Hello All!
I’m looking to change my ride cymbal out and would like some input from other drummers. I’m in an emo/pop punk band that sometimes leans a bit heavier, sometimes a bit folkier. I’m looking for a ride that has great stick definition without being intrusive and is capped off by a beautiful bell. The top contenders at the moment are the AA Rock Ride and the Paragon Ride as I’ve found used models at incredible value. My current set up is as follows:
14” AAX Xcellerator Hats 16” AAX Freq Crash 18” AAX Medium 22” Zildjian A Medium Ride (looking to replace)
I will also note that I’m going to add something like the Xplosion Ride/Freq Ride/Bash Ride in addition to a more defined ride to wash ride on so crashability is not a concern.
Thanks!

I'm running a league for the first time and going to create divisions. Sign ups are not complete yet, but we are looking to have roughly 8 teams, which would be perfect for two divisions.
I'm curious how everyone balances their divisions. We have five bash teams, one mid range, one control, and one dash. One bash team and the midrange team are tier 1, everyone else is tier 2. We have some very skilled and experienced players, and some who have this as their first league.
Do you shove as much of the bash into one division as possible or try to get a balance in every division? Do you balance by player experience? If so, do you put all the rookies in one division, or spread the experience out? Do you consider tiers?
All those and more are questions that run through my head as I wait for sign ups to close. About the only thing I'm certain of is the two duplicate teams get to be in different divisions so no one gets a mirror match until possibly the playoffs.
I'm more curious in the general methodology than the specific how'd you split up this league, but for those who my be curious, this is our tentative list, it could change at any time until signups close

• Amazon (T1, Midrange)
• Black Orc (T2, Bash)
• Dwarf (T1, Bash)
• Imperial Nobility (T2, Control)
• Khorne (T2, Bash)
• Khorne (T2, Bash)
• Orc (T2, Bash)
• Slann (T2, Dash)

Mine involve Webcomic spoilers so for anyone who isn't caught up on that yet skip this. My Theory was that Blast was Actually WatchDog man. I had this theory for a while since Finishing the webcomics. I mainly got this from how he not only kept up with Garou but also how his blank stare somewhat matches Saitama's. I thought his motive was that he was bored so he wanted to try new experiences but he wasn't selfish enough that he would leave the hero association completely high and dry in a emergency. So he said he needed to go on a secret mission and created a new hero identity so that he wouldn't be recognized as blast but he could still check in and help the association if needed. He decides to dress in a funny costume as people wouldn't expect the ultra serious Blast to dress like that. With it being opm I thought that Blast just ended up really liking dressing and acting as a dog so he never ended up doing anything else.
Anyways what theory did you have or hear someone else have that didn't come true
Also not sure if this goes in the discussion Flair or question

A question I've been wanting to ask a large congregation is How do you deal with secular people hating Christianity, and being fascinated by actual demonic things.
I'm going to give my exact situation right now.
I'm a 19 year old guy, who works in a lab with 4 other guy one of them being my boss we all play videogames and for the most part are very kind to each other however what is not kind is the constant saying gods name in vain.
More recently a game called Diablo 4 has come out. Everything about the game is satanic, and they love it. They especially love bashing Christians, while I'm in their presence. Using the game as a dog whistle to tell me that Christianity is stupid and/or crazy. They also misconstrue diffent things about the Bible amongst themselves. Yes I have tried sharing the gospel to them. Does God want me to loose my job? Is this a test of faith?
It breaks my heart that this group of men I work with that share comment intrest, revel in demonic themes, and worship deception.
I will never force Jesus on to them, but I feel like I'm not doing enough to bring them to Christ. How do I fix that?
What are some of your experiences in the workplace?

This game has literally brought the worst out of me my friends and EVERY SINGLE PERSON I've ever played with. I love this game too but God damn why does this game make the most infuriating decisions. Every patch makes old gen more and more unplayable. This recent patch has done nothing but make a bunch of characters stare at each other until one of them tries to use some pseudo opener because half the roster doesn't have one and the other half gets light parried for it. We complained about light spam, dodge spam, bash spam, etc. Do you know why? This game is not made for neutral selection combos. Defense and health are too underwhelming to make someone try and defend against reads while at the same time miss parrying makes you eat a hit. We have just gotten a new character and a rework that go against the core principles of the games risk vs reward. 3 hit unbalanced combos off walls with every tool, bash, mixup, and guard break invulnerability. These are highly aggressive characters with no drawbacks. First I had to learn to fight light spam, then I had to learn heavy cancel into guard break, then I had to learn dodging everything because characters started getting guard break invulnerability and bashes on everything, NOW I have to cancel my heavy so they can cancel theirs and whoever has the best frame advantaged move wins the turn. Either this game needs to be competitive with patches, heros, reworks, etc or they need to suck it up and realize this game will never be competitive and take out half of mechanics they use to "balance" the game. The SBMM is entirely worthless in this game. Between parties, smurfs, memers, small community, and the sole fact your KD can change drastically between heros should be enough for ubi to just make random lobbies. I also never thought I'd have to argue with people that parrying orochis light dodge atk should not be the same punish for parrying highlanders Heavy dodge atk.

