when I was fifteen my younger brother slapped me hard in the face to prove to us both that he was the stronger faster meaner one.
Read MoreExperimental Protocol for the Coronal Sectioning and Assessment of a Human Soul
It had all sounded reasonable enough, and she had privately welcomed the break from the crowds and the terror and horror and, far worse, pity in their eyes. That remained in the private showings, of course. But at least she faced fewer eyes. But the additional coin had never manifested. Not that she trusted Miguel—no one did—but she did trust Sophie, and Sophie frequently worked the ticket booth.
Read MoreCarnival Ever After
She had a poetic edge to her words and used them in full cascade to warn you. She had been in your place years ago, down to receiving the summer offer from Grey & Tender, LLP. But she got out before the transformation took. She still has the slightest point to her ears. A crystalline cast to her fingers where the nails are sharper than they should be. No longer keratin. Some sort of polished chitin.
Read MoreThe Big Glass Box and the Boys Inside
BR@X15 found it odd to hear those words coming through the air, the way humans communicated—back when there were humans to communicate—rather than having those words transfer silently and electronically from one robot to another, audible only the way its own thoughts were. But they’d analyzed their situation, calculated the energy drawn that way versus potential replenishments, and determined this method would be less of a power drain, so that’s how all communications between the two had gone in recent days.
Read MoreLearning to Accept What’s to Come
She’d told me the story of her ancestor one steamy afternoon after I’d chanced upon an old box containing crumbling papers with the formula to Butirub in an ancient teak cupboard in her crumbling north Kolkata home. I’d been rooting around for condoms and so hadn’t really been in the mood for ancient documents at the time because Tarini had been in bed next to the cupboard, naked and laughing and glistening impatiently under a creaking fan.
Read MoreButirub
The woman who had brought him to the bunk room told Sam he must not think about what things had been like before. It would make him sad and make other people remember. Now was all there was left.
Read MoreObservations of a Small Object in Decaying Orbit
Ibrahima looked at him, and then away, back at the beam. Perhaps the Caliphate did get paid in return, perhaps the Caliph was sitting on velvet cushions drinking water teased from honey and dew. Perhaps. But the same way the tingling in his veins felt like he owned the world, he knew something more sinister was at play.
Read MoreThe Satellite Charmer
There’s a knock at the door.
I lift my eyes from the screen and wonder how long I’ve been sitting here at Miriam’s desk, where I found her, dead, yesterday morning.
Read MoreThe Words
It began with a phone call. It always begins with a phone call. He had been out on his own, living his life, when he received the second of the worst two calls of his life. Something had happened to his sister at college. That’s all they would say. He needed to come down because someone had hurt her. His baby sister. Someone had actually hurt his baby sister.
Read MoreThe Healer