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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

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

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Jul 27, 2021

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 130 stories

“Hello...I'm Breck” by Julie Ward

Submitted to Contest #82

The day everything changed for Alex Maxwell-Smith was just like any other. The sun rose, just the same as always. The birds sang from the treetops and the sky was painted in the soft greys, golds and pinks of dawn. Alex was up early to capture it, as she often did, for her followers. She squeaked open the front door and noticed a slim white box with forest green lettering sitting on her doormat. “Hmm,” she said out loud, nudging the box with her toe.The roses in the courtyard were blooming in a riot of color and Alex stretched...

20 comments 20
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“Technology Sucks” by Oscar Bates

Submitted to Contest #82

It started a few weeks ago, and honestly, I thought I was going crazy. Maybe I am, this whole thing is just so twisted and insane, and there It is just staring at me. I hear It at night, moving around in the dark corners of my house, I’m just glad It hasn’t figured out how to get up the stairs yet or things could be a lot worse. The paint is starting to peel and blister off Its surface, and I’m scared to look away in case It moves, or turns on, or if It just disappears entirely. My Henry Hoover is trying to kill me. Look, I know it sounds st...

13 comments 13
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“Microvophobia” by D. Owen

Submitted to Contest #82

Bryan was as excited as a small child on Christmas morning. Although the gift he was so excited about wasn’t even for him. It was for me.“Honey, come and look." He says lifting a shiny black rectangular object from a cardboard box. This is going to make your life so much easier. It’s the new Kenmore microwave. It can roast, defrost, simmer, sauté and reheat.”“And blow up.” I say under my breath. “Oh, Bryan you shouldn’t have. Thank you. Wasn’t it expensive? Can we afford it? The stove and oven work perfectly fine.” I say ...

9 comments 9
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“The Brave Little Toaster” by Inkstained Introvert

Submitted to Contest #82

Cairo and I were making breakfast one morning, when my toast burnt. I turned up my lip and dropped it on the floor for our dog Dapper. She began cronching it with the kind of vigor only a corgi can have--if you own one, you’ll know. I sighed and pulled another slice of bread out from the humid plastic bag, lowering the toaster's temperature a bit before popping it in. While I waited for the bread to toast, Cairo and I sipped his monstrosity of a mug of coffee (half of it was hazelnut creamer, and the other half was honey), passing ...

19 comments 19
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“LDNOOBW” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #82

Chad said, “Noob, think of emotions as salad dressing. Some favor one or another, or each depending on their mood. But they’re all kind of cheesy. The salad itself doesn’t change much.” “Which dressing do you use?” “I don’t use dressing. I like my salads dry.” “I struggle with analogies to things about which I have no reference. Since I’ll never have a salad, this is not helpful. My world is already abstract.” “All language is metaphorical, Noob. Analogue vs. digital. Consider how about some algorithms are more elegant than others. One works...

0 comments 0
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“Sweet Dreams (That Grim Abyss)” by Courtney C

Submitted to Contest #82

Estelle woke bolt upright with her mouth twisted into a rictus, a scream trapped in her throat. Her hands relaxed unsteadily from the claws she had gripped her pillow with, but her heartbeat continued to race. She focused on her breathing, slowly coming down from the high of terror that had enveloped and suffocated her nightly for the past week.Ripping the Sleep Dot from her temple, she threw an exasperated glance at her husband. His striking features were softened and childish in sleep, the epitome of peacefulness. Estelle grumbled, “T...

11 comments 11
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“Dangerous Clue” by Kirrtanaa Thanesh

Submitted to Contest #82

Luna was an ordinary 14-year-old girl. She went to school like everyone else and had normal feelings like everyone else.   Her birthday was just around the corner and she had been wanting to treat herself with a new laptop. She had knocked a glass of orange juice on her old one and she tried to get it fixed at, Ideal Tech, the closest computer shop to her house but received the bad news that there was no saving it.  On the 24th of February, she went to Ideal Tech to buy a new one. She saw an ocean blue laptop with a ...

