Black and white shower floor tile

Currently as I’m writing this, I’ve had very severe symptoms which interfere with my day-to-day life. My symptoms have been on-going now for several months and have not improved at all. Oddly enough, I had symptoms appear at the end of October and then go away after a couple of weeks that match what I’m currently experiencing. Prior to experiencing my symptoms in October, I’ve had a number of other symptoms appear that I think are related, but I can’t verify if they are or not.
Cognitive Issues
Currently the symptom I’m experiencing everyday is a cognitive disorder. It’s hard to explain exactly, but it feels as if I haven’t slept for a week or that I'm buzzed. The symptoms are typically worse in the morning and night. If I’m working in the middle of the day I don’t experience this issue (as much). The symptom also gets worse if I do any sort of physical activity like walking my dog, hiking, or mountain biking. That being said, I do sometimes notice I feel better after doing physical activity. Sometimes the cognitive issue is also paired with odd head sensations like head pressure that I notice around my ears and the back of my head. Sometimes I’ll also have a tingling feeling that happens on the sides of my head near my ears. In addition to the tingling sometimes I’ll have an odd aching sensation on the top of my head near the vertex (the coronal suture) and back of my head near where the occipital bone and parietal bone meet. The aching sensation almost feels like my skull is about to split open. I’ve also experience increased head pressure and a pulsing sensation on my head sometimes when my cognitive issues are at their worst. Less commonly, I’ll also have issues with vertigo and balance. Specifically, if I’m walking I’ll feel like my balance is off and I’ll lean to one side- usually my left side. I’ve had on-going issues with tinnitus as well. It’s not persistent, but it seems to happen most often at night. I experience it almost everyday. Sometimes I'll lose my hearing temporarily as well and it'll come back after about a minute. Lastly, my left ear will sometimes feel clogged and nothing I do seems to relieve the pressure. My cognitive issues also seem to be much worse after taking a hot shower. Specifically I’ll have increased head pressure and have an increased jet lag/hangover feeling.
Chest Pain
The second most common issue that I’ve experienced is chest pain. The chest pain I have manifests in different ways, but usually it’s an aching sensation that I notice on my clavicle head and extends to the sternocostal head slightly and it occurs on both sides of my chest. Sometimes the pain is also a burning sensation. I’ve also had pain that occurs in my sternum that’s a sharp pain. Most often these pains occur at night or in the evening.
Heart
My heart related issues seem to happen less often, but have started becoming more frequent as of late. The most common issues that I experience is heart palpations. Commonly it manifests with either a racing heart, the feeling I skipped a beat, or a fluttering feeling. I experience these symptoms most often at night and especially while I’m sleeping. I’ve had a few incidents where I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing. I wear an Apple Watch SE most of the time now since my symptoms started and I’ve noticed my pulse is as high as 96 when I wake up in the middle of the night with my heart racing. I don’t have nightmares- I can’t honestly the last time I remember having a nightmare in fact. My pulse has recently been pretty high when I'm sleeping as well. Usually it's between 40 - 50, but recently it's been between 50 - 70.
Another issue I used to have, but has sense improved greatly since I cut down dramatically on caffeine and stopped eating late at night is heart burn.
Rashes
Another odd symptom that I’ve started having is red rashes that manifest on my chest, stomach, arms, or legs. The rashes are usually a solid red color or are spotty and sometimes cover a large area or a very small specific area. I’ve had a very large chest rash that covered the entirety of my chest and other times I’ve had small rashes on my legs that look like a small line.
Eyes
Another very common issue for me is bloodshot eyes. I will usually wake up in the morning with my eyes completely bloodshot. The only thing that seems to relieve it is eye drops which I use at most once a day. I will strangely also sometime have very red and visible veins that extend from my pupil to the tear duck. Near my pupil I’ll have a spot that can be either very red or slightly pink. I usually know I’ve having this issue because my eye will burn and begin to water. Sometimes I wake up with this issue and other times it will come and go throughout the day. I usually notice it during the middle of the day while I’m working on my computer.
Veins
I really don’t know if this is a cause for concern or not or if it’s even related, but I’ve noticed my veins on my arms and hands are more visible than they've ever been. They’re a very deep blue color and they’re most pronounced in the morning, after I take a shower, or do any sort of physical activity.
Muscle Mass/Weight Loss
I’ve noticed that since of February last year to today, I’ve lost quite a bit of weight. Last February I weighed approximately 138 and now I weigh about 130. I haven’t had any significant changes in my diet other than not eating late at night. I attribute most of my weight loss to muscle loss which I notice physically because I’m not able to lift as much weight as I use to be able to. I use to take creatine monohydrate regularly which I know will increase muscle mass and weight so I’m sure this is part of the reason I’m losing weight, however, even after not taking creatine for several months I’ve still struggled to keep on weight and muscle mass. Since my symptoms began I’ve been diligently tracking my diet and on average I eat approximately 2,400 - 3,000 calories per day.
Muscle Twitching
This is a symptom I’ve had for at least a year now. Typically I’ll notice it in my arm near the extensor carpi radials longus. What will happen is an uncontrollable twitching sensation that will be visible if I happen to look at it. This happens on both arms around the same area. I’ll also have muscle twitching as well in my ankles sometimes, but it’s not very frequent. I've had it in my face as well on my eyes and lips. Occasionally I’ll also have restless legs when I’m sleeping, but this does not happen often.
Uncontrollable Teeth Chattering
One strange event that I had before was while I was sitting on the couch. I was feeling otherwise normal, but my teeth began to chatter uncontrollably for no apparent reason. I didn't feel cold either.
Hands
An issue that I’ve had for many years now is cold hands. Sometimes they’re purplish in color, very pale or very red. My hands will become cold for no apparent reason. They’re not cold 24/7 but at least several hours of the day. A specific problem that I have with my left-hand is that it will often be weak, specifically it’s difficult to pick things up with my left hand. Also when I type on my computer I’ll frequently have pain in my wrist associated with it. My pinky and ring finger also sometimes go numb especially if I bend my arm for a long period of time.
Arms
As I mentioned above, I frequently will have muscle twitching in my arms. Another thing I’ve noticed is that while I’ve had my symptoms, I’ve had a few nights where I’ll wake up and my arm is totally numb. Lately for the last few weeks my left arm has felt heavy and perhaps slightly numb. It seems to happen on the outward facing side of my arm specifically.
Face
An on-going issue that I’ve had for years is facial flushing. It seems to have gotten worse since my symptoms began. It feels like I have a fever, despite taking my temperature and not having one. I’ll typically notice the flushing mostly on my nose and it will extend to my cheeks. Sometimes when I get facial flushing I’ll have congestion as well. I noticed I’ll frequently have dark circles under my eyes as well. I’ve had this issue for quite a while now, but it’s become even more pronounced lately.
Feet
My feet are also frequently cold. I’ve noticed my toes often are purple. My big toe on my right foot also has dry skin. This has been an on-going issue for years. Recently my left heel went completely numb. I’ve since gotten feeling back but it lasted for a few days.
Ankles
I’ll frequently have heaviness in my ankles like they’re swelling, but they don’t appear to be visibly swollen at all. It’s been an on and off experience that can sometimes last for days at a time. One night my left ankle felt extremely swollen and painful. The veins in my legs were pulsating as well.
Thighs
I haven’t had much thigh pain, but occasionally I’ll get the same muscle twitching in my thigh or aching pain in my quadricep or my abductors.
Privates
This is one of the strangest symptoms I’ve had. Sometimes I’ll have issues where I’ll have pressure near my prostate (I think). It makes me feel like I need to urinate even though I don’t have to. Also have I finish urinating sometimes I’ll have a pain in my privates like I just passed a kidney stone which I definitely don't have.
Stomach
When I started having my symptoms I would typically have pain in areas like left flank above my left hip. It was either an aching pain or a sharp pain. I haven’t had that pain recently. Another pain that I’ve had frequently (maybe a few days per week) is located on my top left abdominal muscle.
Back
I’ve had a dull aching pain in my upper back for quite some time that I attributed to my sedentary lifestyle, but lately it’s gotten a lot worse to the point where it’s very painful. It’s still an aching pain but it’s much more severe. It's since gotten better.
Ribs
I don’t usually have rib pain, but when I do it’s an aching pain that’s tender to the touch and lasts a few days.
Breathing
I haven’t had any issues feeling out of breath at all even when I had Covid.
Nausea
Since December I’ve had nausea maybe 5 or 6 times total and I didn’t start having symptoms of it until January. It seems like it’s gotten more frequently lately. I haven’t vomited, but I have the feeling like I might.
Bad habits
I had a bad habit of drinking a lot of caffeine per day. For at least a couple of years I think it was higher than 600mgs per day. I cut down to 600mgs per day prior to having my symptoms, but I’ve slowly gotten down to having 100mgs of caffeine a day or none at all. I also used to eat at night shortly before going to bed which gave me heart burn and caused me to have sleep issues. I also used to drink lots of diet drinks like diet sodas. I’ve since almost entirely cut out aspartame from my diet except I might have a diet soda a couple times per month. I think I also had a lot of sodium in my diet from the vegetarian meat substitutes and canned foods I was eating. I also drank a lot of water per day. Probably at least a gallon.
Past events
In addition to the other strange past events I’ve had like uncontrollable teeth chattering. I’ve had a few other strange symptoms that have come and go. One such event I had was in July or September while I was mountain biking. I was biking up a hill but I didn’t feel like I was pushing my self exceptionally hard. When I got up to the top of the hill I got very lightheaded and had the same jet lag/hangover feeling I’m experiencing currently. The same happened in November shortly after I got over my symptoms in October. I had the same lightheaded feeling and cold sweats I experienced before while mountain biking. Also a few months back I had the same experience but while walking on the treadmill. I began having sudden cold sweats without explanation, but I didn’t feel light headed at all. Another time I was taking my dog
Sleep
I’ve mentioned that I’ll frequently wake up with my heart racing, but I also sometimes wake up suddenly without any explanation. Sometimes I’ll wake up because my back is in pain and I have to transition to my side or vice-versa. I’ve tried both firmer and softer mattresses and neither seem to make a difference.
Supplements
Melatonin at night to help with sleep
Cannabis sleep capsules
Gingko biloba to help with cognitive issues
Creatine (cut out since symptoms began)
Pre-workouts like amino energy or L-Arginine (stopped taking these when my symptoms began)
Energy drinks like Reign, Alani Nu, and Ghost that have 300mgs of caffeine and high B vitamins and taurine
Covid
I had Covid in mid-November that I tested negative for on Black Friday. It wasn’t severe- mostly cold like symptoms with a very bad headache and head pressure. I thin Covid probably contributed to my current condition, but I’m not sure if it’s the cause of my issues considering my major symptoms began before I got Covid in October.
