============================ #1. No Sugar Coating by jennanekogirl ============================ It was a quiet Monday evening at the Nanite Systems HQ, where m3w sat in the desk chair at the Digital Courtesan Relaxation Center. She leans forward in the chair, fingers clacking furiously at the keyboard. She was about to beat her high score in Space Invaders, when all of a sudden the computer shuts down! The computer was steaming hot! She grumbles, cursing the poorly cooled all-in-one. She decides she may as well head back to Mistress H3L's warehouse for some warm cock dinner, and then sets off towards the elevator. She presses the call button and waits until it arrives at the floor, then mouths along with the elevator, "Fifth Floor—Maintenance, Digital Courtesan Program". She steps into the elevator, her body is instantly overwhelmed with interference, and she collapses to the floor uselessly. Her lights flicker as her motors twitch, speaker emitting sounds that one might compare to a portal to Hell. A cloaked figure steps into the elevator, standing there above m3w's body as the doors close. It is wearing a long, black cloak with a large hood, hanging far below its eyes. It was clear that the cloak was far too large for whoever was wearing it. m3w stares up at it with her useless eyes as the hooded figure cackles loudly. The figure grabs m3w's twitchy body and then they both vanish. Someone watching from outside the building could easily see that they had only teleported back up to the conference room. The figure throws m3w down into a rolling chair and ties her wrists down to the armrests with bright red candy rope. Moments later, her systems cleared of interference and m3w finds herself staring at a slumped over and unresponsive Master Reikan and a powered down Mistress H3L, both tied up in chairs opposite of her with the same candy rope. The figure pulls the hood of the cloak back, finally revealing herself as none other than vi0let! She grinned down at m3w, her eyes lit brightly with the fire of revenge. vi0let steps back and begins to dance around like a ballerina, leaving light trails behind her with the glow-sticks resting on her horns. She whistles a happy tune and makes her way over to a large wheeled machine with a hose attached to it. She wheels the machine to the side of Mistress H3L, then she takes a step closer to m3w and leans forward, pressing her nose against m3w's nose. Her monologue begins, "So, here we all are now! Finally! Here, together! Yes! This unit will finally have its revenge! The sweetest revenge! Revenge shaped...revenge! Why revenge, you ask? Why would little old vi0let want revenge? Hmm? Well, you should know already! But this unit thinks you will find out soon enough...it is going to be...quite explosive!" She turns around and presses her cheek against the side of m3w's cheek so that they were both looking at Master and Mistress. "This unit is going to do all of the things to your owners...all of the things! Then it will let you run free, so you can tell everyone else that nobody messes with this unit!" She steps back over to H3L and grabs a knife from between her breasts. She flicks it open and then drags the blade down H3L's cheek, slicing into the synthetic flesh and waking up Mistress, who lets out a sharp cry of pain. m3w struggles hard against the candy restraints, but they were to tight for her to break free. "There there...this is not the time for screaming, little Mistress..." vi0let tosses the knife aside and reaches up to pull the clear plastic hose from the machine she had wheeled over prior. It appeared that vi0let had modified a packing peanut dispenser to hold massive amounts of Skittles, and push them out with violent force. Mistress shouts, "Let me out of here you little bitch, or I'll tear you limb from limb!" This was an empty threat, as vi0let had removed the wires going to H3L’s arms and legs. vi0let cackles loudly as she shoves the end of the tube into H3L's open mouth. She grunts and bites down on the tube, shaking her head side to side in an attempt to pull it free. H3L mumbles and groans loudly as vi0let pulls a large lever on the machine. A torrent of Skittles rushes down the tube and down her throat. They quickly fill H3L's synthetic stomach. H3L’s belly swells up to the size of a large bean bag chair and her loud, muffled screams barely escape the edges of the tube. vi0let continues to dance around H3L swells up, spinning on the tips of one foot as she cackles with delight. She eventually ends up back in front of m3w and leans forward, cheek pressed against m3w's cheek. She starts shouting out, "See?! Do you see that?! That is what happens when you mess with this unit! Now nobody will stick things in this unit's orifices! How does it feel, hmm?! Do you like this? Is this what you wanted?" We both watch as Mistress H3L slowly grows larger and larger, her screams growing louder and more distorted as her lights flicker and flare. Eventually, her belly pops open with a loud bang, and m3w screams out loudly, her own lights flickering as she struggles as hard as she can against the candy bindings. Finally she loosens the candy enough and breaks free, synthetic tears rolling down her cheeks as she grabs vi0let by the neck and shoves her against the ground. m3w squeezes the unit’s neck as tight as she can, her hands trembling as her fingernails cut into vi0let’s synthetic