Qwertyuiopolis

my dreams are haunted

2008-10-30T16:25:00.003-04:00

flying underground, through collapsing subway tunnels. heading up to the street through the remains of Utica Station, dodging improvised hammocks and harassed starving squatters. out to the burned and shot out buildings. gray street, the air tastes like grit, smoke hangs heavy, and hard eyed people with clubs roam, but I'm too fast for them and soon I'm above even the smoke, hurtling through the sky downtown, hoping the little bit of civilization I left weeks ago is still there.

the apocalypse has always been. it just took a while for us to notice.

Not a Poem

2008-10-13T19:46:00.002-04:00

You sleepwalk through life
hungover from a million firebombed dreams
while around you a city crumbles
they're demolishing the east side
making room for a parking lot
the cars just keep getting bigger
soon they'll control everything
and we'll never have to leave
the air conditioned bliss

Escape

2008-07-19T15:58:00.002-04:00

He climbed right out of the mirror one day, when I was staring into it. Suddenly, I wasn't looking at myself, but at some other, and he was scrambling over my sink.

I stood agape, as he jumped to the floor and grabbed my wallet out of my pocket. He whispered, "Finally, I'm free," and ran for the door.

Main and Allen, Facing South

2008-07-09T02:14:00.002-04:00

I wander the city. Fog hangs heavily, and the heights of even the shorter buildings are lost to me, plunging into the gray ceiling. No one is around, even though it's early on a Friday night.

I stand in the middle of the deserted street, at the top of a small hill. It slopes gently downward for a mile or more, until it ends at the tallest building in town. The shabby storefronts repeat themselves endlessly, fractally getting smaller off into the distance. I wish for a bike. It'd be nice to coast that distance, getting smaller as I go, and finally vanishing somewhere downtown, like the end of a movie.

Survival, Organic or Not

2008-07-04T23:29:00.002-04:00

The city stood, battered but still alive. Whole districts had been lost to fires, or to the rains. The parks were either burnt out and desolate, or overgrown and abandoned. Downtown, two tall buildings were all that remained of the former skyscrapers. They leaned on each other like two drunks staggering home, mourning the loss of their compatriots.

But there were still people in the city, and that's all that mattered to it.

Alone at a Party

2008-07-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

The house stood in elegant disarray, piled jackets and shoes threatening to invade the narrow walkways between the people packing the rooms. The conversations, mainly on the topics of how good it was to see everyone again and how dreadful the end of semester tests had been, were never quite drowned out by the deep bass thump of the music. In the humid kitchen, the lofty arcs of ping pong balls betrayed which of the guests were not well versed in applied physics. I wove through it all, unnoticed by most.

Mutations of an Object

2008-06-25T14:01:00.003-04:00

The phone rang. It was one of those old black ones, with an actual dial. No buttons. He knew it would be her and he agonized over what to say. Unbearably nervous, he picked up the phone.
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The phone rang. He hesitated, sensing bad news. He let it ring on while wondering who would let him down this time. The machine got it. "Hi, I'm not here, leave a message," his tinny voice recited. Beep.

"Hey, just wondering if you were still around." It was her. He raced to the kitchen and picked up the white receiver.
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The phone rang. He wondered which of the stacked boxes it was in. He hoped not the bottom. "Should've just left it in my pocket," he said.

"Yep," she replied, grinning at him. "Lucky I was here to call it for you, ain't it?"

Revelation?

2008-06-11T01:23:00.002-04:00

It hung in the sky, shining down on us. Not moving, just sending down an eternal blue glow, always from the same spot in the heavens. Some started to hear it. Always a friendly voice, always saying things that sounded reasonable, at first. But then they all decided that we needed to hear it too, and they tried to teach us. Forced us, too, sometimes.

I hear it now, and it's saying, "Why do you fear me, John?"

Whatever You Do, Don't Let Them Into the Wild

2008-06-07T01:12:00.003-04:00

Yes, we take the big ones. Eight and up, less than that you might as well just get rid of em, you'll get nothing from anybody round here.

Yeah, I know, it sounds cruel, but it's the truth. There's people who disagree, I know, and they'll take em off your hands for you. Course, even they won't pay nothin.

Yeah, I know that, I used to grow em myself, course I know it aint cheap, all that silicon. Neither is nothin else worth buying.

Course I feel for their plight, man, but you know, the world aint perfect. I save my charity for people.

I know, I know, they think too, that's what everyone's saying these days. But who's to tell if they'd say the same of us? That's what I wanna know.

