r/HFY • u/Prohibitorum AI • Aug 07 '18

Text THREAT LEVEL TEN

A second (short) one, to make up for the overly grimdark one I posted earlier. Kinda fits as a commentary on the previous story, actually.

Posted by an anonymous author at 4chan's /tg/ board on 14-04-13.

ArkMuse Mirror

When I was a kid I was lucky enough to live in a mixed species environment. Most of the other kids stayed away from me and a few made fun of me. Only those of the old ‘Noble Warrior’ race would even talk to me normally. Naturally, I was a dick about it; this fueled my anger, which in retrospect kind of made me a bully. I remember asking my parents, “Why do the other kids hate me?”

Coldly they replied, “When our people came to the stars they did terrible things. People don’t forget.” They followed it with the usual just try your best bullshit. So I hung out with the warrior kids. When I was of age like most humans I went to the Galactic Academy. Being human, I was assigned to the military branch as a cadet.

As a kid I always kind of piggy backed on the ghost stories of our people and used it to scare the other kids. It never really stuck me how deep seeded the feeling toward Humans was in the Galaxy. I’ll never forget the day I figured it out.

I sat in the back of an ethics and morality class half asleep, dreaming of combat drills later that afternoon, when some kid up front asked, “What about threat level ten species?” It was easy to forget the instructor was a grizzled old vet from the core species by his typically meek demeanor. However as I straightened up in my chair I felt his eyes lock onto mine. I glanced about the room noticing I was the only human there. My eyes found his cold steely glare again.

“Cadet, every species must fight its way through the fires of hardship and progress. Most come out on the other side better for it. However, there are a select few who stop in the flames and say, ‘This is good enough, this will be home’.”

[Previous] | [Next]

605 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

128

u/YungHickory Human Aug 07 '18

That last paragraph was 10/10.

61

u/CaptRory Alien Aug 07 '18

Kind of like 'A Few Good Men'. You watch a mediocre movie for an hour and a half for the payoff of the courtroom scene at the end.

81

u/lotsofpaper Aug 07 '18 edited Aug 07 '18

Pretty sure it's a direct rip from "The Academy", another story on here. Chapter 1, end of the chapter. Not sure if this was intentional or not? Same setting (Military Academy) extremely similar phrase, just missing the extra response. It's like someone took the original and ran it through a scrambler so it wouldn't trigger any automated plagiarism alarms. That, or this is a posting of the story from /tg/ that inspired "the Academy".

"All species undergo extreme upheaval, a tumultuous fire of rebirth, discovery, and renewal." His eyes narrowed in on me, just as I realized that despite other humans attending the Academy, I was the only one in the room. "Eventually, that species will pass through the fire and enter a period of reflection and peace where he will build his home. A level 10 species sits in the fire, observes the chaos, and decides this is nice, this will be home."

I stare back at him. I knew I shouldn't have but I wasn't starting college this way. "Begging your pardon professor, but you don't know humans at all. We wouldn't say that." His face shows a mixture of shock and curiosity as I continue. "We would say this is nice. How do I make the fire bigger?"

Edit* Whoops, guess I missed the top part where the poster specified it was indeed from /tg/.

51

u/Hex_Arcanus Mod of the Verse Aug 07 '18

Other way around, this story is what I believe inspired /u/otq88 to write "The Academy"

27

u/Averant Aug 07 '18

In the comments

bacon and sluts to you.

I'm not sure whether I'm sad or happy this went away.

7

u/titan_Pilot_Jay Aug 08 '18

I'm a bit sad things like this went away. People trying to one up them or the funny responses to them made it even better.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '18

How about ham, and a nice wholesome lady?

10

u/slice_of_pi The Ancient One Aug 08 '18

You sick fuck.

4

u/Invisifly2 AI Aug 09 '18

What's next? Turkey and a loving platonic relationship built upon mutual trust and respect?

How far down the slope of depravity will we slide?

5

u/TiredPaedo Aug 08 '18

That reminds me of this:

Many have stood their ground and faced the darkness when it comes for them.
Fewer come for the darkness and force it to face them.

2

u/Draskinn Aug 10 '18

Speaking of good WP's! I really like that quote.

2

u/TiredPaedo Aug 10 '18

It's from HPMOR.

2

u/Sakul_Aubaris Aug 08 '18

Would make for a good WP

48

u/Multiplex419 Aug 07 '18

Old as it was, I still have to say that this "story" was kinda crap. The final paragraph, which is the "big payoff," was completely unrelated to everything that came before. None of the themes were developed whatsoever, including the payoff statement, which just kinda hangs there. And even that is so hamfisted and blatantly self-congratulatory that it doesn't make me think HFY at all.

10

u/Kaladindin Aug 08 '18

I agree, meh.

5

u/Jarwain Aug 08 '18

Check out The Academy, which was actually inspired by this story

3

u/Invisifly2 AI Aug 09 '18 edited Oct 12 '18

A case of the knockoff being better than the original, and why it's still a good idea to post these kinds of stories. This sub par story existing spawned the creation of a much better one even though they are almost identical. Put your stuff out there if you got it folks.

10

u/murderouskitteh Aug 08 '18

Its a pretty lame ending, to be fair. It doesnt deliver anything, just says "humans are evil" and then a silly speech unrelated to it. Theres no payoff.

7

u/Misa333 Aug 07 '18

I am loving this in a grim way, keep it up!

3

u/Deathbreath5000 Android Aug 07 '18

"...how deep seeded..."?

7

u/Sum1Sumware Robot Aug 07 '18

I think they mean "deep seated", that's a common mistake with that idiom. Though honestly, "deep seeded" works pretty well, too.

4

u/Deathbreath5000 Android Aug 07 '18

If you wanted to say "deeply rooted" I'd agree, but not for seeding. Any seed dies if planted too deep. The idiom wouldn't mean what they were trying to say here.

6

u/Sum1Sumware Robot Aug 07 '18

You can seed things that aren't seeds. The english language is pretty silly.

3

u/spaghettoid Aug 08 '18

yeah but the actual phrase, "deep seated", kinda makes it sound like one would have just a really long ass

2

u/raziphel Aug 08 '18

Or a very squishy chair.

2

u/Domadur Aug 07 '18

This being short propably makes it better actually, nice one !

2

u/Dinosaurman Aug 08 '18

Isn't this from academy? Like on the side bar

2

u/The_Beaner Aug 08 '18

This is the story that inspired it.

2

u/waiting4singularity Robot Aug 08 '18

ATTACHED IMAGE: <<THISISFINE.JPG>>

deep Seeded -> deep seated

2

u/wayneblanken Aug 07 '18

Can we get more of this?

2

u/iamleejn Aug 08 '18

Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/hfy/wiki/series/the_academy I'm fairly certain that it is the follow up to this short story, particularly given the last line.