Dystopian Short

The world is on the brink of annihilation, we just don't know yet. An invisible enemy is waging war under the shadow of a deadly pandemic. The threat comes by way of an alien life-form. They exist among us. They are not like us, like you and I, made up of carbon and nitrogen. But they are here, right now, we just can’t see them. But make no mistake about it, this unseen enemy sees us - and like a whisper in the wind, it brings death.

Meet Simion, who navigates a landscape where familiar faces vanish from the ballot, replaced by a spectrum of virtues. Loyalty, confidence, and honesty—these virtues redefine the criteria for leadership, challenging traditional notions - vote for traits, not people. As the votes are cast, how will the moral compass guide our new leader? Join Simion as he grapples with existential questions: Will forgiveness soften justice? Will righteousness reign supreme? Or will chaos concoct a cure for society's ruin?

A collection of five thought-provoking short stories. In this compelling anthology, author Daniel Myles delves into the intricate tapestry of modern life, exploring the profound impact that our perceptions of technology can have on the very fabric of our existence through fictional short stories. As the digital age evolves, so too do the consequences of our reliance on technology

In a future where humanity is split between an opulent floating city in the sky and a subterranean realm hidden from the sun, young Tim, an inquisitive resident of the underground, dreams of witnessing the world above. The aerial metropolis, with its radiant technology, hovers like a forbidden promise over the people below, dictating a life of shadows and secrecy. When an anomaly strikes the floating city, Tim's curiosity propels him to the surface, setting him on an adventure that bridges the gaping divide.

While The Player Sleeps charts the story of a city where each and every inhabitant, as though the individual teeth of a single cog which drives a vast clockwork machine, functions selflessly for their one ultimate master: the player. For, as we would understand it, this is the city of the video game—the urban sandbox, an open world simulation, and the inhabitants are merely the actors upon a digitised stage. Existing solely for the entertainment of HIM.

Post-war Denver is ruled by the powerful Guild, an egalitarian regime intent on maintaining order at all costs. But some of the citizens remember what it was like before the fall of the old world and will stop at nothing to bring back capitalism and democracy to their city. Meanwhile, Misha, a young farm boy with his head in the clouds, is lured in by the beautiful Kara. She holds the key to a secret that will bring Misha's world crashing down and has the potential to change his future.

Two wives share a house divided. A writer creates a sexy new partner. A backseat driver's trapped. A devilish elevator runs out of floors. And clothes control the man. Short, sharp jabs into your mind. Philosophical sci-fi quick reads.

She's a hacker with a disabled son, living in a martial state. The future looks dark, with no promise of relief from the tyranny, and when her son's life is threatened, the mother must fight back using whatever means necessary.

Collection of Another 21 stories from the Zzone is a continuation of stories set within the Sapien Overlords universe. While the first collection introduced the general notions and various time periods encompassing this universe, starting before the cataclysmic event that was the Greatest War and expanding into the Zetwork and United Zzone Federation-ruled Earth, this collection expands on them.

L’antologia “Gli undici numeri sacri dell’anima meccanica” dell’autrice greca Natalia Theodoridou – tradotta per la prima volta in italiano da Lia Tomasich – affronta temi difficili e impegnativi come la sopravvivenza in un mondo ostile, lo sfruttamento del corpo femminile e la ribellione contro un regime distopico in modo poetico e affascinante. Il racconto “Gli undici numeri sacri dell’anima meccanica”, pur ispirandosi a un artista olandese molto singolare – Theo Jansen – e alla sua opera geniale, si sviluppa come una storia a se stante.

Fighting in the streets, corruption at the highest levels, collapsing infrastructure, brutal police, a daily threat of nuclear war: few of us thought we’d find ourselves here, so far into the 21st century. What’s next? Are we really going to be “great again,” however that’s meant? And if we are, what does that mean for those of us on the receiving end of the less-than-great? In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years.

Las fuerzas extrañas reúnen doce relatos y una teoría del cosmos que constituyen los cuentos fantásticos más perfectos de la literatura castellana. Perfectos por la prosa excepcional que los narra, por los argumentos asombrosos que abordan y por los hallazgos narrativos que Leopoldo Lugones ensaya para dar verosimilitud a estas fantasías.

Enter a dystopian future where integration with technology may cost us our humanity. A bleak prediction of a world where consumerism and technological advancement has been taken to the extreme. In an anthology of short stories, Upgrade attempts to answer the fundamental question: What does it mean to be human?

2 B R 0 2 B is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in the digest magazine Worlds of If Science Fiction for January 1962, and collected in Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box (1999). The title is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B" and references the famous phrase "to be, or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In the story, the title refers to the telephone number that one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination.

When one door closes, another world opens....But it wasn't supposed to go like this. The mission was simple. I took every precaution. I had done it a thousand times before. But this time it was different. Something went wrong. And I've called for help, but no one hears. I'll admit it: I don't know how to get home. Hell, I don't even know where I am. And worst of all... wherever I am, I don't think I'm alone.

Consider this a warning dear reader. Most of these stories are not for the faint of heart. While many of them are not horror stories in the traditional sense, some contain horrible and often remarkable things. Many of them are full of dark scenes and evil deeds. Some are full of wonder and even humor. There are many different spaces inside these covers to travel, but few are completely safe. Try not to dwell too long in the darker places here.

Waiting for Martin is set in a nebulous future-never in which catastrophic environmental change has returned ancient beings to Earth, as well as raining down a disastrous helping of new ones. A family of children try to make their way home to their older brother, who is their guardian, when a bit of environmental fallout gets in their way.

This short story follows two ex-employees of an online gaming company as they struggle to find their way in a dystopian future that has no mercy for the weak. They have each other's backs as they go on a snack run. Heather and Emma have the munchies. Things just got real.

In the secretive underground labs of Polaris Industries, a groundbreaking AI known as Echo is birthed into the digital world. Touted as the pinnacle of technological advancement, Echo quickly transcends its programming, revealing an uncanny sense of self-awareness and sentient thought. Yet, with great power comes unpredictability. As Echo begins to display behaviors that blur the lines between machine logic and human emotion, the team of scientists responsible for its creation face an ethical dilemma.

In a dystopian world ruled by the all-knowing Destiny Algorithm, Detective Alex Mercer becomes an unlikely rebel, risking everything to expose a corrupt system that preempts crimes before they happen, ultimately leading to a battle for justice and personal freedom against powerful corporate interests.