by submission | Apr 29, 2026 | Story |
Author: Elliott Fielding
“I need to think about it.”
“But can’t you just pick now? You’re the tiebreaker and we’ve got to decide.” Jene was worried. Making a group decision was stressful; prices changed fast.
“Dude, I told you, I need to think about it,” Kol huffed.
“Fine. When can you let me know?”
“In an hour or so.”
“Okay, but can I hang out here? I won’t bother your… thinking process. And I’m curious.”
“Sure. I need to do a little maintenance first, you can watch.”
Kol turned on a loud filter that blew clean air over an enclosed workspace then opened an incubator with blue-gloved hands to unplug and slide out one of the large trays inside. The surface of the tray was covered with a convoluted pattern of curving ridges. It almost looked like the wrinkles of a brain, Jene thought with a shiver, especially since it was bathed in red liquid.
“Is that blood? Is that your blood?”
“No, jeez, it’s synthetic growth medium, with vitamins and sugars and antioxidants. Brain food, haha.” Kol set the covered tray into the clean workspace. As Kol worked, Jene listened to the drone of the filter fan and the click and whirr of valves and heaters cycling on and off. It all seemed so complicated.
“Is all this worth it?” she asked.
“Yeah! It’s great to offload some thinking while I do other things. Distributed Intelligence is the future.”
“And you think it thinks like you?”
“Definitely! You’ll see. Well, usually. Sometimes things get a bit weird.”
Kol stopped talking to focus on removing and replacing the red liquid. After sliding the tray back into the incubator and reconnecting the leads, he turned to Jene. “That was the dorsolateral tray” —he tapped his forehead— “part of the prefrontal cortex.” He pulled out the next tray. “And this is the amygdala. See that part, that hub at the center of the biocircuit? That’s the basolateral nucleus, great for weighing risk versus reward.”
The names were meaningless to Jene, but it sounded smart. “Where’d you learn all this stuff?”
“Grad school, what a waste of time. But the DI system salesperson was really impressed when I knew all the lingo.”
Once all the trays were complete, Kol pulled off his gloves with a snap and tossed them into a red biohazard trash bag already half full of sterile single-use pipettes and bottles.
“Okay, it’s good to go.” Kol rolled his chair to an adjoining computer workstation. “I don’t even need to input all the parameters; AI can do that.” Kol typed into the search bar, took the stats from the AI overview and dragged them into the DI window, typed one more question, then hit the enter button with a decisive smack. “All this info is being translated into electrical impulses: action potentials that trigger neurotransmitter release, that’s how brains work. It should only take a few minutes— oh, that was fast, here we go.” They both watched as words appeared in the answer box on the screen.
>>> Yo dude, go to Cabo obviously. It’s going to be an epic vacation!
“See?” Kol crowed.
“It does sound like you! Wild. But who still says ‘epic’?”
“Not me. Like I said, it’s a bit weird sometimes.”
“So, Cabo it is.”
“Cabo it is.”
“I’ll let everyone know.”
“Epic!”
by submission | Apr 28, 2026 | Story |
Author: Majoki
While Mr. Patella lectured on quantum entanglement, Jeremy’s right hand almost slipped through his desk. His fingers and palm were halfway through the scratched laminate surface before he noticed. He felt himself gradually slipping through the rigid plastic of his chair.
A prickly panic edging down his spine, he looked around to see if any of his classmates noticed what was happening to him. They were not. They were floating in their own daydreams. Jeremy placed his forearms carefully on the top of his desk and spread his palms wide. Maybe that increased surface area would provide the leverage to stop him sinking further.
With a strange sense of pride, Jeremey thought how Mr. Patella would appreciate this line of reasoning to solve his strange problem. He cautiously leaned onto his forearms and outspread palms. The desk felt firm. He bore down harder and pushed with his legs. He felt his butt and thighs begin to rise. He pushed harder, sure that this approach was sound. Pure physics. Equal and opposite reactions. It seemed to be working.
