Tenever landed hard, his wards snapping along with several ribs. Struggled, mind blank with pain, under the weight of Ferris' charred and burned body. Pushed and squeezed, wriggled and crawled out from under the remains of a man who had once been a frie-

…

Sultana pulled Felicity up on her feet, "You know what tonight is, right?"

"Yeah, it's the stupid after party," Felicity frowned.

"No, I mean... tonight." Felicity's friend's eyes glowed.

~

A full moon lit hung in the sky as the girls undressed themselves…

Marcos massaged his temple with a thick thumb. "Good party last night."

I offered him some of my Water Plus. "You never know which one will be your last."

He didn't grimace or laugh, just nodded as he accepted my canteen. He knew the stakes. We all did.…

I raised my glass of Southern Comfort to the lone cupcake. "Cheers."

The whiskey was sweet and warm but didn't sit right in my stomach. Groaning, I set the glass back on the stained table, which was sad and bare except for the cupcake and the whiskey.

M…

Tenever watched himself bring Sadie back with the craftsman's satisfaction, knowing his protective wards had served their use. He remembered this particular layer, for use in situations just like this. In case of his own incapacitation through manipulatio…

Let's get down to business,

Let's talk.

Your selfishness has grown and grown,

To the point of no return.

See, you are the baby girl of the family,

Everyone caters to your every whim,

You think that you are the be all end all..

But let me stop you right th…

Apart from Ryle, the other thing that the captain (and, of course, he would not be the first to do so) would ask about was the shooting. And, since there was nothing but my own supposition, I was more than happy to tell him about marksmanship.

There are …

There was a camera - small, hidden - mounted on the hood of Trinity Keane's car, scanning forward in millimeter-wave, visible, and infrared. All of this transmitted itself to her bionic eye, in an offputting but, she had to admit, useful way - the visible…

He gazes up from his desk

At the pencil-slanted rain

A myriad little stories

Creeping down his window pane

As his hand fondles his pen

Potential from within

He wonders what to write

What they will think of him

Too many to catch

With his flimsy net

Ideas w…

The lantern swung indolently from its fixture, casting skulking shadows around the stone cell. The only sound was the steady drip, drip of water between the stonework, falling gently onto the figure strewn out on the cold lockup floor. The woman bore mark…

Forswear sesquipidalian garrulousness, communicating antidisestablishmentarian memoranda.

"So that's what that does," I said as the stars went out, "I'd always wondered."

The battery of sensors in the hood of the police car tracked the signal, the shining beacon of radio waves emanating from the van. It plotted the location onto a GPS map in the dashboard.

Meanwhile, a small army of police waited behind the barricade. Near…

(This was written under the influence of two bottles of wine and a complete disregard for grammar)

There is a belief that, if you look close enough at the bark of trees, you'll see yourself in the grooves.

You, who are made of flesh and blood and mushy…

Sadie straightened and cast around for Astarlane. She spotted her bracing against a rock a few dozen metres distant, getting to her feet.

In the distance, there was unmistakably orcish shouting. Sadie motioned for close formation and advanced slowly.

Gu…

The record turned, the sound of white noise held my attention more than the music. I wanted to drown in it, like waves of the ocean. Suddenly it was too overwhelming, the music, the ocean of static, my restlessness. I turned it off, the record needle gri…

Sadie dodged Tenever's second blow, instinctively returning a feinting hit that caught him in the side. He collapsed under the force of the strike, grabbing her shoulders instead.

"Sadie!"

She twisted her shoulders to throw him, reaching for her combat …

You wake to the shivers of dreaming, cold sweats and stifling, suffocating, scratching sheets.

Torn into reality like paper.

It leaks through the holes like static, influences and misdirects, reality as uncomfortable as the humidity soaking through st…

The old man wasn't the only person in the van. In the driver's compartment, Trinity Keane switched between police stations. The content was almost entirely banal - robberies, traffic, drug possession, et cetera - but now and then, the interesting happened…

The opening was busy but dull for Felicity. Her sisters passively told her she was in the way and eventually, instead of trying to help, she sat on the curb outside the shop. Sultana plopped down next to her on the scorched sidewalk.

"Heya. They knock ya …

Sadie sat in silence with four others while their up-armored civilian vehicle swerved through the afternoon traffic towards the hostage site. Every piece of equipment gleamed, new and fit-for-purpose - a stark contrast to her military days. In private mil…

The first police presence came in the form of a formation of drones, small and silver, hardly visible in the morning light. They flew from their base, along Hyacinth Street, and collectively pulled into a dive as they approached.

An unobtrusive antenna at…

"Son," he rasped, laying in his bed, sweating through the sheets.

"I'm here, Dad."

"Son, I need you to make the delivery."

"Dad, I'm not part of this family business! I made my life elsewhere!"

Coughing erupted from the old man and lasted for a full 30 se…

Of all the hazards Astarlane had dealt with in the past, psychotropics were by far the worst. Raiders, toxics, traps - those, she felt, were honest dangers.

But the psychotropics weren't like that. They used you - used your inner demons against you. It …

I had to go, I could not take him with me. I left him in his cage.

Something happened. It happened almost too fast to react to it. As I drive down the freeway, I think about him. I left Oscar in the care of a friend, even though I knew my friend was not …