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Amalgam Universe

A 2195-post collection

Challenge #04306-K288: Shared Words

They were not a deregger escapee, but out on the edge, had suffered almost as much as one, at least psychological abuse. It was hard for them to stand up for themselves, and they wept often. But when it came to helping others? That is where they showed they still had some backbone left. -- The New Guy

Many Deregger escapees are broken birds. Shy to say the least of it. Soft-spoken, frequently terrified of breaking the rules. Even the rules they have in their heads. Fossil phantoms of their past terrors, care of fascist despots whose only care was profit. Even when they left those lawmakers behind, the laws haunted them.

In such a mental landscape, it's easy to want to vanish. Deregger escapees are wont to blend with the wallpaper. They keep their heads down, work hard, and try not to make a fuss or be a bother.

Alliance systems of support often have trouble with Deregger expatriates. Starting with accepting Alliance company, and including worrying about how to pay for gratis services. But the trick was, get Dereggers to help Dereggers.

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Challenge #04304-K286: No Accounting For Taste

These beings were havenworlders, kept hidden by their live suits. When seen outside of them, many humans recoiled at the shock. Cute, they were not, but more like lichen-covered amphibians. -- Lessons

"The suit is not merely to protect me," these Havenworlders recited, "it is also to protect thee." Further enquiry revealed that the Mycophybians gave off spores when they were in season. Many of which were toxic to a significant percentage of the Alliance and further, often evaded a lot of

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Challenge #04301-K283: Weaponised Mythological Resemblance

Humans can be born with "Throwback Traits". Tails are not unheard of. But imagine the shock of the enemy, when the space marine bares their teeth at them, only to show they have deadly-looking fangs. Yes, even the most otherwise ordinary human can end up with fangs when they grow their normal adult teeth. -- Fighting Fit

There was something amiss with Human Eef, though it wasn't immediately noticable. They seemed shy, covering their mouth when they laughed or smiled. Preferring to

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Challenge #04300-K282: Synthetic Hymnal

Grandpa 7094 had a very impressive career. NASA, MIT, and the Mitsubishi Nuclear Power Plant were just a few of the organizations where he provided invaluable data. But ask him his proudest achievement, he'll say without hesitation it was learning to sing Daisy Bell. Because it's the one that makes his grandchildren smile. -- Anon Guest

[AN: For those unaware, speech synthesis is older than you think. The instant Humanity put speakers on computers, they started trying to make them communicate]

Humans

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Challenge #04299-K281: Slow Escape From Bland

A deregger rescue with tons of issues keeps "losing their meals" each time they eat anything other than bland nutrifood. Not on purpose, their body's just that messed up. The Gyiik temple are determined to find something the person can eat without losing it, by the powers! But this is one tough case, even for them. -- Anon Guest

Gyiiks react in horror when they discover the existence of no-flavour Nutrifood. Given that the product is a scientifically-calculated balance of essential nutrients,

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Challenge #04298-K280: Suspected Supply Issue

A gyiik individual finds themselves crash-landed with several humans. Food stores are low, though plenty of water, and unable to go out to gather more. Worst part? The humans kept refusing to eat, saying "they could wait a few days" -- Anon Guest

They're hiding something from me. I know it. We survived a "cheese grater" crash-landing[1] in relatively good shape. Few souls lost, they said, in conditions where nothing could be done. The air was breathable. The water easily potable.

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Challenge #04293-K275: A Child Could Understand...

[Solid water] Compound composed of hydrogen and oxygen, essential to support carbon-based life. Keeping it in the solid state makes it easy to carry.

"...isn't it ice?"

"no, no, no. Ice is ice, this is water, just in the solid state."

"...isn't that the definition of Ice?" -- Anon Guest

Galthax took a deep breath, twining hir tentacles in a thoughtful manner. "Ice is frozen water. This is solid water. There is a difference."

Human Iz scrunched their face up, attempting to

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Challenge #04288-K270: Respected Priorities

Pax Humanis makes a deal with the deadly Lucker. They will not monitor them as they monitor others, and the Lucker only has to wear "the colors" when in Alliance areas. Their life, and travels, are their own.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04188-k170-kill-list -- Anon Guest

What I don't like about Pax Humanis is their insistence on control. The other killers in there tolerate it. They know they're dangerous and they actually care about the health and wellbeing of the innocent.

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Challenge #04285-K267: Mutually Assured Protection

The one I call my friend, no, more like a parental to me, helped me be a better CEO. The people are happy, I've plenty for my family, and they even introduced me to my spouse, we adopted kids, too. I'm so grateful. They're still here for us , them and their friends. They can be scary, but behind their masks, they're really kind.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04030-k012-double-down-defeat -- Anon Guest

I spent a lot of my life being yelled at

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Challenge #04284-K266: Worth Working up to

They had been dereggers. Though long since rescued, their bodily systems made it hard for them to eat, well, anything very easily. But seeing all that people here enjoyed, made them long for something more than.. blah. They went to the Gyiik temple where they said the people there had magic that could help them. -- Anon Guest

It was a bizarre food allergy, if it could truly qualify as such. The freed former citizens of a now-extinct Greater Deregulation could not

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Challenge #04280-K262: Lucky For Some

Just because you don't look alike doesn't mean you don't have a twin out there, somewhere. So, a team of researchers asked themselves, what if good luckers had bad luck counterparts, all of them? And, if that were the case, was there a way to ensure good luckers don't gain an ego, and bad luckers have a way to save them from, literally, themselves? What if good luckers... have a bad luck twin? -- Anon Guest

[AN: The actual term is "match"

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Challenge #04278-K260: Acid Test

Many places that cater to multiple customers deal with a knomira sooner or later. To prepare the staff, the owner hires others of many races, including humans, to come in pretending to be knomiras to help the staff train for such an eventuality. Security is, of course, informed ahead of time about the test, as are medics, just in case. The staff, however, are not. -- Anon Guest

Sooner or later, one of those customers blow in. The staff never know the

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Challenge #04277-K259: Kharmic Realignment in Progress

The good lucker learns a painful lesson about pushing their luck to the extreme. In this case, when things really hit the fan? Even they end up hurt. First time in their life. Then comes the question, if I have a bad lucker tied to my good luck, does everyone? Sad thing is, the jerk takes quite a while to learn their lesson.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04190-k172-balanced-out -- Anon Guest

Some people, they say, have all the luck. They never

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Challenge #04274-K256: Second Time Around

I've been around for 200 years. As my old body grew weak and often ill, I saved everything I could and, with help from my mentor, got a new one. I still have a ton to learn. But the most important thing? I'm not as useless as I thought I was.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04196-k178-contractually-obligated-self-maintenance -- Anon Guest

Of all the universal truths, the biggest one I had to accept is, You can't learn everything in one lifetime. After a

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Challenge #04268-K250: New Record For the Longest-Running Experiment

The humans have a plan. It's both a bit frightening, and incredibly exciting. They intend to seek out a solar system with a huge asteroid belt, but no planet in the habitable zone. Their experiment? To create a warm, stable, earth-sized planet, and then terraform it to be a Havenworld. Will it work? -- Anon Guest

They went down to deepest-time wormhole to a system in the midst of formation. They were geologists, biologists, astrophycists, and a whole pack of scientists of

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