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Amalgam Universe

A 2142-post collection

Challenge #03039-H116: There's Some in Every Trip

A group of former Degreggers, with their galactic friends, compiling their resources, purchased a trading ship, and outfitted the two largest holds with large, comfortable, reclining seats, blankets, and other creature comforts, each one being able to hold at least a hundred people, and the third largest hold with tons of nutrient packs that would last for long periods of time. The other holds aboard the ship were used for normal storage with many types of trade goods, the three turned into multi-guest sleeping areas and excess food storage were disguised. Why? Very simple. They made a plan to visit as many deregger planets and polities as possible, and start helping people escape. But to do that, well, sometimes to save souls from hell, you have to trade with the devils. -- Lessons

There are, in the universe, necessary evils. Most of them happen in the Edge Territories, and it's because of plausible deniability that they continue within. The Cogniscent Rights Committee turns a blind eye to it, as does the Fair Trade Commission. If they were dealing with Galactics then the accommodations and business deals going on would be quashed in a cold second.

Greater Deregulations refuse to be part of the Alliance because they don't like the rules. Therefore, they shouldn't expect anyone else to follow those rules either. If planned obsolescence and lying about the safety and longevity of your product is okay in Deregger space, then that's the kind of dealing they should expect. And anyway, any polity willing to sell off their population for shiny trinkets are getting what they deserve.

They call the ships Horse Smugglers and they regularly swap subpar technology for the "free" citizens or indentured servants of Deregger spaces. They even go so far as swapping expendable porter-bots for the cargo workers. The Dereggers don't immediately complain because the bots don't need to eat or breathe. They complained in exactly a month and a half, when the porter-bots broke down at exactly the life expectancy of every single piece of Deregger tech on the market. By then, the Horse Smugglers have moved on. Yet, the Dereggers fall for it every single time.

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Challenge #03038-H115: We're Going to Need a Bigger Nametag

A: You know Jugemu I don't actually know your full name; what is it?

J: You sure? it's really long.

A: hit me

J: Jugemu Jugemu Go-Kō-no-Surikire Kaijari-suigyo no Suigyō-matsu Unrai-matsu Fūrai-matsu Kū-Neru Tokoro ni Sumu Tokoro Yaburakōji no Burakōji Paipo Paipo Paipo no Shūringan Shūringan no Gūrindai Gūrindai no Ponpokopii no Ponpokonaa no Chōkyūmei no Chōsuke -- Anon Guest

[AN: That's a meme I've managed to avoid for literal years. I knew it existed, but I've never seen it. Also some

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Challenge #03037-H114: The Learning Process

Ad astra per aspera -- Anon Guest

[AN: My old primary school motto was Per Ardua Ad Astra - by effort to the stars. If I read this correctly, this means "To the stars by breath" ::googles:: Almost. "Through the rough" not "by breath". Was I close?]

Groundbreaking travel, as the name suggests, is fraught with unforeseen perils. The first person to hang onto the back of a horse or an ox had no idea what they were in for. The first

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Challenge #03033-H110: A Different Solution

They saw Human Ji sit down for their tea after the brief fight with the braggart that had decided to be an idiot. As the crowd dispersed, people getting back to their normal routines, they first helped the owners put the tea gardens back together, mainly because they were nervous about approaching Ji, before plucking up their courage and approaching the table. Lightly clearing their throat, they asked, softly. "I'm having to deal with bullies in school that keep trying to beat

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Challenge #03030-H107: Tea and Socialisation

I can't help it Internutter, I gotta see! Mr. Sunshine introduces Jay to his one, and only, true friend outside the Pax Humanis organization, Ms. Lilicoon. Her hands have healed quite a lot now and she keeps in regular contact with Sunshine and even has permission to visit his home on occasion, of course she always makes sure to ask first in case he's busy. Now that he's got a new student, and to show him that there's hope for even ones

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Challenge #03029-H106: Experiments in Friendship

