Original date: June 16th 2020 I’d originally considered the concept of uploading someone’s mind into a computer as creepy, then pointless, then, when I got ill, intriguing. I’d been a sceptic for such a long time, though, that it was hard for me to admit I’d changed my mind. By the time I was wondering […]
Category: Fiction
Original date: June 10th 2020 The Gazette was an unexpected offshoot of the development of Artificial Intelligence. The implications of its contents went far beyond the events it described. The Gazette was inspired by similar periodicals published in Great Britain in the 19th century: dull catalogues of everything that happened in a town, from births, marriages […]
Original date: June 8th 2020 In the country of D________ there are two large Zones just outside the capital city. These Zones are large enough for many distinct groups of people to gather at agreed times, for agreed purposes. The Zones were established by a wise lawmaker who governed one of the towns near to […]
No one knows when the Voices began. Some theorests say that they have been audible since the dawn of time. To those peoples’ hypothesis, the Voices originate from beyond Earth, and began as the accidental outpourings of transmissions from a distant planet. It was only later, when the originators of the Voices realised we were […]
Original date: June 3rd 2020 In the 16th century they might have called me a witch. That would be inaccurate on several counts. Firstly, it would be unfair on the witches of the time to charge them with the crimes I am intent on committing. It would negate the reality of good works on their […]
Original date: June 1st 2020 There was a queue in Heaven. This might or might not be the Heaven you imagine, or are hoping for. It is merely a Heaven. I suppose it partly depends on your views on queueing. The queue was not a physical queue, and would not have been even if Heaven […]
Original date: May 28th 2020 As a journalist, I’m constantly on the look-out for inspiration. I cut my teeth on a local tabloid that required hardly more than a village incident to fill all its pages. Like that time a car screamed to a halt outside the pub, the woman driving it stalking into the […]
I had to get in touch with one of my exes. Any ex would do, really, though I’d decided it would have to be a more recent one. He’d be able to tell me if I’d ever sleep-walked when we were together. Perhaps I needed to get in touch with quite a few people I’d […]
The most far-reaching side-effect of the planet Nibiru’s colonisation was the discovery of the Nimrod crystals. These crystals had many industrial uses, like cutting edges and drill bits and catalysing agents in the manufacture of non-biological washing up liquid, but they could also be used to construct batteries which were charged by the energy of […]
The flies! the bloody flies! As soon as we get a bit of warmth, a bit of sun, you have to keep all the windows and doors closed unless you want a massive black buzzing blob to-ing and fro-ing across your field of vision while you’re trying to work. Or one gently landing on you […]