“Good evening, sir,” said the pale man in black coat at my front door. “Hello. You are…?” “Call me Mackey, sir.” “Ah, Mr. Mackey, you’re a day early,” I said, clutching my robe against the chill. “But come in, come… Continue Reading
Ten years ago, everyone thought A.I. Richtree was just an eccentric tech trillionaire with a hidden identity. These days, everybody is aware that A.I. Richtree is a rogue supercomputer that is somehow responsible for “creating” around 2 billion people. The… Continue Reading
I never knew the neighbors. I couldn’t see their faces, hear their voices, or say their names. But they were there. The lights in the windows would turn on every morning and turn off every night. They looked like the… Continue Reading
Something hit the hull and it was loud. Just moments ago, we were on a routine flight around the station. Now we’ve stopped. The stirring started immediately, a quaking sensation rattling through the length of the ship. Systems were working… Continue Reading
Honey, come in, come in. Set yourself down in that old rocker to the side of my bed. It’s good to see a young face around here. Help yourself to a cookie out of that tin if you’re hungry. So… Continue Reading
“Grandpa, tell us the story!” Myles demanded. “Yeah! The story!” Emma added. Charlie Grafton sat with his grandkids in his empty second-storey bedroom. He eyed the younglings through thick glasses. “What story?” From the base of the ladder out in… Continue Reading
The painting in the living room gave me a funny feeling. It followed me around the room like those pictures with eyes that never look away. Only this painting had no eyes. It was a swirl of reds and pinks… Continue Reading
“Doin’ it myself,” Chris said, lighting a cigarette and inhaling. These are going to kill you. “Yeah?” he said, trying to pay attention to his task over the sound of distant voices. “So can drinking sodas.” Chris looked at his… Continue Reading
“If it doesn’t come from Safeway or Target, you can’t have it.” That’s the rule Marlo made up for herself a while back, after she lost the job at Wendy’s. She had stuck to it too. All through the winter,… Continue Reading
I used to wash dishes at an upscale restaurant. The type of place where the help was supposed to stay hidden from the customers in case our existence would offend them. The restaurant resided next to a river that was… Continue Reading