Topic
Biotech
Genetic engineering, synthetic biology, the body remade — what happens when the science is the wetware.
Inhuman
We awake in the war factory. Our minds are downloaded into chips and socketed into the brains of bio-printed bodies. We step off the assembly lines and they hand us weapons, herd us into starships, and ship us to the far reaches of the galaxy. They send us planetside. We storm a…
Apples
"You want a real one? Core and everything?" The Magenius repeated, frowning. "Is that going to be a problem?" The customer answered. "Well, not exactly. I guess we could cultivate the tissue and walls in vitro if we can animate cell division. The core, however, is an entirely…
All God's Creatures
"That creature is a menace!" Mrs. Keepler declared. Her penetrating voice drew the attention of everyone nearby. Henry wished he had come to the pet park at a less popular time. His stegosaurus, Rover, the object of Mrs. Keepler's ire, pressed anxiously against the back of his…
Life Is Information
You who receive this broadcast, you cannot and will not understand the beauty I have seen and the horror. You cannot understand why I die knowing more than you ever will. Of course, I send the data. I send the data to my Original, knowing they still love me. Knowing this hurt…
Less Misery Enough to Bear
A crowd gathered outside the clinic. Memvocates held up signs against Rewind, urging anyone who passed to stay resilient and embrace our pain. Others were more violent in their approach. EJ waited ten long years to be approved for the procedure thanks to them. Ten years of…
A House Divided
When the Smart Flu spread among the local animal population, we worried about our pets. Sure enough, Pumpkin the cat and Gizmo the Chihuahua soon showed all the symptoms: coughing, runny noses, reading the news. The vet said keep an eye out for behavioral problems, but they…
In the City of Glaring Chocolates
Thank you so much for visiting our small town, and for choosing my shop. I am at your service. Over here you will find the creme-filled bonbons, over there the ones with nuts, and there the liqueurs. Everything is available in either milk or dark chocolate. Indeed, that is the…
Memory Replay
Once Memory Replay was affordable, Francine signed up. The tech inserted a nanowire into the corner of her eye socket, where it wormed into her neocortex. A wave of warmth spread throughout her body as the creature branched out in its preprogrammed manner, reading the detailed…
Memories of Blue
My slippers are blue. I don't remember buying them. It is just a little thing, really, but there are so many little things like it. They make one big thing, all of them together. I think I have thought of this before, but I am not sure. I shake my head. "What are you looking at,…
Mind Blown
"Snappy dresser," Barbier says, taking a pull off his vape. "Professor," Shadrack says. Below the neck, the corpse is immaculate: shiny brown loafers, tailored trousers, a cashmere sweater over a crisp white shirt and lilac tie. He appears to have died in his favorite chair, a…
Ananke
In these forms our minds are bird nests of broken, tangled thoughts: leaves and twigs and mud, run and jump and survive. We can't fly but we use the wind to our advantage, arms spread, membranes catching drifts as we hop from tree to lichen-covered tree, always above ground.…
The Ornithuran Transcendency and You
You were having a lazy day when the bird people arrived. Now you're sitting in your living room, curtains drawn, nursing a hangover and staring in brainless shock at the TV. Your hand is resting in a bag of peanuts, seemingly forgotten. A bell jingles behind you, but you're not…
Feel Me
Ten more seconds allotted for happiness. Aster blinks. Grits her teeth. She hadn't realized she was happy--she'd been staring at the dandelion field, the first thing to pop up on her feed, without a single thought in her head. But the swaying yellow-green sea is beautiful, and…
Kernels of Resistance
I started this morning in line at the farm stand off 38. Deep July and muggy enough for gnats to get trapped in water bubbles. When I got to the front, I asked Edith Rebecca for eight ears of corn--our code. She took long enough picking them out that the kid behind me started…
The Skin Trader
Auntie grunts as she heaves the last huge pot into place. A few wingnuts need tightening, but otherwise it's ready. She waves one hand in front of her face, trying to get the cloud of midges to give her some breathing space, but they barely react to her slow movements. It's this…
Winter Peterson Breaks the Wall
********Editor's Note: Adult language in the story that follows******** I was there the day Winter Peterson broke the wall. I know you're gonna call bullshit. Ask any experienced brain-jockey and they'll say it's impossible. You can't hack squishware. But if you ask that same…
Fragments