I talked to my psychologist about how I don't want to have sex with men because I don't think vaginas are appreciated by men, in general.
I told her straight men sexualise and fetishize women who have penises but straight women and gay men don't do that with men who have vaginas. And that this means penises are more liked & valued. She said the vast majority of men have no interest in transgender women pre op and post op and that the vast majority have no interest in women who have penises nor that type of porn, sex work/sex tourism industry.
I said men are more attracted to a performance or costume of femininity (clothes, makeup, hair) than they are to actual women, so they are attracted to feminized men, and find a woman with an unshaven body, an overweight woman, very short hair woman or UNfeminine woman more of a turn off than feminized men. And that men think femininity=submissive and wanting to be fucked. So the men who look feminine are seen in that way. Whereas women and gay men are attracted to both feminine men and masculine men (think of all the androgynous male celeb heartthrobs over the years) and not just to masculinity itself, so they would find feminine men less of a turn off than masculine women. She said not at all.
I said oral is believed to be much more commonly performed on men than performed on women and that this isn't because of men being selfish, since gay men are men and have no issues about giving oral. She said oral is 50/50 between the genders.
I said vaginas are seen as gross and taboo and have stigma and that penises are more casual and normalised. She said not at all. She also said periods are not taboo, just private. I said gay men are known to be far more openly disgusted by and insulting about vaginas than lesbians are about penises. She said not at all. I said lesbians are more open to transgender women than gay men are open to transgender men. She said not at all.
I said large penises, boobs and butts are more appreciated and liked than any vagina type. I said that many bisexual men say that they are bi just for penis but not for the rest of a man and many bisexual women say that they are bisexual but for the rest of a woman but not the vagina. I said sex is not viewed as real sex without a penis and that sex is viewed to be all about the penis, so lesbian sex is not taken seriously. She said not at all.
I said vaginas are seen as submissive and penises are seen as dominant and that people think sexually dominant women are mostly about penis imitation in the form of strap ons and pegging. She said not at all.
I meant these things about people in general (not every single man or woman) and she said I was wrong about the vast majority of people. I even asked my parents and sister in a separate occasion, and they agreed with her. She also said people on Reddit who answer questions and ask questions are not so normal because most mainstream people don't do that, so to be wary of what I read on here.
What do you think?

I talked to my psychologist about how I don't want to have sex with men because I don't think vaginas are appreciated by men, in general.
I told her straight men sexualise and fetishize women who have penises but straight women and gay men don't do that with men who have vaginas. And that this means penises are more liked & valued. She said the vast majority of men have no interest in transgender women pre op and post op and that the vast majority have no interest in women who have penises nor that type of porn, sex work/sex tourism industry.
I said men are more attracted to a performance or costume of femininity (clothes, makeup, hair) than they are to actual women, so they are attracted to feminized men, and find a woman with an unshaven body, an overweight woman, very short hair woman or UNfeminine woman more of a turn off than feminized men. And that men think femininity=submissive and wanting to be fucked. So the men who look feminine are seen in that way. Whereas women and gay men are attracted to both feminine men and masculine men (think of all the androgynous male celeb heartthrobs over the years) and not just to masculinity itself, so they would find feminine men less of a turn off than masculine women. She said not at all.
I said oral is believed to be much more commonly performed on men than performed on women and that this isn't because of men being selfish, since gay men are men and have no issues about giving oral. She said oral is 50/50 between the genders.
I said vaginas are seen as gross and taboo and have stigma and that penises are more casual and normalised. She said not at all. She also said periods are not taboo, just private. I said gay men are known to be far more openly disgusted by and insulting about vaginas than lesbians are about penises. She said not at all. I said lesbians are more open to transgender women than gay men are open to transgender men. She said not at all.
I said large penises, boobs and butts are more appreciated and liked than any vagina type. I said that many bisexual men say that they are bi just for penis but not for the rest of a man and many bisexual women say that they are bisexual but for the rest of a woman but not the vagina. I said sex is not viewed as real sex without a penis and that sex is viewed to be all about the penis, so lesbian sex is not taken seriously. She said not at all.
I said vaginas are seen as submissive and penises are seen as dominant and that people think sexually dominant women are mostly about penis imitation in the form of strap ons and pegging. She said not at all.
I meant these things about people in general (not every single man or woman) and she said I was wrong about the vast majority of people. I even asked my parents and sister in a separate occasion, and they agreed with her. She also said people on Reddit who answer questions and ask questions are not so normal because most mainstream people don't do that, so to be wary of what I read on here.
What do you think?

