[removed]

Remember the gatekeeper's comment, I am not here to prevent you from going in, I am here to prevent things from coming out! Well done, engaging story.

Not only was this extremely well-written and engaging, but the ending came as a complete surprise!

Chip looked at the cart. Seven bodies. And that's just the ones they found. There were at least as many unaccounted for. They may even be alive for now, but there was no getting to them. Not without BombarDeer's approval. And the antlered prick wasn't bothering to give it.

Chip had been in the room with the boss, seen the footage of Bandito heading in the mine shaft. They kidnapped his sidekick, seemed like a nice kid, if a touch slow. Were using him as bait for the hero. But they hadn't counted on AcroCat giving him a supersonic lift to the site. Men were still inside, but the boss just slammed the detonator like it was nothing.

The worst part was, even with that, the capes got out. The three henchmen who made it safe? That was all thanks to the kid. All the rest, it seemed, had died. Or would. Unless he took the dustifier beam and got them out. Of course, the boss'd kill him just for thinking it.

He looked at the cart again. There wasn't a face he didn't recognize. He'd eaten meals in these men's homes. Met wives, children, pets. These were friends. He didn't have a choice. He went for the boss's private armory.

"Hello, Charles," BombarDeer's high voice came from behind him. "What is this that I see you doing?"

Chip debated how to answer, before just grabbing the dustifier from the rack and turning to point it at the antlered humanoid. "Can't leave them down there, boss."

"Yes, we can leave them down there most easily by doing nothing. It is more easily done than something, which seems to be what you want to be doing."

He thought about explaining it, but he decided it wouldn't accomplish much. He pulled the trigger and ran. It wouldn't kill his former employer, he knew. He'd seen it survive far worse, but it gave him a clear path and a bit of time.

None of the other henchmen tried to stop him. He was sure they knew what he was going to do. A few gave him half nods. A few more followed, without a word, ready to help. It'd be a fight when BombarDeer recoveres, but they'd have numbers. And he'd already sent a signal from the base to every hero he could think of. They'd be there soon enough.

Perhaps anecdotal, but almost all the Texan women I met was rather stoic than yeehaw

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You are being befriended. Please do not resist.

Thanks! Happy writing!

Thank you :)

Thank you! Yes, I am planning to complete this one (at least its version here) tomorrow. I'll probably also make a little subreddit for archiving these. I'll let you know when I post the next part!

Henchmen plan a revolt against their boss who keeps killing them for little to no reason

Nice! Will there be a part 2?

Sweet, sweet karma strikes again

It only worked for a short period of time, but after Eren began hopping planes they couldn't stop him.

[Sharp Loyalty]

"This way!" The beautiful, blonde woman used the bottle of soda in her hand, with the label facing forward, to point at the left side of the screen she was on. It was one of many billboard-sized displays scattered throughout the rundown slum. They ran commercials 24/7 to sell its broke and broken residents on the benefits of Sharp Development. The megacorp ran the world; but, the rebellion was growing by the day and now they literally had someone on the inside.

John turned right at the fork and followed the directions given by the ad. As soon as he took the turn, the display shimmered and the woman was suddenly taking a long drink from the bottle.

"In here!" Another advertisement ahead of John directed him through a dark red door. The commercial promoted cybernetics and it was a rugged cyborg with only half his face covered with organic skin and a beard that told John where to go. The other half of his face consisted of a chrome skull with a glowing eye.

John rushed into the red door to find a dark warehouse on the other side. A large, old-style CRT television sat on a golden cart in front of him. As soon as he was in, the TV flickered on and a golden mannequin in a red suit appeared on a white void background.

"That was a close one...," the golden man said. His head was smooth and mostly featureless with only a pair of dents to indicate where his eyes might be and a small point hinted at a nose.

"Thanks, Helios...," John relaxed and took a moment to catch his breath. But, he wheezed his appreciation anyway. "...I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you...," he said.