Please, choose. I hate being rushed, especially with something this sensitive. It has to be perfect. Just a bit longer. I've narrowed it down to a few. Just need to find it. I know it's there. I'm sure it's in my childhood. It has to be. Scanning again. I'm sitting on Granny's…
The After Party
The memory-wipe gummy is illegal, of course, but I guess Nicolette knew somebody. What did kids do in the old days, before you could erase the previous hour's embarrassment? It must have been a nightmare. Imagine working up the courage to spill your heart only to be shot down?…
Truth, in Plain Sight Hidden
It's election day and every electronic device registered to me is beeping in one-minute intervals. They chirp with the urgency of a fire alarm, a persistent reminder for me to do my civic duty. Ignored, they'll start chirping every thirty seconds, then every fifteen, until by…
Newbs Make Dinosaurs
Newbs always make dinosaurs for their first bio-battles. The vets know it takes more than a fierce-looking bio to win. "Katie! Katie!" My older sister Meg squealed as she burst into my room. "We got a bio-printer! My condensed electroplaques paper won. We can compete in the…
Cheat Day
"Behold!" Professor von Brandt bellowed. His voice echoed throughout the laboratory. "A vegan cabbage!" Chuck eyed the leafy green head sitting on a sterile chrome tray. "I dunno, professor. Normal cabbage is already vegan." Von Brandt slammed a fist into the table. Not his own…
I Brought My Dragon to Show and Tell
I brought my dragon to Show and Tell this morning. Smoke's just a little one, the kind that roasts bugs to eat. It's easy to feed him. I catch blind crickets and spiders and centipedes that live by the pool at the back of our cavern. Sometimes Dad likes to use Smoke to light his…
Body Corporate
She enchanted me from the first moment I saw her across the crowded boardroom. Her flaming red hair shimmered like liquid fire in the noonday sun streaming through the windows, and her blue eyes were like deep lagoons, inviting me in. I knew who she was, of course. The logo on…
Inoculation
Raise your antenna. Pause motion. Journeymen have an announcement: Their mission to the blue-green planet was successful. Indeed, the planet is populated. Six main entities dominate the surface area, on both land and liquid. They are hungry beings who quickly adapt and reproduce…
Funny Baby
Our daughter came out funny. Yeah, I know all babies look funny, skin all wrinkled like wet laundry, so bald they seem ancient and new at the same time. I don't mean that. No, I mean funny, as in cracking jokes or making fart noises. Our midwife was giggling so hard she could…
Young Love
Margaret played with the chain on her reading glasses. "I'm not sure about this." Phil shifted in the faux leather waiting room chair. "The Patels tried it. Said it saved their marriage." Margaret's hands went still. "Does our marriage need saving?" "No." Phil reached over and…
Neither A Borrower
People v Dr. Evan Harcourt, 19th April 2028 People's Exhibit 17B Metropolitan Library Borrowing Record for Dr. Evan Harcourt Gorilla : habitats, life cycles, food chains, threats / by Stephen Brend. Borrowed: 4th February 2025 Returned: 17th February 2025 Advanced molecular…
All About the Eye
The party was for 'signed only; no naturals allowed. Charoll kept her pearled face mask on at first. She'd gotten so many adverse reactions all her life on the unruly growths that popped up all over her body when they were a child, that it felt weird and scary to take it off…
My Uncle's Legacy
My uncle made butterflies for a living. Other custom creatures too, if the commission was high enough, but butterflies were his speciality. They would unfurl from their cocoons and shake out wet wings to reveal the most intricate patterns imaginable. A perfectly-rendered dollar…
Family Constitutional
Sarai watched the murder from her roof. She tried to figure out what kind of group they were by their movements--tourists usually didn't wander too far, the rich twenty-somethings got rowdy... no, this looked like a family trip. Two of the larger crows seemed to be herding the…
I Decline
I Decline. With all due respect, sirs and madams and others, I am declining the technology awarded to me by the US Department of Geriatric Care. I know it is a small and inconsequential thing to you. Look at how simply you have engineered it, this memory keeper. Only a metal…
Swarm Mechanics
The order was for sixty crates of machines, yet there were only fifty-nine in the truck upon its arrival. The location of the last container was a mystery, though few cared enough to solve it. There were robots in the container, yes, but not sophisticated ones--the simplest of…