I talked to my psychologist about how I don't want to have sex with men because I don't think vaginas are appreciated by men, in general.
I told her straight men sexualise and fetishize women who have penises but straight women and gay men don't do that with men who have vaginas. And that this means penises are more liked & valued. She said the vast majority of men have no interest in transgender women pre op and post op and that the vast majority have no interest in women who have penises nor that type of porn, sex work/sex tourism industry.
I said men are more attracted to a performance or costume of femininity (clothes, makeup, hair) than they are to actual women, so they are attracted to feminized men, and find a woman with an unshaven body, an overweight woman, very short hair woman or UNfeminine woman more of a turn off than feminized men. And that men think femininity=submissive and wanting to be fucked. So the men who look feminine are seen in that way. Whereas women and gay men are attracted to both feminine men and masculine men (think of all the androgynous male celeb heartthrobs over the years) and not just to masculinity itself, so they would find feminine men less of a turn off than masculine women. She said not at all.
I said oral is believed to be much more commonly performed on men than performed on women and that this isn't because of men being selfish, since gay men are men and have no issues about giving oral. She said oral is 50/50 between the genders.
I said vaginas are seen as gross and taboo and have stigma and that penises are more casual and normalised. She said not at all. She also said periods are not taboo, just private. I said gay men are known to be far more openly disgusted by and insulting about vaginas than lesbians are about penises. She said not at all. I said lesbians are more open to transgender women than gay men are open to transgender men. She said not at all.
I said large penises, boobs and butts are more appreciated and liked than any vagina type. I said that many bisexual men say that they are bi just for penis but not for the rest of a man and many bisexual women say that they are bisexual but for the rest of a woman but not the vagina. I said sex is not viewed as real sex without a penis and that sex is viewed to be all about the penis, so lesbian sex is not taken seriously. She said not at all.
I said vaginas are seen as submissive and penises are seen as dominant and that people think sexually dominant women are mostly about penis imitation in the form of strap ons and pegging. She said not at all.
I meant these things about people in general (not every single man or woman) and she said I was wrong about the vast majority of people. I even asked my parents and sister in a separate occasion, and they agreed with her. She also said people on Reddit who answer questions and ask questions are not so normal because most mainstream people don't do that, so to be wary of what I read on here.
What do you think?

MF DOOM diss - "Book of Daniel" by MF Grimm.

What is your opinion? I have always been a fan of both MF DOOM and MF Grimm. I did some promotion for the "The Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera" by MF Grimm (much of it produced by MF DOOM), an album recorded in a 24 hour period before he went to prison.

When I heard this diss track, I was saddened because I respected both MCs and I think their collaborations were classic indie hip-hop.
​
What is your thought on the track and the whole beef?
MF Grimm- Book of Daniel ft. MF MEZ and MF Bash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ARBlKUma0
​
[Intro: MF Bash (AKA Bashton the Invizabul Mang)]
[Verse 1: MF Grimm] I don’t Deep-fry friends—Grimm Reaper nuke ‘em Hearts don’t mend, brothers turned enemies Nigga, enemies, I eat them raw Nigga, MF Grimm is god of war Parole done, see you on tour Millions get paid, let’s see who make more Master water ‘cause man is mostly made of it Spit fire, consumed by flames, compete for oxygen Freeze deepest of minds, then skate on it Roast fireproof emcees with bad warranties War is a part of me, prison hardened me Demons try to murder me, pistols always pop at me Lead convicts my flesh, but God pardons me Revenge returned on descendants, so God part of me Put yourself in Danger running with a Mouse Metal turned to braces—punch you in your mouth Zev Love X used to be merry The Mask took control of you like Jim Carrey Megalon, tap him in the jaw, knock it off him M.I.C. got to put your mask in a coffin Mos Def, De La Soul, Roots can’t revive you When the bullets start flying, who’s gonna hide you? Rhymesayers, Stones Throw, Nature Sounds signed you Make peace with you? Zev, I tried to 📷📷📷📷📷[Hook 1: MF Bash (AKA Bashton the Invizabul Mang)] (x2) You can hide behind a mask but see-through like glass Thought you was the truth, but your style’s like ass Cutthroat bitch-made, you got no class Little black Sambo shouldn’t talk trash
[Verse 2: MF MEZ (AKA Destroyah)] Yeah, yo Midgets Into Crunk calling Monkeys In a Cage Murderers In the Cut is fucking you up on stage Tell ‘em about the time that Gunn punched you in the face Basically, you was hating and then you ran away You ain’t a man, you a character I bet that mask make you feel a lot scarier ‘Cause man-to-man is your Doom like we’re parallels M.I.C. could see you soon at your burial Listen, Vicky, you not goons, you cartoons Your hype man is not Grimm, that’s not him What you speak is not true, that’s not you Your team’s weak, I’ll pop them, then pop you Smog made your mask, Jet Jag made your name M.I.C. gave you life, and we can take that shit away
[Verse 3: MF Grimm] I didn’t wanna get at you—you know this is true One thing that stopped me was Lord Dihoo But now you’re being disrespectful to me and the crew Now I gotta do what I gotta do M.J. did articles, she got your name hot The mask was made for you by Lord Scotch X-Ray gave you studio time when in town Rodan and Megalon, them brothers held you down Evil jinns had you paranoid like a clown Jumped off stage and ran when Kong came around We looked out for each other when you lived uptown On the cover of the EP, but look at us now Chess is life. We haven’t played of late But even on the cover, I put your ass in mate We’ve been through so much. Zev, you was close to me Used to come through your house, buy your ass groceries I wrote the whole treatment to your MF video With Adam Lough and Ricky “Kid” Scotchno Hundred thousand dollar bail, got up, then I called you Fired my attorney, you helped me get a lawyer You took me in, let me stay out in Atlanta Facing 15-to-life, we bounced out to Cali You made sacrifices, recorded on the run We bust our ass, and got Ibylis done I made a mistake, told the press you hold dough I see now it’s my fault—they didn’t need to know I apologized to you, I thought we let it go B.B. Kings, New York, together did a show But look at us now. Once again, here we go Money wasn’t worth it, it turned us into foes Whenever you had beef, your beef was mine I’ll take a life for you, put mine on the line You might also likeEl Chupa NibreDANGERDOOMAll Outta AleMF DOOMFoolishMF Grimm[Hook 2: Samples with Scratches by DJ Crucial] “You love to hear the story again and again” - Sample from MC Shan - “The Bridge” (x2)
[Verse 4: MF Grimm] Doing songs with RZA? That’s funny shit I remember you told me that he bit “Tick, Tick...” You said Ghost was wack, you didn’t like his style Two-faced and three-headed, bitch, I’ll pull your file New food poisoning, you Vomit for a while You started some shit, now you’re sitting on a pile Metal Fake, tin foil, walk the Green Mile Just let it ride right now
[Hook 2: Samples with Scratches by DJ Crucial] “You love to hear the story again and again” - Sample from MC Shan - “The Bridge” (x3)
[Verse 5: MF Grimm] How could you ever diss M.I.C.? Yves St. Larock, yes, R.I.P How could you ever diss M.I.C.? Big L, R.I.P How could you ever diss M.I.C.? Jay Black, R.I.P How could you ever diss M.I.C.? Subroc, R.I.P How could you ever diss M.I.C.? K-Nitt, R.I.P How could you ever diss M.I.C.? T. Collins, R.I.P M.I.C [Outro: MF Grimm] What the fuck happened to you, man? You fell the fuck off, man. Niggas used to love you, motherfucker. Come home, man. Come home, Zev. Come home, motherfucker. Don’t let them niggas brainwash you, man. I know your fans love you, man. They love you. You getting brainwashed, homie
​
https://genius.com/Mf-grimm-the-book-of-daniel-lyrics

