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via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In the waning light of an artificial sun, Camelia Dunlevy climbed a mountain with her sister on her back. Delilah was a hollow weight, bird-boned from reconstructive surgeries, unbreakable. The trouble wasn’t her bones, but her lungs. via Pocket Escape Pod 687 Four of Seven - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JdG7Ua

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Only Clarice would ask such a forthright question. “Leave her alone,” Jake drains his beer. Only he would dare contradict his sister. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Murmurs ripple through the assembled cadets. Not because they’re shocked—everyone knew what they were signing up for—but because it all happened without fanfare, a jump across light-years of space unaccompanied by any grand orchestral swell or roari… Escape Pod 679 An Ever-Expanding Flash of Light - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/30aVVx6

Maguire, Phil, et al. “Is Consciousness Computable? Quantifying Integrated Information Using Algorithmic Information Theory.” arXiv preprint arXiv:1405.0126 (2014) (available at https://ift.tt/2L5WoYO). Teper, Igor. via Pocket Escape Pod 629 An Advanced Reader's Picture Book of Comparative Cognition - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2OHaou8 via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Aulis shuts out the frenetic buzz of the arena where she’s competing for an Oikotekt placement in the space navy. Only an Oikotekt, a person of powerful imagination, can hold onto a picture of the universe as it is supposed to be against the reality…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Sometimes at night when my mind is calm, I think I hear the octopuses. Around the world, the great network of molluscan philosophers. I had many reasons for moving to the Pacific Northwest –  weather, closeness to potential clients and my big brothe…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Escape Pod 677 Valedictorian (Flashback Friday) - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2UYueJ2 There are three things Zinhle decides, when she is old enough to understand. The first is that she will never, ever, give less than her best to anything she tries to do. The second is that she will not live in fear. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Escape Pod 676 Ulissa - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2UnhIha The old woman they called Ulissa pointed south. “There’s the ship.” Edoardo raised the binoculars. “Mio dio, it’s huge,” he said. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io It was the middle of the night and everybody was knocked out. Marcus, my big brother who died the week before last, had his door cracked. I heard him snoring under the hum of the refrigerator. The carpet creaked under my feet as I stepped into the d…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The little cleanerbot whirrs as it crisscrosses the arena, sucking up the robot dust with the vacuum chute on its right and picking up strewn robot parts with the multi-hinged arm on its front. via Pocket Escape Pod 673 Optimizing the Verified Good (Artemis Rising) - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2CIrft3

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io And Yet A. T. Greenblatt Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet. Here you are. Standing on the sagging, weed-strangled front porch that hasn’t changed in twenty years. Every dip in the floorboards, every peeling strip … Escape Pod 674 And Yet - Escape Pod via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2Vxspir

The fire crackles, and Sirella watches as Kai lies with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. She knows he’s pretending because his breathing is too soft. She’s heard his almost snores since the second night, when they’d both finally relaxed enough … Escape Pod 633 Lucky Shot (Part 2) - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2K0oklh via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io During the day, James A. Miller works on Milking Robots in the Madison Wisconsin area. At night, he spends time with his family and does his best to come up with fun and creative fiction. He is a first reader for Allegory e-zine and member of the Co… EP540 The Right Answer - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2catQQy

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Erin Cashier is fond of the unreliable narrator. The things that interest me most are Disneyland (not kidding), esoteric philosophy books, alchemy as it relates to Jungian theories, William Blake, and Super Paper Mario. via Pocket EP537 Honeycomb Girls - Escape Pod via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2bi9Exq

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “Congratulations, Mrs. Costa,” chirped the young Life Center nurse. “You’re ready to go home! Here’s your shield.” Maria raised the infant in her arms high enough for the nurse to slip the slim, silver band around her waist. via Pocket

Author: Jennifer Thomas “Friends of space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet? Come visit us if you have time.” —Greeting in Amoy, one of 55 languages on the “Golden Record” sent toward interstellar space on Voyager 2, 1977 CE [Transcript: Testimony of Android 32XX, International Academy of Sciences, March 9, 2072] Ladies and […]

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The shapeshifting aliens are untrustworthy. It’s not their fault. They see the world for what it is, through a kaleidoscope. Us humans, we only get to see one viewpoint of the world. People react to our outer shell with no variation. We can get fat or thin or muscled […]

Author : Mordecai J Banda Michael had come back from his daily walk. He had eaten his breakfast and attended to various things to keep himself healthy. Now it was gaming time. This past month the Future Warfare 3 had had a special event that called on worldwide cooperative multiplayer event. Michael personally didn’t like […]

Author : Dina Leacock I sat at the table for two and waited for my date to arrive. We’d been emailing since we first “met” on “Find-True-Love.com and now we were finally going to meet. Taking the mirror from my purse I nervously adjusted my face. Would he like me? Would I like him? Does […]

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The cigar from the dead guard’s pocket has a red and gold band that says it’s from Havana, the first pleasant surprise of tonight. “Ricky. Help me.” I look across to where Estevez lies in a pool of his own blood, his eyes over-bright with pain and anger. Nodding […]

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer I’d always wanted my own planet, and now my dreams were about to come true. Sure it was my entire life savings plus everything of value I had. But what a deal! It was remote, but my very own world? With lush jungles, sandy beaches, plentiful resources, and friendly […]

Author : Scott Shipp Ian was cornered. He had run straight into a dead end alley. Right on his heels were two cyborg cops, and he had the money credits hacked from the bank all over his data stores. There was no escape. Lucky for him, he was augmented with an eye implant that drew […]