《Steam of Britain》Chapter 9: Goodbye Scotsman
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Flying Scotsman is the world's most famous steam engine. He's pulled the first non-stop train, went 100 mph on record, and managed to survive the scrap heap. One day, his owner, Alan Peglar, came up with an idea to promote Britain's biggest industries of the day. "An American Tour?!?" asked Scotsman. "Yes," said Alan, "It will show Britain all the things that we managed to create." "But, what if Flying Scotsman never comes back?" asked Duchess. "What if you go Bankrupt, and some company like Disney buys him and turns him into an exhibit?!" asked Max. "I think you're being a bit dramatic," said Mallard, "I've known Scotsman for years, and he's managed to escape many different situations worse than being bought off. In fact, Alan here is the same man who saved him from scrap in the fist place." "Really?" asked Bertram, "I didn't know that."
Soon, Flying Scotsman was in the works to be fitted with modifications to help at-tone to American Railroad Laws. The engines were excited to see him. "Alright Scotsman," said the workmen, "come out and show the American you!" There was silence. "I'm not coming out." "Come on Scotsman." "I feel ridiculous." "We worked hard on this, come on." Flying Scotsman sighed, "If anyone laughs, I'm gonna scream...... I MEAN IT!!" Flying Scotsman rolled out of the shed, and everyone looked at him.
He had a chime steam whistle at the front, with a bell, buck-eye coupling at the front, and a cow-catcher. The engines tried to keep their laughter in. "Happy?" asked Scotsman. Soon, Flying Scotsman steamed off to the docks, where everyone looked at him with mixed feelings. They were trying not to laugh at the way he looked, but were worried to see him go. "I mean," said Max, "You could be stranded there. You could be put on scrap, you could be a static display at a museum! YOU COU-" "Max," said Flying Scotsman, "Shut up. If this is Alan's idea to promote Britain, then so be it. I will respect his wishes, and I will let him do this. I owe him everything." The engines smiled. Soon, Scotsman was loaded onto the Sassonia, and was bound to America. The engines all gave him a goodbye whistle and honk. "GOODBYE SCOTSMAN!!! GOOD LUCK!!! WE'LL MISS YOU!!!"
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The engines then talked, "Well, who's gonna take the Flying Scotsman now?" "I can take it," said Daniel, "Scotsman is a friend, I will do anything to help him." "You know," said Alex, "I feel we could use another engine too." "A steam engine," said Harold. "I don't see that," said Rattler, "Not unless one is saved from scrap." But that's another story.
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Entangled Fates Book 1 - Quantum Beginnings
“By far, the greatest danger of Artificial Intelligence is that people conclude too early that they understand it.” —Eliezer Yudkowsky Hey all, we're moving over to book 2. This content is in a state of transition. The book is now availble on Amazon (includes extra chapters): https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07W1534R8 Artificial intelligence was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set. Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega-corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex. Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and maybe find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pin cushion in the process. Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries, and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe. Chapters will stay up on RRL until Aug 10. It'll go up on Kindle Unlimited after that. How do you get those extra chapters I didn't have planned for RR? If you want them, they'll be in the published book. Book 2 will still make sense without them - I made sure of that. But... isn't $3 a lot for extra chapters? Think of it as tipping me for a good job and you'd also be getting my eternal thanks. If you enjoyed it so much that the idea of missing out a few chapters haunts you, I did my job as an author and made an engaging story. What's in those extra chapters? Resolving a few issues, set up for the cybernetic revolution, a rather intense sex scene with a new partner, revelations of who's really pulling strings, and a bit of set up for book 2. Complaints that people missed out on it when it was published here won't help (sorry!). I posted this for the folks who helped me shape the book, which is you all! (Again, yay!) But... Why! Why not keep it all on RR forever? My editor likes being paid for one. For two, I'd like the ability to get broader readership. If I break even on editor costs, I'll be incredibly happy. What about book 2? Drafts for Book 2 will go up around Sept 10. My draft of Book 2 is done, and it will be handed to the editor once Book 1 is published. Feedback has been even more positive. Beta readers devoured it and wanted more. I'll add a link to Book 2 once it's up on RR. I'm more or less, using you all for Beta Readers, so you get it before it's "canon" and edited. I invite active and meaningful feedback during this process. In return, you get early access to chapters. That does mean that the book content or plot might be adjusted before it gets published as I refine it. Sex Y/N? Yes. I heard the feedback, 90% wanted it explicit. You all will get the "full" experience. Will I dump all of book 2 here? Honestly, I'm not sure yet. At a minimum, it'll be up to the 75% mark as we collect feedback, much like what I did with book 1. It really depends on how good the feedback is and how nice people are. Lots of support + meaningful feedback to make it better = higher likelihood you get all the book. Will be it up here indefinitely? No, it'll probably go up on KU at some point, but I'll make sure there's enough time for a large readership to grab it here. Then we move to book 3 which already is around 60K words already. What about other adventures in the same universe/characters? Yep. Absolutely. Nothing ready to share yet though. I plan to keep those side chapters and more slice of life stories as RR exclusive. Since I'm carving this off in book-sized segments, I'll have to figure out where those disconnected story arcs belong. I'm open to suggestions.
