Gas station vacuum near me

*lightning sfx* You should check out u/Acceptable_Egg5560, NOW! (Seriously, thanks again for doing this with me, you're the best.)
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Memory transcript: Vekna, Venlil Citizen. Date: [Standardized human time] September 19th, 2136
Herd, I forgot how much I hate paperwork.
When we had pinpointed where Unzekep was a couple paws ago, I was eager to get on her trail. Unfortunately, reality just had to get in the way of those ambitions…which is where I find myself now. First was all the speh we had to submit to the Health and Safety Department regarding our “inquiries” into the construction site to find Tagelb. A noble action, no denying that, but it brought up questions about our presence on the site. “Why were we there? Were we associated with a third-party firm? What was the quality of evidence produced for the claim?” Stuff like that, constantly, for almost an entire Paw.
We came clean, sort of. We at least disclosed about us being journalists. My evidence showing money changing paws between that foreman and the previous safety inspector came in handy in our explanation of us looking into corruption. As an additional surprise, many of the workers of the facility came forward with older stories of regulation skirting and site mismanagement. Tagelb even chipped in, providing another perspective of what we witnessed whilst in there. Safe to say, that foreman isn’t going to be in charge of much any time soon.
But did we really need to fill out all of those affidavits??
The second problem was that, due to us revealing that we were journalists, we wouldn’t be able to simply walk up to Unzekep while she was on the job. We had to get a “press permit” that would allow us to walk in the tunnels, which meant more paperwork signing that we agreed to the risk and knew the safety standards and procedures we had to follow while underground. They even made us take a test for that!
Today, though, marked the end of our tedious paperwork and safety waivers. We were finally cleared to go into the system, and the district had promised silence on the matter. Part of me thinks that their willingness to accommodate us is due to not having to pay us like their other safety inspectors. Oh well, at least it’s a way in that doesn’t require cartoonish cover stories. I slide on my satchel and exit my room, waiting for the elevator to arrive at the correct floor so I can board.
After a short wait, I’m granted access, and yet another short wait later, I arrive at the foyer. First-meal would normally be first on the schedule, but today was special. In order to avoid detection by any unwanted eyes, we were due to leave first thing in the Paw, when almost no-one else would be out. After a brief scan of the lobby, I spot Sharnet sitting on a chair with a duffel bag on the ground next to it. I trot over to her, motioning to get her attention.
“Good Paw, Sharnet! You sleep well after all that paperwork?”
Sharnet shuts her holonote off and stows it away in her pack. “Yes, somewhat. I do wish that they would’ve just looked the other way completely, now we’re on their records. If someone’s watching, we’re a dead give-away.”
I sway my ears negatively. “I don’t think they’ll be looking deep in government registries. That would require access, and if they were in the government, chances are they’d have noticed long ago and already fled. To my knowledge, there hasn’t been much movement on the private nor the public transit systems, and none of the Harchen. Trust me, I had the same thought.” I pull out my pad, the tab for the transit logs still logged in with the temporary credentials the district has given us. “Check for yourself.”
Sharnet looks over the information rather inquisitively. “Now that’s interesting.”
I cock my head. “What is?”
“I looked up Unzekep’s home address,” she explains, “and it’s in an apartment building on the edge of town. She doesn’t have a vehicle, so by all rights she should be traveling on public transit. But this shows none of the Harchen have done so. The fact that she isn’t…”
Her sentence falls away as her ears twitch in thought. Now that she’s said it aloud, I realize how strange that is. “That…is odd, actually. You’d think that she would be using the public transit system to get to and from work each Paw.”
Sharnet’s tail swishes against the ground. “Do you remember what Tagleb said about her? He said that she spent a lot of time in the tunnels. Do you think… well, no, there’s a couple possibilities. But…”
As she’s making an appeal to rationality, I realize what she’s implying. “That she’s living in the tunnels. That’s what you were going to say, right?”
She sways her tail in the affirmative. “I don’t want to cast judgment yet. But…if she’s one of the overseers, those tunnels are well out of sight. People could probably survive a raid by hiding in there. Of course, if she isn’t a head, staying in those tunnels might not be her choice.”
I look at Sharnet skeptically. “Not her choice? What reason could someone possibly have to stay down there that isn’t their choice?”
“Well, that safety inspector that the foreman bribed likely didn’t inspect only one site.” Her claws clench against her wool. “In my previous job, there was a time when there was only one person on staff who knew how to maintain and repair the office electronics. The company has them stay on overtime. If she is in a similar situation in the tunnels…”
That’s not a good image to have in my mind. Being one of the only ones repairing equipment and materials that would have otherwise been flagged as a safety danger… My arms and legs are exhausted by just imagining what might be needed. “Oh, Herd, that’d be bad. I’m not certain that’s the case, though, as the District let us have our way with seeing her. They wouldn't do that if they had something to hide.”
Sharnet raises a finger. “If they’re smart.”
I can’t help but give a low whistle to myself at that. “If they’re smart, yeah. Ready to go see how dumb they are?”
Her tail wags in amusement as she rises from her seat. “We can grab a couple to-go salads from the meal bar and head right out, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, might as well if we’re going to be spending all day in the sewers.” I follow Sharnet over to the salad bar, and we order some bog-standard salads to go. Nothing fancy, we are on the clock after all. Once we receive our food, Sharnet heads back to grab that duffel bag and we head out, the light of our star bearing down on us as we exit the building.
It isn’t long before a bus comes to pick us up, the driver seemingly surprised to see someone waiting for him at this claw. We board and take our seats, eating our salads as we’re ferried to our next destination. Thankfully, only a single other person is on the bus right now, and they’re too busy with something on their pad to notice us. A public space with no noise, perfect.
As I eat, my mind wanders back to Tagelb. I had meant to go back and see him again last Paw, but paperwork had obviously gotten in the way of that. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m intrigued by the Yotuls’ archaic technology. Steam engines, massive train systems, even rudimentary hydrocarbon combustion engines! I wanted to learn more, but I knew Vekna was only tolerating that in search of our guy. I knew I had to go back to hiding eventually.
The worst part was how I had to hide myself from Tagelb, even if it was less than normal. I heard his views on Predator Disease, and I knew that if I slipped it, that was it. I’d lose yet another friend because I couldn’t keep my Herd-damned mouth shut. I’m determined to keep doing what I’m doing, even if it means hiding myself forever. From Tagelb, from Sharnet, from everybody. Ignorance is bliss, and if nobody knows I’m a monster, it’s a little easier to pretend I’m not for myself.
I’m shaken from my internal lamentations by a paw lightly shaking my shoulder. I glance over at the culprit, finding Sharnet’s gaze. “Are you okay? You went a little wall-eyed while you were eating your salad.”
I look down at my bowl, only to find it empty. I quickly reseal it and feign my innocence yet again. “Hm? Oh, yeah, just thinking about how we’re going to do this. Not an easy task, after all.”
She pulls up the duffel bag she’s been carrying into her lap and zips it open. “Thankfully, these should make it a bit easier.”
Inside are a pair of construction pelts. Visibility vests, gloves, foot coverings, and two helmets. Those… brahking uncomfortable helmets. “Do we really have to wear those?”
I know it’s a dumb question. I read the same procedures as she did. This equipment is a basic requirement for us to go into the tunnels. No matter how much it rubbed up against my ears.
“Yes, I’m sure. We read the same waiver, we signed on the same lines. I’m not a fan either, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices.” She pulls out one of the pelts and hands it to me, retrieving the other for herself. I groan internally at the mere thought of having to wear another helmet. She gives her ears a comforting flick. “These are brand new, so the padding won’t be as worn down as the last helmets were. I don’t know if it will stop the bother, but at the very least it shouldn’t be as bad.”
Small comforts. “I hope so, yeah.” As I look over the helmet, the bus stops and opens its door to our destination. “Industrial center! Next stop, the Intraplanetary Transit Hub!” We stand from our seats and make it off the bus, which unceremoniously closes its doors and leaves us stranded in the dead center of the industrial heart of Sidestar.
The town is centered around maintaining the power plants that comprise the central economy of the District. As a city well within the twilight, power meant life. It allowed the growing houses to keep the local edible vegetation harvest alive, light up the iron ore mining operations in the mountains, and the steam tunnels flowing with heat to fight back against the cold winds from the night side flowing down from the mountains. Those steam and drain tunnels are where a large number of people work. Having to expand and repair sections as their city grows. And Unzekep is currently working on replacing outdated units. Somewhere in there…
I’m pulled from my analysis of the area by Sharnet, who has since applied her pelt. “Come on, put on your uniform so we can get down to where we need to be.” I heed her words and quickly apply my clothing before following Sharnet through the complicated system of tubes and ducts that comprises the ground-level of one of the for-profit geothermal reactors.
Thank the Herd for the 3d map the District had given us access to. According to the schedule, Unzekep should be in the coolwater pump room, replacing the turbines in one of the pumps. Unfortunately, that’s all the way in the basement of the building, accessible to the steam tunnels leading under the rest of the town.
Steam heating the town. And the Feds call the Yotul primitive for using the same principles. I shake the annoyance from my mind as we descend down ladder after ladder, walking across steel catwalks over huge drops for the snowmelt that would occur after the night finished. I can see what all those waivers were about now.
From my map, we should be coming up to the pump room soon. It’s next to this… cargo… elevator… Oh for the Herd’s sake!
Sharnet huffs, panting from the humidity and heat of the underground caverns. “What puddle of Speh left that out of the official map? We could’ve been here a quarter-claw earlier!”
“Beats me, but at least we’re here,” I manage to say, leaning against the wall as it feels like I’m trying to breathe through syrup. “S-Sorry, just need to take a breather for a second. The humidity down here is really messing with me.”
“I understand,” she holds out her tail for a comfort touch, “if you think you’re about to have an attack, don’t hesitate to let me know. Your health is important.”
“Thanks,” I huff. After a few moments of slow breathing, the air managed to become a little more breathable. “Alright, I think I’m good. Are you ready to meet our next in line for Spehlicker of the Hectorotation?”
“If we’re lucky,” she replies before sliding open the doors. Four massive pumps dominate the room. They stand as long and tall as the bus we rode in on. It’s truly impressive to see the power of the planet itself being harnessed through the mechanics of these machines. But… I’m unsure about the noise. It isn’t too loud, Sharnet and I would be able to raise our voices over them without going into full on shouting, but it was a constant high volume I haven’t been around before. It feels…grating.
Thankfully, it’s obvious that we're in the correct room. One of the pumps has a series of curved pieces of metal with a pile of bolts and… a stack of impellers, if I’m remembering the word correctly, laying on the ground. Tools and spares are scattered around the area, a mug of some sort of beverage is on a nearby ledge, wisps of steam still coming from its surface. Wait…wisps of steam…
I place a paw against Sharnet’s chest, to her confusion, as I scan the room for anything out…of…the… There. In the corner, a few splotches of green on an otherwise gray surface. Imperfect camouflage, just like Tagelb had said. As I focus, I can make out an outline of a trembling person, moving in tandem with the spots. She must have heard us approach. I gesture to Sharnet in the direction and she flicks her ears affirmatively.
“You must be very skilled,” she says, staring at the splotches with an eye, “your camouflage is practically seamless.”
As I watch, the splotches increase in their trembling. A voice floats out under the hum of the pumps, barely heard by my ears. “No, no, go away, leave, this is safe, no, please leave, don’t hurt me, no.”
“We are here about Dawn Creek,” I say, “We-
The Harchen shrieks.
The gray walls reveal the colors of a Harchen in distress as she falls to the ground in sobs. It’s difficult to see anything about her, as she curls herself up and pleads. “P-Please! No! I don’t w-want to go back! Don’t m-make me go back!”
Both Sharnet and I had lightly backed away at her shriek, but now we both approached her. Her scale shifts seem almost sluggish, but they do indeed shift. It’s only once I get a better look at her face do I realize what Tagelb was talking about.
Her facial features are slightly flatter, looking almost compressed compared to that of the other two Harchens we’ve run into here. Her forehead is a bit larger than normal, and her neck is slightly shorter. In fact, she herself is shorter than average, if only by a little. Near her temples, four splotches of unchanging green remain constant despite the rest of her shifting form, each an imperfect circle of dull green.
She just keeps sobbing and pleading incoherently as we approach, not even attempting to run. It was like… it’s like she’s given up. This can’t be it, can it? I expected pathetic, but this? This is just sad to watch. But as I do indeed watch, something comes to me. This isn’t fear of getting caught, this is fear of going back.
I remember what I learned about the treatments they used, the drugs they administered, and what Sharnet had said to Tagelb. People with no disease at all. It all clicks together in an instant. This isn’t one of the heads of the Dawn Creek facility.
No.
This is an escapee.
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A Met Police officer dragged a Just Stop Oil protester along a west London road during a demonstration.
At 08:00 BST some 66 Just Stop Oil supporters slow-marched in three groups on roads near West Kensington station as part of a sixth week of action.
An officer was then recorded dragging a supporter along the ground by his hi-vis vest on Cromwell Road, a busy route into the capital city.
Scotland Yard has been contacted for comment.

