The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)
By J. R. Johnson

Carleton T. Lowengren, low-level civil servant, single twenty-something and refugee from the war-torn Outer Rim, woke to the remnants of a gaming binge and a killer headache courtesy of his interface. The implant had been trying to wake him for some time.

He rolled off the couch. Another day, another commute from his nondescript apartment to the center of the Galaxy, trying to do the one thing his mother said he never would: make a difference.

The walk-in wardrobe straightened his collar as he registered the time. Carl sprinted past the pre-programmed bowl of cereal to the garage door.

“Leo? Where are you, boy?”

Carl’s ride was usually parked in the garage on a mat of sweet-grass and clover. It was nowhere to be seen. And it’s not like he could overlook a car-sized dimension-hopping tortoise.

Escape Pod 923: The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)

Science Fiction

Drama

Fiction

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Escape Pod 938: Chug the Tea Leaves, Chuck the Ads

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Escape Pod 937: Punk Voyager (Flashback Friday)

By Nora Schinnerl

(...Continued from Part 1)

Kite was still curled into a bundle of blankets in front of the stove when Setti woke. The old woman sniffed, torn between surprise and annoyance. She'd have figured him for a quitter, sneaking out before dawn to escape the work. That's what she'd have done when she was his age. Not like Setti was in any shape to chase after him. But he'd stayed and now she was stuck with him, just like she was stuck with her ghost. There was a thought to cheer her up in the morning.

“Ey, boy.”

The bundle of blankets stirred, then Kite woke with a start. The bruise on his face looked worse in the harsh morning light, his cheek all swollen and purple. From the way he winced, it wasn't the only one either. Setti dropped a bowl of oats on the table for him.

“About time you start working for your food.”

Escape Pod 936: Old People’s Folly (Part 2 of 2)

Old People's Folly (Part 1 of 2)
By Nora Schinnerl

Setti knew the woman for a ghost the moment she appeared. It was the pink hair that gave her away, short and spiky. Real people didn't have hair like that. Also, you couldn't see the scratchmarks on Setti's kitchen table through real people's torsos.

“The hell?” was the first thing the ghost said. Setti's grandfather had tried to tell her ghost stories when she was a kid, a long time ago, but he'd had a habit of smoking and drinking too, so none of the stories had ever made any sense and Setti didn't like unannounced visitors.

“Get out of my house,” Setti demanded.

“Um,” the ghost answered, staring at Setti with her eyes rimmed in thick black mascara, then held holding up a placating hand. “Okay. Just let me find—”

The ghost blinked out of existence.

Escape Pod 935: Old People’s Folly (Part 1 of 2)

Author : Tony Dunnell Narrator : Bryce Dahle Host : Alasdair Stuart Audio Producer : Summer Brooks Escape Pod 934: The Alien in My Bathtub is an Escape Pod original. If you aren’t familiar with Locus Magazine, they’re a respected website, magazine, award, archive, and resource for SF, fantasy, and horror. They put on the […]

Escape Pod 923: The T-4200 (Part 1 of 2)

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