Just Add Prompt

A 4763-post collection

Challenge #00493 - A118: Blood!

Nosebleeds, or to be more precise what do the other cogniscients think when it happens. Do they go for a medical kit and flutter about while the human sighs and holds their nose, or do they comment that at least the humans do something normally for once (but what scared them enough to defensively spout blood?) or something else entirely?

The human - the first they had met, was making an intermittent noise with its proboscis.

Snurf.

Communicating was spotty. Both sides only knew a few words of GalStand and the rest was pantomime. Interspersed, of course, with snurf.

Finally, the human dragged an arm across its face. Painting its limb with a vivid display of bright red blood. It muttered a human curse and pinched its proboscis shut while it fumbled for something to stopper it with.

The Temikai were perplexed, of course. They wondered for decades about what they had done to provoke a nurturing response from the human.

And they were understandably upset when they found out what it really was.

[Muse food remaining: 43. Submit a promptAsk a questionBuy my stories!]

Challenge #00492 - A117: Imagine There's No People

Challenge: No humans, or anything pertaining to them at all. That includes human-made or modified things, creatures, places, foods etc.

[AN: Ooooo a GOOD one :D]

Belok took note of the unusual structure as ze approached it. Ze could see that it was made out of ancient hulks of previous civilisations’ stellar vessels, but they had been… conglomerated. Docked, patched and - in at least one case - crashed together into one unappealing whole.

Ze tried all comms avenues including

Read more »

Challenge #00491 - A116: Random Curiosity

You mentioned Shayde’s much-debated status as “human” among the denizens of Amalgam. So I’m guessing that as well as all the “human status confirmed” moments there had to be a few cogniscients that just bluntly asked her what she was. And I’ll bet after the first twelve she started coming up with more creative answers/responses….

[AN: I doubt she made it as far as twelve]

There were drawbacks to being in the company of someone who was only

Read more »

Challenge #00490 - A115: One Alarming Discovery on the Paths Less Travelled

I may have already submitted a similar prompt, but there was mention made about how non-human species might be very good for autistes - some are very cuddly, some like particularly quiet environments, some have interesting textures. All good for degaussing or forcing the unwanted mob to back off when the autiste is having trouble communicating.

In case a similar prompt has already been made, I’ll request the first time a human of the autism spectrum met any of the Galactic

Read more »

Challenge #00489 - A114: Oxymoronic Artefacts

A sign in Braille that says “do not touch”

“Humans had to have made that,” said P’riix.

Tonq, the other archeologist on this ruined planet, peered at it. It was a wall plaque with two codified human languages on it. One of them, raised for the vision-impaired.

The flaking paint above read, “DO NOT TOUCH”

“Oh yes,” said Tonq. “We have clear evidence of humans.”

Which would alter all the reasonings concluded from the evidence

Read more »

Challenge #00488 - A113: Biggest Fans

A friend just showed me the opening lines to his new story and said I could use them as a prompt:

“This is the voice of the Mysterons. We know you can hear us, Earth-”
*sound of tape rewinding*
“…Sorry for the technical difficulties. To clarify, we are not the Mysterons. We are arguably worse.”

“Approach Cairo at vector two-one-niner by alpha seven,” sighed Kevin. “And we’ll thank you for a lack of

Read more »

Challenge #00487 - A112: Why They Never Came By

The humans’ reaction to finding out what the rest of the galaxy thought about them before actual first contact (bonus points mentioning the Pioneer plaques)

The humans learned fast. They apparently learned by messing around with things until something happened that they understood, and worked outwards from there.

And they had learned to read Ulu.

T'reka watched and recorded various humans at the Communications Centre that had once been a Hide Unit. They sat or stood at various info-stations and accessed data

Read more »

Challenge #00486 - A111: Camouflage

“Humans perceive sixteen times the colors we do. Do not hide in bushes or vines from humans. They can distinguish your pelt from the foliage with ease.”

There were always things to learn. Things like, once an anomalous shape is recognised, it’s easier to spot. Dappled shadows were better to hide in and blending was important.

“Gotcha!” said the human. “You really suck at hide-and-seek, T'yrt'yr[1].”

“I followed the rules,” she

Read more »

Challenge #00485 - A110: Irresistible Force

Hey look what came around with new bits on it! http://siphersaysstuff.tumblr.com/post/73671577343/therobotmonster-moniquill-siderealsandman

Prepare for a barrage of prompts based on it :P

1. “Our strength and speed is nothing to write home about, but we don’t need to overpower or outrun you. We just need to outlast you - and by any other species’ standards, we just plain don’t get tired.”

[AN: I love that post so much that I’m hinging a book

Read more »

Challenge #00485 - A110: The Awkward First Date

Judging by the queue size this’ll take just over a month to get to the top of the pile, so that’s a nice gap. More of the budding relationship between K’iiv and Del please?

K'iiv waited anxiously at the appointed place. Underneath the big clock that, in clear defiance of the laws of time and space, still read four minutes to two. So far, he had preened himself, purchased Terran flowers, preened himself, checked the lay of his clothes,

Read more »

Challenge #00484 - A109: Someone Said it

A.
Light Year.
Is.
The distance.
That light.
Travels.
In a year. – RecklessPrudence

[AN: Huzzah! I’m not the only person annoyed by this]

“So we travelled six thousand light years in less than an hour?” asked the tourist.

“Technically,” allowed the Hitchhiker. “Wormholes are more of a shortc–”

“We’ve been taking light years in minutes! Why aren’t I any younger?” the tourist guffawed at his own

Read more »

Challenge #00483 - A108: Yo Daddy SO Dense...

Gentlemen, behold, the singularity of stupid. – RecklessPrudence

[AN: I’ve already spoken out against mental ablism and received crap for it. No help - just crap. I feel like I’m walking on a fairy floss tightrope with incipient rain overhead, BUT - st*pid is an ablist slur please help us all find something else]

“O divine Powers, that is such a dense idea…”

“No denser than yo Daddy.”

“Yeah, well yo

Read more »

Challenge #00482 - A107: What is Real?

Don’t you smile at me… that’s not even a real smile! It’s just a bunch of teeth playing with my mind! – RecklessPrudence

The robot, trying to please, returned to a neutral expression display. “My apologies,” it said. “I am built to serve. How may I help you, today?”

Aisha sighed. Of all the bodies she could have hauled into her life raft, it had to be one of the service ‘bots from the

Read more »

Challenge #00481 - A106: Lead Balloon

I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates when he said “I drank what?” — RecklessPrudence

Jones had had enough. “Actually, he said that he owed a rooster to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, and asked his friend to pay the debt. He knew damn well he was drinking hemlock and chugged it like it was cheap beer.”

The rest of the meeting stared at her.

“I’m tired of historically inaccurate jokes, okay? Socrates was a bad-ass and nobody

Read more »

Challenge #00480 - A105: Proof of Reading

(New scientific project posts a status update. Buried in hundreds of lines of technical jargon is this)

IA!! IA!! SIS BOOM BA! OLD ONES!! OLD ONES!! RAH-RAH-RAH!!

YOG-SOTHOTH!!

(Followed by:)

To summarize, there should be no harmful side-effects from this project. – RecklessPrudence

“Jenkins… I do understand the natural frustration with our sponsors not reading the technical data they pay for, but…” Paulson handed over the page with the highlighted passage. “Was this absolutely necessary?”

Jenkins

Read more »