ScriptWiki - User contributions [en]

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T21:41:20Z

AlanBatie:

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, public social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would likely run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel as nude etiquette required. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living, though you had to be pretty far gone for that to really be a worry. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

==Chapter 2==

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

<expand with family drama>

==Chapter 3==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

They decided it was time to get the police involved, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the station, where they got handed them over to Detective Elena Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

==Chapter 4==

Meanwhile, with the domain name as a starting point, Julian and Theo started digging into the Fulcrum Society, starting with their website. Theo recalled that his late grandmother Ruth had hated them: his family had a falling out with the other Fulcrum families - the split had been ugly and no one would talk about it. The website home page showed a view of the high end homes lining the Willamette river in the Dunthorpe area, with links to articles about the various families who had been prominent behind-the-scenes movers and shakers for generations. The Kesslers were notably absent.

<Theo discusses family drama, remembers a storage unit he inherited from his grandmother, but had only given it a cursory look as nothing in it looked particularly interesting at the time>

<Julian and Theo go on a date while making plans to investigate the storage unit during the day>

<More encoded messages appear>

<The police discover the mister contained a chemical that causes predator shifters to get overly aggressive with prey shifters>

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T21:40:02Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T21:32:58Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T21:20:16Z

AlanBatie: /* Chapter 3 */

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

They decided it was time to get the police involved, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the station, where they got handed them over to Detective Elana Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

==Chapter 3==

Meanwhile, with the domain name as a starting point, Julian and Theo started digging into the Fulcrum Society, starting with their website. Theo recalled that his late grandmother Ruth had hated them: his family had a falling out with the other Fulcrum families - the split had been ugly and no one would talk about it. The website home page showed a view of the high end homes lining the Willamette river in the Dunthorpe area, with links to articles about the various families who had been prominent behind-the-scenes movers and shakers for generations. The Kesslers were notably absent.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T05:07:27Z

AlanBatie: /* Chapter 3 */

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

They decided it was time to get the police involved, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the station, where they got handed them over to Detective Elana Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

==Chapter 3==

Meanwhile, with the domain name as a starting point, Julian and Theo started digging into the Fulcrum Society and found a historical preservation club for old Portland lineages. Theo recalled that his late grandmother Ruth had hated them: his family were once prominent landowners who'd had a falling out with the other Fulcrum families. The split had been ugly and no one would talk about it.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-27T05:04:26Z

AlanBatie: /* Chapter 2 */

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

They decided it was time to get the police involved, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the station, where they got handed them over to Detective Elana Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

==Chapter 3==

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-24T05:58:58Z

AlanBatie:

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

That was about as far as they could get on their own, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the police, who handed them over to Detective Elana Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

==Chapter 3==

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-24T05:58:40Z

AlanBatie: /* Chapter 2 */

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

It didn't take too long for Julian to find a small terrarium mister with a timer sitting at the base of a fake plant at the end of the bar, and the timer was set for 11pm on Friday! He called Theo over, who confirmed that they had no use for a humidifier in Portland, much less one that small - it would only affect a few feet around it. Those few feet included the area where Theo frequently pulled drafts though. Julian disabled the timer while Theo went into the back and got a large zip seal bag. They carefully put the device inside the bag and sealed it so that whatever liquid was in it couldn't escape, then call it a night. Julian carefully took the mister home to keep it safe before going to bed.

The next day, he went over to Priya Adamson, a heron shifter, co-worker, and best friend, and brought her up to speed on what he'd found. She helped him trace network logs to find out who'd posted the hidden message and they found that the source ip address was assigned to a nearby co-working space, with the DNS entry for it pointing to falcon.fulcrumsociety.history.

That was about as far as they could get on their own, so Julian and Theo took the mister and what they knew to the police, who handed them over to Detective Elana Osei. A no-nonsense bear shifter, she was skeptical, but agreed to send the mister to the lab to see if there was anything but water in it.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-24T05:27:20Z

AlanBatie: /* Chapter 2 */

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about what the message could mean, but they quickly ran out of ideas and ended up talking about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo, both clearly enjoying the natural beauty of the area.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there. Theo checked the office and behind the bar areas, while Julian searched the public areas. It seemed unlikely someone random would have access to the off limits areas, but you never knew...

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T08:37:56Z

AlanBatie:

==Chapter 1==

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was late on a mid-week night, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

==Chapter 2==

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

When he got there, Theo initially put on a smile, but that quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Julian was agitated. He came out from behind the bar to meet Julian halfway and asked, "What's wrong?"

Julian explained what he'd been doing and showed Theo the message he'd copied onto his phone. Theo paled as he said "*I'm* a deer shifter!" Julian replied, "and I'm an otter - not a big predator, but technically one! Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary recently?"

"Nothing, but I haven't really looked either. Do you think this is real?"

"It doesn't sound like we can take that chance. I don't want to panic your customers, but it's late enough by now that you're about to close, so how about we search the place when they're gone?"

Theo still had to man the bar, so Julian pulled up a stool and nursed a ginger ale until closing time. They found the odd moment here and there to talk about their favorite places to spend time in the area - waterfalls in the Gorge, and rivers and lakes in the Cascades for Julian, and trails through the many forests for Theo.

After everyone one else had left, Theo turned all the lights on high and they searched the bar for signs that something had been added that shouldn't be there.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T08:18:52Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T08:17:18Z

AlanBatie:

Chapter 1

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was mid-week, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T08:16:56Z

AlanBatie:

Chapter 1

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was mid-week, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<blockquote>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</blockquote>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T08:16:27Z

AlanBatie:

Chapter 1

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight - he remembered when he'd first played with the technology as a teen, hiding messages to his closeted boyfriend in memes they'd "innocently" exchanged as "just friends".

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over, and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was mid-week, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable bodies to be sure, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, but when he finished, he wanted to check on the mysterious message he'd found and headed back to his office.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal, paid, and walked out. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet. He hoped the guy was a regular and would be back, maybe they could explore Forest Park, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt Hood together.

When Julian got back to his office, to his surprise, the message had been cracked - the sender had barely encrypted the message at all, with a simple "rot13" cipher of all things! The message read:

<code>
Rookery test run setup - genetic coding for the deer shifter fag in place. Any predators in the club should take care of him quickly Friday night!
</code>

Julian raced back to the Rookery to see if he could find out what the message was talking about - it definitely didn't sound like the test should be allowed to proceed!

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-23T06:18:08Z

AlanBatie:

Chapter 1

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight.

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he was a security consultant for, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was mid-week, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable pecs, buns, and of course, dicks, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, then finally, when he was finished, he moved up to the bar to find out more about this enticing bartender.

Theo Kessler watched as the attractive, mildly furry, guy he'd been flirting with at a distance finished his meal and walked over to him. At 30, he had been bartending now for a few years, having decided that he much preferred that to the MBA he'd almost finished, but had only recently moved back to Portland and the job at the Rookery. He'd seen a lot of attractive guys in those years, and slept with many of them, but this one grabbed his attention more than most - enough that his inner deer wanted to come out and show off his rack, despite it being late spring and the rack hadn't grown much yet.

"What can I get you?" Theo asked when Julian reached the bar.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-22T23:23:00Z

AlanBatie:

Chapter 1

Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old, but his motto was "I may be getting older, but I refuse to grow up!". It didn't help that the old washable cover on his chair was getting a little threadbare and needed to be replaced - his bare skin deserved something softer and more comfortable. He knew there were some oddballs out there who actually wore clothes regularly, and *liked* it, but like most people, for him, clothes were an uncomfortable nuisance only worn when absolutely necessary. Aside from that, he liked to shift on a whim and didn't want to have to deal with them when doing so.

Spock's voice interrupted his malaise with the classic "Fascinating", which indicated that his program searching for signs of embedded steganography in public social media had found something. He hadn't actually expected to find anything, basically just testing the basic program before turning it loose in more likely locations. Though as he thought about it, pubic social media was the perfect location for hiding something in plain sight.

Looking at what the program had found, he saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. He'd been up there many times and new the view well. Julian pulled up a second program that would try a variety of algorithms and passwords to see if it could crack the embedded message (steganographic messages were almost always encrypted as well - the steganography was merely a way of trying to hide the fact that there was a message in the first place). This would run for hours, even on the large server farm he had available at the hosting facility he worked at, and he decided to go grab a bite the Rookery, a gay bar that had decent pub grub off the east end of the Burnside bridge.

As usual, it was raining, so he shifted to his otter form, which didn't care, for the few blocks over to the pub. Just outside, he shook off as much of the water as he could, then shifted and stepped inside where he grabbed a towel from the stack, wiped himself off a bit, found a free table, and sat on the towel. The server, who Julian knew was a Portland State University graphic arts student on their wrestling team, took his order for a local cider with a carefully orchestrated turn - while few shifters were out of shape due to the metabolism of shifting (the two shifts he'd completed just getting there consumed 2000 calories all by themselves), some were definitely better looking than others and got better tips when they took advantage of it without being obnoxious about it.

Although Julian knew the menu pretty well, he looked it over and decided on a pair of double burgers with all the trimmings - he needed to fuel up for both the shifts coming over and the ones going back, as well as being his normal dinner. After making his decision, he leaned back and looked around to check out the scene. Although it was mid-week, there was the usual assortment of bodies hanging out - some who clearly worked out and others not so much, but all had some padding to provide an energy buffer for the expense of shifting. Trying to shift without it was not only difficult, but could be dangerous if there wasn't enough extra fuel for it - the energy had to come from somewhere, and you didn't want it to come from something important to living. There were admirable pecs, buns, and of course, dicks, but the assortment overall was pretty typical. Then he saw the bartender. The bar hid his lower half, but the top half really caught Julian's eye: sandy blonde, chiseled jaw, not enough padding to hide those pecs, nicely defined biceps, long eyelashes to match the slender fingers pulling taps. He was the total package.

