Summary of Survey report needing essential remedial works (Repair Rating: 1; based on SCSI Type 2 standard report) or issues that require further investigation/action:
➢Unblock the Living room wall vent.
➢ We noted tile cracking at the threshold of the sliding door. The floor slab appears to have settled slightly overtime. We also noted a loose tile towards the centre of the Dining area. Further appraisal by a specialist pyrite engineer is advised. Pyrite testing is advised given the risk profile of the property.
➢ Service the windows.
➢ The front, right Bedroom window sashes do not provide for escape or rescue in the event of fire and should be replaced. The rear Bedroom sash hinges should be swapped out from units that provide a greater clear opening with.
➢ Treat mould accumulations on the ceiling above the vent in the front, right Bedroom.
➢ We noted heavy creosote accumulations on the Living Room smoke chamber and lower flue, the cause of which will need to be confirmed, particularly as the fireplace does not appear to have been used as an open fire.
➢ Address water weep from connector below the automatic air release valve in the Hot Press as soon as possible.
➢ The window board in the rear Bedroom is too high above ground level, 1140 mm compared to the maximum height required by the Building Regulations of 1100 mm. Install a step below the window to overcome this.
➢ A humidity regulated mechanical extractor fan should be installed in the Bathroom.
➢ Insulate the light shaft illuminating the first-floor landing and remove the cover.
➢ Screw-fix the first-floor landing and rear Bedroom floors.
➢ Roof Space: Improve insulation coverage.
➢ Roof Space: Remove all bird nesting material, disinfect the roof, repair the felt and replace any damaged tiles.
➢ Roof Space: Cover the water storage cistern with a correctly fitting lid and insulate.
➢ Roof Space: Close the gap in the party wall in the front, right-hand corner of the roof.
➢ Repair the rear door lock.
➢ Properly complete the boiler flue opening and finish to match surrounding wall surfaces.
➢ Double the number of soffit vents.
➢ Replace the rear wing fencing that is in poor condition with the cooperation of your neighbour.
➢ The boiler condensate drains directly onto the ground. Construct a small soakaway.
➢ Install a new exterior light.
➢ Replace the missing service box covers.
➢ Replace the damaged doorbell.
➢ Replace the damaged Porch felt underlay.

Background info: bought a house July 2021, it has a septic tank, it was pumped when we closed on the house. We kept noticing sewer smell when we would shower and when standing outside by the opening to the septic but put a bit of caulking and small amount of dirt around the lid and that problem stopped. The lid is right outside the bathroom window. The lid is just cement on cement with no rubber seal so we thought that's why it smelled but I'm putting it here in case it should've been a red flag from the beginning. Our house was built in 1970. It's a slab foundation. We are a family of four, and I also cloth diaper, so although we've had kids in diapers the solids actually still go into our toilet. The plumbing fixtures go from the tank into the house in this order: bathtub, toilet, bathroom sink, washer, and kitchen sink.
Current problem. Yesterday we ran a bath for the kids, when the bath was drained water started going all over the floor. We couldn't figure out where at first and then saw it was coming under the toilet. We thought it was just the incoming water so we shut it off and the water kept coming out, puddle was big enough I ended up stepping in it and realized the water was warm. So it was going from the tub drain over into the toilet. The wax ring on the bottom of the toilet broke and so the water came out of there. I ended up flushing the toilet after just to see what would happen and the toilet flushed fine but the water came out the bottom again. We ran and got a wax ring, put that sucker on and tried to flush again and it was fine. I took a short shower later that night (5-10 min) and let the tub fill up with my shower water and then drained it all at once at the end to try to "recreate" the situation. Nothing happened and everything drained fine.
Tonight I went to shower and took a longer shower (15-20 min) the whole time the tub was draining totally fine, at a normal speed etc. I didn't notice anything wrong. I get out and theres a pool of water under the toilet again. So another wax ring broken? But more importantly what the f...the puddle was pretty small compared to yesterday, and I probably used more water than I did for the tub.
We pulled the lid on the septic tank and it looks at the same level it always looks? But I'm guessing there's SOMETHING wrong with it because if we just had a clog in the drain wouldn't it drain slowly or 90% of the water would be coming on the bathroom floor and not just a tiny bit toward the end of the shower?
I will obviously be calling someone to pump the tank tomorrow morning but in the meantime I'm really freaking out because I'm worried our drain field has failed or something. I thought you only needed to pump a septic every 3-5 years? Not every 2? Also we do use baby wipes but I make sure to tell everyone not to put them down the drain, when we clean the kids butts we throw the wipes away in the garage separately and then wash the diapers in the toilet. I know a few wipes have been down the septic since we've moved in due to forgetting to tell MIL, but she doesn't spend a ton of time pooping at our house or changing the kids so that would be insanely minimal (like maybe 10 wipes in the last two years I'd think?).
I can provide as much other info if needed, I just am not sure what I'm missing. We will obviously be replacing the wax ring again...any help here in trouble shooting is appreciated

Ibandr, during the morning and afternoon so full of life and sound and laughter, slowed as the sky darkened above. The sun had set for some time and the shadows of the city were erratic and scattered in the evening torchlight. There were many lit throughout the city at sundown, many in the city center, some south by the riverbank to ward off animals, and some in the west by those who grew cotton and made goods. Shadr held one of these torches now. He was a young man, having grown up in Ibandr and never knowing the starving times, although his father always spoke of them. He had also talked to him about the day the city spilled its own blood. How he had been part of the fight to retake Ibandr from the Zivold and how he barely survived, losing an arm for his efforts. When the eastern man had come - Barnam had been his name - his father jumped at the chance to sabotage the man who stole their lives, even if it had been so long. Shadr’s father was too old but Shadr himself was not, the young man eager to serve his family however he may. So now he stood as the sun set, stick alight with flame, looking at the large pile of dried grass and hemp and cotton. Waiting.
Over a hundred men on horses galloped toward Ibandr. Barnam rode at the head, taking one last glance over his shoulder at the men riding behind him, Shahadr’s Point falling further in the distance. It was getting darker by the gallop, the sun having set to their right. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. The rhythm of horseback calmed Barnam. He felt at home, at peace on horseback now. His life with the Albayet had been good to him, prepared him for his duty. He looked at the sky as he rode, the first twinkling stars shining in the dusk. He blinked. What was that? Another! A streak of light shot through the blackening blue of the heavens. Some time passed then, another!
“Vastatn blesses us on this night!” Barnam called to the riders behind him, pointing to the sky at the shooting stars making their way across the world. He gripped the spear in his hand tighter. Good fortune was to come.
Ibandr was more difficult to see as they rode on the flat plains between Shahadr’s Point and the city, but in the darkness he could just make it out. Flames. The old boys have done it then, he thought. When last in the city, he found an old friend of his father and that man’s son, Shadr. There were a handful of others but all too old or afraid to move against the Zivold. Shadr, though, was eager. Setting fire to the cotton in Ibandr’s west had worked well enough, if he could see the flames from here. The sky darkened as they neared the city. It was almost time.
He was close enough to hear shouting over the sound of the horses around him. Then, a great bellow louder than he’d ever heard. A bellow sounding across the city, the plain, again and again in long, slow bursts. An alarm? A call for help? Someone must have seen them. A hundred men on horseback would be hard to miss, but Barnam did not care. “It’s time, Albayet! Ride to our glory! Ride for Kalliza!”
Shouts of Kalliza, victory, to war called out behind him as the hundred split into three groups, one stayed straight behind Barnam while the others spread out in two directions, one to the west to the fire and the other to the east.
“Victory!” Barnam heard himself shouting as he burst into the city, the vastness of the plain suddenly replaced by houses and canals and patchwork fields of sorghum. Men, women, children had come out of their peripheral homes to answer the commotion, and Barnam looked at their terrified faces as they saw him and his horsemen ride toward them.
A scarred, weathered, bearded man, in billowing clothes carrying a spear in his right hand and a scythe tied to his hip, screaming as he charged on a horse. A sight to see. A last sight to see. He did not want to kill innocents, he did not mean to kill them, but you have to be realistic about these things. In the heat of war, Barnam would not stop to question each and every life he took. Today was a day of new beginnings, of a cleansing of the city and washing it in a new path. The stars streaking above were the ushering of a new dawn on the Luzum and Barnam would be damned if he would get in the way of that. He thought all these and more as his horse ran down the man who stood defiantly in front of him. As they made their way to the city, the screams confirmed that the first man was only one of many. You have to be realistic about these things.
The city had no way to prepare for what was coming. Through his whole life Barnam scarcely had heard of any meaningful raids on the city, or great battles between one city and another. Ibandr and its people had not been tried and tested as Barnam and the Albayet had.
With that Barnam could not have expected the first fighters they saw. Ten men burst forward down a street between two larger houses, two had spears and the rest holding hoes or scythes. They came so suddenly Barnam and the horseman next to him, Gudenle, had no time to move. Bunched up as they were they had no time to fight. One with a spear burst it through Gudenle’s horse, throwing him to the side. Another ran to finish Gudenle off but was stopped by a second spear bursting through him, Barnam having flung his own to defend his man. The defenders stood shocked for an extra breath, and Gudenle, with Kalliza watching over him, landed well and was on his feet. He swung a scythe from his hips into his arms and Barnam did the same. Barnam, Gudenle, and the other horsemen fought through the men then, losing two more horses but no tribesmen.
Having bested their first challenge, they trudged on. Barnam and the Albayet fought for quite some time as they made their way to the city center. Those who came to defend the city were few and far between, but they fought fiercely and bravely. By the time they reached the great storehouse of Ibandr and the Temple of Kutenr, only Barnam, Gudenle, and eleven others remained. Barnam dismounted from his horse to confront the sight before him. He and his Albayet stood opposite a tall, lean man dressed in cotton and some foreign leather clothing, with others around him. All stood fierce and tall, with either spears or blades of copper or stone. The tall, lean man held a copper blade in his right hand. Beyond, dozens of citizens were running either into their homes or making a dash to leave the city. Flames blazed in the west and a cacophony of screaming, neighing, and yelling filled the air.
“Where is the Zivold?” Barnam bellowed above the clamor. “I am Barnam, son of Huttl, a righteous man who walked in the light of the Paroxl. He was murdered by Attarnap, a coward and a thief, and I demand his presence in front of me today!”
The tall man raised his eyebrows and gasped. Behind him, the storehouse glowed in the light of the flames, encroaching closer and closer. “Barnam? Is that really you?” He started to laugh. “The little boy who lived on the edge of the furthest part of the city. Amazing, even the dung can come back to haunt you. And here I thought I was being punished for killing my father.”
“Your…” Barnam couldn’t believe what he had heard. “You killed… Attarnap? You killed the Zivold?”
The man who Barnam knew as Belis only nodded. “My father was complicated, Barnam. He was complicated and he was a fool. He thought he could take more and more, demand more and more of the people, and everything would be fine. This temple, those canals, that lake to hold the flood waters for a drought? Do you know how many died for those Barnam? Too many. Too many times there were riots like the one your father tried to start and I fear that if he stayed alive that would be the end of our,” he gestured to the men around him, “position in the city.”
Barnam could not believe what he was hearing. The men around Belis moved forward, and Barnam’s men did the same. “No!” Both men shouted at once. “He’s mine,” Belis said, and Barnam grunted in agreement. How dare he?
Barnam let out a roar. “How dare you take what was mine by right?” Barnam took a step forward, Belis almost stumbling to step back, keeping his distance. “Your father took the life of my own. Theft in its many forms is the only sin worthy of punishment by Marryagai the thief, is it not?” He held out his right arm, scythe in hand, rounding it on those who stood by to watch. Then, pointing at Belis, “and your father Attarnap stole the life of Huttl, stole a husband from a wife, a father from a son. and now you steal my revenge from me? You, Belis, lowlife of lowlives, believe you can take your father’s place. You, Belis, murderer of your own kin, your own father believe you can steal vengeance from me?” Bantam raised his arms, “Look at what you stand against! I am Barnam, son of the union between Mauair and Huttl, chosen by the Albayet to lay waste to what you claim, summoned by Samvastatn to bring glory to this earth. You call yourself Kutenr, as your father did?” He stepped closer. “Do you remember who Kutenrs nemesis is? Do you know the story of Kalliza, Paroxl of horses and creator of the plains, champion of the world when the greed of Kutenr and his grains grew too great. Look around you, Belis. I am Kalliza manifest in flesh and bone.”
Barnam cackled as he looked around him once more, taking yet another step toward Belis, and pointed with his scythe. “The gods have forsaken you, murderer! Dezmedetem rages behind you laying waste to all that you were. Samvastatn courses the sky with light, laying waste to all that you will be. And here I stand, I, Barnam of the Albayet, Barnam of Mauair and Huttl, Barnam the bane of Belis, Kalliza reborn, true lord of Ibandr, to lay waste to all that you are!”
With a guttural cry, the would-be conqueror flew at Belis. It was all Belis could do to raise his copper blade in time, a loud clang misshaping both scythe and sword as the two men connected. Barnam came at him with the fury of gods, whirling his scythe on Belis faster than he ever had. Belis stumbled back with each strike. Barnam was practiced, experienced, weathered from his life in the east, while Belis had only ever killed those around him with treachery, not skill. Belis was slower, weaker and more fatigued with each strike he had to block. But there was a chance. Barnam was the more skilled fighter, yes, but the fury of the gods which coursed through his veins made him move faster, think less. The maddening smile on Barnam’s face blinded him to any outcome but his victory. The Zivold’s eyes darted around with every chance, desperate to unearth some victory.
As the two men moved in their melee, Belis saw his chance. Barnam arced high and Belis, in one move, turned to yank a torch jutting from the ground, grabbing it with his left hand. The blade in his right flew at Barnam’s scythe while his left burst forward, torch in front, at Barnam’s face.
A howl of pain burst through the chants around them. Shocked by his own success, Belis stood there, mouth agape, torch and blade in hand. Barnam reeled from the strike, face almost smoking, and when he looked at Belis the right side of his head was a scarred and seared mass of red and pink flesh. Barnam stared at Belis, right eye almost blocked by the puffing of his face, and muttered something to him.
“What did you say, brute?” spat Belis at the hulking man in front of him.
“Burn me,” Barnam repeated, “and you burn the world.” The words of the Paroxl Kalliza, when he struck down Kutenr in their battle for the heavens. Barnam leapt at Belis once more. They fought again but this time there would be no mistake on Barnam’s part, and Belis felt it. Barnam pushed him further and further back toward the great storehouse. As they stood at the entry way, Belis’s arm outstretched with his balde in hand, Barnam brought his scythe down hard on the man’s wrist. A second howl of pain and a clang as Belis’ blade fell to the ground and his wrist was carved through. His hand was still attached but he’d be getting no use from it any longer.
“Stay back!” Belis screamed, waving the torch in front of him. On the floor in front, his shadow danced in the light of the growing fires in the western district. The flames were nearing them now, the heat coursing through the air. “Stay back you demon! You’ll get no more from me, you and your horseback brutes will not take this city while I live!”
Just as Barnam was to respond, “Then die,” Belis turned and ran into the storehouse. Barnam raced after him. “Take this monster!” Belis yelled as he shoved the torch onto an open pile of grain. The dry sorghum burst into flame, sparks flying and fires licking the roof. “Take this as your payment for your father’s death,” Belis was screaming now as he ran further in the storehouse, laying fire to piles of cotton, throwing off jar lids and burning the seeds and fibers within. Barnam could do nothing, impotent with his scythe, as a wall of fire separated him from Belis. Enraged, he bellowed and ran outside and around the storehouse to the Temple of Kutenr. Belis stood there now at the base. Behind him the storehouse was just beginning to burn as a whole. In front of him the temple, and behind the temple the fires of the western districts were finally upon them.
“So Barnam,” Belis stood at the base, torch flames licking the air and wrist dripping with blood, “is this was you wanted? Is this what you wanted to claim as your own?”
Barnam ran at him, raising his scythe and in one motion bringing it down on Belis’ neck. His face froze in horrified surprise and the scythe dug into his shoulders and neck, blood spurting from the wound. “Let it burn Belis. Let it all come to the ground from which we sprouted.” He brought his scythe out of Belis, who fell to the ground, gurglilng, and brought it back down to hack again and again. “Let it burn!” He was shouting, hacking, laughing, “Let it all burn! You stole my vengeance so now I shall have it back twelve-fold! Let it burn! We shall rebuild! We shall rebuild! We… shall… rebuild!” And with the final cut Belis came apart, head, neck, shoulder, and arm separated from the rest of him, face still looking on in horror at Barnam.
He was panting now, the man turned conqueror, his old and rutted copper scythe dented and broken from the fighting and the effort. He tossed it aside with a clang. His face burned from the torch, his lungs burned from the flames beside him, his muscles ached from the battle.
But above? Above the sky was a light with the streaks of a thousand stars, coursing through the sky as though it was Samvastatn and Niovollin creating the earth once more, sending stars from the heavens to course their energy through the world as rivers. Thousands and thousands of stars streaked across the sky, heralding the rise of a new man. A new Zivold. A new God.
“Barnam!” He looked behind him. Gudenle was coming from one of the round homes next to the storehouse, dragging a small, frail man behind with him. “Is this him?”
The man fell in front of Barnam, wrapped in bundles of cotton and hemp, thick matted hair gray and white with age. “Hadr,” Barnam breathed and knelt at him, putting his hands on the man’s shoulders.
Hadr brought his face up to look at Barnam. One thin, shaking hand came to rest on Barnam’s cheek, and he breathed a staggered breath. “Is that you Barnam? Is that you my boy?” A tear welled in his eye and he started to shake his head. “No, no, no,” Hadr muttered, “no, no no. Do not give me your empathy, my dear boy. I have wronged you.”
Barnam could not understand. Gudenle was saying something about needing to leave as the fire was only growing, but Barnam waved his hand and stared at Hadr. “It was me, Barnam,” the old man said through tears, “I betrayed your father, your uncle, everyone that day. I told Attarnap when i got you and your mother out of the city. It was me Barnam! I’m the reason your father is dead,” and he shook in his sobs, muttering, “let me die, boy, let me die.”
Hadr fumbled with his hands in his rags, but Barnam could barely see for the red that covered his vision. Hadr had betrayed his father, his family. Hadr had betrayed him. He grabbed Hadr by his hair and yanked his head up, putting the two men face to face. “You don’t die yet old man,” and he spat in his face. “You come with me. When the fires abate, you will proclaim me Zivold of Ibandr. You will proclaim that I am the vessel from Kalliza on this world. You will put me higher than any Zivold has ever been, and only then will you be allowed to die. I will do it myself.” He spat in his face again and pulled him to his feet by his hair.
“Let me DIE!” Hadr screamed as he was yanked up. His hands fumbled through his rags and they emerged gripping a small blackshine [obsidian] blade from his rags. He pulled his arms out and thrusted into his belly, but Barnam grabbed his arm like a vice, inches from death.
As he twisted the blade from Hadr’s hands, Barnam only repeated, “You do NOT die yet old man,” and threw him forward. He nodded to Gudenle, and the company walked away from the flames of the city center.
Flames swallowed Ibandr. For two days and two nights, Barnam, the Albayet, and the prisoner Hadr waited at Shahadr’s Point as they watched the city burn on the riverbank. Refugees fleeing from the burning and seeing where the conquerors had gone had come to be with them, either to curry favor or through sheer terror of seeing their home burning. Others stayed by the farms in the homes that survived or camped by the great reservoir.
When the fires abated, the survivors, the conquerors, and Hadr the prisoner walked into the city, faces of terror and horror and grief staring back at them. Some houses stood, others charred, and still others broken and brittle. Barnam had tried to stop the pillaging of the city but you have to be realistic about these things. He was Kalliza on earth. The city needed to be burned before it could be rebuilt.
When he arrived at the city center, the storehouse was a charred ruin and the temple behind it stood charred and blackened. The fires had raged and the once great city of Ibandr now stood charred but still proud. The Albayet went and corralled those who remained in the city center, and still others had come to the core now, refugees in their own lands, fleeing the fires that burned without remorse. Many had come to Barnam and the Albayet but others had stayed in the city, finding refuge in this or that district that survived the fires.
Barnam announced who he was, why he had come, and what the future held for Ibandr. “Belis was a fraud! Attarnap was a fraud!” He brought up Hadr. “A fraud held up by this man against the Paroxl, against our gods!” He walked to the ruins of the storehouse. “I am no fraud. I am Barnam, Kalliza reborn. Kutenr is nothing to the light of Kalliza and it is in his name which this city will be rebuilt.” In one year Barnam promised they would be returned to their former glory and poised to reach greater, grander heights than ever before.
The conqueror’s bloodthirst had been quenched. Knowing Attarnap was dead, killing his son, and laying waste to Ibandr had been revenge enough against those who wronged his father and those who stood by and done nothing.
Barnam the conqueror became Barnam the rebuilder. Over the year he convinced the Albayet to move west, abandoning the Duf river in a great migration to Ibandr, calling the union between the Hortens of Ibandr and the Hortens of the Albayet the Hemoph Hortens, or Union of the Hortens. He replaced the storehouse with one of similar grandeur, but on the side walls and pillars were carved intricate images and forms of Barnam as Kalliza, striking down Belis of Kutenr. The Temple to Kutenr was stripped bare and its walls adorned with images of Ibandr, or stories of the Paroxl, and above all of Barnam the Magnanimous, images carved to tell his story and his journey from refugee to god.
At the year’s end, Barnam held the Festival of Kalliza. It was here that he brought out the imprisoned Hadr, old and shriveled and frail. He had not been kept in a prison or in solitude or tortured. Barnam let the man walk free under supervision. “Let those who died by his hand torment him,” Barnam once said. They had forbidden him from holding weapons of any kind lest he take his own life, but the sight of the free Sinnamit, free by the mercy of Barnam the conqueror alone, did much to grow the new Zivold’s legend.
Hadr announced Barnam as a god reborn, lord of the new world and Zivold of Ibandr, son of a man and woman wronged and champion to all those that had been wronged. Never mind that Barnam had created so many wrongs when he burned the city. No, never mind all who died for one man’s vengeance. You have to be realistic about these things.
At the height of the ceremony came Barnam’s final act for the new city. As Hadr finished proclaiming him god of a new dawn on the Luzum, Barnam repeated all of Hadr’s transgressions. His slights against his father, against his city, against the gods. His cowardice and failures as Sinnamit. Barnam called Hadr a necessary sacrifice to give for the life of Ibandr, and slit the old man’s throat on the steps of the new temple, bringing all of the Sinnamit’s powers into his own.
Ibandr rose back to its prominence prior to the Albayet Sacking, and rose further still. Barnam learned of the projects built by Attarnap, of how Ibandr had risen from its people and its lands and by harnessing the power of the river Luzum to control the fate of their crops. To defend against the dry seasons and the wet. Ibandr was rebuilt and Barnam ensured that it was he who was credited. He played his factions of the loyal Albayet families and those who felt were allies within the city, against those who wished him to be gone. Barnam kept ownership of the grain but for other goods he allowed families to hold their own. His reign was tenuous in reality but the image of Barnam as greater than he was, as a god among mortals, a step in a new direction, the rosy fingers of the coming dawn, cemented any fears against his hold and guaranteed he would not often be tested.
Barnam had three daughters and two sons with his wife, married from the time he was with the Albayet, and when he died his son, Askalladr, was appointed the Zivold by the strong families, the Illir as they were coming to be known. The Zivold was now the strongman of the city, emblematic of the gods on earth, priest-king, god-king, father-king, all were encompassed by the great and powerful Zivold.
Attarnap and Belis were nothing. They were glorified tribesmen who hoarded wealth. Barnam was something else, a ray of heaven on the ground. Askalladr’s ascension was only further proof that now, indeed, there was a new Dawn on the Luzum.
Context: Was a lot of fun writing all this. This last piece may not be as strong for evidence of statehood but in connection with the other r rp posts I hope this is enough to establish season 5’s first true city state! There’s a lot more to develop in the next week but hopefully this is solid enough ground for Ibandr to gain prominence on a larger stage. I will definitely be sticking to shorter pieces in the future lol

