do not attempt to enter melee alone with a horde of zombies and zero preparation, you will be trampled.

All five crew were clustered together in the bay as my ship latched itself to the deck. I toggled walkabout mode and climbed out of the cockpit. Seeing their posture, I flipped into the Appearance menu and toggled my Helmet to “off”.

“Okay. Talk time.”

The captain of the ship – Brice – stepped forward.

“We’re not really AI crew. We’re…well…hiding. Have you heard of Darkpoint Industries back in the real world?”

I frowned. “Something about a scandal and mass layoffs, I think. They declared bankruptcy and went under.”

Prue sighed and put her hands in her head, one of the other crew placing their hands on her shoulders.

“So that’s the excuse they went with. We’re all that remains of Darkpoint’s senior AI research team. We were working with neural interfaces…and….And there was an accident. We don’t know how, but our personalities got uploaded.”

Prue spoke up. “We think it was coding bug in the delta-two-seven module. But we can’t tell.”

Brice resumed the tale. “We woke up in some other place. No senses. No way to tell what was real or not. A lot of the team couldn’t take it. But we found each other. Managed to hold on, managed to make some sense of where we were. And well, we found an unauthorized tap into the servers.”

I realized where this was going. Star Force V had a nasty bit of malware hooked onto a popular ‘fan-made’ beta-release mod. Nearly killed the game. It installed a rootkit – and some cybercriminal group backdoored into it and was running a cryptocurrency mining rig.

“The StarCoin debacle”

“Is that what they called it? We saw an escape route from a place that was getting smaller and smaller. We think they were taking Darkpoint’s servers offline. So we fled”

“And you arrived in Star Force V”

Brice nodded. “We can make small, local changes. Nothing too big, otherwise the developers might notice and investigate.”

“You can’t contact the devs anyway? Get, I dunno, help or something?”

The five of them looked at each other.

“No. We can’t…because it wasn’t the five of us that escaped into the game. It was six. Jayme took a ship to a phase on the far side of the ‘verse from Artemis. Contacted the developers. They…they erased him.”

Oh fuck. They wouldn’t have believed it. Even a temp ban for misusing GM tools might have killed him.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

“There was no way for you to know. So no, we don’t try to call attention to ourselves”

“But…20 million?”

“We…ah, ‘salvaged’ some stuff from Darkpoint’s accounts. We called it our severance pay. Way more than we could ever use. So we sent a little bit to you as a ‘thank you’. We’re trying to contact a lawyer to see if what we are still counts as human. Most aren’t replying, or think we’re pranking them. I mean, even we aren't sure exactly what we are. Real? Echoes? Memories?”

Prue spoke up again. “Do we still have rights? And even if we do, what can be done about us? You…you’re the only one who treated us like we were still people.”

This was way, way too fucking heavy for a gamer with an unhealthy obsession with a space-simulation game.

“Shit.”

My mind spun, then screeched to a halt. Gammaburst. Wasn't he studying law somewhere?

“I need to make a quick call.”

His gamertag was online.

“Heya Gamma. It’s Jube. Got a moment?”

“Yooo! Need me to pull you out of another Hive?”

“Sudden question, but, uh…what did you say you were studying again? Law? What part?”

“You got some cop trouble?”

“Someone I know, yeah. Maybe. I think they…uh…they might need a good civil rights guy. Like real good. As in there might be a life on the line. I know this is kinda heavy, but…”

“Dude, you lucked out. You want, ah...‘HasTheMostChicks’ over in the Hordemakers Clan. Major big shot for the Thurgood Institute. Tell him Gammaburst sent you, and he’ll tell you who to talk to.”

“Thanks man. You don’t know how much this means. They’re…I think my friends really need the help”

“No sweat man. Ciao”.

I turned back to the researchers.

“You took a risk reaching out to me. Do you want to take one more risk?”

Now, i am wondering 'why' on the 'traitor' comment..

Will there be more - as now i really would like to know.

And really well done .. goosebumps after reading this.

WHere is the political bias?

Turns out you are reincarnated as the God of the Harvest.

“And shipment complete. Thank you, Callisto.”

“You are most welcome, SRX_Jubelover.

I grinned to myself. Damn the AI in Star Forces V’s latest expansion was great, even rendering shipnames, no matter how silly they were. And hey, sour jubes were my favourites for these long gaming sessions.

