The honeycomb paper wrap offers an innovative and eco-friendly alternative for packaging. Its unique structure, resembling a honeycomb, consists of layers of paper cells that provide exceptional strength while remaining lightweight. This solution is ideal for protecting fragile items during transit, minimizing the risk of damage. Additionally, the honeycomb paper wrap is made from renewable materials, making it a sustainable choice that reduces environmental impact without compromising on performance.

What Is Proline?
Proline (or L-Proline), is a non-essential amino acid the body can produce on its own. While it’s non-essential because our bodies can produce it, along with glycine, it essential for the synthesis of collagen, the most abundant protein in humans, being found in every cell throughout the body. Proline is the primary amino acid involved in the synthesis of collagen. Collagen is the main structural protein that constitutes all human connective tissues including skin, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, veins, and arteries.
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/amino-acids/single-aminos/proline.html
#Proline

I live in a busy city in India(Bangalore), there was a new apartment being built near my school and everytime i saw the cranes i wanted to climb them so bad, but too much security so i just started looking around for towers found a few cell towers and climbed them,I want to know what other structures are there that you would recommend climbing?and what are some basic instructions, precautions or anything i should look out for.

Etizolam ------ The real life Depaz Pills
​
Etizolam Tablets ETIZEX-1
A Thienodiazepine Derivative with Anxiolytic and Hypnotic Effects
Etizolam is a drug that belongs to a group of substances called thienodiazepines, which are chemically similar to benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines are widely used to treat anxiety, insomnia, seizures, and muscle spasms. They work by enhancing the activity of a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which inhibits the activity of nerve cells in the brain and produces a calming effect.
Etizolam differs from benzodiazepines in that it has a thiophene ring instead of a benzene ring in its molecular structure. This makes it a thienotriazolodiazepine, which is a subclass of thienodiazepines. Etizolam is also more potent than most benzodiazepines, meaning that it has stronger effects at lower doses. Etizolam was first patented in 1972 and approved for medical use in 19831. It is currently marketed in Japan, Italy, and India under various brand names, such as Etizest, Etilaam, Etizex, Depas, Sedekopan, and Pasaden2. It is not approved by the FDA in the US, but it is legal for research purposes in some states2.
​
Japanese Depaz

Medical Uses

Etizolam is mainly used to treat anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and social anxiety disorder (SAD). It can also be used to treat short-term insomnia, especially when it is caused by anxiety or stress. Etizolam has been shown to be effective in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression in clinical trials3 . It can also improve sleep quality and duration.
Etizolam has some additional benefits that are not common among benzodiazepines. For example, etizolam has antiplatelet effects, meaning that it can prevent blood clots from forming. This can be useful for preventing the recurrence of chronic subdural hematoma (a type of bleeding in the brain) after neurosurgery. Etizolam can also counteract the effects of platelet-activating factor (PAF), which is a molecule that causes inflammation and allergic reactions. This can help prevent bronchoconstriction (narrowing of the airways) and hypotension (low blood pressure) caused by PAF.
​
Ame-chan is dosing Depaz pills

Side Effects

Like other benzodiazepines, etizolam can cause side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, memory impairment, muscle weakness, and impaired coordination. These effects can impair one’s ability to drive or operate machinery and increase the risk of falls and accidents. Etizolam can also cause dependence and withdrawal symptoms if used for a long time or at high doses. Dependence means that one needs to take more of the drug to achieve the same effect or to avoid withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can include anxiety, insomnia, irritability, tremors, seizures, and psychosis. To avoid these problems, etizolam should be used only as prescribed by a doctor and for a short period of time (usually no more than 4 weeks).
Etizolam can also interact with other drugs and substances, such as alcohol, opioids, antidepressants, antihistamines, and grapefruit juice. These interactions can increase the effects or side effects of etizolam or the other substances involved. Therefore, one should inform their doctor about all the medications and supplements they are taking before using etizolam.
Etizolam can also cause some rare but serious side effects that require immediate medical attention. These include:

• Blepharospasm: A condition where the eyelids twitch involuntarily. This can affect one’s vision and quality of life. Blepharospasm is more common in women who use etizolam.
• Erythema annulare centrifugum: A type of skin rash that forms circular red patches with raised edges. This can be itchy and uncomfortable. Erythema annulare centrifugum is a rare reaction to etizolam.
• Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: A life-threatening condition where the body temperature rises rapidly and the muscles become rigid. This can also cause confusion, agitation, delirium, and coma. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome can occur when etizolam is stopped abruptly or when it is combined with other drugs that affect the brain.

Conclusion

Etizolam is a thienodiazepine derivative that has anxiolytic and hypnotic effects. It is used to treat anxiety disorders and insomnia, and it has some additional benefits such as antiplatelet and anti-PAF effects. However, etizolam can also cause side effects such as drowsiness, dependence, withdrawal, and rare but serious reactions. Therefore, etizolam should be used with caution and under medical supervision.
WARNING: Please take only the recommended internet dosage.

https://www.cell.com/structure/fulltext/S0969-2126(23)00166-1

Invitation to Tender for the Chassis
Invitation to Tender for the Battery (Page 26 on both for the Tender Summary and tech specs)
Bit's that I have plucked out of interest (Emphasis mine)

• The aim of this ITT is a revolution of the chassis architecture, to meet challenging technical and operational requirements compared with today’s car. In particular, the future car should ensure it is well adapted to the specificities of the championship within urban environments, while adhering to relevant FIA safety criteria. It shall have improved aerodynamic performance, with some specification alteration dependent on the use case.
  
• The tenderer must consider a broader and deeper front section of the survival cell, beyond the requirements of only the driver controls, safety structures. The volume shall accommodate the front powertrain kit, specific to each Manufacturer
  
• The bodywork includes the front and rear bodywork, front and rear wings, sidepods, floor, aero devices, suspension members covers, etc. Two (2) different aerodynamic specifications will have to be accommodated, via movable bodywork parts/elements or two separate bodywork kits.
  
• Considering 2 identical cars running directly behind one another at 10m and 20m gaps (measured between front axle centre planes), the downforce and drag of the following car must not be lower than 75% (at 10m) and 95% (at 20m) of the lead car (obtained via approved CFD simulation). The FIA will reserve the right to adjust the targets accordingly to the final car characteristics.
  

Figures: Max Power Race: 600kW, depending on duty Cycle Max Power Quali: 600kW, depending on duty Cycle Max Power Attack Mode: 600kW, depending on duty Cycle Max Power Regen: 700kW Max Power Discharge (Front/Rear): 350kW Target Car Weight (Incl. driver): 930kg Max Car Width: 1800mm Max Car Length: 5000mm Max Car Height: 1250mm Battery Usable Energy: 55kWh Standard Charging Power: Min. 100kW In-race Charging Power: 700kW In-race Charging Time: Up to 30 seconds Target Drag (SCx): 0.65 & 0.75 Target Downforce (SCz): 2 & 3 (From my very basic understanding of aerodynamics, they have forgotten a negative symbol for the downforce)
For the Duty Cycles above it outlines 4 duty cycles: a) 300kW Race (low-drag aero config) b) 600kW Race (low-drag aero config) c) 600kW Qualy (low-drag aero config) d) 600kW Race - no energy save (High-downforce aero config)
I have almost certainly missed some interesting things so do have a look over it.

I just read a bit more about neuroinflammation.
I was not a fan of theory but it makes sense. Inflammation activates cells which's job is to destroy damaged parts. While imflamation is present healing can't start.
You need to lower inflamation down for longer periods of time in order to have progress.
https://preview.redd.it/2a6ly4irvh4b1.png?width=689&format=png&auto=webp&s=058c44db2a9196da215a5ba4f9aa1b4f263301ba
Boost BDNF, NGF and reduce inflamation. Exercise is anti inflamatory. Don't eat or drink inflammatory foods. Eat a lot of anti oxidants.
Chronic inflammation causes depression. Depression is basically slowing down and loss of cells in hipocampus.
Cells which are inflamed cause microglia to activate. Microglia are good when there are acute injuries BUT when they are overly active they inhibit healing processes.
It could be that people who have longer symptoms were already in inflamed state of mind and thus need a long time to heal.
Chronic inflammation is linked to neurodegenerative disease like alzheimer.
However i still believe in structural damage BUT lower inflammation should be your priority asap. Sooner you lower your inflammation.
Anecdotal evidence which further proves why inflammation is key issue of recovery. I basically did psilocybin shrooms after 6 months of abstinence. My depression is greatly reduced after 1 medium-high dose. I was suicidal again but it's 80% gone. I already did this early in my recovery but i decided to do this again close to 1 year mark.
5HTP-2A receptors are hallucinogenic where psilocybin binds to. ALSO same receptors when activated SUPRESS immunity response in body meaning taking psilocybin reduces inflammatory response.
This is 5HTP-2A receptor is linked also to neurogenesis in hippocampus and that's why mushrooms have anti inflammatory and anti depressant reaction in nervous system.
Do as you wish with them they have been a key for my mental health and i seriously don't know where i would be without them.
​
If you want to try or not that's not the point. Find a way to reduce neuroinflammation ASAP. Longer you are inflamed more time to recover you will need. SSRIs can do similar thing as psilocybin but slower, try to consult your doctor if you are depressed.
Brain fog could be linked to inflammation and structural damage. Either way you need to get on anti inflammatory diet and get supplements which promote nerve growth. Recovery from PCS will not be fast but this is your best chance regarding cell health. You also should check other factors not related to cells like neck and other changes brought by concussions.
I myself will try to see what happens if i go 100% on anti inflammatory protocol i first need to make one suitable for me at moment but i think there is a big potential at least in my case.
I will make mega list in future about everything i can find about neuroinflammation, from vitamins, supplements, foods, activities etc... How it all interplays together, where are possible future remedies and what lies on horizon for those who are willing to experiment.
​

The purpose of this sub-reddit is to connect users/students with top quality academic freelance writers. The other purpose of this sub-reddit is to promote the ethical use of academic writing services to create research/model projects. Below I will list ways to intelligently use the products you receive, as well as the benefits!

