starter exaltation

If we were going to co-manage the metamorphosis we had to both move in and live together in the lab. We tried doing it in shifts but we had to abandon that trial in failure. We soon discovered that the observation chamber had a strange focus point which preserved the odor of our breath. We then endeavored to maintain the freshest, silkiest breath manageable, and became delirious with the discovered scents.

Advertisement

unpenned evening

The dread moon disjoints my hopes, as its rising reveals my delicate unfinished works to crepuscular scavengers. I had uncovered them after darkness fell to nourish in the night air, but had not calculated on the moon to bring a second twilight that the snuffling shambling creatures seemed to be waiting for.

bound by results

The training technique was not to find the best effort and reinforce what went right, but to start with the lowest swings and look for ways to add elevation. The idea was that you can’t rely on what might be outliers. And anyway, if you raise the floor, you’re also raising the average, and any outliers should be even better. A focus on the worst performances does not mean a gush of criticism, however. You have to thread the needle of positive reinforcement and honest appraisal of areas for improvement.

Results from these modern management techniques would not be apparent for some time, but they immediately made the ancient form of slavery very interesting.

structure of surrender

He decided to take on a coeditor, but he was careful to spell out the exact boundaries of privilege the new collaborator enjoyed. After a few months the new recruit complained the tyranny felt wrong, but he had to admit it wasn’t invalid. His boss administered drugs to make it more pleasant. The drugs only affected memory, however. He came to work expecting the fun he remembered, but in the moment was disappointed. Afterward he could not reconcile the physical signs of stress with his recollections.

decorations

One of the secrets to her garden was that she had trained her pets to urinate and defecate on different plants depending on the flavors of the food they had been fed that day. Which had an interesting effect on the nearby forest preserve when one of her animals got loose.

enrollment

She needed to be hospitalized, but the only room was at the facility known for folding its patients into superorganisms. We were assured by the admitting doctor that they had measures they could put in place to make sure she wasn’t taken up, either officially or through a rogue collaboration.

proliferation

Initially the centrifuge was used to polish rice. But less fluids in the meat meant less freezer burn. They slit the animals throats right before throwing them in. The sides of the machine were disfigured with a copper color, impossible to wash out. In order to get a certification, they needed to show that the stains were inert.

extrusion

They were careful in their selection of an opposition candidate. They wanted someone for their party to struggle against, the surmounting of whom would be tantamount to a powerful mandate. But they didn’t want someone who could in fact beat their number two, who would step in after the assassination.

hindering touch

She was a widow, infertile, with criminal cunning. I checked the motor when it began to waddle but the instability was non-detailed. After checking the recount I was satisfied, so I eased back into recline.

presiding over the rear

It was called the mezzanine, though it was below ground level, in what might once have been a shallow quarry. The mezzanine was a refuge where people made their belongings sea-worthy. There was a cadre of unofficial wardens there who circulated among the escapees, advising them on how to do it and whether their stuff was ready yet or not. They made up an informal guild. It wasn’t clear how they gained their knowledge. Had any of them been to sea and come back, or had they got their knowledge from real sailors somehow, or was it passed down among their own group? Their loyalties were also shadowy, although none of them would accept payment aside from food, and whatever their pupils chose to leave behind when they did eventually board a ship.