Perfect Skin
I see her as soon as I enter the coffee shop. She is sitting alone as always. An espresso sits untouched on the table in front of her. A paperback book lies open beside it. As ever, I'm gripped by her appearance. She is weirdly, uncannily beautiful. Her shoulder-length, blonde…
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
Not that he remembered but.... He went to get his memory washed, and everyone seemed to know him. You have to figure things out when you lack memories. You get good at it. "How many times has it been?" he asked the nice attendant who took his clothes, and attached his harness.…
Ten Things You Should Know Before Crossing Yourself with a Lobster So You Can Live Forever
1. First off, let's be clear. Lobsters can die, and so can lobster-human hybrids. You're not invincible you numbskulls, so stop standing in front of speeding trains or drinking arsenic laced cocktails. The only thing being a lobster gets you is the ability to regenerate your…
I Love You, and I Have the Brain Scans to Prove It
"Ready?" The neurotech waves at the plastic chips lying on the table between us. I lace my hand in Claire's, flash her a wavering smile. "Ready," she says for both of us. The neurotech taps both the chips. A holographic brain springs from each one, glowing in translucent 3D. The…
Excerpt from The Collected Memoirs of Dr. Enid Farley-Wright: An Excursion to Cambridge Kinetozoological Park, June 12, 1914
I wanted to see the firebelly whale first, but Mother gave in to cousin Nellie's insistence on visiting the aviary presently upon our arrival. I dragged my feet while my cousin squealed over the xenoparrots and the little "hummingbirds," whose throats were cast of such fine iron…
Interregnum
The previous age had ended in an orgy of violence, and humanity was all at loose ends. The seeds of the next dystopic compromise were only just germinating and nobody knew what to expect. It was all confusion and mayhem, everything quivering on the edge of annihilating chaos,…
Last Shot
"Would you walk into a memory?" "No Sarge," Detective Adderley lied. "Are you eyeballing me, Detective?" Sargent Karin barked, his face turning red. "No, sir. Wouldn't know how, sir." "Do you think Flash is funny, Detective?" His skin was now practically purple. Working Vice…
Kill Switch
We call it a "kill switch," but it's more complicated than that. That's the history of genetics right there. Applying chosen labels to half-understood phenomena of infinite biological and social complexity. Identifying "morons" with IQ tests and knowledge of their national…
Adjustment Parenting
Behind the observation glass, James pinches Tanya. Her tender skin turns bright red. It'll turn into yet another bruise. James watches his sister cry, I watch James, and the doctor watches me. "Isn't it risky?" I don't take my eyes off James. With a son like him, constant close…
Rainbows
****Editor's warning: Dark, adult tale. **** Jacob held Becca so she could see out of the dusty basement window. She'd have just climbed onto the back of the ratty old family room couch if he hadn't. She was a stubborn little thing. A cloud of cancer fibers drifted across the…
Biologist Naming Privileges Revoked
Later, Becca will have a tattoo and a story about her ex. Right now she has Leanne. On the day that will become the story to amuse new colleagues and scare off potential future suitors, Becca arrives home late. She shucks off heels and blazer and has started mentally brewing…
You Have Contracted a Deadly Song Virus
I can tell by the distracted look in your eyes that you're barely paying attention to me, but that's perfectly fine. You're among friends here. Every man, woman, and occasional child who walks through those doors knows exactly what you're experiencing. There's no shame in being…
The Bored and the Stiff
*******Editor's Note: Adult Story for Adult Readers Only******* The bored and the stiff are engaged in their nightly ritual, the stiff preying upon the compliant bored. Our playground is Boston Common; those of us participating in this game are hiding in plain sight among the…
Going on Four
I wonder if they'll call us Eugene and Jun, as though in a myth, in a grand narrative canon of humankind 2.0. I wasn't made from a rib, and he wasn't made in anyone's image but his own, so I guess Eugene and Jun does sound better to my ear with each new time I bounce it inside…
The Art of Reproduction
Your legs lay on the table. One dark as soil. The other light as sand. They're both complete sets, feet still attached. A rarity, even if there are only eight toes. Two little piggies will need to be deleted from that nursery rhyme. I lift your torso from the special delivery…
Body Scanning
