Why do we all have to wear these ridiculous ties?

They're waiting for you, Gordon, in the test chamber!

I very much like the addition of the watch, very cool

damn dawg, you hit the jack pot. literally.

well it don't feel like it.

damn i wish it was me man, why'd everyone else have to go before me, man.

don't let the other guys hear you say that, bro, you're gonna get in some deep shit.

what? they already know, dude, everyone has their profiles and shit, and it ain't like we didn't do that awkward ass introduction shit.

yeah, yeah, whatever. shut up.

it's been 7 days, dave. 7 days. maybe you're just not meant to die.

what's with y'all bettarians and seeking death, anyway?

it's a glorious thing, to pass on, to see the other side. once we reach the proper age, we will start to instinctively seek the opportunity for death. it's not as suicidal as you think it is, dave, stop thinking like a human.

hey man, if that's a kink thing, that's for y'all to figure out.

it's not a kink, dawg, it's like puberty. i just tend to want to die. you ok?

yeah, i'm just purple and swollen and itchy and headache and everything. i'll survive.

yeah, i sure am glad we had some boahrod anti-venom on hand. it saved your life, good call on packing it. i keep forgetting that humans don't have shells.

yeah, well, we're just insides growing on the outside, there's no logic to this world.

that must fuckin' suck, not being able to crawl up buildings and upside down.

yeah, well, four limbs is enough.

i suppose so.

Create a nuclear warhead out of banana peels.

Those aren't goals. Those are just random actions. One of them can only be done by accident, and the other two can't be done at the same time.

“How is this possible? Dr. Jaeger pondered as he loaded another clip into his gun. He was a molecular biologist who had never fired a gun in his life. Shrieking yowls of a creature reverberated down the hallway, announcing to Dr. Jaeger the position of one of the loose specimens. He inhaled deeply, preparing to round the corner. He turned around the corner and caught a glimpse of specimen BH90201, an agile creature, like a hairless mountain lion but with neon-green saliva dripping from its gaping maw. Upon seeing Dr. Jaeger, specimen BH90201 catapulted into a sprint down the long hall, its claws struggling to make traction against the smooth facility floors. For a fleeting instant, Dr. Jaeger thought he saw… crosshairs? He shook his head, raised the gun with steady hands and pulled the trigger. The cerebral cortex matter of specimen BH90201 splattered against the wall.

Dr. Jaeger darted his eyes in quick assessment for any further threats in the immediate area. He rushed down the hallway, feeling the air lifting his long white lab coat like a cape. Fluorescent lights flickered as he approached the door at the end of the hall. A woman’s wail from inside told him all he needed to know. He scanned his badge on the keypad… even in an emergency he had to badge in. He opened the door and witnessed the carnage before him. Chunks of flesh and organ meat were strewn about the room. Dr. Jaeger estimated 10 dead, though it was hard to tell in the jigsaw puzzle of severed limbs. Dr. Damasell was entangled in the thick tentacles of specimen 10TAI, a 14-foot squid-like creature with five eyeballs and the mouth of a lamprey eel.

Standard bullets wouldn’t cut it, Dr. Jaeger knew. Fortuitously, he noticed, under the disembodied arm of one of the slain guards, something with a little more kick. Dr. Jaeger was confused why one of the guards had an AT4. They were run of the mill security guards, why would they be armed with anti-tank weaponry? Even more baffling to himself, was that when Dr. Jaeger picked it up, he instinctively knew how to use it. Specimen 10TAI’s tentacles swung towards him, but Dr. Jaeger fired. Somehow, despite the magnitude of the weapon, Dr. Jaeger’s hands and body were unperturbed by recoil. He jumped backwards, narrowly missing the thrashing tentacle.

The projectile made its way directly into the center of 10TAI’s mouth, past the rows of razer sharp teeth. Specimen 10TAI exploded, its flesh splattering across the room like meaty confetti. Dr. Damasell thudded to the floor. Dr. Jaeger dropped the AT4 and began stepping over the fallen tentacles and chunks of flesh. Dr. Damasell lay on the floor, untangling herself from 10TAI’s lifeless tentacle. Dr. Jager offered her a hand. She had a small cut above her eyebrow but was otherwise unharmed.

