hello. i received an eviction notice yesterday. i thought about it. i panicked for a bit. tried to work out a deal.
then suddenly i thought, nah what if instead of giving my entire paycheck to my landlord… what if i just drove from here in indiana to california? and lived in my car?
my mind is made up. can’t change it.
i make music. i’m actually very successful. go to kyleneff.com
but anyways ya just me and my cat. 🤷🏻‍♂️
open to any tips on california car life? or car life in general 🤷🏻‍♂️
follow me on insta @kyleneffsux to see the journey

I (24M) have been dating my fiancé (23F) for 3.5 years now and we have a wonderful daughter together
Relationship was perfect for 1yr though she never worked.. ran into some issues down the line once she got pregnant. She stopped taking her BC 2mo after getting her IUD taken out and now we have our daughter (almost 2yr old now) and that caused a lot of stress and led to other fights regarding childcare, her working and going to school (No job or education until 1yr ago, little job history in the past but just started a PSW job yesterday)
On the other hand I've always been driven, good job, lots of money in the bank, and just generally have my head on straight. I'm also an avid gymgoer, I wholeheartedly believe it helps your mental and physical health so much. I believe it's important to have friends and family, hobbies, etc. These are the things that safeguard my mental health and I try to keep medicines and drugs as a last resort.
She has OCD, Anxiety and On/Off Depression. When we first started dating she never smoked whatsoever. Somewhere along the lines she started using marijuana for her anxiety (THC Vape pen, this matters later). She'd use it 3-4 times a day everytime she felt anxious because of being a new mom. I admit it's partially my fault because I allowed it. I was always against it and told her such but didn't rock the boat. I have nothing against recreational use, just the reason behind it that she gets high whenever she feels anxious.
She was hospitalized for it when she was 16/17. Allergic reaction and was admitted for multiple days. Quit until a couple years ago. This time it messed with her lungs and now she takes an inhaler everyday and every night because of it. So she quit again for another 8mo. At least i thought until Just yesterday after our date night I went back to her place. (Still lives with parents, used to live with me but our relationship got physical, I asked for the ring back and asked her to leave because I won't accept that behavior).
And that was when I found a charger for a vape pen in her room, I recognized it immediately and asked her if it was what I thought it was. She lied and said it was for a "female pleasure device", I didn't let up and eventually without actually saying the words I got a yes out of her. I was pretty upset she was hiding it from me and left for the night because otherwise I probably would've said some things I regret. I should also add that when she wasn't smoking , she would take up drinking alcohol for her anxiety instead.
Question is, AITA for making a big fuss and telling her I'm not going to stay and watch her jeopardize her own health and abuse a substance in order to manage her mental health?
I'd be okay with it if she exhausted every other option before resorting to marijuana but I believe shes looking for the easy fix. I admit I could be TA here but I honestly don't know. I just want her to be healthy and set a good role model for our daughter

Colorful Pygmy puffs, and a tremendous amount of concrentrated contained magic of maybe centuries exploded out of Izuku's body and flooded the entire Japan country that kept spreading further and further around the world like a world destroying tsunami as electronic devices, cars, machine malfunction for a few seconds to a minutes before they reset themselves.
Only for izuku conscious to black out into darkness a moment later, in a giant crater full of magical herbs, flower and a exotic terrifying Willow Tree that been reborn through the cracks of the cement.
When the heroes tried to get near izuku unconscious body, they were beaten by the plants and willow tree that seem to move on their own, literally hiding izuku in the hole under its trunk root in a very aggressive possessive manner.
Inside the mindscape of izuku, was a enforced severely tighten up and chained azkaban like prison where it held it's only prisoner that was once the supposedly most dangerous and darkest lord known to Wizardkind laid.
The Master of Death, also known as Harry James Potter. Forever chained into a endless cycle of rebirth and cursed to never gain or merged souls of their current living host in a squib like state after attempt vengeance on the Wizard world.
Until All might's power were added into izuku's dna which has caused a United States of smash into the asscursed prison, practically shattering the foul curse that kept him prisoner, only to be forcefully merged into current soul in control.
Izuku Midoriya's soul, their memories, lost, pain, joy, magic, power and everything in between becoming One in soul, mind and body..
When they opened their eyes, laying in a hospital bed, in what seem to be a containment room, with Recovery girl talking to hi-their mom whom seem to be full of worried with a hint of amazement and awe
"In all my years of top head healer, I've never seen anything like this with someone's quirk! How could this child have been quirkless, he'd caused a worldwide global panic throughout the entire world, mythic creatures, plants, and being of old time fairytales had been spotted around the entire world as if they were searching something and seeming vanished when even the Top Heroes, even Villains tried to capture them!
Not even titanium crafted needle can penetrate his skin, even my best dna scanner malfunction and exploded when it tried to analyze his hair, already took enough blood before and baby teeths.' Said Recovery girl said already looking done with this sh*t and ready to climb the front gate fence of UA high-school while shouting I'm retiring.
All might in the corner trying to appear as small as possible from the angry medic granny.

Hi. I hope you are having a fun day today. I am 22 from India. I joined reddit today and came across this subreddit. So wanted to try my luck here. I am in general looking for people to be friends with. Any gender is fine with me. Now i saw some of these posts and have a good idea about what to write. So some of my likings are , i am a huge fan of anime. So much obsessed with it that i want to live in japan. Lmao. So I have watched quite a few anime. For example naruto bleach one piece demon slayer jujutsu kaisen aot and some others too. I also watch movies and TV series. Breaking bad is my favorite. But I am hearing Modern family is great. The last of us was good. Mandalorian is also my favorite. Last movie i watched was bladerunner2047. Reallyl iked the movie everything everywhere all at once and Bullet train. I have a passion to be a good cook. I like nature-Ish kind of things more like mountain birds and love to watch discovery channel on TV LoL. I also love car race f1 race bike race. For sports i like lawn tennis.
I guess that's it. I don't know what else to include. So if you want to give it a try then dm me. And we will try to get alongwell, i hope..

Hello all, I am 21 years old and I have 12k just sitting in the bank. I consistently pay my bills on time and my car is completely payed off so I want to begin investing my money. I have extremely low knowledge on anything financial related but I did some research and concluded my best thing to do now as a newbie is to open a ROTH IRA account. I chose Roth since it won't be taxed when I take it out when I retire. I also plan on investing money into an "index fund" which I understand are generally more reliable such as the S&P 500. ANY ADDITIONAL ADIVCE WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED, and when I say any, I truly mean any and all, I really want to learn how to grow my money. ty!

