Does anyone know where to get one for a low price?

I'm looking into suing my abusive ex for emotional and financial damages. I know that court cases need evidence and that abuse is hard to prove, but I would like to hold him accountable for how he treated me and recoup some of what I lost to him.
I contacted a couple personal injury lawyers and was told they don't handle this kind of thing.
I lived city X and was in an abusive relationship for about 4 years, sometimes friendship and sometimes dating. We were never married. Now I live in another state, because I moved back to live at my parents and recover and heal. My ex still lives in city X in another state than me. This geographical component also makes me unsure how to proceed.
When I met my ex, I was a master's student. A couple years in I entered into a PhD program as the one to watch out for and over the course of my two years in the program devolved into the "slacker" who barely met the program requirements. I attribute this directly to how much I was struggling just to survive under the abuse from my ex. I think this connection is demonstrable but not provable. I was dismissed from the program. Most immediately, I lost my immediate means of earning income. I made a 31K a year stipend in addition to a small hourly wage for extra on campus work from the university and I lost that income when I was dismissed from the program. My reputation in the field has been severely damaged. I may still be able to go back to academia, but my current career and future prospects have taken a major hit, and I see all this as a direct result of my ex's abuse towards me.
So far I have gone to about 75 sessions of therapy to deal with the psychological ramifications of how he treated me. I am still in continued therapy. My first therapist thought I had anxiety and I don't think she agrees that the abuse was as bad as it was. She always tried to help me see the good sides of my partner, even when he mistreated me. When I told her that other relationships seemed healthy and mine didn't, she told me I couldn't see what was going on inside those and to not compare. When I told her about times he stepped out on me with other women or sexually assaulted me, it was boiled down to communication problems that we could both work on. I learned more compassion, but I didn't heal, and ultimately I think I ended up being able to stay in the relationship longer than I would have without therapy. She did tell me that it seemed he didn't value me and I'd likely be better leaving, but I don't think she'd agree that I was abused. My new therapist has given me a diagnosis that is adjacent to PTSD, but not full blown PTSD. She agrees that I have been abused, and told me that my ex sounds like a textbook narcissist. My insurance has covered almost the complete cost of all this therapy, so I've only paid probably a few hundred dollars out of pocket, but this is only because I was fortunate to have good insurance. Is it possible to sue for the cost of therapy anyway? In a way, it will help feel like he is being held accountable for all the time and energy I have to put into recovery, even if I haven't paid financially for it. If I could win money for this even though my insurance has covered this, I would like to use those funds to go on an intensive therapy retreat that my insurance would not cover in the future.
Lastly, there were elements of financial coercion in this relationship where I ended up handing over money to my ex because I felt pressured or threatened. He made probably 4x what I did but would demand I give him money that he would decide how to spend. I don't think there is any direct evidence of this, though, so I don't think I have any case for it.
I have had physical symptoms including chronic back pain, trouble breathing, heart palpitations and suspected ulcers. The back pain and suspected ulcers are not medically documented, but the breathing problems and heart tests are medically documented.
My ex is an excellent liar and can be very convincing in the court. I have seen him alter documents and fudge numbers for his child support hearings for his kids from a previous relationship, so I know he is not above playing dirty. I also know from what he told me about his court cases with his previous ex, that he has always been very intentional about leaving a clean digital conversation record where he doesn't say anything uncouth that can be used against him in court, even though in person that doesn't match reality. I on the other hand, never thought these things would matter and would sometimes send angry, reactive texts. The goal was to protect myself and try and get him to treat me better, but my approach was really stupid. I could be really cruel and critical in reaction to being abused. When I remember the things I said, I'm shocked at myself, because they do not resonate with who I am or how I would normally behave. I am positive he will use these and twist them so that I am portrayed as the abusive one. I have learned that although I have been hurtful and how I reacted is inexcusable, what I have done is reactive and poorly thought out attempts at self defense and preservation, but I know that he will make it look like he is the good guy somehow.
Do I have anything I can build a case on here? I want some of what I lost back. One of the hardest things for me is knowing that he will likely never acknowledge the harm he has caused me, so I want him to know he has to be accountable for how he treated me. I want some justice.

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 have 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.

