Ywrighting: September 2013

Elastic Display, Made Possible By Seq

RETRIEVING DATA......

PRESS RELEASE FROM SEQ AT 15, MARCH 2020

Introducing the Paper Thin Stack Up Elastic Display - Stackit

The world's most prominent display technology has arrived, made possible by Seq. The all new paper thin, stack up elastic display is extremely lightweight and very portable, with flashing color E-ink - 'Vibrant', Seq is inventing the most ambitious display for the market.

NEW YORK CITY -- MAR. 15, 2020 --Today, Seq announced its newest and most prominent design in the market of elastic display, Stackit.

The new paper thin folded display panel was made with design in stack style by a 10cm x 10cm square in 20 folds. The size of the display and the shape of the display can be adjusted and saved to a template for ease of access. The weight is less that 5 ounces, making it easy to carry around because of its pocket size and lightweight. Stackit is water and fire proof, and can sustain high pressure thanks to its flatness in design. Sharp object would not be able to penetrate the surface because it has a fortified layer.

Each display panel support a image source or manual input, and can be expanded to nearby panel to increase the resolution. The size of the panel for each image source or manual input can be customized to fit your need, if you fancy a 10 x 5 fold wide display, go for it. All wireless image transfer methods are supported. It also has the auto expand to template size and auto recollect to the default pocket size.

The display itself uses flashing E-ink - 'Vibrant' which provide a colorful display and lagless transition. The power source come from the self sustainable backlight which in turn generate the power you need to use the device through the graphite core chips and the light itself, it would never be out of power.

The components are embedded along the edge of the outer square in a milky colored nano cable which would not affect any on panel display.

"Stackit is the most ambitious display panel we had ever made," Said Bruce Melton, Seq Founder and CEO. "No one is investing on behalf of elastic display market or breaking the limitation of the panel itself like we did. Stackit has everything a elastic display should have and has the brand new flashing E-ink technology 'Vibrant' in place, the display refresh rate is fast and fluid, the weight is minimal, plus it support multiple image source, custom size and resolution, unbreakable panel, and much more."

Stackit is set to be released in the coming summer.

Seq is also pleased to announce that they are partnered with the Japanese government to provide display and related technology support during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic.

END OF DATA......

[Seq, an ideas on mega-corporation in the sci-fi universe I am drafting, they made their fortune on Digital Display Panel, which has also featured on the previous Max related post - Geeksmode & Solitude, check them out if you haven't to get a better view on the whole thing.]

[Stackit, what do you think. Sounds lame but will do just now]

Iowa to Miami (Freaky Flight Day)

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are currently flying through thunder clouds and expecting a little turbulence, please remain seated and fasten your seat belt for safety measure. We will fly through this."
People started to check their seat belt and held tight onto their chair when the plane began to shake involuntarily. Peter stuck his face on the window seat near the left wing and looked outside, from there he saw numerous thunders clashed between the gray thick cloud like snakes flashed out from their lairs and clamped onto their victims. Each bolt of lighting carries enormous energy, that is what he learned from the books. He wondered if people could made use of that power through any kind of vessel.
The plane trembled for a long while and eventually busted out from the clouds. The sun was shining when they balanced and elevated to a higher altitude. His sister loosen the grip on his right hand and it instantly felt like being smashed on as well as a hundred mosquitoes stung at the same time. He massaged his hand in pain and it gradually resumed the natural blood flow presented in pink-red. A shallow cut on the back of his hand were bleeding, he licked it and sucked it. The bleeding stopped.
"Sorry brother, I didn't mean to hold on too tight, you know how it is when it comes to this." His sister murmured.
"I know. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." Peter said. "I promise."
Later she came back from the lavatory and started smiling and saying stuff.
"You know what, I've seen an episode of Mythbusters that when the airplane's lavatory leaked, the water and the pee and shit would form a layer of ice if the outside was cold enough. And once it got too heavy, it would drop to the ground. That would be pretty disgusting if I was the one who got hit by that, or thinking of my own pee landing on someone's place, eww." She said.
"That's pretty gross." He said, trying to peek at the side of the plane to see if there was any ice.
"I love science." She said, and returned to her reading on the road to Mexican border with love.
They landed three hours later in Miami, Florida. They were picked up by their parents at the airport. Peter told them how his sister freaked out up there and showed them the cut she accidentally made. Their mother hugged them while their father chuckled aside.
The drive home was the mixture of public radio program and selected 'Selected Shorts' mixtape made by his sister.They cracked joke about Dexter and the weather. He told them about the girl he ran into at Iowa City Public Library. She told them about the foods in the University of Iowa. Things were going great for both of them.
"Oh honey, don't you worry, we will feed you up with foods better than that." His mother said to his sister.
That night after dinner, they went to bed and fell asleep in the breeze. Not really.

[Personally, I don't know how the foods in the University of Iowa are, but I do know your mom cooks something you would like to eat.]

[Selected Shorts is awesome, go check it out.]

[My, Dexter wrapped up.]

[Never been on the flight, so yeah, all made up]

Déjà vu - Mass Memory Rollback Resulted In Time Travel

What is Déjà vu in Wikipedia

The following could be one of the explanation to Déjà vu, which means you see things happened in the future but have not yet happened in the present. And when you experience that moment of the memory from the future happening in the present, that's a Déjà vu.

How

Someone or something initiated or triggered time travel and everyone in the future will be brought back to the past(present) without knowing, maybe even the person who initiated it could only recall it from the vision of the future in sleep.

The people traveled back to the future's past, which is the present, could view the future through the vision while sleeping, which might be a memory rollback from the future to the present. That's possible why sometime Déjà vu happened, because the memory of things happened in the future rolled back to the present mind and as you view it in the present, it became a familiar scene when happened in the form we described and name Déjà vu.

Who or What

What could possibly trigger this? A person who travel back? A device or any kind of thing that caused it to happen?

You can't change anything because you will only remember or view a short span of memory in sleep, which is not enough to make significant decision and most of the vision were insignificant. You could just witness the same thing happened as the timeline continue on the same path.