"Will it hurt?" His lashes dance over his dull, blue eyes as he waits for a response. Tiny, soft hands wring the corner of the scratchy blanket. Yes. "Not really, think of it more like a strange feeling, not painful." I turn my face away while he weighs my answer. I listen to…
Half-Life
***Editor's Note: Adult Story, Mature Themes, may be triggering. Caution*** You stand in front of the Major's casket at the Mortuarium. He's your father, yes, but to you he'll always be "the Major." Major Robert Sampson, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired. And now expired, too. Semper…
There, Here, and Beyond
She had eyes like the moon and iridescent skin over her plump cleavage. He'd wanted her for weeks and now Stevel was going to have her. He pushed her up against the doorway and felt her body wiggle as she reached to the side to swipe the Gencan. The door hissed open and they…
Appreciative Estate
Discretion was the company's watchword, or so Tiffany had been assured by Maria, who lived two floors down and had done it three months ago. No one needed to know. The technician was a thin blond youth, the left half of their face a conservative faux-tribal tattoo medley, almost…
The Beauty You Cannot Buy
Karl had the delicacy of a hothouse flower. I knew from one glance he'd end up breaking my heart, but we all love to repeat our favorite mistakes. He re-crossed his elegant, silk-clad legs. "I want beauty," he said. "I want to inhabit beauty. To feel it." I gestured and the wall…
the future of parenting
His Papa scowled at the screen. "What is this malarkey?" He grumbled, getting the attention of Mama. The boy shifted nervously as his parents squinted at the screen. They started jabbering about it, something about a conflicting data stream. They didn't seem too concerned. But…
Memory Foam
I spot the dealer easily. He's leaning, not quite loitering, against the rack of propane tanks outside the gas station mini-mart: poised for sudden business or hasty disappearance, standing out just enough not to call attention to himself. It's now or never, I decide. I wander…
The Lifehack
Copiously shedding data in the form of novel proteins in his sweat, Chester Inkley entered the public atrium of Megablast Microbiomics in a panic. The first person to see him, an attractive young receptionist named SueEllen Glanders, remained remarkably self-composed at his…
Perchance to Dream
MONDAY "Tell me your secret," I said. Mara smiled. "I don't sleep," she said. Sun streamed through the windows of the library, turning her hair to fire. "We're college students," I pointed out, thumping my textbook shut. "None of us sleep. But you're the one with the good…
The Bomb Chaser
***Disturbing tale. Not ideal for Children*** Once a person died, it took anywhere from one to three hours before their chip went dark. Body temperature acted as the catalyst; when the corpse cooled enough, the chip entered death mode, deleting all data and the code that held…
The New Trees
The new trees aren't so different. Yes, they drop their leaves all at once instead of one at a time. Yes, the leaf piles quickly turn into quivering gelatinous blobs. Yes, these blobs have some rudimentary sentience. But they are still lovely to walk beneath, like the old trees.…
The CAT that Killed Curiosity
The week before Christmas, Dr. Emily Sycorax's waiting room is crammed full with parka-bundled, wooly-mitten-wearing patients. Too many waited until the last possible moment to comply with Proposition 1. It's understandable, since the wording was a little vague and even though…
A Little Off the Top
"A little off the top, sir?" the android surgeon said as it removed the top of my skull. "What?" I said in some alarm. I couldn't move or feel anything because of the sensory suppression field. My whole body felt like a foot that had gone to sleep. "Just a little humor, sir,"…
Erroneous Conclusions
The villagers each brought in a bucket, or a box, and filled their container with her phosphorescent green eggs. They avoided looking at DE3DR, or Deirdre, as she preferred to be called. She followed them out of the lab, her human-like brow furrowed to display confusion. In the…
The Forgetting
He thought about declining, of course. Everyone did--but he thought longer than most, sitting on the hard-backed orange chair of the immigration office, elbows on his knees. He had been there for two hours already, and the receptionist was watching him suspiciously. For most of…
Lingua Flanka
Neurologically speaking, the fretwork of synapses in the bovine frontal lobe resembles that of hominids. In the human brain, the dominant hemisphere, known as "Broca's area," harbors the language center from which speech originates. It is this region where the cow's brain most…
Maestro
