I’ve been pushing this particular artist all over the place on the interwebs. She’s known as Bayalee Fox1. She is my daughter’s friend. I happened to notice one of her videos one day on Twitter. I decided to go take a look. This is what I found:

That got my attention. So I went back and watched the other songs she had published at the time:

So this was a person who goes to school with my daughter, but she was quickly starting to sound like a professional musician. And I’m also a huge fan of the singer/songwriter style of music, so to me, this music was awesome!

I don’t really know what else to say that can’t be said by watching her videos. She is an amazing local artist. I’m quite fond of her music. And I really want as many people to hear it as possible. So, even though I’m posting it all over Twitter, I still wanted to write a short blog post to get all of my blog subscribers to go watch her also.

So make sure to visit her channel. Hit subscribe. Like every video you enjoy. Comment and tell her how awesome she is so she keeps it up. I think she’ll hit it big one day.

 Saph

1. Obviously. [↩]

I recently did something that felt weird. I posted a tweet that said “You are beautiful!” I didn’t target it to anyone. I just let it fly, and considering my tweets get “automagically” posted in other places, it went all over.

Why do I say it felt weird? Because it’s a very odd feeling to say that to perfect strangers. I knew it was going to be read by people who didn’t know me. I knew it might be an odd experience for them. But the thing is, although it was a weird experience, it felt good!

Everyone who responded loved it. And so I did it a second time and it felt just as good.

So why this post? Why is this post going to get shared all over Twitter very soon? Because I think people need to tell others how amazing they are. The world is full of hate, especially the anonymous Internet. This is a simple way to tell others how amazing they are, make them smile, and add a little joy to their lives.

So this is what I want you to do: Tweet out the title of this post. I’m making it easy for you to do below. And I’m serving up two flavors: one with a link to this post and one without so you can choose.

With a link to this post:

You are an amazing human being! #yaaahb http://saph.link/yaaahb

Tweet This

Without a link to this post:

You are an amazing human being! #yaaahb

Tweet This

And you don’t have to make it to everyone either. Feel free to tell even a single person how much of an amazing human being they are:

My mentor and friend, @purplementat, is such an awesome person! He knows why. I just wanted to say it out loud. #yaaahb

— Saphrym (@Saphrym) February 4, 2016

Just add the #yaaahb tag so we know how far the message is reaching. Here’s an easy way for you to do so:

YOUR MESSAGE HERE #yaaahb

Tweet This

Here’s an image you can use anywhere. Feel free to edit it any way you want or even make your own:

Pass on the message. Make a stranger’s day. Let everyone know they are amazing human beings!

Check this link to see far the message is spreading: Twitter Search for #yaaahb

It’s been almost exactly a year since last time I posted on this site. I apologize for that. A lot has happened in the last year that has kept me busy. For instance, I am the Chief Minion (Yes that is my actual title.) for PurpleMentat, a YouTuber I loved to watch and now work for. My nephews have also moved in with us. So there are six people living in the house now. And I’ve also decided to start creating content again.
PurpleMentat was the first person to offer me a job in the last few years. I’ve applied to many places. But now… I couldn’t have a better boss. He’s a great guy. He makes great videos. And I enjoy hanging out with his community every day.
My nephews were not in the best place. Their lives have been rather hectic and unhealthy. So we managed to get them here with us. They are happy and working towards a better education.
As for the last piece of news, I’m going to be creating my own YouTube videos. I also have a fictional blog that should be launched very soon. I’m quite excited to show it off. It’s been in the works for years. I’m also having a lot of fun learning the various Adobe creative tools since my wife is now a teacher and we have an educational subscription giving us access to ALL of them.(I'm in creator heaven.) So expect a few random things to come out of my experiments with the software. For instance, I just learned a bit about Adobe Audition, an audio editing program, and the result of a recent goofy moment is here:

I almost forgot. I also started a Patreon campaign. I would love for you to check it out.
And one other thing: Come chat with me in my Discord channel. I’d love to hang out with you.
Saph looks around the site and smiles.
“It’s good to be home.”

Death gleefully hugged her only years ago.
I can remember the existence of my mom.
I remember I loved her.
I remember the way she skipped out
of a restaurant just to give people
something
to talk about.

I can remember the fights.
I remember my mother
firing bullets from her teeth
for my teen-aged crimes.
Those bullets
strengthened me.

I can remember the music.
She

loved

music.
I sung her favorite songs,
and she would dance with
the moon.

