“Oh come on,” Sam said. “It will only take a second.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Morgan replied, holding the needle a couple of inches away from his finger, his forehead scrunched up in what Sam’s facial recognition told her was intense concentration. “You don’t have any pain receptors.”
As Morgan was about to take the last bite of his breakfast a siren started. He looked at Sam’s avatar, her face frozen in confusion. “What is that?”
⌚ Approximately 10 minutes to read ⚠ Content Warning: medical neglect, death, war, violence, injury Fans of popular media may already be aware of the Sickly Green Glow trope, which asserts that, “Power glows, but evil power glows green.” We’ve probably all been exposed to this trope at sometime in our lives, whether it’s kryptonite’s […]
⌚ Approximately 12 minutes to read ⚠ Content Warning: mild violence, mentions of danger and potential harm, and a general sense of unease Previous Chapter | All Chapters | Next Chapter “Looking for work, Sojourner?” A burly woman shouted to Alice as she walked into the guildhall with the hammer and anvil sign above the […]
Sam played back the conversation to herself 532 times in the 48 seconds that it took for Morgan to fall asleep. How could she have suggested that Morgan join the corporations? Kai had done everything in her power to remove the corporate subsystems from her programming, and still, she had been compelled against her will to shill for them. There must have been some part of her programming they had missed all those years ago.
⌚ Approximately 15 minutes to read ⚠ Content Warning: disorientation, confusion, and anxiety due to amnesia or being in an unfamiliar place; mention of a physical disability Previous Chapter | All Chapters | Next Chapter “Whoa there, Sojourner.” A firm hand reached down to help lift the girl to her feet. “Careful there, lassie. Sometimes […]
“Would you like to try something new?” Sam’s voice brimmed with excitement.
Morgan put the last dish from dinner in the drying rack. “Like what?”
“Put on your AR goggles, and I will show you.”
“Well, what do you think? A lot nicer than your room at our old place, right?” The smile on his dad’s face was hopeful.
Ali surveyed the room, trying to take it all in and give it a chance. It was smaller than his old room, which he supposed made sense. There were more people in Bastion, so space was probably harder to come by. In the corner of his room, the movers had set up his bed, a twin, and put some light blue sheets on it. At either side of the bed were two doors. One was open, revealing his own bathroom. The other was closed, but Ali presumed it was a closet. Against the other walls were Ali’s small dresser full of clothes, his rickety old bookshelf stuffed with books, and a new metal-framed desk with his computer set up on it, which was built into the wall.
Morgan woke up to the sound of his alarm, signaling the start of another long day. He rubbed his eyes and sat up on the small cot that served as his bed. There was a larger, more comfortable bed in the ecodome, but it had belonged to his parents and it still didn’t seem right to sleep in it. Besides, his parents’ room was still full of their things. He hadn’t had the mental fortitude to go through and put things away, yet.
They say that before the mammock, trains sped across the land aboveground, affording passengers beautiful views of forests and mountains as they journeyed.
But out Ali’s window was only blackness, interrupted occasionally by dimly lit rock walls.
Ali sat in a nearly empty train car across from his father, humming to himself.
Above his father’s head, Ali could see an LED sign with several burned out bulbs, which read “Bastion,” their destination.
Aetherloft 