First/Previous/Next
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Chapter 3 Part 1
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They always said that you never dreamed in cryogenic sleep. Which was true. It was \impossible to dream with your entire being frozen to negative temperatures, body flooded with preservation medications so ice crystals wouldn't form in the cell walls or a host of other complications that would otherwise kill a person. What they neglected to tell you was the dreams you had when thawing out and waking up.
The dreams a person experienced while undergoing this thawing process were always intense too. As vivid as reality as it was sometimes reported. No one knew why. Whatever it was; whether it was the combination of drugs, the brain trying to understand the trauma it had just experienced or even the soul catching up with the universe as some more spiritualist elements theorised, without fail the dreams were the most intense someone could experience. For her, this time, they were far more than just intense.
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Her eyes darted under her eyelids as the ghosts of energy bolts from aeons past darted in her memory. She heard the screams at the shaking of each dust filled rumble in her head. Her ears barely registered the dulled hum of ancient machinery fulfilling vital life sustaining protocols and the silent clicks of her standardised survival suit undergoing restart checks. Her helmet blocked out everything else or she'd have also heard the murmurs of voices beyond her pod. The cries of the dying desperately making one last stand echoed in her ears, drowning out the dull sounds. Those dying to protect her.
In her dream her arms reached out painfully slow for her father. She ached for them to go faster. This time she would make it. She'd be able to block the lid from fully sealing, preventing the cryogenic pod from starting. She was millimetres away. And yet the pod sealed effortlessly with a resounding hiss. At that her limbs decided to move normally again and hammered on the inside of the pod as the reinforced armour glass door's magnetic locks clunked to activation.
A dull green light shone into her face. Glacial coolness washed over her body as she slowly succumbed to the sensation of drowning. In one last desperate attempt she tried again to reach for her father. He wouldn't even look at her. A woman in midnight black armour cloaked in ragged robes embraced him from behind.
She screamed herself hoarse, trying to use sheer force of will to make the glass melt away. For her fingers and hands to phase through the transparent barrier and wipe away the tears staining his white bearded face. To just touch him one last time, even through the haptic feedback of her suit. To get him away from the stranger caressing him and wiping away the tears that belonged to her. She screamed a guttural scream as his face became sallow at the stranger's touch. It was killing him. Eyes sunk into sockets and flesh peeled back at the rapid mummification. "Alas" said the midnight black armoured woman in the ragged robes, holding her father's grinning skull in a gentle caress on the tips of her fingers. "Poor girl. Time to wake up. Wake up, and smell the ashes"
Fear gripped at her heart in a vice. There was nothing she could do but watch. The only way out was the emergency release button embedded at her side. But it was already too late, she didn't get to try as the feeling of drowsiness drowned her out, pulling her deep into the depths of slumber.
Except this time the feeling didn't become a stifling cold malaise. Instead, it was getting warmer. The sensation of drowning was slowly dissipating. As if she suddenly remembered she needed to breathe, her chest gave a mighty heave and began to rise and fall. For the first time in both more than a millenia and less than a handful of minutes, a large gasping breath passed through her lips. The inside of her visor fogged from the condensation.
She still heard the residual echoes of screams and cries in her ears like a phantom pain. But they were fading. Being replaced by a newer, stranger sound. The murmuring of a language she couldn't understand filtered through the glass and barely perceptible inside her helmet. Voices crowded around her pod. She hadn't yet opened her eyes. She didn't want to. She wished she was still in the dream.
Revival was always a confusing process and this was no different than the fifty odd times she’d undergone it before. But each time she had woken up her father had been there. He had to be there. Like how he’d be there this time. After all, it had only been a bad thaw dream.
The urge to open her eyes and look was almost overwhelming but she had to keep them shut. It was imperative until the medical diagnosis beeped an all clear signal. Otherwise she risked retinal damage before they were fully thawed. Until then she was alone in the dark with her thoughts. It was comforting to have thoughts however. What’s more; it was an even greater comfort knowing that because she was even having thoughts, she wouldn't spend an eternity of limbo in her frozen tomb, lost to the universe.
Finally, after what felt like an aeon, a dull chime resounded inside her helmet. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open. Microsensors within her helmet immediately noticed the movement and activated her suit's display systems. A heads up display appeared in front of her face. Light teal transparent letters flickered as she read information being displayed.
​
CRYOGENIC REANIMATION COMPLETE.
​
PLEASE EXIT THE UNIT AT YOUR DISCRETION.
​
This was strange. If her father was monitoring he would have already opened the pod right as her eyes opened. At least the words were reassuring. If there was anything wrong with either the pod or herself it would have been indicated in bright red flashing letters. A flick of her eyes and a blink dismissed the notification from her visor and she laid there in a stupor. She needed to get out and find everyone, find out what had happened.
It had all been so fast. There was barely enough time to even put on her survival suit and rush to the lowest levels.
The guards escorting her, Sergeant Lockley and a subordinate of his she had never got the name of, had practically dragged her in their rush, the entire bunker wasn’t even bothering with security procedures anymore. Everywhere else had gone quiet days ago, as far as they had been aware they were the last ones left.
No matter how much she'd pestered Sergeant Lockley he'd never given her any details on what had happened beyond that they needed to hurry and were about to be under attack. He didn't need to say by who, especially that late into the war. If it could even be called a war by then. It was more like a genocide with the fleets falling from the sky burning the heavens. City after City had collapsed, less and less reports coming in until they were isolated. And then it had been their turn. The entire human race reduced from carving out their own territory in the wider community to a scant few fighting tooth and nail for every scrap of dirt in a few decades.
That pit in her stomach as she'd been unceremoniously thrown in the pod while her father had ran all the checks himself when it normally took an entire team, was returning. Or had it never gone and she was only now allowed to feel it once again?
But she had been woken up. If she was awake then someone knew she was here, which meant they must have won. Beat the terrible odds stacked against them and come out the other side. If it had only been a few hours, or even a few days, either way it didn’t matter. She needed to get out and help the survivors, an extra pair of hands would be absolutely invaluable.
Looking at the lid, there were unexpected layers of thick dust caked against the outside of the glass, all except where her head had been. Maybe the combat had been so heavy the cryo chamber had nearly collapsed and whoever had woken up had brushed that portion aside to check on her. Yes, that must have been it. Holographic displays floated in front of her beyond the glass, their brightness blinding her eyes as well as making it almost impossible to make out who stood beyond their glare. She tried squinting past them, the shapes of the people outside were hard to make out, the fuzzy outlines of their bodies blurred together. However, their heads were still identifiable in the darkness as her eyes still adjusted. And from the looks of it there were at least four people in front of her. There was only one way to definitively find out though.
She motioned her fingers to indicate she was awake to the internal sensors inlaid into the walls of her glass coffin. She didn’t know why they hadn’t used the external controls to let her out, maybe they had been broken.
A dull clunk sounded indicating the magnetic locks had been released and the holograms flickered off as the glass slowly slid upwards with a motorised hum. The metal brim passed over her face, her visor compensated automatically for the low light levels, revealing, at last, her rescuers.
Four definitely humanoid figures crowded around her in the dark room. If she hadn’t been wearing her helmet the light coming from their torches being shined directly in her face would have blinded her. Instead, the glare was automatically filtered, revealing the figures standing in the room with her. They wore strange plated purple armour, bulky in the fashion all military equipment tended to be. A metallic point descended in the middle of their faceplates giving them an appearance similar to angry owls. Maybe it had been a special prototype her father had kept in storage somewhere, something given to the few elite soldiers remaining that helped to turn the tide. All the guesswork and unanswered questions directly after the panicked scramble to get into the pod was beginning to agitate her.
As a result, even through her reasoning, something nagged at the back of her mind. Trying to tell her something was off. She slowly looked over the four people again with her eyes, studying them closely without turning her head and giving away what she was doing. The one to the far right of her had their weapon hovering vaguely in her direction, as if unsure of what to do suddenly. Why would people that knew about her be so scared of her? It looked like an odd combination between an ornate staff and a rifle yet not quite either and looked to be encased in the same dark purple material as their armour. No matter how it looked, a weapon was a weapon and these people were dangerous. But they had also just woken her up. Surely if they had done that they wouldn’t be here to harm her. If they were, they could have easily done that while she slept.
The one directly in front of her, however, had no weapon out that she could see. Instead they had paused with a hand pressed into what looked like a computer device embedded on their forearm armour. The glow of the screen was reflected in the strangely shaped visor.
She tried weakly reaching out of her pod for the one closest to her in an attempt for aid.
"Where’s my dad? Did we win? How many days has it been?" She asked in a rapid succession, her weak voice amplified by the speakers within her helmet. She had to know.
The strangers looked at each other. They seemed more shocked at her speaking than helping her get up in her weakened state. She gave up on reaching out and instead used her arms to adjust herself on her near vertical frozen bed. She could feel the strength slowly return to her limbs as she moved. It would take a little while longer until she felt she could make an attempt to stagger out of her cryo pod but until then she was essentially helpless.
The strangers simply kept staring at her, as if they didn’t even know what she was. Which meant they weren’t from her bunker. They truly were strangers in the truest sense. But even so, they were survivors. And if they had survived then perhaps others had as well. For now however she needed information, her feelings either way could wait until she knew more.
"Who are you, how did you get here?" She asked again.
One of the beings, the one she had been reaching out to, spoke. It was a strange, melodic language that she didn't understand. Almost haughty in tone. That it hadn’t been automatically translated meant it must have not been in the system. An oversight by the programmers no doubt. Either that or they were speaking in a form of code. She sighed, that would make this far harder in an already difficult situation. Her powerful in built computer would be able to eventually figure out and create a translation if it really was a language but until then she needed them to speak more to hurry the process. Or even better, if she could activate one of the embedded computers on the wall, it would be able to extrapolate from just a scant few words. A common frame of reference to start with would be the best option but she struggled to think of what to use.
She remembered reading back when she was younger; even under the best of circumstances experts would deliberate for months, even years, on the meanings and nuances of individual words to ensure the most accurate translations possible. Computers helped immensely with the process but without the subtleties of organic beings they could create embarrassing inaccuracies.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. But if you can understand me, please help me get to the computer over there I'll be able to understand you" she pleaded, pointing with her right hand at the dust covered screen mounted into the wall.
The second stranger on the left, standing behind the closest one she had been reaching for, said something in their still untranslated language and slowly walked over to the computer.
They must not be able to understand me either she thought.
The stranger pointed at the screen and said something. She had a feeling this time it was a question with the tonal inflection. That was good, if her hunch paid off it would help immensely.
Hoping what they had asked was something similar to "do you want me to turn this on" she nodded. The being said something that sounded harsher this time and the two she hadn't interacted with raised their weapons squarely on her. That message didn't need a translation. They obviously didn't trust her. The being cautiously reached out while looking at her, hesitating only for a moment, before wiping away a layer of dust and placing their hand on the touch sensitive glass. The machinery hummed to life as the screen registered the limb pressed against it and turned on.
Relieved by the fact that the fortress bunker's fusion core was still operational, she watched as the state of the art device cycled itself.
Yet another dull blue glow added to the room’s illumination as the main screen activated. Her own armour's holographic interface automatically synchronised to the system and displayed in front of her, adding to the blue light, its own illumination and brightening the room from a dull gloom to a faded glow.
The strangers still eyed her warily, fingers not on their triggers but hovering close enough to fire if she tried anything. This was more than not trusting her. They seemed scared of her.
Slowly and deliberately to show them she wasn't up to anything untoward, she lifted her right hand to tap on the translator option in front of her among the myriad of options. The haptic feedback in her glove gave her the sensation of resistance as she pressed and the computer gave a chime of recognition. Three concentric rings appeared on the screen, pulsating like a heartbeat. She spoke and the rings pulsed in time with her words.
"If you speak, that should be able to translate for us in real time" she said.
The one to her left lifted up her arm with the miniature screen and pointed it at the wall computer as the one who had touched the wall screen voiced more of their melodic speech.
"I think it's a translation programme, commander. I've managed to connect and uploaded our language to its database. They obviously designed it to be universal, it automatically reached out to my pad. It doesn’t seem like there aren't any defences or compatibility issues at the moment but this one will need to go through maintenance checks back on the ship" the being said, the software translating the language to her in real time. “But right now the risk is minima, I’m letting our systems access the programme now”
It was a wonder of coding, even managing to mimic vocal tones and cadences of the individual accurately. Although there was a slight disorienting disconnect in person when the sounds didn't quite match up to the mouth movements but that was something you got used to.
She smiled inside her helmet and relaxed, the tension that had been building easing out of her body. It was working and she'd be able to talk to them finally. And get some much needed answers.
"At least you’ll finally be able to understand me" she said.
The beings were confused for a second, each looking at each other like they'd been the ones to say it before it dawned on them that she had just spoken to them in their own language. They turned to stare at her from behind their owlish visors. It would have been almost predatory if their brief naive confusion hadn't been so amusing.
Immediately, the two with their weapons trained on her began to lean in, their fingers barely hovering over the triggers. The one who had placed their hand on the computer moved in front and motioned to them with a gesture. They lowered their weapons but did not appear to have calmed down.
"Who are you?" the person demanded.
The simple question confused her immensely. If they didn’t know who she was then why were they even down here in the first place? Even so, she needed their help to be able to get out of her pod. Let alone leaving the bunker and getting to the surface and finding any survivors. There was little choice, she needed to be careful. Secrecy protocols drilled into her by intelligence trainers until she’d had migraines were almost second nature at this point. Especially with what she should reveal and to who. But her name was something she shouldn't have to worry about.
"My name is.. Alice" she said with only the briefest hesitation.
Deciding that she could get further with these strangers by forcing a situation and getting out of the pod rather than just laying there, Alice leaned up and took a tentative shaky step forwards. She braced herself with her hands against the cushioned sides as she placed her weight on her dominant foot, stepping out warily. As soon as she lifted the weight off her back foot her leg buckled and she collapsed onto the ground in a heap.
The one who had been closest to her this entire time rushed forwards to help her.
"Are you alright?" they panicked as they helped Alice stand.
"I'm fine. Just a bit shaky after being asleep for so long." Alice replied calmly. "It's a side effect of the drugs for cryogenics. It'll take me a few more moments for it to get out of my system"
"Why would they keep you frozen for so long if it would have such deleterious effects?" asked her helper.
"What do you mean for so long? It’s just what’s used"
"Can you tell us why you were here? What happened? Why are there so many dead soldiers in this facility?" asked the demanding one.
Alice couldn’t let them see how such a casual line of questioning shook her. Taking all of her meagre strength to not simply collapse again from shock. She had to compose herself or she’d let something go by accident. At least she could be honest in this instance.
"I don't know any of that either. I was put in there before any of that happened or anything was explained to me" she said, indicating with a thumb over her shoulder. Her casual body language was key. Keep them off balanced, make sure they didn’t know how much she was internally panicking then.
he body language of the person asking her so many questions appeared incredulous at her hesitancy to be forthcoming.
Besides which, Alice had questions of her own.
“Not to be ungrateful, but who are you all?” she asked.
The one who had been demanding of her appeared to straighten up their back even further somehow.
“I am Commander Yurisa. The one kindly helping you stand at the moment is Second Rating Shand."
The latter term was unfamiliar to her but she perfectly understood the implications of there being a commander. There were enough survivors to field a well equipped and manned military. Tentative hope began to form as Alice looked at the person helping her. She gave them a nod of greeting.
"What about them?" asked Alice, indicating to the two who had been the tensest and most willing to point their weapons eagerly at her. They were still slightly hovering their weapons in her general direction.
"Conscripts Doane and Hedi. They do not need your attention, pay them no heed" said the commander curtly.
The lack of respect for the two subordinates caught Alice off guard. The two people, Doane and Hedi, may have been jumpy at her. But they didn't deserve to be dismissed so out of hand.
Even so, she could think about the ramifications of someone who would dismiss their underlings in such a manner later. Now her focus was changing as the strength returned to her limbs. She needed to find out about the rest of the bunker, what had happened after she had been frozen.
She untangled herself from Shand who had been helping her and stood straight on her own, albeit still slightly wobbling.
"Thank you for waking me up, all of you. But if it's alright, I'd like to know what happened. How many days has it been since I was locked in there?" she slightly chuckled nervously.
"Not until we know you won't pose a danger to my people or my ship" Yurisa replied sternly, a hand extended in front of her. They had evidently identified the weapon she carried.
This seemed like a hard line she shouldn’t push for the moment. She didn’t know these people and they in turn didn’t know about her it seemed. A rapport was more important for the moment, leaving her only one course of action if she didn’t want to be shot by the jumpy soldiers. Slowly reaching towards her thigh for the standard issue civilian sidearm clamped there. Making sure to deliberately grab it by the casing rather than the grip and placed the rugged weapon in the proffered commander’s hand.
Yurisa looked at her for a seeming eternity before hooking her gun on an armoured belt.
Stand down" she commanded.
Doane and Hedi once again relaxed, except this time they slung their weapons onto their backs in fluid motions.
Content they had relaxed and weren’t going to shoot her after all, Alice went to the computer she had indicated to Yurisa to turn on. She tapped the screen to change menus from the translation software to a full cultural database download. The computer chimed and began downloading the entire memory bank into her onboard storage. All the information amassed before and after her sleep. All public research and development. All scientific theories and art and literature. The entire sum of all human knowledge and culture. She'd carry it with her. The weight would be immense. The guilt of leaving it behind would be worse.
"I promise I'm not a threat commander" she said dejectedly. The energy rushed out of her as fast as it had returned, like a collapsing wave on a beach. She accessed the imaging network. Before there had been hundreds of cameras available, ranging from CCTV in the cities to satellites in orbit. Now it seemed none remained, not even static from severed connections. They were simply blank screens with error codes. She couldn't even see what had become of her home. She tried accessing previous recordings, hoping at least the final moments of the people who had protected her had been saved. The files listed themselves in front of her in a cascade of videos all dated and timestamped. She added them to the download, vowing to sort through them at the earliest opportunity.
"I just want to leave. I want to get out and see what’s survived. Who’s survived. I want to see the Earth and help rebuild, maybe even find anyone I know if I’m lucky."
She stared at the screen, willing the cameras to life. To show her the bustling streets and busy sky lanes. To see the grand ships hanging in low orbit above the urban centres, ever watchful sentinels of the heavens. But the screen defied her will and remained stubbornly black. Her rapt attention shielded her from the awkward glances the people seemed to be sharing behind her.
Shand nervously cleared her throat. “About that..”
She began but the commander furiously cut her off with a swift hand signal.
Frustration clawed at her as Alice repeatedly swiped horizontally through the vast list of camera nodes, the error codes stubbornly refusing to yield. A single flash of colour blurred past her frantic swiping. She swiftly backpedalled, searching for the frame that had zoomed by. With a tap, the swiping stopped. She had found it. A single camera she had overlooked. Tapping on the frame to enlarge the feed, she stood back. The image before her was severely cracked and pitted, barely feeding a picture let alone video. Static suffused almost the entire screen. But past it she could just about make it out. The ruins of the city. No fires flared or smoke dissipated into the sky as she expected. Or even rebuilt to its former splendour like she was hoping with these strangers being in her bunker. Instead, her eyes tried to process the rusted sharp jags of bare metal left to rot into nothing. The illusion her brain had imagined while she had been so desperate moments ago shattered at the reality in front of her.
It was gone. All of it. Just how long have I been frozen?
Grief and fear threatened to rear up in her before an entirely different sensation replaced them.
They destroyed it all. All of it. No mercy After all we had given them. Their very reason for being. If it hadn’t been for the human race they wouldn’t have even existed. HOW DARE THEY!
“HOW DARE THEY!” she screamed, punching the screen with unbridled rage.
Webs of cracks spread out from under her fist as she took deep breaths. She had to control herself. She didn’t want to turn and look at the people no doubt staring at her after her outburst. No clacks of weapons had sounded so at least they weren’t panicking even if they would be on edge yet again.
A warbling chime broke the spell around her. The download was complete. Everything that had been was now with her. The importance of it was undeniable before but now it was possibly the only record left in the galaxy. She had to guarantee its safety, as well as her own. The fallback option when she was woken up without the expected personnel. She typed in the final command she had been told to do when she had been briefed so long ago.
​
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
​
Alice snorted to herself.
Of course it would be that, they always thought they had a sense of humour. What idiots.
And with those last letters, the fortress that had survived fathomless millenia protecting its charge shut down with barely a dulcet low whine. The ruined screen flickered as the fission reactors went off line. The dull blue light slowly dimmed, once again returning the room to darkness. The last thread of life that had lasted so long finally free. And the last man made structure died, its duty carried for so long fulfilled.
Alice turned from the console a final time. The only sources of light came from the torches of the people standing in the room with her. She reached up to the side of her own helmet and touched a small pad. An embedded LED just above her faceplate illuminated itself, adding a narrow cutting beam to the wide ones of these apparent soldiers.
Commander Yurisa appeared to become distracted for a moment, her head tilting slightly to one side as if someone were talking directly into her ear. Her reply to whoever was on the other end of the obvious communication was heard by Alice.
"No, nothing to worry about. Sit tight, we're on our way back" she said to whoever it was.
Judging by that context, Alice guessed they were heading back up to the surface. They had come down and discovered her and were now leaving with their prize in tow.
No matter, as long as she could get off the planet she didn’t care where they took her now. She didn’t think she could handle the ghosts if they left her here.
Commander Yurisa indicated towards Alice, gaining her attention.
“We will be taking you back to our ship in orbit. Standard procedure means you will be confined to quarantine until medical scans show you are clear of any pathogens or other such contaminants that may prove a risk to us. These scans are non invasive and barring any complications will last no longer than a single rotation” she said in a statement that sounded rehearsed more than sincere.
Alice’s brain scratched like a record at what she had just been so casually told. A ship in orbit. She could barely comprehend all the implications it raised, not least of all the biggest one of how. She had to find out, to see if they had found an intact ship or maybe were even from a separate colony that had been missed. Her mind raced as she simply nodded in return, keeping the facade.
“I understand. I wouldn’t want to cause any harm to any of you. Just please, can we leave.” she begged.
“Doane, take the lead back to the surface. Second Rating, follow him and map our way out” ordered the stern commander.
Doane performed an odd slamming across his torso and nodded before heading towards the doorway. Alice gave one last glimpse at the pod that had kept her safe. She didn’t know if she would miss it in time but for now she felt hollow. Everything was proceeding so quickly and sooner or later she would have confront being left behind for such a long time. At least soon she would be getting answers. Why they had never found or woken her before now. She didn’t even know when now was, that was something she’d have to look up in the records when she had time.
Her lamenting was interrupted by the form of the commander filling her vision. Arm extended, indicating it was her turn to leave. Passing through the once pristine doorway, she immediately noticed the state of sheer decay. Instead of an elevator, rubble and rust met her eyes. She looked up, trying to spot where these people had climbed down. The opposite doorway wasn’t far above her, barely two levels. Doane and Shand were already more than halfway up. More beams of light were cutting through the gloom back at her, revealing the individual that Yurisa must have been talking to over the radio earlier.
Crossing the debris strewn floor, Alice reached for the corroded ladder, grabbing the rung closest to her. With mighty heaves she brought herself up, step by step, her limited strength making the simple task a strained ordeal.Finally she reached the opening she had seen from the bottom. Reaching out with her left food to dismount she hopped the small gap. Her weakened muscles still building their stamina back up from her lengthy internment failed her. Her foot slipped off the rung as she overexerted her leg, her left foot buckling from beneath her. Arms waving in front of her, desperately scrabbling for purchase on anything before she would plunge back into the darkness. Gravity inevitably overcame her struggle and pulled her back into the black shaft. A hand shot out, yanking on her forearm and dragging her back from the brink of her overbalance and firmly out of the doorway.
Alice collapsed hard onto her hands and knees, panting at the loss of strength and exhaustion wracking her body. Desperately trying to catch her breath, she looked up at who had pulled her in. Shand stood over her, head cocked while watching her. Alice fought against a giggle from erupting, the helmet the being was wearing made it look like a curious bird caught red handed in a spotlight.
Were they concerned? she wondered to herself.
Shand extended their purple gloved hand to her as she gasped from exhaustion. Alice grabbed the proffered hand. With a mighty heave, and a grunt from Shand, she stood unsteadily on her feet. Two of the soldiers rushed to her aid as she swayed on the spot, their rough armoured forms propping her up between them. Which two had helped her Alice didn’t know but nevertheless she voiced her thanks to them.
One of the group took the lead and began to head towards where they must have entered from. That must have been Doane, and Shand was the one following. She was easier to tell apart due to the holographic map being displayed on her wrist.
As they walked she looked at the aged remains of the carnage around her. Bodies and weapons strewn about the wreckage, no one left to bury them but entombed all the same in this bunker.
My father could be in here Alice realised as she slowly walked past an armoured skeleton wearing the stripes of a Sergeant draped over the remains of a concrete barrier.
They had still clung onto their rifle in a literal death grip, defending her as she had been frozen and slept. Guilt flushed through her at the sight of so many who had given themselves. Especially the Sergeant.
"Commander Yurisa. Could we stop for a moment please" asked Alice
The commander walked up to her, seeing her staring at the remains around her in the chamber.
"I think we can spare a minute or two" said Yurisa.
Alice gently removed the support of the two people who had been helping her and knelt in front of the Sergeant. An unsettling grin stared back at her through the smashed face plate of the helmet that once fitted. The unsettling truth suffused her being as she knelt. Days, or even months wouldn’t leave such a bare skeleton. This was years, decades at least. Alice looked around her at the other bodies lying around her, as if looking for any scrap of evidence that what she was realising couldn’t be true. All were beached with age, their tooth filled smiles laughing at the cosmic joke being played on her by the universe.
Looking away from the grim audience, she reached past the neck, briefly rummaging for the chain necklace she hoped would still be there. Gently lifting it past the skull, she dangled the rugged jewellery in front of her visor and attempted to read the dog tag hanging in the air. The thin slice of treated metal was caked in rust but even then it wasn't so far gone as to be illegible. Wiping the plate with her thumb, she read the name she had suspected it would say since seeing the rank of the remains.
Lockley.
The man who had rushed her to her pod so she could be where she was now. Alice bowed her head at the man she once knew. The man's armour may have been corroded with age but tradition was still tradition.
She reached out and disconnected his bulky left shoulder armour, the magnetic clamps still keeping it secure in place after so long. Placing it on top of her own civilian suit's lightly armoured shoulder with a light click, the piece looked completely out of place compared to the rest of her suit. A large dent in the centre showed where something had struck the late Sergeant as he had fought, perhaps an energy bolt or shrapnel from the fight. She rotated her shoulder, ensuring the piece wasn't interfering with movement or cumbersome. Satisfied it wasn’t, she then placed the dog tags back around the man's neck. The last thing she needed to take was his identity. The final thing he could keep.
Her deed done, she stood back up, looking around at the people she didn't realise had been staring at her.
"It was a tradition that started during the war" she said sheepishly. "You take the pauldron of whoever saved you if they died, that way you can carry them with you out of respect"
"That's a nice tradition" one of the soldiers she didn't know the name of yet said from behind her. One of the pair who had helped her. One who had been there when she had woken up. Which meant this must have been Hedi.
Alice chuckled slightly to herself as a sudden absurdity came to her. "Yeah but unfortunately I don't have enough shoulders right now for all the rest" she indicated with a sweep of her arms.
The group gave a few quiet sounds of amusement of their own, looking down at the ground or up at the ceiling rather than meeting her faceplate.
With a heavy sigh Alice willed herself to move. If she stayed any longer she would begin to lament on the lives lost for her and if she began that she may never leave.
Catching up with the awaiting Shand and Mannad, the group were led to a narrow maintenance utility shaft embedded into the wall. The cramped spaces twisted and turned as they took a winding path directed by shand.
The soldier Alice had not yet learned the name of was revealed to her when Iftan annoyed Mannad with an attempt at humour commenting on how it appeared to take longer to return the way they had come and if Shand had gotten them lost. Apparently Mannad had acute claustrophobia, however it was swiftly eased with a thump on the back of Iftan's helmet.
Alice smiled to herself at the thought of how soldiers were soldiers no matter what time or part of the universe you were from.

