Mzzkc's Mind Games

13.06.2010

Restless Night Was Restless (Non-lucid)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Fragment: It's The Throat, I Swear

★☆☆☆☆

I'm apologizing to those around me for my terrible singing. Coughing, I blame it on my sore throat.

Fragment: Warriors For Hire

★☆☆☆☆

Warriors are needed for some kind of job or task. I can't help but thinking of Raven, MoSh, Nomad, and the rest of the gang.

Fragment: The End of the Beginning of the End that Started it All

★☆☆☆☆

On a certain day, at a specific time, in a definite place, good would be pit against evil in a battle for the world's soul, or something like that. It turned out to be much more small scale than that, though.

Dream: Horsing Around

★★★☆☆

Enjoying a fun game of HvZ, I soon discover three prized horses have been stolen! We put the game on pause and begin tracking them down. I end up finding them in, and I quote, "One of my favorite HvZ hiding places," which turned out to be a broken down silo. Sending out a mass text, I joined the horde as we converged upon the silo, surrounding the thieves and blocking all escape routes.

Confronting them, I use my TK to pull them and their saddles off the horses and into the water. One is a friend of my girlfriend and thinks my girlfriend is responsible for the TK antics, so I just keep letting them believe that as I screw with them some more.

Eventually we return the horses and strap permanent saddles on them covered in nails to prevent future theft.

Dream: New Music

★★☆☆☆

A bunch of "famous" musicians have invited me to join an experimental band they were forming. Accepting their invitation, I got to emulate playing Bass and Drums at the same time using a very odd instrument. The music we ended up producing drew elements from Indie, Metal, and Classic Rock, and actually sounded really good.

12.06.2010

Just Another Night (DILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Dream: Office Shenanigans

★★☆☆☆

It's another day at the office. I'm working on changing certain security settings for specific accounts, but am distracted when a lively character comes into the office. She starts up a racing circuit of some kind that involved jumping, running, and phasing over, around, and through cubicles. She invites me to join, since there's only three racers in the circuit, but I'm hesitant to take her up on the offer.

Dream: Bringing Down The House

★★★★☆

I storm into the headquarters of what seems to be a corrupt syndicate, headed by a man with silver hair. Confronting him directly, as women and guards surrounded him, I let him know I was going to bring his whole operation down. When I called him by his name, he freaked out and fled.

He managed to get away from me in the most bizarre and surreal manner, but I knew about his most recent plan. It involved putting on a play for a local school as a front for a much larger ploy, and that was my ticket in. I go to the school and work my way further into the operation, taking out or avoiding any opposition along the way. The dream ended before I could complete my objective.

DILD: Numbah One

★☆☆☆☆

Hey, it's a dream!

The bird wakes me up.

DILD: Numbah Two

★☆☆☆☆

That's right, this is a dream!

The bird wakes me up. . . again.

DILD: Numbah Three

★☆☆☆☆

Oh cool, I'm dreaming! I really hope. . .

Gorram bird. . .

11.06.2010

Enter Walms (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

My brother explodes in a puff of flame and smoke, leaving behind two flaming eyes that fizzled out after a moment or two.

"Burmes? Is that you?"

"Yes," states a disembodied voice.

"Oh, okay. Hey, can you help me find Walms?"

There was a pause before he replied. "Yeah, sure."

"Cool, thank you."

I Teleport away, letting Burmes guide the new scene. I end up in an open outdoors setting with none other than Walms standing a good distance away. He turns as I make my appearance, eyeing me strangely, almost as if he were sizing me up. "It's me, Walms! Mzzkc!"

"Oh, good job on finding me. . . We can start when you like."

"Very well." I say cooly, taking a stance and drawing my Katana.

Immediately, I turn on the pressure. Teleporting close to him, but well out of arms reach, I make a quick swipe, which he readily evades. Before he can do anything else, though, I Teleport again, and make another lightning quick attack, but am foiled a second time. TP, this time he's got claws out to block my thrust and follow up with his own attack, which I deflect before TPing yet again. This goes on for a good six or seven seconds, with me TPing, attacking, and defending about three or four times each second. The attacks themselves are varied and range from basic slash and thrust combinations to much more complex sword-work. Still, neither of us can can land a hit.

