text:
Q: Handling models with circular references in Spark SQL? Yesterday (practically the full journal) I tried to figure out an elegant way to represent a model with circular references in Scala/Spark SQL 2.2.1
Let's say that this is the original model approach that, of course, it is not working (keep in mind that the real model has tens of attributes):
case class Branch(id: Int, branches: List[Branch] = List.empty)
case class Tree(id: Int, branches: List[Branch])

val trees = Seq(Tree(1, List(Branch(2, List.empty), Branch(3, List(Branch(4, List.empty))))))

val ds = spark.createDataset(trees)
ds.show

And this is the error that it throws:
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: cannot have circular references in class, but got the circular reference of class Branch

I know that the maximum hierarchy level that we have is 5. So, as a workaround, I though in something like:
case class BranchLevel5(id: Int)
case class BranchLevel4(id: Int, branches: List[BranchLevel5] = List.empty)
case class BranchLevel3(id: Int, branches: List[BranchLevel4] = List.empty)
case class BranchLevel2(id: Int, branches: List[BranchLevel3] = List.empty)
case class BranchLevel1(id: Int, branches: List[BranchLevel2] = List.empty)
case class Tree(id: Int, branches: List[BranchLevel1])

Of course, it is working. But this is not elegant at all and you can imagine the pain around the implementation (readability, coupling, maintenance, usability, duplication of code, etc.)
So the question is, how to handle cases with circular references in the model?

A: If you're fine with using private API, then I found one way that just works: treating the whole self-referential structure as a user-defined type. I'm following the approach from this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/51957666/1823254.
package org.apache.spark.custom.udts // we're calling some private API so need to be under 'org.apache.spark'

import java.io._
import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{DataType, UDTRegistration, UserDefinedType}

class BranchUDT extends UserDefinedType[Branch] {

  override def sqlType: DataType = org.apache.spark.sql.types.BinaryType
  override def serialize(obj: Branch): Any = {
    val bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream()
    val oos = new ObjectOutputStream(bos)
    oos.writeObject(obj)
    bos.toByteArray
  }
  override def deserialize(datum: Any): Branch = {
    val bis = new ByteArrayInputStream(datum.asInstanceOf[Array[Byte]])
    val ois = new ObjectInputStream(bis)
    val obj = ois.readObject()
    obj.asInstanceOf[Branch]
  }

  override def userClass: Class[Branch] = classOf[Branch]
}

object BranchUDT {
  def register() = UDTRegistration.register(classOf[Branch].getName, classOf[BranchUDT].getName)
}

Just create and register a custom UDT, and that's it!
BranchUDT.register()
val trees = Seq(Tree(1, List(Branch(2, List.empty), Branch(3, List(Branch(4, List.empty))))))

val ds = spark.createDataset(trees)
ds.show(false)

//+---+----------------------------------------------------+
//|id |branches                                            |
//+---+----------------------------------------------------+
//|1  |[Branch(2,List()), Branch(3,List(Branch(4,List())))]|
//+---+----------------------------------------------------+


Translation is a two-way street. Not only must we translate our scientific findings into the everyday care of patients and into the lives of the general population, we must also translate the concerns of the general population into scientific inquiry. In the past decades we have come to appreciate the importance of bringing clinicians into the research arena due to the unique perspectives of clinicians. Such collaborations have improved patient care through asking clinicians what would help them care for patients and using their input as the basis for scientific inquiry. Just as clinicians are often the best judge of what would help them in their practice, so too are members of the general population often the best judge of what would help them in their day-to-day lives. Empowering "everyday people" in developing research agenda will help the public have a voice in future directions of medical research. This "reverse translation" is an essential component of the CTSA program as well. GHUCCTS fully endorses this concept, and actively engages our communities in bidirectional dialog through a variety of activities and mechanisms as described in the Community section of this website.
adapted from: Kon AA. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Consortium and the Translational Research Model. Am J Bioeth. 8(3):58–W3, 2008.


text:
Illegal Romeo part I is het tiende studioalbum van de Nederlandse zanger René Froger. Het werd in 1996 uitgebracht, in het najaar van 1996 gevolgd door Illegal Remeo Part I. Het album werd succesvol en behaalde de status van platina. Op het album staan wat nummers die zijn opgenomen in New York. Ook was er een gelijknamige concerttournee. Vanwege vele verzoeken zijn er een paar extra concerten ingevoegd, en dat maakte de tournee ook succesvol.

Tracklist
In dreams
The girl's so right for me
You're the story of my life
That's when I'll stop loving you
In a quiet moment
If you don't know
Don't wanna love ya
What if(I still had you)
Anything you ask
Heart be strong
Love is on the way
The number one
Wild rhythm(European Mix Part I)

Hitnotering

Illegal Romeo Part I (album)

In Dreams (single)

Wild Rhythm (single)

If You Don't Know (single)

That's When I'll Stop Loving You (single)

The Number One (single)

Muziekalbum uit 1996
Muziekalbum van René Froger

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Five eco!efficiency dry vacuum cleaners from Kärcher form a complete product line of resource-saving models from entry level to high end, the company says. The new machines require 750 W of power and, thanks to improved flow properties, use 40 per cent less energy than vacuum cleaners with equivalent cleaning power.
Brightwell Dispensers has designed its ECOrange range of chemical dosing and dilution systems to encourage operators to replace ready-made cleaning solutions with concentrates.
ECOSHOT is a manual dosing pump which can dispense any volume of concentrated chemical, between five ml and 30 ml, into a bottle, bucket or sink.
The FSR sweeper is a compact ride-on model from Fimap which is available as a battery powered and hybrid version (FSR Hybrid). This has been designed to work for more than seven hours.
Europe's largest event for the professional cleaning sector - ISSA/INTERCLEAN Amsterdam - takes place from May 6-9 in the Netherlands. And this year the organisers are promising the biggest show yet, as it celebrates its 25th edition.


(Optionaly) Erase temp files beyond recovery when viewing compressed file or Drag&Drop extraction so that there is no way to "restore" non encrypted file when viewing password protected archive for example.
Also wipe files when using "move" option while compressing.
I agree with this idea! I must admit it's crossed my mind a few times. But never put it to paper.


