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Challenge #03162-H253: A Devil of a Day

There was a school, a special school, one meant primarily for nobles and families of royal blood, though other students were able to earn their way in through hard work. It was surrounded by an imposing, but decorative, wall and large, wrought-iron gates with a massive crest emblazoned. Inside the gated place was a massive school with comfortable dorms, a huge series of gardens and forested areas, it was a school almost larger than a full-sized palace. But there was a difference here. All of the students, and the majority of the instructors, were Tieflings. -- Anon Guest

On the outside, it was grim, grey, and imposing. The glimpses of architecture that loomed above the tall, sheer walls and their spiked parapets did not look all that inviting. Even the gates were grey. Old oak bounded in wrought iron that had been there so long that it had petrified, or so local legend said. The crest on it looked like an afterthought. Added, somehow, some years after the wood had turned to stone.

You couldn't even climb that, as it was a cruelly-rendered work of art. Just to look at it was to cut one's eyes on the bladed edges. Assuming, of course, that one actually wanted to get in.

Coaches go in. Boxed palanquins go in. Hooded figures, too, with anxious stance and tight fists on pieces of paper. Guards walk the upper walls, all with imposing armour and helms embellished with horns. Children are threatened with being sent there if they are bad.

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Challenge #03161-H252: Teaching Gently

Level 1 Havenworlders, and levels one through three Deathworlders, were being trained in how to work in childcare facilities that would have human children there. How to help them burn off the excess energy Human children tended to have, and to keep the Human children, and all other children, as well as themselves, safe. -- Anon Guest

Education in the Galactic Alliance gets... interesting. Class sizes rarely exceed ten. Indeed, eight is when the facility starts looking at ways to divide the

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Challenge #03160-H251: How to Save Human

Humans are too eager, sometimes, to protect us. We appreciate it, we rely on it, we've become highly dependent on it. Some of us... may have even grown weaker, relying on our living shields far too much. They are far too willing to throw their lives away for us, we must get them to see, their lives are worth just as much as ours are. -- Lessons

It is universally agreed that Humans, as a species, are insane. They have to be.

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Challenge #03159-H250: Gourd-y Display

And some of the decorations were a bit too realistic for them...

Examples -- Tom

[AN: The title you gave this prompt has been ignored. See how much sense it makes now?]

Pirate Captain Mes is about to ask one of the universe's most hated questions. It's the kind of question that earns the answer punched into his softest parts. Watch carefully. See if you can spot it.

"Agrarians, for the most part. Small farms and not a great deal of useful

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Challenge #03158-H249: Instant Friendship

H: Waking up and unable to move, groaning softly. "I hurt, what happened?"

A: "Don't you remember? You were so brave."

H: "Why can't I move?"

A: "You're in a full body brace."

H: "How did I get out?"

A: "er..... Two men you saved were Pax Humanis. Apparently, they said they now owe you their lives and wouldn't let anyone else carry you out."

H: "I'm... so... tired... you and they... are... welcome." -- Anon Guest

Human Ren tried to come

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Challenge #03157-H248: Hypo-crit Fail

The CEOs pushed, they pushed hard, too hard, for too long. Everything has a breaking point, and all the CRC had to do was sit back, relax, then send in mop up teams and medics after the empire collapsed. -- Anon Guest

The thing with Deregger planets is that they're all in favour of business getting their way. They're not in favour of anything related to "individual welfare". They're thoroughly for people pulling themselves up by the bootstraps, and then heavily taxing

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Challenge #03156-H247: Panic Quieter

Doesn’t matter in a fight how much you planned, how extensive your process, how minute the details. The moment you get punch in the face, everything goes disarray -- Anon Guest

The heat of battle is no place to be taking notes. He never got out of the student mentality of learning while doing. It was an interesting mental trick, to keep up the fight and evolve strategy at the same time.

Note to self, he thought as he covered his

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Challenge #03155-H246: The Right Kind of Electronic Babysitter

Several children, Humans, Havenworlders, and other Deathworlders, trapped together in the nursery. The power had gone out and the doors had locked. Everyone was scared, then someone started singing. Soon each youngster took turns singing their favorite lullabies their parentals would sing them to sooth them, and, as a result, when rescue finally got to them, all the kids were contentedly close to each other, peacefully asleep. The first singer? An independant AI nanny who'd just finished charging and unplugged just as

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Challenge #03154-H245: Champions at Silly Buggers

A: With the things being the way it is now, all I can do is try to determine what might be going on though naked-eye observations and my imagination

B: In short, you're taking a best guess?

A: "best guess"?! My dear friend, please! That is a woefully inadequate representation of what goes on. a fairer description would be "observation and inference drawing on a wealth of professional experience, including analogous previous cases."

B: Okay, so an educated guess.

A: precisely --

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Challenge #03153-H244: Alternative to What?

A Pure Lifer, whose ancestors had been some of the earliest of the Pure Lifers had gotten very, very sick. They were still quite young, had very small children to raise, and none of the "medicine" on their world was helping them. In fact, they were getting worse quickly, and no one was willing to care for the children if their parent were to perish, and they had no spouse. What were they to do? Only option left, contact the Alliance, it

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Challenge #03152-H243: We Value Our Employees...

A CEO was BRUTAL to their workforce, to say the least. Suddenly, as if they had all become one hivemind: every man, woman, and child - it seemed like - on the entire colony called to the CRC. They sent drop ships and picked everyone up. Given how distant this world was, despite the fact it was THE most valuable resource planet in the CEO's portfolio, they didn't realize it had completely stopped producing for almost two days. When they went to

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Challenge #03151-H242: Change is... Uncomfortable

A companion deeply loves their ship's human. When the human retires due to old age, the companion doesn't know if they can handle it -- Anon Guest

"This has to be my last trip," announced Human Set as she eased herself down into the launch chair. "I'm getting too creaky for everyone's good."

That sudden stab into Companion Elik's heart had to be psychosomatic. "You're... leaving us?" Ze could not keep the anxiety out of hir voice.

"I'm not cut out for

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Challenge #03150-H241: An Idiot in the Dark

The apprentice wizard had screwed up and had messed up the invisibility spell. They were stuck. They went to find the immortal wizard Wraithvine and found them with the bugbear child and the kolbold companion. Soon as the bugbear child spotted them, they cried begging for help. -- Anon Guest

[AN: Possibly related to this one. Making me look these up eats time]

Being invisible sucks. Though there are senses that make up for it, like seeing your hand in the dark[

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Challenge #03149-H240: Motivation Inclination

The young, 'chosen one', Kevin, is learning about his destiny. The fall leaves are changing, his mother is being her usual self, and the poor kid has just screwed up his fifth spell covering himself in yet another layer of overly bright colored dyes. Well, better learning on dyed dolls and straw dummies than anything alive, for now. Ah, what a lovely fall day! -- Anon Guest

[AN: This prompt harkens back to Kevin Oxbrydl in this story. PLEASE give the URLs

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Challenge #03148-H239: You and Your Hobbies

Humans live in a somewhat rustic colony, though they have contact with their Alliance friends and live happy lives. Some Havenworlders come down to study what life is like on worlds that have decided to eschew most technology, save for the very large, highly advanced, hospital kept well out of sight thanks to the treeline, though easy to access if needed.

Today, several individuals are making homemade soap and decided to show their Havenworlder tourists how such a thing was made in

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