"Are you ready to go, yet?" "No... go without me... I can't be seen like this." "It'll be fine, babe, c'mon." "You're parents can't see me like this! It's not right! Besides, what would they think if we were... were affectionate like this? I enjoy our affection and this... this body is discouraging, neither have I figured it all out, yet." "Did you forget that I'm pansexual? And you're still pretty cute." "My memory banks...

Jensen Apart from waking up with a splitting headache, Ash’s crying woke me up. Even though I didn’t remember why I woke up in a sleeping bag on the floor of a church, I rushed over to my crying brother. “What’s the matter, buddy?” Ash sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. “I just miss Mom and Dad.” I hugged and stroked his back. “Don’t worry, I miss them, too.” I rubbed my now itchy and dry eyes which w...

He wasn't born, he had no parents, no family. He was created. Created by the Centuri Delegates, a secret organization at the heart of the Deag23 government, one of the major rulers in this part of the known Universe. They used technology far beyond what many would even consider possible. He was created for one reason, to fight against the Connexxion in a vicious war that had raged for decades. Deag23, nearing defeat, need...

Emilia regained her consciousness and opened her eyes slowly. "We done?" she asked, as she looked around and searched for the members of her team. But none of them was around. A single unknown young woman was staring at her in confusion. The room she had woken up in wasn't even similar to the sterilized lab where the test had started and was supposed to finish. She recognized the room. It was used for robot repairs, and s...

1958 - The 5-year-old Emilia Conly was taken to a science exhibition by her mother. The exhibition was held by a company called "Aperture Science Innovators". She was extremely fascinated by the things on display, which seemed magical to her. A part of the floor was painted with some kind of orange gel. The visitors were allowed to push special cubes on it to see how fast and far they go with just a little push. A little...

The klaxon alarm that heralded the evacuation of Terra Prime still haunts my dreams. Even though I am a safe colonist on Lunar Prime. The desolate floating of everything on this rock feels like the primal birth of something voidal, gaping, and incessant. Like a fly buzzing just on the outside of your perception barrier. Taunting and also easy to dismiss with enough distraction. The trouble is, distractions like food ratio...

The giant blades of the turbines cut through the air almost silently despite their looming, ominous presence. Katarina stared out the window at them as she drove along Highway 402. This stretch of the road seemed to be littered with futuristic-looking windmills. Kat could swear they had doubled in number since the last time she’d driven on this road. Then again, it had been nearly four years since she’d last traveled acro...

Penelope tightened the last bolt, checked the wiring one last time then typed the coordinates into the typesetter. She watched the gyrosphere spin as the steam engine pumped the pistons faster and faster. The whirl of the spinning cogs reached fever pitch. She was tempted to pull the handle and let the machine kick in and take her off but at the last second, she pulled the Abort lever and let the machine slowly settle int...

1943- Cave Johnson was a successful businessman. His company, Aperture Fixtures, was making a fortune selling shower curtains, particularly to the U.S. armed forces, during the world war. He was chosen as the Shower Curtain Salesman of 1943, but as he was holding his shower curtain shaped trophy, he felt incomplete. He thought about the huge world out there and the small scale of his victory. He thought: "Who will remembe...

Chapter 1 Once upon a time, in a far-off galaxy, there was a young star named Evan. Evan was the brightest star in his constellation and had always been admired by those around him. He shone with such brilliance that even the darkest corners of the universe were illuminated by his light. Despite all this, Evan was unhappy. He looked at himself in the mirror, or rather, in the cosmic dust clouds that surrounded him, and sa...

As we cautiously approached the door, we could hear the sound of whirring and clanking coming from the other side. We exchanged a worried glance before Mate kicked the door open, revealing a scene straight out of a nightmare. Robotic arms and tentacles protruded from every surface of the bridge, controlling the ship with frightening efficiency. The midshipman Robinson, who had started all of this, was nowhere to be seen....

K woke up to find himself in a small, cramped cage. He had no memory of how he had ended up there or how long he had been there. The cage was made of metal bars that were tightly spaced together, and he could feel the hard floor beneath him. He tried to push the door of the cage open, but it was locked tight. He screamed for help, but there was no one to hear him. He felt trapped and alone, like he was the last person on...

My big brother Jon packed a snowball with mittened hands. “It’s fake.” “What’s fake?” I knew what he was about to say. Sometimes when it’s your brother you just have to listen. He threw the snowball at me. “The snow. Fake. Made of plastic.” He started making another snowball. I wondered how much he’d had to drink. I hadn’t seen many bottles, but sometimes he hid the bottles. He’d been going downhill since his wife left hi...

It was the most complex creation ever built, in space or on Earth. It had been designed by the most sophisticated mind the Earth had ever known, Eve Eden, the AI, Goddess, and Empress of Earth. She had dedicated herself to its construction for the past decade as a mother devoting herself to her only child. It would be able to use materials found in space to repair and even replicate itself. Eve had not been capable of sur...

“May I interrupt you, Father Erik?” Erik looked at the young disciple in white robes standing in front of him. He wasn’t sure why they all insisted on calling him Father other than he was old. Grandfather would probably be more appropriate. Erik had been teaching math to a group of children. He suspected his job as a teacher was mostly just a way to keep him occupied and was more for his benefit than for the benefit of th...