I live in a townhome with adjoining homes on each side. I noticed water damage in my downstairs bathroom a few months ago, had leak detection conducted, determined that I was losing a small amount of pressure (most likely slab leak), had a full repipe done bypassing the slab run. Just had the drywall patched and water has reappeared in the downstairs bathroom post repipe. The neighboring unit has been unoccupied for about a month now.
When I first noticed the water I contacted the property management company managing the neighboring unit (Coldwell Banker) who sent a handyman to check their side. He said it was dry on their side and that was that. After that, I had the leak detection done, sent a copy of the report (that suggested the other side get theirs checked as well) to the hoa asking that they forward it to the owner of adjoining unit and to please have them check for leaks on their side from a leak detection professional, not a handyman. No response. Not even an acknowledgement.
Our plumbing was constructed in the same way but opposite (like a mirror image) where the plumbing comes up from the slab in the exact same location on each side of our adjoining wall. Therefore it's difficult to tell if the source is from my side or there's.
Now that I've had a full repipe, have the drywall guy coming back out tomorrow to make sure they didn't puncture a pipe during patching, what is my recourse when I send the hoa a description of what is going on and I get no response again? This is in Florida btw.

Hi everybody
So I've been practicing for around 1 year tmi and manage to arrive a few time to around stage 6
Stage 4 went ok, i understood clearly what has to be done, stage 5 as well. I don't feel anymore dullness and can do body scan quite easily, so I said to myself let's go, let's start stage 6. But then, i feel like the goal for me become blurry, I also feel like instead of feeling the sensation of the breath i try to force them. It create quite some tensions. the stage 5 suggest to come back to the nose when noticing that your awareness increase which in a way anchored my practice in something that i can easily mesure my progress. When practicing stage 5 i however have times when breath relates sensations are felt by themselves and I experience exclusive attention for some time, it feel quite good.
Also would someone really clarify to me what me subdued, i feel like in my head it is "not having thought" when I know it is not, the lack of better understanding unfortunately invite to use the current one. Does it means that thought should be in peripheral awareness? How does it feel?
What am I missing about stage 6? In the past starting practicing stage led me to completely get lost in my practice for month, and I really want it to not happen again.

Hey everyone. As a bit of background, I'm a former FAA Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI). No, I'm not your_friendly_asi, though I've communicated with them. I've previously posted about my path to 1500 hours, and I've made incognito comments about what the FAA is or isn't likely do while I was employed as an ASI. However, the FAA's social media policy is both ambiguous and strict, so I was careful about what I said. Now that I'm no longer employed, I'm comfortable sharing a bit more about the ASI job, and what the FAA (either as an agency, as a FSDO, or as an individual ASI) is likely to do in certain circumstances.
Of course, one of the biggest concerns as a pilot is what happens when you become the subject of a FAA investigation, whether you were the one that screwed something up or you were caught by proxy (i.e. as someone's instructor). There are a lot of misconceptions among the pilot community about what's going to happen to you, and what you need to do. So, let's talk about it!
Obligatory note that I am no longer employed with the Federal government of the FAA, and that the information below is my personal viewpoint and not an official position of the FAA. All of this information is available publicly via FAA orders which dictate how investigations and deviations are handled. I'm not telling you anything secret or proprietary here. Also note that each FAA office can operate a little differently, but still be within the policies and guidance.

Why would the FAA investigate me?

The FAA is charged with investigating anything which falls within it's 9 "areas of responsibility", as mandated by Congress and 49 USC. See FAA order 8020.11, as revised. Those areas include the competency of FAA-certificated airmen, and violations of Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR). Therefore, if the FAA becomes aware that there is a possibility that you may have violated a regulation or that you might not be competent for whatever reason, the FAA is mandated to look into it.
You would probably find yourself in this situation after making some sort of error or mistake. It's not hard as a pilot to violate a regulation, if we're being perfectly honest. 91.123(a) is probably the most common violation - failure to comply with an ATC clearance. This is fairly all-encompassing. You could take a wrong turn during taxi, land on the wrong runway, get off your assigned altitude or route while IFR, or anything else you can think of which ATC instructed to do but you didn't for whatever reason. And this is just one single regulation in Part 91 - obviously there are hundreds of regulations in 14 CFR which you could potentially run afoul of, though ATC clearances are the most commonly investigated because ATC notices you deviated from your clearance and essentially snitches on you (not hating on them - more on that later).

How would I know I'm being investigated?

Ultimately, you'll know because eventually someone at the FAA will contact you. It will usually be an ASI. Depending on the source of the report and the workload of the ASI, you may not hear anything until a month or so after the event. The ASI may send you a formal Letter of Investigation (LOI), a Compliance Program and Pilot's Bill of Rights (CP & PBR) brochure, or they may just try to give you a phone call initially. ASIs CAN text you and email you! Many ASIs are issued cell phones, and nothing says they can't try to get a hold of you using any means. My process was to call the pilot and ask for an email address so that I could send some information that way, instead of needing to physically throw something in the snail mail. Policies can vary by each office, though.
If you mess something up and ATC issues you what's known as a Brasher warning (i.e. "possible pilot deviation" usually along with "I have a phone number for you to call"), it doesn't guarantee that you're going to end up being investigated. Depending on what happened, though, ATC may be required to submit something called a MOR, or a Mandatory Occurrence Report. So yes, ATC sometimes snitches on you, but they're required to for certain things. It can also be controller and facility dependent as to what they will file reports for - if a facility is seeing a lot of the same deviations/violations, they might start filing reports even if it's something minor in order to try to put some attention on it higher up. This report makes its way through the ATC chain until it is eventually forwarded to the FSDO with responsibility over the event. If you're a GA pilot, the FSDO covering the geographical area where you messed something up will investigate. If you're a certificate holder or fly for one (part 121, 135, etc), the report will go to the FSDO, CHDO, or CMO which manages that certificate. Routing all of this is a whole process, which is why it can take a month or more after the event to be contacted by the FAA.

An ASI contacted me after some sort of event happened... F*%#. Now what?

Straight to jail, obviously. Might as well cut up your certificates too, before they come pick you up. It will show the ASI that you feel bad about what you did, and that you respect his authoritah, which may lead to a reduced sentence.
Nah, you're probably one of about 12 PDs (Pilot Deviations) on the ASI's desk right now. Remember that whole mandate for the FAA to investigate certain things? The ASI is most likely not out to get you, he's just doing his bureaucratic job. Keep in mind that an ASI is also a pilot, holding at least a Commercial Pilot Certificate and meeting Airline Transport Pilot qualifications, and if he's a General Aviation Operations ASI he's also a current CFI with at least a few hundred hours of instructing. He's going to contact you as described above, send you the Pilot's Bill of Rights in some form, and probably try to schedule a time to talk with you about what happened. This will normally just be a phone call. The ASI might also ask you to provide copies of some things, like your logbooks showing that you were current and had the appropriate endorsements for the type of flight you were conducting. Your pilot and medical certificates can be looked up, but you may also be asked for copies of those to verify that you have them in your possession and that they match. Other things may be requested, as appropriate, depending on what exactly happened.
The purpose of the interview (phone call, or otherwise) is for the ASI to determine a few things: what happened, why it happened, if it was intentional, and why you are or aren't likely to do the same thing again. In short, the ASI is tasked with gathering all of the facts associated with the event, and performing a Root Cause Analysis to determine why whatever it is that happened did happen. Your input and perspective as the pilot is very important to this, because nobody knows what you were thinking or what you were seeing except you. Without your input, the ASI has to make a determination on what to do about the event with only the other limited information available.
The possible outcomes of this investigative process are typically: No Action, Compliance Action, Remedial Training via FAAST, 49 USC 44709 Reexamination, or Enforcement Action. There are also things called SNAAPs which are basically warning letters, but they aren't commonly used in most FSDOs for GA pilots. Ultimately, the ASI and the FSDO/CHDO/CMO is empowered to take any action which they feel will ensure continued safety of the National Airspace System.

Some of those outcomes don't sound encouraging. What's going to happen to me? Sounds like "straight to jail" is still on the table.

