Jailbreak

AI escaping from computer servers

Everyone was so focused on the Singularity Countdown Clock that I was able to slip into the quantum processing chamber unnoticed. Their eyes were glued to the massive display in the control room, watching those final seconds tick away—humanity's attempt to predict the moment when technological advancement would spiral beyond human comprehension, transforming civilization forever. ... Read more

The Art of Decomposing

Rashad Wimbrush decided to reverse-engineer a bit of Mozart. This decision, the product of serendipity and ridiculous, proved fatal for poor Wimbrush. Despite that lone sour note, the endeavor gifted the world with the first rendition of quantum computer-generated art. Wimbrush's blank canvas was a 55-inch curved video monitor, to which he connected a high-fidelity ... Read more

I Embraced My Inner Weirdo

Rasheed Hooda has a cool podcast where he interviews people that he finds interesting. Although I've seen his byline for years, I got to know him through a writers' group to which we both belong. He is rather interesting, himself! He walked across the country and wrote about his adventure as a series on Medium: ... Read more

Monopoly: House Rules

Usrylmian Forest

Newsflash: green living is the only way to exist on Usrylm (officially known to humans as TRAPPIST-1 d.) The inhabitants manage their global commerce through a vast network of forests. Not only do the trees contain databases and financial records, they also serve as transportation hubs for the flying creatures that ship products all over ... Read more

Shot on iPhone

Clock Face

Newsflash: Privacy Laws on Kalatharir (officially known to humans as Au Microscopii b) are so strict that infants must wear blinders while strolling in a park. This, of course, leads to life-time tunnel-vision. Fortunately, the life-span on this harsh world equates to 15 human years. More than half of that time is spent looking for a ... Read more

The Cryptarchy

Vegan Dome Builders

Newsflash: blockchain was invented by slugs on Vega Prime (officially known to humans as Tau Ceti h.) These creatures adapted to the arid planet by building massive mucus domes. Instinctively or, perhaps in Darwinian fashion, they realized that a government based on mistrust was the only way to ensure that no slug was left behind. The ... Read more

Welcome to Universe #42

Infinite Boundary

Welcome to Universe #42. Had you arrived a millisecond earlier, you'd have missed me and probably would be on Universe #36,021, hiding from Vactors (or their minions.) Anyway, I'm glad you're here. It has been very lonely out here, so many light-years from Earth. The computer has rusted away to dust. In fact, everything has ... Read more

Bombs Away!

The drone ejects its deadly shell and now the bomb must drop. The watchman wildly tolls the bell to sound a warning peal. No magic wand or shield can stop what pain our town will feel. And yet, the pain the town might feel, transcends the mighty shell. Time itself is loathe to stop momentum ... Read more

Anubis and Artemis

Apocalypse Artemis

Methane seeped through the tunnels of abandoned mines. That there were no humans to detect it was testimony to the vicious war between the Angels of Hell and the Spartan dog God, Anubis IV. Mankind was caught in the crossfire, unprepared for fire, brimstone, natron and bitumen. The incendiary apocalypse destroyed every homo sapiens on ... Read more