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rowenabean · 1 year

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Inspired by @thestuffedalligator 's wonderful post: please enjoy the first installment of the Weird and Wonderfuls Ward: Sleeping Beauty Syndrome!

(I don't know if there will ever be any other installments, but this concept grasped me like a rattlesnake and wouldn't let go. No, I've never been grasped by a rattlesnake so I don't actually know what that's like. I feel like I'm only beginning to get to the interesting bits, but I have a low-key migraine and I decided the better part of valour is avoiding being on my computer when I have a migraine.)

“Hi!” the girl in front of Larissa said brightly. “You’re our new intern? Welcome to the Weird and Wonderfuls Ward!”

Larissa blinked. “Uh – I was expecting ward 4?”

“That’s us!” she said. “We just call it that. You know, it takes a lot to be managing some of this stuff, so it’s better to be cheerful about it! I’m the fellow here, we do have a consultant but he’s in and out so mostly it’ll be just you and me. Marie. Where have you come from?”

Larissa seized on the last question with the grasp of a drowning man.

“Just been on general surgery. It was my first run, so medicine is all brand new! Hoping it’ll be a bit of a change of pace.”

Marie squinted. “That’s optimistic? Dr Faustus should be in this morning, so we’ll see. Good luck? Probably best to grab the notes now, he moves pretty fast.”

“Ah – yes!” Larissa gulped. “Where are they?” She looked around. This wasn’t at all like the previous wards she’d worked on. For a start, she’d had to come underground to get here, which was the first time she thought she might have taken a wrong turning. She’d been expecting the tunnel to pop back up to the surface, but it had merely kept going down until she felt like she might be in some kind of wartime bunker. For some reason, there were still windows in some of the walls, but they looked out on excavated earth around 10cm from the glass, which did nothing to help her discomfort. This room appeared to be the nurses station, and it did have the classic whiteboard bearing patient details, but beside each name was a collection of sigils that bore no resemblance to the terms she’d learned in medical school.

At the back of the room she located a stack of binders. The first one had a name on the front, and she flipped open to reveal the first page. Yes, that was their ID details, and it looked like there were clinical notes behind her. Upstairs they had moved to computers, but the hospital she’d trained at had paper notes, and this looked sufficiently familiar to work with. She went to close the notes, but stopped as something caught her eye. Why was there a space for “species” on the registration form? And what the hell was a trow?

A door slammed behind her, and Larissa turned with a squeak. A dark-haired man had entered the room, his face narrow and tapering to a pointed chin with a small tuft of black beard. He wore a pair of tiny round glasses perched on his aquiline nose, and a long dark gown in place of her white coat.

“Ah, fresh meat,” he said, and held out a hand with an unpleasant smile. “Dr Faustus.”

Larissa concentrated on keeping poise, but her hand still trembled as she held it out to shake. “Larissa. I believe I’m your new house officer?” Her voice cracked on the question. “Marie was just – introducing me to the ward?”

He nodded curtly. “Hand me your pager,” he said.

Larissa slipped it from her belt and passed it over, confused. Dr Faustus passed his hand over it in a complicated motion, then handed it back. “There you are. That should be more useful now.” He turned and walked out the door without further comment. Larissa blinked after him stupidly. It wasn’t until Marie hissed “Ward round!” that Larissa gathered herself and the teetering stack of patient notes – seriously, computer was much more convenient – and followed him out the door.

The ward round was an uncomfortable flashback to her first day as a surgical house officer, straight from medical school. With a stack of a dozen folders to sort, it often took her several minutes to find the correct patient, by which point Dr Faustus was walking out of the patient cubicle and expected her to be ready to see the next. She tried to at least write down the diagnosis, but that was a flurry of half-understood words in itself – “bog-standard lycanthropy,” he said at one, “full moon’s tomorrow so just make sure he’s somewhere safe,” and then the next was “that’s a simple curse, just send down the curse-breakers and they’ll have her on her feet in no time.” The only case she recognised was the second to last. Dr Faustus stoped in front of the patient and talked for a minute, then turned to the nurse manager in disgust.

“This one’s just Lyme disease. Why is she here? Get her back upstairs.”

The patient behind him tried to say something, but she was cut off by his protests, as was the nurse manager.

“Not everything weird is us, you know. This isn’t supernatural at all. Those general physicians, trying to get out of their responsibilities. I don’t want to see her here when I come back.”

Marie poked Larissa quietly. “That’s you, you know. You’ll have to call upstairs to make it happen.”

At the end of the ward round, Dr Faustus stalked away upstairs, and Larissa sat down with relief. She still had no idea what was happening, but at least she had a moment to figure it out. Her list of jobs was intense – beginning with “write down nine tenths of the ward round notes” and leading through such gems as “figure out who the curse-breakers are” and “where do we find a silver pentangle” to “try and persuade the physicians they want to listen to a lowly house officer about taking over a patient,” but she’d done this before, she reminded herself. It wasn’t like the surgeons hadn’t made her work above her pay grade at times.

Marie disappeared at some point while Larissa was still sorting out the notes. She hunted around the ward for a bit, and eventually managed to find a nurse who might be able to help her figure out what was going on.

The nurse was called Joseph. He was a slightly-built younger man, wearing the standard hospital nursing uniform, apart from one thing: he had no shoes. Instead, his legs protruding from the sensible polyester trousers ended in goats hooves. They made a faint clopping sound as he walked, like the finer grade of court heels that Larissa had long-since decided to avoid in the echoing hospital corridors.

He ran over her list with a practiced eye. “Curse-breaker’s easy – they’ll be here for MDT anyway in an hour – ah yes, I’ll show you were we keep the silver items. That werewolf’s just staying till the full moon and then going home? Ok, we’ll pop him down the end, there’s a single room he should enjoy in the daytime, and it’s not like the moonlight gets down here. Best part of the location. You’ll have to figure out the physicians yourself, I’m afraid, I try not to go upstairs. It’s a whole hassle putting the concealment spells on my feet.”

By mid-morning, Larissa had moved the patient with Lyme disease upstairs – her one triumph, in that it was the only thing she managed to achieve on her own – and had found the silver gear. Marie eventually returned, and she managed to corner her to show her what to actually do with it – “they don’t teach this any more in medical school?” and they took it down to that patient, who was screaming in pain. The touch of the silver left a faint burn mark – although it was neither hot nor cold – but the pain left her, and Marie pronounced her cured. Or rather, exorcised. Larissa completed her discharge paperwork, and was just starting to feel on top of things when her pager rang.

It took her a moment to realise it was the pager. Whatever Dr Faustus had done to it, it wasn’t beeping in the usual way; instead, a squeaky voice said “Emergency! Emergency! Your presence required! Emergency!” and then was interrupted by Dr Faustus himself.

“Incoming patients in ED. Spell gone wrong - looks like a sleeping beauty situation. There’s at least ten victims in transit at the moment, likely there's more we can't find yet. All hands needed in ED.”

Larissa looked down at her list. It was starting to look more manageable than it had, but she had been counting on having the rest of the day to get all her paperwork done (even the weird and wonderfuls ward had paperwork), and being on call hadn't entered her radar. She hadn't seen any other doctors down here, though, so maybe it was just the one team. She gulped. What a thought.

Marie started running for ED, and Larissa followed her. It took a while to get there - up and up through the subterranean corridors, and when they rose to ground level they were still on the far side of the hospital - dodging around elderly ladies on walkers and young kids in moonboots, as well as the hordes of doctors going around their own ward rounds upstairs. Marie glimpsed her old surgical team, new intern in tow, but didn't stop the helter-skelter run through the corridors. She sped up next to Marie.

"What's the hurry? What does sleeping beauty mean?"

"Sleeping - beauty," Marie huffed, "patients not - technically - alive. No pulse - not breathing for themselves. One person breathing for them all - if they stop breathing - everyone dies."

Larissa swallowed. "And do they stop breathing?"

“Don’t – know” Marie said. “I’ve only seen a source once. Usually we just see the blast radius.”

“What do you do then?” Larissa asked, then corrected herself. “We. What do we do?”

“If we can – get them breathing – we can get them stable enough to break it. Usually. It’s not an easy one to break.”

They arrived at ED, and Marie led Larissa to the side. There was a curtain there that Larissa had never glanced twice at, and Marie led her behind it. In front of them was a whole second department. It had the same clear-glass cubicles with the same flimsy privacy curtains, and the same air of barely-contained chaos. The similarities ended there. Half the staff were dressed in long robes instead of scrubs, and candles and incense burned around each of the monitors in the staff workstation. She could see more of the sigils from below, and actually recognised a silver pentangle that was a larger counterpart of the one Marie had shown her downstairs. In one corner, a tired-looking paramedic was wheeling in a patient on a stretcher. Even from here she could see that they were uncomfortably blue-tinged, and their chest was rising in a forced, stilted manner, as if they were on a ventilator, even though there was no machine anywhere near their mouth.

#OP I hope you are ok with me running with this! it's such a fun idea and i used to work in a hospital so it was very vivid to me #weird and wonderfuls ward #my writing #medicine #loosely speaking although this is VERY much informed by my hospital work like in a this could have been my first day way #i realised writing this that i struggle to write a case of the week style because i just can't believe that there's not at least twenty #other things happening at the same time #like it is SO rare that you get to stop and focus on just one case as a junior doctor #(or a GP)#maybe this is different if you work in ICU or somewhere like that

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jcmarchi · 5 months

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Everything, everywhere all at once

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/everything-everywhere-all-at-once/

Everything, everywhere all at once

The way Morgane König sees it, questioning how we came to be in the universe is one of the most fundamental parts of being human.

When she was 12 years old, König decided the place to find answers was in physics. A family friend was a physicist, and she attributed her interest in the field to him. But it wasn’t until a trip back to her mother’s home country of Côte d’Ivoire that König learned her penchant for the subject had started much younger. No one in Côte d’Ivoire was surprised she was pursuing physics — they told her she’d been peering upward at the stars since she was a small child, wondering how they all had come together.

That wonder never left her. “Everyone looks at the stars. Everyone looks at the moon. Everybody wonders about the universe,” says König. “I’m trying to understand it with math.”

König’s observations have led her to MIT, where in 2021 she continued studying theoretical cosmology as a postdoc with physicist and cosmologist Alan Guth and physicist and historian of science David Kaiser. Now, she is a member of MIT’s 2023-24 Martin Luther King (MLK) Visiting Professors and Scholars Program cohort, alongside 11 others. This year, members of the MLK Scholars are researching and teaching diverse subjects including documentary filmmaking, behavioral economics, and writing children’s books.

Once she was set on physics, König finished her undergraduate studies in 2012, double-majoring in mathematics and physics at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris.

Still compelled by questions about the universe, König narrowed in on cosmology, and graduated with her master’s degree from Pierre and Marie Curie in 2014. The way König describes it, cosmology is like archaeology, just up in space. While astronomers study galaxy formations and mutations — all of the stuff in the universe — cosmologists study everything about the universe, all at once.

“It’s a different scale, a different system,” says König. “Of course, you need to understand stars, galaxies, and how they work, but cosmologists study the universe and its origin and contents as a whole.”

From practice to theory

Throughout her studies, König said, she was often the only woman in the room. She wanted to pursue the theories behind cosmology but wasn’t encouraged to try. “You have to understand that being a woman in this field is super, incredibly difficult,” says König. “I told everyone I wanted to do theory, and they didn’t believe in me. So many people told me not to do it.”

When König had the opportunity to pursue a PhD in observational cosmology in Marseille and Paris, she almost accepted. But she was more drawn to theory. When she was offered a spot with a little more freedom to study cosmology at the University of California at Davis, she took it. Alongside Professor Nemanja Kaloper, König dove into inflation theory, looking all the way back to the universe’s beginning.

It is well-known that the universe is always expanding. Think about inflation as the precursor to that expansion — a quick and dramatic beginning, where the universe grew exponentially fast.

“Inflation is the moment in history that happened right after the beginning of the universe,” says König. “We’re not talking about 1 second, not even a millisecond. We are talking 10 to the negative 32nd seconds.” In other words, it took 0.000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,01 seconds for the universe to go from something minuscule to, well, everything. And today, the universe is only getting bigger.

Only a sliver of the universe’s composition is understandable using current technology — less than 5 percent of the universe is composed of matter we can see. Everything else is dark matter and dark energy.

For decades, cosmologists have been trying to excavate the universe’s mysterious past using photons, the tiny, particle form of light. Since light travels at a fixed speed, light emitted further back in the universe’s history, from objects that are now farther away from us due to the expansion of the universe, takes longer to reach Earth. “If you look at the sun — don’t do it! — but if you did, you’d actually be seeing it eight minutes in the past,” says König. As they carve their way through the universe, photons give cosmologists historical information, acting as messengers across time. But photons can only account for the luminous 4.9 percent of the universe. Everything else is dark.

Since dark matter doesn’t emit or reflect photons like luminous matter, researchers can’t see it. König likens dark matter to an invisible person wearing a tuxedo. She knows something is there because the tuxedo is dancing, swinging its arms and legs around. But she can’t see or study the person inside the suit using the technology at hand. Dark matter has stirred up countless theories, and König is interested in the methods behind those theories. She is asking: How do you study something dark when light particles are necessary for gathering historical information?

According to König and her MIT collaborators — Guth, the forerunner of inflation theory, and Kaiser, the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science — the answer might lie in gravitational waves. König is using her time at MIT to see if she can sidestep light particles entirely by using the ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. These waves are caused by the collision of massive, dense stellar objects such as neutron stars. Gravitational waves also transmit information across the universe, in essence giving us a new sense, like hearing is to seeing. With data from instruments such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and NANOGrav, “not only can we look at it, now we can hear the cosmos, too,” she says.

Black in physics

Last year, König worked on two all-Black research teams with physicists Marcell Howard and Tatsuya Daniel. “We did great work together,” König says, but she points out how their small group was one of the largest all-Black theoretical physics research teams — ever. She emphasizes how they cultivated creativity and mentorship while doing highly technical science, producing two published papers (Elastic Scattering of Cosmological Gravitational Wave Backgrounds and An SZ-Like Effect on Cosmological Gravitational Wave Backgrounds).

Out of the 69,238 people who have earned doctorates in physics and astronomy since 1981, only 122 of them were Black women, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. When König finished her PhD in 2021, she became the first Black student at UC Davis to receive a PhD in physics and the ninth Black woman to ever complete a doctorate in theoretical physics in the United States.

This past October, in a presentation at MIT, König ended with an animated slide depicting a young Black girl sitting in a dark meadow, surrounded by warm lights and rustling grass. The girl was looking up at the stars, her eyes full of wonder. “I had to make this with AI,” says König. “I couldn’t find an image online of a young Black girl looking up at the stars. So, I made one.”

In 2017, König went to Côte d’Ivoire, spending time teaching school children about physics and cosmology. “The room was full,” she says. Adults and students alike came to listen to her. Everyone wanted to learn, and everyone echoed the same questions about the universe as König did when she was younger. But, she says, “the difference between them and me is that I was given a chance to study this. I had access to people explaining how incredible and exciting physics is.”

König sees a stark disconnect between physics in Africa and physics everywhere else. She wants universities around the world to make connections with African universities, building efforts to encourage students of all backgrounds to pursue the field of physics.

König explains that ushering in more Black and African physicists means starting at the beginning and encouraging more undergraduates and young students to enter the field. “There is an enormous amount of talent and brilliance there,” König says. She sees an opportunity to connect with students across Africa, building the bridges needed to help everyone pursue the questions that keep them looking up at the stars.

While König loves her research, she knows theoretical cosmology has far to come to as a discipline. “There is so much room to grow in the field. It’s not all figured out.”

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elwynten · 1 year

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Chapter 45

The waiting finally ended. It was the day Piemur, Jancas and Robinton would find AIVAS. I had kept an 'ear' open so I would know when they started excavating the AIVAS building because I wanted to be one of the few to first enter the building and to listen to AIVAS.

Most of the girls wanted to go with me, but they understood why they couldn't go. Although Mercedes came up with a solution. She made a tiny camera that I could wear that would send the video back to Tel Aviv Hold, so the girls could watch and hear what was going on in real time. And it would be recorded so we could watch it any time we wanted to.

I ported to Landing with Taima in her small dragon form. Jett, Cindy, Kimmy, Willow, Amber, And Crystal had accompanied me to Landing. And of course, they each had their Companions with them in small dragon form. We walked over to the building Piemur and Jancis were standing on and Jaxom and Ruth were beside. "Morning Piemur, Jancis, Jaxom. Morning Ruth" I said as we walked up to the building.

Jaxom turned to see who had greeted him. "Good morning, Lord Eilwyn. What brings you to Landing? And… um, Jett, Willow, Crystal, and I'm afraid I don't know or remember the rest of those with you." Jaxom admitted.

I chuckled. "Yes, it can be difficult to remember all their names." I said then introduced all the girls to Jaxom, Jancis and Piemur.

"I come here from time to time to see what's going on. Besides, I have to check on our shops at The Market Place as well." I told him with a grin on my face. "And I saw y'all over here and decided to see what Y'all were up to."

"How is The Market Place working out so far?" He asked me.

I nodded my head. "Slow, but we're getting some business, but then anything new takes time to get going." I replied.

"Hello Eilwyn." Jancis said as looked up from map she had taped to a reading board and waved to the girls.

'I'll have to have Mercedes make clip boards. We can sell them in one of the shops.' I thought to myself.

"Planning on digging up this building?" I asked Piemur and Jancis. I already knew the answer and what was in the building, but I didn't want them to know I already knew what was in this building.

"Yes, Jancis had the idea that this might be an important building. We found a map that said this building is ADMIN and this part." He tapped the top of the building with a long metal rod. "Says it is AIVAS, whatever that is." He told us.

"The map says it has solar panels on it. No other building," Jancis made a sweeping motion to the other building around us. "Has solar panels on them. So, I believe this building must be important." Jancis told me.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Makes since." I told Jancis then I turned to Piemur. "You have the rod. Why don't you see what you can find." I suggested.

Piemur hefted the rod them dropped one end into the dirt. After the rod sank a little ways into the ground there was a clicking sound. Piemur looked at Jancis then he looked over at me. "That's odd. The click I mean." Peimur said.