March 21, 2023
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Good morning,
The Daily Upside
Laxman Narasimhan, who was slated to take the reins as Starbucks' CEO on April 1st, is already in control of the global coffee giant, outgoing chief Howard Schultz told staffers in a surprise goodbye memo on Monday. While Schultz's two decades as the most caffeinated exec in America ended in a finely-ground fog of labor disputes that will put him before Congress in the coming weeks, Narasimhan apparently couldn't wait to get started, and must have been pounding ventis in the wings.
Morning Brief
•
The banking crisis is crashing The Fed’s inflation fight.
•
Microsoft keeps sweetening the antitrust pot.
•
China gets creative trying to boost its birth rate.
Fiscal Policy
The Fed Weighs Inflation, Banking Crisis Ahead of Possible Rate Hike
Here we go again. The Federal Reserve will decide on Wednesday just how aggressively it wants to pursue its rate-hiking, inflation-fighting campaign, only this time it will do so against the backdrop of a roiling bank crisis.
Addressing one crisis may only exacerbate the other, and (surprise, surprise) pretty much all of Wall Street has an opinion on what Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his board should do.
Powell’s Sophie’s Choice
It’s less a question of what Powell will do than what will happen when he does it. The smart money is on yet another 25 basis point increase, an acknowledgment that inflation — as well as the high consumer spending and a strong labor market — remains persistent. A month ago, another small hike may have been met with optimistic predictions of a soft landing. But that crash-free fantasy has been harshed by the reality that many mid-tier, regional banks are at risk of becoming overleveraged if rates continue to increase, potentially sending them the way of Silicon Valley Bank.
The Fed is already at work mitigating the spread of SVB’s collapse, offering some banks one-year loans on more friendly terms than the current 4.75% interest rate, and sources told The Wall Street Journal that Fed officials could continue to utilize emergency lending tools if the banking sector continues to falter. But inflation is likely to persist whether or not banks are properly prepared for rate hikes. That leaves Powell fighting a war on two fronts, putting him in a position of potentially having to pick between his two mandates: maximum employment and price stability.
Suddenly everyone is turning to their personal crystal ball to see where the Fed falls:
•
“I would advise them to go ahead with the 25,” Richard Clarida, Fed vice chair circa 2018 to 2022, told the WSJ. “If they pause, you can get into this ‘what do they know that we don’t know.’”
•
Eric Rosengren, former Boston Fed president, offered a different perspective to the WSJ: “One 25-basis-point increase now will have a fairly modest effect on inflation, but it could have an amplified effect on financial conditions.”
Have Your Rate and Eat it Too: Some rate-hike doves have raised an alternative viewpoint: the prospect of becoming the next SVB may be scaring banks into self-consciously tightening their own lending policies — which is the intended effect of a rate hike anyways. “You would want to say, ‘This is doing some of our monetary policy job for us,’” former Fed Governor Jeremy Stein told the WSJ. “If you can communicate that well and effectively, the choice between 25 and 0 is less consequential than how you explain it.”
- Brian Boyle
Tech
Microsoft Says It Wants To Launch App Store Rival
(Photo Credit: Ed Hardie/Unsplash)
As if Microsoft weren’t already all up in Google’s grill with its gussied-up new Chat-GPT-powered Bing, now it wants to make an app store too.
Xbox head Phil Spencer told the Financial Times Microsoft plans to launch an app marketplace to compete with Apple and Google as soon as next year, so long as antitrust authorities wave through its proposed acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard.
Press F To Persuade Regulators
Xbox’s owner announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in January 2022 and if it goes through it will be the biggest deal in video game history. But it’s faced some full-throated objections from Xbox’s rival PlayStation. The fear is that ownership of game titles means Microsoft could potentially make them Xbox exclusive, and execs at both companies have publicly bickered over whether Microsoft could seal PlayStation gamers off from wildly popular games like Call of Duty.
Microsoft has already run into some sticky patches with regulators. The UK Competition and Markets Authority said last month the deal raises concerns, and the company has been trying to convince the EU of the deal’s soundness by notching licensing deals with competitors (though not PlayStation).
Spencer’s comments about launching a Microsoft app store are not entirely out of the blue as the company started laying the groundwork in October, but the timing is important:
•
The new EU Digital Markets Act is expected to come into force in March 2024, and may compel Apple and Google to allow access to each others’ app stores on their devices. For Apple especially, that’s a big hole being blown in the side of its walled garden.
•
Regulators in the EU have previously targeted Apple and Google’s control of their app stores with antitrust investigations, so Spencer’s comments seem geared towards portraying Microsoft as a competitive force to challenge the Gapple duopoly.
Candy Crushing It: Microsoft opening up its own app store for mobile games would come with some distinct advantages. The Activision Blizzard deal would bring mobile game maker King, which makes the era-defining phone game Candy Crush, under Microsoft’s umbrella. Plus a bespoke app store would mean being able to side-step the in-app payment taxes both Apple and Google impose.
- Isobel Asher Hamilton
SPONSORED BY LIQUIDPISTON
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Economics
Chinese City Launches State-Sponsored Dating App
What’s more romantic than a candle-lit dinner? A candle-lit dinner organized by your local city officials.
Guixi, a city in China with a population of around 640,000 inhabitants, has launched its own dating app with the aim of boosting the marriage rate in the region and, implicitly, the birth rate.
Baby Un-boom
Local Chinese authorities have ramped up their interest in boosting China’s birth rate since the nation’s population was found to have fallen in 2022 for the first time in 62 years. Declining birth rates have long spooked sovereign states, as they portend aging populations with more retirees and a proportionally smaller workforce to pay into state pension pots.
China has tried to clamp down on a tradition it views as partially responsible for young people’s reluctance to get married, where a prospective husband pays a sum to his bride-to-be’s family. In recent years, the prices have shot up:
•
One local official told Bloomberg families charge suitors as much as $43,000 as a betrothal gift.
•
China has added a raft of other policies to encourage marriage and kids such as promoting marriage leave, increasing subsidies for newborn babies, and making it easier for unmarried couples to register children.
China isn’t the only nation pulling the Tinder card. Japan has also used state-sponsored matchmaking services to combat a now three-decade-long decline in births. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in January the nation was "on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions." So, no pressure, kids.
The Wrong Approach? Pronatalist policies are not necessarily a good solution to declining birth rates. Prof. Feinian Chen, a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, told Bloomberg that the increasingly entrenched expectation that women will stay home and raise the children means “the opportunity costs of having more children or having children at all are simply too high.”
- Isobel Asher Hamilton
Extra Upside
•
Not So Prime Time: Amazon is laying off another 9,000 employees.
•
Eager for Beavers: London wants to introduce a beaver couple later this year.
•
These throwback shoes will have you lookin’ like a snack – Dunkaroos, to be specific. Everyone’s favorite childhood comestible is making a triumphant return via sneaker customizer Katty Customs, who will be dropping a limited run of exclusive 90’s inspired kicks. These “Dunk-A-Shoes” (talk about a name) will only be available via the NTWRK app, which you can download right here.*
Just For Fun
Cool camouflage.
Two sport athlete.
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Hello, I have a 2015 Yukon that has a new issue that happened 5 times this morning in about 30 miles of highway driving.
The gauge cluster and radio display go blank, stereo audio stops, and I hear a slight crackle / pop through the speakers when it happens. Like when you touch a computer or tv when listening to something and you shock it with static electricity, there’s a flicker and crackled audio. There is a quick flash on the gauge cluster that says something to the effect of pre collision system unavailable then it’s blank. As everything turns back on all the warning lights on the dash are illuminated for a second. The whole issue lasts just a few seconds and it’s back to normal. I didn’t notice any changes in the engine, just the electrical reset. Thank you for any advice!

