Instant Story

Challenge #02240-F050: A Crucial Flaw

"New Eden Space Station Security Service, I'm listening."

"HELP ! WE NEED HELP !"

"Please keep calm. What is happening, Sir ?"

"We tried to rob Habitat 39 and there is a angry human inside ! We locked ourselves inside a locker, and the human is waiting for us outside !" -- Anon Guest

They tell stories about this kind of thing. People who attempt to be criminal masterminds and end up being criminals missing minds. As in, the right mind not to burgle a Deathworlder habitat zone. As in, one would have to be entirely out of one's own right mind to even try it. You likely get the idea.

Security Officer Draek couldn't believe her ears. "Sir, did you just confess to committing a crime?"

"Attempted," said a voice in the distance. "Attempted crime!" There was a note of urgency in the other speaker's voice. "Please just get us out of here alive and with our dermal layer intact, I swear I will go into a more honest career..."

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Challenge #02239-F049: A Time to Shine

People need to stop mixing "knowledge" and "intelligence". It's true that a magician can, will and have read and learned more books than the average person, and a barbarian might not know all the rule to live with more civilised person, but it's only knowledge.

Intelligence is knowing that even with all your knowledge, you might not be the more suited person for the task at hand. For example, dealing with a tribal spirit without getting the party slaughtered. Here, the barbarian

Challenge #02238-F048: The Scale Economy

Being tall means either not being able to see things under a certain height, or constantly looking down and getting a hunch. -- Anon Guest

Here's the thing about Standard Galactic Spaces - they're big. They're made for accessibility for all known cogniscents, from the size of a Terran Terrier through Jelly Dancer swarm to that of a Synapsian Titan. It's easy to forget that there are smaller species who don't see a reason why they have to accommodate others in their

Challenge #02237-F047: Could Be Worse

So, the big dangerous creature you were supposed to be fighting is now bawling it's eyes out. Worse still, a few of your crewmates/party keep giving it empathetic looks. What are you supposed to do? -- Anon Guest

The gigantic beast sat in the middle of the chamber and howled like an infant. Marvin, Wraithvine, and Lady Anthe all glared at Rumtum.

"You idiot," said Lady Anthe. "Why would you claw a baby inside its nose?"

"Now it's mother's going to

Challenge #02236-F046: We Always Came Back

Do couples on ships ever sing duets together during their leisure times? That would be adorable. -- Anon Guest

Humans are pack-bonding creatures and thrive in environments where they have ready access to their pack. It is therefore advisable, when hiring Humans, to be sure that you hire Humans who have already established a stable pack bond. -- Douddam's Guide to Surviving the Edge.

The Francetti's were at it again. Human pack-bonding rituals were one thing, but this? This was bizarre, even

Challenge #02235-F045: Sing Out the Sun

"Hey what song are you singing today?"

"'I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells.'"

"Oh good. I can hang my laundry today." -- Anon Guest

There are interesting wrinkles to being a life companion for a bard. Especially if that bard took a level or two in the Druidic arts, apparently for the laughs. One of them is the daily practice session. Not that Jiihan needed it. She was a very good bard... but the druidic edge put certain harmonic combinations at a

Challenge #02234-F044: Incidental Hazards

Young children like to lounge on people, caregivers and companions alike. Do other species deal with this? -- Anon Guest

There is an instinct almost universal to the young of any given species. Stay close to your caregiver. Once able to move about free of the nest/clutch/creche/pouch, the caregiver is still a bastion of protection, font of education, and primary source of emotional resilience. In species with communal childrearing, any older member of the species will do.

