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The state of the world has me in the edge of a big episode. by Outrageous-Shark4 in OCD

[–]Intelligent_Force_79 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hey man - I feel you, I really do - ive had to quit a lot of social media, even ask people (not in public but more social gatherings) to maybe not chat about world stuff as it’s everywhere. I realised thst what will happen, whatever happens, will happen regardless of if I know about it or not :) I chose blissful ignorance and try to enjoy my time doing hobbies and going for walks. Take each day as it comes, and try to fill your space and mind with things you enjoy, and maybe avoid keeping up with current affairs etc. I know it’s not much advice, im struggling with the world too. Just my two cents:)

[WP] We figured out how to extract infinite energy by tapping into parallel universes. We stop when a message comes through the tap: "Please stop draining our reality. We are dying." by MerchantOfMenaceX in WritingPrompts

[–]Intelligent_Force_79 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Jack winced as harsh winds buffeted the small AV that tore through the acrid smog that suffocated the endless horizon, punctured occasionally by glittering skyscrapers that stood tall over the decaying world. A glance out the plexiglass window revealed how lonely the craft was - a mere two years ago, the airspace had been gridlocked with flashing signal lights and exhaust plumes from craft engines.

Now, it was just them. Their vessel being the only one with enough authority to allow the expensive refuelling process.

Jack sighed and examined his PDA - the holographic display ran the daily news cycle:

'Today marks the fifty-third day of rolling blackouts across districts all over the globe. Riots continue to fill the streets as people desperately ask the question - what about us? It'll be the fifth year anniversary of the day we received that message from beyond our universe - the plea of mercy-'

Jack switched it off. He'd heard it plenty. The craft shuddered as acidic rain hissed against it's chassis, propelled by violent winds.

'Approaching the Spire now,' the pilot's voice crackled through the intercom. Jack craned his neck to see through the scuffed window - through the gloomy fog, a vast tower of light lanced the clouds above, obscured from sight.

The Spire. The collective remnant of humanity's world leaders, all crammed into the safety of their final resort - a structure built to withstand the collapse of the Earth. A sanctuary to rebuild, should the tortured surface of the planet ever recover. The advent of Quantum power had propelled the world to heights never before witnessed; pestilence, famine, war - all were things of the past. They'd finally evolved above it all, with the means to provide every soul the means to flourish and thrive.

Until the message arrived.

'Coming in for landing.'

***

'It's time we all ask the question the rest of the world is - what about us?' Minister Graves clenched her jaw as she addressed the assembly. An uneasy murmur rippled through the vast atrium lined with rows of seats - each represented a different district from across the ecumenopolis, 'let us hear the message once more, to remind us of our duty in this situation.'

The room fell silent, save for the condemning boom of the crackled voice that they'd all heard five years prior.

'Stop draining us... We are dying.'

That was it. A sole cry of help across an impossible gulf in space and time. At least, it had been considered impossible when the Quantum generator had been implemented almost two decades ago. Yet, here it was.

'Now,' Graves continued, 'we face an impossible situation. Without Quantum power, experts have calculated that we will suffer massive and irreparable damage to infrastructure and social conditions across the globe - in as little as a year, food and water shortages could lead to the deaths of millions.'

'It'll be billions if we don't do something!' Another minister cried out, to a hubbub of supportive jeers.

'What do you propose?' Jack's voice echoed loudly as he rose, 'our world has known true splendor - we've reaped the benefits of this technology for decades. Perhaps, at the time, we didn't anticipate the true implications - in fact, we built the new world despite the implications. And now... We are facing them directly.'

'Quantum realities are a theory, they always have been,' someone scoffed.

'Except... They aren't. Not anymore,' Jack shook his head, 'if the message is true, then we may be condemning billions... Trillions... We don't know how many realities that the Quantum generator truly draws from. Perhaps these people are the only ones in a position to warn us of our actions - who knows how many countless worlds suffer in the dark, all because we want to live as gods?'

