FlamingLily

You. Weren't already? +1

Honestly? I've been thinking over how I feel on this one. My take is that I honestly don't mind if we go all in on real drugs, all in on sci-fi drugs, or do a little bit of what we have with coke- where the base version is the real drug, but more advanced derivatives are sci-fi versions. But what needs to happen, imho, is full commitment to one of those three options. (And, like, drugs based in non-human lore will inherently be sci-fi versions). I don't mean every drug needs to be like cocaine to sparkle/spotlight/whatever, but I think a solid way to do it is by making the sci-fi variants related to the real world variants, in lore. Right now, Ambrosia is the weed allegory. Everyone roleplays it like weed, that's the point of this very post. It's weed. The thing we should do, imo, is to make that allegory a fact in the lore. Ambrosia is no longer a legally distinct plant that everyone plays like weed, maybe it's a 2460s strain or a plant found elsewhere that has a very THC-like compound in it. Maybe it triggers the same parts of the brain. We already do this with Reishi (even though that's the name of a real, non-hallucinogenic mushroom as well...) This version of Reishi is a distinct plant found not on earth, yet it still naturally forms psilocybin (the real chemical magic mushrooms contain). We also do it with our painkillers- they're all opioids, even the ones that aren't just morphine. It's kind of what we do with the cocaine variants, too. All of this to say: We can just flavour ambrosia extract as THC or something similar (some generic cannaboid) and I think that's the best solution here. Also yeah for the love of god we need more slang names.

