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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

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

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 139 stories

“A Sunset in the Sand” by Kay Lane

Submitted to Contest #72

"We're going to be late!!!" Cassie yells over her shoulder. She's riding her bike perfectly centered in the lane, the chrome stands out against the black asphalt.  "No, we won't," I scoff back. This is an ongoing joke, we know we aren't going to be late. We never have been. Nobody has. The Panel has planned everyone's schedules precisely so that there are no accidents, no excuses.  I'm 16 today, there will be a celebration this evening after daily studies. I enjoy birthdates, they are one of the allotted days each year where enti...

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“Hibernate-Liberate” by Eriny Youssef

Submitted to Contest #72

“Wow! You’re right, Martin. This is the most crowded of all DonDates.”  “Of course, it is! I’m telling you, more people have been signing up to come over. I hear the authorizations are hitting new records, some people are even jumping two DonDates at a time.” “Martin? Hey,” I said.  “Hello. Sorry, I’m at a loss here. You do look familiar.”  “It’s Owen. From football practice? Last time I saw you was five years ago.”  “Owen! What took you so long? Where the hell have you been?!”  “Don’t ask. The prices have gone throu...

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“From atop the Mahogany Table” by Cosma Nova

Submitted to Contest #72

Father Baumann drummed his fingers methodically against the surface of the mahogany table. He stared into the eyes of the gentleman sitting across from him, not in a threatening way, but rather in a curious way.Father Baumann was not the threatening type at all. He was not in any type actually. He fit no categories. He was one of the rare entities of a human being that molded and shifted with the tide. But yet, one would never say he went with the flow. His existence defied the human nature.He could coax a despairing man from the precipice o...

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“Patterns. ” by Lee Doe

Submitted to Contest #72

Humans were designed to be predictable. Designed: planned or conceived in detail or for a specific purpose. Predictable: Able to be predicted.  Like a number sequence.  Number sequence: a list of numbers that are linked by a rule. 2, 4, 6, 8... Designed, predictable, linked by a rule.  And my personal favorite. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55... At first glance, the numbers look random, not designed, unpredictable, unlinked by a rule. If a human were to look closer, their intuition could detect a relation...

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“Flight of Fancy” by Tanja Cilia

Submitted to Contest #72

Leeza woke up with a start, bathed in sweat. She’d been having one of those weird dreams, parts of which were recurring. Her shrink said they were replete with suppressed memories and significant objects, but she knew they were her brain’s way of saving her from having to resort to electroerasure therapy. She was in a classroom, the walls of which were painted aquamarine, and decorated with stuck-on pictures of fish. This gave her the feeling of being inside an aquarium. Outside the classroom, there was a lot of noise; children were play...

2 comments 2
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“Some Earthly Habits Will Never Change” by Blane Britt

Submitted to Contest #72

It had been less than 600 years since Christopher Columbus supposedly discovered America in 1492. Had he foreseen the future like Nostradamus: Great L.A. Earthquake: The first to strike California in the 2020s. Nostradamus, Quatrain 9:83 The sun twenty [degrees] in Taurus, so strongly the earth trembles. The great theater filled up is ruined. The air, sky and land darkened and troubled. When the infidel calls upon GOD and the Saints. I’m quite sure Columbus wished he would have discovered Canada instead. Nevertheless on October 12, 2022 the...

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“Rebel Without The Numbers” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #72

“Good morning team!” The buzz in the room quietened down as the bulky man in the once-smart suit at the front of the room dropped his stack of files on the desk. “Day 1765. I’m sure I don’t need to reiterate how important it is that we don’t mess things up now–” “But you’ve done it anyway,” Bhatt muttered to Hansen, as he did every day. As usual she smiled; it was as much a part of her morning routine as the boss saying how important the day was. “We’ve all come too far for this to fail now,” their boss was still saying. “So keep your he...

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“Algon and Paluma ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #72

I am Xura, one of the personnel assigned to the Mind Control Unit here at Hurla. Mind control is a necessary function of our small stations in the Walgo Sector.  There is a lot of misinformation on this controversial subject, but for our purposes it is an essential function and without it, we would not be able to maintain our mission here at Hurla.  It is complicated on Hurla since those who are sent here have been sentenced by the Supreme Command on Chaxavac (chaz-a-vac) and the sectors oversee protection and communication. ...

