Challenge #02898-G341: A Steep Ask
“Although I don’t use many of my fighting skills anymore I do use some,” the human chuckled. “Some?” My questions was almost immediately answered as the human disappeared right in front of me and appeared behind me. – Anon Guest
[AN: I have been reminded of Human Twii but this could be quite a number of Humans in my pet universe. I might think up a new one. Let’s see]
Legends of Humans reach the places that Humans have not yet reached. Unlikely, improbable, unbelievable, and yet, inevitably proven with undoctored footage. The most concerning were the legends of immortal Humans who set out to master every single combat technique that those Deathworlders had ever made reality.
There were older, more worrying legends of Humans who could become invisible, appear in impossible locations, run across deep liquid water, and otherwise work the impossible. Some even seem to have powers that defy gravity, according to the tales. Watching some in motion, it is easy to believe.
The art always depicts them as tall, super-muscular, and unbelievably buff. Therefore, it’s more than a little of a surprise to meet a real one. They’re inevitably smaller than expected. Wiry rather than bulky. Most often, they’re also softly-spoken. Such a one working the Edge was Human Jak.
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Challenge #02897-G340: Mistakes Were Made
The first thing they noticed was the running, stumbling humans, exiting a building. The second thing they noticed was that the humans that weren’t too busy choking and gasping were shouting “put on your livesuits!” and “we need particle masks!”
Once the fire had been extinguished and the building was airing out, the story of What Happened This Time was told.
It was a story involving Carolina Reapers and a malfunctioning kitchen fan. Every human involved had the same thing to say at the end of it all: “It’s a pity we had to get rid of everything. That salsa would have been delicious!” – Anon Guest
Put two Humans in a room and they really need a sane supervisor – Increasingly popular Alliance saying.
The Humans-Only kitchen was a wreck. On the plus side, the fire suppression systems worked, extinguishing any flame before it “got out of hand”. Humans liked fire, sometimes a little too much, and had made art out of food that either caught fire in the process of making it or was served whilst combusting. They thought it was neat, and called it en flambee. The maniacs.
This was not a case of something being a little too “en flambee” for the Humans. This was beyond “a little grease fire”. The environment inside the Humans-Only kitchen now scanned as uninhabitable owing to a combination of carbon dioxide, capsaicin, carbon monoxide, pepperin, and just plain carbon. At least one of the teary-eyed Humans had lost their eyebrows in the blaze. All of them were in a state of distress. Captain Throkk didn’t really have to ask what had happened, but considered it necessary anyway.
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Challenge #02896-G339: Thanks For All the Fish
When Humans made first contact with life outside their solar system a new trend of people hungry for adventure and exploration appeared, who yearned for the vast unknown that lay before them. And they weren’t the only species on earth who wanted a slice of that action… But would the problems their kind had since the beginning hamper them from continuing into the future? Could Werewolves travel beyond there moon without getting into a ‘Hairy’ situation? (Or any other moon for that matter?) Could Vampires withstand the boundless infinity of space, where it was both dark and full of solar radiation? And could Fish People deal with the pressures of surviving without any Water Pressure? – AmberFox
The biggest shock to the Human race when they broke the code to travelling relatively quickly between the stars was the fact that they were not the only intelligent life to want off their miserable little rock in the middle of nowhere. Humanity always imagined that they were being observed by intelligences far greater than their own, but they never imagined that those intelligences were waiting for the balding land apes to do something interesting.
You know. For a change.
Until the sub-telepathic signal of a hyper-jump initiation rang the world like a gong, the non-human entities on Earth kept themselves and their presence guarded. Now? Now they were coming out of the woodwork.
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Challenge #02894-G337: Humane Accommodations
They were a killer. From the time they were young, they got into fights. It was almost daily. The first kill came when they were only 12, they couldn’t stand bullies and the first one they killed was one of their parents. Why? The parent was cruel and often struck them and their younger siblings. From there, as they grew older, it was always the same. Someone would be a bully, someone would become cruel. They’d be warned, only once. Then out came the knife and that person would be cut down. As always which such individuals they were caught. It was found they were actually not an unkind individual. It was not that they were unintelligent, they knew what they were doing was wrong, but they refused to sit by and let things stand when it came to those that were cruel. For them, those that were cruel needed to die.
They were only 19 by then, but there was one path open to them. One path where that damaged psyche and angry heart could find the solace it needed. But would joining Pax Humanis help? Only time would tell. – Anon Guest
It’s universally agreed on Independence that some folks just need killing. While it’s true, the disagreement is on which folks are the ones that need to be killed. Jay made up their mind at age five, when Pops started hitting on the baby because Momma was making a new one. Once a person was cut free of their momma, folks didn’t much care about babies unless they were famous. Jay decided that if anyone had to care, it had to be them.
Because Pops wouldn’t stop hitting on weaker folks, and nobody else gave a fig, Jay took matters into their own hand. One small number of sleeping pills covertly added to Pops’ evening booze. One night. One knife. One half hour making sure Momma was locked into her room with the key they would find under Pops’ pillow. Carefully arranged so that Pops’ fingerprints were the only ones they’d find.
The real trick with killing on Independence was not just avoiding getting caught. It was a mix of that and going after the people that needed killing. At least according to popular opinion. It didn’t do Jay any favours that they and Momma and the babies counted, if not as people who needed killing, then people who didn’t really matter if they died.
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Challenge #02893-G336: A Cup of Tea and a Biscuit
Ah little Pib. How about them sneaking back into the captain’s quarters and trying to talk the captain into playing dress-up and having snacks, having dragged a bunch of mismatched clothing with them? :-D After all, from experience, boys and girls, don’t matter, they always seem to love to play dress-up and then have snacks and juice together with their friends.
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02767-g210-the-problem-with-pib – Anon Guest
Pib had a big bag. Big enough to hold a bottle of raspberry drink, the plastic tea set, the good blankie, and a couple of other very important things. It had been a stressful handful of days for their fellow crewmates, Pib could tell by the way their parents came home. Captain Xorg had to be having a series of very bad days.
The Rennies were having a big nap, so Pib packed up their big bag and went the secret way to find Captain Xorg. Who was, when Pib got to the Captain’s Lounge, frowning at a data reader. Grownups. They didn’t know what was good for them sometimes, and stuck with what was bad for them for way too long. In fact, the Captain was so involved at frowning that they didn’t even notice that Pib was there.
Well. Looks like they’d arrived just in time. Pib carefully unpacked everything they brought with them in the big bag and laid it all out carefully. The good blankie turned the little table in the room all fancy, so did the plastic tea set. Pib filled the kettle with raspberry drink, set up a couple of soft dollies for conversation, and put on the tuutuu.
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