hey all, i noticed that my car’s coolant levels were low after topping it up a few months ago. while it is still in the acceptable range, i do find it concerning as to where this coolant is going. can the car naturally lose coolant, seeing as how half of it is just water? i checked under my car for leaks and have yet to find any. as well as that, i checked my dipstick and oil cap to see if it mixed w my oil and nothing. any advice? i dont know if it’s related, but the coolant levels will be higher after driving for a bit then drop down the next day. any help in diagnosing this would be greatly appreciated. car is 2013 mini cooper non-s

Need some help with starting my Westinghouse 8500W/7000W generator. It has good compression and created spark but won’t run. If I spray starter fluid into the carb, it will start on the 2nd pull for about half a second then shut itself off. Here is a list of things I have done:
-Replaced the old gas with new gas (did this twice) -Cleaned the carb as best I could (it was pretty dirty and is rusted where the float sits, but now fuel flows into the carb and the injection hole is clean) -Unclogged the fuel line -Added oil -Replaced the spark plug with a good one (both of them seem to work fine) -Sanded off some of the rust where the ignition coil contacts with the engine (don’t know what this part is called)
It’s missing the battery and air filter cover. If I remove the yellow thing sticking out of the carburetor, fuel leaks out of it; I don’t know what it’s supposed to connect to. Gas tank is slightly rusted.
I think it might need a new carb, but please share some advice on what else to check. First time dealing with an electric start motor. I’m running out of ideas.

Hi everyone
Huge fan and been on here multiple times.
Cutting to the chase, I just need hints/tips for when looking at a W221 2006 S500 (5.5 Liter) (in a few days). Here's what I know at this moment:
152 000km $10,000 FSH, owned by a Doctor from age 71 to 88 when he unfortunately passed, hasn't been 'owned' since, being sold by the person who inherited it
Possible issues:

1. Falls in the Engine Code with the guide idler gear wear

You can look at the VIN/Engine number and you'll see this M273 engine falls slap bang in the middle of the error. I will only be able to tell on viewing whether or not this has been looked at, is there something *specific I should look for in the books? Again, not the OG owner (he has passed) so the seller won't know. I am planning on taking an OBD tester with, I know the codes to look for, but in case it's been cleared.

1. Suspension

Apparently, the air suspension is sound atm, but how would I test at the viewing besides lowering the car up and down I guess?

1. CAM Plug Oil Leak

I am taking a mechanic with me to do the inspection, so, we just remove these to see the 'seepage'?

1. VIM Actuator Cam Breakage

Absolutely not clue how we'd look for this? Rough idle?

1. Water leakage in cabin and engine bay
   
2. Electronics (especially seats and AC)
   

My question to you guys (a big one) are the ones above and what else am I missing? We live next a coast so will look for rust, but this car looks great and has less than 10,000 km per year (driven by a 70 year old, so, doubt it's been trashed).
I realize some of these might be incredibly dumb questions, but thank you for the help. Also, I am aware this is not a cheap vehicle to maintain, but I also only do 4,000 - 6,000 km per year at most (I work from home). That said, I am willing to keep up with extremely regular maintenance and treat the car well. I don't race, I don't trash, I love those things but I wouldn't do them myself.
Thank you all for your help

is it normal for me to ask my mechanic to put a specific brand of oil in my car when taking it in for oil change, or would that piss them off? asking because there’s a slight leak and i have to top off the oil every now and again, and i want to have the same type of oil as whats in the car

Hello!
large batch of cleanouts from me some freinds/teammates. I will do my best to get back to each and every one of you but this oils the largest listing I have done in quite some time. First come first serve if i don't hear a response within 24 hrs. I will move on to the next person in queue if there is one. Just trying to be clear and avoid any messes.
Prices DO Not include shipping and are all OBO unless noted otherwise. Not really interested in trades at this point well maybe (I have a odd interest in a m1919 ) but feel free to ask and or offer, but really cash is king. I can quote USPS, UPS, and FEDEX. Payments handled via PayPal and local pickup is a option in east central WI.
Most of the smaller items are Flexible and or I am willing to deal on if buying other stuff.
​
NPO AEG VSK 94 w 9a-91 kit
Pics: https://imgur.com/a/fQKSUhB
Sales overview: https://youtu.be/ypG28woLCXg
New never fielded NPO AEG VSK94 all stock, Includes the gun, Upgraded lightweight suppressor, 4 additional midcap mags (for a total of 5), conversion parts if you wanted to convert it to the 9a-91 (grip, upper reciever w folding stock, outer barrel, inner barrel, and barrel nut if running it without supressor and original manuals and documentation. This is a beautiful odd gun that is absolutely built like a tank all steel receiver with a hard phosphate coat same as the real deal. the VSK94 historically is/was used by the spetsnaz, fsb count4er terrorism units and other russian special forces as a 9x39 subsonic DMR as a easier to manufacture alternative to the likes of VSS. The 9A-91 primarily has seen use with Russian police forces. It is used as a cheaper and more versatile alternative to the SR-3M Vikhr
I did a video look at this gun in detail here: https://youtu.be/6Aop8yqT5Gc . Gun was shipped in parts from russia, so no original box, I assembled it and went over install and reviewed it as i went. I did also examine the gearbox as well while it was out of the gun. You can find a internal review here: https://youtu.be/7uyfZ__9r3Q
Asking $875 Obo for everything
​
KWA RM4 ERG Magpul edition
Pics: https://imgur.com/a/q6SIBzQ
Sales Overview: https://youtu.be/7AS_XO12oX4
This gun is used I have fielded it a few times but pretty low milage (i tend to collect more than I play).
Package include, Gun, 1x 30 rnd mag w/cutoff, 6x K120c's with cutoff, Leapers red/green dot, magpul backup rear iron sight, and original spring/recoil weight.
Internally

• cleaned regreased re shimmed,
• AOE and airseal work
• new bearing piston head
• oring aluminum air snozzle
• High torque neo motor.
• basic mosfet install with self resetting fuse
• Prommy 6.03mm tightbore barrel
• the Ulysses recoil system for KWA ERG's (this is only available in Korea and took some doing to get here) this is adjustable system that lets you go from about a m90 to about m110 in power while safely increasing the felt recoil, I have heard others comment its close ish to 9mm in terms of recoil by far the most you will get out of a electronic recoil system but its still a little weird as it technically recoils forward.

