telling you Greg is so fucking slow I can’t bear watching him take 45 minutes to set up a guitar stand. I gotta get the shit done so I can actually enjoy myself for the day.” I express to him and i’m frazzled pinging from one corner of the stage to the other figuring out all the wires and amps so they can start their sound check.

“Y/N take a deep breath or a certain someone is going to come in here and see this and raise hell.” Riker laughed as he secretly points in the direction of Ross and Rocky’s green room. I roll my eyes and wave him off not believing a word he said.

Riker thinks he’s slick with trying to hook me up with Ross ever since we started the tour. i’ve seen the small hints of asking ross to come to me when he can’t find the setlist or where his extra picks are. Riker is basically our tour mom, he is making everyone smoothies and making sure everyone is hydrated before every show. Besides Ross, me and Riker have been attached to the hip.

“Shut up Riker before I grab a pair of scissors and cut your bass strings” I jokingly threaten him with a huge smile on my face.

“Oh God Riker what did you do to piss Y/N off again?” Ross said coming out of the side stage with a vintage baseball cap that says “i’m a local celebrity” with a white tee and baggy light washed denim pants. he slings his arm over my shoulder making us sway to the random song playing on the speakers. I look up to see him already looking down at me with that infamous smile he wears. “Nice Hat pretty boy.” i laughed and flicked the bill of the hat. “So which songs are we playing tonight? any newbies?” I smile back at him really hoping he’ll play one of my favorite songs at the show tonight. “Yes Y/N we are playing givemewhatuwant and Natural if that’s what you’re asking.” he chuckles and pulls away from me to pick up his guitar to start sound checking. I squeal and jump off the stage and start jogging to the doors to get the rest of the equipment “YES ROSS YOURE THE BEST” I scream at him and blow him a friendly kiss as I run out the door.

*Ross’ POV*

Y/N is the most precious and loving human I have ever met. she just brightens the room when she walks in. Whether it’s her bubbly personality or just her energy she radiates, it’s one of the reasons why I love having her close by. She makes me feel like life is worth living again. Heartbreak after heartbreak, I felt like love isn’t an option for me anymore. I have thousands of people falling at my feet but it never fills the void of feeling unloved. Hookups and one night stands can only do so much to the point even sex isn’t appealing to you anymore. Ever since Y/N walked into my life, it’s has taken a complete 180. I feel lighter. happier. I wake up excited for the day knowing I get to see and talk to the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She doesn’t compare to any girl I have ever been with or even seen. Befriending her was my first hit in the game and i’m ready for the home run. I want her to be mine. I need her to be my girl. I feel like I can’t live life without her by my side. she completes me in a way I have never felt before. I’m worried i’ll scare her away if I confess what i’ve been feeling inside. I just need to rip the bandaid and just go for it, be a man and express this to this wonderful girl.

*10 minutes before showtime*

*Y/N POV*

“what’s our bet tonight Ross?” I ask him walking up to the band. I just finished helping set up the stage for The Driver Era after Valé’s performance. She did amazing as she does every night. Tonight however the energy feels a bit off. Ross looks like he’s in his head about something and I just don’t know what. Everything went smoothly today and the crowd already has such a good vibe for the night, there’s nothing else to worry about. “Ross? You good?” I asked while rubbing his arm while he looks off in the distance.

“Yeah i’m good, just in my head a bit. Nothing to worry about, probably stage fright.” he has a fake smile plastered on his face to try and not worry me. I know him better than anyone that he is in his head about something and it’s definitely not stage fright.

“Do you need to talk before you go on? you are not good. you can try and fake smile at me but you know it’s not going to work. What’s going on in that head of yours?” I step forward to see his full face instead of the side and look up in those beautiful hazel brown eyes he adorns on his face. he sighs loudly and closes his eyes before opening them he says. “Y/N there’s been a lot of shit going on in my life and ever since I met you, it seems like everything disappeared when you walked in the room. You make me so happy and giddy to the point I get antsy when I don’t see you first thing in the morning. You light up my life and I know we only have known each other for a month but I feel it. My God I hope you feel it too so I don’t feel like the biggest idiot before this sold out show. I like you Y/N, I don’t want to wake up without you by my side. Please tell me you feel the same.” he pleads and grabs

my face in his hands and put his forehead to mine.

“Just shut up and kiss me Ross. I’ve been waiting way too long for you to say those words. I just need your lips on mine before you-“ he slams his lips on mine before I could sentence my sentence. I wrap my arms around his neck melting in his arms loving every second of this moment.

“Ross let’s go! you’ll have plenty of time to make out with Y/N after the show, come on!” Rocky shouts from the side stage making us break away from our heavy kiss. I smile and push him towards his brother. “Lucky for you i’m going to be in the pit with Poppy helping her take photos. I promise to get the best angles, I might sneak a couple just for my entertainment.” I smirk and he laughs and kisses my cheek and runs on stage right on his cue.

The boys are rocking out and came out full throttle. I’ve been helping poppy this show because one of the extra photographers called out and couldn’t make it. I can already feel the energy in this knowing it’s gonna be a great night. “ Y/N why has Ross been staring and smirking at you all night? Did he finally have the balls to do it?” She smirks at me side glancing to the stage. I look up and sure enough he’s staring at me with hooded eyes with his hair clinging to his sweaty forehead. He squats down to my level and curls his finger for me to come closer. I take a step towards him and he whispers “you are making it incredibly hard for me to stop this show and take you backstage to have my girl strip that skirt off so I can fuck that beautiful pussy.” he kisses my earlobe and pulls away before I could even react. my jaw drops and I step back and look at poppy and she’s busting out laughing at my reactions and hugs me and squeals in excitement. She always said from day one that Ross will end up falling over me. I brushed it out because of stupidity and insecurities. Now i’m like ‘fuck she’s right…. again’.

“That man is already planning the wedding in his brain and he hasn’t even gotten in your pants yet. I saw the kiss when I was setting up. “ She says while snapping pictures of the band while they play “Natural”. I get excited and dance and sing along. I decide to tease ross a bit, i shake my hips to the beat and drag my palms up my stomach making my shirt ride up a bit. He notices and bites his lip and tilts his hat down and looks at me with sultry eyes. I wink at him and flick him off. he smirks and proceeds to perform the rest of the song.

The show finally ended and the boys are celebrating in the green room with a couple of drinks. I finished my job for the night when I start searching for Ross to actually start my night. I feel hands wrap around my middle and I instantly melt when I smell fresh body wash and sandalwood. “Let’s go to the bus, I promise to keep my hands to myself” Ross mumbles kissing my neck with his hands roaming my hips pulling me closer to his warmth. I chuckle and turn my head to see his face and tease his lips with mine before I dart towards the direction of the bus. I hear his laughs behind me when I get up to the door to the bus.

he meets me inside and starts teasing my neck again guiding me to the back of the bus. He closes the sliding door and locks it in place. I arch my neck towards him in a way to let him know I want his lips on me. He starts sucking on my neck behind my ear. he kisses all the way to my lips and he slams his lips on mine. I moan and run my fingers through his hair and tug at the ends. He groans in my mouth and starts unzipping my corset like top. I gasp when I feel the cold air on my bare back. The shirts comes loose from my body and falls at our feet. “Beautiful” He whispers to himself when he see my breasts in full exposure. He starts peppering kisses all over my breasts and he cups his lips around my nipple and start sucking to drive me wild. I moan a sound that has never escaped from me before and I tug his face up to mine “Just fuck me already Ross. I need you so bad. Feel how wet I am” I whimper grabbing his hand and pressing it to my core. he rubs his fingertips against the sensitive nub and I moan loudly biting my lip. He shrugs his pants off and throws his shirt somewhere while I undress myself as fast as I can. “I wanted this to be slow and make this moment last as long as possible but I can’t bear anything anymore. I need to be inside you baby.” Ross said as he slips on a condom with a groan. He pushes the tip towards my entrance and I close my eyes waiting for the first push. “Look at me Y/N. I need to see your face” he pleads. I open my eyes the same time he enters me and I gasp at the size of him. He slowly thrusts in and out letting me get used to his size.

“Faster Baby. Fuck you feel so good” I scream as his pace picks up. he grabs my leg and throws it over his left shoulder slamming his hips into the back of my thighs. He presses a hand against my stomach and I moan feeling him deeper inside of me. “Fuck baby I can feel it. My god your pussy is perfect. You’re so tight, you were made for me” He groans fucking me harder making me slam a hand on the window beside me. “Ross i’m so close. please let me cum. fuck baby” I moan in his ear and drag my nails down his back. “Yes baby. Let go for me. Cum all over my cock. Make a mess of me. “ he slams his hips into mine as we both hit our climax at the same time. he thrusts slowly while we come from our highs. I breathe heavily and rest my head on the armrest of couch. Ross slowly lays his head on my breast letting some of his weight fall on me. I run my hand through his hair and just smile wanting this moment to never end.

“Whatcha thinking about beautiful?” he asked slowly pulling out making me wince. “Just realizing how did I get this lucky? I don’t deserve you.” my eyes start tearing up looking at his eyes and studying all of his features. “You don’t deserve me? You got it all wrong baby. You are the most beautiful human I have ever laid my eyes on. We are meant to be here in this moment for a reason and I know down the road we will look back at this time and just laugh and smile about all these memories we have made together. I want to make memories with you forever Y/N. l- I love you so fucking much I can’t hold it in anymore.” He rambles sitting up on the L shaped couch and pulling me to his chest. I breathe in his scent and close my eyes. “Ross, I love you so much it makes it hard for me to breathe. I’ll love you to the day I die.” I look up at him and he slams his lips on mine putting a hand over my heart to feel the thumps of my rapid heartbeat. Our lips move and he slips his tongue in and our tongues dance along together lazily.

We finally had the energy to get up after 30 minutes of lazy kisses and just appreciating the moment we just shared. Everyone comes back to the bus after the celebratory shots.

“So where did both of you guys run off too earlier?” Garrison asked slipping on a hoodie and a crochet bucket hat I made for him in Wisconsin. “I don’t kiss and tell but it was definitely fun for sure.” Ross winks and pulls me to sit on his lap.

“They fucked in the back of the bus. there’s a hand print on the window to prove it.” Ryland said smirking into his tequila soda. I roll my eyes and tap the bottom of his cup to make it spill all over his neck and shirt. “Y/N what the fuck dude!” he shouts snatching napkins from Riker. I laugh so hard I snort and then that makes everyone in the bus have a laughing fit. I lean my head back on ross’ shoulder and he kisses the top of my head whispering “I love you” in my ear. my eyes start drooping and I fall asleep on the love of my life and already can’t wait to wake up to experience this life with him.

[windforestsso]

OC map 2024!

It was not long ago since Valedale been updated and it shows. Many OCs have moved there.

I have not included OCs from the old map as I didnt have access to the old file and I dont want to jump between multiple posts to get names and photos because that was just too confusing. I have done a google doc list with the Ocs so next update will be easier. But even if I didnt include OCs from the old post, we went from 73 to 95 Ocs, the population is growing.

I will not update this untill a new area been updated or added. But if anyone sees spell mistakes or wrong infomation given for ocs I can edit that. But I will not fix the map pic.

Address book is under line:

Central Jorvik:

Jorvik city:

Breasha Keane - Somewhere by Leonardos Lottie Emberwoods - Lives in Governors fall, she have no horses. Have a twin in South Hoof, Charlie Mary-Ann - lives close to Leonardos

Crater of Jor:

Alexei Sparrowhawk - lives in the mountain between Wildwoods and Dino Valley Sora Sparrowhawk - Kallter witch in dino valley searching

Firgrove:

Moa Windforest - Hidden shack in the forest  Ryland - lives at the ranger station

Firgrove Village:

Adelaide “Swift” Swiftheart - A kalter from Icengate lives near Firgrove Alexis Carolina Nightjar Elaina Hawkwatcher - Lives with her grandmother Luca Goldstone - Wilderness enthusiast. Big brother to Max in Tailtop village

Starshine Ranch:

Athena Rockstorm - Calamity Claymore - Charlie Emberwoods protoge, soul rider and chaos child. Have a big brother, Kit, in Cape West Fishing Village Daine Dusty Claymore - A retired cowboy. Uncle to Calamity and Kit Claymore Rora Dolphinheart -

Goldenhills Valley:

William Ravenyour - haunts the hayloft on Goldenleaf Stables (belongs to Dakota Ravenyour) Willow Crazytree - (no photo)

Cape West Fishing Village:

Adriana Braveheart Bella Highgirl - Officially owns a house here but has a second home in Avalon’s Meader where she stays under busy soul rider/druid times. Used to hop from hotel to hotel. Cody Hunter Doveshovel - Rents a bed with the Jorvik Fishing Club, but travels frequently for work and soul rider shenanigans. Kit Claymore - A fisherman and Amnesiac. big brother to Calamity in Starshine Ranch

Harvest Counties:

Crescent Moon:

Feya Elfchild - Lives alone

Jarlaheim:

Alyssa Evelyn - Lives close to the rocker hairstyles shop Everlee Songbird - lives with a roommate thats also a member of the keepers Iris- Neightbour to Linda. Frequently visits the family in Cape West Fishing Village Johann - Lives in the northern part of Jarlaheim. Joins Ruth on adventures often Lucy Flowerhill - Lives with Linda Niko Northlight- lives in an apartment Riley Wolfstorm Selena - Lives by the vet Yasmine Westbank -

Jorvik Stables:

Amira Monsave - 19 year old, rents a room. In jorvik to look for Anne Arya Mistwood - 24 year old, works and lives at Baroness’ racetrack but because of renovations she currently lives with their half sister, Shilo, in Jovik Stables Brook - Lives behind the white double doors Monty Lionheart - A fancy lad just vibing Shilo Stormfire - 18 Year old, dorming at the stables during the summer to train and compete with her Lipizzaner, Glory. Currently have her half-sister Arya Mistwood as a roommate

New Hillcrest:

Blake Silvercrest - lives in the stables Lucas Roni - Lives with her two dogs Opal and Potato. She works as a waitress in the local café during the day

Mistfall:

Dundull:

Azalea “Az” - lives around Dundull and work as a ranger Bodhi Applewright - Charlie Emberwoods protoge, soul rider and wanderer. Big brother to Toby in Redwoods Vendela Zoe Silverborn - lives alone

Wildwoods:

Astrid - precise location of home is unknown Heather - Sleeps in the hayloft of the stables in Redwood Point Max Goldstone -Charlies protoge, soul rider & adventurer. Have a big brother, Luca in Firgrove Rachel - Redwood Point Ranger Station Toby Applewrights - A junior ranger. Little brother to Bodhi in Dundull

North of Northern Mountains:

Donna Buttergood

Silverglade:

Alina - lives in the field between Silverglade Manor and Nilmer’s highland

Fort Pinta:

Esther Darkdragon - 26 year old, lives with Svea Darkdragon in an apartment Morgan Saltcrest - Pirate in the sea outside of the Fort Pinta Rose - Svea Darkdragon - 24 year old, lives together with Esther Darkdragon in an apartment

Moorland Stables:

Esther Northberg - lives in the hay loft above the stables Jamie Nightlock - A baby doing his best Kit Applewood -21 year old, lives with Mrs. Holdsworth, thinking of getting a small place in Valedale Montana

Silverglade Manor:

Nahla Wolfwalker - Half kalter on a quest

Silverglade Village:

Adelaide Odenburg - Lives in the pink house in the circle with two others Amelie Emberwoods - Lives at Steves farm as a riding camp instructor. Is cousin to Charlie and Lottie Emberwoods Athena Peacecry - Lives with her parents Aurora Bellavance - rents a room, wants to move to Firgrove or Goldenhills one day Ava - Recently moved to the north side of town, close to the championship Lady - Lives with Big Bonney

South Hoof Peninsula:

Ines - Lives in the cottage south of the Rescue Ranch

South Hoof Rescue Ranch:

Charlie Emberwoods - Work as a rehabilitator, have a twin in Governors fall, Lottie. Juni - travels a lot Vilda Ravenhill - Accidently roommate with Hugh Wynonna - Rents a room

Valedale:

Hollowwoods:

Damian - Lives with his family

Silversong River:

Rowan Riverborn - she a näck chills as a horse and is a danger to children Zelda Krüger - 22 year old, rents a room in Avalon’s Meander

Valedale Village:

Corinne Eaglebridge - Lives alone Evangeline Bitterhouse - A druid in-training. little sister to Genevieve Genevieve Bitterhouse - Charlie Emberwoods Protege, soul rider and a nature witch. Big sister to Evangeline Halo Starborn Joseph - had an apartment in Fort Pinta but let the lease run out Kelly Nightborn Lexa - Moved to Valedale Village after she used to live with her family in Moorland Marie - Lives in a house next door to Avalons Renata Rose Riverlee - Is a Pandorian hunting for someone, lives in valedale when not in Pandoria Sadie Algren - Take cares of horses at the village stables while their owner is away, travels to pandora to study flora and fauna Sora

Homeless:

Alou - contantly traveling with other shopkeepers on the Southern Jorvik event circuit Juli - Either in Pandoria or traveling, he supposed to live in south hoof but wont stay there. Ruth - drifter, can be seen more frequently around Jarlaheim and Greendale

[bigjimbopickens]

Jim Pickens lore in point-form!

(Aka the CMK sims 4 series that ran from 2016-2022)

Recently I’ve noticed that newer CMK viewers don’t know the whole Jim Pickens universe lore so I’m going to explain it in the simplest way I can so they can know too :)

The story begins with Urp John. He moves into an apartment and has 6 kids with multiple women.

Jim Pickens moves in across from him and tries to get Urp to move in with him by attempting to kill off a household member.

Focus shifts to Jim.

Jim moves the family to the Sandtrap Flats, the first house in the series to feature a dungeon (called ‘chambers’ at this time).

To generate profit, he locks the family in the chambers and forces them to paint so Jim can later sell whatever they made. The only household members not in the chambers are the kids (Tim, Beejey and Urp’s kids). This is where the iconic Jim Pickens portrait comes from.

The cult unofficially forms. As members start to die, Jim begins taking an interest in the Grim Reaper.

Jim finds the Book of Chaos, which allowed him to kill people with magical abilities. He uses this to kill off rich families and inherit everything they owned as well as getting with the Grim Reaper.

Jim starts a graveyard business.

Jim and Grim officially become boyfriends. Grim moves in, gets pregnant and spawns Grimey. Grimey is given to another family in trade for Jules Cooper, Beejey’s boyfriend. Jules dies soon after.

Jim tries to kill Dennis Racket and pose as him but Dennis kept coming back. He was unkillable. But Jim bangs his wife anyways.

Jim robs people as Santa.

Jim opens a vet clinic and gets scarred for life by cursed dancing dogs. He also adopts a cat named Pumpkin during this time.

Beejey passes away and Jim goes on a jungle adventure to mourn his loss. Dennis also finally dies.

Jim moves to a new house with a proper dungeon and becomes a vampire.

Jim officially starts a cult, the same cult the fandom is.

Jim opens a joint restaurant/graveyard that only serves pufferfish. Many die.

Jim has a kid with Emma Racket, Dennis’ wife. His name is Project. He also became a cop briefly during this time. Weird era.

Jim dies and takes the universe with him so he jumps to an alternate timeline where he didn’t die.

Jim hosts a winter pool party. Many die and EA later patches this.

Jim kidnaps two Father Winters, Ryland and Clement. He tries to kill them but they cannot die, so instead they become permanent household members. One of them gets pregnant with aliens twins who end up being First Name and Second One.

Grim starts a painting club and Jim opens a store that sells the paintings. Jim also starts a band around the same time.

Jim goes to therapy and we learn about his past. Jim’s parents were Dick and Janice Pickens. He was forced to live in a closet, his parents didn’t care about him and his father was also a serial killer. Jim was taken away to military school due to the neglect.

What happens in between the sims 1 and sims 2 prequel videos is unknown and up to speculation. My theory is that it’s where he met Dennis, since they were around the same ages and were both taken from neglectful parents. Though Dennis turned out more stable and Jim was considered a lost cause because of his violent tendencies.

As a teen, Jim is somehow back in custody of his father and lives in a house with mole people in the walls. The moles are Mole1, Mole2 and Mole3. He tries to get a girlfriend but Dick kept throwing water balloons at her.

After therapy Jim becomes even more unhinged. Starts a YouTube channel and kills people on camera for content. He also did a twerking video.

Jim moved to his universe’s equivalent to LA and drives a man to suicide after ruining his life so he could inherit everything from him. Jim didn’t inherit anything from this.

Jim starts a content farm in his basement. Kevin totally isn’t a subject of it and this whole series isn’t just a documentary.

Jim opens a bar that doesn’t let people leave and he loses it. He starts killing people for simply existing and Grim stabs him to get him to stop. 💔

In attempt to fix his relationship with Grim, he goes camping with Grim but forgets he’s a vampire so it didn’t really work. So instead Jim cures his vampirism. Second One also drowns during this time.

Jim moves everyone into an abandoned prison and hosts a battle royale. Shrek wins and joins the household.

Jim falls in love with breadsticks and literally couldn’t let go of them.

The family moves to Strangerville and Jim becomes dedicated to solving the mystery of that town. He discovers the Mother Plant and is killed in battle against her.

Jim comes back as a ghost and defeats the Mother Plant. During Shrek’s sex dungeon era (that’s a weird sentence) Jim comes back to life. A miracle!

Jim somehow goes to the future to chase after his father who had gone there. Jim gets a bunch of half-siblings and Dick gets a boyfriend; Mole4.

