Lidarion: Chapter 17

The group was dead silent until they had completely exited the castle. The guards left them at the front gate and returned inside. The day itself was sunny but not overly hot. It was turning into a mild summer which meant that on days like today no one was interested in staying inside and so the streets were crowded, making staying near the gates a decent place to decide what had to happen next.

Squints spun on Trent. “I’m sorry,” started.

“None of that was your fault.” Trent interrupted.

Squints exploded. “OH I KNOW THAT! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? That’s it isn’t it? Both of you have gone stark raving mad!” Squints paced with the little space they had as he ranted.

Trent shook his head. “I think you are over reacting.” He started.

Squints spun on him in mid pace. “YOU THINK I’M OVER REACTING?!” He shouted at the top of his lungs and then realized he was in public, so he lowered his voice. “You just got us involved in royal politics, the search for a fairy tale, and made us responsible for not only keeping ourselves alive but keeping the entirety of the only functional government this kingdom has had for the last hundred years alive! I personally think I’m dramatically under reacting you lead dense MORON!” Squints ranted and then went back to pacing.

Trent was still nothing but smiles. Lisa leaned over to whisper to Trent. “Why are you taking this so well?” She asked.

Trent shrugged. “His two best friends disappeared thirteen years ago, one went to war and the other went insane. Can’t bottle that kind of stuff up for that long and not snap at some point. He deserves to vent, let him vent.” He explained. “You feel better now buddy?” He asked Squints. Squints flipped him off while he continued pacing. “Does that mean you’re not going to help then?” He asked still smiling.

Squints stopped pacing “Of course I’m helping. I’m scared and I’m pissed off, but I’m not stupid. Without me none of you would have the first clue of where to go and what to do.” He said.

Trent shook his head in the negative. “Nah I know the first thing to do.” He said full of assurance.

Squints looked at him skeptically. “Hit me.” He said

Trent smiled. “Well first things first, we go to the library district and ask Squints for any books about the Sigils.” He got through the sentence before he started laughing.

Squints glared at him, spun around and made his way into the crowd, shouting. “I hate you.” Before he disappeared into the mob.

The XP: Chapter 17

The Plane of Judgement was made of an impossible number of tiny floating islands that stretched on as fa as the view distance would render. The sky was a wild ocean of bubbling clouds and constant lightening. Without warning a bolt of lightning came down and struck Bob. Her eyes turned a neon glowing white and she dew the sword from her Sabertar.

                          

“Come and receive your judgment!” She shouted at the others.

Trart looked at The Matriarch. “What’s going on?” He asked.

The Matriarch shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, the last time I was here we arrived on a different island and fought a giant earth elemental.” She admitted.

Stygian Drew his gigantic sword and shield. As Bob leapt through the air and brought her sword down to meet his shield as he threw it up reflexively. “I think it’s us or her guys!” He shouted shoving her back with a heavy swing of his shield arm.

Blackout and the others drew their weapons as Bob turned into a whirling storm of destruction. None of them knew if the lightening would leave Bob or if they would have to kill her. She launched herself at Trart and before he thought about who he was really shooting he unleashed a stream of firepower from his chain gun which hit Bob hard knocking her to the ground. Her eyes went dark.

The others gathered around her and Trart grimaced. “Well I’m a dead man when she gets back.” He lamented.

The light left her eyes. And Stygian pointed it out. “She’s not possessed anymore, I think you’ll be fine.”

Trart shook his head. “I meant the actual Bob was going to kill when she resurrected ten minutes from now.” He clarified.

The lightening jumped from Bob’s body to Blackout. His eyes went electric white just as Bob’s had. He turned to face the others and smiled. “Why wait?” he said Blasting the other three back with a force wall.

Trart got to his feet to see that Blackout had put himself inside a healing bubble and begun to meditate. He crawled over to Stygian. “That bubble has about what fifteen thousand hit points with seven fifty regenerating per second? I can’t lay down that much suppressing fire, but I can get it down to the red line and you can crack the shield.” Trart said.

Stygian nodded. “That gets us through the shield what do we do once its down?” He asked.

The Matriarch appeared over his shoulder. “Leave that to me.” She said with serious determination on her face.

The trio stood and Trart leveled his weapon at Blackout’s shield and pummeled it with suppressing fire. IT turned from a neon white to a dingy yellow then to a muted dirty orange. Stygian took a short three step hop into the air and brought his giant black and blue sword down on the damaged shield shattering it into a million shards of light. Blackout looked shocked but pointed a hand at Stygian ready to attack with another spell, which he never cast as his body was impaled with what appeared to be giant knitting needles. The first two caused him to step back. The next six forced him to stumble, the final six knocked him to the ground. Stygian finished him off with a definitive chop of his blade.

“Do you think it’s over?” He asked as Blackouts eyes returned to normal and the lightening jumped to him. Light poured out from the eye slits of his helmet. “I’m just getting started.”

The Matriarch launched herself into the air and summoned a hail storm of knitting needles bringing them down in a deathly rain as they each impaled Stygian. There were hundreds of them and as the storm exhausted itself she lowered back to the ground closed her fists and watched as Stygian’s absolutely destroyed body didn’t move in the least as it was held fast by the hundreds of giant bars of metal piercing through him and into the ground. She took a few steps ahead of Trart and the lighting jumped to her. She spun around to face Trart to find him holding four active grenades, two in each hand. He smiled at her. “We win.” The grenades went off and everything went white.

When the white light faded Tart realized he and the others were floating on the island as spirits. The lightening attempted to jump from The Matriarch’s body to Trart’s but could not make it. It hovered above him as a little electrical storm and became increasingly chaotic before it dissipated completely. Their ghostly forms faded as they all returned to their bodies. Trart and the Matriarch sat up first.

“You blew me up.” The Matriarch accused.

Trart nodded. “I wanted to win.” He said without guilt.

The Matriarch shook her head. “You blew me up with grenades and sacrificed yourself.” She said.

Trart shrugged “Are you mad that I blew you up, or that you’re not the one who thought of it first?” He asked.

“Hey I’ve thought about blowing you up loads of times.” Blackout said walking over and helps The Matriarch to her feet.

“I’m more concerned that you’re crazier than a wood watch.” The Matriarch commented.

Blackout rolled his eyes. “Now she notices.

Trart made a rude gesture. “Did we or did we not win because of me?” He asked as a huge ornate treasure chest appeared. “I mean if you guys are so mad that we all died, I guess I’ll just take this treasure and –“

“Over my dead body.” Bob snapped.