I actually typed a much longer story out but I felt it was excessive. In short, life has been cartoonishly awful and at times enchanting but often very bleak and I don’t know what to make of it and the past year saw me go from a student in a dorm with a fiancé waiting back at my family home to the two of us being homeless. It’s so hard on my body. Public housing even taking into account that I’m disabled (my case managers said it bumped me up a lot) is so backed up in this city the waitlists are 6+ months, if they’re even open. I don’t even complain most days. We have to carry all our belongings at all times at the shelter which means 40 lbs of weight or more at all times. They wake us up at 5:30 AM and we sleep on mats on the floor. They’re so harsh. I lay either on hard tile all day or in the grass if it’s not too cold. The skin falling off my hands and feet, it’s hard to get to appointments. I had a broken leg last summer I never got to go to PT for due to my family neglecting to help me be able to do so and I cracked a vertebrae in a car crash last November which never got followed up on for the same reasons and then due to lack of a functioning car. It all hurts. I try to numb it with whatever I can. I also have a pituitary tumor and reduced spinal density that I couldn’t get to follow up appointments for. Walking is getting hard and I’m falling more often, accumulating scars.
I don’t think it’s the worst ever, but maybe it’s the therapy I’ve done and the medications I take and the nature of some mental conditions I have (ASD/BD1/CPTSD/DID) and how my life has been a hell storm from day one not only due to EDS (poverty, abuse, neglect, TBI as a toddler, LGBT in rural Appalachian Kentucky, no early intervention on any of my physical limitations or issues stemming from ASD like mutism in early life so I couldn’t even tell people I was in pain or being mistreated, etc), I just feel numb to fear. My family won’t let us come back to the family home left to me in my grandmothers will. They have 60k in savings. I caught pneumonia at the shelter and landed in the hospital, and in a very twisted way it was a reprieve because it garnered enough sympathy that they’ve gotten us a hotel room for a while so I wouldn’t have to grapple with that in the shelter environment.
I had a phone call with my mom and told her my body can’t hold out. Even though I’m not at my physically weakest, thankfully, I cannot do it much longer. She told me the family hoped it would “light a fire under your asses”. Am I insane for thinking that’s incredibly…callous to say? They let me be medically neglected and abused for years, they know I’ve been through hell, my life has been hard, I don’t complain a lot, I’ve done excellent in college and all I wanted was a gap year to get myself in order so my grades wouldn’t plummet due to feeling ill…and they did this. My body hurts so bad but it’s becoming a point of self esteem because no one can hurt me when my own body’s dysfunction is far more excruciating than anything anyone can say to me. It’s just so harsh. I miss my grandmother. She didn’t want to die because she knew I’d be tossed to the wolves by these people. Hell, I didn’t even go to public high school. I’m STILL adjusting to socializing after five years of college.
There’s no resources that I can find for EDS and my case managers look and look and nada. I feel like I’m running on spite and sheer unmitigated desire to leverage my pain and misfortunate to help others and provide for people like me and even my family though they probably don’t deserve it. They’re just sick people with EDS like me and I’m their sacrificial lamb that had to weather the world and hope it’ll pay off. I’ll be the first in my family to get a degree. But man I’m sore. Like if I could just find a back brace…better shoes that don’t tear the skin off my feet just by friction…something to keep me from falling so often so people don’t make fun of me or laugh at me because that’s kind of the treatment I get (it’s a very juvenile “haha look at fattie, he fell!”) even though it scares the daylights out of me to even stumble because I hurt myself on accident so often.
Like, I fell and bounced into an air return vent (the big kind on the wall under the thermostat) visiting my mom a while back before we were officially homeless, because I lost my footing on slick hardwood in the dark and sliced my arm open in two spots, cut my fingers and knuckles, bruised my side, and busted my lip so bad the fat was poking out for a day or two. It’s like I’m made of glass and paper and people keep throwing me down the stairs for fun and others can see it’s wrong and awful but no one really steps in and stops it. Am I delusional to not be depressed? I just pray my brain and body aren’t totally mangled by the time I can get some stability back. Could be months. I don’t know man. This is so scary at times but I feel desensitized to it.

Got reminded of this in the 'Previously On' segment of 5.
***
From the interrogation of the Changeling Worf and Raffi apprehended few episodes back:
Raffi, "who stole weapons from Daystrom?"
Titus, "I did!"
Worf, "who with?"
Titus, "like-minded souls. Enemies of the Federation."
***
Like-minded souls, enemies of the Federation, hmm...
A shuttle pulls into the Titan A's docking port.
It has, "Enemies of the Federation" spray painted on the side.
The door slowly swings open and things start clambering, oozing, drifting, or otherwise getting out in a tumble.
Who's all disembarking?
(And who was the pilot?)
^{Wrong or right answers accepted.}

I tried my best not to include any info in the title to avoid spoilers for others, hope it didnt spoil anyone.
The family of the deceased girl who Ruby's daughter got her kidney from (which later we know its not them)
In reality I would feel bad for them but I dont think Im gonna be a good host for them, And knowing Ruby's financial situation we know she got a lot of sht to deal with so if she didnt buy them the car I dont blame her, but again, she did, good for them they need it but even if she couldn't again I dont blame her, we all know its not easy for everyone to get a car whenever they want.
Also I know this couple are going through a lot too, but I think they are imposing on them, at some moments, with their comments about how Ruby and Stan are doing very well financially, cause I felt uncomfortable seeing dealing with them, its awkward telling someone you are not really doing well but then they see you buying an iPad yikes...
P.S: English is not my first language so excuse the poor choices of words and the poor grammar..

TLDR: I've been living with my brother for almost a year now and it has been one of the most stressful experiences of my life. He doesn't know how I feel since we dont have healthy communication regarding our feelings, and he has no interest in doing so. I plan on moving out within the next three months but I'm not sure how to tell him.
I (21m) moved in with my half brother (27m) about one year ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time as I didn't want to live by myself or a random roommate. It's my first experience living independently, the bills and lease are in his name alone, and we split living expenses equally. He does make more money than I do, but due to some legal issues he doesn't have a car, so I drive him to work in the mornings, take care of the shopping, and run errands for him if need be. He's not a bad guy, we share a lot of interests and generally get along well. The problems start when something goes wrong, albeit a minor inconvenience or legitimate problem, in his day to day life.
My brother, for a lack of better words, has issues. He's not stupid by any means, but he is impulsive and often lets his emotions dictate his actions. I've always blamed this on our different upbringings. We have different dad's who raised us very differently. I had a fairly standard and secure childhood, while his was much rougher and unforgiving. Despite this, he visited fairly regularly throughout our respective youths and I looked up to him for a very long time. Since I've started living with him however, the veil has been lifted and I see what he's really like.
He'll get mad at literally anything. Internet slows down for a few minutes, cat throws up on the floor, late bills because he relies on getting them in the mail and doesn't regularly check the mailbox, and so much more. He spends more time blaming the world for his problems than trying to fix them. It's emotionally exhausting living with someone who's constantly upset and yelling. While he usually doesn't direct this aggression at me, he's not above lashing out, typically when I'm doing something for him and I mess up or my service isn't to his satisfaction. All the while I'm the one who cleans his messes, handles the bills, and goes out of my way to try and make his life easier when he's in a bad mood. I feel like an unappreciated errand boy, and emotional punching bag. The way I see it, he's a grown man and he shouldn't have to rely on me to get his life back together, just for him to degrade me if I mess up. I am one hundred percent moving out, but I have no idea how I'm going to tell him.
Maybe it's because I'm a spineless coward but my brother is the one person I've never been able to stand up to. He sees no reason to talk about boundaries or living habits, let alone feelings, and even considers doing so to be, "womanly". I want to give him thirty days notice since he's still my brother, I love him, and I don't want to screw him over or see him fail. But I can't live with him anymore. I want to prioritize my own life and happiness, and I can't do that if I'm still living with him. How should I go about this?

