Hi, I'm 31, located near Birmingham in the UK and don’t worry I’m not actually an alcoholic. I do enjoy adventures, and travelling is a keen interest of mine. I travel alone currently so a travel partner to share in the adventures would be amazing. I especially love history, castles, museums and the like. I’m also a huge film fan and I love going to the cinema. I try to go as often as I can and enjoy all types of films. My other interests include gaming, I own a PS5, and watching sports fan (football, cricket and basketball). I’m a regular at Villa Park (and Edgbaston during cricket season) so bonus points if you are happy to be dragged to the games. Other basic info; I have no kids, don’t smoke (I don’t care if you do), drive and own my own place.

Hi, I'm 31, located near Birmingham in the UK and don’t worry I’m not actually an alcoholic. I do enjoy adventures, and travelling is a keen interest of mine. I travel alone currently so a travel partner to share in the adventures would be amazing. I especially love history, castles, museums and the like. I’m also a huge film fan and I love going to the cinema. I try to go as often as I can and enjoy all types of films. My other interests include gaming, I own a PS5, and watching sports fan (football, cricket and basketball). I’m a regular at Villa Park (and Edgbaston during cricket season) so bonus points if you are happy to be dragged to the games. Other basic info; I have no kids, don’t smoke (I don’t care if you do), drive and own my own place.

do they typically drug test you as you leave the car park like at some other festivals? (not planning on driving high at all but if it's still in your system you can lose your licence and i realllllly don't want that)

Think it looks pretty good. Seems a little bulkier than the original leather strap.

I am currently in Maryland, USA and I noticed that most liquor stores here and in DC close at 10pm even though their license allows for up to 2am. I would sell other things as well. So I thought up an automated convenience store that functions kind of like a vending machine… but today upon more research, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out Chinese companies are already doing it but surprisingly they seem to be missing one key piece that mine addresses. Mixing both unmanned retail stores with the vending machine experience. For example an unmanned store in Korea allows people to walk inside the store and shop alone and the payment is automated… that concept requires a lot of faith whereas mine eliminates any possibility of shrinkage/theft.
You browse through the app/website, select your product and pay. You can have it delivered or pick it up. Let’s say you decide to pick it up. You drive up, park, and walk up to the small structure. So imagine a small detached structure similar to those some banks have to access ATMs. You scan your phone, input your code, and the door unlocks, you walk in and it locks. You step up to the glass screen and have the option to add more products to your order. The lobby is very small. If you need help, you can press help and a customer service representative will assist you via audio. There are cameras inside and outside the structure. For sensitive products such as alcohol, this representative will confirm your ID/age. You complete the checkout and your order is dispensed similar to a vending machine. You pick it up, unlock the door and leave.
So the whole building is very small, maybe the size of a US walk-in closet. Merchandise is stored underground, 1-2 stories, in box containers and brought up automatically. These structures would be either next to shopping centers/strip malls or next to neighborhoods. Ideally it can hold 100 different products, and about 3,000 items. The size of store could be bigger, like the size of a 7-11 or bigger. Also the number of products depends on item size and the structure size. There will be a person who loads inventory when trucks arrive, daily or weekly.
Business model
Either charge a $5.99 convenience fee per order or a $19.99 monthly membership fee.
$14.99 delivery fee. Most, if not all of that money goes to the driver.
Charge delivery service companies such as Uber and Doordash a fee to use the platform. $1,000 per month, plus 20% revenue split on whatever they charge customers for delivery.
Charge CPG companies $500 per item, per location slotting fees when legal, plus 10% sales fee. This is meant to keep prices down. So if product X sells for $100, we get $10, while the company gets $90.
My target customers could be anyone with weird work schedules, family’s, and people inconvenienced by early store closures. One example is, say you get off at midnight, almost every retail store will be closed. But you can do your shopping on your way out of work, and pick up your goods before heading home. Or you could place and order and pick it up early in the morning, say 5am. Another example is people who want to drink but don’t want to go out to bars now that liquor stores are closed. Or people needing over the counter medicine for things such as a cold that’s keeping you up, etc.
My big problem is I don’t know how much it would cost to build this out. Ideally, I would want it under $50,000, preferably closer to $30k all in. And yea I know the liquor license and having over the counter medication and maybe even weed would come with their own challenges, regulations, and headaches but I think the trade off is worth it. I can easily see a scenario where each location clears $1,000,000 annually with say a 70% margin.
What do you guys think?

So we have some clients that we are making and maintaining WordPress sites for. Using WordPress was a deal breaker for them so we had to if we wanted to make any business with them.
I am one of the developers who has to repair everything that breaks like a 3rd party plugin after an update. Or I have to build some custom plugin on top of another plugin because the designers didn't think the original plugin was good enough or didn't look right.
I'm coming from .NET mainly and my passion lies in backend work and database work. I also prefer making everything right from start properly with proper frameworks. So I prefer building the frontend with say Vue, Angular, Flutter, HTML, CSS, JS and so on. Build the backend with modern .NET, automated tests, SQL Server or Python is ok too. I like Java also. I'm a full stack basically who knows a lot from scratch, rather than working with a CMS like WordPress.
But PHP and WordPress particularly are driving me nuts. I feel like I'm patching up broken shit constantly that wasn't designed the right way from start. I hate all those 3rd party WordPress plugins and they are giving me a headache literally.
I want to build proper systems, not with some blog CMS PHP crap like WordPress. I have to do all the shit work in it. The designers happily drag n' drop, install the plugins they want and when something breaks among those 30 plugins I have to fix it. Or if a plugin doesn't look right they want me to circumvent it, hack together some crap on top of that plugin.
It's like making a Frankenstein.
Should I give my employer an ultimatum that I'll quit if I have to continue like this? Or should I maybe just inform them that WordPress is killing my spirit and motivation? Any advice?
Have a good weekend all. I'm gonna need it.
Thanks! 🍻

So we have some clients that we are making and maintaining WordPress sites for. Using WordPress was a deal breaker for them so we had to if we wanted to make any business with them.
I am one of the developers who has to repair everything that breaks like a 3rd party plugin after an update. Or I have to build some custom plugin on top of another plugin because the designers didn't think the original plugin was good enough or didn't look right.
I'm coming from .NET mainly and my passion lies in backend work and database work. I also prefer making everything right from start properly with proper frameworks. So I prefer building the frontend with say Vue, Angular, Flutter, HTML, CSS, JS and so on. Build the backend with modern .NET, automated tests, SQL Server or Python is ok too. I like Java also. I'm a full stack basically who knows a lot from scratch, rather than working with a CMS like WordPress.
But PHP and WordPress particularly are driving me nuts. I feel like I'm patching up broken shit constantly that wasn't designed the right way from start. I hate all those 3rd party WordPress plugins and they are giving me a headache literally.
I want to build proper systems, not with some blog CMS PHP crap like WordPress. I have to do all the shit work in it. The designers happily drag n' drop, install the plugins they want and when something breaks among those 30 plugins I have to fix it. Or if a plugin doesn't look right they want me to circumvent it, hack together some crap on top of that plugin.
It's like making a Frankenstein.
Should I give my employer an ultimatum that I'll quit if I have to continue like this? Or should I maybe just inform them that WordPress is killing my spirit and motivation? Any advice?
Have a good weekend all. I'm gonna need it.
Thanks! 🍻

