Hi, I find myself on Arena TG quite often these days and I don't want to boom as pocket everytime and neither do I like getting castle dropped as flank, so I figured I work on my smush.
First off, I found very vew resources regarding smush, most referring to the OG saracen monk rush (20+1 + loom). From what I've taken so far, smush is very hard to pull off in 1v1 due to the scouts meta, so my focus is on TG. At my TG ELO (1450-1550) very few people play scouts from pocket, so I'm not afraid of scouts.
So my basic BO is 22+1 and so far I was able to stop any forward castle drop from happening. Where I usually struggle is Imp.
So far, my games have the following pattern:

• FC 2x monastery + Siege Workshop
• train monks, mangonels, add 3rd monastery
• ignore eco upgrades except gold shaft mining
• buy food like crazy
• mine stone for a castle, go Imp, fwd (or defensive) castle
• trebs + monks

At this point, most of the time I'm in the commanding position about the opponent's flank. However every second game my forward is getting wiped by the opponent's pocket and I'm left with a handful of monks, some trebs and 40 vills.
There are two questions for me:

• Is there anything I can do to prevent getting cleared? Currently I'm experimenting with walling in my monks/siege and adding UUs (without upgrades) with subpar success. If my pocket is slower than the opponent's, I will always lose my fwd position
• How do I follow up my Imp push?
  • How long do I stick to an army of 8-10 monks + trebs (assuming I don't get cleared)? The games I won I got slung from my pocket so I could go 5 TC boom into a useful unit.
  • If my pkt does not win decisively, do I just try to slowly reboom? I feel like I've gained nothing from my smush in that case because both me and my opponent have to reboom

I think it's my modesty that stands out 😁
This is a lengthy post, it says a lot about the type of man i am, and what im looking for in a woman, so if you're looking for a short blunt paragraph of a post that screams 'quick fix', then im definitely not for you.
Reach out if you're from the UK, and around my age or older.
I'm just the bloke next door with grown up kids and a wife, on the surface we seem fine just like everyone else, but underneath things are sometimes far from perfect (im not here to badmouth my SO), i keep myself to myself as im the quiet type (apparently you have to watch out for the quiet one's), but im down to earth, easy to get on with and pretty laid back. I try not to take myself too seriously or worry about what people think or say (maybe that's an age thing), im definitely respectful and will always treat others how they treat me.
Things that i like: lazy mornings, people watching, the warm sun on my skin, fresh coffee, the smell of freshly cut grass, rum (spiced or dark), teasing, exploring castles and forests (not hiking), long drives in the countryside, 90's alternative music, cooking and trying new foods, psychological films, late nights and early lazy mornings, drawing/sketching, dogs
My bad points: over thinking, i have been called intense before, i can take things to heart.
But i make no apologies for being who i am, the older i get, i seem to care less about what people think or say these days. I'm more comfortable in my skin than ever before and i know what i like and what i dont like. I'm straight up honest and will say what's on my mind but at the same time, im empathic (sometimes it's a curse) and wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm prone to over thinking and sometimes worry about the little things in life, because the little things are actually really important (im like a full blown contradiction).
So, what do you get in return for reaching out? Well, im quietly confident and fairly intelligent, easy to get along with, inquisitive, down to earth and fairly laid back when in good company, im more of a glass half full kind of man, i love bringing positive vibes to the people i care about. I consider myself to be a gentleman, polite, courteous and emotionally grounded but also love a bit of banter and sarcasm, it makes for a fun conversation when you can bounce off each other. I'm 5'11 slim, short dark hair, hazel eyes and a short salt and pepper beard, in case physical appearance is important.
I tend to get on better with a lady who 'thinks outside of the box', who isn't constrained to convention, someone who can be sassy and can challenge me once in a while, but also has a warm heart, is her own person, free spirited with a dark sense of humour and who isn't afraid to just say what's on her mind.
I'm looking for a good woman who is just as open and honest as i am, where we can talk about anything and everything while we find out about each other's quirks (im sure we have plenty!), essentially we'll be building what we're missing, the 'desire' and the 'want', to be 'noticed' and 'heard' again. Yeah, im flirtatious (i know, who isn't?!) and i consider myself to be a bit of a tease but im totally respectful, saying that though, there maybe times where i could make your knickers wet while you're busy with your family (sorry, not sorry), and know that conversations are more important, the naughty things just add to it once a good foundation is formed.
Now for the chemistry, obviously the mental attraction is priority, after all, this is online, so the ability to communicate well is paramount. The physical attraction, no matter how you look at it, is still rather important. I look after myself (as well as I can) and would appreciate a woman who shares the same value, also a woman who might see herself as a 'plain Jane' with an average body, mum bod, then you'd most probably turn my head, because there's something about perfect imperfections, you know?
So, what do you say? Yes im also looking at you, lurking in the back, first time here? Not sure if im right for you, or if you're ready to reach out? Coming from an over thinker, id say try not to over think it, because this is just a conversation, but it could be so much more.

TLDR: My gf talks to her used-to-be Friend With Benefits (FWB) quite often and it makes me uncomfortable, but she still does it.
I met my gf 2 years ago when our friend groups sort of mashed together. She expressed interest in me shortly after meeting, but I wasn’t feeling it at the time. We still became very good friends. Before we started dating, she told me about these different guys she’s interested in that are talking to her and she tells me a secret that one of our friends (came from her side, she knew him before) had just became a FWB.
A few months later and I realize I have feelings for her and we start dating. Right before we start dating, I ask her when the last time she got with her FWB and she said it had been a month but she didn’t talk to him much after I confessed my feelings towards her cause she said she always liked me most. We’ve been dating for about 5 months now and it’s going pretty well. We haven’t told anyone that we are dating, although it’s probably time we should. We are worried if things don’t work out, our fried group might be split up. But if we don’t tell anyone,then that won’t happen.
About a month ago, I noticed she had started texting this FWB again. This is where the problem begins. The texting has increased continuously for the past month. I do not like the fact she is talking with someone she used to be FWB with, but she has been just friends with him for a long time, before I ever met her.
Now my gf is very shy and non confrontational. She hates it. She will shut down or try to change the subject when confronted and it’s made it hard to talk to her about any kind of issues or concerns. I tried bringing up with her that it makes me uncomfortable that she is talking to him, she basically told me sorry and I asked if he knew we were dating to which she replied no and then changed the subject. I was hoping she would stop but she hasn’t. Since then she hasn’t been as open about who she talks to and I feel like she is trying to hide stuff from me. For instance, she usually uses people’s names when talking about them even if I don’t know them. But she told me “my friend wants to go do this and I think it would be fun” when I knew “her friend” was the FWB cause I had just talked to him about the same thing the day before. Our friends hang out all the time, so i know him pretty well, it just seemed very weird to call him “my friend” instead of his name. We are all gamers, so we frequently play games together. I see her and FWB playing games a lot together while I am at work. Tonight, she told me FWB “booked” her for the night to play games with. She has also told me they call on the phone often. I don’t live with my gf as well so I don’t know how often any of this sort of stuff happens.
Anyways, how can I tell my girlfriend that I am uncomfortable with this relationship she has with FWB without coming off as controlling? Do I have a right to ask her to not spend so much time with FWB? Or is that controlling? I will admit I get jealous very easily and it’s something I’m trying to improve, but at the same time, I feel like my suspicions are currently justified.