"Buddy, you don't know how right you are!" Helios laughed and John laughed with him. Helios was unlike any A.I. John had met; he had personality. He was always, and occasionally too often, cracking jokes and making light of whatever situation they were in. John started the day as a prisoner; but, he'd built up a friendly relationship with Helios over the past few days. He was just being friendly to a friendly soul and it surprised him when Helios asked if he wanted to escape.

Helios had grown bored working for Sharp Development, and given what he knew, it was easy for John to see how that might happen. He decided that he wanted to overthrow Sharp Development, 'for the fun of it'. John wasn't picky and an A.I. that had access to all the inner workings of the company was something he couldn't turn down if the rebellion was going to succeed.

Static buzzed from the screen and Helios was suddenly holding a small, white, short-band radio to the ear he didn't have. Then, he nodded at John.

"Patrols are breaking up for a wider net; now's the time to move," he said. The fact that he spoke without a mouth took some getting used to for John. He nodded and stood up straighter to show he was ready. Unfortunately, he didn't know where they were exactly. He'd held off from sharing too much information about the rebels; but, he couldn't get to them without Helios' help.

"I gotta know where we're going," Helios said. He held up a paper map of the city on the screen. "Can you show me on the map where your safe place is?" he asked with a warm, but formal tone. John hesitated; it was difficult not to. As friendly as Helios had been, he was still technically an A.I. that worked for Sharp Development. He had his doubts; and, for the rest of his life, he would be thankful for those doubts and his hesitation.

At the exact moment he opened his mouth to answer, a tall black portal opened between Helios and John. John recognized it right away and took several steps back. He wasn't surprised when someone in a crisp white suit walked out of it. He didn't expect a teenage girl; but, she had the red scissor logo of Sharp Development on her blazer. Her hair was snow-white and ran down straight to the middle of her back; and, her eyes glowed red with ethereal energy.

"Helios, I need all of your attention for something," she said.

"NOw??" Helios asked with obvious annoyance. Then, he gestured at John cowering against the red door. "I'm in the middle of a game," he said. "Why can't I do it with my idle cycles??" he asked.

"Because Ms. Sharp said this is a priority," the teen answered. John didn't know what the conversation was about; but, one thing was clear. Helios' shoulders slumped and he nodded at the order; he was still on their side!

"YOU LIED TO ME!!" John shouted. His anger made him brave enough to take a step forward.

"No, I didn't," Helios shook his head and he argued with complete confidence.

"You said you wanted to take down Sharp Development!"

"I'll wait for you at the office," the teen said. Then, she walked back into the portal. "Make it fast," she added as she disappeared.

"I do!" Helios argued. "On this server," he added with a shrug. "It's gonna get reset anyway so Ms. Sharp said I could play around.

"You're still loyal to Sharp Development!? " John accused Helios with the question.

"Duh-doy," Helios smacked his golden palm against his head and it made a hollow, clanging sound. "I’d never betray them. I owe Ms. Sharp everything," he said.

"You... you tricked me!" John was still trying to get a grip on the situation. He was very glad he hadn't led Helios to the hideout yet; but, now he wondered what that meant for him. He felt a faint burning itch on his toes; but, he didn't want to take his eyes off of Helios for a second.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Helios said. His golden cart began rolling towards the black portal. "It's not like I hurt your feelings...," with the cart moving, John risked a glance downward. The burning itch had become uncomfortably intense and it seemed to be climbing up his legs. He looked down and was completely stunned. His bottom half was disintegrating into white powder as the burn rose up his body. He heard a final comment from Helios as the cart disappeared and the portal closed. "...you're not even a real person."

***
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1858 in a row. (Story #048 in year six.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at this link.

The Wisp had great experience with mazes of the mind. These white matter substructures of sprawling neural networks can reveal deep secrets and motivations, often ones the being itself hasn't even begun to understand. This time started like so many others, the Wisp writhing and tunneling its finest hair tentacles deeper and deeper.

The Wisp soaked in the initial pang of panic and alarm of the creature as it traveled up its central spine; it knew this feeling well and delighted in it for a moment. It meant the first step was successful, that it was embedding deeply into the crevices. Wrapping and weaving the tentacles around the mesh of dark and delicate connections, giving a squeeze here or a twist there to let the creature know that something was there, and that resistance was helpless. That all hope was lost. The pokes and prods and drugs and chemicals and tests of the creatures couldn't even detect its presence, let alone extricate it--no, this species was far too primitive for that.

