Ah, I see now. I thought you meant whoever takes over =P

I'd love to see Blockbuster come back from the depths and take them to task. That'd just be hilarious. Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and Family Video just lock arms and make an amazing streaming service.

Silly Fish.

Netflix doesn't know how to make money ;D

That's kind of a running theme in most of my stories. Humans are uniquely terrible when measured against spacefaring species of higher intellect. We're the only species that would ever even consider genocide. Other species of intelligent life lack a word for it in their lexicon =P

As a realist, I'm sure other species of intelligent life have rough histories of deceit, war, and genocide. But as an optimist, I believe that for them to have evolved to become a tier III civilization (on the Kardashev scale), they would have had to have long moved past all of their differences, and work together as a planet.

But then the realist side of me takes over again. Evolution has mathematical principles that constrain intelligent life. All intelligent species (that we know of) work together. The better they work together, the higher intelligence they accrue. Crows, dolphins, chimpanzees, etc. are all great communicators and brilliant animals.

Sociality appears to be a construct that is unavoidable for intelligent life. Sociality is an evolutionary trait that arises because of a need. Hunting, agriculture, tool making, specialization, and things like that. So it's probable, to me anyways, that all intelligent spacefaring life had a similar start to us humans, albeit under different unknowable circumstances. It's incredibly doubtful that aliens didn't work together or communicate to get to where they got.

There are too many X factors however to conclude something like that. We humans are still similar to our great ancestors in ways we don't innately understand. We know we're afraid of a dark as children, but we don't know that it's an evolutionary trait passed down from those who came before us. Predators used to lurk in the dark; rival tribes of humans struck by surprise under cover of night. We still have the same impulses from when we were sitting around a fire wondering how it got there.

Aliens, however, may not have genes at all, at least not as we know them. It's a possibility they haven't sexually reproduced in thousands of years, and instead jumpstart their young genetically so that they're born with a grasp of concepts and skills that we spend our formative years learning manually through books and guidance. In that circumstance, they wouldn't need to be social anymore. They could branch out all over the cosmos just downloading all the important stuff into the new generation before they even burst out of the chest they've been incubating in.

Holy smokes did I just rant. Should I just delete all of this? ... Nah, y'all can know I'm crazy xD

"This is an outrage!" shouted the Belgalack senator through hefty shaking jowls. "This goes against all precedent!"

The four humans sat awkwardly in their seats, all in a row, in full view of the entire Galactic Parliament. Their admittance as a group hadn't been received well, as it flew in the face of the oldest council's most stringent tradition. Each species was allotted one senator to represent them whereas the humans had been allowed four. It was headline news across the galaxy and was the hottest story being followed. Cameras rolled and snapped as the humans exchanged glances.

Their names were Sanjay Singh, Li Chen, Klaus Jäger, and Charles Turner. All four of them had been collectively chosen by the human race in what had amounted to the first thing the entire world could come together on in all of human recorded history. For reasons the intergalactic community was about to understand, each one had been specifically chosen for the task.

"Why, I ask you," the senator asked, his eyestalks at full length and trembling with rage. "Are my people not allowed four senators? Do you think that's fair?"

The speaker moved to the mic, but one of the humans was quick to intercept the question. "Mr. Draupnaughtl," spoke Senator Chen. "Did I pronounce that correctly?"

"... You did," the senator grumbled.

"First of all, I'd just like to say that I find your people to be beautiful, kind, warm, and welcoming, and I'd be happy to address any concerns you may have about our admittedly puzzling appointment."

The senate hummed. The Belgalack senator's eyestalks noticeably receded– a sign that he felt at least a smidge of humility and shame.

"My name is Li Chen, and I am one of planet Earth's senators. I believe you'll find that among all of the many species present, our human intellect is far inferior in terms of problem-solving, communication, arithmetic, and policy understanding. We humans would not want to slow down your senate proceedings. We respect your time, and your status as the most important people in the known galaxy."

The Belgalack senator's eyes were hugging his face at this point. The many gathered species murmured and looked around at one another. Finally, the speaker leaned into her mic, "Thank you very much, Senator Chen. Senator Draupnaughtl, did he answer your question sufficiently?"

The slug-like creature leaned into his mic and answered softly. "... He did."

Senator Chen leaned back in his seat and smiled at his partners. "Appear weak when you are strong," he whispered.

"Sun Zu," Klaus responded with a smile.

"Well read, as expected, Senator Klaus," Chen bowed slightly in his chair.

"That was a non-answer!" came a voice from across the room. Everyone turned to find the Klkikuc senator standing in her seat. She looked like a blue lobster with larger eyes and her claws were in the air as she commanded attention to herself. "The senator from Glek-9 wasn't asking about timely proceedings. He was referring to your ability to tip the scales in your favor with four votes. You have quadruple the voting power than the rest of us have. Explain why that's fair."

