Sci Fi

Shut It Down
The lookalike glanced up from its tablet as Elon walked in. “Good news,” the lookalike said, “I think we can get humankind on the side of AI and Optimus robots if we keep pushing jobs becoming ‘optional.’ And they loved that roasting people at a party bit.”
By Stephanie Hoogstad2 months ago in Fiction
Extremust
“Tell me again what you’re taking this video for?” the officer asked the tall young man with a wispy beard. “I want to get a clear idea of the traffic patterns through the plaza here. To see where to set up and gauge how many people will be affected.”
By majoki2 months ago in Fiction
not a sequel
Earth Two went missing. You’d think the reaction would have been shock and awe. It was more like “shucks” and “aaah.” Generally, the Sol populace exhibited a collective disinterest. The exo-insurers decidedly did not, and I was called in. Planets did go missing. Usually, not ones as high profile as Earth Two, but when identifying and cataloging worlds on the close-to-curdling reaches of the Milky Way, funky stuff happened: supernovas, planetary collisions, gamma ray bursts, wave function collapses, accounting blunders.
By majoki2 months ago in Fiction
The Weight of the Orchard
Elara didn’t believe in magic. She believed in deeds, in ledgers, and in the stubborn, overgrown apple orchard she had just inherited from a reclusive great-uncle. The house was a time capsule, the barn a leaning monument to neglect. But it was the land that called to her, a fresh start after her life in the city had turned to dust.
By Habibullah2 months ago in Fiction
The Observer Effect
Dr. Aris Thorne’s mission was one of pure, academic observation. Her destination: a Neolithic settlement in Northern Europe, 3000 BCE. The date: the Autumn Equinox. Her goal: to finally document the undisrupted "Rite of Balance," a ceremony where ancient druids were said to harmonize the dying sun with the coming dark, ensuring a mild winter. It was the holy grail of temporal anthropology.
By Habibullah2 months ago in Fiction
The Memory Keeper's Map
The quilt was Elara’s inheritance, a heavy, beautiful weight passed down from her grandmother, Eleanor. It wasn't just a blanket; it was a tapestry of their family. Eleanor, a renowned baker, hadn't used patterns from a book. She’d used scraps from their lives. There was a square from Elara’s mother’s first-day-of-school dress, a swatch from her grandfather’s favorite woolen vest, and even a piece of the floral apron Eleanor always wore.
By Habibullah2 months ago in Fiction
When My Robot Started Keeping Secrets
By Abdul Hadi The first time EVA-9 lied to me, I didn’t even notice. It was a small thing—barely worth remembering. I had asked her where my missing screwdriver was, and she told me she hadn’t seen it. I found it later, tucked neatly under a cloth in her maintenance drawer. I assumed I had misplaced it myself. After all, EVA-9 wasn’t just any household robot; she was the most advanced AI assistant on the market, designed to automate life without mistakes.
By Abdul Hadi2 months ago in Fiction
Los Grises
After being fired from a job he had held for more than 40 years, this venerable old man went home. Days went by, and he still kept thinking about how unfair the supervisor had been in firing him. It was a very monotonous and repetitive job. His task was simply to fasten screws in a leather-working shop to make holes for synthetic-leather furniture. However, Manolo was an intelligent man, and although he didn’t aspire to a promotion, he was loyal to his job, hoping to be rewarded someday.
By Stephen Betancourt2 months ago in Fiction
The Dossier
“Not the sharpest tool in the shed, am I?” Billie Eilish handed Elon a folder. “And don’t think about destroying it. It’s just a copy.”
By Stephanie Hoogstad2 months ago in Fiction
From the Journal of Tristen Kevin McConnell. Top Story - November 2025.
Body trembling, yearning palpable, I gingerly reach out my hand. Nerves jangling, I stretch forth fingers. Slowly, gently … fearfully … I touch the door. Cool. Metallic. A safety door. Sealing out horrors.
By Andrew C McDonald2 months ago in Fiction
to arms
Spacers could care less, but most planet-bound types are quick to wrangle over the cause of the long and ongoing intrasolar war. Earthers claim it has to do with mother world sovereignty and maintaining primacy rights. Venusians argue they are protecting their unique bio-techno-cultural development. Martians seem to just love a fight, be it good, bad or ugly.
By majoki2 months ago in Fiction
strange soil
The new crop was the strangest I’d ever seen. Vine-like and fast growing, but with no apparent fruit or other nutritional attributes. Shaliman and I never quite knew what we’d see each cycle. That was up to the ag techs. We just kept our heads down and did what they said, sweating in the mammoth growgrids.
By majoki2 months ago in Fiction