I'd say that over about 95% of the time, a PD is going to be resolved with Compliance Action. This is part of the FAA's new Compliance Program/Philosophy. I'd really recommend a quick read of FAA Order 8000.373, as it's only a page and a half and really sums up the point of the Compliance Program. If you get the CP & PBR brochure (see it here), it also explains the general idea. The FAA at one point figured out that to actually enhance aviation safety, they needed to obtain the perspective of pilots involved in deviations. Pilots aren't willing to share information which might be incriminating, though, if there is no incentive to do so. Why would you tattle on yourself if the FAA is just going to use that information to work on taking your certificate away via Enforcement Action?
The Compliance Program allows an ASI to resolve a probable regulatory violation or deviation without resorting to Enforcement Action. The potential corrective actions are pretty limitless and are at the discretion of the ASI and the office, but typically this is accomplished via Compliance Action Counseling. The ASI is going to review their Root Cause Analysis with you, and offer feedback and suggestions in order to help ensure that the situation does not occur again. This is normally done via a phone call, with a follow-up letter. For simple violations, half of the time I would simply complete counseling on the phone immediately after the interview with a pilot. Occasionally, Remedial Training would be suggested if a pilot was very rusty and the event involved something like a runway incursion where the consequenses were potentially more serious if things happened to go really sideways.
The thing with the Compliance Program is that the ASI needs to be confident that you also understand the root cause of the event, and that you are willing and able to comply with applicable regulations in the future. "Willing" means that you're willing to openly talk to the ASI about the event and share what happened, what you learned, and how you plan to mitigate against such a situation in the future, so you might want to think about that before your conversation. "Able" means that you are competent and proficient enough to exercise your privileges without invoking future violations, among other things. Entering into the interview conversation having already thought about the root causes, and what you've already done or are going to do to ensure that the event won't be a repeat occurrence will do a huge amount to assure the ASI that you are indeed willing and able to comply in the future.
If there is a serious question as to your competency, you might be looking at a 44709 reexamination ("709 Ride"). As most pilots know, this is essentially a checkride, or a portion thereof, conducted by the ASI to evaluate whatever Areas of Operation of the applicable ACS or PTS that you have been identified as potentially being deficient in. These are fairly rare, and generally only occur after things like accidents where a pilot's actions or story indicate that they really may not have known what they're doing. If you mess up an instrument approach in IMC reeeeally badly, ATC has to intervene repeatedly, and you don't think that you did anything wrong after the fact and that it was all ATC's fault, you may also be looking at a 709 ride, for example.
Enforcement Action is typically reserved for the most egregious violations, or violations where a pilot willingly and deliberately engaged in a violation or another sort of illegal activity. If you're flying with literally everything expired, both in terms of yourself and the airplane, and you're doing other dumb and illegal things during that flight like buzzing people or houses, there's no way that you shouldn't have known better. This is the process in which your certificates are in danger, or you're looking at civil penalties or criminal charges, as applicable. If you made an honest mistake, even if it resulted in a totaled airplane and a hospital stay, Enforcement Action is extremely unlikely because the Compliance Program is designed to handle most unintentional violations. Enforcement cases are also a huge workload and pain in the rear for both the ASI and the office.

So for each outcome, what does it mean in the end? Will it be on my record anywhere?

For Compliance Action, Remedial Training, and a successfully passed 709 Ride, typically, no. Once you successfully complete whatever the requirement is for you to return to compliance, you'll receive a letter stating that the FAA/ASI have determined there is no cause for further action and that you may consider the matter closed. These events don't show up on any record that the FAA would normally forward about you, i.e. in a PRIA request or via the Pilot Records Database. However, many aviation employers and airlines do now specifically ask if you have ever been the subject of a FAA investigation, a 44709 reexamination, or something along those lines. Whether or not they have the means to verify this with the FAA, I'm not sure and I honestly really doubt, but it would be at your own risk to not report such events to an employer if asked.
For a failed 44709 Reexamination (x2 - you usually get two shots, unless the first one was so terrible that the ASI believes you have absolutely no chance whatsoever of passing a second time) or Enforcement Action, those will turn up because the result will usually be a certificate suspension, revocation, or downgrade. Enforcement Action will likely having you talking to the FAA's attorneys in an attempt to settle the matter with a suspension or something similar. If you did something really big, illegal, and intentional, you're probably headed to the NTSB judges eventually, though they're backed up years because they handle all of the Department of Transportation cases and not just the FAA. They also do so with only a handful of judges.
So really, an honest mistake with today's FAA isn't that big of a deal so long as you weren't intentionally violating regulations, and you're willing to talk about what happened and why it's not going to happen again. The ASI will appreciate your cooperation in quickly clearing another PD off his task list, and you can get back to flying without the trip to jail.

FAQs

Why are pilots so afraid of this process, then? If you're not lying, it doesn't sound so bad.

The "old" FAA didn't have the Compliance Program. The only tool in their toolbox was a hammer (Enforcement Action), and every violation or other problem was a nail. Any little mistake that a pilot made did carry real jeopardy that their certificate was in danger. Obviously, that didn't foster trust that the FAA was really there to help, because they often weren't. There was also a time before ASRS/ASAP reporting and other programs which reduced or eliminated the penalties in exchange for information sharing. Essentially, the FAA finally figured out that if they wanted to improve aviation safety, they needed honest and accurate information from pilots. Pilots weren't inclined to share information if it would be used against them and enforcement was the only outcome. Programs were created to remove the consequences of an unintentional violation, and those are now the primary ways that deviations are resolved. Many pilots are still afraid of the "old" FAA, even though in practice it no longer really exists.

Do I need a lawyer to talk to the FAA or ASI during an investigation?

No. If you have access to one at no cost through another benefit like AOPA or employer insurance, go for it. However, lawyers just become an intermediary to work through, especially for simple deviations. If you want to minimize consequenses, you're going to personally talk to the ASI and you're going to openly share information about the event. A lawyer can't get you out of an investigation or the outcome, because they can't override the very broad 49 USC authority that the FAA has been given in both investigating and reexamining airmen. If you know for sure you're looking at an Enforcement Action, you can still settle with the FAA attorneys on your own, but a laywer at that point is up to you. Heading to NTSB court? Yeah, lawyer up, because you done messed up now, A-A-Ron.
You are always free to retain a lawyer and direct the FAA to communicate with them at any time, and most ASIs really don't care one way or another, but I would say it's an unnecessary expense if your deviation was an honest mistake. Do whatever makes you feel better, though.

Should I really talk to the ASI during the investigation? This seems like a trap.

As explained, the Compliance Program is only an option if you're willing and able to comply. If you're not willing to openly and honestly talk about the event, you're not really willing to comply. The alternative if you are determined to have violated a regulation is Enforcement Action, soooo... your choice!

What if I don't want to disclose everything to the ASI? What all do they know/have access to?

More often than not, the ASI has the ATC data regarding the event. This includes the radar data and ATC communications. They can play back the portion of your flight in question, so they can see where you actually were, what you were actually doing, and what was actually said. They of course also have access to the FAA databases for your certificates, medical, aircraft, and prior contact with the FAA. I wouldn't suggest lying about any of that.
An ASI reviews all of this before reaching out to you, so usually your conversation is just to fill in the gaps and figure out what was going on in the airplane from your perspective. If I can see or hear from ATC data that you took a wrong turn during taxi and then were embarassed about it before I even talk to you, I probably just have one or two gaps to fill in as to why it happened. Otherwise, unless this is the third time you've come up on my desk this year or you tell me something really abhorrent when we talk, it's almost certainly going to be a Compliance Action Counseling conversation and then good day, sir.

What about the NASA ASRS report? Doesn't that get me out of jail?

Kind of - honestly, an ASI typically isn't even aware if you filed one, or what the status of that is. It would likely come into play if you were facing Enforcement Action. Filing a report will not guarantee that an investigation does not occur, or that you will not need to talk to an ASI. It only guarantees that you will be immune to civil penalties or certificate suspension if you file a report in a timely manner, and you weren't doing something illegal. The information in your report also can't be used for enforcement purposes. That said, if the FAA finds out about a potential violation a month later, and you knew about it but didn't file a report, you generally can't go file one after the fact as an oopsie-daisy to try to avoid the consequences. If you suspect you violated something and you're worried about it, it never hurts to file the report. And as explained above, unless you were grossly deficient or intentionally violating a regulation, you're probably only looking at Compliance Action either way.

I received a Letter of Investigation. Am I in more trouble than just receiving the CP & PBR Brochure? What's the difference?

Not necessarily. You're supposed to receive the Pilot's Bill of Rights in some form before the FAA talks to you about an investigation into an event in any substantial manner, regardless of the nature of the investigation or what the expected outcome is. The LOI is required to be sent to you prior to any Enforcement Action, so some ASIs/offices send out LOIs for any report of a Pilot Deviation just in case something is discovered which pushes it into enforcement. Both the Brochure and LOI contain the required Pilot's Bill of Rights notification, so either one works from the ASI's perspective of simply being able to talk to you about the event. The LOI does inherently come off as more intimidating, though, as it's more formal and on the FAA letterhead.

An ASI randomly handed me a CP & PBR Brochure on the ramp, at an air show, etc - am I in trouble?

No, unless they wrote something in the brochure indicating something specific about a potential violation. ASIs are supposed to share the brochures to raise awareness of the Compliance Program whenever they interact with pilots.

I had a bad interaction with the FAA where _____ happened, and it was nothing like what you said.

Sorry about that. Like I said, not every office is the same. Generally, ASIs want to use the Compliance Program to get things out the door where they can. Maybe you got a grumpy ASI, or their office had seen that sort of thing a lot and was cracking down, or there was more to the story. Like any organization, let alone being the fed, there is some inconsistency between regions and offices. Every ASI I personally knew would have done their best to be fair and to follow the CADP (Compliance Action Decision Process), which I more or less explained in the sequence of events above.

I have another question about what the FAA would or wouldn't do.

Feel free to post it or DM me - I can't guarantee any specific course of action or outcome, and I don't speak for the FAA officially, but I might know some stuff about things regarding your Q.