June 1 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) sued Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in U.S. court on Wednesday, accusing it of a price-fixing conspiracy that caused the automaker to pay inflated costs for health insurance products for its employees.
The lawsuit Ford filed in Detroit federal court accused the insurer and its regional Michigan branch of unlawfully dividing up parts of the country in a scheme to reduce competition with each other in order to drive "astronomical profits."
The allegations from Ford, employing more than 170,000 workers worldwide, relate to a $2.7 billion settlement that Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its three dozen member companies reached in 2020 with corporate and individual policy holders in Alabama federal court.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue Ford opted out of that settlement, which is now on appeal at the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in order to pursue its own claims. The appeals court agreed to fast-track its consideration of the settlement.
A spokesperson for defendant Blue Cross Blue Shield Association declined to comment on pending litigation. A representative from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan also declined to comment.
Ford did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the lawsuit, and a lawyer for the company declined to comment.
In the 40-page complaint, Ford said the alleged scheme to curb competition among Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations deprived the vehicle manufacturer of "the opportunity to purchase health insurance products and services from a lower cost competitor and/or at a price set by the free market."
Advertisement · Scroll to continue The lawsuit seeks to bar Blue Cross Blue Shield's alleged anticompetitive conduct, and it also seeks triple damages and other remedies.
Ford said it had spent more than $500 million on premiums since 2009 for "fully insured" products for employees in designated areas in the state, according to the complaint.
Ford's lawsuit said Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is the country's ninth largest insurer based on its 4.5 million enrollees.
The case is Ford Motor Co v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Mutual Insurance Company and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, No. 2:23-cv-11286-LVP-EAS.
Article link

So we have some clients that we are making and maintaining WordPress sites for. Using WordPress was a deal breaker for them so we had to if we wanted to make any business with them.
I am one of the developers who has to repair everything that breaks like a 3rd party plugin after an update. Or I have to build some custom plugin on top of another plugin because the designers didn't think the original plugin was good enough or didn't look right.
I'm coming from .NET mainly and my passion lies in backend work and database work. I also prefer making everything right from start properly with proper frameworks. So I prefer building the frontend with say Vue, Angular, Flutter, HTML, CSS, JS and so on. Build the backend with modern .NET, automated tests, SQL Server or Python is ok too. I like Java also. I'm a full stack basically who knows a lot from scratch, rather than working with a CMS like WordPress.
But PHP and WordPress particularly are driving me nuts. I feel like I'm patching up broken shit constantly that wasn't designed the right way from start. I hate all those 3rd party WordPress plugins and they are giving me a headache literally.
I want to build proper systems, not with some blog CMS PHP crap like WordPress. I have to do all the shit work in it. The designers happily drag n' drop, install the plugins they want and when something breaks among those 30 plugins I have to fix it. Or if a plugin doesn't look right they want me to circumvent it, hack together some crap on top of that plugin.
It's like making a Frankenstein.
Should I give my employer an ultimatum that I'll quit if I have to continue like this? Or should I maybe just inform them that WordPress is killing my spirit and motivation? Any advice?
Have a good weekend all. I'm gonna need it.
Thanks! 🍻

I had a dream about a conversation hours prior.
I have a mild disability.
Nothing major other than I can’t drive, money and anything else is just preference etc.
I’m thirty.
I was suggested by my brother to get a bicycle. Go back to the 18 speed way of a bicycle I had as a kid and that he would buy me one with a lock and I can one neighborhood over go to the stores that sit in a row in the big parking lot.
I told him that I would think about it. …and he said that it would only be when the weather permits it and being diven isn’t happening.
If I were to get one I’d get an attachable fan for the Summer doing it.
Hours later going to bed I had a dream about it.
A person I no longer hang out with; who made fun of me and such that I’m just a lazy piece of stupid dumb shit… They were in the dream.
In the dream that person; he saw me riding a bike to a gas station and was laughing standing next to his chunky bulky charger car saying to some effect that look at this stupid can’t even drive with a laugh.
I yelled that we can’t all go about it all even if know how full swing and do the work and try.
Then I woke up.
I’m not worried about it and I don’t know if I want to get a bike. But why would I have a dreams about it involving my shit bully ?

What absolute fucking nightmare that is the bicycle parking situation at the Safeway off 19th Street. A toddler could have done a better job designing it. It's like they designed it to discourage active transportation and force people to buy a car. Finding a spot to lock up your bike? Good fucking luck! There are AT MOST 6 spaces at the wave/noodle rack (vs. 200+ for cars), good luck climbing your way out of the mess of handlebars and scooters after you accidentally lock yourself in the middle of all that chaos. If you have a cargo bike, forget about it. You are not parking here.
And the layout? It's a disaster waiting to happen. The building is so far set back from the street, all that cyclists and pedestrians are greeted with is a wasteland of pavement. You're constantly dodging cars just trying to make your way to the front entrance because the access from the street is just a driveway that ONLY accommodates cars and no foot paths, collecting high speed traffic off a 3-lane one-way street. And don't even get me stated on the shopping carts. Always blocking the bike racks. It's like people are searching for cart return "racks" but instead end up at the bike "racks". There's a difference!
This place has become a magnet for suburbanites and pickup truck enthusiasts. I can't even count the number of times I've seen people huddled around, marveling at a lifted F250 (which doesn't even fit between the lines and extends into the drive aisle). It's not only disgusting but also a serious safety concern. I mean, who wants to worry about their kid being exposed to such dangerous vehicles while simply trying to buy groceries? It's fucking disgusting.
Almost every month you see police reports of cars crashing into pedestrians, cyclists, buildings, and other cars on 19th street and I just absolutely refuse to go there now. It's not worth the risk to my life just to get groceries.
It sucks because I like Safeway as a brand and they tend to carry good quality stuff at okay prices and I like the gas benefits (gastrointestinal).
And no, I can't afford the co-op so don't even offer it as an option.
Why did it get so bad?

I woke up hurting all over for some reason and I'm still exhausted from my son being up vomiting all night the other night. I just want to lie or sit down but it's constantly up and down because my six year old always needs something, won't play on his own etc etc. I desperately need this to be a screen time day but he isn't interested. The house is a disaster because no one fucking picks up after themselves. I am so godamned sick of the twelve year old and my husband leaving plates and shit on the counter for ME to put in the dishwasher. I am sick of everyone feeling exempt from emptying out the godamned dishwasher. I got disposable dishes and said use these for break and lunch so maybe I'm not so overwhelmed all the time and they proceed to use real dishes.
It is SO hard to get anything done around the house because either we go to the pool or park and I'm too tired to clean when we get home or we are at home and I still can't clean because the six year old always needs me to play with him and the twelve year old is always out with friends so I can't even be like "hey can you occupy him for an hour please". We are going on vacation in a couple of days and it sure would be nice to pack but son insists on playing "hotel" instead and has no interest in "let's play pack your actual shit instead".
I'm lowkey sick of my husband's diet today. He's doing great on it and I'm so proud. It's not even very restrictive. But he has to count calories so it makes things a pain in the ass sometimes especially if I want to eat out or get take out. I want to eat from small local joints but they never have calories information. And if we eat from a place with calorie info I have to listen to him stress about making it fit in his calorie count. I mean he's doing so well and it's awesome he's being as careful as he is but godamnit it's summer I'm so worn out. All I want is for him to bring home Thai food on his way home from his hair cut because I am too tired to make my own lunch and definitely too tired to drive and get it.
But somehow I'm going to have to drag my ass to the pool for a couple of hours because I am so sick of being asked to play pretend games all day and then we have to go to a birthday party at a baseball game that starts at my son's bedtime and will probably go till 10 or later and this day feels like it's never going to end.