"It's usually a thunk." Jaxom said knowingly.

"I believe this is a good hunch." I said and smiled at Jancis.

Jaxom grinned. "Do you have another trowel?" He asked.

"Taima, how would you like to help?" I asked Taima. Taima took a step away from me and shifted into the small dragon form. "You know to be careful with these panels." I advised her.

Jaxom, Jancis and Piemur looked at me for a moment. Then they each called their own Companions into service to uncover the solar panels.

The girls with me added their own Companions to the effort of uncovering the solar panels.

Jancis looked over at me. "I keep forgetting how intelligent they are. I'm so used the Fire Lizards and how scatter brained they can be." Jancis admitted.

I nodded my head in understanding. "I haven't been around Fire Lizards very much and I've had Taima for quite a while. So, I'm used to how smart she is." I looked over at Taima. "Sometimes too smart." I added.

Taima stopped digging and looked at me. Then she stuck her tongue out at me and went back to digging.

In short order the solar panels on the southern side of the building were all uncovered. And with Ruth's help the roof of the building was uncovered.

"Look these tiles cover the original roofing material. Mortared on." Jancis scratches at the surface of a tile with a sharp cutting tool. "It could be ceramic, but it's the hardest I've even seen. However, did they get such strength to ceramics? Jancis wondered aloud.

"Your Grandfather should take a look at this." I told Jancis.

Jancis stopped what she was doing and looked at me. But Master Esselin should probably have a look at it first. He is in charge." Jancis replied.

"Master Esselin is in charge of excavation. Master Fandarel checks new materials." Piemur added.

I stood up and dusted myself off. "Well, we need to check out the shops then head home. Tell your Grandfather I said hello. Jancis. We'll see y'all in the morning. I want to see what's in this AVAIS building of yours Jancis." I said and turned to leave.

Jancis giggled. "I'll tell him, Eilwyn." Jancis said.

Next Morning

I knew everyone would be starting early on the AIVAS building. So I planned on getting there early as well. Because most of the girls wanted to see what was going on. I decided to take different girls with me today. So, Robbie, Heather, Verdi, Sucki, Snowdrop, and Yuki accompanied me this time and of course their Companions went as well.

I would have taken Mercedes, but she would be to excited and talking up a storm about things no one on Pern would be able to understand. I didn't think that would be good, so I had her stay behind. Although I did tell Mercedes she could go see AIVAS when they started rebuilding the keyboards. I suggested to her that she might want to work in the Technician's Hall once it was started.

As usual, I ported everyone to just in the tree line so we would not be seen appearing out of nowhere. Then we walked over to the work sight. We arrived just after Master Robinton, D'ram, Jancis and Piemur had arrived on Tiroth.

As we walked up Master Fandarel was talking. "Master Robinton, Dram, good morning. Jancis, Piemur. We calculate a full span's encrustation. I also deemed it wise to remove the tiles, so obviously a temporary cover. last night I compared them to some still in place on the flying shops, and I believe that it is the same material, though none of the ships seem to be missing any significant number. That confirms my theory that originally there were more than three ships." Fandarel said. Then he saw me and my group. "Morning Lord Eilwyn. I don't believe I know those with you."

"I think that's likely," Master Robinton agreed, shivering a bit in the cool dawn air. The fire-lizards' images always suggest more than three. Twice that many is far as I can tell."

"This is, Robbie, Heather, Verdi, Sucki, Snowdrop, and Yuki." I introduced the girls with me to Fandarel.

Fandarel nodded his head at each name. "Morning ladies."

Someone brought stools and hot Klah for Robinton and D'ram. Jancis and Piemur stood off to the side. I sent some of the girls over to keep them company, knowing they didn't like that their personal dig had become so public.

"Morning Robinton, D'ram. How are you doing this fine morning?" I asked. Robinton had both Zair and Balta with him. "And good morning to you Balta and Zair." I added.

D'ram and Robinton looked over at me. "Morning Eilwyn… and good morning to you too ladies." He told us.

I introduced the girls to Robinton and D'ram. "D'ram, I'm sure Robinton has told you about Balta and where he came from or rather who gave him to Robinton. With that, I thought I would gift a copper Companion to you as well." I told D'ram and at that moment a Copper Companion flew through the air and landed on D'ram's shoulder. "His name is Waqas. I informed D'ram.

I almost laughed because of the excretion on D'ram's face. His face was a mix of shock, surprise and awe.

Fire-Lizard - Copper (M) Name: Waqas Mythical (Of course, to get a dragon.) Regeneration Level 1 Sustenance Level 2 Intelligence Level 2 Strength Level 1 Durability L 1 Flight Teleportation Level 1 Speed Level 1 Agility Level 1 Magical Level 1 (Dancing Lights, Mending, Servant) Elemental Blast L2 (Fire and Ice)

D'ram stared at Waqas. "What… I… where… um…"

At that Piemur couldn't hold back and started laughing.

I chuckled also. "What, he is a Companion like I gave Robinton, Piemur and Jancis. I'm sure you would have gotten to why. So why, because I wanted to gift you with him. As the others will tell you. Any ability he has you now have. Which means you will live to see the end of the present fall." I told D'ram. At which I reached out mentally and gave Tiroth Durability, Regeneration, Poison Proof and Sustenance.

"I-I can hear him in my head like I do with Tiroth!" D'ram exclaimed.

I looked over at Piemur and Jancis. "Hearing that never gets old." I said and chuckled.

People started cheering. Piemur jumped up, grabbed Jancis by the hand and worked his way through the crowd. I followed behind Jancis. Master Fandarel and Robinton were ushered to the freshly uncovered door.

"I beg your pardon, Master Fandarel and Master Robinton, but this building was Jancis's hunch, and she should by rights go first!" Piemur told the two masters.

There were sounds of indignation and surprise from this in the crowd.

"You know, you are right, Piemur. Robinton said and stepped to one side. "We have usurped Janics's prerogative."

"After you Jancis," Fandarel said. He spoke with the utmost courtesy but looked thoughtfully at Piemur.

Piemur had to take over because Jancis was to overwhelmed by Piemur's audacity. Using one hand to keep Jancis from fleeing. Piemur ran his free hand over the door. Shortly the door opened. Piemur motioned for a glowbasket, then entered the building. Robinton and Fandarel followed behind Piemur and Jancis, and I followed behind the Craft Masters.

"A corridor to the right." Piemur said as he held the blow backet in one hand and Jancis's wrist in the other. We could see a white gleaming wall at the end of a short hall. "They sure weren't taking any chances with aivas."

"That's an obvious door." Fandarel remarked. He started to move forward, then stopped and gestured for Piemur and Jancis to continue.

Jancis gave Piemur a look of consternation. "You found it - you get to see it first!" Piemur told her smiling.

The hall is wide enough for Fandarel, Robinton, Janics and Piemur to stand side by side. The door had a knob that Janic refused to try, so Piemur reached out and tried to open it. With effort Piemur was able to twist the knob and pull the door open.

"There is little dust on this floor." Fandarel remarked.

"There's a red light on the cupboard." Piemur observed.

"And more light." Janics said in a nervous voice.

"In fact, the whole place is lighting up." Piemur added.

"The red light illuminates letters." Robinton said in a hushed voice as he looked over Jancis's shoulder.

Robinton looked back over his shoulder at me. "Can you see Eilwyn?" He asked me.

I grinned. "I'll see better once we enter the room." I replied.

"Remarkable, truly remarkable!" Fandarel said reverently.

The light in the room was getting brighter, so it was easier to make out more objects in the room. We all looked around taking in the unusual and strange items in the room.

There was a 'blip' sound from the screen and a message blazed from the left-hand corner: AIVAS FUNCTION RESUMED.

"That corner said 'AIVAS.'" Piemur pointed out.

"Please state ID and access code! Your voiceprints are not on record."

"Who said that?" Fandarel demanded, his voice booming in the small room.

"State ID and access code, please!" AIVAS repeated sounding slightly louder.

"That's not a human voice," Robinton said. "It has no real resonance, no inflection, no timbre."

"State the reason for this intrusion."

"Do you understand what he's saying Master Robinton?" Piemur asked.

"I have the feeling I ought to," Robinton admitted ruefully.

"Unless ID and access codes are given, this facility will close down. Its use is restricted to Admiral Paul Benden…"

"Benden, it said Benden!" Piemur cried excitedly.

"… governor Emily Boll…"

"Boll, that's another recognizable word," Robinton said. "We recognize the words 'Benden' and 'Boll.' We do not understand what you are trying to tell us."

"… Captain Ezra Keroon…"

"Keroon. It knows Keroon. do you know Telgar?" Fandarel could not contain himself any longer. "Surely it must know Telgar."

"Telgar, Sallah, married to Tarvi Andivar, later known as Telgar in memory of his wife's sacrifice…"

"All I understand is 'Telgar,'" Fandarel said. He raised his voice in frustration. "Telgar, we understand. Keroon we understand-that's another big hold. Ball is a Hold; Benden is a Hold. Do you understand us?"

Symbols and letters ran across the screen along with blips, beeps and wheering sounds.

"Did I say something wrong, Robinton?" Fandarel asked, his voice an awed whisper.

"Are you all right down there?" Master Esselin's plaintive asked.

"Of course, we are." Fandarel bellowed back to the Masterminer.

"Clear those windows. Let some light in. Glammie has my diagrams. Work from that and leave us alone!"

"New letters," Piemur said, digging Fandarel in the ribs to get his attention. "Running… Running? E… M… E… R… G…E… N…"

"Emergency," The harper guessed before the C and Y appeared. He grinned with pleasure.

"P-R-O-G-R-A-M--program? The words we understand, but what do they mean?" Piemur asked.

"The lights are quite bright now." Fandarel said cheerfully. "Very curious." He stepped into the room, his initial surprise having worn off, and we followed suit. "There are buttons on the wall." He flicked on, and a soft whirring noise began. The fine film of dust on the floor began to shift: the closeness of the air freshened. Fandarel flicked the button again, and both the noise and the stirring of air stopped. He flicked it on again, murmuring happily to himself. "Well, this aivas of your is an ingenious creature, He commented, smiling down at Jancis, "And efficient."

"We still don't know what as AIVAS if!" Piemur remarked.

"AIVAS is an acronym for Artificial Intelligence Voice Address System," The voice intoned. "To be precise, a Mark 47A, programmed to interface the main computer storage banks of the Yokohama and the settlement on Pern."

"Pern-I understand Pern," Robinton said. Then, enunciating very clearly and projecting his rich baritone voice, he added. "From where are you speaking, AIVAS?"

"This system is programmed for voice address. State your name. Please."

"It sounds testy, but I think I'm getting the hand of the accent. My name is Robinton. I am Masterharper of Pern. This is Fandarel, who is Mastersmith in Telgar Hold. With us are Journeywoman Jancis, Journeyman Piemur and Lord Holder Eilwyn. Do you understand me?"

"Lingual shifts have occurred, Robinton. Modification of the language program is now required. Please continue to speak."

"Continue to speak?"

"Your speech patterns will be the basis for the modification. Please continue to speak."

"Well, Masterharper, you heard it." Piemur said, recovering his composure. "Here sit down." He pulled the chair from under the desk, brushed the seat off, and make a flamboyant gesture.

Master Robinton looked aggrieved as he sat. "I always thought the Harper Hall had succeeded very well in keeping the language pure and unadulterated."

"Don't feel so bad, Robinton. No matter what you do language always changes. People shift the meaning of words over time. The come up with new fraises and people pick up or lose accents." I explained.

"Oh, AIVAS just doesn't understand us!" Piemur murmured reassuringly. "Everyone understands you. That thing," He said, airily dismissing the AIVAS. "doesn't even use words we know."

"This is very interesting," Fandarel said, looking at every surface, poking his finger into the slots, and cautiously touching the various knobs, buttons, and toggles. "Very interesting. Much less dust has filtered into this room. No doubt due to the tile layer."

"Please do not attempt to use the touch-screen controls. That function is now deactivated."

Fandarel pulled his hands back like a small boy caught reaching for bubbly pies. The slanting board, which has been glowing amber, went dark. Jancis had gingerly settled on one of the stools, rolling her eyes around the room and trying not to look at the screen.

"What's happening down there?" Breide called.

"A modification of the language program has been necessary," Piemur called back. Master Fandarel has it all well in hand, Breide."

"Five persons are observed to occupy this room, but only four voices have been registered. Will the fifth person speak?"

Jancis looked around apprehensively. "Me?"

"You are requested to speak a full sentence."

"Go on, Jancis," Piemur urged her. "I don't think it will bite you, and a feminine voice will give it a new perspective on life here."

"But I haven't the faintest idea what you say to… a disembodied voice."

"Any speech will suffice. The difference in resonance and timbre has been noted. To assist the program, question: You are a female person."

"Yes, she is a female person." Piemur replied.

"The female person is asked to answer for a voiceprint reading." Jancis burst out laughing at the surprise on Piemur's face, for the reproof, despite the uninflected tone, was unmistakable.

"You should see your face, Piemur."

"At least you can laugh about it." Piemur said. "Then you… sir, whatever. How should you be addressed?"

"This is an artificial intelligence voice address system. It does not require personification."

"Does artificial mean man-made?" Robinton asked.

"That is correct. "The men who built the Dawn Sisters?"

"Reference to Dawn Sisters is unknown. Please explain."

"The three metallic objects in the sky overhead are known as the Dawn Sisters."

"You refer to the spaceships Yokohama, Buenos Aires, and Bahrain,"

"Spaceships?" Fandarel asked, turning to stare at the panel with its green blinking legend.

"Spaceships, life-support vehicles that travel in the vacuum inaccurately referred to as 'space.'"

Do the spaceships still support life?" Fandarel's eyes were wide, his usually expressionless face betraying a passionate avidity that surprised even Robinton.

"Not at the present reading. All systems are on hold. Bridge pressure is .001 standard atmosphere, or 0.1 KP. Interior temperature reads minus twenty-five degrees Celsius."

"I don't know what it's talking about. Fandarel said, collapsing onto the other stool, his face a study of terrible disappointment.

"Hey!" Jaxom came running down the hall. "No, that's all right, Breide, I'll just go right in. I'm expected." He entered the room, slightly breathless. "I thought you'd wait for me, Piemur. Excuse me, Master Fandarel, Master Robinton. What is this?" He began to assess the bits and bobs of the room, the lights, the ventilation, and the expressions of his friends.

"This is an artificial intelligence voice address system…"

"Let us begin at the beginning them, shall we?" Robinton asked.

"That is the correct procedure." AIVAS replied, and what had been a dark panel suddenly became illuminated with a diagram that those in the room identified as similar to one found in the flying ship Jaxom had discovered. Only this diagram had such depth and perspective that it appeared three-dimensional, giving the awed observers the feeling that they were hovering in space, an unthinkable distance away from their sun. "When Mankind first discovered the third planet of the sun Rukbat in the Sagittarian Sector of space…"

#Pern #Dragons #Dragonriders #Dragonriders of Pern #Dragon Riders #AIVAS #Landing #Southern #Robinton #Jaxom #Piemur #Jancis

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sciencespies · 1 year

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Absolutely everything you want to know about dinosaurs

https://sciencespies.com/nature/absolutely-everything-you-want-to-know-about-dinosaurs/

Absolutely everything you want to know about dinosaurs

Dinosaurs: understandably you may have questions. Questions like ‘just how formidable was the Tyrannosaurus Rex?’, ‘what was the largest dinosaur of them all?’, and ‘why does the pot-bellied Nothronychus look that weird?’.

Fortunately, palaeontologists have these answers – they’ve uncovered much about this intriguing group of reptiles that roamed the Earth 230 – 66 million years ago.

From the meteor that made them extinct, to what they may have looked like (feathers and all), below you can learn everything worth knowing about dinosaurs from our top experts. You can also find the latest dino discoveries, such as the Scottish fossils recently identified as Scleromochlus, a flightless, cat-sized early ancestor to the winged pterosaurs.

And if you want to dig even deeper, make sure to also check out our in-depth guide to the iconic Stegosaurus, the mighty Triceratops and the scary truth about Velociraptors. Spoiler: there’s a lot Jurassic Park got wrong.

The latest Dinosaur discoveries and news

With their teeny arm span, we can only imagine how annoying a back itch must have been for a T. Rex. But a recently discovered dinosaur may have suffered from the same plight. At least, that’s what we can guess from its fossils.

While its skeleton was a gigantic 11 metres long and weighing more than four tonnes, the newly named Meraxes gigas also wielded two disproportionally small forelimbs.

Interestingly, the Meraxes became extinct some 20 million years before the T. Rex. While very distantly related, the two species evolved their tiny arms separately for a survival advantage. What advantage exactly? Researchers aren’t sure, but some scientists have theorised the tiny limbs could help with non-predatory activities, like supporting movement or holding during mating.

An illustration of the Meraxes gigas dinosaur © Carlos Papolio

Elsewhere, scientists have also discovered how dinosaurs came to dominate Earth in the first place. New evidence, based on recent excavations in the remote desert of northwest China’s Junggar Basin, indicates that freezing temperatures caused by repeated volcanic winters may have led to the dinosaurs’ initial success.

How? Well, the warm blood and feathery insulation of these early dinosaurs may have helped them survive the cold that killed off the planet’s early dominant reptiles.

“Severe wintry episodes during volcanic eruptions may have brought freezing temperatures to the tropics, which is where many of the extinctions of big, naked, unfeathered vertebrates seem to have occurred,” explained study co-author Dr Dennis Kent, a geologist based at Lamont-Doherty.

“Whereas our fine feathered friends acclimated to colder temperatures in higher latitudes did OK.”

What killed the dinosaurs? When did they go extinct?

It’s believed dinosaurs were killed off by an asteroid. Although some scientists theorised a flurry of volcanic activity wiped out the reptiles, research now points to a major impact off the coast of modern-day Mexico about 66 million years ago.

Just how big was the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs? The impact left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that measures 150km across and 20km deep. It is thought to have triggered tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that not only led to the demise of the dinosaurs but to almost three-quarters of all plant and animal life on Earth.

After blasting into the Earth, scientists say the asteroid would have released particles and gases, which blocked out the Sun and caused a lengthy winter. While this caused the extinction of many dinosaurs, many species that later evolved into birds survived.