This gun is a blast to use, but it really wasnt getting the feild time from me over my other replicas so decided to sell it. Its a great PTW or "realistic" training type of weapon due to functioning bolt cutoff and that all mags can be locked to a realistic 30 rounds if desired, disabling the trigger after the last round fired and requiring you to hit the bolt release after changing a mag before you can fire again (note its not a GBBR the bolt doesn't actually blow back)
Asking $550 OBO
​
​
Agency Arm G17 Fatal 13 Build
pics: https://imgur.com/a/6P5y5ZM
sales overview: https://youtu.be/VOopPJtGkiU
This was a personal build fielded a few times, was really my fist deep dive into pistol building and stippling.
Includes

• G17 With RMR
• 1x we short mag
• 2x WE extended mags
• Plano case (if you want it has custom cut lower section for this gun but will likely increase shipping costs)
• Box of spares/additional parts see video for full details but most of a we g18, two frames, nozzle rmr cutout plate. and agency arms Glock backplate

Build itselft is CNC aluminum G17/18 agency arms slide ported on the top. High pro sights, RMR replica (will include a new battery for it). Lightweight BBU, Guarder nozzle, Threaded aluminum outer barrel, stainless steel inner barrel lapped with a maple leaf bucking and ikey, increased dual recoil spring, Agency arms trigger, agency arms magwell. Custom frame work stippling done by your truly.
Asking $355 obo
​
VFC FNX 45 Tactical Pics: https://imgur.com/a/n8q4sL2
Sales overview: https://youtu.be/nGLHiVKC7mo
VFC FNX 45 tactical with original box 2 additional leak free mags (for a total of 3), spare backstrap, and 3 spare mag seals. used in good condition full stripped cleaned and relubricated before sale. picked it up as I had been wanting one for awhile, but then got bitten by the AAP bug.
Asking $165 obo
​
MODI/Flyee JPC Coyote New
pics: https://imgur.com/a/foZcnZe
MODI/flyee JPC size L in coyote brown brand new never fielded. decided I'm really just more of a chest rig guy. made from 500D ballistic nylon has a wide range of adjustment and has the proper rubberized webbing sort of material on the shoulder straps. Includes original closed cell foam plates.
Asking $65
​
Golden Eagle GBBR NIB
https://imgur.com/a/Eya0qn6
Selling this never been gassed or fired can be tested or chono'd on request. The GE GBBR system is a WA clone this means you can use WA upgrade parts (Which basically means GHK parts as they also run on the WA system). The receiver is Polymer but the hand guard and barrel are metal. The handguard is what they call the delta style which is sort of this interesting almost triangular shape see pics. From what I have heard these may not be the most amazing GBBR but are a fair base/entry into the GBBR world without breaking the bank with reasonable aftermarket part support.
evike link: https://www.evike.com/products/81101/ (its the delta mlok 13") if you want more details
Asking $175 OBO
​
Echo1 TROY TRX M7A1 M4 (7" variant)
https://imgur.com/a/pIyejic
Another Entry sort of gun metal upper and lower, was originally destined to be a custom build out for a team mate but ended up going another direction. comes with standard nicad/nimh and basic wallwort charger, personally i would still look to move over to lipo but its a starting point. Troy industries trades on the receiver sights etc. Interesting battery compartment/buttstock setup
evike link: https://www.evike.com/products/63918
asking $175 OBOSOLD
​
Matrix Raystar M4
https://imgur.com/a/6oR02Kc
New in box, selling for a freind. Stock was originally damaged in shipping and was replaced, original buttstock will be included as well but as mentioned is cracked.
Poly upper and lower comes with everything pictured. Interesting design on their flash mag I kind of like the larger pull tab. Not a whole ton to talk about its new and its a cheaper starting gun.
Asking $110 OBO
​
Cybergun Python .357 NIB (4" version)
https://imgur.com/a/dDxhg4D
Its a Co2 revolver not too much to say, unfortunately it is one of the hotter shooting variants shooting a quoted 380-410 FPS range with .2's. Comes with the 6 Shells and speed loader. New in box never used or fired.
here is product link if you need any more info https://www.evike.com/products/93884#pagetabs
Asking $75SOLD
​
M4 Short mags
pics: https://imgur.com/a/4adAUBI
70 rnd sort pmag clones with ranger plates and top covers.
asking $20 for the lot of 3 or $8 ea
​
SRS Project/Scrap Stock
https://imgur.com/a/HhPArrP
Was originally a tan stock used as a dye test for dying the nylon fiber a camo pattern and masking techniques. Then later was modified and material removed to test fitment of a CO2 reg into the stock. you still should be able to lock-on the stock plate or the spacers but you will be missing several of the latching or locking teeth on the sides.
Asking $10 OBO
​
Gate Aster V2 rear wired.
https://imgur.com/a/Odqb6zy
Not OEM packaing but brand new never installed comes with all the materials required to install
Asking $65 OBO
​
Compact Rail mounted 40mm Grenade Launcher
https://imgur.com/a/NzdMd9N
Evike link (visually explains it better as product shown out of pkg): https://www.evike.com/products/21995
Really more of a minimalist 40mm grenade shell holder picatinny mount. See evike link for more details on usage/installation options as I didn't want to open it for product photography.
Asking $20 OBO
​
LCT OD G3 Grip
https://imgur.com/a/ronpy55
Asking $8 obo
​
Hi Capa Mag bodies
https://imgur.com/a/wtpaeKQ
jsut the bodies themselves if you have a damaged or beat up one AW/WE in origin I believe, no valves or other parts included.
Asking $8 for the lot or $3 ea
​
Silverback Parts
https://imgur.com/a/j2CYfoI
Silverback Fast Hopup (right)
New unused Silverback Fast hopup for srs rotary style adjustment takes aeg buckings.
asking $35 obo
​
"SOFT AIR" SCAR springer
https://imgur.com/a/juQgNyK
yep lovely pretty plastic scar spring rifles brand new in box and yep not great, on the plus side I believe they take a standard AEG style mag, have 1 left available.
PRICE ill toss one in with any major purchase if you ask or $10 + shipping
​
​
HK 51 Extended outer barrel (believe it was designed for the CA series)
https://imgur.com/a/vOodtA0
14MM CCW its a extended outer barrel nuff said
Asking 12 OBO
​
​
Smaller Stuffs (desc should be on the image in the Imgur album)
Make offers here!
https://imgur.com/a/zemAXXF

Description	QTY	Price	status
M4 Target Grip. basically PSG1 style grip for M4's	1	$12	SOLD
LBX Project Honor Camo/Sets. https://imgur.com/a/AYVcpOH	Small combat Shirt x2, Youth Pant x1 (fit the wife) measured 30-32 waist	$10ea or 18 per set or 15 for whats left OBO	Small/youth set 30-33 waist via measuring SOLD SOLD SOLD
ACU UCP Unuforms, coat and kneepads https://imgur.com/U9dkEWB	2x Lg/long pants (34-36 i think), 2 lg/long shirts, 1x parka, 1x knee-pads/elbopads	$ 15 per set or 9 per piece. parka $15 obo and knee-pads/elbopads $8 OBO for the lot
MISC Pouches and Gear	Drop leg platform, bowman headset, longer smg type taco, 3 cell ACU mag pouch, black camo holster, 2x black holster, handcuff? pouch, Desert storm era Goggles (for looks I dont think i would trust them)	$ ~2-4 Ea or make a offer	Only handcuff pouch, left available
"China Camo"	1x MC set 32-34 waist has darts in it to enlarge not sure exct size but perhaps up to 36?, 1x desert camo forget the name 32 ish waist. 1x 32 Mossy oak pants.	$ 8 per set or 4 per piece OBO

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Freebies:
anything in THIS image https://imgur.com/F8lFh1J
also this nagant stock its plastic for a Co2 nagant 44 https://imgur.com/a/o4Xl5CQ free just cover shipping or bundle with anything else
​
whew there we go, and i do have permission to keep this separate from my services thread.

