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nikkeisimmer · 2 months

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Legacy Progress is Minimal

Having run smack-dab into a brick wall in regards to any sort of writing to further The Chikamori Legacy, I'm finding that the only thing I can do is to just go back to the chapters I've already written and screencap as much of that story as I can in-game.

A lot of the problems begin when there isn't the custom content available to match the story ideas I have in the game, or the lot size prevents me from doing the type of buildings I want to in-game.

Where I live, we have a mall called Metrotown.

THIS...is Metrotown. It's frickin' huge. The only way I would be able to picture this kind of lot is if we were able to do a 600x800 lot and with the Sims 3 max size lot being 64x64 yeah...nope...can't be done. If I wanted to do West Edmonton Mall in a Sims 3 "Edmonton" world, it would be even worse, since WEM is even bigger than Metrotown. In fact Metrotown is only the seventh largest shopping mall in Canada.

I was 16 when Metrotown opened. I knew a time when this particular mall didn't exist. This mall opened in 1986. Yes, I know...that makes me very OLD in comparison to the majority of people playing the Sims. After 5 decades on this planet, and a brain that is getting tired, I don't know if I'm capable of learning how to do the things that would get me to the point of being able to create the things I want to create. That would involve learning how to mesh, learning how to code in a way that would enable that particular cc to do what I want it to do in game. These are things that, unfortunately, are now beyond me in mental capability.

Part of my story is IN this mall. Yeah...there's ways around it, Maybe I can make sections of the mall and use it like a set that I can film in utilizing a save JUST for that purpose.

“What the hell are you doing?” Haruo groused at a driver who had managed to change lanes only to have to slam on his brakes to avoid impacting the rear of the car in front of him who had stopped due to the traffic snarl. That particular driver ended up locking his wheels due to the snow on the ground and slid about ten feet before managing to stop the car, just before he was about to impact the rear bumper of the car in front of him. About an inch of space separated the two bumpers. River was shaking her head at the audacity of that particular driver. Haruo rolled down the window of his own car, before exploding on the other driver giving him the finger, “Snow reduces traction, ya mental midget.” River started laughing at Haruo’s acidic derogatory comment towards the other driver’s driving abilities and his mental acuity. “That idiot nearly rear-ended the other guy.”

Somehow they managed to get to Metrotown without Haruo completely losing his shit over the stupidity of other drivers; River noted that Haruo effortlessly avoided situations that would potentially end up with other less-capable drivers into a major accident. His steering was confident and he made lane changes only when necessary. Plus he’d gotten a set of Nokian winter tires for his vehicle which ended up being the best purchase he’d made, they negotiated the snow-covered road with a surety that he wouldn’t fishtail or slide unless he did something extremely stupid. They gripped the road like there was nothing on it. He eased his vehicle into the 2nd level parkade and parked near the Chapters entrance. Upstairs was the Rainforest Cafe, but he wasn’t interested in going there at the time.

The two headed to the first level food court that was in the Metrotown section of the mall. “Oh...there’s the Manchu Wok right over there.” River told him as they walked over. The four item meal was around §19.00 and Haruo paid for two of them. They went to sit down at a table. There were vendors ranging from Western and Chinese to Greek and East Indian foods and the mix of aromas in the air from the food vendor stalls was dizzying as they partook of their meal. Once they were finished, they wandered the mall from one end to the other, arm in arm. It was the one of the largest malls in Canada at the time and by the time they were finished walking around, their feet were aching. After grabbing a drink from Orange Julius, they headed back to the car. The sun was nearing the horizon and Haruo checked the time. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. In the lengthening darkness, Haruo and River got into their Mercedes and pointed the nose back towards downtown Vancouver.

So, yeah, there is a lot of text that needs to be illustrated by screencaps. It gets rather frustrating because sometimes the emotions and gestures I want to represent in my story don't have the custom content poses that should be available or I want a specific pose that hasn't been created yet. So unfortunately, I have to make do with either what EA offers or come up with something close that someone else has created. It would be so much nicer if I could master poses so that I can create the scenes I want to screencap.