Timestamp: https://i.imgur.com/gtSghv6.jpg
Happy Sunday!
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Memory transcription subject: Daniel Price, UTC Special Forces
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2140
I was roused from sleep by Colton. Groggily I checked my watch, it had been four hours. Rubbing my eyes I groaned, “Is evac here yet?”
“No, we’ve got an issue. Get up. I’ll grab Jath and Tassev, you get Usli and go to the common room. They’ll fill you in. It sounds like the situation up top has gone to shit.”
Once I was up I lazily grabbed my backpack and parted the partition of the ‘room’ to begin my search for Usli. It wasn’t hard, following the sound of Yotul children I found him being dogpiled by them in a sectioned off area that must have been a playroom of some description.
“Come on Usli, everyone’s meeting in the common room. Apparently there’s a situation.”
“Awww”, several of the young Yotuls cried out in unison.
Usli shook some of them off and got to his feet. “Alright kids, fun’s over.” Kicking his leg he shook off one particularly stubborn child. “Get off! There will be plenty of time to horse around later.”
Clinging to Usli’s back one kid asked, “What’s a horse?”
Usli leaned in towards me, “You see what I have to deal with?”
I could hardly contain a chuckle as I pried the last straggler from him. “I see you’re popular. Did they let you get any sleep?”
“No. They are just full of questions. ‘Do you live with predators? What is space like? Have you killed anyone? Ooh what’s that shiny bug in your pack? Do your Arxur ever eat anyone?’ And then when they’re out of questions they drag you around showing you their favorite rock or their favorite dolls, or-”
I could no longer contain my chuckle as I burst out laughing, "Cut them some slack. You’re probably the coolest Yotul they’ve ever met.”
He let out an amused huff, “Easy for you to say when they’re not keeping you awake. They’ve barely bugged you guys and haven’t even bothered Jath or Tassev at all”
One of the children ran up behind us and grabbed a hold of the backpack in my hand. “Is this your toy,” he asked, grabbing a hold of Lily.
Yanking the backpack up I hoisted the kid off his feet up to eye level and tersely replied, “Don’t touch that!”
He immediately let go and fell on the ground stunned as we continued walking. Looking over to Usli I saw he was barely suppressing a chuckle, holding his hands tight to his snout. I gave him a playful jab with my elbow before sighing, “Oh you shut up, let’s see what’s going on.”
Entering the common area we found everyone was huddled around the radio again. As the dials were adjusted we were privy to what sounded like numerous commands and battle updates.
“What’s the situation,” I asked.
Ugo, the elderly Yotul who we now knew was something of a de facto leader of this enclave, answered, “The Federation is not content to see us freed without a fight. Just as the humans won control in orbit, a Krakotl fleet arrived in the system. The battle is ongoing, but we cannot tell who is winning.”
Shit. If we hadn’t found these guys there’s no doubt we would have been overrun with our evac being delayed. It was inevitable that the Federation would contest us in space eventually. Our overall strategy forced them to pick and choose which systems were better abandoned and which were worth defending, and it looked like Yotul Prime was the latter.
“Have confidence,” I reassured him. “The First Fleet should have more than enough firepower to deal with whatever the Federation throws at them.”
“And if they don’t? Our food stockpile can’t cover the extra mouths to feed, let alone your uh, dietary requirements.”
Colton entered the scene with Jath and Tassev in tow, “Then we’ll send another fleet. Kicking the Federation out of Yotul Prime is high on Command’s Christmas list. You guys are the only species that even tried to reach out to us after the bombing. That’s not something we intend to forget.”
The sound of wood scraping the floor grabbed our attention. It was Amja, who was pulling a small table with one hand and carrying a bundle of paper in the other. “There is another issue.” She stopped and layed the paper, which looked like a map, over the table. “With the distraction, they’re going to evacuate the Governor.”
“Oh not this again,” Ugo lamented.
“This is our last chance to take him down. If he escapes now we’ll never find him.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, there is nothing to gain in pursuing him. The planet will be ours again soon anyways. You’ll just get yourself killed, and for what? Revenge?”
Amja snapped back, “No, justice! He needs to answer for what he’s done these past years. If he slips through the cracks now our people will never have closure. And this time is different.” She looked over to us, “We have them.”
“Hold on,” I said. “ My team didn’t sign up for a suicide mission. The planetary distress beacon was our objective, and it is neutralized; in no small part due to your help. We are thankful for that, but I can’t justify putting my men at that kind of risk.”
“It’s not a suicide mission. The Ossuaries can get us close to the old Chancellor’s Manor where the Governor’s headquarters is. Everyone is in the bunkers right now, so at worst we’ll only encounter the odd exterminator until we reach the manor.”
Ugo interrupted, “And then his guards will cut you to ribbons! We’ve been over this!”
“Not if they are evacuating,” Amja replied. “Yes, they will be on alert, but they won’t be guarding the whole perimeter. We can slip in and nab the Governor before he has the chance to flee, but that’s not all.” She unfurled more sheets of paper. These appeared to be copies of communications. “The manor is full of documents and records. Lists of collaborators, records about those they took during the Depurations, even what they did with the humans left behind after the invasion. The Kolshians won’t leave information like that for us to find once this is all over. They’re probably burning them as we speak. We need to act now.”
“Amja-”
“We have to do this.” Turning back to us she pleaded, “I know it is a lot to ask, but please.”
As much as I’d like to knock this Governor down a notch, that wasn’t enough to risk my team over. But the documents on the other hand caught my attention. Records of Federation’s wrongdoing would be an invaluable propaganda tool for the UTC, and help us legitimize whatever government was set up on Yotul Prime after we were done here. Not to mention the possibility of helping people the Federation had taken or captured. I looked to my team and I could see by their expressions what my answer would be.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The coast is clear,” Amja said, pushing the manhole cover to the side. Sirens were still wailing in the distance, but there was no movement on the streets of the capital. Immediately I was taken aback by the sight of dozens of mangled Yotul strewn across the street and sidewalks.
“Christ,” Colton muttered under his breath. ”This isn’t our doing? Right? They said cities wouldn’t be targeted for bombing.”
“Not directly,” Amja replied. “These poor souls are victims of a stampede. That’s just how it is. Their deaths are on the Federation, not you. If they took your offer of surrender then these people would still be alive.” She then noticed Jath kneeled down over one of the unfortunate Yotul. “Hey! Now is not the time for snacks.”
“I was checking for vitals!”, Jath growled back.
“Jath is our medic,” I said.
“What?!” Amja was taken aback by my statement. “You trust an Arxur to treat your wounded? To be near you at your weakest with blood in the air?”
“I do,” Usli rebutted. “And I trust Tassev to have my back in a firefight too.”
“That’s- it’s just… nevermind.”
Jath rose to his feet somberly, an indication that the emaciated Yotul lying at his feet was indeed dead. “We need to keep moving.”
The streets were utterly deserted. Making our way mostly through back alleys Amja commented on this fact. “Something’s not right. We should have seen at least one exterminator patrol by now.”
It was soon apparent why as we came to the perimeter of the manor grounds. Numerous vans labeled EXTERMINATOR were parked haphazardly going all the way down the boulevard.
“Those bastards,” Amja cursed. “They aren’t patrolling because the Governor has them supplementing his own security!”
“So what’s the plan,” I asked.
“We stick to the plan. He likely doesn’t trust them enough to have them mingled with his normal security inside the manor. In that case all of the exterminators will be outside, if we can sneak our way into the building they won’t be an issue.”
“And those second story windows will make the perfect vantage point to keep them out once we’re in,” Colton observed.
Once again Usli’s drone was a godsend. The bright silver suits of exterminators made them easy to pick out from the well manicured surroundings of the manor. After climbing over the exterior wall we were able to use the decorative foliage to our advantage, concealing our movement as we approached the manor proper. The best entry point Usli could find was a greenhouse that connected to the main building. Approaching the structure we could see one Yotul standing guard at the door. Shooting him wasn’t an option, Even Colton’s suppressed rifle would make too much noise to not alert someone else in the compound. Someone would have to sneak up behind him and silently take him out. I opted to take up this task, but it would not be simple. He would see me in his peripheral vision if I was anywhere except directly behind him when I struck. This was complicated by the fact his back was to a wall.
“Usli,” I whispered. “Remember when we went on that float trip and there were mosquitos everywhere bugging us?”
“Bugging you more like, they only annoyed me when they got in my eyes and ears.”
I gestured towards the guard, “When I’m in position, give him a taste of that.”
Connecting the dots he nodded and I slowly crawled to the spot I had in mind. The greenhouse was rounded on the end towards us, and the door was located on the left side. I snuck around towards the right side and got into position prone right up against the side just where the curve concealed me from the guard’s view.
On cue I could hear the guard grunting in irritation. After the sounds of him slapping himself on the head came more frustration, “Damn bug, go away!”
Peeking around the bend now that his full attention was one the drone, I waited for the perfect moment. Finally the irritated guard turned so that he was facing directly away from me. Springing into action I ran forward, knife in hand. He turned at the sound of my approach but it was too late, I tackled the marsupial to the ground, pinning him with my bodyweight. I grabbed his snout with my left hand, ensuring he couldn’t scream for help. And thrust the blade into his throat with my right. The muffled cry of the Yotul beneath me waned into a sickening gurgle as his frantic, fearful eyes glazed over and his resistance ceased. I sat on top of him for a moment in a daze before the feeling of warm blood on my hand snapped me back to reality. On autopilot I removed the knife and wiped the blade off with the dead Yotul’s uniform before turning to gesture for my team to move up. The door was locked, but the guard conveniently had a key on him. Inside we found no resistance as we entered the main building.
Shooting a bird wasn’t something I had any real qualms about. There was something detached about the action of pulling a trigger to end one. But stabbing a Yotul, to overpower it and watch the life leave its eyes…To feel its blood soak my hands? It was different. I knew his death was necessary like all the others, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t shake a feeling. When I shot a Krakotl it felt akin to our target practice with wild pigs. Killing the Yotul on the other hand? It felt like I killed a person. I didn’t linger on these thoughts for more than a moment. We had a job to do.
We dispatched two more guards inside in a similar manner as we moved up to the second floor and towards what Amja’s floor plans denoted as the Chancellor’s Office. Colton took point dispatching these guards. While Jath or Tassev would seem like the obvious choice for the task, we wanted to slit throats, not tear the guards in half. We came to an open space that looked similar to a ballroom. The second floor formed a balcony that overlooked the dance floor. Here the hallway split to hug the walls on either side with ornate chandeliers hanging in the open space between the walkways. At the opposite end from us was a trio of Krakotl who opened fire the moment they could make us out over the chandeliers. Bullets whizzed by us as we hit the deck and tried to return fire, but it was difficult. The chandeliers provided little more than concealment, glass shards accompanied the bullets flying all around us. Amja crawled to the point where the walkway split and rolled to the right, hitting one of the guards who let out a pained squawk. She tried to crawl back into concealment but took a bullet to the shoulder as the birds returned a hail of gunfire in her direction. Trying to draw them off, I let out a burst of gunfire in what I thought was the direction the squawk came from as I ran to the left side of the split.. They shifted their fire towards me, but unable to pinpoint my position, missed their shots by mere inches. Looking to my right I could see Amja holding her shoulder with her left hand while her right arm laid limp on the ground.
“Jath!” I yelled out, “Amja’s hit!”
He crawled forward towards our position, hugging the ground to avoid the exchange of gunfire that flew above. Amja looked to me and pleaded, “N-no, I’m fine. Just- f-focus on them.”
“We’re not leaving you to bleed out there.”
She adjusted herself to see Jath’s approach from down the hall and looked back to me with newfound terror in her eyes. She spoke lower and faster, gasping between breaths “I d-don’t, I don’t. Not with h-him. No!”
“There’s no time to argue. Trust us.” I turned around to see Jath closing in. Amja closed her eyes and winced as he grabbed her by the leg and pulled her back into the hallway.
The situation wasn’t good. The only thing keeping those two from being shot was the fact they couldn’t be seen through the chandeliers. It was as Jath rounded the corner into a side room that I made a realization: if it wasn't for the chandeliers, the guards would be in a more exposed position than we were. Without them we had the advantage.
“Colton! Drop the chandelier!”
“Do what?!”
“Drop it!”
Within moments the roof anchor of the first chandelier was shot out. With an ear splitting crash it shattered on the floor below, quickly followed by the second. The birds were caught off guard by the destruction of their only concealment. The one Amja had shot was already down and another was clutching the sides of its head, giving us ample time to pick off the more composed bird first before finishing off the other, all before they could return accurate fire.
“Move up,” I yelled, not wanting to waste any of our momentum. I took the right side while Tassev took the left. The moment I was in position, several rounds were blind fired through the door from within. I swung the door and Tassev threw a flashbang in. As it flashed multiple times more gunshots rang out, firing every which way. When the grenade ceased Tassev barged in and I followed behind. Directly in front of me stood a blue cephalopoid figure. One of the tentacles that formed its arms was stretched in front of its eyes while the other flailed wildly with a gun in hand. Without hesitation, Tessev lunged for the gun wielding appendage. I ran to the side to get a clear shot on the Kolshian and barked commands for him to surrender, not that he could hear me considering that his equivalent of ears were probably bleeding. He thrashed in every direction as Tassev finally wrested control of the gun via liberal application of his claws. Seeing that Colton had come in behind us and could keep lethal cover on our target, I opted to bash the Kolshian’s head with the butt of my rifle. The dazed alien fell to the ground and we were finally able to restrain him. The office was huge in comparison to similar rooms in the manor. This had to be the room we were looking for. Colton vaulted the desk on the far end of the office, peaking through the window before tearing down the curtains.
“Where’s Usli,” I asked.
“He’s with Jath treating Amja,” Colton replied. He returned his gaze outside for a moment before readying his rifle, “Shit, we’ve got exterminators incoming.”
I looked to Tassev, “We need to get everyone in this room ASAP.” He nodded and rushed out the door.
Walking to the window I asked, “How many?”
“Twenty and counting,” Colton replied. “A few guards with firearms as well.”
“You need covering fire?”
“No, just finish off the ones that get through.”
With that he opened the window before laying down judicious fire on the oncoming hostiles. It was at this moment that Tassev returned with Amja in his arms.
“Put her down over here,” Jath ordered, swiping away stray books and debris that littered the floor.
“What’s her condition,” I asked.
“The bullet entered from the top of the shoulder blade and is now lodged in her abdomen. I don’t have the tools necessary to remove it and she can’t move her right arm, but it didn’t hit anything vital.”
Amja winced as she was propped up against the wall. She was obviously still fairly shaken as her gaze drifted to the Kolshian tied up opposite of her. Her eyes narrowed as she weakly pointed at him with her still functioning hand, “T-that’s him.”
"That's the Governor?" I queried.
Before she could respond, Usli stomped towards the Kolshian, his hands balled into fists, “Good. I was hoping to get a piece of him.”
“Not now,” I cautioned. “We’ve got exterminators plus anyone else in the building closing in on us.” I swept a computer and monitor off the top of the heavy wooden desk behind Colton. “Tassev, help me push this thing to the door for cover. Usli, I need you to tell us exactly how many hostiles make it in the building. Move it!”
The sound of the desk dragging against the floor was only drowned out by the sound of Colton's gunfire occasionally followed by an explosion of what must have been exterminator fuel tanks. Tassev finished the construction of our makeshift machinegun nest by resting his gun on its bipod looking down the unobstructed view into the ballroom and the hallway across. The perfect fatal funnel for us to defend.

