Hi! I am Ava-PROTO-01, and I was the first human successfully grown in an artificial womb.

The interesting thing is that I wasn't meant to be a success. At least, nobody involved thought the far-fetched experiment conducted by two brilliant but eccentric, middle aged scientists would actually work. Had Blaine and William been honest with themselves, not even they expected the wild idea to turn out so astonishingly fortunate.

Nineteen years ago, at a finely set breakfast table, two definitely handsome gentlemen sat down to enjoy their rather delicious-looking meal.

William smiled at Blaine as his knife slipped through the buttery meat.

"You never seize to amaze me, my love." he complimented genuinely. Blaine winked.

"I know!" he teased, before his sparkling eyes darkened to a deep, somber galaxy blue. "You seem a little depressed, dear." he placed his hand on William's.

William avoided his husband's sharp, inspecting stare.

"You and I both know it's not going to happen, Blaine." he sighed.

Blaine didn't answer immediately. Between him and William, he was always the most optimistic, but not even he could deny the very obvious fact.

"Will, perhaps she won't mind!" he said, nevertheless. William couldn't suppress a smile.

"Love, you don't sound remotely hopeful."

Blaine laughed as he took William's plate, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm not. But perhaps last time's faith will reward today!" he joked, and William chuckled. At least Blaine will never fail to bring an atmosphere of cheer and spirit into this half dead mansion, even if they remain childless.

Later that day, both men looked up, quite startled at the sudden knock.

"Now whoever could that be? It is Sunday, for GOODNESS sake!" William blurted. Blaine burst out laughing.

"You simpleton! It's Tuesday, and that would be Dorothy." he said, amused. William looked confused. "Dorothy Seams, our possible surrogate." Blaine clarified, and William blushed a little, laughing.

They opened the door to quite a sight. Dorothy Seams stepped inside without invitation, looking around. Her cruel, amber eyes darted over the couple.

"Where is Mr. and Mrs. Lovett?" she inquired in a harsh tone.

Blaine and William glanced at one another. Is this the right Dorothy Seams? For if it is...

"I am Mr. William Lovett, and this is my dear husband, Blaine Lovett." he said, and Blaine gave a little wave.

The woman frowned, confused.

"What?"

Neither Blaine nor William were quite inclined to explain. Why should they have?

Then, something seemed to puzzle together in the mind of this unexpected creature of a woman.

"You're fucking gay!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"You're fucking rude!" Blaine said, imitating her screech.

William smiled at the woman.

"Both you and Blaine happens to be correct. And it seems neither you nor us are very inclined to further a discussion. Thank you for your time, Miss Seams."

When the woman leaves, the two stand in the doorway clutching one another with laughter. Wiping their tears, Blaine's eyes meet those of William.

"Dear, I may have an idea..."

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Comment/vote if you want a Part 2 and don't forget to drop your thoughts over there too!

Me too please!

I think that is the point. They can sense the difference between a "good" bacteria and stuff like viruses, maybe because of their life force/soul. The story also said that he searched for the ones that weren't meant to be there, so maybe they have advanced sciences. The wizard had just discovered immortality at the end, which is how they would turn the tide of the war.

Athena is the daughter if a world renowned hero, yet she feels she can never seem to fill her shoes.

The dragon, clad in pajamas, rubbed sleepily at their eyes.

[removed]

Thank you so much! I'm currently working on the other prompts, hope there's something else you'll like!

"Right, settle down you buggers," the man yelled as he walked into the busy classroom. "My name is John Constantine and because someone cheats at cards," he groaned and frowned in the general direction of the principal's office, "I'm here to teach you how to defend against dark magic today."

The class exchanged slightly confused looks; the man wore a beige trenchcoat, a loose tie, dirtied trousers... he looked less like a teacher and more like a used car salesman at a bar.

"Sir," one of the boys near the front carefully said, "are- are you our teacher? I thought that teachers all wear black robes."

Constantine glared at the kid briefly, but then his face shifted into a smirk.

"Right you are, lad. Seem to have forgotten mine at the stables. Do us a favour, and, go fetch it for us, ey?" he said.

"But- sir, that's the other side of the school," the boy protested. "It's a 20-minute run!"

"Then you best get going, right?" Constantine chuckled. The kid sighed and defeatedly left the classroom.

"Roight!" Constantine yelled and clasped his hands. "What's the last thing you lot learned here?"

"Page 54, sir," a young woman near him said and offered him her textbook. He took it and started turning its pages.

"Ineffective... outdated... last one I saw someone try this one they lost two fingers!" he said and grinned at the class. They did not share his exuberance. He threw the book back to the girl.

"Bleedin' hell. No wonder this school loses a student almost every year," he murmured to himself. "'Aight, listen up you lot. I ain't gonna teach you how to defend against dark magic. I'm gonna teach you how to royally fuck up whoever's trying to hex you, sound good?"

The class responded in a mixed manner - some students lit up excitedly, some grew worried. Constantine reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes, lighting one and taking a long puff.

"Good," Constantine said contently. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order - I heard it's a 'good teaching technique'. How many of you have summoned a demon before?"