Summary: A demolition firm struggles to take down a damaged building for their mysterious clients
I Was a Foreman at the Grazer Tower Demolition
By now Grazer Tower has faded as a household name but to some the rumors and madness surrounding it refuse to die. The demolition of the massive three hundred twenty foot octagonal hotel left a gap in the Atlanta skyline but little fondness in anyone's hearts. I have no particular first hand insight into the freak lightning strikes on the 30th floor atrium which killed 13 people but I am willing to tell my side of the story about the demolition effort leading to the botched implosion. I tell this as a full, open, and honest disclosure. The legal maneuvering and ink has dried, all of the dead are buried, and all the bleeding stopped. The scars remain, the pain persists, the things I saw there are burned in my head even after they've been discredited into the conspiracy theory woodwork of the internet. The lightning storm struck on a Sunday afternoon and the next day for all we knew the bodies were still warm when a lawyer representing the owners of Grazer Tower entered our corporate office. I look back on it now with open and clear eyes and realize it was all very strange from the start when my Lead Foreman, Tom, and I were called into the meeting in progress.
The lawyer and now our client, looked like a fairly normal man in his mid thirties aside from his impeccably white suit which was ironed to the point of looking like stone rather than cloth. Beside the white suit his lips were an uncomfortable maroon and glossy. Besides this he spoke in a plain, clear, and disarming manner refraining from legalese and maintaining a firm but not imposing eye contract with whomever he was speaking directly to.
He told us in no uncertain terms he was instructed to contract with our firm to take down his client's building. Tom and I were shocked when we heard this after all, the lightning disaster, while tragic and perhaps undeservedly tarnishing in the short term to the Grazer Hotel's reputation, did not render the structure unusable nor unsafe to its surroundings. The worst damage was that the steel dome of the 30th floor atrium had collapsed into the vaulted restaurant and ballroom of the 29th floor but that's where the structure damage started and ended, in fact aside from the 28th, 29th, and 30th floor, city engineers working overnight already declared the building sound. So while perhaps still time consuming and costly, repairing the building was definitely possible and cost effective but owners, to make an analogy, were basically insisting on totaling a car after a minor parking lot fender bender. They gave us a specific date by which the building needed to be taken down. When our Boss, Jim, rebuffed the lawyer, not only because the date was challenging and soon but also because it was possible we could have it dropped BEFORE the date specified. The lawyer insisted the building go down on the date given – not later and not earlier. Jim swallowed hard and then glanced at Tom and I. Then the lawyer involved the name of the head of the owner's group, a Mr. Rohmer.
Mr. Rohmer, according to the lawyer, was offering our firm one hundred percent of the cost upfront and another twenty perfect of the total cost plus any overruns – stating if the implosion came early or late, it would mean all very little – no, that's no a typo, that's how the lawyer phrased it from his client, Mr. Rohmer. With that detail out of the way, you can see how the car totaling analogy breaks down considering the owners did not stand to profit from it's demolition – in fact quite the opposite.
The lawyer chuckled a bit to break the tension. He explained his clients and Mr. Rohmer in particular were an unorthodox bunch and then even insisted he wear the white suit in any of their dealings. The lawyer produced a tablet PC from his messenger bag and leveled it to Jim. On the tablet was all the banking confirmation codes ready to go for a direct deposit into our firms account alongside a contract. Jim seemed to hiccup or belch in excitement as he hurried around the short side of his desk to sign it since his stubby t-rex arms could not reach across his desk.
The firm was committed, we were committed – I was committed and I started to mentally cramp up over the challenges we all faced. The Grazer Hotel was in the middle of a dense urban grid. It had to be precise drop with virtually no margin for error. Jim poured us a dram of scotch from the bottle hidden under his desk. None of us a second thought about Rohmer's cryptic remark – after all, how often did you get a one hundred twenty perfect no-bid contract walk in off the street, out of the blue?
A combination of exhilaration over the money and anxiety over the work load kept us all from sleeping that night. Jim and Tom ended up going out and having a wild night to celebrate while I went home to mentally prepare not only myself but also my wife and kids. As a family they were staring down a month and a half of late nights and weekends with no dad. My wife was frustrated until I told her about the bonus and then she said she'd fill the lonely time making plans to send the kids to Disney World and then find a place for us to spend alone together. The promise of a much needed vacation after this only super charged the butterflies in my stomach further in anticipation of this challenging season ending.
As the assistant foreman I had office and on-site duties. Most of it was coordinating between the two. This included personnel, setting up site security – including guards and cameras to keep urban explorers and vagrants of out the dangerous site and satisfy OSHA hazardous work place safety requirements. The most challenging duty was site prep which included disposal of furnishings, removal of windows and other flourishes of the structure's facade which could become deadly shrapnel during an implosion. Fortunately, despite all of this, the nagging questions about permits and clean-up contracts were already handled by the lawyer. Rohmer's group also waived any rights to furnishings which means they could be unceremoniously hauled out in any way we chose to and disposed of.
Now I suppose some of these things should have came as red flags to me – or at least some one in the company but we all justified it as the group must have connects and short cuts to permits and it was a relatively new building, only about twenty years old in fact and furnishings – whether old or new probably weren't of any antique or sentimental value. All in all these were blessings since they freed our hands a bit and made a near impossible deadline more possible.
Of course the good news came with some bad news. The city engineers forbade us from working at the 28th, 29th, and 30th floors – unless we brought in a separate crew to stabilize those levels first. This was quite the fly in the ointment for the controlled implosion plan we sketched out. The 30th floor wasn't as much of a problem but the 29th floor ballroom and the weakening of the 28th floor meant we can't inspect for how compromised they were by the steel atrium dome. For all we knew if we blew the 27th floor on down the dome could shift and topple over the top three floors outside of the implosion safe zone, imperiling people and nearby structures.
I raised holy hell about it while Tom stood calm. It could take months to stabilize and clear those floors and far more money than I thought our eccentric client would pay in overruns. Jim waved me off mid sentence and simply told me he'd take care of it. That was good enough for Tom so it had to be good enough for me. I went back to my job – securing site and planning drop.
Although we had a problem with the top floor our saving grace lie in the basements. It had a three story subterranean parking garage, a basement level pool, and a utility sub-basement. We could easily smash the first ten or twelve floors into that deep footprint. Also the utility sub-basement gave us a clean cut off from the grid and a fairly convenient way to protect the surrounding grid without interruption. Still, at least part of our team would take have to take three weeks out of our six and change to handle the utilities.
The first week was hectic, they always were but we hit no major snags. By the end of it were on schedule and all of the parts were coming together. We thought maybe, just maybe, we were well on our way to an early Christmas bonus but nothing could prepare us for what was coming.
If you work on a site long enough and work anywhere on the site security reporting chain you're bound to get a few questionable reports from your night guys. Let's face it, for folks who are wake all night five or six nights a week poking around with flashlights chasing shadows, every building every where is haunted. I've been on the site security chain for thirteen years so it was easy for me to dismiss reports from the night guys about unusual glows on gutted floors and stairwells, elevators which moved on their own with no one calling for them or inside when they opened on a random floor, or the security cameras and cellphones constantly going offline on the 27th floor and the utility sub-basement.
I wasn't convinced anything of concern was going on until I got called on site by the test drilling team. This team was responsible for sampling the support materials to determine where it was best to place the explosives and what explosives would be best to use. They reported the interior supports were designed in an unusual way with a honey comb of unorthodox metals and concrete not reported on the building's records or blueprints. Specifically, they reported the concrete was impregnated by some kind of metal veins which gave off a bright shimmer. I was asked to come identify it but they claimed it disappeared by the time I arrived.
I was irate at the team and their supervisor for having me to come on down on site for something that sounded so wrong to begin with. They showed me a grainy cellphone video and told me they would swear on a stack of Bibles the sparkling compound welled up in the test coring like mercury, turned blood red and bled on the floor before disappearing into the torn up carpet. I chastised them for making this up and threatened to get new sub contractors if they kept wasting my time. I spoke with a separate sample team on the lower levels and they too discovered some unusual metal compositions – ones which were different then the ones found the top floors. One of the engineers speculated that the contrast in metals between the top and bottom floors could be cause the building to hold an electrical charge, like a battery or like a capacitor. Either way, the engineer said it would require more explosives than initially thought to take down the structure.
A couple of weeks later we were painfully behind – glass removal in particular was going slow because those contractors claimed they were constantly losing their toys. They also claimed one night to have cleared the top five floors on the east side of all their glass – only for all the windows to appear fully intact the next morning. I was forced to end their sub contract due to misrepresentation of work accomplished.
The glass wasn't the only thing slowing us down. The wire and plumbing removal was hindered by the wires somehow were fused to the pipes and in some places, the pipes were fused to the load-bearing members – we thought maybe it was due to the lightning strikes but that really didn't make sense since all of the wiring and plumbing otherwise seemed to work fine before we turned off the utilities. The only thing going for us was the helicopter loophole. Instead of accessing the 30th floor through the condemned floors we were able to get work teams on the atrium floor by helicopter. The bodies of the 13 were removed before we started working and before the atrium fully collapsed into the ballroom but the teams working on the roof reported many unusual artifacts including stained glass and Greek letters comprised of unusual amalgams of metal.
All of the strangeness culminated in the disappearance of one of the night time security guards named Phillipe. I say disappear because his girlfriend filed a missing persons report with the police and when they came to investigate Tom was busy with the atrium operations so the job fell to me. I walked the investigator through guard's smart phone filed reports from the previous evenings. Admittedly I was behind on my end approving the reports so I was embarrassed when things in the report took a turn. His reports including the same odd glows the others were reporting in the stairwells and seeing metallic veins throb on the walls.
His last reports stuck in my head: Report: Sub-basement 4 clear, 0312. Report: Sub-basement 5 clear, 0305. Report: Sub-basement 6 clear 0237.
His “all clear” reports documented levels of the building which did not exist and the further he went into the areas which did not exist, the automatic timestamps went backwards in time. It made no sense – unless he was confused as to where he was due to intoxication and there was software glitch with the timestamps. I was forced to give the investigator no firm explanation.
It's easy to write off a high security guard – they're flaky by their nature and have plenty of reasons to ghost a part time gig and even to pull prank on their final reports. I almost wrote it all off until I saw his girlfriend – apparently his fiance, handing out missing persons fliers outside of the site gate one morning. She seemed absolutely heartbroken and I got stabbed in the gut thinking maybe this wasn't a ghosting and prank after all. Seeing is believing and the next week I started to believe. Tom was finishing up on the atrium level. We used some heavy lift choppers to remove the rest of the frame and glass. Now we could get a better look into the section which collapsed into the 29th floor. We started by using a series of video drones to investigate the melted twisted dome through the collapsed roof. We quickly learned that the drones were being interfered with as their feed would cut out or their batteries would die almost immediately upon entering the ballroom.
So, we had to cut some corners, against city regulations, we let Tom and two others rappel in from the roof on secured anchored lines with helicopter over watch support. We needed to do this because we needed make sure that collapsed wreckage would not move and potentially change the implosion direction. Tom got twisted in his gear as he tried to lean into one of the holes in the roof. He slipped and fell in, disappearing from sight. We frantically radioed for Tom as the other two workers abandoned their own attempts to peer in and scrambled to Tom's aid. Tom was pulled out of the section uninjured but he appeared to be in shock, he looked wild eyed and shook as he was put on the helicopter and lowered back to ground level. Within minutes, Jim called us back to the office to discuss the near miss.
Two weeks to go and week behind, a missing guard, and now a near fatal accident. That for Jim, was the last straw. Tom and I had run out the rope Jim gave us to hang ourselves with. Jim slammed his hand on his desk as he catastrophized, red in the face, nearly breathless, he yelled we could very well kiss that twenty percent goodbye with the way things are going. He pressured Tom to go on the record after his dip into the structure that the atrium debris ball in the ballroom posed no threat to the implosion. Tom was elsewhere. He stared off in a thousand yard stare before replying to Jim that it posed no threat. Then Tom headed for the door. Jim screamed at him that he wasn't done chew us out but Tom only said he had to get back to it. I supported Tom and followed him. He and I headed back to the site to secure the night shift changes – another night not at home and having a late dinner.
I asked Tom in the car ride back what he saw in there. Tom was fixed in a trance and barely responded. He said it was wild. When we got back to the site, Tom separated from me through the gate while I strolled across the street to grab us some dinner from a street vendor. As I stood around waiting for two gyros and two cokes I could help but be mesmerized by the gutted tower. It seemed to breath in the spotlights inhaling puffs of the dust and dirt on the site and then exhaling it. A faint glow, barely perceivable against the light pollution, seemed to brighten, dim, and fade from the upper floors with each of the building's breaths. I was transfixed on it and it was the first time the building gave me an eerie feeling.
I got back on the site, food in hand, there was a buzz in their air as the night shift streamed in and the day shift streamed out. I barely had my hardhat seated corrected on my head when the site's emergency alarm blew. The interim foreman tossed me a radio as I was swept with him and our site occupational safety and emergency personnel to the basement.
Our increasingly panicked footfalls blotted out the squawk of the radios but I could hear one name again and again in the equally panicked messages – Tom Tom Tom. Whatever was happening was happening to Tom.
We reached the pool level and a trail of gasps proceeded me into the pool. There was Tom in his vest and hardhat face down in the middle of the pool with crimson oozing out him into the cerulean tiles lining the drained pool. We piled in from the ladders and shallow end to get to him. It was apparent when the first folks reached him that he was dead. They hauled him out on a stretcher and to our shock he looked like he had been dead for much longer than possible and his skin was water logged despite there being no water. He had died of fall trauma possibly despite the pool only being six feet deep. The paramedics also claimed he had water in his lungs. Then I noticed he was wearing his rappelling harness weaved in his vest – but that made no sense – he took it and his vest off when we were getting chewed out by Jim. Why would he put his rappelling gear on again.
I was the assistant foreman no more. Now the buck stopped with me. As they took Tom to the morgue we all knew the show must go on – our client demanded it, Jim demanded it and Tom would have wanted it that way. The same police investigator from the guard's disappearance met with me over Tom's death. They said it was standard procedure with work place deaths. I gave him a copy of the footage on an SD card and left the moment after it left my hand.
I had the recording queued up to the time of the commotion. The video we provided had a poor angle and was focused on the door to monitor access – the comings and goings of people. It was shift change so people were filing in and out Tom was somewhere in the crowd. The pool was one of the areas which required both foot patrols and constant video monitoring. I hit the rewind button on accident and watched his body lie there and lie there and then the timestamp sped past the 1900 hour mark. We were in traffic from meeting with Jim at that time. This was impossible but I kept my finger on the rewind button. Around 1400 the camera shakes a bit and there is slight glow reflecting on the doors so I let it play back to the shake. There is a soft green glow and then could hear a heft thud in the room. I gulped knowing that was Tom falling into the pool around the same time he fell into the hole in the roof. The soft glow turned brighter and brighter like a laser shining into the lens – something that wasn't present on the rewind. There was a flash of an incomprehensible shape or form on the screen. I was physically hurt in my eyes like I had just stared into the sun. I was left dazed with the shaped burned into my eyes with each blink. Then the camera system shorted out and a tiny puff of smoke left the memory module. The cameras blinked off wall to wall, the whole system was dead.
With the cameras fried, regulations required someone high in the company to be on site or we'd have to leave for the night. So I stayed knowing we couldn't afford to lose an hour much less an entire night. I circled the pool between approving payrolls and directing the increased security guard traffic required to monitor more areas. I was thinking about what I would say at Tom's funeral. I was thinking about Tom's family and what they would think about his apparent suicide.
I was forced to patrol the rest of the sub-basements as well since most of the guards were at the site perimeters or higher levels. I would have to follow paths of Phillipe, the disappeared guard, and all of the other guards who had mismatched timestamps on their increasingly strange reports. If not for today's incident and the recording of Tom's death, I would have stood fast to the idea that these reports were the product of night jitters and drugs but now, no.
I gritted my teeth as I exited the pool area to patrol the lower levels. I hated this building I muttered to myself. I couldn't wait to see it all rumble. I thought about which part I'd like to keep from the site to place in Tom's casket – then I realized it probably wasn't going to be an open casket funeral. I was lost in my thoughts and hatred for the building as I roamed through the parking garage into the utilities basement. I lost track of where I was as I weaved down stairwells.
I shown my flashlight on the wall and the floor level sign said “Sub-basement 999”. I stopped cold in my tracks. I was hoping it was a prank but I knew it was no prank. Then I thought maybe I'd have some answers. Maybe I would finally see what all the strangeness was about. But then I freaked out about Phillipe's disappearance and turned to run back up the stairwell. I ran up four levels to what I thought was the lobby and I pushed the door open.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw a black and white galaxy – the stars were black and the space was white with gradations of gray. The whole room was just white outer space and the whole universe swirled fast counter clockwise. I tried to breath and when I did the galaxy shrunk before my eyes until it was the size of a tiny of marble and then even smaller to a speck of dust. I reached out as it floated towards me. I stared at the speck in a cold sweat. As I stared, I was looking deeper and deeper into impossible detail. In the dust I found the milky way galaxy, I found our solar system, I found Earth and then I found North America, and then I found myself back in the pool room dripping in sweat.
Time seemed to skip and space was malleable in that hotel. As we approached the deadline to drop it, some jobs which would take hours took days and some jobs which would take days took minutes. The anomalies seemed to swarm tonight and day and yet we pressed on. Tom was buried and I couldn't go.
We met the deadline and the city came out in numbers to watch us drop the thirty floor structure. They gathered nearly two blocks away clad in ponchos and dust masks bracing for the implosion triggered by half a ton of high explosives.
I was so burned out and demoralized. My mantra became “this is for Tom, this is for Tom” and it was the only thing carrying me to this day. I chalked up all the anomalies and even my own experience on 999th sub-basement level as a reaction to shock, loss, grief, and exhaustion.
We were on the thirty minute countdown and Mr. Rohmer's attorney was designated as the trigger man. He stood there with Jim and I in the command trailer with the detonator remote. The remote triggered a two minute countdown on the charges from a master control station in my command trailer. All the charges had to be hardwired old school style because we were getting too much walkie talkie and radio interference from inside the structure for any other method of trigger to be reliable. I was too tried to make a stink about insisting I do it. I just wanted it to be over but suddenly a freak thunderstorm brewed up over the city. The skies were overcast and we were on the verge of having to abort the implosion until the next day – despite the next day being a day past the deadline. If we didn't abort and went through with the implosion, there was a strong chance the shock waves from the blast would bounce back off the lower cloud base and shatter windows and ears across the city.
I sat in my command chair at the perimeter in dismay, almost in tears as it started to rain. I felt my heart drop into the acid of my stomach as I ordered the suspension of the implosion for the day. The lawyer, surprisingly, did not resist. I watched as the crowds dispersed from the viewing lines and police started to permit traffic back through the streets surrounding the site.
Then a group of unauthorized personnel threw open the door of the trailer. They were a mass of men and women clad in pressed white suits, stoney faces with thin maroon lips, one of them carried a white covered book.
The attorney dropped his eyes and head in deference to elderly man at the head of the congregation. The attorney addressed him as Monsignor. The man introduced himself as Monsignor Rohmer and he placed his hand on his attorney, calling him a cousin of the congregation, stating there will be no postponement and no delay.
Rohmer, a man I judged to be in his late 50's or early 60's was bald and covered it with a white derby hat. He was tall, about six five, and thin, so thin his suit fit him like snake half shedding its skin. His was face long and his cheeks thin and worn like a mountain side. His voice was steady and low like waterfall. Everything he said bloomed with authority and confidence. He ordered the building would be dropped in twenty minutes.
I told him I didn't care if he was the owner, the building could not be blown in this weather and I snatched the detonator out of his attorney's hands. Rohmer, moving faster than I believed humanly possible with some kind of martial arts move swiped the detonator from my hands. Simultaneously, he had two of his followers press Jim against the wall. They put him in a sleeper hold and he slumped down to the floor barely getting a word out. Then Rohmer gestured to his flock to follow towards the building.
They left in a fast deliberate almost choreographed walk like a flock of geese flying in formation. I grabbed the radio to get police help but I realized that was hopeless. I watched as our trailer was shrouded in the same interference we experienced in the building's interior. The CCTV monitors flickered out and the radio squawked static. Then I realized Rohmer had no control over the detonation and no way to contact his followers still with us in the command trailer. So I did what I had to and pulled the master key out of the master detonator in the command trailer and chased after the flock. I needed to know what was happening I needed to see with my own eyes what all of this was all about.
The Congregation had reached the lobby and I saw the trailing end of the clad white congregate into the stairwell. I darted at my best speed to follow them.
I reached the stair well door. I found Rohmer standing on the top step, apparently waiting for me. I was out of breath while he began to speak to me in his booming voice. He explained to me that if the building did not fall in the next twenty minutes, all of Earth would be pulled, sucked, inside out and down through the building into the black and white universe. The entire building, but especially the atrium dome, he continued, was designed and built to create and then temporarily contain an impossible shape, a living form, a 4 dimensional object, a tesseract, when struck by lightning in the presence of thirteen self-sacrificial Congregate members. This shape would slowly expand and cause space and time anomalies before growing so large inside compared to its size would pull us all into place with no life.
The shape was still in the process of forming even as we spoke, he said. It would reach critical mass and dimensional contortion and the only way to stop it was to disfigure and crush it in the hotel's collapse. He led me into the pool level where his entire congregation was sitting cross-legged where Tom fell. A green pulse, like a laser, came down from the ceiling into the group's center, where their white book lay open on blank pages. I had a feeling this glow was being projected down from the ballroom where the dome of the atrium was taking its final fourth dimensional form.
After a loud chant from the white clad followers, the book slammed shut and turned from a brilliant white shimming cover to one black as night. As they passed around book, their white suits turned black and the formed a single file line. Rohmer left my side and pulled the detonator from his suit. He showed it me and tossed it at me. In my panic I reached out with both hands to catch it but I forgot I still had the master key in my sweat slick hand and it fly out and fell at the foot of Rohmer.
I asked what he planned to do with the key without a lock and a jammed detonator. Rohmer bent down and grabbed the key and looked me without a hint of concern. He took the new black book into his hands and opened it facing the wall of the pool. A new green pulse launched from the book and flickered on the tiles. An octagonal outline appeared to frame a hazy image of a tropical beach. One by one Rohmer's congregation walked into the side of the pool, into glow and seemed to arrive safely on the otherside of the beach.
Once all his compatriots were on the beach, he turned a page in the book and reopened it, projecting another octagon portal on the side of the pool. I could see his destination – it was the command trailer. He stepped through portal and yelled to me from the other side that I had two minutes. The portal sealed.
I could hear the warning sirens we installed going off above me. Needless to say, I made it out, just barely. I reached the perimeter fence screaming to anyone who was in ear shot to run away. The building imploded as planned but I was caught in the dust cloud and developed tinnitus severe enough to be comparable with combat veterans.
The shock waves from the explosions were reflected off the cloud base and channeled down the street by other skyscrapers. Virtually every window in a two block radius around the site was shattered and hundreds of people were hurt in the resulting stampede and vehicle collisions caused by fleeing from the flying glass cascade. Parts of downtown looked like a war zone for weeks afterward.
Rohmer and the rest of his group, including the lawyer, had disappeared out of the trailer in another portal leaving a suitcase of gold equaling the twenty percent promised. Our company was fined, sued, and threatened with criminal charges and eventually put of business. There wasn't much left after paying the cities fines and lawyer fees.
Though I was spared any direct sanctions, I forced into an early retirement. I've had time to research Rohmer's group. There are at least six mentions of figures like Rohmer on the deepest parts of the conspiracy web. They seem to show up at a locale experiencing paranormal activity with a white book and then leave with a black book. Their departure usually marks the end of any strangeness. I can't be sure but this congregation seems to be summon demons, which they exorcise, by trapping them in their books. Trapping maybe a poor term to use since, as in the case of the Grazer hotel encounter, they can apparently cleanse the anomalies and then use the book containing them to weaponize a portion of the traits of whatever their unholy creations posses.
I suspect Rohmer and his congregation, now with the ability to teleport, are accelerating their plans, to whatever ends these paranormal means enable them.
Theo Plesha - Sequel to "Flush" by Theo Plesha on The Chilling App