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 92%. (I'm a bot)

11:20 p.m. Kenya will sign a trade pact with Russia aimed at boosting cooperation among businesses, President William Ruto's office says, after hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Nairobi.
2:50 p.m. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says in an interview published on Russian state television on Sunday that if any other country wanted to join a Russia-Belarus union there could be "Nuclear weapons for everyone." Russia moved ahead last week with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in the Kremlin's first deployment of such warheads outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, spurring concerns in the West.
10:45 p.m. Ukraine strikes oil pipeline installations deep inside Russia with a series of drone attacks including on a station serving the vast Druzhba oil pipeline that sends Western Siberian crude to Europe, according to Russian media.
9:30 p.m. Russian forces intercept two long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles supplied to Ukraine by Britain, Russia's Defence Ministry says.
Russians will attack the site and announce that radioactive substances have leaked out, blaming Ukraine and triggering an international investigation to force a cease-fire that would give Russia time to regroup, the directorate says, without providing evidence.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the ministry says the warship had been protecting the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines - which carry gas from Russia to Turkey - and "Continues to fulfill its tasks." The statement appeared likely to raise tensions in the Black Sea, where Russia agreed only last week to extend a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely from its seaports.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Russia^#1 Ukraine^#2 Russian^#3 Ukrainian^#4 p.m.^#5
Post found in /worldnews, /UkrainianConflict and /ukraine.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

I use pretty hardcore body sunscreen that requires double cleansing with an oil to remove. I use a separate cleansing oil for my face (the body one breaks me out so I need two separate). I’ve had trouble with leaks with these items and I’m hoping for suggestions on liquid containers that are leakproof regardless of contents.

Hi, I’m actually so much confused about weather I should get my JC Petrol Remapped or not?
Problem:
I’ve Jeep Compass 2019 Petrol Automatic which feels really sluggish on Initial Gears or Below 2,000 RPM. Like with this car Bumper To Bumper traffic feels so hectic to drive.
My Attempt to Fix it: I took it to Jeep Service Centre as I suspected Transmission Oil issue but they said it doesn’t needs to be changed ever until leaked. However, They changed my Spark Plugs and Cleaned Throttle Body. But seems like the delay is real and problem still exists.
Remapping Attempt: Now, I searched about Remapping and that is something which promises all problems i am facing however I’ve few queries:

1. I’ve heard that after tuning the engine gets over heated easily so engine components will wear and tear much faster than it’s original pace.
   
2. As for that excess torque the clutch plates too gets extra wear and tear, how do we fix that? As you already know the clutch and infact the whole DDCT is quite expensive.
   
3. What are the power outputs after re-map for 7 Speed Automatic DDCT, Petrol.
   
4. Currently, this DDCT feels relaxed and lathargic. Can after tuning this can be fixed?
   
5. Does it improve mileage a bit?
   

Thanks for your time.

Super Duplex Globe Valve Manufacturer in USA

Valvesonly is the biggest supplier of Super Duplex globe Valves manufacturer in USA. A super duplex globe valve is a specialized type of valve that is used to regulate the flow of fluids in industrial piping systems. This type of valve is made from super duplex stainless steel, which provides excellent resistance to corrosion and other forms of wear and tear.
The valve consists of several key components, including the body, bonnet, disc, stem, seat, gland, handwheel, and actuator. The body is the outer shell of the valve, while the bonnet is a cover that houses the stem and packing gland. The disc is a movable part that controls the flow of fluid through the valve, and the stem connects the disc to the handwheel or actuator.
The seat is a ring-shaped component that seals the valve to prevent leaks, while the gland is a packing assembly that seals the stem as it passes through the bonnet. The handwheel is a wheel-shaped component that is used to manually open or close the valve, while the actuator is an automated device that can be used to control the valve remotely.
Overall, a super duplex globe valve is a highly specialized and durable valve that is essential for regulating the flow of fluids in complex industrial piping systems. Its high resistance to corrosion and other forms of wear and tear make it an ideal choice for use in harsh industrial environments.
Parts:
· Body
· Bonnet
· Disc
· Stem
· Seat
· Gland
· Handwheel
· Actuator
Industries it is used in-
The majority of businesses that utilise super duplex globe valves include
- Shipbuilding
-Chemical industry
-Seawater desalination
- Oil and gas sector
- Petrochemical industry
Description:
Valvesonly is a leading and reputed Super Duplex Globe valve manufacturer in USA it offers variety of designs and styles-
Body Material: Super Duplex Steel (F55, 5A).
Size: 1″ – 24″.
Class: 150 to 2500 PN25 – PN450.
Operations: Handwheel operated, Pneumatic actuated, Electric actuated, Gear operated.
Ends: Flanged super duplex globe valve, Buttweld super duplex globe valve, Socket weld super duplex globe valve Threaded Super Duplex Globe Valve.
VISIT US- https://valvesonly.com/product-category/super-duplex-globe-valve/

I bought a 2016 used Optima with 58k miles and car history was perfect but after 6 months of driving it the oil light came and when checked it was bare dry. I filled it up and about 3 months after that it’s now leaking oil into the spark plugs and fouling them out. I’ve contacted the dealer and they said there’s nothing they can do since I didn’t have the original owner warranty and it’s now over 60k miles. From what I’ve read this is a big issue with Kia. Is there anything I can do or should I just get rid of it now while I still can?

So I’ve had a leak for a little. I thought it was a simple oil pan leak; faulty gasket or something. Did some inspections, and it turns out my transfer case is leaking. And it’s leaking a lot. What should I do? I’ve already put so much work into my runner and it’s my baby so I really don’t wanna let it go.

