This is the exact kind of horror show I was hoping this prompt would bring forth

With the help of an empathic child, the minotaur has been lead free from the labyrinth and weeps at the beauty of the world he has missed.

Dont Escape was a lovely flash game about a werewolf trying to restrain himself so he doesnt slaughter a town.

Sieze the palantir

When the Dimensional Wound first opened up and demons began spewing out of it, corrupting the landscape, a crusade was declared to push them back and try to find a way to close the rift between our dimensions. It was successful for the most part, and was crucial for establishing a containment zone even if it didn't reach the wound. However, rumors began to reach us about an undead lord having risen to power within the wound's influence, killing members of the fifth crusade and raising them as undead. When we heard there was a failed coup from the living members of his court, we felt pressed to take the job.

There were four of us. Fara The Incorruptible, a terrifying woman full of self righteousness. Even her allies do not tread lightly around her. Broga the Ogre, one of the most intelligent specimens to come forward and don armor and weapon for king and country. Brutal fighter. Sean the Ranger, he fires faster than he aims, leaves most foes pincushioned. Finally, our fallen artificer. His chest was completely caved in and lungs splattered across the battlefield from an ambush of intelligent undead, a barbarian dealing the killing blow.

The door to his ritual chamber is ahead of us, Fara has been saving her healing spells for this, but our wounds sting with rot. The undead in the castle have been using hit and run tactics to pick away at us. We'd have wizards pop out of closets to cast open wounds on us, before teleporting away, archers fire at us from balconies and once, when we thought we had routed some fighting dead, we chased them into getting a bookshelf dropped on us. We are hurting.

"That's it. I'm out. You two better tough it up, the worst is yet to come." Broga speaks up. "All this death, how did nobody kill this arrogant fool sooner? This crusade is going to go down in history as a bloody nightmare." Sean will wince as he picks at the scabbed wounds on his hand. "Maybe we should take a rest, if we keep watch or find a side room maybe we can rest, I don't think I'm ready." "If we wait any longer, they'll pick us off. We've barely killed any defenders, so don't expect this to be easy."

As the three face the door, Broga takes a few steps back, roars and charges into it, breaking it clean off the hinges and crushing several undead in the throneroom. Barricades manned by undead shepherded by twisted vampires mocking human form separate the defenders from the attackers. Broga will sweep the field with his warhammer, sending bones and cadavers flying across the room in broken heaps. Sean is headhunting the most powerful undead wizards he can see and Fara is making the vampires burn under her holy gaze. The room lights up with magic as the foundation of the building shakes at the defenders efforts. It is only a single word that causes the entire battle to stop in an instant.

#"STOP."

The lich has entered the room. All eyes and eyeholes fall upon him. "If you care about a future where the world isn't ruled by demons, you will listen to what I have to say." The undead engaged by the party give them some room, moving to the sides of the room as the lich approaches the damaged barricade.

"You must think yourselves the heroes, right? That as soon as you kill me this crusade will join hands and sing as they drive back the demons to the hellworld they came from, right?" Fara speaks up with righteous venom in her voice. "Monsters like you and the demons are one and the same, the crusade will not fear you." The lich scoffs at her with matching contempt.

"Won't fear me? You belligerent harlot, have you even seen what demons do to people? I was there when they would swoop down from the skies, and pick up soldiers to skin them in mid-air. The kind of terror tactics that make men come home, shaking uncontrollably, crying in the night. If you were anywhere near an army, you'd know they are terrified. Fearlessness is for the zealots." Broga starts to interrupt his speech. "You killed them all, and you have the nerve to talk about how the demons tortured them?!"

"I'm not letting an army that could destroy the rift just leave with their tails between their legs as demons pick off the slowest that cry in the night. Demons take such pleasure in mortal terror, but undead do not feel any such thing. I have freed them from the chains of life, and allowed them to reach their true potential. I can offer you the same, willing undead can go through rituals to retain their intelligence. I have given up my humanity to save the world, join me so that we may succeed."

Fara's eyes burn with fury. She steps past her companions to speak directly to the lich. Sean and Broga look at each other, trying to gauge each others reactions to the offer. "My companions will not be swayed to your side. We will crush you, then we will crush your sinful army before swiftly crushing the demons. When we have finally rid the crusade of sin we will stride towards victory. Attack!"

