Encrypted Frequencies – Entry 007

Title: The Signal.

After a narrow escape by boat, Detective Mertens lands on an island unlike anything he’s ever seen. There are no cameras. No patrols. Only color, art, and people living freely, something he never thought possible under State control.

But this sanctuary isn’t just a hiding place. It’s the home of a rebellion. And they’ve been waiting for him.

Mertens is told the painting he’s been guarding isn’t just art. It’s a weapon. Or a doorway. Maybe both.

And now they want him to go back.

In this episode:

Mertens discovers the island stronghold of the rebellion

The truth behind the mysterious painting is revealed

He’s given a mission: not to fight, but to awaken the world

A signal must be sent and it will come from within the State

Encrypted Frequencies is a dystopian microfiction series told through the personal voice logs of Detective Mertens, where emotion and art have been outlawed. New entries every week.

Subscribe on Substack or listen on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your signal.

#EncryptedFrequencies #SpeculativeFiction #DystopianPodcast #AudioDrama #SciFiShorts #ShortacoolFiction #NarrativePodcast #SerializedFiction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

FLASH FICTION – “Packing for Paris”By Shortacool

A flash fiction tale about the limits of love and luggage. What if your partner sent you a bag instead of a plane ticket and expected you to fit? A surreal story about shrinking for someone else… in every possible way. From the Shortacool flash archive.

This is a standalone episode and not part of the Encrypted Frequencies series.

Written & narrated by Shortacool. More at shortacool.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

Encrypted Frequencies – Episode 6

Underground Rebellion in a World Without Emotion

After triggering an alarm, Detective Mertens must escape with a dangerous artifact: a painting rumored to alter perception and maybe even memory itself.

With the State closing in, he flees into the Well, a soot-choked district where the air burns and emotion has long been outlawed. Inside a crumbling home, a family prays silently. Outside, a girl with melted-orange hair and silver arms stares at him, then points to a hidden door in the rock.

He follows.

Below ground, a river waits. So does a cult or maybe a resistance. No one speaks. They only point.

A boat. A silent crew. Gunshots above.

The city fades behind him. Ahead: open water, and no guarantee of survival.

—

In this episode:

A red light on a dead detective's lapel signals incoming danger

Mertens moves through a city where even prayer feels rehearsed

A hidden society with silver arms and orange hair leads him below

A violent escape under cover of rain and revolution

Open water, and the unknown beyond it

🎧 Listen now and subscribe for future drops📺 Watch the glitch-visual micro-short on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok💬 Who are the orange-haired ones? Cult or resistance?

#EncryptedFrequencies #SpeculativeFiction #DystopianAudio #ShortacoolFiction #SciFiThriller #PodcastSeries

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

After stepping inside the painting, Mertens is overwhelmed by color, memory, and forbidden emotion. But outside the canvas, the State is closing in—and someone is about to die.

A rebellion begins with a feeling.

Encrypted Frequencies is a weekly dystopian voice log series from a future where art and emotion are outlawed.

New transmissions every Friday.Full archive + transcripts: https://shortacool.substack.com

Listen on:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

Entry 004: After capture, Mertens comes face to face with the Painter—and the canvas itself.

What waits inside the painting is not just memory... it’s something alive.

Encrypted Frequencies is a weekly dystopian voice log series from a future where art and emotion are outlawed.

New transmissions drop every Friday.

Full archive, transcripts, and behind-the-scenes:

🔗 https://shortacool.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

In a warehouse lit by open flame, Detective Mertens comes face to face with a painting long thought extinct—until it moves. And then something steps out.

“I’d only heard whispers—what one might look like. But this... this is something else.”

Shortform speculative fiction told through voice logs and transmissions from outlawed futures.

Listen weekly on Substack, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Full transcript + visual storytelling: shortacool.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

Episode 002: The Well A descent into the forgotten district. Surveillance fades. Memory doesn’t.

Shortform speculative fiction told through voice logs, transmissions, and story fragments from strange futures and forbidden timelines.

Season 1: Encrypted FrequenciesIn a world where art and emotion are outlawed, a detective begins to remember.

New stories weekly. Some serialized. Some standalone.Transcripts + bonus content: https://shortacool.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com

Entry 001: “The Painting” In a world where art and emotion are outlawed, a detective finds a forbidden sketch—one she can’t bring herself to destroy.

Season 1: Encrypted FrequenciesFull transcript at: shortacool.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shortacool.substack.com