Without warning, Walms launches into the air. I'm quick to follow, purposefully dropping my blade as I do. Before he can reach altitude, I start charging a Kamehameha, chanting the telltale phrase that goes along with it. Walms immediately stops, turns, and Teleports directly below me, but that's just what I wanted. Using a Time Skip, so he doesn't have a chance to react, I change it up and deliver a huge downward arcing punch that instantly makes contact (thanks to the Time Skip). He looks visibly surprised as he plummets down to earth.

"I don't have to follow what I say I'm gonna do." I taunt, playfully, before TPing below Walms and Time Skipping a huge uppercut into his gut. This time he's ready, though, and makes a grab for my arm, so I TP away from him and follow him as he shoots back up into the air from the force of my blow. He rights himself quickly enough and speedily starts closing the relatively small gap between us. I start charging a real energy blast this time, but I screw it up as Walms tries for another grab. He rebukes me, commenting on my attempts at an actual energy attack, as I avoid his assault and Flash Step away, closer to the ground.

Still moving, I start charging another energy attack, but he's on top of me without warning, and now I don't have a prayer of getting away. So, I do the next best thing and direct a blast of energy at the ground, causing a massive explosion that envelops me and blasts him away.

Unfortunately, as the light of the explosion overtakes me, I lose my hold on the dream, and enter into a FA. I quickly get up, go to my laptop, and record the events. After publishing it, Walms responds almost instantly, saying he remembers the fight, and very much enjoyed it, pointing out how good the pacing and flow was.

09.06.2010

Two And One Third Dimensional (Non-lucid)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Entering the new area, I take a look at my surroundings. I'm in the middle of a retro 2D side-scrolling dungeon-themed platforming game, and the end was in sight. The only thing standing between me and level completion is a dozen or so hard shelled enemies and some breakable blocks. A few spinning jump moves knocks the enemies across the the screen, breaking the blocks out of sight. I make short work of all of them, breaking each block as I do. Unfortunately, I screw up a jump and end up falling to my death.

The game resumes at the previous checkpoint which was luckily right at the start of the area I had died in, but I'm not the one playing anymore. To my surprise, a young version of MoSh has taken my place. Since all the blocks are already broken, MoSh avoids the first enemy and takes the uppermost platform.

Almost immediately, a black drake appears over head. It fires out a spiny missile that locks onto MoSh, but MoSh jumps out of the way as the projectile drops and explodes. The drake fires another one, but this time MoSh grabs it out of the air and hurls it back at the drake. The resulting explosion causes the boss to flash in traditional video game style. Wounded, but not defeated, it fires yet another missile. MoSh grabs it and does the same thing from before, but the drake flies out the way before he can throw it, taunting him.

"You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?"

"Yeah, actually, I did."

As soon as MoSh said this, the scene turned three dimensional. Time slowed just enough for me to appreciate MoSh jumping up, grasping the drake's tail, and flinging himself up onto the back if it's neck. Landing skillfully on his feet, he rammed the pointed missile into the drake's head and leaped away as the missile and drake exploded in a shower of black fire.

08.06.2010

June Adv. ToTM Completion (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

My body lifts into the air as the elevator plunges into a free-fall. Alright, don't panic. I can control the speed of my decent via Flight.

Oh, right, that means I'm dreaming. So, enacting my plan, I Fly down in tandem with the elevator. Unfortunately, the pull of gravity turns out to be a little too strong, and now I have less than a second to right myself before the inevitable impact. Luckily, I pull it off, and my feet and legs take the full brunt of of the blow.

Prying open the elevator door, I walk out into the lobby. High profile contractors are still streaming in through the sliding-glass doors. What was my goal for tonight again? Pyrokinesis, wasn't it? Yeah, that sounds about right.

My plans set, I raise my hands to either side of me. Then, pulling from my Heroes archetypes, I create a good sized orange flame in each one and begin to light the room ablaze. Jettisons of fire expelled from my palms and caught on the walls and ceiling. The DCs didn't really seem to notice.