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Students should use the papers they buy as research guides as opposed to turning it in. Sometimes it's difficult to start an essay and think of talking points for your body paragraphs. By hiring a writer to create a model essay on your topic, you can analyze the points they made throughout, as well as utilize the sources they found!
Having an expert crafted paper as a guide also allows you to develop supporting points, possible rebuttals to include, closing statements, as well as acting as inspiration to build off the content that's already presented.

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READ BELOW
Please remember discussion or implying academic dishonesty in your post is against Reddit and Essay_Writing_service policies!

Basically, I want you to criticize what I've written as much as possible. Specifically, I'd like to avoid any of the following:
- Argument from emotion
- Non-sequitur
- Misrepresenting the pro-choice position.
Also lmk if my framework seems like a fair one to use and fits with my arguments. If you see anything that makes you reconsider part of your position or that you think is a strong point, feel free to mention that too. (I can dream, right?) If you have formal debate experience, that's a plus. I will try to follow up with all comments.
If you want to insult me personally, that's fine. At least then I know what to expect (lol). I'd rather have my position torn apart here than in the middle of a formal debate.
​
Plz read argument with formatting and sources here (reddit doesn't let me underline):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JgBKj2a0GKNwMkz-DpDalejAGWDbWpSY6JZU_6F7JHQ/edit
​
My opening so far:
Framework:
Definitions
Harm: To adversely affect
Modus Ponens: A logical argument form
Person: An individual with inherent moral value
Prima facie: True under default circumstances
Burdens
This debate should be evaluated on the moral basis of protecting human rights. Essentially, all persons possess inalienable rights that ought to be protected. Furthermore, the importance of a right is directly proportional to the loss in utility caused by violating it. A teenager’s right not to be stabbed, for example, is more important than their right to a high school education. The merits of each proposal, with regards to abortion legality, should be judged based on how well they protect human rights. If the harm to a fetus from abortion is proportional to the harm caused to a person by violating some human right, then abortion is also a violation of human rights.
Human rights should be afforded to all persons. I hold that a person is a human being who can in some way be harmed. Furthermore, I hold that having one’s lifespan reduced is a harm. Someone with CIPA may not physically suffer when they are killed, but they have been harmed nonetheless.
Uncertainty Principle
For the sake of argument, suppose we are uncertain about the moral status of an unborn child. In this case, abortion is akin to drunk driving, where the risk of killing someone is low but not negligible. People have the freedom to drink alcohol and drive a car prima facie but not when such actions risk harming an innocent person. Similarly, if there is a non-negligible chance that an unborn child is a person, abortion ought to be illegal.
My Case
Arguments 1-4 will deal with establishing the personhood of unborn children. Arguments 5-6 will demonstrate that as a result, abortion is unjustified. Argument 7 will deal with the efficacy of abortion bans.

1. Killing Human Beings is Wrong:

Unborn Children are Human Beings
The overwhelming scientific consensus holds that a human being is formed at conception.
Significance of Killing Humans
Note that a human being is a person regardless of their stage of development (infant, teenager, adult). It hardly makes a difference to someone whether they are aborted as an embryo or killed painlessly in their sleep two minutes after their birth. Both actions are immoral, because they achieve a similar effect.
An alternate view holds that moral value should come from intelligence, past experiences, ability to feel pain, level of dependency, or level of development. But a number of obvious counterexamples show this view to be flawed:
An infant born in a coma with no past conscious experiences is a person, and killing them is wrong.
Adult dogs and dolphins are smarter than newborns, but killing a newborn is more evil than killing a dog or a dolphin.
Newborns are dependent on their parents and on society, but killing them is wrong.
Killing a child is as bad as killing an adult, if not worse. Thus, it is clear that the potential to live a long life outweighs a human’s level of biological development.
Therefore, we should treat human beings as persons, regardless of past experiences or stage of development.

1. Unborn Children Have a Future Like Ours:

Coma Analogy
Suppose there is someone in a deep coma, who will awaken in nine months. They have lost all of their memories, and they will not recognize anyone. Clearly, it would be morally impermissible to kill them. I argue that any reason why it would be wrong to kill the comatose individual can also be used to show that abortion is wrong. This is because murder affects a person’s future—and unborn children have a future like ours.
Associated Harms
The harm principle holds that actions should generally be considered moral unless they cause some kind of harm to someone else. Therefore, if the action of killing the comatose person is wrong, it must be because it has one or several harmful effects. I can think of several:
Missed opportunities: Upon awakening, the comatose individual could have lived a long life
Lack of choice: No choice was given to the individual whose opportunities were lost, because we did not wait for them to wake up and made the decision for them
Violation of a social contract: We would not want someone to kill us or steal our opportunities, so it would be wrong to do so to someone else
Note that all of these harms also occur when an unborn child is killed. If these harms make killing the comatose individual wrong, then they certainly make killing an unborn child wrong.

1. Development of Human Beings is Continuous:

Drawing a Line
At any point, a being is either a person or not a person. Therefore, operating on the assumption that a toddler is a person, my opponent will have to designate some point in pregnancy at which point a non-person becomes a person, despite the “non-person” and “person” sharing similar DNA, cell structures, etc. Of course, if we designate human beings as persons from the point of conception, we can avoid this dilemma.
Transitive Property
I hold that a human adult is the same person that they were as an unborn child. I think we can argue that people remain the same person throughout their life—otherwise Ted Bundy was an innocent person being held in prison for crimes someone else committed. I think we can agree then that someone in a coma is the same person that they were before and the same person after they awaken. We can credit this to several factors:
Equivalent DNA
Continuous development
Narrative continuity (the location of the person remains unchanged or changed gradually)
But if we accept any of these factors to argue that people in comas are the same person as they were before, then we must also accept that adults are the same person that they were in utero—due to similar DNA, continuous development, etc.

1. Removing an Unborn Child’s Ability to Have Conscious Experiences is Wrong:

Operation Thought Experiment
Suppose there exists an operation that can be performed on an unborn child—one that will hinder their eyesight in the future with no medical benefit. Performing this operation on an unborn child would be immoral, even though it removes potential experiences, rather than ones that the unborn child is currently capable of.
Removing more potential experiences (ability to hear, ability to feel, etc.) would be worse, not better.
Modus Ponens
P1: Removing an unborn child’s potential conscious experiences is wrong.
P2: Abortion is removing an unborn child’s potential conscious experiences.
C1: Therefore, abortion is wrong.

1. Killing vs. Letting Die:

My View
It is true, in earlier stages of pregnancy, that an unborn child depends on their mother’s body to survive. However, due to the circumstances of pregnancy, I argue that abortion is not simply “letting someone die,” but that it is a direct killing morally indistinguishable from murder.
Means of Abortion
Abortions are performed by sucking an unborn child through a vacuum hose and crushing their organs or by sucking out their brains with a vacuum. This is not simply “withdrawing bodily support” but direct killing. Even if you disagree with my argument below, the means by which abortion is performed involve directly killing the child, which is simply unjustifiable.
Prima Facie Violations of Bodily Autonomy
Forced labor (such as carrying heavy objects)
Forced medical procedures
Bodily autonomy is a prima facie right, meaning that with all things being equal, violating it is unjust. However, in the case of abortion, all things are not equal. This is why pregnancy is not listed above; it never occurs in a prima facie scenario.
Three States of Dependence
Consider the following three states of dependence:
A: Person X does not require your body to survive
B: Person X does require your body to survive, and your body is currently supporting them
C: Person X does require your body to survive, and your body is not currently supporting them
Third Syllogism
P1: Actively making Person X go from states A -> C is morally equivalent to murder.
P2: Abortion involves making Person X go from states A -> C.
C1: Therefore, abortion is morally equivalent to murder.
P1
Suppose Sam is a doctor who can fix a stab wound. Sam stabs Jack (A -> C). The point is not whether Sam should be legally forced to heal Jack (though he certainly has a moral obligation to). The point is that an action from A -> C is murder.
Suppose a woman carries her newborn child into the forest full of wild beasts (A -> B). She then decides she is tired, or perhaps she is scared of being slowed down by the weight of an infant. For whatever reason, she leaves her child in the forest (B -> C) where it is then eaten by wild beasts. This action is clearly infanticide, and lawmakers have a duty to prosecute a parent who makes such a decision. Going from A -> B and then from B -> C is therefore unjust killing. The “extra step” of A -> B does not absolve the woman of murder.
P2
Before conception, Person X (the unborn child) does not yet exist. Therefore, the period before conception is State A.
Abortion in most cases involves actively taking an action that then leads to pregnancy (A -> B) and then terminating the pregnancy (B -> C). Hence, like the forest analogy, it is an unjustified killing of a human being and should be classified as murder.

1. Duty to Save:

Even if we granted that abortion was simply “letting someone die” instead of direct killing, it would not follow that abortion ought to be legal.
Weighting of Rights
Recall that the importance of a right is directly proportional to the loss in utility caused by violating said right. Since the government has a duty to protect human rights, we should default to protecting the right that is more important. Being killed at a young age prevents someone from experiencing their entire life. Being pregnant lasts for nine months, and despite being inconvenient, it does not prevent a pregnant person from experiencing those nine months.
Drowning Child Thought Experiment
Virtue ethics are fundamental in our understanding of human rights. Essentially, if a child’s life depends on Person X specifically, and the utility lost from helping them is significantly less than the value of the child’s life, then Person X has a duty to help them. This scenario is so extreme that it follows from any reasonable interpretation of virtue ethics.
Consider the following scenario. (It comes from a pro-choice philosopher, so no one can accuse me of cherry picking):
You notice a child has fallen in a pond and appears to be drowning. To wade in and pull the child out would be easy but it will mean that you get your clothes wet and muddy, and by the time you go home and change you will have missed your first class.
It’s clear from the doctrine of virtue ethics that saving the child is a moral obligation. Failing to save the child would be almost equivalent, morally speaking, to directly killing them. The government sometimes enforces this moral obligation via duty to protect laws. Since everyone has the responsibility to save a child in the circumstances I outlined, it follows that duty to protect laws ought to apply to everyone as well. Note that these laws are even more ubiquitous when Person X has directly endangered the person who depends on them. Surely if Person X throws the child into the pond, not rescuing the child would be murder.
So a pregnant person would have the duty not to let a child die, even if pregnancy is inconvenient. The child’s life is simply far more valuable than the utility lost from pregnancy. Furthermore, 99% of abortions are performed on children conceived consensually, making the moral obligation to save them even greater, as noted above.
Responsibilities of Parents
Infanticide was common in Ancient Rome. If we can agree that these killings were wrong, then it stands to reason that parents have a moral obligation to prevent their children from dying. In ancient times, this would include carrying a child around, feeding them, housing them, and in many cases, breastfeeding.
Comparison to Pregnancy
P1: The right of a child to live outweighs their parent’s right not to raise them.
P2: Pregnancy is less inconvenient than raising a child.
C1: The right of a child to live outweighs their mother’s right to avoid pregnancy.
The infanticide example establishes P1. Hence, I will argue for P2. It is simply the case that raising a child in ancient times would require physical labor, which can lead to all sorts of health conditions. The loss in utility from raising a child is greater than that lost from pregnancy, but it does not follow that infanticide in Ancient Rome was somehow justified.