Summary:
Improve Pop!_OS from having xruns for JACK/Pipewire applications with a quantum of 1024/48000 to having no xruns at 256/48000, very occasional xruns at 128/48000, and more frequent xruns at 64/48000.
For those who have computers from System76, there is a notable advantage in using ta distro with which system76-driver is compatible. The hardware setup is:

Hardware model: System76 Thelio Mira Memory: 64 GiB Processor: AMD® Ryzen 9 5900x 12-core processor × 24 OS: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS 

No warranty of any kind is expressed or implied for the information below, which is provided for informational purposes at one's own risk. These steps worked in my use case. Feedback is welcome.
Intro:
Pop!_OS is not optimized to be an audio workstation, and it will not have the same ability as, for example, Ubuntu Studio to be one.
Yet the system76-driver and system76-power packages and their dependencies will not install easily e.g., on the default setup for Ubuntu Studio, resulting in loud fan spin. That fan spin creates a noise floor that is ill-suited for recording.
One would have more luck using default Ubuntu, then making changes to get something equivalent to Ubuntu Studio. Or one might use Fedora or Arch-based systems.
See also https://support.system76.com/articles/system76-drive
Yet one can get better performance from Pop!_OS.
Procedure:
With a default installation of Pop!_OS, do the following steps. There are two ways of handling these steps. One is to reboot after completing each step. The other is to do all the steps, then reboot. Those doing the steps for the first time might want to opt for multiple reboots.
1. Turn off zram cache.

sudo apt purge pop-default-settings-zram 

This is the simple way to get rid of the zram cache. The aggressive swappiness (180) involved with the zram cache does not work with pro audio use cases.
If purging the package fails because some files are in use, of if one wants to be cautious, try instead:

sudo apt remove pop-default-settings-zram 

Then reboot, and purge the remaining config files with:

sudo apt purge pop-default-settings-zram 

Note that I have a swap partition set up on an NVME drive. I would suggest setting up swap space, either as a partition or as a file, on a solid-state drive. Ill-behaved programs can consume available RAM quicker than one might think. Having a swap space equal to the RAM size, even with lots of semiconductor memory, allows one the chance to observe and kill the ill-behaved process before the machine halts.
The reader is referred to the appropriate documentation in setting up swap.
Upon reboot, one will be able to change swappiness. We do that in step 6 below.
The next steps will involve the Linux Audio Wiki, system config page:
https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration
2. Allow threaded interrupt requests.

sudo kernelstub -a "threadirqs" 

Upon reboot, one should have threaded IRQs.
3. Set CPU governor to performance.

sudo apt install cpufrequtils sudo nano /etc/default/cpufrequtils 

One can use a sensible editor like vim instead of nano, but the idea is the same. Ensure that the file contains the following, then save the file:

ENABLE="true" GOVERNOR="performance" MAX_SPEED="0" MIN_SPEED="0" 

Upon reboot, one should have the CPU core governors set to performance.
4. Enable Quality of Service interface.
Download the file 99-cpu-dma-latency.rules from:
https://github.com/Ardouardoublob/mastetools/udev/99-cpu-dma-latency.rules
copy the file thus:

sudo cp 99-cpu-dma-latency.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/ 

Now restart udev:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules sudo udevadm trigger 

Check permissions (0660 for root and audio group) via:

udevadm info -a -n /dev/cpu_dma_latency 

5. Set audio limits.

sudo nano /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf 

Ensure that the file contains the following, then save the file:

@audio - rtprio 90 # maximum realtime priority @audio - memlock unlimited # maximum locked-in-memory address space (KB) 

Upon reboot, one should have the audio limits set properly.
6. Set virtual memory swappiness and file watches.
This step is needed especially when using services like Dropbox, among others. With the default install, applications like dropbox can consume so many file watches that even apt can run out of file watches during package installs. Some places recommend 524288 for fs.inotify.max_user_watches, while others recommend 1048576. I have seen all watches used up with the defaults and when using 524288, so I opted for the larger number, which works well in my use case.
Note also that having pop-default-settings-zram installed will negate and override the effects of the vm.swappiness control, which is another reason to remove that package.

sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf 

Append the following to the file, and save it:

# User modified: set swappiness vm.swappiness=10 # User modified: more watches fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576 

Upon reboot, one should have virtual memory swappiness set properly and more file watches enabled.
7. Add user(s) to the audio group.
Check the man page for adduser (since we are on a Debian-based system). The general form you want to use is:

sudo adduser $USER audio 

Upon reboot, the user account should be in the audio group.
8. Check everything (optional).
An easy way of checking and handling these steps is by using rtcqs:
https://codeberg.org/rtcqs/rtcqs
https://github.com/autostatic/rtcqs
Running rtcqs after doing the steps above and rebooting should produce something like:

rtcqs - version 0.5.4 Root User ========= [ OK ] Not running as root. Audio/Realtime Group ==================== [ OK ] User is in the audio group. CPU Frequency Scaling ===================== [ OK ] The scaling governor of all CPUs is set at performance. Kernel Configuration ==================== [ OK ] Valid kernel configuration found. High Resolution Timers ====================== [ OK ] High resolution timers are enabled. Tickless Kernel =============== [ OK ] System is using a tickless kernel. Preempt RT ========== [ OK ] Kernel 6.2.6-76060206-generic is using threaded IRQs. Spectre/Meltdown Mitigations ============================ [ WARNING ] Kernel with Spectre/Meltdown mitigations found. This could have a negative impact on the performance of your system. See also https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration#disabling_spectre_and_meltdown_mitigations RT Priorities ============= [ OK ] Realtime priorities can be set. Swappiness ========== [ OK ] Swappiness is set at 10. Filesystems =========== [ OK ] The following mounts can be used for audio purposes: /, /home [ WARNING ] The following mounts should be avoided for audio purposes: /run/use1000/gvfs, /run/use1000/doc. See also https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration#filesystems IRQs ==== [ OK ] USB port xhci_hcd with IRQ does not share its IRQ. USB port xhci_hcd with IRQ does not share its IRQ. ... Soundcard snd_hda_intel:card0 with IRQ 140 does not share its IRQ. Soundcard snd_hda_intel:card2 with IRQ 142 does not share its IRQ. Power Management ================ [ OK ] Power management can be controlled from user space. This enables DAWs like Ardour and Reaper to set CPU DMA latency which could help prevent xruns. 

Note: I do not disable Spectre/Meltdown mitigations, nor do I advise anyone to do so. One chooses to do so at one's own risk, as it is a security breach. The command to do that would be:

sudo kernelstub -a "mitigations=off" 

9. Subsequent Use of JACK/Pipewire:
At this point, using pipewire, one can change the default quantup of the JACK server from 1024/48000 to a lower value via:

pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum 128/48000 

This method works with Carla and other applications that use JACK under pipewire. Changing the user's JACK configuration file in ~/.config/pipewire/ may cause Carla not to produce audio output, even though other JACK applications seem to work using that method. The method used here is recommended by the pipewire docs.
One can write a quick bash script to change and reset the quantum:

nano setquantum 

Put the following in the script, save it, and add executable permissions:

#!/bin/bash if [ "$1" ] then echo "Quantum size is $1/48000" pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum $1/48000 else echo "No quantum size given; resetting quantum." pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum 0 fi 

Now, if one puts this script into a searchable command path (like ~/.local/bin) then one can type "setquantum 128" to change the quantum to 128/48000.
TODO: error checking; change 48000 sample rate to another value if desired; perhaps use a case statement to pick powers of two for the quantum numerator.
As stated above, I have gotten reasonable results at 128/48000, but not lower. Still, for a non-realtime kernel, this is okay and still allows one to use Pop!_OS.