I'm kinda Ok with reposts here since new stories are written.

She closed her eyes and felt wind press the fabric against her back.

It’s the Big Bad Evil Guy. I believe it comes from tabletop gaming. It refers to the big overarching villain of the story.

Just put it up. Probably character assassination mostly, since I write these at 10pm.

Alright, here's a part 2. It's probably veritable character assassination. I'm still a little too stupid for Reddit formatting

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“Terrance, just this once listen to me. Grab the rotten goat from the fridge!” The fiend revealed his claws and lunged at me. I narrowly sidestepped, pinned between him in the foyer and the cascading rays of light in the living room.

“Stanislaus! Now is not the time for your weird goat habits. I threw it out this morning! This wouldn’t be a problem if I had my lucky stakes, but someone decided to clean up for once in their lives.” Facing unfathomable torment at the hands of an archdevil and he still wanted his stakes, the nerve!

“Terrance, how many times have I told you-“ Lewis began to cackle uncontrollably and the shadows seemed to coalesce around him. That couldn’t be good. “The goat was to protect the house from him. His kind hates the smell!” Lewis fashioned a crude lance from the shadows and threw it at Terrance. He rolled, and it went clean through the couch and the drywall behind it.

“You never mentioned that, Stanislaus! That’s why I had my lucky stakes! They were blessed to protect the home from him!” Lewis swiped again, grazing my side. A sickly black liquid emerged from the wound.

“Terrance, the blinds!” Mercifully he pulled down the blinds. A quick flight as a bat and I was beside him. “You knew he was an archfiend, and you thought the goat was for personal use? What idiot signs a contract with an archfiend without knowing about their aversion to goats?”

He suddenly grinned the most ridiculous grin. “Why Stanislaus, what idiot signs a contract with an archfiend and cannot recognize protective wards?” Lewis roared, calling the shadows to him once more.

“Is the goat in the trash chute?” He nodded. “Why I oughtta” I wrestled him into a headlock. “Choose now. Me or him?”

“Him.” I released him, as the shadows formed a greataxe, and the fiend charged us.

“It’s garbage day, I can’t reach the dumpster. You need to recover the goat, just grab the liver!” The axe crashed down and the couch was riven in two, as the axe returned to shadow.

“Stanislaus you’ll have to distract him. I know what we agreed, but take this. It’s for someone more nimble and skilled than you, but it will do.” He took out a concealed sword from one of the halves of the couch, tossing it to me. I took the duelist’s stance I had mastered so long ago as Terrance ran to the door.

“Say, I don’t think the renter’s insurance will cover that. “ I thrust the sword where one might expect a heart, precise and swift, but the shadows moved to meet my blade. I looked down at it in my hand. A symbol of a ram carved into the hilt with the name Ardor’s Bane. “Terrance! You have Ardor’s Bane? It ended my brother!” That demon shrugged as he dove into the chute. Mr. Lewis thrust, I parried, dodged and countered with a thrust of my own. This time, I disarmed him and pierced his chest. He laughed, and black particles spewing from his chest. I kicked him in the knee. Once. Twice. He buckled. I twisted the sword. The blessing in the sword began to resonate, an iridescence covering the edge. He continued to cackle. He fell back, into the sliver of sun that the spear had created when it pierced the wall. As the wound was exposed it began to burn and flake.

Terrence threw the door open. The living room was demolished, black marks covering the walls and a thin layer of black particles hanging in the room. The remains of the liver covered his hands in a sickly ooze. As he took sight of me standing over the demon, his eyes widened. “Stanislaus. I had thought he would have done my job for me.”

“I’m not that easy to get rid of. You actually got the liver. Apply it to the wound quickly.”

As the liver made contact with the wound, the archfiend roared, a roar of unmitigated fear, the fears of nightmares themselves. Surely louder than any tussle I had with Terrance.

“I think I’ve underestimated you Stanislaus. Are there any other rotting animals of import that I need to know about?”

“There’s some walrus flippers in the freezer, but they should last quite a while.”

“Very well. I think we might get a deal on the apartment if we buy it outright.” He paused, and studied me, still breathing heavily. “Stanislaus, I’ve never asked, what is it that you actually do each night?”

“Get the stakes out of the house and I’ll show you tonight.”

[removed]

Its amazing! Please tell me again tommorow when you continue!

Wow! That ending blew my mind. Loved it.

A place between places, a rest stop of sorts. That's my birthplace, a place where few end up and even less stay. I have to stay, because this is my home. The only people I've ever talked to have been travelers in the midst of true directionlessness. The first person I met, I was but a boy and it was a man with empty eyes. He talked about how nostalgic the place was, which made no sense because I knew he had never been there before. He talked and talked to me, without knowing who or what I was. He eventually found an exit, and offered to take me with him but I lied and told him I was waiting for someone. He left with a sad smile on his face, and the air rippled around him, that was the last I saw of that man.