After the room was burning sufficiently, I felt the need for higher levels of destruction. Waving my arms around as if I were Fire Bending, I manage to increase the size and strength of the fire on one wall. Heading over to it, I bask in the heat of my creation. I say something along the lines of, "It is not the fire that warms me, it is I who warms the fire." Then, I take a bite out of a nearby sandal. It was delicious.

Haven't had one of these kinda updates in awhile.

02.06.2010

Love and War (DEILD)

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







Dream: Never Gonna Give You Up

★★★☆☆

My Girlfriend breaks up with me after seeing a girl I was teaching something to grab my hands. I try to explain the situation, but she storms off. I spend the rest of the dream trying to 'get her back', all the while slowly uncovering bits and pieces of a conspiracy that was designed to split us up.

Fragment: Is Everything Okay?

★☆☆☆☆

Raven Knight makes an appearance and seems concerned over my well being. I assure her everything is great and invite her to join whatever it was that was going on at the time.

Fragment: Check This Out!

★★☆☆☆

I'm showing random people the room I was staying in wherein Raven was sleeping on the bed.

DILD: Flood Waters

★★☆☆☆

I'm trying to navigate through my flooded dormitory via Hover.

Realizing it's a dream, I exit the building through my neighbor's window and fly around a bit before waking into an FA.

FA Into DILD: *CLASSIFIED*

FA Into DILD: *ALSO CLASSIFIED*

DEILD: DG Entrance Exam

★★★★☆

Searching for a DG, I am hailed over by a DC who refused to be ignored. Going by the name of Burnes or Burmes (he pretended to play dumb when I re-asked him) he claimed to be a DG. Trusting him for the moment, I asked him if he could train me. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Can you fight?" He responded with a wide, toothy, inhuman grin, boasting about his skill, using terminology I didn't quite catch. From there we begin to spar. Neither of us can get a decent hit in with our swords, and he absorbed or ignored my fairly wimpy energy blasts. Things started to get serious when I went Bankai and subsequently pulled down my Vizard mask.

As my desire to kill and destroy grew stronger, he and the environment transformed. Him into a large muscular man with a smooth, black, oval, almost demonic, silver accented head. The environment into an apocalyptic and hellish version of my neighborhood. Immediately, he unleashed a ridiculous volley of elemental attacks into me, which just as quickly took their toll.

Falling back to earth, I feel myself dying. But I wasn't giving in that easily. As he passed by to my right, I quickly righted myself and unleashed a powerful bolt of lightening through his heart. Shocked, he returned to normal, and before he could anything else I trapped his head in an orange tornado immobilizing him. Then I woke up.

Part of an early lucid. The dream as a whole was fairly uninteresting, but this piece has stuck with me since I experienced it. Enjoy.

BONUS ENTRY OF DOOM!

??.??.????

They Paved Paradise (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID







I struggled. Each time I lifted my arms up to find a new handhold in the snow-covered cliff-face challenged my fortitude. My breath shot visibly from my lungs into the chilly night air. Determined to complete my objective, I pressed onward. Soon enough, I pulled myself up onto the ledge overlooking the forested valley below me. Taking a moment to study my surroundings, I turned my head to the left. What I laid my eyes upon will stay with me for the rest of my life. Before me, amidst all this seemingly natural beauty, was a parking lot.

And yet, the presence of the parking lot was not what caught my interest. You see, the detail overwhelmed me. The lot stretched out into the distance towards an indeterminable end, the light from the streetlights played perfectly on the dancing snow as it fell, and I could actually make out every distinct texture and color along the hard black asphalt. The amazing part? Everything I just described existed solely as a creation of my mind. I was dreaming.

Something completely different.

27.05.2010

Still Holding On (Non-lucid)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Placing the last bit of childhood memorabilia on the metal shelf, my assignment complete, I walked away fearing the worst. If the rumors were true, then the very essence of my childhood would soon be set ablaze by my platoon's sergeant. As the last of us finished up neatly arranging their most cherished possessions, the sergeant pulled out his flask of whiskey and began drenching the rows of precious memories with alcohol. When it ran out, he whipped out a lighter, lit it, and dropped it onto a nearby rack. A hot inferno shot up viciously and began to spread, consuming everything in its path.

