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shijiujun · 5 years

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history3 ep 6 - i’m sorry

HAHAHA gosh okay so there’s this thing - i get a deathly case of secondhand embarrassment and WOW this ep’s restaurant scene is the epitome of that and i couldn’t make myself go through it and had to quickly press press press the fast forward button to get to the end because obviously shao fei has no idea what he’s doing and tang yi is totally like regretting his decision to come out and eat with shao fei so I’M SORRY GUYS I REALLY CAN’T TELL U WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SCENE OTHER THAN SHAO FEI AND TANG YI ORDERING FOOD

but i did make myself sit through the part where shao fei moves over to sit on tang yi’s side of the table and tries to feed him. i can see the total regret on his face.

LOL okay i think one of the touching parts of this episode is when shao fei returns to the team and he’s obviously scared of police chief, so he asks the girl junior who obviously has a crush on him where the police chief is, and if he’s in a good mood today - police chief appears right behind him and yells “not good!”, and shao fei tries to get out of it by 1. reminding police chief that he should concentrate on his daughter’s (i think, pls correct me if im wrong) wedding rather than his SMALL little mistake 2. he’s still sick, running a bit of a fever and his arm hasn’t healed BUT obviously police chief doesn’t give two shits and hits him where it hurts

police chief: “the previous time you wrote 3000 words (for his apology/reflection letter) and you obviously haven’t learnt anything, this time you wanna write 5000?”

shao fei: “oh come on, you can’t just increase the word count from 3000 to 5000 at a go!”

and then police chief drags him to interpol and the head/chief there to apologize for jeopardising the operation they were on, and obviously the chief ain’t happy with shao fei, calling him impulsive and unthinking of his actions as he not only jeopardised the previous mission for thailand, but this one as well - police chief, awwww he’s a softie and obviously cares about shao fei a lot despite how much he yells at him, says, “sir, shao fei is actually very hardworking and serious about his job”

to which the interpol chief threatens police chief, that if he doesn’t control shao fei, he’ll go to their bosses and tell them that they aren’t working together anymore and replace the investigative team with another one, so police chief has no choice but to promise that this is the last time that shao fei will do smth like this again

and awww outside, police chief smiles and praises shao fei for not talking back to the interpol chief, and shao fei admits that he was at fault, and then cheekily says that, well the interpol chief isn’t police chief - police chief scoffs and goes: “so you’ll be obedient in front of him but because it’s me you always talk back and argue with me?”

cue the light hitting again, and shao fei says that’s not the case, it’s because he knows police chief is the best, and thanks him for having his back inside, and police chief obviously is happy but pretends to be irked - awwwww they obviously care about each other a lot and police chief has a soft spot for shao fei despite everything - of course, because with the way shao fei works i’m not sure if i was boss i wouldn’t have like gone out of my mind

they return to the cafe/restaurant the previous mission was at, before shao fei and tang yi were kidnapped, to see if there are any clues as to who abducted them both and just as shao fei is talking to zhao zi, he turns around and catches sight of chen wen hao - and okay he’s cute but srsly what would him yeling at chen wen hao and catching up to him do at this point? of course chen wen hao leaves before they can catch up to him

whoooo cool mob boss tang yi - i’ve got to admit that chris wu in this role is damn excellent and he’s got the mob boss vibe in this case - he asks jack if he’s found out who abducted/attacked him, and jack says he needs a bit more time, and tang yi goes: “i hope i won’t be waiting too long.”

they get to the store and LOL as expected shao fei is there waiting for him with a GAUDY AS HECK SUIT OMG FLOWER PRINTS SHAO FEI FLOWER PRINTS AND TANG YI IS LIKE “it’s not suitable” and okay fine shao fei you win with that cute pout

so shao fei puts the suit back on the racks and thank god, and you can see that tang yi, consciously or unconsciously, is super amused by him. at this point i don’t think tang yi likes him that way yet, but he definitely has a soft spot for him whether he knows it or not - anw tang yi smiles and sits down and asks: “so what is it today? did you pick up something else of mine? or are you going to bring me for ‘coke + add spicy’ (referring to the earlier scene where they’re eating and shao fei is feeding him right, basically while i was avoiding the scene as much as i could, shao fei was showing tang yi (against the man’s will LOL) how to eat spicy food and then washing it down/adding to the effect with coke)?”

