Radiant Dawn knew that she was dying from the moment she gained consciousness. It wasn't the languishing kind that haunted every waking hour, reminding her that she was living against the clock.
No, this was a different form of dying altogether. It was as if there was an angry colony of ants gnawing away at her organs, crawling through her insides and trying to burst out through her skin. She groaned in pain, her breath forming clouds of condensation in the frigid air
Radiant pressed the rusty button that was supposed to open the hatch. The metal crunched loudly in protest, refusing to budge having fused itself together with age. The mare hissed in frustration and punched it with a hoof instead.
The device slid home and to her relief, the tinted window began to crack as designed. She fidgeted in her bed, watching impatiently as spiderwebs creeped through the enchanted quartz glass at an agonizingly sluggish rate.
Her throat tickled. Radiant coughed into her hooves, hacking up something wet and sticky. Blood. Radiant cringed, fur standing up on the back of her neck. Hoffmare's Syndrome wasn’t supposed to make her cough up blood.
Radiant swallowed the rest of the unpleasant gunk back down, cringing at the unpleasant metallic aftertaste in her mouth as she wiped her hoof on the threadbare cushions of her pod. She paused, like she was trained to and took a moment to assess the situation.
The only logical explanation was that the process meant to revive her had gone wrong, and she was down with some novel affliction. Radiant shivered at the thought, silently cursing at herself for finding a way to make her eventual death even more painful. Not being able to breathe was unpleasant enough, but coughing up blood was a whole new level of inconvenience.
In all fairness though, the scientists that devised this insane plan back in Equestria had tried to dissuade her. Radiant vaguely remembered combing through a thick stack of reports, complete with pictures of previous experiments that didn't come back quite the way they should in their attempt to dissuade her: dogs with stone limbs, a cat with a head of polished rock and other horrors best left unremembered.
The petrification matrix R&D had hacked together was a relatively new way of keeping living beings in stasis over long periods of time. Funnily enough, they had no qualms accepting a perfectly healthy changeling into the program. But her? Even the most ethically questionable scientists in Equestria grew squeamish when involving terminally ill patients.
Her parents didn’t approve when she announced her intentions to them. They wanted their daughter to stay at home with them “where she belonged”, which was an absurd notion since she was the best candidate for the job. Why condemn somepony perfectly healthy, with a full life ahead of them on a one way trip when they could fulfill the fillyhood dreams of somepony else with nothing to lose? She was meant to explore, not languishing herself away at home.
That was why she signed up with the Startrotter Association after all. She had hoped her contributions would help ponies explore the stars, until they found the Arion probe from a system thousands of light years away.
The body object had prompted the association to embark on the most ambitious mission of discovery in Equestrian history. The plan was to launch a vessel to make the trek to the probe's home system. When Equestrian space-travel had advanced sufficiently enough, they would send a ship to pick them up, if they hadn't arrived at the system.
From what Radiant understood, it was a long shot and more of a publicity stunt to get ponies interested in space. An endeavor like this traditionally called for an expeditionary scribe to log things down for the royal archives, and that was where Radiant came in.
Since the trip had a chance of ending up as a one way journey, her condition would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience at worst. She could do a lot in the ten years that she had, and if something happened to her on the way there, then she wouldn't even feel a thing while she was petrified.
The pain in her chest was growing worse now, and it felt like her lungs were starting to burn away. Radiant frowned, giving the hatch a cursory tap. The glass was supposed to shatter by now, and she wasn't sure if the air in here was still good for breathing after Celestia-knows-how-many years of marination with the elements. If the airtight seals were still, then she was was also looking at the very real risk of suffocating herself to death.
Radiant grimaced at the thought. She braced herself against her bed and bucked at the tinted glass, yelping as her hooves harmlessly bounced off the enchanted quartz and leaving her with nothing but a dull throbbing pain in her legs for the effort. She pressed the button again, panic welling up in her chest as nothing happened.
Her ears perked up at the sound of a muffled voice drifting from outside the pod, recalling that she wasn't supposed to be alone. Startrotter had sent two ponies on the trip, with the other being a changeling named Seefi. Stay with your buddy, and you'll never worry, went the mantra. "Hey! Seefi! Get your flank over here! I can't get out!" She croaked, tapping at the glass to get her companion's attention.