Hello all. I have written here before about my job at Ultima Resort (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), though I know it has been a while, sorry about that. We were trapped for some time, my phone died pretty quickly, and I wasn’t able to recharge it again until the water receded. So, I haven’t really been able to write. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me get you up to date, then it will all make more sense.
I opened a door and peered into the closet, but the noise was quieter here, if anything. I shut the closet and continued down the hallway. The dripping had started out intermittent. The gentle plip, plip, plip was barely audible over the normal sounds of the hotel, and we had assumed it was related to the steady rain that had been drumming on the building for a few days, at that point. But the frequency of the dripping had been increasing steadily, and now was concerningly loud and constant. It was somehow audible from every corner of the hotel, and it was only a matter of time until the guests complained. They were already irritable because of the bad weather, which had kept them stuck indoors. As I passed a window, a flash of lightning lit the forest behind the hotel. The lights flickered ominously but it stayed on. The clap of thunder rattled the doors in their frames. I spotted Vincent hurrying towards me from down the hall. His face seemed pale.
“Well, did you find the leak?” I asked.
“Umm… you could say that,” he replied, uncomfortably, eyes shifting to the storm outside.
“What’s wrong?”
“It… well, you should just come see.”
I followed him down the hall to the ballroom where we had hosted the anniversary party some days back. It had been a nice event. Less deaths than I had expected. The hors d’oeuvres were pretty good. There was still a bit of smoke damage on the west wall, but we had cleaned it off as best as we could and the place looked presentable again, though I was now thinking we should put on a new coat of paint. It was hard to decide, when I wasn’t sure if the room would even be here next week. Vincent opened the door on the back wall and gestured me inside. This was new.
It was some sort of small storage cupboard, with dim lighting and a low ceiling. It was full of what looked like furniture, draped in white cloths for storage. I wondered what the furniture was made of, because the room had a strange fetid odor, that reminded me of rot and death. I covered my nose with my hand instinctively, but it did little to help. The small window in the back showed that the rain continued to fall outside, but it didn’t seem to be the source of the leak, as the floor around it was dry. Still, the leak must be in here, because the sound was louder than ever. I took a step forward, to get a better look at the room, but Vincent grabbed my arm and pulled me back, pointing towards the ceiling. I looked up to see a large dome light. It had a strange dark tint, and hardly any light made it through. But something else was coming from the dome. Drips fell in a steady rhythm, and as my eyes tracked them, I saw them splash into a widening puddle on the ground. The puddle was viscous and black, glimmering in the dim light. I looked back at Vincent.
“What is that?” I raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t really look like ordinary water to me.”
“I don’t know. Maybe… it is picking something up as it drips through from the roof?” he did not sound particularly convincing.
“Maybe,” I tried to play along. “Though, I am not sure I want to know what that could be. Did you check if it is coming from somewhere upstairs?”
“Yeah. Nothing out of the ordinary on the floor above, and I can’t find any signs of a leak anywhere else.”
“Alright,” I backed out of the door and closed it behind us. “Well, I am sure whatever that is will work itself out.”
“What? We’re just going to leave it? Why did we even bother looking, then?” Vincent protested.
“I was worried it was a roof leak, something we needed to handle with routine maintenance. That does not seem to be the case,” I raised a questioning eyebrow. “Do you know how to fix whatever is going on in there?”
“No…”
“Me neither. In this place, when the ceiling is dripping black ichor, it is probably for a reason. I assume we’ll find out when one of our guests gets involved.”
Vincent opened his mouth, as if to protest, but even as he did, the sound of the phone at the desk echoed through the hotel. Vincent sighed,
“Alright, let’s go see what fresh hell awaits us today.”
I heard a small chuckle inside my head. I resisted the urge to ask Al what he knew. He answers were rarely helpful. He didn’t seem to lie, but he was often intentionally misleading, saying whatever he thought would elicit the most drama. I was tired of giving him the satisfaction. I was sure I could sense his disappointment when I refused to engage, but maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. I couldn’t blame Vincent for being apprehensive about what the guests’ inquiry might be. The three men had arrived to participate in some sort of golf event, but they been here for 3 days now and since it had poured every moment, the event was not taking place. The guests were very unhappy about this turn of events, and they had mostly been killing time by taking it out on us. That wasn’t exactly a surprise. The rich ones were always the most demanding, unused to being told ‘no’ even when the question was ‘has the rain stopped yet?’, and based on the Bugatti they had arrived in, these men were quite rich. I answered the phone on the desk, already suppressing a sigh.
“Ultima Resort, front desk, how can I help you?”
“You can come and open the bar,” the voice on the other end snapped. “It’s past noon and the sign says it should be available by now.”
“I apologize, sir. I’ll be right there.”
“You had better be. The service at this place is frankly astounding. Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone ever stays here. I have half a mind to leave a review warning people away.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I know your stay hasn’t been ideal, but please bear with us and we will do everything we can to make it right.”
“You can start by hanging up the phone and getting me my drink.”
The line went dead in my hand. I sighed and replaced the phone on the cradle.
“Let me guess, they wanted to give us a large tip and leave early?”
“Don’t quit your day job,” I chuckled. “You wouldn’t make it as a psychic. Come on, let’s go open the bar, before we have a mutiny on our hands.”
I grabbed the key to open the shutters from the desk and we headed into the dining room. Our three guests were standing around the locked bar, making a show of checking their watches. I struggled to keep my eyes from rolling. It was 12:03pm.
“You know,” Jack turned to the man next to him, but spoke loudly enough to be sure I could hear. “This reminds me of some of the dumps we stayed in before we made our fortune, you know? The little rat trap motels in the port towns we had to stay in.”
“The customer service certainly leaves something to be desired, for a 5-star resort,” his companion, Stewart, sniffed. “For the amount we are paying, I would expect better.”
I turned the lock, opening the bar. I let them vent; I didn’t particularly care if they left us a bad review, and I certainly couldn’t do anything with a good tip, so they were free to hate it here if they wanted. It mattered less to me than they could possibly imagine.
“Can you both hear that leak from your rooms?” the final man, Lesley, asked.
“Can we? I swear it is audible from everywhere in the hotel. There must be a dozen leaks in this old roof,” Jack laughed.
“It would explain that,” Stewart gestured to wet stain on the carpet across the room, oozing out from under a door I didn’t remember being there yesterday.
I glanced over to Vincent, he shrugged,
“I guess we’ve got a new connection to the ballroom. That’s kind of handy,” he said quietly to me, stepping behind the bar and reaching for the rum to pour; it was all they ever ordered.
“That’s another thing that reminds me of the old days,” Jack elbowed Lesley. “You would think a landlocked hotel would be drier than a yacht, but here we are. Maybe you should get out a mop, see if you remember how, Les.”
Lesley stiffened,
“I don’t do menial labor anymore, Cap.”
“Of course, of course,” Jack clapped Les on the shoulder. “Just a joke, mate. The usual, my good man,” he smiled at Vincent, who began pouring drinks.
As day transitioned into evening, I left the dining room in search of absorbent material, to put down on the leak that was spreading persistently into the dining room. I found some cat litter in a back closet, and it seemed like it would do, for now, so I returned and began spreading it over the growing stain. Jack at the bar looked up blearily, watching my work, before finally declaring,
“Oh, so it’s shit, then. That would at least explain the smell.”
“I think it smells more like a rotting carcass,” Stewart interjected.
He had a point there. Maybe I should get some baking soda from the kitchen.
“You know what?” Jack concluded. “Let’s get this next bottle to go. We’ll take it to our rooms for the night. I can’t stand the smell down here another minute.”