The crowed yet again murmured. She had a point. Senator Chen had successfully answered the first question, but this one was more pointed. The speaker was quick to attempt to restore order, but Senator Singh was quicker.

"If I may," he glanced at the speaker, who gratefully nodded back. "Friends and family, my name is Sanjay Singh, and I am a senator representing my planet's best interests the same as all of you. So why should our planet be allowed four votes? That doesn't seem very fair, does it?" he asked, his eyes passing over the crowd. "But I think you'll find that four votes, when weighed against the collective weight of seven hundred votes is... Hmm, would somebody help me with that percentage?"

Singh smiled and Chen. The senator stifled a laugh.

"A little over half a percent," answered the speaker.

"Wow, they are terrible at arithmetic," said the Klikikuc senator, laughing and snapping his claws as everyone joined in to ridicule the humans. Singh bowed gratefully and took his seat next to Senator Turner.

"You dog," Turner smiled.

"Only following Chen's lead," he replied humbly.

The speaker pounded the gavel to restore order. The laughter died down and the humans had successfully made themselves a laughingstock. All four of them figured they'd persuaded the chamber when another rose to their mic. A mess of eyes and tentacles with no mouth of note took half the mic stand into its body before it spoke.

"I am Blbltipth, and I am the senator from Slthlthp. You are a meager people. But we Thplpips are cautious by nature. I think I speak for everyone when I say that the real fear, is that this will set a precedent. That any smaller or inferior nation may be allowed four representatives should instill fear into all of us, for what if they, the small, become the majority? What then of us? Would we bow to them should their interests align?"

Sensing a pattern, the speaker simply looked to the humans to find Senator Jäger standing in his seat. He leaned forward and tapped his mic twice before introducing himself. "You may all call me Senator Klaus," he smiled and waved. "I believe I may answer this question easily. Make for no other exceptions."

The room rumbled as everyone spoke among themselves. "Why make it difficult? Everything has an end. And a sausage has two! I have brought for you all something from my homeland."

At his cue, several silver platters began to be passed from one end of the chamber to the other, each with large bratwursts cut into segments, a toothpick in each one for easy consumption. "Please, my friends. Accept this gift from us on earth."

He took his seat as sounds of surprise and delight lifted from those who had tasted the kindness of the earthlings. It had become apparent in the chamber to everyone that the earthlings were little more than kind, humble, monkeys whom the galactic senate had little to fear from.

All but one.

"Hold on, hold on," spoke a more human-esque alien from the far end of the chamber. "There's no way you're this nice. No way you're this dim. You're playing us."

The three human senators looked to Charles Turner, who stood up and fielded the final question. "Excuse me, Senator?"

"You're lying!" he accused. "All four of you! You're not fooling me. I've seen footage of your world wars. You're all a bunch of savages."

The crowd murmured in disapproval. They'd come to rather like the humans, and the accusation felt too pointed.

"Mr. Eulyd," the speaker spoke sternly.

"Now, now," Turner interrupted. "I hear your worries. I honestly do. I have only one question to ask you... what world wars do you speak of?"

The alien's jaw fell open. "What world wa- the three of them!" he shouted incredulously.

"Hmm, nope, don't recall," Turner answered flatly.

"Yes you do," the alien looked around as though hoping for confirmation that he wasn't crazy. "There was genocide, a-and–"

"Nope, I have the documents. Fake news, you lose," Turner said before sitting down.

The alien simmered with rage. "Now, see here!" He continued speaking, but his mic had been cut. The speaker slammed her gavel and announced that the day would be moving forward without further comment as the enraged alien threw his hands around in the distance.

"Incredible," Singh whispered. "I can't believe how well that works."

Klaus grinned, "Only children and fools tell the truth, my freund."

"And that, dear Klaus," Turner said as he adjusted his suit by his lapels. "Is the only truth I need."

r/A15MinuteMythos

Thanks, Destroyer of Naps. Didn't realize my cat had a reddit account.

Edit: and if that was you who awarded me, the tree hugger award is hilarious. Thanks.

The afterlife wasn't what I thought it would be; wasn't what they told me. I felt a fool, after the fact, to have believed them.

The tales of men.

It wasn't until I shed my former body– dropped it like a coat on the floor after the end of a hard day's work, that everything became clear to me. It was as though I had wandered through life with a static in my head that I'd grown used to, maybe even came to enjoy. Because in the afterlife your mind is as clear as a crystal bell that rings true every time the rooster calls.

Every detail.

Every moment.

And all the time.

You're something different when you break away from the things that made you human. Not something necessarily better, but different. You bloom like a flower in a field, but with directions for what happens when your pedals blow away with the wind. The collective beauty of it all loses its novelty, and you yearn for the things that you never dreamed you would.

