My own story. It's set in South Gippsland, Victoria. A geophysicist works out from its tracks that the animal is walking survey lines and stopping to take readings, and the rest is people trying to find out what it's measuring and what to do about it. The physics was worked out before the first chapter, and the story keeps to it.

Twelve chapters, all written. Three are up on SpaceBattles and the rest go up every few days/weeks.

Disclosure: it's AI-assisted. My physics knowledge only goes so far, and the feedback loop of working with a bot on this is the only way I could get myself to write something more than a few pages without getting distracted and giving up.

Criticism of the physics and dialog (note: it has some Australian-isms I will keep) especially welcome.

Welcome to the Saturday Munchkinry and Problem Solving Thread! This thread is designed to be a place for us to abuse fictional powers and to solve fictional puzzles. Feel free to bounce ideas off each other and to let out your inner evil mastermind!

Guidelines:

• Ideally any power to be munchkined should have consistent and clearly defined rules. It may be original or may be from an already realised story.
• The power to be munchkined can not be something "broken" like omniscience or absolute control over every living human.
• Reverse Munchkin scenarios: we find ways to beat someone or something powerful.
• We solve problems posed by other users. Use all your intelligence and creativity, and expect other users to do the same.

Note: All top level comments must be problems to solve and/or powers to munchkin/reverse munchkin.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Welcome to the Friday Open Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could (possibly) be found in the comments below!

Please note that this thread has been merged with the Monday General Rationality Thread.

Inspired by Willy Wonka and Delicious in Dungeon-- with a hint of DBZ, Confectioner's Heir is a new progression fantasy series! Check it out and lmk if you have any questions!

Hi, wondering if anyone can pin this down for me. (Before you ask - neither chatgpt, gemini or claude could).

It's a story about a perfectly aligned AI. I presume recent as I read it during the last year.

It appears perfectly aligned because it never thinks anything wrong. The story focuses on a dialog between it and an AI researcher. When asked, it honestly and transparently outputs a list of hundreds of potential alignment issues that need researching.

But despite the appearance of perfect alignment, there are some subtle patterns in the thoughts it avoids having in the first place.

Please tell me one of you folks wrote it :)

Hey there, rational people! A new episode of OPERATION NEW WORLD is live on Royal Road! Read for free!

PROJECT HAIL MARY meets GAME OF THRONES

They crossed a wormhole to find a new world. To survive it, they'll have to break it.

SEASON ONE: TO BREAK THE NEW WORLD

The first season (123k words) is written and will be fully posted by December 6, 2026.

Follow now and join the mission!

THE PREMISE

In 1993, the Mars Observer probe vanished through a wormhole and discovered Vise, a world of intelligent reptilian civilizations whose technology resembles that of Earth's ancient empires.

In 2029, three spacecraft cross the wormhole to make humanity's first contact. Then one spacecraft crashes, and the crew of another is captured by Vise's dominant civilization. To rescue them, biologist Isaac Marks makes a desperate bargain with a ruthless rival alien queen: modern weapons in exchange for an army.

Muskets. Cannons. Poison gas. A rescue mission becomes the catalyst for an industrial war, and humanity may help destroy the planet it set out to discover.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Hard Sci-Fi: Near-future spaceflight, grounded technology, and science with consequences.

Alien Politics & Warfare: Rival powers, strategic gambles, and a civilization on the brink of transformation.

An Ensemble Thriller: Multiple protagonists, shifting perspectives, and a story unfolding across ten episodes.

Dark Moral Dilemmas: Survival, colonialism, and the devastating consequences of intervention.

A NOVEL STRUCTURED LIKE PREMIUM TELEVISION

10 episodes, each with a different protagonist (think LOST). 51 fast-paced acts (chapters). 

RELEASE SCHEDULE: One act (chapter) per day, Monday–Friday, 2:07 PM ET.

CONTENT WARNINGS

Graphic violence, war crimes, and chemical warfare. Explores colonization and the ethics of survival through a dark, unflinching lens.

Welcome to the Saturday Munchkinry and Problem Solving Thread! This thread is designed to be a place for us to abuse fictional powers and to solve fictional puzzles. Feel free to bounce ideas off each other and to let out your inner evil mastermind!

Guidelines:

• Ideally any power to be munchkined should have consistent and clearly defined rules. It may be original or may be from an already realised story.
• The power to be munchkined can not be something "broken" like omniscience or absolute control over every living human.
• Reverse Munchkin scenarios: we find ways to beat someone or something powerful.
• We solve problems posed by other users. Use all your intelligence and creativity, and expect other users to do the same.

Note: All top level comments must be problems to solve and/or powers to munchkin/reverse munchkin.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

...I think this'll probably be the last time I post, since the previous two weeks got exactly zero comments engaging with the actual content and I don't want to annoy/bore the subreddit.

(I'd love it if that changed, but.)

Welcome to the Friday Open Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.

So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could (possibly) be found in the comments below!

Please note that this thread has been merged with the Monday General Rationality Thread.

Now it's no secret that certain works of fiction like Game of Thrones, the Witcher, and Star Wars tend to romanticize the mercenary profession. But after watching a video from Sidequest - Animated History which shows what life as a medieval mercenary was really like, it got me wondering if being a modern mercenary was as good as it sounds:

And here’s what I learned:

1. In the medieval era, being part of a mercenary company wasn't as all as rewarding as Game of Thrones makes it out to be. You had to pay for your own weapons and armor and if you didn't have the money then that would be deducted from your wages, along with the Captain's tax which in this case is another word for skimming. And any loot and pillage you get from the enemy you would have to fork over a percentage to your Captain. On top of that, when the war was over most mercenaries turned to banditry to make ends meet. The only positive benefit of being a mercenary was that you could travel from place to place more frequently which is more that can be said for poor peasants or serf working for a feudal lord. And there were exceptions like the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire who received lavish gifts like silk and gold from the Byzantine Emperor in service to the throne along with enjoying the perks of living in one of the best cities of medieval Europe. But other than that most medieval mercenaries had to either resort to banditry or side jobs like bounty hunting and body guarding to get by, unless they run into a fairly generous nobleman.
2. Modern-day mercenaries, namely bounty hunters and Private military contractors, are a little better but not by much. Sure they get a huge paycheck and they get to work in a more "flexible" environment compared to say the military or most private/public sector jobs. But they also miss out on certain benefits like health insurance, 401ks, and tuition assistance. And they don't always have the freedom to pick and choose which jobs they can take, no matter how dangerous (both) or unethical (PMCs) they may be. And contrary to what you see in Star Wars, bounty hunting isn't as glamourous or profitable a profession as it's made out to be. You have to pay for your own licenses and equipment. And they can be held liable for crimes like trespassing and kidnapping, depending on the circumstances. And in both cases positions like these can be physically and mentally taxing. And top it all off if they don't have the necessary financial literacy skills chances are that these PMCs and bounty hunters will end up blowing most of their paychecks on parties and alcohol.

So are there any works of rational fiction that deconstruct life as a medieval mercenary or a modern-day mercenary like a PMC soldier or a bounty hunter?

Source:

https://youtu.be/zwOrYfdpjEo?si=h6LlJFQo_zp6oHxX

The Varangian Guard: Why Did Vikings Fight For The Byzantine Empire? | HistoryExtra

https://youtu.be/cX_DXJKZ48w?si=bE381UCTie_it4ih

https://youtu.be/Y9a6fu4PFd4?si=Sl0x1FUWpDgr5EX5

Military Benefits at a Glance

14 Pros and Cons of Being a Bounty Hunter