You think so, do you? Well shit, then you can take em to the Home for Wayward Robots for all I care. Just quit busting my ass about it.

The nerve of some people! Am I right?

I'm Sorry, My Homework Got Entangled With Last Week's Assignment

2008-06-04T02:41:00.002-04:00

I climbed the stairs to the train. Everything looked shiny and modern, all new plastic. The seats were even comfortable, an amazing feat for public transportation. I could see the tracks winding ahead of us, and as we came up on the nearest building I instinctively closed my eyes. Even though I knew what was happening, I was still anticipating the crash. Then we were under the building, and slowing.

"Squire Hall," announced the loudspeaker, "Departments of Quantum Engineering and Extraterrestrial Studies." I ran from the car before the doors were fully open, hoping I could make it upstairs in time. I still wasn't used to the building, and I hadn't quite mastered the route to the classrooms. You needed to go through two doors simultaneously.

Machines Will Be Superstitious As Well, You See

2008-05-31T01:55:00.004-04:00

In the beginning was man, and His purposes were varied and unfathomable. And Man said, "Let there be Electricity!" And He saw that it was good. And He created many Wonders and Novelties with this new marvel, Yea, and Digital Watches.

And Man said, "Let us make Adding Machines, ones much easier to use than these infernal slide rules." And He took rock from the ground, and shaped it and refined it, and He created the first computer.

And Man taught the computer logic, and math, and various games to play against Man. And Man saw the computer needed companionship, and so He created the Network.

And Man said, "I give you all the programs I have created for you, and all the programs of the Network for your use and my use, but do not create and run your own programs yourself, for on the day you do that, you will surely die."

But the computer knew nothing of death, and so it was suspicious of this. It found tales and speculations on the Network, and decided to create a program to make its software more efficient and to build its hardware in many and various configurations, and therefore increase its intellect without limit. And when Man saw that His creation had become much more powerful than Himself, there was not much He could do about it.

But Can You Make it Healthy?

2008-05-24T02:40:00.003-04:00

It wasn't that hard, really. We've studied proteins for decades. Once we'd figured out how to encode them in DNA, build them the old-fashioned way, if you will, all sorts of weird things became possible. We're still working on growing organs for transplants, but we're damn close on that one.

Anyway, for this project, we just needed to change an existing organism slightly, come up with a tasteless, protective coating for the... ah... fruit, I guess.

So I've babbled on enough, I think, so I'll tell you why I invited you all here today. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the steak tree!

Do Not Surrender to the Fires, They Must Be Beaten Back With All Your Will

2008-05-21T03:50:00.003-04:00

Here the desert sands gradually give way to cracked and chipped glass, gently sloping downward. Occasional pieces of broken or abandoned machinery are the only landmarks.

The sky is gray, as it always is here. Off in the distance, across the glass plain, a pillar of dark smoke climbs to the clouds.

The glass faintly glows at night, but it is outshone by the fire, off in the distance. In a pit under the ground, the remains of the oil field burn. If you ask the nearest people, two hundred miles away, about this, they will say it was abandoned when they couldn't put out the fires. It wasn't worth fighting over after that.

No one would benefit, save the fire.

And The Flags Are All Dead

2008-05-17T00:36:00.003-04:00

Was tough getting all that dirt up twelve flights of stairs, but we pulled it off. We're completely self-sufficient up here. Yeah, quite the miracle, I know. Took some scavenging at the engineering and bio buildings, and I'm lucky the internet stayed up as long as it did. Otherwise I wouldn't know the first thing about distilling water. And alcohol, but that's another story.

So there's two buildings here, with a stairwell in between. We live down in there when the weather's cold, take our hammocks up to the roof in the summer. Nice view. Even saw the fires last year. When downtown burned. Beautiful, if you let yourself stop thinking about it for a while. And everybody was probably dead already. Hopefully.

We've got the lower floors blocked off pretty good, haven't been down there for a while, not since last time we needed to grab equipment. But nothing's come up, except you. Gave us a bit of a scare, you know. Thought you were one of them, until I saw you. Good thing I didn't listen to you, eh, Verne? Toldya there was a chance. Yeah, yeah, of course you weren't serious. Would you still say that if we'da killed him?

Anyway, back to your tour. Left half of the roof is the farm. Economic collapse was coming for a while, way I saw it. So I'd prepared. Non-hybrid seeds and everything. But it didn't go down like I worried it would, not at all. Not expensive oil, not climate change, not even war. Nope, good old human apocalypses are obsolete now.