Ckey/BYOND Username: FlamingLily (Also my Discord Username) Been around for: Like, four years? Since just before we switched maps to the Horizon. Not quite there for KOTW, joined in 2021 I believe. Position Being Applied For: (Wiki Maintainer, Lore Developer, Deputy Lore developer): Human Lore Deputy Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page? Yes Past Experiences/Knowledge: Much of my writing experience is tied down in either short-form, character based writings such as relay dorm posts or private works I haven't published. However, I have made a few LCAs in my time here and additionally DM a D&D campaign in a custom setting which I'm pretty proud of. Examples of Past Work: This one's unfinished but I do plan to return to it (unless I get deputy, at which point ??? i guess we'll see), as Dominia is one of the areas I'd like to work on. And, something I only now thought of doing as I type this: My worldbuilding notes for my DND campaign: https://github.com/FlamingLily/Orbiset This is extracted straight from my obsidian vault (and omits some notes/art I have in there that my players have made and that I haven't gotten their permission to share), but if you do check it out, I encourage checking out the timeline page and "Magic in Orbiset" page in the Codex/History. I'm most proud of those two. Anyhow, onto the questions. Why are you applying for the position of human lore deputy writer? Why do you think that you would be good in the position? To put it bluntly, I'm applying for human lore because I love it. I'll go into it more in the next question, but I truly love the breadth and creativity that human lore empowers players to engage with. I'm also applying because I love this server, and want to be a part in shaping its future. Aurora means a hell of a lot to me, has allowed me to explore the depths of my creative potential and fostered some extremely powerful and important relationships in my life, and if I can repay even a tiny bit of that to this community through its lore, I would love to. As for why I think I'd fit the position? I believe I'm a rather details-minded person, and for a setting like Aurora, where everything is grounded and built out of logically connected cause and effect, I feel like that's a good trait to have. I could go into immense details about, for instance, why my characters do every individual action that they do, down to individual psychological or social foundations. I also, naturally, believe I'm quite creative, and have a good vision for the kind of things I'd like to see in the lore, which should by extension also bring in what others may like to see. What is your favourite part of Human Lore and why? If you submitted something for canonisation that was indeed canonised you may not select that as the answer to this question. Generally, my favourite part of the lore (at a broader scale) would certainly have to be just how broad it is, and how many different stories you're empowered to tell. My main character right now is a Martian. A story of the physical and emotional scars that an unthinkable disaster on the scale of Violet Dawn could be. But this is only one story to tell. Within Sol alone, there are stories upon stories, from rich nepotism to corrupt authority to grungy labourer stories to stories of complete corporate dominance of ones home. That's not even mentioning the Coalition, or Elyra, or Biesel, or Goddess forgive, Dominia. I don't think I can narrow it down to one specific origin, so I won't. I'll list a bunch. Dominia is easily up there- despite my current ideals of a few reworks and changes to how it's currently written, I do believe it is an utterly fascinating setting that has so much intrigue to it, from the internal politics to the external perceptions of it, to the faith and beyond. Mars, obviously, is up there- the origin of my main character would have to have some sticking power with me, would you believe it. I'm honestly extremely fond of New Hai Phong. I think it's unfortunately a little underrated for something I find really compelling- blending the gritty, labourer story with one of rampant corporate corruption plays well with me in a way that I'm sad it's not a more utilised origin. Himeo is also very interesting to me as it's effectively the opposite - what happens when those gritty labourers beat that corporate dominance. What do you believe are ways that the Human Lore Team could best implement the phoron scarcity to our various factions and locations throughout the setting that would reflect the gravity of the in-character situation without grossly compromising the out-of-character things that make each faction and location unique and compelling? First of all, the baseline is that every origin/faction/location/whatever needs some impact. No origin can avoid it, no origin can get away scott free, even the ones that have in-built safeguards against it. They can be affected less, sure. They can be on an unsteady peace in the calm before the storm, but they have to have some impact. I think it'd be prudent to divide each setting into 3 areas that should be addressed, sequentially, as they'll each flow into one another. Immediate Circumstances - How does the scarcity immediately impact this origin at the current point in time? What does their immediate amount of access to phoron look like, and how has their current economic foundation shifted in this changing environment? Eg, for a manufacturing heavy setting, let's say Himeo, perhaps their manufacturing is struggling as they lose access to independent (not-corporate controlled) phoron sources. Or maybe it's a trade based economy, like Valkyrie, who might be struggling to fuel and supply long-haul cargo ships on account of the lack of phoron? Maybe the phoron isn't the problem, but maybe the nation (Elyra)'s isolationist economy is causing stagnation in other areas, and maybe there's growing internal pressures to take advantage of the scarcity while they can for economic growth? Corporate Influence (Or otherwise, corporate-free solutions) - Accounting for these immediate circumstances, how do the megacorps get involved? Assuming that the megacorps are the primary way any of these settings could get phoron (or, perhaps, the best phoron-free alternatives, if they're desperate), how does this influence the faction's decision making? Does Himeo make an uneasy alliance with, say, Zavodskoi, to bolster its manufacturing, even despite internal pressures to be rid of corporations? Does Valkyrie further tie down with the corporations? They'd probably be getting bailouts from the SCC to keep running, considering how essential they are, but if Valkyrie is stretched that thin, do they have the resources to police themselves? Ensure the well-being of their people? Or is everything being pushed into the corporate transaction? Does Elyra open its boarders and start trading with the corporations? (This one might be a bigger question for Trio and the lore admin on account of the direct impact it has on phoron's scarcity, but I'm just using it as an example). While the corporations would be the default "solution" many factions have, there's also the option of outright refusing corporate help and trying to go it alone. That option should be used with careful consideration so as not to just. Cut out a large part of the setting from the origin, but it should still be considered. An example might be Himeo choosing to refuse corporate assistance, and attempt to maintain production without the help of phoron. Aftermath - Once the faction has decided how it's going to respond to the crisis, we examine the implications of what that means. Does Zavodskoi attempt to worm it's way into Himeo's daily life like it has in Dominia? Or, if Himeo refused, how do the working conditions fare? Do they start crunching desperately for more production? Do they become notoriously unsafe in working conditions? Does the economy tank and people suffer as a result? I covered a bit of this idea above, but this stage is really where we should consider the long term impact of the faction's attempt to address the scarcity, such as Valkyrie's internal resource situation, or any corporate influence that might be exerted on a less isolationist Elyra. What do you believe are the current strengths and weaknesses of human lore? Why? What would