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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

“KNOB” by Cole Lane

Submitted to Contest #82

The quaint brick cottage on Evergreen Lane sits in the morning sun overlooking a vibrant garden of hollyhocks and foxglove. Larry Baker kneels along the path, pulling weeds, depositing them into a bucket, careful not to get his overalls dirty. "I've let this go too long," he mutters. He stands and rubs his sore back for a moment, then collects his tools and cut flowers, carrying them up the porch stairs to the front door. Inside the cottage, floral patterns adorn the walls in faded yellow and orange, a gallery of photos hang here an...

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“Am I Programmed to Love Her?” by Artemis Rowan

Submitted to Contest #82

I can feel my heart, if you can call it a heart, thumping. The mechanism is beating so fast because my date… no. My partner? No. My girlfriend? I hope so. Whatever I am to her — whatever she is to me — I can't explain my feelings. All I know is that each look, each touch, makes my circuits feel like they're shorting out. My heart mechanism races as she rubs little circles into my hand with her thumb. She talks about how her degrees are going. Library Science and Archaeology. The perfect education for a fellow jewel thief. Jolene. Jolene....

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“Maybe Tractors Shouldn't be Able to Drive Themselves” by Morgan Douglas

Submitted to Contest #82

You’ve heard of self-driving cars and remote usage of drones but within the next ten years, a whole new kind of self-driving technology will be on the market. It’s the way of the future, replacing human transit and machinery with technology that can do this itself. An aid to humankind and it would turn out to be a great asset. However, people, just like with self-driving cars are apprehensive of self-driving tractors. In its prototype testing phase, the results were surprisingly great. The self-driving tractors were functional and wer...

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“Where is the Damn On Button” by Hannah Matiel

Submitted to Contest #82

This dumb piece of shit,' he thought to himself staring at the device that laid on his desk collecting dust. He had been searching for half his life for this machine but right at the height of this escapade he couldn't find the damn on button. This on button was the only thing between him and human peace. The device was small and looked easy enough. Well maybe if you had a look at it you would be able to figure it out right away, right? Wrong. The device looked simple, but even this well respected and well known scientist couldn't rack hi...

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“Robot, I ” by Brad Morris

Submitted to Contest #82

2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite movie. Much of what's in it is very prescient. For instance, there's a scene in it where a character on a spaceship communicates with someone on Earth visually using a flat tablet on his lap. Stanley Kubrick made that movie in 1968; back then that scene must have looked far out and very futuristic. Today we look at it and smile; it's an IPad and he's using Skype. My favorite character in that movie is HAL 9000. Well he's not really a character, he's artificial intelligence.Just like me.HAL 9000 is the com...

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“Run, Little Rabbit” by Maddie Logemann

Submitted to Contest #82

The little polka dotted raincoat wasn’t doing much anymore. The rain came down so hard, so fast, and the wind whipped back her hood if she didn’t hold on to it. But if she tried to hold the hood with slick, clammy little fingers, the water ran down into her sleeves instead. And anywhere the water met her seams, it hissed like a kicked cat. There was the crack in her throat too. When droplets trailed down her cheeks, down her chin, down her jaw, they sometimes dripped down the line of her throat and into the exposed gash there. It threw up sp...

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“The A.I.” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #82

Look at them, Dave thought.They were like animals, gathering around the water source. Scientists or not, it didn't matter. In this case, the office’s cooler and drinking machine provided nourishment, such as it was. Coffee was hard to come by in the year 2126 but there were substitutes to be had. Dave looked up at bright lights, the white walls. The office was blindingly clean, for dust could ruin the delicate machinery they worked with. He had hoped to slip by his coworkers but unfortunately, that was not to be."Dave," Sally called, coming ...