Until the seat of his pants sprung from the surface tension of the plastic seat. It was like a rubber band snapping and Jeremy jackknifed forward and over the front of his desk.
Mr. Patella looked at Jeremy sprawled on the floor by his undisturbed desk and then looked calmly away as if to acknowledge that something like this would never happen in his AP Physics class. But when his gaze returned to Jeremy and the plain evidence before him, he frowned. “What’s going on, Mr. Lott?”
Jeremy looked up helplessly.
“Are you hurt?” Mr. Patella strode closer.
It was a good question. “I don’t think so,” he said and tried to lift himself. The thinly carpeted floor held—for the moment—and he squirmed out from the legs of the desk and sat up.
“What happened?” Mr. Patella stood over him and Jeremy felt his weight and the weight of his surprised classmates on him.
He didn’t have to pretend to be dazed. “I was feeling funny. I think I might have fainted.”
That was plausible. Maybe it was true. He did feel light-headed. Maybe the last few minutes had simply been the result of a cloudy head. He knew he hadn’t slept well last night. Had even felt like he might be getting a cold. Scratchy throat. Full head. That was the way out of this. He was getting sick. Maybe the flu. That was a much more plausible explanation than the foundational laws of physics breaking down around him. Much simpler. Occam’s Razor and all that.
Sitting on the floor in front of his classmates in a moment of what should feel embarrassing, Jeremy felt a sense of pride that he had reasoned it out. Mr. Patella would be pleased at how he was using scientific methods to get to the heart of his unusual morning. Learning didn’t get more authentic than that.
“If you’re feeling faint, I’d like you to go to the nurse’s office.” Mr. Patella extended his hand. “Are you able to stand?”
Jeremy nodded and took Mr. Patella’s hand. His grip was firm and reassuring. Solid. No slippage. Jeremy rose with a smile. “Thanks,” he said.
Out in the hall, Jeremy took a deep breath. Everything would be okay. He was solid. The world around him was solid. And then he began filtering through the hallway floor only stopping when his hips were well below the scuffed tiles.
It made him smile to picture his feet dangling from the first-floor ceiling. He wiggled his feet, just in case someone below was there to watch his descent. He felt nothing. Am I a ghost? he thought. Did I get hit by a school bus this morning? Am I dead?
As he continued to seep, Jeremy wondered at the strangeness of the moment, at the surprise he felt, at the calmness that overcame him. He never lost consciousness, if that’s what he could call it anymore. He felt composed, though not present. His mind had grown large, spread out. It was if he could move anywhere through anything. And that was what he did.
He did not end up on the first floor. He filled it. His being extended the length of the hallway. And then beyond. Jeremy was outside and inside, his personal galaxy of particles sifting through the vastness of quantum space. And he felt freed by the final thought that he’d never wanted to feel dense in Mr. Patella’s AP Physics class and now he never would.
by Julian Miles | Apr 27, 2026 | Story |
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
The evening sky is barely lit by the last ghost of sunset when Fern answers a knock at the door, pistol in the free hand behind her back. The world tilts as she recognises the figure standing there. Willing herself not to pass out, she says the first thing that relates to the impossibility before her.
“I put flowers on your grave today.”
There’s a nod and a smile.
“I know. We saw.”
It sounds just like Pete. Smiles like him, too. Why isn’t she hysterical? Always happens: calm in action, fall apart afterwards.
“Why not meet there?”
“Too weird. They’d insisted on being sure you weren’t being watched, anyway.”
“Right. Would’ve been weird. Wait. Back up. Who else might be watching me? Why?”
“Assorted agencies: the usual paranoia.”
She nods.
“Are you dead?”
He looks startled, then shakes his head.
“Thought I was when the tether broke, but when I didn’t collide with anything, I was relieved. Then I realised the comms were down and I was headed out of system. Right there is when I became convinced I was going to die. Spent a few hours debating with myself over popping my suit seals and ending it quickly.”
