Author: Evan MacKay I lower myself into the pod slowly, feeling the cool nutrient gelatin cover my skin. A shiver ripples across me, causing hairs to stand on edge before they are submerged. My legs go first, then my sex, then my torso. Finally, I come to my head. I take a ...

Author: Shannon O'Connor I broke my arm, and I’m devastated. I can’t use a computer and do my work, and it gets in the way of my life. I’m a resident in Cardiology at a big hospital, and I think this might hurt my career. There’s no reason we should depend on computers so ...

Author: David Sharp Neon lights the darkness in sharp angles. I lean down onto the cyber-surgical bench, its faux leather creases and cools my bare skin. I feel exposed and vulnerable. Is this what I really want or did I let him talk me into it in a moment of weakness? I ...

Author: David Henson As I’m looking for cheddar, I notice a Chamenileon drop a dozen eggs to the floor. Sobbing and turning blue, he puts the yolk-dripping carton in his cart and heads for the front of the store. I haven’t liked nor trusted the Chamenileons since we let ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer They’re on to me. Not bad. Three continents, sixteen countries, four passports, and two illegal border crossings later, the one scientist shouting about me has, finally, received a fair hearing. Way to go, Gerald. I hope it makes your ...

Author: Steven Zeldin Part of me is missing. My friends, my family, they try to poke fun at it to improve my mood. Yet something that was attached to me—that was me—is now an object sitting and rotting out there in the world. I must replace that part of myself. I have ...

Author: Veronique Aglat Devo was in bad shape. Red oil flowed freely from his arm implant. Lena reached into her bag and extracted a fat little jar with a screw top. She pulled her patient under a giant bamboo leaf. It would have to do. Hopefully, the drones wouldn’t spot ...

Author: Riley Meachem “Come over this instant!” That was all the message said. Henry didn’t know what to do with it. He stared at it for a moment, with a certain, deducing distance. He hadn’t been in contact with this woman for over a year now. That’s a long time to go ...

Author: David Barber "Hurry, Igor!" called Miss Frankenstein. Outside, the electrical storm drew closer, and thunder rumbled over the thrashing treetops to the south. Everything now depended on snatching lightning from the skies. A month of unseasonable fine weather had ...

Author: B.W. Carter She knew he’d really been thinking about this one. They’d made their way across campus to the shop and he was still on the conversation started back in the classroom. She let him keep talking. And he did, as they wended through the crowd to a table by ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Sven had been driven out of Newport City and into the stars with a warning. "If you ever plan on landing Earthside again, you'd better bring enough money to clear your debt in full, with interest, or you'll be flayed and spread along the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The valley is smoking, trees nothing but scorched gravestones for the life they once sheltered. The farmland around here used to be really scenic, but the only tourists today are the subject of my little excursion. “Good morning, ...

Author: Riley Meachem “You eat before you got here? Because, not to be gross, but this is a fuckin mess.” “I’ve seen worse.” Catalonia whistfully gave the cul-de-sac a once over. “He staged the killing in the middle of his own private amphitheatre. A downtown cul de sac, ...

Author: David Barber In 1969 the Canaveral Timeport was brand-new. The future had come to meet us and everything was possible. This is the Chronos Tavern, with its much-polished wooden bar, a dozen booths, subdued lighting, and no hint of clocks, hourglasses or ...

Author: Steven Zeldin My grandfather hated the Buffalo Bills. In 2019, when Harrison Phillips tore his ACL for the second time, I remember him partying. Friends drove in from across Philly—all toting bags of beer and food, all in full Eagles regalia. That was the first ...

Author: Timothy Goss He was sitting in a wet towel when the phone bleeped. It was late, too late for good news. Poullis’ voice cracked as she spoke, “They’re asking for you.” she said and fell silent. His calender was cleared. His diary emptied. A damp towel lay on the ...

Author: Uchechukwu Nwaka “What makes you think they’ll take my case here, Mama?” Aki’s fingers are clutched tightly over the blanket that wraps his shriveled legs. I take his hands in mine and squeeze. The air-conditioning is a few degrees too warm and I don’t want Aki ...

Author: Andrew Schoen I careen through empty space—somersaulting past the stars. The background of darkness, luminously pinpricked by distant suns, suddenly becomes still. A white flash of light fills my field of vision, jolting me out of this existence. I wake up to the ...