What are the limits of human ingenuity? Usually it is Nature who decides when a species is no longer worthy of continuation, but humans alone are able to truly understand their own limitations. However, understanding what you cannot do is not always enough, and eventually Nature decided to put human ingenuity to the ultimate test. Unfortunately, humanity knew they would fail that test the moment it was revealed. Unable to save themselves, they created something that could: PSYOPS.

Some quick info on the setting: It is generally believed that hominids lost their thick fur around 1.2 million years ago or so, give or take. However, for the sake of this story, Homo neanderthalensis will have thicker body hair than Homo sapiens (not bear-thick, but still thicker). There are two reasons I have chosen to do this: (1) They lived in the colder regions. (2) Homo neanderthalensis appears to have had primitive clothing compared to Homo sapiens; basically just fur capes, while Homo sapiens had more advanced stitching and more tightly tailored clothing (which kept them more warm). So I feel having neanderthals a little more hairy than Homo sapiens is a reasonable liberty for me to take in this story.

As for language and technology, both Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis shared almost identical vocal anatomy where it matters. Despite neanderthals not having left behind nearly as much advanced artwork, they very likely had complex language just like Homo sapiens. As for fire technology, for the purpose of this story I am assuming that different hominid tribes were further advanced than others, irrespective of species. The neanderthal tribe the protagonist comes from has yet to master creation of fire.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Update: Put an End Game link on the same page the Epilogue link is, so you can skip it if you want, since it is so unpopular ;) .

The plague has come.

Humanity's brief moment on the clock of existence is winding down. As the undead slowly replace the living, the experts and leaders of the world have told you to accept this new reality, and survive the best you can.

And worst of all, they didn't tell you of the shame: the shame you feel as you watch your loved ones being torn apart by your own cold, undead hands...

________________________________________________________________

The Story of Count Osmond Jorgensen

There's no price a good man won't pay to save the woman he loves...

It was an unlikely marriage, but still somehow a happy one. Though he barely knew her, Count Osmond Jorgensen counted himself fortunate on the day of his wedding. Talia was more than he could have ever hoped for: beautiful, temperate, and always smiling. Osmond was fully taken, and believed that he would do anything for her. Over the years, he discovered just how far he'd go for the woman he loved.

WARNING: There isn't much by way of blatantly graphic sex in this storygame, but there are plenty of deviant erotic situations, including some pretty rapey ones. If such scenarios disturb you, this storygame probably isn't for you.

At its core, this storygame is a tale of a screwed up BDSM relationship, which you cultivate as the ultimate "sub." The goal of this storygame is to get your boss to engage in as many "unprofessional" acts as possible, and to eventually sway him into falling for you, all without getting fired along the way. If you make the right decisions, the game escalates from event to event, bringing you closer and closer to a relationship with your boss. It's pretty linear, and you'll know for certain if you get the "winning" ending. Let's just say it will involve a leash and some public humiliation. *1/8/2019 Republishing to re-upload background images.

You work in a small law firm, performing both receptionist and data entry roles. Your job is thankless and tedious, but one thing keeps you coming back: your boss, Brandon Wheeler. Aloof and dispassionate, Wheeler exudes a muted but overwhelming power you find irresistible, and you are determined to tame that power, even if it costs you your career.

"It seems like the natural human behavior is to believe in the divine in some form or another."

It makes more sense to chalk that up to the human instinct for pattern and agency recognition. Kind of like seeing faces and shapes in clouds or stars.

Those kinds of answers probably took hundreds of years for brilliant people to figure out. Absolutely genius people found ways to rationalize these things (although to date there are still problems yet to be solved, which may never be solved, as mentioned in this thread).

Three thousand years later, the simpler answer is this god was created by people, and became more complex as the minds who contemplated it did as well, and these brilliant people retconned various aspects of the belief system to explain possible inconsistencies or changes. Of course, that approach short circuits theology and related sub-discipline of metaphysics which focus on Abrahamic versions of God. And even if the entire thing is fantasy, the academic discipline itself has as much value as anything else. And if it's real, maybe God will be pleased with people taking an analytic approach to understanding him.

"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

"Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?" - 1 Corinthians 14:1-6 ESV

I read that as "Speak in tongues on your own time."

It was Camelon, and it was just one post and one reply. Also, it was two years ago, not a few months ago. Getting old... Anyway, it must have been the C in the names that confused me. I am surprised at how mellow I responded, because I remember seething over the fact that the post was ripped off of some Institute of Creation Research article, but the article was, as per usual for that site, deceptive as fuck (not mad at Camelon at the time, but rather ICR).

Camelon's post in the thread: "In 2002 when 614,000 base pairs surrounding the site were sequenced and found no other similarities with ape chromosomes 2A or 2B."

Institute of Creation Research article: "In 2002, 614,000 bases of DNA surrounding the fusion site were fully sequenced, revealing that the alleged fusion sequence was in the middle of a gene originally classified as a pseudogene because there was not yet any known function for it."

Meanwhile, the paper that the Institute of Creation Research sited for the claim that Human Chromosome 2 is not a fused chromosome starts with: "Human chromosome 2 was formed by the head-to-head fusion of two ancestral chromosomes that remained separate in other primates." They literally took a paper and essentially argued directly against what it said. It gets a lot worse than that, if you actually read it.

Most annoying is that the author of the IDiot paper is arguing that we should expect a pristine and perfect telomere. Why the hell would a fused telomere be perfectly intact?

So this was the person I confused for Chris. And there was no asshole discussion, despite my jimmies being rustled somethin' fierce. I must have grown more immature since then.

You're right about the second part. I just forgot about CYS's culture.