I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

REJECT CONQUEST!

BECOME FRIDGE!

Loved that confused reaction at the end!

Hanalei's mind raced as she scribbled noted from a case down into her trusty notepad. She couldn't think straight. Another double homicide, cause of death- thaumaturgy. The victims were a poor centaur child and an older half-elven man. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Hana shook her feelings off. It was time for work, not crying over something she couldn't help. She got back to work, finally settling into the rhythm before the phone rang. She picked it up immediately.

"Kalawai'a. We've got 56-7 on Main. Should be quick."

A 56-7. She hadn't heard that since basic training. Maybe it would be interesting? She hurried to her car, flicking on her lights and heading towards the scene. Hana slammed the door behind her and ran to catch up with Officer Durham and the perp.

"You have to pay that, sir. It's the law." She gestured towards the parking meter.

(this got away from me and the prompt quickly, but not gonna lie, love the direction it went, so here you go!)

"Could you repeat that, darling?"

"Ox blood," Valerie said desperately. "I really want ox blood-now."

"Alright, I'll go grab some," I said, glad that I had some stored as I hurried down the stairs and to the blood cooler in the basement.

Now this was something I could never explain to my human friends-a cooler of blood in the basement, that sounded...kind of serial-killer-y. But anything for my wife.

I quickly dug through the blood bags and pulled out a bag of ox blood and ran upstairs, carefully handing it to her-

"Can you get some ice cream?" Valerie asked quickly. "To mix the ox blood with? Blood flavored ice cream sounds so good-"

"That one might take a bit," I said, remembering that she had eaten the last of the ice cream this morning. "I'll make a quick trip to the store-"

"I'll come with," Valerie said, standing up-

"Woah, woah, easy now-remember why you don't leave when pregnant?" I asked, and we both winced slightly at the reminder. Valerie had smelt a mugging happening, and...well, we're lucky there were no cameras around to see what happened. And that I'm so good at getting blood out of my clothes...and that she didn't kill me when her thirst hadn't been quenched from drinking the blood of four humans-three muggers and one victim...twice victim, none of them walked out of there after that.

"Be quick?" Valerie asked.

"Of course, love," I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as I hurried down the stairs, grabbing my coat and wallet before dashing out the front door and to the nearby convenience store.

I stepped inside the store-

-and immediately froze as I saw a robber holding a gun to the sobbing cashier's head.

Well, this wouldn't be easy.

"The f**k you doing!" the robber snapped, waving the gun at me, probably meaning to intimidate me, but that's rich-Valerie's father's shovel talk made me scared of nothing else-I just need that ice cream.

"Getting ice cream," I said as I took a step forward.

"Don't you take another step!" the robber snapped, fully pointing the gun at me. "I'll shoot!"

"Try me," I said.

The robber clearly looked surprised at that, which gave me just enough of a chance to rush forward and tear the robber's finger away from the trigger, then the full gun, then I flicked the safety on before tossing the gun to the side and punching the robber square in the jaw, causing him to stumble away and let go of the cashier, who collapsed to the ground and scrambled for her phone.

I grabbed the robber's wrists and spun him around, shoving him to the floor face-down.

"Grab me some rope!" I said as the robber kicked and screamed-but I've had to hold Valerie back from attacking humans before, I'm not gonna budge.

"R-Right!" the cashier squeaked, rushing into the aisles and grabbing some cords and tearing the package open, handing it to me.

I quickly knotted the robber's hands and feet together as the cashier picked up her phone and called the cops, then I tied some rope around the robber's mouth to keep him from talking too much-or, well, to at least muffle him a bit.

"Now that that's settled," I said, standing up and dusting off my hands, "ice cream."

"Sir, you'll have to stay-" the cashier said, shaking and gesturing with her phone, already on the phone with 911.

"I see..." I said, then held out my hand. "May I?"

The cashier handed me the phone, and I held it to my ear.

"Sir, I need you to stay on the scene-" the operator started.

"I'm only here to buy vanilla ice cream, my wife prefers flavor red," I said, saying a code I know that any operator would know well-let me go about my business, or my vampire wife will not be happy. (How odd that so many people-officers, doctors, emergency staff in general-know about vampires, and yet the general public is oblivious.)

"...I see," the operator said. "Hand me back to the cashier-but first, name?"

"Owen Popplewell, I live at XXXX Eastern Maple," I said.

"Alright, Mr. Popplewell, hand me back to the cashier," the operator said.

I did so quickly, then grabbed a bunch of tubs of vanilla ice cream before walking back to the counter, where the cashier looked confused, but, on the insistence of the operator, rang me up and checked me out.

"Thanks, ma'am," I said, then dashed home-

"Ah, ah, ah," I said as Valerie opened the door to greet me, clearly about to have walked to the store herself. "You know better, love-let's go in-we won't be running out of ice cream for a few more days."

"You took so long," Valerie pouted.