And that desire also meshes into other things. Like I want this F-14 (fully colored properly with the proper logo n' everything)

For my Tosh "Animal" Nakamura sim, my OC from JAG. No he's a full-time F-14 naval aviator, not a part-timer like Harm (the main character in JAG). This is his plane, Fast Eagle 101, Texas Gal after his beloved Meg Austin.

People say, "oh, it's easy...just rip it from FSX (Flight Simulator X), drop it into Blender, clean up the bones, then convert it to a format that's usable in Sims 3 as an object." Yeah, my head is spinning right at the point of "Drop it into Blender."

I'm absolutely clueless. But if I want that...I need to learn HOW to do that, right? So...where to start? ~sigh~

In the meantime I get to use stuff like Sandy's (at ATS3) McDonald's food items and restaurant decor to make a lovely little McDonald's that I can utilize...since it appears to (as in real life) be my go-to fast-food restaurant if I'm (or my sims are:) hungry.

Yes, that's River McIrish - it just so happens she has the same life-backstory as my real-life wife. So since we can't use self-made sims for our legacy spouses. Well, River McIrish was as good a choice as any to come to Haruo's side as his girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée and spouse-to-be.

Well, hopefully my errant muse problem gets solved soon and I get to get on with my legacy.

#The Chikamori Legacy #River McIrish #Haruo Chikamori #River and Haruo #Sims 3 #TS3 #bitching about meshing in Sims 3 #learning new things is difficult as you age

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soup-crime · 2 years

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Rant ahead

God this fucking sucks. I really fucking need irl friends and shit so I can actually go out instead of sitting on my ass doing fuck-all on my computer but to get friends I need to go out more but the only people I have any real opportunities to go out with are my sibling and their kid. No offence to the kid. I love her she's great but when every excursion is us going to the store and then maybe to a park and the entire time basically everything is revolving around the nearly 3-year-old. Whenever we do go out, I'm nervous/anxious any time we are around other people cause I always try to present feminine but I can't do it very well at all since I have barely any of the right clothes and my boobs are too goddamn small for anyone to actually notice a VAST majority of the time and also if I talk the whole thing is ruined anyway since I have spent zero time doing voice training despite my want to and I feel like if I talk then either I'm gonna fuckin die (unlikely) or people will just think I'm some weird guy in some girl's clothes and then the whole 'illusion' is ruined and I hear people talking about "that guy over there" and it makes me sad and disappointed and regretting the whole trip out. And I can't really do anything about those problems because I don't have the money to buy more feminine clothing, or buy food that I will/can eat so I can actually get calories that will make it so my boobs can grow at all, or get appointments with a professional for voice training (and its not like there's anyone in my area who does that anyway) cause I don't have the self-discipline to do it myself. My only source of income is my sister giving me $70 to watch her dog for the weekend like once a month and I always have to spend that on cat litter/food and gas (I can't get unemployment cause I left my previous job cause I was moving). I know I need a job but every ounce of some part of my brain brick-walls me whenever I try to do anything about my unemployment. Resumes are hard and I don't have any real skills and I don't do anything and I don't want to work at a place where I would have to interface with the public for reasons similar to why I hate going out. And the few resumes I have turned in got me nowhere despite me turning them in to place that are desperate for workers cause no one actually wants to hire anyone anyway.

