Author’s note: This chapter (yes, it is chapter 3.5) is quite unique in the sense that it’s both the oldest and the newest text I’ve published here. The first half was written more than 20 years ago (autumn 2004, if I remember correctly), while the second half is only a few weeks old. This chapter… Read More »A Few Years Ago (The End – Chapter 3.5) Source

The HQ infirmary was quiet. It was an infirmary in name only. It was a real clinic, equipped with the latest technology available on the market. Some of it was not even on the market yet. After the founder retired, Doc took over. His clones helped him run it with almost no human staff. Over… Read More »Guardian Angel (The End – Chapter 2 – Part 6) Source

The phone rings. The phone always rings when twelve of my labours have just disappeared due to a bug and not been saved, and thirty emails from my “boss” are piling up in my inbox! But it is not him on the phone. It is someone else. A voice I have not heard since… since… Read More »The Count (The End – Chapter 2 – Part 4) Source

Note: This is the eighth part of the story Is There Life on Mars? If you missed the beginning, maybe you should start there (just click on the link.) Day 214 Well… No… Today’s entry is still written from space. Barely. We’re in low orbit now and will be landing in a few hours, but… Read More »Is There Life On Mars? (part eight) Source

Note: This is the third part of the story Is There Life on Mars? If you missed the beginning, maybe you should start there (just click on the link.) Day 95 Gertrud has died… We’re all in shock. We don’t know what happened. When Elias went to feed her this morning, she was lying… Read More »Is There Life On Mars? (part three) Source

(If you missed the beginning, click here) Day 13 Wow. Yesterday, I mentioned Noel Kums’s daily message. It was the first one since we left the Moon. I was expecting something similar to the ones he usually sends to Earth. But no. He made a special message just for us. It even included a… Read More »Is There Life On Mars? (part two) Source

Preliminary note: This story is self contained and may not appear to be a part of the MetaStructure at first glance, but maybe it is. Because it’s quite long (about 11,000 words) I’m posting it divided in several episodes, but I’ll probably make it available as one ebook, eventually. I’m thinking about the technicalities. Stay… Read More »Is There Life On Mars? (Part one) Source

Author’s note: This text was originally written in Winter 2022. I’m publishing it today, in 2024, untouched. It’s part of my “Future Pasts” series, so yes, some of the events depicted after the time it was written are not accurate, but it’s part of the idea. The text also directly follows this one, although they… Read More »Future Past – Winter 2022 Source

It was past 5:30 when he returned. The temperature was still hovering around 40 degrees. Was it too optimistic to hope that it would drop to 30°C during the night, to be able to turn off the air conditioning? Rain was expected for the next day. He wanted to conserve the energy stored in… Read More »Future Pasts (Prologue) Source