I know in most situations it wouldn't matter, all houses rose so it shouldn't matter, I've heard all that. But I feel like I'm in a unique position. In 2021 we got approved for this house for 95k and jumped instantly even though it needed some work.. We haven't had it appraised, but Zillow values it now at nearly 230k, and my neighbor with half the size yard and house sold for 190k just this past year in only slightly better condition (maybe even the same but different, they still had the old tile and carpet, mine has already been removed to concrete) So I feel the Zillow price listed for my house is fairly close.
We could afford it when we first moved in. Now our taxes have doubled, with another rise incoming. Then with everything else rising it seems like we are just trying to get by at this point. The house stopped getting worked on. We don't like the area (metro Detroit) either. My wife works from home and I'm jumping from part time work while trying to start a handyman business on the side. We would like to move somewhere where houses have not rose nearly as much. Most likely Northern lower peninsula of Michigan.
There is some kind of roadblock in my mind from just jumping on this, but at the same time it does seem like a good idea, financially at least. We haven't really paid off much towards the house as I'm assuming we are still in the heavily paying off the interest part of the loan. If we sold for 220k after closing cost and paying the loan off we are hoping to have around 100k left over. If we moved up north we could buy the house, entirely paid off, potentially some to spare. My wife can work anywhere with Internet, and everywhere seems to be short of handyman/contractors. Plus we both want to be around nature out of the city.
To me it sounds like a great idea, but my wife and I can't stop "joking" about selling. It's hard to get past the roadblock of being comfortable with what you know and diving into something new. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I do not seek peace in war time I find comfort in my sword And rest in my shield To fight in the heat One must learn to appreciate The breeze of the arrows that fly by To enjoy the coolness in the confrontation That the near miss of death brings I do not seek peace in war I seek the confrontation with the end Because every death is a new life to take And that life is mine to lay down And that moment of death is mine to overcome All power has been given to me To lay this life down and then take it up again The soulless body The shadow

I do not seek peace in war time I find comfort in my sword And rest in my shield To fight in the heat One must learn to appreciate The breeze of the arrows that fly by To enjoy the coolness in the confrontation That the near miss of death brings I do not seek peace in war I seek the confrontation with the end Because every death is a new life to take And that life is mine to lay down And that moment of death is mine to overcome All power has been given to me To lay this life down and then take it up again The soulless body The shadow

My little lovebirds seems to be taking an interest to me more so than before,
whenever I lay on my bed, he comes to sit on my chest. He starts nibbling on my lips and my septum piercing and tries to get my attention. However, he is terrified whenever my hand gets near him, unless I am holding my phone, then he just nibbles on my thumbs. Now I'm curious; is this nibbling a sign that he likes me? I've read that I should pull away if he does because I cant encourage biting, but it isnt like a hard bite intended to hurt me. How come he nibbles my face and comes so close but is still scared of my hands?