I’m thinking of starting a company that sells CD jewel case replacement lids. Because if I had a dollar for every busted lid on a CD I buy cheap… Usually a missing or cracked hinge…
Would you buy a pack of ten replacement lids? Price TBD.
Admin: I’m joking. I think…

I can think of a million reasons why I hate Tupperware, but the simple fact that it doesn't last as long as a good glass container with a lid is reason enough to pick those up, instead. I have a few from Ikea. They are thick, come in different shapes, microwaveable, cheap, and you can buy the lids separately so you can grab an extra one in case of breakeage. What are some good frugal options that I only have to buy once that don't dump microplastics into my bones?

Inside the boundless expanse of Loria Online, Guspy the elven mage drained the last of his mana vaporizing a Vickerbite. It was his third hour of grinding this particular mob, and he was getting tired.
“What’s the drop rate on this thing again?” he asked Collins.
Collins cleaved another Vickerbite with his greataxe. “0.02% or something. Getting bored?”
Guspy was indeed getting bored. Despite their grotesque appearance (they looked like flying crocodile heads with mosquito feet), Vickerbites were pushovers.
“Yeah, I might only have a few minutes’ more patience for this.”
Collins slammed his axe into the ground, causing a shockwave that killed another three. “That’s ok, we’ve been playing for a while. It just kind of feels like wasted time if we quit now, though.”
“Are you getting close to leveling?”
“Nope.”
“Me neither.”
A Vickerbite burst when he swatted it with his staff. A loot bag dropped onto the rust colored dirt.
Probably another Vicker Tongue or leg or something, Guspy thought. He almost didn’t bother to check. But when he did, he found what he and Collins had been seeking for so long.
“I got it! The belt dropped!”
“Thank God, let’s get out of here,” Collins said, regrouping with the mage he protected.
Guspy read the item description for The Belt of Endurance.
The Belt of Endurance Slot: Belt Rarity: Very Rare Earth Resistance: %%0 Air Resistance: %%0 Fire Resistance: %%0 Water Resistance: %%0 Physical Resistance: %%0 Magic Resistance: %%0 Debuff Resistance: %%0
“What the hell?” Guspy said.
“What’s wrong? Is it the wrong belt?” Collins casually swatted two final Vickerbites.
“The stats are glitched or something. It’s supposed to be 5% resistance to everything, right?”
“The BoE? Yeah, 5% resist all. Is it not?”
“It shows ‘percent percent zero’.”
Collins shrugged. “Put it on, see what happens.”
Guspy equipped the belt and checked his character’s stats. “Ha, that’s so weird. All of my resistances show backslash, open parenthesis, ‘N’, close parenthesis.”
Collins used the Warrior’s Assessment ability on Guspy. “Huh. When I analyze you, I see hashtag ‘null’.”
“That’s either really good or really bad,” said Guspy.
Collins raised his sword and struck Guspy on the shoulder.
Collins attacks you for 0 damage
“There are safer ways to check!” Guspy said.
“It didn’t hurt you, weird. Mind if I use a little Fire Fan scroll on you?” Collins asked with a toothy grin.
“You have one? Aren’t you a little over leveled for that?” Fire Fan produced a tiny cone of flame that did very little damage.
“I’m a hoarder. So, can I?” Collins wiggled the scroll between his fingers.
Guspy agreed.
Collins casts Fire Fan for 0 fire damage
“Guspy, I don’t want to alarm you, but I think that belt makes you invincible,” said Collins.
Guspy began to bounce up and down in excitement. “Oh man, think of the possibilities! I can solo raid a guild hall. The Nighthawks deserve that kind of ass whupping,” he said, referring their rival guild in Loria. “Or I can loot an end-game dungeon! We’re not far from The Death Pit.”
Collins looked into Guspy’s eyes and gave him the smile a parent gives a child when they ask where rainbows end.
“Oh, you asshole!” said Guspy.
“I think you should turn it in,” said Collins.
“Why?! Why would I do that?! The Nighthawks have been bullying us for months now. With this, I could walk right in their guild hall, wipe them out, and tear the whole thing down. They wouldn’t be able to stop me! You can’t tell me they don’t deserve it.”
“Not saying they don’t,” said Collins.
Guspy pressed, “I can farm The Death Pit for Soulflayers. Everyone in our guild could have a Soulflayer, even the newbies. They’d finally be tough enough to join us on raids. You know how they’ve been dying to play with us in high level zones. Think how happy they would be!”
“Oh, they’d be awfully happy,” said Collins.
Guspy unleashed his coup de grace. “And! I can go to Fort Murder, stroll through it without a care in the world, kill the general, and not have to split the loot with anyone. That means I would get a Headsman’s Axe, which I would of course donate to my dear friend Collins. Wouldn’t you like a Headsman’s Axe?”
“I absolutely would,” said Collins.
“Ok, good. So, I’ll just—"
“Turn it in, Guspy,” said Collins.
Guspy stamped his feet in frustration. “Why though? You just said you were on board with the Nighthawks and the Soulflayer and the axe!”
“Oh, I am. The Nighthawks need to get taught. Having the newbies be tough enough to join us would be great. I’ve been dying for a Headsman for months now. But you’d be cheating. Momma didn’t raise no cheater, and daddy didn’t raise no troll,” said Collins.
“That’s so backward. You know the Nighthawks would do that to us if they got it,” said Guspy.
“Sure enough. But we can’t control what they do, and I can’t control what you do. I just want you to remember what I’ve said before: there’s a person on the other end of that character. A person just like you. I can only imagine how tilted you’d get if someone cheated to become invincible and killed you. Or farmed their whole guild ultra-rares and used them on you. I’m just asking you, as a friend, to turn it in. Please.”
Guilt. He’s put the guilt in me, thought Guspy. What an asshole.
“Fine, I’ll head to Pokate and turn it in,” said Guspy, pouting and kicking an errant stone.
“Thanks, Gusp. I promise I’ll help you find a legit one. I gotta go, though. Play later?”
“You know it,” said Guspy, and he watched Collin’s avatar dissipate.
Guspy walked back to Pokate City, the largest player hub in the area. The journey was a particularly hazardous one. Wild beast attacks, an assassin, a rockslide, even an errant fireball from an ongoing battle, all harmless in the face of his perfect resistance. He crossed into the city proper, whitewashed buildings that held little shops and extra dimensional guildhalls. Pokate Palace loomed over all of this like a resplendent sundial. The stained-glass windows shimmered in the sunlight.
Guspy approached a beggar in the street. The beggar’s body was gaunt. His dirty rags and matted beard spoke of hungry days and cruel nights. The beggars of Loria Online were portals to moderator attention. Speaking to a beggar cued a request. A moderator would eventually take control of the beggar and offer assistance.
Guspy knelt before the beggar.
“I’d like to speak with a moderator, please.”
“All in good time, my boy,” the beggar wheezed.
Guspy felt an itch in his legs. There was still time to run wild, to reap the rewards of his lottery ticket. He cursed Collins for guilting him and attempted to distract himself. Guspy admired the features on the beggar. His eyes traced cavernous wrinkled flesh. Saw the tiny movements of lice in the filthy thick beard. Saw the faintest deposits of salt in two long tracks leading down from the cloudy blue eyes.
The beggar had been crying. Why would they include such a heartbreaking detail? Why haven’t I ever noticed this before? Guspy thought.
The clouds in the beggar’s eyes parted, revealing a bright blue sky. “Thank you for waiting, this is Raymond. How can I help you?” A voice as crisp as autumn wind now spoke through the beggar.
“Uhh, hi. I’ve got a problem with an item I found?” Guspy spoke at the mouth of the beggar.
“Sure thing! Is it an item you have equipped right now?”
“Yeah, The Belt of Endurance. The values look wonky, and It makes me immune to every element. I’m immune to physical and magic damage now too.”
There was a long pause, the beggar’s eye fluttered. “You’re reporting that an item is broken in your favor?”
Guspy winced. “Umm, yes sir? It basically makes me immortal.”
Guspy waited patiently. The moderator was using his tools to see Guspy’s menu screens, something that was normally private.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” the beggar said. “It’s a null shunt error.”
“A null shunt error?”
“Yeah. Sometimes during a drop-roll, the system shunts over a clipped value that…sometimes it breaks.”
“Ah.”
“They’re a bitch to fix. Thankfully very rare. This one is particularly bad, and I’m at the end of my shift.” The mod let out a sigh that prophesized an exhausting tedious future.
“Well…thank you for your honesty! Usually when an item glitches in a player’s favor, they keep it a secret for as long as they can. Then they have a temper tantrum when we take it away. Alright, Guspy, I’m on morning shift tomorrow. I don’t want to deal with this right now. I’m giving you eight hours of god mode. Can I trust you not to make me regret it?”
Guspy was stunned. A mod was allowing immortality for eight hours? Trusting him? Why?
“You can trust me,” Guspy said.
“I hope so. I’ll fix this in the morning, don’t take the belt off or you’ll have negative infinite resistance and die from a sunburn.” The beggar’s eyes clouded back over.
Guspy threw a gold piece into the beggar’s bowl, a good luck ritual that even the highest level raiders did before a dangerous run.
He was in the clear. A mod had okayed him having god mode. Anything I do is the mod’s fault now! Guspy thought, but the thought gave him a queasy feeling the moment it passed through his mind. He was being trusted. He had promised to not make the mod regret it.
What was the mod’s name? Randy? He remembered Collins's words about there being real people on the other end of the game. He supposed that meant Randy too. He imagined telling someone to their face that his actions were their fault, like trust somehow absolved him of responsibility. He imagined someone else doing that to him. Or doing that to his little sister…
He spent a fair amount of gold on fast travel scrolls, valuable, single-use items that would transport the player anywhere in Loria. Guspy now stood on the craggy lip of Salamander’s Eye. The massive active volcano dominated the primordial jungle landscape. A vast column of ebony smoke rose from the lava pit, the birthplace of thunderclouds. Guspy spread his arms wide and fell into the heat, letting simulated gravity carry him downward to the roiling floor of liquid earth.
At the last moment he reflexively raised his hands to shield himself. Lava was instant death in Loria, doing an infinite amount of damage per second. Guspy was now sinking slowly in this most dangerous of elements unharmed. He raised his hand in a thumbs up as he sank beneath the surface.
Whorls of incandescent crimson, brown, and orange materialized and dispersed endlessly. It was like looking into the fickle furnace of creation, so eager to invent but too chaotic to design.
Guspy wondered if he’d fall forever. At last, his feet settled on something solid. He was the first player to set foot here. A unique accomplishment, one he could keep. He moved through the lava as though it was water. Must not have been a very important thing to program considering you die as soon as you touch it, he thought.
Guspy explored the floor of the volcano. It was perfectly smooth and without texture, an entire volcano held up on a pane of glass. But then he found something. A deformity in the bottom of the world. He explored it with his hand. It felt like a solid bubble sticking up out of the flat plane beneath him. It moved a little.
It’s a doorknob! Guspy realized. He turned it and felt it fall away beneath him. He sank further and dropped into a vast open room, the lava didn’t follow past the entry. Guspy cast a series of Light spells, banishing the darkness to the black obsidian of the walls and floor.
A giant floating sign that hung suspended in midair grabbed Guspy’s attention.
“IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET HERE.”
“Shows what you know, sign,” Guspy said, and began to explore.
In the secret chamber Guspy found dozens of monster models from the surrounding area, frozen in the sterile T-position. He took the time inspect them in the minutest detail. He saw the way salamander skin glittered with the luster of countless ruby gemstones. He watched the dancing flames of fire elementals, and discovered their heat rose above the limitation of their hitbox. He looked deep into the eyes of a stone golem and saw that they were prisms. They split the blue glow of the golem’s magical core into a frigid winter sunset, whites and blues dancing and concealing a secret whisper of deep red.
I don’t think I ever really looked at the models before, he thought. Even now he couldn’t recall any specific details of any monster he had fought. They were all colored blurs in his mind, faceless values and blocks of information.
Despite his immortality, he still froze in fear when his spell illuminated a colossus of steel tucked away in a corner of the room. It was a broad suit of cold iron armor, bereft of adornment and pockmarked with the careless ministrations of a thousand hammers beating the metal into shape. In one clenched fist it carried a wicked looking cleaver, one that belonged in a giant’s butcher shop, used to crack the toughest dragon bones and partition the choicest bits.
Guspy had never seen or heard of this creature in his life.
You must not have made it into the final game. At least not yet, thought Guspy. Despite its beastly ugliness, Guspy felt a pang of remorse. Someone worked to design every aspect of this monstrosity to evoke the feelings of fear and disgust, and they had been very successful. But it had gone unused and unseen since the game’s inception.
I remember the Christmas ornament I made in middle school. A Christmas light made to look like a reindeer, googly eyes and fuzzy brown pipe cleaners for antlers. I was so proud. But when Christmas came, they didn’t want to put it on the tree. They thought it looked too silly.
Guspy left a gold coin at its feet, alms for unsung effort.
He was preparing to depart when he noticed an unadorned chest had appeared beneath the presumptive sign. Guspy was certain it hadn’t been there before. He approached, circling the chest, before reaching out and lightly tapping it. He may invulnerable, but this was a developer’s world. Who knows what treachery could hide here? He lifted the lid, tilting his head and peeking at its contents with one eye shut. Inside was a billiard sized ball of translucent glass. Guspy recognized a Title Sphere. These rare items would grant a moniker to the character’s name. It was a single use item worth tens of thousands of gold. Too curious to resist learning what it would bestow, he shattered the sphere in his palm. Red dust flowed between his fingers like Martian sand. His name had changed from Guspy to Guspy the Wanderer.
Guspy used his next scroll and teleported to the shipwreck of the Soothsayers Doom. A brig suspended above the ocean on a monstrous coral bed, the ship itself was a mid-level dungeon. Players could fight their way from deck to deck, battling undead crewmen that fired grapeshot salvos into crowded rooms, shredding players into bloody clouds. The Captain was the boss of the dungeon, and part of his loot was a map that would send players on a quest line that eventually led players to the halls of the merfolk king, an extremely high-level dungeon at the bottom of the ocean.
Being immortal, Guspy took what players called the ‘express route’, swimming directly downward from the open sea. It was suicide. Besides suffocation, players had to contend with titanic carcharodons, giant squid, invisible water elementals, and elite merfolk guard. These creatures had mastery of the terrain, and few players were accustomed to attacks that could come from any direction.
Beneath him, the phosphorescent glow of the Coral Castle overpowered the distant sun for dominion of the depths. Guspy slipped into a castle window, ignoring the tridents of the pursuing Knights of Pearl. The Castle was a dungeon that needed to be completed quickly, lest the player’s water breathing magic wear off. That made it the perfect sight-seeing location for someone who didn’t need to breathe. Guspy examined the meticulously decorated royal bedrooms. The books in Loria were filled with open source stories from the real world. Players spent hours in this fantasy world engrossed in the prose of Tom Sawyer and Paradise Lost. But yellowed letters fell from between the pages like autumn leaves.
Never whole without you, my beloved Jennifer,
B.C.
Guspy didn’t know the merfolk princess even had a name. Neither had he any idea who B.C was, or if these pages were part of some fetch quest he had never come across.
Deeper in the palace he found the throne room of the merfolk king. The king was gigantic, of course, all raid bosses were. The king was also an enemy that demanded constant focus and attention to defeat. He cycled seamlessly through attack patterns, buffs, and stage activations. Missing the tell-tale signs would leave you a step behind the dance and doomed to failure.
Guspy now had a unique opportunity. He ignored the king completely. The throne room was heaped with chests of gold and artifacts plundered from sunken ships. But they were only decorative, ersatz décor designed to regale the room with the trappings of wealth and luxury. Being worthless, players ignored them. Guspy took the time to closely inspect the mountains of coins and bejeweled quillions that rose from the coin piles. Ignoring the world-shaking bolts of lightning, magical rays, and great sweeps of the merfolk king’s trident, he crouched to the level of a single coin.
There, in the face of the coin, were three smiling children. The normal relief of Empress Aubrianna, a mythical figure in Origin’s history, was replaced with a picture of a family. The normal Latin phrase, “A solis ortu usque ad occasum”, had been replaced with, “Jason, Melody, Brock”. He moved from one coin to the next. Families, pets, and selfies looked back at him. Some had names written, others messages, “Thx Mel, my rock <3” “Joe & Cara 4 eva” “We did it!”
Guspy wondered if any player had ever seen these. Maybe, but he hadn’t, and that made it special to him. He wondered what he would put on his own coin. Me, Collins, and Becca at the beach, he thought. A picture that had been his desktop background for years. The only evidence of a perfect day.
Having taken his fill of the throne room, Guspy pulled out another scroll and teleported away.
Hogglerock dungeon was an aberration. Most dungeons tried to evoke a sense of awe or fear, but Hogglerock was just gross. Its entrance was at the center of a mud-smothered swamp. Poisonous insects and carnivorous slugs roamed the wastes searching for carrion to strip or making their own if none could be found.
To descend into the putrid depths of Hogglerock, you entered the mouth of a great saurian beast. It was long since dead, its flesh in a perpetual state of decay. Down its mucus-caked throat, you entered a dungeon that had been created from the offal that remained of its digestive system. Noxious acid pools, monstrous parasites, and bloated scavengers challenged players that came to plunder the carcass.
Guspy had to stop and think before entering the sixth stomach of the beast. He had no idea if his plan would work, or even made sense. Guspy removed all his armor and weapons, save for the Belt of Endurance. He entered the dungeon’s final room, aggroing a great bipedal minotaur and its bovine kin. Guspy sat and crossed his legs. He closed his eyes and focused on slowing his breath and his heart. Aggro in Loria was based on a series of factors: proximity, source of damage or debuff, equipment levels, class, movement, and supposedly even biometric data the VR rig was able to obtain.
The monsters were instantly aggroed when the rubbery sphincter of the sixth stomach was touched, converging on their only target. Guspy’s lack of equipment, aggression, and stillness would reduce his aggro over time. He waited and he watched. In time the monsters lost interest, ceasing their attacks and wandering back to their starting positions. Guspy continued to watch. For a time, they only bobbed in place, replaying idle animations and howling blistering war cries. But, in time, Guspy saw a strange behavior begin. One smaller minotaur creature pulled out a hunk of meat, clutching it by the pure white protruding bone. It chomped a piece and munched in contentment, eyes closed in blissful indulgence. The giant boss minotaur began to sniff the air, and a game of keep away began. The smaller minotaurs tossed the meat between themselves as the boss zeroed in on the source of the smell.
Who is this for? wondered Guspy. Who was meant to see this? And how? Why hide it? How many monsters of Loria Online had these little secrets? Tiny moments of humor buried in terabytes of code, only visible in a state of extreme passivity. Once the capering script had completed, the bovines returned to their normal places and continued to cycle basic idle motions.
It’s for me. Since I’m the one watching it, that means it’s for me, thought Guspy.
Guspy pulled out his final scroll, completing the spell just before he was beset again.
Guspy the Wanderer appeared back in Pokate City. His new title drew lingering looks from other players who searched their memories. Guspy’s time was running low, and fatigue massaged his mind and eyes. There was more he could search for. He could run down the hours until the mod logged back on and set things to rights. But he didn’t want the last moments of such an enlightening day to be a race against the clock. It would spoil the sense of calm and contemplation he had cultivated. Instead he sat down next to a beggar and composed a message to Collins.
“I won’t be joining you today, Collins, but I’ve got so much to tell you about when I do.”
He had seen beyond the veil. He witnessed tiny miracles of creation hidden from mortal sight. Sparks of love that flickered once more when observed. For a precious few hours, he was blessed with a peace that allowed him to fall in love with the game all over again, to appreciate its creation like a benevolent god.
Collins and Guspy returned to the red rock canyon. Guspy admired the visible strata of the walls. Simulated eons left perfect layers of color stacked like the pages of a book. Little details, so insignificant yet so engrossing. He appreciated the work that went into this game. The efforts of artists always caught his notice.