So I end up hiding in my room all day hoping the next time I go out, something great will finally happen like I get offered a job that I can actually do or I meet someone and we end up friends suddenly, neither of which is likely to happen in any situation that isn't from a movie or someshit. My life feels endlessly empty because of situations that I probably could end up doing something about if I was a stronger person. This feels worse than High School. Yeah in HS I never went out with people and I never got any of the life experience having a group of friends will give you and I always felt like I was missing out on all the things I would never get the chance to do again and the things that I should be doing at that age and the things I should always be able to do if I have friends to do shit with, but in HS at least I had a place to be and do shit and feel needed (I was a very good tuba player for the school band) nearly every day. Nowadays I don't get that. I am trapped in my bedroom because I don't have the resolve to get a job to solve all my problems. I don't want to get help filling out a resume or anything like that cause I always need help with things because I don't have any real experience and I feel useless when I have to ask someone to help me do something I don't know how to do that I would have known how to do if I weren't a goddamn coward. Like I could maybe have had friends in HS if I actually tried. I felt like I couldn't because I'd been in the same school district my whole life so everyone there already knew me and probably remembered the stupid things I did when I had less self-control in elementary and middle school and that was a lame person who no one liked. But all of that isn't necessarily true. I'm sure I would have been fine. No one really treat me with any real animosity as far as I could tell past my freshman year or so (the seniors those years were terrible. I barely did anything and apparently that meant I looked like I was the one responsible for the school shooting threat)

I have a few online friends (All here on Tumblr except one who I grew up with in my hometown) and they always say shit like 'come and talk to me if you ever need to' but I don't want to take them up on it because since I am absolute dogshit at initiating contact so I feel like I'll only ever contact them when I'm feeling sad and that all our conversations will be just bummerfests and I'm terrible at conversations anyway so I might end up turning any conversations that either of us start into me complaining which is not a good way to keep a friend. And I have so many problems that I'm always gonna have something to complain about.

If I ever tried to open all this up for real to an actual person, they might want to try and help. And I make helping me quite the endeavor. I'm always complaining and thinking of problems to suggested solutions and am just so used to people's help not working at all because I grew up while having ADHD or something and I couldn't do stuff and adults were always trying to suggest solutions that only neurotypical people could make actual use of and so apparently that means any time anyone tries to help their help is gonna be something that doesn't work at all and I'm unwilling to try according to my brain

Whatever. Sorry this is terribly formatted and unreadable. Its a rant what do you want me to do. There's probably more I could say and more context I could give that I can't remember but I am tired and out of steam so I'm just gonna cut it off here.

#I should really tag rants #I should really tag personal stuff #I don't want people to read cause I'm not looking for help about it.#but I can't stop you

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riseofarmy · 3 years

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01 | YOONGI KNOWS BEST

i can do this all day 01 | yoongi knows best

author : @riseofarmy

pairing : kim seokjin x original character

words : 1938

i can do this all day masterlist

previous chapter

DARLING

Yoongi squints his cat eyes and looks into my own from the folds of my jacket, but doesn't make a sound. Good boy. It's like you can read my mind. I stand still for what feels like an eternity, tuning out my heartbeat to check for any unusual sounds.

The one time I hadn't checked if other people were following, some whackjob had managed to tail me. If it hadn't been for Yoongi's soft hiss - something he only does around strangers - I wouldn't have even known I was being followed and would have led the creeper straight to the Han inheritance.

Just thinking about how close I had been to losing the treasure sent a shiver through me.

So thanks again, Yoongi. You and your hatred for social interaction saved our asses.

In acknowledgement of my mental gratitude, Yoongi pokes his head out of my jacket again and looks around. We were right in front of the entrance to the old Han tomb, which was embedded in a small hill among the Mount Ilsan forests. The tomb itself was made of light grey stone and extended into the mound, with the open entry leading to a locked door.

I pause under the entry for another minute, patting his soft, black fur and gathering my wits. It had taken me over a year to move back to Daehan-Minguk, but now that I was here it felt like my plan finally had a shot at success. The one thing I needed to make all my wishes come true was inside my tomb, and all I needed to do was get my hands on it.

The magic lamp.

"We'll go find it one day, Darling," my dad had said to me one day, when I was still too young to know how evil people can be. "Then I can treat your mum like the queen she is to me."

But first, I needed to get in.

I walk through the entry, where I'm faced with an imposing set of double doors made of the same grey stone I assume is used through the whole tomb. Yoongi nuzzles my hand when I bring it to my neck, where a small drawstring bag hangs; inside is the key my father gave me as he told me about the tomb.

It was a strange-looking key, with teeth poking at five angles rather than just one, but it clicks perfectly into the lock, and I nearly slump with relief. A part of me had been worried that perhaps after all I did to get here, the key wouldn't even fit, that my dad had made some sort of mistake.