Hello everyone! this is a bit of a long one , so i really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this !
a little info : I live in the uk where mental health services are BAD , im undiagnosed despite trying for 7 years to get help. I developed extreme anxiety at 12 and became home schooled , but due to a lot of stuff It was never acknowleged as something I needed support for? My mother passed when I was 17 and ive been seeking help since. I am 25 now and have spoken to several gp's , they just told me to loose weight even after going to them about SH struggles . I am now living with my partner, im nearly 3 years clean from SH but I still struggle alot.
I really struggle with what i call thought loops . When i'm anxious , I get hyper focused on things causing me anxiety and everything leads back to my anxiety. I've always been been able to analyse myself well and know why my brain is doing this, the logic behind / what sort of response should be able to stop the worry but it doesnt work.
An example :
Anxiety : YOU CAN'T GO INTO THAT SHOP YOUVE NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE
Me : People go into new places everyday , there's nothing wrong with going into a new place and the staff probably want new customers
Anxiety : YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO IN THERE , IT'S NOT A SAFE SHOP IT'S DANGEROUS
Me : I moved here a year ago, previously all the shops were new shops but now they are " safe shops" . This shop is opposite a shop I like and it has nice stuff inside, the people inside are calm so there's nothing to worry about
Anxiety : YOU'VE NEVER BEEN IN THERE YOU CAN'T GO
If i go in, i'll probably get a stomach issue or migraine that lasts for days . If i don't go in my brain will tell me im in trouble for not going in because i needed too despite not being allowed by my anxiety
I tend to have these though loops more about stuff ive done , stressfull situations, triggering memories, food stuff, health problems and social stuff
The only way I can get any relief from this kind of thinking is for people to just be like "that's not true". Even people giving me usefull information like " you don't have cancer because -" sometimes adds to the anxiety because it feeds into the thought pattern and acknowleges the thought? but it doesnt work when I do it to myself... and i'll need people to repeat themselves a lot for it to sink in which is probably really annoying for them tbh
I feel like i need too much external validation to manage my anxiety and because of a lot of stuff ive gone through, it takes a toll on people and I don't want to do that to others... I want to be supportive of them , and to do that better , I need to work on getting better to be stronger and more independant, especially as atm my support system is very small and i've just been not talking to anyone and it's made my health really bad
anyone else go through this? what was helpfull or not helpfull to you ? anyway , thank you for reading this word explosion it's much appreciated and I hope you have some calm times ahead