you do to improve upon the weaknesses? Please do not mention offworlders in your answer to this question. We know that they are a weak spot and that they require action and would prefer to hear perspectives that do not highlight this area of human lore. I could go here and mention specific origins. I have ideas about Dominia, Elyra, areas in the Coalition such as Assunzione, and more. But, chances are, you've all heard them before. You know about offworlders, for a start, I can't imagine Elyra has escaped your view as something in need of a look at. Instead, I want to tackle this from a greater perspective. Ironically, I think one of Human Lore's greatest strengths - its broadness and expansive and diverse nature - is also one of its greatest weaknesses. Let me explain. Human Lore consists of five nations, each with sub-locations that make up its origins, These are Dominia, Elyra, Sol (I'm including Eridani in here), Biesel, and the Coalition. But classifying Human Lore this way is a little reductive, as "Sol" and "The Coalition", and to a lesser degree, "Biesel" are all terms that kind of impose a super-culture to the exclusion of more niche subcultures. Meanwhile, "Dominia" and "Elyra" do the same, except for one key difference. In these two settings, the super-culture actually exists to a significant degree. Yes, Dominia has a large number of detailed and interesting nicher subcultures, from Caria to Sun Reach to the Lyod to Fisanduh, but all of them directly draw from the super-culture of the theocratic, imperialistic Empire of Dominia. The same can be said for Elyra, and although I think it has its issues in the greater picture, I actually think it does this element of being a setting quite well. Despite being all blatantly Elyran, Damascus, Perspolis, Medina, New Suez all feel like distinct, unique subcultures. On the contrary, Sol, Biesel, and the Coalition sort of struggle with this in my eyes. For the Coalition it's not a huge problem - by nature of being less of a nation than the other two, and inherently so expansive, it doesn't have a super-culture, and that in and of itself can make for an interesting pseudo-culture. How do we all get along when Burszia and Himeo are meant to be buddy buddy with each other? Biesel does have a bit of it, though I may think it's a little weak, I think it does have a solid foundation of being the multicultural, melting pot, breadbasket of the spur. If it can lean into that- really dig into the vibes of being The Place You Want To Be that's Better Than Elsewhere (or so they claim)- I think it could really go somewhere. And so that leaves us with Sol. Sol, I think is the worst at this at present. And ultimately, I think it's kind of inevitable that it is. For AAAGES, Sol's prevailing Super-Culture was uh. Kind of just being awful fascist xenophobes and imperialists and bad guy sol marine larp gimmicks. Then they blew up, and that kind of just slightly prevents a solid super-culture from forming. So, what now? Well, I think the recent path of reconstruction Sol has been on is where our solution lies. Sol should really lean into being the Home of Humanity (not in an ugly xenophobic way, of course, but almost the way Nralakk does it, like caretakers). They should lean into their survival as proof of humanity's drive and determination, and build a super-culture in that way- where Biesel can be the exceptional nation where anyone, even the poorest of non-humans, can make their footing, Sol can be the place where humanity is cared for and empowered, and nurtured into greatness. (but again, really want to stress here. Shouldn't make the mistakes of the past and make them awful xenophobes.) It's definitely trickier to form a super-culture like this, as Sol has a much larger and more diverse set of sub-locations, but I think it'd work. What are three projects (medium-to-large size additions, arcs, or reworks) that you would like to complete during your tenure as a Human Lore Deputy writer? Please do not mention new locations or factions in this answer. I've mentioned it a few times through this, but I would really like to put some work into Dominia. I think Dominia does a lot of things well, but one thing I've always found lacking is depth for the average Ma'azal. Nobility and Secondaries tend to have a lot of focus, and I want to see the life of a Ma'azal get a bit of a boost in focus too. I know Dominia is the war machine that crushes Ma'azal's underfoot in the eternal march of conquest, but I want to see it and read it and know exactly why a Ma'azal might stay or go. A big part of this is my half-complete Tribunalism LCA which, if I'm accepted, I want to work closely with the lore team to expand upon and really develop in depth exactly just how the Tribunal gets you slavishly devoted to the Empire in the way that it does. A second project I'd like to do, and one which would most likely be best as an arc is de-isonaltionising Elyra. This is a big task and I don't expect to be able to do it in a single story arc, but I would at least like to set the foundation and the wheels in motion, perhaps by running an election campaign arc or something similar. There is material to work with, on account of the major opposition party's de-isolantionist perspective, but it does remain a bit of a complex ask. This one might need some detailed discussions before kicking it off. Thirdly, I think I'd like to give Assunzione a bit of a poke and prod at. What we've got is definitely good, but I think it's missing that little bit of kick to really make it shine. Perhaps a little bit of something lying under the surface- everywhere has an underbelly, and I'd love to figure out what Assunzione's is. There's a little bit there with the expeditionary corps and their predatory contracts and NDAs, and I want to really break that down and expand upon how that looks elsewhere on the planet. Also, I really want to look into the ties between the Luceist church and the purportedly secular government. It's known that members of the planet's government are most often highly religious, but is that just convention or is the church playing a role in keeping it that way? What is an idea for a future arc that you would like to have a part in writing and organising in the future? If you provided an arc(s) as part of your answer for question 3, you may expand on the ideas for that arc(s) here, or you may provide another idea. I mentioned running an Elyran election arc, and if I did do so, I think I'd want to do it a little differently from the recent Solarian election arc (not that that arc was bad, but I have an idea that might keep things fresh). Ultimately, I'd want it to be one of those elections that boils down to a single issue, that being how Elyra approaches the phoron scarcity and which way it does. The incumbent RRS would maintain their position, remaining isolationist and disapproval of foreign interference, while the opposition LUR would be proposing much less isolationism and expanding the field to some megacorporate influence. In my vision, it would involve a lot of campaigning and probably more than a little heated protests on account of existing tensions between the corporations, between the rest of the spur's actors especially Sol and the Vaurca in Biesel and elsewhere- though I doubt they'd get violent, these protests. In this arc I'd like to really hammer home the Elyran spirit and their exceptionalism from the rest of the spur- especially Sol. Have you ever been subject to any warnings, strikes, or bans from the Aurora moderation team? If so, how long ago were you and for what actions did you receive moderation action for? Answers for this question should include actions taken on the game server, discord servers, and forums. Nothing permanent. I've been spoken to a few times eaaaaarly in my time here, about tone and adopting to the setting, but I don't believe that anything was made official as a warning or strike (my memory sucks ass though, so forgive me if I'm wrong.) No bans. OPTIONAL: Do you have any miscellaneous comments or remarks for the Human Lore Team or the community? After seeing who else has applied for this position, and knowing this community, I'm extremely confident that no matter who gets the spot, good things will come of it. I wanted to wish everyone that applies good luck.