My fellow soldiers passively watched the blaze, but I wasn't going to have it. "Those Pokemon cards are worth money gorrammit!" With that, a commotion ensued. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to my cards through the throng of moving people and the fire, so I did the next best thing: pull them to me with TK. Reaching out my hand, I focused on the boxes of cards, trying to bring them to me. But it isn't until someone knocked into the shelf that I was able to free them from the fire, unscathed, using only the power of my mind.

"Private! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving money!" I shouted back, disrespectfully.

I ran off as everyone left the large, curved, window-lined, modern building. I'll show them. I'll meet them at the rendezvous point whether they like it or not.

Exiting from the entrance, my view split off and I saw everyone else had already left in a small yacht. I took to to the air. My flight controls were slightly awkward, but I couldn't help thinking how impressed everyone would be once they saw I could fly.

Making my way to the cylindrical tech station in the middle of the lake, I flexed my flight skills, showing off to no one in particular. When I did eventually reach the station, the sergeant proved speechless when confronted with my newfound abilities. Unfortunately, I screw it all up when I get too close to the water, hit it, and am unable to get back out.

22.05.2010

Green Grass, High Tides, and Tall Drops (DILD)

★★★★☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Looking down at her finished painting, I smiled at the stick figures it had taken her five Fast Forwards to complete. It was a rough depiction of a hilled cliff-side, and each person in the piece was crudely labeled. Well, let's see what I can do. I grab her hand.

"Hold on tight."

I Teleport.

The world around us spins as it fades almost instantaneous into blackness. Remembering the painting of the supposed future, I reach my other hand down into the void and feel the cool dew-covered grass that was going to be beneath us momentarily. Sure enough, we reach our destination.

Vivid blue skies with their whiter than white clouds lined the green-hilled cliff-side. In the distance, deep-blue shining oceans met the lighter colored skyline. The beauty of this place was both surprising and awe-inspiring. A little ways below us were a few of the characters from the painting, lounging on the edge of the cliff. I let go of the painter's hand, and she immediately took off.

Wanting to really bring the picture to life, I started rolling down the hill. Spinning, spinning, ever faster, alternating blue skyline and green grass--oh the wonder of it all. And then I ran out of ground.

Shit.

As it was, my current trajectory would land me face first into some rocks protruding from the cliff-face about a hundred feet down. Not fun. Turning mid-fall, I powerfully kick off from the side of the cliff, netting me just enough distance to have nothing but air between me and the water 300 feet below. Tumbling downward, I couldn't help but think, Hitting the water at this height will be like hitting concrete.

Thanks rationality, you're a real life-saver.

Not wanting to take the easy route out and fly away, I let myself drop, picking up speed every second. Almost at the water, I brought my feet below me, pointed my toes downward, and crossed my arms in front of my chest. Below, several groups of people were already in the ocean, enjoying the relatively calm waters. Almost there. . .

SPLOOSH!

The sensation as my feet broke the surface and my body shot down into the refreshingly brisk water was beyond words. A blue universe surrounded me, and I didn't have a care in the world. Floating there, weightless, pumping cold liquid though my lungs, I relished the experience. I didn't want to wake up.

So, I didn't. . .

Not for awhile anyways. >.>

19.05.2010

Helping Out: It's What I Do (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Flying toward my house, I spot Champion Cynthia, hovering over my court on a magic carpet. In the court itself are a myriad of Pokemon. High in the air I spotted a Lugia, Ho-oh, Flygon, and some others. The ones on the ground were less distinct, as were the ones at a slightly lower altitude. For some reason, I got the impression that I needed to help exterminate all of them.

With a joyful glint in my eye, I shoot across the sky, spawning a variety of sharp metallic weaponry in my curled hands. As I pass Ho-oh, I release a volley of kunai and throwing stars into it. Its body evaporates into nothingness. Still darting overhead, I quickly spawn a new set of weapons in my hands. Just as soon as they form, I launch them into Lugia and the Flygon, ending their existence in much the same fashion.