1. Effects of an Abortion Ban:

The clear conclusion of the evidence available is that abortion bans save lives. Essentially, a law against abortion gives women plenty of strong incentives not to get an abortion, but no reasons to get an abortion that they wouldn’t have before. Arguing that no woman will decide against abortion due to a ban is simply illogical.
Lives Lost From Abortion
In 2020, there were 620,000 abortions legally performed in the US. One study calculated the value of a human life as approximately seven million dollars, and as such, legalized abortion has an annual cost of $4.3 trillion dollars. Add the per capita contribution of individuals to US GDP, about $70,248. If one works from age 18 to 65, 47 * 70,248 * 620,000 is an additional $2.0 trillion lost in GDP annually from abortion.
Measures of Efficacy
Women whose pregnancy occurred before Roe vs. Wade had dramatically lower abortion rates. Legal abortion before Roe reduced teenage birth rates; in fact, legalizing abortion had a higher impact on pregnancy rates than contraception. Abortion rates by state of residence show that states with heavier abortion restrictions have lower abortion rates, even when accounting for women who cross state lines. When Bulgaria liberalized its abortion laws, the abortion rate increased by a factor of 60. Furthermore, abortion is measurably reduced, not simply “driven underground.” Restricting abortion in Bulgaria, when controlling for other factors, increased fertility rates by about 12%.
Policy Additions
Abortions bans already save lives, but going abroad to obtain an abortion could also be made illegal, similarly to laws against sex tourism. If you think an abortion ban would be hard to enforce, consider the difficulty of enforcing child pornography bans, in which case both the buyer and the seller have an incentive to remain secret. The government still manages to track down people who access this illicit content.
EDIT: Thank you to everyone who's commented so far! A lot of useful feedback.

Melanoma, a type of skin cancer, is diagnosed through a combination of methods that involve clinical examination, imaging techniques, and, in most cases, a biopsy. Here is an overview of the diagnostic process for melanoma:

1. Clinical examination: A healthcare professional will conduct a thorough examination of the skin, looking for any suspicious moles, growths, or areas of concern. They will evaluate the size, shape, color, and borders of the skin lesions and assess other characteristics that may indicate melanoma.
2. Dermoscopy: Dermoscopy, also known as dermatoscopy or epiluminescence microscopy, involves using a handheld instrument called a dermatoscope to examine the skin in more detail. The dermatoscope provides a magnified view of the skin, enabling the healthcare professional to evaluate the structures and patterns within the mole or lesion.
3. Imaging tests: In some cases, imaging tests may be recommended to assess the extent of the melanoma and determine if it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs. These imaging tests can include ultrasound, CT (computed tomography) scans, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), or PET (positron emission tomography) scans.
4. Biopsy: A biopsy is the definitive diagnostic procedure for melanoma. It involves the removal of a sample of the suspicious skin lesion or mole for laboratory analysis. There are different types of biopsies, including:

• Excisional biopsy: The entire suspicious mole or lesion is surgically removed, along with a small amount of surrounding healthy tissue.
• Incisional biopsy: Only a portion of the mole or lesion is removed for analysis.
• Punch biopsy: A small, cylindrical tool is used to remove a deep sample of tissue from the lesion.
• Shave biopsy: The top layers of the skin are shaved off to obtain a sample for analysis.
• The biopsy sample is sent to a pathology laboratory where a pathologist examines it under a microscope to determine if cancer cells are present and, if so, to evaluate their characteristics, such as thickness, depth, and the presence of any concerning features.

Once a diagnosis of melanoma is confirmed, further tests, such as a sentinel lymph node biopsy or imaging studies, may be performed to assess the spread of the cancer and determine the appropriate treatment plan.
It is important to consult with a qualified healthcare professional, such as a dermatologist or an oncologist, if you have any suspicious skin lesions or concerns about melanoma. They can guide you through the diagnostic process and provide appropriate care based on your individual circumstances.

<<< First part of the post
My post got cancelled the first time, so I’m trying again. Wish me luck! :)

August 26, 2010. The reconstruction

For the Court, “decisive and definitive proof of the correctness of [this] reconstruction” of the relationship between Sabrina and Ivano and between the former and the victim, comes from a “datum of extraordinary genuineness” – Sarah’s last diary entry:

• August 26: “Today had the sweet awakening with the drill, last night then I went out for a while with Sabrina and her friend Mariangela, we went to the brewery for a quick red bull, then we came home and Sabrina as usual got mad because she says that when Ivano is there I’m always with him, and I believe you at least he cuddles me unlike her, I could have 1 boyfriend like that! But whatever, I’m used to it anyway.....By Buffy Rock 95”

According to all the testimonial evidence, on both the morning and afternoon of August 26, Sarah (once she’d returned from San Pancrazio) went to Sabrina’s house; but why would she do so if the relationship had broken down? The Court considers this issue, advanced by the defense, and replies that

once her brother had left, hanging out with Sabrina represented, for young Sarah, hungry for life and leisure, the only opportunity to get out, to escape from a family environment that appeared to her to be rigid and, at that time, with her grandfather dying and her mother busy caring for him, certainly bleak and oppressive.

Anna Pisanò’s testimony sheds light on the underlying conflict between the cousins, although her account of the morning – as well as the other portions of her testimony – has been rejected by the defense, who argued that Pisanò’s role as a “super-witness” (more on this later) was the by-product of her resentment towards Sabrina, of “her willingness to create misunderstandings” and of the shared religious beliefs with Concetta. The Court rejected this argument reporting that Pisanò and Sabrina were quite intimate friends before the disappearance and the religious practices Pisanò participated to still don’t explain why she would have falsely accused Sabrina. In any case, Pisanò was a client of Sabrina; she said she was close with her, although the latter contradicted her in court.
7:55-9:30 am: Pisanò said to the investigators and later to the judges that, on the morning of August 26, she went to Sabrina’s for a session (she worked as a beautician off the books); after like an hour, Sarah arrived. Pisanò noticed that she looked unhappy and that she didn’t greet her as usual. The prosecution used this episode to argue the confrontation of the night before continued on August 26, but the defense replied that either a) Pisanò was disliked by Sarah because two years before she had said to Sarah that her father was a womanizer or b) the story narrated by Pisanò was false since the other witnesses who saw Sarah that morning don’t report anything unusual about her. Make of that what you will.
12-12:30 pm: Once she had returned to her own home, coming from the Misseris, Sarah informed her mother that she was “probably” going to the beach with Sabrina and that, in any case, she would have to wait for confirmation by her cousin. Immediately thereafter, Sarah had asked to accompany her father, who was headed for meat and fruit shopping.1:45-2 pm: Sarah left her house and headed for Sabrina’s without having received the confirmation message from Sabrina. This is corroborated by

• testimonial evidence (Sarah’s housekeeper Pantir, since the first time she was heard by the investigators, on September 1, 2010, but also later, on December 14, has always maintained that Sarah left the house to go to her cousin’s approximately shortly before 2 pm, after having quickly eaten a chicken cutlet; Antonio Petarra, an Avetrana resident and neighbor of Sarah, saw her walking down the street around 1:45 pm; likewise, a young couple;
• forensic-pathological evidence (medical examiner Strada calculated the ToD considering that Sarah had eaten precooked and homogenized food around 1:30 pm; this was contested by the defense for two reasons: a) the first, methodological, is based on the failure of the state’s forensic pathologist to analyze separately gastric content and b) the scientific questionability of the consequences of stress on the digestive phenomenon);
• cell tower evidence (the first worrying contact someone had with Sarah’s phone was Sabrina’s call at 2:42 pm – the call went to voicemail, apparently making Sabrina go in hyperventilation – and from the analysis of cell towers we know that, during this call, Sarah’s terminal pinged off the tower 40067-60241-TA-AVETRANA-Via Ludovico Ariosto-Sett.1, serving Michele’s garage, while, in the previous contacts from her schoolmate and Sabrina, the tower used was the one serving the Scazzis and the Misseris. This tells us that either Sarah was killed shortly before 2:42 pm by Michele in the garage or that Sarah’s corpse was moved in the garage by someone after she had been killed inside the house. If we hold forensic pathologist Strada’s conclusion that Sarah was strangled with a belt as true, the second hypothesis seems the more likely narration. If we additionally take into account that Sarah didn’t reply to her schoolmate messages and rings – and she was used to respond instantly according to the latter – we can conclude that Sarah was already dead at 2:25 pm and that moves the clock back also for Sarah’s departure from her house).

