So... this will almost certianally be the epilogue. I just haven't decided if there's anything else I want to add to the book. If not, we'll be jumping six months into the future, and into book four. You all know what's coming, just need to figure out how to start that book.
I was sitting at the kitchen table, reviewing my updated production schedule when Issi came running into the kitchen. She dragged one of the chairs closer, clambered up, and looked me straight in th...
2025-02-25 23:10:34 +0000 UTC
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We spent most of the afternoon wandering between the different displays, staring in awe at the different holographic fish, and cuddling.
Although the Aquatic Gardens were busier than usual, we still only saw about half a dozen people during our time there. I guess the new holographic displays weren’t that exciting compared to heavily curated mass media slop that was available on the video sites these days. That was fine with me, I preferred it when this place was qu...
2025-02-25 19:02:09 +0000 UTC
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So... this took me over twice as long as usual. Why? No idea, I just couldn't get it to flow, and I still think it's a little rough. Won't be a TH today because of it.
Trying to tie everything up for the end of the book, which'll have an epilogue of Teddy talking to the team as they leave on the ships. Might be tomorrow... Gotta think about it tomorrow.
Despite having the bears do all the work, it still took a couple days to figure out how t...
2025-02-24 23:28:03 +0000 UTC
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Missed last week, but it's back again!
2025-02-21 20:51:15 +0000 UTC
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Little shorter, but I kind of like it.
“Reina, you’re a menace! This is why I don’t let you drive!” Skyler hissed as I dove between the mega buildings, and through the traffic layer, heading towards our destination.
“Relax, I just wanted to push my baby a bit, since it’s been quite awhile since I last got to drive,” I replied calmly.
“It was only a week ago! I know you like to drive fast, but could you please be just a little less reckl...
2025-02-21 20:47:31 +0000 UTC
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It was a good thing my truck had an auto pilot, because there’s no way I would have been able to fly back on my own. My mind was so preoccupied by what I learned in the meeting that I probably would have crashed into something if I had to fly it back myself.
When I got back to the garage I just sat in my truck, thinking, until I saw Sharron get back in her RV. As soon as I saw her get out I sprinted across the area to intercept her.
“You want to talk about what we...
2025-02-21 17:22:53 +0000 UTC
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I sat up groggily, shielding my eyes from the sunlight streaming through the windows, as I reached for the clock next to my bed. Ten-thirty.
I didn’t remember making my way back to bed after our excursion, but I apparently managed it; I even got a couple more hours of sleep. Normally I didn’t have any problem getting up, but the last few days had really done a number on me. I was still tired, and everything hurt, but I still dragged myself out of bed.
Grabbing my ...
2025-02-20 22:01:48 +0000 UTC
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I hadn’t been to the Family’s Calgary headquarters in nearly six months, but it was hard to forget. The windowless metal monolith occupied a prominent position in the city, sitting only a few blocks away from the city council building, and as close to the center of the upper city as you could get. The area around the building was usually fairly quiet, there was a no-fly zone around it and people typically didn’t want to risk irritating a samurai, but today it was exceptionally qu...
2025-02-20 17:42:50 +0000 UTC
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There was a minor change to 49 (it might have been listed as 48, sorry) so Jane and Alan are a lot more understanding. Not much, but I wanted you to know!
Issi watched me intently as I placed the air fryer onto the kitchen counter. “That thing makes deliciousness?” she asked, suspiciously.
“It makes vegetable chips, if that’s what you’re asking,” I replied, plugging the thing in. I didn’t actually plan on cooking that often but if I could make a couple tasty snacks...
2025-02-18 21:24:36 +0000 UTC
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Might need some polishing, make the signs of exhastion more consistant over the rest of the chapter. Also note: This is setup for something that'll happen in Fata, so there's reasons why they're having problems tracking the fugitives down!
“A sub pen.” I repeated dumbly. “Are you sure?”
{Arty: Based upon the dimensions of the building, and proximity to the harbor, that would be the most likely explanation. We’d have to investigate further to be sure.}
2025-02-18 17:48:57 +0000 UTC
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So... Right now wicked witch of the wild west isn't doing that good. On RR it's struggling to get more than two hundred views a chapter. I feel like that's a combination of lack of interest in the Wild West setting, and the fact that it's taking me quite awhile to build the setting.