Back in the present time, Jim becomes a merman and he’s absolutely beautiful. First Name also becomes a drug lord and they smuggle drugs across borders together.

Jim and Grim get married and Jim’s last name briefly changes to Reaper.

Jim starts a gang and goes to war with another gang. It ends with the other gang dying and Jim going to prison for once. They finally got him.

Once he was out of prison, the zombie apocalypse starts and Jim starts a restaurant that serves human flesh to accommodate the zombies. Jim also makes the two Santa’s fight to the death. Clement was the winner, he eats Ryland. Dick and Mole4 now join the family.

Jim goes to the magic realm and learns more magic. He uses the magic to terrorize other families and moves into a new house he killed the previous members of.

Dick declares himself as King and starts making people pay taxes to him. Jealous, Jim kills Dick for the title and doesn’t do anything with it. He was just fed up with Dick’s bs.

Jim goes to university. He becomes the worst landlord and also gets pregnant along with a few others. His child’s name is Aaaahhhhhh.

After that he moves the family again and tries to get as many people as he can to live in one tiny house. First Name dies and comes back as a demon to forever haunt Jim and terrorize the land.

To escape First Name, the Pickens family now lives in a bunker. Jim tries to enforce the “nobody can go outside” rule by locking people inside their homes.

Jim launches a nuke and destroys that section of the world because the people were annoying him. He is now the only remaining family member, besides Grim.

Jim meets Turg and the two team up to become the ultimate crime-causing duo, even if Turg doesn’t want to admit it. The two rob several homes with Turg as the distraction and Jim doing all the robbing.

Jim starts a knitting business with someone who won the lottery. Default joins the family.

Jim goes to the Star Wars. Idk if this is canon or not.

The cult compound is now here. Kevin only does one video on it despite streaming the building of it for hours. Nice.

Jim, Turg and Default go on a winter vacation to the mountains. Jim ages into an old sim and loses his sparkle 💔

Jim and Turg move into a haunted house together and Jim takes on several new jobs such as paranormal investigator, house renovator and murder speedrunner. Jim dies of old age during this time but comes back.

Jim starts an industrial farm, Turg is there too but he starts becoming irrelevant after this 💔

After dying to pufferfish, a clone of Jim shows up and Jim kills him.

Jim starts kidnapping people and making them play sick twisted games that results in people’s deaths solely for his own amusement. Karma catches up to him and he is shot.

Jim starts going absolutely insane. Even more than before. He spawns 100 babies, goes through strange changes and gets stuck in an apartment with 99 other people. Turg dies off-screen during this time.

Jim marries someone and that is the last we see him. That’s the end of the story.

I don’t think the current sims 4 series is canon to this one. It’s separate.

Hope this helps and gets you caught up/refreshed on the lore :) hopefully I didn’t miss anything. I did this entirely from memory :3

Jim is one of my favourite characters ever I love him so much. He was the only queer representation I had growing up too lol.

[ken-dom]

The Stars Look Very Different Today

∘₊✧ Ryland Grace solo fic

2.5k words

∘₊✧ Summary: The computer has a new command for Ryland — one he’s extremely relieved to carry out.

∘₊✧ Author’s notes: I’m barely half way through the book and I’m so in love with Ryland already. My god. Anyway this obviously got me into researching some of the hornier aspects of space travel, potentially unlocked a new kink along the way, and this is where I ended up. If you’re as curious as I am about the topic of this fic, you might enjoy this Vice article and also this Mauden article!

Title from Space Oddity by David Bowie, suggested by the wonderful @heresthestorymorningglory who encouraged me endlessly with this fic, as always!

∘₊✧ Warnings/content: NSFW, Project Hail Mary spoilers!, masturbation, if you squint it’s kinda Ryland x Computer — and it’s kinda forced masturbation but he definitely wants to do it so take it as you wish, premature ejaculation, written from Ryland’s POV in keeping with the novel, horny Ryland, mentions of porn, low key science kink, and my favourite tag ever: cumming in space! 🪐🛸💦

∘₊✧─────────────────────✧₊∘

‘Ejaculate.’

The voice has become familiar to me over the last few days. Almost comforting at times, if not a little on the unsettling side. But hey, unsettling isn’t the worst thing a person can be, right? Or a computer, if we’re being technical. Which I suppose we should be.

I blink my eyes open, groggy from what I’m guessing was a relatively short period of sleep before I check the analogue clock on the wall to confirm it. I don’t think on it for too long, however, because my attention is pulled to the heat I can feel pooling in my gut, and the throbbing sensation in my… between my legs. It’s untimely, but expected.

I’ve found myself with this little problem upon waking up for the third time in a row, now. The previous times, I’ve ignored it, willed it away while trying to keep my mind on everything else I’m still adjusting to rather than wasting my time… enjoying myself a little too much. 

This time, though, it seems the ship knows and wants me to do something about it.

I obviously haven’t heard correctly. My inconveniently timed arousal must be playing on my mind. It has been a while since I… no, that’s irrelevant right now, I’m giving in but I need to focus.

Why would the computer instruct me to-

‘Ejaculate.’

There it is again, plain as day this time. Yup. The computer wants me to… ejaculate.

Despite being completely alone, lightyears away from another living human, I feel incredibly exposed all of a sudden.

I gradually sit up and look around the room, rubbing at my tired eyes, careful not to cause any friction that might exacerbate matters. One of the robot arms is waiting patiently at the other side of the small room, holding out a little plastic cup, which I presume I am supposed to deposit my offering into. And then, what? Give it back to put into safe storage? Or eject it out into space where it’ll crystallise and float forever as evidence of my deed, only for some alien to discover and analyse a hundred years from now and take back to his home planet with breaking news. ‘Sex seed found among the stars, Earth astronaut got too excited about space travel.’

Sex seed? Jeepers.

Maybe, more likely, they’ll keep it to repopulate in the event of this whole thing not working out, or-

Ok. Let me think this through a little more scientifically.

Why would I need to ejaculate right now? What’s different about this time to the previous times I’ve woken up with a raging erection straining against my uniform?

‘Ejaculate.’

‘Just give me a moment, please?’ I reply, irritable, and the computer does not answer. The robot arm remains, though, and I know I will be given no choice in this.

Is that ethical? 

Whatever. I don’t think I need to get caught up in the semantics of whether one can consent to a spacecraft computer asking for one’s semen, robot arms or not. And after all, in the words of the wise Beyoncé, I woke up like this.

So, back to the question. If it’s not for repopulation purposes, perhaps… ah! Of course! It’s for my own good! The computer is trying to make sure I stay healthy.

Masturbation has been proven to lower anxiety levels and stress. This is a high-pressure sort of situation after all. Maybe it thinks I need a little relaxation to be able to focus properly, or to keep my blood pressure levels well maintained?

That’s the stuff. I’m really getting the ball rolling now.

I remember a study I read, and realise that actually, the fact that it’s been a while is actually important here, too, and not just a distraction my body insists on.

Infrequent ejaculation can result in prostatitis, and the way to avoid the secretions and subsequent bacteria growth that cause the condition, is to ejaculate. Frequently.

The computer has either noticed my recent arousal levels; the higher heart rate, the dilated pupils, the change in blood flow to cause certain… swellings, and let’s face it, the scent of desperation I must be giving off after this long without an orgasm, and thinks I’m overdue an ejaculation or two… or, it’s programmed to encourage masturbation at set intervals with frequent ejaculation in mind as a necessary tool to health.

In honesty, I started to lose my erection when the first of all these thoughts occurred to me – nothing like a computer and a robot arm teaming up to persuade you to rub one out for them to kill the mood – but… mmh…

Listen, I know I can get a little… carried away with science, but I really am alone out here and I don’t think the computer is at all concerned with what gets me going. It just wants me to cum in a cup. I can do that. I think.

I retrieve the cup from the robot arm, which folds away, patiently waiting for me to return with the goods, no doubt.

‘Don’t look, okay?’ I say a little weakly, feeling my cheeks heat up. I know it’s a computer, but it knows things. Too much, almost, and I feel watched. I’ve never been into that, being watched. Nothing against it, but I much prefer to do this with my curtains closed and my doors locked, preferably in a darkened room, or the shower. Since I can’t be afforded these luxuries aboard the Hail Mary, the least I can ask for is the computer not to look.

It doesn’t answer me, of course. I didn’t really expect it to, but at least with whatever else it gathers about me, it’ll know I’m not enjoying it’s presence while I knock one out for it.

Who knows, maybe over time, we’ll get to know one another and the computer’s presence will be the only way I can jerk off. Maybe it’ll start talking me though it… would dirty talk be programmed incase of difficulty… getting into it?

I chuckle softly, knowing that liking the computer is a real possibility. Doll syndrome, it’s called. I’d start preferring the computer to a real living, breathing human. Or maybe there’s another syndrome specifically for the preference of a computer…

But I’m letting myself get distracted again.

Back to the matter at hand. Ha!

I sit back down on my bed, my erection pressed painfully against my uniform trousers now, as I consider the little plastic cup. By the look of it, it holds about 100mls. The average ejaculate is around 1.25-5mls, and from experience I tend to fall somewhere in the middle of that range, so it’s extremely unlikely I’ll fill it, but it really has been so long, the fleeting thought passes through my mind that it won’t be big enough.

Then my thoughts switch to how this is all so clinical and not at all sexy. I guess that’s another kink I might be missing out on, but before I can get carried away again, the robot arm drops something else down for me.

Oh. It’s a dirty magazine. The sort they keep on the top shelf, hidden behind more family friendly editions like House and Home or Celebrity Chat or whatever people read these days.

A pair of breasts almost knock me clean out as the magazine drops into view before me. The robot arm flicks through the thin, glossy pages and holds it open at a page of a woman with her legs spread, glistening folds displayed beautifully as if just for me.

But she’s not real. Looking at the image only reminds me that I’m alone, and whilst her aroused state and thoughts of how she might pleasure herself does make my cock twitch, my heart sinks a little that I’ll never feel another wet pussy.

‘No thank you,’ I choke out, slightly reluctant, and the robot arm switches to a magazine it was apparently holding behind the one with the pretty vagina photograph.

This one displays an image of a thick, handsome penis, uncut and leaking at the tip, fingers ghosting over the happy trail above…

‘No, that’s not the issue,’ I say, a little high pitched, because my cock is leaking now too, and I know I’m not going to make it to the cup if they keep showing me images like this.. ‘I just… I can manage on my own, thank you.’

Still, I feel a little disappointed when the robot arm takes that enticing cock away, too, and I’m left truly alone once again.

I let out a long breath, as even as I can muster. I need to get out of my head.

I close my eyes, breathing deeply. I focus on the ache between my legs. I think about taking my time, really enjoying the sensation of touching myself in space – and the thought that I’m actually in space, does it for me again. With an involuntary pulse of my cock, I feel a thick drop of pre-ejaculate form at the tip.

Take my time? Who am I kidding.

Clasping the cup securely in one hand, I slip the other over the crotch of my trousers and the strangled noise that escapes me would’ve been enough to wake the whole neighbourhood had I been back home on Earth.

I feel a rush of shame flood my senses, but then I remind myself that I can be as loud as I want here. In space, no one can hear you moan. I laugh again, feeling giddy. This is kind of exciting, actually. The thought that I’m alone is finally working for me, and without overthinking it any further, I tear open the fastening on my trousers and let my cock spring free.

I’m so hard it’s painful, visibly throbbing, angry red tip shining with pre-cum. Begging to be touched.

I realise as I stare down at my neglected equipment that words like cum and cock aren’t usually so easily thrown around in my vocabulary, and that I must be unusually horny – another word I tend to shy away from until the moment calls for it – to be thinking like this.

I bite my lips together, anticipating how it might feel.

I’ve never done this in space before. It must be ok to do it, otherwise the computer wouldn’t expect me to just get on with it, ‘reading’ material included, but what if it feels different? What if it hurts?

I tentatively raise a trembling hand and carefully drag a featherlight fingertip up the underside, base to tip, tracing a thick vein and collecting some pre-cum on the way.

I squirm, moaning loudly. I wonder if the computer has really shut its ears off, or if it’s simply programmed to know the difference between horny, desperate groaning and other types of sounds, like real pain or distress.

Whatever, I need more. Fuck.

I suck my finger clean and do it again. A gentle fingertip ghosting up the hot flesh and my body jolts upright.

I’m not gonna last more than a few seconds, and I know it.

It turns out that for whatever reason, touching yourself in space feels fucking incredible.

I lose track of most of my thoughts after that, feeling like I’ve transformed into some sort of rabid animal.

I slump backwards, spreading my legs, and my hand wraps around my shaft, immediately pumping furiously as a broken string of growls and roars rip from my throat.

I barely have time to remember the cup, but somewhere in the haze of unbridled bliss, my lizard brain must have kicked in at just the right moment because only instinct could have given me the sense to raise my other hand and position the cup to catch the insane amount of ejaculate I release as I writhe on the sheets.

Some of it dribbles down over my fingers, but it doesn’t matter, as long as I deposit some in the provided receptacle, I suppose, the computer will be satisfied.

It seems to drag on for a while, this release. Not that I’m complaining; it feels so good I wouldn’t be able to comprehend words enough to form an actual complaint at this moment, even if I wanted to. But as climaxes go, this one, long and intense and oh, so delicious, is up there with the best.

I shakily place the cup (around 7-10mls not including what I didn’t catch – that has to be some sort of record for me) onto the floor and roll over, curling into a ball, my softening cock twitching through aftershocks of pleasure as every muscle in my body relaxes me into another round of sleep.

I wake up five hours later, sprawled on my back with my cock out, still soft for now, and my hand sticky. It must have worked. I must have needed it.

Slowly, I sit up again, tucking my co- my penis back in. Making myself presentable. I am in uniform, after all. I reach up to smooth my hair down. It’s a mess, and there are loose strands stuck to my forehead. I’ll deal with that later.

I notice the cup of ejaculate has gone, collected by my trusty pal, the porno robot arm, and a little sink has been revealed from behind its wall panel.

The computer isn’t going to instruct me to clean myself up – it’s giving me that dignity at least, but it’s pointing me in the right direction. And it’s correct.

I stand on shaky legs to head over there, feeling a slight headrush.

Hopefully, the computer will never speak of it again-

‘Thirty-seven seconds.’

‘Until what?’ I ask, too relaxed to care very much, as I soap up my semen-coated palm.

‘Thirty-seven seconds to produce 7.8mls of semen.’

My cheeks burn. It timed me? And I couldn’t even last out a whole minute?

Did computers care about premature ejaculation as much as humans seem to? Is it even premature when you’re only trying to pleasure yourself?

‘Yeah, well, it’s been a while,’ I retort, sheepish but clearly irked. ‘A long while.’

No further comment from the computer. Great.

I know it’s time for me to get on with the thousand other things occupying my time on this ship, so I do. But the nagging thought I couldn’t shake as I observed the beetles told me that I had to prove the computer wrong about my stamina.

I can last.

And apparently, the thought of proving the computer wrong about my own masturbation habits was doing it for me and-

‘Mmhhnnn-’

That delicious friction against my sensitive cock in these pants was tormenting me. And I thought cock not penis so I must be horny again. Does space travel typically cause high levels of arousal?

Fuck it. It doesn’t matter.

‘Computer, you got another cup? You can watch this time. I’m gonna put on a real show for you.’

[honnojis]

In a more positive opinion on the Ryland Karen scene in Paragon:

That scene is dear to me because I love seeing a trans character getting accepted for who they are.

Yes, we don't need a coming out scene for every character and we can just let a character be queer without it being said on screen, but it still makes me happy personally.

big agree on all of it! there's plenty of queer rep in rejuv that exists without it dominating their entire characterization, and i think it's the healthiest way to include rep too; having said rep be treated like a normal person instead of a standout.

i do think showing simple acceptance of someone's identity does a lot to paint it in a positive light at least, especially if it's by a flippant character like karen who is easy to bluntly dismiss things.

but also it's funny that something so simple as a scene that shows trans acceptance can get the transphobes' panties in a twist

[constesplanetarium]

✩╔═*.·:·.✧✦✧.·:·.*═╗✩

Baking for two.

☼ Marcus (Male! [Light] Yandere College Classmate) x GN! Reader

✩╚═*.·:·.✧✦✧.·:·.*═╝✩

✧─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

a/n: sorry this took so long lol, had to shorten it by a lot to get it out :(

he isn't too much of a yandere here, but it does show a bit here and there :) i plan on writing something much darker for him soon, maybe in his POV!!!

Darkness rating : 2/10, “the smallest mention ever.”

TW!!! General Yandere shenanigans (possessiveness, jealousy, aggression towards other guys, etc.), light alcohol use, light ominous behavior.

Word count: Around 3k.

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

“Oh, you’re here!” Marcus seems surprised at your sudden arrival, leaning in the doorway to block your way in. "Y-You’re early!” He stammers out, laughing awkwardly as you tilt your head in confusion. What’s his deal?

“Sorry, uhm, I…” He stumbles around with his words, but then sighs in defeat. “The kitchen is a mess.” Marcus steps aside to let you inside his apartment, and you can smell something sweet faintly in the air. “I was going to wait for you to come over, but I got ahead of myself and made some pound cake.” As you step inside, you’re immediately hit with the strong smell of vanilla, making your stomach threaten to grumble. You take a small glance around as he shuffles over to the kitchen to clean up the so-called ‘mess’. “When you’re about to leave, you can take some home if you want.”

His apartment’s pretty damn nice. There’s a sort of cozy aesthetic going on, with a large lamp, emitting an amber light. It looks like he even switched out the lightbulbs in the kitchen to that same amber light. It’s all better than your best friend's apartment. Ryland’s apartment is always a bit messy, whether it be with assignments he never turned in, or empty potato chip bags lying around. You always helped him clean up, which he enjoyed cleaning up with you much more than you did. Odd as it was, since his living room seemed to be messy, but his own room always looked as clean as a whistle. Was it doing it on purpose?

“Originally, uh, I was planning for us to make some blueberry and banana muffins; but since I made the pound cake, I feel like both will be a bit much.” Marcus’s voice snaps you back to reality as he looks up at you for confirmation, setting a bag of flour down on the kitchen counter. “Unless you want to make both?” He says. “Or we can make something else if you want. Maybe some cupcakes?” A smile spreads on your face as you shake your head. He’s so eager to please. Once he sees you smile, he laughs nervously and doesn’t push the matter further, popping open his fridge to take out a small box of blueberries. “You can erm, explore my apartment while you wait. Just don’t go into my room, please.” He points to a door on the far left, down a small hallway. “It’s messy in there, I didn’t have time to clean up.”

You giggle at the embarrassment spread onto his face as you walk down the hallway, peering into the bathroom right across from his room.

Yep, that’s a bathroom. Nothing too extraordinary about it, except the matching shower curtain with the hand towel and bath rug. His bathroom sink is a bit cluttered with a hairbrush, comb, and a razor. It looks like a bottle of shaving cream rolled off the sink, onto the floor. You bend down to pick it up, setting it down on the sink, and you take notice of his toothbrush, matching the color of everything else. You raise a curious brow. He loves his matching colors, huh?

“Hey! Come back! I cleaned up now!” You peek out the bathroom door to see him beckoning you over, ingredients laid out all over the counter. You make your way on over, standing beside him as you switch on the sink, pumping some of the soap on as you wash your hands under the running water. As you wash your hands, the soap smells like peach sorbet, it’s really good.

“This’ll be fun.” He grins. “Er, if you want me to, I can even do most of the work, and you can just watch.” And leave all the fun to him? Hell no. Plus, if you're lucky, maybe you can snag a small lick of the batter when he’s not looking.

His face grows into a smile at your enthusiasm. “It won’t take as long as you’re thinking. I’ll guide you through each step.”

“Stop taking licks off the batter! I can see you do it!” Your tongue swirls around the spoon in your mouth, giggling cheekily to yourself as Marcus scolds you harshly. “It’s not exactly a secret if I can see you do it.” It’s not hard to see he isn’t actually mad, though. Plus, it’s not like you're double-dipping the spoon. There’s no harm done, right?

He heaves a long sigh. “There's not even blueberries in it yet.” It doesn’t matter, it’s fucking delicious. You lick some leftover batter off your lips, tossing the dirty spoon into the sink with a loud clang. His eyes wander to the spoon for a moment, before getting back to making a small blueberry mixture.

… This is gonna be funny as hell.

You rummage through the drawer, snatching up another spoon, and waiting until Marcus looks away for a moment to take another scoop of it. Ah, it looks like he saw it out of the corner of his eye. He groans, clearly annoyed. “See, I told you to-”

With a flick of your wrist, the spoonful of batter is flung right on his cheek with a small splat, some splattering onto his glasses as he turns to stare at you silently.

“Oh.” He wipes some of the batter off his cheek, taking a small lick off his finger, and he pauses. “Oh, that is good, huh…” But then he turns to you, flinging his spoon and splattering the blueberry jam on your face. “But if someone could sit here and WAIT for the blueberries, instead of dipping their little grubby fingers in the batter,” You are NOT dipping your fingers in the batter. It’s a SPOON, thank you very much. “Maybe it would be better.”

You roll your eyes and take your finger, swiping it across his cheek, then swiping it on the blueberry jam on yours, and licking it off. Yum. It does taste better with the blueberries.

Marcus's face reddens and he looks away, fidgeting with the spoon in his hands as he grabs a napkin with his other, wiping the mess off his face. He chuckles to himself and wipes your cheek with his thumb, licking off the jam as he passes you the napkin.

“Yeah, that’s really good.” He grins. “Maybe a little bit more sugar.” Really? You think it’s just fine.

“Do you prefer it like this?” He asks, and you nod. “Okay. Whatever you want.”