He grabbed the bottle from the bar, then he rose and led his friends out of the dining room. I couldn’t say I was sorry to see them go. Vincent circled out from around the bar and approached the soggy patch on the floor.
“So, is that the storage room?”
Now that we were alone, I risked turning the knob and I opened the door to see the same storage room we had entered earlier, though now the light fixture was pouring dark liquid onto the floor, the drip having turned into a deluge. I slammed the door again.
“Maybe we should get Manny,” I concluded.
Manny stood back, watching the ichor pour down like a waterfall. It was pooling around our shoes now, even standing outside the doorframe. He stroked his chin,
“How long has it been like this?”
“I don’t know,” I frowned. “It’s certainly sped up since we found it several hours ago. Any idea how we stop it?”
Manny closed his eyes for a moment, then frowned.
“I think, perhaps, that we should move the food and water from the kitchen, so they don’t get spoiled.”
“Move them where?” Vincent asked.
“To the top floor storage closet. It’ll be safest there. Come help me gather things up.”
“What, exactly, do you think is going to happen?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s just get to work, we probably don’t have much time.”
Manny turned and strode into the kitchen. Vincent hung back and tapped my shoulder,
“What does he know that we don’t?”
“I have no idea, honestly,” I shrugged, and Vincent headed off towards the kitchen. “Do you know?”
I kept my voice low, so the others didn’t hear.
Oh, are you speaking to me now? Al sniffed.
“Depends, are you going to say anything useful?”
Perhaps for a…
“If you say ‘for a price’ we can go back to not talking. I am not trading anything for this.”
I think you will find I am much more helpful if you are willing to make a trade.
“I categorically disagree with that statement.”
Fine, I could feel him scowling. I can give you a hint for free. Maybe try asking yourself what he’s hiding from you?
“Your free hint is that he is keeping secrets?” I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that true of all of us? That isn’t exactly helpful.”
Well then, perhaps you would like to make a trade?
“Why do I even bother?” I sighed and headed into the kitchen to join the others.
Vincent was helping Manny load food onto a rolling cart. The Chef was, fortunately, nowhere in sight.
“Grab another cart and start loading the soft drinks and bottled water onto it. We don’t have much time before we need to be in our rooms,” Manny instructed.
I heaved a case of bottled water onto the cart, and we all got to work. By the time we made the final trip the carpet in the hall squished under my feet, oozing dark, foul-smelling liquid. It was coming in fast, now. Manny was probably right; we wouldn’t want the food supplies getting contaminated with… whatever this was. After he finished stacking the last bag of rice in the closet, Manny closed the door and turned the key in the lock.
“Well, we should find our rooms. It is getting late, and I doubt they will be in their usual place.”
As he turned to walk away, I noticed blood dripping down from his fingers onto the carpet.
“Manny, wait, your arm,” I pulled up his sleeve to reveal a thin, but deep cut running up his forearm. “What happened? Are you alright?”
Manny yanked his arm away,
“It’s nothing. I must have scraped it moving a box.”
It didn’t look like a scrape. It looked clean, with sharp edges, like a knife wound. But before I could say anything more, he was gone, disappearing down one of the halls.
“You ever wonder about him?” Vincent asked.
“Wonder what?”
“What his deal is. Come on, don’t play dumb. You’ve noticed how strange he can be. How he seems to know things about this place he shouldn’t. Surely, you’ve considered that he might be… one of them.”
“One of them?”
“You know, one of the things that run this place, like the Chef. A demon.”
“Manny? No, that’s ridiculous.”
“Why? He was here before you, maybe he was always here.”
“He is nothing like the Chef or the Masseur. It’s obvious that he is a person.”
“Is it? Maybe that’s just another trick. Maybe he is here to torment us, to steer us wrong.”
I shook my head,
“No, he’s helped us, helped me, many times. It’s impossible.”
“Alright,” Vincent shrugged. “But I have a bad feeling about this one, Lucy. Something about that… water. It isn’t right.”
“You always have a bad feeling. Come on, it’s time to get to sleep.”
“Right. See you tomorrow.”
However he knew, Manny was right. I found my room on the 2nd floor, in a back hallway. Since it wasn’t in its usual place, it took longer to find, but I did manage it before the deadline and locked myself in. Somehow, I could still hear the sound of flowing water, though. I could hear it everywhere in the hotel, in fact. In a way, it was soothing, people liked the sound of flowing water, right? So, keeping that in mind, I allowed it to lull me to sleep.
The morning arrived without fanfare, or a discernable difference in the light coming in through the windows. The storm continued to rage outside, and the clouds were so thick and dark that it was impossible to tell that dawn had broken. Still, my watch told me that day had arrived and so I left the room prepared to mop up whatever water had pooled downstairs and try to serve breakfast. No food had appeared in my room last night, so breakfast sounded very appealing. At least I could sneak a muffin or something. As I arrived at the stairs, I saw Manny standing on the landing, gazing down at the lobby.
“Is the mess bad?” I asked.
“You could say that,” Manny didn’t turn as I approached.
I reached the railing and gasped. The lobby was gone. The whole first floor was gone. All I could see was dark water, lapping against the stairs.
“How is that possible?”
“That’s not really a relevant question, in this place,” Manny noted. “Let’s just call it a flash flood.”
I jogged over to look out one of the windows, lightning flashed, illuminating an alien view, the lawn and garden were also gone. The only thing in sight was a sea of dark water, with the occasional tree protruding from the surface.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“What we always do. Vincent has headed upstairs to lay out some food. We can help him, then lock up the rest and go clean rooms.”
“And if the water keeps rising?”
“We keep moving up the floors, I suppose.”
I stepped down the stairs until I was next to the water, and reached out a hand to touch the surface, wanting to test its temperature and texture.
Stop!
I froze in place, hand hovering above the liquid, the command so urgent I couldn’t ignore it. Trying to act casually, I rose and headed back up the stairs,
“Alright, I’ll go help with breakfast. Maybe we should put up a sign directing the guests to the 5th floor?”
“I’ll handle that. We will have to ration the food carefully; we don’t know how long we will need to make it last. Whatever you do, don’t show the guests where the food is locked up, and only bring out enough for us to have a small meal.”
“Right,” I nodded. “See you up there.”
I turned and headed up the stairs. I waited until I was out of earshot to ask,
“Ok, what was that about?”
Do not touch the water.
“Yes, I gathered that. Why?”
Because you belong to me. And I need you alive.
“What is the deal with that water, exactly?”
But only silence answered. He was done volunteering things for the moment, apparently. I sighed and continued up the stairs. Vincent was waiting for me on the fifth floor, hovering by the landing, looking down over the dark, gleaming surface of the new lake below.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” he asked as I reached the top of the stairs.
“Nope, this is a new one.”
“I wonder if this is what being on the Titanic felt like?” he mused. “Water rising, nowhere to go, just waiting for the end.”
“We aren’t on a ship, though.”
“No. Does that make it better, or worse?”
I shrugged and Vincent passed me a bagel,
“I figure we should eat the breads first; they’ll go moldy in this humidity. We can save the rice, potatoes, and canned goods for later.”
“Makes sense. Do we have a way to cook any of those things?”
“I looked around. Some of the rooms have fireplaces, I guess we can hang a pot over the fire, cook that way. But maybe all this will stop before we get to that point.”
“Maybe,” I wasn’t exactly feeling optimistic about it.
I helped Vincent lay out some fruit and soft breads on the hall table, so that when the guests awoke, they would have something to eat.
“What exactly are we going to tell them when they get here?” Vincent asked, putting out some bowls. “We can’t exactly say that the hotel is sinking and it’s all perfectly normal, can we?”
“What else is there to say?” I shrugged. “It’s some sort of flood. We don’t know any more than they do. It’s the truth, right?”
He considered that for a moment, then nodded.
“I suppose it is.”
A sudden commotion from downstairs drew us to the railing. The three guests were standing on the 2nd floor landing, looking down at the water, Manny was saying something I couldn’t quite hear, but the response was clear enough,
“What do you mean, underwater!” Steward shouted. “This hotel is on dry land. We specifically avoided anything near the ocean or any major body of water. Where did all this even come from?”