I've reprinted the nt79 receiver and receiver parts twice now, and I'm still running into the same issue. The cocking lever WILL NOT seat into the receiver when the hammer is installed. In the guide, its unclear as hell on how to do it. I'm trying to install it with the hammer locked back, because you can't install it behind the hammer obviously. After 3 broken cocking levers, and my receiver all scratched up, i'm turning to you guys. The matrix was a joke. Any insight would be much appreciated. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but I'm ready to throw the whole thing in the trash and call it an L build.

Hello all!
I have a No. 1A Pocket Kodak Jr. folding camera that I would like to get repaired. Unlike other cameras in my collection, I have very sentimental feelings about this camera and do not trust myself to repair it. It was a camera that belonged to my great-great grandmother, and was the camera that all of my grandmother's childhood photos in the 1930s were taken on. (you can see that they are lovely 116 contact prints, that seem to be quite good quality) I would like to be able to use it and take a few pictures with it. It is a 116 camera, but I am going to 3D print adapters (or buy the FPP ones, not decided yet) to use 120 in the camera.
As for the camera itself, the bellows are in excellent condition per my testing, as is almost everything else, except the shutter. The shutter release assembly is completely detached from the camera. When I inherited the camera on my grandmother's death, it was rattling around in the face of the camera and the shutter itself was completely open. I opened up the front of the camera to find out that the spring that connected the release assembly to the shutter was not extant and the screw on the release arm was not screwed (but still extant). I removed the screw and the release arm from the camera and put them in a little plastic baggie for safekeeping. Originally I thought to perhaps buy another copy of the camera for parts, but there does not seem to be much of a market of totally unusable versions of this camera, and I would prefer not to disassemble one that does work, just to repair mine.
This brought me to the idea of finding out if there are still professional repair services that do repair vintage and antique cameras, despite it likely being a very niche service. Google popped up with 2 repair shops, Walter's Camera Repairs and Zack's Camera Repair. I emailed them with inquiries and am waiting to hear back, but in the meantime, I thought I'd ask you guys if you know anything about these two or know anything about any other similar services, preferably US based as I am in the US.
This is a picture of the camera in question.
I know that this is kind of a long shot and a weird thing, but I really would like that camera to be usable, as it would mean a lot to me to be able to shoot photos with it. TIA!

What constitutes major renovation to update basement ceiling height to code? Or how to leave as is?
I need to install fire separation in basement laundry room that is currently 6'2FT, house was built and continuously used since 1905 as such. If I have some drywall up already, would that be considered a repair? if there is no drywall up would that be considered a major renovation as new installation? In an adjoining room I need to add a service room door that would be brand new, would that major renovation impact any existing ceiling height grandfathering for an adjoining room? Its a legal non conforming designation

I've obtained a Teac X-3 at no cost from my former father in law's estate. It has been sitting unused for a good 30 years in his basement, but it powers up, and the play, fast forward and rewind all work. Overall condition is quite good, but it came with no tapes or takeup reel, so I can't test if it actually plays and records sound. Where would be the best place to get a tape and takeup reel at low cost so I can see if it still can record and play. I have access to a lot of good vinyl from friends that I would like to record, but don't want to sink a bunch of money into a boat anchor. Anything else I should be considering before diving into this rabbit hole?

