Looking for a mate — This is not what I expected. It’s not at all what I thought it would be. When I reached the final rank, I expected that I would simply be declared a Queen. I was overlooking the fact that I did not look like anyone else here, because it had not…

Check please! — 2 — I don’t know if I’m up to this. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I don’t know the rules, I told them, I don’t know how to move. It doesn’t matter, they said. Just go where you’re told. I don’t look right, I said, I’ll…

Get over it! — “Are we lost?” asked Cyndi, for what felt to Frank like the fortieth time that day, although in reality it must be no more than the fifth or sixth. “No,” said Frank. “We just need to get to the stile.” Then Clara started wailing again, and any further discussion was…

ISS Experiment Proposal #352 — To: NASA Management Summary: It is proposed to transport to the International Space Station a number of long, narrow objects, and allow them to fall, one at a time, towards Earth. The objects should be observed directly from above and below, and via remote monitoring of devices embedded in the…

Who’s asking? — “Holy HAL, what’s this?” The query was not easy for me to answer. The initial expletive appeared low on the scale of profanity, and I deemed it to be either for emphasis or mere habitual noise. After stripping this out, what remained was so vague as to require amplification, and…

A plane takes the strain — “The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by — ” Does he have to read everything he sees out loud? Jen asked herself. Robert’s voice droned on, not quite subsumed in the collective shuffling of feet as the line snaked slowly forward. Even the…

Again… — Hello, you’re through to Simon at Lurch support, how may I help you? I’d like to speak to a human, please. I’m sorry, what is your query? I said I’d like to speak to a human. I happen to know that you’re a chatbot, or an AI, and your name…

Wood, you believe it — Oh, that title surprises you? Well, why shouldn’t we enjoy one of the principal activities of life? Wood is a living material. Maybe you have some around your house. Just look at it in the sunshine — leaking out its life-essence until it shrinks or twists and has to be…

Not just a load of bullocks — The mage picked himself up, shook the dust from his cloak and retrieved his pointed hat, then walked over to inspect the cart that he had so recently been driving. It lay half on its side in the ditch. While the wheels rotating slowly in the air were undamaged, in…