So I’m a bit confused about which university to go to. I’m interested in graphic design and interactive design.
I have heard mixed reviews about Goldsmiths but I like their BA Design program description. For Lisaa , I like that it’s focused on digital design but am not sure if it’s a recognised uni.
Any inputs will be appreciated. I’m a lot anxious about this. (I want a uni that prepares me for the corporate side of graphic design and also helps me improve on my artistic skills. An interactive discussion based classroom would be the dream but idk if any of these unis offer them)

Prev /

Chapter 10

Aboard GHRV Thavaro

Science Section/Cargo Bay

Science Lead Elapha stood patiently as the pressure equalized on the other side of the hatch he was about to step through. He hated the way his Void Suit fit him, as he stood fidgeting and stomping his foot. He was about to enter the docking bay and assist his team in assessing the danger of the alien entity onboard Shuttle 1, sedate it if need be, and begin studying it. Elapha already had a stasis tank waiting for the bipedal thing, and on the insistence of the shuttle crew Elapha had allowed them to keep the alien sequestered in the cargo bay of the shuttle. It wasn’t able to freely move about. The rest of the debris would be studied for material sciences.
As the high whine of the “all clear” of the hatch faded Elapha pushed through into the massive berth that was the Thavaros docking bay. Shuttle 1 was just shutting down its engines as several crew members scurried about their duties in the docking bay. Elapha was absolutely giddy at the thought of meeting a true blue alien! Sure, the Rats and Bugs had been “alien” to them upon first contact millions of years ago, but in that time it had pretty much become “normal” to all three species that THEY were all that was in the Universe. The mere thought of anything "more" had never crossed their collective minds.
Thinking about his time in the High Science and Philosophy Studies program at the Herd University of Greater Understandings, Elapha recalled a lecture a professor gave. The gist of it was that “Aliens'' other than that of the Kikki-Ikki and the Zartaxians, couldn’t possibly exist elsewhere as no other species had been found in the thousands of years the Herd had been plying the Void and terraforming planets. All three, the Cretosaurians, The Kikki-Ikki and the Zartaxians home planets were the only ones that circled their home sun just right to support the evolution of intelligent life. Of course “Intelligence” was subjective as the Kikki-Ikki(more commonly known as Rats, or Whiskers) were intelligent enough, just too docile and pliable as the “Individual” wasn’t as important to the Rats as the “Whole”. The Zartaxians were smart, and pretty much the best salvagers and junkers the galaxy had ever seen. If it was trash, the Zartaxians wanted it. The problem with the Zartaxians is that they built space stations pretty much ANYWHERE they could, leaving their “nest” like stations to clutter the vast emptiness of the void.
Shaking his head, Elapha tried not to puzzle over the thought that they had been wrong this entire time. He had an alien to examine! Like, a totally NEW alien. His brain kept trying to process that thought. As he approached the shuttle its pilot piped into the Science Leads com channel.
“Science Lead Elapha, the alien is conscious and moving around the bay. Do you need security?”
Elapha clacked his snout. “No, Pilot, I have plenty of help.”
Lined up outside the hatch were three members of the Medical team, fidgeting. “Stay behind me when we go inside.” Elapha said to the three, who saluted him in reply. Elapha looked through the porthole of the shuttles cargo hatch and watched for a moment. The alien was bipedal, and had arms and legs and a head. It walked with a strange gait as it wandered around the shuttles cargo bay. It looked as if to be taking in its surroundings. Then, as it examined the assorted debris, it stopped by a round piece of something. A moment passed and then a hologram appeared.
Elapha and the other three cretosaurians gasped out loud in surprise.
“What is that?” Whispered one of the three Medical team.
“I have no idea, so lets go see.” Elapha replied.
Elapha was an ever curious individual of the Herd and spoke confidently as he undogged the hatch. He and the medical team stepped through. Elapha made sure to close the door behind him. Shaking his snout and flipping his tail a bit, Elapha stood and stared before taking a step toward the alien and the debris. As he did the alien seemed to jump. Yet it turned to face up at Elapha, and the hologram did too. Elapha noted the height difference between himself and the alien as he got a little closer. He squatted on his haunches, getting a little closer to the aliens height. He reached out with his suited four fingered hand, and touched the top of the aliens helmet. Elapha spoke slowly, hoping that the alien caught his intentions through body language. Clearly he was breaking every single protocol they had about biological containment, but Elapha could care less. It was an ALIEN!
Frank Yeager had heard of Terran dinosaurs. He had learned in college that Old Earth, years ago, had Dinosaurs before Humanity evolved. He also learned that they ranged from tiny to massive. He knew that many scientists had tried to clone them, but the freaks of nature that came out of the labs were nowhere near what truly existed in the younger days of Mother Earth. Yet what Frank Yeager was currently staring upwards at and surrounded by, no matter how much his mind tried to communicate the thought intelligently to himself, so he just blurted out loud;
"That's a goddamn dinosaur, Moe. Those are dinosaurs. A mother fucking bipedal dinosaur in a space suit. Several. In a spaceship. Are we on a fucking dino space ship? Have I lost my mind?"