“Been there done that.” Trart laughed as he opened the treasure chest and they all looked inside to check out their loot. 

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 17

Thompson and Cynthia are sitting in Thompson’s apartment having breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, toast and orange juice. Cynthia had ended up at his apartment every night in the last week and while their conversations often took them to coffee shops and all night diners they had stayed in most nights and breakfast food was all he had left.

Cynthia smiled at him as she dunked her toast into her over easy egg. “We should go shopping tomorrow.” She said. Biting her eggy toast.

Thompson raised an eyebrow. “We?” He asked.

She nodded finishing her toast. “You fed me, the least I can do is help refill your fridge.” She smiled.

“I think you severely overestimate the everyday functionality of my kitchen.” He said with a mouthful of pancakes.

Cynthia laughed. “Lemmie guess, what were eating now consists of all the actual food that was in there. Currently there is a jar with one pickle left in it, a half a bottle of ketchup and a two beers.” She counted the items off on her fingers.

Thompson scoffed. “Wrong! It’s actually three beers.” He mumbled eating more pancakes.

Cynthia got quiet all of a sudden and picked at her own pancakes. “Dean?” She asked quietly.

Dean set his fork down. “Yeah?”

She looked him in the eye. “What did you tell Foster?” She asked bluntly.

Thompson shrugged. “Just that he didn’t want my help.” He swirled the orange juice in his cup.

Cynthia nervously poked her pancakes with her fork again. “He burns like you do.”

Thompson almost spilled his glass. “Son of a bitch!”

He shot out of his chair. Shocking Cynthia. “I didn’t know how to tell you at first and then things just kept on like you never disappeared and I didn’t want to ruin it.” She admitted sadly. “I’m sorry.”

Thompson turned around and knelt at her feet grabbed her hands and looked her in the eyes. “This isn’t your fault and whatever happens between me and Foster won’t ruin this, I can promise you that.” He said.

She shook her head. “You can’t promise that. Because whatever this is, is the same thing between you and Daigo. You were different then, Foster is different now. He’s completely green but if he wasn’t he’d be scary.” She said as Foster paced the living room. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

Thompson nibbled at his thumb as he paced. “I made a huge mistake.” He said.

Cynthia shook her head. “I don’t think so, he passed his midterm with flying colors. He was the first person to sign up for my end of semester showcase. If he wasn’t such a dick, I’d say whatever you said was totally successful.” She admitted.

Thompson stopped pacing. “Cynthia you really don’t understand.”

Cynthia got up and moved closer to Thompson. “Then explain it to me.” She demanded.

Thompson looked into her eyes and nodded. He sat on the floor and she joined him. “Fine, but promise me you won’t say anything until I tell you the whole story.” He said getting situated.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 21

They worked for hours. For having next to no knowledge about the technology it turned out to be surprisingly easy to find spare parts for the components that were destroyed beyond repair and the parts that were repairable actually had instructions on them to follow. Still the damage in the control room took several hours to even get back to basic functionality.

                

The first thing they did was confirm that the system that regenerated Blinding Light was functioning. The timer showed three days to full repair. And that system was taking the entirety of the functionality they had gotten back. So anything else required more time to work through repairing even more consoles. By sunrise they had enough of the command center systems back online.

It look them several more hours of searching through file systems to figure out what did what and how. By mid-afternoon they had a three dimensional model of the Earth and the Moon projected into the center of the room. Warren looked up at the projection from his console. “From what I can tell I think this is something along the lines of a planet wide radar system.” He said.

Sonya looked at the projection. “Ok so how do we make it, radar, or whatever?” She asked.

Warren turned back to the console and scanned through the menu system. “We need to tell it what to look for, like what to track.” He confirmed.

Gordon shrugged his shoulders. “What are our options?” He asked. “can we just say ‘computer we need to find Technarious or Lumarion. Preferably both?” He asked sarcastically.

“Pinging global sphere for Technarious and Lumarion. A robotic voice filled the command center. Everyone looked around the room in surprise as a neon green sphere appeared at the center of the holographic earth and grew until it faded away past the edges of the moon. They watched as another neon green sphere appeared again and grew outward until it also faded away just past the moon. A third sphere appeared and got bigger and faded away. It was the last one. When it was gone nothing about the holographic display had changed. “Neither Technarious or Lumarion found on earth or the moon.” The voice confirmed without emotion.5555555555511

Kelly shook her head. “That can’t be, they must be somewhere this system can’t sense them.” She said to the open air.

“There is no substance on Earth or the moon capable of hiding or obscuring the capabilities of this system. Lumarion and Technarious are gone.”

The Shades all tried to hide their fear and worry from each other. Gordon kicked one of the still dead consoles. 

Blood and Profit: Chapter 44

Mew sat at the edge of the clearing until late in the evening. Rootan, the Starseed with the discolored growth on his midsection, joined her as she stared at the stars through the gap in the forest canopy. “So if you’re species shares a singular consciousness, how come you used “”I” and have a name?” She asked.

Rootan sat next to her. “The simplest explanation is that it makes races like yours more comfortable. We have seen races become very untrustworthy of us once they understood the differences between individual consciousness and shared consciousness.” Rootan explained.

Mew nodded listening to his explanation while looking at the newly growing tree that would eventually be a ship. “So when you said that you came here to save us, did you intend for us to join you on this tree ship thing? Because I honestly don’t know if our colony has enough ships to get everyone off planet.” She admitted.

Rootan looked at the stars in silence for a moment. Then back at Mew. “We would need a MUCH larger tree.”

After a while Rootan left Mew alone next to the clearing. She listened to the wind blow through the canopy above her. Birds had already begun to make the forest their home and could be heard going about their evening activities.

The light from Eamon’s communicator lit the ground in front of Eamon as he walked up beside his sister. He sat down next to her before he shut the light off. “The official representatives from the colony will be here in the morning. I was planning on sleeping in the ship. Where have you been sleeping?” He asked her.

She didn’t take her eyes off the seedling in the center of the clearing. “They, it, shaped a tree out for me to sleep in.” she replied while deep in thought.

Eamon noticed how far away she was mentally. “Mew, are you ok?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I feel like we’re going to find out that we don’t have the resources to get everyone off planet before the wave reaches us.” She replied.

Eamon looked up at the night sky. “You’re assuming everyone will want to leave.” He said sighing heavily.