The vibes were immaculate, the scarcity plot of the arc was some of the best weaving of an event arc into non-event rounds that I've seen in my entire history here, and I really really really enjoyed that. The forum minigame was fun but I think if I had to suggest a better way of doing it, use a discord poll or something as opposed to a forum thread. That way there's more engagement and you don't have to break the writer's block to actually participate. I did kind of kneecap myself by playing a service role for most of the events, so this might skew my opinion here, and I also think maybe I'm not used to the newer event classification system, but - the finale event is the first one that, to me, actually felt high intensity. A lot of the other ones felt really low risk, tbh.

The Golden Deep exists, and is exactly the kind of place you would expect to see cosmetic mods like this. They love their cosmetics, it's one of the most definitive traits of their culture. Sure, owned IPC certainly wouldn't have these, but I could 100% see a free deep IPC with one. And, yes, even one designed to be cutesy. The era of IPC lore that paints IPC as being emotionless and unthinking is long gone, and while they may experience these things in a different way, they're still there. Why can't a free IPC want to be cutesy? We let them get married. And, the suggestion that this is in some way a sexual change is ludicrous. It's a tail. We already have many of them on our server. There's nothing sexual about a tail. The idea that we HAVE to avoid anything that's ever been used commonly on ERP servers before means that we could pretty much get rid of Tajara and Unathi entirely. It's a completely ridiculous and regressive ideal that doesn't actually do anything to keep the server """safe""", because our community is mature.

Honestly, I think there's a bigger conversation here about the place of character aesthetics in the setting beyond simply clothing. Personally, like, it's the 2400s. I feel like the setting would have a lot more mild transhumanism and aesthetic body modification than we give it credit for- frankly this should only go even further for the inherently-mechanical species. I can acknowledge and even agree with the idea that giving IPC *specifically the tails of other species* would be a bit of encroachment, but the concept of tails *generally* isn't that wild imho.

