Nellis Air Station was our first stop, the closest site to Yucca Mountain with the facilities to handle our transport plane and the little half-squadron of robotic deathbirds that had followed us.

Now we were cruising over the Las Vegas suburbs, stuffed …

I knew no matter how I dressed I would find a way to regret it, so I chose comfort, since that was the one thing which would be in short supply.

And right I was, after a quiet greeting, from the moment I was admitted into the foyer and we walked along the…

There are times like this when I feel you've drifted so far away that I don't know you anymore. The disconnect is so complete that I can't guess what you are doing right now. Your schedule and mine no longer sync up, our timelines are separated, and histo…

Lenn poured soup into the thermos lid that doubled as a cup. “I guess we'll start with broth first. All the good stuff is staying at the bottom.”

Liv wrapped both hands around the proffered cup and sipped. Lenn took to the other side of the bed causing i…

"Ain't natural, Karl."

"'Course not."

"Fog's 'sposed to burn up in sunlight, not pile up against the edge of a man's property like it's beatin' on a wall."

"Ever'body knows that, Carl."

"Yeah? Well somebody 'parently forgot to tell ol' man Hemp. Ain't n…

Being adrift in space in a rescue pod is freaking scary. First, you just lost your HOME in space in some disaster, all your stuff, everything that kept you alive. Second, you were floating out there after you ran out of fuel sending a distress signal out …

CRACK!

All magic comes with a price, and Taka was regretting the drawback of the particular protective potion she had just imbibed. While it dulled the sting of her opressors' whips, it bound her to the Earth, slowing her movements. Already slower than…

The pair continued much as before, though their time spent together grew more intimate and more frequent. Taka tried to split her time evenly between spending time with her family, helping Fakura with the fireworks, and enjoying Keshintai's company, but t…

"Is it correct that those present are only: Lieutenant Georgia Whitmore and Chief Petty Officer Boris Nenashev?"

I tapped "yes" on the onscreen prompt.

A synthetic voice began reading along as further text appeared.

"Voice interface authorized. Lt. Whi…

“My names Lennart Larsson. I'm looking for the occupant of 163 C.”

“Goddamnit, Lenny.” A disgusted voice said.

Lenn's gut twisted. The voice belonged to Liv's brother, Ruger. What was he doing here? He didn't even live in Japan. Still, he rallied gamely…

Three-hundred twenty-three mind-numbing steps later, he had crossed the second street, and followed the labyrinthine path through the body of Liv's apartment complex. There must have been stoppages here because the water flowed slower and he didn't have t…

Threading through the streets, past storefronts that still had power, Lenn kept one hand on his wallet and used the other to hold his poncho's hood closed. The rain had been hammering the city for five unrelenting days and it wasn't scheduled to let up fo…

At the restaurant, I sat across from him, fidgeting with my straw wrapper. What was I supposed to say to him? Up until five minutes before, I had never even seen him in person. He was just a name in my phone contacts, a person I'd texted a few times ea…

There were over five thousand individual signatures in the KGX/STP Level 4 concourse. If I had wished, I could have called up gender/age group/life expectancy graphs for them, or details on any single individual. I knew everything the city knew.

I also k…

I stared at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep. The bench/cot…thing I was lying on was built of brushed steel and the padding was torn up. The holding cell wasn't much better—the front wall was constructed entirely out of reinforced glass, and the sterile, off…

Beckton applied pressure to the wound through Newkirk's wadded-up coat, leaning in and using both hands. His attempts were met with no success, even after Silvertown joined him.

A noise came from behind, a rhythmic thump of boots against a wooden floor. …

"I am glad to see that you survived!" C:\ said, hugging me warmly.

"Who's this nut?" Acrylic asked, an annoyed edge to his voice.

I ignored him for now. "We lost one."

C:\'s brow furrowed. "Fetus?"

I nodded.

"We tried, boss," noted Hard Drive, quietl…

It's a chocolate kind of day.

I went to work, even though I felt physically ill. I'd already been to the restroom 4 times and I was hoping that was it. I had to work, because of the 3 of us in charge, one of us was already gone. I couldn't bail.

I moved…

My brother Sydney, Doctor Ferris, and my darling Annabelle mourned me....but I'm not gone.

It faltered; the gash I'd opened enveloped me as we both smothered in muddy ichor.

If you ever feel empty,

Tell me, please.

I have bountiful love

I’m hoping to help you

Fill the gap and help you feel whole.

And because I have this love,

I have another offer for you:

If it’s not me you need,

I’ll willingly help you to find

The things you…

You wait, but there are no lights. The elevator doesn't seem to be working, and you can't stand to wait any more. You get moving.

Tory was staring up at the slanted mirror hooked to the ceiling; Pips's gaze was fixed on the shattered remains of his mocha flagon, in twenty-three pieces on the floor. As the CD unit restarted with "You're my Everything," their eyes started in towards e…

The house on the hill looked like an aged porn star. Enough work had been done to make it superficially attractive but the closer you got, the more you could see the lived in lines of time. Knowing windows watch relentlessly and people who have stared dee…

You press your face against the glass of the door, obviously NOT one that is on fire, and try to see if the fire truck is here.

You can't see much, but evidently, the truck is indeed here.

You realize this when the glass door smashes open suddenly, dest…