anw gosh shao fei always asks the same questions, so he asked if tang yi really had nothing to do with wang kun cheng’s death, and then to catch tang yi’s attention he says that he’s figured out who abducted/attacked them that day - that it’s chen wen hao and shao fei (correctly) guesses that tang yi was there that day to catch a glimpse of him after getting word that chen wen hao might turn up

tang yi, as always, neither confirms nor denies, just asks: “why are you saying all these?”

shao fei bb basically points out that tang yi more or less challenged and fucked with chen wen hao directly, and shao fei doesn’t want tang yi to be defeated by the man so early in the game, and tang yi is like “i’m not worried”

shao fei goes to sit next to him and i like that they’re really quite comfortable to the extent that tang yi aint like about to throw him off the couch and shao fei just does it without thinking of the distance between them - and omgahhhhh he stares at him for so long, and when tang yi asks what he wants to ask for real, shao fei simply sighs and says, “these past 4 years, no matter what i asked you, you always have this (poker) expression and i’ve resigned myself to the fact. i’d rather do my own investigation and find out, or.... wait for you to want to tell me.”

OH MY GOD THAT’S KIND OF... THAT’S TRUST MAN. THAT’S TRUST. and okay i may be reading too much into it but i think tang yi seems a bit surprised and touched in a sense, maybe that shao fei actually does know him q well or that shao fei actually left it at that instead of persisting in asking him questions, either way MY HEART-

shao fei goes back to the station and the team is having a meeting - they’re doing another undercover stakeout thing at a bar and police chief singles shao fei out and reminds him that he better do his job properly this time - and his cover is gg to the club with the junior as couples and LOL the club scene - i think wearing the couple pink shirts are like the girl’s idea, and shao fei is like: “isn’t wearing this a little bit ridiculous” YES SHAO FEI IT IS pink shirt and striped long sleeved underneath?!!!!! gosh

and whooooooo wow i gotta say, tang yi has got fine taste in friends - the FWB guy he’s with, he looks pretty good in that top and lol shao fei’s face when he sees tang yi come in with the dude - okay so the guy right, aside from being tang yi’s FWB, i think he also occasionally helps tang yi with his requests for e.g. in this case, tang yi says to him while playing darts that he wants him to find out who attacked him, and the guy goes, “you’ve only just come to see me and you want me to work :(((, didn’t you miss me?”

and tang yi is like, “you sure you want me to drop by often?”

pretty guy rolls his eyes and goes. “whatever. everytime you’re here trouble occurs”

and okay i think tang yi sees shao fei, and anw the junior leans real close to shao fei and drops the information that tang yi is very popular, and he sleeps with both women and men and look at shao fei’s JEALOUS FACE THERE’S NO MORE ESCAPE FOR YOU

AND OMFGGGGGG TANG YI - UNEXPECTEDLY HE SAYS SMTH NICE ABOUT SHAO FEI - okay so while tang yi and pretty guy are dancing together, pretty guy also mentions that chen wen hao met someone at the cafe/restaurant place, and tang yi smiles and says that he knows already, and pretty guy who i’m pretty sure is tang yi’s occasional informant for information, he’s like, “you already know? who told you?”

and tang yi just smiles, and pretty guys KNOWS he’s like “you’re such a player, did you find another guy? that guy is better than me?”

ANOTHER GUY REFERRING TO SHAO FEI, AND TANG YI SMILES HE’S ALR IN QUITE DEEP BUT HE DON’T KNOW IT YET, BUT HE SAYS, “that person, he’s impulsive, stubborn, troublesome and childish, but...”

“...he’s pretty okay.”