Hi all, I work at a company that tests used computers and laptops for basic functionality. Unfortunately we get many used computers and laptops from businesses that have already removed the RAM and then put the "lid" back on the machine. When the machine comes into our possession, all we want to be able to do is test if the machine will power on properly and then access the BIOS screen to record some of the main specs of the unit. We can't do that without RAM.
The biggest time waster in this type of work is when a machine is missing its RAM. In that case, we need to take our replacement RAM stick, open up the laptop or PC, seat our RAM stick into place properly, power on the computer, get the specs we need, then power off the machine, remove our RAM, and close the machine back up. Then move onto the next one. We can make this process as efficient as possible, but finding a workaround to the underlying issue would be the best possible solution.
We are not interested in putting a new RAM stick into the computer or laptop permanently. We are only interested in using RAM temporarily just to properly power on the machine.
So, my question is... Is there any workaround to this issue? Is there any type of device that can act as RAM and maybe plug into the computer or laptop from an outside port? Plug it into a slot, power on the machine, unplug it, move on to the next... Or is there any other creative solution to this so we don't have to open up every laptop/PC we come across that is missing RAM.
Or does something like this simply not exist/cannot exist due to the architecture of the computelaptop?
Thank you so much in advance for any feedback!

Hi all, I work at a company that tests used computers and laptops for basic functionality. Unfortunately we get many used computers and laptops from businesses that have already removed the RAM and then put the "lid" back on the machine. When the machine comes into our possession, all we want to be able to do is test if the machine will power on properly and then access the BIOS screen to record some of the main specs of the unit. We can't do that without RAM.
The biggest time waster in this type of work is when a machine is missing its RAM. In that case, we need to take our replacement RAM stick, open up the laptop or PC, seat our RAM stick into place properly, power on the computer, get the specs we need, then power off the machine, remove our RAM, and close the machine back up. Then move onto the next one. We can make this process as efficient as possible, but finding a workaround to the underlying issue would be the best possible solution.
We are not interested in putting a new RAM stick into the computer or laptop permanently. We are only interested in using RAM temporarily just to properly power on the machine.
So, my question is... Is there any workaround to this issue? Is there any type of device that can act as RAM and maybe plug into the computer or laptop from an outside port? Plug it into a slot, power on the machine, unplug it, move on to the next... Or is there any other creative solution to this so we don't have to open up every laptop/PC we come across that is missing RAM.
Or does something like this simply not exist/cannot exist due to the architecture of the computelaptop?
Thank you so much in advance for any feedback!

I wanted so badly to love the CatGenie A.I.!
I have two cats, one was a fastidious litter box user (note “was”), the other is extremely picky about his litter box. I work a job that requires me to occasionally be away for extended periods, if my roommates don’t scoop every day when I’m away, the picky cat will poop outside of the box. So, having a box that will be automatically immaculately clean all the time sounded like a godsend. I narrowed it down to two self-cleaning litter boxes that I had to choose from, one was the Litter Robot and the other was the CatGenie A.I.
After reading up on both machines, I finally settled on the CatGenie A.I. I bought it, and at $539, this is hands down the most money I’ve ever spent on a pet outside of veterinary care (or initial adoption fees).
The shipping was reasonably quick and when I got the machine, I was pretty happy. I was impressed by the general build quality of the machine. It certainly did not look like the manufacturer cheaped out on any part of the machine. All the plastic seemed high quality and part fitment was impressive.
In general, I found the machine pretty easy to set up, Based on the requirements of water, drainage, and electricity, there was really only one place in my house that I could set it up.
I was quite happy and excited to put the machine into use. Unfortunately, after 5 months of usage, this was the first and last time that I was genuinely happy with the CatGenie.
I very diligently followed the instructions on how to acclimate a cat to the device. The cat that was the diligent cat box user took to the CatGenie right away, He used it several times a day from the get go.
My other cat wanted nothing to do with the CatGenie. As instructed, I stopped cleaning the old box to make the CatGenie more appealing. As soon as the old box got too dirty, the picky cat pooped outside of the box. As the CatGenie instructions indicate, I put the stray poop into the CatGenie, this did not change anything.
I tried using cat activation mode, I tried manually starting the box, and I tried time activation. No change occurred.
One night, my roommate got a little drunk and thought it would be a good idea to sprinkle a little regular litter in the CatGenie and see what would happen (I did warn her not to do this, but I’m guessing she forgot about this while drunk). At this point, we were about 3 weeks into our CatGenie ownership and I was already very seriously considering sending the unit back for a refund.
Two things happened in the aftermath, one, the cats started using the box, and, two, the warranty was voided, so since I was now without a doubt out the $539, I was determined to make this machine work for my pets.
I put the machine back into manual cleaning mode because I did not want to risk cleaning it with the clumping litter in it. Once it finally got too gross, I vacuumed the litter out and tried a cleaning, at this point, it was too late, the clumping litter had gotten into the machine’s internals, and I had no choice but to completely take the machine apart and clean everything manually. It was disgusting, but I got the machine to work smoothly again.
Since, the cats were willing to use the box with just the aroma of a traditional litter box, I thought that maybe the issue was that they didn’t like the smell of the cleaning solution, so I changed to the unscented stuff. The cats were even less interested in the machine than they were with the scented solution.
I also thought that maybe the problem was that the lid was too confining so I tried it with and without the lid, again, no difference.
I decided to put a webcam near the box. What I discovered was that they were jumping in, maybe peeing, maybe not, then jumping out and pooping elsewhere (usually on the bathroom sink). If they did poop in the CatGenie, they never buried it.
Out of desperation, I asked my friends online if any of them had successfully used the CatGenie, one friend said that she transitioned them by lining the CatGenie in plastic, filling it with scoopable litter, then as she scooped the litter out, she slowly replaced it with CatGenie pellets. So, I gave this a try, I did actually get them both to start using the CatGenie with only one accident.
So, I thought this was a decent enough track record. I finally decided to pull up the plastic, put down all CatGenie pellets, go through the usage logs and find a time that they never use the box and set that as the cleaning cycle time, and see what would happen. For four days, it was great, they were both using it, and we were “accident” free. Then for seemingly no reason, they stopped being good, and I started finding poop on floor or on the sink again.
I felt like I was so close to having them use the CatGenie, I would not give up. I bought some cat attractant and mixed it into the CatGenie pellets and replaced it every day, I also bought repellent, I would thoroughly clean every place they would void outside of the CatGenie, spray it with repellent, and cover it in aluminum foil. So as to make all the places they wanted to poop/pee on as undesirable as possible and make the CatGenie as attractive as possible. So, here is how they responded to that: they would perch on the ledge of the bowl of the CatGenie and go on that, sometimes it would roll into the CatGenie, but most times, it rolled onto the floor.
It really felt like a war of wills, they were fighting me tooth and nail to not use the CatGenie and I was fighting with everything I could think of to get them to use it.
It was around this time that my apartment started smelling of cat urine. I think towards the very end, they were refusing to use the box at all. They would jump in, decide “no”, and go elsewhere. After coming home from a long weekend, I was nearly bowled over by the smell of urine and feces, I decided that the cats won, the CatGenie had to go.
I disconnected the CatGenie, put it in the basement, set up a new box with their old clumping litter, and then set to the process of locating everywhere they went outside of the box and thoroughly cleaning those areas. I had to replace several rugs, it took days for me to find everywhere they had gone and were hiding it from me.
As if the huge expenditure on the system that I won’t be able to get my money back on was not enough, the cat that was always good about the box started peeing and pooping in the same areas that the bad cat was using. So, by increasing the amount of times the bad cat went outside of the box, it made my good cat much less fastidious about box usage.
So, considering, the effect this device had on my cat family, I have to conclude that the CatGenie A.I. is actually worse than worthless. It made my situation worse.
At the end of the day, I still think the CatGenie is a phenomenal concept, it just needs some tweaking. Petnovations needs to find a way to prevent the device from flinging litter out of the box, I was astonished that the box does this even if the lid is in place. They need to find a way to completely get the poop out of the box because the smell the machine makes if it doesn’t get all of the poop out is absolutely unbearable. Those little chunks just wreak havoc!
I think the reason my cats would not take to the CatGenie was due to failures on two key points, smell and feel. These two elements are critical for cats. I think to the cats, the cat genie simply does not smell right to them, if they could find a sanitizing solution that smells like fresh cat litter, cats might be more willing to use the CatGenie. But the feel of the pellets is probably the CatGenie’s biggest failure, the pellets just do not feel like litter to a cat, the pellets are very large and they are made of plastic, this in no way emulates the type of substrate that a cat likes to void on. The fact that I saw my cats jump in and then jump out hundreds of times over the past 5 months reinforces that the pellets are just wrong. I think they need to be much smaller in size and made out of something else entirely. I think something like very small Hydroton that is coated with a sealant (to prevent urine from soaking in) would probably have more success with cats, Hydroton would feel more like litter because it is a form of clay.
The only way that I would give this device another try in its current form is if I had a young kitten that would be easier to train, taking two grown cats who are picky that have been using a traditional litter box for a decade are not going to easily change.
So, to summarize, I think the CatGenie A.I. deserves 5/5 stars as a concept device, the build quality is 5/5 stars, 2/5 stars for cost (this is such an expensive device), and negative stars for usefulness.
If my cats would have used it, I would have seen this device as a godsend, but instead it wound up being an expensive nightmare that worsened my cats’ behaviors.

I have the standard straw lid & the tiny breather rubber gasket fell out & down the drain. I’ve been looking online everywhere but can’t find where to get a replacement. I’d rather not replace the whole lid. Anyone know? Thanks!

So a couple of months into having a bunch of servers at home, gen 11 and 12, I want to slim down the collection by taking the best bits. I have some R210, R210ii, R410, R420, R520, R710 and R720. I'm thinking of trimming it down to the R210s, R420, R520 and possibly the R720. I say possibly because it's a SFF chasis and I don't have any SFF drives but I have loads of LFF drives. All the other machines are LFF.
I thought about moving the drive enclosure from a 710 into the one 720 I have. Having had a look I don't think that's possible. I'll have to see if I can pick up some SFF drives for it, or perhaps I'll just find a new owner for it.
I plan to move the gen 11machines on to a new home and focus on the gen12 series, except I think I'll keep the 210s as they are nice small machines for ad-hoc lab work. I know the 210ii is better than the 210.
I think the 4x0 and 5x0 are similar (mobo, fans, psu, etc) so I think it'd be better to max out the 520 as best I can so I can have the best machine with the most drives. The CPUs in my 420 are E5-2420 (24 vcpu total) and my 520 has E5-2407 (8 vcpu). I thought I'd swap them over - can I do that? Are there any issues or should I be able to just drop them in?
Can I just move iDRAC modules, what about the licenses? I presume I can only put iDRAC7 modules in gen12 machines, so can't repurpose modules from the gen11 machines.
Also there are RAID mini boards, the 520 has a H200 adapter but I could replace that with a H310 mini from the 420, or I have a H710P mini in the 720 I could use, or perhaps PERC 6i cards from the 710s. My aim is to run my own Linux with ZFS so I'll probably flash whatever controller I end up with. From what I've read the H310, flashed to IT mode, is the sweet spot for this use case.
I've also got a couple of IDSDM modules and optical DVD drives, any issue with pulling these and putting in other servers?
Lots of questions, sorry, these are things you don't learn in a real working production environment with Dell support behind you doing all the maintenance. It's only when you get the damn things home and can take the lid off yourself do you really start to learn about them.

Okay this may be a bit disjointed, but I will do my best.
Campbell’s chunky soups; these have some solid food in there to keep you full. The jambalaya one is yummy and filling, especially if you like spicy food. Most of these are high sodium, but also 20-30% of your daily iron need, which is hard enough to get for housed people. Iron massively effects cognition so try to get some in. In my area you can regularly get 2/3.50 on these. Absolute lifesaver.
Unfortunate tasting but Walmart has canned veggies for 50c. I would eat these outta cans to supplement nutrition.
For anyone else with blood sugar issues: I would keep hard caramels with me in case of a crash. Replace with any hard candy. Hot chocolate mixes work well too, if you have a thermos. They are small and lightweight if you are using a backpack.
Most of my protein came from plain tinned tuna or flavored packs from the dollar store. 15 grams of protein in a pack, 30 in a tin. This is help prevent muscle wasting and pain from protein deficiency.
Peanut butter crackers. But really just any cracker. Again; lightweight and portable and lasts forever. Can get a 6 pack at the dollar tree.
If you can keep them in shade; bananas and apples are the cheapest fruits and these did me good.
Peanuts!!!!! 2.50 for a biggish jar! Usually 14-16 servings in one of these, a decent source of fat.
I hacked dairy by buying shelf stable single serve plant milk; these stayed unspoiled in the heat (I live somewhere hot) and were my splurge food.
If you can store a Tupperware:
I used to go to 7/11 to cook these things in the microwave.
6 pack of ramen from dollar tree
Instant mashed potatoes (I hated doing this one but VERY filling)
Heated up beans (baked, pinto, black, kidney, did em all)

Hi everyone.
My husband and I are selling our home, where we have a septic system. We got a buyer, and the buyer is responsible for the septic inspection. He chose English, who my husband and I have had a problem with their customer service in the past, so we don't typically use them.
Of course, English marked our septic as "Unsatisfactory" and they had to send the report to the Glouccester County Dept of Health. English (and I don't think any other septic company) can give us a quote on the repairs needing to be done until the Dept of Health sends back what they say needs to be fixed. We know for certain we need to replace the d-box and replace the covelid of the septic. There is another part of the report that is mentioned about the absorption area being 18 inches deeper than normal, but it's not flagging us as needing to be fixed? I don't know.
My question is, does anyone know how long it takes the Gloucester Dept of Health to come back with their recommendations of what needs to be fixed with a septic? They were sent the report on Friday afternoon.
TIA, we are just getting super anxious and we are thinking the original closing date of June 12th is going to be rescheduled, which sucks. Everything else has passed for the CO, so this is the only thing that needs to be completed.

Bosch SHU53A06UC/17 circa 2005, Canadian market.
With no prior signs, wash cycle is now a rattle-y, squeaky sound with little to no circulation. Fill, drain etc... all seems OK. I have checked the circulation pump inlet port and don't see/feel any blockages but the impeller portion I can touch spins AND wiggles around.
Without any disassembly, I think this is likely a broken circulation pump impeller, which could be fixed by impeller and seal kit which I believe is part# 00167085. I would certainly appreciate some confirmation of my thoughts. After encountering the problem and doing some research, this seems to be a fairly common thing, almost a wear item. The fact that the impeller I can touch can be wiggled up/down/sideways within the housing and not just spinning tells me that it's not rigidly attached to the motor shaft any longer.
Next issue is that this kit appears to have been a $6 item but is now very hard to find. For obvious reasons I would love to repair this otherwise perfectly useful machine. It does a load every two days or so since 2005 and other than a replaced fill valve, rinse aid lid and factory recall on the PCB it's been rock solid. I'm very appreciative for any leads on parts at pricing that isn't extortion.

