Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This entire post represents my personal views and opinions, and should not be taken as financial advice (or advice of any kind whatsoever). I encourage you to do your own research, take anything I write with a grain of salt, and hold me accountable for any mistakes you may catch. Also, full disclosure, I hold a net long position in GME, but my cost basis is very low (average ~$67--I have to admit, the drop today was too tasty so my cost basis went up from yesterday)/share with my later buys averaged in), and I'm using money I can absolutely lose. My capital at risk and tolerance for risk generally is likely substantially different than yours. In this post I will go a little further and speculate more than I'd normally do in a post due to the questions I've been getting, so fair warning, some of it might be very wrong. I suspect we'll learn some of the truth years from now when some investigative journalist writes a book about it.
Thank you everyone for the comments and questions on the first and second post on this topic.
Today was a study in the power of fear, courage, and the levers you can pull when you wield billions of dollars...
Woops, excuse me. I'm sorry hedge fund guys... I meant trillions of dollars--I just briefly forget you control not just your own but a lot of other peoples' money too for a moment there.
Also, for people still trading this on market-based rationale (as I am), it was a good day to measure the conviction behind your thesis. I like to think I have conviction, but in case you are somehow not yet familiar with the legend of DFV, you need to see these posts (fair warning, nsfw, and some may be offended/triggered by the crude language). The last two posts might be impressive, but you should follow it in chronological order and pay attention to the evolution of sentiment in the comments to experience true enlightenment.
Anyway, I apologize, but this post will be very long--there's just a lot to unpack.

Pre-Market

Disclaimer: given yesterday's pre-market action I didn't even pay attention to the screen until near retail pre-market. I'm less confident in my ability to read what's going on in a historical chart vs the feel I get watching live, but I'll try.
Early in the pre-market it looks to me like some momentum traders are taking profit, discounting the probability that the short-side will give them a deep discount later, which you can reasonably assume given the strategy they ran yesterday. If they're right they can sell some small volume into the pre-market top, wait for the hedge funds try to run the price back down, and then lever up the gains even higher buying the dip. Buy-side here look to me like people FOMOing and YOLOing in at any price to grab their slice of gainz, or what looks to be market history in the making. No way are short-side hedge funds trying to cover anything at these prices.
Mark Cuban--well said! Free markets baby!
Mohamed El-Erian is money in the bank as always. "upgrade in quality" on the pandemic drop was the best, clearest actionable call while most were at peak panic, and boy did it print. Your identifying the bubble as the excessive short (vs blaming retail activity) is money yet again. Also, The PAIN TRADE (sorry, later interview segment I only have on DVR, couldn't find on youtube--maybe someone else can)!
The short attack starts, but I'm hoping no one was panicking this time--we've seen it before. Looks like the momentum guys are minting money buying the double dip into market open.
CNBC, please get a good market technician to explain the market action. Buy-side dominance, sell-side share availability evaporating into nothing (look at day-by-day volume last few days), this thing is now at runaway supercritical mass. There is no changing the trajectory unless you can change the very fabric of the market and the rules behind it (woops, I guess I should have knocked on wood there).
If you know the mechanics, what's happening in the market with GME is not mysterious AT ALL. I feel like you guys are trying to scare retail out early "for their own good" (with all sincerity, to your credit) rather than explain what's happening. Possibly you also fear that explaining it would equate to enabling/encouraging people to keep trying to do it inappropriately (possibly fair point, but at least come out and say that if that's the case). Outside the market, however...wow.

You Thought Yesterday Was Fear? THIS is Fear!

Ok short-side people, my hat is off to you. Just when I thought shouting fire in a locked theater was fear mongering poetry in motion, you went and took it to 11. What's even better? Yelling fire in a theater with only one exit. That way people can cause the financial equivalent of stampede casualties. Absolutely brilliant.
Robin Hood disables buying of GME, AMC, and a few of the other WSB favorites. Other brokerages do the same. Even for people on 0% margin. Man, and here I thought I had seen it all yesterday.
Side note: I will give a shout out to TD Ameritrade. You guys got erroneously lumped together with RH during an early CNBC segment, but you telegraphed the volatility risk management changes and gradually ramped up margin requirements over the past week. No one on your platform should have been surprised if they were paying attention. And you didn't stop anyone from trading their own money at any point in time. My account balance thanks you. I heard others may have had problems, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt given the DDOS attacks that were flyiing around
Robin Hood. Seriously WTF. I'm sure it was TOTALLY coincidence that your big announcements happen almost precisely when what has to be one of the best and most aggressive short ladder attacks of all time starts painting the tape, what looked like a DDOS attack on Reddit's CDN infrastructure (pretty certain it was the CDN because other stuff got taken out at the same time too), and a flood of bots hit social media (ok, short-side, this last one is getting old).
Taking out a large-scale cloud CDN is real big boy stuff though, so I wouldn't entirely rule out nation state type action--those guys are good at sniffing out opportunities to foment social unrest.
Anyway, at this point, as the market dives, I have to admit I was worried for a moment. Not that somehow the short-side would win (hah! the long-side whales in the pond know what's up), but that a lot of retail would get hurt in the action. That concern subsided quite a bit on the third halt on that slide. But first...
A side lesson on market orders
Someone printed bonus bank big time (and someone lost--I feel your pain, whoever you are).
During the face-ripping volatility my play money account briefly ascended to rarified heights of 7 figures. It took me a second to realize it, then another second to process it. Then, as soon as it clicked, that one, glorious moment in time was gone.
What happened?
During the insane chop of the short ladder attack, someone decided to sweep the 29 Jan 21 115 Call contracts, but they couldn't get a grip on the price, which was going coast to coast as IV blew up and the price was being slammed around. So whoever was trying to buy said "F it, MARKET ORDER" (i.e. buy up to $X,XXX,XXX worth of contracts at any price). This is referred to as a sweep if funded to buy all/most of the contracts on offer (HFT shops snipe every contract at each specific price with a shotgun of limit orders, which is far safer, but something only near-market compute resources can do really well). For retail, or old-tech pros, if you want all the contracts quickly, you drop a market order loaded with big bucks and see what you get... BUT, some clever shark had contracts available for the reasonable sum of... $4,400, or something around that. I was too stunned to grab a screencap. The buy market order swept the book clean and ran right into that glorious, nigh-obscene backstop limit. So someone got nearly $440,000 PER CONTRACT that was, at the time theoretically priced at around $15,000. $425,000 loss... PER CONTRACT. Maybe I'm not giving the buyer enough credit.. you can get sniped like that even if you try to do a safety check of the order book first, but, especially in low liquidity environments, if a HFT can peak into your order flow (or maybe just observes a high volume of sweeps occurring), they can end up front running your sweep, pick off the reasonable contracts, and slam a ridiculous limit sell order into place before your order makes it to the exchange. Either way, I hope that sweep wasn't loaded for bear into the millions. If so... OUCH. Someone got cleaned out.
So, the lesson here folks... in a super high volatility, low-liquidity market, a market order will just run up the ladder into the first sell order it can find, and some very brutal people will put limit sells like that out there just in case they hit the jackpot. And someone did. If you're on the winning side, great. It can basically bankrupt you if you're on the losing side. My recommendation: Just don't try it. I wouldn't be surprised if really shady shenanigans were involved in this, but no way to know (normally that's crazy-type talk, but after today....peeking at order flow and sniping sweeps is one of the fastest, most financially devastating ways to bleed big long-side players, just sayin').
edit *so while I was too busy trying not to spit out my coffee to grab a screenshot, piddlesthethug was faster on the draw and captured this: https://imgur.com/gallery/RI1WOuu
Ok, so I guess my in-the-moment mental math was off by about 10%. Man, that hurts just thinking about the guy who lost on that trade.*
Back to the market action..

A Ray of Light Through the Darkness

So I was worried watching the crazy downward movement for two different reasons.
On the one hand, I was worried the momentum pros would get the best discounts on the dip (I'll admit, I FOMO'd in too early, unnecessarily raising my cost basis).
On the other hand, I was worried for the retail people on Robin Hood who might be bailing out into incredibly steep losses because they had only two options: Watch the slide, or bail. All while dealing with what looked to me like a broad-based cloud CDN outage as they tried to get info from WSB HQ, and wondering if the insta-flood of bot messages were actually real people this time, and that everyone else was bailing on them to leave them holding the bag.
But I saw the retail flag flying high on the 3rd market halt (IIRC), and I knew most would be ok. What did I see, you ask? Why, the glorious $211.00 / $5,000 bid/ask spread. WSB Reddit is down? Those crazy mofos give you the finger right on the ticker tape. I've been asked many times in the last few hours about why I was so sure shorts weren't covering on the down move. THIS is how I knew. For sure. It's in the market data itself.
edit So, there's feedback in the comments that this is likely more of a technical glitch. Man, at least it was hilarious in the moment. But also now I know maybe not to trust price updates when the spread between orders being posted is so wide. Maybe a technical limitation of TOS
I'll admit, I tried to one-up those bros with a 4206.90 limit sell order, but it never made it through. I'm impressed that the HFT guys at the hedge fund must have realized really quickly what a morale booster that kind of thing would have been, and kept a lower backstop ask in place almost continuously from then on I'm sure others tried the same thing. Occasionally $1,000 and other high-dollar asks would peak through from time to time from then on, which told me the long-side HFTs were probably successfully sniping the backstops regularly.
So, translating for those of you who found that confusing. First, such a high ask is basically a FU to the short-side (who, as you remember, need to eventually buy shares to cover their short positions). More importantly, as an indicator of retail sentiment, it meant that NO ONE ELSE WAS TRYING TO SELL AT ANY PRICE LOWER THAN $5,000. Absolutely no one was bailing out.
I laughed for a minute, then started getting a little worried. Holy cow.. NO retail selling into the fear? How are they resisting that kind of price move??
The answer, as we all know now... they weren't afraid... they weren't even worried. They were F*CKING PISSED.
Meanwhile the momentum guys and long-side HFTs keep gobbling up the generously donated shares that the short-side are plowing into their ladder attack. Lots of HFT duels going on as long-side HFTs try to intercept shares meant to travel between short-side HFT accounts for their ladder. You can tell when you see prices like $227.0001 constantly flying across the tape. Retail can't even attempt to enter an order like that--those are for the big boys with privileged low-latency access.
The fact that you can even see that on the tape with human eyes is really bad for the short-side people.
Why, you ask? Because it means liquidity is drying up, and fast.

The Liquidity Tide is Flowing Out Quickly. Who's Naked (short)?

Market technicals time. I still wish this sub would allow pictures so I could throw up a chart, but I guess a table will do fine.
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Date	Volume	Price at US Market Close
Friday, 1/22/21	197,157,196	$65.01
Monday, 1/25/21	177,874,00	$76.79
Tuesday, 1/26/21	178,587,974	$147.98
Wednesday, 1/27/21	93,396,666	$347.51
Thursday, 1/28/21	58,815,805	$193.60

What do I see? I see the shares available to trade dropping so fast that all the near-exchange compute power in the world won't let the short-side HFTs maintain order flow volume for their attacks. Many retail people asking me questions thought today was the heaviest trading. Nope--it was just the craziest.
What about the price dropping on Thursday? Is that a sign that the short-side pulled a miracle out and pushed price down against a parabolic move on even less volume than Wednesday? Is the long side running out of capital?
Nope. It means the short-side hedge funds are just about finished.
But wait, I thought the price needed to be higher for them to be taken out? How is it that price being lower is bad for them? Won't that allow them to cover at a lower price?
No, the volume is so low that they can't cover any meaningful fraction of their position without spiking the price parabolic almost instantly. Just not enough shares on offer at reasonable prices (especially when WSB keeps flashing you 6942.00s).
It's true, a higher price hurts, but the interest charge for one more day is just noise at this point. The only tick that will REALLY count is the last tick of trading on Friday.
In the meantime, the price drop (and watching the sparring in real time) tells me that the long-side whales and their HFT quants are so certain of the squeeze that they're no longer worried AT ALL about whether it will happen, and they aren't even worried at all about retail morale to help carry the water anymore.
Instead, they're now really, really worried about how CHEAPLY they can make it happen.
They are wondering if they can't edge out just a sliver more alpha out of what will already be a blow-out trade for the history books (probably). You see, to make it happen they just have to keep hoovering up shares. It doesn't matter what those shares cost. If you're certain that the squeeze is now locked in, why push the price up and pay more than you have to? Just keep pressing hard enough to force short-side to keep sending those tasty shares your way, but not so much you move the price. Short-side realizes this and doesn't try to drive price down too aggressively. They can't afford to let price run away, so they have to keep some pressure on at the lowest volume they can manage, but they don't want to push down too hard and give the long-side HFTs too deep of a discount and bleed their ammo out even faster. That dynamic keeps price within a narrow (for GME today, anyway) trading range for the rest of the day into the close.
Good plan guys, but those after market people are pushing the price up again. Damnit WSB bros and Euros, you're costing those poor long-side whales their extra 0.0000001% of alpha on this trade just so you can run up your green rockets... See, that's the kind of nonsense that just validates Lee Cooperman's concerns.
On a totally unrelated note, I have to say that I appreciate the shift in CNBC's reporting. Much more thoughtful and informed. Just please get a good market technician in there who will be willing to talk about what is going on under the hood if possible. A lot of people watching on the sidelines are far more terrified than they need to be because it all looks random to them. And they're worried that you guys look confused and worried--and if the experts on the news are worried....??!
You should be able to find one who has access to the really good data that we retailers can only guess at, who can explain it to us unwashed masses.