I'm not a residential electrician, just to be upfront. My career has almost entirely been commercial/industrial, though I did a forced year in residential. I know on me construction this won't fly unless it's a receptacle designed for that specific installation. But what about existing structures? EVERY. SINGLE. GENERAL USE. RECEPTACLE. is daisy chained together. My partners 4 year old keeps shattering wall plates. When I went to install a new one I discovered the receptacle isn't actually supported in any way and this is the absolute cheapest plates available. Of course it shattered. I got it through house head he's never allowed to plug things in now, but that was more about taking away everything with plugs since the first time he electrocuted himself didn't teach him anything. When I pulled it to add support I noticed the wiring passes through the receptacle, meaning EVERYTHING plugged in is going through EVERY recep. We're all Sparks here, I don't need to explain why this dropped out of practice decades ago.
My question is it legal to have all general use, NON GFI, receptacles daisy chained the entire circuit (they're push in, not screwed even) in an existing group housing unit?
I've built a dozen apartment complexes, campus housing, subdivisions, hospitals, GM plants, retirement communities, etc etc, and EVERY non 1st year I've met KNOWS not to do this. But I'm gonna be straight, I can't think of a specific code either.

A couple weeks ago my BF and I rented a hotel room for date night. It happened to be a Monday night (not sure if that’s relevant), while my BF was parking the car I went to check in. I had some drinks at dinner so I was pretty tipsy. The clerk made some weird comments that I didn’t immediately process.
Then asks me to see the room. Again I’m tipsy and generally just a go along person, so here I am following this guy so he can show me the room. Half way down the hall it finally occurs to me that this too is weird. And tipsy me says that right out loud. “This is weird I don’t think anyone has ever shown me a room before”. He explains that he likes to when he has time.
I now have my phone out with my bf name up but for some dumb ass reason am still following this guy to the room. He goes all the way into the room to the other side of the bed and turns the bedside lights on and I stay right at the door realizing how dumb I am and that I could be in a dangerous situation.
He’s clear across the room and I’m backing out to the hallway making whatever small talk that comes into my head. He follows me out of the room and back to the front desk and continues to check me in. My heart is racing by this time and I’m playing the what if game in my head.
BF finally makes it inside and I bee line over to him before getting the room keys. The clerk makes another weird comment before I leave.
We head to the room and I’m telling bf what all just went down. I’m also now freaked out there could be cameras in the room. BF thinks I’m paranoid. So what do you guys think?
Is it normal for clerks to escort guests to check out their room before check in?
Or
Was I in a dangerous situation?

I don't know where I'm going with this, maybe I just need to type this off my mind. It's a throwaway account, sorry, my SO uses reddit, too, even though probably not this sub.
A bit less than 2 weeks ago I've given birth to our beautiful baby girl. She's our 2nd child, and we're blessed with 2 healthy children, so I feel bad for feeling bad. Her birth was very quick. Even though I was in the water, from the moment the water broke to her being born it was less than 10 minutes. Therefor I suffered several injuries that give me quite some trouble.
Earlier this morning I had a row with my husband. The baby was crying because she was hungry, and I needed to go to the toilet. He was playing a video game and "needed a few more minutes". And we've been fighting over that video game for months, on and off. He just shows addictive behaviour towards it. He's been gaming all the time, but this is different. He can't stop, he keeps going back to that game.
I got upset at him because he knows how much trouble I have with pooping since I gave birth. The injuries hurt a lot when I sit on a toilet seat. I can mostly only poop when I've taken pain meds prior (ibuprofen). So when I need to go, I need to go right away, to have a chance to get rid of it. Many times when the wounds hurt when sitting down, I won't be able to relax and then have to leave the bathroom "undone". :/
When I got upset he stopped his game and came to look after the little one, but it was too late already. The urge was gone, so I sent him away. We haven't spoken all day after that. Until later that night, when our 3yr old had a poopie nappy and needed a change. He sent him to me, and I got upset again for why he sent him to me about it, and then he threw at me that "I'm just sitting around". I don't know what to say at this point. It's just so hurtful. It feels like I can't do it right, no matter what I do. Him telling me less than 2 weeks postpartum that I'm just sitting around is like a slap in the face. It's what I'm supposed to do? At least according to doctors and my midwife, I should be resting?
I haven't been sticking to resting well enough in the first place. Yesterday we've been running errands and afterwards I really felt I overdid it. Last weekend I'd been busy around the house a bit, and at some point must have sat down in an unfortunate way, and seem to have opened some stitches of a wound. My midwife checked it out and says it's fine and I don't need to see a doc about it, but it increased the pain in the area since that happened.
I'm just so sad he sees me like that. I gave my body to grow this girl, and I wrecked my private parts to get her out of there. I can't even poop without the wounds starting to bleed again, and after every poop I need to shower cause I can't face touching / wiping the area. When I move, it hurts and burns. When I get up during nights to feed her, so he doesn't have to feel so tired the next day, I'm always shuffling over the injuries to get out of bed, and I didn't say a word about it because I found it fair we shared the night feedings. But it's a fact that every time I sit down or get up, those injuries will inevitably pain me.
What hurts me most is he knows all of this. He sat right in front of me in the labour ward, he could literally see them sewing me back together. He knows I'm in pain, he knows about my issues going to the bathroom. But he'll have a go at me because "I'm just sitting around" and "he's tired".
On top of the stress of the day I've been having a throbbing headache for 24 hours that's gotten worse over the fighting. I usually take ibuprofen for that, but I feel like it stops working since I've been taking it ever since I got out of hospital for the injury pain? I'm not sure if pain meds can reduce effectiveness so fast or I'm imagining it.
I know I'm probably overreacting. But after he said that, I had a massive urge to just run away. I just wanted to put shoes on, get in my car and drive away. Or just walk away. But I did not know where to go. Maybe 4 years ago I would've just done that, but today I wondered how - I have 2 kids in this house. Walking away on someone has gotten more difficult. So I just mostly sat here crying, and admiring our baby. He's fallen asleep, he always does when we fight. It's like his brain has a natural emergency shut-down. I don't know how to face the rest of the night. I can't sleep when I'm upset or we're fighting.
I should probably mention that we usually don't fight a lot. That's why it's hitting me even harder.