Seefi heard her alright, because the next thing Radiant knew was having her eardrums nearly destroyed with whatever spell the changeling was using to blast the pod. It was loud, grating and Radiant shoved her hooves into her ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound, watching in awe as an angry, glowing disc sliced through the hardened iron as if it was nothing more than butter.
She flinched as the spell sent sparks bouncing carelessly around her pod, lighting up the interior with a brightness that rivaled Celestia's sun. The bone-shattering buzzing seemed to go on forever until the dreaded hatch finally fell away with a triumphant clang, bathing Radiant with cool, fresh air from the outside.
Radiant gasped, taking in a lungful of the sweet air. "God dammit Seefi, that took you long enough. Turn the lights down will you? It's way too bright." She grumbled and promptly crumpled over, hacking up more blood and mucus all over the inside of her pod.
Guess I'm not using that as a bed anymore. Radiant clambered out of her resting place. She tried to stand with legs that didn't work right, managing to stumble around like some newborn foal before falling into an undignified heap on the cold floor. The earth pony blinked, noticing just how smooth the surface was. This wasn't the mesh panels of their ship. No, it smelled clean, if the faint smell of antiseptic was to be trusted.
Radiant looked up, finding a massive ceiling looming over her head. It was high enough to rival Princess Celestia's throne room but it was also sparsely decorated. Even the evenly spaced lighting crystals set in the gray masonry looked bland, a stark contrast to the tasteful filigree that adorned the chambers of the royal palace.
To her left was what seemed like a pedestal of sorts, propping up an oversized fish tank that was filled with an evil looking fluid which bubbled lazily ever so often. Combined with the strange metal machines connected to and the forest of tubes snaking around it, the device wouldn't have looked out of place in some mad scientist's basement.
Conclusion? This was not her ship or some residence for the planet's rulers - experience had taught Radiant that even the most thrifty of creatures couldn't give in to temptation and display at least some of their wealth. No, this place looked like a laboratory, probably one with a very specific purpose in mind. Whoever wanted to drag her stasis pod out of her ship all the way here probably had a very compelling reason to do so. But what?
A shape moved in her peripheral vision. Radiant Dawn turned her head, and that was when she saw them.
She gasped, clambering back to the pod. It was a wonder that she didn't wet herself. Aliens! No amount of preparation from could have prepared herself for this. Their mission was supposed to find the planet of the ape-like creatures that referred to themselves as the people of the earth. She knew that much from the Arion probe they found. Radiant had seen the pictures it carried, fully expecting to meet this race of "people", but the… things that greeted her seemed nothing like the ones the artifact carried.
The creatures, there were five of them, resembled the misshapen monkey things only in stature. Their bloated skin was a sickly shade of green that certainly didn't look like the chitin, fur or the ‘gelatinous membrane’ theorized by the scientists who briefed her. Radiant winced as their flesh crinkled, watching in morbid fascination as they lumbered towards her.
What was most unnerving was the smooth, featureless faces they had, making them look like golems. Radiant cringed internally as she stared at her reflection, suddenly wishing that she was back in the pod again. Wait a minute, where is Seefi?
She could search for her missing comrade later, but she needed to act now. The golem things looked impatient. Radiant gulped, putting on the biggest smile she could muster. As cheesy as the alien invasion Applewood films were, the fate of Equestria could very well depend on this moment. She wasn't about to let her fear get in the way of this, lest she be responsible for accidentally declaring war with them because she looked at them the wrong way.
Radiant gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore the fire slowly burning her lungs away. Hopefully, she would live long enough to relay something meaningful to them.
Radiant was no linguist, but that was why they had brought Equish reference guides along in the archives of their ship. Hopefully, there was somepony on the alien's side that had a special talent in language and had already deciphered enough to gain a basic comprehension of her language. Otherwise, it would be a terrible waste of time just to teach them enough Equish to ask if they had already eaten dinner.
In the end though, she didn’t get to say anything at all. Maybe it was the way she looked at them, or they didn't appreciate her dirtying up their clean floors. One of the golems with yellow stripes running down its body stuck out a limb in her direction, bellowing what sounded like a war cry. “stɑp ˈstændɪŋ əˈraʊnd! wi doʊnt hæv mʌʧ taɪm! ˈhɜri!”