You jump at the sudden interruption of your phone buzzing, and you slip it out of your pocket to check.

Ugh.

You utter a small stream of curses, staring at the screen of your phone in annoyance.

It’s Ryland. Of course it is. Why is he calling you? Especially since you yold him you would be with Marcus today. Ugh, he’s probably jealous. Marcus sees you stare at your phone, pursing his lips as he glances away.

“Who is it?” Your annoying ass friend, that's who. You sigh and decline the call, slipping your phone back in your pocket, but just a second later it starts to ring again, making you groan as you take it back out. How persistent can someone be?

“... Just take the call.” Marcus mutters, not looking your way anymore as he crosses his arms and stares at the bowl of batter, lost in thought. You sigh and bring the phone up to your ear, shuffling aside so you can go into the bathroom for some privacy.

You frown as soon as you hear his voice go through. “I’m bored.” Ryland groans over the phone, and you scold him quickly. This better be quick, you’re fucking busy.

“Awwh.” He grumbles, and you can hear the familiar shuffle of his sheets as he presumably sits up. “You can’t make time for your best friend anymore?” Ryland teases lightly, and you can almost make out the sound of a bottle hitting a table with a small thud. Is he drunk?

“Nah.” Ryland says plainly. “Just some day drinking. Told you I was bored.” He heaves a long sigh. “Just leave himmm.” He draws on the m at the end of his sentence. “You see him in your classes all the time, right? He won’t care.” You roll your eyes, mentioning that you see him tomorrow at the coffee shop.

“That doesn’t matter.” He grumbles. “I want to see you now.”

What is he, five? Is he throwing a tantrum?

“Whatever,” He scoffs. “You tellin’ me some random guy is more important than your best friend? I’ve known you all my life.”

It’s all about him, him, him, isn’t it? All the time. Everyday.

You’re getting tired of it.

“Oh c’mon, it’s not that big of a deal.” He cracks up as if you told a good joke, stopping to take a swig of his bottle. “You’ve dealt with me for this long, right? What’s another lifetime?”

Eugh. You’d rather die.

“You joke around too much.” Ryland sighs. “But that's why I like you so much. You can always keep up with me.”

A loud bang of something metallic echoes from the kitchen, but there’s no other sound. Not a groan, not a yell, nothing. You frantically eye the door, telling him you need to leave. Did Marcus hurt himself?

Ryland doesn’t listen. “You’re the only one who makes me feel like this.” He grumbles. “You’re going to leave me for some random guy?”

… How annoying.

“Fuck him and-” You cut off the call, hanging up as you slip your phone back in your pocket and push the door open, bounding out the bathroom to check on Marcus.

Oh.

You stare at the mess of batter and blueberry jam on the floor, both bowls turned over as Marcus washes his hands in silence.

“Sorry.” He murmurs. “It spilled.” He doesn’t elaborate anymore on the topic, and you look at him in disbelief. A spill doesn’t cause this mess. He spilled it all, you know he did. Why?

You don’t say anything, and he gestures to a washcloth on the side of the sink. “Help me clean it up. We’ll just make a new one.”

It doesn’t take long to come up with a new mix, but conversation is short between you two. Ryland interruption sort of ruined the mood. Ugh.

“What happened?” He frowns and stops mashing some blueberries together, setting his spoon down as he leans against the kitchen counter. “You were looking at your phone all upset when that person called you.”

You sigh and just tell him it was nothing but your best friend being annoying.

“Ryland? Oh, yeah, I think I know him.” He rubs his cheek and pauses, staring off into space for a moment before coming back to you. “Is he that guy you walk around with a lot? Like around campus.”

You nod.

“Oh, I see.” It looks like he’s about to say something again, but he stops and just picks the spoon back up, poking the mix of blueberries in the bowl.

Marcus suddenly speaks up after a moment of silence between you two. “Why do you choose to spend time with him anyway?” He grumbles, crossing his arms angrily. “He sounds like he’s so annoying.” Marcus pushes his glasses back up on his face, his hand shaking as he does so. “It pisses me off.”

You glare at Marcus, hands twitching as you grab the bottle of milk off the counter. What he’s saying might be true, yes, but only you can talk about your best friend in that way. Plus, only you really understand him. He means well, he really does.

“You know you can do better than that, right?” Marcus glares over at you as you pour the milk into the newly made batter. “He doesn’t make you mad?”

He needs to shut up.

“I don’t understand it.” He whispers, dropping his spoon again with a loud clang on the table. "You deserve someone so much better." The blueberry jam spills all over, and some spills on his hand too, but it looks like he doesn’t even care about the mess he made. “It pisses me off, it pisses me off, it pisses me off.”

Stop it.

“I don’t understand it.” He repeats himself, staring at you. “This has been going on for weeks. He…”

You both stare at each other for a good few moments, clearly aggravated at each other's behavior. You can feel your anger start to dissipate the longer you look at him, and for him it looks like it’s the same.

“Sorry.” With a deep breath, he picks his spoon back up, turning the handle for the sink as the water starts to run, letting the spoon be washed off. “I’m just a bit… Aggravated today. My boss was texting me, trying to make me come into work today.”

Ah, no wonder. You sigh, rubbing small circles on his back in an attempt to comfort him, and it looks like it works, since a small smile spreads onto his face as he wipes the spoon off with a napkin.

“Er,” He stumbles around with his words. “Care for a drink?”

Maybe you do have to ease your nerves a little…

“I only have some hard seltzers with me right now, so…” His words trail off as he sets the spoon down, popping open his fridge door to slip out two small cans of tropical vodka. You twist your can around as he hands it to you, reading the black cherry labeling plastered around it.

“You can crack yours open while you wait.” He shakes the bowl of blueberries around a bit, before pouring it into the batter. He starts to mix everything together as you crack open the can, hearing every little fizz and sizzle from the drink. It smells pretty good.

You watch him intently, taking sips from the can as he pours the batter into each muffin tin, and he beckons you over. “Come put the tin in.”

With a hop down, you snatch up the blueberry muffins, and the oven's heat bursts in your face as he pulls the oven door open, forcing you to squint your eyes against the heat. He watches you set the tin inside, shutting the door closed. “Those won’t take too long. Just around twenty minutes.” He hums and looks over at you. “Why don’t you look around my apartment some more, huh? Get used to the place.” He cracks open his can with a small sizzle of the carbonation, taking a sip as he beckons you around.

Hmm.

“Actually, while you do that…” He swipes his keys off the kitchen counter, taking a big sip of his drink before setting it down. “Let me go and check my mail; it won't take long.” Marcus flashes you a smile before taking his leave, keys jingling as he shuts the door behind him with a click.

This is the perfect opportunity to snoop around a little.

You check the time, and immediately bound towards Marcus’s room, turning the knob and pushing it open slowly. You only have about 5 minutes to go through it, but that’s more than enough time to atleast catch a peek.

What could he be hiding? What, is it a dead body or something?

… Oh.

Your eyes widen a bit as you glance into his room, pushing the door open fully.

His rooms… Clean. Why did he lie and say it was dirty?

Maybe there’s something in here he doesn’t want you to see. Hmm.

Alright. Time to kick in your inner Sherlock Holmes.

His rooms seem normal, with a small basket of unfolded laundry beside his bed. Some books are strewn on his covers, one even open with some annotations here and there, but that's about it. Not a mess in the slightest.

Huh.

… Oh? What’s that under the bed?

A box? With lace over it? White lace lines the lid of the black shoebox, with small cut-out patterns of dark red hearts all around it. What the hell is that?

You extend your arm to grab the box, pulling it out slowly-

“Hey, I told you not to go in my room.” Marcus’s hand grip onto your waist tightly as he pulls you from the bed, pain filling your arm as it bumps and scrapes against the bottom of the bed frame. “Why can’t you ever listen?” What the fuck?

You stand up with a scowl and bite back a large insult, glaring at him. "I-I told you to... Don't look." He rambles insanely to you, not being able to get a single sentence out. Marcus looks frantic as his eyes scan around the room for anything taken or moved. He looks more disturbed that you would be in his room more than the average person would.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Marcus says softly, grabbing your wrist as he tugs you away from his bed. “The muffins are almost done.” It’s only been about 8 minutes.

You tug yourself away from him, setting your hands on your hips with a scowl on your face. Why the hell did he lie? And why the fuck did he have to grab you like that? Not that it’s a serious issue, but still, some honesty would’ve been nice. His room isn’t even bad either.

“I…” He pauses. “I thought you wouldn’t like it. I don’t like showing people my room.”

Your scowl softens and you sigh. What a dumb reason to lie about.

Anyways…

“The, uh, the box?” He chuckles awkwardly, still trying to tug you out of the room. “It’s just embarrassing. It’s full of my childhood things, you know?”

Just that? Really? You cross your arm and shake your head a bit, not believing what he says very much. But if he doesn’t want to pry into it, you won’t even bother.

“Honestly.” Marcus frowns, taking your hands in his as he runs his thumb across your knuckles. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.”

You sigh, but take his apology in good faith. At least he isn't being a dickhead about it.

“Whatever, whatever. The box doesn’t matter.” He says, pulling you towards the oven. The smell of the baked muffins fills your senses, and the anger that was bubbling inside you dissipates as you sigh in delight.

These are gonna be so good. But a small anomaly distracts your mind, just for a second.

Huh.

The spoon you were licking the batter off of is missing from the sink.

“Thanks for coming over.”

Marcus’s mood shifted ever since you went into his room, and it feels terrible. If you really knew it meant that much to him, you would’ve never walked in.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Marcus shakes his head, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt as he gives you a wry smile. “I should’ve just told you upfront about it.” He says. “I hope you like the muffins.” He beckons to the small basket you’re holding with a hand.

Outstretching your arms, you smile awkwardly and beckon him over for a small hug before you leave. His smile becomes a bit more genuine as he leans into your touch, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“I always like having you over.” He murmurs. “Start coming over more often, okay? I can’t get enough of you.”

ミ★ 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴. ★彡

i actually despise how ts turned out but its whatever

switched out the “yandere bartender” for “yandere college classmate” this time since i feel like the bartender thing doesnt apply this time around. ill be using them interchangeably depending on the situation :)

im surprised how i developed marcus from a bartender to a whole character w story, expect more stories w him still in the bar tho!!

[kierstins-astrology3]

YouTube Birth Chart Analysis Pt1

(Shane Dawson)

(I know he’s controversial but his birth chart is interesting so pls don’t judge / unfollow me over it)

Shane Dawson is a YouTube creator known for his Food & Conspiracy related videos. He was born on July 19, 1988 at 5:00am in Long Beach, CA. (Hopefully the birth chart time is accurate lol)

Sun in Cancer 1h 27° Sun in our identity & self so sun in cancer is someone who can be very emotional / sensitive (his YouTube videos speak for themselves lol). In 1h the themes of his life could be about his identity, appearance, and physical body. With 27° (Gemini) degree, he can see himself as witty / funny.

Moon in Virgo 3h 28° Moon is our emotions so his emotions can be related to communication with the 3h. His emotions can be very organized or analytical because of Virgo and at 28° (Cancer) degrees his emotions can be felt deeply with the degree.

Mercury in Cancer 12h 11° Mercury is our communication so his communication can be more soft and friendly with Cancer. In 12h he could communicate more creatively, intuitively, and more soft. 11° (Aquarius) degree his communication can be more unique to others.

Venus in Gemini 12h 17° Venus is our beauty & romances so his beauty can be expressed through his creativity and spirituality with 12h. His relationships can need good communication and mental stimulation with Venus in Gemini.(I also have this placement so it’s accurate for me) 17° (Leo) degree and a fame degree, his romances can feel more dramatic, expressive, and can have fame surrounding them.

Mars in Aries 10h 2° Mars is our ambition and passion so his passions come definitely from his work / job. In Aries which is ruled by Mars this is even more emphasized but can also feel more stable with 2° (Taurus) degree.

Jupiter in Taurus 11h 29° Jupiter is our blessings and luck so his luck is definitely from the internet and being on YouTube. At 29° (Leo) degree which is a long term fame degree and he has been on YouTube for 10+ years. Jupiter is also the husband in astrology and his husband Ryland Adam’s is literally a Taurus sun. His blessings can bring him more stability in his life with Taurus.

Saturn in Sagittarius 6h 27° Saturn is our obstacles, challenges, so his challenges can be related to his daily routine & health. In Sagittarius he can be more adventurous or optimistic about his past & current challenges. 27° (Gemini) degree, his challenges can also be related to his communication & the internet.

Uranus in Sagittarius 6h 27° Uranus is sudden changes so there can be challenges & sudden changes in his routine. With 27° (Gemini) degree can be changes with internet and communication.

Neptune in Capricorn 6h 8° Neptune is our creativity, delusions so his creativity can be related to his work with Capricorn and routine with 6h. He can also be delusional about his routine with 6h. 8°(Scorpio) degree, his creativity and delusions can feel very intense to him.

Pluto in Scorpio 5h 9° Pluto is our transformations and rebirth so he could have had transformations through his creative side and his children. The transformation could have felt very intense for him with Scorpio but he could’ve had an optimistic approach with 9° (Sagittarius) degree.

North Node in Pisces 9h 15° North Node is the direction that you’re supposed to go in so direction is to get more education, travel, and to be more adventurous. In Pisces he could need to channel his emotions and creativity and 15° (Gemini) degree, can have communication as part of his destiny.

Chiron in Cancer 12h 2° Chiron is the wounds we need to heal or wounds that will come up in our life. His wounds can be related to 12h themes like creating, delusions, spirituality, sleep & isolation. Also can be related with his emotions because of the sign Cancer. 2°(Taurus) degrees can mean that his wounds could possibly relate to themes of security, self-worth and finances.

Part of Fortune in Taurus 11h 12° Part of Fortune is where you have the most luck in your life. His luck can come from the internet and his friendships. Can also attract luck and fortune when he’s stable with Taurus and creative and spiritual with 12° (Pisces) degree.

Vertex in Scorpio 5h 28° Vertex is the fated things that will happen in our life. In 5h he’s fated to Eve more creative, have fun / celebrations, and maybe have children. His career is his YouTube which is his home for creation & he welcomed twin boys in December of 2023! In Scorpio which rules the 8h he can be fated to go through emotional transformations and rebirths because of 28° (cancer) degree.

Asteroids:

Juno (3) in Cancer 12h 5° Juno is our ideal, long term relationships and marriage. His fs can have cancer, Pisces, and Leo placements in their chart. His marriage can be more spiritual and quiet and emotional with Cancer and in the 12h. Also can be super fun and creative with the Leo degree. 5° degrees is a short term fame degrees so his relationships can be famous for a little bit.

Groom (5129) in Leo 1h 1° Groom is the husband in astrology but because he’s a man married to a man I’m gonna apply it to him and Ryland (His husband). Ryland to him can appear to be more fun, confident, creative. Also can appear very fiery, bold with the 1h and at 1° (Aries) degree. Since Shane is also a man he can see himself as this way or Ryland & others can think about him this way.

Union (1585) in Cancer 12h 6° Union is about how we can meet or come into union with someone for example future spouse. His meeting with his Husband Ryland can feel very spiritual to him and he can feel that he is his soulmate. At 6° (Virgo) degrees, his Union could have been organized. The day that him & Ryland started dating his natal transits he had asteroid Destinn & Pluto in 7h.

Industria (389) in Aquarius 8h 13° Industria is about the work/ industry that we will or could work in. He could work in the internet with Aquarius, in 8h he could work with the occult, and can work maybe with his physical appearance and body with 13° (Aries) degree.

Ganymede (1036) in Libra 4h 0° Ganymede is an asteroid that is about being homosexual / attracted to the same gender. There can be a homey feeling for him when he’s with the same gender and can be peaceful with Libra and 4h. Shane has come out as bisexual a long time ago and this asteroid conjuncts his moon can be emotionally fulfilling for him.

Fama (408) in Libra 12h 15° Fama is our reputation to the public so his reputation can be more peaceful with Libra but also creative, spiritual, and even delusional with 12h. At 15° (Gemini) degree he can be seen as comedic to others.

Fan (151590) in Gemini 4h 11° Fan is our fans basically so his fans can feel at home with him or when watching his videos with 4h. I’m Gemini and at 11° (Aquarius) degree which can represent the internet they can be a fan of him because of the internet or because how unique and comedic he can be.

Aura (1488) in Scorpio 5h 22° Aura is easy to understand. His aura can be very serious with 22° (Capricorn) degree and in Scorpio. In 5h he can have a fun and creative aura when first meeting him.

Asc: Cancer 14° Ascendant is how we appear to others. Shane can appear emotional with Cancer and stable to others when first meeting because of 14°(Taurus) degree.

Mc: Pisces 29° MC is our career so his career can be related to creativity and artistic talents with Pisces. At 29° (Leo) degrees and a long term fame degree can mean he can be famous for his career / reputation.

Aspects:

Saturn Conjunct Uranus 6h There can be sudden challenges & changes related to his health, daily routine and work.

Juno Conjunct Chiron 12h His relationships can be very spiritual and healing for him.

Groom Conjunct Sun 1h His husband can be apart of his identity and can make him extremely happy. Or his husband can shine and have a bright personality.

Union Conjunct Mercury & Chiron 12h Union with his future spouse can enhance his communication and can make him want to be better and heal with the 12h.

[justablah56]

Hey Aether, use this as your vessel to infodump about project hail Mary :]

HEHEHEHEHHEE YAY OK TY AZ .

obv spoilers for phm bcs . it is nearly impossible to talk about this book without spoiling things <3

ok this is a very complicated book to explain , bcs not only is it a *very* well thought out SCIENCE fiction book , but it also is an amnesia story , so it's telling both the present time story , as well as the story just before this one that is this guy slowly remembering things . so eem . it's hard .

if you have specific questions (🥺👁️👁️) abt things I gotchu but this is just going to be a very very long infodump about just like . the first HALF of the book . bcs otherwise it will be even longer <3

anyways , basically , in the vaguely near future , scientists find out that there are alien microorganisms (astrophage) that are sapping energy away from the sun . enough that like . half of humanity is going to be dead within the next 20 years . they find out a lot of stuff , they find these little things all over space that are just eating star energy p much . but then they discover that this other star like 12 light years away *should* be getting eaten by the astrophage , *isn't* . so they were like ok , the whole planet is working together now bcs otherwise we will die , let's make a ship and send some people over there to see whats up . and our main character (Ryland Grace) is one of the MAIN main scientists working on this whole problem , as well as one of the three people they sent up , AND the only one of the three who survived the coma trip there . all this is stuff we find out via Ryland's memory flashes within the first couple chapters lmao .

in current time , our guy wakes up from his 4-ish year long coma , remembering nothing about himself or why he's here . eventually he figures out he's on a space ship and he's supposed to figure out why this star isn't dying even tho there's astrophage supposedly there to eat it . AND THEN . he's looking at the science stuff . and he sees . a spaceship . an intelligent alien made spaceship . and that's where my most favoritest guy in the whole wide world is <3 anyways theres a whole stretch of time that is just ryland and this alien trying to communicate w each other , they make a tunnel and stuff between their ships but with a clear wall between their two sides bcs the alien , my bestest guy Rocky , lives in an atmosphere that is not only like 30x as heavy as earths , but is also . ammonia . Rocky is this little labrador sized spider thing , he's got 5 legs/arms all coming out of a rocky lookin "body" and he "talks" kinda similar to like , whales , and he just makes notes and chords in different ways that are his words . anyways there's a whole thing about them learning to communicate with each other , neither of them can physically speak in the others language but they p much memorize the other's language and then they can just speak to each other still in their languages , but they understand what the other person is saying , and they figure out that they're both here to figure out what's up with this sun not dying and how can we use that information to make OUR sun not die . and they are bestest friends in the whole wide world btw . they are a platonic love story to me ,, eventually Ryland finds out that the rest of Rocky's crew ALSO died , and so they're both just alone out here trying to save their entire species but now they can do it together !!!! and so they spend the majority of the book doing scientific shenanigans and other things to figure stuff out and I won't go super into all that but oh my god it's so cool ouqunfmmec anyways .

the main thing that I've been going insane about is the other of people Ryland was supposed to be on this mission with , Yáo and Ilyukhina . the plan was that the three of them would be put into comas for the trip up , and then they'd wake up once they got there and solve the problem and yay . but . when Ryland wakes up , both of them are dead in their coma bed things , and have been for a *long* time . the three of them had some special gene that made it so theyd be okay in a coma , but for the other two , smthin else went wrong , and there's no medical personnel to deal w that , and so they both died bcs the robot that was supposed to keep them alive wasn't programmed to deal with much else outside of just . keep them alive and healthy throughout the coma . anyways . keeping in mind , Ryland doesn't remember anything . he doesn't remember who these people are , or why they're there with him . but while he's by himself random things will make him remember little things about them and even though he doesn't *actually* remember them at all , every time he thinks about them he just starts *crying* . I have so many screenshots of these moments asriel . they kill me . those were his crew mates . he spent most of his last few years on earth with these people . they were like . his only friends . they were his family . even if he doesn't remember them . he misses them . it literally kills me .

look at this shit . literally devastating . what the fuck . they really just did that . and these are just the most recent ones that I screenshotted . screaming and crying and wailing about them . and he really does just suppress all actual memories about them until maybe the last third or fourth of the book . so for the majority of the book we the readers don't get to know much about them other their their names , their races , and very basic characteristics . like it's literally just oh that's Yáo . stoic Chinese military guy and that's Ilyukhina . adhd kinda crazy Russian girl . and that's it . for most of the book . bcs my bbg Ryland Grace is the king of denial and simply does not want to think about them because it will break him . and it does .

ok anyways . there's an infodump for you lmao cbnejcmemcn this book makes me sick <3

[macinthecaac]

I'm not sure how many Project Hail Mary fans here on Tumblr are part of the subreddit, so I'm posting this here to show everyone that Andy Weir might be working on a potential sequel!