The server came back with Julian's cider and took his burger order, though Julian barely noticed as he watched the bartender competently pull drafts and mix drinks. Occasionally, the bartender would look back and give Julian a quick wink, a smirk, or a seductive wiggle, before moving on to his next order. They silently flirted while Julian ate his meal, then finally, when he was finished, he moved up to the bar to find out more about this enticing bartender.

Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline

2026-09-22T22:33:43Z

AlanBatie: Created page with "Chapter 1 Julian Mostel leaned back in his chair and sighed - his heart wasn't really in his side project of playing with steganography, the technique of hiding messages in plain sight. His boyfriend of 4 years had found a less geeky and more compliant golden retriever shifter to receive his affections - it wasn't really a surprise: a doberman was just a little to staid for a playful otter and the relationship really hadn't been working. At 32, Julian wasn't really old,..."

Shifting Worlds Prototypes

2026-09-22T21:55:22Z

AlanBatie:

* [[Shifting Worlds V1]] (before world rules were developed)
** [[SWv1-Alex]]
** [[SWv1-Jim]]
* [[Shifting Worlds V2]]
* [[Shifting Worlds V2.1]]
* [[Shifting Worlds V3]]
* [[Shifting Worlds - Introducing Nudity]]
* [[Shifting Worlds - Claude Outline]]
* steganography
** used to hide messages in broadcast forums where no originator info
*** coordinate leaders of geographically distributed conspiracy
*** public key distribution
*** encrypted messages to symmetric keys distributed with public keys
*** new quantum chip used to crack public keys
** treasure hunt/geocache
** steghide

Movies/Books

2026-09-22T21:54:26Z

AlanBatie: Created page with "Some ideas I've jotted down over the last few years: * ScreenplayTest * A Story :Typical plot structure * 3 Ways to Sunday :3 different babies born at about same time in same hospital grow up in very different ways * Admin Time :Sysadmin gets software from the future to help do current job * Fast Forward :Precog romance * All the Wrong Places NG :Turning All the Wrong Places from short to feature * Birds of a Feather :Two boys link up psychic..."

Some ideas I've jotted down over the last few years:

* [[ScreenplayTest]]
* [[A Story]]
:Typical plot structure
* [[3 Ways to Sunday]]
:3 different babies born at about same time in same hospital grow up in very different ways
* [[Admin Time]]
:Sysadmin gets software from the future to help do current job
* [[Fast Forward]]
:Precog romance
* [[All the Wrong Places NG]]
:Turning All the Wrong Places from short to feature
* [[Birds of a Feather]]
:Two boys link up psychically and spend their lives together
* [[Blood Will Tell]]
:My own version of vampires
* [[Bump]]
:When things go bump in the night, you probably don't want to know what they are, but it might save your life...or not
* [[Callback]]
:What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?
* [[The Case of the Pregnant Prince]]
:2 scene short based on the punchline of an old joke
* [[Choices]]
:Even if you can quantify preferences, how do you find matches among billions?
* [[Discontinuity]]
:Development of practical transporter as disruptive technology
* [[Discovery]]
:Surprises in the family closet
* [[Do You Mind?]]
:What happens if mind transference becomes practical?
* [[Energy Flow]]
:If matter and energy are really equivalent, are we energy beings?
* [[Folding Doors]]
:Traveling between universes
* [[Gay Acres]]
:Gay Green Acres, less farcical
* [[Glass Houses]]
:What if you really could read people's minds?
* [[Head Games]]
:Explore a world where head transplants to new, fit, bodies is possible and common
* [[Heaven Help Us]]
:Reasoning with Higher Powers
* [[Hey Porter]]
:What would you do if you suddenly could teleport?
* [[Hitchin' Onto Fear]]
:Surreal thriller alternatng between fantasy and reality; which is which?
* [[Homo Aquaticus]]
:Genetically engineered amphibious human
* [[It *Does* Get Better]]
:Pain of high school/college is only temporary
* [[Just a Hop]]
:What if you could teleport?
* [[Just a Quantum]]
:Genetic engineering to allow quantum manipulation
* [[eine kleine Flasche]]
:chasing something down tunnel ends up looking in on himself chasing something down tunnel
* [[Life Goes On]]
:What would it be like to be immortal?
* [[Matters of the Mind]]
:Using technological mind reading abilities for justice
* [[Me, Myself and I]]
:Multiple interconnected clones
* [[Nothing to Fear]]
: Gay survivalist meets someone who needs his help while on a solo quest
* [[Outward Bound]]
:First Alcubierre drive ship exploration adventures
* [[The Secret of Bareback Hill]]
:Nudist club treasure mystery
* [[Shades of Gray]]
:People change over time - good becomes evil, evil becomes good
* [[Shifters]] ([[Shifting Worlds Prototypes]])
:Shape shifting series
* [[Sometimes There Just Isn't Enough Sand]]
:Sometimes you're forced to take a stand
* [[Song of Life]]
:Rollercoaster of life through visuals
* [[Sponsalia Fortuita]]
:Accidentally getting married
* [[Stareaters]]
:Environmental impact of consuming stars to provide energy for interstellar travel
* [[Uncharted Territory]]
:The trials of establishing a new country
* [[Web of Life]]
:Lives unknowingly interconnected
* [[Xlwhistlepop]]
:Alien match for an Earth man
* [[Desert Oasis]]
:PNW acreage in Palm Springs maintained with magic

Usable scripts found on the net:

* [[Continuity]]

Some books I'd like to turn into movies:

* [[Magic's Pawn]]
* [[Silly Asses]]
* [[My Side of the Mountain]]

Intergalactic Rainbow Productions

2026-09-22T21:54:20Z

AlanBatie:

* [[Movies/Books]]
* [[Games]] (capture the results from story-oriented rpgs into script form)

Movies

2026-09-22T21:54:05Z

AlanBatie: Blanked the page

Movies

2026-09-22T08:43:02Z

AlanBatie:

Shifters

2026-09-22T08:42:34Z

AlanBatie:

A series of stories about shape shifters

* Shifters have two sets of DNA that they can choose between to express themselves
** Interspecies mating works like normal interspecies mating - it might result in a blend of very similar individuals, it might result in a "mule" or it might just not work at all if they're too different (the majority of the cases).
** Shifting is not possible when pregnant, however this block does not happen for a few days after conception. Shifting during those few days effectively terminates the pregnancy
* Higher brain functions remain the same and don't morph, but lower ones are encoded in the DNA for things like muscle coordination
* A Shifter is not able to shift until they reach the end of puberty around 20 years old.
** When they do shift, the form is reset to the genetic form - in particular, fixing any injury, and slowing aging
** Since DNA controls the shifting, cells with non-matching DNA are discarded - synergistic cells, such as gut bacteria, have DNA keys so they adjust accordingly, for example, so the animal diet can be handled when in animal form. During a shift, material in the process of being digested may or may not continue to be processed normally, which may result in a need to eliminate it not long after shifting.
*** This makes Shifters long lived - difficult to kill and it takes a while for genetic damage to age them (150 years?)
*** High percentage of gay shifters helps keep population under control
*** Typical age for parenting 50-75 with the extended time allowing freedom and financial stability before taking on parenting
** Mass is conserved, so if, say a human shifts to an eagle, it's a very large eagle, conversely, a bear would be a small bear
*** Bird shifters don't generally look like a non-shifter bird, as human sized birds have very large wingspans and look more like pterodactyls than birds as a result
** While a fat shifter stays fat, shifting takes a lot of energy and generally, there aren't fat shifters, and a fat shifter will be a little less fat from the energy consumed
*** Trying to shift could be fatal if a shifter doesn't have enough energy reserves to supply the shift, resulting in a partial shift
*** As a result, shifters typically carry a little cushion, and "6-packs" are considered unhealthy and dangerous
* Nudity taboos are silly in general, and unworkable for shifters
** It can be dangerous to shift while clothed if the clothes are stronger than the form being shifted to, e.g. birds and their light bones
** Clothing is used for protection or decoration, but almost always takes the form of an easily removed robe; exceptions are primarily in environments where loose clothing is dangerous, e.g. industrial settings.
* Predator/Prey shifter types conflict?
* In cold weather, metabolism is raised rather than treating extremities as expendable; conversely, in hot weather, metabolism is reduced along with the normal flushing/sweating actions. There are limits to how far each direction can go though - in particular, spending too much time cold can use up energy reserves, making shifting ill advised until they're replenished. In hot weather, the reduced metabolism tends to make one sluggish and sleepy.

Shifters

2026-09-22T08:40:31Z

AlanBatie:

Just a Hop - Story

2026-06-20T20:17:13Z

AlanBatie: Created page with "Jake celebrated his graduation (Software Engineering with a Minor in Physics) by going on a hike to his favorite spot - a small lake in the mountains he liked to backpack to where he could skinny dip and hang out naked without offending anyone's sensibilities. There was nothing like the feeling of a light mountain breeze blowing across bare skin on a nice summer day. As he was letting the fresh air and sun dry him off after a refreshing swim, he looked up at an alpine m..."

Jake celebrated his graduation (Software Engineering with a Minor in Physics) by going on a hike to his favorite spot - a small lake in the mountains he liked to backpack to where he could skinny dip and hang out naked without offending anyone's sensibilities. There was nothing like the feeling of a light mountain breeze blowing across bare skin on a nice summer day.

As he was letting the fresh air and sun dry him off after a refreshing swim, he looked up at an alpine meadow a couple miles up the mountainside he'd hiked to a few times and saw movement there. He peered at it, trying to make out what it was when suddenly he was face to face with a Bighorn ram, which appeared to be as shocked as he was. Jake yelped and suddenly was back at his camp wondering what had just happened.