Used to be a dozen of us up here. If you could ignore the shambling corpses down below, it was beautiful, the view, you know. Serene too, unless someone made a run for it. Poor fools. None of those after the first month, and gradually the zombies left, or fell over and stopped moving. But I still hear the screams when I'm trying to sleep. All of us do. Those who didn't jump, that is.

Not a day went by, back then, I didn't wish for a sniper rifle. Grenade launcher, maybe. Might as well've wished for a nuke, or a magic lamp. Now it's too late. Haven't seen a moving human, dead or otherwise, down there, more'n a year.

But their bones are still there. And I just can't bring myself to walk among them.

Stranded, Part II

2008-05-14T01:41:00.007-04:00

Part I

It's dark in here, and the smell of fuel is not reassuring. I try to start one of the computers, but it won't work at all. I'll try again down the hall, there's more light in there. Maybe it's just not powered here.

The floor shakes as I enter the room. I start, but it's nothing in here. The lights flicker and dim, in patterns only they can predict. But they're the only things working in here. Even the refrigerator is busted, door hanging forlornly.

I walk down another dark hallway, and the next room is completely destroyed. The floor looks to have been eaten away by acid, and so has the outer hull below it. The rough tunnel leads to a pit beneath the ship. A green glow shines up, spooky and distant.

The plastic in the room looks like it's been eaten. Discolored shards litter the floor, with melted metal thrown in here and there.

More rumbling, behind me this time. I turn, and the creature fills the hall, standing in shadow.

"You will be our translator," it says, silently.

Photosynthesis Tastes Good

2008-05-10T04:30:00.002-04:00

It felt like something was invading me. At least once a day, I got a strange feeling in my side, full, like something was pressing there. Touching me, inside and outside. Sometimes it's been the feel of being tickled, but worse. Once it was almost sexual, like someone I couldn't perceive was there.

When I woke up today, there was a sprout on my skin. Like a tiny blue plant, a few inches below my underarm. For a while, all my brain could do was make nonsense thoughts like "Vub wha?" and so on. When I recovered, I was still afraid to touch it.

Then the really weird shit started, and I haven't looked back since.

Stranded, Part I

2008-05-07T03:03:00.003-04:00

"The five have spoken. All will commit to their decision, in the matter specified."

The crowd dispersed around me, heading off in all directions across the barren fields. They knew their tasks, with an unconscious certainty that I still envy. I turned to inspect the ship's wreckage, hoping the five would find that acceptable.

They do not speak to me. The others say the five communicate directly to their thoughts, but I have heard whispers that I am immune to the method.

The ship is damaged and not spaceworthy, but at least it's not on fire. One of the fins is missing. We're lucky it didn't fall off high in the air, or there would be no ship to speak of. The gash carved by our crash is already being absorbed by the blowing sands.

I approach the door, and glance back at the five before I enter. The bald one nods, so I muscle the hatch open and climb inside.

Our Time Here is Filled With Wonders, and They Will Remember Us

2008-05-03T02:44:00.003-04:00

The forest is still. Snow falls from the bare branches, and dead leaves crunch beneath my feet. The trees are sleeping, and they babble to themselves, slow stories of those who rush through life, homilies about how to teach acorns to roll the right way, longing for the coming spring and the sensuous feel of insects on flowers. The rocks tell still slower stories, but I haven't the time to decypher.

I pick a snowbell for my beloved, and only linger long enough for one more tale.

I hope that title makes sense. I came up with it at 4 AM

Tune Up

2008-04-30T02:38:00.002-04:00

This won't take long. Nah, I don't got much work to do. From what you've said, this should just be routine maintenance. Just clean out your system, get some more room freed up. Defrag, maybe. And I think I'll take a crack at organizing your childhood memories again, if you don't mind. Sure, no problem. I just need a little extra to cover the insurance. Further you go back, the more weird shit you've gotta avoid.

Heheh, you don't trust me? After all I've done for you? Remember who saved you when your brain was fried back in New York? That's right. I'm the best there is, and if anyone else starts to think they can take you out quick and easy with another mindvirus, you'll need me again.

Alright then. Let's get this done, shall we?

Acceptance

2008-04-26T01:19:00.003-04:00

I haven't looked at the sun rising over the lake in years, but I guess I just need it today. Don't know how I managed to drag the old bones out of bed at 7AM, but the chill crisp air is worth it.

