Message Received

The message was heard by almost everyone on Earth at the same time, in their native tongue. The message was important, a message from God, informing everyone to care for one another and the planet, but the people who didn't get the message was also of interest. Was there some link to them not hearing the word?

Some eventually admitted they had heard it, choosing to lie for various reasons. Others had histories of mental illness, others were technically dead at the moment.

In fact, just one person's failure remained unexplained.

Since they could hardly admit to being the sender.

Bug Out

The bug was a marvel of engineering. Inserted deep inside a wooden crest of the enemy's government and given to the embassy as a gift, it did not need power, and was not able to be picked up by any scanning tech.

The broadcast range was not huge, so a loyal agent was sealed in a self-sustaining bunker nearby. They listened, and sent their notes one-way.

The agent assumed that the conversations of peace between the empires was a lie, that uniting against another threat was code.

Given they've heard nothing for a long time confirms this. They await extraction...

Some Number Of Problems

I typed in the eight digits of my account number, followed by the twelve letters of my password, and then after submitting that, I answered the security question ('Snowfield') and then clicked to display my balance.

$0.48

This was a problem, given it should have been larger, I'd not withdrawn anything recently. So this was wrong, and I was going to have to spend many hours sitting with people in bad suits sorting it out.

In frustration, I hit the machine. The figure changed.

$24,986,493.48

Now this was much higher than before. So a whole lot of new problems then.

Short Break (4-7 October)

Hey all, just a quick note to say I'm taking a short break so as to focus on the RPG con I'm attending/running a game at across the long weekend here. There will be no new Drabble for a few days, my intention is to resume on Tuesday the 8th of October, as well as post the new Fiasco module I just finished running. Thanks for reading, see you soon!

-Mat

Tree Of Magical Thinking

The inexperienced warrior held the bottle up to the light.

"So this will toughen my skin? Permanently?"

"That is the intended effect."

Their brow crinkled with clearly unfamiliar effort.

"What's that mean?"

I sighed.

"Magic is not like in the stories you tell to children. Waving a wand idly is not what we do. Magic is a long journey of study, experimentation.

Any number of factors from your lineage to the phase of the moon may influence the impact."

After a few seconds, the warrior shrugged and drunk the potion.

Subject #493 then turned into a tree, like previous subjects.

The Little Death

She gave the same smile she always gave when a client came in.

"Hello, I'm Kia, welcome to the salon."

She recognized the fidgety hands, the sweaty brow, the reluctant stance.

"First time?"

After a few seconds, he nodded quickly. She softened her smile a little more.

"Ok, so let's relax."

She slinked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, as the music sensed her need and played a soft dance number. She began to move with the beat, watching slowly as he began to move with her. She gave an encouraging smile as he moved.

"Good, good. Just relax, you're safe here, no judgement, I want you to enjoy this."

He grunted something she didn't quite understand, but she guessed from his tone it was affirmative. Usually she'd ask the client if they had a specific way they wanted to do the act, but first timers, especially nervous ones like this, usually didn't know what they wanted.

So she took the lead, continuing to sway with him, until she slid her hands to his wrists, and then gently guided them to her throat.

After a moment, her sensors detected pressure, and her programming switched to chokemode.

Where The Wild Witches Gathered

Where the wild witches gathered was the subject of many stories.

Parents would tell their children how naughty children would be crushed and smashed and cooked and eaten there.

Young people would regale their peers with stories of orgies, demonic summoning, and dramatic escapes that they themselves did, honest...

Serious men and women in serious clothing, seated around plain tables, would remind each other about the dangers these uncontrolled magic users posed, and nod sagely at each other.

Nobody ever asked the wild witches for their stories. But then controlled comparison tests on spell components don't make for riveting tales.