[Part 1](https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/131t1q9/first_contacts_part_1/)
[Part 5](https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/13rv3xp/first_contacts_part_5/)
​
“Let’s introduce ourselves to the Captain of this boat!”
Nathan pushed the door control and was greeted with a flashing Yellow light, the door had already been locked down, with that, he took two steps back and levelled his pistol at the bottom left of the door, he began firing his gun, spacing the shots around the edge working his way up the left and along the top of the door, reloading after 12 shots.
Reloading was done between two boxes, when one was empty, or low, he would push it into a belt pack he was wearing, a whir from the pack indicated that it was feeding new rounds into the box and within seconds it was full again.
It took a total of 20 shots for him to reach the place he had started, Nathan reloaded his pistol once more and stepped forward with a spring and brought his right foot up to kick the door, the sound was almost as loud as the gun, the metal finally giving in to the stress and falling away.
Beyond the door were a dozen command officers and four Axarli soldiers, they were already disarmed and ready to surrender, likely as a result of watching the carnage that Nathan had already inflicted on their defence forces.
Most of the Officers were Sovereigns of the Pearls, though a couple of Euterians and a Forgol were among them. “Which one of you is the captain?” Nathan’s voice was raised to an uncomfortable level for the Sovereigns who all covered their auditory antennae, one of the Sovereigns stepped forward her hands still clasped over her antennae.
“Everyone else on the floor, face down and arms out!” Nathan’s voice was still raised but he had lowered it a little. The remaining crew complied with his command.
Nathan lowered his voice back to normal conversational level and turned to the Sovereign Captain “Captain, I understand you are taking prisoners from the surface.”
“That is correct.” The Sovereigns were not able to speak Orvangian directly, so her words issued forth from a worn translator device about her neck.
“I would like you to call your crew and have them surrender.”
“I Do not know your species, but you stand with the Federation against our might!” the Captain and her Sovereign Officers all flourished their hands and feelers in a dance-like display.
I am not sure what happened next, a pulse of electromagnetic energy hit me and my suit was instantly fried, pain shooting through my body at the same time, I found myself laying on the floor the ceiling above me decorated with the flashes of Nathan’s pistol.
Despite the repeated blasts of that handheld cannon, I couldn’t hear a sound and I could see my thoughts around me as though I had engaged in the bond with an Orvangian, I was soon floating on a warm ocean of orange light, enveloping me in its softness.
My eyes drifted closed and Purple Valuri bloomed before me, the faces of my family and the distant arches of my home rose into the sky above. I whooped and laughed like Nathan as I clung to the velvety mane of a Plains Rasil, its legs pounding the landscape into the past behind me, we rose over the hills and across the savannah of Talloral and I Roared like the Volluk on the plains of Orvang.
Dreams fell away to a burning pain as consciousness returned to me, I was in a medical bay, opening my eyes was painful, the white surfaces and bright lights making them sting as much as my chest did.
A pair of Tilik were lingering close to my bedside with relief washing over their faces, they moved back and Nathan stepped into my field of view. His face now sporting several fine slices that welled up with red “Jin! We are glad you’re awake.”
The Tilik flapped their tentacles in agreement and I heard a muffled voice in the background. With considerable pain, I pushed myself into a sitting position so I could survey our situation.
We were still aboard the Separatist ship, in a medical bay, there was a pile of equipment blocking the doors and they had been welded closed, the Euterian officers from the bridge were strapped down to one of the beds though they were unconscious, the Forgol officer was standing beside Nathan a thin trail of white bile trickling from his nasal ducts a sign of the fear and discomfort he was in as a result of having Nathans Pistol barrel so far down his throat that it was likely brushing against his oral lymph nodes.
“What happened?”
Nathan bared his teeth at me, the Forgol seeming to shrink slightly at the expression “Those bejewelled Centipede guys pulled a McClain on us, blasted us with an EMP and Frag weapons.
“I had to shoot them and the power armour guys too, it was a blood bath.
“Your space suit took most of the damage and got fried by the EMP, but you got stuck pretty good yourself. Doc here says you had 28 flechette pieces in you.” Nathan gestured to one of the Tilik.
“The Bejewelled Centipede Guys are called ‘Sovereigns of the Pearls’ and the Power armoured guys are Axarli.” My voice was a little weak but it brought Nathan’s Smile back.
“So, there’s a whole army of those Axarli guys out in the hallway now, waiting for our surrender, but my new pal here says there is a service duct that runs through the floor of this room.” Nathan patted the back of the Tilik he had called Doc earlier.
“Even if we escape this room, where would we go?” I winced and even yelped a little as I swung my legs to hang over the side of the bed.
“Well, this ship’s sensors and weapons are out at the moment, I may have devastated the bridge a bit, so I need you and Doc to go down to the Shuttle and bring it around to their Hangar bay.
“Me and Mister Tactical Officer here.” He grinned at the Forgol officer still tasting his pistol. “We go down to holding, free your fellow crew members and meet you at the light frigate they have parked in the hangar.”
It was as insane as every other plan he had come up with, yet I couldn’t shake the fact that his plans seemed to work every time so I mirrored his thumbs-up gesture to him and slid off the bed.
Gravity on this ship was about 15% lower than what I was used to, which made standing possible, but I could feel the slices of pain in my chest and legs, medication was probably the only reason I was able to move at all.
Nathan passed me the Laser Rifle again and I pointed it at ‘Doc’ but Nathan pushed my gun down, “Woah there, Doc is on board with us, he is my newest pal ok.”
The Tilik’s cybernetic translator chipped in with a slightly musical tone “I don’t want to be here either.”
Doc moved to a floor panel and lifted it away, below was a narrow catwalk surrounded by bundles of cables and pipes. Nathan turned to the second Tilik medic “Remember what I told you!” it nodded and injected itself with a sedative, slumping to the floor within moments.
Doc dropped onto the catwalk and I followed, “Good luck Nathan!”
“Same to you Jin.”
Doc began heading left along the duct, Nathan and his hostage dropped in after us and lowered the panel back in place then headed right.
Doc and I soon arrived at a service shaft, it ascended about ten decks, but it went down to the very bottom of the ship, where we were going. The wall next to the duct had a rail mesh on it and a half dozen tractor lifts were parked here, Doc configured one and stepped off the edge, it grabbed him in its tractor beam and began a swift descent, I followed suit, setting it for deck 210 and stepping into the shaft.
The little rail-mounted tractor-beam device reached Deck 210 in under a minute, it would have been an exhilarating ride if it weren’t for the danger I was in.
Doc arrived a few seconds ahead of me and was waiting on the floor of the shaft when I arrived, he lifted a wall panel off once I dismounted from my tractor lift, beyond the panel was an engineering hallway, not far from the hub where a crate of Tilik still sat.
As we walked past the crate Doc read the top, “Can we let them out now?”
“Let’s take it to the airlock, we can let them out just before we exit the ship.”
Doc hooked a lifter dolly to the crate and began pushing it along with us.
We soon reached the airlock Nathan and I had used to enter the ship, my suit was damaged from the flechette attack, and the computer systems had rebooted now but I had to patch it before we could decompress, “Do you need any protection?”
“How long will we be in the vacuum?” Tilik are all able to survive for short periods out in space, but some are augmented for longer periods.
“About 20 minutes, maybe more.”
Doc took a magnetic field generator from the airlock and attached it to his harness, it would provide additional protection from radiation, which he was going to need so near those engine cones.
Once my suit was sealed, we stepped into the airlock and I reached out to the crate to push the release, as soon as the lid popped up, I pulled back and hit the airlock controls. It only took moments for the airlock to cycle and the outer door to open.
I took the lead out into the engine spaces and made my way back to the panel that Nathan had hastily welded back into place, with the laser rifle I shot each weld and then gave it a good kick, the panel breaking loose and floating away from the hull. It occurred to me that I had never done anything like this before, this was the sort of action that Nathan would have taken, it was exactly how he had gained access to the command centre, shot the door and kicked it open.
I didn’t dwell on the thought, the engines were still hot so I clambered out followed by Doc, the Shuttle wasn’t far away so we moved as quickly as we could manage.
It wasn’t long before we were in the rear of the shuttle, “Doc, can you fly?”
“No, I am a medical specialist, but I do have some engineering training.”
“See if you can get the laser banks back online.”
Doc pulled a repair kit from the wall and began a diagnostic survey, I left him to work and glanced at the device sitting on one of the chairs here, it was clearly the black case Nathan had recovered from the Endeavour, but now it was open, the lid was raised on a framework, becoming the top of the device, I recognised what it was, though I had never seen a portable one before, it was a Fabricator, able to manufacture items from schematic diagrams, the Doradul had several of them in the engineering bays but they were large and fitted into the walls.
I stepped through into the cockpit and strapped in, I wasn’t a pilot like Nathan but I had hundreds of hours of shuttle operations time, I could only hope that the battleship’s weapons were still disabled.
The shuttle detached from the Separatist ship and I kept close to the hull, moving as quickly as I felt comfortable doing at this distance. Once we were out from among the engine cones I turned onto the dorsal surface of the battleship, its cannons were all aimed forward now, sitting in their standby positions and none reacted to my presence.
I picked up the pace as I navigated between turrets and antennae clusters, not as reckless as Nathan had been, but I was ignoring my instructor’s safety rules as it knocked a radar dish off the surface of the battleship.
We were almost at the prow of the ship where the hangar was when the laser banks came back to life, I set them to strafing auto-targeting mode, so I could shoot any Axarli in the hangar with the squeeze of a trigger.
My reckless disregard for flight safety reached its peak as I passed the prow of the battleship, making a hard roll and braking as Nathan had done, I even bared my teeth when I completed the move without crashing.
“What was that!” I heard Doc’s Translator proclaim from the rear compartment.
The Hangar ahead was open an atmospheric shield keeping it from depressurising, I could see a few deck crew and some Axarli were targeted by the shuttle’s computer.
I advanced the shuttle through the shield so the weapons fire would not evacuate the atmosphere, the sudden shift from zero-G to the downward pull of the hangar’s gravity forced the shuttle’s nose thrusters to fire and shook the shuttle. As soon as we were through the shield I pressed the trigger and the shuttles laser bank began to fire, deck crew scattered to shelter while Axarli troops began to return fire.
There was plenty of space in the hangar, the Light Frigate stood like a tower on the Port side allowing me to make evasive moves and even take cover. It didn’t take long before the hangar deck was largely clear, even the Axarli had retreated into the surrounding hallways and rooms to avoid being incinerated by the shuttle’s laser.
After they withdrew I had little to do but hover and wait for Nathan to arrive, Doc came into the cockpit once we had stopped firing “What now?”
“Until Nathan and my crew arrive there is not much we can do.” The Tilik had sided with the Separatists back during the war and Doc deciding to join us was beginning to bother me, why would he sign up for fleet duty only to abandon it?
“Doc, why are you here?”
He looked slightly puzzled at my question, “You mean why did I decide to join you and Nathan?”
“Yes, why would you sign up for fleet service in the Separatist army only to abandon your post now.”
“I didn’t sign up, you know we share our home planet with the Norold.”
I gave an affirmative gesture.
“Well since the Separatist council decided to rebuild the fleet they needed crews, and the Norold were quick to support the new fleet, they decided that every family of Norold and Tilik would provide one person for the fleet forces.
“This was easy for them, they have families of dozens each, but Tilik families are usually no more than five to eight, so to protect my family from reprisals and my mother from forced service I stepped in to replace her.”
Doc deflated in the co-pilot’s chair, I was aware that the Tilik were very peaceful before the Separatist war, many believed that they were not enthusiastic supporters of the Separatists, especially since the planet Ghoat was still a member of the federation despite being a Tilik colony.
“So, you figure that the Separatist fleet will write you off as a casualty now and your family will be safe.”
“Exactly, the Euterian Officers don’t know I am siding with you, my colleague understands and promised to keep it secret, the Fleet will compensate my family and send condolences.”
Through the window of the shuttle, I saw weapons fire again, a group of Axarli backing out of their cover position and under fire from a combination of Plasma Fire and the unmistakable streaks of white thunder that Nathan’s pistol issued forth.
I opened fire again, clearing away the Axarli that had broken cover, moments later Nathan emerged with twenty of the Doradul’s Crew and one Forgol captive, they were using Axarli sidearms and seemed to be carrying makeshift shields.
Axarli in other covered positions began firing on them so I lowered the shuttle and fired back, Nathan pushed his team toward the frigate and up the gangway.
I moved the shuttle to cover them as much as possible, taking dozens of hits from plasma casters, their rifles were not going to fell the shuttle quickly but the damage was already mounting up, soon my laser bank was down again and moments later navigation followed.
“Jin, we are about to launch.” Buddy’s voice sounded over my suit’s com system.
“OK, I am right behind you, I will need to dock soon, my navigation is out.” As soon as I finished speaking, my Warp drive went offline as well.
The Frigate began to ascend moments later, I turned and pushed out ahead of it escaping the weapons fire before anything else went down. The frigate soon followed and once it was clear of the battleship’s hangar its shuttle bay door rolled open and launched the emergency shuttle that was blocking my path.
The moment the bay was clear I manoeuvred into it, the frigate’s tractor beams bringing me to a safe landing, the bay doors closed and the ship jumped to warp moments later.
Doc and I disembarked from the shuttle and took the elevator to the bridge, there were a half dozen members of the Doradul crew here, manning stations. All but one were auxiliary bridge crew, ones that would take night shifts, the only member of the primary crew here was the Secondary Ops Officer, he and I shared the same rank, though he was technically my superior.
In the pilot’s seat was Nathan grinning his toothy grin at me, “Welcome to the Endeavour 2.”
[Part 1](https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/131t1q9/first_contacts_part_1/)
[Part 5](https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/13rv3xp/first_contacts_part_5/)
(I am running a little behind on writing this last couple of weeks so there may be a missed week in the near future, I will do my best to prevent that, but be warned.)

Timestamp
Dot is nearly new. Replaced with acss version before shooting with this one. Some loctite residue but no damage otherwise.
Will come with everything from factory, warranty card thing unregistered
There are two stickers on the lid and side of the box

I am not taking those off

asking $250 for the dot DOT SOLD
BNIB griffin taper minimalist brake, 1/2-28, 22 cal.
Actually brand new, still sealed in packaging. I do not plan to open this or use it ever.
Asking $60 for the brake
Trade interests :

• PA GLX 2X 5.56 [w/ killflash preferred]
  
• whatever else you think is cool, worst I can say is no
  

Are my prices off? Comment and/or PM me
Have questions^*1 ? Comment then PM me
Got good hentai recommendations? absolutely PM me
Do you want some culture in your box? Read over my sticker policy here
^*1 I consider comment / PM's with questions as a tentative dibs call unless otherwise stated. My reasoning is that at the very least you showed interest so I will give you first grabs