Just a Hop

2026-06-20T19:42:03Z

AlanBatie:

There are significant momentum differences between locations on Earth, so the energy needs to come from or go somewhere when teleporting. A newly discovered substance, kinethium, has extremely elastic bonds allowing for extremely high energy density for storage. These bonds are particularly sensitive to kinetic shock, reacting to abrupt changes in kinetic energy by absorbing or dispensing it as needed, up to a point - if the limits are exceeded when absorbing energy, the bonds can be released catastrophically. Fortunately, when doped properly, the material changes color with its energy level, from pale red (low) to intense blue (high), resulting in the frequent comment that when it gets too much energy, it goes "kabluey". As the energy increases, the molecules go from random to tightly aligned, with the result that it also goes from nearly transparent to completely opaque. Only abrupt changes affect the material, and whether it absorbs or dispenses kinetic energy in a field around it depends on the presence or absence of a magnetic field - if present, it dispenses the energy, otherwise it absorbs it. This allows management of the energy - one that's too full, can be impacted inside a magnetic field, or one that's empty and needs to supply energy for a teleport can be impacted without a magnetic field. It should be noted that this capability makes it useful as a general purpose inertial dampener, for example, replacing airbags in cars.

Teleporters have a genetic mutation similar to birds ability to navigate in the earth's magnetic field such that they always know where they are and where they have been. This means they can only teleport to a place that they've already been and have "stored" the magnetic field and velocity vector for the location.

[[Just a Hop - Story]]

Just a Hop

2026-05-25T22:14:48Z

AlanBatie: Created page with "There are significant momentum differences between locations on Earth, so the energy needs to come from or go somewhere when teleporting. A newly discovered substance, kinethium, has extremely elastic bonds allowing for extremely high energy density for storage. These bonds are particularly sensitive to kinetic shock, reacting to abrupt changes in kinetic energy by absorbing or dispensing it as needed, up to a point - if the limits are exceeded when absorbing energy, the..."

Movies

2026-05-25T20:58:08Z

AlanBatie:

Some ideas I've jotted down over the last few years:

* [[ScreenplayTest]]
* [[A Story]]
:Typical plot structure
* [[3 Ways to Sunday]]
:3 different babies born at about same time in same hospital grow up in very different ways
* [[Admin Time]]
:Sysadmin gets software from the future to help do current job
* [[Fast Forward]]
:Precog romance
* [[All the Wrong Places NG]]
:Turning All the Wrong Places from short to feature
* [[Birds of a Feather]]
:Two boys link up psychically and spend their lives together
* [[Blood Will Tell]]
:My own version of vampires
* [[Bump]]
:When things go bump in the night, you probably don't want to know what they are, but it might save your life...or not
* [[Callback]]
:What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?
* [[The Case of the Pregnant Prince]]
:2 scene short based on the punchline of an old joke
* [[Choices]]
:Even if you can quantify preferences, how do you find matches among billions?
* [[Discontinuity]]
:Development of practical transporter as disruptive technology
* [[Discovery]]
:Surprises in the family closet
* [[Do You Mind?]]
:What happens if mind transference becomes practical?
* [[Energy Flow]]
:If matter and energy are really equivalent, are we energy beings?
* [[Folding Doors]]
:Traveling between universes
* [[Gay Acres]]
:Gay Green Acres, less farcical
* [[Glass Houses]]
:What if you really could read people's minds?
* [[Head Games]]
:Explore a world where head transplants to new, fit, bodies is possible and common
* [[Heaven Help Us]]
:Reasoning with Higher Powers
* [[Hey Porter]]
:What would you do if you suddenly could teleport?
* [[Hitchin' Onto Fear]]
:Surreal thriller alternatng between fantasy and reality; which is which?
* [[Homo Aquaticus]]
:Genetically engineered amphibious human
* [[It *Does* Get Better]]
:Pain of high school/college is only temporary
* [[Just a Hop]]
:What if you could teleport?
* [[Just a Quantum]]
:Genetic engineering to allow quantum manipulation
* [[eine kleine Flasche]]
:chasing something down tunnel ends up looking in on himself chasing something down tunnel
* [[Life Goes On]]
:What would it be like to be immortal?
* [[Matters of the Mind]]
:Using technological mind reading abilities for justice
* [[Me, Myself and I]]
:Multiple interconnected clones
* [[Nothing to Fear]]
: Gay survivalist meets someone who needs his help while on a solo quest
* [[Outward Bound]]
:First Alcubierre drive ship exploration adventures
* [[The Secret of Bareback Hill]]
:Nudist club treasure mystery
* [[Shades of Gray]]
:People change over time - good becomes evil, evil becomes good
* [[Shifters]]
:Shape shifting series
* [[Sometimes There Just Isn't Enough Sand]]
:Sometimes you're forced to take a stand
* [[Song of Life]]
:Rollercoaster of life through visuals
* [[Sponsalia Fortuita]]
:Accidentally getting married
* [[Stareaters]]
:Environmental impact of consuming stars to provide energy for interstellar travel
* [[Uncharted Territory]]
:The trials of establishing a new country
* [[Web of Life]]
:Lives unknowingly interconnected
* [[Xlwhistlepop]]
:Alien match for an Earth man
* [[Desert Oasis]]
:PNW acreage in Palm Springs maintained with magic

Usable scripts found on the net:

* [[Continuity]]

Some books I'd like to turn into movies:

* [[Magic's Pawn]]
* [[Silly Asses]]
* [[My Side of the Mountain]]

ScreenplayTest

2026-05-25T20:55:21Z

AlanBatie:

<screenplay>

Title: A Simple Script
Author: Nima Yousefi
Draft date: 2/1/2012

FADE IN:

INT. OFFICE - MORNING

A MAN sits alone at his desk.

MAN (V.O.)
(passionately)
I'm writing.

FADE OUT.

</screenplay>

A Story

2026-05-25T20:54:53Z

AlanBatie:

<screenplay>
Title: A Simple Script
Author: The Author
Draft date: 5/25/2026

FADE IN:

INT. OFFICE - MORNING

The introduction

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Character development

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

The first hurdle

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Things get worse

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

The first hump

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Conclusion

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Wrap up

FADE OUT.

</screenplay>

A Story

2026-05-25T20:54:18Z

AlanBatie:

<screenplay>

Title: A Simple Script
Author: The Author
Draft date: 5/25/2026

FADE IN:

INT. OFFICE - MORNING

The introduction

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Character development

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

The first hurdle

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Things get worse

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

The first hump

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Conclusion

EXT. SOMEWHERE - DAY

Wrap up

FADE OUT.
> The End <

</screenplay>

A Story

2026-05-25T20:50:50Z

AlanBatie:

<screenplay>
Title: A Story

.INTRO

.CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

.FIRST HURDLE

.THINGS GET WORSE

.THE HUMP

.CONCLUSION

.WRAP UP
</screenplay>

Sponsalia Fortuita

2025-10-28T09:36:18Z

AlanBatie: Created page with "Sponsalia Fortuita (Accidental Betrothal) Qui sponsalia ineunt, haec peragere debent: (Those would enter into a betrothal shall perform the following actions:)"

Sponsalia Fortuita
(Accidental Betrothal)

Qui sponsalia ineunt, haec peragere debent:
(Those would enter into a betrothal shall perform the following actions:)

Movies

2025-10-28T09:34:40Z

AlanBatie:

Some ideas I've jotted down over the last few years:

* [[ScreenplayTest]]
* [[A Story]]
:Typical plot structure
* [[3 Ways to Sunday]]
:3 different babies born at about same time in same hospital grow up in very different ways
* [[Admin Time]]
:Sysadmin gets software from the future to help do current job
* [[Fast Forward]]
:Precog romance
* [[All the Wrong Places NG]]
:Turning All the Wrong Places from short to feature
* [[Birds of a Feather]]
:Two boys link up psychically and spend their lives together
* [[Blood Will Tell]]
:My own version of vampires
* [[Bump]]
:When things go bump in the night, you probably don't want to know what they are, but it might save your life...or not
* [[Callback]]
:What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?
* [[The Case of the Pregnant Prince]]
:2 scene short based on the punchline of an old joke
* [[Choices]]
:Even if you can quantify preferences, how do you find matches among billions?
* [[Discontinuity]]
:Development of practical transporter as disruptive technology
* [[Discovery]]
:Surprises in the family closet
* [[Do You Mind?]]
:What happens if mind transference becomes practical?
* [[Energy Flow]]
:If matter and energy are really equivalent, are we energy beings?
* [[Folding Doors]]
:Traveling between universes
* [[Gay Acres]]
:Gay Green Acres, less farcical
* [[Glass Houses]]
:What if you really could read people's minds?
* [[Head Games]]
:Explore a world where head transplants to new, fit, bodies is possible and common
* [[Heaven Help Us]]
:Reasoning with Higher Powers
* [[Hey Porter]]
:What would you do if you suddenly could teleport?
* [[Hitchin' Onto Fear]]
:Surreal thriller alternatng between fantasy and reality; which is which?
* [[Homo Aquaticus]]
:Genetically engineered amphibious human
* [[It *Does* Get Better]]
:Pain of high school/college is only temporary
* [[Just a Quantum]]
:Genetic engineering to allow quantum manipulation
* [[eine kleine Flasche]]
:chasing something down tunnel ends up looking in on himself chasing something down tunnel
* [[Life Goes On]]
:What would it be like to be immortal?
* [[Matters of the Mind]]
:Using technological mind reading abilities for justice
* [[Me, Myself and I]]
:Multiple interconnected clones
* [[Nothing to Fear]]
: Gay survivalist meets someone who needs his help while on a solo quest
* [[Outward Bound]]
:First Alcubierre drive ship exploration adventures
* [[The Secret of Bareback Hill]]
:Nudist club treasure mystery
* [[Shades of Gray]]
:People change over time - good becomes evil, evil becomes good
* [[Shifters]]
:Shape shifting series
* [[Sometimes There Just Isn't Enough Sand]]
:Sometimes you're forced to take a stand
* [[Song of Life]]
:Rollercoaster of life through visuals
* [[Sponsalia Fortuita]]
:Accidentally getting married
* [[Stareaters]]
:Environmental impact of consuming stars to provide energy for interstellar travel
* [[Uncharted Territory]]
:The trials of establishing a new country
* [[Web of Life]]
:Lives unknowingly interconnected
* [[Xlwhistlepop]]
:Alien match for an Earth man
* [[Desert Oasis]]
:PNW acreage in Palm Springs maintained with magic

Usable scripts found on the net:

* [[Continuity]]

Some books I'd like to turn into movies:

* [[Magic's Pawn]]
* [[Silly Asses]]
* [[My Side of the Mountain]]

All the Wrong Places NG

2025-03-07T07:08:50Z

AlanBatie:

In 1998, I took an intro filmmaking class, which shot on 8mm film. Given the audio sync limitations of that format, I stylized it as a classic silent film, however also given modern video technology, thought I could do better (though I do rather like the way the style worked in the class film). But that means coming up with a real script. I took a screenwriting class shortly after, and got the first 8-9 pages of something I rather liked, but wasn't sure where to go from there. Maybe if I put it up here, something will jog, or someone else will have a good idea to carry it forward...

