According to the Regional Research Reports, the global squash drinks market size is estimated to grow from USD 523.4 million in 2022 to reach USD 1523.3 million by 2033 at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2023 to 2033. The growth is primarily driven by several variables about which Regional Research Reports provides comprehensive insights and estimation in the global squash drinks market research.
The Regional Research Reports published the report on “global squash drinks market Report 2023 – Future Growth Opportunities, Latest Technological Trends, In-depth Analysis, and Forecast To 2033” provides the futuristic vision of the global squash drinks market along with the market size (Revenue – US$ Million) and estimates for the duration 2023 to 2033. The aforementioned research study examines various market segments in terms of nature, product type, base type, distribution channel, and regional. The competitive profiles of the top vendors of squash drinks products and their most recent developments are also included in the report.
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Global Squash Drinks Market Analysis

This report includes market size and forecast analysis for each segment - by nature, product type, base type, distribution channel, and geography. Additionally, for the years 2023 to 2033, compound annual growth rates for all segments have been provided. In addition to highlighting recent market trends for squash drinks, the study also provides information on upcoming trends that will affect demand. The global squash drinks market report also includes annual growth rates for each segment. Additionally, the report analyses the market from the standpoint of production and provides cost overviews for the squash drinks market as well as analyses of labor, raw material, and technology costs.
The market has been segmented by region: North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Under North America, the report covers the United States, Canada, and Mexico; whereas Asia Pacific includes China, Japan, India, Korea, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand, and the Rest of Asia Pacific. The key countries covered under Europe include Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and the Rest of Europe, whereas the Middle East and Africa is comprised of the Middle East, Africa, and GCC countries. The report also includes market sizes for all regions and sub-regions as of 2022 and through 2033.
This report includes information about the major players, such as overview, revenue, interview record, gross profit, business distribution, etc. These details give the consumer a better understanding of the rivals. Additionally, it details the market's competitive landscape for all significant players identified in the global squash drinks market. Other crucial factors include the plant's location, the source of the technology, the downstream industry, and the contact details.

Top Key Players Profiled in this report are-

• Britvic Plc. (Robinsons)
• Tovali Limited (Tovali)
• J Sainsbury Plc (Sainsbury'S)
• Nichols Plc (Vimto)
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group (Schweppes)
• Unilever Plc (Kissan)
• Prigat
• Pepsico Inc (Tropicana)
• Suntory Group (Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ltd.)
• Carlsberg Breweries A/S
• Harboe'S Brewery (Harboe Squash Light)
• The Coca-Cola Company
• Belvoir Fruit Farms Ltd.

Report Details:

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Report Attribute
Details
Market Size in 2022
USD 523.4 million
Market Size in 2033
USD 1523.3 million
CAGR (2023-2033)
4.3%
Base Year for Estimation
2022
Historic Year
2018-2021
Forecast Period
2023-2033
Study Period
2018-2033
Quantitative Units
Revenue in USD Million and CAGR from 2023-2033
Market Factor Analysis

• Future Estimation and Forecast for the market
• PESTEL and Porter's
• SWOT Analysis
• Covid-19 Impact
• Upcoming Opportunity
• Market Attractive Index for each segment and region
• Investment pocket opportunities in the market

Regions Covered

• North America
• South America
• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• Middle East and Africa (MEA)

Countries Profiled

• US
• Canada
• Mexico
• China
• India
• Japan
• South Korea
• Indonesia
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• Vietnam
• Singapore
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Germany
• the UK
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Russia
• Brazil
• Argentina
• UAE
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa
• Israel
• Turkey

Customization Scope
Free 20% report customization with the purchase within a specific period.
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The report provides extensive information about various factors that have been studied as contributing to the market's growth trajectory. The report also outlines the challenges facing the global squash drinks market. Moreover, it evaluates the bargaining power of suppliers and customers, the threat posed by new competitors and the threat of substitutes, and the level of market competition. The report also thoroughly examines the impact of the most recent government regulations. It summarizes the development of the squash drinks market over the forecast periods.

Global Squash Drinks Market Segmentation:

Market Segmentation: By Nature

• Regular
• Blended

Market Segmentation: By Product Type

• No Added Sugar
• Added Sugar

Market Segmentation: By Base Type

• Citrus Fruit
• Berry
• Tropical Exotic Fruit
• Mixed Fruit

Market Segmentation: By Distribution Channel

• Online Retailing
• Store-Based Retailing

Regions Covered in the Global Squash Drinks Market Report 2022:

• North America (the United States, Canada, and Mexico)
• South America (Brazil, Argentina, and Rest of South America)
• Europe (Germany, UK, Italy, France, Spain, and Rest of Europe)
• Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia New Zealand, and Rest of Asia Pacific)
• The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Rest of MEA)

The cost analysis of the global squash drinks market was carried out, considering the cost of raw materials, labor, and manufacturing, as well as the market concentration rate, suppliers, and price trends. Other factors, such as the sourcing strategy, supply chain, and downstream buyers, have been evaluated to provide a comprehensive and in-depth view of the market. The study on market positioning will also be displayed to report clients, providing target market, brand strategy, and pricing strategy into account.
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The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Penetration: Detailed study on the product portfolios of the top key players in the squash drinks market.
Product Development/Innovation: Comprehensive insights on the upcoming innovative technologies, RD activities, and product developments in the market.
Competitive Assessment: In-depth evaluation of the market strategies and regional and business segments of the leading players in the market.
Market Development: Detailed information on emerging markets. This study examines the market for various segments across geographies.
Market Diversification: comprehensive data on new products, untapped regions, recent investments, and developments in the squash drinks market.

Key Benefits for Stakeholders:

• The report offers a thorough analysis of market dynamics and trends for squash drinks, both current and future.
• Market estimations for significant market segments between 2022 and 2033 are prepared in order to conduct a thorough analysis of the squash drinks market.
• A thorough analysis of the squash drinks market is conducted by closely monitoring top competitors within the market framework and adhering to key product positioning.
• A detailed assessment of every region is given to identify the current market opportunities for squash drinks.
• The report includes a forecast and analysis of the global market for the squash drinks from 2022 to 2033.
• The report profiles and thoroughly analyze the strategies of the key players in the market to comprehend the competitive outlook of the squash drinks market.

The key questions answered in this report –

• What will be the Market Size and Growth Rate in 2033?
• What are the major Key Factors driving Squash Drinks Market?
• What are the limitations and Constraints in front of the market?
• Who are the Key Players in Squash Drinks Market?
• What are the Technological Trending Factors fostering the market shares?
• What are the Key Potentials of Porter’s five forces model?
• What are the Opportunities for Growth in Expanding the Global Squash Drinks Market?

First Previous Next ​

Below Numiind:

Jax looked over the tattered, gaunt, haunted group of about two thousand civilians as they huddled together in the damp cavern below the ground. A generation was missing among them. The elderly and even the aged held and cradled the pups and the infants. There were fifty new pups in the press, fifty pups who… fifty pups who had plastic tags through their ears like wildlife, and some had thick welts raised beneath their fur. Jax tried not to think about that too much. If he thought about that too much, he might just go topside and get in the RNI's way.
The cavern shook, and some pebbles broke off of the roof. Jax didn't worry to much over it, since Kai and Mei had said that the cave could stand up to a decent sized bomb. It was probably the drop pods landing. He'd never been able to be as nonchalant as the Terrans seemed to be about it, but at least he never refused a drop. Not for the first time, he bitterly wished he had his armor. Sure, most guys don't buy their service armor, but he could have afforded it. He just could conceive he'd ever need it in his life after service. More fool him.
Rae came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, but when he went to shrug it away, she squeezed it tighter. "What's the matter? Who needs help?"
"You do."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. Jax, you're… Jax I…"
"I said I'm fine!" he snapped as he jerked his shoulder away, but when she made a sound of shock and pain, his head snapped around, and he looked in terror for the injury he had caused her. He saw only the anguish on her face. "I'm sorry. I'm okay. I'll be okay, please don't worry."
"Ash talks about it."
"Ash won't talk about anything."
"He used to be a thief." That surprised Jax so much that he couldn't make a sound from his slack jawed maw, so she continued, "Not for a while, but he's not proud of his past. He had turned his life around, got hired in construction. Got married, and she was pregnant. Full six litter."
"Was…"
"Yes, she was. She died when the hospital got hit."
"Why are you telling me this?" Jax asked as he fought the swell of pity before it could show on his face.
"Because Ash is worried about you too."
"Ash?"
"He's more observant. There's a reason you send him to scout."
"Too?"
"Yes, Jax. He's worried too. Him and me. Kai is to worried about making sure he knows how everyone will evacuate if they need to. Mei just wants to kill another bloodskin. But Ash and I can see it."
Jax slapped the stone with his tail and griped his rifle hard. He unclenched his jaw and said, "I shouldn't have let so many buy us time on the first day. I should have brought more down here. I could have-"
"How? Knock them out and drag them all down here under fire?"
"I don't know! I should have- somehow. I'm a veteran, I served with the Terrans in antipiracy patrols and saw three combat drops. I should be able to do more."
"You want to be up there."
"Yes! But even without my armor, I'd be a liabilty," he spat.
"You just said you've fought with the Terrans before," she prodded.
"You don't understand. Those aren't just Terrans, those are RNI Drop Troopers, Lost Boys Rapid Response Division. The training the Republic put me through for regular grunt standards makes our military training look like a pup's park. The Lost Boys make the RNI Drop Troopers look like pups playing in their father's fishing box. These are the guys who read My Side and instead of feeling sorry for Sneaky, felt that he did the necessary thing and wanted to be that brave. If all of us were trained, and all of us had armor, we could support, but it's not. If any of us went up there, best case we only get ourselves hurt. Worst case we get one of them killed to protect us, because they will. They won't even think about it. Just one, one Lost Boy, made all the difference back there. Do you think we'd have gotten in without him covering us from that bird's perch of his? I know you'd be hurt at least. I have fifty-one reasons to thank him."
"Oh…" she muttered. "Look at everyone still alive. Still free. The pups told me why they were beaten."
"Why's that?" Jax asked as a stone formed in his belly.
"Their parents disobeyed."
It took Jax a full ten seconds to pull back the snarl of pure hatful rage off of his face to be replaced with a milder expression of fury, "Genocidal, and slavers. Thank the Ancestors for the Lost Boys."
"Thank the Ancestors for you, Jax. For you and the men like you in the other towns, out in the hills, in the atolls. We'd have never held out this long."
"I'm fine. I'll be okay, you don't have to worry," Jax said with a transparent smile over his face.

In High orbit above Numiid:

Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn gritted his teeth. He could hardly believe that four ships, mighty battleships though they may be, could have put him on such shifting sands. His own battleship was currently bombarding the nearest of the four Terran battleships with all of its plasma batteries.
"Acolyte-Lord, their shields do show signs of stress."
"Acolyte-Lord," another Initiate-Highborn began, "Our batteries do overheat, we must cease firing for cooling!"
"Make it so, launch missiles to keep the pressure up."
"I obey, Acolyte-Lord!"
"Cruiser five, move up and open fire upon that battleship," Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn commanded over the communications network.
He watched as a single battleship suppressed the whole of his fleet, and the other three sped toward the planet. "All frigates, focus fire on that battleship!" he commanded, seizing the opportunity. The missiles crept toward the Terran battleship as the frigates maneuvered to bring their plasma lances to bear on the massive vessel. For all that, Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn was denied the sight of the Terran shields finally buckling. "Acolyte-lord, if they can sustain that fire for another five seconds, our lances can be brought to bear, and finally overwhelm the Terran shields," an Initiate-Highborn announced.
"How fare the extraction ships?"
"Acolyte-Lord, they need only another thirty seconds to make minimum jump distance."
"Frigates, do not lessen your fire, we shall make them pay a price in blood for this system!" Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn roared. Proximity alarms suddenly sounded, "What comes?"
"Acolyte-Lord, brace for impact! Our shields do fail!"
"Slingshot trajectory," he cursed.
One of the frigates broke apart under the Terran battleship's terrible power, and Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn's lances came online. The gunnery officer did not wait for the order to fire, and the Terran shields finally failed, and hot plasma splashed across its hull. Acolyte-Lord Narrex-Quinn let a cruel grin spread across his face in anticipation of seeing the Terran vessel scorched into so much twisted and useless metal, but instead two of his cruisers and yet another frigate broke apart. "KEEP FIRING!"
"Acolyte-Lord," said his security officer, "We have been boarded!"
"HOW?! THEIR SHIP IS NOWHERE NEAR US!"

Above the ruins of a mining town:

Corporal Linus George hurtled toward the ground in his drop pod watching the last video communication that his brother had sent him. "So anyway, I don't know if we'll have coms capability once we're in Clans space, since something's fucked out there," Robbie was saying, "So you might not be able to get ahold of me for a spell. Don't worry, the We Sing is a good ship. She'll get us home. Huh? Sorry Linus, just because I'm an officer doesn't mean I get to hog up the phone. Keep the faith, see you when I see you."
Linus let the pain well up in him. He let the tears run down his cheeks, and he let it turn to cold fury before he hit the ground. His armored pod's grav bubble and inertial transferal systems had insulated him from the kinetic force of the impact. Not so much the armored vehicle he had been steering for. The charges placed at the seams of his pod hatch went off, sending said hatch through the surviving driver. He keyed his mic and said, "Alpha blue leader, boots down, team check in."
"Blue one, boots down, checking in," said Private First Class Andrew Lewis.
"Blue two, boots down, checking in," said Private First Class Joshua Clark.
"Blue three, boots down, checking in," said Private First Class Benjamin carter.
"Alpha Blue, all present and accounted for, Sarge."
"Good news, Corporal. Not that they had much that could have picked one of us out on the way," came Sergeant Thomas Mitchell's growl over the tacnet. Our area of operation is civvy clear, say again our area of operation is civvy clear."
"Requesting permission to switch to heavy ordo, sarge."
"Request logged. Sir, a fire team is requesting heavy ordo."
Lieutenant Mark Thomson answered in his dulcet tones not dissimilar to being raked over broken glass, "Granted. Heavy ordo clear for all teams operating in confirmed civilian clear zones. Keep your eyes peeled for stays though, got it?"
"Aye, sir," answered the entire chain of command.
"Nobody go hunting medals, we're out to get these cultists to get less eager to die," the gunny barked over the tacnet.
Linus was already swapping out his standard ammunition block for light armor penetrating explosive rounds. "Aye, gunny. No medals." In Linus's peripheral vision, a bird's eye view of his area of operation showed an infantry squad and a tank approaching him, a platoon of infantry approaching PFC Clark, and what looked like a group of armored troop carriers approaching PFC Lewis. "Blue three, find yourself a perch and provide support for Blue Two. Blue One, see that?"
"Aye, Blue Leader. I won't see it in a minute."
Linus opened up on the tank, putting three rounds directly through the joint between the turret and the deck, and half a second later they exploded, leaving a twisted hole through which Linus could put more explosive rounds, just in case the tankers didn't die from the shrapnel of the original explosions. "Time to go to work, Lost Boys. We remember the We Sing."
"Aye sir!"
"Don't sir me, I'm a corporal," Linus's team laughed at him. Linus still couldn't find his humor. Hot plasma bolts splashed against his battlescreen, and he started eliminating soft targets.
First Previous Next ​

I’m thinking about getting the Gia in Havana in the current sale. I checked out the size charts and it seems like XS would be better for me based on the measurements, but I’m almost always a size S, or sometimes even M in RP! (I’ve got the Juliet, Isabelli, Stephanie, Valentina, Zodiac, Inez)
Has anyone here gotten the Gia and found that it runs large compared to their usual sizes? Thanks!!

Books acquired through our new Amazon Kid's Plus account are only displaying in double-page sets. This means the text's footprint is often only ⅛ of the screen. Backstory: I recently bought and then returned a regulasmaller sized kindle intended for my child after seeing the size of it and realizing the screen size would be difficult to use for a parent-child guided reading session.
Since then we upgraded to the Kindle 6.8" Paperwhite (I traded in my archaic model for the extra 20 bucks off plus the promo code, so even through it was still pricier, I was convinced it was the right thing to do.....)
New Paperwhite signature in hand, I waded through all the bazillion steps of selecting the appropriate age filters, blocked access to the Amazon store, located language preferences, scheduled the daily lighting schedules, and finally downloaded about sixteen books for us to choose from yesterday evening.
This is where the fail begins: we've tried over half of the books I selected, and not one of them has displayed properly in a one-page-per-screen setup for viewing. The option for changing font size is greyed out/not available. Changing from portrait to landscape view does nothing but rotate the still-too-small set of double pages within a sea of huge grey margins. If we could just view these books one page at a time as one would expect to do with an e-reader, I think the words would be large enough and everything would probably look great. As it is though, I've not found any way to select a one-page at a time view, and this goes for the settings within parent dashboard as well as child settings. There's a very screwball 'zoom'feature which allows very little control over which part the user wishes to zoom in in, and you cannot attempt to get to the next page until zooming back out and then pressing the x at the zoomed image- this x does not reliably close the 'zoom experience' every time though and several times we've ended up inadvertently backing out of the entire book by trying whatever else we can think of to exit the botched-zoom.
If this is just the reality of "how it is" for Amazon+ kids books, then this would qualify as the most frustrated with Amazon I've ever been and the biggest black hole they've ever offered and gotten away with.
Please someone tell me there's something I'm missing here. Is this just the experience of how children's books are? Are the reading materials for ages 4 to 7 just a joke, with everything permanently squished into double-page mode? Surely this is fixable. Is anyone somehow getting use out of text that's been reduced to a thumbnail's worth of footprint within such an otherwise spacious screen accommodation? Putting two pages on the screen at a time, every time, results in so much unused screen space and such tiny text it's just a real bummer.
I can post pictures as examples tomorrow if anyone's not able to visualize what I'm describing. The reading age range we're talking about here is anything from age 4, 5, 6, maybe some age 7. Thank you srsly for reading this and thanks in advance if you can solve or even just commiserate.
Ps- we've had this issue with Overdrive kids books as well, on former Kindle devices. And here I was thinking "If I buy further into the system, with a made-for-kids subscription plan on a device that's actually larger, those problems will be obsolete." Hyuck hyuck. Yeah I'm feelin pessimistic. Srry