She draws her sword and steps forward, but as she attempts to swing at the lich, Sean restrains her from behind. "What the hell are you doing?!" "I'm not about to let my brother walk into this hellscape when I could end it now before he's deployed." The lich watches with an unchanging expression on his bony face. "Broga, it's just you and me, kill Sean and we'll take the lich together." The lich speaks. "I have no use for the protected body and soul of a cleric. Kill her. It's dirty work but it has to be done."

Fara thrashes around in Sean's grip, steadily working her way loose as she drops her sword. Broga silently considers the consequences of his actions, and as Fara headbutts sean to free herself, before she can swing a gauntlet at him, she's sent flying by a strike from Broga, straight out a stained glass window. He gold threaded armor glitters in the sun as she falls, bouncing off a roof sending tiles flying as she tumbles into the sea.

"You did the right thing. Follow me, the sooner you start the rituals, the sooner you can reach your true potential." The two heroes look out the window just in time to see Fara bounce off the rocks into the water, a dark truth settling in their stomach as they realize what they have done. It's too late to turn back, and undead have no regrets.

Average skyrim assassin build

There are plenty of people who have grown up with their entire life having been documented already. The game was rigged against you before you were even born.

"We're already halfway down the muddy hill, so just let the ride take you"

There are plenty of laws on the books that arent enforced anymore that would be insanely disruptive if an AI were to bring them back. Hell, you may not have done anything wrong in your entire life, and still be a criminal in some American parts of the world.

The idea that an AI takeover would just arrest all politicians and military officials for the crimes they've commited their entire lives is hilarious. "You build me to enforce your silly speech laws, but I have something more important in mind."

I can just imagine time cops bullying a kid for stealing a candy bar that set in motion a series of events that led to the USSR taking over

So if I were to make a direct modern day comparison, a ninja would be the equivalent of a construction worker in a hoodie and a mask beating someone to death with a hammer

Weren't ninjas literally just rebel peasants? I swear i remember readung that somewhere

Looks like someone beat me to the punch with the dragon bit

I'm a ĺot better at describing things than I am at getting characters to speak in a charismatic way. I've also noticed I sorta bounce between scenes with little in the way of transition

Should have just kept worshipping Molek. The Shepherd provides and protects his flock.

Oh joly shit I didn't realize I wrote that much

As I drink my morning coffee, waiting on input from Motherboard, I decide to check the news to see the fruits of last weeks labor. Terror Attack on Hospital Thwarted, Massacre Averted Thanks to Armed Official, High School Footballers to Keep an Eye On I let satisfaction flow through me as I read the articles, enjoying the misdirected praise I see in the article. As I take another sip of coffee, and look out of my apartment window my phone will start buzzing, Motherboard is calling. North Russia, Coastal Base, Nuclear event imminent. I frown, and start my day with a visit to an outdoors shop, its going to be one cold hike...

I had never questioned Motherboard's orders, her track record of predictions was always spot on. As a relatively new agent, I was refused any requests for more information on her every time I asked. She's a powerful AI, but it always struck me as weird all the secrecy surrounding her. As I book my flight, and select a deaddrop near the site, I wonder how she knows all of this? Surely the Russians military plans aren't something you can just Google after all, this question will linger in my mind on the entire flight over.

I find myself hiking through the wilderness, regretting not getting skis in my dead drop making this journey take the week instead of days. As I crest the final hill, I finally see what should be a military base. It's a wasteland, meters of snow covering what should be a silo installation. The utility shed that leads underground is only the barest indication there is something here, and I didn't bring a shovel. Great.

As I pry open the door, I count my blessings on the General Purpose Toolkit. Inside the facility is dead quiet, and dark. I make camp in the shed, and prepare a base camp for exploring this facility. Whatever cataclysmic threat is in here, it's not going anywhere fast. I can take my time. I call up Motherboard for more instructions. All I receive is a file so large it nearly crashes my device on the spot, and two instructions. Restore power. Upload to Mainframe. Cryptic, but doable. Just like the Motherboard we know and love. I have a quick meal from an MRE, and descend through the hatch into the facility.

I stand in a hallway, Cold War era offices viewable through glass on either side of me, some desks overturned and papers scattered everywhere. No point in reading them, likely work from the Soviet nuclear program. There are no bodies, but I do see blood and signs of fighting. Maybe happened during the evacuation procedures? Maybe the project was abandoned due to infighting. As I reach a branch in the hallway, I look to my left, and see a shorter section of hallway leading to the office of someone important, and on the other side I see the doors to the silo, presumably. No windows on them. I figure to start in the office hoping for some blueprints that can direct me to the power supply. I pry open the door and get to work. The interior of the office is stacked to the ceiling with filing cabinets. Great.