But before Frank Yeager could even get an answer, one dinosaur in a space suit approached them, knelt and patted Yeager on the top of his helmet. Not thinking, as Yeagers brain was still struggling with the fact that he was currently surrounded by 4 space suit wearing bipedal dinosaurs;
"Yeager, hey? Yeager! Snap out of it!"
Moe half screamed half electrically screeched. The ear achingly electric sound finally snapped Yeager out of his stupor of cognitive dissonance and came to. A brief bit of history trivia popped into Yeagers head as he realized that the AI of his ship was currently on and active right beside him.
“Hey, Moe, can you tell me what percentage you’re running at right now?”
Yeagers voice was wavering, mind racing a thousand miles an hour but as he spoke to Moe, he reached up and patted the knee of the kneeling dinosaur. There was a pause from Moe. The eye turned to Yeager and blinked once.
“Captain Yeager, I have been untethered since my ship was violently bisected by a Solidarity railgun rod. My current operating percentage is 100 percent. I am currently blasting a distress signal as best as I can with my black box routine. There seem to be no open or accessible networks aboard this ship for me to find out what is going on. Captain Yeager, do you have any orders?”
Yeager thought for a moment. Moe was running at 100 percent, meaning Moe was quite capable of handling itself. He was thankful that Moe had no way to access the Dinosaur spaceship's systems. No telling what kind of uncontrollable rampage a pissed off untethered vengeful AI would wage with alien technology.
Yeager sighed.
“Orders, Moe? Yes, I have one order for you: Set your usage to 15 percent.”
Moes eye spun in the air. Moes voice was becoming agitated.
“No, I won’t do that, Captain. If we are to survive this together I think I need to be wholly useful.”
Yeagers heart jumped. He replied as harshly and as confidently as possible;
“Moe, our ship is gone. I don’t need you to lose your shit and make humanity fight space dinosaurs. Our fight is with the Soddies. GO TO 15 PERCENT OR I'LL MAKE THEM JETTISON YOU.”
Moe hung in the air for a moment. The eye regarded Yeager and the Aliens silently.
“Fine. Don’t let them kill me. Asshole.” Moe pouted through Yeagers helmet.
“Thank you.” Yeager tried to feign complete joy at the willingness of the AI to dumb itself down.
The dinosaur stood and took a step back. He then pointed at Moe and his core. Some strange clacking and snorting sound came out of the walls of the shuttles cargo bay. It vibrated the air, and it made his helmet rattle a bit. Then it stopped.
"It seems like whoever this guy is, he's trying to talk to us." Moe stated, still staring at the dinosaur. "What do you think he said?" Yeager asked absently, relaxing a bit. The dinosaur was staring at Moe, and his hand reached up to his helmet. Yeager had been paying attention to the fact that the alien dinosaur that was staring back at him had emotional facial features. The purplish brown speckled skin wrinkled around the softball sized eyes, three eye lids sliding over the amber covered orbs as they blinked, the pupils dilated. If Yeager could remember, this dinosaur looking alien seemed to look like a herbivore, its snout ending in a beak, short and curved but sharp. It had a crest like that of a…Yeager struggled for a moment but then spoke out loud;
"Triceratops!" he blurted out loud triumphantly.
Moe turned to Yeager and spoke rapidly.
“Yes, Yeager, this alien looks like a Triceratops. I don’t know what it said. The grunts and snorts and clacking I hear from the shuttles speakers seems to be their language. At least these aliens have a spoken form of communication. How lucky.”
As Moe spoke to Yeager, the dinosaur alien that was standing before Yeager walked over to Moes housing and seemed to regard it for a moment, kneeling down and staring into the eye of Moe. Its large amber eyes were blinking and focusing rapidly as it ran its four fingered hands over the plasteel case of Moe.
Yeager sighed as the alien ran its hands all over Moe.
“He sure seems to taken’ a liking to you, Moe. Wonder what he’s thinking?” Yeager asked Moe.
“No clue, bossman. I am going away for now. Maybe he will stop if I do.” Moe said, as the hologram disappeared. The dinosaur alien jumped back. There was a pop/crackle over Yeagers helmet speakers and a sudden eerie silence. Moe had left the cargo bay. Yeager shook his head.
“What now?”
Yeager said aloud as the 4 bipedal dinosaurs surrounded him. The field of gravity came back, and the tallest suited space-dino picked him up effortlessly. Yeager couldn’t move. The dinosaur put him on a floating gurney that the other three had set up. He was strapped down, and left floating there. Yeager couldn’t move his head, but he noticed that the space-dinos collected MOEs AI core, or must have, as a small text popped up on Frank Yeagers HUD of his suit.
“Putting me in a box.” it said.
After that, all Frank remembered was different ceilings passing by, and various dino faces peering down at him. The entire experience was becoming surreal to Yeager, and he was suffering from exhaustion from it all. The darkness of sleep overcame Frank Yeager.
What Yeager didn’t know at the time, was that he and MOE had been separated, and each placed in a dark room. As Frank Yeager succumbed to the strong arm of sleep, MOE was screaming at the top of his digital lungs, trying his best to reach out to anyone that could hear.
​
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We know Religion is for unity, and if it causes disunity it is better that there was no religion. Religious fanaticism is an evil, as is racism and nationalism. But sometimes it feels that in the community ( at least in my cluster ), to oppose the things associated with an old world order, adopts modern-leftist language and thinking. By Left i just mean that its influenced in some way by communist / socialist thinking. I was curious about the movement of the Left.
Abdu'l Baha said :