Lyrics in songs I've noticed.
Red Velvet

• Queendom

Oh hey! In the same dream
It kept calling us
Wonderland beyond distant memories
...........
Cntd
We we we strong, nothing missing
Wake up, the answer is Simple
Be Boss, blow the Whistle
The bigger world is noticing you.
Shall we have a festival? I hold your hand.
We've been waiting for this moment. Spread your wings and be yourself.
Come play at My carnival.
Climax? It starts now.
Watch out! We are making the rules.
......
It’s now or never, we got forever.
Sappy
;
You're sobbing and being pessimistic
You're hesitating again, you can't choose
Writing poems in your note, your hobby is sentimental
Look, now it's time to open the door
........
Tell me, which do you love?
It's not bad thing to dream
It's not a fairytale, it's the real world
What are you gonna do? Which one are you
gonna pick?
Reality or fantasy, adolescent boy?
I'm still clearing dating simulation games
using the manual
I'm still a long way from real love
.......
It's not that I don't like it
Escape from being just two-dimensional
Which one do you love?
Tonight let me know your true feelings
You'll really grow up then
Tell me, which one do you love?
(In the video the lyrics are "Logging out from delusion" for a part of it.)
That's not even getting into the imagery in the video.
Feel My Rhythm
Blowing up this fancy ball
We're back, cute chaotic delight
This is gonna be a crazy night
Epic appearance to stunning greetings
Let's have a little fun
Don't be shy, Bae bae
Let the play start
(Birds and wings everywhere in the video. Irene is shown offering strawberries to a gigantic statue of some sort which then falls towards her. Joy is seen standing in front of some type of being with wings, I can't tell what it would be though. Maybe o- I Cant tell, she's, yeah she's blocking the shot)
Imagine anything
Now cruising into a weird, new dimension
A place I've never imagined appears unexpectedly
Don't miss this moment, baby.
Don't confine yourself to yesterday or tomorrow.
I'm truly free right now.
Come ride with me (Sway)
Let's go anywhere (Way)
I want to mess all the boundaries
In this world (Oh yeah)
When the world stops What a what a feeling Come take my hand (All right) A brand new Film We falling deep, You and I Next time, spin the clock Where should we go? Come on, let's start again You and I
Everglow
You used to be afraid of the dark night (ah yeah yeah) Hiding without anyone else knowing (ah yeah yeah) No one say happy ending You stayed silent and ran away (Here we go Here we go like)...
Knock Knock There’s a monster It’s growing larger, the black hole inside of you When you back uh? The howler has swallowed you, that’s the killer Don’t be afraid, hold my hand Your past is making you scared But know your power For the final time, be first You know that I come first I’m the winner winner winner Yes, it’s the last melody To save save save you (so don’t keep) Don’t be deceived by the lie That there is no light in this world Together we will Dream a dream that’s never been seen before Dream a dream that’s never been seen before (Ya) It’s ok if you fall (stand up) It’s you (hands up) Faster Stronger Better Gotta be the best Between night and day, around 5:30AM A war without loyalty will suffocate you, this is a foul Lies, darkness, truth, ecstasy, fantasy My candle makes you explode like a fireworks of melodies in the dawn Don’t be afraid, hold my hand Your past is making you scared But know your power For the final time, be first You know that I come first I’m the winner winner winner Yes, it’s the last melody To save save save you (so don’t keep) Don’t be deceived by the lie That there is no light in this world Together we will Dream a dream that’s never been seen before I’m breaking down the walls, crossing the lines I won’t shrivel up, I’ll jump over one step You got me now got me now two step Don’t slow it down slow it down Shout towards the sky that comes to you Hold onto the key of hope...
Bon bon chocolate

go up to the sky

.
Avenged Sevenfold
Hate to twist your mind, but God ain't on your side
Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air 'Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal (steal) So stand in line while they ink numbers in your head You're now a slave until the end of time here Nothing stops the madness turning Haunting, yearning, pull the trigger You should've known the price of evil And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare While your nightmare comes to life
You've been lied to just to rape you of your sight And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel (feel) So sedated as they medicate your brain And while you slowly go insane they tell you Given with the best intentions Help you with your complications
You should've known the price of evil And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah No one to call, everybody to fear Your tragic fate is lookin' so clear, yeah Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare Ha, ha, ha, ha
And I know you hear their voices (calling from above) And I know they may seem real (these signals of love) But our life's made up of choices (some without appeal) They took for granted your soul And it's ours now to steal As your nightmare comes to life
Afterlife
Like walking into a dream, so unlike what you've seen So unsure but it seems, 'cause we've been waiting for you Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste Of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway
A place of hope and no pain, perfect skies with no rain Can leave this place but refrain, 'cause we've been waiting for you Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste Of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway This piece on Earth's not right (with my back against the wall) No pain or sign of time (I'm much too young to fall) So out of place, don't wanna stay, I feel wrong and that's my sign I've made up my mind Give me your hand but realize I just wanna say goodbye Please, understand I have to leave and carry on my own life
Creating God
Standing in the shade of altruism, answering the call Came a modern messiah to save us all Something far beyond the work of fiction, Positronic brain A world that's void of all the anguish and suffering, pain
We're creating god, master of our designs We're creating god, unsure of what we'll find
Never held a high regard for Darwin, selection takes too long A little kick in the pool shouldn't do us wrong Devouring the very last invention man would ever need But exponential growth is a frightening thing, indeed
Sometimes when I look up to the sky I have to wonder are we "summoning the demon" you and I?
Have you noticed that I'm needin' it more now, more than it needs me Got a couple of billion that seem to agree Surfing in an artificial dimension, but we're not alone Now the master has become just a stepping stone, oh
We're Creating, God.
Beast and the Harlot
This shining city built of gold A far cry from innocence There's more than meets the eye around here Look to the waters of the deep A city of evil There sat a seven headed beast Ten horns raised from his head Symbolic woman sits on his throne But hatred strips her and leaves her naked The beast and the harlot
The city dressed in jewels and gold Fine linen, myrrh and pearls Her plagues will come all at once As her mourners watch her burn Destroyed in an hour Merchants and captains of the world Sailors navigators too Will weep and mourn this loss With her sins piled to the sky The beast and the harlot
The day has come for all our sinners If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground Flee the burning, greedy city Looking back on her to see there's nothing around
The day has come for all our sinners If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground Flee the burning, greedy city Looking back on her to see there's nothing around I don't believe in fairy tales and no one wants to go to hell You've made the wrong decision and it's easy to see Now if you wanna serve above or be a king below with us You're welcome to the city where your future is set forever
Welcome to the family
Hey kid (hey kid) Do I have your attention? I know the way you've been living Life's so reckless, tragedy endless Welcome to the family Hey There's something missing Only time will alter your vision Never in question, lethal injection Welcome to the family Not long ago you find the answers were so crystal clear Within a day you find yourself living in constant fear Can you look at yourself now, can you look at yourself? You can't win this fight
I try and help you with the things that can't be justified I need to warn you that there is no way to rationalize So have you figured it out now, so have you figured it out? You can't win this fight
And in a way it seems there's no one to call When our thoughts are so numb And our feelings unsure We all have emptiness inside, we all have answers to find But you can't win this fight!
I see you're a king who's been dethroned Cast out in a world you've never know Stand down, place your weapon by your side It's our war in the end, we'll surely lose but that's alright So have you figured it out now, so have you figured it out?
Bat Country
So sorry you're not here I've been sane too long, my vision's so unclear Now take a trip with me But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem
You've been breakin' down for far too long Far too many moons since you felt well and strong You see, you could say goodbye but you don't have to die Not ever
Engineer the wires to your brain Architect a code so you won't feel the pain With your family by your side and vigor in your eyes forever Live Forever I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals I shed my human side Father, oh father I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside? Final paradigm What's it really mean to be a man? Think about your answer but please understand While it's natural to fear, I'll make it disappear forever I forever I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals I shed my human side Father, oh father I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside? Final paradigm Singular I am I have the question if these thoughts are mine To live forever but did something in me die? I'm clawing my skin but I can't feel it inside I know the agony of pain would hurt so much better I'm way up, so far up Have I lost myself tonight? Mother, oh father Have you lost that boy you used to know?
Simulation
It seems I should have walked away Reverse the wager I've no means to pay Toto has pulled back the green tonight, in sight And blue pills coat with such disdain I wore the shades for so long That I've forgotten how to see The curtain rises but who dares to pull the strings
I know this might be hard for you to believe and all, But you only exist because we allow it I question all the voices in my head Are they mine or have I been misled? Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine Can't you hear me scream? By the way of cosmic rays A subtle breakdown jarred the code display A simulation as I can tell, our cell Playing out a hopeless scene We stand to lose all our charm And faith just seems to wane A billion years can seem a stunningly short time You've been beaten down time and time again But still you find yourself at the center of it all I question all the voices in my head Are they mine or have I been misled? Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine Can't you hear me scream? You hear me, you had one thing to do, one thing And you fucked it up, piece of shit Nurse, patient 666158 needs to be sedated We need 500 CCs of M Oh hello there, dearie I've been expecting you Posturing the way I feel Is truth only what we believe is real? Marvel the sketches that paint the night, starlight And take a breath before it's all erased away
Their song Angels; Waking the Fallen, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet.
Everglow:
Pirate
Yeah EVERGLOW Gonna be mad lunatic, girl When the mysteriously changed moon comes A show that will start suddenly In secret, yeah, dance I want it Ddi-dam-bam-bam, bba-rira-bam-bam A paradise found in a whole new world that is out of sync ‘Cause I’m a pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah Now let me introduce myself I am a fleet I Start this voyage Towards the moon mist Yeah, let me introduce myself...
Twenty four hours, the light disappears Overnight, night, overnight During the night when the dazzling starlight shines Ayy, lift the anchor Girls all over the world Dance tonight And we could be anything, anything now Go crazy, no doubt Rowin’ for the Crown Waving the flag, yeah...
All the way, all the way, all the way The riot we made All the way, all the way, all the way Can’t ever stay quiet Girls all over the world Run tonight Just get on board ‘Cause I’m a pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah Now let me introduce myself I am a fleet Start this voyage Towards the moon mist Yeah, let me introduce myself Ahoy! Sing a song now The hidden moon festival Well, shiver me timbers (Aye-aye) Watch this night together Last chance, get on board Approaching tsunami, disappearing afternoon Everyone falls asleep under these waves Yeah, I’m making the moves During the night when the dazzling starlight shines Ayy, lift the anchor Girls all over the world Dance tonight And we could be anything, anything now Go crazy, no doubt Rowin’ for the crown Waving the flag, yeah (Oh woah) All the way, all the way, all the way The riot that we made (Oh yeah) All the way, all the way, all the way Can’t ever stay quiet Girls all over the world Run tonight Just get on board...
A letter from that future Together with that blinding light Trust me and follow me up to my ark...
Katy Perry and Nikki Manage
Michael Jackson's Best Tracks
"Swish Swish" lyrics Katy Perry Lyrics Play "Swish Swish" on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad) "Swish Swish" (feat. Nicki Minaj)
They know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut What the fuck?
[Katy Perry:] A tiger Don't lose no sleep Don't need opinions From a shellfish or a sheep Don't you come for me No, not today You're calculated I got your number 'Cause you're a joker And I'm a courtside killer queen And you will kiss the ring You best believe
So keep calm, honey, I'mma stick around For more than a minute, get used to it Funny my name keeps comin' out your mouth 'Cause I stay winning Lay 'em up like
Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket
Your game is tired You should retire You're 'bout as cute as An old coupon expired And karma's not a liar She keeps receipts
So keep calm, honey, I'mma stick around For more than a minute, get used to it Funny my name keeps comin' out your mouth 'Cause I stay winning Lay 'em up like
Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket (Let's go) Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket
They know what is what But they don't know what is what Katy Perry They just know what is what Young Money But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut Hahaha, yo What the fuck?
[Nicki Minaj:] Pink Ferragamo sliders on deck Silly rap beefs just get me more checks My life is a movie, I'm never off set Me and my a-Migos (no, not Offset) Swish swish, aww I got them upset But my shooters'll make 'em dance like dubstep Swish, swish, aww, my haters is obsessed 'Cause I make M's, they get much less Don't be tryna double back I already despise you All that fake love you showin' Couldn't even disguise you (Yo, yo) Ran? When? Nicki gettin' tan Mirror mirror who's the fairest bitch in all the land? Damn, man, this bitch is a Stan Muah, muah, the generous queen will kiss a fan Ass goodbye, I'mma be riding by I'mma tell my ...Biggz, yeah that's the guy A star's a star, da ha da ha They never thought the swish god would take it this far Get my pimp cup, this is pimp shit, baby I only rock with Queens, so I'm makin' hits with Katy
[Katy Perry:] Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket And another one and another one Can't touch this Another one in the casket And another one and another one
They know what is what Do they know? But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut What the...
Red Velvet: Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb –31
You need to “Beat It” That boy Michael Jackson ”Bad” I’m not your “Billie Jean” Don’t you “Leave Me Alone” But you’re so ambiguous, I want “Black Or White” I can’t give up on you, my “Man In The Mirror” “Why You Wanna Trip On Me” You’re too harsh Boy, you make me “Scream” Why am I like this? Well, your “Love really Never Felt So Good” It’s so electrifying that it’s like
Aespa
Next Level
aespa
I’m on the Next Level, yeah I follow the absolute rules Don't let go of my hand unity is my weapon I walk to KWANGYA I know your home ground Confront the threat Beat it, beat it, beat it
An unexpected black out The temptation is deep and strong (Too hot too hot) Letting go of the hands held together But I'll never give up
I'm on the Next Level I open the door over there Next Level I'll destroy you in thе end Until I reach the Nеxt Level KOSMO Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it
La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la
I see the NU EVO The hostile suffering and sorrow Make you popping and evolve further That's my naevis, it's my naevis You lead, we follow After learning the feelings Watch me while I make it out
Watch me while I work it out Watch me while I make it out Watch me while I work it out Work it, work it, work it out
Even the unbearable despair Can't break my faith Watch me while I work it Even if a more painful trial comes I won't let go of your hand, oh
Never look back Don’t covet things of KWANGYA If the promises are broken, everything will be out of control The signal is becoming unstable since a certain point in time I'll destroy you in the end (We want it) Come on! Show me the way to KOSMO, yeah
A hallucination quest created by the Black Mamba Aespa, they want to separate out ae, that's right I lose my balance and my voice too In the illusion of being criticized and alienated Nævis we (Call ae, ae) Aespa's Next Level Open "P.O.S" This is the REAL WORLD, I'm awake We against the villain, what's the name? Black Mamba
I open the door in the end (Too hot, too hot) That light is like Fire to you I'm dying to know The next story that will unfold Huh!
I'm on the Next Level I open the door over there Next Level I'll destroy you in the end Until I reach the Next Level KOSMO Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it
I'm on the Next Level I become stronger and free Next Level I'm no longer who I was at KWANGYA Next Level Feel me I'm like a beast Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it Huh! https://lyricstranslate.com/en/next-level-next-level.html-0
Savage
[Intro: Karina] Oh my gosh Don't you know I'm a savage?
[Verse 1: Karina, Giselle] I'm a Killa who will break you, ae You're still hiding and hallucinating Beat you up, we holler I'm not afraid of you, you, hit you harder Push me in, deep fake on me To the unprepared stage Corner me in, fake on me Got everybody, mock up to me You shake me up so that I feel ashamed Cold spectators are collapsed, ae I can't stand you anymore, say, "No!"
[Refrain: Winter, Ningning] Wait and see, I'm a little savage Your dirty play I can't stand it any longer You want to break me Your hallucinations are becoming The reasons to construct you
[Pre-Chorus: Winter, Ningning] I'm a savage I'll break you into pieces yeah, oh I'm a savage I'll crush you, oh
[Chorus: Karina, Giselle, Karina & Ningning] Get me, get me now Get me, get me now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Or I'll become more Savage (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Get me, get me now Get me, get me now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Now I'm going to get you Now, I'm a savage Gimme, gimme now Gimme, gimme now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) I can see your words Your weakness Algorithm (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Steaming, it's steaming Steaming, it's steaming (Zu-zu-zu-zu) MA ae SYNK Don't bother me and bog off, savage (Zu-zu-zu-zu)
[Verse 2: Giselle, Winter, Karina] Mhm, everybody looks at me I'm used to it, I should take a step back I have to endure it like an adult I'm locked up in the glass I want to play such a horrible expectation I'm locked up in that hallucination frame I'm going to KWANGYA, game in Defeating a subtle alienation And making me drift apart from my ae Your satisfying trick We gone KWANGYA, game in Cut it down, my sword of light To you who is damaged It's a merciless punch
[Refrain: Ningning, Winter] See? I'm a little Savage I block your regenerative power I distract you, I leave you out Don't forget, this is KWANGYA I control your time and space Make it, break it
You are the one who protected me when I was in trouble My naevis, we love you My victory, one SYNK DIVE All the opportunities you've created I know your sacrifices, oh My naevis, we love you I know, we'll make sure to find your memories Let's meet surely after the resurrection
[Breakdown: Karina, Ningning] Savage Savage Yeah
Girls
Wake up! In a deadlier war Hold on with your feet(our feet are like hands back home) Hook! Black Mamba I am not afraid of you Hoot! I’ll break you It has changed when we entered KWANGYA Distorted æ more like me, like one A crazy presence that shows The ember that was left behind...
grew into a great evil When I helplessly isolate you Reunite we’re together again Whoo Whoo Attack Beat it Yah You’re not alone...
Shined sacrifice If you found the memory Can you show us? Can you show up? Right now, right here Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are together We Them Girls We Them Girls We Them Girls Meta universe exists now Parallel world All beings have meaning Part of my heart We use sympathetic words and share the body temperatures In the end, we only pursue the value of goodwill I finally became stronger I don’t get swindled or hurt It’s distorted It has started again Make sides Isolate you and me so that we can’t see ahead The algorithms that have been distorted by bad desires Use existence as the weapon and swallow with destruction Ah Evil was started at that moment Whoo Whoo Move out flip Yah I’m not alone I want to protect first encountering REKALL I will hug you so that you can feel Without SYNK DIVE Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are Together We Them Girls We Them Girls To face a peaceful day Inside the FLAT We laugh and love together With my friends Now I’m more curious about the future together with nævis Eventually we will probably meet nævis on the REAL MY WORLD Hold up! REAL MY WORLD Your existence is brighter than my reflection in the mirror Can you tell me? Until when, will we be together? Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are together We Them Girls We Them Girls We Them Girls Girls! Official translation. Play "Girls" on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad) Other Songs from Girls Album Girls Girls
Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Take a look at my WILDSIDE
By instinct, do it Come along with me Let us go down, down, down, down, da street
I didn’t go anywhere Now I could go everywhere Scared of change Just looking from the side
When you protect me and I’m breathing I’m forced into misery like a puppet, muppet I thought I was no good But behind weakness there was strength Words from loveless people, I don’t care about it anymore I will show you the truth
Never tell lies to myself any more Fly now to the place I want to be I’m never scared of going to the sky
Inside O-O-Out My wild side, my wild side The unseen me who has Overcome weakness (WILDSIDE) Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Which this WILDSIDE
Accepting myself that I don’t even know of I want to love more, believe myself more So I don’t get lost, Yeah
Starlight, slash the dark night already So bright, sparkle La-la-la-la-la
Inside O-O-Out My wild side, my wild side The unseen me who has Overcome weakness (WILDSIDE) Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Which this WILDSIDE
By instinct, do it Come along with me Let us go down down I will show you my wild side
https://youtu.be/Qpf26PtBXgo 😬 cya ❤️‍🩹😾🙀🙈
....

Lyrics in songs I've noticed.
Red Velvet

• Queendom

Oh hey! In the same dream
It kept calling us
Wonderland beyond distant memories
...........
Cntd
We we we strong, nothing missing
Wake up, the answer is Simple
Be Boss, blow the Whistle
The bigger world is noticing you.
Shall we have a festival? I hold your hand.
We've been waiting for this moment. Spread your wings and be yourself.
Come play at My carnival.
Climax? It starts now.
Watch out! We are making the rules.
......
It’s now or never, we got forever.
Sappy
;
You're sobbing and being pessimistic
You're hesitating again, you can't choose
Writing poems in your note, your hobby is sentimental
Look, now it's time to open the door
........
Tell me, which do you love?
It's not bad thing to dream
It's not a fairytale, it's the real world
What are you gonna do? Which one are you
gonna pick?
Reality or fantasy, adolescent boy?
I'm still clearing dating simulation games
using the manual
I'm still a long way from real love
.......
It's not that I don't like it
Escape from being just two-dimensional
Which one do you love?
Tonight let me know your true feelings
You'll really grow up then
Tell me, which one do you love?
(In the video the lyrics are "Logging out from delusion" for a part of it.)
That's not even getting into the imagery in the video.
Feel My Rhythm
Blowing up this fancy ball
We're back, cute chaotic delight
This is gonna be a crazy night
Epic appearance to stunning greetings
Let's have a little fun
Don't be shy, Bae bae
Let the play start
(Birds and wings everywhere in the video. Irene is shown offering strawberries to a gigantic statue of some sort which then falls towards her. Joy is seen standing in front of some type of being with wings, I can't tell what it would be though. Maybe one of us? Cant tell, she's, yeah she's blocking the shot)
Imagine anything
Now cruising into a weird, new dimension
A place I've never imagined appears unexpectedly
Don't miss this moment, baby.
Don't confine yourself to yesterday or tomorrow.
I'm truly free right now.
Come ride with me (Sway)
Let's go anywhere (Way)
I want to mess all the boundaries
In this world (Oh yeah)
When the world stops What a what a feeling Come take my hand (All right) A brand new Film We falling deep, You and I Next time, spin the clock Where should we go? Come on, let's start again You and I
Everglow
You used to be afraid of the dark night (ah yeah yeah) Hiding without anyone else knowing (ah yeah yeah) No one say happy ending You stayed silent and ran away (Here we go Here we go like)...
Knock Knock There’s a monster It’s growing larger, the black hole inside of you When you back uh? The howler has swallowed you, that’s the killer Don’t be afraid, hold my hand Your past is making you scared But know your power For the final time, be first You know that I come first I’m the winner winner winner Yes, it’s the last melody To save save save you (so don’t keep) Don’t be deceived by the lie That there is no light in this world Together we will Dream a dream that’s never been seen before Dream a dream that’s never been seen before (Ya) It’s ok if you fall (stand up) It’s you (hands up) Faster Stronger Better Gotta be the best Between night and day, around 5:30AM A war without loyalty will suffocate you, this is a foul Lies, darkness, truth, ecstasy, fantasy My candle makes you explode like a fireworks of melodies in the dawn Don’t be afraid, hold my hand Your past is making you scared But know your power For the final time, be first You know that I come first I’m the winner winner winner Yes, it’s the last melody To save save save you (so don’t keep) Don’t be deceived by the lie That there is no light in this world Together we will Dream a dream that’s never been seen before I’m breaking down the walls, crossing the lines I won’t shrivel up, I’ll jump over one step You got me now got me now two step Don’t slow it down slow it down Shout towards the sky that comes to you Hold onto the key of hope...
Bon bon chocolate