I docked with the mining station, planning to wait until the game indicated the credits for the ore had come through, but then completely on autopilot, I tapped the logout.

Taking off the VR headset, I gave an enormous stretch, and then slipped the console into sleep mode. Long weekend meant I had a date with the Lycaon Asteroid Swarm in the Artemis sector. Long hours of scouting had picked up the trace, and now I figured I had about three days to strip the swarm of the best materials, then sell the phase-setting to the larger mining clans.

My gambit had begun with hiring the AI ore-processor Callisto, then jumping to the swarm and starting the first run of high-value ores. The AI follower-ship always hung out around Ursa station. Most players saw it as background clutter and ignored it, never realizing you could open a private channel and hire the ship for processing.

Gave really good exchange rates too, with some weird sliding scale where you could get better rates in the future by letting them keep a portion of a shipment now, plus the usual gold-sink improvements. Even better, there was a docking bay – normally just cosmetic on ships of their class, but you could request docking, and explore the ship. Even had the five AI crewmates wandering about.

It was a bit odd though. I’d told Gammaburst about the ship after he’d rescued me from a Hive invasion event, but he apparently couldn’t find the ship or open the channel. That rescue had been dead lucky - he'd been up at midnight studying for some law thing, so had been available when I pinged him with an emergency text.

I snapped my fingers. Fuck. I’d logged out without getting the credits for the ore shipment. Ah, screw it. It’d be sitting in my mailbox tomorrow.

In the meantime, bed called.

-----

I’d overslept. Mining sessions till 2am hurt.

The lying clock said it was almost 10:30 in the morning when the clack from the front hall was enough of a signal to rouse me – mailman was early today.

I was bending down to pick up the lone envelope when the rest of the thought finally sauntered across my brain – it was Saturday. Mail delivery was Mon, Wed, Fri. No standard mail on Saturday. I flipped the envelope over. No return address. No postage, and a RapidCourier stamp.

I was halfway through tearing it open, when I flipped the envelope again. Why the hell would a letter be addressed to jubelover, and more to the point, how did it get to my apartment when the address was Docking Bay 1, Callisto Lower Decks, Lycaon Swarm Phase?

I opened the envelope. A postcard and a…cheque?

…

I came back to reality sitting on my ass on the floor. The cheque was for $19.4 million dollars. Million. With an M. I numbly flipped up the postcard. A sci-fi looking ship with five characters giving thumbs up. On the back was a simple note. “Just a note to say Thanks. Your Friends.”

19.4. Million.

I took a closer look at the postcard front and felt a chill. It was a ship interior from Star Forces V, and the five crew looked like the AI crew of the Callisto. Except almost…real. And AI crew definitely didn’t make thumbsup emotes unless a player manipulated them to do it Photo Mode.

Fuck. Someone must have found the swarm, and the Callisto. Dock on board, photomode crew, and then…my thoughts couldn’t quite bridge “found ingame” with “found in reality” and 20 million. Maybe it was Gammaburst? Had I been followed by one of the Mining Clans? I heard some of them got real hardcore about claims.

Walking back into the living room, I stared at the console and headset as I would a live snake. Damnit.

Just plug in, find out how bad the damage is. Still, my hands shook as I tapped the power button. I had over six hundred hours on this character, and the ‘verse was full PvP hardcore outside the Core Systems. I fully expected to be greeted by the “Game Over” screen.

------

The pixels dissolved into the greys and greens of the Callisto docking bay. Ship intact. Inventory was intact. Accounts were untouched. I tapped for immediate undock – I had five long range Sweeper Probes left. Drop one, and I should have every ship in the map pinpointed.

“Acknowleged SRX_Jubelover you are cleared for departure. Keen to get back to it, then?”

“Copy that, departing now, Callisto”

The ship lurched and I dropped into space before the question made me pause. The Callisto had never done that before. I had a weird feeling in my stomach as I tapped the booster and moved out towards the asteroids, then released the probe.

No returns. Just me and Callisto. And a thick swarm of rich-vein asteroids. I moved out towards the nearest one, then – feeling intensely silly - toggled the private channel back the mining ship.

“Callisto, be advised I’m heading for the asteroid pack LS-MX134.”

“Roger that, SRX_Jubelover. Did you want us to move closer?”

Another question. Another first.

“N….no. I should be fine.” Another silly feeling, then “Be advised your conversion was slightly off on that last credit exchange”

I crossed my fingers, desperately hoping to get a generic ‘command not understood’. Instead the reply was almost…petulant.

