The alarms cut through Stan's daydreams. One moment he was accepting the Award for Technical Brilliance, the next he was surrounded by a flurry of activity. Pulsing red lights drenched the control centre, calling people into action.

'The arm - get the arm!' came the order, barked across the chaos.

Stan jumped up, cursing the coffee that split across his lap, and raced across the chamber to his p...

The stillness in the cavern was palpable. The only way to tell time was still moving was the slow, constant drips from the damp stalactites above them. Deep underground with only the faint green lights of their Glowbulbs to guide them, the Xuroc Expedition had been expecting to find a new mineral reserve for their colony. Yet now they stood, paralyzed by what was in front of them.

Impossible. The...

'Grandmother! What big ears you have.'

It took all her effort to steady her voice. She could barely concentrate over the sound of her racing heartbeat. She took a step closer.

'All the better to hear you with, my dear' came the reply. The words were delivered slowly, each dripping with malice. The blood-soaked teeth of the Wolf curled into an expectant smile. They both knew she was trapped, it w...

We all look the same in the dark

The burden of presentation lifted

No one to see, or to snark

'True Freedom' is what we've been gifted

'Your spirit will shine bright'

was the claim from those who Weaved

All souls brought into sight

'For equality' we believed

So our bodies fell and our souls climbed

The light dimmed, the bells chimed

The panic grew whilst the chanting rhymed

'It is done.' they sa...

I thought I'd already had a rough day. Mark, my overseer, had given me an earful about 'proper sigil formatting', my bus journey had been spent stood next to a man who had clearly never heard of deodorant, and I'd received yet another letter reminding me to pay my rune tax. So when I went to go crash on my bed and let the pillows swallow me whole, the last thing I needed was to be greeted with the...