<screenplay>
Title: All the Wrong Places NG
Author: Alan Batie, et al

EXT DAY residential

Rainbow flags fly from several houses along an otherwise typical, older, but well maintained, residential street.

EXT DAY Adam's house

At one house, not yet flying such a flag, several men unload a moving van. ADAM, in his early 30's, obviously in charge, stands at the front door overseeing the operation. HAROLD, in his late 20's, a professional body builder who could be a Tom of Finland model, picks up an antique mirror and stumbles, narrowly averting disaster.

ADAM
Be careful with that, Harry! It's 300 years old!

HAROLD
You know I hate that name!

RICHARD, a mountain man with a neatly trimmed beard in his mid-30s, and GREG, also in his mid-30s, maneuver a dresser and start to follow Harold down the ramp. GREG is a typical boy next door, but is looking a little nerdly with a cell phone and a small computer, a little bigger than a PDA, on his belt.

ADAM (CONT'D)
Be careful with that Har-OLD. It's still 300 years OLD.

RICHARD
At least that's what the cute salesboy told him.

They stop for a moment and GREG holds up a hand with his thumb and first finger apart.

GREG
Is that the same one who said that this is 8 inches?

ADAM
Very funny. The mirror goes in the living room and the dresser in the master bedroom.

HAROLD GREG AND RICHARD
(in unison)
Yes, MASTER.

They laugh, Adam grins, and they all disappear into the house.

EXT DAY Steve's house

A classic old-style porch fronts a traditional home. STEVE stands at one end of his porch watering plants and watches the goings on of Adam and company --- especially ADAM. After a moment, he turns and goes back into his house.

EXT DAY Adam's house

The men come out of the house and go into the truck for another load.

ADAM
Let's get the entertainment center next. It's going to take all of us.

They all stare at the very large entertainment center and wipe the sweat off their foreheads.

RICHARD
Couldn't you have dialed a little cooler weather into that computer of yours, Greg?

STEVE
(off camera)
Perhaps this will help...

The guys turn in unison. There stands STEVE outside the truck with a tray full of frosted glasses and a pitcher of lemonade.

STEVE (CONT'D)
You boys look like you might be able to use a little something to drink in this faab-u-lous weather we're having.

They go to the back of the truck, where STEVE sets down the tray, points at GREG and waggles his finger.

STEVE (CONT'D)
And don't you dare dial it any cooler in whatever gadget you have there. My plants just adore this!

STEVE starts pouring glasses of lemonade for the crew. They thank him as they pick up their glasses, but the conversation continues.

STEVE (CONT'D)
(looks to Adam)
By the way, I'm Steve, your new door neighbor.
(grandly)
Welcome to Paradise.

ADAM
I'm Adam, and these are my friends Richard, Greg and Harold.

STEVE
So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?

All but ADAM roll their eyes. GREG beats them to the punch.

GREG
The Zookeeper.

ADAM frowns at GREG GREG grins in response.

STEVE
You were shacking up with the chimpanzees and the zookeeper kicked you out?

ADAM
He means my ex. First it was just a single bird...

<trans>DISSOLVE TO</trans>

INT DAY ADAM'S PREVIOUS LIVING ROOM

ADAM sits on a couch reading a magazine in a small, very tidy living room. There are several more magazines very carefully stacked on the coffee table. THOMAS, a hairstylist in his late 20s, enters sporting the latest in hair design. He shows ADAM a birdcage with a brightly colored PARAKEET in it.

THOMAS
Isn't he pretty?
(then to the bird)
And you're soooo sweet too!

Thomas sets the cage down on the coffee table, then reaches in and the bird hops onto his finger. He lifts the bird up towards ADAM.

THOMAS (CONT'D)
See? Isn't he sweet?

ADAM looks skeptical, but reaches out a finger. The bird SQUAWKS, then nips at it.

INT DAY ADAM'S PREVIOUS LIVING ROOM

The parakeet is in a small cage between the chairs. THOMAS shows ADAM a PARROT. One of the magazines is out of place on the coffee table.

ADAM
(V.O.)
Then it was two...

<trans>DISSOLVE TO</trans>

INT DAY ADAM'S PREVIOUS LIVING ROOM

A several cages of birds have been squeezed in amongst the furniture. The magazines are scattered all over the table.

ADAM
(V.O.)
...then ten...

<trans>DISSOLVE TO</trans>

INT DAY ADAMS PREVIOUS LIVING ROOM

Now, a huge aviary fills a large portion of the room. Furniture has been removed to make room for it. The coffee table is one of the items missing. There are smaller cages on each side of the aviary, and all are filled with BIRDS, plants, bird toys, etc. Magazines are on the floor around the cages to catch droppings. Others are scattered haphazardly around what little furniture remains, some open. There is a CACOPHONY of bird cheeps, chirps and squawks.

ADAM (V.O.)
then a hundred and ten.

EXT DAY ADAMS HOUSE

STEVE looks at ADAM in amazement. HAROLD, RICHARD and GREG shake their heads. RICHARD and GREG try to feign boredom, but their amusement shows through.

ADAM
I could have dealt with that, but it wasnt enough for him

<trans>DISSOLVE TO</trans>

INT DAY ADAMS PREVIOUS LIVING ROOM

A large salt-water aquarium sits at one end of the room the only piece of furniture remaining is a single chair. The magazines not used for bird droppings are trying unsuccessfully to lean up against the base of the aquarium. There are a number of FISH in the aquarium. An IGUANA rests on THOMAS shoulder as he feeds the fish. Adding to the cacophony are the sounds of the aquarium pumps and bubbling aerators. THOMAS sports a Mohawk, and with the iguanas head next to his, the resemblance to the iguanas crest is obvious.

ADAM (V.O.)
He had to have fish too, and then an iguana, and then

<trans>DISSOLVE TO</trans>

INT NIGHT ADAMS PREVIOUS BEDROOM

A small aquarium sits on top of the bookcase headboard of the bed, and small birdcages grace the nightstands on either side of the bed. In the bed, THOMAS and ADAM passionately make out while the birds CHIRP lightly in the background. The bedsheets cover their lower bodies until

ADAM
Ouch! God Damn!

ADAM throws off the covers, and something small and furry disappears from under them into the dark. It is SHERLOCK, THOMAS FERRET. ADAM rubs his ankle.

THOMAS
What is it? Are you ok?

ADAM turns to THOMAS.

ADAM
No, Im not ok. Your damn ferret just bit me.

THOMAS looks shocked and jumps up to find and comfort the frightened ferret.

ADAM (CONT'D)
I've had it! Either these animals go, or I do!

THOMAS
Sherlock! Its ok, he didnt mean to scare you!

ADAM
Scare HIM!?

THOMAS stops and looks at ADAM.

THOMAS
You dont mean that? You wouldnt leave me would you?

EXT DAY ADAMS PREVIOUS HOUSE

A moving van pulls out of the driveway.

EXT DAY ADAMS HOUSE

The group stares in amazement at ADAM.

GREG
Fortunately, my zookeeper leaves his pets in the wild.

GREG puts his arms around RICHARD as STEVE gives GREG a puzzled look.

RICHARD
I'm a park ranger, and I spend most of my time keeping track of the wildlife.

HAROLD
And sometimes even the animals in the park!

GREG
We've been together 5 years now.

ADAM
And at this rate its going to take another 5 years to get unloaded They get up and put their empty glasses back on the tray.

ALL
(individually)
Thanks!

EXT DAY ADAMS HOUSE

ADAMs back patio is the scene of a barbecue. A couple of dozen people are talking and drinking, while ADAM grills. Steve is opening a beer at the drink cooler, but his eyes are on ADAM.

HAROLD
Since were neighbors, lets be more than friends?

STEVE jumps and almost spills his beer.

HAROLD (CONT'D)
Sorry, but I couldnt help noticing the holes you were drilling in Adams back. He will make someone a good catch someday. Want to apply?

STEVE
What are you? His social secretary?

HAROLD
Oh heavens no! We had our fun, but neither of us were ready to settle down. I don't think I ever will, but Adam, he's the marryin' kind. Only trouble is, he's rather like Goldilocks: (in a high voice) "Too soft", "Too hard".

Harold gives Steve that youve got to be kidding look.

HAROLD (CONT'D)
"Too hot", "Too cold" (now in an attempt to imitate Yoda) "Never just right is anyone".

STEVE gives HAROLD a bottom-to-top once-over, ending at his eyes.

STEVE
Just Right is all relative

ADAM stops grilling for a moment to survey his guests and spots HAROLD and STEVE flirting. RICHARD and GREG come over.

RICHARD
Looks like Harold and Steve are hitting it off well

ADAM
Yeah. Yeah, it does.

ADAM doesnt look too happy about it though.