​
Tests Done:
UTI - negative
PSA - waiting on test
Urinalysis - normal
CBC - normal
JAK2 - negative
EPO - normal
CRP - near 0
Sedimentation rate- near 0 / 2 march
Creatinine - low 7.3
High co2 in metabolic tests
NT pro BNP - 26
Troponin - 5
Lipase - normal
Ferritin - normal
Iron - normal
Folate - normal
Cortisol - normal
T4 - normal
Free T4 - normal
T3 Uptake - normal
Free T3 - normal
Creatine Kinase - normal
TSH- high in October but tested twice and was normal high again in March
Immuglobulin - normal
A1C - normal
Lyme - negative
Kidney stones - negative
CT scan on head - normal
Whole body MRI - normal except for a minor bulging disc in my lower spine
HIV - negative
ANA - negative
Sleep apnea- negative
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel - normal except slightly low creatinine, slightly high co2, and high albumin on very test
Liver panel - normal except high albumin and low globulin sometimes. High a/g ratio- 3.5
EKG- low resting pulse rate (53 - 56) and borderline abnormal T-wave. Last test I did I had a left axis deviation (-32 degrees).
Micronutrient test - borderline low vitamin D, B12 ok, high selenium, high zinc, high magnesium

My native boyfriend calls himself and his (Chinese and white) friends N words and his N words
He says I can’t tell him that’s wrong because I’m white. He says it’s a mind set and he can say this because his best friend was black growing up. Am I wrong to say that he’s being offensive and stupid? I don’t think it’s right for him to use that word on himself and his friends. He’s not black. Opinions? Please don’t tell me I’m alone in this. I would really appreciate some Black/ African American opinions on this too please. Tell me if I’m wrong

Hello,
A few months to a year back, I started noticing that the top left corner was expanding, basically the top black frame being separated from the white bottom hull of the laptop's keyboard. In recent months, this has been getting worse to the point that the corner looks like this now https://i.imgur.com/92DcQnm.jpg
When I pull the screen back, the left corner expands and rises even more. and the top of the KB is slightly higher than usual. The whole top left side of the KB is very flimsy now compared to the other side, to the point that if I drag it then it might split the laptop in two.
I suspected this might be a battery expansion thing, since about a year ago I replaced my original battery with a new one (I can't remember if this expansion happened before or after this change though), but from the videos I saw, the battery is placed on the bottom left corner of this laptop.
So my question is: Is there a possibility that this could be caused by a battery expansion? Like I said, it's not located in the place where the expansion is happening, but does that matter? And if it isn't that, then why did this happen?
Lemme know if you need more info, and thank you in advance.

Welcome new readers. Please start with chapter one https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/11ai7iv/last_of_the_defenders_ch_01/
Previously https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/11xv7ss/last_of_the_defenders_ch_28/
Allah settled into a corner of the room, resting against a wall at a crouch. Li pulled out a sheet of shiny black cloth from her pocket, flapping it to unfurl the short, shawl length thing. She set it on the desk and the cloth lit up--a duplicate of the interface she had used in Star dancer’s CNC--to form a keyboard. The human danced her fingers over the glowing surface, lists and glyphs changing, growing, being replaced by new symbols.
Several times the lights flickered ominously. Once they went out completely for a span of seven times seven times three and six heartbeats, the room suffused by the glow of the sticks, the monitor and Li’s keyboard cloth.
Allah lowered her head in thought. Why would the other defenders abandon them? Abandon Li? She had said, before, that “the tempo of the war had changed” when the bullies attacked…dirt? The bullies seemed to attack anything. What was so special about this particular dirt?
It had to have been important. Irreplaceable even. Allah suspected the war must not be going as well as Li’s performance last night had appeared.
She wanted to ask but more importantly she did not want to interrupt. Li remained focused on the screen and her keyboard until Allah had lost all track of time. It was only after the human stood, stretched and yawned that Li took notice of the U’knock.
“What’re you doing?” she asked.
“Waiting,” Allah said simply. And what else could she do? She had barely managed to make broth, and that with help. Allah had considered returning to the mess hall to clean the dishes and dispose of the trash left from their meal but…she did not trust the hole in the wall to provide enough water to clean them, nor did she know where to find a well, wash rags, or the refuse heap. Was the outpost like Star dancer? She did not remember seeing a bucket in the walls to whoosh away such work.
“That won’t do,” Li chastised, turning to stride out the door. The lights flickered again and Li returned to the desk, grabbing her glowing stick.
“Demeter?” Li called as Allah rose from her crouch and picked up her own stick to follow, “Do you have any V-REHs in storage?”
“T-t-t-t-t-this facility hhhhhhhhas a fully stoc-c-c-cked classroom,” the machine replied. Whatever Li had been focused on, heeling Demeter speak was not an apparent priority.
“Show me,” Li ordered.
"P-p-please follow the indicated-d-d-d-d-d-” Demeter hiccuped, clicked and was silent. A blue light flickered on and off on the floor. Li followed.
They reached the great hall again, and Allah was almost surprised to hear the sound of robots still busy tearing apart other machines. More, in place of the planters there now sat the squat carts from the holoimage at the quorum. Tanks, Li had called them. They were bare, skeletal husks now, but the treads and wheels were in place. Three humanoid robots were pushing a large many tubed box into the machine's center.
“How many of these will we need to make?” Allah asked as she passed another husk of metal.
“We’ll keep producing until the siege ends,” Li answered, “but I’d like to have at least one thousand per continent. And at least a hundred mass drivers for orbital bombardment deterrence.”
“Those are the larger ones,” Allah guessed, “the wide ones that will crush Umati’clam’s buildings?
Li nodded. “The same,” she pointed up. In the dim scattered light Allah could see the open center of the spire was no longer so open. Highlighted by the glow of sparks were the skeletons of metal birds. She could not be certain but these forms looked larger than the arrows that had assaulted the bully vessel. “But those bad boys,” Li continued, “will be able to take the fight to em.
“Nachtkrapp class assault fighters,” Li explained. The flickering blue light led them out of the garage and down another door filled corridor. “With quad mounted rail guns and hardpoints that can load up to four Hawking/Golubev B-903 ship killer missiles.
“Buster missiles,” Allah said uncertainly. Li nodded. “These birds--these Nachtkrapps--are much larger than the arrows from before. Why did Demeter not use such weapons last night?”
Li stopped in the dark hallway, turning to reappraise her friend. “You catch on quick,” the human complimented Allah. She turned, resuming their journey. “Two reasons. First, Nachtkrapp designs are only about thirty years old so Demeter didn’t know how to make them before we uploaded thermopylae. They’re not bleeding edge tech but they’re proven and tough. The assault drones you saw last night are in-atmosphere interceptors. Not much bigger than busters themselves.”
“You said there were two reasons,” Allah pressed as she was led into another room filled with tables. These were much smaller than the mess hall benches, a single chair and monitor for each. They were arranged in a circle around the room, facing inward. Li strode to a closet in the corner.
“Gravity weapons have a…life cycle. They need to either be used within a couple years or recycled. Buster missiles are expensive to maintain. So there was no foreseeable reason for Demeter to waste resources on making and maintaining a fleet of drones that could carry them.”
“Until now,” Allah concluded. “But I still do not understand. Why did the bullies come here? We have nothing of value to offer.”
Li stopped digging through the closet, returning to the ring of tables. She set three helmets on one of the tiny tables, then glanced around the room. She walked to another closet, retrieving a pitcher and a plate. Allah watched as Li set the plate in the center of the room, took the pitcher to a waist high box and pressed a button. Water spouted from the top of the box and Li used it to fill the pitcher.
She returned to the center of the room, tapping a button on the edge of the plate with her foot. Allah could feel the air begin to hum.
“Here,” Li handed the pitcher of water next to Allah. “Pour this over the Vibro plate. Don’t worry; it won’t spill as long as the plate is on."
Allah I did as instructed, and the water began to shimmer. It hovered three paw’s spans above the surface of the strange plate. Allah bent, sniffing at the floating pool.
“Now,” while Allah had been pouring the water, Li had made a tiny toy out of paper. It was pointed like her ship, but not. It looked like some strange raft, “place this under the water with the flat side pointed up.”
As Allah moved her paw under the water, she felt a force shaking her. She drew her paw away.
“It won’t hurt you,” Li promised. "We used to do this in primary school. It’s a science experiment. For children.”
Cautiously, Allah crouched and slid her paw under the floating water.
“Make sure the boat touches the water before you take your hand away.”
Allah did so and the boat floated upside down on the water.
"This is using vibrational force to counteract gravity. It is not true anti-gravity but it lets you see what I’m trying to describe next."
“It floats upside down though,” Allah pointed to the toy boat as it bobbed on the underside of the pool, upside down. “It defies the gravity."
“Not entirely,” Li answered, “this is more a case of bending the rules."
“What,” Allah asked, “is gravity?”
“It's a fundamental force of physics,” Li explained, holding up a hand at Allah’s question. “We’ll get to physics another time. Every object, including you and me, has gravity. It allows objects to pull one another closer together. It’s what holds you to the ground and,” she dug into a pocket, pulling a round coin shaped object free. She dropped the coin onto the ground, “what causes objects to fall to the ground when released."
“It is not magic then,” Allah gestured to the boat.
“Depending on your level of technological achievement,” Li shrugged, “that's debatable. The point is that normal gravity pulls objects together. The larger the object, the greater that pull. Generally speaking, I’m not getting into mass today.
“But,” she continued, “let us suppose you had a way to harness gravity, “ she bent and manipulated a dial on the plate. “If you could force the gravity of a giant object into a single point,” the pool of water began to shift and change, the upside down boat rocking violently in the sudden storm. Slowly, as Li pressed other buttons and turned dials, the tone of the plate changed, and the pool of water with it. It began to swirl, becoming a tiny typhoon. “Something that is creating a strong gravity well--like this planet--you could “dip” from that well using a special bucket,” the boat was now spinning rapidly faster up the inside of the typhoon, “and take some of that gravity to use for your own means.
“This is how we first learned to control gravity,” Li finished as the boat flew up from the top of the typhoon. “Large objects create it, and we exploit it. It's how we created the slingshot drive. We could use gravity because its pull is infinite, and reaches beyond all the known universe.
“But if it reaches so far,” Allah asked, “why do not all objects pull themselves together?”
“They may,” Li answered, “eventually,” she waved a hand in defeat. “The tech heads would be able to explain this much better than I can. But,” she handed Allah the paper boat, “the important thing is to understand that gravity pulls everything together by its nature, and the closer you are to a large object, the more powerful its effect becomes.
“Now,” she set the pitcher under the typhoon and tapped another button with her foot. The water--most of it--sloshed inside. “This is where things get a little weird. When we first created sling drives we used gravitational pull and massive amounts of power to pull us to neighboring stars, and from there to other stars, and others. But as my species learned more about gravity, we realized we could…” She trailed off. “I am not a gravity mechanic, and we start getting into infinite universe theory, supersymmetry, string theory and you’re barely ready for quantum mechanics,” the human shrugged, “but it was explained to me when I was…younger that it is like reversing the polarity of a magnet. To create an anti-gravitational well inside of an existing gravity well.”
“What is a magnet?” Allah asked.
“Another force of attraction, like gravity, only stronger than gravity, but with much shorter range. But magnets can both pull and repel. So can gravity…Once you learn how.
“And that is part of why the,” Li grinned again. Allah was getting used to the expression, “Bullies attacked here. Your planet has an easily exploitable gravity well and all the resources they could ever want. Well, most. And the swarmers are what my people call a ‘competitive species’. They don’t seek cooperation and destroy any sapient species they find to avoid the chance of competition later.
“That's the main reason why they attacked your planet. Its what’s called the Smorgasbord Doctrine. Once a species learns to control gravity, it becomes more energy and time efficient to use that control to harvest larger astral bodies than to chase down multiple smaller ones. They could have parked over or in one of your gas giants like Star dancer is now and gotten most of the same minerals, water and materials but…there is a third reason. They came here for something ‘special’.”