[←Chapter 49] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 51→]
The weather was almost cold enough to imagine that Aya was back home, minus the creeping terror of the fog. She tried to push that last fact out of her mind, but it was ever present, along with its smothering sister from beneath the church. Still, despite the unpleasant edge, it was likely the last time she would get a proper rest before the battle.
The twins were obviously in their own world, Frare picking at the grasses around the tree, Sorore with eyes half-closed. The only people to offer any conversation were the paladins.
“Where… where do you come from, Lillian?” she said, after watching another bank of the fog wander overhead.
Lillian turned to her and gave her a strange look, not angry exactly, more wondering why she’d asked the question. Aya hoped that it wasn’t too much of a rude question back in Angorrah. At least she could always fall back on the excuse of being ignorant if it was.
“I come from Angorrah,” said the paladin.
“No, I mean where does your family come from?” she said.
Lillian’s expression deepened as if she was trying to figure out whether the question had some deeper meaning to it.
“Well, my father’s side of the family reaches back into antiquity. They’ve been on the same land for centuries. My mother is from Nieth, if that is what you mean, lady Aya.”
Aya nodded in encouragement, trying to get the Paladin to expand on the details. She didn’t, looking expectantly for a followup to the question.
“I was… just trying to make conversation,” Aya admitted, her gaze falling to the trodden dirt.
“Oh,” said Lillian, leaning back further as she looked elsewhere trying to abate the awkward realisation, “well, like I said, most of my family comes from my father’s side, and thus Angorrah. My mother is the only one that’s lived outside of it. Supposedly I have some uncles and aunts in Nieth, and some cousins too, but…”
“You’ve never met them?”
Lillian shook her head as she looked out to what was probably south - in the shifting fog it was difficult to tell.
“Never. I was inducted into the church at fifteen, I’ve never been outside of the continent. In fact, your village was the farthest I’ve ever been.”
“Oh. So you live in the actual city, then? Angorrah proper?”
“I might as well,” she laughed, although Aya thought it had a bitter edge to it, “I’ve spent over a decade of my life there.”
Aya sat and digested that for a few moments, before risking a further question.
“But it wasn’t always like that, was it? You lived somewhere else?”
“Yes, I did,” Lillian sighed, but said no more.
“I’ve lived in the city all my life,” Niche offered instead, “with my family. We’ve never known anything but the silver city for our entire lives. Both of my grandfather’s lines, as far as I could trace them, stay within its walls.”
“Would you mind… telling me about it?” Aya said, “I mean, we’re going there. But no one’s bothered to explain what it’s really like. Neither Sorore or Frare talk about it much either.”
“It’s the most beautiful city in the world,” said Niche instantly with absolute conviction.
“Anything else?” Aya said, looking rather unimpressed.
“It’s a- it’s difficult to explain,” said Niche, “the city is split in half.”
She vigorously nodded, hoping that this wouldn’t be the end of the details.
“It’s a city which…” he said, grasping at the words he was failing to find, “you really can’t- it’s something you have to actually see before it can be described.”
“Neither of us are poets, and besides, you’ll be in Angorrah soon enough,” said Lillian, “I can try though, however dry it might be. The city is split into two, like Niche said. On the upper half, the edges of the tributaries of the rivers form a bank where the old buildings sit. You’ll find the ecclesial courts, the palace of purity, and the chief garrison of the path of strength.”
She hovered her hands at different levels to illustrate the relative heights of the city districts.
“There’s a great sandstone cliff, with many small waterfalls coursing down. There’s a path that winds a way up under them - we used to walk them everyday as part of our training, then as part of our patrols. The names of all the founders of Angorrah, and many of the heroes that fought against the crown are etched into the cliff face. Of course, most travellers use the iron elevators that were built nearly a century ago.”
Aya already felt the numbing terror beginning to be forgotten almost, and she encouraged Lillian to continue.
“The lower half represents the majority of the city, both in terms of population and size,” she said, her fingers circling out to represent the relative immensity of this area, “layers upon layers of districts criss-crossed by roads and studded with alleys. It’s quite a lot to figure out.”
“They throw you off the deep end when they’re teaching you to patrol,” Niche said, “I remember just how lost you were the first couple times. Remember when you couldn’t figure out which dock you were at, and the sign was right next to you?”
“It was half-fallen off!” Lillian protested, her ears beginning to flush, “and the paint was practically gone, how was I supposed to realise-”
Aya was just about to ask the question of where she would be staying, when she saw a sharp motion in her periphery. Sorore sat bolt upright, staying at the remains of a leaf brought up to a narrow sliver of sunlight. There was a curious interplay within her expression, fear, excitement, and triumph merging together in the green of her eyes.
By the time that the paladins had turned, she was gesticulating wildly, saying that she had found something. Aya had barely any time to wonder before she’d taken off, leading them around the corner of the church. Apparently what she sought was not there, for she took them into the church and down through the door into the earth.
At the end, before a wall of black stone, they found Efrain with his cat companion. He was holding a black knife, glittering in the gloomy light he’d cast. He turned as Sorore approached him, telling him that she understood what to do. Aya watched as, after a few further questions, he handed her the knife, which dissolved into a liquid in the girl’s palm.
With bated breath, Aya stared as the fluid metal branched out to form a new shape. She realised, with no small amount of envy, that the girl was using magic just as she had. The construction would’ve been a beautiful thing to watch if not for the deathly cold that permeated the catacombs. Aya felt like she could lay down and simply die here if she wasn’t careful.
When it was done, Sorore handed the knife back to Efrain, now solid, which he placed against the stones. They were promptly steered away as he told the Paladins to remove them from whatever lurked behind the door. The party was up the steps and walking past the beds, Frare whispering some consultations to the obviously upset Sorore when they heard the sound.
A long, distant wail, half-lost among the tombs.
Sorore took off running, managing to rend herself free of the paladin’s grip. By the time they managed to catch up, she was at the stairs, taking them two at a time, going deeper and deeper into the earth. The paladins were ahead of Aya with their longer strides, pounding down on the sands as she saw that the passage had changed.
In the distance, past where the black stone wall had been, there was a far distance light, barely visible in the dark. The cold had deepened even further, becoming something hateful to life itself. They were almost to the edge of the hallway, and within moments, they’d passed out through the door and into this new hidden place.
More stones, more elegantly laid and carved, more beds, these ones with carved reliefs of ancient men. Intricate pillars and vaulted ceilings rushed past as they pushed deeper and deeper into the tomb. Aya nearly fell over more than once in the gloom, even as the light grew closer and closer to them.
The paladins finally caught up to Sorore just before the opening to that little light, catching her by the arms and lifting her off her feet. As she struggled, Aya made it past her, finding Frare to her side and a great expanse before her. She caught a brief glance of the gaunt form of the mage, and something large and misshapen beyond him.
Then the scene exploded into light and heat as fire leapt from up and around them.
Her last sight, other than the inferno that rose like a flaming curtain was that of the mage, his black clothes now glittering a dark crimson. In silence, he regarded them, and Aya realised for the first time how empty his eyes were. The twin pits of blackness betrayed nothing about the man behind the mask, no sardonic warmth or cultivated intelligence.
She was carted away from the frightful sight, and back up the hall at a prodigious pace. The paladins had simply slung them over their shoulders and fled. Harder the gauntlets dug to her back, as the catacombs behind them went from darkness to a dull red. The children were not given rest or respite, only carried onwards, through the tombs, up the stairs, to burst out onto the church landing and through the door.
Several of the peasants in the church started and turned at their sudden reemergence. Aya staggered over to the wall, heaving as she tried to sooth her aching chest. The twins were much the same, Sorore fully bent over and wheezing with effort. However, before any of them could settle, they were steered roughly towards the small alcove of the medical bay.
The sights of the swords in hand sent the watching group into alarmed chatter. This was only compounded as Lillian and Niche took up positions from within the door they’d just come through. Moments later, there came the sound of the groaning of wood and stone as they began to shift and strain.
Worse still was the sight of red light from beneath the door and seeping through the joints of the stones. The air began to haze and billow, a hot breeze rushing past them. The door bursting into flame was enough to send some of the frightened defenders running for the church-front. Knights were beginning to gather, pointing and exclaiming their confusion at this new, mysterious threat.
“What is it? What have you done?” called Damafelce, starring in horror at the burning door.
Lillian didn’t even bother to answer, just squared her shoulders and gripped her sword tighter.
Whatever animosity between the two women vanished as Damafelce drew and stood beside Lillian. Sweat began to pool and drip despite the unnatural chill of the fog.
Doubt began to creep into Aya’s heart - perhaps she had indeed been wrong, and perhaps the wisdom and experience of the Paladins had steered them right. The brilliant flames and empty eyes had left their impression upon her. All her interactions with Efrain seemed to be cast in a new light, each comment taking on a sinister cast.
The stones were beginning to glow in their own right, cracking and popping as the mortar disintegrated. A child couldn’t take it anymore and began to scream. It brought to mind the previous evening, the impaling claw lifting the boy into the air. Fear mixed with what must’ve been resolution within Aya ,and she managed to bring herself to lay a hand on a child’s sleeve.
They all looked at her, eyes wide, many brimmed with tears, having already seen far too much.
“It’ll be alright,” she said, squeezing the arm of a girl, “we’ll make it. They’ll protect us.”
There were some sparse nods and hopeful murmurs, but Aya could tell that some of the older ones didn’t believe it.
The stones were now a yellowish orange, and Aya was concerned that they might begin to melt and run like candle wax. The charm of the stones, their strength that almost seemed more akin to a confidence, was now utterly forgotten. The air within grew almost uncomfortably hot, villagers and knights alike holding their breath as they waited for whatever horror was going to emerge.
They waited, and waited, and waited.
The stones were still glowing, but it seemed whatever had come up from the deep had moved on and up. Slowly they faded from yellow, to orange, to red, and by the time they were brown, the peasants were turning to the paladins for guidance. Last to relax was Lillian, though it was only enough to see her sword tip faltered slightly.
“It’s moved to the roof,” she barely managed, such was the tension she held in her jaw.
Damafelce turned to remark, or perhaps to ask a question of the paladin about what she had just witnessed. She didn’t even open her mouth before a long chime echoed through the cooling air. She, along with the rest of her knights turned and rushed for the front doors.
Out from the pan and into the fire - another attack had begun.
Lillian and Niche looked at each other and then at the children, all three watching the stones resume their usual black.
“Mage or monsters?” said Niche, “which first?”
“Stay near the children until I get a better idea of what’s happening,” Lillian said, following the group of knights past the barricade.
Not long after she’d vanished into the night, a group of men burst through the charred door, partially taking what was left off its hinges. Doused in sweat, but otherwise unburnt, they stumbled into the mainstay of the church, and gesticulated wildly all around. When their glances fell on Niche, they began to beseech him, telling him of the living fire that had emerged onto the roof.
Niche picked up one of them that had fallen to the ground in haste or shock, shaking him, trying to get him to elaborate. Stories tumbled out of them of a great inferno, perhaps in the shape of a beast, perhaps not, that emerged, nay erupted, nay crawled from the tower stairs. At the heart of it was a black figure, one of the creatures, no, something horrible, no, the mage!
Niche’s eyes narrowed as he tried to parse some coherent meaning from the disparate stories. In the midst of the confusion, Aya took a half step toward the tower, terror, resolution, and a faint curiosity fighting with each other. Her foot pressed to the floor, and everything around her fell into a crystal clarity.
Bellows of command, clashes of claw and sword, the screams of men and beast, the whimpers of the frightened children. Every line on the stone, every bead of sweat and glance of eye, the smell of sweat and blood, the icy chill and the still-warm air. Everything, everywhere, at all once, clarion and present.
And beyond that, above them, something overshadowing them all, gathering, building itself. A wall of something, fulgent and hot, frothing and bearing down like a river breaking a log dam. Instinct drove her down to the cool stones, flattening her body and covering her head.
Behind her closed eyes, the darkness flipped to bright red, accompanied by a roar so great it became her. The entire building was shaking so violently she was sure she would be thrown out the front doors and to the slavering monsters. Heat rolled over her, smothering her like a quilt, driving away even the terrible chill. When she opened her eyes, she found soldiers, peasants and paladins on the ground, rolling and struggling to stand back up amid a floor of barricade splinters and glass shards.
The heat was reaching unbearable levels, driving Aya up and out, past the barricades in a mad scramble. Stumbling out into the comparatively cooler night, she looked up past the door and roof edge. Above the church extended a halo of fire, blooming outward like the bows of a mighty tree.
The branches fell to the earth, streaming sparks and embers into the evening as they furled across the remaining gardens, destroying all it touched. Most of the men had noticed the source of the heat and light, and were scrambling away desperately. The monsters, apparently having no such presence of mind, drove themselves further, and into the incinerating light.
The darkness came alive with the final screams of the things as they were burnt to ash. The human defenders were left mostly untouched, and the tide spilling over the outer wall were subsumed in the inferno. Aya slumped to the ground, witnessing this miraculous occurrence, not minding the cuts on her hands or knees.
“What…?” she said, watching the fires begin to wink out.
With that, she turned back, leaving the battle and its remnants all behind her. Through the barricades, through the aisle, through the clumsy grab by a still dazed Niche, through the door, up the melted stairs and out onto the roof.
There, across from the exit, lay a pair of slumped figures against the far wall. The mage was crumpled, motionless, saggy robes no longer cutting his trim figure. In his lap laid Innialysia, fur now merely coal black, no longer aglow as it had been.
On the railing of the roof, above the two, stood something faint in the light from the fire below. A shimmering, hazy outline, of a girl, looking down at them. As Aya drew to look at her, she could’ve sworn that the spirit was smiling as it began to fragment and dissipate. With a final gust of the warm breeze, the shimmering remnants were carried out to fade into the now clear stars.
[←Chapter 49] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 51→]