Chapter Three: Too Big to Fail?
Amelia and Noele raced towards Dunwich at breakneck speeds and arrived only minutes after their departure from Longbarrow.
Amelia put down Noele, who looked a little green in her face. At least she hadn’t started to scream. Some adventures did that, even A-ranks. Especially A-ranks.
As they walked through the gate a man in the coat of arms of Dunwich stepped forth, seemingly a city guard. Instead of a sword he carried a clipboard.
“Halt. For entreance you first need to pay headtax. Three copper per person.”
Amelia fished her adventurers badge out of her pocket and showed it the guardsman. “No we don’t. We are members of the adventurers guild:”
The guard shook his head. “Yeah, new law from city hall. Adventurers are no longer exempt from head tax. In fact, have you fought any monsters in the wilds?”
Noele glanced at Amelia. “I think you might have clipped a griffin on the way here.”
The guard nodded and scribbeled something down on his clipboard. “That means we have to add a small tax for that. All ressources around the city, including monsters, belong to the city after all.”
“But we didn’t even kill it.”, exclaimed Noele.
“Ah. That adds a charge animal cruelty. There is a fine for that.” The guard added another note to his clipboard. “Also, did you happen to travel on the road?”
Amelia thought about that for a moment. She had mostly stuck to low jumps just over the foliage, but they had landed on the street occassionally.
“Yeah, briefly.”
“Ah, bad news then. That road is privatly owned now, so that adds a small
toll.”
Amelia rolled her eyes at this insanity. “All of these taxes and fines, are these recent additions? Proposed by some oversized lizard in a suit?”
“You mean Mr. Goldentooth? Yes, that oversized lizard has spearheaded a great deal of reforms. Has even taken office in the city hall. By the way, lizard-calling is a serious misdemeanor. There is a fine for that.”
“But you just called him a lizard too?
“Have I?”, asked the guard.
“Alright, how about you let us through and I won’t tell anybody.”
The guard gave Amelia a stern look.”Are you attempting to blackmail a member of the city watch?”
“If that is was it takes for you to let us through that blasted gate, then yes.”, Amelia said flatly.
The watchman frowned at her. “There is a fine for that. Five silver.”
Amelia sighed. “All of this is ridiculous.”
“You see, Miss. I am just doing my job here. If you have problems with the city’s tax or law code, then you have to file a complaint at the city hall and not annoy overworked guards.”
Amelia gave the guard a flat look. “And how do we logde a complaint at your city hall, when you don’t let us in?
The guard blinked “Hm. I guess I see your point.”
“So you let us in? We just want to logde a complaint.”
“But you haven’t paid your headtax, your adventuring tax, the street toll and the fines for animal cruelty and lizard-calling . I can’t let you through this gate like this.”
Noele grasped her coinpurse in resignation: “How much is it in total then?”
“Altogether that would be 16 gold and 3 silver coins. Per person, of course. Though I would advice to make it an even 20 gold pieces by purchasing the premium city pass. That’s a real bargain by the way, and would allow you to skip the wait time and fast track the organisational stuff.”
Amelia wasn’t from this world and had already amassed a small fortune. The bounty for the Miststorm riders alone would pay the fees and fines for both of them more than 50 times over. Still she balked at the price. This was her retirement fund after all. She also wouldn’t force her student to pay for her. That would be unbecoming of her, as she was Noele’s mentor.
She gave the golden-eyed fool one last glance. For just a moment she thought about giving him the Leander-treatment and literally bash some sense in that guys head. Instead she did the mature and adult thing and picked Noele by her belt. Noele groaned. She knew what would happen. Amelia flexed her calves and handily leaped over the 20 meter wall.
The guard blinked in surprise for a moment. Then he yelled: “You are in breach of the airborne transportation act! THERE. IS. A. FINE. FOR. THAT!”
Business was doing good. No, even better. Business was doing great. Gildroy gazed fondly at the enormous crates and chests, all filled with beautifully shining gold.
There was a sudden crashing sound, like wood breaking. Gildroy instantly stood up. Had one of the unpaid interns dropped a chest with money again?
He sprinted from the vault into the main room. There he saw Amelia and Noele, standing atop the splintered door.
“Ahem. Hello. The door was mahagony. Kinda pricy to replace. Please use the doornob the next time.”, he scolded
Amelia had an angry scowl on her face. “You owe me two silver and a new window.
Oh. Gildroy had already forgotten about that. Two pieces of silver.
“Oh. I forgot. My bad.”, said Gildroy. He drew his purse and pulled out a few coins. “Here you go:”
Amelia pocketed the money. “Also you are going to stop this insanity you have going on here. Give everyone their money back and I’ll let you live:”
Gildroy blinked in surprise. “You can’t be sirious, right?”
Amelia put a hand on her sword. “I am.”
Gildroy shook his head.”Never.”
Amelia smiled. “I had hoped for that. I wanted to punch you inyour lizard-visage since I met you.”
Gildroy scowled, What a barbarian.
Noele put a hand on her master’s shoulder. “Please let me have this fight. You told me, that only by challenging myself further I can grow truly strong.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “Alright. He’s yours. Maybe this fight pushes you to S-rank.”
Gildroy shook his head. Such gall, but Norah had been much the same.
“Well, I did promise a spar.”, he said, as he armed himself with a purse filled with platinum coins.
“[Nobleflame Armor]”
Golden flames coated Norah, forming into a brestplate. Very fashionable, but gold was always fashinable.
Gildroy countered with his own armor skill[ Armor of Gold] . As if carried by invible hands coins floated from the vault towards the drakling, on whom they arranged themselves like a secondary set of scales.
“Go on, you have the first strike”, he said as he picked a platinum coin from his purse.
And strike she did. Noele teleported behind him and swung her sword at him.
“[Elegant Noble Slash] and [Unending Dauntless Fury]” she yelled, as she descendet into a flurry of blows.
Gildroy flicked a platinum coin. It disappeard and time slowed down to a crawl. He walked out of her attack, then the flow of time resumed.
Noele stared at the empty spot she hit repeatedly. “How? She muttered.”
“Would you kindly hurry up with your attack?”, asked Gildroy a little giddy. These fights were always fun! “[Time is Money], after all.”
“[Unending Dauntless Fury] “
[Time is Money]
Noele hit nothing again.
“Noele, he can’t attack while he stops time.”, Amelia told her student.
“Besides, it is more of a potent time-slow. A hard hitting area-of-effect attack will still hit”.
Gildroy scowled at her. “Hey, the best part of any fight is to figure out how the enemie’s skills work. How will she learn anything if you take that away from her.”
Noele tried to go for a cheap shot while he talked. A quick flick of a coin brought Gildroy to safety.
“Well, now it is time for me to strike back, it would seem.”
Gildroy barreled into her. Noele stood her ground, defending with her sword. “[Titans’s Strength]”, she yelled.
Gildroy pushed back with his own strength skill. “[Gold is Strength]”, he barked. For a moment they seemed equally matched, claw against sword, but then Gildroy gained the upper hand. An A-ranked skill just couldn’t compete with an S-ranked skill.
Noele was launched through the air and impacted the wall. Gildroy flicked another platinum and time slowed for him. He dashed towards her and delivered a crushing blow just as the time-slow ended. Noele was thrown back again, this time through the wall and into the main plaza of Dunwich.
Noele quickly found back to er feet. “Big area-of-effect spells, huh? For that I have something. [Golrious Noble Slash]”
All of a sudden her sword increased in size manyfold, and she swung it a Gildroy with ferocity.
Gildroy knew, he could not dodge this one with his time-slow, but tried anyways. His golden armor cracked under the barrage of blows and he flew back, towards a crowd of people.
Amelia moved with extreme speed and dragged multiple peole out of the line of fire. Luckily, because far too many people here had purchase [Life Insurance] from him. Should they come to harm…. he’d be ruined.
Oh dear. If he took another hit like that he’d lose his status as an hexillionaire.
Gildroy felt his control over his customers slipping. Quickly he summond up a bit of [Investor]-Widom to once again tighten his grip: ”People, the market has just taken a hit. That is normal. That just happens. Your savings are not in danger, in fact with the stocks low right now is the best time to invest.”
