Challenge #02685-G128: Little, Yellow, Different
She was heavy-set, had a constant cough, but otherwise was very quiet. The human that signed aboard the science vessel was younger than they’d ever had before as an officer. The only reason it had been allowed was her parents had signed a statement saying they agreed to allow her to go and all tests indicated that she could handle the job. Botanical scientist. Her friends always called her “botany geek”, to which she’d smile, laugh, and then cough. When the medics asked about the cough, they learned it was due to scar tissue on her voice box from a very bad reaction to the immunoflu when she was 10.
They reached a planet where it was damn near a perfect haven for anyone to live. They set down the camp and began their work. She was more excited about the botanical life than any other it seemed, which was a relief to see at least ONE human who wasn’t wild but, in fact, actually as curious about the science as they were. However, it was when she was out of sight for a short time, they realized, she wasn’t coughing. The more she worked with an odd, tiny, yet heavily prevalent yellowish-green plant, the easier her breath seemed to come. This had seemed like such an unobtrusive little weed, and now, like the young human, it seemed to be more than it appeared. – Anon Guest
“It’s okay, I’m not dying,” insisted the Human. “I’m just doing a remarkable impersonation. Promise.” Her voice was rough, and she was not attractive by Human standards, but as the Alliance widened, appearance mattered less. Humans had some peculiar standards anyway[1].
“Are you well?” asked Nahang, who actually liked a softer Human for varying comfort needs. “Is there something we need to inform the ships’ Medik about?”
“Uh. Not really. Not every immunoflu is a hit. I caught an early draught that was released by accident and it left some scarring on my throat and lungs. Breathing’s tricky but not debilitating. Also I cough at the least provocation. There’s relief medication, but it never lasts very long.” Human Gis smiled. “At least you’ll always know where I am.” That positive, though correct, was not always positive.
[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]
Challenge #02684-G127: Winner Winner?
I don’t know if this even a thing in other parts of Earth, but in my country very popular thing is eating cartilage from chicken legs just like every other part of meat. Foreigners are saying that this sound is the most disturbing one they ever heard. It’s like very loud cracking bone.
What if herbivore heard this sound and automatically just started to look for predator in absolute terror? – Anon Guest
[AN: Oh holy freaking Powers That Be, my daughter does this. She even chews on the bones. We got some extreme carnivores out my way.]
Adjusting to a new Ships’ Human is always an interesting process. Interesting as in “interesting times” type interesting. Humans have an astonishing variety of personality types and an astonishing variety of personal quirks. Some will throw three random things into a pot and call it food, but will shun the idea of pineapple on pizza. That’s just one example of the things Humans get randomly touchy about.
There only seem to be rules about this. Things like Don’t mess with a Humans’ loved-to-death soft toy might as well be written in stone, but there are also some Humans who don’t take their beloved soft toys with them, and thus the trinkets they do take with them are therefore sacrosanct.
Food preferences are one of the things that cannot be predicted. Nonhuman members of the Alliance have learned to just leave Humans to do their thing. At least, this technique works most of the time. There’s always an unexpected surprise with Humans, as Companion Thorq was busily discovering.
[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]
Challenge #02683-G126: Best For Charisma Cults
Since time immemorial the world has been blessed by the gods. But over the centuries the populous received less blessings as time goes on. Soon it just stop. The gods were sad they were unable to reach to them anymore, but it was for an experiment; to see a world that have no need for gods. – Anon Guest
The deities used to walk the earth with the mortals. This is known. It is there in the histories, it is there in the oldest tales. When the realms that made the world were closer to the core, before they drifted apart, and increasing effort was needed to walk between worlds.
There were times when supernatural forces could still influence the material world in observable ways, when those who worshipped, or possessed, by a power could do phenomenal things. Magic was real in those days of yore.
As a reality grows, more reality establishes itself. The power of the divine wanes. The influence of magic abates. Wizards were just wise. Witches were people who knew more about herbs and medicine than others. Warlocks and sorcerers were dangerously charismatic and manipulative. Clerics focussed more on spiritual wellness and less about medicine. Science explained things and the lapsing of belief made the walls between the Divine and the Mundane increasingly thicker.