Radiant froze as its unnaturally hollow sounding voice echoed across the room. The sound struck something in her, and despite all the conditioning that the Association had drilled into her for first contact, Radiant Dawn couldn't help but scream as the monsters started to run towards her.
She turned tail and ran, giving in to instincts that had kept her kind safe over the eons when chased by something. “stɑp ˈrʌnɪŋ gɑd ˈdæmɪt, wir ˈtraɪɪŋ tu hɛlp!” One of the golem-creatures swiped at her. Radiant barely managed to dodge in time, almost tripping over her legs.
“Yeah, screw you too!” Radiant shot back. Even with the magic of the earth flowing through her veins, the golems easily covered twice the distance she took with every step. Worse still, there was nothing that looked like an exit in the massive cavern. She couldn't keep running forever.
Her hooves felt numb and it was starting to get increasingly difficult for her to keep her balance. Still, Radiant pressed on, mustering every ounce of energy she could to dodge their swipes and flee.
“Buck!” Her legs gave up on her. Radiant yelped, skidding helplessly into the jumble of tubing beside the oversized tank. She tried to free herself, kicking and struggling against the inanimate tendrils. In her desperation, she only managed to trap herself deeper inside the tangle of rubber.
“aɪv gɑt ɪt!” Thundered a voice from behind shouted from behind, scooping her up with sinewy claws that easily wrapped around her chest. Radiant Dawn growled, kicking and nipping uselessly at the thing’s bitter tasting flesh. The golem didn't even flinch as it held her up, thudding noisily to the massive tank.
“Woah, h-hey! I can't breathe water!” Radiant squirmed as it lowered her inside the tank, her hooves touching the fluid. Whatever was inside wasn’t water. It was viscous and gooey and the liquid felt… alive.
She didn't know how to describe it, but the sensation wasn't so different as having thousands of little bugs crawl through her skin. Radiant struggled, trying to distance herself from the evil looking goo as the being hesitated and held her there. “ju ʃʊr ju wɑnt tu du ðɪs waɪl ʃiz əˈweɪk? jʊr ˈgoʊɪŋ tu draʊn hɜr əˈlaɪv ju noʊ?”
“wir ˈteɪkɪŋ ə bɪg ɪˈnʌf rɪsk æz ɪt ɪz. wi doʊnt noʊ ɪf ðɛr ˈbɑdiz kæn ˈhændəl ˈaʊər ˈmɛdəsən” Came the reply from behind her.
Radiant tensed up, unable to shake the feeling that this felt like the beginning of some bucked up sacrifice ritual. “Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!” Radiant hammered her hooves against its claws as it thrust her into the liquid. She gasped for air, swallowing mouthfuls of the foul tasting liquid and coughed violently as her lungs tried to expel the fluid, barely noticing the clouds of crimson that came back out.
It didn’t take long until she could swallow no more of the gunk, or put up any form of meaningful resistance as her cells ran out of oxygen to work with. The golem finally let her go, but Radiant was too weak to swim. She watched helplessly as she sank to the bottom of the tank, her vision fading to black as her brain shut down. She couldn't go out like this. She couldn't have. It just wasn't right for somepony to travel thousands of light years just to die like….
this….
Radiant Dawn's hooves twitched one last time and she slipped into the clutches of the gray mare.
There been other stories with Humans, but this with ponies doing the space travel is new, fav and follow
Strong opening! Can't wait for more :D
9975014
9974953
Thank you both so much!
Interesting! Let’s see where this goes!
Intriguing start. Looking forward toward more.
Nice to see someone going with the "petrification as hypersleep" idea.
voyager?
Okay, that was new. Tracking.
Wish there were more stories like this
More Please
This is a strong start, and a nice touch that it's possible to parse what the humans are saying despite Radiant's own lack of understanding.
I do hope that Seefi is also okay, if for no other reason than to have something familiar for Radiant Dawn. Especially after the ordeal of being put in what I suspect is a nanite saturated fluid.
There aren't nearly enough good stories with ponies in space, so looking forward to more.
This is an incredibly interesting and well thought out and done story. You brought the true realities out and didn't fall victim to the fallacy of universal reasoning. You have made an interesting perspective and looked at the equestrian side and realized just how much you would have to remove from observations and conclusions due to the radically different technologies and cultures. I salute you.