Hi everyone,
For the last two days i've been trying to configure a user using cloudinit so we can create golden images.
I've figured out so far that the kernel argument is: autoinstall
And that the iso i wish to mount, needs to be created using:
genisoimage -output seed.iso -volid cidata -joliet -rock user-data meta-data
I do notice it's working (like the hostname did change). But for whatever reason, i cannot login with the user i create.

#cloud-config autoinstall: version: 1 identity: hostname: yamanouchi-node-1 username: ubuntu password: "$6$exDY1mhS4KUYCE/2$zmn9ToZwTKLhCw.b4/b.ZRTIZM30JZ4QrOQ2aOXJ8yk96xpcCof0kxKwuX1kqLG/ygbJ1f8wxED22bTL4F46P0" users: - default - name: kim passwd: "$6$kW4vfBM9kGgq4hr$TFtHW7.3jOECR9UCBuw9NrdSMJETzSVoNQGcVv2y.RqRUzWDEtYhYRkGvIpB6ml1fh/fZEVIgKbSXI9L1B6xF." shell: /bin/bash lock-passwd: false ssh_pwauth: True chpasswd: { expire: False } sudo: ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL groups: users, admin ssh_authorized_keys: - ssh-rsa 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 [email protected] 

So in this instance, I used the verified init file from this user:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61591885/how-do-i-set-a-custom-password-with-cloud-init-on-ubuntu-20-04
I'm not sure what i'm doing wrong still, cloud init also states the yaml file is valid.
I'm doing this on a virtual box machine and using the latest 22.04 live iso server.

Unfortunately selling my ticket to see boogie t at red rocks as I have bills that need to be paid and have not made enough to barely survive these past two months. Going for $80 it’s Row 2 Seat 2. Preferred payment is through cashapp and we can swap axs details.

I talked to my psychologist about how I don't want to have sex with men because I don't think vaginas are appreciated by men, in general.
I told her straight men sexualise and fetishize women who have penises but straight women and gay men don't do that with men who have vaginas. And that this means penises are more liked & valued. She said the vast majority of men have no interest in transgender women pre op and post op and that the vast majority have no interest in women who have penises nor that type of porn, sex work/sex tourism industry.
I said men are more attracted to a performance or costume of femininity (clothes, makeup, hair) than they are to actual women, so they are attracted to feminized men, and find a woman with an unshaven body, an overweight woman, very short hair woman or UNfeminine woman more of a turn off than feminized men. And that men think femininity=submissive and wanting to be fucked. So the men who look feminine are seen in that way. Whereas women and gay men are attracted to both feminine men and masculine men (think of all the androgynous male celeb heartthrobs over the years) and not just to masculinity itself, so they would find feminine men less of a turn off than masculine women. She said not at all.
I said oral is believed to be much more commonly performed on men than performed on women and that this isn't because of men being selfish, since gay men are men and have no issues about giving oral. She said oral is 50/50 between the genders.
I said vaginas are seen as gross and taboo and have stigma and that penises are more casual and normalised. She said not at all. She also said periods are not taboo, just private. I said gay men are known to be far more openly disgusted by and insulting about vaginas than lesbians are about penises. She said not at all. I said lesbians are more open to transgender women than gay men are open to transgender men. She said not at all.
I said large penises, boobs and butts are more appreciated and liked than any vagina type. I said that many bisexual men say that they are bi just for penis but not for the rest of a man and many bisexual women say that they are bisexual but for the rest of a woman but not the vagina. I said sex is not viewed as real sex without a penis and that sex is viewed to be all about the penis, so lesbian sex is not taken seriously. She said not at all.
I said vaginas are seen as submissive and penises are seen as dominant and that people think sexually dominant women are mostly about penis imitation in the form of strap ons and pegging. She said not at all.
I meant these things about people in general (not every single man or woman) and she said I was wrong about the vast majority of people. I even asked my parents and sister in a separate occasion, and they agreed with her. She also said people on Reddit who answer questions and ask questions are not so normal because most mainstream people don't do that, so to be wary of what I read on here.
What do you think?

