by Julian Miles | Feb 20, 2023 | Story |
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
A figure looks both ways along the street. Nothing but dust devils spinning across the plasmac. With a resigned shrug, he steps up to the entrance of the Constabulary House, waiting for it to scan him.
Inside the building, he ambles over to the nearest desk and lands his backside on it hard. The figure crouching behind the desk comes up fast, hand flicking to holster, then relaxes upon seeing the crest on his uniform. She settles onto the bench behind the desk.
He smiles.
“Space-Side Investigator Atom Pruemyn, reporting as ordered, and wondering why. I arrived without having to fight my way in. Where’s the emergency?”
“Planet-Side Enforcer Judith Blass. Chief Harub insisted I call after I spotted the problem. It’s an unusual situation.” She looks up at him and smiles: “The honourable crustacean doesn’t want to touch this. He’s up for promotion next quarter.”
Atom hooks a bench closer and shifts himself off the desk. Seated, he looks back to Judith.
“Tell me this isn’t connected to the two of yours who’re up for commendations?”
Silence.
He sighs: “Go on, then.”
“Planet-Side Enforcers Turterril and Gathgore held off a band of marauders for three days, killing over half of them in the process. Chief Argondy, leader of our reinforcements, was so taken with their humility he put them up for commendations when he returned to Constabulary Central. They were informed a week ago, and disappeared two nights later.”
“Disappeared?”
“Without the slightest trace. All devices abandoned.”
“Which vessel did they steal?”
“No vessels are missing.”
“What?”
“Nothing has been taken, apart from the savings they accumulated over the last eleven years on Planet-Side duty.”
“A hidden stealth ship? Impressive.”
“That’s one word for it.”
“Still not quite enough to fuss a hard-shell like Harub, though.”
Judith chuckles.
“Hard-shell? Must remember that. What fussed him was the surviving battle video, and the data on their devices.”
“Do tell.”
“The video showed the two of them fighting multi-op style: embedded arm blasters, calf jets, energy blades, the lot. Their devices were set up to prevent or override detection using Fleet War Command codes. Likewise, their fictitious personal and career records were protected from detection or query.”
“Those abandoned devices being the source, you were able to see it all…” He sits forward: “You’ve had persons unknown masquerading as Planet-Side Enforcers for eleven years?”
“Unknowns with combat enhancements using military apps. We didn’t have a clue, and then misplaced the two about-to-be-lauded imposters. Harub is beside himself.”
Atom chuckles.
“Now there’s an image. Tell me, did you get on with them? Were they good at their duties?”
She smiles warmly as memory briefly distracts her.
“They were lovely, and superb Planet-Side Enforcers.”
Atom nods.
“There’s no clue as to their actual identities?”
“Our ID specialist is sure they wiped their records and trace data when they quit their former lives.”
“Combat configurations?”
“Eighty percent likely to be ours.”
“Ingrained techniques at that level are hard to disguise – unless they’re instructors… Disturbing, but no actual help.”
“What’s our next step?”
“Request two Enforcers from Central. If anybody asks, Turterril and Gathgore leveraged their commendations to get roving duties out on the frontier. You said they were superb. That legacy sets a standard rarely met by real Enforcers. Utilise it. I’ll deal with the confidential reporting,”
“We do nothing?”
“Unless you’d like to make this embarrassing incident public, yes. They don’t want to be found, are civilised and peaceful, but could be devastating if cornered. Let them go. Other agencies might pursue them, but I doubt it. Too much could go wrong.”
by submission | Feb 19, 2023 | Story |
Author: Russell Bert Waters
Grandma isn’t well. Might be a stroke. Incoherent mumbles. Faraway look in her eyes.
What to do? What to do?
All the EVs in the Orange Sector are shut down today by remote signal. It isn’t our week to have the allotted four hours of driving time.
“Grandma?”
I speak her name softly. She pops into alertness briefly and then glazes over again.
Not sure if it’s a stroke, but something isn’t right. I need to get her to help.
I call the dispatcher to request an override.
“Central Control, what is your emergency?”
“My Grandma isn’t well, she may be having a stroke, I need to drive her to the hospital.”
“Age?”
“Eighty-nine…she just turned eighty-nine last we-”
The dispatcher cuts me off.
“I’m sorry, we only allow emergency transport allowances for subjects under 70 years of age. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Please, I need to help my Grandma.”
The line goes dead.
When it all began they would only cut off vehicle usage during storms, and other emergencies. Then the emergencies became more frequent. Then the emergencies became constant. And now, regardless of circumstance, every vehicle usage is rationed. Everyone only gets four hours of driving time every two weeks, broken down by Sectors. You aren’t allowed to hoard your time either, it is a “use it or lose it” proposition.
Before my Father was taken away for thinking the wrong thougts, he had mentioned a friend he knew who collected internal combustion vehicles. He embraced The Old Way, the Selfish Way. He embraced the old-fashioned notions that the individual somehow mattered. Those were dangerous times, when people believed that way. Now we all pull together. Now…we all struggle together.
