Fictional Worlds

Author : Olivia Black, Staff Writer The clinic is smaller than Joan expected. The surgical lighting and immaculate white surfaces make the space feel less claustrophobic, but it doesn’t do much to …

Author : Philip Berry I am not formally sentient, but I do feel. In the beginning each encounter added to my knowledge of people. My dark hours were spent arranging those observations and filtering…

Author : Dez Thomas Instinctively I closed my eyes: I didn’t want to record my death. My heart pounded in my chest. I landed with a thud on the surface, expecting the scorching heat of the ba…

Author : Kelly Sauvage Angel “So, how was transport?” Betta asked as I settled into her chair. “Speed of light, really.” I gathered and lifted my hair in a messy bundle so she could snap the nylon …

Author : Rollin T. Gentry At the end of the world, he reaches down a callused hand and grips the cold, steel leg of his cot, a small chill that takes him back to the days before the world was scorc…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Swerve left and dive over a fence, roll once and spring through a gap in a wall, landing in what used to be a lounge, my face inches from a dead someone’s dia…

Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer I’s down at Calhoon’s Saloon washin’ the day’s grit outta my mouth with belts of sour mash. Was hotter’n a cat-house on nickel night with nothin’ to jaw on but…

Author : George R. Shirer The alien wore a red flower in her hair. It was vibrant against her pale hair. “What do you think of her?” asked Jon. “I don’t know.” Jon gave me an incredulous look. “Wha…

Author : Matthew Banks Dr. Menkal gently removed Miller’s bandages. When the last strip peeled away from his eyes, he looked around, not fixating on anything. His irises were blue and cloudy …

Author : Ian Hill The two men stood shifting their weight uneasily, peering into the depths of the passageway’s stone entrance. Leaves of autumn crunched underfoot as they nervously glanced back ov…

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “So why’d you join the off-world diplomacy exchange?” buzzed Zazzy through his translator. His mandibles glistened and his iridescent bright-purple eyestalks w…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Jolla looks toward the setting sun: “A million light years from home and we still instinctively count ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four, ‘lots’. Our territories are virt…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Kanárek walked a few paces ahead of the squad, weapon in the low ready position. He talked back to Caufield, the squad leader, as they advanced, glancing back onl…

Author : R.D. Harris Do you want to get away, but don’t have the money? Look no further than your friends at TeleGo! Our state-of-the-art teleporters are cancer-free and stress-free. No muss,…

Author : Christina Dalcher You have to bid right in these things. Too low, you wake early; too high, your money is lost. No refunds, no exchanges, all sales are final. The first decisions are made …

Author : Matthew J. Beckman The Deputy stood in front of the patched screen door, staring down at Danny Willis. Moths flickered around the porch light. “Were you up there three nights back? In the …

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer SSG Ray Mansfield raised his rifle and glassed the valley below with powerful optics. His men, stretched out behind him, were virtually invisible, their cham…

Author : Sean P Chatterton ‘How long has she been dead?’ ‘We don’t know.’ ‘How come?’ ‘Katherine Danderfield was a plugged in person. She had autresponders for her email, bots to update her social …

Author : Hillary Lyon The old woman leaned over the tombstone, and wiped the flat screen embedded in the front. It was grimy from exposure to the elements, but with a few gentle, conscientious stro…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The sub-tropical jungle steams in the sultry afternoon heat as the sun reappears after the mini-monsoon. Sapping humidity returns. Two figures appear: the leader mo…

Author : C. James Darrow Human? Yes, my friend? I feel. . .different. The old man cleared his throat and looked up from his desk. We’ve been over this, my friend, you are a machine. You do not feel…

Author : Jules Jensen “John. What is that sound?” There was a moment of tension as John’s mother, still wearing her hospital scrubs, sat at the head of the table. John heard the noises. Little high…

Author : Philip Berry Dropping out of purple clouds into a thin brown layer of wind-scour, Gess identified the Pinnacle City, capital of Fenlan Found. Waves of refraction formed pulsatile auras aro…

Author : David K Scholes “Did you hear that K1983441 was beaten at chess by a, ah___,” J3343578 hesitated for just a moment, “by a, ah ___ human being.” Somehow she managed to make the word sound q…

Author : Kent Rosenberger “It’s happening,” announced Saul Quick from two minutes ago. “Is everybody ready? We’re only going to get one pass at this.” “Who cares?” sniped Saul Quick from sixty-six …

Author : Brenna Robinson Something happened back in those days that caused the compound to go into lock-down and never open again. When I started asking myself questions, and I decided that it coul…

Author : J.R.Blackwell, Staff Writer “How is the Krugar adjusting to his second childhood?” The Krugar’s mother motioned to the reporter to sit. “We don’t call him The…

Author : Brad Crawford {BLINK} There it went again. This time he noted the time and severity of the event. For the last two days or so, Dr. Samuel Coughlin, world-renowned physicist had experienced…

Author : Russell Bert Waters Let me be clear: there is reality, even when there is not. What I am writing here exists. It is both linear and classical. It is on paper, and it is not. It’s on paper …

Author : Gray Blix “Why do we have a dog bot in the first place?” Offended, “Robot K91 is my PARTNER, sir, and its very shape deters crime by evoking a primal human fear of wolves…