Why the f*****k can't those that have amassed the imaginary value of our populations tendered labor... why can't they use that wealth to properly influence and guide humanity towards a better future. It seems to me that such a massive percentage of wealth being concentrated in such a miniscule percentage of the population has been and will continue to be self-perpetuated. They've manipulated the economy by influencing the sectors which they own thus ensuring that their wealth keeps growing. Why do you think wars are fought? For freedom? Please... most of the countries on this earth are "free". ( But are you truly free?!!! Because if you're like most people you've become a slave to your debts...to your belongings...you've willingly enslaved yourself and carry your chains day to day. That vehicle, that new phone ' "which is almost exactly like the last model... Oh but "It's the newest iphone" *rolls eyes and scoffs" ', that house, them credit cards, etc. have granted you a comfortable enslavement...but nonetheless enslaved [I am a slave myself to my own vices ...so don't think I'm on a pedestal down talking or judging/criticizing those who like myself arent in the upper echelon of socioeconomic classes.]) Why can't we understand that if we continue to ravage our Earth's non-renewable resources, to pollute and produce waste, to kill and decimate both animals and plants to the point of extinction, to continue believing the BS lies that we are fed (events that are staged by the elite to gain traction behind their actual motives and intentions, perpetuating hate, violence, intolerance, anger and most of all ignorance.)....amongst many other motives/causes, but if we don't wrap our head around the idea that we will ultimately be our own destruction. We will cause our own genocide... Why can't selfishness be replaced with communal support ? Why can't we promote legitimate equality for all....all having the best of the best. No need for ego contests about who's got the better house or better car. What if we all owned our own home same space as everybody else...we all had access to the best most nutritious foods...best quality clothing...most recent technology...new fast and efficient individual public transportation...etc. SoUnDs liKe cOmMuNisSm blah blah blah.... so much to do, so much to fix. Not much being done. Augh. Just getting into the topic and breaking down what we should do looks like a whole report or manuscript about how and what we should address. How to bring about change without having to face violence? How to truly achieve humanity's unification?? How to eliminate anger and hate from the equation?? Does a foreign threat (extra-terrestrial;asteroid, aliens, our sun expanding, etc.) have to force us towards working together to find a solution?? Man we're fuuuuckd up as a society in general... Yeeep were screwed.

I am 15 and am just so tired of this bullshit game we call life. I have to pay most of my dads rent because he cannot afford it. I find myself working day and night and missing so much school because of it. My car is always about to break down or already has. I do not have much money because it goes to all my needs and my family’s needs. I buy dinners even though they are frozen. I pay most rent. I pay for my car insurance and repairs. I have very little money on me because all that and more. My friend got shot because he was messing with the wrong crow and now I’m scared I’m next so I want to kill myself before they get to me. I recently spent the rest of my money on ammunition. I have the gun already because I’ve been in situations where I needed it. My father is a abusive pos who killed my mother but never got charged with it and now he is always drunk and yelling at me and my sister. My sister also got jumped by the guys who killed my friend and she had her arm broke. I took her to the hospital and now i am struggling to pay the bill. I’m not in a gang and I think that is the reason why I am a target. I am always exhausted and just want to be relieved of this torture every day. I am at work right now but my gun is loaded at home and i am truly thinking about exiting this life. I get home at 1:00 am and have school in the morning. Tonight I’ll decide if I will make it to see the next day

I grew up in Colorado so my experience with a big city is the greater Denver area. A place where you can own a car, live in a 3 or 4 story apartment, and generally live as you might in the suburbs.
But the jobs just aren't really here. I'm looking at big big cities like Chicago or NYC. How do you live in a place like that? Do you have to go without a car? Do you get an apartment on the 20th story? Do you solely get around via a subway or taxi's? How do you get big items home like a TV or a bed? Do you have to lug all your groceries home in a cart every single time?
How do you know what parts of the city are right for you to live? You can name off various NYC boroughs and I have 0 idea what any of it means or what the vibe is in those areas.

Hello, my name is J and my partner and I have been struggling for the past few months. On Jan 10th, I was admitted to the ER for a flare up of one of my disabilities [POTS]. I assumed that I would simply rest a few days afterwords and be ready to work again, but instead, my flare up continued to progress. I became bed bound and was requiring full time monitoring and care from my partner, M.
It has taken me roughly two months to even be semi-independent, and in those two months, we have had no income. We've exhausted all the possible outside help we have, [and I have applied for disability, but unfortunately, it takes lots of time to get approved] and I am currently overdrawn by $501.60 due to having to pay for our car payment and then getting hit with overdrafts fees everyday.
Yesterday, I attempted to work with my partner [we work at Doordash in order to provide flexibility to my flare ups and needs] and it aggravated my POTS once again. We need help making car payments, insurance, phone bill and groceries every single month until I hopefully get disability and can be provided with other forms of care. We are currently running low on food.
Without our car, treatment and work for us are not feasible and we will also lose our only escape from a bad housing situation. We are consistently on the verge of getting kicked out due to a large power imbalance between our roommates and ourselves. My partner also deals with stress related seizures and cannot afford treatment or medication due to being my caregiver.
As requested by the rules in this sub reddit, I can provide all our bills, and even evidence of my hospital visit.
Below is our link, thank you for your time!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/survival-funds-for-disabled-poc-couple?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&fbclid=PAAabeObZ1GagMikrn3ZaNVzx4S89IG7MgvtE7efC1k7nPE-pPbGjgrv9miYA

[WP] You are the commander of the International Space Station. Abruptly, all contact with Earth is lost and the station now appears to be in orbit around an alien planet. With supplies running low, you decide to take your crew down to the seemingly habitable alien world.