HE’S FOND OF SHAO FEI LOOK AT HIM YOU CAN’T TELL ME THAT HE AIN’T FOND OF SHAO FEI OKAY and pretty guy hears it too, he says, “well it sounds like the both of you get along pretty well.” AND TANG YI DOESN’T FUCKING DENY IT WHICH MEANS HE AGREES!

anw they catch sight of each other and tang yi idk what he wants to do but he deliberately like caresses pretty guy’s waist and then shao fei COME ON YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT KINDERGARTEN NURSERY SCHOOL STUDENT HUG and of course tang yi is like hah, lemme just kiss the dude

and woohoooo the bad guys turn up and the entire team is on alert including shao fei - i think tang yi didn’t know that he was there for an assignment until he saw people moving around and okay MAY I MAKE A COMMENT ABOUT HOW DAMN OBVIOUS THEY ALL ARE ISN’T THIS A COVERT OPERATION AND THE CLUB IS SO DAMN SMALL ANY ONE WITH EYES WOULD’VE SEEN THE COPS FROM A MILE AWAY

soooooo... hope you guys have seen the previews for next week’s episodes 7 and 8 and FARKKKK i can’t wait - shao fei is jelly that tang yi is chummy with pretty guy and i guess hong ye as well, and he’s going to be even more embarrassing at least for the next two episodes, but the good news is the plot has moved and next week shao fei is moving into tang yi’s place OMGGGG and we get more jack x zhao zi!!!

#history 3: trapped #history3圈套 #history 3: 圈套 #history3: trap

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tellerford13 · 7 years

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MO ASTOR- CHAPTER 24

We don’t own the bikes, brothers, or any “related” Sons of Anarchy, trust us, if we did we wouldn’t have the time to write. No money is being made from our stories. So, please don’t sue. It’d be a fruitless endeavor indeed. That being said, Harley, Journee, and any other newbies are ours, and we don’t share. :Whispers in creepy voice: “My precious.” The universe This reality is a mix of cannon, and our own ideas. We strive to keep the boys cannon, but since we will be shifting around some of the events, that will reflect in our writing and their personalities as well. It’s our goal to provide you with quality fiction, and solid, fleshed out OFC. We appreciate constructive criticism and love LOVE reviews, they are a writers life blood and definitely help encourage us and inspire us. We will be posting on our Tumblr where we’ll have fun pictures from time to time as well. http://tellerford13.tumblr.com We’ll also be taking requests for one shots, preferences or imagines for all things Sons at our other Tumblr, so check it out and send your thoughts!http://tellerford13oneshots.tumblr.com/ And just for fun, we’ve decided to start a Pinterest for the story! So if you want a glimpse at our girls and see into our world, check it out! https://www.pinterest.com/tellerford/

A/N: Are you feeling that stolen hour, cause I know we are. This is a short bit, but there will be more later this week. We wanted to get something out for y’all to read in the meantime.

SIDENOTE: Telford will kill me for this but it’s also her Birthday tomorrow (or today depending where you are) SO send her some love and thanks! (She’s the brain behind the operation I just post!)

Mo Astor Chapter 24

Journee

It’s odd stepping out into the sunshine and heat. Scotland had an overcast, damp vibe that I enjoyed immensely. It was like a permanent fall. Fall, my favorite, but not an often experienced season. Filip threads his fingers in mine as he leads me toward the baggage claim and I mentally switch modes. It’s Chibs now unless we’re alone or in close company. Things are different here. There’s a lack of freedom that comes with being back home, but this is where our roots are planted. I wouldn’t know what to do with a normal life. My time spent in college showed me that. I couldn’t relate to the average eighteen and nineteen-year-olds, hungry for their first taste of freedom and making shitty decisions. In our life, you’re always older than your years.