text:
WSH
PhiladelphiaFlyers
Published on Saturday, November 28 2020
Flyers make a very curious move involving Michael Raffl.
What is going on here?
This certainly does not look good for the National Hockey League's presumed start date of January 1st.
The Philadelphia Flyers have just made a very curious move involving veteran forward Michael Raffl, and although it is a relatively minor move in the grand scheme of things it has kicked up a lot of discussion on social media. The Flyers announced their decision to loan the forward to Villacher SV of Austria's Ice Hockey League, this just roughly one month before the NHL has claimed it intends to start the 2021 regular season.
The fact that Raffl, who would almost certainly be forced to quarantine for an extended period of time upon re-entering the United States, is being loaned out to a team on another continent during the pandemic indicates to me that the NHL owners and players may be preparing for the worst. That is of course just pure speculation at this time, but the move has without a doubt raised some eyebrows among pundits and fans alike.
On the less conspiratorial side of the equation there may also be a scenario here in which Raffl himself merely requested the loan due to a desire to train during a time of the year in which he would normally be playing. Raffl is of course a native of Villach, Austria which is the city that Villacher SV calls home, so it seems very likely that he was already in the area training with the team and has now formalized that arrangement given the continued lack of an official start date for the regular season. Again all of this is pure speculation, but given the circumstances I do think it is speculation that is relatively grounded in reason.
The 31 year old forward was coming off another solid season with the Flyers, with 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points over the 58 appearances he made for the Flyers last season. Those numbers represented a slight uptick from the 6 goals and 12 assists he put up in 67 games in the previous season with the Flyers. His 4 goals and 1 assists for 5 points over 9 playoff games were also a strong showing for the Flyers veteran winger.
Photo Credit: Keystone Press
Bruins announce that a new jersey number will hang from the rafters at TD Garden
Aa well deserved honor!
Nylander and Leafs credit Simmonds tilt for sparking win on opening night
The big man can still chuck 'em!
Report: Blackhawks will be without Toews, Dach and Seabrook for a long, long, loooong time
Ouch, tough break for a team that can't afford tough breaks.
Oilers claim goaltender Troy Grosenick off of waivers.
Oilers add a new goalie.
Mathew Barzal has signed a new deal.
The deal is done.
Blues forward Sammy Blais summoned by NHL Player Safety
NHL Player Safety doles out punishment on the opening day of the 2021 season
Bruins and Flyers refuse to take part in NHL's proposed outdoor games
Bruins issue injury updates on Marchand and Pastrnak
Two serious contenders enter Dubois trade sweepstakes
Rumor: Blue Jackets reporter reveals Montreal's offer for Pierre Luc Dubois.
Evander Kane files for bankruptcy, may not play this season
Report: UFC is planning a hockey fight tournament
Former Leafs 1st round pick Gauthier signs contract then immediately gets placed on waivers
The Red Wings have named their captain!
NHL releases full list of arena protocols and requirements for the 2021 season
The freshest news, rumors, analysis and insight from around the NHL delivered directly to your inbox.
Our Network Advertise on our network Drop us a line
Attraction Numérique Network
Habsolument Fan Monde De Stars Ayoye Trucs & Bricolages Les Maisons
© Attraction Web Inc. - No copy of the content is permitted.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Pondering the importance of last wills and testaments…
A bitch is still trying to recover from viewing the BET Awards Show last night.
I must confess that it's been some 15 years since I last watched an entire show on BET and, after last night, I'm pretty damn sure I won't be watching the network again. I'd heard stories about the nature of the content but…well, daaaaaaaaamn.
The BET Awards Show, promoted heavily on CNN as a revamped tribute to Michael Jackson, was a mess sparingly accented by old school performances that highlighted just what a mess the rest of the show was.
Catch that knee…catch it!
I know that a few of y'all (okay one person who sent me a "don't be so mean!" email) thought a bitch was trashing on the BET Awards Show in my tweets…
…and you're right.
This bitch trashed the BET Awards Show via Twitter last night.
I happen to have pretty low expectations of what any awards show is going to be like and BET didn't even meet those.
The tone was wrong…it felt like the show was on a three-day meth bender but trying to act straight.
Jamie Foxx was a self-promoting and at times desperate fool…and a bitch couldn't help but think that, for all his faults and flaws, Michael Jackson was a fantabulous performer who would have been appalled by that shit.
And the constant praise for Joe Jackson, who was in attendance, was beyond disturbing given Michael Jackson's public statements about the man (more on that in a moment).
I was critical of that shit because I know we can do better…Michael Jackson deserved better…and this bitch was so disturbed by that show that I had to watch Eyes on the Prize – Awakenings to cleanse my soul.
Pause…sip coffee…continue.
Now, about Joe Jackson.
Joe Jackson, father of the Jackson clan, was at the BET Awards Show last night with Al Sharpton.
Joe sat in the front row and received tribute much like a king would from his people. This morning it is being reported that Joe Jackson has moved to take control of Michael Jackson's estate…
…and both of Michael Jackson's parents apparently have his children and are seeking custody.
Although there are reports of at least two wills none have been located…and Joe Jackson is clearly banking on none ever being found.
If ever there is a case through which people should take notice that they need to make their final wishes know…write a will, file it legally and make sure people know where it is…this is that case.
All I know of Joe Jackson I know from what his children shared in interviews throughout the years…and it wasn't all happiness, joy, affection and love.
Jesse Jackson (no relation, though someone may want to tell him that) and Al Sharpton vying for camera position next to Joe Jackson does little to legitimize his claim as protector of son's estate.
As a person who is estranged from my mother, I am horrified watching this spectacle…
…and I'm reminded of the importance of last wills and testaments in a world where fathers and mothers are too often assumed to be in good standing and are legally empowered, absent a will to say otherwise, as next of kin to do anything they damn well please.
Two thoughts.
1. In watching ABC's tossed-together hour-long special Friday night, I was reminded that (for all his tragic flaws) Michael Jackson was an electrifying performer. The best way I can phrase it is "up yours, Britney!" (or choose your pop star du moment). He sang wonderfully. He danced magically. He worked the stage like a revival preacher. And he did it all LIVE. No redubs, no voice enhancers, no lip sync..... live. The Motown 25 concert was a nice staid nostalgic trip until he lit the stage. His was an unique talent, and it will never pass this way again.
2. And now his bones will be picked clean by his father. Sigh. He didn't get away after all, did he?
GailS said...
Thanks for the report, Sharkfu. Sounds like the same old-same old from BET and Joe Jackson. Pity.
Naturally Alise said...
The show saddened me deeply, I was mortified. It was bad even in the context of BET... The show felt insincere and was a hot sloppy mess. MJ will be doing spin moves in his grave on this one... le sigh...
And Joe Jackson is going to milk this for everything he can get, so sad, so tragic, and so typical.
I didn't watch, and felt a bit guilty for that. Now I'm glad.
Seems like the mother of the older two kids should have rights here, right? If I were her, I would fight pretty hard to keep the kids away from Joe. Not sure if she's interested in them, but I assume she is. As for the youngest, yeah, confusing. I hope they can find a will.
((Shark-fu))
It's got to be awful to watch when it's a reflection of effed-up relationships in your own family.
I can not believe abusers like Joe Jackson are canonized this way. If MJ's own complaints of abuse aren't taken seriously and he had the size and scope of the megaphone he had - who on earth would we expect to be believed?
Aargh!
It's showbiz, Jake. Stay away.
Joe Jackson is a bag of batshit, who is attempting to control his son's assets in death..because he couldn't whilst Michael was alive. Damn pathetic..and hopefully most people see through him.
His children are what I think about most. They lived in a bubble, and that bubble burst Thursday afternoon.
May Jackson rest in peace and hopefully his children will be raised by a caring individual who doesn't put profit ahead of them.
Assrot said...
I'm horrified everytime I see Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton show up for anything. I think these two guys have made more money from and done more harm to their own people than most of the old plantation slave owners of the south.
As for Joe Jackson, he doesn't give a damn about those kids. He just sees dollar signs.
It's a shame. I hope with all my heart that someone in the family with good sense and the childen's well being in mind gets them.
"…it felt like the show was on a three-day meth bender but trying to act straight."
Can borrow that some day? Brilliant.
I am honestly appalled after all that has been said/written about Joe that he has any sort of credibility left at all. (Ditto Jesse and Al Sharpton... if they had any sort of sense they get the fuck away from this debacle.)
I hope those kids have some sort of normalcy... are there any relatively "normal" siblings out there?
BrotherGee said...
Assrot, Re: "done more harm to their own people",
...there are no "own people". This is the Separatist mindset that Humans have been trained to utilize Life after Life after Life. There are no "own people". There is only "one people"...the Human Race. Beings with Souls, Hearts, Emotions and shared Biological traits who happen to be different shades because that's what Creator allowed for us.
You are part of something much larger than "a color". Ponder that, and then see if you change your outlook.
Hate to quote a Michael Jackson song, but a lyric fragment from "Black & White" eloquently states that
"I'm not going to spend my Life being a Color".
Neither should we.
All Love,
~~ G
Oh God. I'm sure MJ will turn in his grave at his parents' taking custody of his children. Personally I think that yes, MJ was a great performer, but am very tired already of the media treating his death as the greatest tragedy ever, when there are truly greater tragedies occurring worldwide every single day and it is passing by undetected.
Roz B. said...
I was appalled, bewildered, disgusted, and confused by the blatant display of buffoonery that was the BET Awards Show. Ms. Lee should get blackballed after allowing that craptastic mess on air and claiming that they were honoring MJ! To top it off, Joe Jackson was upfront and center, soaking up accolades and attention - ugh. As a co-worker of mine said "We now know what Lucifer really looks like." And no, I was not surprised that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were at his side. Self-serving, ignorant vultures with no sense of what is appropriate. Just seeing them with Joe while he promoted his new record label as an homage to his son made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
God Bless Michael Jackson and those who were truly his loving family, fans, and friends. To the rest of those who weren't - get some therapy and I hope I ain't standing next to you when God cracks you in the ass with some lightning!
ChristopherM said...
Joe Jackson looks like pure rotting evil for a reason, I'm just saying.
Okay, so as an almost-lawyer, I have to disclaim by saying that I cannot give legal advice. Let me just say, though, that the Internet is your friend. Look up the law of your state. There are many states where a will in your own handwriting will suffice, even without witnesses as long as someone can attest to your writing. In others, a witness or two will do. No lawyers needed. Write out where you want your shit to go, sign it, and file if for $5 or $6 at the County Clerk's Office. Protect yourself, people!


These classes are a progressive program of dance instruction. A dance revue will be held each April with costumes for any/all students in the youth dance program. (Students in dance lessons do not have to participate in the dance revue.
YOU MUST PREREGISTER FOR THESE PROGRAMS.
Introduction for young dancers to the art of movement and self expression to music! Basic motor skills with hopping, jumping, and skipping. Self discipline, self confidence, and socialization are encouraged through rhythm, musicality, and coordination. This class utilizes imagination and the art of dance with music and friends!
Intro to Ballet teaches the fundamentals of ballet such as rhythm, coordination, and creative movement. Young dancers will expand their movement vocabulary while utilizing their imaginations and expressing themselves through the art of dance.
Level I Ballet teaches the fundamentals of classical ballet. Students will develop the strength and grace of a ballet dancer, while learning discipline, classroom expectations, and confidence in themselves. It is a structured ballet class which begins with exercises at the barre, center and across the floor combinations and exercises, and ends with a reverence. All exercises and combinations will emphasize the importance of proper body alignment, posture, and correct technique.
Level II Ballet is designed for dancers with two or more years of continuous study. Ballet II teaches and expands upon the fundamentals of ballet training with an emphasis of the use of a dancers head, neck, and arms. Students will continue to develop their strength and flexibility while adding performance quality. It is a structured ballet class which begins with exercises at the barre, center and across the floor combinations and exercises, and ends with a reverence. All exercises and combinations will emphasize the importance of proper body alignment, posture, and correct technique.
This combo dance class will offer twenty minutes of each style of dance. Young dancers will expand their movement vocabulary while utilizing their imaginations and expressing themselves through the art of dance. Dancers will learn to combine basic steps and how to transition their steps across the floor. Dancers will be introduced to more technique and body alignment while executing their steps.
This combo dance class will offer twenty minutes of each style of dance. Dancers will expand their movement vocabulary while utilizing their imaginations and expressing themselves through the art of dance. Dancers will learn to combine basic steps and how to transition their steps across the floor. Dancers will be introduced to more technique and body alignment while executing their steps.
Level I jazz is a high energy class set to popular music that focuses on rhythm, isolations, and style. Students will develop a basic working knowledge of jazz technique, including jumps, pirouettes, and across the floor progressions and stylized movement.
This class will teach the fundamental moves of hip hop through a full warm up focusing on isolations, basic grooves, and basic footwork. This high energy class will emphasize musically, coordination, improvisation, strength building and style.
Beginner I classes include stretches and tumbling exercises – cartwheels, front and back rolls, headstands, etc. Children must remain seated at the mat during individual instruction time.


Abstract: Abstract Voter participation rates vary widely across the 50 states. We seek to identify a source of this interstate variation, focusing upon the 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 general elections. Of note is that the latter two general elections featured a minority (i.e., African-American) nominee for president from one of the major political parties. Within the context of the rational voter model, we hypothesize that the presence of a minority candidate atop the ticket will boost minorities' expected net benefits from voting, with the result that minority voter participation will be higher. Based on cross-sectional fixed-effects estimations, we find that states' voter participation rates were unaffected by the percent of the population that was either African-American or Hispanic for the 2000 and 2004 election cycles, while states' voter participation rates were positively related to the percent of the population that was either African-American or Hispanic for the 2008 and 2012 election cycles.


http://www.footy-boots.com - The final ad in the 'Every Team Needs' campaign adidas presents 'The Quest' . 32 of the greatest players on the planet are ready, but who will lead their team to victory? It's game on from June 11th.


The 9th annual Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing is now open for submissions. Submissions close at midnight on Monday June 11th 2018.
The Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing aims to encourage excellence in drawing as an important foundation for any arts practice. 25 Finalists will be chosen by a specially-selected judging panel and their works exhibited at Jugglers Art Space during August 2018.
For more information, terms and conditions and online entry, please visit our website.
Jugglers is grateful for the ongoing sponsorship of the Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing by the Hopkins-Weise Family.
Please email the Marie Ellis Prize for Drawing Coordinator with queries or for more information.