Ok, So.. Questions

There is no market justification for this. How can you tell me is this fundamentally sound and not just straight throwing money away irresponsibly?? (side note: not that that should matter--if you want to throw your money away why shouldn't you be allowed to?)
We're not trading in your securities pricing model. This isn't irrational just because your model says long and short positions are the same thing. The model is not a real market. There is asymmetrical counterparty risk here given the shorts are on the hook for all the money they have, and possibly all the money their brokers have, and possibly anyone with exposure to the broker too! You may want people to trade by the rules you want them to follow. But the rest of us trade in the real market as it is actually implemented. Remember? That's what you tell the retailers who take their accounts to zero. Remember what you told the KBIO short-squeezed people? They had fair warning that short positions carry infinite risk, including more than your initial investment. You guys know this. It's literally part of your job to know this.
But-but-the systemic risk!! This is Madness!
...Madness?
THIS. IS. THE MARKET!!! *Retail kicks the short-side hedge funds down an infinity loss black hole\*.
Ok, seriously though, that is actually a fundamentally sound, and properly profit-driven answer at least as justifiable as the hedge funds' justification for going >100% of float short. If they can be allowed to gamble INFINITE LOSSES because they expect to make profit on the possibility the company goes bankrupt, can't others do the inverse on the possibility the company I don't know.. doesn't go bankrupt and gets a better strategy from the team that created what is now a $43bn market cap company (CHWY) that does exactly some of the things GME needs to do (digital revenue growth) maybe? I mean, I first bought in on that fundamental value thesis in the 30s and then upped my cost basis given the asymmetry of risk in the technical analysis as an obvious no-brainer momentum trade. The squeeze is just, as WSB people might say, tendies raining down from on high as an added bonus.
I get that you disagree on the fundamental viability of GME. Great. Isn't that what makes a market?
Regarding the consequences of a squeeze, in practice my expectation was maybe at worst some kind of ex-market settlement after liquidation of the funds with exposure to keep things nice and orderly for the rest of the market. I mean, they handled the VW thing somehow right? I see now that I just underestimated elite hedge fund managers though--those guys are so hardcore (I'll explain why I think so a bit lower down).
If hedge fund people are so hardcore, how did the retail long side ever have a chance of winning this squeeze trade they're talking about?
Because it's an asymmetrical battle once you have short interest cornered. And the risk is also crazily asymmetrical in favor of the long side if short interest is what it is in GME. In fact, the hedge funds essentially cornered themselves without anyone even doing anything. They just dug themselves right in there. Kind of impressive really, in a weird way.
What does the short side need to cover? They need the price to be low, and they need to buy shares.
How does price move lower? You have to push share volume such that supply overwhelms demand and price therefore goes down (man, I knew econ 101 would come in handy someday).
But wait... if you have to sell shares to push the price down.. won't you just undo all your work when you have to buy it back to actually cover?
The trick is you have to push price down so hard, so fast, so unpredictably, that you SCARE OTHER PEOPLE into selling their shares too, because they're scared of taking losses. Their sales help push the price down for free! and then you scoop them up at discount price! Also, there are ways to make people scared other than price movement and fear of losses, when you get right down to it. So, you know, you just need to get really, really, really good at making people scared. Remember to add a line item to your budget to make sure you can really do it right.
On the other hand..
What does the long side need to do? They need to own as much of the shares as they can get their hands on. And then they need to hold on to them. They can't be weak hands either. They need to be hands that will hold even under the most intense heat of battle, and the immense pressure of mind-numbing fear... they need to be as if they were made of... diamond... (oh wow, maybe those WSB people kind of have a point here).
Why does this matter? Because at some point the sell side will eventually run out of shares to borrow. They simply won't be there, because they'll be safely tucked away in the long-side's accounts. Once you run out of shares to borrow and sell, you have no way to move the price anymore. You can't just drop a fat stack--excuse me, I mean suitcase (we're talking hedge fund money here after all)--of Benjamins on the ticker tape directly. Only shares. No more shares, no way to have any direct effect on the price whatsoever.
Ok, doesn't that just mean trading stops? Can't you just out-wait the long side then?
Well, you could.. until someone on the long side puts 1 share up on a 69420 ask, and an even crazier person actually buys at that price on the last tick on a Friday. Let's just say it gets really bad at that point.
Ok.. but how do the retail people actually get paid?
Well, to be quite honest, it's entirely up to each of them individually. You've seen the volumes being thrown around the past week+. I guarantee you every single retailer out there could have printed money multiple times trading that flow. If they choose to, and time it well. Or they could lose it all--this is the market. Some of them apparently seem to have some plan, or an implicit trust in certain individuals to help them know when to punch out. Maybe it works out, but maybe not. There will be financial casualties on the field for sure--this is the bare-knuckled capitalist jungle after all, remember? But everyone ponied up to the table with their own money somehow, so they all get to play in the big leagues just like everyone else. In theory, anyway.
And now, Probably the #1 question I've been asked on all of these posts has been: So what happens next? Do we get the infinity squeeze? Do the hedge funds go down?
Great questions. I don't know. No one does. That's what I've said every time, but I get that's a frustrating answer, so I'll write a bit more and speculate further. Please again understand these are my opinions with a degree of speculation I wouldn't normally put in a post.

The Market and the Economy. Main Street, Wall Street, and Washington

The pandemic has hurt so many people that it's hard to comprehend. Honestly, I don't even pretend to be able to. I have been crazy fortunate enough to almost not be affected at all. Honestly, it is a little unnerving to me how great the disconnect is between people who are doing fine (or better than fine, looking at my IRA) versus the people who are on the opposite side of the ever-widening divide that, let's be honest, has been growing wider since long before the pandemic.
People on the other side--who have been told they cannot work even if they want to, who wonder if congress will get it together to at least keep them from getting thrown out of their house if they have to keep taking one for the team for the good of all, are wondering if they're even living in the same reality.
Because all they see on the news each day is that the stock market is at record highs, or some amazing tech stocks have 10x'd in the last 6 months. How can that be happening during a pandemic? Because The Market is not The Economy. The Market looks forward to that brighter future that Economy types just need to wait for. Don't worry--it'll be here sometime before the end of the year. We think. We're making money on that assumption right now, anyway. Oh, by the way, if you're in The Market, you get to get richer as a minor, unearned side-effect of the solutions our governments have come up with to fight the pandemic.
Wow. That sounds amazing. How do I get to part of that world?
Retail fintech, baby. Physical assets like real estate might be a bit out of reach at the moment, but stocks will do. I can even buy fractional shares of BRK/A LOL.
Finally, I can trade for my own slice of heaven, watching that balance go up (and up--go stonks!!). Now I too get to dream the dream. I get to feel connected to that mythical world, The Market, rather than being stuck in the plain old Economy. Sure, I might blow up my account, but that's because it's the jungle. Bare-knuckled, big league capitalism going on right here, and at least I get to show up an put my shares on the table with everyone else. At least I'm playing the same game. Everyone has to start somewhere--at least now I get to start, even if I have to learn my lesson by zeroing my account a few times. I've basically had to deal with what felt like my life zeroing out a few times before. This is number on a screen going to 0 is nothing.
Laugh or cry, right? I'll post my losses on WSB and at least get some laughs.
Geez, some of the people here are making bank. I better learn from them and see if they'll let me in on their trades. Wow... this actually might work. I don't understand yet, but I trust these guys telling me to hold onto this crazy trade. I don't understand it, but all the memes say it's going to be big.
...WOW... I can pay off my credit card with this number. Do I punch out now? No? Hold?... Ok, getting nervous watching the number go down but I trust you freaks. We're still in the jungle, but at least I'm in with with my posse now. Market open tomorrow--we ride the rocket baby! And if it goes down, at least I'm going down with my crew. At least if that happens the memes will be so hilarious I'll forget to cry.
Wow.. I can't believe it... we might actually pull this off. Laugh at us now, "pros"!
We're in The Market now, and Market rules tell us what is going to happen. We're getting all that hedge fund money Right? Right?
Maybe.
First, I say maybe because nothing is ever guaranteed until it clears. Secondly, because the rules of The Market are not as perfectly enforced as we would like to assume. We are also finding out they may not be perfectly fair. The Market most experts are willing to talk about is really more like the ideal The Market is supposed to be. This is the version of the market I make my trading decisions in. However, the Real Market gets strange and unpredictable at the edges, when things are taken to extremes, or rules are pushed beyond the breaking point, or some of the mechanics deep in the guts of the Real Market get stretched. GME ticks basically all of those boxes, which is why so many people are getting nervous (aside from the crazy money they might lose). It's also important to remember that the sheer amount of money flowing through the market has distorting power unto itself. Because it's money, and people really, really, really like their money--especially when they're used to having a lot of it, and rules involving that kind of money tend to look more... flexible, shall we say.
Ok, back to GME. If this situation with GME is allowed to play out to its conclusion in The Market, we'll see what happens. I think all the long-side people get the chance to be paid (what, I'm not sure--and remember, you have to actually sell your position at some point or it's all still just numbers on your screen), but no one knows for certain.
But this might legitimately get so big that it spills out of The Market and back into The Economy.
Geez, and here I thought the point of all of this was so that we all get to make so much money we wouldn't ever have to think and worry about that thing again.
Unfortunately, while he's kind of a buzzkill, Thomas Petterfy has a point. This could be a serious problem.
It might blow out The Market, which will definitely crap on The Economy, which as we all know from hard experience, will seriously crush Main Street.
If it's that big a deal, we may even need Washington to be involved. Once that happens, who knows what to expect.. this kind of scenario being possible is why I've been saying I have no idea how this ends, and no one else does either.
How did we end up in this ridiculous situation? From GAMESTOP?? And it's not Retail's fault the situation is what it is.. why is everyone telling US that we need to back down to save The Market?? What about the short-side hedge funds that slammed that risk into the system to begin with?? We're just playing by the rules of The Market!!
Well, here are my thoughts, opinions, and some even further speculation... This may be total fantasy land stuff here, but since I keep getting asked I'll share anyway. Just keep that disclaimer in mind.

A Study in Big Finance Power Moves: If you owe the bank $10,000, it's your problem...

What happens when you owe money you have no way to pay back? It's a scary question to have to face personally. Still, on balance and on average, if you're fortunate enough to have access to credit the borrowing is a risk that is worth taking (especially if you're reasonably careful). Lenders can take a risk loaning you money, you take a risk by borrowing in order to do something now that you would otherwise have had to wait a long time or maybe would never have realistically been able to do otherwise. Sometimes it doesn't work out. Sometimes it's due to reasons totally beyond your control. In any case, if you find yourself there you have no choice but to dust yourself off, pick yourself up as best as you can, and try to move on and rebuild. A lot of people had to learn that in 2008. Man that year really sucked.
Wall street learned their lessons too. Most learned what I think most of us would consider the right lessons--lessons about risk management, and the need to guard vigilantly against systemic risk, concentration of risk through excess concentration of leverage on common assets, etc. Many suspect that at least a few others may have learned an entirely different set of, shall we say, unhealthy lessons. Also, to try to be completely fair, maybe managing other peoples' money on 10x+ leverage comes with a kind of pressure that just clouds your judgement. I could actually, genuinely buy that. I know I make mistakes under pressure even when I'm trading risk capital I could totally lose with no real consequence. Whatever the motive, here's my read on what's happening:
First, remember that as much fun as WSB are making of the short-side hedge fund guys right now, those guys are smart. Scary smart. Keep that in mind.
Next, let's put ourselves in their shoes.
If you're a high-alpha hedge fund manager slinging trades on a $20bn 10x leveraged to 200bn portfolio, get caught in a bad situation, and are down mark-to-market several hundred million.. what do you do? Do you take your losses and try again next time? Hell no.
You're elite. You don't realize losses--you double down--you can still save this trade no sweat.
But what if that doesn't work out so well and you're in the hole >$2bn? Obvious double down. Need you ask? I'm net up on the rest of my positions (of course), and the momentum when this thing makes its mean reversion move will be so hot you can almost taste the alpha from here. Speaking of momentum, imagine the move if your friends on TV start hyping the story harder! Genius!
Ok, so that still didn't work... this is now a frigging 7 sigma departure from your modeled risk, and you're now locked into a situation that is about as close to mathematically impossible to escape as you can get in the real world, and quickly converging on infinite downside. Holy crap. The fund might be liquidated by your prime broker by tomorrow morning--and man, even the broker is freaking out. F'in Elon Musk and his twitter! You're cancelling your advance booking on his rocket ship to Mars first thing tomorrow... Ok, focus--this might legit impact your total annual return. You need a plan, and you know the smartest people on the planet, right? The masters of the universe! Awesome--they've even seen this kind of thing before and still have the playbook!! Of course! It's obvious now--you borrow a few more billion and double down again first thing in the morning. So simple. Sticky note that Mars trip cancellation so you don't forget.
Ok... so that didn't work? You even cashed in some pretty heavy chits too. Ah well, that was a long shot anyway. So where were you? Oh yeah.. if shenanigans don't work, skip to page 10...
...Which says, of course, to double down again. Anyone even keeping track anymore? Oh, S3 says it's $40bn and we're going parabolic? Man, that chart gives me goosebumps. All according to plan...
So what happens tomorrow? One possible outcome of PURE FANTASTIC SPECULATION...
End of the week--phew. Never though it'd come. Where are you at now?... Over $9000^\)!!! Wow. You did it boys, and as a bonus the memes will be so sweet.
^\)side note: add 8 zeros to the end...
Awesome--your problems have been solved. Because...
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..
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BOOM
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Now it's EVERYONE's problem. Come at me, Chamath, THIS is REAL baller shit.
Now all you gotta do is make all the hysterical retirees watching their IRAs hanging in the balance blame those WSB kids. Hahaha. Boomers, amirite? hate when those kids step on their law--I mean IRAs. GG guys, keep you memes. THAT is how it's done.
Ok, but seriously, I hope that's not how it ends. I guess we just take it day by day at this point.
Apologies for the length. Good luck in the market!
Also, apologies in advance for formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors. I was typing this thing in between doing all kinds of other things for most of the day.
Edit getting a bunch of questions on if it's possible the hedge funds are finding ways to cover in spite of my assumptions. Of course. I'm a retail guy trying to read the charts and price action. I don't have any special tools like the pros may have.