INT NIGHT GAY PIANO BAR

RICHARD, GREG and ADAM sit at a table in the back of a small, relatively quiet, piano bar. There are mostly guys at the other tables, and a PIANO nearer the front is being played.

ADAM
So it looks like Harold and Steve are hitting it off quite well.

GREG
You dont sound too happy for them. Do you still have a thing for Harold, or are you falling for Steve?

ADAM
Harold? No, thats ancient history. His attention span lasts about two weeks.

RICHARD
So it is Steve then?

ADAM
Noooo, I mean he's ok, but I don't think he's Mr. Right by any means.

GREG
And who would Mr. Right be this week?

ADAM
Very funny. You know what I like --- beefy hunks with a brain. Pecs of death

RICHARD
...and 6-pack abs. Harold, in other words.

ADAM
No! I told you, that's history.

The WAITER stops by the table on his rounds. He is very well built, and his clothes are tight fitting, showing off his body.

WAITER
Can I get you boys anything?

INT NIGHT GAY DANCE BAR

ADAM, RICHARD and GREG have just gotten their drinks in a typical, crowded, dance bar. Loud DANCE MUSIC drowns out any hope of conversation, though the CHAOTIC NOISE of the various attempts make up the remainder of the sounds.

The small group makes their way over to the dance floor. THOMAS is dancing in one corner, and there is a clear area around him. Nearby dancers are keeping a wary eye on him, careful not to get too close, but he is oblivious to this. Hes too engrossed in the music and incorporating the SNAKE he has looped about him into his dance movements. His hair is flared a bit and dyed to look like a cobra hood.

ADAM, RICHARD and GREG put their drinks down and start dancing. A MUSCULAR MAN watches them with a calculating look, then also goes out and starts dancing near them. He and ADAM make eye contact. Muscular Man smiles, and ADAM smiles back. They start dancing with each other in an increasingly sensual way. Eventually, they start kissing and whispering in each others ears. Finally, Adam goes over to Richard and Greg, says something to them, then leaves with Muscular Man. Richard and Greg watch, then look at each other, shake their heads and continue dancing.

INT NIGHT ADAMS BEDROOM

ADAM and Muscular Man are kissing standing next to the bed. In the background is a bookcase full of books mostly, but there is a BOOM BOX on top and the top interior shelf is filled with CDs. There are also a few laying next to the boom box, as well as wad of CASH.

The two undress each other and fall onto the bed.

INT DAY ADAMS BEDROOM

ADAM wakes up the next morning and rolls onto his side facing the other half of the bed. He discovers that its empty, then notices that the entire room, save the bed, is empty, stripped bare. He groans and falls back down onto his pillow, staring at the ceiling.

EXT DAY STEVE'S FLOWERBED

STEVE is weeding one of his flower beds, the one which borders ADAMs front yard. ADAM is talking to STEVE as he weeds.

ADAM
...and the room was stripped bare.

STEVE tries to be sympathetic, but its just barely working.

STEVE
How you could have slept through your room being stripped?

ADAM
We had a nightcap after, well, maybe a few nightcaps...

STEVE
I see.

ADAM
Speaking of which, you and Harold
have been seeing each other for
what, two weeks now?

STEVE
(laughing)
Something like that. Well see what comes of it.

From here on is more of a tentative plot outline, though I'm not really happy with it

FIRST CRISIS HALLOWEEN PARTY

STEVE mistakes ADAM for HAROLD and flirts with him. This
is the first time theyve had to deal with their attraction
face-to-face, and they brush it off. THOMAS is dressed as a
Tasmanian Devil and has a rabbit with him.

THANKSGIVING

At Thanksgiving, the five all go to Hawaii to spend a week
hiking the Na Pali Coast of Kauai.

They meet up with Joe, a travel agent from Honolulu and
end up hitting it off and Joe joins the group in their
explorations.

Joe and Harold develop an attraction, trying to hide it
from Steve, while Steve and Adams attraction builds (yet
they keep suppressing it).

Richard and Greg watch it all with pointed commentary,
trying to get Steve and Adam together without getting
directly involved. These attempts are to have humorous
results, almost slapstick.

The tension builds until a final moment when Harold decides
that a week with Joe was fun, but enough.

Greg plays with his gadgets for a subplot.

Harolds not really in love with Steve either though, so
they break up and Steve and Adam finally acknowledge their
attraction and commit to each other.

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V2 Notes

2025-01-14T05:10:09Z

AlanBatie:

* Chris, a grizzly shifter and ISP network administrator, takes a 4 day weekend to a small, remote, lake on Mt Hood to get away from it all just before a big competition starts that he's providing the network services for, which have just been setup and tested, ready for the media companies covering the event to plug into.
** Hickman Lake is surrounded by steep hills and there is only one decent camping area, about 20m across, around the lake
* While swimming in bear form, Chris notices a small human sized osprey (i.e. another shifter) landing in the camping area and beelines back to camp to warn off the intruder
* Xander recently arrived in Portland as a tech for one of the media companies covering the competition, but is taking the weekend to check out the area. Flying around Mt Hood, he spies a small lake with a small clearing that would make a nice spot to camp for the evening. Flying, he can only carry about 5kilos - a small one person tent, light sleeping bag, dry food. As he gets closer, he sees someone has already setup camp, and is probably who is out playing in the lake, but since it's the only area in the vicinity suitable for camping, lands anyhow, shifts back to human form and starts setting up camp on the opposite side of the clearing
* Chris shifts when he gets close to shore and storms out of the water ready to chase off the intruder...until he gets a good look at the gorgeous little guy setting up camp
* Xander hears Chris coming out of the water and turns around to see a gorgeous hunk dripping water as he walks out of the lake
* Both dicks come to attention, making it obvious the attraction is mutual
* Chris introduces himself and they chat a bit getting to know each other; it quickly becomes clear they have chemistry and mutual interests in computers, the outdoors, travel and scifi, but something interrupts them when it comes to the point about saying what their current work is and they never get back to it
* Seeing the tiny tent Xander has setup and that they've both had hard ons the entire time they were talking, Chris invites Xander to share his tent, starting now
* They have sex several times over the weekend along with playing in the lake, Chris using both human and bear forms and Xander uses his osprey form to get fish for dinner
* Xander hikes out with Chris, who gives him a ride home and they exchange contact info, planning to meet for dinner after work the next day
* The next day, Chris is monitoring traffic as the media companies start to setup and test their equipment. One of the monitors he's using is an experimental program he's been working on on the side to detect steganography in a stream. He's running it mostly to see how well it keeps up with the flow, not expecting it to detect anything in this particular content, but it flags a stream. Digging into the source and looking up the contact info for the media company, discovers the technical contact is Xander.
* The sender carelessly left encryption disabled, relying solely on steganography to hide the message, and it turns out to be a message referencing an apparently randomly named Telegram chat group. Curious, Chris uses a Tor connection to try to join the group anonomously and gets asked some disturbing questions about predator vs prey relationships. ... from a covert group, Predator Supremacy Now, who believe the predator shifters have the right to eat the prey shifters when shifted. They plan to ambush prey in the Shift Relay Marathon, where competitors alternate between human and shifted forms. Being cross country, they will wait at a remote location in a segment where the participants are shifted and snatch a lone prey shifter, and eat them leaving little behind - the prey simply disappears. The group infiltrates Shifting Streams, one of the media companies covering the race, and arranges for one of the remote coverage points to be manned entirely by the predators.

Shifting Worlds V2 Notes

2025-01-14T05:09:40Z

AlanBatie:

* Chris, a grizzly shifter and ISP network administrator, takes a 4 day weekend to a small, remote, lake on Mt Hood to get away from it all just before a big competition starts that he's providing the network services for, which have just been setup and tested, ready for the media companies covering the event to plug into.
** Hickman Lake is surrounded by steep hills and there is only one decent camping area, about 20m across, around the lake
* While swimming in bear form, Chris notices a small human sized osprey (i.e. another shifter) landing in the camping area and beelines back to camp to warn off the intruder
* Xander recently arrived in Portland as a tech for one of the media companies covering the competition, but is taking the weekend to check out the area. Flying around Mt Hood, he spies a small lake with a small clearing that would make a nice spot to camp for the evening. Flying, he can only carry about 5kilos - a small one person tent, light sleeping bag, dry food. As he gets closer, he sees someone has already setup camp, and is probably who is out playing in the lake, but since it's the only area in the vicinity suitable for camping, lands anyhow, shifts back to human form and starts setting up camp on the opposite side of the clearing
* Chris shifts when he gets close to shore and storms out of the water ready to chase off the intruder...until he gets a good look at the gorgeous little guy setting up camp
* Xander hears Chris coming out of the water and turns around to see a gorgeous hunk dripping water as he walks out of the lake
* Both dicks come to attention, making it obvious the attraction is mutual
* Chris introduces himself and they chat a bit getting to know each other; it quickly becomes clear they have chemistry and mutual interests in computers, the outdoors, travel and scifi, but something interrupts them when it comes to the point about saying what their current work is and they never get back to it
* Seeing the tiny tent Xander has setup and that they've both had hard ons the entire time they were talking, Chris invites Xander to share his tent, starting now
* They have sex several times over the weekend along with playing in the lake, Chris using both human and bear forms and Xander uses his osprey form to get fish for dinner
* Xander hikes out with Chris, who gives him a ride home and they exchange contact info, planning to meet for dinner after work the next day
* The next day, Chris is monitoring traffic as the media companies start to setup and test their equipment. One of the monitors he's using is an experimental program he's been working on on the side to detect steganography in a stream. He's running it mostly to see how well it keeps up with the flow, not expecting it to detect anything in this particular content, but it flags a stream. Digging into the source and looking up the contact info for the media company, discovers the technical contact is Xander.
* The sender carelessly left encryption disabled, relying solely on steganography to hide the message, and it turns out to be a message referencing an apparently randomly named Telegram chat group. Curious, Chris uses a Tor connection to try to join the group anonomously and gets asked some disturbing questions about predator vs prey relationships.

from a covert group, Predator Supremacy Now, who believe the predator shifters have the right to eat the prey shifters when shifted. They plan to ambush prey in the Shift Relay Marathon, where competitors alternate between human and shifted forms. Being cross country, they will wait at a remote location in a segment where the participants are shifted and snatch a lone prey shifter, and eat them leaving little behind - the prey simply disappears. The group infiltrates Shifting Streams, one of the media companies covering the race, and arranges for one of the remote coverage points to be manned entirely by the predators.