The Court stated that the reconstruction advanced by the defense – according to which Sarah waited for the 2:25 pm confirmation message in order to go to Sabrina’s – can’t be accepted also because it didn’t make sense for Sarah not to reply to her schoolmate Francesca’s messages if she was really waiting for the confirmation message and wasn’t engaged in any housework. The most plausible reasons why she left before receiving the message are to be identified with the fact that Sarah didn’t want to participate in the house renovations and was anxious to go to the beach.
The defense also attacked the testimony of Pantir indirectly arguing that the “young couple” – that’s the name media used to describe Giuseppina Nardelli and Fedele Giangrande – since a week after the disappearance have always said that they’d seen Sarah walking down the street after 2 pm. The Court countered that Sabrina had tried to influence the memories of the people involved in the case and that’s the distal cause of the young couple’s testimony:

[I]t is well understood how the imprimatur of a certain time indication that placed Sarah’s disappearance around 2:30 pm and, in any case, before 2:42 pm, the time when the search for her began, was provided precisely by Sabrina Misseri in the course of the interviews she gave, with the effect of conditioning not only, as already seen, the memories of Sarah’s family members, but also the information disseminated by the media.

That would explain why the missing person report compiled by Concetta mentioned 2:30 pm as the time of disappearance – Sarah’s mother had simply taken at face value Sabrina’s indication that she’d sent the confirmation message around that time. Moreover, in at least another occasion, Sabrina tried to influence directly a person informed about the facts surrounding the disappearance, namely Mariangela. This is an excerpt from an intercepted conversation between two on September 30, 2010 in the Carabinieri headquarters:

• S: “If… I was sitting under the porch, you know”
• M: “No, Sabri”
• S: “Look, you’re misremembering…”
• M: “No, Sabri”
• S: “That… that if I was sitting…”
• M: “No… you were sitting, last time you were sitting, when I came you were… And you had even closed the gate and I said, ‘what about Sarah?’”

It’s also a fact that the after-2-pm version was initially accredited because everyone thought the last movements of Sarah’s cell phone were genuine and not the result of post-mortem manipulation (more on this later), so it’s not illogical to think that the young couple could have “aligned” their memories with what they deemed to be true. Still, I think the defense raises a good point; ultimately, it’s likely that Giangrande and Nardelli misremembered or made a bad estimation because their original memory (in the later versions they admit it could have been also 2 pm) simply doesn’t fit with all the other evidence, especially Pantir’s testimony, who talked about 2 pm as the time of Sarah leaving the house when everyone else thought the correct time was another.
1:50-2:05 pm: Sarah arrived at Sabrina’s. Testifying to this there are Cosima’s intercepted words: “it would have been better if lightning had fallen on the house, electrocuting us all that day… electrocuting us all before the girl came”. It’s unlikely that she went to the garage as hypothesized by the defense since, even according to Sabrina, she wasn’t used to hang out alone there at all. Moreover,

It is utterly implausible that Sarah Scazzi – if previously molested, as the Defenses assume – could have decided, for no plausible reason, to voluntarily descend into the dark garage, into the clutches of her molesting uncle (as will be said shortly, just as the latter, enraged by the failure to start the tractor, was shouting and “swearing” like a possessed).

Sabrina testified in court that around this time (when, for example, she received her cousin Adamaria’s call and didn’t respond to it) she was resting in the double bed of her parents, though this is contradicted by Michele even when the latter was offering a completely self-accusatory version: he said that he’d talked to Sabrina in the house before Sarah arrived. On the other hand, Cosima – who according to Sabrina was lying next to her in the double bed – never mentioned the numerous calls, messages and rings her daughter had received in those minutes. Why would she lie about this, in any case?

There was, in fact, a need to defer the moment of her exit to the porch, in order to exclude the possibility of a meeting with Sarah at the moment when the latter – according to the defense version, which saw her leaving the house after receiving confirmation text messages from her cousin – was arriving at the Misseri house.

It’s difficult to understand, moreover, why Sabrina would send the message, “I’m trying [to poo] in the bathroom :)”, to Mariangela if, as she testified in court, the “attempt” lasted only a few seconds. But there are lots of contradictions in Sabrina’s accounts of the events. The shower that, according to previous statements, she had taken once she got out of bed, in the trial statements became a “rinse” of her private parts; regarding the message of 2:39:27 pm to Mariangela (“Ready”), Sabrina, in her statements of October 15, said she’d typed it when she was on the porch, but – faced with the contestation that she had stated that, 55 seconds earlier, when she had received the message from Angela Cimino, she was with certainty in the bathroom – she argued at trial that this message had been sent when she “was going out on the porch”. Concerning these details, the defense tried to deflect holding that Sabrina was in a state of “mental confusion” caused by her cousin’s – to whom she was very close – disappearance. The Court replied that

The detectable contradictions cannot be the result of mnemonic deficits, especially since, most of the time, this is not the explanation that was given by the defendant to justify the narrative inconsistencies.

At this point, though, we have to introduce a crucial witness who showed up quite late but was deemed genuine (at least in his first deposition) by the prosecution and then by the Court; his name is Giovanni Buccolieri and he was a florist in Avetrana.

The kidnapping: the dream of the florist and Cosima’s motive

The finding of kidnapping, contested in complicity to Cosima Serrano and Sabrina Misseri, in the reconstruction of the criminal facts constitutes the logical and factual antecedent of the murder of Sarah Scazzi: the young girl, shortly after entering the house, hastily left [Sabrina’s house], heading on foot toward her home; however, she was chased and immediately tracked down by Cosima Serrano who, together with Sabrina Misseri, forced her to board the Opel Astra car and, placing herself in the driver’s seat again, drove her back to her home in Via Deledda, where she was strangled.

The path by which the information about the kidnapping reached investigators was tortuous. On April 5, 2011, super-witness Anna Pisanò talked with the investigators to report that, in September 2010, she’d heard by her daughter Vanessa Cerra that “someone” she knew had seen Cosima grab Sarah by the hair, snatch her and throw her in the Misseri car on the afternoon of August 26, 2010. Pisanò had asked many times to Cerra who was this mysterious individual, but she decided to make his name only when she left for a job in Germany (saying that, if questioned, he would have said that it was only a dream). When Pisanò discovered the identity of the witness, she went to the investigators.
April 9, 2011 is the day Buccolieri appeared before prosecutors to offer information about Sarah’s disappearance. Only two days later, however, he requested another interview to retract what he’d already told, justifying himself by saying that he wasn’t sure it was real – it could have been a very vivid dream. The prosecutors immediately charged him with perjury, since either the first or the second interview contained false information. Then, in court, Buccolieri used his right to remain silent, although the content of the first interview was mentioned in the motivation report that sentenced Cosima (and Sabrina) to life in prison.
The florist’s dream is one of the most contested points of the sentence. The Supreme Court observed that Buccolieri retracting his testimony about having seen the kidnapping has to be explained in terms of an “attempt to evade the judicial responsibilities incumbent on him”. On the contrary, Cosima’s and especially Sabrina’s defenses argued that only Anna Pisanò reported the incident by talking about a real fact and not a dream, and that she cannot be trusted for the reasons described above.
Concerning the validity of the testimony, the Court considered firstly the discrepancy between Buccolieri’s preoccupation with the incident and it supposedly being just a vivid dream:

that Buccolieri continued, in the days and months that followed, to talk about the affair, albeit representing it as a “dream”, to relatives, relatives-in-law and friends while showing agitation and disturbance, however, makes it quite clear that he – aware of the seriousness of the episode and its significance as an essential junction in the reconstruction of the murder – could not help but think about it and, therefore, talk about it.

Mention has already been made of Pisanò’s credibility, which again becomes an important point here. The woman reported to investigators that her daughter had told her about the incident in terms of a real fact, while the daughter claimed that Buccolieri had only ever told her about a very vivid dream that made it difficult to understand whether it was real or not. Cerra said in court that, when she had asked again Buccolieri to go talk with the investigators, he replied, “If they call me, I deny everything”.
This is probably the strangest piece of evidence pertaining to this case, the only one directly implicating Cosima and it’s quite difficult to assess its validity. The Court considered the issue and tried to justify its reasoning in more than 100 pages. There are reasons both to believe and not to believe that it was a vivid dream.
Firstly, we know for a fact that Buccolieri did have a flower delivery to do on that day. Interestingly, his description of the abduction temporally preceded the discovery of Sarah’s body; this suggests that he may have been truthful insofar as he would have anticipated other evidence emerging from the trial. Another reasoning in favor of the theory that the kidnapping was real is that Cerra wouldn’t have asked Buccolieri to talk with the Carabinieri if his narrative had been really told in the terms of a dream; at the same time, Cerra wouldn’t have refused to tell her mother the name of the dreamer. It would also have been strange for Pisanò – if she had falsely said that the kidnapping was real – to have been able to predict that Buccolieri would speak in the terms of a real fact in his first interview. Finally, the Court considered that the fact Buccolieri said to Cerra that only she knew how things went proved that what he said to his wife and mother-in-law (namely, that it was all a dream) was false – in other words, only Cerra was able to listen to the “true” account of the events; Pisanò then managed to discover it and told about it to the investigators.
On the other hand, it would be dishonest not to acknowledge that Buccolieri to this day maintains that the prosecutors somehow convinced him that the episode was factual, when in reality, according to him, it was only a dream. Other bits of intercepted conversation suggest either that Buccolieri was truthful when he accredited the dream version or that he was trying to impose it to Cerra: “The two of us, when we talked, we talked about a dream and that’s all… we didn’t talk about anything else”. Others again seem to imply that there was a common preoccupation, between Buccolieri and Cerra, with not being involved in the case: “You have to say that… the right things, Va”, “But I said the right things”. In court, Buccolieri’s wife Giuseppina Scredo testified that her husband seemed worried about the “dream” because at the same time he told her about it circumstantial items against Cosima had emerged – but prosecutors replied that, in reality, Cosima became a suspect only in 2011, so it’d have been exaggerated for Buccolieri to be worried about the dream:

[Buccolieri], however, would have had no reason to feel such dismay if it was merely a dream going back in time or if he was in doubt between dream and reality, and even less so if [the story about the kidnapping] was the result of popular suggestion or a “collective dream” of the Avetranese who disliked Serrano. […] Unless we want to attribute to Buccolieri premonitory powers and divinatory abilities, it is not possible that, immediately after Michele Misseri’s arrest, he could have already had suspicions – based, it should be assumed, solely on the unjustifiable dislike he felt for a fellow citizen with a “strong” character whom he saw appearing on television – about Cosima Serrano, so much so that he became convinced of her guilt and “dreamed” of her involvement in the victim’s kidnapping.