Mew looked at him in shock. “You really think people are going to choose to stay here and be unmade?” She asked.

He nodded. “I think that a portion of the population will assume we are lying to them, that this wave, if it even reaches the colony can be survived. Like a natural disaster. They will be wrong, but we cannot save those who do not wish to be saved.”

Mew shook her head. “We’ll need to get as much actual data on the wave as possible. Show them that this thing is coming, and that out running it is their only option for survival. Prove it to them.” She stated with determination.

Eamon put his arm around his sister. “Mew, you know I love you, but there’s no proof you can give someone that’s going to overpower the protective shell of ignorance their ego has erected around them.” He said dryly.

Mew shook her head. “I refuse to believe that people will willingly choose their own deaths just because the other option is trusting someone who understands the intricate details of something they don’t.” Mew declared.

Eamon patted her back. “That’s why I love you sis.” He stood up. “Now come on, I can make a second bunk in my shuttle, you can sleep on a real bed tonight.” He held out his hand and she used it to get to her feet.

Lidarion: Chapter 16

Even though Brooke could have easily dispatched the guards herself Trent gave them no issues. He and his friends allowed themselves to be escorted to the castle after breakfast. Trent had not been in Lidarion in thirteen years and other than feeling a little smaller and a little less grand the castle had not changed much, and Trent reminding himself that the size and feel of the building had more to do with the changes in him rather than the building.

The guards led them by the rooms the ruling council used for their daily meetings. Which were closed and dark. “That’s strange. They’re is usually hammering out the kingdom and city budget this time of year.” Brooke commented.

They turned a corner and came to large double doors covered with red velvet and inlaid with gold. The lamps on either side of the hall were shiny with fresh polish and the doors appeared to have been intensely cleaned and polished recently. “Anyone else feeling like this is a bigger deal than we thought?” Squints asked.

The guard to their right reached up and slammed the knocker into its base. They could hears the sound echo through the throne room on the other side. There was a delay and then the doors opened from the inside, pulled by servants on command. The throne room was no longer as Brooke had described it. There were lit torches, band new tapestries, and a thick red carpet that led up to the dais where King Alfred sat on a newly polished throne.

The group approached the dais slowly, the members of the ruling council were imprisoned in large cages that lined the walls on the back half of the throne room. The men and women had clearly been detained for a while, and not treated at all well. The knots in Trent’s stomach cursed him for making such a stupid tactical error.

“Welcome, do not be shy, this is a day of celebration and generosity! Come be quick and kneel at my feet, let us get formality out of the way so that we may speak as friends. Like we used to.” The king waved his hand at the empty space at the foot of the Dais. His smile did not match the tone of his voice but they had no other choice and so sped up to kneel and swear fealty. “You may rise, loyal and true citizens of Lidarion.” The king commanded having accepted their display. “Now let us ‘catch up’ as they say. It has been an age has it not? Regale your king and his court,” He waved to the council in their cages. “With the tales of your lives since last we met.” He leaned on his elbow to await their reply.

Trent stepped forward first and knelt again. “Before we go any further I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to his royal highness and to the court for breaking my banishment. I have no excuse other than making a promise that I could never have kept. I meant no disrespect.” He waited for a moment until the king spoke.

“Rise my friend. This court takes no offense at your appearance in this time of need. It may even been what the scribes of old would call ‘fate’, am I right Squints?” The king looked to the gnome.

Squints shrugged his shoulders. “I apologize your majesty but I don’t think I know of the need you are referring to.” He answered.

The king snapped his fingers. “Of course not! How could you? If everyone knew then it wouldn’t be very fateful now would it?” He said mostly to himself. “You may rise Trent, and consider carefully the task I lay before you.” The king commanded.

Trent rose to his feet and stepped back in line. “How may I be of service to your majesty?” Trent asked.

The king smiled. “I propose a trade.” He offered without further explanation.

Trent waited an appropriate amount of time and then asked. “A Trade, your highness?”

The king nodded. “Of course. I cannot kill you. I am not a stupid man you see and I know that my sister is more loyal to you than she is to me, so if you were to die by my order it is obvious that I would die by her hand. This would plunge the kingdom into even worse chaos than it already exists in. I cannot have that. So in exchange for the lives of the council, a ravening band of opportunistic scavengers if there ever was one, I require something that will cement my legacy as the greatest king in the history of Lidarion.” His smile was genuine now.

Trent nodded. “And what could I hope to trade to you for their lives that had the power to grant you such a legacy?” Trent asked.

The king snapped again. “So glad you asked. You will bring me the Sigils of the Paragon’s.”

Squints took half a step back but the reference sailed right over Trent’s head. “The Sigils of the Paragons your highness?” He asked.

The king nodded. “I do like this echo you’ve developed but it does slow things down and it makes me wonder about your mental capabilities. The paragons are the representatives of the elemental gods on this planet, they have the power to bestow the favor of the gods they represent onto mortal men and women. I am burdened with ruling this great kingdom but you have the freedom to collect these favors in my name. Bring them to me in one year’s time and I will spare the lives of these betrayers and usurpers. Do you agree?”

Trent looked around the throne room and realized there were more guards than he could count on a quick glance. “And If I say no?” He asked.

The king sighed heavily. “The standard punishment for breaking a banishment is death and while it would pain me greatly, A king with a dead sister is still a king.”

Trent looked to Squints who was very slightly shaking his head as if to say don’t do this. Trent took one last look at the council member’s and then nodded. “I accept, on one condition.”

The kings smile got bigger and then instantly faded. “I do not believe I offered terms for bargaining.” The king replied.

Trenton nodded. “And You may deny me if you wish, but it is a small favor at best. Easy for a man of power such as yourself.” Trent explained.

The king waved his hand. “I am feeling generous today, what is this ‘condition’ of yours?” The king asked.

“keep the Council on the castle grounds, armed guard all day every day. But if they are to be dead in a year’s time, take them out of these cages. Be magnanimous and allow them a shred of joy before they are to die for my failures.” Trent requested.

The king looked at Trent like he was trying to figure out the puzzle of his intent. “So sure you will fail that you cannot even lie to them about their chances? You must have more faith my friend. The god’s have brought you here. You are going to bring me my prize and you are going to save their pathetic lives. But I would like to be known as a just and generous king, so I will do as you ask. Release them.” The king commanded, causing the nearest guards to move to the cages with their keys and set the council free. “They are to be kept to the eastern castle barracks. If they leave the barracks or the yard that surrounds it, they will die. You have one year, their lives depend on you now. The king waved his hand and the guards ushered the freed Council out the eastern doors while another set of guards escorted Trent and the others back out the doors they came through.