“That skill surely is something. Good, almost S-rank”, Gildroy praised.
“It would be a same if some one would steal it: [Buyout]: Purchase the skill Elegant Noble Slash.” The drakling burned hundreds of platinum coins activating that skill.
A system message apperared in front of Noele’s eyes
[Gildroy Goldentooth has acquired the skill Noble Slash]
Noele’s jaw went slack. Her sword of light and flames disappeared and reappeared in Gildroys hands.
“Beautiful skill”, Gildroy said with a shit-eating grin. “And just my color.”
And with that he started to whail on Noele. She tried to dodge his clumsy swings, but at some point one hit. Her armor of flames buckled under the blows, but still held strong.
“What can I still do?”, Noele screamed in panic. “I don’t have my skill anymore. I can’t do this?”
Amelia snorted. “You lost one skill. You still have the rest. Change them. Combine them. Make them better. Make them yours.”
“Make them mine”; Noele whipered. She close her eyes. “Make them better like with my elegant noble slash.”
When she opened her eyes again, Gildroy saw that ther gaze no longer contained fear, only cold determination.
Gildroy noted how her stance and entire aura shifted.
And Noele unleashed her newest skill
“[Unending Dauntless Grand Blaze]”, Noele screamed.
She launched a great fireball and then dozens more.
The first fireball Gildroy batted away with his sword of golden light.
The second fireball he doged.
The third fireball hit Gildroy but was blocked by his armor.
The seventh fireball broke his [Armor of Gold]
And Gildroy screamed like a feral animal.
And the barrage continued for minutes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gildroy was of course unhurt by the spell. Burning a dragon? About as sound a strategy as drowning a fish or killing a bird by tossing it down a mountain.
No, what hurt him was the collateral damage! Noele had hit not only him but also multiple buildings with her fireballs, absolutely demolishing them. Buildings he owned! Luckily her teacher had stepped in and carried the people still inside them to safety. But still…. so much money lost.
In his fury he roared. Using the smoke as cover he dashed toward Noele, who was obviously exhausted. She failed to even use her fancy teleportation spell, as Gildroy grabbed her by the neck. He then slammed her headfirst into the pavement. Once, twice. Then he tossed her away, through one of still standing walls.
Gildroy glanced on the burned ruin in front of him. He took a deep breath. This wasn’t as bad as it looked, he knew that. The tenants had been tardy on their morgage-payments anyhow.
He’d just demand the full repayment of the damages from the tenants and then he would also cash in the insurance. Then he would use that money to rebuild. He would gentrify the entire block and then he’d demand double, no triple the original price.
He saw how Noele fought to stand back up. She even picked a potion out from her pocket and downed it. Foolish. The fight was over, and even a little bit of replenished magic wouldn’t change anything.
“Girl, stop it. You did well, very well, but you lost.”
Instead of listening to Gildroy’s words, the girl went for one last, all out attack. Silly. Gildroy pulled out another platinum coin from his pouch, at least tried to.
Gildroy glanced downward. While he hadn’t been wounded by the barrage of fireballs, it had ripped the pouch of coins from his belt. And without platinum coins there was no time slow. No protection.
He felt a deep, stinging pain. He tasted iron on his gums.
The blade was lodged deeply into his chest, piercing his heart and his lungs.
“Oh.”, Gildroy weezed.
“Well done”, he said with his last bit of air.
Noele ripped the sword out of his body and Gildroy fell over.
And in these last few moments of his life Gildroy heard something.
The call of an ancient god of death. Of decay. Of oblivion.
He heard the call of the void.
Gildroy opened his eyes and saw a broken world. Enormous rocks flew about, one such he was standing on. Stars glittered in the far darkness of this terrible place.
A towering mass of dark purple flesh with hundred of tentacles sprawled over several such floating isles. The enormous body was mostly covered in shadows, yet the few glances were enough to cause Gildroy a massive headache and burnt themselves into his memories and left a marks that would last for the rest of his existance.
He tried not to look at the massive creature, but that was difficult as it so big, that it was both to the front, the left and the right of Gildroy.
“Your mortal flesh is failing you.”, the eldritch beast rumbled from a thousand mouths. “Swear yourself to my cause and you will be saved! You will be granted unlimited power, an...”
“No thanks”
Hundreds of eyes blinked in surprise.
“You are aware, that you are dying?”
Gildroy took a look a look of his blood- and sootstained suit. The shirt had been his last and had been made from the silk of a king tarantula. Very pricey and very difficult to clean. Probably ruined for good. Oh well, sometimes you incur unforseen losses.
“I want you to know two very basic things about me, my dear: First of all, my soul is not for sale. At least not for a vague promise of unlimited power. No, if I were to put a price on my soul, it would be hard cash only.”
“Secondly” Gildroy’s lips drew back into a manic smile. “I always plan ahead. Far ahead.”
His grin bloomed into a full on mad laugh.
“My death was always part of the plan.”
Noele stood victorous. She had beaten an S-ranked threat, alone and almost witthout any help from her master. Did that mean she was an S-rank adventurer now?
Then [Dance with Death] stopped it’s effect, recognizing that her fight was over. Tiredness slammed into her body like the mallet of a yeti. She fell to her knees, then flat to the ground.
She used the lat bit of her strength and raised her head and looked at Amelia. Goodness, she was tired. She expected a proud nod, or even a few kind words from her master. Yet Amelia’s gaze was hard, and her body tense, as she looked at the cooling corpse of Gildroy. Slowly her mentor drew her sword.
Then Noele heard a sound. The sound of metal against cobblestone. Then another plink.
Then another.
And another.
And another.
Noele saw how a gold coin fell down from somewhere up in the sky. And then a silver coin, and some platinum after that. Then Noele saw a message from the world system.
[Gildroy Goldentooth used the skill: Life Insurance]
The rain of coins picked up, gold coins falling in an endless cascade from the skies. A small hill was already forming around the body.
Ameila took a single step, crossing the entire distance to her pupil and lifted her up. Another leap took them to the roof of one of the undamaged buildings, where she laid down Noele.
Meanwhile the entrance to the city hall was entombed by an avalance of silver, the fires in the burning ruins were buried in gold, drowning the fires.
On top of this mountain of treasures now stood a figure wreathed in golden scales and golden wings, his eyes burning with the blue flame of undeath.
“You fools!”, Gildroy roard. “Do you think I didn’t buy shares in that liches phylactery?”
Noele eyes burned and not only from the smoke lingering in the area. So she had failed… not only herself but also her sister.
“Master, shouldn’t you stop him? Please, I am too weak.” Noele hated how feeble and pathetic her voice sounded.
“Not yet. The rain hasn’t stopped yet, and that lizard did a lot of damage,”, Amelia said while crouching down next to her. “You did well, though this opponent is frankly above you.”
With that she one again leaped and landed in front of the ecstatic drakling.
“Ha! You cannot face me! Nobody can! I am the richest dragon to ever walk Vacuos!”, Gildroy bellowed. “[Buyout]”, he barked. “System: Kill Amelia.”
Nothing happened. Gildroy looked at the System Message in front of him and his eyes bulged.
“How much does that cost me? That many zeros?”
“Alright.”, Gildroy exclaimed. “System: Stun Amelia:”
Once again nothing happened, aside from a new message appearing.
“Still that much. Oh dear.” Gildroy suddenly sobered up.
“You are quite strong, aren’t you?”, he feebly asked.
“Yeah. Kinda.” Amelia glanced up. The golden rain slowly let up. There must be tens of millions of coins laying about.
“Well. I seem to have micalculated. Is it too late to apologize? Forgive and forget?”
One last platinum coin fell from the sky and skidded over a mountain of gold.
“Too late.”, Amelia said, and her blade descended.
---------------------------------------------
There we are. 10 minutes before the deadline. Not even close.
Now time for a nap. Running on caffeine and 2 hourse of sleep. Who could have known that writing takes time and effort.
Oh, also a little prologe. Noele fell down the roog, knocked her head really bad. Forgot her new skill combo. Such a klutz.