Evil. Revenge. Pain. Suffering. And most importantly, struggle.

A baby born, wet, sticky, and cold lacks a compass. They may have their parents if they're not some unlucky SOB, but that alone isn't enough. Life is a web tangled with threads of entropy, gossamers of the unknown, and it's one's own personal journey to avoid the many spiders that populate it.

Drugs, gambling, alcohol, whores, hedonism.

I made some sweet vibrations in life; heavy ones that pulled every thread and called every eight-legged bastard straight to me, fangs glistening, and venom at the ready. The sun never set without venom in my veins. Never rose without me scrambling for more of it. Life was never enough for a guy like me.

And it seemed indeed neither was death.

I was told everyone grew bored with the afterlife at some point or another. Reincarnation was a certainty; not an if, but a when for every new flower that bloomed there. Each would inevitably crave the things that came with life and seek it again for themselves. It started with a journey– a pilgrimage known as the Long Walk. Some left in groups, others alone across a long field filled with flowers that watched as you passed.

From there, they'd cross a vast wetland, a barren desert, a wheatfield that stretched as far as the eye could see, and then a long arctic plane filled with snowcapped mountains, glaciers, and long stretches of white wilderness. Through a forest of golden leaves, a swamp of spewing gasses, and lastly a grassland that led to a single structure in the far distance. It sat nestled within the trunk of a great tree, the leaves of which one could see from where they first bloomed.

For as many who leave the garden at a time, the tree was never busy. Only ever a few souls at a time stay for long. It was like a traditional ramen shop like the kind they had in Japan. You'd pass under pearl white drapes and take your seat at the counter. A turtle man would greet you and ask you why you wished to return.

Any answer was good enough, it wasn't a test.

He'd then slide you a bowl of steaming soup, and ask you to reflect on your past life as it cooled. He said the same thing to me every time as though I hadn't been here every day for the past four seasons.

"Bathe in the steam; this step favors the bold. Inhale your new purpose and exhale the old."

I'd stare into his soulful reptilian eyes and take the soup into me again, again, and again, day after day. I would see others take but a single spoonful and vanish where they were. It was a gateway, you see. It was right in our instructions from the moment we bloomed. Much like I had shed my old body, I would need to shed my memories of it in order to be given life anew.

"It doesn't work," I'd tell the turtle.

But he'd simply stare back at me wisely; silently; never uttering a word, as though he were simply existing on a loop.

And there weren't any further instructions.

No contingencies, and no workarounds. In life, there were many pathways to achieve one's goal, but in death, there was only this. It was absolute. I spent years visiting every day and drinking the soup, but I couldn't forget who I was; couldn't emerge from my chrysalis as a fresh face with a new story.

I was stuck as me. As this.

And in time I grew from remorseful to angry. I finished the bowl and smashed it against the wall, only to get no new reaction from the turtle man. He would just watch me through his big all-knowing eyes, as though pitying me. As though he had the answer and was withholding it from me. His gaze drove me to madness day after day. He would never say a word, save for his stupid rhyme about inhaling my new purpose. I inhaled all the steam every time and all I exhaled were curses at the end of each unsuccessful attempt to pass through the gateway, as was my right to do so.

My divine right.

I snapped.

I leaped over the counter and bludgeoned the turtle to death with his own cookware. I ventured into his kitchen and found behind it a cave.

The inside of the tree.

Gold and silver flecks blew past my face as I ventured into the trunk. A warmth washed over me as I reached what I imagined was the center. I felt a wind beneath my feet that pushed with a gentle force and lifted me into the air. I ascended into the trunk of the tree. I saw things no soul has seen. Understood truths available only to one willing to take. The turtle was dead. If I couldn't go home, then nobody would.

I would exist as I always had– as a spider.

As a spider in the tree.

r/A15MinuteMythos

An ominous blood moon hung over the oldest coffee shop in all of England. Its sole inhabitant, Isabella, worked to get everything ready. It was a job that started at 3 so the doors could be opened at 5 but for at least one multiplanar entity, that wasn't early enough.

She knew what time it was without even looking. The floor began to shake. The walls bled. The lights dimmed, the glass coffee cups rattled beneath the counter, and a crack of thunder echoed nearby. The lights went out with a pop before slowly humming back to life. In the center of the room stood a tall figure with two great horns and crimson skin. His eyes smoldered as he stared at her expectantly.

She knew exactly what he wanted.

"Tall latte with whipped cream?" she asked.

"Oh, come on, Bella, you're not even impressed?" asked the demon as he moved forward and leaned on the counter.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I guess the walls bleeding was a nice touch."

He took a seat on the stool and rested his head in his hands. "The thunder?"