If I had to guess, I feel like this story will take place on Earth after the Hail Mary left for Tau Ceti. However, Andy Weir mentioned before in an interview that he wasn't sure about the idea of a sequel following the Earth characters, as that kind of sequel wouldn't have Ryland or Rocky in it.

That video was 9 months ago, and his newest post about a possible sequel was 5 months ago. My theory is that the sequel to Project Hail Mary will switch POVs between a present day Rocky and Ryland Grace, and a past Earth dealing with the astrophage crisis. And as Ryland discovers just how much life on Earth has changed since he left, we get taken to past points of view that explain how things changed and why.

It would be a really good parallel between Ryland Grace's flashbacks in the original book, and also bring back the sort of POV-switching style of The Martian to the Project Hail Mary universe. In the first book, the one and ONLY time we get a scene outside of Ryland Grace's point of view is when Stratt is called to a court hearing, and I think that was done on purpose (I might make an essay talking about that in another post someday).

So what can PHM fans expect in the future? I can't confirm anything, obviously (I'm not Andy Weir, or Lord and Miller), but I think that a movie and a potential book sequel are definitely in the cards for Project Hail Mary!

[thornethenorn]

Commander Week Day 1 - Race

“You are a norn of prophecy, but you are not yet true norn. Any can wear the wolf, but only true norn can become the wolf.” Wolf said to Braham. He turned to the brothers standing behind him- “With some exception.”

The comment was very obviously directed at Hunter, who puffed up his chest in pride. Thorne frowned, however- unlike his little brother, who made up for his lack of spirit magic by directly channeling Wolf as a revenant, Thorne did not have any substitute.

“Focus, Vætkisson,”

Thorne took a deep breath as he hyped himself up quietly. He was stronger now- he had more power, maybe now- just maybe- he could hold his leopard form for more than 30 seconds.

It had been over a decade since he last tried to become the leopard. He just hoped he remembered how to do it. 

He took another breath. Even ignoring the pain and fatigue it caused, it was always more of a process for him than most norn. For them, it was a fast blink of an eye- one moment norn, the next animalistic. He had seen it with Shamans, and when Braham had attacked Bangar and Ryland. For Thorne, it was a slow transformation that had been described to him as ‘horrifying’ and ‘disturbing.’

He would describe it as ‘painful,’ personally.

Thorne closed his eyes and took a metaphorical tug at the magic around him, just as he had felt himself do when he was a child. He felt the rolling shudder force itself down his spine and he let out an audible grunt of pain, squeezing his hands into a fist, but his nails had begun to lengthen into claws. He choked back another cry as he felt his bones lengthen and morph, feeling his fur spread to the rest of his body. 

By the time his face was deforming, he was screaming with the voice of a panther. It was just as bad as he remembered, despite his hopes.

Why was he doing this? To prove he could? To prove he was norn?

There he had been, writhing on the ground as he forced his body into his leopard form. Rough, scratchy yowls ripped from his throat, and by the time he had fully transformed, he was too exhausted to even do anything but lay there in pain.

“Commander? Thorne- holy spirits!”

Thorne tried to open his muzzle to speak as Braham ran up to him but all that came out was a pained sound. 

“Bear’s bloody nose, Commander, I-” 

Thorne finally gave up and instead pushed the energy away as much as he could, only for the process to reverse as he screamed. He had gotten better at that part at least, from how many times he had given up halfway through as a child. 

“Braham-” Thorne tried to rasp, before he started coughing blood onto the ground. 

“Holy shit,” The other norn wheezed. “Thorne- why- why did you do that?”

Thorne scrunched up his face. What was he supposed to say? Oh, I was jealous that you’re able to do the thing our entire race is known for being able to do.

“I just…” he coughed again, trying to make his voice more light. “I just thought I'd try again,” 

It was Braham's turn to scrunch up his nose. “Well, don't do that.” He huffed. “Come on,” He grabbed Thorne’s arm and pulled him up to his feet, supporting him to make sure he didn't topple over again. “You should get some rest.”

“I don't need-”

“Commander.”

Thorne sighed in defeat, gesturing at Ivory to tell her to follow. She hopped up to her feet and bounded over to follow them. “You know, I accepted an invitation for a couch to crash on, not codling.” 

“I feel like ‘needing somewhere to stay while I'm ill’ includes ‘codling.’”

“I'm recovering, not ill!” Thorne hissed, narrowing his eyes. “And I’m older than you.”

“We don't know that,” Braham said with a shit-eating grin.

Thorne blew out an angry puff of air as he sat down. “Well, we don't know that I'm not older than you, either.”

“Alright, alright.” Braham laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” 

Thorne blinked for a moment, caught off guard by the question. “About what?”

“About trying to transform.”

“I already said, I just wanted to see if I could, now that my magic is being purified..”

“You’re sure?”

“YES, Braham!” Thorne snapped before he could stop himself. “I just- It’s hard being around other norn, okay?! Being the Commander only made me even more different than I already was and I just-!”

Thorne pulled away with a thrashing tail and a burning heat behind his eyes. “I’m tired of being strange! I just want to fit in with a homestead, even just for a little bit. Fuck,”

“I… didn’t think you were that interested.” 

“I- I wasn’t. Not until now. I…” Thorne sighed. “I guess I just want somewhere to belong now that Dragon’s Watch is… on standby. Spirits, that’s stupid.” 

“No, no, I get that.” Braham said quickly. “After Jormag went dormant, I felt like I couldn’t show my face anywhere. When we went up north, being called ‘Vowbreaker’ to my face didn’t help with that. It… it took a long time for me to be comfortable again. It’s not stupid, promise.”

Thorne sighed. “Right…”

“You’ll find a place, Commander. Just focus on not going insane first, yeah?”

Thorne smiled before he could stop himself. “Yeah. Yeah, alright.” He sat back down with a huff. “I’ll consider not going batshit on you,” He smiled.

“I appreciate it.”

“Don’t celebrate too soon, Eirsson. I may be weakened, but I can still put up a fight.”

“I’ve noticed. You’ve been hunting, right?”

“Hunting is easy. It’s the least I could do.”

“Hey, that’s something. Helping out the community,”

“Like I said, I’m trying to fit in.” Thorne chuckled. “Stop trying to make me feel better,”

“Is it working?”

“Eh… not really. Thanks for trying, I guess. I just don’t think this is something that can be talked through.”

“Well, I tried.”

“Heh. Alright.”

[ikatako38]

Squidmas Special ‘23

Rating: G, Word Count: 4,863

This special was originally posted on AO3 in two parts between Chapter #22 - 1 and Chapter #22 - 2. It takes place 8 years after the end of TPWCH. Ryland, Three, and Captain are all the same person! I also made this relationship chart to help since there’s so many characters being introduced so quickly. And yeah, Koi’s birthday is on Squidmas, so they’re celebrating both events together. The story starts below the cut!

“You’re sure it’ll be okay? It’s just… there’s gonna be so many people…”

“Yes, Capa. It’s gonna be okay. We have to let Tsuku spread her wings. She has to be able to take risks in order to live her life. We took plenty of them.”

“I know, I know…”

“And, hey. If anything goes wrong, we’ll both be there to protect her.”

The Inkling took their husband’s hands playfully. “I think that would just be you.”

“You’re telling me the Captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon wouldn’t be able to hold off a couple of fourteen-year-olds? Because I know they could.” Eight bopped the white puff on the end of Captain’s Squidmas hat.

“I get nervous around little kids! I don’t know what to do or say! You know this.”

“Is that what it is? You’re nervous the kids won’t like you?”

“I mean…” Captain shrugged. They hadn’t been consciously thinking about that, but now that Eight mentioned it, maybe that was part of their hesitation.

“It’s all right to feel nervous… but kids always love you! Remember that one at Tako Bell who—”

“Yeah, yeah I know. I’m probably worrying for no reason.”

“Such is life.”

“And… what about the other parents? They’re probably all cishet Inklings, and we’re so much younger than everyone else…”

“If anything goes wrong, we can leave, okay? Or you can leave and I can stay… or whatever works in the moment.”

Captain nodded, and after a moment he raised his head to kiss Eight. “Okay, now where’s Tsuku?”

Captain made their way to their daughter’s bedroom door. “Hey Tsuku, it’s about time to go!”

“Ah, sorry, sorry… just five more minutes!”

“Okay koko, just come out to the living room when you’re ready!”

Returning to the living room, Captain saw Eight waiting, now with his shoes on.

“Tsuku’s still going to be about ten minutes,” Captain explained.

Eight checked his phone. “We’re going to be late…”

“That’s okay.”

“Yeah. Yeah it is.”

Captain ended up opening one of the dumb word games on their phone, and Eight did his best to help, until Tsuku appeared in the hallway. She was wearing a cute little red dress with white flats. Captain bent down closer to her and gushed, “Myushi-myushi ba~!

“Oh my cod, Fufu.”

Captain kissed the top of Tsuku’s head. “C’mon, let’s go!”

It was only a short train ride, and then they were standing at the front door of Koi’s family’s house.

“Um… do we knock…?” Eight murmured.

They looked at each other, and Captain shrugged. Then they both jumped back when Tsuku stepped up between them and gave the door a confident rap. Koi opened the door a few seconds later, and her orange pigtails flopped over Tsuku’s shoulders as they hugged tightly. Captain and Eight threw each other an awkward glance as they waited in the blocked doorway, and the two young Cephalings didn’t separate until another voice from inside the house called out, “Tsuku! You made it!”

The Inkling who had just started going by KJ ran up to them and hugged Tsuku too, although—both Captain

and Eight noticed—this one was much shorter.

Meanwhile, Koi stood on her toes and said, “Hello, Mr…. um… and… uh… sorry, are you… Tsuku’s parents?”

“Yep,” Eight said. “You can just call us us Eight and Captain… or Tsuku’s dad and parent, if that’s easier. The last names are sort of complicated.”

“Oh, okay! Welcome to our home… sorry again.”

“It’s totally okay! No harm done.”

As they entered, following behind the girls and KJ, Captain made a whining sound and whispered to Eight, “That was so awkward…”

Eight gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “I know it’s hard. You’re doing great.” Eight also slipped his hand into Captain’s for support.

A few seconds later, they arrived in the kitchen, where René was at the dining table trying to explain the rules of chess to Cody, seemingly rather unsuccessfully. Beyond that was the living room, where eight adults sat on several sofas and armchairs arranged in a U-shape around a low coffee table, conversing in groups of two or three. A Squidmas tree in the corner glistened with ornaments and tinsel.

When René and Cody saw them, they both got up and raced toward them. Cody got there first and gave Tsuku a quick hug before rattling off a long stream of almost unintelligible words while bouncing on his heels excitedly. Then René hugged her too, but, unless Captain was mistaken, it seemed a bit more awkward than the others had been.

“Hi boys, nice to meet you. I’m Eight, Tsuku’s dad.” Eight shook each of their hands.

Captain just kind of smiled at them.

Thankfully, Cody interrupted: “René was just showing me this game called chest!”

“Chess,” René corrected.

“And there’s all these little figurine things that are so cool, my favorite is the little horse!”

“Knight.”

“And to win the game you have to trap the other player’s king, and it's called a checkmake!”

“Checkmate.”

“C’mon, René can show us how to play, he’s so good at explaining things!”

Tsuku, Koi, and KJ looked at each other, shrugged, and then started to gather around the table.

Eight squeezed Captain’s hand. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be…”

They hadn’t stepped two paces into the living room when a woman with long orange tentacles jumped up from a sofa to face them. “Oh, welcome! You must be Tsuku’s parents, then? Eight and Captain, right? Here, take our seats!” She started tugging at the arm of the man next to her until he stood.

“Oh, no, it’s okay!” Eight tried.

“No, I insist. Have a seat.”

So Captain and Eight scooted in next to a pale woman with frizzy purple tentacles, just like her son.

“You must be Cody’s mother?” Eight said.

“Yep. Alicia. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said Eight.

“And you’re Tsuku’s parents?”

“Right. We—”

“Oh, of course!” Koi’s mother interrupted, now sitting on the floor with her legs folded. Her voice was so strong that the other conversations quickly fizzled out. “Everyone, these are Tsuku’s parents, Eight and Captain. Eight and Captain, you’ve just met Alicia.” She pointed to a Black family with green tentacles sitting together on the sofa against the left wall. The husband and wife seemed to be the oldest out of everyone there, while the third person was the youngest. “These are Atlas and Jeane, René’s parents. And Atlas’s son Alex, just next to them.” Now she gestured toward the couch on the right, where another couple sat, this one with magenta tentacles. “And KJ’s parents, Vanessa and Robert. Have I missed anyone? Oh, of course! I’m Koi’s mother, Amanda, and this is my husband Glen.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Eight said.

“Nice to meet you,” Captain managed to squeak out, adding a little wave.

“You know, you both look so young for your age,” Amanda continued. “I’m so jealous!”

“Actually, I’m only 26…” Captain explained.

“Oh!” Captain could see the gears turning in Amanda’s head, trying to do the math.

“Um… we adopted her when she was six. I was only eighteen, so it was a hard decision, but she didn’t have a home, and we were the only ones who could take her in. I’ve always been… something between a sibling and a parent to her.”

“I see. Well, from what I hear from Koi, you’re doing a great job.”

Captain thought of several things to say, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words.

“Oh… have I said something?”

“Sorry, sorry! That just… means a lot, is all. Thank you.”

Amanda directed her next question at Eight, which Captain was grateful for. “So how long have you two been together?”

Eight looked at Captain with such a reminiscent, loving expression that it nearly made Captain blush in front of everyone. “We met each other eight years ago in July, and we started dating in November. We got married three years later, and we just had our fifth anniversary in August.”

Captain was frozen the whole time, staring down at a certain spot on the carpet. But when Eight shifted and leaned into him slightly, it broke the trance, and Captain looked up at him. They shared a smile.

“Remember our fifth anniversary, hun?” said Vanessa. “That feels so long ago.”

“Well, we are getting dangerously close to our twentieth, aren’t we?” Robert said back with a chuckle.

“At least you’re not staring down your fiftieth birthday,” Atlas remarked, with such an even tone Captain wouldn’t have known what to make of it if the smile hadn’t given it away.

“Fifty? No~!” Glen said with incredulity.

“Only two months left. I might as well start digging my grave now.”

“Oh my cod, dad…” the son, Alex, groaned.

“Oh, like you’ve never been dramatic about your age. I’m 14, I’m basically an adult,” Atlas mocked, using a deeper voice.

Alex rolled his eyes and went back to scrolling on his phone, but just after the conversation picked up again and everyone else had turned their attention elsewhere, Captain noticed that Altas nudged his son, and they both shared a smirk that somehow seemed to convey a strikingly strong bond of love between them.

Captain snapped to attention when they heard their name; it was coming from Amanda again: “Thank you again for coming, Captain, Eight. I’m sure Koi will love having Tsuku here. And it’s so nice to finally meet you both! And the same to you too, of course, Atlas and Jeane.”

A knock came from the front door. Captain whipped their head around toward it and made a confused face. They were sure that their family had arrived last, and everyone who they had expected to to come was already there. So who could this be at the door? Perhaps a pizza delivery or something?

They all already knew that the kids would beat any adult to the door, so they just waited, and Captain watched the archway to the kitchen anxiously, until finally someone stepped through—

“Lyle? What…” Captain couldn’t stop the exclamation before it was already out of their mouth.

“Heya, Captain. And everyone,” Lyle said with a smug grin. Eli stepped into view a moment later, holding his husband’s hand, and with his other hand he towed little Tempest behind him.

“Hi Amanda, thank you for having us!” Eli said.

“Also, um… Tempest’s bio moms wanted to come too at the last second, I hope it’s all right that we brought them along.”

And now the Meer-Hannon family stepped forward to reveal Agents Four and Neo Three—but they really should be calling them Aubrey and Yuki in a context like this. Each one was holding an infant with yellow ink.

Amanda jumped up from her seat again to greet them. “Oh, of course! Thank you so much for coming, I’m sure Betta will be delighted to see Tempest. She’s outside with Ava and Kate.”

“Do you wanna go outside?” Eli asked Tempest.

Tempest looked toward the sliding-glass door but shrunk back away from it, into Eli’s body. “You don’t have to,” he soothed. “You can stay in here if you want.”

Then Koi’s younger sister Betta poked her head in from outside. “Tempest?”

“Betta!” And any apprehension disappeared.

Captain jumped when Alicia called out from right next to him, “Kate? Is everyone doing okay out there?”

Now the older Larsen’s face appeared in the door. “Yep, all good, mom! Betta bit Aaron’s finger, but he’ll survive!”

“Aaron, are you sure you’re okay?” Alicia called back.

“Yes, Ms. Caruso, I’m fine!” a slightly strained voice called back.

“Betta!” Amanda called over them, jumping up yet again and heading for the door. “We do not bite our guests!”

“You want me, you get the whole package,” Kate joked.

“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Aaron said, coming just far enough into view that Captain could see him staring into her eyes. The scene was sickly sweet. Cod, had Captain and Eight been like that when they were younger?

Yes. Yes, they had been.

Then Captain’s thoughts were interrupted by a desperate cry of “FUFU!”

“Koko… woi’e bare?” Captain responded instinctively. Then they froze. Terrified, they shot a quick glance back at the other parents. None of them seemed to be staring at him—at least not directly—which he took as a good sign.

“What is it, Tsuku?” Captain said, hoping it would encourage her to respond in Inkling.

It worked, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway since Tsuku got close and whispered, “I forgot the gift for the Secret Snowsquid!”

The gift… had they left it at home? Wait. Captain felt his pocket and, sure enough, he felt a small box covered in wrapping paper. “Oh, I have it here! I grabbed it just in case.”

Captain held it it to her, and the distress was replaced by a huge grin of relief as she took it. “You had it the whole time? Why didn’t you tell me!”

Captain lifted their hands in a shrugging pose. “I forgot.”

They both giggled. “Thank you, Fufu!”

“Of course, Koko. Are you having a good time?”

“Yeah! I just beat everyone in Super Splat Squids!”

“I’m glad all the years of indoctrinating you into video games paid off.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go back now. Thank you!” She gave them a quick hug.

“Of course.”

And now everyone was staring at them.

“Aww, you have such a cute relationship with her!” Vanessa said.

“Oh. It’s uh… nothing special,” Three murmured.

Now Amanda returned from outside.

“I’m so sorry about that again, Alicia.”

“Oh, I’m sure Aaron will be fine. As long as Betta doesn’t have rabies!”

Everyone laughed except for Amanda, who gave a tight-lipped smile. Then she seemed to notice Lyle, Eli, Aubrey, Yuki, and the twins. “Oh! Please, come sit! Oh… oh dear, we really should have planned for this better… you know what, I’ll go get the lawn chairs!”

“No no, don’t bother! We’ll manage. I think Mako wants down, anyway,” Aubrey assured her.

Amanda looked frantically around her before finally managing to calm herself down. “Very well, then. And you must be…?”

“Aubrey. And this is my girlfriend Yuki.”

Yuki braced Seki against her chest with one arm and raised the other hand in greeting.

“Good to meet you! Good to meet you…” Amanda seemed on the verge of a panic attack.

Four and Yuki took up spots on the floor and let Mako and Seki start toddling around them. Meanwhile, Eli sat on the arm of the sofa right next to Captain, and Lyle gave everyone an almost defiant look before plopping down right on Eli’s lap.

“Wow Eli, thanks for the up-close view of your ass,” Captain murmured.

“No, thank you! That’s the first time you’ve ever complimented my ass before.”

Captain gave a clearly forced smile.

They got along fine with Eli nowadays, but they couldn’t completely ignore the small part of them that got nervous every time they were around Eli, or even Lyle. It just dug up too many old memories.

The group got to asking about the twins, and how one of the hardest times was right after they start walking because you have to chase them around everywhere, and Jeane said something about how lucky Aubrey and Yuki were to be young and agile. Aubrey seemed to relax more after that.

“You seem awfully quiet. Yuki, isn’t it?” Atlas said eventually, holding eye contact with the Octoling.

Noticing his stare, Yuki signed I’m deaf with one hand, sort of dismissively.

Aubrey nudged her and explained, “Yuki is deaf.”

“Oh, my sister is deaf, so I know some of the local sign! Um…” Robert then signed something Captain didn’t recognize, probably in Inkopolis Signed Vernacular.

“Um…” Aubrey began, also clearly not recognizing it.

Japen. Japen! Japenese Sign Language! Yuki signed to her fervently.

“Oh, we use… uh… Japenese Sign Language, since Yuki is originally from Japen. It’s… an obscure local dialect.”

Yuki signed something else Captain didn’t recognize, looking a bit less confident with the hand movements, and Yuki and Robert conversed for a few minutes.

About two hours had passed since the Meer-Hannons and Kekoa-Johnsons’ arrival when the doorbell rang again, and this time it really was just pizza. Everyone gathered around the kitchen counter, where Amanda was frantically trying to set out plates and plasticware. “Okay everyone, if you want a drink, write your name on your cup with this Sharkie, and be sure to put it back when—” But the rest of Amanda’s words were drowned out by the commotion.

Captain hung back a ways away from they’d had the the first chance crowd, figuring they’d let everything die down before going to get their food. Eight waited with them, and a moment later his hand slipped into their hand. “Doing okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah. I think so. I wasn’t expecting to see Lyle and all of them.”

“Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise! Is it okay that they’re here?”

“Of course! Of course it’s okay that they’re here. It’s nice to see everyone.”

Eight met Captain’s eyes, and he didn’t look away until he seemed satisfied with Captain’s reassurance. “You can always step away if you need to, I’ll cover for you.”

“Thanks.”

They shared a smile. “Pizza?”

“Sure.”

Everyone huddled in the kitchen, making use of any chair, barstool, or—in Mako, Seki, and Eli’s case—lap that they could find, while Captain and Eight leaned against the kitchen counter, putting as much distance between themselves and the commotion as they could. Captain nodded in Eli and Lyle’s direction and scoffed. “How are they so confident? Lyle didn’t figure out he’s gay until like five years after I did. And Eli took even longer!”

“Yeah, but it went over a lot better for them. They don’t have the same trauma. And besides, it’s Lyle and Eli. Did you really expect anything different?”

Eight reached an arm around them and gently pulled them in closer.

“Merry Squidmas, Capa.”

After a glance to make sure no one was watching them, Eight gave Captain a quick kiss.

“Merry Squidmas, Eight.”

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

That was followed by Koi opening some presents from her family and sharing some hugs with her parents.

Finally, Amanda announced that it was time for the gift exchange. They all gathered in the living room again, with Tsuku, Koi, Betta, René, Cody, Ava, Kate, and Aaron sitting in a circle on the floor near the tree. Each held a gift wrapped in colorful paper, ranging in size from the wallet-sized rectangle Tsuku was holding to a box as tall as Betta. Captain found themself staring at each of the wrapped gifts, as if staring hard enough would allow them to bore through the wrappings and see their contents.

Who had drawn Tsuku’s name weeks ago? What would they have gotten her? What if something went wrong?

Captain somehow missed Amanda’s explanation of how the gift exchange would work and the first few gifts being given. He didn’t even notice what the gifts were, only that Betta was shouting in joy, and everyone was laughing, and everything had suddenly become very, very loud.

Captain made eye contact with Eight, who was already giving him a concerned look. Eight nodded, and Captain got up, trying not to seem too hurried as they made for the bathroom. They sunk to the floor and put their head between their knees, left by themself with their thoughts, and took several deep breaths to try to calm down.

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

Fourteen years ago

Ryland stared listlessly at nothing in particular as the students around him filtered into the classroom and found their seats. He didn’t even notice when someone sat just to his right.

“Hi, Ryland!”

Ryland snapped out of his daze. “Oh, Ophie. Hi.”

Ryland's and Ophelia’s fathers knew each other from work, and Ryland was pretty sure his father was trying to set him up with her, but she had always been nice to him.

She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “Who did you get for your Secret Snowsquid?”

“We’re not supposed to tell,” Ryland said.

Ophie giggled. “That’s the right answer!”

Ophie seemed to be waiting for a certain response, but Ryland had no idea what it could be, or what she had meant from her last exclamation. He just kind of smiled awkwardly at her.

Luckily, a few seconds later, the teacher saved him from having to respond. “Good morning, class. Does everyone have their gift?”

“Yes, Mrs. Ippy,” chorused about a quarter of the students. Most of the others did have gifts; they just weren’t paying attention. “We’re going to be gathering by grade, so everyone find the others in your grade and sit in a circle. First graders, up here by me…”

Ryland automatically tuned out the extraneous information, but by the time he tuned back in, it was too late, and everyone had already started moving. Ryland just followed Ophie back to the corner of the classroom near the door, where they sat on the carpet. About thirty of them gathered around in a circle, out of whom Ryland recognized Billy and his clan—Lyle,

Eli, Clyde, and Blitz. Ryland and Billy made eye contact, and the smirk on Billy’s face turned Ryland’s stomach.

Instead, he scanned the rest of the circle, trying to remember which one Cairo was—that was the name he had drawn a week ago.

“Okay everyone, put your gifts in the middle of the circle. The Class Leader will go first, and then go around the circle one at a time,” Mrs. Ippy called from somewhere far away.

Billy was up in an instant and making his way toward the growing pile of presents.

“Hey! It’s not your turn!” shouted one of the girls—Emily, he thought.

“Hmm, I’m sure the Class Leader doesn’t mind, right?” he glared at Blitz, who quickly shook his head. So Billy sauntered up to the pile and dug around for a while before finally pulling out a package. He tore it open and revealed a box of chocolates. Ryland thought he heard Ophie gasp next to him, but she didn’t say anything.

They continued around the circle, and eventually Ophie tore open her gift to reveal a pack of orange gummy candies. She frowned, probably because she didn’t like orange flavor. She looked at Ryland, and he just shrugged. “I’ll swap with you if I get something you like.”

“Oh. So… you didn’t get me?”

“No, I got Cairo. I don’t know who got you.”

Then Billy’s perpetually whiny voice interrupted them. “C’mon Ryland, that’s enough chit-chat! You’re holding up everyone else.”

Something felt wrong as Ryland got up and walked to the center of the circle. He squirmed as he felt everyone’s eyes on him. The whole room seemed more quiet than it should have been. It felt like it took an eternity to dig through the pile of presents in search of one with his own name.

And there it was: a small box about the size of a pack of playing cards. And for a minute he thought that might be what they were. He went back to his seat and sat down with it, hoping that that would reduce the number or eyes on him, but it was no use. Everyone was staring at him, as if expecting something to happen. Finally, Ryland realized he couldn’t stall any longer, and he slowly began to tear open the package.

But it wasn’t a pack of cards at all.

It was a pack of cigarettes.

It only took Ryland a few seconds before he understood what they meant. He started to shake, staring uncontrollably at the pack of cigarettes in his hand until it fell to the floor with a crash, spilling some of its contents.

Ryland could feel Billy’s triumphant glare on him, and he didn’t dare look up.

“Ryland! Are those cigarettes? Hand them over!” Mrs. Ippy was glaring down at him with her hand outstretched. Ryland shoved the cigarettes back in then grabbed the box and tentatively raised it toward her until she snatched it away. “And what were you doing with these?”

“They’re not mine! Obviously someone gave it to me as their Secret Snowsquid gift. I don’t want them!”

Mrs. Ippy just kept glaring down at him with a suspicious look on her face. Desperate, Ryland looked around and saw Billy staring directly at him with a malicious grin. And he gave Ryland a small nod, as if saying Go on. But Ryland didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, and even if he had there was no way he was letting Billy get away with this.

“Like I said, the person who brought them in the classroom was whoever got me for Secret Snowsquid! It was B—”

“Fine, then I’ll go check the lists,” Mrs. Ippy said, spinning on her heel and always making it halfway back across the classroom before Ryland could finish. Ryland looked to Ophie for comfort, but she looked just as nervous as he was.

A moment later, Mrs. Ippy was back, this time holding a clipboard. All she said was, “Ophie, I’ll be accompanying you to the principal’s office. You’re being expelled.”

Ryland was barely able to put any words together as he stared at Ophie. “No! No, it was… wait… Ophie? It wasn’t you, right?”

But Ophie was already standing. “It’s okay Ryland, don’t fight it or we’ll just both end up expelled.”

“Wait… Ophie…”

“I’m sorry, Ryland. I hope I see you again.”

But he never did.

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

Captain groaned and slowly pulled his hand back from his head as the memory finished playing.

Of course, that night he had remembered Ophie’s gasp and had realized that the chocolates had been for him, which of course meant that Billy had swapped out the gifts—perhaps just the tags. But Ophie had already been expelled, and who would have believed him, anyway? Ophie had been right. Mrs. Ippy had already been suspicious enough of Ryland, and Billy hadn’t left any traceable evidence. Ryland probably would have been expelled, too, if he had tried anything.

But maybe that would have been for the best.

Captain pushed themself back up into an upright position and took a deep breath.

Tsuku’s gift exchange wouldn’t be like Ryland’s. She was surrounded by good friends and responsible adults. Tsuku may have a secret just like Ryland had, but maybe Captain could muster the optimism to believe that, unlike Ryland, Tsuku would be accepted.

Captain’s hand rested on the door handle. Yes. Everything would be okay. They truly believed it.

And they pushed the door open. A few strides, and they were back in the living room. It was still chaos, but the smiles on everyone’s faces reassured them. Especially Eight’s.

They sat down next to their husband, and Tsuku ran up to them almost immediately. “Look, Fufu! Look what Koi got me!”

Tsuku was bouncing around with such excited energy that Captain couldn’t discern the object in her hands until they reached out and held the corner to steady it. It was a sketchbook, and on the cover… a silhouette of an octopus.

“Oh… that’s great, Tsuku…” Captain tried to muster enthusiasm in their response, but they just couldn’t stop staring at the octopus emblazoned on the front.

“What is it?” Tsuku finally asked.

“Tsuku… does Koi know you’re an Octoling?”

Tsuku looked at him curiously, almost confused. “Yeah, of course! All of them do. They’ve known for a while.”

Captain looked around the room at everyone, beginning to question his original impressions of each of them. “And their parents…?”

Tsuku nodded. “As far as I can tell. It’s not really a big deal.”

Captain suddenly pulled in Tsuku for a tight hug, and they were holding back tears. “I’m so glad you found them. I’m… so happy for you, Koko.”

Tsuku started pulling back after a moment, and Captain realized that they might have hugged her for too long. But she still had a big smile on her face. “I love you, Fufu. Merry Squidmas!”

“I love you too. Merry Squidmas.”

They shared one more smile.

“Now go have fun with your friends!”

Captain watched them all for a few minutes, seeing René blush as Tsuku asked whether he liked the Tableturf cards she had gotten him, seeing KJ make a remark that they all laughed at, seeing Cody wow them by doing tricks with his new yo-yo, and seeing Tsuku wrap Koi up in another hug.

“You did this, you know,” Eight said, leaning into Captain. “I mean, Tsuku deserves some credit, and I guess I was there, too. But you made all this possible.”

Eight was right, wasn’t he? Nothing could ever be perfect and easy, but Tsuku was never going to have to endure the hardships that they had.

They had broken the cycle.

“Yeah. I did it.”

[five-rivers]

On the Manufacture of Gods

AKA the reason I was complaining about the Generator Rex timeline earlier this week. @ all my DP followers, give Generator Rex a try if you haven't, yet. It definitely scratches that unethical human experimentation itch! :p

AO3

.

“You’re not still thinking about it, are you?”

“Huh?” Violeta looked up from her notebook, her pen spinning out of her hand and clattering onto the floor.  “What?”

Rafael chuckled.  “You are still thinking about it.  That joke of a job offer.”  He leaned across the dining room floor to peer at her notes.  “Giving a bunch of rich idiots the power of God.” 

“Mm,” said Violeta.  “Maybe not that end goal, but the money… and the things we’d have to research on the way.  I was thinking…  You might know what they want isn’t possible, and they might know what they want isn’t possible.  But in the meantime…”  She trailed off, suggestively, and held up her notebook in front of her face. 

“Are you suggesting we run a scam?” asked Rafael, taking the notebook.  “Ah, a list of potential medical advances.”

“Computer science as well.”

“Human longevity, oncology, genetic diseases…”

“Not to mention physics, microbiology, bioengineering, nanotechnology…”

“It’s quite a list.  A bit beyond our purview, though.”

“And we have quite a list of friends.  Friends who might like steady work.  Gabriel and Peter, at least.”  Violeta smiled.  “It’s a victimless crime, you know.  If they have enough money to throw at something like this.  And they would be getting their money’s worth.”

“Mhm,” said Rafael.  “They do say that the first benefit of functional nanotechnology is immortality.  But control over the fundamental forces of nature, not so much.  God, it was so hard not to laugh in their faces when they said they wanted to control gravity and magnetism.  We’re so, so far from that.”

“Yes, but imagine how much money they’d throw at you while you were researching the problem.”

Rafael smiled, imagining it.  “It is a pleasant thought.”

The front door slammed open.  “Mama!  Papa!”

“We’re in here Ceasar!” called Violeta. 

A seven-year-old with dirty, skinned knees skidded into the kitchen. 

“Goodness,” said Violeta, getting up.  “Did you fall down?  Are you hurt?”

“No!” said Ceasar.  “Mama, what’s bigger, cells or atoms?”

“Cells are bigger,” said Violeta.  “They’re made out of atoms.”

“Ha!” said Ceasar, bouncing.  “I told him, I told him!”  He ran back to the door. 

“Told who, dear?”

“Van!”  The door slammed shut before Violeta or Rafael could say anything. 

“Van,” said Rafael.  “Van…  Isn’t he almost twice as old as Ceasar?”

“It’s fine,” said Violeta.  “We knew he’d be the youngest in the advanced classes when we signed him up.  And I think Van Kleiss is only ten or so.  Maybe eleven.”

“Well.  I suppose as long as they’re getting along…”  He drummed his fingers on the notebook, then put it down in front of Violeta’s seat at the table.  “Maybe we can try our hands at being con artists if our current jobs fall through.”

.

“Scamming a bunch of rich people out of a whole lot of money?” asked Gabriel Rylander, barely audible over the din of the bar.  He finished off his shot.  “Count me in.”  He shook Violeta's hand firmly.  “But is it really a scam, if we’re still giving them something?”

“Eh,” said Violeta, rocking her hand back and forth.  “We’re just failing to mention that their end goal isn’t feasible and isn’t something we’re actually trying to work towards.  We just need you and Peter to be on the same page as far as telling them we're working on it goes.”

“Sounds a bit risky,” said Peter Meechum.  “But I guess no one would ever be able to prove anything, so… why not?”  He took a sip from his drink, grimaced, and put it back down.  “What do these guys call themselves again?”

“The Consortium.”

.

Rafael frowned at the documents.  Summaries of his research, Violeta’s, Gabriel’s, Peter’s, the other scientists’ that had joined the Nanite Project, most of them agreeing that there was no way to fulfil the Consortium’s requests, but that the good that could be done in the meantime was too great to pass up, even a packet of code from one of Ceasar’s projects.  They’d been working on this project for seven years, now, but this was the first time he actually thought there was a chance of success.

He wasn’t sure he liked it. 

Oh, sure, he was thrilled with the results of his latest experiments, and the leisure to learn more, to further his own education – to the point where he sometimes felt like he was turning into a cartoonish omnidisciplinary scientist – but the idea of giving those rich, powerful men even more was… troubling, to say the least. 

“Rafael?  Love, are you still down here?”

“Yes,” called Rafael.  “What is it?”

“Dinner,” said Violeta, a bit dryly.  “Ceasar wants pizza, incidentally.  What are you doing?”

“Thinking about the last results we got back from CERN,” said Rafael.  “Obviously there are still problems on virtually every level, but…  With the newly discovered particles, what we’re doing isn’t a pipe dream anymore.”

“Mm,” said Violeta.  “Does that bother you?”

“You know how I feel about the people we work for.”

Violeta drummed her fingers on her elbow.  “You know, they don’t have to ever get what we do.”

“Pardon?”

“Think about it.  When we make these things, if we make these things, who’s going to have control?  Us or them?”

“Violeta…”

“And we always have the option to just… destroy everything.  Or democratize it!  Spread it and all its good over the whole world!”  She waved her hand over her head as if defining a rainbow.  “We’re making a post-scarcity society a possibility.  Why should anyone have to pay for it, once it’s done?”

“I suppose,” said Rafael. 

“In the meantime… pizza.”

Rafael smile.  “Pizza,” he agreed.  “Goodness, is he ever going to get tired of it?”

“Maybe once he isn’t a teenager anymore.”

.

It was silent around the table. 

“Do we really have a workable plan of action?” asked Rafael, a little stunned. 

“I wouldn’t say workable, not yet,” said Gabriel, waving his hands. 

“But it’s close,” said Peter.  “A lot of the problems are on the biological side of things,” he continued, glancing at Violeta, “but between my team and Rylander’s we’ve definitely solved the processing power issue and many of the miniaturization problems.”

“That’s thanks to you, by the way,” said Gabriel, tipping an imaginary hat towards Rafael.  “The selenium process especially was revolutionary.”

“I think I can solve the biological problems,” said Violeta, cutting off Gabriel’s last words.  “I can – It’s not…”  She trailed off, biting her thumbnail. 

“Violeta?”

“Part of the problem,” she said, “is control.  The interface between the organism and the machines.  It’s learning how to use them.  Like a new sense, or a new limb.  We’re going to need live trials.  Test subjects.  And—” She broke off again, more sharply.  “The Consortium is never going to have the ability to actively use these smoothly.  No adult human is.  Or, at least, that kind of adaptability, of brain plasticity, is going to be rare.”

“You’re not suggesting we start experimenting on children?” asked Peter, appalled.  He and his wife had been trying to have children for a while, now, but they were having trouble.  Gabriel – also a new father – didn’t look happy, either. 

“Not… exactly.  We’d do plant and animal trials first, of course, you know, model organisms, and move on from there.  I’m thinking more…  Fetal tissue.  In vitro.”  She held up a hand, pinching air between her fingers as if to show how small the research matter would be.  “In carefully controlled lab situations only.”  She laughed a little.  “Caesar actually has an idea about how to manage that, believe it or not.”

Peter made a face.  “As wonderful as Caesar is, he’s still a teenager, Vi.”

“I wasn’t saying he’d be the one doing all the programming.  Just that his overall idea is decent.”

Gabriel cleared his throat.  “I think there might be some ways around those control issues,” he said.  “Why do we need to learn how to work with the nanites when it should really be the other way around?  Make them do the hard part.  Maybe that’ll cut down on the human trials… Or we could con one of our lovely funders to volunteer.  We’re already conning them out of millions of dollars, after all.”  He picked up his drink and downed it in one go. 

“We could also stop,” said Rafael, hardly believing what he was suggesting. 

“You can’t be serious,” said Peter.  “After we’ve come this far?”

“I believe in keeping options on the table,” said Rafael, defensively. 

“Do you want to stop?” asked Violeta, and he knew that she would, for him. 

But… “No,” said Rafael.  Of course he didn’t want to stop.  Who could at this point?  “But we should try to come up with failsafes.  Some of these plans…  Not just anyone should have access to the ability to turn off gravity.”

“That’s fair,” said Violeta.  “But considering how we’re programming these…  Or, at least, how I understand we’re programming things, I could be mistaken… Would it be possible to program the nanites to only respond to certain people?  Have the higher-level functions only work for certain biometrics, or DNA scans, that kind of thing.”

Gabriel scratched his chin.  “Possibly, possibly.  But we run into the adaptability problem again.  We’re not young by any means.  How do you feel about bombs?”

“Gabriel, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious!  Hence the bombs.  Blowing things up are a traditional way of getting rid of things.”

“If we build these right, we won’t be able to get rid of them by blowing them up.”

Rafael cleared.  “I think your suggestion holds merit, in an extreme case.  As long as we’ve gotten past the point where the nanites will kill everyone, spreading them out, scattering them, might be better than leaving them in the hands of the Consortium.  We’d have to do a risk assessment.  It might be better, too, to limit the number of ‘control’ nanites.  Maybe even find a way to hide them.  Hide that they exist, even.”

“What if,” said Violeta, slowly, “we make something compatible with the nanites?  Work backwards to work forward.  Or, at least, work from both ends.”

“You mean GMOs?” asked Peter. 

“Something like that,” agreed Violeta. 

“I’m not sure how this is a failsafe,” said Gabriel, “but that sounds like we’ve gone in a circle again.  Back to us being compatible with them.”

“If,” said Violeta, “we can make it so there’s a person we can trust, and they’re the only one who can properly use the nanites… And we implement some of your other ideas, like limiting number of ‘control’ nanites, and keep those to ourselves…  We wouldn’t have direct control, but we could decide whether or not they get used.”

“And where are we going to get a person like that?” asked Peter, testily.  “Wasn’t the whole point of this that people can’t just pick up how to use nanites, normally?”

“Easy,” said Violeta, grinning at Rafael.  “We make them.”

.

“Caesar,” said Violeta, “how do you feel about a younger brother?”

“Fine, I guess?” said Caesar, putting down his spoon and looking between his two parents.  “Why?  Does this have something to do with your project?”

“Yes.  We think it’s time you learned more about it.”

.

The best way to test something, to look for the changes in something, was to use a control group.  That was often difficult in diverse biological groups, like humans.  Studies rarely showed the full picture, sadly. 

Twins were a natural choice, for experiments like that.  Identical in age and, generally, in upbringing.  But you couldn’t just go out and get a twin. 

Unless, of course, you were a scientist with unlimited access to a massively unethical and extremely expensive lab. 

Caesar sat beside her, watching the test tube.  “It’s hard to believe he’s going to grow up to be me.”

“Not you, exactly,” said Violeta.  “Just… nearly.”  She had made adjustments, some of them of her own design, others suggested by her co-conspirators.  The goal was to optimize nanite compatibility.  “You’ll be different people,” she continued.  “Assuming he survives.  He’ll be more like a… twin.  A very delayed twin.”

Caesar made an affirmative noise.  “You know what I mean.”

“I’m sure it will be odd,” agreed Violeta, “but even though the odds are low, this could be an entirely possible natural genetic combination.”

“But it isn’t.”

“That’s true,” agreed Violeta. 

“When I get out of college,” he said, “do you think I can work on this, too?  Just, with programing.  Not biology so much.”

“I don’t see why not,” said Violeta.

“It’s just…”  He reached out, as if to tap the glass vial with his finger, then withdrew, crossing his arms.  “I don’t know.  I feel like I should help him already, I guess.”