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T23:22:44Z

AlanBatie:

[[Shifting Worlds V2 Notes]]

<screenplay>

Title: Shifting Worlds
Author: Alan Batie
Draft date: 2024/01/12

FADE IN:

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATE SUMMER DAY

A naked (except for SANDALS) CHRIS, a "well rounded" 30ish man with a moderate amount of hair all over, but not too much, loads a BACKPACK and some HIKING BOOTS into the back of an SUV and closes the liftgate. He gets in, backs out of the driveway and heads down the road.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

Chris' SUV drives to the end of a road in the forest with a rounded pseudo-parking area, parks, gets out, pulls out the hiking boots and puts them on in favor of his sandals. After putting on the boots, he puts the sandals in his backpack, puts it on, and starts walking up a trail.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris walks out of the forest into a small meadow, stops to take in the view, then finds a good spot by the lake and starts to setup his TENT.

With the tent setup, Chris takes off his boots, walks over to the lake, wades in, and starts swimming. After not very long, he SHIFTS into his GRIZZLY BEAR form (a small one, as it only has his mass of 120ish kg) and continues to play in the lake.

While Chris is playing in the lake, an oddly shaped BIRD flies in, with a BAG clutched in its feet. It has very large wings - each wing 3m long by 1m deep at the body, which is not much longer and just enough tail for control (this won't become apparent until it lands however).

The bird sees the small lake, with a small clearing that has a tent setup by the lakeshore on one side. All around the lake otherwise is forest and the bird comes in for a landing on the far side of the meadow from Chris' tent. It drops the bag first before actually landing, and then shifts into XANDER, a cute, late 20's, smooth twink, short, about 1.6m high.

Chris shifts into his human form and freezes as Xander turns into his human form, and Xander does as well, except for certain body parts that demonstrate they are both highly attracted to each other as they walk towards each other for introductions.

XANDER
Hi, I'm Xander - sorry to drop in, but this is the only real spot for camping here.

CHRIS
Hi, I'm Chris, and there's plenty of room for the two of us, do you need any help setting up?

Xander opens his bag and takes out the small tent and sleeping bag.

XANDER
No, I can't carry much flying, so it's a pretty simple setup. Fortunately, it's still pretty warm so I don't need much of a sleeping bag.

He starts unpacking the tent

CHRIS
It can still get pretty chilly at night...

XANDER
Well, if I get cold, maybe a nice teddy bear will keep me warm!

CHRIS
You never know, he just might!

Xander sets up his tent as they continue chatting

CHRIS
Do you do much camping?

XANDER
As much as I can, but I've not had a chance to do much in Oregon - I live in the Bay Area and usually go up into the redwoods, and Lazy Bear in Guernville, of course!

CHRIS
You do like bears then!

XANDER
Definitely, love to cuddle up with them

CHRIS
What else to you do for fun - out of bed! - besides camping?

XANDER
I love traveling to new places; I'd actually camp in them if it weren't such a hassle to bring along the camping gear. I like to read, mostly scifi, fantasy, and mystery, especially if there's a gay romance involved. I also like do some amateur filmmaking, especially editing.

CHRIS
That's cool, I know what you mean about the camping gear, but I do enjoy regional road trips where I can bring it along. I'm a bit of a computer geek, playing with networks and data analysis.

Xander has finished setting up his tent at this point, and tosses his stuff inside it, then kicks off his shoes.

XANDER
After the flight up here, I need a swim!

Xander heads for the lake, and Chris follows. They cavort in the lake, dunking each other, and all the usual antics in water, before coming to a stop in shallower water, where Xander is standing in water up to his neck and Chris pulls him in for a passionate kiss. They make out for a while, as hands disappear under the water and they jack each other off, then cuddle for the recovery period.

XANDER
Wow, I needed that, thanks!

CHRIS
Yeah, me too! How about we go fix some dinner now? It's about that time...

XANDER
Sounds good to me.

They wade back to shore, each heading for their own tent. Xander looks back at Chris.

XANDER
Mind if I get my stuff and join you?

CHRIS
I was hoping you would!

Xander grabs his bag, which, now devoid of the tent and sleeping bag, is much lighter, and joins Chris. They both have small 3-legged chairs and small folding tables to work on.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - EVENING

Chris and Xander finish their meals and go down to the lake to rinse off the dishes, then head back to Chris' tent where their chairs and tables are.

XANDER
You know, it is starting to get a little chilly. How would you feel about actually being a teddy bear to keep me warm tonight?

CHRIS
Sounds like a great idea to me! I doubt our sleeping bags will zip together, but we can use one underneath us and the other one on top.

XANDER
I'll run over and get mine...

He does, and they crawl into Chris' tent, arrange the sleeping bags, and cuddle up in them for the night.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY - MONTAGE

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

...Chris fucking Xander

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, reading on their ereaders

...Chris in bear form in the lake, with Xander in bird form trying to drop sticks and rocks on him

...Xander, in bird form, diving into the water and bringing up a fish

...Chris and Xander cooking fish for dinner

...Xander fucking Chris

...Chris and Xander eating and talking

...Chris and Xander laying in the meadow making out, Xander's tent collapsed and his stuff sitting next to Chris' tent

...Chris and Xander 69'ing

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris and Xander pack up their stuff, preparing to leave

CHRIS
It's not a far hike to my car - I can give you a ride back to town if you like.

XANDER
Sure - I even brought hiking shoes in case I wanted to do some hiking here, and let's exchange contact info too - I'd like to keep in touch with you.

CHRIS
Definitely!

Xander quickly grabs his boots and puts them on, then Chris puts on his backpack, Xander grabs his bag, and they head down the trail back to the SUV.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

At the car, they put the bag and backpack in the SUV, Chris changes back to sandals and Xander takes off his boots to go barefoot.

CHRIS
Hey, how about we go out to dinner tomorrow night after work. I know a great steakhouse that will make a nice change from fish!

XANDER
Well, I can never get too much fish, but steak sounds good too. Sure! Why don't you pick me up at my hotel at 7pm?

CHRIS
It's a date!

They get in the SUV and drive off.

INT. COMPUTER TECH OFFICE - DAY

Chris is viewing pictures of Xander on a social media site, where he's posted pictures of himself in various camping and tourist spots around the world.

SPOCK'S VOICE
Fascinating!

Chris looks up, startled, and pulls up a window that has a red flashing alert. He clicks on the alert, and the classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Portland Rose Garden comes up, with a caption that reads "45.956589 123.585693 202510050600".

CHRIS
Hmmmm

Chris pulls up Google Earth and pastes the coordinates into it, which shows a gravel pit near Jewel.

CHRIS
Why would someone want to meet out there at 6 in the morning?

Chris looks at the IP address in the alert, and pulls up another window with a table of IP address/user information in it.

CHRIS
Shifting Streams? That's who Xander works for!

Chris clicks on an entry in the table and sure enough, it pulls up an IT contact info with Xander's picture and info.

FADE OUT.

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V3

2025-01-13T22:15:16Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V3

2025-01-13T21:55:04Z

AlanBatie:

"Fascinating"

The sound of Spock's voice woke me out of the daydream I'd been having about my upcoming camping trip on Mt Hood - it meant my experimental program searching public social media for content with embedded steganography had found something suspicious. I wasn't really expecting to find anything, it was just a convenient testing ground for the process. Taking a look at what it found, I saw a classic picture of Mt Hood as seen from the Rose Garden here in Portland, Oregon. When I decoded the hidden message, it was simple coordinates and a short message: "45.344526 -121.709555 Post a picture of yourself at this location". Someone had clearly found a new take on geocaching, which looked like fun, though I was thought this must be something a closed group was doing, as I'd be surprised if very many people were doing something as obscure as looking for steganographic messages. Taking a look on Google Earth, I found that the location was Silcox Hut, above Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. Since I was heading up to Mt Hood shortly, I decided to play along and see what happened.

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T07:40:27Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T07:30:54Z

AlanBatie:

[[Shifting Worlds V2 Notes]]

<screenplay>

Title: Shifting Worlds
Author: Alan Batie
Draft date: 2024/01/12

FADE IN:

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATE SUMMER DAY

A naked (except for SANDALS) CHRIS, a "well rounded" 30ish man with a moderate amount of hair all over, but not too much, loads a BACKPACK and some HIKING BOOTS into the back of an SUV and closes the liftgate. He gets in, backs out of the driveway and heads down the road.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

Chris' SUV drives to the end of a road in the forest with a rounded pseudo-parking area, parks, gets out, pulls out the hiking boots and puts them on in favor of his sandals. After putting on the boots, he puts the sandals in his backpack, puts it on, and starts walking up a trail.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris walks out of the forest into a small meadow, stops to take in the view, then finds a good spot by the lake and starts to setup his TENT.

With the tent setup, Chris takes off his boots, walks over to the lake, wades in, and starts swimming. After not very long, he SHIFTS into his GRIZZLY BEAR form (a small one, as it only has his mass of 120ish kg) and continues to play in the lake.

While Chris is playing in the lake, an oddly shaped BIRD flies in, with a BAG clutched in its feet. It has very large wings - each wing 3m long by 1m deep at the body, which is not much longer and just enough tail for control (this won't become apparent until it lands however).