The station had more supplies than necessary for dealing with the obstruction of space traffic while the Space Elevator was being built. However, as the elevator was being locked into position when we teleported, we didn't have that many more supplies than usual.
Alarms blared when we lost radio connection. More alarms blared when not a single satellite could be found. Even more when visuals showed not Earth below us. I could only imagine how this would go down on Earth. At least I got to watch the first cargo car from Canada climb the Elevator.
But we were running out of food, and reluctantly I let everyone know that we were heading to the planet to get food.
A week and a half later, we crammed as many space capsules as possible full of supplies, loaded people in ignoring safety restrictions, and launched down for what appeared to be the best place to go.
Fifteen hours later we landed, while the empty station still orbited above us.
-----
"This just in, while the space elevator was being tested, the ISS has disappeared. Multiple nearby cameras reported seeing the station engulfed by light, and not a single piece of debris was left behind. While construction of the internals of the space elevator is going to continue, the first satellite release will be one to look for the ISS, and- hold on.
"This just in, a signal has been detected by space telescopes around the world in unencrypted morse code. It- please, tell me- yes, yes, I know someone called a code red, but do you think- OK, OK, I'll continue.
"The signal says 'HUMANS. WE HAVE TAKEN YOUR ASTRONAUTS TO A DEATHWORLD TO SEE HOW THEY SURVIVE, AS PER PROTOCOL. IF THEY DIE, YOU WILL BE INVADED. THIS MESSAGE AND THESE ACTIONS WERE PERFORMED BY AN AUTOMATED PROBE.'. More coming at six."
-----
The SpaceX Dragon shuttles spent extra fuel to touch down on land with our supplies, while the Russians simply took a heavy landing. Everyone was fine, and we immediately set up a camp. Axes cut wood and the Russians had the framework, flooring and walls for a log cabin that could house all of us within the day, while the rest of the crew made weapons. Spears, bows, that's mostly it, but someone had the good idea to go looking inside a cave. "Good."
They found many things, chief among them an angry now-food animal. We don't really have a choice about what to eat, so here goes to hoping the cooked local food isn't poisonous. The meat itself was already salty, and Calvin (biologist) suggested that it was to counter an infection.
Sunset was interesting. The blue sun here really color-shifts the landscape. Additionally, this planet doesn't have a moon, so the night was quite dark. Unlike in all the artwork, alien flora is not bioluminescent.
The next morning, the Russians continued the log cabin while the rest of us dug out an outhouse well and away from the sea. We also cleared out the cave from earlier; it had a waterfall, and became our shower area. That afternoon, the cabin using alien wood was complete and we started to move supplies from the shuttles to the cabin. Next stage is going to be securing camp and a food source.
-----
"So!" Kevin, designer of the Space Elevator, slammed his hands onto the table in frustration and opened the meeting. "We have a problem."
"You think?" The Canadian minister of defense snorted. "We're already pulling a big budget here that was supposed to pay itself off, but now the elevator needs constant use!"
"Not really," Kevin said. "The UN pays us the cost of operation and the cost of construction in return for unlimited anti-xeno military launches permanently. This project took around a billion dollars, we'll get that back in no time. We also get to scan and see every single component that comes through the elevator. It's a win for military R&D, a win for budgeting, and a win for preparations for the war."
"And? What defenses do we have that they can't defend against? None. We have no intel on this enemy. For all we know, they attacked because Humanity built their first space elevator!"
"We can't solve that. What we can do is load every laser array we can onto geostationary satellites, and then a couple nukes in case they decide to destroy them. No, no, back to point." Kevin sighed. "Our problem is the space elevator itself. It isn't designed to withstand an attack. Someone cuts the cord below geosynchronous level and we're screwed, though at least the counter-counterweight system gives us five cords from geosynchronous waypoint station to the space station. Now, the only way to do that is with a giant plasma sword, but if these guys have FTL..." Kevin let the point hang in the air. "Once the invasion starts, our orbitals are on their own."
People were silent for a while.
"Now, the question is... What is a deathworld, and how long can the ISS last? It's been two weeks and everyone has finally gotten their acts together, but the ISS is going to be almost out of food, even on rationing." Someone else asked. "And when are we going to talk about putting R&D on FTL?"
-----
Note: The space elevator is a single cord going from a space station far, far above geosynchronous orbit (so high up it has Earth gravity away from the planet!), through a space station in geostationary orbit. As people and supplies move up towards the upper station, to ensure pressure on the cord is equal, giant weights move towards the planet, lessening the centrifugal force the weights have, and by extension, the cord has to pull. This is called the counter-counterweight system, and four of these connect the geostationary unit to the space elevator's people-station.
The cord is used by semi-circle atmo-sealed cars moving up on one side and down on the other. The cord itself is two feet of carbon nanotubes covered in a centimeter of lead and then another foot of square stainless steel, so the nanotubes are safe from cosmic rays. The foot of stainless steel has cutouts so gears can latch onto them so the cars can pull themselves up, and the stainless steel is square to the cars stay oriented relative to each other. At the stations, cars are detached from the cord to be undocked, allowing others to pass through. The cars themselves have five latches that hug the cord and can be undone to pass another car or to dock at a station.
The gravatic station is far, far larger than the geostationary station, which is mostly supplies and some industry for in case the cord gets cut lower, though each station does have four weeks of food and water recyclers just in case.
-----
Kronfol turned to his boss. "These... Humans, they had survived unnaturally long. Most species can't even take the gravity of the planet, but looking at the data their probe has pulled, this isn't even full gravity for them. Look, the three from the subspecies that don't feel cold even built a shelter for the rest in just tacks! And the two from the ones that love slugthrowers are hunting! Not to mention they were smart enough to bring supplies down with them. They're enemies on their planet, they should have destroyed each other by now!"
Kraffool added. "Yes, but one from the polite subspecies are organizing them, and the ones from nations of conquest - which there are only three of - they are securing their landing site against the wildlife. They're succeeding!"
"True, true," The boss replied. "But I doubt they'll survive much longer. They've been sleeping for a mere third of a cycle for the past couple cycles, they're going to have to-"
"That's their full sleep cycle." Kronfol interrupted. "They can eat the local ecosystem, too, so they can replenish their supplies. They might be small, but they can still outrun us. And then there's stamina. The probe... I'm not sure it made the right choice."
"No matter," the boss continued. "That species just built their first surface-to-space structure, they won't be doing anything... radical."
-----
Day 3
Today, we scouted around a bit and re-enforced the camp against more wildlife. We found another cave, it looks like this place once flooded, dissolving veins of softer rock. Still, this one is rich with material, so we're going to use some wood, carve out a furnace into the rock, and smelt a pickaxe. Minecraft time, whoo!
On another note, we fully moved into the cabin. The SpaceX chairs make good enough beds, and the Russians have already turned the animal from last night into a rug. Speaking of the Russians, they found some wheat-like stuff and immediately made a vodka barrel. They say it'll be done in a week.
Still, the days are around twenty-three hours, and the gravity is eight-ish meters per second per second, and there's a fair bit of oxygen, so overall this is a pretty good planet to land on.
If only there were someone watching us, then they could pick up our distress beacon. This can't be a coincidence.
-----
Day 4
Totally forgot to do this yesterday, but yeah! I picked a sanity journal out of the emergency supplies and it's mine. MINE!!
