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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#82: How App-ropriate

Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying that modern technology has reshaped literally every aspect of our daily lives. From the way we stay in touch with family and friends, to the ready access of information (or misinformation), to how we work and then spend our hard-earned cash, there’s no part of modern life that isn’t impacted by technology.

And it’s safe to say the advancement of tech is only accelerating. But while some characters welcome — or even help usher in — this changing world, others won’t be so accepting. This week, let’s take a look at some of the highs and lows of a world run by algorithms.

This week's prompts

Write about a technophobe who’s been given a device to solve a problem they’ve struggled with for years, but isn't sure how they feel about it.

Character – 95 stories

Your character has just realized the app they’ve been developing has become self-aware. How do they react?

Science Fiction – 74 stories

Write a historical fiction story about someone working at a company that helped revolutionize early computers.

Historical Fiction – 17 stories

Write a near-future thriller where a piece of everyday technology has turned against your character — and only your character.

Thriller and Suspense – 130 stories

Write about an android just trying to blend in with their human companions.

Science Fiction – 221 stories

Stories

“The Brightest Light” by Mike Garrigan

Submitted to Contest #82

Last Monday morning, I installed a new lamp in my office, right above my four-tier filing cabinet. When I turned the lamp on, it burst light throughout the room, bouncing off metal, refracting through glass, and revealing dust I didn’t anticipate ever seeing with such clarity. I shielded my eyes. The lamp was too bright. Mr. Inglethorpe knocked lightly on my open office door. “Malcolm, this is Alex. She will be filling in for Natasha this week. I’m afraid Natasha has fallen ill,” he said. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Ale...

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“Something Else” by Haven W

Submitted to Contest #82

With each passing person, their information blinks in the left corner of my vision. Their names, occupations, home addresses, height, weight, hair and eye color and other things deemed “useful” by Tyrex Industries. I am the last of the Vega-12 experimental program. I am the last Replica. I am an android living in a human's world. Replicas have been declared illegal on Earth. Well they’re illegal outside of Tyrex Industries at least. I escaped weeks ago, I wanted more out of my life. I wasn’t about to be someone’s pleasure model. Instead...

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“Project Ryan” by Zoe Knight

Submitted to Contest #82

March 3rd, Evaluation log 102Hello RY-801-N. Welcome to your evaluation.You have been staying with the family for a month. We’ve conducted interviews with the parents, Monica and David, and the daughter, Janine. The parents show no signs of suspicion. They praised your schoolwork and manners. To them, you are an ordinary human teenager. They plan to take you mountain climbing.We see a smile on your face. You seem excited to go with them. That’s good. Your facial expressions are convincing.Let’s move to the interview with Janine. Janine is si...

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“Heart, hardwired.” by Jessica Baker

Submitted to Contest #82

I grimace at the lovely older woman that sits across from me. This is always the most awkward part- when they offer a cup of tea. How does one politely say “No thank you, if I ingest organic matter I will perish an electric death?” Luckily my beloved companion and fellow social worker, politely interjects. “No thank you, Mrs. Walters. We really should be going. Thank you for having us.” she gracefully stands up from the high back chair next to me, and I do the same, my legs stiff from sitting. As we leave the sweet apartmen...

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“The Intelligent Ruby ” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

Submitted to Contest #82

The wedding procession moved slowly down the narrow lanes of the small town. The bridegroom was sitting uneasily on the horse which appeared far better decked with golden seat cover, shiny leather bridle and golden cover eye shades, white body and long black tail. The bridegroom though nervous appeared happy behind the customary flowery veil hiding the real emotions. Groups of men and woman of all ages danced to the popular film tunes being played by a local band. On the other side at the bride’s home there was excitement a...

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“Robocaller” by Adam Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #82

RT-1 crossed the sunlit lobby, his steps regular as a metronome. He halted in front of the white marble reception desk, standing perfectly at attention. The slender blonde receptionist looked up from painting her fingernails a vivid pink and gave him a perfunctory smile. “May I help you?” “I am RT-1. I seek employment with your organization.” “Artie Won? Hmm,” the receptionist glanced down at her computer and frowned, a slight wrinkle crossing her brow. “I don’t see an appointment on the calendar, but this place ha...

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“2070” by Colombe Nguatta

Submitted to Contest #82

Every morning, I do the same routine. I unplug the power cord from my artificial artelux and go to open the blinds. The sun is good for my body's sheath. After bathing in the sunlight for several minutes, I go to the bathroom. I can’t shower like an ordinary human, the water would mess up my skin like sheath. Instead, I use a 70% alcohol solution to rub down my entire body. And Voila! That pretty much wraps up my daily routine.But today was not any day.Today was my first-day attending high school. Not just any high school, a human high schoo...