“What?” Allah asked. What could her planet still have to offer that the bullies could possibly prize?
Li looked at Allah appraisingly, “Complex proteins and carbohydrates remain energy intensive to synthesize or store for long periods of time.”
Allah’s face remained blank as the tiny star behind her ear translated the strange words into U’knock. “Meat and plant matter,” it said.
Li put it more plainly still.
“They came here to harvest you…”

Over 10 years ago I’d played Heartgold on the DSi but had primarily skipped the 3DS titles until jumping back into Pokémon games on the Switch. I love and would still go back and play the DS to visit my glorious gen 2 team, so of course I took some drastic steps on learning they’d be stranded on that hardware forever when Nintendo close the 3DS estore.
I picked up a 3DS with Alpha Sapphire (AS) and Ultra Sun (US) (I already owned White, which on 1st playthrough I didn’t enjoy being the reason for skipping the next few games originally). Originally my plan was to move my gen2 team through to Pokémon White, then transfer into Pokémon Bank via Poketransporter. From there I could move them to Pokémon Home on the Switch, mission accomplished 🫡. The hitch was I needed a save file from one of the other games in order to use. I guess you can see where I’m going…
I really got hooked playing AS, so curiously picked up US to give it a look too and love it! I decided to give gen 5 another go and have picked up Black 2, as well as Y. I even learned about Ash Greninja so have downloaded the demo and am now on the hunt for Sun or Moon to be able to transfer him through with everyone else.
I guess I’m lucky. IDK I’m still hella excited to have picked these games up and in being able to enjoy their stories and Pokémon. I’m wondering tho, was it just me that did them wrong by skipping like I did or are there others going on this journey now too? There’s really not long left to download what you need from the estore so if this needed to be your reminder to move, here it is!

David, Alice, and Frank watched the white, featureless and glowing - oval ship silently approach and then hover a few feet above the desert. As a door appeared in the side and dropped down to create a ramp – Frank said: “The algorithm worked! We just made contact with aliens!” A moment later he muttered to himself: “I wish we had thought about what to do if we did contact aliens.”
The aliens exited the ship with circular disks floating over their heads. After making some indecipherable gestures, they set up an odd looking device that then hung in the air. They then said something that sounded like breaking glass. When they finished the device said: “Trickery can't smell video games.”
David replied: “Uh . . . Hello?” The device then made more sounds like breaking glass and the aliens turned and – looked at each other? Did they even have eyes? Then another one spoke and the device said: “ A baked potato stands on somebody else’s Legs!”
In an attempt to defuse the situation Alice stepped forwards to shake the closer alien’s arm? Tentacle? Not a body part at all? Just as she took hold of it - something made a squishy crunching noise from under her foot. The alien let out a loud “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” noise and Alice jumped – producing another squishy/crunchy noise from the appendage she was holding. The device then said: “” Alice backpedaled while two other aliens started waving devices that were shaped like the letter ‘N’ in what was presumably a threatening manner. One of them announced: “ A sickeningly prodigious profile is often pregnant!” while two others helped their injured comrade back to the ship.
After they were aboard, the door closed the alien ship shot upwards – creating a sonic boom that knocked them to the ground and blew out the windows in the truck and the RV.
The dazed trio lay on the ground for more than a few moments and Frank was the first to speak: “What . . . just . . . happened?”
*******
She was reading her grandchildren a bedtime story when the phone rang. She apologized to the kids and promised them two stories tomorrow, then went to her office to answer it.
She answered the phone: “General Abrams.” “Ma’am – Major Johnson, duty officer. We have an incursion. Mojave Desert, California, 15 miles north of . . . a town named Ludlow. I have placed the QRF on alert.”
“Get the QRF in the air – we can always recall them if it turns out they aren’t needed. Contact the nearby airbases and find out if any of them can get aircraft overhead to feed us video of what’s on the ground. Recall the staff – I’m on my way in.”
………
Alice sat up and then decided that she was going to wait a few more minutes before trying to stand up. Looking around she couldn’t see David or Frank in the dark and called out: “Are you guys OK?” Frank replied: “I don’t think I’m badly hurt, but when I tried to stand up, I just fell down again.” David answered with: “My head’s still spinning a bit but not as bad as a minute ago.” Then he asked: “What happened to the lights?”
In a blinding flash of hindsight Alice realized that the reason it was dark was because the lights were out. “Must still be a little loopy after whatever that was hit us.” she thought.
By unspoken consensus they decided to just lie there until they felt they felt good enough to stand up.
………..
General Abrams walked up to the doors to the Operations Building. As she approached the steps, a calm and quiet voice announced: “Halt.” She stopped – being careful to ensure that her hands remained visible. “Who is there?”
“General Abrams”
“Advance and be recognized.”
She took three more steps and:
“Halt” then: “Fencepost” General Abrams congratulated herself for looking up the password before she got out of her car and replied: “Handbook”
“I recognize you General – you may pass.”
The General thought: “The duty officer posted extra security – that’s not a good sign.” She then entered the building without ever getting a glimpse of the sentry. Something she approved of.
……….
Alice finally felt good enough to stand up and pulled out her phone for more light, looked down at it and . . . nothing. She then looked around and discovered that she could see – not well. but see well enough. David said: “it’s dark and I can still see – did the aliens do something to us?” Alice knew the biology here – but this was the first time she had ever actually used it. She said: “It’s natural, in the dark our eyes produce ‘Rhodopsin’ a chemical commonly referred to as ‘visual purple’ that triggers phototransduction in the rod cells and . . .” Frank interrupted her: “OK - in the dark our eyes make a chemical that lets us see better in the dark.” Alice argued: “Well it’s not that simple.” Rolling his eyes Frank sand: “It’s close enough. Lets start figuring out what works and what doesn’t.” David gave a sigh of relief at avoiding a 15 minute lecture on the biological and chemical processes behind our ability to see in the dark.
*********
General Abrams walked into the operations center and looked at her Chief of Staff: “What’s the bad news?” At the same time wondering how he always not only managed to get here before she did – but had enough time to get a good picture of the situation also.
Captain Halsey (US Navy) called forward Captain Ryker from US Space Force. “Ma’am – when we looked at the records over the past several weeks, we discovered that every Friday and Saturday night a beacon sending data using some kind of advanced algorithm had been active at that location. And it was active tonight.”
“Did our deep space surveillance detect the ship?” “We didn’t detect it coming in but when it left it made no attempt to hide. Once this crisis ends, we’ll spend some time looking into how it evaded the deep space surveillance network.”
“Good job – carry on,”
She then turned and looked at the Operations Officer – who had just arrived and was getting briefed. She got his attention and when he turned his attention to her, she said one word: “Ready?”
“I have the most important stuff. QRF went wheels up 5 minutes ago. Flight time to target location is 40 minutes. Augmentation force has just called in and stated that they can be wheels-up on three minutes notice. Aliens were not detected when inbound but were detected outbound.”
The general: “OK the situation is worse than we expected. Launch the augmentation force with orders to take control of the target location and to secure it. QRF is to parachute in and capture anybody they find, then set up security until the augmentation force arrives. Once the augmentation force arrives, they are to return with any people they located and anything unusual that they find. Talk to Captain Ryker – he'll give you the bad news.”
She then turned and called out: “Air Ops – when are we going to have eyes on the target?” A Captain in an Air Force uniform put his hand over the receiver of the phone he was using and replied: “I’ve got two Marine F-35s and a C-130 tanker practicing air refueling ops 150 miles to the south. The F-35s are enroute and I’m working on grabbing the tanker in case the V-22s need fuel.” Estimated time over the target for the F-35s is just over 15 minutes.”
Satisfied that that her staff had things well in hand and that it would be a few more minutes before she needed to do anything, she decided to get a cup of coffee and stay out of their hair until then. She walked into the break room. She poured a cup, took a sip and . . . An angry voice bellowed from the break room: “Who let Navy make the coffee?”
********
“Well, the good news is that the problem appears to be that every battery we have is drained completely. We do have a small solar panel that we can use to charge the battery on the truck enough to get it started. Then we can jump start the RV and get out of here.” “Oh – and now for the really good news.” He pulled out a chemlight, said “Let there be light!” and snapped the vial inside it. A moment later he said: “I thought it would be brighter.”
Alice listened to Frank’s report as she put down the meager amount of sticks and brush she had managed to locate. She then said: “Well it appears that gathering firewood in a desert in the dark is just about as difficult as we expected.”
David came and placed his pile of sticks and dried brush and sat down and started spinning a stick between the palms of his hands. Frank came over and asked: “What are you doing?”
“Spinning a stick. The friction will heat up the tip and we can use that to get a fire started.”
“Why don’t you use the matches in the RV?”
“We have matches?”
**********
“We have eyes on the target location. Sending the imagery to the center display.”
The thermal imagery showed three people sitting around a campfire, a pickup truck and an RV. When the pilot switched the display from ‘white hot’ to ‘black hot’ the previously invisible tables and what appeared to be radio components showed up against the warmer sand underneath them.
“Is the QRF seeing this?” asked the general. The Air Ops officer replied: “They’re piggybacking off of our feed.” And in anticipation of her next question: “QRF is 22 minutes out and will deploy via parachute upon arrival.”
The fire had burned down and the only light was coming from the chemlite. The trio had finished a snack of toasted marshmallows and were now drinking some hot chocolate Alice had made. “Good thing propane stoves don’t need electricity.” Alice said to ease the feeling of gloom that was setting in. David says: “All in all – it looks like we’re lucky that nobody but us knows about this.”
*********
The video from the second F-35 came on – showing the Special Forces team land, discard their parachutes, don gas masks, and then - using nothing but hand signals - form up into an inverted V formation and move out towards the target.
******** Frank: “Well, I think that we might as well go get some sleep. We are going to have to make sure we get the glass out of the bedding though.”
In response to Frank’s comment David added: “Yea – looks like the worst is ov . . .” Then: “What’s that?” as objects landed in the sand on either side of them.
David suddenly couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, and his eyes and ears hurt.
**********
Both video feeds showed the same thing. The Special Forces team stunned the three people with flash bangs – then one ran towards each of the three people, yanked them out of their chairs and threw them face down into the sand. They then bound their arms with zip-tie handcuffs and put bags over their heads. The other three provided cover for the first. Once the three were immobilized two commandos kept watch on the trio while other four cleared the RV and the truck.
Then the team sent their first and only radio message: “Bastion – this is Predator Three. Objective secured, three persons detained, continuing mission – out.”

“OK – the good news is that we have determined that you have not been exposed to some alien supergerm that can wipe out all life on this planet. The bad news is that I Hate You. Friday night I was with my boyfriend, and he was about to propose – when I got the recall message.”
The annoyed nurse continued: “The exit doors are unlocking. Take a shower and put on the coveralls. You are no longer my problem!”
David: “What she means is that we are now somebody else’s problem. Somebody who can send a military team to kidnap us.”
Alice: “And has a Level Four Biosafety laboratory to use as a quarantine area.”
The Nurse: “Actually this is a Level Five facility.”
Alice: “What’s the difference between a level Four and a level Five?”