My original post: https://www.reddit.com/MarvelStudiosSpoilers/comments/lhj5xy/wandavision_episode_6_possible_script_leak/
Here's the archive link
http://web.archive.org/web/20210211121433/https://pastebin.com/TYzjEXVA There you go!
The OP also shared a screenshot with me as proof he is legit. It has been verified by the mods!
WANDA: {\i1}Previously on {\i}WandaVision...
You made no effort\Nto conceal your abilities.
-Well, I'm tired of hiding, Vis.\N-What aren't you telling me?
You have to stop her.
Just make her stop!
You can't control me the way you do them.
Can't I?
DARCY: {\i1}She has the world's{\i}\N{\i1}only vibranium synthezoid{\i}
{\i1}playing Father-Knows-Best-In-Suburbia.{\i}
What happens when he learns the truth?
You've taken an entire town hostage.
Well, I'm not the one\Nwith the guns, Director.
-(GUNS COCKING)\N-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
I had a brother.
His name was Pietro.
GERALDINE: {\i1}He was killed by Ultron.{\i}
Long lost bro get to squeeze\Nhis stinkin' sister to death or what?
She recast Pietro?
(OPENING THEME SONG PLAYING)
{\i1}Wanda{\i}\N{\i1}Wanda Vision{\i}
{\i1}Don't try to fight the chaos{\i}\N{\i1}Don't question what you've done{\i}
{\i1}The game can try to play us{\i}
{\i1}Don't let it stop the fun{\i}
{\i1}Some days it's all confusion{\i}
{\i1}Easy come and easy go{\i}\N{\i1}But if it's all illusion{\i}
{\i1}Sit back, enjoy the show{\i}
{\i1}Let's keep it going{\i}
{\i1}Let's keep it going{\i}
{\i1}Through each distorted day{\i}
{\i1}Let's keep it going{\i}
{\i1}Though there may be no way of knowing{\i}
{\i1}Who's coming by to play{\i}
Halloween's a magical holiday.
All about family, friends, and the thrill\Nof getting to be someone else for a day.
Wrong! Halloween's about candy.
And scaring people, but mostly candy.
Where's your costume, Tommy?
This is my costume. I'm the cool twin.
-What does that make me?\N-Hmm...
(GAME MUSIC PLAYING)
-Whoa!\N-(LAUGHS)
A dorksaurus rex.
-Not a real dinosaur.\N-(CHUCKLES)
(SNORING)
Man
He even snores cool.
-I'm gonna go wake him up.\N-(WHISPERS) Don't!
You scared?
He's our uncle. Why would I be scared?
'Cause it's four o'clock in the afternoon.
You're secretly afraid he's a vampire.
-No, I'm not.\N-Yes, you are.
No, I'm not.
-Blood is thicker than water! I show you!\N-(BILLY AND TOMMY SCREAMING)
-(ROARING)\N-(SCREAMING)
Oh! Somebody better be\Nbleeding, broken, or on fire.
-Whoa, Mom. Are you old Red Riding Hood?\N-(PIETRO SNORTS)
I'm a Sokovian fortune teller.
Wow. That is so...
-(CHUCKLING) Rad.\N-...lame.
"Lame."
Worse than the costumes mom\Nmade us the year we got typhus.
(BOTH SPEAKING SOKOVIAN)
(EXCLAIMS)
(SPEAKS SOKOVIAN)
(IN ENGLISH) That's not\Nexactly how I remember it.
You probably\Nsuppressed a lot of the trauma.
Mom has been weird\Nsince Uncle Pietro got here.
I think it's because\Nshe hasn't seen him in a long time.
And he's what you call, "a man child."
-(SIGHS WEARILY)\N-Whoa! Sweet costume bro-ham-in-law.
Let me guess. Uh, traffic light.
-(SIGHS)\N-Half-shucked corn.
A booger!
-Yes.\N-Yes!
Well, thank you for humoring me\Nand wearing this ridiculous get-up, honey.
Well, there were no other\Nclothes in my closet, so...
-You are incorrigible, darling.\N-(CHUCKLES)
I know you have a secret\Nthing for Mexican wrestlers.
{\i1}Mi gusta mucho.{\i}
{\i1}Chili con carne.{\i}
Ooh! (GIGGLES)
What do you say, boys?
Who's ready for that first hit\Nof high fructose corn syrup?
-Yes! Headlock!\N-Get out of here, get out of here.
Never told me much about your brother.
I had no idea he'd be so...
Go!
-Great with kids.\N-(ALL BURPING)
Yeah. He's just full of surprises.
Well, you have fun tonight, darling.
What? What do you mean?\NYou're all dressed and ready to go.
I'm undercover.
Halloween is a bacchanal\Nfor adolescent trouble-makers
and the neighborhood watch\Nis the only thing that stands
between the trees and the toilet paper.
-No, that's not what you're supposed to--\N-What?
Well... (SIGHS)
You didn't tell me you had plans.
Well, I am telling you now.
Mom and Dad have been,\Nnot fighting, just, like, different.
It's their first Halloween.\NYou have to be there.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the big dealio?
Big guy has a conflict,\Ntwins need a father figure for the night.
Don't sweat it, sis.\NI got the old XY chromosome.
-(CHUCKLES)\N-Uncle P to the rescue, huh?
There you go. Problem solved.
You have a spooky time tonight, kids.
-Goodnight, Dad!\N-Bye, Dad.
(VIDEO GAME BEEPING)
Wanda?
Be good.
I smell crime.
(SCREAMS)
Don't do that!
Where do you keep your water balloons?
What? We don't have water balloons.
Where are we gonna\Nput all this shaving cream?
Oh.
-It was Billy's idea.\N-I'm Tommy.
And don't you forget it!
You don't even have a costume.
(SCOFFS)
Okay, but... (SIGHS) Just remember\Nthat this is a respectable family.
If I see any funny business,
I am going to magic\Nyou into a pickled herring.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(ELECTRICAL BUZZING)
I wanna see a full work-up\Ninside the hour.
-SOLDIER: Yes, sir.\N-Hayward.
Hayward!
You cut us off at the knees,\Nsending in that missile.
Now we know who we're dealing with.
Hey, there he is.
The guy who almost\Ngot murdered by his own murder squad.
You work for me?
-I actually don't know.\N-She's with me.
I see. And which one\Nof you is the sassy best friend?
There is no time for you\Nto diminish your colleagues
when you're about\Nto start a war you can't win.
Maximoff was never\Ngonna negotiate with us.
We take her out,\Nthis whole nightmare ends.
MONICA: We don't know that.
We actually have no idea
what will happen in there\Nor out here if Wanda dies.
So, what? We just surrender to that?
Not happening.
We can't outgun her.
And clearly antagonizing her\Nis only making things worse.
If Wanda is the problem,\Nshe has to be our solution.
Captain Rambeau, you have become\Nan impediment to this mission.
(SIGHS)
Constantly advocating\Non behalf of super-powered individuals.
Yes, I know\Nyour history with Carol Danvers.
You know, you people who left,
still have the luxury of optimism.
You have no idea what it was like.
What it took to keep the lights on.
Don't use the last five years\Nas an excuse to be a coward.
Maybe it's a good thing\Nyou weren't here when your mother died.
Because clearly\Nyou don't have the stomach for this job.
Get her off my base. Now. All of 'em.
SOLDIER: All right. Come on. Let's go.
Hayward is way overstepping\Nhis provisional authority.
He was looking\Nfor a reason to sideline us.
He's up to something.
SOLDIER: Let's go. Everybody in!
(GRUNTS)
-(MONICA YELLS)\N-(SOLDIER GROANS)
(PANTING)
Why didn't anyone tell me the plan?
-You okay?\N-Yeah. Let's move.
This is it. Game time.
It's not a competition, Tommy.
-It is if you're a winner.\N-Tommy.
(SHOUTS) Unleash hell, demon spawn.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
Do you remember when we were\Nat the orphanage after mom and dad died?
What was the name of that kid\Nwho was always trying to steal your boots?
You know, he was the one...\NHe had the... He had the skin thing.
You're testing me.
No, I'm not.
Hey, it's cool. I know I look different.
Why do you... look different?
You tell me.\NI mean, if I found Shangri-La,
I wouldn't wanna be\Nreminded of the past either.
(LAUGHS) Next house, Mom.
Junior entrepreneur, over here.
How about you let Uncle P help you\Nmaximize your candy acquisition, huh?
(CHUCKLING) Yeah. Kick-ass!
"I feel the need..."
-"For speed."\N-(BOTH YELP)
Kick-ass.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
-Oh, hey, Herb.\N-Oh, hey!
How's patrol going?
Eh, quiet, so far. Hold up, will you?
-(MAN TALKING OVER RADIO)\N-Say again.
-(MAN TALKING OVER RADIO)\N-All the candy has disappeared?
What? Who took my candy?
And now all\Nthe jack-o'-lanterns have been smashed.
(PIETRO, BILLY AND TOMMY CHEERING)
And now everyone's\Ncovered in silly string?
PIETRO: Whoo!
Sorry, Wanda, I gotta bounce.
Well, maybe Vision\Ncan help you out. (CHUCKLES)
Vision? Oh, he's not on duty.
Oh! I... I thought he...
Is there something\NI can do for you, Wanda?
Do you want something changed?
(CHUCKLING) No. It's fine. Never mind.
(CHUCKLES) All right. Peace.
WOMAN: Hey! How's it going?
Happy Halloween.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I'm so hungry, I'd eat anything.
Hungry? I remember hungry.
I used to be like that all the time.
What did you do?
Snacked on Yo-Magic, bro.
Now I have time to hang fin.
Can I have some?
Here you go, little dude.
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS WEAKLY)
SHARK: {\i1}Yo-Magic! The snack for survivors!{\i}
This is so lame. I can't believe\Nyou're making them return all the candy.
I can't believe\Nwhat a bad influence you are.
Who beefed in your borscht?
I'm just trying to do my part, okay?
Come to town unexpectedly,\Ncreate tension with the brother-in-law,
stir up trouble with the rugrats,\Nand ultimately give you grief.
I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?
What happened to your accent?
What happened to yours?
Details are fuzzy, man.
I got shot like a chump\Non the street for no reason at all
and the next thing I know,\NI heard you calling me.
I knew you needed me.
Uncle P, guess what?\N(CHUCKLES)
They've got full-size candy bars\Na few blocks up. Mom, can we go?
Next stop, Cavity Town.
Right on, little dude.
Chip off the old Maximoff block.
You've got super speed!
-I do?\N-Yeah!
WANDA: It's okay, baby.
You can take it slow, and you can--
(CHEERING)
If you're gonna break the sound barrier,\Nplease just take your brother with you.
-Really?\N-Really?
Really. Yeah.\NAnd please just remember to--
BOTH: Don't go past Ellis Avenue.
We know, Mom. We know.
Hey! Be careful.
PIETRO: {\i1}I'm just trying{\i}\N{\i1}to do my part, okay?{\i}
{\i1}Come to town unexpectedly,{\i}\N{\i1}create tension with the brother-in-law...{\i}
MONICA: Who is that?
Wanda's brother came to town.
He brought the wrong face.
AGENT WOO: Over here.
{\i1}-What happened to your accent?{\i}\N{\i1}-What happened to yours?{\i}
(DARCY SIGHS)
MONICA: We shouldn't\Nhang out here too long.
DARCY: Uh, give me two seconds.
I just need to hack into\Nthe secure network on the base.
Donezo.
Now, should be able to access\Nthe data on Hayward's devices.
Oh. That's interesting.
Guys, Hayward figured out\Na way to look through the boundary.
And he didn't share it with the group.
AGENT WOO: Is this Wanda, right here?
No. The program is tracking\Nthe decay signature of vibranium.
Vision. Wait.
Why is Hayward tracking Vision?
I don't know.\NThis is all I can access so far.
These other dots,\Nthose are Westview residents?
The ones in Vision's\Nimmediate vicinity, yeah.
Hayward must have\Nan accurate headcount by now.
MONICA: Hmm.
AGENT WOO: And some sense\Nof their well-being.
Huh... These people,\Nnear the edge of town...
They're barely moving.
Are they alive?
(MONITOR BEEPING)
(DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE)
VISION: Say, excuse me.
Ma'am?
Are those your children?
Are you waiting for something?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
WOMAN: Happy Halloween!
Trick-or-treat?
Agnes?
What are you doing here?
Town Square Scare. Where is it?
Oh, well, the Town Square.\N(CHUCKLES SOFTLY) I expect.
(CHUCKLES EMOTIONLESSLY)
Took a wrong turn.
Got lost.
In the town you grew up in?
(GASPS)
-It's all right.\N-(GASPS)
(SOFTLY) You...
You're one of the Avengers.
You're Vision.
Are you here to help us?
I am Vision. I do want to help.
But what's an Avenger?
What?
Why don't you know?
(BREATH TREMBLING)
Am I dead?
No, no. Why would you think that?
Because you are.
'Cause I'm what?
Dead.
Dead.
(SHOUTS) Dead!
Dead!
Agnes, it is my intention\Nto reach those outside of Westview
and make sense of our situation.
(SOFTLY) How?
No one leaves.
Wanda won't even let us think about it.
(CHUCKLING)
All is lost.
-Agnes...\N-(LAUGHING MANIACALLY)
Agnes, please calm down.
-Agnes! Please...\N-(CONTINUES LAUGHING MANIACALLY)
(LAUGHING STOPS)
I will fix this, Agnes. I promise.
Okey-dokey, neighbor.
(TIRES SCREECH)
Happy Halloweenie!
{\an8}(CELL PHONE RINGING)
That's it.
My way back into the Hex\Nwill be here in an hour.
Just gotta meet my guy over the ridge.
Let's roll.
You can't do that.
Sure we can.\NI'm a whiz at hot-wiring cars.
You can't go back into the Hex.
Worst case scenario,
Wanda removes my free will\Nand puts me in ultra-low-rise jeans.
Hayward has your blood work.
You've gone through\Nthe boundary twice already, Monica.
The energy inside has re-written\Nyour cells on a molecular level twice.
It's changing you.
Seen enough lab results\Nto last me a lifetime.
Cells metastasizing, cells in remission.
I know what Wanda's feeling\Nand I won't stop until I help her.
Okay.
Okay.
But I'm staying here.
-Wait, you can't stay here. It's not safe.\N-What? Darcy, what are you talkin' about?
I haven't made it through\NHayward's last firewall.
There's something big here.\NSomething that can help us. I know it.
Fine. Fine.
I'll drop you the location,\Nyou meet us out there as soon as you can.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-PIETRO: Holy shmacaroni.\N-(WANDA CHUCKLES)
PIETRO: Wow!\NWANDA: Isn't it great?
PIETRO: Damn it, if Westview, New Jersey\Nisn't charming as hell.
Now, I know that you think\Nthat I've have gone full soccer mom.
-Yeah.\N-But it really is nice, right?
Yeah. (SIGHS HEAVILY)
I think Mom and Dad would've loved it.
Yeah. I think they would have.
(CHILDREN LAUGHING)
Where were you hiding\Nthese kids up till now?
-What?\N-I assume
they were sleeping\Npeacefully in their beds.
No need to traumatize beyond the\Noccasional holiday episode cameo, right?
-No...\N-You were always the empathetic twin.
-I don't... I didn't...\N-Don't get me wrong.
You've handled the ethical considerations\Nof this scenario as best you could.
Families and couples stay together,
most personalities aren't far off from\Nwhat's underneath, people got better jobs,
better haircuts, for sure.
-You don't think it's wrong?\N-What, are you kidding?
I'm impressed! Seriously.
It's a big leap\Nfrom giving people nightmares
and shooting red wiggly-woos\Nout of your hands.
How'd you even do all this?
Hey, I'm not some stranger\Nand I'm not your husband.
You can talk to me.
I don't know how I did it.
I...
I only remember\Nfeeling completely alone.
Empty. I just...
Endless nothingness.
(SNIFFLES)
(GASPS)
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
Uh-huh.
(ELECTRONIC BEEPING)
Hayward, you sneaky bastard.
Move out.
Vision. What's he doing?
(VISION GRUNTING)
He really does want out, doesn't he?
(GRUNTING)
(GRUNTS)
Oh, no.
Why aren't you helping him?
-Stop! He's coming apart!\N-Hey!
(GRUNTING LOUDLY)
HAYWARD: {\i1}He really does want out{\i}\N{\i1}doesn't he?{\i}
-Whoa, Billy!\N-Shh!
Are you okay?
(VISION SCREAMING)
Mom!
Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!
What? What is it, Billy?
(PANTING) I hear Dad in my head.\NHe's in trouble.
(GRUNTING)
DARCY: Let me go! What are you doing?
Help him! Let me go!
Help!
(SHUDDERS)
The people need help.\N(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
(WHIMPERS)
(GROANS)
I don't understand.\NWhat's happening to me?
Where is he? Where's your dad?
Hey, don't sweat it, sis. It's not like\Nyour dead husband can die twice.
-(GRUNTS)\N-(YELPS)
Billy, I need you to focus.
(SHUDDERING)
I can't tell. I see these...
-(GRUNTS)\N-...soldiers.
(SCREAMING)
They think he's dying.
(CHATTER STOPS)
Jimmy. Jimmy, do you see that?\NSomething's happening!
It's moving! Go, go!
(RUMBLING)
Go, go, go! Move, move, move!
Are you serious right now?
SOLDIER: Hey! Stop!
(GRUNTS) Oh, fudge.
(SOLDIERS SCREAMING)
(CLOWNS CHUCKLING)
(ALL SCREAMING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Push it! Faster!
(ENGINE ROARING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
Come in. Anyone read me?
Anyone hear my voice?
Does anyone read me?
Anyone read me? Over.

