Once again it was that horrid time of year when the cashmere silk spiders crept from the bowels of the city of the angels and spun their pale web across its spires and domes, and Lukas the vendor of miracle tea felt a deep shudder begin in his testi…

Mei Huang considers the merit of an objection and quickly finds it inadequate. The threadbare comfort of a riposte will not put rice in her bowl, or ingots in her purse. Worse, it might even soil her reputation, diminish her standing. So many hours,…

A fantasy about a woman bequeathed an odd gift by a former lover who broke up with her, then died—his handwriting. Why did he do this and what does it mean? Years before, their breakup had been ugly, drawn out, and at times brutal. via Pocket Played Your Eyes | Tor.com via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2JfSIUy

A composer in an unstable city-state accidentally discovers the perfect singer for his work—a clockwork man—and sows the seeds of revolution. via Pocket

Baltimore isn’t safe. Not even for the predatory meat that stalks its nights. Searching for victims who won’t be missed, meat doesn’t feel regret or pain—only thirst. But the meat remembers something more… doesn’t it? is there more to eternal life t…

So I guess the story begins, fittingly, with someone handing me a Coma rig and saying, play me. Two a.m. and I’m at this party in somebody’s trailer out in the trashy part of town. via Pocket Coma Kings - Lightspeed Magazine via Instapaper https://ift.tt/1nMLaIV

2 tablespoons wheat flourYes, Admiral, I know we have developed superior, genetically enriched starches on the New Worlds, but when I found this crumbling recipe card in the archives and r via Pocket

It’s the same old story. Take a chance and pick up a hitchhiker. But only after midnight and only when you need some company. Of course, the hitchhiker will disappear. That’s the way the story goes, right? But this time you are the hitchhiker. And t… You Know How the Story Goes | Tor.com via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2CA08O2

The rossum accomplished many useful things that morning — it recalibrated the colony’s solar generators, it installed new satellite signal boosters, and it created fresh topographical via Pocket

Pursuant to the Presidential Leadership Utilizing Representative Individual Brains in Unified Simulation (PLURIBUS) Act, you are hereby given notice of your selection to serve as this district’s contribution to the collective leadership of the natio…

Jessa, age 9. Yorknet is my favourite sentience because it is dependable, protective and wise. Yorknet is dependable because there are several back-ups, so that if one system goes down, the sentience is mirrored in several other places, my mam says.…

Autonomy is a beautiful thing. 06:00: The time of rising. Not the best time to learn of an asteroid hurtling past Uranus at more than 40 million metres per second. via Pocket

On the M block of Fiction Street, a gust of wind pushed a hardback dangerously close to the curb. Bibliobot Eight-Ef rolled after it and extended its grasper, but another gust caused the robot to wobble and the book to dance away. via Pocket

A street but half made up via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2AR6VSJ

Bryant bit his lip as three-Michelin-starred chef Jean Christophe assessed the evening’s final plate. The pinkish meat, coarsely butchered, sat in a pool of steaming liquid. Chef bent over and wafted the aroma, catching himself before he recoiled. “…

Chocolate chicken cheesecake via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2PkMMwR

via Pocket

Data via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2vXtLIJ

Is it an invasion if it’s only one alien? Some media did call it so, even if this alien didn’t come with guns a-blazing. Was he even male? No one could tell, but from the start the media defaulted to their perceived gender of an assumed conqueror. v…

An ephemeral layer of crinkly ice coated the surface of the microphone, falling in glistening flakes as Matilda ran a gloved hand over the mic’s surface. via Pocket