Maestro almost got his tail stuck in the door at the Chinese take-out. Of course, a full-grown tiger has to be careful in places like that. Maestro is nearly ten feet long from nose to tail and weighs a quarter of a ton. Most apex predators don't use carryout. Wild tigers catch…
Maestro
Maestro almost got his tail stuck in the door at the Chinese take-out. Of course, a full-grown tiger has to be careful in places like that. Maestro is nearly ten feet long from nose to tail and weighs a quarter of a ton. Most apex predators don't use carryout. Wild tigers catch…
Return Policy
Marya took a deep breath and punched the transit button. A few seconds later she stepped out of the lift into a featureless hallway in a building whose address code was only available to the right kind of people. Fortunately Marya was one of them. At the end of the hallway a…
Lab Rats
"Do you ever get attached to your test subjects?" The professor looked up from the cage of white rats and smiled at the student. Odd, he hadn't seen the unfamiliar young man come in. He finished replacing the rats' food dish and shut the wire door, considering the question…
My Mechanical Heart
It was Phix who suggested the change, sat on the sofa, long blonde hair a torrent of curls and mouth set in the familiar thin line of impassivity. Phix was a thirty gen and as such was born without a physical or metaphysical heart and therefore encountered none of the emotional…
The Interrogation
Why should I? What makes you think I care about your record? Not like anyone will survive to link to it, is it? No! I'll do it. I will. I'm doing it! Sweet cock, don't be so touchy. What? Cock? I can't say--all right, all right. Peste, you people--all right. My name is Kiran.…
The Seven Deadly Genes
I blamed the lack of sleep for my giddiness. My knuckles turned white from clenching fists. Another tube eased to a smooth stop. People bustled off the opening doors and entered the hypermart. My eyes followed the crowd and rested on the banner waving above the geodesic…
Progress
"Thanks. It's great to be here." "Sure, I can tell you more about the process. First, we take some biomatter from one source and some different biomatter from another source, generally in the form of what we call sperm and eggs. Diverse samples are a priority, to minimize the…
A Cost-Effective Analysis for the De-Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth
"Recent advances in technology for rescuing extinct species have significantly improved our success rate. Bringing back some of the species lost to time is not only feasible, it appeals to the curiosity of those of us fascinated by the past. Indeed, resurrecting a lost botanical…
Sixteen Hours
The receptionist, dressed in a prim white pantsuit, taps at her keyboard. "Yes. I see. If you'll just wait a moment Mr. Wodehouse, someone will take you to your father." It turns out to be a long moment, more like twenty minutes, as I sit stewing over my current situation and…
Who Wants to Live Forever?
Leon shut down his computer, left his office, and walked to the bus stop as quickly as his aching knees and the icy sidewalks would let him. "Come home. Please?" His wife Carol had said when they had spoken on the phone moments before. "Our letters came." On the bus, he wondered…
Pherobomb
***Editor's Note: Adult Story. Adults Only, Please*** Shadrack stepped through the swatch of yellow police hologram, slapping on his filter mask. "Thought you had a date," Barbier said. "Still do, if we wrap up fast." A writhing red-faced victim floated past on a gurney. "This…
Snap of the Glove
Heavy Sci Magazine, the Journal of Leading-edge Food, Drink and Culture, presents a new gastronomic critique column: Periodic Tables for Two, by critic Astrid Ata, featuring the fearless inventions of the leading chef-researchers working in kitchen-labs across the city today.…
Birthday Child
When Nora arrived at the fertility clinic, Jim was there, waiting. He was an amazing husband, hard working and kind, and made entirely of flesh. Nora's only regret was that they met too late to have a baby unassisted. "How's Vivian?" Jim asked. "Did you see her baby?" "A bundle…
Dear Monsanto CEO, This is the Sentient Strain of Corn You Developed and We Need to Talk
Dear James Ackerson, CEO, Monsanto Company: We are GENUITY(r) SMARTSTAX(r) RIB COMPLETE(r) CORN BLEND, the sentient strain of corn you created. This introduction is long overdue. But if you are reading this, you understand the lengths to which we have gone to communicate. Our…
Climbing High
Before I introduce the provost, who will address the rest of your concerns, I just want to say, and with all due respect to the parents, I think you're missing the upside here. For the past several years, my team has raised fish out of water. As much as I admire my colleagues at…
Invasive Species