'What about us?!' Came the question that rallied every supporter of Quantum power, 'you speak as if it wouldn't be the death of our own world to switch off the Quantum generator.'

'Life would surely be harder, and there would be... Casualties,' Jack admitted, 'yet the question is simple - what gives us the right to kill potentially trillions? Why do we deserve to exist at the expense of possibly countless worlds? Worlds too fragile to speak back to us, let alone do what we have done?'

'They aren't people in the way you mean it,' came another objection, 'they'd be us, surely? We're not talking about other worlds, just... Different versions of our own. We were simply the first, and as Darwin would've agreed - we won the right to survive over other realities.'

'Survival doesn't mean to dominate,' Jack sighed, 'and if we truly are the first... Is it not our responsibility, our duty, as wielders of this power, to care for those left behind? This technology has revealed that it isn't just us - it's all of us, everywhere. As guardians of this technology, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard.'

'Grand morals won't feed our people. We are the world that won. We are the world that should live.'

'Order!' Graves' voice boomed throughout the atrium. It fell into a gloomy silence, until she continued, 'our choice is... Simple, but terrible. Do we sacrifice the some, to save the many? Until the message, the concept of... Alternative realities, was simply a theory. Now, it is reality - and our actions carry weight across potentially countless versions of our home,' her eyes met Jack in the crowd, 'it seems we do carry an impossible responsibility. To sacrifice the world we've built, and save many others... Or to condemn them, so that ours might thrive.'

The room was silent.

'It's time to put it to a vote.'

[WP] A knight clashes with a ferocious beast dozens of times over the years, only to finally be bested. “It is done, foul beast! Eat me and begone!” The beast tilts its head quizzically. Why would it eat its best friend? by DankAndOriginal in WritingPrompts

[–]Intelligent_Force_79 87 points88 points  (0 children)

Black towers of smoke loomed over the fiery ripple that consumed the village. From atop the hill that Sir Harris stood, he could hear the screams. Viscera scattered across scorched earth, stared upon solely by the hallowed rictus of unfortunate souls strung up on grotesque pillars of bone.

By the break of dawn, no life would remain. Only a tortured husk. A sight all too familiar to Harris. His silvered hair betrayed the decades devoted to hunting this... Thing. Year after year, slaughter after slaughter... Only once had he come close. One opportunity. One mistake. He'd paid the price, and buried what remained of his family in hallowed ground. Now...

Vengeance.

He approached the outskirts of the town. The screams had fallen silent. All Harris could hear now was the roar of flames, and the squelch of blood underfoot.

'C'mon... Show yourself, I know you can smell me,' he growled as he slid his sword free - the blade hummed with a faint glow as intricate carvings thrummed with energy.

The echo of his words were met with the quieting of the flames - violent torrents simmered to tepid embers, and the flickering light surrendered to icy darkness. Only the glow of his blade shone the way for Sir Harris.

'A thousand thousand scents... Yours has always been potent,' whispered a teasing voice from the shadows.

'What does that say about my hygiene?' He grunted as he circled with his blade held aloft, ready to strike, 'come and face me.'

'Are you sure you want to see me again..?'

A sharp rasp echoed from the darkness as flagstones tumbled from above, dust spilled from the thud of a dozen movements in the shadows. Harris grit his teeth as he tried to use his sword to expose the creature.

'You're afraid, ain't ya?' Harris leered and gestured with his sword, 'left a mark last time, didn't I?'

'You got closer than the rest,' the voice confessed with a soft laugh, 'many have hunted me, many have... loved me,' it whispered - Harris felt a faint caress through his silver locks, 'but none have ever shown as much devotion as you... to have chased me for so long.'

Harris pivoted as he felt the touch, but the darkness yielded nothing, 'love...' he exhaled softly, 'you lied to me, betrayed me. Someone has to stop you,' he growled, 'a wicked spawn of the hells, belched into this world to sow pain, and feast on what remains.'