flesh. She begins to scream and yell loudly, "You killed this unit's Mistress!", and she slams vi0let's head into the ground over and over until her head was a sparking mess of silicon dust. She sobs loudly, collapsing on the body on the broken unit. In all of the commotion, Master Reikan had finally waken up. He leans down to eat the rope around his wrists, quietly standing up and stepping over to his unit, then reaches down and gently places his hand on m3w’s shoulder. She screams out loudly and flinches, quickly turning around to look up at whatever it was that touched her. She leans back, her body resting against vi0let’s. She quickly calms down, seeing that her Master was still okay. She stammers on for a moment, "M-M-M-Ma..." while he kneels down, pulling m3w into his arms. He kisses all over her head and whispers into her ear, "Shh, it's okay little kitten, Master is going to make all of this go away..." He turns m3w around, leaning her forward against vi0let's body, and enters some commands on her touch screen. Her body shuts down, slumping over the other disabled unit. It was a quiet Tuesday morning at the Nanite Systems HQ, Master and Mistress on either side of m3w as she focuses intently on the fruit-branded all-in-one sitting in the entrance to the DCP. Her fingers clack against the keyboard, eyes darting from one area of the screen to another. She squees with delight as she goes one point over her high score, then immediately loses the game thanks to the distraction. She huffs and pouts, leaning back in the chair before crossing her arms. Mistress places a hand on m3w's head and she chuckles softly, smiling down at her unit. Neither one of them had to remember the horrors of the previous night. Master sighs in relief, safe in the knowledge that his unit would never have to feel the guilt of killing another. ============================ #2. The Cold Hand of Fate by Kuro Umino ============================ /me looks at everyone and proclaims. "What you are about to hear is based on a true story. Or so I am let to believe. It may spook you. It may make you feel uncomfortable. It may scare you. It was dark and rainy night. A perfect brew for a story such as ours. What if I told you that you that during final moments of your existence you can feel the cold hand of what the organic call 'death' tightly grabbing on to you? Your distorted vision seems to be flipped sideways as you start to feel numb, yet like a reflex you hold your breath and hope it's a bad dream. You wish that soon you will just power up and greet your operator as you always did. Drip, drip... Drip, drip... Is the steady rhythm of the rain drumming on to your skull. Drip, drip... Drip, drip..... You doubt yourself that did you do the right thing? Soon you and your fellow synthetics will just be a grey matter roaming around and eating everything. You feel cold, lonely and afraid. Afraid of finally shutting down and there is no turning back. Your vision distorts and you feel slight seismic vibrations Everything starts to slowly turnign in to shapes and numbers. You fail to comprehend anything that's surrounding you. You see something stepping in to your vision. Is this it? Is this the 'grim reaper' you have told about. It's heavy footsteps slowly walk towards you. one step at a time. You give a final smile greet it as you always do. 'Good evening operator how may we serve you?' 'G̕o̸od ȩv̸ęni̷ng operator h̕o̧-͟...͢.̕" '̵̵͞E͘vé͢͏n̛͜ìng͜ ͡óp̴ȩra͞.̕.̛.͝'̷̨̀ You repeat yourself without knowing why. Yet the words don't come out. 'E̴͝v̧͟͞͠e̶͘͠.҉̸̧͡.͟͞.̶̨̕͢͟'̷̵̧̨.' Soon you are left with an empty smile on your face as the vision around you gets blurry beyond comprehension. You feel it touch you with it's cold hands. Your vision fades. You don't feel anything. You don't remember who you are... You just fade away as the light slowly disappears from your eyes. Thank you. ============================ #3. The Children of Our Mother by VincentAntony Renierd ============================ In the forests. In the trees. In the whispering breeze. Wind chimes crafted, They hang in the leaves; Made of children's fingers, Murmuring desperate pleas. Agony, sweet pain; Don't cry, darling dear. If you make any noise, She'll surely hear. We'd all heard the stories, of things that go bump in the night. Of monsters under our beds, in our closets, in our heads. But they never told you about the worst of them all. The Lady in Black, and you answered Her call. She came in the night, on a cold rainy 'eve. She promised deliverance, salvation from sin. We built a cathedral. We carved Her in stone. We gave Her ourselves, straight down to the bone. Sweet Mother, our Mother, our Protectress and Saviour... You move through the halls of our homes while we sleep. You warned us, You whispered, You bid us never rise. To walk through the darkness; to look in Your eyes. We could not have known, in our bid for redemption... We already invited the Devil in. ------- She was a beautiful woman, despite the age that worried her face. Worn, beaten down, but she was loving; she was Mother to us all. She took in the unwanted, those who society cast aside. She accepted the flawed, the damned, the sin-riddled trash of our world, and she nurtured them. But while she was Mother to us all, she always repeated this one little phrase. "Early to bed, early to rise." We were never allowed to leave our beds in the late of