Thumbs-up from me. I especially like the effort put into making the dialog seem more alien from the main character's perspective. It's fairly easy to puzzle out what they're saying just based on context, but those little extra steps are like extra whipped cream on a pie, making something already awesome even better.
I'm glad to see the story getting more fleshed out.
And I feel huge respect for you having gone to the trouble of translating English into phonetics. Nice touch.
So from what I understand it has been so long that humans have a essentially evolved into the grays.
Neat.
9976434
This reads more like they are wearing some kind of protective suit. The "reflective face" is kind of a big hint.
Honestly, I'd be happier not knowing what the humans are saying, since you shoot yourself in the foot on tension. Good grasp of phonetics symbols, but if we're using Radiant Dawn's perspective then it stands to reason we shouldn't know what the humans are up to. This IS a third person limited, after all. The only information we should have access to is that which Radiant Dawn has access to. Again, neat use of phonetics, but...
It means that we know what the humans are doing, and their intent (to a degree), but since Radiant Dawn doesn't she's left playing catch-up to the reader. Makes for a clumsy narrative, because without some kind of contrived translation device we're going to be stuck in communication limbo but without any of the fun associated with trying to figure out what the unintelligible party is saying.
Try removing the human dialogue and substituting gibberish, then compare the two resulting scenarios. Instead of two factions who are mostly in line with each other (the goal being to get Radiant Dawn healed) but in conflict anyway (humans trying to help, Radiant Dawn doesn't know that but it's explicitly spelled out to readers), we'll have the protagonist in conflict with humans that lack a clear motivation because of their unknown intent. In the second scenario, for all the readers know they're intending to rip her open and stick probes in her.
Scenario A:
Why are they trying to capture her? Because she's out of the pod and injured, and they wish to help.
What are their plans? Stick her in a restorative nanomachine bath, looks like, but clearly holding friendly intent.
Where's Seefi? Don't know, but probably safe/not killed by humans since we know they have relatively benevolent intentions.
Where's the story going? Jolly cooperation and space friendship! Maybe some mean xenophobic humans or peeps after military applications for pony tech, but prolly going to be on the light-hearted side. No worries, happy endings for everyone!
In this instance, we as readers know more than we should know, because we should only know what Radiant Dawn knows. We know that she's with friendlies, but she doesn't. Why should we be concerned about her well-being? It's blatantly not in significant danger here. Where's the narrative tension?
Scenario B:
Why are they trying to capture her? We don't know. Potentially malevolent intent.
What are their plans? We don't know. Potentially to interrogate her for her home planet's location in order to launch an invasion. We don't know.
Where's Seefi? We don't know. The changeling could be dead, dissected, or worse at the hands of her captors, and its a realistic fear given we don't know what their intentions are.
Where is the story going? We. Don't. Know.
In this instance, we are restricted to Radiant Dawn's perspective and knowledge. Her decision-making and our judgement will be operating under the same information: The discernable info contained in the narrative, which is the only information Radiant Dawn has access to, 3rd person unlimited at the end of the chapter notwithstanding.
These questions only bring about significant narrative tension in scenario B, because the scenario A alleviates potential conflict/risk.
Second point of business is the use of a terminally ill astronaut. This one was actually what bugged me the most. In space, everything is trying to kill you, and a "minor inconvenience" is a lethal inconvenience. She might have the "most useless job" as a scribe, but if she's in space or a hostile environment she should be able to do just as much as the rest of the crew, within reason, ideally with a similar operational lifespan (that is, as long as posible). Suppose Seefi was incapacitated? Radiant needs to be at par to pick up the slack. If she has a time limit of ten years, that means that assuming she drops dead at year 10, Seefi is going to have to pick up all the slack afterwards. And that's assuming she doesn't require medical care/looking after prior to year 10.
Third, a space-faring pony cannot into hazard suits. This... hurt. If you're going to give a character the idiot ball, don't do so immediately after demonstrating that she's capable of rational thought. Presumably she knows that space is dangerous and thus has knowledge of space suits and protective gear, and presumably she knows what clothing is, and further presumably the Arion probe contained sufficient information on humans to know that clothes is a big part of our culture. Further, one would think that she knows what quarantine is? So, why on Earth does she then look at a group of obvious humans wearing clothing and think, "Oh herpy derp, they're bad must escape"? On that note, why are the humans wearing reflective masks instead of transparent ones?