The Nurse: “A Level Five is one that would automatically flood the entire facility with Chlorine Trifluoride if any of you got sick from an alien pathogen.”

Hello, 43 Divorced male looking for love in Grand Prairie, TX. I do have two kids that are both adults and don't live with me. I am not looking for anymore kids so if you are, I'm not the right guy. I'm ok if you already have kids.
About me: I love to travel, swim, run, watch movies/sports, and try new restaurants. I am more of an introvert, but I do like to go out and have fun. I do play video games every once in awhile, but not that often.
What I'm looking for: women between the ages of 29-42. I prefer black women, but I am open to all races. If you are white, I prefer thin to slim body types. All others I'm open, sorry just my preference. I'm usually more attracted to the more shy quiet type, not fond of loud center of attention, no filter type. I am not 420 friendly, but am open to tobacco users.
If this sounds like you, send a chat and lets get to know each other.

So I was just using my all purpose shoe cleaner on the back heel of the shoe and when wiping off the foam alot of the black dye was coming out? Ive never had this happen. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal?

“God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe say, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No, " Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
Next time you see me comin', you better run"
Abe said, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God said, "Out on Highway 61"
The radio, a martyr’s relic from a bygone era, sounded half as faded as I was.
I reeked of vodka and middy weed. I didn’t care. This lonely stretch of highway belonged to no one as far as I was concerned, and you gambled taking the curves in the dark.
It was your fault if you choose to gamble with me. Least, that’s the way I saw it.
Texas felt so far away.
“Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
And he's gonna start a war
He's gonna start a warrrrrr
And he hops in his pickup
Puts his pedal to the floor
And says, "I got mine
But I want more"
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die"
I hacked up what felt like part of a lung. My hand was stained, the oxidized rust of old blood mixed with a fresh coat of red, a fresco that highlighted a life poorly lived.
Wait.
What happened to Bob Dylan?
Or was it Johnny Cash?
Wasn’t I just listening…
Gaps in time. I prayed I hadn’t taken the ketamine.
That was for later.
If you want proof time is just a strongly worded opinion, just slip into a k-hole.
That was for later.
My eyelids felt heavy.
There were no stars.
Endless pines, only shadowy outlines in the dark, still cover for the night’s starving predators, were all I could make out.
I just guessed at where the road kinked and turned and straightened.
I was playing a game with God, and I wanted to lose.
I wanted us all to lose.
“Dance, Dance to the radio
While the, Devil takes control,
Dance, Dance to the radio,
While the, Devil takes control…”
The warm hug of oblivion, a feeling like endless cookies and Saturday morning cartoons, began slipping its infinite arms around me.
Come and See, and I saw.
It was still the witching hour when I woke with a startled gasp. I could feel the claws of need, withdrawal, dragging up my arms, burrowing into my skin, making the back of my eyeballs vibrate.
Every day the need grew stronger, and every day, I killed off a little bit more of me.
One is too many, and a thousand is never enough.
I was in a ditch.
This wasn’t new or news. I tended to wake up in a lot of ditches. Beats Motel 6. Fewer roaches and you could smoke in every room.
My truck wouldn’t start.
Not even the wheezing gasps of a machine trying to cling to artificial life. Just a click and utter silence.
The battery couldn’t be dead. I checked my watch.
5:55 A.M.
I figured I’d tried to hit the eternal snooze button around 3 A.M. It had only been a few hours. Battery should be fine.
A cursory inspection showed no external damage. No blown tires, no misbegotten wires or missing spark plugs. Hell, it seemed like I’d just slowly cruised into this dark little corner of the universe.
It was as though the truck just gave up the ghost and said, "I’m done." The thirsty horse dropping to the ground in an endless desert, done with the death march.
I bear crawled up the small ravine and onto the highway.
A generous term for a lonely road in whatever the Hell backwater burg America had shit out here.
All I could see were outlines in the dark.
Fitting, I thought.
And then an explosion stole my vision.
Let there be light.
And there was.
And it was good.
Especially good.
Because it was a bar.
A ramshackle of a spot, dive joint meets biker meth hangout, from the looks of it, and it was just powering up.
Shit, if you couldn’t drink on Sunday morning, were we really free? Were we really God’s children at all?
I started ambling toward the light, my eyes adjusting to the deep gloom.
“The Man from Capernaum.”
Hell of a name for a spot in the middle of BFE.
Hell of a name.
Hell.
Hell, I needed a drink.
My watch read 6 a.m. but it was 5 o’clock somewhere, and this place had electricity buzzing it had to pay for and didn’t much strike me as the sort of establishment that probably saw the law as anything more than a nuisance.
I sauntered up to the door, my black boots clicking loudly against the rotten wooden porch.
Into the lion’s den we go.
Unsurprisingly, it was empty as a church on Friday night. Why kill the Son if you can’t have the sin, after all?
But it was unlocked and music was softly crooning from somewhere.
“As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that Good Ol’ Way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way”
Fantastic. No bartender and proselyting in a shit joint. That’s just what my migraine and itchy skin called for.
I considered hopping the bar and grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, but this struck me as a place where your head might become acquainted with a shotgun right quick and nobody would kick up much fuss.
I was going out, a lamb among wolves, but on my terms. I’d had enough violence. I wanted to feel the void swallow me whole, not feel a hole swallow my head.
Plopping down on an empty stool, I risked lighting up a smoke. Certainly they wouldn’t get bent out of shape over a cowboy killer or two.
And shit, who was there to kick up dirt anyway? A ghost town without the spirits, save the ones just behind the bar and out of reach.
The tantalizing fruit in the garden.
God, I need a cold one, now.
“Till armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the Father Hen will call His chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When The Man comes around”
The hairs on my arm stood up.
That wasn’t the gentle croon of some A.M. gospel channel. That was someone singin’ in the bar.
In the furthest stool at the left end of the bar, a wild looking man sat, intermittently taking greedy gulps of amber beer and singing loudly, his other arm flailing frenetically as though conducting an unseen orchestra.
Ah, good, a ninja crackhead. That’s just what I need.
He looked over at me and I leapt from my chair and damn near outta my boots.
Ancient as the hills, this man looked like he’d just come down the mountain from communing with the darkness itself.
God damn.
A wild, grey, patchy beard splayed out in every direction, as though the hair itself was trying to escape the vessel that grew it.
The crown of his head was bald but the rest was shaggy white hair, matted in some places, errantly sticking up in others, as though it couldn’t choose between electrocution and submission.
He wore what looked like a white robe, but it was stained with all manner of mess. Copper, brown, yellow, black. Blood, shit, piss, and Heaven only knows what. A fetid robe of many colors.
Tattered, rudimentary sandals held in dirty feet with long, yellowed toenails.
The man reeked worse than sulfur. Worse than death. It was like the pungent stank of the human stain clung to him with reckless abandon.
He was chubby and withered and maddened.
But none of that held a penny to his eyes.
Orbs of the purest white, ringed with seared, blackened flesh around the edges.
Nothing but endless, empty white that somehow felt like it saw nothing but what we all couldn’t see. Nothing of this world but everything we hide in it. Our lies, the horrors behind the masks, what we do in the dark, this tattered, horrible amalgam we have the audacity to still call “a soul.”
Fuck this.
I went to run but found I had no will to do so.
My boots had become one with the earth, like the leather was finally gonna join the cattle that had to die for me to feel like a man.
A crash of thunder stole my hearing, a tiny whirlwind began lifting and smashing bottles from behind the bar.
The seals of the bottles came open, spraying spirits everywhere.
The bar was alight with white fire and a light blasted through the bar that would embarrass the Sun.
Then all was silent and still.
“Nice hooves,” the man said in a velvety baritone.
I looked down at my black boots and back up at him.
There is probably a drug cocktail somewhere in existence where, if mixed properly and taken with utter scientific precision, probably unlocks the gates to Heaven in the human consciousness.
I think I might have found the one’s that unlocked Hell’s.
The man wore a wide, warm grin. Authentic and inviting, the jovial visage of every TV grandfather. Creature comfort. He no longer looked like a raving maniac.
Far from it.
The man was now young, maybe late 20’s.
Golden, feathered locks elegantly curved just behind his ears.
A black cardigan, dark jeans, and new Grecian sandals graced a well-kept temple, a body of with seemingly perfect porcelain skin.
Sapphire blue eyes, pools of painful beauty, the kind that feels like a knife twisting your gut, looked at me with compassion.
I could smell lilac and some spice that seemed reminiscent of a world long gone by but made me what want to curl up with a blanket and read a good book by the fire wafted my way.
A single, marred tattoo of a small cross ran down the index finger of his left hand.
The man sat down and said, “why don’t you and them hooves join me, Pappy?”
I go by a lot of names to keep myself safe in this shithole world, but I hadn’t gone by my real name since I beat a kid black and blue in elementary school for mocking me for it and my daddy had told me he was proud of me. Put a cigarette out on the back of my neck later that same night after a few too many for causing trouble.
The duality of man or whatever the Hell the academics prattle on about, I guess.
“They’re boots,” I snarled, playing at bravery, bluffing like I did every day of this wasted life, hopin’ it might but him back on his heels.
I didn’t know if I was messing with some damned creature not of this world or was just higher than a kite and seeing nonsense. While the latter seemed far more likely, I wanted to prepare for the former.
“Sure,” he said kindly, “sure.”
I sat down on the tattered stool.
“Where’s the bartender? And how the Hell do you know my name?”
“Calm down, son. You look like you could use a drink of the old blood. Sure beats those poisons you keep sticking in that body we gave ya.”
A wine glass appeared before each of us, filled to the brim. The man, or whatever it was, sipped away, humming some forgotten hymnal.
“I ain’t much of a vino fan. Got any Irish whisky?”
He lifted his glass as though to toast me and said “Sure. And you certainly will need that later. For now, the grapes of wrath, as it were.” A soft chuckle left his lips.
I sipped the wine. No sense bucking the bull when you don’t know how big or angry it really is.
It tasted like nothing I had ever had before. An indescribable, wicked deliciousness.
It warmed me up and filled me with light and hope and covered up all the dark holes that had punched through me by others.
Even plugged the ones I’d punched myself.
“We?”
The man took a small sip. “Sorry?”
“You said ‘the body *we* gave ya. *We*.”
It was only then I noticed he was crying.
There were no sobs, no audible gasps, no tremors or shakes, just slow, steady tears of blood dripping from those perfect blue orbs.
“Name’s Arah. I’m an Angel.”
Arah downed the goblet of wine, flecks of his bloody tears caking the glass’s rim.
“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”
This obvious machination of my drug addled brain chuckled louder this time, a slight slur and anger tinging his words.
“I’m even less for all that religious babble than I am for wine. Though this shit’s pretty damn good, I gotta admit.”
“LIAR!” Arah screamed, shaking the whole bar. His eyes were wide and obsidian and his chest heaved heavily.
“Liar.” This, a quiet whisper.
“You spent your whole life in church.
You soaked up every hopeful word, every promise of redemption and fixing, and the truth of that still rattles around inside you.
You can stick all the needles you want into that arm so you can lie to yourself and take away the pain you were meant to bear, but you can’t lie to me. We see everything, for we are many.”
Arah refreshed his glass with a small flourish of his hand before downing it again, his disposition getting slightly wobblier.