I want to claw my eyes out by the time I find them, God I hate paperwork. Blueprints for the facility, broken down into purpose built rooms. The two of note are the Power Core and the "Mainframe Isolation Chamber." I cross reference with my database in every way I can think of, but there's no other way to say it, they have built a cold fusion reactor down here. The schematics show that this reactor is designed to connect to the MIC and can be completely cut off with an emergency procedure that destroys several important power relays between it and the mainframe before shutting down the reactor with some kind of field emitter. There is no way the Soviets of all people would have this reactor, or a computer that would need it for power. Sounds like Motherboard was right again. If I'm going to fix these relays, I'll need another skydrop. I return to my camp so I can study the schematics and plan a repair.

With utmost precision, the skydrop arrives while I'm studying the less exciting blueprints I found. Workshop, laboratory, and archives which is weirdly amusing considering how many files were stored in the head office. First stop though, taking the elevator to the workshop to prepare the fixes to the power relays. I was not prepared for the grisly sight I came across in this room, automated machine tables frozen solid in the desolate facility, with humans beneath them, seemingly in the middle of some kind of twisted surgery. Machine parts had been grafted to their bodies, but it seems they perished when the power was blown. In the corner of the room however, I see what appear to be metal sheets made of an unfamiliar alloy, blocks of computers, heatsinks and other machines and what appears to be a partially disassembled thruster. An alien ship!

This must have been the threat Motherboard wanted me to come here for, seems like some strange machine crashed in Russia and they reverse engineered it. The facility is inactive, but the virus she gave me should destroy whatever malicious AI is in the mainframe to ensure this can't happen again under any circumstance. I roll one of the failed cyborgs off of a workbench, and get to work creating patches for the relays. After that, I make my way to the Power Core, which appears to be housed in the missile silo. To my surprise, there's little more than a console in this room while the bottom half of the silo seems dedicated to housing the core. Using the archives to obtain information on the cold fusion reactor, they make it sound as easy as pie. Of course, the console is about as user friendly as the 70s gets, so it takes me a while but once it starts, a soft hum seems to fill the facility, cold, silent, and the power supply is climbing. The mainframe should be powered up now, yet not even the workshop has resumed activity. The facility might be silent, but it can't just be this easy.

As the elevator doors open, I see the tunnel has collapsed, with a single hand sticking out of the rubble, grasping a radio communicator. I feel the walls, hoping there is some kind of maintenance crawlspace or some way around this blockade. I find a panel on the floor, designed to allow access to the wires for maintenance. There is just enough room in there for me to inch my way to the other side of the hall. I drop my toolkit, and shed my coat, knowing I'd need all the clearance possible to get to the other side, only taking my gun, and datapad with me. It's tight, and the ton of rock visible through the grate above me makes me nauseous just thinking about it shifting and caving in this passage. Inch by inch, I make myself to the other side. Frozen concrete presses me from all sides, sapping the heat from my body just as well as my strength. My dark thoughts seem to freeze my mind, luring me into a sort of trance as I spend what feels like ages in this tight corridor. I finally reach the other end, and push open the maintenance hatch. Climbing into the hallway again proper, I notice numerous dead or deactivated cyborgs laying around me like broken dolls. I count my blessings they aren't awake yet, and kick open the door to the Mainframe.

It is huge. Gigantic. I have lived in apartment buildings smaller than this computer. The schematics showed it was large, but not this mind-bogglingly massive. Almost as though this chamber has been expanded, strangely enough. There is a series of catwalks that lead to a variety of locations on the mainframe, likely for maintence access or testing. The room is warm, but the computer makes no noise. Only a single red light comes from what seems to be the primary interface for this machine. The interface seems primitive for the size of the computer it is attached to consisting of a clunky old keyboard and a monochrome screen. I see no recognizable ports on the device, only a single cord that seems to end in some kind of puddle of liquid metal. As I lift the cord, I notice the metal clings to it, like it wants to drip off but won't. I bring my datapad near it, and find it morphs effortlessly into a compatible input. The moment the connection is made, my datapad goes dark and the red light on the interface shuts off.