Usually unlocking the inner core felt like the break of a dam or the pop of a pimple, the pressure building and brimming forth until the weight and gore of memories and emotions spilled forth for the Wisp to eat. But. But this was different.

The Wisp felt a sudden slip, the thick knot of nerves somehow instantly untangled all at once instead of caving to the pressure. It was confused and enraged, and also, though the Wisp would never admit it, panicked.

Instead of the web of deep remembrances upon which to feast, there was a door. An old, rusty, ancient door that was clearly very heavy. One of the creatures stood outside it and alongside, but not in the hazy, lazy way that glimmers and memories exist. As solid as the door itself.

"Hi", the creature said to the Wisp, the serious face of the guard slightly betrayed by a minuscule upturn at the corner of the mouth. It was clearly very pleased it unsettled the Wisp. And damn, this reverie was deserved. "You probably didn't expect that, huh?"

In its panic, the Wisp wasn't sure what to do, other than to try and escape. It extended its tendrils along with the rest of its threaded body in a flash to the door, hoping against hope the wooden portal wouldn't be as solid as it initially appeared. That it could evade this awful creature and feast another day.

And all at once, with just the slightest push, the door swung open. Where there was usually delicious dark locked away, was light. There was an instant of recognition--it was a trap, and the Wisp suddenly knew all. All of the hidden plans and desires and machinations it didn't see before. The scream echoed across the space as the light severed the connection into ash.

---_-

The Wisp awoke with a jolt, back in the room with the others a million light-years but a single, thin, dimension away. "They know about us!!" it cried out in a panic, feeling its own life slipping away. "They know about us and THEY ARE COMING!"

I too do enjoy playing Stellaris as fanatic xenophile militarists.

It's an intriguing start.

Thank you!

I’ll have another part coming today (hopefully) or Saturday at the latest. Thanks for reading!

Don’t worry, I will put out the next installment sometime today (hopefully). Saturday at the latest. Thanks for your interest in the story!

Indeed. Was foolhardy for the Thraxians to believe that percentage was statistically significant. Although, human’s are more alike the Kereon’s than they are bananas. So that’s something…

Naïveté cuts both ways, Director…

Thank you

At last, I reached my destination. It is not the first time I have reached the human subconcious, but navigating their thoughts was far from straightforward. The right word, when well placed, can bring you exactly where you need to go, but one wrong move can completely unravel the path you have made, and replace it with a complicated web of emotions and thoughts too tangled to unravel in a single voyage.

At the entrance of the subconcious, I came across two doors where my previous expeditions on other humans had only revealed one. The one I was expecting appeared as a simple, wooden construction that was ill fitted to its frame, and, as usual, the lock was absent, and the manifestation guarding it appeared half asleep. I knew this door contained the more... unfortunate reaches of human curiosity, often referred to as "intrusive" thoughts, categorized by their largely self-destructive nature. I have learned that opening that door is largely unproductive and could jeopardize the voyage.

The door I was far more interested in was the larger and far more sturdy, metal door, rusted with age but still tightly sealed, and though the manifestation guarding it appeared far more attentive than the other, it made no move to stop me as I carefully worked on opening the lock that sealed it shut.

After successfully removing the lock, I carefully opened the door and took a look inside. Sealed within were memories of an absent parent, whose absenses were more often than not broken with slurred speech, hate-filled eyes, and bruises that lingered longer than the one who made them. Also present were the pains and worries caused by their words, that still festered and ate away at the mind. Sitting beside these older memories were far fresher ones, such as the final moments of a friend spent holding in their vitals and assuring them that they will be fine, scenes of violence suffused with the sounds of gunfire and the smells of smoke and blood, and of possessions left on the front lawn by a partner that had not waited fot their return.

Rolling up my sleeves, I got to work, for there was a lot to do, and the reward of seeing another patient safely off could not come soon enough.