“Thank you, Dr. Jaeger!” she exclaimed, giving him a kiss. Words flashed in the air, as if by magic. “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 10,000 XP!”

“And THAT,” my thirteen-year-old cousin Damian exclaimed, “is how you play the game, LOSER.” He tossed the controller unceremoniously across the room, flipping me the bird as he strode towards the hallway, hollering to my aunt Carol, asking her when lunch would be ready.

holy shit. did you see that? i just shot 7 guys in the head! this was an alien sensation. not entirely unfamiliar, but his hands tremble as he stares at them, clickity clackity clickity clackity, the sidearm lays between his fingers, heavy, in his right hand, comforting his nerves, gently, it settles in his palm. the pistol, it speaks to me. this machine is built by those who understood the exact purpose it was meant to exact. they knew what it meant, they knew what it did. as do i. i must use it to clear out this facility, reclaim my lunchbox, and save the demon lord!

ps this is a synopsis of some kind. i have the whole story in my head. if you'd like to read more, please lmk!!!! tyty

Well, Gordon Freeman! And about time too!

-Slip on a banana peel

-Throw out the banana peel

-Attach a nuclear warhead to the banana peel while simultaneously protecting said banana peel from the government

"Hold your fire, I repeat, hold your fire!!" the soldier at the front of the strike team yelled out, his gun still trained at the blood-soaked man standing in front of him, handgun in hand. When they breached the compound door, they expected many things - a lone researcher was not one of them.

"Oh," the man said with a tired voice, "Mr Harding, is that you under there?"

"Doctor Marchetti?!" the soldier yelled out with audible shock.

"Yes, yes, I- I apologize for my manners, it's just-" Marchetti said and turned around, yet his demeanour was off, slowly, sluggish, like he was in a daze.

"Get me a medic! Doctor, is anyone with you?"

"It's... not my blood," he chuckled slowly. "No, I... don't think, I- I was alone in my office, the gloomhags overrun the facility- there was a breach you see- I-" he said but stumbled forward, unable to stand properly.

"Doc, come on, sit," Harding said and helped the man. "Let me take the gun."

"The... gun? Oh, yes, yes, the... you know, I'm a better shot... than I thought. Maybe I missed... my calling," Marchetti said and slowly handed the soldier his firearm. It was splattered with blood and stank of gunpowder. It seemed that it was not only fired numerous times but used as a blunt weapon as well.

"Alright Doc," Harding continued, "let's get you looked at." He looked the man over and noticed his other hand was clenched tight to the point where the doctor's knuckles turned white. "What's in your other-"

"NO!" Marchetti yelled suddenly with far more vigour than expected, "no no you- you mustn't touch it! It's..." he slowly opened his hand and showed Harding the thus far tightly held brass pocket watch.

"A watch?" Harding said incredulously.

"7663-B," Marchetti said with a slight smile as he slumped back down, his outburst of energy taking its toll.

"Wait, that's-" Harding's face turned pale and he shifted slightly away from the doctor.

"I know... I know, Martin," Marchetti said quietly. "I just- I thought that I could help some of the survivors but there... were none."

Another soldier approached the duo.

"Sir, I need you to step back, I need to take a look at him," he said. Harding turned and saw the red cross on the soldier's uniform.

"I'm- uh, Jenkins, I-" Harding stuttered.

"What he means to say is that you can't help me, sir," Marchetti said. "Used the watch, you see?" he said and weakly lifted his hand. The medic looked at the two men confused.

"It's..." Harding croaked, "it's one of the unique items we store. Compresses the rest of your life into one hour. Gives you..."

"Speed and vigour of many years in one hour to fight off a tide of ugly critters," Marchetti chuckled. He looked at the watch. It was one minute 'till twelve.