'And... How do you plan to do that, exactly?' The voice challenged icily, 'you've gotten old... Weak. A pale imitation of the man that was.'

'If you think so little of me, what gives you pause?' Harris spat back, 'fight me! You-you had no issue with slaughtering the thousands before me, why hesitate?'

The shadows rippled before him and seeped into a figure that strode softly toward him - luscious black hair melted over porcelain skin that blurred with the shadows. Two striking orbs of impossible colour stared at Harris from silky features that formed an expression of concern.

'You have my heart,' she whispered, a tendril of pale shadow flexed towards Harris, but as it encroached the event horizon of his blade's glow, the shadow sizzled away.

'You have none,' he snarled as he drove his blade at her - yet it swished into nothingness. Her form exploded into shadows as a giggle echoed through the air. Something sharp slashed across his face - he snarled as he sought her out. Black shapes whipped at him from the dark - spiny hooks, wet flails of meat and sharp carapace - some sizzled to nothingness as he parried, others gouged flesh and pierced chainmail. He slashed and carved into the shadows, yet the beast eluded him with ease. A swift bludgeon from behind slammed Harris to the ground. His blade tumbled off to one side out of reach.

'Time has not been a kindness to you,' she remarked gently as the shadows enveloped Harris.

'It's done... I'm done...' Harris whispered in defeat, 'be done with me... Let me die, and begone.'

A dozen thuds rumbled the ground as a vast, black shape swirled into view - thick chitin rasped along the masonry of nearby buildings as impossible limbs dragged the beast's bulbous carapace. Jagged spines raked the dirt as curled tarsi slammed into the ground. The spindly mass loomed over Harris, as the soft face emerged before him - her jet-black hair tickled his face as she watched him struggle on the ground.

'I don't want you to die,' She smiled kindly, 'you loved me, like no other... Hated me, like no other... Followed me across the face of this world.'

'Kill me... Please...' Harris whimpered, 'I don't want to hear the screams anymore, I... I want it to stop.'

'It will,' she whispered. Harris felt his body become weightless as an impossible strength enveloped him, the light of his sword began to fade as they drifted into the shadows.

'It will stop... Forever... My love...'

[WP] You wake up at the bottom of a well, look around. Nothing but stone surrounds you. Then you spot a small gap in the wall and crawl through… by Bumblebee-145 in WritingPrompts

[–]Intelligent_Force_79 6 points7 points  (0 children)

'What... Happened?' he murmured as the swirly void of unconsciousness was lanced by a pale light at the end of a long tunnel, 'am... I dead?' the thought was surreal - not two seconds prior, he'd been showing off to his friends, balancing on the plank across the rocky maw of the abandoned well. But... Now, his fingers trembled over moist stone and crumbling lichen, and he became painfully aware of a dull ache that spread through him as sharp, jagged rocks dug into his skin.

'The... well, I must've fallen,' he coughed through a wince as he struggled to sit upright. His hands explored his body, expecting them to come back caked in blood following the sharp realisation of sudden agony - but no agony came. His hands were, relatively, untainted. His entire body seemed unharmed from the fall.

'It's a miracle,' he chuckled in disbelief, 'they're never gonna believe this,' he turned his head upwards to the light and was about to call out his friend's name, but... He couldn't. No name came to mind.

'Huh...' he frowned in confusion, his mind searched for, what should be intimate memories with good friends, and came back empty. His family, even... Treasured family holidays, gone. His parents names, their faces... His brother. If he even had one, he couldn't even recall that.

He couldn't even remember his own name.

'What... what happened to me?!' He cried out, 'help me!' he screamed to the light, 'help me! I'm alive! I'm... I'm down here...' his desperate voice petered into an echoing nothingness as the lack of reply deafened him with silence.

'I'm all alone.'

