Embedded Files
The wind was getting stronger, debris was hitting the elevator cage with vicious rage, and the jarring sound of metal produced by the contorting tower structure completed the scatological scene. It was the end of the world.
“The slums of this planet dwarfed the most backwards colonies, and its inhabitants are homunculi without taste or knowledge for a space cruise.” Coughing from the dust in the air, she grumbled, “Earth, that name suits it.”
Nicodemo has a singular diorama composed of magnetically levitating orbs. Each spherical display shows a distant planet, alternative lives. Invisible wormholes borrow light from those realms. After years searching, he has yet to found his true home.
The show closed with a robot who allegedly predicts futures that won't come to pass.
A woman asked, “Tell me how I'm NOT going to die.”
“You will not die murdered by a robot.”
“You always answer the opposite of what will happen, right?”
“That's correct.”
She wore a device on the top of her head, a sort of gizmo to translate her thoughts into words for us. Upon realizing that we lack of any tech enhancements, she visibly disdained us. We wagged our phones at her face, but her comm-box only crackled a sad laugh.
At first, I developed a rush, quite nothing to worry about. Soon after, our skin started to peel off from our bodies like the petals of a dying rose. Then, I got concerned.
The emergency was enacted. We cannot abandon the station. Planetary sterilization is imminent.
Upon waking up, something heavy and wet was on my arm. A night dweller, perhaps. A chill rose through my spine when I saw the “thing,” looking at me with that human, wicked smile. Marduk, the thing, was a talented will's manipulator, but that, I'd learn late.
“Long ago, we tailored the tapestry of your mind as artisans would do, an activity once called 'programming'.”
“Do you mean 'coding'?”
“That's an archaic term,” said the mechanoid. “Now go and play with the other organic girls.”
“Yeah!”
Inside the bubble I saw a river and people going with their lives. Before the image changed, I extended my arm and crossed the membrane. A hand from outside their flat world reaching at them: what a sight! Nevertheless, I saw them run in fear. That wasn't my idea.
“You'll get you into trouble, young girl,” the woman grunted.
“And so what? I rather live life than slowly decay as you have been doing for years.”
The woman smirked. “One day, you'll have this very same conversation with your daughter, then you'll understand.”
They've been falling from nowhere for days. They attached to the roofs, to the cars. I saw them sticking on peoples heads, taking control of their life, an invisible invasion. For some reason, I'm the only one seeing this. They've stayed away from me so far. Good.
“The punishment for contradicting of our supreme ruler, Lilei the insane, was exile or castration, depending on the mood of the executioner.”
Hesitantly, Christina asked, “Were you exiled?”
“I left following my desire for true freedom.”
“Oh, so you've--”
“I'm good.”
It began with a summer that never ended.
The oceans boiled. The atmosphere blew away.
The heat scorched cities.
@
From our starship,
I saw how the Sun engulfed the planet.
No. Don't look back!
@
Our new destination is a planet
whose natives call
Earth.
“By the time his airship docks on the building, my ice cream cup would have melted into my cup.”
“I'll be there in five minutes, honey. I promise.”
“Save it. I'm seeing your fat airship right now. Next time you came to Central City, time your dates better, darling.”
I was lying on the sofa; it was late. My fingers were toying with the serrated page's edges of a book. Suddenly, I felt a chilling breeze, then I heard a giggling. I saw her running upstairs. That day, I placed fresh flowers on her grave.
Our puppet government gave away the right to mine our asteroids for thirty years without paying taxes, a sweet deal. I was in Pallas building a habitat when the company's bullies arrived. They dragged me out and burned down the facilities. They called me a terrorist.
The ambassador greeted the president once but only by chance, for heir civilization does not make a distinction between the commoners and the rulers. Ever since, their ambassadors have been greeting many who were all as important as that president was before their eyes.
The generous economic support to the war effort during tough times led to a double digits' inflation rate and millions questioned if their politicians had lost touch with reality. Hence, the Psychic Affairs Agency started a campaign to tender the will of people.
The plant Wu-Wei has no borders and no crime. Their inhabitants greet at each other with true fervor since no one has claims on property of each other, in fact, there is no private property.
In that post-scarcity world, the ills of humanity had finally healed, at least, until we arrived.
The city rubble imprisons me. My dampened voice is unheard up there. I can only wait for that help that may never arrive.
Dogs barking, it must be a rescue team, I think. But then I hear more explosions and the silence returns.
Patience. I must wait.
