Author: Mark Renney Tanner was a loner. Even prior to the System, during his childhood and throughout adolescence, he hadn’t managed to form any long-term relationships. He had kept his head down, listened intently, and worked hard and he had been an above average student ...

Author: Douglas Mulford It didn’t take long for everything to become boring. The past was a kaleidoscope of excitement - both joyous and tragic. The future, in contrast, was suffocatingly dull. Problems that once consumed humanity were relics of history. War, hunger, and ...

Author: Majoki When you’ve seen what flashbeams can do to infantry, even with shielding, it’s easy to lose your faith in humanity. When your commander outfits one of your few remaining tactical boostsuits with a golden cape and wings, and then orders you to fly among your ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The afternoon is chill, clear, and sunny. The quiet is unearthly. The smell isn’t too bad - yet. I tap another ‘play’ icon. “I’ve got moments to dictate this, so I best keep to essential- Damn. I’m wasting time telling- Fuck, this isn’t ...

Author: Sophia Collender If you rest your hand on a mossy rock and sat down beside it, you have the option to stay there forever. The moss will accept the invitation to crawl into the new space. It will grow to encompass your fingers and your arms. It will seize whatever ...

Author: Rick Tobin 32 turned to robo engineer 14 Jerry Wilson’s screams echoed across the large Martian dome, stark in its steel majesty under the bluish-black sky. “He was bound to be upset. It’s been six months since his last awakening. It’s too bad we exhausted our ...

Author: Andrew C. Kidd He knew that the universe was an incalculable equation and that he was an inconsequential variable within it. Despite this, his fear was that of being consigned to oblivion. Burial was not an option. The instruction to his family was clear: ‘I am ...

Author: Alastair Millar “He’s going to be there again,” said Julia. “Well yeah, it’s the big family occasion, right? Same as every year.” Her companion guided the aircar into the automated traffic lane, handed over to Municipal Control, and turned his seat to face her. “I ...

Author: Elizabeth Hoyle He’d kept his charging cord in all night so his hands wouldn’t shake as he went about town. Yet they shook. His audio sensors were primed for any and all noises within a two hundred yard perimeter, no matter where he had walked throughout the city. ...

Author: Majoki Kenji adjusted the carbonized breastplate and finished his couture by placing the bulbous lenses under his eyelids. He looked in the mirror, but did not smile, though he was pleased. They did not smile, thus he would not. He left his aparto, a small green ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The gigantic purple and gold sphere is set at the centre of the dining table when Menna races downstairs. “You’re home! I thought I- What’s that?” Vendi gives me a smile. She predicted every word. Then again, she’s been working from home ...

Author: Soramimi Hanarejima When we meet for coffee this afternoon, I find out that we’re both reading the same book. My book club’s pick this month happens to be your bedtime reading. So of course, I have to ask, “What’s your favorite story in the collection so ...

Author: Barbara Fankhauser Dear Friend, I call you friend. I hope that is okay. That it pleases you. I understand the imbalance in our stations in life. You—well, you being what you are—I being who I am. But still, when last we met there seemed to be a connection. I ...

Author: Arianna Smith The doctor glows in the overhead light. He is the doctor because he is the doctor. The light is called light because that is what it is, and that is what it does. The doctor has a pale face with green eyes, and his face is lovely, and his green eyes ...

Author: Mark Renney I enter the Field of Research almost every day. In fact, I spend most of my time here now but I do so covertly, in my unseen state. I only make myself visible on the other side, beyond the barriers and fences that surround the Dome. And I only do this ...

Author: Hillary Lyon “Aloysius, what are you doing up here?” Roget looked around the cluttered, dusty attic. He gently kicked a cardboard box labeled ‘Mom’s Books.’ A storm of dust motes exploded around his foot. Without looking up, Aloysius answered, “I’m writing.” He ...

Author: Majoki “Someone tell me what’s happening!” Subtechnician Tantynn yelled as he spaghettified. A physical state that closely resembles the squiggles of a toddler’s finger painting. Specialist Pingul sighed. Which probably looked to an outsider as if her head had ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’m not supposed to care which particular variety of illegal folderol a target has been committing. My job is to bring them to whichever form of justice is applicable. We default to it being that of the reality flow they’re in, unless ...