The XP: Chapter 16

Volnado and Shizaboom were sitting in private box in the audience area of the tournament grounds watching two teams fight each other in order to advance to the next round. Wainright teleported into the box and took his empty seat. “The End of the World club is on their way to the Planes of judgement and Torcano’s new toon is being griefed over in Spirit Flats.” He explained to Volnado.

Volnado watched with a smile on his face as the two teams fought bitterly against each other. “Set the Planes of Judgement to run Judgement of the Soul. I want them out of this competition.” He instructed.

Wainright nodded and then teleported away.

Torcano crawled on the ground, his legs below the knees were bloody stumps. His pistols no more than half a body length away. He scrambled as fast as he could before a shot rang out, the bullet knocking his pistols further away from him. He droped his face almost into the dirt.

“Man that’s gotta be getting frustrating huh?” Vrage asked sarcastically. You’re all super determined and your weapons are so close.” He crouched down by the pistols in the dirt. “Come on buddy, just a little bit further.” Vrage stood up as Torcano pulled himself forward a few more inches. He pulled his pistol and shot Torcano twice in the back. “But then disaster! You’re getting slower and slower, you haven’t gained any skill points in almost an hour Torcano, all that precious time, gone. And this is your second life this hour, if you die again you loose a half hour just waiting to re-spawn.” He crouched down, his shadow looming over Torcano. He stuck his gun in the gaping hole in Torcano’s back. “Aren’t you worried that you friends will think you’ve abandoned them?” Vrage asked.

Torcano looked bored. “Grief all you want Vrage, this is nothing more than a silly game.” Torcano admitted.

Vrage smiled. “Ahhh, the justification of the natural born looser. Destined to beg at the feet of winners for the remaining shreds of their pathetic little lives.” Vrange kicked dirt in Torcano’s face.

Torcano wiped the dirt out of his eyes. “You have serious issues dude.” He replied, pulling himself forward a few more inches. Vrage put his boot on the back of Torcano’s neck and does a little jump hop to kill him off.

Fifteen minutes later Torcano faded back to life. Vrage was leaning against the railing of the old man’s porch. “You’ve been able to re-spawn for five minutes now. D’j’ou make a sandwich or something?” Vrage asked casually.

Torcano nodded. “I had the time so I figured what the hell right?” He dropped his hand onto the handle of his pistol.

Vrage looked at him with a smile on his face. “What are you doing Torcano?”

Torcano tightened his grip. “Finishing this quest.” He replied with determination.

Vrage laughed. “Oh sure, but not till the Guild Wars are over.”

Torcano rolled his eyes. “Is that what this is about?” He asked.

Vrage nodded. “Come on man! You had to know I was being paid to babysit you like this.” He confirmed. Both of them drew their weapons Torcano’s pistols were shot out of is hands cleanly. He made a dash for them and Vrage caught him with a third shot in the shoulder, which knocked him on his back. Vrage sauntered over and looked down at Torcano. “All that time as  Game Master sure didn’t improve your play Style. Not going to be much help to your friends if you can’t keep hold of your guns Torcano.” Vrage leveled the barrel of his gun right between Torcano’s eyes. “Should remember something my daddy always used to say.” Vrage’s statement was interrupted when a bullet tore through his chest. Catching him completely by surprise and stunning him completely.

Sezario Stepped out of the heat waves in the distance and slung his rifle over his back with one hand and pulled a pistol from his side with the other. “A place for everything.” Sezario said now standing over Vrage stunned on the ground. “And everything in its place.” He finished while leveling his pistol at Vrage’s face.

“You’re dead meat noob!” Vrage yelled, still unable to move.

Sezario smiled. “That’s going to be a lot more threatening when I hear it again in ten minutes.” He pulled the trigger and Vrage disappeared. He then turned his attention to Torcano a held out his hand to help Torcano get to his feet.

Torcano took his hand and stood up. “Thanks, I owe you one.” He said.

Sezario smiled and shook his head. “No problem, I’m allergic to douche bags and he was messing with my sinuses something fierce. You need to be long gone by the time he gets back.” Sezario said nodding to the old man. Torcano nodded, picked up his guns, turned in the quest and headed off into the afternoon heat waves in the distance.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 16

It wasn’t quite time for students to be panicking over their finals so the library is lightly attended by its usual full semester residents. Most at their own tables where they have been all semester, claiming their space in preparation for the rest of the student body to realize the campus library is a genuinely useful resource. Clay and faith were sitting together at a large table. Their books and study materials had long since intertwined and become quite the mess. Clay had spent most of his evening reading from the last chapter of his psychology text, taking notes and highlighting important passages. Faith had her book open but was flipping through flash cards, testing herself on the contents of the previous chapter. Clay finished highlighting a sentence and looked over at Faith as she flipped through card after card. Reading them silently to herself, then flipping each to check her answer and moving the card to the back of the pile. Almost without thinking he reached over and drew a neon yellow line on her arm. Causing her to glance at him over her the top of her cards. He is trying not to smile and failing miserably and before he registers her movement she has her own pink highlighter out and they are locked in a silly game of highlighter tag.

Clay got a hold of both her wrists and tried to give her a stern look. “We should be studying young lady.” He said in his deepest ‘adult’ voice. She twisted her wrist and drew a long pink line on his hand. Their battle began again.

Their table wasn’t far from the fiction section of the library, Where Tanya had been wandering the stacks looking for the library intern from her analysis paralysis class. She found them instead. Her mind immediately started counting broken rules she was witnessing and she felt herself getting angry until she saw the Rho Sigma Gamma patch on his backpack and her field of vision went red.

Faith and Clay were still playing with each other, and the fight had gotten ridiculous as attempted tickling had gotten involved. The temperature at the table dropped five degrees when Tanya approached. “Faith?” She asked with mock surprise.

Faith looked at her and dropped the game as if she had touched a hot burner. “Tanya, Um, Hi, What’s up?” She asked feigning ignorance.

Tanya’s facial expression fit like a cheap Halloween mask. Her smile was painted on and didn’t match the rage in her eyes. She shot Faith a look that landed somewhere between psycho murderer and Stepford Wife. “I’m not, interrupting anything, am I?” She asked with all the intensity of a grease fire that’s just hit a second burner.