Also, what's up with the pony scientists theorizing humans have a gelatinous membrane or chitin? What? The probe has pictures, for godsakes. You're telling me no one sent along a selfie? And why would you send an astronaut who panics so thoroughly at the sight of the unknown? And why did the humans not already have a set game-plan for dealing with their patient in the event of panic? Why do they have open coms that let the pony know that things are not all well? If you as a doctor are panicking in front of a patient, then that patient is going to panic. Same applies here.
You've got my upvote, but I hope you spend some time making revisions. There's some grammatical errors here and there, but I mostly concern myself with the storytelling. Either way, good job and welcome to Fimfiction!
9976468
Wow! That's a pretty thorough analysis of areas that I need to work on. O.o
I'll take them under consideration!
Thanks for the feedback!
9975685
Try Arrow 18 for one of the most iconic first contact stories in the fandom.
Another iconic take on first contact is Arad's Stardust, which is an XCOM crossover that doesn't require knowledge of the source material.
Celestia Sleeps In and its ongoing sequel are probably my favorite non-science fiction first contact fics on this site. They're both incredible and must reads.
If you like transformations and nanomachines, then Project: Sunflower should probably hold your interest for quite a while.
There's also Outside the Reaching Sky, which is a very different kind of first contact, but I won't spoil it for you.
If you're into moon landings, check out Luna's Return Trajectory.
Following on the moon landings, why not Mars? The Maretian is a fantastic adaptation of the book/film of the less punnished title. Highly recommended if you're into hard scifi and snark.
Not a comprehensive list by any means, but hopefully one of the above will catch your fancy!
9976477
You're welcome, I hope that it helps.
Great story. I went to the link and read your earlier story, that was good, and I can’t wait for more of this.
Has anyone else tried translating the humans yet? This is what I got:
Stop standing around! We don’t have enough time! Hurry!
Stop running, God dammit, we’re trying to help!
I’ve got it!
Do you want to do this while she’s awake? Your going to drown her alive now?
We’re taking a big enough risk as it is. We don’t know if her body can handle the medicine.
9976499
Dang it I’ve already read all of those, except Celestia sleeps in. Two questions. Do you have more? Does Celestial sleeps in pick up at all? I read the first two or three chapters, got bored and left it. Should I go back?
Hrrmm. What is this interesting new story of intersteller exploration and nihilistic pony redemption that has crossed my feature box? *reads*
...moooaar?
9977085
Celestia Sleeps In is very long, takes a very methodical (or tedious, depending on your perspective) approach to its storytelling, and the core plot threads have not even begun to be addressed - and the story's been quiet for more than a year.
I'm watching this story, though. I'm eager to see where this goes.
This was by far my favorite entry to that contest when I saw the results a few days ago. Really excited to see you do more with the story. Do hope the burn is slower. Seems like there'd be lot of directions for it to go.
9977080
Oh hey! I was gonna post my own translations until I saw this!
There are a couple of things I disagree on, though:
Yours: Do you want to do this while she’s awake? Your going to drown her alive now?
Mine: You sure you want to do this while she's awake? You're going to drown her alive, you know?
Yours: We’re taking a big enough risk as it is. We don’t know if her body can handle the medicine.
Mine: We're taking a big enough risk as it is. We don't know if her body can handle our medicine.
I'm just wondering how these human have "bloated skin" with a "sickly shade of green". First thought that popped up is some kind of mutation as result of radiation from a nuclear attack, while the second is some weird infectious disease.Absolute brain derp.
They're wearing biohazard suits. Should have known from "smooth, featureless faces".
9976499
AH! SO MANY OF MY FAVORITES!!!
Gotta check out the ones I haven't read. Never knew there was a sequel to the Dread Chitin!
9977505
Clearly you have good taste!
There was actually supposed to be a sequel to Outside the Reaching Sky, but Karazor went AFK/dead before it went into full production according to his last blog on the subject. I've tried poking him a couple of times, but at this point I think he might be gone for good. :(
If you want any recs, feel free to short me a PM!
Well color me interested.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
9977495
Excellent. You basically fixed all the bits I was unsure of, but couldn’t think of a better translation for.
