In a world where convenience is synonymous with the use of AI run systems, a simple glitch threatens to thwart the success rate of the simplest of tasks, to the most crucial. From a morning shower or an office commute to vehicular safety and the proper function of augmented body parts.
Lisa is born into a transitional period in the history of her country, right at the tail end of a charged era. The characters within her small, nuclear family and a friend or two affect the topics of each essay in this short but punchy collection.
Imhotep buzzes under the light of a new day. He can hardly contain his excitement for what lies in wait for him downriver, at the first cataract and beyond. Mild impatience stirs within him as he waits for his father, wanting to bid him farewell before his departure. As his father’s vessel draws into port, Imhotep and his family are confronted with their patriarch’s premature passing.
William Darnbrough’s world within the small confines of his town in Illinois is too small to reconcile. Armed with a killer pitching arm and a dream, he travels to Denver in tantalizing pursuit of making it all the way to the big leagues; a life of sin, if you were to ask his baseball-hating mother. Yet the thirst for something bigger doesn’t end with Denver, or a tour of the better parts of his country. Bill Darnbrough can feel his destiny summon him from the other side of the pond, and he intends to heed its call, no matter what it takes, and what, or who, he has to leave behind.
A new team of Sentinels is born with Omar, the Hydrologist Institute’s representatives at the helm of it. Lily, the Aerotrooper Militia’s chosen Sentinel, brings quips along with her wherever she goes. Ash’s desire for violence, as is the way of the Fire Tribe, burns brightly despite the unusual political plot which planted her firmly in a role where her battle lust would go unfulfilled.
As a kid, Peter Crane dreams of summiting Snowmass Mountain from his home on Mount Sopris. Leading his herd all the way up to Snowmass’ lofty peaks; an impossible height for natural predators to overcome, A place where their peace would always abound. His ambitions drive his pursuit of practical knowledge on mountain goat survival. Under the guidance of his mother and Albert Whitehead, his herd’s leader, Peter is presented with several lessons on life that will demand his discernment if he is to progress into the leadership role that occupies space in his nightly visions.
Upon emerging from a portal and being thrust into the coolness of the night, a raven-haired Polly finds herself in the midst of the small desert settlement she calls home. Except it isn’t the home she has always known. Her father, Hector, can’t be found in what was once their family home. There is no record of her own existence to be found. Stranger still, a visit to Portal—a scientific research and experiment facility—reveals her mother, who had previously died giving birth to Polly, alive and well, thriving in her chosen career. Everything is wrong, and Polly has to work fast to untangle the threads of the confusing series of events at hand to save everyone in her town and beyond from the threat of what lies on the other side of the portals scientists out in the Australian bush—where her hometown lies—are tampering with.
Nick finds himself in trouble. This isn’t the first time he’s slipped up in this exact same way. And knowing the extreme naïveté of a ghoulie, it is unlikely to be the last. Accused of theft first thing in the morning then promptly fired from his job before returning home to find himself locked out of his apartment douses Nick’s spirit of all hope. His misery compounds further with the stomach churning knowledge of his debt; hundreds of thousands of credits owed to the all-round miscreant named Urk. A failure to pay holds a summary execution as its only consequence.
Savasana, a pose intended to relax the tension from one’s body at the end of their yoga practice, lays Mario Vincenti’s body to rest forever. Under the brightness of the Sydney sun, his untimely passing gives literal meaning to this posture. According to his fellow practitioner, Richard, Mario’s death was not accidental. Yoga instructor and studio owner Elaina follows Richard’s lead as they task themselves with solving the mystery of Mario’s death.
Jo Hart, a Jungian Psychologist by profession, becomes an unwilling participant in a psychedelic drug program upon awakening from a very public psychotic episode..