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Memory transcript subject: Erim, lieutenant of the Kratotl extermination fleet Date: [standardized human time] October 19th, 2136
I woke up and got up from the couch. I looked around and saw my dad sleeping on a chair. I walked nervously into the kitchen where I saw the predator eating something between two buns.
The human heard me and put the food back into the plate. He then turned around and looked at me.
“Good morning go get something to eat from the fridge” he pointed at the white box container near an oven and a couple cabinets.
“I-I Uh c-can’t have m-m-meat you know?” I looked nervously at the old human. He once again stopped eating and looked at me with those nightmarish eyes.
“There other foods in there you dumbass, don’t you know humans are omnivores. Oh wait you wouldn’t because your too busy burning fucking children then having the time to actually research what the hell your doing!” I jumped back in fear at the elderly human. He banged his cane on the floor. He ripped a chunk out of his food and swallowed.
I nervously opened the fridge and saw what was inside. There were multiple drinks of the brown bottles. Some juice was also inside. So much meat of all different kinds, I almost puked at the sight.
I grabbed some of the weird of the fruit and brought it over to the table and nervously sat down in a chair. I examined the weird orange and red fruits infront of me.
I took a bite of the weird red fruit. It was juicy and delicious. I then took a bite of the round orange fruit. Wow that actually burned slightly. It was a citrusy taste for sure but wow.
I looked over at the predator Sean nervously. He kept chewing on the weird food in his hands.
“W-what are you e-eating?” The human looked up from his food.
“A breakfast sandwich” the human than took another bite out of the sandwich.
“What’s in it?”
“Cheese, sausage and fried eggs” I stopped eating right there and then. Did he just say eggs!? They eat fucking children!
I got from my chair fast and ran. The human got pissed and got up after me.
“GOD FUCKING DAMN IT THEY’RE NOT FERTILE YOU BIRD BRAIN GET BACK HERE!” I jumped off the walls dodging the human.
After going on for a while I got tired and the human grabbed me. He then set me down on a chair and looked at me.
“Just because I eat eggs doesn’t mean I eat babies!, you have understand this!” I trembled in fear at the predator yelling at me.
After explaining why he was eating eggs he sent me back to the living room where I watched tv for a couple hours till my dad woke up.
“Hey son you ok?” I looked at my father and nodded we then turned our attention towards the tv. It was some weird show about animal rescues or I think it was.
The human on the screen went into a murky water pond and stood on something before grabbing it from underneath his feet. He pulled it out of the water and it was some shelled reptile.
The poor prey animal was being held by the tail while the human was screaming something about wild action.
“Hey come on” we both looked at the human who was in the doorway. We nervously got up and followed. We walked into the garage and he had some bag connected to this weird vehicle.
“Get on” he sat on the weird vehicle obviously meant for snow. Me and my father than walked up and sat behind him.
The predator started the engine and we went flying through the snow. He then soon went into a forest dodging trees and rocks.
He then stopped and got off the vehicle and grabbed his bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a rifle with a scope on it.
“Come on an be quiet” we followed the hunter as slowly as possible and as quiet as we could possibly be.
He then stopped and aimed his rifle at something near the trees. I tried to focus on what he was aiming at and saw it was a brown prey animal with antlers.
He took in a breath and then held it for a couple seconds. I was going to try and stop him when.
A loud crack went through the air as the recoiled of the rifle hit the hunters shoulder. The creature was shot in the heart area and fell down after limping.
The human slowly walked over to the creature who was bleeding onto the snow. Me and dad followed him till we could see the whites of its eyes.
“Ah damn things still moving. Give me a second” Sean pulled out a big knife and kneeled down to the creature. He then punctured the throat of the creature ending its suffering.
Sean then grabbed the creature and heaved it onto his shoulder and carried it back to the vehicle. He tied the corpse to the back of his vehicle and got on.
Me and father then sat behind the human and he started to head back to the lodge.
We were in a snowy clearing when the human suddenly stopped.
“Why did we s-“ the human covered my beak to shut me up and pointed at something in the snow. I focused on it and saw it.
It was massive. A completely white predator as white as the snow. It looked like an albino Zurulian giant. One of its eye holes had a crater in them.
“A polar bear, and I know this one. It’s old one eye” the frosty air came off of the humans mouth whenever he spoke.
“Bastard killed my friend while back. Wonderful guy Navajo too” the polar bear walked around in the snow appearing to not notice us.
“We’ll come back for him some other time” the human started the engine again and raced back towards the lodge.
We soon arrived and he parked the vehicle outside while we headed in.
He brought the corpse inside and put it on a table. He then went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple knives and cleavers.
I watched nervously as the human took this huge knife and took off the antlers. He then looked over to me and dad.
“Come on then I can’t do this by myself” we nervously walked up to the human and he handed us a knife and a cleaver.
“Let’s get to skinning and carving!” I looked at the shine in the cleaver. Seeing my blue feathers reflecting back at me.
The human took the knife and started to skin the creature. He then pulled off the pelt and set it aside.
I looked at the red flesh of the poor creature. Such an awful way to go it was.
We spent hours hacking up the meat and organizing it. The human grabbed all the bones and put them in a bag which he put in the garage.
He wrapped all the meat up in tight bags and put them in a freezer.
He made us then go feed some plants to Ciran which we immediately did. Luckily the Harchen was still asleep so he wouldn’t have to see this.
Sean then told us to go rinse the blood off our feathers. We went into the showers and rinsed almost every piece of flesh and blood right off.
When we were done we walked into the living room and sat down on the couch to watch the tv.
I thought to myself if I would ever see my mom and my sister ever again.

Ceramic is very hard, it can also be really smooth. So it's a good sleeve in this case- except that it's way harder than the steel and the precious metal that surround it.
So if anything's going to wear, it'll be the pin and the bracelet again, won't it? Guessing the PM is not nearly as hard as the (cheap?) pin steel. So the bracelet wears again.
If the ceramic sleeve doesn't rotate, then I can see just the pin wearing, but the sleeve _does_ rotate, doesn't it? I don't see anything that's indexing the sleeve so that it doesn't rotate.
If the sleeve was -less hard- than the pin and the bracelet, then IT would wear, but then you'd have crumbly ceramic grinding everywhere which probably also wouldn't be good.
ALSO- the ends of the pin have to extend past the sleeve into the link, don't they? Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to remove them, right?
Wear am I missing the genius in the design? Educate me, please. Thanks