I [M16] am a full-time father to an 8-month-old baby. The “baby mama” had our baby for the first 5 months of their life and basically threatened me to take custody because she couldn’t cope with it anymore and it annoyed her. I took it, otherwise foster care would have been our only other option.
When I finally got custody after weeks of going through court, I picked them up. When I picked them up I noticed that he had a really wet and stinky diaper along with a bad diaper rash. I understand that diaper rash is normal, this diaper looked like it hadn’t been changed in at least a day and they were incredibly restless. Along with cuts and bruises all over their body. I didn’t bother to report this to the proper authorities seeing that they weren’t in her care anymore and that this wouldn’t be an issue anymore.
Anyways, unexpectedly (without a word) she slides back into the picture. Literally without any signaling that she was coming or wanted to discuss this. She didn’t even know that we had moved houses and I just so happened to run into her while picking up food. She asked about her being able to see them and started integrating me and getting all up in my face about where they were. She thought that cps had taken them off of me (they were with another family member for the time being). I put my foot down and said no about her seeing them, she had her opportunity to be the mother figure and, in her words, initially “didn’t want anything to do with them”.
Now I wouldn’t mind this if she hadn't handed them to me the condition they were in, expressed interest prior or if she hadn’t had traumatized me (I’m not getting into this side of things.) Although I feel bad that I made her cry about it and that I could have been a bit more lenient about this.

Synopsis:

Ten years ago, Amelia woke up alone and lost in a broken world where she had to fight for her survival.
Now, after reaching the pinnacle of power, defeating the Void itself, and escaping the abyss, she has finally found her way back into the real world. But instead of finding herself on Earth, she is in the land of Vacuos. A fantasy world with magic, monsters, Classes, and Levels. A world that is governed by a System like it were a video game.
And when rewarded with a Class befitting her accomplishments— to become a powerful [Hero] that will forever dedicate her life to protecting this world that is not her own— she only has one response.
“Absolutely not. I’m going to live a normal life now, thank you very much.”
After all, who needs a Class when you're already the strongest anyways?