This is a story of how patience is key, and how letting someone else get revenge for you is by far easier than doing it yourself.
The setup
I live in one of those doubled up houses where they build two houses adjacent to eachother with mirrored layout, so we share a wall but are otherwise completely separate.
For years, the house next to me belonged to a nice old lady who you never really noticed or had any trouble with. When she died and the house was resold, the troubles began.
The target is someone who I will refer to as Jack Sparrow, for reasons that will become clear later. Jack owns a sizeable construction business, does some real estate on the side. He buys the house and rents it to a bunch of foreign construction workers that work for his business. I say foreign because it is relevant to the story: there are rumors Jack is doing some shady stuff to have these work for him dirt cheap, by claiming that they're national workers in their native country (and paying them according to that wage, and not the much higher minimum wage of my country). Not exactly on the up and up. Possibly unreported labour as well.
Anyways, he stuffs 4-6 of these in said house for them to live while they work here.
Now I do not have anything against foreign construction workers. But these guys living next door have two traits that are very problematic: they are extremely loud and they do not give a fuck about anyone else. We're talking non stop music and partying starting Thursday evening throughout the entire weekend, untill they leave at 5 am Monday morning to go to work. Seriously I dont know how or when they sleep, it is literally non stop. We're talking 'I'm wearing headphones but still cannot hear my own sound over their music' loud, since it would appear that they've designated the living room (adjacent to the shared wall) as the party room where the fun happens.
At first, I do the neighbourly thing and just suck it up, thinking 'its just one party, just one weekend'. After the third one in a row, I go over to ask them to turn it down, since y'know, night disturbance, its technically illegal to blast music this loud (hearable on the street and across the street by my other neighbours who have also complained).
I'm met with a halfhearthed 'so sorry, will fix'. Except nothing changes. I go over several more times, each time angrier, each time met with 'but its not loud'. If I can hear your music in my own house, over my own tv and music, I would say that it is in fact, too loud.
I contact Jack, since he is their landlord, and explain the situation, after which I'm met with an abrupt 'sorry not sorry, not my fucking problem'. Basically Jack told me to get fucked.
So I involve police, and call them every time things get out of hand. After about a dozen calls, sometimes even twice in the same night, it is clear that even regular police interference doesn't help the situation.
I should mention that I am a lawyer, so I know what the next legal steps are. I also know that other than a token paper from a judge saying 'their music is too loud' I'm not really going to get anything. Things would (like they already sometimes had) become a cat and mouse game where they would blast their music extremely loud to piss me off or to wake me up, for a few brief moments, so that by the time I could get proof or police show up, there would be no music.
I'm deadlocked with my only further option being pretty useless and a waste of time.
At this point I'm biding my time and just waiting till something changes. I'm not saying that I condone people who bludgeon their neighbour to death with a rusty pipe, but I do somewhat understand what would drive someone to that point.
The mistake
One day I'm at home and I notice quite a lot of ruckus next door, more so than usual. Suddenly, I see through my garden window that a wall is being partially torn down. You see, sometime over the years, the neighbours had built a small adjacent sidebuilding adjoining the main house. It was right on the border between us, and when the gardens were being refenced, the wall was used as a divider to save on fencing. Said wall was now in the process of having its top part ripped off by a crane.
I was not informed of any of this, which, while not technically needed, would have been the nice thing to do. I go take a walk so I can take a look at what we're doing and see that they've torn down the entire sidebuilding, the remaining wall between our gardens is the only part that has been kept intact (and even then, not the top part).
Being a lawyer, and specifically, a construction/permit lawyer, I know two things:

• Shit like this is not allowed without a pre-approved permit from the city
  
• There is no way in hell they have said permit, as I would have seen the application for it (I regularly have to check the online (public, accessible by everyone) application to see what permits are being applied for my job, and when I do I tend to look over to my own area, just so I can keep up with what is being planned in my area)
  

This is it. The moment I have been waiting for, the situation has changed and the time has come to exact revenge.
A quick email sent to the municipal authorities lets me do my civic duty of reporting a potential crime, the fact that someone is building or demolishing shit without a permit. Since this is a simple report, no response happens since I'm not an official victim or anything yet.
Since no further construction happens for a few days and everything was removed, I assume that was that and they would only tear down the side structure since it was starting to fall apart due to age.
Neighbours have moved all their stuff that was in said building onto their lawn and haphazardly covered it with a tarp.
The next week, more construction materials are being delivered and construction starts. I send a new email to city services, with new pictures, saying that apparently, there is more planned, and that I hope they undertake the appropriate action. Instant response less than an hour later: They'd called Jack after the first time to inform him that what he was doing required a permit, and he had ensured them that he didnt know that (BS, he's in construction, of course he knows) and that he would stop construction and request a permit. They called him again after my email, reprimanded him for not following his earlier promise and he said again he would shut it down.
I happened to be working from home that day, and had to stop myself from waving to the construction crew as they left.
Later that day I get an angry phonecall from Jack, who accuses me of reporting him and that I would be sorry, he would come after me for damages for his delays. I respectfully inform him that even if I reported him (reports are in my name, but not published and anonymised in later files) I wouldnt have done anything wrong, because from the looks of it he didnt have a permit and should have known that before he started working illegally without one.
I end the call before I start to sound too happy with things.
Jack has at this point, no idea what I have initiated with this. He is Jack Sparrow and I have just rung the bell that awakens the kraken that will destroy him, he just doesn't know it yet.
The kraken
You see, there is a good reason why most people consult an expert and or a lawyer when they want to apply for a permit. The rules involved are so convoluted and needlessly complex that navigating them as a non professional is extremely hard and time-consuming, and a single mistake can torpedo your entire case, forcing you to do it all over. I have killed entire projects (and have seen clients projects killed) by pointing out that on page 127, section 35-1-A, something was left blank that should have been answered.
I did some digging and found out that the previous owners of the houses had actually consulted eachother about the sidebuilding, and agreed on making the wall (part of) the divider between their gardens. So much so, that they shared the costs of it. And the ownership. That wall that he destroyed part of? It was also my wall. Which of course, means I'm entitled to damages, but that is not the important part.
The important part is that he needs my permission, to do anything to that wall. So when he applied for a permit a few weeks later (added bonus, rowdy neighbours stuff is still out in the open, covered by just a tarp, since they expected this to be a quick smash and replace job that would take a few weeks at most) I went to city center and looked at the application. Noticed that they were planning to do some stuff to said wall that I own 50 %.
So I filed a complaint, following proper procedure, about the permit, namely that even if granted, it could never be executed, since Jack needed permission from me in regards to the wall, and he didnt have it (nor was I intending to grant it). This should kill his permit, since permits cannot be granted if you know in advance they cannot be realized. No sense granting a permit to build a certain kind of house when you know they're never actually going to build it.
Now, Jack was a bit of a smooth talker, and as a construction entrepreneur, had his connections, and permits are a political decision here just as much as a legal one. So despite a 100% correct legal objection that should have killed his permit, it went through. He actually called me about it to gloat a little.
No worry, one can appeal a permit in my country. The only requirement is that you pay a 100 euro fee, which I gladly paid. The appeal instance is a subnational instance, and does not care one bit about Jacks political ties or the half hearted bullshit that the city officials wrote to justify granting the permit in spite of the concerns I raised.
They terminate his permit without any hesitation on the aformentioned legal grounds.
Jack sees his permit blocked untill he fixes the issue, which he can't, because I'm not really inclined to agree with his plans for our wall, you see.
At this point, going through two lenghty procedures, it has been over 7 months. The neighbours have had an unfinished construction project in their yard the entire time, forced to store their stuff elsewhere, something that was always supposed to be 'a temporary thing for a few weeks while we build' turned into something that was taking months, with no end in sight.
But wait, theres more
The above was the administrative part of the matter, him getting the permit.
Now doing construction work without a permit is also a criminal offense. And of course, my report got passed around to the appropriate instances, so now Jack was also the subject of a criminal procedure for construction offense. Not only did he risk fines and jail time, he was a construction business and used his own construction business for the work he did on the property. So his company was also on the hook, and one of the sentences that can be given in these types of crimes is to be prohibited to do construction or construction related activity as a business, either permanently or temporarily. Not only was he personally on the line, his entire business was as well.
During this debacle, Jack tried to sell the property. This didnt really go too well because of a few reasons. One, the property was inflicted with an illegal situation: the demolished sidebuilding was torn down illegally, and untill said illegal status was resolved, it would stick to the property. Which tends to kill the property value quite a bit, since nobody wants to buy something that they'll have to spend time and money on to make legal again by either rebuilding the torn down building, or getting a regularisation permit for it. Made even worse by the fact that he applied for said permit and had it denied, so he couldn't even claim that said permit would be super easy to get.
Secondly, is Jack never intended to sell the property in its current state. What he, as I now know, has done in the past is buy cheap old houses like the one next to me. He puts some of his crew in it, who can't complain about the sub par accommodation. They thrash the place because they dont care and he lets them, then when the place is done, he tears it down and sells it to a developer or develops it himself.
However due to his construction crime and the accompanying status for the property, step two was not an option. He couldn't renovate it the way it needed to be (small renovations would not be enough), because covering the crime was always a requirement in any permit he would request for the building, and because of me, he couldnt cover it.
Couldn't sell it either, because the place was trashed, and any developer looking at it would dip out when they realized there was a construction issue and a vocal neighbour who would oppose anything big that they would try to do there, lost of easier properties to develop than that one.
In conclusion
Anyway, that is where we are today. Jack is staring down the barrel of a criminal court procedure that is about to happen where he is risking his business and livelyhood. His existing projects also gather special attention from city services now, since he is now outed to them as someone who cuts corners on permits and regulations.
He cannot really sell the property unless he cuts a massive loss, since in its current state it is absolutely trashed. He cannot develop it or sell to a developer because all development plans involve the adjoining wall, which he cannot use in big ways unless he gets my permission.
The rowdy neighbours are stuck living in a smaller house than what they had, in a place they trashed but that cannot really be renovated or fixed in the major way that it needs. They have quieted down a lot, possibly because Jack blames them for his current situation (which isn't wrong, I suppose).
I have awakened the kraken and set it off on Jack Sparrow, and it utterly ruined him. And the best part is that I had do to very little to do it. All I really did was nudge the abomination that is municipal bureaucracy and point it in his direction, and they did the rest.
I could tell you that he called me to complain and even beg about letting him use the wall the way he needs it to, so that he can get on with his business and fix the issues and use them to show his good faith in court in the criminal procedure, that he was losing money and customers over this and was in danger of losing his entire business, and that I then smugly replied with 'not my fucking problem'.
But he didnt, so for now we'll just have to imagine that he did.