Lillian Nyström, Chief Engineer: Keeping this short. Got a splitting hangover- and now I'm out of drinks, so. Wonderful. Think the bridge crewman has some good points. If we head to CES 146, the Malebranche will have one way to follow us. So, Set the interdictor now, then warp to CES 146. Then, later we can try and trade with the Skrell.

In case you're not aware, it's just here: https://forums.aurorastation.org/gallery/

I've thought a bit and I think I'm going to take a full 100% reversal on my position on the Hour of Return. As much as I do think my proposal here gives a lot of grounds to work with engaging with faith in a way in a more deep and nuanced way, I think I've inadvertently cut back a liiiiittle too much . See: Dominia is still an autocratic, militaristic invasion-based nation, and the Tribunal is still the state-designed justification for the actions of the Empire. I've done a lot of solid work on justifying why **individuals** would be loyal to the faith and by proxy to the Empire, but.... what is the nexus that connects the Empire's activities and conquest-based economy with said faith, therefore making the faith inherent to loyalty towards the Empire? Well. I kind of removed it. Whoops. So, I'm putting this one back in the oven for a little bit longer, looking towards the return and integrating it far more closely with the rest of tribunal lore- bringing it up to a key point of the faith as opposed to a semi-sidelined piece. For now, I'm withdrawing this LCA. But, much like Her, it will return, and the promised Hour will be upon us.

With the introduction of the Commissary, there has been more work added to the HT job that could justify an extra pair of hands. It's certainly not a job that's lacking on activity right now. There's also already 4 hangar tech lockers in the bay, anyway, and adding a new slot doesn't really throw off much balance anyway. People are drawn to the commissary when they see it constantly staffed. Problem: That's boring if you're the only HT staffing it. More slots means more chance to have a commissary coworker. The PR itself: https://github.com/Aurorastation/Aurora.3/pull/21433

How it started: How it's going:

Just had a thought to add to the redshirt toggle idea: Decrease the respawn timer if you have it enabled. (or maybe just, decrease it generally, tbh, but that's a different suggestion forum post). Frankly, I think very few people will want to agree to a toggle that says "you can wordlessly bypass escalation and remove me from the round for twenty minutes." I certainly wouldn't. Something like 5-10 minutes would be more reasonable, imho.

Brief thoughts. Completely agree with all of the discussion about framing. If this is to be implemented, it needs to be very clearly described as preferences. I've been on a server which had antag consent toggles in the past, and it had a worse antag gameplay loop than we do (and half of our discussion around antags is how we barely have any (although that's improved recently, tbh)). In fact, I would personally take it a step further. No negative toggles. I think, no matter how strongly you describe it as a preference, issues will arise when someone with a negative toggle is targeted in a gimmick. Not all people, of course, but some people (and I need to stress, this isn't about anyone specifically) will treat it like a consent toggle. It being misinterpreted will be inevitable. In an ideal world, people with positive toggles enabled will already draw antag action away from people with neutral toggles. Exactly what I was getting at with the above but much more succinct. That being said, Torture might be one thing that could have an OOC, moderation consent toggle. That's a different discussion, but I do want to at least make the distinction here that I think at most that kind of RP could maybe be more deserving of a consent toggle than the rest. Ironically, this is basically how I format my exploitables anyway: So I do agree that this is probably a pretty solid way to go about this. HOWEVER, 32 characters is WAY too small, and I would be really disappointed if we lost that much ability for creative expression. Ideally, I think we could implement it like flavour text, where it has individual smaller tabs but each field with a large size. That'd let us have preference toggles as well as IC exploitables, too. Exact categories/toggles I don't know about fully yet but I also do like the idea of the redshirt toggle. - especially because that one's something that would ordinarily be against the rules but can override that.

I know this wasn't what you were going for but this gave me the idea of a full simulated bank statement you can pull up in the character creation screen that shows all your transactions, and you can delete entries if they're character created. Definitely don't need that level of effort but. Y'know.