Disclaimer: I do not own Bayonetta in any shape or form. It belongs to Sega and Platinum and is published by Nintendo. Moving on, if you believe Bayonetta 1-3 are considered adult, insane, and over-the-top, then prepare yourself because this outline will go full throttle and hold nothing back. The plot outlines that I have planned for "Bayonetta 4" will be insane and push boundaries that I don't think any Bayonetta game has done thus far in absurdity and graphic violence. So please, prepare yourself for the insanity that is about to unfold before reading.
Bayonetta 4 Compendium
Prologue Part III Finale (2/2):
Heaven's Feel: The Outbreak of War Begins
The screen pans out to reveal multiple Sin Demons in the distance headed towards the aircraft, some even materializing on the very roof that the duo stood on.
"Are those-?!" Jeanne questioned, mouth agape.
"Sin Demons" Viola interrupts.
"They're all Sin Demons. I don't how or why, but if they get in our way, we cut them down!"
"Alright then, I suppose that this moment calls for special back up," Jeanne declared, turning her hips to summon a Umbran headset.
It was time to talk with the pilot.
"Enzo, I think you've earned a reward for having followed all of my orders-! I'll be granting you full access to all the missiles on this lovely slayer of mine!"
She then raised her left hand all the way up, sassily snapping her fingers.
VOOSH!
The screen shows multiple missile launchers loaded with AGM-114 Hellfire's springing out from the sides of the aircraft as well as the undercarriage opening, revealing a huge, M134 Machine Gun.
Enzo's voice could be heard panicking from the headset.
"What the FUCK?! I don't know how-!"
"There's a small pamphlet underneath your seat with all the necessary instructions. Read that and you'll be learning in no time!" Jeanne elegantly retorted.
Enzo grumbled to himself, scrambling to find the pamphlet. It was either that or death via plane crash.
Heaven's Feel: The Outbreak of War Ends
Heaven's Feel: Come on, Make your Move Begins
The screen cuts to Jeanne and Viola, readying themselves for battle!
The Sin Demons on the roof have fully materialized, taking their first few steps before shrieking at the duo.
The Book of Infernal Demons then appears on screen, revealing new entries: "Devourer of Will: Sin Apathy", "Wailer of Lament: Sin Despair", "Feaster of Petrification: Sin Fury", and "Husk of Boundless Animosity: Sin Spite".
Sin Apathy: It has a male, pitch-black body with draconic features, red eyes, and a black miasma surrounding it. It is able to stretch out it arms and use its venom-covered claws to dig into its enemies, inflicting a special poison capable of draining its victims will to live and organ failure.
Sin Despair: It has a tall, abnormally thin, female figure, with pale skin, dirty white hair, red eyes, and long red claws. It is constantly wailing and crying tears of blood from its torn-off face and becomes unhinged when approached. It is a vicious killing machine that uses ultra-sonic screams, and endlessly swipes at its enemies with its claws.
Sin Fury: It is a wyvern now, capable of releasing poisoned, black thorns that makes its enemy sluggish. Moreover, they're able to traverse through its environment at faster speeds because of their large wings. Lastly, its eye has been enhanced, being able to release magical shots that can permanently petrify opponents.
Sin Spite: It has a tall, bulky, male figure, with small, red wings, a long red tail, and red, scaley-skin. Additionally, it carries a golden trident capable of releasing waves of energy. It has black eyes and is able to gape its mouth at terrifying degrees, revealing the multitude of sharp teeth that it uses to chomp it enemies.
The book then closes before heading straight for the camera, cutting back to Jeanne and Viola.
Their backs are side-to-side as they pass through blood-red, demon-infested skies!
"We've got work to do!!" Jeanne screamed, summoning All 4 One!
"I couldn't have said it better myself!!"Viola yells, taking out Mab Dachi from its scabbard on her back.
Heaven's Feel: Come on, Make your Move Ends
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Metal
The screen then shows the duo separate to fight their own enemies.
Jeanne is lunged upon by four Sin Despairs in the air. They intend to gouge her eyes out and dismember her limb-by-limb!
"You bitches think you've got a chance?! Then so be it!!" she yelled, shooting multiple charge shots at them!
Almost all of them were disoriented, but one had dodged all the bullets, going ahead of the rest to kill Jeanne. However, it was met with an unexpected Heel Stomp from Jeanne that smacked it from above and onto the ground!
"You ugly bitch!" Jeanne yelled, running to the Sin Demon before using Combo 15!
During this, Jeanne was continuously pistol whipping the Sin Despair, releasing a Wicked Weave that knocked the demon up into the air before following it up with a devastating Wicked Weave that kicked it off the roof!
Despite this, Jeanne was not out of the clear as other Sin Despairs had regained their balance, now closing the gap with her as they prepared an ultra-sonic scream!
"HAAAA!!!"
"Shut the FUCK UP!" Jeanne retorted, jumping into the air before using Concussion Step to slam their asses to the side!
After that, she used Blink Charge to reach one of four Sin Fury's flying in the air, gracefully Air Kicking it down. However, when she landed on the floor, two of them descended upon her, shooting out balls of purple energy from their eyes!
"Hah! You worthless vermin!" Jeanne taunted, dodging at the last second before transforming into a kettle of red moths.
Ding!
Witch Time was now active as the colors of environment became a transparent purple and Jeanne sped up.
First, she used Full Moon Shoot to launch the Sin Fury that she knocked down into the air before using Tetsuzanko to push it towards the two Sin Fury's headed towards her. Then, she used Blink Charge again to reach that same demon, using Astounding Touch to kill the three with multiple punches!
Afterwards, she quickly used Heel Stomp on the remaining Sin Fury to get it onto the floor before using Gut Wrench Heel to finish it off!
FWOOSH!
Witch Time had ended as the colors of environment returned to normal and Jeanne landed on the floor.
The screen then showed five Sin Spites releasing spouts of red water from their mouths towards Jeanne!
However, she remained calm and poised, leaping into the air to avoid the oncoming explosions before yelling aloud with a powerful pose!
"ZILDAR VPAAH!"
Suddenly, a demonic bird had pierced clouds in the sky before descending onto the roof of the aircraft, opening its massive wings. It released a gust of wind that sent multiple Sin Spites flying backwards!
"So much for 'Sin Demon', how pathetic!" Jeanne laughed, gently touching Malphas as he vanished into particles.
The screen then cut to the front of the aircraft to show missiles being launched at Sin Demons in the sky, resulting in a never-ending number of explosions. Meanwhile, the M134 Machine Gun, was gunning down multiple Sin Demons that approached the aircraft!
Enzo is then shown in the pilot's seat growling as he pressed multiple buttons.
"TASTE THIS MOTHERFUCKERS!!"
BOOSH!
BOOSH!
BRRRRRT!!!
As for Viola, she was dealing with her own set of enemies.
Three Sin Spite's had released turquoise, diagonal slashes of energy towards her from their tridents in the air!
"Not on my watch!" she yelled, jumping into the air to avoid the attack.
She then used Shredder to reach the Sin Spite in the middle, quickly using After Burner Kick to stun it. Afterwards, she jumped on its body, going directly above it to use Star in the Black.
"These fuckers have nothing on me!" she excitedly yelled, releasing a barrage of darts that exploded on impact!
BOOM!
The Sin Spite's went down hard as the explosion damaged their wings!
Viola then aimed Mab Dachi downward, readily preparing her next attack!
"Time to die, baby!" she shouted, using Hungry Hi-Hat as she landed onto the roof of the aircraft, puncturing it with her katana!
Cheshire's ginormous head was seen coming out from a demonic portal and straight into the air! He had a devilish grin on his face, mouth drooling at the sight of the delicious feast that Viola had prepared for him!
The screen then cuts to three Sin Spites comedically trying to avoid his mouth. However, all attempts failed as his mouth grew wider in size. Afterall, Sin Demons were "beyond a delicacy" in Inferno, Cheshire thought. He didn't know when he would be able to devour one again. So, he wouldn't let a single drop of blood go to waste as the Sin Spites landed into his hypnotic mouth.
CRUNCH!!
CRUNCH!!
GULP!
Cheshire is seen wiping blood off his lips with joy before disappearing into particles.
Afterwards, Viola heads towards Mab Dachi, pulling it out from the roof before feeling a sudden stinging sensation on her back.
In response, she quickly does a back walkover, turning her head mid-air to see a Sin Despair.
"Jeez, these guys are aggressive!" she thought.
She then proceeded to sweep kick the Sin Despair, seeing it fall flat on its face before using Tom Tom Balloon to launch it in air!
Then she used Combo 11, following it up with a perfectly timed Bass Boost that thrusted the Sin Demon onto a group of Sin Apathy's as they stretched their hands towards Viola.
"I don't think so, assholes!"
CRASH!
All the Sin Demons were knocked down onto the floor. However, Viola wasn't done, Cheshire still had to have his fun.
"CHESHIRE!" she shouted, throwing Mab Dachi onto the floor.
A huge portal then formed from where the Katana landed. Cheshire emerging from it soon after!
He looked onward at the sight with jubilation before making a tall jump in the air. All he needed was one good pounce to end these Sin Demons!
So, he readied a new attack, Blue Tenka (点火). He would engulf himself with blue flames, turning into a ticking time bomb that would detonate the second he slammed onto something. Now, it would render him temporarily unavailable as he would die. However, his knack for theatrics made him want to take out his enemies with a bang.
”Knock'em them dead, Cheshire!” Viola screamed.
The screen then showed the Sin Despair and group of Sin Apathy looking at Cheshire’s ignited body with horror as he drew closer to them.
All Cheshire could do was look at their faces was a cheeky grin.
“It's over for these chumps!” he thought.
BOOM!!
A multitude of Sin Apathy’s flew off of the aircraft while others suffered a most horrible execution.
“Woo-hoo!” Viola cheered, giving Cheshire a thumbs up before running towards Mab Dachi to regroup with Jeanne.
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Ends
Heaven's Feel: He goes, She goes Begins
The screen begins to pan out from the aircraft, revealing that the trio was within proximity to the red creature. However, the atmosphere was becoming more unnervingly tense, the closer they got.
Furthermore, Jeanne and Viola were surprised when they saw various Sin Demons emerging from the red creature. It was almost as if the creature itself was a conductor of sorts, serving as an alternative to the Human World than those of the Gates.
Eerily enough, however, there was another situation at hand as hordes of Sin Demons had ceased to pursue them and were retreating.
The screen shows all the Sin Demons heads towards to the creature before getting into a strange formation and flying in place. They were now facing the trio with stoic expressions and readied battle stances.
"This behavior is... unnatural, especially for that of a demon. Why are they acting as its guards?" Jeanne questioned.
"Do they not want us to reach that thing all the way in the back that badly?" Viola replied.
Despite this, the duo became more preoccupied the entities head, realizing how it was solely focused on them. The Golem mask had no eyes, but the red Core at the center was shifting to indicate that it was looking at the aircraft.
Viola couldn't help but feel shivers down her spine at the unsettling sight.
"Jesus Christ... What the hell is all this?" Viola yelped, gasping at the sight.
As for Jeanne, she didn't know what to make of the situation. She was too busy analyzing the entity as best she could and was stunned by what she was saw at the very top. It was a golem, one that had shaped itself into that of a mask.
"What is this thing? I've never seen anything like it. Let alone the fact that it uses a Golem. However, that shouldn't be possible. Not without-! "
GARGLE!
GARGLE!
Heaven's Feel: He goes, She goes Ends
Heavens Feel: What Else, We Can Do? Begins
The screen shows to the shocked expressions of the duo as the entity began charging up an attack. Its body began to repeat the motion of an ocean wave. Then, a huge, demonic portal appeared from above the creature!
As a result, the two began feeling a strange sensation in their stomach's before starting to gag and fall on the floor. They felt their vision begin to blur, a loud ringing sound in their ears, and magic being sapped from their bodies.
"What is...happening?!" Viola sputtered, trying to cover her ears with her hands.
"Ugghh! This damned...monster!" Jeanne coughed out, hearing disconnected spurts of a distorted, female voice chanting in Enochian.
"DO O IA █ █ █ █ █ █... EGELIRCAS ECIFIRCAS... FAFEN NIIS!!!"
The screen then cut to the entity becoming a vibrant red before thin, slime tentacles emerged from its body, lengthening in size as they soar to multiple Sin Demons, touching their backs and merging with them!
The screen then cut to a Sin Insidious glowing a shiny red before growing even larger in size as red, metallic armor encased it.
The distorted female voice could be heard giggling before fading away, along with the demonic portal.
The screen then shows the terrifying face of a Sacrilege Insidious before cutting to the Book of Infernal Demons opening. It turned all the way to the end, revealing that page entries have been ripped off. The book closes thereafter as it cuts to the duo.
Suddenly, a loud screeching could be heard from all the Sacrilege Demons as they beamed towards the aircraft, making their way to it!
Meanwhile, Enzo remained unaffected by the strange sickness inflicted upon Jeanne and Viola, becoming distraught at the sight. He was screaming at the top of his lungs by what he was witnessing!
So, he began to check up on Jeanne and Viola, hearing them groaning in agony.
"Are you guys, ok?!! Jeanne?! Viola?! Answer me dammit, please!!" he shouted.
"We have to get OUT OF HERE!!"
The two were beginning to stand up as the pain in their stomachs subsided now that the voice was gone.
"Ugh! That was awful..." Viola said, picking herself up before looking at the entity.
"AAAAHHHH!!!" she shrieked, voice cracking as she stared at the Sacrilege Demons headed towards them!
"We have to get out of here*-*!"
Heavens Feel: What Else, We Can Do? Ends
The All-American Rejects: Real World Begins
"No! This is where we make our final stand Viola! The lives that have been lost can't be for naught!! This ends now!!" Jeanne interrupts, declaring her intentions before striking a pose, uniform coming undone!
"BRANSG ZUMVI!!!"
A portal appeared on the roof as a torrent of her hair went into it. Then, another portal formed in front of the aircraft as a huge, vicious turtle began pulling itself out of the portal.
The screen then cuts to the Book of Infernal Demons. It opens up to reveal one of Jeanne's new allies, "Deceiver of the Seas: Aspidochelone". It is a humongous, ungodly looking, dark-green turtle with a spiked shell, razor-sharp teeth, and black eyes.
"Go as fast as you can Enzo! It's time to go FULL THROTTLE!!!" she shrieked into her microphone.
Suddenly, the aircraft began accelerating to absurd speeds as a demonic portal beneath the demon disappeared and was replaced with an Umbran portal. This, in conjunction with the speed at which the aircraft went, kept the demon in place.
However, Jeanne wasn’t done yet. At the snap of her fingers, the Umbran portal began rapidly spinning, turning the demon into a makeshift drill. One that would ram down all the Sacrilege Demons that stood in their way!
She then began instructing Enzo to avoid a place crash.
"Follow my orders Enzo! If I say 'up' you go up, if I say 'left' you go left. Got that?!"
"YES!!" he obediently responded.
"Good!" Jeanne replied, turning to face a surprised Viola.
"As for you Viola, you're going to need to hold on tight!" she said, making a dramatic pose before staring at the red creature in the distance.
"If these mothafuckas won't give us an opening, then I'll make my own!!"
The screen then pans out in a manner similar to Space Harrier, showing the aircraft flying towards the red entity as Aspidochelone mowed down various Sacrilege Demons.
Meanwhile, Jeanne was making dramatic quotes as she ordered Enzo to move all throughout the sky, bobbing and weaving as she delivered Wicked Weaves with Madama Styx in a QTE to knockback Sacrilege Demons that approached the aircraft from its sides. As for Viola and Enzo, they were hanging on for dear life, wondering how Bayonetta and Jeanne did this for years on end.
Eventually, they reach the boss at the end, Sacrilege Insidious. He was more deadly than before, but Jeanne was not one to back down from a fight no matter how strong an enemy was.
It began to shoot ginormous, red lasers from the ends of its six wings towards the aircraft, all of which were dodged at the last second thanks to Jeanne's masterful instructions, leading to Witch Time.
Jeanne then closed the gap between the aircraft and the abhorrent demon to pierce its large, third eye.
This cycle would repeat itself until six eyeballs, each belonging to one wing, would start attacking the aircraft. In this case, when one eye approached, Enzo would use the aircraft's missiles and minigun to briefly stun the eye.
Afterwards, Jeanne would use multiple Wicked Weaves to punch the eye before ripping it from its socket and crushing it a gush of blood.
Later, when the last eyeball was removed, Jeanne figured that it would be a good time to end the monstrosity for good!
"Viola! What I'm about to do is very dangerous, I need you to protect me at all costs!" she shouted at a nauseous Viola.