go up to the sky

.
Avenged Sevenfold
Hate to twist your mind, but God ain't on your side
Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air 'Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal (steal) So stand in line while they ink numbers in your head You're now a slave until the end of time here Nothing stops the madness turning Haunting, yearning, pull the trigger You should've known the price of evil And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare While your nightmare comes to life
You've been lied to just to rape you of your sight And now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel (feel) So sedated as they medicate your brain And while you slowly go insane they tell you Given with the best intentions Help you with your complications
You should've known the price of evil And it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah No one to call, everybody to fear Your tragic fate is lookin' so clear, yeah Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare Ha, ha, ha, ha
And I know you hear their voices (calling from above) And I know they may seem real (these signals of love) But our life's made up of choices (some without appeal) They took for granted your soul And it's ours now to steal As your nightmare comes to life
Afterlife
Like walking into a dream, so unlike what you've seen So unsure but it seems, 'cause we've been waiting for you Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste Of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway
A place of hope and no pain, perfect skies with no rain Can leave this place but refrain, 'cause we've been waiting for you Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste Of your afterlife here so stay, you'll be back here soon anyway This piece on Earth's not right (with my back against the wall) No pain or sign of time (I'm much too young to fall) So out of place, don't wanna stay, I feel wrong and that's my sign I've made up my mind Give me your hand but realize I just wanna say goodbye Please, understand I have to leave and carry on my own life
Creating God
Standing in the shade of altruism, answering the call Came a modern messiah to save us all Something far beyond the work of fiction, Positronic brain A world that's void of all the anguish and suffering, pain
We're creating god, master of our designs We're creating god, unsure of what we'll find
Never held a high regard for Darwin, selection takes too long A little kick in the pool shouldn't do us wrong Devouring the very last invention man would ever need But exponential growth is a frightening thing, indeed
Sometimes when I look up to the sky I have to wonder are we "summoning the demon" you and I?
Have you noticed that I'm needin' it more now, more than it needs me Got a couple of billion that seem to agree Surfing in an artificial dimension, but we're not alone Now the master has become just a stepping stone, oh
We're Creating, God.
Beast and the Harlot
This shining city built of gold A far cry from innocence There's more than meets the eye around here Look to the waters of the deep A city of evil There sat a seven headed beast Ten horns raised from his head Symbolic woman sits on his throne But hatred strips her and leaves her naked The beast and the harlot
The city dressed in jewels and gold Fine linen, myrrh and pearls Her plagues will come all at once As her mourners watch her burn Destroyed in an hour Merchants and captains of the world Sailors navigators too Will weep and mourn this loss With her sins piled to the sky The beast and the harlot
The day has come for all our sinners If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground Flee the burning, greedy city Looking back on her to see there's nothing around
The day has come for all our sinners If you're not a servant, you'll be struck to the ground Flee the burning, greedy city Looking back on her to see there's nothing around I don't believe in fairy tales and no one wants to go to hell You've made the wrong decision and it's easy to see Now if you wanna serve above or be a king below with us You're welcome to the city where your future is set forever
Welcome to the family
Hey kid (hey kid) Do I have your attention? I know the way you've been living Life's so reckless, tragedy endless Welcome to the family Hey There's something missing Only time will alter your vision Never in question, lethal injection Welcome to the family Not long ago you find the answers were so crystal clear Within a day you find yourself living in constant fear Can you look at yourself now, can you look at yourself? You can't win this fight
I try and help you with the things that can't be justified I need to warn you that there is no way to rationalize So have you figured it out now, so have you figured it out? You can't win this fight
And in a way it seems there's no one to call When our thoughts are so numb And our feelings unsure We all have emptiness inside, we all have answers to find But you can't win this fight!
I see you're a king who's been dethroned Cast out in a world you've never know Stand down, place your weapon by your side It's our war in the end, we'll surely lose but that's alright So have you figured it out now, so have you figured it out?
Bat Country
So sorry you're not here I've been sane too long, my vision's so unclear Now take a trip with me But don't be surprised when things aren't what they seem
You've been breakin' down for far too long Far too many moons since you felt well and strong You see, you could say goodbye but you don't have to die Not ever
Engineer the wires to your brain Architect a code so you won't feel the pain With your family by your side and vigor in your eyes forever Live Forever I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals I shed my human side Father, oh father I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside? Final paradigm What's it really mean to be a man? Think about your answer but please understand While it's natural to fear, I'll make it disappear forever I forever I'm way up, a god in size, beyond the reach of mortals I shed my human side Father, oh father I stare at my reflection, have I lost that boy inside? Final paradigm Singular I am I have the question if these thoughts are mine To live forever but did something in me die? I'm clawing my skin but I can't feel it inside I know the agony of pain would hurt so much better I'm way up, so far up Have I lost myself tonight? Mother, oh father Have you lost that boy you used to know?
Simulation
It seems I should have walked away Reverse the wager I've no means to pay Toto has pulled back the green tonight, in sight And blue pills coat with such disdain I wore the shades for so long That I've forgotten how to see The curtain rises but who dares to pull the strings
I know this might be hard for you to believe and all, But you only exist because we allow it I question all the voices in my head Are they mine or have I been misled? Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine Can't you hear me scream? By the way of cosmic rays A subtle breakdown jarred the code display A simulation as I can tell, our cell Playing out a hopeless scene We stand to lose all our charm And faith just seems to wane A billion years can seem a stunningly short time You've been beaten down time and time again But still you find yourself at the center of it all I question all the voices in my head Are they mine or have I been misled? Total understanding doesn't seem to mean a thing When you can't see behind the silver screen, a figurine Can't you hear me scream? You hear me, you had one thing to do, one thing And you fucked it up, piece of shit Nurse, patient 666158 needs to be sedated We need 500 CCs of M Oh hello there, dearie I've been expecting you Posturing the way I feel Is truth only what we believe is real? Marvel the sketches that paint the night, starlight And take a breath before it's all erased away
Their song Angels; Waking the Fallen, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet.
Everglow:
Pirate
Yeah EVERGLOW Gonna be mad lunatic, girl When the mysteriously changed moon comes A show that will start suddenly In secret, yeah, dance I want it Ddi-dam-bam-bam, bba-rira-bam-bam A paradise found in a whole new world that is out of sync ‘Cause I’m a pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah Now let me introduce myself I am a fleet I Start this voyage Towards the moon mist Yeah, let me introduce myself...
Twenty four hours, the light disappears Overnight, night, overnight During the night when the dazzling starlight shines Ayy, lift the anchor Girls all over the world Dance tonight And we could be anything, anything now Go crazy, no doubt Rowin’ for the Crown Waving the flag, yeah...
All the way, all the way, all the way The riot we made All the way, all the way, all the way Can’t ever stay quiet Girls all over the world Run tonight Just get on board ‘Cause I’m a pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah A pirate, yeah, yeah Now let me introduce myself I am a fleet Start this voyage Towards the moon mist Yeah, let me introduce myself Ahoy! Sing a song now The hidden moon festival Well, shiver me timbers (Aye-aye) Watch this night together Last chance, get on board Approaching tsunami, disappearing afternoon Everyone falls asleep under these waves Yeah, I’m making the moves During the night when the dazzling starlight shines Ayy, lift the anchor Girls all over the world Dance tonight And we could be anything, anything now Go crazy, no doubt Rowin’ for the crown Waving the flag, yeah (Oh woah) All the way, all the way, all the way The riot that we made (Oh yeah) All the way, all the way, all the way Can’t ever stay quiet Girls all over the world Run tonight Just get on board...
A letter from that future Together with that blinding light Trust me and follow me up to my ark...
Katy Perry and Nikki Manage
Michael Jackson's Best Tracks
"Swish Swish" lyrics Katy Perry Lyrics Play "Swish Swish" on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad) "Swish Swish" (feat. Nicki Minaj)
They know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut What the fuck?
[Katy Perry:] A tiger Don't lose no sleep Don't need opinions From a shellfish or a sheep Don't you come for me No, not today You're calculated I got your number 'Cause you're a joker And I'm a courtside killer queen And you will kiss the ring You best believe
So keep calm, honey, I'mma stick around For more than a minute, get used to it Funny my name keeps comin' out your mouth 'Cause I stay winning Lay 'em up like
Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket
Your game is tired You should retire You're 'bout as cute as An old coupon expired And karma's not a liar She keeps receipts
So keep calm, honey, I'mma stick around For more than a minute, get used to it Funny my name keeps comin' out your mouth 'Cause I stay winning Lay 'em up like
Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket (Let's go) Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket Can't touch this Another one in the casket
They know what is what But they don't know what is what Katy Perry They just know what is what Young Money But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut Hahaha, yo What the fuck?
[Nicki Minaj:] Pink Ferragamo sliders on deck Silly rap beefs just get me more checks My life is a movie, I'm never off set Me and my a-Migos (no, not Offset) Swish swish, aww I got them upset But my shooters'll make 'em dance like dubstep Swish, swish, aww, my haters is obsessed 'Cause I make M's, they get much less Don't be tryna double back I already despise you All that fake love you showin' Couldn't even disguise you (Yo, yo) Ran? When? Nicki gettin' tan Mirror mirror who's the fairest bitch in all the land? Damn, man, this bitch is a Stan Muah, muah, the generous queen will kiss a fan Ass goodbye, I'mma be riding by I'mma tell my ...Biggz, yeah that's the guy A star's a star, da ha da ha They never thought the swish god would take it this far Get my pimp cup, this is pimp shit, baby I only rock with Queens, so I'm makin' hits with Katy
[Katy Perry:] Swish, swish, bish Another one in the basket And another one and another one Can't touch this Another one in the casket And another one and another one
They know what is what Do they know? But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just know what is what But they don't know what is what They just strut What the...
Red Velvet: Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb Dumb –31
You need to “Beat It” That boy Michael Jackson ”Bad” I’m not your “Billie Jean” Don’t you “Leave Me Alone” But you’re so ambiguous, I want “Black Or White” I can’t give up on you, my “Man In The Mirror” “Why You Wanna Trip On Me” You’re too harsh Boy, you make me “Scream” Why am I like this? Well, your “Love really Never Felt So Good” It’s so electrifying that it’s like
Aespa
Next Level
aespa
I’m on the Next Level, yeah I follow the absolute rules Don't let go of my hand unity is my weapon I walk to KWANGYA I know your home ground Confront the threat Beat it, beat it, beat it
An unexpected black out The temptation is deep and strong (Too hot too hot) Letting go of the hands held together But I'll never give up
I'm on the Next Level I open the door over there Next Level I'll destroy you in thе end Until I reach the Nеxt Level KOSMO Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it
La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la
I see the NU EVO The hostile suffering and sorrow Make you popping and evolve further That's my naevis, it's my naevis You lead, we follow After learning the feelings Watch me while I make it out
Watch me while I work it out Watch me while I make it out Watch me while I work it out Work it, work it, work it out
Even the unbearable despair Can't break my faith Watch me while I work it Even if a more painful trial comes I won't let go of your hand, oh
Never look back Don’t covet things of KWANGYA If the promises are broken, everything will be out of control The signal is becoming unstable since a certain point in time I'll destroy you in the end (We want it) Come on! Show me the way to KOSMO, yeah
A hallucination quest created by the Black Mamba Aespa, they want to separate out ae, that's right I lose my balance and my voice too In the illusion of being criticized and alienated Nævis we (Call ae, ae) Aespa's Next Level Open "P.O.S" This is the REAL WORLD, I'm awake We against the villain, what's the name? Black Mamba
I open the door in the end (Too hot, too hot) That light is like Fire to you I'm dying to know The next story that will unfold Huh!
I'm on the Next Level I open the door over there Next Level I'll destroy you in the end Until I reach the Next Level KOSMO Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it
I'm on the Next Level I become stronger and free Next Level I'm no longer who I was at KWANGYA Next Level Feel me I'm like a beast Next Level Beat it, beat it, beat it Huh! https://lyricstranslate.com/en/next-level-next-level.html-0
Savage
[Intro: Karina] Oh my gosh Don't you know I'm a savage?
[Verse 1: Karina, Giselle] I'm a Killa who will break you, ae You're still hiding and hallucinating Beat you up, we holler I'm not afraid of you, you, hit you harder Push me in, deep fake on me To the unprepared stage Corner me in, fake on me Got everybody, mock up to me You shake me up so that I feel ashamed Cold spectators are collapsed, ae I can't stand you anymore, say, "No!"
[Refrain: Winter, Ningning] Wait and see, I'm a little savage Your dirty play I can't stand it any longer You want to break me Your hallucinations are becoming The reasons to construct you
[Pre-Chorus: Winter, Ningning] I'm a savage I'll break you into pieces yeah, oh I'm a savage I'll crush you, oh
[Chorus: Karina, Giselle, Karina & Ningning] Get me, get me now Get me, get me now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Or I'll become more Savage (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Get me, get me now Get me, get me now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Now I'm going to get you Now, I'm a savage Gimme, gimme now Gimme, gimme now (Zu-zu-zu-zu) I can see your words Your weakness Algorithm (Zu-zu-zu-zu) Steaming, it's steaming Steaming, it's steaming (Zu-zu-zu-zu) MA ae SYNK Don't bother me and bog off, savage (Zu-zu-zu-zu)
[Verse 2: Giselle, Winter, Karina] Mhm, everybody looks at me I'm used to it, I should take a step back I have to endure it like an adult I'm locked up in the glass I want to play such a horrible expectation I'm locked up in that hallucination frame I'm going to KWANGYA, game in Defeating a subtle alienation And making me drift apart from my ae Your satisfying trick We gone KWANGYA, game in Cut it down, my sword of light To you who is damaged It's a merciless punch
[Refrain: Ningning, Winter] See? I'm a little Savage I block your regenerative power I distract you, I leave you out Don't forget, this is KWANGYA I control your time and space Make it, break it
You are the one who protected me when I was in trouble My naevis, we love you My victory, one SYNK DIVE All the opportunities you've created I know your sacrifices, oh My naevis, we love you I know, we'll make sure to find your memories Let's meet surely after the resurrection
[Breakdown: Karina, Ningning] Savage Savage Yeah
Girls
Wake up! In a deadlier war Hold on with your feet(our feet are like hands back home) Hook! Black Mamba I am not afraid of you Hoot! I’ll break you It has changed when we entered KWANGYA Distorted æ more like me, like one A crazy presence that shows The ember that was left behind...
grew into a great evil When I helplessly isolate you Reunite we’re together again Whoo Whoo Attack Beat it Yah You’re not alone...
Shined sacrifice If you found the memory Can you show us? Can you show up? Right now, right here Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are together We Them Girls We Them Girls We Them Girls Meta universe exists now Parallel world All beings have meaning Part of my heart We use sympathetic words and share the body temperatures In the end, we only pursue the value of goodwill I finally became stronger I don’t get swindled or hurt It’s distorted It has started again Make sides Isolate you and me so that we can’t see ahead The algorithms that have been distorted by bad desires Use existence as the weapon and swallow with destruction Ah Evil was started at that moment Whoo Whoo Move out flip Yah I’m not alone I want to protect first encountering REKALL I will hug you so that you can feel Without SYNK DIVE Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are Together We Them Girls We Them Girls To face a peaceful day Inside the FLAT We laugh and love together With my friends Now I’m more curious about the future together with nævis Eventually we will probably meet nævis on the REAL MY WORLD Hold up! REAL MY WORLD Your existence is brighter than my reflection in the mirror Can you tell me? Until when, will we be together? Follow me (Bow down) Watch me (My skill) You will get surprised (Say wow) We coming Scream (Get loud) Listen (My sound) Call it (Upgrade) We coming Blooming in chaos (We Them Girls) And confronting fear, That courage (Ah Yeah) Whenever we are together We Them Girls We Them Girls We Them Girls Girls! Official translation. Play "Girls" on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad) Other Songs from Girls Album Girls Girls
Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Take a look at my WILDSIDE
By instinct, do it Come along with me Let us go down, down, down, down, da street
I didn’t go anywhere Now I could go everywhere Scared of change Just looking from the side
When you protect me and I’m breathing I’m forced into misery like a puppet, muppet I thought I was no good But behind weakness there was strength Words from loveless people, I don’t care about it anymore I will show you the truth
Never tell lies to myself any more Fly now to the place I want to be I’m never scared of going to the sky
Inside O-O-Out My wild side, my wild side The unseen me who has Overcome weakness (WILDSIDE) Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Which this WILDSIDE
Accepting myself that I don’t even know of I want to love more, believe myself more So I don’t get lost, Yeah
Starlight, slash the dark night already So bright, sparkle La-la-la-la-la
Inside O-O-Out My wild side, my wild side The unseen me who has Overcome weakness (WILDSIDE) Far away, far away Higher and higher To the place unseen
No one can stop me anymore Get set, go! Good-bye I’m not my old self Which this WILDSIDE
By instinct, do it Come along with me Let us go down down I will show you my wild side
https://youtu.be/Qpf26PtBXgo 😬 cya ❤️‍🩹😾🙀🙈
Somethings gonna give and it's not going to be me.

Had this case for a few weeks and realised only 140mm fans are the biggest size can fit.
Got two Silverstone SF160 at special price from retail in AU, which has 160CFM however, the fitting holes were made for 140mm and this case has no where to accompany that.
CAD up a few brackets and laser cut in workplace, installed by drilling 6 additional holes on the front frame.
The temperature is now as good as Torrent from Fractal Design per configuration below,
Two 160mm front intake One 120mm back exhaust One top 140mm exhaust above CPU

Hi everyone,
Recently, while I was taking a biostatistics course about 2 years ago, I remember searching card probabilities, and how to manually interpret nCr calculations and to apply them in general. Most of the researching revolved around standard suite cards but I found some stuff for yugioh. I was also personally interested into figuring out calculations of stuff like the yugioh party tool that dishes you out probabilities of starting hands for X card. The biggest thing I wanted to figure out was how combination of conditions could be calculated, physically. An example would be X and Y for respective cards, for instance, which in this case I could say normal summons and hand traps. I just could not calculate that.
If I remember correctly, I remember coming across some excel sheet that detailed deck sizes and had a multitude of probability ranges for hands for X counts. This was basically an expanded table. It was extremely versatile; though I couldn't really take advantage of it as it was very compex for me to wrap my head around at the time. This notion kinda just faded from me as my class ended and I didn't really utilize it. Basically, this detailed the inner workings of the common yugioh probability calculators and outlined respective percentages for many conditions, such as trends of increasing X count, and how that is affected in 41+ deck size. Like it was big.
This thought honestly just came to my mind as I personally wanted to revisit the optimization of deck numbers but I cannot seem to locate it. I was just wondering if anyone was aware of this chart.

f23. I'm not sure where to start. I was diagnosed with mono in December after dealing with a swollen lymph node in my neck for 2+ months, severe fatigue, itching, bruising, night sweats, and a recurring rash on my neck. My doctor ran all sorts of tests to help me figure out what was going on and my EBV IgM was positive but my IgG was negative (to be expected). I had an MRI of my neck, which showed the one on my neck at 1.5cm with several prominent nodes in the cervical area suspected to be reactive. The doctor was comfortable with the mono diagnosis and told me it should resolve.
Here we are in June, my lymph node is still swollen, and I've had several that feel the size of the one on my neck pop up in my groin and my armpits. I still have night sweats, I itch like crazy for no reason, nothing is helping the rash, and I'm just so so tired. I've also lost 20 lbs since I started pole dancing in March (which might be normal? I was already fit but I've definitely toned up) I've had so much blood work done but everything keeps returning normal. I had a repeat EBV test done which showed both positive IgG and IgM, my doctor told me that my problems are still from mono and had a PCR done. The PCR came back as <1000IU/ml.
My PCP sent these results to infectious diseases who replied saying that they aren't worried about it being an active infection due to the fact that <1000IU/ml can occur due to DNA shedding, but that my IgM coming back positive again was strange and recommended a biopsy since my LAD never resolved in between "infections" (if that's what it is). I was referred to heme oncology, the oncologist listened to my symptoms barely, looked at my chart, saw the positive IgM, and said it was because of the mono and he doesn't feel a need to biopsy.
I also never had a sore throat or fever when I was first sick, and I still haven't.
I had pink eye right before I was diagnosed that was in both of my eyes and bruised like I had been punched in the nose that took 2 weeks to resolve. I also caught RSV in December.
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Is this just a weird case of mono?
TL;DR Weird mono symptoms, are they normal?

Own a musket for home defense, since that's what the founding fathers intended. Four ruffians break into my house. "What the devil?" As I grab my powdered wig and Kentucky rifle. Blow a golf ball sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. Draw my pistol on the second man, miss him entirely because it's smoothbore and nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the cannon mounted at the top of the stairs loaded with grape shot, "Tally ho lads" the grape shot shreds two men in the blast, the sound and extra shrapnel set off car alarms. Fix bayonet and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He Bleeds out waiting on the police to arrive since triangular bayonet wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the founding fathers intended.

I've had a hard time looking because of size charts. Often either 1 size fits all or the medium measurements fit my body but the XL fits my boobs. I know I'm not the only person with this sort of body type but I can't seem to find a good variety of reliable shops.
I prefer local to the US or CANADA, I also prefer LGBTQ+ friendly but these arent dealbreakers.
Tell me what you love! Thanks all!