Looking to meet some new people to hangout with online and/or maybe meet in person down the road. Or maybe just message throughout the day and be office buddies, talking about the latest shows, movies or games if you're working from home completely or hybrid!
If we do end up meeting up, can probably go to the dog park (if you have dogs), eating out at cafes/restaurants or checking out the local activities like archery or the queens night market (I do drive!)
Don't want to include too much here as I'd rather leave that for conversation starters but here's some basic info:

• 34 year old male Asian male (March birthday)
• Single
• Local to Queens
• Vaccinated
• Has a car
• Works in the IT field - Specifically systems/infrastructure/virtualization/cloud/IAM
• Plays video games/board games. Currently playing Fire Emblem Engage and Star Rail
• Listens to all types of music
• Tech enthusiast
• Enjoys eating new food/desserts
• Trying to play some tennis again
• Used to do photography as a hobby with my d750 DSLR. But with iPhones and such being easy access with high quality, started doing it less

You:

• Female
• Asian preferred but open to others
• Around my age, give or take though I'm not too picky.
• Maybe works in the IT field for more relatable work chats
• Initiate conversations from time to time
• Loves to try new food
• Prefers/loves dogs - I have two Australian Shepherds

This took place late 90's, when cell phones still charged calls by the minute so the use of pagers was still pretty common.
My GF at the time had a pager, and she would keep it clipped to her sun visor in her car when driving, so if it went off she could glance at it to see who was sending the page without really taking eyes off road, and see if it's worth pulling over. Being early summer and we were about 20, 21, life was all about social time those days.
At this time, well before the internet took hold, the popular hangout was the Shopping Mall. 200 stores, something for everyone, and it's where the masses of teenagers would spend their free time. Largest mall in the region so always a chance to meet new people or find people you hadn't seen in a while.
So as she pulled in on a Friday night to meet up with her friends, she saw an old friend from her neighborhood, someone she hadn't seen since middle school years. (he went down the pothead route, she didn't, they drifted but no hard feelings) So she stopped next to him, chatted for a few minutes, exchanged pleasantries, then moved on to find a parking space.
It was there, as she went to get out of the car, that she noticed the pager was missing. She instantly remembered he had leaned in to rest his arms on the window frame to chat, and remembered when he asked her about something that prompted her to reach for her glovebox, and he must've swiped it then. Feeling stupid, and knowing who took it wasn't hard to figure out, but good luck finding him again amongst the crowds.
She went home, and tried to deal with it herself. She knew where he lived, as during the conversation he had mentioned he was "staying with so-and-so" and she knew where that guy lived. She borrowed her older brother's cell phone, called me and told me where she was going, gave me the address. I headed there.
So she went to the townhouse complex, parked right outside their unit, walked up and rang the doorbell. She talked to the mutual friend's mother. Explained what happened. Lady seemed annoyed at the kid, said he was a deadbeat, and agreed to help. She paged her son, he called back, and she said they were on their way home right now.
So she sat outside and waited. 15 minutes, 30 minutes... I show up and park far away, but within a line of site. I wanted to back her up in case things for fucky but if she wanted to handle this the nice way, I'll let her do that first. (I think she thought she would confront him, he's say something like "it was worth a try" and hand it back?) An hour. By now it was getting late, was after 12 midnight. We waited until 12:30 when she calls me and says she needs to get some sleep, "let's just write it off."
But I had a feeling. So I told her to leave, to pull out of the complex, circle around, then pull back into the complex and park over where I was parked, then turn off her car.
She does, then comes join me in my car and we have a bit of a stakeout.
Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed when not 5 minutes later the guys arrive. Her mother told them she was waiting, then told them once she left and it was clear to come home.
I asked her if that was the asshole's car, or the friends. We saw them get out and realized it was the asshole's car.
My plan quickly fell into shape. I told her to go home, get some sleep, I'll take care of this.
See, the car stood out. It was a beater car. It was blue with a silver back fender and back passenger door, replaced from an accident but never painted to match. It was heavily tinted, which is illegal but not really enforced unless police wanted a reason to pull you over. It had a loud system. Every square foot had a dent or a ding. There was a shitty add-on spoiler that was 3 sizes too large, and there were Jamaica flag bumper stickers on it even though he was white as snow. And he had these obnoxiously bright neon license plate frames.
You know the type, instead of buying a decent car wastes tons of money blinging out a piece of shit that constantly breaks down.
So I sit and I wait. 1 am, 2am rolls around. Most house lights in the area have gone out by now, including theirs. Not quite time.
3 am rolls around, 3:30... almost.
3:45, there was not a lick of movement anywhere. Now's the time!
I get out of my car, hunch down (just in case) and slowly work my way to his car. Pull out my screwdriver and quietly remove both the back and the front license plates, replace the frames, head back to my car, and drive home.
You see, the way the parking lot was, walking out of his front door you are looking at the driver side of his car, not the front or the back. And who, honestly, looks to see if there are license plates on your car when you go to get in it?
So it's now late Saturday afternoon, and a posse shows up at my GF's house, including a very large woman threatening to beat the crap out of her. She played it cool, said she had NO idea what they were talking about. They screamed that she stole his license plates because he had stolen her pager, and he even took out the pager and smashed it on the sidewalk as some sort of "revenge"
She laughed and said "I honestly have NO idea what you are talking about.. I don't really care about the pager, we already had the account moved to a new pager, that was was old and ugly anyway", yeah I came by to ask for it back, but it got late so I just got a different one. I don't care enough to make an issue out of it"
They continued to scream at her. Apparently he went out, the cops pulled him over for not having plates on his car, and he had to go to the police station and file a police/theft report in order to get out of a ticket.
She just repeated "I had nothing to do with that, so unless you have proof, you're about to be seeing the police again"
They knew they had nothing, grumbled and weren't sure how to react, so they gave a few more empty threats threats and left.
I let it sit. I gave it about 6-7 weeks, nothing more came of it, and everyone but me apparently moved on with our lives.
I guess they thought that was the end of it.
But I saw that visit and those threats as an escalation, so I reacted in kind.
Late summer I Again went back to his place. Again I found the car (it was really easy to spot), and Again I waited until about 3:45am, and Again I stole his (new) license plates.
Only this time I put his original plates back on.
And because the non-repaired side of the back of his car left a gaping hole in the wheel well, I was able to get my arm up in there and pop out the bulb socket for his left blinker, then I went on my way.
So even if he DID get into the habit of making sure there were plates on the car.. there were. And unless he was paying attention, the numbers would seem natural because he had them for years. But I'm not sure he even looked.
If the internet was a thing back then, hell if SCANNERS were a popular thing back then, I would still have the hard evidence which to this day I'd probably use as my phone's lock screen picture.
A little blurb in the local paper a few days later. A blurb that was proudly cut out and shared amongst friends, but sadly lost to the ages in 25+ years and countless apartment and house moves since then.
A little blurb the "police blotter" section.
About the arrest of a particular young man, who was pulled over for a malfunctioning blinker, on a car that was operating on stolen plates. He was charged with fraudulently filing a false police report, (claiming plates clearly in his possession were stolen) defrauding the Motor Vehicle Commission (a crime in this state) for fraudulently obtaining new plates, possession of controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia, along with a host of traffic violations for having tinted window, failure to maintain vehicle, and a few other tickets. He was remanded pending bail and issued a court date.
Never found out if he posted bail, I'm sure his friend's mother didn't, and he had already been on the outs with his own family.
It was a good 5 months later when we were at the mall again, and she sees the large woman and a couple of the other people that came to her house that day walking towards us. We all noticed each other at the same time, I felt my GF tense up a little bit, but without a word those three just paused a second, turned, and went in a different direction.
Never saw or heard from any of them ever again. I guess my message was received loud and clear.

