Panoptimized
Author: Majoki
“A solution to our problem requires a certain amount of ordered chaos,” Hsiang explained to his cellmate as they used the guard’s severed head to gain entry into DeadPan’s nerve center. “To find a workable answer we need to invite a wide range of possible ...
Tourists
Author: Hillary Lyon
“It happened right here,” I breathlessly exclaim to my friend. She grins and looks towards the old office building. I point to a corner window on the topmost floor. The gaggle of tourists behind us gasp and raise their cameras to take snaps of the old ...
When They Return
Author: Steven French
“Oh that’s wonderful!” Ruth clapped her hands in delight and turned to the avatar of the ship’s AI next to her. “Where did you get the idea from?”
Alfred lowered its head modestly and said, “Thank you Captain. I overheard Miriam reading to her ...
Friday Night
Author: Andrew Dunn
DJ Grim was on the strip of grass separating the track from the high school football field, dolled up like the Reaper itself, and pumping up the crowd with beats while the cheerleaders worked their stuff on the track. I was watching them, and fondling ...
Visitor Log
Author: Rick Tobin
Great, a clear connection, finally. Now I can understand your thoughts unmistakably through my brain mush. The AI translator is integrating. It was a muddled mess when techs first hooked me into their software. All I sensed were whispers and groans from ...
Double Trouble
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
There’s a queue of hopefuls outside. I didn’t allow for them. Do I tag on or what? Barely started and I hit a stumbling block.
“Ambassador Meselkis! I didn’t think you’d be able to join us!”
A glittering, immaculate form swoops down on ...
Outtakes
Author: Robert Beech
Outtake number 334400, uploaded today.
I talked to the kids today. Not in person, just on the computer, but still, it’s good to keep in touch. During the conversation one of them reminded me (again, or so they said) about the outtakes files. ...
Feeling
Author: Evan MacKay
It was cold. I knew it was cold even if I couldn’t feel it. I knew because my brain told me it was cold. They’d stuck me in the freezer after all. But I couldn’t feel. Oh Lord, I couldn’t feel. But the pain was gone. When they’d fried my nervous system ...
Dear Jane Rutledge
Author: Jenna Hanan Moore
Jane Rutledge invented a method for sending messages through time. It was the best she could do without more funding.
The Scientific Grant Agency refused to fund Jane’s efforts to invent a time machine without proof that time travel couldn’t ...
The Wave
Author: Bill Cox
He walks into town just as everyone who could is walking out. Running seems pointless to him, but he can’t blame them for trying. People pass in ramshackle jalopies, their worldly goods piled precariously up, held steady by blank-faced children. Others ...
Vision
Author: John Atkinson
A solid line splits my vision.
The ‘now’ - a drab grey room with two humans sitting opposite me - fills the lower half. The ‘past’ - a perfect rendition of prior events recorded by my internal camera - fills the upper half.
“You see it?” Asks one ...
Snatch
Author: Mikki Aronoff
"But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,/If your Snark be a Boojum! For then/ You will softly and suddenly vanish away,/And never be met with again!" (Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark)
"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be ...
Pretty People in Dead Poses
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
Damn them. They make you envious, make you hate yourself, your life, every breathing minute of your existence. I hated them, but it got me thinking.
How pretty is too pretty? There has to be a threshold. Under it, you’re plain or ...
The Flamingo
Author: Rachel Sievers
The sun baked the earth creating a wafting air current that reminded Regina of what the ghost of bacon would look like. “Damn it is hot,” she whispered to herself as she moved over the black of the abandoned road. She could move to the side of the ...
Release
Author: Brian Maycock
In one hour, he would be free.
Murty grinned.
Smiling was not against the rules, not strictly speaking, but if a guard saw you smiling there was a good chance a beating would follow.
They might think you were laughing at them or hiding a ...
Faded Glory
Author: Chris De Pree
“How vast those Orbs must be, and how inconsiderable this Earth, the Theatre upon which all our mighty Designs, all our Navigations, and all our Wars are transacted, is when compared to them.” –Christian Huygens (1629-1695)
The rapidly moving silver ...
The Determined Instrumentalist
Author: Majoki
The dog’s tail wagged. Or so it had seemed. Lhalam wasn’t so sure now.
She held back the sim-treat.
The dog nuzzled her sandal.
Curious. Curious for both Lhalam and the dog.
She powered down the dog and it stretched down at her feet as if ...
Unwitting Accomplice
Author: Alastair Millar
They could be watching him already.
He eyed the roboserver winding through the tables towards him. It was a bipedal, not rolling, model; the Ares Lounge had tone. The performers and escorts were human, even. No class or no money? Then you could ...
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