《Liberum Book One: Waste Deep》Chapter 15: "If it goes, I go."
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"What the fuck is that? Is that his arm?" Lemmy asked, peeking into the stall as Parker let go of the growth. It was steadily spreading, working it's way across the ceiling and floor. It seemed to be making a bee line for the drain sunken into the middle of the linoleum.
Aldon shrugged, "Does it look like I know? Make yourself useful and keep a lookout from the bathroom door. An don't try anything. I know your face sonny jim." He ordered, pulling Lemmy in close by the back of his neck.
Lemmy didn't need to be told twice. Once Aldon had let him go he stumbled over to the door and cracked it open. Everything seemed normal out in the dining area from what he could see. He couldn't make much out but the street looked about as busy as it normally did. He thought he could see the blue and red flashes of police lights, but when couldn't you in this city?
"I'm gonna have a look at your arm. Don't you dare throw up on me." Parker said, lightly slapping Harvel a few times. He was sweating and mumbling, continuously gulping down mouthfuls of his own saliva. "Can you hear me? If you don't say anything I'm gonna start cutting that thing off of you." Parker said, holding his head steady to try and make eye contact.
For a moment Harvels eyes focused on her, his face becoming clear and sober. "Time and time again...thanked them, for a piece of mind. They helped me find... the music and the rhyme." He sang weakly, his eyes losing focus, and rolling back in his head as he trailed off.
Parker let go of Harvels forehead and let his head loll back onto his shoulders. "Shit! Well what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" She asked, furiously rubbing her brow in frustration. If she had that button she'd be pushing right now.
"Who cares? Get to cutting him out already! I get the feeling we don't have much time." Aldon barked, arms crossed impatiently.
Parker grabbed the knife left suspended in the growth and pulled. It didn't come loose easily. She had to put nearly all of her strength into it just sliding the blade out an inch at a time. It was almost like whatever the stuff was it was squeezing down on the blade. With a final tug it came loose, causing Harvel to jolt upright before slumping back down onto the stall wall.
"Sorry in advance. This is probably gonna hurt." She said, giving Harvel a sympathetic look. He just sang something incoherent in response. She wasn't sure what he'd said but it sounded like; "Castles of stone... and glory. Lost faces... adore you."
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The tips of Ashas fingers drummed against the side of her head, causing the image of Pho Saigon projected into her eyes to vibrate a bit. She'd seen Lemmy, Harvel and the pair of pilots slip into the bathroom nearly ten minutes ago. She checked her mental time sheet again. Maybe ten more minutes left until things got truly interesting.
She turned off the live feed and walked over to the window on the far side of her office. Staring out into the mass of whirring lights that formed the city of Boris Valka, she could practically see the restaurant from where she stood. She didn't have to see it actually, Asha knew exactly where it was. She knew exactly where everything was, and that was exactly how she liked it.
Asha paced back and forth waiting for the next step to take place. 'Cerise should be here any second now.' She thought, eyes still laser focused in the direction of the eatery. He could be quite needy when He wanted to be. The elevator door at the other end of her office slid open.
"Mrs. Meadows, a man named He wishes to see you in his office?" Her assistant Cerise said, stepping off of the elevator, keeping her eyes planted to the floor at Ashas feet. For a moment Asha kept pacing to see if Cerise's head would move along with her.
"Thank you Miss Nadir, and as I've mentioned before, you may look me in the eye when you speak to me. I get self conscious about people looking at my feet, that's why we had those websites shut down, remember?" Asha said as she walked past Cerise and into the private elevator.
"Yes ma'am, sorry, it's just that your previous aide left an email that said-" Cerise began, quickly following Asha as the doors started to shut.
"My previous aide was let go for posting the majority of what was found on those websites. I wouldn't take his advice if I were you." Asha interrupted, shooting a wry smile Cerises way. Asha leaned over and pressed on a little piece of the metal near the bottom corner of the panel. She held her finger on the seamless, unmarked button for a moment, then drew her hand back and wiped her finger on the pants of her suit.
She didn't enjoy using dna locks, the pain was bearable but the mess they left behind was annoying at the best of times. Cerise offered her the handkerchief she was using to clean off the panel but Asha waved her away. She'd already used her suit as a twenty thousand credit napkin, no sense in changing her mind now.
Cerise just stared bewildered. She knew how much that suit had cost, she'd been the one who'd ordered the tailoring. She had only been Mrs. Meadows aid for a few weeks, but she continued to be surprised with how little Mrs. Meadows could be concerned with money, yet so concerned with company finances.
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"Cerise, as my assistant you are to know what to discuss outside of work and what not to, is that correct?" Asha asked, watching Cerise as she finished wiping blood off of every millimeter of the elevator panel.
"Yes ma'am, though I have a blanket policy of discussing nothing outside of these walls that occurs within them." Cerise replied, folding up the bloody handkerchief and slipping it back into her pocket.
"Good. Then there's nothing to worry about. What you are about to experience is never to leave the confines of this elevator. In fact, it is never to leave the confines of your own head, is that clear?" Asha asked, turning Cerise to face her.