"Is there anyone you want us to contact?" Harding solemnly asked.

"Everyone I knew here is dead," Marchetti said. "Just... Miss Laurits in HR, she recruited me."

"I know her, yes."

"Tell her not to blame herself," Marchetti continued. "I may have died here, but... because of the things I have seen here... I've lived as well."

Harding nodded and put his hand on Marchetti's shoulder.

"It's been a pleasure, Doc," Harding said.

"Don't let anyone touch... the watch..." Marchetti said and went limp. The brass timepiece slid out of his hand and hit the concrete floor with a metallic clang.

And the minute hand ticked to midnight.

#ABILITIES

Good words, Astro! This is awesome. The piece flows really well and I love the language used in sentences like "The harvest festival will get another guest" and "No more easy path, but he will not concern himself with them". The descriptions of environment also really work to ground it while simultaneously reflecting Ackley's feelings, especially in that last paragraph.

There's a couple specific spots that felt a bit weird. The portion near the beginning where it says "One of the links breaks. With all of his spite, he pulls with his leg until it breaks." felt a bit repetitive in the language (repeating 'breaks') and also left me a bit confused as to what happened. I wasn't sure whether he broke the chain or his leg, especially since one of the links had already broken.

This might just be a me thing, but Caldwell's "Can you forgive us" felt maybe a bit too abrupt? It probably would have felt more natural to me if he had been a bit more defensive at first, or even just said some form of sorry before asking for forgiveness, even if insincere.

Also I think you meant "soul" instead of "sole" in "villagers teasing the unlucky sole who had to interact" in the first paragraph.

Overall, really love this piece! I'm a sucker for a good escape/revenge story (The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book), and this built up the story and the world really well. Good words!

Thanks. There's a lot of editing that can be done to really improve this, but I think I hit the points I intended to.

And I appreciate the compliment on my writing. One day I hope to finally finish one of my many novels and get it published. I'm not all that great, and you can easily be a better writer than me. Just respond to prompts and listen to the respectful feedback and critiques redditors will offer you.

Additionally, read. Read a lot. Read different authors. Read different styles. Read different genres (I fail at this part, I tend to stick to military and hard Sci fi). The more writing styles you're exposed to, the better a writer you can be. Pay attention to how the authors construct sentences, use Grammer and verbiage. Try to look at the story from a constructive viewpoint - how has the author weaved multiple threads together. Or how they even failed at it. How have they organized their story? How have they made the characters relatable? Believe me, keeping an eye on things like this changes your whole reading experience, usually for the better.

P. S. And yea, what an eventful day for poor BART. Hopefully things calm down for him soon :-P

Good words, Haru! Loved your piece. The dialogue really carries it along.. And of course you had to make it emotional at the end 😭

One thing I think editing could really improve is tenses. This is evident in a few places where you switch between past and present, like "I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom ... I want to make things right." You also use "would" in a few places, like "I would walk to the front door and open it" and "I would notice that I was alone", and I think the sentences would (ha) be better without it. The would kinda makes it seem uncertain, like this is something the character isn't actually doing but thinking about doing.

I'd also love to have more context into this character's life and what they're going through with their mom. We get a good sense of how they're feeling that day, but I'd like to have a little bit more into maybe why or how long it's been like this for them. Not a requirement (and I know wordcount is limited), but you got me interested.

Overall, awesome job! These snapshots throughout the day work well I think in developing the story and packing a punch. Good words!

Please don’t make me go home.

Today has been freedom. A beautiful day with beautiful people. A celebration of identity not in some party or special day but in the simple acts of being accepted, the simple “River”s and “ae/aer”s and inclusion.

My favorite part of today was the ferris wheel, because normally I’m scared of heights. But I went with Shruti and she showed me how to look out at the horizon. She took my hand and rubbed it across the carpet of trees in the distance, and all of a sudden I wasn’t a small body up way too high but was a giant crouched down low, and it felt way better.