“We are located on a flood plain. It is possible that the dam broke upstream,” Manny explained calmly.
Dam, huh? That wasn’t a bad explanation.
“If that is true, where are the authorities, shouldn’t someone be here to evacuate us?”
“I am sure they will be here when they can. Until then, we just need to stay calm and safe. There is breakfast laid out on the 5th floor, please stay away from the water and we will relocate your rooms to the upper floors.”
The trio of men grumbled, but eventually they headed up the stairs. Vincent and I ducked back to our places. As they grabbed fruit from the table, Lesley scowled,
“I told you we should have left days ago. We could have moved to another hotel. Now we’re trapped here, in this dump.”
“Oh, relax, Les,” Jack chuckled. “We’ve been in worse scrapes before. This isn’t a big deal.”
“And if the water keeps rising?”
“I bet we could manage to make a passable raft, eh Stewart?”
Both men chuckled, sharing a private joke, but Lesley still looked anxious.
“I didn’t ever want to be out on the water again. We agreed.”
“Seriously, Les, just keep it together, alright? Let’s just eat something and find some way to kill time. I am sure the authorities will send a rescue crew and we’ll be out of here in no time.”
I opened the storage closet and felt my heart sink as I looked on the nearly empty room. We were down to only a couple of boxes of crackers and a few bottles of water. We had rationed the food carefully, but it had been over 2 weeks now, and we had almost exhausted our supply. I wasn’t looking forward to telling the others. Things had been getting tense. The power went out on the third day, and by now every cellphone we had was dead. Not that anyone could get a signal before that, anyway. The water had risen all the way to the fifth floor, so we were all trapped together on the top floor of the hotel, with nowhere else to go, if it rose any further. The guests had mostly given up hope for rescue, and the rest of us knew that was never a hope to begin with. So, now it looked like the six of us were just going to be trapped up here to starve, if we didn’t drown first. I covered my face with my hands.
“That bad, huh?”
“Vincent. No, it’s… it’s not…” what was the point in lying about it? “Yeah, it’s that bad. We are almost out of food, and the water has risen at least another foot since yesterday.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I have no idea. Let’s just get back to the group. We shouldn’t leave Manny alone, in case the guests come out of their rooms.”
“Right.”
We walked back to the central hallway together. As we entered the room, I saw Manny with his back to us, removing a soaked shirt. Even in the dim light, it was clear that his back was webbed with dozens of scars and cuts. Vincent cleared his throat and Manny hurriedly tugged on a dry shirt.
“I patched the hole in the roof,” he explained. “The rain should stop getting in from there, at least. And I brought down a full barrel of rainwater and replaced it with an empty one.”
“Thank you, Manny. At least the water from the sky is… normal. Because we are going to have to start drinking that water from time now on, I think.”
“And the food?” Manny asked.
“Some crackers, nothing more.”
“Well, I guess we will all need to tighten our belts, then.”
A moment of heavy silence passed between us, before a door burst open and Jack emerged.
“Where’s the food?” he barked. “We’re hungry and the table is bare.”
“Food’s gone,” Manny replied coolly. “There is water in the barrel, to take the edge off.”
“We can’t survive on only water.”
“We can, for another couple of weeks.”
“So that is your plan, to slowly starve to death?”
Manny shrugged but didn’t reply.
“Well, suit yourselves, I have a better plan.”
Jack turned on his heel and stormed out.
“What do you think they will do?” Vincent asked.
“He said already, didn’t he? Build a raft,” Manny replied.
“Maybe that isn’t a bad idea,” I offered. “We could help, try to get out of here?”
“Has attempting to leave ever worked?” Manny asked. “No, all we can do is hunker down until this resolves itself. And I don’t think going out on that water is a good idea.”
“Should we try to stop them, then?”
“No. If they are focused on building, it will keep them off our backs, for the time being. Let them do what they want.”
Vincent and I spent the next few days watching the three men lash together furniture using heavy objects as improvised hammers and strips of torn bed linens as ropes. They seemed to actually have some idea of what they were doing, and they quickly fell into a rhythm, with Stewart and Jack doing most of the planning and construction and Lesley being ordered to fetch supplies and carry heavy objects. He grumbled about it, but did what they told him. They mostly didn’t even notice we were there, as long as we made a show of occupying ourselves with some cleaning task or another. They never even bothered to ask why we were still cleaning and maintaining a flooded, sinking hotel all day. It was hard to tell if they just paid so little attention to us that they didn’t notice, or if they simply figured it was our way of coping with the situation. Occasionally, they would ask us for some material they needed but could not find, and we would help as much as we could, then they would go back to ignoring us. On the third day, when the raft was beginning to look seaworthy, Jack sat back on his heels, admiring their handiwork.
“Well, boys? What do you think? Will it float?”
Stewart rubbed his nose with his thumb,
“I think it’s as fine a vessel as we have ever crewed, captain.”
Jack laughed,
“And you thought we had left those days behind us for good, eh chief?”
“They are. But it looks like it will come in handy for us, one more time. Good luck, huh?”
“Good luck?” Lesley’s face turned dark; he had been increasingly dour over the last few days. “I don’t see the good luck in any of this. I think we are reaping our just reward.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Les, this flood has nothing to do with us.”
“No? You think all this is normal, then? It’s been raining nonstop for weeks, the water keeps rising, no one has come looking for us. It’s like…” he hesitated before continuing. “It’s like we are alone in our own private hell. Just us and dark water everywhere. I don’t know how you aren’t thinking about it. I can’t stop. I see his face whenever I close my eyes. I see the dark puddle in the bottom of the lifeboat. Maybe this is what we deserve.”
Jack backhanded him across the face,
“Pull yourself together, swabbie. And don’t speak again until you’ve regained your composure,” he turned back to Stewart. “Now, we need to get this to the roof before we finish lashing it together, or it won’t fit. Then, we can either find a way to launch it, or we can wait until the water rises enough, what do you think, Mr. Stewart?”
“Well, captain, I say we rig up some ropes to lower it, because if we wait until the water is that high and anything goes wrong, we won’t have another chance.”
“Very good. Alright, Les, help us lift these pieces.”
The raft was relocated to the roof and the next 3 days were spent lashing it together and making the ropes strong enough to lower it the ever-dwindling distance into the dark water. When they were finally ready to launch, Vincent, Manny and I gathered on the roof to watch. I had to admit, I was really beginning to hope they succeeded, even if it didn’t seem likely. We were still rationing out the last few crackers, but three or four crackers a day did little to even take the edge off of the hunger, which gnawed on my guts like an animal. If this didn’t work, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I looked over at Manny, his face grim and starting to look a little gaunt. As he turned to face me, I saw blood coating his neck and seeping into his shirt collar from a cut near his ear.
“You’re bleeding.”
He reached up and touched his neck, bringing his hand aways stained crimson,
“Shaving cut,” he offered, wiping it off absently with his hand.
I raised an eyebrow, but let it go. I had noticed Manny with little cuts or scars before, but he was always doing landscaping work or maintenance, so small cuts and injuries didn’t seem unusual. But suddenly, in such close quarters and confined indoors, it was apparent that he seemed to injure himself more than I would expect.
Curious, isn’t it? Al asked, speaking up for the first time in sometime.
“You have something to tell me?” I mumbled under my breath.
No, just noting that there is power in blood. I wonder what he uses it for?
Power, huh? That was probably worth thinking about. Later. For now, my attention was drawn to the makeshift ropes lowering the raft into the water. The raft settled into the water with barely a ripple, the liquid was entirely too thick and seemed to stick to the wood like oil, and the sound when it hit was less a splash and more of a splat. The three men looked at each other, confusion and concern on their faces.
“That doesn’t much seem like normal water, Cap’n,” Lesley noted.
“Probably lots of mud and silt mixed in, it’s nothing,” Jack waved away the concern. “Get down there and then you can help us down.”