I can remember her hospital shroud.
I remember my daughter
was too young to
remember
her.

I can remember losing her
before
truly
knowing her,
in the way a son knows his mother
after he has grown up and had a child
of his own.
I remember hellfire anger.
I screamed at the night sky
craving for it to open
and let her escape.

I can remember time
slowly crawling,
twisting sorrow’s blade.

I can remember sitting
with her purse cradled,
opened,
staring at the words
of a poem I wrote
at the age of eight,
never knowing she kept it,
never knowing where
it had journeyed.

“Love is like a rose,
covered in pain…”
it began.

I can remember tears.

You know. I turned 40 almost 5 hours ago. I’d love to be able to write something profound. My 40 years of experience had to create some kind of grand view of life, right? Not really. Things are much the way they were when I was a “young’un.”

I still need to respect my elders, there’s just less of them.

I remember doing terribly unintelligent and sophomoric things when a large group of us got together. It still happens. The name just changed from “clique” or “gang” to “congress” and/or “congregation.”

I still shouldn’t eat cake before dinner, or at all.

I still play games, although the substance of those games has changed dramatically over the years. It started with Hungry Hippo, switched to Relationship Bingo, and is now Guess Which Body Part Hurts.

Speaking of games, I still have to give pedestrians the right of way, no matter how many points they may be worth.

That daily Flintstone vitamin I chewed on because it tasted like candy is still around. The one I take is no longer chewable and it’s accompanied by various other pills based on those hurting body parts.

My brain is still the same but reversed; My words have gotten longer and my memory shorter.

People still hurt each other for no good reason. “Slenderman” is not a reason, much less a good one. And if you don’t get the reference, imagine killing in the name of Santa to make sure he brings you the gift you want for Christmas. Although, there are certain gifts… um… nevermind.

Sticking a hairpin in an electrical socket is still bad for everyone involved. Don’t do it.

See? Nothing truly profound. Just a lot of the same stuff. Turning 40 is just like turning 30, or maybe 21. Ok, maybe not JUST like turning 21. That’s pushing it a little.

My style of writing is a bane to college professors everywhere. I normally end up with lower grades because of it, but I don’t really mind. It’s the way I write and I like writing this way. See, my mind works a little different than some people. I write better than I speak. When talking, I forget words.

For example, one day I had to look at my wife and say,
“You know the word. It’s got pages and you read it.”
“That’d be a book, dear.”
“Right. Book.”

However, when I’m typing, words flow out of me that I sometimes didn’t even know I knew. It’s funny, but I “overthink” when I speak, instead of when I write.

When I write, I just let the words flow and put down the ideas as fast as I possibly can. I don’t take many pauses and I don’t do much editing like people would say needs to be done. I fix spelling mistakes and such as I find them because I tend to type in a dyslexic manner, but otherwise I let the language stay natural. I also tend to put my thoughts in wherever they may show up. One example would be the quick dialogue I put in the middle of my explanation in the previous section. Another would be (and this happens often with me sometimes) when I put things in parentheses right in the middle of my sentences. Those are the “asides” that my brain may branch off to while I’m typing. I don’t think about it, I just put them there. I think it feels more “natural” to do so.

Sometimes I also put words in a visual manner to make the pauses and necessary inflections. For example, I could type, “That was incredible!” or, I could type “That was in-cred-i-ble!” There is emphasis on the different syllables in the word and the reader tends to read it that way with the dashes. I like to make the words look the way they sound in my head. My creative writing professors have always loved that style. Grammar professors, not so much.1

So, as an exercise, as you comment on this post, type exactly what you’re thinking. It makes it feel more like a conversation instead of a “formal typing experience” which sounds much less fun.

1. For example, that was not a complete sentence just then, but you got the point, and probably grinned just like I did when I thought it and typed it. [↩]

So while being stuck in bed because you’ve got the flu, or your foot was operated on, there are always ways of amusing yourself. Some are rather obvious, like taking cold medicine. That’s always an enjoyable experience, right?1 Here’s a few of the less obvious2 ways to amuse yourself when you’re sick as a dog:

10. Staring at the ceiling and making pictures with the little dots. I found Charlie Brown a couple of days ago. However, he morphed into Arnold Schwarzenegger while looking at him, so that may have been the Nyquil. I don’t know.

9. Again, staring at something can be quite amusing. In this case I was staring at a digital frame. I had it loaded with pictures of the in-laws and pictures of farm animals. After a while the two started merging in my brain. Was rather hilarious to me.