"Yes Jeanne!" Viola replied, hands on her knees as she tried to keep her body standing.
Thankfully, she recovered in time, taking out Mab Dachi and preparing herself for enemies.
"Hopefully this will end all the shit that's been going on" she thought.
The screen then cuts to Jeanne as she prepares herself for the Demon Sin Ritual, Aspidochelone vanishing soon after.
"DO O IA JEANNE. CNILA D COMSELHA ODO ANANAEL. TURBS C BABLON ZONAC CIAOFI BALZARG. FAFEN NIIS!!" she screams, ripping her heart out as her costume comes undone.
She then begins to dance in a sensual manner, breaking it down and doing a split.
The All-American Rejects: Real World Ends
Bayonetta 3: Queen Magick Begins
Suddenly, a giant portal appears from behind the aircraft!
Queen Styx was then seen flying out of it with her butterfly wings in a horizontal manner, making her way towards the Sacrilege Insidious!
It was in that moment that a QTE appeared. Queen Styx began brutally pummeling the Sacrilege Insidious with her fists, gouging it large, third eye with both of her hands!
Then, she would begin tearing the Sacrilege Demon apart, ripping it in half!
PSSHH!!
The Sacrilege Insidious cried out its last breath by dying. However, Queen Styx was far from done from done!
She would use this opportunity to strike the red creature with the remains of the demon she killed!
Queen Styx slammed the slabs of meat against the red entity!
BAM!
BOOSH!!
The screen shows the creature remain standing, but its body was viciously trembling now. The core was now eyeing Queen Styx with hatred as she began taunting it with a stylish dance, ending off with a dramatic pose.
So, it began sending even more Sacrilege Demons towards her as she got up from the floor and began charging a purple Kamehameha. The Sacrilege Demons began picking away at Queen Styx's skin, but she didn't care. Jeanne gave her an order and she will follow it through to the end.
"KA...ME...HA...ME...HAAA!!!!" Queen Styx screamed, unleashing a humongous ray of energy close to point-blank range!
All that could be seen now was a gigantic, purple explosion eviscerating the red creature in its entirety, leaving behind an immense black mark on the ground as clouds of smoke and fire billowed in the air.
Or, at least, that was what Jeanne had hoped for...
Bayonetta 3: Queen Magick Ends
Heavens Feel: I Beg You (Instrumental) Begins
The red creature remained untouched…
The attack had failed to leave even a single dent on it!
Jeanne was left aghast at the site!
"How could it have failed?" she quietly stated, shock overwhelming her.
She started going pale, almost falling to the floor before Viola caught her in her time.
"It failed. I failed..." Jeanne repeated to herself over and over again.
"Jeanne! You have to snap out of it! Please!!" Viola cried out, voice going unheard.
In the Platinum Witch's mind, all she could think about was how one of her strongest attacks had failed. How Cereza, her best friend, her Umbran sister, would have overcome the fear that entered her body the moment she heard about Sacrilege Demons. How Cereza would have taken out the monstrosity with a blaze of glory. Not making a single mistake in the process. Cereza would not have failed the way she did!
"Cer...e...za..." Jeanne stuttered in a dream-like state.
All Viola could do was hold her as she stared at the escalating situation between Queen Styx and the red creature.
It had gone awry the moment Jeanne stopped dancing. Troops of Sacrilege Demons had begun attacking a vulnerable Queen Styx and feasting on her flesh!
She tried to wave them away with her arms but was overwhelmed. Moreover, two Sacrilege Insidious had emerged from the red entity, ready for revenge after Queen Styx slaughtered one of its brethren.
They released red lasers from the ends of their wings, striking her in the face!
"AAAHHH!!" she cried out, pools of blood pouring from her eyes as the lasers permanently blinded her.
However, it was this scream that snapped Jeanne out of her state. She began raising herself off the floor with Viola's help before looking on with terror, realizing that she had to do something now or risk Queen Styx dying!
"You bastards!! You'll PAY for this!!!" she shouted, gripping her heart even tighter and dancing with vigor.
Queen Styx was rejuvenated with strength and began to blindly claw away at her enemies with her nails with excessive force. She even attempted to use Royal Escort to keep some of the enemies at bay.
However, she was quickly stung by one of the tails of a Sacrilege Insidious, interrupting her attack.
This did not go unnoticed by the red entity as it decided to take advantage of the situation.
First, it released a red force field from its body, spreading throughout the vicinity before fading away.
Viola had noticed this, seeing the Sacrilege Demon become enraged.
"Great! As if shit wasn't bad enough already!" she complained.
Afterwards, the creature began using the slime beneath Queen Styx to shoot out immense slime tentacles to immobilize her.
One had immediately come out from behind, wrapping itself around her neck and pulling back with tremendous force!
She groaned in agony, startled by the sudden attack. However, the red creature wasn't done yet.
Queen Styx was struck again by other tentacles from all angles!
Two had latched themselves around her wrists while another four enveloped her waist, pulling her down and onto her knees.
"AAAHHH!!" she moaned, Sacrilege Demons eating away alive!
Jeanne was infuriated at the sight, gritting her teeth with such force that she could feel some break!
She would do everything possible to free Queen Styx and proceeded to screech the loudest she ever had!
"DESCEND TO DARKNESS!!!"
Her dancing became more rigorous and provocative than ever before as panic seeped into her body, painfully invigorating her muscles to free Queen Styx!
The screen then cut to Queen Styx resisting the restraints, managing to crush the tentacles on her wrists with her hands.
She was beginning to set herself free now. Things were finally turning up for her.
Heavens Feel: I Beg You (Instrumental) Ends
Ferry Corsten: Fire (Mike on Fire Ver.) Begins at 0:55
Meanwhile, Viola was left to deal with various Sacrilege Demons were able to land on the aircraft.
She was exhausted beyond belief but knew that she had to fight. It was that or have her soul mercilessly consumed. So, readied Mab Dachi and goes to strike a Sacrilege Fury.
However, the katana bounced off the demon as if it were invulnerable, leaving no mark on it.
"Holy shit! What are these guys made of?! " She exclaims, switching to her pistols before shooting the Sacrilege Fury.
DING!
TANG!
CLACK!
All of the bullets had ricocheted off the armor of the Sacrilege Fury.
Viola stared at the uninjured Sacrilege Demon with hopelessness, looking around as more began to surround her and Jeanne. However, she remembered would happen if she faltered now.
"Who will protect Jeanne if I'm down for the count?! Everything is riding on me now! I have to act quick or risk everything falling apart!" she thought.
So, Viola deciding that it was now time to use her fairy form, taking Mab Dachi out.
"Daddy, please give me strength!" she pleaded, stabbing herself in the stomach!
The screen then pans out to reveal a blinding light engulf Viola before revealing new fairy design. Her fur body was a mauve purple while her long hair was a seashell pink color. Furthermore, the stained-glass on her body were shades of the colors red, pink, and yellow. Lastly, the stained glass from her face was now gone and refitted as a gorgeous diadem on her forehead.
"It's time to get down to business!" she shouted, teleporting through various Sacrilege Demons to get to the middle of the roof before using Combo 2 to stun lock all of them at once!
Then, she teleported again to reach a Sin Fury in the air, using Combo 1 to stagger it before jumping off of its body to show off a new move, Crystal Drive.
The screen shows Viola create a large crystal in her hands with magic before throwing it down into the ground, impaling a Sacrilege Demon onto the floor. This is a process that she would repeat multiple times, sporadically teleporting from place to place and striking at different angles. However, it would all be aimed at the spot that she first struck.
Lastly, we see her teleport to the position that she first threw a crystal (briefly winking at the camera) before creating another crystal, one larger than the rest, and throwing it down to deal the finishing blow!
BOOM!
CRASH!!
The sounds of glass breaking could be heard as the impact from the last crystal caused a white explosion that sent multiple Sacrilege Demons off the roof!
”How’d you like that?!" Viola taunted, satisfied with herself.
Despite this, some Sacrilege Spites and Apathy’s had remained on the roof, but it wasn’t something that Viola couldn’t handle.
So, she teleported to one of the Sin Spites before having to dodge in the nick of time.
“Perfect!” She thought, preparing to make use of Witch Time.
Except, there was no Witch Time...
“What the-!” she shouted, faltering in attack before a Sacrilege Spite slammed her with its large tail.
Ferry Corsten: Fire (Mike on Fire Ver.) Ends
H. O. T. D: 07 Pursuit Begins
The attack was so strong that it deactivated Viola’s transformation and sent her flying towards Jeanne, knocking her down and onto the side the aircraft!
They were now hanging onto the aircraft’s railings as Sacrilege Demons began inching closer to them, resulting in the aircraft tilting to the side.
Enzo could even be heard yelling through the Jeanne’s microphone.
”What the hell is going on?! Why is this fucking thing TILTING?!” he raged, questions going unanswered.
Jeanne and Viola were now dangling on the plane's railing, arguing with each other.
"VIOLA!" Jeanne angrily yelled, grabbing onto the railing with her left hand and wrapping her right arm over it. She still had her heart in her hand and didn’t want to risk dropping it.
"What the fuck did you do?!"
"I don't know, ok!!" Viola yelled.
"I tried to use Witch Time, but it didn't work! It's like someone deactivated it or some shit!"
Jeanne could only roll her eyes in disappointment before seeing Queen Styx failing again. She had been so close to removing the bounds off her body. Now, that would never come to be.
However, the duo had more immediate matters to attend as Sacrilege Demons were almost upon them. They figured that they had to jump and fly to safety.
Although, it wasn’t until Jeanne tried summoning her butterfly wings that she was unable to.
“What the-?! I can’t… I can’t summon my wings!” Jeanne shouted with grave concern.
Viola tried to do the same with her fairy wings, but also couldn’t summon them.
The two had realized that they were in an even bigger predicament than before. Certain abilities of theirs were being disabled and they didn’t know how!
Jeanne and Viola tired selves could only look down at the red slime, seeing that it had almost engulfed the entire city beyond a fifty-mile radius. There was no time to think as Sacrilege Demons were ready to kill the two. They had to jump now!
So, they looked at each other with nodding heads and let go, bracing for impact as they went straight down!
BOOM!!
The screen pans out to reveal that Angel Slayer V4 had been blown to bits in a blaze of fire!
“ENZO!!!” the two screamed, worrying for his safety!
Just then, they see a mysterious figure briskly emerging from the explosion, flying towards them at the speed of sound.
H. O. T. D: 07 Pursuit Ends
H. O. T. D: 22 Saeko Shows Up Begins
"Rodin!" Viola gleefully yelled, noticing that Enzo was holding onto his legs.
The two take a sigh of relief before Rodin catches each of them under his arms.
“Thank you! You have no idea how much we needed this!“ Viola says.
”It’s my pleasure Viola,” he graciously replied.
However, Jeanne remained suspicious of his actions.
”Rodin, while I do appreciate the rescue, you’ve never been one to get involved. What changed?“ she questioned.
“Look, I don’t normally do this shit, just think of it a one-time exception. I’m doing it because I saw what you guys are up against. It isn’t pretty,” he answers.
”Can we please find somewhere to land?! Unlike you guys, I don’t magical powers to save my ass!” Enzo complained.
“Will you please shut your loud ass mouth up?! Don’t think I forgot about-!” Rodin responds before being cutoff.
”Ok, ok, I get it! Jeez, why is everyone ganging up on me today!” Enzo yelled, quieting down afterwards.
H. O. T. D: 22 Saeko Shows Up Ends
Heaven's Feel: Fears and Hopes Begins
The screen fades to black before transitioning to a toppled building on its side, panning out to reveal the ongoing chaos in the background with the Sacrilege Demons.
The were temporarily safe now thanks to Rodin. Enzo was even kissing the ground after being in the sky for so long.
“Viola, I think you’re gonna need these,” Rodin says, summoning a purple box onto his hands.
“It’s been a while since these babies were put to work, so I guess now is as good a time as ever,” he says, offering her the box.
Viola could only stare with visible concern as tears formed in her eyes.
”Rodin, I… I don’t think I can accept these. They’re…!” she stutters.
”Viola, if Cereza gave you Cheshire, then I see no reason as to why she wouldn’t let you use her guns. If you want to complete you’re training as an Umbra Witch, accepting these guns is a necessary step,” Jeanne tells her.
”Besides, those cheap props on you won’t last another second!” she joked.
Suddenly, a comedic scene ensues where all the Viola’s props on her hands and feet fall apart into pieces.
”Tsk…shitty cheap toys…” Viola sheepishly mutters under her breath.
”I… I guess you have a point Jeanne…” she reluctantly says, turning to Rodin.
She was quiet now, thinking about the consequences of her actions. Was she ready to become an Umbra Witch? The question dawned on for some time, but she realized that it was now or never. She had to stop the red entity for good.
”Thank you Rodin. I‘ll make good us of them,” she says with a small smile on her face.
She then opens the lid and begins taking each gun out one by one, equipping them on her hands and feet. It wasn’t anything dramatic, just business as usual.
”I only wish mummy was here to see it,” she thought.
Heaven's Feel: Fears and Hopes Ends
H. O. T. D: 02 Impulse Begins
BOOSH!
The camera panned out to show Queen Styx suffering. She had fallen onto the ground again and was restrained again with double the tentacles, ensuring that there would be no escape this time.
Jeanne could only watch in horror as Queen Styx was being eaten alive by Sacrilege Demons.
Multiple thoughts ran through her head about what she could do. She could dance, place her heart back into its cavity, or-!
”My, my, how sad is it to see princess Jeanne fail again,“ a voice mocked.
Jeanne looked at the red creature with a furious expression.
The screen then cut to the face of the red creature as a distorted, female voice was emitted through the Golem and heard all throughout Manhattan.
“Poor princess Jeanne, she couldn’t save her own kind, let alone her pet. These actions are, dare I say, more worthless than even Viola. Granted, a bottom feeder such as her has no hope for a future. Nonetheless, is it so wrong to expect more from the fabled ‘Last Witch’?” the female voice giggled, sarcastically ridiculing Jeanne and Viola.
”What is this bitch’s deal?! Does she have some vendetta against us?!” Viola shouted, turning towards Jeannes.
“I could say the same! How the hell does she know about my past?! Let alone my-?!” Jeanne replied, abruptly cutoff.
”That, princess, is my secret. One for you to never find out. You’ll be long dead before that. I promise,” the female voice declared with absolute certainty, stunning the two with the threat.
“Anyhow, it's time for your pet to be put out of its misery. Sin Demons were so last fall, wouldn’t you agree?”
Suddenly, a large tentacle began emerging from the creature's body, morphing into that of a sharp blade.
“DON’T YOU DARE!!” Jeanne yelled.
However, she was ignored as the blade plunged into Queen Styx's heart, putting an end to her as she fell onto the ground, absorbed by the slime.
Jeanne exploded with a blaze of acrimony, placing her heart back in its chest!
"YOU BITCH!!" she blared, beyond furious!
Viola was stunned by the barbarity of the action, wanting revenge!
H. O. T. D: 02 Impulse Ends
Bayonetta 3: Al Fine Begins at 0:53
She and Jeanne turned to Rodin, seeing him nod his head. They were going kill this abomination now!
So, he grabbed the two and began spinning at nauseating speeds, building a strong momentum before throwing them right at the red Golem!
A QTE then appeared as Viola and Jeanne launched a constant barrage of Wicked Weaves at the red core! They were punching so hard that they broke the QTE gauge, ending their stream of attacks with a Heel Stomp from above that smashed the Golem's core into bits!
Viola and Jeanne could then hear the woman's distorted voice cursing at them through the bits of the remaining core.
“If you think this is the last of me, think again! I’ll be back!” She curses, voice fading away soon after.
Bayonetta 3: Al Fine Ends
The screen then shows the red entity disintegrate, panning out in the sky to reveal that the slime that spread across Manhattan was evaporating.
The screen then cuts to Jeanne and Viola using their wings to lower themselves from the sky, landing onto the street. They had no doubt in their minds that the female voice was one behind everything.
Yet, with that in mind, all they could do now was look at what remained of the city. There were damaged roads, toppled buildings, and countless people missing.
They could only look at each other with concern, realizing that while the battle was won, more was to come. The sky was still blood-red and something else had remained.
The camera zooms in onto the duos faces before moving to the gaping hole where the convention center once stood. It then went all the way down, dramatically revealing a Gate to Inferno.
Things were not over, not in the slightest.
Prologue Part III Finale (2/2) Ends
​
New Infernal Demon Entry Unlocked:

• Apathy
• Aspidochelone
• Despair

Hi there!
Just sending an updated list of things I've loved for quality of life.
But also things I didn't like and returned. I'll mark them below and put a quick explanation so you'll have a heads-up on them.
​
LOVE THESE

Fenix E03R v2.0 Keychain Flashlight
Learned about this flashlight from a recent Youtube video. But I love that it's simple to use and it's compact and powerful. Unlike the RovyVon A1, the buttons make SENSE. I didn't like the Rovyvon A.
Layrite Natural Matte Cream, 1.5 oz
Been experimenting with different pomades and I actually rather like this one! I've tried Suavecito, Reuzel, Hanz de Fuko, Old Spice, American Crew, Fix Your Lid, Dove Polishing Pomade, etc. But I actually like this one the best. I also like how it easily applies but it also easily washes off with water.
Ohropax Soft Foam Ear Plugs (10 Ear Plugs)
These are just earplugs. Some might say overpriced. But I love the little case that it comes with. Makes it fantastic for travel.
Swiffer Heavy Duty Refills, Ceiling Fan Duster, 11 Count
I love this ceiling fan duster. It extends out. It also turns entirely up or down and is adjustable. I just find it super handy for dusting. Best of all, when done, you just toss out the duster and pop in a new one. I love that you can do that.
3 Tier Mesh Utility Cart, Rolling Metal Organization Cart with Handle and Lockable Wheels, Multifunctional Storage Shelves for Kitchen Living Room Office by Pipishell (Black)
Not putting the direct link but just copy and paste that into Amazon. I love this thing! It's so useful! I basically cart this around to put my equipment and slide it from room to room. It's super easy to put together and makes it so much easier to move components around.
Elgato Wave Microphone Arm LP - Premium Low Profile Microphone Arm with Cable Management (Renewed)
Bought this on Amazon and can vouch for it. It's now replaced my RODE PSA1. I love how this holds my microphone in place but doesn't fill up the screen.
OGUNUOKI Shoe Covers Disposable Recyclable -100 Pack(50 pairs) 15.7'' Hygienic Shoe & Boot Covers Waterproof Non-slip Shoe Booties for Indoors
I haven't yet had a chance to test these but I bought these in case a plumber or handyman comes in our house with messy shoes. They can now just wear these covers for their shoes.
Sennheiser IE 200 In-Ear Audiophile Headphones
I absolutely love these headphones.
SKUPSY 20 Pcs Mini Clear Plastic Box Square Jewelry Earplug Pill Storage Box Case Container with Lid for Storage of Small Items, Crafts, Jewelry, Hardware
Love these for small compact storage of earplugs for travel or for just random things for travel.
Colgate Max Fresh Wisp Disposable Mini Travel Toothbrushes, Peppermint, 24 Count (Pack of 4)
I think these are a bit too much. But I took about 3 of them with me on a recent trip and they were awesome. It's just handy especially in airplanes.
Cuisinart 726-38H Chef's Classic Stainless 14-Inch Stir-Fry Pan with Helper Handle and Glass Cover
Love this thing. It's basically a stainless steel wok. So you just dump it in the dishwasher and it's clean. So its' easier to deal with than a carbon steel wok.
RODE Videomic Go 2
Fantastic little microphone
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RETURNED THESE OR DID NOT LIKE THESE

8Bitdo Lite Bluetooth Gamepad for Switch Lite, Switch & Windows (Yellow Edition)
Doesn't work on all my Steam games. Not reliable. Returned it.
8Bitdo SN30 Pro Wireless Bluetooth Controller with Joysticks Rumble Vibration USB-C Cable Gamepad Compatible with Switch,Windows, Mac OS, Android, Steam (Gray Edition)
Doesn't work on all my Steam games. Not reliable. Returned it.
Arm & Hammer Ultra Max Antiperspirant Deodorant 1 Ounce Travel Size (Pack of 2)
Didn't like this. It's very tough and pasty.
Dickies Men's Light Comfort Compression Over-The-Calf Socks, Black (2 Pairs)
Didn't like this. It's too bulky to bring for travel.
Final VR3000 – in-Ear Gaming Headset with Microphone for PC Gaming, Consoles and VR equipments
Bought these headphones because people mentioned it had great soundstage. Sound is pretty thin on these. Not very good.
OMOTON Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for iPad 10.2(9th/ 8th/ 7th Generation)/ 9.7, iPad Air 4th Generation, iPad Pro 11/12.9, iPad Mini, and More Bluetooth Enabled Devices, White
Thought this would be a super cool and compact keyboard for travel. The Escape key doesn't work. It's honestly botched. You have to press FN+Escape for it to work. Any product that forces someone to change a workflow for the worst is poor product design imo so back to Whole Foods Amazon it went.

Hello all,
I have a Kenmore Series 500 Washing Machine that suddenly no longer spins, leaving my clothes soaked after a wash and rinse.
I put the washer in manual test mode and performed a gentle agitation test and low spin test. Agitation worked properly, but spinning failed almost immediately after a couple of short attempts. I've included a link to a short youtube video demonstrating these tests and the issue with spinning. I also performed a successful drain test and lid lock test.
I checked the error codes and there's only one: F7 E1 (Basket speed sensor fault). The basket spins freely by hand.
How likely do you think it is that replacing the shift actuator will successfully repair the machine? Is there anything else I should try first?
https://youtu.be/bUj3LpYSYys