In a 2021 study, researchers at Harvard University claimed that the Chicxulub comet may have originated from the Oort cloud, an extended shell of icy debris located at the edge of the Solar System.

When did dinosaurs live?

Most dinosaurs lived in what’s called the Mesozoic Era, a time roughly 245 to 66 million years ago. Scientists generally divide this period into three separate ages:

Triassic Period (252 to 201 million years ago) The era when reptiles first evolved into creatures we know as dinosaurs. However, the Earth they lived on was different from today’s. Almost all animals lived on Earth’s one extremely hot and dry landmass, Pangaea.

Jurassic Period (201 to 145 million years ago) In this period, temperatures on Earth fell, leading to more water, plants and dinosaurs. It’s in time period species such as the Brachiosaurus first emerged.

Cretaceous Period (145 to 66 million years ago) With more continents forming around the globe, more dinosaurs started evolving independently, which led to more dino diversity. Despite what a certain Jeff Goldblum movie might suggest, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor first actually appeared in this Cretaceous Period, not the Jurassic.

What was the biggest ever dinosaur?

With a length between 30 to 40 metres, the Argentinosaurus was the world’s largest dinosaur. A modern blue whale measures an average of 25m

With a length between 30 to 40 metres, the Argentinosaurus was the world’s largest dinosaur. It may have weighed up to a staggering 80 tonnes, about the equivalent of 53 adult hippos (or 20,000 cats. Now that’s a fight we’d love to see).

However, there are animals alive today even heavier. Namely, the blue whale, which can weigh a staggering 150 tonnes.

Why were dinosaurs so big?

We don’t yet know why the dinosaurs survived the end-Triassic extinction while crocs were almost wiped out, reduced to a few lineages that produced today’s alligators and crocodiles. What we do know is that in the ensuing Jurassic Period the dinosaurs spread around the world and got much larger.

The sauropod dinosaurs like Brontosaurus, Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus were the heavyweights of the time. These were the largest animals to ever live on land, some of them exceeding 80 tonnes in mass – more than the take-off weight of a Boeing 737.

Why were they able to get so big? Their ultra-efficient lungs were probably key. These bird-style lungs were connected to air sacs, which stored extra oxygen-rich air, allowing these dinosaurs to take in more oxygen per breath than a mammal like us. – Professor Steve Brusatte

What were the first dinosaurs like?

A Herrerasaurus, one of the first dinosaurs © Science Photo Library

Dinosaurs evolved in the Triassic, which began around 252 million years ago, after the most severe mass extinction in Earth’s history. Massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia led to runaway global warming, which killed up to 95 per cent of all species. Among the survivors were small, cat-sized reptiles that could run fast.

These dinosauromorphs were the ancestors of dinosaurs. Around 230 million years ago, they gave rise to true dinosaurs, which are distinguished by their upright legs that fit into a window-like opening in the pelvis, which is attached to the backbone by extra vertebrae. These features allowed the first dinosaurs – like Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus – to run faster, cover larger distances, and expend less energy than most other animals of the time.

These first dinosaurs diversified and split into the three fundamental divisions of the dinosaur family tree: the carnivorous theropods, long-necked sauropods, and beaked, plant-munching ornithischians. – SB

What came before dinosaurs?

The Lagerpeton chanarensis dinosaur

No, not aliens. The answer to what dinosaurs evolved from is simple: more reptiles – just ones a lot smaller than a T-Rex. Known as dinosauromorphs, they were the size of house cats and flourished around 242 to 244 million years ago.

They were animals by no means at the top of the food chain, but they were speedy enough to outpace most attackers.

How did the earliest dinosaurs beat their rivals?

The first dinosaurs didn’t take over the world right away. Rather, it took them more than 30 million years to assert their dominance. They were evolving in a world very different from today, as all land was joined into the supercontinent Pangea, which stretched from pole to pole.

Read more about dinosaurs:

Could we bring dinosaurs back to life, like in Jurassic Park?

Sorry if it’s you reading, Jeff Goldblum, but probably not. To go full Jurassic Park, you’d need a source of well-preserved dinosaur DNA, something that researchers have yet to find. And it’s doubtful they ever will: DNA breaks down over time, with it unlikely to be found in fossils over a million years old.

Considering dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, there’s little hope dinosaur life, uh, finds a way back to us.

However, other extinct species – including an Australian amphibian called the gastric-brooding frog – have been ‘de-extincted’ using ancient DNA.

About our expert, Prof Steve Brusatte

Prof Steve Brusatte is a vertebrate palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist who specialises in the anatomy, genealogy, and evolution of dinosaurs and other fossil organisms. He has written over 110 scientific papers, published six books (including the adult popular science book The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, the textbook Dinosaur Paleobiology, and the coffee table book Dinosaurs), and has described over 15 new species of fossil animals.

#Nature

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drainranger1 · 2 years

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Knowing the advantages of the Drainage CCTV inspections

The pipes as well as the drainage systems experience several issues with each passing day. These problem regions may go undiscovered since these drainage systems are generally underground or in difficult-to-access areas. CCTV drain camera inspection is a sophisticated diagnostic equipment used to do a thorough check of pipelines and drains. This provides a clear picture of the overall state of a plumbing system and eliminates the need for guesswork. Make sure that you get the best Drainage CCTV Inspections Survey Auckland.

There are many advantages of drainage CCTV inspections:

Rapid and accurate analysis and diagnosis of drainage problems

When you discover a blocked or clogged drain, you want to get it fixed as soon as possible, especially if you can't use your sink or bath. One advantage of having a CCTV drain inspection performed is that you will receive results quickly. The professionals will lower the camera into the drain while another person watches the footage on a TV screen. We can give you with a precise diagnosis thanks to a rapid and effective drain analysis. We can create a successful solution to the problem rather than relying on assumptions based on limited facts. The drain inspection services in Auckland will help.

Low-cost CCTV Drainage Service

Why do you believe CCTV drainage surveys are less expensive than alternative methods? We reduce the need for a plumber to inspect the drain many times because we can deliver a quick and precise diagnostic, minimising our CCTV drain survey cost.

Reduces the number of interruptions

Nobody wants to deal with plumbers coming and going throughout the day. More importantly, they do not want their daily activities to be disrupted as a result of the plumbers doing a major excavation project to detect and identify the problem. The inconveniences, on the other hand, are kept to a minimum with CCTV drainage surveys.

Ideal for First-Time Homebuyers

Consider how much agony and suffering prospective homeowners could avoid if they discovered a drainage issue before purchasing a home. They can now. Before signing the contract, they can undertake a home buyer drain survey. Inquire about our CCTV drainage study and understand how they may keep your drainage problems from worsening.

Conclusion

A CCTV drain camera can also detect tiny drain blockages that might otherwise go undiscovered. It may even detect indicators of damage that could worsen and create future issues. Because of the increased frequency of sewage overflows, our drain plumbers in Melbourne are more likely to employ this technology. They will be able to provide you a swift diagnostic and clear blocked drains in no time by doing a CCTV examination. You'll immediately notice whether the source is a broken pipe, a tree root, residue accumulation, or rust. If left unchecked, clogged drain lines can lead to pricey repairs. If you notice foul odours, slow draining water, or strange noises emanating from your pipes, schedule a drain inspection today or contact us right immediately.

#drain unblocking drainlaying Auckland

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skirtpeanut41 · 2 years

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The Way To Order Food In Korean

However, the Taiwanese still devour a large quantity of rice, particularly brown rice and unique varieties like black, purple, and purple rice. Recently rice consumption in Taiwan has enjoyed a renaissance with each growers and customers devoting the extent of care and a focus to the rice that's given to high worth crops like tea. Pork, seafood, rooster, rice, and soy are widespread elements. Traditionally, rice fashioned the basis of most Taiwanese diets. Before the Japanese colonial period, most rice grown in Taiwan was long-grained Indica rice. The Japanese introduced short-grained Japonica rice which rapidly changed each the farming and consuming patterns of the Taiwanese. The glorious Rice Terraces of the Ifugao mountaineers may be found when going farther north. Bondoc and Bicol peninsulas possess in depth coconut plantations. Iron, gold, manganese, and copper are excavated. Academicians and researchers believes that Arab merchants in the course of the Sung Dynasty (960–1127 AD) delivered items from the Philippines to the port of Canton within the southwestern part of China . Research exhibits that it has excessive content material of sodium that's not good for folks with hypertension and with kidney issues . Nasi goreng simply means ‘fried rice’ in Indonesian and this is likely certainly one of the most popular dishes served throughout the archipelago. It normally consists of rice which is fried in a wok along with other elements like shallots, chilies, carrots and meat or seafood. Because tiny restaurants like this specialize on a single dish, the quality is superb and they can promote it to you for reasonable. It's conventional to serve a complete hen, including the head and ft, for the Lunar New Year. 外燴 symbolizes purity, and serving the whole chook represents unity. Cal Zero Waste Faqs A development within the cleansing industry is the elimination of the usage of extra hazardous chemical compounds corresponding to drain cleaners as a result of liability and environmental issues. Individuals employed in business cleaning usually maintain the job title of janitor, custodian, or day porter. JanServ is a service mark of AKHIMO Group Inc. and provides technological innovative options in sanitization, cleaning, air quality testing, and waste administration methods services. Since 2010, Restaurantware has been a number one restaurant supply manufacturer and e-commerce company serving foodservice professionals across the globe. We strive to create innovative products that will motivate customers - and propel businesses forward of trade trends. At SOHO Commercial Ltd, we supply a wide variety of businesses, companies and customers with glorious quality products. It may seem like a tedious exercise, however plenty of eating places which have adopted recycling claim to have lowered their operational prices in waste disposal. RKEMS stands ready to assist various operational needs with the food and facilities to maintain communities till life returns to regular. Additionally, our logistics and transportation capabilities are designed to enhance and ensure delivery of these and all different services. We make use of skilled teams to facilitate all transportation needs to, from and inside facilities when offering emergency response and recovery support providers. Rest assured that our seasoned fleet administration professionals are able to coordinate logistics and assist needs with precision, so that responders can address the critical tasks at hand. We also have high-volume dishwashing trailers and containers that can every clear 1000's of dishes per hour. Camdollies® For Insulated Beverage Servers And Carriers The motion you just performed triggered the security resolution. There are a quantity of actions that might trigger this block including submitting a sure word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed information. Bar house owners typically use pitchers to serve beer and different chilly drinks to patrons. 2 Door Vertical Stainless Steel Refrigerator made from 304 Stainless Steel Grade Commercial Grade. Can be customised to swimsuit your dimensions temperature requirement. The sturdy clear plastic tower tube simply holds as much as 3 liters of your favourite beverage. We manufacture these urns in numerous sizes from 2.5Ltrs to 70Ltrs. This web site is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Insulated meals carriers are designed to maintain casseroles sizzling or cold particularly if you ready the food in your kitchen and you should deliver it offsite. It is important in each catering business operation because it makes transporting hot and cold meals simpler without having problems with probable changes with the food temperature. Folding tables, chairs, benches, table cloths, napkins, dinnerware, flatware, and glassware also wants to make your list of necessary catering gadgets. Based in Lancaster, PA. WebstaurantStore is the largest on-line restaurant provide retailer servicing professionals and individual clients worldwide. Catering Assistant Job Description, Qualification, Expertise, And Salary For most profiles, this tab has a table with wages in the major industries using the occupation. Occupation Job Duties ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION 2021 MEDIAN PAY Bartenders Bartenders mix drinks and serve them directly to prospects or by way of wait workers. Managers often work long shifts and generally spend whole evenings actively serving to to serve clients. Food service managers’ schedules range and will embrace nights, weekends, and holidays. A majority of employers prefer an connected cowl letter to your catering job software. In distinction to on-premise catering, off-premise catering is typically what people think of when they host an occasion and bring food in from some place else. If you work with a caterer who might be bringing prepared meals to your venue, the caterer cooks and prepares food in their very own kitchen, then plate, cover, and transport the food to your location. Often a extra popular option as a outcome of worth level and coordinating the occasion, on-premise catering includes catering accomplished within the kitchen and meals preparation areas of a venue. If all goes well, you won’t even pay consideration to all the behind the scenes care a catering group, and their servers, put into your occasion. It seems pretty simple and straightforward — catering is a culinary chef and their group getting ready, cooking, and serving meals, right? While performing the duties of this job, the worker is required to talk, hear and transfer about freely in a multi floor constructing. The worker is regularly required to visually observe the situation of his/her surroundings. The employee is required to carry, balance, and carry quite a lot of meals and beverage objects. Employee is required to stoop, bend, carry and carry objects weighing 50 pounds or much less. While nobody particular person can decide what works for others, you will want to know that not everybody choice works for everybody. Make certain you ask lots of questions and do your research well upfront to not only discover one of the best venue you on your needs, but in addition one of the best catering to go properly with your occasion. Knowing the distinction and having the power to identify what catering choices are right on your event can make the entire difference. He has labored in the corporate and nonprofit arenas as a C-Suite govt, serving on a quantity of nonprofit boards. He is an internationally traveled sport science writer and lecturer. The 5 Hottest Cuisines For Company Buffet Catering Today, we eat them as a end result of they’re yummy and wholesome. Dishes made with native, seasonal elements are sometimes deemed healthier and extra environmentally pleasant. These include components sourced from close by farms and ranches, in addition to locally made specialty meals gadgets. This non-traditional kind of beer is gaining momentum within the craft-brew circuit. The major benefit is the food is prepared to order proper in front of your friends. You’ll need the area to set up the buffet and think about if you want individuals to help serve or refill the menu items. Caterers can usually arrange the buffet, man the stations, and clear up the mess. We curate the best restaurants so that you solely have to choose on one. No extra selecting between slim pickings and overpriced substandard meals on the final minute. No extra guessing who's coming to your occasion, or making an attempt to maintain observe of who ate what. Disposable Restaurant & Catering Provides Small convenience stores to major meat packing operations and every thing in between, we now have all of it lined right here. This includes restaurants, catering operations, produce distributors, home-based producers, concession operators and nearly any firm that is processing and packaging consumable products. In this case, I suppose the altering expectations surrounding to-go containers and waste administration are something we’ll see increasingly more. I suppose it'll deliver the added benefit of getting catering patrons feel good about your offerings and their impact on the world. In recent years, producers have been engaged on growing more sustainable alternate options to conventional plastic merchandise. Throughout the complete life cycle of wooden products, there can be far fewer environmental repercussions than with traditional plastics, and possibly fewer with bioplastics like PLA, which composts into lactic acid. Currently wooden and bamboo merchandise are extra expensive than traditional plastics and never as extensively obtainable, which makes it challenging for some restaurants to change. By establishing a customized by which clients are inspired to carry disposables, some of the internal prices of the disposable tableware could be offset. Paper/cardboard is biodegradable, cost-effective, straightforward to customize printing, and durable when folded correctly. Many restaurants offering pizza delivery use corrugated cardboard bins that present warmth insulation and regulate temperature. The box closes firmly to attenuate the amount of heat that’s released and has small holes on the facet, allowing some air to escape. If you are sending out take-out meals, likelihood is you’ll need to some cutlery to go alongside. Browse our large selection of disposable cups, linens and cutlery to stock up in your foodservice operation. A full line of plastic cups and compostable cups, espresso cups, portion cups, dessert cups and paper cups. To allow you to better understand the temperature tolerance of certain foodservice containers, we put collectively a quick one-page reference guide. If you’re situated in the United States, Puerto Rico, or the Caribbean, EBP and other Imperial Dade locations can supply your facility’s foodservice takeout container needs. When utilizing CPET, never preheat the oven to greater than 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If the container melts it might possibly leach into food products inflicting sickness, burn the consumer, and/or damage the oven. The selections are plentiful with Solo Soufflés portion containers and lids. 51 Greatest Summer Picnic Food Concepts Or you'll find a way to request a wheat bun for your hamburger or whole-grain bread for your sandwich. Many fast meals meals deliver sufficient food for several meals in the guise of a single serving. Avoid supersized and value-sized objects, and go for the smallest dimension when it comes to sandwiches, burgers, and sides. You can also find more reasonable parts on the children’s menu. Snack on these chocolatey truffles even after the clock strikes midnight. They're the right late-night sweet that all your guests will love. Toast the new year with this festive bubbly cocktail. It's a light-weight, refreshing, and citrusy drink that’s perfect for if you want one thing just a little extra particular than easy champagne. What’s extra, each foods are loaded with fiber that may assist keep you full between meals . Pick a few one-pot style dishes and a carbohydrate like rice or potatoes that may go along with each. You can decide a theme, likeIndian, British classics or Chinese, so that people can mix and match. If you're making spicy food, make certain a minimal of one is delicate as not everyone likes chilli.

#外燴

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ghostdrew22 · 3 years

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Angel || Draco Malfoy

Requested: No. Pairing: post-war Draco Malfoy x fem!reader Warnings: Lots of angst in the beginning, mentions of self-harm/self-destructive behavior, mentions of blood, quite a few mentions of the devil, ptsd, just a lot of dark themes ig (let me know if i need to add another warning) Summary: You’ve always been an angel in Draco’s eyes and now, years after the war, he’s reminded why once again.