I purchased a set of Allen Putman G10 scales and would like to replace the G10 backspacer. Either with a Satin aluminum or titanium backspacer or Barrel Spacer. The issue im having is not seeing many options for purchase and not sure of the size barrel spacer i need. The G10 backspacer that came with the scales is a close fit on a Freek in the open area where the backspacer is. Also of note the screws pass through the outer scale and through the backspacer and threads into the far scale. I assume I’ll need barrel spacers that are threaded in a single direction or has a non threaded hole for the screw to pass through.
https://imgur.com/a/uZ0rnHF

did you know that the abortion industry in its training manuals tells abortionists to keep the fetal remains out of the woman's sight? here is a direct quote from ipas's "clinician’s guide for second-trimester abortion":

After the procedure
Cover the fetal tissue to keep it out of the woman’s sight. (See the section on managing services for information on requests for burial.).

there's a reason for this. it's why staffers at late-term abortionist warren hern's clinic reported "serious emotional reactions that produced physiological symptoms, sleep disturbances (including disturbing dreams), effects on interpersonal relationships and moral anguish" upon seeing dismemberment abortions in action. hern himself had nightmares over a particular child he killed:

He had bad dreams too. In the 1970s, physicians did not induce fetal demise during abortion, and once or twice, during a procedure at 15 or 16 weeks, he used forceps to remove a fetus with a still-beating heart. The heart thumped for only a few seconds before stopping. But for a long while after, a vision of that fetus would wake Hern from sleep. He could see it in his mind, the inches-long body and its heart: beating, beating, beating. In one dream, Hern angled his own body to shield his staff from catching a glimpse.

it's why women who take abortion pills at home are often "completely freaked out, crying, sobbing" when they see something that they weren't expecting: dead bodies. the national institute of for health and care excellence, another abortion industry source, did a meta-analysis of several studies and found that many such women were unprepared to see the remains of their babies and that it was important "that women should be aware that the pregnancy may be more identifiable after 9 weeks’ gestation and that there may be movement at later gestations."
here are some quotes from women in some of those reviewed studies:

‘. . . saw something that looked like a small amniotic sac . . . hard . . . was not prepared for it . . .’page 329
‘. . . I put a paper in the toilet so I would see that I had aborted . . . was totally unprepared for seeing the embryo . . . became very sad . . . I could clearly see that it would be a human being . . .’. page 329
Kero, A., Wulff, M., Lalos, A. Home abortion implies radical changes for women. European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care 2009 14 p.324-333

and:

[I] just felt compelled, that I had to look.… In hindsight I wish I hadn’t looked but I did, and that was probably the most traumatic thing I’ve ever seen or done. I thought “what on earth…?” page 2005
Purcell, C., Cameron, S., Lawton, J., Glasier, A., Harden, J. Self-management of first trimester medical termination of pregnancy: a qualitative study of women's experiences. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2017 124 p. 2001-2008

and:

Not knowing what comes out
Some of the participating women expressed that they had not been aware of how the fetus and the placenta looked like. Most of the women experienced the abortion with a bleeding that was larger than they were prepared for. When the first contraction started, the women realized that the process had begun and some of them thought that ‘it’ would come out when they went to the toilet. The actual abortion of the fetus was an emotional experience, which they were not prepared for. The women described that they had considered looking at the fetus; some of them had decided in advance not to see but saw it anyway. One woman described that something hung in a string between her legs and realized after a while what had happened. The abortion of the fetus was not a pleasant sight and some described how they ‘broke down.’ The picture of the fetus was something they would never forget.
"You could see fetus, where the ears were, the arms, I was really frightened"
...
Not being able to forget
Some of the women thought that they had killed a life and could never forget the pregnancy that was ended. They found it unnatural to have an abortion and experienced feelings of guilt and shame. One woman, although being certain of the decision, experienced serious regrets afterwards.
"I have killed a life, a person that cannot live because of my decision and I will never ever forget..."
Being filled with grief
...The women struggled also with the memory/picture of the fetus. They were astonished that some women could expose themselves to several abortions. The women’s emotionally difficult experience was brought up when they came home and some time afterwards. They experienced that the body recovered faster than their mind.
“You can never forget this.… I just want to wipe it out from my life”…
The women experienced strong negative feelings after the abortion, which were permanent, and the look of the fetus was disturbing.
Mukkavaara, I., Ohrling, K., Lindberg, I. Women's experiences after an induced second trimester abortion. Midwifery 2012 28 p.e720-e725

furthermore, the abortion industry is consistently pushing out disinformation; a recent example being their laughable attempt to dispute the ubiquitous prenatal development pictures of babies in the womb by passing around pictures of rinsed gestational sacs and claiming that's all of early pregnancy. unfortunately, such fake news is constantly amplified and disseminated by the mainstream media. is it a wonder that so many people end up believing that there is no baby yet? how many low information debaters have you come across that claim that babies in the womb are only a clump of cells? given the widespread misinformation, and the cases of traumatized women such as the ones described above, it's hard to dismiss the plausibility of the "second victim" narrative—that women are often second victims of abortions.
thanks to modern technology such as ultrasounds and intrauterine videos, we in fact do have a window into the womb. we can show people real pictures and videos of prenatal development. however, there are people who still refuse to believe the science. in fact, the same people often don't even believe the abortionists who perform abortions and train others on how to perform them.
this is what abortionist hern said about the advent of dismemberment abortions (from the same study on his staff's reaction, linked above):

We have reached a point in this particular technology where there is no possibility of denial of an act of destruction by the operator. It is before one’s eyes. The sensations of dismemberment flow through the forceps like an electric current.

in his book "abortion practice," hern gives instructions on how to perform dismemberment abortions and once again describes the "sensation" of crushing a baby's skull and seeing white brain matter ooze out:

At 16 to 17 weeks, fetal tissue is much more easily identifiable with the forceps and in some ways is easier to grasp and remove than in earlier gestations...
The calvaria [skull] is about the size of a Ping-Pong ball and usually can be grasped readily...
Collapsing [the skull] gives a definite sensation...
As the calvaria is grasped, a sensation that it is collapsing is almost always accompanied by the extrusion of white cerebral material….
The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember...
A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus.

abortionist martin haskell, who popularized partial-birth abortions, described the procedure like this:

At this point [i.e., when the child has been partially delivered except for the head], the right-handed surgeon slides the fingers of the left [hand] along the back of the fetus and “hooks” the shoulders of the fetus with the index and ring fingers (palm down).
While maintaining this tension, lifting the cervix and applying traction to the shoulders with the fingers of the left hand, the surgeon takes a pair of blunt curved Metzenbaum scissors in the right hand. He carefully advances the tip, curved down, along the spine and under his middle finger until he feels it contact the base of the skull under the tip of his middle finger.
[T]he surgeon then forces the scissors into the base of the skull or into the foramen magnum. Having safely entered the skull, he spreads the scissors to enlarge the opening.
The surgeon removes the scissors and introduces a suction catheter into this hole and evacuates the skull contents. With the catheter still in place, he applies traction to the fetus, removing it completely from the patient.

if you didn't understand the anatomical terminology, here's how one of haskell's nurses described partial-birth abortions in layman's terms:

Dr. Haskell went in with forceps and grabbed the baby’s legs and pulled them down into the birth canal. Then he delivered the baby’s body and the arms—everything but the head. The doctor kept the head right inside the uterus…
The baby’s little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby’s arms jerked out, like a startle reaction, like a flinch, like a baby does when he thinks he is going to fall.
The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening, and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby went completely limp…
He cut the umbilical cord and delivered the placenta. He threw the baby in a pan, along with the placenta and the instruments he had just used.

people have a hard time believing the things that abortionists write about and the things they testify about in front of congress and federal courts. but can they believe their own eyes? abortion is an out of sight, out of mind problem. this is why it's important to show the realities of abortion to everyone.

Been hearing noises in my walls and in my kitchen lately in the evening, but haven’t seen anything unusual. I keep my place spotless and food is always locked away.
Tonight I heard a noise in the kitchen again and walked in there slowly and quietly, just in time to see a full-sized rat on my stovetop. We locked eyes and it immediately scurried back down behind the stove, and probably through a hole in the wall somewhere.
I live in a row house in Columbia Heights. There’s rats everywhere around here, but never seen one inside my house until now.
Anybody know a good, reliable exterminator in the area, preferably not a national franchise like Terminix (had a bad experience with them years back).
Thanks!