8. Realizing you can sing much lower. Seriously, have you ever been sick and noticed your voice dropped an octave? Now you can do the Barry White solo with ease. Just don’t try in the shower ’cause the steam clears out your throat and you start sounding more normal. Kind of throws off the mood.

7. Reading is always a great way to pass the time when you’re sick. Of course, you might want to stay away from the fantasy and horror books. With the medicine and the delirium of a fever, you start imagining some of the stories coming true. Can be rather scary. This is one of those few times a guy is allowed to read a romance novel.3

6. Write a book. Since you’re just laying there, you might as well make good use of the time. Write a book. Just realize that when you finally get well again you will not be able to read your handwriting. And if you use the “writing it in my head” method, also realize that your “sick” head and “well” head are two different things. Therefore, your “well” head won’t remember anything that your “sick” head did anyway.

5. Practice origami. I made some swans that could flap their wings, a frog that could really jump, and a boat that could really float. I also made some Chinese throwing stars and practiced throwing them at the ceiling. I even manged to hit Arnie right in the nose.

4. Silly Putty. Can’t say this enough. If you have a little plastic egg with some of this stuff in it, feel free to play with it for hours. It’s quite the stress reliever. And if you have some newspaper, you’re set. You’ll be copying comics all day and reading them backwards. Just don’t try and use it as a bouncy ball when you have a furry pet. It becomes fuzzy. And fuzzy Silly Putty is not a fun thing to play with at all.

3. Speaking of toys, my Rubik’s cube got plenty of use out of it. The stickers won’t stick to it anymore. So now it’s really easy to solve. All of the faces are black. Doesn’t matter how much I mix it up, it’s always solved.

2. Cell phones are fun. You can play games on them. You can make prank phone calls. However, it’s very hard to dial *67 before making a phone call with a cell phone. So prank phone calls don’t work as well when the person picks up and says “Hi Mike.”

1. The best way to amuse yourself when you’re sick as a dog is to build a play mountain out of the sheets and bed spread. Look around for items you can use as army men. Now just fill in the rest with your imagination. The really great thing is when your wife comes in and sees you playing like a little kid, she’ll only think you’re delirious from the medication and let you get away with it. Make sure to include plenty of >pyoo pyoo< noises when firing the imaginary guns. You won’t be able to do them any other time.

What do you like to do to keep yourself amused when you’re sick as a dog?

1. Notice the sarcasm. [↩]
2. Yes. I know video games exist. I play them often. But notice the operative words there are “less obvious” [↩]
3. And yes, I know this one breaks the rule of being less obvious. I wrote the rules though. [↩]

Love is like a rose, covered in pain.
Trying to understand it will drive you insane.
People have tried to learn how it makes you feel,
But the thing about love is no one ever will.
Love is like the water which can smoothly flow
It is also like a turtle which moves very slow.
Love is like the sun which shines from day to day,
But it can also make your heart break in every kind of way.
Love is hard to understand,
And the Lord knows I never can.1

1. Written at the age of 8. I was looking for love at an early age. ;) [↩]

Turn signals are a wonderful invention. They let people know when a driver is going to make a turn. They also let drivers know when a lane change will be taking place. Turn signals only work if the other drivers know how to use them.

Reason #1: A gray Chrysler LeBaron is moving along in front of me. The right turn signal on it is winking at me in a sickly red color. I prepare to stop for when the old vehicle decides to make the right turn. That decision seems to take a while, because even after seventeen available roads on the right, the car has decided the only reason it is winking is to try to secure a date with my own, much younger, Chrysler PT Cruiser. Turn signals only work if people actually turn when they are on.

Reason #2: A black Ford Mustang is blazing towards the corner on my left. It’s right turn signal is blinking to let me know I can pull out and make the right hand turn I would like to make as the Mustang will be turning into the lane to my left. As I start to pull out, the Mustang blazes once again, but this time it is its very loud and angry horn. The Mustang does not turn. It continues along the path I was about to take. Again, turn signals only work if people actually turn when they are on.

Reason #3: A line of three nondescript vehicles are congregating on the corner to my left. I want to go forward. I don’t know if they are in a book club together or perhaps they just want to share cups of tea at the same place, but all three vehicles decide to turn right. All three have smiling faces and bubbly attitudes as they pass me. Just as they do, a long line of cars come from the right and block my attempt to move forward. Turn signals only work if people actually turn them on when they are about to turn.