Which was

Challenge #02233-F043: Greatest Responsibility

What would an intergalactic nursery look like? -- Anon Guest

Multi-species infant care is a fascinating workplace to begin with. For each species, there are separate demands beyond the standards of clean, warm, and comfortable. There are some general rules, like mammals do best when fed on their parental secretions. Reptilian life forms, for instance, get essential gut bacteria from their parentals' regurgitations. Some, like Humans, thrive with the assistance of gentle physical contact. Others are too frail to be disturbed until

Challenge #02232-F042: To Stand in Judgement

"I've known nothing but struggle and heartbreak... and yet I fought to survive, certain it would all be worth it in the end and my prayers would be rewarded... And now I learn THIS? I discover that, from your point of view, my entire life, from the moment I was born until the day I die... well, died... that every day of it is... er, was... just a bit of idle entertainment?!"

"Well... though that's a terribly dark way to put it.

Challenge #02231-F041: Workarounds

"You're being stingy."

"Yes, I know." -- Anon Guest

"I warned you," said Lady Anthe. "These caverns are not as friendly as the rest of the Underdark. You won't find luminous mushrooms or special glowing crystals here, and most of the fungus among us is either deadly poison or just plain carnivorous. I used to survive in places like this."

"You mean you used to live--"

Anthe cut Marvin's well-meaning correction off. "I wouldn't call it living. After three more days, neither

Challenge #02230-F040: Radical Prototype

"I fail to see how crew members taking the offensensitivity warning I attached to myself as a joke or challenge is in any way my fault." -- Anon Guest

Human Kari tapped at the small pin. It was shaped like a fan, and mostly silver. The borders were thick and black and there was an ornamental scroll that had the words, Accidentally Offensive embossed into it. Presumably, those within range to read it would also be subject to Human Kari's... more colourful

Challenge #02229-F039: Special Talents

"Am I weird?"

"Yes, that's why we get along." -- Anon Guest

They say things like, There's always one, or, Strange is as strange does; but what they generally mean by that is, Look at the statistical outlier. It's not always done with malice, but it certainly feels that way when one is on the receiving end. For those who experience this sort of thing first hand, it's interesting how the statistical outliers are reviled and expelled from groups as "too strange"

Challenge #02228-F038: Tactile Rewards

Human giving an alien scritches.

"I'm not a pet, you know."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"…No" -- TheDragonsFlame

The one thing one must remember about Humans, Thrikki wrote in her journal, apart from the most obvious like the whole Deathworlder thing, is that they are incredibly tactile. They reach out to feel things just to experience what it feels like. They reassure themselves on the presence of their fellows. They show affection through touch.

Human Cass was doing just that,

Challenge #02227-F037: Think of the Children

An alien equivalent of a lawyer is studying up on various human court cases and stumbles upon a series of cases from family courts dated up to the mid 2030s citing "deviant sexual attitudes" or "deviant sexuality" as reasons for being an unsuitable parent. Upon consultation with its human liaison as to the nature of these cases, the alien discovers the murky and dark legal situations around kinks. -- Anon Guest

For those seeking further proof of Human Insanity, look no further

Challenge #02226-F036: Simple Metallurgical Skills

They were doomed. The copper tin alloy for the critical drive component they desperately needed was on a planet weeks away, and even if they had it, they couldn't make the part on the ship.

That's when the human walked into the bridge mopping sweat off hir brow.

"All fixed let's go."

"What do you mean all fixed?"

"Simply, I made a cast of the part with the pieces, then melted down the original and re cast it. It should last to

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Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #02240-F050: A Crucial Flaw

Challenge #02239-F049: A Time to Shine

Challenge #02238-F048: The Scale Economy

Challenge #02237-F047: Could Be Worse

Challenge #02236-F046: We Always Came Back

Challenge #02235-F045: Sing Out the Sun

Challenge #02234-F044: Incidental Hazards

Challenge #02233-F043: Greatest Responsibility

Challenge #02232-F042: To Stand in Judgement

Challenge #02231-F041: Workarounds

Challenge #02230-F040: Radical Prototype

Challenge #02229-F039: Special Talents

Challenge #02227-F037: Think of the Children

Challenge #02226-F036: Simple Metallurgical Skills