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“Impure” by Ash M

Submitted to Contest #72

“Rules were made to be broken!” A snarky voice exclaimed. The boy was standing in an animated pose and puffing his chest out. He stood in a crowded hallway, and students were scurrying trying to get to places as soon as they could. Some kids stopped by to stare at him, others glared, and the girl who stood beside him rolled his eyes. The boy had curly brown hair that swayed when the breeze nuzzled it. He wore cuffed jeans and had a white t-shirt layered on top of his long black sleeves. He raised a small metallic object that flickered when t...

9 comments 9
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“The Algorithm” by D. Alfonso

Submitted to Contest #72

For decades, the world had been ruled by an Algorithm. It told you when you should sleep. It told you what you should study and know in school. It showed you videos based on your previous finds. The lights changed in your room depending on how the Algorithm thought you felt. After so many years, it was perfect. Every decision the Algorithm made was right. It wasn’t like the old days when the Algorithm could miscalculate. There were no miscalculations here.  The Algorithm was like a mind of its own, although it was nothing but a string...

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“Models of Human Behavior” by Sjan Evardsson

Submitted to Contest #72

Senna Washington pulled her police cruiser into the grocery store parking lot. Her shoulder-length hair hung in tight ringlets, courtesy of the twists she had pulled out that morning. The afternoon sun warmed her copper-brown skin, warding off the autumn chill. “What do we think, Carter? This is an awful long way from his known movements.”Senna’s partner, Mike Carter, looked at the mostly empty parking lot. “I guess it makes sense if he’s trying to stay out of sight. But we stick out like a sore thumb here.”"Subject KN-637, Jason James, will...

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“The Whispering Truth” by Bella Shah

Submitted to Contest #72

“You’re going to be late for your meeting, Echo!” my older brother yells at me. “I know I’m going there, just give me a minute, ok!” I yell back at him. “Fine, just hurry up!” he yells at me. “I’m 16 now, I can handle myself, Len.” I snap back at him. After the meeting, I return home, and sit on the couch, and start to write. My brother’s name is Lennard, but I call him Len for short. My name is Gwenn, and my full name is Gwendolyne, but when I was little I never talked, so it was constant silence. It was like everything ...

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“Escape from Hiomia” by Nevaeh Lewis

Submitted to Contest #72

My name is Florian Shadowbite. I have red hair, green eyes, and I live in a place called Hiomia. You see, my world isn't a normal world. You might be thinking, mine isn’t either because for some reason, my mom keeps yelling at me to do my chores which is not normal. But, that is normal. Stop being a lazy bum. In my world, everything you do can be predicted. If you like a girl and want to ask her out, right before you do she already knows you’re going to and immediately rejects you, not that that’s ever happened to me. Anyway, pretty much eve...

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“Armor” by Max Arlo

Submitted to Contest #72

****Trigger warning: conversion therapy, suicidal ideation, transphobia**** “Now, Tanya,” the smiling woman coos. I’m not fooled by the way her lips spread thin to reveal greying teeth. I can feel rather than hear the venom in her voice and the disgust that coats the daggers she glares at me. I repulse her. “We’ve been over this…” “My name is Thomas,” I mutter, staring directly into those lethal eyes. She sighs theatrically, closing her notes with a snap. I don’t see why she’s continuing with this doctor/psychiatrist facade. I called he...

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“Unpredictable” by Ken Coomes

Submitted to Contest #72

A yellow and black Mustang, colored like Bumblebee from the Transformers, made a radical, obtuse-angle turn, in order to catch the exit ramp. It sped down the ramp, as a pair of police cruisers sped past, unable to make the turn in time to exit. The Mustang followed a series of alternating left and right turns, evading what appeared to be a non-existent pursuit. Then it raced down Olive, a residential street. Tires squealed and smoke billowed as Ryan cornered aggressively into his driveway. He had already pressed the remote to open the garag...

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🌟 Similar prompts

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Contest #72

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