sci-fi – Slanted Spines

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part XI

September 6, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged battle, creative writing, dystopian, fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, space, Story, writingLeave a comment

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten!)

The Slanted crew of Senga, Ramona, Gabe, and Agnes hastily made their way to Ramona’s space ship as discreetly as possible. Although everyone at the Slanted satellite base seemed to be caught up in the agenda of their own missions on this highly anticipated Day of Action, Agnes felt tense and self-conscious about the possibility of suddenly being confronted by an authority, as they passed by other soldiers, who were heading with a jog in an opposite direction, or staring at a tablet’s screen as they walked by, or speaking into a watch as they bustled along the hallways. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part XI” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IX

August 23, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged Blog, creative writing, dystopian, fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing2 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight!)

After laughing together about the impossible task that lie ahead of them in the plant-laden living room of Senga’s office, Senga offered Agnes and Ramona some coffee, in such a hilariously casual way that it was almost as if they were not plotting to take down the greatest super-computer that essentially ruled the planet. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IX” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VIII

August 16, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, emotional growth, peace, sci-fi, science fiction, short story, space, Story, writing3 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven!)

After breaking several of the Great Slantia’s laws and abandoning a lifetime dedicated to its success by allowing an enemy of the state to kidnap her by boarding a space ship and traveling to a secret rebel base satellite located in the shadow of the moon, Agnes, our formerly unsuspecting retiree protagonist, stood at the door which led to her twin sister, whom she had no idea existed until earlier that day. And she didn’t quite know how she felt about this. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VIII” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VII

August 9, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, space, Story, writing4 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, five, and six!)

On the Slanted Satellite Base in the shadow of the moon, in an office filled with human-sized bubbles that contained office work spaces, a woman with a blue Mohawk, a scrawny gentleman who seemed perpetually tense, and a woman with antennae in a business suit spoke quietly amongst themselves while an elderly woman in an orange jumpsuit sat nearby, daydreaming of how it would feel to be a bubble. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VII” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VI

August 2, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged Blog, creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, short story, space, Story, writing5 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, four, and five!)

After the first nap she had taken in decades, after being awoken by an ever-frantic Gabe, and after having her disheveled hair fixed by an insistent Ramona who instructed, “Don’t embarrass me,” Agnes stepped off the Mother Ship and docked the Slanted Satellite Base. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part VI” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part V

July 26, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing6 Comments

(Read parts one, two, three, and four!)

The incredible and tragic story of China’s downfall was told between bites of cheese pizza in the Mother Ship’s common room as it departed Earth’s atmosphere and barreled towards their base, behind the far side of the moon. As Ramona stuffed her face, Agnes listened attentively, while Gabe sat by, rolling his eyes at Ramona intermittently and interjecting where he felt she did an inadequate job of conveying this history lesson. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part V” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IV

July 19, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged adventure, creative writing, dystopian, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing7 Comments

(Read Part I, II, and III.)

The power cutting out in Slantia was not a regular occurrence; in fact, it was not even an irregular occurrence, but rather not an occurrence at all. Slantia’s underground energy source was so massive and constantly fueled that on this very average morning, when the power cut out at the cubicle apartments, none of the residents knew what was happening. As far as they knew, it was the apocalypse. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part IV” →

I Fuel the Great Machine: Part III

July 12, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great MachineTagged dystopian, growing old, installment, old age, sci-fi, science fiction, series, short story, Story, writing8 Comments

(Read part I and part II.)

Agnes had kept the silver fork rather than turn it in, that very strange day at the Factory five years earlier. She told herself that as an honorable and loyal citizen of Slantia, she would keep it in her safe possession rather than offer it to the work-motivators, and disguised that bottomless feeling of fear she so constantly experienced in her stomach as genuine care for the order and well-being of Slantia. She feared the “misunderstanding” of forfeiting it, of the inevitable accusation of stealing–she knew how this sort of thing went–, and so it remained taped to the underside of her bed, tucked in the groove of a plank of metal. Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine: Part III” →

I Fuel the Great Machine

June 28, 2019September 9, 2019Posted in I Fuel the Great Machine, StoriesTagged allegory, dystopia, dystopian, fiction, machine, sci-fi, science fiction, short story, Story, writing12 Comments

The morning of her first day of retirement, Agnes sat at her kitchen table and let 50 years of labor pull heavily on her body. Steam rose and unfurled from her mug of coffee as she stared at the small, red refrigerator sitting on her countertop. A draft blew from the air vent on the ceiling and stirred a few strands of her white hair, and she gently closed her eyes, her body remaining still. It was a day of grieving; the end of her purpose.

Continue reading “I Fuel the Great Machine” →