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Sam is an kinda weird kid from an small ordinary town, but when he gets invited to a new game show, he goes on the adventure of a lifetime. Armed with mysterious skills and a mischievious system, join Sam and help them progress in these odd stories. You the 'Audience' Can influence Sam's travel, giving them items to skills that might influence their story. Choose wisely.
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Yin-Yang
Mages in North America seem to have it all – typically from well-off families, and able to manipulate their environment in ways most of the world would never believe. They don’t even have to bother with the mundane details of life like housework, thanks to their sensitives, who also make a useful source for extra magical energy. After all, sensitives have no use for it themselves, and if mages weren’t meant to make use of it, then the sensitives would obviously have some way to prevent that. That a mage can transform a sensitive physically, with no restrictions beyond overall mass and basic biological viability, whereas magic tends not to work directly on any other living thing, is only further proof. And look at the way they live on their own, barely a step above animals. It’s better for them to belong to a mage. Sensitives in North America live on the edge of society and survival – typically so paranoid they avoid hospitals and anything else that could lead to being tracked, many of them with little or no education and no legal identity or existence. Mages exist, and mages want sensitives for some reason, but no one ever comes back to explain what that reason is. Waiting every day for the hunters to notice them doesn’t lead to much motivation or hope for the future. And once they’re captured, they’re the property of someone with a terrifying amount of power over them. Anything is better than capture. Mages are born to be the masters, and sensitives are born victims. Or are they? Jax’s life is turned upside-down when he’s caught by the hunters and sold to a mage. Andreas is still mourning for his previous sensitive, though, unconsciously creating a difficult standard for Jax to live up to, all the more so while still struggling to come to terms with this new reality as Andreas’ sensitive. A runaway sensitive isn’t what Van expects at the mental health centre. Is this a hunter trap, set for him and the rest of the Donovan family by the hunters? The hunters would, after all, love to see them cross the line openly and finally do something they can be charged with. Either way, Miranda’s genuinely in trouble, and he can’t just abandon her to it. Snatching a sensitive out from under the hunters and hiding her is odd behaviour for a mage – but then, Catherine is an odd mage, living in disgrace in the old servants’ quarters of her grandmother’s house, responsible for cooking and housework. Lila owes Catherine her freedom; is there a way to help Catherine achieve her own, and at what price? Tension is building between traditionally-minded mages and those advocating change, and something has to break. *** Yin-Yang includes a small amount of profanity and no graphic sex or on-screen physical violence. However, sex and gender roles and relationships within the mage/sensitive subculture are non-traditional in mainstream North American terms. The key criterion in a primary relationship is not relative sex or gender, but the pairing of mage and sensitive; given the transformation of sensitives by their mages, physical sex is non-absolute for a sensitive, and gender identity can vary as in anyone else. *** *** The way mages treat sensitives is extremely varied and, in some cases is outright abusive. The struggle against that is pretty much the point of the book. It is NOT grimdark or misery-porn! However, if you will be triggered by this, please, don't read Yin-Yang! *** Complete stand-alone novel, 153K words! Also available on Scribble Hub and as a free ebook.
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As the daughter of a renowned War Hero, Shaya was destined for a life of heroism and glory. A life she desired more than anything else – until her mother sacrificed herself for the cause and the very Empire she died for stole Shaya’s dreams from her. Cunning and resourceful, Shaya worked hard to keep her and her brother safe, clawing themselves out of a system set against them and gaining the power they needed to find their way in life again. Now, she’s achieved the first step of her dreams: she's been accepted to the prestigious Imperial Academy of War and Magic. In order to become the best gods damned Warmage around, all she has to do is overcome the Imperial system that wants to see her fail and control the demonic blood in her veins that wants for nothing but rage and violence. ...but hey, every obstacle is an opportunity to exploit – if you’re willing to think smart and work hard. Updates Sunday - Tuesday - Thursday![successful participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Rating: This should align pretty closely with your typical MCU movie, so PG-13 for scenes of fantasy violence. There'll be gore and some swearing but not much beyond that. If that changes, I'll warn you. MC: Shaya is analytical, but begins the story emotional and impulsive. She leans towards rationality and uses this to control her demonic impulses to the best of her abilities. She begins the story as a somewhat capable protagonist, but grows in power steadily through hard work and diligence. Fights: ...I like fight scenes. They’re going to be detailed, but I won’t drown you in description of individual hand movements or footwork. I like fights that can be solved like puzzles by the audience, where creative thinking wins the day using tools you know the protagonist has at their disposal.
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