I had a furbie once I asked my mom to buy one,then I started playing with it.I lost it though after playing with it for 5 or 6 months.I started to here it downstairs.After I heard the furbie speaking their furbie language a couple of days later my mom wanted to get rid of my old toys.My mother found the furbie I had and it was rotten.It looked like that old ninja turtle costume that was in the movies.Anyway my mom got rid of it and I never saw it again.I also have a another furbie but my neighbour had it and it’s in a tree.

I talked to my psychologist about how I don't want to have sex with men because I don't think vaginas are appreciated by men, in general.
I told her straight men sexualise and fetishize women who have penises but straight women and gay men don't do that with men who have vaginas. And that this means penises are more liked & valued. She said the vast majority of men have no interest in transgender women pre op and post op and that the vast majority have no interest in women who have penises nor that type of porn, sex work/sex tourism industry.
I said men are more attracted to a performance or costume of femininity (clothes, makeup, hair) than they are to actual women, so they are attracted to feminized men, and find a woman with an unshaven body, an overweight woman, very short hair woman or UNfeminine woman more of a turn off than feminized men. And that men think femininity=submissive and wanting to be fucked. So the men who look feminine are seen in that way. Whereas women and gay men are attracted to both feminine men and masculine men (think of all the androgynous male celeb heartthrobs over the years) and not just to masculinity itself, so they would find feminine men less of a turn off than masculine women. She said not at all.
I said oral is believed to be much more commonly performed on men than performed on women and that this isn't because of men being selfish, since gay men are men and have no issues about giving oral. She said oral is 50/50 between the genders.
I said vaginas are seen as gross and taboo and have stigma and that penises are more casual and normalised. She said not at all. She also said periods are not taboo, just private. I said gay men are known to be far more openly disgusted by and insulting about vaginas than lesbians are about penises. She said not at all. I said lesbians are more open to transgender women than gay men are open to transgender men. She said not at all.
I said large penises, boobs and butts are more appreciated and liked than any vagina type. I said that many bisexual men say that they are bi just for penis but not for the rest of a man and many bisexual women say that they are bisexual but for the rest of a woman but not the vagina. I said sex is not viewed as real sex without a penis and that sex is viewed to be all about the penis, so lesbian sex is not taken seriously. She said not at all.
I said vaginas are seen as submissive and penises are seen as dominant and that people think sexually dominant women are mostly about penis imitation in the form of strap ons and pegging. She said not at all.
I meant these things about people in general (not every single man or woman) and she said I was wrong about the vast majority of people. I even asked my parents and sister in a separate occasion, and they agreed with her. She also said people on Reddit who answer questions and ask questions are not so normal because most mainstream people don't do that, so to be wary of what I read on here.
What do you think?