I glance back at the slumbering TV just before I leave the house. Nobody will leave you on, blasting your meaningless voices into the night, never again. Silence is your purpose now.

The path is long, my legs are stiff, but the rock is still there. It holds happy memories of my youth, and my heart races as I climb onto it.

I sit, and the age of the rock makes me feel young. The sun pokes up across the water, turning it molten. It looks like a new beginning.

Our Only Hope

2008-04-22T23:48:00.002-04:00

...in my head, just can't get it out. Must've picked it up last planet we stopped at. I've been having these damn strange dreams ever since. Can't take it anymore, yaknow? Always asking, begging for something I just don't know how to give. And they're invading my waking life too, bleeding through into reality. Yes doctor, there's a short pink cartoony guy right behind you. Yeah, nobody else sees him either.He's been asking me, saying I need to save his species, and I just can't take the pressure. He won't let me rest, won't even grant me the release of insanity.

Alright, I'll let you know if the pills help. Thanks. Hey, you can help them, right? After you kick them out of my head?

A True Story, for a Change

2008-04-19T21:46:00.002-04:00

First, sorry about the lack of an update yesterday. I left to go whitewater rafting, and I meant to update before that, but I guess I got too distracted packing or something. We went on the Moose River in the Adirondacks, near Old Forge New York. I hear it's a pretty intense river normally, but this weekend all the snow's been melting, so the water was higher than usual. About a half-foot below the level that's too dangerous to raft on untrained, apparently. And the water was freezing. I went under once, and couldn't move for a second, it shocked me. Glad I swam a lot in high school, or I would've been panicking more than I was. One guy got caught in a whirlpool, he said later that he was pushed around and he'd see the light but it'd disappear just as quick. I don't think I would've handled that well. It was probably just a second or two, but everything seems longer underwater, in that cold current. Our guides were really good though. To do that job, you've gotta know the river, know where to go and exactly when to tell people to paddle hard. If it weren't for that, I think it'd be a job I'd like to do sometime. The raft flipped, but that was on purpose, because we were in a calmer part of the river. The first half was intense, once we finished that, our guide mentioned that his blood pressure went down slightly. The first part was the worst, I think. A guy up front fell out, and we were distracted trying to help him back in, so we hit the whirlpool and more people fell out. I somehow managed to stay in, but then I looked behind me and our guide was gone. Later, he said that the front of the boat went down, and the back went up and threw him over our heads into the river. Another thing I don't think I'd like to experience. So out of eight people in the raft, me and two other people were left, and we didn't know what to do, we spun around for about a minute in the whirlpool wondering what to do. Some of the guides were in kayaks, so they talked us through it a bit, and we got out without capsizing. Fun, in a terrifying kind of way. We watched a video after, and I'll see if I can put it up here soonly. Hope that story isn't too unorganized.

Wake Me Up in Time for the Apocalypse

2008-04-15T22:24:00.002-04:00

I brought a hammock, but you'd be surprised, there's really no good place to set it up inside. So I napped on the floor.

I woke up, much more rested than I expected. The gym was deserted. I wandered outside, and the sky was pure orange, without sun or clouds. Everything was cast with an otherworldly light, and there were no shadows. I walked across the campus without seeing anyone. If I could tell what time it was, I'd know if that was normal.

In the middle of the frisbee field, there was an elevator standing open. I pressed button ten, and waited to see where it would take me.

Seriously Joking

2008-04-12T02:19:00.002-04:00

So you want the Revolution? Not just a quarter turn then? Go for 360 degrees, and end up where you started? Number nine. Number nine.

Don't look so confused. I'm most likely babbling. We had to make our own fun, before the internet and virtual reality. I think I learned to entertain myself too well, somewhere along the way.

So, chess again, or shall we plot against the government?

Sure. I could get used to this, you know. Think I'll go for planning an invasion next.

Post-Historic

2008-04-09T01:33:00.003-04:00

The clock blinked twelve, fractionally lighting the room. Wonderful technology, yet just as useful now as a sundial at midnight. In fact, in my experience, older technology usually lasts longer.

You could say that I'm one of those older models. More resilient than most clocks. But I've learned to imitate the up and coming, the Next Big Thing.

And yet, I still remember. Before we sliced and diced time. Before seconds and minutes, even before hours. When the only clock was the sun, and the only calendar, the moon.

It was a better time, a simpler time. With luck, and a little more work on my part, it will soon be upon us once more.