People are fucking animals. Biologically. Never forget that.
Civilized as many believe they are, the tenets of Maslow’s hierarchy run deep in the psyche. Challenge the basic needs for survival, and the degeneration into savagery is often rapid and blinding. Continue reading
The chain link junkyard behind the defunct ice house was his kingdom, and a wretched kingdom it was. Forgotten hulks of metal nested in the wire grass, a pitted and pocked hive of mechanical leprosy. Shattered shell fragments and crushed bone peppered the animal trails with the suggestion of long buried teeth. The perimeter fence was little more than a memory of security. The rusted tops of ivy laden chain link sagged several feet from the spindly array of barbed wire spanning above.
Some would call such a scene little more than a decrepit wasteland. The groundhog called it paradise. Continue reading
The city had always been home to Grenna, caressing her with the mercantile aroma of war and the languid touch of sewage. The storm seasons grew worse and the daily fallen now outweighed the newborn hope, but gods how she loved it! The savage thrum of power and the criss-crossing array of cultures were a breeding ground for dreams. That the goddess of sleep interlaced such wondrous moments of unconsciousness with nightmare was only fitting. A young girl could not afford to become placid. Not when that young girl intended to become a legendary purloiner. Continue reading
Pride. Pompousness. Self-importance. Arrogance. Machismo. Smugness. Asshattery. Call it what you will. I have no fucking time for it. None. If it were legal to punch smug people in the throat, I’d be known as the Larynx Crusher. Few things push my buttons equally well. Though willful ignorance is close. The moment you choose to stop learning should be the moment they put pennies on your eyelids. Never before. But I digress.
We were talking about conceit, and the only thing worse than one arrogant jackass is a host of them. Understanding your place, as an individual, and our place, as a species, in the universe is a defining element for your identity and consequently your belief structure and peace of mind. Such true perspective comes from appreciation of scope.
We are small. So very small. That does not mean insignificant, that our stardust selves don’t matter, only that petty notions, like conceit and greed and power, need to be kept in perspective. There is so much more than our tiny flecks of existence. How could anyone believe that they are the pinnacle of anything?
Give this ancient, boundless universe the respect it deserves. Then open your minds, and maybe, just maybe, the universe will give something back.
The Company has reprogrammed your mind so many times that you don’t even remember your real name anymore, only your codename: Rupture.
So what the hell is going on? One minute you’re running an op for Colonel Lincoln, despite what a bastard he is. The next thing you know, there’s a flash of bright green light and then a whole lot of nothing. You’re used to a few memory gaps with each new assignment, but come on, this is ridiculous!
You take a moment to assess what you now. Continue reading
Helix, Inc. is one of the big players in the area, but they have been under siege of late. The scattered news feeds have been filled with the aftermath of the corporate warfare, and in a bid to regroup, Helix has recruited a number of renegade Chromes from the district. A handful of these special individuals has been assigned to the Urban Response department.
New members of the primary Response Team are assigned to investigate and suppress an unknown element that has been setting fire to various Helix assets. Team members are informed by the department’s handler, Mr. Avix, that this mission is as much a tryout as it is an objective. Performances will be evaluated and one of the new recruits will not continue to serve as a Helix operative.
Times are tough and Helix could be a solid meal ticket for some time to come. Only one unlucky bastard wasn’t going to make the cut. Who is it going to be? Continue reading
When I slid the knife into her chest, I did not expect to face oblivion. She looked the hooker role as so many others before, but she bled the infinite. The black crevice between her nipples yawned, and I could not escape. I was consumed for an eternity. Six minutes of eternity. Continue reading
“Ya Crimson lout!” a voice barked at the viewscreen near the bar. Lasher paused in his reading, but only long enough to revisit an earlier snatch of the page he was studying. Slick Trixy’s was usually a quiet joint, but some inter-corporate competition was in final series this week, and the drinks sold well. The pencil scratched along the length of paper at his side, the graphite dance etching comforting vibrations along his wrist. His research into Helix, Incorporated revealed understandably little. R & D firm that upped the ante when the world went Chrome. An old song, but one they appeared to be singing better than most.
“Un-fucking-BELIEVABLE!” the same guy boomed out in time with a muted roar from the box. Ichabod moved along the length of the bar and tried to settle the rowdy patron, but the enthusiast was having none of it. He instead produced a compact air horn from his jacket pocket and rattled the bottles behind the bar with a piercing wail. Continue reading
Western civilization was collapsing, and not with the triumphant conflagration envisioned by the doomsayers and prophets. A blood poison simply ate along the pathways of society long enough that the heart could not overcome the cascade failure of the internal organs. Even when the wretched shit stink of corruption boiled into the daylight, enough blind eyes turned to allow the wounds to fester. The world saw it coming, but the disease had spread too far.
The Chromes finally put an end to the misery. Continue reading
“…wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he replied.
“Oh, come on, Michael, I’ll believe you,” the young lady pleaded.
“Janine, it’s just some old wives’ tale my grandfather used to tell us kids. Really it’s nothing,” Michael turned his lanky frame to leave. Janine didn’t make a move. He paused and turned back. She was giving him that look. God, how he hated that look.
“Alright, but don’t blame me if you can’t sleep tonight,” he said as he walked back into the library, “Thousands of books in this library and you grab the most foolish one.” Continue reading