Faith put her highlighter down on the table and shook her head. “No, no of course not, not at all Tanya.” She said, moving her chair away from Clay.

Faith repainted her smile which only made her look crazier and looked at Clay. “Can I steal her for just a second then?” It was structured like a question but sounded like a rattle snake warning him off. “Just need to chat with you for a moment dear.” She said looking back at Faith.

Faith quickly grabbed her purse and stood up. “I’ll be right back.” She said without breaking the gaze Tanya had her locked into.

Tanya held the glare and piggybacked on Faith’s comment. “Won’t steal her for more than a minute or two.”

The girls quickly and quietly disappeared into the fiction section. Clay was left, sitting awkwardly by himself. In front of studying he no longer had any interest in.

The second the girls were out of ear shot Tanya spun on Faith. “What the Hell was that Faith?” She spat.

Faith was no longer hiding her annoyance. “None of your business Tanya.” She fired back.

The shred of composure that Tanya had was beginning to fade. “When it comes to the sisterhood everything is my business.” She hissed.

Fury was boiling behind Faith’s eyes now. “You never wanted anything to do with me before we came to college, what makes you think that being in the same sorority would create a stronger bond than the biological one you’ve turned your nose up at.” She spat.

The judgement slid off Tanya like she was coated in Teflon. “As a member of Nu Tau Delta every sister, including you, has the responsibility of maintaining our image on this campus. I don’t know why mom thought the sorority would somehow make you care about how the world sees you when you have never, not once cared about your personal image. Faith that person is not a part of the Nu Tau Delta lifestyle. You may not care in the least about that lifestyle but as long as I am president of the sorority you will abide by the guidelines of the sisterhood. You aren’t just damaging your own reputation here.”

Faith was barely keeping her rage in check during Tanya’s speech. “Really Tanya?” She replied. “I’m the one putting our precious reputation in danger?” She continued. “Then please tell me why I keep hearing that Nu Tau Delta means Never Turn Down a guy, because it sounds more like I’m pulling us out of the mud.” The slap was like lightening. Faith knew it was coming and was still shocked when it hit her cheek. By the time she registered the pain her face was turned to the side.

Tanya leaned in to whisper in Faith’s ear. “Unless you want me to call mom and have her yank your spoiled, judgmental ass out of this school I’d watch that mouth of yours. No one speaks negatively about Nu Tau Delta, nobody.” Her voice had the same tone as a revving table saw and it made Faith flinch. She nodded quickly. Having finally made her point Tanya collected herself. “Now, as your big sister I am willing to forget what I just heard, if, you are willing to go before the chapter to apologies and recommit yourself to the sisterhood.”

Faith slowly turned back to face Tanya, she wiped a tear off her cheek and smeared her mascara slightly. Tanya clicked her tongue. “Oh honey, we need to get you cleaned up. Come on, let’s go say goodbye to your friend and we’ll get some ice on that cheek also.

Faith was more intimidated by the now sickeningly sweetness Tanya was exuding than she was by her fury. She followed behind her sister quickly and quietly as they headed back to the table. When they got back to the table she immediately began to pack her bag.

Clay instantly saw the redness on her cheek, as well as the sadness in her eyes. “Are you ok?” He asked softly while moving closer to her. She moved away from him and shook her head at the same time. Clay looked to Tanya who flashed him a poisonously sweet smile. Clay ignored her and turned back to Faith. “Faith what’s going on?” He asked, trying to look in her eyes. She avoided his gaze and zipped up her bag and slid it over her shoulders. Walked over and stood a step behind and step to the right of Tanya, wanting desperately to leave the library.

Tanya didn’t move. “Say it.” She hissed at her sister.

Faith’s shoulders slumped and she reluctantly made eye contact with Clay. “I, I don’t want to see you again Clay. It’s, not working out between us. Please just, leave me alone.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and wavered like she could cry at any second.

Clay nodded dumbly and sat back down for no other reason than the air conditioning pushed him off his feet.

Pleased with the exchange Tanya made her way out of the library and Faith followed one step behind and to the right.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 20

The light from the teleport faded leaving the Shades in a dark command Center. Gordon had his glasses in his hand and was the first to realize something wasn’t right. “ Technarious?” He called out to the empty room.

Kelly took her glasses off and looked around the destroyed room. “What happened here?” She asked.

“Something very bad.” The voice from the teleport message replied from under one of the blinking consoles. The voice belonged to a guy who looked to a decade or two older than the Shades. He crawled out from under the console with a set of silver sunglasses that had light beaming from the lenses in one hand, and a multi tool in his other hand. The shades took a weary step backwards which did not go unnoticed. “Before you kids get physical, my name is Mark, I’m the transition Shade.” He held up the glasses as evidence.

“Transition Shade?” Dante asked.

“The member of the last group that drew the short straw and remains available to handle any issues that might arise before Technarious and Lumarion are able to assemble a new team.” Warren guessed.

Mark Pointed at Warren. “Got it in one.” He confirmed. “My Shade designation is Liquid Silver.. Sorry we had to meet like this.” He waved at the destroyed command center. The light from his glasses ran over Lumarion’s wall which was shattered in several places.

“What happened here?” Sonya asked.

Mark tested a few of the buttons on the console he had been under and got no reaction. “Isn’t it obvious?” He asked. “Someone broke in and ransacked the place. I haven’t been able to bring up anything other than the teleporter and that fried after I brought you guys in. Technarious and Lumarion are gone, although they were able to set off an alarm for me before they left or were taken.

Kelly stepped forward. “How are we supposed to find them? She asked. "Blinding light is destroyed, I’m shocked out glasses were able to safely teleport us honestly.

Mark looked at Lumarion’s shattered wall. “Look, I’m not going to lie, this isn’t the best situation in the world, but the best thing we can do right now is solve one problem at a time. First things first we have to get some sort of functionality in the command center back online. Then we can recompile Blinding Light and start looking for any clues or trails that Tenchnarious or Lumarion may have left.” Mark explained.

Gordon nodded. “We literally have no better option than to trust you, but I swear if you are lying to us I will make it my life’s mission to hunt you down and end you.” Gordon stated with no bravado. “How can I help” He finished.

Mark smiled. “I think we’re going to get a long just fine.” Lets start by assessing the total state of the damage here so we know how much work we have ahead of us.” He decided.

Immediately the others moved into action. 

