Chapters tagged brain slug

by Zeebop

Chapter 85

> The technological revolution from the Exodus is ongoing. Knowledge is currency, and the various factions among the refugees have generally been careful in the release of technological information and expertise, parlaying their information into resources and political capital. N...

by Zeebop

Chapter 86

> The hive mind is not careless. It rarely intends to hurt individuals. Yet it can, and does. It is too big, and they are too small. In its plans for the future good of the hive, the species, and the world, the dreams and feelings of a single human being are often overlooked and...

by Zeebop

Chapter 87

> None of the extraterrestrial species were built for Earth's gravity, or for exactly Earth's atmosphere. They chose Earth because it was as close as they could get to a habitable world. Yet many species cannot adapt. They remain locked on their ships, unable to leave without pro...

by Zeebop

Chapter 88

> In the Sahara, glass spires rise, an echo of a desert planet whose quasi-insectoid inhabitants looked up from their nests and dreamed of the stars. In the warm waters of Florida, the Greyan pods make their homes half on water and half on land. Lower oxygen levels at high altitu...

by Zeebop

Chapter 89

> The United States, European Union, and most Commonwealth republics and realms have, through explicit constitutional amendments, accepted birthright citizenship for extraterrestrials born within their territory and acceded limited autonomy to their governments by treaty. However...

by Zeebop

Chapter 90

> The great epidemics that ravaged the globe after the Exodus were blamed on the extraterrestrials. This was, in part, correct. The spacefaring species had been dealing with the contact and conflict of different microbial ecosystems for generations; they were both wary of Earth's...

by Zeebop

Chapter 91

> The Shadow Colonies are ET settlements that are not publicly known or acknowledged. None of Earth's governments has the capacity to monitor the entire sky. Unauthorized landings, or clandestine deals with specific governments or non-governmental groups, have led to secret ET se...

by Zeebop

Chapter 92

> The Forgeworlder Collective established a mining facility as they passed through the asteroid belt, intending to exchange the minerals for goods, services, and political recognition. The sudden influx of such metals in volume has profoundly impacted Earth's economy. Gold and di...

by Zeebop

Chapter 93

> The DeBeers Incident reveals the dangers if such conflicts grow hot. With cheap space diamonds flooding the market, DeBeers attempted to exert pressure on the Forgeworlder Collective representative. When the threat did not work, the representative suffered a fatal "accident." A...

by Zeebop

Chapter 96

> Fear is a survival instinct, easily perverted into bigotry. Some politicians seeking momentary advantage tried to rile their constituents against the "alien menace." William Martin was one of the first and loudest. His wife Meara died in their home and became host to a ghola; t...

by Zeebop

Chapter 97

> Ramen is best with clean water and fresh ingredients, but do the best you can with what you have. > —1,001 Ways to Cook Ramen "How are you speaking to me?" Mel asked, facing those strange, deep eyeholes again. "And what is a rishathran?" "Microwave auditory effect," Denis s...

by Zeebop

Chapter 98

> On Prince Edward Island, a colony of Rhizomats has been growing for nearly a decade. Humans on the island were initially hostile to the new neighbors, but the Rhizomats' unique architectural embellishments and integration into the local ecosystem have proved a boon to tourism....

by Zeebop

Chapter 99

> To seek the proper balance of flavors in a bowl of ramen is to seek the proper balance of life. Time, temperature, saltiness—there may be no perfect bowl every time you get hungry. But there is always the best bowl you can make at any given moment. > —*1,001 Ways to Cook Ram...

by Zeebop

Chapter 100

> The secret history of the Exodus has not been written. It may never be written. Ghola kill squads. The Etherling invasion of Guam. The High Colony on Mt. Everest, which has systematically removed every trace of human existence from the mountain. These are things we know about....

by Zeebop

Chapter 101

> Miracle spice is an extraterrestrial food additive cleared for human consumption. It has the effect of inverting the way humans interpret capsaicinoids, the main component in the spiciness of peppers. The effect has been described as like sucking on an ice cube dipped in pure m...

by Zeebop

Chapter 102

> The first hate crime against a Rhizomat was a cause for celebration in their community. The Rhizomat was a scrounger: old, bloated, in constant pain, and dying. The sudden, violent by a pair of young, bigoted human men armed with baseball bats released a toxic cloud of...

by Zeebop

Chapter 103

> As you eat today's bowl of ramen, be thinking of tomorrow's bowl of ramen. Hunger does not care about your cholesterol level or blood pressure. Animals take food as it comes; sentient beings may plan. When you shop for ingredients, think of the meals you will make, what you wil...

by Zeebop

Chapter 104

> Pope Donus II issued the papal bull In Imago Dei in 2045, announcing that it was Catholic policy that extraterrestrials had souls and were capable of salvation. The exact metaphysics of this were difficult to translate to some species that lacked the concept of supernatural bei...

by Zeebop

Chapter 105

> In survival situations where water is rationed or unavailable, ramen noodles have been boiled in beer, wine, cola, or even urine. We cannot recommend the last as a standard practice, although apparently the Rhizomat consider it a delicacy. > —*1,001 Ways to Cook Rame...

by Zeebop

Chapter 106

> The first Human-Extraterrestrial hybrid was created by accident in the bed of a Ford pickup truck in Florida in 2049, the result of a very novel and completely unexpected transmission of genetic material via a biological mechanism previously unknown to Earth scientists. The res...