Part 24: https://www.reddit.com/Viidith22/comments/13taoss/my_roommate_is_slenderman_part_24_revised/
(Terry)
It had been a day or so and I hadn’t gotten a response from Megami. There are spurts where we don’t talk, she tends to be pretty accident-prone with electronics. Sometimes the frequency she’s singing goes haywire and fries it. But it had been a good five months or so since we last spoke. Taking a shot in the dark, I called Rachel.
“What is it, Terry?” She grunted, “I’m a little busy.”
“I need to talk to Megami, but she’s been MIA since the whole ‘Maerod’ situation.” My mind shot back to what Jones had told me, to watch out for “her,” momentarily questioning whether or not Dexter’s team had been dumb enough to keep her alive.
There was a pause, the line was silent. Then, a sigh, “Actually, I’ve had the same problem. I figured she just broke another phone, or was pissed at me for… Well, I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if I hear anything. What do you need her for?” She grunted again.
“Small mission.”
“Joseph?”
“Yeah.”
The line went silent again, then an exasperated sigh, “Good luck, be sure to bring The Doctor with you. You know how you can get.”
A flush of anger pulsed through me, but I took a deep breath, “Sure.”
She shrieked, “Oh shit!” The call ended.
I thought over the list of everyone, wondering what I was gonna do. I had actually intended to have Doc and Megami be the last two after Smudge, no one else would really work. Chad wasn’t right for the type of incognito mission we were doing, Abraham wasn’t available, Rachel and Sepratine just didn’t quite mesh with what we were doing, Megami was supposed to be the last one to fill out the party. I mulled it over, but I still owed David, the huuldefolk, a favor from the Maerod raid. I would’ve called Jacob, but he was in another country doing who knows what.
My phone rang as I stood, leaning against the couch, “Jones, something wrong?”
He chuckled, “Not in the least. You got your group together?”
“We’re one short.”
“No problem, bring everyone by tonight, we need to prepare on our end, and Dexter sent us a bit of backup.” He hung up.
I called up Doc and Smudge, telling them to be at my place and ready by the time dusk rolled around. Heading to the bathroom I downed my meds, trying to shake off a weird feeling that slowly crept up on me. As if something was going to happen when we got there. It was more than just a bad feeling, but a conviction, I knew something would happen, and it made me uncomfortable. One of the pills I took was supposed to ease it, but when it got that bad, it meant my brain had already determined some kind of outcome. It’s not a superpower or anything, more like enhanced intuition. It only happens when my brain has the information to go off of. But there’s a disconnect between my conscious and subconscious, so whenever something like that happens, I just have to wait for it to come to fruition.
-----------------------------------------
Stepping into the office, I looked around, “Where’s the new guy?”
Xavier looked up, baffled at the sight. Then Jones stood, walking over to greet us, the bags under his eyes less defined, “He’s in the back getting himself something to eat. Smudge, nice to see you again, you haven’t aged a day.” Smudge chuckled at that, “You must be The famous Doctor, I want to thank you for coming. I’m sure you’re a busy man.” He outstretched his hand, but Doc just gestured between Jones and me.
“You see, that’s how you should greet me. You really ought to get a notepad out, you might learn a thing or two about how to respect your elders.”
“If I remember correctly, I’m about 2,000 years your senior. When did you start your… questionable medical practices again? 16th, 17th century?”
Doc ignored me, angrily shaking Jones’s hand, “Nice to meet you, lad! Glad to hear somebody thinks highly of me, even if it is a meager thinskin.”
“Me and my dislocated fingers thank you for that.” As he brought his hand back, Jones uncomfortably pushed his fingers back into their sockets one by one. “So, who were you planning on bringing? You said there was going to be another?”
“Right, had my sights set on a Siren, she’s pretty skilled and can be silent when the occasion arises. But I couldn’t get ahold of her.” I paused, “Actually, you’ve got your ear to the ground, you heard anything about someone named Megami? It’s been a few months since we talked, I’m kinda worried.”
Jones was a mannequin, despite trying to seem calm, his eyes flicked to Xavier before shooting back to us. He leaned against his desk, reaching for his coffee mug several times, not looking away from us, before finally grabbing it, and raising it to his mouth.
I stared hard at Xavier, a few moments later, he cracked, “Look it was a life or death sit–”
My legs tightened, I could feel the meds pushing to the side as I grew, stepping over to him in two long strides. He threw out his hearing aid, grasping his one intact ear as he held himself up with his free hand on the desk, “You killed Megami! Tell me why I shouldn’t give you the same treatment!” Something grasped my waist, then each of my legs. They were trying to push me back. When I released a tentacle to shoot Xavier through the head, I felt a prick stab into it. I fell limp, shrinking back down instantaneously.
Much calmer, I looked at my surroundings, Doc stood over me, making sure I was fine, Smudge looked between Xavier and me, wondering how he should react. Then I saw Xavier, Jones standing beside him, and on the other side of the desk, just across from us, stood the blonde buzzcut, and scarred musculature, of a Texan soldier. “Fucking Tucker.” I chuckled with disdain, “Of course.”
“Wish I had my H.O.P.S. but unfortunately it was destroyed along with the U.S.P.M. You’re one terrifying son of a bitch when I’m not in a full suit of armor, I’ll tell you what.” Looking close, I noticed he was wearing one of the older exosuits they used to wear. It was clean, but there were scuffs in the black paint job here and there.
“The U.S.P.M is just a bad fucking omen at this point.”
“Hey, we didn’t kill Jeff, and we didn’t kill Megami. So why don’tcha chill the fuck out.” Tucker crossed his arms, staring at me.
Smudge let out a jittery sigh, “You know, Jane’s death wasn’t necessarily the fault of Jeff.”
I looked at him, “Are you really going to side with the thinskins on this one?”
“Terry, behave yourself. We’re only here for Joseph’s sake. After we’re done you can go wipe out the US government. But we’re here for a reason. Doctor back me up here.”
“I’m neutral in this, I don’t care much for anyone.”
“And yet you’re here to help save Joseph.”
He sighed, “Joseph is okay I suppose. But I’m here because Terry gave me a deal on a pixie a month or so back.”
Smudge and Doc continued their back and forth as I stared at Xavier, he stood upright again, fixing the aid back into his ear, “I don’t blame you, Terry, I’d kill me too. I even did. But at least wait till this is over, yeah? I wanna slip in one last good deed if I can.” He blinked tears back as he put on a ski mask.
“When we’re done, I’ll thank you, but you better hope we never cross paths again.”
“I could say the same to you… I could.”
The air was still for a minute or so, even Doc and Smudge had stopped their bickering. “Well then.” Tucker smacked his hands together, making a metal clink, “Y’all ready to kick some shit in?”
“How long is the drive? I’ll need at least an hour to recover.”
Jones answered, “Hour and a half to two, you’ll be fine. We’ve got guns in the van, all suppressed. I had a mutual acquaintance of ours send us a care package yesterday. Regardless, I say we should all keep our blood inside our bodies.”
Tucker joined in, “Speaking of, I managed to scrounge the materials to make up some of those SIOM rounds. I left them in the van, along with the last resort.” He winked at me.
Jones nodded, “We should be good to go then, you guys oughtta join us in the van, less conspicuous.”
I nodded, “Yeah, that’d make the most sense. I’ll be taking the lead when we get there though. Which reminds me, you never sent me the schematics.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ll send them over. Are you gonna have enough time to put a plan together?”
“Yeah, I already know how we’ll follow into the building. I was thinking Tucker at first, but without his suit, he’s basically just a liability.”
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, we’ll see about that one.”
-----------------------------
As the van slowed, Tucker pulled on his combat gloves. He was decked out in full gear that I hadn’t really noticed till we got in the van. A flexible vest that was essentially a skin-tight long-sleeve shirt, meeting his wrists. His pants were tight and were made of the same fabric as his shirt.
We came to a complete stop as he slung his rifle around, clicking off the safety on his Bizon. Doc clapped his book shut, and Smudge stood.
“Alright, everyone up, we need to get to the gun cases.” Jones had come back through a door-sized hole connecting the back of the van to the front. He’d already pulled his mask over his face, the only color that came from him was his remaining eye and parts of his lips, only revealed by small, cut strips in the fabric.
We stood, sidestepping so he could get to the guns behind the seats. One by one we filed out the back.
Xavier hopped out the back, followed by Jones who stared at Tucker for a moment, “Did you uh… Did you put a new scope on this?” He raised his PS90 which held an ACOG and a suppressor.
“Oh yeah, it’s kinda like a thermal scope. But instead of heat it picks up… well I don’t actually know. But you should be able to see anything invisible or not.” Xavier inspected his own gun, “Sorry guy, I only had enough for Jones and me. You should be fine, but just cause you don’t got a fancy scope don’t mean you can go missing your shots. Them rounds’re expensive as hell.”
“Well, let’s get going, I’ve got the map down, I know how to get there. Second floor of their basement has the data. Unfortunately, we have no idea what security looks like, so we have to be cautious if we intend to stay hidden.”
Tucker spoke, “Just to be clear, you’re upfront, Jones is behind you, then the Doctor, then Xavier with me covering our asses.”
“Smudge is behind Doc, and while I’d like to have Xavier in the back–”
Xavier rolled his eyes, “Well I’d like to have you in back.”
Tucker sighed, “Anyhow, guess it works. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll have a huuldefolk I can put some rounds through. Release some of this tension.” He shot his gaze between Xavier and me.
“Well let’s head out. Smudge, you’ll be able to keep the cameras down right?”
