Challenge #02660-G103: Minimising All Possible Harm
“Don’t fix what’s not broken.”
“If it’s not broken, you haven’t tested it enough.” – SilverRey
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.If it isn’t broken, test it some more. – Conflicting Human Axioms.
Some things need fixing before they break. Emergency services anticipate even the ridiculous emergencies so that they can be ready before they happen. This has lead to the ‘zombie plague’ and 'black hole’ plans in the emergency systems all over Alliance space.
Zombie Plague has been on the books in Terran Emergency Systems since before the Shattering. As an emergency plan goes, the forces of entertainment have created an imaginary monster that covers all potential pandemic precautions. Those, of course, including the need for isolation, containment of the infected, tracking and monitoring of infections, proper hygiene and decontamination procedures… the list goes on.
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Challenge #02659-G102: Alexandria in Amber
A pre-shattering time capsule is found on Earth. In 2019, the time capsule was put into a cavern that was deliberately collapsed back in that prehistory era only to be opened, slowly, by centuries of erosion and earth shifts. Several teachers and historians carefully gathered text books, history books from around the world, old newspapers, maps, copied old scrolls, various sets of encyclopedias, bibles from as many cultures as possible, books on languages from around the world, to name but a few of what was in there. It was an incredible treasure trove of history. From the ancient histories, to the civil war, to the history of the various earth world wars, to things like the great depression to the modern era. The history books were from many nations and various cultures. And not just history books, but recipe books, people’s personal diaries and photos as well. The capsule being a hard, resilient plastic container filled with inert nitrogen to try to prevent oxidation of these assets.
And who found this treasure trove to start? A homeless, hungry, twelve year old who was exploring caverns and a havenworlder who had come to visit earth and gotten lost from the tour group. – Anon Guest
In the year 2525/ If man is still alive/ If woman can survive… – Terran song lyrics, pre-Shattering.
Sooner or later, time catches up with the speculation about an era that was once the distant future. Fantasy clashes with reality, and illusion shatters. The futurism of the past becomes the zeerust of the present and the erapunk of the future.
This is Earth, 2525. In recent years, the Galactic Alliance has not only made itself known to Earth, but also served a class action lawsuit on behalf of all the ‘garbage dump’ colonies that Earth set and forgot. This is Earth, after five centuries of getting rid of the undesired and the undesirable, the trouble element, and the problematic few. This is a stagnant backwater with an elite few clinging to wealth as a signifier of worth, causing those struggling in the middle to blame the poverty-stricken for all the problems caused by the wealthy.
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Challenge #02658-G101: Doing All They Can
The escape pod came down hard. The small crew of havenworlders, and the one human, now on an unfamiliar planet. The planet, itself, was more or less safe enough except for one tiny thing. The same explosion that had crippled the ship, caused by odd electrical storms the planet periodically suffered sending lightning sprites into the air, also had caused flash-burns across the human’s face, they couldn’t see. The medic cleaned the injury and wrapped bandage around the human’s face, but the human now made a request of his crewmates. For them to be his eyes, so everyone could get out of here alive. – DaniAndShali
“Good news is, we survived.” Human Kie liked to start with the good news. The great news, as far as the survivors were concerned, was that the Havenworlders among them had survived with minimal damages. Human Kie seemed to be well enough too… though something was wrong with the way they were interacting with the world.
Brii said, “What is the bad news?”
“The electrical storm and discharge messed my eyes up something chronic,” said Human Kie. “I’m effectively blind until further notice.” Humans used their eyes for most of their environment processing and subsequent interaction. “This is an unfamiliar, unsurveyed planet. Good news is that the scanners already said the most we have to worry about is the electrical storms and -uh- ball lightning.”
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Challenge #02657-G100: Opposites Do…
Darkness without light is the void. Light without darkness is blinding. They are intertwined, for one cannot see the truth without them. – Anon Guest
Light and Dark are fundamental elements of reality. Without light, an observer cannot know what darkness is. Without dark, one cannot see at all. Without either, there is no way to tell what else might be lingering about. There’s a reason why so many creation mythologies begin with the making of light.
Far, far too many wielders of elemental magics pick only one. Of course, with elements, people pick the oldest and most powerful to battle with. Of course, those who remember the legends think that light is the oldest of elements.
Darkness was always there first. Light can blind, but darkness renders any kind of vision obsolete. Light can burn, but darkness freezes. In a battle between light and dark, darkness has seniority, and thus is ahead by virtue of witnessing every trick.
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Challenge #02656-G099: Holding On
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQyKJr6pJA Aliens often forget the Power we can have, when we WANT to Hang on to something. – Anon Guest
[AN: Holy shit, that’s terrifying. Offensensitivity warning for fear of heights and physical injury]
“There’s only enough capacity in the lifeboat for seven. How do you plan on coming with us?”
The Ships’ Human, having fought to the last enemy, just grinned. “Outside,” said Human Karth. “I can hang on for long enough. Don’t worry about me.”
They forgot, as many Havenworlders do, that Humans were the origin of the phrase, To hang on like grim death. There was an argument about how long Human Karth’s livesuit could perform its primary task versus the length of time it would take to get to the nearest help.
Human Karth had a roll of ductape and a decent handle to grab onto. They were, as they described it, “Aces.”
[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]