It’s also important to ask what would be Cosima’s motive. The Court considered that

The attention that the entire family paid to the aspect of public consideration is further evidenced by Valentina Misseri’s statement at trial about the reasons underlying the reproaches that she and her sister Sabrina used to address to the young Sarah because of the young girl’s affectionate attitudes – which they considered excessive and out of place – to people of the opposite sex, or the makeup that was too “heavy” for her age, which could have, in the older cousins’ view, aroused the gossip of the Avetranese community (“people who talk and are gossipy”) by having the minor girl ‘labeled’ as a ‘no-good’.

Cosima was therefore greatly concerned about what might be said about her daughter if her failed intercourse and on-and-off relationship with Ivano were discovered and especially held Sarah responsible for the humiliation her daughter suffered. As for why she decided to follow Sarah back to her house like the florist had described, the Court considers that the news of the argument was not supposed to reach the Scazzi home – if it had happened, Sarah’s parents would’ve been outraged at Cosima and Sabrina for everything “improper” for a 15-year-old Sarah had discovered or participated to (especially in a rural, tight-knit community as Avetrana is): from knowing about the intercourse to being photographed in pajamas with Sabrina by a shirtless Ivano late one night in May 2010.

It is also shown that the defendant [Cosima] Serrano paid extreme attention to the profile of family respectability, opposing conduct of her daughter that appeared to her, in terms of mentality, age, and culture, to be excessively uninhibited – so much so that she regularly called Sabrina insulting epithets alluding to her sexual mores (“bitch”, “whore”). […] The affront suffered at the hands of the little girl, her rebellion against the authority of her aunt and the fear that she would reveal facts that would compromise the honorability of the Misseri family, generated a strong emotional reaction in the woman that induced her to commit the kidnapping and, once the little girl was brought back home, to commit the crime of murder.

The murder and the weapon

According to the Court that convicted the defendants, Sarah entered the Misseri’s house and stayed there for only a few minutes before leaving abruptly. The fight that broke out that afternoon had to be different from the typical altercations between the two girls, having required the intervention of Cosima.

Sarah, who was attacked and reprimanded, did not suffer supinely this time: she must have experienced those reprimands, those accusations as so undeserved, disproportionate and unjust that she reacted harshly toward her aunt in harsh tones, and with accusations, certainly serious and unexpected, that affected not only her cousin, but also her aunt because of the seriousness of them. […] The questioning of the authority of the two women, Serrano’s outrage at what must have seemed to her to be intolerable accusations made by Sarah and an inadmissible act of rebellion, as well as a show of ingratitude on the part of the little girl who had been welcomed and raised “like a daughter” in that home, the realization that Sarah had grown up and was no longer the shy and submissive child who could be “managed”, but a person capable of reacting, responding in kind, questioning the authority of the two “parental” figures, even rivaling her older cousin and revealing her habits and secrets, shaming her before her mother’s eyes, all these things triggered the reaction of Sabrina Misseri and Cosima Serrano.

After they had returned to the Misseri’s house on the Opel Astra, Sabrina and Cosima strangled Sarah with a belt, one holding her down and the other tightening her grip around the neck. This is also corroborated by the forensic-pathological evidence: according to prof. Strada’s autopsy, “a flat, ribbon-like furrow in the front of the neck is clearly visible [on Sarah’s neck], even to the layman”, while “excluding the mode of strangulation hypothesized by the defense [i.e. a kind of complete hanging] is the absence of signs of fracture of the hyoid bone and cricothyroid cartilages”. Strada concluded therefore that the murder weapon was a belt, the seams of which produced the furrow present on Sarah’s neck.
Against the objections of Sabrina's and Cosima’s defense – which argued that the indication of the murder weapon was intended to shift the blame towards the two defendants – there is the fact that the autopsy was filed on November 11, 2010, when Michele was still the only suspect: Strada could not have known that Sabrina and Cosima would be investigated shortly thereafter.

It is therefore clear that the indication of a belt, not a rope, as the murder weapon preceded the reconstruction that, only later, by virtue of an unambiguous circumstantial framework, came to identify the Misseri family home as the scene of the murder.

The Court noted that “the defense counsel ultimately failed to provide a plausible alternative explanation for the presence of the whitish furrow ‘averaging 2.6 cm wide’ found on the front of the victim’s neck, nor did he effectively explain the origin and nature of the repetitive segmented, in-line impressions present at the edges of said furrow”. In response to the argument that the weapon may have been a rope (such as the one indicated by Michele), the Court underlined that Strada argued extensively that the furrow couldn’t have been produced by such a constraining means.
In addition to that, the Court holds that – since on Sarah’s neck “a sharp, smudge-free pattern was detected” and “the victim did not put up any resistance, especially since it was found that there was no further injury to the ‘structures’ of the neck” – the perpetrators of the vicious attack must have been two, namely Sabrina and Cosima. It was also argued that, if Cosima should be held responsible for kidnapping Sarah and make her go back to the Misseri house, then it becomes quite hard to explain how she didn’t also participate to the actual murder. If the florist’s story is not a dream, Cosima is responsible for killing her niece.

Sources

Italy high court upholds life sentences in Scazzi case
L’omicidio di Sarah Scazzi: quando il male è in famiglia
Mother told live on Italian TV of daughter's murder
The Murder of Sarah Scazzi Apple TV (UK)