There was no need to fear though. Stone grinds against stone as the doors are drawn apart by some ancient mechanism, and I step through.

If I didn't already know about the Han family, I could learn everything I needed to just by looking around.

Within was a long hallway, and in each of the small rooms branching off was the burial chamber of a different Han. The whole tomb was lit by the afternoon sunlight streaming through yellowing windows and all of the chambers were basically dripping in gold, studded with gems and draped with silks, all covered in a layer of dust.

As expected, the Han were filthy rich, even in death.

It was a little bit sickening to see when I had to slave away as a labourer for two years just to have the money to get to Daehan-Minguk. I tell myself that I would come back here one day and take away from the dead what they couldn't use anyway, but not now.

Right now, I have to go to the oldest tomb, the one which held Han Jinsoo and Han Euntaek. Everyone thought Euntaek started the Han empire, but the real brain behind the operation was his wife, Jinsoo. Despite having to pass credit to her husband for all her work, she built the most successful merchant business in Daehan-Minguk, and it was in her chamber that the real treasure was hidden.

I make my way to the foot of her tomb and find the brick with Jinsoo's name written on it, exactly where my dad said it would be. Before I can have second thoughts, I press it hard. For a stomach-churning second, nothing happens, but then I hear stone grinding again and the floor between her tomb and Euntaek slides apart.

Alright. Everything's going according to plan.

Yoongi pokes his head out to examine the dank, earthy smell coming from the steps the lead to the underground room. It had taken me so long to get to right here, and not once was I nervous. I knew this is what I had to do the second my dad told me about it, but now that I'm here...

No, I can't have second thoughts. I have to see this through to the end.

With a pat on Yoongi's head to gather my courage, I stride down the stairs, my heart already beating more erratically as I get closer to my dream. After the stairs is a long, winding passage that got darker and colder the further I went, but one last turn later, I'm faced with... more gold. What a surprise.

It's kind of pretty here though. I can't figure out how, but light streams into the room even though we're underground - it's just bright enough to set the looming heaps of coins alight with a soft orange glow. It wasn't dusty like the upper chambers, but I could still tell that no one had been here since it was last locked up.

Yoongi accidentally flicks my face with his tail as he wiggles out of my jacket and onto the floor. He walks alongside me as I explore the rolls of silk leaning against the walls, the chests filled with sparkling gems and-

Hang on. Where is it? Money, more fabric, diamonds... Is that the old royal crown? More gold, more gems...

I can't find it.

Even after searching for another hour, digging through the coins with a bored Yoongi clawing at my back, I can't find the lamp. Oh hell no. This is not happening right now. I can't have come all this way for it not to be here.

Panic grips me for a moment and I drop to the ground, running a hand over the hair that was just starting to grow out again. Come on Darling, think!

Dad said the old Han tombs were within the Mount Ilsan forests. He had given me the key, said to go into Jinsoo's chamber and press her name at the foot of her tomb, that the room I'm looking for would open. He told me everything he knew about the Han magic lamp...

Which means someone else has already come and taken it. But that can't be right either - Dad was the only one who knew about it, and I was the only one he told. There's no way someone could have just stumbled on the tomb either - it was set within jungle-like forests in the crook between two mountains, and the nearest town was hours away.

"Miaaaanngg." Yoongi butts his head against my legs, wrapping his tail around an ankle in the way he does when he wants to show me something.

"Not now Yoongi. Show me after I find the lamp, okay?" But he doesn't give up, pouncing on my foot with a newfound vigour and even attempting to bite my shin.

"Alright alright! Have it your way you utter goose." Finally satisfied, leads me to a chest I had already looked through and elegantly settles himself next to it. Unbelievable.

"Thanks Yoon, but I've already checked that one." I don't know if cats can look unimpressed, but he manages to do just that at my response. I take a step away from him, but he lets out a loud yowl and starts batting at the ground.

Where Han Jinsoo's name is inscribed in the stone.