The man they told her had died a hero, saving crew before the ISS8 finally exploded, shrugs.
“Couldn’t do it.”
She shakes her head.
“How are you here?”
“The Tyongshad, a free trader attracted by ISS8 exploding. Their records say Earth is a dead-end civilisation that’s given up on interplanetary ambitions. So a blast that big in Mars orbit made them curious.”
“You were rescued by a UFO?”
“I think they’re only UFOs in-atmosphere. Off-planet, they’re just alien spaceships.”
Unable to help laughing, she waves a hand helplessly, white-knuckle grip on the pistol easing.
“Oh, that’s alright, then. Only an alien spaceship returning my space-lost partner to me.”
“It can’t stay long.”
She looks at him.
“What do you mean?”
He points upwards.
“They’re not allowed to contact Earth, you know? Our societies are too primitive. But the occasional chance encounter is allowed. Me being an astronaut is a bonus. I finally talked them into giving my favourite sergeant a chance to ship out. We watched longer because I needed to be sure you and Trev hadn’t… You know.”
Fern smiles.
“He wants to, but wasn’t there when I needed support grieving over you. He never does the hard work, and that won’t do.”
He nods.
“Same old Trev.”
Fern leans forward to see the sky, then stares wide-eyed at the vessel parked against the kerb. It’s so wide it touches the opposite kerb.
“Thought it’d be bigger.”
“It is. That’s one of our shuttles.”
She grins.
“Orphans in space?”
He chuckles.
“More Firefly than Star Trek, despite there being a Federation. It’s one of several Empires, and there are multiple Rebel Alliances.”
Fern checks her boots, dons her jacket, and grabs her go-bag.
“Who’s our new jefe?”
“Captain Hedelpha. We’re crewmembers eight and nine. ”
“They weird or humanish?”
“More weird.”
Stepping outside, she hears distant sirens. The spaceship at the kerb flashes incredibly bright lights.
She kisses his cheek.
“Best get going. We can do the hugging and hysterical sobbing later.”
He smiles. Same old Fern, too.
“Oh, just so you know: ‘Tyongshad’ means ‘Sun Fart’.”
“You’re joking!”
“Came out as ‘hot gaseous emission from the depths of a system hub’ according to the translation A.I. in my suit.”
“Wait. Plasma… From a sun? The A.I. came close linguistically, but you got the semantics all wrong. It’s probably ‘Star Flare’.”
He chuckles.
“Oh yeah. That makes more sense.”
by submission | Apr 26, 2026 | Story |
Author: David C.Nutt
The Crow sat on the post croaking, clicking and cawing at my dog Culley. Culley’s got a real strong prey drive so watching him sit there and occasionally whine and stutter step was par for the course. Jah, Culley-boy has serious focus. If he scents a squirrel or chases a rabbit in our fenced in yard he’ll come back to the same spot for weeks, so it was no big deal him coming back to the same spot day after day. But not for a solid month. And not with a crow teasing him every day for exactly 45 minutes, every morning, rain or shine. This was strange indeed. Being recently retired, and the weather being glorious, I thought I’d sit out with Culley and see what all the fuss was about.
On my first day I sat a few yards away and watched Culley’s new ritual unfold. Sometimes the Crow was there, sometimes he’d sit and wait for her. She flew and perched. There was a long “caw” and then Culley sat down. I wasn’t really listening (plugged into YouTube,) but I could see him sit rock solid until the crow flew away. The next day Culley and I sat in the same place and waited. The long caw started followed by the clicks and croaks. It was odd…the clicks and croaks soon had a weird rhythm, a set of distinct patterns. It was so annoying I was about to grab a rock and fling it at the Crow. Then, it happened. It wasn’t pleasant. It felt like someone took two icicles and simultaneously, jabbed them into my temples. I saw sparks and my body was flooded with heat and then there was a sound like a combination of shattering glass and a gong and, and…I was in a different place.