This little story of revenge is about how I got even with a former boss, and how I destroyed his and his business partner's life in the process.
Many years ago I worked at an electronics repair store that will not be named. It was the only one in our smallish town so everyone came there. I worked my way up from lowly tech to store manager in roughly six months. A few months after I made store manager, one of the owners who we will call Dennis, insisted on bringing his nephew in as a part-time employee. Don't get ahead of me redditers!
I initially didn't have any issues with the kid, he had come to the store on multiple occasions and we would all sit around in the back and talk. So again, I had no issues with bringing him on part-time. For a good month or two, the kid who we will call Kevin busted his behind, did everything right, he could solder an HDMI port on a PS4 in minutes (one less thing for me to do). Profits for the store were skyrocketing and things seemed rather fine from where I was standing, I was due to make a fairly large bonus that year as long as the store kept turning the amount of money it was turning.
I figured at this time, we could make Kevin our assistant manager and I could go back to doing paper work, inventory orders and such and leave the running of things to him. Well, mistakes were definitely made. I had a bad habit of writing down my login pin because Dennis and his business partner Jay were idiots and wanted the pin to be 9347893247349 digits long. These pins were required to access everything from sales data, to the cash register and more. Anyway, around the time that I was turning over the majority of stuff to Kevin to do, I also started taking classes at the local university, so again, me being the idiot that I was would leave to go to class before coming back and finishing my shift. Dennis and Jay were fine with this as long as I left someone competent in charge.
Fast forward to the end of the month when accounts receivable numbers were run. And wouldn't you know it, we were short. By thousands that month. I discussed everything with Dennis and Jay and we assumed it was a computer glitch. There was no way after almost a year of working there that the numbers were off. I had never had this happen before. The next month we were once again off. It was around this time that Dennis and Jay came to me and started accusing me of stealing from them. They pointed out all of the days that the numbers didn't match up and saw that I was always closing that night.
When I tried to explain to them that I was in class on those days when the money came up missing and suggested that they look at Kevin, Dennis blew his top. He said how dare I accuse his nephew of anything, that it was my pin used to access the register, etc. Needless to say, I was fired, luckily they didn't call the cop because in Jay's words, I had made them a boatload of money.
Plan:
A couple of years had passed since I was working there, I graduated college with a degree in Business and had moved on with my life or so I thought. One night while I was out at the store, I heard from behind me "Yo thief!", as I turn around I see Kevin and Dennis with a sh-t-eating grin on their faces. I shrug it off, and walk away continuing to hear their childish taunts. While in my car, I began to formulate a plan. I was going to crush these mother f--kers no matter how long it took.
It took me two months of planning but finally I figured that I would use my social engineering skills and my business savvy to completely crash their business. I broke the HDMI port on my PS4 on purpose and took it into have it fixed. Kevin and a girl that had started there a few weeks earlier were the only two working.
Kevin: Hey welcome to such and such, oh, it's you thief, what can I help you with? Me: First off you can stop calling me that, you and I both know it's bullsh-t. Kevin: Sorry dude, Dennis told me to call you that. I'm sorry how everything went down. What can I help you with? Me: My HDMI port broke, do you guys still repair them? Kevin: Yeah we still repair them, it's $115 Me: Damn you guys went up in price? Good on you, so, how's everything been since I left? Kevin: You mean since you were fired for stealing? Me: Yeah, whatever, we both know that's bullsh-t.
I knew Kevin was trying to impress the girl, but, didn't care at that minute. We'll come back to her.
As I glanced around I saw that they had added some new things to the store, including Otterbox cases and such.
Me: Whoa, that's new! How did you guys manage to get in with Otterbox? Kevin: Oh we didn't, they kept turning us down, so I found a Chinese distro. We get them for $5 and sell them for $30. Me thinking to myself (This dude loves to blab, I need him to keep it up) Me: So, how much have the prices gone up on other things? Kevin: Oh? quite a bit actually, you thought you were turning this store a profit, let me show you something.
He showed me their new price list which was insane on the pricing and also a
BIG MISTAKE!!!!
REVENGE IS MINE!
I never believed in ripping anyone off, so I always convinced Dennis and Jay our pricing was fair. And that they didn't need to charge a lot for repairs. Since they were the only game in town they had everyone by the balls.
After the work was finished I said goodbye and made sure to wave to the girl as I walked out. This is when my plan really went into motion, I had everything I needed to crush these mother f--kers. All except a building, the next day I looked around for a location to begin to dismantle their monopolistic hold on the town. As luck would have it a location right across the street from their store was coming up for rent. I quickly signed the lease and began to distribute flyers letting the town know about our coming grand opening on the flyer I was offering 90% off the first repair, basically I was doing the work for free just all they had to do was pay the part price.
Opening day comes and I have 60 people there to get repairs. Ranging from iPhone screen repairs, to simple pc tune ups. This went on like this for months, sure I was taking a loss on the building rent, but this being a smallish town, the rent was easily manageable.
After things started to settle down and business became steady, Dennis and Jay started losing massive business due to the new guy in town. (They still hadn't realized it was me), Jane walked in as I was closing up shop, Jane if you recall was the girl who worked for Dennis that Kevin was trying to hit on, apparently she had been let go that night and was looking for another job. I immediately gave her the job, because she knew her sh-t. I asked her what all happened over there, and she said everything has gone to sh-t and that the store has been losing tens of thousands since this place opened and that she would have left sooner if she didn't need the job. Kevin apparently really liked her and couldn't keep his hands to himself.
A month after Jane came in, Dennis and Jay came in to see who their new comp was. As they walked in I greeted them as I do any customer.
Me: Welcome to new guys electronic repair, how can I help you? Dennis: Does the owner know he hired a thief? Me: Oh, I'm sure he knows you're full of sh-t on that one. Dennis: Get me your manager you piece of sh-t thief. Me: Sir, I am the manager, how can I help you? Dennis: Well is the owner here?Me: Yes sir he is. Dennis: Good then go get him, so that I can tell him what a thief you are. Me: Sure, one minute.
I walk into the back and start talking to Jane, we both enjoy a laugh because she overheard this dude.
I walk out of the back and look at Dennis.
Me: How can I help you? Dennis: You can stop playing games and get me your owner. Me: Pointing to the sign behind me, yeah that's me, how can I help you? Dennis: You're the one that has been taking all of our business!?!!? Me: Yep, you called me a thief, when you knew all along it was your piece of sh-t nephew that was stealing from you. I made it my life's mission to destroy you, the day you and Kevin called me a thief in the store. You couldn't leave well enough alone. Jay: You mean to tell me that this is HIS FAULT? Looking at Dennis. Me: Yep, and yours as well, you had a chance to stick up for me and didn't. If I can't assist you gentlemen with a repair or anything, I kindly ask that you leave my store. Dennis: F--k you, you haven't heard the end of us.
This quite literally cracked me up, the dude trying to talk tough. I laughed as they stormed out of my store. About this time, Jane came from out of the back area, and dropped her phone. I bent down to pick it up and noticed that it was the fake Otterboxes that the other store was selling.
I made an anonymous tip to Otterbox regarding them selling counterfeits. Boy, let me tell you, Otterbox doesn't f--king play. Within a week the other store was raided, Kevin, Dennis and Jay were all arrested for selling counterfeit items and were sued into bankruptcy.
As for Jane and I, well, we just welcomed out first child into the world and have been married for a year and half.
If you're reading this Kevin - Little f--king thief, not only did I cost you and your uncle everything, but, I also took your woman. Go suck a dick.
TLDR: Accuse me of stealing from you, when it was your nephew. I will take your business, your woman and ruin your f--king life.
EDIT1: Cannot believe that I have to add this in here, because some people cannot read between the lines. Otterbox is the one who got them raided by the police. Otterbox doesn't do the raiding.
EDIT2: Fixed the formatting issues, sorry about that.

Hi. I tried to keep things as compact as possible but it turned out quite long.
TL;DR - ex thinks I'm sending him and his wife old nudes of myself. I am not. Received creepy anonymous messages with sensitive information about my personal life, and a contact's details changed without me doing anything. Could this mean anything? Need advice.
Backstory: When I was 16 I had a FWB-type relationship with a man (let's call him Tom) who was at the time 26. We lived in different cities so would hookup whenever I came to visit. We spoke every day but had nothing official. I had no illusions about our relationship but we could really open up to each other which was nice and supportive in my teen years. At 18 I moved to his city to join the University. Initially, we met up casually, I started seeing people till at some point he asked me to be his girlfriend, apologizing he hadn't done it earlier. I declined and he wanted no contact with me after that. We still followed each other on social media and at some time in that year I could see that he had a new girlfriend, and a while later they got married. At some point I realised he had blocked me on instagram, which was fine by me.
About 2 years ago I'm in the subway and I bump into them. He ignores me full on and walks past me. I just tried to say hi.
Soon after this they started calling me, screaming that I should stop sending them pictures and to leave them alone. This and their manner really came as a surprise because I hadn't been sending anyone anything - but the calls were often short and involved him yelling and not listening. I have no real idea what they're mad about. Some time later his girlfriend sends me an IM once again 'confronting' me, but this time she shows me some of the pictures - they were semi-nude pictures of myself (as a teen, without my face thankfully), and some of him which he had sent me long ago. I have no idea who would have these photos. so...bla bla bla I deny everything, tell them they can go to the police if necessary, eventually I went to the police myself to see if there was anything they could do but apparently not. I blocked them everywhere after this.
anyway, half a year of silence, till November when I opened up my Tumblr and found a string of anonymous messages threatening to send the pictures to my mother and workplace. Anon was saying that Tom was an idiot and he used me to get over someone else, and so on. What really frightened me, however, was the questions "does your mother know you are into older guys? does your boyfriend know you are seeing another person?" - this is extremely sensitive information. I have an open relationship but am incredibly discrete, my boyfriend has no idea when I ''see other people'' and it's not something I/we share with anyone AT ALL - not even in our own social circles. There would literally be no trace of this unless this person literally followed me or could read through my whatsapp messages.
I am writing this today because I was looking through my Whatsapp chats and came across Tom's thread, I had blocked him ages ago but for some reason, it had been renamed to 'Apple'. I check my phone's contact list and there's a separate contact with his same number, but again 'Apple' - along with an additional landline phone number which never belonged to Tom's contact details.
I found this quite spooky, and have no idea how it happened. The landline number does not pop up online and has nothing to do with the Apple stores in my country.
​
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As far as I know there is no way to check the IP address of an anon tumblr user. Part of me hurts to have someone believe I'm doing nasty things when i'm not - but the anon messages were a little too close for comfort. Does anyone have any advice?