Lesley shook his head, mutely.
“Fine, Stewart?”
The other man didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded apprehensively and moved to the edge of the roof and clambered down onto the raft. As it bucked and shifted under his weight, he lay down, waiting for it to stabilize, but instead, the rolling and pitching seemed to increase. Then, from the water under the boat came dozens of pale human hands. They were terribly bloated and marbled with green and grey. Corpse hands. Stewart looked down, terror written plainly on his face.
“No! It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t cause it,” he shouted at the corpses looming under him in the dark water. “You want the captain, not me!”
If that was meant to mollify them, it didn’t work. The hands gripped the wood and pulled, capsizing the raft and pitching Stewart into the water. He screamed as he hit the surface. Not just from fear, but pain. He tried clinging to flipped raft, but hands wrapped around his torso, trying to pull him into the dark. I could swear I heard whispers rising from the surface: Join us.
“Help me, please!” he cried.
He was too far down to reach from the roof, but maybe there was another way.
“Hurry, if we can get to the windows on the 5th floor, we can pull him in,” I shouted.
Vincent nodded and we ran down the stairs, searching for the room closest to him in the water. The screaming helped. When we dragged him inside, he was covered in scratches and bites from teeth that looked very human, some very deep and freely bleeding. His skin was stained from the dark water. The hands continued to reach for him, so I slammed the window shut, leaving them to paw at the glass, just as Manny burst into the room, followed by the other two guests. Seeing the seriousness of his injuries, Manny moved closer, kneeling next to me.
“Some of these are very deep. We need to get pressure on the wounds. Go grab some towels,” he instructed Stewart’s companions.
He inspected the bites and scratches more closely,
“Lucy, this bite is on an artery, press down on it hard, or he will bleed out. Vincent, go get some soap and water, we will have to clean this as best we can, under the circumstances.”
Vincent rose and Manny and I were left alone with Stewart, who seemed to have passed out.
“You seem to know what you are doing,” I noted, pressing down on the bleeding wound.
“I… I was a doctor, once,” he didn’t meet my eyes when he said it.
“Wow.”
“It was a long time ago. Another life.”
“Why didn’t you ever…” I was interrupted when Stewart’s eyes snapped open.
“I need a priest,” Stewart grabbed Manny’s collar, his eyes fevered and unfocused. “I need to confess my sins, before I die.”
“You aren’t going to…”
“We killed him,” he pressed on, oblivious to my objections. “Alan Ross.”
“The billionaire?” I blurted, surprised. “But he died in a… shipwreck…”
I fell silent. I remembered the news stories; Ross had been on a luxury yacht on the way to the Cayman Islands when it wrecked in a storm. The entire crew was lost, except for the captain, the chief mate, and a single deckhand, who had survived in a lifeboat. Ross was in the lifeboat as well, but he had already drowned, before they were able to drag him on board. They had drifted for over two weeks, with his corpse, before they were found and rescued. It had been a major news story, about a decade ago.
“It wasn’t like the news reported,” Stewart gasped. “When the yacht started taking on water, we should have stayed and helped to organize the evacuation of the crew. But Ross wanted to leave right away. He offered us money if we took just him and abandoned the others. We agreed, the captain and I. Lesley was just a deckhand, but he saw us leaving and followed. We quietly launched a lifeboat and fled, leaving the others to their fates.”
“How did Ross die?” I asked.
“He had a bag with him. It was so heavy he could hardly carry it. When he put it in the boat, it fell open and it was filled with diamonds. He was taking them to the Caymans. When we saw that, we… well, we decided. If he didn’t survive the shipwreck, if the diamonds were never found, who would know? We drowned him and hid the diamonds. When we were rescued, we waited awhile, then we sold them, made millions. But it wasn’t worth it… it wasn’t worth this. The guilt…”
He slumped to the ground. Manny met my eyes over the body,
“I think we lost him.”
As I looked up from the body, I saw Jack and Lesley standing there in the doorway, towels in their hands. There was an ugly look on Jack’s face.
“I wish he hadn’t told you that.”
“Told us what? He was raving, delusional,” I attempted.
“We were standing right here,” he replied.
I swallowed hard. Jack advanced into the room, holding a broken table leg like a club.
“We’ve kept this secret all these years, it isn’t getting out now.”
“We won’t tell anyone,” I protested.
“That isn’t a chance I am willing to take. Besides, with the food supply exhausted, it was always going to come to this, eventually. Might as well get it over with.”
“What are you doing?” I heard Vincent call from the doorway.
“Lesley, take care of him, will you?” Jack continued to advance on us.
“Please Jack, hasn’t there been enough death?” Lesley protested.
“Don’t act all innocent, you agreed to this, just like the rest of us. In for a penny, in for a pound, my friend.”
I glanced around for a weapon. Between the three of us, we should be able to take him, but I didn’t much like the look in Jack’s eyes. Manny had stood, backing slowly away as Jack advanced. Then the captain took a swing at him, Manny jumped to the side and the makeshift bat shattered the window behind him. Jack’s expression turned to one of horror as a pair of pale hands gripped the doorframe and a body began heaving itself through the open window. The broken glass sliced its bloated flesh to ribbons, but it didn’t halt the creature’s ingress. Dark, thick liquid that smelled of death oozed from its wounds.
“Alan!” Jack exclaimed, backing away swinging his bat at the creature.
“You owe me,” it gurgled.
We all backed out into the hall, but the creature advanced, slowly, leaving a trail of black liquid on the carpet as it walked.
“Is it money you want? I can get you your money back, your diamonds,” Jack offered.
“What use do I have for money?” it wheezed. “You owe me a life.”
Jack hit the body with his club, but it didn’t slow its progress. He screamed as it reached out a hand and closed it around his throat. Jack was lifted off his feet and the creature carried him to the stairs and plunged him into the dark water. At first, he flailed and fought, but a dozen hands rose from the water, gripping every part of his body. When he was completely immobilized, the corpse released him, letting him be dragged down into the depths. Then, it turned,
“Now,” it spoke to Lesley. “Will you fight, or come willingly?”
Lesley was trembling so hard he could barely stand,
“Please, I’m sorry, I beg you, spare me.”
The creature’s lips curled into a grotesque smile,
“Do you regret what you did to me?”
“I do, I do. I never should have agreed with their plan. Please, have mercy.”
“Did you have mercy on me, when I begged?”
Lesley shook his head.
“Then accept your fate.”
“What… what do you want me to do?”
“Walk into the water. Give your life willingly. Perhaps they will spare you, if you do,” the creature laughed, dark liquid bubbling from its mouth.
Lesley nodded haltingly and began to walk towards the stairs, stepping into the water, he walked down until he was submerged up to his waist. Then, the hands wrapped around his arms and torso and abruptly dragged him under. For a long moment, it seemed like he was gone, the same as Jack, but a moment later, he was thrown back onto the landing. Lesley raised his eyes, now as black as the water, and the creature smiled again, a tooth falling from its mouth as it did.
“Very good,” it burbled. “You have been baptized and born again into a new life.”
Lesley nodded, a serene smile on his face. Without a word, he rose and walked back into the room we had vacated only a moment before. Outside the window, the raft had been righted and floated serenely on the water. He looked down at Stewart’s body, then picked it up and draped it over his shoulder. Glancing back at the three of us, he winked,
“A snack for the journey.”
Then, he stepped out of the window onto the raft and drifted away.
“Don’t suppose any of you would care to join him?” the corpse of Alan Ross inquired. “Be born anew in the cleansing water?”
We all shook our heads silently.
“Oh well, another time, then.”
And with that, the corpse walked into the water and disappeared.
That night, our usual meals appeared in our rooms, and by the next morning, the water had receded, as if it had never been there. The electricity came back on, and the rain stopped. I was finally able to charge my phone and post this account. I tried asking Manny for more information about his time as a doctor but is as reticent as ever. I will keep trying, though, because Vincent and Al are right about one thing, there is something suspicious about how much he knows that he shouldn’t. But, that is a problem for another day, after all there is no need to rush, we aren’t going anywhere.
Until next time,
Lucy