7 comments 7
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“Nothing to Worry About” by Natalie Dafoe

Submitted to Contest #82

She laid on the couch, half-asleep, the television's constant sputtering of noise drifting in and out of her consciousness. Staying up much too late poring over her notes the night before, her mind felt devoid of critical thought and her body sagged into the couch. When she finally pushed herself awake, her binders fell off her lap and onto the carpeted floor.  In the moment of her body and mind slowly starting to awaken, a pang in her gut told her something was wrong. She could not yet place what it was or where it came from, but som...

5 comments 5
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“Peculiarly Perfect, Startlingly Straight” by Madalyn Meyers

Submitted to Contest #82

A warm auburn glow beneath the skin of her eyelids slowly welcomed Tess to the new day. There was a comforting pressure weighing down on her chest, warm, woolly, ever so slightly moving with the rhythm of breath. Slowly, she opened her right eye, daring to steal a glance at her overlord. This, of course, was what we will call a bad idea. Two vertical pupil slits swam atop topaz spheres in front of her. They were alert, and they were locked onto her before her vision was even able to focus. Snapping her eye shut at once, her body stiffened, h...

2 comments 2
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“Devices of Destiny” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #82

           The year is 2035, and technology has revolutionized the way that we do things. Many jobs which once put the lives of humans at risk, are now being replaced by Artificially Intelligent robots.            Firefighters no longer need to enter burning buildings in search of victims. Androids can scan a structure for signs of life and retrieve those who are trapped without the use of breathing apparatuses or hoses.  &nbsp...

6 comments 6
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“Hey, Siri” by Zoey Hailey

Submitted to Contest #82

It all begins on what seems like the loveliest spring day, when the monster first strikes. I'm standing barefoot on the damp green grass filming a TikTok video on my shiny, brand new iPhone, until suddenly my screen just turns pitch black. I feel like crying."No," I whine, "I just charged it!""Well, maybe try charging it again," Dominique shrugs, sitting cross-legged on a red plaid tarp, "sometimes phones will glitch. It's really nothing to worry about."Dominique has been my ride-or-die since diapers, though I have a large group of friends t...

34 comments 34
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“The Operatic Anomaly” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #82

So far as anybody knew, but of course this was long before the advent of social media, they had never met , although their lives did overlap, but both the eminent composer Marcel Evans (1860-1935) and the computing pioneer Robert Ridgeway (1900-1951) had lived in the modest little midlands town of Woodington. It was quite a poser, if you thought about it. The town was pleasant enough, but even those who lived their nowadays had to admit that there was nothing that spectacular about it apart from its two famous residents by choice. It had no ...

0 comments 0
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“Beware the Roomba” by Devin Carrier

Submitted to Contest #82

  I can’t remember my old life anymore. Before the dark times, before the Roomba, I was just a boy. Nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that one day that life was gone before I knew it. That was the day I realized a Roomba 960 Vacuum was following me. I don’t just mean that it has been tailing me. No. This Roomba is on a mission from Satan knows where, I believe, to kill me.    Now, I don’t want any questions until the end because trust me, I have tried EVERYTHING. How strong is this Roomba you think? It is made of...

4 comments 4
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“The Cold Shoulder” by Redd Herring

Submitted to Contest #82

“That’s the last one,” Trevor placed the box on the countertop. “I guess I had more than I thought.” “No worries,” Leslie smiled. She pointed to his phone, “Let me set you up.” He handed it over and Leslie began downloading an app. “We can start unpacking while it downloads, then I’ll get you on the smart home network.” “Thanks,” he said, opening a box filled with clothes. “Where do you want me to put my stuff?” Leslie pointed down the hallway, “The guest bedroom has a nice closet.” He frowned. “Don’t get upset. You’re not going to be living...

4 comments 4
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“Caretaker Trouble” by Cathy Magden

Submitted to Contest #82

It was the one item busy households with money to spend couldn’t do without during that Spring of 2071. The Enhanced Domestic Robot Assistant, commonly called EDRA or Caretaker, became the rage. So much so, the company had to double its production team to fulfill orders.The multi-function intelligent robot used analytic capabilities to detect what chores needed to be performed around the house, then it went about doing them in the most efficient and time-saving way possible.James Hawkins gave his assistant a name and treated her as he did hi...

3 comments 3
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