Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer I'd never dreamed before, at least not that I could remember. Sure, a lifetime in that chair, I'd hoped for things, but that's different. Sleep was always empty, vacant. Dreamless. Ever since I've become a retread, the visions have ...

Author: Paul Cesarini Den leaned back in his chair, wishing he were someplace else. The sole lightbulb in his “office” flickered defiantly, daring him to try to fix it. He looked up at the bulb but didn’t budge. He’d much rather be home with his wife and his son. Their dog. ...

Author: Majoki That frozen day, the father glowered at his son hunched over the laptop in the kitchen. “This is no way to earn a living.” The teenager leaned further into his screen dancing with code. “You’re not even dressed. How is this right?” The keyboard ...

Author: Ed Lazer Lew was panting by the time he opened the door. It was 98 degrees outside, and the cool air gave him a chill. Lew noticed the new concession stands as he made his way to the restroom. Even the bathroom was updated - brighter, cleaner, smelling of pine ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Standryl looks down from the walkway. It's like peering into one of those curio shops on a winter evening - corridors of angular junk filled with mysterious shadows and twinkling lights - except here, every constellation of lights is an ...

Author: Jeremy Nathan Marks “Life is sweet at the edge of a razor” -Tom Waits I was sitting on the levee in the hot sun listening to a trickling sound. Near me, a man was taking a leak in a desiccated bush. I watched the sun turn his stream a brilliant ...

Author: Rachel Sievers Rothwell had done everything she could to break free, or at the very least change the holding space, but she now knew it was useless. She was stuck in this moment of time and might be forever. It was her torture and her pence for playing with time ...

Author: Jason Rayleigh Before him sat an elongated table with seven silent strangers, dressed in elegant corporate attire. Their faces were digital distortions, scrambled puzzle pieces. Taki felt a sudden sense of unease, as if he had stumbled into a secret society ...

Author: Gabriel Walker Land Rodrick Haagen walked into the palatial master rest room with dual basins and Egyptian terrycloth towels, shutting the door behind him. He turned on the steam shower piping-hot, switching off the fan so that the air steamed up, wafting the ...

Author: Vruti Naik I remember pressing the correct button to reach the fourth floor where my father was admitted. I always dreaded hospitals and moreover, these elevators. As the elevator ascended, something went wrong. It accelerated with an unnerving speed, triggering my ...

Author: Kenneth M McRae “Jimmy, over here!” Mike waved from the corner table. James grabbed a beer and headed over. “Great to see you! How long’s it been?” Mike shook his head. “Too long, way too long.” The former college roommates exchanged stories about work, kids, and ...

Author: Majoki Crumbs. That’s how it always starts. Hansel and Gretel trying to backtrack their way home. Except these are binary breadcrumbs. Bits and bytes strewn unevenly through the program. Through nearly fifty-nine million lines of code. How do you follow ...

Author: Vruti Naik Dr. Alex Williams sat alone in his laboratory, surrounded by the eerie glow of flickering monitors and the soft hum of machinery. He was lost in thought, his mind consumed by the virus that he had been studying for months. He had found a cure and the ...

Author: David Dezell Turner Dr. Kayla Geiger braced herself outside the examination room. She knew there wouldn’t be a superhero in there — at least, not a real one, like Venator or Centuria. Still, that didn’t make it any less infuriating every time she had to swab the ...

Author: David Dumouriez Maybe it started with a 'who' or a 'why' or a 'what'. Not surprisingly, given what came next, Sydney really couldn't remember. - Why do you keep asking me these numbingly inane questions? Sydney wasn't sure how to respond. Or, more pertinently, ...

Author: Majoki The stylites perched atop their brainframe pillars feverishly coding as the throngs below prostrated themselves and wailed in supplication. “Hear me, Allenadis. Expel the demon from my device. Free me from the torment of this hacker’s avarice that my soul ...

Author: Bill Cox They are everywhere and nowhere. The world passes beneath them, from the great, deep scar of the Valles Marineris, to the soaring, breathless heights of Olympus Mons. Time has lost its linear progression, yet they know that they have still to wait for the ...

Author: David Barber For as long as I can remember, any wish I made came true. No, Reverend, let me finish, then I should be glad to hear your opinion. Like that youth yesterday, over-revving his dirt-bike outside the window. Wishing things away is too easy. You ...