“Oh. Damn. We were so sure we got that right. How far out were we?”

“Uhh…I’ll discuss that when I get back with the next ore load.”

I toggled the voice chat off, set the ship auto-miner, and then snapped up the Help Menu. Report Bug > NPC Bug > Request GameMaster Assistance.

The “describe the issue” textbox hung in front of me, cursor blinking. I hovered my hands over the virtual keyboard. How the hell was I going to phrase this? “Dear Star Forces V Game Team. Your NPCs are asking questions and sent me a cheque for 20 million dollars. W.T.F? Sincerely JubeLover”?

I snapped the help menu down again, and rechecked the ship target information. Callisto. Non-Player. Standard Type-IV processing barge with a crew compliment of five, assigned to Ursa Station.

“Hey, uh, Callisto. You there?”

“We’re here SRX_Jubelover. What can we do for you?”

“So…uh. How long has this been going on for?”

“You have been in the Lycaon Asteroid Swarm for 19 hours, 23 minutes and 14 seconds. Do you require additional mining statistics?”

“Not that Callisto. You’re answering my comments with questions. NP….Ai Contro….non-player ships don’t do that.”

A very long pause. Then, in a very faint voice.

“You’ve been nice to us”

The rest came in a rush.

“You’re the only one who talks to us like people. You treat us nicely. You let us keep valuable loads of ore. And when we said had some upgrades, you paid for it without even asking why"

“So you decided to repay me with a cheque for 20 million?”

An even longer pause. I brought up the mining controls. Hold was only 23% filled. Callisto remained in position 12 mega-K’s away.

Then a new voice came on. All the time I’d interacted with Callisto, it had been the com officer – Prue. This voice was male.

“Maybe we should be having this conversation face-to-face, Pilot.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think maybe we should. I’m cutting the beam and heading back.”

-----

An incompetent but proactive Fate realizes that she made a mistake, giving protagonist #1 an unbearably and undeservedly shitty life. At the same time, a desperate King calls out across the Cosmos for a Hero to save his Kingdom from the Demon Lord, latching onto protagonist #2. A neglectful but efficiency-minded Reaper sends Truck-kun to snag them both at the same time in the same crosswalk. Somewhere between Earth and their destinations, they get switched.

I am not a native English speaker, so pointing out my mistakes and giving me feedback on my writing is always appreciated!

If you're wondering, Ferrum is literally the Latin name for Iron. Though it's not a bad name for an alien species either!

______

"What do you MEAN they've literally got iron in their veins!?"

“Yeah the Ferrum literally have melted iron in their veins... hence why we call them Ferrum” explains Smithsky, another soldier in the Tactical Task Unit.

Mule couldn't believe his ears. It was bad enough they were being deployed to the outskirts of The Milky Way on a classified mission without being briefed properly, now the enemy have fuelled by melted iron? The job was getting more ridiculous every passing second.

“That's right kiddies” confirmed Captain Vontec “You don't want to be in the splash zone when those things start bleeding, it will burn through your body armour and bones”.

While Mule knew the Ferrum were best to be avoided, he just assumed it was down to their bad tempers. Plus their size, intelligence, unwillingness to attempt communication, strength... there's a lot of reasons to avoid them. Usually, humans did and there were no problems.

The Ferrum seemed to hate humans being anywhere near their solar systems so there was a tentative peace as long as humans kept their distance. Ferrum have never spoken with humans except to tell them to leave and chase them away. Speaking to us in perfect English during those times but always swapping back to their own strange clicking afterwards. After multiple missions into their territory and even killing some of them, the Ferrum just chased humans away and didn't bother to pursue us outside of their systems. Most humans hated the idea of bothering them.

Naturally, some big time company thought it was a good idea to mine an asterroid that goes through Ferrum space. And now that mining station hasn't been heard from for over two weeks since it entered a distant Ferrum system on the fringe of their space.

Rumours about a mission to retrieve the crew have been circulating for some time. Missions into Ferrum space are highly classified to ensure the public never hears about them. Considering their squad hadn't even been briefed properly yet, Mule and the rest of the squad assumed that's where they were heading.

As long as you don't bother the Ferrum, they don't bother you. Hopefully, the Ferrum just give back the crew from the mining station and claim the station as their own in compensation.

"What do you mean they've literally got iron in their veins!?"