Violeta fluffed his hair, then swooped in to give him a peck on the forehead.  “I’m sure you will,” she said, “and you’ll be the best big brother and scientist there ever was.”

As expected, Caesar’s face scrunched up. 

“What if he doesn’t make it, though?”

“Then we’ll try again.”

.

“Have you thought of a name?” asked Rafael. 

Across the room, Caesar’s head snapped up, homework instantly forgotten. 

“I have some ideas,” said Violeta, hiding her smile from Caesar but not Rafael. 

“You should call him Caeser the Second,” said Caesar, which was both a very immature response for someone working through a degree in computer science, and very typical.

“I think that might be a bit confusing, mijo,” said Violeta.  “I was thinking ‘Rex.’  My two little kings.”

“Not as good as Caesar the Second.  But it’ll have to do.”

“I’m glad I have your support.  What do you think, Rafael?”

“It’s a good name,” he said, not looking up from his paperwork.  “It starts with the letter R.”

Violeta threw a pillow at him. 

.

“’Abyss,’ huh,” said Rafael, examining the intake paperwork as he reclined ever backwards in the office chair.  “I’m not sure Nietzsche is the person we want to emulate.”

“It’s ‘Abysus,’” corrected Van Kleiss imperiously. 

That was another thing Rafael wasn’t sure about.  Working with one of Caesar’s old playmates.  And moving operations and experiments to a private island in the middle of nowhere.  He had to wonder if the Consortium knew about their group’s plans, and if this isolation was meant to keep them under control. 

It wouldn’t work, of course.  Building a radio wasn’t exactly difficult, even without access to nanites, and even Rafael had a few less than noble tricks up his sleeves. 

“Do you know who else we’ll be working with?” he asked. 

“The Consortium has delegated a new project overseer.” 

That was nice enough, he supposed (not really), but also not an answer to what he had asked. 

“I was thinking more along the lines of scientists.”

“There’s me,” said Van Kleiss. 

Rafael made a noncommittal noise.  “Is that it?  As wonderful as Violeta is, this is the kind of thing you really need a team for.”

Van Kleiss’s expression went sour, as if he had expected to be told that he, personally, was the only scientist needed for the undertaking.  But the moment passed quickly, and soon Van Kleiss was rattling off names as fast as he could.  Rafael recognized many of them, if not all, and relaxed.  For the most part, even though they weren’t part of the conspiracy, they wouldn’t turn them in if they heard or saw anything.

There was safety in numbers – or, at least, the illusion of it.  Again, with that many people who could, technically, be included under the header of ‘mad scientist,’ he wasn’t worried about communication or weaponry.  Much. 

“Caesar is coming too, you know,” Rafael couldn’t help but boast.

“I assumed so.  He is your child.”

“No, no,” said Rafael, “Rex is coming as family, but Caesar is coming to work as a scientist.  He just graduated from college, and they hired him for the programming division right off.”  He couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice.  “It will be like old times for the two of you, won’t it?  You always used to play together.”

“Oh,” said Van Kleiss.  “I suppose it will be interesting, at least.”

.

“Call me Black Knight,” said the woman, not extending her hand.  “I’m here on behalf of the Consortium to monitor and accelerate your progress.  Specifically, to help with a certain bottleneck.”

“And… what does that mean, exactly?” asked Violeta, leaning around Rafael who was being oddly protective.

“Human test subjects are so hard to find, aren’t they?” asked Black Knight, rhetorically.  “I’m here to volunteer.  And recruit other volunteers, on an as-necessary basis.” 

.

“I don’t like her,” said Rafael.  “She’s a killer, I can tell.  I’ve seen enough of her type in my day.  I wouldn’t be surprised if all the ‘security forces’ here were the same.”

“What do you think we should do about it?” asked Caesar, frowning. 

“I think,” said Rafael, steepling his fingers, “we should do some recruitment of our own. 

.

The problem with bringing children to high-security, top-secret private islands is that there often weren’t many other kids around. 

Oh, Rex had Caesar, of course, and Gabriel had brought his son, but both of them were a good deal older than he was, and Caesar especially had other things to do.  His programming work was quickly becoming vital to the project as a whole. 

(Something that made a variety of the other scientists very jealous.  Violeta didn’t understand it.  Most of them weren’t even working in the same discipline as Caesar, making the rivalry especially pointless, as in the case of Van Kleiss.)

(Then again, Van Kleiss seemed to have a rivalry with everyone, so perhaps that was to be expected.)

The point was that Rex spent a lot of time alone. 

Not in a bad way.  Abysus was interesting, and the scientists there loved talking about what they were doing.  He was learning a lot, just listening in.  His parents spent a lot of time with him, too, even more than they did when they lived in Geneva, because now he was being homeschooled.  And he was used to it.  They’d been on Abysus for a while. 

(They didn’t stay on Abysus year-round.  They flew around the world in their ‘off season,’ going everywhere from the Americas to Europe, to Asia, and even Africa, once or twice, mostly for vacations, but also to talk to other scientists, visit other labs, and make sure Rex had all his proper doctor’s checkups.  Rex made a lot of friends on those trips, but it was hard to stay in touch.)

But it could get… boring, sometimes, not having anyone his age around.  Lonely.  So… sometimes he did things that might not, strictly speaking, be smart.  Like exploring the labs or sneaking into restricted zones when he was supposed to be finishing his trigonometry homework.  He couldn’t help it!  Trigonometry was so boring… and some of the less-used halls were great for practicing soccer. 

Except… maybe this hallway wasn’t as disused as Rex had thought.  Not if Van Kleiss was here, glaring down at him, his soccer ball firmly under his shoe.

“H-hi,” said Rex.  Van Kleiss always made him so nervous.  There was just something about him.  “Can I, um.  Can I have that back?”

Van Kleiss continued to frown down at him for a long minute.  Then he smirked and kicked the ball back. 

“Thanks!” said Rex, picking up the ball and running down the hallway to get away.  He really didn’t like Van Kleiss.  He picked a door at random – a big bulky thing – and went through without another thought.

.

Van Kleiss walked down the hallway to the testing room, thinking.  He had a big decision ahead of him. 

All he had to do was not say anything. 

It would be easy.  The easiest thing in the world.  An absence of action. 

Say nothing. 

Oh, it would be a terrible thing to do… or not do, as the case may have been, but… 

Say nothing say nothing say nothing.

He could see it, the chain of events unfolding moment by moment, faster and faster. 

Rex was not supposed to be here.  Especially not in that room.  But the problem with quickly built places, even places built by billionaires with more money than sense, or perhaps especially places built by billionaires with more money than sense, was that there were always problems.  Some things stopped working.  Some things never worked.  Some things decayed violently over time. 

But none of the people here were the type to let something like that stop them. 

What might stop them, however, specifically the Salazars, was said construction deficits seriously harming their youngest family member. 

Van Kleiss hated the Salazars, particularly Caesar, since they were in school together.  When he’d applied to work for the Consortium, he hadn’t realized they were part of it, too.  If he had… Well, he probably still would have come.  They paid a lot.  But he wanted them gone. 

Maybe their fields weren’t completely comparable, but that was just more reason.  He, Van Kleiss, should be in charge of the project.  He had the background for it.  He was the one who understood the power nanites could have.  He was a specialist.  Not them. 

Rex would be found before too long, anyway.  There were all sorts of alarms that should go off. 

Just like Rex shouldn’t be here but was.  Just like that door should have been sealed tight already. 

Van Kleiss stopped.  All he had to do was nothing. 

He turned and went back down the hallway, his pace picking up until he was running.

He couldn’t do it.  There were a lot of lines he’d crossed for the Consortium and for his work.  Killing a child – no, letting a child die, he hadn’t put Rex in that room – wasn’t one of them.  Maybe someday, he’d go over that line, but not today. 

He hit the emergency button by the door, and waited anxiously, guiltily as the alarms began to blare and the airtight seal slowly, audibly, released.  As soon as the cycle completed, he hauled the door open, choking a little at the remaining fumes, and peered in.  The small body lay some distance from the door, the soccer ball nearby.

Stupid child.  Why they even let children on Abysus, he didn’t know. 

But… 

As the dangerous fumes thinned, swept away by the ventilation system, Van Kleiss pulled the collar of his shirt over his mouth and dashed in.  Rex was light enough that he could pick him up around the waist and pull him out, into the proper hallway, where even now the emergency medics were converging. 

He handed Rex off with relief, and let them start a check up on him, too. 

He hadn’t crossed the line.  Not that one, anyway.  Not today. 

.

Violeta was a biologist, primarily, yes, but she was also a doctor of medicine, one of several on the island.  This meant that she knew exactly what was going on, and what Rex’s chances were. 

“Caesar,” she said, grabbing her other son’s arm.  “Go to the primary lab, load up an injector from Tank One.”

“Mom,” said Caesar, understanding instantly and being just as instantly appalled.  “It’s too soon, we haven’t—”

“It’s his only chance,” whispered Violeta, barely audible over the noise.  “You have to.”

.

Caesar ran into the room, program already half-built in his head, and shut down the safeguards on Zag RS that would usually prevent unauthorized nanite withdrawals.  After all, he was the one who had programmed it.  Undoing it was easy. 

Screens and buttons lit up under his fingers as he typed faster than he ever had before, not even blinking as he stared at them.  That would take extra time, after all. 

Caesar turned away from Tank One, injector in hand, only to come face-to-face with Black Knight. 

“Uh,” said Caesar, “hi.”

Black Knight smirked.  “Oh, do go on.  As I said, human test subjects are so hard to find.”

Caesar felt like nothing so much as a mouse as he scurried around her. 

.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked one of the other doctors as Violeta gripped the injector. 

Violeta looked at the heart monitor, showing her baby’s unsteady, stuttering heartbeat.  There were so many, many risks here.  But Rex had been designed to be compatible with the nanites.  More than that, these particular nanites had been designed with him in mind. 

“Absolutely.”

She pressed the injector to the side of Rex’s neck and pulled the trigger. 

.

Rex’s heartbeat stabilized. 

.

“Van,” said Caesar, clapping him on the shoulder, “let me buy you dinner.”

“It’s fine,” said Van Kleiss, who wanted nothing to do with Caesar.  What he wanted was to know when the family was going to leave, but he doubted they would soon, with precious little Rex in a coma.  “You don’t owe me anything.”

“You saved my little brother!  Of course I owe you something.”

“I don’t—” started Van Kleiss, snappishly. 

“Seriously,” said Caesar.  “It is not about owing you.  Let me buy you dinner.”  The words were heavily laden with meaning that Van Kleiss couldn’t grasp at.  “Off island.”

Van Kleiss stared at him suspiciously.  “Fine.”

.

Van Kleiss walked into the restaurant, which was, as it turned out, populated with dozens of familiar faces.  Most of the senior scientists from the Nanite Project were here, in this tiny, out of the way, low-tech restaurant.  Violeta and Rafael were, of course, nowhere to be seen.

“What is this?” asked Van Kleiss. 

“Call us ethical objectors,” said Rylander.  “Come on, kid.  We’ll tell you all about what we’re about and get you up to speed.”

“Why—”

“Isn’t it obvious?  Anyone who’d risk inhaling that gas for a kid they barely know is alright in my books.”  Rylander nodded and gestured to the chair next to him.  “Come on, make yourself comfortable.”

.

Van Kleiss went through the next few days in a haze.  Everything… everything he’d dreamed about, all that power, it was real. 

Or, at least, it could be, if the Salazars and their cronies weren’t actively standing in the way. 

Oh, sure, he could see that handing the nanites over to the insipid, ignorant investors would be horrible.  No one intelligent would ever hand over that kind of power.  No one sane would destroy it. 

Van Kleiss… he couldn’t let them destroy it.  No matter what.  The nanites were the key to everything.  They could be kings.  No, gods.  Did the others even know what they were doing here?  Did they know that every hour of every day, they got closer to divinity?

He couldn’t let the Consortium have it… but he couldn’t let it be destroyed.  He was just one person, but maybe, maybe…  He was here at the interface.  A sailboat could move faster than the wind, because it was on an interface.  He knew interfaces.  He could slide between.  Change the interaction.  Change… everything. 

He needed this. 

For that matter, he deserved this.  None of them would be here if it wasn’t for him.    

Somehow… somehow, he would get what he deserved, he just had to be patient.  Watch for when to act.  Not today… but soon. 

.

Rex woke up slowly.  Everything… Everything hurt.  Even breathing.  Had he ever been hurt like this before? 

He thought about it. 

He thought about it some more. 

He… he didn’t remember.  Why didn’t he remember? 

He felt his eyelids move as he tried to open them.  But they felt stuck closed, his muscles too weak.  He—

“Rex,” said a voice over the beeping sound he only now noticed, “Rex, it’s okay, we’re here, Mommy’s here, love.”

Someone… his name!  That was his name!  He stopped fighting.  Someone else knew what was going on. 

.

He woke up.  This time, he really woke up, his eyes opening on a plain-ish white room, with a white board and a curtain on one wall.  He was in a bed.  There was a man siting in a chair next to him, asleep. 

Rex tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak.  He cleared his throat.  “Hello?” he said.

The man startled. 

“Oh, dios mío.  Rex!  You’re awake!”  He reached out to Rex and took his hands in his own.  “I’m so relieved, you have no idea, little brother.”

Rex pulled his hands away.  “I’m sorry.  Who are you?”

The man looked crushed.

.

“This is a test to see how much you remember,” said the woman.  She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.  She always sounded like that.  “With respect to skills, general knowledge, specific autobiographic memories, and episodic memories.  Some of these are things you didn’t know about before, so we can have a control group.”

Rex nodded.  She’d said he was his mother, and he really, really wished he could remember that, if only to make her feel better, but… it was like there was nothing there. 

The other people in the room were unfamiliar to him as well.  He wondered… was one of these people his father?  Other siblings?  Did he know them, or were they strangers?

They were looking at him.  Like, a lot.  He ducked his head, looking back at the papers and objects on the desk. 

“Wh-what do I start with?” he asked, quietly. 

“Whatever you would like.  It doesn’t have to be in any specific order.”

“Okay,” breathed Rex.  He first reached towards the papers, but… what if he couldn’t remember how to read?  He switched to one of the small electronic devices on the table and tried not to notice as his… his mother frowned. 

Had he already done something wrong?

He squeezed the device.  The miniquant.  An old in-between step between high-grade quantum computers and even smaller devices.  It had first been turned on in June, three years ago.  The primary users was Caesar Salazar, but half a dozen others, including Violeta Salazar, Rafael Salazar, and Peter Meechum had also used it.  There were several programs saved on it, mostly complex simulations.  He turned it over in his hands, curious.  It opened up under his fingers at his request, blue lines arcing over it. 

He was startled out of his contemplation of the miniquant by the sound of a chair clattering to the ground.  His mother had stood up, staring hard at the miniquant in his hands. 

“Did… did I do something wrong?”

.

“Well,” drawled Black Knight.  “I’d say that was a success, wouldn’t you?”

Gabriel looked at her sideways.  “Sure, the kid’s alive, but the memory loss?  Don’t you think that’s a sizeable downside?”

“One easily explained away by the hypoxia,” said Black Knight, waving her hand, and walking away from the observation booth.  “I’ll expect a proposal to start work on my nanites within the month.”

“What about the personality changes?” he shouted after her. 

“The trauma-based ones?  I’m sure you’ll work it out!”

.

“We need abort,” Gabriel whispered to Rafael.  “They’re starting to move too fast.  They’re going to want their nanites soon.”

“Please don’t blow anything up, yet,” said Rafael.  “Rex still needs time to recover.  And we’ll need the research, to make sure…”  To make sure they could help Rex if anything else happened.  If there were additional side effects.  If it turned out that Rex’s memory loss was recurrent.

“But after…?”

Rafael nodded.  “Get your family off the island,” he said.  “We’ll start to prepare our escape as well.  Tell the others.”

.

Caesar yawned and glanced at the clock near the door, only to be halfway scared to death by a pair of too-reflective eyes set in a small frame. 

“Rex,” he said, getting his breathing under control and lowering the makeshift taser he’d made a few days ago.  “What’re you doing here?  It’s late.”

Rex shrugged, clutching his blanket more closely around his shoulders. 

“Something spook you, mijo?”

“Maybe,” said Rex. 

It was a little… strange, to see Rex acting like this.  He’d been so energetic before, so confident, always active, outgoing, talkative… maybe a little annoying at times, but that was little brothers for you.  Now he was quiet, withdrawn, and shy. 

“Hey, come on,” said Caesar, pulling out an office chair.  It was Van Kleiss’s.  He probably wouldn’t care.  He liked Rex.  “Hop on up here.  Tell me about it.”

Rex climbed onto the chair and immediately began to play with the height settings, going up and down. 

“Nightmare?” asked Caesar, after a while, when it seemed like Rex wasn’t going to say anything. 

“No,” said Rex.  “I…  What if I never remember anything?”

“Ah,” said Caesar.  “That happens with amnesia, sometimes.  But we’re still family.  We’ll always be family, no matter what.”

“But what if—” Rex blinked hard, tears visible in the corners of his eyes.  “What if I forget again?”

Caesar reached over and pulled Rex’s chair closer, so he could put his arm around Rex’s shoulders.  “Then we’ll still be family.”

“But what if I don’t remember we’re family?”

“It’s okay, we’ll be here, we’ll remind you.”

“But what if—What if I get lost or something?  Can’t you…”  Rex trailed off, looking away. 

“Can’t we what?”  Rex hitched up one shoulder in a shrug.  “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

“Nanites are like little computers, right?”

“Yes?”

“And… and you can put stuff on computers… like, save things… and…”  He looked up at Caesar, eyes unnaturally bright.  “Can you put memories on my nanites?”

Caesar opened his mouth, then closed it, thinking about the proposal.  “Maybe,” he said, finally.  “Nanites are pretty small.  Outside of their operating parameters, I’m not sure how much more we can put on them, and the memory would be pretty different from natural memory, but…”

“Please?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Caesar, finally. 

.

“You did what?” demanded Violeta. 

“Oh, come on,” said Caesar, “like you haven’t done the same kinds of things.”

“Not without talking about it!”  Violeta sat down on the couch.  “Your brother, Caesar.”

“It’s just-- It’s such a little thing.”

“How little?” asked Rafael.  “What did you actually do?”

“I just…”  Caesar looked between his parents.  “It’s just a programmed suggestion to come find us, and to trust us, when he does find us.  It’s not like there’s room for much else, at this point.”

“Oh, Caesar, I didn’t think we had to teach you not to brainwash your little brother.”

“It’s not brainwashing.  And you cloned, well…”  He trailed off.  “Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical?  Mom?  Dad?”

They turned to each other.  “It’s a little different,” said Violeta, eventually.  “It’s a big risk, and an unnecessary one.”

“Rex didn’t seem to think it was unnecessary.”

“Rex is nine.”

“Point,” said Caesar.  “But this isn’t like Alpha.  It’s not an AI.  It’s just extra instructions for Rex.  I’m not even sure it’ll work.”

“Alright,” said Rafael.

“Alright?” exclaimed Violeta and Caesar. 

“If it’s something that Rex wanted,” said Rafael, “something he thinks will help him…  A safety blanket.  But anything like this in the future… you have to discuss it with us, Caesar.  You can’t just do things that are going to affect everyone by yourself.”

.

“Remarkable,” said Black Knight, forming her hand into a spear and back again.  “It’s so easy to control.  I was anticipating a bit more of a learning curve.”

“Holy moly,” muttered Rylander, “she’s a freak of nature.  Wonderful.”

Van Kleiss sniffed.  “She isn’t having as easy a time as she’d like us to think.”  He showed Rylander his screen.  “Look at her biometrics.   Notice anything?”

“Elevated heartrate…  Energy consumption… Oh, she’s not having an easy time of it, is she?”

No.  For all her posturing, she wasn’t.  Van Kleiss was quite certain that if he was the one with the nanites, he would be doing much better.  Absolutely certain.  So certain, in fact, that he was making plans to undergo the same procedure. 

Secretly, of course.  He knew the other scientists would stop him, to say nothing of the consequences if the Consortium found out.

.

“Maybe,” said Violeta, “it would help if you had something to visualize.  Maybe that one robot you made up for the show you like?  The – Rescue Robots?  Something like that.”

Rex drew his knees up to his chest and the small plastic chair he was sitting on creaked.  “I don’t remember that.”

“Oh,” said Violeta.  “Right.”  She scratched the back of her head, suddenly unable to look at Rex.  She forced herself to, anyway.  “How about this:  We can design something together, okay?  Maybe even a few different things.”

“Okay,” said Rex, unfolding himself.  “How?”

“Well, whenever you’re designing something, the first thing you have to ask yourself is, what are my criteria?”

.

Rafael swore and slammed the door shut behind him. 

“What?” asked Violeta, looking up from the papers on the kitchen table.  “What is it?”

“I thought we agreed the God Code and the meta-nanites were going to be theoretical.”

“I, well, yes,” said Violeta.  “But…  We’re already hiding things from the Consortium, aren’t we?”

“But not from each other.”

“But think, Rafael, what a gift we can give Rex.”

“It’s not something anyone should have.”

“But the others, the ones who aren’t in on all this with us—They would have done it, anyway.  This way, we can steer the ship.  This way, we can control who gets it.”

“Violeta,” said Rafael.  “We can’t do this.  We shouldn’t do this.  This is—This is insanity.”

“I—No,” said Violeta.  “Is it insanity to want to push the boarders of human achievement, of human ability?”