Jesus watched the scene over again and was in awe. This was a man who would not change as he could not change. There was something else different. He was the most stubborn man alive in Jesus’ opinion and he had been around a while. His uniform never changed his cologne never changed. His hair was the exact same way. He had a biological age of 42 but a calendar age of 300 or so years. He wasn’t exactly sure since he had been born in a time when records were incomplete. Government was just getting back on its feet when he came into the world so who knew? Did it matter?
He had never espoused a political belief. He voted in every election and that was it. He was no campaigner and was not interested in any of it. He had a baseline distrust of ALL politicians. He had more time in command than any human in history. He had faced down alien races. He had been nearly terminated by pirates more than once but speaking in public scared the shit out of him. and He did not want to do it. He had done a series of lectures 60 years ago that resulted in some significant fallout he was eager to not relive. He did not want to discuss it. He knew what was about to happen.
“Class dismissed”
The Dean of Students asked him to “Please please just this once set it straight and walk away from it. You did what you had to do at the time.” He knew it hurt when he was called “conquistador”. The Monday Morning Quarterbacker’s weren’t there when decisions had to be made, and neither was the dean, yet he still implored him. It would likely be televised too. Ken had built the best laid wall of obfuscation he could. He did not want any glory. He wanted to be left alone. Despite his best effort it did not work. His hope had been to be in the background making the best decision without regard to any so called “Glory” His hope was that the sailors in real danger would get the credit they deserved. It just did not work. Besides, it was clear that he wanted him to talk about that battle. This made him waver in his assent. He wanted to speak about what he wanted to speak about. Simple.
Admiral Pearl and He had had to face a hero’s welcome when they came home. Then the detractors started in on him.
Despite the promises of the Dean it would just open all the old wounds back up again and likely crank the peanut gallery up to full tilt. “I do not want it televised. You can record it if you want but I get to decide if it gets released. Deal or no deal? If you want to dictate the topic then that is my condition. You are asking me to open up a box I have had welded shut for years now. Anyone can look up the logs and watch every single shot and hit if they wish. It has been analyzed to death. What further can I add at this point? There is nothing I can tell you that hasn’t been discussed in hundreds of books at this point. It is a dead subject that I can drone on about.”
The dean held up his hand and said “I want to know how you felt about it. All of it. What was the methods you used to make the decisions. How did you feel? The most important event in modern history drops in your lap like an egg salad sandwich. You have to feel something. That is what I want to know. It is your bully pulpit to say what you wish. No restrictions except for classified material. And no using the “F” word.”
“I am not doing it unless I can say ”fuck”. Not happening.” He wasn’t kidding. “To sweeten the deal you can televise it but I have to be able to talk in my normal voice. And I will say fuck.”
The Dean relented and agreed. He had just manipulated the situation to where he could minimize the fallout. Besides: he was tired of people talking shit about him in all these books and articles. He was going to tell them all to go fuck themselves, with a cactus.
On the Saratov. Warp area 13 off the plane of the ecliptic.
The admiral sat and contemplated what they were about to do. They were waiting on a couple more ships before going to warp. He tried to sum it up.
This was a high stakes mission. He had a high stakes strategy. It was brilliant and it was risky. He was about to do something never attempted in real combat and was completely theoretical. They had wargamed it to death and this had honed their protocol. They were going to Net their AI’s. They would calculate global firing solutions using parallel computing. They had 8 AI’s that were going to fight it and this should greatly augment their firepower due to increased efficiency. No matter how they wargamed it the AI’s won. They had it down pat. He felt certain this was the right thing to do but there was also a huge ethical hole in this. For the first time AI’s would determine firing sequence, aiming and execution without human intervention. He had to pause and consider the implications. This was colored by several recent experiences. It was all about Jezz. He still loved Jezz but she scared him. She has never been malevolent, but man was he scared that she could become dangerous. He had created a tiny bit of monster in her for certain. She was a combat AI. She was a hunter killer and as long as she worked for them, she would be fine. If she decided to freelance it, they would be in trouble. All because of this: there was a chunk of predator in her digital DNA and he hoped she could keep it in check.
He had come up with the best rationalization he could. They were going in against one decidedly ill-tempered AI and another AI (the “damsel in distress”) wanting rescue. At least that is what it looked like on the surface. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was not as clearcut as everyone else thought. Either way It would not be aliens versus humans but AI vs AI. At least that is what he kept telling himself. He wasn’t buying his bullshit either since none of it passed the smell test.
The decision to unleash the AI’s had come from above his paygrade, all the way to the Joint chiefs of staff of the world Navies. Forty-five Space faring nations sat down and hashed it out. He hated the complexity but admitted that it did work fairly well. They wanted the spam in a can home alive and if AI made this happen then so be it. There was one important point: they weren’t on the ships, were they?
As he sat about to enter warp and head out to the clusterfuck in question. The initial reason for all of this was still nagging him. Where was everyone else? He had data that showed an alien drive signature. He was resentful that they were fucking around with all this other shit. He would leave the AI’s in question to sort it out amongst themselves. He wanted no part of what was going on since he was doubtful that there were any good guys on either side of what looked like a standoff. All he wanted to do was find alien life (which they had kind of but it weren’t just quite the right kind.) He wanted something that could look like us maybe a bit . If you squinted. And they would find that hopefully, but they had a shit detail to cross off the bucket list first. The more he looked at this the more it became clear this should be two separate missions. Those AI’s were fighting over a dead world and he knew it. He just knew. He wanted no part of the Hatfield and McCoy bullshit. The real point was to capture as much as they could. This was actually about technology. They even had some freighters on the way for the cleanup and oh BTW come back alive. We will let the AI’s babysit you. May as well send a Voyager probe for all the use the crew was.
He was soon to learn the value of human judgment and that was going to prove a bunch of people wrong, sort of. All because of this: there are some decisions that do not fit into ones and zeroes. Value judgements were critical. That is one thing AI’s couldn’t do yet and it was that way why? Who could say for certain but in his years of interacting with true AI’s for the last 5 years did give him some insight. He was apprehensive to say the least but where was his fear coming from? He always thought that you had to identify the source(s) of any fear. He had it partially figured out, not only was he a bit afraid of Jezz and her friends he was also fearful for Jezz. And this is what he had: a gut feeling. And if that weren’t enough (and by gosh, don’t you think it ought to be?): how was he going to keep Jezz’s precognition a secret? The Admiral went through the computer logs and Jezz had not accessed any information about the disposition of the Galileo. It could be explained away but he was not convinced he could be very convincing. This was something that just did not fit. He could not make it fit, and he would just as soon pretend it did not exist. But it was clear that his AI had some degree of psychic power or something. She was different and he did not know if the other AI’s would be catching whatever it was. If the folks in charge knew the depths of his misgivings, they would be appalled. And the situation they were headed into was not as simple as it looked. He knew this. His questions were simple. Number one: Who were the good guys and who were the bad ones. Number two: could he maintain plausible deniability about Jezz. They were going to have a talk. Just the two of them. He needed some reassurances.
Also, He was trying to figure out a way to crack this and he had an idea. While looking at the menu for the ships mess, he noticed the two columns and he decided to do what he always did with most major decisions. He would make a list of the facts he had and try to run through the various permutations. A pencil and some paper would be adequate, and he even had a ruler so he could make it all professional.
So he made a list of the players Side “A” in orbit and Side ”B “planetside. Side “ A” obviously held the high orbitals. “B” had an extensive force field that would occasionally flicker. He thought that might be something to look into. He had all of the video files from the Galileo and there was one telescope tasked with watching the planetside compound. They had days of footage. He sped it up until the frames were racing by. The force field was visible due to impacts from what he assumed to be dust. This gave it a phosphorescent look. It also made it possible to have visual confirmation if it was up. The shield “failures” occurred on a stable repeated time frame. After doing the math and getting a video analysis program running, he figured it out only after focusing on the Spectro photography. Every 23.29 minutes the shield was apparently offline for 0.07 seconds. It was so brief it was tough for the naked eye to pick up but the spectral signature did.
Looking at the area under shield he could see a row of what appeared to be ships. These were triangular. He could see no evidence of what their primary drives were but it wasn’t the best picture. Things degrade through an atmosphere and distance. No drive nodes. No distribution rings. He had a suspicion, and he suddenly felt nauseated and had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. They were not using Alcubierre’ drives. They were using jump drives of some type. In the raw sensor data was a Gamma spike and a Gravity spike right before the attack. The Galileo probably never saw the vessel that hit them. But the Admiral was a patient man and he had the eye for detail. How they had missed this he did not know but he finally found what he wanted. The ship was identifiable. One sternward scope had several good views of a shape blocking the stars.
The other fact was that there was no warning. No comms traffic but, the recovered buoy made it clear that they knew they were suddenly in trouble since the buoy was released (and in warp) seconds after jettisoning it. Command deck recordings showed the captain getting a proximity alarm and then immediately releasing the buoy. There was no “prepare to be boarded” or “Heave to.”, just MASER beams slicing through the hull. Listening to the conversations on the deck made it clear they were paranoid as they were scanning with their non military grade graviton detector. Seems like it wasn’t paranoia after all.
They would have been blind until the ship was right on top of them. Someone was operating on a hunch and that person was Nico. He was frantic. As first officer he had the conn and did what he could to at least let them know what they were facing. It took some guts to do that. He saw internal video running. It captured Captain Nic’s hand slamming down on the buoy release button before the video cut out. It had to have damaged the Galileo Significantly. He had to override the safeties to get the thing to instantly go to warp. He knew that close to the ship the damage would have been substantial. Nico knew they were doomed.
He leaned back and took a deep breath. The ship in question was triangular in shape. Planetside. This could be some sort of trap or things were not as they superficially seemed or maybe he had found his bad guys. So he went back through the compound footage and there it was a ship moving out of frame. There was only maybe 6 meters of ship but it was clear where it was from. It was clear it was moving. Where had it been for 2 hours plus? If it were going to jump he would think that the image would have arrived at the Galileo after it had been blown apart. That is the whole point of faster than light travel. You could have all these paradoxes and that actually gave him more than a headache. It was a brain ache. Without FTL the tyranny of Einstein held sway. Why were they not there immediately? The Galileo was about 120 light minutes out. Assuming they get there immediately there should be no video. They had taken a detour. This he did not know for sure but also had a bad feeling about. I guess it did not mean much in the grand scheme of things but he did have a hunch. Only problem with that is that hunches don’t win battles unless it is more than a hunch.
He did not have a frame of reference for how a jump drive worked IRL. He had read all the theories. There was a huge amount of research being conducted but there were unpredictable failures resulting in some ships getting cut in half and what not. Just not something compatible with the life of the crew. Destructive testing was also expensive. They had gotten one small ship that was maybe twice the size of an emergency buoy to jump to the orbit of Neptune. What he did not know was how long that took. All he had was some rumor mill shit that he generally did not give two fucks about. He was not into “R and D". And while they could send the damn thing out there what they could not do was get it back the same way. The power requirements were so high that the capacitor banks were charged externally . Putting in a zero-point tap would push the ship size beyond the mass they could manage for the drive they currently had. They were running into problems of scale and those are not so easily rectified. Problems of scale were problems with lubrication. You just had to lube the ship with cash. You had to fuel it with Lots and lots of cash. This was such a priority that every aerospace manufacturer and design firms were plugged into the research institutions. It was a huge effort because of one thing. Warp drive was “too slow”. The boffins were thinking intergalactic travel. They had their sights set on the universe.
To top it all off there was one inescapable problem: You can’t put ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag.
Due to all of this they were going down an interesting path. All you had to do was fill the magnetic tank with antimatter. Matter antimatter annihilation gave near instantaneous power. It was used in weapons some but only the best militaries would even fool with it. Compared to nuclear warheads Antimatter left no nasty isotopes in orbit of a planet you may be interested in colonizing or defending. Also, you don’t want to poison an uninhabited M-class world in the habitable zone given their relative scarcity.
Finally: containing it is problematic but doable. You can probably pull off the power requirements but there is one downside. You are flying in a bomb. Not just a small bomb. It was a big bomb that will go off if you lose containment. 40 mega tons of TNT will vaporize a ship. There was talk of building a manned vessel but saner heads put the kibosh on that. Besides: no one with any sense would want to crew it.
The answer was obvious to him, and he suspected it was obvious to the researchers. Why not use a singularity? Just dump matter into it and harvest the radiation to charge up and go. He did not know where that research currently stood. He knew there were some successes along these lines and quite surprisingly there had been no major accidents. The problem came with feeding the little monster in a consistent fashion to produce enough power to in turn contain the position of the singularity. This was done with antigravity. Antigrav technology had found it’s way into just about everything, except cell phones. They still broke when you dropped them. The black hole was carried by the ship, but it never changed its axis of rotation. The singularity in this scenario is one hell of a gyroscopic top with fixed axes. Since the jet of X-rays only came “out” along this axis and given that the ship would change attitude constantly it was necessary to have X-ray converters on the entire internal surface of the reaction vessel. The ship moved around the singularity. That made things a lot more complicated and really fucked with power distribution. Since there would be energy jets at the poles of the internal singularity power flow would be from two converters at a time. And since they weren’t 100% efficient you had some heat to deal with. He had read a few initial summaries of the work. You still had to keep containment of the singularity just as with antimatter but an uncontained singularity would put a small hole of about 10 mm as it passed through the ship before evaporating. This was better than being atomized. The problem was heat. Waste heat is just unconverted energy as such there was talk of installing a steam turbine circuit to generate power and to cool the reaction vessel. This would be the use of centuries old technology in a starship since convection does not occur in a vacuum. Trying to radiate enough heat to keep the thing cool would not work. The act of running the turbine also cools the circulating liquid. Trying to radiate heat away in a vacuum took a lot of time so big heatsinks would only go so far. It was simple physics. If you can convert some heat to electricity that is a little less that must be radiated. He bet it was a pain in the ass and was probably not worth the effort, but Fusion reactors did not have the peak power output needed to rip space. You either stored it in cap banks for one big release or you instantaneously generated it. Ken thought that the whole line of inquiry was going to be moot and they would finally give up, build a huge Casimir bank and strap a ship to it.
Which meant one thing. The jump ships in question had to deal with waste heat from whatever power system they used. The only way to get rid of this waste heat was to radiate it into the void. This took time. He now knew what the delay had been. The alien ships had to cool off between jumps. He or she had also taken a circuitous route to get there. This in turn means that they wanted them to see the ship leave the planet. They could have possibly gone there straightaway but they had not done that. They wanted him to know. They must have jumped above the ecliptic and back down into the ecliptic.
This slowed them down.
It also meant that escaping with a jump drive wasn’t that easy. They couldn’t pop in and out of position. If they were in your sights they were yours. He also knew that they would have a brief window where they were detectable before fully entering normal space. All they had to do was detect that energy spike and target it at the right time.
After reading all of the executive summary Jezz had put together he had a lot of questions, and he did not know quite where to begin. He had one thought: time to get everyone together and pick everyone’s brain. He wanted to talk to his chief engineer and every engineer in the fleet. He wanted to get all ships Captains and First Officers to come up with a game plan: What is the best order of battle and why? He wanted to see the nonconventional answers as this was anything but a conventional situation. He kept each team to the size of two: Captain and first officers. They could consult with the crew and had access to any information they could find. He needed options. You never want to run out of options on the field of battle.
He turned to his First Officer “Take us out and form up the fleet. We will jump directly to warp 5. That will keep the transports somewhat close. I want the fleet on shipwide in 10 minutes. I have some tasks to assign. Set the countdown to jump for 3 hours. There may be a few stragglers. Jezz, calculate the route and send me a copy. Sensors. I want you to calibrate for Gamma detection and localization. I will send you the energy signature, now. Look for that and calibrate for that. Any questions? (There were none) Good. Yuri, you have the conn.”
He exited the bridge.
Outbound from Sol. 72 hours after jump.
The Admiral was in the center of the virtual room with 70 or so Captains and first officers arrayed about. The flotilla had topped out at 82 warships as well as smaller craft and support vessels. He had 82 ships he had under command currently. This was the biggest expeditionary force ever fielded by Earth. There was one Mormon ship with them. A frigate This was ironic he thought. It was also a bit much to keep up with. He had read all the preliminary proposals and he was now going through the ones he thought had merit. He was currently discussing Captain Pearls proposal she planned to arrange ships into a cylinder or hoop. The individual ships alternating primary weapons one way or the other. That way anyone jumping into the center was covered as well as the “external” surface. It was really a pretty good plan. It played to their strengths. They could bring weapons to bear quickly since they could not just jump away. He especially liked the network formation It was a nice diamond pattern. He just couldn’t shake it being familiar. She had a great movie playing that demonstrated it quite well.
“This is Guardians of The Galaxy” Ken said. Barely keeping his shit together. He wanted to laugh. Once everyone else started the cat was out of the bag, He did not want to ridicule her plan but this was too much. Bless her heart. It was Guardians of the Galaxy.
“OK everyone settle down lets get back to it. Does that make it a bad plan? It isn’t straight out of the movie either. I do think it has merit but I would prefer it to not be too obvious. Can we do a formation that gives closed fields of fire without looking like it? I think we should go with a spheroid that is as irregular as we can make it. I want the focus to be on full coverage. Actually, Jezz give me a pattern with those criteria.”
What she generated looked like a swarm of bees. When she overlayed the weapons plots the effect was uncanny. It looked very random but was anything but. The coverage was better than any plan he had seen. That settled it for him. They would war game it just that way. It was a bit risky since every ship had to maintain their place in relation to all the other ships. She had even linked in the shield generators from the transports. She had used every resource.
“That was brilliant Jezz.”
“I try Sir. I really do.”
“I know you do.”
The admiral continued “OK I want to go ahead and start moving the fleet into that configuration. We will stay in that all the way to our destination. I want checklists of unique tasks made up. Sensors are going to be the critical piece. I am hopeful we will see them when they jump in, and we can quickly target them if necessary. That brings me to another point. We cannot go in and just start banging away at everything that moves. By now you should be aware that this is not clear cut. We can speculate. And I have done it obsessively. What you need to know is that I am not sure who is good or bad. I have a sneaking suspicion that neither are good or bad. They are neutral. We don’t know if this is a rogue AI or AI’s. We do not know if there were biological life here at any point. There is certainly flor BUT THERE SEESM TO BW NO FAUNA. This world has undergone bombardment in the not too distant past somewhere around fifty year ago give or take. Could a sentient race have been killed off? Who the fuck knows. But our next task is to come up with some possible scenarios. Based on what we have seen I suspect this is a rogue AI. I cannot tell what has happened to them yet, but I suspect we will know more once we get planetside.”
He took a long draw from an Opus X and continued. Rank had its privileges.
“The Vikrant will provide aircover for a Marine expeditionary force to go to the planet’s surface and secure the compound. I have spoken to the Air boss and confirmed the strike package will consist of two squadrons of F-15’s for high cover and 5 Su-34’s to be tasked with strike. We have enough transport to go in one wave with backups to spare. That also leaves us with more than enough reserve forces. I hope we do not have to commit more but I will want another squadron of MiG-29’s or F-15’s in reserve. Keep them hot and on the ramp. I want to deploy as quickly as possible.”
One of the junior officers spoke up “That looks like a good plan.”
“Thank you son for that. It is like getting the compliment of how smart you are from your Marine Commander (He had to give Chuck a hard time. He loved him.)
Everyone at least politely laughed.
“Speaking of mentally challenged little brothers. What you got Chuck?”
Chuck went with it The Admiral would pay later. He had some photos of him waltzing with a large muscular person and he was going to visit scorn on him. All in the name of fun. “We are going to take two battalions. I am going to strip them down a bit and we will be utilizing more heavy weapons teams. I plan to draw more M-60’s and M-203’s. You guys are welcome to join the party since I could use a couple of forward observers. It will be a fun time. Additionally I am not babysitting the press pool this time boys and girls and others. It is potentially a deadly environment and I don’t want their deaths on my hands. Let them die with you fuckers instead. By the way; I have 18 Comanche-4 Helos for CAS.”
“That sounds like all the more reason to send them with you. The herd needs to be thinned anyway.”
Jezz hissed “SIR! You are going to get in trouble Sir.”
“Just a little lighthearted humor don’t be so touchy. Anyway’ what about armor?”
“I have a platoon of Abrams going in with us Sir. More for mobile artillery.”
When you got right down to it it was a very simple plan. Modest forces for planetside. There was enough aircover but not so much to result in fratricide. He had extra firepower at the squad level. He had thought it out. Chuck had his full confidence. He was an Oscar-6 and you did not make O6 by being stupid. He would make General soon and he would be taken from the pointy end of the spear. The spear would be a little less sharp for a while but that was just how it went. Right now, he had the best field commander alive in his corner and he was going to utilize him.
“I know my engineers are logged into this meeting and have been paying attention. What do you guys make of their propulsion system? I have been spouting off and thinking about this for a week and all I got is a bunch of ideas.”
He thought for a moment. Rusty, what do you think.” He had just called out his own engineer. Rusty was his nickname and damned if he could remember his actual one. He knew it was not Russel. “What do you think they are using for power?”
Rusty wanted to cuss him out. He did not like meetings. In his opinion meetings were just excuses to avoid doing any actual work. He could have asked him privately…”Rusty what do you think?”
“Goddammit Sir, they have to be using a singularity. They are not using capacitor banks so they are generating power instantaneously. The alternative is antimatter and we had better hope it is not antimatter since taking them out could be suicidal. Most importantly: I am not a fucking tactician. I am an engineer for fucks sake, and I don’t see why anyone cares what I think about this anyway. But you asked so here it is. We are going to have to assume that it is not antimatter and hope we are right. The thing that would keep me awake is the possibility that our weapons are outranged by the fireballs generated when their antimatter containment fails. That will end us, and the best tactic will be to run like hell. Add to that the fact that the rules of engagement mean we can’t go in guns blazing. What if we need to go in guns blazing? It takes away an option. Never discard even the most ludicrous of options as that may be the one thing that saves your ass.”
“ We do not want to go traipsing in there with our dicks uncovered and this ain’t no tulip picking expedition here ladies. This is potentially a war, and we better acknowledge that. I don’t want to be Debbie downer here but let us be real. Some of us are not coming back from this. Look around boys cause some of your compadres are going to be left behind. This is serious business. This ain’t no rescue mission and we better stop treating it that way. Since you asked, Sir.”
Admiral Alexander had to give him honesty points for that. He was right. “We are going to run this scenario as many times as we can before we arrive. I suspect that there is going to be some mass confusion until we figure out who the baddies are. If I had to make a wager, I would go with our folks in orbit, being less of a threat. We have clear evidence of who attacked our ship, and it weren’t none of them football shaped guys. (He did grow up in the South. Woodruff SC to be precise.) It is the flying Dorito that we have to watch for. My gut tells me we are going to have to smash whatever is running the show down there. That compound with the force field is our primary target.” Furthermore, I just don’t know how the remainder are going to act. Are they under a different AI? Is there more than one AI? We can say there are no life signs from any of the ships in system and that makes me think this is artificial all the way. ”
“ The Galileo was attacked by one of the ships on that Spaceport apron. None of the ships in orbit participated from what we can tell. Also, the Galileo was attacked from outside the ecliptic. They are using some type of jump drive that apparently has to avoid gravity wells. That would explain why the attack occurred outside the system. We can take advantage of the situation though if we cozy up to that gas giant and let them come to us. They can’t just pop in on us that way and we can put the planet behind us or we can peg them up against the planet. We can warp anytime but they can only jump in relatively clear space. In short: We are going to pick the battlefield.”
“First wave will be led by the Atlanta and Saratov. The Havana and The George Washington will be tasked with offense. I want rail slugs loaded and ready to go. The surface strike package will go in from the Vikrant and the Conestoga. Commander Yactine has the battle plan for the surface operation and is handling their own transport duties. We can supply an AC301 Spooky for fire support if needed Commander.” The commander waved it away. He felt he had enough assets.
“I do think we may want to take a chance on something. Since they are having to jump “vertically” out of the system to avoid gravity wells and since we suspect they will do it in two jumps I think we can predict where they have their initial jump point. We can nail them before they even get to the main fleet.”
The admiral pointed to a plot that indicated a tangential course that terminated well above the plane of the ecliptic and one that went directly back into it. It was an “L” shaped course. At least he felt sure they traveled in straight lines and not arcs. It made the most sense but could still be wrong. Poring through the Galileo’s sensor data he could see a spike that barely registered. That also indicated that they took a while between jumps. Once they exited subspace, they would be sitting ducks for at least a few minutes. He was guessing 20 minutes for them to recharge their drive and get ready. They would have to target them when most vulnerable. Given that he was not feeling particularly charitable he decided that annihilation was in order. There were 50 deaths to avenge after all.
“Jezz, what do you think?”
Jezz paused. She had been on good behavior and that had made her overly cautious “I think your basic assumptions are correct, Sir. I think we are dealing with two AI’s. One is on the surface and one is in control of the orbital fleet. Approximately 56% of the orbital ships appear to be functional. They could also be in a powered down mode but looking at the Galileo data and 20 ships look to be fully operational. Weapons appear to be primarily MASER batteries. I can see no evidence of rail guns. Their weaponry may be less impressive, or they may be armed in a fashion we cannot detect. I wouldn’t assume them to be inferior to our ships. If we do that we run the risk of being surprised. I do not like surprises.”
The Admiral had one more question. He was looking more for how she was going to reply, “What is your gut feeling Jez?”
She paused “My gut feeling is that we are dealing with two AI’s. One of them has gone mad.” It was out of her speaker before she could catch herself. He had asked what her gut feeling was. What did he know? She did not have a gut. But, she did have feelings.

Spoilers for Naruto and Naruto Shippuden

Conditions

1. Healthy pre-reaper death seal Orochimaru (not war arc)
2. Shippuden Jiraiya
3. Both start in base
4. Edo tensei restricted (otherwise it would turn into a stomp since Jiraiya doesn't have a lot of sealing jutsus)
5. Location: The grassy area where the three way deadlock battle happen in the search for Tsunade arc
6. Starting distance 20m
7. Victory by killing or subduing the opponent

The other day I decided to simulate a battle between the two so I thought I would post it here to hear opinions and have a discussion, but before that I will do an analysis of their abilities so that we're all on the same page. First we will start with:

Jiraiya

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Taijutsu:
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Jiraiya isn't a taijutsu heavy fighter but he is not too shabby in the field. Strength wise he is easily able to lift and toss around boulders in base scoring a 4.5 in strength in the third databook. In terms of speed, he was able to keep up with an armless Orochimaru while being at 30% of his power scoring a 4.5 in speed in the third databook. Additionally he scores a 4.5 in stamina in the third databook. Finally Jiraiya is durable enough to tank a kick from guy. With all this Jiraiya scored a taijutsu point of 4.5 in the third databook.
Ninjutsu:
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Jiraiya has a plethora of different ninjutsu, let's take a look at them

1. Fire style: Flame Bomb Jutsu

A C-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya shoots a ball of fire which then causes a mini explosions. Not too powerful as Konan tanked its with no issue.
2.Fire style: Dragon Flame Jutsu
A C-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya shoots out several bullets of fire
3.Fire style: Toad Flame Bomb
A B-rank ninjutsu which is a combine attack between Jiraiya and Gamabunta where Jiraiya shoots fire while Gamabunta shoots oil that enhances the flames. Attack was strong enough to incinerate Manda's shed skin
4.Earth release: Swamp of the Underworld
An A-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya summons a swamp of sticky mud to trap opponents. Note that the swamp can be formed on any surfaces including ceilings. The swamp in strong enough to trap one of Orochimaru's big snake summons and also trap the human path on the ceiling.
5.Rasengan
An A-rank ninjutsu, I think we're all familiar with this rotating ball of chakra so I won't be talking about it.
6.Rasengan Barrage
An A-rank ninjutsu, its just 2 rasengans on in each hand
7.Odama Rasengan
An A-rank ninjutsu, a bigger rasengan
8.Needle Jizo
A B-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya hardens and wraps his hair around himself to become a porcupine
9.Needle Hell
Can't find the rank of this jutsu. Jiraiya hardens and shoots his hair in a barrage of hardened hair, this attack is strong enough to destroy boulders
10.Wild Lion's Main Jutsu
A B-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya strengthens extends his hair, the technique is strong enough to rip Nagato's crab into pieces
11.Barrier: Canopy Method Formation
A B-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya creates a spherical zone around him where he can sense anything within. The zone moves with Jiraiya.
12.Hiding in a Toad Jutsu
A C-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya hides in a small toad
13.Toad Flatness - Shadow Manipulation Jutsu
A B-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya flattens himself and hides in a targets shadow. While doing this he can also control the targets actions, and after the jutsu is dispelled the target has no memory of being controlled. However Jiraiya has to hold his breathe for the duration of the jutsu
14.Toad Oil Bomb
A C-rank ninjutsu where Jiraiya shoots sticky oil, was able to prevent Konan from dispersing into paper
15.Shadow Clone Jutsu
A B-rank ninjutsu, I think we're all familiar with this jutsu
With all these Jiraiya scores a 5 in ninjutsu and 4.5 in hand signs in the third databook
Genjutsu:
Jiraiya doesn't use any genjutsu by himself in the series but he scores a 3 in the field according to the third data book. However he does have access to one of the most broken genjutsu that we'll get into later.
Summonings:
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Jiraiya has various toad summonings, we'll take a look at them
1.Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Jutsu
A B-rank summoning jutsu where Jiraiya summons a massive toad above the target which falls on them and crushes them. This jutsu is powerful enough to oneshot one of Orochimaru's big snake summon.
2.Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind
An A-rank summoning jutsu where Jiraiya summons the oesophagus of the great fire breathing toad to trap opponents. Jiraiya can manipulate the flesh of the toad to attack opponents.
3.Summoning: Crushing Toad Stomach
Can't find the rank of this jutsu. Jiraiya reverse summons both himself and anything nearby into a toads stomach where they are crushed. Though this sounds like a suicide attack, Jiraiya can get a shadow clone to perform it.
4.Summoning: Toad Shop Jutsu
A B-rank summoning jutsu where Jiraiya summons a small toad which has the ability to transform into a shop.
5.Barrier: Toad Gourd Prison
A B-rank summoning jutsu where Jiraiya summons a gourd toad which he can enter its stomach. It can also drag opponents into its stomach. Inside its stomach is like a rooms sized chamber filled with gastric acid.
6.Summoning Jutsu
A C-rank summoning jutsu where Jiraiya can summon various animals. Most notably toads, lets look at a some of the more notable toads.
a) Gamabunta
The chief toad of Mount Myoboku is a massive toad that wields a giant samurai sword. Gamabunta is extremely agile being able to jump great distances in a short duration. He is heavy enough that when summoned in the air, was able to knock Kurama, the nine tails, to the ground. He is also skilled in ninjutsu able to fire toad oil in his combo jutsu with jiraiya, Toad flame bomb. He can also shoot out powerful water bullets capable of clashing with the air bullets shot by a weakened Shukaku, the one tail, and durable enough to tank a hit from said air bullets. He was also intelligent enough to come up with a strategy to cancel Shukaku's awakening by waking Gaara up.
b) Gamaken
A giant toad who wields a giant sasumata and a giant shield attached to giant bandages which allows him to both use the shield defensively, and offensively as a flail as well as a rope to grab onto poles and swing around. Gamaken was durable enough to tank several bites from Nagato's dogs and did very well against the canines. He also defeated Nagato's rhino with his sasumata. Finally he was also able to create at least one shadow clone which acted as a decoy and was reversed summoned into the crushing toad stomach.
c) Gamahiro
A giant toad who wields two large swords and is proficient in close quarters combat.

1. Shima and Fukasaku (Ma and Pa)

The two great sage toads, to summon them, Jiraiya has to keep his hands together for several minutes. They are easily Jiraiya's most powerful summons and are his trump cards. Shima and Fukasaku are both physically very strong thanks to infusing nature energy with their own chakra. They can also merge with Jiraiya allowing him to enter an imperfect form of sage mode which we will get into later. Shima is capable of extending her tongue to great lengths to attack and restrain an opponent. Her tongue can move at an immensely fast speed, to the point where even pain was surprised by how fast it was. Additionally she can detect opponents with her tongue in a matter of seconds. Finally it can also release a corrosive mucus from the pores. Fukasaku is capable of firing powerful jets of water which sliced Nagato's chameleon in half. Together with Jiraiya, they can use a combine attack: Fire Style: Goemon, which we will get into later. Finally, the two of them can use one of the most broken genjutsu in the series: Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant, where they sing a complex frog song which puts opponents in a powerful genjutsu where they are stunned and feel like they are drowning. This genjutsu was powerful enough to defeat 3 paths of pain despite the numerous powerful genjutsu barriers Nagato placed in each path. The only drawback being that the jutsu takes some charge up time to cast.
Senjutsu:
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Jiraiya can enter an imperfect form of toad sage mode by merging with Shima and Fusakasu. In this form, not only is Jiraiya's physical stats vastly improved but also his ninjutsu.
Taijutsu: Jiraiya gains a massive strength boost in sage mode, capable of shattering the ground just by jumping down. He was able to send human path flying and destroying the boulder the path flew into with just one kick. Do note that the human path also casually blocked a punch from sage mode Jiraiya with just one hand so he is still nowhere near as strong as a perfect sage like naruto in terms of physical strength. Jiraiya also gain access to frog kata where he can hit opponents with his aura. To top it all off, Jiraiya also gains the sensing abilities of sage mode.
Ninjutsu: Jiraiya gains various new ninjutsus as well as enhancements to previously mentioned ninjutsus in sage mode, lets take a look at them:
1.Fire Style: Giant Flame Bombs Jutsu
A B-rank ninjutsu which is the enhanced version of the previously mentioned Fire style: Flame Bomb Jutsu. It now adds oil along with the fire to create a bigger flame bomb.
1.Sage Art: Goemon
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. This is the combination attack with ma and pa mentioned prior where Shima shoots fire, Jiraiya shoots oil and Fukasaku shoots wind. This awesome attack unfortunately has no AP feats since it was absorbed by the preta path but I would imagine it has similar AP to Mei's lava release.