[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]
Challenge #02682-G125: Safe As…
An underground facility made as comfortable as possible. However, this is an unusual place, part state-of-the-art hospital, part apartment building. The walls are soft, there are no sharp corners, the floors are soft, anything hard that can be covered with soft, is covered. There is nothing sharp here. There are dozens upon dozens of apartments in this place, and all of them the same. Soft. But there is a reason for this.
This is the facility that houses and cares for Bad Luckers. Those unfortunate souls born with the genetic condition that brings them bad luck no matter how hard they try to avoid it. They have good jobs, albeit, telecommuting, and have friends amongst their own community. Their families can visit at any time. But for them to leave, they must wear the warning badge that shows they are a bad lucker. Not so much for others’ sake, but to allow others to know these poor individuals need to be looked out for, lest they end up in harm’s way. – Anon Guest
Of all the strange mutations in the Human Genome, the Luck Gene has to be the most incredible. Science has attempted to understand those rare souls who can alter the course of probability, but of course, luck was never on science’s side.
Only those with the worst luck wound up in the laboratory, and you never want anyone like that in an environment full of hazardous materials and equipment. The collected forces of Humanity managed to learn after the first five asteroid strikes[1]. Now, they just have a means to test for its presence, and treatment for those who came out with the worst possible luck.
In everything, there is balance. For every Lucker with good fortune, there is one who has bad luck land on them. Some give luck to others, only to have terrible luck for themselves. Some have the best luck for their own, only to cause catastrophes for others. Some are loved for their luck. Some are revered. Some… are sheltered.
[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]
Challenge #02681-G124: Centuries of Facepalming
You hear of them all the time, seeing them screaming on the interwebs, doing podcasts, videos, protesting when new vaccines show up. When the immunoflu was invented, they screamed even louder. That is when the “pure lifers” started. The ones who kept themselves in the equivalent of “bubbles” to avoid them, and their children, ever catching the immunoflu. A large number of them went to a planet to settle in and live. The planet was, if not for the terraformed domes, uninhabitable. But inside the domed cities, it was very pleasant. Until that one visitor. They had kept themselves isolated for four generations, then that one visitor came, a man from the Alliance. They’d never let anyone into the dome before without the person in question, even tourists, being forced to wear hazmat suits to make sure that nothing the person carrying ever got in, but accidents always happen, eventually.
He was in a crowded mall, everyone knew it was an accident. But that didn’t help how angry the people were. He was sitting, reading a map, he’d been lost. Several teenagers were roughhousing when one was shoved into him and he crashed backward into a crystalized statue. The hazmat suit already had some unseen potential flaws, was badly damaged. The immunoflu he carried got out into the community. This was a “Pure Life” society.. and now they were having to deal with being immunized whether they wanted to be or not.
(notation - In a nutshell a society that eschews all vaccinations even ones from the immunoflu, like real life modern day antivaxxers, build their own society. They’re cut off from the biome of the rest of the galaxy, and then.. there’s an accident.) – DaniandShali
Disasters don’t have to be instant. The worst of them happen in slow motion. To the tune of For Want of a Nail, a nation, a polity, an identity, or a culture can die. Dependant on the culture, this can be beneficial to those who formerly held it dear.
For want of immunity, lives were lost… Once upon a time, there was disease. Smallpox, measles, mumps… diseases that could maim. Diseases that could kill. Some people hit on the idea of deliberately infecting children with a weaker disease so that there wouldn’t catch the more menacing one. They named it after the animal that the weaker disease came from. Vaca meaning cow, for the cowpox that forestalled the attacks of smallpox.
One would expect that such a breakthrough would be welcomed with open arms and cheering in the streets. No such luck. There was widespread panic, misunderstanding, and fear of the new process. Over the intervening years, very little changed. For every new intervention, there was an equally opposing reaction. Confusion and fear abounded. Someone, somewhere, drew a correlation between these vaccines and the rise in diagnoses of autism. Many people feared a mental disorder more than they feared the maiming and killing diseases that the vaccines prevented.
[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]