Part 52
Glenda Wilmington, Kinda Digging This Whole Cop Gig
"If you hear anything else, give me a call," Glenda said, handing the woman a business card with her cellphone number on it. The woman accepted it and then squinted skeptically at it.
"Cooperation with an investigation is the sort of thing that parole boards like to hear about," Glenda said in response to the woman's look. That seemed to do the trick. The woman slipped the card into her ample cleavage and met Glenda's eyes.
"I will call. I have no loyalty to that man." Her sing-song Norwegian accent, as well as her tall, thick frame and bright, yellow-blonde hair contrasted with the environment; a run-down housing project in the heart of Compton. But housing for convicted felons on parole was limited, and she'd had few choices in this area. Glenda wondered idly why the woman hadn't elected to return to Norway, where they tended to be a bit more sympathetic to ex-cons. The woman, Duke's one-time head channeler, didn't seem prepared to answer any more questions, however.
Glenda nodded and stepped back. The woman took a step outside, careful to keep the foot with the ankle monitor inside the door and took a look around before withdrawing back into the house. Glenda turned and walked down the steps off the creaky wooden porch and back to the rental car, where Jack dozed lightly in the passenger seat, his cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. She climbed behind the wheel, trying not to wake him, and started the engine.
He woke anyways. Jack had always been a very light sleeper. He turned his head slightly towards her, not adjusting the hat at all.
"Anything?" he asked. Glenda shook her head. "Nobody's heard from him. I think it's safe to say he's not looking to connect with any of his old associates, at this point."
"Ayup," Jack agreed. Glenda pulled away, heading north, towards the 105 that would take them back to the airport. They were done here. As she drove, she couldn't help but note the scowling, suspicious faces that turned to watch them. She took in the low, chain-link fences that separated yards, the equally low concrete block walls that surrounded paved driveways. The odd mix of Spanish colonial and more traditional American architecture was like a sign. It told her that she could find a bag of the white lady, a bag of weed, or a bag of something more exotic here. She could find a gang, beefing with another gang, and maybe convince one side to pay her to make someone on the other side vanish.
It was almost nostalgic.
They passed a tan-painted Spanish colonial house with a faux wrought-iron fence, and she knew right away that a dealer lived there. The child's play set in the front had never been touched by anything more careless than the wind and rain. The SUV in the driveway might have belonged to a small family, except for the large speakers she could see through the rear window. The tint on the windows of both car and home added to the effect. The kicker, though, was the white-haired, middle-aged man stepping out the front door to squint suspiciously around before heading back up the street in the direction of the channeler's home, where Glenda had spotted him walking this way just a few minutes ago.
Without bothering to ask anyone, she could say with confidence that whoever lived there sold mainly cocaine, but he also had cheap weed for those who couldn't afford the prices at the dispensary. He'd have rocks too, but he probably wouldn't sell them to you if you knew where he lived. He'd sell them on the weekends, manning a street corner, alongside a thug from whatever gang he ran with or paid tribute to.
Everyone knew they were cops, of course. Years of living in rural Canada had faded Glenda's tan and affected her fashion choices. Once, she'd had moved through an area like this in gym shorts, sneakers and a faded old t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Showing off enough muscle to make the usual idiots think twice about harassing her, but not showing off so much skin than people might take her for a street worker with a schtick. Today, she drove in blue jeans, hiking boots and a flannel shirt. Next to her, Jack wore the same, complimented with a denim jacket. Only a couple of cops would dress like that in this neighborhood.
Though that wasn't strictly true -Jack's jurisdiction ended many hundreds of miles north of here- it might as well be. They were private investigators, working on behalf of the federal government, who was footing the bill for Dylan's recapture. Whether or not they were technically considered law enforcement officers depended entirely upon their needs and some paperwork. So far, they hadn't needed any LEO powers.
As she turned onto the 105 and marginally sped up in the dense traffic of the highway, Jack's phone rang. He begrudgingly lifted the brim of his hat up, squinting in the bright daylight at his screen. Apparently satisfied with what he saw there, he hit the accept button and pressed the phone to his ear.
"S'Jack," he said, then he listened for a bit.
"Ayup," he said. He glanced out the window, then covered the tiny mic at the bottom of the phone. "Get off the highway," he said to Glenda. She nodded and put on her turn signal, eyes searching for a chance to get over. A minivan in the next lane, slightly ahead of them, promptly slowed down to pace them.
"Awwright," he drawled into the phone. "We'll check it out. 'Preciate the heads up. Take care, now."
He pulled the phone away from his ear and tapped the screen again before slipping it back into his pocket jacket.
"That was intel. Said that a bank account belonging to one Dylan Boucher just got emptied by a wire transfer to one Derek Garcia. Just a hair over ten grand. Transfer woulda taken place about a week ago, intel didn't pick up on it until it cleared."
"Garcia, that's the one that calls himself the 'Planewalker', right?"
"Ayup," Jack said. Glenda finally got tired of trying to get behind the minivan and sped up to cut him off, instead. Jack could see that it was being driven by a heavily tattooed white kid with dredlocks. He honked and flipped them off, but she ignored him. She'd had her turn signal on, and tried to get behind him, but he had slowed down and sped up to block her.
Out of pure spite, she tapped the brakes a few times.
Jack bounced forward against his seatbelt as she did and gave her a dirty look. She smiled sweetly at him. "What? That's how you drive around here. You used to live in Atlanta, you've got to know this by now."
"We didn't generally make an effort to piss people off in Atlanta," he grumbled. Glenda turned onto the ramp to get off on Crenshaw, heading south.
Glenda scoffed. "Now you're just lying. I've been to Atlanta. Worst drivers in the bottom half of the country by far."
"You sure about that?" Jack said, eyeing the rear-view mirror. Glenda glanced up to see the minivan still behind them, the driver jabbing his finger at them and ranting.
"Huh," she said. "Maybe this fucker's about to prove me wrong."
"Well, we need to get gas anyways, if we're driving all the way down to San Clemente," Jack said. "Might as well pull over at the first station we see and get it over with."
Glenda chuckled, mostly at what the angry man behind her was about to experience and kept her eyes peeled for a gas station.