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Chapter 2 - A New Arrival
Northern Facility, Vanstead Dukedom of Augustein, Year 985
The girl was a little taller than Amara and had short, silky dark hair that bounced whenever she moved her head. It gleamed in the torchlight with a blue-ish tint. Her dark eyes stood out against her pale skin, and when those eyes scanned across the cell, taking in its interior, Amara was struck by how lively they looked.
After the guards had left and the cell door swung shut again, the girl had stepped forward and spoken in a voice louder than Amara had heard in a long time.
Her name, she announced, was Edith.
—
“How old’re you?”
Amara slowly turned her head to face the girl. Edith stood right in front of her with her arms crossed, staring down at Amara. She blinked owlishly.
“I don’t know,” she said. Her voice came out raspy and hoarse, like she’d forgotten how to make words.
Edith frowned. “Well, I think I’m older than you,” she said with a huff. She jabbed a thumb at herself. “That means I’m in charge!”
Amara just stared at her. Edith stayed silent, perhaps waiting for a response. When none came, she sighed and plopped down right next to Amara, shivering slightly when she touched the cold stone floor. Amara flinched away on instinct, not liking this strange girl invading her space. Edith, however, didn’t seem to notice, because she just kept talking.
“Susie says you’ve been here the longest. That true?”
Amara thought briefly of James, his curled form that had once been a constant in the corner of the cell. Other faces flashed in her mind, faces that had quickly grown blurred with time. Their features blended together into a strange amalgamation that didn’t look quite human. She nodded slowly, and her own hair, limp and not at all like Edith’s, fell across her face.
“Yeah.”
“Which means you’ve had a lot of sessions.”
“I guess.”
“So you know the most about the experiments,” Edith persisted.
“Not that much.”
Edith rolled her eyes and huffed. “Susie was right, you’re hard to talk to,” she muttered.
The cold feeling rose sharply, and she shoved down. She swallowed. She knew she didn’t really speak to the other kids, but she never thought that they might talk about her. That Susie, with her pretty bright hair, would find her hard to approach. Amara scanned her mind, but she couldn’t recall Susie ever speaking with her before. Had she tried, and Amara just hadn’t noticed it?
Edith was quiet for a few moments, those expressive eyes silently studying Amara. Finally, she coughed.
“Uh, people used to say that about me, too, except they called me bossy,” she said with a scowl. She shifted, adjusting her position on the floor.
Amara vaguely realized that Edith, this strange girl who’d started talking to her out of the blue, was trying to comfort her. She didn’t know how to respond to that, so she just said, “Oh.”
Edith nodded vigorously. “Yeah, there’s this one boy, he thinks he’s all that just ‘cause his great uncle used to be a Raymoth guard, and he’s always acting like he’s so much better than us. But he kept saying it was my fault, acting like he wasn’t the real problem, and—”
Edith continued speaking, gesturing with increasingly wild movements. Throughout her story, which spiraled longer and longer and quickly jumped between various unrelated topics, Amara listened silently.
—
The other kids loved Edith. That didn’t really surprise Amara, but she was surprised at just how quickly they grew attached to the girl.
Susie had found a new “Ellie” in her. The younger kids all crowded around her, following Edith around like little ducklings. Ben, who’d gone nearly entirely silent after those first few months of crying, finally started speaking again.
It was as if the entire cell woke up from a long, deep slumber. Amara had never seen so many people moving around before, and never had it been so loud with chatter. She’d often glance outside the cell doors, but the guards never said anything about the noise. That didn’t stop her from watching them just in case.
Edith liked to talk about herself, and as a result Amara found herself learning more about the girl’s life than she knew about her own. She was from Vanstead, she said, and her mother was a “super cool watchman” who she emphasized would definitely come and save them all. She was planning on moving to Helisturn, the capital, one day, where she’d join the Academy and become an officer, join a duke’s personal guard, or maybe become a Rose. She hesitated a bit on the latter section and ended up backtracking, amending her earlier statement and saying she’d rather not serve the Raymoths. Not when the Sovereign was the reason they were there.
She claimed to know all about the world outside because she’d traveled a lot with her mother. She even made guesses about which dukedom all the kids had come from, which was an especially popular subject for the majority of the cell who didn’t remember their birthplaces. For Amara, she suggested Chaunton, a word that had no meaning to her.
It was easy to get swept up in Edith’s energy. Even though Amara was sure they all knew her stories were probably as much fantasy as truth, it was nice to hear someone talk so openly and with so much passion. It was even fun to play along, sometimes. For reasons unknown to Amara, Edith often spoke to her, even encouraging her to join in on her stories. Maybe it was because they were the closest in age, or maybe the girl had made it a personal challenge to get Amara to talk more. That seemed like something she would do. Amara found she didn’t mind it as much as she thought she would.
Still, even as Amara watched Edith talk, the sway of her hair that somehow still retained its shine, she couldn’t help but dread the day that energy inevitably fizzled out. She scanned the other kids, enraptured by a tale of Edith’s mother fighting a rank C Aberration all by herself, eyes shining in a way she hadn’t seen in years, and hoped that day was far away.
—
“Hey, Amara?”
Amara looked up at Edith from where she’d been inspecting her latest array of bandages. She quickly realized that the girl was staring at her arm as well, dark eyes fixed on the stark white bandages layered and wrapped so thoroughly that they hid almost all of her skin. Edith swallowed and shifted her weight.
“Um, what really…happens during sessions?”
Amara frowned, and she sat up fully. “You have one soon?”
Edith shrugged. “I mean, probably? I’ve already been here a week, so it’s bound to be coming, right?” She shuddered and scooted a little closer. Amara let her. “I just… I just want to be prepared, is all.”
“It’s gonna hurt a lot,” Amara said bluntly.
Edith scowled. “Not helpful.”
Amara stared at the ground again, tracing some of the cracks in the floor with her finger. The amount of them had grown slowly but surely, creating a chained network of lines along the ground that Amara had always thought was an improvement from the unbroken, unending grey.
“They’ll probably take blood samples and do some basic tests. I think they do different things with every kid though.”
Edith was quiet. A brief silence engulfed the two of them, and Amara shifted uncomfortably. After the liveliness of the past week, it felt especially wrong.
“How many people don’t come back from the first session?” Edith suddenly asked. Her voice was tight, and she didn’t look up as she spoke. Amara noted the way her hands tightened their grip around her arms, trembling barely perceptibly.
Amara closed her eyes, thinking back through the years. Earlier on, when she’d first been taken in, more kids were brought in at once, which made the disappearances stick out all the more. The number of new arrivals had trickled down with time, but the percentage who made it out of the first session hadn’t really changed that much.
“A lot of people don’t,” she said truthfully. It didn’t feel right to lie. She opened her eyes. “I think maybe half never come back, and then out of the ones who do, another half end up dying overnight.”
Dying. It felt odd to say it out loud. All of them knew that’s what happened, but it had become customary to call them “disappearances” instead. Maybe at first it was not to scare the youngest kids, but it had soon grown into a way to help them deal with the truth. Saying it again felt like she was breaking an unspoken agreement, shifting a delicate balance, and so Amara kept talking to avoid thinking about it.
She spoke about the people she’d seen, about the different types of scars and wounds and how she could tell when someone would make it and when someone wouldn’t. The longer she talked, the more surprised she was at how much she remembered, and the more she started to wish that she didn’t.
Throughout it all, Edith stayed silent, more quiet than Amara had ever seen her, and listened with eyes glued to Amara. By the time Amara was finished, her throat felt like it was on fire. She swallowed, attempting to fix the dryness, and her shoulders slumped back down.
“That’s all I know,” she said, barely above a whisper. Edith kept staring at her, and Amara wished she would say something, anything, to break the silence.
Finally, the girl leaned closer, and Amara couldn’t recognize the mix of emotions in the girl’s features as she spoke in a surprisingly steady voice.
“Do you think I’ll make it?”
And Amara stared at her, those gleaming eyes and the proud tilt of her head, and spoke truthfully.
“Yeah. I think you will.”
—
People reacted to pain in different ways. That was a fact Amara suspected was true everywhere, but it was different to see it so easily laid out within the confines of the facility.
Some sobbed uncontrollably. They became inconsolable, often shrinking in on themselves, gripping their skin tightly as if that pressure could ease the wounds. Those ones usually didn’t last long in the facility. The worst case Amara had seen was a young boy—she hadn’t even known his name—who kept hitting his head against the wall when he’d been thrown back into the cell. Some of the older kids had tried to pull him away, but he scratched and fought them off with a ferocity that their tired bodies couldn’t match. Eventually one of the guards had dragged him, kicking and screaming, away. He never returned.
Others shut in on themselves. Some did it completely, refusing to communicate or acknowledge their surroundings at all while they struggled to process. They became little more than limp dolls, trapped in a prison of their own mind until they either broke out of it or died there.
Others only shut down part way, still gaining that distant look in their eyes, but managing to respond and react to things. That was the category Edith fell into.
The moment she stumbled back into the cell, the girl retreated to the back. She hugged her knees and stared at the wall, lowering her head and refusing to talk to anyone even as her whole body shook. Amara could see fresh bandages covering her arms and lingering violet markings that were quickly fading. Susie got up and tried to talk to her, but Edith snapped for her to go away. No matter how many times someone approached her, she refused to move or look them in the eye, adamantly staying where she was even when night fell.
Amara stayed awake, watching Edith’s trembling form even as the other kids fell asleep. The constant cold feeling in her gut rose, barely pulled back from boiling. Finally, once the sounds of breathing had evened around her and only Edith’s sharp gasps and occasional whimpers punctuated the darkness, she quietly got up and moved to where Edith was.
The other girl froze slightly as she approached, muscles tensing, but Amara didn’t say anything. She simply sat down next to Edith, not saying a word, and stayed there.
At some point, the tension drained away and the shaking began to slow down as exhaustion overtook all other emotions. Amara understood the feeling well. Still, even when Edith began to tip forward slightly, head drooping with sleep, Amara stayed awake throughout the night.
When morning finally came, Edith slowly raised her head and finally looked over at Amara. Her eyes were puffy and red, making her large irises stand out even more. Her arms still shook slightly, and her hair had lost its shine. She smiled tiredly.
“I’m still here,” she said, voice raspy and hoarse.
Amara smiled back. “You’re still here.”
​
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I'm really sorry if this isn't the right subreddit to talk about this. Please take it down if it isn't. I realise that the stories people have told here are so much more traumatic, and I feel mine isn't even close to comparable as I never was actually abused. I mainly wanted to mention this just to sort of... I guess get it out there and maybe... just maybe meet someone who experienced the same as me.
Back when I was around 15-16, I broke up with my ex and I was beyond heartbroken. I basically cried for days and wanted to find anyone who would give me even the tiniest bit of affection. Somehow though, and I know this was a beyond stupid idea... I decided to go onto Omegle to meet people. I met a guy who called himself Julian, saying he was from France and was a medical student. He was incredibly nice to me and often went out of his way to praise me and make me feel good. Kinda exactly what I was begging for after my breakup.
We eventually started dating, with it being a long distance relationship as I was from the UK. We spoke for a few months online, though sadly being young and so blinded by the affection he gave me, I never realised how manipulative he truly was. The things he would say seemed so innocent and caring to me, but they were full of attempts to guilt-trip me while at the same time throwing in constant praise about how amazing I was, how cute and gorgeous I was. He would say all this while occasionally mentioning how if it wasn't for me, he'd of killed himself by now. We had casual talks but this was basically constant for several months. I didn't think anything of it because I was so in love with him.
After a few months went by, we planned to meet up someday. He wanted to come to the UK and take me on a trip to London... just us two.. alone. As I type this, I remember that he even mentioned wanted to specifically rent a car so we could just be alone on the trip. Again, being so naïve and blinded I didn't realise how questionable this was when aside from a few random images, I had never actually seen his face on a video call. He always refused claiming it was due to being shy. All I had was a few random images of some guy he claimed to be.
Soon after, I told my parents as I wanted them to know about this guy I had been dating and that he was coming to visit. My mum was cautious but I'm not sure if she thought much of it. She asked to meet the guy first which Julian claimed he was fine with. I kinda thought that meant he wasn't a danger until I realised years later that child groomers will often happily meet parents. My mum did though tell my Dad who I never actually intended to tell because we didn't really see each other much. When I next stayed at his, him and my step mum asked a number of questions and eventually asked to see my chats with him. I wasn't okay with it but he claimed that he'd only be okay with this if he could see our chats. It wasn't soon after that he refused to give me my phone back as he basically noticed the red flags immediately. He went through a number of conversations that were just unnatural, being full of constant praise, guilt-tripping, and generally hugely one sided towards me just so he could make me feel good. He told me how no one talks like this but I didn't believe him and had a full on meltdown over it trying to convince him that he is a good guy. He eventually took my phone, my laptop, and basically blocked me from accessing the internet completely. I honestly cried and cried. I hated him at the time.
When I went back to my mums, I was still horribly upset and full on breaking down. I was so distressed by everything that I remember literally hitting my head against the car trying to hurt myself. When I got home, I had my main computer that I could use so I finally got back in contact with Julian after everything. Little did I know that my Dad was actually using my Laptop to spy on me and this conversation I was having with him. He told my mum who immediately came storming upstairs to tell me to get off the Internet completely.
After a few hours, things sort of calmed down. I can't remember how but I managed to contact Julian again without my dad knowing and I proceeded to ask a number of questions about who he actually was. I had actually found a Facebook account of a guy who went by a different name but had the exact same photos that Julian had sent me. He claimed they were a friend who gave him permission to use his photos, but yet whenever I asked for him to send me even one photo of the actual him, he just made up excuses. He really just wouldn't tell me who he was, instead choosing to come up with constant excuses while throwing in the occasional guilt-trip about how he'd kill himself if we broke up. Despite all this though, I was still blinded and loved him. I mentioned to him that once I grew up, we can be together and I couldn't wait for the day. The last message I ever got from him was: "I promise you .. i won't give up that easy .. i will always think about you and try to smile my pain away everytime i wake up.. i promise i will be seeing and knowing that you are happy.. i promise you that from now on i won't be ready to run". I believe that was actually before my dad found out about us talking again.
I've tried to speak to him again over the years but never got a response. The accounts he used to talk to me seem to have been inactive since that day, and I can't find anything about him. He's pretty much a ghost and I feel I'll never truly know who he was. All I can say though is that I feel if my parents didn't intervene, I wouldn't be here today to make this post. I don't know what he would have done to me, but I guess its best not to think about it. I honestly worry about the people who maybe weren't as fortunate as I was. It actually scares me to know how close I was to losing everything, and the idea that maybe some people actually did...
But yea, That's the story of how I was groomed. I'm 24 now so it was quite a long time ago, and honestly I don't even think much of it nowadays. I honestly kinda feel like I should though. I really just wish I knew who he actually was but I know I'll never find out. I guess the lesson here aside from don't speak to strangers on Omegle is to not let your emotions get the better of you. All I wanted was affection after a breakup and it nearly costed me my life.

