The hum of the city outside was the only sound in Eddie's cramped apartment, the usual buzz of life muffled by the thick, insulated walls. He sat in the corner, his eyes fixed on the data pad in his hands, scrolling through the escape plan for what felt like the hundredth time. Everything had been carefully laid out—every step, every risk accounted for—but a cold knot twisted in his gut. Tonight was the night. Eddie could...

The canals were quieter than usual as Eddie steered his boat through the misty streets. The rain had eased, leaving behind a cool dampness that clung to the air, soaking into the city’s crumbling facade. Towering buildings, their lower floors drowned decades ago, stood as eerie monuments to what used to be. Above the waterline, clotheslines stretched like spiderwebs between windows, and faint neon signs hummed in the dist...

Eddie stepped off the skiff with practiced ease, his polished shoes tapping against the slick stone of the jetty. The rain was relentless, a dull mist that made the world feel both closer and farther away. Royce’s estate loomed ahead, a hulking silhouette against the gray sky, its iron gates rising like twisted fingers out of the water. The mansion, as grand as it was decaying, stood a few feet above the floodwaters, the...

"Watch ooout!" Mika entered the laundry room holding a pile of dirty laundry raised above her head. She dropped the pile on the floor and started stuffing sheets and duvet covers into free washing machines. Sarah and Jay, who happened to be in the laundry room, began to help. By the old tradition, this hotel network employed young girls as maids, from eighteen to twenty years old. The payment was decent and the duties wer...

Chapter 7: Deion, the Neighbor John closed his eyes as he began to shampoo his hair. That was when he saw the android in his mind's eye. "Are you okay, master? I was alerted to your physical and emotional conditions." He was startled by this, but didn't show it. "I'm okay. There's a lot to process, and I'm trying to take it one step at a time. It's just... our situation isn't allowing me enough time." "I understand. I wil...

Chapter One: Crash of Guilt John was at wit's end. Everything in his life seemed like it was crumbling. The economy was in shambles and he recently had lost his job due to cutbacks. To top it off, COVID had taken the only two things he cherished in life: his wife and daughter. His wife was a bit nitpicky and not the greatest cook in the world, but she was an excellent mother and naughty lover. Their beautiful daughter was...

  Earth date 1st April, 2121. Time 12h03m56s GMT. Space Station Alpha 69. Geostationary above Mars. Unmanned. Nothing to report. All systems functioning. *** Earth date 2nd April, 2121. Time 15h05m23s GMT. Space Station Alpha 69. Geostationary above Mars. Unmanned. Nothing to report. All systems functioning. *** Earth date 3rd April, 2121. Time 10h23m19s GMT. Space Station Alpha 69. Geostationary above Mars. Unmanned. Not...

Designed by man for men. Not hers, alone, Proposed, did she, a valentine monsieur. Designed by her, hydraulic blood of hers, His circuits etched amid testosterone. Though fabricated, they are neither drones Nor flesh. Yet bots with thoughts; commune, confer Their feedback sensor’d genitalia. A peg, a hole, and silly silicones.    As cookies, roses; protocols are hugs And kisses. Standard, not, port USB:  A Universal Sexy...

Everybody fucked their Android. It was to be expected. If you were a guy, and you were eighteen, and you had an android that did whatever you wanted, you would fuck it. It was no question.  You always remember the first time you realised androids were anatomically correct. For me, it happened when I was seventeen and I peeked on our android, Cynthia, while she was washing.  An android didn't have to clean under its unifor...

“It does not seem adequate,” the girl said, inspecting the cracks in her plating.  Dr. Morrison sighed, he’d explained this to the aliens time and again. Though their technological insight had provided the breakthrough necessary for his work, there were so many basic concepts the creatures struggled to understand. “This is a prototype,” Morrison repeated. “We will attach the rest of the organic matter once we have tested...

He took a sip of water and pressed on with the questioning. “So, Cristal, what is your earliest memory of a bad experience?” She wasn’t entirely sure why she needed these interviews, or even why she was being put forward for promotion. Sure, she could program computers in her sleep, it was that easy, but she was happy with that. She loved algorithms and she wasn’t looking for anything more. She looked at the top of his he...