Story Time

Rescuing a Kidnapping Victim, Less than Legally

I had to make one other pair of stops before I pulled the Bullette, sans lights, into a warehouse belonging to a mostly defunct shipping company. I feel like it’s a good staging area. Far enough to not be suspicious, but close enough to be able to strike out from it. And, most importantly, absent any expected security. I call and check in with Marty, who’s in the overlook with Keighlee. “All good?” I ask, intentionally vaguely, in case anyone is listening. I would prefer no e

J. Joseph

1 day ago8 min read

Marshall Prepares for a Week of Administering Exams

Waking up in my lovely house, overlooking the Aegean, is a wonderful ritual every single day. I head on out to the balcony as I steep my tea, and stare out over the water. It helps relax me for the inevitable stress of having to deal with dumb and or terrible people all day. I breathe in the fresh sea air, and exhale. The egg timer back in my relatively small but seafront house’s kitchen goes off. It’s an old mechanical one. I trust the classics more than new stuff, in most c

J. Joseph

Apr 178 min read

Denlo Takes the Burden unto Himself

Den slides down the rope that his captain had let into the gap in the temple wall, and quickly realizes it isn’t in the wall, but the roof. Soon enough, his foot starts dangling. From the looks of it, a good bit from the ground. Maybe a person’s height, maybe a bit more. Best to know before the blind folk come down. The massive Elfi’ika lets go of the rope, dropping smoothly to the floor. His leg hits the ground harder than he’d have liked. He misjudged the distance a bit. Cl

J. Joseph

Apr 108 min read

A Vacation to Hunt Rats

I can’t help but warble some binary laughter at Captain Hellers’ joke. That one human, Katzman, is generally useless outside of a fight. I hold him in slightly higher regard than Hellers and her relatively small singular vessel in an actual fight, but only insofar as his tactical acumen and the versatility of his small fighter fleet is quite efficient against most larger vessels. The Hellers woman is far more important prior to any engagements, knowing people and similar info

J. Joseph

Apr 38 min read

Finding the Evidence and Rounding Up a Posse

Knowing that the laptop was hidden on the rooftop of the gym by someone on the move made finding it fairly simple. Hidden might even have been a bit of an exaggeration. Sitting under some bushes along the edge of the rooftop, the laptop was hidden in a case with basic dynamic translucency camouflage. But staying out of sight and low profile does mean that, rather than look at the laptop there, I just stuff it under my arm and drop back onto the Bullette. I need somewhere priv

J. Joseph

Mar 278 min read

Micah Being Confronted By Advisees

I wrap up my Observation 115 class early. They should be working on their projects this weekend, and it’s not like giving them more time will help much. One of my advisees, a freshman named Julio, pauses and raises a finger to garner my attention. I nod in acknowledgement. “A yes or no?” he asks. He has a question, though he thinks it’s a simple one at least. He’s wondering if I have time to answer. I don’t have anywhere urgent to be. “Go ahead,” I reply as I gather up my n

J. Joseph

Mar 208 min read

Felazo Speaks with Sister Hilan Comparing a God and an Aspect

As the silence consumes the valley, the crew stops for a moment. Sister Hilan, looking towards the statue, seems deep in thought. Felazo watches the young scion approach the good sister, to clean and deal with her wounds, and so he heads over to lend some aid. He does his best to help organize and swiftly hand off her tools as she works, but the young woman seems distracted. Both of them actually. Eventually, the monastic warrior speaks up. “It’s odd, this predates our arriva

J. Joseph

Mar 138 min read

Discussions on the Storm-Trashed Beach

After the storm, the beach looks terrible. I do notice the sky and the water both have a haunting beauty to them, clear and yet simultaneously abuzz with the recent winds, but the beach itself is covered with garbage. Literally. In the distance, on another beach, I can see some locals who didn’t evacuate starting the cleanup. As long as we aren’t too obvious, we should be fine for a few hours. “Looks clear enough to me,” I say to the others. Lyle shakes his head. “Some of us

J. Joseph

Mar 68 min read

Searching for Answers about the Shooting

My mind is racing. How is the West Bay Cartel back? And why now. It doesn’t make sense. Something must have happened. I can hear on the other side of the Sergeant’s bed, her daughter asking the unimportant question that we both know we’re not going to be answering. “Who or what is a double-u bee cee?” asks Vic. I ignore the young woman, looking at the Sergeant. “We have anything more workable?” I ask a far more important question. She shakes her head. “Lex was with me when

J. Joseph

Feb 278 min read

A Secret-Filled Argument between Qasim Ahmad and Paris Williams

I can’t stand my friends sometimes. Paris is sitting across from me, staring me down as Magister Holt is wrapping up our Principles of Mystic Theory: Metamystic seminar. “For Tuesday, remember to read the next chapter, and there are four articles on the site to read this weekend. And next Thursday, the sources for your final are due, so for those of you that are behind.” He looks intently at a couple of the other apprentices around the circle, “You don’t have time to goof off