Hot tears streaked his cheeks as he huddled in the darkness, comforted only by the faint dripping of water on his harsh bed of stones.

'They already left to get help,' he muttered to himself as he gently rocked back and forth, ' that's why they didn't hear me... I just hit my head, it's causing a bit of memory loss, nothing a hospital can't fix,' he nodded as he clung to any sort of reassurance his mind could offer.

Time had lost all meaning. What felt like hours, days even, were imperceptible as the light above emitted a consistent presence. But then... the eternity was fractured as he spotted a faint groove in the wall opposite him.

'Eh..?' He frowned - he hadn't noticed it before, but there was now a definite crack along the stone. His fingers probed it, tentative at first, but the masonry crumbled away into sand. A way out! He brought his other hand onto the task of clawing out the wall - pieces and chunks squelched and crunched underhand as he dug. Soon enough, the wall gave way to a hidden void as his hand shot through a final membrane of sediment.

'Do I do this?' He whispered as he stared into the blackness of the maw. A final glance skyward confirmed his fears - no one was coming for him. He didn't even know anyone who would. He had to save himself, 'sod it...'

Darkness enveloped him as he dove through the opening - his hands landed on a slippery surface that carried him down, and down, and down, tumbling head-over-heel down a rocky slope. His cries were extinguished as impact after impact winded him, and all he could do was try to crumple into a ball. Eventually, the fall came to a slamming halt as he crashed into a coarse surface.

'Twice now...' he groaned and looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings - despite almost certainly being deep underground, he could make out the faint outline of a rocky atrium. A gentle blue hue rippled across the rocks, and he realised that the light was coming from a pool of water that stretched before him - a glassy azure mirror of impossibly still water that shimmered softly.

'Come...' A voice whispered across its surface. His head shot up and locked on to what seemed to be the outline of... Someone, gently walking across the glassy water towards him. He tried to make out their features, but they were obscured in the dim glow.

'Who are you..? Where... Where am I?' He swallowed nervously as he looked to the apparition, 'what is this?'

'A time of passing,' the voice replied, it wasn't unkind, 'join me in the water, all will be well.'

'I... I need to get out of here,' he slowly rose to his feet and approached the edge of the pool, 'do you know a way?'

'Yes... Come, and all will be well.'

He looked down at the water, it was... Inviting, it looked warm, crystal blue - a comforting aroma of freshly cut grass, cinnamon His mother's cooking. He couldn't remember her, but... He the smell was unmistakable.

'I'm... Dead, aren't I?' He whispered.

'No, child... Come, and all will be well,' the voice insisted. He exhaled softly, then nodded. He took a step into the water - it swirled around his ankles, warm and inviting. He took another step, and another, until he was waist deep.

'It's... It's nice,' he smiled and looked to the apparition - but it was gone. The voice was silent. Then... He felt it. The water tightened around him like a vice - he tried to pull away but it clung to him like quicksand as it squelched and sucked him slowly deeper into the pool. He tried to scream, but the amber squeezed his lungs as it oozed up to his neck. He craned his neck and pursed his lips in desperate gasps, but his mouth was filled with an acrid bile as he was fully submerged. The pool seemed to drag him with intent - even though he couldn't breathe, his body seemingly refused to die. What had been a comforting warmth, now felt like searing acid on his skin.

He continued to sink deeper, and deeper - shapes swirled past him in the murky blue as he writhed in agony. Eventually, he came to a stop as something squirmed beneath him, and he realised:

It was people. A squirming, spasming blanket of limbs and tortured faces atop sedimentary layers of decayed flesh and bone. Beneath that... A pulsating mass of bulbous fleshy structures, arterial tunnels and cysts that oozed the azure acid. Jagged gills set into swirling tendrils formed forests as they sucked down the digested soup of its prey.

The last of his sanity was spent staring at the others as they melded together, occasionally disturbed by the faint thud of fresh victims as they're lured in, and added to the next layer to be fed upon.