Science Fiction


Sheryl watched TV and read the news on her phone. Lately, everything seemed to be in silence. She scrolled and scrolled, yet all she saw was news about new electronics, a huge scandal about some actor sleeping with a robot, and some bullshit the president said. Ominous, she thought as she locked her phone and set it aside. Why had the news suddenly dropped all the coverage from the violence lately? Just last week some poor couple had almost been killed at a parking lot, and it had been all over the news. No one ever found who did it. Seemed like whoever did it had made sure that their memories had been damaged enough that there was no visual record. When Kevin had heard, he’d raged, and wanted to join a violent activist group called “The Roses.” Sheryl had convinced him not to, but he complained every day, saying […]

The Cost of Happiness – Anxiety



William opened his eyes to an unfamiliar red hue. His entire body sore, he looked around momentarily in complete confusion. What? Where am I? A few feet from him, there was a building’s wall, a trashcan, and a bunch of bags. He lay against a wet brick wall covered. In fact, he sat in a pool of water on the cement. It had rained recently. An alley? God, he couldn’t remember what had happened. Had he had too much to drink? No, he had stopped that ever since he’d almost gotten fired from the force. And what the hell was the red hue to everything? His eyes burned, and he tried to rub his eyes with his hands, but the moment he tried, metal hit glass. What the hell? It took a moment to register, but when it did, his heart rate shot up, a beeping noise rang on his […]

The Curse





“Kevin, don’t do that,” Sheryl nagged. That was the third time she insisted, but he couldn’t keep his curiosity in check, so he knelt on the couch, staring out the living room window. “I’m sorry, it’s just that everything’s been freaky lately. The news keeps reporting about human and robot violence, and they keep telling people to stay safe at home.” Kevin turned to Sheryl, who was watching those news reports. “That’s why I keep telling you not to look out the window. You’re going to bring us attention. It’s better if we just watch a movie and relax. This will die down soon. It always does.” Kevin bit his lower lip. “How can you be sure they won’t come? It’s not like we’re a secret. You know people frown upon robots dating humans. Even our families don’t really approve of us.” Sheryl rolled her eyes and dragged him into […]

The News Reports





Emelie sat in silence, watching from her ship’s cockpit. God, she had fucked up royally on this one. The planet had been outstanding. It had extremely valuable resources, the type you only found in one out of a hundred star systems, and she was sure that success in this mission would’ve gotten her a promotion. But damn, she had completely underestimated the people of this planet. Within weeks, the damned conspiracy theories had started pushing out information about aliens being among them. And that quickly moved up to a lot of trouble with the government. And then they just started asking too many damn questions. Now, her finger lingered over the red button, the one she was only supposed to press in the case of an absolute failure. Shit, there went the promotion When she was young, she used to read the newspapers back home. Every other week, they talked […]

Aliens







"This country. It used to be great at one point." The man continued. "Back when I was young, we would've never allowed these robots the right to vote. They cleaned our toilets. They delivered our food. They served us. That's why they exist. They are tools, no different than a wrench or a pencil. But we allowed so much to get out of control that people, those confused by the liberal rhetoric, are marrying their god damned toasters!"

Injustice



She looks at his face. It’s peaceful as he lays in his casket. No. That doesn’t feel right. Even as she thinks the word, she wants to spit it out. Casket. His casket. She shudders. It doesn’t make sense. Not that long ago, he had laid on the grass of his backyard, looking up at the moon. She had sat next to him when he’d closed his eyes in a very similar way, a smile on his face as if he had nothing to worry about. No, this was not right. It was not fair. He should not have been in that stupid box. He would not have been in it if it weren’t for her stupid advice. On that day, he wrote her a text, which was already strange. He always preferred voice chat. On top of that, it was pretty late. She was up herself because she was […]

Extremes