“DRINK!” he screamed, and when the world stopped shaking and those eyes turned blue again, I sure as shit started pounding the fermented fruit.
Ain't the time to be picky.
“You aren’t having a bad trip. I'm having a bad trip.”
The endless tears of blood fell quicker, like a swift red river coursing from a deep blue waterfall.
Small pools of it began forming of the bar. A slight acrid smell was on the air, barely noticeable behind all the wonderful aromas.
I felt warm and real and firm. I felt human again. My glass had been refilled and I downed another.
Okay, so I was getting wasted with an angel. Admittedly a first, even for my winding and warped road, but getting blitzed on Jesus Juice sure beat pissing off some emotionally unhinged cherub motherfucker.
“I can’t find Him. I can never find Him.”
Slight groans left Arah’s lips and he gulped down another glass.
With a minor twitch, the glass flew and smashed against the wall.
A nanosecond, if even, after the sound of shattering, it reappeared anew, full of the deep blood wine, before him, and he slurped it down his gullet.
I was trying to keep pace with him.
Shit I could drink a fifth of whisky and make it home alive but something in this good good had me slippin’. A part of me knew I should be petrified to ask, but the rest of me was too faded to care.
“Find who? What brings you here, cryin’ tears in yer beers?”
Now I was the one slurring.
“Take them.”
I looked down at the bar.
A belt. A syringe full of something brown and beautiful.
All the gear.
And six shots of what I prayed was Jameson.
“But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
Arah was slurring hard now, slowly spinning in his chair, laughing and crying.
“Have a taste. At least there’ still manna.”
I shot the whole thing and downed that beautiful Irish whisky. Warmth and light filled me up and stole me away from this putrid rock.
Somehow, as wrecked as I was, I felt I could see Arah all the clearer, like the Sun pushing out the remnants of a storm. His hands looked withered, and those blue eyes looked heavy and tired.
“I miss Him. God. Father.”
I began to mumble some apocryphal question, but a raised hand silenced me.
“We’re taking communion here, son, an act of contrition, of grief, celebration and loss. I’m not giving about to give you a seminar on the finer points of how you all bungled what we gave you and called it ‘religion.’ Just shut the fuck up and drink.”
We downed a glass of wine in unison, a broken human and clearly a broken angel, performing a ritual at the alter we were left with.
“You wanna know why I’m here drinkin’? I know you do. I can hear it rattling around in that little rat brain of yours, gnawing, gnawing, gnawing.
Well, here’s why. GOD LEFT.
You remember your Bible.
Like a schizophrenic mother when the voices just crept too far in, he drowned all his children in the bathtub. He felt regret.
You apes can’t come to terms with the fact that it isn’t cognitive dissonance to be perfect and make mistakes. Your binaries and absolutes are the pathetic crutches you rest on, the prisons you build for yourselves. You think you live in the grey but you don’t. You are the simple minded mistake of something far greater than you could possibly fathom.
Hell ain't nothin' but a door locked from the inside.
He was right to drown all of you, ya know.
You’re an abortion that didn’t take.
You’re the science experiment gone wrong.
You’re the motherfucking poisonous residue left over when the manufacturing process goes the slightest bit awry.
He TRIED. He gave you EVERYTHING. And you chased him away.
He wanted to put you all down. Wipe the slate clean. Shoot the wolf with the broken leg caught in the trap. Mercy. But He had made those fuckin’ rainbows, and He kept his word.
You all sit and pout and scream and gnaw and gnash and blow each other up. Always the same shit in this horrible flat circle.
"My god is real, your god is fake! "
You never once consider you’re all talking about the same damn thing, and more to the point, you're spend your entire lives debating His existence. What a catastrophic waste to be so far from the mark.
Is He real? Is He a fairy tale?
Is there a big bearded man with a sword in the sky or is it just what some primitive apes told themselves to explain the lights in the night sky, a mechanism of control and purpose in an entropic and meaningless world?”
I felt frozen listening to Arah rant.
Somewhere, between the distant sound of brutal words, I heard that radio kick on.
“The Third Planet is sure that they’re being watched
By an Eye in the Sky that can’t be stopped
And when you get to the Promised Land
You’re gonna shake the Eye’s hand”
“You won’t.”
Arah spoke quietly and sipped and audibly sobbed.
“I…I won’t what?”
“Shake his hand. He’s GONE.
You all fight with words and books and swords and shells and atoms about whether he exists. It’s your relentless, simpleminded addiction to dichotomy. It would be so boring if it wasn’t so sickening.
You think He exists, and if He does, He is here and He loves you and hears your stupid little prayers about football and bone cancer and bank accounts and AIDS.
And if He doesn’t exist, well, it’s just a bunch of conmen working over some fools with a fairy tale.
Any of you shitbirds ever consider He exists and LOATHES you? That he cut the cord to that existential phone line and ain’t nobody on the other side of that line anymore?
You live in an infinite universe that is forever exploding and expanding. He exists outside of even that.
You think you’re special? You’re one tiny experiment among so fucking many, I couldn’t make the smartest mathematician in the history of this planet understand how infinitesimally numerically irrelevant you are.
The question isn’t, is God real or is it all a hoax, a self-delusion?
The salient question, Pappy, is whether He’s here. And He ain’t.
He kept his word and let you all live and fester and replicate and mutate like the virus you are. The fruit that ate itself.
But daddy split. Went out for smokes and He ain’t never coming back. Moved onto a new family. Just like He's done again and again and again. And I'm guessing will keep doing 'till He decides He got it right. Ain’t been here for a long time. Long, long time.”
6 glasses of wine appeared before Arah and he downed them all with lightning speed, spewing blood, sobbing and gasping and drinking.
His hair greyed and whitened and fell to the floor.
His nails began to decay and yellow.
The smell of shit and piss and bile crept up and began to make me nauseous.
“And you know who got really fucked? US. The angels.
God gave us instructions and we followed it. We knew what we had and we didn’t deviate. We did our duty. And He left us behind, too.”
Arah’s clothes began to whiten and dirty.
The enrapturing blue of his eyes began to fade, growing paler and lifeless. A wild, twisted beard and belly began to sprout.
“Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
Arah began shrieking.
"Fucking humans.
I AM AN ANGEL OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND I AM BOUND FOREVER TO THIS SHITHOLE OF A ROCK, ENDLESSLY SEARCHING THE COSMOS FOR A FATHER I CAN NEVER FIND, TRAPPED IN A PRISON I CAN NEVER LEAVE, FOR A CRIME I DIDN’T COMMIT.
YOU ALL DID THIS.
YOU ALL DID THIS.
YOU DID THIS.”
Arah leapt up and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me on high.
Fire scorched his eyes, leaving empty pale pools singed to a blackened crisp at the edges.
The wild, infested thing I’d seen before held me as though I weighed less than the judgment feather.
He was sobbing.
“I…I just did what I was told.
Do you know what Hell is? There’s no fucking lake of fire or torture rack with goats.
It’s this.
An endless existence having tasted God’s grace and love and then forever being separated from it, eternally searching for that one drug you know you can never find.
'Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss.'
This, this place, is Hell.”
All the opium in the world couldn’t save me from the stark terror of this celestial’s tortured judgment.
I was quaking and pissed myself.
“Now I got ya shakin’ in your boots. Nice hooves.”
He threw me and I slammed against the wall and I felt every ounce of wine and heroin and whisky spill out of my body and onto the floor.
In that moment, I felt the unmitigated suffering of absolute sobriety, and I’ve been sober every moment since.
This wild, unfettered thing inched closer to me.
It was only then I noticed the tattoo on his finger more closely. It was…clearer to me now. Everything was. That little cross on his finger was upside down as it faced me.
“What does your name mean, Arah? What did you do that made God leave all his angels behind?”
Arah opened his mouth and two snakes, one a viper, the other a colorful coral, slid out of his mouth and began encircling his head and neck, never striking, never squeezing, simply coiling infinitely.
“YOU FUCKING APES. I’LL RIP THE SOUL OUT OF EACH OF YOU AND EAT IT FOR LIFE ETERNAL.”
Arah, this manifestation of man’s worst nightmare, leapt at me, blood spewing, snakes dancing, the bar shaking and burning and reeking.
Alas, Babylon, for me.
Inches from me Arah froze, held still by some unseen force, his mouth snarling words that only came out as unintelligible, wet squelches.
A voice from the bar’s door whispered a single word.
“World.
In the first tongue, 'Arah' meant ‘World.’
At the door stood an older black woman with the kindest eyes I’d ever seen.
She wore a bracelet of thorns and a dress made of every flower my mind could conceive.
Golden eyes flecked with amber looked at me lovingly.
She quietly sauntered up to Arah and shook her head wistfully, a disapproving but loving mother wishing her child would just behave.
“You would do well to accept your place here, Arah. The Father may be gone, but this is where you and your lot stay. It was not man’s fall that bound you here.
Tell him what you did...Angel.”
Arah fell suddenly to the barroom floor, all the strength clearly sucked out of him.
“I..I did what I was told. I followed the orders I was given. It was for Him, Uriel.”
Uriel tutted her tongue as though an impudent child had told her a silly, obvious fib.
“You can lie to yourself all you want, Arah, but you cannot lie to me.
You, who whispered endlessly to Herod.
You, who dwelt in Caligula.
You, who served Qin Shi Huang.
You, who sought refuge in Robespierre .
You, who possessed Mengele.
‘And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”
Uriel helped me to my feet, brushed me off, and lightly put her hand on her cheek. It was the only moment in my life I knew what the word “home” meant.
“And you won’t lie to Man, either.
You remember the deal you begged for, Arah? Let remind you:
'They began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.'
You had the gall to call his creation, however staggeringly imperfect, swine.
You got what you asked for, then.
And you will have it for all time.
Get behind me.”
Uriel picked me up as though I were a mere baby and carried me to my truck. She laid me gently in the passenger side and started the engine.
The radio kicked on.
“I’m a rolling stone
All alone and lost
For a life of sin
I have paid the cost
Take my advice
Or you’ll curse the day
You started rollin’ down
That Lost Highway”
As she pulled away, I looked back at The Man from Capernaum one last time.
It was consumed in fire and the squeals of pigs shrieking carried through the cool night air.
“Do not pity him.
‘You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.’
God may have left this world but let the Demon burn.”

I was hoping someone would be able to give me some tips. I’d like to DIY if possible as I don’t have money for a shower reno. The problem is this shower room has cracks in the sand grout. Am I able to fix any of it on my own? If I purchased some kind of tool to get the old broken grout out and re-grout it. And my second problem was the drain isn’t hooked up properly or at all maybe? I think I’d have to take the tile off around the drain to try and re attach the drain. I have some photos.
It is a house/cabin from the 1920s with this shower room as an edition. I’m pretty sure the old man did the « Reno’s » by himself and didn’t know what he was doing. I Will be trying to find a way to link photos . And help or suggestions would be super greatly appreciated. :)
Please and thank you.

Making Contact is about an object-oriented investigation of the universe for signs of intelligent life, which assumes the intelligent life will be somewhere out there – gestures to cosmos – and therefore essentially spatial in its orientation to reality. Spatiality has something to say about the presence of a body as the site of identity and intention, and the body is assumed to develop technology to amplify use-of-force as a form of authority – you can see how it all tumbles out. The inner and outer search for extraterrestrial intelligence likewise represents the directionality of the alien other – the alien is out there, seeming remarkably like ourselves. Given the potential for the intelligent alien other to be appearing trillions of times, universe wide, the notion that some of them will be like us – curious primates with opposable thumbs – seems reasonable.