Whoever or whatever did this, is doing it on the same timeline or universe (Assume there are multi-timeline and multi-universe) which wrapped all of us in the future back to the future's past, which is the present, and we all time traveled. Though the thing hadn't happened yet, some of us could access the memory that rolled back from the future.

For example.
Future is October 1, 2013
Present is September 1, 2013 (Also is the future's past, where we traveled back)

Future memory of September 2 to 30 and October 1, 2013 will roll back and possibly accessed by some people in the present, which could be any day and the memory would be very short.

[Just A Theory To Apply Into The Story? Maybe]

Escape Driver

Jason landed the vehicle out front and walked the stairs and knocked on the door like the guy living there owes him a chunk of money. Someone murmured then yelled "It's open." He let himself in and drew out a taser searching for the target.
"Hey man, look..." The man said, "Wow." He stepped back and put his hand up in the air and gasped. "Where is the girl." Jason asked. "She's sleeping upstairs," He pointed at the ceiling, "The first room on the left." "Stay where you are." He ran up the stairs and pushed the door open. The girl let out a shrill on bed when she saw him. She begged him "I don't want to go, I don't want to go, please." "Sorry girl, an order's an order." Jason tasered her with the minimum current enough to let her sleep for an hour's drive. He pulled up at the nightclub under an hour and the girl was still sleeping in the backseat. He carried her on his shoulder and moved to the back entrance, where a muscle stood. The guy stopped him abruptly. "The boss is in a meeting."
"Of course he is, that's why he asked me to bring this girl in so I could save his ass, dude," Jason said "Come on, move."
The guy let him passed reluctantly. Jason walked in and immediately every weapon in the room was pointing at him. "Girl delivery?" Jason joked. "Leave her here and wait outside." Jason lay the girl down and stepped out. He chatted with the guard and fished some info on the girl he was asked to bring in. Supposedly the girl had seen some actions that took down a gang's leader in the city last night. She was here for questioning. *** Jason worked for the night club's owner and also his uncle, Mr. Sing, ever since his family went missing some nine years ago. His uncle raised him like his own especially when he didn't have one. Jason showed his talent on driving in the business not long after graduating high school and worked as the dedicated driver and people grabber because of his muscular build. *** The door banged open and people started to walk out in smile and his uncle called for him when everyone left.
He walked into the room, the girl was drinking hot tea made by his uncle and sitting there quietly. "Jason, I want you to escort this young lady home and return here as soon as you can. Now go." The girl didn't say anything during the ride, maybe she was frightened by what she had just been through, or she could not process what she was seeing in the car. Jason pulled the vehicle up and down going at the speed of death. She couldn't blink or breathe worrying the next second would be a fatal collision, but it never happened. After dropping the girl, Jason went sky bound and sped back. When he arrived, his uncle told him to pack up and said they were going away for a while till the heat went down.
They were on the road when several police patrol vehicle sneaked behind them. The police asked them to pull over but his uncle told him to keep going. Jason set the vehicle for sky bound but found the police already disabled the field. The car packed in the evening traffic making it difficult to lose the cop. He hit the gas hard nonetheless since the Anti-Crash Magnetic System would push other cars aside or forward. They endured a lengthy tremble but eventually escaped. They spent the next three weeks living in a hotel room, really living in a hotel room. And one day his uncle received a call saying the suspects were found and booked. They drove back to the club, not wanting to dread on the hotel for one more day. [Another possible backstory for a character, lousy messy in details but whatever]

Foster Care

Just Born - She was found wrapped in a blood-stained white towel in a dumpster back in the alley crying when the trashmaster came by to clean out the shit people made throughout the day. The news briefly mentioned about this the next day but since it happened so frequently in that area and nobody claimed her, she was entered into the foster care system.

Age 10 - She went through ten years under a foster family in Texas that treated her like a stray dog. She was given little food to eat and worn rough garments while at home. Skinny and the weirdest kids in the school, she didn't perform well. Under a teacher's help, she was transferred to another foster family in Chicago two months shy of ten. The couple were arrested for multiple counts and sentenced for years of prison term.

Age 15 - The second forester family treated her like a doll at first, but soon the father revealed his true self and beaten up on her for countless time when his wife wasn't home. She escaped from the place and crashed at a friend's. Soon the police were finding her at the request of the mother after she took all the terrible beating. She went through to the officer. In August that year, she was transferred yet to another family in Atlantic City after staying two months in the foster care center with other kids like her.

Age 18 - The family in Atlantic City were so lovely that she resisted to be loved. They provided everything for her without asking which made her the filthy rich kid in school. She was constantly reported for indecent behaviour and because of that she was a really good friend with the vice principal. Her speciality didn't surface before her eighteenth birthday.

Age 23 - She was trained for action at the Army the day after her eighteenth birthday, which was what she decided to do at the age of 16. She became an Information Technology Specialist and worked for the States for two years after she officially retired from the Army to became a group member of the CHASE(Communication Hiding A Security Ejection), which was responsible for the decryption of underground communication in order to gather intelligence.

Age 25 - She was found decapitated in a hotel room which was stripped clean of any trace of evidence.

[She could be such a character, a possible backstory for a role ]