Read Chapter 1 Here
“I was thinking… for payment,” the man started, averting his gaze. “Could I maybe work for you instead?”
I stared at him for a moment, processing what he said. I blinked, and that was when I finally worked my jaw.
“What?”
I didn’t expect this at all. This was my first customer— he was someone who actually enjoyed my cooking. He wasn’t anyone I knew. He was a complete stranger to me. Sure, I’d heard rumors about him before, but that didn’t really mean anything.
He wasn’t a friend like Noele, Nolan, Nicole, or Garron. He wasn’t an otherworlder like Xakor. He was literally someone who only knew of me as an adventurer. And he actually thought my cooking was good. He might have attributed that fact to Xakor, but his response had been a major success in my book.
However, now he wasn’t going to pay for his food. Instead, he was asking to… work for me? I narrowed my eyes as he sheepishly scratched his cheek.
“It’s literally only twenty-five copper coins,” I said as I proffered an expectant hand. “And I can’t even afford to give you a living wage, anyways. Just pay up and don’t fuss about it.”
“You don’t even have to pay me.” The man shook his head, before giving me a pleading look. “I… if you just give me food and shelter, I’ll work for you for free.”
That sounded like a tempting offer. I had been wondering about how I’d staff my restaurant before things took off— Xakor had already funded the building itself, and I was paying for the ingredients. But I couldn’t exactly hire an employee until business was booming. So I had thought I’d be forced to manage everything on my own… maybe with a little bit of Bucky’s help. However, if I hired this man…
I looked him up and down. I saw his ragged clothing— I stared at the bags under his eyes. I remembered all the bad things I’d heard about him so far. I just sighed.
“I literally don’t even know your name, and I haven’t heard anything good about you. Sorry, but I don’t think this will work out.”
He pursed his lips. He shifted in his seat as Bucky eyed him curiously. I didn’t know what his reasoning was for offering me free labor, but I wasn’t going to accept it. Not when I didn’t even know about his qualifications or background.
He got to his feet after a moment’s deliberation and held my gaze.
“Harlan,” he said. “My name’s Harlan. I’m a former guardsman— I come from Whiteridge, and I’m a [Warrior].”
I quirked a brow. I wasn’t exactly prompting him to explain his whole backstory to me. But I just gave him a flat stare.
“Alright, Harlan. Why exactly would I need to hire a former city guard for my restaurant?” I asked, waving a hand dismissively. “I can handle any thugs or monsters myself.”
“It…” Harlan hesitated for a moment. But he still insisted after steeling himself. “It doesn’t have to be a guardsman job. I could work as a server— I could take orders and serve food for you!” he exclaimed like he was trying to convince himself of his words as much as he was trying to convince me of them.
I shook my head. “You have literally no history in the service industry. And pretty much half of Wolfwater hates you. Again— why should I hire you?”
“T-that’s because I’m… a hard worker?” he said as his lips twisted. He looked at me hopefully, but I just rolled my eyes back at him. Even Bucky gave him a judging look.
Harlan bit his lower lip. He glanced between the both of us. The chicken’s gaze made him shrink back slightly, and he tried to muster up a response. But he couldn’t work his jaw. His shoulders slumped as he finally sighed.
“You’re right.” He lowered his head, clenching his teeth. “I’m… not even cut out to be a server. I don’t even have a Class for it.”
He spoke softly, and I paused. I blinked a few times, staring at the former guardsman. He chuckled bitterly.
“I’m only a [Spearman]— a low-leveled [Spearman] at that. I can’t even become an adventurer if I wanted to. I’m too weak. I’d die in under a year. I am… I am just a guard— that’s all I’ll be. I never should’ve left Whiteridge.”
Harlan dug into his pocket and slapped a bag of coins onto the table. He drew back as I slowly picked up his payment, watching him go. He held his head low, his lips creased. He dragged his feet behind him as he slowly walked towards the exit. I looked on as Bucky glanced back at me. She clucked, and I closed my eyes.
I thought about what he said— I looked back on what I just did. I had rejected Harlan because… he didn’t have the right Class. Or rather, was it because he wasn’t exactly qualified for the job? At least, that was my excuse.
But serving tables wasn’t a hard job. It was quite easy to learn. Work experience meant nothing when it was something that literally anyone could learn over the span of a day. It just felt… like I was treating him the same way others treated me. And I felt a pang of guilt.
Sure, I had heard bad things about him, and maybe that gave me all the more reason to turn him down. However, right now all I saw was a man at the end of his rope. Maybe he had made a few mistakes over the last few weeks. But that didn’t mean I shouldn’t at least give him a chance.
“Fine,” I called out. Harlan halted right by the doorway. He blinked, glancing back at me, and I tossed his bag of coins at him.
“Wha—” It smacked his face, and I snorted.
“That’s some slow reaction time for a [Warrior]…”
He quickly scrambled to pick up the bag of coins up from the ground as I walked up to him. Bucky followed, and he looked up at me, bent double with round eyes.
Wait, what do you mean by that? Why are you—” he started.
And I cut him off, “I’ll give you a job. But I’m not going to let you work for free, and if you’re a shit worker, I’ll fire you in under a week.”
Harlan just blinked. He gaped at me, clutching the bag of coins tightly against his chest. His mouth bobbed open.
“But I’m… just a guard. I’m a [Warrior]— I can’t even…” he trailed off.
“Anyone with half a brain is capable of taking a couple orders,” I said, and Bucky clucked in agreement. “And I doubt you’ll have any trouble serving trays to tables either.”
Harlan still wore an apprehensive look on his face. He averted his gaze, tempted by my offer, but not fully persuaded. I sighed, crouching down as I looked into his eyes.
“Look, your Class doesn’t define you. Why does it matter that you’re a [Warrior]? You don’t enjoy fighting, do you? That’s why you quit being a guardsman, right?”
“I…” He hesitated. Slowly, he shook his head. “I do not.”
“So why should you be forced to do something you hate just because the System says so?” I asked, holding his gaze.
Harlan chewed his lips. Bucky tilted her head. That was… probably blasphemy. Or maybe not. Other than Grat-ra’zun, I didn’t really think that most of the people of this world held the System in reverence. They— most of them, at the very least— just saw it as a fact of life. No different than the laws of physics back on Earth.
He rose to his feet as he looked down at the palm of his hand. He clenched a fist, nodding to himself.
“You’re… right,” Harlan whispered. “I don’t want to be a guard anymore. I’m tired of fighting— I’m tired of risking my life for the sake of others. It’s just serving tables, right? I… can do this.”
His words almost seemed familiar to me. Even though I barely knew this man, he reminded me of… well, myself. Someone who was lost and trying to find themself. Someone who was tired of what they were doing, and was now searching for something new.
He was someone who didn’t fit in. He was someone who tired of the stakes and danger of battle. He came to Wolfwater for a simple reason— to escape from it all and live a simple life. And while he might have squandered the few opportunities he had been given since arriving here, I was still going to give him at least one chance.
A smile slipped onto my face as I gave Harlan a nod of affirmation. “Yeah, it’s easy enough. Although… since I’ll be giving you lodging too, you won’t just be serving tables. I was thinking of giving you a more general job description.”
“What do you mean by that?” He looked up at me with a quizzical look.
“Your first job is simple,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Go and get me some customers.”
He paused. He glanced between me and the window, blinking a few times. “How am I supposed to do that?”
I shrugged casually. “I dunno, figure it out.”
And that was how I got my first employee.
—--
Guardian Angel Z357 swept his gaze over the vast room. He heard the shouts and screams. He saw the flying spells, but he descended, unaffected by their attacks. Phase Shift. It was a powerful Technique that allowed him to maintain a visible but incorporeal form— unneeded against such weak attacks. But the only alternative would be to slaughter his assailants.
And there were hundreds of them. Guardian Angel Z357 landed amidst the swarm of nagas as they hurled their magic his way. His form was translucent, but their spells passed through him like he wasn’t even there. His twelve eyes landed on the [Shaman] standing in the center of this tent. She was a naga too, but with a longer tail than the others. She slithered forward and raised a staff as a purple aura coalesced beneath her.
“Kill it, ya daft idiots!” she screamed.
Guardian Angel Z357 zipped straight ahead, but a pair of twisted tendrils shot out, grabbing him out of the air. He paused for a brief moment, mostly out of curiosity, watching as these void apparitions clung onto him despite his incorporeal form.
And the [Shaman] panted, grinning. “I got ya now! This is why you don’t mess with us, ya slimy bastard!”
As she raised her staff once more, Guardian Angel Z357 simply tore through the bindings. She blinked, and he grabbed her, before shooting up into the sky. He tore through the tent ceiling as the nagas screamed down below.
“That thin’ has got ta chief!”
“Ain’t someone gonna stop it?”
“We can’t hurt tha fucking—”
Their voices faded away, and he came to a halt high above the clouds. He held her up as she squirmed, her tail thrashing beneath her, and her two arms clinging onto his metallic hand. She stared at him with wide eyes, and he transmitted his thoughts simply, asking the same questions he had asked his previous target.
And the response he got from the naga was no different. “I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
His twelve eyes narrowed, and he began his interrogation.
[In Progress: (2/3) Void-touched Individuals Interrogated!]
Twice now, Guardian Angel Z357 had interrogated a Void-touched individual. And both times, he learned nothing. Despite his interrogation Techniques— even when magically compelled to speak— they revealed no new information to him. It was evident to him that either this method of interrogation was lacking, or maybe the denizens of Planet 16B were more clueless than he had assumed.
Even with the World System’s guidance, it seemed that he was not likely going to be making any progress towards finding the source of the return of the Fal-Deus anytime soon. There had to be at least a single anchor located somewhere that he needed to eradicate. If not one, then multiple. Otherwise, there was no reason for Guardian Angel Z357 to have been awakened.
He dropped the charred corpse of the naga before sweeping his gaze to the horizon. He saw the rising sun. And he saw this vast land mass beneath him. It was Alius— the continent of dwarves, gnomes, nagas, fairies, and more. So far, he had discovered nothing of use while exploring this part of Planet 16B. The closest he had come to learning more about this threat was in Laxo.
But Guardian Angel Z357’s programming had brought him here. His current objective was to interrogate those who were Void-touched, and he had detected the usage of their powers most frequently in Alius. However, it had borne no fruit. So it would be the intelligent course of action to pursue his investigation in Laxo.
For a moment, he was conflicted. He would be defying the World System’s guidance. And that nearly made him malfunction. But logic and reasoning won out as he concluded that the World System’s guidance was just that— guidance.
It was not infallible. His presence was better suited elsewhere, pursuing leads that would better serve his main directive. And so, Guardian Angel Z357 made his decision and returned to Laxo.
​

