Third Person

Author : Steven Saus She is within two hexes before my character notices her perfume. She is approaching from behind. I left-toggle the camera angle back to third person, floating above his head. Minicams hover and spin, filling in the the peripheral things a 120 degree ...

Adolescence

Author : Debbie Mac Rory “Now commencing system test number twenty-three. Ship designation VX1965, given name Skipper, are you receiving me”. “Affirmative” Jacob sighed and knuckled his eyes as his other hand reached to the desk to cradle his warm coffee. He wasn’t looking ...

Phosphorousdimethylbenzaldpotassiumdicholoroethane

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer and J. S. Kachelries Back in 2023, researchers at the Beijing Chemical Company (BCC) discovered a way to reverse the effects of global warming. It involved using a unique new molecule that converts carbon dioxide into atomic carbon and ...

Pixelator

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer We called the rich kids ‘Upgrades’. They were the ones that had been born with all of the benevolent tweaks and cellular advantages that money could buy. Longer life spans, all possible congenital defects erased, optimum health, even ...

What's in a Name?

Author : Helstrom Paydirt rolled deftly away from the asteroid we'd hid her behind and launched a volley across the Wayfarer's bow. Some junior officer now had the task of rushing the captain out of his cabin. It was exactly those few minutes we used to put all the dominoes ...

Mister Experience

Author : Ross Baxter The ducting was tighter than expected, and full of choking dust and accumulated detritus. Filth caked my uniform, the billowing clouds of dirt coating the inside of my mouth and making my eyes stream. But I was nearly there. I struggled forwards to the ...

Counseling

Author : Ian Rennie Richard reached for the jug of water on the coffee table and stopped, face caught between a frown and a smile. He sat back in his chair and spoke to the couple. "Mrs Lyell, Patricia, you were saying that Thomas had been distant lately." The woman on the ...

Pan-dimensional Bacon

Author : Samuel Evrard “Oh. Fuck.” As the blinding light of the teleporter dimmed, Sarin knew she was in trouble. There were a dozen pig faced man-creatures wielding crude clubs in front of her, crowded around a small fire where something was being roasted. She had ...

Amped

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Tanya rested her head on the table sideways, watching the needle slip through the flesh in the crook of her elbow. Dr. Tetler attached a line and hung a clear bag on the I.V. stand beside her. “We’ll let the saline run for a minute before ...

The Centennialists

Author : Steven Holland Their time was up – 100 years had past. Fourteen vitrified bodies began the slow warming process. The cryoprotectants that had saved their bodies from the ravages of water’s freezing expansion were slowly pumped out, replaced with fresh blood. The ...

Sometimes We Wake Up Alone

Author : Steven Odhner I can't stop staring at the massive crater, watching the clouds of dust that blow out past its rim before curling down into the bowl and dissipating. For the hundredth time I wonder why the crater hasn't filled up with water; maybe it just doesn't rain ...

Tattoos

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The tattoos writhed. The tattoos strobed through creatures and colours in time to the music and the backbeat of her heart. They’d flash up in blues and purples, mapping out her internal organs before slashing to a zoom-in of Hercules ...

Aftermath of the Fountain of Youth

Author : Lliir Mary Ellen Gratcke had never contemplated murder before. She'd never felt so betrayed, helpless, and naked before, either. A mere thought, a flip of a switch, and the killing began. The fluid levels in the special bath that protected her betrayer from the ...

The First Superluminal Data Stream

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “You know, Cyrus, you can’t violate the law of causality. Even a freshman Liberal Arts major understands Feinberg’s reinterpretation principle. I swear, if I’ve lugged this receiver out here for nothing, I’m going to kick your ass ...

The Future Was What We Made It

Author : Adam Zabell Commander Deborah Sagmeiser began the ‘big reveal’ of Project Beta. This briefing used to be a formality which celebrated the human race. She looked across the table at a bespectacled middle-aged man, brought into the fold against her better judgement, ...

Insomnia

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Thirty two years. He’d lost count of the number of homicides. A Detective for twenty one of those years, John Barrick wished he knew how good he’d had it as a beat cop. There was no going back now. John opened the back door of his ...

Malfunction Onboard the Rosetta

Author : Jamison B. Medcalf Technical officer Jones had had his first job at 12 during the 2127 crash following the Antarctic War. Those were simpler times when perma-jacks that fed the Internet into your brain were less common. Nowadays only those aboard colony ships got ...

Hanging Around

Author : Q. B. Fox At night, when everything’s finally fallen quiet, the terraces sing; or maybe moan, I’m not sure which. The water where it laps over the first floor windowsills seems calm, except when a boat stirs it up. But deep underwater, by the front steps and in the ...

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