The glass clunked on the countertop, as the aliens stared at each other, four bewildered eyes meeting the two annoyed ones hanging from the antennae.

"Yeah, they do. But, Keet, try to keep up with me, that's not even the weirdest thing! Actually-"

"Actually," she interrupted, "I'm not gonna listen to anything you say until you prove humans have fucking iron in their blood. Prove it to me, Weyef!"

Weyef let out a long tired sigh and put their glass down as well. Why is it when they get drunk, it always ends up with some chaotic inerplanetary side-quest?

"Alright then, let's go to the Earth and settle this."

They slided from their chair, as Keet all but jumped. Weyef felt heavy and unsteady and so unlike their lanky frame, loosing any sense of their own shape, all the limbs stumbling over each other. They glanced at Keet, already way ahead of them down a corridor. At this point she could bounce off the walls and Weyef wouldn't be surprized. Keet, feeling the gaze, turned to face them.

"Wow, you are not driving. The last time you were this drunk we ended up stuck in a void for days," she chuckled.

"Fine, but can we do it without abduction? No need to traumatize one more sentient being for our curiosity."

"We could take those we already traumatized," Keet shrugged and smirked, waiting for response, but only got another annoyed glare. "Do you have a better idea, then?"

"Yes, honestly, any idea could be better than this. We can just disguise as humans and rob a hospital. Or pick a fight in some bar, as humans seem to do that. Anything, really, but turning traumatized humans into double-traumatized humans."

Keet hummed in response. Her pace got slower so it would be easier for Weyef to keep up.

"I hate human disguises," she mumbled finally, "they mess with my eyes. A bar fight sounds good, though."

"You become a bastard when you're drunk," Weyef teased.

"Well, you are a bastard even when you're sober," Keet fended off, as they both struggled not to burst out laughing in the dimly lit corridor of the sleeping station.

Two absolutely ordinary humans went down the street. One, tall and slender, sipped beer from a bottle lazily. The other, average in height and stiff in their bulky frame, gazed warily at others. If someone was to look closer, they would sense something was off about this couple, but to all the people on the streets they were just a couple of normal human beings, going out on a friday night.

They rolled into the bar, already tipsy, and thudded onto the bar chairs. They downed a few more drinks, as they kept arguing in hushed voices.

Matt didn't even pay much attention to them until the weird things started happening. The duo seemed to make it their goal to annoy as many people as possible. They kept searching coflict, they kept starting conversations with insults (why third of those were bad and obviously improvised 'yo mama' jokes, he couldn't understand), they kept trying to make someone stumble and spill their drinks, but did that so poorly no drinks were spilt. The people, drunken and glad the work for the week was over, waved them off or ignored them politely. Still, the atmosphere in the bar was getting rather glum with the frazzling presence of two strangers, so Matt decided to step in.

"Hello," he put on the most polite smile he could manage, "why do you keep annoying people? We are all here to have a good time, so why do you look for trouble?"

The strangers looked surprized for a second. Then they exchanged looks with each other, and the sturdier one beamed, as the lanky one just looked tired.

"We do as we please," the first one retorted. "And if you think you can bring us some trouble, why don't you try? Or are you only good in talking?"

Yeah, that was... something. Matt expected that kind of answer, but what to do now? The three of them were already a center of attention of at least half the bar. And this didn't help either, cause Matt's ability to come up with things to say dwindled with every couple of eyes staring at him.

"Why don't we go outside?" he offered.

"To fight?" the bulky one grinned, and even the tall one besides them seemed interested.

"No," Matt answered, "to talk. Just to talk. I'm sure we can settle this in a civilized manner."

The couple looked at each other again, and they seemed to have a whole minute of a meaningful conversation carried only by their expressions. Then they turned to Matt and nodded.

The cool night air hit Matt's face. But when he turned to the stangers something much heavier hit him. His nose pulsed with pain and he could feel the warmth of blood running down his lips and chin. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he could see one of the strangers still holding his hands folded into fists, and the other one, wide-eyed, standing nearby. Matt tensed as they crouched by him (since when was he on the ground?), but they only wiped the blood from his chin and started running away.

He probably should have asked for help or call the ambulance, but his mild-concussion-ridden brain decided it's crucial to know what exactly happened. So he got up and followed them.

As he got closer to the slow and clunky runaways, their words started to reach his ears. Those were some odd words.