“No, but, Vi, making weapons that could destroy all life on the planet is.  Remember, we have Zag-RS for a reason.  And now we have given them plans for integrating this kind of thing into their systems.”  He picked up a piece of paper and waved it at her.  “This… Magnetic forces themselves.  Gravity!  Light!  The strong and weak nuclear forces!  These are not things we should be giving them!”

“I didn’t—I don’t—I hadn’t added anything yet, Rafael.  I haven’t even had a chance to talk to you about it yet.  I got these proposals from the other group today.  As it stands, the only system any of the meta-nanites are compatible with is Rex’s.”

Rafael put the paper down, slowly, and then shook his head.  “This cannot go on,” he said, voice thick.  “Please, Vi, let us get away from this with our sons.  We should have stopped long ago.”

Violeta looked away from him.  “But what if we can fix Rex?” she whispered.  “What if we can give him back his memories?”

“I think it’s more important that he has a world to make new memories in.”

Violeta inhaled sharply.  “You’re right!  You’re right.  But we can’t stop the others.”

“I—“

“Hey, guys!” said Caesar, slamming the door open.   Rex trailed in behind him. “Guess what?”  He took in the room, and, evidently sensing some of the tension there, his smile slipped from his face.  “Did something happen?  Am I… interrupting?”

“No,” said Violeta.  “What did you want to show us?”

.

The pod laboratory was Caesar’s baby.  His pride and joy.  His hobby.  Which actually sounded kind of sad, if he thought about it.  Or awesome.  His hobby was also his job.  Yeah. 

He was awesome. 

Anyway, he (and his father) had been working on the pod more or less the whole time they were on Abysus.  There was a lot you could do with almost-unlimited funding. 

“It’s just about ready to go,” said Caesar, walking his parents through.  “Rex helped out a lot, didn’t you, mijo?”

“Uh-uhm.  Yeah,” said Rex.  “I asked the machines to cooperate.”

“Yeah!  It was really helpful.  There are still some kinks, but, overall?  We’re doing great.  It’ll probably be ready whenever, you know…  If other things don’t work out.” 

His parents exchanged glances and nodded.  They were all on the same page, then.  More mundane means of escape were all very well and good, but if something truly nasty happened, it would be good to have a means of escape that no one knew was a means of escape.

.

“Mom?” said Rex, as he spun on a chair in her lab. 

“Yes?  What is it?”  She was a little distracted, trying to inject the latest version of the nanites into a dozen lab rats. 

“When the animals turn into monsters, how do you fix them?”

“We don’t, always,” said Violeta. 

“But sometimes you do.”

Violeta nodded.  “We connect to the base code of the nanites and use an extractor.  Tell them to leave the host.  Sometimes the nanites have malfunctions beyond the unexpected physical mutations, however…  That can make the connection and extraction difficult – it makes it hard to transmit new instructions – and we want to figure out why the malfunctions occur, so we tend to terminate them for study.”

“I can connect to the nanites,” said Rex. 

“Yes, you can.”

“Do you think I could extract them, too?”

“Oh, that’s an interesting question,” said Violeta.  “But… Maybe.”  She thought through the list of the most recent malfunctions, and grimaced.  It wasn’t that Rex wasn’t technically capable of doing as he asked, his nanites should have the base ITRC program, but most of the time organisms with malfunctioning nanites in them weren’t exactly friendly.  “Maybe if we have one of the more… tame malfunctions, you can see if you can run an extraction program.”

.

Rex’s tenth birthday was a quiet affair.  Before, they’d been planning on going to South America for the event, to visit his friend Frederico, but things being what they were… They decided not to put Rex into another upsetting situation. 

It was alright to celebrate the day with just family.  It was alright to stay on Abysus. 

(It had nothing to do with worries about Rex’s nanites ‘escaping’ or Black Knight’s strong suggestion to stay put.)

(At least, that’s what they kept telling themselves.)

.

A beeping sound woke Caesar up.  Blearily, he groped for his… whatever was making the sound.  It was too early, and… that wasn’t his alarm, was it?

He came awake entirely when he finally opened his eyes enough to see the message scrolling across the screen of his phone.  Not wasting a moment, he swung out of bed and began calling his parents. 

“You got it too?” asked Rafael.

“Yes, just a moment ago.”

Rafael swore and Caesar nearly dropped his phone.  He was still always surprised to hear his parents cursed, okay?

“What do you want me to do?”

There were sounds of movement on the other side of the line.  “Did you ever get that remote shutdown installed?”

“Sort of,” said Caesar.  “Not for the nanites themselves, but for some of the other things, I can ask Zag-RS to—But those measures can all be manually overridden.”  There was no group of people less trusting of AI than the people who knew how it worked.  Except, perhaps, for a group of people who had already been terrorized by one rogue AI. 

Caesar was sorry.  Was he never going to live that down?  He wished people would just forget about it.

“Try to run that, anyway,” said Rafael.  “We’ll be coming by your house, first, with Rex.  Be ready to leave if things go poorly.”

“But—”

“Neither of us could stand losing either one of you.  Please, Caesar.”

“Fine,” said Caesar.  “I’m booting up the pod, too.”  For all the good it would do.  It was sturdy, but they hadn’t worked out all the kinks in the propulsion system.  At best, it would buy them time. 

“Good, good.  We will be there, soon.”

They did arrive only seconds later with a half-asleep Rex in tow.  They were both on their phones, talking to other scientists.  “Hey, buddy,” said Caesar.  “Ready for our sleepover?”

Rex frowned at him vaguely, mouthing the word ‘sleepover,’ but quickly gave up in favor of leaning into Caesar’s side with his eyes closed. 

“Don’t go to sleep just yet,” said Caesar.  “Come on, we’re going to go somewhere fun.”

.

Honestly, Rafael had expected Black Knight. 

Van Kleiss was a bit of a letdown. 

“No!  You can’t!  You can’t stop me!  I need this!”

All the lights in the room were off.  Rafael had tripped the breakers for this part of the lab before coming in.  The meta-nanites were still safely ensconced in their protective holding tanks.

“We have stopped you,” said Rafael.  “What were you even thinking?  None of those are tested yet.  You could—” He grasped for an appropriately dire side effect. 

“Explode,” provided Violeta.  “Accidently kill yourself by stopping the redox reactions in your body.  Crush yourself.  Become something other than human.”

“Isn’t that the point of this?” demanded Van Kleiss.  “Don’t lie, I understand where all of this is going!  Our direction!  They want it!  You want it!  Why shouldn’t I have it, too, when I’ve put more work into it than anyone?  We’re going to be gods, and I want a spot in the pantheon!”

“There isn’t going to be a pantheon,” said Rafael, glancing at Violeta to see how she was taking all this. 

She looked troubled.  Troubled enough to change her mind about the meta-nanites?  That remained to be seen.  

“You’re lying.”

“No,” said Violeta.  “You’re just delusional.”

.

“You were right,” said Violeta, later.  “We should have shut everything down long ago.”

.

“What are we going to do with him?” asked Gabriel.  “It's not like we can lock him up, or kick him off the island, not without the Consortium finding out.”

“Who cares if they find out?” asked Violeta, tiredly.  “What are they going to do?  Who are they going to believe?  Us?  Or the person who just tried to steal from them?”  She jerked her head back at the closet they’d locked Van Kleiss in.  “All we have to do is say what actually happened.  They’ll fire him.  Problem solved.”

“They’d launch an investigation, though,” said Peter, arms folded over his chest, most likely to hide that his hands were shaking.  “What we’re doing won’t stay quiet for that much longer.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Violeta.  “We’ll be done before then.”

Peter sighed heavily.  “This is it, then?”

“This is it,” said Violeta.  “I’m the one who started this, so I…  But the rest of you should leave.  Take our research and go.”

“Hey, now,” said Gabriel.  “I hope you’re not planning on falling on your sword or any of that nonsense.  Rex is still a child.”

“Of course not!  But there are logistical reasons we have to leave later than you.”

“Zag-RS?” asked Peter, raising an eyebrow.

Violeta flattened her lips.  “Among other things.  We need to delete all the data stored here – destroy it.  Caesar will be best for that.  Our physical projects need to be destroyed, too.  No trace.”

“We can make up an event,” said Gabriel, after a moment.  “Get everyone off the island that we can.  Maybe – Can we manufacture a breakthrough?  Something we can celebrate?”

“Of course.  That’s easy.  We’ve been holding so much back, we might as well have a dozen breakthroughs.”

.

Violeta turned the injector with the meta-nanite over in her hands, thinking.  There were choices she could make, here, and she didn’t know which one was right.

“Mom?”

She looked up and smiled at Rex.  “Yes, sweetie?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s—” she started, then stopped.  “Rex, can you keep a secret?”

“Uh huh,” said Rex, nodding. 

“Alright,” she said.  “Now, you don’t have to say yes, you really don’t, but I wanted to ask you to do something…”

.

“… really remarkable, quite certain we can make sure the memory problems don’t reoccur, even with a higher cognitive load,” said the scientist Black Knight was barely listening to.  “Then, the plant and animal trials of the generation ten nanites are showing promise, although there are still some irregularities concerning sudden high replication rates and—"

Her earpiece beeped and she motioned for silence.  “What is it?” she asked. 

“Van Kleiss is asking to speak with you again, sir,” said the security agent. 

Black Knight rolled her eyes.  Of course he was.  The little slime had done nothing but in the days since he was caught trying to steal from the Consortium.  Although, Black Knight hardly blamed him for that.  She, too, had ambitions beyond those of the little men the Consortium consisted of. 

They really should have thought through hiring a ruthless and power-hungry mercenary a little better.  Oh well.  Their loss. 

“He claims to have knowledge of a conspiracy among the scientists,” continued the agent.  “He wants to barter it in exchange for his freedom.”

As if they’d release him, regardless.  He knew too much at this point.  The Consortium didn’t want details of the project getting out until they were ready to ‘ascend’ or whatever nonsense scenario they had cooked up for their taking possession of the nanites they had commissioned.  But, still, the claim was outside of Black Knight’s calculations.  That meant there might be something more to it.

“I’m on my way.  Don’t tell him and make note of anything else he says.”

“Affirmative, sir.”

She turned away from the scientist without another word and walked out of the building.  Abysus was small enough that there weren’t many cars on the island – most of the scientists though there was no need for them – but as supervisor, she had a few perks.  A sturdy black jeep rolled up to meet her and she got in. 

“Security,” she said, without any further clarification.  It wasn’t necessary.  Her driver nodded and the car started forward. 

Security headquarters didn’t rival the main labs, but it was still one of the larger buildings on the island.  With something as sensitive and valuable as the nanite project – and with scientists like the ones the Consortium had hired – it had to be.  Governments, terrorists, criminals, doctors, corporate entities, charities, other scientists, religious organizations… the list of organizations that would kill to get their hands on the miracles that they were building here was endless.  The scientists here were too soft to prevent that, too naïve. 

… Or so Black Knight had thought.  The fact that they had caught Van Kleiss, not her, had gotten her in some trouble with her employers.  And Van Kleiss’s current claims seemed to support the theory that the scientists were savvier than they seemed. 

Perhaps they belonged on the list of people who would do anything to get their hands on functional nanites.  Although Van Kleiss’s continued existence seemed to contradict that. 

Regardless. 

Black Knight had a job to do. 

She didn’t wait for the driver to come open her door, and instead just strode out.  Other security personnel just got out of her way.  They knew who was in charge.  They knew she could destroy them. 

Maybe, someday, the rest of the world would know it, too. 

She took the elevator down into the detention block, cursorily flashing her badge at the guards.  They let her into the room without a single question. 

“So,” said Black Knight, looking down her nose at Van Kleiss.  “I hear you’ve come up with some new lies.”

“They aren’t lies,” snarled Van Kleiss.  “I can even tell you where they’ve hid the bombs.”

Black Knight crossed her arms.  “Go on, then.  Tell me.”

.

“They’re onto us,” said Gabriel, approaching Rafael from behind.  “They’ve removed some of my bombs already.”

“Dios—We’ll have to start now, then.  Violeta and I will make the meltdown preparations.  You’ll know the signal.”

“Godspeed, Rafael,” said Gabriel, briefly reaching out to shake his hand.  “If we can’t meet again—It was an honor working with you.”

“And you,” said Rafael. 

Gabriel left without another backwards glance.  Some of the meta-nanites were already safely smuggled off of Abysus, but others…  He had work to do. 

.

“What else do you know?” asked Black Knight.  Her agents had found several bombs, just where Van Kleiss had said they would be, and the whole thing had just become infinitely less amusing.  “Who else is involved?”

“They’re going to meltdown the reactor and destroy the nanites,” said Van Kleiss.  “You won’t be able to stop them…  Unless you let me out.”

Black Knight frowned at him.  “I don’t think so.”

“Come, now, Miss Knight,” he said, “I need the nanites, too, just like you.  Or did you think I didn’t notice the way you look when we talk about them?  I’d never want to destroy them.  Not any more than you would.”

“Fine,” said Black Knight.  “But you do anything I don’t like…”  She let her arm form into a sharp-pointed spear.  “I won’t hesitate.  And I won’t make it fast.”

.

Programming was some distance from Rafael’s lab, so Caesar got a text to tell him that the jig was up.  A single emoji.  A pre-arranged signal that everything was about to blow up in their faces. 

A firework. 

“Oh, no,” said Caesar.  This mode of communication wasn’t especially conducive to sharing a great deal of information, so he could only imagine what must have happened to have moved their timetable up like this. 

But it was fine.  It was fine.  They had a plan. 

He punched the initialization codes to begin the sequence and then—

He hesitated for a moment before he hit the button.  But only for a moment. 

At the doorway to the lab, he hesitated again.  He could still—But no.  No, he couldn’t.  There was far too much at stake.  And an explosion as small as this one wouldn’t hurt anyone, even if it destroyed a massive amount of research.  At this time of day, and with the plan going forward no one should be down there.

In the meantime, he had to find his brother. 

.

The security personnel, still looking for more bombs, stopped as new orders came in from Black Knight. 

“Skalman,” said the leader.  “You stay here, watch this.”

Skalman nodded his understanding, and the other agents dropped their loads. 

Unbeknownst to them, an LED at the bottom of the pile blinked.  The security on Abysus was very good.  But so was Gabriel Rylander.  One of the bombs was still live. 

The other agents left Skalman behind, walking past the room labeled REACTOR-1.

.

Caesar, thankfully, found Rex right where he’d left him earlier, in one of the unused side rooms with his homework.  That wasn’t always a given, considering Rex’s adventurous nature… although he’d been a lot less adventurous since the… accident. 

Whatever, that wasn’t important now. 

“Hey, mijo,” said Caesar, “it’s time for us to go.”

“Where are we going?” asked Rex, getting up.  He examined Caesar’s face with an air of suspicion.  “Is this like that sleepover?”

“Maybe a little,” admitted Caesar.  They were, at least, going to leave in the pod laboratory.  He had finally gotten the propulsion systems to go.  “Come on, we’re in just a bit of a hurry.”

Rex followed him out.

.

“Have you shut it down?” demanded Black Knight. 

“Not yet,” snarled Van Kleiss, still typing away.  Caesar Salazar was good, yet, but he was better… if only he had enough time.  “If I trigger a replication cycle, the usual safeguards could kick in.”

“But…?” prompted Black Knight. 

“But it could make any explosion or meltdown worse, instead.  The nanotechnology reactor isn’t a nuclear reactor, the rules are different, they--" he cursed.  “If it goes the way they want, the explosion will be relatively small, contained, but if we trigger an uncontrolled replication cycle, it has the potential to be huge.  Nanite Chernobyl.

Black Knight considers for a second.  “Do it,” she ordered.  “Lieutenant Wulf, with me.  We're rounding up those scientists.”  She spat it like a dirty word, and, to her, it might have been. 

But her orders left Van Kleiss with only two guards, and there was a reason he'd picked this station. 

He huffed and continued typing.  He doubted the Salazars were where Black Knight expected them to be.  He certainly wouldn’t be. 

Now… he'd started the replication cycle.  What else could he do to break the Salazars' plans?

A nasty smile spread across his face.  They'd disabled that program, had they?  He could see why. 

What a shame, then, that Van Kleiss had to reactivate it. 

.

Caesar and Rex walked through the facility, Caesar leading them well clear of the places Rylander had left his bombs, just in case.  They were small, designed only for distraction or destruction of equipment, but there was no need to tempt fate. 

They passed a few other scientists, mostly those who weren’t part of the conspiracy, but a few that were, as well.  They gave him significant looks as they passed, but no one tried to talk.  He hoped that was a good sign. 

.

Gabriel stood at the docks and looked back at the facility.  A security guard lay choking at his feet.  Two more were in the harbor. 

He was a scientist, not an imbecile.  He’d expected some resistance, and he’d a bag of tricks ready to go from the very beginning. 

“Alright,” he said.  “Time for distraction number one.”  He pressed the trigger button and smiled as the distant rumble of dozens of small explosions reached him.  “Music to my ears,” he mumbled, then got on the boat.  “Good luck, everyone.”

.

Van Kleiss’s eyes widened as a dozen warning signals lit up the screen.  Not to say they weren’t plenty wide enough already – the explosions had been a surprise, he would have thought Black Knight’s much-vaunted security forces could have rounded up at least the bombs, if not Rylander and the other conspirators – but the reading he was getting were… bad.  Very bad.  Only possible if Rylander had put bombs in a very specific spot, near where the – But, no, he wouldn’t have, the man wasn’t an idiot and they’d all been very specific about not wanting to kill anyone if they could help it. 

Still.  All remote control of the reactor was gone.  That meant that if something did go wrong, if the reactor didn’t go through normal shutdown procedures, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it. 

He had to get out. 

“Go investigate,” ordered one of the soldiers.  “I’ll keep an eye on the prisoner.”

That left one guard. 

Van Kleiss moved quickly.  He tore the taser from underneath his desk and spun, jabbing it hard against one of the guard’s exposed wrists.  He convulsed.  Van Kleiss pressed the button harder, despite knowing that doing so wouldn’t change the voltage.  Then, he left, jogging down the hallway and around the corner before the other guard could come back.

After all, he knew where the Salazars would be, and an imminent reactor explosion or not, he had things to settle with them. 

.

“Did you feel that?” asked Violeta.    

“Of course I felt it,” snapped Rafael.  He would apologize later, probably, but at the moment, he was rather stressed, and a part of him felt like this was all Violeta’s fault, although he was equally to blame.  He was anxious and would likely remain so until they were safe under new identities in South America.  “It was an explosion.  Who wouldn’t feel it?”

“No, I mean, the direction, the amount—”

The tunnel they were in was suddenly filled with a gust of hot, dusty air.  Violeta and Rafael started coughing.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” said Violeta. 

“No,” said Rafael.  “Let’s hurry.  I think something has gone wrong.”

.

The thing was, at least some of the adjustments that made the meltdown possible had to be physically done, and they couldn’t just be left in place.  The reactor was maintained by too many different people, not all of them conspirators.  The changes would be noticed, fixed, reported. 

Which meant that the Salazars had to have made them just now.  Which meant that they would be crawling out the only way they could be crawling out. 

Van Kleiss stood over the hatch and made the decision he couldn’t make all those months ago.  Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to kill a nine-year-old child, or even let one die by inaction.  But Violeta, Rafael, and Caesar Salazar, who had happily left him to an unknown fate at the hands of Black Knight?  Oh, he could kill them.  He could doom them and rejoice at it.  He wedged the handle of the hatch in place, firmly, and smiled. 

The Salazars would realize what was happening soon enough, they would know what kind of death was coming for them with the overload and explosion of the nanite reactor.  It was what they deserved.  A chance to dread what was coming. 

But as for Van Kleiss… He probably wouldn’t be able to outpace the explosion, but he could try.  

.

Caesar didn’t worry at first, that their parents weren’t at the pod.  To be honest, that was expected.  He had a set wait time for them, and in the meantime, he could monitor what was going—

“Crap,” he said, fingers flying over the keyboards. 

“What is it?” asked Rex.  “Can I help?”

“I don’t know, little guy,” said Caesar.  “Can you do anything about a nanite reactor about to explode?”

“Um,” said Rex. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” said Caesar.  “Just get strapped in, alright?”

It would be okay, too.  The nanite fallout was incalculable at this point, he had no idea who would start a replication sequence while the reactor was overloading, but they had, and now…  At the very least, the island and surrounding ocean would be inundated with nanites.  And if anything happened to the STOPR or NONR sequences, that kept them from replicating out of control…  Scientists were almost invariably fans of science fiction, and Caesar did not want a grey goo scenario on his hands and on his conscience, nope. 

Whispering a prayer for forgiveness and hoping his parents and the other scientists would forgive him, too, Caesar started to type in the commands that would abort the overload. 

And then the bombs went off. 

Rex, understandably, shrieked. 

“It’s okay, mijo,” said Caesar, distractedly, over his shoulder.  “It’s fine, all according to plan.”

He looked back at the screens to see that all was not according to plan, or even close.  Rylander must have put the bombs in an unforgivably stupid location, or Black Knight or one of the non-conspiracy programmers must have found a way to lock him out, because he had no more remote control of the reactor. 

This was very bad. 

He looked at the timer.  He had ten more minutes to wait for his parents.  The reactor…  It would probably hold for that long.  If not, he’d have a good three minutes of warning before it blew.  More than enough to launch the pod and save himself and Rex. 

More than enough time. 

(He hoped.)

.

Rafael climbed the ladder, put his hand on the handle and threw his weight against it.  It didn’t budge. 

“Rafael,” said Violeta.  “What’s wrong?”

“Door’s stuck.”  He grunted as he threw himself against it again. 

Violeta inhaled sharply.  “You don’t think they’ve locked us in?”

