audible beeps beep beep beep Eyes fly open, and a woman pulls her head up off her pillow. She swifly removes her bulky blankets from her body and slides her feet into her house slippers. Her head turns towards the clock. 6:03am it reads She nods her head with delight, seeming pleased with herself. She…
Read previous chapter or read from beginning Hasp was sitting next to them, yammering about another ill-fated escape plan. They stood on a bridge overlooking a water channel. It was a rare sunny day. The sky was clear and the light glimmered against Hasp’s golden hair. It was one of the few times in their adult life…
Read previous chapter or read from beginning Arjun wakes up on the tram, gliding a thousand feet above the city. The bright light shines in from the windows, stinging their eyes. Above the windows, the AI news anchor voice blares with a list of The System’s victories for the week. They look out the window. The sun…
Read previous chapter or read from beginning Arjun squares off the check with the diner bot and watches the green haired girl sip her coffee listlessly, unaware she’s being watched. With her mask down and her round, youthful face showing, she looks harmless- childlike. The tattoos and The System get up contradict this- and one another. one…
Read previous chapter or read from beginning Bright, blue tentacles. That’s all Arjun saw as their body seized up, their teeth locking into the thick leather gag in their mouth as electric currents travelled through their body. Bright, blue tentacles… Arjun came to, their vision blurry. They could make out the white walls of the…
Read Chapter 1 There was a war- a worldwide war to end all war, and ultimately decide what faction would control Earth’s dwindling resources. Everyone refers to it as The War, since WWXI, WWXII, WWXIII, and so forth, was getting redundant. It lasted a century and ended in a truce between the survivors. It was…
The votes are in and we have a winner for the Somnium Times Sci-fi Character Contest!! Congratulations to Team Turner of Athenaverse for their winning entry of “The Alchemist” character. Below is Chapter 1 of the new Somnium Times exclusive series – “Alchemist”. Alchemist CHAPTER 1 Arjun readjusts in their cot, shifting weight from one…
Seasearcher walked along the beach, gazing beyond the sparkling sand and the blue, foaming waves to the horizon… Seasearcher was on the hunt. His feet were achy from travelling, but stopping his mission wasn’t any option. Famine had overtaken his village and those around it. They had rationed their food stores amongst the villagers, but…
What does the Metaverse look like in 2032? This short fiction story paints a picture. Oly looked at her bag. It was one of those fancy ones; the very last specimen with gorgeous algorithmic print, which she ran into in a remote corner of the Sanctum Mall not far from the Old Hospital World. She…
Written by L. Yap “If you have inner peace, nobody can force you to be a slave to the outer reality.” – Sri Chinmoy Drake stood on the island shore, his kayak parked next to him in the sand. The water before him was still. The sun disappeared into the horizon like a weightless tangerine….