I have the above fork on a bike I recently got, and the rebound knob works, lockout works, but the travel is very strange. It's a 120-150mm, and when set to fox recommended psi for my weight (75kg) the fork uses all the travel and bottoms out when riding on flat ground if I lean forward on the handlebars. If i lean back, the bars will go back to normal, but it's very weird. I've tried to increase the psi all the way up to double and then it finally gets better, but still doesn't seem firm enough. I'm worried that there is something wrong as this does not seem normal.
The psi stays constant, and with the shock pump attached the psi will increase when putting pressure on the fork, so I don't think there could be any leaks. I'm a bit confused as to what else it could be as the oil should only be for rebound, and air pressure for shocks absorption right?
Anybody brilliant minds here who have had this experience before or know of any possible fixes?

Hey smart folks at Audi! I'm in the market for a new car, and I could use your expertise. I'm looking for a family adventure vehicle to take us from LA to the mountains, or a grand tour of the west. I wanted to ask about long term maintenance, and figured you knew the goods!
The 2011-2012 Avant (pre-Allroad) and Q5 caught our attention. We are looking at models with around 90K to 100K miles. They look great, offer good gas mileage, and have AWD. I'm curious about their long-term reliability and best practice maintenance. We want a car that can go another 50K - 100K miles, will do general maintenance along with replacing known wear and tear items.
Any advice on what to watch out for on purchase? Water pump? Oil burn? What are long term issues to plan and budget for? Control arms, timing chain, turbo, anything else? I want to go in with our eyes open, so we know what to expect.
One specific question we have is for the 2.0T engine, which seems to have an oil leak. Would you recommend a 2011 model with the piston ring issue addressed or a 2012 model where the owner says no oil needs to be added? I want to avoid buying a car with 90K miles only to spend another $7500 - $10K on a ring replacement. (or that's what I've seen from current research.
As our current rig is a 2008 LR3 with 200K miles, we are no strangers to used cars and long-term care. we hope to set aside about $1000 per year, which is a big drop from what we spend on our LR3. It's a blast, but it is time it needs to go to someone else who can have fun.
By the way, I'm also considering the BMW 328 Wagon (N52 inline 6 naturally aspirated) or 535i GT (N55 inline 6 turbo), but I'm concerned about higher repair costs there. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello All,
I recently joined the Jeep family, bought a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. Love it so far. but recently I noticed something and it kind of worried me, I noticed that the rear left side of the car goes down when the car is off. When I turn on the car it goes up again. only the left rear side. I took it to the dealership the other day and they told me that the air suspension compressor and the valve block needs replacement and it would cost around 2500$ CAD for it to be fixed. I am hesitant to spend this on it especially the fact that it goes back to the normal elevation after turning up the car.
Could it be due to spring airbag leaking and when the car is off it drains all the air from that side and when turning the car on it the compressor works and it fills up the bag again, when I bought the car everything seems to be working fine. I only replaced the rear shock for that side cuz it was leaking oil and nothing was done to that side. Any issues if I keep driving it while having this issue.
Any feedback will be appreciated.