9976468
From a literary standpoint, this fellow is right. No Understanding of the aliens = more tension and the author sharing in the MCs fear & confusion.
But me personally, I like it. If the intro was another typical humans are space monsters fic (or appeared to be) I would have passed it by after one chapter. As it stands, I’ve faved it and am waiting for more.
9978080
Subverted tropes comes at cost. Remember all the dramatic tension when Rey gives Luke back his lightsaber in The Last Jedi?
Remember how hyped you were for the adventure to continue?
Now recall how all that excitement got tossed out the window when Luke threw his lightsaber away a moment later. The culmination of the previous movie, and it's thrown away like it's nothing for the sake of a cheap gag.
Subverting tropes comes at cost.
The narrative is weaker for it, and the result ends up being the same anyway if the author follows his original intent with the plot. Same outcome, but it's much more riveting and tense. There's more at stake.
You might drop it after a single chapter (Don't read a book by its cover!), but I expect the literarily correct version would hold more attention than the other. Old truths and all that.
More AWESOME chapters please!
9976021
Either a nanite bath or some form of hyper-oxygenated fluid. I'm thinking the latter since it's easier to make given "near future" tech rather than something quite a ways off still. Seems silly to just drown her like that closing scene reads from her perspective.
9978316
I've actually never seen The Last Jedi. So I can't relate that example.
Though that would prolly just piss me off. Channel sweetie for an "OH COME ON".
I get that the other way is the right way. I get that more people would benefit from it being that way.
I wanted the author to know someone liked it this way.
9978340
Medical micro machines (not quite nanite scale, but getting there) are current expiremental tech. We're closer to nanomachines than you might realize, so it's not out of the scope of possibility if the right improvements are found to have nanites in the near future.
Either way, you're right that it would also be hyper-oxygenated.
Wonder what the hell they were doing. Advanced medical procedure? Cryo?
Clearly one asks "are you trying to drown it?", so they aren't meaning to kill.
9978364
Be glad for that ignorance, comrade. Surely, it is bliss. Damn movie ruined Star Wars for me.
And I understand what you mean, letting the writer know what you like. I'm just wary about bad writing habits and someone is wrong on the internet memes.
9978746
Oh god, The Last Jedi. I actually watched that before TFA. It's amazing how they could pull a total 180 and make the sequel that bad.
9978746
9978773
Worry not, my Star Wars innocence was destroyed long ago.
I’ve seen the infamous Holiday Special. It’s not worth it.
I also remember made-for-children Ewok movies from the 80s/early 90s.
I didn’t carry on after TFA because it struck me as a remake of Episode IV with a better (more sense plot-wise) main character but overall a worse movie.
Figured TLJ and ROS would be Empire and Return of the Jedi.
9978773
9978811
Wow, that's unfortunate. I'm of the lucky generation that never saw the weird 80s/90s crap, but grew up on the OT and the EU books, and the creative boom in the 2000s. So, healthy dose of neat storytelling and creative output, but without all the immediate cash-ins you had to deal with.
For the love of God, DO NOT watch anything after TFA, if you want to preserve any fond memories of Star Wars. TFA is tolerable for nostalgia's sake as an Episode IV clone, but anything after that in the sequel trilogy is pretty much untouchable. Beautiful visuals and fights, but it'll shit all over your fondness for the characters from the earlier movies. I WISH TLJ and ROS were just rehashed Eps V and VI.
Rogue One was okay, though. Solo was meh at best, and I haven't seen The Mandalorian aside from Yoda memes.
Have to say I'm finding this concept really interesting and I'm very excited excited to see what will happen with such a interesting first contact.
Interesting premise! So, if Earth is thousands of lightyears away, then it has been tens of millennia since we launched the Voyager. Is humanity dead, or have we ascended?
9984839
If this is a sequel to the Voyager story I'm thinking of then humanity suffered a major collapse that was implied to be a potentially extinction level event. But by the sounds of it this is a group of humans wearing hazard suits literally dunking an alien in nanomachines so it sounds like we survived, just got severely delayed by said disaster.
I'm not normally interested in sci-fi on this site, but I love the description in this chapter. There's a lot of intrigue and suspense. I also like that you used IPA for the aliens, because I can sort-of understand what they're saying.
The human language is so hard to read, even though it's supposed to be English.
Coughing blood? Try sneezing blood... It was not fun...