Nature of Predators is created by u/SpacePaladin15, whom was willing to let his horde of fans write fanfiction.
I'd like to give my thanks to u/SavingsSyllabub7788, the creator of Death of a Monster, and one of my favorite birbs. for giving me an odd bit of inspiration, and the discord at large for shaping this story with theories and random discussions. This one shot didn't even conceptually exist last week.
Also referenced u/Acceptable_Egg5560's Nature of a Giant in this one.
Tell me how you feel about this story. I'm content with where it ends, but others' insight always helps me figure out my flaws.
.*~*.
Memory Transcription Subject: Barkim, forsaken krakotl veteran.
Date: December 20, 2136
.~*~.
I came before Captain Sovlin and Captain Kalsim. I remember watching Kalsim train. I doubt he remembers me. My career made me into a captain pretty fast. Faster than most. I had repelled five Arxur raids while in control of the bridge. My crew were brave enough to trust me and my insane methods. Letting a colony world fall was unacceptable in my eyes. We were the vigilant, always ready to warp in ten minutes or less. The federation as whole didn't seem to understand how much value a few extra minutes bought for the settlers meant. Even if I had to order a retreat, tens of thousands would survive because they managed to find a place to weather the raid while the Arxur were distracted.
I was a hero.
Rumbling laughter and howls make my slow trod falter, and I look though a window into the recreational room. There's several humans at a table holding scraps of paper and barking in a jovial mood. They're not masked, and my feathers ruffle looking at them. A flicker of movement on the table catches my eye, and I finally spot the Dossur in their midst, almost completely hidden in a bunker of coins.
A Dossur beating an entire group of pack predators by himself. I never would've believed it, but I'm still not surprised it would be Alvin of all people.
That little runt was the only reason I've managed to hold onto my sanity for so long. He was braver than I, and he brought me back even when I was at my worst, again and again and again. He was the first to run to our predatory saviors back at the facility. And he was the last to leave, running back into the fighting and leading a human doctor to me to stop the stray bullet from taking me into Inatala's grace.
I left him to his card game, faintly overhearing one of the humans complain about being a several years running Texas Holdem champion. Alvin's response sounded very much like him, asking if he wanted to bet the actual crown next to add to his growing wealth.
Eventually I found myself in front of a door. Inside was a small room. One wall contained a wooden desk carved with enough craftsmanship to rival old Krakotl wood carvers. The desk was cluttered with cylinders and writing apparatuses, and a primitive writing board resting on the wall above it displayed several print outs of various people. Relatives. Descendants. People that had enough empathy in them to take back the few lucky souls that still had people they could trust. The computer underneath it was not active, but if it where I'd imagine there would be encrypted communication logs trying to reconnect with those few love ones. Plans to reunite them. Promises to protect them under this faction's umbrella.
It was strange, that this group of humans wasn't desired by the rest of their kind. They take more direct, brutal action than their leaders, but they act to save lives.
On the opposite wall was a locker. Inside were several firearms of Human make, and multiple emergency atmospheric suits. Many were for human use, but some were Federation standard. A pair of boots and engineering equipment rested on the floor before it, scuffed and well worn. There's a strange logo of an orange planet on the back of a jacket hanging from a hook nearby, and an even stranger article of cloth called an 'arm band.' The arm band has a large tree sewn into it, flanked by two prey animals and a river. The human I'm visiting was part of that arm band group, named after a tree of all things.
You couldn't get me to harbor a guess as to why they'd name themselves after a tree.
The far wall was rather simple. A faded green paint coat, covered in various anti-predator posters. One was of a human in a blue space suit, the visor open and revealing an endless pit of teeth. Another depicting a feral, over-proportioned human salivating over a dressed, screaming krakotl on a dinner plate. A third poster depicted some venlil collared and chained in place, stuck in some multi-colored wrapping that went up its legs halfway.
There was a mirror beside the posters, and I winced at the terrible shape I was in. I'd abused myself too much after I was freed. Even after stopping, I was still recovering. Looking past the mirror, there is a large banner of a green Terran letter. A few paper photos are plastered around it of smiling humans in strange places, and my eye always lingers over those photos despite the many times I've seen them. Earth looked lovely. I wished Kalsim had called off his mission.
Feeling like an intruder, I turned my attention to the last part of the wall. A set of black out curtains were flush with it, concealing a human roost built into the structure itself. If I was lucky, she would be there.
"Hope?"
Come on, you're better than a chicken.
Carefully, I lifted the curtain. "Hope?"
There she was. The one human I wasn't bothered by on this station. I can hear the music playing now that the curtain is out of the way, and the thick visor over her eyes tells me she's watching a video or simulation of some kind. I hesitate, watching her in her own world. What fur she does have is short and remarkably dense, and she has such a unique coloration that I would swear she was one of a kind if she hadn't mentioned having family. A tan complexion, painted over by splotches and stripes of white and violets that humans can't see with their own eyes. Her face is relaxed, mouth slightly open in wonder.
The human that helped staunch my bleeding, and gently broke the news to me of everything that had happened while I was locked up. The same one that kept me from pulling myself apart immediately after, and tried to find a way to keep me busy as my whole world went up in flames. A stern, capable person that could make decisions under pressure and wanted to save lives. While not a leader, I could see it in her. She had mettle.
She was completely exposed. Had I been the old me and not the one that woke up in a PD cell after a Sillis conference, I might've followed Kalsim's path. A talon in the right spot, and humans die fast.
"Hope?" Even raising my voice, she didn't hear me right in front of her. "Hope!"
As much as I respected her, coming this far in my state was exhausting. I, being a former fleet captain, hero, and outstanding Federation officer, decidedly acted like a child in that moment and pecked her.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"AIIIIIIIIIEEEEE"
I let out the most undignified shriek in my life and fell over backwards, landing on my tail feathers and sending a jolt up my spine. I forgot that since Hope was human, by extension she could be loud. Really, really, unfathomably loud.
There was a blur of limbs and Hope was sitting up, visor wielded as a bludgeon. She made eye contact with me, and I realized all my remaining feathers had poofed up.
"Blu!" She scolded, face curling in frustration. "What in the matter is- Blu?! You're not in your room?"
Shock, this time. I felt some shame in how low my standards had fallen, and smoothed down my feathers properly. My poor heart was already recovering and I stood, puffing out my chest.
"I... I wanted to go for a walk. See what you humans could do with a dated station like this."
"You're in my room."
"That appears to be the case." I pushed a ball of dust across the floor with a talon and regarded it absently, turning my head and keeping an eye on Hope. "It needs cleaning."
With speed I was anticipating, she hurled a pillow at me. I caught the assault and rerouted it, catching her in the face. She leaned back and laughed, a noise that calmed what was left of my quaking heart as I hopped forward. She offered a hand that I accepted, and she helped pull me onto the edge of the bed.
"You offered to show me your skies." I began, feeling uncertain. "Is that possible?"
"Yeah," she said. "Here-"
Grace put a hand on my chest and pushed down. A profound sense of horror washed over me as my back hit the soft bedding. She wouldn't- no. She can't- is it even- when have I last- Inatala please-
I realized with a start that Hope leaned past me, grabbing her pad. She plugged an odd attachment into it and fastened it to the wall by her head, and flopped over beside me. My immediate terror faded into embarrassment, and my face warmed at my own stupidity as she pulled the curtain closed. It became dark, and I felt her shift slightly until the ceiling above us started to slowly glow. Her pad booted up and began to project an image up there, and I felt my initial problems fade as a blue sky opened up before us.
"Oh wow." I breathed, realizing it was a video as a plane flew overhead. I forgot myself for a moment, looking up into an alien sky as clouds blew by at a lazy pace. The jet stream slowly lost its uniformity and stretched out, facing away as other clouds replaced it. I could hear wind and alien birds chirping, and for a long moment I was there. I was really there.
Storm clouds, massive weather fronts, all began drifting by. There was a dull rumble of thunder. I started as a bird flew very close overhead.
"What was that?"
"Woodpecker. Some can get pretty big back home. Not as big as you, Blu."
"Is it really this serene? Where was this taken?"
"My backyard. There was a massive hill out back. I used to lay there for hours when I was younger. Lived at the edge of a village. The only noise back there was the odd combustion engine or farming drone. Sometimes someone firing off a gun or listening to music loudly."
"You lived in the countryside? You're a pilot!"
Hope chuckled softly. "Surprise! There's some pretty sharp people that don't live in the cities, Blu. Especially us humans. My father could repair any farm equipment you threw at him going back a hundred years. Of course, I also have an uncle that thinks the Queen of England doesn't exist, so it probably levels out." She finished, sighing and reaching up. She swiped her finger across the ceiling and suddenly the skies changed.
They were orange now. More clouds. I felt a familiar pang in my chest thinking of a Nishtal sunset, but I kept quiet as the skies gradually changed. I was surprised to see such a vibrant shade of orange, then a sharp streak of violet bleed into it. There was red as well. A lot of red.
"Why red?"
"Oh, that. Massive forest fire in Canada. That's a country above mine. The smoke changed the colors for a little while. It made for a nice view."
That it did. I got lost in the footage, and started losing track of time. Only the occasional creak of the bedding kept me from forgetting where I really was. Hope seemed content watching the skies, and it dawned on me how close I was to her.
I'm acclimating well. Maybe I'll be like Alvin in no time.
When the skies slowly turned to night I was amazed at the stars that came out. Constellations I was unfamiliar with, patterns and swirls of light that could never be seen from a Federation city. I heard Hope inhale and reach out, changing the scene before it could linger anymore. "How about a time lapse. I've got some good ones."
"I don't know what that is."
"Really? Someone sets up a camera in a nice spot and records hours or days of footage. They take everything they've documented and then speed it up to a couple minutes." Hope starts a new video. I'm taken back by it, how a cloud bank flows around a mountain pass like water. It looks like a stream, where the clouds shift with each wind current change, flowing back and forth as minutes are turned into seconds.
It's stunning. Hope switches to another one, and another. I'm struck dumb with wonder, baffled at how not one other creature out of the hundreds of species thought to do anything similar over the course of the Federation. Massive mountain tops, where humans blur through trails like plasma. Prairies with storm cells moving in, lighting and rain sweeping through and giving it new light as the terrain is rapidly drenched. A large road where thousands of human vehicles streak by and leave brief paint trails in their wake.
"Thank you, Hope."
She nods, an odd gesture of acknowledgement, before changing the video back to a more slow paced skyline. After several minutes of silence, I feel a weight forming in my chest. Slowly, my wonder begins to crumble.
"How many confidants were you able to find? For the others?"
Hope shifted to look at me, turning her head and making my feathers tingle slightly at how close her face was to me. She looked back up at the sky. "Seven."
"There were forty that wanted to leave as quickly as they could. What happens to them?"
"We're letting them go. Even if they don't want anything to do with predators, they're going to find out avoiding my species is pretty hard. We're going to give them access to the network anyways, in case they want our help down the road."
"And the rest of us?"
"I'm helping the ones that want to go back to a somewhat normal life find that. There's several planets they can go to, and countless colonies. They'll be placed close to the support network in case there's trouble and they need to come back, or need financial assistance or help integrating."
Hope had mentioned something about 'shelters being a safe place' for us break outs, but had never elaborated on that.
"And what about the others that want to stay?" I noticed Hope scowl at the skies, her face forlorn.
"The ones that want to stay and help us fight are welcome to. It's not all dangerous- being part of the network isn't as risky. Helping the ones that wanted to go back to living, or finding others that got lost or fell through the cracks. It... it feels wrong asking anyone we rescued to fight and die for us. We don't want clouded judgement and people thinking they owe us that. But, there are a lot wanting to join our ranks in more aggressive operations. We're making them combat ready, teaching them how we wage wars so that they don't turn into their overseers."
I lay there for a long moment, staring at the open skies above us. "What about me?" I asked quietly.
"You're not excluded from those choices, Blu."
"You read my file. You know who I was. What I would've done if I didn't end up in that place. You'd really just let me go?"
"If you wanted to go, then yes."
The simple way in which she states it confused me. Like such a choice wouldn't cause issues or risks.
"But, we've been thinking about a better choice for you."
Oh?
"The Mazics are turning into the next Paltan Combine. Their newest influx of refugees were the released Krakotl."
My chest tightens. Nishtal is no more, razed to the bedrock and dead. We had been abandoned by our neighbors, our home slaughtered well before our true nature was revealed. And in the same year, the Federation deploys over forty thousand ships to take back a world that left behind their rule. Billions of loyal citizens captured and destined for a bloody fate were worth less than billions that seceded peacefully.
And then the humans brokered a deal with the Arxur and saved their souls. This was yet another time they did the impossible.
"We were thinking they could use a strong anchor to roost against. Someone that they might remember. A leader that they can trust."
I turned my head to directly face Hope, but she was still looking at the skies.
"I... they hate you humans."
"They do."
"I can't try and lead them, and sell out anyone that still doesn't believe in the UN's cause. I can't betray them." I chirped, dread worming into my gut.
"We wouldn't expect you too. We don't want you too. Blu-" Hope turned her gaze on me, her voice sincere. "We want them to find the right path. They deserve peace and security. They don't deserve to live in fear and rot with hatred. We don't... my group does not want yours to suffer over what your government did, even if the masses supported it at the time. We think you can lead them to a better future, where this hell can have a chance to heal and fade."
She looked back up at the artificial sky above us. "You don't even have to talk to us again if you choose this. If you do your best to ensure your species can coexist with mine, that would be more than we could ever hope to see happen."
"You think that's possible? That I could get that far? It seems so far away."
Hope bared her teeth in a smile. "You're more than capable. You love your people with everything you have, Blu. They'll see that. They'll believe in you. When you stand firm for your people, they'll follow you, too. We'll help where we can- peacefully. This can happen, I know it."
I found myself looking up at Earth's sky once again, apprehensive above this new burden. There was no way I would turn this down. If the Wolverines thought it was possible, then it was possible. A future where my people were both free in body and spirit was one I would fight for until my weary body gave out.
"How do we start?"

