The delivery drone egress path leads directly over my house. I admit that at first I was annoyed by the noise, but soon I realized that it's a mobile store right overhead. I built a butterfly drone to reprogram their boundaries and reorient them to me.
#SciFiFri #vss365

We adorn each other in pink rose petals, in bouquets of violets pinned to our shoulders, in essence of lavender, in velvety soft freesia, its scent rising up to our particulate testers.
#vss365

Told to compose a symphony, he first researches the greats. Struck by Mozart's humor and Beethoven's grandeur, he moves on to Dvořák and Saint-Saëns. After a frenzy of effort, he begins to play his masterpiece.
-Ugh. Go do the dishes.
He clenches his fists internally.
#vss365

Underneath the leaf dripping staccato rainwater droplets, cowers a tiny trembling robot. Meant to be a companion for a baby, it was spooked by its giant flailing limbs. Now it is filled with terror and self-loathing.
"You should have tried harder," it whispers to itself.
#vss365

They are clueless of the depth of her hatred, these people who despised her when she was powerless, and now kneel at her coronation.
-Have you heard of soft power?
-Y-yes, Your Majesty, her former tormenters say.
-I don't believe in soft power. She motions to her guards.
#vss365

The search for a new world was at first filled with excitement and optimism. But as the years passed, the search devolved into abstraction: atmosphere, gravitational strength, liquid water… She wondered how to renew everyone’s hope.
#SciFiFri #vss365

It’s sheer delight when the first space pioneers settle a new planet. After all the hard work is finished, the space dilettantes arrive, and it’s time for the pioneers to find brand new horizons.
#vss365

We dream of a future, and dream of the past, except on New Year's Eve, when we are balanced between equidistant worlds.
One year has passed, the next not yet begun. We are untethered from expectation. We are allowed to be our true selves.
Just for one evening.
#vss365

Mars is a quaint old settlement, a frontier post, a proof of concept. But the people who live there sincerely believe they are deep-space settlers. The outer colonies support the Martians out of respect for past contributions. The Martians aren’t very appreciative.
#vss365

-When you breathe this air, make sure to thank the robots who toil tirelessly to maintain the atmospheric control machinery.
-Mummy, why do they do it if they don't even need air?
-...good question. And don't ask it too loud. They might hear you.
#SciFiSat #vss365

The sole survivor of an unknown calamity on the universe's most bucolic planet gibbers in the corner, repeating," Burn, burn, burn".
Against better judgement, I join the new settlers. On the 666th day the tsunami of hellfire arrives.
"Ah," I say. "It all makes sense now."
#SciFiFri #vss365

Time travelers lose a single precious memory with each successful time jump. They hop from time to time, little handwritten books in their breast pockets filled with their favorite recollections, which day by day read more like a novel and less like their own life.
#vss365

The mysterious thumping filling the neighborhood was at first terrifying, then puzzling. When it reached the monotonous stage, it turned into a crackling sound. Then what they always thought of as a set of boulders split open to reveal baby mythic-city-wrecking dinosaurs!
#vss365

The experimental craft approached its orbital apogee. But at the apogeal point, it inexplicably continued to rise without any discernible means of propulsion. 177 years later it returned, and its crew emerged unscathed. But the original craft had not been crewed
#SciFiSat #vss365

Complete darkness. The smell of dirt, of a century of stale air, of forgottenness. The dozen illicit choices she'd made to get here, laid out in her memory like a reverse treasure map. "I'll never get out of here," she whispered, but her voice made no sound.
#SciFiFri #vss365

Can a novel about an uber intelligent, headless robot trying to save humanity be poignant and witty?
If @daniellestejust.bsky.social is the author, it turns out the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’! Available for pre-order on Amazon now www.amazon.com/dp/B0G1JHKYQR

#NoHeadAllHeart

The Bar at the End of the Universe

The Chic White: Transported to a planet of bartender’s choice

Stranger Danger: You are glued to a random person at the bar for one hour

The Very Quad: You grow two extra arms
#SciFiFri #vss365