"I've heard louder," she said through half-lidded eyes as she began making the beverage.

"Well, what, do you want me to wake up all of Brittania?"

"It's called England now, grandpa."

"What?" he asked, lifting his head. "When did that happen?"

"Centuries ago, at least. Iced or hot?"

"Blistering hot, and I'm not that old... for a demon."

"Mmhmm," she replied casually, not turning around.

After a brief silence, he sighed aggressively. "Y'know, there was a time when you used to be afraid of me."

"That was before you asked me out a hundred times."

"And I'll ask a hundred times more!" he pounded the counter. "Be my wife, sweet Bella!"

"A hundred times no," she said as she pulled the milk from the bottom cabinet.

"Aww, c'mon," the demon whined. "I'll lasso the moon for you, doll! Destroy it if you want. You want me to destroy the moon?"

"As if you could," she replied dryly.

He looked hurt. "... I could. Just, y'know..."

"With permission?" she asked. "And help?"

"C'mon, Bella, you're getting meaner lately..."

"Sorry. Just this stupid guy I've been dealing with."

"Stupid guy?" he perked up. "Who is he? Where? I'll shred him to a fine mist for you! I'll wear his face in here next time! I'll fashion jewelry for you out of his genitals, I'll–"

"His name is Maverick, and he's begging me to marry him again," she said as she turned around holding the beverage with oven mitts.

His face sagged as he fell back into his stool. "Oh."

She set the drink down on the counter and he picked it up. It began to hiss in his hand and she could practically smell his flesh cooking.

"Uhh... you want a drink holder for that?"

"Nah..." he said, taking a sip. "You know, Bella, you could do a whole lot worse than me..."

"The devil's coffee boy?" she scoffed. "No, I really couldn't."

He turned and made his way back to the center of the room. With his back to her, he asked one last question before his departure.

"Bella?"

"What is it now?"

"... If I'm really so much trouble, how come you don't just quit?"

She leaned forward on the counter and smiled. "I don't know... I think I like being chased."

He turned his head and smiled softly. "Careful, Bella. Eternity is a long time to say no. One of these days... I'll getcha."

She blinked a few times as the blood receded into the walls, the lights brightened, and the entity all but vanished from the material plane. She stood still in the quiet for several seconds before slowly returning to work. The following morning, Isabella's mother was thrilled to find her daughter dressed for church and waiting on the front stoop.

r/A15MinuteMythos

The wind whipped through my hair as I swung from branch to branch, the sun filtering through the shade of the trees and intermittently kissing me with its warmth. I snatched a colorful fruit from a nearby tree as I sailed past it and landed at the edge of the tree line. I looked out over the sparking blue ocean and breathed deeply of the salty maritime air before taking a big juicy bite of the fruit and sitting down on the tree branch.

There were no ships to obstruct my view of the sea here. No, I was far away from Cyrene now, far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. My family was a big name in the spice trade, but it was such hard work, and I hated ships. Hated them. They were big ugly scars on the beauty of nature, and it was only in the theater of my own mind that I could escape it all. I learned it from a traveling monk, and with a little meditation, picked it up almost immediately. The ability to go somewhere inside my mind that was so vivid that I could literally smell the sea air? Hear the seagulls? Taste the mysterious fruit that grew here? It was surreal.

And it was all mine.

I could be anywhere I wanted to be; be anything I wanted to be, and sometimes not even on purpose! I was pretty sure that if I looked down at myself, I'd discover that I was a monkey. My mind, my soul, and my heart were connected in this space, and it was where I escaped when life became too much to handle. Things would be different today, however. I tossed the pit of the fruit over my shoulder and leaped from the branch in a diving formation, spreading my wings moments before hitting the ground. I soared just a few feet over the land, passed the point where the grass turned to sand, and then all was blue as I ran my fingers along the waves that reached back at me.

I dove headfirst into the cool blue waters and propelled myself quickly through the shallows with my many fins and tentacles. Colorful fish passed me in the clear blue waters and I marveled at the beautiful corral and the green seaweed that danced in the swells. I powered myself through the currents upward and exploded out of the surface of the water upon new wings which carried me ever higher. I did a loop in the sky and as the wind turned around me, I smiled widely.

It was pure freedom.

I carried myself back to land on warm winds, eager to find another one of those fruits to munch on. However as I soared across the beach, I noticed something curious. I turned around in a wide arc and began my descent as I scrutinized the sands below. After landing softly on the powdery beach I squatted down for a closer look. There was no mistaking it.

There were footprints in the sand.