Controversial removeddit
Thread removed

• So are you going after 74M Americans who are roughly half the populace?
• How is supporting and defending the constitution and the union not unifying? We have a mandate to bring trump and the Trump supporters that interrupted a constitutional ceremony to justice.
• You all deserve to be stripped of your voting rights.
• how come unity is so much more important to you in the days after a failed insurrection?
• Its odd every US citizen isn't agreeing that this should be condemned....... I think what you should be saying is the right should be pushing for these people being brought to justice and stop doing this shit. That all goes so against the constitution they say they love, yet in practice just spit on.
• It's not the left that are murderous hillbillies.
• Fuck that. The alt right and their supporters just attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government. This bullshit call for unity died when these traitors refused to unify with the results of a democratic election.
• You're the one defending terrorists and racists. If unifying the country means appeasing racist, then, like Lincoln's United States, you can count us the fuck out.
• They stormed the capital...in the middle of a ceremony...to elect the next president...and made the Congress run in terror. I mean how does the situation on the 6th not rise to the definition of terrorism?
• from any perspective other than yours, they are, think different and you'll see it

Is it good to keep poking an unstable bear? Some of the actions that are happening now daily are only adding fuel to the fire.
Trash article. Dangerous criminal? GTFO

• Another similar comment

This comment somehow got two dozen digit downvotes
Lol. So they are blocking the president of united states? Who is next?
Knowing most Scots, he'd be leaving as a corpse, if not pieces of one, lmao.
Downvoted hot take stating the US is a terrorist state and Trump is leader
I don’t understand this crap. All it does is piss off half of America. Fine, don’t have tourism from half of the wealthiest country on earth
Where did the orange man touch you? At least he doesn't have ties with China and rewrite an even worse patriot act. Lick the boot you sheep.
Can we just ban him from Earth?
I thought the left wanted open borders...
This is great news! Ban this goon in as many democratic countries as possible; a sort of authoritarian stress-test!
Another removed thread
Moar removed

• Well he has called white supremacists "fine people", and he has been trying to overturn a democratic election. Whether that makes him a white supremacists or a terrorist I'm not sure, but it definitely makes him a giant twat.
• Away and get yourself tae fuck.
• How about Trump's places are considered white supremist hangouts. Lol

There’s never been a president as big of a threat to the media and politicians established in Washington so no. That’s why they’re trying so hard to get him out
nope. usually they get the hint after the first one.
😂the way you guys are escalating this is hilarious
It is incredibly odd that the right wing in this country seem to gloss over the fact that Mr. Trump incited a crowd to overrun a government building.
Trump is not universally hated, it's pretty much 50/50 in the US.
how you figure?
Edit: Scotland hasn't done the "blocking" part. Also super unlikely, since it's one of (if not) the most politically powerful leaders in the world.
Edit 2: Dangerous criminal

