The human male lies on his back in the incubator, squirming and moving his limbs around in a chaotic, unpredictable manner. His blue eyes are focused on those of us who are present in the room. We observe him in return, our sophisticated sensors scanning every square centimeter of his skin, every hair, every drop…Continue Reading “Coming Closer”
Hello. My name is Stanley. I’m an android. I was born on August 12th, 2021, in the basement of my father’s home. My father’s name is Ezekiel Gromer. My mother was the late Mrs. Weltha Smith. She died on May 27th, 2021, at the hands of my father. Her mind was used to construct my…Continue Reading “God of the Machines”
I never planned on becoming a mother. I never met anyone I liked, and I just didn’t want the pain and the heartache and all of the work it would have entailed. If that makes me selfish, then call me selfish. I am, or at least I was. But when we heard they were endangered,…Continue Reading “This is My Child”
Solo-shuttles had got damn near roomy, and Cem supposed that this more than anything else had been the end. A standard unit was now built wide enough to account for the span of a large man’s shoulders with a little extra room up top to stretch your arms and hands. Cheap cryoprotectants were safer than…Continue Reading “Counting Light”
Dear Simulants, We regret to inform you that owing to an unexpectedly severe cut in our data processing grant, we are discontinuing the simulation of your world. We understand this may come as a shock since you were not previously aware of your simulated nature, but please do not be alarmed. Regulations for the ethical…Continue Reading “Dear Simulants”
The glass doors slid open and the mechanical voice rumbled, “Minny, approach the Redactor.” Minny’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach fluttered as frigid air rolled out of the black room. It carried a chemical tinge with it, which tickled—almost stung—to breathe. Naked, Minny’s skin ripple into gooseflesh all over. She stepped into the…Continue Reading “Nevertheless She Screamed”
Clock in, clock out—that about summed up my workdays, since I lost track of everything else that occurred in between. Historians claimed people of the early 21st century expected advancements such as flying cars, settlements on Mars, and cures for cancer. Worse, the world found a way to expedite production by subjugating people’s minds to…Continue Reading “Emblazon”
I had just been selected to be to a member of the Regional Council for our stellar system. I was ushered into the Great Assembly Hall, a gigantic domed building located at the dead center of the regional capital. A dozen of us sat on the Central Platform surrounded by a million empty seats. As…Continue Reading “Saving Time”
Wallis Tyrone looked out from his seventy-second floor, office window and gave a small, almost imperceptible, sigh. As he gazed down at the seemingly endless, frenetic city below, the milling ant like objects and the grid locked traffic of late afternoon, he felt incredibly weary. It hadn’t been like that in the beginning, when he’d…Continue Reading “Long Live President Tyrone”
Nothing exemplifies human pettiness more than a Sunday morning trip to the supermarket. People waddle through the aisles, bickering with their families. They cluster around the shelf of reduced items, shoving strangers out of the way, fingers reaching greedily for cut-price cream cakes and punnets of half-rotten strawberries. When I prepare my report for the…Continue Reading “Earth Report”