Solider

Zhou didn’t want this to be how he died, face down in the mud, shells exploding above his head. His dream was always to die an old man, in bed, a couple of young women above him. But right now, he’d take a bowl of soup and a game of Go.

There was some shouting to his left, something about making a charge, then a shell hit and the yelling devolved into pained screaming. Zhou mentally checked out at that point, and let his training kick in until the inevitable painful death.

Been fifteen years now, still mentally checked out…

Spanish Gold Reserve

As one after another of my plans failed, it was still my last ditch scheme I could fall back on. Even if the bird farming failed (which it did), even if my diamond mine collapsed (which it did, financially and literally), even if my stock market manipu… Genius was discovered (which it wasn’t, but only because I had to stop before I got caught), there was always my grandfather’s galleon, lost at sea with all that Spanish Gold.

Eventually, out of options, I mounted the recovery mission.

Did you know Spanish Gold was a brand name for coffee, back then?

"Access Denied"

887562

“Access Denied”

He swore under his breath.

875622

“Access Denied”

Almost there.

887563

“Access Denied”

He wiped his brow, muttering to himself about needing to focus.

876532

“Access Denied”

He stared at the keypad until he shook his head, droplets flying.

887563

“Access Denied”

This time, this time he leaned in close, his forehead pressed against the wall, staining the concrete, and pressed the buttons slowly, carefully, with as much force as he could muster.

875632

“Access Granted”

The door slid open, but by then it was too late, the blood loss from the head wound had claimed him.

One Day...

One day…

Every dream, every hope, every plan he had, it always started with those two little words.

One day…

You can understand why, most of the dreams were scary to think about, all the work and effort needed to get there.

One day…

And putting down a hard timetable, well, that would lead to missing a deadline, and thus throwing in the towel.

One day…

So he kept his dreams vague, off in the distance, sure that he’d get there, eventually, somehow...

One day…

Except that one day, there turned out to be no more days left to him.

The One Ruler Hypothesis

If you think about it logically, it becomes obvious why one singular ruler is the default status for most of human civilization. The notion of the committee is new, one sole decision maker with advisers is as old as humanity.

Even ignoring issues like education in times without schools and belief systems that need to invoke direct lineage to gods, the fact of the matter is that in times of stress, chaos, quick decision making is needed, and the less voices arguing, the better.

It's not perfect, of course.  For starters, you can still have two voices within one mind...

The Slut Dies First, The Virgin Survives

As the killer apparition began to break down the door, she tried to remain calm, looking around for any way out, or at least a weapon. She grabbed an office chair out of desperation, and waited.

The apparition finished breaking down the door, came into the room and… stopped.

“Well? Come on then! You’re a bit late to kill the slutty one!” she dared after a moment, just wanting it done.

The ‘apparition’ lifted its mask.

“Adrian? The fuck?”

He smiled.

“Look, we’re now set for life, the survivors of-“

The real apparition chose this moment to decapitate the impostor.

Love Fixture

Everything he wanted in a girl, she was.

Everything she needed in a boy, he was.

And vice versa.

It was if someone up there had created one perfect whole, and then split it in half, then placed each equal but different half in separate containers, so that when they met, they would again create the perfect whole. It was almost enough to make you believe in a grand scheme of things, just how perfectly they complimented each other.

Except that he was a diehard Golders fan and she was from Steers Country, so they hated each other on sight.