Runaway

He was drunk again, she could tell by his sloppy steps and the smell of beer.
He walked into her room and fumbled around her pile of clothes and magazines on the desk and caught her by the hair on bed and pull her down to the floor. He forced her to kneel before him and he gave her a slap in the face. She was crying and begging and kicking and cursing and yelling, and he let go of her.
A rainstorm was in progress when she busted out the front porch in barefoot.
She kept running in the dark until she reached the "Chelsea's" where lights were on and the room was warm. She opened the door and welcomed herself and the soaked dress at the left corner seat and saw Chelsea was staring at her with the look where the eyeball fixed at a gaze, the nose tightened up, and the lower lips bent to the left with his mouth opened ajar.
"Don't give me that sick look of yours, I am your customer." She said.
"All right, ma'am, I am just curious why you haven't divorce that son of the bitch already. I don't know how you are still doing it after so many times." Chelsea said, rubbing a mug. "Can I fix you something to warm up?"
"Give me hot chocolate."
The hot chocolate arrived with a blanket.
"Stay warm." He covered her with the blanket.
"How nice of you."
"Just doing my job."
She held on the hot chocolate and absorbed the heat from the steam, she sipped the creamy liquid and let it flowed between her tongue and throat, bit by bit, she found warmth.
"Are you feeling better?" Chelsea asked.
"As oppose to worse?" She said.
He went on rubbing the big beer mug, flushed it with the water and hung it upside down.
A clash of thunder landed and she spilled the chocolate on the desk.
"Let me handle it, you just sit there and let me do my job." Chelsea said.
He wiped the desk and took her cup for a refill. Another cup of hot chocolate arrived.
She blew the steam away and drank a mouthful.
"You know Jack is a good guy, he just doesn't know how to control himself when he's drunk.' She said.
"But the thing is, when a guy gets himself drunk and beat on his wife every time, he damn sure knew he shouldn't drink." Chelsea said, adding the woods.
She fell into silence.
"Becca, you deserve to have a better life with someone else." Chelsea said.
"By someone else you mean you, right?" Becca replied.
They both fell into silence.

[Imagine Chelsea as Lafayette Reynolds. That's what's in my mind. 'Chelsea's' as the "Merlot's".]

"Are you feeling better?" Chelsea asked.
"As oppose to worse?" She said.

As in Mr.Pink(Steve Buscemi) asking Mr. White(Harvey Keitel) in Reservoir Dogs

Mr. Pink: This is bad. This is so fucking bad. Is it bad?
Mr. White: As opposed to good?

Jackie Brown [Ordell & Melaine]

['Jackie Brown', another great 'Pulp Fiction' from Quentin Tarantino with the absolutely amazing performance from Samuel L. Jackson & Bridget Fonda, go check them out if you haven't, it will give you a hell of a good time, motherfucker.]

P.S: Personality goes a long way, too.

Ordell Met Melanie For The First Time

"Hey girl, why are you hanging up here bored and shit." Ordell said.
Melanie looked at him, had a mouthful of smoke and passed it to him. She breath out the smoke and said nothing.
"Look, I ain't gonna do nothing all right." Ordell said.

Five Minutes Later

"Yeah, bitch, call me a n*****, call me a n*****. Yeah." Ordell have his hand on her neck and was giving her a good time.
"That was fun." Melanie said after Ordell gave her all.
"Fun? Now girl, that's no way to talk to a man like that after he gave you the best sexual experience you ever had, it ain't no fun, it's goddamn motherfucking satisfying." Ordell said with his pitch up.
Melanie was looking at the beach and went silence.
"Hey girl, look at me when I am talking to you."
Melanie turned to face him, still not speaking.
"I am talking about a man's dignity here girl. We ain't no dog fucking bitches and have fun, we are human and we fuck for the internal and external fucking satisfaction, you know, a man's dignity goes a long way." Ordell said.
"Uh-huh." Melanie replied.
"When I fuck you, I ain't doing it for fun, I am giving you the ticket to heaven. Damn, girl, you should really appreciate a man's work. Ordell said.
"Yeah." Melanie said.
"That's right girl, now you can sit down and watch TV or look at the beach all day everyday, as long as you like, okay? This is where you are staying, and you are my bitch now." Ordell smirked.
"Okay." Melanie said.

The Second Day

The phone was ringing when they were watching TV together.
"Hey, get the phone girl." Ordell said.
Melanie stared at him for a moment and went up for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Yo. Hey. Who are you? Where's Ordell?" The man in the phone said.
"I will get him." Melanie said.
Melanie put the phone on hold, "Is for you." And she went straight back to the couch and dumped herself into the TV.
Ordell looked at her and stood up for the phone.
The day went on with a dozen call for Ordell while they were watching TV.

The Third Day

The phone was ringing when they were watching TV together.
"Hey, get the phone." Ordell said.
Melanie stared at him for a moment and said "It's for you."
"God damn it girl, go get the fucking phone." Ordell said.
Melanie went up reluctantly and picked up the phone for just a second saying "Hello" and put down the phone while saying "It's for you."
She dragged back to the couch.
Ordell looked at her and stood up for the phone.
The day went on with a dozen call for Ordell while they were watching TV.

Jessie and James were en route to the rescue. They were merely three minute apart at the current speed. James shifted 'Unic0rn' twelve degree right and set up the shield, loaded the weapon. They were ready to fence off the pirate.

Ken was pushing the throttle hard while trying to dodge the pirate's bullet storm. 'Nex0n' swayed in the space hopelessly, waiting for rescue.

Alex sneaked around hoping to find his EMP without luck. He figured if he stayed any longer, the pirate might have a greater chance recognizing him. He had to leave it behind. He doubled back to his ship and initiated the starting sequence yet again.

As 'Unic0rn' and 'Nex0n' crossed path at the three minute window, Jessie already took down two of the pirate jet from a far using the tracking missile. The third one were supposed to be down too but for some reason it didn't.
Jessie flew past Ken and tried to gun down the last pirate jet.
"Damn, this is a slippery one." Jessie said.
"I hate the slippery one." James commented.
"Exactly." Jessie grinned.
Jessie held tight on the control, each burst of bullet went right into the deep space, they were spinning and circling and trying to take out each other. From Ken's cockpit view, he only saw two jet flying in circle shooting at each other as if showing off their skills in piloting. It was more a showoff than showdown.

Alex ignited the Hawk and flew toward where the pirate jets went with the radar temporarily down. He was about thirty seconds away from the light show and identified the 'Unic0rn' immediately because of it's vibrant color on the hatch. He tried the comm.

Jessie lost her grip on the control while trying to follow the sudden jerk back of the enemy when she heard Alex's voice cracked from the comm, and the pirate ship seized the gap to fire at 'Unic0rn'. It was hit slightly in both the engine and the wing though the ship was still intact and under control. She executed series of evasive moves and fell back into the loop.

Alex got closer and tried the comm again. "Jessie, are you there?"
"Hey Alex, we are sure as hell glad to hear from you. I am busy shooting this old fox down, can you help?"
"Yeah, I need you to break away when I say the word okay? I will shoot it down for ya."