You have no choice. You see and hear too much, and safety precautions are a real thing. It changes the way you view life. I wanted to do my time, get a slip of paper and get out. There’s something to be said about having a skill to fall back on, and I like the image it gives me. There’s protection in that. The best thing an Old lady can offer is a good reputation. It keeps them separate from the shadiness the town knows Samcro has going on. It’s a careful balance we keep with Charming. We keep the corporations away who’d end their “Charming” way of life, and they turn a blind eye to the MC. It’s a system that works as long as everyone holds up their end of the bargain.

“Do we know who’s picking us up?” I ask.

“No clue, Love.”

Deep down I want it to be Juice. Two weeks is a long time to go without seeing his face or hearing his voice. I worry about my misguided son. He wasn’t brought up in this life, and his naivety could potentially get him in trouble. I’m working on the areas someone could exploit. I’ve seen what happens to men like him before in our culture. Chibs and I will make damn sure it doesn’t on our watch.

Chibs grabs our bags, and I admire his strength and gentlemanly ways. I’ve been in love with him since I was fifteen, but the reality of being his woman is even better than my teenage dreaming. He returns, and I thank God we opted to mail the other bags home.

“Ready, love?”

“I am.”

We move toward the exit, and I smile as I spot a familiar head of hair.

“Jackie boy,” Chibs yells making me giggle. J gives Chibs a fleeting smile and a manly hug.

“Good to have you back home, brother.”

His eyes are dull, and there’s tension he’s holding. I glance around and frown when I don’t see Lee.

“What happened? Where’s Lee?”

“I needed some one-on-one with my sister,” he says sheepishly.

I sigh. “What did you do?”

“What? Me? Nothing. That’s exactly why I’m trying to talk to you. I need some advice on how to proceed.”

I glance at Chibs. “Do you mind driving , Filip? This is going to take awhile.”

“Aye, I’ll drive, get our boy fixed up.”

“Start from the beginning,” I say as I walk between the two of them.

“Well, for starters. Wendy went off yesterday .We were there to check up on her, and I flipped out when I found her hanging over the toilet puking her brains.”

“Did she—

“No, but that was my first thought too. She’s just got really bad morning sickness.”

“Stupid bitch,” I mumble.

“Yeah, well she was right. I left, she found out she was pregnant, and I hooked up with Lee and got happy. I haven’t thought about what this would do to her or later, my relationship with my own kid. I mean shit…I’m creating a shit storm for him or her to be born into. What judge in their right mind is going to award full custody to a man with my record or my affiliations?”

“The one we buy,” I say honestly.

He shakes his head. “There’s so much shit going on at once, Journee.”

My full name is a screaming siren. He never does well when forced out of his depth.

“When isn’t it in our lives? It’s just another hurdle to climb. Wendy was already crazy. You add hormones, and a woman scorned vibe to the mix, and you get extra insane. She’ll calm down after it’s all said and done, cause she knows as well as we do, she has no choice. That bitch ain’t got the balls to try to take you to court. She knows who runs this town. You have to deal with her and keep the peace until she pops baby T out.”

“Baby T?”

“Teller, duh.”

He chuckles.

“You make it sounds so easy.”

“Not easy, just necessary. Problem solved. Can I get my Lee time now?”

“About her…”

“Jackson Nathaniel Teller, I’ve been waiting what feels like my entire life for shit to happen between you two. If you ruin this now, I will fucking kill you with my bare hands.”

“Jesus, Baby J.” He looks at Chibs. “You sleep with one eye open brother?”

“I don’t inspire that emotion in her, Jackie boy.” He winks, and I giggle.

Jax shakes his head as we finish our trip through the underground tunnel to the car. He hits the key FOB, unlocks the car and pops the trunk. I can tell there’s more. He’ll spill it once we’re in the backseat alone. I place my hand on Chibs chest and tilt my head up for a kiss. He palms my ass, pulling my body to his and I moan as our tongues tangle. The wedding changed a few things. He never would’ve done this in public before. I like it. We part, and he places his forehead against mine.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Always, lennan. I know his happiness affects your own.” I place my hand over his heart before I peel my body from his and force myself to join Jax.