WORDS: 3440

I’ve been wanting to write about the ‘devil on the shoulder’ trope for a while and I felt like @anchoeritic‘s 3K WRITING CHALLENGE was the perfect opportunity though i think i lost the plot a bit at some point and this probably isn’t what you had in mind.

i had to do so much research for this, probably the most research i’ve ever done for a fic. It’s a lot heavier than I’d intended for it to be (i almost cried at certain points) but I still really love it.

anyway this fic is inspired by ‘Angel’ by FINNEAS (which is a great song that I recommend listening to) and i hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

~~~

Anger.

So much anger that he doesn’t know what to do with it. Red, hot, fury just begging to be unleashed.

He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes. When he opens them again his fist collides with the wall. “Fuck!”

The miniature Mephistopheles that’s made home on his shoulder tells him to keep going, that this is the only rational response. Draco heeds the advice until his knuckles are bleeding and there’s a dent in the wall.

He lets out a frustrated sigh as he thinks about you returning in a few hours, then he punches the spot one last time out of frustration. Draco’s own love for destruction lies parallel to the myths surrounding Beelzebub, his own virtues bringing him to peril instead of an unseen force of evil. But it’s much easier to believe that the voice always telling him to do wrong, is not his own.

Maybe this is who he is, a fucked up kid with anger issues. Maybe this is all he’ll ever be, knuckles spotted in crimson and harmful thoughts being shoved down as to not raise alarm.

He feels violated by the mark on his arm. Sobs stacking up in his lungs at the very thought, but all he can express is anger- all he can understand is the resent that crawls beneath his skin and settles into his bones like calcium.

Was it his choice? No. Did it matter? No. Choice means nothing in a world run by circumstance. Intention holds no value when there’s no action to follow through. In another world, a better world perhaps, he would’ve had the right to choose and he hopes that he would’ve chosen the right side- the good side.

Forgiveness, they say, is often practiced by the strong willed. He’d tried to forgive, he really had, but Iblis had told him that it didn’t matter who he forgave because they’d still done this to him anyway- they’d still sold his soul to the Devil.

“Draco, when will you forgive me?” She pleads and he shrugs with a thin smile.

“I don’t know mother. I don’t know.”

“It’s been years.” He turns a steal glaze toward her.

“And yet I still can’t get the mark off.”

“What am I meant to do?”

“There’s nothing you can do. It’s too late to do the right thing.”

“What would the right thing have been back then? Huh?”

“The right thing to do would’ve been to protect me.”

“I did protect you. I took the Vow for you!” She yells as she stands out of her chair and points an accusatory finger toward him. He’s seen this scene so many times before that it’s permanently imprinted in his mind, but this time he’s not a scared teenager being scolded by his mother.

“I didn’t ask you to do that.” He stands as well, “I just asked you to save me. Why didn’t you save me?”

“What?” She’s taken aback,

“Summer before fifth. You told me that you’d had enough of him, you told me that we were going to leave and run away so that you could save me from him, from all of them.”

“So now you hate me because I couldn’t leave your bigoted father?”

“No, mother. I hate myself because you couldn’t leave my bigoted father.” He tucks his chair back into the table and pulls out his wand, “Thank you for dinner mother, it was lovely.”

Then he’s gone, and he doesn’t come back.

Draco had shut himself out from the world, hoping that his loathing would dissipate with time but it hadn’t. He still wakes up every morning with that tiny voice reminding him that he’s worthless, and he still believes it.

Why had he done it? Why had he allowed them to put the mark on his arm in the first place? Why had he put his own morals, his own principles, on the line to save a family who might not have done the same for him? Why had he allowed himself to succumb to the many ministrations of Diabolous, which dragged him further and further down the dark side?

Weakness. That’s the only answer he can conceive. Or maybe that’s the sound of Lucifer on his shoulder, consistently reminding him that he’s no match for the evil that resides deep within his soul. He can’t fight it, it’s who he is. He’s weak and he’s unholy. Bathed so often in sin that it’s sunk into his DNA. Does that even make sense?

Draco shakes his head and runs his hands down his face in an attempt to ground himself. But it doesn’t work, all he can see is red and all he can hear is his own conscience belittling him for continuously making the wrong choices. Why does he always make the wrong choices?

His throat so dry it feels as though he’s swallowed sand. His palms sweaty like he’s dipped them in oil. He paces around the room in a desperate effort to remember where you’d placed the box last time this happened. He can feel himself disconnecting from the world, feel himself sinking further and further into the dredges of his mind that torment him most.

That part of his brain that holds the memories, the shame, the anguish, is his biggest obstacle in recovery. It’s always on good days, days when… He blinks when he realizes that no fond memories come to mind. Does he even have good days? Or does this always happen, is this what’s become normal for him?

He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and steps back in shock, completely forgetting about his mission to find the box. The man in front of him looks clean, taken care of. When had he become this man and stopped being the terrified teenager that never ate and wore bags beneath his eyelids like name tags.

There is muscle on his arms, taut beneath the dress shirt that he must’ve put on that morning before going to classes… or work? When had he earned the right to stop looking the way he felt? Which of his actions had merited his beauty returning, when the dark mark still lays clear beneath the dress shirt that he’s got on? There are hickeys along his chest- one, two, three, littered around his torso like a map to his heart- and he can only assume that they’d been left in the wake of your last meeting, because he can’t seem to piece together the memory of them being made.

You. Where are you? Why can’t he remember where you are or what you look like? Did you finally leave? Did you finally realise that he wasn’t worth any of the pain and anguish that he’d put you through? Had you ultimately decided that Draco and the dark mark could not be separated, both physically and mentally? Maybe he never managed to redeem himself in your eyes, and it hurt so much to lose you that he made himself forget.

Redemption, he’d searched far and wide for it. He’d spent the months after the war trying to find some spiritual cleanse for the ailment in his essence, had dabbled in every muggle religion he came across in hopes of finding something that would provide him freedom from guilt. The Bible, the Qur’an, the Gita, the Torah, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Tripitaka- none of the holy books he’d read had promised him enough solace to feel deserving of love from a higher entity. They had all just reminded him of the purity and innocence that muggles embodied, the same qualities he came so close to erasing.

Redemption wasn’t in the cards for him. If it had been a game of Poker, Draco would’ve been the first fold with the knowledge that he didn’t stand a chance against the better players at the table. Who were the better players? He didn’t really know, he just knew that he wasn’t one of them.

His eyes drift toward his reflection once more and he feels disgust crawl through his anatomy. Nausea, a familiar friend in times like these, making itself comfortable in the barrel of his gut. Why had he even eaten today anyway? Sustenance won’t fill the emptiness that’s making domicile in his chest, it won’t make him less of a habitat to repulsive regret and desolation.

He walks toward the dresser and picks up a pocket knife that’s sitting in-between some make up and a music box. Then like deja vu he can already feel the weapon pinching, digging beneath his skin as if it’s trying to excavate bone. He recalls blood pouring out, drowning his pale skin in spills of vermillion and carmine, and dropping to the floor. The floor, chalky tile with tiny chards of black glass engrained in it, something that he hadn’t come up with himself but liked anyway. Who had come up with that again?

Screams, familiar but unrecognizable, had filled his ears soon after. He remembers his arm being wrapped in a bandage, him being carried off the bathroom floor and taken to the Hogwarts infirmary, no, it was actually St Mungo’s. He remembers being treated and loud cries settling down into comforting whispers beside him. He remembers feather light touches being placed on his face and kisses settling onto the skin of his palm.

He remembers something good, but he doesn’t know what.

He remembers the injury, and knows that it didn’t work.

Draco takes a deep breath and puts the knife back down. Staring at his reflection once more he sees that the man standing before him is not the same child that had stepped into battle way back when. When was that? Months? Years? He can’t tell.

The box. The box will tell him. But he doesn’t know where it is, he doesn’t even know where he is anymore. This room is definitely not his Hogwarts dorm room, it’s not in Hogwarts at all, and it’s not his room in the Manor either. Where is he?

His eyes shoot up when he hears a door shutting, and soon after voices follow suit. The voices are coming toward him, in this strange room that he’s in, and Draco struggles to identify them. His dorm mates potentially? No, this clearly isn’t Hogwarts. Friends? His mother? You?

Then there’s a laugh, from a child, from two children, and suddenly none of it makes sense any more. He knows those voices, he knows those laughs, so well that they might as well be his own, but he can’t seem to attach faces or names to them.

A few of the voices drift off, further down the hall, and one gets louder as the door to the bedroom opens. Draco holds his breath as the person walks in, not knowing what to expect, and feels a confused sense of relief wash over him when he sees you standing there.

You laugh as you enter the room, “If you can get an outstanding in Transfiguration then we’ll get you whatever your heart desires.” You respond to your daughter as you recall how both you and Draco had struggled with the subject during your Hogwarts years.

You furrow your eyebrows at the state of your bedroom- documents scattered across the bed, clothes in tiny piles all over the floor, and a tiny dent in the wall beside the bathroom door. A sigh escapes your lips as you process the mess and prepare yourself for what’s about to come. You turn and your eyes land on your husband, and your heart breaks at the sight of him. He’d promised this morning that he’d be fine, it was the only reason that you’d left him alone, but clearly he wasn’t.

“Love? Are you okay?” You ask softly as you take the shoes off of your feet and close your bedroom door behind you. He tilts his head to the side momentarily in confusion, but then realisation flashes across his eyes and he takes quick strides toward you.

“Oof.” You breathe out when he pulls you into his chest and rests his forehead on your shoulder.

“Y/N.” He muffles into your shoulder and you feel your heart swell with love for him- this man who recognizes you instantly, even when the entire world is nothing more than a distant memory.

“Miss me?” You ask with a small laugh as you bring your hands up to wrap around him tightly. He mumbles an agreement and you smile, “I missed you too.”

“Bad day.” He whispers and you nod, rubbing his back in an effort to soothe him.

“I know baby, wanna talk about it?”

“No. Can’t remember.”

“Okay, that’s fine.” You pull him away from you and kiss his forehead with a warm smile, “We can just lie down for a while.”

He obliges as you pull him toward the bed and shuffle the papers off of it, climbing on after you and setting his head in your chest. You run your fingers through his hair and hum, trying to your best to make him feel calm and prevent another breakdown.

But your efforts are futile, within the hours that Draco had been alone he’d thought every terrible thought that he possibly could, Al-Shaitan had already tormented your husband through a series of painful misconceptions. Draco had never really subscribed to religion or faith but after the war he’d identified quite quickly with the concept of the Devil- confessing that he believed he had an evil conspirator sitting on his shoulder- and felt that his own soul deserved to be damned. You’d tried to rid him of that notion, many times, but it never worked, he was in too deep.

You tense up when you feel a cry escape his lips and his fingers tighten into the space of your torso. “I’m sorry.”

He feels terrible, terrible for ruining all of your hard work. All the effort you’d put into rebuilding him now disintegrating in the blink of an eye. But you’re here now, you’re going to fix him again, he knows it.

You try to level your breathing so that you don’t cry too, so that you don’t fall into this pit of despair with him, because Merlin knows that any pain Draco feels takes as rough a toll on you. You pull him off of you and sit up, bringing him to sit as well, so that you can look him in the eyes.

“Sorry for what Bub?”

“For being broken. I-“ He feels another sob rock through him and you pull him into your chest. “Please fix me Y/N.” He pleads, a whimper following suit.

His fingers are digging into you again, he’s clinging so tightly to you like you’ll disappear if he doesn’t stay close enough, and it hurts you to know that even after all these years he’s scared that you’ll leave.

“You’re not broken Draco, there’s nothing to fix.”

“But I’m- I’m-“ Cries start to escape rapidly and interrupt him. He can’t see clearly anymore as tears form in his waterline and obstruct his view of you. It hurts, everything just hurts.

“You’re not broken, my love.” You whisper as you cup his face, “You’re not evil, you’re not bad. You’re good. You’re my husband, I love you. Did you open the box?”

He shakes his head, “Couldn’t find it.”

“Okay, let me get i-“ You’re cut off by your bedroom door opening and your children marching in.

“Dad, you’ll never guess what happened at school today- Oh, is this a bad time?” Ariel, your daughter, stops in her tracks as she raises her eyebrows at you.

You shake your head and gesture for them to come in. “I think it just got a little much for him this year. Please get me the box, love.”

Ariel goes to the headboard and pulls out the aforementioned box from the first drawer, before her and Cael, your son, get comfortable on the bed beside you and Draco. But Draco doesn’t need it anymore, he can already sense himself coming back down to earth. He knows where he is- with you, in your house, with your children, in your bed. He’s home, he’s safe.

He takes the box anyway and begins to unload its contents in silence, the three of you observing him with admiration. It’s a small circular box that your children made a few years back after witnessing one of his episodes for the first time, containing momentos from the last 18 years of you and Draco’s lives together. Pictures, notes, a few school projects.

“Tell him about what happened at school today, it’ll probably make him laugh.” Cael encourages his older sister Ariel, and she does as told.

Draco pays a significant amount of attention to the story, piecing together facts that he’s slowly starting to understand and recognize as a part of his normal life. He intertwines his fingers with Cael’s as Ariel continues telling the story from her spot on your lap.

Love.

So much love that he doesn’t know what to do with it. Bursts of it just choking him out.

Draco remembers everything now. He remembers this house of yours, the one he’d bought straight out of Hogwarts and begged you to live in with him because “It’s nothing without you in it”. These children that you’d had 14 years ago, that’d he’d been so scared to raise because he thought they’d resent him, and that made everything in the world just seem brighter. This life that he modeled with you on the embers of his haunting past, this life that reminds him he’s good.

Before you, he would’ve been terrified to show any one his vulnerable side, especially his children, but you’d taught him that loving someone means loving all the good bits and the bad bits, all the happy moments and the sad moments. Now he knows that when days like this happen, when he gets so lost inside the mental maze of his own construction, the three of you will always be waiting to help him out.

Ariel finishes her story and Draco bellows out a laugh, feeling thankful to have you three around in his moments of weakness.

His three guardian angels- the only people who can always lead him away from the shadow in his mind and toward the luminescence that he carries within him. “All the good within us is split in the middle, half from you and half from mum, just as it should be. I hope you remember that we wouldn’t be who we are without you both.” Cael suddenly speaks up and you smile pridefully at him.

“They wouldn’t.” You add once he’s done and smile, “I couldn’t have done such a bad job without you.”

“Hey!” Ariel accuses and you all laugh.

“She’s right though, I am the one who taught you hexes at age 7.” Draco grins bashfully and you roll your eyes.

“And look at us now, acing Charms!”

“See love,” Draco turns to you, “There is a method to my madness.”

“Mhmm.” You hum with a small smile. “Go do your homework, dinner soon.”

“Yes, I’m making pizza tonight.” Draco adds as he kisses both of your children on their foreheads.

They excitedly hop off the bed and run out of the room. “I can’t belie-“

“Harry called.” Draco interrupts you and your eyes go wide at his statement but you nod for him to continue, “He wanted to know how I was doing, you know with it having been 18 years since the war and all. Offered to come spend the day with me and make sure I’d be alright while you were gone.”

“And you said no?” You raise your eyebrows and he shakes his head.

“No, I told him that I’d come by his office instead. Then when I was getting ready… I just started having flashbacks again, and my mark hurt. I felt horrible all of a sudden, like there was huge weight on my chest and this fog obscuring my vision.”

There are few things that Draco has faith in, but you, you he never runs short on trust for. You’re a constant in his life, a shoulder that he can always rely on when he needs it, and as he sits here and tells you about his day, he feels love for you hit him tenfold.

You, this beautiful, kind, ethereal being that has no place on earth. You, the one who’s managed to convince him that saints are real. You, who has given him your entire life, along with all the love that you have to offer. You, Y/N, the love of his life.

You.

An angel.

~~~

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anjuschiffer · 3 years

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Happy Valentine’s Day @m3owww! Hope you enjoy it Phi!

Thanks to @eat0crow for organizing this exchange and Panda for helping me with the title!

Yes, I know I went overboard...

AO3

Marinette remembered the first time she got something from her soulmate.

It was a battery, or so she found out when she showed it to her parents.

“Maman, what’s this?” She asked her mother as she showed her the black box-like battery.

“Where did you get this?” Sabine asked, taking it and examining, wondering where her 10 year old daughter got it. After all, she didn’t recall them buying it.

“I didn’t get it from anywhere. It just...appeared on my desk.” Marinette explained, watching as Sabine showed the box to her father.

“This looks like a camera battery.” Tom gave the battery back to Marinette, then looked at Sabine, watching as she connected the dots. “Seems like your soulmate might be into photography.”

“Soulmate?” Marinette asked, staring at the battery.

Soulmates. Only five percent of the world’s population had one or rather, the ability to find theirs. They came in various forms and at different ages, so it was always hard to know if you had a soulmate link, bond or mark.

As for the Dupain-Chengs, it seems like Tom and Sabine belonged to that five percent. Sabine and Tom found out they had soulmates when they met at a flea market in Paris. The two had noticed that the timer ticking on their wrist was edging closer to 0, causing them to panic. For the two believed that it was a timer that marked the death of their soulmate.

As the two dashed to find a place to possibly cry at, the two crashed into each other, Tom catching Sabine by her wrist to prevent her from falling. As the two apologized, it was then that they found out that they were soulmates and that the timer was counting down to when they were going to meet. Upon realizing this, they both began to laugh.

Marinette asked them why her soulmate link wasn’t like theirs, Sabine explaining that each soulmate pair had a different bond. As for Marinette, it seemed to be a lost and found link.

If either of them lost anything, say a pencil, then the other will find it.

Sabine noticed that Marinette seemed skeptical of it.

“Try throwing out the battery out the window.”

“What? No!”

“Trust me.” And so Marinette did, after preparing herself for 10 minutes. When she went outside to look for it, it was gone.

Seeing as it was true, Marinette began to purposely lose items frequently, hoping that her soulmate would get the message that she knew about him. That she was eager to meet him. But despite her hard efforts, her items never went over to her soulmate, the items landing or staying in the spot Marinette had thrown at.

Because of this, whenever Marinette would try and show her friends her bond, they half-believed her. Only one straight up thought she made up the story to get attention: Chloe.

But then again, Chloe didn’t like anyone, so Marinette kept telling her friends of her various attempts, eagerly telling them how she couldn’t wait to meet them.

Soulmates…as much as Tim wanted to ask his parents about it, he chose not to.

Tim looked at the tiny medallion in his hand, his fingers running over the three letters engraved on it, quickly putting it away when he heard his mother’s footsteps, quickly burying himself into his homework, pretending to flip between pages when he heard the doorknob of his room turn.

Janet walked in, Tim pretending to figure out a calculation out, quickly scribbling some nonsense onto his paper.

“I see that you’re working hard.”

“Mr.Sommers said that the next exam will cover factorization, so I thought I would do a few for practice.” Tim easily lied, adding a final number before looking up to acknowledge his mother.

She had that look again. “How long would you be out for this trip?” Janet jumped a bit. “You talked about it with Mrs.Romanov just yesterday, when you found her at the bookstore to buy some books for the flight. When we were at the storefront, remember?”

Another lie. Yes, his mother had gone to the bookstore with Tim, but the thing was that Janet had sent Tim off while she told Mrs.Romanov about her next exertion. How she told Mrs.Romanov if she knew of any nannies to take care of Tim while she was going to be out for the next two months.