“Based on what you said about their layout I should be able to, but I won’t be able to keep us hidden from the perception of the guards once we’re inside. There are far too many electronics I need to keep down so if we run into anyone inside the building, we need to kill them and hide their bodies to avoid being caught. I can’t keep the entire building down, so I can’t stop them from setting off an alarm if we miss anyone.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Tucker lifted his gun.
“Let’s hope those sights are as powerful as you say.”
Before long, we were on our way. We’d parked some distance out so as to not draw any attention. Taking the lead, the only noise I could hear was the occasional snapping of twigs as we walked through a forested area. Despite having come in contact with the exoskeleton previously, it still surprised me how stealthy Tucker could be wearing it.
Breaching the treeline, I held up my hand. Surrounded by a gravel driveway stood a three-story tall modern office-style building. Men patrolled around the lot, all wearing tactical gear. Focusing on the shadows, I could tell there were hidden guards as well, those ones were wearing light, flexible clothing and minimal if any weapons.
“Smudge,” I whispered, waving him up with two fingers.
“Yes.” As he looked out, he seemed to understand, “This will be a tough one if they aren’t all humans. Seems like there are about 30 guards that may see us. If even one of them is around a five, I won’t be able to blind all of them from our presence. If Rachel were here we’d be able to determine such a thing, unfortunately, we don’t have her spiritual sense.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Tucker whispered from behind us.
“What kind of bullshit caused you to break formation without my asking.”
“As I said, these scopes can sense alternative forms of energy. I have a few frames of reference, I know what civies look like through this thing. Smudge, if you can point out all the hidden ones, I’ll be able to tell you what we’re dealing with.”
Smudge looked at me, then shrugged, “Alright, if you’re certain.”
---------------------------
“We’re good to go then? That was the last one?”
“So it would seem, that scope of yours ought to be reliable.”
“If we don’t get by, you have my full permission to do whatever you want to Xavier.”
Jones butted in, “I believe that’s up for me to decide. I still need him around.”
Smudge whispered at a frequency that’d set dogs off, “Enough bickering, you’re worse than when I have to babysit Chad and Rachel. Everyone get in formation, it’s easiest on me if we go in single file.” Getting back into position, he spoke up, “Sorry Terry, I know you’re leading, but, well you get it.”
I nodded back to him, “Everyone ready? No piss breaks past this point. If you have cold feet, just head back to the van.” I looked back to Xavier, to which he flipped me off, signaling me to start.
I wasn’t worried about the situation until we got about ten feet from the door. One of the two guards standing beside it looked over at us. I signaled everyone to stop, and the guy continued to stare. A few moments later, he shrugged, facing forward again, and we continued on through the door.
There was no one in the immediate vicinity, though there were several cameras pointed toward us, blinking.
Smudge said one word as he took a deep breath, “Break.”
Nodding, I signaled for the three of us up front to take the right wall, and the other three to take the left.
------------------------------
Once Smudge caught his breath, he stood back up, and we all got back into formation, right as a guard turned the corner. I shot a tentacle out, grabbing him by the throat and snapping his neck, all while bringing him closer so we could hide the body.
That was when an alarm went off, “FUCK! Keep the humans hidden, Doc and I can handle ourselves.” My brain froze time, trying to figure out what happened. Eventually, it clicked, heart monitors, a precaution not even Maerod took.
“Leave me out of it Smudge, I can handle myself too. You need all the focus you can get.” Tucker stepped up, aiming down sights.
The door bashed open before I could get my tentacles out. Turning, Tucker already faced the door, dropping people in one to two rounds a piece.
Turning back toward the dead body, I headed on, alarms blaring overhead. Bodies came and went. Despite how badly we’d apparently messed up the plan, I knew where the database was, and I refused to let anyone stand between me and it.
Each step I took was further than the last, “KEEP YOURSELVES SAFE, I’M GOING FURTHER IN!”
“Not without me you’re not!” Metal clattering rang out, “IMBECILE!” Doc caught up to me as I flung several bodies out of the way.
“Watch where you’re throwin’ em!” Tucker yelled out, “We shouldn’t split up!”
I was already at the staircase making my way down when something smacked across my face. Turning to my right, I saw a lanky man with his hands in his pockets. He was slouched as if bored.
“FINE, GO DOWN, I’LL MEET YOU THERE!” Swinging a tentacle at him, he made a popping motion with his mouth, the limb slammed into a wall. Shooting them all at him, he blew air out in a circle, then at me directly, lunging at me as he threw me off balance. He kicked me in the chin, then down on my head, knocking me to a knee. A second later I was thrown into the air, then to the ground.
“Damn man, you look like you could use a hand.” The strange man stood over me, offering me his right.
I took it, spinning him around, snapping his arm, and flinging him against the wall, where lay motionless. I stabbed him in the head, then the heart just to be safe. Scoffing at his arrogance, I headed down the stairway.
When I got down to the second basement floor, there were already several dead bodies strewn about. Everyone was hiding behind metal tables. Tucker injected Doc with something, sitting beside them was a heaving Smudge.
I put my tentacles away, and a sudden burst of gunfire came from the back of the wide-open office room. A few bullets hit me, but I was already too tall, they crumpled on impact.
“THEY GET AHOLD OF YOUR FORMULA!?”
“Fuck that’s loud, yeah, there was a leak a few months back! Doc ain’t doin’ so hot!”
“That’s, The Doctor, to, you.” He spoke each word with individual breaths.
Walking toward the guards, they panicked. With a thud hitting my chest, one of the men screamed, “We need you up here!” Looking down I found a pinless grenade, which I kicked, knocking one of the men unconscious. Bodies tumbled over one another as it exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. A few pieces stuck in my face, but I headed straight for the room.
“YOU’LL WANT TO GET BACK! SOMEONE IS COMING FROM DOW–” The ground gave out from under me, falling a few floors, I was kicked into a wall in a dark room, aside from the hole. Landing on my feet, I looked around, rubbing my side. I felt something wet, where I’d been hit. Then I saw who it was. A scaly humanoid, each scale tipped with a tinted blue, serrated prong. His shadow fluctuated, then its eyes sprung open, and a black mist shot me. I blocked with my tentacles, but they were cheese to a grater.
“Kenet himself breaking in here? Must think you’re hot shit!”
I grunted, springing off the wall, using a shredded tentacle to slam the scaly man with a table. Sure enough, the mist formed into a shadow-walker, same as Jacob. I slammed my fist into his face before he could react.
“I NEED SOME LIGHT DOWN HERE!”
But the scaled man already rebounded, swinging his pronged fist at my face. I managed to block with my arm, but it was getting stiff.
“DOC, I NEED YOU!”
I heard Tucker to my left, “He’s still recovering, close your eyes!”
Before I could tell him I couldn’t close my face, a clinking sounded, and I saw a small metal canister roll into view. A blinding light took over, banging nine times, each followed by a flash. Then several gunshots.
Accepting the pain to come, I grabbed the scaled man, flinging him into the ceiling, dazing him. The shadow-walker was already dead on the ground, three bullet holes planted in his skull.
“NICELY DONE!”
“Got any weaknesses on the other one? Never seen anything like him.”
“SKIN TRANSFORMATION, WE MUST WEAR HIM DOWN!”
“Lovely.”
The prongs tipping his scales had already shrunk considerably. Stumbling to his feet, he glanced down at the motionless skinwalker, “Goddamn.” His scales evaporated, leaving behind a hollow man, standing still, “Ju–”
Tucker put a bullet right between his eyes, “Didn’t have to ask buddy.”
As we turned to head back up the stairs, a thud reverberated from behind us. Turning back, Smudge lay, face first, and uncovered. He wore a full-body outfit ensuring no skin was revealed, but my concern was on whatever had dropped him down. Aside from the alarms, it was eerily silent. They landed on Smudge, hopping off, and kicking him into the wall.
The black suit was almost a fabric, but it was certainly mechanical. Parts at joints stuck out slightly, giving him mobility along with full body protection. At his neck, the material fluctuated, phase shifting at the slightest movement. The entire front of his helmet was a velvet red visor, the changed to a light blue when the light reflected just right. He had several weapons littering his body, including two hook swords, an unknown kind of pistol, a pump action shotgun, and a few others; all of which were as black as his armor.
I had to lean my head and chest down to avoid hitting the ceiling. I couldn’t move anymore, and Tucker looked a little nervous, “DOC! YOU ALIVE!?”
A German accent replied with a chuckle, “He was already dead.”
“Yeah, right.” Tucker said, “What’re you waitin’ for big guy?”
Shooting out my back, I held the odd man at tentacle point, Tucker readied his carbine, and the man retrieved his hook blades.
“Come, let me get this over with.”
Tucker stammered, “B-be careful.” He swapped magazines, “This guy is radiating like a human.” He fired a round, I felt it slide between two tentacles, and as it hit the man in the visor, an explosion errupted. I engaged, picking the man up by the leg, but before I could fling him, pain shot through it, the tip was sliced off. Tucker fired two more rounds, both exploding as they met their target, filling the room with a cloudy haze. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to move, but I felt like a turtle.
Suddenly, my leg ripped up, I held in place, stabilizing with a few tentacles, then smashed where a crack had formed on his visor, but he swung his other blade down, cutting it in half. A rapid succession of explosions slowly knocked the man back, and for the first time, he looked at Tucker, throwing one of the hookblades at him, it was angled for his face, but he snatched it mid air, then lunged at the man. He slammed the blade down on his shoulder, spinning it around and hooking the back of his arm, yanking him in, Tucker punched full force. In an instant, Tucker was against the wall, falling face first into the tile floor, leaving ceramic to crack the area around him.