Our G Village outlet with its stunning KLCC views is approximately 4600 square feet and has hosted events for up to 80 guests. Plan your own for groups of special friends, school moms, monthly meets, whatever. Must be booked in advance. Contact us for more details.
These have been a stalwart of our previous Ampang outlet and cater for groups of 10 – 40. Coffee, peach tea, 3 savoury or sweet finger food items. RM20 per person. Speciality coffees available on request.
New to G Village. Beautifully set table with tea served in elegant pots and bone china cups & saucers. Tea, 3 savoury or sweet finger food items. An exquisite way to while away the afternoon.
New to G Village. Contact us for more details.


There is no photo for Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr business. Add an image for this company.
Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr is a company that is located in 789 Howard Ave, ct New Haven, CT New Haven, CT. You can contact the company via this phone number: (203) 688-6361. This business is categorised in health services, offices and clinics of medical doctors.
There is no specific operation hours have been set for Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr.
There are no specific payment options have been added for Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr.
Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr has official website address www.ynhh.org that is ranked #266,825 in the world based on Alexa.
Are you a Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr business owner or working / acting on behalf of the company?
You can add more detail and tell your potential customer about Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr by adding links to additional information about company's products / services detail, brochure, menu catalogue, social media page like Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube video etc.
As a customer of Adler Geriatric Assessment Ctr, you can share your first-hand experience and opinions about the company's products, services and offers. Your rating and review will become a very useful information for other users.


text:
Q: MongoDB performance with growing data structure Let's say we are designing a new system and have decided to use MongoDB as the primary database. The data schema is very similar to a blog with [growing] comments.
In the book "MongoDB Developers", Tip #6: Do not embed fields that have unbound growth, it says it is inefficient to constantly append data to the end of an array (but it also hinted that comments are a "wierd edge case").
Let's say our new system is like those "comments" in a blog - dynamically growing all the time, but also sometimes changing or some being deleted.
So, having recognized that there could be a performance issue using MongoDB, what other alternative database (must be horizontally scalable database) could serve this purpose? (We don't mind using MongoDB as our primary database, but separate the "comments" to a alternative database. What are the options available?
Notes:
The Redis feature of having Hashes as its data types fit the description of our "comments" data structure - constantly growing but sometimes modified or deleted - BUT we do not need a pure in-memory database (we don't wish to dedicate so much RAM when the data can be persisted to the disk) - otherwise this would be a good fit for our problem
What about using CouchDB? We are not investigated about this product. How does it perform with a growing data structure?

A: To add to what Thilo said above, the reason to "not embed fields that have unbound growth" is because this type of document size expansion can cause MongoDB to have to move the document if it exceeds the current space allocated to it.  You can read more about this in the Padding Factor section of the documentation.
Those types of moves are relatively expensive, especially if they happen frequently.  Therefore limiting the size (essentially bounding that growth) of the comments equivalent in your main collection (most recent X etc.) and perhaps even pre-populating that document field (essentially manual padding) to reduce the moves caused by comment additions/changes may well be worth it for you.

A: You could stick with MongoDB, but not embed all the comments into the main document, but just the most recent ones (limited by number), and keep all the rest in a separate collection.

A: Mongo sounds like it would work fine for you guys, just keep the "comments" in a separate collection ad opposed to a sub element of another document, i.e. a page (continuing the blog example).
As for Mongo's performance, as long as those indexes can fit in ram you should be fine.

A: Your main problem is that you are then probably making updates and deletes to data in different memory pages which means you won't be able to update as sequentially. In this instance, many databases will have the same problem so switching from MongoDB won't solve anything.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Fairy tales in the modern world
May 18, 2017 02:19PM ● By Keyra Kristoffersen
Dr. Karin Baumgartner holds up her father's copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales in German from the 1930s. (Keyra Kristoffersen/City Journals)
Fairy tales in the modern world [4 Images] Click Any Image To Expand
Dr. Karin Baumgartner speaks on the impact of fairy tales in the modern adult world at Taylorsville Library. (Keyra Kristoffersen/City Journals)
Illustrations of Little Red Riding Hood from 1930s copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales. (Keyra Kristoffersen/City Journals)
A copy of the Grimm's Fairy Tales in German from the 1930s. (Keyra Kristoffersen/City Journals)
Fairy tales are very much a part of human history, and on March 29 at the Taylorsville Library, Dr. Karin Baumgartner, associate professor of German at the University of Utah, showed how they continue to influence people's everyday lives.
"We all have memories of our parents telling us fairy tales, or grandmother, or kindergarten teacher," Baumgartner said. "They need to have a happy ending; there has to be magic, and magic is taken seriously. When you enter a fairy tale, you have to suspend your 21st-century self. You have to believe with the character that the magic is real."
Baumgartner took the audience on a journey of the classic stories—from the Brothers Grimm to 17th century Venice, Italy, and the inclusion of the term "Fairy" into stories—to the modern take on the fairy tale—beginning with Disney's "Snow White" to the television monster-slayer "Grimm"—highlighting differences in language and emphasis in the story of Rapunzel.
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in the area of Kassel, Germany, in the late 18th century. Both received scholarships to high school in Kassel where they excelled despite being exceedingly poor before heading for Marburg, Germany, to study law in 1802 and 1803. Studying under Carl Friedrich von Savigny, who introduced them to his brother-in-law Clemens Brentano, a novelist, poet and important figure to Romanticism, a movement lasting from the 1790s until the 1820s.
Brentano, who was working on a collection of German folk songs, charged the Grimm Brothers to go out and collect folk tales from the surrounding countryside to be placed in a volume meant to bolster German pride and individuality. The Grimms began collecting stories in 1808, and in 1810, they sent Brentano the manuscript. Though Brentano had lost interest in the project, the Brothers Grimm self-published in 1812 with a compilation of 86 stories that would eventually grow to 211 local tales, collected, edited and published in subsequent printings by 1857. The Kassel University Library still owns their original manuscript.
"The [Grimms] didn't believe in the forest being haunted because where is true horror situated? It's in our minds; it's not outside, "Baumgartner said. "True horrors are inside our heads and in our interactions with each other. Nothing is more horrible than what we can imagine."
Moving on to the prevalence of the princess story in Disney movies, Baumgartner said, "The reason why our corpus is a princess corpus has very pragmatic reasons. Disney and his artists couldn't draw men. They tried, but they just couldn't get the man manly enough. That excluded all tales with a male hero for Disney movies."
The stories, according to Baumgartner, and how they're crafted and even what lesson is emphasized were heavily influenced from as far away as Turkey which was bringing the Arabian Nights tales through trade, as well as the French Huguenots sheltered in Germany whose very Frenchness was repellent to many, including the Grimms, given the still recent Reign of Terror and rise of Napoleon.
"And they are not specifically written for children, until the 19th century, when they started to be tailored for children, to show that even the littlest person can win out in the end," said Baumgartner.
Attendees were fascinated by the subject of the shortened class "From Grimm to Disney" that Baumgartner teaches at the University of Utah for non-humanities students.
"I found it interesting to find out more about the Grimm brothers and how people transform legend and how they themselves transformed legend," Jessica Wollschleger said. "It's interesting to see the different versions of the tales."
Baumgartner insists that her students read a tale that they are not familiar with in order to broaden their knowledge and experience with the different versions and languages.
"It is a story about people. It's not a story about gods or angels," said Baumgartner, "Fairy tales talk about humans. It is very formulaic which gives us the sense that the world can be managed. It's predictable. You leave home, you go through a crisis or adventure, but in the end you get rewarded."
For more information on upcoming Taylorsville Library events, go to http://www.slcolibrary.org/gl/glal/libraryTaylorsville.htm.