"Yoongi!" I pick him up in a tight snuggle, pressing kisses to his head as he pretends not to enjoy it. "I'm sorry baby, I'll never doubt you again, I swear! I'll get you a whole cat palace for yourself."

With Yoongi snug in my arms, I stare at Jinsoo's name on the brick. I guess she only wanted the lamp to be taken by someone who needed only that - if I hadn't known the lamp existed, I would have been distracted by the never-ending rooms of gold.

Maybe it was important to her, too, when she was alive.

A wiggle from Yoongi prompts me to lean down and press the brick hard. This time, instead of any sort of door opening, the brick next to it pops open to reveal a hollow space filled only with-

The magic lamp!

I pick it up gently and nearly start crying with the relief that finally, finally, it was in my hands. Eleven years. That's how long I've coveted this lamp, and now...

A shit-eating grin creeps on my face as I examine it.

The body of the lamp was made with intricately hammered gold and the shade made with glass that fades from purple to clear. There was a peculiar jewel set into the gold - it's a deeper, velvety purple in the shadows, but a softer, lavender when the light hits it right.

Yoongi looks disgusted when a deranged cackle bubbles in my throat, but I didn't care. I felt a little deranged, drunk on the power this lamp gave me, this tiny lamp worth more than everything in this entire tomb put together.

"Yoonie-baby. Are you hungry? I bet you are. You want me to give you something yummy to snack on?" Yoongi simply drapes himself over a particularly soft roll of silk, ignoring me pointedly as if to say 'where in this room are you going to get food for me from?'

I stick my tongue out at him (even though he doesn't see it) and I stare into the gem in the lamp. "I'll show you. I wish that Yoongi had something to eat."

Nothing happens.

I wait for a minute - maybe it's dusty from not being used? - and then another, but still, nothing happens.

Just as I think to try again, though, the lamp starts to get warmer in my hands, trembling as if there was something inside. It gets so hot that I want to drop it, but it's like my fingers are glued to the gold. Not just my fingers are stiff though, my whole body seizes up and I can't move no matter how hard I will myself to.

Yoongi hisses at the lamp as it suddenly lights with a flame that flickers white and lilac. The flame doesn't stay within the glass shade - it grows until it shoots up to the ceiling, spreading across the surface and then back down the walls to cover everything in the room.

The fire morphs into a thick, purple smog, and just when I think I might choke on it, the smoke gets sucked back into the lamp.

Just like that.

It all happens so quickly that I might have imagined it, but the air smells different now, less earthy and more like jasmine. My fingers unstick from the suddenly cold metal and let it fall to the ground. I follow it down, letting Yoongi jump into my lap as he yowls and butts his head against my quivering hands.

And then, a voice.

"Man does it feels good to be out of there!"

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jlpat82 · 5 years

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Not Out Home

Prologue/Chapter 1

A hundred years ago the human race did the unspeakable, bombs were dropped. Most of the population wasn't prepared for it and millions died as a result. The entire top side of the planet was laid to waste, the land is barren. Constant blowing of hot radioactive winds whip up dust and sand, changing the landscape year by year with large sand dunes. Storms are a constant reminder that our ancestors messed up, these storms drop acidic rain on the soil contaminating it further. Everything that society had known, had become accustomed to was gone in the blink of an eye. Life as they knew it, gone.

You're probably wondering how I know all of this. A small sect of the government foresaw the dropping of the bombs and acted accordingly. They built large complexes made of reinforced materials, not only to withstand the blast but also the inevitable fallout. Small buildings out cropped amongst the wasteland of a landscape. Connect by tunnels underground, and tubes above ground. These tubes are serviced every four years by volunteers, as the blowing sand weakens the tubes reinforced plexiglass. Last year was the last fix year.

I was born in one of these complexes seventy years after the bombs stopped. Growing up in school we learned what life used to be like, what the trees looked like. We learned about the animals that inhabited our planet, what day to day activities those before us did. What I'd give to have been alive during that time. To feel a fresh breeze on my face, to put my feet in a stream.