The man chopped the last of my tentacles down as he approached me. When they were practically useless, he put the remaining blade away, pulling out the pump action shotgun. He shot me in the face six times before throwing the gun to his side. A small stream of black ooze dripped down my chin, and I had a hard time seeing anything in front of me.
“Damn, you’re one tough fucker, I’ll give that much.”
Pulling out his pistol, he proceeded to unload every round into my forehead, despite being ordinary metal, something about them kicked like a mule. When that gun was out, he dropped it, looking to his right, seeing where Tucker had dropped his gun.
“I wonder, how will you hold against explosive rounds? Not well?”
As he picked it up, I felt something prick my back, a familiar sensation made its way toward my heart, like organic WD-4D.
“You’re awfully quiet over there. Lost will to fight?”
“You’re an asshole!”
“Please, stop, I’ll shit myself.” He let out an antagonizing laugh, “You’re strong, but you’ve too much a stiffy going on there.” He let off a round into my face, nearly knocking me down, but I staggered just enough to stay in place.
“Wow, this has some nice kick to it, perhaps I’ll join the military after this.” He shot three more into my face, with each explosion, my skin peeled away just that much more, my brain rattled, but my limbs loosened.
By the fourth round, I regained some mobility, walking toward him. He stepped back, switching the gun to burst fire. I maneuvered around three bursts, only getting hit three times, each one in my torso. Those explosions seemed to boost the Doc’s serum, and I was able to grab the man by the head, crushing his visor with the palm of my hand. “You rely too much on your gadgets and luck. Neither will get you out of this.”
The helmet cracked, and blades shot out, slicing my fingers off. He pulled his remaining hook blade and slid under me. A sharp pain hit the back of my skull, then a cracking reverberated through my head. A metal clattering followed, and when I turned, the man stood there, shocked. He lunged back, throwing several kunai at my face, but I ducked them. With my full range of motion returned, I slung one of the tables at him, flinging him into a wall front-first.
Walking over to where he’d dropped Tucker’s rifle, I snagged it, and walked over to the man. He staggered back to his feet, a broken nose and a shard of ceramic sticking out of his eye. I held the gun to his forehead and fired, his head bursting like a pipe bomb.
I stumbled over to Tucker, dropping his gun beside him, and dropping to one knee. I smacked him in the face a few times, “You still alive?”
He rolled onto his side, “Kinda wish I wasn’t.” His face was covered in small cuts from the ceramic tiles, “Wish I’d had my Odyr suit, couldda kicked his ass. Fuckin hell what a dick.”
I sat beside him, “Hopefully he was their last line of defense, I think your gun gave me a concussion or something.” The room spun, my stomach on a Ferris wheel.
“Wow, the Doctor was right.”
I turned to the stairway, Xavier held Jones’s arm around his neck, helping him stand, “What happened, is Doc really dead?”
Tucker staggered his way to a standing position, “Nah, that stuff I gave him slows heart rate. He was too stupid to check for a full minute. He should still be alive, don’t worry.”
“And you two?”
Jones cleared his throat, “Smudge hid us, but he was worn down.”
Hearing that, I turned back to see Smudge, still laying flat. I stood, stumbling over to him, checking his pulse. It took a bit, but eventually, I felt a weak heartbeat. “DOC, YOU ALIVE UP THERE!?”
“I suppose!” He groaned.
“WE NEED YOU DOWN HERE! SMUDGE IS IN BAD SHAPE!”
A faint hint of a sigh made its way down the hole. I picked Smudge up, and moments later, Doc landed on the ground, a leg giving out from under him.
------------------------------------------
Some time passed, and we patched ourselves up as best we could before heading back up to the proper floor. Jones was able to walk on his own, but his right leg was in bad shape. I carried Smudge on my back, and despite Tucker’s several broken bones, he was walking just fine, occasionally stumbling from a torn tendon. As far as Doc went, the only sign he showed he was injured was his panting. Fortunately, we never ran into anyone else aside from the odd straggler, and we managed to grab the data we needed.
With the stressors passed, we laughed and joked, trying to bring ourselves back down from the adrenaline high. Exiting the building, I spoke up, “Xavier, I’m not going to forgive you, but I will thank you.”
He looked over at me, “To be fair, it was the Doctor’s idea.”
“That’s why I’m not forgiving you, anyone could’ve done it.”
“Oh, fair enough. Guess you could’ve done it too aye Doc?”
“That’s Doctor.” He let out an exhausted sigh, “In theory, but by the time I got around to it, who knows if Terry would still be alive. For a thin-skin, you did well.”
That’s when a limo pulled up through the gravel headed right for us, stopping just in time to not hit us, “Doc, wake Smudge, have him get you guys out of here. NOW!” I set him on the ground behind me.
“Well, I certainly hope he’s feeling up to it.”
“If not, you guys need to run.”
The back door opened, and a man in a suit stepped out. Pulling off his glasses, he tossed them in the back seat before closing the door and signaling the driver to leave. They couldn’t get away fast enough.
“Terry, son of Charles, I was under the impression you wouldn’t get involved with us. But after the Maerod incident, we decided we should implement additional security measures. Seems we should’ve invested more heavily into that. What was your intent here? If you had just called on Charles and told him about us, I’m certain he could’ve turned the entire building to mist.”
“If you know that, why’d you come to see for yourself, you can’t kill him. Or are you really that arrogant?”
The man laughed, “Because the alarm is still going off. If he had come, there would be no signal sending the alarm. You’re strong sure, but even three assassins managed to do this to you. Hence the difference between you mortals and us gods.”
“Didn’t realize living for 3000 years classified me as mortal.”
“You know, it’s interesting. Even after thousands of years, some still feel the need to attach themselves to this world. It’s as if they’re unaware of the insignificance of this world, this solar system, galaxy, supercluster, hell this universe! If you will live to see it all end, then what’s this part of it matter? They get animals to give themselves more meaning, call them pets. They feed the animal, water them, domesticate them, protect them. But they also prevent them from living in their natural habitat. Pulling the animal from where it belongs to give themselves a sense of purpose, it’s selfish wouldn’t you say?”
“Sure, I guess in a nihilistic sense.”
“So why are you here? To retrieve your pet? As I’ve said, there’s a transmitter in there, I saw what you pulled. Data on where your pet is. Why not just let him live in his terrarium?”
“He’s one of us now.”
“Due to your interference.”
“What are you really doing here!?”
“That’s the question of the day is it not? Quite frankly, I think Maerod was right to kill her. You’re far too attached to this world, though I suppose you are still a mere child. You could be so much more wise, and yet you refuse to allow it, you latch onto what’s been lost when you could focus on what you could have.”
“Sounds to me like you’re not quite past your own insignificance.”
He sneered, “Are you certain that’s your final answer?”
“I guess so.”
“Gods, the apple really does fall right to the roots.” The grass around him shriveled to dust when he charged me. Time stopped as the gleam in his eyes froze me, each fist pummeling me to the dirt, creating a deeper crater with each fist.
Then I was back in place, so was he. I’d never felt it so strong before, but I couldn’t deny the reality, he would kill me. Unlike Maerod, that man had absolute control over his soul, a feat all my attempts couldn’t achieve. All I could do was hold him off until I had an opportunity to slip out of his perception.
The grass around him slowly disintegrated, ready for his lunge, I leaped into the air, grabbing him mid-air with my tentacles and throwing him full force into the building. I sprung myself to the forest, latching onto a branch and engrossing myself in the tree, doing what I could to suck as much energy out. It wasn’t long before I was forced out. The tree crumbled to dust and I lept from it, charging the man with what little extra energy I had. He stood still, tanking four punches to his face. He kicked me back, nothing but a streak of blood running down his nose.
I lunged back searching for another tree. I found one a ways back, flinging myself at it, I fell into it and absorbed the tree’s power. I forced myself and found I could suck it out of other nearby trees. Until I was once again forced out, the trees crumbling in decayed mass, “You’ve gotten a bit stronger, Charles must be so proud.”
“What are you trying to achieve? Is losing your HQ really that important?”
He stepped toward me casually, “The same thing Maerod was trying to achieve, and really all the other gods in this disoriented country. However, no, killing you isn’t punishment for the damages, it’s for the audacity it took for you to do it. Entering my domain and destroying my primary facility? That takes balls, unfortunately, the rest was only a few inches.”
I tried to leap back again to gain a foothold, but all nearby trees crumpled to dust. Seeing no other way, I charged him again, but just as I came face to face, I spun and sidestepped, launching a single tentacle for the back of his heart, but on impact, it turned to dust.
“Unfortunately, the rest of you won’t be so easy to get rid of.” He turned, jumping, and once again, I met his bloodthirsty gaze. My skull cracked on impact, and when my head hit the dirt, a crater was left behind. He stood over me, “I’m gonna be on his shitlist for this one, but really, it’ll be worth it.” He pointed a finger gun at my head, and as the darkness closed in, three gunshots followed by a familiar light filled my senses, and when I could see again, his head was missing, the body still standing up-right, three bullet holes oozing blood at different angles...
I staggered to my feet, adrenaline keeping me awake. I looked around, seeing everyone but Smudge scattered around, “RUN! HE’S GONNA BLOW JUST FUCKING RUN!” I used my tentacles to move, sticking them in the ground and launching myself, then staggering to my feet. I headed in the direction the van was in, and a few seconds later, an intense blue light erupted from behind me, the shockwave hitting immediately after.
Part 26: Coming Soon!