Despite knowing Tim was capable of maintaining himself, she didn’t want the school to bother her again for not leaving him behind with adult supervision. It was starting to get on her nerves.

“Oh that’s right. How did I forget?” His mother recalled, not once doubting his retelling. “We’re excavating in Riqqeh, Egypt for a month.” Tim watched as his mother let out a sigh. “Probably more cemeteries, but then again, you never know until you dig.”

“I see.” Tim said, burying himself back into his homework. “Hope you find something more interesting than skeletons then.”

“I promise to bring back a souvenir, okay?” His mother walked to him, placing a cold kiss on his forehead, Tim noticing his father’s name etched on her collar bone. “Make sure to go straight to sleep after you finish that page, understood?” A nod. “Good night, Timothy.”

“Good night.” He simply said back, watching as she closed the door.

Taking out the medallion, Tim stared at it.

He had a soulmate somewhere out there...a soulmate he dreaded to meet...and yet hoped that perhaps they wouldn’t end up like his parents…

Tim opened a secret compartment in his pencil case and placed the medallion there, thinking about it until he went to sleep.

—

Soulmates. Everyone is always eager to meet them, but no one ever tells you how to keep that same enthusiasm after you meet them…

Tim’s parents met when Janet had tagged along with one of her friend’s excavation trips, meeting Jack in Berlin.

The minute the two saw each other, their world turned more colorful, the two becoming infatuated with one other when they found out they were soulmates. After showing each other’s names etched onto their collarbones, the two quickly planned their marriage.

Marrying in Gotham was a dream come true for Janet...but that dream lasted a mere months before the world went back to being its bland self. With each having their own dreams, careers and goals, Janet and Jack started to stray from each other. Meetings and trips took time away from one another. And the time they would see each other, they would simply talk about work, work and nothing else. Not even a single ‘want to take a break?’ or ‘how about we go out for dinner tonight?’

It was like being at another board meeting, being professional with each other.

They only drew close to one another when Janet found out she was pregnant with Timothy, Jack taking some time off work to make sure Janet had various maids checking on her before returning back to work.

On the day Timothy was to be born, Jack was there, holding Janet’s handing during the delivery. He held his son once before handing him over to Janet and leaving, mentioning about having to go back to work.

Jack would then go on to see Timothy at home, being lulled to sleep by the handmaid, telling Jack of Janet’s meeting with the board about an upcoming visit to Mexico.

There were few times Tim actually remembered going out as a family and while from the outside it looked like any other family outing, Tim knew why they were out in the first place: rumors.

“Have you heard? Drake’s little boy was seen walking home by himself! What parent lets their child go home by themselves? ”

“Timothy? But he’s only six!”

“Heard they plan on sending him to a boarding school. Poor thing.”

While the family outings were influenced by rumors, Tim found joy in them because it was the few times he was able to go to places he had desired to go before. Like the circus....even if that one ended in a tragedy.

But even good things had to come to an end. Years went by and Timothy grew to be very independent. That was when all the maids and servants were shooed off, leaving Tim all alone.

It didn’t help that they did indeed end up sending him to boarding school.

But Tim managed to get used to being alone, and has been for the past two years.

Years passed and Marinette no longer kept trying to lose her items. Despite her various attempts, she couldn’t manage to send them over to her soulmate, finding it disheartening it.

But as of these days, Marinette didn’t have the time to try it again. Or rather, she could no longer afford to lose her belongings or let them out of her sight.

While she had gotten used to getting her things taken away from her thanks to her friends borrowing them or Chloe playing a “prank” on her, getting bullied by two people at the same time was starting to take a toll on her and the brand she was trying to set for herself at the age of 15.

If she dared to let her eyes wander, then they would either fall into the hands of Chloe or of Lila’s. When Lila transferred to Dupont, Marinette didn’t honestly care about her lying, after all, they were nothing but white lies. So she never bothered to actually make friends with the girl. But even with the lack of communication, Marinette apparently did something to Lila because one day she was cornered in the bathroom and was threatened.

Marinette was kind but she knew when enough was enough.

“I would like to see you try.” She practically spat into Lila’s face before leaving the bathroom those weeks ago.

So here she was, being bullied by both her bully since l'école primaire and her new found one in lycee.

But between the two, Marinette preferred her personal things end up in Chloe’s hands than Lila’s. Chloe at least gave them back, but Lila? They never returned in one piece or even worse, they didn’t come back at all.

“Marinette? Where is your-”

“Mme Bustier...I promise you I did do it. I had it.” Marinette stabilized her voice from erupting into panic as she failed to find her assignment that she swore she had in her bag. “You can even ask Alya. She saw it.”

“That’s true Mme Bustier!” Alya quickly defended, although she wondered what happened to the paper as she saw Marinette safely tuck it away. Yes, Marinette could be clumsy, but unorganized and scattered brain? That she was not. She was meticulous, precise and always punctual. So how did that paper leave its place?

“Regardless, it’s not in my hands.” Mme Bustier sighed. “You’ll have to stay after class.” That caused Marinette to panic. She couldn’t afford to stay after school. She had a meeting with a client as soon as school ended.

“But Mme Bustier!”

“I’m sorry Marinette, but-”

“I can’t afford to stay after class! I have a very important-”

“Marinette.” Mme Bustier sternly stated. “Rules are rules. You’ll have to come after school, whether you have a very important appointment or not.”

Marinette managed to not scream as the bell rang, watching as everyone filed out, Alya lingering behind.

“Marinette, I could-” she shook her head.

“Alya, I’ll be alright.” She gave her friend a sheepish smile. “And go on without me. Perhaps my client will understand when I explain it to them via text.” Despite Marinette’s reassurance, Alya nodded and left the classroom hesitantly.

Bracing herself for her punishment, Mme Bustier got a phone call from the main office, looking at Marinette and turning her attention back to the phone. With a few ‘oui’ and ‘be right there,’ Bustier turned to Marinette.

“They need me for a few minutes downstairs, but that doesn’t mean you are free to go. Stay here while I check what they need from me.” Mme Bustier ordered, Marinette burying her face into her hands as she slammed herself into her desk.

She lifted her head once again, sending a quick text to her client about running late. Once that was over, Marinette took out her sketchbook to look over her designs, taking out a red pen to add some additional revisions.

She didn’t know how long she had been like that, but the moment she heard the door open, her head snapped upwards, a frown on her face when she saw Lila and not Mme Bustier.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much.” Lila said, dragging her fingers on the desk Marinette sat at. “Just this!” She exclaimed, snatching the sketchbook from under Marinette’s hand.

“Give it back!” Marinette screamed, quickly chasing after Lila around the class.

“Oh come one Marinette! I just want to-”

“They’re very important commision designs for a client-” Marinette attempted to reason, almost grabbing it back from Lila.

“Is that so?” Lila hummed, quickly opening the sketchbook and looking at the designs. “Wow. You weren’t kidding!” A grin made its way to her face. “It’d be too bad if something bad happened to it.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and the next thing she knew, she had managed to grab the sketchbook from Lila.

“There’s no way in hell I would let you.” Marinette said in a low voice.

“Oh? Then let’s see you try!” Lila yelled, attempting to grab the sketchbook from Marinette.

The two waltzed away from one another as Marinette kept her sketchbook away from Lila’s grasp. The two were on each other’s toes until Marinette had to run around the classroom, having to knock over Mme Bustier’s chair to keep Lila away from her when she got too close to comfort.

“Come on Marinette! I just want to see-”

“No way in hell Lila!” Marinette screamed, feeling as Lila dug her nails into her shoulder when she ended up cornering her by the windows, Marinette trying her best to not wince at the pain.

The two girls kept clawing at one another until Marinette couldn’t keep Lila at bay anymore, trying to find a way to keep her sketchbook safe from Lila. As Lila kept pushing her, Marinette’s hand hit the window, almost knocking down the metal rod that was used to pull down the shades. That’s when it hit her.

Taking in a deep breath, Marinette kicked Lila away from her, ingraining Lila’s expression of surprise into her memory. As Lila goy up and charged to grab the designer’s sketchbook, Marinette flung it behind her head, silently praying for its safety.

After all, everytime she had tried to lose an item, it never worked. But this time, just this one time, she hoped it would work.

Meanwhile, Lila watched as the sketchbook flew out the window, watching as it fell down to the ground, only to disappear before it hit the grass outside.

Lila stepped back, her eyes darting from the missing book to the panting Marinette who glared at her with daggers for eyes.

“Not this time Lila. Not this time.” The classroom door opened, causing both girls to look at the doorway.

“What is going on here?” Mme Mendeleiev practically shouted, causing Lila to lose all color in her face.

Crap.

—

Tim watched as his English teacher started to walk down the desk aisle, watching as he started to collect their writing assignment assigned yesterday. Seeing as he was drawing near, Tim reached into his bag, when he felt an unfamiliar texture brush against his knuckles. Peering into his bag, he noticed a leather book with a red strap securing it.

Deciding to check it out later, Tim took out his assignment and handed it in, watching as Mr.Hughes simply nodded as he took it, walking down the other row of desks to take the assignment.

As class progressed, his mind drifted to one thing: the book. Tim pondered at how the leather book had gotten into his bag and who it belonged to.

Was it from someone in his class? Was it part of a prank?

He was snapped from his thoughts once the bell rang, signaling everyone that it was lunch.

Tim scurried to the school’s library, heading up to the second floor and turning a right to where his favorite spot welcomed him. A lone desk at the corner, next to a radiator that warmed him in the winter and a wonderful view of the campus as well.

Ever since the death of his mother around a year ago, Tim was able to convince his father to pull him out of boarding school and to transfer him to Gotham Academy. He told him how it was less costly and better yet, closer to home. He agreed.

Making sure that he was comfortable, Tim took out the leather book, his fingers analyzing the bumpy leather texture. Perhaps he would find the owner’s name inside. If not, he will take it to the lost-n-found in the main office. Carefully, Tim took the red strap off the edge of the book, taken aback at the sketches on the paper.

Light feather markings under layers of darker, bolder strokes of graphite looked back at him in the shape of a dress. Side notes in French in a vibrant shade of black ink were meticulously jotted down, red ink being additional notes to the already long list of critiques.

As he turned the pages, Tim saw one dress design after another, designs for hats, caps, shirts and even leather jackets were in there too. Names of fabrics he had never heard of before racked in his mind as Tim kept admiring each sketch. He also couldn’t help but notice the signature on each page. MDC.

MDC.

As he reveled in the initials, trying to make sense of them, he let out a hiss as he retracted his hand from the book, noticing a small bead of blood emerged from his finger...blood?

Tim looked back at the book, noticing that there was a single needle poking out from the sketchbook’s satin bookmark, a silver medallion-

Medallion?

There was no way.

Tim closed in on the medallion and there it was, the initials, MDC. Just like the one he found written on the rose-gold medallion he found years ago.

But why now? Why now after five years of not losing a single thing?

Time had gone by so quickly that Tim literally jumped when the bell rang for the next class, Tim quickly scrambling to gently put back his soulmate’s things into his bag and head for geometry class.

Thanks to the fiasco with Lila, Marientte was held back even more, leading to Marinette having to reschedule her appointment with her client.

Thankfully, the client understood the situation Marinette was just in, even going as far as waiting for Marinette to set the new meeting date. Something about having been there before.

Wrapped in a lavender scented blanket, Marinette stared at her phone screen in front of her that blinked several times before turning black. Then it would turn on again.

On. On. On. On. Off. On…. Off. On... Off...On. On...

Marinette didn’t bother to flip it over either, knowing that the vibration of the incoming calls and unread text messages were going to remind her of the incident with Lila...and how she didn’t have access to her sketchbook anymore.

Her stomach grumbled in annoyance, Marinette only then remembering not having eaten in hours and its been a long time judging form the darken sky outside.

Deciding to actually eat something before she started to feel nauseous from not eating, Marinette was surprised to see a crumpled piece of paper next to the tray of food her mom had brought her. Where did the paper come from?

Opening it up, Marinette felt her heart stop.

I don’t know why, but I have your book…

Thank god she studied a bit of English! Marinette read the next lines.

The designs...are very nice. But guessing from the notes on the last page, you need it back. How exactly do I do that?

That stumped Marinette because to be honest, she didn’t know how. Every time she had tried to before, it never worked. Only this one time where she really needed for the link to work, it worked. But...they managed to easily lose their things…

Grabbing a piece of paper, Marinette wrote back, crumbling it and headed towards her skylight. Opening the hatch a bit, she threw it, going back to her food, hoping it got through.

Tim was minding his own business, listening to NIghtwing give the squad a run down of their latest problem when he eyed a crumpled up paper by his foot. Hoping no one would notice it, he quickly placed it under his foot and waited for the debriefing to finish.

Crouching to get it, it seems like he wasn’t as subtle as he had wished to be as Jaime got to it first.

“What you hiding from us, compa’?” Jaime asked Tim as he uncrumpled the paper. “¿Qué diablos es esto? What is this? Can you even read this?” Jaime pointed at the French written on the paper.

“Yes, I can.” Tim said, huffing when Bart leaned onto his shoulder, peering into the note in Tim’s hands.

“Why am I not surprised?” Jaime said. “Not only are you super smart, but now you’re bilingual too? Let me guess, you're actually multilingual?”

“Actually, he is.” Bart chimed in.

“No manches güey. Seriously?”

“If I remember correctly: Spanish, Cantonese, Russian-”

“And German.” Tim finished, quickly picking up his pace. “Now if you excuse me, I have a few things to do.”

“Hey! At least tell us what it says! Andale, no seas malo.” Jaime pleaded but simply got a wave goodbye for an answer. “Fine! But don’t forget about tomorrow’s mission, eh?”

As Tim left Jaime and Bart behind, he headed to the zeta tubes to head back home, thanking Alfred for the lift home, acknowledging his father as he made his way to his room.

He made a beeline for his bag, taking out the sketchbook, scared to even hold it now that he knew who it belonged to and how much it could potentially be worth.

He laid down the wrinkled paper on his desk, rereading the note.

Just lose it. Try to toss it out the window or something. That’s what I did. It’s how our link works after all.

Tim took a deep breath, both relieved that there was a possible way to return the book and nervous it wouldn’t work.

Taking the sketchbook, he opened up his bedroom window, looked down below and took a deep breath. He took a step back and with one swift move, he tossed the sketchbook out the window, wondering if it made its way safely back to its owner.

After what seemed like an hour, Tim found a crumpled piece of paper on his desk, quickly jogging towards it and opening, feeling a wash of relief flow out of him, Tim let himself smile as he looked at the paper.

It worked! Thank you so much! My name is Marinette...what’s yours?

Months flew by, Marinette now being in her senior year and grinning from ear to ear as she read Tim’s latest text to her, ignoring Alya’s nagging on packing for their trip.

Ever since the sketchbook incident, Marinette found out the reason as to why she was never able to “lose” anything to give to Tim. Or rather the two reasons why the link wasn’t working.

First off, Marinette had been intentionally losing items and always had her eyes on where it would land, which actually cancelled the link. Second, Tim’s fussing over the soulmate link caused it to weaken over time, which further didn't allow Marinette to send him anything over.

Through various days of aggressively sending each other notes, Tim decided to embrace the link while Marinette assured him that she would try to keep her enthusiasm to a low. Keyword: try.

Getting tired from the constant note throwing, Marinette suggested exchanging contact info. It’s how Marinette learned that Tim was very meticulous, and that was coming from his share of contact info. He had an email, phone number, fax number all carefully labeled with even hours in which Marinette was allowed to contact him.

At first Marinette thought he was a stick in the mud, but then Tim had to explain to her about time zones and how he was still in school and afterschool programs most of the week...oops. How did she forget about time zones and school of all things?

Using Marinette’s phone number and email, Tim was easily able to know where exactly Marinette lived, but that’s all he was able to figure out. It wasn’t exactly easy to figure out more about your soulmate when an enthusiastic Dick hovered around you upon knowing about Tim’s soulmate. It got worse when Tim officially moved into Wayne Manor after his father’s death.

But even with Dick hovering like a hummingbird, Tim found texting with Marinette soothing. To have a friend outside of school, out of the Justice League, to have a friend where he could just be Tim...it was...relaxing. Especially when he heard of Lila’s moving due to her mother’s job.

After all, it’s not like he had something to do with it. Absolutely not.

Of course, there were a few times he almost spilled the details, but he was easily able to catch himself, oftentimes redirecting it towards Marinette’s day or her latest commission.

Sometimes they would even video chat, although rarely thanks to time zones. But the few times they did, they would each ingrain each second they spent with each other, as they never knew when they were actually going to meet one day… even if it came closer than what either of them thought.

Tim reread his text for the umpteenth time, his mind still trying to process the message before realizing he hadn’t answered back.

Metropolis? As in, the city where the Man of Steel resides?

She...she was heading to Metropolis? In two days?

Thank Kon for dragging him here!

Marinette: Yup! To think we were able to win Luthor’s scholarship trip! Can you believe it? I can’t wait to see what his program could offer! When I found out that Luthor was holding a scholarship trip for those who would win his Foundation for the Arts’ essay competition, there was no way I was going to let that chance go! Especially when I heard that the trip was extended to the winner’s entire class, regardless of nationality. It would basically be our second senior trip before the first one ^^

Must be very excited then.

You bet I am!

To think...to think he would be able to see her in person… He watched as his happiness wrote for him.

Tim: Wanna hear something that would make the trip more exciting?

What would make this trip even more exciting?

Marinette hummed into the palm of her hand as she watched Tim type.

Tim: I’ll get to see you. Face to face. I’ll be in Metropolis for the next week...what are the odds?

Alya never saw Marinette turn red so quickly, watching as Marinette almost fell off her bed.

“Marinette! Oh my god, Nino! Help! She’s on cloud nine!”

Marinette fanned herself as she bit her lip, fiddling with the green ribbon she had wrapped around her wrist in case she wanted to tie her hair up.

Today was her second day in Metropolis, Marinette now nervous compared to when she first arrived the day before.

After having a tour of Metropolis University, Bustier’s class was able to have the day to themselves and as if on cue, Tim texted her if she was free even though she had already shared her itinerary with him the moment she recovered from her shock those days ago.