The place I knew to be home was a surreal place, with a large tree in the middle and nothing beyond the horizon. That's how it looked to me, an ever-changing tree that never stayed the same for more than a day. I knew that the place was special though I never left it, and that's because I started to grow rapidly after a long time. When this happened, my home started talking to me, communicating with me through my thoughts. It showed me things beyond the place and true destinations. When people came and spoke to me, they always brought up how peaceful and nostalgic the place was. My home showed me how it would appear to them, and it was always a pleasant experience. These people who didn't know where to go, were shown a place where they started and a place they could go. As for me, this place has never changed, only ever showing its true appearance because there is no place I miss or wish to go.

I learned how to change the appearance of the place as I wished, and this allowed me to bring peace to people a bit more. Meeting people was important to me, but one day I grew curious and decided to go to the horizon. I walked towards the horizon and stepped to the edge. I saw nothing but felt a warmth coming from the nothing. This empty place was home to me and that's how it would be. I walked back to my home and laid on the tree, resting my head against the bark. I would be a guide for the truly lost and this place will guide me as I do it.

Day 0: The tome finally showed up today. It was found in a mass grave, just outside of what is now Rome, preserved perfectly. Archeologists thought it was a early Christian religious text at first, but more careful consideration revealed some peculiar details: proto-Germanic text hundreds of miles from that region. They've sent it to us for some analysis. First up, carbon dating!

Day 25: The (first) dating finished up last week and the whole lab was shocked. It was at least 500 years older than it should've been. Paper isn't supposed to hold up for that long, nothing traveled that far back in those days without a record, and the dialect is somehow subtly wrong. We're running it again and the linguistics team is doing a retranslation. Oh yeah, we've got a linguistics team now. The university got funding from an anonymous donor, explicitly for this project. Weird part is, we haven't publicized anything about it yet. Still, gift horse, mouth, and all that jazz.

Day 70: More money, more team members, more shocking discoveries. Carbon dating reconfirmed that weird date and somebody found a reference to a similar book in some nearly forgotten archive. Didn't say what it was, but we've got one confirmed sighting at the right time, so that's good news. Linguistics team is having a blast. Apparently it's not proto-Germanic, but some new language that predates it. Similar enough at first glance, but the original read as a religious text seems wrong now. It does reference biblical concepts quite often however. Lots on Lucifer and the devil. Newest team is a few materials scientists. Apparently, it's not printed on paper. Some kind of animal skin.

Day 107: We're getting shut down soon. Lots of 3 letters and men in black started becoming very interested in what we were doing, and now everything will be gone soon. It doesn't make any sense! The book was just some grimoire filled with gibberish rituals and "spells". Why would the government care? They've got enough demons without summoning more. They can't even legally keep it. Mats team got some results and it's a piece of anthropodermic bibliopegy: human skin bound books. We were supposed to send it back to Italy, since it's a "cultural artifact" now, but we just needed a few more days to finish translating. They should be receiving a fake any day now. They don't deserve it. It's ours to study.

Day 234: All the data's been stolen from me. They swept the lab, top to bottom, then took the server racks whole. They didn't search quite well enough. I made another copy. I let them have it, but I've got the book. It's mine. They can't take it from me. It was translated just before we got disbanded. All the other professors got transferred. Supposedly at new universities, but I know the truth. They betrayed me. They tried to take the book away. They can't do that. It's mine. They tried to steal my book and go work on it themselves. They failed. I've got the rituals here. Fascinating, really. Chemical reagents centuries ahead of their time, impossible processes for back then. And death. Now we know why it was found in a mass grave. Whoever had it before me tried to use it and failed. I won't. I'm better. I can get everything I need on Amazon. Gun cotton, quicksilver, aluminum, even lives. I'll use bacteria. There's thousands in a single colony. I can summon him a hundred times over. I've got it all prepared. Set the ritual, sacrifice the lives, and fulfill my purpose. It needs to be done. It has to. I need to.

• Selected research notes of Simon King. Extracted from destroyed residence after large explosion by Project Mephistopheles.

I had an idea for a Blair witch project type story. Not as strictly based on the prompt, but I liked the idea of a mysterious artifact being found and a researcher slowly being corrupted by it.

Seems legit.

She asked for a new start, a life better than what she'd fled- even if it cost all her past life's memories.

As soon as they turned and started staggering away,Jenny drew her gun and shot them dead on sight.

"They won't be able to track you any longer,which will make it easier to bury you."

What do you think? It just rolled into my mind 😂

I was the first human successfully grown in an artificial womb.

Taylor Fields. At 28, there is little in life that she has not yet accomplished. With her conformed beauty, brilliant mind for business affairs, and nimble touch for any sport, nearly all came easy to her, including first place at every beauty pageant she competed in, ownership of countless prestigious companies, and a wall dedicated solely to her glistening gold medals and polished aurulent trophies, all placed by her own hand, in her meticulously precise personal fashion.

Besides all these accolades, Taylor had a real lucky tap to everything she set her mind to, whether it was baking or science.

However. One skill, one almost essential for living, Taylor lacked grotesquely.

Honesty. For in reality, she was best in nothing but tall tales.

Except for the "Staying safe of other things" part this could be the "Imaginary Number School District" in To Aru.

Also known as the "Ith School District", "City of Shimmers" or "Mirage City"