Rocket Science: Chapter 6 – A short history of the Orion Arm
Dan WildPrevious Chapter He preferred to think he’d consulted a prophet, not a psychiatrist. That’s what he told Elysia in Server Assembly. She had been quite surprised how quickly he wired cords to their correct patch panels. He asked her about the final message from his psychological readout. “It means what it says. There is no …
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Rocket Science: Chapter 5 – A candle and the shadow
Dan WildPrevious Chapter A rising hum passed through his entire range of hearing, like the proposed Ravel-Class Dreamliner lulling passengers to sleep. He had a sudden vision that maybe he should have done Flight Attendancy. Bags flashed through his mind: leather bags, suitcases, knapsacks, pouches, rucksacks, backpacks, bumbags, plastic bags, swags, beanbags, handbags. He saw every …
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Rocket Science: Chapter 4 – Update the PriMate
Dan WildPrevious Chapter The PriMate tried its best analysing Chuck Marley, but he hadn’t installed the recent updates. In fact he hadn’t updated it in quite some time. His room was stuffy, and dietary feedback had been deactivated. Marley’s attempt at biophysical independence had backfired. His shower sprayed him with a bodywash that was perfect for …
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Rocket Science: Chapter 2 – A haircut, red dust and Octomaids
Dan WildPrevious Chapter Marley had not taken Interspecies Liaison seriously. Presentation was important, so the first requirement – have a haircut. He recalled his visit to the Bad Ends. The hairdresser had asked, “Do you want to look like him?” He pointed to a picture of Frisky Benjamin, the famous C-grade actor. And the haircut was …
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Rocket Science: Tales from the Orion Arm
Dan WildChapter 1 – The Omniverse The Multiverse was in a particularly bad mood when it first noticed Chuck Marley. It had just snacked on Y77, a small test universe on the fringes of imagination. Y77 was a failed universe and the Multiverse decided to eat it and start again. However, the ingestion of Y77 left …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 51-69
Dan WildPrevious.. Invocatio: To its own substance; woven tracery ran Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o’er The solid rind, like a leaf’s veined fan— Of which Love scooped this boat—and with soft motion Piloted it round the circumfluous Ocean. –Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Witch of Atlas, XXXIII, 308 51The bath continued… The river Lethe …
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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 42-50
Dan WildPrevious… 42[This stanza has intentionally been left blank] 43He slunk into the bath after high tea,Bringing a wafer wiv ‘im. Today he’d sayGoodbye to innocence, as minstrelsyBeckoned – he hoped he’d be able to stayThe course of his dream, but what could allayThe fear? Failure was no longer an optionTo be contemplated at break of …
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A strange vortex sucks in my Mr R–, Constable Sedgewick, myself, and a pigeon
John PolidoriThe second instalment of a speculative account of the death of John William Polidori.Link to first instalment. It crossed my mind that I was dead. How I surveyed the situation I cannot say. I knew I wasn’t imagining things, but at the same time I could not imagine what would happen next. My perception was …
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Polidori’s Date with Destiny: An Elaborate Fiction
John PolidoriBeneath its weight man pauses in his willAnd crouches at the dark-robed phantom’s feet : The Fall of the Angels, To The Deity, John Polidori, 1821 My eyes struggled towards the lazy light from the half-open window. I rolled on the bed delirious, my eyes stared at the wooden floor. I just managed to incline …
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