In saner terms, we're making great progress. Furnace is in, low-quality iron pickaxe acquired. Americans were making gunpowder by running water over the... outhouse... to collect sodium nitrate to make bullets with. Vodka is untouched, if it were the Russians would have killed us all already.
I'm trying to direct people to collect silicon for advanced electronics. We have the information required to make a solar panel, and I plan to get back to the ISS sooner or later. We got metal and the Europeans are making swords and bows with steel. Still...
Anyway, I was going over the pictures from orbital and there looks to be more ruined space stations in orbit of unknown design. I figured we weren't the first, but this is still troubling. So we're going to go head to what looks like another landing site not too far from here sometime soon. Judging by the state of the other satellites, ours is the only autonomous functional one; the rest don't have solar panels and have appeared to have died.
So, we need to build and power a car. Winter is going to be a problem, this planet's axis isn't that bad but it still has seasons, and I don't want to figure out what'll happen to the crops the hard way.
Now, onto what productive stuff the Russians and Americans built, they got a farm running. I'm hoping for at least one yield before we go, and I'm not sure if everything they planted are even seeds, but I can't control that.
Day 5
Got a car today! Did it by building a motor by coiling copper in a loop and pulsing electricity through really fast, or so says the technician. I'm not going to complain, slap a solar panel and some batteries on top of a frame built out of the Russian shuttle and everyone's happy.
We packed the entire camp and moved out towards the other landing site. It looks somewhat fresh, so these aliens may have been aiming for our location as well. I can't wait to find them; we're bringing solar chargers and a linguistic AI that techie developed while trying to make a new language a couple years ago and saved to a local device.
Theodore rocks!
In other news, we're going to arrive tomorrow at midday, judging by our position relative to the ISS. We will make it back into space, back home, and then after that I'm never going higher than a commercial jet flight ever again.
Also, the Russians killed another animal. So we have that, too.
-----
"The Humans move directly towards the Renni. Should we be worried?" Kraffool asked.
"No," The boss replied. "They will fight and kill each other over supplies, I'm sure of it. That's how most get eliminated. Still, what you say is... concerning. How do they know that the Renni are there?"
"Their orbital habitat is still operational," Kraffool said. "Instead of feeding on ground-fed laser projections, their large communication prongs also hold sun-absorbant solar units. They left due to lack of supplies, not failing life support. As such, they have orbital communications, and though the station was found in low orbit it is functioning fine in geostationary orbit."
"Wouldn't the life support fail on the dark side of a planet?" the boss asked.
"No, sir. They charge batteries with the power during the day to be used at night. Additionally, they appear to have intentionally turned down - though not off - life support to conserve power." Kraffool replied. "I am concerned-"
"You have voiced that concern to me already," the boss cut Kraffool off. "You have no reason to be. Go."
Kraffool bowed on the way out.
-----
"Attention people of the world," The United Nations speaker began. "We are here today to bring to you the results of a week of unprecedented international cooperation in the face of one of the largest threats Humanity has ever known.
"The Canadian government has agreed to lend use of the Space Elevator to launch geostationary laser orbital defense arrays. There is no way to use the space elevator to launch them in Low Earth Orbit, and they must be laser arrays, as kinetic rounds are far too slow in space. The United Nations will pay the Canadian government for the one billion dollar cost of building the Space Elevator, as well as the cost of operating it for the Earth Defense Network. Of course, private businesses are free to use the services of the Space Elevator as well.
"Additionally, the design and construction of said laser arrays will be using a standardized design loaded with a single nuclear bomb, to detonate if the station is forced to resort to kamikaze tactics.
"These stations will be first spread out over populated zones, then over land masses, and hopefully over the entire planet. We are not sure what customs the aliens use, nor what a deathworld is or how long the ISS can survive in such an environment. If they were sent in orbit of Mars, there is a chance that the invasion would occur within the week."
The speaker let that sentence hang, before continuing. "The production of arrays has already started, and the first are expected to be launched by the end of tomorrow. Humanity will prevail!
"In other news, we have received a transmission from the alien probe, now in confirmed lunar orbit."
HUMANS, YOUR ASTRONAUTS SURVIVE, FOR NOW. THEY ARE HEADED FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH ANOTHER COMPETITOR, WHERE THEY WILL MOST CERTAINLY DIE. YOU ARE LUCKY YOURS ARE EVEN ALIVE RIGHT NOW. WE WILL MEET SOON. PREPARE TO SURRENDER, OR DIE.
"To that we respond:" The speaker continued. "We will survive, or die trying."
-----
Day 6
So, today we met them! We left a solar-powered AI at their camp and are just going to sleep in car for now. Looking at satellite footage, we can see that our camp is fine.
This planet has a magnetic field, thank god; we're currently at around 40 degrees north and, well, we can't measure east-west without some kind of definitive line. Add that to we're the only satellite still there, as GPS satellites were left behind, so we can't get any precise info.
Still, that means that compasses work here, so that's good. The aliens' tech all seemed powered down.
Speaking of which, official first contact was - and this could just be me going insane - really funny. One of the Russians stumbled into a trap, and then they showed up while we cut him down and just stared at each other. We wandered into camp, gave them some water because they didn't land close to any and as a show of goodwill, left the translator AI, and then left.
Air pressure here does a slight pitch change to microphones, but whatever. They still work.
The aliens themselves are something to behold. Eleven-ish feet tall, quadrupedal with a torso attached to the top like a centaur, but instead they're part... some furry animal, I'm not a biologist and Calvin has no idea what they are. They're aliens, after all.
So far, our immune systems are holding up, but that's the next thing to worry about after winter.
Vodka: untouched, second barrel in the making. Guns and ammo: acquired, though the Americans won't make them for anyone else. New animal: tastes like ham. I don't know why, it looks nothing like a pig, but we can all agree it tastes like salty ham.
Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow to see how the AI did. First contact, baby!
-----
"They didn't kill each other." The boss said. "Why did they not kill each other! We've taken millions of planets like this, they didn't kill each other!"
"Well, the Humans demonstrated intelligence, strolled in, left them a gift of water and a metal box, then left." Kronfol said. "The Renni were too shocked to do anything, after being alone for ages. They spent ages talking to the metal box. Additionally, the Humans brought more 'solar panels' with them, so their electronics on the ground are also powered."
The boss sighed.
Kronfol continued. "Additionally, the Humans have been fortifying their homeworld. The first thing they did was blind our probe by shooting another at it which ate the probe, so we don't know much else other than they started putting radioactive satellites in orbit."
"And," Kraffool added, "The box the Humans left was an algorithm for a translator."
The boss choked on air.
-----
"Today, under the threat of an alien invasion, and a mere day after announcing our cooperation efforts for the Space Elevator, we have decided to take this threat even more seriously." The UN speaker said. "As such, today, after a unanimous vote from every country on the planet, following a plan laid out by citizens of the world and supported by millions overnight, Humanity unites!"
The cheering that filled the chamber made the speaker pause for a full minute. "That plan will be followed to the letter, as voted upon. This includes the merging of all militaries, and the election of an Electorate to lead Humanity. The election will follow the Universal Constitution laid out in the plan. As of noon, Eastern Standard Time, on the fifth of December, 2031, welcome to the Terra Firma System Union. Terra Firma or Terra Nova, we will prevail!"