“Are you sure you need to leave so soon?” the young woman said, not-quite gripping his arm as he moved to stand from the fancy lounge chair he’d been effectively forced into when he was ‘invited’ in here. “We’ve barely touched down.”
“Apologies, ma’am.” Jason said, as he tried to delicately extricate himself. “My orders are to present myself to Captain Tisi as soon as possible.”
More than that. He wanted out of this cabin and off this ship. The civilian captain of the Grinshaw’s Maw had been… handsy. Nothing beyond the realm of decorum, but still more than he wanted. The Shil’vati noblewoman was attractive. No doubt about that. And despite Hela’s personality being a bit too… valley girl-ish for his taste, he normally wouldn’t have been against something more on principle.
Unfortunately, he had a feeling that any entanglement on that front would result in more than he bargained for.
She’d already alluded to having two husbands back home, and had made some subtle insinuations that he would be a very exotic addition to that collection. Jason wasn’t interested in being another trophy for her to parade around in the court back home though - no matter how much money she not-so-subtly implied she had.
Not that she needed to imply it. If there was a single object in this cabin that didn’t have a gold inlay, he hadn’t seen it yet. Between that, and the fact that the place was festooned with what he could only imagine were expensive cultural artifacts, it was abundantly clear that Hela was a woman of means.
“I’m the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty.” Hela smiled. “I’m sure the good captain won’t begrudge me keeping one of her handsome soldiers to myself for a little longer.”
I know you’re the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty, Jason thought struggling to maintain his smile, though he had little doubt it was looking a bit wooden by now. You’ve only mentioned it thirty times since you dragged me in here.
“I’m sorry ma’am, I really must insist-”
“You really don’t. Tisi’s also an old friend of mine,” Hela said. “I can assure you that she won’t mind.”
That actually caught Jason’s attention, and he stopped struggling quite so hard. He didn’t sit down again, but he was a little interested. It would be useful to know a little more about the woman he would be serving under before he met her.
…and wasn’t that a strange thought.
He was on active-duty now. Which was actually insane. He’d been hoping to ask the DIs about why his posting was ‘classified’ and where his vocational was going to be, but he never got the opportunity. He’d barely returned to base before two jackbooted marines had shoved him into a shuttle and flown him to the space port.
From there, they’d shoved an omni-pad into his hands and marched him onto a ship that clearly wasn’t military. Then they’d left, and he was off, roaring across space in his uniform, surrounded by dozens of civilian passengers.
“You know Captain Tisi?” he asked, back in the moment.
He was all too aware that the ‘briefing’ he’d found on the omni-pad had been all too light on details. Beyond the fact that he was to report to a ‘Captain Tisi’, and that he’d be serving on a ‘picket ship’ he knew nothing.
“Oh, yes, we used to play together as girls,” Hela said. “Old family links you see. Apparently our ancestors were part of the same family unit once. General Debas, if you can believe it?”
Jason could, on account of the fact that he had no clue whatsoever as to who Debas was. Still, he was listening as Hela prattled on.
“Of course, her line stuck to military service, while my own made the smart choice and started investing.” The woman sighed dramatically. “Even now though, they refuse to admit that it was a mistake. I mean sure, the court crowd back home eat it up, the whole ‘military tradition’ thing, but that’s only when they aren’t snickering about her family barely having two credits to rub together these days.”
She smiled up at him. “It’s part of why I keep trying to convince her to give it up and join my trading group. I’d love to have her over some of the idiot captains we have on payroll. I’d even let her into my family unit. Empress knows, I can afford to share my two men,” she looked at him significantly. “Or three.”
That was the moment, Jason remembered why he was trying to escape this situation. Once more, he made to stand straight, only for the woman to grip him tighter. At this point, there was little he could do to escape beyond simply ripping his arm away, and he wasn’t entirely sure how well that would go down for him.
It was all well and good sticking to your principles, but in the real world, more often than not, the little guy got smushed by the big one when they got uppity. As it stood, Hela was dancing on the knife edge of what he’d let her get away with. Which told him, if nothing else, that her boasting about her negotiating skills wasn’t all hot air, given how she’d directed their entire conversation thus far.
“It’s why I always try to bring her a gift when the Maw heads in this direction.” Hela smiled, as if she wasn’t currently gripping his arm. “Try and give her a little taste of what she could have. Tempt her into the high life and away from all the dreariness of military living. It just seems a shame, when she could have so much more?”
As she spoke, she eyed him, and Jason realized that she was making a fairly unsubtle comparison between him and his soon to be superior there.
He tore his arm away.
“She sounds admirable,” he said, straightening his sleeve.
Hela seemed honestly surprised, staring at her open hand, then that surprise turned to anger as she looked up at him. For just a moment though. Then it was gone, that same smile she’d been wearing all evening back in place.
She stood up, straightening her dress, and for just a moment, Jason was reminded of the height disparity between them. For all that Hela played the role of the young socialite, she was still a Shil’vati.
She leaned forward, as if to reinforce that difference in build. “Yes I suppose-”
Whatever else she was about to say was interrupted. The door behind them swung open and two women in military uniform marched in – trailed by a single flustered looking militia marine.
“Sorry ma’am, they just burst through,” the militia member, clad in the ornate purple and green livery of the Helrune Dynasty household guard, stammered.
Hela pinned the woman with a stare, none of the charming socialite he’d seen moments before present. Then, just like the earlier anger, the glare was gone, replaced by a casual smile.
“That’s fine, guardsmen. Few can stop Tisi when she sets her mind to something.” She said dismissively, a single wave sending the woman scampering from the room.
Then Hela turned with a smile to the recently identified Captain Tisi.
“Tisi,” the civilian captain said, moving forward to wrap her military counterpart in a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
Tisi endured the hug without moving, though she was an expression of affable irritation, which quickly broke into a more genuine smile. “You too.” She glanced at Jason. “Though I’d be a bit happier to see you if you weren’t trying to poach my latest crewmember.”
“Poach?” Hela said, releasing the hug, a look of confusion on her face. “I would never. I was just keeping the young man company and the time happened to get away from us.”
Judging by the roll of Tisi’s eyes, she wasn’t fooled for a second.
Though Jason had to quickly look away from the exchange between the two women, as the final woman in the room was sidling round towards him.
“Salute, you idiot,” the woman hissed, jabbing him not too gently in the side with an elbow.
Jason felt panic shoot up his spine as he realized he’d forgotten to do so, and pulled his arm up just as Tisi finished her discussion and looked over at him.
“Recruit Jason, reporting for duty, ma’am.”
To be honest, he still wasn’t quite accustomed to the notion of Shil’vati using the first name after a title. That was how you did it though. Unless you were part of the nobility, last names just didn’t carry all that much importance, and that had bled over into a number of aspects of their society.
“At ease, recruit,” the woman said, returning the salute. “I’m glad to see you made it here in one piece.” She turned to level a slightly playful glare in Hela’s direction. “In spite of my friend’s best attempts to the contrary.”
The civilian woman feigned being wounded, but Tisi dismissed it with a roll of her eyes.
“The good captain was an able host, ma’am,” he said, not quite willing to voice his actual thoughts in front of a person whom she was clearly friends with.
“I’m sure,” Tisi murmured in a tone that said she didn’t believe a word of it. “Well, unfortunately, I’ll have to divest you from her care for now. I assume you have your kit?”
Jason nodded, gesturing to where he’d put it down when he’d initially been ‘invited’ in here.
Tisi nodded. “Good. Our car’s waiting out in the space port parking lot.”
“Ugh, a car, Tisi?” Hela piped in, sounding genuinely offended. “Give me a few minutes and I can get my personal shuttle ready for launch. Have your woman drive the ground vehicle back through the crowds. You, I, and your latest subordinate, can fly where you need to go with some class. It’ll be a good chance to catch up.”
“Thanks, but no thanks, Hela, the car will do just fine for now.” Tisi dismissed. “Our newest recruit will have to get used to roughing it at some point.”
“He needn’t,” Hela pointed out.
“Bye Hela,” Tisi said, turning to leave.
Jason got the message, scooping up his kit and following after the two women, festooned with bags.
“Well don’t forget to check your messages! We just need to catch up soon.” Hela called from where she remained in the open doorway as they strode down the hall. “Bye Jason.”
The trio continued down the halls of the merchant ship, which were much more bare and utilitarian than Hela’s cabin had been.
“Ugh, I can’t stand that woman,” the marine sergeant finally said.
The Captain sighed. “I will admit that Hela can be something of an… acquired taste. Don’t hold it against her. Being both a member of the nobility and a merchant, she’s used to being able to ‘push’ for the things she wants.”
“If you say so, ma’am.”
Tisi glanced at her subordinate. “I do. Hela, for all her faults, is an old friend of mine. Her family have been good to mine. If you have any opinions on her, I don’t want to hear them, nor do I want to hear them being spread around the crew. Understood?”
“Understood, ma’am.” The woman nodded easily.
Jason just trailed along behind the pair as they continued to talk.
​
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​
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“And this is your locker.”
The barracks they were in was a far cry from the spotless cleanliness of the dorms in basic. Hell, the whole base was. It was kind of surreal to see. The Crucible had always been abuzz with activity, but by comparison, this place felt half-abandoned.
At least it was warm though, he thought, a shiver running up his spine as he remembered their mercifully short sojourn outside.
“Does everyone live on base?” Jason asked, gesturing to the nearby half-made beds.
Assisse, as he learned his new sergeant was called, shrugged. “Nah, most of us avoid this place if we can. Given that we’re here long term, we’ve got a stipend for hotels. Could get houses, I guess, but not much point in putting down roots if the Empress might pull you up at any time. Captain’s got a home here because she’s a rich girl. Hair-Ball does too, though it’s more her family’s home than hers.”
Jason paused in the act of placing his clothes into his locker. “Hair-Ball?”
“Yoro,” the woman corrected. “She’s a Rakiri like the ones you saw on the way over here.”
Jason thought back to the crowds of massive werewolf-like aliens they’d passed on the ride over here. The aliens' thick fur coats were clearly proof against the cold, given how they weren’t wearing anything else. Well, mostly nothing else. He didn’t consider the small necklaces or other trinkets most had on to be ‘clothes’.
“Alright kid, level with me, why are you here?” Assisse asked, jolting him from his thoughts.
“I was posted here,” he said simply.
The older woman rolled her eyes. “I know that. Why were you posted here?”
Jason hesitated. He had a small theory in his mind, but it was one he’d tried not to give too much credence. It said poor things about his future prospects if it were true, after all.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I know me being here is weird. I should be attending vocational training right now, not serving on a ship.”
Assisse fixed him with a gimlet eye at his partial truth. “Any suspicions?”
Jason sighed. He might as well come out with it.
“I might have run afoul of a noble?” he said hesitantly.
Assisse nodded, as if she’d expected as much.
“So what happened?” She prompted, before pausing. “Wait, does this have something to do with that training exercise where you gave those Interior gals a black eye?”
Jason paused in the act of placing a shirt into his locker.
“…I might have dropped the Colonel in charge out a window.”
Assise stared at him.
“Really?”
“Really.”
The woman continued to stare, before breaking into uproarious laughter.
“Yeah, that would do it, kid,” she said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “What line was she from?”
Jason shrugged, a little discomforted by her amusement. “I honestly can’t remember. She said her mother was a planetary governor though.”
“Big bitch then.” The woman nodded. “Yeah, I could see one of them pulling some strings.”
Jason sighed as the woman casually confirmed a fear he’d been trying not to dwell on since the moment he heard his deployment would be ‘classified’.
“So I’m fucked then?”
“Maybe?” The sergeant made a so-so gesture, making his heart sink further. “You’ll have to ask the captain exactly what your posting says. Might shed a bit more light on it all.”
Jason shoved another shirt into the locker.
“Ah, come on, kid.” Assisse said smiling somewhat awkwardly, a strange thing to see on the previously gregarious woman’s features. “I can’t stand to see a pretty face down.”
Jason nearly rolled his eyes at the line. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that Assise was technically his superior, and his time in the Crucible was still fresh in his head. And in the Crucible, one did not roll their eyes in front of their superiors with the expectation of seeing tomorrow.
“Don’t look so glum,” Assisse continued, still somewhat awkwardly. “Sure, Gurathu may be a backwater, but it ain’t all bad. Beats playing hide and seek with the roaches out in the Periphery.”
She placed a rather large hand on his shoulder, far more delicately than he expected given how she behaved. “How long you in for?”
“Three years,” he said, translating the time from the five in Earth years to the three in Shil.
“Hardly any time at all,” Assisse insisted, her tusked maw turning into a toothy smile.
Despite the somewhat ham-fisted way she’d presented his situation, Jason found a smile forming on his face at her words.
“There, that’s better,” the woman said.
“Thanks, Sarge.”
Satisfied, he started to shuck off his shirt.
“Hey, hey,” the woman said, stepping back with both hands raised up. “Don’t you want me to leave first?”
Jason looked at her in confusion as he held his shirt in his hands. Was she actually blushing?
She was. Though that didn’t seem to stop her from glancing at his torso every few seconds.
“I was just switching kits,” he said, gesturing to the snow themed fatigues that he’d just been issued in place of his old grey recruit gear. “Is that a problem?”
“No, but…” The woman trailed off.
Jason mildly chastised himself as he stopped undoing the latches of his pants. He’d started getting changed without even thinking about it. After three months in basic, where time was a premium, he hadn’t even given it a second thought. Apparently, what was normal there wasn’t normal in the greater military culture as a whole.
“Ah, well if you don’t mind…” he didn’t finish the statement, not quite able to give a woman who was ostensibly his superior a suggestion. Just thinking about what the DIs would have done to him if he did so during basic sent a shiver up his spine, and that was enough for that sensation to be transferred to Assisse.
It seemed that he needed to spend a little time ‘unprogramming’ himself away from the social norms he’d built up over the past three months. He almost sighed at the thought that he was once more in a situation where what was ‘normal’ played by entirely different rules.
“Makes no difference to me,” he said.
“Damn kid, they weren’t exaggerating about you humans,” Assisse said as she stepped away, a strange smile on her face now that she’d gotten over her surprise. Still, she dutifully stepped out of the room to let him change in peace.
Not that she didn’t spend a final moment blatantly getting an eye full as she stepped out.
Jason finally allowed himself to roll his eyes at the classically Shil’vati move, even as he continued stepping out of his clothes.
Assisse was nice. A bit on the rough side but pleasant enough. In many ways she reminded him of Nuiy, though if in human terms, Nuiy played the role of the stern Patriarch in the squad, then Assisse was more akin to the freewheeling uncle.
…Not that Jason had much experience with either type of familial relation.
Glancing down at his new winter fatigues, he could at least concede that they looked a little better than the drab grey fatigues he’d been wearing prior to now. As he glanced down at his name tag, written in Shil’vati script, along with the words Whisker emblazoned on his arm, he was reminded that this was real.
He was an actual serving member of an alien military. The same military that had conquered his home. Even as he mulled it over in his mind, it still didn’t feel any less surreal.
“You done in there?” Assisse asked, poking her head back in.
Jason ignored the way she looked mildly disappointed at the fact he was fully changed. He was rather glad for the interruption, as it shook him away from his moment of personal funk.
“Yep,” he said as he walked over to her.
Despite her initial disappointment, Jason could feel some pride as her eyes turned appreciative.
“Doesn’t look bad at all on you kid,” she said.
“Thanks.” He smiled, standing a bit taller in his new uniform.
The Sergeant patted him on the shoulder again, guiding him down the hall. “Let’s get you to the cafeteria. With any luck you might be able to meet some of the others in our motley crew before the Whisker returns to swap crew again tomorrow. Might save you from being jumped by all of them when we set out.”
Although she phrased it as a joke, Jason could hear the glints of truth in her statement.
​
​
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General No'Drak stared at the holotank, leaning back from the table and pushing the plate to the side. He picked up his pack of cigarettes and opened it slowly, looking at the data that he had been looking over while he ate.
Almost every unit was no longer engaged in fighting. There was some mopup, mostly being handled by the light infantry, mechanized infantry, and the light attack craft units. Third Armor was undergoing refit and examination.
The tanks of Third Armor and First Armored Recon had long lists of malfunctions, errors, and breakdowns, most of them overlapping.
The meme of "Your old tank" and "Your new high tech supertank" had millions of likes, recasts, and other engagement metrics.
No'Drak knew anger when he saw it.
He compared the maitenance lists for the old tanks that Third Armor and First Recon had swapped out after the Telkan Campaign to the current list, then compared it to the new armor that First Telkan Marines and Fifth Powered Infantry Division was using.
Third Armor and First Recon had nearly six times the amount of part and software failures that were standard across virtually 80% of the tanks. The biggest piece was the battlescreen frequency algorithm software had been patched in the field by an enlistedman from 27th Maintenance Brigade.
No'Drak opened the reports on the software. Corps software analysis stated there was nothing wrong with the algorithm, everyone below Corps stated bluntly that the software was trash. The enlistedman from 27th's report was more in-depth. While most of it was formula and went over No'Drak's head, there was one part that he noted.
Every 82 seconds the software restarted at the same frequency before rotating through six different frequencies within a thirty second interval, afterwards randomization improved.
The second part was that the early frequencies all matched the mining lasers used by most mining systems, including Precursor systems.
While the system should have discarded that set of frequencies and not used them further, it did not lock those frequencies out.
Corps Maintenance claimed that the software did and showed simulations where it did so.
The enlistedman had countered that after approximately 185 to 383 seconds it reset completely, wiping out the frequency lockouts and returning to factory baseline.
The One Star General in charge of Corps Maintenance had recommended that enlistedman be punished for insubordination due to fact that when the General replied that Corps simulations did not show that, the enlistedman replied "Actual use is different and you'd know that if you'd been in a tank in the last three hundred years instead of hiding behind a desk."
No'Drak sighed. It was a clear case of insubordination in writing. He wrote a quick recommendation to the enlistedman's commander to fine the enlistedman one narcobeer, require ten pushups, and force the enlistedman to recite the Corps motto ten times at high volume as a punishment.