Everything is recycled, the air that is pushed through our ventilation system is recycled, as is our water. It's collected, purified, and rebottled. And don't get me started on the food.

Why does any of this matter you ask? Well, as a dreamer of times gone by I take the long route wherever I go. I walk through the plexi tubes, staring out imagining what it would be like to take a step out there.

When I saw human foot prints on the outside of the tube and large hand prints on the side I was a little more then startled. We have been told time and time again how toxic the air is outside the walls of our compound. Nothing is said to be able survive out there without the proper suits, even then four hours tops.

Chapter 1

I watched as the sands swirled in and around the steps, slowly covering them. They were definitely human, and large at that. Whoever had made them must have been heavy as the prints themselves were deep. I raised my hand to compare the handprint to mine. My hand was dwarfed by the size and I am no small woman.

I stepped back, dumbfounded, here was someone's feet and hand prints but I saw nothing leading to them or away. It was like they had materialized and vanished back into thin air. I surveyed the tan landscape before me, nothing out of place. Slowly I turned and continued my short walk to work

I work at store the sells the staples of life, preprocessed dinners in four flavors. These bricks came in chicken, beef, pork, and what's that. It's something you just can't quite put you're finger on. Some people say it taste like lamb, others say fish, hence the reason I call it what I do. None of us alive today have tasted true lamb or fish, then again we have never tasted beef, pork, or chicken either.

We also sell bottled water, and a lot of it. Our store also sells clothing, all identical. The same black pants and a polo that comes in four colors, dusty grey, dull blue, dark sand, and white.

When I say our life is boring that is no understatement.

"Julianne, you're late!" Elise, my coworker and best friend stumbled through her whispered words. "You're like never late."

"I was walking the tubes." I caught sight of my boss out of the corner of my eye, so I quickly shut myself up.

"Julianne!" He bellowed, waddling over on short stubby legs. His hair combed over his balding crown. When I said our food was crap I wasn't referring to everyone, just us in lower class. "This is the only warning I'll give, don't not be late again or I'll have them reassign you to the factories."

Elise and I watched as he grabbed a box off the table to our left. He tucked it under his short arm, resting it against one of his rolls. He turned and toddled back to the front of the store favoring his right foot.

"One day I hope he chokes on a sandwich." Elise hissed, crossing her arms.

"Most likely a stroke or a heart attack." I replied, walking into the stockroom. When I said earlier about the whole bricks coming in four flavors that only goes for lower class, like Elise and I. Fat cats like my boss, Robert, are considered upper class. They have a wider variety of foods to chose from.

He was from a wealthy back ground. His grandparents were some kind of oil tycoons before the bombs dropped and they paid a pretty penny to get in the complex. Which pretty much cemented him into a life of luxury. He can go places only other upper class can go. Places I could only dream of.

"Yeah, but choking on a sandwich would not only be far more entertaining but a fitting death as well. Anyway back to your tube story." We loaded a dolly full of boxes with the same dull clothes we were wearing.

"Right, the tube. It's was weird, I saw handprints on the side and foot prints on the ground. But there wasn't any leading to or away from the spot. Like they were dropped there and sucked back into whatever black hole they came from."

"And?" She asked excitedly, I met her eyes. I've been known to make up stories of the could of, would of, should of beens.

"I'm serious, this isn't a story." Fictional books have all been banned. The elites are worried that it'll implant ideas in the lower class that it's safe outside. Thus leading them to opening the compound doors. Not going to lie, I may or may not have a few illegal copies.

"You know as well as I do nothing survives out in that wasteland." She sighed, folding some shirts as she put them on the table.

"But what if something could? It would mean everything everyone knows is wrong."

"Would it be awesome? Certainly, cause no more Pudgy McPudgerson ruling over our lives but it's just not possible. The air is radioactive, so it can't breathe. The water is toxic, so it can't drink and nothing grows out there so no food." She shook her head, blonde hair whipped about. "The outside cannot sustain any kind of life."

"But what if they're wrong? What if they just think the air is still bad?"