text:
how fast can a human run
Edit. This post was first published on October 12, 2014. The average human walking speed is in the neighborhood of 3 mph (4.8 km/h). Researchers think 30mph could be the human limit. Astoundingly fast. Scientific and technological advances are making that an awfully complicated question. Homework. Played 29 times. 100m World record 9.27 Usain Bolt, Could He Have Run Faster Than 9.58? 2. without any external assistance) run? Read on to learn more about the top speed of humans and how that compares to the average person, as well as different animals. Speed limits. asked Oct 25 '14 at 17:53. Can a spider outrun us? To play this quiz, please finish editing it. We are much better off on two legs. Share practice link. That's no longer the amazing feat it once was but even today, you've got to be in good shape to run that fast: 15 miles per hour. JUST HOW FAST IS IT? Usain Bolt currently holds the record of fastest speed by a human when he reached 28 mph during the 100-meter sprint. Even with dogs, Greyhound racing gives us a better idea of how fast individual dogs can go. Running at light speed. Which of these are most likely to have a positive effect, and why? Below, I have taken several men's and women's world records and calculated the runners' average speed. They even go into specific shark species. By Jia You. "I think we can go substantially faster," Weyand says. 15.6k 3 3 gold badges 43 43 silver badges 83 83 bronze badges. More Science. The human brain has about 100 billion of them. Mr. Munroe suggests four changes to human anatomy that might make them run faster. They tell you the answer for how fast can a shark swim? Or just if a human can run fast on all fours as opposed to upright? Such velocity would require, for example, step … The best place to run would be a long beach, like Pendine Sands in South Wales. It's fast. Considering the average speed an athletic sprinter being 15 mph and the fastest human ever top speed being 43.99 kph, a speed of 20 mph is fast for a human. Live Game Live. Save. They give swimming speeds on underwater creatures like the dolphin, shark, killer whale, and swordfish. How Fast Can A Human Run? 3. 59.4 secs. How fast can Usain Bolt run? It is a little too fast for humans. However, this raises questions concerning whether humans can run faster, which means increasing the maximum speed. We have heavy calf muscles way down our legs. But are also being pushed into a corner of mexico that very little lives in so that the mexican people can use the other land for logging. The average human running speed is 12 to 15 miles per hour for short-distance sprinting and 5 to 8 mph for long-distance running. And I'll bet you're not giving it the credit it deserves. Solo Practice. share | improve this question | follow | | | | edited May 26 '16 at 23:11. fileunderwater. 3. 10 mph? It is affected by many factors, varies greatly throughout the population, and is important in athletics and many sports, such as association football, rugby football, American football, track and field, hockey, baseball and basketball. No. Such a feat would leave in the dust the world's fastest runner, Usain Bolt, who has clocked nearly 28 mph in the 100-meter sprint. English. 15 mph? Why are humans limited in how fast they can run? 2. We can run the longest distance of any animal in a 30 degree Celsius plus environment because of one thing: sweat glands! And each neuron connects to about 1,000 other neurons. How fast can human being, propelled only by its own energy (i.e. I am pretty sure, however, that they have run in multiple different events, not in the olympics as far as I know, but in just marathons of the southwest. 9 months ago. A: Lucky for you, five researchers in Italy wondered the same thing. What speed could you average over 26.2 miles? Of course, for real humans, they can't have an acceleration this high for very long. Peter Weyand, a physiologist who has studied the biomechanics of running for two decades, says no. This week: Ben ponders the maximum speed that humans can run. Finish Editing. Delete Quiz. This quiz is incomplete! World speed records have fallen like dominoes at these Olympic Games (in swimming too, you may have heard), and experts think humans can get faster still. For example, a cat's weight will slow them down as they run, as will a broken limb or a medical condition such as hip dysplasia.Unlike humans, we don't tend to record individual cat speeds. They also have a section on swimming speeds. In the past two summer games in London and Beijing, the man who won the race was the Jamaican phenom Usain Bolt. Mr. Munroe suggests four changes to human anatomy that might make them run … Footspeed, or sprint speed, is the maximum speed at which a human can run. Factors in speed. Practice. HDE 226868 HDE 226868. How Fast Can Humans Run? Why can humans skate faster than they can run? Is 20mph fast for a human? Running times vary based on training and overall fitness levels. Is Usain Bolt really the limit? For another perspective on how fast cats are compared to humans, consider a four minute mile. The Fastest person clocked on our planet today is the Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt, who ran the 100 meter sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in a world record of 9.58 seconds, which works out to be about 37.6 kilometers per hour or 23.4 miles per hour. by kimberly.nelson_00304. 59% average accuracy. 0. Print; Share; Edit; Delete; Host a game. How fast can a human run? Humans are not the fastest animals. Currently, Usain Bolt holds the world record in the 100-m run with a running time of 9.58 s. Accordingly, he has been described as the best human sprinter in history. How fast do you think you could run at a full sprint? FYI: What Is The Limit To How Fast A Human Can Run? Either way, there are physical constraints that make quadruped locomotion ineffective for humans, as a species that has evolved to be bipedal. Two econometricians from Tilburg University in the Netherlands, Professor of Statistics John Einmahl and former student Sander Smeets, say have calculated the ultimate records for the 100-meter sprint. With all the human transcendence ahead of us, we might actually able to beat the theoretical limit and go beyond the 65 km/h mark very soon. Why are humans limited in how fast they can run? Humans could perhaps run as fast 40 mph, a new study suggests. Most use the 100m to calculate how fast we can run. 4. How fast a human can run? The fastest spider is the giant house spider [warning: link goes to a photo of a gross spider], which can reach speeds of 1.73 feet per second. This is immediately obvious from our anatomy. So far, the fastest anyone has run is about 27 1/2 mph, a speed reached (briefly) by sprinter Usain Bolt just after the midpoint of his world-record 100 … Half a century or ago or so, we didn't believe a human could run a 4-min. 0. 3. They can run very fast with little to no shoes. human-biology physiology biophysics human-physiology bio-mechanics. The key to doing this is increasing how fast the muscle fibers can contract to produce force. How fast can humans run? Yes, this is a very fast speed for humans. So how fast can a human run? Humans, after all, cannot run infinitely fast. You'll also learn about the factors that impact running speed along with things you can do to run faster. May 28, 2013. You see, humans were not built for speed, but rather, endurance. So, cats probably run twice as fast as people. DRAFT. Latest. The most common question specialists in this field are asked is, you guessed it, how fast can a human run 100 metres? 4th grade . mile — until Roger Bannister proved us wrong in 1954 when he ran it in 3 mins. Every four years, the premier event at the summer Olympics is the 100 meter dash, the swift sprint that you can literally miss by sneezing. Diy. Each neurons fires (on average) about 200 times per second. 2. For a human to run 100m in under nine seconds, this would require maximum velocity to reach about 13.2m/s. Why can humans skate faster than they can run? They answer questions like how fast can a human run? The current record for the 100m is 9.58 seconds, by Usain Bolt in 2009. The air is denser at sea level, which means there are more molecules to compress and heat up. Bodies are typically cremated at around 1,500°C and aircraft research from NASA reveals that you'd need to be running at Mach 5 (6,000km/h) to reach that temperature. Edit. Play. Though the theoretical limit spans up to 65 km/h, considering the practical factors that limit our speed, the fastest speed a human had ever achieved would be 44.72 km/h. As with humans, there are many different factors which affect a cat's speed. The fastest human speed on record belongs to Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt, who ran at 27.44 mph during the 100 meter sprint at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics held in Berlin, Germany. So... every time each neuron fires a signal, 1,000 other neurons get that information.
Friend Ball Pokemon Sword, Arctic Fungi Species, Fine Arts Jobs Philippines, Plato's Communism Basically Meant For Answer, Erp Stands For,
2020 how fast can a human run


For more than 100 years, Rauschert has heen producing technical parts made from ceramics. Back in 1966, we extended production to cover all thermoplastic plastics. Today, we are one of the leading manufacturers of plastic moulded parts in Germany. There is a good reason for this: we invest continually in training and further training our employees, as well as in new production technologies.
Technical moulded parts for complex functions are created in our plastic divisions. Apart from standard materials, a wide variety of high performance thermoplastics are used (e.g. PEEK, PFA, PVDF, ETFE, E-CTFE). For special requirements, we also produce composite components.
If you ever have any questions or specific concerns, we are there for you and can approach your requests in a flexible manner. With all our know-how.


text:
Medical Malpractice Help » News » Surgical Malpractice » Malpractice Lawsuit Claims Idaho Doctors Accidentally Removed Patient?s Kidney
Malpractice Lawsuit Claims Idaho Doctors Accidentally Removed Patient's Kidney
Last year when Roland N. Smith, 83-years-old, learned that he had a cancerous tumor growing on his right kidney he was relieved to learn that it could be safely removed. By the time Smith arrived at the Idaho Falls hospital for surgery the tumor had grown to the size of a grapefruit. Despite the growth he was assured by the surgical team at Mountain View Hospital that the operation was safe to proceed as scheduled. What he did not bother to confirm was that they would perform the surgery on the right kidney and not the left one. But according to a malpractice lawsuit filed by Smith, the attending surgeons, Roger H. Tall and David J. Chamberlain, operated on and accidentally removed his perfectly healthy left kidney.
According to Smith's attorney, on August 23, 2016 Tall and Chamberlain conducted the surgery without reviewing the documents that clearly stated the tumor was on his right kidney. In addition, the doctors were only supposed to remove the tumor and not the kidney itself. Court documents show that in July 2016, Smith's radiologist mislabeled a report stating that the tumor was on the left kidney and not the right one. This does not explain, however, why the surgeons completely removed the kidney. Especially because a camera was used during the surgery so they should have seen that there was no tumor and stopped the operation.
"Instead," according to the malpractice lawsuit, "in complete disregard of the most fundamental medical safety standards, the group surgically removed Smith's healthy, non-cancerous left kidney, leaving his cancerous and lethal right kidney undisturbed and intact."
After the surgery the kidney was sent to the pathology department for analysis and the doctors were informed that the organ was healthy. Yet Smith's attorney claims that the doctors in question filed a false report stating that the procedure was "completely uneventful." In addition, a week after Smith's discharge, Tall wrote that the kidney was taken out after the analysis of his medical scans. But the malpractice lawsuit states that the doctors did not carefully scrutinize the scans or else they would've taken out the tumor and not the healthy kidney.
The malpractice lawsuit filed in Bonneville County is now pending. Smith's lawyers are seeking financial compensation for any future and past medical costs as well as the physical and emotional pain caused by the alleged negligence.
How Long Do Medical Malpractice Cases Take?
How long medical malpractice cases take depends on a variety of factors, like the complexity of the situation or severity of the victim's injuries. Settling a claim could take anywhere from a few months to several years. Your case could settle at any one of multiple stages, or it could go to trial. For more information
Alcohol detoxification is the process of removing alcohol from someone's body. For people who are heavy drinkers, alcohol detox can be life-threatening. They can experience serious alcohol withdrawal symptoms, so it is dangerous for someone to try to detox alone. It is difficult to find an exact number of deaths due to improper alcohol detoxification.
South Dakota's Historic Malpractice Judgement in Danger of Nonpayment
NC Court of Appeals Reinstates Negligence Lawsuit Against Duke Surgeon & Hospital
Louisiana Appellate Court Upholds Verdict & Increases Award by $1,186,000
Kevin Clanton vs. United States of America; Plaintiff Awarded $29.6 Million
Cancer, Misdiagnosis,
How Much Can You Be Compensated For A Misdiagnosis Of Cancer? Continue Reading »
Injuries from eye surgery, Medical Negligence,
Can Patients Sue For Injuries From Eye Surgery? Continue Reading »
Injuries from plastic surgery, Medical Negligence,
Can Patients Sue For Injuries From Plastic Surgery? Continue Reading »


Work a pea sized amount between palms and distribute evenly throughout dry or towel dried hair before starting to style. Apply more as required.
Fish Tip: Apply to long hair to remove frizz.
Aqua/Water/Eau, Ceteareth-25, Glycerin, PEG-12 dimethicone, Polyacrylate-14, Phenethyl alcohol, Caprylyl glycol, Parfum (Fragrance), Mica, Disodium EDTA, Panthenol, Silica, Sodium hydroxide, Citronellol, Coumarin, Hexyl cinnamal, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde, Butylphenyl methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Alpha-isomethyl ionone, CI 77891 (Titanium dioxide), CI 60730 (Ext violet 2).