Blood and Profit: Chapter 43

The Starseeds led Mew and Eamon to a clearing deep within the jungle. The leaves in this area had landed in a near perfect circle creating an opening in the canopy that the light poured through. In what looked to be the center of the clearing there was a single leaf ship that had been buried almost completely in the ground. Already starting to sprout the beginnings of something that would dwarf the rest of the forest around it.

Eamon’s communicator gave off a chime and he checked the messages he had received. “Great.” He said in mixture of joy and frustration.

Mew turned away from the new growth in the center of the circle of light to reply to her brother. “What now?” She asked.

He was furiously typing a reply to something he had read. “Kepi has given the senate the information we sent her. They are currently debating their next move. I also have a message from the Senate leaders demanding my immediate return to the capitol.” He explained without looking up from his device.

One of the Starseeds touched Mew on her shoulder. She turned back toward the ring of light. “Eamon I don’t think we could leave right now even if we wanted to.” She said moving closer to the circle of light.

Eamon looked up from his communicator to see Mew being led into the open clearing. “Mew what are you doing? Don’t go near that thing!” He shouted.

“They haven’t done anything even remotely hostile since I landed here, they came here to save us, I need you to stop freaking out.” She said without looking back.

Two more Starseeds stepped up next to Eamon and walked him out into the clearing. “What is this thing anyway?” He asked. “You already have plenty of trees, why is this one so special?” He continued. “I mean, this tree’s going to be pretty big from the looks of it, so hey, yay you guys.” He nervously threw thumps up into the air. And his escorts stopped him next to his sister.

Mew shook her head. “Eamon, shut up.” She glared at him.

From every edge of the circle Starseeds emerged into the light. One by one reaching down and implanting their upper limbs into the ground causing the grass between them and the giant seedling to grow several inches the ground to spout hundreds of flowers. As more and more Starseeds pressed themselves into the dirt the seedling sprouts slowly but surely began to grow inch by inch until the seeding was now an impossibly thick intertwined grouping of vines that had begun to spout giant leaves.

When the tree stopped its growth the Starseeds retreated one by one until only one was left. It had discolored bark in the midsection area between its upper and lower limbs and Mew recognized that this was the Starseed crashed into her space station, the one she had rescued and brought down to the planet with her. For a second she got overly excited and ran up to give it a hug. “Oh my god you’re alive!” The Starseed did not return the hug and Mew let go quickly. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t know what hugging is do you?” She asked awkwardly.

The Starseed’s face appeared so that it could answer. Eamon had not seen any of the Starseeds with faces yet and promptly freaked out. “Why does it have a face now?” He shouted.

Mew sighed heavily. “They’re a psychic species Eamon. The little dream journey you took? The view from space? Their ‘faces’? All of that are ways they can communicate with species that cannot interface with their dark matter.” She explained.

“Dark matter?” Eamon asked.

The Starseed finally spoke. “These bodies are only one of the forms that we can exist in. Technically speaking there is no such thing as “we”. Only a singular consciousness that is made up of a living cloud of dense neurofibers. “we” are all the knowledge the cloud contains. Normally the cloud is not present in this phase space, but something about traveling through the ring with our escape pods has pulled a piece of the cloud with us. Now that our consciousness is physically present in this phase space it can be damaged and even destroyed. We must grow another elder tree that can phase shift before we lose "our mind" completely.”

Eamon had a completely blank look on his face. He looked to Mew. “I’m assuming that made sense to you.” He said.

She nodded. “I grasped the general concept, yeah.” She confirmed.

Eamon nodded. “Good cause when my bosses ask, you get to explain all of this. Tree ships, collective consciousness, psychic bonsai plants. Sexy fun time dirt rituals, everything that’s happened since I landed has been totally wacko fantasy dream time.” He ranted heading out of the clearing.

Mew smiled awkwardly at the Starseed. “Sorry about him.”

The Starseed shrugged.

Lidarion: Chapter 15

The next morning came far too quickly for Trent’s liking. He had talked with Brooke until she had begun to nod off. They walked together to the inn and gotten a room, where he slept fitfully. She had awoken early and they had decided to have breakfast and continue their conversation from the night before.

“Not long after you left my brother demanded that I wed the eldest son of the head of the banking clan. Neither of us were interested and yet they still held the wedding. Although when neither of us showed up to be married the event took a less than pleasant turn. My brother does not have the same ease of co-operation with the advisory council. He lives in constant fear of assassins and political plots. He is not the same person we knew when we were younger.” Brooke explained.

“I take it that the last thirteen years have been pretty bad then?” Trent asked.

Brooke nodded. “He trusts no one now. The council knows a madman when they see one and they have taken the time required to make sure his transition to figurehead is as peaceful and nonviolent as possible. They keep him wanting for nothing but manage most of the kingdom themselves. We have had lots of free time. Where my brother spent his in libraries hunting legends and fairy tales, I learned from any one that would teach me a martial or weapon art. I have not stepped foot in the throne room since the day you left. If he is not in the library he is there. He eats, and sleeps in that chair.” She finished explaining.

Trent looked out the window at the early morning sun. “Why do you, and why do the counsel still allow him to remain a figurehead?” He asked.

She nodded. “The city and the thirteen families that came together to form the kingdom are old, you have known this your whole life. This system is what it is and while my brother is a nut he is a mostly harmless nut, so rather than dismantle a functioning system that is hundreds of generations old they will wait until he dies and one of the other families will take the throne just as mine did five generations ago. That is the way it has been and that is the way it will continue to be. I don't have the power or the desire to change it.” She replied.

Alex came into the dining area from the kitchen with tiny loaves of bread. “Just because you don’t choose to use the power you have earned, doesn’t mean it no longer exists. Young lady.” She chided.

Brooke smiled. “Is that any way to speak to the crown princess?” She asked sarcastically.

Alex nodded. “You already know that title doesn’t mean anything to me and even if it did, how much sway do you think you’d have over me having just admitted out loud that you don’t want it?” She shot back smartly.

“Jesus you two are loud.” Lisa said appearing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor of the Inn. She looked at the two royal guards standing at the front door. “What are they doing here?” She asked.

Everyone looked at the guards. “They are here to escort us to our meeting with his royal highness the King of Lidarion.” Brooke answered.

Lisa looked confused. “Then why are they standing there silently?” She asked.

Brooke stood up and gave each of the guards a tiny roll from Alex’s stash.  Each guard thanked her as they accepted a roll. “They showed up almost an hour ago. They told us we were summoned. I told them you were still sleeping, they told me that the king would not wait patiently. I explained to them that he had been waiting thirteen years, another couple hours wouldn’t kill him so they could either pass the time with breakfast or pass the time unconscious.” She smiled at Lisa and held out the last of the rolls. “Breakfast before we go?” She asked warmly.

