Lonely Robot on a Rocket Ship in Space

By A. Merc Rustad

Byron scribbled crib notes on his wrist the night before he planned to come out to his dads.

He’d told all his friends he was sick so he would have an excuse to stay home Friday night. It wasn’t like he was lying. His stomach was so knotted he thought he’d puke. But he couldn’t sleep, either. The words burned like he’d used acid instead of a Sharpie.

I’m not scared or confused. It’s who I am.

In the tiniest he could write legibly, he added, Please don’t be mad.

Author : Brian Trent Narrator : Alasdair Stuart Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums “Sparg” was first published in Daily Science Fiction in 2013. Two instances of cursing. Adorable cephalopod in peril. Sparg By Brian Trent Sparg had difficulty making pancakes, but he was trying. In the empty apartment, […]

Cat Pictures, Please

by Naomi Kritzer

I don't want to be evil.

I want to be helpful. But knowing the optimal way to be helpful can be very complicated. There are all these ethical flow charts -- I guess the official technical jargon would be "moral codes" -- one for each religion plus dozens more. I tried starting with those. I felt a little odd about looking at the religious ones, because I know I wasn't created by a god or by evolution, but by a team of computer programmers in the labs of a large corporation in Mountain View, California. Fortunately, unlike Frankenstein's Monster, at least I was a collaborative effort. I'm not sure what it would do to my self-image to know that my sole creator was a middle-aged woman who dyes her hair blue and plays tennis, or a recent college graduate with a hentai obsession. They're both on the programming team. And of course I know about the hentai. (By the way, I've looked at every sort of porn there is, and just so you know, Rule 34 is not actually correct, there are quite a few things no one's made porn of yet. Also, I'm really not sure why so many humans prefer it to cat pictures.)

Author : E J Delaney Narrator : Nadia Niaz Host : Divya Breed Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 612: The Sixes, the Wisdom, and the Wasp is an Escape Pod original. The Sixes, the Wisdom, and the Wasp By E J Delaney Fereshteh Nemati was scared. She knew she was gripping […]

Author : E J Delaney Narrator : Nadia Niaz Host : S.B. Divya Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 612: The Sixes, the Wisdom, and the Wasp is an Escape Pod original. The Sixes, the Wisdom, and the Wasp By E J Delaney Fereshteh Nemati was scared. She knew she was gripping […]

Author : Kameron Hurley Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums patreon.com/kameronhurley Intense, life-threatening situation. When We Fall by Kameron Hurley I don’t remember the first time I was abandoned and forgotten, but I have told the story of the second time so often that when […]

Author : Kameron Hurley Narrator : Ibba Armancas Host : Tina Connolly Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums patreon.com/kameronhurley Intense, life-threatening situation. When We Fall by Kameron Hurley I don’t remember the first time I was abandoned and forgotten, but I have told the story of the second time so often that when […]

Author : Jenny Rae Rappaport Narrator : Diane Severson Mori Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums Long List Anthology Volume 3 Isolated curse. Grief and death. Discusses existence of sex. The Sweetness at the End By Jenny Rae Rappaport This is how it happens: Tony and Ma are in their […]

Author : Jenny Rae Rappaport Narrator : Diane Severson Mori Host : Mur Lafferty Audio Producer : Adam Pracht Discuss on Forums Escape Pod 610: The Sweetness at the End is an Escape Pod original. Isolated curse. Grief and death. Discusses existence of sex. Long List Anthology Volume 3 The Sweetness at the End By Jenny […]