“This better be good. I should be sucking face with my old man during this ride.”

“I love her, Journee.”

I laugh. “Is that all? Bro, I could’ve told you that years ago. I tried a dozen times.”

“You don’t understand. This changes everything.”

“This is what it means to really care for someone, Jax. That fear of hurting them or losing them is how you know it’s the real thing. You’re finally ready to put someone ahead of yourself. I’m so glad I’m here to see it. Humility looks good on you.” I muse his hair, and he swats my hand.

“You’re a little shit. You know that?”

“Seriously Jay. You’re freaked out because you finally have something you don’t want to lose. It’s not a bad thing. It’ll keep you from making dumb ass decisions. The real tragedy would be living a life where you never experience that kind of love. We both know you dropping the L word on Lee right now would not be a good thing. You jump in head first. She tests the water repeatedly, waits a little more, and then she dips a toe in. You need to be patient. You want to keep her? Then you need to temper that impulsiveness and wait for the right moment.”

“When will that be?”

“I don’t know, but you will.”

He huffs.

“J, have I ever steered you wrong when it’s this important?”

“No.” he shakes his head.

“And I won’t start now.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Alright.”

“You good.”

“As good as I’m going to get.”

I pat his cheek. “Welcome to the land of mortals young blonde god.”

“What?” he wrinkles his nose, and I laugh as we weave through traffic. Someone’s eager to get home. The tone for Simple Man rings out. “Mama told me when I was young...” And I laugh. Of course, she has to call the minute, we land.

He rolls his eyes. “Hey, Ma. Yes, I have them. Because Chibs is driving. Nothing. Can’t a man want to catch up with his sister?” He scowls.” Seriously? They just got back. They probably have jet lag out the ass.” He grimaces. “Yeah, I’ll let them know. No, Lee isn’t pissed at me. Yes, I know. I don’t plan on it.”

It’s always amusing to see Jax read the riot act by his mother. Partially because it means she’s not going in on me. She took the mother role to heart, and never let go. I’ve had my ass chewed out by her more times than I want to remember. “She’s right here.” He thrusts the phone at me, and I know the shoe is now on the other foot.

“Hey, Ma.”

“Hey, baby, good to hear your voice. I worried that he’d chained you to a bed and decided to keep you over there permanently.”

I laugh. “It’s more likely it’d be the other way around.”

She chuckles. “That’s my girl. A woman’s got to know how to control things while letting the man think he’s running the show.”

“You taught me well.”

“That I did. We’re having a family dinner tonight. I expect to see the two of you there.”

I mentally sigh. “Ma, we just touched down.”

“Exactly. So you’ll have enough time to spruce up, bring those vacation photos, and get home.”

I roll my eyes and bang my head against the seat.

Jax chuckles, and I elbow him in the ribs. His laughter becomes a groan, and it’s my turn to smirk.

“Fine, we’ll be there.”

“Good. I can’t wait to have my babies all together again. Especially now that you’re married and soon to be carrying a grandbaby. The first one with a mother I love.” I shake my head. That’s Gemma always light years ahead of everyone else. The ink is barely dry on the marriage license, and she’s talking about kids.

“We just got married.”

“And it’s past time we had some little brown babies running around here.”

I snort. “Only you could get away with saying that.”

“Damn straight. “ I hear her exhale, and I know she’s smoking.

“We’ll be there, but we might be late. I have to hunt up clean clothes.”

“I can’t wait to see you, baby. Love you.”

“Love you too Ma.” I hang up and shake my head.

“You miss Scotland yet?” Jax asks.

I laugh. “Meh, this is home. Besides I’m about to have a niece or nephew, and I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

“It’s coming up fast.”

“How are you feeling about that?”

“Ready. I had a talk with my dad, and I got my head on straight. I can be a good dad.”

“I know you will be,” I say sincerely. “You got a lot of people who’ll kick your ass if you aren’t.”

He chuckles. “Never one to mince words.”

“I hear it’s a family trait of mine.”