The LeBaron, Mustang, and bubbly vehicles have now caused me to fear turn signals. I can never trust them whether they are blinking or not. If you start seeing large holes in tail lights of passing vehicles, you now know that I have started my personal vendetta against the turn signals of the world. They shall never fool me again!

Five bucks? Yep. Five bucks. Here is what I’m proposing that has worked well for me in the past when it comes to deciding what entertainment to buy:

1. When purchasing entertainment, determine how many hours of fun you’ll get out of that particular entertainment.
2. Multiply that number of hours by five bucks.
3. Determine if the cost of the entertainment is below that amount. If so, purchase it. If not, consider it more carefully or just walk away.

For instance, when I want to purchase a video game, I decide about how many hours will be played. I don’t mean how many hours the game says it has. I mean how many hours will definitely be played1. An example would be the more recent Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Over the years, I’ve loved open-world games and have played many hours in each. So I figured, at the least, I’d spend 20 hours in the game. 20 times five bucks is $100. Was the price of $60.00 worth it? Yes, although I got it for free as a gift.

Another example would be a board game. Let’s consider Cranium. It costs around $30. I figure my family and I will play at least three hours of it2. Now here is where it gets a little different. My family consists of four people who regularly game together. Four times three hours is 12 hours. Five bucks an hour would be $60. Is $30 worth it? Yes. I count the total hours of fun had by each person.

I even used this method for considering my Xbox 360 purchase a couple of years ago. My daughter and I would definitely play it. We would get at least 50 hours a piece with all the future game purchases, video watching, etc. That is 100 hours times five bucks. I paid much less than $500, so it was definitely worth it. If you have deeper pockets, feel free to up the amount.

What do you think of this idea? Do you have your own method of determining entertainment purchases? Feel free to share in the comments.

1. It’s common for me to quit a game before ever finishing it. [↩]
2. possibly much more [↩]

Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder that is associated with progressive dementia that ultimately terminates in death.  What would it be like to lose many if not all of your memories?  If you had to rely on notes to yourself to remind you of who you are and what you are about as a person, what would you write down?

I have a hard time with certain memories as it is now. Names and dates tend to leave my brain almost instantly. I can barely remember what I had for breakfast. My short-term memory is just really bad. I’ve learned a lot to help it by using numbers as they are the only thing I’m good at remembering. But if I lost all of my memories and basically had to read a diary every morning, here are a few things I might put in there:

“Your name is Michael.

You have a wife named Angela and a daughter named Nicole.

Your wife is that lovely woman you see on your phone when you press the button. Your daughter is the girl next to her.

Your wife is a very loving person. She is kind. She works too hard but she does a good job at anything she puts her mind to.

Your daughter likes to whine now, but hopefully that’ll go away one day. If she’s not doing it the next time you see her, make sure to tell her she’s doing a good job. Otherwise, she is very smart. So be careful about anything she asks. She might be trying to get away with something.

The four animals belong to your family. The black cat is Sega. She likes to lay on you at night. The big black dog is Solitaire. She likes to lick faces and play volleyball with balloons. The pug is Sora. She’s your wife’s dog. And the rat, I mean little dog, is Sony. He’s your best bud. Make sure to let him get in your arms and say hi or else he’ll bark at you all day.

You are a writer. On the computer is a file your wife will point out to you. Read it. And then add to it. You’ll be able to once you’re caught up. Just don’t forget to not try to make it into a novel. You’ll have a hard time catching up tomorrow. Just sell the short stories.

Also, if it is Monday or Wednesday, you’re going to have company at 4:30pm. You mentor a few boys. Your job is only to play games with them and help them with their school work. Don’t worry. You’ll like them.

Before bed, make sure to add anything else to this you might want to remember. But keep it short. Thanks!”

I am my family. That’s why I listed them first.

(This question was posted to my college forums and this was my answer. I decided to share with you guys. What would your answer be?)

If you’ve seen the television show, “How I Met Your Mother,” you probably know about the rule to never do anything after 2 a.m. I do not fully agree with that rule as some of my best work has come after 2 a.m., but I will offer this little example of what happens when it is after 2 a.m., I’m sitting in a new chat room to test it out, and I start typing…

[02:52]Saphrym: Hello?
[02:52]Saphrym: How are you?
[02:52]Saphrym: I’m fine. You?
[02:52]Saphrym: Good. Could always be better of course.
[02:52]Saphrym: Of course.
[02:52]Saphrym: So, how do you like that show Game of Thrones?
[02:53]Saphrym: Loving it. I want to read the books now.
[02:53]Saphrym: Me too.
[02:53]Saphrym: Well, duh. You are me.
[02:53]Saphrym: Oh. Right. Sorry. Forgot.
[02:53]Saphrym: Awkward.
[02:54]Saphrym: Tell me about it.
[02:54]Saphrym: I just did.
[02:54]Saphrym: Oh.