"Break, Break, Break."
'Unic0rn' fell out of the ring and sped away, at the same time Alex fired rounds of bullet at the pirate ship and broke down the circus dance.
The damage caused an explosion and they thought it was over. Another explosion came and released a blue aura from the ship's wreckage and reached the Hawks.
"Oh no you don't." Jessie sighed.

The ship Alex just blew up carried the EMP from his Hawk, and by that they were immobilized in the pirate territory for exactly ten minutes.
Their ship drifted in the air. They saw each other through the cockpit window when they almost ran into a collision path.

SEE YOU SPACE PIRATE...

Space Pirate [Part 3 of 4]

Alex was asleep in a filthy room chained to a pillar by a rusty cuff when he heard the sound of an explosion, he saw the guards rushed out at once when the alarm went off.
He slowly crouched down and shifted his body so that he could grab the wire inside his belt. He had been carrying it for years in case of something like this happened. Swiftly he poked the wire into the lock with a few twists and released himself from the restraint. The door was unlocked. He kept his head low while running toward the landing pad where he and his ship were captured, hoping that he could return home safe. The alarm going back and forth in the corridor, Alex wondered maybe the pirate tried to fly his ship and mistakenly fired a missile at their own ship.
He hadn't met a soul during the escape, when he reached his destination, there was no guard either. He climbed back onto his ship and initiated the starting sequence. He checked the weapon system and found all were intact except the EMP. He restarted the scan and was given the same result. He rolled back to the weapon storage and found the slot supposed to be equipped with EMP was now empty.
"Damn pirates." Alex cursed.

What he need to do before leaving was obvious --- find the missing EMP and bring it home.

Jumping down the ship, he was confronted with a pirate facing back to him. He sneaked up and took him down by suffocation before anything else. He dragged the guy into a vent after he wear the pirate's clothes.
He went with the blinking light and soon arrived at a Hangar full of pirates. Roaming around with a bunch of scumbag was not an easy task, though everyone ignored him as he walked by. Alex felt uncanny. He overheard people talking about a loose fish and a great salvage. He assumed the great salvage was the EMP, but what was with a loose fish, were they talking about him? He saw a crane arm floated in the space and the capital ship was moving around, did someone escaped?
Someone in front of the crowd spoke "Fellas, we will not let them get away, we will chase them down and crush them, right?" The guy pointed out at the empty space.
"Yes, crush 'em!" Everyone shouted.
Three small jet ejected from the hangar bay as they chanted, Alex saw a small object not far away flying on the same path. Whoever they were, they were not going to make it out alive.

Unless.

Located on the edge of the galaxy, Faro is filled with a belt of space debris and enormous asteroids, which provided the perfect hideout for any criminal outlaws who enjoy privacy and liberty.

Jessie was roaming in her 'Unic0rn', Class A Hawk fighter jet, near Faro searching for the recently missing identical model. Reports indicated the aircraft last appeared on Faro and was likely to be captured by the pirate and possibly had already been salvaged into pieces as a warning for the Acting Galactic Government regarding the asteroid dusting project. She thought she should at least poke around before giving up the jet which sparked up an argument between her and the co-pilot.

"Just because central had lost connection with Alex doesn't mean he's captured." She said with frustration to James.

"But it's likely. Haven't you heard about what the pirates are capable of? They sunk ships. And jet won't drop the connection in this sector, right? At least we are still connected now." James said.

"Whatever, I am not giving up on Alex." Jessie said.

"Just be careful Jess, if they do have Alex, they might already have the EMP all figured out and I don't want to be any part of their experiment on our most advanced weapon."

"Don't worry, I will protect us, and Alex."

"I hope you know what you are doing, Jessie, I hope it will be worth the risk."

"What do you mean worth it? Saving Alex doesn't mean anything you? He's our friend, James, how could you say something like that."

"I just don't want us to be captured like Alex, that's all."

"Alex is not captured" Jessie shouted.

They both went silence when flying through pile and pile of scraps.

***

Ken kept tabs on the incoming pirate fighter jets while trying to broadcast a distress signal, hoping someone would be able to help or at least provide diversion. Some of the researchers walked up to the cockpit and asked what they could do to help.

"Just get back to your seat, I will handle this. Please, get back." Ken pushed them out and closed the door.

The beeping started and light blinked on the engine indicator showing a partial damage on the first generator.

Another spark of sound, someone was trying to connect.

"This is Jessie Pink, pilot of Class A Hawk. Are you all right? We have picked up your distress signal, is there anything we could do?"

"This is Ken Besin, I am transporting a team of researcher back to the Government Flag Ship on a Class B Tiger, but we are now under pursuit of three pirate fighter jets, we need immediate support and escort. Be aware, the Pirate Capital Ship have the salvaged EMP from your model, you should be clear of their effective range. Repeat, do not get close to the Capital Ship."

As Ken spoke 'EMP from your model', Jessie's heart skipped a beat. It was over, for Alex.

Or was it?

Space Pirate [Part 1 of 4]

"We are breaking off, hang tight!" Ken yelled from the cockpit.
The aircraft blasted off from the landing port in a terrible tremble and snapped off the connecting crane arm. They had escaped but the hull took a massive damage that disabled both the shield and the secondary weapon system. Their breaches also triggered the alarm on the pirate ship, the red light kept blinking on the lower deck, indicating the alarm's origin for the pirates on site.
Ken tilted the ship nose up and flew away from the pirate base in maximum speed. The bulky pirate capital ship floated in the space, trying to drift around very slowly. Three small pirate fighter jet emerged from the left hangar of the mother ship and sped up in pursuit of the ship on the loose.
The paint on the ship read 'Nex0n'.

***

Ken was the pilot of 'Nex0n', a class B Tiger - small exploration ship modeled after the Class C Leopard with the same purpose. His primary objective was to navigate the ship and transport a team of researchers around the Faro - also known as the Far-off Sector for scientific exploration. With five years of flying in the open space, he is both a certified pilot for all ship class and is licensed to use Grade B weapon or below.
He had encountered the pirate before, they were a loose army fighting for resources and liberty with cunning tactics. He evaded them most of the time, trying not to provoke or fly into their ambush around the asteroid field. It worked before the Acting Galactic Government announced the project to manually 'push' the asteroids into a nearby deserted planet in the sector where the pirate was the most active as to create a new and safe route for Inter-station transportation. The pirate across the sector revolted and decided to take action by hijacking any non-pirate ship appeared on radar.