text:
Review: The King Slayer (The Witch Hunter #2) by Virginia Boecker
[book-info]
[youtube_sc url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eirzPBwTuE" color="white" autohide="1″]
I thoroughly enjoyed author Virginia Boeker's novel The Witch Hunter. All of the action, lore, and characters that made up the novel were absolutely wonderful and (considering all the potential that was left after the novel's conclusion) I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel ever since. The King Slayer had a lot to live up to and I had some pretty big expectations from the novel. Unsurprisingly enough, The King Slayer met these expectations with ease.
After giving up her stigma, Elizabeth Grey has been plotting how to bring down the rule of the tyrant Lord Blackwell. Hiding away in the village of Harrow, Elizabeth has been avoiding the hefty price Blackwell has placed on her head. Both Elizabeth and her allies know that Blackwell is preparing for a war against his men and those who dare to resist him. But facing off against Blackwell might very well mean facing the possibility of losing the people closest to her. As Elizabeth embarks on the next chapter of her journey, she is forced to re-meet people from her past, while also readying herself for the battle ahead.
As always, I enjoyed Boeker's prose and characterization. Last time around, it was Elizabeth who really stole the show for me, and once again I've fallen in love with her character. She's the ultimate strong female lead, not just because she's a total badass, but because Boeker writes her in a way that makes her human. Elizabeth is faced with the consequences of her actions as a Witch Hunter in The King Slayer, and must also face an abusive figure from her past. The way that Elizabeth experiences and deals with these things (while also trying to save the entire kingdom) has me obsessed with her character all over again.
I felt that compared to The Witch Hunter, this sequel still shared the previous novel's charm. In The Witch Hunter, the reader really got to experience learning about witches and wizards alongside Elizabeth, and also get caught up on trying to find out who is a friend to Elizabeth and who isn't. A lot of the suspenseful thrills that were offered in The King Slayer's predecessor remained. Characters come back from the dead, betrayal lies around every corner, and you never know what may happen next.
I was very pleased with The King Slayer in its entirety. From start to finish, it was an interesting read that kept me eager to see the novel through to its end. I liked the note that The King Slayer ended off on, and like a proper fangirl, I'm hopeful that maybe I'll get to see more of Elizabeth someway, somehow in the future.
I would recommend The King Slayer to readers who are looking for a strong leading female character who is admirable and memorable. Readers who are looking for a novel that incorporates the perfect amount of fantasy and action should also give The King Slayer a go (but not before finishing up The Witch Hunter).
[about-author author="Virginia Boecker"]