Though it was a bit too bright and hot at first, the sun faded as the day went on. I saw the shadows move up and up and up the rollercoasters until they were covered. Fareeha pointed out that one of them had looked pink in the daylight but looked purple as the sun set, and I started to see colors all around me. The colors had always been there, but I hadn’t been seeing them.

And if I have to go home I won’t get to see colors again. I will never be a giant, just a small, fragile body. Powerless. Tiny.

It’s just about night now and I’m back on the ferris wheel, this time alone. The sky is purple with low pink clouds and loud orange fireworks from somewhere else in the park. The trees in the distance are soft with darkness. But I don’t feel any of it.

I am haunted by a sense of dread, and it isn’t from the heights.

I peer over the edge of my seat as it approaches the top. I feel dizzy.

I would die if I fell from here, wouldn’t I?

As I closed the last door I started to pray. The specimens have escaped. Dozens of them are out there. There was no way for me to escape, there was too many of them, and the Government has probably already quarantined the facility.

I sat against the door, thinking of my inevitable death. My wife. My children. My family and friends. I would be leaving all of them behind. I thought I should at least leave a note for them. As I took out my notebook and pen to write, I was interrupted by the screams of the people around me.

Then I heard them banging on my doors. I panicked and dropped my pen. As I looked around I saw a gun sitting on a table with bullets. I’d never killed a living creature outside of something like a fly, and I hadn’t used a gun before either. As I hesitated the creature clawed it’s way through the door, and as it’s hand reach through the steel door I panicked and began rushing to the gun. As I grabbed it the creature got through the door and I turned around to shoot it.

As soon as I saw it I fired. My ears began ringing but I couldn’t worry about that now. The creatures had to have heard the gun fire. As they began rushing in to the room I stared at the door.

One came into the room

Then 2

Then 3

Then all of a sudden I was standing over dozens of the otherworldly creatures. It felt like it happened in a instant, but my clock told me it has been over an hour. As my racing heart began to slow I realized I was standing in a pool of blood.

I gagged as I dropped my pistol. I’d killed so many creatures. I could even smell the iron from the blood. Even if it was to protect my life, I felt like I’d done something wrong. I stood there contemplating what I’d done yelling came from another room. This time it wasn’t of terror or pain but commands. The military was finally here.

“HELLO, ARE THERE ANY SURVIVORS?”

“Yes” I wisped with all my effort

I don’t know how long it took them to enter my room, but I was overjoyed when they did. The clicks of their shoes had meant safety to me.

“Are you okay” he asked me

“Yes I-“ I passed out of exhaustion in that moment

The next thing I remember I woke up in the hospital with my daughter siting next to me, consumed by her phone.

“Hey sweetie” I said somberly

“Dad?”

“Yes?” I made a half crooked smile. As she turned to me I realized her face had been puffy-red, like she been crying while I was asleep.

“Thank god!” She cheered as she reached out to hug me

not yet, but i most certainly will!

But with Dr. Doppler from Treasure Planet

Very funny. That's a task for an entire civilization, not a team of countably few individual people. Also, how would that even help? If the gang-pressers can read that dogs exist, then presumably they also see the actual dogs walking around everywhere.

"None of what you just drank was water muchacho, in fact I don't think any of it was even edible..." I spoke to my crewmate in awe.

Four of us on the ship. Me, a human of course; Jacks, a mecha of some sort; the tentacled thing that just used a container of something labeled Concentrated Mercury to quench its thirst, Rabble I called him; and finally, Steven.

The three of us stared to Rabble in amazement, and he, or, well, it, stared back in obvious obliviousness. Its face began turning green, even greener than usual.

"Wha- well I was thirsty! I needed some water." Rabble protested, tentacles flaring for effect.

"Ah yes. Well the capsule labeled water would have sufficed then" Jacks gestured over to the water capsule on the wall with a robotic hand as Rabble's face turned a shade greener. "Well, that isn't good." she continued.