Culley was next to me and he looked like always did except he looked up to me with his “happy face” and said “Hello Daddy.” Off in the distance I saw this being in a cloak of crystal feathers and a helm…or mask. In an instant she was in front of me, the mask with it’s beak-like visor open revealing a beautiful woman’s face. Smiling, she took my hands and said “Welcome Marlon, Culley has told me so much about you, glad you paid attention enough to join us.”
Since that day Culley and I sit out in the yard, rain or shine for exactly 45 minutes with the Crow. My family teases me (good-naturedly) incessantly about Culley and me and our “Martha”, the name they gave the Crow. But with what we have learned, both our lives our exponentially better. Once a real type “A”, now I am mellow. I know the day I will die. I know the day Culley will pass and he knows it too. Me and Culley, we’ve both got a longer life than average and that’s cool. Plus from what we’ve taught our family they will be living far longer than most. So my family puts up with me and Culley…and Martha. Hard to say dear old Dad is crazy and send him away when his new hobby of day trading and investments has paid off all my their mortgages,
Our “Martha” has taught us that we might be a catalyst for change in the world. I guess Culley and I are OK with that, but with all I am learning and the places we go, Culley and me would be happy just as we are. Sitting in the yard, for 45 minutes, “meditating” and listening to a Crow.
by submission | Apr 25, 2026 | Story |
Author: James Gonda
The walls in the room curve inward like the inside of a shell, smooth and pale.
When he thinks of sitting a chair rises from the floor and shapes itself to his back.
Light fills the space evenly.
His thoughts arrange themselves without effort.
He feels panic build and begins counting breaths as he was taught during a workplace wellness seminar. Then his breathing settles on its own.
The memory of the road, the flash of white, the sudden lift, sits at a distance, intact and sealed.
When the first alien appears, it doesn’t enter so much as assemble. One moment the air is empty, the next it contains a tall, jointed shape, its surface matte and softly faceted. “Are you experiencing distress?” it asks. The voice arrives already translated.
“No,” he says, almost laughing.
“This aligns with expectations. I am Talar. I will accompany you during this phase.”
Phase means sequence and sequence suggests an ending. He finds this comforting.
Talar asks questions, one at a time.
What work does he perform?
He explains accounting. His days are filled with correcting other peoples’ errors.
What is his domestic arrangement?
He says he lives alone.
Talar asks him to describe a typical morning.
He talks about scrolling through his phone at breakfast, rereading an email from his supervisor that contains no actionable information. As he speaks, he notices the tightness he usually feels in his chest when he thinks about these things does not appear.
He finishes.
The air shifts and a second alien forms.
“This phase is complete,” the second alien tells Talar. “Prepare him for return.”
Return. “Return where?” he asks (though he already knows).
“To the location of your extraction.” Talar says.
His mouth moves before he can articulate the thought. “But . . . I don’t want to go back.” He stands, aware again of how gently the room holds him. “I know I’ve been taken. But here—.” He gestures, helplessly, at the walls, to the light. “Here, everything feels right.”
Talar watches him closely. “You are experiencing relief?”
“Yes!” he says. “And usefulness.”
The second alien steps closer. “Purpose is not an offered condition.”
“Maybe not deliberately,” he says. “But it’s here.” Then: “Let me stay. Maybe I can help.”
The second alien’s reply is immediate. “Your request is a result of this environment—
specimens mistake containment for meaning.”
Specimens. The word lands heavy. “I’m not a lab rat,” he points out.
“This phase was designed to minimize harm upon reintegration,” Talar says.
He laughs. “You think this ‘phase’ will make it easier to send me back?”
“Yes,” the second alien says. “It is proven to be effective.”
He looks at Talar. “What I’m feeling is real.”
“Yes,” Talar says. “But it is not validation you belong here.”
He thinks of his last performance review when they told him he was “valued” and “on track,” phrases recited from a script while his real concerns went unaddressed. “Earth is full of worse illusions,” he says. “At least this one is honest.”
