Us
Author : Suzanne Borchers
Arnold, a four-foot bot, wiped disinfectant rags over the chairs and tables while the residents of Ever Pleasant Retirement Home slept. The night duty was routine and Arnold moved easily around the recreation room. Quiet. As always, he was alone.
A shadow ...
Control
Author : Roger Dale Trexler
They stood on the western plain and watched the tornado tear apart a settlement in the distance. Nearby, to the north, half a foot of snow had already blanketed the survivors. A torrential downpour was creating mudslides to the south of them, and the sun was ...
The Modern Fauxmetheus
Author : Bob Newbell
"Throw the switch!" Dr. Victor Frankenstein yelled to his assistant over the roar of the wind and the incessant peals of thunder.
"Yes, master!" replied the diminutive lackey as he pulled down on the enormous knife switch on the wall of the laboratory.
The low ...
Crows
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
The seasonal rains have set in; bringing the battle for the planet we call Tango to a bogged-down halt. High above, the grey clouds flash blue-veined white as miniature suns blossom in orbit. The war continues across known space, committed men and ...
Sunset
Author : Roy Upton
At sunrise, Artavian stands on his porch looking out over the valley. The greens and browns reassert themselves. Golden light defines the valleys and trees of the walk lands that stretch to the horizon. He sips a coffee. Sadness blurs the view as, solitary, he ...
You Wouldn't Download a Car
Author : Logan Smith
Zach glanced at the time flashing in the corner of his vision. 3:58 am. Class in five hours, and he hadn't caught a wink of sleep. He took his glasses off, setting them on their charging dock before turning back to his computer. The newest Tesla design had hit the ...
The Replacement Husband
Author : Ken Poyner
I could have had him made with a synthetic skin that reeks a constant temperature, that adjusts to pressure, that could be washed with soap and water. He does not care, but it would be physically easier on me, and more comfortable for the neighbors. At a distance, ...
Zxandra's Summer
Author : Michael Rafferty
On the morning of the third Wednesday in September the eighth grade class of Halsey Charter school prepared to give their “What I did for summer” theme speech. The class was small; twenty-four mostly well off kids. Richie Greenwall began with six weeks touring ...
A Sneeze
Author : Aiza Mohd
"A SNEEZE
A singular moment during which your eyes, your nose, your mouth, every feature of your head all simultaneously forget who they are and what they are doing and have a mini existentialist explosion."
My handwriting is childlike after my reconstruction; I ...
Ever Forward
Author : S T Xavier
Gunfire. Small explosions. A hand on the back of my neck, pushing me down towards the small opening to the tunnel. Fragments of wood and rock under my hands and knees as I crawl through the darkness, following the distant sounds of those who went before me.
One ...
The Prisoner
Author : Roger Dale Trexler
Carpenter awoke in a tree, but the body he was in was no longer his own. They had taken that away from him, too…. just like they had stolen and plagiarized his work and called it their own.
He moved, but his motions were not human. Not quite. Then, he ...
Six Degrees of Sky
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
Ravella is a blighted world, riven and sundered before man ventured into space. The race or races responsible are hopefully dust as well, because the fury they vented upon this planet was breathtaking in its totality. But whoever - or whatever - ...
In Case of Emergency
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
Sergeant Brake sat in the makeshift barracks reviewing the intelligence briefing he'd been handed just moments before.
"These used to come on paper," he waved the digital tablet at the spit and polished runner who'd brought him the device. ...
Airlift
Author : Chris McCormick
Drone sat upon the empty dresser. A lithe little bundle of rods, wires and wings atop the last piece of furniture not yet pawned. From here it trained a camera upon another little bundle on a pile of towels on the floor. This warm little bundle had stopped ...
A Lesson in Being Human
Author : Doug Robbins
His body was made of metal and instead of eyes, he had light sensors that flashed when someone got with in ten feet of him. ''Am I more human than you,'' the robot asked his human class.
The human students looked at each other. One student, Todd Hallowell spoke ...
Enhanced Matching
Author : CR Briffett
Welcome to Perfect Match. Please sign in through one of your professional or social media networks.
Thank you, we will now gather all of your digital data.
When you are ready to meet a perfect match, simply come down to one of our centres, donate a saliva sample ...
Zero
Author : Roger Dale Trexler
I knew she was dead when I saw the blood. It floated by me and splattered silently on the console. Everyone else—Yanders, Diorino, and Rector—was dead, too. They were floating at the far side of the cabin, congregated strangely like a bunch of line ...
Mirage
Author : Bob Newbell
"This is the day it all ends," said Brosh.
"Why don't you take one of the mood stabilizers the doctor prescribed?" asked Querna, Brosh's wife. She often wondered why she'd married Brosh. If I'd married that engineer who had a crush on me, she thought to herself, ...
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