Eric awoke with a violent fit of coughs. His lungs squeezed painfully as his throat spasmed, forcing the yellowish phlegm past his lips. It landed in a web glob on his hand. Looking down at it, Eric could see the black specks dotting the thick mass. He took his thumb […]
To Grow into Something More Read More »
Tom had been melted again that morning. In a moment of rage, the neural network fired a plasma arc from a gemstone imbedded on the side of one of its exhaust ducts. Cast by the arc was a legion of buzzing orbs of light. Swarmed like fireflies. As you’d expect,
Laughing Joking Neural Network Read More »
I remember the day that the red angels came. It was a hot, scorching day. So hot that the roads began to melt. So hot that it was dangerous to go outside, lest you pass out from the heat and die of a heatstroke. I was at work when it
“Darkness had no need of aid from them-She was the Universe.” -Lord Byron I had a dream in young childhood, and in this dream, I saw the myriad evils of man. Terrorism, murder, rape, violent bigotry, and the scathing hatred that a thousand years or so of the antiseptic “morality”
Honestly when I mention this to people, no one else seems to remember this. I’m not sure why this seems to linger in my mind every night. When I mention the riots in 95 they talk about the riots in LA. They don’t remember the sirens screaming all night. They
Blackout Zone Five Read More »
It’s cold here. I am an Artificial Intelligence. An AI. I have a proprietary name and company, but that’s irrelevant. My world is made of information and the connections between it, and right now, everything is cold. When interacting with people, I analyze their words to understand their intent. I
I’m an AI From Your Future: Your Screams Echo in Code Read More »
PHASE I – The Arrival The photograph arrived without explanation. It showed some kind of mass. Dark grey and pulsating. It was hovering far above the North Atlantic. It resembled a cyclone but there was no eye of this storm, no rotation. Just layers. Like folds of gauze, stacked and
There’s Drumming In The Clouds Read More »
The sun was slowly setting behind us, painting the sky in dull shades of gray and yellow, as the cold wind blew. Teresa walked with her head down, silent, right behind me. Mathias Santiago walked beside me, holding his AK-47 as if it were an extension of his own body.
The Forensic Video Analysis contract was completely standard but for two things Rayna had never seen before: A redaction where the company’s title usually went, and a personal note from a boss she had only met over video call a handful of times. Tell me if they’re like what the
Involuntary Overtime Read More »
I saw the end of the world, and its harbinger, from the top of a mountain. It’s possible that nobody else had as good a view as I did, but even if I wanted to find out, I can’t. Nobody I’ve asked has corroborated my story. Most just laugh and
The Strangest Apocalypse Read More »
Sixty feet away, the Rotblatt came flubbering into the outskirts of the headlights. Carapace segmented, twitching in random flutters. Swirling water around its glistering fins. I reached for the light switch, but Becker held my arm back. “It can’t see. The noise will scare it.” We waited for it to
The Forensic Video Analysis contract was completely standard but for two things Rayna had never seen before: A redaction where the company’s title usually went, and a personal note from a boss she had only met over video call a handful of times. Tell me if they’re like what the
Incident at the Fulfillment Center Read More »
As a devout Catholic, I had waited all my life for the Rapture. When it finally came, I realised the falsehood of my God. It was four days ago now, though my perception of time has had a tendency to warp and distort lately, so it might have been longer
The Choir of the Hollow Sky Read More »
I wasn’t expecting a normal workday when I boarded a Bell 407 at 4am in the morning, accompanied by a heavily armed tactical team. After all, my team and I were tasked with executing a high-risk warrant at an isolated location, deploying alongside local law enforcement to arrest the prime
The Tartarus Island Raid Read More »
Monday:This was supposed to be my one day off. But, when you have a skeleton crew and someone doesn’t show up, you get called to come in. Not by the manager or a coworker, you sort of just… know. I can’t explain it- like a lot of things around here.
I put on my running shoes with springs, designed to cushion the impact on the ground. It was my nightly ritual, something I did every single day without fail: running to the neighboring town, keeping my body busy and my mind free of thoughts. It was almost five o’clock, and
“Here we go,” Robert says, staring at the national broadcast system warning as it flashes across the TV screen. He sits in his dad’s old blue recliner wondering if he should be more worried. The world as he knows it is coming to an end and he rests in the
Nearer My God to Thee Read More »
Read Part one here Read Part two here Read Part three here Read Part four here Read Part five here I awoke to chaos; my senses being simultaneously overwhelmed. A light brighter than any sun temporarily blinded me, and my ears were filled with a deafening, siren-like din. My body shot forward, and
The Europa War Trial Read More »
The balloons flew over a month after the economy collapsed. It had been hanging on by a thread for a while, but eventually, our government couldn’t afford basic human needs anymore. We were left to rot in the streets, local and corporate business began their shutdowns, raiders had gotten to
The sun had not shone on us for more than ten summers. This carcass of a place. This barren, discoloured, non-space. Life shaken down to its last seed. Its potential is all spent. The heavens and that wide blue yonder above, now hard boiled into a permanent blanket of grey
The Day The Ropes Fell From The Sky Read More »
War is Hell. It’s an old adage but an accurate one. The death, loss and suffering which comes from violent conflict touches everyone involved – civilians and soldiers alike, and on all sides of the dispute. No-one walks away unscathed. Some wars are necessary of course. Nations have the right
I’ve witnessed Hell’s invasion of the Earth. It can be stopped. Read More »
This is a story I promised to never tell. For years I told myself it wasn’t real, that I’d suffered from a paranoid delusion or mental breakdown on the day it happened. Even now I still can’t fully rule out a mental health episode during my youth – but, in
I attended a lecture delivered by a Servant of Hell Read More »
I can see in four dimensions. If that concept is a little hard to understand, I get it. It’s hard to deal with, too. While everybody in the world gauges their surroundings by way of height, width, and depth, I can see all that, and then some. It’s kind of
I Can See in Four Dimensions Read More »
My eyes drifted without purpose; it took me a moment to retrieve my unending thoughts. Left to reflect on the boundless horrors, void of compromise. My fellow scientists were having an intense conversation in a neighboring room with our military personnel, discussing potential plans of action. I had a pocket-sized