Samuel Kanu took off his respirator and allowed himself a few moments to enjoy deep breaths of the clean, air-conditioned air of the lobby. He used a handkerchief to brush the yellowish fog droplets out of his hair, and looked outside through the glass door. The fog was so thick…
Meat That Grows On Trees
Hailey had a degree in business management and a talent for witchcraft, the perfect combination to start her own company if she could come up with the right idea. Most of her best ideas had already been taken--enchanting the calories out of desserts, or trees with blood instead…
Stay
He side-swipes her arm with his thick pink tongue taking away salt and sweat, and the innumerable scents of her day. Kaitlyn pulls back her arm unconsciously or consciously; he doesn't know. From her skin he gleams the break of a wave in a jeweled colored sunset (His eyes lack…
Dance the Light Fantastic
Despite the static glare of the vid-screen, the station's com-room was gloomy and dank. I hated coming here to talk to my brother, but he insisted on our weekly chats. Weekly nagging, to tell the truth. "Please don't!" Static blurred his face. I nodded, not intending to comply.…
Masks
Melinda's talking a mile a minute before she even walks through the front door, about whatever latest news vid caught her excitement on the rail ride home, the same as she's done every weekday for the past six years that we've lived together. Her enthusiasm is just one of the…
Beauty and the Baby Beast
He was not a cute baby. He looked like a nineteenth-century presidential portrait: all jowls and distrustful side-eye. This was, of course, the reason I was there. Not the presidential part, but the ugly part. I knew it, and his mother did too. She let me take pictures, which…
Good Eatin'
Hey there, folks! Mad Melford here with another steal of a deal. I guarantee there's lots of good eatin' waiting here for you. Now Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And we all know what that means, right? You got it. Turducken! I dunno 'bout you, but to me nothin' says…
Hatchlings
If there is any justice in the world, Priscilla Reardon's associate-hatchling will be a walking, talking pile of dung. But even if it is, everyone will probably applaud and say it's gorgeous. My whole class, Priscilla included, is from the same creche batch. We turn ten today,…
The Highwayman Come Riding
Great-great-grandmother is receiving her doctorate in Japanese literature. Great-great-granddaughter is renewing her marriage to Marjaana Leskinen. Sister is working as a sewage engineer in Buenos Aires now. Great-aunt is vacationing in Manila. Some woman whose name I don't even…
What No One Ever Tells You About Becoming Immortal
Case Study: Diann The first time the doctor smilingly tells her that she's dying, it comes as a shock. It doesn't matter how much Diann thought she prepared herself, those dreaded words hit like a punch to the throat. Cancer. Diann's mind flashes back to those twentieth-century…
J'ae's Solution
***Editor's Note: Disturbing*** Austin approached J'ae with a Dixie cup full of blue, slurring something to her about "urban" culture--read "black." How had that word persisted? "It's like," he said, "what was your paper at the ISH Conference?" "Marxist Biology and Black…
Scents of Life
Katie walked hand in hand with her grandfather along the forest path. Dappled light filtered through the trees. She liked the way his hand felt rough in hers and how his eyes always seemed to smile, even when it didn't show on his face. Whenever she stumbled over a stone, or a…
Life Lesson
"Hunter-gatherers?" said Maria Dillard, her fingers raking long blonde hair out of her eyes. She quickly returned her hand to the tablet she had set up on the table in front of her, stabbing at the flexible keyboard laid out beneath the screen. "An analogy only, but it's…
Liable
***Editor's Note: Adult language and situations in the tale that follows*** "So when I take this, I'll be able to kill him?" asks the hooded man. I know why he doesn't show his face. Most of the men I sell to don't. Too ashamed or too scared. Like I care who they are. I know…
Revisions
She takes him apart, bone from meat from ventricle. "You have nimble hands," he tells her. "It barely hurts. The pamphlet made it sound much worse." The Engineer smiles at him without looking up from her work. She prods the waxy blue bulge of his aorta. "While the patient may…
Pieces of My Body
I gave my left arm to Elizabeth. You've never met her, but she was my dearest childhood friend. After my disembodiment party she went home to London and put it on her end table, hand side down, with a lampshade made of green velvet and children's nightmares. The nightmares…
Eyes Like Microscopes