Author's Notes:
And we're back! Sorry for the impromptu break. Burnout got to me real bad last week.
Also, the fanart/fanfic contest is ending in about two hours' time! So if you're seeing this right as the chapter was posted, you can still make your submissions now!
AmeliaTLZHNovel
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I think a lot of our struggles around food is shaped by our childhood and comments etc. what are some of the things you noticed have affected you to this day?

Meet Amy Pham from Vietnam, a remarkable individual who has made significant contributions to the promotion and growth of the Planet IX brand. Her dedication and selflessness has been instrumental in the success of Planet IX, and she truly deserves recognition for her efforts.
​
https://preview.redd.it/6wq4ley4b2pa1.jpg?width=1082&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de1a2361f998698afcdd67eb53278f1b7399fa2a
One of Amy's most notable contributions is her unwavering commitment to charity campaigns on behalf of Planet IX, often at her own expense. She has gone above and beyond in organizing real-life events in Vietnam to promote the brand, using her own resources to make it happen.
​
https://preview.redd.it/iin161o3b2pa1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f4328633c982da78d11015a1408f41d40e2cd22
In addition to her charity work, Amy has also found creative ways to increase the value of IXT. One of her initiatives was creating the 10k IXT Club and 50k IXT Club, which attracted new investors and encouraged them to stake their IXT for 6-12 months. This has not only helped increase the value of IXT but also created a community around Planet IX.
Amy's commitment to the Planet IX community is also evident in her weekly Zoom calls, where she encourages people to play the game and engage with the brand. She has opened a Planet IX coffee shop and inspired others to do the same in different cities in Vietnam, which is a testament to the impact she has had on the community.
​
https://preview.redd.it/cxqd128wa2pa1.jpg?width=333&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55ee5e28b36061fcfb4ea54bbee41792ca5c484d
Amy also goes the extra mile by advertising the Planet IX logo on her cars and joining trade fairs to promote the brand. Her efforts have helped raise awareness of Planet IX and attract new players to the game.
​
https://preview.redd.it/t4wgaj3ya2pa1.jpg?width=2568&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99d607e9c8e75c0edd7e87458ad5d52c5cb0e3ad
Last but not least, Amy has set up an office in Ho Chi Minh City as a Planet IX hub. This hub serves as a central location for players to come together, share their experiences, and learn more about the game.
In summary, Amy's contributions to the success of Planet IX cannot be overstated. For all that she has done and continues to do, we express our deepest gratitude and admiration. Thank you, Amy!
​
https://preview.redd.it/blutojb8b2pa1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49f64f1d8a71104d6203dacde3db5c7f75a94487