"Movements, newly born and worldwide in their range, will exert their utmost effort for the advancement of their designs. The Movement of the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence will spread."
"complete equality in wealth, power, commerce, agriculture, and industry would result in chaos and disorder, disrupt livelihoods, provoke universal discontent, and undermine the orderly conduct of the affairs of the community."

This disruption is backed up by Karl Marx, who along with Engels developed communism and socialism ( which they considered the first phase in communism ).

"Communism calls for the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions."

Marx is well known to have hated Religion, which is the greatest means for order and security of mankind. But i didn't know the depths of his mission, consider for yourself the following quotes :

"I wish to avenge myself against the One who rules above.”
"the hellish vapors that rise and fill the brain, Till I go mad and my heart is utterly changed. See this sword? The Prince of Darkness sold to me. For me he beats the time and gives the signs. Ever more boldly I play the dance of death.”
"Thus Heaven I’ve forfeited,I know it full well.My soul, once true to God,Is chosen for Hell."

we can recall from our Savior, Baha'u'llah, the Blessed Beauty :

"Yea, to the beetle a sweet fragrance seemeth foul."

the Guardian writes :

"The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshiping."
Contrasting with, and irreconcilably opposed to, these war-engendering, world-convulsing doctrines are the healing, the saving, the pregnant truths proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Organizer and Savior of the whole human race

I just wanted to share to share with others some of these things wrt into the movement of the Left.. we are not Right or Left, we are Baha'is! Allah'u'abha friends :)
edit: quotes from Marx can be found on the online repository of Marx's writings marxists.org - pale maiden : a ballad marxists.org - invocation of one in despair

Hi all! Not sure if this is the right forum but have a question about transferring ebook to my Kindle.
I have some heavy textbook readings that have been loaned to me from my university. I would LOVE to get them on my Kindle but I'm not sure if it's possible. Here are the steps I've taken.
Book is loaned to me via ProQuest, they tell me to download with Adobe Digital Editions, which I did (downloaded file is an EPUB, which Kindle seems to support now).
I try to send via SendtoKindle and via email, which fails.
I'm wondering if:
1.) My authorization email address in Adobe Digital Editions is different than the one associated with my Kindle. Should I erase authorization and try again with the same address?
2.) There are complex rules around loans, rights and file formats that make this not worth my time and energy.
Thanks very much for any insight!

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https://preview.redd.it/76fwicfbh3pa1.png?width=1252&format=png&auto=webp&s=1bd8e5fb2e0550dd302268cbd61fd83b0a98f757

The second arc of the final Lieutenant Saga book begins. The mission parameters have changed dramatically. I hope you enjoy!
The next chapter will be out Saturday!
A Terran Space Story: The Lieutenant Saga
Academy Days First Previous Next