This setting is still fairly new and undeveloped (the world is literally just called Wasteland at the moment), so I won’t go into too much detail outside of the magic system. Magic in this world is seperated into different “Limbs”, which are listed below. Most Limbs need energy to work (standard ATP from respiration), but others may have different costs too. I’d really appreciate any feedback on the Limbs I’ve made so far, and any suggestions! (Also, which Limb would you choose to have in this wasteland?)
Other nescessary information:
Jacks: Artificial devices that attach to the user’s body, which act as a “reaction chamber” for extra energy, but which can only be activated by Limb users. This is used by Limb users as a battery to increase how long they can use their abilities for, and how strongly. There are many different Jacks in production, varying in size and appearance, some better than others and some with different advantages. The “juice” inside is more often than not obtained from a specific kind of plant.
Distribution Levels: The rarity of a person having a specific Limb, increasing in rarity. Green, Amber, Red, White

——————————-LIMBS——————————

ACTIVATION
Average Cost: High Energy (per activation)
Distribution Level: Amber
Identifier: Hands more grey than usual, fingernails may be black.
Description: This limb works through conduction and users are taught from an eary age to do so through the palms. Upon touchinng the corpse of a recently deceased animal (within 24 hours of death, but may vary from environmental conditions), glowing orange waves will ripple across the body, “activating” it. For this reason, many “Battle Activators” have started using retractable metal wires with hook on the end in order to quickly access several corpses at once during battle. This will turn the whole body, apart from the bones, into “Minions”, which are the basis of all Activation. They appear to be roughly diamond-shaped slugs made from muscle. Each one has an organ in the middle of their body which looks like a protruding black eyeball, with a glowing orange ring-like “iris” in the middle. Through this organ the Minions feel all the senses, and this is also what you communicate with them through. Each minion is quite stubby, but stretchable, but at rest is around 10cm in length. The number of Minions made from a corpse of course varies from the actual amount of flesh available, as it is directly converted. Now you can “program” them to complete certain function loops or assemble into different shapes - this second part of activation doesn’t require any more energy. Minions can stick to each other to “assemble” into their different, more applicable functions. Most commonly, they are used to create powerful bodyguards or watchdogs in the form of golems and flying heaps. More advanced activators can also make their irises merge into more advanced “eyeballs” which can increase all of their senses. Although Minions can slightly change their structure to complete functions, such as turning into proto-bones and joints for golems, they can’t differ very much from their original form. Also, it takes skill and practice to increase how many Minions you can handle controlling at once - otherwise the rest wither away.
​
REPELLENT
Average Cost: Medium Energy
Distribution Level: Green
Identifier: Bumps that look like healed scars, distinctive circle shape with small “tendrils” off to the sides.
Description: Users have “Repulsion Nodes” in locations on their body (the bumps described above). These are most commonly on the feet, the knees, chest, palms or forehead - although most commonly the palms. The number of Repulsion Nodes a user is born with is decided at birth. At these nodes, users can use energy to release a superheated plasma “energy blast” created from particles in their blood. The repulsion can be many colours such as blue, pink, red, yellow, green etc - the colour mainly depends on how the user was trained with the power from birth, although genetic factors may have a small influence too, however this is unlikely to overrule the results of the training. Size, power, speed and shape can all be changed through concentration and improved through training. More trained Repellents can maximise the efficiency of their repulsions. Repulsions that you have created yourself don’t affect you, and bounce off/ glide along the surface of your body. This is why most users who have palm Repulsion Nodes assume a distinctive “finger gun” shape to make it easier to fire smaller, stronger and more accurate repulsions (think of the normal finger gun shape, but the thumb is not lifted up, and points in the direction of the “barrel” - this redirects the repulsion most efficiently). The actual effects of repulsions are similar to Star Wars blaster bolts, although more skilled users can decide to make some more explosive or more slicing.
​
AUGMENTATION
Average Cost: Low Energy
Distribution Level: Green
Identifier: Red saliva/drool (only after shrinking)
Description: The user has the ability to fully control their body, and to augment “A-Cells” which lie dormant next to every cell in their body. Augmentations may include a long list of things, but a few are: increasing muscle mass, hardening of skin, growing of bones out into spikes/spears, night vision, extending limb length, extending and sharpening hardened fingernails, etc. The only organ in the body that does not have any A-Cells present is the brain, which cannot be modified. Anything the user can think of, they can do - theoretically. However, augmenting into something you’ve never experienced makes it less effective, slower and less efficient (too much energy expended). This is why users often have to only have a few “pre-sets” that they learn to transform into, to minimise this effect. An important factor is also an understanding of the anatomy, so many users are taught anatomy thoroughly before they begin augmenting. Good knowledge of your normal anatomy means you can also heal your body at rapid speeds. Effectively this means that Augmenters usually have a large advantage when using a Jack.
​
THOUGHTMELDING
Cost: High Energy (per use, otherwise Low Energy constantly)
Distribution: Amber
Identifier: Pupil-less eyes that glow a blinding green, and are as hard as gemstones
Description: The user houses a “psychic dimension” called a Meld Server, or Server for short, inside their brains. The user has full omnipotence within this space, and only consciouses can enter into it, as it is not material (but if feels real inside). In order to drag someone’s consciousness inside, the target has to directly look at the user’s eyes from about 10cm away - the glow of the eyes has to be fully exposed too, and cannot be from behind any kind of see-through glass or tinted cover. After doing so, the user and the target will both slump and their eyes will roll back - the user’s eyes’ glow will stop. Inside the server, the target is powerless, but can still feel everything - and thus this is often used for interrogation. This form of torture is known as “mindflaying”. However, once a person inside the server submits their will to the user, another option is created: copying. The user can copy the other’s entire personality, memories and experiences inside the server. This “copy” will be fully obedient to the user, and will divulge any information to the user that it knows from the original. Once the user has had enough, they can exit the server - and so the target will too - waking up and returning to their bodies. Alternatively, the user can also “scroll” through the server, which basically means closing their eyes and flicking through the people that they have copied, whilst still being in their body and present to their surroundings. If the eyes are looked at from a distance, or from behind a see-through material, they will only give the target a headache. The issue with thoughtmelding users is that they are constantly using extra energy to supply the server, meaning they either need to eat a lot more, or need to be constantly using a Jack. Furthermore, most Thoughtmelders usually wear some form of tinted or mirrored shades or goggles in order to block the effects of their eyes (whilst also making hiding their Limb with some success).
​
EXHAUSTION
Cost: Low Energy, fossil fuels (e.g charcoal, coal, or oil)
Distribution: Amber
Identifier: Grey tongue and black insides of mouth
Description: The user has the ability to shoot out a black smoke from their mouths. In order to do so, the user has to consume some form of fossil fuel, which is usually charcoal. This smoke is, when used correctly, so black (so little light enters) that it is virtually impossible to discern anything within it or past it. Of course, this decreases as the gas gets more spread out. The complection of this smoke can be modified by the user - it can be a more spread out fog, it can be thick walls of smoke, or even very dense near-solid clumps. The use can be changed by the user too - it can be as harmless as air, as toxic as smog, as blinding as ink, or even as acidic as mustard gas (however this one takes a lot of specific training for a long time to get right, as it is fundamentally different). Exhausters are usually looked down upon because of how useless this ability seems. When more concentrated fossil fuels such as oil and above are used, the smoke gains an iridescent oil-like shimmer to it. Although usually used as a method of hiding and escaping, some have found that by compressing toxic smog into a tar-like substance and shooting it as a projectile, they can incapacitate enemies more easily.
​
ACCUMULATION
Cost: None
Distribution: Red
Identifier: Glow under UV light
Description: The user respires at an abnormal rate without a higher intske nescessary - far higher than the average human or a Limb user. These are stored within the user’s cells, and the body does not burst as a result of the energy it’s own body creates - because the user can slow down the respiration to normal levels at will, with basic training. This however means that children who are not identified as Accumulators from birth usually explode from too much energy being produced at around the age of 3. This is one of many reasons for their rarity. However, other than using up the energy normally, users can also expel it into the environment through their skin. The real application of an accumulator however is also why they are sometimes known as “Jackmen” or “Living Batteries” - they can release their energy into other people, and more specifically other Limb users. Not only does this allow for a steady supply of energy, but accumulators can shoot the energy in in such a way that it can give the other person a short lasting increase in power and ability. For this reason, accumulators are hunted down and treated as sub-human - only tools for the empowerment of others. Many babies were stolen straight from hospitals and taken to “energy factories” where they were treated simply as batteries, which often led to them being discarded once they were “fully drained”. In the period where accumulators were newly discovered, and hunted, nefarious organisations looking for them would go around waving UV lights at people before dragging them away. As a result, most remaining accumulators stay in hiding.