Considering it's taking me more than eight hours a day, on average, to get three chapters written, I'm probably going to cut back on it. I'll either drop it to once a week, or intermittent.
I have ...
2025-02-17 23:34:37 +0000 UTC
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Within minutes of Skyler submitting the paperwork, Skyler had full access to the investigation. Athyna reviewed, and summarized the information in seconds, then passed it out to the rest of our small group.
“Is the government usually this accommodating?” Agnes asked, surprised, as she combed through the file.
“Absolutely not. Getting information on an ongoing Cascadian investigation is usually like trying to draw blood from a stone,” Skyler replied, “But in ...
2025-02-17 23:10:00 +0000 UTC
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“Nyx, open this door right now!” I growled as I twisted the handle to the garage door as hard as I could. It didn’t budge.
“Working hours are between eight AM and six PM,” my AI replied. “You’ve already spent a full day inspecting the cleanup crews by the settling pool, you don’t need to check hydroponics.”
“But what if there’s a problem with the plants?”
“Then the frogs would inform you, and I’d let you investigate. The operation has been r...
2025-02-17 18:42:31 +0000 UTC
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As many of you have probably noticed, this week has not been a productive one for me. Constant interuptions dealing with house repairs, and writers block, have made it hard. Gonna recharge this weekend and go hard next week.
Despite finding a solution very quickly, Bernard and I spent hours discussing the logistics, examining the matter disassemblers, and doing the math to figure out how many months it would take to clean up the mess. Well, Bernard did.
I br...
2025-02-14 20:04:59 +0000 UTC
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So, I need to do some research, so I can make what Skyler requests more plausible. You'll know what I mean when you read it. If you have any suggestions for what she can request in a near fascist system (where the requester is favored), please let me know.
I was jolted awake by someone knocking frantically on the bedroom door. I flicked my augs on just long enough to check the time. 5:07 AM. “Why can’t I get a decent night’s sleep these days? I think I deserve it.”
“Do...
2025-02-14 00:56:28 +0000 UTC
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As the Kodiak approached the heart of the undercity I pulled my armor out of the locker. I didn’t think I’d be getting into a fight, but I’d absolutely need the environmental protection. The massive settling pool, where all the canals deposited their wastewater was a toxic wasteland.
The settling pool was large, a full sector in size, and it sat right in the middle of the undercity. The area was probably originally designed for water treatment purposes, there were a...
2025-02-13 17:08:59 +0000 UTC
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“I can’t believe the nerve of that woman. At least I’ve solved the issue before it spiralled out of hand,” I announced as the squad and I waltzed back towards the shelter.
“I wouldn’t exactly say ‘solved’. You don’t have the deeds in your hands yet, and you still need to inform everyone that received eviction notices that they don’t have to move,” Nyx replied, using Dusty.
“Fuck… I forgot about that. I’ll redirect the closest bears to go door to ...
2025-02-11 17:27:14 +0000 UTC
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It took me a minute to climb up the ladder and collapse onto the deck of the Starchaser. I wasn’t wearing heavy oxygen tanks, or waterlogged clothing, it was just that my muscles were exhausted and I didn’t notice until I had to haul myself out of the water.
When I collapsed on the deck Skyler slipped up the ladder and stood over my prone form. “It’s been quite awhile since I’ve seen you collapse out of exhaustion. You must really have worked hard today.”
“I t...
2025-02-10 23:57:02 +0000 UTC
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Bob met me just outside the shelter, and with the rest of my squad at our backs we wandered towards the building that Nyx had indicated. I wasn’t in any rush, if the Corpos saw me waiting they’d probably hightail it back topside before we could ‘talk’, so I took the time to check out the area.
Once the beavers had completed my tower, they’d slowly spiralled outwards conducting repairs on the nearby buildings. Nothing excessive, just repairing and reinforcing the exter...
2025-02-10 18:06:14 +0000 UTC
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Here's the index.
Have some stuff to do Monday, so depending on how long that takes might not be any posts. If so, I'll be writing Wednesday (Edit day) instead.
2025-02-07 21:06:18 +0000 UTC
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No TBoB today, since there were two yesterday.
I'll also be away Monday morning, dealing with my ongoing house repairs. Since I have no idea how long it'll take I'll either only get one (two if I'm lucky) in the afternoon. If I can't, I'll sacrifice my Wednesday editing day to get the chapters out.
