Welcome to episode two of metus pod. I'm your host Dee meet us.
Our first episode went over very well, I got lots of encouraging
tweets and feedback from our listeners. Meet us pod is now
listed on the iTunes podcast directory. I would love if you
would all go and leave an honest review. I haven't seen the
actual studies but from what I understand leaving a five star
review for me to spot will make you a more attractive person.
Also, I spent a significant portion in the last few days
working on getting discussion forum set up and meet as pod.com
You should drop by and say hello. And lastly, please stay
tuned after the story to learn how you can help us keep the
show ad free and more frequently produced with high quality
content with a service called Patreon. I received our story
tonight via the Submissions page at meet us pod.com. One sided
argument by Alex Schwartzman originally appeared in nature
earlier this year. Alex is a writer, translator, editor and
game designer from Brooklyn, New York. Over 70 of his short
stories have appeared in nature, intergalactic medicine show
galaxies edge, daily science fiction, and many other venues.
He won the 2014 W es F a small press award for short fiction
for his story, explaining Cthulhu to grandma, which was
published in IgM s last year. Alex is the editor of the
unidentified bunny objects annual anthology series of
humorous science fiction and fantasy. His collection
explaining Cthulhu to grandma and other stories will be
released on February 1 2015. Alex is a great guy. I got to
spend a little time talking with him this week and he has a
fountain of useful knowledge. links to his work are in the
show notes. I really enjoyed this story and I decided I
wanted to narrate it myself. I hope you all enjoy it as well. A
one sided argument by Alex Schwartzman. Our arguments
became one sided after the aliens crashed landed into
Manhattan. It was next in coal, it says a tragic mistake. They
didn't mean to hurt anyone. She prattles on and on like this. I
soak. There may be 7 billion people on Earth. But our planet
is mostly uninhabited, full of vast empty spaces, even if you
only count the landmass. So the odds of those octopus looking
bastards crashing into one of the most densely populated
cities in the world are one some fraction of a percent. A dark
cosmic joke, except there are 20,000 Dead people buried under
the rubble and their families aren't laughing. Colette only
sees the best in people, even when they aren't people at all.
They aren't perfect, but they are evil either.
It was a rough landing, their ship almost disintegrated on
entry. It's not like they wanted to kill anyone.
Captain Sully managed to land a malfunctioning airplane in the
Hudson River some years back, and he was only human. These
aliens are built vessels capable of reaching another star should
have been able to do better. I bet they just didn't care.
Years from now that they won't be remembered for the tragedy
and the loss. But for the moment, we finally learned that
we aren't alone in the universe.
Colette can keep up her side of the argument for hours, days
even. We're a real Odd Couple. I served two tours in Iraq and she
protested against the war. I'm quiet and she's chatty. But it
was her nonstop chit chat to get me through the nightmares and
the shakes and all the other fun parting gifts I returned home
with after the war. PTSD the doctors called it I called it
hell. So I listened to her defend the aliens. Whenever I
can no longer stand to hear it. I leave the house for a while. I
drove to Sunset Park, our favorite outdoor spot in
Brooklyn back when we were dating. We used to love coming
here to take in the New York skyline. I sit at the bench
where I proposed and I stare where the familiar contours of
skyscrapers used to be. Manhattan still burns. Ash walks
across the water. The alien ship leveled several city blocks
downtown. The devastation they cause was worse than any war
worse than 911. Some terrorists did this with a suitcase nuke
when we bombing their capital already, but these aliens we
just forgive them and welcomed them with open arms. This isn't
right. I inhaled a bit of smoke and reminds me of death and pain
and Volusia they can't get away with this. Somebody has to make
the alien bastards pay back home. I stare the Arsenal laid
out on the workbench in my garage. The Glock 19 handgun and
AR semi automatic rifle have been there since the day of the
crash. A pair of homemade IEDs have joined them uh, since then.
I've been busy. I can get close boasts I can walk right up to
the police barricades that cordon off the ship, and I can
push my way past New York's finest. They probably wouldn't
try very hard to stop me. After dealing with the grieving
families who show up there every day, the cops must hate the
aliens nearly as much as I do. And when I get to the dozens of
little alien octopus is preparing the whole of the ship.
Like they keep showing on the news. I can open fire. I bet I
can take out a good number of them before anyone stops me. The
only thing holding me back is Colette. She forgives them
utterly. And without doubt. I pace across the garage and allow
Collatz voice to soothe me. Our arguments became one sided after
the aliens crashed landed in Manhattan after their gargantuan
spaceship crushed Colette's office building their one sided
because there's no use and talking back to the dead. All I
can do instead is to honor her memory as best I can. To do what
I've done every day since I've lost her. I take another longing
look at the workbench and walk out of the garage and go back to
the house. Back to our bedroom where Colette scent still
lingers. And close my eyes. Listen to her voice inside my
head and try very, very hard to let her persuade me. As I
mentioned at the top of the show, I've added a support
option called Patreon. Patreon is a site that you can support
creative pursuits sort of like Kickstarter but ongoing, you can
set a monthly donation amount to help us out. Just go to
patreon.com/d meet us. We here at me this pod are hoping to
avoid ever having ads on the main podcast. Everyone who signs
up for Patreon will get their name mentioned on the show and
special thanks for me personally. The money we receive
will go towards getting you great stories and top notch
production values. If we can get enough donations, the podcast
will get longer and better. I'm also thinking about a secondary
podcast where we discuss the stories feature here with
listeners and authors. But that's down the road a little
bit. If you want to donate but don't want the monthly
commitment. We do have a Bitcoin and Pay Pal option as well. Just
check out meetup pod.com for details. If you want to help us
out but love keeping your money because you plan on swimming
around in it like Scrooge McDuck. I understand I've had
that same dream myself. You can still help out. Tweet about us.
Share us on your blog. If you have a podcast share us they're
like us on Facebook. Hit us up on YouTube or SoundCloud. We're
pretty much everywhere on the web. Let people know about the
show and how great it is. Me this pod is released under a
Creative Commons Attribution non commercial no derivatives
license. That means you can share us all you like but don't
sell it or change it. Thanks for listening everyone. We'll see
you next time.