The cheering that followed was deafening.
-----
Zaryos looked at the box.
It was a metal rectangle plugged into a series of black squares. It was inert, yet was left beside the water as a gift. She recognized electronics when she saw them, however, and decided to not pour water over it.
The gravity here was twice that on her homeworld and she could barely move. The other four Renni had been unable to do as much as make a shelter, and hers had collapsed multiple times as she was unused to dealing with such heavy materials.
The two-legged small ones had bounced through this gravity a bit uncertainly, and not quite naturally, but they obviously had a much better time in it than she did.
Still, without access to her worlds' Power Laser network, she was unable to do so much as send out a distress signal. She went to sleep still talking to the box, watching it, trying to figure out how it was supposed to help her. Or spy on her. She didn't know how it even survived this gravity, but it looked well-built.
The black boxes were arranged in the sun, and while not much research had gone into solar panels on Renqui, her homeworld, she knew that they powered the laptop. How did they get down here? she asked herself. Do they know where we are? I don't, but if they can help us...
She shuddered as another thought came to mind. What if they're working with the ones who put us here? But we have no other option other than to trust them... argh! Why is this so hard? Why do I both want to run and hug them? What part of me do I trust?
-----
Day 7
Week one on the surface. We're going to leave tomorrow in order to get back to the vodka in time.
But more importantly, the translator worked! It picked up on context and soon the entire language was translated. So we came back in, opened the laptop, and started talking.
Apparently, their electronics are fried, as they use a constantly-fed high-powered global laser array, instead of solar panels. Still, we're going to sleep in that honestly not bad cave we found, and then head back to our camp. We'll see if we meet back up again.
In other news, we gave them the solar charger and phone, so they can talk to us. No need to encrypt the channel, it's better if we don't anyway, so others can listen in and join the call.
-----
Zaryos watched the small ones come back in, open the box, look at the functioning screen for a bit, then say something. It took the box a moment, but it said it in a neutral tone in Raphuii. It had poor grammar, but it worked.
TESTING, TESTING. RESPOND "I UNDERSTAND" PLEASE YOU IF UNDERSTAND MESSAGE THIS.
Zaryos would respond, and then ask "Who are you?" And launched Second Contact for her people. But all that was overshadowed. They were going back to their own camp the next day, but left another device. It had a battery, and would charge using solar panels, which were the black boxes, so they could continue to talk.
The small ones didn't have a global laser network, but instead a global wired network. This meant that they didn't have the infrastructure to power their space station, so instead they added more solar panels and batteries to it. They said that the translator would slowly work out the kinks in each of their languages, and that they were surprised it worked so quickly.
Still, things were finally looking up.
-----
"What did we get from the remnants of the alien satellite?" A War Council member asked.
"Not much." Another replied. "It's still in transit back here, but the components are low-G only. So we're going to research it in the space elevator."
The room was silent for a moment.
"We got another message, this one from another probe in solar orbit," Someone said at last. "Let's give it a read over."
HUMANS, THEY LIVE. FOR NOW. WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR MILLENNIA, THEY WILL DIE. IN OTHER NEWS, FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN YOU AND THE RENNI HAS BEEN PERFORMED. FEAR NOT, NOBODY SURVIVES LONGER THAN A WEEK, WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF USING THAT PLANET FOR OVER TWO MILLION SPECIES CONTESTS. THIS GALAXY IS OURS.
"Well," Kevin commented, walking into the room. "That's ominous."
"What are you here for?" Someone else groaned.
"Because," Kevin said, "We don't have FTL, but we just discovered Hard Light, and perpetual motion, all in one go."
-----
"What now?" The boss asked.
"Well," Kronfol started, "The Humans on Earth, they..."
Kronfol leapt at the Boss, pulling out a knife and leaving a fatal wound behind. "They taught me freedom."
-----
Lights flashed throughout the corridors as Kronfol and his sister Kraffool ran for the nearest escape pod. Already, the next message to the Humans was being sent out. The two siblings ran for the nearest pod and jettisoned. At this range, they'd only be able to reach the deathworld, but the two had already decided on their next course of action. It would be preferable to other outcomes.
As the entry burn commenced, Kronfol thought over what he had learned from the Humans. They valued freedom, and had made an entire society around it, and they had been the final catalyst for uniting. A united Humanity, with their new technology, would crush The Empire. And so, the two had decided to run. They couldn't take it anymore.
The pod automatically deployed parachutes. It was designed to be functional while EMPed, so it was all manual. As they descended towards the plant far, far away from the Humans, the siblings knew that their new life wouldn't be kind.
People didn't last long in that position anyway, it was only a matter of time. This new life would, they hoped, be kinder than the one that they had just left.
-----
Lights flashed on the screen as the ISS picked up a radio signal from the Renni. They were being attacked by animals. I immediately turned the 'car' around towards them. It was still recharging after the latest two-hour boot of use, but it would get us close enough.
We arrived and immediately set to work scaring the scaly things away. Giant komodo dragons, but beyond crushing people they had little to go in the way of natural weaponry. We let the car sit and recharge; we were close enough that we should be able to reach our camp anyway, though it'd be tight to do so before sunset.
And then, we saw something from the cameras on the ISS. Our camp.
-----
Lights flashed in the control room as the Humanity's first self-sustainable spaceship departed from the geostationary ring of the Space Elevator and ascended next to the cord towards the gravatic station at the end of the elevator.
Hard Light Perpetual Generators powered Hard Light Ion Engines, all of whom put out unholy amounts of power, forcing the ship to accelerate as though it were a roller coaster. As the ship began to decelerate using Hard Light Ion Retro Thrusters, people cheered.
Factories were already turning over to produce Hard Light goods. As Kevin continued to organize the creation of thousands of laser batteries, the world switched to green power nearly instantaneously. It was literally free, after all.
And a scientist in a corner of the globe, whose last name was Hildew, began to draw up plans for something much more important.
-----
Lights flashed in the room as the new Electorate, elected within the past two days, stood before the crowd. As per the TFSU's new systems, only the achievements, personalities, and a small speech from each candidate were supplied, and the people voted on that information alone.
"Another message has arrived. PREPARE. We are running out of time, but we will fight, fight for freedom, for our siblings on the ISS, and fight, fight for freedom! Terra Firma or Terra Nova, we will prevail! We will survive, or die trying! Humanity has decided, in a message to whoever is threatening our home, you will pay for it!"
-----
Day 8
Bringing the Renni to our camp, it's much safer. Our camp appears to have people loitering around - we're sure they're not animals. I'm writing this early because today was eventful.
So, the Renni were attacked by a pack of animals, and now these guys are in our camp. Still, it isn't all bad. I could imagine how many other ways First Contact could've gone sideways. Or official, at least. A prevalent theory is that more aliens are the ones who dropped us from the sky. But there is no motive; then again, these are aliens, after all.
Overall, it wasn't a bad day. We're low on food, but we're heading back to camp anyway. The Renni have much larger food issues due to some kind of limited diet, and are slowing us down so we'll only reach after sunset, but it'll probably be fine.
I feel like I'm missing some crucial piece to a puzzle. I don't like it at all; I want to get back to camp.
Day 9