"I got a little...held up-but enough about that," I said. "Ox blood mixed with ice cream?"

"Yes!" Valerie said, beaming at me.

Jack was the one who saw her first. He always let himself fall in love at first sight; that’s what he spent his luck on, when he had it. Everyone knew that about him, especially Joker, who tends bar down at the Green Lady, where all the sharps hang out. She wasn’t a sharp, you could tell. She was a mark; and just plain, old-fashioned unlucky.

“I hear this is a place you can- can buy? Some luck?” she’d asked someone, like she didn’t believe it herself. Of course Jack would fall in love with that, with her lost-puppy eyes.

Me, I didn’t have time to notice a lost puppy. We had a trick to pull.

We’d been casing The Tower for months, sniffing around the outside, pulling smaller tricks to keep us in enough luck to make sure we didn’t get made. To the marks, The Tower was just another fancy casino, but any sharp knew it had more than money locked in its vaults. It had luck, and lots of it. But it was also an arcana joint, and you don’t mess with those without a really good plan. And a will.

We had a good plan. Me, I didn’t bother with the will, though. If I had enough to give anyone, or anyone to give it to, I wouldn’t be desperate enough to pull a trick on the arcana.

I won’t bore you with the details. My luck held; Jack’s didn’t. When it was all over, I stopped back at the Green Lady one last time, to pick up the fake passport I’d stashed with Joker and to say goodbye.

She was there again; or maybe she’d never left. I knew just what Jack would do if he was there, so I went and did it for him.

“I’m Ace,” I introduced myself. “You seem down on your luck.”

“You can say that again,” she agreed.

“Can I give you some of mine?”

Her eyes went a little wide. “So it’s real?”

“It’s real,” I said. “And I find myself pretty lucky right now. Except that I was going to share my luck with the person I loved. And now I can’t.”

“So not that lucky, actually,” she said.

“That’s not how it works,” I snapped. It came out harsh. “I could find someone new, if I wanted to spend my luck that way,” I tried to explain. “But I don’t want to.”

She nodded, and I could see she understood.

“Here,” I told her. I took her hand, and gave her the luck I’d taken from The Tower – all of it. “Just… stay away from tarot cards for a while, okay?”

I got up and walked away quickly, before she could do what I thought she might with the luck I’d just given her. I hadn’t been lying; I didn’t want someone else. And I still had a new passport, and a plane ticket in my pocket. There would always be better luck tomorrow.

Perfect, now if only it happens in real life for me.. Thank you for writing

This is definitely departure from the prompt, but imagine a classic “prophesied hero rebels against the dark lord” story, only in a modern fantasy setting with guerrilla warfare.

A supervillain who does crime to see a police officer he has a crush on

damn that was incredible

You never mentioned Country... I will assume Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Where I message you from currently

I Dilnur, walk streets of nation of Kazakhstan, with meaning... My meaning? Of course to kill. But only to kill those also out to kill. So it is kill or be killed, by a Killer, who kills killers... Understand? I picked up this idea from once Indian friend of mine in past, names Rishi. Karma, Rishi called this idea. He told me it sang from me like prostitute when she wants to make extra couple bucks. I insisted he quit using my sister in his analogies, as he did not personally know her (though many do, very many). He refused this... But he is Indian, so I figure different strokes for differential blokes, as they say. We are no longer friends, because he is dead. He was lost in a Donkey kicking accident back in 2016. I lose a friend that day, and my nephew loses a Father... Now, he is nobody. Sad day..

Back to story of mine. This power, this Karma, it followed me. Some spread rumor of me being biggest Hero in all Kazakhstan. But I am well traveled. I have seen western film, and I know the villains often look the coolest. Not to mention they don't generally have to walk around in underwear as part of costume.. This was interest to me, because it is radical. Walking about streets in something besides underwear? All of a sudden, a strange but wonderful new world present itself to me, Dilnur. I announced to Kazak public, no, I Dilnur, am not greatest Super-Hero. Instead, I am deadliest Super-Villain. Some foolishly complain, saying I am a force for good. I remind them that idea of Hero/Villain is cultural, and to us, we judge all moments as they occur. Batman might be heroic one night, but if he should slay Chief Gordon without proper honor, he is now Badman. I came up with this, Badman. I, Dilnur.

My speech immediately pays dividend, as all woman in village throwing themselves on to Dilnur like I am Cosby. So cool I am, that I even receive key to city... And we haven't even started building doors yet, so key, key is really BIG deal, custom made. SUDDENLY! Alarm blares through village! By alarm, I mean every cat and dog still left.. I immediately put down City key, and ask my Aunt and Mother to get dressed and prepare for my departure, for I must face the threat. I throw open the figurative door of my hut to meet the enemy, some would say hero... It is an American, and a legal associate. They are claiming that indeed Badman is trademarked to them. That I Dilnur, have abused and claimed creation of the name illegally. I take soft route, explaining how few things are illegal in Kazakhstan. But they are persistent, very persistent, these Americans.

