Swampland

Swampland01

"Class, today is set aside for our recent graduates. Before embarking on his or her individual quest, each of them must complete the Sophist's Emancipation Course. "Successful completion of the SEC requires a demonstration of virtue, vigilance and vigor. Intelligence without purposeful action is as wasteful as an upended jug of water. Our graduates will ... Read more

Proxy Apocalypse - Molten Hail Reborn

Malware

"Let's invent a new game." Phineas stretched his mouth into an it's-a-beautiful-morning wake-up yawn. "Sure." Ferb, man of few words, scratched himself in pleasurable agreement. "I'm looking for inspiration. Say! This ancient desktop computer gives me an idea …." Phineas opened the rusty metal casing to reveal dust balls and wires. "Eh, never mind." As ... Read more

Ancient Sunday

Malware

The exploit was crude, but effective. Molten Hail—aptly named—melted through firewalls before freezing servers. The only survivors were hardened servers specifically designed to test every byte passing through their ports. It was one of these computers that Jeremy was analyzing when Bertha walked into the lab. "Hi, Jer. What do we have?" "Hell if I ... Read more

Alienation

Majestic Vista

Martians had no concept of prejudice. Their brains were wired like lobotomized slugs: each experience was new. Yet, their transcendent race had accumulated the wisdom to recognize xenophobia as it applied to them. I blanched at the unusual combination of smell and terror-inducing hisses emanating from my tour guide. “Plack manu frobbish, Gia?” What are ... Read more

Galactic Chess Champion Slain

Placeholder: Galactic

The checkmate was flawless. The bloody aftermath was more of a mess. Raven Spassky's body lay in a puddle of its own fluids, most of which had leaked from multiple holes in her flimsy aluminum armor. Whoever had said plasma was a source of clean energy had never fired a shot in anger. I'm glad ... Read more

The Wizard's Daughter

Corn Field At The Yellow Sunset

Tomorrow’s execution would be delayed no longer. All appeals had been exhausted; the wizard’s daughter refused to repent and the bishop had no choice but to make an example of her. To do anything less would only fuel the burgeoning unrest among the peasants. This close to the harvest, the king and his advisors were ... Read more