"Jules, you go topside, you've seen the Geiger meter."

"Yes, I know and the numbers have never changed. What if it was damaged by the sands, and it's been broken this whole time?" I replied in a hushed tone as someone passed behind us.

"I'm sure they have someone who does maintenance on it, just like the tubes."

"I've been walking the tubes since I was ten. I've seen the crews six times fixing them and not once have I seen anybody doing work on the meter." Grabbing her by the shoulders, I looked her dead in the eye. "Something or someone was out there."

"Okay, fine, I'll humor you. So someone was out there. Where did they go? You said you saw no other prints. So where did they go?" Dang it, she had a point. I let her go, letting out a deep sigh. I felt my shoulders sag. "I don't mean to be mean, but, think about this logically?"

"You're right. It must have been a figment of my imagination." I dropped it, I knew I couldn't make a good point, at least not logically.

The rest of the day was spent stocking shelves and me trying to wrap my brain around the prints. Maybe I had been seeing things earlier or could the wind have displaced the sands to resemble foot prints. That wouldn't account for the handprints on the glass though. The last fix was just over a year ago, surely those would of been washed off in the rain. Then again could the gloves from the protective suits even make hand prints.

I was still deep in thought as I reached my locker. Absentmindedly I retrieved my jacket from it's depths.

"Earth to Jules." Elise waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking."

"Are you taking the tunnels home?" She enquired grabbing her purse.

"Not tonight, I'm going to take the tube back."

"Is that even safe?" Her brows knitted together as her voice raised a notched. There have been rumors of criminal activity that happens in the tubes at night. I have never seen it personally, nor have I ever met anyone who has been attacked either. Normally I don't take them at night, there aren't any lights in them so when the moon is gone or a storm rolls in it's pitch black.

"I'll be fine. Anyway, I'm running low on fare." I responded, shutting my locker. We walked to the front of the store together, Elise shook her head.

"I can spot you, I really don't like the idea of walking them at night." She paused, I turned to my friend, her face was etched with worry.

"Really, I'll be fine."

"Fine, since I can't get you to change your mind, will you at least call me when the home? Just so I won't stay up half the night worrying."

"Okay, mom." I teased, I pushed the door handle to the tube entrance as we parted ways.

I stepped out into the darkness, I inhaled a deep breath. Calmly I started my journey home, my foot steps echoing off the walls. I could hear the faint whisper of the sands as they whipped across the plexiglass. The path before me barely illuminated by the small sliver of moonlight that peaked around the edge of the clouds that were slowly rolling in.

I pulled my pepper spray from my pocket, yet another illegal item that I had acquired. The things you can get your hands on when you know the right people. I had only recently started carrying it after Robert had made a pass at me. He didn't like my response to his advances.

Slowly the tube began to darken completely. It didn't take long before I was surrounded by the inky blackness of the night. I took a slow breath trying to still my heart rate.

There is something about walking in the darkness that preys on your subconscious. Makes you aware of stuff that isn't really there. You see and hear things that aren't real , it's almost like it's hardwired into our DNA. Pareidolia, that's the name for it. Seeing a face in the curtains or hearing a phone ring while the shower is running.

I thought I saw something out of there as I continued walking through the tube. Whatever it was it was a good distance out, it might have been the silhouette of person I really couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it seemed to be keeping pace with me.

I stopped, my heart slowly accelerating, as I took step to the tube wall. I pressed my face to the cool glass and wrapped my hands around my temples. Nothing just a dark void of nothingness was on the other side.

I had to have been seeing things. If it was out there, it had stopped moving and was no longer visible. I heard a plink on the ceiling of the tube, quickly succeeded by other. I couldn't see, but I knew it had started to rain. I dropped my arms to side and sighed.

I continued my walk home, my fingers gracing the cold glass for guidance. I listened to the song of the rain as it cascaded down from the heavens. Wondering if the droplets were cold or warm. A green bolt danced lazily across the sky. In that flash, I stopped dead in my tracks. The silhouette was still out there, parallel with me, I saw it just out of the corner of my eye.