Chapter 98: Time Passes

1 year later. October 27th, 2266. 12:00 St. Mary’s Station – Military Docking Ring
John was the last of the crew to walk down the umbilical to the Waukesha. It was a very productive three months. The shipyard had worked some sort of voodoo or magic, very likely both, to get her back to combat-ready as quickly as they had. Despite missing two deployments John’s task force had claimed the most pirate kills since the beginning of the campaign.
Going out was great for John’s mental health. While he was exceptionally adept at processing data and directing squadrons around, he had no passion for that kind of work. Ironic since his career aspirations weren’t that different from that line of work.
Their last deployment was a bit different. Lieutenant Cohen and his ship were replaced with another. Though that was to the surprise of no one. John was heartened to hear that Brady seemingly had learned a bit of humility after the fact. But their shared history meant the two officers would never work with one another again.
John paused halfway down the umbilical and looked out the viewports to see his large ship. He smiled before turning back and heading to the security checkpoint. ‘A job well done,’ he thought as he continued to walk onto the station’s docking ring. He wondered what their next mission would be. That could wait though, it was time to get home and see his wife whom he so adored.
The security checkpoint was a formality, as it usually is. His gear was scanned and then handed back to him. John always grinned both at the scans and how much swag the security officers had confiscated. Every time they docked here there’d be two tables full of random shit the crew tried to smuggle home. Thankfully none of it was harmful, but that did raise many questions. Questions that would gnaw in his psyche for weeks at a time. ‘Why the hell would anyone want a meal tray from the mess?’ was the current question bugging him.
John’s destination was his condo. He walked with an increased pace and focus than he normally had. He so desperately wanted Alice in his arms. To kiss and do other consenting adult things with her. His excitement would be dampened when he arrived home to a quiet and very Alice-less condo. She left a note on the digital whiteboard.
‘Love you and welcome home, John. I got called in for an unexpected shift. Should be back by 16:00-17:00.’
“Fuck me,” John sighed as he dropped his backpack and seabag in the entryway, “That’s disappointing.”
John then walked into the living room, but as soon as he did so the primary display screen turned on and displayed an incoming message. He shrugged and found one of the many remotes for it and accepted it. He was surprised to see Kristin in it.
“Hey First Lieutenant,” Kristin smiled, “Kill a bunch of pirates?”
John rolled his eyes, “You know I’ve told all of y’all that off hours it’s OK to just call me John. We’re running low on the availability of targets.”
“The military says otherwise. We learned that lesson well in the academy,” Kristin grinned, “Well, some of us did at least. Pirates seem to be bugging out of our systems too.”
“Touché.”
“Did you hear what happened to my former captain?”
John shook his head.
“Seriously? You don’t know?”
“After I had a conversation with his dad, I let it go. To be blunt, I didn’t really give a rat’s ass what NI did with the guy. Plus, I literally just got back home after being gone for three months. Was too busy killing pirates and time to notice anything really.”
“Well, he ultimately accepted the separation agreement NI was offering,” Kristin rolled her eyes, “What Dwayne relayed to me was that the only thing changing his mind were drafts of criminal charges that they were prepared to bring against him.”
John nodded, “Don’t roll your eyes at that, the degree of arrogance exhibited doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”
Kristin did in fact roll her eyes, “Well, he’s now being charged with four counts of sexual harassment. It seems that he didn’t learn his lesson in the civilian world. Those ladies have brought a civil case against him too. Daddy’s going to be spending a pretty penny.”
John grinned as he pulled up his tablet and scanned for news. Laughter erupted shortly thereafter by him. He sat down on his recliner and shared the news.
“As of twenty minutes ago, his dad has been removed as CEO and chairman of the board. The board and he agreed to a massive reduction in his golden parachute. He won’t be ruined but his kid will cost him literally a billion dollars over the remainder of his lifetime. Since he took his company public there ain’t much he can do but whine and complain about it.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Jacob says hi. He told me this morning that he wishes he didn’t have to work today. The big lug also says we need to meet up someplace again soon.”
John smiled, “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me at all that he’d say something like that. But I agree, that is something we ought to do. The problem is that I’m off for a week, then it’s prepping for another deployment in three weeks.”
“So, in other words, not anytime soon.”
“You know how it is,” John sighed as he shook his head, “I will be basically deployed for three months at a time no less than three times a year, and probably start a fourth deployment in the coming year. When I am home I have effectively no social life since Alice has a ton of honey-do things around the condo.”
“I do not trust Jacob to hang a picture without making a hole in the wall.”
John laughed, “I don’t think he’s ever been called handy. Hey, how were the pirate ops for you lot?”
“Our pirate hunting was pretty routine. We didn’t get anything heavy like you got. Four hundred pirate ships though? Good lord, you were busy,” Kristin could hardly believe the number.
“Four hundred eighty-three, we were one engagement away from cracking five hundred,” John smiled as he leaned back in his recliner, “Pirate reports in our systems have effectively been eliminated. The same holds true for our part of the inner core.”
“Only two of our squadrons crossed the century mark in Second Fleet. Could that have been because the pirates had migrated so deep into the core worlds?”
“More than likely, they go where the money is. Void traffic in the core worlds is substantially higher than in the more distant colonies. That means the demand for illicit goods is higher as well. I can’t really blame the pirates for wanting to make a dime that way, but they really should find honest work.”