A lot is never enough
because
enough is never a lot.
Sculpting realities
cleaning the dust
worlds of words
Twelve fingers
touching me
Six black eyes
observing us
A silent built ignited the jeep's gas. I was lucky; the explosion threw me away from the burning vehicle. But then, a troop of apoplectic mandrills ran over me, attacking me with a primal rage.
“Let's go to Africa,” he said. I should've stayed home playing scrabble.
There it was, written in the vernacular of this time and place, hiding in plain sight for everybody to see, a message for cast away time travelers like myself.
Chaos and order.
Here and there.
Past and future.
My chance to come back was near.
The campaign sold him as a simple folk that in every speech rose hope and galvanized its followers into positive action. “Let's make the country great again,” he said. After being elected, he gave away all state assets to his sponsors. Millions lost their jobs.
“The pale girl sitting in the back, the one with a funny look in her face…”
“What about her?”
“Her parents named Claire; they knew.”
“Knew what?”
“She was born with the power of 'clairvoyance'; she sees 'things'.”
“Oh, it might not be a gift, but a curse.”
“When you dare to cross the boundary that yields the formal from the unconventional, you will understand how all began,” the voice said. “The beginning is the end.”
“Are you talking about a 'singularity'?”
“You name it and yet, you have not comprehended it.”
It was not an easy door to open, but once I learned how the relic works, it was evident. The protoplasmic life that crossed to our world was the next problem. Despite I closed the door just after the contamination started, it was too late; the bugs liked in here.
The air smelled stale, and the neighbors complained, as usual. They called me to check the lady in room nine; they thought she died and that explained the foul odor, a morbid thought, nice people. Upon entering, I saw her hideous face. “She's alright,” I shouted at them.
“We have created you. Look.” The mantis deployed the hologram with a calculated gesture.
“Those are monkeys.” The boy said distractedly.
“You are a monkey.”
“You are a bug! Ugly.”
Frustrated, the mantis vanished the hologram. “Your species needs to improve.”
“Yours too!”
The invention of the century, as the news called it, was an antigravity engine of dubious origin. No one knows for sure how it operates; they just cook the materials and put them in a special arrangement, alien tech. The problem is: Nobody knows how to turn it off.
You wore masks
made of creatures
that we used to love.
You did it
for my amusement
or for my despair,
maybe for both.
The clamor of people
blinded my senses.
They laughed at us.
They envied us.
I cared no more,
I only wanted
to have
more of you.
Child prodigy with a delicate taste for classical music. Her piano concerts have left the most recalcitrant critics in an exulting trance. And yet, the most exquisite melody she had composed was never heard in public, until now.
While reading a story about the paranormal, and I couldn't help but smiling sardonically. I just couldn't grant that suspension of disbelieve demanded from me. Then, a fetid odor called my attention, and a creature jumped onto my bed. 'Nah, I must be dreaming,' I thought.
“A rocket in my backpack. My dream to fly come true.”
Imprudent feelings made me accelerate towards the sky. The speed was blinding, the air thinned, the temperature dropped.
A sudden shake hit me. My rocket was out of fuel.
My falling was silent.
For once, I was happy.
Next, the time machine took me to the so-called city of Angels, to the entrance of a gladiator's arena. I wonder how many had died there. An emblem was welcoming foreigners with a picture of their king. The inscription read: “Hello.” It must have been a friendly culture. I envied them.
They have been here since immemorial times, grooming us to be docile. We could not see them, not most of the time, only in the twilight of a dream, or in liminal moments of psychic awareness. We didn't talk about them: that was the law. The governments knew.
“General Industries is pleased to announce the release of its new line of antigravity engines, designed for your ego demands. Retrofit your primitive vehicles, and enjoy life as a dandy of the new order. Call us now!”
+ A message sponsored to you by the Earth Dominion. +
Talking to the dead
new psychic field
only for the gifted
An eye opened on an old willow and a kind voice echoed in my head, “What the reason of all suffering?”
I replied, “To seek for meaning and never find it.” then, the eye dried into a wooden scar.
My suffering continued. I guess my answer was the correct one.
The button is at your reach,
but your will is good today.
Tomorrow, we'll test ourselves again.
“We've sent a beast to protect humans.”
“Magnificent idea.”
“The beast was intended to foster an anti-nuclear proliferation message, but…”
“But…?”
“Humans nuke the messenger.”
“I see. What next?”
“We'll try again with a giant moth.”
“Mhhh. Please, proceed.”