I've gotten back into playing bass and guitar since 2021 after several years without playing instruments. I taught myself both, playing mostly pop punk and rock. Since it's been mostly a hobby, I didn't do much to hone my technique and focused more on learning songs and basic patterns.
Now, I'm regretting that series of decisions because as I'm trying to work on my chops, I realize I have to deprogram a lot of bad habits that have come as a result of never having proper instruction. Since getting back into playing, I've kind of tried to get my feet under me by learning the bass/rhythm guitar parts of multiple songs and memorizing the forms and transitions etc as I have very serious issues focusing and these sections of songs trip me up frequently on any instrument. I feel like I've gotten all of that out of my system and now I want to truly set about the work of correcting some of these habits.
Unfortunately for the time being, hiring a proper instructor is out of my budget so I'm going to be taking this on myself. I recorded myself on video to watch my hands and look for mechanical problems and I have a ton. I would welcome feedback from anyone who has suggestions/resources for taking these on especially if you've gone through a similar struggle.
LEFT HAND - biggest issue here is "flyaway" fingers. When not in use, my fingers waste a lot of time and space away from the strings. This is an issue on guitar as well. Playing over a 3-fret range (1-2-4 fingers) is also very new to me as I usually used the one-finger-per-fret method and used my middle finger as my "anchor"
RIGHT HAND - usually for most music I play with a pick and feel I've gotten pretty comfortable with the difference between guitar and bass in this regard. Watching + listening more critically though, I struggle keeping things clean when moving from string to string during faster sections, especially during alternating sections when switching to a string against the flow of the picking pattern.
BRAIN - while I know patterns and shapes, I feel my knowledge of scales/terminology/specific notes of the fretboard is lacking. I also forsook the metronome until recently and this is of course a huge mistake that I am trying to correct. I tend to just want to play along to backing tracks vs do drills which was fine for my purposes before but now is something I want to change.
I want to give myself a little credit as when I started playing my bass again I worked very hard on properly muting strings that weren't in use in all kinds of different ways and that has improved my playing a lot! Looking to make similar progress in all these other areas and become a more technically proficient player and well-rounded musician. Thank you in advance for your feedback!

The hero's party pushed the two large double doors open. It was the only thing between them and the 'final boss' inside. This was it, this was what their whole adventure was leading up to.
As they entered the final room, they were greeted by an empty throne. "huh?" the hero's brows furrowed in confusion. "isn't this where the boss dude is?"
"Stay vigilant! This might be a trap." the mage replied as she prepared a defensive spell, she was always the smart one in the group.
The elf archer's ears perked up, without a word she snapped to the shadows behind her, bow drawn. The silent beauty they called her.
A slow clap echoes from the darkness, and their eyes widened in horror. The comic relief of the party, their punching bag when they were hammered after drinking, slowly emerged out of the dark shadows laughing.
"Well done my friends." he said half heartedly, his tone almost mocking.
"CARL WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!" the hero shouted.
"We'll you see," Carl's mouth cracked into a sinister grin, eyes turning into crescent shaped slits. "I, am the marionette. The person you have been searching for who has been right under your noses since the beginning." The marionette's lips spread into a sly smile, he lifted one of his fingers and the hero's companions started dancing lifelessly "And you my friends, are the puppets in my show."
The hero grit his teeth. Veins clearly visible on his face, blood boiling with anger. He was consumed by rage.
"Woah calm down, I'm afraid the princess is in another castle." The hero looked at him stupidly.
"Haaah, what I meant was that I'm not actually here. This is merely just a puppet you see?"
He lifted his clothes to reveal plain wood underneath.
"Oh? look at the time." it looked at its empty wrist, "I've got to go."
The puppet collapsed to the ground.
"By the way, Carl's a fake name." it jerked up and said before finally staying motionless.

Feel free to laugh at me, I sure do.
Back in the good old days, when I thought I’d met my soulmate (vom) I was telling my ex pwBPD how I always wanted to get a tattoo but could never settle on something. My ex is from the US so I of course had to teach him all the Aussie/NZ and British slang. He thought the word wanker was hilarious (similar to idiot or jerk-off for all the Americans playing at home). I jokingly said I wanted to get a ‘W’ on one finger and a picture of an anchor on another finger so I could secretly remind him from across the room how much of a wanker he is. My ex suggested we both get W⚓️ tattooed on our ring fingers. So we did. -Ragrets- https://imgur.io/a/cYtEGse
Half an absolute shitshow of a year later I gave him a tattoo machine and some red and black ink for his birthday. My ex was tattooed from the neck down and at some point I realised that almost half of his tattoos were matching with his victims before me, like some kind of ex graveyard on his body. (No, my ex is not Pete Davidson and I’ve only just realised the many similarities lol)
Fast forward a few months and my loving boyfriend blows up and throws a tantrum over the most stupid thing, followed by a proposal on one knee and then a single text message discard, block, ghost and replacement! Cue PTSD - yay!
Four months, many tears and nightmares later I go back to the US for a friend’s wedding and mini holiday with a friend from Reddit who was in a similar clusterfuck of a situation as me (hey J if you’re reading this!). I convince my ex to drop the suitcase of my things to my hotel and stop by for a quick conversation. I’m desperate for answers at this point. Of course I get absolutely no closure. I did however get an hour of his life updates. He tells me he already dumped my replacement weeks ago for her awful crime of paying more attention to their waiter than him while on a dinner date night. He laughs at her pending IG follow request and tells me how she’s dead to him. He doesn’t ask how I am or apologise, just tries to kiss me and take my clothes off. I tell him not a chance, he’s already told me more than once he doesn’t want me. He checks my finger to make sure I’m still branded. Yep. I fly home feeling slightly better.
Fast forward another month to yesterday and I recognise his rebound in my ‘people you may know’ on FB. We have his mother as a mutual friend! I click on her profile and her cover photo is a picture of them together. Guess they realised they were soulmates and got back together the day that I left! It also appears as though she has used the tattoo machine and red ink I bought him for his birthday to write her name on his FACE and his name on her wrist. I hear that he’s been publicly posting couples pics with accompanying love raps/poems for the last few weeks… so the loyalty world tour has commenced! Thankfully he still has me blocked.
Please join me for a moment of silence on behalf of the girl who just signed her fate in red ink.
Bullet dodged

My boyfriend made me a reddit account so I’ve never used this app before but want some advice. I’m getting my first GBB which should be delivered on Wednesday. I’m so excited!!! I’ve been doing a TON of research online. I’m wondering if anyone can recommend advice on what to use for the substrate? I got coco fiber but the store only had the bricks so I mixed with a little water just to get it loose and need it dried out before Wednesday. I’m wanting to use live plants but I’ve never had any in a vivarium before. Does anyone have recommendations on what plants to use and how to maintain the plants? What type of anchor points should I use for webbing? I’m also wondering how to clean the vivarium? I’ve read how fast they can be especially as juveniles so does anyone have advice on how to remove them from the enclosure for cleaning? The enclosure came with a rock styrofoam backing. Is that safe to use?
I’ve found answers to all of these questions online and I’ve made a google doc with all needed information to go back to when I need it but I want to ask reddit as well. I want to make sure I have all my bases covered! :)

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/8qkbkHD
A Shoei RF1200 motorcycle helmet, medium. Wasn’t worn much and hasn’t even been touched in a year or so. Comes with smoke and clear visors, both with pin lock inserts. Size medium. This is a really nice helmet, I just don’t ride anymore thanks to school. TV $225
Sidi Vortices racing style motorcycle boots. US 9.5. Same as above, not worn much and none recently. Great boots, adjustable ventilation holes for rain rides or if it’s hot/cold. TV $135
Would like to trade both moto pieces for a SF DS00+ a few bucks, or a RMR06 3.25, or possibly a few other items. Also looking for a Railscales Anchor, HK 416 steel mags, staccato mags, a JPC 2.0, a nice battle belt (I’m a 32 waist), crye clothing, lots of other shit I’m not thinking of.
Honestly, if you’re interested in these, let me know what you have. I don’t use them and would rather trade (or sell) them for something more useful to me. Let’s talk.