Still thinking I'm helping, I fly down to the other Pokemon floating in the air. Putting my hands behind me, I pull from DBZ archetypes and create two small energy balls in my hands. I toss the one in my left hand at a nearby Pokemon, causing it to explode in a bright flash of yellow light. I throw the other at two a ways below me. The blast spirals slowly on its way to its target, but that's not good enough for me. I swing my arms in front of me and shout, releasing a wave of invisible energy that propels the ball forward at ten times the speed. Even so, the Pokemon dodge my attack. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to avoid the gigantic explosion as the blast hit the ground below, taking out half the court.

Despite the devastation, a few Pokemon remain alive. I speedily charge up a powerful Kamehameha and fire it off, vaporizing those Pokemon directly in its path. The resultant blast of energy as the Wave hit the ground wiped out any that survived the initial burst. My job was done.

14.05.2010

Friendly Fire is On (Non-lucid)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

They surrounded us. Upwards of 40 low-life frat boys, all wearing the exact same grey shirt, sneered at me and my new-found HvZ friends. Well, this outing just got interesting. As they moved ever closer, our small group was soon split up. One of the punks pushed me backwards into his bro. The bro grabbed my arms, but I wasn't going down without a fight. Breaking free, I elbowed him in the gut, which made him stagger back and fall to the ground. It's a start.

Reaching down to my side, I drew my Katana in a quick motion and put it to use immediately. Two down, three down, four down. . . They dropped like flies as my skillful slashes tore through their numbers. My blade thrusted forward into the gut of one of them; I tore it out his side, before realizing my mistake. This was one of my new friends. Tossing my blade to the side, I catch him before he falls. "Fuck. . . Didn't mean to do that."

"Watch where you're swinging that thing," he sputters weakly. I put my hand to his wound.

"It's going to be okay," I assure him as a green light emits from my palm. Infusing the area with energy, I quickly heal the wound to the best of my abilities. "That should hold up for now, but take it easy for awhile." He nodded and walked off.

Turning my attention back to the frat-boys, verily pissed, they don't seem too phased by the incident. We'll just have to change that. Picking my sword up, I swiped at the nearest one, rending open his chest. The fact that all of them were unarmed didn't matter to me one bit. I'd kill them all the same. Turning, I bring my blade down across the left side of my victim's neck. As he died, he looked into my eyes, as if to ask 'Why?' It was another friendly.

"Goddammit! I haven't know any of you long enough to distinguish you in battle!" I stormed off, frustrated. Passing everyone on my way to the nearby woods, ignoring them into oblivion, the small golden colored dog from before--the one we had followed into this mess--yipped at me annoyingly. With a single flick of my Katana, I silenced it, cleanly severing its head from its body. The body stood there for a moment, as the bloodied head rolled out of sight, before slumping to the ground. I just kept walking.

13.05.2010

Simple Pleasures (DILD)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

Excusing myself from the table, I begin walking toward the soda fountain across the room. The reception hall is terribly crowded with people. I don't really feel like navigating around them all, so I decide to walk straight through. But it would prove rude of me to simply push people out of the way. Thus, I come to the conclusion that phasing through them is probably the best course of action.

Each time someone ran into me I Phase Shifted the part of my body making contact, letting them pass right through. It's cool how I can do that in dreams.

Oh yeah, I smile softly, this is a dream. By now I've reached the soda fountain, but there's a bit of a line. A container of stacked cups stands to my left. I reach out my hand and use my TK to flick the topmost cup off its stack and toward me. As it comes down, I go to grab it. I fumble around with it for a moment before wrapping both hands about the clear textured plastic. A sloppy catch is still a catch, I think, still smiling. Now what to do about this line?

I notice all the DCs were getting their drinks out of a single Pepsi dispenser in the middle of the fountain. Moreover, this dispenser was operated by slightly lifting on the tab holding back the refreshment. By lifting it, a small waterfall of brownish liquid would pour out. Kinda like a real fountain.

Feeling slightly devious, I reach out again with my TK, and lift the tab all the way up, drenching everyone within a two foot radius of the machine with cold soda. I position my cup under the ridiculous flow, filling it, but wetting my whole right side in the process. The feeling is remarkable. I marvel, for a moment, at how amazing our brains really are.