The minivan never wavered, staying behind her through multiple lane changes, all the way down to Artesia Boulevard, where she finally found a Shell station. She pulled in and pulled up to a pump.
"You wanna have a white knight moment, or is today an 'equality of the sexes' day?" Glenda asked as the minivan pulled in behind them and stopped, blocking the entrance.
"Sheeeit," Jack drawled. "I mean, I guess I'll handle him if ya want..." He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door as the irate young metalhead stomped towards them. He made sure to be outside the car by the time the kid got within angry dick-measuring distance.
"What the fuck is your bitch's problem, asshole?!" the young man demanded. Jack didn't answer, he simply strode forward, within striking distance. Normally, Jack liked to deliver a good, bone-chilling threat, followed up by taking a more reasonable tone as he continued to stare through whomever was causing problems and imagine himself blowing their head off as he de-escalated the situation. It was a tactic that had served him well, many times. But today, Jack was tired.
He'd been hunting Dylan down for weeks now, and only just got their first promising lead as this little shit had gone out of his way to stop them from changing lanes for no discernible reason. So Jack simply slugged the kid right in the nose. He caught him off guard and sent the kid sprawling onto his ass. Before he could gather himself back up, Jack kicked him in the chest with the sole of his boot and drew his large revolver. He crouched down, boot still pinning the kid to the ground, and held the gun casually where the kid could see it.
"You know what a turn signal means?" he asked calmly. The kid's eyes went wide as he spotted the gun.
"Y-y-yeah," he stammered.
"Good. Ya had a little lapse of judgement there. Ya might wanna see to that." Jack stood, holstering his gun and walked back over to open the gas cover and insert the company credit card into the pump. He picked the mid-grade and inserted the fuel handle, locking the valve open before he turned back.
The kid was still sitting there, wiping blood from his mouth where his nose was bleeding. "They oughta have napkins inside," Jack told him mildly. "They're usually by the hot dogs."
Jack filled the tank while the kid picked himself up and went inside. A cop arrived a few minutes later, stopping in the entrance that the kid was blocking and turning his lights on. The cop stepped out and walked around the minivan and into the gas station.
Jack waited for the tank to fill, then replaced the nozzle and climbed back in the car.
"You wanna stick around?" Glenda asked. "Shoot the shit with the locals, make sure the kid gets the short end?"
"Naw," Jack said. "Read about the LA cops. Not exactly whom I'd like to consider comrades-in-arms, if you catch my meaning."
Glenda shrugged and they pulled out right as the kid and the cop both emerged back into the parking lot. Glenda thought the cop look pissed and the kid looked dejected.
They got on the 405 and drove it down to California 73, then took that south to Interstate 5, which brought them to San Clemente an hour later. Glenda got off the highway and turned into a neighborhood full of upscale, tightly-packed Spanish colonial homes. Unlike Compton, most of the yards weren't fenced, and those that were tended towards white picket fences. The lawns were universally well-cared for and nobody looked twice at them as they drove through the neighborhood and up to the address highlighted on the GPS.
It was a small, modest-looking home with a distinctly 70's asthetic. It didn't match most of the tile-roofed, square walled homes around it, but it hardly stood out, either. A BMW sat in the driveway, framed by a pair of shaped topiary trees. It looked like something off the cover of some homemaking magazine, Glenda thought.
They parked on the street and climbed out.
"The air is crackling with magic," Glenda said. "He's in there, doing something right now."
Jack walked up and pounded on the door. Glenda held up a hand, fingers splayed. Jack would understand what she meant. The magic was currently at a five, and she'd let him know if it diminished, and by approximately how much.
She kept her hand still for a while as nobody answered the door. Five minutes passed before Jack turned to her.
"Okay, this is your gig, now," he said. He walked back to the car, opening the trunk to reveal the bound, squirming and sweating Caliope there. He yanked her gag down and fed her from a water bottle.
"Been a long drive, ain't it?" he asked, conversationally. Caliope sucked greedily at the bottle, managing to drink every drop that didn't get splashed into the trunk.
"Fuck you," she muttered weakly. Jack smiled. "Looks to me like you're the one what's fucked, darlin'. Guess you shouldn'ta gone and fucked with your sister's collar like that. I mean, if you'd played by the rules, we'd have overlooked the whole issue of you not actually being any help whatsoever, and taken your good faith efforts as enough to fill your end. But ya had to go behind our backs, causing trouble. So now you're stuck in a trunk until we get back to the airport."
"Fuck you," she gasped again.
"'Scuse me," Jack said, reaching past her for an armored vest. He pulled it out and tugged it over his head, getting the flaps velcroed in place and adjusting it. When he was done, he pulled Caliope's gag back up.
"Awright, girl, you jes sit tight while we check this out. Won't be but a little bit, then we'll be heading to the airport."
She tried to say something, but the gag turned it into a muffled wail. Jack smiled as he closed the trunk and returned to the front door. Glenda stood there, watching him, fully kitted up with her armor and a carbine in her hands.
"Ready," Jack said. Glenda turned and, without preamble, kicked the door open with a thunderous blow. She rushed inside, rifle up and leading the way, Jack hot on her heels. Neither made it very far, though.
The living room had been converted into a ritual chamber. The walls were festooned with runes and the twisting lines that connected them. The floor had a large, ornate circle in the middle, runes etched into it and twisting, spiral designs encasing the whole thing. But that wasn't what gave them pause.
In the middle of the circle hovered a shimmering mirage, through which Glenda could see a city. It looked like something out of a sci-fi film, all rounded corners and smooth, off-white concrete. The windows in the buildings were mirrored, or else none of them had lights on inside, because they all reflected a sunrise coming from behind the view.
"What the hell's that?" Jack asked. Glenda carefully felt the magic around the apparition. "I think it's a portal."
"Okay, so where does it go, do ya think?"
"I haven't got a clue. I don't recognize that city."
"Kinda looks like Mos Eisley, a hundred years after they found oil or something," Glenda said.
"Think that's what Dylan was paying for? A trip to wherever that is?"
"Looks like," Glenda mused. "We're gonna need to call this in."
"Ayup. Let's clear the house, first."
They did just that. They found a den set up in one of the bedrooms, an obviously-lived-in kitchen and a master bedroom used for its intended purposes. In the last bedroom, they found an arsenal and storage space. It was full of survival and camping gear, weapons and ammo.
