It was a gray day—overcast but bright, and the brightness amplified by a patchwork of melting snow. Cold puddles formed in the mud like tidepools along the shore of some vast alkaline ocean, still and lifeless. Karsaca remained vigilant, her finger at the ready, and tried not to think about the dryness of her eyes… Continue reading Bait
Author: D. Roe Shocky
I’m an author of short stories and novels. I primarily write science fiction, though I occasionally visit other corners of the speculative fiction map.
Yuna’s Demon
There was a chill in the night air. Yuna stretched her long sleeves down over her palms and held them in place while she bounced lightly through damp underbrush on her way to the river. She had to go speak to her demon. There was a cherry tree down by the bank, and Yuna stopped… Continue reading Yuna’s Demon
Freewheeler
Brena sat by herself on the floor of her small dirt-covered habitat, sipping tea. Above her was her only window: a circular borehole filled with still water—for the radiation—terminating in a skylight. Through it was the familiar splash of the Milky Way spilled across the night sky. She didn't look up. Didn't need to. A… Continue reading Freewheeler
Thermostat
This time the hackers had landed a winning blow, striking at the very heart of the modern American business office: the thermostat. Damn, these guys were good. Now the fine people of Berg Magnetics were forced to wear their puffy coats and earmuffs indoors, trying awkwardly to make sales calls with chattering teeth and type… Continue reading Thermostat
Godsend
Spiro sat at his Steinway classic grand piano. It was black and polished like volcanic glass, and darkly reflected his scowl. One hand softly tapped out a sullen melody while he smoked what would be his final cigarette with the other. Beside the empty music rack sat a handheld coilgun. It only held a single… Continue reading Godsend
Lifespark
The jungles of Venus II were lush and verdant, much more so even than Earth II. The exoplanets were given rather uncreative traditional names that had more to do with history and orbital alignments than habitability. But the air here was still deadly acidic to fragile human lungs, so at least that was one thing… Continue reading Lifespark
FNG
"My God, I think I'm gonna be sick." M4<^>w? looked down at its new trainee with disdain. It didn't show on its face, but it felt it. The apertures adjusted on its six ocular inputs, arranged vertically on the face of its elongated head, in an impression of a squint. "God had nothing to do… Continue reading FNG
Mind Throne
The Junior Cleric shuffled over the dusty runner covering the bridge-way spanning the blackness to the Mind Throne. Head Rector Mautorum was in Holy Commune. He would not want to be disturbed. The thick cables leading away from the Throne crackled with the incredible flow of power, and occasionally jumped like dreaming eels. One jumped… Continue reading Mind Throne
Crosstalk
Lincoln, a little drunk, entered his dark home while his car parked itself in its stall. He tugged at the knot of his tie and opened the top button of his shirt. He stopped at the hall bath to empty his bladder on the way to the kitchen—had to make room for more. As he… Continue reading Crosstalk
A98 in Progress
The city was bedding down for the night; the city of analysts and wrench-turners, of school children and factory workers and project managers, that is. The Night City—that parasite that succeeded in entangling itself within and around its daytime sibling without strangling it, that sunless city of teal-lighted windows scattered among the daytime's disused towers… Continue reading A98 in Progress
Warmup Pages 