So there you have it. A chat room, two minutes of free time, and a 2 a.m. “giddyness.” This is the kind of stuff I do. And to think, I was alone in there with no plans to share any of this with you guys until I read it over again and decided, why not.

Have you ever woke up and realized you’ve lost hope? Have you ever woke up and realized there was a stone wall around your soul keeping everything good and pure out and opening only for the legions of dark thoughts that fly around looking to corrupt you? Have you ever woke up and looked at yourself in the mirror and saw a creature that your darkest nightmares would be afraid of? Have you ever woke up with black fire surrounding you, burning
into your spirit, leaving scars and black ash?

Have you ever woke up and realized you wanted to scream? Have you ever wanted to scream at those that have helped you lose hope? Have you ever wanted to scream at those individuals that have crafted those dark thoughts and helped you put up those walls? Have you ever wanted to scream a guttural cry at the creature in the mirror? Have you ever wanted to scream at the black fire that burns?

Have you ever wanted to scream knowing that if you did so, those dark thoughts, black fire, creature in the mirror, and every other dark and cruel thing in your life would suddenly seem tiny and unnecessary? Have you ever screamed and felt the the light fill your hollow soul? Have you ever screamed at the world that constantly puts obstacles in your way? Have you ever screamed at the person who broke your heart? Have you ever screamed at the wall in your way? Have you ever screamed at those who doubt you? Have you ever screamed at those who say you are worthless? Have you ever screamed at those who whisper behind you? Have you ever just screamed a release?

This. This is my scream. This is my return to life. This is me screaming that I will be a husband to my bride. This is me screaming that I will be a father to my child. This is me screaming that I will succeed. This is me waking up and not liking what I see and screaming the darkness away, watching it tremble in the light. This is me… being me.

Quite a few things have happened in my life in just the last couple of days. Well, ok. Only one thing. But it’s composed of many little things. I got a new job. I am now a teacher at a high school about an hour away. Great, right? Yep. A dream of mine. I am overly ecstatic and I’m not being sarcastic. However, after I got the job, following are the things that have happened to me:

1. I go to the school for an interview. I guess I ace the interview because not long after I leave, I get a call that they want me to substitute teach for the position until the end of the week to make sure we were a fit for each other. I get happy. I drive back to the school to get paperwork done. I’m told, “See you tomorrow,” and sent on my way. I’m still happy but I begin to realize I just took a job that will test me by fire. I start freaking. A little.
2. I pick up the family along the way home. We walk in the door. The house smells like rotten eggs. “Gas,” I think. I freak again. I call the gas company. They check around. They test. No gas leak. Was coming from somewhere else. I stop freaking until I remember the job.
3. I go to bed and wake up. There’s ice on the roads. They’re salting them so it will ok. I take a shower and get ready for work. I head out. Car slides backwards. I freak. I call the school and tell them the situation. They understand and ask me to come when the roads are clear. I stop freaking until I remember I’m still going to the job. Seniors. They have teeth.
4. The roads clear because the sun comes out. I get happy. I start driving to work. In front of me are a few cars that decide that 35 is the new 55. I snail my way to work about an hour later than expected. I freak again because they really wanted me to be there for at least one certain class. I walk in and it’s the end of that class, but enough time to introduce me to them. I stop freaking until I realize the seniors are my next class. I mentioned seniors have teeth, right?

And that was my last 24 hours. I had amazingly good luck getting the job. The other was bad luck. No. I mean really bad luck. Or so I thought. But then I remembered Haiti.

Update 3/19/2011: The job fell through a long time ago. Forgot to update this. And my mention of Haiti was because of how bad they had it at the time. If this post was written today it would say Japan instead.

Following is a piece of fan fiction I wrote a couple of years back and just recently found again. It was written while I was playing a game called Matrix Online that was based on the Matrix movies. I’m considering using this character for something different since Matrix Online is now defunct and I liked creating the persona. It won’t have anything to do with the Matrix though. So enjoy reading this and let me know what you think of the main character.

