Challenge #02910-G353: Learning Process
i want to know what happened during the Vorax raid, ESPECIALLY if the Human was perhaps away, and the Vorax, being not COMPLETELY inept, had waited for that to happen to commit to said raid…
The Vorax were learning. They learned to scan potential victims from a distance. They learned to detect dangerous Humans and at least keep their distance. Human Kin did not scan as threatening. They were smaller and slighter than most Humans but, since the Vorax were really learning fast, they also waited until Human Kin was out scouting an asteroid before they attacked.
Unfortunately for the Vorax, Human Kin had taught the Havenworlder crew everything they knew. Raid Chief Lyshk was very confused when the Havenworlder crewmate in their path intercepted his charge and sent him tumbling into the most inconvenient bulkhead.
Three more Havenworlders in the neighbouring hall refused to run, but stood in a specific and uniform way. There was a look in their eyes that was not naturally found in Havenworlders. Why were they not terrified? They were Vorax!
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Challenge #02909-G352: The Biggest Little Threat
They were banned from almost every DeRegger place known. Their ships had a standing order to shoot on sight. Yet… they came. How they managed to get through the security? Well let’s just say DeRegger security is usually spotty at best due to how they choose to “fund” that security. Or maintain the people, supplies, and equipment.
Why were they so hated? So feared? They were telepaths. All of them, the entire team. They had learned to not only block out thoughts when one did not need to read them, but transmit such thoughts, thanks to amplifiers, on a large scale. But to be able to do so, they had to be within near line-of-sight. They would sneak aboard stations, onto planets and colonies, and begin to educate the population. Reading, writing, thoughts of having actual rights, of people being able to live good lives where everyone, no matter their gender, were equals. Where the young were not property, but were family, and so many other things that slowly eroded the DeRegger’s grip on their populations. The damage done, the population more educated, the thoughts of freedom, equality, kindness, and other CRC basic tenants of civility now firmly seeded, the group would disappear again to go to another such place, and begin anew. – DaniAndShali
[AN: I’ve had the Melil lurking about in my pet universe since the middle of the 90’s. These are true hermaphrodite aliens and not a slight on intersex peoples at all. Honestly, I learned about the intricacies of that birth anomaly at a much later date and I refuse to throw away good worldbuilding.]
Once upon a time, someone built a wall to keep out invaders. It was an enormous public project and cost the administration a lot of money. What the administration neglected was to pay the guards along the wall enough to motivate them to actually do their work. The alleged security was defeated with the bribe of a pair of sandals[1].
Those who do not learn from the lessons of history… make Greater Deregulations. They believe that a super-impressive set of defensive stations will be enough to discourage outsiders from running their borders, and then refused to pay those staffing them enough to live. Not live well, just merely enough to live. This is, after all, the kind of administration who charges station residents for the breaths they take.
It should not be shocking that the security staff can be bribed with a potted plant and a sandwich, but nevertheless, they remain shocked. Many who run the borders also leave food plants with care instructions out of little more than pity that those people are forced to exist like that.
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Challenge #02907-G350: You’re Worth Fighting For
Human A: “If you try to kill yourself, I will fight you.”
Human B: “…I would not win that fight.”
(Note: This is part of a conversation that I actually had with my suicidally depressed partner. And yes, if I thought he was going for it, I would totally fight him.) – Anon Guest
This, alarmingly, was a common conversation between the two Ship’s Humans of the Fanciful Deal. Human Zae had issues that manifested as periodic bouts of severe depression. Their argument usually cycled around to “if you kill you, I’ll kill you first,” but this time, there was a note in Zae’s voice that caused Human Avi to approach it from another angle.
“That’s cool,” said Human Avi. “I’m prepared to die to defend your life.”
“Dude,” said Zae. “That is simultaneously the stupidest and the sweetest thing you have ever said.”
“You’re worth it.” Avi elbowed Zae in a companionable Human motion similar to combat. Typical of Humans. “I’d do just about any stupid shit to help you stick around with me.”
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Challenge #02906-G349: Warmed in the Weave
The human was both engineer and bodyguard aboard a ship of havenworlders. In their down time, they enjoyed both knitting and crocheting. They had an old blanket that they’d kept from when they were a child and, when things went bad, it comforted them after the event had passed and the enemies were defeated. A way to calm themselves. Having an idea, they began to make small, soft, blankets, one for each of their havenworlder crewmates. After all, why should they be the only one to have something to grip when things went south? – Anon Guest
Picture in your mind a handmade blanket. Someone, in a year long past, had not only spun the fibre with care, but also plied it, dyed it, then knitted it into an object made to warm a very small child. It has also been loved. The small child teethed on a patch of it. Sucking and biting and gnawing until there was a hole, which was patched by kind adult hands, knowing that the child loved that blanket.
It has been laundered a billion times. Stained by sundry mishaps. Ripped by accidental tension. Repaired by experts and amateurs alike. It is Human Juud’s lifelong treasure, and has gone with them everywhere. This is their Snuggie, and it is their little piece of home and family that they take with them. Sometimes, Human Juud will talk about it as if it is alive. This is not surprising. Humans are famous for pack-bonding with inanimate objects.
It shouldn’t be that surprising that Human Juud had learned how to make fibrecraft items for himself. He was, after all, out on his own without any other close family members to help him fix Snuggie when parts of it went the way of all material things. If there is any part of Snuggie that has been there since it was made, you could call that a miracle. But it is the nature of Snuggie that is the point. A material source of comfort and succour in rough times.
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Challenge #02904-G347: Ancient Terran Humour
trust me – Anon Guest
[AN: Link leads to a black page with a purple button that also reads TRUST ME. If you click it, you get a page full of the Pokemon Ditto dancing to The Conga. You will definitely get fired if you’re caught viewing this in the office]
This was a vault made by Humans. The way to get through varying doors was to solve puzzles involving bits of Human culture that -according to the Humans who made it- everyone should know. That was centuries ago.
The state of common knowledge has changed. What was once everyone knows has become the realm of stunt historians. Who were squishy and not prepared for the booby traps. Their progress had been halted for three months by one door. It was locked with a touchscreen with a single button visible on it. It had pre-shattering English on it. Two words. TRUST ME.
The only group more nervous than this is a Dungeons and Dragons adventuring party facing a door on the other end of a long hallway that is just a little bit ajar. The argument and counter argument concerning how big a trap this was had been dragging on while the techie side of the team were trying to hack the lock.
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for a link to the rest of this story, and details on how to support this artist. Or visit peakd (dot) com (slash at) internutter for the stories at their freshest]