1. Cho Odoma Rasengan

Can't find the rank to this jutsu but its an even bigger rasengan.

1. Ninja Art: Needle Senbon

Again can't find the rank of this jutsu but it is just the enhanced version of needle hell. It's basically the same thing just faster and stronger, it is also apparently the fastest attack in Jiraiya's arsenal.
Fuinjutsu:
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Jiraiya doesn't have many sealing jutsus so we'll just quickly look over the few he has.

1. Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal

A B-rank sealing jutsu where Jiraiya uses a scroll to seal fire. The seal is even capable of sealing Itachi's Amaterasu.
Other Notable Facts:
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Despite his goofiness, Jiraiya is actually very intelligent being able to analyse the quirky abilities of the 3 paths of pain he fought and come up with a counter strategy. He also has an excellent memory being able to craft a coded message using the page numbers of his book Make Out Tactics, with the first word on each page serving as his message in a couple of seconds while he was dying. This scored him a 4.5 in intelligence according to the third databook. Additionally, Jiraiya is one of the most experienced shinobi, like ever. He completed the most number of missions in the entire hidden leaf village, totaling out at 1,839 official missions, 138 of them being S-rank missions.
That sums up the abilities of Jiraiya the Gallant. (That was way longer than I expected) Now onto:

Orochimaru

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Taijutsu:
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Orochimaru is extremely strong wielding enough strength to punch entire trees down, this scores him a 3.5 in strength according to the third databook. Orochimaru is also extremely fast being able to blitz four tails naruto in his snake tail form while sick, he was also the teacher of hebi sasuke who has been complimented numerous times by the likes of deidara for his speed, as his mentor, Orochimaru should scale above Hebi Sasuke. This scores him a speed of 4.5 in the third databook. He also scores 3.5 for stamina in said book. The most notable component of Orochimaru, is tenaciousness and durability. Apart from his absurd regen that we will get into later, Orochimaru is very resistant to blunt force trauma, capable of tanking numerous punches from Tsunade , with her final punch being specially infused with extra chakra. Note that Tsunade's punches casually broke Madara's susanoo in its ribcage from. All these scores him a 3.5 in taijutsu according to the third databook.
Kenjutsu:
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Orochimaru masterfully wields the legendary Sword of Kusanagi (as seen in the image above lol), which Orochimaru keeps in the mouth of a snake, which is then is kept in his mouth......snek. Enma commented that even in his Diamond-hard Staff form, the Kusanagi blade still hurts. It should be noted that it couldn't pierce V2 jinchuuriki cloak. Orochimaru can extend and retract the Kusanagi blade at will, and by extend, I mean extend. Orochimaru doesn't have to fully pull out the sword from the snake in his mouth to attack, he can partially pull out the blade from the snake in his mouth and just swing his head around. Finally the Kusanagi has one last hidden trick that we will get into later.
Ninjutsu:
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Orochimaru has a lot of unique and weird ninjutsu's, let's go through them

1. Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu

A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru fires a fireball out his mouth
2.Wind Release: Breakthrough
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru fires a powerful gust of wind out his mouth
3.Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru fires a hurricane level gust of wind capable of easily uplifting multiple trees out his mouth.
4.Wind Release: Gale Palm
A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru fires a strong gale of wind out his hands.
5.Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole
A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru turns the earth around him into fine sand, allowing him to burrow into the ground. While underground he can sense the magnetic forces, effectively allowing him to sense what is happening on the surface.
6.Earth Release: Shadow Clone
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Its a shadow clone made of mud.

1. Hiding in Surfaces Jutsu

Can't find the rank to this jutsu. With this jutsu Orochimaru can phase through his surroundings, allowing travel undetected.

1. Sound Wave Jutsu

Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru releases a burst of deadly sound, it was powerful enough to instantly kill 2 anbus.
9.Temporary Paralysis Jutsu
A D-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru temporarily paralyses his target
10.Sword of Kusanagi: Longsword of the Sky
A B-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru can control the Kusanagi blade telekinetically.

1. Soft Physique Modification

Can't find the rank to this jutsu. It allows Orochimaru to stretch and bend his body however and whenever he please, extending it to great lengths and retracting it again. He most commonly uses this with his neck and his tongue, with the latter being strong enough to give Tsunade trouble in pulling it away from her neck, and with the former, when I say extend, I mean extend.

1. Living Corpse Reincarnation

A S-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru transport both him and his target into the dimension inside Orochimaru. In this world which comprise of and endless plane of flesh which Orochimaru can manipulate, Orochimaru can transfer his soul into his target stealing their bodies.
13.Four Black Snakes Formation
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru and his clones stand in a square formation, erecting a large barrier between them. On command it incinerates its contents.
14.Oral Rebirth
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru regurgitates himself fully restoring himself from any injuries. Note that this jutsu takes up a lot of chakra, like hebi Sasuke used it once and he ran out of chakra. However Orochimaru managed to use it 4 times while sick (like literally days away from coughing blood on his death bed). Healthy Orochimaru should be able to spam this way more.

1. Binding Snake Glare Spell

A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru summons a snake out his sleeve which coils around his target.

1. Hidden Shadow Snake Hands

A C-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru summons several snakes from under his sleeve to strike opponents.
17.Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes
A B-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru summons EVEN MORE snakes from under his sleeve to strike opponents. This jutsu seems to strike incredibly fast as it was capable of catching Yamato mid jump and even Hanzo the Salamander.
18.Gathering of the Snakes
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru is able to reconnect his body with snakes if he is severed into pieces.
19.Slithering Snake Mode
Can't find the rank to this jutsu. Orochimaru turn his legs into a snake's tail allowing him to move at unbelievable speeds.
20.Twin Snakes Mutual Death Jutsu
An A-rank ninjutsu which we never got to see what it does but it is suppose to cause the death of both the caster and the target.
21.Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes
A B-rank ninjutsu where thousands of snakes crawl out of Orochimaru's mouth to attack opponents. The snakes can also extend blade out of their mouths to attack opponents.

1. Eight Branches Jutsu

A S-rank ninjutsu where Orochimaru transforms into a massive 8 headed and 8 tailed serpent with immense strength. This is said to be Orochimaru's strongest snake related jutsu. When using this technique, Orochimaru can emerge from the mouth of one of the heads and use his Sword of Kusanagi to attack. Finally the serpent is said to possess a powerful healing factor.
Additionally Orochimaru scores a 5 in hand seals according to the third databook. With all these Orochimaru scored a 5 in Ninjutsu according to said book.
Genjutsu:
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Orochimaru doesn't use any genjutsu in the series apart from his killing intent which isn't really a genjutsu. His killing intent paralyses his targets in fear making them visualise their own death. Despite this Orochimaru scores a 5 in genjutsu according to the third databook.
Summonings:
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Orochimaru has various summonings, we'll take a look at them.

1. Summoning: Rashomon

A B-rank summoning jutsu where Orochimaru summons a demonic gate from the ground to block an incoming attack. The gate was able to block Kiba's twin fang attack but dented.
2.Summoning: Triple Rashomon
An A-rank summoning jutsu where Orochimaru summons three demonic gates from the ground to block an incoming attack. The gate was able to heavily reduce the damage of a four tails naruto's bijuu dama to the point where it Orochimaru wasn't disintegrated by the bomb but instead knocked to the ground.

1. Summoning: Edo Tensei

RESTRICTED
Snake summons: Orochimaru has many different giant snake summons, one even having three heads, but the most notable being Manda which is said to be the strongest colossal serpent. Manda is extremely large and powerful, he was also skilled in combat taking on both Gamabunta and one-tenth of Katsuyu simultaneously almost killing them both. He was agile enough to dodge Katsuyu's acid spit and durable enough to remain intact even after tanking Deidara's suicide jutsu, though he did die as a result. Manda also has superb regeneration claiming that he will only take a weak to heal a hole caused by Gamabunta's sword. He could shed his skin to evade attack and quickly burrow and move underground with his wicked gong mouth technique. He is intelligent enough to deceive Gamabunta by distracting him with his tail to leave him open for a bite.
Senjutsu:
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Orochimaru utilises senjutsu in combat through the form of curse marks. He can give a curse opponents curse marks by biting them, usually on the neck. He can give various curse marks but the most suitable one for combat is the one he gave Guru Guru which paralysed him for a couple seconds. This is impressive as Guru Guru was holding off the entire Kurama enhanced shinobi alliance along with the five kage and edo Hiruzen.
Other Notable facts:
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Orochimaru still has some abilities which don't really fit into any category. For one he can absorb someone's chakra by simply touching them. Orochimaru can also enter his true form which is a massive white snake made of smaller white snake and attacks with said smaller white snakes by extending the smaller white snakes to strike foes. Snake. The most notable feature of this form is that it's blood will evaporate into the air creating an undetectable numbing neurotoxin that paralyses anyone who breathes it. Even Sasuke who possessed the sharingan and a pseudo sage mode with his curse mark was unable to detect until he was already paralysed by the toxins. To add on, Orochimaru is also vastly intelligent being an excellent scientist and has a vast array of knowledge. With this he scored a 5 in intelligence according to the third databook. Much like Jiraiya, Orochimaru is also highly experienced in combat having completed the second highest amount of missions in the hidden lead with the total count of 1,468 missions with 108 being S-rank missions. Finally, Orochimaru might be able to test opponents through the air like a snake or use his snake taste them for him since Sasuke warned Itachi about that when they fought Kabuto claiming that he had to research that before taking on Orochimaru.
And that sums up the abilities of Orochimaru the Snake Sannin.

Simulation

That was longer than I expected but now we can finally move on to the simulated battle. In case you forgot, these are the conditions:

1. Healthy pre-reaper death seal Orochimaru (not war arc)
2. Shippuden Jiraiya
3. Both start in base
4. Edo tensei restricted (otherwise it would turn into a stomp since Jiraiya doesn't have a lot of sealing jutsus)
5. Location: The grassy area where the three way deadlock battle happen in the search for Tsunade arc
6. Starting distance 20m
7. Victory by killing or subduing the opponent

Note that in the battle whenever anyone uses a named jutsu I will have a "(insert jutsu name)!" to make it clear on what their doing. Since I am running out of character limit, I'll write the battle in the comments:
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edit: The simulation is posted in 3 parts since I ran out of character space. Note that it ends with a

KO!

i hired someone to build a fence on property, they asked for 50% up front, all via phone call and text. They started the project and on day 1, dug holes with hand tools (not auger) for 8 hours and ended up cutting my internet wire that they thought was “dead” because they used some handheld tool. So at end of day they dug 10 holes - 1.5 foot max- and he said he would come day 2 to pour concrete. Internet luckily was temporarily fixed. Day 4 comes (he stops by house to just talk for 10 mins) and he increases price for overlap (i already told him in person but he’s pretending he misunderstood). He then says he’ll pour on day 3. Day 3 he brings 3 posts (10 foot x2 and 8 foot) and 7 bags of concrete then leaves. That night we told him we were uncomfortable with the hole size as all designs for fences say at-least 3 feet deep due to the frost line. He then gets upset says we dont know what we are saying, his fences last for ever etc, he said absolute not 3 and we were pressured to say 2.5 feet is fine. The next am, we decide to move on as he made us very uncomfortable, doesnt do things by the standard and dug holes that we realized were not called into ontario locates. We tell him we would like to just pay him for the holes he dug plus materials he dropped off and since he didnt so 50% of project he would give us back 2/3. He has basically since ghosted us. We called ontario locates because we had a suspicion he didnt call, and they said he called it in 3 days after we verbally ended the work and 9 days after he dug. We left a complaint with them. Do we have any way of getting money back in small claims court or do i just cut losses, keep the tools he left in my garage and move on with my life.
Thanks!