Has anyone travelled to Ecuador and rented a car while there, and if so, would you recommend doing so?
My partner and I will be in Ecuador for 10-12 days in August. We are just focusing on the highlands, so around Quito and perhaps cuenca. We would prefer to be able to drive ourselves for convenience but weren't sure if this would lead to more hassle than it's worth, what with parking, stops, and general safety. I've googled around a bit about this and have found very mixed responses.
For reference: we are both from the US, and while my partner has driven around Iceland before, otherwise we have never driven in a foreign country. My partner is more proficient in Spanish than I am, being from Texas, but neither of us have had our Spanish skills put to the test in years.
We are thinking about trying to minimize the places we go in order to just bus around, but of course want to maximize our time there. If we could drive and be on our own schedule then we would feel more comfortable fitting more into our schedule, but of course safety and ease come first.
We are trying to do a more affordable trip, and have budgeted around $4000 (flights excluded) for this trip (we are also going to Medellin afterwards and flying out of there).
Any insight is appreciated!

Has anyone travelled to Ecuador and rented a car while there, and if so, would you recommend doing so?
My partner and I will be in Ecuador for 10-12 days in August. We are just focusing on the highlands, so around Quito and perhaps cuenca. We would prefer to be able to drive ourselves for convenience but weren't sure if this would lead to more hassle than it's worth, what with parking, stops, and general safety. I've googled around a bit about this and have found very mixed responses.
For reference: we are both from the US, and while my partner has driven around Iceland before, otherwise we have never driven in a foreign country. My partner is more proficient in Spanish than I am, being from Texas, but neither of us have had our Spanish skills put to the test in years.
We are thinking about trying to minimize the places we go in order to just bus around, but of course want to maximize our time there. If we could drive and be on our own schedule then we would feel more comfortable fitting more into our schedule, but of course safety and ease come first.
We are trying to do a more affordable trip, and have budgeted around $4000 (flights excluded) for this trip (we are also going to Medellin afterwards and flying out of there).
Any insight is appreciated!