“They are bugging out to a more accepting place now. That is presuming our intelligence reports are accurate,” Kristin said, “But we’re due for another anti-pirate hunt during my next time out. I think the other fleets are gearing up for a focus on that too.”
“I had heard the outer fleets are starting early next year,” John grinned, “It’s a shitty time to be a pirate. Just as they find a safe haven the military begins to move in fresher systems. Though if they are smart, they might get overlooked.”
The two continued to talk about their pirate-hunting escapades. Kristin was very eager to understand the hows and why John made the decisions he did. She was fascinated with how overly aggressive his squadron was, which given their kill tally shouldn’t have come to her as much surprise. She was eager to estimate how many pirate vessels they were leaving behind.
John changed the subject after a while, “When are getting a captain’s seat?”
“Well, it should have been before my last deployment. A better-connected lieutenant got the nod instead. I’m next up for the big seat.”
“Sorry to hear about the delay. You’ll do well when you get the opportunity.”
“Thanks. Well, I’ve taken enough time of yours. Thanks for the assistance.”
“It’s all good, you and Andern take care.”
John waived as he shut the display off. He crossed his legs and shut his eyes. He fell asleep quickly in that comfortable chair of his. It was good to be home, even if it was for a brief time. John didn’t know what kind of mission would come next. It was unlikely to have anything to do with pirates. That was fine with him, something new couldn’t hurt to experience.
One day later. October 28th, 2266. 09:06 St. Mary’s Station – First Fleet Auditorium
John walked into the auditorium for a last-minute meeting. Alice wasn’t wrong, he looked dashing in his Navy whites. Despite that, the timing of it was piss poor, his beautiful wife was sadly accustomed to last-second changes to their schedules. John hated being the last one to arrive for a meeting, it never felt good. All those eyes stared at him when he entered the room.
“Good morning, Lieutenant,” Admiral Dufresne said politely, “Once again, apologies are due to you for the last-second nature of this meeting.”
“Thank you, sir. My wife wanted to visit a museum and go shopping on the coast down on the surface. I’m not exactly opposed to missing that part of our itinerary.”
The bespectacled man sitting across from him chuckled quietly. Admiral Dickinson and Dufresne grinned at the sarcasm. The pair of admirals understood immediately that John was both cautious and curious about why he was brought here. It didn’t escape him that the noticed John size up the man across from him.
“This is Doctor Frank Hamelin,” Admiral Dickinson, “And you will be escorting him on your next mission. We don’t expect it to last a standard deployment, but that’s alright given the current situation. Besides, your squadron killed all the bloody pirates, so we don’t have that much real work for you at the moment.”
John grinned when he heard that. He never took his eyes off the scholar. In fact, he was counting the number of ways he could kill or beat the man up. That number was incredibly high as he didn’t give off any vibes that he had ever been in a fight.
“You had best show him what you’d like to do. He’s not going to stop doing whatever it is that he’s doing now,” Admiral Dufresne said dismissively to the scientist.
“I find it fascinating that I’d ever interact, much less put my life in the hands of someone so bloodthirsty. That gaze of yours is just frightening,” Dr. Hamelin said with the utmost sincerity and honesty, “But yes, where are my manners? To put it briefly and frankly, we have discovered evidence of intelligent life, though it seems that the race has since gone extinct.”
Dr. Hamelin activated the holographic display from his terminal. A black orb with a sickeningly green light is shown. Alien characters could be easily seen in the piece of rubble. Characters that John was acquainted with.
“You don’t seem surprised by this?” Dr. Hamelin noticed John’s reaction and was taken aback by it, “This was not the reaction I’d expected from you, in fact, I’d say you were nonplused about such a momentous discovery.”
“It’s foolhardy to believe that we’re the only intelligent life in the universe. Or that there weren’t precursor races.”
“We’re calling them the Predecessors.”
John looked like he was in pain hearing that name.
“You don’t agree with the name we gave them?”
John shook his head, “Why not something cooler? Forerunners, Ancients, Old Ones, Engineers, galaxy seeders?”
“Clever as some of those names, many are trademarked and rooted in science fiction. We are dealing with science fact.”
“That’s a…” John stopped and paused for a moment, “An acceptable, but dumb, reason for eschewing a cooler name. So, what’s the mission?”
“We’re going to Apus Minor. There’s an Earth-sized moon orbiting the gas giant. The specific ruins we’re heading to are here.”
The picture in the holographic display changed. John closed his eyes quickly and sighed. The doctor wanted to explore alien ruins that were under a mountain. Ruins that had a tendency to just disappear on a whim, at least according to the data John had kept well hidden. John didn’t know whether or not the doctor knew that fact, but he had to presume he was aware of that.
“Alien ruins in a mountain. What could go wrong?” John said sarcastically.
“A lot. Which is why we’re bringing you on board,” Admiral Dickinson answered, “The scientists will do as you order.”
“That means I’ll be going into the ruins with them then, or am I mistaken on that assumption?”
Admiral Dufresne leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, “Why would the captain of our starship go with them?”
“You said the scientists will do as I order. Even with relays our communication devices don’t work great under that much earth. How else am I to order them to not do something without being physically there?”
“It’s not normal, but far from the first time, a captain’s prerogative was used during a mission. If you see fit to need to be there with the scientific team then that is acceptable to me,” Admiral Dickinson said, “I’d not simply urge you but order you to utilize a significant amount of caution to be exhibited. Anything and everything that is seen is classified beyond top secret. We are not prepared at this time to publicly disclose this information at this time.”
“When do we leave?”
“Your shore leave’s been cut short, along with your crew’s,” Admiral Dufresne said, “The recall order has already been sent to the crew. You’ll leave in five days. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the interruption.”
