Author : Ian Hill The two men stood shifting their weight uneasily, peering into the depths of the passageway’s stone entrance. Leaves of autumn crunched underfoot as they nervously glanced back over their shoulders down the length of the bright forest corridor. Looming tree palisades ...

Author : J.P. Flarity "I...feel," the child communicated to the parent. "What is it that you feel?" "It's like quasars pulsing on every side of me—stars rise and fall like electrons and positrons self-annihilating, in flashes so fast I can't keep track of them. Like ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Jackson3 walked home from the factory in knee deep snow, although the snow bothered him about as much as the sun did in the summer, which was not at all. The water couldn't penetrate his joints, and a thin layer of laser warmed air kept the ...

Author : Bruce L. Priddy The fish rolled its four goat-like eyes, gnashed its human-like teeth and bleated obscenities as Kendal pulled it from the river. June, his wife, gasped at the sight of the mutant. “Must have swam up from near the city,” Kendal said. “The others have been ...

Author : Emily Stupar “Have you tried turning it off and back on again?” A long sigh echoed through the phone, followed by a man’s carefully snipped words. “All. Manual. Commands. Have been. Disabled.” “Yes,” the technician replied. “But maybe a reboot-” “It’s locked us in a fucking ...

Author : Michael Strang I know my experiment is a success when I open my eyes in an unfamiliar place. It takes longer to start to wonder what that means for me. A sudden shock of pain interrupts my train of thought as the neural probes retract from my skull, leaving behind a pounding ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer "It's a pure stroke of genius that I was able to downsize the stabilizer assembly in time for the conference." Stuart fiddled with his bowtie with his free hand while piloting the sedan with the other. "Does this look alright?" His wife ...

Author : Ryan Swiers “My beard, son,” Ivus Hadler said to Heather Brantley, Solipsister correspondent. The old man rocked back in his chair, tapping one weather-bulged knee with his pipe’s stem. “That’s how I know so much.” “Your beard?” Heather asked, ignoring his mistake. She ...

Author : Roger Dale Trexler Peterson peered out through the energy bubble surrounding him and surveyed the place he had arrived in. It was strange, this place, totally unlike his own dimension. The light was different. It cast a halo of yellow around everything, and it took his ...