"My own head, ma'am?" Cerise asked, eyes locked on Ashas hand still resting on her shoulder. This was only the second time she'd ever been physically touched while at work. The first had ended in a rather costly lawsuit.
"Yes, because, depending on the outcome of the next few days, someone in the near future may very well attempt to remove it through force. I need you to be ready for that." Asha explained, pressing the emergency stop button.
"This," Asha turned and pulled her hair back to show a little black square embedded behind her ear, "is a personal digital back up. Every memory from my birth until this moment is stored here if I need it. If I am killed, or if I indicate I am under enough duress, it will wipe itself. I've had it tied to my cognitive functions, if it goes, I go. I'm not asking you to do the same, but I want you to understand the gravity of this situation."
Cerise, ever the pragmatist asked, "And, if I say no?"
Asha smiled. "Then I let you off at the lobby, you go home, I write you a letter of recommendation so glowing future employers will suspect you've killed someone on my behalf. That's valuable in your line of work. Consider your answer carefully." She answered, checking her mental time sheet. Maybe another minute or two now.
Cerise mulled over her options for a moment. She'd worked incredibly hard for this position, pulling and scraping her way up the corporate ladder for the last seven years. When the news had come down that Mrs. Meadows' personal aide had been fired she'd nearly tripped on her way to submit her resume.
When she'd gotten the job itself she was surprised just how little work compared to her previous positions she'd had to do. Mrs. Meadows practically did everything herself. As an intern her duties had been so vast and numerous that she'd barely slept for the first year and a half. Now her only errands had more to do with Mrs. Meadows' husband than Mrs. Meadows herself.
She'd been told that they were some sort of power couple, dealing in souls and evil and the like. They'd certainly come off as an odd pair at first, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Most of her duties involved delivering fresh clothes to Mr. Greigs' garage, and dropping off lists of things for him to do. Exceptionally normal considering the lack of severed heads or briefcases filled with unmarked bills.
This moment was probably the only time she'd seen this side of Mrs. Meadows' business. The fact that she essentially had a dead-man switch in her brain was a bit of a leap in tone from delivering clean socks to her husband. Cerise took a deep breath and decided that if there were a time for questions, it was now.
"Just to clarify, there isn't some sort of magic circle down there made of the blood of virgins brought to sacrifice on the whim of some nameless evil god is there? Because, I feel inclined to let you know that I would be very much unqualified to be an integral part of that." Cerise asked, calmly facing Asha and firmly planting her feet.
Asha had to scratch the back of her head and look away to keep from laughing. Not at the question itself, it wasn't entirely irrelevant, but at the earnest nature with which it had been delivered. "No, I'm afraid not. That would be much easier though." She replied, cracking a little smile.
"Then I don't see any reason to tender my resignation at this time." Cerise affirmed, never taking her eyes off of Ashas.
Asha pulled the emergency stop back out and the pair felt the elevator resume it's descent. "Good to hear. Now, you're going to want to take this." She said, pulling a little plastic bag out of her pocket. There was a singular green and white pill resting in the corner.
"I've been offered pills by superiors before ma'am. I have a strict policy of turning them down." Cerise stated, a nervous tone leaking into her voice. This had quickly taken an even more unpleasant turn than before.
"Ah, well said, but I can assure you that this is meant to keep you conscious, not the other way around. I'll leave it up to you for now, but I'm sure you'll understand soon enough. Have a seat if you will. It's going to be a bit of a long ride." Asha said, putting a code into the panel, causing two seats to unfold from the wall of the elevator. A bottle of water had already been placed in the cup holder of the seat opposite Ashas.
As the two took their seats, Asha switched her implant back to the feed of Pho Saigon. She watched a familiar form make it's way into the dining area of the restaurant. 'Ah, the gang's all here.' She thought, clasping her fingers together and staring at nothing in particular. It wouldn't be long before the ball finally got rolling.
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8 152Of the House of Deyspring
Terrisa and Horax have been inseparable since birth--after all, they're twins. But ordinary shroom farmers in their tiny village don't typically learn swordplay and combat archery. When their mothers' secret comes to light and their whole world turns upside-down, will their bond as twins break or hold? Featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters front and center, Of the House of Deyspring is a high fantasy set in a world of glowing mushrooms, impossibly vast forests, good food, and a war against the usurper king and his horde of demonic soldiers. Content warnings for profanity, violence, sexual content, and potentially triggering or traumatic content. Comments are appreciated. Though I have the basics of writing down, any tips or suggestions you may have are welcome.
8 83Call it a Mission
Palantine and Co. is an unusual company that does its work in an unusual field. But it's attractive enough to out of work Gary Bellamy, and offers decent pay and a good benefits package. But there are a few things a little strange about the local office. The CEO is perpetually out of town, apparently in search of ‘Enlightenment’. His co-workers are involved in research and investigations involve the likes of Bigfoot, ghosts, walk-ins and other supernatural phenomena, for who its not quite clear. It all seems a bit dodgy to Gary but again, good benefits package. Ephram Palantine is having problems of his own. His search for Enlightenment hasn’t been going all that well, has lead down some rather bizarre rabbit holes. It's about to get a lot worse. The employees of Palantine and Co. are themselves hoping their new hire is exactly what they need. Otherworldly phenomena is on the rise. A seven year old girl has gone missing in northern Michigan, and they are sure it involves something that happened to Gary when he was a boy, thirty years ago, not to mention that there have been sightings of same identical dead man on a Lake Erie beach now for several decades. Some might call what Gary and his co-workers are about to get involved in to protect humanity from a world whose borders with other realities are fraying at the edges, incredible and perhaps even insane. Some might call it a mission.