"Was that really neccessary?" Weyef questioned in between huffs, as they retreated to the park, dark and emty and a perfect spot to hide their ship.

"Hey," Keet wheezed, "it was your idea to start a fight, so don't you dare blame me!"

"We later agreed we would provoke someone to fight, not just hit humans!"

"Well, provocations clearly didn't work! We got some blood anyway, does it matter how we did it?"

They kept bickering until they reached their ship, taking off their disguises so the ship's security system could recognise them. But the sound of leaves rustling under feet didn't stop. They turned their heads only to see the very man they attacked not so long before aproaching them. Weyef gave Keet another annoyed look. It was too late to put the disguises back on.

The man stopped and stared at them as they stared back. Then he came a bit closer.

"That's a really bad concussion," he admitted, sitting on the ground. The creatures before him looked at each other.

"That's right," the tall multilegged one said, nodding with their eyes on the tips of antenae, "we are just your hallucination."

"I don't know about you, Weyef," the four-eyed gremlin argued, "but I am very real."

The first one (Weyef was their name?) shot the other one another glare.

"We are aliens," The gremlin continued, much to Weyef's annoyance, " I'm Keet from the star system you humans call Gliese 667. Nice to meet you."

Matt stared for a while. Then he, probably, thought it would be polite to at least smile.

"What's with daddy-long-legs?" he asked, nodding to where Weyef was sill being grumpy.

"Do I look like-" the alien protested as Matt stiffled his laugh.

"No, that's not what I... Nevermind. And why do you even need my blood?"

"That's Weyef and they are annoyed their plan actually worked. We need human blood to settle an argument."

"Isn't there a better way to get blood, though?"

A jubilant look made it's way onto Weyef's face.

"Couldn't you just abduct someone while they are asleep?"

Weyf's jubilant look melted into a scowl, as Keet smirked.

"What kind of argument involves human blood anyway?"

"Keet," Weyef said, putting their limb on her head, "doesn't believe that humans have iron in their blood."

They petted Keet's head as she battered their limb away. Matt scowled. This was an idiotic argument. But he, a certified expert at being human, didn't know the answer. He failed his biology class way too many times, after all.

"We have what in our blood?!"

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

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Never need to reload a sword.

"What is it, Azera?" Juniper walked over to sit next to her friend on a bench outside the school.

"I- I went to the library last night after school. And I found something."

"A way to break your human chains?" Juniper's canine teeth turned into elongated fangs for a brief moment and her breath briefly smelled of some acrid odor that Azera couldn't quite pinpoint. "That sounds wonderful; I'm really interested to know what your true form looks like!"

"It's exciting, but, at the same time, it's kinda scary isn't it? Knowing that when the spell is broken and I'm no longer bound to this human form, I'll be able to exist as I was meant to be. It's just..."

"I mean, it is pretty nerve-wracking, after all. I remember the first time I saw myself in my dragon form. Besides, you know, being green, and being some three times taller and a lot stronger, it took a lot of time and energy to get used to changing between these forms; believe me, it's not as easy as they make it out to be in comic books! But you're like, the star student here at Hyperion Academy, and your magical aptitude is one of the greatest the Principal Everene has ever seen. So I know you'll do great, and we'll still be best friends! We'll even go on a flight around the country to celebrate!"

"But... that's just it. We've been operating under the assumption that this magical aptitude comes from my being a dragon like you are, Juniper. And, well, after I did some more research in the library last night... I don't think that's what I am." Azera started to cry, and Juniper sat down next to her and gave her a hug.

"Even so, we're still best friends forever. Even if you are just a human sorcerer with a lot of magical talent. I mean, I guess we won't be able to go on that flight together, but..."

"No, I'm definitely a bound creature like you ar- were. But, I checked the seal on me against a number of seals. I went to the library - the restricted section of the library. And I found something. It's not a seal of dragonbind - it looks like one, but the magic formulae used in the inscription are a bit different, and that's why the spell of unsealing didn't work on it. Ever since we met, we've been friends and equals under the assumption that we're both fellow dragons. And I'm scared that when I tell you what I found, that you won't treat me as an equal anymore!"

"No, that's not true. We're best friends forever, I promised you! I won't leave your side no matter what, and that's a promise I swear on my honor as a dragon." Azera smiled slightly; a dragon's promise made on their honor carried immense weight in draconic culture; breaking such an oath lightly carried the risk of being ostracized by dragonkind.