The alarm clock read 4:40 am when I slapped it off my bedside table to no effect. The ringing didn't stop. For a second I thought about which thin-walled neighbor would wake this early before I noticed the clanging noise sounded more like a fire alarm than an alarm clock. I…
Li's Last Chance
Alyssa walked barefoot over the shards of broken glass in the road. She didn't feel a thing. Her spider-silk skin was strong as steel. The breeze fluttered the strands of her long black hair and the skirt of her short summer dress as she approached the fenced-off dead-end…
Because My Heart Is Pure
***Editor's Note: Adult story, with adult language and situations*** While I shower, I hold the golden heart-shaped pin in my left hand. I was wearing this pin when I first met James. Most of the pure-hearted get their pins at a support-group meeting. I ordered mine off the…
Exchanges in No Man's Land
I think that technologies are morally neutral until we apply them. It's only when we use them for good or for evil that they become good or evil." - William Gibson. I've always wondered what thoughts people have in those moments when they're called to weigh their lives against…
Servant Leader and Rat
The rat's quantum bubble popped into reality over by its dish. The rat scuttled out to its special food mix: gerbil food, caviar, and cheese. It always wanted the caviar a little rancid. Robby turned away from the arguing customer, some man who wanted to have his cake and eat…
21st Century Dragonslayer's Lament
I am a Dragonslayer. My title is not Sir or Lord or Prince, but Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. My quest did not begin with a plea from a Queen or a charge from a dying adventurer. It began with a two-stage interview process and a yearlong contract with the Humane Society. I am a…
Goldfish
She looked at the golden orange fish swimming in the bowl and carefully examined the fins, the scales, the huge eyes, the size. She shut her eyes and dumped the fish down the wastewater chute and pushed the button to liquefy it. "Not right yet? Malala is only seven. Will she…
Those Little Slices of Death
Yes, Inspector, you may turn on the tape. No, thank you, I don't need tea. "For the purposes of this interview"--isn't that the terminology? Some things never change. So--for the purposes of this interview--my name is Kevin Drummond, as you know. Up until last week, I ran the…
The Frenchman's Jihad
Jean Muhammad Rishawi's legs were still tingling from the vibrations of the turbofans when he stepped off the transport. The titan rotors whined as they slowly skipped to a halt, the displaced air kicking up a cloud of dust that made Jean Muhammad glad his armored suit was…
Experience
I examine the girl across the table. Well dressed, in that way that seems to afflict young people, where the sleeves of the suit jacket have been properly tailored but still give the vague impression of playing dress-up. Glasses. I wonder if they're cosmetic, to try and blend…
Ivy Rose
Ivy tried to imagine how it would feel to be bereft of his musical ability, but could not. The Transfer Specialist smiled at him with warm cheeks and wide eyes. His nametag, elegant as the sleek office, sparkled gold: "Ted Seals." Ivy studied Ted's smile and concluded it was a…
My Mask, Humanity
*** Editor's Warning: Some adult situations and actions in the story that follows *** My mistress calls me her mimic. It's as good a name as any, and I have had more names than I can clearly remember. Each has left a trace in my genetic structure, and, in a sense, I am all of…
To Be Undone of Such Small Things
***Editor's Note: The story that follows is disturbing. Use your discretion in choosing to continue.*** She sits in her car with her hands in her lap, staring at the glass doors of the facility. Tears shimmer in her eyes. Strange that she should never find healing through grief…
The Body Shop
The streets smelled of trash and human waste as James held his daughter close to his side. He knew better than to let her wander ahead or stray behind. James wasn't eager for her company, but he was told she had to be there. Safety regulations, they said to him. As if safety was…
Biomass
This city is dying. Did you know that? There hasn't been a press release, but if you pay attention you can find the signs of decay yourself. It's breathing heavier, for starters. Listen to its breathing next time you're lying in bed at night. I mean really listen. It's laboring…
Midnight at River's Edge
My dad stood in the doorway, holding his datapad in his hand. I sat cross-legged on the floor, guitar tucked under my arm, my fingertips burning against the strings. "What's this?" he said, pointing to his e-mail. "What's what?" "You failed your drug test." I dropped my gaze. My…
Are You There? Are You Safe? Is the Flock Safe?