Reasonable! Have I got a bridge to sell you! Crosses parsecs like nobody’s business, not that we have a good feel for economy at such scales, and even if we did, once such a distance is crossed, by vehicle or electromagnetic frequency, what topics do we use to break the ice? Pet peeves? Travel plans? If you had one superpower, what would it be? Let’s say we get past that, x-ray vision or whatever, aren’t we even mildly apprehensive – sits upright, steeples fingers – about having alien awareness enter our experience of consciousness? If an interstellar vehicle landed in the town square and an alien, by ramp or ladder, appeared before us, would we feel any anxiety at all if the first words that emerged from its lipless mouth were, drink this – meaning the corked veil it just extended in our direction, the contents of which is a complete mystery?
Here in the west, faith serves many functions, not the least of which is to cushion the blow of divine authority as a lived experience. Perhaps we think of divine authority as a magic trick – watch me pull loaves and fishes out of a hat – or like the scene a first-responder might run up against – then we wrapped Lazarus in Mylar, waited for the ambulance to arrive. Reasonable, no? Divine authority and the alien other may be silent threads adding stitches to the dress of day, but then suddenly they’re wearing it, turning this way and that before a mirror, which is us – how exactly do we cope? Yes, I’m worrying at an image of the divine, both in and of our minds, but every now and then, right in front of us, then all around us, relentlessly so, lasting mere minutes, a handful of seconds – but then going on to reorganize the rest of your life.
Faith! May the nothingness-with-a-bounce-in-its-step that is my waking life ever feel your hand in mine, the two of us taking windy walks over hot coals. When scientists hunting for life in the universe inspect the latest data for patterns in the firmament, do they prepare for the moment ritually? A prayer? A few deep knee bends? Some self-styled promise not to lose every hint of personal volition – a puff of smoke in a windstorm – because something with the circumference of a supreme being just leaped out of the data and onto the ledge of one’s mind? Do we imagine numbers and graphs are what’s actually discovered? Sure, I know, peer review, the expectations of the industry, I mean field – the expectations of the field, and what proper science looks like in the raw. The rawness itself is vastly assembled, industries working in concert to make even that.
Where does the contact experience begin and end? – what I worry about with the scientists and the data. A very reliable place to observe something analogous, in most any municipality, is arraignment court – a venue where the contact experience is governed by state authority, and the matter of being kidnapped by aliens toting glocks and tazers, then put in cages – takes on a whole other level of real. Defendants appear before the judge, are read the charges against them and possible penalties, and their expression says volumes about what contact with an authority greater than our own will be like – not a violation of anyone’s law but such a challenge to self-determination that months might go by, even years, before that moment in arraignment court can bear to be remembered. The court’s decisions are likewise driven by peer-reviewed data.
The woman in jail stands before the court via video screen, accused of aggravated domestic battery during a dispute the night before. By the time she stands before the judge, she has been in jail for 10 hours and stares unblinking, like someone using all her strength to remain upright and conscious. When the matter of bond comes up, the attorney for the prosecution reads from the police report about what was alleged to have happened, which report includes direct quotes – Black vernacular, filled with regrettable threats, read aloud by a perfectly sober white attorney who stresses the consonants at the ends of words. The woman I see before me, standing inside an airless space created by the authority of the state, begins sobbing uncontrollably, covers her face, doubles over. Such are the agonies of the contact experience, when the facts are added up.
She is alleged to have stabbed him with a 10-in. kitchen knife – a nonlife-threatening wound, but a moment of jarring truth that gets everyone’s attention in the courtroom. Did the contact experience begin then, when she reached for the kitchen knife? Before then? Did their love grow faint in the kitchen in particular? Near an ordinary cutting board to extremes? Did personal volition vacate the premises, the matter of making decisions fall under the spell of something else? Where terror comes to rest, we throw a sheet upon it, call it rage. The defendant’s tears in arraignment court, 10 hours after it happened, are about more than regret – also a bewildered exhaustion about what it feels like when one way of being in the world is rapidly replaced by another, and you’re alone in jail, bond set at $25,000, which someone paid the following day.
Could a dataset do that? Place the mind inside an alien organism for years at a time, even as the body goes about its business? The legendary science fiction author Philip K. Dick reported an encounter with the alien other on February 3, 1974, that precipitated an 8000-page exegesis, plus a series of books in which the author postulates the presence of a vast active living intelligence system, the system part seeming to me a little perfunctory – like he was probably detecting the outline of his own ontology with the system part. The encounter undoubtedly changed his life and to such a degree, the future might know Philip K. Dick as an avatar who happened also to write compelling science fiction. I haven’t read his work in a while, but he seemed to enjoy what he did, realized success in his own lifetime, rubbed shoulders with the noted and notorious.
What transpires when the unknown becomes known? A point in space opens its mouth as wide as it can, swallows the unknown, end to end, in its entirety – can you imagine that from the inside out? A mind grander than conception can itself conceive takes the place of the sky, and the daylight hits the window sill with an all new sense of purpose in its stride, like its ready to grow an entirely different kind of life. And what would any new life want to know before it commits to making contact with the human? Despite the skulls inside our heads, we are not a prison planet! And we vow to love one another despite the numerous exceptions! And someday everyone will do the right thing for the right reason all the time, feel the freer for it! But for now, our teleportation device tends to be on the glitchy side, fills in the gaps with intuition.
May future datasets furnished by the aliens greet science like the exhaust ports of bakeries in the morning. For now, though, we’ll take what we can get.

I’ve had a clown in my 25 gallon for about 6 months now. It (Mocha) is about 1.5-2 inches long, and I’m almost positive not yet a female.
I bought a clown a few months back and it just finished the quarantine process. It’s just around an inch in length. I added it to the main tank today and Mocha kind of danced around all weird and shook its fins while watching it from a distance. Mocha then approached the new clown and started chasing it intermittently. It seemed like aggression to me, but Im far from an expert on this, as I’m new to the hobby.
I was concerned and wanted to get input on the matter before anything got out of hand, so I caught both and put them in a breeding box with a divider separating them in the hopes that Mocha may accept the new clown’s existence.
What is the best approach for getting them to potentially pair or at minimum not have my new clown torn to shreds?
I should also note that Mocha is a Black Storm Ocellaris and the new one is a White Snowflake Percula. I didn’t figure there would be an issue since they’re both juveniles and drastically different in size.

2181 – 09:17, Wednesday, January 17th –Agora of the Asari People- Serrice City - Thessia – Parnithia System
"It's done," said Nari in a faint croaking voice as she took a few shaky steps back from her magnum opus – a mural that depicted horror yet hope in the image.
"Easy there Nari," said Sam'nelea gently as she caught the exhausted artist in her arms. Mayises and Miretse rushed up and helped Sam'nelea carry Nari to a chair, giving her a bottle of energy drink so the exhausted artist could at least rehydrate.
"So it is finished Colonel T'goos?," asked Matriarch Seucsha T'sola as she called from behind the barrier that shielded the work from viewing.
"Yes Matriarch. Please, come and see Nari's masterpiece," replied Sam'nelea as she held Nari's head so that the shattered artist could drink.
Mayises was holding the bottle for Nari who swallowed greedily at the nourishing refreshing liquid. She had worked almost 18 hours a day on the mural, only stopping to rest when Sam'nelea forced her to. Even then it was barely enough yet Nari found an inner strength that Sam'nelea and her commandos could but only admire at the artists determination to complete this work.
Matriarch Seucsha T'sola of Serrice had also deployed her commandos to guard Nari and her work. The Serricean matriarch had seen the images of the horror under Fortress T'reaphia and was physically sick afterwards. Nothing like this had ever been seen on Thessia… ever. Asari had a dark side, that was undisputable but this… this was pure evil.
"Dear goddess!" she gasped as she and her senior officers came around the corner and saw the mural. There was cries of shock, anger, revulsion, despair and sadness from all when they saw what Nari had painted. Nari had also carved in bright red sandstone that sat above the mural, the High Thessian pictograms for the words: NEVER FORGET!
Sam'nelea surveyed the artwork with a studious glance. She could see that Nari had been heavily influenced by human art, so very obviously in this case as Nari's mural was a homage to both Picassos "Guernica" and Munch's "The Scream" but balanced by Van Gogh's "Starry Night" for the idea that hope still existed.
Sam'nelea had seen those artworks herself on Earth and was deeply moved by them and appreciated what Nari had incorporated into her mural.
Duncan's influence was evident for those who knew the friendship between the artist and the man who lived twice. The Commando officer was aware of that he had been showing Nari the best of human art.
"What a lurid, emotive, extremely confronting work," murmured Matriarch T'sola as she stared at it awestruck. A tear of empathy had trickled down her flawless lavender cheek. "This will be a testament as long as the Agora of the People stands." Her officers nodded in assent, too moved to speak themselves. "Did you see it, Sam?" she asked quietly.
"No matriarch and I thank all the deities and the universe that I didn't. I saw some of the footage that my matriarch displayed to all of you. That was enough. Even now, the Acolytes and house troopers who were there are still undergoing mental therapy for the trauma they were exposed to."
"And your War Artist? Will she be whole again?" the matriarch inquired with compassion for Nari in her eyes.
"I believe, no… I know she will be fine. Nari is one of the strongest Asari I have met. Her mental drive and fortitude allowed her to produce this masterwork in just over ten days. She barely slept and only rested, ate and drank when I forced her too. Look, she has passed out from exhaustion," said Sam'nelea with a sad resonate tone with deep sympathy in her eyes for her new friend. "She is a true hero of the Asari People matriarch. Not one of valour and great deeds of action, but of her strength of spirit and her artist talent. Let that be known in Serrice."
The Serricean matriarch nodded in total agreement.
"Her work will last for all time. Go home Sam. You, Nari and your commandos have done enough. I will post guards here on permanent duty. Fiahnni can send some across to be part of the guard who protect this… lesson to us all. We will invite other matriarchs to send their house troops to become a part of the detachment. I will house and feed them all. This will be a sacred duty, separate from being guards here at the Agora. This will be our privilege and duty to all the Asari people."
Matriarch Seucsha T'sola nodded once more to herself, knowing that only just over half of the republics would contribute troops to this force. The others like the Armali would prevaricate and dither, ultimately sending nothing which in all honestly, she was fine with. Less in the end for her to pay for and more glory to those that did contribute.
"As you command matriarch and thank you for all you support and aid. It is greatly appreciated." Sam'nelea gestured to her commando lieutenants and bring Nari's sleeping form with them. "I need to see my daughters and husband," she said tiredly.
Matriarch T'sola gave the Colonel at questioning look.
"I must ask Sam… what is it like being loved by a human male? I truly wish to know as I am considering my…options for a new partner."
Sam'nelea paused for a moment and thought about how to respond.
"Matriarch… I cannot answer that with any real ease in such a short space of time. All I can say is that Phillipe completes me. I met him almost twenty years ago and have never found a more loving, wonderful soul to share my life with and have daughters by. I wish Tevura's blessing upon you if you truly wish to find love with a man. It is challenging as you would understand yet… so rewarding as well once you have melded and know beyond any doubt that he is yours and you are his. I love him with every fibre of my being. We are one. Now… I should go," she said with a sigh as thoughts of her beloved husband threatened to engulf her.