J. Joseph

Feb 208 min read

Hunting and Slaying the Okraten-Bears

Walking across the clay beach, Alessari ud Tise’el tries to avoid thinking about her companion’s concerns. Focus on the present, and she can concern herself with the ship-beast that might have expanded its hunting ground. As they cross the clay beach into the brush, Sari turns to Renalt. “So, which way was it to this dome?” Ren frowns, looks back towards the previous island as though trying to find the camouflaged watchtower, then forwards towards the brush-covered hills. “I

J. Joseph

Feb 138 min read

As the Storm Passes By

I figured that once the others got back, things might start to make more sense, but as the door opens and the elevator-shaft team starts to walk in, I can tell from the looks on their faces, whatever they found out is something we’ll have to spend a good while unpacking. Especially Seleste and the college kid, Alyson. But the confusion on their faces was different. Less out of uncertainty and more something deeper, a profound disconnect between whatever they saw and what they

J. Joseph

Feb 68 min read

A Discussion on an Unwanted Future

I walk slowly out of Sally’s general store as the sun reaches her zenith. My overpriced bottle of whiskey half empty and my every step a journey. Diabla has not returned from her wanderings yet, unfortunately. I pull out a whistle from my coat and blow, then lean on one of Sally’s porch roof’s pillars to wait for her to show up. Some locals wander by, giving me polite nods. As I see Diabla walking her way back up the road towards me, a man in a fancy suit and a woman in a far

J. Joseph

Jan 308 min read

Looking at a Puzzle with One Key Piece Missing

I make it back to my apartment before the work-shift ends. Everyone knows better than to bother me when that happens. It always means I’m on a toughie, or on a time crunch, or both. Today may well be both. Coming into the apartment, I shut the door behind me and almost immediately take off my pants as I find my augmented reality sunglasses. They are in the most sensible place they could be, the fitters of the lamp behind the TV. Before putting them on, I press the button to c

J. Joseph

Jan 238 min read

Ali Meeting with her First Year Advisees after Winter Break

Jase has already left for work and I’m dressed, dined, and ready for the day by the time Nat rolls herself out of bed. She can’t complain this time, I scheduled my meetings at a reasonable hour. Albeit the day prior to classes actually starting back up, but she was already planning on being on campus today. She has some last minute prep things to do, and a meeting about some theory nonsense with one of her advisees. As Nat makes her way to our living room, I offer up the rema

J. Joseph

Jan 168 min read

The Journey through the Woods and Waves

The walk back to the underground cavern which held the port is rather uneventful. In the back of the group, as they walk, Sister Hilan notices Renalt and Denlo starting to whisper. The monastic sister dismisses it though. After all, they did so frequently. It’s likely a discussion of how to do something less than legal, she guesses about one of the odd miscellanea that the Elfi’ika picked up in that watchtower. She trusts that, if the discussion were to turn to any topics of

J. Joseph

Jan 98 min read

Concerns About Control and Taking Charge

I wait for Kat behind the coats, and in moments, she joins me. “What is it, Jackson?” she asks, knowing exactly what it is. I shake my head at her attempt to deflect. “You know exactly what it is,” I reply, before adding for clarification, “The wince.” Immediately, Kat goes on the defensive. “It was barely a wince,” she insists, “And I’m pretty sure Mrs. Hernandez didn’t notice anything.” I nod. “You’re right, it wasn’t that big. And I also don’t think she noticed, though

J. Joseph

Jan 28 min read

Acquiring Suspect Records from the Archives

I walk over to the hallway by the room with the sergeant, and she gestures for Marty to come over. He nods, excuses himself for a moment, then heads over towards us waiting in the doorway. Unfortunately, this causes Keighlee to look up and notice me, and she glares in my direction in a way that I can tell means she has more she wants to say. But that’s a later problem. Marty gives me a nod saying flatly, “Stomach settled?” then without waiting for an answer, turned to the Ser

J. Joseph

Dec 26, 20258 min read

Therese's Winter Break Investigation

It’s nine at night back at my Villa. And at Maestro Leyten’s. Things are happening that I am almost certainly missing. I am not a fan of missing things. But, this is far more important. He won’t let anything slip unless he’s unsettled. That’s, in theory, a part of his training these last two years. The best way to unsettle him is to be in person. Unfortunately, he lives in a warded dorm, which means I do not get to bring anything with me. Backdooring a vacancy in the wards to

J. Joseph

Dec 19, 20258 min read

From the Archipelago's Watchtower

The walk through this forest was not Renalt’s favorite time. Not due to any discomfort of walking several miles through the dirt, but rather because nothing happened for quite some time, but they were also trying to be quiet to avoid any potential dangerous, unwanted attention. Which means he hadn’t been able to practice or write but also hadn’t been gathering any new material. But now, they come upon a tower, in a clearing. Ren looks to the treetops around him, but no one i

J. Joseph

Dec 12, 20258 min read