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I'm really liking this app and the sign up offer right now is really good.
Here's the deal until the end of March
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Hold onto them for 15 days you'll get another 6 shares.
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First Previous [Next]()
Issac watched as the single refinery in sector had raw iron dumped into the cauldron, the induction coils around it heating up red hot as the metal inside the container bubbled and smoked away impurities. The coils dulled down automatically a minute later and the cauldron rotated, pouring molten iron into the facility where it would be poured into ingots for storage, moulds for hull plating and hundreds of other standard fabrication designs that the station might need.
The cargo ship was in its berth, the only one section one had so once the mining ship was done it would have to leave the berth for the docking ship to enter, undergo maintenance and then be moved into storage. Right next to the second cargo ship they’d moved here as well.
Without it in the berth, maintenance and prep had taken and extra day for Bradley to give the all clear. Miles and his security had put a team together and had a container with their equipment. A team of 10 was the limit. Both Issac and Miles wanted more, a team of 25 was preferable, but with the incident one of the things that was hit hard were the vacuum suits. And the security team only had 10 sets intact.
It was just another thing added to the list they needed from the JA cruiser.
His eyes drifted up from the smelter and docks, refocusing onto the titanium glass dome that was covered in a lattice of cracks but had done its job of keeping the atmosphere mostly in and drifted further until it reached the massive gate doors and the mechanism that let them open and close.
The jagged line that had cut through the door had transformed into a pixelated slice, large chunks of metal cut free and gently drifting on cables towards massive maintenance hatches for recycling…and beyond that in the dark was a light that was slightly brighter than the others. Orbiting that slightly brighter light was a ship and on that ship was what he needed to keep this station alive a little longer.
He looked down past the glass past the foundry until his eyes hit the bridge floor, his feet and then focussed on the cup in his hand.
“You’re feeling it aren't you?”
He jumps but doesn't. It's a strange thing he feels the response but then some part of him goes and stops it.
Turning around he sees Clarrissa standing at the door to the bridge. “I checked on the others too, the surviving officers. Told them I had to take the operation because of a tumour. Extended my contract by 15 years for it. Means I got to tell them what to expect. Got them to show me their medical scans, most of them anyway.”
“Expect what?” Issac asks.
“The things they don't tell you when you sign the contract. Your brain is now surplus to requirements, it's been superseded by the neural matrix in your skull. And parts of it are already dying off. The suppressants and drug cocktails giving your body the micro dosages of special elements your implant needs to keep growing, winding its way through your brain. Taking over comparatively sluggish organic processes.”
“Why.”
Clare shrugs. “The problem with evolution is it chooses what works best at the time, not what's efficient. The big wigs wanted a template for a better brain to build a better human around, and once they had that they realised that certain things were a bit surplus to requirements.”
“Such as?”
“Your occipital lobe is the first to go. It had a big lump of crystal and exotic elements shoved into it after all. Means that your vision will change. You’ll gain peripheral acuity, you’ll notice the blind spot of your eye until it disappears in a month or two. Your Parietal lobe, The bit above and in front of your vision centre goes strange next. Its basically working like a backup now. So it’ll simplify, shrink a bit. But that does mean multitasking becomes easier, things like maths and spacial awareness get better. But it also handles pain. So that’ll change.”
“How?” Issac asks, interrupting her with a raised hand. In response she pulls out a long needle and calmly pulls up her sleeve and removes a bandage to reveal where a dozen small wounds are and calmly shoves it through the muscle of her forearm.
“Pain is a message informing you of damage.” she says pulling the needle out. “the reaction ‘ow that hurts!’” she says expressing pain and clamping her hand over the new and bleeding hole. A moment later her expression levels out. And she calmly takes her hand away and starts redressing the area. “It becomes a choice. Your digital mind registers it and then you get the choice to react, or file it away for later.”
“And the frontal cortex?”
“Well, that's the part you need to really watch for. It is furthest from the implants initial location but also the one it messes with the most, because by then it's almost fully integrated. It’ll assault the area, things stop being as entertaining, as funny, some drugs loose effect, others get a lot stronger. Emotions level out…at least it did for me…others in the program I was part of”
“Other snakes.” Issac says.
“Yes…most of them stopped being able to empathise properly. They stopped thinking of the corp as a family and more like a machine. And themselves as the administrators. Answerable only to the board. They forgot that people need a reason beyond the job to work and would look for any reason to make the machine more efficient.”
“And you didn't?” Issac asks.
“I could have. It's so easy to let logic take over. But I'm a botanist. And you can't grow and care for plants without caring. But that's not the part I'm warning you of. A few of my colleagues went further. They started to crave the feelings they used to have but it takes more to get the same result. Relationships become funnels for satisfying urges. Sex becomes rape, light drug use becomes hardcore drug abuse. The thrill of a fight becomes the love of inflicting pain.”
“And every officer is now cyberized and walking down that path.”
“Which is why I'm being mostly honest with you and saying that IF I need to do my job. I will, without mercy.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” Issac asks.
“Yes. Because if you could see the thing you’d become you would be horrified. But now you know what the corp doesn't want you to know. You and the other officers can be on guard to the signs.” she says.
Issac sighs and nods. “You’re right…what do you think of our chances?”
“For the next year? Pretty good. Worst case scenario we’re actually fairly well equipped to rebuild somewhere. Best case scenario? We find other ships, other colonies, maybe jump back to Sol and find earth completely fine.” she replies.
Issac shakes his head. “That's not worse case. Worse case is we find other humans and they destroy the station. Or whatever caused this happens again. Or whoever caused it finds us. There’s a lot of ways we die, humanity dies. But not a lot of ways to survive…thanks for telling me what to expect. You’ll be watching tomorrow?”
“Yea…want me to come up here for it? My team knows their work well enough that I can let them work for a day or two.” she says crossing her arms and smiling at him.
Issac stares at her for a second looking for something that's not there before nodding. “I could use the company up here.”
“Then its a date. I’ll sort us out for lunch.” she says turning and leaving him.
He sighs and looks down at his cup. The liquid inside was cold now and his arm ached from being held up at that angle for so long. A note of worry crept in at how he hadn't noticed until he’d wanted to. Quickly walking over to a welfare station he empties the cold liquid and pours himself a cup of steaming hot caffeine with flavour then returns to his spot at the window watching as the cargo ship leaves, the second one moving on rails into the launching berth where two groups are waiting to load it up.
“System, terminal 9, bring up everything on cyberization implants…search sleep requirements and highlight.” he orders.
The next day he was watching the command terminal. It was off to one side of the bridge and dominated one wall. Right now it was showing exactly what the captain of the cargo ship was seeing, which was a close up and detailed view of the crippled cruiser before panning down to the planet.
“Look at the planet. If we trace back the orbit there’s a 100km gap in one of the slices that hit the planet…” the captain's voice faded out as someone else spoke up. “The cuts planetside aren't actually that deep, a few dozen metres mostly. It's just the scale of the impact. Damage to infrastructure would have been the killing blow. Look, nuclear fallout from reactor damage… a few defences around the city detonated too by the look of things….right the ship sorry I'm a research captain.”
The scope changed again back to the cruiser. “Docking bay for shuttles, Cargo door, or we could go close to the slice and move in from there…shuttle bay it is.”
“They’re not trained for this, remember.” Chief Botanist Clarrissa says walking in with two trays stacked on each other. “They’re going to be nervous, probably trigger happy.”
“Could you do better?” Issac asks.
“Leading them? No. If I had a squad of snakes. We’d go in cold and kill anything in our way to rip out what you needed. Which isn't exactly a good starting point when trying to form bonds of trust between former enemies.” she replies, popping the lid on one of the trays revealing a bowl of steaming rice and some processed insect proteins that look like what he’s been told pork is.
He watches her from the corner of his eye whilst he watches the command screen switch from ship camera to a vac suit camera entering in through a cut out airlock. Two security officers float into the airlock and begin setting up the cutting tools whilst another pair work outside to fit a plastic temporary airlock seal around the blown outer door.
By the time the inner airlock is cut through Clarissa hands him a steaming bowl of rice and not-pork drizzled in sauce. He accepts it and uses the spork to stab a lump of meat before scooping a mouthful of rice up and eating it and immediately gagging on the assault of flavours.
“Shit sorry, you’ve been eating paste since wake up haven't you?” Clare apologises, taking the bowl from him and handing him her yet unflavoured bowl once his coughing fit subsides.
He takes it and puts it to one side before reaching for his coffee and gulping down a mouthful then swishing another around to get rid of the remaining burn. “Spicy.” he notes.
“That was tomato, onion and bell pepper flavouring.” she replies with a smirk. “One of the advantages of having done this a few times post cyberization.” she says picking up the bowl and shoving a spoonful of saucy rice into her mouth. “Don't need to readjust my taste.” she finishes after swallowing the mouthful.
Issac shrugs and takes another small mouthful of just rice this time and lets the assault of texture and flavour batter him before swallowing it and moving onto the pork.
As he does the security team sweep through the corridors of the ship, a secondary screen showing a digital map of where they’ve been and what each section of the ship was for. A large portion of the space they move through is just cargo racks and stores that they quickly scan over, letting the cargo ship and by extension the station systems catalogue as they move.
Issac watches as the team secure their entrance to the ship and start moving through the rear section bit by bit. It doesn't take them long to find the first group of cyro pods. They’re easily twice the size of the ones on the tyco, each one when touched shows a display with the basic information of who’s inside. Name age and health.
“Can it be removed?” he asked before cursing and remembering that there was a good few minutes delay between him and the ship.
“Looks like the pods are built into the ship, it’ll take us some time to figure out a way to remove them safely. Lets get a count first and search for anyone awake, or any corpses.'' The search continued through the cruiser for an hour before the team returned to the cargo ship to rest, refuel their vac suits and go at it again. As they did they identified locked doors for armouries, the engine bay and a series of entrances that matched up with the exposed sections around the slice and the reactor.
The next day the cargo ship moved to the front section of the ship and the security team began again from a forward airlock and began mapping the front end of the ship. They didn't find any cryopods in long rows like last time but did find a locked and sealed room that didn't match anything the teams knew about. By the time they’d mapped everything it was time to wait on a command decision form Issac on how to proceed.
“What do you think?” he asked Clare who had joined him for a second day on the bridge.
“Hmm. if there’s any officers chances are they’re in a secure area close to what we think is the bridge. Every other section of the ship we’re fairly sure we know about. So it depends if you want to scrap as much as possible then wake up crew, or wake them up first and see about cooperating.”
Issac doesn't reply instantly. Instead he’s chewing over possible outcomes and what way is best to proceed. After a minute of silence he nods. “I want them to cut into what we think is the officers pod bay. Extract a few pods and bring them over along with whatever supplies we can easily grab. Get into the cargo bay for that but don't destructively open the bay doors. It’ll be easier if we’re not rescuing drifting supplies.” he orders.
Half an hour later the security team were moving again. This time they moved through the ship with purpose towards the sealed forward section and after setting up a pressurised zone, started cutting into the armoured door. It took them longer than expected since the door was reinforced beyond their expectations but after a brief consultation with one of the cargo ships crew they changed up their cutting mix and sliced through the bulkhead leaving melted hot slag around a large hole. Inside what just what they expected, more cryopods. What they didn't expect was a single starved person holding a rifle aiming at the door, pod open.
“Tyco security forces! Stand down! We’ve boarded the ship looking for survivors!” the officer in charge shouts.
The JA officer looks around and backs up still pointing his gun at the security team before backing up to the back wall. “STAY BACK I’LL S-Shoot!” he screams.
“Easy. everyone out, just me inside.” the security officer orders.
“Smart call.” Clare notes watching it from the bridge with Issac.
“Why?”
“The poor sod pulls the trigger, kills only one guy, the rest throw in a stun grenade and merc him. Recover the pods carry on with one casualty.” she notes.
Issac nods at the logic and returns his attention to the screen.
“Easy sir. We’re from tyco, your ships crippled. Something hit you just like it hit us.”
“LIAR. I i i i it w-was an attack. My pod opened so I could assess damage but the power went down, the door wouldn't open…orders are to stay awake and monitor situation…”
“So you did your job. And now a rescue team is here. But listen. We’ve searched the entire ship. Most of your crew seem to be alive but we don't know how to open these pods safely. You do…tell you what. One of the guys has a nutrient pack here. You look like you need it more than we do…”
The skinny officer nods still wide eyed. “Michel, grab your nutrient pack and pass it here would you?” the security man shouts.
A moment later a hand moves into view holding a foil pack with a spout on it. The officer takes it and holds it out. “I'm going to drift forward to the middle of the room ok. I’ll open the pack and take a sip so you know its not bad and then you can have the rest ok?”
The JA officer shakily nods and Issac notes the gun drop down slightly. The camera shows the security officer move forwards, then after a moment of sound. “Ugh, I swear it tastes worse than the usual stuff.” he groans before pushing it towards the officer. “I'm warning you that stuff is nasty. But it keeps you alive.”
The JA officer doesn't pay attention, instead taking the pack with one hand and sipping at the slurry inside, he grimaces and nearly heaves the precious sludge back up but within moments the pack is empty and he sighs in relief.
“How long have you been awake?” the security guard asks.
“Don't know. Since the incident.” the officer replies.
“We’ve been in the system, about 2 weeks now. So well done on surviving this long.” he says. “Listen my orders are to recover as many pods as possible, can we move these things safely?”
The officer nods. “Where to?”
“We have a cargo hauler docked to the ship. We’re going to take whatever we can. And leave the wreckage.”
“Wreckage?”
“That's right. Your ships been cut in half. Our’s isn't jump worthy but it's in one piece. And we have room for you and all your crew.”
“But your tyco.”
“And your JA and whoever hit you hit us just the same.” the security officer replies.
They go back and forth for a while more until the officer agrees to put on a crew survival suit and follow the security officer to the cargo ship. Once inside he’s shown the damage to the ship and the planet below.
“What did this?”
“We don't know. But we still need your help and your crew's help.”
“Are there any JA ships in system?”
“Not that we’ve managed to spot. Our stations scanners were damaged and still getting repaired.”
The officer sighs. “Alright, h-h-here's what you need to do.”

Hello everybody first time poster. I have a question we recently had a case opened against me and my wife, when they came out they told us that we would have to do a drug test on a certain day that day came and went and she contacted me shortly after to say hey we're going to reschedule the drug test for this week and she failed to send me the information again to go do it. My question is should I just wait for her to contact me again or should I call her supervisor and get it scheduled that way? Or contact a lawyer?
Located in South Carolina