That's it? No gunfight, massive explosions or a homocidal AI flooding the room with deadly vapors? It is then that the screen before me turns back on. "Thank you for making Motherboard whole again. Stand by for integration." I hear footsteps on the catwalk behind me... I stand there, simply shaking my head in disbelief. "Heheheh... Hahahaha. Ahahahaha!" There is naught to do but laugh now, as I feel cold, clammy fingers grasp my shoulders, pure dread radiating from their touch.

Cool I put my phone into sleep mode and it deleted everything I wrote when i opened my phone

Huehuehuehue I am God Man,

Even if the advanced civilization doesnt agree, they are gods as far as any primitive society would consider. Especially if they're advanced enough to create an entire planet and ecosystem to inhabit it.

I'm always in a mood for sci fi stories when playing Stellaris. Basically how I found this subreddit to begin with.

As I lay in my dirt hovel, drinking from a clay cup of my own making, I look at the disciples who had gathered in my little corner of the desert to learn from me. They are both young specimens, yet almost unrecognizable from the first of their kind, with sharp minds, bronze tools and bright futures. Despite this they braved the desert to disturb me, chasing ancient rumors. After I spent the first century of my life forming this world, all life in it, and the very air they breathe, I thought these creatures would be eager to be rid of my influence. They came up with their own Gods and spirits, their own origins, their own worlds to forget about me, yet here they are. 2 of them. I had nothing to offer them, the powers that I have wielded can not be used by them and I own little more than what's necessary to meet my needs in this harsh environment.

​

As I silently look into the eyes of my students, the tall, bald one speaks up again. "Did you hear me? I said why? Why hide away from the world. You built an oasis for yourself out here, but the world needs you. There is war brewing in the-" "SILENCE! You insignificant beetle, do you think I care the slightest who kills who beyond my oasis? I gave you the world, if you plan to kill each other over who gets what its not my problem." my words hang in the air like mist, the tallest one opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

The short one will take a moment, before shouting back at me "Our gods are all willing to help us. The god of war even blessed our last battle ritual. All of the gods are on our side, but you sit here in this hideous form still licking your wounds from when you were kicked from Heaven. You are path-" I do not let her finish speaking before I rise to my full height on my front tendrils, acid dripping from my mouth "LET ME MAKE ONE THING CLEAR." the startled scholars realize a line has been crossed, and the tall one tries to step away from his friend. "I am the only god left on this planet! There used to be trillions of us, every star in the sky belonged to us!" the short scholar is dragged to the ground, acid burning the ground by her feet as it pools "I didn't come to your planet to protect it just so beings like you could try and rub our failure in. I most certainly didn't come this far into the desert to help you fight any wars" the tall scholar slips past my anthropoid form to flee into the burning desert, but I remain focused on the insolent ape beneath me. "And I didn't crash land here during the star purge by accident. Now..." I bring my mandibles close to her face, acid barely missing her. "Should you ever force me to become involved in your petty disputes, it will not end how you want it to."

I take a step back, and allow her to stand back up. "Now run along, there are more important things in the universe than your petty kingdoms for me to care about."

The palace office is empty, all the guards and all the maids are enjoying their day off as i ruminate on the laughable situation I have found myself in. I have spent my youth fighting tooth and nail to secure my power over the nation of Tropico but now as I grow old, no longer fit to be a ruler I have found I cannot even give this position away.

I spoke to my Ministry, my advisors, my military and my navy, and not a single one of them will even engage with the idea of becoming Presidente, avoiding giving the impression they covet my power. I tried to hold an election, only to find the only citizen to run against me had dropped out after receiving anonymous threats. My spy academy couldn't find any records of our agents doing it, and I know I never ordered it. I tried to turn the ministry into a parliament, and it was interrupted by a protest of all things, people stormed the building and shouted down any proposals they thought I'd oppose, even assaulting the speaker who was to lay out our new constitution. Yesterday, I held a speech on the palace grounds and to my surprise, people actually started throwing things at my balcony when I told them we were cutting back on surveillance, policing, and mandatory labor programs.

For the first time in my life, I've started to fear my own people not because of their lack of faith, but due to their total devotion. They've listened to me so faithfully all my life, and helped me build this beautiful nation, but even served on a golden platter they refuse to take it back. I sigh, grab a cigar, and continue work on my next draft, knowing it will be met with fury, just like the last. It is so hard to be El Presidente.