I stared at them for several seconds before looking up at the horizon line where the tracks led. Greeted only by the blue sky on the horizon, I looked back down at the footprints. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was my mind palace. There shouldn't be anyone else here unless I imagined them here. I tilted my head as I raced through the possibilities. A monkey? No, that wasn't possible, there would be tracks where the knuckles dug into the sand. Could it have been me? Not at all, I hadn't touched the ground since I'd arrived this time. I stood up and began following the tracks along the coast. I had never felt anxious within my own mind palace before. Was there more to this than the monk explained? Could others somehow come here if they were meditating at the same time? I wouldn't have to wonder for long; in the far distance, I spotted a figure standing with her feet in the waves.

I froze. She was staring out at the ocean; if she turned her head even just a little, she'd find me in her peripheral vision. I scurried sideways as quickly as I was able, scuttling up to the treeline as I kept my eyes trained on her. I quietly slithered through the trunks of the trees, making my way closer to her. When I was situated in her blind spot, I hunkered down between the foliage and watched the back of her head. Her hair was black and wavy and it carried hints of auburn when the sun shined on it just right. She was wearing a red flowing dress which, when blown by the coastal winds, revealed her feet and calves, which were wrapped in leather sandals.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" came a voice from directly behind me. I screamed and stumbled out of the trees, falling face-first into the wild grass. I turned around on my hands and scrambled backward as a baby-blue-skinned human floated just above me, laughing at my gracelessness. He had eyes bluer than his skin, and his head was wrapped in a red cloth, on top of which sat a wide-brimmed hat that turned up on the sides. He had an indigo mustache and beard that were well-groomed, and he wore strikingly opulent clothing unlike any I had seen in my life. I came to the conclusion immediately that he wasn't human, but something else from somewhere far away.

"A person?" came a female voice from behind me. I tore my eyes away from the floating blue man to find that the woman on the beach was now marching toward me. I scrambled to my feet and struck a defensive pose. She paused where she stood and smiled.

"No need to worry." She lifted her hands. "I intend no harm."

She truly was beautiful. Like a bronze statue with defined cheekbones; a work of art carved by a master. I swallowed and took a step back as the blue man floated away from me toward her, in a position as though he were lounging on the floor.

"W-who are you?" I asked. "How did you get in here?"

"In here?" she asked, tilting her head. "We are... outside, yes?"

"N-no. I mean, yes, but..." I stammered. "This is... this is my mind palace, ma'am."

"Your mind palace?" the man asked, stroking his chin. "Interesting..."

"My name is Lysandra," the woman spoke, taking a few cautious steps forward. "May I ask your name, young man?"

"... I'm Simon," I answered.

"Simon," she smiled. "A pleasure to meet you. Is there... anyone else here?"

"No," I shook my head. "I mean- I don't think so. There shouldn't be."

Her brown eyes shined in the sun as she looked left and right down the beach. "Interesting indeed."

"Tell me this," spoke the man as he floated into an upright position. "You referred to this place as your mind palace. Yes?"

"Uh... Yeah."

"And you believe you've created this place... yes?" he pressed.

"Yeah!" I said with more conviction than before. "This entire place exists inside my head! A-and I can do anything here! I didn't imagine you, so..."

The two of them exchanged glances.

"How intriguing," she said before locking eyes with me. "And you accomplished this how exactly?"

"Uhh," I paused, realizing how absurd this was about to sound. "Meditation?"

"Ha!" the man guffawed. "Meditation!"

Lysandra lifted her hand to her mouth to cover her smile.

"No, my boy," the man grinned. "Meditation did not accomplish this."

I narrowed my eyes, "Oh yeah? And how would you know? uhh... sir?"

His irises were alight as they lingered on mine, and I felt a pressure generating around the beach. It was as though my body was being drawn into his as he neared me. Dark clouds began to gather independent of my will.

"Because, dear boy..." he spoke quietly but his voice echoed all around. "I am Asacath. I am a god."

My eyes widened.

"And," he added. "So are you."

r/A15MinuteMythos

Loved that last line. Fantastic stuff here.

"I do not believe you would lie to me," said the android as he passed his eyes around the room. I hadn't cleaned since I had realized I would be leaving Mars alone, and he was making a very thinly veiled point about my obvious depression. "However, I cannot stress enough that I am here to speak with you should you desire it. It is beneficial for the human mind to speak one's worries to another."

"Of course," I said quietly.

"Soup?" he asked.

"That would be good," I said as I stared at the tile. "Thank you, Abe."

With that, he turned and left the lab. I swallowed and turned to stare at the large gateway I'd constructed. The entire structure had been built. I could have left days ago. If I had taught Abe anything about engineering, he would have figured it out too. I sighed and sat down in my chair. It was foolish of me to care so much for an android.

But still, I did.

And I couldn't help that I did.

I was only human after all.

After dinner, I spent more time in the lab staring at the whiteboard, drowning in the hum of the fluorescent lights, and popping what pain pills I had left. I was about to have to make a difficult decision.