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“At what cost?” by Yvone Mthembu

Submitted to Contest #82

Tim wasn't sure whether to thank Walton or lecture him about the carbon footprint.Last night he promised to give him a solution which will ensure he work from home and only travel when it is really necessary and he promised that they'd be able to speak on a daily basis and he won't have to go to Molly's to be able to talk him.He felt an invisible weight leave his body.Tim loves nature ,he was sure if he was President he'd solely focus on decreasing our carbon footprint drastically.He lived way outside the City in a bungalow hidden by tall tr...

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“The Wrong Way” by Jerry DeFranco

Submitted to Contest #82

I remember the sunset in my office window on the final night of my career. I was thinking how thankful I was that a dirty blue-collar guy like myself had such a perfect view, that is, until the machine ended the day for me. It was attached to me. It tagged me like an animal. Back then if you wanted to drive your car, you had your phone’s GPS to tell you where to go, but if you wanted to drive a truck, the Electronic Logging Device told you where to go, where to eat, where to sleep, where to piss, and most importantly, how much money you were...

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“Now You See Me, Now You Don't” by April Rawlins

Submitted to Contest #82

The table was beautiful. They had all of my favorite colors. The balloons were pastel green and pink. The cake was the same with beads of pearl frosting along the edges and my name spelled elegantly in tufts of fluffy cream, “Happy Birthday Norma”. I was 80 years old today, and if I could have said I had a great life, I’d say it was mostly true. However, parts of it were not great. The candles flickered. They spared me from having to blow out so many. Instead of eighty single candles they opted for a giant single eight and a giant single z...

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“Sam, the Artificial Intelligence Therapist” by Angela Van De Pol

Submitted to Contest #82

Noel had been depressed almost all his life. He had accepted it as it was. He would never be happy; that’s just how he was programmed. He did apply for therapy, but with the current society, depression, loneliness, anxiety, insomnia, addiction, borderline, bipolar disorders, and hyperactive disorders were so common that the waiting list would take over a year. Especially if you’re not suicidal, you’re not a “crisis” case, so there was no way of getting help sooner. One more year of being depressed, that’s doable. However, will the therapy wo...

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“After The Blood Has Stilled” by Kas Reidva

Submitted to Contest #82

It used to be easy, keeping track of the things that mattered. For many years Jason Mnemosyne boasted good-naturedly to his family and friends about never forgetting an appointment or a birthday. He remembers snorting mockingly when others admitted to needing a pesky calendar or, heavens forbid, a cell phone to help them remember. Oh how he laughed in the privacy of his own mind, never thinking that such a day would come his way. And yet it had. He first started to notice it a...

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“Infinite Scroll ” by Scott Skinner

Submitted to Contest #82

In a compact parking spot in the East lot, Hamilton sits in his car and waits for me to exit Central California’s Women Facility (CCWF), the female-only prison where I’ve just finished serving fifteen years on drug trafficking charges. It’s February 22, 2021. The newspaper tells me that America’s passed five-hundred thousand Coronavirus deaths; that is grim, and I’m also a seventy-year-old felon; a friendless widow with only a son to love. The facts are hopeless, and I might feel the same if it wasn’t my release date, if my son wasn’t waitin...

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“Daygo” by Susan Whitlock

Submitted to Contest #82

"Good morning, Gloria." "Good morning, Daygo," Gloria responded without thinking. Her fingers flew over her keyboard to launch the live-time version of her wonderful new App. For two years she had slaved away at creating this program to help people succeed. They would select their life goals, choose life preferences, resources, companions, family - every possible piece of their life codified and organized by Daygo. Then, when the setup was complete, they would be able to see calendars, graphs, charts and planners that showed them how to atta...

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“Knights of the Round Cow Patty” by Glennj Russell

Submitted to Contest #82

Never write an AI App while watching “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. Total disaster. Especially since I realized, as I placed the last 8 digits of code, that the thing had become partially sentient in the process, and had a ribald sense of humor to boot. “Isaac” (It’s named after Mr. Asimov.) was supposed to be a help for short story writers, like me. When I said, “Isaac, give me a good name for a heroic knight.” It immediately answered, “Sir Poopalog”. “You’re full of it.” I exclaimed. “No, he is.” Retorted Isaac. “Who?” I wondered, ...

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$50

Prize money

537

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 26, 2021 EST

Won by Cyndy Reads 🏆

Title: ALN23061912RK

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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