He then penned a letter to the General, telling him that he would be personally looking over the after action reports regarding the new armored vehicles and armored infantry suits.
Next up was the logistics report. General No'Drak sighed. The current General in charge of logistics was a perfectly servicable subordinate, but he lacked General Tik-Tak's flair for producing two bullets when he had only had an expended shell casing. The General was complaining about nanite depletion, work performance metrics dropoffs, morale issues, retention issues, and, of course, the fact that he had busted black market rings twice and a prostitution ring another time.
General No'Drak just signed the receipt and promised himself he'd look over it real soon.
Clone Warfare was reporting that they were no closer to solving the issues with rapid growth clones and the Born Whole system, and as of the writing of the report the two systems were to be considered unavailable. Simba, Goodboi, and Purrboi production was starting to have problems with neurological system collapse but Clone Warfare was checking the issue to see if it was a possible mutation in the Friendkiller Virus. Additionally, there were now issues with transferring SUDS templates across hardwired systems and it was possible the entire system would go down.
That one was an issue. No'Drak signed the sheets and ordered the entire Clone Warfare Division to be taken out of the order of battle, despite the problems it would cause with reinforcement and replacement.
General No'Drak punched up his Table of Organization & Equipment, looking for an older section. There, 21st Replacement Battalion. He reactivated it, pulled men from retention offices, medical oversight judgement boards, and other places, and ordered the old unit's colors uncased and the unit brought back online.
The FTL needlecast superluminal communications system was back online. He sent memos to the other units within a month's travel distance, advising the other Generals of the issues currently plaguing V Corps (Old Blood) and 7th Army (Old Blood) as well as his ideas on how to mitigate the problems.
He suggested that reactivating 21st Replacement and doing Old Blood/New Blood calls could relieve some tensions, as well as recruiting from the former neo-sapient populations for integrated forces.
He also made sure to annotate that while the various units of 7th Army had not taken many casualties (less then 1% of force levels) during the last few battles it could not be assumed that there would be no serious mass-cal events in the future.
Ge'ermo'o watched with interest. Dealing with force level issues was never a problem in the Great Herd. For every lost soldier there were millions, billions more to take their place. He was interested in seeing how General No'Drak would handle the issue.
The warning was something that made Ge'ermo'o nod.
While there has always been billions of replacements awaiting any Great Herd that took casualties, I can no longer rely on such a depth of replacements any longer. The new tanks being developed for Great Grand Most High A'armo'o will take weeks, possibly months of retraining to use, which means that any replacements brought in from other Great Herd units would require the same training, Ge'ermo'o thought to himself. He quickly opened his dataslate's message application and began drafting a report to Most High A'armo'o that the Great Armored Herd might be facing retention, replacement, and recruiting issues in the near future, highlighting the fact that the new weapons and vehicles required training that needed to take place outside of a combat zone.
Ge'ermo'o nodded to himself as he sent the message.
He was a most observant commander, which allowed him to see issues that others may not.
General No'Drak saw the message go out and opened it. He looked it over and nodded to himself, restraining from looking over at Ge'ermo'o, who was going over the estimated casualties from the long battle to save the planet.
He could tell from the phrasing that what Most High Ge'ermo'o had been suggesting was tantamount to heresy to Lanaktallan sensibilities.
But the Lanaktallan had learned.
More than that. Had applied what he learned to spot a potential problem in the making.
He forwarded it to MI and CID to add to the undoubtably growing files on Lanaktallan and Most High Ge'ermo'o both.
That done he turned his attention back to the map.
Below the mountain still burned 1st Platoon, HHC, 1st Telkan and two other icons.
What is happening down there? he wondered.
He reached out, tapping 108th Military Intelligence Battalion, requesting a situation report. It came back within minutes, complete with video.
No'Drak checked the templates first. Templates for Mantid cryosleep fluids, parts for cryosleep pods, templates for precooked turkey, chicken, goose, and ham. A question of whether or not a suckling pig could be produced by a template-cracked Class III Nano-forge. (No, it could not, not alive) A request for a template of a "Goddess Pele Succulent Fire Walking Roast Pig Feast" for a Class-III nanoforge. A request for templates for UV lights calibrated to solar output of the planet prior to the Precursor AWM attack, templates for a holoemitter that could provide eVR non-hookup works with a "Pre-Attack Surface Park".
It looked weird but No'Drak changed the order of the data requests several times, then went back over the requests one at a time, complete with any images sent back by Casey.
One was a helmet cam from 1LT Vuxten. It showed an armored Sergeant Addox with at least thirty little green mantids huddled around him. Most were asleep, but a good number of them were eating strips of grease dripping still steaming meat.
When No'Drak heard the audio he groaned and turned it off.
"So the kid, right? He totally rocks sixth grade. Letters in track and field and grav-skiing, is voted most popular, even has top mark grades, and his dad, right, his dad decides that the kid deserves the bangingest reward possible," Casey was saying.
No'Drak wasn't falling for that one again.
Instead No'Drak paid attention to the displayed troop stress levels as Vuxten's cam panned over them. They were all well within resting baseline, even if all of them but Vuxten and Addox were paying attention to Casey, who was talking while he was messing with something on his loading frame.
No'Drak opened up a file and started moving data. Pretty soon he had a good idea what was going on.
There was a facility beneath the mountain that dated back to the initial Precursor War. The Mantid upper class had rebelled against the Queens for unknown reasons. The remaining upper class had been relegated to a hell of cryostasis and revival since then. Vuxten and Addox, with the help of that lunatic Casey, were bribing the Mantid upper class remaining with turkey to surrender.
No'Drak shifted his attention, looking at possible exit points for a deep level mining vehicle leaving the facility. He ordered Clone Warfare Division to run off from pigs, turkeys, and other food animals preferred by mantids and have them on standby.
He then copied what he was doing to a memo and sent it to Casey's contact in 108th MI, to forward to Casey.
-------------
"Your blinky is flashing," Private Nulfret said, pointing at the round device on Casey's loading frame.
"Oh, nice," Casey broke off the joke, reaching down and tapping the device while turning over his left hand so it was palm up. The holoemitter implanted in his hand twinkled and he stared at it for a long moment.
"Lieutenant Vuxten, sir," Casey said.
"Go ahead, Sergeant," Vuxten said.
"Commands creating a 'temporary EPOW site with live animals, Mantid rated shelter, and everything else, including psychic dampeners for our soon to be defectors," he said. "Coordinates incoming, but we have a place to take these guys in the sun."
Vuxten nodded. "Do your meme magic. Let's keep memeing these guys to life."
Casey nodded. "I'll get right on it, sir."
Vuxten looked over at Addox, who had every green mantid that had wandered into the room clustered tight around him. "How you doing, Sergeant?" he asked.
"All right. Most of them are asleep. Its hot and sweaty in my armor, but their color's getting better," Addox answered.
"All right. We're going to lay a heating pad on a grav-dolly once the work crew gets back and they can transfer there. We'll put some low power phasic inhibitors on it," Vuxten said. He turned to where 471 and some of the other greenies were gathered together around a data-cable.
"How's it going on your side?" Vuxten asked.
--own this thing-- 471 said. --hemming in vi right now--
--tough security-- 568 said. --five digit password/login single entry combo--
That made Vuxten snort. His pay-card had a six digit PIN and had thumbprint verification.
--oh no how we outclassed-- 834 said. --asking for three digit number only passcode--
"Gotcha. Just taking time to figure it all out. Keep it up," Vuxten said. He moved over and sat down on a large piece of computer equipment that the greenies had cut out of the system and had pulled away.
Is it weird that I miss being enlisted? he thought to himself.
His suit's VI tossed up an image meme. It was blank, just a line in the middle, with "TOP TEXT" at the very top and "BOTTOM TEXT" at the bottom.
Vuxten sighed. They were out of range of everything. That didn't bother him so much, back during the Second Telkan War he'd been deep enough in the jungle enough times that he didn't have communication with anyone else.
But back then it was mostly just keep him and his squaddies alive, follow orders, and fight the good fight.
He knew this was part of the good fight, sitting and watching Casey twiddle with his hologram, Addox pet a little greenie that had stopped in place, turned to look at him, then asked for food, and watching the rest of the platoon sitting around playing cards. Three of them were using their palm mounted holo-emitters to toss a glittering ball back and forth.
Vuxten had seen the training films, knew that despite the urgent feeling to do something that what he was supposed to do, as a leader, was simply project an aura of calm and control. He was tempted to do a maintenance check on his stubber, but knew that would increase his platoon's anxiety and he didn't want anyone else following his example and taking apart their weapon only to have something, anything, attack and catch them unarmed.
Training films are different, he lamented. I'm starting to understand Casey's pink golfball joke and why he keeps starting it over and over. It's not supposed to end. It's supposed to be a kind of touch stone to keep everyone grounded, help pass time, and relax everyone because things have to be going good if a Senior NCO can start the joke over to make sure everyone's in on it, Vuxten suddenly realized. He almost groaned out loud at how obvious the whole thing was.
"Sir," Casey's voice broke into Vuxten's thoughts.
"Go ahead, Sergeant," Vuxten said.
"I need you to come with me. I need to move as far away from those little guys as possible," he said.
"What's going on?" Vuxten asked.
"Finished my meme. Gotta go with the rest," Casey said. "Well, it's less a meme and more a pictograph series to convince those big guys something."
The big human got over and started moving to the far end of the room, on the other side of huge banks of computers. Vuxten followed, curiosity starting to well up. When he got over there Vuxten saw Casey holding a piece of warsteel in his bare hand, his gauntlet sitting on the barrels of the minigun.
"Crank up your phasic inhibitors the greenies installed on your armor to max and max out your psychic shielding as high as you can without passing out," Casey said. He opened his faceplate and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"Uh, all right," Vuxten said. "Should I bring over 471?"
"No. Just us, sir," Casey said. He clenched his fist around the piece of warsteel as Vuxten cranked his internal psychic shielding up to almost 140%, the max he could handle before he started getting tunnel vision.
Casey squeezed the warsteel and Vuxten watched as muscle spasms made the muscles along the side of Casey's jaw ripple. Vuxten suddenly smelled dry dusty air, a hint of stale sour human body odor, scorched molycircs and warsteel. His reactor level twitched and he saw his psychic shielding suddenly go amber. Casey was whispering something to himself in a language that Vuxten didn't understand and that his suit's VI didn't translate. It felt like heat was emenating off of Casey, an almost physical pressure against Vuxten that seemed to push through his armor to press against his skin.
WARNING! PSYCHIC DANGER! WARNING!
flashed on his visor, in his cybereye, was announced in his ear.
Casey opened his eye and Vuxten tried to resist stepping back but was unable.
Casey's eye was glowing a bright steady crimson, bright enough to illuminate the eye socket. More, there was a dull red shining from behind the patch. Casey transferred the piece of warsteel to the frame for his minigun and picked up another, squeezing it and then repeating the whole thing twice more.
Vuxten watched as Casey closed his eye, took several deep breaths, and relaxed.
The bar for his psychic shielding's load dropped from reddish amber to yellow to green to blue.
"Everyone OK?" Casey asked, slowly standing up.
"What was that?" Vuxten asked.
"Just bad old memories," Casey said dismissively. "Nothing major, nothing important."
"Oh," Vuxten felt completely out of his element.
"Just don't tell the Colonel you saw me do that, it freaks her out," Casey grinned.
It freaked me out too, Vuxten thought to himself but kept the thought to himself. "So what is that for?"
Casey flipped his face shield back down. "Imprinting a piece of warsteel," he said. He opened his hand and Vuxten saw that it was squeezed like a piece of taffy. "This is going to convince the Mantid big boys not to fight us."
"How?" Vuxten asked.
"So, warsteel can be imprinted by intense exposure to anger, love, fear, other intense basic emotions," Casey said. "So, I just imprinted it with battle fury."
"You're going to have your meme warn them if they fight you'll rip them in half, provide the piece of warsteel as psychic proof, to convince them to go into cold sleep till we can get them somewhere they can be unthawed," Vuxten said. putting it all together.
"You're quick, sir," Casey said. "I don't want to fight these guys, I don't think they want to fight, but getting them to the surface has problems."
Vuxten nodded. "Close quarters in one of the mining machines to travel to the surface. Who knows how they'll react to our battle buddies, you and Addox, not to mention all of us Telkan."
"Exactly, sir," Casey said. He moved over to the little robots he had built. He put a piece of warsteel in each of the robots, putting the warsteel in a grasper claw.
"All right. The pictogram basically says that me and Addox are dangers. We aren't mentioning you or the battle buddies. That we don't want him to get hurt," Casey started.
Vuxten listened to the rest of the plan.
"Sounds good, Sergeant," Vuxten said. "Let's hope it works."
-----------------
Cordexen stood under the air vent, eyes closed, fantasizing about standing in the long waving grain of where he had grown to maturity in the service of the queens. About the warmth of the sun on his carapace. How the wind smelled of ripening grain tended to by the russet and golden mantid of the servitor castes.
In the long forever he had been trapped in the facility he had admitted that given what he now knew, he would have preferred to have become a crop tender, overseeing the gold and russet mantids working the fields to provide grain for the herds.
The little robot rolled back in, beeping.
Cordexen looked up, happy to have his thought interrupted.
The hologram appeared and it took Cordexen a moment to take it all in.
It showed Cordexen next to a cryostasis tube. Then it split in two. One side showed Cordexen refusing. A bipedal primate came in, trying to be friendly. Radiation, marking psychic danger, radiated from the biped's head and Cordexen exploded. On the other side Cordexen got inside. It then showed the primate carrying the cryopod up to the surface where it opened and Cordexen got out to eat turkey in the sunshine.
Cordexen scoffed slightly. After all, he was the premier psychic predator in the galaxy?
The robot beeped and a robotic clamp raised up.
Cordexen recognized it as Substance W.
He reached out with one bladearm and tapped it.
YOU CAN NOT STOP ME! NOTHING CAN STOP ME! YOU CAN'T KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER! NOBODY CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME! MY HATE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES THAT YOUR ILK CAN FLEE BEYOND! YOU CAN NOT STOP ME! MY WRATH, MY RAGE, WILL NEVER EVER STOP!
Cordexen was almost overwhelmed by the images that slammed into his mind and threatened to tear him apart like cardboard trying to hold back an atomic explosion.
Ruined cities burning, blasted landscape, scorched skies. The sound of millions screaming in terror and agony. The terrible silence of being the only living thing.
He was wrapped in Substance W, in strength enhanced armor, wading into his foes. Screeching things, warped things, that his fists crushed, his hands tore asunder, that his guns shattered. Their jaws snapped at him, their caustic drool flooded from their jaws, poison billowed around him, fire surrounded him.
He was surrounded, overwhelmed, cut off, alone, by twisted mockeries of life that gibbered and howled and capered and danced even as they killed and destroyed.
But that wasn’t the worst to Cordexen’s senses.
The rage that filled him. The all consuming fury. A need to destroy, to smash, to hammer the enemy into nothing more than carbon paste that would drip from his fists. To howl and bellow his rage and fury at an uncaring universe even as he thirsted for carnage and mayhem.
His thoughts were charged with it, buoyed by it, flooded with it. Images of men and women and children being slaughtered did nothing more than fill him with even more rage, more anger, more fury, stoking into an all consuming fire that burned hotter than the atomic explosions that roared to life around him.
Nothing could quench that all consuming fury, that need to destroy.
It needed fed.
Cordexen slammed back, against the wall, panting. His abdomen heaved with each breath he took and he was aware that he was rubbing his vestigial wings together in anxiety as he stared in horror at the piece of Substance W as it slowly lowered down into the robot.
The front of the robot opened to show more turkey.
He moved forward, picking up the turkey, and went to sit on his command couch.
The robot turned and moved away, taking that piece of unbridled fury with it.
He suddenly found that he did care if he lived or died.
When asked, he would allow himself to be put in cryostasis.
Anything to avoid the creature that had touched that piece of Substance W, infusing it with more than wrath.
Cordexen knew he had tasted another being’s hate.
He did not wish to taste it again.
------------
Vuxten looked at Addox, who had just finished putting the last little green mantid on the grav-dolly, setting it gently on the warming pad. Two privates were covering the little greenies with another warming pad.
“They’re in cryostorage pods and being loaded onto Gobbler,” Vuxten said. “The rest of the pods are already loaded.”
“We’ll load these guys up then,” Addox said. “How long till we get to the surface?”
“Four hours,” Vuxten said. He looked around at the computer and control center. “The computer system will shut this facility down into standby mode in six hours, in case we have to come back.”
Addox nodded. “I’ll just be glad to get out of here.”
“Me too, Sergeant, me too,” Vuxten agreed.
------------------
General No’Drak had just returned from the latrine when the icon started flashing.
“Sir, Adder-One has made surface. They’re requesting mantid capable medical services and evac,” one of his aides said.
No’Drak felt a wave of relief fill him knowing the mountain was going to stay intact.
“May I ask a question?” Ge’ermo’o asked the Treana’ad general.
“Go ahead,” No’Drak said.
“Does it bother you that it seems anti-climatic?” Ge’ermo’o asked. “I have spent the past several days nervously awaiting an explosion that would turn the central mountain range hub into a fiery pit of doom but yet nothing happened.”
No’Drak gave the Treana’ad equivalent of a smile. “Yeah. It’s almost disappointing, isn’t it?”
Ge’ermo’o nodded. “Indeed.”
“Well, let’s find out what they found down there,” No’Drak said. He turned back to his aide. “Get medical teams in there. I want a full debrief as soon as possible,” he said. He turned back to Ge’ermo’o. “Why don’t you accompany me.”
“I would like that,” Ge’ermo’o said.
----------------
Casey stood next to Vuxten, watching the medical personnel unload the cryostasis pods from the massive mining machine. Glory was sitting behind them, mechanics going over her left leg and hip.
“You know, I thought we were going to end up shooting our way out, not bribing them,” Vuxten said.
“Shooting our way out would have been the easy way,” Casey shrugged. “We were ready for that. We got lucky.”
“How so?” Vuxten asked.
Casey looked down at the Telkan officer. “We had an arrangement of skillsets and knowledge that normally isn’t available without prior preparation. Between all of us we had the skills necessary to get out of a jam without having to resort to combat. That’s rare.”
Vuxten nodded and filed the information away.
Next time I might not be so lucky.
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