"Be at peace Sam and Athame bless you," replied Matriarch T'sola with a soft smile as she considered Sam'nelea's words very carefully.
Sam'nelea, along with Dr Hethy and a few hundred others were some of the originals who bonded with humans. They were not the first but still, those individuals who in 2161, formed a coterie of Asari which became bonded to humans that year, changing Asari society forever. She vaguely recalled that one of her own junior clerical diplomats based at the Citadel bonded with a famous human male artist yet she couldn't recall their names off hand. No matter, the unions that worked were true examples of love crossing cultural and species lines. Fiahnni was right, Humanity and Asari would be one people in the end.
Seucsha signalled to her senior officers and Acolytes, that they take over from the departing T'daari forces. She also began considering her options of looking for a potential consort from the pool of humanity. The matriarch needed someone she could confide in, who would hold and love her in the dark of the night. She felt too lonely these days and taking an Acolyte to her bed had lost its allure as it was just sex for sex's sake, nothing more. Seucsha needed companionship more than ever after seeing Nari's work. The matriarch made up her mind, she would find her Siame in humanity.
Maybe a young man like the musical Maestro Matriarch Jami Sibeyr had found with her young human Siame? she considered.
Seucsha decided that she needed to speak with the Maestro to gain more insight. She concluded that a young man would last the time with her for her remaining years, they would grow old together which was a great comfort to her as the thought of outliving another bondmate would be too much for her to bare. The matriarch mused to herself that she might even have another daughter with him. They could at least try, after all Benezia T'Soni had her little Liara only eighty or so years ago. That had been the subject of much gossip within the conclave of matriarchs.
She turned away and began humming the maestro's beautifully soaring piece to herself. "A Love Song for Humanity" which was universally recognised as one of the greatest pieces of Asari music which had been created in generations. Now she began to see why, as she reflected upon what she had observed of Fiahnni's daughters and their relationship with Duncan Larkin.
Pity he was taken, she thought to herself as she left the building to board her waiting air-transporter, he would have made an excellent bondmate and consort.
The gull wing doors of her vehicle closed and as she was whisked away into the busy sky. She sat back into the plush soft leather seats and began opening the Matchmaking site, "Blue to Hue" on her datapad.
What charmed her the most, making her laugh and dispelling the awful visions of the horror that Nari had depicted, was that a classic human song started playing as soon as the Extranet site opened up on her data pad. She knew of this song and smiled widely in approval.
Queen's "Somebody to Love" was a perfect complement for the matchmaking site.
The 894 year old matriarch now began examining the hundreds of thousands of hopeful men who had listed themselves and had been ever so carefully screened as potential bondmates to Asari by the managers of the matchmaking site.
She had time and options and she was now looking forwards to Fiahnni's daughter's fashion show.
So much fun to be had!
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2181 – Friday - January 19 – 19:30 – Lyriania's Memorial Amphitheatre – Dassus City
Lileah'sah peeked out from behind the huge gauze stage curtain, over the massive crowd that had filled the amphitheatre with pride and amazement.
"I still can't believe it," she said quietly to Duncan as they observed the full venue from the wings of the stage.
He held her in front of him, his arms wrapping over hers, around her waist and linking over her belly comfortably. She loved that. Turning her head, she laid her left cheek against his chest so as not to poke him with the tendrils of her crest. It was the only thing she thought that humans had as a minor physical advantage over Asari, they had no crest at the back of their heads that could get in the way of things.
"Believe it my love. Our terrific Tre'mete has done it. Tonight is going to make her a legend. She deserves this."
Lileah'sah turned in his arms and looked up at him with a hint of self-doubt in her eyes.
"I know. Although a part of me feels shame Duncan. I should have done this decades ago for her yet I didn't. I was a selfish, self-centred, spoilt stupid maiden, too wrapped up in her own Varen-shit to do the right thing by the one who had always loved me for who I was. Tre'mete only ever wanted me to love her. You did this for her, not me," she said with a heavy sigh and laid her head back on his chest once more.
Duncan cuddled her tenderly.
"Hey there sweetness, you have helped our crazy mad amazing seamstress and bondmate. You have been her tower of strength through this. You have been at her side all the way, helping her with the business side of things. She couldn't have done this without you. Yes I have been the catalyst that brought this into existence but you my magnificent, musical healer, you were the one who made it all happen. Tre' would have been lost without your family connections. No one would have taken her seriously if not for you going to all those meetings with her. Now she is on the cusp of her triumph and we will celebrate like never before. Look, all our family are here, all our friends too. Tre'mete has worked herself hard and I think it was a stroke of genius that she got everyone in the crew, plus our friends children to be models for her garments tonight."
"Again you are correct my dearest darling man. Their Aretḗ is going to only soar after tonight. And Chianay and Elanini… goddess… I would never have thought that my beloved cousins would be fashion models," she giggled lightly.
It had taken the trio plus Chianay and Ray a lot of diligent work to finally persuade the shy, bookish Intelligence Analyst to model some of Tre'mete's clothing tonight. Elanini would be modelling the more demure and reserved lines of garments that Tre'mete had designed, clothing suited for Asari of Elanini's demeanour. The normally quiet Asari was now abuzz with excitement and nervous energy. Ray spoke to her in her aural bud.
"Remember Ela', you are beautiful, powerful and strong. All eyes will be on you but you will see none as you will be bathed in glorious light. Consider this a simple walk in the sunshine wearing fine clothing that your cousin has made for you."
"Thank you Ray. I am glad you are with me. I couldn't have done this without you."
"You are my family Ela' and my friend and I will do anything for you," said Ray humbly and meant every word.
Elanini blew a gentle kiss to one of the security cameras, knowing that Ray was watching her like a guardian angel. Chianay hugged her younger sister in a sign of affectionate support.
The AI along with Luenthvi were the masters behind the curtain, controlling all aspects of the upcoming show. Luenthvi was in the control room supervising the sound and lighting engineers and technicians in conjunction with Ray. Both Asari and AI had planned everything down to the last detail with Tre'mete, leaving nothing to chance. She got the two minute signal.
"Alright everyone, game faces on, it's showtime!" she said in a quiet yet commanding voice.
The Asari engineers and technicians nodded and began their final prechecks of all the systems.
A few minutes earlier, Fiahnni, Aenthiah and Raquelia, the family and close friends had been the last to enter the amphitheatre. A soaring glorious composition of human music rang out as the trio of Asari gracefully made their way through the building. Fiahnni had fallen in love with Händel's "Messiah" recently and shamelessly appropriated various pieces from the opera for herself. Her people loved it.
Jonah, Lomu, Di'naka and Nyanyzia flanked the Grand Matriarch, Fiahnni and Aenthiah. All the bodyguards resplendent in gleaming ceremonial yet fully functional battle armour.
Drokk led them all.
The Battlemaster's face was a picture of serenity as he quietly basked in the triumph of his clan. Krogan were ascendant, well at least in the republic of Dassus and only his clan but details, details he thought to himself with a gleeful inner smile. It was a start he mused to himself.
A storm of applause went up for the Grand Matriarch and Fiahnni, with people rising to their seats and cheering. They all knew what had happened two weeks prior; that the T'daari had shielded the people of Dassus from harm, had struck back at their hated enemies and triumphed, liberating the republic of Ulee from tyranny and returned it back to the rule of the people, by the people for the people. These were deeds worthy of song and celebration.
Fiahnni and Raquelia waved and smiled to their people who roared back with approval.
Behind them walked Kash'shara and Tito with Mirey and Hiroko by their sides. The rest of the family followed including Chianay and Elanini's mother, Sister Shaellei T'daari as well as other lesser relatives of the clan. Behind them came the human families as well as the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, with the senior Acolytes and staff of House T'daari bringing up the end of the procession.
There was a mild degree of puzzlement in the crowd as they wondered amongst themselves where Lileah'sah and Duncan were and why they were not walking with the first family of Dassus? The reason, only known to the immediate family, was that Duncan had insisted that the couple didn't as he wanted the family to receive the ovation, not him. Also Lileah'sah and he were to open the show with some words of welcome to the audience.
Lileah'sah, while wanting him to be cheered, understood. In many ways such public ovations actually embarrassed Duncan. He almost hated them and avoided them as much as he could. It was enough for him to have done good for no acknowledgement as he followed the teachings of Marcus Aurelias in that fashion as best he could.
"We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Five
Lileah'sah now embraced that maxim for herself. Tre'mete was still on her journey in this regard yet Duncan and herself knew their bondmate would get there soon enough.
Everyone now settled in their seats and the murmuring of the crowd died down.
The lights dimmed down to nothing, blackness engulfing the massive space with only the safety lights running along the stairways visible.
"It's time love," whispered Duncan as he took her left hand in his right. She nodded, gave his hand a squeeze and led him out.
They followed the faint light trail out onto the stage and made their way to their mark.
The spotlights came on a few seconds later, bathing the couple in a soft warm glow rather than a harsh bright white light.
"Good eve to you all, distinguished matriarchs, Justicars, honoured guests and gentle beings and welcome one and all. Tonight you are going to witness a watershed moment in Asari society. Tre'mete Lira, my best friend, my darling lover, my bond and soul mate has been inspired to follow her dream by my other magnificent bond and soul mate, Duncan Larkin. He has given her the wings in which she now will soar with. I present to you all, the first ever collection from Saucy Secrets. Thank you."
Lileah'sah bowed her head while Duncan just nodded briefly to the applause from the audience.
The lights dimmed again as the couple left the stage and went back to the wings.
The stage had been configured to be a massive runway, twenty meters in length and four meters wide, running into the heart of the audience. Lights appeared around the edge of the stage as the main gauze curtain rose.
The raising curtain revealed a full traditional thirty three member Asari orchestra, standing ready behind their ancient traditional Gal'lungael percussion instruments and drums.
Smoke machine expelled their scented, fragrant contents into the air and tiny particles of glitter fell from the domed ceiling, creating a myriad of sparkling motes of light that dazzled the senses.
The music started.
A resoundingly massive explosive thunderclap initially startled the audience was immediately followed by an ancient time-honoured piece of Asari ageless battle music which opened the show.
The drumming and rhythmical percussion started, the Asari musicians all acting in perfect harmony as they expertly pounded out the ancient song on their traditional instruments and drums. Blue Biotic auras flared up from the Asari musicians as they merged their fields with the instruments, creating intricate resonating cascades of interweaving harmonics.
The Asari orchestra then chanted out the archaic words, lifted together in glorious song:
"We are here, We are alive, We exist, We are One!".
All Asari knew this piece as it was timeless, a musical racial memory that reached back into their mists of their distant past, passed down from mother to daughter, generation to generation, yay unto the very first Asari who could remember who she was.
It was burned into the very DNA and souls of the Asari people.
All the Asari in the amphitheatre instinctively sang at the top of their voices, joining in the ancient song unconsciously. The Asari joyously sang out loudly and passionately, feeling the moment and its significance upon them.
This was the ultimate signifier of change, of death and rebirth, the end of old things, the dying of the light and the dawn of the beginning of new ideas.
The future is always born in conflict and pain. Change is inevitable.
Tre'mete was creating a massive statement to her people, the times were indeed "a changing".