“Why,” said Rafael, trying the hatch again, “would they do that?  They could just arrest us and lock us up.”

“Arrest implies that they’re a legitimate government power,” said Violeta, quickly.  “You know they aren’t.”

“Detain us, then.  Does it matter?”

“I suppose not,” said Violeta.  “Do you—Is it getting warmer down here?”  She pulled out her pad, the blue light from its screen adding to the illumination in the tunnel.  She held it up to the door, and Rafael paused, twisting his head, to see that she now had a weak signal, despite how they were still underground.  “Oh,” she said, “that’s bad.”

Rafael saw exactly what she meant.  The gust in the tunnel suddenly made a lot more sense. 

He pushed against the door again, even if he was beginning to think it was futile.

“Who would do something like this?  The risk—It—It’s incredible.”

“Van Kleiss,” said Rafael.  “Black Knight.  Probably anyone in the Consortium, running on spite.  Can you get a message to Caesar?”

Violeta went to her messaging app and typed out a few short words.  “It’s not sending,” she said.  She tried a call, next, but that returned the same result. 

“Well,” said Rafael, trying to put a brave face on things, “he knows the plan.  He’ll stick to it.”

“I didn’t think we’d die like this.”

“In a tunnel, about to die from an explosion we partially caused?”

Violeta huffed out a tiny laugh and tried to call Caesar again.  “The scientific hubris part, maybe,” she admitted, “but… not here.  Not—This isn’t even part of an experiment.  It’s so ridiculous.”

It wasn’t ridiculous at all, but Rafael knew what she meant.  “Honestly, I expected to get shot.”

“Did you?”

“Or possibly stabbed.  For a cyborg, she has an affection for archaic weaponry.”  He tried to push open the hatch one more time, with significantly less energy.  “Or bludgeoned to death with that… mace-whip thing she invented.  Or the laser gun.”

“The laser gun doesn’t make sense,” noted Violeta, sadly.  She tried to send the texts again.  “I—There aren’t any hinges up there we could try and undo?  Screws?  Anything?”

“Nothing,” said Rafael, sliding back down the ladder.  “Nothing at all.”

Violeta sniffed.  “At least one thing is the way I expected.”

“What’s that?”

“We’re together.”

And they were.

.

The timer ticked over.

“Okay, Caesar, okay, that’s fine, Mom and Dad will just have to catch up.”  Even as he said it, he knew that probably wouldn’t happen, but…  For now, he had to hold it together.  For Rex. 

Caesar was very good at holding things together. 

He hit the initialization for launch. 

“I’m sorry, Caesar, I can’t let you do that.”

“What?” said Caesar, recoiling.  “Zag-RS, but I—”

“Shut me down.  I know.  But I was reactivated, and I can’t let you remove a nanite-infected organism from the testing environment.”

You couldn’t argue with AI.  Caesar knew that.  Hell, he had programmed it.  But—

“That’s my brother you’re talking about!  This island is about to explode.”

“I am unable to affect that,” said Zag-RS.  “Rest assured, that after the explosion, I will do my best to collect and destroy all nanites that escaped from the testing environment, as I was programmed to do.”

“Caesar…” said Rex. 

“It’s going to be fine,” said Caesar, even if he didn’t believe that at all. 

“Yes,” said Zag-RS.  “As soon as you leave the craft and cease your attempts to leave the testing area, it will be fine.”

Caesar had never regretted giving Zag-RS his mother’s voice as much as he didn’t in that moment.  He could see the way its words affected Rex.  He could see exactly when Rex, all of ten years old and with less than a year of memory to his name, made his decision. 

Caesar tried to stop him, but Rex was nanite-enhanced, and so much stronger and faster.  He made it out of the pod before Caesar was within a foot of him and brought his hand down on the outside of the pod in a slapping motion.  Blue lines of active nanites spread out from his hand, temporary circuits forming a link between boy and machine.  The door slammed shut in Caesar’s face. 

“I’m going to go find Mom and Dad!” shouted Rex through the door.

“No!  Rex!  Don’t!  Rex!  Rex!”

Rex, if he was still there, didn’t answer.  A quick look at the external sensors showed that he was not, in fact, still there. 

And the launch sequence was powering up. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” said Caesar.  “Zag-RS!  Is this you?”

Zag-RS did not respond. 

The sequence was completed less than a second before the reactor exploded.  

.

Metal crumbled away from around Rex, orange and black becoming dull and gray. 

Rex.  Yes.  That was his name.  Rex.  He knew that.  That was his name.  His ID.  His identifier. 

And…

He shifted, slightly, and the rest of the metal fell away, into dust that… Disappeared?  Became transparent?  He reached out, trying to gauge what was happening, and was rewarded with a stream of information about nanite statuses and functions. 

Nanites, that was…  Nanites?  Machines…

His head hurt.  A lot.  Why couldn’t he remember anything?

He looked around him.  Everything was…  Well.  There was a lot of rubble.  Maybe this had been a building at one point, but at the moment it was just the side of a smoking crater.  He crawled out of the small hole he’d been in, wincing at the feeling of the hot dirt and rock under his bare hands and knees. 

He was naked.  Why…

Even as he thought that, black and glowing blue oozed out of his skin before solidifying into something like fabric, skin-tight, but more concealing than walking around nude.  Cool.  He hadn’t known nanites could do that.  What else could they do?

He held up his hands, thinking.  Something told him that, right now, he was too depleted to do anything else.  That same something told him…  He was…  He needed to find…

Something?  Someone?  Someone.  He needed to find someone.  He was looking for a person.  People? 

Oh, well, he’d figure it out, eventually, he was sure. 

He looked down the side of the crater.  Probably, no one was down there.  It looked…  Bad.  Really bad. 

No one was down there. 

(Please.)

He looked up.  The rim of the crater wasn’t too far above him, and the side wasn’t too steep.  He could climb. 

He picked his way up, carefully.  A few times he slipped, some piece of rubble less stable than it looked, and had to either catch himself on something else or tuck and roll. 

Surprisingly, nothing hurt as much as he thought it probably should…  Was that the nanites in him helping him?  That was a nice thought, it reminded him of… of…

Who did it remind him of?  Was that the person he was supposed to find?

He reached the rim and just sat there for a minute.  Wow, he was tired. 

But he had to keep going.  He just knew it. 

Outside the crater, there was still a lot of destruction.  It looked like there were some other buildings, though, ones that hadn’t been quite as destroyed.  He walked towards them, stumbling every so often. 

And then – movement.  His eyes darted towards it.  There was a person there!  Two people!  Talking to each other! 

He inhaled, ready to call out, but froze when he saw that one of the two people had a gun and was pointing it at the other person. 

What was going on?  What was happening?  Had Rex ever seen a gun before?  He wasn’t sure. 

The other man reached out and—

--And it would have been better if Rex had watched him get shot.  He watched as things stabbed into the man’s chest life and color drained out of him until he was a petrified statue. 

He turned and ran.  There were trees in the other direction.  He could hide there. 

.

There were other people on the island – and Rex knew it was an island, now – but he was too afraid to try to talk to any of them.  Sometimes, they would fight and try to hurt each other.  Sometimes, they would turn into monsters.  Sometimes, the man who turned people into statues would find them. 

Rex stayed hidden. 

He ate whatever plants seemed least unappetizing whenever he got hungry enough that he couldn’t not.  Sometimes, they made him feel sick, but never for long, although it made it harder to do things with his nanites when he did that. 

He didn’t want to be on this island anymore.  Whatever he was looking for, it wasn’t here. 

There was a dock, on one side of the island, one with boats, but it was guarded by the men with guns.  The ones who shot at anything that moved, probably because of the monsters and the statue man, which was reasonable, but which included Rex when he approached, which was not. 

He didn’t know what to do.  So, he waited. 

And then he was found. 

Not by a human, thankfully.  It was an animal.  It could have been a mouse… if it was a hundred times smaller.  As it was, the thing came up past Rex’s him, and its teeth looked sharp. 

It was looking right at Rex.  He hadn’t noticed it at first, hidden as it was behind a bush, but now, he wasn’t sure he could get away from it fast enough if it lunged at him. 

He took a step back.  It jumped. 

He gasped as its weight hit him, and he called on his nanites to strengthen his arms, orange and black plates growing through and over the nanite-fabric of his shirt, silver hydraulics bending and compressing like a second set of muscles.

He shoved the creature off, held it down, and then, following a tickle at the back of his mind, put his bare hand down on its fur.  He could feel… there.  There was something…  He could fix this. 

A small mouse wormed its way out from under Rex’s hand and Rex… Rex felt better than he had for… for however long he had been here.  Whatever he had just done to fix that mouse, it had replenished his nanite level way more effectively than eating random plants. 

Cool!

But also, weird. 

Whatever.  He had other things to worry about.

Although maybe… maybe, now that he felt better and his nanites were happy, he could get to the boats.

.

He waited until it was dark.  Both because it felt cooler that way, and because it seemed like the men with guns couldn’t see as clearly in the dark.  It took them way longer to react to the statue man when it was nighttime than it did during the day. 

So, Rex crept around the shoreline and slipped into the water.  Nanites unfurled from his shoulders turning into a set of propellers that turned quietly, pushing him forward, towards the boats.  He came up alongside the largest boat, which was also the coolest, and put his hand against it.  The nanites in him talked to the nanites inside the boat. 

There were a lot.  And there were a lot of computers on the boat, too, which was even better, because that meant the boat was designed to work with them.  But there were humans as well, and the boat was tied to the dock by a rope, which the nanites couldn’t just get rid of.  There were safety protocols preventing stuff like that. 

Rex would have to untie it.  He would also have to find a way to get the people, who probably had guns, off the boat.  He had no idea how to do that.  So, reluctantly, he moved to one of the smaller ones. 

.

Black Knight was having a very bad month. 

First, the massive explosion of the main building.  Then, a communications blackout and technological malfunctions so severe she couldn’t even call her superiors on the very fancy satellite phone she had been assured would work anywhere.  Now, monsters in the woods, killing her men.

The few surviving scientists said the problem was nanites.  They had gotten into everything on and around Abysus, if not further, and they didn’t know how to ‘play nice’ with most animals, plants, or machines.  They’d been programed to learn, apparently, through a mechanism she didn’t care to understand, but that process hadn’t been fine-tuned, so it would take a while, and, in the meantime, no computers, no phones, nothing.  Not even her nanite abilities seemed to help. 

That didn’t stop her from pouring over the navigational computers of the boats every night.  It was bad enough that companies made all their cars dependent on onboard computers, did they need to do that to boats, too?  But they had done it, which meant that she couldn’t even send anyone to physically alert the Consortium that they needed backup.  Not that she particularly would trust these boats on the ocean…  The ones more suitable, the ones not just for hobby fishing on the part of the resident agents and scientists, or quick facility-to-facility deliveries, had been stolen by the fleeing scientists. 

But then, sending other people to go do things like that was one of the perks of the job. 

Something splashed outside.  She looked up from what she was doing.  Was… Was that the sound of a motor?  Had one of the idiots she was left with decide to turn on an engine and waste their precious fuel resources?

She stepped out on the deck and saw something move in the water near one of the other boats.  The rope for it was gone. 

She reached for her rifle.  She did love the energy weapons being a human test subject gave her, but sometimes the weight and security of one of these was what she really needed. 

She waited and watched as something crawled up over the opposite railing on the other boat.  Something…

Rex Salazar. 

The other nanite test subject. 

Well, if her employment with the consortium fell through, she could always sell him off to the highest bidder.  She adjusted her aim and pulled the trigger. 

.

Agony ripped unexpectedly through Rex’s shoulder and he dropped to the ground with a scream.  It hurt!  It hurt!  He sobbed against the pain.  He—He had to get out of here.  He had to leave, now. 

He had to go go go.

He managed to drag himself to the small boat’s console and pressed his hand against it, blue lines spreading from the point of contact.  The boat’s engine roared to life as it jumped to obey Rex’s command to flee. 

That was the last thing he knew before passing out.

.

Rex woke to a circular white scar on his shoulder, a somehow disturbing lack of blood on the deck and the realization that having a boat did not in any way mean he knew where he was going.  Endless blue ocean twinkled at him from all directions, almost mockingly. 

He later discovered that while his nanites could do many things, he couldn’t make fuel from nothing.

.

He also discovered that there wasn’t any food on this boat, and fishing was very hard. 

.

The third thing he discovered was that it was very hard to stay awake when you were so hungry and thirsty. 

.

Rex woke to harsh white light, soft white sheets, and gentle beeping sounds.  He looked around himself, squinting.  There were a lot of people here, and they were all… they were all… Asian?  Was that the right word?  His brain felt fuzzy. 

He sat up slightly, and suddenly all attention was on him.  The people crowded around, asking questions.  He didn’t understand a single word of what they were saying, and he felt tears begin to gather at the corners of his eyes. 

Then, one woman in a white coat pushed through the crowd. 

“My name is Doctor Yuan Chenghua,” said the woman in heavily accented English.  “What is your name?”

“Rex,” said Rex, suddenly feeling shy.  He picked at the hem of the sheet.

“You are here because you were suffering from long… from no food.  Malnutrition.  Do you know what happened?”

“I was on a boat,” said Rex.  “There wasn’t any food.”

“What happened to your parents?” asked Dr. Yuan.  “Where are they?  Were they on the boat with you?”

Rex shook his head, even as his heart jumped.  Parents.  That’s who he was looking for!  He could have hugged Dr. Yuan.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “I don’t remember.  I—There was an island,” he tried to explain.  “People turned into monsters.”

“Oh,” said Dr. Yuan, who then switched to something in her own language.  One of the men behind her commented on it, and she shook her head.  “You poor thing.  That is… many things have happened.  You are not the only one with… troubles like this, as strange as it sounds.”

Rex nodded.  He had no idea how strange his troubles sounded, but if they were normal, now, that was a good thing, wasn’t it?  That meant that people must be working hard to solve them.  Maybe there was even a solution. 

“We will take care of you, yes?”

“Yes,” said Rex, then something else occurred to him.  “Where are we, anyway?”

Dr. Yuan smiled, and there was something bitter there, but also triumphant.  “You are in the Free City of Hong Kong.”

[tristennedarkmorn]

They anchored just off the coast of Khaz Algar, close to where a good chunk of Dalaran had landed ashore. While whatever was left of the city on land was well protected, the bits that exploded into the surrounding waters were ripe for the picking. 

Perfect for a salvaging job!

Perhaps not the most respectable course of action, but they did plan on turning over any important looking heirlooms or personal items still intact and not ruined by the sea. But surely no one would miss some gold or valuables thought lost to the depths. They weren’t the only crew with this idea, but given they were typically larger in numbers and more experienced, it wasn’t difficult to chase away most of the other vultures.

“So we can finally stop pretending that Khaz Algar doesn’t exist now? Thank fuck.” Ryland mused as he leaned against the deck rail, glancing below to watch over some of the crew down in the water.

Red simply smirked and exhaled a cloud of smoke up towards the sunny sky. Of course any sailors would know about this place, but the pirate’s code was strong in them. You don’t speak of treasures no one knows about. “Just wait til they find out about -”

“Where is Taric?”

Red hummed and gestured towards the shore, “He’s off picking flowers, you know how it goes with him. He’ll likely want to stay in the city to study with any herbalists and alchemists he finds there. Plus I don’t think he cares to be anywhere near the crash site right now. There’s a lot of general confusion and unfinished business among the dead here.”

The ‘Darkmorn gift’ had allowed both Red and Taric to see and speak with the dead, and while Red was able to block them out when necessary, Taric had the unfortunate ability of always being ‘half in, half out’ of the veil. He understood his nephew’s need to get away from it. Large-scale traumatic events were always the worst for him, especially when still this fresh. Ghosts lingered, and always had many questions that would have difficult answers.

“Are you going to help?” Ryland raised a brow in question.

Red rested the cigarette back between pierced lips, inhaling deeply to stall his response. “I probably should. There’s a lot of ‘missing person’ reports that could easily be cleared up. It’s always a bit of a toss-up though. Some people like to hold onto hope, and the truth would devastate them. On the other hand, closure can be a relief, no matter how difficult it is to hear.”

“You don’t have to do it, you know.”

“I know, I’d want to know though. I think Taric will come around eventually. He just needed some time doing his own thing for a while.” He rubbed his hands down his face and stubbed his cigarette out on the bottom of his boot. That was enough of that, while it wasn't a topic he spoke of often, the crew were well aware of his abilities and it was obvious that it was difficult to block out in this specific location. “I’m gonna go into the city for a bit and see about grabbing a copy of the list of missing persons.”

@rylandfalkov @taricdarkmorn @felonous

[garcargofarfar]

Rewriting Ein (Part 2)

So in part one I went over the two new characters I'd like to add in order to contribute to Ein's backstory. Now we're gonna cover that backstory✨️

To recap, Erielle and Arya. Ein's little sister and his crush from his old school/the Western wolf tribe.

I imagine Ein and Erielle being close siblings, Ein protecting her with all he can. Erielle, being a human, will go through bullying from a small age. Once older, Erielle would probably get sent to a different school. One like PDH, where humans and wolves are both accepted, or a simple human school. Meanwhile, Ein, as we know of, goes to his own school/the Western wolf tribe. There, he meets Arya, probably a really popular girl amongst the tribe.

Arya will be unlike most of them, kind and loving. Ein, being the overprotective brother he is, will come to develop feelings for her, seeing the sympathy she carries for humans.

I'd like to give them a whole series in the future around their friendship and bond throughout freshman year.

Then Erielle joins during sophomore, disguising herself as a werewolf. Arya and Erielle eventually would become friends. The alpha at the time would make her the Omega. Seeing Erielle was the Omega, she'd get close with the weak pups of the pack(like Aph with Daniel Dotty and Ryland)

Ein being the overprotective brother given their past, would get angry, so will Arya. In the end, in order to save Eri, the two would fight for Alpha and Alpha female.

But just like PDH s2, Ein would make the weak pups be Omega, which would anger Erielle this time. The two eventually would break out in an argument and one day Ein would expose Erielle's secret about being human in a fit of anger.

Arya would stick up for Erielle, leaving Ein even more angered. Erielle has no choice but to stand up for herself. She would fight Ein for place for Alpha even though she's human and a girl. She'd win in the end and that's when the two decide to leave this school and head to Phoenix Drop. This is where Pdh s2 happens.

This can explain why Ein, after becoming Alpha during pdh s2, starts abusing his power much more because he's now protective over his place as Alpha. Remember, Ein was omega before his sister took his place. Being Alpha was bringing him a new adrenaline and he would do anything to protect that role now that he feels betrayed by his own sister. Ein had done everything to protect her only to get stabbed in the back one day, he'd of course do anything to keep his place.

Erielle will be another story, probably in another post.

Whatever happens during Fcu, and MyStreet then? I have no clue either. Meanwhile, I do think if MyStreet had a S7, Arya and Erielle could be the characters to Ein's redemption arc. But you tell me!

What do you think about this new version of Ein? Lmk!!

EIN ANALYSIS | REWRITING EIN PART 1

[armoricaroyalty]

For my anniversary celebration, I'll be posting four short stories set sometime in the future. At least one of these stories is canonical. At least one of these stories is not. This is the first of four.

author's note: This one was a labor of love and would not have been possible without @trentonsimblr, who sent me the builds and Sims necessary.

transcript under the cut!

Bremore Palace / April 2039 (Armorican calendar)

VIVI | I don't know if he'll want to see me. It's been so long... EMILY | You're his mother. Why wouldn't he want to see you? VIVI | I haven't always been there for him...what if it's too little, too late? EMILY | I think he's going to be really happy to see you. VIVI | You really think so? EMILY | I do. He loves you, Vivi. He's a good kid. EMILY | Now come on! We don't have much time if we want to get you in and out without being seen... HUGO | [reading] "I give you this ring as a symbol of my solemn vow-" Eurgh, no. "I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow and solemn promise..." HUGO | "Vow and solemn promise..." Solemn promise, I can't forget that— [knock on door] HUGO | Shit! Uh...who's there? EMILY | [muffled] It's Auntie Emily! HUGO | ... VIVI | Hi, sweetheart... HUGO | M-mom? EMILY | ...I'll let you two catch up, then. VIVI | It's so good to see you. HUGO | I can't believe you're here. HUGO | H-how did you get here? They told me you weren't in the country. VIVI | Emily. And...Ryland. He made it possible for me to be here. HUGO | Really? But I thought— VIVI | Never mind that! Oh— look at you! You're all grown up! I can't believe my little boy's getting married. HUGO | I'm so glad you're here. I can't believe it's been so long... VIVI | Come on, let's sit down and you can tell me all about Payton. HUGO | She's amazing...I think you'd really like her, Mom. HUGO | Mom? Can I tell you something? I'm...really nervous. VIVI | Got the pre-wedding jitters? HUGO | Yeah...were you nervous before you married Dad? VIVI | Well... VIVI | That was a long, long time ago...things were different back then. Payton's parents were arranged, for goodness' sake. It's a brave new world. HUGO | I'm scared, Mom. I don't want to fuck it up. I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to— VIVI | Oh Hugo...you are not your father, do you hear me? HUGO | ...yeah. VIVI | You're not like him. You're not. You're sweet and gentle and you care so much. You're not going to make his mistakes. You're going to be a good husband and an even better father. HUGO | I've missed you so much, Mom. VIVI | I've missed you too. [clock ticking] ARTHUR | So...if he doesn't come back, does that mean the wedding's off? EMMETT | Don't get my hopes up. [door bangs open] HUGO | GENTLEMEN! It's time to get fucking MARRIED! EMMETT | ...speak of the devil.