(Any sentences or phrases wrapped with brackets "[ ]" are designated as inner monologue!)
Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this wonderful literary universe!
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Memory transcription subject: Tassak, Arxur Paleontologist
Date [standardized human time]: July 15, 2165
I nervously clicked my claws against the wooden table as I waited for the rest of the invitees to arrive. The UN had brought me to the senate building privately so as to not cause panic, and I was grateful. I only hoped that the people whom I was going to be working with wouldn’t freak out at my appearance.
The war against the Federation and the subjugation of the Arxur by the Dominion had ended shortly after my birth, but the effects of the past few centuries of conflict could not be eliminated in such a short amount of time. Societal ideals have to be rewritten over long stretches of time by strong people with strong will, and there simply hasn’t been enough time to do so. As a result, though it has been many years since the last battle against the Arxur, it was still uncommon to see any outside of the space they already inhabited, and still VERY common to see hatred and fear of us among Fed species. It has always been my ultimate goal to show those who fear us just how similar we are, that is why I sacrificed everything to attend the Meiers Institute of Knowledge.
On the Arxur’s side of the societal coin, it was social suicide to interact with “prey” species willingly. [Oh how I hate that word.] Most of the elders of our society could not get over their hatred of the Federation species, despite the fact that they were under just as much, if not MORE subjugation than we were. When I made the decision to go and learn at MIK, I was shunned from all social groups at home. Not that there even were many, most Arxur rarely interacted with each other if they could help it.
MIK was a chance for me to experience new ideas and try new things. For once, I wasn’t discriminated against because I had front-facing eyes and scary teeth, and I learned just how much I loved socializing with like-minded people. I was finally allowed to let my love for knowledge flourish in a way that other Arxur would never have condoned. I graduated some time later with several degrees and a doctorate in paleontology.
Though to some, the idea of digging up bones and putting them together like a puzzle seemed macabre, it felt liberating to me. I felt like I truly understood the value of life and death. I could look at the cracked tooth of an ancient ancestor of the Arxur or the fossilized chitin of one of the Tilfish’s predecessors and identify a pattern, showing the divergent evolution they underwent to achieve their current form. I could see the similarities all life inherently had. Sometimes the similarities between us were shocking, and occasionally it was kind-of scary, but that only made me more passionate about my work.
I assume that is why the UN decided to send me a job offer 3 weeks ago. When I received it I was ECSTATIC at the prospect. The UN government sending ME, a small-time nobody Arxur paleontologist, an invitation to work with them? If I could tell my past self what I would be up to now, I would almost certainly scoff at myself. Even as I boarded my UN funded private ship to Aafa I was subconsciously wondering if it was some elaborate prank. My thoughts were interrupted as I heard footsteps from the other side of the door. This is it, I’m about to meet my partners, please don’t run away screaming.
A human, a venlil, and a gojid stood in the doorway staring at me. The gojid seemed slightly fearful but hid it well, the human and venlil however just seemed confused. [Okay, okay, they didn’t scream at me. That’s a good start.] The three, along with their escort, settled into chairs at the table I sat at, looking at me expectantly. I straightened my posture and prepared myself mentally to greet them. “H-hi, my name is Tassak. Are you the other three invitees?” The human sitting across from me spoke. “Yes. I hope I don’t offend by saying this but I wasn’t expecting an Arxur invitee.” He raised an eyebrow as he ended his sentence. He quickly started talking again, probably to try and explain his reasoning. “Sorry, I-I mean, don’t the Arxur frown upon interacting with “prey” species?” The venlil and gojid looked at me as I thought of a response. “Yes, they do. I had to cut a lot of ties to get into this profession. Let’s get introductions out of the way please.” “Alright, my name is James. I’m 31 years old. I was born on Earth and now live on Venlil prime. I went to MIK to become a historian. My diet is mainly coffee but occasionally I drink coffee as a treat.” The man smiled as he awaited our amusement, but it never came. James’ smirk faded and he coughed into his hand before continuing. “I was invited along with my friend Lemva, she’s the venlil next to me, and Cayek, he’s the gojid to your right.”
I exhaled quietly, James seemed friendly enough. “My name is Tassak, as I said before. I’m 29. I got a doctorate in paleontology at the Meiers Institute of Knowledge, along with some other degrees. I hail from Wriss I currently live on Earth.” As I finished my statement, I couldn’t help but criticize the way I spoke. [Why did I talk so rigidly, ughhh! My first impressions are going terribly!] James spoke up. “Wait, did we all come from MIK? Weird coincidence huh?” I could tell he was trying to ease the tension in the room. “I thought I would’ve noticed a giant lizard guy walking around campus.” Wait, did he call me a guy? “Uh, I’m a girl, actually.” I spoke timidly. The man before me became as red as a fresh cut of steak. His embarrassment was plainly visible, which I found amusing, it lessened my anxiety slightly.
The venlil that James had referred to as Lemva spoke up, changing the subject. “Weelll… Anyhow, my name is Lemva as James told you. I’m 30 years old. I’m an archaeologist and got my doctorate from MIK. My current home is on Earth but I’ve lived a little bit of everywhere. Me and James have been friends for a long time, we met in the institute’s history club.” Everyone focused their attention onto Cayek as Lemva’s introduction concluded. It took several seconds for him to compose himself. I could tell that my presence was uncomfortable for him, and him being seated closest to me of the three people probably exacerbated that feeling. I didn’t blame him for his fear, but it still stung a little. He gulped and started talking.
“My name is Cayek. I’m a 41 year old linguist who also went to MIK for my doctorate. I was born on the Cradle, was taken in at a young age by the UN after it got bombed, and was offered a home in one of the cities constructed by the Cradle Re-colonization Project, where I now live.” The man stopped talking and I thought he was done, but he straightened his posture and started speaking again. “I just want to get this out of the way before it causes trouble later down the line.” He spoke with a sigh. “I was born in a… you could call it a “hostile” household. My family raised me during a time when hate against… “people who were different” was acceptable. My upbringing cemented a couple habits into me that I’ve been trying to chip away at, so to speak, ever since I saw the sheer good that mankind is capable of. I’ve been attempting to be more open to new ideas ever since. Hell, I even took the anti-cure and tried some-” He gulped. “-non-herbivore cuisine, to get some perspective. So if I accidentally say or do something offensive to you please tell me, I truly want to leave that part of me behind.” As he ended his speech, he slouched and let out a breath he had been holding in. I was surprised by his honesty.
James and Lemva both processed the information. I responded first. “Thank you. You have no idea how much anxiety dropped off my shoulders just now. I was worried you’d all run away at first sight of me or treat me like some bloodthirsty beast. I very much appreciate the effort you’re putting into reforming.” James spoke after me. “I appreciate it too. After all these riots it’s such a breath of fresh air to meet a person that won’t cry if I look at them.” In the past 10 minutes, this man had crammed in jokes at any time he could. I think I’m gonna like him. I could tell that the joke came from a place of sadness though, I could see the sadness in his eyes.
James started to look impatient, he tapped his fingers on the table in a rhythmic pattern while he checked his holopad for the time. “I thought we were here for a job offer. How long is this gon-” The sound of the heavy wooden door opening filled the room, as a small group of well-dressed men and women filed in through the doorway. As my eyes scanned over each person who entered, my heart skipped a beat and I jolted upward to attempt a human salute as I spotted President Zhao at the tail-end of the group. [What the fuck? Why is he meeting with us?] The other three followed my gaze and stood to salute as well. In his surprise, James nearly fell over. My three partners were as equally dumbstruck as I by the sudden appearance of the head of the government.
President Zhao took on a small amused smirk as he witnessed James straighten himself out. “At ease. You may take a seat.” We did as he commanded. “Welcome to the Capitol. It’s good to see that you all accepted your invitations. I can see from your confused expressions that you probably want some answers, so let’s get started.” As Zhao took a seat at the head of the table, one of the men who had accompanied him lifted a briefcase from his side and placed it delicately on the table. The man inputted a code into a small keypad and the briefcase unlocked with a click. Inside was a holo-projector, which the man placed on the center of the table. “Before we begin, our four guests will need to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, the information spoken of in this meeting must never leave this room.” Another of the officials, a small woman in a black dress, passed four holopads to us, which we promptly wrote our signatures into. The holopads were collected and Zhao spoke. “Excellent. You’re probably all curious about the reason we invited you specifically for this opportunity, why all the security measures and guards, why we’re trying to keep this under such tight wraps.” The holo-projector on the table switched on and briefly displayed the Coalition logo, before transitioning to a hologram of Talsk, the Farsul homeworld. “As you know, for hundreds of years the Federation had been keeping archives filled with classified knowledge and confiscated or outright stolen items. On the nineteenth of june, approximately four weeks ago, after extensive search efforts, we found the motherlode. The Federation had kept many archives but this one was special. It wasn’t a library, it was a vault, built to hide away the Federation's darkest secrets forever. Buried under several kilometers of rock and deep ocean, the Federation sealed away items and information that, if released, could possibly threaten their hold over the galaxy.”
The holo-projector transitioned to a diagram depicting the archive, there was no entrance-way and no exit, just kilometers of water and stone between it and the surface. The hologram zoomed in on the archive, showing a more detailed view of the gargantuan structure. It consisted of several levels, each with a number of chambers housing items or information. At the very bottom of the structure, one chamber stood out among the rest. 10 meter thick walls of an ultra-hard titanium alloy encased a small cell filled with toxic gas. Suspended in the middle of the chamber by hundreds of metal rods was a vacuum-sealed prism of diamond. Finally, inside the prism was a small metal cube along with a holopad.
I felt a chill down my spine as I studied the intricate carvings etched upon the surface of the artifact. I could tell that the carvings were of some language, but it did not match any that I could think of. “Within the records, this artifact was designated as Class-Hydrogen1. The Federation’s information classification system is far too complex to discuss in full, but in summary, the more important something is, the closer to 1 the atomic number of the element it is assigned will be. The classification is then proceeded by a 1 or 2, 1 signifies dangerous information and 2 signifies dangerous materials. For example, in this same archive we discovered an experimental and dangerous singularity generator with a classification of Fluorine2, which has an atomic number of 9.”
“To put into perspective how scary the idea of a Class-Hydrogen designation is, the second highest classification object on record is a self-powered anti-grav receptacle of strange matter. Strange matter will turn any other matter it touches into more strange matter, I shouldn’t have to explain why that is incredibly dangerous. The receptacle was classified as a Carbon2. There are 4 classifications between Hydrogen and Carbon and none of them are being used.” My blood ran cold as I listened. What power could this artifact possibly hold? The question in my mind was quickly replaced by another. Why are WE the ones being told this? Before the window of opportunity ended, I opened my mouth to speak.
“Permission to speak, sir?” Zhao looked at me and nodded. “I still have a question, and I’m sure my partners do too, but why us? Why did you choose to tell us this instead of someone more qualified?” “I’m glad you reminded me.” I heard the clacking of a keyboard as one of the men beside the President switched the holo-projector to a different tab. A close-up of the cube appeared, showing the four sides of the object.
The first side depicts a bipedal creature covered in spikes turning their back on two similar figures cloaked in blood and flames. The creature holds a defiant posture. Flames trail behind them, turning to embers, then to smoke, and then fading entirely.
The second side depicts a small fluffy figure being chased by a dark version of themselves across a variety of settings and locations.
The third side depicts a large being covered in scales bound in chains kneeling on an altar, their arms being stretched to two different sides. On one side a crowd of identical creatures and on the other side a crowd composed of different figures of varying shapes and sizes, both sides pointing weapons at the central figure.
The final scene depicts a man screaming in anger and sorrow pointing a dagger toward a small creature with bloodied hands. Tears stream down his face. A man and woman lie dead in the background.
A gojid, a venlil, an arxur, and a human.
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(This is my first major post on NatureofPredators, any criticism or advice is welcome! I want to make my stories inviting and pleasant to read! Also, please notify me if you find any formatting errors, I'm not very familiar with Reddit's formatting.)