So now here she was, standing in Heroes’ Park, wondering if she looked foolish standing in front of Superman’s statue.

Or perhaps because she looked so out of place. Who wears a sunhat nowadays? Oh wait, she did...why exactly? Because freckles.

Marinette looked at her phone, wondering if she got the time wrong. No. She was literally a whole ten minutes early.

So why-

“You scream tourist you know.” A voice said, snapping Marinette from her thoughts. As she turned to see who it was, she felt her heart skip a beat.

He always seemed short, but...now being faced to face…

“Well, sorry for having freckles. The sun-” Marinette pouted, caught by surprised when Tim cupped her face.

“Freckles? I never knew you had them. Then again, you can’t really see them when they’re so small and through a screen at that.”

Marinette listened as her heart threatened to jump from her chest, more so when Tim realized what he was doing. Pink dusted his face. “Sorry, I-”

“I-It’s alright.” Marinette managed to find herself saying, pulling her hat closer to her face. “I...I also wasn’t expecting you to be taller than me.”

That caused Tim to sputter.

“You thought I was-”

“Hey! In my defense, I only had furniture to get some type of knowledge of how tall you were. Seems like I was wrong.” Marinette confessed.

The two stared at each other before laughing, Marinette attempting to reel in her heart with each laugh Tim let out. She didn’t think they would sound so different to what she was used to listening to through the phone.

When the two managed to compose themselves, Tim and Marinette looked at each other again. Marinette dusted off nonexistent dust off her yellow-canary shorts, readjusting her black purse that crossed her red blouse. Tim cleared his throat.

“Well, let’s start this again.” Marinette nodded, a smile on her face.

“Hey. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She comfortably answered back, clasping her hand with the hand Tim offered. “I’m happy to finally meet you, Timothy.” Tim squeezed her hands, noticing how her hand fit perfectly in his.

Perhaps this was where his parents went wrong. Perhaps this is why their relationship didn’t work...lack of communication...lack of appreciation and affection…

But he won’t let them end but like them, not when he knows how much she means to him.

Giving her hand a squeeze, Tim smiled at him.

“As am I, Marinette.”

#maribat #timari #anju writes #MaribatDrabbleExchange

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thatsonemorbidcorvid · 3 years

Text

Prehistoric female hunter discovery upends gender role assumptions

Researchers have generally thought that only prehistoric males hunted—but what if evidence against that idea has been lying in plain sight for decades?

Hunting woman

A reconstruction of what hunting may have looked like in the Andes Mountains of South America 9,000 years ago. Based on the toolkit found in the female burial, archaeologists believe the hunter may have worn tailored leather clothing tanned with red ocher.

Matthew Verdolivo, UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services

Randall Haas, an archaeologist at University of California, Davis, recalls the moment in 2018 when his team of researchers gathered around the excavated burial of an individual lain to rest in the Andes Mountains of Peru some 9,000 years ago. Along with the bones of what appeared to be a human adult was an impressive—and extensive—kit of stone tools an ancient hunter would need to take down big game, from engaging the hunt to preparing the hide.

"He must have been a really great hunter, a really important person in society"—Haas says that’s what he and his team were thinking at the time.

But further analysis revealed a surprise: the remains found alongside the toolkit were from a biological female. What's more, this ancient female hunter was likely not an anomaly, according to a study published today in Science Advances. The Haas team’s find was followed by a review of previously studied burials of similar age throughout the Americas—and it revealed that between 30 and 50 percent of big game hunters could have been biologically female.

This new study is the latest twist in a decades-long debate about gender roles among early hunter-gather societies. The common assumption was that prehistoric men hunted while women gathered and reared their young. But for decades, some scholars have argued that these “traditional” roles—documented by anthropologists studying hunter-gatherer groups across the globe since the 19th century—don’t necessarily stretch into our deep past.

While the new study provides a strong argument that the individual in Peru was a female who hunted, plenty of other evidence has long been lying in plain sight, says Pamela Geller, an archaeologist at the University of Miami who is not part of the study team.

Tools

The toolkit found in the burial includes projectile points; hefty rocks likely for cracking bones or stripping hides; flakes for scraping and cutting; and nodules of red ocher used to preserve hides.

Randy Haas, UC Davis

"The data is there,” Geller says. “It’s just a matter of how the researchers interpret it.”

Whose tools?

When archaeologists excavated the burial, they found a colorful array of 24 stone tools. Among them: projectile points for taking down a large mammal; hefty rocks likely for cracking bones or stripping hides; small, rounded stony bits for scraping fat from pelts; tiny flakes with extra sharp edges that could have chopped the meat; and nodules of red ocher that could help preserve the hides. Scattered around the site were fragments of the bones of animals including ancient llama relatives and deer.

In initial discussions about the toolkit, the researchers presumed the owner was male, perhaps a prominent figure of society, or even a chief of the group. “I’m as guilty as anyone,” says Haas, who has been working in the region since 2008. “I thought yeah, that makes sense with my understanding of the world.” Back in the lab, however, close inspection of the bones suggested the physiology of a biological woman. To confirm, they analyzed a protein that forms tooth enamel and is linked to sex.

Importantly, the team cannot know the individual’s gender identity, but rather only biological sex (which like gender doesn’t always exist on a binary). In other words, they can’t say whether the individual lived their life 9,000 years ago in a way that would identify them within their society as a woman.

Challenging assumptions

The 2018 discovery does pose a challenge to gender binaries commonly assumed for our early ancestors: Men acted as hunters, women acted as gatherers. This assumption comes from studies of modern hunter-gatherers, where men more frequently are responsible for the hunt while women bear the most responsibility for caring for children, says Arizona State University’s Kim Hill, who specializes in human evolutionary anthropology and was not part of the study team. “You can’t just stop in the middle of stalking a deer in order to nurse a crying baby,” Hill says via email.

Yet inferences from present-day hunter-gatherers have limits. For decades, Geller says, some archaeologists have argued that the simple view of male hunters and female gatherers is in fact an oversimplification. “With few exceptions, the researchers who study hunting and gathering groups—regardless of which continent they work on—presume that a sexual division of labor was universal and rigid,” she says. “And because it is commonsensical, they then have a hard time explaining why female-bodied individuals also bear the skeletal markers of hunting or have hunting tool kits as grave goods.”

When researchers have found signs of this discrepancy in the past, Geller says, “usually they don’t say anything, as if ignoring the evidence will make it go away.”

Hunting would likely require as many able-bodied adults as possible to increase safety and efficiency—regardless of their biological sex. After a child weans, the mother could be available to assist in big hunts, says Kathleen Sterling, an archaeologist at Binghamton University, who was not part of the study team. But even with babies, hunting could still be possible with community nursing assistance.

The meaning of burial goods

Spurred by their 2018 discovery, Haas’s team then dug in to reports of past excavations of early hunter gatherers throughout the Americas. Many past studies have unearthed similar presence of stone hunting tools in burials with biological females, yet each case isn’t necessarily clear cut. For some, the sex is not definite. In others, disturbed contexts made it uncertain if stone tools and remains were buried at the same time. And in still others, the few projectiles found in the burial could have even been murder weapons interred with their victims.

But when Haas’s teams reviewed the individual cases as part of a larger data set, they found that of the 27 of 429 burials with individuals of known sex who are were buried with hunting tools, 11 are female—including the newly identified remains—while 16 are male. The many uncertainties (such as disturbed context and sex identification) are present in burials of both males and females, Haas says. So even when the most uncertain cases were excluded, the abundance of burials with hunting tools among females and males remain similar.

“These patterns are not at all what you would expect in a population if males were [the only] hunters,” Haas says.

ASU’s Hill says he’s not yet fully convinced that the female individual buried 9,000 years ago was actually a hunter in life. Burial goods, including hunting tools, could have been placed there because of symbolic or religious beliefs, he cautions.

Did the newfound toolkit belong to the buried individual? Sterling challenged the inquiry itself. “We typically don’t ask this question when we find these toolkits with men,” She says. “It’s only when it challenges our ideas about gender that we ask these questions.”

Geller adds: “There’s so much mental gymnastics that go on trying to explain these things away.”

The toolkit discovered in the 9,000-year-old burial was quite diverse, including both precious implements, like projectile points that are challenging to make, as well as more mundane tools, like stone flakes that can easily be crafted by smashing rocks. This hints the tools weren’t some type of offering; rather, it points to the objects being used by the individual in life, Haas contends. There’s also strength in the numbers, with an abundance of females now found to have been buried with tools throughout the Americas, Sterling adds.

For Geller, the debate has important implications for today. “There’s so much gender disparity going on right now, if we were to presume that there’s something that biologically predisposes us, then you’d be able to justify that gender disparity,” she says. “To me that’s dangerous, and completely unsubstantiated.”

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tallstars-rewrite · 3 years

Text

Chapter 18

chapter list / previous / next

The walk back to camp was the longest it had ever felt. Everyone was quiet. Tallpaw’s despair was wrestling with a tiny flare of helpless frustration that wavered and died before sputtering back up again. He just so desperately wanted his father to understand. He wanted to support him however he could, but he could not go back into the tunnels. Sandstone walked just ahead, but hadn’t so much as glanced back on their way home, muttering unintelligibly under his breath. Just when camp was in sight, Tallpaw slowed his pace, knowing his father was keeping in step with him until eventually the rest of the patrol pulled ahead, seemingly willing to let them be alone. It took Tallpaw a while to find his voice again.

“Are you mad at me?”

Sandstone barely looked at him “I am disappointed, Tallpaw. Your mistake was dangerous. You need to do better in the future. I thought you could handle an excavation, but next time we’ll focus more on the basics of walking through the smaller, more stable tunnels, since that’s where your skills apparently are right now.”

Tallpaw chest clenched up “But I--”

“And we’ll have a lot of catching up to do since you had to waste so much of your apprenticeship so far.”

“But Father--”

“Dawnstripe will just have to understand, this can’t be humored any longer. Plumclaw was so far along at your age that I just know further delay will make it harder, you’ll never build up the right muscles to--”

“Father!” Tallpaw struggled to keep the tremor out of his voice as he at last could bear it no longer, “I don’t want to!”

Sandstone whipped around to glare at him, dark eyes flashing. “Don’t talk over me Tallpaw. At the very least you should have been taught manners when speaking to your senior warriors by now, especially to your kin.”

Sandstone hadn’t even seemed to hear him. Tallpaw felt his burst of courage already begin to shrivel. But it was too late now, he couldn’t bottle it up again. “You’re not listening to me,” he said miserably. “I said I can’t. I don’t want to tunnel again! Ever!”

Sandstone only blinked at him “Tallpaw, you’ve had only one bad experience. You haven’t even seen an inch of what tunneling can offer. You don’t know enough to make a decision like that.”

“No! I can’t stand being underground, I couldn’t breathe, I thought I was going to die. I never even said that I wanted to be a tunneler, you just told me I wanted to, and I thought there wasn’t a choice, and-and-” he took a shuddering breath “I’m sorry, I really am, I know how much the tunnels mean to you and I want your plan to succeed, but I just can’t do this.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Sandstone’s voice was dangerously quiet now, the fur on his back beginning to rise. “Being a good warrior isn’t always about doing what you want.”

“I can’t, please understand, I’m just...” he couldn’t think of what to say. All he felt was another flash of anger, anger he hadn’t realized was there, a building resentment that he felt awful for harboring at all, but it was coming out anyway. “Why don’t you care about anything other than the tunnels!? Why is that all there is?”

“I care about the future of this clan, as all warriors should!” Sandstone hissed. “How dare you accuse me of anything else? Everything I’ve done, I’ve done because I care! What about you?”

“That’s not fair--”

Tallpaw was suddenly aware now of how silent it was despite being right outside of camp. His breath caught in his throat as he spotted Dawnstripe coming down the hill, and she looked like she was bristling. Oh no…

Sandstone whipped around to her. “Why don’t you ever mind your own business?” he snapped. “This conversation doesn’t involve you!”

Tallapw wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Dawnstripe look so angry, her ears pinned flat as she glowered at Sandstone. “Actually, it does involve me. As his mentor, this apprentice is my responsibility. I’ve watched him run about trying to please you and so far I have seen you do nothing but discourage his training with me. And now, I hear from Plumclaw there was a collapse! Where in StarClan's name did you take him!?”

“Collapse is dramatic,” Sandstone rolled his eyes. “He got scared of falling dirt.”

“You know how dangerous tunnels are!” rage shook in her voice. “How dare you take him somewhere you weren’t sure was safe? Do you have any idea what could have happened if he’d run down the wrong tunnel trying to get out!?”

“I wouldn’t have had to rush if Heatherstar wasn’t making my job so difficult! If anything, she’s to blame for not lending me any support to maintain our systems. You moor runners don’t understand anything about the tunnels, and clearly you don't know anything about Tallpaw either. I know what’s best for my own son, and what's best isn’t coddling and moving at a snail's pace. Nothing happened to him that wasn’t in his own head from how soft he’s become in his current training.”

“You wouldn’t know anything about his current training because you don’t care about it! I knew I shouldn’t have let him go, he’s my apprentice, Tallpaw is not a tunneler and he is not yours to control!”

“Control?” Sandstone snarled. “I’m the one trying to control him? He wanted to be a tunneler all through his kithood and then you and Heatherstar took that decision away from him! He doesn’t know what he wants anymore!”

I just tried to tell you what I want! Tallpaw screeched internally, but his voice had abandoned him.

“He is not a kit and is capable of making his own decisions! Do whatever you want with the tunnels for all I care, but if you try to interfere with my training any further, I’m going to have to get the leader involved. ”

Sandstone’s thin fur bristled. “Oh, you're going to get the leader involved, are you really trying to threaten me? You’re not even fit to be a mentor, I was a respected warrior when you were still mewling in the nursery, you don’t scare me!”

Dawnstripe didn’t respond to Sandstone again. “Tallpaw, please join me in camp,” she said curtly.

Tallpaw sat frozen and desperately wished he could sink into the grass. I didn’t want to start fighting…! Sandstone’s eyes were colder than he’d ever seen them, as if daring Tallpaw to turn his back and follow her. He couldn’t stand being under his furious gaze anymore. He slunk away with his tail dragging behind him.

“Turn your back on your family and our pride then!” Sandstone spat. “Turn your back on everything you could have been! Don’t ever expect me to help you though. No son of mine would behave like such a selfish coward. If you want to be on your own, then you’re on your own!”

A vicious sting shot through Tallpaw's chest, but he still didn’t look back. Coward. The word echoed in his head. He tried to ignore the other tunnelers murmuring amongst each other as Tallpaw found his way to Dawnstripe. She shouldn’t have had to do that. This wasn’t how he wanted the cats he looked up to to see of him.

To his surprise, Dawnstripe only sighed quietly and said, “I’m sorry, Tallpaw.”

“Why would you be sorry? None of this is your fault.” Tallpaw dared to look up and saw the sadness in her eyes.

“I’m afraid I may have made things more difficult. That shouldn’t have been done in front of you. I know how much you care about trying to do right by your family, but every time Sandstone speaks to you, it seems to weigh on you, and you get distracted when you're upset. I hate seeing you beating yourself up so much just because your father's path wasn’t right for you. I wish you could choose your own path and have a good relationship with your father. The last thing I want is to make you feel like you have to choose between your training and your kin. I hope he doesn’t try to make you suffer more because of what I’ve said to him.”

Tallpaw nodded stiffly, but didn’t respond. Dawnstripe touched her nose to his head. “I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished Tallpaw. You will be a worthy warrior. I hope your father will see that someday too. I’ll give you some space. Take the rest of the day to rest and wash yourself off.”

Tallpaw wasn’t sure he could bring himself to believe that. The tunnelers were talking now, and it was too hard not to listen. Were they talking about him? Sandstone and Woollycloud were facing each other. Sandstone still looked angry, and to Tallpaw’s surprise, Woollycloud did too. Woollycloud had a half eaten rabbit at his paws and he was gesturing to it. Tallpaw knew he shouldn’t, but he scooted a bit closer. Suddenly, Woollycloud called his name and he froze.

“Tallpaw,” the tunneler said, his eyes were intense and Tallpaw braced himself. “Fennelpelt tells me you caught this rabbit. Did you catch it near the warrens where we just were?”

“Y-yes?” Tallpaw had no idea what this had to do with anything. Woollycloud turned from him back to Sandstone.

“Look at this Sandstone. Look at the belly of this doe. This is exactly what I feared would happen.”

Plumclaw sniffed at it “What on earth is that? Is there meat in this rabbit's belly? Since when do rabbits hunt?”

“They don’t,” Woollycloud said. “This was a mother rabbit. It is her own young that lay in her belly. The hunting in the east side of the moor has been getting poorer since we first started the plans for this idea last newleaf. We’re crowding them, we are tormenting them constantly with our presence underground. A mother does not feast upon her own unless she feels she is in such danger that they can’t be cared for. We’re treading into their burrows, there is nowhere they feel safe to raise their young and replenish their numbers! If our prey cannot survive here, then we will not survive here. Five extra rabbits that will never grow to have their own, or to feed us.”

“Now you're going to blame rabbits doing absurd things on us?” Sandstone hissed. “That’s what you’ve come to now? Have you run so far out of excuses?”

“Sandstone I’ve been telling you for moons that you are trying to push this tunnel project too far too fast. This didn’t happen for no reason, and it is not the first time it’s happened with a rabbit from near that area. We cannot abuse our land.”

Tallpaw was confused. Woollycloud had criticisms of the tunnel project now? He had never seen Woollycloud do anything other than support his father. He curled his tail tightly around himself in fear. Is Sandstone going to blame this on me too? If I had never caught that rabbit...

“We are not abusing our land, we are shaping it, as it was given to us and as we have the right to do. StarClan blessed us with our gifts for a reason, to use them to their fullest potential!” Sandstone shot back.

“Hazelnose has already reported the possibility that the tunnel path you wish to take will run far too close to both the eastern warrens as well the western one! We cannot afford to lose our prey, not when they haven’t even fully recovered from the sickness that brought the famine seasons ago. You want the tunnels to be more than they were ever intended to be. It was dangerous to go down there today, and you know it. Not just for our safety, but for the stability of the moors.”