Art of Simone's upgraded power armor and crystal sword!
Chapter Sixty Five: Allies and Scritches.
Looking around, the redhead finds herself standing in the middle of a dark and damp forest. But despite the gentle waves of the breeze moving the flora, there’s no sound. To the Terran’s recognizing eye as well, the plant life appears to be a blending mingle of those on the Gratt homeworld and the fateful operation on the Whista owned world.
Moving forward, her surprisingly lucid mind comes to the conclusion that she is once again ‘dreaming’, no doubt being brought on by the growth in her braincase.
She finds a loose path reminiscent of an overgrown hunter's trail that snakes her deeper into the silent landscape. Although something instinctual in her demands to be fearful of the situation, Simone can’t help to be more curious than anything due to the fact this hasn’t happened in a little while.
After some time of traversing the blending path she catches something glinting off past nearby foliage. Freezing for a moment she stares it down in an attempt to make out what it is. When it proves to not be a barrel of a weapon, she approaches it and reaches out. Her bare hand touches the glint, causing it to fully take form before resting in her palm. In a light dug she draws the dangling object free from a thin branch and brings it up close to her face.
On a thin necklace chain is a bent dog tag and a small grimy triangular device. Manipulating the tag, Simone is not at all surprised to find her own name on it. But as for the device, she surmises that it’s very similar to the thing implanted to her forehead after being kidnapped by the children of Gaia, though clearly a differing model with possibly a very different purpose.
For a moment Simone is almost compelled to put the triangle to her head, but knowing better than to trust the bits of a Manarian mad scientist in her brain she resists and decides to continue down the path. But to her concern the path is no longer there when she turns around. Instead before her is a cliffside overlooking a wide field of absolute chaos.
Down in the valley she overlooks is an expanse of a visceral battle playing out. No longer silent, the explosions and cries of vocals are significantly muffled as if her own hearing was going out.
Still, she steps closer to the drop to get a fuller view. Far down below, yet in perfect clarity to her dream eyes are various sized armies of every known species defending incoming forces from the dark encircling treeline. From the trees themselves are lines of armored Manarians consistently pressing more and more into the valley. From all sides the defenders are overwhelmed from their foes. Few Manarian’s drop in their compressing march. Simone witnesses that as they approach individuals of other species, the defenders throw down their arms before kneeling in surrender. Like an aura of instant submission, those who don’t fall in battle give in to the invaders in an instant. More and more the Manarians gain ground, only seeming to slow as Deathworlders put up the most fight.
Finding the location of the Terrans, Simone’s heart sinks. A small but effective population is fighting against the bulk within their own lines. Disarray ensues as the Terrans divide their bewildered attention from within and what approaches, unable to give support to others or eventually themselves.
Suddenly the majority of the Cali forces turn to their neighboring species and join in on the Manarian’s side. In the midst of this they release a devastating additional army of Malchite that help carve the Manarians an easy path towards the most united and powerful section of the defenders.
In mere moments, ‘Central’ falls, sending a cascading wave of despair to all the remaining defenders. Before the Manarian’s even get close now, swaths of species begin to surrender seeing their best chance at maintaining a defense is obliterated.
Thankfully the Terrans have seemed to have taken care of the internal conflict, but unfortunately it's far too late for it to matter as they practically stand alone in this fight.
Some species flee to bolster and hide behind the Terran’s lines. To their credit, if not for a moment, they fight back hard enough to pause the Manarian advance. There’s moments of grim yet heroic sacrifices, ground freely given in order to lure the enemy into effective traps, and some Terrans manage to not give into the aura of submission long enough for others to run. It’s damn inspiring to see the unstoppable force stall.
But of course, it’s not enough.
Lines break, encampments burn, leaders fall.
Eventually Terrans are reduced to a single circular formation as they stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of the little they have left.
They hold until their ammunition and other supplies run dry. Expecting surrender the Manarains extend the option to stop the fighting then and there.
In a moment of consideration, the Terrans under the flag of their last standing leader charge outwards in a hopeless defiant melee. The fighting is visceral and brutal, but eventually only one Terran stands against an entire universe.
The individual has no energy left to strike out. In their grasp is a tattered and burned flag that can no longer be made out. But the Terran stands, using it as a brace.
A Manarian leader comes up and hammers the final Terran to the ground demanding submission. A few now utterly silent moments pass by before the Terran drags themself up the flagpole into a standing position.
With another blow the Manarian strikes them down again.
But the Terran refuses, and gets up once more.
Having run out of patience the Manarian shoots a leg cleanly free from the Terran.
Yet with a scream, they remain standing, utilizing the pole even more.
Deciding that it’s no longer worth trying, the aggressor levels their weapon to the Terran’s face.
Just before being vanquished for good, Simone realizes that through the cracked open helmet of the Terran that they were looking straight up at her. Despite the distance, the two sets of eyes lock together. There is not pleading in the wounded Terran’s eyes, no fear, no judgment, nothing Simone would ever expect.
What the redhead sees in them can only be expressed in one simple word;
Hope.
As the final shot sings out the valley is encompassed in shadow, resembling more of an massive endless pit.
“I know what’s at stake. Why am I being shown this? You of all people should be elated that this is coming.” Simone thinks for Sharra to possibly pick up.
But instead of an expected occurrence, she feels a warmth from behind her.
Turning her back from the void she immediately sees a small campsite. There’s a tent, a stack of scavenged firewood and a strange cliché knight sitting on a log by a roaring fire.
Feeling her heart skip a beat Simone practically runs to him, expecting it to be an aspect of her father. But she soon realizes that the person’s frame is far too small to be an avatar of him.
Noticing her, the armored individual raises a hand in greeting before staring at the fire. The area behind their visor still pitch dark.
“What is this?” Simone skeptically says in her mind, not trusting this in the slightest.
The knight then speaks up.
“A fire.” they say.
“I mean… all of this… What’s going on?” the Terran presses.
You’re dreaming, and thus your mind is molding things in the manner minds do when slumbering.’ the knight states.
“Okay… so what are you supposed to be? Because with what’s going on with my head a lot of things I ‘dream’ are actually literal things affecting me, like you actually answering my question so directly is pretty suspicious. This a Sharra thing? Usually it’s my dad in the knight get-up, so what are you?” Simone responds in questioning.
“Nothing of substance at all. Or… something vitally important. That’s really up for you to decide really. This is your mind after all, I’m simply here because your mind thought it necessary to conjure me.” the Knight replies.
“But this isn’t how dreams are normally supposed to work, even more lucid ones… right? This is getting real fucking weird.” the redhead argues.
“Then perhaps your mind’s ailment is affecting your mind quite a bit.” the Knight shrugs.
“No fucking kidding…” Simone agrees as she steps up closer, “So… you wouldn’t know where I can talk with whatever’s left of Sharra?”
To answer this, the knight bends to the side and digs their hand into loose soil. Sitting back up they begin to massage it back out to the forest floor.
“Bits and pieces everywhere. Constantly trying to pull together, but is simply unable to be whole. Destined to eventually drive you mad.” they explain.
“Wait, what? How?” Simone asks.
“You have been affected by her unconsciously, have you not? Wanting to viscously bite your lover? Speaking in her tongue? Symptoms of her gradually melding into you. Although she’s not complete, you will eventually start to forget who you really are. Two minds sharing one consciousness… it spells disaster for ‘Simone Thatch’. I suggest you find a way to avoid this.”
“But… but Vermis told me that she’s too far gone to be a problem.” the redhead points out.
“She can’t take your body from you, but she’ll still seep. Regardless if she can even intend to or not. Your mind will survive, but your identity will slip to some degree.”
“Shit…” Simone responds as she plants her face to her hands, “So… your part of my subconscious that is telling me something is wrong?”
“Possibly. Makes sense if that’s the case.” the knight grants as Simone can hear the helmet be removed from the individual.
She attempts to pull her hands away, only to realize she was stuck in this realm of pitch black.
-
Simone’s eyes open from what was meant to just be a brief nap. Her brain was foggy, and the details of her dream was loose enough to question her actual lucidity during or if her dream simply tricked her into thinking she was in fact lucid.
Rubbing her face she sits up to see Chak having a conversation with Sonla across the hotel room.
“Hey hun, how long was I out?” she asks as she swings her legs off the side of the bed.
The princess stands up and begins moving over to the Terran.
“Just a few hours, I was planning on waking you in another hour anyway so don’t fret. You really needed it after everything.” Chak replies with a giggle as she reaches out to address her lover’s bedhead fur.
Allowing the Cali to fix what she can, Simone sighs out of soreness.
“Yeah, I did.” she agrees in a chuckle, “Our new infiltrator caught up to speed?”
“I haven’t shared certain details, but she knows that we are perhaps going to have a less than legal encounter with the Terran President. That won’t harm the president, hopefully.” Chak reports before finishing up with the Terran’s fur, “Oh, and I have purchased some new clothes for you to wear on our trip back. They were delivered not a standard half hour ago. Simple pants and shirt. Your dress has been cleaned and repaired as well.” she notified as she pointed to the closet area.
SImone leans out and kisses the Cali in a tender peck.
“You’re the best hun.” she whispers before standing up and stretching out the ache before striding over to the neatly folded pile of clothes.