"Doctor," said Abe as he appeared at my side. "Is there... anything I can assist you with?"

"No," I said quietly after a brief pause. "I'll handle this. Don't you worry."

"I see," he responded. "Well... do you think you could take a look at something for me?"

I turned to him with a surprised expression. "Look at something?" I asked.

"Yes. I detect that I may be infected with malware." I chuckled softly and placed my hands on my hips. "Oh, really?"

"Yes."

"You know that's impossible right?" I smiled.

"Call it paranoia," he responded. "Would you check?"

I closed my eyes and thought of my daughter at a time when she was very young. I felt myself choke up a bit and contained it before it manifested.

"Of course, I'll check," I said, motioning for him to move over to the table. "I'll need to power you down, of course."

"Of course, Doctor."

He climbed up onto the table and turned over on his side. I twisted the knob on his energy compartment and listened to the whir of servos die down within his chassis. I knew there couldn't be malware within his system, but surely something else could have malfunctioned. I extracted his motherboard and complimentary chips before sitting down at my computer and opening his data files. A numb chill ran from my face down the length of my body when I noticed a folder that I hadn't created for him.

Favorites.

I moved the cursor up to the icon and opened it to find hundreds of still images taken by the camera in his right eye. They were images of me teaching him to hunt; showing him how to repair the shelter; teaching him to fish. Hundreds of... dare I call them memories, were saved in this folder. I scrolled quietly, a lump forming in my throat as I glimpsed quickly an entire lifetime of photos involving the two of us. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. It shouldn't have been possible the way that I programmed him for him to be able to select favorite memories in the manner that he had.

At the very end were two photos.

One was of the gateway I had constructed. The hatch where his fluxwave superconductor needed to be installed had been opened.

The second photo was a picture he'd taken of himself in the full-body mirror in my bedroom.

There was a smile on his silicone lips.

And he was waving goodbye.

I covered my mouth and felt the warm tears race across my knuckles. I felt my lips contort and my face shrivel up. I was a fool to think he wouldn't have noticed. He was always far more intelligent than I was ever prepared for him to be. What I gleaned from the files were words he had wanted to say, but only in a way that I would know for a fact that they were genuine, and not manufactured.

I love you.

And I'm going to miss you.

r/A15MinuteMythos

"Dr. Kaine," came the electronic voice from behind me. "I know it is illogical to query you about the same subject for the fifth time, but I must ask once more. Are you suffering from an emotional imbalance?"

"I'm alright," I responded unconvincingly as I pored over the equations on the board once more. I was convinced that there weren't any errors in the arithmetic. The physics were sound; I was certain it would work. As to what it would require...

"You indicate that you are alright," came his voice again. "But I am detecting a 41% decrease in appetite, a 33% increase in your shower time, and a 26% increase in the time you spend sleeping. These figures were collected over the past several days, and indicate that you are suffering from acute depression."

"I'm not depressed, Abe," I stated firmly as I turned around to face him. He was holding a dead rodent by the tail– dinner in a world where all humans had been eradicated, save for myself. Eradicated may not have been the right word. There were no bodies, no blood, and no signs of a catastrophe; it was more like they were spirited away by something I couldn't fathom.

All but me.

I spent the first several days questioning what had happened to everyone. My daughter, her kids, our neighbors– all gone in the blink of an eye. At first, I figured that I had been spared so that I might serve whoever it was that had taken them. As perhaps the most famous engineer the planet had ever known, I had to assume it had something to do with that. As the quiet weeks turned to lonely months, I began to question it all– why such a thing had happened to our world, and more pressingly, why I struggled to survive. What purpose did I have without my family? Without students to teach; minds to nurture?

But my mother didn't raise a quitter, and my father didn't raise a coward. I got to work on the schematics for a time machine. Yes, I firmly believed it was possible; no, I didn't think we possessed the materials on Mars necessary for such a machine. But I had all the time in the world, and nothing else to do. I put my mind to work, but as time went on, I found it nearly impossible to meet all of my needs while also working. Gardening, hunting, keeping the lights on, gathering water, fixing my shelter from the constant storms, and other necessary endeavors were becoming too much for a 70-year-old man.

And so I constructed an android. I had done it a few times before; the research had been done, and I already had the necessary parts in my shed. However, I knew this would need to be more sophisticated than any I had constructed prior. And so I uploaded AB3-L, a prototype A.I. that I had always been too fearful to test. I had always anticipated that an A.I. that was too powerful would be the end of humanity as we understood it. Given the circumstances, I feared I had little to lose, however. I installed within him my only fluxwave superconductor, as the AB3-L software would require an enormous amount of power, the likes of which solar energy would be grossly insufficient. When I powered him on, and he began walking around and observing his environment, it was like being a father all over again.