I know if I take my Grandma to the hospital they likely won’t treat her. She has “aged out” of viability. But she has done so much for me, I can’t just give up on her. I’m not supposed to even refer to her as my “Grandma” as that’s “gendered language” and it is one of the reasons my Dad was taken away; the usage of wrong language, wrong thoughts.
If anyone gives up on my Grandma it won’t be me. If the hospital doesn’t treat her, so be it. I will have done for her what she would have done for me.
I make a phone call.
The phone is answered by a gruff voice “what can I do you for?”
I explain my situation. He is all too happy to help, but he cautions me that there’s a penalty when they discover me with an old vehicle. Possibly even time in a camp. And I didn’t get the car from him, but he wishes me the best of luck. He says to give him ten minutes and he’ll bring the vehicle to me.
A short while later I hear the purr of an engine, and then I hear the engine cut off in front of the house.
I take my Grandma’s arm and gently lead her to the door.
“Come on Grandma” I whisper.
“Let’s get you some help. And maybe afterwards, I’ll get to see my Dad again.”
by submission | Feb 18, 2023 | Story |
Author: Majoki
The transporter operator tapped his fingers on the console nodding his head in time to some inner rhythm. “Sure, it’s you. Done this thousands of times. No one’s complained.”
“Would they know to complain?”
“I’m not following you?”
“If they were different after being transported.”
“You mean like their arm was coming out their ass?”
“Has that happened?”
“Not to me?”
“No. I mean ‘different’ as in personality. As if something is off.”
“Like I said. No complaints so far.”
“It just seems like sending my constituent atoms across spacetime and rebuilding an identical me could be fraught with errors.”
The transporter operator stopped tapping his fingers. “That’s not how this works. We aren’t sending your atoms anywhere. We’re mapping them and reassembling them with atoms from wherever you’re going.”
“What happens to my atoms?”
“They’re used to reassemble someone transporting here.”
“Wait. That doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s all there in the release form you signed. The fungibility clause.”
“Fungibility?”
“It’s like back in the day when people used physical currency for money. Back then paper currency was considered fungible. If you borrowed money, you didn’t have to return the specific banknotes you borrowed, just bills of identical value. Same concept, just applied to your atomic makeup. Your transported self will be rebuilt by atoms of identical number and type. Even though your atoms have been swapped out, you’ll be the same.”
“Still seems like a flimsy proposition.”
“Maybe to you, but it works. Done it dozens of times myself.” He tapped his console. “Never noticed any differences.”
“Would you, though? Would you notice anything different?”
“Unlikely. To me, it’s no different than waking up every morning. Some days I feel more like myself than others. On a regular basis some of our cells go kaput, others regenerate or are replaced. We’re nothing but bio machines constantly repairing and rebuilding ourselves.”
“Sounds a bit soulless.”
The operator shrugged. “Look, I’m about to send your sentient self halfway across the solar system in a matter of microseconds. If that doesn’t blow your mind and shake your soul, then I’m not sure what makes you tick anyway—regardless of which specific atoms you started with.” He motioned to the transporter chamber. “Ready?”
“No. But I’ve got to get there. I’ve got an identical twin brother who needs one of my kidneys.”
“My point exactly.” The operator made some adjustments on his console. “We’re never the same hour-to-hour. We change, willingly or unwillingly. Good luck to you and your brother.”
Stepping into the chamber the reluctant quantum traveler turned around, crouched low and stuck his right arm between his legs. Waving goodbye to the transporter operator with what looked like his arm coming out his ass, the once identical twin wondered, as his features disassembled atom by atom, if a laugh was fungible.
by submission | Feb 17, 2023 | Story |
Author: Mahaila Smith
“What is this stuff,” Bunny asked the spiky lipped girl offering her the small bag.
“AdBlok,” she said, putting some powder in her mouth. Bunny tipped some powder into her mouth. Her face weighed into her head and her vision blurred, turned purple. A circle loaded in the bottom corner. Half the people were gone.
“Where did they go?”
“They were just code, don’t worry.”
“Ok,” Bunny said, her head spinning a bit, “I need some water.”
She stumbled across the bar towards the washroom. Some people who might have been waiting in line yelled at her. She wove through people wide eyed whispering and put her face under the tap. She felt cold around her sinuses but not wet.
“I have to find Nina,” she realized, “I should go home.” She was feeling sick. She had come with Nina, but had not seen her since the lilac haze had descended on everything.
“Nina! Nina!” Bunny yelled. A security guard was looking at her and talking into his phone. Purple faded back to the club. A woman was yelling and Bunny realized she was sitting on a stranger’s lap. She moved away to a booth, looking for Nina. She put her head down on the table and passed out.
She woke up to the security guard shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes. Her vision was slightly pixelated.
“Hello Miss? Can you stand?” She looked at the floor. The white tiles floated up, disappeared.
“Yes,” she took herself home and went to bed. The next day she met Nina for brunch at Plastic Fork, their usual joint. They had orange juice and waffles. She kept her eyes down and did not talk. She tried to play it off as hangover related.
“You’re being really quiet, are you okay?” Nina asked.