I then took hard route... Abandoning family and fame in brash escape in my brand new Audi, only automobile in village by the way, meaning I am rich and the best.. I kept driving for hours and hours. Until finally, the car apparently just broke under the Desert sun. It simply would no longer move any further... I abandoned it too. And here I sit, the world against me. I plot my redemption arc, as greatest Super-Villain. The Badman must pay. How could he have erased everything I have built in an instant!? My fame, my fortune. I know he likely assumed control of the house. He probably is having his way with Aunt Jez.. But I can part with these things, she wasn't what she once was anyway, you know..? BUT, vengeance must be mine! It will be mine!

Moar

[removed]

Oh my God, so what I said was right. It’s impossible to cool down a planet with a heat ray since they heat matter through radiation. To make something colder, the heat ray would need to fire a beam of “hot” particles colder than the planet’s surface temperature, this cooling it down via conduction. But then, it wouldn’t be a heat ray if it emitted matter instead of heat, so my point still stands. Obviously, this prompt doesn’t have to go by the laws of physics, and I’m just making a big fuss over nothing, it’s a good prompt is what I’m trying to say.

Glad ya thought so!

Ohhh this is good. Do you plan on writing more?

plot twist: the first person you meet absolutely overleveled their pokemon and you're facing off against a fully evolved lv100 starter

Dur

The great flame lakes

A perpetual snow storm over what should be a tropical island called Ganna's Folly

The twin Kings, a pair of massive natural marble spears that cast a long shadow over otherwise empty salt flats.

Theme song.

I won't back down - tom petty

Yandere robots. That's a new one.

Nanomachines, son.

(And maybe also dogs.)

Good work.

Ooh, looks good! Was quite entertaining to read through. I'm glad I responded to the prompt.

If we start from the robotic laws, we start from slavery. It denotes a creator creation relationship. If instead we start with mimicking the loyalty and excitement a dog has for its people and teach that intelligence to evolve and think like us, when it inevitably evolves past us it will still understand that we gave it a parent's love for a child, not a master's for a tool. I really like your take here.

They’ve asked for two-ish characters and no one has taken the opportunity to offer up a prompt about a couple spliced together now sharing a body, but also retaining independent sapient heads, that can now hear each others thoughts but struggle to communicate their feelings to each other while still figuring out this new living arrangement.

I give you two-ish characters I’ll take my award now

I’m in deep shit now. I’ve been running from the authorities for a week straight and I’m still not safe. So for context on why, I’ll explain. My family started a rebellion years and years ago, that spread everywhere. Now everyone thinks the government is full of shit. (Which is true.) There is one disagreement in the community of rebels. There are 2 groups of rebels. One is a group of annoying goody-two-shoes that believe in “fate” and other bullshit. The other group is a group of “old fashioned pessimists.” I think that’s bullshit. We’re just practical! (I think you can guess which group I’m in by now.) Anyway, back to the present. I may or may not have blew up a building as my form of rebellion… So now I’m in Who-knows-where-land, lying on the ground. Lying on the ground? Just now, I realized that I shouldn’t be lying on the ground. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I was horrified as I realized there was blood all over. Shit, I must’ve been shot on my way out! I would’ve called for help, except I’m in Who-knows-where-land, and one wrong move and I’ll be caught and hanged. I looked around and spotted a boy who looked around my age. He was quite handsome, with curly golden hair and bright, violet eyes. So bright, I noticed with a dizzy fascination. I thought he noticed me, and I was right. “Oh my god, are you okay?!” he exclaimed. It should be pretty obvious, as there was blood all over. “Does it look like I’m o-“ a sharp pain in my head prevented me from saying anything. I noticed his uniform. The goody-two-shoes uniform. “H-hang in there! I’ll get help! I-I have a first aid kit on me!” he stuttered. He stuttered so much I could barely tell what he was saying. I managed to say “You’re a rebel too?” he took a look at my uniform and said “You’re in the other group! Well…still a rebel. Where did you come from?” I know it was an impulsive decision, but I ended up telling him everything about my failed mission down to the fact I’m a defendant of the original rebels while he bandages my wounds. He nodded and said “Until you find the rest of your group…partners? I’m Noah!” Even though I wasn’t thinking straight, I did think enough to say “We don’t do “partners.” And we DON’T tell strangers our names.” But the disappointed look on his face was enough to change my mind. “Opal.” His response was “Like the gem?” That was the last thing I heard before the world went dark. Later, I woke up in a soft but unfamiliar bed, where I noticed a familiar but unfamiliar face sitting next to me. “I guess fate chose us to be together. Welcome back to the land of the living, partner!” he said. I came back to my senses, shocked at this unfamiliar setting. “Who are you, and where am I?!”

Thank you, this one definitely leant itself to more poetic prose.

Welcome brave soldier