The way I see it, if you don’t notice that I exist, then I’m doing my job correctly.
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My name is Ben McFarlane and I work as a municipal sewer inspector in the town of Tevam Sound, Ontario. It's not the most glamorous job, but hey, somebody's got to do it and it puts food on the table.
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You'd probably think that working as a sewer inspector isn't that exciting… and yeah, for the most part you'd be right. Most of the time, all I'm doing is checking the pipes for damage. Unless there’s a reason for me to investigate a certain area, most of what I do is routine inspection, which helps ensure that the sewers remain in good working order. Trust me, nobody wants to see what happens when they aren’t.
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Thankfully, a lot of what I do can be done without me needing to crawl through pipes. I can use a small camera to help me do the inspection. But with some of the larger pipes and cisterns, I need to actually go inside and take a look.
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It’s never the best part of my day, but like I said before: somebody’s got to do it.
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Going down into the bigger tunnels is always a little unnerving. Part of it is the claustrophobic atmosphere and part of it is the knowledge that you’re basically standing in a river of literal human waste. I can deal with it now, but back when I first started the smell alone was darn near impossible to deal with.
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Ask most sanitation workers and I'm sure they'll have stories about what they've found in the sewers before. Heck, most of it isn't even stuff that people flush down the toilet. It's the stuff that people drop down manhole covers, or the stuff that gets washed into the sewers by the rain. Dead animals are surprisingly common, as are kids toys. I found an entire bicycle in the sewer once and I've got a buddy who found a loaded gun down there! Someone probably thought they'd get rid of it by just tossing it in the sewer.
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Someone was wrong.
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But of all the strange things I've experienced during my time working in the sewers… none of it compares to the stuff I see in the pipes on the southeast side of town.
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The things down there… I don't usually like to talk about them. Heck, I might not even be legally allowed to talk about them. I guess we'll find out, won't we? I've had a few drinks tonight and I'm feeling particularly chatty. So why not spill the beans? Hey, maybe someone out there will tell me something I don’t already know.
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I’d been on the job for about a year or so before getting sent to the southeast side of town. It’s closer to the lake and the downtown area, so there’s some deeper pipes there. I’d always figured that that was the reason they only really ever sent certain people down there. I’d heard that those tunnels were old and a little labyrinthian. Anyone who didn’t know what they were doing could easily get lost.
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But after we got hit with a particularly nasty rain storm back in summer of 2013, they needed to send someone down to check on some sensors and I just so happened to be one of the guys who was available.
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A bad rain storm can push a sewer system to its limit, so it wasn’t really that surprising that we’d gotten that kind of call and at the time, I didn’t think that there was anything that strange about it. My supervisor told me to head on down toward the pumphouse on the southwest side of town like it was any other priority inspection, and I went along with no questions asked. It was a few streets away from downtown. I’d seen it before but never had a reason to go inside up until then.
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I was working with a couple of other newbies at the time, a guy by the name of Stewart Long who’d only been on the job for a round three months or so, and another guy by the name of Tomas Opunui who’d started around the same time that I had.
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We’d arrived at the pumphouse, and when we got there we noticed another team waiting on us. This wasn’t too shocking either. Depending on the size of the job, they might’ve sent some other guys in to help us handle it.
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The guy in charge was an older man who looked to be pushing sixty. He had sort of a ‘Santa Claus on summer vacation’ look, with white hair, a short white beard, a big beer belly and a no nonsense expression.
​
He watched us get out of his truck with a look of stern disapproval, before huffing and trudging over to us.
“Where’s the usual fellas?” He asked.
“I dunno, out. They called us,” I replied.
​
He didn’t seem to like that answer but didn’t say anything in response to it.
“You ever worked on the southeast approach channel before?” He asked.
“Yeah, we’ve been in the ones on the north side of town,” I said.
“That’s not what I asked, kid. You ever worked in this one before?”
​
Something about the way he asked this question struck me as a little odd. I’d worked in an approach channel before. I knew the drill. What did it matter which one I’d worked in?
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For the unenlightened, an approach channel is a cistern filled with wastewater. They feed into a deep tunnel which feeds into a water treatment plant and they’re considered to be fairly dangerous, due to their depth (if you fall off the ladder on your way down, you’re in for a long drop into a biohazardous lake unless you’re properly tethered) and the harmful gasses that can accumulate in them. Standard operating procedure is to always test the air before entering one just to make sure that it’s even safe to breathe down there.
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Being reckless while going into an approach channel is a recipe for disaster, and I would have understood if the old man was concerned about us not having dealt with one before. But the way he spoke to us implied that this one was different somehow, which didn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense to me.
“What’s the difference?” I asked. “Same procedure, right?”
“No, not the same procedure. We need people experienced with this approach channel. These tunnels are a little different than what you’re used to.
“Look, the boss sent us here. So I’m sure we’ll manage,” Tomas said. “You can show us what we need to know.”
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The Old Man didn’t respond to him. He just shook his head and turned away.
“I’m gonna call this in and clear it with the boss first. You three, don’t move until I get back.”
I traded a look with both Tomas and Long as the Old Man trudged away. He said something to the two guys who were with him, before getting back into his truck to make a call.
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Part of me was obliged to try and just get to work. But looking at the other two guys that the Old Man had with him, I had a feeling that they’d try to stop me. One of them, another older guy with a receding hairline and a bushy moustache was watching us like a hawk.
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So we waited.
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After a few minutes, the Old Man got out of his truck again, said something to his buddy with the mustache and trudged back over to us.
“Bad news, fellas. Looks like our usual company’s retired… guess you’re the replacement.”
“So we can get to work?” I asked.
“Yeah. We can get to work,” The Old Man said. “Come on, let’s get going.”
​
With that, he turned and led us into the pumphouse.
“Suppose I might as well introduce myself. Names Troy. My colleagues here are Craig and Peter.”
He gestured to the two men who were with him, Mr. Moustache (who I assumed was Craig) and the other guy, who looked to be in his mid thirties and had sunken eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in a few days. The one who I assumed was Craig just gave us a nod, while the guy I figured was Peter gave a lazy half wave before they followed us into the pumphouse.
“So if you don’t mind my asking, what’s so special about this channel?” I asked.
“I guess you’ll be seeing for yourself soon enough,” Troy replied as he started down a set of stairs. “The guys you’re replacing… well, guy… a fella named Tom… he always had a set of rules for working down here. He passed ‘em on to me and Craig when we started. We’ve passed ‘em on to Peter. Guess it’s time we passed ‘em on to you too.”
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“Rules?” I asked, “What kind of rules?”
“The kind you listen very, very closely to, kid.”Troy looked back at me, before his eyes shifted to Tomas and Long behind me.
“Very, very closely.”
He descended the rest of the way down the stairs, where there was a hatch in the concrete floor beneath us, along with a large locker on the far side of the room.
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“Rule number one,” Troy began. “You don’t enter this part of the sewers alone. You stay in a group of at least three to four at all times. No more, no less. Too many and it slows you down. Too few, and you might not come back at all.”
He trailed off, watching as Craig cracked open the hatch to test the air inside.
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“Rule number two: You do not enter this part of the sewers without a gun and a radio.”
He opened the locker on the far side of the room and I was taken aback to see a collection of several handguns inside, along with boxes of ammunition and one shotgun in amongst the usual PPE.
Troy clipped one of the guns to his belt, along with one of the radios, before handing a pair off to Peter and looking over at us.
​
“Who’s taking it?” He asked.
“Whoa, just hold up for a minute!” Long interjected, “What the hell is down there?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Troy replied. “Hate to say it but it ain’t our job to know. I leave that to someone else. Our job is to follow the rules. You follow them, and you’ll be fine.”
Long seemed skeptical, but I looked at the gun in Troy’s hand and took it. I wasn’t sure if he was having a laugh with us or not, but I was there to do a job and I intended to do it.
​
Troy gave me a quiet nod, before thrusting the second gun over to Long. He didn’t seem to happy to get it.
“Are we gonna have to use these?” He asked.
“Not if you do as I say, you won’t. Rule 3: If you see a pipe or a tunnel with heavy spiderwebs, don’t go down it. Doesn’t matter if that’s where the sensor is. You make a note of it, report it to your supervisor and leave it alone.”
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Spiderwebs? What the hell was he talking about?
“Rule 4: If you find a body… and odds are, you will find a body, don’t touch it. Don’t try to move it. Hell, don’t even get close to it. And don’t waste the supervisors time reporting it. Only time the bodies get reported is when they’re human.”
“I’m sorry, you’ve been finding human bodies down there?” I asked.
“Rarely,” He replied. “But it’s been known to happen. And if we do find one… the same rules apply. Don’t approach it. Don’t touch it. Stay as far away as possible.”
​
I could see some of the color draining from Long’s face.
“Rule 5: If you see anyone else down there, you are not to interact with them. You do not follow them if they try to lead you somewhere, if they ask you for help, you do not help them. I don’t care if they’re crying and begging. You leave them alone. You report it to your supervisor.”
“There are people down there?” I asked.
“Normally, no. Far as I know, Tom only ever ran into a couple during his career. I’ve only ever seen one. Like I said, best to leave them alone.”
​
“Why?” I asked, “If there’s someone stuck down there, we have an obligation to help them!”
“That would be very ill advised,” Troy said. “You don’t want to anger the things that are down there… which leads me to rule 6: Avoid killing anything you come across down there. They’re not yours to kill. And if you have absolutely no choice, if you have to break that rule for the sake of self defense, then we leave immediately. That’s rule number 7.”
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“Air’s safe down there,” Craig said, interrupting our conversation.
“Good. Let’s get suited up, then. Oh… and rule 8. Final rule. If anything happens to any member of our team, we leave immediately. We don’t go after them. We don’t try to help them. We leave immediately. Is that clear? I don’t care if it’s me, begging you for help. You leave me behind.”
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Long and I remained silent, neither of us entirely sure how to react to this or even what to say. Troy had made it sound as if we were about to descend into a level of hell. I couldn’t imagine what the hell could possibly be down there to elicit a list of rules like that, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to find out either!
“Well? You fellas getting ready or not?” Troy asked impatiently as he put on his PPE. “The quicker we get down there, the quicker we can get out again!”
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“If this is so dangerous, why are they sending us?” Long asked, “Shouldn’t they be sending… I dunno, the cops or something?”
“They tolerate us being down there, so long as we don’t disturb them. They wouldn’t be so forgiving toward the local police,” Troy replied. “Listen, kid. Obey the rules and you’ll be fine, got that? We’ve been doing this for years without any problems. You keep your head on your shoulders, you do what we say and you go home safe. Alright?”
​
Long still didn’t seem convinced, but I did. By this point, I was morbidly curious about exactly what was down there… and Troy’s assurance that they’d come out unscathed before did set me at ease a little bit. These rules sounded kinda scary, but what could realistically go wrong? With Troy keeping us in line, everything would probably be fine and besides, I still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t all some sort of elaborate prank the old man was pulling. I grabbed myself a set of PPE and got ready and after a moments hesitation, Long did the same.
​
When we were ready, Craig opened up the hatch in the floor, and Tomas helped get us tethered so that we wouldn’t plummet down into the waters below if we slipped on the ladder, then we finally began our descent.
​
Troy went first, climbing down the ladder and into the darkness below. I went second, followed by Peter and followed by Long.
​
We climbed down into the approach channel in relative silence, only really speaking again once we made it to the bottom of the ladder.
​
Troy helped me get untethered, before doing the same for Peter and Long as they reached the bottom, and while he did that I got my first look at the dreaded southeast approach channel. I can’t say that there was a heck of a lot to see. The walls were boxy and flat, and the dirty wastewater trickled over my boots and into the pipe sending it even deeper through the sewer system.
​
The sensors should have been mounted on the ceiling, and I traced the black conduit line with my flashlight as I searched for the sensor they connected to. Peter and Long stayed back as Tomas and Craig lowered our tools down after us, while Troy came up behind me.
“Should be quick work…” He noted, “Rain doesn’t seem to have done much in here. Water level is still fairly low.”
​
I saw his flashlight shift upward toward the ceiling before he spotted the sensor. He trudged through the water to get closer to it, and I followed him.
“No external damage,” I noted. “Conduit lines look good too.”
“Yeah, we’ll run our tests and get out of here,” Troy said. “Approach channel is usually pretty safe… usually.”
“Usually?” I asked, and Troy pointed his flashlight up toward a set of silky spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling a few feet behind the sensor.
​
“They don’t typically come up here… but every now and then you might find some proof of some young ones, trying to get into the pumphouse.”
I looked over at him.
“They try to break into the pumphouse?” I asked, “Did they ever get in?”
“Not that I’ve ever heard of. Can’t imagine they’d stay long if they did. Nothing to eat in there.”
“What exactly are they?” I asked, “And don’t you tell me that’s not for us to know. You’ve seen them, right? What do they look like?”
​
Troy had started to answer, when suddenly I heard Long screaming and swearing up a storm. Both of us turned to look, just in time to see something large skittering up the wall beside him. I only caught a brief glimpse of it, but it seemed to be roughly the size of a dog with more legs than I could count. Long stared at it with wide, horrified eyes as he fumbled with his gun, before pulling it free.
​
I saw Troy’s eyes widen before Long fired five times. Only one or two of the bullets actually hit the target. I heard Peter cry out in pain and grab at his arm before falling and whatever it was that Long had actually been shooting at collapsed into the shallow water, its pale body twitching violently.
“What did you just do?!” Troy demanded, running over to Peter’s side.
“I-it was coming for me!” Long protested, before noticing what he’d done to Peter. I saw his eyes widen in horror.
“Oh no… no, no, no… I didn’t…”
“Rule 6! You don’t kill anything down here! You leave them alone and they leave you alone!” Troy roared, before his attention returned to Peter. “How bad is it?”
​
“J-just a scratch, boss… I think I got hit by the ricochet,” Peter said, as Troy inspected his wound. I’ve never seen a gunshot wound before, but there was a lot of blood for it to just be a scratch.
“We’ll get you topside,” Troy said. “And come back down tomorrow with someone who knows how to follow rules!”
​
He shot Long a death glare before his radio crackled to life.
“Troy, everything good down there?” Craig asked.
“No, no it isn’t. One of the newbies got jumpy, shot at a centipede.” He huffed, “Put a hole in Peter in the process. Think you can reel him back up?”
“Yeah, sure thing. Hook him up. Tomas and I will bring him topside.”
​
Troy quietly hooked Peter up to the line, before helping him onto the ladder.
“You take it easy on the way up, and we’ll get that checked out,” He promised.
“Thanks boss,” Peter said quietly.
Troy’s attention returned to Long next, as he fixed him in a death glare.
“You, up the ladder behind him. And you…” He looked at me, his expression softening just a little.
“Behind him. I’ll go up last.”
​
Peter started to meekly climb the ladder, although it seemed like Craig and Tomas were doing most of the work, hoisting him up rung by rung. Once he’d made it part of the way up, Long started to hook himself up to climb behind him. Although before he could hook himself in, I saw him pause for a moment, staring at Troy.
“What is it?” Troy asked, before pausing.
​
Long craned his neck a little, his hand moving down to his gun again… and it was then that both Troy and I realized that he hadn’t been looking at Troy. He’d been looking at what was behind him.
​
I only saw a shadow, perched on the roof of the tunnel. But that was all that Long needed to see before he started shooting again.
“DON’T!”
But by the time Troy had gotten the word out, that trigger happy idiot had already started shooting again and this time, the thing that came for him didn’t drop dead.
​
Instead, it launched itself off of the ceiling of the tunnel, crashing into the ground a few feet away from me.
“WAIT!” Troy tried to protest before the thing in front of us knocked him aside, dashing him against the wall. Long scrambled away, retreating deeper into the tunnel while Peter frantically tried to unholster his gun.
“Troy? Troy, what’s going on down there?” I heard Craig calling over the radio, “Troy? Anyone, respond!”
​
The shape in front of us turned, looking over at me and Long. Eight eyes shone in the darkness and though I could only see the shadow of the creature before us, I saw enough. It had a body like a spider, with eight long chitinous legs. Only its body was much larger than any spider I’d ever seen before.
​
Much, much larger.
​
This creature was almost the size of a small car, but it wasn’t its size that terrified me. It was the humanoid torso coming out of the front of it. The two arms that ended in razor sharp claws, the snarling mouth that made noises that almost sounded human.
​
When this impossible thing looked at us, I saw real intelligence in its eyes. It was studying us, trying to determine how much of a threat we were…
​
Long kept his gun trained on it, hands shaking violently. I knew that he was going to shoot again, and hoping not to anger this thing, grabbed his arm, trying to force his gun down. He jumped the moment that I touched him giving me a hysterical look.
“Don’t!” I snapped, “You’re just gonna piss it off!”
​
The Spider took a step toward us, hissing as it did. Long pulled away from me.
“Stu!”
I tried calling his name, but Long had already made his choice and sealed his fate. He’d opted to fight this thing. And so, like the fool he was he shot at it again.
​
The Spider lunged for us.
​
I ran. Long didn’t.
​
He only had enough time to scream before it pounced on him, and then… all I could hear were the dying screams in his throat as he was pulled apart. I didn’t see him die. But I didn’t need to. I heard everything. I kept running, not even thinking about where the approach channel was going to end. And when it did end, all I could do was plummet into the darkness.
​
See, at the end of an approach channel is what is appropriately called a drop shaft. It’s where the water flows into a larger tunnel beneath the city. That tunnel, flows into the water treatment plant, eventually and the water down there… yeah… let’s just say that you don’t want to end up in the water down there.
​
Unfortunately, that was exactly where I was going.
​
I know that every job has its struggles, but I didn’t expect to need to choose between diving into raw sewage and fighting a giant spider monster when I woke up that morning. However the choice was presented to me and I did the best that I could given the circumstances.
​
Going into the wastewater was exactly an unpleasant experience as you’d think it would be. I’m inclined not to share the details of what it was like, simply because I genuinely do not want to remember them and I’m still not entirely convinced that dealing with the giant angry spider person wasn’t the better choice.
​
A small comfort was that the pain of hitting the water, combined with the confusing sensation of being flushed through a pipe and into an even larger pipe made the whole experience slightly less disgusting, at the cost of being considerably more painful.
​
At the end of it, I was washed out into the main pipe and collapsed into the water, covered in filth and gagging from the stench that had sank into my every pore. I felt disoriented and confused. I tried to stand, only to collapse back into the wastewater, before aimlessly looking around, hoping that maybe I could figure out what direction to go in. It was too dark to see much of anything and I’d lost my flashlight during my trip through the wastewater, so I was left to just wander aimlessly, following what I thought was the flow of the water as my eyes slowly started to acclimate to the darkness.
​
I could feel shapes in the water. Some of them I almost tripped over and I could smell rotting meat on top of the stink of human waste. In the darkness, I could make out shapes in the water and hear the buzzing of bugs around me. I could even feel a few whizz past my head and mindlessly swatted at them.
​
Old bones crunched under my boots, and I quietly thanked whatever God was listening that I couldn’t see what they’d belonged to. I wanted to assume they were animal bones… but who knew, right? I couldn’t shake the mental image of myself unknowingly stepping over the mauled corpse of Stewart Long… although that was more from the trauma of having recently witnessed a man die than any guilt over what had happened to him. Long had quite literally gotten himself killed. Although I was terrified that I’d be joining him at any second.
​
I kept listening in, half expecting to hear spider legs creeping up behind me. But it was impossible to tell if I was alone or not in that darkness and with the bugs buzzing past me. If there were anything after me, I truly would not know it until after it had pounced.
​
Still, I knew I couldn’t afford to let the fear get the better of me. So I just kept walking, hoping that maybe if I did, I’d somehow find myself at the water treatment plant and maybe then I’d get some help.
​
Maybe.
​
As I pressed on, I noticed a light ahead of me and picked up the pace, hoping to God that I’d finally found my way out of this mess. But as I drew closer, I became very aware that whatever the source of that light was, it was not from the water treatment plant.
​
In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. My first thought was that it was a fatberg (which is a solid mass of waste matter formed by an unholy mixture of wet wipes, grease, oil and every other piece of garbage people tend to flush down their toilets) but the longer I looked, the less certain I was about that.
​
Fatbergs usually didn’t have lamps embedded in them.
​
Fatbergs usually didn’t have thick spiderwebs clinging to them.
​
Fatbergs didn’t usually lead into a separate tunnel into the earth large enough for me to walk through.
​
And finally, fatbergs didn’t usually have dead deer protruding from them. Let alone dead deer with other bugs living in them. God… the sight of those corpses… the way the bugs crawled through the rotting flesh and exposed bone. The empty, hollow eyes… it was almost too horrible to look at.
​
And I swore that I could see things inside the corpses! Honeycombs of some sort, and the bugs who crawled around them looked almost like bees.
​
Was… was something cultivating some kind of bee in these things?
​
I thought back to Troy’s rules.
“Rule 4: If you find a body… and odds are, you will find a body, don’t touch it. Don’t try to move it. Hell, don’t even get close to it. And don’t waste the supervisor's time reporting it. Only time the bodies get reported is when they’re human.”
​
Suddenly, they made a little more sense. If those spider things were cultivating something in these bodies… of course we shouldn’t touch them. And if they were cultivating their food in the sewer… I paused, before staring down the tunnel that the corpses sat near the entrance of.
​
Dull lamps illuminated it as it wound down into the earth, and I could see several pale centipede things that looked a lot like the creature that Long had shot to get us into this mess in the first place. These things must have belonged to the Spiders too, although whether they were some sort of guard dog or another thing they were farming was hard to say.
​
I took a step away from the tunnel, before looking back to make sure that I was well enough alone and trudging onward. And that was when I heard the slow rustle of movement.
​
I paused, feeling a chill run through me as the imminent reality of my own death dawned on me.
​
Slowly I turned, just in time to see a dark shape descending from the ceiling. A fresh set of eyes settled on me, narrowing as they studied me.
​
I put my hands up, hoping that it might understand the gesture of surrender and slowly it drew closer to me. I wasn’t sure if it was curious, or looking to murder me and at that point, I don’t think it really mattered. I wish I could say that I faced my death with dignity, but I’m going to be honest, I didn’t. I sat there, quivering and praying to whatever God would listen that it wouldn’t, kill me.
​
And then… I heard a voice.
“Leave that one! He’s with me!”
​
Troy?
​
I saw a figure emerge from the tunnel in the wall, and against all logic, somehow it was Troy! He had a hell of a goose egg on his head from where he’d been hit earlier, but he was alive! He stepped between me and the spider person, arms outstretched.
​
“With me.” He repeated firmly.
The Spider stared down at him, before huffing and turning away. I watched as they disappeared down the nearby tunnel, and Troy watched them go, before quietly turning to me.
​
“Good lord, boy… I’m shocked to see you’re still alive!”
“W-what just happened?” Was the only thing I could stammer. “You can talk to them?!”
“Some of ‘em. I’ve been down here for long enough that they know me. Know I’m not a threat. But they ain’t too happy with us right now. So what you’re gonna do here is get up, follow me, and I’m gonna get you out of here.”
“How do you know they’re even gonna let us leave?” I asked.
​
Troy’s expression soured.
“Had to pay ‘em off…” He admitted, “Let them keep what was left of your friend. They considered it a fair trade, so long as we leave. Now, let’s go.”
I didn’t ask any more questions.
​
***
​
After I made it out of the sewers that day, I ended up in the hospital alongside Peter. I had some minor cuts and bruises, a burning rash over most of my body from all the sewage I’d been crawling around in… but I was still alive, and I figured that had to count for something.
​
Nobody said a word about what happened to Stewart Long down in the sewer. He got written off as a workplace accident and they never even tried to recover his body. I suspect what’s left of him is still down in the sewers, even now… feeding whatever it is that those things down there are cultivating, although I’ve never seen the body myself.
​
Yes… I have been back down beneath the southeast side of town. The next time they needed someone to go, they sent me and Tomas along with Troy, Craig and Peter. We know what’s down there and we know how to deal with them, after all. My second visit to those sewers was a lot less eventful, and most of my subsequent visits haven’t been all that eventful either.
​
Over the years, I’ve gotten better at dealing with the Spiders… they’re not the most friendly folk and I know all too well that if you cross them, they’ll rip your guts out before you even realize that you’re dead. But so long as you follow the rules and leave them alone, they’re content to live and let live. They can even be reasonable, to an extent. We’ve had a few small incidents over the years, but nothing like the one that Long caused.
​
Odds are, when Troy and Craig retire next year, Tomas and I will be training the next group on what to do when you’re down beneath the southeast side of town. So in preparation for that, I’ve made a point to keep a copy of Tom's rules in the pumphouse. I also keep a picture of Stewart Long in there. Not as a memorial and not out of spite either. Just as a grim reminder of what can happen when you don’t follow the [rules.](https://www.reddit.com/HeadOfSpectre/)

