132 Results in the "Collective Thinking" category
Definition: Collective Thinking
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Chapter
Class Canceled
“Mel? Are you awake yet?” Dyna asked, tapping her knuckles against her roommate’s door. The clock had just ticked past noon and Melanie’s shoes were still on the rack next to the door. Dyna had been excused from lectures thanks to her morning MRI and CT scans—both of which came back with no obvious anomalies—but for Mel to skip classes likely meant that she had gone out drinking last night. Carroll wasn’t a regular school; everyone in attendance was being paid to be here. If people skipped…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Chaos
Dyna’s gun barked three times as she fired down one of the long aisles of the department store. She didn’t stand still after firing, immediately ducking down and moving, keeping a close eye on her mirror to know if she should dive for cover or swap directions. Someone returned fire in her direction. The mirror didn’t change, so they didn’t have eyes on her, but she heard a nearby display case shatter and the bright muzzle flashes momentarily flashed the store with white-orange light. Distant…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Calm Before the Storm
Ruby stepped outside the station wagon, moved around back, and opened up the same weapon-filled case that Dyna had seen Emerald get into. “I know you… forgot your gun,” Ruby said, reaching inside to pull out a small pistol. “We’ll have to train more. You’re still not comfortable carrying it around.” “I don’t even have a permit or license or whatever,” Dyna said. It wasn’t a strong protest. There just wasn’t any point in arguing. With Ruby here and the case of weapons at her…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Butterflies
“How is Ruby?” Dyna looked over to the sole bed in their cheap motel. Sitting atop the quilted faded floral covers, Ruby laid on her back with her hands pressed against her eyes. Her face wasn’t quite back to normal yet, but it was at least bearable to look at. She mumbled something under her breath over and over again. Leaning a little closer, Dyna frowned. “I’m not going to kill him. That would fail the mission. I’m not going to kill him. That would fail the mission. I’m not…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Blank Thoughts
“They aren’t literal gods,” Darq explained as they ran through the noosphere-adjacent facility. “They’re more like the idea of gods.” Dyna stopped abruptly as a catwalk ahead of them fell through a bottomless pit. “Is that any better?” she asked through clenched teeth. “Yes.” Darq, seemingly unconcerned by the sorry state of the facility, simply turned and began walking in a different direction. He didn’t even pause in his strides. “If they were actual, original beings, the…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Bastet
Dyna shoved back from the tulpa, ripping her hands from its momentarily loosened grip just in time to duck underneath a tiger-sized paw that swept through the air her head had occupied only moments before. Bastet didn’t stop at her. The hefty paw tipped with razor-sharp claws ripped at the tulpa’s throat. Dyna wasn’t sure if the cat goddess was attacking both of them or if she had just been in the way. Scrambling back, Bastet continued to focus on the tulpa, ripping and tearing at it. But the…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
B.E.A.T.R.I.C.E.
Dyna wasn’t sure if her successful departure from Tartarus was thanks to her power or simply because Ignotus didn’t bother attacking the train. She was too busy trying not to think about it out of fear that her fears would change reality and turn the situation into a nightmare. It was already precarious enough. Her mirror had been black throughout the entire journey to the city. No one was observing her directly, but hostile threats remained in the area. She expected that to change as she got…-
402.5 K • Completed
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ATTENTION: Priority Objectives Updated. Please review and acknowledge. PRIORITY 1: Ensure continued safety and cooperation of Primary Asset: Dyna Graves. PRIORITY 2: Locate and acquire Principal Subject: Matthew Quincy. PRIORITY 3: Extract Primary Asset and Principal Subject to CI. PRIORITY 4: Avoid entity codename: Hatman. DO NOT SEEK. PRIORITY 5: Safeguard interests of CI. END OF LINE Ruby’s fingers twitched as she watched Dyna peer out the motel door’s peephole for the tenth…
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402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Assault
Dyna didn’t hesitate to leap into motion. She also didn’t hesitate to leap into the truck. Given that the Hatman seemed dangerous only in close range, it might have seemed like a foolish decision, but there was something inside she needed. She rushed past the disruptors mounted on the wall. It was tempting to grab one and swing it around, but the disruptor wouldn’t do her any good if she stood around staring at empty space, wondering why she had grabbed it in the first place. That was a sure way…-
402.5 K • Completed
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Chapter
Artifacts
Doctor Cross led Dyna back down into Psychodynamics. A different section of the underground research facility than she had visited last time, though the end destination was somewhat similar. Instead of a red leather chair in a room that looked like something out of the nineteen-twenties, there was a single large table. One with polished wood and smooth, sleek brass detail work. Of course, Dyna wasn’t there for the table. The objects on the table interested her far more. She watched through a…-
402.5 K • Completed
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