Inquiring Minds

After five minutes of back and forth gunfire, I just had to know.

"How are you still firing?" I shouted across the factory floor, even as I continued trying to kill him.

"I could ask you the same!" Came the reply, along with several more bullets.

"Hey, I set this ambush up, I had time to gather ammo, what's your excuse?"

"Well, funny thing is-"

He went silent. After a long moment I approached, finding a ricochet trajectory that caused the dead body behind the makeshift barricade.

As well as an expensive sound projection device. So at least I knew.

Tell Me The Odds

To run all the calculations needed to fully predict the likely successes of this course of action, I would need all the computing power in the Alliance for 3.78 weeks.

If I only had the computing power of this ship, it would take me, by coincidence, 3.78 years.

By reducing the number of factors I take into account, and reducing the number of impacted parties to consider, and also reducing the timeframe of results to graph, I can produce an estimate in, again coincidentally, 3.78 minutes.

I have received the results now, and...

3.78 to 1 against is fair odds.

Happy Endings

Not every story has a happy ending. Hell, most of them barely have an ending at all.

Things just stop happening, and the world moves on, as do the players in the story. Hatreds peter out, loves fade away, narratives unfulfilled thanks to the mundane pressure of time.

But other than fictional tales we tell our children and each other in order to be who we are, some stories are told, and told well. Great romances, intense feuds, beginnings, middles, ends. Happy ones even.

This is the problem, since it means everyone expects their's to end up neatly finished up.

Lockspelled

To cast Relife, I need enough diamond dust to fill the last cup she drank from. I have the cup.

To cast Gemmake, I need a soulgem from each of the four elemental beings. I have a Rocktroll, a Windsprite, and a Firespark.

To cast Nymphspeak, I need to gain the favor of a Keeper of Knowledge. I have a Keeper's wishlist.

To cast Hirnor's Eternal Harem, I need to have a woman who has passed on give permission to use her likeness.

To cast Contact Dead, I need to destroy something they owned.

All I have is her cup.

Taking The Plunge

I sat down on the couch. She smiled at me from over the tablet.

"So, did you manage to do it?"

I took a moment to answer.

"Well, yeah..."

She looked concerned at my tone.

"So what happened?"

"I got on the plane and they attached me to this other guy then when the light turned green we jumped out, and we landed in the field like they said.

But I feel exactly the same, I've thought about that all my life... But look, maybe another bucket list thing might work?"

"Such as?"

I lunged and kissed my now ex-therapist.

Untainted Vote

The Gathering was designed to ensure an untainted vote for the new ruler. To avoid outside influence, those with a vote gathered in one place and were sealed off until a majority vote was reached.

Normally this would take a few hours, a day at most. The Gathering of 1587 was still talked about for lasting a week and a day.

It's been two months. Supplies are sent in via a one way tube, they announce the findings via a flag up the pole.

But given how well everything is running I think the next food parcel might be... Tainted.

Betterfood

The fairy fluttered down onto the log that wasn't where it was now the last time she was here, and  stared into the after-lightning. She had never seen after-lightning that wasn't spreading, it staying in one circle spot was new.

A ground creature must have tried to get away from the after-lightning, it was above it, around a branch. It smelt... Different. But good different, like it was now food but betterfood.

A non-fairy was there too, but she hadn't noticed it until it got the betterfood and broke it. The non-fairy placed some before her.

She decided to stay.