***

The pirate's capital ship was lurking around a huge rock when Ken was flying the vessel back to the Central Hub. By the time Ken spotted the enemy on the radar, the ship had already lose its power because of the electromagnetic pulse the pirate sent out.
A ship painted in the dirty pirate black with a crane arm on top flew by and clamped the Nex0n's wing and dragged it back to the pirate base.
The researchers on the ship were terrified about their capture. Some of them said the pirate would kill the weak and old, enslave the strong and young.
Ken remain seated, he looked to the side and saw the ship dragging them was a remote control prototype developed for space building, which mean the ship had an access point open for scan. He checked his mechanical watch bought as a gift by his father years ago when he was still a cadet. Almost ten minutes. The effect of the EMP would wear off in ten minutes if the pirate used the one they salvaged from the recently missing fighter jet Hawk. He had to take the chance.
Ken prepared for the system to go online while readying to interrupt the remote control frequency.
Exactly ten minutes later, the light and engine came back and Ken worked his way into the control port and gained access. He waited until the other ship kissed the landing pad and sent a command signal for the crane to lose its grip on Nex0n.
He didn't wait for the crane to complete the action and took off with a shout.

Swing

The park at night was empty except a boy was swinging alone, laughing, cheering. The mid-autumn moon was full and bright, shone with clarity. The swing moved back and forth, up and down.

Each push backward was an attempt to go further forward, upward, toward the moon.

He moved, gathering the fully realized momentum and he leaped out of the seat.
He was flying, the body elevating, the ground disappearing, the moon dazzling.
The boy landed on the moon. He started to walk on the glittering ashes, and as he looked up, the swing was there, inverted. The ground became from was a few meters away. He tried to jump up and climb back to the ground. He almost reached the swing.
With every jump he felt lighter and lighter, his skin gradually transformed from human flesh to the moon's shining dust. His skin no longer stick with him, they slowly drifted and fell off. Little by little, he was the size of a new born baby.
He cried, but no sound came out.
The swing lowered itself to the surface, he climbed on board and held tight to the handle with his tiny hand.
It started to swing violently going round and round like a blender.
The shaking died down, he opened his eyes and felt the dust in his hand, it was shiny white, just like those from the moon.

[Okay, This is Mid-Autumn Special, short]

Hunted

Benny was holding the binoculars and scanning the forest following the trial of a deer while Jenny was standing beside him readying the rifle in a clean Sunday afternoon. Benny was to teach Jenny, his sixteen-year-old daughter on how to hunt in the wild, as every members of the Halls should.
Two hours of poking around, they found the deer's trial in the woods far away from camp. They had been tracking it for half a day through dozen streams and trees and were exhausted when they sighted the deer in a tall meadow which provided covers for them. The wind went west, they were west of the deer.
Benny tapped on Jenny's shoulder signaling her to prepare the rifle for fire while he monitored the deer's movement through the lens. The deer had not detected their presence yet and was enjoying the food under the sun.
The deer kept getting her head down posed a problem to them, they were aiming for a shot to kill instantly. They had no time to waste and choose the second option, a shot at the hearts.
Jenny traded the rifle for her dad's binoculars and distanced herself quietly in anticipation of the shot. Benny took his time at steadying the aim and breathed much slower. The deer turned around and continued the eating. Benny pulled the trigger aiming for the heart, it went wide with the force kicked back at his shoulder but still managed to hit the target.
The deer went down instantly as Jenny watched it from a far. Benny soon recovered from the recoil and walked towards the deer. It was a dead doe.
Benny instructed Jenny to take out the hunting knife from her tool belt and slice the area where the bullet went in to retrieve it. Jenny couldn't do it at first as it took a tremendous effort to cut the firm meat of a deer, but with Benny telling her how to went through the meat avoiding the muscles and bones, she dived in and out with a hand full of deer's blood but didn't find any bullet. The bullet went through the deer.
The deer was small enough Benny could carry it on the shoulder himself. They were prepared to leave when Jenny found a fawn lying nearby, she squatted to check the little deer and found the bullet went through the front thigh. She couldn't help but cried at its unfortunate, Benny bent down and gave a comfort pat on her back.
Jenny insisted on holding the tiny one all the way back to camp. She had stopped crying when they arrived but still couldn't let go of the fawn, she caressed its soft fur, treating it like her cat, Rally.

(More about deer at Wikipedia)

(Hunting, Is it a thing for you?)

[Mid-Autumn Festival special? Nah. Anyway, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!]

High Line Park Romance

It was close to 9 P.M. when Jane and John arrived at the West 17th street and 10th avenue's High Line Park to meet their friends with smiles across their faces. Their friends stood up from the stair seats and went up with them in group, cheering.

This was the place where they first met each other. They were both New Yorker's on a walk above the High Line in a winter's afternoon in opposite direction. They both sat at the alternate edge of the stair seats on the same level enjoying the view down the 10th avenue. Traffic and pedestrians rushed by, they sat still.
The afternoon sun was warming. Jane made the first move by walking near John and sat down casually.
"The weather's nice today," Jane said. "Do you come here often, I haven't seen you around."
John kept his eyes up on the sky and said "Indeed." then fell into silence.
"You didn't answer the other question yet." Jane said.
"Actually this is the first time I've been here. It’s nice with all these natural vegetation and the view of the Manhattan here up close. I think the guy who turned this track into a park deserve some respect." said John.
Jane caressed the wooden plank she sat on and said "They did earn respect, at least from us." She smiled at him. "Want a tour of your life? Follow me." Jane stood up and jumped up the stairs. She waved at him to stick close "Allow me to present it to you, the Statue of Liberty that stranded on the Liberty Island, for life." She pointed to the far end in between the bridges of two building just behind where they were sitting.
The lights around the statue reflected back and John made out the shape of the Lady Liberty.
"Cool, I never thought we would be able to see the lady up here. I wondered if the passengers were seeing the same thing when the train was still running." John said.
"Maybe it was just a flash or a glimpse, or a blur." She said. "Anyway, come on, we should go check out the bird house."
"The bird what?" John said.
"The bird house, you will see."
They walked pass others enjoying the sunbath on the benches and seats along the path or walking in leisure like them. Reaching the bird cage, Jane said "Here it is, the house."
"This? They looked more like art to me." He said.
Jane glanced at him, gave him a 'seriously' look. He viewed it in details and said "Wait, they were made art, in the form of bird house."
"Correcto." She chuckled.
They strolled in the park till the dusky sky covered the city. Jane told John about her line of work as an editor assistant, in turns he told her about his life as a librarian.
They dined in a nearby restaurant and chatted until the owner shoved them out in good manner.