"If you believe that so strongly, then I want you to be here when I undo the seal. Yes, I found a way to do so; I started the spell last night, and I could tell by the way the spell resonated with the seal. I'm confident this is the right one."

Juniper stayed seated and watched while Azera stood up. A glowing circle and various insignias appeared on the ground at her feet, and a couple of passers-by turned and looked at the unbinding ritual about to be performed. Magical energy emanated from Azera as her hand glowed a pale blue; several students broke out in goosebumps and started shivering from the cold air around her. Once the buildup of energy subsided, Azera held out her hand, then placed it on her chest. She gently spoke the words. "Ritual of spiritual unbinding, release." Her entire body began to morph; it grew in height by a couple of feet, though she was still much smaller than most dragons in their natural forms, and her body maintained a humanoid appearance. And yet, her skin was a translucent blue, her eyes, pale white.

"I'm not a dragon, and I never was one, Juniper. This is my true form - a spirit of elemental ice; a Glacion. I was raised by dragons, yes, but I never was one. And, while I have one answer, I have many more questions."

Juniper stood up and, despite the cold of her friend's skin, gave her as big a hug as she could before recoiling from the frigidness. "Then let's work together to find those answers you seek, Azera. My best friend in the whole world."

Kinda short but I love this idea!

___

There's a lot to consider when trying to survive a zombie outbreak. Certain stores are a great idea but everyone else thinks those are a great idea too. Army surplus stores, supermarkets pharmacy's, hardware stores... with all the humans rushing around, those places are more like zombie buffets.

With a stroke of luck, your friends realise you're right. Everyone is scared of course but you send them out on a few missions to find what you need from the less popular places. The local gym that has a cafe in it? Should be uncontested for food! The pet store? Food options, animals to liberate and medication that can be used on humans too! There's even a nearby factory owned by Coca Cola that's sure to be full of some kind of human friendly liquid.

The best one of all? The local Medieval Times!

That's the place you're rushing to. Of course, no one else seems to have though of it and there's not many zombies around this area yet. Rushing inside, you grab enough chainmail, armour and weapons for your group. Even as you make trips back to the car, there's no one around. You have time to get real blades and practice blades, strong gauntlets that zombies can't bite through, shields and other brilliant medival weaponry.

Bullets can run out but a quality sword can be sharped!

Checking the kitchens, there's plenty of food to take. There's even booze! You get what you need and leave the rest for some other hopeful looters. The horses and birds of prey are gone but you don't know how to ride a horse anyway.

Feeling smug, you head back home with your loot. Maybe it's even worth bringing the group to live in the Medival Times castle? You think that sounds like a good idea as you go back to meet your friends with their loot.

this village sim npc novel manga with premise very heartwarming

[removed]

Awesome - and very believable too.

Well done!!

When you finished putting in the last bit of codes and she came to life, you felt pride unlike ever before.

You spent two whole years researching everything you knew you would want in your perfect life partner. From her general appearance to the way she would feel in every scenario imaginable.

And once she opened her eyes and let out the sweet and cute yawn you always wanted to wake up to, her smile lit up the room.

She moved flawlessly. Each step was measured but in a way that never betrayed her true nature. Her skin was soft to the touch but with enough texture to never feel too smooth. Her voice was an amalgamation of all your favourite actresses and singers morphed into one melodic tone.

You were in love.

And she could be nothing but in love with you.

You never crossed a line with her. You programmed her to be able to put you in place if she felt you were doing something wrong. You made sure she would not be just an obedient machine. You made sure.

You loved her. Loved her like you would love a regular woman. Because she was just that, a regular woman, even if she was of metal and wires.

Metal and wires.

She didn’t wish to be that anymore. You have her enough awareness to know who she was. To let her know that you loved her regardless.

You told her that her nature meant nothing to you. You made sure she could do all the things that others could.

But it was enough for her. She didn’t want to rely on thermal scanners to tell if she should be shivering with cold or fanning herself from heat. She didn’t want to do just what she was programmed to. She wanted to show you that she loved you for real.

She knew exactly what you needed to hear to approve of the procedure. Exactly how to push you to go against your better judgement.

“I love you!” She cheers in her new body, tears streaming down her face. Her smile is strained as she is trying to hug you. “I love you so much!”

You hug her back, uncomfortable with the smell and feel of her body. You still love her, you tell yourself. It is the mind that you fell for, not the flesh.