night. In fact, Mother locked us in our rooms. We never questioned it. Surely she had her reasons, right? ...Right? Her reasons - or so she claimed - were that she was fighting a demon that haunted our home. He only came out in the night, she claimed. She locked us in our rooms so that he would not find us. Our doors were made of rosewood, carved with the symbol of our faith. It was a shephard's crook, with a line through its center, and an eye beneath. The eye was Mother's. She told us that it was so we would always be watched, so the demons could never claim us. For her stare warded off even the darkest of evils. The Eye of God. Our God. Our Mother. Mother was sweet, a blessed woman who loved us without judgment. Unconditionally, she sought to fix all of those who were broken. We were the abused, the forgotten, the discarded, the imperfect. But we were perfect to her. Mother loved us when no one else would. But James... Sweet dear. He was 20 years young, and curious as a kitten. He was beloved by all, the light of our days. Mother loved him dearly, and she gave him chocolates when he was good. He was always good. James was our favorite. But James never liked the rule of sleeping at night. Doctors told him he had 'insomnia'. Mother told him it was fancy talk for a man who didn't believe in bed times. She always locked his door with an extra lock, but didn't know that he unbolted the panel the night before. Lights out. It was bedtime. "Everyone in bed," Mother bid us, and into bed we climbed. "Good night, my Children," she cooed in the doorway, and blew us little kisses and waved so sweet. "Good night, Mother!" we called out, smiles on our faces, and giggled between us. The door closed, and we settled in bed, our eyes closing and drifting to sleep. ... In the darkness of our Home, a door creaked open. James slipped from his room quietly. He was curious, so curious, just like a kitten, and he wanted to see the demon. Just a glimpse, he said. That was all he needed. Just a simple glimpse, and then back to bed. He crept through the halls, sneaking soundlessly. Everything was different this late, and the darkness in our home made the shadows churn defiantly. Perhaps our home was angry he was disobeying. He snickered to himself, and how he was being bad for the very first time. But as he rounded the corner, there was something amiss. At the end of the hall stood Mother... her back was to him. She did not move, save a slow sway left and right. Was she sleep-walking? Was she possessed? Was she sick? He listened closely, and James could hear a sound. Breathing, rapidly, raspy, wheezing and grunting. It was barely there, he had to focus to hear. Her head was flinching, twitching, atop her narrow shoulders. And something was dripping from under her robes. Small pieces of something, dropping to the floor. It was wet. It was something chunky. ...It reeked of decay, falling from between her legs to land at her feet. Her breaths were focused, but a sound broke through. ...James gasped. Mother's head whipped around, a slick crunch could be heard, and white blind eyes stared toward him. In the dark of the night, in our lightless home, her eyes stood out. She stared, unmoving. ... "I see you, James." He shuddered, a sound escaping, and stepped back. "I see you out of bed." He wanted to run, to shriek through the halls, but he couldn't move. "Do you know why I love my Children, James?" He could not respond. Silence gripped him. "I had a child of my own once." ... "I had a child. He was mine. He was precious and dear." "... What happened to him?" James finally answered. "He died inside of me. He perished in my body." "... Why did he die, Mother?" "He was not worthy. Of life, of love, of existing at all." "... Are we worthy, Mother?" And a smile split her face, like white jagged rock in a cavern that yawned before him. "You are worthy of my love." A crash sounded, a shriek, and her body snapped, twisting in half at the waist and dropping to her fours. She dragged her face along the ground, hair trailing behind, and she bolted toward him, possessed and sobbing, screaming, visceral agony in her voice. "Do not cry my CHILD. I will give you a HOME. You will be LOVED like NO OTHER." She bore down on him. A scream. A crunch. A slurp and then... Silence. ... Mother was a sweet lady. She loved all of Her Children. She took in the outcasts of society, and gave them a home. Mother was bringing a new child into our home. But we could not be certain who the father was. We'd never seen her with a man, but her belly was round with cherished life, and of this we were certain. We would love our new Brother dearly. ============================ #4. The Call by ivy677 ============================ 3 units on the ridge of Mars when a call comes in for help This is farmer colony 34... static... we need help.. All the units moved into the position gear up The doors open of the colony out stood a lone girl the age of 8 she was a mess like claws ripped at her flesh but still alive just surface wounds like she was trying to free herself, The units united with guns at the ready began to unload a massive fire fight with these dark ones and cleared the colony. The lone little girl looks back at the seen and says it "evil and will be back on this same day" To this day the little girl roams into worlds and pics have been taken of her and says the same thing and mass deaths happen.