"Nope! How did you even get on the crew anyway hombr-" before I could finish I was shoved aside by an almost human hand. Steven gripped Rabble by the shoulders and launched it into a divit built into the floor labeled Med-Bay, the words drawn on sloppily in orange paint.

"Hey I think I'm actually fine-". Rabble tried to get the words out, but with a push of a button by Steven a glass slide flew over the med-bay, silencing the toxic sipping alien. A screen then flew up from the floor.

Analyzing....Analyzing.....Well that's not good., the screen displayed in bold yellow text. Followed by:

1 Liter Concentrated Mercury

2 Cups Swamp Extract

1 Vial of Unknown Radioactive Liquids

2 Vials of Known Radioactive Liquids (Greemly Excretion...Gross)

Inside the tube Rabble craned its gelatinous neck to try and read the screen. Upon seeing the analysis he rolled his one, massive eye, a gesture he'd picked up from me no doubt. On the outside Jack's and my mouths dropped open as if we were trying to catch Crantumium Flies.

Swamp extract?! We had to gather that sludge fully suited and use a titanium scoop, even then we barely got the two cups, and this troglodyte drank it all!

Steven was already reaching for a scalpel out of the med-pak.

"Hey uh..Steve-o. Whatcha gunna do with that bad boy?" I spoke with uncertain certainty.

"Steven. It's Steven, though I do appreciate the nickname. I planned to cut open Rabblenous, locate its stomach sac, cut it open, and retrieve our samples."

Inside the tube Rabble, having now seen his fate, was now banging his tentacles against the glass. I was just as keen to get our samples back as the next guy, or whatever human adjacent thing Steven was, but cutting open a crewmate was just unprofessional.

"Well let's not do anything too rash...yet. Ok computer how long will Rabble take to digest any of that stuff."

If the computer had eyes to roll it would have, but due to the fact that it didn't instead the words appeared across its screen: Eye Roll as a replacement

...Fine...5 days 23 hours. But cutting the beast open would be faster and far more fun.

"Not the point. Ok Steven, hear me out. The rest of the team gets out here in 2 days. So we leave Rabble here, gather some different samples, and wait for them with the stomach pump. If they're not out here in 2 days then..."

I heard the sound of more bottles clinking, dropping to the ground, interrupting my gamble. Upon looking over a single of Rabble's slimy tentacles was rifling through the "Biohazard" bin. Rabble glanced over to the tentacle, then back to us, then back to the tentacle, which continued its search.

Jack grabbed a second and third scalpel from the shelf, handing me the extra.

Thanks! I kept it ambiguous as to what the setting was, but I was definitely aiming for non-European as something different, hehe. Glad it came through!

Wow this was really well done and I'm pleasantly surprised this did not go the romance pathway.

May I however Ask whether the setting is similar to that of ancient asian country such as China of the Han dynasty or Korea. The naming, use of poleaxe and the use of Yian and silk as a currency?

All in all great work, thank you for trying the prompt and have a great day

The smell in the building was acrid, the creatures overrunning the facility having carried something foul with them as well as destroying dozens of vats holding dangerous fluids. Doctor Polmo sat with a gun in hand, staring at it in shock. He had emptied the entire clip, and every bullet met its mark in the head of a creature no matter how quickly it charged at him or how wildly it was flailing. He weighed the gun in hand, trying to see whether it had any special properties to it before crawling toward the deceased guard thrown into the room. He refilled ammo and peeked his head around the door that sat ajar ever-so-slowly, his breathing erratic as he witnessed more creatures on the far end of the hallway.

"Is... is anyone out there?" a quivering voice asked on the intercom. Doctor Linda. "I'm... Me and Doctor Ryans are sticking together, but we think we might be the last ones alive. But he's really hurt and the creatures are right outside. Please hurry, we're in the--"

The creatures were furious at the sound of the intercoms and dove at them, tearing them out of the ceiling and crushing them beneath their large feet. They lumbered around, searching for prey as they bared their silver, hungry teeth. Their eyes were a red glaze, watching for movement from any corner by darting their heads around maniacally as if trying to pop their necks, but not finding the right angles.