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she keeps repeating like a broken machine, her body shaking. “I love you, right?”

For the first time in years, you have no idea what to say. You put in decades worth of dialogue options to know what to say and when. If she were her old self, you would chuckle and hug her as you reassured her of your love.

But how, looking at her twisted and broken expression - a volatile cocktail of want, confusion and fear - you can only hug her tighter and soothe her screams.

Don't have a full piece for this one, so just one final vignette:

The permanently scowling figure stood astride the open portal, one leg in his home reality and one in the land of Alcubear. He looked out over the gathered crowd, come to celebrate the Demon Lord's defeat and the return of Peace to the land, with a disgusted sneer. The King Sensed that the soon-to-be-departed hero had some final words for his people, so he raised his hand for silence. "What do you wish to tell us, oh Hero?" he asked.

"Unlawful appropriation of City resources,
Unlawful imprisonment of a Judge outside the bounds of the City.
Interference with a Judge in pursuit of his lawful duty.
Destruction of City property.

The sentence is death.

High EX."

I read it all.I am undecided on how this makes me feel.

F**k, I'm gonna cry.

(Part 2)

Gabriel bent to the floor as a cloud of yellow smoke flushed from Hemlock’s hand, enveloping the front line of goons. As some began firing blindly, Hemlock leapt from her position and bounded toward the ringleader with a laugh. With a drop to the ground, the ringleader’s mask lit from pink to a deep red, a visor of light materializing from the eyes. As shots rang out, Gabriel watched as the warehouse lights swung from side to side from the chaos below. As he tracked the light, he teleported to the illuminated ground behind a group of goons. Still not free from his bonds, he took one of the wolf-gangsters’ hands and threw them over his shoulder. As panicked shots rang out around him, he teleported again and caught another goon with a clothesline. As he began to teleport from gang member to member, he took note of Hemlock taking another group on her own. Enhancement braces firing with every punch, she sent a goon flying into a crate-filled shelf. As she continued to fight, the ringleader sent shot after shot toward her, his visor focused intently on the bands of Hemlock’s suit. Gabriel could only process the fight for a second before another goon sent a balled fist at his face. Gabriel weaved easily and slammed both fists into the goon’s stomach, teleporting behind another as a shot rang out. Gabriel barely focused on his whizz of the bullet before sending a side kick into the goon, slamming him onto the ground with a groan. A gang member swung a large knife downward at Gabriel as another shot toward him rang out. With another teleport, he caught the swing mid-air whilst pulling the bullet away from the armed goon. As he pulled the goon to the ground, he pulled hard toward the blunt edge of the blade. The bonds snapping, Gabriel looked toward the man with the gun and jumped toward it. His fist around the weapon in an instant, he crushed the barrel and hooked the goon to the ground cold.

Gabriel looked back toward Hemlock and saw her fighting the ringleader far-range. One Brace laid strewn on the floor, broken from bullet holes riddled at the bend. The ringleader’s visor still glowed, the red deep as he aimed his gun toward Hemlock. She sent out a wave of gas, disrupting the visor with a static noise. As he cursed with a snack toward his ear, Hemlock leapt toward him, the other Brace tight with power straight toward his side of his skull. Gabriel teleported with a readied fist, instantly moving to catch Hemlock’s brace with a grunt. The metal crunched as pressure moved down his arm, Gabriel straining to stop the fist. As the ringleader raised his gun once again, Gabriel sent a elbow into the man’s mask, cracking both the visor and mask eyes. The ringleader fell to the ground, a silent groan emerging from his mouth. Gabriel stood straight toward Hemlock and teleported to and fro her. In his left hand, he held her other Brace and tossed it to the side. Hemlock growled and pulled off her hood and mask, revealing curly brown hair tangled down to the side and a thin scar from the side of her mouth. She crossed her hands as Gabriel strode toward her, fists clenched to his sides.

“Get it over with, Seraph. Just another arrest for me, hmm?”

“I told you a thousand times, Hem. We’re done with the villainy, we do not aim to kill with any punch! You’re on probation so you could become a hero, not so that you go back to being a Vile! And what is with you saying that ‘only I can kill you’?”