The ship was doing a long-haul taking a mix of human and havenworlder colonists to one of the few mixed-colony worlds. A human child, with their havenworlder friends, had begun exploring the ship and found their way to the engine room. When the parents found them, they were being given a lesson in how the engine works, and being allowed to be helpful, as much as kids can be. -- Fighting Fit

The world that Planetary Survey had found was perfect. Perfect

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Challenge #03028-H105: Swim the Light Fantastic

They flew past me all the time inside those massive metal machines. Though some were bigger than others. My people have been floating among the stars, bright spots in what, for most, would be otherwise pure darkness for as long as I can remember. We had bodies, once, and needed such machines before, but we evolved past that. My family called me, we were heading to a new asteroid belt. Holding out hands, we, as bright flames, flew to see those that

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Challenge #03027-H104: The Paper Anchor

The book was old, beyond old, really. It had been passed down from parent to child for a millennia. It was, now, so thick and large it was carried in a careful satchel and, due to being so ancient, the oldest of the pages yellowing, only carefully opened with gloves. The newest pages, however, were much fresher and had been added to the book almost weekly over the past hundred years. But now, the owner, dying gracefully of old age, called to

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Challenge #03026-H103: Worn Away

The family went to court just as the parent said they would. Recordings of the cruel abuse the students, and instructors, of the Alliance - run school were shown as evidence. And now these people were forced to see, and hear, everything they did to her and face their crimes. Of how Barbara would stop, turn away to hide her tears, something the cameras saw, though everyone else ignored. It wasn't just the parents who intended to teach the instructors, the students,

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Challenge #03024-H101: Mostly Harmless You Say

Pib's parents are on a station for a while as the ship they normally work on was in for repairs, and these repairs were going to take some time. The instructor at the primary school reads the transcripts of young Pib from aboard the ship and sees the injury / kill count of the child and their jaw drops. Some of the pirates wounded, or killed, by this larval human were not exactly amateurs, or small-fry. The parents just smile. -- Anon Guest

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Challenge #03022-H099: Situational Education

Human children have a propensity to pet anything that's soft and furry. It's just a part of what seems to be observable human nature from childhood into adulthood. However, sometimes children had to be taught to not pet the fuzzy. In this case, they meet a havenworlder who has a soft, fluffy, service animal that has a sweet, little purr. The havenworlder, due to very advanced age, has gone very hard of hearing, the service animal makes sure they stay calm. --

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Challenge #03020-H097: With Stone Tools

The Vorax were stranded on a planet with several humans, both ships having been taken down by an unexpected solar flare of significant intensity. Due to the fact this was a survival situation, the two factions, for now, put aside their differences to work together. These Vorax, like many others, had heard stories of humans and their abilities. But it really did not hit home how true these stories were, until they insisted on going with the humans to hunt prey animals

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Challenge #03019-H096: The Walking Wounded

They had anxiety issues, didn't sleep well, often awakened in tears. After years of war, living in peace was very hard. They left to get groceries and returned to find a shocking discovery. A massive tank was in their apartment with an odd arrangement. One side was the life support system for the tank, the other side was a large metal box, almost as tall as they were, attached via wide metal tubes. Inside the tank was a huge octopus, or what

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Challenge #03018-H095: Time and Effort

A: Can I borrow a knife?

B: What do you need it for?

A: What do you mean?

B: What you need it for will determine which one I give you.

A: How many knives do you have?!?

B: What do you need a knife for? -- FightingFit

"No, no, no," said Human Arin. "I gotta go down this rabbit hole. How many knives do you own?"

"One for every purpose and then some," dismissed Human Bob. "I have a collection."

"That's

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Challenge #03017-H094: Benevolent Weeds

Those lovely blossoms known as dandelions to us. Whole thing is edible, though better when its young. There are a few other plants like that where the entire thing is edible. Well, she was a botanist, not that she let her family, or the deregger, government knew she'd become so well educated. A well-educated young woman there? They'd kill her for being too smart and her family followed the CEO's like they were gods.

Everyone thought her too simple to be of

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