Thunder rolled, as my heart leapt in my throat threatening jump from my body. My hand tremble against the wall, I knew I saw it. My mind was not playing tricks on me, something was out there. Another green flashed etched itself through the clouds, he was closer this time. He was watching me.

I took a deep breath as the air crackled with a loud rumble. I braced myself, willing myself not tremble as I again stepped up to the tube wall. I placed my shaking hands on the wall completely as I turned.

The sky lit up again, and he was standing before me on the opposite side of the glass. His dark brown hair hung just short of his massive shoulders, stringy from the rain. Mahogany eyes bore down upon me with curiosity. The thunder reverberated through the tube before the lighting had stopped.

It is at this point I wish I could say I stood transfixed, and excitedly watched the watcher watching me. Alas, I did what any normal, healthy person would do. I stumbled back screaming, losing my footing in the process and landed on my rear.

In hindsight, this was not the smartest thing I have ever done. Remember earlier how I said I could hear my own footsteps as I walked? Well, if you have stuck your head in a enclosed glass box and screamed you would know that that amplifies the sound.

Needless to say, my ears were ringing as I sprang to my feet and rushed down the hall. It was disorienting, running in complete darkness with a lazy green strobe light going off. I tripped a couple of time, my heart hammering hard in my chest, attempting to break free. Too scared to turn around to see if he was still there, I ran full speed down the enclosed corridor.

I didn't realize how far down the tube I was, but when my face greeted the door I figured out I must of been half through by the time I saw him. In retrospect, I'm really surprised I didn't knock myself out.

I threw the door open to my building and sprinted up the four flights of stairs. I pulled my keys from my pocket as I reached my apartment, the key shook in my trembling fingers. Finally I was able to get it in the lock. I turned the knob, threw open my door and slammed it behind me. I turned the thumb lock, re-locking the door behind me.

My lungs burned with that raw feeling as I sucked in air. My chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. I have no idea why I ran for my life, it's not like he could get in the building. All doors to the outside were locked and secured, there was no way in.

"What the heck Julianne?" My sister, Sasha, came bounding around from the kitchen to the living room.

"There was," I took a deep breath, locking eyes with confused woman. "Someone out there."

"Uh, yeah, that's what happens when you go to work. There's lost of someones." She smirked, leaning against the wall.

"No, outside." I rushed the window looking down, lighting lit up the sky but the ground was to far away to make anything out.

"Yeah, as I said there are people outside as rule." She jested, watching me in amusement.

"No, I mean outside outside. Not out side our place." I almost shriek, point out the window. "Out there!"

"What?" She rushed over the window, peering out. She turned and looked me, her eyes narrowed as her brows scrunched up. "I don't see anything, I think you hit you head to hard."

"No, I saw him first, then I hit my head."

"Oh, so now it's him?" She grinned, folding one arm over the other.

"Look, I saw foot prints this morning, on the outside of the tube." I stressed the second half of that statement before she could make another joke out of it. "And now I've seen him. How is this possible?"

"It's not, are you sure you saw someone? It's really dark out there." Her face was puzzled at my indignation, I didn't blame her. What I was saying didn't make any sense.

"I saw him when the lighting was going off, not just once or twice but three times. And one of those times he was as close me as you are." I looked back out the window, trying to wrap my mind around the whole ordeal. The phone rang somewhere behind me as I scoured the ground.

"Hey Elise." I heard Sasha in the kitchen. "She's home. And going on about some guy she saw outside the tube.'

'I know, I know. I'm still trying to calm her down right now. She's shaken up pretty good at the moment." I glanced over my shoulder at my sister, sighing heavily. I gave up and wandered back to my bedroom. Trying to explain this to either of them wasn't going to work.

I laid down on my bed, staring up at the white ceiling. His face flashed through my mind. He seem just a surprised to see me as I was of him. I know one thing, I was going to walk the tubes tomorrow to find him again, even if the meant all day

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#dystopia #dystopien #government #government break down #elite #soceity breakdown #violence #scifi #slowburn #mutated

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