Amalgam Universe

A 2335-post collection

Challenge #04988-M239: Trafficking Hazardous Materials

A coughing fit spreads throughout the ship. They find out a deregger smuggled in several pollinating plants instead of the seeds in stasis pods they said they had. -- BKF

It never would have happened if the scanners weren't down for maintenance. Later analysis would reveal that there was sabotage on them to manufacture a maintenance flaw.

It's amazing what malicious people can do with magnets, thumb drives, and a complete disregard for anyone's safety.

Slow Cruiser Vessel, the Idle Hours, took passengers at their word. To be completely fair, the alleged stasis pods that Passenger Fidendra brought aboard looked like functioning stasis pods. They used ship's power and submitted reports to the Idle Hours' safety monitoring logs. They even had expected normal fluctuations in the readouts. He thought of everything... except pollen.

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Continue Reading

Prompts remaining: 37 Submit a Prompt!
Ask a question

Challenge #04986-M237: Friendly Filter on Reality

They found a way to help a young who is dealing with severe social anxiety be able to get out a little at a time. A set of augmented reality goggles that gave everyone a friendly capybara look. And if crowds get too loud, it muted the noise to a soft muffle except, of course, for anything that might be dangerous. --BKF

When the demolition crews were carefully pulling the place to pieces, they called it Rabbit Warren Station. Not that it

Read more »

Challenge #04984-M235: Post Trauma Trauma Comfort

Sometimes you just need a teddy bear. -- Knitnan

Triage is a simple formula. Help is focused intensely on those whose condition could be improved by it. Those who would mend on their own and those who would fail no matter what were the ones left to bide. In triage, few are available to pick up or comfort a crying child.

Dar, youngest survivor of the Pelichant Incident, understood none of this. All they knew was that they were frightened and all

Read more »

Challenge #04981-M232: Trade With Strangers

Odd comics with no words circulate on this polluted world. It shows people giving ones wearing colorful clothes of red, yellow, and black a wide birth, and yet give them aid when asked. The other images were of the ones with those colors, and people wearing more soothing tones, opening cage doors where people can run free. -- BKF

It had rained paper again. It had also rained rain, staining everything a muddy yellow. Muddier than the yellow of the clouds or

Read more »

Challenge #04978-M229: Just Like Kids in a -- Oh Dear

A ship of pirates who think that human kids are easy to manage, figured just give them snacks, and they'd be calm. Except... they gave the kids lots of sugary snacks and learned a new word. Hyperactivity. -- BKF

It was a very simple plan with one minor flaw. See if you can spot it. First, conquer a scholastic transit vessel and send the adults off to their origin point with the ransom demand. Second, abscond to a secure location whilst keeping

Read more »

Challenge #04974-M225: Anti-Terror Campaign

You made a huge mistake. You hurt master Twii's young charge. He WILL be coming to talk to you. Firmly. -- BKF

There's always someone like the type in the Edge Territories. Someone's brat whose parents believe can do no wrong. The kind of kid who is endless torment to everyone in their general vicinity. The troublemaker, the prankster, the hangman... or the bully. Or any of the above, depending on their mood. The kind of kid who the N'Ozzies refer to

Read more »

Challenge #04973-M224: Hatchet, Interred

I am done. I've been a hired killer for over 20 standard years. I don't want to do it anymore. I'm tired of it. -- BKF

To quote classic literature: I am the best at what I do, and what I do ain't pretty. Not that I've read the works of Lee Kirby, I've just had it said to me by the people who have. Those sorts who can afford to learn how to read. When you grow up fighting for your

Read more »

Challenge #04957-M208: Our Mistake

This new race, level 3 deathworlders, were skittish of humans. Their first encounter with them were, unfortunately, dereggers, who nearly got killed. This first contact with Alliance humans was going to be difficult to say the least. -- BKF

First Contact is always a crapshoot. You never know who is going to meet whom nor what kind of person is going to be the first official representative of their people. Things like that happen when the first to meet the Alliance becomes

Read more »

Challenge #04954-M205: Intelligent Weapons

A human run academy for new military recruits. There are three paths. Diplomatic corps, edge defense, and the path that makes people disappear, and reappear in Alliance custody ready for their trials. -- BKF

One would think, with a name like Armed Forces right there on the metaphorical tin, that the purpose was obvious. Armed. Force. Clear and concise. One would be wrong by the time Humanity was fully integrated into the Galactic Alliance.

War... adapts.

Various clever weapons have largely rendered

Read more »

Challenge #04952-M203: Emphasis on the 'Mostly'

A human who guards the crew would seem rather outnumbered given the SIZE of the ship. But the pirates didn't count on him having a very well trained Belgian Malinois. -- BKF

The Investigative Process was a very big ship. Galactic Survey motherships had to be large, mostly for the scientific analysis labs and customisable vivariums for the wild captive samples. Between stellar systems, the Ship's Human roamed the connecting halls, checking up on what Human Beck called Geektopia.

It took them

Read more »

Challenge #04938-M189: Chosen Heir Test

A dying deregger oligarch, wanting better for his people, doesn't bequeath his fortunes and worlds to his descendants. He uses his will to give them to the only man who has never lied to him. An Alliance member who made their living astroid mining. -- BKF

Pax Humanis isn't the only reason why Deregger Oligarch's compounds are heavily fortified. There's also the descendants and seconds-in-command who are on the impatient side. Sharpening knives or preparing undetectable poisons when they weren't pricing assassins

Read more »

Challenge #04936-M187: Domesticated Predator

The havenworlders look upon the scene in shock as a normal house cat chases away a full sized bear from the camp. -- BKF

Human Yen loved to take her friends camping, and that included her cat, Dinky. Dinky, on harness and leash, did not do any of the hiking. She preferred to ride on Yen's backpack, chattering and chittering at the little creatures beyond her reach.

Yen was no slouch. Dinky was firmly attached with a harness and leash. Kept safe

Read more »

Challenge #04932-M183: Suspicious Coded Messages

While transcribing her grandmother’s old handwritten recipes to send to a friend, a girl finds out that the ratios and measurements by pure coincidence match up to a heavily-restricted code, and is immediately flagged for red alert investigation. -- Tergon

Tell me you're in a highly-monitored fascist polity without telling me you're in a highly-monitored fascist polity...

Okay. So. Gamgam's actually my great-great gramma on account of the CEO's Breed 'Em And Weed 'Em policy. Basically have the kids as quickly

Read more »

Challenge #04931-M182: One Little Slip

A human decides to go and learn tons of languages. Ends up using the wrong whistling trill and accidentally insults a saurian's ancestors and has to do a dance-style apology ceremony! -- Bridget Kielas-Fecyk

Humans are versatile vocalists. Many are excellent at imitation. A rare few are creepy at being that excellent. Those are the Humans who are encouraged to become linguist, ambassadorial aids, and First Contact consultants.

It's encouraged, not mandatory. Mostly because of Human Zif.

He was one of the

Read more »

Challenge #04927-M178: A-Hunting They Will Go

There are ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now. Two Game Wardens, Seven Hunters, and a Pure Bred Guernsey Cow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQyoSLOlglw -- Deathshead419

They say, when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. And it's a very apropos statement on the Terran Colony of Libertaria. Where every man is an island and all the homes are bulletproof.

They need to be bulletproof, because every spring is hunting season.

Where

Read more »