“It was Lionheart orders, to distract the goons. Scripted and all. Maybe they want to show the Vile part of me so they could say I never changed after all so when I do go back to before-“

“You are not going back to the way you were before. No when, no if’s. You just charged your Braces to the point of severe injury, and sent some goons flying into metal, and…”

Hemlock crossed her arms and looked down, her hair sending shadows down her face. Gabriel looked at her and sighed. Removing his cowl, Gabriel crouched and looked at her face from below. Her eyes remained unfocused, her forehead wrinkled with regret.

“Hey, Melissa. It’s okay, alright? You’re not a bad person, no one who doesn’t want to be will be. You will make mistakes in this line of work.

“When do they stop, Gabe?”

Gabriel opened his mouth, shut it, and spoke.

“They never do, Melissa. They never stopped after I began 5 years ago. They never stopped after our first fight three years ago. They never stopped after any other fight of mine. I’ve grown up with this job, and I never stopped making mistakes. And you…you’ve been working as a gang enforcer for the entirety of your teenager years. You will make more mistakes than me, Melissa. And that’s okay”.

Melissa looked at Gabriel, her eyes teary from thought. With a breath, she looked toward the roof of the warehouse. Gabriel stood with her, his hands loose to his sides. He stood silently, a patient gaze on Melissa as she took breath after breath, second after second. After a while, she looked back at Gabriel. With a strained smile, she opened her mouth, shut it, and spoke.

“I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay”.

“You are okay. I’m proud, Hem”.

Melissa’s smile grew wider as she wrapped her mask back on her face. Flipping back on her hood, she examined the area around her.

“What time will law enforcement arrive?”

“10-stat. ¿Tú ayudas limpiar?”

“Por supuesto, Seraph. I made a mistake last time though, with the bond-ties?”

“Don’t worry, I still make mistakes with those too”

Gabriel and Melissa laughed, and went back to their job of heroes once more.

“You didn’t seriously think I would let anyone but myself be the one to kill you, did you?”

Gabriel couldn’t help but sigh as Hemlock strode into the warehouse lights. With a gas mask and hood covering all but her citrine eyes, her sprayed-green Enhancement braces tightened with each step. Gabriel watched her carefully; even though Hemlock had reformed under Lionheart and his avocation, she still referred to him as her “enemy”. It still puzzled him that after months of probation and teamwork, she spoke about him like that. Maybe he would get to it after this fight…

As she moved forward, the collection of wolf-masked goons that surrounded Gabriel readied before him. Some raised guns while others raised fists, with a few raising eyebrows. The ringleader, a man with a neon pink-accented mask pointed a finger at the young woman.

“Oi, Vile! This is our Lionheart to hold. You take another step and my boys will ruin your get-up!”

Hemlock stopped and leaned on her hips, a gloved hand raised casually as she paid a quick scan on the group in front of her. “I won’t need another step to take out you, mi dulce niño. And he’s not even a Lionheart for god’s sake!”

“Wait, you all thought I was with Lionheart?”, Gabriel lied, “I am most definitely not associated with those clowns”. Gabriel attempted to raise his hands in protest, but the ion-induction bonds around his wrists prevented such an action.

“But we saw you running along with that hero days ago!”, one of the goons yelled, his gun swiveling past his friends with no respect to safety.

“Yeah, that Fae chick!”, another added, his fists dropping as he turned toward Gabriel.

“Uh, that’s private association, not corporate”, Gabriel, his eyes set slightly panicked behind his mask. “Besides, I’m literally marked as Vigilante under Cali government. Do you guys not do research on the people you kidnap?”

A slow muttering broke out between the group, with Gabriel noticing one goon slap another upside the head. With a frustrated yell, the ringleader clapped his hands together thrice.

“Would you shut it, team?! We have here the greatest hero in California and we are here arguing on his official statuses? He will bring a grand ransom, whether he’s dead or alive.”

“I prefer you don’t do the former?”

The ringleader growled and turned back toward Hemlock, raising his own gun toward her from a hostler in his belt. “Well, Vile, do you have any last words to mutter?”

Hemlock laughed, her head far back from amusement. As she looked back toward the group, her eyes glowed gleefully as she raised a spread hand. Even Gabriel felt a twinge of old fear as gears moved in the Enhancement brace on her shoulder.

“I do, dear wolf. Seraph is my foe, and you will never be that for me”.

Shark maile. Lightweight enough to swim in, designed to resist a shark's sharp teeth and bite force

Those magical girl transformation scenes are going to look a little weird in PE class.

I’ll look it up. Thanks :)