[Thanks to +William Ng who discovered the High Line and told me about this wonder place, and indirectly inspired me to write this little story based on real location. I did my Google and Youtube.]

Melody without Harmony

Janet usual hangout with her friends in an arcade in Chinatown with old-school decoration. Out of all the games it offered, they loved the dancing game and were always competing against each other from dawn till dust if it was Sunday.

The arcade was filled with loud game music, vibrant game graphics and a scent of marshmallow, though people visited less often nowadays. Janet would occasionally saw an old men came in for a round of Mahjong and nothing else. Other arcade games would be left alone gathering dust if not for the owner - Jackie Chan who swept and cleaned them every day in every bit of detail.

He was nice to Janet and her friends and often gave them a few more tokens to play.

The songs from the dancing game were in Japanese but they had long mastered the lyrics before they knew how to walk. Singing in sync was not a problem, the problem was dancing in sync with style.
Janet was the best among her friends, mostly because of her unique moves and dancing fluidity. She spent many of her waking hours thinking about the game, even dreamed about it and move along with the rhythm which caused many minor injuries during sleep. She was obsessed with the game.

She stood on the pad burned in black and tapped her feet in the four direction, everything felt so familiar.

Every time she danced, she felt a bit of her were absorbed into the game, into the music, into the void of the display. The music moved her body and her feet rhymed with the rhythm, creating a space of perfect harmony.

The tempo fast, the lyrics cast, the music blast.

It was a busy Sunday morning, Janet went to the arcade with her friends as usual but only to find it on fire. The blazing flame wrapped the whole structure and quickly depleted it to a crumbling end. Everything inside including the owner himself were burned. The fire department arrived late because of the complexity in gaining road access to Chinatown and could not provide much help in rescue.
The girls wept and moaned for the death of the owner and the destruction of the arcade. The same night when everyone cleared out of the street, they sneaked into the place where once stood the arcade. Most of the metal frame of the arcades machines were melted to a curvy pile of scrap, even the dancing pad they had spent so much time tapping on were left only with an outline. She stood on the pad burned in black and tapped her feet in the four direction, everything felt so familiar.
She remembered the smiling faces, the music it played, and the color it projected. Even when she had the worst time in school and at home, she would always found comfort and happiness at the sound of the dancing game, the laughter and cheers from her friends, the competitions that went on and on for hours and hours.

She never felt tired of the game, nor would she ever be.

[Dance Dance Revolution baby!]

Treasure Hunting

Jack held tight on the thick rope and leaped out with a kicking run, he hung on the air for a second and landed hard on the other side rolling as the jump gathered more momentum than he had expected. He swept the dust off and tucked the rope in bag. He looked down at the edge, it was quite a cross from the fall around hundred meters deep.
He hadn't been to this part of the forest but heard tales of this place, and the treasure at the end, an big old chest full of jewelry that was said from the pirates. None had ventured far enough to verify it, none had seen it before, and none had the picture of the chest. It might very likely to be just another tale, though soggy ancient maps were found in several locations with identical markings.
Ran through the first marking; jumped over the second one; the next one would be a dangling wooded bridge connected by hemp rope. He doubted it would be any use after all these years, with the rain and wind here in Hawaii, it is difficult to keep the wood intact and the rope firm.
Few minutes of hiking through the woods brought him to the bridge where the whole thing had split into two halves. He stood near the cliff, the drop was around 5 meters with a rocky bottom. Jack searched for a crossing alternative with no yield so he bundled the rope with a hook mounted on the bridge post, with swiftness he descended because he was afraid that the wood could not support his weight and broken up. He did the same while climbing up on the other side but with multiple throws to finally secure the hook in place.
The path got slippery when the rain started to down pour, sticky dirt on his boot and wetness in his clothes. He walked slower with his head tipped low, eyes on the final marking before the chest.
With effort he managed to reach the final challenge, a riptide.
The current roared and cheered, she made fun of Jack while he stood helpless. And then he saw it, a line that connected the two side by two giant Maua, the perfect slide-away. He wore his protective glove, climbed up the tree, grasped the line, and tested the strength. Unlike modern Zip-line, the rope was not made for such function. The only way is to hold on to it and start crawling horizontally on the line while facing upward.
A tiresome crossing, Jack stood panting and sipped just enough water to hydrate his burning throat. The prize could wait.
He regained his strength and started searching for the chest. According to the map, it was a three minutes walk from the stream and to the left of a stone plaque.

Solitude

Max woke up in a room with a bared window at the upper-left corner opposite to the rusty metal door. He yawned to the morning sun shining through the gap and forced the door open by the handle.
The light went up and soon the room was humming full of life; machines resumed their work, information started to flow between the computers and the global network. The bright yellow blinking light indicating all system and connection were a go.
Max sat at the center of the room facing multiple display mounted seamlessly on the wall while drinking the freshly roasted coffee scheduled for every morning from the 'tunnel', which is a parcel transportation pipe that allow him to receive products he ordered without ever going out.

He had been living and working underground in the basement for three months ever since he was fired from 'Seq', the tech company that dominated the world's Digital Display Panel market. He was one of the top innovators in the field and contributed endless ideas to perfect the products.
It's all gone now, though he found that being in the solitude made him more productive in a way a team of experts could not offer.

