Amalgam Universe

Challenge #01699-D236: Everything You Can

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt. -- c/- Anon Guest

Improvisation goes well with inspired desperation, so it's said. Having been marooned on more than my fair share of asteroids, I can say it's a definite thing. Many a time, my arse has been saved by the ability to bodge up a life-pod out of wreckage and whatever the asteroid was made of.

And there was one time that I got eaten by some other far-scout's Hungry Caterpillar, but that's not this story. No. For a change, the world was quite comfortable and the habitat only mildly perturbing. Almost made me want to set up stakes, there. It had just about everything. Beautiful scenery. Plentiful edibles. Mostly-wonderful weather...

Unfortunately, it also had natives.

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Challenge #01698-D237: One Thing in Common

So, about those Deathworlders and their group singing/memetic hazards? -- RecklessPrudence

There were hundreds of human colonial representatives. An even third was busy having a heated argument with a second third, while the rest attempted to argue the other two groups into submission. Any moment, now, blood would be drawn and these savage Deathworlders would fly into a frenzy.

Which would not be good news for the first Ambassadorial Meet that actually welcomed these bloodthirsty, balding apes.

One of the human's

Challenge #01696-D235: Functionality

[From one person who got about three hours' sleep, to the person who dumped a new, extremely important, problem in their lap at godawful in the morning, and who they are responsible for]

"Have you slept at all, [Name]?"

"Not at all."

"You should try it sometime. I end up in less trouble when you do." -- RecklessPrudence

...by any other species standards, we just plain don't get tired. -- Archivaas Collective on Humanity's Self-realisation

The news of impending disaster was met

Challenge #01695-D234: Unlikely Survival Tactics

[Person #1]: Stop asking hard questions.

[Person #2]: Buddy, if I could stop thinking 'em, I'd stop asking 'em. -- RecklessPrudence

It's very clear that humans are gather-hunters whenever an isolating emergency occurs. Their first instinct is to gather everything they can and use that as a basis for what they do next. Often, this can be displacement activity in situations where the best course of action is to wait for the ERT to come to the rescue.

But there are other

Challenge #01694-D233: They Aren't the Champions

Something nice about all those who will never be champions but compete and play sport, and love it. -- Anon Guest

They say, do what you love, and you will never need to work again. This only really works if one is good at the thing one loves. There are people, out there, who are absolute pants at the thing they love. But they do it anyway, because love is, as the song says, strange.

Case in point, the Arse End Football

Challenge #01693-D232: The Most Dangerous Opponent

"You can’t hold a grudge forever"

“I’m not ‘holding a grudge’, I’m making decisions based on past evidence.” -- RecklessPrudence

"The humans are going to destroy all your careful plans," said the old general. "These are members of a species that coined the phrase, 'no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy'. You could try to learn from that."

The war council turned to stare and General Gerax. He was the last one to famously lose to the

Challenge #01692-D231: Items of Mass Destruction

It was hard not to admire a four-year-old who could disassemble a hygiene unit into so many pieces it took three engineers most of a duty shift to put it back together. -- RecklessPrudence

Of all the destructive items that humanity has in its collective repertoire, the two that cause the most amazement and confoundment are: the average pants pocket, and their own young. Left unsupervised, they can cause more chaos, destruction, and all-out-entropy than the tools actively designed to do so.

Challenge #01691-D230: Dangerous Lifeforms

[Name] wondered if considering that statement to be a fine example of famous last words made them unduly paranoid or just conscious of historical precedent. -- RecklessPrudence

There are numerous, common, famous last words. "I think it's going to be all right," is in the top ten. Likewise, "Hold my beer, I've got this," or, "Hey, watch this!" But of the all-time destined-to-be-last-words, Grax thought that, "Awright, silleh bugurz..." had to be a record-holder for the first prize.

Especially when it came

Challenge #01690-D229: Problems of Scale

"Lets poke it and see what it does?" famous last words or an eureka moment. -- Anon Guest

There is nothing so large and so terrifying that a human won't try to poke it. - Galactic Proverb.

Of all the terrors of the universe, black holes have to be the one that holds a universal horror. Nobody with any sense wants to be anywhere near a black hole. So, of course, humanity figured out how to get a station in a LaGrange

Challenge #01686-D225: Emergency!

Emergency Personnel are trained in response measures so that when something really bad happens, the Training kicks in and they work on auto-pilot till their brain gets over the shock. -- Anon Guest

In an emergency, it's easy to tell the trained personnel from the civilians. The civilians are the ones busy panicking, screaming, running around and generally being useless. It's the job of emergency personnel to wrangle the runners whilst dealing with the problem that caused the upset in the first

Challenge #01684-D223: User Unfriendly

A technomancer/techwhisperer who isn't sure that this whole 'machine spirit' thing is any more than people anthropomorphising complex devices that are still just machines, but is usually nice to them anyway. In an unwise moment possibly brought on by a stimulant or fatigue high, improper following of their med regime, when nervous, or possibly all of the above, in front of people they insult their personal machine and say they don't have to be nice to it, all computers like them

Challenge #01682-D221: Mind the Gap

A purpose isn't much of a comfort when there's no satisfaction to be found in it. -- RecklessPrudence

Some people have a grand purpose. They save the universe. They save lives. They even save Time. Most of them save the day. Then there's the people who don't save anyone. Their purpose... my purpose... is to fill the little gaps.

My name is Binraise, and I'm a third-level Administration Clerk.

It's my job to read profiles and recommend courses of action that could

Challenge #01680-D219: Rockit Launch 'n' BBQ

Actual thing said over the ruins of a test engine that had found a new fuel mix too spicy for it: "Whall, rocket fuel is kinda like a chain saw. If it warn't dangerous, it wouldn't be very useful." -- RecklessPrudence

People make assumptions. That much was natural. You see the way someone dresses. You hear the way they speak. You assume things about the rest of them. Most of those things are wrong. Katie Walker had learned this and used it

Challenge #01678-D217: More Than You Need to Know

"Of course it's a work of Art. Nobody understands what it is. -- Anon Guest

It was large. It was made of an assortment of materials. It was in the centre of the room, and therefore important. And it moved in the breeze. Sails and counterbalances shaped and painted like planets swung about in orbits devised by, apparently, one of the few minds who could understand five-dimensional mathematics[1].

Alas, this was a Graveworld. The society these people had built had also

Challenge #01677-D216: Hobby Fallout

[Title: Obstacle Course] Some are carefully planned to stretch our physical strength. Some just happen. -- Knitnan

Storm season on Hitizzy was never fun. Especially when the storms hit both in space and on the surface of the planet. It was said that Hitizzy was a place everyone got into, once in a while, but the weather rarely got the people in Hitizzy, into a tizzy. Except for this one time.

Everyone knew that attempts at weather control always ended badly, so

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A 2284-post collection

Challenge #01699-D236: Everything You Can

Challenge #01698-D237: One Thing in Common

Challenge #01696-D235: Functionality

Challenge #01695-D234: Unlikely Survival Tactics

Challenge #01694-D233: They Aren't the Champions

Challenge #01693-D232: The Most Dangerous Opponent

Challenge #01692-D231: Items of Mass Destruction

Challenge #01691-D230: Dangerous Lifeforms

Challenge #01690-D229: Problems of Scale

Challenge #01686-D225: Emergency!

Challenge #01684-D223: User Unfriendly

Challenge #01682-D221: Mind the Gap

Challenge #01680-D219: Rockit Launch 'n' BBQ

Challenge #01678-D217: More Than You Need to Know

Challenge #01677-D216: Hobby Fallout