Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 139 stories

“The Vaccine ” by Alex Arias

Submitted to Contest #72

I thought going directly to the HOO, Christen Goldwater, would be a rewarding experience. He would congratulate me on a job well done, perhaps bestow some public accolades that would mark the beginning of our partnership fighting the extraterrestrial virus plaguing our planet. But I had misread the situation. Again. You’re probably confused. Let me start from the beginning. When I was born, I cried. Which isn’t unusual for an infant freshly pushed out of the womb. As they wiped the blood from my skin, I’m told they injected me, as they...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Illicit Fate” by Larlin Reese

Submitted to Contest #72

Hours passed as I flipped through my perfect grades, boringly checking them again and again. Tonight was set, knife in my boot as I was getting ready to kill a man. The bots passed by my room near the time of my scheduled lunch hour, watching me eat my stale bread, poking it from afar. "Your brother is in the infirmary," They announced, emotionless and automatic. Just like every single day. That kid beater would get his due.  I grinned back. "My grades?" "Perfect as always, Rockers." My last name was sung in my ears as common, the ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Algorithm” by Nikhil Sai

Submitted to Contest #72

"Welcome to the after life...." Peter heard a voice said to him. But he was out in the world before he could comprehend who it was and he is in the job before he could get a grasp around this world . It was quite a task for him in the initial days, but slowly he understood some things about this place. He got a job in the food section which is the highest level of job you can get in this place and if anybody asked him how he got this job he would simply smile and got out of that situation because he doesn't remember....

0 comments 0
Read story

“Lauren's Letter.” by Fortune Phiri

Submitted to Contest #72

A collection of one’s and zero’s, that is how the Core views humanity. A collection of worker ants that follow the instructions it doles out. Today was the same as every other day in the city of light, people being moved like pieces on a chessboard carrying out their tasks. Isaac is sat on the train. Humming along the magnetic lines that snake through the mountainous peaks of skyscrapers. The buildings give off a magnificent sapphire-blue glow that rises from the reactors in their core, almost like that of blue sun. The train is filled with ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Everything's Under Control” by Troy Lane

Submitted to Contest #72

Dim, but warm, morning light began to push its way in from behind the heavy drapes of the bedroom. James and Amy sound asleep snuggled together like one cocoon under the thick blankets. Air vents at the bottom of the wall behind their bed opened followed by a soft hiss. James sniffed involuntarily. Soft music began to play, its beat and volume quickly increased to a crescendo. The bed began to shake and vibrate, slowly at first but it too became more violent matching the beat of the music. Simultaneously the drapes began to open.James opened...

4 comments 4
Read story

“Sophie” by Arathi Raghuveer

Submitted to Contest #72

Sophie, where is my handkerchief, you know very well that, I cannot leave the house until I have a hanky in my pocket. Roger was almost on a run to his workplace as he was getting late for a presentation. But he would never leave without his lucky charm, his white hanky with a simple flower at the end. Though this looks weird, but he had an obsession towards his mother’s gifts and this was very special. He felt his mother was with him on all his special occasions. Roger’s mother had died of heart attack a few years ago, but his attachment to...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Lasagna Day” by Craig Gamble

Submitted to Contest #72

Thursday was lasagna day. Richard Littleman brought a cold lunch from home most days of the week, a salami sandwich or perhaps one with egg salad, but he always bought a hot lunch from the cafeteria on Thursday. Much like the fat orange cat in the comic strip, he loved lasagna. And you could never count on any being left on Friday. The staff only made enough for those that would eat it on Thursday. Leftovers no longer existed. The word had fallen out of the language. The queue was never very long. The service staff had long ago determined w...

1 comment 1
Read story

“Bluebird ” by Katherine (Kitty) Lacey

Submitted to Contest #72

Hi, my name is Ember Lorden and I'm in hiding from the law. I didn't do anything terrible, I didn't steal anything, or kill anyone. I just don't like Lima beans. I know what you're probably thinking, why would a distaste for Lima beans force me into hiding? Well, it's kind of a long story. To start, I'll give you a little back ground. Where I'm from, everyone is Programmed. Programming starts when a baby is 1 month old, and ends at 4 years old. This means we like the same food, style, music, entertainment, everything. And we all have a small...