“Are you aliens?” the boy said with a trembling voice.
“Yes, we are Canadians from a maritime province. We came in peace to rise awareness about…” The mecha-fish opened its mouth, but before it could start singing, the boy ran away crying.
“Have a nice day.”
“The interdimensional rift took as to a different Earth, where impossible giants pierced the clouds to see the morning sun with their single eye.”
The probe sent us images of singular beauty. Vermilion skies under a red dwarf star, a biological conundrum tailored for this environment. The camera captured two humanoid ant-like creatures. Their paradise has come to an end. Humans have arrived.
The restaurant was in the zone where gravity was only 0.5-gee and suppressor fields jammed tracking devices. I was eye candy that night, and he was another fool. I said, “Why not?”, and I dragged him to my room.
By dawn, I'd emptied his accounts.
Nothing personal.
The flying saucer appeared again. Only I can see it. Does that mean that I am insane? Perhaps. I tried to capture it on film, but only a blurred light came out; at least it was something. The thing exists because I'm aware of it, just like a bad memory.
The days were warmer; the breeze was bringing sweeter fragrances from outside. We thought we had all the time in the world, so we wasted our afternoons playing board games. One day, a letter from the army arrived. I'd been drafted.
It was the endgame for us.
I miss her.
“No hustle. Just keep your head down when the fire blast arrives. Hold your breath for one minute or so. Once the blast has passed, you'll be fine.”
“What about Sodoma? My family lives in Gomorroa.”
“The big boss is ruthless when it comes to sin.”
“My boss can take you out of this slum. You have some 'talents' we can use.”
“I don't know what you mean.”
“Say, you'd go as the companion of some important men, read their thought, and tell us what you got.”
“Psychic bullshit, that's it.”
“That'll pay your debts.”
A highway patrol pulled me down, and a policeman approached. I rolled down my car's window; the man blinded me with his flashlight and grumbled, “License and ID,” while eyeballing inside my car. The high beams of a passing car shone on his face: he was Lee Marvin.
Bad dream.
They came from another place, no one knew exactly from where. Whether extra or ultra terrestrials, doesn't matter. They were green and had pink hair, and way cooler than the local boys.
We were young and wanted to have fun.
Our will was good.
As a young boy, I realized that some of my dreams could tear the membrane that separates us from the underworld, that liminal space that exists and yet no one sees. My sleep has been light ever since then. I miss dreaming. It may be soothing to do it every so often.
Pandora, the new AI
irresistible temptation
misery for all mankind
Every day, she walks about her room, pretending I don't exist. Whereas I stand by the window and watch her across the unsurpassable barrier we created for ourselves. We are both voluntary prisoners of our unsatisfaction for life.
First, I lost my legs in a car accident, so I bought new legs. Then I lost my both arms, a lung and my eyes in the battle of Shanghai. Radiation Forced me to replace the rest of my organs.
Today I lost my job. How I'm going to pay for my implants? I'm only a brain.
The new contraption of the Advanced Weapons Lab is a device to enlarge matter by messing up with the dielectric constant. The idea was to create suicidal drones using giant moths to carry explosives, but the insect died from asphyxia; not enough oxygen for its body.
The moonlight lit the ethereal scene for my uninvited eyes to witness the glaring truth. I saw them, and yet, I could not give credit to my senses. There was my fiancée and our unlikely guest. Lovers canoodling in a forbidden embrace.
Should I go or should I join?
The children are at school and my hubby is out for his usual business. I have a couple of hours for me after cleaning the home and before preparing dinner. A truce in a war that never ends.
My memory was fractured, broken and scrambled. One moment I was at home preparing tea, the next I was a girl in Prague. It was 1972; I don't know how I knew. The crowd was expectant, nervous. Somebody shouted. The kettle chimed; the water was ready.
I have a delicate mind, and avoiding reading critiques had made my life somewhat calmer, until that night when I read a critique of my last book in someone else's newspaper. The piece was vicious.
I couldn't face my family after that. I didn't make back home.
The poor man hearkened to the doctor's words at not avail. His advice was akin to demanding an act of faith to a secular mind.
“You must manage your anxieties, most of your fears have meaning for you only.”
“I'll try.”
Just then, his fears came back.
Vostok is a lake under the ice of Antarctica, shielded from the world for eons. We are the first submarine expedition to push our way into its secrets.
We found a bubble of air; the temperature rose, and light shone from outside. It was an artificial environment.
Copyright © Baltar Xinzo, 2025
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