Instant Story

Challenge #02784-G227: An Edge Case

A: hey man are you ok?

B: .... yeah sorry, feeling a little burned out

A: ah, I see. Hey do you want some coffee after this? -- Anon Guest

Humans are resilient. Humans are robust. Humans are strong. Humans are also living beings with limits. There is only so much stress, devastation, and chaos that even a Human can handle.

Learning this was something of a hurdle after Humanity was accepted into the Alliance.

Witness Human Doe, who has apparently reached a limit and, as a result, has retreated to something resembling a catatonic state. They had sat for a meal and beverage break over an hour ago, and were still sitting there. Their meal was untouched. Their hot beverage had gone tepid. They were just... sitting. Staring, apparently, at nothing. Face blank.

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Challenge #02783-G226: Untranslatable

I wanted to sing, but it didn’t work translated to gal-simple. So I tried a mental translators, but then I learn that it most only scan the left side of the brain for the sentence structures. Singing comes from the right side. -- Anon Guest

[AN: There's growing evidence that the left-brain/right-brain stuff isn't as real as we once thought. However, there are other things that say it's real in very specific directions.]

Sometimes, you just got to sing. Sometimes,

Challenge #02782-G225: Under Starry Skies

This is a prompt that's actually a mix of 3 stories, the one of the super-soldiers, the one of the dream berries, and the one of the seed collector. Here are the prompts for reference.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02677-g120-a-mind-of-their-own

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02509-f319-berry-small-problem

https://steemit.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02525-f335-useful-obsession

The person had collected more seeds than any human ever had before. It was their hobby, it was their obsession, and with it they had saved many lives from

Challenge #02781-G224: Dear Employee...

If you really want to make a politician sweat write them a handwritten letter. I do this, (a) It's rare, and they are obliged to answer. But first of course they have to find someone who can read longhand, neat, correctly spelt, longhand. Which of course forces them to focus on the contents. -- Nonny the Mouse.

[AN: I'm sure I did something to this point somewhere before...]

People want to make politicians think. The problem with this is that the politicians

Challenge #02780-G223: Redo From...

It started as a Company raid, aided by a hacker who crashed the system of a Rival company. It escalated, every computer system in the World crashed. Hospitals, Electricity, Money. All were lost and the only way to even get the beginning of a re-start needed electricity. -- Anon Guest

The moral, if there was one, was always add extra stop clauses in your trojan worms. Some would say it should have been, don't create trojan worms that will end the world

Challenge #02779-G222: And There Was Only One Bed

Archivist finds a Treasure Trove in a Library's donation of 'source material, just old papers'. Stored in time seal conditions. Just one problem to the end of all their funding problems it was all hand written. -- Anon Guest

It was a sealed box in one of the Pre-Shattering Permaplastics. Someone had scrawled, "rando papers" in permanent marker across the lid. Scanners indicated that it was still hermetically sealed. This required care and attention to detail.

Good thing the Archivaas were an

Challenge #02778-G221: To Walk Away

Call it what you will, the dollar shop, the thing store, they are inevitably tied to poky little book stores designed by Escher in that they contain far more than they should, and often never store the same thing twice. They are inevitably attractive to maker types as they have things you cannot find elsewhere, or ever again. They also have the phenomenon of wandering in "for a quick look-around," and emerging days later with a full shopping bag, an empty wallet,

Challenge #02777-G220: Signal to Noise

Chuckled “I sense death behind us”

The moment the human said that some ordinance were detonated behind us, and a Vicious growl to our south -- Anon Guest

Human methods of memetic communication leave much to be desired. One has to know a certain volume of Terran art forms, especially popular Terran art forms, in order to understand what a memetic Human is attempting to communicate.