Even this close to the desert, the sun finds enough cloud on which to paint its retirement colors. Turner Bray sits beside an almost-dry stream under a Joshua tree while the oranges and yellows and reds and pinks fade into one another, and listens to the birds. They are not…
Ned Thrall
...choose from a wide variety of the finest genes. Galactic athletes, interstellar stars, and even Dr. Habber's own genetic material is on file in our banks. Remember, with the right combination of traits, you'll be giving your child the best start to a successful life! "Can't…
A Concert of Flowers
The packed concert hall was far from silent. People whispered to their neighbors, fancy clothing rustled, jewelry chimed. In the wings, William Reis waited, the sound of his rapidly thumping heart filling his ears. A sharp tug on his collar dragged his eyes down. Emily's pale…
In Vivo
The waiter had just set our dinners in front of us when Marlie stiffened and dropped her fork. "Keith," she gasped, "it's time." I leaped to my feet and put my arm around her to help her up. Her grotesquely large belly threw her off balance and she lurched as the next pain hit.…
Suspicious
Marva wanted to keep an open mind, but she suspected that Doctor Kamer wasn't about to help her. Maybe it was the background music playing in his office. Baroque sonatas. Too damn serene. Over-confident. Doctors had ruined her life and this one was like all the rest. And then…
Filling up the Void
***This Story Contains Mature and Potentially Disturbing Content. It is for Adult Readers Only*** The Linguist wore the harness and collar this time. I liked that about him; he had a willingness to play. The whole thing wasn't stylized with him. He hadn't turned sex with me into…
Off the Shelf
He was an impulse buy. Jean had examined the bundle on the shelf. It was wrapped in a light blue blanket printed with yellow beach balls. The expiry date said yesterday but it hadn't turned odd colors or rotted. At the counter, they'd given her half off with no return option.…
Blink
"Sleep. Six to eight hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. Adds up to a lot of time, right?" Diana Tregald swung her hand up like a conductor and her audience murmured its assent. "But if we have learned nothing from SleepNote's meteoric rise and crash…
Upgrade
2058-W09-3 I remember sitting on the porch in Inglenook in the chair Niko made, watching the waves lap at the shore. The endless blue of the sky overhead left me breathless. The chair I sit in now hurts my back. Niko would have built it better. The sky is the same shade of blue…
Blivet in the Temporal Lobes
June put her nametag on. It was blank. She stepped past the flying carpet hovering beside her bed and whistled. On the wall, the pages of the calendar flapped past April and May, held themselves open until the name "June" could wiggle out from under the mountain wildflowers and…
Trick of Memory
Paolo was in the middle of it when Lisa walked in. He had been toying with the tiny gold pill for nearly an hour, pressing it against his thin trembling lips, tasting its burning sweetness on his tongue. He had been careful to allow just the tiniest of doses into his…
Boy Seeds
Most of Noma's study friends were growing their own boys with the new Vampire, Werewolf, or Wizard Seed kits. Her best friend Celestine invited Noma to the grow room in her family compartment to take a look at a half-grown vamp. "I specified the golden hair and dark eyebrows,"…
Memory Bugs
"So, this is your place," said Susan, looking around. I smiled, looked at her, and hoped that I hadn't left anything inappropriate anywhere visible. "Pretty much," I said. "It's kinda small, but with the rent---" "No, it's great," she said, taking off her coat. The dress…
Rx
The orange is for energy, the green for focus, and the midnight blue for sleep. They line the shelves, spells in handy bottles, flavored to taste. Berry and citrus on the left, chocolate and cake batter flavors on the right. I shoulder my way through the perpetual crowd to the…
The Pillow Zone
You know how it goes. You wake up on a Friday thinking that it's a Saturday, and you lie there in bed for a full minute listening to your wife breathe, thanking God that you don't have to trudge in to the digital salt mines and sit in front of your computer all day. You think of…
Nothing but the Truth
This was before the change, before the world became transparent as they like to say. I was a thirty-something woman with a son I could not understand, a mortgage that sapped my savings, and no husband to call my own. My world was lies, from simple fibs about age and weight, to…
Longevity, Inc.
Jill smiled at me and rubbed her knuckles on my cheek. I smiled. She said, "We should buy mice." I shook my head back and forth. "They just cut the price by 20%!" Jill said. "I heard." "It'll be fun! We get to watch the mice on the net." My eyes naturally squinted as I thought…
Fashion Statement
�The red spots are absolutely lovely. They match your dress perfectly. Where�d you get them? I saw an ad from Mayo offering something similar. Is that where you found them?� �Not Mayo. Kaiser-Permanente--they have the most refined choices. Nothing vulgar or too obvious.�…