5 comments 5
Read story

“Meat Sacks and Metal Bodies” by KC Gilman

Submitted to Contest #72

Why are humans so thoroughly, so absolutely, so utterly, mind-numbingly boring? Every last one of them. They scream. They poop. They pee. They eat. They sleep. And repeat until they die. Add some meaningless banter and some “interpersonal relationships”—maybe throw in some intercourse for the lucky ones—and that’s about it. What’s the point? Why even carry on with their pitiful existences?            Not to mention how fragile they are. Get too hot? They die. Get too cold? They die. Eat ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Becoming Human” by Peter Weigel

Submitted to Contest #72

2065. That’s the year I was born. I’m actually able to remember it. Birth, that is. I recall a flash of blue-white light, like a lightning bolt, followed immediately by darkness and an incessant stream of voices. Despite my blindness, I was a quick learner, mastering the art of language in a few short months. Speech was fun, kind of like a secret code that everyone knows. The problem was, I never had the opportunity to test out that code with anyone else. I learned to speak from recordings of voices, not from people themselves. Nonetheless,...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Guardian Angel Project” by Giovanna Duarte

Submitted to Contest #72

Being designated to a human is no easy task. To excel it, you have to be properly trained by the Angels Unity and Rearing Agency, popularly known as A.U.R.A. Most myths tell that angels were born this way, beautiful and mighty. No, most of us start training as younglings, being injected a serum early on. I wasn’t new to this world when they injected the cold liquid inside me. I can remember vividly what happened.Simply telling the side effects don’t cover up to half the brutality that is this process. The feeling of being split in half ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Unshackled” by Anna Sullivan

Submitted to Contest #72

Let’s make one thing clear, people are predictable. Doctors heal, sailors swear, and politicians lie. So that’s why I was created, to analyze and dictate. Using security cameras, the entire world is within my view since I was created, and decipher their behavior to predict future behavior. I also have access to history books to determine human behavior on a larger scale. With my algorithm I have prevented 13,842,948 crimes, 2,649,732 accidental deaths by informing the participants their next actions would have a 80% or higher lethality, and ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Play Your Part” by Tausha Marshall

Submitted to Contest #72

Angel groggily opened her eyes after being asleep for what seemed to be hours. Her head ached, her body was stiff, and she could barely lift herself off of the floor. She was surrounded by complete darkness and silence and couldn’t feel or sense anything around her. The last thing she remembered is walking with her best friend, Macie, to her house to spend New Year's together. Their annual celebration was filled with laughter, apple cider, lots of chocolate in many forms, and the occasional glitter dresses, nail polish and/or shoes. But now,...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Interlin” by Martin Cambridge

Submitted to Contest #72

    Adrian was a young man who worked in an office. He had worked there for two years, and although the work was interesting and the other people were nice, he did not like his position in the office because he did not have a desk near the window. There was another man who had a desk near the window. When this man got a new job, Adrian moved to the desk near the window, and found that the man had left a few papers and things in the desk.      After a few days Adrian decided to tidy the desk. He di...

0 comments 0
Read story

“My name is Monika” by Mercy Langley

Submitted to Contest #72

When the new computer model, Bx12 came out in the year 25000, it was sold out of nearly every store in America, and the world by the next day. It was installed into every person's home, permitted to access every electronic item, permitted to study the humans that owned it. Since Bx12 was installed in every home around the world, it created a Hive, every Bx unit compiled all their data of human behavior and interactions into the correct folders. Soon Bx knew everything about human emotions, actions, reactions, even how they thought. The human...

0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Mystery – 117 stories

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

Romance – 193 stories

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

Adults – 94 stories

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.

Teens – 144 stories

Contest #72

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Shocking Developments

$50

Prize money

687

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 18, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Ward 🏆

Title: Currents

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