Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Posted in Science Fiction on Jul 31, 2021

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✍️ 139 stories

“The Mind” by Hayden Fireman

Submitted to Contest #72

The Mind It was an unremarkable day, as always. Everyone did as they were predicted to do, to the slightest tensing of a muscle. As William returned to his house, located at the top right corner of the Cube he lived in, he was reminded, as always, of the sorry state that the world was in. The intercoms came on and gave its “friendly” reminder: “Citizens of this Cube, remember that you must remove your microchip from behind your left ear and store it inside its charging port for the night.” Will has a very uncommon mindset. He...

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“Panoptikon Error 7” by Stephen Langford

Submitted to Contest #72

Think, but not too much. Devon shuffled along his everyday route from the factory to his apartment, just as the Panoptikon knew he would. The neural band on his wrist showed the dull green line to indicate behavioral normality. Earlier he’d remembered to pick up a tin of condensed milk for his mother, and a minute later a message scrolled across the band’s display: INVENTORY OF MILK LOW. CONSIDER BORROWING FROM ROTHSTEIN. He’d docilely gone along with the suggestion to bother the widower across the hall for the prized commodity. Rothste...

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“The Human Way” by Khristina Rada

Submitted to Contest #72

Planet Earth Year 2060 Rya-To We arrive to the outskirts of the planet called Earth. It would seem the inhabitants of this planet have not advanced their technology enough to detect our arrival. Not to mention it would be hard to see our ship with the cloaking apparatus activate. If the inhabitants happened to glance our way, they might see something odd, a ripple here or there in the sky but could not say exactly what they saw. "Gya, make sure we run a continuous scan of the planet. I do not want to be ...

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“Status Update Pending” by Amanda Van Regenmorter

Submitted to Contest #72

“Good morning Katherine,” said PAN the moment before her eyelids fluttered open. Its voice, gentle and genderless, issued from the walls. Music followed the greeting, this time a vibrant concerto. “Thanks, PAN. Perfect song, as always,” she said and threw back the covers to begin her day. She was grateful her parents could afford her PAN-integrated dorm. The Predi...

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Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 139 stories

“The Mind” by Hayden Fireman

“Panoptikon Error 7” by Stephen Langford

“The Human Way” by Khristina Rada

“Status Update Pending” by Amanda Van Regenmorter

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Write a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

Write about someone getting a job offer they never would have thought to apply for.

Write about someone who gets an inheritance from a relative they’ve never heard of, but they’ll need to do something completely outside their comfort zone in order to collect it.

Contest #72

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

687

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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