I met my TF while they were in a serious long term relationship, with someone who honestly seems like their soulmate. It was your standard world-overturning tf encounter, I dont need to go into a lot of detail, but to me it seemed completely mutual, to be clear none of us ever confessed or was explicit about what happened, nor brought up the idea of tf. Shortly after meeting she has spontaenously gotten a new job, moved far away to be closer to her partner, and been completely cold to me/shutting down any attempt to talk or meet up, acting in a way she works very hard to hide with nearly anyone else. We are essentially in no contact.
Obviously I have internal work to do and need to get my life together, and Im not interested in forcibly breaking up their relationship; if the TF stuff is really destiny then union will happen naturally.
But I cant help but wonder whats going through her mind. How is she continuing to see her partner after such a powerful moment? How does she seem to be living totally unaffected, living as she was before, while Im here totally broken by the encounter and poor circumstances that led to abandonment? Does she feel any sadness over the situation? Am I imagining the whole thing, is it actually a one sided delusion on my part? I hope a runner tf or someone who has experienced similar could give me insight into what is happening. Thank you

hi, I have no idea where to find realistic advice/help and I thought this would be the best place to ask. my dad has been abusive to me, my brother, and my mom for years. both physically and mentally/verbally. I can't speak for my brother, but the times my dad got violent towards me were because I didn't get "good" grades and satisfied his expectations. he always abused my mom and blamed her for not raising her children right and said it's all her fault. I moved into college last summer and thought everything was going well, until I came back home a few days ago. I told my dad that I didn't want to pursue premed and wanted to do cs. he got extremely angry and yelled at me for not respecting him as a parent and wanting to live my own life. we ended the conversation by agreeing to take more time to think about what's best for my future and talk again. however, my mom told me last night that he hit her face and kicked her legs at the park, once again blaming her for me not wanting to do premed. this is obviously so flabbergasting and frustrating, because my mom has no fault?? and I really don't see what's wrong with me wanting to do something that I want to do. I know most of this might not make much sense, but that's pretty much the gist of it. I definitely think my dad has a mental disorder. anyways, I really don't know what to do. or what I can do. I really don't want my dad to associate himself with any of us anymore. my mom has suffered so much because of him. you might question why we haven't done anything to remove him from our lives - but my dad is actually insane. my mom has constantly told us that she's always been too scared to do anything about this, because she knows he would definitely find a way to come back. it wouldn't be an exaggeration if I said he would kill all of us, and then kill himself. also, all of the members in my mom's family passed away, so she literally has no one but me and my brother, whereas my dad has his entire siblings/parents/etc. is there any realistic solution to this situation? would a restraining order be enough? what about our house, car, the financial aspect? there's so many things to put into consideration I have no idea where to even begin. I just feel so bad for my mom. she's put up with this for years and years, unable to escape because she had no one to help her and she knows my dad would find a way to come back and destroy her. I'm sorry for blabbering but I seriously don't know what to do. I know it's also my fault for not taking step towards fixing this issue, but in the back of my mind, he's my father and I didn't want to ruin his life either. but things have gotten too far now and I really want to put an end to this. tldr, I'd like realistic advice as to whether a restraining order (or anything of that sort) would be enough to make sure my dad is not able to reach out or meet me, my brother, and my mom in any way. please let me emphasize once again that my dad is actually insane and if I were to take this situation lightly, he would find a way to come back and kill all of us. so I really need to find a way where he CANNOT come near us...I'd appreciate all the help I can get. thank you so so much

My eczema, despite a near year-long flare, is probably in the mild side. Yet, it's really sucked, so I really empathize with all of you struggling with worse.
What I've found: steroid creams rebound and make me more prone to flares elsewhere, while oral prednisone - while amazing - is obviously a short-term solution.
Some inexpensive, non-prescription things that have helped whenever I feel the itch coming on:

1. Coal tar soap. Especially letting the soap absorb for a minute before washing off with cold water.
2. Coal tar cream, ala MG217 brand. Really fights the inflammation and also some mild anti-fungal properties. Just don't rub in too vigorously as I'm always tempted to do.
3. Anti-fungal soap. Mine has 1% tolnaftate. I think fungus is an underrated cause of eczema, at least it was for me. Really helped me a lot.
4. Avoiding lots of topical anti-bacterial things, like anti-bac bandages, neosporin, etc. This seems to cause redness and itchiness.
5. Ice packs! Recommended by my wife's allergist for her post-shot inflammation. This also helps a ton if you are patient. Like wet wraps, but less messy.
6. Eucerin original cream, after using the above soaps or creams. I thought all of those premium repair moisturizers were the same, but this one seems better.
7. The no-rub sprays, especially the Calamine pink one enhanced with numbing Pramoxine HCl 1%. Spraying it on helps me avoid the temptation to rub in too vigorously, which reignites the itch and inflammation. Only caution about Calamine is that it can lock in heat and sweat, which can reignite the itch.

What's helped you guys?

I live in an apartment underneath the fitness center in an apartment building. I was made aware that the apartment was under the fitness center and there was some noise due to that. However I did not understand how loud it would be.
The banging of the weights is actually quieter in the gym than in my apartment below. I work from home in a relatively stressful job field and there are days where someone is working out until nearly 1am and then there is someone else starting a workout at 4:30am. The stress from the sporadic banging and apartment shaking combined with the lack of sleep has caused my work to suffer and I am beginning to suffer from panic attacks due to the lack of sleep and stress.
I am fully prepared to pay the fee to break my lease early, but is there a precedent to end my lease without having to pay the fee? I asked about transferring apartments within the building and they say that I must wait a certain period of time until I can transfer. I would rather pay the fee then wait for a transfer. Being able to sleep for longer that 4-5 hours a night is a very high priority for me, to the extent that I will pay the fee anyways if nothing comes up. However, the fee is about 5000 USD and I would prefer not to have to pay that.

I need some advice and to learn more about CPS and what to expect. This is going to be pretty long so will include a TLDR.
My sister "L" (32f) is an awful parent. She is constantly living in a home filled with animal feces, no food, no plumbing, etc. She still thinks she's 25, and is constantly out partying with whichever new boyfriend she has that week. My neice "T" (13f) is a great kid but has grown up in this awful situation. L leaves T alone for hours at a time during all hours of the night while she is out at the bars. T calls me at least once a week to tell me what her mom is doing and that she's bored. Her house is near horder level, filled with all sorts of cat and dog feces.
Let me preface by saying that I should've called CPS long ago, but I didn't want to be responsible for my sister losing her daughter.
Fast forward to this week. L has a new boyfriend with lots of money and was preparing to go on a 5 state vacation with him. T was not invited. T called me and told me she was staying with a friend during this time. I didn't realize until yesterday that she had lied to me. She was home by herself in this disgusting house with no food. If I would have known she was by herself, I would've let her stay with me, as would the rest of my family.
Last night, someone called CPS. I suspect it was T, and that this is her way of putting her mom in her place/giving her a wake up call, however this is not confirmed. The police showed up, took several pictures of the house, and sent her to a foster home for the night. The rest of my family tried to take her instead, however the police said it was too late to do background checks (it was about 10pm). My neice is terrified, obviously, but is with a safe family a city away. She still had her phone last night, but hasn't texted me back this morning, I assume the family took it.
Some of my family is on their way to L's house to clean and throw everything away. L is still several states away with no return in sight for the next couple of days. My father is going to get custody of T today and be her foster parent until L can get her back.
Now here is where I need info. My family thinks that if they clean the house, L will be able to take T back immediately. However, I don't believe this for a minute. Due to the state of the house, I assume that L will have to find a job (she's unemployed), take a drug test( she does several recreational drugs), and prove to CPS that T is safe there. I can see this being at least a month long process, if not more. I've read on the sub that a lot of times it takes years to get the child back. My sister is an awful parent, and thinks that this is just normal things.
I am just looking for some insight on what the process of getting your child back looks like. Any help is much appreciated.
TLDR: Niece is in a foster home, sister thinks she is going to get her back immediately, need info on the process for getting your child back. Sisters house is disgusting and she's a deadbeat parent.
Edit: I am in Idaho.

Guinness World Records has been expanded by a space expert in order to showcase some incredible statistics found throughout the rest of the cosmos. In a new video this week, British scientist and BBC TV broadcaster Brian Cox says, "If there was a Guinness World Records 'Universe' book, the records would be remarkable." Cox quickly moves through an extensive list of exciting space-based records, starting with "the most enormous compact object," a supermassive black hole, a picture of which was taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope three years ago. The so-called M87 galaxy, which is six billion times more massive than the sun and is located 55 million light-years from Earth.In addition to numerous records, Cox unveils the universe's fastest object as well as its biggest structure and smallest object. The scientist identified Glass-z13 as the farthest distant verified galaxy when asked. "The light's journey from it to the telescope took around 13.4 billion years. We are examining the galaxy as it might have been 200 million or 300 million years after the Big Bang. Glass-z13 has a distance from Earth of little over 33 billion light-years due to the expansion of the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope, the largest telescope of its sort ever constructed, made the discovery of the far-off galaxy. The Webb telescope has been conducting research into deep space and sending stunning images back to Earth since its deployment earlier this year. As Cox points out, recordings of the universe are subject to perpetual change as astronomers and scientists make new discoveries all the time using more potent tools like the Webb telescope.
What reionized the Universe, and when?
When did the transparency of the universe begin? It's a strange but crucial question. The Universe was once opaque, but over time it changed to transparency and is still transparent now. It is literally the reason we can see far-off objects in the sky, and in a more existential sense, that instant of cosmic transparency had an impact on the behaviour of galaxies, the formation of stars, and other things. Answering the question is something that many astronomers want to do because it has significant ramifications for the objects we want to study and because we are here because of it. Astronomers from several countries may have discovered the solution to the puzzle: 12.7 billion years ago, roughly 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang. The fact that this is a few hundred million years later than previous calculations has some intriguing ramifications. Our entire Universe was in a hot, dense condition and all of its matter was ionised immediately after the Big Bang, like minutes after it: Any hydrogen or helium nuclei were free of any electron bonds. When an electron attempted to move, a photon, a particle of light, would strike it and cause it to fall. At the time, all of the light was incredibly high-energy and more than capable of maintaining the ionisation of the environment. As matter is so dense, if you were in this miasma, which in a sense you were since everything in the Universe was, it would appear absolutely opaque to you. An ionisation timeline Gas was cold and neutral in the early Universe (on the left), but as time goes on (on the right), radiation from stars and active black holes rips electrons off hydrogen atoms, illuminating the gas. An ionisation timeline Gas was cold and neutral in the early Universe (on the left), but as time goes on (on the right), radiation from stars and active black holes rips electrons off hydrogen atoms, illuminating the gas. The time interval is roughly one billion years from left to right. Thesan Collaboration, in picture Astonishingly, as the Universe cooled and expanded over the next 400,000 years, the average photon eventually ran out of energy to ionise hydrogen. For the first time, protons and electrons united and remained together to form neutral hydrogen. Recombination is the term used to describe the joining of an electron and a proton, hence this event is referred to as recombination even though it was the first time most atoms had united. Continuing the story Neutral hydrogen is highly good at absorbing visible light, the wavelengths of light humans can see, therefore the universe was still opaque even though the density of the Universe was reducing as it expanded. This period is known as the Dark Ages. That situation would last for a very, very long period until new objects formed that could emit ultraviolet light. When they were created, they ionised the hydrogen in space once more, but this time was different since the Universe had a lower density, allowing photons to go farther without being absorbed. Space became transparent all of a sudden and remained so. We can see a great distance even today because the majority of gas is ionised, or officially called a plasma. Reionization refers to this point in the universe's history. However, when did that occur? A pleasant approach to learn more exists. A blazar, or galaxy containing a supermassive black hole spewing energy, as depicted by an artist. Credit: Science Communication Lab and DESY A blazar, or galaxy containing a supermassive black hole spewing energy, as depicted by an artist. Credit: Science Communication Lab and DESY Image: Science Communication Lab at DESY Huge black holes evolved in the centres of galaxies as they initially emerged from the darkness. These black holes would collect matter as it fell into them, building up in a disc that would become extremely hot and emit high-energy ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays. These galaxies are what astronomers refer to as quasars, and we can view them from a very, very long way. When these quasars' light reaches us, it battles the Universe's expansion, which causes their wavelengths to lengthen—a process known as redshifting. In other words, the redshift reveals the quasar's distance, which in turn reveals how long after the Big Bang we observe it. Due to the fact that light can only move at a certain speed, objects that are further away are redshifted more and appear to us in the past.Because of the quasar's immense strength, even if we observe it before reionization, it will have already ionised the hydrogen immediately around it, allowing light to escape. The light from the quasar will be absorbed if there is a cloud of hydrogen between us and the quasar that is sufficiently removed from it to remain neutral. The redshift of the wavelength gap we detect in the quasar's light indicates how far away the cloud is from us and, more significantly, how far back in time we saw it. Very far distant clouds are neutral and unionised. However, following reionization, we suddenly stop noticing them because they are unable to take in the quasar's light.. So in theory, all we need to do is isolate the light from a collection of distant quasars using really good spectra. Numerous wavelengths will exhibit significant absorption, which will disappear at a sufficiently low redshift. Reionization took place then. This is really difficult to do in real life. You need really brilliant quasars, and even then, they are faint because they are so far away. Additionally, you need very good spectra, which calls for a large telescope and prolonged exposures. Numerous additional factors must also be taken into consideration, such as how the universe was structured back then. However, the astronomy team actually did this. They used archived observations of 42 additional extremely bright quasars from two other observatories in addition to 25 very distant very bright quasars from the XQR-30 survey. They discover that the Universe first became transparent roughly 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang by closely examining the 67 quasar spectra. Illustration of the first stars in the universe illuminating the gas clouds where they originated. Photo: NAOJ Illustration of the first stars in the universe illuminating the gas clouds where they originated. Photo: NAOJ And that's really fascinating! What precisely ionised the universe is unknown. There was enough time for supermassive, extremely hot, luminous stars to form as well, and they could have also blasted out UV light, enough to contribute. It might have been these very quasars. Was it thus stars, quasars, or a combination of both? The timing may be able to focus this. Reionization was previously estimated to have occurred 200 million years earlier, but if the new estimate is accurate, there is plenty of room for many more of these first-generation stars to form and contribute. So, if you'll excuse the pun, it might have been both stars and quasars working together. Around this time, galaxies were developing, and if these stars were incredibly powerful, they could blow gas straight out of the galaxies, altering the evolution of those galaxies. In order to comprehend when these stars existed and what they might have done to their surrounding environments, we need to know when reionization took place. I'll remind you that you reside in a galaxy and on a planet revolving around a star whose lineages may be traced back to this period. Reionization—what it was, when it happened, and how it affected the universe—thus plays a role in our existence. It's clear why we want to know the answer. And it might be here at last. Naturally, more observations are preferable. We may also be able to determine the duration of reionization if we have more exact estimates of this number from models of cosmic structure. 1,000,000 years? 10, fifty, or one hundred? It's almost certain that larger telescopes with better cameras will be used to answer that question. We are among the first species to comprehend precisely how the universe came into being and what occurred to it after that. You can quote me on that, but the Universe took 13.8 billion years to get here, and I think it was worth the wait.