“Yeah. I hear your big brother is pretty cool.” He wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me against him.

“God, you are so conceited.” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “Tell me what else I’ve missed while I’ve been away.”

I lean into his warmth as he tells me in a boyish animated way that fills me with joy. He’s changing in the best possible way.

#sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy fanfiction #Jax Teller #chibs telford #Mo Astor

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irarelypostanything · 5 years

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Coding is Serious

I woke up and I didn’t remember who I was, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. My head, and the rest of my body, seemed totally uninjured. The apartment room in which I awoke looked ordinary, albeit messy...whoever had been living there, and that was probably me, cooked a dinner and didn’t wash the dishes. The stove was still warm. The clock said 8PM.

I checked the mirror. I looked 16, but something I couldn’t put into words told me I was a little older than that. I looked Asian, probably Filipino or Korean. I could remember the title of every recent Marvel movie, the lyrics to every Coldplay song in existence, and every power of 2 from 2^0 to 2^32 (for some unknown reason). What I couldn’t remember was anything about myself or how I had gotten here.

I explored the town that I found myself in. It was snowing, but there were no people to shovel snow. I traversed the entire thing, a dinky little town with shops and houses and roads but no people, all contained as a gated community with no marked path to lead out. There were no vehicles, either, but they felt the need to make roads. I couldn’t understand it at all.

There are lots of bottled water and ramen, though. I spent the next two months subsisting on that.

In those two months, I investigated my surroundings more closely and tried to figure out who I was. I found a book called Journal, but it was gibberish—it was written in greek letters, and weird line formations that looked kind of like musical notes, and at one point I swear I saw the fucking anarchy symbol. I found a more sensible file called README, and I figured that was supposed to be read, but it was equally mysterious:

-initial commit

-making a building

-merge pull request #18 from branch c00lhacker1337/feature9

-prototype complete

-weird bug

-no No NO NO NO NO

-pray to God for help

-GOD CANT HELP US NOW

-....

-Commit Message

I found a lot of notes, but they were long-winded and usually wrong. Some labeled houses, but they gave them worthlessly non-descriptive names like house1, thisHouse, and houseInstance. Most diagrams led me to an enormous hotel-like building in the center of town I had apparently been designing. This building was awful, as if someone was simply asked to continually add rooms to something with no initial plan. The hallways winded endlessly. Some of the doors, even as high up as the 14th floor, just led outside. The rooms, instead of having numbers, had confusing word names that were the same for entire floors. On one floor, every single room was called hotelSystemConfig. On another floor, which was like an identical copy but with a few added differences, every single room was called HotelSystemConfig. On the ground floor, for no reason at all, every room was just called FuckYouSteven.

I reached a point where I just couldn’t take it anymore, so on an impulse I set the whole thing on fire. This was a mistake. The building was surprisingly flammable. The entire town doesn’t exist anymore because it’s ashes, and I was forced to take a backpack full of canned food I salvaged and head North, into the unknown.

Part I. The Jewels and Stones

After three days I met a kind man who lived by a river.

I was being pursued by something. It was night and I could hardly see. I had encountered birds, rabbits, and feral cats...never anything like this. In the dark, it looked like a monster wolf that was three or four times larger than a normal wolf. It was fast-moving, and it made a sound like an auto-tuned whale in agony.

I saw a lighted cabin and made a run for it. The door opened and a man, unphased and with a large item in his hand, shut the door and kept his ground. He took aim with his gun (I could see it now, it was a rifle) and fired. The beast stopped and screamed in pain as the shots kept coming. It died, and the thorough work of the shooter ensured that it would stay down.

“Come inside,” said the man, his face illuminated by the porchlight and his gun smoking, “it’s cold out there.”

His name, I learned, was K. When he asked me for mine, I lied and said it was J because J comes before K. K let me stay with him for two weeks, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy the company. It was the most relaxed, most peaceful two weeks I would have. It was all downhill after that, and if I knew how insane everything would become after I left then I might have stayed.