In this example, a stylised Human is sitting in a means of public transit and giggling

Challenge #02776-G219: Peculiar Parenting Problems

There were things I expected to say to my children when I got into this whole parenthood thing. Things like "don't eat that" and "put your pants on" and "stop drawing on the walls" or "do your homework". Then, there were the things that took me by surprise. "Don't put that in your butt" was one, and "NO! DON'T PUSH YOUR BROTHER DOWN THE STAIRS!!" was another, but most recently, "If you make me faceplant into broken glass, you will be in

Challenge #02775-G218: Waste Not

[Level 2 Deathworlder] I don't know how you can be so relaxed about this human. This is an unknown planet and, save for a few starvation rations and potable water, we've no supplies left. All of the prey is too fast to catch, and you are obviously starting to look worse. HOW can you be so calm when all you're doing is banging rocks together, scraping sticks, and weaving those disgusting plants skin together?

[Human] Yes so I've lost some kilos, but

Challenge #02774-G217: Finding a Smile

"No, thank you."

...

"Get that out of my face."

...

"STOP" -- Anon Guest

They said, Give a sweet thing to a sour face. Which was the very essence of the Sunshine Festival. Enough smiles, and the sun would rise, bringing an end to the cold of winter. Which was why the marketplace was overloaded with cloth flowers that had been soaked in cloying perfume. Honey-cakes abounded. Beautiful music filled every corner and turned every road into a cacophony.

Compliments that usually didn't

Challenge #02773-G216: Vent Words

(Unabashedly based on my grandmother and her go to "curse word")

H - "Crab apples, pineapples, and sauerkraut!"

A - "... I think my translator is broken. I got an offensensitivity warning on what you just said, but I think you just listed foods?"

H - "You shouldn't curse... It is rude." -- SilverRey

Humans are bizarre. This is acknowledged. Some Humans just happen to be more bizarre than others. For example: Most cogniscent species acknowledge the need for stresser/expressive words to

Challenge #02772-G215: To Aid in Aggression

It was a huge battle, they ended up having to ACTUALLY call for help in the form of human space marines. Why? Because these unknown creatures that had attacked the colonial world had been so powerful that the Vorax ships it'd passed had turned tail and fled as fast as it could, after seeing how easily it had overcome two of their biggest warships.

The humans actually were having a challenge with this battle, not just in space but on the ground.

Challenge #02771-G214: A Few Minor Obstacles

Everyone, even havenworlders, like to have pets. The type of pet, of course, depends on the type of havenworlder. One, after visiting, and surviving, her visit to the deathworld known as Earth, and especially Australia, had learned of a harmless, but brightly colored, bug called the Christmas Beetle. It was short-lived, not edible - but only because it had a very thick shell, but otherwise completely, utterly, harmless. She learned how to breed them and soon began to sell them as safe,

Challenge #02770-G213: Filtered Through Children's Lies

Re-Discovery part two: electric boogaloo https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02447-f257-solid-documented-scientific-evidence -- Anon Guest

With enough instrumentation, it is possible to find things you don't understand. With enough inclusive cogniscent contacts, you can also find someone willing to explain it to you.

Human Kev had been hired by the Sciencer EVR890 to scare of anything big enough and mean enough to be a threat to the Havenworlders within. Now, in spite of being hired to be the 'muscle', they were holding what

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Challenge #02784-G227: An Edge Case

Challenge #02783-G226: Untranslatable

Challenge #02782-G225: Under Starry Skies

Challenge #02781-G224: Dear Employee...

Challenge #02780-G223: Redo From...

Challenge #02779-G222: And There Was Only One Bed

Challenge #02778-G221: To Walk Away

Challenge #02777-G220: Signal to Noise

Challenge #02776-G219: Peculiar Parenting Problems

Challenge #02775-G218: Waste Not

Challenge #02774-G217: Finding a Smile

Challenge #02773-G216: Vent Words

Challenge #02772-G215: To Aid in Aggression

Challenge #02771-G214: A Few Minor Obstacles

Challenge #02770-G213: Filtered Through Children's Lies