He smiled as he finished wrapping the gift. It hadn’t been as hard as he feared. Satisfied, he brought out his pen and wrote. *** Amanda received the first latticework animal the morning before her sixth birthday. It was sitting… Continue Reading
Professor Cornwall stepped into N.C. State University’s basement physics department lab and stared at Garcia, the discoverer of time travel. Hunched over his work station, the boy genius fiddled with a mobile phone. The faint sound of Day Tripper leaked… Continue Reading
I wake in darkness, adrift in space. Circuits fire with animal instinct. I reach for the others, but where a vast Consciousness once clamored I find only an echoing void. I am the last, alone. My only memories are those… Continue Reading
PLIFF-pliff-pliff-pliff. PLIFF-pliff-pliff-pliff. LAP-twen-ty-one. SEE-the-boy-run. Yeah, me, Grant Matthews, Olympian. Never felt faster. Is it really the suit? Can ‘optimal thermoregulation’ make that much difference to a runner? DeSelbySuits sure wanted us to believe it, before the ‘fusion’ accidents. The apogee… Continue Reading
There are only two roads out of the country north through the sierra. Most take the three-lane highway from the provincial capital. If you come through our town you must be a hick, with withered crops to sell across the… Continue Reading
Retrieval: Time = 00.00 Just checked out a doozer of an AI unit the Scavenger crew brought in. Yeah? Specs? Carbon-based so obviously non-sentient, high-end multi-receptor architecture, a CPU that monitors damage and — interesting — limited self-repair capacity. Candidate… Continue Reading
Darren faced his greatest creation and failure. The torso and head of the mechanical man leaned in the corner of the basement. Even limbless and freckled by rust, the old prototype was an awesome sight. It dominated the room, as… Continue Reading
“Madam President, the delegation is ready.” Gloria didn’t glance towards the doorway, instead stroking the smoothness of a shot glass between her thumb and forefinger. “I hate Awakening Day celebrations. Have I mentioned that, Clarence?” “Every year, Madam.” She sighed.… Continue Reading
Tomorrow they’ll come for us and the world will end. Today I wanted to hear a story from papa. “Will you?” I asked him. I shivered. There was no wind blowing; only a stale chill. I don’t think papa heard… Continue Reading
Norma had never wanted a robot. At 82, what did she need with that kind of newfangled technology, anyway? They were just toddlers shaped like garbage cans, more nuisance than anything. She couldn’t even step outside her house most of… Continue Reading