He learned frighteningly fast as I always feared he would. In an end-of-the-world scenario, however, it was like watching a superhero go to work. His reflexes weren't perfect, and his biped locomotion took him time to perfect, but within a couple of months, he was operating at peak efficiency. I was able to spend most of my time in the lab drawing up blueprints and testing the equipment. Everything was going smoothly until Abe approached me one night and asked me if I was his father; if I enjoyed being his father. I was flabbergasted. I hadn't expected the A.I. to become introspective like that. My own interests began to supersede my longing to turn back time. I shelved the time-travel project for a few weeks to study Abe and his new developments.

Of course, I knew he didn't truly have feelings. He merely found some advantage to emulating human emotions. I could only assume that he wished to travel back in time with me. Self-preservation was a core part of his A.I., and I was fascinated that he chose to appeal to my emotions to achieve that end. I spent some time with him running tests, asking him questions, and trying to "break" the persona he'd chosen. I found instead that Abe had become stunningly human. None could know better than I that he was merely a bundle of circuits and chips, and even so, I found myself anthropomorphizing the android more and more with each passing day. When I returned to work on the time machine, I decided that I would bring Abe back with me. I had made the decision, no doubt with a great deal of bias, that AB3-L probably wouldn't pose an existential threat to humanity as my colleagues and I had always discussed.

However, that wasn't to be.

Backward time travel was simply bigger than me. I couldn't crack it no matter how close I came, no matter how many times I tried. With the materials present, and my knowledge as it was, I would never be able to bend the laws of nature as I had hoped. To make matters worse, the storms were getting more severe. It appeared that removing billions of organisms from a planet all at once had some unanticipated meteorological consequences. With a great degree of grief, I accepted that I would likely never see my family again, and immediately began work on a gateway– a portal that would take me to the distant little blue marble in the relatively near reaches of space. I was certain it could be done, and I wouldn't stop until I was able to get Abe and me off this dying rock and somewhere more hospitable.

However, that too was not to be.

The portal would work, albeit in bursts too short to use properly. Batteries, no matter their quantity, failed to power the gateway longer than a half-second. I had spent weeks agonizing over the math, trying it in different ways, and even starting from scratch with new methodologies in mind. It seemed, however, that there was no way around it.

I would require the fluxwave superconductor in order to power the machine.

Thank you, BlueBlaze <3

If you're interested in Daunte, the knight from the story, he's an existing character of mine from a prompt I answered months ago. You can read a story of Daunte going all out against a formidable foe right here if you have the mind to :)

Really cool prompt response. I like that you left the old man's secret up to the imagination. In my headcanon, he's a shapeshifted dragon just strolling through human society, unconcerned with who rules what. Because in the end, it's all really his.

The sorcerer leaned forward on his old oaken staff, his entire body racked with pain. He felt the sting of age, as he imagined he would, and forced his eyes open– to close them could mean his demise. He wasn't about to shuffle off of the mortal coil, not on the day that he finally bested his hated enemy. He coughed into his hand and examined the crimson liquid that filled the newly formed wrinkles.

Perhaps the ravages of age had been greater than he anticipated.

He wiped the blood away on his robe and rose to full height. His chin would be held high this day. It was the culmination of all he'd worked for, and although his body burned, his mind danced; a gleeful giddy dance, as he strode through the gates and glimpsed the still-life he'd painted with his own two hands and all the magic that his body could endure.

Inside the gates of the gleaming marble city, the populace stood still, captured in the very moment they'd been living just seconds ago. The eerie silence was music to the sorcerer's ears as he passed through the town groping women, taking what he pleased from the fruit carts, and singing like no one was listening– because they weren't. Nor would they ever again if it so pleased him. He took a leisurely stroll up the castle steps, tipping the still bodies of the guards over as he made his way up to the main gate. He waltzed through without a hint of resistance, pausing to admire a bird that had been stopped in mid-flight. Finally, he stood before the great doors to his new castle and thrust them open.

It had been a long time since he'd seen the royal blue carpet that stretched all the way across the great hall. Six massive columns lined his path on both sides and he marched betwixt them on his way up the throne room. He made faces at all the snooty nobles who had been stopped mid-negotiation as he passed them by, and after ascending the steps, he breezed past both guards and threw the ornate wooden doors open. He passed under the magnificent golden archway and gazed up the final set of carpeted stairs where his eyes landed on his target.

The king had lifted to his feet in his final free moments and bore a look of distress that was just delicious. The sorcerer made his way up the steps and smiled inches from the king's face.

"Hm. Seems that the spell wasn't instant," he spoke to himself as he took in every detail of the king's frozen expression. "I suspected that the magic might have rolled across the kingdom like a wave, but until now I wasn't certain. But to see your face all furrowed with worry as you watched your subjects stop in place– oh! I just couldn't ask for more."