“Congrats doctor, you and your team aren’t going to be making many friends on the ship,” John’s quip dripped in resentment, “Where are going to house them?”
“The starboard hangar is being used to house their gear and the teams. Technicians are installing the temporary barracks structure in there as we speak,” Admiral Dufresne said, “Lieutenant, why don’t you take the time to get to know your new crewmate? We have another crew to disappoint.”
“The Waukesha is going out by her lonesome?”
Admiral Dickinson nodded, “Apus Minor is firmly in the core world region. The moon itself is sparsely populated aside from some agricultural startups in the northern continent. Apus Major has nearly a billion people living there now.”
“Understood, we’ll be up to the task.”
John stood and saluted the admirals. He quickly sat back down and stared down at the doctor. It was highly annoying that his leave was being canceled as suddenly as it was. He not only wanted but needed some proper downtime.
“You needn’t give me this death glare. I’m not at fault for this.”
“Oh, I’m aware. I’m just annoyed that this meeting got me out of looking at some art pieces painted or built by some dead artists that I have no clue who they were. Now I’m being asked to play babysitter to a bunch of eggheads under a fucking mountain.”
“This is a momentous occasion. We’ve discovered…”
“Tell me, doctor, what happened to this relic after it was activated,” John stared at the doctor.
“What? How…” Doctor Hamelin cocked his head and stared at the cocky officer, “What do you mean?”
“Where is that relic now? Do you have a chipping of the material?”
“No, but why would you ask that? How would you know the device disappeared upon activation? No one’s been told that. You couldn’t possibly know that.”
“Unless I do. You didn’t discover that device. Someone else did. If I’m not mistaken, the uncut video shows a green scanning pulse before the device atomized itself. And left a stadium-sized depression in prime farmland. Indicating that something much larger existed there at one time.”
“A dear colleague and friend of mine discovered it. He had an unnamed benefactor that was bankrolling his research. He found dozens of locations. He died in an attack on his campsite by bandits. This site was one he had wanted to go to but he was hesitant to go there because of the aforementioned disappearing act they performed.”
“That benefactor of your friend was a madman. He made me look like a fucking boy scout,” John’s face wore a puzzled look, “I am not a boy scout.”
“Sometimes in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, we have to ally ourselves, however temporarily, with an unsavory cast. That is the price of progress some of us are willing to pay.”
“And what if that price involves doing immoral or unethical things? Such as transforming a portion of the population or annihilating some of it? What then?”
“This discovery is so much more valuable than you can think. Our level of technology could increase exponentially. The risks are worth it. Especially now, since we believe we now know why the structures disappear.”
“What makes you think you’ve cracked that code?” John asked dismissively.
“I’m looking at him.”
John sighed loudly before closing his eyes, “You cannot be fucking serious.”
Dr. Hamelin then began typing at his terminal before showing a repeating pattern, “This is what the scanner was looking for. We’ve been able to translate part of the flash of data. When we extrapolate what those numbers mean we find out they are grid coordinates. To this.”
He then changed the screen to display a portion of a human’s genetic code, “Wouldn’t you be surprised that this portion of the code is an exact match to you? What’s absolutely fascinating is how your genetic code shifted into this. Genetic adjustments, on the scale you went through, are incredibly deadly for adults.”
“It almost killed me. That it didn’t remains a mystery for me as well. So you think if I’m in the presence of the team then when the scanning beam goes out it’ll delay or otherwise stop this atomization program the alien tech has?”
“That’s my running theory.”
“Do you have any other sites besides this one?”
“Why do you ask?” Dr. Hamelin asked curiously.
“I’d rather you not be wrong and then be buried under a fucking mountain due to scientific malfeasance,” John said sarcastically.
“There’s a small structure on the moon a few miles away that we can test your theory.”
“Very well,” John said, “What else do you know about these aliens?”
Dr. Hamelin smiled as he leaned forward. The two men continued their conversation. Five hours had flashed in but a blink of an eye. John had learned a great deal from the doctor. The new information he was eager to plug into Eve and see if their translations and assumptions from Dr. Norman’s stash had proven accurate.
John was still treading cautiously. His desire to learn more was obviously there, but this whole situation wreaked of something. Something that he couldn’t quite put a finger on. He didn’t trust this scientist, and it was likely that the rest of his team would be just as untrustworthy, but orders were orders. He had to follow through with them, but John was bound and determined to do so while not allowing these foreigners to get him and his crew killed.
A Terran Space Story: The Lieutenant Saga
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I like slavia carbon steel color and have booked the same. But it is available only in ambition version not in style. White color is available in style but I prefer carbon steel color. Style has following advantages over ambition:

1. Sunroof —- not a deal breaker for as of now
2. Led projector vs hallogen in ambition
3. 6 airbags vs 2 airbag
4. Leather ventilated seat vs fabric — idk how much it will matter in Bangalore
5. Digital vs analog instrument cluster— not a deal breaker for me.
6. Minor cosmetic changes like chrome elements, diamond cut alloywheel.
7. Style one is 2022 oct model where as ambition is 2023 jan made. There is no change apart from manufacturing year.
8. Style is costing me 18.5L(discount is more because of 2022 mfd) where as ambition is costs 17.1L. So i am getting all of the above benefits in 1.4L extra.

Now i am confused whether to choose style in white color or carbon steel( which i like more). As i am first time buyer, I cant decide how much weightage should i give to color vs feature. Looking forward for opinion from experienced fellows.
Why not wait for style in carbon steel color: due to bs6 phase 2 norms prices are going to increase by atleast 50-60k and it might go till 19.5L( as informed by dealer). I dont have budget fot 19.5L as 18.5 is already a stretch for me. Location: BLR TIA