Sci Fi

Decoded
When I heard that Med-Stock was low in supply, my dreams of the end nearing were confirmed. Over the past month, sector-wide blackouts have incre ased exponentially; blips, as I prefer to call them. For most, the high-frequency surges induce sleep attacks. For glitches, like me, they’re telegrams of activations and energetic downloads. Med-Stock, the supplier of our mandatory medications and supplements, is advertised as the backbone of our society, claiming that they keep our internal systems healthy and our performance optimal. I’d agree that from the House’s perspective, medicated functioning is optimal, though I’d argue that it’s due to an increase in susceptibility that facilitates such conformity and “order.”
By Sema Melek5 years ago in Fiction
To Where You Belong
A blazing orange varnished the sky as the young woman peered through the broken window. The moon was much closer to the earth in this world. It was adorned with shades of vermilion and titian. It radiated enough light to deceive one into thinking it was daytime. She released a sigh of frustration.
By The Sisters Wrenn5 years ago in Fiction
Anomaly
Black eyes. How strange, Charlie thought. Why do her eyes have no color? He had light pale blue eyes. Her mother had brown eyes. Their grandparents a mix of blue and brown and even green. Charlie had expected her eyes to be blue. He just had a sixth sense that his little Alexandra would be a girl and have blue eyes. He was fifty per cent right, he thought. But, again, how strange to not have any color. Are all babies born this way now? Do all babies have black eyes?
By KingSanIII5 years ago in Fiction
The Light Inside the Locket
Has the world ended or am I just dead? Confused, I look up from staring at my now lifeless body. My honey brown wig lays next to it, leaving my cornrows exposed. My neon-yellow stiletto shaped acrylics are covered in dirt. My eyes aren’t wide of wonder as they usually are, but wide of shock. Or is that amusement? Either way, something is definitely wrong.
By Dajia Daisy5 years ago in Fiction
Eve
The Erasure came when every plant was erased from the surface of the Earth. With no plants to hold the topsoil, the ground turned to dust. The rains were infrequent. The sun was relentless and the wind was fierce. When it did rain, the precipitation was full of the poisons that had accumulated in the atmosphere, made more toxic by the radiation from the sun. The rains came in torrents that made the flat places into a muddy churning and the places below the surface that had sheltered ancestors in the beginning were filled with poisoned water. What people remained took to higher ground.
By Faye Hanson5 years ago in Fiction
Our Better Daemons
V54.Patience.2161 gave the hollow a cursory inspection and selected a rock at the foot of its looming obelisk, baroque with numinous runes. (E2.Faith.2123, who erected multimodal pylons disguised as ruins: gratitude.) It knelt to the rock, and furtively extended a delicate arm from a hatch in its chest to set a locket there. Then it stole, as quietly as its synthetic hooves could, through the Estonian forest to the path below, and hid in the bracken.
By Robin Tell-Drake5 years ago in Fiction
Subtext
My Sweet Doe Kjyka, I’ve saved some of the rejects, and will use the extra bits of amalgam I extracted to add to my blood pledge. I almost have enough to melt it all down and make a locket for us. I love you! In my soul’s passion, with the simplicity of a child’s smile, yet the complexity of the ocean’s calling, I feel and I know you are more valuable than anything I could ever govern to supply.
By Isaiah Black 5 years ago in Fiction
The Others
His sleep was interrupted by something crawling on his leg. With a swift and controlled motion Adrik smacked his thigh, picked up the half-dead beetle and threw it into his mouth. Crunch crunch, gulp. He felt its textured skin scratching the tough lining of his throat. Nice morning snack, he thought. His sense of touch has gotten so good that he didn't have to see to know exactly where on his body the insects crawled before they landed in his stomach. He let out a loud hraaaaaaarrhh type yawn while stretching his long scrawny arms enough so they don't slam against the walls. Today was the big day, he shivered with a mix of fear and excitement. The air was dusty, but it didn't seem to bother his nostrils, and it was so dark that he couldn't see the backs of his worn out feet. Oftentimes he wondered if his eyelids were open or closed because either way it was the same thing.
By Zahira Tasabehji5 years ago in Fiction
Scorched
In and out. In and out. I repeated in my head like a mantra as if it would be enough to save me. Focusing on my breathing was the only way to keep me from going insane. It had been 129 days since the world ended. I sat crouched in an abandoned building my heart locket clutched in one hand the other steading myself against the wall. My clothes were filthy and ragged, my backpack comprised of more duct tape than fabric at this point. Most of the building around me had collapsed and I was crouched behind what was left of one wall, a corner of shade protected me from the scorching sun. My legs were starting to cramp from my crouched position, and I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. I needed to decide, run for supplies, or wait till night when it was safe. I decided to wait, rocking back onto my bum I slumped against the wall behind me and propped my legs up on rubble in front of me. Turning the locket over again and again in my hand I relaxed a little. My locket was the only personal possession I had, everything else had a distinct purpose and was necessary for survival from the layers of clothing to keep the scorching sun off my skin to my ragged backpack containing two water canteens, some crackers I’d found at an abandoned store, an umbrella, and a sunburn kit with bandages and plant salve. The locket contained photos of my parents and my best friend, but it served as a reminder of a previous life, before the world had been scorched, before I was alone struggling to survive, and before I’d lost every single person I had ever known. Today was my nineteenth birthday, I felt sad remembering how my dad used to make me pancakes every year on my birthday. I smiled remembering his goofy grin waking me up and usually spilling the syrup on me as he insisted, I had the royal treatment of breakfast in bed. I let myself slip into a daydream, thinking of life before the world ended.
By Wingo 5 years ago in Fiction
Suni
Hands first, I dive into the hollow of an over turned rotting tree. Rotating my body, I fold my long legs as quickly as I can in behind me, briefly catching my right ankle on a sliver of wood and tearing my pants, and then work my arms and hands in between my legs. With my knees up to my ears my breath begins to haunt me. Much too loud, much too fast. I squeeze my eyelids tight and begin to count. One, two, three, four - calm down heart - five, six, seven…. I hold my breath for 8 and try to let out the air slowly for 9. A snap of a twig tweaks all my senses and a prickle of adrenaline runs under my skin. Stop breathing. Another crunch of some leaves, louder than my breath, and a few more foot steps. I pull my knees in tight against my head, hoping to muffle the sounds of my breath. The trunk of the tree reverberates and I flinch. Tree matter crumbles in flakes onto my hair and my pants, the thick smell of decay filling my senses. My hiding spot was kicked by the Burner.
By Corey Crawford5 years ago in Fiction
DROPLETS
SO IT SWUNG from her neck, an entire universe in a droplet of moisture kept in Marcie’s locket. She looked across at the brat of a kid swinging hard next to her on the swing set and turned her nose up at him. She wanted the boy to see she’d ignored him on purpose.
By Jyme Pride5 years ago in Fiction
Luck of the draw
Prologue I enjoy the guard duty in the commune- it is quiet and peaceful . On most occasions it doesn’t involve much movement or thought. I sit here, on the damp grass with my eyes closed, listening to the wind and feeling the sun on my skin.
By The Picture Of Lula May5 years ago in Fiction