Hello everyone,
Your Coming Summer of Blackouts The grid monitors say two-thirds of the U.S. risks electricity outage. -WSJ
US power grids vulnerable to extreme heat conditions this summer, NERC says -Reuters
Next Gen Battery Storage and Solar Power for Industrial and Residential Use
NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV) Poised to Take Advantage of Government Incentives, Impressive Management and Experiencing Rapid Growth
Current Price $2.80/Share Public Float 28.28M Shares Held by Insiders and Institutions 18.07% - Source Yahoo Finance
About NeoVolta - NeoVolta designs, develops, and manufactures advanced energy storage systems for both residential and industrial use. Its storage solutions are engineered with lithium iron phosphate (LiFe(PO4)) battery chemistry, which is clean, nontoxic, and nonflammable. The residential-focused NeoVolta NV14 is equipped with a solar-rechargeable 14.4 kWh battery system, a 7,680-Watt inverter, and a web-based energy management system with 24/7 monitoring. The system’s 6,000-cycle battery life, one of the longest on the market, translates to 16.5 years of useful life, based on a full charge and discharge each day. The NV14 has passed the product safety standards set forth by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for battery energy storage safety testing.
Award Winning Technology
The NV14 system has been named one of Solar Power World’s Top Solar Storage Products for 2022. This marks the fourth consecutive year the NV14 has received the award from Solar Power World, one of the solar industry’s leading media outlets.
How it Works
Engineered For Safety With Iron, Not Ion Home Energy Storage Built with Safer Lithium Iron Phosphate Built with Lithium Iron Phosphate [LiFe(PO4)] Longer-lasting and safer battery technology
Non-toxic, cobalt-free energy storage Built for Stability Non-toxic, with superior thermal and chemical stability
NeoVolta Is Built with Safer Lithium Iron not Lithium Ion with Cobalt Built specifically for solar energy storage Batteries are designed for homes, not for cars
NV14 has a higher temperature tolerance than Lithium-Ion batteries Under extreme heat, Iron outperforms Ion
No Maintenance Costs Required 10 year warranty
Built with longer-lasting IRON, not ION 13,896 Wh X 365 days x 10 years 50,720 kWh lifetime throughput
Floor or Wall Mounted Easy Installation Weatherproof and installs in a garage or on the side of a home.
Remote Monitoring They monitor the health of the system so you don't have to.
VIDEO: See How the NeoVolta NV14/NV24 Work
NeoVolta’s NV14 is the first Lithium Iron Energy Storage System to be approved by the California Energy Commission. It seamlessly powers up to 16 breakers and 32 amps of continuous power through peak rates or grid outages.
Connect to DC solar installations without any external inverters or to AC solar installations via String or Micro Inverter.
The rapid auto transfer switch, ensures that even when the grid goes down, power remains uninterrupted.
Recent News
NeoVolta’s Backup System Saves MDX Labs’ Lifesaving Medications During Multiple Grid Outages
- Commercial Battery Backup System Has Prevented the Loss of MDX’s Critical Functions and Thousands of Dollars in Inventory During Numerous Power Failures
SAN DIEGO, May 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV) – NeoVolta Inc., manufacturer of Smart Energy Storage Solutions, has kept MDX Labs protected during multiple grid outages with reliable battery backup. Thanks to NeoVolta, the laboratory’s critical functions (refrigeration, server, and lights) have kept running, saving thousands of dollars while sustaining lifesaving medications and vaccines.
Founded in 2020, Henderson-based MDX Labs is the top privately held molecular and clinical diagnostic laboratory in the state of Nevada. MDX provides on-site testing services to a range of manufacturers, casinos, entertainers, restaurants, and nonprofit organizations, and it is the official overflow laboratory for the Southern Nevada Health District.
MDX Labs houses large quantities of vaccines, patient samples, and medications that require refrigeration. When grid outages occurred in the past, MDX would often lose tens of thousands of dollars in product and face periods of product unavailability while awaiting restock. In late 2021, MDX began searching for a battery backup system and discovered NeoVolta, which features a clean lithium iron phosphate battery and a hybrid inverter that can accept 208-volt power connections. NeoVolta can also charge from the power grid, eliminating the need for solar installation. In March 2022, MDX Labs installed NeoVolta’s NV14 Energy Storage System.
“Being able to support commercial facilities that are powered with 208-volt electricity is an amazing capability. Transformers are not required, which saves customers thousands of dollars and eliminates loud equipment that gives off radiant heat,” said Brent Willson, CEO of NeoVolta. “Our energy storage solutions are a very smart investment, especially considering the cost and consequence of an outage that would result in the loss of vital medical supplies and medications. We are thrilled to be partnering with MDX, a world-class clinical diagnostic laboratory.” FULL ARTICLE
NeoVolta Approved for Partnership by GoodLeap, the Top U.S. Financer for Solar and Sustainable Tech
- Offering Flexible Options for Consumers to Pay for Battery Storage
- NeoVolta Approved for Partnership by GoodLeap, the Top U.S. Financer for Solar and Sustainable Tech
SAN DIEGO, May 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV) – NeoVolta Inc., manufacturer of Smart Energy Storage Solutions, has partnered with the sustainable home improvement finance platform GoodLeap to make solar energy storage as affordable as possible for more homeowners.
GoodLeap will finance standalone NeoVolta Energy Storage System (ESS) installations with or without solar panels. They offer flexible terms and highly competitive rates. As of 2022, GoodLeap was the number one financing platform, responsible for 26% of the entire U.S. residential solar market.
To apply, homeowners can coordinate with their installer on costs and then complete an online application. The process is fast and easy, and the underwriting is very flexible so that more homeowners get approved. Finally, GoodLeap has a strong reputation for exceptional customer service, with phone calls answered live by experienced solar professionals.
“GoodLeap’s low financing rates will allow more homeowners to enjoy years of utility savings and long-lasting blackout protection with NeoVolta energy storage,” said CEO Brent Willson, CEO of NeoVolta. “Our energy storage solutions are a very smart investment, and it’s never been easier to get started. With GoodLeap financing, NeoVolta’s market is opening to a much bigger audience. We are thrilled to be partnering with a world-class provider of sustainable home improvement financing.”
The partnership with GoodLeap is expected to help fuel NeoVolta’s continued success in the rapidly growing home energy storage market.
Devastating power outages throughout the country, caused by wildfires, extreme weather, and an increasingly unstable grid system, have underscored the urgent need for home backup power.
NeoVolta storage systems are designed for safety and performance. They use lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry, the nonflammable and nontoxic alternative to lithium ion. NeoVolta’s flagship NV14 energy storage system has a very high storage capacity of 14.4 kilowatt-hours, expandable to 24.0 kWh with the optional NV24 battery—without the expense of a second inverter. The system’s inverter discharges 7.7 kilowatts of instantaneous power, more than most mainstream competitors.
For its superior safety, performance and compatibility with any solar system, new or existing, the NV14 has been named one of Solar Power World’s top storage products four years in a row. FULL ARTICLE
NeoVolta Selected to Provide American Development Partners with Energy Storage for More Than 400 Regenerative Treatment Centers
- NeoVolta’s Energy Storage and Intelligent Power Management Will Be Deployed in Treatment Center Builds Nationwide Over Next Seven Years
- NeoVolta Selected to Provide American Development Partners with Energy Storage for More Than 400 Regenerative Treatment Centers
SAN DIEGO, March 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV) – NeoVolta Inc., manufacturer of Smart Energy Storage Solutions, announced today that its systems will be deployed in more than 400 Orthagenex treatment centers nationwide. This is part of a rollout of NeoVolta batteries in thousands of American Development Partners (ADP) properties across the country over the next several years.
Together with ADP, NeoVolta will provide energy storage systems and intelligent power management for Orthagenex’s cutting edge regenerative medicine treatments centers. These 400 builds over the next seven years will be equipped with NeoVolta’s NV14 and NV24 Energy Storage Systems. The clean solar energy stored in the NeoVolta batteries will be used to dramatically reduce electric bills and serve as a backup in the event of a power loss.
American Development Partners developer Manny Butera said, “At ADP, we work with companies who innovate. NeoVolta’s advanced energy storage product is a perfect fit for the properties we are developing. We are thrilled to continue our close relationship with NeoVolta.” FULL ARTICLE
NeoVolta Poised for California’s NEM Incentives to Pair Solar with Battery Storage
- Additional $630 Million in California State Funding Set Aside to Support Residential Low-Income Solar Plus Storage Adopters
- NeoVolta Poised for California’s NEM Incentives to Pair Solar with Battery Storage
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV) – NeoVolta Inc., manufacturer of Smart Energy Storage Solutions, announced today that it expects California’s recently updated Net Energy Metering (NEM) program to drive increased demand for energy storage systems.
On December 15, 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a decision to update the NEM tariff to promote consumer adoption of solar and battery storage. The program will go into effect on April 13, 2023. According to the CPUC, the move was designed to financially incentivize Californians to install both battery and solar systems.
The CPUC stated that the current NEM 2.0 program was not aligned with California’s grid reliability and climate goals, noting that the increased use of electricity between 4 and 9 p.m. causes dependence on fossil fuel gas plants to meet the demand. With the battery storage incentive, the CPUC hopes to see an increased adoption of residential energy storage that will better support the needs of the grid, with customers saving self-generated solar energy for use in the evening hours.
An additional $630 million in state funding has been set aside by the California State Legislature for residential low-income solar plus battery storage adopters. The decision bolsters federal incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for solar and battery storage.
It’s important to note that NEM 3.0 is not retroactive. Rooftop solar systems installed under NEM 2.0 will remain under that policy for a 20-year grandfathering period. This means existing rooftop solar owners who add a battery after the April 13 deadline will not be subject to NEM 3.0.
“We expect that NEM 3.0 will make Californians more aware of their energy consumption, encouraging them to conserve energy and pair rooftop solar systems with battery storage,” said NeoVolta CEO Brent Willson. “Californians who adopt this strategy will dramatically reduce their electrical bills while increasing their energy resiliency during periods of prolonged blackouts, fires, and flooding.”
California’s vast solar plus storage market has a dramatic impact on the grid. California has about 12 GW of distributed solar generation already installed, equal to nearly 25% of peak demand statewide. California also has more than 80,000 customer-owned batteries connected to the grid, with a storage potential of 900 MW, according to a September 2022 study by the California Solar & Storage Association. FULL ARTICLE
Homebuilder Rebates and Savings
Starting 2020: California Requires Solar On New Construction Each NeoVolta NV14 Could Save Builders $8,500+ (Equipment & Rebates)
Impressive Management
Brent Wilson, CEO
Brent Willson is a retired USMC Colonel with 30+ years of experience, who managed $100B aviation acquisition portfolio for the Defense Department. Brent is passionate about clean energy and providing battery energy storage solutions to consumers that provide the comfort of black out protection and the ability to offset increasing grid costs, with the solar power they produce.
NeoVolta Directors & NeoVolta Advisory
An older investor presentation (2019) but still relevant.
I'll be back with more soon on NeoVolta Inc. (NASDAQ: NEOV)
Disclaimer

How do you all in trauma specialities and hospice do it? I’ve dealt with this sound several times but not nearly as much as you all have. I heard it yesterday, again, not at work - in my personal life, but it brought up so memories in this line of work hearing it. The sound of a heart literally breaking from losing someone - that gut-wrenching wail. It always shakes me up. Hospice maybe not as much because it is more expected, but I know you hear it often. But those of you in trauma/emergency specialties, I know you hear it a lot. I know it’s an odd post, but ever since yesterday, hearing it again, it’s weighed on my mind, heavily. How do you cope? I hope your alls mental health is doing okay.

Why are there so many accidents on US-23 along the east side of Ann Arbor? The stretch of highway between M-14 and I-94 seems to have daily accidents. As far as I can tell they are almost always on the stretch between Geddes and Washtenaw. To me it seems that there are more accidents per volume of traffic than similar stretches of highway near here. I-94/other sections of M-14/96 etc. It’s been the case since I moved here about 10 years ago. What gives?