text:
3 | 4 : Press
Posted: 06/23/2014 in Press
Tags: Derek, Event Horizon, Maxine, Pivot, Ryan
"What the fuck," said Derek. "What the fuck was that about?"
I had no patience.
"What happened was Ellen joined that fucking bitch and her fucking posse, D!" I snapped back at him. Ellen joined the Hunting Party. Why? Why the fuck would she do that? My head was racing.
"Ryan, calm down," said Derek, interrupting my thoughts. "I get it, I know how you feel. Please think before you act."
"Why? Why the fuck should I?"
"You'll get yourself killed, or worse."
I took a moment to think. Derek was right, there was nothing I could do. It would take a month to heal my arm properly, and even then my powers are useless in certain situations. I haven't even one a single fight.
"Fine," I said, still bitter. I took a second to exhale. "Fuck."
The door opened slowly after what felt like an eternal silence. It wasn't Maxine and any medical staff, but Event Horizon. She stood there, looking as concerned as she could.
"I heard about the news," she said. "I know you two and the other one were close."
"Yeah," sighed Derek. He got up to leave.
"I was going to visit today to see about your arm, Ry. I guess these things happen."
I looked at her, much calmer than before. I took a moment to realize she was still in costume. A pink mask over her head, with a green triangle on the center of it, covering her nose and her top lip. Odd choice. Derek closed the door behind him.
"I'm actually not good at this, and I feel I've come too early, but I'm there for you and your friends. Maxwell is there too," she said. "Don't let this be about yourselves, Ry. You, Unpe- Maxine and Derek are pert of the team now. You are part of my team. I want to see you at your best or at least make sure you feel better than before you joined."
It was awkward, slow, she tripped up once and there was a hint of selfishness to it, but I needed it.
"Thanks. I'll tell the others when I see them."
She got up to leave and ran into Maxine. There was a nurse with her.
"He broke his arm again," the nurse said to Event Horizon.
"I see. I'll talk to you later, " she said to Maxine, walking out the room.
It's been a week since my accident. I'm healing faster than usual, and I'm up and about now.
"Hey you three, what's up?"
It was Pivot. Event Horizon was behind her. She was relatively normal as far as most brain type supers went. Her specialty was on making machines with a central component, that both allowed for easy rebuilding but also left her creations with a glowing weakness; everything is built around a single, central component.
She wore a slightly modified labcoat. A single steel wire held it together, and allowed it to provide maneuverability and protection.
"Not much," replied Maxine, eating a sandwich from the cafeteria. Derek was already finished and I was busy enjoying a surprisingly not terrible soup.
"We need to talk," Pivot said, pausing for a moment. "Not about what happened, it's more about the actives thing before the bank heist incident."
"Oh, that," I said. "What was it about again?"
"Druggie's formula and powers."
"Really?" I said. I wasn't in the mood for it.
"You'll need to hear this, so listen up," said Event Horizon, reading my expression. She and Pivot sat down next to either side of Derek.
"I figure you know the gist of what Druggie does, right?" asked Pivot.
"Chemical based hero, creates tons of powerful formulas and drugs," said Maxine.
"Yeah. Anyway, you all got injected with his 'Awakening' formula. This is different, and it works off of regular awakenings."
Derek shifted to slightly, a little worried. I'd be concerned about this too if I was in his shoes. Or Maxine's.
"Awakenings are caused moments of extremity. Winning a Drag Race, being in a fight, surviving a disaster… all of those can cause a power to erupt," lectured Pivot. "Druggie's formula forces this, causing a random ambient power. There is a passive effect and an active. You guys need to know about your 'actives' and how to use them."
This actually isn't as bad as I thought. Derek relaxed a little.
"It's easier if we learn about these powers and stuff in a controlled environment than in the middle of a fight or something, right?" asked Maxine.
"Yeah," replied Event Horizon. "That's why we are telling you now. You know us, there isn't much going on at this very moment and you guys may be out of action for a while anyway."
"Figures," Derek said, looking up at Event Horizon as she walked over to Pivot.
"We'll do this in the training room," said Event Horizon, standing from her seat. "Gunsmith has to watch over us, for supervision purposes."
Pivot got up from her seat. "You all coming? No time like right now."
We all looked at each other and got up at the same time. We all finished our meals anyway.
"Okay," I said. "I think it's unanimous."
Event Horizon walked off. "I'll go get Gunsmith, you guys follow Pivot."
Pivot led the way as Maxine walked next to her, with me and Derek close behind them. I noticed that Pivot's labcoat was a little larger than she was, reaching down to her ankles.
"Hey Pivot," said Maxine.
"Yeah?" Pivot continued walking down the hall.
"So why were there only four of you guys before we joined?"
Pivot took a moment to think.
"One guy moved to another group, the other guy cou-" she began, before stopping abruptly. "yeah, sometimes people leave the team."
"Oh," said Maxine, trying to segway the bitter feeling in the air. "let's talk about something else. What's up with the guys we fought a week ago?"
"The North side Rioters?"
"Yeah, them!" Maxine exclaimed.
"They all sorta awakened during a riot that happened last year. We didn't catch up to them and by the time we knew about them they'd already been causing crimes."
"I see," I said.
"It's a combination of bad luck and opportunity for them, really." Pivot stated. "They were mostly poor kids before the riot, then they got hit by the worst of it and became looters, then muggers, then… well, this," she gestured to the air.
"Oh, we're here. let's wait for Gunsmith and Event Horizon."
Tags: Derek, Event Horizon, Maxine, Maxwell, Plasmic, Ryan, Servant, Stacker, Tiny Tyrant
Today, I learned two horrific facts; I've never broken my arm before and it hurts when you do. I nearly passed out, looking as the tire rolled away, smeared with blood. I took one look at my arm and threw up onto the pavement instantly. I could see bone. White, broken shards of bone.
"I shall pick up this car," said Tiny Tyrant, lifting a car in a way that ignored all laws of torque and stress. "And beat this plebeian to death!"
I learned that pulling myself out of the roughly me shaped indentation of the side of a car is also painful. Not as painful as being thrown into it with a flying tire, but still painful. Tiny Tyrant charged at me, swinging. I dodged the car as she suddenly lost her balance. I guess she couldn't wield her car anymore due to my aura. The car landed, bouncing a little once it his the ground as Tiny Tyrant stumbled forwards, bringing her face into the rear end. I heard a satisfying clunk as she dented the car and fell over unconscious with a broken nose.
I took a second to get my strength and look around. Plasmic was tagged. Maxwell was out of the running. Servant and Tiny Tyrant were down. That leaves the person Event Horizon was chasing.
He ran over to where I was. I remembered that I had a stun baton, and Tiny Tyrant must have knocked it out of my hands when she threw the tire at me. He grabbed the Baton and turned to Event Horizon, shocking her stomach with a well timed strike. She fell down, clutching her stomach.
I slowly stumbled over to her, stumbling in my own pain. She was more hurt than Servant was when I struck him. Stun batons shouldn't do that kind of damage.
"Hey, are you okay?" I managed to ask, the adrenaline in my body beginning to fade.
She was still shaking. I took a few steps closer and was floored with pain as an arc of electricity lashed out from Event Horizon and struck me.
I woke up in a stretcher an hour later, and got the jist of the result of the fight from Stacker. Apparently only Plasmic was arrested, as their leader – or what was closest to a leader for them – managed to free Servant and escape with Tiny Tyrant. I'll be out of the running for a while, due to the fact my arm was nearly torn clean off. It wouldn't be that much of a problem, but no healer can really help me due to the nature of my incontinence.
The medical bed in the NHN building was rather relaxing, with its dull, sterile colouring and the mind dulling droning coming from machines everywhere. But that peace was only before Derek came in with Maxine behind him. She still wore the goggles given to her.
"Hey Ryan," he began, showing a basket of fruits and chocolates. "Maxine got this from the gift shop."
"Thanks," I said to the both of them.
Maxine had a somewhat smug look on her face. This'll be terrible, I thought. She looked around and saw the television, and walked over for the remote laying on top of it.
"You should see the news," she said turning the television on.
"Derek, get that damn thing off her!" I quickly roared.
Maxine giggled, holding the remote high above her as Derek jumped, trying to reach for the remote. He gave up quickly and shrugged.
"No use, just hope it isn't as embarrassing as you think," he joked, sitting on the bed.
The TV turned on. Oklahoma City News Network. OCNN, as it's abbreviation was called. Breaking News blared up before a petite blonde presenter showed up.
"Footage of the recent skirmish between the National Heroes Network's Oklahoma City junior group and the North Side Rioters has recently been released. Be advised; what you will see may shock you," she said.
The screen cut to a clip of Tiny Tyrant tearing a tire off a car and throwing it, taken from a helicopter. All three of us flinched as it hit me with a crunch.
"Recent controversy has hit the Oklahoma Juniors Group as they have nearly doubled their active roster, inviting three new capes into their group,"
Footage of the mall. Me, Derek, Maxine and Micheal all huddled up. Ellen.
"Unperson, Latency, Beacon, Plural, Trauma and Blocker are the newest recorded Incontinent metahumans created by the string of attacks caused by the Hunting Party,"
Her statement floored me. Blocker? Trauma? What the fuck did Ellen do? I looked over and it floored Maxine a little too. She didn't expect this to be our introduction into the world of metahumans, if you could call it that. It was more of a public condemnation.
The news piece continued.
"Nearly all of these young uncontrolled capes have joined the NHN. However, the public has shown disapproval,"
The screen cut to interviews, fast paced, they all nearly said the same thing.
"Why should we be allowing people like Biohazard run about!?" asked the fat man with glasses.
"I'm scared. Those people are scary. Not like Undertow and Vector," the nervous girl spat out.
"It's not much of a choice, ain't it? Like, you got them and you got those mean dudes, right? I'd choose them though. They seem good," endorsed the thin man with a beard.
"Their names creep me out, man. Unperson? Who the fuck names themselves after a book on fascism?" ranted another man. Derek choked on a chortle.
The screen turned back to the reporter.
"Critics say that these new capes could all be villainous citing the recent events where Trauma, AKA Ellen White killed her parents, and later escaped from NHN custody with the assistance of The Hunting Party. She was last seen in Malcolmtown, Missouri."
The screen cut to Ellen. People where around Ellen. I knew them. Fractal. Druggie. Sacrifice. Pain uddenly shot through my broken arm and I screamed out. Maxine and Derek turned as I grabbed my cast with my free hand, holding it.
"I'll get help, stay here," said Maxine, running out the room.
Derek helped hold my cast in place before he flinched back, his palm covered in blood. We both took a second and figured out what happened; I broke my own arm in anger.
Tags: Event Horizon, Latency, Maxwell, Pivot, Plasmic, Ryan, Servant, Stacker, Tiny Tyrant, Unperson
Event Horizon, as far as I could tell, was the leader of the whole team for the Oklahoma City Group. We were driving to the bank being robbed by the North Side Rioters, and everyone apart from Pivot was being debriefed by Event Horizon.
"Normally, we'd have Maxwell and one of Pivot's toys run in and wreck face," she began. "However we got three newbies who can actually take out fighters easy."
She wrote down a small sentence on her arm; Unperson is hiding Latency.
"Unperson, do your thing to Latency. Latency, tag as many people as you can. Ryan, you'll be in the front. How far does your field go?" Her orders were quickfire. She knew what to do.
"Three meters I think." I replied.
"Stay ten meters away from us, try and get in the midst of them. Also, choose a callsign for god's sake. Pivot's going easy this time because of that fight with Killstreak last week. I'll be in the front with Maxwell. Stacker, stack Latency."
"Hey, what's that do?" asked Latency.
"It's a luck thing," said Stacker. "If you do well, it like carries over… bu-"
"If you fuck up it'll get bad quickly," shot Maxwell. "I've been stacked plenty of times. You'll feel it on you."
"Speaking of which," interjected Pivot from the driver's seat, "You guys know what your actives are right?"
"Actives?" Unperson asked.
"I see," said Pivot coyly. "We'll talk about this later."
We got out the van with Maxwell, Event Horizon and myself standing in the front, everyone else at the back. We were facing the bank, a few blocks away. It was go time.
Maxwell and Event horizon ran ahead, meeting two of the robbers who had come out of the bank. They both wore hockey masks and paint smeared clothes. One of them, wearing a red painted mask and blue denim dungarees shot out a glowing something, knocking Maxwell back into the road. I walked up to the group from the side. He turned to me and shot another ball. It disappeared five meters away from me.
"The fuck?" he said.
"Plasmic, I'll deal with this bitch," said the other, hopping and jumping away from Event Horizon with finesse. He muttered something unintelligible as she chased him with relentless fury, closing the distance more and more each second. Deep down I felt as though there was no esc-
Suddenly, I was on fire. I panicked and put out the flames as hard as I can, tossing my shield and performing a stop drop and roll. Awareness based power nullification. How annoying.
I got up and saw the next fireball. It vanished right before my eyes. I picked up my riot shield and held it before me. Maxwell was charging who I think was called Plasmic and Event Horizon had gotten deathly close. As much as she was able to close the gap, he was way to tricky to catch. What the hell was his power?
I heard screaming from within the bank. It looped. Somebody stood out, a cape in a morph suit. He surrendered. Unperson suddenly tapped me on the shoulder from behind and I remembered it was Latency as I turned around in surprise. She gave a thumbs up and Latency ran to where Plasmic and Maxwell were, tagging them both. Maxwell was freezing the air around Plasmic. Plasmic was charging a shot. Plasmic was charging a shot. Plasmic was charging a shot.
