implant

With no men, they bred special plants to beget children. Before long they figured out how to put wombs on the plants, and grew children in gardens. then when they had to populate continents, and planets, they grew fields. some didn’t want to do it that way, they thought the bond between mother and child too important, and that the process was good for the mother as well. They split off to become a separate race. Two or three small wars were fought between them, then it stood simmering as a series of terrorist attacks.

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feminizer

When the emitter died, so did our feminization ray. Our userbase was loyal, but to the product, to the idea, not to us. When a rival launched a better product they all switched. Hell, *I* switched. I abandoned my team. But realistically, where were we going to find another emitter? So I was even more surprised than anyone else when my old team launched a new version, that didn’t use an emitter at all. It worked by some sort of induction.

atmospheric moderation

He first encountered the dog one of the times he had returned to the body of his first victim. The dog was there, licking the bones. The dog now appeared out of the dust. As he caressed its neck the dust fell off in clumps. The dog’s knowing look somewhat relieved his feeling that he was being berated by the very air – as the dust settled it seemed to grow thicker. He could perhaps avoid it getting into his lungs by standing up, but that would make him visible to the pursuing lascars. They loomed at the cloudy edges of visibility, painted white by the dust. They looked like they were dressed as skeletons for a parade.

plateau

The kingdom on the plateau ruled the plains below. Not because of their height, though that helped, but because of the plants the crops that would grow on the plain and nowhere else. They traded the crops for silver, which they then used to trade for weapons and science from far off lands, lands over the mountains and across the desert. The best minds of the plains were bent on relocating the crop, getting it to grow somewhere else. Maybe it could even be improved by a warm climate. Then someone on the plain understood that they had one resource the plateau did not: access between the plateau and its distant trading partners. They closed all the roads and established tolls.

harlem blues

The singer stood on stage, in front of e microphone stand, barefoot, wearing a hoodie. “I’m wearing a sweatshirt because this song gives me the chills,” she told the audience, and gave a little laugh. The only other person from the band onstage was the keyboardist player sitting at the grand piano. As she sang the audience in the front row watched her slowly tap her toes.

soldiership

I tried not to blame my loss on his deception; I tried to examine my own behavior. I couldn’t decide if I lacked endeavor, or if I was too captured by the allure of the turquoise prize. But I couldn’t help wondering if there was something about the very game itself that was unfair. Once the snow melted, the hollowed out drift would disappear off the playground and all claims on it would be irrelevant. A new game would have to be played to claim territory again. So our mistress had decreed. I decided I must think of a new game of my own and somehow get it adopted for that contest.

turn in a circle

Some say vengeance should be served cold, ideally it should be temperature-resistant. We knew we needed to support each other, so we gathered at the municipal executive board meeting. We formed a circle around them. They huddled together, then two split from the others and said they would join us. We let them in the circle but they betrayed us, opening the circle for the rest of the board and then escaping themselves.

depletion

The battlewagons were launched prematurely, before all of their armaments were completed. The political situation had deteriorated faster than expected. Some preferred to say built up rather than deteriorated. They were bogged down in the sleet, so by the time they reached the field their armaments were ready. But it was too late. With a purplish flutter the defenders needles sighed into the seige ranks, each carrying its dose of sickness.

upright plow

In her compromised position, she was only ale to communicate with vowels. But they had been seeing each other enough that he understood her. She was affirming the public opinion, which he found implausible. But she sat back, wiped off her mouth and went to the piano. She the popular protest chant, and then again with the words of the secret hymn of his old fraternity. It was enough to authenticate the conspiracy for him. He saw his hopes dashed to the ground.

hollowed out

Our lofty indolent games that teach us why the sky system embraces the enemy. Those not satisfied with those lessons are invited to row out to sea. One year we ran out of boats.