Lore Impact: Medium Species: Dominia (Human, with a hint of Unathi) Short Description: This update goes over the entire Moroz Holy Tribunal page with a fine toothed comb, adding a major new element to the lore as well as a lot of minor ancillary lore elements, tweaks, and changes to bring it inline with the new change. The major change is Righteousness, the key Tribunalist doctrine that all Tribunalists aspire to live as. It takes the form of a model individual, and is the main mechanism a faithful individual can be judged as worthy by the Goddess to see their way into the Kingdom of Moroz. The key difference between Righteousness and the Edicts is that the Edicts are law, while Righteousness is simply a private affair between you and the Goddess; Though there is a large amount of overlap. Principles of Honesty, Respect, Loyalty - for instance - can be seen throughout the Edicts. Ancillary changes include: Expansion on the nature of souls and Goddess' role as the judge of souls Expansion on the distaste for synthetics, cybernetics, and cyborgification Minor changes to Universalism to bring it in line with this Expansion on the creationist myth, the holy symbols, burial rights and conversion to and from the Tribunal. Removal of the lore surrounding the Hour of Return Yes. I know this one might be controversial, and I don't mind at all if this specific change is denied, but to me, this was always one of the most confusing parts of the Tribunal. To sum up my thoughts, I don't really see what exactly the Hour of Return actually does? It almost runs a bit anti-thetical to the basis of the Tribunal, which is "act good in life and you will be rewarded after death in My Kingdom" (especially now, after I lean heavily towards that with my changes.) It seems like an odd addition which kind of undermines that whole concept imho. I can see its use as "Why does the Empire seek to improve itself," but that can just as easily be achieved through my proposal here, and imho having two separate schemes for running that feels off. Also, the whole discussion about the Goddess replacing the royal family feels a bit clumsy. This is simply not true, if you look at the other pages. Also, plenty of minor grammar changes and touchups. There's a more in-depth change log in the google doc attached. How will this be reflected on-station?: Ideally, through every Dominian character. This is a hook that I would hope every Tribunalist can find some way to play around- beyond the core three of "Love the Goddess. Love the Empire. Hate robots." Does this addition do anything not achieved by what already exists?: Reading Tribunalist lore always had me thinking one question. "Why does anyone believe this?" Not in a snarky way, but in a "What is the hook that captures the mindset of the faithful? How is this religion finding its way into the core identity of people, the way religions do? Why- other than "the government told me to"- do people find faith in the Goddess?" After discussing this with a few people, including the idea that Dominia must be sending missionaries to neighbouring planets ("Why would they be converted?"), I finally came to the conclusion that there wasn't really one written down. That was, until, I found the in-game, mechanical version of the Tribunalist Codex. (here) After reading this, I finally understood. I saw the answer to my question. This proposal is my attempt to give that answer wording and formality on the wiki. This is a way, in my eyes, that someone can play a Dominian and a Tribunalist, and have a hook to engage with the religion beyond the surface level of "We hate synthetics." And, don't get me wrong, Tribunalism has a number of very important identifying factors, most which in the Edicts which I would boil down to Immense faith to the Empire of Dominia Your standard faith and loyalty to the deity, The Goddess Immense distrust for synthetics and cybernetics And on a much lighter note: the Sixth and Seventh edicts (Lying and Animals) And as good as that is, alone those 4 factors are kind of lacking. Loyalty to the nation is any autocracy, loyalty to the deity is any faith, and while the distrust for cybernetics and synthetics is absolutely a strong point, when it's the only one, it easily causes an external perception of that being all there is to the setting and feeds an attitude of Dominians often being one-note characters. As it stands now, I don't really think the Sixth and Seventh are powerful enough to do all that much with. So, in summary, I believe that my proposal here gives Tribunalists a little more material to engage with the faith through without needing to go all in on the "I hate robots" side of the lore- not diminishing that part of the lore, but giving a bit more material to flesh things out and to build from to make a more rounded character. Do you understand that the project may change over time in ways you may not foresee once it is handed over to the Lore Team? Of course. Especially so for my removal of the Hour of Return lore. Long Description: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LHUoSAejAH-MZY277t7MbE6_uYOx4aGOSsTW6Qnv0f0/edit?usp=sharing

shameless self post because i just thought of this and laughed too hard (quote of hiding too high-res image)

Hard agree with everything shimmer adds but wanted to also raise: The red in the Sol Army flag feels pretty out of place imho. Sol rarely uses red in its colour scheme, and with such a big flag like this it almost feels a little Martian. Potentially might be interesting to try a gold? Or maybe a green? Unsure.