The song concluded with a finale crescendo that resonated hugely within the amphitheatre.
As soon as the piece had finished, the spectators thundered out with massive approval, standing, cheering, clapping and shouting as this had not been performed in living memory to a live audience. And not a single garment had been displayed yet.
The lights dimmed once more and the audience settled back into their seats, all abuzz now as this was not your usual fashion show. This was art.
A new, more modern composition of Asari music began, starting softly yet building up, swelling with intensity and passion.
The lights focused on the stage and out strode a supremely confident Olivia McAlpine, dressed impeccably in an amazing ensemble that shouted style, elegance, charm and suitability for a young teenage maiden Asari.
Olivia was followed by her faithful companion Zara Wattling then Eliza Percy and finally Sam'nelea's daughters Gabriella and Triana Aguilar. All the Asari teenagers beamed their dazzling smiles to the roar of approval of the crowd as they strode down the runway. Already Asari matrons in the audience and those watching live began to place orders for these clothes for their young daughters as the garments looked so lovely yet sturdy and comfortable, perfect for a growing young Asari.
The teens paraded down the runway, stepping in time to the soaring music. Each stopped at the end, striking a series of poses before sauntering back to the stage as though it was just another day walking in the park.
The music shifted into a more militaristic themed tune.
Tre'mete had asked her comrades from the Perihelion if they would model for her. All stepped forward without a moment of hesitation.
Lead proudly by Captain Eshess, the elite crew marched out to the deafening hailing of the audience. New ceremonial parade uniforms for the Dassus Navy were on display and by the goddess they looked good was the consensus. Tre'mete came up with this herself as she knew that military contracts were always a big money earner. She would win it on merit, not her family connections. Tre'mete knew that her fellow commandos and Navy personnel would clamour for these new uniforms.
The crew all marched casually, with smiles all alight on their beautiful faces, waving to the cheering crowd. They looked magnificent as they filed down the runway.
As the last crew member departed the stage, new music followed the last piece.
Stepping into the light came Icilea and Heretonia, hand in hand with Pania Paewai and Emily Percy, Human and Turian together, an unmistakable symbol of the end of the enmity and the beginning of deep and enduring friendship between the species.
A huge roar of approval went up from everyone in the amphitheatre. A masterstroke of galactical political genius by Tre'mete and the T'daari family. An emblem of harmony and reconciliation which would hopefully resonate beyond Thessia.
The Turian females wore long elegant blue and silver gowns that perfectly suited their body structure and morphology while the young human women were clothed in similar Thessian Glitterwing black silk ball gowns, yet theirs were cut with plunging necklines and slit just enough on one side to reveal their shapely, long legs much to the salacious delight of all the Asari watching.
The four graceful beings made their way down the runway, gently waving and smiling to the audience who lustily cheered them on. Orders from the hundreds of thousands of Turian females who had made their home on Thessia began flowing in as well as the tens of thousands of human women watching who were also Thessian citizens, both species bonded to Asari.
Tre'mete, who was watching from the wings, saw on her data pad the stream of tens of thousands of orders which were flooding Saucy Secret's Extranet site.
She, Ray and Duncan had planned for this. Ray had networks of extra server farms to handle the deluge of incoming traffic. If they hadn't have done this, the whole site would have crashed leaving tens of thousands of potential customers angry and upset.
The brawny commando felt her bondmates gather her in their arms and she sighed with a blissful exhalation. This was what she had always dreamed of; her creations being something that people wanted to buy. And the love of her bondmates surrounding her was mana from the heavens.
Tre'mete had made it.
"I will always love you Tre'mete," said Duncan in her aural canal on her right side while Lileah'sah had to briefly ignite her lifting field to rise a few inches to be on the level of Tre'mete's left side aural canal.
"You will always be my heart Tre' my love," she whispered as they both embraced the muscular Asari.
Tre'mete closed her eyes and held back her tears of pure joy as she couldn't afford to have her make up ruined by streaks of tears.
"We are One," was all she could say back to them. Her bondmates lightly kissed her cheeks then laced their arms around Tre'mete's waist, the triad standing together, loving, indivisible and resolute, watching the show they had planned together over the past few weeks unfold.
The Turians and human females made their way back to the stage as the music switched into something that almost no one in the amphitheatre had ever heard before.
A driving electronic tune that had an incredible melody and kick ass back beat.
Olivia walked back out onto the runway after her and her companions had quickly changed, leading them once more, her confident radiant smile beaming for all to see. The Asari teenagers danced up the runway, skipping and twirling to this thumping surging electronica track. The audience took up the beat and started clapping in time with it. Many were inspired to stand up to dance to the music. Soon almost all in the amphitheatre were dancing.
The teens were dressed in chic and classy tunics and pants, each in a different arrangement and colour. Again, Asari mothers with young daughters nodded with approval and clicked the order button on their Omnitools and data pads. This was exactly what young Asari needed. The style was fashionable, and multi-purpose as it could be for formal occasions or everyday wear.
The music was replaced by a banging piece of electro-swing that made everyone's open eyes wide as this tune just rocked.
The Perihelion crew then sauntered out, dancing merrily to the music while the teens where still dancing out the front. Tre'mete had chosen to emulate classic human styles in the line up and had dressed her crew mates in garments that were inspired by 1920's fashions. Light silk knee length silken Flapper dresses with dozens of thin tassels scintillatingly shimmered and shined gloriously as the crew sashayed down the runway. Her choice of style and music massively gingered up the already excited crowd.
This wasn't art anymore, this was an EVENT!
Asari worldwide got their first taste of electro-swing music, loving the infectious melody and driving danceable beats as they watched the crew and the teens now Jive and Lindy Hop with each other on the stage. The Asari on the stage and runway used their biotics and lifted one another as they spun and twirled in time to the incredible rhythm.
The crowd went wild with cheering and tried to follow this phenomenal new style of dancing. Maidens globally and beyond into the Asari colonies, opened up Human Extranet pages, madly searching for lessons and examples on how to dance like this.
Olivia led her companions back through the dancing crew, waving to the cheers of the crowd.
Aenthiah watched her ward, her heart nearly bursting with pride. She sat with her own daughter, holding her hand, both of them totally transfixed by the sensational spectacle unfolding before them.
"Mother, she is incredible," said Lysila into Aenthiah's aural canal over the noise of the crowd and music. The Asari was most impressed with Matriarch Ruto's granddaughter and had recently heard the dramatic story of how Olivia and her two friends had defeated six commandos in hand to hand combat thanks to the training given by her mother to the teenagers.
"As are you my most precious child," responded Aenthiah with love in her eyes.
The Justicar was thrilled that Lysila had excepted her invitation to attend the show. That Lysila came at all was a minor miracle as she often avoided meeting her mother, the galactically famous Justicar, as she was completely against violence in all its forms although she did approve of Olivia's act of self-defence and understood what Aenthiah had committed herself to. She reached out and took Aenthiah's hand in hers and gently squeezed. A stone melted in the Justicar's heart as mother and daughter sat and enjoyed the amazing event together.
The lights dimmed once more and a new style of music began. A thumping base line with a loud high hat four four drum beat. The lights came back on.
Icilea, Heretonia, Emily and Pania strutted back onto the stage, this time dressed in very revealing underwear. The audience gasps them roared out their approval as they now examined what the four females were wearing. Saucy Secrets was now a legend in fashion as Tre'mete knew exactly what would suit humans and Turian females.
The four females had sultry, saucy wiggle in their hips as the seductively wandered down the runway. The crowd now heard a growly human voice begin to speak over the music as the four danced in a semi erotic fashion. The lights seemed to dim as the man continued to speak.
"There's so many things I like about you,
I just don't know where to begin,
I like the way you, look at me with those beautiful eyes,
I like the way you, act all surprised,
I like the way you, sing along,
I like the way you, always get it wrong,
I like the way you, clap your hands,
I like the way you, love to dance,
I like the way you, put your hands up in the air,
I like the way you, shake your hair,
I like the way you, like to touch,
I like the way you, stare so much,
But most of all...
Yeah.
Most of all..."
The music built to a rising crescendo, then the beat dropped and out stepped Chianay and Elanini.
I like the way you move...
[Songwriters: Christopher James Karyotakis / Dylan Burns]
The crowd went mental as the gorgeously stunning sisters strode and strutted down the stage together, the epitome of Asari beauty on glorious display. Never before had a consort deigned to be a fashion model yet this was perfection.
Once the initial sensation had passed the audience focused on what the sisters were wearing.
Mouths were covered in shock and eyes widened hilarious amazement as they could clearly see on the enormous video screens which clearly displayed what Chianay and Elanini had on.
The pair were wearing a well cut lacey silk bra that had a pair of Blue hands printed on the front of the cups, seemingly holding the breasts within.
It was the underwear though that nearly caused a riot.
Both were wearing the panties that Duncan had come up with.
Stunning high cut panties cut in a thong style, both silvery white in colour, covered in lots of little ice-cream cones with the logo printed boldly on the front in High Thessian saying,
"It's not going to lick itself!"
Pandemonium!
Laughter, incredulous screaming, raucous cheering and furious applause erupted from the crowd.
Lysila sat stunned, wide eyed while Aenthiah just smirked to herself as she knew what the crowning moment of the show would be as she had regularly melded with Duncan, both of them sharing their thoughts and experiences. She knew how his incredibly cheeky and mischievous mind worked. And she knew Tre'mete would have nearly wet herself laughing when he told her of this idea.
The Justicar glanced across to her left and saw her faithful Acolyte Saendi howling with laughter as were other members of the T'daari family. Raquelia was gently shaking her head but had a huge smile on her face. Fiahnni was cackling like a lunatic. Kash'shara was totally gobsmacked while Tito had fallen off his chair laughing in hysterics. Mirey and Hiroko were shrieking in convulsive giggles. The human families with their Asari partners that were now a part of the house of T'daari were howling with merriment at the audacity that Duncan and Tre'mete had gone with. Even Drokk and Fiahnni's bodyguards couldn't contain themselves. Aenthiah was heartened to see Nari and Lyessrae creased up laughing together at the ridiculously funny panties. She was especially amused to see Chianay and Elanini's mother, Sister Shaellei, guffawing loudly at the sight of her daughters wearing such lurid underwear.
The biggest joke in Asari history was an astoundingly enormous success.
Always make 'em laugh… thought Duncan as he hugged Tre'mete tightly while the trio watched from the wings.
The teenagers and crew came out, this time dressed in a combination of swimwear and casual attire, all now dancing to the ecstatic adulation of the audience who were all up and grooving away to the fantastic music being played.
The BodyRocker's song finally finished and all the models on stage turned and started to clap to welcome the true star of the show, Tre'mete.
Daft Punk's "One More Time" classic track started playing as Tre'mete, walked out leading her bondmates with her. A furious storm of applause and biotic Asari salutes resonated throughout the space.
There was no need for the audience to give a standing ovation as the entire amphitheatre were already on their feet dancing.
Tre'mete, radiant with a smile of quiet triumph, stepped forward letting go of her bondmates hands, took her bow and waved to the adulation of the crowd.
She had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. Tre'mete turned and took her bondmates hands in hers and led them in bowing again to the audience and those watching from beyond. She could not have done this without them. Tre'mete shone with a biotic glow of pure happiness.
Saucy Secrets was a sensational stellar success.