In the mornings he would leave for his work, which was at at a mine he operated entirely by himself. I read the books he had lying around, which were mostly on geology. He told me there was a large town nearby, but that the rocky terrain made it only possible to get there on foot, with a walk that took four hours. Every day, they would present him with a handful of stones identified as the current set of jewels.

K seemed amiable enough, but very introverted. The few conversations we had were very nondescript.

“K, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“How long have you lived alone?”

“Ten years.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah.”

From the geology books, I learned that the subject worked differently in this place. K’s mining work was very efficient, and his machines provided him with large collections of valuable stones every few hours. The largest stones were the size of a standard wine glass bulb; the smallest were no larger than a water droplet.

At a point, I started to help him in his work. The town provided him with sets of stones that were considered jewels, and he was asked to identify which of his stones were jewels and collect them. He had a device that scanned stones, and represented their value with a letter.

Example 1:

Jewels: “AC”

Stones: “ACACAC”

Result: All six are jewels

Example 2:

Jewels: “AD”

Stones: “ACACAC”

Result: The three As are jewels

Assumptions: Jewels are distinct, these letters are in English, every day the jewels list changes because of the S&P500 or something

On the first day I helped him, K gave me a set of about 12 stones and three jewels. The work was tedious, but easy. I followed his recommended approach and took the first jewel, scanned it, then scanned all 12 stones to see if any were jewels. Then I took the second jewel, scanned it, and scanned the 12 again to see if any was a jewel. Finally, I took the third jewel, scanned it, and scanned the 12 again to see if any was a jewel.

That night, I excitedly asked K if he had ever thought of ways to optimize his methods. He said he hadn’t, but he was very open to the idea. In hindsight that would have been a good time to suggest removing stones already identified as jewels, but for some reason I never tried that.

On the second day I helped him, K gave me a set of 100 stones and seven jewels. The work this time was far more intense and took me much longer. In frustration, I started to take 15-minute runs by the river to cool off.

On the third day I helped him, K gave me a set of 1000 stones and 12 jewels. In anger, and during a run, an idea came to me.

“Let’s start by scanning the jewels,” I explained, “and then use a notebook to mark down what the jewel letters are. Then every time we scan a stone, we check to see if it matches anything written down in the notebook.”

“Wow, that’s much smarter. You’ve basically created a hashmap.”

“No, I created a simple chart with 26 boxes that I use to keep track of jewels.”

“I hate to break it to you, but that’s a hashmap.”

“So it will work?”

“Yes, this is great. It doesn’t solve space complexity, but it really improves on the asymptotic time.”

“Right, big oh of m plus n now.” I said that last part automatically. I still didn’t know what he was talking about, but this conversation brought back a strange memory in me.

“I hope this helps,” I said, opting to wrap this up and sleep instead of trying to bring back more memories.

“Absolutely. Something that scales like this will improve my profits immensely.”

We worked together for a few more days. He brought in much more money. He was so pleased with my contribution that he gave me his most valuable jewel: An onion-sized red crystal he said had magical properties. I didn’t know what the properties were, but it did glow in the dark and that was tight.

I decided it was time to go. I don’t know why. I guess I was getting a weird vibe.

“This path will take you to the town,” he said, in the last conversation we ever had. “Around the midpoint in your journey, you’ll see a palace. It’s impossible to miss.”

“Cool.”

“Avoid it! Do not enter its gates, even if they open for you. Those who enter, it’s said, never leave.”

“Is it a necessary part of the walk?”

“No.”

“Okay, then this should be very easy.”

“It is said that you will be tempted. I always am. I learned to gain the strength to walk around it, but it was incredibly difficult. You need to have resolve, and discipline. If you walk beyond those gates, you will not be saved.”

“K.”

I put the red stone in my backpack and left. Walking past this palace did not sound like it would be hard at all. Once I reached the town, I figured, things would start to fall into place.

I was wrong. Not two hours later, I would see the gates open and walk right in.

#short story

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