The XP: Chapter 15

The tournament colosseum is absolutely massive. Almost every player in the game is currently watching a match play out inside of it. The members of The End of The World Club however are loitering just outside the main entrance. Bob is pacing back and forth. The Matriarch is teaching Trart how to knit, Blackout is sitting against the building with his eyes closed trying to relax. Stygian is looking at the sky.

“What time is it?” Bob asked.

“Three minutes after the last time you asked.” Blackout replied without opening his eyes.

“So we have almost two hours till our first fight.” She said to herself. She notices Stygian looking at the sky. “Stygian what are you doing?” She asked.

“There’s a Shuster and Banes marathon on, they’re showing the arsonist cycle right now.” Stygian replies without moving.

Bob stops pacing. “You’re watching tv?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got two hours to kill, so unless you want to run a dungeon or something I’ve got nothing better to do.” He replied.

Bob perked up at the mention of a dungeon. “That’s not a bad idea.” She said and started pacing again.

“Oblivion Sanctuary?” Blackout asked.

“Too easy, Trart could run it alone with his eyes closed.” Bob pointed out.

Blackout nodded. “Yeah but it’s got no lockout timer, it’s short, we’re guaranteed not to die, and one of us might get lucky and loot the Oblivion Key.” He explained.

Bob stopped pacing. “I still don’t think it exists.” Bob replied.

“What’s the Oblivion Key?” Stygian asked.

Trart turned away from watching The Matriarch knit. “The last expansion to the game was called ‘Legends and nightmares.’ It added a ton of content for all levels that required players to collect and decipher stories, to interact with the narratives of the world in a way that no other MMO had ever done before. Of Course the Data miners dug through the source code and found the names of items and all kinds of graphical clues and hints, but while they knew what was in the expansion they couldn’t discern the relationships of the things they were seeing, there were thousands of new items and interaction pathways. Most of it has been figured out by the players at this point but there is one thing that is still unconfirmed.” He was talking like he was telling the beginning of a ghost story. “The Oblivion key supposedly drops off the Overseer of Time in the Oblivion Sanctuary. But it’s not in his loot table, and no player has ever actually been able to prove they have the item in their inventory.” Trart explained.

“What does it let us access?” Stygian asked.

Trart smiled. “The plane of Judgement.” Trart smiled. “A dungeon that exactly five players have ever been in.”

Bob “The online wiki shows that five players have been tagged to the dungeon. Those five were most likely Game Masters. This is all speculation.” Bob chimed in.

The Matriarch put her knitting down. “I have it.” She said bluntly.

Everyone looked at her, including Stygian.

Bob was shocked. “Have what?” She asked skeptically.

The Matriarch’s knitting disappeared. “I’m one of the five.” She answered

Blackout stood up. “Prove it.” He demanded.

The matriarch stood up herself. Reached for a cord around her neck and pulled it from under her tunic, revealing a black iron key filled with twinkling stars that reflected in the eyes of the others. “You guys have no clue what you’re about to experience." She smiled. 

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 15

Bannister’s office had changed, or more accurately his office was reflecting the changes that had begun to show in him. His desk was still covered with a castle walls worth of essays, but on top of one of the corner stacks sat an old faded picture of two young men. One wearing denim overalls on top of a red shirt, the other wearing denim overalls over a green shirt. Bannister is writing an excessive amount of notes on the paper he is grading. There was a knock at his door and it broke his concentration. His hand froze, the tip of the pen hovered in midair, another knock at the door. He put the pen down, his train of thought long gone. “Come in.” He said. The door opened and Sanders walked into the office and sat in his usual chair after shutting the door. “Well this is a twist on the established pattern.” Banister remarked.

Sanders nodded silently and sunk into the chair. “I couldn’t wait until after class.” He explained.

Bannister gave a concerned look. “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” He asked.

Sanders shook his head. “I’ve been better, I’m dropping your class.” He admitted.

Bannister shook his head. “Not this close to finals you’re not.

Sanders stared at the wall of the desk, avoiding Banisters eye line. “It’s already done.”

Banister almost threw his pen. “Why would you do that to yourself?” He shouted.

Sanders burned holes in the wall of the desk. “Because I should never have signed up for this class in the first place. I just…I’m sorry. I’ve been a horrible person and horrible student this semester. It was wrong of me to pry into your life.” He confessed.

Bannister set his pen on the desk and sat back in his chair. “You done vilifying yourself?” He asked sarcastically.

Sanders eyes left the desk to look in surprise at Bannister. “What?” He asked.

Bannister sat forward and picked his pen up and tapped it a few times on the essay he was grading. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. SO maybe the road to heaven is paved with bad ones.” He offered.

Sanders was lost. “What the hell does that mean?” He asked.

Bannister looked at the photo on his desk. “You may have been a pushy, attitudinal prick but you helped me more than you know.” He admitted.

Sanders looked at the photo. “So who’s important enough in your life to be immortalized on your desk?” He asked, picking up the photo and looking at it.

Bannister smiled. “It’s a friend of mine from my college days.” Bannister noticed that Sanders was frozen on the photo. “You sure you’re really ok?” He asked again.

Sanders broke away from the photo and nodded quickly. “Yeah, Yeah I’m fine.” He confirmed while still holding the photo. He cleared his throat and looked at it again. “You know my dad went here too.” Sanders started. Banister nodded. “He was an Adventure Studies Major. Ended up as a background spectator in a bunch of fighting games.” Sanders continued.

Bannister nodded. “That’s good, steady work.” He offered.