I remember when I was a year old. I was holding one of those plastic shaped blocks that went into the ball with holes in it. Only the right shape would fit the right hole. My parents were always handing that toy to me. I think they hoped I’d get one right. But I never tried. I just stared at the thing until that day. I took the circle shape and stuck it in the circle hole. Then I put the square in it’s hole. My parents’ voices started getting louder. They were looking at me with wide eyes. From a toddlers point of view, that can be scary. You wonder if you did something wrong. I didn’t care though. After a minute, all the shapes were where they belonged. As soon as I was old enough, my parents had my IQ tested.

I’ve always been smart, just never had a passion. It’s one thing to be born with a gift. It’s another to have motivation to use it. I always got bored in school. But my parents liked those As. So I kept sending them to them on that 8 1/2 by 11 folded piece of cardboard. They’d show it around to their friends, sign it, and hand it back to me. Those were my early years.

Parents get spoiled too. My father was the worse of the two. He no longer smiled when I got an A. He just expected them. Motivation went out the window. I got bored more often. They have a saying about idle hands. It rings true even if it is someone else’s words.

“A genius is only a genius because he sees patterns no one else bothers to see.” Those are my words. They describe my world. I can sit on a park bench and watch the people go by and tell you when one will trip, when one will look in my direction, and even how many times the word “the” will be said in my vicinity within the next hour. Patterns are everywhere. Body movements are merely patterns presented physically by the brain for specific purposes. Eye glances. Eyebrow movement. How far feet step as they walk. Patterns. Our brains store those patterns and when our eyes see them, they recall the previous pattern and predict the next movement. The problem with most people is they don’t bother watching for the foundational patterns.

When I look at a person, I see binary code. No, they don’t look like little numbers. Their actions and words, however, serve as little on and off switches. Think of it as binary with billions of bits instead of only 32 or some other multiple of 8. If their eyes look up and to the right often while they talk to me, the bullshit switch is set to on. That’s an obvious one. I can’t explain the the not-so-obvious ones. I can only see them. The human body is covered in these “bits.” Some people call it an aura. I call it a pattern. A pattern of who the person is.

I can speak to a cashier and after only two minutes of conversation, I can tell you their life history. I’ve helped my friends get many women with my abilities. And of course, there was this period of my life between my teens and the “hill” when I used my pattern recognition to manipulate people as I stole from them. Not actually from them, but from their place of employment. You can have all the security in the world, but it’s only as secure as the people who control it. And people are easy. They have patterns. I see them.

But the Matrix. Man. The Matrix. That’s a pattern I didn’t foresee. It explained a lot when I ate that red pill though. Patterns have become more clear to me. My “saviors” said they could pull me out then. Said age didn’t matter anymore since there was a truce and more evidence of the existence of the Matrix was being leaked throughout Mega City. Our brains were more prepared for the change. I admit, I saw weird patterns now and then, but nothing that would have eluded me to the existence of the Matrix. The Matrix is the ultimate pattern.

I can’t see the Matrix die. Zionists can go to hell. The Matrix yanks at my very soul. It’s patterns are flawlessly executed. I found my purpose. My goal. I need to keep the Matrix around. Seems I’ve found a few others who agree. The Merovingian sent some goons my way. Asked me to work for him. When I found out his purpose, I had to agree. Zionists wanna destroy the Matrix and free the humans. Humans are, in general, a very stupid species. Most of them don’t want to be free. I say keep it that way. Why fight for them when they’re happy where they are. Machinists wanna destroy human freewill. It messes with their algorithms. Kinda funny that. The machines think they’re smarter than humans, but they have a harder time finding the patterns than a one year old does. They may be intelligent, but a machine mind will never match the human brain, when it’s used. So, “enemy of my enemy is my friend” and all that, I’m with the Merovingian. We have the same goal.

“Hey. You ready?”

“Almost. Just got one more thing to write in my journal.”

“Why do you keep writing in that thing. Think someone’s actually gonna read it?”

“I know they will. It’s a common pattern.”

“Screw patterns. Hand me a gun and I’m satisfied.”

“That’s why you’re only extra brawn, my friend.”

“Screw you,” said the club tough as he walked away to let Matthew finish.

“Enemy of my enemy.” Gotta keep that in my head. The exiles are stupid too, but at least they have the same cause. And it’s always nice to have a cause. Gives me a reason to use my gifts.

“Alright. I’m ready. What’s the mission details?”

“Find Julius Smote and kill him.”

“Then let’s get this overwith,” says Matthew as he opens the door to the apartment building.

Now that you’ve read it, I’d love your honest opinion in the comments. And feel free to link to any stories you’ve told that you’d like an opinion on also.