In most days he would modify and simulate his concepts in the machines and share the results with a group of highly intelligent people. They were more than friends and families because they almost had the identical experience: dumped by mega corporation after years of loyal services and treated without dignity, brought out by the guard with force, office cleaned out at the same time, all done within the second they were noticed.
This was the 'Project Trashing' started a year ago.

Living in the basement doesn't mean he is disconnected with the world, in any sense, he knew the world more than ever. Back then he worked tirelessly for revolutionary products, the lab was like a home to him, nothing outside matters. He lose sense of time, place and self, it was an abandonment for fame and fortune.
The basement packed with state-of-the-art rigs and exceptional encrypted connection, he was able to explore the world in a virtual simulation projected on the wall. he also manipulated the vast display unit for ease of design and multi-touch gesture control. Sometime he would still marvel at his work, not believing he had came this far after graduation.

His latest invention, a holographic projector, would solve countless problems presented in the existing products on the market.

Time Watcher

"Put the GUN down, now! Do it, put the gun DOWN!"

"Nice and easy. Come on, easy, easy."

"Okay now, just put it down nice and easy. There we go, now turn around and put your hands over your head."

***

The watch busted out wave length of sparks and silence. It couldn't be repaired anymore. Dan grabbed the pile of scrap and threw it out from his first-story apartment window with tears running down his cheeks. It had to come to an end after all these years.

He received the watch from his father as an heirloom passed down for six generations back when watches were used for keeping time, marking time, planning against time. There was no one left who could made watch repair except him. He was the last on the timeline, the last watchmaker.

People didn't care about old-fashion watches anymore, it had way passed the time where wearing a handmade watch would represent one's power and wealth which had been replaced by the digital platform now. The fact is, watches is the time's junk.

He worked hard to keep his shop in the darker part of the alley, there's nothing could made him felt proud than his watches ticking.

Most people would hustle pass his business, only a few would pay attention to the circling of the clock hands. People don't need watches because they have the time all over the place: on the grid, digital panels and interfaces. Time is the least they should worry about.

***

A group of kids usually gathered around the alley once in a while to take money from the tenants, though they won't bother Dan since they knew there's no money from him, all he got were the watches.

Only this time, new faces came by and threatened Dan for they didn't know the situation well. The kids did not play nice, one of them pulled him head-on to the glass panel and cracked his head right through, others trashed his clocks, throwing, knocking, stepping on them.

For what seemed like an hour, Dan slowly regained conscious and stood straight, blood slipping down his forehead and glasses shattered everywhere. He sat down on the arm chair and took a few deep breaths.

Other shopkeepers came offering help when the kids were gone, they helped him clean up the glass and collected as many damaged watch parts as possible in a pile. He thanked them and took a rest on the attic.

***

The watch is beyond his help.

He's old, his business’s going down and he couldn't even protect a single watch.

He felt the cold from the gun in his pocket. He went to the street and stood in the middle of the traffic. He pulled the trigger under his chin.

Silence. Time flew away.

[What happened in the the timeline, stays in the timeline.]

Bat Mode - Superheroes

This is some pretty silly stuff I wrote weeks ago, so don't blame me, I am just writing it for fun and for the sake of writing.

It's Batman! No, It's Piercing man, from the new DisConnected Comic!

He walks in the dark, he walks in the ghetto, he walks fear into every tug.
He is the Piercing man.

He does not have superpower per se but he does have a tool that keeps him handy. Namely the Piercing Gun, loaded with Piercing chips or bullets.

It's like making a tattoo only you can't see it on the skin, it's all inside you. If you were shot by the Piercing Gun, the Piercing chips would be embedded inside you, it tracks you down, it hunts you down, it uncovers everything you are trying hide.

Piercing man is not alone, it's an urban myth that everyone knows. Some said it's just the police playing gangster, some said it's a start up company trial-testing their new tech in the urban area. Anyhow, those scumbags are afraid of Him.

And the truth is, Piercing Man is in fact Piercing Men. Organized by the local police department, it is a small elite task force formed by five brilliant and skillful former undercover agents under the name Project Piercing. It aims at tagging every city criminal with a chip and gather intelligence from a far. Each mission, one of the five would assume the role of Piercing Man and take illegal justice into the street, they are licensed to fight, licensed to kill, licensed to tag.

The police pretended to be in high alert and reminded citizen to not get near the Piercing Man, they even classified him as a public enemy in some occasion so as to not expose the true identity of them.

The five of them are loose in the wild, if they were captured or killed during mission, they will neither be recognized by the police, nor they will receive any help from the police directly under most circumstances. They will just be remembered as an unknown hero to the public.

They are to fight gang members all the time. So far none of the five were hurt or injured too badly, but they all have their own battle scars to share. Most of the wound were by knife or collision with objects, since guns are scarce in the city due to highly restrictive regulations.

And this is how the Piercing Gun basically works: The Gun is loaded with Chips as bullet, these chips provide functions like GPS, voice recording an electrical shock. When the Gun is fired, the Chip will pierce through the flesh of the person, giving the person a niche of pain. It then go inside the skin and will be activated. If the shot is missed, the Chip will automatically go through the self-destruction protocol, making it hard to find the remaining of it. If one ever desired to remove the Chip, unless approved and disarmed by the system, force removal will also cause the self-destruction protocol, and poof, it's gone again.

Hike and Days

Dawn crept up on us with its warm light caressing our skin through the tent. It was quiet outside, birds and wind were pulling off the nature's orchestra. Comforting as it was sitting in the tent, I woke Sam and Daisy to welcome the arrival of a brand new day with a little tickle on them.

'Time to wake up kids, no time to waste.'

Both shoved me off and let out a groan, and rubbed their eyes when sitting up.

'Morning daddy,' Daisy said, 'Morning dad.' Sam said.

'Morning, kids.' I replied, kissing them in the forehead, 'How's sleep? Still having the bad dream Day?' I asked.

'Uh-uh, sleep very well sir.' Daisy said. 'Me too.' Sam said.