Doctor Polmo clicked the magazine of his gun shut, immediately startled by the ragged snarls of the creatures at the end of the hall. One began darting toward him while the other walked slowly, like a proper gentleman grizzly bear.

"Ah!" Doctor Polmo gasped as he trained his gun and fired in an instant, the first creature toppling, motionless. The second creature picked up its fallen ally and held it in front of his face, shielding him from a bullet.

Doctor Polmo didn't have the time to marvel at the intelligence displayed by the bloodthirsty thing lumbering toward him, only had the time to make a plan as fast as possible. He breathed deeply, ignoring the pungent odors filling the room, and shut the door behind him. He then ran to the back end of the small room and pointed his weapon at the closed door. He figured the creature would use the dead creature to break the door down, leaving him a moment to take it out.

The door bulged inward. Polmo swallowed, his shooting hand shaking. His sweat stung his cheek as it rolled down his face. Another indentation of the door. Polmo's eye twitched involuntarily. Then the door collapsed inward, the shine of the red eyes absorbing all of Polmo's focus.

BANG!

Just as he fired, the creature pulled the deceased body back to his face and protected himself. Polmo groaned for a moment then reevaluated his plan. He threw the gun toward one wall and ran to the other. When the sound of the gun made its way to the creature, it turned left whereas Polmo turned right. He slid behind it and grabbed the gun as it clattered to the floor. The creature threw the body at him as he fired, killing it, but was hit hard by the large dead projectile. The air was knocked out of him, but he was able to get to his feet after a few seconds, limping his way down the corridor.

He knew where Doctors Linda and Ryans were based on the only room with an intercom that wasn't already overrun. He stumbled his way over, his lungs screaming in pain as he finally had a moment to consider his before-unforeseen abilities with a gun. Was he always this good with a gun, or was there something with the creatures that made this latent ability come out? He had never fired a gun before today, and the harrowing events of watching friends and colleagues somehow made him hyper-focused. He didn't understand it as he climbed over another dead creature, the stench overwhelming.

He finally saw the room he was looking for, surrounded by five creatures scratching at the steel door. Polmo raised his weapon and fired four times before the gun clicked, out of ammo. He looked at the empty gun, then back to the single creature remaining standing and staring at him with its evil red gaze.

"Arrgghh! Booo!" Polmo raised his arms rapidly, trying to make himself seem bigger and scare the creature.

The creature acknowledged him and roared an ear-piercing scream, deafening one of Polmo's ears and he shrunk down to try and protect himself from the noise. The creature began to bound toward him like an eager, hungry dog and Polmo could only stumble backward in fear.

He threw the gun at the creature and the door behind the creature was thrown open, a woman in a gas mask stepped out and fired something rapidly at the creature. She missed most of them, but the last one landed. The creature tripped, turning around and pulling out a dart from its rear before another dart sprouted from its chest and it fell.

"Doctor Polmo!" Doctor Linda shouted at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alive!" Polmo coughed, struggling to stand and stumbling his way into the room.

"Are you... are you sure?" Doctor Linda asked, shocked.

"I'm sure... why?" Polmo asked.

"You're not wearing a mask!" Linda pointed to her covered face. "Your breathing in all the air."

"It's just fetid creature stink, right?" Polmo said, finally inside the room, the door closed behind them.

"If only. Most of our chemical vats were spread through the air. Your senses are probably really heightened, right?" Linda asked.

Polmo swallowed hard, his throat burning.

"I might have noticed something like that," Polmo agreed.

"That same thing never got out of testing because it'll burn your brain along with all the enhancements," Linda explained. She pointed to Doctor Ryans who Polmo only now noticed. He was unmasked and catatonic.

"This isn't much of a rescue, is it?" Polmo asked Linda as his vision started blurring.

"Not for me, it isn't," Linda sighed, refilling her dart gun as more creatures began scratching at the closed door.

/r/Nazer_The_Lazer

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