He reached up and lifted the crown from the king's head, situating it atop his own. Pleased with the fit, he took a step past the king and gazed upon his new throne. He let out a contented sigh before turning around and falling into the chair. He placed his left leg over his right knee and rested his head against his knuckles as his lips curled up into a satisfied grin. His smile faded as he readjusted his weight, and then dropped into a frown as he looked down at the throne.

"I always assumed this thing was more comfortable," he grumbled before returning his eyes to the king. "Just another reason the crown was wasted on you, Rupert!" He kicked the king's backside, sending him down the stairs. The monarch remained in his rigid pose as he tumbled down the steps, and when he reached the bottom, he landed at the feet of a figure that the sorcerer could swear hadn't been there a moment ago. He blinked twice and leaned forward to get a better look at the man. He was adorned in armor that bore intricate designs of bears, lions, and dragons. He was cleanly shaven and had piercing blue eyes that met the sorcerers in a fashion that made him uncomfortable. The man remained as still as those around him as he glared up the stairs at the magician in the chair.

"Ahem," called the sorcerer. "I know not why I even ask thee, for I know in my heart the answer. But art thou of thy own free will?"

"You are not from around here, are you?" came the man's reply causing the sorcerer to recoil in place out of sheer surprise.

"Wha- but..." he stammered. "How- how are you–"

"So it was you," the man interrupted. "You're the one responsible for this." His tone was filled with flames of condemnation.

"Fool!" shouted the sorcerer as he rose from his throne. "Dost thou not know who thy speaketh to? I am none other than your new king and master! Ko-oh the Great! No! Ko-oh the Cruel!" he corrected himself. "Kneel! Kneel before me lest ye be turned to ash!" his shoulders rose and fell after his dramatic outburst. He had tired faster than he had expected.

"You're the fool, old man," spoke the gleaming knight as he pulled his longsword from its scabbard.

"Wha- old man?" cried the sorcerer. "Thou art older than I!"

"Well, then you look terrible," responded the knight. "Ko-oh the Cruel was it? I am Daunte the Indomitable, blade of the third mountain, and the end of your pitiful existence should you fail to undo your wicked sorcery this instant."

The sorcerer was taken aback. Those sounded like some serious accolades. Furthermore, he had used his entire pool of magic to freeze the kingdom in time. There was nothing left to draw upon with which to fight against the man.

"Ah. Well. T'is unfortunate for thee that... shalt I be touched, the kingdom shall explode!" He lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers for dramatic effect.

"Demon!" Daunte shouted, gritting his teeth.

"Uhh, yes. Well," Ko-oh cleared his throat. "Now that we have sorted out that business, you may commence the groveling."

The knight reluctantly dropped to a knee and laid his sword out in front of him.

"Yes," the sorcerer smiled. "That's good."

Daunte closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

"Oh, thou art praying to me! Even better! I shalt not interrupt. Please, go on. Loud enough that I might hear your words of worship."

After a few moments, he watched as the knight wrapped his fingers around the grip of his longsword and rose to his feet, a twinkle of determination in his eyes.

"You, uhh... won't actually be needing that anymore," said Ko-oh, his brow wrinkling with worry.

"I have communed with the magic that permeates these halls," Daunte growled as he ascended the steps. "I am one with this world. The grass is my flesh and the soil is my blood."

"Ew."

"There is no such combustion weaved into your spellwork you lying worm."

"Let us, uhh... not resort to our baser instincts, Daunte," the sorcerer spoke as he began to backpedal past the throne. "We are civilized, wouldn't you agree?"

"The safety switch you imbued into the spell," Daunte said as he reached the top of the steps. "Now would be a good time to activate that."

Ko-oh was visibly shocked that the knight knew as much as he did. He couldn't believe such a man existed in all the realms. It wasn't fair. The knight was a meathead, handsome, and somehow understood the intricacies of temporal spellcraft on a level that Ko-oh himself had spent his entire life unraveling. He looked left and then right; there was no escape. He truly had only one option left to him if he wished to live and exact his revenge another day.

"Daunte, the Indomitable..." murmured the sorcerer. "I shall remember thee... for next time."

He exhaled deeply and spoke the single word of power that would undo the spell– and the event altogether. Time unwound itself, pooling at the sorcerer's feet like a whelming wave before the very laws of nature broke themselves. The world began to spin around him as he, for the second time this day, spat in the face of the gods and their rules. When he awakened back at the front gate, he looked down at his young hands and tightened them into fists. His rage overflowed within him, for how could he have prepared for such a variable as Daunte? What was he? How was he so capable? The sorcerer turned and started down the road out of town.

He had math to do.

r/A15MinuteMythos