'That's good. So, how about we get freshen up and pack our things for the next meeting point where your mother is?'

'Okay.' They said.

I took out the bag containing our morning kits: Toothbrushes, cups, towels in blue and red for Sam and Daisy, green for me. I slid open the tent and let the two went out, and gave them some water and the kit, they split up in different way and started brushing, I could hear them giggling at other's foamed mouth.

The sun was coming up fast, by the time we have finished packing our tent, it was beaming at us with its furious flame. Sam put on his favorite baseball cap while Daisy made up her hair for the white round hat with flowery pattern. They grabbed their tiny bags and we started walking to the end point. We came across a trail where big tree grown, making it easier, cooler to start the day with a steady pace. The road followed were mostly dirt, or rocky path, I have to stand close to the kids, sometime holding their hands when stepping forward to protect they from falling.

By eleven, close to noon, we were roasted under direct sun glare. We rested under a tree not far way in the shape of an rabbit with all its leaf siding left because of the wind, and we drank some water and ate some honey-flavored bread. After that, Sam performed an improvised but unsuccessful tree climbing, leaving Daisy stood there in frustration. She yelled at his stupid bravery and I listened how she thought Sam would hurt himself and be at the hospital with all his friends crying around his bed.

The heat flushed their faces. Weather was still hot although it was close to Autumn. They were both happy, lively and energetic. I wish I could have more time for them.

Rested and feasted, we continued our hike.

The moment they saw their mother's parked vehicle in sight they were already yelling and hopping back at the hill's top. The journey was about to end.

When we finally reached the parked Polo, their mom were not sitting in the car. The kids were worried, saying something about the mythical Bigfoot roaming in the area taking people. I dialed her number but it rang inside the car. She must have left it in a hurry. Where would she be when she knows her kids were coming?

I unlocked the car with the spare key, letting the kids inside to cool themselves with the air-conditioner. I walked around the place, searching for her while leaving the kids alone in the car. They are smart kids, they know what they have to do if anyone came around the car.

I called for her several times around the parking lot. It was quiet. My voice echoed. Bounced.

'Here!'

Random Encounter [3]

It had finally started raining. Sarah had begun to wonder when would it arrive after days of unbearable heat invaded every household, even for the people with the luxury to have their fan running all day everyday. It was such a relief.

On the first day the heat wave arrived, she couldn't believe what she saw when her husband came home soaked in sweat from collar to waist. She spent a long time with him in a lukewarm bath that evening talking about his day and the weather. That night they went completely naked in the house with the blind lowered, candle unlit.

Something deep inside her wanted out, she didn't fight with the thought and grabbed the umbrella hanging on the door knob.

The air freshened and clean, the sound of the rain dropping on the umbrella made her felt happy. It was a good rain, rain that came perfectly at the moment needed.

A little girl ran across the street covering her long hair with her tiny hands formed a triangular fence and headed under a balcony. She was laughing too, enjoying the long waited rain.

A boy around the same age with a sealed blue umbrella in hand raced toward her from the street corner, he shouted at the girl, calling her Sam. Rain splattered on his shoulder as he ran with the umbrella going up and down in his hand, drops of rain soon dyed his pale green T-shirt into dark green. He reached her under the roof and unsealed the umbrella. He hung tight on the girl and walked her away while both of them giggling at his shirt under the umbrella.

As they turned into the another block, Sarah stayed motionless, looking into the murky sky, thinking of her husband working at the small office with big industrial fan running, imagining how her husband would hate the loud motor hum while at work.

She wanted to be there for him when he got off work. They could, too, be like these two kids, giggling about their day under the rain. They could have a cold bath and stay naked all night with comfort, maybe even share a dance in the candle's light.

[Man, it's hot when I was writing this weeks ago and now editing it both with the fan humming above me. Come on, just rain already!]

D&D Anyone?

As T descended the dungeon holding the torch up in his left hand, his cowboy boot clanked loud against rocky steps and his shadows casted on uneven surface of the wall. The group followed carefully after him and inspected the bright area searching for unexpected, and most importantly, avoid monsters that lurked around taken this place home.

Inside an environment unknown to them: Four round pillars supported the room, a door at the end with dust and spider webs sprawling around everywhere. They searched but came up with nothing interesting or useful. T commanded forward.

Upon entering, they encountered three slender hounds tearing and eating something vaguely resembled the shape of a deer, their mouths bloody, and eyes in frenzy. The party stood aligned and H the priest unleashed an aura, G and T rushed in front of the magical fence to repel the attack from the hounds. The beasts abandoned the feast they were having, obviously angry at the human's intrusion. Those gory sharp teeth and the low groan made T shivered. He drew out an iron sword while keeping the torch high to illuminate the room in order to provide the best field of view. G held tight on his Iron Shield and an iron blade.

Two hounds charged at them with their muddy claws, G stepped forward and blocked it with the shield, the two collided claw-on with the shield and sent out a terrible snap sound of bone fracture, those two let out a cold cry and stayed down. The third one rolled back barking frantically. T slashed at the two injured ending their suffering. The last one retreated down the corridor.

The party resumed their search and came up with quite a few items, including a shiny orange-red amber that could be used in jewelry, it might yield a few gold. H tuck it in her pocket smiling, said something like 'a girl looks after her accessories well'.

Continue on the path, the soft growl of the hound gave them the chill, such sound could only be heard from a person's funeral.

The flame was flickering when they had reached the end of the passage, there was a hole the size of the hound at the bottom center, but too small for the fully equipped to crawl through, even for H the slimmest in the party, in which case she would definitely said no.

The flame flickered again toward left.

The flame gave T an idea. He asked G to help him push against the surface of the rock on the left. Slowly, the rock shifted and eventually they were able to squeeze into the other side.

It was a cave, round like a dome and very humid with a hole the size of a window at the center of the wall, they could hear water running from the outside. Drops of liquid kept dripping from the top which is about ten meters high when they walked around the cave.

T noticed that the top was unnaturally dark. He held up the fire, and as it happened, hundreds of bats took off at the same time from the ceiling rushing down toward them and made a sharp turn, out of the hole they went.

Ywrighting

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