Submission

A 900-post collection

Challenge #00443 - A068: Showdown

Do one brave thing, then run like hell. – RecklessPrudence

This place was the worst labyrinth to get lost in. Especially since, and perhaps because, there was a human in it.

It may have been easy to cut through the rusting walls, but it was also noisy. The monster could hunt him down. And he could tell it was in stealth mode, because it wasn’t cutting through the walls either.

He just had to make it back to the ship…

Five more corners.

CRAP!

The monster froze. He froze. Both simultaneously reached for their plasma guns. Both aimed. Both pressed their triggers…

…and both were out of ammo.

He threw his weapon at the beast and ran for it.

It was only later, safely three jumps away from danger, that he was able to review his footage to discover that the human had done exactly the same thing.

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Challenge #00442 - A067: To Reach...

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

Vince Lombardi – c/- RecklessPrudence

“Aim high,” it was said, “at least you can’t shoot yourself in the foot.”

“Strive for perfection,” said others. “Accept the remarkable.”

“Do your utmost,” said further others, “and none can criticise.”

They were wrong.

There was plenty of criticism. Plenty of people to show her what went wrong

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Challenge #00441 - A066: Going With What Works

They shouldn’t’ve been surprised that there were neurodivergent Uplifted on Nufurria.  

(Can we please see an Uplifted sentient on the autistic spectrum? Because neurodiversity occurs in nonhuman species as well (ie, not trying for unfortunate implications here, but rather, any animal with the underpinnings of sentience is capable of the diversity of neural wiring experienced by humans))  

O'Ranges wasn’t much for words. He seemed to piece together what was happening from the world around him and

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Challenge #00439 - A065: Power

You must have a very interesting will.
If by “will” you mean “elaborate post-mortem interactive treasure map on my spare hard drive”, then yes. – RecklessPrudence

“Good Morning!” Mary cheered.

The man who bought her to ‘make his life better’ moaned and turned over in bed.

She no longer had functioning hands to rip the covers off him. Just virtual representations of the hands she used to create art with. So she turned off

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Challenge #00438 - A064: That's a Bad Motto

Hey, you know my motto - live fast, die young, and leave a corpse they gotta wear hazmat suits when they cremate. – RecklessPrudence

Triibo boggled at the human salvage operator. “You live by this creed?”

“Ev'ry damn day,” smiled the Human.

“Now I know why they call you Teymour the Really Mad.”

“You’d be surprised how often I end up hearing that,” said Teymour.

“No I wouldn’t.”

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Challenge #00437 - A063: Hivemind Negotiations

“It was rather like being surrounded by a mob of very curious puppies with no regard for one’s personal bubble. He/she stood very still lest he/she step on one and tried to resist the urge to pick one up for a cuddle”

There was also an urge to flee, shrieking, from the environment because the Trrt'krr -or ‘Jelly Dancers’- resembled nothing more than a sparkling cloud of very small jellyfish.

These were the

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Answering this now because it's more of an ask than a prompt.

For all the snippets involving Shayde, there hasn’t been much more than a hinted explanation of how she got to be where she is now. So, how did she arrive in the Galactic Alliance, and was it before or after other humans had made proper contact?

(Also, what does Shayde look like? I can’t find a description but I remember something about being like a living shadow so my best guess is similar to the Death in “

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Challenge #00436 - A062: Humans!

If it’s stupid but it works, it’s not a stupid idea.

*post-plan*

I don’t care if it worked, that was still a stupid idea.

Ax'and'l glared at them. Taking up space. They had been taking up space in Hwell’s quarters, but everywhere they went… Hwell just had to trot a few out into the open and try to sell them off.

“When are we going to get rid of those horrendous–

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Challenge #00436 - A061: Aftermath

*sigh* The latest Story Snippet just won’t leave my brain.

So I’ll inflict it back on the author. 

http://internutter.tumblr.com/post/75405951567/challenge-00396-a031-to-stop-human

Directly related to this, can we see either some from the human that snuck into the ship’s POV or Koq'riix’s waking up after they left the two items.

[AN: Heh. The OP need not be notified ;) ]

Koq'riix jolted into awareness as the airlock cycled shut. It had been the

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Challenge #00435 - A060: An Average Sight at a Particular Exit

2.

It was agreed by all that watching them come running out of the perfectly ordinary museums, occasionally while screeching or falling over (or more bizarrely a combination of the above and laughter) was most amusing. It seemed to happen more often around museums with audio assistance too…

[AN: Accessibility is a common thing in the Amalgam Universe. Grav-lifts in the middle of stair columns. Ramps wherever possible. Audio and visual assistance in a ‘take one if needed’ basket

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Challenge #00434 - A059: One Extraordinary Shift in the Museum of Disturbing Things

1.

No-one was quite sure if the now-almost-constant presence of at least a couple of humans wandering around the Museum of Disturbing Things ooh-ing and aah-ing at the exhibits made things better or worse..

What made the Disturbing Things so disturbing was not only that they existed, but the history that went with them.

Unsurprisingly, the humans had an entire wing. Some were gruesome exhibits from old Terra, like the skull of a man who survived being pierced through it with an

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Challenge #00433 - A058: Registered Toxic Passenger

(unfortunate real-life inspiration time!)

Considering how the aliens react to comparatively non-corrosive/hazardous materials, they must have either gone into DEFCON 1 or completely catatonic the first time a human vomited.

Other humans making sympathetic noises and cleaning up  (*gasp* without even a hazard suit, the horror) while the aliens panic are completely optional

(No wonder the humans are insane, they’re full of hydrochloric acid strong enough to melt their own internal organs)

“We have lost spin,” said

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Challenge #00432 - A057: Arachnaphobia

It took a surprisingly long time for the other cogniscients to realise how much /they/ scared the humans too.

Of course, some got the message more quickly than others

Lo-grav worlds are rarer than high-grav ones. For reasons that become quickly obvious the more one learns of physics and biology.

When low-gravity life evolves, it happens in artificial environments.

Which are also targets for scavengers.

The spider-people of H'nuf'ruf learned of humans through such expeditions. They never saw humans as dangerous, and

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Challenge #00431 - A056: One Dark Evening at a Motel of Ill Repute

Dear person checking behind the curtain for serial killers, DO YOU MIND?!? Sincerely, serial killer trying to take a shower”

[AN: That’s practically a story on its own.]

Hannibal shrieked and hid his junk with the shower rose. And both hands. “What the hell, Will?”

“Sorry. It’s this place. It’s like I'm compelled to check the shower curtains for serial killers.”

“Well, there’s just me. Do you

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Challenge #00430 - A055: Ballroom Blitz

Everything was going swimmingly until someone pulled out a disco ball.

“The music’s nice and all, but there’s somethin’ missin’.”

“By now, I dare not ask,” deadpanned Rael. “Just accept that whatever it is is most definitely a bad idea and leave things alone for a change.”

“Aaaahh… What sort'a party would it be wi'out a disco ball?”

*

The answer to that question, especially with Meyahndans sharing

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