8 95Sarsaparilla's Scary Super Power. Completed
Sarsaparilla is an older teenage girl living on Mars. And, like many other young people around her, she has a super power. Or, rather, she is supposed to have a super power. Only she has never been able to activate it, she doesn’t even know what her super power is. This annoys her, tremendously. But she hides this behind a really sweet smile. Adalace is another teenage girl, also on Mars. She knows what her own super power is, and it is quite a good one. She is also really cute… so long has she keeps her feelings under control and doesn’t let out anything from her dark past. Teylon is a man, currently living on Earth. He likes to think of himself as still young, even if he is over fifty. He’s a bit smug about his successful career and is thinking of retiring… until a sadly unfortunate event leads him to the conclusion that he had better immigrate to Mars. Immediately. Apparently, meeting one’s own Angel of Death tends to cause people to make profound changes to their lives… Mars society had better brace itself, because once these three people, plus another three also not so quite stable individuals, collide with each other, the resulting explosion is not going to leave anyone on Mars unaffected. This is another Esmeralda, the Angel of Death, story. It follows on from my previous two such stories, but it is in no way dependent on the previous stories. They can be read in any order. It is fully written and proof read (using Word for Windows, no real editor touched this transcript) and comes to about 247,000 words (about 895 Royal Road pages). It is organized into 50 chapters and I will be publishing them roughly one per day. In my writing, there are multiple characters and multiple points of view. Each change in a point of view is introduced by a header, giving the viewpoint character’s name first, and possibly a title. Inside a Point of View section, dialog in italics represents the Point of View character’s thoughts, while dialog between quotes represent normal spoken dialog. This story is very much inspired by the anime A Certain Scientific Railgun. However I have only taken some elements from the anime, and changed everything I took to make my own story, and so it does not count as fanfiction. Yeah, I know, the book cover page isn’t very good. It’s the best I could do, by tracing over a stock image. The two ladies shown are supposed to be Adalace and Sarsaparilla. Ideally I would have liked there to be two images of this pair, one where they are smiling sweetly and looking cute, and one where they are looking really angry and dangerous. But that totally exceeds my graphics abilities. You will just have to imagine it.
8 116My Classmate is QiLin
They are real. There are different people and mythological creatures in the world.Because of a space cycle, the hidden doors of different worlds have been opened one after another, and mythological creatures from different worlds have flocked to each other. In order to deal with these mythological creatures, the human government has introduced the Mythological Biological Communication Method to ensure world peace between human beings and mythological creatures. Christopher Burba, a high school student living in Painesville, Ohio, never thought that his life would change, thinking that he would only live and die like an ordinary person. However, in the beginning of his high school life, he was disturbed by a strange exchange student; a QiLin named Dianthe became his deskmate, bringing him a completely different life. With the opening of the hidden door of different spaces over the world, mythological creatures from different worlds flock in. In order to deal with these mythological creatures, the human government has introduced the Mythological Biological Communication Method to ensure world peace between human beings and mythological creatures. Like Husky's silly Anubis werewolf, the devil who likes to do good, an Immortal bird who always walks away from himself, the princess of the sea demon who sings seriously out of tune... Mythological creatures have come into his life and brought him a new life. When Western Americans meet mythological creatures, what kind of sparks will they explode? Ha-ha, when you think of how wonderful all this life is, the "Gods' Dynasty" has already been staring at you. ? This story is written, by Treasure Dragon (CHN). I, ExactChangeOnly (USA) am her translator and interpretor. If you are a fan of the series, feel free to donate to our paypal! It encourages her to continue writing content and me to translate. ? Updates will be Monday to Fridays. ? Readers interested in this series of works can add the Chinese author, Treasure Dragon, directly via WeChat. Her ID there is cx949762967. If you have the proper inspiration, the author may make a character for you within the series. ? Readers who do not have WeChat can send me, ExactChangeOnly, a PM and I can ask the author or relay your comment, concern or encouraging words to her. Thank you kindly and we hope you enjoy the chapters to come!
8 140Mated to Twin Princes
"Miss Alexia, you look ravishing and beautiful" Luke began and Hayden finished off. We shook hands and shivers went down my back, the wind rose and water began to slowly rise from a small glass cup. "She's the one" Luke whispered. He called his mother, to get their father, the king "Attention to the people of White Heart, Prince Hayden and Luke have found their mate. Please rise as to introduce her, here is Miss Alexia Rose Blake. Your soon tou be new Queen and Luna of LockHart." King Devin announced. (The cover isn't their actual fur) highest rank #482 werewolf - 6/3/17#25 ELEMENTAL - 11/14/18#21 ELEMENTAL - 11/19/18
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