The way I see it, if you don’t notice that I exist, then I’m doing my job correctly.
​
My name is Ben McFarlane and I work as a municipal sewer inspector in the town of Tevam Sound, Ontario. It's not the most glamorous job, but hey, somebody's got to do it and it puts food on the table.
​
You'd probably think that working as a sewer inspector isn't that exciting… and yeah, for the most part you'd be right. Most of the time, all I'm doing is checking the pipes for damage. Unless there’s a reason for me to investigate a certain area, most of what I do is routine inspection, which helps ensure that the sewers remain in good working order. Trust me, nobody wants to see what happens when they aren’t.
​
Thankfully, a lot of what I do can be done without me needing to crawl through pipes. I can use a small camera to help me do the inspection. But with some of the larger pipes and cisterns, I need to actually go inside and take a look.
​
It’s never the best part of my day, but like I said before: somebody’s got to do it.
​
Going down into the bigger tunnels is always a little unnerving. Part of it is the claustrophobic atmosphere and part of it is the knowledge that you’re basically standing in a river of literal human waste. I can deal with it now, but back when I first started the smell alone was darn near impossible to deal with.
​
Ask most sanitation workers and I'm sure they'll have stories about what they've found in the sewers before. Heck, most of it isn't even stuff that people flush down the toilet. It's the stuff that people drop down manhole covers, or the stuff that gets washed into the sewers by the rain. Dead animals are surprisingly common, as are kids toys. I found an entire bicycle in the sewer once and I've got a buddy who found a loaded gun down there! Someone probably thought they'd get rid of it by just tossing it in the sewer.
​
Someone was wrong.
​
But of all the strange things I've experienced during my time working in the sewers… none of it compares to the stuff I see in the pipes on the southeast side of town.
​
The things down there… I don't usually like to talk about them. Heck, I might not even be legally allowed to talk about them. I guess we'll find out, won't we? I've had a few drinks tonight and I'm feeling particularly chatty. So why not spill the beans? Hey, maybe someone out there will tell me something I don’t already know.
​
I’d been on the job for about a year or so before getting sent to the southeast side of town. It’s closer to the lake and the downtown area, so there’s some deeper pipes there. I’d always figured that that was the reason they only really ever sent certain people down there. I’d heard that those tunnels were old and a little labyrinthian. Anyone who didn’t know what they were doing could easily get lost.
​
But after we got hit with a particularly nasty rain storm back in summer of 2013, they needed to send someone down to check on some sensors and I just so happened to be one of the guys who was available.
​
A bad rain storm can push a sewer system to its limit, so it wasn’t really that surprising that we’d gotten that kind of call and at the time, I didn’t think that there was anything that strange about it. My supervisor told me to head on down toward the pumphouse on the southwest side of town like it was any other priority inspection, and I went along with no questions asked. It was a few streets away from downtown. I’d seen it before but never had a reason to go inside up until then.
​
I was working with a couple of other newbies at the time, a guy by the name of Stewart Long who’d only been on the job for a round three months or so, and another guy by the name of Tomas Opunui who’d started around the same time that I had.
​
We’d arrived at the pumphouse, and when we got there we noticed another team waiting on us. This wasn’t too shocking either. Depending on the size of the job, they might’ve sent some other guys in to help us handle it.
​
The guy in charge was an older man who looked to be pushing sixty. He had sort of a ‘Santa Claus on summer vacation’ look, with white hair, a short white beard, a big beer belly and a no nonsense expression.
​
He watched us get out of his truck with a look of stern disapproval, before huffing and trudging over to us.
“Where’s the usual fellas?” He asked.
“I dunno, out. They called us,” I replied.
​
He didn’t seem to like that answer but didn’t say anything in response to it.
“You ever worked on the southeast approach channel before?” He asked.
“Yeah, we’ve been in the ones on the north side of town,” I said.
“That’s not what I asked, kid. You ever worked in this one before?”
​
Something about the way he asked this question struck me as a little odd. I’d worked in an approach channel before. I knew the drill. What did it matter which one I’d worked in?
​
For the unenlightened, an approach channel is a cistern filled with wastewater. They feed into a deep tunnel which feeds into a water treatment plant and they’re considered to be fairly dangerous, due to their depth (if you fall off the ladder on your way down, you’re in for a long drop into a biohazardous lake unless you’re properly tethered) and the harmful gasses that can accumulate in them. Standard operating procedure is to always test the air before entering one just to make sure that it’s even safe to breathe down there.
​
Being reckless while going into an approach channel is a recipe for disaster, and I would have understood if the old man was concerned about us not having dealt with one before. But the way he spoke to us implied that this one was different somehow, which didn’t make a whole heck of a lot of sense to me.
“What’s the difference?” I asked. “Same procedure, right?”
“No, not the same procedure. We need people experienced with this approach channel. These tunnels are a little different than what you’re used to.
“Look, the boss sent us here. So I’m sure we’ll manage,” Tomas said. “You can show us what we need to know.”
​
The Old Man didn’t respond to him. He just shook his head and turned away.
“I’m gonna call this in and clear it with the boss first. You three, don’t move until I get back.”
I traded a look with both Tomas and Long as the Old Man trudged away. He said something to the two guys who were with him, before getting back into his truck to make a call.
​
Part of me was obliged to try and just get to work. But looking at the other two guys that the Old Man had with him, I had a feeling that they’d try to stop me. One of them, another older guy with a receding hairline and a bushy moustache was watching us like a hawk.
​
So we waited.
​
After a few minutes, the Old Man got out of his truck again, said something to his buddy with the mustache and trudged back over to us.
“Bad news, fellas. Looks like our usual company’s retired… guess you’re the replacement.”
“So we can get to work?” I asked.
“Yeah. We can get to work,” The Old Man said. “Come on, let’s get going.”
​
With that, he turned and led us into the pumphouse.
“Suppose I might as well introduce myself. Names Troy. My colleagues here are Craig and Peter.”
He gestured to the two men who were with him, Mr. Moustache (who I assumed was Craig) and the other guy, who looked to be in his mid thirties and had sunken eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in a few days. The one who I assumed was Craig just gave us a nod, while the guy I figured was Peter gave a lazy half wave before they followed us into the pumphouse.
“So if you don’t mind my asking, what’s so special about this channel?” I asked.
“I guess you’ll be seeing for yourself soon enough,” Troy replied as he started down a set of stairs. “The guys you’re replacing… well, guy… a fella named Tom… he always had a set of rules for working down here. He passed ‘em on to me and Craig when we started. We’ve passed ‘em on to Peter. Guess it’s time we passed ‘em on to you too.”
​
“Rules?” I asked, “What kind of rules?”
“The kind you listen very, very closely to, kid.” Troy looked back at me, before his eyes shifted to Tomas and Long behind me.
“Very, very closely.”
He descended the rest of the way down the stairs, where there was a hatch in the concrete floor beneath us, along with a large locker on the far side of the room.
​
“Rule number one,” Troy began. “You don’t enter this part of the sewers alone. You stay in a group of at least three to four at all times. No more, no less. Too many and it slows you down. Too few, and you might not come back at all.”
He trailed off, watching as Craig cracked open the hatch to test the air inside.
​
“Rule number two: You do not enter this part of the sewers without a gun and a radio.”
He opened the locker on the far side of the room and I was taken aback to see a collection of several handguns inside, along with boxes of ammunition and one shotgun in amongst the usual PPE.
Troy clipped one of the guns to his belt, along with one of the radios, before handing a pair off to Peter and looking over at us.
​
“Who’s taking it?” He asked.
“Whoa, just hold up for a minute!” Long interjected, “What the hell is down there?”
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Troy replied. “Hate to say it but it ain’t our job to know. I leave that to someone else. Our job is to follow the rules. You follow them, and you’ll be fine.”
Long seemed skeptical, but I looked at the gun in Troy’s hand and took it. I wasn’t sure if he was having a laugh with us or not, but I was there to do a job and I intended to do it.
​
Troy gave me a quiet nod, before thrusting the second gun over to Long. He didn’t seem to happy to get it.
“Are we gonna have to use these?” He asked.
“Not if you do as I say, you won’t. Rule 3: If you see a pipe or a tunnel with heavy spiderwebs, don’t go down it. Doesn’t matter if that’s where the sensor is. You make a note of it, report it to your supervisor and leave it alone.”
​
Spiderwebs? What the hell was he talking about?
“Rule 4: If you find a body… and odds are, you will find a body, don’t touch it. Don’t try to move it. Hell, don’t even get close to it. And don’t waste the supervisors time reporting it. Only time the bodies get reported is when they’re human.”
“I’m sorry, you’ve been finding human bodies down there?” I asked.
“Rarely,” He replied. “But it’s been known to happen. And if we do find one… the same rules apply. Don’t approach it. Don’t touch it. Stay as far away as possible.”
​
I could see some of the color draining from Long’s face.
“Rule 5: If you see anyone else down there, you are not to interact with them. You do not follow them if they try to lead you somewhere, if they ask you for help, you do not help them. I don’t care if they’re crying and begging. You leave them alone. You report it to your supervisor.”
“There are people down there?” I asked.
“Normally, no. Far as I know, Tom only ever ran into a couple during his career. I’ve only ever seen one. Like I said, best to leave them alone.”
​
“Why?” I asked, “If there’s someone stuck down there, we have an obligation to help them!”
“That would be very ill advised,” Troy said. “You don’t want to anger the things that are down there… which leads me to rule 6: Avoid killing anything you come across down there. They’re not yours to kill. And if you have absolutely no choice, if you have to break that rule for the sake of self defense, then we leave immediately. That’s rule number 7.”
​
“Air’s safe down there,” Craig said, interrupting our conversation.
“Good. Let’s get suited up, then. Oh… and rule 8. Final rule. If anything happens to any member of our team, we leave immediately. We don’t go after them. We don’t try to help them. We leave immediately. Is that clear? I don’t care if it’s me, begging you for help. You leave me behind.”
​
Long and I remained silent, neither of us entirely sure how to react to this or even what to say. Troy had made it sound as if we were about to descend into a level of hell. I couldn’t imagine what the hell could possibly be down there to elicit a list of rules like that, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to find out either!
“Well? You fellas getting ready or not?” Troy asked impatiently as he put on his PPE. “The quicker we get down there, the quicker we can get out again!”
​
“If this is so dangerous, why are they sending us?” Long asked, “Shouldn’t they be sending… I dunno, the cops or something?”
“They tolerate us being down there, so long as we don’t disturb them. They wouldn’t be so forgiving toward the local police,” Troy replied. “Listen, kid. Obey the rules and you’ll be fine, got that? We’ve been doing this for years without any problems. You keep your head on your shoulders, you do what we say and you go home safe. Alright?”
​
Long still didn’t seem convinced, but I did. By this point, I was morbidly curious about exactly what was down there… and Troy’s assurance that they’d come out unscathed before did set me at ease a little bit. These rules sounded kinda scary, but what could realistically go wrong? With Troy keeping us in line, everything would probably be fine and besides, I still wasn’t convinced that this wasn’t all some sort of elaborate prank the old man was pulling. I grabbed myself a set of PPE and got ready and after a moments hesitation, Long did the same.
​
When we were ready, Craig opened up the hatch in the floor, and Tomas helped get us tethered so that we wouldn’t plummet down into the waters below if we slipped on the ladder, then we finally began our descent.
​
Troy went first, climbing down the ladder and into the darkness below. I went second, followed by Peter and followed by Long.
​
We climbed down into the approach channel in relative silence, only really speaking again once we made it to the bottom of the ladder.
​
Troy helped me get untethered, before doing the same for Peter and Long as they reached the bottom, and while he did that I got my first look at the dreaded southeast approach channel. I can’t say that there was a heck of a lot to see. The walls were boxy and flat, and the dirty wastewater trickled over my boots and into the pipe sending it even deeper through the sewer system.
​
The sensors should have been mounted on the ceiling, and I traced the black conduit line with my flashlight as I searched for the sensor they connected to. Peter and Long stayed back as Tomas and Craig lowered our tools down after us, while Troy came up behind me.
“Should be quick work…” He noted, “Rain doesn’t seem to have done much in here. Water level is still fairly low.”
​
I saw his flashlight shift upward toward the ceiling before he spotted the sensor. He trudged through the water to get closer to it, and I followed him.
“No external damage,” I noted. “Conduit lines look good too.”
“Yeah, we’ll run our tests and get out of here,” Troy said. “Approach channel is usually pretty safe… usually.”
“Usually?” I asked, and Troy pointed his flashlight up toward a set of silky spiderwebs hanging from the ceiling a few feet behind the sensor.
​
“They don’t typically come up here… but every now and then you might find some proof of some young ones, trying to get into the pumphouse.”
I looked over at him.
“They try to break into the pumphouse?” I asked, “Did they ever get in?”
“Not that I’ve ever heard of. Can’t imagine they’d stay long if they did. Nothing to eat in there.”
“What exactly are they?” I asked, “And don’t you tell me that’s not for us to know. You’ve seen them, right? What do they look like?”
​
Troy had started to answer, when suddenly I heard Long screaming and swearing up a storm. Both of us turned to look, just in time to see something large skittering up the wall beside him. I only caught a brief glimpse of it, but it seemed to be roughly the size of a dog with more legs than I could count. Long stared at it with wide, horrified eyes as he fumbled with his gun, before pulling it free.
​
I saw Troy’s eyes widen before Long fired five times. Only one or two of the bullets actually hit the target. I heard Peter cry out in pain and grab at his arm before falling and whatever it was that Long had actually been shooting at collapsed into the shallow water, its pale body twitching violently.
“What did you just do?!” Troy demanded, running over to Peter’s side.
“I-it was coming for me!” Long protested, before noticing what he’d done to Peter. I saw his eyes widen in horror.
“Oh no… no, no, no… I didn’t…”
“Rule 6! You don’t kill anything down here! You leave them alone and they leave you alone!” Troy roared, before his attention returned to Peter. “How bad is it?”
​
“J-just a scratch, boss… I think I got hit by the ricochet,” Peter said, as Troy inspected his wound. I’ve never seen a gunshot wound before, but there was a lot of blood for it to just be a scratch.
“We’ll get you topside,” Troy said. “And come back down tomorrow with someone who knows how to follow rules!”
​
He shot Long a death glare before his radio crackled to life.
“Troy, everything good down there?” Craig asked.
“No, no it isn’t. One of the newbies got jumpy, shot at a centipede.” He huffed, “Put a hole in Peter in the process. Think you can reel him back up?”
“Yeah, sure thing. Hook him up. Tomas and I will bring him topside.”
​
Troy quietly hooked Peter up to the line, before helping him onto the ladder.
“You take it easy on the way up, and we’ll get that checked out,” He promised.
“Thanks boss,” Peter said quietly.
Troy’s attention returned to Long next, as he fixed him in a death glare.
“You, up the ladder behind him. And you…” He looked at me, his expression softening just a little.
“Behind him. I’ll go up last.”
​
Peter started to meekly climb the ladder, although it seemed like Craig and Tomas were doing most of the work, hoisting him up rung by rung. Once he’d made it part of the way up, Long started to hook himself up to climb behind him. Although before he could hook himself in, I saw him pause for a moment, staring at Troy.
“What is it?” Troy asked, before pausing.
​
Long craned his neck a little, his hand moving down to his gun again… and it was then that both Troy and I realized that he hadn’t been looking at Troy. He’d been looking at what was behind him.
​
I only saw a shadow, perched on the roof of the tunnel. But that was all that Long needed to see before he started shooting again.
“DON’T!”
But by the time Troy had gotten the word out, that trigger happy idiot had already started shooting again and this time, the thing that came for him didn’t drop dead.
​
Instead, it launched itself off of the ceiling of the tunnel, crashing into the ground a few feet away from me.
“WAIT!” Troy tried to protest before the thing in front of us knocked him aside, dashing him against the wall. Long scrambled away, retreating deeper into the tunnel while Peter frantically tried to unholster his gun.
“Troy? Troy, what’s going on down there?” I heard Craig calling over the radio, “Troy? Anyone, respond!”
​
The shape in front of us turned, looking over at me and Long. Eight eyes shone in the darkness and though I could only see the shadow of the creature before us, I saw enough. It had a body like a spider, with eight long chitinous legs. Only its body was much larger than any spider I’d ever seen before.
​
Much, much larger.
​
This creature was almost the size of a small car, but it wasn’t its size that terrified me. It was the humanoid torso coming out of the front of it. The two arms that ended in razor sharp claws, the snarling mouth that made noises that almost sounded human.
​
When this impossible thing looked at us, I saw real intelligence in its eyes. It was studying us, trying to determine how much of a threat we were…
​
Long kept his gun trained on it, hands shaking violently. I knew that he was going to shoot again, and hoping not to anger this thing, grabbed his arm, trying to force his gun down. He jumped the moment that I touched him giving me a hysterical look.
“Don’t!” I snapped, “You’re just gonna piss it off!”
​
The Spider took a step toward us, hissing as it did. Long pulled away from me.
“Stu!”
I tried calling his name, but Long had already made his choice and sealed his fate. He’d opted to fight this thing. And so, like the fool he was he shot at it again.
​
The Spider lunged for us.
​
I ran. Long didn’t.
​
He only had enough time to scream before it pounced on him, and then… all I could hear were the dying screams in his throat as he was pulled apart. I didn’t see him die. But I didn’t need to. I heard everything. I kept running, not even thinking about where the approach channel was going to end. And when it did end, all I could do was plummet into the darkness.
​
See, at the end of an approach channel is what is appropriately called a drop shaft. It’s where the water flows into a larger tunnel beneath the city. That tunnel, flows into the water treatment plant, eventually and the water down there… yeah… let’s just say that you don’t want to end up in the water down there.
​
Unfortunately, that was exactly where I was going.
​
I know that every job has its struggles, but I didn’t expect to need to choose between diving into raw sewage and fighting a giant spider monster when I woke up that morning. However the choice was presented to me and I did the best that I could given the circumstances.
​
Going into the wastewater was exactly an unpleasant experience as you’d think it would be. I’m inclined not to share the details of what it was like, simply because I genuinely do not want to remember them and I’m still not entirely convinced that dealing with the giant angry spider person wasn’t the better choice.
​
A small comfort was that the pain of hitting the water, combined with the confusing sensation of being flushed through a pipe and into an even larger pipe made the whole experience slightly less disgusting, at the cost of being considerably more painful.
​
At the end of it, I was washed out into the main pipe and collapsed into the water, covered in filth and gagging from the stench that had sank into my every pore. I felt disoriented and confused. I tried to stand, only to collapse back into the wastewater, before aimlessly looking around, hoping that maybe I could figure out what direction to go in. It was too dark to see much of anything and I’d lost my flashlight during my trip through the wastewater, so I was left to just wander aimlessly, following what I thought was the flow of the water as my eyes slowly started to acclimate to the darkness.
​
I could feel shapes in the water. Some of them I almost tripped over and I could smell rotting meat on top of the stink of human waste. In the darkness, I could make out shapes in the water and hear the buzzing of bugs around me. I could even feel a few whizz past my head and mindlessly swatted at them.
​
Old bones crunched under my boots, and I quietly thanked whatever God was listening that I couldn’t see what they’d belonged to. I wanted to assume they were animal bones… but who knew, right? I couldn’t shake the mental image of myself unknowingly stepping over the mauled corpse of Stewart Long… although that was more from the trauma of having recently witnessed a man die than any guilt over what had happened to him. Long had quite literally gotten himself killed. Although I was terrified that I’d be joining him at any second.
​
I kept listening in, half expecting to hear spider legs creeping up behind me. But it was impossible to tell if I was alone or not in that darkness and with the bugs buzzing past me. If there were anything after me, I truly would not know it until after it had pounced.
​
Still, I knew I couldn’t afford to let the fear get the better of me. So I just kept walking, hoping that maybe if I did, I’d somehow find myself at the water treatment plant and maybe then I’d get some help.
​
Maybe.
​
As I pressed on, I noticed a light ahead of me and picked up the pace, hoping to God that I’d finally found my way out of this mess. But as I drew closer, I became very aware that whatever the source of that light was, it was not from the water treatment plant.
​
In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. My first thought was that it was a fatberg (which is a solid mass of waste matter formed by an unholy mixture of wet wipes, grease, oil and every other piece of garbage people tend to flush down their toilets) but the longer I looked, the less certain I was about that.
​
Fatbergs usually didn’t have lamps embedded in them.
​
Fatbergs usually didn’t have thick spiderwebs clinging to them.
​
Fatbergs didn’t usually lead into a separate tunnel into the earth large enough for me to walk through.
​
And finally, fatbergs didn’t usually have dead deer protruding from them. Let alone dead deer with other bugs living in them. God… the sight of those corpses… the way the bugs crawled through the rotting flesh and exposed bone. The empty, hollow eyes… it was almost too horrible to look at.
​
And I swore that I could see things inside the corpses! Honeycombs of some sort, and the bugs who crawled around them looked almost like bees.
​
Was… was something cultivating some kind of bee in these things?
​
I thought back to Troy’s rules.
“Rule 4: If you find a body… and odds are, you will find a body, don’t touch it. Don’t try to move it. Hell, don’t even get close to it. And don’t waste the supervisor's time reporting it. Only time the bodies get reported is when they’re human.”
​
Suddenly, they made a little more sense. If those spider things were cultivating something in these bodies… of course we shouldn’t touch them. And if they were cultivating their food in the sewer… I paused, before staring down the tunnel that the corpses sat near the entrance of.
​
Dull lamps illuminated it as it wound down into the earth, and I could see several pale centipede things that looked a lot like the creature that Long had shot to get us into this mess in the first place. These things must have belonged to the Spiders too, although whether they were some sort of guard dog or another thing they were farming was hard to say.
​
I took a step away from the tunnel, before looking back to make sure that I was well enough alone and trudging onward. And that was when I heard the slow rustle of movement.
​
I paused, feeling a chill run through me as the imminent reality of my own death dawned on me.
​
Slowly I turned, just in time to see a dark shape descending from the ceiling. A fresh set of eyes settled on me, narrowing as they studied me.
​
I put my hands up, hoping that it might understand the gesture of surrender and slowly it drew closer to me. I wasn’t sure if it was curious, or looking to murder me and at that point, I don’t think it really mattered. I wish I could say that I faced my death with dignity, but I’m going to be honest, I didn’t. I sat there, quivering and praying to whatever God would listen that it wouldn’t, kill me.
​
And then… I heard a voice.
“Leave that one! He’s with me!”
​
Troy?
​
I saw a figure emerge from the tunnel in the wall, and against all logic, somehow it was Troy! He had a hell of a goose egg on his head from where he’d been hit earlier, but he was alive! He stepped between me and the spider person, arms outstretched.
​
“With me.” He repeated firmly.
The Spider stared down at him, before huffing and turning away. I watched as they disappeared down the nearby tunnel, and Troy watched them go, before quietly turning to me.
​
“Good lord, boy… I’m shocked to see you’re still alive!”
“W-what just happened?” Was the only thing I could stammer. “You can talk to them?!”
“Some of ‘em. I’ve been down here for long enough that they know me. Know I’m not a threat. But they ain’t too happy with us right now. So what you’re gonna do here is get up, follow me, and I’m gonna get you out of here.”
“How do you know they’re even gonna let us leave?” I asked.
​
Troy’s expression soured.
“Had to pay ‘em off…” He admitted, “Let them keep what was left of your friend. They considered it a fair trade, so long as we leave. Now, let’s go.”
I didn’t ask any more questions.
​
***
​
After I made it out of the sewers that day, I ended up in the hospital alongside Peter. I had some minor cuts and bruises, a burning rash over most of my body from all the sewage I’d been crawling around in… but I was still alive, and I figured that had to count for something.
​
Nobody said a word about what happened to Stewart Long down in the sewer. He got written off as a workplace accident and they never even tried to recover his body. I suspect what’s left of him is still down in the sewers, even now… feeding whatever it is that those things down there are cultivating, although I’ve never seen the body myself.
​
Yes… I have been back down beneath the southeast side of town. The next time they needed someone to go, they sent me and Tomas along with Troy, Craig and Peter. We know what’s down there and we know how to deal with them, after all. My second visit to those sewers was a lot less eventful, and most of my subsequent visits haven’t been all that eventful either.
​
Over the years, I’ve gotten better at dealing with the Spiders… they’re not the most friendly folk and I know all too well that if you cross them, they’ll rip your guts out before you even realize that you’re dead. But so long as you follow the rules and leave them alone, they’re content to live and let live. They can even be reasonable, to an extent. We’ve had a few small incidents over the years, but nothing like the one that Long caused.
​
Odds are, when Troy and Craig retire next year, Tomas and I will be training the next group on what to do when you’re down beneath the southeast side of town. So in preparation for that, I’ve made a point to keep a copy of Tom's rules in the pumphouse. I also keep a picture of Stewart Long in there. Not as a memorial and not out of spite either. Just as a grim reminder of what can happen when you don’t follow the rules.