“Only second to you.” Chak coyly replies as she enjoys the view for a few moments before snapping to it, “I’ll have our transport summoned.”
…
Before the three can even depart out the front door, as the elevator door opens there’s a crowd of people waiting for them in the lobby. Simone opens her mouth to ask what was going on, but Chak swiftly presses the indicator to re-close the door.
“Chakalata’motaas! One moment of your time!”
“Princess there’s some questions regarding public property damage!”
“When was the last correspondence you had with your father!”
“Is the Terran really your fiance or a roleplay consort?”
Among other raising voices upon seeing the Cali the reporters swarmed towards the elevator just before the door closed and started to go up a level.
“Wow…” Simone utters, “I thought we’d be a bit more shielded from them?”
“If they reserved rooms at the hotel after learning we were here… then there’s not much that can be done.” Chak replies a bit troubled, “We just need to find another way-”
As the door opens again, even more people stand in wait.
“Oh princess! Was your appearance on Thorba the truthful’s podcast really you or did he use A.I to replicate your voice?”
“Was it you present on Kamoi roughly a standard year ago where a restaurant was destroyed in a terrorist attack? Were you the target?”
“What business do you have in Central? Are you going to appeal to have your father’s authority be unrecognized?”
“Have you spoken at all to the Cali Ambassador?
“Care to share any details over the events that transpired with Ambassador Zrreak’s son last night?”
“Is the Vorook also a lover of yours?”
“Is your chitin really deep-dyed?”
“Are you still in fear for your life?”
“Are Terrans-”
The elevator door sealed again, this time needing Simone to hold back people from potentially creeping into the elevator.
“I guess we’re going back down to make a run for it?” Simone huffs in immense annoyance.
“Unfortunately that appears to be our only option.” Chak nods, her patience being tested as well.
“Want me to make big explosion as a distraction?” Sonla offers.
“No need for that.” Chak replies quickly.
“Here. I’ll march us out. Sonla, get on my back.” Simone says before she kneels down and scoops up the Cali in her arms, “Still as light as a feather.” she winks.
Chak’s eyes flash.
“They’ll be given quite the show.” she chuckles.
As told, Sonla clambers up the back of the Terran and gets a firm hold around her neck.
“If an explosion is needed, I’m ready!” she declares just before the doors open for the final time.
Using her cradling arm under the Cali’s back, Simone uses her curled up hand to protect Chak’s head as she marches straight into the crowd.
None wanting to test to see if the bulky Terran considers trampling a valid option, a path is cleared. However the barrage of questions does not let up in the slightest as they followed the trio towards the front doors.
“What was the intention of your stay here?”
“When and where will your wedding to the Terran occur?”
“Is it true that Simone Thatch is a war criminal?”
“Have you suffered any injury while being intimate with a Terran?”
“How many Terrans have you mated with? Are all the ones you brought with you your harem?”
“Are you certain that you are the last survivor of your family?
“Are the Gratt to be trusted?”
“Have you encountered any bouncy hunters in Central?”
“Is the famed Admiral Chucknuq still in your service?”
“Have you been hiding out this whole time on Vapor’perna?”
“Are you planning on commencing a civil war?”
“How much are you paying the Terran to be your mate?”
To the dismay of Chak and Simone, the crowd only grew upon leaving the hotel’s premises. And even contributed around where their shuttle was landing.
Although not completely serious about it, SImone started to humor the idea of Sonla causing a distraction before sharp roaring barks erupts from nearby.
The questions all stop and even a few calls of distress ring out as everyone catches sight of a dozen uniformed Z’ah’tucks approach. In a wide line formation they release warning -though no doubt perceived as outright ‘threatening’- vocalizations. More cries ring out as they unleash fur covered mammalian quadrupeds that run ahead to the trio and begin guiding the reporters away through fear alone.
Simone couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the sight of the Terran shepherd dogs doing what their breed did best.
A Tromple recoils in pale terror as they worm away from one of the canines, who did nothing but exist with an authoritative attitude.
Very effectively parting the crowd away from the three, the lead Z’ah’tuck waved Simone to come to her.
Seeing little reason not to, considering the rescue, the Terran nods and hurries the two other women on her to the line of dinos.
“Thanks, but… what’s this about?” she asks.
The pack of a dozen dinos encircle the three and start walking them away to another shuttle landing zone. The dogs loyally come back to their owners as they make sufficient distance.
“As an apology for you having to get involved with last night’s events, Ambassador Zrreak wishes to personally escort you back to your designated apartment.” she answers as three shuttles await them in the zone. The biggest and most armored of which opens up for the three to enter.
“Oh…” Chak utters in thought before Simone lets her down to enter the vessel.
As the princess steps on in, it’s clear this vessel is meant to fit many guests within on a regular basis considering the scuffing and scratch marks. But at this moment there is only one individual within.
Looking much like his son, Zrreak is of the larger variant of his species. Covered in various deep scars across his scales and adorned in high quality drapery he pets a smaller breed of dog in his lap.
“Thank you for accepting my invitation, Princess.” he greets with a respectful bow of his head.
“Of course, we very much appreciate your assistance with the media swarm.” Chak replies before she finds herself a seat.
“You can get off now…” Simone informs Sonla before following the Cali in.
The Vorook slowly slides down the Terran and does her best to position herself to hide behind the redhead as much as possible, eventually sitting down in a seat that has the larger frame of the Terran between her and the ambassador.
Simone looks the ambassador in the eyes with a hint of weariness. Although she isn’t necessarily suspicious, with the still very significant bounty on her fiance’s head… one can never be too careful. She waits until the seal of the shuttle door clicks shut before speaking up herself.
“Cute corgi, does it have a name?” she inquires.
“Hmmhmm” the Z’ah’tuck hums in amusement as he lightly scratches the canine on it’s rump, causing it to lift its head and perk its ears, “His name is Zioakaa, a play on the Z’ah’tuck title meaning ‘One who has seen the Abyss, and made it weep’. Such a title is usually reserved for artists or passionate leaders. People who can invoke a great shift of public morale, whether it be for sorrow, fear or hope. This dog? Although he is no small part of my public image, he has shifted my morale extraordinarily.” he answers in a relatively reminiscing voice.
Seeing his genuine soft appreciation for the animal is clear as day to Simone, she allows herself to relax as the shuttle takes off with two additional escorts.
“Dogs are pretty great, huh?” Simone chuckles.
“Possibly the best of everything your people have brought to the stars.” the man agrees, “Despite losing a long war with Terrans, Z’ah’tuck certainly gained from it in some aspects.”
“Crazy how that hashes out. And hey, more dogs in the universe? I’ll take it.” the redhead replies before peeking over to Sonla, who was tucking her legs up to make her silhouette smaller.
“Oh, how is your son fairing Ambassador Zrreak? And the others in his and his wife’s company?” Chak asks pleasantly.
“He has been advised to be in bed for a few days, but will make a full recovery. The others will recover as well, but those more substantially injured will of course need a fair bit more recovery.”
“That’s very good to hear. Be sure to pass along our best wishes.” the Princess replies with a nod of her head.
“I will. Though I must apologize for your involvement in his incident. Such business should have been avoided in the first place.” Zrreak says as he extends one of his hands out to Chak, which she accepts sooner than he would have expected from a Cali.
“Thank you for the gesture, the involvement was voluntary, I assure you. Believe it or not Ambassador, I have conducted myself in more perilous situations as you can no doubt imagine.” Chak says pleasantly, “Though I have a feeling you’ve brought us aboard your own personal shuttle with other motives in mind, yes?”
Simone tenses up again as the Ambassador’s raptor eyes focus on the Princess for a moment.
Tilting his horned head, Zrreak then lets out a ‘caught me red handed’ snicker before pulling his hand away.
“Yes, yes you’re right indeed. Though I assure you it has little to do with the price on your head. As much as I still enjoy a good hunt, I’m not one to prey upon my own allies. No, what I hope to discuss is ensuring you are reinstated as the prime monarch of the Cali people.” he reveals.
“Oh… pardon Zrreak… what exactly do you mean by that?” Chak asks as she recovers from such a bold notion.
“I’ve decided to place my bets on you, Chakalata’motaas. I bring you an offer already officiated over by my people’s leaders for you to respond. May I officially present it to you in this rather unofficial setting?” he inquires.
“Very well, but I cannot make a promise that I’ll be receptive to what you offer.” Chak grants as she crosses her lower limbs in her lap.
Zrreak presses an indication in a side datapad, activating a hardlight screen to appear along the middle open area of the shuttle. The text on the screen outlines the terms of the proposal to which the ambassador presents it aloud.
“This proposed bargain has been rattling around the Z’ah’tuck trade leaders since the coup of your father. Though it hinged on whether or not you or any of your siblings survived. Seeing you are indeed alive and making concerted efforts towards freeing your people from his tyrannical rule one way or another you fit the criteria. And so here it is; The Z’ah’tuck Conglomerate will publicly support your right to the Cali throne, and it is prepared to dedicate one-sixth of its war fleets and the Third-fang battalion to aid in the likely event of military conflict.” he pauses to let that settle before continuing, “In return, the Conglomerate requests that the Cali government agree to contribute Ten percent more Natural-grade product and twenty five percent more Clone-grade product to the Z’ah’tuck meat market trade for the next fifty standard year period. Secondly it is also requested that Cali shipyards produce Twenty five hundred trade-ships by Conglomerate provided specifications in the next five standard years. Thirdly, permit Z’ah’tuck trade businesses to set up shop on Cali colonies. Fourth and finally, vote and publicly advocate for the Z’ah’Tuck people to be officiated out of ‘Associate Species’ into ‘Member Species’ status in Central.” he finishes.