Translated from Sinta'Unathi. "So, Fisher Aieszk Kukssal. In your own words, please tell us what exactly happened. Take your time... I'm sure this has been difficult." "...yes. Quite. It was... a few days after I had broken my foot. It had grown swollen, painful- infected, of course. So, I made my way up to the ship's healers bay. The.... spirit- ... The spirit was there. At the time, I thought she was a healer. As did everyone. Or... maybe she was- and the spirit took her over. I don't know. She invited me inside, to the room in the back. Exam room, I think they call it. I removed my boot, she began to inspect my swollen appendage.... And then I felt a sharp poke in my other leg. Like a syringe, or one of those medicine guns the healers have. I reeled back- to put some distance between myself and her- assuming she had drugged me, of course. Which... she did. My leg had gone numb in the few moments I was standing, and I hit the floor hard. I couldn't feel my leg. Before I knew it, I couldn't feel the other. Or my arms. Or my face. I was entirely numb. Paralyzed. And then.... the spirit came out. I could do nothing but watch on- not even scream- as I watched the flesh rend from the healer's arm, as bone crunched and twisted, and as- as far as I could tell, for a human's face, the expression had drained from her face entirely. No malice. No pain. The bones in her arm- tendon and flesh hanging loosely from them- had formed into a horrific visage, a blade, sharpened to a point. That... spirit beast could have killed me. I was immobile, One clean slice to the throat would have finished the job, I'm sure. It didn't. I can't tell what it wished to do, but I can only assume. It plunged this... bladed arm down into my stomach. The pain was excruciating. Unimaginable. And yet, I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I couldn't beg. It struck again, and again. I knew then that I was going to die- and yet... a voice in my mind. An ancestor of mine, calling to me. Telling me to live. It was as if my ancestor had purged the toxin and the pain from my body. I kicked up at the spirit with all of my force. It flew back, striking the maintenance hatch across the room, and I knew then what I must do. With all my strength, despite my injuries, I rose to my feet. It attempted to lunge at me, but I sprinted past- the thing was stuck with the speed of a human, not a Sinta, ha ha! I ran through the tunnels as fast as my legs would take me, screaming out on the radio the only word I could manage- in basic. "Healer." My legs took me into a room with a ledge to the deck below, but... the hatch wouldn't open to take me further in, It was approaching, and I was bleeding profusely. If I stayed, I would die. And thus I flung myself off the ledge. The deck below came at me fast, and I landed on my arms. It felt as if my shoulder had come out of the socket, and the blood gushing from my abdomen was certainly not helping. Nor was the spirit, which had followed my path, and landed on by back, hard. Perhaps the ancestors were to blame for my spine remaining intact. In any case, I was able to get to my feet before the human-bound spirit, and I struggled my way further into the tunnels. I was weary. I had lost a large amount of blood, and the pain was enough to overwhelm me, Each step was a struggle, feeling as if minutes passed between them. I was not sure where I was, and I could hardly tell how far behind me the spirit was. However... I knew that they had to be gaining on me. It was then that I heard it. In the distance. The sound of metal on metal, repeatedly. Clunk, clunk, clunk. It echoed down the tunnel. And in the rhythm, I heard the voice of my ancestors. They were calling me. And so I ran towards the noise. I could feel my legs about to give in and my vision began to blur. Yet still, I pressed on. This single tunnel stretched on impossibly, yet the echoing of footsteps even closer behind me drove me ever forward. Until... I passed the threshold around the corner. What I saw then was a sight so miraculous I knew it had to have been the work of the ancestors themselves. Around the corner, a maintenance hatch- half pried open by a team of warriors. They were breaking it down, and swarmed in to save me. A healer accompanied them, and she swiftly began her work. It was then I lost consciousness, to the sound of gunfire and the scream of a spirit. When I awoke, I was in the healers' recovery room, bandaged and stitched together, but alive. Alive only because of the righteousness of my ancestors. I was not a so-called skeptic, before, but... I now know with absolute certainty that my ancestors watch over me. One day- once my time is up, of course- I hope to watch over my descendants in much the same way."