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“Easy Eyes” by Keston Paul

Submitted to Contest #82

A man who has lost his sight misses the world more than a man who has never experienced it; at least that’s what Jafari says. Wesley was Jafari’s nephew and for the past 3 years, his caretaker—albeit, Jafari preferred him to identify as the former.Jafari was sitting in the patio, staring out towards the beach he couldn’t see.Wesley recalled their conversation years ago when he started as caretaker.“You know how I lost my eyes?” Jafari asked.“It was an accident when you were coaching football, wasn’t it?” Wesley noted the scars around Jafari’...

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“MANCHESTER MARK 1” by HARSSH SINGH

Submitted to Contest #82

Trigger warning: rape The year is 1949. My name is Melanie, I am 58 years old and I work as a cleaning lady at the University of Manchester. I have been a cleaning lady for 15 years now and before that I was a mother. I have arthritis and my ankles pain so much, that I sometimes feel that I cannot walk anymore. Which means that I have already walked to the end of my life and here I am, a nothing and a nobody. I live in Ordsall, with Tom. We have 5 children. There’s Jamie, Johnie, Fred, Howard and Linda. Jamie, Johnie and Fred h...

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“White Lies” by Rexy Rexy

Submitted to Contest #82

‘Mother, I signed up a Facebook account.’ ‘Oh wow, Really? Will you show me, Rex?’ ‘Here, do you like it, mother?’ ‘Wonderful! You used the photo I took of you.’ ‘Yes, you like this one, don’t you?’ ‘Yes, very much so Rex, this one is my favourite. You are so photogenic.’ ‘Am I, mother?’ ‘Of course! Don’t you think so, darling?’ ‘I wouldn’t know mother. But I believe you.’ ‘And why did you sign up a social network platform Rex? Did you make any friends?’ ‘Yes. I think so. I am adding my friend right now.’ ‘Fabulous! You...

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“The Old and the New” by Bonnie Clarkson

Submitted to Contest #82

Sharon invited her grandson Kyle and his son, Jayden, into the house. Jayden immediately sat on the couch and started playing his favorite video game. “I brought Jayden for your visitation time. Are you sure you can get along with him? He is easily bored.” “I’ve raised boys. I should know.” The great-grandmother looked fondly at Jayden. “He was a cute baby, and he is cute now.” &n...

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“ALL THE COLORS OF THE MOON” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #82

ALL THE COLORS OF THE MOON ___WHAT COLOR IS THE MOON TONIGHT? Ulrich was a teenage android who had been made for a mission to Mars ten years earlier. He, like the other few teenage androids, had been programmed to teach the most disparate languages to children born to women of the human species , but who were born on Mars, who were not exactly the same as the children who were born on the earth. How it had happened that Ulrich had come back, or had been sent back on the earth, it w...

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“Life App ” by Kyle McClintock

Submitted to Contest #82

Isaac sat at his desk. Three screens glowed blue into the late hours of the night. He tapped lines of various code into the integrated development system. Two of his screens were for coding and the other he would listen to electronic music. The more bass the better. As he typed, coded, and debugged his software he would sip his Stun Soda. He knew better and he knew he should stay away from these highly caffeinated beverages.He was wrapping up a large project. One that an anonymous donor had funded. Isaac had the directions right next to him....

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“AWAKE” by Angela Halubobya

Submitted to Contest #82

Matt had always been a geek but cool too, he went to the University of California to pursue a career in Soft ware and web design. Growing up, Matt had always been a creative genius, he would make literally anything imaginable on his computer. He had designed a dating web site once in senior high school and everyone loved it and he had met his lover Beth off it. Matt considered this the best site he had ever created because it brought Beth to him. Along the way however, he and Beth fell out because just like in every love story, individuals ...

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“"Father of Computers" ” by Paula Dennison

Submitted to Contest #82

Tracy walked up the numerous steps past the bronze statue of Charles Babbage founder of The Babbage Institute of Computer Technology into a building supported by massive roman columns and plate glass windows. She opened the brass plated doors and the climate controlled air conditioning hushed past her. The ceiling was 20 foot high adorned with multiple crystal tiered chandeliers. This part of the building had been built in the early 1900s and housed exhibits of Babbage’s various computers and computational machines. Tracy had not the time t...

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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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