"Missing rifle," Jack said, peering at a gun rack.
"Yup," Glenda agreed. She opened an ammo tin. It was only half full.
"Somebody geared up here," she said.
Jack sighed. "Let's call it in, then. We'll hand over our little helper when the backup gets here."
----
It took two hours to get a team there, mostly because the LA regional office was all the way up in Burbank. But they eventually arrived. Two security officers took Caliope off their hands, to bring her back to prison. They brought another collar, to replace the modified wet blanket spell Glenda had been holding since the riot. It hadn't seemed like a lot of effort to hold the spell in place, but as soon as she finally let it go, she felt a wave of relief.
"Julie sent some extras along," the leader of the relief force told Glenda once Caliope had been seen to. She'd already spotted the two middle-eastern men in different uniforms than the rest. She thought she recognized the older one.
"We'll take all the help we can get. Any of you boys willing to go jaunting across reality with us?" The man chuckled. "No, thanks. Besides, we've got orders to secure this building and wait for the feds. Gonna see if there's anything illegal here, so we can nab this Garcia fellow as soon as he gets back."
Glenda nodded, then looked at the two middle-eastern men. She jerked her head in a 'come here' gesture and they stepped forward.
"Glenda, right?" the older one asked, holding out a hand.
"Yup," she said as she took it. He shook firmly, then let go. "I am Aqib, and this is my assistant, Mateen. We've been running around, helping out where we can for months now. It seems it is your turn to accept our assistance."
"Either of you got any magic?" Glenda asked. Mateen hefted his rifle and then tapped his body armor. "All of our gear is enchanted. We have rings, as well," he held up a hand bedecked with silver bands. "They will help us heal from injuries and allow us to see in the dark and other such useful things."
"Good, good," she said, then stopped. Aqib. That name rang a bell. She squinted at the middle-aged man.
"You were at the Wyrm facility when we took it," she said. "About six years ago." He nodded.
"I was with your friend when she fell. She saved my life," he said. Glenda nodded. "I remember that. I'm glad you're still here, then. Glad you're with us. I, uh..." She stopped speaking before she got choked up and cleared her throat.
"Are you two ready?" she asked.
"We have our gear," Aqib said, nodding at a pair of large backpacks leaning against one of the DCM branded trucks. "Camping gear, food and water for three days. Spare ammo, tools. We were told you had much more supplies yourself."
"Yup. I've got fresh food, enough for a couple of weeks for the four of us. Plus a couple months worth of dehydrated foods, MRE's and other food that'll keep for a while. I've got water and other shit to drink, camping gear, etcetera, etcetera. As long as you guys brought your own tents, we're golden."
"That is good," Aqib said.
"Do you have battery packs?" Mateen asked.
"Battery packs?" Glenda responded.
"Yes, for phones and other electronics. To keep them charged. I have a solar recharger, but it takes a long time, and it isn't always convenient to set it up."
Glenda shook her head. "Nope. Never been much for carrying a bunch of electronics around. Besides, I doubt our phones will work, where we're going."
Aqib grinned at his companion. "No video games until we're done, Mateen," he said. Mateen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
"Mateen is still a child at heart, even though he has children of his own," Aqib explained as he stepped forward to get a good look at the portal, still hovering in the middle of the room.
"As long as he can fight," Glenda said. Jack approached, finished with the field paperwork. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, and a rifle slung over the other. He still wore his armor.
"He fights like a cornered dog," Aqib said mildly. At Glenda's quirked eyebrow, he clarified. "He is very fierce."
"Good," Glenda said. She turned to Jack and gave him a quick kiss. "We ready?"
"Ayup," Jack confirmed. "All the paperwork's done, we're good to go."
Glenda pushed past Mateen and Aqib as they moved to pick up their packs. "I'll take them," she said. Mateen frowned, but Aqib simply nodded and stood back. She grabbed both packs and sent them to hammerspace, accepting Jack's pack and giving it the same treatment. Mateen shook his head slowly, but Aqib seemed unimpressed.
"Okay, let's boogie," Glenda said and strode through the portal before she could work up any doubts.
----
"None of 'em rotted," Jack said. "They're all mummified. All the plants are dead, but none of them are rotted, either." He stood in what seemed like a small park, a few trees growing in clusters at the four corners, and an open field of dead grass in the middle. Bodies lay strewn about, adults and children alike. Many lay draped over the benches, or slumped in a pile in front of them. One cluster of small bodies had a large, rubber-ish ball laying next to them, as if they'd died in the middle of some sort of game.
Glenda eyed the surroundings. They hadn't encountered a single living being in the hours they'd been moving through this city. "What do you think happened here?" she asked.
"I'll be honest, I ain't got a fucking clue, darlin'," Jack said. They stood in silence for a bit, reflecting on what they'd seen and wondering about it. An entire city, dead. No signs of decay, except for rusted metal. Glenda had seen large piles of rust that she took to be cars, based on the plastic and ceramic components still in them, along with the bodies. An entire city, dead. And yet the bodies remained. They'd held up better than the metal, for sure.
Mateen came around a corner at a jog and made a beeline for them. "Aqib has found something, a fresh body. Recently killed."
"Lead the way," Glenda told him. They followed him back around the corner, two blocks down and then around another corner, where they found Aqib standing over a bloody, headless corpse, resting against a building under a sign written in a language Glenda didn't recognize.
"Sheeit," Jack said as they drew up. "That's certainly out of place. Wonder where his head got to."
"Over here," Mateen said. He gestured to what looked like a bus stop with a trash can next to it. There, fetched up against the trash can was a severed head. A sparse trail of blood led from the body to it. Glenda walked over and crouched down, peering at the head.
"I think this is Garcia," she said. She pulled the photo she had of the man from hammerspace, checking it against the head.
"I think you're right," Jack said, peering over her shoulder. "And the chopped off head. That sounds like something Dylan would do."
"I think we're on the right track then," Glenda said. "But how do we know what direction he went?"
She straightened up as they all looked around. Nothing stood out to them.
A moment later, a terrifying roar sounded from off in the distance. They all turned towards it, weapons rising.
"I do not like that, but I think we know what direction to check now," Aqib said.
"'Fraid I gotta agree with ya," Jack said.