11.05.2010

Battle on The Moon (Non-lucid)

★★☆☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

A man I recognize as Q shows up to take me to the battle on the moon Raven said I could come help with. I am told we're going to need numbers, so I whip up a huge army to aid in the fight. Q transports all of us there and the fight begins immediately. I take the lead of my group (there were already many others fighting) by flying in with my Katana and skillfully slicing up a large demon.

Then my roommate's alarm goes off.

Oddly, I was still able to see and act within the dream even though I was awake. I'm pretty sure we ended up winning.

08.05.2010

It's Weird How Things Tend to Work Out (Non-lucid)

★★★☆☆

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

"The hell?"

I gazed in confusion as a blue sedan proceeded to crash into the cars in my neighbor's driveway. Oddly, unlike the SUV and the compact, the sedan suffered no damage. What is going on? I thought to myself as the sleek blue car pulled out and positioned itself at the bottom of another neighbor's driveway where one car was parked. The maniac accelerated.

The ensuing crunching sounds reached me behind the front window of my house. And, to my horror, the still unscathed sedan was almost immediately set up in front of my driveway. Oh, as if I'm going to let that happen! I rush to the door only to hear that I was too late. My view shifted to the third person and panned outside. Each car in my driveway, including the precious Maxima, had been totaled in one fell swoop. I was distraught, befuddled, and enraged.

I have to make them pay.

The dream starts to fade. No not yet. With gusto, I summon a sword, but not in my usual way.

Probably not my best move.

Still upset, I awaken. But all is not lost! Focusing on the dream, I manage to slip back into it, sans lucidity.

Dashing across my driveway, I attempt to catch up with the car that's already speeding away. Somehow, I'm actually closing ground. Seeing this, the two garishly dressed occupants bail out and flee on foot. The chase takes us into a cricket field. Not wanting to disrupt the game, I wait for an opportune moment to dash across the field.

Then some weird crap happens, I get a Blastoise to join up with me, and I discover that the main perpetrators are Jesse, from the Pokemon Anime, and her. . . kid? Oh, and then a Rocket Grunt reclaims the Blastoise, which was apparently his, as the three of them make their getaway on a flying tower.

Yeeeaah. . .

04.05.2010

Serious Business (DILD)

★★★★★

NON-DREAM DREAM LUCID

CRASH!

I burst through the glass, quickly drawing my blade. Still arcing in the air to the grass below, I shout "Bankai!" releasing the true power of my sword. As I looked down on the lightsaber battle ensuing in my backyard, I see several friends caught up in the fray. Still falling, I bring my hand up to my face and tear down my Vizard mask, enjoying the rush of power. Landing skillfully on the grass, everyone notices my entrance. The clash of sabers ceases as I look up through my red and white mask. I pick a target.

Walking casually into the battle, I relieve someone of his fight, pushing him to the side. Taking a relaxed stance, my blade in one hand, the young 'Jedi' acting as my opponent stares back at me, terrified. He makes a cautious pass at my left side with his green lightsaber. Sneering behind my mask, I parry, flick his weapon away, and stab him in the shoulder, all in one motion. As he staggers backwards, it's easy to see how pissed he is. He charges at me, letting loose a guttural cry.

Still relaxed, I deflect each of his thrusts and slashes, but my complacency gets the better of me. The saber cuts through my side as I jump away, avoiding the brunt of what would have been a fatal blow.

FZZSHHEEWW!

A sharp pain shoots up my right arm as I finally take notice of the other 'Jedi' who have come to aid their comrade. Surrounded, a feeling of panic blossoms at my core. Sensing my moment of weakness, the group attacks as one. I do my best to defend myself, but a few blows end up getting through. I shout violently, emitting a wave of energy that pushes them all backwards. My fiery rage burns away any previous inhibition. "That's it. No more of this fucking kiddie shit."

In a flash, I cut down a 'Jedi' to my left, severing his body into 5 pieces instantaneously. Fear strikes the others as I stand there, bloodied blade in hand, 20 feet from where I was less than a second ago. Before the pieces of the man I just killed could hit the ground, they begin to run, but not fast enough. I speed from one victim to the next, dismembering and mutilating their bodies as I go. My speed and precision is unparalleled. And yet, despite my rampage, save the first, I leave them all alive. . . mostly.