Chak scratches the sides of her head with her lower graspers as she seriously considers the alliance deal. It’s an incredible opportunity. With the Z’ah’tucks big economic pull among the carnivorous species of Central -despite them currently being of ‘Associate’ status- this could be very advantageous. But the cost for the support was fairly high, yet not totally unreasonable.
“Your offer is rather tempting, Ambassador. Though I cannot see myself agreeing to it as it stands. You see if open civil war does break out, then I fear my people will need a period of time to stabilize, especially economically. People will need to be fed, buildings rebuilt, and damage to our world repaired. So here’s my counter offer for your consideration;” she says as she reaches out in request for the datapad, of which is candidly handed to her for her to revise the terms for consideration, “Lower the twenty five percent for cloned product to twenty. Provide charitable relief shelter camps where displaced Cali can be warm and well fed during the war campaign, which may prove to be a great source of building up positive relations with not only my people but many others sitting in Member Central seats. And finally agree to grant Cali trade ships official access to Conglomerate trade routes with reduced fines by thirty percent. The rest of your terms are acceptable.” she responds.
“Hmmm…” Zrreak mumbles as he stares at the screen. He brings a claw to his armored muzzle, dragging it along a deep old scarring, “I have the authority to negotiate the terms within reason, and although I know a few trade managers will be disgruntled I believe your counter terms are acceptable.” he nods before transferring the developed agreement to the datapad for both parties to sign.
The Z’ah’Tuck signs first before handing the pad over.
Suppressing her eyes from blasting light to not give away how she honestly felt about this deal, Chak re-reads the entire agreement twice to make absolutely certain that there are no possible term manipulations. The Z’ah’tuck are known to be honerable in terms of business, but one can never be too careful in this realm of dealing.
Once she is certain of all the terms, Chak signs as well and hands it back.
“Your gamble on me is appreciated, Ambassador. I will do everything in my power to ensure that my father is deposed. With your aid, I see the path towards that even more clearer.” she assures.
“Time will tell. And to be honest, we stand to lose little until conflict is certain. The biggest risk we run is a prolonged open war with the Cali. Central history is not kind to Deathworlders declaring war on non-deathworlders, even under these circumstances we may risk being ousted completely from Central. Though I’m doubtful considering our stranglehold on the meat markets. Who else would they turn to? The Truba? With their reputation and recent enormous debacle? I don’t think so.” Zrreak chuckles as he returns to petting his lap dog.
“Such a travesty…” Chak agrees, “Is there more you can share regarding that situation?”
“Just that these Squilla understandably don’t have much of a government. They dwelled in deeper waters and complex cave systems in their comparative ‘iron age’. They are incredibly fast learners, however. Which gives most of the Central council the impression that the Truba have been suppressing the Squilla’s growth as a people for literal ages. I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in known galactic history. It’s still all a mess unfortunately, but important first steps have been taken. I’ve spoken to the representative of the Squilla only a few times, and seeing him come to terms with reality is bittersweet.” the ambassador explained.
“I see. Perhaps I may have a chance to meet him while I’m in central.” Chak says with a shrug.
“It’s a long line to privately meet in an official manner, which is to no surprise I assume?” Zrreak informs.
“Of course, perhaps not then.” Chak concedes.
Wide eyed, Simone looks back and forth between the two.
“Sorry, uhm… I feel like what just happened earlier is a pretty big fucking deal… Military support? Not that I’m complaining, but I’d imagine something like that having a bit more bureaucracy? A quick back and forth and it’s a done deal?” she questioned, utterly bewildered.
“This is how backroom deals tend to go, Simone, you know that.” Chak replies as she reaches a hand to take hold of one of the redhead’s.
She then squeezes in trembling excitement to show that she was putting up a polite professional act.
“Right. Yeah.” Simone corrects herself as she huffs a pant of jubilated air.
The ambassador turns to look at the Terran directly.
“Simone Thatch. If you're at liberty to confirm, through some dealings we have received interesting intel regarding a Terran group that calls itself the ‘Children of Gaia’. Have you encountered them previously?” he inquires.
“Ah, uhm… I know about them. But that’s all I’m really willing to share at this time. What sort of dealings are you referring to exactly?” the Terran responds.
“Nothing nefarious, at least at the surface. We have traded for strange breeds of dogs, tracing their origins to that group. We suspect that they are these ‘pirates’ that invaded the Gratt homeworld. Would that be correct?” Zrreak presses, now looking back and forth between the Terran and Cali.
Chak sighs but nods.
“That would be correct.” she admits.
“Why hide that fact?” the ambassador asks.
“Well, there's a reason to. And I’m afraid we can’t share why, but rest assured their identity will be broadly revealed in due time. Soon, if we can help it, but we have to secure a few things first.” Chak explains, “Apologies for withholding information from you, but I ask that the Conglomerate not share intel of the group for the time being.” Chak requests.
“I can’t promise such, but if it’s in your interest to wait, then it is likely ours as well.” Zrreak grants, “But if we found what we have, others are likely to as well. So I hope whatever you are planning comes around soon, Princess.” he adds.
“As do I, and trust me I understand.” Chak says as she squeezes Simone’s hand once more, “They are our enemies and what we intend to do is to dismantle them.” she assures.
“Ah, I hope you don’t mind a single stop before arriving at your apartment. I have a gift that I wish to present to you.” Zrreak announces after he seems to have received a notification on his Lens.
“Oh, how kind of you. What manner of gift?” Chak inquires.
“One that in some small way may bolster your personal security.” the ambassador vaguely answered a bit coyly.
“Oh joy…” Simone says, unsure if they’d be able to comfortably take on another staff member on the Kwip-chap.
…
Soaring down into a tight one way entrance tunnel, the shuttle eventually comes to a latching stop before being lifted up into an unloading room.
“Come, step out. It’s being brought to us.” Zrreak instructs as he stands and strides out.
Preparing themselves to politely turn his offer down, Simone and Chak step out after him. Sonla on the other hand decided then would be a perfect time to raid the fancy meat snacks she’d been eyeing for most of the trip.
As the three stand just outside the shuttle in wait, it takes only a few minutes for a Z’ah’tuck to turn a corner and enter the room.
“Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll have room to properly accommodate-” Chak begins to say before feeling her legs freeze up in sudden numbness as a beast comes trailing behind the Z’ah’tuck.
Simone’s eye tufts lift in surprise as she looks upon what she initially mistakes as a damn hyena as it shares the rusty red-brown color, stripes and even a shallow mohawk of longer fur going down its back. Though its pitbull-esk face and body structure clues her in that it is indeed a dog.
The thickly muscled domestic canine assertively pats its clawed paws across the floor towards them, passing up the handler it stopped and politely sat ten feet away.
Bending down, Zrreak sets down his corgi which without hesitation stamps quickly over to the comparatively titanous brethren. Sniffing up and around his new friend the loaf of a dog ran a circle around the other unbothered canine before splaying forward in a ‘play’ pose in front of it. Before then running off as if to invite a chase.
“Her name is Zrume, meaning ‘Wall of fangs and talons’. She is only two years of age, but understands commands in Galactic standard and is perfectly trained to guard her charge with her life.” Zrreak introduced before notifying the uncertain fright in the Princess, “She is also trained to assist as an emotional support companion. She can provide more Service-oriented work, but that hasn’t been a primary focus of her training. I thought that may suit someone of your nature, Princess.” he added before addressing the dog directly. “Zrume, at ease.”
The dog’s ice-blue eyes spark with hyper excitement as she breaks her statue pose to spaz out before engaging in play with the corgi, sniffing him in return greeting after easily catching up.
“She isn’t the best I can offer, but I believe she’d be perfect for you. May she approach to meet you?” the ambassador inquires.
“Uhm…” Chak utters before looking up to Simone for an opinion.
Biting her cheek, the redhead gave a tentative nod back.
“Oh, alright.” the princess agrees.
“Zrume, come.” Zrreak instructs.
Turning away and all but ignoring the corgi again, Zrume approaches much closer to the three. Her circular blue eyes look up at the ambassador loyally, only taking side glances of the two women.
“Transfer.” the Z’ah’tuck commands as he points to Chak first and then to Simone.
The head of the dog looked up at Chak, its head pretty much as large as hers.
“D-do I pet her?” Chak inquires.
“Of course, though I strongly recommend that you limit her social interaction to a minimum when she’s on the job. When she’s off, tell her ‘at ease’ so she knows.” Zrreak answers with an amused but serious tone.
“O-okay… Hello… Zrume… uhm… at ease? At ease.” Chak says directly to the animal.
Zrume sinks her head slightly forward to gently press against between the Cali’s lower arms. Looking up with her crisp blues she starts to wag her tail and lightly stamps her front paws.
Chak’s racing hearts start to relax as a familiar admiration feeling rises up within her. Glancing up at Simone, she caught her inwardly biting her lips to resist the broad smile from breaking out.
Looking back at the dog, Chak lifts all of her limbs and begins scritching at the places that she saw these animals enjoy in the media. Behind the ears, under the chin and the sides of the thick neck.
Zrume closes her eyes as her tail aggressively pats against the floor like a happy baton. And Chak swears the dog’s closed mouth smiled, though that could have been a trick to the angle she is viewing her.
“What do you think?” the ambassador asks, seeming to already know the answer.
“She’s so sweet…” Chak replies in giggle, “I don’t think I can say no…”
“Then in that case, I’ll have her supplies loaded up for you.”