The bird sees the small lake, with a small clearing that has a tent setup by the lakeshore on one side. All around the lake otherwise is forest and the bird comes in for a landing on the far side of the meadow from Chris' tent. It drops the bag first before actually landing, and then shifts into XANDER, a cute, late 20's, smooth twink, short, about 1.6m high.

Chris shifts into his human form and freezes as Xander turns into his human form, and Xander does as well, except for certain body parts that demonstrate they are both highly attracted to each other as they walk towards each other for introductions.

XANDER
Hi, I'm Xander - sorry to drop in, but this is the only real spot for camping here.

CHRIS
Hi, I'm Chris, and there's plenty of room for the two of us, do you need any help setting up?

Xander opens his bag and takes out the small tent and sleeping bag.

XANDER
No, I can't carry much flying, so it's a pretty simple setup. Fortunately, it's still pretty warm so I don't need much of a sleeping bag.

He starts unpacking the tent

CHRIS
It can still get pretty chilly at night...

XANDER
Well, if I get cold, maybe a nice teddy bear will keep me warm!

CHRIS
You never know, he just might!

Xander sets up his tent as they continue chatting

CHRIS
Do you do much camping?

XANDER
As much as I can, but I've not had a chance to do much in Oregon - I live in the Bay Area and usually go up into the redwoods, and Lazy Bear in Guernville, of course!

CHRIS
You do like bears then!

XANDER
Definitely, love to cuddle up with them

CHRIS
What else to you do for fun - out of bed! - besides camping?

XANDER
I love traveling to new places; I'd actually camp in them if it weren't such a hassle to bring along the camping gear. I like to read, mostly scifi, fantasy, and mystery, especially if there's a gay romance involved. I also like do some amateur filmmaking, especially editing.

CHRIS
That's cool, I know what you mean about the camping gear, but I do enjoy regional road trips where I can bring it along. I'm a bit of a computer geek, playing with networks and data analysis.

Xander has finished setting up his tent at this point, and tosses his stuff inside it, then kicks off his shoes.

XANDER
After the flight up here, I need a swim!

Xander heads for the lake, and Chris follows. They cavort in the lake, dunking each other, and all the usual antics in water, before coming to a stop in shallower water, where Xander is standing in water up to his neck and Chris pulls him in for a passionate kiss. They make out for a while, as hands disappear under the water and they jack each other off, then cuddle for the recovery period.

XANDER
Wow, I needed that, thanks!

CHRIS
Yeah, me too! How about we go fix some dinner now? It's about that time...

XANDER
Sounds good to me.

They wade back to shore, each heading for their own tent. Xander looks back at Chris.

XANDER
Mind if I get my stuff and join you?

CHRIS
I was hoping you would!

Xander grabs his bag, which, now devoid of the tent and sleeping bag, is much lighter, and joins Chris. They both have small 3-legged chairs and small folding tables to work on.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - EVENING

Chris and Xander finish their meals and go down to the lake to rinse off the dishes, then head back to Chris' tent where their chairs and tables are.

XANDER
You know, it is starting to get a little chilly. How would you feel about actually being a teddy bear to keep me warm tonight?

CHRIS
Sounds like a great idea to me! I doubt our sleeping bags will zip together, but we can use one underneath us and the other one on top.

XANDER
I'll run over and get mine...

He does, and they crawl into Chris' tent, arrange the sleeping bags, and cuddle up in them for the night.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY - MONTAGE

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

...Chris fucking Xander

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, reading on their ereaders

...Chris in bear form in the lake, with Xander in bird form trying to drop sticks and rocks on him

...Xander, in bird form, diving into the water and bringing up a fish

...Chris and Xander cooking fish for dinner

...Xander fucking Chris

...Chris and Xander eating and talking

...Chris and Xander laying in the meadow making out, Xander's tent collapsed and his stuff sitting next to Chris' tent

...Chris and Xander 69'ing

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris and Xander pack up their stuff, preparing to leave

CHRIS
It's not a far hike to my car - I can give you a ride back to town if you like.

XANDER
Sure, and let's exchange contact info too - I'd like to keep in touch with you.

CHRIS
Definitely!

Chris puts on his backpack, Xander grabs his bag, and they head down the trail back to the car.

FADE OUT.

> The End <

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T07:23:50Z

AlanBatie:

[[Shifting Worlds V2 Notes]]

<screenplay>

Title: Shifting Worlds
Author: Alan Batie
Draft date: 2024/01/12

FADE IN:

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATE SUMMER DAY

A naked (except for SANDALS) CHRIS, a "well rounded" 30ish man with a moderate amount of hair all over, but not too much, loads a BACKPACK and some HIKING BOOTS into the back of an SUV and closes the liftgate. He gets in, backs out of the driveway and heads down the road.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

Chris' SUV drives to the end of a road in the forest with a rounded pseudo-parking area, parks, gets out, pulls out the hiking boots and puts them on in favor of his sandals. After putting on the boots, he puts the sandals in his backpack, puts it on, and starts walking up a trail.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris walks out of the forest into a small meadow, stops to take in the view, then finds a good spot by the lake and starts to setup his TENT.

With the tent setup, Chris takes off his boots, walks over to the lake, wades in, and starts swimming. After not very long, he SHIFTS into his GRIZZLY BEAR form (a small one, as it only has his mass of 120ish kg) and continues to play in the lake.

While Chris is playing in the lake, an oddly shaped BIRD flies in, with a BAG clutched in its feet. It has very large wings - each wing 3m long by 1m deep at the body, which is not much longer and just enough tail for control (this won't become apparent until it lands however).

The bird sees the small lake, with a small clearing that has a tent setup by the lakeshore on one side. All around the lake otherwise is forest and the bird comes in for a landing on the far side of the meadow from Chris' tent. It drops the bag first before actually landing, and then shifts into XANDER, a cute, late 20's, smooth twink, short, about 1.6m high.

Chris shifts into his human form and freezes as Xander turns into his human form, and Xander does as well, except for certain body parts that demonstrate they are both highly attracted to each other as they walk towards each other for introductions.

XANDER
Hi, I'm Xander - sorry to drop in, but this is the only real spot for camping here.

CHRIS
Hi, I'm Chris, and there's plenty of room for the two of us, do you need any help setting up?

Xander opens his bag and takes out the small tent and sleeping bag.

XANDER
No, I can't carry much flying, so it's a pretty simple setup. Fortunately, it's still pretty warm so I don't need much of a sleeping bag.

He starts unpacking the tent

CHRIS
It can still get pretty chilly at night...

XANDER
Well, if I get cold, maybe a nice teddy bear will keep me warm!

CHRIS
You never know, he just might!

Xander sets up his tent as they continue chatting

CHRIS
Do you do much camping?

XANDER
As much as I can, but I've not had a chance to do much in Oregon - I live in the Bay Area and usually go up into the redwoods, and Lazy Bear in Guernville, of course!

CHRIS
You do like bears then!

XANDER
Definitely, love to cuddle up with them

CHRIS
What else to you do for fun - out of bed! - besides camping?

XANDER
I love traveling to new places; I'd actually camp in them if it weren't such a hassle to bring along the camping gear. I like to read, mostly scifi, fantasy, and mystery, especially if there's a gay romance involved. I also like do some amateur filmmaking, especially editing.

CHRIS
That's cool, I know what you mean about the camping gear, but I do enjoy regional road trips where I can bring it along. I'm a bit of a computer geek, playing with networks and data analysis.

Xander has finished setting up his tent at this point, and tosses his stuff inside it, then kicks off his shoes.

XANDER
After the flight up here, I need a swim!

Xander heads for the lake, and Chris follows. They cavort in the lake, dunking each other, and all the usual antics in water, before coming to a stop in shallower water, where Xander is standing in water up to his neck and Chris pulls him in for a passionate kiss. They make out for a while, as hands disappear under the water and they jack each other off, then cuddle for the recovery period.

XANDER
Wow, I needed that, thanks!

CHRIS
Yeah, me too! How about we go fix some dinner now? It's about that time...

XANDER
Sounds good to me.

They wade back to shore, each heading for their own tent. Xander looks back at Chris.

XANDER
Mind if I get my stuff and join you?

CHRIS
I was hoping you would!

Xander grabs his bag, which, now devoid of the tent and sleeping bag, is much lighter, and joins Chris. They both have small 3-legged chairs and small folding tables to work on.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - EVENING

Chris and Xander finish their meals and go down to the lake to rinse off the dishes, then head back to Chris' tent where their chairs and tables are.

XANDER
You know, it is starting to get a little chilly. How would you feel about actually being a teddy bear to keep me warm tonight?

CHRIS
Sounds like a great idea to me! I doubt our sleeping bags will zip together, but we can use one underneath us and the other one on top.

XANDER
I'll run over and get mine...

He does, and they crawl into Chris' tent, arrange the sleeping bags, and cuddle up in them for the night.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY - MONTAGE

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

...Chris fucking Xander

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, reading on their ereaders

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Xander fucking Chris

...Chris and Xander eating and talking

...Chris and Xander laying in the meadow making out, Xander's tent collapsed and his stuff sitting next to Chris' tent

...Chris and Xander 69'ing

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris and Xander pack up their stuff, preparing to leave

CHRIS
It's not a far hike to my car - I can give you a ride back to town if you like.

XANDER
Sure, and let's exchange contact info too - I'd like to keep in touch with you.

CHRIS
Definitely!

Chris puts on his backpack, Xander grabs his bag, and they head down the trail back to the car.

FADE OUT.

> The End <

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T07:20:19Z

AlanBatie:

[[Shifting Worlds V2 Notes]]

<screenplay>

Title: Shifting Worlds
Author: Alan Batie
Draft date: 2024/01/12

FADE IN:

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATE SUMMER DAY

A naked (except for SANDALS) CHRIS, a "well rounded" 30ish man with a moderate amount of hair all over, but not too much, loads a BACKPACK and some HIKING BOOTS into the back of an SUV and closes the liftgate. He gets in, backs out of the driveway and heads down the road.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

Chris' SUV drives to the end of a road in the forest with a rounded pseudo-parking area, parks, gets out, pulls out the hiking boots and puts them on in favor of his sandals. After putting on the boots, he puts the sandals in his backpack, puts it on, and starts walking up a trail.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris walks out of the forest into a small meadow, stops to take in the view, then finds a good spot by the lake and starts to setup his TENT.

