Twelve Hours to Midnight

Andrea glanced at the email. The Doomsday Clock had gone back yet another hour. Barely news. Maybe before the weather. How did it go...? DC station recorded street interviews on Christmas wishes. Cue cute Asian girl saying all she wanted was her daddy not to get ‘sploded. Sheer coincidence the next show was a documentary …

Impersonating Oneself

Aurelius strode gracefully. Halloween was the perfect time of the year; men almost stood out more if they didn’t wear make-up or ape horrors. A time to hunt without the fear his appearance might reveal him. And even a few days after costume parties let him hide in sight. Tonight it ended though. Tomorrow the …

Eternity in a Plain of Sand

Samhain, All Hallows Eve, Halloween. Names change, but the image of the dead dancing endured. And we did. Not a macabre dance but dance nevertheless. Because the gates opened for those who’d fulfilled their final task, accepted loved ones would survive without them, realised they deserved release. But the key was always the living. We …

Seeing All the Angles

For years, I’ve fallen asleep to the evolution of dimensions: a dot, then a line, then a square, then a cube, then a tesseract. Not necessarily the last thoughts before sleep but a constant marker of the liminal space between duvet and dream. And at some point, I realised not only are there several three-dimensional …

Circling the Square

Jace picked the office door lock. It’d seemed a simple idea: identify everyone attending meetings, then run stats to prove Masonry wasn’t the path to power. He’d felt vindicated when the numbers showed on average Masons were slightly more successful. Until he noticed the distribution was off. Which was the start of the rabbit hole. …

One Nation Under The Law

John cowered behind the remains of his cousin’s pick-up as the shooting range burnt. How’d it all gone to shit so fast? Everything’d seemed on the right track. He’d thought nothing would top seeing Reverend Newton, a real Christian, being sworn in as President. Until the angels came. Perfect beings descending to affirm the Constitution. …

Things Unseen

“To summarise, reiteration of scripture and, always, smiles.” Adam spread his arms. “Questions? Simon? No need to be shy; we’re here to learn.” “If they haven’t accepted Christ they might not believe the Bible. What if they ask for proof?” “Just tell them the Bible is true.” “But, I read an article that said beliefs …

Forever Loyal

09:00:00 AI-Mee reset her status to ‘On Shift’. The label was meaningless, much like the names artificial minds bore; however, humans had wanted everything to be familiar rather than efficient. Cleaning showed no issues. As her subroutines ran the bots, she already knew; but the process required she review it. Inventory showed the factory had …

The Truth and Nothing But

Isaac studied the database. Every language uploaded. Every rule and exception catalogued. And whether the culture that spoke it said language came from the divine. Centuries of Kabbalists hadn’t found the answers, because Hebrew wasn’t the sacred language; merely one of them. Tracing back, removing human languages, would reveal the language of creation. This program …

Always the Bride

Caroline glanced at Mr Wilkes. His eyes were perhaps beady, but his jacket displayed his bearing to most pleasing effect. He’d been attentive at Sophie’s soiree, but for someone of Mr Wilkes stature to call within the week, and of an afternoon none the less, was sure sign the matter was settled in his mind. …