“The rabbits being upset is a small issue that will repair itself. The prey will adjust or they will move to a new warren if we disturb theirs!”

“Or they will move off the moors entirely!”

“Why are you the only cat that thinks so then?” Sandstone retorted. “No other tunneler, at least none who actually helps tunnel and bothers to stay knowledgeable about our current progress, has these misgivings. And since when would you trust another cat's worries over my knowledge after all the experiences we’ve had together? This is to be our legacy, and we must fight for it, not back down because some cats are afraid!”

Sandstone had extra edge in his voice when he mentioned the tunnelers ‘who actually helped.’ Tallpaw wasn’t sure who he could be referring to though. Weren’t all of the tunnelers helping? Well...aside from Palebird of course, as she was still ill.

Mistmouse raised her paw and Sandstone turned, Tallpaw could imagine the fierceness of his glare but Mistmouse didn’t look away from the attention this time. “It’s not just…” She started before finding her voice “It’s not just Woollycloud. I’ve spoken to Hazelnose and...he’s worried as well. He said the type of soil he smells in the area isn’t the kind that is likely to hold up the way we need it to for this project. We hit soft mud so fast today, and that always spells danger. It’s what it smelled like last time there was a… bad collapse. I know we hoped it would work but...maybe it is too dangerous.”

Plumclaw finally spoke up, sounding ruffled “Yeah, but Hazelnose has seemed more and more interested lately in hunting with his moor runner mate than with us. How confident are you that he just doesn’t want to dedicate the hard time it will take to work around the issue?”

Mistmouse looked taken aback “That’s...that’s not why…”

Woollycloud started to sound pleading, “Plumclaw you aren’t being fair. Hazelnose has always been a hard worker and never complained about it! Haven’t any of you considered that there might be a reason Badgerstar was never able to complete planning this project?”

“Badgerstar couldn’t complete it because WindClan was suffering too much at the time,” Sandstone protested. “But we are stronger now and we owe it to her memory to realize the dream she had.”

“Badgerstar didn’t have enough time planning this dream to sort out the potential dangers it may have had. Her dream was for her clan to be safe, and that must be our priority. I’ve had misgivings about this for moons, and after today I am even more sure. It could have been so much worse if we’d dug a bit farther. We don’t have the power to run tunnels all over the moor, and certainly not beyond it, without hurting something, or someone, else...I can’t pretend to have confidence that the risk of injury or death will be outweighed by the benefits we think it may have. Sandstone I've always stood by you, but as your tunneling partner I have to say I'm growing concerned that you care more about prioritizing your legacy and vision than what we can actually do. You are demanding more than our home can provide for us!”

Sandstone bristled at the accusation. Tallpaw couldn’t listen anymore. All this fighting was because of him. For all he knew, maybe he had disturbed the rabbit into eating her young. Maybe it was his fault the tunnel collapsed, he barely knew how to dig correctly after all. He’d hurt Mistmouse and now she was nervous too. He didn’t want to be around when the group finally broke up. He certainly didn’t want to know if his father would come back and blame him for all this new doubt.

While wondering if he should hide somewhere outside camp altogether, Tallpaw stumbled into the frail old molly Hen. She was laying on her side watching the clouds, and she looked down to smile kindly at him with her sun-golden eyes. He wondered if she’d overheard the clan fighting as well.

“Where are you running to, little one?” she rasped, “It’s cold out now. You won’t feel much better out there.”

She seemed a bit distant, and even skinnier than when she first arrived. There was an off scent about her he couldn’t place, perhaps of the unknown sickness inside her. Whatever it was felt wrong. Her eyes looked glazed and far off, almost dreamlike, though if she was in pain, she didn’t show it.

“You should be resting, shouldn’t you?” he said awkwardly, inching closer to the edge of camp.

“Rest. Indeed.” She murmured. “You know little one, these things too will pass. All things come to an end. Good things yes, but bad things as well. Keep your chin up and have some faith in yourself.”

Maybe Hen had been listening after all. Or maybe she was just rambling nonsense. It didn’t make much difference, he didn’t want empty comfort.

At last he let out a defeated sigh and opted to simply hide away in the back of the apprentice den, with all the spare fronds of heather he could find to camouflage him. If anyone looked over, hopefully it would appear empty. Just a lumpy pile of heather with nothing underneath.

chapter list / previous / next

#cw emotional manipulation #FRU18 #chapter 18 #...............listen.....I SWEAR hes going to be gone soon

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elwynten · 1 year

Text

Chapter 43

I chuckled. "Yes, it can be difficult to remember all their names." I said then introduced all the girls to Jaxom, Jancis and Piemur.

"How is The Market Place working out so far?" He asked me.

I nodded my head. "Slow, but we're getting some business, but then anything new takes time to get going." I replied.

"Hello Eilwyn." Jancis said as looked up from map she had taped to a reading board and waved to the girls.

'I'll have to have Mercedes make clip boards. We can sell them in one of the shops.' I thought to myself.

"Planning on digging up this building?" I asked Piemur and Jancis. I already knew the answer and what was in the building, but I didn't want them to know I already knew what was in this building.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Makes since." I told Jancis then I turned to Piemur. "You have the rod. Why don't you see what you can find." I suggested.

"It's usually a thunk." Jaxom said knowingly.

"I believe this is a good hunch." I said and smiled at Jancis.

Jaxom grinned. "Do you have another trawl?" He asked.

"Taima, how would you like to help?" I asked Taima. Taima took a step away from me and shifted into the small dragon form. "You know to be careful with these panels." I advised her.

Jaxom, Jankis and Piemur looked at me for a moment. Then they each called their own Comapnions into service to uncover the solar panels.

The girls with me added their own Companions to the effort of uncovering the solar panels.

Jancis looked over at me. "I keep forgetting how intelligent they are. I'm so used the Fire Lizards and how scatter brained they can be." Jancis admitted.

Taima stopped digging and looked at me. Then she stuck her tongue out at me and went back to digging.

In short order the solar Pannels on the southern side of the building were all uncovered. And with Ruth's help the roof of the building was uncovered.

"Your Grandfather should take a look at this." I told Jancis.

Jancis stopped what she was doing and looked at me. But Master Esselin should probably have a look at it first. He is in charge." Jancis replied.

"Master Esselin is in charge of excavation. Master Fanderel checks new materials." Piemur added.

Jancis giggled. "I'll tell him, Eilwyn." Jancis said.

Next Morning

I knew everyone would be starting early on the AIVAS building. So, I planned on getting there early as well. Because most of the girls wanted to see what was going on. I decided to take different girls with me today. So, Robbie, Heather, Verdi, Sucki, Snowdrop, and Yuki accompanied me this time and of course their Companions went as well.

I would have taken Mercedes, but she would be too excited and talking up a storm about things no one on Pern would be able to understand. I didn't think that would be good, so I had her stay behind. Although I did tell Mercedes she could go see AIVAS when they started rebuilding the keyboards. I suggested to her that she might want to work in the Technition's Hall once it was started.

As we walked up Master Fandarel was talking. "Master Robinton, Dram, good morning. Jancis, Piemur. We calculate a full span's encrustation. I also deemed it wise to remove the tiles, so obviously a temporary cover. last night I compared them to some still in place on the flying shops, and I believe that it is the same material, though none of the ships seem to be missing any significant number. That confirms my theory that originally there were more than three ships." Fanderel said. Then he saw me and my group. "Morning Lord Eilwyn. I don't believe I know those with you."

"I think that's likely," Master Robinton agreed, shivering a bit in the cool dawn air. The fire-lizards' images always suggest more than three. Twice that many is far as I can tell."

"This is, Robbie, Heather, Verdi, Sucki, Snowdrop, and Yuki." I introduced the girls with me to Fandarel.

Fandarel nodded his head at each name. "Morning ladies."

Someone brought stools and hot klah for Robinton and D'ram. Jancis and Piemur stood off to the side. I sent some of the girls over to keep them company, knowing they didn't like that their personal dig had become so public.

"Morning Robinton, D'ram. How are you doing this fine morning?" I asked. Robinton had both Zair and Balta with him. "And good morning to you Balta and Zair." I added.

D'ram and Robinton looked over at me. "Morning Eilwyn… and good morning to you too ladies." He told us.

I almost laughed because of the expresion on D'ram's face. His face was a mix of shock, surprise and awe.

D'ram stared at Waqas. "What… I… where… um…"

At that Piemur couldn't hold back and started laughing.

"I-I can hear him in my head like I do with Tiroth!" D'ram exclaimed.

I looked over at Piemur and Jancis. "Hearing that never gets old." I said and chuckled.

"I beg your pardon, Master Fandarel and Master Robinton, but this building was Jancis's hunch, and she should by rights go first!" Piemur told the two masters.

There were sounds of indignation and surprise from this in the crowd.

"You know, you are right, Piemur. Robinton said and stepped to one side. "We have usurped Janics's prerogative."

"After you Jancis," Fandarel said. He spoke with the utmost courtesy but looked thoughtfully at Piemur.

"A corridor to the right." Piemur said as he held the blow backet in one hand and Jancis's wrist in the other. We could see a white gleaming wall at the end of a short hall. "They sure won't taking any chances with aivas."

"That's an obvious door." Fandarel remarked. He started to move forward, then stopped and gestured for Piemur and Jancis to continue.

Jancis gave Piemur a look of consternation. "You found it - you get to see it first!" Piemur told her smiling.

The hall is wide enough for Fandarel, Robinton, Janics and Piemer to stand side by side. The door had a knob that Janic refused to try, so Piemur reached out and tried to open it. With effort Piemur was able to twist the knob and pull the door open.

"There is little dust on this floor." Fandarel remarked.

"There's a red light on the cupboard." Piemur observed.

"And more light." Janics said in a nervous voice.

"In fact, the whole place is lighting up." Piemur added.

"The red light illuminates letters." Robinton said in a hushed voice as he looked over Jancis's shoulder.

Robinton looked back over his shoulder at me. "Can you see Eilwyn?" He asked me.

I grinned. "I'll see better once we enter the room." I replied.

"Remarkable, truly remarkable!" Fandarel said reverently.

The light in the room was getting brighter, so it was easier to make out more objects in the room. We all looked around taking in the unusual and strange items in the room.

There was a 'blip' sound from the screen and a message blazed from the left-hand corner: AIVAS FUNCTION RESUMED.

"That corner said 'AIVAS.'" Piemur pointed out.

"Please state ID and access code! Your voiceprints are not on record."

"Who said that?" Fandarel demanded, his voice booming in the small room.

"State ID and access code, please!" AIVAS repeated sounding slightly louder.

"That's not a human voice," Robinton said. "It has no real resonance, no inflection, no timbre."

"State the reason for this intrusion."

"Do you understand what he's saying Master Robinton?" Piemur asked.

"I have the feeling I ought to," Robinton admitted ruefully.

"Unless ID and access codes are given, this facility will close down. Its use is restricted to Admiral Paul Benden…"

"Benden, it said Benden!" Piemur cried excitedly.

"… governor Emily Boll…"

"Boll, that's another recognizable word," Robinton said. "We recognize the words 'Benden' and 'Boll.' We do not understand what you are trying to tell us."

"… Captain Ezra Keroon…"

"Keroon. It knows Keroon. do you know Telgar?" Fandarel could not contain himself any longer. "Surely it must know Telgar."

"Telgar, Sallah, married to Tarvi Andivar, later known as Telgar in memory of his wife's sacrifice…"

Symbols and letters ran across the screen along with blips, beeps and wherring sounds.

"Did I say something wrong, Robinton?" Fandarel asked, his voice an awed whisper.

"Are you all right down there?" Master Esselin's plaintive asked.

"Of course, we are." Fandarel bellowed back to the Masterminer.

"Clear those windows. Let some light in. Glammie has my diagrams. Work from that and leave us alone!"

"New letters," Piemur said, digging Fandarel in the ribs to get his attention. "Running… Running? E… M… E… R… G…E… N…"

"Emergency," The harper guessed before the C and Y appeared. He grinned with pleasure.

"P-R-O-G-R-A-M--program? The words we understand, but what do they mean?" Piemur asked.

"We still don't know what as aivas if!" Piemur remarked.

"Pern-I understand Pern," Robinton said. Then, enunciating very clearly and projecting his rich baritone voice, he added. "From where are you speaking, AIVAS?"

"This system is programmed for voice address. State your name. Please."

"Lingual shifts have occurred, Robinton. Modification of the language program is now required. Please continue to speak."

"Continue to speak?"

"Your speech patterns will be the basis for the modification. Please continue to speak."

"Well, Masterharper, you heard it." Piemur said, recovering his composure. "Here sit down." He pulled the chair from under the desk, brushed the seat off, and make a flamboyant gesture.

Master Robinton looked aggrieved as he sat. "I always thought the Harper Hall had succeeded very well in keeping the language pure and unadulterated."

"Oh, AIVAS just doesn't understand us!" Piemur murmured reassuringly. "Everyone understands you. That thing," he said, airily dismissing the AIVS. "doesn't even use words we know."

"Please do not attempt to use the touch-screen controls. That function is now deactivated."

"What's happening down there?" Breide called.

"A modification of the language program has been necessary," Piemur called back. Master Fandarel has it all well in hand, Breide."

"Five persons are observed to occupy this room, but only four voices have been registered. Will the fifth person speak?"

Jancis looked around apprehensively. "Me?"

"You are requested to speak a full sentence."

"Go on, Jancis," Piemur urged her. "I don't think it will bite you, and a feminine voice will give it a new perspective on life here."

"But I haven't the faintest idea what you say to… a disembodied voice."

"Any speech will suffice. The difference in resonance and timbre has been noted. To assist the program, question: You are a female person."

"Yes, she is a female person." Piemur replied.

"The female person is asked to answer for a voiceprint reading." Jancis burst out laughing at the surprise on Piemur's face, for the reproof, despite the uninflected tone, was unmistakable.

"You should see your face, Piemur."

"At least you can laugh about it." Piemur said. "Then you… sir, whatever. How should you be addressed?"

"This is an artificial intelligence voice address system. It does not require personification."

"Does artificial mean man-made?" Robinton asked.

"That is correct." The men who built the Dawn Sisters?"

"Reference to Dawn Sisters is unknown. Please explain."

"The three metallic objects in the sky overhead are known as the Dawn Sisters."

"You refer to the spaceships Yokohama, Buenos Aires, and Bahrain,"

"Spaceships?" Fandarel asked, turning to stare at the panel with its green blinking legend.

"Spaceships, life-support vehicles that travel in the vacuum inaccurately referred to as 'space.'"

Do the spaceships still support life?" Fandarel's eyes were wide, his usually expressionless face betraying a passionate avidity that surprised even Robinton.

"Not at the present reading. All systems are on hold. Bridge pressure is .001 standard atmosphere, or 0.1 KP. Interior temperature reads minus twenty-five degrees Celsius."

"I don't know what it's talking about. Fandarel said, collapsing onto the other stool, his face a study of terrible disappointment.

"This is an artificial intelligence voice address system…"

"Let us begin at the beginning them, shall we?" Robinton asked.

#Pern #Dragons #dragonriders #Dragon Riders #Dragonriders of Pern #RWBY #Remnant #Vale #Beacon Acadamy #Beacon #Souther

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tact-and-impulse · 3 years

Text

@shepherds-of-haven, I took the ‘insatiable’ prompt in the direction of ‘thirst for knowledge...and maybe a god’.

incandescent

“Sure, manuscripts are acceptable offerings, but if you really want to pass all your exams, you have to write something interesting enough to earn Liefred’s favor.”

That was the sage advice handed down by the graduating class, so she’s going to listen to it. The academy’s incredibly traditional, and although the first round of tests is rapidly approaching, she hasn’t quite adjusted. Multiple times, her essays have been returned with blue ink, deducting points for not adhering to the rigid formatting her instructors expect. It’s very annoying, which is why she needs to excel on her exams. Besides, she’s curious as to what would count as ‘interesting enough’ for the god of knowledge and learning.

Liefred is a young god, technically an ascended mortal from the previous age. Supposedly, he was an accomplished teacher and explorer, who died young in one of the Little Wars, the civil disputes that threatened to tear apart the nation. The myths of him are sparse, mostly related to his aid and rewarding of true seekers of knowledge. There’s a statue of him, in the academy’s foyer. His figure and face are shrouded in windblown cloth, as he lifts a candle in an obvious metaphor for illuminating the mysteries of the world. It’s kind of ironic, considering his appearance is completely hidden. Maybe, they should have hired a better sculptor.

In her tiny dormitory room, there’s only the sound of her quill scritching as she transcribes the summary of her latest paper. Over the years, the caravan had uncovered strange objects, scattered throughout the usual route, but she had challenged herself with thoroughly cataloguing them. Some of the objects were similar, made of metal and cords. Others appeared to be much older and unrelated, but still unusually made. Unfortunately, the academy is disinterested, refusing to investigate further. There’s no guarantee that the god will listen to her, but at the very least, it might entertain him. Folding it into a square, she signs her name in one corner. Then, she feeds it to the lantern on her desk, watching the paper blacken and crumble into ash.

She clasps her hands together and fervently prays. For luck, for remembering what she’s studied so far, for good grades. It’s close to midnight, and too tired to open her books again, she gets ready for bed. She blows at the flame, as she usually does to extinguish it. It wavers but doesn’t go out. Another deep exhale and it’s still lit. Weird. There’s a little water left in her cup and she empties it onto the wick. The flame persists and if anything, it’s increased in intensity. She can’t look directly at the light, her eyes automatically squeezing shut.

“Do you have any of these items with you?!” The voice is masculine, and that’s definitely out of place. The male students are housed on the opposite end of the dorms. And she didn’t hear anyone knock…

She forces herself to see the intruder, and the lantern’s gone out. Instead, there’s a man, with shockingly red hair and a faint glow about his countenance. He’s not wearing the academy uniform, but a proper set of crimson robes with flowing sleeves and a gold-tasseled belt. His chiseled features break into a smile, as he taps a familiar square of paper.

“These objects you described, we called them ‘machines’, but they were dismantled for parts in the war. I tried to save what I could, to preserve them.” His gaze becomes misty, with longing.

“Uh...are you Liefred?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.” He sweeps one arm forth, then elegantly bows at the waist. He smiles benevolently at her. “Liefred, the Eternal Scholar. I received your offering, and I thank you immensely.”