The last remaining robber ducked from under one of Event Horizon's grabs and ran for Latency. I charged after him.
"Latency, look out!" I yelled. He reached him and…
He did a backflip over Latency. I reached Latency too quickly to stop and everyone went back to normal. Shit, I thought to myself, turning to face Plasmic as he fired another shot that dissipated in my aura. Latency ran back into the building as Maxwell struck Plasmic in the back of the head, knocking him out and onto the ground.
The second robber struck my in the gut from nowhere. I felt all the wind in me leave and I nearly threw up. Then I saw more of the North Side Rioters.
A young girl stood in a finely laced dress, wearing a mask normally worn in a masquerade ball. Beside her, a taller man wearing a formless mask and a formal suit.
"Servant, throw Maxwell into that building over there." the young girl spoke.
the young man dashed over to Maxwell with insane speed and grabbed Maxwell's arm. Maxwell instinctively froze his formal suit and arm with his powers as the Servant threw Maxwell across the street. His frostbitten fingers and frozen sleeves still clung to Maxwell as he crashed through the window panes of a bakery.
"Servant, your lack of clothing and fingers are disgusting. How will you serve me with no hands?"
The servant boy kneeled in front of the girl. "Yes, my lady. Forgive me, my lady."
"Grow your fingers and clothing back, now!" she fumed theatrically, like a small child throwing a tantrum. His fingers and bones popped and cracked disgustingly as his hands regrew, the frostbitten flesh disappearing slowly.
She pointed at me. "Blast that man in the riot gear with your eye lasers!"
He turned and his eyes began glowing. I charged him, closing the distance as he fired of a shot that did nothing. I eventually reached him and tackled him to the ground with a bask of my shield.
"Fight back! Fight back!"
The servant boy scrambled to get back up on his feet as I remembered about my stun baton. I unsheathed it, kicking the assailant in the stomach. He didn't even scream as the shock pulsed through his back, knocking him out with spasms.
I turned around and Event Horizon had caught the villain she'd been chasing the whole fight. He was already in cuffs. She looked over to me and her face turned white.
"Ryan, Servant isn't the one with the powers! You have to stop Tiny Tyrant!"
I pondered exactly what sort of name Tiny Tyrant was, when the flying car tire smacked me into the parked car next to me.
Tags: Event Horizon, Gunsmith, Latency, Maxwell, Pivot, Ryan, Stacker, Unperson
I stood there side by side with Latency and Unperson. They are still known to me as Derek and Maxine. Ricky – or Plural as he is now calling himself – is in the New York Juniors team along with Micheal, who rechristened himself Beacon. Ellen was taken from us, the only casualty of the attack on Norfolk.
We were waiting, overhearing Gunsmith talk into the camera.
"…e here at the NHN will finally introduce the three new members to the Oklahoma City's very own National Heroes Network Junior Group! Unperson, Latency and Ryan!"
We walked onto the stage from the left. Both I and Unperson were heavily armored. Unperson's mask was a face-plate covering her eyes but still giving her sight. The Goggles she wore earlier worked by making her see through an instant camera feed. It wasn't efficient, but the technical guy behind it made an improved version for her.
I wore clothing suspiciously similar to riot gear. It was painted white, to my approval. The facemask was clear as I didn't feel the need to hide my face. They all knew who I was anyway.
Derek was the only one of us not adorned with bullet proofing of any sort. I guess he felt he didn't need it, due to his ability to not get shot. As much as his bravery entertained me, watching him go out in a silver morph suit was rather embarrassing. Seriously, what the fuck.
It was a small press release, mainly to justify the sudden growth of the Oklahoma City Juniors. They are now seven members on this team, making out group the fifth largest NHN Junior Group in the USA. Unperson and I waved.
The crowd was justifiably nervous. When people are asked about Incontinents, they don't think about potential superheroes.
They think of Biohazard, who turned his hometown into a desolate wasteland where even rocks are rotting away. They think of Japan, a country that was turned into a jungle state where every animal has sentience. President Inugami is currently trying to reapply Japan for the UN at the moment, but he's having issues. Apparently there is new legislation about UN memberships, and 'nations who have undergone severe demographic, military and/or governmental restructuring due to the influence of superpowers are no longer allowed access to the UN'. I can see why, with all the Kingmaker states and the one or two islands run my maniacs with hypnotism and god knows what else. They think about Nightmare.
I decided to finally break the silence. "Hello, I'm Ryan. The girl to my left is Unperson," I said, gesturing. "And the person to my right is Latency."
"We'll ask any questions the best we can as members of the NHN Junior Group first, and as individuals second," I finished, stepping back.
The first hand shot up, a petite girl. I pointed to her and she immediately looked at her question on the notepad. "Why are you called Ryan?"
"It's my name," I said. "You know me anyway," A second person raised their hand once I was done with her, and I pointed at them.
"Do you think you'll be a good addition to the Oklahoma team?"
This was a question we were all prepared for. A big thing that recently has been making the rounds is the idea of team synergy. We'd been told about our companions from Gunsmith; Pivot, Event Horizon, Stacker and Maxwell. We also were told about the current Oklahoma situation.
Unperson answered this question. "Yes. Both us and the NHN believe we are capable and suited to working in Oklahoma city with the current team situated there."
Gunsmith walked up and gestured us off before any more questions occurred. It was time to meet the Oklahoma Juniors.
"So you three are the new guys, huh?" asked a green hooded figure in the Junior Group living quarters. It looked less like a dormitory and more like a storage closet, with boxes everywhere. Me, Unperson and Latency were standing at the door with our luggage; some clothes and toiletries.
A blue skinned figure walked out from where I assumed the toilets were, wearing a bathrobe. "Quiet, Stacker," he said.
"I'm Maxwell, nice to meet you." he stuck out a hand and it tuned to normal, surprising him slightly. He took a step back, reeling his hand away.
"Sorry," I shrugged. "Can't really turn it off."
"It's okay, I'm almost in the same boat."
Latency walked out of my radius and turned to his glitchy, lagging self. Stacker raised an eyebrow.
"Shit, you guys really are Incontinents," he smirked.
"And?" asked Unperson. Latency Blinked into a glare at Stacker.
"Never seen one apart from Maxwell, but he's not like you guys."
"Not 'like us' how?" I asked. I was having my patience wear thin and having my curiosity piqued at the same time.
"Well, for a start, Maxwell is a hero along the lines of 'Internally Incontinent' which means his powers don't really affect others. His skin tuns blue, but he has other powers," began Stacker. "Most thinking types are also like that, Powers are always working, but they don't affect others like yours do unless they act on it."
"I see," I said. I've been cursing my lack of knowledge in super-culture for a while. Hell, I feel like I'm going to be cursing a lack of knowledge in everything for years to come.
"Well, looks like the newbies are here," said a young girl as she walked in from behind. She held out a hand to me. "I'm Pivot."
"Ryan," I responded.
"Huh? No alias?" she cocked her head.
"It's not like I can hide my identity," I smiled at her, shaking her hand.
She sat down on one of the several couches scattered around the room. Maxwell had already went to his room to dry off. Latency and Unperson both looked for their rooms to change.
The alarms blared just as Unperson found her room.
"A metahuman robbery at West Bank is being conducted by the north side rioters. NHN Juniors Group has been assigned to deal with the threat."
Pivot ran to her room to get her stuff. Maxwell walked out of his, and whom I could only guess was Event Horizon walked out of hers.
"Okay newbies," said Event Horizon. "Time to shine."
Supplemental : Transport
Tags: Bloodwitch, Druggie, Ellen, Fractal, Glutton, Jawbreaker, Kumo, Sacrifice, Taker, Trauma
Quiet. Silent. Everything was Nothing and she was alone with her thoughts. Who would want to talk to you? It's all your fault. You're going to cause nothing but misery, forever. It's all your fault. You deserve this.
Ellen's mind raced, and it could only hurt her. She was not allowed to talk to anyone, not after what she did. The guards were blocked from even seeing her, she was that horrific. Confined to a nearly impossible degree, with gags, blindfolds, chains, cuffs and straight-jackets all supported with a complex metal contraption suspending her in place. All that was was all her thoughts; all her thoughts were all that was. She waited and hoped for the occasional jolt of the van as it took her to the city kept her awake. Anything to make the Ellen in her mind go away, or be distracted for a moment.
You don't deserve to live. You killed them.
Ellen couldn't escape her own thoughts for even a single second. It hurt.
Did it feel good? Having her die because you didn't want to hear me for just a little longer?
A thousand accusations, a thousand spiteful words pierced her with precision that proved to her it was her own mind doing this. Her very soul was trying to drive her insane.
She loved you, and you said those filthy, evil words.
It was working.
And guess what? You get to go free. I'm sure Uncle Jonathon will be proud.
A violent jolt of the van changed her mind for a second.
Oh my. It appears you've caused even more death.
Metal tearing, shouting, screaming, gunshots. Nothing.
They had kids. Both of them.
More metal being torn, louder, more pronounced.
And now it's your turn. You'll spread misery forever, without fail. You disgust me.
"This her?" a ragged voice asked.
"Yeah, this is the one," answered what sounded like a young girl's. "Taker, take out the bits we don't need once I've tapped her."
Ellen woke up to find herself alone.
No voice. It was gone. She got up and realized he was free. She was free, and there wasn't that constant voice in her head telling her how horrible she was every second she wasn't near Ryan, and she could move and walk and speak and-
"So you took out her will to die?"
Ellen shot around and saw them. Seven Humanoid figures and a giant spider. She's seen weirder teams of capes before. Unlike Ryan she actually bothered with reading cape news and gossip, rather than instinctively sneering and going for the remote. She recognized them already. The Hunting Party. She was back in the clutches of the hunting party.
Sacrifice, Druggie, Fractal, Glutton and Jawbreaker stood in a group. They were finished off by three of their other members whom the news reported as visiting Asia at the time they attacked Norfolk. Taker, Bloodwitch and Kumo.
"Why are you here?" she asked. Or more correctly, that is what she meant to ask. What she actually said was "Ahh, Munroe. You think you can save this little girl, too?"
A brief moment of horror crossed Ellen's face as Bloodwitch slapped her across the face, sending her across the room.
"Taker, she told you to take out all the bits we don't need," Bloodwitch snarled at Taker, her veins visibly popping from her powers.
"Now now, I was only having a joke. It's not like you'd kill yourself anyway," replied Taker, adjusting his glasses. "Though if you let me take something of similar value, I'd give you back your death…"
"Back off, you fucking creep," Bloodwitch replied, a spear of blood shooting out of her arm and touching Taker's neck.
Glutton suddenly jumped and bit down on the blood spear, breaking it. He shot a look at both of them and resumed eating his burger.
"Enough," ordered Sacrifice calmly. "We have many experiments to run in the future. Taker? Take these things," she handed Taker a note of paper. He smiled while looking at the list and walked over to Ellen, who just managed to stand up. Ellen turned to run and began to look for a door or a window.
"It's no use, dear." said Taker, slowly walking towards her. "I took away the exits."
"Clara, help me!" Ellen cried. Bloodwitch clenched her fist and looked away. "Don't let it happen! Don't just stand there watching again!"
Taker got even closer. Ellen tried to make another run for it but she froze. She suddenly fell to her knees and put her hands behind her head. Bloodwitch was using her powers on her.
Ellen panicked, struggling to speak. "Clara, please! I didn't mean it! You said you'd prote-"
"You aren't her!" shouted Bloodwitch, visibly angered. Ellen shut up, reduced to sobbing.
Taker reached her, and placed his and on her head.
"Loyalty to your friends, family and everyone else bar us."
A surge of blood rushed through Ellen's head.
"Please, Danny… It wasn't their fault," she whispered to Taker.
"Your ability to use your power on us."
Another surge of blood.
Ellen could actually say what she wanted to. "Please, stop this."
"Your ability to betray us or rebel against us in any form."
Another surge of blood, heavier than the last.
"And finally, your will to leave us."
It was done. As the last pulses of blood ran through her head and she heard the tinnitus slowly pass by. Even her thoughts changed. Ellen was still scared, still frightened, but now she feels no need to escape, to try and run away. She looked up at Taker as he took his hand away.
"We always take a new member from each experiment," smiled Sacrifice. Ellen remembered a small detail about her; she used to be a well known metahuman researcher. Her experiments have come to this? Awful.
"It's a way to keep on having fun."
"I see." Ellen wasn't disagreeing. Only loyalty to the Hunting Party remained. It pained her to admit so, just a little.
Sacrifice walked closer to her, wearing a bull's head instead of the goat she last saw. She placed her hand on Ellen's shoulder.
"You are now Trauma," she said gently. Ellen got up, allowed to move again. Sacrifice turned to the rest of the Hunting Party. She clapped her hands and spun around in a mischievous manner.
"Who wants to see the current situation of Texas?" she asked.
Kumo was the first to reply.
"Why go Texas?" the spider hissed.
"Because, Kumo, I want to study the Effects of Druggie's formula on a Kingmaker victim. The King of Texas is conveniently nearby, and he's going to open up soon anyway. Kingmakers need to wage wars and Texas hasn't had one in 15 years," she replied.
Kumo didn't respond.
2 | 4 : Road Trip
Posted: 06/03/2014 in Road Trip
Tags: Donald Darling, Micheal, Ryan