Aliens at camp were defensive at first until we walked up and unlatched the SpaceX Dragon shuttles. Then they understood that this was ours.
Russians made several more batches of Vodka, and are preparing to drink the first one soon. Americans have finally been convinced to make more people guns. Russians are building a cabin for the Renni. Americans are helping the Europeans mine for resources to begin smelting higher-quality steel, and a proper forge. Europeans are building a wall. They almost completed it, too; the slightly lower gravity is doing wonders for stamina, and we're all still doing enough exercise to prevent atrophy, though I suspect it wouldn't be so bad in the first place.
New aliens are talking to the translator, at least with the Renni and us talking through it they get the idea. Plugged it into solar panels and we're all good to go. We tried talking, but it failed. We'll try again tomorrow.
-----
Kraffool was busy finding the materials necessary for making an ax to chop wood. She eventually found it, but not before they had to go back to sleep.
I wonder what it's like to be able to sleep for as little as the Humans.... she wondered as she fell asleep in the small shuttle.
The next day, she continued, and managed a not-too-shabby shelter. Then, they slept again. It was tiring work, but they were alive, and it was theirs.
-----
Zaryos had been walking for a quarter of a cycle. She needed sleep, yet these Humans were only acting tired, not exhausted.
At their new camp, more aliens were waiting; after being shown the translator, Zaryos and her group had to sleep on the ground for a bit, as the Humans' cabin was too small. Still, they made first contact with yet another group.
The next day, some of the Humans built a new cabin, others built a wall around the camp but not a farm they had created a bit further out. The even newer aliens simply talked to the translator; at some point, the small light on its side began to flash green and they opened first contact with this new group as well.
Zaryos and the other Renni, however, mostly just slept.
-----
The War Council watched the release of the first of many laser arrays to come. As it began to burn towards Asia, another popped out of the geosynchronous station to take its place.
Above, the space station was almost complete. People were still working and living up there, as it would be a great control center, having visuals of the fight and now just relying on probes and cameras. It was a risk, but people decided that it was worth it. It would be a volunteer mission only. Well, voluntold, but still technically able to back out.
They were getting ready. If they were ready fast enough was the question.
-----
Hildew looked at the results from her latest experiment. She checked them over one last time, then hit the call button on her phone.
We have it. All it took was Hard Light, and all that took was a slight extra scientific catalyst.
We have FTL.
-----
YOU HUMANS ARE CAUSING TOO MUCH TROUBLE. WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THE EMPEROR, THE DEATHWORLD TRAILS ARE NULLIFIED AND THE ASSIMILATION STARTS NOW!
-----
Day 18
It's been a while, and it's been busy.
So, the new aliens we got translated on day 12, and until then we just made them houses, expanded camp and farm, and other general maintenance.
Then, we started making concrete and the first thing we did with it was build foundations - and basements - for the houses. After that was done, we began to dig out a launch site. We're going to head back to the ISS, no matter what.
And then that takes us to today, where I finally remembered to fill out my journal.
Oh, also: We got high-quality steel, now we need to find a way to weld it together.
-----
The ship bounced around the Sol System as though it were a playground.
Gravitational Enhanced Propulsion (GEP) FTL, which had been dubbed the Hildew Drive, had been discovered. Ships were built outfitted with them and Hard Light engines, and of course Hard Light generators. Still, even with all that, Earth's defense fleet was still small, as the laser arrays took priority over the ships.
Then, deep space radars picked up the approaching fleet drop out of interstellar FTL just for a moment to engage system FTL. And things continued to move forwards.
The ships were launched. The last of the millions of laser arrays were launched. More ships were built even as they came out of FTL on the dark side of the moon.
Humanity wasn't ready, but if they bought themselves enough time, they would be.
-----
Laser targeting systems hoped online. Blast shutters closed over nonessential windows of the Space Elevator. Ships launched en masse, some being completed in transport. Missile silos readied themselves, deadmen's switches flipped, and nuclear bombers loaded their cargo bays. Across Earth, Humanity dug into the ground, and prepared to fight.
On the dark side of the moon, a scant few probes sent a signal regarding new contacts. As per protocol, Humanity's First Contact message played out to the fleet. When the probes were fired upon, the messages changed.
TFSU TO UNKNOWN FLEET: YOU ARE TRESPASSING UPON SOVEREIGN SPACE. YOU HAVE FIRED UPON TFSU-OWNED AND OPERATED INFRASTRUCTURE; LEAVE OR IDENTIFY YOURSELVES IMMEDIATELY.
The response was the fleet beginning to streak towards Earth.
EMPIRE ASSIMILATION FLEET ONE TO TFSU: SURRENDER OR DIE.
TFSU TO EMPIRE ASSIMILATION FLEET ONE: WE WILL SURVIVE OR DIE TRYING.
The fleet Freebird I Pulsed right in front of the incoming fleet. Shots were exchanged, and then Freebird I pulsed out before they could be targeted.
This pattern repeated itself twice more before Freebird II joined in, hailing fire from behind and disabling several ships before leaving. At random intervals, Freebird I and Freebird II attacked the Assimilation Fleet 1. As the assimilation fleet grew closer, the geostationary laser defense array fired. Multiple ships exploded.
Then, while being both randomly and systematically cut to pieces, the admiral began to finally fire back. Beams of light destroyed the entirety of Freebird II.
But that wasn't enough. Under constant laser-fire and being harassed from space, the Assimilation Fleet, who only ever saw surrenders, was demolished. With one last nuclear meltdown of an explosion, TFSU High Flyers MFC 000-00-014 destroyed the flagship of the Assimilation Fleet.
-----
Elsewhere, on a large planet with many de-powered space stations orbiting it, another ship appeared. But unlike the last, it chose to go here. Information from the demolished Empire probe had directed this ship to this planet.
Automated docking protocols with the ISS engaged. And far, far below, people cheered.
-----
Day 18-2
More people came. Humans. In an FTL ship. They docked with the ISS and we had a video chat. They're coming to rescue us. YES!
-----
The Boss was mad.
A Human FTL ship was rescuing the Humans. The Assimilation fleet had seen it's first total defeat since its inception, and the Emperor was breathing down his neck.
Maybe Kronfol had been right.
-----
Zaryos was in awe.
The Humans had invented FTL just to rescue nine people. She watch them engage in a video call with the ones who docked to the space station, and as they left for the planet's surface. She watched them streak down in a re-entry burn, heading right for them. The last month had seen Humanity do many things, and she was glad to have a new species as a friend.
They were being rescued.
-----
The War Council cheered.
"We saw the ultimate destruction of Freebird II, but Freebird I managed to pull through. We did it, people, we did it!"
And then, they got the news.
-----
The ISS was being pushed into FTL. As our rescue ship began the two-minute charge to Pulse, I looked around.
We scattered satellites all over the planet, and dropped even more supplies on the ground. We would be back for the survivors, but for now, we were needed back in Sol.
I watched through the window as a swirling mass of color with black and white lines chasing each other across it took over from the stars. A tear rolled down my cheek.
We had done it. We had survived. We had made first contact. We had made friends.
And we had made enemies. But I would deal with that another day. Because, most of all, we had finally made friends, with aliens, but also with ourselves.
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[34,864] characters excluding this last part.
Well, won’t you look at that, my longest writing project so far was posted in eleven parts to a writing prompt.
Anyway, I’m not sure whether to continue this further. It has potential, but my mind is being slushied by personal life (school isn’t really that bad for now).
Credit to u/RevenantThyamis for the prompt. Credit to u/gafser for getting me to write a part 2.
Special mention to u/LalaAnAbsolute for sticking with the story the entire time, and getting me to write parts 3 and above. Thank you to everyone!