“I’m good,” Bunny said.
She stopped going to work. For a week she did not answer her phone. She spent days on her laptop researching internet forums on Adblok, ads. Adblock addicts anonymous, for sale, how dangerous? the government doesn’t want you to know these 10 things about Adblok. She watched videos of talk shows, trying to pick out who was coded to sell her things. Was her friend, was she? She tried to think back on conversations, how many centred on her objects. Her eyes were bloodshot, and the white lights on the screen burned them. She needed to get some more. She spent nights hanging outside the club, waiting to see the pierced lipped girl again. When she did, Bunny could see she was holding something in her fist. She ran out of the ally and tackled the girl, pried open her fist, grabbed the pouch and ran.
by submission | Feb 16, 2023 | Story |
Author: Moriah Geer-Hardwick
Ira Holt scowls down the loading ramp at the landing pad. The wild tangles of his silver eyebrows hang low and heavy over his gray eyes as he scans the area. His face is pitted and weathered, like rusted steel. He stands with one wiry arm braced against the top of the hatchway, jaw set.
Benna Wallace shifts the strap of the tool kit on her shoulder and swipes a stray strand of dull brown hair away from her round face.
“Should we…” Benna stops herself.
“We probably should.” Holt’s voice is a grinding scrape across vocal chords shredded from years of plasma vapor and burner exhaust. He drags his knuckles back and forth across the ragged stubble that frosts hazy white over his chin. “Y’know, I never wanted to become that grizzled old veteran who talks down to the new recruit,” he says. “One of those old fossils that spouts things like, ‘back in my day,’ or calls you, ‘kid’ and ‘green behind the ears.’”
“You mean, ‘wet behind the ears?’”
“Probably. I don’t know. Look, I saw your creds. You got decent schooling. Probably know a lot more than me. Hell, the first time the Company sent me out to one of these unmanned outer perimeter stations, their idea of training was a fifteen minute briefing played on repeat all three months of torpor during transit. I got no call to be condescending, and I mean that sincerely. I gotta tell you though, I’ve stepped off this ramp into God knows how many downed stations and these places got a way of going funny.”
“Funny?” Benna frowns.
“Yeah funny. Y’know, like the subversion of expectations. See, experience, or a little education too I guess, gives you this library of expectations and you get to feel like you can reference it for everything. You run through the list of all that can go wrong, because of all you know that went wrong before.”
“Hypervigilance,” says Benna. “They teach it at the Academy. Tell you to run through scenarios before going in.”
“Yeah?” Ira looks at her, one eye scrunching into a quizzical wince. “What kind of scenarios”
Benna bobbles her head, thinking. “Micro event cascading mechanical failures. Want-of-a-nail situations. Or cataclysmic event mechanical failures. Meteor storm, solar flare, rogue wave radiation, things like that. Could be software. Glitch, or intentional hacking.”
“Pretty straightforward,” nods Ira. “Easy enough to set right.”
“Station could be dead because pirates hit it. Hostiles could still be on site.”
Ira nods again. “A bit more worrisome.”
“Then there’s cognitive contagions compromising the AI mainframe. Spontaneously evolved self awareness. Spiraling anarcho-syndicalistic ideology.”
“Been a while since I had to put down a robot cult.”
“Or xenobiological events. Silicone eating microbes. Full on first contact with intelligent alien life.”
Ira holds up a hand to stop her. “Those are all worth keeping in mind. Like I said, you got decent schooling. I guess my real point here is what do you make of that?” He gestures with a gnarled thumb toward the far corner of the station. Benna ducks her head to look under the hatchway and sees what appears to be a young girl in a yellow dress, facing away from them, floating about a foot off the ground.
“That’s weird.” Benna swallows stiffly.
“Yup,” agrees Holt. “Never seen that before. I suppose this place is either haunted or we’re hallucinating.”
“What do we do?”
“Add more expectations to the library.” Ira starts down the ramp.
The young girl slowly spins around to face them, her mouth open and impossibly wide.
by submission | Feb 15, 2023 | Story |
Author: Philip G Hostetler
I’m a light-rope walker, it’s my business to tread where particles are waves. And I’ve been walking for all of eternity, a grave responsibility that wasn’t so much given to me, but I became.
It’s a curse that I speak in poetics, it turns out that even entropy has a rhythm. And that music can be heard, even in the vacuum of space.
And you’d think I’d have learned to stop walking, but what’s left to do than nothing?
Can’t have that and neither should you.
Just because we’re millions of lightyears away, my dear, doesn’t mean that I don’t know you’re there. Light bends and so do I, so I’ll keep walking, until “E”, equals MC squared.
Maybe you’ve seen my signal cutting through the void, maybe it’s decayed through time and you’ll not recognize my voice. But I hear your music in the entropy, love, when you went spelunking into that black hole.
Dr. Maxell was a madman to discorporate us as he did, and shoot us as entangled particles through the stars. I went light rope walking and you went into the dark.
When I spun up, you spun down, like you knew you had someplace to be, and it certainly wasn’t with me.
…and I’m just beginning to believe that that’s ok.