We won't be seeing Ellen again; she won't be seeing her family. It was hard to let sink in. I was standing outside the room where we just had our final meeting before being assigned as Juniors and having to deal with PR. I wasn't looking forwards to it. Sure, I might see Ricky – or Plural, as he calls himself – but my thoughts were firmly with Ellen. Maxine couldn't have gotten anything higher than 3. That was the criteria. Seven. What the fuck did she do?
Micheal was the last to leave the conference room, his lawyer covering his eyes behind him. He walked up to me and the dim yet persistent glow faded away to nothingness.
"You ok Ryan?" he asked, taking a seat on the bench next to me.
"I guess so," I lied.
We didn't say a single thing for what felt like an eternity. I eventually got up and walked off to the toilets. Maxine and Derek were already called down to PR over the intercom, and Micheal really didn't have anything to say. I still remembered Agent Williams hesitating when Maxine asked him about Ellen, his reaction when I asked him to tell us something.
His fear when he mentioned that she was classified Risk Level 7.
"Ryan Anderson, Report to Room 207." the intercom buzzed. I got up to leave, not even saying goodbye to Micheal. He was too deep in thought like I was.
The hallways in the NHN HQ were surprisingly homely, albeit still fulled with office-like buzz. Armed guards filled every hallway along with clerks, researchers and other people hired for everything under the sun from secretarial duties to cleaning toilets, as the halls were filled with idle chatter from videogames to who is going out with whom. I was rather surprised at how easily they'd let us walk through the building.
Room 207 was evidently on the second floor, after a little guesswork and a quick moment to pause and ask for directions. I was about to knock when the man at the other end when the balding skinny man at the other end opened the door and I nearly tapped him on the head.
"Ah, come in!" he said with surprise. I entered the room. Costumes and newspaper snippets lined the walls, with three desks in the middle of the room. Two were absolutely a total mess and the last was unspeakably neat. There was a swivel chair at both ends of the neat desk, one of which I sat on.
"I'm Donald Darling. Call me Donald," he said as he sat behind his desk. He wore a coat, stained with inks and paints. He didn't look like a person who was hired to deal with people at all.
"Sure thing, Donald," I said casually.
"Well, like I said to your buddies, you'll be a doozy. It's not every day four Incontinents are given probationary contracts with the Junior Group. Hell, it's not every day the Hunting Party doesn't cause a massacre with their formula!"
I clenched my teeth. The Hunting Party. Hate was to weak a word to convey my feelings.
"You'll probably be under stress from the media, so I was thinking of breaking you up."
"Si-"
"Buuut…" he interrupted me. "You are the only thing that can reverse Derek and Maxine's powers on the fly. Or, as they are called now, Latency and Unperson."
Wait, what? I shot a confused stare.
"Here," he said, handing a bracelet from under his drawer. "put this bad boy on."
I snapped it around my right wrist. If glowed and shrunk, squeezing tightly for a moment. I almost panicked and it stopped.
"That's a Hudlet, according to Interface." said Donald, pointing at the shiny silver bracelet. A small bunch of screens appeared all over it, similar to a touchscreen phone.
"Interface?"
"Some Genius type guy in the East coast. He's good with designing CLI's, GUI's and whatever else. Made this little ditty. It's powered by body heat and gives us a reading to your teammates and the main server back here. All nifty in my opinion," he explained.
It dawned on me that my ignorance of the world of capes is going to become a real problem for me. I looked at the screen shown and noticed a prompt.
Enter your callsign: _
I sighed deeply and harshly with disappointment. I'm not a kid. I don't want to do this.
"Can I put my own name in this thing?" I asked Donald.
"Why'd you ask?"
"Because everyone will know my name anyway. I'm on youtube for fuck's sake," I responded. Donald smiled coyly at me in response.
"And? Many capes have been outed and still go by callsigns, it'll happen eventually," he said, waving his right hand like a magic wand. "It's better to choose a callsign you like or get one labeled by the people. They are pretty awful. Hell, most of the ones people choose are still awful, but that's my opinion."
"I don't want my armband calling me anything other than my name," I replied, punching my name into the prompter on my Hudlet.
"So I'm going to assign you, Derek and Maxine to Oklahoma City," said Donald once I finished.
I shot a look up from my Hudlet. It was a nifty little thing with all the features of a phone, and a few small status indicators measuring stuff like my blood pressure and heart rate. "Oklahoma? Why?"
"King of Texas. He's started acting up after an attack by Conquest and we can't fight him normally without his powers going off on our regular armies, so we need some capes around the border. Also, we need beefing up on our junior unit in the south after a few gangs popped up. There are a few other reasons but those are the main ones," he explained casually.
I nodded at every point he made. He eventually waved me off after giving me a card for a tailor. I initially refused but he told me that it's more for utility than cape culture. I took it before he finished the story about Hammerhead's bikini and the shotgun. It sounded painful, and I saw the images.
Tags: Agent Williams, Alliance, Derek, Ellen, Maxine, Micheal, Ryan, Sterling Washington, Susan Anderson, Thomas Anderson
I was woken up at roughly 7:00 AM. Not the time I'd normally get up, but I had no real complaints. I needed every second to think. Breakfast was served at 8:00. Sorta okay-ish factory food. Light and fluffy.
At 10:00 AM, everything changed.
The intercom in my cell buzzed. "There is a visitor for you, Ryan," said Alliance.
I could only guess as to whom it was. My parents. I'd only given them a brief thought when I'd been caught in Norfolk. I guess I didn't want to have them see me.
The cell door clicked and a pair of guards led me to an interrogation room. I couldn't hear or tell if any of the others were in their cells as I was walked by. In the Interrogation room was my Mother, Father, Alliance and two others. One was wearing a NHN badge woven into his blazer. The other was a bald, fat man seated next to my mom, wearing a suit and holding several folders next to a briefcase.
"Mr. Anderson," said the man whom I guessed was a lawyer, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sterling Washington, your lawyer for now." He offered a hand to shake. I did so.
My mom stood up from her seat from between dad and Mr Washington and grabbed me in a tight hug. "I missed you, I thought you were…" She trailed off and squeezed tighter. I couldn't breathe.
"Mom," I tried weakly.
"Susan Anderson, your son is turning blue." said Sterling. She let me go and grabbed my head, giving me one last kiss on the forehead.
She nearly broke down. "I'm sorry, it's just…"
"I understand, I just didn't want the boy to faint," the lawyer joked. Mom smiled as she sat back down. I noticed that my father had been tapping his fingers on the table the whole time, impatiently.
I found a seat at the table and sat down and the NHN agent began to speak.
"Good morning," he began, "I'm Agent Williams of the National Heroes Network. I'm sure you all have an understanding how serious this situation is for the young Ryan Anderson here. He is not only going to have to be held for Analysis and Risk Assessment according to the Incontinent Powers Detainment and Analysis Act, but he may also be charged with one account of vandalism, one account of hijacking and five accounts of complicity with Indefinite detainment with a Power." Dad looked at me.
"Um," I stuttered, interrupting Williams. "Can I ask a question?" I was asking my lawyer more than the NHN Agent across the table. Washington gave me the go ahead.
"Yes, you may." said Agent Williams.
"Does indefinite mean it's forever? Like you can't end it?" I asked. Agent Williams looked at me funny.
"Yes, why do you ask that?"
Alliance jumped into our conversation. "Sources tell me young Ryan here has a form of neutralization that can free the five victims." Williams shot a surprised glance at Alliance and then at me, before clearing his throat to bring the discussion back to what he was saying.
"Well, I guess those circumstances may have to be considered."
My lawyer broke into the discussion this time. "I do suspect that if you already know about his powers, you'll have no need to do any analysis,"
"We are actually considering a compromise for Ryan and his friends. It is the same we offer to every metahuman under 18 we have encounters with; a probationary contract with the NHN Junior Group," replied the Agent.
I cocked my eyebrow. "Was Ri- Plural offered this?"
"Yes, he was."
"And if my son does?" my father finally spoke. "What then?"
"As I said, it's merely a probat-" my father interrupted the Agent.
"Not that. What about the fact that he's known, that Micheal is known, that all of his friends are currently on the internet and on WANTV? You do know that one of their classmates was talking about them. Personal details about my son."
The agent took a second to compose himself. Most people did, my father was very threatening when he spoke, and the idea that me and my friends had become famous overnight was actually daunting.
"Nothing can be done, I'm afraid. Sorry about that, Thomas."
Dad was stunned, a little. Reputation wasn't much for him, but he liked to preserve what little he had gained. becoming one of the parents of 'those kids who became incontinents from a supervillain' wouldn't bode well for him. It wouldn't bode well for anyone's family. Revenge was still in my heart. I didn't know why, but hearing dad reinvigorated it. For the worst reason possible, I wanted to do something.
"I'll do it." I said.
Agent Williams tried to hide his smile. He nearly failed.
After a discussion with both my lawyer and my parents I'd agreed to join the NHN Junior Group if my results from the Risk Assessment test came back with a number lower than 4. From my interview and the few tests I'd received I'd only gotten a 2. They also asked me to explain what I knew of my friend's powers. Maxine and Derek in particular. I'd stated a little about them, like how Derek's loops stopped nearby me and Maxine's power fails when I go near her, and they did a lot of comparing and discussion in some committee while I waited back in my cell. I was still unsure of where everyone was, but after two days I was brought back for the second test and saw them.
I'd ended up wearing the issued clothing put in our cells. Shirt, trousers, boxers, and socks.
The Powers Analysis test was mainly a feedback discussion. I'd been brought to a large round table with chairs along with Mr. Washington. Micheal was here, I could tell by the glowing. He was wearing something that made it dimmer, but I still couldn't look at him. I sat down on a seat that had a piece of paper with my name on it. Ellen was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey," I said to everyone. "I missed you guys."
Maxine looked in my direction. I noticed her and Derek wore the same grey clothing as me, but Maxine wore a pair of goggles over her eyes. They probably did something to help her with her powers.
"Good to see you again," said Micheal. He was still loud, regardless of how his new clothes dulled down is piercing glow.
"Good evening," Agent Washington began, "Again, I'm Agent Washington, the Proctor for this discussion. Your lawyers are here with you because of the nature of what we are about to talk about. As you already know, we have taken and assembled notes and summaries of your powers and placed a copy of the penultimate revision on the folders in front of your chairs. These files are the subject of discussion for today. You all may each ask as many questions as you like."
"Where the hell is Ellen?" asked Maxine. She looked cross, or I thought she did. The goggles hid her eyes too effectively for me to tell.
"I can not legally tell you. I'm sorry."
"What can you tell us?"
"Ellen… failed to meet the qualifications we asked for you all to meet. On the Risk Assessment test, she scored a 7."
A seven.
"What?" I blurted out in surprise. "How could she get a seven, she had no powers at all!"
Sterling gave me an odd look and put his hand on his chin. Agent Washington sighed deeply, his head held firmly in his hands.
"I understand your concerns, Ryan. It's just that she did manifest powers and those powers did have a dangerous effect."
Maxine slammed her hands on the table, causing her lawyer to jump slightly. "I can fucking erase people from memory when I look at them and Derek freezes people in time! What the fuck could Ellen do that's worse!?" She was angry. I would be too. Alliance tensed up slightly.
"I can't tell you right now. I apologize."
Maxine's lawyer put her hand on her shoulder, calming her down. She begrudgingly sat back down, looking at her folder. My lawyer had spent the meantime ignoring the commotion and reading mine. He offered it to me.
I looked at the file.
PROFILE OF NATIONAL HEROES NETWORK JUNIORS PROBATIONARY MEMBER
I looked further down, skipping personal details like my age and name. They were all correct.
Power(s): DETECTION BASED POWER NULLIFICATION.
Activation Classification: INCONTINENT PASSIVE.
Detection based? I decided to ask.
"Um, Agent Williams, Why does it state my powers are Detection based?"
The agent was relieved to see people actually discuss something other than Ellen's unsure fate.
"It appears that you can only nullify aspects of powers you are aware of or have been told about."
"I see." The discussion went back and forth several times, with no real changes made. None of us had made a mention to the fact our powers had grown stronger, or that we were unsure if they'd stop. I had a feeling they already knew. I also had a feeling we were too afraid to say it out aloud.
five minutes had passed.
"I see we have a unanimous agreement on the penultimate iterations of the profile folders given, am I correct?"
The lawyers and us all nodded and gave murmurs of agreement.
"Well then," he said. "Congratulations to everyone present. You are all official members of the NHN Junior Group under probationary contract. Tomorrow you'll all be given your assignments and meet with Public Relations. You can leave now."
I got up first. I needed time to think. To think about Ellen.


If you're over the age of 35 and you saw who I'm writing this article on, you probably just went "Wait, what? Why?" If you're under 35 and don't listen to The Adventure Zone and you saw who I'm writing about, you probably just went "Wait, who?" In a rare departure from talking about upcoming chiptune releases, I thought I might take a moment and talk about one of the early Moog synthesizer pioneers whose music has largely been out of print for the last ~40 years in hopes that a look at this particular time capsule might have some worthwhile stories to tell us in this modern era. Today's article is on the rerelease of Mort Garson's 'Plantasia,' courtesy of Sacred Bones Records.