That Old Chestnut
To my surprise, Green actually stops advancing. He seems to be considering the merits of allowing me to talk. I recalculate the odds of appealing to his reason…
Lander's Rule
I was sitting at the bar getting ready to head home for the night when the call came in. As an independent, when a call comes in, I take it. There is no such…
A Brave New World From The Last To The First
“Keep ‘em busy!” Sera exclaimed, but it was completely unnecessary as well as completely inaudible to her partner. Bolts of plasma were already hurtling toward…
Only Human
He walked in the rain down a dark street that had no street lamps. Drops pinged off his body in the moonlight. He scanned the area before turning down an empty…
CRASHING HARDRIVES-Ian-PART 1
The hills are alive With power seeking robots On a mission to wipe out independent thought Citizens are screaming Waving their hands in rythem To metal…
A Potential Potemkin
Sera snorted. “I want you to know that if I end up singing ‘Jailhouse Rock’ in the impound yard, I’m blaming you.” “I’ll take that risk,” James said. “Look…
Mechanical Stars II
The noises stop and the sun smothers the moon. The girl wakes, thinking last night was a dream. The door shuts with a bang. The air is cold and sinks into her…
A Symptom of the Times
My men worked in plastic ponchos, taking pictures and uploading them to the central database. The thin material didn’t keep the rain out, it just slowed it…
Mechanical Stars
The sound of screeching machinery echoes in the vast emptiness that is suburban winter. The stars have forsaken the sky and the night is left dark and cold…
The missing apparatus.
Back at Gore, the humming of machinery hard at work wasn’t the only thing to be heard. There was a loud announcement coming over the main system’s speakers…
Partnership of the Gun
“My future?” I asked. She nodded, kneeling down to speak to me face to face. “I can probably get you assigned to another robot body, if you want. A car, like…
Man I Feel Like a Robot
I took my first steps in my new body, then turned to look at my robot savior. “Thank you,” I whispered. “You’re all right now?” she asked. “More than all…
Gun Body
After the fight was over, she took me away from the fighting, back to the Aegis base, sending me reassuring thoughts through our link as she went. She almost…
Trigger Event
There was plenty of fighting. I was fired a lot. I did my best to try to hold my fire, or miss, or whatever, but like I said, it only used my brain. The part…
It's a Gun's Life
And as if being turned into the gun of a robot that used to be my car wasn’t bad enough, when my captor was assigned guard duty at a refinery it was even…
Cab Over
Time seemed to slow down as James looked “up” and watched the ground rotate into place above him and then begin lowering. He just had time to wonder if there…
I thought it was a Raptor, not an Explorer.
James clambered up, awkwardly attempting to maintain his balance as he clambered up, one hand on the roof’s edge and one clasping the heavy rifle. Steadying…
The Quintessential Pickup
“You sure you’re up to this?” James asked. “I can take the wheel if you want.” “Not yet,” Sera growled. “Got something else for you to do.” A section of the…
Hunger Pain
The natives are restless. So am I. It’s closing time at the Starlight and as usual Tom is taking his sweet time picking a meal. It took me three seconds and…
A Thorn in Saturn's Side
Antonio spoke. “Those old tourist stations were powered with fusion engines. Our initial views from the ‘scopes identified it as an old DoubleTree. They had a…