The room opens and images pass through him. Other humans. Same refrain. Let me stay.
“You are one of many,” the second alien says.
“You knew I’d ask,” he says.
The second alien nods. “Before you did.”
The light begins to withdraw.
“You will retain very little of this experience,” Talar says. “Only impressions.”
Back on Earth, he wakes up in the same place from where he was taken, no time missing.
A faint discontent simmers inside him.
Later—days and weeks—he compares every room to one he cannot quite remember.
by submission | Apr 24, 2026 | Story |
Author: Eva C. Stein
Kaela had misread the trail map. She expected thorns and sunbaked clay; instead she stepped from the composite walkway into a grove. She wore a field harness of sterilised vials and a hand lens that layered spectral readouts over her vision. She was thinking about leaf venation – dicot xylem bundles versus the scattered vascular monocot strands – when her peripheral HUD pulsed and the clearing snapped into focus.
The captain was a calibration post in human-shaped form: reactive fibre and ceramic plating, a corporate helix where a flag might have been. Six operatives held pulse carbines; an AR lozenge drone hovered, its sensor array washing the group in low intensity lidar. Twenty people sat bound on polymer blocks: woven trackers, temporary smart bindings that fed heart rates and glucose levels to the captain’s slate.
Kaela’s training ran a silent inventory: the captain’s jaw comm node and micro spectrometer, Class 2 directed-energy rifles, drone Model AR-4, cuffs logging cortisol spikes. Running would make her a clean visual target. She stayed.
The captain’s gaze found her; his jaw-comm clicked and an invitation downlinked. She walked forward; standing still would be to admit she was a specimen. Under the drone’s light she spoke the language of her field: first botanical expedition beyond the corporation’s buffer, intent to catalogue epiphytic taxa with anomalous anthocyanin profiles, notes on likely altitude and leaf anatomy. The comm node blinked in tempo with her heartbeat.
He listened without botany in mind. He ran the variables: her honorary foreigner tag, the optics of an international witness, the cost of a diplomatic incident. The frontier’s ‘summary reprisal’ clause permitted one act of discretionary clemency if it was witnessed and recorded by an independent party. The captain’s voice was flat; the drone transcribed, and her HUD displayed the words.
“Shoot one,” he said. “You take a life; nineteen go free. Refuse and all twenty die.”
Kaela’s first reflex was nausea. Then calculus: the weapon would have to link to his biometric. The system required a Williams handshake so the deed registered in the legal ledger. Accepting meant a recorded complicity – an immutable entry that would alter career and conscience. Refusing meant no witness, no ledger, and the squad’s default lethal protocol. The drone’s sensor sweep caught micro adjustments of aim; the nearest magistrate node was a day away.
Her scientific mind catalogued another loss: these people were living repositories – DNA, microbiomes, songs and practices encoded in flesh. If they lived, the corporation would harvest that data; if they died, embodied knowledge could vanish. As a botanist, the erasure felt like both moral and professional catastrophe.
The grove was quiet. In her lens, the plants she’d come for clung to an overgrown canopy – pigments that should reorder phylogenies – and she measured them against the human price.
The captain waited. The drone focused. The legal timer ticked.
She could have recited taxonomy. Instead she reached for the language her work had taught her to trust: preservation. She thought of herbarium sheets – pressed specimens labelled and saved – and of voices that couldn’t be catalogued if gone. Minutes narrowed; the clearing held still while a woman trained to name leaves weighed the lives of men.
The captain eased a rifle towards her, the grip still warm. The HUD flashed the biometric handshake prompt: align your palm, accept the link. The drone’s camera tracked her pupils.
Kaela’s tongue found words she’d never practiced in lecture halls. She spoke of evidence and witnesses, of the need to keep living knowledge intact. The drone recorded. The captain watched his slate and the legal timer slid down another notch.
She lifted her hand, and history waited.
