Tag: Short Stories
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The Astrologer
In the annals of forgotten kingdoms, there lived an astrologer whose name has slipped from the tongues of men, but whose arrogance remains etched in the memory of history’s most peculiar fables. He was not an astrologer in the traditional sense, for his craft did not concern the mere movements of planets or the transient…
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The House of Shifting Sands
In this whodunit, Detective Harlan is called to a lavish mansion to solve the mysterious murder of the eccentric Lord Fitzroy. The mansion is filled with guests, each with their own secrets and motives. However, what makes this investigation bizarre is the presence of a relentless moving crew hired to clear the house. As Detective…
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All the way Down
Imagine a small, unremarkable town called Nered. The residents of Nered had a peculiar habit that became the stuff of local legend: they insisted on “marrying down” intellectually. It was a tradition as old as the town itself, rooted in a philosophy that prized mediocrity as the true mark of contentment. The townsfolk believed that…
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Confessions of a Neo-Reactionary
Scrolling through the neon-lit circus of digital fluff, where puppies prance in pixelated perfection and saccharine smiles drip like honey from the screen, I wasn’t prepared. I was lulled into complacency, eyes glazed, heart softened by the ceaseless parade of cuteness. They knew this. They all knew this. In between the fur and the fuzz,…
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The Baron Commissar
The Baron Commissar, his face a map of scars etched by shadows of power and betrayal, leaned in, eyes burning through the young officer. The room, a dank subterranean abyss, was lit by the flicker of a single, bare bulb, casting obscene, writhing shadows on the walls. “You see, my young acolyte,” the Baron intoned,…
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Strong People
Son, the world demands sacrifice! You play with fire, you expect a marshmallow roast? Absurd! Yet, your mother, bless her naive heart, coddles you like a prince. Freedom, they say? More like a participation trophy for existing! These science-worshipping simpletons wouldn’t recognize responsibility if it bit them – unlike you, of course. Son, the world…
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The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range
The air hung thick with the metallic tang of nostalgia and cordite. Elmer, a relic of Reagan’s microwave optimism, fumbled with the ancient beast in his suitcase from a bygone era where Brylcreem ruled and John Wayne reigned supreme. A chrome leviathan, a magnum opus of a bygone era, a phallic monument to simpler times. Inside, nestled in crimson velvet, lay…
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Gravity Slam
The mess hall reeked of lukewarm mystery meat and a pervasive sense of millennial ennui. PVT Tyrone Slothrop, a recruit with a name ripped from a forgotten paperback and eyes perpetually glazed over like a malfunctioning VR headset,poked listlessly at his tray. Across from him, Spc. Lester “Ramrod” Rodriguez scrolled through his chem-coated implant,a vapid stream of tactical memes and…
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Triplicate
Herbert W. Plinth, the Deputy Assistant Undersecretary for Paperwork Affairs at the Bureau of Red Tape, navigated the labyrinthine corridors of his own department with the weary resignation of a spelunker lost for decades. The air hung heavy with the metallic tang of old filing cabinets and the musky scent of decaying memos. Every surface…
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Budget Class
In the neon smog of Neo-San Francisco, where chrome skyscrapers scraped a perpetually polluted sky, lived Casey, a struggling pixel-pusher. His gig? Wrangling rogue code for pennies, a digital cowboy in a data-dusty frontier. His dream?Access to a decent AI. AI access was as stratified as the skyline. At the pinnacle, the titans of Silicon Valley sported bespoke AIs, crafted by hand…