“Jiang, what has you so excited? It’s really urgent?”

“Just watch the video, all I ask, Ranveer.”

“Ok, somebody on the Great Wall of China, walking funny, big deal?”

“Our recognition engine gait-matches this video from Badaling to what you gave us from Roosevelt Island.”

“Oh! They came to China too?”

“Probably when they checked out our ‘uranium.’ But that’s not what I wanted to show you. Their illusion only covered visible light; look at the terahertz and infrared images! You see their real shape!”

“Household spirit, manifest before me,” said the man in the workroom. The language he spoke was new to me, but apparently someone had installed a new language module without my knowledge; I understood him perfectly.

Hailey was tired of her twin brother. Howard was always that one brother who you couldn’t seem to bond with. He’s a great guy, but he always kept to himself, and Hailey rarely got to spend time with him. She’d try to take him out with some friends, or even just watch a movie with him, but to no avail. She had always wanted a sister, someone else to have by her side, but their parents stopped with just the two of them.

When Robert’s wife’s body is stolen, Robert must discover where and who she is and get her body back. But can he succeed when Exmuritious Forrester, the CEO and owner of Transmigration Studios, decides to stop him? Who can Robert trust, when anyone could be anyone?

-9-
The Harvest Moon

My shift in the dunking booth had come to an end. The Sun was now setting over the gable roofs of Iskay Village. The cobblestone square had fallen quite. I thought like most folk festivals there would be a dance at the end. I was wrong, there was no dance. The villagers simply retreated inside to the warmth of their houses.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

The Prodigal

My name is George, something you may think was not unusual. When I tell you that my older brother is also called George, as is my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, you can guess that I come from a long and wealthy family.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

I don’t get very many days off, “busy as a bee” doesn’t justify exactly how busy it is sometimes. It’s bad enough that I often take on too many workshop orders, but late Spring is really important for the harvest festival to go without any problems. Nevertheless me and my cousins always manage to come out of Spring okay. Earning quite a lot of free time in the process.

-8-
Dunk the Maiden (Part 2)

I quickly found myself soaked to the bone. My once perfectly styled hair had become a tangle web of loose strands. I felt myself starting to shiver a little. The fire had almost gone out in me. The crowd in front of me was starting to ease up a bit and I was glad. I thought maybe I could catch a little break. But then Wyatt came up to me and started to whisper harshly toward me.