Expect Weekly Index to be out soon.
Once Lime-Light had subdued her partner, she dragged the disoriented mermaid back to the sh...
2025-02-07 21:03:01 +0000 UTC
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The coven had extremely powerful wards, with impressive coverage, around the perimeter but within the perimeter the defenses were sorely lacking. That wasn’t a huge surprise, the coven came here for privacy and the wards were meant to keep predators and wanderers out, not defend against an attack. There was no need for inner defenses.
At least, there wasn’t before yesterday.
Now that we knew Graves was snooping around, the village needed some serious defenses, and it ...
2025-02-07 16:42:42 +0000 UTC
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Had two ready!
“Teddy Teddy Teddy Teddy Teddy” the hyperactive seven year old blur yelled as it rocketed down the hallway.
“Issi!” I replied, holding out my arms to catch the seven year old as she launched herself at me.
“You weren’t here when school was out,” the girl pouted. “I was going to tell you what I learned in school today.”
Sharron chuckled, and petted Isabelle’s head before slipping past us and heading towards the kitchen.
“You ...
2025-02-06 17:08:25 +0000 UTC
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So, some of you might recognize this - I wrote a large part of this chapter earlier, when I was panicking over the dirrection Book 3 was going, as a distraction. It was originally going to be book 4, but I like the idea of pivoting into the undercity revival arc for the last 20ish chapters, then going straight into Global for the start of book 4. What do you think? The previous chappy was kind of a wind down, but the sudden change in tone might be too much. Does it need another bridging chap...
2025-02-06 17:07:37 +0000 UTC
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Once the seismic sensors were in place it became easy to deal with the oversized isopods. Skyler and I took turns positioning ourselves in their path and dealing with the burrowing behemoths before they could release their living payloads. As long as they died before they fully emerged their passengers just couldn’t escape, they were trapped in the shell until we collapsed the tunnel or flooded the area with enzymes.
It took what felt like hours, but the antithesis assault sl...
2025-02-06 16:42:17 +0000 UTC
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So - Jumping ahead a little because otherwise there'd be a lot more political chappies, and I doubt everyone wants that. Most of the issues are solved, Denver may become an issue later, but for right now? Done. Going into the undercity review arc next, which reviews Teddy's projects, so we in position for Global at book 3. May reuse the first chapter of book four (previously posted) somewhere in the next few chappies.
Standing on the balcony overlooking the council ...
2025-02-04 16:53:09 +0000 UTC
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Since the wall was holding I went back to darting the mass of antithesis on the far side. The monowire was as effective underwater as it was on land, so I didn’t see any point in changing things up now.
The mass of smaller models showed no sign of letting up, but the complete lack of larger models was starting to worry me. After the handful of larger models early on, and the one leviathan, it seemed like the heavies had all but disappeared. If they had struck while Skyl...
2025-02-03 22:23:59 +0000 UTC
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Don't know if I'm going to leave this here or not... it's a good break episode, but considering the next arc will be kind of a downtime / neighborhood building it might not be the time. I needed an extra day to figure out what to do next in the storyline, so this is what we got for today.
As I lay on my couch, doing my best to fall asleep after another frustratingly long day of admin work, a shadow fell over me. I could see it, even through my eyelids, slowly sway...
2025-02-03 19:57:09 +0000 UTC
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When we stepped back outside it seemed that things had calmed down a little. There were plenty of people standing in small groups, gossiping, but there wasn’t a huge crowd gathered around the eastern gate anymore.
“So, where to?” I asked as I followed Clara through town.
“We’re heading to Harmony’s place. That’s where all active guardians and practicing witches are supposed to gather during an emergency,” Clara replied over her shoulder.
“What do you mean p...
2025-02-03 16:52:55 +0000 UTC
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Slightly shorter chappy, because I couldn't figure out how to extend it without just adding filler.
If you're slightly confused about the Hel thing, the chapter where Teddy comes back from meeting with Mirage will be getting a rewrite tomorrow. A lot of people pointed out that Teddy would have been furious with Hel for drugging her without permission (and rightfully so) so chapter 37 is getting a minor rewrite so Teddy will have a stronger reaction to Hel, and make Jane less naggy.
2025-01-31 21:03:36 +0000 UTC
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