Sanders nodded. “Oh sure. But it’s not what he wanted to do with his life, not, who he was.” Sanders chose his words carefully. “He was so, happy, the day I got my acceptance letter from UCH. He pulled this big box of all his old university stuff.” For the first time Bannister realizes he is listening to Sanders and not the other way around. He quietly leans forward a little bit. “Sweatshirts and hoodies, all kinds of sports memorabilia.” Sanders reached out and put the photo back on the desk, the picture facing Bannister. “Photos.” He said looking at Bannister. Bannister looked at his photo knowing that the other print of it was in that box. “My parents got divorced this summer. Dad swears that he never meant to hurt us, and I’m know that he loves us, but he said that he couldn’t keep lying to himself. He spent his whole career doing work he hated, he married a woman he desperately wanted to love but never quite could. His whole life, my, our, whole life was one giant lie.” Bannister sat back quietly. “That’s when I First found out about you, the other guy in the photo. Dad’s “friend” from college. For the rest of the summer it burned inside of me, I didn’t know if I should be hurt, happy, mad, or sad. So I signed up for your class. Because I had to meet the man who knew who my father actually was.” Bannister scrunched up his chin for a second and chose not to speak. “Imagine my surprise when you turned out to be so bitter and broken that I thought maybe you were the wrong guy.” Bannister was trying not to cry now. “And so, here I sit. Unreasonably angry at my father, a man who has been reborn and is living the life he denied himself for decades, asking my friend and my professor to forgive me for deceiving him and doing more harm to him than my father could have ever done to me.” Sanders got up out of the chair and walked over to the door. “That’s why I should never have taken your class.” He opened the door and walked out of the office. “Good luck with finals professor.” His voice echoing down the hall as the door closed behind him.

Bannister tapped his pen and stared silently at his office door for a long time.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 19

Kelly awoke to warm ocean surf pulling sand around her cheek. She sat up with a start to find herself and the others in their civilian clothes. She saw Sonya kneeling over Warren's body and performing CPR. She scrambled to her feet and ran over to them unable to reach them before Warren woke with a choking cough, rolled over and spit out seawater. He then took in large breaths of air.

Kelly looked the other direction down the beach to see Dante pulling Gordon out of the ocean surf. He had him almost completely on dry land and lost his footing, falling into the sand on his back breathing heavily from the exertion.

Warren sat up and Sonya took a look at the deserted rocky cliff walls that divided the beach from the rest of the mainland.

"Are we even still in California?" Dante shouted to the sky.

Kelly looked up and down the coastline. "I don't know." She admitted, turning to look out at the open ocean and seeing the dark heavy clouds of a storm moving toward land. "But we'd better find some shelter  and fast." She recommended. The group pulled themselves together and headed for the Cliffs.

The outcropping of rocks they found barely counted as a cave but it gave them protection from the rain,

Sonya turned into the cave from surveying the storm. "Does anyone still have a functional pair of glasses?" Each of them checked their pair and found nothing more than normal sunglasses.

Gordon tossed his into the sand.  "That's great." He grumbled in frustration. "We're stranded god knows where, with none of our powers, no communications, and I don't know about anyone else but I didn't bring any kind of money with me." He ranted. The others all shook their heads.

Kelly left her glasses on and tucked her knees up under her chin as she sat on the ground. She watched the rain through her darkened lenses.

Time and the storm seemed to be standing still. Each of the kids had retreated to their own corners as far as the cover of the outcropping would allow, which wasn't far. Kelly felt the adrenaline leaving her system and the rain was beginning to lull her to sleep. Her eyes kept drooping and she kept wrestling them open again, but she could feel unconsciousness winning the war, at least until she heard and unknown voice come over the glasses.

"I don't know if any of you are still alive but you have five seconds to prepare for emergency teleport." The voice warned.

Kelly glanced at Gordon's glasses in the sand. 'Gordon!" she shouted, causing him to dive for his pair. he grabbed them just in time for them to all disappear from the cave as the storm raged on outside.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 42

Kepi’s communicator had begun to light up during the third hour of discussions about repercussions and legitimate process behind fire-bombing the forest to the ground. The senate chairman broke the group for lunch and Kepi made her way to the nearest private side room, passing several other senators and assuring then that Eamon would be back by the end of the day.

She sat down at the first chair and pulled her communications unit out of her pocket. The annoyingly demanding sentence turned out the be both more and less interesting that she had hoped. “Do you trust me?” The text asked.

She immediately typed her reply. “The only people who feel comfortable in the political arena are liars, cheaters, or con men. You happen to be one of the most uncomfortable people I’ve ever met.”

It took less than a minute for the reply to appear. “You always had a way with words, I’m glad you are the one who gets to announce this.”

“Announce what?” she asked,

Senators flooded back into the main chamber as the bell signaling the end of the recess rang. Kepi returned to Eamon’s chair and flipped up the emergency floor request switch. She looked down at the front end of the chamber and watched as the heads of the senate discussed her request. One by one each of the five looked her direction and saw her instead of Eamon. She knew that his absence was the only reason the request had not already been turned down. Finally the leaders broke and returned to their own seats. The Senate leader gaveled the room to silence and then gestured to Kepi.

“The, representative from the twenty seventh district has made an emergency request for the floor and it has been granted.”  The Senate leader sat and waited along with the others to speak.

The light above the chair lit up so everyone could see her. She gripped her phone tightly and hoped that she wasn’t ending both her bosses and her own career as she spoke. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Colony Senate.” She started, her voice caught and she cleared it with a quick cough. “Three hundred and seventy one years ago our ancestors left their home on an ancient colony ship. Most of our oldest ancestors never saw this planet, they were people of the stars. They spent their lives traveling through and mastering the empty vastness of space. I used to think about how hard it must have been to colonize this planet with nothing more than the supplies and people that came aboard that ancient vessel. How cold and unforgiving this planet must have been at first.” She looked around the room at the nearly three hundred faces. “But now I know that our ancestors were uncommonly lucky, because if they had landed on the planet today they would be facing extermination.” She paused as the men and women in the room grumbled their displeasure at the accusation of her statement. The senate leader gaveled twice and the room begrudgingly went quiet again, allowing Kepi to continue. “Eamon, the actual representative for the twenty seventh district had enough of your distrust, and your fear, and your callous shortsightedness and did something only slightly less selfish than we have been discussing for days now. He went to meet with the alien species.” She stopped as the room exploded in hundreds of yelling voices. Her light stayed lit and the senate heads gathered together to discuss Kepi’s admission. She watched this all in silence without sitting down.

She watched as the senate leader gaveled several more times to quiet the room down before he spoke. “Has he made contact?” The leader asked.

Kepi nodded. “He has.”

The senate leader nodded. “And I take it that he is still alive.” The leader asked.

Kepi nodded again. “He is. And He says the aliens have come to help us escape the fate of our colony, and he sent me proof so that you could convince yourselves that the threat you see is nothing compared to the one you have yet to notice.”

The senate leader looked to each of the heads and they nodded in turn. Once he had his consensus the senate leader turned his attention back to Kepi. “We will review this ‘evidence’. The senate is adjourned for one hour.” The leader gaveled twice and the room erupted into deafening roars.