Her mind spins with questions. “So, you’re the actual god. You can appear to mortals, just like that?!”

“Well, it usually takes effort, and I don’t want to show any favoritism.” He nervously rubs the nape of his neck, the simple motion reminding her that he used to be a normal person. “If any of my priests find out-”

“You got it, my lips are sealed.”

“I appreciate that.” He releases a sigh, as he stands upright again.

She grins. “It’s no problem! I’m glad you took me seriously, unlike everyone else here at the academy. I grew up wayfaring, and my clan found a number of these...machines? We had no idea what they were, let alone that they were so important to you. Did you make them?”

“No, I only spearheaded the excavations. In fact, I have no idea what they do. My peers thought they were relics, but I disagreed. I believe they’re from another realm.”

“Another realm? But you’re a god, aren’t you in charge of every realm?”

“Gods rely on faith. I only exist and am aware of the places that believe in me.” He then adds. “We gods are also not as omnipotent as you think. I may know slightly more than a mortal, but even I’m still learning.”

“Eternal scholar, indeed.” She muses, before remembering his first question. “I don’t have any of the parts on me, but I can send a letter to my clan and have them mail it to me. Unless, you have the ability to teleport.”

“That depends. Does anyone in your clan have a shrine to me?”

“No, we worship the nature deities mostly, for fair weather. But when I’m done with my exams, I can beg them to send what they have.”

“Please.” Just as he says that, he shakes his head. “No, wait. If they’ve been protecting the machines for as long as you said, I have no cause to worry. Now, onto the real business.” He positions his hands before him, interlocking and turning. The paper square is turning over his knuckles, like he can sense what’s written inside just by the deceptively idle motion. His loose sleeves drop, and she can’t resist looking at his sturdy forearms. “I’ll answer your prayer. I can’t drastically change your luck, but from what I can tell, I don’t have to. Overall, you’re prepared, you just need to believe in yourself.”

“Is that it?” She gives a hollow laugh. “Guess the academy life’s messing with my head.”

“I’ve noticed the academy’s courses are more difficult with each year.” He sympathizes and claps once, causing her paper to vanish. Back to the realm of gods, perhaps. How many essays has he saved?

“Can’t you send a vision to your priests, to cut us some slack?”

“I think you’re the first mortal to suggest that to me.” But he’s in a good mood, and he takes her ink-stained right hand. He’s warm and comforting, just like a candle. “I’ll see what I can do. That’s what gods are for, right?”

“Right.” They exchange smiles, and when she blinks, he’s gone. She does feel better though, and there’s one thing she knows for sure. The academy definitely needs to redo his sculpture; what’s the point if it doesn’t capture how attractive he is?

#shepherds of haven #shepherds of summer 2021 #a little of the gods au too

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words-by-sara · 2 years

Text

(Coin Toss - Prologue)

NINE YEARS AGO

Julia

"Julia, cara, you will make your family proud today, sì?"

I didn’t really listen to my aunt. She had been buzzing around me all morning, plucking at my new, perfectly white blouse, desperately trying to smooth my dark curls, and constantly talking about how bright our family‘s future could be, if only I won the scholarship today.

I ignored her and ran my fingers along the dark gray embroidery on the blouse. MMI. McIntosh Mining Inc. The company running my district, my school, the house I lived in, everything I’d remotely be in contact with every day. The company all my family worked for. Or, had died working for.

"Imagine, you could go to university, and be an engineer! And maybe we could finally have a bigger apartment!"

"You would have more space anyway, once I move out to live uptown", I noted dryly, but now she was the one who wouldn’t listen.

"And Hector would not need to do these terrible illegal excavations any more, we needn’t fear for him every night."

"Don’t you dare use me for your fantasies of social advancement, mother." My older cousin Hector sat on a chair at the tiny kitchen table, his frame seeming to large for the little apartment. "It’s not Julia’s responsibility to get us out of this shithole."

My aunt spun around. "She is the only one who can, hijo, no matter how much you’ll curse."

"I bet Liam McIntosh could, too, mama. And his peers" Hector lifted his mechanical arm and pointed outside, where the distant dome of uptown rose behind the reddish gray dust clouds. "Them rich guys, living in their oxygen bubble. They could pay us better, they just don’t. Because they need it that way. The poorer we are, the richer they get."

"Hector, I pray you, don’t speak like that. Everything we have, however little it is, we owe to them. And they give us the chance, they give our girl Julia the chance, to grow and be something bigger."

Hector looked at Aurelia in disbelief. "I hope you’re just afraid of MMSec listening, mother, and not seriously believing that bullshit. Everything they have, they owe it to us. Our work pays their beautiful houses, their fancy galas, their air purification systems, their travels, everything. Some of us, like Uncle Nicolas, even pay for their welfare with our lives. But one day, they’re gonna have to pay back.”

Aurelia simply stared at her son, her lip trembling. “I… You…”

Hector shook his head softly and a sad smile appeared on his face. “You don’t need to say anything, mama. I’ll be leaving. I’ll watch the competition with my friends.” He grabbed his oxygen mask from the hook by the door and waved goodbye to me. "Good luck, Julia. Make us proud, hm?“

Claire

"So, are you excited?“, my little sister Florence asked. She was laying on my bed, while my mother‘s handmaid did some final adjustments to my hairstyle. "You look pretty, all grown up.“

"I don’t want to talk“, I grumbled. "I don’t want my hair done. I want to study. I need to, if I want to win this stupid competition.“

“It’s not stupid, Claire, it’s tradition.“ My mother had appeared in the door to my room, looking stunning in her new long, flowing red dress. She was dangling two different pearl necklaces in her hand, critically looking from the jewelry to me and back. “That one suits your hair best. You look amazing, dear. People will fall in love with you, when they see you on TV.“

“They won’t. However pretty I look. Nobody falls in love with a McIntosh.“

“Our last name is Allston“, Florence stated and rolled to her back on the bed.

“Well, or an Allston. That’s not the point. The point is, apart from you, Mom, and Uncle Liam, there’s absolutely nobody out there wanting me to win.“

"Don’t be overdramatic.“ My mother handed my the necklace she had chosen. "There’s more than enough people who appreciate the achievements of this family. And you’ll be able to convince even more others. Have more faith.“ She nodded to her maid. "Are you done with Claire, Portia? I need to freshen my make-up. The driver will be ready in thirty minutes.“

"Where’s Dad?“, I asked.

"I think I heard him leave some time ago. Probably has some preparations to do at the site already. But your uncle Liam will join us on the ride there.“

Felix

The day of the planetary youth was a weird institution. Meant to give a feeling of unity by telling everyone to focus on the next generation, where everyone would have the same chances.

Bullshit, for all Felix knew. There was no unity on this planet, and there would never be. His friends were holding wagers on how long the elite would try keeping up the tradition. Felix would bet against it every year.

"At least they give us the day off“, one of the others noted, a friend of Nero‘s who hadn’t introduced himself.

"And we get to be together and drink“, Nero agreed and lifted his beer. "To us!“

"And to those, who cannot be with us today“, Hector replied.

For a moment, the group sat in silence. Most of them were miners, and each had lost friends or family to the tunnels. Or —as the cynics put it — to the company.

"They will be remembered“, Nero broke the silence, and the others echoed in unison.

“Your sister is in it today, isn’t she?,” the new guy asked, while the camera panned over the participants.

“Cousin,” Hector corrected, and Felix couldn’t help but note the softness in his eyes. “Julia. She’s special. She’ll show these rich assholes their place.”

“Come on. There’s the McIntosh bitch in the roster, too. Allston’s daughter. Her family owns us. You. And also your little cousin. She doesn’t stand a chance.”

Hector shrugged, but there was an amused spark in his gaze. “I didn’t say she’d win. I said, she’ll show them their place. And I believe in her.”

#writeblr #original writing #dystopic scifi

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that-house · 4 years

Text

The Paladin

This is a story set in the City of Mammon, my dystopian sci-fi hyper-capitalist hellscape. In this story I’m exploring the concept of super heroes in a world in which those with capacity to do good are in a situation that necessitates cruelty.

A little worldbuilding note: Fright Night was determined to be a more marketable holiday name than Halloween a hundred or so ago.

I don’t normally put trigger warnings on my writing (you should know what you’re getting into when you follow me) but I have to make an exception for this story.

Trigger warnings: gore, violence, cannibalism, off-screen capitalism

The Paladin made his first appearance on a brisk morning in Autumn, around when Middle Market stores began filling with Fright Night decorations, not that anyone from the Lower Market had ever seen the inside of a Middle Market store. I was 10 years old at the time.

He was a thin, dirty man, much like every other inhabitant of the Lower Market, but there were two things different about him: he wore a brightly colored outfit he seemed to have made himself, upon the chest of which was emblazoned a bold letter P in red, and he had a very illegal gun. He called himself a “superhero.” Apparently it was a thing from Middle Market movies.

Every morning he would stand on a street corner, in the blind spot of the security cameras, and give speeches about the cruelty of the higher Markets. When a security drone stalked past, he would retreat into an alley until the coast was clear once more. He said he was a wanted man in the higher Markets, and if we protected him, he’d protect us.

Everyone (myself included) thought him to be all bark and no bite, until the day a Middle Marketer strolled past his corner, perhaps to view a gladiator match at the colosseum on Avarice Street. The Paladin wasted no time in shooting her square in the chest. The white beam of light cut silently right through her, and she fell to the ground without time for her facial expression to change from disdainful. A pillar of steam rose from the gaping hole in the corpse.

Standing over the body, he began to speak. “Do you believe me now? This gun works just as well on Liches as it does on everyone else! We aren’t their entertainment! We aren’t their free labor! We are going to make them afraid to come to the Lower Market!”

It wasn’t long before everyone within 10 blocks was wearing the red P somewhere on their clothing. The security drones and their awful syringe-claws were seen more frequently, evidently looking for the Paladin, but Middle Marketers rarely came to the neighborhood.

Things weren’t perfect. The Paladin demanded food and a whole floor of a skyscraper to himself, but he was persuasive. He needed to be full and fit. He needed silence so he could plan his next move. He needed just a little money and if everyone chipped in it wouldn’t cost any single person too much.

When he finally killed a Lich he could have asked for a whole city block to himself and we would’ve given it to him. I had a tiny Paladin doll, carved from a stray bit of wood and painted with rat blood. The streets were crawling with security drones at this point, but we didn’t care. The Paladin would keep us safe. He was our superhero.

When people started going missing, he blamed it on the security drones. Said they were abducting people for the Liches’ twisted product testing, or maybe for Middle Market brothels. We believed him. Would a superhero lie? Of course not. He was our savior.

One day my father went missing. He had left to scavenge for food in the waste pile, and never returned. My mother was beside herself. I wasn’t worried. I knew the Paladin could bring him back. He had never failed us before. He’d killed all those terrible higher Marketers. He was our superhero.

His skyscraper was half a mile from my house. On the way, I walked past dozens of security drones. Their blank faceplates swept over me blindly. The syringe claws in their fingers stayed retracted. They showed no interest in anyone on the street. They were looking for something else. They gave no sign that they wanted to abduct me or anyone else. I didn’t question whether or not the Paladin lied. I had to trust him. He was my savior.

The floor of the skyscraper was an open foyer divided into rooms by curtains hung from the ceiling. I entered quietly. I’m certain he didn’t hear me come in. Once I was away from the bustle of the street outside, I could hear the noise. That noise. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.

It was the sound of a carnivore eating. The crunch of bone, a tearing of flesh, and then the awful, awful chewing. His lips smacked wetly with every bite. His teeth grated against bits of bone. You could hear his tongue moving the food around his mouth. It filled my ears. That terrible chewing. Then, another bone cracking, more grunting as he yanked at something, a little sigh of satisfaction as skin tore and muscle gave. And then the chewing resumed.

I stepped on a loose floorboard. The chewing stopped. Somewhere in the foyer, behind the carpets, I heard him get to his feet. I heard him lick his lips, sucking gore from his fingers. A curtain thumped to the ground as he ripped it down from the ceiling. Another curtain fell. Another. He was getting closer. He chuckled to himself.

The floor creaked as he moved. He was taking his time. What good was my word against that of the Paladin’s? He had nothing to fear from me. There was only one curtain between us. I could hear his breathing, slow and heavy. I didn’t run. I still trusted him. That is, until the last curtain fell, and I saw him.

His whole face was coated in blood and specks of meat. He’d been burying his face in his meal, tearing at it with his teeth. His eyes were full of anger, and he was smiling. By Mammon, he was smiling at me. He opened that red, dripping mouth, and spoke. “Ah, the dessert has arrived. I wasn’t quite full yet.”

Behind him, lying on a table, was my father’s body. Or rather, what was left of it. The whole chest cavity had been excavated, the contents spilling from the table to the floor. His ears, nose, and lips were missing, but he was still recognizable. There was a charred hole through his forehead where my hero had shot him.

I turned and ran. I didn’t stop for a whole week, running during the day, sleeping the nights in the alleys, not knowing if he was chasing me. I’m 28 now, living on the opposite side of the city, and the Paladin still rules the neighborhood where I grew up. I hear that people go missing from time to time, but no one questions their superhero.

#neon-grey-writing #the city of mammon #horror #short story #gore tw #violence tw #cannibalism tw #capitalism tw

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babysizedfics · 4 years

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*slides you some monopoly money from inside a blanket burrito* one of your finest fluffy concepts please (tip available if it feels like a hug)

thank u for the snack!! *noms the money*

okAy so we know that logan and roman love playing make-believe together

roman for obvious reasons yknow, creative performative dressup

but logan because did you see how eager he was to dress up like sherlock holmes and impersonate a robot in the puppet episode? plus he's a doctor who nerd

my man loves silly pretend play

they somehow manage to make everything into a make believe game

when logan needs to do the laundry but roman is bored, they pretend they are experimental scientists adding different chemicals (detergent and softener) to big subterfuge machines (the washing machine)

i know nothing about science pls dont judge that detail too hard

when roman hasnt been outside all day and logan wants to convince him to go outside they are now archeologists in an excavation site (the backyard) looking for fossils (helping patton deweed the flower bed)

moving onto my other headcanon

roman and logan love playing with building toys together! and will even build with things youre not meant to build with

im talking elaborate grecian inspired architecture built with jenga blocks

(logan loves the history and engineering of it, roman loves the grandness and beauty of it)

and they get k'nex!!! its a toy building thingy

and patton actually bought it for them because he was a tiny little incy wincy ickle bit annoyed that they used all the sugar cubes to create a scale replica of buckingham palace one day when it was raining

and logan wants to adhere to the instructions of course (left) and roman wants to go BIG BOLD UNPRECEDENTED (right)

so of course they reach some sort of compromise that isn't boring but that won't take up half the living room floor and be a safety hazard

logan starts by laying out all of the pieces in categories and in groups of five which makes it easier for roman to picture what he can do with the materials since he is a visual thinker

when they are building it they work together better than they ever have before, theres no arguments, only throwing ideas around

and roman is of course little so he is very excitable and bouncy and usually he is better with the more intricate jobs but logan takes over since roman is just so excited that he's shaking a tiny bit

and roman gets pouty when he can't get a .. long thingy to fit into the..... the corner thingy (shh im not an engineer)

and logan rlly gently takes it and says 'here, little prince. if you pinch it a little' *slots them together* 'it slots in easily'

and roman is like :0

and logan realises roman is actually subconsciously copying him a bit!

so logan will be standing back from their work and scratching the stubble at his chin in thought

then when roman poses a solution, logan looks over and sees that roman is in the exact pose that logan is standing in but the little prince doesnt even notice hes doing it

and internally logan knows its just a subconscious sign that youre comfortable with someone

but it still makes him think about children who copy their parents to learn

and maybe just maybe he squeeze romans shoulder and pulls him into a little half hug before they go back to the build

then virgil wakes up from his afternoon nap!! no he isnt a baby, adult virge just likes sleeping

patton is out running errands so virgil chills in the living room and shyly sits crosslegged to watch them

and romans littleness is just too infectious it doesnt take long before virgil is now baby vee and he's sucking his thumb and reaching to his mama for cuddles

and roman is a bit sad when logan picks vee up and takes him upstairs to get changed because he thinks when they get back lo will be focussed on vee

but when they return with vee all diapered up in his little clothes, logan places him by their feet on the carpet and gives him a smooch on the cheek then stands back up to keep playing with roman!!

and that REALLY excited the little prince so he starts rambling to vee about how cool the roller coaster is gonna be and how him and mom did it together cos roman is a big boy

and logan adds 'and you're very smart'

and romans face splits with a grin 'a-and - and i - and-and im really smart!!!!'

virgil is pretty happy just watching because he has a rattle and honestly that could keep him entertained for hours

but at one point roman needs a piece and they realise vee, being the otter pup he is, has claimed the piece and is holding it protectively to his chest (its been there for half an hour)

and roman really needs it but virgil whines and starts tearing up when roman tries to take it from him

so logan suggests 'vee do you want to help? do you want to be like your big brother?'

and virgils eyes liight up and he bounces in his seat

'roman can you show your little brother how to do it?'

and logan has to lift vee up because he is in too young a headspace to stand on his own, and roman is guiding virgils hands gently to put the piece on (its more roman doing it really)

but roman whispers 'vee i know a really clever secret. you gotta squeeze it a little' *slots the piece in and smiles at virgil* 'then it goes in better!'

and logan has a little moment

because roman listened to him and is replicating logans behaviour and it means that roman is comforted by logan and is trying to do the same for vee

and logan doesnt fricking care anymore he plants a big kiss on romans head

when it's finished they are nervous to see if it works and they pretend they let virgil switch on the motor because hes the baby but its also a bit because logan and roman are nervous that it wont work

but it does!! the little cars go along the whole thing and do cool loopdy loops and all!!

they NYOOM!!!

and they all cheer and have massive smiles because seriously no one is immune to that feeling of satisfaction when the dominoes all tumble or the jenga tower falls or the k'nex cars zoom along the track

and logan looks at how excited roman is and 'you did it little prince!'

and roman chants 'we did it we did it we did it!' and launches at logan for a tight hug

#little/big concepts #agedre roman #little roman #cg logan #long post #asks #anon

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