With the tent setup, Chris takes off his boots, walks over to the lake, wades in, and starts swimming. After not very long, he SHIFTS into his GRIZZLY BEAR form (a small one, as it only has his mass of 120ish kg) and continues to play in the lake.

While Chris is playing in the lake, an oddly shaped BIRD flies in, with a BAG clutched in its feet. It has very large wings - each wing 3m long by 1m deep at the body, which is not much longer and just enough tail for control (this won't become apparent until it lands however).

The bird sees the small lake, with a small clearing that has a tent setup by the lakeshore on one side. All around the lake otherwise is forest and the bird comes in for a landing on the far side of the meadow from Chris' tent. It drops the bag first before actually landing, and then shifts into XANDER, a cute, late 20's, smooth twink, short, about 1.6m high.

Chris shifts into his human form and freezes as Xander turns into his human form, and Xander does as well, except for certain body parts that demonstrate they are both highly attracted to each other as they walk towards each other for introductions.

XANDER
Hi, I'm Xander - sorry to drop in, but this is the only real spot for camping here.

CHRIS
Hi, I'm Chris, and there's plenty of room for the two of us, do you need any help setting up?

Xander opens his bag and takes out the small tent and sleeping bag.

XANDER
No, I can't carry much flying, so it's a pretty simple setup. Fortunately, it's still pretty warm so I don't need much of a sleeping bag.

He starts unpacking the tent

CHRIS
It can still get pretty chilly at night...

XANDER
Well, if I get cold, maybe a nice teddy bear will keep me warm!

CHRIS
You never know, he just might!

Xander sets up his tent as they continue chatting

CHRIS
Do you do much camping?

XANDER
As much as I can, but I've not had a chance to do much in Oregon - I live in the Bay Area and usually go up into the redwoods, and Lazy Bear in Guernville, of course!

CHRIS
You do like bears then!

XANDER
Definitely, love to cuddle up with them

CHRIS
What else to you do for fun - out of bed! - besides camping?

XANDER
I love traveling to new places; I'd actually camp in them if it weren't such a hassle to bring along the camping gear. I like to read, mostly scifi, fantasy, and mystery, especially if there's a gay romance involved. I also like do some amateur filmmaking, especially editing.

CHRIS
That's cool, I know what you mean about the camping gear, but I do enjoy regional road trips where I can bring it along. I'm a bit of a computer geek, playing with networks and data analysis.

Xander has finished setting up his tent at this point, and tosses his stuff inside it, then kicks off his shoes.

XANDER
After the flight up here, I need a swim!

Xander heads for the lake, and Chris follows. They cavort in the lake, dunking each other, and all the usual antics in water, before coming to a stop in shallower water, where Xander is standing in water up to his neck and Chris pulls him in for a passionate kiss. They make out for a while, as hands disappear under the water and they jack each other off, then cuddle for the recovery period.

XANDER
Wow, I needed that, thanks!

CHRIS
Yeah, me too! How about we go fix some dinner now? It's about that time...

XANDER
Sounds good to me.

They wade back to shore, each heading for their own tent. Xander looks back at Chris.

XANDER
Mind if I get my stuff and join you?

CHRIS
I was hoping you would!

Xander grabs his bag, which, now devoid of the tent and sleeping bag, is much lighter, and joins Chris. They both have small 3-legged chairs and small folding tables to work on.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - EVENING

Chris and Xander finish their meals and go down to the lake to rinse off the dishes, then head back to Chris' tent where their chairs and tables are.

XANDER
You know, it is starting to get a little chilly. How would you feel about actually being a teddy bear to keep me warm tonight?

CHRIS
Sounds like a great idea to me! I doubt our sleeping bags will zip together, but we can use one underneath us and the other one on top.

XANDER
I'll run over and get mine...

He does, and they crawl into Chris' tent, arrange the sleeping bags, and cuddle up in them for the night.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY - MONTAGE

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

...Chris fucking Xander

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, reading on their ereaders

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Xander fucking Chris

...Chris and Xander eating and talking

...Chris and Xander laying in the meadow making out

...Chris and Xander 69'ing

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

FADE OUT.

> The End <

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T07:17:58Z

AlanBatie:

[[Shifting Worlds V2 Notes]]

<screenplay>

Title: Shifting Worlds
Author: Alan Batie
Draft date: 2024/01/12

FADE IN:

EXT. DRIVEWAY - LATE SUMMER DAY

A naked (except for SANDALS) CHRIS, a "well rounded" 30ish man with a moderate amount of hair all over, but not too much, loads a BACKPACK and some HIKING BOOTS into the back of an SUV and closes the liftgate. He gets in, backs out of the driveway and heads down the road.

EXT. REMOTE PARKING LOT IN A FOREST - DAY

Chris' SUV drives to the end of a road in the forest with a rounded pseudo-parking area, parks, gets out, pulls out the hiking boots and puts them on in favor of his sandals. After putting on the boots, he puts the sandals in his backpack, puts it on, and starts walking up a trail.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - DAY

Chris walks out of the forest into a small meadow, stops to take in the view, then finds a good spot by the lake and starts to setup his TENT.

With the tent setup, Chris takes off his boots, walks over to the lake, wades in, and starts swimming. After not very long, he SHIFTS into his GRIZZLY BEAR form (a small one, as it only has his mass of 120ish kg) and continues to play in the lake.

While Chris is playing in the lake, an oddly shaped BIRD flies in, with a BAG clutched in its feet. It has very large wings - each wing 3m long by 1m deep at the body, which is not much longer and just enough tail for control (this won't become apparent until it lands however).

The bird sees the small lake, with a small clearing that has a tent setup by the lakeshore on one side. All around the lake otherwise is forest and the bird comes in for a landing on the far side of the meadow from Chris' tent. It drops the bag first before actually landing, and then shifts into XANDER, a cute, late 20's, smooth twink, short, about 1.6m high.

Chris shifts into his human form and freezes as Xander turns into his human form, and Xander does as well, except for certain body parts that demonstrate they are both highly attracted to each other as they walk towards each other for introductions.

XANDER
Hi, I'm Xander - sorry to drop in, but this is the only real spot for camping here.

CHRIS
Hi, I'm Chris, and there's plenty of room for the two of us, do you need any help setting up?

Xander opens his bag and takes out the small tent and sleeping bag.

XANDER
No, I can't carry much flying, so it's a pretty simple setup. Fortunately, it's still pretty warm so I don't need much of a sleeping bag.

He starts unpacking the tent

CHRIS
It can still get pretty chilly at night...

XANDER
Well, if I get cold, maybe a nice teddy bear will keep me warm!

CHRIS
You never know, he just might!

Xander sets up his tent as they continue chatting

CHRIS
Do you do much camping?

XANDER
As much as I can, but I've not had a chance to do much in Oregon - I live in the Bay Area and usually go up into the redwoods, and Lazy Bear in Guernville, of course!

CHRIS
You do like bears then!

XANDER
Definitely, love to cuddle up with them

CHRIS
What else to you do for fun - out of bed! - besides camping?

XANDER
I love traveling to new places; I'd actually camp in them if it weren't such a hassle to bring along the camping gear. I like to read, mostly scifi, fantasy, and mystery, especially if there's a gay romance involved. I also like do some amateur filmmaking, especially editing.

CHRIS
That's cool, I know what you mean about the camping gear, but I do enjoy regional road trips where I can bring it along. I'm a bit of a computer geek, playing with networks and data analysis.

Xander has finished setting up his tent at this point, and tosses his stuff inside it, then kicks off his shoes.

XANDER
After the flight up here, I need a swim!

Xander heads for the lake, and Chris follows. They cavort in the lake, dunking each other, and all the usual antics in water, before coming to a stop in shallower water, where Xander is standing in water up to his neck and Chris pulls him in for a passionate kiss. They make out for a while, as hands disappear under the water and they jack each other off, then cuddle for the recovery period.

XANDER
Wow, I needed that, thanks!

CHRIS
Yeah, me too! How about we go fix some dinner now? It's about that time...

XANDER
Sounds good to me.

They wade back to shore, each heading for their own tent. Xander looks back at Chris.

XANDER
Mind if I get my stuff and join you?

CHRIS
I was hoping you would!

Xander grabs his bag, which, now devoid of the tent and sleeping bag, is much lighter, and joins Chris. They both have small 3-legged chairs and small folding tables to work on.

EXT. SMALL MEADOW BY SMALL LAKE - EVENING

Chris and Xander finish their meals and go down to the lake to rinse off the dishes, then head back to Chris' tent where their chairs and tables are.

XANDER
You know, it is starting to get a little chilly. How would you feel about actually being a teddy bear to keep me warm tonight?

CHRIS
Sounds like a great idea to me! I doubt our sleeping bags will zip together, but we can use one underneath us and the other one on top.

XANDER
I'll run over and get mine...

He does, and they crawl into Chris' tent, arrange the sleeping bags, and cuddle up in them for the night.

MONTAGE

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

...Chris fucking Xander

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, reading on their ereaders

...Chris and Xander cavorting in the lake

...Xander fucking Chris

...Chris and Xander eating and talking

...Chris and Xander laying in the meadow making out

...Chris and Xander 69'ing

...Chris and Xander cuddled up in the meadow, napping

END MONTAGE

FADE OUT.

> The End <

</screenplay>

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T06:59:34Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T06:29:14Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T05:25:25Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T05:22:57Z

AlanBatie:

Shifting Worlds V2.1

2025-01-13T04:33:52Z

AlanBatie: